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Cape Oath was windy as hell, windy enough to mess up your hair and irritate your eyes. That was unsurprising, considering that it was located in Mondstat, the Land of Wind, Freedom, Music, and Stupid Drunkards. (Diona had added that last one.) But if you had peered past the shore on that windy day, you would have seen a group of eight, standing at a portal to the Spiral Abyss, gearing up to go in. Now, normally not even the bravest adventurer would ever be so stupid as to do that, but the Spiral Abyss had just refreshed, and the group was broke on both Primogems and Mora.
“Alright,” Jean said, “Does everyone have their artifact sets on?” The group was working on that: since there wasn’t exactly any artifact loadout button, it was taking a while to take their artifact sets back from other characters. (Honkai Star Rail had, once again, taken all the good QoL features.)
“Make sure your builds are right and you’ve got level 80 or 90 weapons!” Yelan reminded everyone, “We’ve got to get to at least Floor 11 today!”
“Yes Mom, we’ve got our stuff.”
Furina and Xingqiu said that at the exact same time…before realizing what they had just called Jean and Yelan respectively. Furina, for her part, took it in stride, even though she was dying inside. In contrast, Xingqiu immediately threw his embarrassed face straight back into his book.
On the other side of the Spiral Abyss gate, the other team was doing a bit better…in the smallest sense possible of the word “bit”,
Bennett had (somehow) lit a nearby bush on fire while practicing Pyro with Xiangling, who on her end, seemed to be encouraging the arson.
“Kids… What are you doing, it’s time to go!” Ganyu yelled, mildly exasperated from the arson and the fact that she was literally dragging Diona on the ground toward the entrance.
Diona was crossing her arms, petulant, and didn’t seem to want to go into the deadly Spiral Abyss. (Which, to be fair, was a reasonable response for a child.)
“Why do I have to be the shielder for all you guys?!” She growled, in the way a kitten growls when they want to pretend to be scary. “Get someone else to do it!”
“We don’t have an HP sword for Layla, and we already had you at level 50 when we started building the team,” Ganyu said, in the same way a tired parent would, “Now be quiet, or we’ll pull for Venti and put him on this team.”
The threat of having to associate with a drunk person seemed to shut Diona up well enough.
Furina touched the entrance to the Abyss, and suddenly, everyone was sucked in, possibly into one of the most dangerous places in the entirety of Tevyat.
So anyways, we draw a curtain over the curbstomp that was floor 9.
Floor 10, Chamber 1, First Half
Spiral Abyss 4.2
Furina jumped in, summoned her little friends, and immediately went into her Burst.
“Alright, everyone, watch me! Time to shine!” It gave everyone a bubbly sort of aura, boosting their damage. As soon as she got there, she then instantly swapped out, getting behind Jean as her Salon did her work for her.
“Can’t your little creatures stop draining my HP, Miss Furina?,” Xingqiu said as he quickly ran in, activating his Rain Swords-- ”Rain outlines your fate!” and then hitting twice with his elemental skill and his Sacrificial Sword. Since he had his 4th constellation, it did massive damage. “It’s really exhausting, and makes getting hit hurt a lot more.”
Yelan tagged in, and as the Meks tried to get up, she immediately dashed in with her Lifeline--choking them, and using the ropes to try and group them together.
“There’s no need to complain, kid! It boosts our DPS, and the sooner we finish this, the sooner you can take a break from this and go read a book! Besides…” Yelan took a look at the Hydro particles now floating around, and before absorbing them, she activated her Burst-
“Game’s up, fun’s over!”
Which made a beautiful six-sided dice made of Hydro spin around, lighting up the dark room. All this, and Furina’s Salon was still working hard, the three sea creatures blasting the enemies with bubbles, hitting in the high thousands.
By this point all the Meks and Treasure Hoarders were close together, and affected by Hydro. If water worked anything like how it worked in the real world, the Abyss’s floor would have been a slipping hazard, full of puddles. Thankfully, this was Genshin Impact, so water never affects you. It only affected the enemies.
Just as planned.
Jumping through the water, Jean came in to finish the rotation.
Now, Furina’s Salon had been using the very HP of every single party member as ammo for their shots.
The Fanfare that Furina gave affected every single party member on field and off-field, increasing when their HP decreased…or when it increased.
And Jean happened to be one of the best party-wide healers.
“Don’t worry, I’ve got this, everyone.”
She said that with confidence (and weariness) only an overworked woman in her 30s could have, then charged her skill. It threw the Meks into a wall, with them unceremoniously smacking into an invisible barrier and dying.
