Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The school bell rang, Awaking you from your daydreaming

finally school was out for the weekend and you could go home and play video games and chow down on snacks.

you got up from your desk, grabbed your things and headed out the door within the swarm of your fellow students. 

quickly rushing down the hallways to you and your friends usual meeting spot 

DJ and Mina. Your two bestest of friends. The three of you were practically siblings.

You caught them in your sights and ran over. “hey guys!” You announced “I can’t hang out after school today because my mom wants me home. Sorry about the short notice”

“It’s alright dude” DJ said, “we aren’t planning on doing anything interesting and even if we were we wouldn’t do it without ya”

“Yeah what they said!” Mina added “we can just hang out another time it’s totally cool don’t worry about it”

“Thanks guys” you beamed at them

“No problem” they said in unison then stared at each other for a second before breaking out into giggles

“I’ll see you guys later” you grinned, “don't have too much fun without me”

“Wouldn’t dream of it” DJ responded “Yeah Girl go be a baddie” Mina said quickly, “Oh! And don’t forget to text me over the weekend. If you ignore me at any point I’m coming after you!”

“See you two later” you yelled over your shoulder.

“HEY!” Mina yelled angrily as DJ giggled next to her.

You walked swiftly to the parking lot to meet up with your boyfriend who was driving you home because you didn’t have a car yet.

You saw him standing next to his car on his phone and you decided to scare him by jumping on his back from behind.

You snuck up behind him but he must have heard you because he turned around and saw you out crouching there and smiled at you

“And just what do you think you’re doing?” He smirked at you

“I was gonna scare you but you ruined it” you pouted jokingly.

“I’ll be sure to let you knock my socks off next time” he chuckled. “Now come on let’s get you home”

You stepped into the passenger seat and he started the car and drove out of the student parking lot. As he was driving you decided to roll down your window because of how warm it was. After a couple minutes of driving he pulled up to a busy intersection at a red light and waited. You swore you heard someone playing freebird in the distance as the light turned green and pulled out into the intersection once it was clear. You heard the music get louder and you turned to say something to your boyfriend and then…

And then…

—

Wait where were you.

You looked around quickly, finding yourself in a riverside house of some kind, with dark brown wood paneled walls and red-brown octagonal tiles on the floor. But it felt strange, like parts of the room were moving and twisting. Like you were in a dream…

You turned around and saw a woman with curly brown hair and glasses sitting at a wooden table and scribbling things down into a notebook. You quickly walked over to her.

“Um excuse me ma’am?” You asked nervously, “where am I?! How did I get here?!

She raised a brow but did not look up at you and continued scribbling.

You stood there awkwardly waiting for a response until she finished the page she was working on.

“You’re dead.” She told you matter-of factly

“I- What?!” You yelped “you must be joking… I can’t be dead… I was alive just a minute ago… How the hell am I fucking dead?!!”

“Car crash” she sighed before looking up at you.

“You got t-boned by some freak going 120 in a McLaren with a fuck ass paintjob. You were in the passenger seat with the window open which means you were the first point of contact. Your pelvic bones and ribs were both crushed on impact and your skull fractured as the glass from the other cars windshield shattered and impaled you in multiple places. You died instantly, so it was relatively painless.” She told you with little sympathy in her eyes.

“Oh- oh my god” you sank to the ground.

Your precious little life, ended before it even began.

“What about my boyfriend…” you asked quietly

“Oh him? He’ll live but the two of the bones in his left leg are shattered and he will probably walk with a limp for the rest of his life.”

But he won’t ever forgive himself for your death or forget if you’re the crazy type…”

You looked at her, mortified.

“I’m joking. She continued, “at any rate since you died young I decided to take pity on you so I’m sending you to another chance at life within your favorite video game because I’m far too lazy to bring you back to life.”

“Excuse me?!” You yelped as you blacked out

—

The next thing you knew you were being cradled and bounced in a woman’s arms.

The bouncing annoyed you so went to complain the all that came out were cries and warbled babbling.

That bitch… she fucking isekai’d your ass.

You had died, and reincarnated into your favorite video game...?

Favorite video game….. oh.

You were reborn into fucking Genshin impact.

Chapter Text

Over the next months in your new body you spent most of your time in a depressive episode but with you being a newborn you can never tell

But the inability to speak or walk or dance or create things was starting to drive you mad

Your parents said you cried a lot more than the usual infant but this was because you were absolutely devastated. You had died and lost everyone you loved…

Your lovely boyfriend…

Your best friends….

Your mom and dad…

You had even lost your body.

Your new parents treated you with so much kindness as you were growing up. But you would never stop missing your real parents.

