10 Years Ago.

"Emmy is born; the young miss has finally come into this world!"

A shadow guard quietly gushed as they looked at the tiny baby in her mother's arms.

The young Inu sat silently, gazing firmly at the little bun before him. He had just finished training and thought he would be laying waste to the Kujou family's enemies, but now he was guarding a baby.

There was no worse feeling than this.

'Well... Getting stuck in the abyss is the worst fate, though, or waking up in a warzone with no memories. But those were just; these novels; these were not possible in real life, right?'

Suddenly the baby looked in their direction and flashed them a toothless smile.

'This is good,' Emmy's cuteness instantly changed Inu's mind.

The baby giggled, and Inu sent her a wave even though, in his shadow form, she couldn't see. None of them could see him, which was the point of their transformation.

The Anbu must not be seen or heard by anyone other than their Master. The Madam created the Anbu, which served the purpose of protecting Kujou heirs and essential individuals.

'We also perform assassinations, but that isn't important. Is it?'

Inu shrugged and went back to Emmy watching. This girl had already taken his heart in the few minutes she had been in this world, and he had already sworn his allegiance.

He didn't question why he felt a gap in his mind when he saw Emmy as if something wrong had occurred. He just felt that his young miss was the cutest thing in the world.

A few years passed since then, and Emmy was now four.

During this time, the girl was all smiles and highly mischievous; she often played pranks on the local populace. The people seemed fond of the young girl, often giving her gifts and treats.

Emmy accepted them with manners that surpassed her age; her training ensured that. But there was still a bit of awkwardness came with her body composition.

But it would be okay with what treatment she received. None could compete with the girl's dear Sunsettia; the sheer amount of emotions that slid across her face as she devoured the fruit was a sight to behold.

It was not destined to last, however. Fate and forces older than time had other plans for the young girl.

It would only take a week for all this to change and for that smile to be lost forever. In leading up to this tragedy, five mistakes were relevant.

The first mistake was when the Kujou clan accepted an audience with one of the Fatui Harbingers. It was about some business that Inu had no interest in, but that point could be the catalyst for all the bad things that happened afterward.

He should've been more nosy, but life left no room for complaints on regrets. A human-like Inu could not turn back time.

"Il Dottore, you requested to see me?"

The Master said, his granddaughter behind him though she wasn't in sight of the man before him. On his face was a small smile, his eyes closed as he made a gesture toward the Masked Harbinger to continue.

"Ah yes, her majesty wishes to conduct some business in Inazuma. We have already received confirmation from the other two clans, so if you would- Oh?"

Dottore looked at the young girl that hid behind her Grandfather, looking at him shyly; realizing he was looking at her, she pulled her Grandfather's clothes before running away.

At the time, the girl seemed a bit shy, and with a statement from Dottore, the two began to speak business in another room. Inu left the two to their business and shadowed Emmy. No doubt that his fellow Anbu would be listening to that conversation.

In the meantime, he would spend this time gazing at Emmy as she helped some ants carry food to their abode. She even helped the injured ants to the ant hill too. She laughed, and Inu smiled.

If only.

The turning point was when Dottore began to leave.

"Ah, masked person!"

Emmy said nervously as she approached Dottore as he began to leave. Il Dottore stopped, not out of interest but politeness. He had no desire for the child, but since he had just made a deal with her Grandfather, he supposed he could make a little detour to listen to what she had to say.

With a mild interest but little desire to act, he smiled.

"Yes, child," Dottore said; even as he kneeled, the girl still couldn't reach his chest.

"You see, Grandfather seemed pretty happy. Emmy is happy when her Grandfather is happy~."

Dottore had a look on his face that said, 'Where is this going?' But Emmy didn't notice.

"Since I'm happy, here is a gift!"

"A gift for me?"

"Yeah! A gift makes everyone happy! Hehe~"

Dottore went to take the box, and when he touched the little girl's fingers, he nearly fell. At the time, he apologized, but Inu could see for that split second that Dottore's face revealed a bit of recognition, realization, and even... yearning?

He should have paid it mind, but he was a fool then. He was jealous of Dottore for being able to come into contact with the young miss. A privilege he would never enjoy within this lifetime. Those were his thoughts back then, it was stupid, but he was only human.

The next day Emmy went out to play with one of the Kujou clan's subordinate clan children in their compound. And Inu was replaced by the Anbu of the family there. He didn't find anything wrong; the young miss was in good hands, he thought; she was still within his reach.

