"Hmm? Hello, are you here to get checked?" The girl asked in her cute voice as she placed down her bucket and wiped her forehead.

"Uh, No. I was looking around the area. Are you guys busy right now?" Emmy said as she looked around.

"No. Ah!" The girl said, then jumped in surprise.

"What's wrong? Is it an enemy?"

Emmy raised her guard as she activated elemental sight, scouting the area for threats but she came up dry. She tilted her head in confusion to see the small girl blushing in embarrassment.

"I'm sorry if I frightened you. I just realized I forgot to tell you my name, which is Barbara. My name is Barbara Pegg. Mommy gave me that name, although she's gone now. Big sis too," She puffed her chest proudly as she mentioned her name but immediately deflated once she said the last part.

'Gone, hmm. By the looks of it, they don't seem to have died. A divorce then? Now that I look closely, she does indeed look a lot like Jean and Frederica even more so.'

Emmy shrugged, 'Wouldn't hurt to ask right?'

"Hey is Jean-"

Boom!

'Hah~ A pity, couldn't they wait until I had gotten my curiosity quenched first.'

Emmy stretched before she went to look outside, a symphony of voices, and roars along with the familiar scent of blood, disinfectant, and ash.

Just like all those years ago.

'Good times,' Emmy cackled dragging her hands over her face roughly. Her teeth drew blood the moment they came into contact with her tongue. 

"Hehehe~" Barbara felt chills as she looked at the older girl, she didn't know why but instinctively she started to back away from her.

"Haaah~" Emmy took a deep breath and then sighed. She shook her head and turned to Barbara.

"Gotta go munchkin," She patted her head and then flew off toward the walls, "I have a job to do right now. It's getting a bit late; I want to end this before supper."

"Emmy!"

The girl looked down to see Frederica staring at her, there was a weird look on her face as she glanced at Barbara but nothing more than that. Meanwhile, Barbara looked at the woman with a little bit of admiration and even... yearning?

She flew back to the ground and landed in front of Frederica, her mind was plagued by curious thoughts and outrageous theories.

'So, they are family then, I wonder what happened!'

"Hmm? Oh, leader. Is everything ready?" Emmy looked at the woman while she floated in the air.

"Yes, everyone has been informed of the new plan. We are now waiting on you to lead the counterattack," Frederica said as she cocked her head to the side to control her breathing.

"Nice! Leave it to me, Taichou!"

"Taicho?"

"Nothing to be concerned about, let us head into battle," Emmy said, her joy could not be contained, and she flew up once more to the walls. 

This time there was no one to interrupt her.

"How eager," Frederica took one last look at Barbara before she ran toward the wall, she grabbed ahold of it and then swiftly climbed/parkoured her way up. She arrived before even Emmy who was capable of flight.

'As expected, tall people have a lot going for them huh? Must be nice having long legs, I want long legs too,' Emmy puffed her cheeks, as she looked in jealousy.

*****

The system silently kept this information and began to debate whether it should enhance that part of Emmy's genetic makeup or not. 

['She already has the genes for long legs and height though, so increasing it would make her a giant. She might even rival Varka's height if it were to be enhanced.'] The system administrator mused.

The host was probably going to be one of the tallest people in the world with her current development if it were to be tampered with...

"Isn't it fine?" Master Blade said as he yawned, the purple screen showing multiple views of the ongoing battle.

"A little height is good, right? As long as it doesn't pass the limit for human tolerance, it's fine," Instructor Mist said as he sipped on some tea.

"Her weapon might need to change, however," Instructor Blood said as she made a grin at a soldier killing 4 Hilichurls before getting killed by an arrow, "A Great Sword would be nice, I can use all of them so..."

"No, a polearm. I'm tired of you sword junkies stealing the spotlight," Someone from the corner said in a slightly upset tone.

"Swords just have that style factor," Master Blade said, his tone a bit smug as he sent an arrogant smile to the person in the corner, "Wouldn't you say, Sky Devourer?"

The system admin ignored the masters who were once again arguing with one another. It took the time to look at the Master Seven Crafts, who was once again sleeping while the others argued. 

Quite peacefully at that.

"Humans are really..."

*****

While the system was doing its own thing Emmy was already engaged with her enemies and if she had to comment on how it was going so far, she would say.

"The situation has escalated," Emmy said as she directed a condensed fireball toward an abyss mage to keep it in check. Then she used her power of Geo to sneakily stop a cart full of explosive barrels, then threw them into the air with Anemo.

[Host you are now displaying all your elements. Are you sure this is a wise decision?]

"All my elements are not on display, if you look closely everything, I used thus far can be called a construct. Just like what I was taught a week ago in the system space."

[I see.]

"Plus," Emmy said as she sent another attack to a concentration of archers on the left, "No one in Teyvat would believe someone can control all the elements. Their common sense restrains them, which is good for me."

Emmy continued to fly around the area protecting soldiers, subverting and diverting enemy attacks while also impairing their ability to advance any further.

She also acted as a stopgap for when the soldiers made a breakthrough to take back the bridge. While they advanced and rearranged themselves, she offered aerial support.

The girl looked as the soldiers made progress in their mission of taking the bridge then took a look at the now-dark sky. 

'Things are about to get complicated,' Emmy checked her dwindling energy reserves.

