It's been three weeks since I came to this world, and a lot of things have happened.
Despite my rather problematic circumstances, I've somehow managed to survive just fine. It's honestly a miracle I haven't somehow killed myself through sheer idiocy. Then again, having a vision certainly helped. Being able to control one of the seven elements truly is such a blessing in this dangerous world.
Speaking of, I've surprisingly gotten pretty good at combat despite my aversion to fighting in general. Then again, even if I was an ordinary person living a relatively mundane life, in this world where dangers lurk in every corner, getting good at fighting is practically a necessity.
'If only I could just talk my way out of every problem. It's a shame that my charisma is practically at the bottom of the barrel.'
But hey, despite all that, I managed to survive for three whole weeks. That's a win in my book.
"What are you thinking about?"
Shaking myself out of my thoughts, I focus my gaze towards the person staring at me from above.
Swaying alongside the breezy wind of the late afternoon are her beautiful blonde hair that's styled into a symmetrical pair of tails on both sides, and with it, a distinct floral scent characteristics of the blonde traveler are spread around, no doubt coming from the hardened flowers of Inteyvat adorning her hair.
A pair of shining golden orbs stares back at the indigo of my own, a hint of mischief and amusement can be seen, wrapped around a package of a still-foreign-yet-nonetheless sweet affection that never seems to die down ever since a particular event that happened not too long ago.
Affection that only seems to increase, though that could just be the inner narcissist in me talking.
With a smile on her face, the blonde traveler, Lumine, slightly shifts her legs, slightly shaking my head that's currently resting on her lap. "Is there something on my face?"
Instead of responding, I raised my hand, reaching towards the side of her face before gently brushing them with my fingers, lightly pinching them occasionally to which she let out a giggle in response.
Leaning herself into my touch, I can see the edges of her smile stretch just a bit wider. "Fufu, a bit touchy-feely are we?"
"Mm. Do you dislike it?"
"Of course not." The blonde traveler gently runs her hand all over my hair in response, a small gesture that never fails to bring a sort of comfort that I haven't felt in a long time. "You can do whatever you want to me, you know?"
"Uh huh. Suuuure."
"Within reason, of course."
"There we go."
Feeling my hand being pushed back, I let go of my hold, only to see her closing the distance between our faces. With both of our noses touching, she suddenly nuzzles them together, eliciting an involuntary laugh out of me from the ticklish feeling it brings.
"So, is there something on your mind?"
"Hmm…." Placing both of my hands on her scalp, I began to gently massage it, a process that I'm familiar with given how many headaches I get from the stress that never seems to end back in the day.
And judging by the hopefully contented sigh she released just now, my muscle memory has yet to betray me.
"It just feels surreal, you know?"
Everything for the past several years has been nothing but one bad thing after another, which only serves to drag my already tired mind into a downward spiral. Frankly, I'm amazed that I managed to last as long as I did.
Maybe it just took me a while to numb the fear I had of cutting my miserable life short.
"I'm so used to thinking that things will always remain how it was that being able to just live my life like this feels like something straight out of a dream."
"But it's not."
"Is it?" Gently applying pressure on her scalp, I move my finger around in a circular manner. "Despite the circumstances I found myself in when I woke up in this world, the fact that I was able to live once again seems too good to be true. It's like a dream, especially with how things are right now.
"And dreams don't last forever, no matter how much you want it to."
Feeling the wind starting to pick up, I continued my ministrations while silently creating a barrier around us. Something that now feels a lot easier to do compared to before.
The warm breath she exhales every now and then coupled with the slight hum she makes every time I press down on a particular spot in her head might lull me into a sleep if I'm not careful.
"Have you gotten everything out of your system?"
"Hmm… I think that's everything for now."
"Good." Letting out yet another sigh, she grabs both of my hands, lowering them down to my side before separating herself from me. "You're a lot more willing to open up now, that's an improvement."
"Will this really do anything?"
"Trust me, you'll feel better in the long run."
"If you say so, I guess."
"I know that it's not an easy thing for you to do, and for that–" Without any warning, she suddenly closed our distance, connecting her lips with mine, before separating herself just as quickly. "–you deserve a little something in return."