Another wave of Meks came in, flanked by some Treasure Hoarders, and a Fatui soldier. Furina blinked. “These guys? How are these ruffians all the way down here?”
Jean looked back at her, slashing with her sword and triggering at least 9 different follow-up attacks from Xingqiu and Yelan’s burst combined. “Don’t worry Ms. Furina, I'm not sure why they're here either, but still, I’ll protect you.”
“ What a protective woman…she reminds me of Neuvillette in so many ways.”
Jean’s sword started to glow, and then… for just a second all the water in the area condensed.
And then exploded outward, dealing massive Anemo and Hydro damage to everything in the area, while healing the party straight back to full.
Since both Fanfare and Viridescent Veneer’s resistance shred turned on, the enemies started taking massive damage.
If they were sentient and not just copies, the Fatui and Treasure Hoarders would be having mixed reactions from “oh god why” to “ mom pick me up I’m scared” .
“ Barbatos, guide us!”
(Somewhere out there, a certain bard sneezed.)
Complete and utter destruction occurred, with Jean slicing through enemies like butter thanks to everyone else’s buffs. She swung her sword gracefully, like nothing but air was stopping it.
“Archons, from the way she fights so efficiently, you’d think she’s a demon,” Yelan said, struck by how effective and efficient the normally paperwork-flooded woman was at fighting.
Furina looked at Jean, slicing through enemies with Hydro and Anemo. Jean moved effortlessly but still with overwhelming force. It reminded her of memories… “She…reminds me of this one woman I met. A Harbinger.”
Besides, Jean was the only other person who could move as if she was dancing and aiming to kill at the same time.
The other woman she had encountered firsthand.
Xingqiu glanced over at Furina, “Jean, the Fatui harbinger? Now that’s a wild concept if I’ve ever heard one. It would cause a diplomatic incident if I tried to get it published, though…”
First half complete.
Second Half
Ganyu and her team spawned the second that the other round ended.
Ganyu looked over her team with worry. They were young, not even toddlers to her if you take into account how she was an adeptus, and she didn't want them to get hurt.
A worry only exacerbated by Bennett somehow slipping on the floor and hitting his head.
“Ow,” the ever-unlucky kid said, “why does that always happen…”
He was immediately offered a hand, and found himself staring into three pairs of concerned eyes.
Xiangling was the one who pulled him up by her hand.
“C’mon, everyone has accidents from time to time. Especially me when I go into the kitchen to experiment,” Xiangling then got her polearm out, and gestured for him to do the same. “But we’ve got to keep going anyways. How else are you gonna taste the full spice of life?”
Bennett groaned a bit at the Cyno-level pun, but got back up to his feet with Diona and Xiangling’s help,
“Thanks guys, I really needed that.”
Ganyu started the fight, and immediately charged up powerful ice arrows.
The rest of the party members were there to support her, so as they swapped in, they quickly deployed their Skills and Bursts.
“I’m going in!”
“You’re toast!”
“Shaken and stirred!”
…in roughly that order.
Ganyu smiled at the kids helping out, then gestured for them to get back. The Meks dived in or shot, but Ganyu either tanked the hits, (Thanks, Diona) or moved back, leaving an ice flower for them to hit instead.
Once the Pyronado touched the enemies, they had already been doomed. While Xiangling had the Catch, she also had 200 Elemental Mastery from substats and her Asencion bonus. So did Ganyu.
And both of them were standing over a primed and ready Bennett burst.
So when Ganyu shot the mech in its head with a sniper’s precision and a Frostflake Arrow, it melted off the armor on the monster, and did numbers well in the fifty-thousands.
Then it did it again, simultaneously releasing its second shower of arrows right as the Pyronado came back around, making scrap metal of the Meks.
The enemies were destroyed, and Ganyu made quick work of the second wave as well.
Diona looked on with the other kids in awe.
“Do you think I’ll be able to shoot that well when I grow older?”
Xiangling glanced down at the little catgirl.”Honestly Diona, I know some younger Vision users in Liyue, and they wonder the exact same thing.”
“ Except for Qiqi. Can that little zombie wonder? On that note, I wonder what zombie tastes like…”
Floor 10, Chamber 1 Complete.
Chamber 2 First Half
“Miss Furina, do you think Jean the Harbinger would make a good novel? (If we changed the names of course.)”
“I’ve actually read fanfic of myself. It was kind of depressing, sometimes entertaining, and sometimes really funny. I say as long as you’re respectful to the real people, go for it. Just leave me out of talking to that fox lady.”
Somewhere out there, a certain Head Priestess sneezed.
Meanwhile, Jean and Yelan cleared the floor as if they were clearing a Daily Commission.
