The sky above Teyvat turned red.
Not a pretty sunset red. More like "someone spilled ketchup on the universe" red.
Across the seven nations, people stopped what they were doing and stared upward like confused chickens.
In Mondstadt, the city of freedom suddenly found itself very unfree from panic.
Citizens poured from the Cathedral, abandoning evening prayers. "Is this the end times?" wailed Sister Victoria, clutching her holy symbol like a lifeline.
At Angel's Share, a drunk patron stumbled outside, looked up, and promptly crawled back in. "Diluc!" he shouted. "Your wine's making the sky bleed!"
Diluc emerged from behind the bar, took one look at the crimson heavens, and calmly began putting away the expensive bottles. "If the world's ending, I'm not letting you drink my best wine."
The Knights of Favonius headquarters erupted into chaos. Acting Grand Master Jean burst from her office, her perfect composure finally cracking. Papers flew everywhere as knights ran in circles.
"Sound the alarms!" she commanded.
"Which ones?!"
"ALL OF THEM!"
"WHAT'S THE PROTOCOL FOR SKY APOCALYPSE?!" shouted another knight.
"THERE IS NO PROTOCOL!"
"SHOULD WE MAKE ONE?!"
"LATER! EVACUATE THE CIVILIANS FIRST!"
"TO WHERE?! THE SKY IS EVERYWHERE!"
Over in Liyue Harbor, the merchant capital's legendary composure shattered like cheap porcelain.
Market stalls toppled as vendors abandoned their wares. Mora coins scattered across cobblestones, forgotten in the face of cosmic horror. The harbor itself seemed to hold its breath, ships rocking uneasily despite the still water.
"The Geo Archon will save us!" someone cried.
"What if the Geo Archon caused this?!" another voice shot back, causing an immediate theological argument.
At the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor, Hu Tao poked her head out the door, looked at the red sky, and grinned. "Business is about to boom!" she announced cheerfully.
High above in the Jade Chamber, Ningguang pressed her face to the crystal windows, her usual serene expression replaced by something resembling concern. Her floating palace swayed slightly, as if even the geo energy holding it aloft was nervous.
"Ganyu!" she called. "Cancel my afternoon appointments. And... perhaps prepare the emergency evacuation protocols."
"Which emergency, Lady Ningguang?"
"The 'sky is bleeding and I have no idea why' emergency."
"We... don't have protocols for that."
"Then we'll improvise."
In the distant nation of Inazuma, locked behind its thunderous barriers, the phenomenon created a different kind of chaos.
The Electro Archon herself stood on Tenshukaku's highest balcony, her eternal stillness finally disturbed. For someone who had pursued eternity for centuries, unexpected change was... unwelcome.
"Shogun-sama," a trembling retainer approached. "The people are asking—"
"Tell them we are... investigating."
"But what should they do?"
A long pause. "Continue their daily routines. Eternity waits for no anomaly."
Meanwhile, on the streets below, citizens huddled in their homes. Some prayed to their ancestors. Others cursed whatever gods might be listening. A few enterprising individuals started betting pools on what would fall from the sky next.
In Sumeru, the nation of wisdom found itself refreshingly short on answers.
The Akademiya erupted into scholarly pandemonium. Researchers sprinted through corridors, scrolls unrolling behind them like paper trails of confusion.
"IT DEFIES ALL KNOWN PRINCIPLES OF ELEMENTAL THEORY!" screamed one sage, his turban askew.
"PERHAPS IT'S A NEW FORM OF DENDRO ENERGY!" shouted another, frantically scribbling calculations.
"MAYBE IT'S CELESTIA HAVING A TANTRUM!" suggested a third.
"THAT'S NOT SCIENTIFIC!"
"NOTHING ABOUT THIS IS SCIENTIFIC!"
In the House of Daena, ancient tomes were pulled from shelves with reckless abandon. Scholars searched for any reference to crimson skies, world-ending omens, or extremely dramatic weather patterns.
"Here!" One researcher slammed a dusty book on a table. "Ancient text mentions 'the sky weeping blood before the arrival of—'" He squinted. "I can't read the rest. The ink's faded."
"WELL, GUESS HARDER!"
"THAT'S NOT HOW ARCHAEOLOGY WORKS!"