He was wrong.

The young miss didn't appear again for three days, and by then, Inu knew deep in his heart that he failed his duty.

But it was too late.

The second mistake was agreeing to let the Madam go on her annual trip with her powerful friends. The Master had no problem with it, but Inu felt that this time was different.

He was right, but being right did not make him feel good. He should have overstepped his boundaries and made his thoughts known. He was too timid to authority due to his harsh training and weakness, and he would go on to correct it after the incident.

The third mistake was obvious. Inu should have never let the young miss touch Dottore, for whatever attracted the man to her was not on the outside but on the inside. He should have given the gift in her place.

He would have given up his true identity or face if he had. But that was worth it when he thought of what the young miss would not have experienced.

The last two were irrelevant to Inu when he stood in the Main Hall of the Kujou secret palace listening to the plan to retrieve the young miss from whatever fate she had sustained.

The hall of the secret palace was huge, and this was the main one. It stretched to seemingly infinite proportions and was said to contain a pathway to nearly everywhere across the Inazuma Archipelago.

These passageways were created 500 years ago by enemies and allies alike to move across Inazuma to protect or attack locations. The Madam fixed the aisles for the use of the Anbu.

'The Madam looks incredibly pissed off, but so do I and everyone here. I'm sorry, guys; it's my fault,' Inu closed his eyes painfully as he remembered Emmy's bright smile on the day of her birth before Dottore's eyes appeared before him.

The contained a look filled with yearning and desire for the young girl, though he did not know why. It filled him with an intense heat that arrived at his soul if he only could turn that bastard into slice cheese. What a glorious day this would turn out to be.

A bit of killing intent leaked out from him, but he did not notice. He did not know that there were many others like him; their killing intent filled the room, and their thoughts were not raging like they thought they would be.

Like a conjoined entity, their thoughts were as calm as the Inazuman Sea this past week. Since the Madam had returned and house Kujou had been informed, Inazuma had entered a state of suffocating tension. They had withdrawn nearly all their soldiers everywhere in a precise manner. Only those guarding key locations were left to stand on duty, or those of other clans took it up.

They were preparing for something.

The slowly drawing rain clouds that remained quiet above Inazuma these last days informed the people that something would happen. Something bad.

Otherwise, there was no way that a human could pause the ever-present thunder and rain above the archipelago could have stayed like this without a peep of thunder or a drop of rain. And with the Kujou clan in such devoted silence, like they were dead, even the ocean for miles across stood still.

"Is the Raiden Shogun angry?"

Such a thought was within their minds, and it was only natural, for only a god could do such a thing.

No human was capable of such a feat.

"I need not remind you that we are all at fault in the kidnapping of our blood. Emmy is no mere child, nor is she no mere heir; she is far more than what she is on the surface. It is instrumental that she be rescued alive!"

The Madam said with force, knocking them out of their haze filled with killing intent.

"I have already located where she is; we will be moving to this location; however, merely rescuing our young miss isn't enough for you all, right?"

A thunderous shout occurred behind them, and Inu looked back to see thousands of soldiers. Today they did not wear the garb of the Inazuman army but donned new armor, and the crest of the Kujou clan rested on their chests proudly.

Their eyes shone with duty and hatred that was not inferior to the ones the Anbu showed. Inu thought it was natural, of course. To them, Emmy, or rather Kamiko-sama, was a treasure. She always saluted them when they were training, cheering them on when she passed by, thanking them for their hard work of her own volition.

She was a sweet and sincere girl. Sure, she was a bit naughty for a girl her age, but their love and loyalty to her didn't decrease but increased for it.

They would sacrifice their lives for her, which was why they were here and not any other.

"Good. I found that the Takatsukasa clan and many others who were loyal subordinate clans have also betrayed us. They were the ones who gave Kamiko to the Fatui and the ones who told them the locations of their residing Anbu, causing them to die," Madam casually said a tragic sentence.

She continued, "Naturally, such a thing must not stand, and I will go forward to 'cleanse' the clans who committed such a thing. I will take a few minutes on this little thing; in the meantime, The Anbu present will go to Kamiko's location. The Army will destroy the Fatui bases, factories, and labs around the numerous Islands. All of them!"

At the back of his mind, Inu wondered what the consequences would be of pissing off a strong nation like the Fatui, but he did not care. It wasn't his job either; his career was to protect his young miss, and he failed terribly.

It was time to make amends.

'Finally, it is happening.'