Your sweet mother, the nurse. She taught you how to bandage wounds and comfort people

Your tough father, the engineer. He fostered your love of art and creating things

You missed them both so much

Your new parents taught you things too. Like how to cook and tend to crops. You would be lying if you said you didn’t love them too.

You were born in Mondstat and grew up sheltered within the great walls but you wanted to leave and explore so badly it hurt

They taught you everything there was to know in the life of a Mondstat civilian. You didn’t want to be a civilian

They showed you the church of barbatos and explained their faith to you but since you knew the truth and didn’t want to convert or tell them the truth you lied through your teeth and choose to fake believe.

After you finally re-learned to speak and move you spent all your time exploring the city.

When you turned 7 you decided you were bored of the city and you snuck out to explore all of Mondstat. You made it all the way to dadupa gorge till anyone noticed you weren’t inside the city.

After sneaking around the area for awhile you were discovered by hostile Hilichurls and you got in a fight with them.

You didn’t care if you won you just wanted to take your anger out on something

You managed to defeat the smaller ones because you were quite tall for your age. But then a mitachurl appeared and due to its larger size it had the advantage and continuously beat you with its club but you refused to loose and kept leaping at it and pulling at its horns.

The battle raged on for hours until you finally ripped off one of its horns and began to stab at its skull until it finally collapsed dead.

It was dusk by the time you finally vanquished your opponent. You dropped to your knees in exhaustion and closed your eyes. Then you tilted back your head and released a guttural yell.

Anyone who heard it knew would know it was a yell of victory.

Suddenly you felt a chill down your spine and a heavenly light basked your face. You could swear you felt someone’s hand on your face and then lift your hands to place something in them. Something cold and smooth

You opened your eyes. Sitting in your hands was a cryo vision.

You clasped it in your hands and held it close to your chest as the sun sunk beneath the horizon and the sky darkened around you.

You picked up the broken horn and stood up to the best of your ability.

You had a black eye, several cuts, and a bruised rib as you staggered back near the Mondstat bridge where several knights were looking for you since your parents had found you missing.

You staggered across the bridge and into the city where several onlookers regarded you with a range of emotions: worry, fear, relief.

You just wanted to sleep.

After walking to the fountain in the central square you stared at the statue of the anemo god above and whispered your blessings before your vision went black and your knees buckled beneath you.

—

You woke up in the lake house again for the first time since your initial meeting the walls had turned into white plaster with dark oak trim and now linoleum kitchen flooring with flower patterns and again there she was yet again

Sitting at the same wooden table and still scribbling away.

“Why am I here” you snapped at her, your newfound victory giving you the confidence to add venom behind your words

She looked up at you and started clapping “congratulations on your vision ms runaway” she said sarcastically.

“How’s your life going” she asked

“It’s going fine thanks” you clapped back with more sarcasm.

“I just wanted to say congratulations on the newfound ambition. “The tsarista seemed to like your little display out there.” She smiled. It was an awful smile. All sharp teeth and no kindness in her eyes

“Who even are you anyway” you continue “last time I checked you aren’t even a character in Genshin.”

“Me? A character? You play too much” she threw her head back to laugh

“Don’t worry about who I am it really isn’t important, and at any rate this is the last you will see of me so put me out of your mind”

—

And before you knew it you were waking up in your bed with your parents and a strange man sitting at your bedside

Your mitachurl horn and cryo vision sitting on the bedside table next to you as proof or your victory.

Chapter Text

Hey guys, just a small update. I know I have not posted in a while, but I am currently working ahead on the chapters that will be written. It might be a little fast pace since I wrote the framework in a rush, but it should come out at some point over the next month or so since marching band season is officially over I have more free time but now I have to do, our Christmas show and then I’m done with marching band for the year so I can work more freely on my writing. This does not mean saying goodbye to this work at all. Just letting you all know that it might take me a week or two to get the next couple of chapters rolling , so much for reading this I hope you enjoy the next couple of chapters when they come out

I am also making a Tumblr account which I will list below, but I don’t think I will be very active on it

Thepowerhouseofthecel_

Chapter Text

”Honey, she’s awake.” Your dad quickly told your mother grabbing her hand.

