genshin impact au, eisara.

"shogun, a warrior has demanded a challenge."

the news her general brings evokes no emotion from the archon, even if it interrupted her peace under the pavilion. years of ruling came with years of fools thinking they were strong enough to challenge her.

she lifts a warm teacup to her lips and sips slowly, savouring the tea seungwan had procured for her. the shogun enjoys a select variant of teas, but her general convinced her to try something new after her visit to the komore teahouse. now, here she is with a different brew of tea every day, courtesy of her most trusted.

"shall i take care of it?"

joohyun nods, "be back before my tea grows cold."

"i will do my best, my lady."

the pavilion rests high above a mountain where the archon has a perfect view of the courtyard below. this is but another day to her, yet to the mortal standing outside the gates of the palace, it could be years of dreams.

her eyes trace the blonde's movement closely, never once taking her gaze off. the general welcomes the new challenger onto the sacred grounds of the raiden shogun and nothing more than a sentence is exchanged before their swords clash.

the archon leans forward to catch a better glimpse of their dance; seungwan's swift strikes along with the challenger's airy side steps, it makes for a fine battle. the trees rustle with the force of their strikes, causing a cascade of sakura petals to flutter slowly over them. given the way seungwan is constantly glancing at her, the shogun knows that every move is intentional. she is giving joohyun the show she wants.

to be on par with her most trusted general is no small feat, every blow is matched with an equal amount of skill. but seungwan is no ordinary mortal, not many can say they can defy the shogun and still live.

a flash of purple indicates the use of her vision, and with one final strike, the battle ends. the general turns to lock eyes with the archon who offers a pleased nod.

the general returns to her side and is rewarded with a cup of tea. she settles beside her shogun, kneeling with her blade by her side.

"did you like it, my lady?" seungwan questions softly.

joohyun quirks a brow in amusement, "what do you think, general?" 

"i assume it is a yes considering that you have yet to strip my vision from me."

"i would not do that to you, there is nobody i know of that could match what you offer." the archon hums, her hands grazing against seungwan's thigh slowly. dropping her voice down into a sultry whisper, she leans in close, "on the contrary, i think you are deserving of a reward."

seungwan lifts the shogun's hand and bows her head to press a kiss on the soft skin.

"your tea grows cold, shogun."

"are you defying me, general?"

seungwan merely smiles, "perhaps, it would be a shame to let this tea go to waste. i can wait, shogun."

joohyun hums and takes a sip of her tea; this is but another day, one where she does not need to question seungwan's presence around her.

"shogun," general seungwan bows before her with haste, "word from messengers in liyue has arrived."

the archon hums nonchalantly without opening her eyes, allowing the general to continue with her report. as the general of the shogunate of inazuma, seungwan has a duty to report to her personally. but to interrupt her in the middle of a bath, is something that only her most trusted is allowed to do.

"rex lapis is dead, he was murdered at the yearly rite of descension."

joohyun tightens her jaw and inhales slowly. morax is dead — murdered in the eyes of the people of liyue. the rest of the world will soon come to know a world without archons, a future that morax wants for his people. but to the electro archon, a world without gods calls for a world void of divinity.

"i suppose it is time."

"shogun?"

“i want every single vision in inazuma,” the raiden shogun’s tone is solemn as she gives out her orders, “from narukami all the way to yashiori. close the borders if you have to.”

her most trusted general dares to look the archon in the eye, for a second, she allows herself to doubt the one she’s sworn to serve.

but joohyun sees through her hesitative silence too easily.

“you doubt my orders.” her voice cuts through the tension, devoid of any emotion yet threatening all at once.

“n-no, shogun!”

“yet, you hesitate.” the shogun smiles mirthlessly, “tell me, seungwan, what do you think of my orders?”

the general swallows, even if the archon is speaking to her as a companion, she still fears upsetting the goddess. she picks her words with extra caution.

“visions are a gift from the gods, are they not? they hold a piece of the bearers and to take it away… it would be the equivalent of taking away a piece of them.” of me , she bites down on her lip. her vision, her ambitions, her fate even, are all intertwined with the raiden shogun. who would she be if not a servant to the archon?

“i am merely ridding them of their greed. ambition constantly drives them to seek more power, and without either of those, they will be free from suffering.” the archon explains quietly. stepping out of the spring, she approaches the general. “one day, perhaps in your time, a world without deities living amongst humans will be a reality.”

seungwan stares into violet orbs with despair, unable to fully comprehend what her shogun has just said. the idea that joohyun could vanish forces her heart to the depths of her gut — she has never considered the shogun to be anything but eternal. to reduce the raiden shogun to something ephemeral scares her.

“why?” she croaks.

“divinity does not belong with humans if the gods do not.” the shogun mutters while tracing a thumb down seungwan’s cheek tenderly, “you will soon see that even without a god, liyue can and will prosper.”

seven ideals for seven gods, and of these, eternity is nearest unto heaven. her wish to leave her people in a world without suffering will come at a heavy cost, but the era of peace to come after will last for all eternity. for that reason alone, the archon sees no fault in her orders.

the general exhales heavily, if this decision weighs so heavily on her, she can only imagine what goes through the mind of the archon.

“when do we begin?”

“tomorrow,” joohyun presses her lips into a tight smile.

"shogun."

the archon lifts her head slowly to regard the warrior — her most trusted warrior. expressionless as always, the only thing giving away her displeasure is the crushed vision sitting on the table before her.

"what of the traveller?"

"my most elite are on it and they have a lead. i came to offer an update before i set out." the blonde bows low, perpendicular to the ground.

the raiden shogun nods, "i want them alive."

"with all due respect, my lady," the warrior looks up, making the mistake of meeting eyes with the goddess, "they do not deserve death by your blade."

the archon scoffs, "they went against me in front of all those people, still, you think they are not worthy of death?"

"pardon my poor choice of diction," the beginnings of a smirk form on her lips, "they are not worthy of divine punishment, let me give them a death they deserve. slow, painful and nothing beautiful."

the shogun raises a brow in amusement, "is this your apology for letting the traveller slip in undetected?"

"if sweet-talking gets me that far, i will have to say yes."

tutting, the archon commands her to come closer. her most trusted rises from her bow and approaches her with slow strides. a fresh cut runs down her cheek, nothing that will leave a scar but it is enough to worry the shogun. the archon reaches a hand out, fingers dancing around the tender wound. 

"which one did this to you?"

"i cannot say."

"seungwan." the archon's voice is firm, threatening if her warrior is not one she trusts with her heart.

seungwan takes the goddess' hands into hers, smiling tenderly as she speaks, "and let them experience a divine punishment that i cannot? my jealousy gets in the way, joohyun."

joohyun rolls her eyes and with a strong pull, she presses their lips in a deep kiss. entangling her hands in those blonde locks she's come to love, the sweetness of her most trusted fills every inch of and it takes away every worry of an imminent threat.

her eternity will not be threatened — this, seungwan, it will not be stolen.

"bring them back, alive." the shogun orders in a breathy whisper as they pull away, "i want to watch as you rend their flesh from their bones. show me the beauty of death by your blade, i want to see it all." 

whatever the raiden shogun requests, seungwan will see that it is completed.

"as you wish, my lady."

endnotes:

this was written before ei's quests were released so it was all based on how the puppet raiden was portrayed. and maybe, seungwan was fighting tomo.