Souls in Teyvat

Keith was sitting inside a cramped tent, which also couldn't be called clean in any language.

The man named Eric had guided him to their small.... settlement, for the lack of a better word to describe the place they were living at.

He had been asked to talk for a while by Eric, who wanted to understand more about the Overworld, but Keith had refused categorically.

As 'good' as 'pitiable' these people seemed to be, he wasn't going to leave a sleeping Stelle alone.

She would have no trouble dealing with the entire settlement by herself and her bat, but she was defenceless right now.

So when her eyelids fluttered, Keith knew they could resume their search of March and Dan Heng.

"Good morning" said Keith calmly, making Stelle look at him with confusion, until she remembered what happened a few hours ago.

At least, she hoped it had been a few hours and not a whole day.

"We are in that people's settlement" explained Keith, making Stelle nod in understanding. "But we should leave soon."

"I'm ready" replied Stelle, but only after yawning and stretching.

Keith only sighed, as Stelle's stretch had pushed her modest chest forward, but stood up and left the small.... tent.

"Hey you. You are finally awake" said Eric, who had seen both people leave the tent.

"Yes, thank you for the bed" said Stelle with a grateful nod.

"It was the least we could do after you saved us yesterday" replied Eric with a wave of his hand.

"What was that about anyway?" asked Keith. "I didn't hear about murdering machines."

"They weren't like this, at least for what I've known" responded Eric with a tired sigh. "I hear that long ago, they were supposed to protect the miners and help us mine the Geomarrow, but I guess time affects everything, even scraps of metal put together."

"Well, if we are in peace, we will leave now" said Keith.

"Wait" but Eric raised his hand, making Keith look at him. "Can't you help us?"

"With what?" asked Keith. "With the robots, with the Geomarrow, or with the Overworld?"

"...the last one" admitted Eric with a resigned sigh.

"Sorry, no deal" replied Keith with a firm tone admitting no negotiation. "We are here temporarily, and honestly, there are too many angry people here for me to believe your plan is to talk with the Overworld."

"...." Eric's gaze hardened, but seeing Keith's calm gaze and Stelle's frown, he sighed.

"It's not that we can't sympathize with you" added Keith. "But we have our own thing to deal with. Just... forget about using force, the Silvermane Guards are too strong for you. They have real-life training, have been taught how to shoot and fight, they have more food which means they are stronger, and have the ground advantage."

"What do you want us to do then?" asked Eric, with a hint of frustration in his voice.

"It's quite obvious, isn't it?" asked Seth with exasperation. "You need t-"

"BOSS!!"

But a shout made everyone look at the origin of it, only to see a short woman with a dirty face running towards Eric.

"What's wrong now?" asked Eric in a tired voice, showing how many times he had experienced this same thing.

"It's the Wildfire" said the woman with a red face from anger. "They are here to talk again."

"Talk?" asked Eric with a sarcastic smirk. "What do we have to talk about?"

"About what you were trying to do just a few days ago"

A deep voice reached the settlement, and a dark-skinned old man with white hair and a short beard came towards Eric with a solemn face.

"Oleg" grumbled Eric, glaring at the man approaching without a single care. "What we do is none of your business."

"Would you say the same if the Overworld retaliates after you attack them?" replied the old man now identified as Oleg.

Keith and Stelle took a step back curious about what was unfolding.

"It's still none of your business" repeated Eric with a stony expression. "I don't mind you staying here, but we won't live here a single week more."

"And your solution is to attack the Overworld?" asked Oleg, holding up Eric's stare.

"If that's the only method we have, yes" replied Eric with a firm nod, with the crows whispering in approval. "Look at us. Without clean water, without food, without methods to warm us besides hugging these rocks we mined with our sweat and blood. Without basic sanitary supplies, living with rats and cockroaches as our pillows. With those robots attacking us when they see fit, and Svarog not letting us mine what we need in that safe area."

Oleg fell silent, but his firm stare didn't change, which irritated Eric even more.

"What are we supposed to do?!" shouted Eric, letting his rage speak for him. "All Wildfire is suggesting is just keep living in these inhumane conditions! Do you really believe that is the solution?!"

"Better than die by provoking the overwhelmingly superior Overworld" replied Oleg with a hard voice. "It's not like I like living here, but there is little we can do right now."

"You aren't even trying!" shouted Eric once again, with the crowd nodding at his words. "Wildfire says they want to keep peace in the Underworld. Do you really believe that maintaining the status quo is keeping the peace?! There was no peace from the start!"

"And yet, we can't allow you to attack the Overworld and drag all of us down" repeated Oleg, unmoving from his stance. "We are struggling to survive, that is common to everyone here. But things might change soon, all we need to do is wait a bit more."

"WE HAVE BEEN WAITING 10 YEARS!!" screamed Eric, opening his arms towards the crowd. "WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE SEEING NOW?!"

"Keith?" muttered Stelle, seeing her companion grimace looking around.