In distant Fontaine, the nation of justice, legal minds attempted to apply law to lawlessness.
"Is there a statute against sky discoloration?" demanded the Chief Justice.
"...No, sir."
"Well, there should be! Someone write that down!"
In Natlan, the nation of war, warriors prepared for battle against an enemy they couldn't identify, couldn't see, and couldn't punch.
"READY THE WEAPONS!" roared a commander.
"Against what?!"
"THE SKY!"
"HOW DO WE ATTACK THE SKY?!"
"VERY TALL LADDERS!"
And in Snezhnaya, the frozen nation of the Tsaritsa, Fatui agents scrambled to report this development to their superiors.
"Should we take credit for this?" asked one agent.
"Did we cause it?"
"No."
"Then no."
"But it's very dramatic. Very... us."
"File it under 'Mysterious Phenomena We'll Claim Responsibility For Later.'"
Then, as suddenly as it appeared, the red sky vanished.
Everyone blinked.
"Well," said a random NPC in Mondstadt. "That was Tuesday."
Deep in the Whispering Woods, Venti had more pressing concerns than mysterious red skies.
Like the massive dragon currently having an existential crisis in front of him.
"Come on, Dvalin," Venti coaxed, holding up his lyre. "Just a little purification. It'll barely hurt. Think of it as... spiritual detox."
Dvalin, corrupted and cranky, let out a roar that roughly translated to "ABSOLUTELY NOT."
"Don't be dramatic," Venti sighed. "I'm literally offering you freedom from—"
CRASH.
A black coffin fell from the sky like a meteorite, landing with a sound that could be heard three kingdoms over. Trees bent. Birds fled. Dvalin's roar cut off mid-note.
The dragon took one look at the smoking crater and decided this was above his pay grade. With a flap of his wings, he disappeared into the clouds faster than you could say "nope."
"Dvalin, wait!" Venti called out. "We were having a moment!"
But the dragon was gone, leaving only settling dust and the distinct smell of "I don't get paid enough for this."
Venti stared at the coffin. Then at where Dvalin used to be. Then back at the coffin.
"Well," he muttered. "This is either really good or really bad."
He chose "really bad" and promptly vanished in a gust of wind, leaving only a few anemo crystals and the faint scent of dandelion wine.
Lumine and Paimon had been having a perfectly normal day of wandering and questioning their life choices when the sky went red.
"Paimon thinks that's probably not good," Paimon said, floating beside her companion.
"Probably not," Lumine agreed.
Then the coffin crashed.
The impact sent them both tumbling. Lumine rolled to her feet with practiced ease. Paimon performed what could generously be called "aerial panic flailing."
"What was that?!" Paimon shrieked, finally stabilizing her flight. "Did someone throw furniture at us?!"
Lumine approached the crater cautiously. The coffin sat there, ominous and definitely not on any travel brochure for Mondstadt.
"It's a coffin," she said.
"Paimon can see that! But why is there a coffin falling from the sky?! That's not normal! That's not—"
The coffin creaked.
Both girls froze.
"Did... did it just move?" Paimon whispered.
CRACK.
The lid shifted slightly.
"OKAY, THAT'S IT!" Paimon zipped behind Lumine. "Paimon knows what this is! It's one of those horror stories! A creepy old coffin falls from the sky, and then some ancient, ugly, probably smelly monster crawls out and tries to eat innocent travelers!"
"Paimon—"
"And then the monster will be all 'RAWR I WILL CONSUME YOUR SOULS' and we'll run screaming but it'll chase us and—"
CREAK.
The coffin lid slid open.
Thick, mystical fog poured out like dry ice at a budget theater production. It swirled dramatically around the crater, obscuring everything in an appropriately mysterious manner.
"SEE?!" Paimon yelped. "SPOOKY FOG! That's classic monster entrance fog!"
Lumine drew her sword, amber eyes fixed on the swirling mist. The fog was definitely doing the whole "dramatic reveal" thing. Either this was a very theatrical monster, or...
A silhouette appeared in the fog.
Tall. Definitely humanoid. Not immediately terrifying.
The mist began to clear, revealing—
Well.
Not a monster.
