Genshin Impact Elemental Linkage Episode 1: The Travelers From Another Realm
For Zoey, my best friend :)
Table of contents:
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Epilogue
Prologue: A World Beyond Teyvat
Ever since the beginning of the very first civilizations, humanity has been blessed with a most otherworldly power called a Linkage. What’s a Linkage, you may ask? Well, it’s certainly not something you’d find in genetics textbooks- more specifically, the way in which two separate genes which are located close to each other on a chromosome are often inherited together! Instead, it’s the power to connect with individuals from other realms and share their powers via a powerful connection with them.
The tools needed for this undertaking are a Linkage Charm or any other Collectible Item, which serves as the evidence of the Partner Character’s connection, and the Elemental Amulet or any other item that allows one to transform, the very key to the Multiverse itself.
It was a beautiful day in Mondstadt, Teyvat. The sun was shining, the birds were chirping, and everyone was enjoying what seemed to be a nice day. Well, almost everyone. For inside the headquarters of the Knights of Flavonius, an emergency meeting was taking place.
“Good morning, everyone. I think you all know why you’ve been summoned here. And for a particularly alarming reason- The Fatui Harbingers are on the rise.”, Venti, the Anemo Archon replied as he sat down before everyone else. Beside him were Geo Archon Zhongli, Electro Archon Raiden Shogun, Dendro Archon Nahida, Hydro Archon Furina, and the Pyro and Cyro Archons.
The entire room gasped in horror. “What are we going to do?!”, asked a worried Bennett as he fiddled around with a self made fidget toy. “Contact the dead?” Hu Tao questioned. “Raise an army?” Jean asked. “Or trick them so they can be lured into signing a peace treaty?” Neuvilette questioned.
“No! No! It’s none of those!” Zhongli replied as he stood up, before bringing back a diagram that held the drawing of a blue ball with landmasses all across it. “This is what we’re going to do, to say the least,” he replied as he showed the picture of Earth to everyone. “Wait. What’s a diagram gotta do with our whole situation? This is serious!”, cried Diluc.
“This is the very world we are going to head to so we can find the legendary warriors known as Linkers- a planet called Earth. It’s like Teyvat, but there’s one big difference- the inhabitants of that world don’t use magic at all.” Raiden Shogun explained as she presented a slideshow of Earth’s various landmasses, ecosystems, cities, and people.
The denizens of Teyvat were amazed, but Aether and his sister Lumine, the two travelers, raised their hands. “Do you think we can go to Earth? We can go first, and the rest of us can catch up.”, said the former. “Yeah! Once we find our Linkers, then the rest of us can find theirs!”, the latter replied with a smile. “Oh, you two are geniuses! How did you know that was what I was thinking?!” Nahida said.
The Travelers blushed as Dainsleif activated the gateway to Earth. “Then it’s settled- Aether and Lumine are going to Earth!”, exclaimed Furina. “Good luck, you two!”, replied Albedo as he watched the duo head through the gateway. “Tell us about all the super cool stuff you find!” Barbara replied. “Hey, wait for me!” Paimon said as she flew through the portal. The adventure had already just begun.
Chapter 1: A Breezy Morning in Windy Hills
In the town of Windy Hills, inside a beautiful house on a beautiful hill, a nice breeze wafted through the early morning air into the bedroom of a pair of siblings- Terry and Tara Wilkins, two twin siblings who loved the video game Genshin Impact. As the spring breeze tickled their faces, Terry was the first to awaken.
“Come on, sis! It’s morning! Do you wanna go hang out with our friends?” Terry replied, hopping out of bed and climbing up the bunk bed to where his sister was sleeping with a Jumpty Dumpty plush, which was something the twins’ mom had made for her when she ordered a Klee cosplay one year to cosplay as the explosive girl for Windy Hills Anime Expo.
“Gah! I-It’s morning already? Oh gosh, I have to stop going to bed so late!” Tara said as she made her way down the ladder, with her and her brother making their way to the bathroom, where they got themselves ready and dressed for the day.
“Good morning, you two!”, the twins’ mother, Laura Wilkins said as she finished cleaning the kitchen. “Your mom and I are pretty busy today, so why don’t you two handle breakfast?” Harry Wilkins said as he got the morning newspaper.