All he could sense from other people were lies and very strong emotions, mainly aggressive or hostile ones.

And yet.... why did he feel something horribly unpleasant right now?

"We are dying Oleg!" shouted Eric, uncaring about Oleg's position in the Wildfire. "Last week, a man died because the wound he got from some dumbass got infected! Last month, a child died because the water he drank was toxic! What are we waiting for?!"

Oleg fell silent, looking at the infuriated crowd, but looked at Eric once again.

"Wait a bit longer" was all he said before turning around to leave.

Leaving Eric with no target to vent his anger and frustrations on, and a crowd far too angry to reason.

'Things aren't going to end up well' realized Keith, leaving the questions about that faint feeling for later.

"... get ready" growled Eric with a dark expression.

Oleg's demand to wait had been the last straw for many people, and they had been on the verge of exploding for a while.

"Keith" muttered Stelle, seeing that things were about to turn ugly very fast.

"What?" asked Keith, thinking the same.

"What will happen now?" asked the golden-eyed girl.

"They will attack the Overworld, get beaten up and possibly killed, be sent back here, and the whole Underworld will suffer some sort of retaliation" explained Keith, who despite not being able to see the future like Elio, was quite sure about that.

"...." Stelle looked at the people picking up their pickaxes, shovels and similar equipment about to turn into blunt weapons, and realized something. "We have to stop them."

"How?" asked Keith, his eyes staring at the people around. "They have reached their boiling point, and what their bodies demand from them now is violence, not words."

"...." Stelle looked at Keith with imploring eyes, but Keith only looked back at her.

"Will you fight with them to make sure they don't get hurt? Will you stand in the front to protect them? Will you beat the Silvermane Guards alone? Will you go to Guepard to defuse the situation? Or will you try to reason with them?" asked Keith. "Don't look at me for an answer, just do whatever you want, and I will do the same."

Stelle frowned in thought, but an idea appeared in her mind.

"We only need to make them wait for a few days, right?" asked Stelle, an idea starting to form in her mind. "If we deal with the Stellaron, the lockdown will be lifted, right?"

"Probably" nodded Keith, his eyes relaying upon the world how unfeasible he saw that option. "But Cocolia is acting clearly strange, we don't know the reason for the lockdown, nor the reason why she tried to detain us while we were about to solve all her problems. But again, that doesn't matter. Do you think these people will believe that you can deal with the Eternal Freeze? I don't think Cocolia nor Guepard believed it, do you think these people on the verge of collapsing will believe it without proof?"

"...."

"Well, if you want to show them some proof, I have one" admitted Keith, making Stelle look at him hopefully. "I only need to amputate my arm and let them see how I grow another one, that will be enough for them to understand we are not 'normal'."

Stelle looked at Keith horrified, as she couldn't ask that of Keith.

But.... how do we deal with this?

"Are we all ready?" asked Eric, with a deeper meaning in the question.

""YES""

But all he found in the eyes of the crowd was firmness and conviction.

Stelle then knew that her time had run out, and all she could think of was to try to convince them to wait a few days more.

"Time's up" said Keith, putting a hand on Stelle's head to prevent her from rushing towards the armed group.

"Keith?" asked Stelle, seeing Keith's small smile.

"You know, I had a dream a few days ago" said the purple-haired man. "And let me tell you, it was an extremely sweet one."

Stelle looked blankly at Keith, who walked straight to where she had tried to run.

"And for some reason, I think I am very good at being an agitator" smirked Keith, a glint in his eyes that for some reason, set Stelle at ease.

"We depart now" said Eric with a firm nod.

But just after he turned around, he saw Keith in front of him with a straight face.

"Move" demanded Eric with a dark expression.

"You all" said Keith, ignoring Eric's words. "Are morons."

The crowd listened to Keith's words with shock, but their anger exploded quickly, while Stelle looked worriedly at the purple-haired man beside her.

"Is that all you have to say?" asked the man called Matt, glaring at Keith.

"What else can I say?" asked Keith with a shrug. "You are going to throw your lives to the trash cans in the Overworld, when you have already won."

"Shut up!" shouted Matt, rushing with a shovel, raised to- "UGH!"

"Don't swing that around if you don't want to get hurt" said Keith, looking at the man's limp body falling in front of him, and looking at the surprised crowd. "You can't even deal with me, an untrained person who just had access to food. How do you expect to deal with trained guards?"

"We aren't going to the Overworld to win" replied Eric with a firm stare.

"Obviously, you are going to throw your life away" replied Keith, making Eric frown. "All of you, I will repeat it again. You are morons, and have been for a while."

Obviously, the crowd didn't like that, but Keith continued, raising his voice to drown the curses thrown his way.

"Tell me, what would attack the Overworld do?" asked Keith with a pointed stare. "Do you think you can force the Supreme Guardian to lift the lockdown? Do you think you can take hostage her town? Do you think you can blackmail her to send food, healthy water and medical supplies here?"

