A.N. Ehe... long chappy ;)

"Lily.... Why are you packing a bag with food, a map, and various torture devices?" Lucifer asked, an eyebrow raised.

"Oh, nothing much. Just going to play whack-a-mole with a snake!" Lilith said with a dangerous grin, grabbing her favorite morning star.

"Does it have anything to do with the fact that you screamed Alatus's name so loud, people all the way in Inazuma could hear you?" Lucifer asked, a glint in his eye.

Lilith paused, then looked up at her brother. "Some sort of dark god took him, Luci. Right in front of my eyes. And I couldn't do a single thing about it," she growled, curling her hands into tight fists. Lucifer sighed, then bent down and gently took her trembling fists into his hands. He unfurled her hands, revealing bloody crescent moons carved over and over into her palms. "Her aura... it was terrifying. It was all I could do to stand and confront her verbally."

"We both know that if you had any chance at beating whoever took Alatus, she would already be at your feet," he murmured. "We're just not at the level to defeat a god. We've been living in peace for so long that we've forgotten what it's like to be faced with pure, unfiltered evil. I can't risk it, especially with your fragile sanity."

"Who're you calling fragile," Lilith huffed.

"Lilith. Do you seriously think that I haven't noticed?" Lucifer fixed her with a fierce glare. "You noticed the darkness beginning to bind Alatus's heart and absorbed as much as you could. We both know that if you try going against any kind of immortal being with hostile intent in your state, the overflow of darkness will break you."

"...I hate when you're right, Luci," Lilith grumbled in defeat.

"For now we need information. Who the god is, where her home base is, and how powerful she is. While we gather information, we also need power."

"But to get that power, we would need a proper teacher or at least stronger enemies. All these years of self-learning clearly hasn't helped much, and the monsters around here are too weak to give us a hard time," Lilith said, deep in thought.

"I... think I have an idea about what we can do," Lucifer said hesitantly.

"Legit?? Well, why didn't you say something earlier Lil' Bro??" Lilith's eyes literally sparked with excitement as she leaned forward.

"The thing is, I was reading through the book Mother gave us. About halfway through, it became a journal of sorts about some of the journeys our ancestors had. In one of those stories, there was a world where Demons, Goddesses, Giants, Fairies, and Humans exist. According to the descriptions, magic also exists and multiple elements can be wielded by a single person, so we won't stand out that much," Lucifer explained. (aka the world of The Seven Deadly Sins)

"Ooooh, cool! So we can train there!?" Lilith squealed with excitement.

"Yeah... but there's a problem," Lucifer rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

"What kind?" Lilith asked, tilting her head to the side.

"It turns out that traveling across entire worlds has a cooldown time. If we leave, we won't be able to come back to Teyvat for at least a thousand years," Lucifer explained.

Lilith froze. "That long?" she whispered. A thousand years away from everybody she loved... A whole thousand years taken away from the time she could spend searching for Alatus. She knew in her head that it would take a long time to track down and analyze the god she didnt even know the name of (Curses! If only she hadn't interrupted that god!), not to mention prepare for battle. With an extra thousand years taken away... I don't even want to think about what Alatus would go through during that time. That woman... every nerve of my body screamed at me that she was wrong. It was all I could do to stand my ground, and it was only due to intense desperation that I even dared to try and stop her from taking Alatus away.

"On top of that, our current relationships with the ones we know will never be the same again," Lucifer sighed.

"They'll definitely notice that we're gone. Whether we tell them now or when we come back... they'll know that we're different," Lilith said sadly. She hugged herself, dreading that moment when her beloved family's loving gazes twisted into the disgust and hatred that everybody in their old world threw towards the twins. Every fiber of her being was telling her that they would love the twins no matter what, but that one dark corner of her heart kept whispering otherwise.

"The only choices we have are sooner or later," Lucifer nodded his head. He stood up and walked towards the door. "I'll let you make the decision. I'm just here to support your quest to rescue Alatus."

"Yeah. Thanks Luci. For... everything," Lilith smiled softly.

"Anything for family," Lucifer returned the smile, then walked away.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

A few days later, she had finally made her decision.

"Sooooo why did you issue an 'emergency summons'?" Venti asked, loop-de-looping above her head.

"Does it have to do with the fact that we haven't seen you with Alatus these days?" Rex asked.

"Why are all my brothers psychics?!" Lilith threw up her hands in exasperation. "Yes, it has everything to do with Alatus! You might as well guess my entire speech!"

"Liliyyyyy," Lucifer muttered warningly, elbowing his fuming sister.

"Ergh... a-hem, as I was about to say," Lilith fake-coughed into her fist, "We..." she trailed off, an unusually vulnerable look on her face. "We..."

Venti floated in front of her, tickling her lips with a tiny puff of wind. "Take your time," he said, serious for once.

Lilith gulped, then took a deep breath. "Lucifer and I... are going on a journey to train."

"When will we be expecting you back?" Rex asked, tilting his head to the side.

"Oh, I dunno... inaboutathousandyears," Lilith muttered.

"WHAT?!" Venti squawked, so shocked that he lost his physical form for a couple seconds.

"I would also like to know exactly what kind of prank you are trying to pull here, Lily," Rex said with a disapproving yet worried glare.

"This isn't a prank. We need to travel for a thousand years in order to get stronger," Lucifer cut in when Lilith seemed to choke on her words.

"Noooooooooooooooooooo! Why can't you stay here and do that?!" Venti whined, clinging to the top of Lilith's head with all his little strength.