The twins nodded and set about the house to get their own breakfast. Both of them settled on last night’s dinner- an egg salad sandwich for Terry, while Tara polished off Barbara’s signature dish- Spicy Stew, which she had made last night.
After breakfast, the twins hugged their parents goodbye. “We’re off to go do some work, so you kids have the whole day to yourselves- just be home by dinner, got it?” Harry replied as his two kids exited the house.
“We will! Bye, mom and dad!”, replied the twins as they got their bags filled with whatever they needed for the day- their phones, wallets, and anything necessary. And running down the emerald hill, they were off.
Chapter 2: Where The Wind Takes You
After getting to the bottom of the hill, the twins brainstormed their ideas of what to do for the day. “Hmmmm… How about we go to the park to meet up with everybody else? Plus, we can go hit up some diner for lunch. We just have to be back by dinner.”, said Terry. “I like your idea. How about we… go where the wind takes us?” Tara replied.
With a shared nod, the twins set off towards the larger area of Windy Hills, where the hustle and bustle of people could be heard from even the highest point. Looking around, the twins suddenly saw Carmen Beatriz, a girl from their school. “Heeeeeey, you two! How’s it going?”, she said as she scooped the both of them into a hug.
“It’s all good, Carmen!” Terry began as he dusted himself off. “Our parents are pretty busy today, and it is a Saturday- hard to believe this week had our first day at school.” Tara finished as she revealed a picture of them in front of Windy Hills Middle School.
“This week’s been a wild ride for all of us. The end of summer, the beginning of school, and our first weekend from it!” Tori Iris, another kid from the same class as Terry and Tara, said as she ran up to the twins. “Where do you wanna go today?”, she asked.
“I think we might just walk around the park and see what happens today.” Terry said as he looked at the sky. It was a beautiful shade of azure, with a few white clouds dotting it. “I like your attitude, buddy.”, said another boy named Vito Giovanni, who was also in the twins’ class.
And so the kids went on a nice stroll around the city park, in which appeared to start out as a normal outing with friends at their side, but would evolve into something so much wilder.
Chapter 3: Otherworldly Travelers
As they were making their way towards the pond, two streaks of light shot across the sky. “I-Is that a shooting star?!” Tara asked as she pointed to them. “I dunno, sis- I think they’re heading towards us!” Terry said as the lights began to get closer, and closer, and closer.
“Everyone, take cover!” Vito replied as everyone immediately hit the dirt before the shooting stars could hit them. But to their surprise, there was no explosion or debris flying all over the place. Instead, the shimmering trails of stardust were left behind, so nobody was truly hurt.
But what really caught the eyes of the kids were three people who appeared to be their age- one of them was a boy in adventurer’s gear, and the other girl was a girl with fantasy themed gear. In-between them was what looked like to be a massive doll, who was floating as if by magic.
“Oh my gosh, what happened to you two?!” Carmen replied as she and the others helped the twins out of the cold pond water, while Tori rushed to get a few towels from the gang’s adult friend, Robin Stimpson. “Are you ok?” Terry replied as the two strangers woke up on a nice park bench.
“Ugh… Man, we’re used to some landings, but we’re not used to something like that!”, the boy replied as he shook out the water in his hair. “Yeah, we’ve come a long way from Tevyat- Earth is unlike anything we’ve ever seen!”, said the girl as she dusted herself off. The Wilkins siblings immediately perked up at the name Teyvat.
“Wait. Did you just say… TEYVAT?!”, the twins said in unison. The travelers nodded and Paimon flew in between them. “Then you’re Aether and Lumine! And is that Paimon?!” Tori squealed as she danced around.
“Why, yes we are. But we’ve come a long way from here, and we’ve been looking for you, to be exact!” Paimon said as she did a loop-de-loop in the air- only for their friend Carol Winston’s stomach to start growling at once. “Uhhh… Maybe we should hit up somewhere to eat or something like that?”, she asked.
Chapter 4: A Crash Course in Linkage
A few minutes and a quick car ride from Robin later, the team arrived at a local diner- that being The Lucky Pigeon Diner. “Why don’t we stop here and get something to eat?” Terry asked as he and the rest of the team entered the restaurant.
Upon entering, the travelers gasped in amazement- they had never seen anything like it, nevertheless fast food in general. The smells of comfort food wafted through the air, and happy customers munched away at their meals in the nearly late afternoon.
