The monster spared a glance at the girl and she rubbed her arms lightly. She looked at the sky and did not bother to block her eyes from the boiling hot sun in the air. Though it was made clear to her that it was not cold outside.

'Beneath the surface, many moves are being played.'

The bustle of the city behind her brought to mind a hive of bees, except this "hive" was far from her buzzing friends' heavily synchronized and disciplined work ethic.

Though for humans currently in celebration of a long-awaited festival like the Windblume Emmy supposed the sweet smell of dandelion wine that wafted through the air along the cool wind was warranted.

She stood silently at the gates of Mondstadt; the purple carriage that stopped just in front of her carried a familiar banner. Out of the doors came a few members of her family and there was no pause in her movement when she saw one person.

"Grandmother!" With a light jump, the girl soared into the woman's arms and she deftly caught her like she was a flying squirrel.

"Hahaha! My dear, how have you been? Are you eating well?"

"Grandmother, stop. I can't breathe."

Emmy hung on her grandmother's chest helplessly as the woman was an astonishing 6ft1 tall for her age. Emmy's height of 5ft11 was astounding for a young teen. The Madam laughed joyfully as she tried to keep her expression cheerful.

The primogem symbol she just saw on Emmy's forehead sprung alarm bells. They were annoyingly loud and obnoxious.

Esmeralda, Sara, and Jemma stood on the side like a couple of strangers. If they didn't all come out of the same carriage earlier it would seem like it.

"Emmy!"

The girl felt a chill when she heard Fischl's voice. Fischl usually shouted at her only when she was going to...

'Oh no.'

A heavy weight descended on her back, and Emmy staggered along with the many people with her. As usual, Fischl started by hugging around her neck and then rubbing their faces together.

[If the system didn't know Fischl's constellation was a raven, it would have thought she was a cat.]

'Birds do this too, I think.'

[They do.]

"Fischl," Emmy whispered nervously and it was only then the girl saw she was with others. She jumped off Emmy's back awkwardly and bowed in greeting.

Emmy sighed already knowing how she would greet herself and allowed a slight smile to appear on her face.

"Ehem! I, Fischl, Prinzessin der Verurteilung, descend upon this land by the call of fate and greet those who wander in its mortal realm. Fear not, the common folk has not to worry of being seen with my magnificent self."

"Uh..."

"Wonderful, so you're Emmy's first friend? I have always wanted to meet the magnanimous Prinzessin."

While Esmeralda and Sara were confused, the Madam immediately adapted to the situation and greeted Fischl. The girl's eyes glowed in joy and shook the hand of the woman.

"Art thou one who has traveled through the stars and crossed the river of time as well," Fischl said excitedly not noticing the flash of surprise that passed the Madam's face before she returned to her previous expression.

"Yes. Back in my day, they used to call me StarWalker. Servant to the 11 Divine Masters. How did you know?"

"Hmph! Naturally, as one who has crossed the star atlas, what can't the Prinzessin see? My world eclipses all things and my mind has no boundaries."

[Hoh?]

Emmy perked up at what the system said. After she had arrived at [A] rank she heard a little of how the system was created and she was eager to know more.

[Prepare yourself, host.]

'Huh?'

The system didn't say more and Emmy was on guard. She grumbled a bit before she stretched her senses to the entirety of Mondstadt. Only stopping when it brushed on Liyue's borders.

Emmy pursed her lips, 'What is that presence?'

She looked up catching what appeared to be a dark-blue shadow before it disappeared.

What was that?

Before she could ponder, she was called by everyone else who seemed to be leaving her behind. She took a step and appeared in their midst, gathering a few gasps from some people but she didn't mind it.

After mastering [Teleport] and [Heavenly Steps] Emmy couldn't instinctively walk like a normal person anymore. She had to put conscious effort into doing that rather than those techniques.

It was sort of backward but it was a precaution to danger.