Haru stepped out of the coffin like he was exiting a luxury car instead of a death box that had fallen from the sky.
His ashy blonde hair caught what little light filtered through the trees. His red eyes scanned the area with the casual confidence of someone who definitely knew what was going on and was not at all confused about being inside a coffin thirty seconds ago.
He looked at Lumine.
She looked at him.
Paimon looked at both of them, then at the coffin, then back at them.
"Um," Paimon said eloquently. "You're... not a monster."
Haru tilted his head slightly. "Should I be?"
"Well, no, but—"
"Paimon was expecting something more... decomposed," Lumine finished, not lowering her sword entirely.
Haru glanced at the coffin behind him, then back at them. His expression remained perfectly calm, as if this was all very normal.
"Ah," he said. "I can see how that would be confusing."
[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION: DRAMATIC ENTRANCE DETECTED. COOL POINTS +50. CURRENT STATUS: MYSTERIOUS STRANGER. AURA LEVEL: MILDLY INTIMIDATING.]
"So..." Lumine said carefully. "You're not dead?"
"Not recently, no."
"And you fell from the sky in a coffin because...?"
Haru paused. How exactly did one explain "I was playing a video game and now I'm apparently inside it with a system that rewards me for acting cool"?
"Transportation issues," he said finally.
Paimon blinked. "Transportation issues?"
"My usual method of travel was... unavailable."
"So you chose a coffin?"
"I didn't choose anything. The coffin chose me."
Lumine and Paimon exchanged glances.
"That's..." Lumine started.
"Weird," Paimon finished.
"I prefer 'unconventional,'" Haru replied smoothly.
[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION: MYSTERIOUS BACKSTORY MAINTAINED. COOL POINTS +25. CURRENT AURA: ENIGMATIC.]
Lumine finally sheathed her sword. "I'm Lumine. This is Paimon. We're travelers."
"Haru," he replied with a slight nod.
"So, Haru," Paimon said, floating closer with obvious curiosity. "Where are you from? Why were you in a coffin? Are you some kind of weird coffin person? Do you always travel like that? Because Paimon has to say, it seems really impractical—"
"Paimon."
"Right, right. But seriously, what's your deal?"
Haru considered his options. The truth was out of the question. A lie would be complicated. But a carefully vague non-answer...
"I'm between homes," he said. "Recent... circumstances have left me looking for a new place to stay."
"Oh!" Paimon's expression brightened. "Like us! We're looking for Lumine's brother!"
Lumine shot Paimon a look.
"What? It's not a secret!"
"You don't just tell random coffin people our entire backstory."
"He's not a coffin person! He's a person who was in a coffin! There's a difference!"
While they bickered, Haru took stock of his situation. Two travelers, one of whom was clearly not from around here if her clothes were any indication. They seemed friendly enough, and more importantly, they appeared to know their way around.
"Are you heading anywhere in particular?" he asked.
"Mondstadt," Lumine said. "We were going to check in with the Knights of Favonius."
Perfect. Mondstadt was exactly where he needed to go if this really was the Genshin Impact world.
"Mind if I tag along?" Haru asked. "I'm new to the area, and I could use some guidance."
Lumine studied him for a moment. He didn't seem dangerous, despite the dramatic entrance. And there was something almost... familiar about him, though she couldn't place what.
"Sure," she said finally. "But if you try anything weird—"
"Define weird."
"Weirder than traveling in a coffin."
"That's a high bar."
"Paimon thinks you seem okay!" Paimon announced. "Plus, you're kind of handsome! In a mysterious, possibly dangerous way!"
"Paimon!"
"What? Paimon calls it like she sees it!"
Haru couldn't help but smile. "I'll try to keep the mysterious danger to a minimum."
[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION: FIRST CONTACT SUCCESSFUL. PARTY FORMATION DETECTED. COOL POINTS +100. NEW OBJECTIVE: MAINTAIN MYSTERIOUS PERSONA WHILE INTEGRATING WITH PARTY.]
As they began walking toward Mondstadt, Haru fell into step beside them. The coffin sat forgotten in its crater, already beginning to fade like a bad dream.
"So," Paimon said, floating backward to look at him while they walked. "What's your story? And don't say 'transportation issues' again. Paimon wants details!"