Staring at the blonde traveler, I can see the mischief dancing in her eyes, evident by the way her smile was replaced by a teasing smirk.
"...what a way to motivate someone, princess."
"You like it though, right?"
"I will not confirm nor deny that statement."
"Fufu, I'll take that as a yes."
After that, she raised her head and went back to gazing at the sea while occasionally ruffling my already messy hair. Gazing at her serene expression, I closed my eyes and dispelled the barrier, once more enjoying the feeling of the wind against my artificial skin.
After some time relaxing under the sun, I felt a weight pressing itself against my stomach.
Opening my eyes, I slightly raised my head only to be greeted by the so-called best guide in Teyvat, Paimon, who is making herself comfortable on top of my stomach, with her arms crossed together.
"What is it, Paimon?"
"If you two are going to go somewhere, at least tell Paimon first!"
"You were too busy stuffing yourself with food, so we didn't want to disturb you. Besides, you usually went to sleep right after anyway."
"Well, yes, but what if someone kidnapped Paimon while she's asleep? What would you do without your guide, huh?"
"You have your own place, don't you?" Grabbing Paimon by her waist, I raised myself into a sitting position before leaning back towards Lumine. "You're practically untouchable there, so why bother worrying about stuff like that?"
"But what if Paimon forgot?"
"In that case, we'll be sure to always remember our favorite emergency food even when you're no longer with us."
"Ugh, you are so annoying!" Reaching her tiny arms as far as she can, she grabs hold of my face before squishing them together as much as she can. "You might be fine leaving Paimon behind, white mask, but Lumine wouldn't do that, right?"
"Of course" Placing her head on my shoulders, she gently pat Paimon's head. "I'm not sure what I would do without my emergency food to keep me company."
"See, white mask? This is why Lumine is… wait, what did you say at the end there?"
"Hmm? I said 'I'm not sure what I would do without my lovable guide to keep me company.' Is there something wrong, Paimon?"
"Eh? Paimon swears you were saying something else."
"Ah, you must be hearing things." Ruffling the fairy's pure white hair, she laughed, acting as if she didn't say anything demeaning. "I care about you, Paimon, so you don't have to worry, I won't let anything happen to you."
"Ehehehe, as expected, Lumine is the best."
While Paimon is busy enjoying her head pat, I lightly nudge Lumine's head with mine.
"It's not nice to lie to children like that, you know?"
"And that's where you're wrong, Yuu. I meant every single word I said just now."
"That makes it even worse."
"Ahaha, whatever do you mean?"
I can only shake my head in exasperation at her antics. Though who am I to complain, really. When it comes to Paimon, it's kind of hard to resist not playing around with her rather childish behavior.
We ended up spending the entire afternoon just lazing around the edge of the cliff, but with the addition of our loveable mascot this time around.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
"Is that Venti?"
While we were flying close to the giant oak tree in Windrise, Lumine stopped me just before I passed by and pointed towards a spot of teal near the Statue of the Seven.
"Looks like it. That's convenient, I've been wanting to talk to him for a while."
Especially regarding the whole Gnosis situation. Even if he's weak because of the way he ruled Mondstadt, there's no way he couldn't have escaped if he wanted to.
"Is it okay if we stopped by, princess?"
"Sure thing."
Having received permission, I lowered the three of us towards the ground next to the bard, which made him jump slightly in surprise.
"Ah, travelers! It's nice to see you again!" Taking off his cap in greeting, the bard strum some notes with his wooden lyre before continuing. "What can I help you with?"
"You alright? I haven't heard rumors about a certain bard guzzling down alcohol in the past few days."
"Ahaha, while I would love nothing more than to drink some fine dandelion wine, I've been too busy recuperating."
"I see." Looking towards his chest, I could only imagine what it's like to have your heart directly removed. "Did she corner you or something? You probably could have escaped easily if you wanted to."
"Ah, so you knew, then?"
Seeing me nod my head, the Anemo Archon motioned for us to follow him. "Walk with me, travelers."
Looking towards Lumine, she nodded her head and held my hand, while Paimon floated closer to her.
