The Decrees

I did it.

After 6 hours I finally ended the second volume.

I couldn't care more about the punishment, I only act like it's horrendous to avoid making Yae think of other worse punishments.

I just read in auto-pilot and when I finish reading, I have no clue of what I just read.

Did Yae think she had won?

No, no. We can't have that.

So I exit my room with bags in my eyes, ready to have breakfast

I saw a boy I know quite well approach the shrine, and with a sigh, I washed my teeth and went over to him.

"Thoma, what does that guy need now?" I'm too tired for this.

"Hehe, it's always amazing how you do it" said the boy Thoma, rubbing his neck.

He is a guy from Monstadt who came to Inazuma because, yes, because. I don't know. But he is the housekeeper of the Kamisato clan. The guy got lucky.

"Ayato-sama is asking for you, he said is urgent" he said with a smile. This guy is always smiling.

"I saw him yesterday, what does he want now?" I tiredly sighed but started walking towards the marks at the exit of the shrine.

"I'll help you!" said Thoma eager to help. After that sleepless night, I could use a hand.

I looked around and saw Yae sleeping in her room. That's unfair, but I will laugh later when the second volume gets out.

We quickly arrive at the Kamisato clan, they are just near the shrine after all.

"Thoma, you came back quickly" said a happy Ayaka. She had grown a lot and she should be 10 years old now. She looks a lot like her mother.

"No greeting for your big brother?" I pouted like a petulant child.

"H-hello" she is easily embarrassed when I remind her of the way she used to address me.

"You are not fun anymore, you frown even more than Ayato" I said pinching her cheek and moving them upwards. I got the hang of it, based on the position of the soul now I could more or less discern the position of the rest of the body.

"Id hudts" she complained, and tried to free herself grabbing my hands.

"Now that I'm awake, where is your permanently worried brother?" I looked around where he should be waiting for me.

"He is inside the meeting room, or maybe the study" Ayaka replied feeling a bit nervous. Her brother seems to be extremely worried about something, so much that he even called me, the most annoying person in Inazuma. I don't say Teyvat because that girl from Mondstadt is really annoying.

"I will enter by myself. You just keep practising with that metal stick so you can defend me in the future" I waved and left for the den.

"H-How shameless" I heard Ayaka muttering, but I laughed at that.

I have no talent with swords. And bows. And spears. Well, the only one I can hurt with a weapon is myself.

"Toc, toc, a trouble-solver troublemaker has arrived" I said looking at the meeting room, but it was empty. I knew it of course, but I couldn't come to this house without annoying anyone at least one.

"Toc, to-"

"I heard you the first time, just come in" Ayato cut my introduction short.

"Man, I thought I was tired after spending the night writing, but you look even worse" he had bags in the bags under his eyes.

"Kenshin, this is important. I received a report yesterday night from our spy in the teahouse. The leaders of the Hiiragi Clan and Kujou Clan were there yesterday" he was speaking very fast. It seems that something big has indeed happened.

"Chill. They go there almost every day" I tried to calm him down because I'm not understanding anything.

"They were talking about a Sakoku Decree" he finally spoke. "They will shut down the borders of Inazuma".

I couldn't speak after hearing that. How idiotic was that? 

If we can't buy food, we will die.

"What will they do about the food?" I am extremely curious about that.

"That's a report I received from another source. After these 3 years, the Fatui are finally back" Ayato said with a grim face. Nobody knew why they left, but nobody missed them.

"And the Fatuis will sell us food right?" I sarcastically said with a wry smile.

"Apparently so" Ayato sighed. "But the worse part is that they are planning yet another decree. It's called the Vision Hunt Decree".

"I don't like the sound of that. Not a single bit" I muttered. I normally don't care about what these clowns do, but if this decree is what I think it is, I'm going to get very angry.

"It's as it says. They will start collecting the Visions" Ayato grimaced, looking at his own waist, where a Hydro Vision resided.

"They have no idea what they are doing" I said rubbing my forehead and trying to think. "Do you know their purpose? I think it's extremely stupid".

"I don't. I also don't see a good reason to do that" Ayato shook his head.

"We need to talk with Yae about this" I said, trying to leave.

"We have no time, a meeting is going to be called in half an hour" he worriedly said. I still don't know where he got all this info.

Now I'm feeling concerned. Nobody knows what stealing a Vision does, probably not even the Shogun.