Eric's gaze darkened, because he knew the answer to those questions.

No, they weren't about to go to the Overworld to get those things they needed so much.

They were going because they didn't want their lives to simply disappear without anyone knowing.

Knowing of their suffering, of their torment, of their lives.

They didn't want to disappear while the culprits of their death wouldn't even notice it, akin to a mosquito dying outside a window.

Because that would mean that they were indeed inferior to them, unworthy of enjoying the same privileges the people in the Overworld enjoyed.

Just like a candle, they would shine brightly one last time before going dark forever.

That would be the only thing the Overworld couldn't take away from them.

They were heading to their deaths.

But they were also heading to reclaim their life's value.

"I will ask again" said Keith, the only obstacle in their path. "Do you expect to blackmail, force, or take whatever you need from the Supreme Guardian?"

But once again, before the crowd could act to forcibly remove the last obstacle, Keith continued.

"Because you can" said Keith with a calm voice, one that stunned the crowd for a single moment. "And I will go even further. You don't even need to leave this dump to take everything you want from the Overworld."

"...."

"What are you talking about?" asked Eric with a wary gaze.

But Keith's words had been effective, as the crowd's ramping fury had been momentarily halted.

"For the third time, you all are morons" repeated Keith. "You have the Overworld by its balls, why wouldn't you just tighten your hand?"

"""..."""

And now, the momentary confusion turned into clear hesitation.

Had they missed something?

Were they unable to see what this man was talking about?

It might all be a lie from a man they hadn't seen in the Underworld for years, hoping to avoid an attack to the Overworld. But if that was the case.... why did he sound so confident?

Stelle looked at the scene, clearly seeing the change of direction in the wind.

What had been an enraged twister, picking up strength, now was a soft and insecure breeze.

"What are you talking about?" asked Eric with a frown.

He was smart enough to see that Keith had thought of something, but he had also been thinking for years, and he had found nothing.

"Why do you even risk your lives mining this thing?" asked Keith, pointing at the deep mine of Geomarrow. "Because you get food right? You can exchange it for food only found in the Overworld. But don't you know the Overworld needs the Geomarrow even more than food?"

"Do you think we haven't thought of that?" asked Eric in an angry mood. "Their stockpiles of Geomarrow will also longer than we will last without food. Even if we refuse to send more Geomarrow, they will just wait until we are desperate for food."

"Easy" said Keith with a smirk. "Deal with that stock of Geomarrow."

".. are you mocking us?" asked Eric with anger quickly growing inside him. "The supply of Geomarrow is the most guarded place in the whole Overworld. We would have more success directly attacking the Supreme Guardian."

"Easy" shrugged Keith. "And before you get angry again, I have a question. You were ready to die, is that right?"

"...." Eric didn't reply, not because they weren't ready, but because admitting their purpose in going to the Overworld wasn't to find death.

"Well, luckily for you, I have a plan" smirked Keith, a smirk carrying too much malevolence in it, the same one a kid had shown upon seeing a crowd listening to his words on a faraway world. "You only need to be willing to bet everything you have."

-----------------------------------------------------

"I'm afraid that their temper won't last for long" sighed Oleg, in front of a tall woman with dull blue hair, and a young girl with long and shiny black hair with purple undertones, carrying a huge scythe.

They were Natasha and Seele, the other heads of the group named Wildfire, whose purpose was to keep the Underworld stable.

"Honestly, I don't know if we should stop them at all" grumbled Seele with a frown etched on her face. "Things have been getting harder for a while, and the Overworld demands more Geomarrow every single year while giving us the same food."

"We told them to wait too much" sighed Natasha, probably the only medic in the whole Underworld. "So when the time to wait finally is coming to an end, they didn't believe us."

"Can we really trust those 2?" asked Seele with a frown. "I can't believe that happy-go girl can stop something that has devastated a whole planet."

"I believe them, there is nothing to gain from this lie" intervened Oleg, his calm voice unchanging. "No matter where their loyalty lies, they won't get anything from fooling us."

"What are we going to do with those guys then?" asked an impatient Seele, as her quickly moving feet tapping the floor showed. "Do I need to beat them up?"

"We can't let them obstruct those 2" muttered Natasha with a thoughtful expression. "If they attack the Overworld, and the Silvermane Guards enter the Underworld, those 2 might be discovered. By what they told us, the Supreme Guardian is after them for some reason."

"So I beat them up" decided Seele, kicking the scythe and twirling it around her arm, before expertly grabbing it.

"Take some of my m-"

"No need" replied Seele, leaving the narrow alley they were in. "I'm enough."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

But after 10 hours of waiting, Seele's eye started to twitch in anger.

Nobody came after all.

And yet, it didn't mean it was an uneventful day.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM

An explosion stronger than everything the planet had witnessed since the times of war before the Eternal Freeze started shook not only Belobog, but all its surroundings.

And explosion....

That had destroyed the only Geomarrow mine in this city.