Your mother threw her arms around you and hugged you close as she cried into your shoulder. “Please don’t ever worry me like that again I love you too much to lose you.”

while your mother was embracing you, the man that sat beside them suddenly began to speak

”Hello,” he said “I am grandmaster Varka, the leader of the knights of favonius. I heard of your exploits with the mitachurl and I am here to congratulate you and offer you a position in the knights of Favonius if you will accept it.”

you look at your parents and they smile back

”I will join you under one condition,” you say “that I will not be confined to the city of Mondstadt and I will be free to travel wherever I want. I want to explore. I do not want to be trapped in the city forever”

Your father says “you can do it if you want to you. We will be proud of you no matter what”

”If she joins the knights, she will be perfectly safe in our care” the grandmaster said

Your mother seems to be relieved and agrees

”Well, now that this is settled.” The grandmaster says “I must be on my way. I have urgent business to attend to. May the wind go with you.” and with that he makes his swift exit

—

It is eight years later, and you are walking up the steps to the Favonius headquarters to begin your training. since you were seven when the grandmaster extended his application to you. you had been preparing. Since could not join the program being too young for it at the time, but you trained for it anytime you could. Making you a diligentl fighter and sufficiently prepared for knight training

You walking to the grandmasters office on the main floor and he greets you with a smile “Hello he said it’s good to see you here. I’m glad you could make it. your instructor is waiting for you on the ground with the other new apprentice knights.

You headed down to the training grounds and join the small group of apprentice nights you stood next to a girl with warm brown hair and a red bandanna in her hair

”Hello,” she said cheerily “my name is Amber what’s yours?”

”I’m gypsy” you respond.

”Gypsy is such a pretty name… what kind of knight do you want to be? I wanna be an outrider because my dad is one too!” She says excitedly

””I want to be the kind of knight that explores” you tell her

”That’s so cool” she responds. “Do you wanna be friends?”

”Sure.” you answer

Amber was so nice. when you first began to play Genshin impact she was the first character that you meet she reminded you so much of your friend Mina in the real world. It made you miss your old life, but you had after all. There was no way to go back. you had died, and you could not come back.

After talking back-and-forth with each other, you started combat training. your instructor had you all choose your weapon of choice and spar with each other based on your choice. you got another random trainee named Anastasia.

Your instructor explained that you would be doing mock battles in a makeshift arena one by one. first person to fall down or go out of the ring of dirt would lose. Apparently you were unlucky because you and Anastasia were selected to fight first.

Her of choice Weapon was a catalyst, unlike yours, which was a polearm.

Sitting on the shoulder pad of her expensive looking jacket sat an electro vision.

You and her circled the makeshift arena glaring each other down until your instructor gave the command to begin.

She immediately started to send zaps of electricity in your direction. You dodged them easily since you were quite fast from your training by yourself with your vision.

Then she started aiming her electric attacks at your spear treating it like a lightning rod meaning you had to toss up your weapon so you would not get electrocuted forcing you to fight with your hands.

You ran at her and punched her in the neck, causing her to fall backwards, taking advantage of the situation, You kicked one of her legs out from under her, and she fell to the ground swiftly, resulting in your victory.

You picked up your spear and walked out of the ring of dirt. Most of the other trainees cheered for you at your victory except for a group of girls that must’ve been Anastasia’s friends because they were glaring daggers at you.

Then you watched Amber’s fight, which was next against a random non-vision user. She was skilled with a bow and managed to get him to step out of the ring with precise shots, boxing him in and making him back out of the ring

After Amber finished her fight, you both sat down together and chatted some more as you waited for the rest of the fights to finish

once all the mock battles had concluded, your instructor noted that you were all done for the day and could go free. you said goodbye to Amber, and you headed down the steps of the favonious main building when someone threw a rock at you.

It was fucking Anastasia and her friends grinning at you maliciously like a pack of hyenas.

“Hey Bitch,” she spat “Just wanted to let you know that if you ever embarrass me again I will end you.”

You Scoffed at her “oh, please get out of my way. I have no time for losers like you.”

She seemed shocked and miffed by this, most likely because she came from money and thought she could get away with anything. You were no stranger to bullies after all you died a high school student.

All the hell you went through was fresh in your mind.

Anastasia wasn’t scary to you. She just pissed you off. You were sure you could win.

Even if there was multiple people against you.

—

You staggered back home. With a black eye and a bloody nose, you had gotten roughed up and felt dizzy but you definitely hadn’t lost

When Anastasia and her friends surrounded you, you immediately ran at Anastasia and kicked her point blank in the stomach causing her to go flying backwards.

All her friends immediately started ganging up on you. You managed to dodge most of their punches but a few lucky punches hit you in the face and nose and stomach.

You were outnumbered and you needed to run. You had been cocky and if you didn’t run now you could get hurt.

You shook your head rapidly and took off running as fast as you could go, along the back streets of mondstadt which was nearby where you lived.

You felt dizzy and nauseous and hurt.

