Hold over Myriad of Worlds

Ningguang and the rest sat down around the table while I was finishing cooking. After bringing the dishes, I joined them, and we started our meal.

-"This is Yue. He is one of the main creators of the Express you expressed interest in."

-"Pleasure to meet you, but Express was created mostly by others. I was just assisting."

-"Yes, yes."-Ninguang waved me aside-"Now Mondstadt side. In the middle is Lisa, who also acts as the main representative during this meeting."

-"Ara, just this month, I met the cutie, and now another has been introduced to me. I must say that I am happy to agree to this trip."

-"Moving on, to the right, you can see Albedo and Sucrose, whose names you heard before."

Albedo nodded politely, while Sucrose bowed deeply, acting nervous.

-"On the left are Eula, capitan of Reconnaissance Company, and Honorary Knight Aether."

-"And Paimon is Paimon!"

-"Yes, and this is Paimon."

The icey woman didn't even respond, and flying Paimon was buzzing around the sighing man. I felt familiar energy from that person, and after taking a careful look, I recognized this feeling.

-"You are not from this world."

-"What?"-A surprised voice sounded around.

-"You have THEIR gaze on you. It's impossible for you to be from this world. What's more, it's Akivili's gaze. Emanator of Trailblaze, what are you doing here?"

-"..."

-"Even more importantly, do you know where THEY are? Akivili disappeared thousands of years ago, lost to Chaos."

The atmosphere became tense under my questioning. Aether looked at me warily, while others looked surprised.

-"It must be some mistake. How could one arrive from outside the world?"

-"No. I would believe Yue's words over my eyes."-Halped me Ningguang.

-"I can uncover your past myself. I'm asking out of niceness and wish to have good relations with Mondstadt. Will you talk?"

-"Cutie, what do you want to do? We will stand by you, no matter what."

-"Sigh... I'll tell you what you want to know."

Aether explained how his teacher had taken in him and his sister and taught them. He told about some of their travels and how he arrived here. 

From his story, I understood that his teacher was Akivili, and he disappeared sometime after his first trip to another world. 

-"THEIR luck was always great. Good to know that THEY survived the Chaos."

-"How do you know my teacher?"

-"I traveled with him once."

-"You are also not from this world?"

-"Yes, the Express that you are here for is a vehicle to travel between worlds."

-"Then have you met God of this world?"

-"You are probably talking about Tianli. While I haven't seen her, I have spoken with her."

-"Then why did she allow you to come here without trouble while she did attack me and my sister?"

-"When talking, she only warned not to get involved with Abyss."

-"But we never had any involvement with Abyss."

-"I don't know that. Maybe Your sister has some clue."

-"Sadly, I don't know where she is."

-"I can help you find her."

-"Truly?!"

-"Yes, but you will have to wait for a while. It depends on a certain boss lady sitting here."

-"I already agreed to fund your Omniscia. I'll get it done after the Rite of Descension."

-"Then you won't have to wait too long."

-"Thanks!"

-"Then I think we need to give some more explanation about Express and Hold as a whole." 

Having said that, Ningguang described how Hold operates and what's our purpose. Hearing that, Lisa was deep in thought, but Albedo was instantly intrigued.

He started asking about details of the Express and other projects we are currently researching. I answered his questions, and soon, we started talking about alchemy and different techniques used by members of Progress.

Our talk continued until late evening. During it, Albedo and Sucrose officially joined Progress, while Aether agreed to join after finding his sister.

Lisa decided to consult the rest of the Knights of Favonius before deciding for herself, while Eula still ignored us. Paimons also received an official position as an Emergency Food. 

As it was getting late, we ended our meeting. Tomorrow is an important day for Liyue, so everybody is going to rest early. Waiting for the sun to rise, I returned to my studies.

In the morning, I went together with Ningguang to the place of the ceremony. While on the way there, many passers-by were surprised at seeing their leader with a man.

We arrived amidst gossip. The rest of Liyue Qixing was already waiting, so after taking my place between Keqing and Ningguang, the Rite of Descension began.

Because Zhongli decided to retire in a more graceful way than death, so there was no shocking scene at the beginning. After talking about Hold and Liyue joining together, he left everything in the hands of humans.

This caused a commotion, as people were used to the safety provided by Adeptus and the emperor himself. To calm this, Yalan entered the stage with Knights of Hold. Seeing members of three orders, most people were relieved.

