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Chapter 16 : Into the Storm
🕑 Added 2024-08-13 22:11:08 +0000 UTCHe surveyed the fallen creatures, expecting to feel nothing but satisfaction. But, gazing around at the frozen and charred remains, he started to feel an unwanted creeping feeling. "Why do I feel a bit of pity towards them?" he wondered aloud, frowning. "They're nothing but monsters."
He shook his head dazedly, confused. "Perhaps because I am too strong for them? The strong pitying the weak?" But it did not feel like that, either. The feeling of unease gnawed at his insides, twisting his gut in ways he didn't know how to explain. "Goddamn it… what is this gut-wrenching feeling?"
Frustrated and not wanting to dwell on it further, Orion brushed the thoughts from his mind. He had much better things for his mind to dwell on. He cast one last look at the creatures, which were now beaten, then turned and continued on his way, forcing himself away from those peculiar emotions.
His gaze wandered to a camp nearby, almost beside the dome at which the storm barrier raged. The camp looked empty, yet it was so neat that it seemed the occupants had only just left it. "This camp is clearly recently used," Orion said with furrowed eyebrows. "Maybe it's Diluc's?"
As he walked slowly toward the barrier of the storm, the sound of footsteps behind him broke into his thoughts. Then, a voice called out, "Orion! Orion!"
"What the…?" He spun around, ready for anything, only to find Eula rushing toward him, clearly out of breath. Flushed, ragged breathing, worried, yet relieved, she looked.
"Are you… okay?" she panted, gasping for air. Orion's surprise quickly turned into concern. "Yes, I'm fine, but what are you doing here? I'm pretty sure I left you back at the Knights of Favonius headquarters."
Eula nodded, catching breath. "Yes, but I was curious about you. When I asked at the Adventurers' Guild and heard you were going toward Stormterror's Lair, well, I came as quickly as could be, and then I just saw… what happened here…"
Orion turned around to survey the damage from his battle—the monsters, frozen and scorching, scattered around. He smiled sheepishly and acknowledged, "Yeah… that's my doing."
Eula gazed at him in mixed surprise and concern. "I was worried when I heard you were heading to Stormterror's Lair. This place is dangerous, Orion! What were you thinking?"
Seeing how winded she was, Orion couldn't help but chuckle softly. "I appreciate your concern, but I'm still going to try and break this seal—or whatever this storm is." He looked towards the storm barrier, the wild winds and crackling energy making it difficult to even stand upright. His scarf whipped around violently in the wind.
Eula frowned, looking up at the sky as the wind began picking up near to the point it would blow him over. "And what would you like to do?"
"Fall back a bit," Orion said as he gripped his polearm tightly. "I'm going to try something."
Eula allowed him space reluctantly as she stepped back. Orion focused, pushing both Pyro and Cryo into his polearm. The two elements danced about the Skyward Spine, swirling in an entrancing dance of fire and ice. He gritted his teeth and poised himself to cast it against the storm barrier. He closed his eyes a moment, breathed in deeply, then reopened them, glowing otherworldly. He cocked his arm high and hurled the polearm at incredible velocities.
The weapon screamed through the air, creating a shower of embers and frost behind it. As the point of the polearm touched the storm barrier, it held a moment—a fleeting instant where it would seem the barrier was going to break. In an eye-blink, then a vast shockwave burst forth, rippling energy across the landscape. So powerful was the force that Orion's polearm was shot backward, and he nearly got knocked off his feet by the shockwave.
Steadying herself against the blast, Eula turned to Orion, raising an eyebrow. "Your plan was to just brute-force your way in?"
Still a little dazed from the attempt, Orion scrubbed the back of his neck. "It wouldn't hurt to try, I guess… Yeah, that was stupid."
Orion hesitated for a second, his mind filled with memories of the energy once unleashed against the emissary—like what had put him unconscious for two weeks. He nodded at the storm barrier, pondering whether this would be worth such a cost. "Should I do what I did against the emissary?" he asked aloud. "But last time… I ended up unconscious for two whole damn weeks. I can't afford to end up like that again. Besides, I'm not even sure it'll break through."
With a deep sigh, he shook his head, deciding against it. "No, not this time," he muttered. "I'll need to find another way."
Eula, noticing his hesitation, looked at him with concern. "What were you thinking just now?"
Orion gave her a thin smile, trying to wave off the heaviness in his thoughts. "Just weighing my options.
"We should probably check that empty camp for more clues," Eula suggested, her voice amused and exasperated.
"Agreed," Orion nodded, retrieving his polearm and turning back to the mysterious camp.
As they approached the camp, the air grew thick with tension. They began to search with due care, stirring through supplies and personal items that seemed to be laid out in careful order. Orion checked the tents, looking at the bedding for any signs of recent use. Eula went to the cooking area, where a pot still hung over a pile of cold embers. Everything appeared freshly used but nothing out of the ordinary: no personal effects, no notes, no signs of who could have been there.