Moving away from the archon statue, Barbatos led us to the base of the giant tree before putting his hand on it, causing the surrounding anemo energy to gather towards him.
"Sigh, that's better."
"Still haven't recovered?"
"I'm not sure if you're aware, traveler, but having your heart ripped out of you isn't exactly a pleasant experience."
"I wouldn't know, I don't have one."
Turning towards us, Barbatos raised an eyebrow before suddenly coming to a realization. "Oh yeah, you're a puppet. I forgot about that."
Patting his chest several times, he sighed in relief before sitting down, leaning his body against the tree before patting the ground next to him.
"Come, sit down, travelers."
Letting go of Lumine's hand, the three of us sat down on his right, with Paimon positioning herself on top of Lumine's lap, Barbatos was silent for a bit, staring at the skies through the gaps between the leaves.
"Thanks to your warning, the Harbinger's sudden appearance wasn't really much of a surprise. And, despite me being rather weak, escaping her wouldn't be much of a problem."
"I see. So why didn't you?"
Picking up the lyre next to him, Barbatos started to strum his lyre once more. "Did you know that the Tsaritsa used to be such a sweet girl?"
The picking of each individual string started to form into a rather joyous and upbeat tune.
"Amongst the Seven, she was probably the most sociable. We used to gather together every once in a while, and she would be the most excited about it, even going as far as taking the initiative to set everything up.
"She would invite every single one of us to Snezhnaya, inside a hall she'd specifically lend for the gathering inside the Zapolyarny Palace to just… talk, catch up on things, small stuff like that.
"A kindhearted archon, a benevolent ruler, and a sweet girl filled to the brim with love, something that she would not hesitate to show nor share to those who needed it.
"At least, that's how she was until the cataclysm happened."
The cheerful tune coming from the lyre slowly faded away, replaced by a more somber and sorrowful song.
"Ever since then, the person we knew and loved was gone. The beautiful smile that was ever present on her face was replaced by a cold expression. The outgoing and social girl that we knew now prefer to lock herself inside her own palace, surrounded by nothing but the freezing cold of Snezhnaya's everlasting winter.
"But the most unfortunate of them all, would undoubtedly be her people."
Stopping himself for a bit, Barbatos took a deep breath before strumming his lyre once more.
"To the people of Snezhnaya, the change was immediate. Their once kindhearted and benevolent ruler now controlled everything with the same manner in which she behaves – cold, detached, unfeeling.
"Not quite the iron-fisted rule that Inazuma is today, but to the people of Snezhnaya, the absence of the love she had towards her nation was noticeable. Eventually, the love they held towards their own archon dissipated, until it was no more.
"I suspect that even those within the ranks of the Fatui, maybe even some of the Harbingers, held no real loyalty towards her. Perhaps, they merely wanted to be on her side when she succeeded in whatever she's planning with our Gnoses."
Strumming the lyre for the last time, Barbatos ended his performance, the gloomy atmosphere of the song still hangs in the air even now.
"Why?" Lumine, who was captivated by the story, asked. Glancing towards their direction, I can see that the previously excitable Paimon has turned quiet. "Why would she do that?"
Hearing her question, Barbatos couldn't help but chuckle. "Being the gentle soul that she was, the Tsaritsa of the past would try her absolute best to see the best of everything.
"Whether it's gods or mortals, she tried her best to understand them, to see things from their perspective. And precisely because of that, what happened during the cataclysm made her question everything she believed in.
"For the first time, she saw, with her own eyes, how cruel and heartless they can be."
Letting out a sigh, Barbatos lowered his head, turning his focus towards the blonde traveler. "Some of us didn't make it, and that just makes things even worse for her."
"Is that why you willingly gave up your Gnosis? To help her, in the hopes that once she achieved her so-called rebellion against the divine, she would once again return to how she was? You do realize how crazy that sounds, right?"
"I've tried everything I could possibly think of in the past five hundred years, traveler, and none of them worked. Giving her my Gnosis in order to help her achieve her goal is a lot less crazy than some of the things I've tried before."
Focusing his gaze towards me, Barbatos gave me a sad smile.