"Let's go then" I tiredly said. Just when I wanted to spread my second book about those 2.

We exited the room, and Ayaka looked at us with an intrigued expression, but she got worried when she saw our grim countenances.

I saw Ayato's worry increase, and I knew why. Ayaka received a Cryo Vision a week ago.

"Don't worry Ayato, I can do something about that, but it will expose me" I could easily do what I did to Hu Tao, but now everyone will know that I can do something more than simply detect lies and feel 'elemental power'. And knowing what was going to come, I should hide my cards as much as I could.

"Promise me that if the worst happens you will protect her" Ayato strongly said after hearing me.

"I promise" I sighed, but I couldn't deny him that. He has been my friend for all my life, and I consider Ayaka like a little sister.

We travelled through the forest and finally arrived at the Tenshukaku. It was a cloudy and cold day, and while I was not a superstitious person, it looked ominous.

We approached the gate, but the guards stopped us.

"By order of Lord Takayuki, you can't--"

SLAP!

"I am not in the mood. You shitty lord can't order us around, so move out of the way. Go and get fucked by a hilichurl, maybe you can steal his only neuron to be smarter" I coldly said.

Looks like those fuckers feel strong now that they have the backing of the Fatui.

The soldier looked at me in shock, but when he tried to get up, Ayato's chilling gaze stopped him in his tracks.

I was known to be an inoffensive person, but Ayato was a dangerous one. First, he had a Vision, he had trained for all his life and lastly, he had survived numerous assassination attempts.

And despite all this, I was probably even more dangerous.

I hadn't been idle these 3 years, and training with my improved ability after I lost my sight granted me the ability to do awesome things.

Just like I could touch curses, I could touch souls. They were of the same 'material' to put it simply. And touching souls was extremely dangerous, for them of course.

I could not only seal their soul, something I knew I could years ago, but I could also numb it, making them extremely drowsy or even sleep in the spot.

I could also cause some vibrations or changes in it. For example, I could mimic in them the vibrations that happened when the person was scared, making them feel fear. 

With a touch I could make them terrified, sad, happy, depressed...and they had no way to stop me.

And lastly, I could destroy souls. But I was afraid of even thinking about it, so I dismissed that last option.

Of course, I have a great weakness, I need to touch them. I could get cut or hurt before even reaching them. But once I touch the person? Everybody on this island would be at my mercy.

The only exceptions were the God of Eternity, as her soul was too much for me, and Yae, who may have some freaky abilities.

But yes, if I touch a normal person, I could put them to sleep.

We ignored the alarmed guards and confidently went to the meeting room.

BANG!

I opened the door without waiting, and surprise, we were the only ones left.

"You are late" said the Shogun from her high position.

"Then you should have sent a trusted person to deliver the message, because we didn't receive any" I caustically replied, making everyone surprised at my hostility. "And a guard outside tried using Lork Takayuki's orders to keep us outside".

"I would never-"

"I don't care, and I hope that guy was not yours because I slapped him to the ground. The fact that a trained guard from your house could eat dust under MY slap is honestly embarrassing" I ignored the rest and sat in my seat. I saw that right now Ei was doing her things, and only the puppet was in charge.

The Kujou head was fuming but I didn't care. I honestly hoped a vein would pop in his head after learning what he was about to do.

And the worst part is that I couldn't stop it. The puppet was only that, a puppet. And even if I had fun yesterday with Ei, I still didn't understand her enough to be able to convince her. Just like in the 'duel' she did what she thought was correct without considering our opinion, she would approve these decrees if she thought were good.

"Come on, you spend all this time and effort to keep us out and failed, you could at least be quick about it" I hurried the dumbasses. I know that everything would depend on the Shogun's first impression. She liked what this guy was going to say, decree approved, she didn't, decree discussed.

"You should learn some modals brat" he muttered with a dark face. Sara was looking at me with surprise and wariness.

I consider her a very good friend, but she would need to make a decision. Maybe not today or tomorrow, but sooner or later she would need to. And I could only pray she would make the correct one.

"Tell that to the Head Miko if you have balls. If you don't, start this circus" I was extremely angry. This guy was going to mess with the Visions without understanding the mess it could cause, only for what? The power in Inazuma came from the Shogun, so the only thing the Fatui could give him was money.

"Kenshin, behave" it was the Shogun herself that scolded me this time.

