Faded Harmony

Explosion

'Again she stepped into the path,
A song of words on her lips once more,
The silence of their thoughts was imminent,
As she led them through the door.
Follow me past the flickering flames,
I'll guide you to a place of life,
Away from dangers, disasters and fires,
So that we all may survive.'

She watched as their eyes lost focus, except for one man in the corner, who was staring at her with a steady gaze. He tilted his head and smiled, indicating his ear, and Lyra nodded in understanding. She pointed to herself, then the others, and the path outside, and showed him the gesture for 'come.' He nodded, and she spun around, walking away, her song echoing over the walls. She heard their footsteps behind her, and mentally cursed as she noticed the fire had spread.

The smoke was becoming rather suffocating. She coughed through her song, but still continued on as more people poured out the doors, mesmerized. She led them through the doors to the hall, willing Barbatos to actually do something about this. The knights stood outside as she stumbled through the doors, her last notes fading. The knight rushed forward to help the others as she fell forward, someone catching her.

"Lyra?"

"Diluc." And that was all she remembered, before she fell asleep.

When she woke up again, someone's hand was on her head. Blinking, she stared up at Diluc, realizing her head was on his lap.

"Are you awake?"

Lyra looked to the step above Diluc, where an eyepatch came into focus before the rest of him did. "Uh-huh."

Diluc put an arm around her shoulder and pulled her up, so that her head rested on his shoulder. A glass of water was brought to her lips and she tried to push it away.

"Don't."

She stopped protesting and instead held his wrist as he gave her the water. Coughing, she pulled herself up. She looked around the plaza, where the elderly sat around and the sisters went around, a flash of light here and there. The little elf girl was wandering the plaza, skipping around the elderly. The deaf man smiled when he saw her. With his open palm, he first placed all five fingers on his chin, and then pointed his hand at her, very similar to how one might blow a kiss.

"That means 'Thank you,'" said Diluc, following Lyra's gaze. Lyra bowed her head to the deaf man.

"You breathed in a lot of smoke," said Kaeya.

"You think?" Her voice was still rusty, her eyes hurt, and her throat was dying. She felt like she had been run over by a dragon.

The girl who she had pushed out the door stood talking to Jean. Lyra vaguely noted that they looked similar, as they walked over to them, seeing Lyra awake.

"Barbara says the Cathedral was bombed," said Jean, as the girl beside her nodded.

Lyra looked back at the Cathedral. It was no longer on fire, but the smoke was still rising, curling into the otherwise pure air.

"It looks like Klee's handiwork," Diluc said quietly, looking at the bombing site. Even Kaeya didn't refute him.

"Klee wouldn't do something like that," said Jean, as the little elf girl ran up to Jean and hugged her.

"It wasn't me!"

"Did you leave one of your bombs lying somewhere, little one?" Lyra asked, looking around. The Abyss Mage had vanished.

"I had one buried near Cider Lake," said Klee, hopping up and down.

Lyra blinked. Cider Lake was literally the lake that circled Mondstadt. She looked up at Diluc in disbelief, and Diluc just sighed, while Kaeya laughed.

"Even after I told you not to blow up the fish?" Jean asked, as Klee looked down and avoided her gaze. For a second, Jean almost looked like Klee's mother.

"If it wasn't Klee, then who was it?" asked Kaeya, bringing the attention away from Klee and onto the matter at hand.

"An Abyss Mage. A red one. He was hovering near the Cathedral when the explosion happened." Lyra's head was killing her, and she leaned back into Diluc's lap, who didn't even bother to stop her.

"Are you alright?" Kaeya asked, sounding concerned.

"For the love of Morax, everything hurts," Lyra muttered, almost asleep.

"So she's from Liyue," observed Kaeya.

Jean gestured to the others, and took off down the plaza. Lyra was fast asleep at this point, and Diluc lifted her up without complaint as he followed Jean and the others.

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