"Em~," Fischl said as she grabbed her arm and pointed forward, toward the heat of the Windblume festival.

"Let's go, onwards!"

At the command, the girl, Fischl, walked ahead of everyone else with Emmy in tow. Emmy looked back and gestured for everyone to follow the young girl as well.

'Well let's just enjoy today for what it's worth. I am going to be busy for the next few weeks with the [World Summit] coming up.'

*****

World Summit.

An annual event that was proposed by SCA officials to leaders of all nations and organizations to discuss the world situation and come up with solutions. Due to its importance, it couldn't be held anywhere.

Thus Emmy and Sunsettia Inc. created the [Octagon].

The [Octogon] was an island that took the shape not of an actual octagon but of an Eight headed star. For those not in the know it might seem like a regular star but for those who knew...

It was Emmy's tribute to the greatest human nation to ever exist.

This Island was located between Inazuma, Mondstadt, and Liyue. Right in the middle where all of their borders meet and was the best place for all leaders to meet.

*****

In another area in Mondstadt, there was quite a crowd surrounding a domain entrance. In the middle of the crowd were a boy and a girl who seemed to be between the ages of 13-15.

"You're challenging me?" With a laugh, Emmy mocked.

"A few stretches and you're done!" Andre warmed up.

They both stood at the entrance of a Domain where the games were held. What they were heading into now was a Domain clear event.

"Just a few mobs; they aren't as much as you make them out to be."

"Enough chat, it's time to go!" Lynx stood at the center of the two with both hands in the air. He clapped them thrice and then brought them down quickly.

The moment his hands were down the two took a single step and then vanished like the wind.

The one to clear the domain on the hardest difficulty wins. And this was no ordinary event domain. It was artificially upgraded by Emmy using some of her power, so it became 5 times harder.

Emmy ran into the domain entrance and found herself in the middle of a desert area, a large red key found floating in the air. This was a domain key, used to activate the challenge.

She approached and activated the domain without another thought to what might await her. The warm wind pelted her with sand that moved into her clothes like ants but Emmy just shook it off with Anemo.

The heat fell on her skin with fury from the scorching orb above her, strangely it was more red than orange.

A soft rumble permitted through the realm before several dragon heads came up from the sand and attacked her immediately. She spared a glance to the floated camera near her that broadcasted her process.

She waved stoically and then jumped up into a kick that sent one of the dragons flying into nearby sand a nearby dune.

"I'll name you all Sand Worm 1, Sand Worm 2, and Sand Worm 3."

Emmy flipped, avoiding sandworms 1 and 2 who tried to flank her. The evasion cause them both to crash into each other. A massive dust cloud formed at their collision point.

Sandworm 3 pierced through the ground beneath its target and found nothing but pain as Emmy descended from the sky to deliver a powerful axe kick to the monster's head once again sending it into the sand.

"Now that should be a sufficient headstart for him, let's get serious shall we?"

[Indeed. You have 10 minutes.]

"I only need 5."

Emmy laughed as the three sandworms charged toward her back but she merely turned and started walking toward them. In her heart not a hint of worry surfaced. The sandworms froze in the air and Emmy passed them.

Then a shower of blood and sand erupted behind her as she swaggered onto the next challenge, yawning.

The next challenge Emmy faced was an obstacle course that required her to collect some coins, only instead of the regular hundred-some coins there were about 30 to 40 thousand.

[4:59]

Emmy sighed, the system to take her words seriously and give her less time.

"Well, it doesn't matter I'll complete this as I said."

She stretched and utilized her innate talent, [Meta-Locking]. Through this, she constructed a path that would make her collect all the coins in the least amount of time. Some would question, why would she do that.

She had to collect the coins herself and could just through items at them because they would be collected in the special badge the adventurers guild gave her. She had to touch them herself.

Oh, she would.

With her target lock and her path made.