"I'm not a dog you can tell that. I'm here because you were interested in my ability, and I can leave when I want. So I will not hinder the meeting any more, but know that I'm here as an advisor, not as a subordinate" I heatedly said, but obediently sat down.

'Behave' she said, I heard Thoma say that to a dog last week.

The Shogun narrowed her eyes at me and frowned, but I didn't look at her. I had no interest in her or Ei at the moment

"Start the meeting" she instructed, and the guys who were looking at me with surprise now had victorious smiles. They knew that absolutely everything depended on the Shogun, and they knew what buttons to push.

"Your Excellency, we present a few decrees that will make Inazuma prosper like it has never before" one of those sycophants started.

"What are those decrees about?" inquired the puppet in her calm tone.

"The first one is the Sakoku decree. Closing the borders will make Inazuma unreachable by some strange elements that could disturb the peaceful country of Inazuma" the leader of the Hiiragi Clan said.

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On a planet so far away from everything that made it a lost location in the almost infinite expanse that was the universe, a little town braved all challenges the environment threw its way.

If you needed to describe with a single word the population of said town, it would be happy.

They had some challenges to overcome, but as long as they were together and could live with some degree of comfort, they wouldn't complain at all.

The town was surrounded by ruins, testimony that once upon a time some kind of civilization resided here, but the citizens had not the means nor the knowledge to decipher the meaning of such complicated architectural style or the complex-looking symbols engraved on the walls.

"Stupid Mark" a girl around 7 years old grumbled, travelling through the ruins with an ease that showed how used she was to walk through this uneven floor. "Not letting me play because I'm a girl...."

The fuming girl with red hair and red vibrant eyes, lost in her rage, walked rapidly, her anger making her lose contact with reality. She was going too far from the village, but her clouded reason wasn't able to realize it.

Ruins were dangerous, some remains of what once was probably a majestic building could fall on you, or the floor that heroes may have walked upon may collapse as the passage of time was equal to everybody.

"I'm stronger than him, what grounds does he have to say 'girls don't play football'?" the girl thought, her anger increasing, her mind turning as red as her vibrant hair.

So the girl walked and walked, trying to extinguish the flames of rage inside her, the village her mother was waiting in being left behind.

*CRACK*

"AAAAAAAHHHH!"

And the inevitable happened.

The floor gave up, and the little girl fell down a hole, the darkness within it making it appear maws.

The hole abruptly ended when another big plain rock obstructed it, but the girl bounced on it and kept falling.

"Argh!....ouch!" the fall wasn't smooth, and the girl desperately tried to grab some sort of ledge she could use to stop her descent to the unknown, but all she got were scratches and painful hits from the surrounding rocks and debris.

"AH!" the girl finally crashed into the floor at the end of such a traitorous hole, and only a miracle left her with the strength to stand up to look around.

"*sob* uhhh...." the girl was a strong one, but she was still a child.

Product of the scratches and collision, her whole body was bruised, the dress her mother had made with so much care of love torn out in various places.

The girl sobbed for a while, grabbing her hurting arm, but the reality of the situation finally entered her brain.

"....." the girl forgot all pain, and in its place came anxiety and fear.

Looking up, only a faraway dot revealed the entrance to the hole she had fallen through.

There were no more sources of light, so the surroundings were completely dark, making the girl's imagination create fictional yet real dangers that could be lurking in the shadows.

"....*sob*" the girl sobbed again, this time of fear, trying to search for a wall near the illuminated area that would give her the protection she so much needed.

But the girl finally remembered something that could help her.

'If you can't see, and you want to find the path to our home, take your pendant'

Her mother's words made the girl take out her pendant, and rub it strongly.

A faint red light illuminated the dark space a few steps near her, making her breathe in relief when at least a bit of the dark receded.

But the mother's words were only said to reassure the girl that her mother would always be near her to protect her, the pendant's only function was to give a tenuous light that would calm the girl until her mother found her.

But it was enough for the girl, who felt stronger now that she had a modicum of control over the dark.

"Mom said that I'm a brave girl" she tried to reassure herself with a determined voice, mentioning aloud the person who made her feel the safest. "And brave girls overcome their fears".

And like this, the little red-headed girl won against her nervousness and started moving, looking for an exit she wasn't sure existed.

Marking the walls to remember the position of the whole was a given, and small pebbles served as the milestones that revealed her travel.

*tap tap tap*

Her steps echoed in the dark and cold tunnel, but the girl chose to ignore the sounds her feet were making. She knew that if she paid attention, fear would grow stronger and despite being a brave girl she knew that if things got a lot worse, she wouldn't be able to continue.