"She's my friend, Yuu, even if she doesn't see it that way anymore. If giving my heart means having her back, no matter how small the chance might be, then why wouldn't I make that trade?
"Going to great lengths for the sake of a dear friend, I'm sure you understand, right?"
Processing his words, I couldn't help but think about Barbatos' words.
'Would I?'
It's been such a long time since I had a person I can call a friend. With everything going the way it was, it was nothing but a pipe dream. Even if they see me as one, it's hard for me to do the same.
In the back of my mind, I always hoped for someone to see through the façade I put up, to see how tired I was, to see the real me and not judge me for it, to see how much I needed their help.
How terribly optimistic of a thought that was.
'Who would ever lend their hand to someone like me?'
"Yuu."
"Huh?" Having snapped back to reality, I looked at my surroundings, before feeling the stare directed my way from the three people present.
"You're doing it again."
Glancing towards my right hand that was now held in a tight grip by Lumine, I realized what must've happened.
"Oh. Thanks for stopping me."
"Will you be okay?"
"I'll manage."
"Sorry, traveler, was it something I said?"
Turning towards Barbatos, who was sheepishly rubbing the back of his head, I shook my head in response. "You didn't know, so it's fine. It just reminded me of some things I rather forget."
"I see."
Before the already gloomy atmosphere could go any worse, the bard suddenly clapped his hand loudly.
"Well! I think that's enough depressing stuff for one day, don't you think?"
Grabbing his lyre, he starts to play a short yet happy tune before addressing Lumine. "Which reminds me, traveler, have you found what you're looking for in Mondstadt?"
"Not exactly, but we found a trail, so it's a start."
"I see. If that's the case, would you be going to Liyue next?"
"Yes."
"Well then." Standing up, Barbatos brushed the grass out of his shorts before continuing. "If you're interested in seeing the dusty old man Morax in all his draconic glory, then you might want to start going there now."
"Ah, Yuu and Paimon mentioned it before. The Rite of Descension, right?"
"Yup. 'Every year on this day, Rex Lapis graces the land with his prophecy, giving guidance on the economic path Liyue should follow in the coming year.' That's how Liyue would describe it officially anyway.
"It'll start in roughly two weeks, but you're better off getting there early, what with the increased security and all that, not to mention how full the inns would be. After all, who would want to miss the chance of seeing the Geo Archon in the flesh?"
"I see." Hearing Venti's explanation, Lumine nods her head in understanding. "In that case, we'll return and start making our preparations. Thank you, Venti."
Waving his hand at her gratitude, Barbatos gave a bright smile in response. "I should be the one saying that, traveler. For saving Mondstadt, and for curing Dvalin's poison, I thank you from the bottom of my heart." He said, as he slightly bowed his head.
"Not that I have one now. Heh."
"You just had to ruin that, didn't you?"
Shaking my head in exasperation, I stood up and walked towards the blonde traveler's side. The moment I did so, she grabbed Paimon and held her close, while I carried her as I usually did.
After making sure the two of them were secure, I turned towards Barbatos. "Well then, this is goodbye for now, Venti."
"Mhm. See you later, travelers. May the wind guide you on your journey."
With that, the three of us took off, heading back towards the city.
"I must say, I didn't think you already decided on leaving for Liyue so soon, princess."
"Is it really surprising?" Brushing her hair aside, she looked towards the approaching city on the horizon. "Since the local ley lines contain memories of the entire Mondstadt region, and Lisa only managed to find a single trace of my brother in Stormterror's Lair, why bother searching somewhere else?"
"True, I just thought maybe you'd be interested in exploring some other areas in this region. That snowy mountain over there, perhaps?"
"No thanks. I'm not a fan of the cold. What about you Paimon?"
"Paimon will gladly pass." She said, as her body shivered slightly, probably at the thought of having to deal with the freezing cold temperature of Dragonspine. "Besides, going to Liyue would be a lot better, you know? After all, a new region means all sorts of new food to try out!"
"It all came down to food for you, huh."
"Of course! Even if the food in Mondstadt is delicious, Paimon would like to have some variety."
"You wouldn't be saying that if you haven't already consumed an ungodly amount of food every time we went out to eat."
"Ehe~"