The next thing you knew you were going in and out of consciousness against one of mondstadts great walls

You probably looked busted the fuck up you laughed to yourself but you had managed to send your bully flying with a single kick and you definitely counted that as a victory.

You slipped unconscious again.

Next thing you knew a young blonde boy was shaking you awake.

“Are you alive?” He asked bluntly, poking your cheek.

You grunted in response and opened your good eye to see him better.

Shoulder length curly blonde hair and bright teal blue eyes…

Who the hell was this again. You hadn’t played enough of the mondstadt story quest to have a clue as to who this was.

“Can you tell me what happened to you?” He asked with the same cold blunt expression.

You studied him for a moment before coughing out a laugh and answering “I won a fight” you grinned smugly up at him.

He regarded you with the same cold gaze again

“Well since you’re okay I’ll be on my way” he said before standing up and walking away.

What a fucking weirdo. You stared at him as he walked away.

Oh well, you needed to get home anyways. No time to waste energy on bug-like blondes, you thought to yourself as you propped yourself up against the wall before making your way home.

Chapter Text

You staggered your way home and let yourself in. Neither of your parents were home both of them would still be out at work.

You made your way to the bathroom and started to assess your wounds.

A black eye, a bloody nose and a stomachache

You used tissues to stop the bleeding and pressed your nose around to make sure it wasn’t broken. Luckily it wasn’t and you only had some light bruises on your nose bridge

Some ice would be helpful for your nose and eye

You took your cryo vision in hand and gripped it tightly.

You summoned some tiny balls of ice and wrapped them in a cloth and pressed it to your nose and then eye, alternating back and fourth trying to get the swelling down. You didn’t want your parents finding out because it would be such a hassle and you could easily handle it yourself

The bruise on your nose went down fairly quickly and disappeared, save for a few small scratches. But your black eye was a different story. The swelling went down slowly but the color remained. You would need to steal your moms makeup to cover it

After tending and covering your wounds you dragged yourself up to your bed and as soon as you crawled under the covers you passed out immediately

—

After four years of drilling and combat training and codes of honor you had finally completed your knight training and your class was finally about to graduate. There was going to be a ceremony and the graduates planned on having a party afterwards which you were looking forward to.

You asked amber if she planned on going. She said she would only if you were. You were going obviously, they might have alcohol. You hadn’t had alcohol in almost two decades and man did you miss it. You weren’t sure how Genshin wine would compare to the real stuff back home but any alcohol sounded better than none.

You had the ceremony in two days and you decided to hangout at ambers house to celebrate your newfound ranks among the knights.

“Haha I can’t believe we finally graduated girl, it felt like we were doing drills for an eternity” you complained “ I have so many shock scars from those whack as sparring drills with Anastasia. I swear they put me with her half the time on purpose”

“Can’t relate” amber answered from her spot on her bed “I only had to do drills with randoms”

“Oh my archons I wish” you groaned “ are you ready for the very special ceremony in two days?” You asked with a twinge of sarcasm “what do they even have us do for that?”

“Oh that? I think they have us all stand in formation then call us up on by one to give us out knight badges. That’s what my parents said anyway” said amber completely distracted by a book she was reading on wind gliding.

“Oooh that sounds fun” amber muttered still completely engrossed in her book “what’s like fun?” You asked

“Oh! Uhh wind gliding” she perked up

“Oooooh wind gliding that sounds cool” you said “don’t you already know how to wing glide though?”

“Well yes but this is a book of useful techniques and tricks to employ when wind gliding” she noted quickly

“Hmm interesting” you hummed sarcastically

“Oh shush. What are you wearing to the knight party by the way?” Amber said quickly changing the subject.

“I’m not really sure. Depends on when and where they are having it”

“I’m pretty sure it’s a picnic beach type deal somewhere in springvale”

“Ooooh springvale? I have the perfect outfit in mind… Oh! By the way have you heard anything about our first solo mission as knights? Because I know we did group missions when we were in training but when do they send us on our first solo mission?”

“Solo missions? Uhhh I think a week after graduation is when they hand out debreifs for the missions. Most of the time they are simple but depending on what kind of knight you are they might give you a long and difficult one”

“Oh great. You groaned “so I get a long first mission. That’s what I get for graduating at the top of the class”

“Hey it’s not that bad at least people respect you. Compared to the rest of the new graduates we just get guard duty and least if you get a long mission it will be an interesting one”

“I’m tired of interesting. I’m tired in general” you complained.