"You know how Rexy is the strongest immortal around these parts?" Lilith asked, and Venti nodded hesitantly. "I handed his butt back to him on a golden platter with a wooden ladle last week," she deadpanned, completely serious.

"In my defense, you were also using your elemental power," Rex argued.

"Butt. Golden platter," Lilith narrowed her eyes, daring him to defy her. He just backed off, hands raised in surrender. She continued reluctantly, "But I do admit... That was only because Rexy would never fight me at full force, Archons forbid enough to send me to the very edge. I've been reminded of just how complacent and weak I've gotten... A couple days ago, Alatus was taken away by some... dark god. Her aura was like nothing I had ever seen... it wouldn't be a stretch to say that she's the most powerful being in this world. Well," she chuckled darkly, "not that she has much competition."

"I take offense to that," Rex frowned. "But... why a thousand years? With your abilities, it should be easy to visit often."

"Thaaaaat's the thing..." Lilith rubbed the back of her neck nervously. "When we go on this journey, we're physically unable to return for a minimum of a thousand years."

"What kind of place would-" Venti started before Lucifer cut him off.

"It's in a different world from Teyvat. Our teleportation ability will take at minimum a thousand years to recharge enough to jump back to this world," he explained.

"How do you know that this other world exists and that you can teleport to it?" Rex asked suspiciously. "Unless, of course..."

"Yeah. We also come from... a different world," Lilith admitted, looking away. Venti gasped while Rex just nodded his head.

"I always knew that there was something different about you two. It just never occurred to me that you were from a different world," he said.

"As expected of my little brother, so smart," Lilith chuckled.

"One of the reasons we gathered you two here is to tell you about our departure. The other-" Lucifer started.

"-was to tell you a little story about a pair of twins who were born in the wrong place, at the wrong time-" Lilith continued.

"-and whose existence was cursed by all," Lucifer finished.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

By the time they were done telling their story, Venti was curled up into a ball crying tiny dandelion seeds in midair while Rex stood deathly still, his teeth clenched, a dark expression on his face.

"Venti?? Why are you crying!? All this happened ages ago; we're totally fine!" Lilith said frantically, drawing the tiny wind spirit into her arms and humming soothingly.

"The fact that you two kept your history and true strength hidden for over three millennia says otherwise," Rex growled, causing Lilith to flinch.

"I- I'm sorry- I get that you're dis-disgusted by us and-" Lilith stammered, the word "disgusted" catching in her throat, before Rex held up a hand.

"I have said nothing of the sort," he said calmly, his surface serenity belying the fire in his eyes. "Although that reaction has only solidified my suspicions."

"I... don't..." Lilith started before inhaling sharply as Rex drew her into a tight hug, Venti escaping her arms to snuggle into the top of her head. She wrapped her arms hesitantly around his waist, her grip tightening as she realized that he was shaking.

"Why didn't you trust us?" he asked softly. "Why couldn't you trust in our bonds?"

"We do trust you," Lilith murmured, burying her face into his chest. "You guys are the best, most honest, most loyal people we've ever had the fortune to meet. If anything, you're too good for us."

"We just couldn't trust in ourselves," Lucifer continued her train of thought, placing a hand on his sister's shoulder. "The only other person we'd ever loved died in order to protect us from the consequences of the prophecy. We were scared that if we revealed who we were to anybody in this world..."

"We would lose all that we love again," Lilith finished softly.

Rex's arms loosened from around her, and Lilith stiffened. I knew it. They feel betrayed. But... being pushed away is a thousand times better than them getting hurt in any way. However, Rex only leaned forward and pulled Lucifer into the hug.

"You should have more faith in your brothers. We're actually quite strong, even if I did lose to Lilith and a wooden ladle," he chuckled, along with the siblings in his arms.

"Not to mention that Venti lost his lunch to a cat - twice," Lilith teased the young wind spirit on her head.

"Hey! It's not my fault I'm allergic to cats!" Venti pouted, but his displeasure was short-lived when he saw the smile on his big sister's face.

"You're... really okay? With us being the twins of destruction?" Lilith asked in an uncharacteristically unsure voice.

"You two are no twins of destruction," Rex said firmly with absolutely no hesitation. "You are Lilith, the most impossible, sarcastic, witty, violent, bright, kind, beautiful girl I know." He turned his head to Lucifer. "And you are Lucifer, the sane twin and the most smart, logical, caring, handsome boy I know."

"How come my description was longer just to diss me?" Lilith tried to chuckle, but choked on a sob.

"We really, really don't deserve you guys," Lucifer muttered, hugging both his sister and Rex.

"No, you two deserve the whoooooole world!" Venti exclaimed cheerfully.

That single sentence broke the dam.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh!" Lilith and Lucifer screamed, dissolving into hysterical sobs.

Three millennia of overdue grieving burst out of the twins. They had never truly stopped to grieve the death of their mother, nor acknowledged the scars formed from three thousands years of neglect and hatred they suffered in their home world. Even as they poured love into Rex, Venti, and each other, some part of them believed that they were truly twins of destruction destined to ruin people's happiness, including their own.

Rex and Venti were at a loss for a moment. They were used to the twins being strong and unyielding, always with a smile on their faces. Now, they could see just how much their glass facade was cracking and shattering altogether.

The four young immortals stood (in Venti's case, snuggled into Lilith's head) there for a short, bittersweet moment, leaning against each other as if they might collapse if one is taken away.

A.N. Also like college started so I'm probably gonna disappear from time to time to just recharge my mental health. If all goes well I don't need mental health and I can post... but my supply of pre-written chapters is getting used up FAST, and I'm too busy to write more QAQ