A lost friend's journey

Chapter 8

What set her off even more was that she didn't even know why she was feeling like  this. She didn't really have any inkling as to what might happen. She... wasn't used to this feeling. She couldn't say she liked it. It was strange, foreign, new to her. She couldn't remember a time when she felt this anxious about the upcoming day. The last time was way too long ago and felt like a bad dream. This tightness in her chest hadn't appeared again since she and the others went on a little trip to the forever frozen mountain. 

She didn't know what to do with what she was feeling, and so she decided the day would reveal to her whatever it should. With that in mind, she joined the others in their shared area, finding almost all of them hunched over a paper. Her mind helpfully supplied to her that it was the same paper that Venti saw when he was over. She also wondered if his fingers healed a bit. 

Murata was pulled out of her thought when Morax, drinking his morning tea, noticed her walking in. "Good morning, Murata."

She nodded her head, smiling slightly. "Good morning to you too, Morax."

She walked closer to the three sitting around the table, noticing Tsaritsa alone in a corner, back turned to them and gazing at the sky. Murata raised an eyebrow but decided to stay silent. Ever since they came to Mondstadt, the Cryo Archon had been acting rather strange, slowly detaching herself from them. Murata didn't know if she was even noticing, if she was subconsciously drifting away or if she was willingly detaching herself from them. She was becoming her element. 

...Cold and lonely.

Deciding that they would have to talk about this change later, Murata let herself fall ungracefully on the sofa besides the three sitting Archons, sighing dramatically. Only then did it occur to her that the others probably didn't know about this unique chance of progressing in their search for Barbatos.

"What is it now, Murata?" Rukkhadevata jokingly said, looking up from her sketch of what she could now discern as another drawing of the Anemo symbol.

The Pyro Archon sat correctly, adjusting her position albeit stiff, trying to be as comfortable as she could before announcing the news. Her stretched silence had the merit of getting the attention of everyone. She was usually loud and boisterous. Murata was the first who would admit it, so she could easily understand how she managed to get their full attention just by her silence. 

"Venti told me something the other day," she finally revealed, watching as perplexed expressions took place on her friends' faces. 

"Venti?" questioned Tsaritsa, fully faced towards her. "You mean the bard clad in green we saw at Dragonspine's camp?"

Murata nodded her head. Before she could open her mouth to respond, she heard Makoto gasp, therefore making her forget what she was about to say. "He's such a nice kid!" she marveled, soft smile playing on her lips.

Murata snorted, shaking her head. "Yeah yeah, he is." Then she grounded herself, getting back to her previous posture, crossing her arms and readying herself. "Well, he told me about this Mondstadt festival going on today, the Wein-something. He was telling me about-" she audibly swallowed, taking a deep breath, "-the importance of this festival."

When she saw no recognition nor understanding on their faces, it confirmed her previous suspicions that they also had never heard of such a festival. It did nothing to quell the guilt that was still boiling deep down at the knowledge that they really knew nothing about Mondstadt. And so ignoring it for now being her best bet, she pressed on the matter currently at hand.

"It is also a festival during the end of which Barbatos is present," she finished, waiting for their imminent reactions. Least to say, the other archons did not make her wait. They all looked at her with wide, disbelieving eyes, not knowing exactly if they could believe her, if they were allowed to believe her, fearing that they might be getting their hopes up.