"Launching..." Emmy took a few steps back and then jumped off the platform that stood in the sky. In front of her lay a huge civilization of skyscrapers as the system called them and a ruined landscape that smelt of age and iron.

Smoke and ash lurked in the atmosphere which made it hard to see for those on the other side of the screen but for figures like Emmy and Andre, this wasn't all that difficult of an environment. They had seen worse.

[Meta-Locking] activated a moment later. Emmy didn't activate flight but she still flew in the direction of the first coins due to her being the "object" that was thrown.

'[Acceleration]'

Her speed increased Emmy began to collect the coins through the planned route. She went through the black streets a material she identified as asphalt. The system also told her about this. It is the system that made this domain after all.

But that didn't matter right now.

She went up the first skyscraper and into all the floors and found all the coins there then she was out of the building. She went in the sewers, schools of some kind, and even the forests. She would sometimes be forced to break through walls or even drill underground for efficiency.

After 2 minutes she finished the challenge and went toward the last one. The camera was at the portal as it couldn't quite keep up with those of her rank yet but anything below [S] rank it could keep track of.

Even if it was primarily for exploring tight spaces and recording adventurers' travels.

"It helped save some lives as well like that one time a mountain collapsed, and people saw it happen through the screen. What a time to be alive."

If it wasn't for this many people wouldn't survive that incident.

[Last Challenge.]

Emmy leisurely proceeded to the last part of the Domain. She jumped.

The last challenge wasn't worth mentioning as it was just another combat challenge but this time it was a simulated god the adventurers guild had to fight against some years ago. They had found it in the ruin of some ancient civilization on the coasts of Liyue.

Emmy won effortlessly but the [Seed of Malice] still gave her some trouble. She figured it was due to the past abyssal origin of the god which is why it acted up like how it did during the battle. But it wasn't a match for her so she overpowered it without difficulty.

She ran to the finish line and met with the cheers of all her friends, family, and others who participated in similar events. She looked back to see Andre walking out of the Domain leisurely gazing left and right.

Emmy sneered, 'After being handed your ass on a cold plate, you still act as if you weren't trying.'

Andre as if sensing her disdain smiled at her and waved as if he didn't lose. Emmy sighed and shrugged. She high-fived him.

"Good game."

They both said at the same time and Emmy exited the area with her arm around his neck and the others following behind them. They had to try the other events after all.

*****

There were many times during the festival when she had to stop and give autographs and take pictures with others. Most of them are citizens from nations not in the SCA. As the people from those nations were already used to her presence.

Emmy supposed that her actions had led to the creation of many revolutionary things. Like the [Global Comm Network] where people could communicate with others all over Teyvat. It was still a bit limited in some areas but it worked fine in all major nations.

Though she had to travel to Sneznaya to put up the Sun Pillar which connected all devices to the network; meeting Dottore still made her bitter.

She wasn't afraid of him anymore.

[So the time you let the system control your body while you went to hide in the place was an act of defiance and courage?]

'Yes,' Emmy didn't blink as she bought some food for all her people.

"Are you sure you can carry all of this?" Sara, the owner of Good Hunter, asked as she bought nearly the whole menu.

"I can, don't worry," Emmy reassured her and then she made boxes of controlled Anemo energy. Placing each order in those boxes before carrying them off.

'Being a master elementalist is so good, back in the day I couldn't do such a thing. Hah~ How time flies,' Emmy placed a hand on her face.

A dark shadow flashed past her eyes and then disappeared. Emmy locked on to them in a heartbeat and gave chase. The dark shadow twisted and turned, teleporting and diverting her attention.

Emmy knowing she couldn't catch them like this, immediately went to activate her innate talent but as if sensing this the beast disappeared.

[Strange behavior. As if it was announcing its presence. Host be careful in the days to come.]

Why was a dark blue shadow following her?

Wait...

'A dark blue shadow?'

Emmy touched her neck, where the chain tattoos were on her neck. Over the years they grew to surround her ankles and wrists as well as some key parts of her body.