“Well at least we have the party to look forward too and a week with no training drills” amber said absentmindedly

“Oh man no training drills? Sounds like heaven” you said and amber giggled

“Im gonna head home girl I need a nap” you yawned

“Alrighty see you later!! Oh wait I forgot to ask” amber interjected quickly

“What’s up I’m sleepy” you grumbled

“Are you taking anyone to the party?” She asked

”Taking anyone? You mean like… a date?”

”Yeah!”

”No”

”Really? I mean why not? Throughout the four and a half years I’ve known you I’ve never seen you say you like anyone or flirt with anyone or even tell me about a crush!?” Amber complained

”I’m just not really interested in that sort of thing” you said quietly

”Oh…. I guess that makes sense. Well if you wanna talk about that ever let me know I got your back! See you later!”

”Alright bye see you later” you waved goodbye to her.

You walked through mondstadt the sun just beginning to set over the horizon you thought about what amber had said. You really hadn’t truly liked anyone since your boyfriend and your death…. Maybe it was time to move on after all it had been nearly two decades now. Maybe it was finally time to let your past go and move forward.

Chapter Text

You woke up the next morning in, for lack of better terms, a puddle of sweat.

You weren’t exactly sure when it had gotten so warm. It was still the middle of spring after all. Chalking it up to monstadts evil weather you dragged yourself out of bed and took a shower then got dressed. You had a free day since the ceremony was tomorrow so you decided to take a walk outside of mondstadt like you usually did on days off.

Where were you planning on going this time…. Stone gate? Nope to far of a walk in the hot sun

These was barely any wind or clouds around and the sun was beating down on the city.

No better place to go than the chillier areas of mondstadt. The outskirts of dragonspine sounded good

Putting your clothes on and braiding your long black hair you saw your spear in the closet where you usually kept it

“Should I bring it? Hmmm. Nah- well… what the hell why not”

Grabbing your spear and clipping on your homemade utility belt and running out the door, past the gates of mondsadt across the bridge and all the way to dragonspines outskirts. Surprisingly it was not too hot or too cold out. The crisp dragonspine winds and the vengeful glare of the sun clashed peacefully around the outskirts

You looked around, eventually finding what you were looking for. A tall pillar sticking up out of the ground. You weren’t sure what it was from but it served well for holding your bag. You swiftly climbed to the top and set your bag down then jumped back down, checking to make sure no one was around to see you hide your things you grabbed your spear and began your walk

You always enjoyed walking around mondstadt, or maybe just wandering in general. You never really chose a specific place opting instead to just wander aimlessly and clear out Hilichurl camps as you went

Not much else to do anyways plus you hated being confined within the walls, you weren’t sure when it started but ever since you had been reborn you had an itching sensation that only exploring seemed to fulfill. It sucked but you didn’t really mind

As you moved from one encampment to the next collecting crafting materials. Some of these hilichurls had some good stuff on hand.

As you mad your way around you noticed it getting cloudier and cloudier which you would have found surprising if you lived in Liyue but Mondstadt was always unpredictable. Taking a closer look at the clouds you noticed the early signs of rain.

Fuck. Your bag.

Abandoning the unprompted quest to kill hilichurls you took off back to where you had left your bag.

It had already begun to sprinkle rain by the time you got to your bag. You scaled the pillar grabbed your bag and jumped back down and began the run home. As much as you wanted to keep exploring you did not want to get mud on the boots you were supposed to wear tomorrow. Your mom would raise hell.

Making it to the bridge you were surprised to see that there were no guards at the gate on the other side.

Odd.

It started pouring harder as you entered the city and you saw stormterror fly overhead.

Shit.

Stormterror was flying away from the city so you weren’t too worried about it. You just needed to make sure your parents were ok.

You ran to your house and ripped the door open. Calling out your parents names

1…

2…

3…

No response.

MOM!?

DAD!?

You yelled, then listened again.

you heard rustling and muffled voices coming from under the rug in the dining room.

Were they in the cellar!?

Rushing into the dining room and seeing the displaced rug you felt so relived.

You Pulled the cellar door open and saw your parents faces

“Mom Dad!! I saw a dragon and I was so worried are you ok!?”

“Yes we’re fine! Are you ok!?” You mom questioned you, worried

I’m alright..

—

Despite the dragon attack the knights insisted that they still have the knighting ceremony to boost morale. Kinda awkward in your personal opinion but you decided not to say anything

And here you were side by side with half of the graduates that were supposed to be there.

Damn scaredy cats.

You saw a face that looked familiar among the graduates but you couldn’t quite place from where, soft looking platinum blonde hair and teal eyes.

He probably just had one of those faces

Thankfully amber was ok but she didn’t look so happy. She was wind gliding when the dragon attacked and the winds flung her into the lake where her and her glider had to be fished out. You heard from another knight that she looked like a grumpy wet cat. You were totally gonna tease her for that later.

