BACKSTORY

D uring the beginning of Teyvat, there was only a god and its five shades amongst and infinite landscape of elemental chaos. The lands were frozen over, burning, and drowning all at the same time. With a snap of it’s fingers the shades were summoned. Life, Death, Void, Reason.. And finally, Time. He named these young goddesses and gave them all tasks to build the new world. The Shade of Life and Death began their infinite game that continues on this day, The Shade of Reason spread order to a world steeped in chaos, and the Shade of Void began creating the abyss that surrounds Teyvat. The Goddess of Time, however.. Was not sure. She was born with time, yet it was not in the world yet, nor was it a part of the gods and goddesses like her. Confusion and concern began to raise. Should she wait, or should she give the gift instantly? What is instantly in this context? The young goddess began to have a dilemma, until she was pulled out of it by an unusual sight. In the chaos of the newly birthed world, She saw something that made her laugh. She laughed heartily, her eyes watering. It was in that moment, laughing that she realized, laughter and joy was what time was for. The emotions she felt were so amazing, surely they had to be gifts? Thus began the life of the youngest Shade, Chronos.

H er time in Celestia was far from ideal. After the end of creation and beginning of Phanes rule, all of the shades were placed in heraldic positions, constantly sitting at the lap of or at the feet of Phanes, praising him constantly. Chronos, however, still remembered her time on Teyvat, the joy she experienced from the unknown, from a moment that could not have happened at any other time . Chronos then changed her methods, choosing to go from simply worshiping to trying to make Phanes happy. She never succeeded, the cold expression on his face a stark reminder to her that she wasn’t good at her job. She kept trying harder and harder until eventually the other shades snapped. One day after waking up, Chronos found that the doors and windows to her chambers were locked. She pounded on the door, screaming for help, begging for release until her throat went hoarse. Only then did one of them show up to deliver a tray of food under the door and leave, never speaking a word. That first night, she stared at the food the entire night. The shock of the situation made it hard to eat, hard to sleep, and hard to do anything. She hoped they’d let her out after a day, a week, a month.. But each milestone she hit, each extra day, month and at some point years on the clock was slowly driving her mad.

I t took nearly 15,000 years to break her however. No matter how long it was or how much time passed, she always kept up the hope that the door would unlock one day. She’d prove she was a proper goddess and finally be better.. She’d never try to make anybody laugh again. She had been going through the motions, as always, in a trance like state. That was unlike all those years ago, a one time opportunity truly wasn’t one time. With her eyes turned toward the window, not looking at it. She saw two beautiful stars go by, and her mind had to completely start again. She looked around, looking down at her body. She had been so completely dissociated to not notice the new scars marking her body from her years of captivity and abuse spent in a trance like state. It was at that moment, holding a cup that her mind came back. She then used all of the stored up years of power in one big time stop, completely stopping time in Celestia for 20 minutes. Using that time, she rammed the door to her chambers down, sprinting like her life depended on it to the edge of the heavenly paradise. With one last look, she leaped off the edge, choosing to risk her life hitting the ground or being found by an unsavory person. Her last thought before passing out from exhaustion was that the stars looked beautiful when falling backwards.

T hat is how the Shade of Time found herself in Fontaine. The angle she had thrown herself over at caused her angle of trajectory to land in water.. Fate happened to have a coy hand to play, placing the Chief Justice at the bank of the river where the shade fell, getting a firsthand view of the metaphorical fallen angel, a humanoid falling down to Teyvat at incredible speeds. He knew, regardless of anything else, that if the individual he saw hit the water at their current angle, they’d die. Using his powers, he allowed the figure to hit the water safely. He quickly rushed over, concerned for the stranger, who quickly coughed up some water before introducing herself. It was an awkward few minutes. The Hydro Dragon sovereign and a member of Celestia, the very people who took his power away from him. He had it back, yet he was almost about to try her for her crimes before she explained that due to her situation, she was never actually there and never knew it happened until Neuvillette just explained it to her. She felt awful, and it just added to her hatred of Celestia. They got along quickly over disliking Celestia

C hronos then began living as a human in Fontaine, living as a cafe owner. Neuvillette and her hold regular conversations and are great friends, getting along on a deeper level due to both of them being nonhumans banished to the human world. Slowly, both sides began to realize they had feelings, but both of them were terrified of hurting the other, so they hid it. Their current situation can best be described as a very strong friendship that occasionally has flirting.