*tap tap tap*

Her steps penetrated the fathomless dark, and little by little her countenance changed from her firm expression to an unsure one. The girl felt some tears of anxiousness start forming in her eyes, but it only served to reignite her determination to leave.

Her mother was waiting for her after all.

*tap tap TAC*

The girl looked down in astonishment, realizing that the rhythmic sound she had been used to had suddenly changed.

"Hmm?" looking at the ground, she saw that it was not stone anymore, it was metal.

Looking to the sides, she saw another tunnel, one devoid of the debris that made her path so difficult.

"..." the girl thought for a bit but quickly entered the tunnel.

The dim light from her pendant illuminated the area 1 meter ahead of her, giving it a red hue and making her realize that the walls of the tunnel were smooth and very cold to the touch.

"Oh no" the girl's anxiousness sky-rocketed when the tunnel ended in a metal wall. "Is this.....a door?"

Indeed, just as the girl surmised, what looked to be a wall was only an extremely worn-out door that was almost indistinguishable from the rest of the wall.

"NNNNNGGGGHH!" pushing with all her strength, the girl had to give up when the door didn't open. "Haa...haaa...."

In a miraculous happening, when she put her hand on the door to rest, it suddenly moved to the side revealing that the door was a sliding one.

The little girl felt surprised seeing this kind of door for the first time, but quickly entered the new tunnel.

The girl saw other doors on the side of this new tunnel, but they were stuck. She couldn't move them, be it pushing or sliding.

So she chose to walk forward, venturing into the unknown searching for a way out.

Finally, she arrived at a larger room, a very long one with ample windows she could see more debris through.

The floor was rough to the touch, and it had a colour the little girl couldn't discern in the red light of the pendant. 

It could be red, it could be white.

But what the girl knew was that it was her first time touching this kind of material.

A few ledges were covered in something soft but equally dirty, so the little girl thought they were seats. There were a lot of them, and a few tables were fixed to the floor by some bolts.

All of this made the girl think this was some sort of house or restaurant, why would there be so many tables and seats otherwise?

She strode forward, a bit more assured now that some semblance of civilization appeared.

She looked around curiously, but the rest of the things were too mysterious for her to understand.

But.....there was a thing that stood out and called to the child inside the girl.

A little figure, akin to a very big plushie, lay on the ground in a corner of the room. 

She quickly walked to it and had an uncertain expression on her face. She didn't know if she should touch it, as something might go wrong in this extremely weird and unexpected room.

But seeing that she had no other option and she was still trapped, she chose to touch it.

She didn't expect anything, maybe just seeking some sort of reassurance in the form of a plushie that reminded or of safer times.

So she touched it.

And 'something' inside her woke up, establishing contact with the puppet whose eyes started showing the tiniest of movements.

It may have been her instinct, her attitude, her soul, her flesh, her fate, or even destiny. Nobody knew, and nobody will ever know.

*ZAS* *ZAS* *ZAS*

The girl quickly took a step back in panic, hearing the loud sound the lights above the room made when they started throwing light to the otherwise dark room and rendering the girl's pendant useless.

The girl looked around in fear and surprise, and she could finally see the room in its entirety.

But she had no time to look at the strange room.

*Hmmmmmmmmmmmm*

A soft hum, growing in intensity with every passing second made the girl anxious, but there was nothing she could do.

*HMMMMMMMMMMMM*

Now the walls, floor and even the ceiling were vibrating.

"W-What is happening...." the girl nervously spoke, just to make the creeping anxiousness go away if only a little hearing a voice in this place devoid of comprehensible sounds.

*CREAK*

With a squeaking noise product of the rust accumulated during epochs, the puppet lifted its head, its blue eyes scanning the surroundings. And seeing the little and scared red-haired girl, the puppet stood up.

This was the moment a wave expanded through the infinite universe, only sensed by the beings that acted as an extension of the Universe itself.

A change in fate, a change in destiny.

The last work of the embodiment of the being that represented the will to face the unknown and explore new frontiers started working.

An engine that had been sleeping and laying in wait for eons roared into life, ready to bring the carriers of its creator's followers to unseen spaces and undiscovered locations.

The Star Rail was alive again.

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There are still more than 90 chapters before this arc starts, so those who don't like the idea will have a lof of chapters to read.