They began the ceremony, Jean was officiating the ceremony because the grandmaster was out on an expedition.

You knew that already because you had played the game but it had been so long since you played it and didn’t remember details.

She went on to give a statement on the dragon attacks and to stay calm because they were working on it

Then they began the ceremony. Like you expected several of the knights in training had chickened out after the dragon attack and weren’t here. Then they called your name.

You stepped forward and the grandmaster pinned your badge to your uniform.

“May the wind go with you.” She smiled

You smiled back.

You saw the blonde boy get a badge as well but instead of it being a knight badge it was for alchemy. It made sense, you never saw him on the training grounds either. Too bad you weren’t paying attention when Jean said his name.

After the ceremony you caught up with amber.

She was sitting on a bench by the training ground still looking grumpy.

“Well if it isn’t the catch of the day” you laughed, walking up to her

“Ugh don’t remind me she groaned, hiding her face in her hands

“Do you know if they’re still having that party later?” You asked her

“Surprisingly yes, they are” she responded

“I’m going will you be there?” You asked her

“Maybe, actually yeah probably. Just hope that no one recognizes me as the girl that had to get fished out of the lake” amber lamented

“I gotta go home and get ready. I better see you there you said, racing off.”

—

As soon as you got home you dived into your closet looking for the clothes you needed

It was sunny out but not as warm as the previous day. You selected a white top with blue embroidered accent that you sewed yourself and some mid length leather shorts paired with your boots. You looked at yourself in the mirror. It looked good but it was missing something.

You grabbed your blue bandana and tried it around your head in a way that you knew was popular during summertime back in your world, braided your hair, grabbed your backpack and headed out to the party

They were holding it by the pond behind Springvale and you had gotten there early so there were not that many people so you decided to hang around and chat with some acquaintances until amber got there Amber eventually showed up and shortly after so did the rest of the graduates. Some of them brought swimsuits and were hanging out in the pond “Damn I wish I brought my swimsuit” amber complained “I’m sure you did” you giggled “Hey” amber protested “it’s not that funny” “It’s funny to me” you pouted Then you saw him out of the corner of your eye, the blonde boy from the graduation ceremony. You tried your hardest not to stare but you found yourself examining his face again trying to place where you had seen him before.

Then it hit you. When you first got in a fight with Anastasia outside of training. You had gotten beat up and you collapsed against the inner walls of mondsadt and he asked you if you were ok

That was him

“Hey amber”

“What’s up” she turned to you

“Okay don’t look now but one of the new knights from the ceremony is here. He was training to be an alchemist not a knight. He graduated with us do you know his name?”

“Which one” amber asked

“Blondie with the teal eyes”

“Oh him? Uhhh lemme see Jean must have mentioned him at some point… I think his name is albedo but I could be wrong. Why do you ask-“ she suddenly gasps loudly startling you “DO YOU… LIKE HIM!?

“Huh!? What- no” you quickly tried to shut her down

“Oh my archons I never thought I’d see the day when our very own ice queen finally gets a crush! I’m so proud” she teases

“Amber be quiet everyone can hear you” you hissed

“This is for calling me the catch of the day” she hissed back

“Yeah but that was funny” you whispered loudly

“Whatever. But seriously do you actually have eyes for someone? What happened to I don’t like anyone I’m so cold and stone hearted boohoo” amber teased

“Okay first of all I did not say all that” you protested

“That’s what it sounded like to me” amber smirked at you

“Amber just shhh” you begged

“You should talk to him!” Amber grinned at you

“Amber please not now” you begged

“Ok ok I’m sorry” amber resigned

“It’s cool just not when people can hea- I’ll be right back the alcohol is calling my name”

“Haha ok have fun” amber waved to you “I’m gonna go chat up some new grad knights, see you later?”

“Catch you later girl” you waved goodbye to her

You quickly made your way to the alcohol crates and nabbed yourself a bottle of dandelion wine, uncorking it and taking a small sip.

Woah.

(Idk what alcohol tastes like this is me guessing. Don’t drink alcohol kids it’s bad for you)

It tasted so good! Like sweet spring wind, cool and soft and crisp with hints of apple and sunsettia. You quickly took a big swig before guzzling down the rest

All bad ideas on the table, your head already feeling fuzzy you grabbed a couple more bottles and went to sit at the base of a nearby tree, starting on your second bottle, then your third, then going back to get more.

Before you noticed the sun had begun to set and people were leaving Your mind hazy, you looked around for amber. You couldn’t find her so she must have left already.

