Genshin Impact: Frostburn

Leo jerked awake, a ghostly touch lingering on his skin. Around him stretched a desolate wheatfield, its golden waves rustling softly in the breeze. A woeful scream pierced the air, yet no source could be seen.

He stood up, his mind hazy, as if he was in a state between sleep and waking up. He looked around and all he could see was an endless wheatfield stretching infinitely. 

He mindlessly walked around without any destination. He strolled around different manmade trails as he goes in circles, not reaching any destination.

Hours passed by without any progress. As time cruises by he slowly regains his bearings. His mind was finally able to form broken thoughts without any coherent meanings.

Finally, after unmeasurable time has passed he reigned his mind. His consciousness was finally able to regain its lost vitality. 

As his face reawakened to his new surroundings. The last few seconds were gone as if he was lost in a daydream. Where am I? Where am I going? Where did I begin?

He looked around. The surroundings were totally alien to him. A plane of dried withered grassy wheatfield stretched out in all directions rustling quietly in the breeze. The monotony of the landscape was broken only by the shadow of a sickly withered tree in the distance. 

"Am I... dead?"

As he jouneyed towards the tree in hopes of finding out what this place was, dull-looking rocky pillars jotted strangely from the ground. Its as if the land itself were rearing its head in anticipation of something to come. 

As he looked up, the sun greeted his eyes. Yet despite it's intense heat, there was no burning sensation in his skin. Only then did he realized, the cold wind that blows on his face, the rustling sounds of the grass, all of it was his imagination.

Towards the sky where light should have seeped through, the blanket of somber leading clouds and only a black starry night with black colored stars hang in perpetual motion.

As he got closer, only the sound of his imagination where the whispers of the grass in parched branches could be heard, everything else was eerily silent.

He wondered what this place was, this could be hell or even heaven, yet deep inside him tells something completely different yet similar.

He looked at the jotted pillars in confusion. In there he saw words that were covered in misty air. Curiosity got the best of him. He kneeled down and rubbed his hand on the pillar which cleared the mist.

In there he saw cryptic letters that his mind could not read, no, it's something more.

"What is this? K■■i■?"

Rubbing his eyes on doubt, he goes to a different pillar and did the same. Upon washing all the mist, the same cryptic letters appeared.

"K■■ b■■k■■l"

He scrathed the back of his head in frustration as he gave up and continued to approach the tree in the distance.

As he got closer, tombstones greeted his eyes with withered flowers stewn on their names. Once again he read the words but the same thing happened. He could not understand the words it contained.

"What in the world is happening..."

Cold sweat started to pour down his back and his hands grew cold. The further he goes, the tombstones were half sunken on the ground, as if the earth itself were digesting them.

Some were stack on top of each other and some were decorated in withered ornaments. As he gazed on each of the tombs, his head started to throb, something resurfaced on his mind.

A gruesome play of blood-soaked maidens, a pompous dance of nobles in nostalgia, birds eating the flesh of a newborn baby, and finally, a glimpse of being across reality.

He looked at them in what seemed like their eyes. In there he saw some sort of familiarity, a ringing solace, or perhaps it was longing. 

A gigantic eye with spheres of groteque amalgamated flesh returned his gaze. In there he saw a gate, and a key. No, the being was the gate and the key together. In front of it was multiple alien and terrifying looking beings, gnawing at it's doors. Yet despite their combined efforts they could not make a dent of its flesh.

Leo did not feel dread, or any sort of fear, instead upon seeing the being, he felt joy, solace and a mix of indignation.

The being reared its eye as it glanced over Leo. He felt no sort of evil malice or a winded will to harm him, instead the beings gaze showed amusement and a sense of care towards him.

He reached out towards the being, his hands turned misty and mutiple tentacles emerged from his legs.

The being smiled, or something he thought was a smile."Not yet, H■■■■r" The being said.

In an instant, Leo was pulled out and he returned to the desolate land. Everything was still the same, the tree, the pillars, the wheatfield and the rocks never moved.

"Wha... what was that..."

He took a moment to process what he saw, the beings gnawing at the gate, the eerily familiar feeling.

He stood up once more as he decided to not stay in this place much further. He needed to go back, as Clervie, Peruere, and Polochko were waiting outside.

He reached the tree where a few massive pillars were erected. In there, each of them has letters, or perhaps they were words or even names ethed all over them.

H'■■■t■■

■■iw■■

A■■■■■■

■■d■■o■■■

T■■ U■■■■ak■■■e ■■e

■■■g ■■ ■■■l■■

■■■ W■■ I■ ■■■ to ■■ ■■■■■

F■■■■■■ fr■■ ■■ar

L■■■ ■f ■■■■■■■e■■■r ■■■c■■

■■e ■■■■o■■ K■■■

Z■■a■■-■■■h

J■■■■■■■ ■■n d■■ ■■■■

In the middle of the pillars lay a throne. In there lay a tattered yellow robe ad pallid mask. The robe caught his attention as if hypnotized by it. As he got closer and closer towards the throne the whispers in his mind burst forth. Words of incomprehensable meaning entered his mind. Cries of joy and sorrow reverberated across the land as the skies above danced in eerily manner.

Leo clutched his head. The pores of his skin bled and his eyes grew redder than ever. Slowly, he reached crawled away from the throne and the cries slowly stopped.

He lost too much blood but he felt the most comfortable than ever. "What the fuck was that..."

He gasped for air as he stared intently at the throne. Beside him erected a rotting sign which prompted him to jerk in surprise.

"Now what?" Leo looked at the sign as he read it aloud. "C■■c■■a?"

Blinding light showered him. He shielded his eyes with his hand as he tried to look at the source. Slowly, he walked towards it. As he touched the light, his whole body turned into mist.

*************

A/N: The being IS CANNON in the Hoyoverse.