Second Half
Ganyu swiveled around and shot her bow…
At nothing. The Pyronado had already killed the Vishap.
The rest of the kids were wondering where that arrow was going.
The other Vishaps looked like they were trying to cringe, but by Vishap anatomical standards, scrunching up your face like that is very hard to do.
Not like they had time to when Ganyu shot them in the face.
Chamber 2 Completed.
Floor 10, Chamber 3
“Who are these guys and their… sassy lost crocodile?”
Yelan charged up her burst, and gave her dice to Jean, dodging a nasty bite.
“I think they’re Eremites from Sumeru,” Yelan said as she weaved and dodged an axe slash, “And some weird desert things they found.”
Jean looked over at Yelan confusedly, letting the Rain Swords and Dice do their thing.
“Shouldn’t you know more about Sumeru?”
“The Akademiya was so elitist, we just couldn’t get anyone in for a while. Don’t tell Lady Ninguang I said that though.”
In the background, an Eremite went for Xingqiu’s throat, right as the whole Salon Solitaire showed up to blast him in the face.
Second Half…
Two Ruin Graders appeared.
“What is that!?!” Bennett asked. “It looks huge!”
“Don’t worry kids,” Ganyu assured, "it's just a large Ruin Guard. I'll shoot it in the eyes and we can stun both.”
Ganyu went for the eyes, but while it definitely did damage, it also just made the Ruin Graders focus more on her.
“Miss Ganyu…what do we do now!?!” Diona yelled.
“Xiangling, activate your Pyronado please! Everyone else, run!”
Floor 10 Complete (Barely)
Floor 11, Chamber 1, Second Half
Ganyu was of the opinion that working at the Jade Chamber was heaven compared to this. The other team had it easy, having mainly Pyro aligned enemies to deal with. Countered easily by their mostly hydro team.
Meanwhile her and the kids were learning about new types of Ruin machines up close.
“This is the worst!” Bennett cried in frustration, “Either we get away from the monument and they hit us or we get closer to it and lose a star!”
Ganyu didn’t have anyone who could do crowd control, so she settled for just pushing her bow arm harder.
Chamber 1 Completed
Floor 11, Chamber 2, First Half
Unfortunately, not everything in the Spiral Abyss was a copy of the real thing. Such as the two Abyss Lectors who seemed to revel in causing the party misery.
“A failure of a goddess…no one could ever trick the Heavenly Principles but us…”
Furina especially, considering her ex-Archon status. Jean and the others worked quickly, taking out a Dendro mage trying to set them on fire. Meanwhile, Furina and her Salon fired off Hydro bullets, trying to get through their first health bar. Fire rained throughout the battlefield, with Jean and the others screaming for Furina to get away. But she couldn't hear them, their voices drowned out by meteors falling like rain.
Like rain.
“You will never defy fate like the Abyss can.” the other Lector said, scowling, “Everything of your fate has already been decided, usurper of our rightful glory.”
Furina slashed and bludgeoned with her pipe sword. She wasn’t immortal anymore.
She knew that.
She wasn’t some sort of actress, forced to parade in shame for the sake of Fontaine anymore.
She knew that.
But even still, she couldn’t help but wonder if she was slipping into her old habits, of pushing out the pain, of pushing back the help because no one could ever help her
ever or else everyone sheknewandlovedknewandloved would die and it would be her fault-
She was snapped out of it by strong hands, dragging her out of the way of an oncoming meteor.
“Archons, Ms. Furina, you look terrible!” That blue haired boy yelled, what was his name again? He loved books, and probably had the time to read those lovely stories that weren’t about floods and-
Jean was staring her in the eyes, and so did Yelan.
“Jean, have her rest, I’ll make sure Xingqiu remains safe,”
“Archonspeed Yelan.”
Furina blinked out the tears that she hadn’t known she was crying, “What?”
Jean put her hands on Furina’s shoulders. “Furina, I need you to breathe.”
It was hard to do that when she felt like she’d been drowning in dry land. But she tried.
“I know it’s been hard for you dealing with this. I’ve just dragged you over to the wall, Xingqiu and Yelan have borrowed your hat to try and distract them. If you need rest, I can stay here and try to heal you.”
Furina gulped down a sob.
“I’m sorry.”
“There’s nothing to be sorry for.”
“Listen, I don’t know your story very well,” Jean said, “but even if this is your breaking point, we can’t stop here.”
“Let me tell you something, do you really think you’re the strongest because you’re Focalors? Or are you the strongest because you’re Furina?”
Furina’s tears stopped for a second. She grabbed Jean’s shoulder, and helped lift herself up.