Coincidentally, her chains were also a dark blue color.

'I see,' Emmy looked to the sky in realization.

It's about that time.

She walked away, the meals she had in tow. It didn't take her long to meet with her family and friends. There were in a large area with other families and groups around them enjoying a small break from the festival.

It was a fairly sized picnic area with large [Manigora] trees around, which were made by Emmy. They were trees with spiky heart-shaped leaves of a peach-green color and had a blue trunk underneath.

They were circling the area and creating enough shade for everyone in the area with their enormous height.

It was a new area in Mondstadt that served as a celebration area and a romantic spot as well due to it having leaves that changed color on Valentine's Day.

They also changed color when two people are in love with one another, most people found that out by now.

'There was something they didn't know though,' Emmy thought as she looked around, 'The deeper and richer the color, the longer the estimated years for that relationship if it even began.'

She received a few looks but Emmy paid it no mind as she trudged ahead toward her spot.

"Hey Emmy," Andre greeted her while dangling upside down on a Manigora tree branch the size of her forearm.

"Hmm, will you have yours while upside down? Or will you get down and eat it like a regular person," Emmy said.

"Anything but regular but less than extraordinary. Isn't that what people call me?"

"I think I'm a regular person," Emmy said as she placed all the dishes on the cloth.

"Sofie!"

"Caw!?"

At her call, an eagle descended and she gave it some chicken, gave it some head pats, and then shooed it away. It rubbed her face affectionately before going away.

"Ohh! It smells delicious! Wouldn't you say, Sara?" Esmeralda said, clapping her hands together.

"It does."

'Well, that's one way to shut someone down, yikes!'

Emmy took a seat next to Fischl and Noelle who were seated awkwardly on their knees. When she sat down the same way calmly they both peeked at her.

"You don't have to sit that way," Emmy said and they quickly fixed themselves in a more comfortable position.

While Fischl fixed herself Emmy took a look at the purple and gold bracelet on her wrist. It had engravings of a night raven and a golden eagle on it. Naturally, it was made by Emmy and it was a [Rank 5] Artifact name [Veritas's Rebirth].

"Oh the boss is here," Aries, came around the end of the park in a jog. There were a few people behind him.

"Are those your parents?" Emmy asked.

"Yep!" He looked around his nose wrinkled when he spotted his brother hanging from a tree upside down. He scanned the area.

"With my parents here I think that's everyone."

"Hmm, great. Can you lead them to the adult area please?"

Though it was one large gathering there had to be some topics the adults didn't want to talk about while they were around. Anyway, they would all gather around later.

Andre took his parents away and Emmy walked back to her seat. She picked up a glass and found the bottle of her favorite juice.

"Oh? The Crimson General has once more taken a sip of the tassel of molten blood?"

"It's just Sunsettia juice," Noelle chuckled as she unconsciously began to set up the food for everyone. She already knew what they would like and they let her take control of their food for them.

Emmy took a sip of her glass like she drank wine, which she would never do. While she was strong enough that it could not hinder her. It was a matter of principle.

No matter how bad life got, she wouldn't rely on external happiness.

Emmy took a peek at Fischl and coughed, 'Manufactured external happiness I meant to say.'

[Isn't Fischl technically a manufactured product? She was made by a union of cells between the human male and female. The Kaiser and Kaiserin of the Irmenachtreich.]

A person of lesser self-control would have spat out their drink. Emmy wasn't one such person.

'Who are they gonna ship her out to? Me?' Emmy smirked as if she won.

[The future holds all answers. Whether or not that will be a possibility will be the outcome of your actions.]

'This means?' Emmy's thoughts on Fischl could be called familial and extremely overprotective to an intense degree. She was her only friend to receive such a privilege one comparable to that which her parents possess.

Something strongly resisted the notion but mild temptations and wonders barely affected her nowadays.