“I’ve never been to such a place.” Aether said as he took a seat at a booth, while the others followed. “And to be fair, I don’t know what to order.” Lumine replied as she took one look at the menu- So many items on it were foreign to her and her brother, but Paimon just grinned. “Paimon will have anything!”, she said.
As a waitress approached the table, Paimon immediately froze and stood still so she could pass as a toy. “So, what do you kids want for lunch today?”, she replied as she began to write down the orders. “I’ll take… Probably a cheeseburger.” Terry replied. “I’ll gladly take something more on the sweet side- like an omelette.” Tara replied.
After the others made their orders, Terry and Tara then nudged the Travelers into a little conversation. “So, why are you two here?” Terry replied as he opened up a bag of gummies for Aether. “That’s a good question,” said Aether as he began to rummage through his bag.
“Yes, we do come from Teyvat- but we’re called travelers for a reason. We hop across worlds, but for now, we’ve decided to stay in Teyvat. Anyways, a dark force called the Fatui Harbingers is threatening our world, and our friends the Archons sent us here to Earth to find you two.” Lumine explained as she gave the twins two very beautiful amulets- the Elemental Amulets, alongside the Linkage Charms that came with them.
“Oh, these are beautiful!” Tara said as she analyzed the trinket. It was a silver amulet, complete with all of the elemental symbols of the Genshin Impact world. Terry saw that it had a small opening for where a small gem would go. “Do you think the weird charm fits in here?”, he questioned.
The travelers nodded their heads, but Paimon interrupted them. “Yes, but we can’t do it now. We’ll tell you when!”, she replied just as the food and drinks arrived at the table.
Chapter 5: Erebian Rising
After lunch, the team decided that it was time to continue their walk through Windy Hills. “Do you want… a tour of our humble town?” Terry suggested as he and Tara, alongside the rest of the gang, exited the restaurant.
“You bet we are!” Aether said as he checked to see if his sister and Paimon were nearby. “Then let’s go! The rest of town is waiting for us!” Carmen said as she took off running, with everyone else following her in her wake.
As they moved through the hustle and bustle of the city, Aether and Lumine got to experience new things that weren’t there in Tevyat- cell phones, vending machines, cars, etc. “How do you do a selfie again?” Lumine said as she tried her best to hold the phone. Tara smiled and helped her new friend readjust.
But as they continued further into the town, something felt off- especially when they saw a flock of birds take off from out of nowhere. “Wait. Did you guys see those crows?!” Vito replied, pointing to the birds flying away from wherever they were.
As the gang followed where the crows had come from, Paimon gasped in horror and made everyone else duck behind a nearby shrub. There stood Pierro of the Fatui Harbingers, and alongside him a man in very similar clothing akin to his. “W-What’s he up to?!” Carol replied, only to be shushed by her friends.
As the gang watched, Pierro waved his hand and an evil grin formed on his face. “It’s time you embrace the darkness within you…” he began, causing the man’s emotions to be drained and placed into a crystalline orb. “Emerge, Erebian!” Said the man next to him, Savio Nucci, as he threw the orb against a fountain. In a burst of dark energy, the fountain was changed into a creature known as an Erebian.
“Oh no… This is bad, isn’t it?!”, said Carmen as she looked around. There was no doubt about it. How would the gang be able to fight this thing? None of them had any training in martial arts beforehand, meaning that it would be a curb stomp fight if they went in unarmed. “It may be bad… But maybe you can use your amulets! Just say ‘Elemental Linkage, Go!’, and let the rest happen!” Paimon exclaimed.
“W-Well, if you say so…!” Terry began. “But we’ll do it!” Tara finished.
Chapter 6: Anemo in Action
“Elemental Linkage, Go!” Terry and Tara shouted. In a burst of light, they weren’t wearing their normal everyday clothes. Instead, their outfits reflected those of their Partner Characters, but with a bit of pizazz and a sword for each of them.
“I-I can’t believe it! The legendary heroes known as Linkers!” Paimon cheered as the twins jumped into battle. “Ok, you’ve just stepped up our game! GET THEM!!” Savio yelled as he directed the Erebian to crush the twins.