At that moment she looked at the battlefield. She didn’t see the Acting Grandmaster, or the Guhua heir, or the Liyue Qixing. She saw three people, who she had come to love in such a short amount of time, fighting to protect her.
“Thanks…Jean. I think I'm ready to go right now.”
Jean looked at her. “Are you sure about that?”
Furina gave her a smile, practiced yet worn down by 500 years and jumped in.
Her Salon surrounded her, trying to defend her, with their lives if necessary.
She ducked a fireball and smacked a Lector in the head.
“HEY, LECTOR!” The beast looked up at her, with an unreadable expression.
“I am the only one who decides what kind of goddess I was!” Furina yelled defiantly, “What kind of human I will be! And I’m the only person who can make…”
Being friends with Navia in a way she never could have wished for as “Focalors”.
Silver and Melus only wishing that Poisson could be in peace in the future.
Being wished to join the party by that lovely Traveler.
Neuvi wishing that her life would be peaceful and safe.
Mirror-her in a dream wishing that she could see the new Fontaine beside her.
“The wishes I’ve been given become reality! Let the world come alive!”
Blue lit up the abyss in kaleidoscopic spotlights, Anemo green following soon after. Jean passed by, healing the party with a silent breeze.
“Kid,” Yelan said quietly, “you did great.”
With that, everyone rushed at the enemies, the Abyss Lectors approaching the end of their second phase.
“The-the Abyss can return. It always will!”
Furina looked into the red eyes of a monster.
“Tell the Abyss, that when it comes to Fontaine, there will always be people defending it.”
With a snap, she resummoned the Salon.
The monster disappeared, back to the fairy tales and nightmares she would never have again.
Second Half
Ganyu blinked.
“That took longer than normal. I hope the other team is okay. I’d hate to see Miss Furina push herself.”
Chamber 3, First Half,
“Now that we have the Bond of Life on you, “ the Wind Operative said, “you can’t heal anymore. It’s ove-”
Both Jean and Furina, being tired of this shit by now, decided to take her and throw the Operative into a wall along with her colleague.
…into Second Half.
Ganyu looked at the kids behind her. They hadn’t taken much time to get ready, but they still seemed so young. Bennett was being teased by Xiangling and Diona, who seemed to want to make him laugh hard enough to bust a gut.
Ganyu knew the… stories that were told about her childhood. Quite embarrassing ones in fact. (If she heard one more lecherous perfect talk about that time where that monster couldn’t swallow her because…ugh…she’d have to bring it up to Ningguang.) But these kids seemed happy even in danger. She wanted to make sure that when they looked back on this day as adults, as cooks, adventurers, bartenders…
She wanted them to look back in happiness.
“Alright, everyone ready?” she said.
“We’re ready, nya!” Diona said from the back.
“Nya? Really?” Bennett looked like he was about to break down from laughter. “You two really want to make me laugh.”
“Of course we do, silly!” Xiangling smiled with a grin that looked like it belonged to Hu Tao. “You should spend your time being happy! It’s been a while since anyone’s seen you laugh.”
Just then the challenge started. Two Vishaps, huger than any they had seen, appeared. The team ran forward, each kid trying to outrun the other. The Pyronado dealt huge damage to both of the creatures, but it wasn’t enough. One broke out of the combo…and pounced at the kids behind Ganyu.
7:10 left.
Ganyu barely even blinked at the Vishap that was shredded by her Pyronado.
7:07 left.
Ganyu heard a scream, as Diona’s shield and the kids just barely tanked a claw made of Cryo.
7:05 left.
Bennett and Xiangling looked at her, and then at once both used their Elemental skills.
7:03 left.
Bennett barely used his burst.
7:02.
Ganyu charged up a shot.
Last second.
For a moment, Ganyu felt two hands and a paw on her back, as the Vishap pounced again. She wouldn’t fail them.
The Vishap opened its mouth and exposed a weakness.
7:00 .
Ganyu let the arrow fly. It hit its mark.
CRACK!
Spiral Abyss Floor Eleven Cleared.
The two teams fell out of the portal.
Ganyu looked up. “No more…floor twelve…” and collapsed onto the ground.
Furina blinked. She was on the floor too. “Weirdly enough…that was exhausting, but also great.”
“I have to agree…” Jean said, “Miss Furina.”
“Please, you’re wiser than I am. Call me Furina.”
Yelan checked the portal and pulled out 450 primogems, then smiled.
“Looks like we’re not broke on Mora anymore. Who wants a meal at Wangshu Inn? It’s on me.”
The party cheered, and it felt like the sun was smiling on them.