[Energy Rank B- > 43% Left.]

Emmy had asked the system for this interface, just to make sure she had an accurate measurement of her abilities when she began to tire in battle. Fatigue could cause one to make inaccurate measurements, Emmy didn't want that to happen.

"I wonder when this battle will end, I haven't eaten much and have been fighting for the whole day."

Emmy yawned as she rubbed her eyes, her [Elemental Sight] activating unconsciously and she nearly fell from the air from what she saw. 

Multiple elemental signatures were under the bridge, on the walls, and around the bank of the lake. Their positions were strange like they were in some kind of ancient ritual...

"Hmm?"

Ancient ritual. Abyss Order. Attacking a human city while fighting a battle they were about to lose. Now the leaders are in some kind of calculated position across the battlefield.

"Hey Frederica," Emmy said to the woman, she didn't know when she had sat on the walls.

"Yes?" The woman had blood on her sword and boots, but she still managed to look clean and professional. 

Frederica looked at the girl at her side, her expression was peaceful, and she even laughed. It was as if the battle below her didn't bother her in the slightest. Frederica had seen many people and battled even more, but she had never met someone like this little girl.

A normal human would have puked or at least shown some measure of aversion to the amount of blood and gore on the battlefield. This child didn't even blink, her gaze was merely calculating.

As if she merely saw the losses that were suffered on the battlefield as a statistic instead of dying people. Frederica's hands trembled; a bit of pity showed through the depths of her eyes. 

When she looked at this girl, she couldn't help but think of Jean and to some extent Barbara, her second child. What happened to this child for her to have such an expression in such a circumstance?

"Curious?"

"Huh?" Frederica now realizes that she was staring and stammered.

"Hmm, well anyway I guess we are either going to win or are going to lose terribly in a few minutes."

Frederica felt her neck strain from the double take she had when Emmy said those words.

"What do you mean?" Her tone was serious, and her shoulders were tensed. A habit she formed from her many years as a captain, her shoulders were her strongest asset, so she tended to rely on them.

Well excluding her long legs of course but that was the more obvious of the two.

"I'm saying the abyss mages are now doing something strange, ah! Look it's starting."

"Hmm?"

Light started to gather in those areas and then they flew into the sky to form what looked to be a barrier, then secondary lights formed along the bank. They opened to reveal portals. From those portals came, hundreds of Hilichurl variants and even some ruined monsters.

"Oh fuck! Oh shit, please no. Just no, not them please!" Emmy begged silently as she looked at the massive floating black wolves that came out of the portals.

This was one creature that Emmy was intimately familiar with as she was from Inazuma but that wasn't the only reason. There was a much more sinister reason as to why the girl was now gripping her thighs hard enough to draw blood.

'It hurts,' Emmy felt water hit her thighs but she didn't notice it.

'It stings like a hundred fire ants crawling inside of my body and worming their way through my blood. Why, why, why!'

Emmy felt a bit dizzy as in front of her lay, not the battlefield but a large laboratory with several children hanging from chains in the wall. Their eyes were dead even though they showed signs of life.

"Emmy~" Chills ran down her spine as her pupils dilated, she recognized that voice.

She didn't want to turn around.

"If you don't look at me, your precious friends with have to play with me again. Our puppy is ready to play hide and seek again. You don't want that right~"

"N-no," Emmy obediently turned around after that just to see that dreaded blue mask. The man crouched in front of her Emmy could only helplessly watch as he wiped her tears, her body frozen like a rabbit in front of a predator.

"You are crying are you afraid?"

"..."

"Are you afraid?"

"..."

"I asked you! Are you afraid!"

Emmy sniffed, "Yes."

Dottore patted her head, "Good girl. You know I do this for humanity right? You and your friends will help humanity fight against the abyss someday, I don't want to hurt you, but I have no choice."

"Hmm."

"Dottore loves you all, yeah. Don't I love you all?"

"You love us all," Emmy smiled, and the children whose eyes were dead before lit up as they smiled as well. Then they said.

"You love us all. Thank you Dottore."

Dottore chuckled, "I know children," his voice grew low and dangerous, but the children didn't notice.

They never noticed, from start to finish. They never noticed.

"I know very well."

*****

"Ahhhhhhhh!" Emmy woke up with a start as she started throwing punches everywhere and thrashed in the bed, she now found herself in.

"Emmy! Emmy!" 

Emmy didn't listen as she continued to scream and thrash around, her arms lit up in flames.

It didn't take a genius to predict what the unstable girl was about to do next.

Slap!

Emmy's face flew to the side as her face impacted the pillow, giving her new clarity to where she was. She looked around in confusion.

Why was she in the Favonius infirmary, shouldn't she be fighting right now? Why were Fischl and Noelle crying? Why were Diluc and Jean here?

"Why am I here," Emmy's voice was hoarse and it felt as if every time she spoke blood would rise from her throat, but she continued anyway, "Aren't we in the middle of a battle?"

There were not many people in the room, just her friends, Diluc and Jean. Fischl was the one who slapped her just now looking at the way she was tackled by the crying girl. Jean started to speak.

"Emmy... That was three days ago."

"Huh?"

"That battle is already over."

"Oh," Emmy said dumbly.

*****