The ending of the ceremony this time was changed a little. As the emperor was retiring, he invited someone to give blessing to people. And this someone was me.

After internally rolling my eyes at snickering Keqing, I stepped forward and decided to use some of the knowledge on Karma I had recently gotten to reduce bad luck for spectators.

Of course, I didn't forget to add a visually impactful effect to my spell. After all, if one does not understand what is going on, it better be dazzling.

Ending my show, I returned to my space. Ninggunag made an ending speech and made the Rite of Descension come to an end. Keqing wanted to get back to her work, but I, as her friend, couldn't bring myself to spend such a festive day without her.

For the rest of the day, I was rewarded with a stink eye from a certain workaholic cat, but I needed to satisfy my need for revenge after someone kept me in the dark about this whole blessing act.

We walked around the whole day, enjoying stalls and performances on the streets. In the middle, I, for the first time, saw Ningguang hiding from something she was bad with. 

Sadly, Beidou noticed her and decided to approach us. After listening to their talk for five minutes, I understood the meaning of being like oil and water.

In the evening, we all sat together in Jade Chamber and ate and drank to the sounds of the city below. People from all walks of life gather together and celebrating what connects them all, their home.

Returning to Hold after almost a week of absence, I needed to get up to speed. All construction projects were progressing smoothly, Jing Yuan returned from Orario, and Knights suffered no casualties greater than minor injuries.

My priority now was to start building Omniscia. I decided to ask Fu Xuan for suggestions on materials and technologies that may assist in divination. After getting on Loufu, I went directly to the Divination Commission.

When I arrived, I witnessed a rare scene. Fu Xuan stood with two other women and was using the Matrix of Prescience to read the mind of a person inside.

The person inside was a petite woman with black hair, clothed in a red kimono. She was visibly amused by this whole situation, and her taunting looks were starting to annoy Fu Xuan.

-"Did something happen here? What did she do to earn the prestige of having Matrix of Prescience used on her?"

-"Oh Yue, she snuck onto the ship and was snooping around. When captured, she didn't reveal who she was, and even Hanya's power of reading karma was not working on her."

-"I said that I'm here as messenger!"

-"What messenger?! You were caught in the Seat of Divine Foresight!"

-"Isn't that where your most important people are?"

-"Grr... I can't deal with that. Yue, can you help?"

-"I'll try."

I approached the girl and instantly understood the situation.

-"Sigh... You are a Masked Fool, are you not?"

-"Ohh! Finally, someone who knows me."

-"No, I don't. I also really don't want to get to know you. What is the message you have?"

-"Ehem. 'Hey! My favorite actor! I, your leading audience member, have arrived to give you important news. An interesting play is going to happen in Penacony. Come and watch with me!' and that's all."

-"..."

-"..."

-"Yue, mind explaining?"

-"Aha."

-"Then it's understandable."

We looked at each other and decided to send her away to avoid a headache. The released Masked Fool introduced herself as Sparkle and decided to follow us.

-"No. I'd rather fight Nanook directly than spend a second next to Asa's follower."

-"Do you have some gradue with Elation, Yue?"

-"Fu Xuan, I can use the power of all Paths, but there are two that I won't use until it's my last option. Abundance and Elation. First because of my history, second as to not summon certain Aeon."

-"Mind me asking why?"

-"I know all Aeons personally, traveling to the past and witnessing the ascension of THEM. Aha is the only one I can't handle. THEIR personality is paradoxical. Convoluted yet direct."

-"I know, Elation like that, but you said that it's the Aeon, not the Elation, that you can't handle."

-"Yes, why?!"

-"Leave Sparkle. What I meant by that is what the message said. 'Favorite actor', 'leading audience'. THEY have a goal to make me Aeon. THEIR action takes me closer to that goal. No matter the price or consequences."

-"To make you Aeon? Is that not good?"

-"I have an aversion to being made into something by others, especially Aeons."

-"Sorry, that was insensitive."

-"Don't worry"

-"Are you going to go there?"

-"Yes, there is no use in avoiding plans of Elated one. Luckily, I have over half a year to prepare."

-"How do you know that?"

-"Ohh, master Divider hadn't read the future yet."

-"Don't flaunt. Reading the future that Aeons intervene with, I don't have a dead wish."