Inu couldn't contain his excitement and nearly shouted out.

He wanted to strangle those Fatui bastards so bad it hurt his body.

"Many of you are eager to return the favor for such a disrespectful action. Inazuma is our home, and arrogant terrorists will not be allowed to grab what they want and do what they please! Many of our brethren are stationed across the archipelago, waiting to strike; we will now begin [Operation Light Crawler]; move Out!"

That day began a new fate for the world though they did not know it. Teyvat and its occupants would only feel the effects of this later.

Inu breathed as he and his fellow [Anbu] flew across the land with insane speed. The shadows covered the land due to the [Everlasting Cloud Formation], so they could travel faster than if the sun could shine down on the ground.

There was little breath through this landscape of infinite shadows as most residents opted to stay inside to play with their families or sleep. The Anbu didn't speak to one another; Their mission was the only thing on their mind.

Like an evil demon, their bloodlust caressed the local flora and fauna. They wilted or died when they came in contact with them, but they were paid no mind.

Like his fellow man, Inu could feel it taking over him. The congregation of this infinite bloodlust fueled his hatred and desire for enemy blood to be spilled. Through all this, his mind calmed even as his senses burned.

A kinship was underneath a familiar sky and within the grasp of the overwhelming shower of killing intent.

A feeling of togetherness that was alien to Inu at this point. He had never felt this alive before and in tune with the area. He could feel everything for miles, and he didn't doubt his brethren could too.

It was as if they could share their senses, and it was a liberating experience. Undoubtedly, this mission was the catalyst, along with many other things that granted them this privilege of being. A common enemy and a common thing, a person they felt the urge to protect.

'So it was true when someone said that Humanity would only be one when a common enemy abounds.'

Emmy was calling them; in the cold clutches of a dark-minded harbinger, she was crying in fear and hurting, but they couldn't reach her.

Infuriating!

The Anbu felt shame and anger in their hearts. They trained to protect the Kujou heirs, and yet, due to their negligence, one was snatched away like one would pick a grape from a grapevine.

Never again!

Inu swore that when he got her back, he would never leave her side until she could guard herself. The superior he treated as if she was his child or sibling. Never again!

He pushed down the thoughts that she could be done for. Dottore was a man who did experiments on people but kept it hidden from them. In the hurts of the Kujou family, there was a now deep-centered hatred for all things Fatui.

There would be no more deals or compromises from them.

*****

General Kujou rode his horse as fast as he could to a main Fatui base in the distance from a hidden pathway—a sizable amount of his soldiers at his call, his two daughters on his side. The two girls, Jemma and Esmeralda, were named by their mother. The two, who always seemed to fight, now emitted a thick killing intent as they gazed at the fortress that came into their vision.

"Father- Ghmm! General, how do we proceed?" Jemma said as Emeralda slapped her upside the head when she would call him father. She corrected herself soon after.

Esmeralda had short dark hair with purple highlights she got from her mother, and her eyes were a purple-blue color. Her face was like an angry god.

Someone had dared to kidnap her niece! Did they take them, a military family who served the Almighty Shogun, to be pushovers?

General Kujou paused and pulled out a giant Naginata colored purple, black, and gold. It thrummed with the power he could barely contain.

It rejected him, but he had to use it due to the urgent situation, even if he had to serve a few years of his life. The burning hatred in his heart demanded him to, and there was no stopping it.

'Please, I must take revenge for my granddaughter! I must bring her what she deserves from these impudent bastards. So my ancestors permit me to wield your weapon!'

It appeared his pleid had reached them; the weapon ceased its struggle and began to cooperate with him.

"General?"

"My men and women of the Crimson Cloud Battalion, we march to victory today! Charge!"

"Oooooh!"

They then began a fierce charge from their secret passages into the blindspot of the fortress. They saw the walls and nearly stopped charging, but General Kujou accelerated; he pulled something from his pocket and threw them at the walls.

They stuck there and blew up in a magnificent explosion that pushed many soldiers back.

Jemma and Emeralda covered their eyes, and then, when the dust settled, the wall was gone.

"What did I say? Charge!"

There was a silence before the angry cheers of men rippled through the field, and they charged into the fortress. Jemma and Esmeralda were the first to enter, and Fatui witnessed what happened when you kidnapped a woman's child while she was strong enough to kill you.

Death rejoiced on that day, for there were many bodies and souls to reap. However, the souls were not his to take but that of the mother of all beings.

The Leyline.

*****