Emmy hugged Fischl and the girl blushed. With hashbrowns in her mouth and friend around her, she was very happy.

A long time ago she didn't have any friends or people who were willing to accept her for how she was at all. But now...

Fischl looked at Emmy, 'This is all because of you!'

"Meet me back at my house later," Emmy whispered into her ear.

The heat of her body had placed her in a blanket of wool, but it didn't take long for vulnerability to take over her once the tone in Emmy's voice bled over. Akin to when she took her first cold bath in the dark when her parents weren't home.

She took a bite of the pastry in her hand and tried to swallow. She choked and Emmy assisted her promptly. Before long she returned to normal and everyone claimed down.

"Well someone was a bit too excited today, huh?" Sebastian said peeping at her through the glass in his hand, "Some water and a bit of time in the forest alone should be enough to calm yourself."

"But-"

"Trust me," He glanced at Emmy and lowered his glass, "Time alone can solve many problems."

Andre plopped down next to his brother hung his arms around his neck and said, "Listen to him. We would know."

"Take your hands off bastard!"

"But I'm older."

"By like 1 second."

"On the battlefield, 1 second could mean the difference between life and death, I think it's pretty significant."

Emmy stood up and took Fischl with her before they could see the end of the upcoming argument between the two.

Through the winding pathways and cherry blossoms, the two girls transverse the beautiful yet artificial ecosystem. Their hands felt like the fur of a rabbit, warmth directed to the heart.

Fischl looked at Emmy's strong back and wondered how her friend always stayed so much taller than her. Out of the entire group, Harlin was the only one to match her height. It was not only height she surpassed Fischl in either.

Fischl averted her gaze to Emmy's head and stepped forward to walk beside her. She also avoids looking anywhere below the girl's neck for fear of a reaction.

A glance in any other area would fill her with both jealousy and a deeper more sinister feeling she was too afraid to try to understand.

['Lust~']

A voice in her head whispered and Fischl shook her off.

['Isn't she sexy? Everything she has can be yours, including her body. But you're afraid to say the word. Coward.']

'No, it feels wrong right? We only friends, only friends,' Fischl began her journey of self-hypnotization.

['Isn't she totally cute and handsome? Look at that wolf cut. She so overbearing in front of others but turns meek in front of you, can't you just push her down and...']

"No!" Fischl screamed.

"Fischl..." Emmy was stunned but she placed a hand on Fischls should to comfort her.

"Ah... too close."

"Why's your face so red? The weather is so good too," Emmy didn't let go of her hand, the other was on her forehead.

"Maybe I should..."

"Wait, don't use it! Don't check my condition, I'm fine."

Fischl hurriedly stopped Emmy from using a special technique, during which her eyes would turn a reddish gold. The blue circle in her eye disappeared and Fischl visibly deflated, her worry seized.

'I'm not sick at all, if you look I'm sure you'll see something else that might ruin what we have right now.'

"Okay," Emmy scratched her head and pointed north, "We should continue walking. I'll think you'll where we're going."

Fischl thanked whichever Inazuman ancestor that gave their descendants this romantic deficiency, otherwise her dirty thoughts would have been found out. What she was saying was that people from Inazuma were extremely dense toward romantic relationships, if one were to go by the light novels.

Hopefully, it was the same in real life as well, and not Emmy faking ignorance.

She didn't know why she felt this way all of a sudden, it was as if a switch had been flipped in her head these days. She began to notice a lot more from Emmy. The things she noticed about her body made her uncomfortable to even look Emmy in the eye.

Like an insect that crawled up her spine, she felt shivers that gave her pangs of nausea when she realized what she felt for her best friend. It was a disgusting, dehumanizing feeling and the voice in her head made it worse by constantly reminding her of her new way of seeing her friend.

She would ask Lisa what was going on when she returned to the city later on.

