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Chapter 13 : Whispers from the Void
🕑 Added 2024-08-10 18:09:10 +0000 UTCOrion was surrounded by darkness, his consciousness hovering on the edge of awareness. Slowly, the pitch-black void gave way to a strange landscape. He found himself in a place that defied logic—a vast, timeless expanse that felt both alive and dreamlike. The air was heavy with an oppressive weight, and a faint light illuminated his surroundings.
He froze and looked down. Instead of being restrained by bars or shackles, his body was covered in odd, rock-like cubes that clung to him like a second skin. Beneath him stretched a dark, silent lake that seemed endless, but the cubes held him in place. The water’s surface was unnaturally smooth, reflecting the faint light from above.
Panic surged through him as he tried to move, but the cube-like prison tightened, constricting his movements and sending sharp, stabbing pain through his body. “Where am I?” he tried to say, but his voice barely escaped his lips, more a whisper than a shout.
Desperately, he looked down at the water beneath him and saw a reflection, but it wasn’t his own. Instead of his familiar ashen hair, the face staring back at him had golden-blonde hair, its features somehow both foreign and familiar.
“What the... what is going on?” Orion’s voice trembled, filled with confusion and fear.
“Hello? Is anyone here?” Orion called out, his voice echoing through the void. There was no response, only the eerie sound of his own echo bouncing off unseen walls.
As he looked around, he saw numerous others trapped in similar cube-like prisons, all floating above the same strange dark lake. The sight was profoundly unsettling, the surreal and haunting image adding to his growing sense of fear.
Orion tried to steady his breathing, struggling to convince himself. “This is just a dream,” he repeated, his voice wavering. “It must be.” He closed his eyes tightly, waiting for himself to wake up. “Time to wake up. I already know it’s a dream... isn’t that how it works?” He opened his eyes again, frustration and desperation evident in his gaze. “I can’t even pinch myself! My hands are restrained!”
But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t escape the oppressive sensation of the cubes or the unsettling vision of others trapped like him. The surreal nightmare persisted, refusing to let him go.
Suddenly, a strange voice echoed from within him, but it wasn’t his own. It was deep and resonant, vibrating through his very soul.
“Find... Dain... sleif...” the voice said, laced with a sense of urgency.
“A voice speaking from within me? This keeps getting weirder,” he said, trying to understand his current situation.
As Orion struggled to make sense of it all, a strange figure—a woman—appeared not far from him. She moved with an ethereal grace, her presence almost otherworldly. She approached one of the other trapped individuals, who had been floating in a similar cube-like prison. Orion’s gaze was fixed on her, his eyes monitoring her every movement.
Orion’s heart raced. “Hey! You!” he called out, but she didn’t seem to hear him. She reached out and touched the trapped person, who vanished instantly, as if being absorbed into the air. One by one, each person she touched disappeared, and she moved steadily closer to Orion.
As the woman approached him, Orion shouted again, “Wait!” But she continued to ignore him, her focus seemingly on her task. When she was directly in front of him, her features remained obscured, shrouded in an impenetrable blur.
“This woman doesn’t seem to hear me!” Orion thought in frustration, his panic rising. The moment her hand touched the surface of his cube-like prison, the rock-like material began to close around his head.
“No! Wait!” Orion shouted desperately, but the cube engulfed him completely. The voice inside him grew louder, repeating with an urgent, almost frantic tone: “Find... Dain... Sl...eif.”
As the last syllable faded, the cube-like prison tightened its grip, crushing the breath from his lungs. Pain exploded through his body as his vision blurred and the world around him began to dissolve into nothingness. Just as the crushing pressure became unbearable, he was jolted awake, gasping for air. “No!” he screamed.
Orion woke up in bed, drenched in sweat, his heart pounding wildly in his chest. His breath came in ragged gasps, the remnants of the dream clinging to his mind like a dark cloud. He looked around, disoriented, until the familiar surroundings began to come into focus.
It was the same room he had stayed in on his first night in Mondstadt, within the headquarters of the Knights of Favonius. The soft morning light filtered through the curtains, casting gentle shadows across the floor.
“Another disturbing dream,” he muttered to himself, still huffing and puffing as if he had just run a marathon. “But this one felt different. This one felt more... real.”
He glanced around the room, trying to shake off the lingering unease. “How did I get here?” he wondered aloud, the events from before slowly beginning to return to him in a rush of fragmented memories.
“The Celestial Emissary... the fight... Emily, Bennett, and Mona...”
Orion’s expression darkened with concern. “Emily, Bennett, and Mona... I hope they’re okay.”
A slight pain tugged at his side, pulling his attention away from his thoughts. He lifted his shirt to inspect it, only to find strange red marks on his skin. The patterns were very similar to the cube-like prison that had suffocated him in his dream. “What the...?” he muttered, tracing the marks with his fingers, a cold sense of dread settling in his chest.
Before he could ponder further, the door to his room swung open. Kaeya, Eula, and Jean rushed in, their faces a mix of concern and relief. Orion quickly pulled his shirt down to conceal the bruises.
