Note : I've cut some of the chapters or many chapters that I don't find joy reading it, so it might perfectly aligned with the original story that I have written but I'll be sure to put it back in future chapter. (By the way I'm currently rewriting the story now cuz I've cut too many chapters at once😜)
The Forgotten Sovereign: Orion's Primordial Legacy
Before time had meaning, before the concepts of gods and mortals took shape, there existed Aion – the Cosmic Sovereign, the Living Paradox, the Primordial Arbiter. His role transcended the petty squabbles of emerging deities; he was the fulcrum upon which all existence balanced. Where the other Shades governed singular aspects of reality, Aion maintained the equilibrium between them all.
The Five Pillars of Creation
1. Istaroth (Time) – The Keeper of Moments
2. Physis (Life) – The Breath of Creation
3. Dike/Aletheia (Order) – The Unbreakable Law
4. Ronova (Death) – The Silent Reaper
5. Aelia (Connection) – The Anomaly
Aion's duty was simple yet infinite: to ensure no single Shade overstepped their domain. When Physis' creations grew too abundant, he allowed Ronova's touch to thin their numbers. When Istaroth's temporal experiments threatened causality, he reset the flow. He was the cosmic counterweight – until the day he broke his own laws.
The Fall of a God
The incident began with a single mortal village. Aion, in his endless vigil, had never directly intervened in mortal affairs – until her.
Aelia, a blind human girl, somehow perceived Aion's true form when he passed through her world. Where others saw only terror in his cosmic visage, she smiled.
"You're lonely," she'd said, her empty eyes somehow seeing through eternity.
For millennia, Aion returned in secret, watching Aelia's kindness defy the cruelty of her short-lived species. When villagers burned her as a witch for healing their sick during a plague, something in the cosmic balance snapped.
The Forbidden Acts:
- He reshaped Aelia's soul into a new Shade, breaking the natural order
- He shattered his own divinity into seven fragments (later known as Gnoses)
- He struck a bargain with Ronova that even Death hesitated to make
The Price of Defiance
Celestia's retribution was swift. The Heavenly Principles:
1. Erased all records of Aion's true nature
2. Reduced the Five Shades to Four in official doctrine
3. Imprisoned Aelia in a realm between dimensions
Yet Ronova, ever the contrarian, honored their pact. Through countless rebirths, Death shepherded Aion's essence – now called Orion – toward redemption.
Present-day Orion stretched as morning light filtered through Wolvendom's trees. Strange dreams of cosmic fire still lingered at the edges of his consciousness.
Three Abnormalities During His Test:
1. Wolfhook Mutation – Where his blood dripped, the berries grew to thrice their normal size, pulsing with faint light
2. Andrius' Howl– The Wolf King's spirit manifested physically for the first time in 500 years, his spectral form solid enough to displace snow
3. Elemental Resonance – Every Vision in Mondstadt flared simultaneously, including Diluc's long-dormant Pyro orb
Venti's usual drunken grin froze when Orion approached. The bard's fingers slipped on his lyre, producing a discordant shriek that made birds flee in terror.
What Venti Perceived:
- The air around Orion bent light like a gravitational field
- His shadow momentarily displayed six wings
- The scent of ozone and supernovae clung to his clothes
"Lovely morning for a test, isn't it?" Orion smiled obliviously.
Venti's ale flask slipped from numb fingers. "Y-yes! Just... peachy."
As Orion demonstrated sword techniques, three more phenomena occurred:
1. Temporal Glitch – His movements occasionally left afterimages that persisted for 2-3 seconds
2. Abyssal Reaction – Nearby Hilichurls spontaneously dropped their weapons and knelt
3. Celestial Interference – A single bolt of pure white lightning struck Dragonspine's peak despite clear skies
That evening, Venti convened an emergency meeting at the Thousand Winds Temple. The attendees spoke in hushed tones:
Zhongli (fingers steepled, voice low with ancient weight):
"Venti. You've sung ballads of every god and spirit since time's dawn. Tell us truthfully—has the sky ever birthed an Archon… and then erased him?"
Venti (usually playful, now uncharacteristically still):
"Ha! Wouldn't that be a twist? But… [grips his lyre tighter] What if the answer isn't in my songs, but in the silences between them? He could be more than just an Archon."