After a good search, Orion stood up and brushed some of the dust off on his hands. "Nothing," he said, frustration creeping into his voice. "No clues, no hints. Just an empty camp, i was meant to meet Diluc around here"
Eula nodded to this. "If you were supposed to meet Diluc here, then this isn't his camp. It would be, if we were in a different nation, but Diluc doesn't need to set up camp here in Mondstadt."
Orion scratched his head, thinking. "Fair enough. He does seem like the type who would prepare beforehand and wouldn't need to set up something like this." Orion glanced around, mind racing through possibilities. "So, bandits?"
Eula shook her head slightly and then held up a small bag she had found amidst the supplies. "I did find tea amidst the stuff in the camp."
Orion lifted an eyebrow. "And? Do you want to have tea right now?"
Eula chuckled softly, shaking her head. "No, silly. This tea is from Liyue. Either the person who pitched camp here likes Liyue's tea, or they are from Liyue."
Orion considered this and shrugged. "Well, it is quite clear that this bit of information will not help us break the barrier."
Eula sighed, tucking the tea away. "True. Though it brings up more questions that way. Why would a Liyue person camp here, right next to the barrier?"
"Good question," Orion mused, looking out toward the storm. "But right now, we're no closer to breaking through that barrier. We might have to find another way, or at least figure out what actually caused it in the first place."
Suddenly, a thought just came to Orion: he remembered he could sense elemental traces. Concentrating his senses toward the surroundings, he swept the area, and indeed, the barrier was brimming with violent Anemo energy. "That is not what I am looking for," Orion muttered as he shook off the overwhelming presence brought on by the storm. Then he turned his attention toward the camp, where amidst the faint Anemo was a trace of Pyro.
"Follow me," Orion said to Eula, with a very sure tone in his voice.
"Did you find something?" Eula asked, now interested.
Orion just nodded. "I know where to go. Just follow me."
They followed the elemental traces through the dense forest beside Stormterror's lair until they came to a cave entrance hidden behind a giant boulder. Orion studied it with care. "Someone definitely placed this boulder here," he said to himself and then to Eula. "And whoever has done this is no ordinary human."
He turned toward Eula to check his suspicions. "You think this is natural?
She shook her head, her gaze flicked to the boulder. "No. What are you talking about?"
Orion chuckled to himself. She really could not see it. "Oh well, nevermind. I'll just break it."
With that, he gathered the Pyro energy into his fists and gave a strong punch to the boulder, filling it with Pyro from the inside. Not long later, it started to crack and crumble from the inside out. It disintegrated, revealing the existence of a hidden entrance to a cave.
Eula's eyes widened in surprise. "What? a cave?!"
"Surprised?" Orion could not help teasing, smirking at her.
Eula shook her head, unfazed. "We don't have any data on this—on a cave being here."
"Well, obviously there is one," Orion said with much sarcasm. "Come on inside."
They went gingerly into the cave and walked a few steps before the floor began to give way. This made Orion's senses flare up, as all of a sudden, he turned around to Eula: "Eula, take my hand!"
But before he could finish, the ground crumbled entirely, and they began to fall. "Shit!" Orion cursed, grabbing his polearm in one hand and reaching for Eula with the other. In the chaos, he managed to wrap one arm around her, holding her close as they plummeted.
Reflexes quick, Orion summoned his Cryo to forge a massive ice spike at either end of his Skyward Spine. Jamming it into the sides of the collapsing tunnel, he brought their fall to a juddering halt, whereupon they were suspended precariously in what looked like an endless drop.
Breathing heavily, Orion looked down at Eula, who clung close to him. "You okay?"
She had her face colored, and was mumbling something like, "Your… hand…"
"What?" Orion asked again. He didn't understand why she was mortified.
"Your hand!" she repeated once more, louder with an even deeper flush on her face.
Orion's eyes moved downwards, and he grasped in horror that instead of her waist he was holding her by the ass. He turned red in a flash and hastily changed the position of his hand to her waist. "My bad," he said, breaking the moment with a cringing smile, attempting to shift the topic. "Well, we could either climb back up slowly using my polearm, or we can keep going down. I've got a hunch there's something interesting down there."
Eula was still flustered but nodded. "Alright, let's keep going down." She was red, yet resolved to see this mission through.
Orion nodded, steadying himself. "Hang on tight, then."
Orion lowered them cautiously until they could stand on the ground. Upon landing, they found themselves underground. Their visibility was provided by mushrooms with luminous caps that shed a strange sort of light over the place. The air seemed to be heavy with some sort of weird energy, and the whole atmosphere felt unreal.
Eula gazed around her in awe. "Beautiful," she said. Her voice was full of wonder.
Something about this place made Orion feel uneasy. "More like disturbing," he muttered low in his breath. His dreams had left him apprehensive over such places: dark and somehow otherworldly. The beauty of the scene did little to relax his nerves.
Eula cast her gaze his way, watching him become so tensed up. "Are you all right?"
A forced small smile crossed his face. "Yeah, just not a fan of dimly lit places, these days."