Eula hurried to Orion’s side, her face etched with worry. Without hesitation, she embraced him tightly, pressing her chest against him. Orion placed a reassuring hand on her back, managing a warm smile despite his confusion and pain.
Kaeya, leaning against the doorframe with a smirk, said, “Glad you woke up. You were screaming with quite the energy. Didn’t think you had it in you.” His tone was light, though the concern in his eyes was evident.
Jean, standing a bit behind Kaeya, gave Orion a gentle smile. “I’m glad you’re awake,” she said softly.
Orion looked at them with a hint of apology. “I’m sorry for the trouble. But, who brought me back?”
Kaeya explained, “Eula did. She was patrolling around the Temple of the Falcon when she saw your group leaving. They explained what happened, and she quickly came to help. When she arrived, you were unconscious, and there was no sign of the one you were facing.”
Orion listened intently, then glanced at Eula, who was still hugging him. Their eyes met, and Eula’s cheeks flushed red. She quickly released him, adopting her usual aristocratic tone. “I’m glad you’re awake, Orion. I was merely doing my duty.”
Orion smiled, grateful for her help. “Thank you, Eula.”
Jean nodded in agreement. “We’ve heard from the others about what you faced. It’s terrible what happened. I’m sorry we couldn’t prevent it.”
Orion felt a pang of guilt. The Emissary had come for him alone, and the deaths had happened because of his presence. “It’s not your fault,” he said, trying to reassure her. “I need to check on the others.”
Kaeya stepped forward, holding up a hand. “Whoa, whoa, hold on. You still need rest. I’m sure the others are in far better shape than you are.”
Orion’s eyes widened in surprise. “What do you mean?”
Kaeya shrugged with a grin. “Well, for starters, you’ve been lying unconscious in bed for the last two weeks.”
Orion’s jaw dropped. “TWO WEEKS?!”
Jean nodded, adding, “Yes, you were brought immediately to the cathedral and treated by the best healers, including my own sister. Your condition looked serious, but we couldn’t find a single scratch on you.”
Orion’s concern shifted. “What about the guild and the test? Did anyone else get hurt?”
Eula spoke up, her voice tinged with regret. “No, it was only you. Thankfully, everyone else is fine. I regret encouraging you to take part in it...”
Orion shook his head. “It’s not your fault. I would have participated anyway. Besides, no one expected something like this to happen.”
Jean added, “As for the guild test, the guild canceled it and brought everyone else out, except for those... who perished with you.”
Kaeya chimed in, “Indeed. It’s hard to believe such a strong foe would appear in a place like that—a forgotten temple used by the guild for the test.” He studied Orion’s face, waiting for his reaction.
Orion understood what Kaeya was implying and gave a rueful smile. He then asked Jean and Eula to leave him alone with Kaeya.
“Of course,” Jean said, with Eula adding, “But don’t stay too long. Let Orion rest.”
Kaeya raised his hands in a dramatic, comedic gesture of surrender. “I promise,” he said with a playful grin. “I’ll be as quick as a flash. You can trust me on that.”
Once the room was clear and the door shut behind them, Orion stood up, his movements steady. He turned to Kaeya with a small smile, “I know what you’re implying, Kaeya.”
Kaeya’s expression shifted to one of seriousness. “And?”
Orion paused before continuing, “You’re right. He came for me.”
Kaeya’s eyes narrowed, a flicker of intensity in his gaze. “What are you, Orion? Really?”
Orion met his gaze with a hint of uncertainty. “Honestly, I don’t know.”
Kaeya sighed. “And what did this person want from you?”
Orion tried to recall the conversation with the emissary. “He mentioned something about letting me live in Teyvat if I respect certain rules or something. My mind is a mess right now,” he admitted, rubbing his head.
Kaeya’s eyes sharpened. “Did this stranger call himself anything?”
Orion hesitated for a moment, then decided to be forthright. “Yes, he called himself a Celestial Emissary.”
Kaeya’s eyes lit up briefly, though he quickly masked his reaction. “Well then, Orion, I have to admit I had my doubts when we first found you. But I appreciate your honesty.”
Orion nodded. “I felt there was no reason to keep it to myself. After all, people died because of me.”
Kaeya’s tone softened slightly. “Then your decision to become an adventurer might be for the best. At least you'll be on the move, away from trouble.”
Orion nodded again. “I guess so.”
Kaeya quickly shifted gears. “Well, get some rest now,” he said, and with that, he left the room in a hurry.
As Kaeya exited, Orion sensed there was still something the knight was holding back, but he couldn’t quite pinpoint what. With a sigh, Orion flopped back onto his bed. “I’ll just rest,” he muttered to himself, “I’m not sleeping, not ready to see another disturbing scene.”
He glanced under his shirt again, examining the strange red marks that were still present on his skin. They resembled the cube-like prison from his unsettling dream, and their presence only deepened his worries.