It looked like you would have to walk home.

You began to stand up using the tree for balance, the ground felt like it was swaying beneath your feet and you nearly fell before someone caught you.

With your hazy vision all you could see was a blur of blue eyes and white hair

“Are you an Angel?” You asked the blur “I guess I must have died a second time, where am I going now?”

Your head felt warm and someone was holding you tightly.

You felt safe for the first time in a long time

Then you blacked out.

Chapter Text

Probably the worst thing about the next morning was your headache or...wait no maybe waking up on a bench in the Favonius flower garden of all fucking places. if you did have a guardian angel they were not very damn nice.

You sat up in a daze, your forehead pounding in pain, struggling to remember last nights events

talking to amber...

drinking too much...

falling over and being caught by an angel..

and nothing after that

shit.

whoever your angel happened to be they left you on a garden bench. fucking ass

you propped yourself up and stood.

what to do now?

find out whoever the hell left you on a bench and beat their ass.

you weren't sure why you were so upset about it. maybe it was the hangover... or because you subconsciously remembered something but for whatever reason it really pissed you off

you needed to go home and freshen up first. you looked like shit.

----

albedo always fancied himself as a curious and righteous individual. this was why when he met you for the first time and he asked if you were ok and you laughed at him and told him with a foolish grin that you had won a fight not only was he baffled but also extremely confused.

what the fuck were you even talking about.

had you mistaken him for someone else? was brain damage one of your many injuries? were you drunk?

you seemed fine enough and albedo didn't feel like escorting a strange brain damaged girl so he decided the most viable option was to leave and not have to deal with it

he would see you from a lab window during knight training sometimes. you were quite skilled in spear combat but your behavior was always odd. strange repetitive actions, hand symbols and poses that no one else knew what you were talking about

you made a fool of yourself. willingly. why?

albedo always fancied himself as a curious individual so much so that it got the better of him. a good quality for a scientist to have but when he saw you at the graduation party drinking yourself into a stupor, he decided to approach you again

He did not expect to have to be carrying you all the way back to Mondstadt.

You weren’t heavy per se but you kept trying to fall out of him arms or push away.

You were seriously starting to tick him off And you kept muttering about angels and other worlds. You seriously did sound like a nut job. What the hell was an angel?

Albedo was planning on taking you to the Favonius library and leaving you on one of the cushions but his temper got the better of him after your third attempt to roll out of his bridal carry

“Archons will you quit it!” He snapped at you. He really wasn’t expecting a response given you were drunk off your ass

Then you stopped wriggling and looked up at him “I thought angels were supposed to be nice… I don’t want you to take me away” you slurred out

“Seriously what the hell are you talking about” albedo asked, exasperated

“I died once and I got sent here” you pouted. “Now there’s a mean angel talking to me so I must be dead again. And what I’m talking about is I don’t want you to send me anywhere else. Just bring me back to life or something I don’t care if you’re too lazy.”

Albedo, since the day that he met you considered you strange but couldn’t pinpoint why. You had a good upbringing from what he could tell, assumedly good parents and friends so why were you so odd? He was beginning to give credit to your rambling insistence that you were, in fact from another world.

Albedo sighed. “Fine say you really are from another world. Can you prove it.”

“Good question! No I cannot or at least know how to anyways” you gave him a thumbs up

He is unimpressed

“Then how do you expect me to believe you really are from another world. I mean seriously you’re just making a fool of yourself” Albedo protested.

“I’m not a fool” you yelled at him

“Then stop making one of yourself. I’m leaving. Get home on your own” albedo storms off.

Chapter Text

You awoke on the bench after awhile with a headache and no memory of your argument with the boy and assuming you probably made the walk back yourself

— Days later —

“————— you have been assigned as a guard for our new chief alchemist on his expedition to dragonspine.”

This had to be some kind of joke.

Not only did you have to guard some alchemy brat but they sent you. A CRYO vision user. To dragonspine. The giant ICY mountain.

“You will meet your charge at the footlands camp within the day. There are supplies there and there is a pre selected location where your camp is to be set up. Any questions?” The senior knight asked.

“I’m a cryo vision. I use ice for offensive purposes. ICE. why am I sent to dragonspine of all places!? couldn’t they find a pyro vision user for this!?” You complained

“I’m sorry ———- I don’t delegate the missions.” She then leaned closer and whispered “if I had to guess why this happened it was either all the pyro visions were occupied with the dragon or this charge specifically requested you. But I’m sorry you of all people got picked for this mission”

You sighed in annoyance “it’s alright I’ll figure it out.”