The two walked for quite a distance before they came upon an area that looked straight out of a mystery novel. Crowned by two small streams was a cave with a human-sized entrance that seemed to be filled with crystals. It was surrounded by a strange mist.

"A cave? But there shouldn't be any caves around this area." Fuschl mumbled and turned to Emmy who continued forward.

Due to her confusion, she momentarily reverted to an ordinary speech pattern.

Despite the cave's appearance, there was a sweet smell of sticky honey roast, and up further there seemed to be a doorway to a room. On the sides were many holes leading to somewhere and she saw a couple of pots and pans in some of them along with burnt firewood.

"Ehem! Luminous dawn and caliginous are the providence given to those who rest upon the Akashic records. So should one not bestow thee with the knowledge of those who grasp at the star atlas beyond the firmament."

Translation: If you tell me why we are here I'll reward you.

"We're here. Let's go inside shall we."

Emmy opened a door made of a glowing purple wood that was smooth like silk and a lavender aroma swathed through toward her causing Fischl to take a deep satisfied breath. Lavender was always her favorite scent. Frequently though she found it replaced by the fragrance of old paper and ink, she wondered why though.

She entered the room which contained an assortment of items and luxury furniture. Carefully, she ran her hands across the cold sofa that lay across the black desk that overlooked a large window of purple and black.

Her color scheme.

Come to think of it all of the items in this room depicted her colors. Except for a uniform for Sunsettia Inc. which was white and gold and Emmy's clothes which were purple, gold, and brown along with silver and black highlights.

Along the walls were an assortment of bookshelves that touched the ceiling. They all held new books and Fischl could see some of her all-time favorites on the shelves. Taking a closer look revealed that all of her all-time favorites were there which was... strange to say the least.

She didn't remember telling Emmy that she read, [Being Reincarnated as Kujou Kumiko's Pet Bird], [Transmigrated as Emmy Sama's Weapon, Slaying All The Abyss Monsters is Easy], and so on.

Fischl heard Emmy sigh and she looked at her friend, who leaned against the office desk. The window gave a view of a large golden-blue tree behind her. 

"What art thou, one of the luminous and illustrious men of origin? To which extent art thou seeking refuge? Fear not, the glorious kingdom of yours truly will not disdain you."

"Fischl listen, I-," Emmy lifted her eyes to meet Fischl's but she couldn't piece together her words no matter how much she repeated the phrase on her lips. So, she closed her mouth and then said.

"Happy birthday," She squeezed out a smile, but her eyes held a few tears.

"What do you mean?" Fischl found herself a bit emotional as well, she never knew Emmy to cry. A handful of those times were out of pain or even while she laughed but today, she could feel that her tears were shed out of sadness.

"Isn't this a pretty room, I made it just for you. It's a fantastic study and any book you would need can be found here or in the underground library."

"Why are you-" Fischl was cut off by a suffocating intent on her life and she trembled from head to toe. Off the window's reflection, she could see a blue and black shadow, as if on instinct he flung herself into Emmy's arms, crying.

In doing so she saw for herself the marks on Emmy's neck and the side of her right eye. Chains and barbed wires along with sinister thorns. 

"Ah-," Fischl's grip on Emmy increased as her realization of what was happening dawned on her like thunder on a clear day. She stammered as she held on to her friend as if she was afraid, she would be gone the next moment.

A hand was placed on her head and Emmy said a few words that made her cry even harder.

"Don't cry, I got you your favorite chocolate cake. We can eat it together."

For the last time, Fischl filled out the rest in her head. Her hate-filled eyes looked at the abyss creature in the window reflection. It smiled mockingly at her, she could see hundreds of chains connected to Emmy's heart. All of them are at the hands of the beast.

"Don't worry, I'll just be gone for a short while okay? After the summit, we can go back to adventuring together. I'll stop being a commissioner and pass on the Job to Sara. Why are you crying, we're gonna have so much fun, just like before, yeah?"

"Yeah."

******