Important in Another World- BOOK 2- A Genshin Impact Xiaolumi fanfic

Chapter 9- A Piece of her Mind

Almost as if her thoughts had conjured him up, she saw Aether in front of her. He smiled at her sadly, reaching out to her, but then pulling back. "Not yet, sister.. But soon. Sometime soon." With that, he turned away from her and stared into the endless Abyss of which he was the Prince, not responding to her at all. She tried to exit the space, but to her misfortune, the door had disappeared. 'Focus, Lumine, focus.' She told herself. She was the goddess of spaces, she should be able to control this space too. 'Change.' She channeled her thoughts into her willpower. "Bring me back." A bright light erupted and she closed her eyes. But when she opened them, she saw a scene that was even more despondent than the last, if that was possible.

"Xiao!" she exclaimed. He was leaning on his spear, panting. Blood surrounded him. "Stop it Bos! This is not who you are! You are a protector, a defender of Liyue! This isn't your true nature!" The only thing that responded to him was a chilling laugh. As she reached out towards him in panic, she fell. Down, down, down, until she felt the coldness of water.

She swam ashore and regrouped with the others. "Oh, there you are Lumine! You had us all worried, none of us could open the door and we couldn't find you!" Paimon exclaimed. "Well?" Itto asked her expectantly. "Did you find the person we were searching for inside?" "Yes and no, and a little more." "What do you mean?" Yanfei asked, confused. "By the look on your face, I guess you saw something a little.. Unpleasant there, didn't you?" Yelan commented and she nodded. She briefly explained what she had seen in there.

"Eh? How's that possible? Awww, don't worry, Paimon will always be by your side to look for Aether. But about Xiao.. we've gotta find a way to get to him, he's in trouble..." "I agree with Paimon. Ugh, I wanna smash this stupid door to pieces!" Itto said angrily. "Paimon would join you if she wasn't so tired."

******

Sometime later, they were back at their campsite, and established that from now on, they needed to eat and rest regularly. Despite that, like the last few days, she couldn't get even a wink of sleep, her troubled mind and worried thoughts keeping her awake. She could feel the tiredness coming on, but it wasn't her fault she couldn't get any sleep. Frustrated, she walked up to Yelan and told her to go rest, she'd take watch duty. Yelan was opposed to the idea, but eventually gave in. Once Yelan lightly dozed off, she was approached by Yanfei. "Hey Lumi, if you don't mind, could I speak to you in private for a minute?" She nodded and followed her a bit away from the camp.

"Thanks for talking with me. I was thinking about this place.. Since we don't know anything about it, I have a feeling we should regroup with the Conqueror of Demons as soon as possible, without much delay." Lumine nodded vigorously in response. "That I fully agree to. You have any ideas?" "A few theories, yes, but I don't want to panic everyone, which is why I want to talk to you privately." She explained her theories, which actually made sense. There being intersecting chaotic spaces explained everything, if they were in one chaotic space and Xiao in another. But this.. Sentient domain clearly did not intend for that interactive spatial rift, nor that scene she saw inside the door. Lumine hummed," Yan, your theories make sense. If this space deceives us based on our imaginations, then the solution to finding Xiao would be to.." "Keep imagining." They both said together. "Well, let's do this then." Lumine said. "Yes, let's find the Conqueror of Demons."

Using their imagination, they were guided further into the caves by disturbing snippets of Xiao's voice. "The voice is much clearer now. We're close!" Yanfei excitedly said. A spatial rift burst into being in front of them. "It worked!" Lumine said."Conqueror of Demons, can you hear us? It's Yanfei! Lumine and I are trying to find you." After a pause, his cracked voice came through. "..Lumine?..Yanfei?" "Yes! Are you okay?" Yanfei responded. "..I'm fine." Oh for archon's sake, this little liar, she could hear it in his voice. "Stop lying Xiao, I saw your condition through a rift." Yanfei hurriedly explained her theory to Xiao about the intersecting spaces. He agreed. "Everything's chaotic here." "Find a way to get to us." Lumine ordered. "No." he bluntly said. She blinked. "Excuse me Xiao? Can you repeat what you just said?" "No. The darkness that sullies my soul is harmful to mortals."