Ending this subject, I explained the reason for my visit. Fu Xuan directly agreed to help me. I also talked with two of the four judges of Loufu, Xueyi and Hanya.

Consulting Hanya about Karma, I learned about her experience at work, reading sins of criminals. She has a different understanding of Karma, and hearing her views opened many doors for me.

We talked until Fu Xuan interrupted, and took me back to Hold. She already contacted Ningguang, who sent Tingyun as a person to help with finances and materials.

Getting to work, I created a big enough floating island and positioned it nearby to the Hold. On it, members of the Divination Commission started laying a foundation for Jade Abacus.

Vill-V and Hephaestus also come to help. With me providing an almost endless amount of the power of Finality, it took only a week to complete the new Omniscia. 

Matrix of Timeless Divinity. This is a name chosen to highlight two main factors in the power of this tool. Divine runes imbued with Finality, a perfect combination to perform divinations.

To test its capabilities I decided to uphold my promise to Aether, find the whereabouts of his sister. Asking Shenhe, who was sent to me again by Xianyun, to bring Aether here, I started making preparations.

-"Yue, are you going to find my sister."

-"Yes, that's my plan. To do so, I need any item associated with her. Stronger the connection, the better."

-"Hmm... I have a pendant we exchanged during one of our travels. Will this do?"

-"Yes, it should be enough."

I took the pendant and started making the divination. Soon, I again found myself floating in the starry sky. Focusing on the pendant, I traced its past until I found the strongest connection to Aether's sister, Lumine.

Using this as a bridge, I changed the focus of the reading to her. A great tree appeared before me, but there was a great difference in its appearance compared to the one I saw before.

The black substance was destroying many branches. Taking a better look, I quickly understood the origin of this thing. Abyss. All roads that were destroyed by the blackness, Abyss consumed Lumine.

I used many possible futures to infer where she could be found. I soon narrowed her possible positions to 5 places. Seeing that I couldn't do much more, I decided to do the last thing before leaving.

Tracing the Karma again, I found a connection between her and her teacher. The person who appeared made me smile subconsciously, THEY truly were the Akivili.

Trying to see THEIR location, I was met with rejection and had to stop. Disappointed, I ended the divination and returned to reality. Seeing my expression the people waiting for results mistakenly thought that the Omniscia was a failed product.

I quickly explained the reason for my disappointment. When Fu Xuan heard that I tried to deduce something about Aeon on the first test, she almost fought with me.

Giving her time to calm down, I explained what I had learned about his sister to Aether. Advising him to talk seriously and warn his sibling when they met.

He was aghast when he learned about her involvement with Abyss. Thanking me profusely, he directly went away to try and travel to places I found.

Deciding that this concludes the test, I cooked a meal as a thank you to all those who helped in completing the Matrix of Timeless Divinity.

Having completed the most pressing matter, I went to meet someone who hadn't appeared lately. Traveling to Fire Moth headquarters, I quickly found who I was looking for.

-"Yue! Why are you here? Did you miss me?"

-"Hello, Elysia. Yes. I missed your enthusiasm a little, so I decided to visit you."

-"You are so nice! How about we go together for on a hunt for some stronger Honkai bests?"

-"Why not? Lead the way."

-"Ay, ay!

We walked outside of the city and went looking for some stronger honkai beasts. I used my perception to seek the strongest beast, and after locating it, teleported us near.

-"Wow! This must be a Judgment-class monster. Do we want to try and kill it?"

-"Yes. It's the strongest Honkai out here, but if not killed, it may bring trouble to you."

-"Then let's get going!"

Elysia was eager to try fighting a giant monster looking like a hound. But before we could start, another person arrived here.

-"Kevin! Are you here to help us?"

-"Yes. Mei found you closing onto Cerberus."

-"I have to thank her later."

-"With you here, Kevin, it will be easier. I'll take care of restraining its movements while you two focus on attacking."

-"Roger that Yue!"

-"OK."

-"I got a present from Vill-V some time ago but found no occasion to use it. Now it's a perfect moment to test how Key of Biding works in my hands."

-"New divine key created by Vill-V?"

-"Yes. While her original project was interesting, it didn't suit my style of combat, so I asked to change it to be a better fit with me."

I took out a gold Khakkhara staff and lightly hit the ground with it. The quiet chime it emitted was somehow able to drown up all other sounds. 

-"Oath of Silence, quite fitting."