Suddenly, as if out of pure instinct, the twins jumped for the sky and were sent hurling into the air. “HELP US!!!!”, screamed the twins. “It’s ok, you two.”, replied Aether. “Just follow our lead and we’ll show you!” Lumine replied.
With instructions from their Partner Characters, the twins soared down to the ground, followed by them ricocheting off buildings one by one- until they did a spectacular dual kick to knock back some ammo, which landed square in the Erebian’s face. “AGH!! How are they this strong?!” Pierro replied as he and Savio were knocked away.
On the ground, the others cheered as the Wilkins siblings continued the fight. “You’ve got this, you two!” Carmen replied as she threw up her pom poms in the air. Robin also cheered the gang on. “Take that bad boy down!”, he replied.
After more than a handful of kicks, punches, and heavy lifting with the enemy, the Erebian was almost down. “Now’s your chance, you two!” Aether replied. “Time to finish this!” Lumine cheered.
The twins just nodded and decided to go skybound. “Activate Link Move!” They said in unison. “Dual… Elemental… Slash!!!”, they cried as they did an atmospheric reentry towards the Erebian, slicing it in half and purifying it. “How breezy…” it said as it disappeared and returned to being a fountain. And not just that, the stolen emotions were returned to its owner and the area was restored to normal.
“Gah…! How could we LOSE?!”, Savio replied as he facepalmed. “This isn’t over yet, for I have more tricks up my sleeve!” Pierro said as he and Savio warped away from the battlefield.
Chapter 7: A Temporary Farewell
Carol patted the twins on their backs. “That was awesome.”, she replied as she then gave them a hug. “You bet it was!” the twins replied simaltaneously. “Do you think we should probably head back? I think it’s almost dinnertime for you two.” Robin said with a smile.
“We should head back home. The sun’s setting in the sky.” Terry replied as he looked at the sunset that was dropping over Windy Hills. “You’re right. And that reminds me- Lumine, Paimon, and I have to get back, too.” Aether replied as he walked towards two trees that appeared to have their branches intertwined.
“Oh, and by the way, this is just the start of something totally bigger- There are more Linkers we’ve gotta find. The adventure’s only begun, you know!”, replied Paimon as she did a loop de loop in the air, following the two travelers.
“See ya later!” The Wilkins twins said as they watched their new friends head back to Teyvat. “Let’s go home, bro. Mom and dad have got something delicious waiting for us!” Tara said as she got a head start. “Last one home is a rotten egg! Oh, and first one home gets the first bowl of stew!” Terry replied as he playfully caught up.
Elsewhere, in the coldest part of Teyvat, Pierro and Savio approached a figure all clad in shadow. “Y-Your majesty… We have failed you. We failed to stop the Linkers… And they took down the Erebian we summoned.” Pierro said as he facepalmed, while Savio leaned into him.
“At least you tried. But next time, I can’t stand the failure of another one of you. I’ll give you a second chance before those naughty little ones get another one into their group.” The mysterious voice replied as its owner followed up with a hearty laugh.
To everyone else in Windy Hills, it had been an ordinary day. But to the Wilkins twins, it was the start of something so much more.
Epilogue: An Adventurer’s New Quest
Back in Teyvat, when the Travelers returned from their trip to Earth and shared the news with everyone, Venti was the first to respond. “That’s awesome! I think we’re off to a good start. Do we have any other folks who’d love to go to Windy Hills?”, said the Anemo Archon.
At that moment, the Mondstadt folks raised their hands, eager to go on their new missions. “I’ll go! I’m sure my Linker’s gonna be just as exciting as I am!” Amber replied as she ran up to Venti, hoping to know what her Linker would be like.
“According to our database, it seems your Linker is Carmen Beatriz, a Spanish-American girl from Windy Hills! Guess things might just be a breeze from now on out.” Albedo joked.
“And aside from Windy Hills in South Dakota, we’ve also got the following areas for potential Linkers- Hong Shitou City in China, Raiun Town in Japan, Wahatan Municipality in the UAE, Aquatique Bay in France, Resplandor Valley in Mexico, and Moroz City in Russia.” Zhongli explained, showing a map of the world.
“Well, those Linkers aren’t just gonna wait around for us! Let’s do this!” Bennett replied as a smile formed on his face. “YEAH!!!”, cheered everyone else. A new adventure for those on Earth and Teyvat was only just beginning.