Ei (hand on her sword's hilt, lightning in her eyes):
"Enigma or not, a power that bends life itself cannot roam unchecked."
Nahida (softly, but with eerie certainty):
"Orion doesn't remember what he is. And if we force him to… we might not like the shape of that awakening."
Zhongli (staring at the horizon, as if searching for a name he's forgotten):
"Then what do we call a god who has fallen… even from memory?"
Meanwhile, Orion slept peacefully, unaware that:
- His pillowcase was woven from Istaroth's temporal threads
- The moon outside his window was three shades redder than normal
- Zero's usual teasing had taken on Aelia's speech patterns
As dawn approached, the constellation Aion Chronos – long erased from Teyvat's skies – flickered briefly into visibility before vanishing again.
Deep within the Zapolyarny Palace, the Cryo Archon's throne room trembled as her Gnosis flared with unnatural light. The Tsaritsa's breath fogged the air as she clutched the divine chess piece to her chest, its icy edges biting into her palm.
Pierro, standing guard, tensed. "Your Majesty?"
Tsaritsa, whispering: "He's here. After five hundred years… Aion's shadow walks Teyvat again."
She alone remembered the truth—how the original Cryo Archon had witnessed Aion's fall, how the first Snezhnayan hymns spoke of the "Sovereign Who Sleeps." But she didn't know Orion yet.
And she certainly didn't know he was currently being smothered by a certain maid's chest.
The sun shone over Windrise as Orion's group laid out their picnic blanket near Stormterror's Lair. Laughter filled the air—until a certain black-and-white maid materialized out of thin air, her arms wrapping around Orion from behind.
Zero: "Masterrr~ You forgot your lunchbox!"
Aether, pointing dramatically: "LOOK! The maid from last night! I TOLD YOU, LUMINE!"
Lumine's grip on her skewered sunsettias tightened. She'd been this close to interrogating Orion when Zero appeared. Now? Chaos.
Lumine, eye twitching: "So. This is Zero."
Orion, sweating: "I swear I've never seen her before—"
Zero, bowing elegantly: "I was sent from Snezhnaya this morning! Former master's orders~"
Five pairs of eyes narrowed.
Amber: "Snezhnaya? You're Fatui?!"
Noelle, gripping her claymore: "Sh-Should I… apprehend her?"
Venti, suddenly very interested in a dandelion: "Hehe… awkward…"
The tension shattered when Zero produced a five-tier cake from nowhere.
"Who wants dessert?"
---
The Abyssal Reaction – Bowing Before a Ghost
As the group hiked toward the ruins, a Hilichurl patrol spotted them—then immediately dropped to their knees, foreheads pressed to the dirt.
Amber, nocking an arrow: "Uh… new tactic?"
The Hilichurls didn't attack. Didn't flee. They trembled, their masked faces turned solely toward Orion. One dared to whisper:
"Kha… Khaenri'ah… alke…"
Then they scrambled away like demons were chasing them.
Aether, baffled: "Since when do Hilichurls bow?"
Venti, laughing nervously: "Must've mistaken him for someone else!"
But Orion noticed—when the bard laughed, the wind itself stuttered.
---
The Throne's Whisper – Abyss's Preparation
Far below, in the lightless halls of the Abyss Order's stronghold, a cloaked figure knelt before an empty throne carved from a single shard of blackened celestial iron.
Abyss Herald, panting: "He carries the Sovereign's aura! The promised one has returned!"
The throne hummed, its hollow seat echoing with the voice of something ancient:
"Prepare the Eclipse Ritual. The False Sky will crack when our Lord remembers…"
A single drop of liquid void fell from the throne's armrest, dissolving the stone floor where it landed.
---
The picnic itself was… oddly peaceful.
- Lumine & Amber cooked (Amber's "Sweet Madame" was charcoal with legs)
- Noelle served tea with military precision
- Aether kept "accidentally" dropping his handkerchief near Noelle
- Venti played nostalgic tunes—but his eyes never left Orion
As the sun dipped below the ruins, Orion leaned back, watching his friends bicker. "Let's do this again after my journey ends."
Lumine, grinning: "Only if you bring better meat next time."
They didn't know.
Couldn't know.
That the next time they gathered, Orion would be clad in cosmic armor, the Abyss's crown upon his brow—and the light in his eyes gone.