[MODERN AU]

It’s been so long, no one remembers when all this started. All the archons know one thing, though— this all started with a field trip, and ever since then, everyone has been having recurring “nightmares” about being stuck in an alternate hellscape where they have to survive demons— or, what they call, “phantoms”— but these aren’t nightmares, this is a different realm. This hellscape seemed to be a shadow version of the real world, and while injuries gained in these nightmares don’t necessarily transfer to the real world where they wake up, the pain still seems to remain. It doesn’t make it any better that if the nightmare hours end, they get sent back exactly where they were the night before when they dream again.

Meeting time~.

Venti: “GOOD MORNING EVERYONE!!~” The music student and yearbook club member exclaimed, throwing his hands up in an enthusiastic manner, trying to get everyone to brighten up a bit despite it being like, 5 or 6 in the morning. This is just faux energy, though— he’s EXHAUSTED in reality but is trying to cheer everyone else up before worrying about himself.

Raiden Ei: She side-eyes him, the bags under her eyes slightly more prominent than usual, though she seems tired still. “It’s 7 in the morning, you gay ass bitch.” She closes her eyes to calm herself down as she takes a sip of her coffee, trying to wake herself up before she has to teach.

Furina: She slams her hands on the table, standing up, leaning over the table slightly as she death glares at Venti, cranky as hell, making the poor guy shrink back in his seat because Furina is more pissy than usual. “I HATE YOU!”

Zhongli: He shifts his chair away from the table slightly in case a fight happens because he’s NOT in the mood to have to break up a fight THIS EARLY in the morning. His eyes are half-lidded, clearly tired. “Oop-”

Nahida: She looks up from her laptop, silently wondering if she should step in to break up this inevitable fight despite the fact that she’s the youngest in the group. She stays silent, weighing the outcomes of letting a fight break out and breaking the fight— or, sorry, attempting to break this possible fight up. “Uhm…?”