She patted you on the shoulder. “Good luck rookie you’re gonna need it”

—

Approaching the footlands camp you could already feel the temperature dropping

And as you entered the camp you were greeted by the sight of a familiar blonde headed boy. The one from the wall and graduation

Any chance he knew who you were or where you simply a backround character to him… only one way to find out

“Hello I’m ———— I’ll be escorting you up the mountain.”

“Greetings”

Wow this guy talks like a real stick in the mud you thought to yourself

“What’s your name” you tried to start a conversation again.

“Albedo”

Wow. What a socialite

He’s either shy or he doesn’t like me you thought

“Alright so” he started showing you a scribbily map route covered in annotations “this is the route we will be taking. What do you think.”

“Uh…” you squinted at it. You remembered the map from playing the game but in all your explorations you never went near because you would be quite literally out of your element. But this map looked like a child’s drawing and had a dangerous and inneficient route. You hoped he wasn’t the one that made it.

Should you tell him you have no idea what you are looking at? You didn’t want to be rude…

“It’s alright… I guess… did- you draw this map out?” You asked him awkwardly

“No.” He said firmly

Wow this guy must be fun at parties. You decided to try and make a joke to lighten the conversation a little bit.

“You aren’t much for conversation are you albedo” you laughed nervously as he put the map in his bag

“I don’t often converse with people who make fools of themselves” he said

“What?”

What the fuck was this dudes problem! You didn’t even know him besides maybe meeting him once and he just insulted you to your face!

“What the hell is your problem.” You snapped at him

He looked at you confused. “You don’t remember me?”

“Uh no? Besides you checking on me when I was injured we haven’t talked at all. We don’t know each other.” You said

“it was only a couple days ago I’m surprised you don’t remember.” He said

“Remember what.”

He didn’t respond and just stared at you

“Remember what!?”

“Nothing important” he said matter of factly

“That doesn’t make me any less anxious. i need you to tell me what happened so I don’t stress myself out about it. Please.” You insisted

“You were passed out against the tree at the knight party in Springvale so I carried you back to Mondstadt. You-

“Oh thank god” you interrupted him

“You kept talking nonsense about being from another world and I asked if you could prove i-

Oh shit.

“Oh I was just drunk haha probably just talking out of my ass sorry to confuse you let’s get going right now.” You said quickly

He stared at you.

“What are you waiting for albedo adventure awaits you grabbed the map out of his bag”

You would probably have to guide the both of you to the camp this route was not only vague but also long and went past several hilichurl camps

“Ok so just follow me I know this route” you lied.

You shoved the map in your satchel and put on a warm coat

The walk to the bridge leading across the river was probably the most awkward silence you had ever experienced.

Albedo walked a pace behind you. Neither of you said anything the atmosphere was empty save for rustling bushes and icy winds.

both of you approached the broken bridge.

“I got this hold on” you said

You pulled out your polearm and froze a solid path across the bridge and walked over it. Albedo followed cautiously behind.

You didn’t even bother checking the map because you already knew exactly where the camp was and you confidently set off in that direction on the faster route which happened to be the exact opposite of where the map said to go.

Albedo noticed you setting off without checking the map and decided to ask “are you sure this is the right way”

“Of course I’m sure” you responded “I know what I’m doing

“You- you didn’t even check the map albedo insisted” clearly quite flabbergasted

“Yes. Because I know where I’m going.” You replied

“How.” Albedo stops walking and stares at you

You couldn’t tell him it was because when you were still alive you had been in this world before. As a video game. You had to lie to him

“I’ve… explored this area before..?” you said in a tone that sounded extremely unconvincing.

“Don’t lie to me.” Albedo said coldly. “You have a cryo vision. Just being near here makes you nervous. I can tell. How do you know to navigate dragonspine so well.”

“I’ve just seen maps of it before..” you lied again

“Still not going to tell me the truth. I see how it is” albedo walked past you swiftly.

“I am telling the truth… you just don’t believe me” you insisted, trailing behind him. “And you’re going the wrong way”

He turned around angrily and walked in the correct direction

You both ventured upwards. Him ignoring and following you as you fended off fatui and hilichurls alike with great difficulty.

When you came to the broken bridge in front of the camp you turned around and asked albedo,
“Do you have a glider or do you want to climb over there?”

He stared at you. “I’ll climb thanks.” He said

By the time you both made it to the camp your hands were so cold they felt like they would fall off and albedo was unpacking his supplies and starting a fire. Still refusing to talk to you.

You set your things down and walked over to the fire to warm your hands, looking up and watching albedo unpack his instruments and set them up. He turned towards you and you looked away quickly.

“I need you to retrieve some local wildlife for me.”