Spare Me

ꍟꌩꍟ ꂦꎇ ꓄ꃅꍟ ꌗ꓄ꂦꋪꂵ - ꌗꉣꍏꋪꍟ ꂵꍟ

"Oh? What are you two doing here? Though I was just wondering if you would happen to follow me..." Venti laughed, waving at Lumine advancing towards the tree.

"Not nice of you to just run away like that," Kaori remarked, swinging from the branches and landing on the ground with a well executed flip. She smiled, though it seemed slightly strained.

Something rumbled nearby. All of them turned to look at something that suddenly floated out of the ground. It was a green glowing sphere with pieces of hardened, clean plates of black rock rotating around it. It clearly wasn't a passive creature, so Kaori and Lumine readied for combat.

Kaori ran towards the levitating structure, leaping upwards and dealing a couple of blows before falling back down. Lumine managed the same thing before dodging an attack, and they realised their lack of range was going to be a problem.

"Fine!" Kaori yelled, retrieving a spare bow they found during their travels. She began shooting with deadly aim, chipping away at the enemy's health.

Suddenly, Kaori was thrown upwards, high in the air as she was hit by an Anemo barrier. She barely managed to land on her feet before being caught by the tornado attack.

Hissing, she felt something spark inside her as she remained still, the Eye of the Storm collapsing onto the ground. Lumine quickly stabbed it as it faded away in ashes before rushing to Kaori.

"I'm fine, just a bruise," Kaori try to smile, standing up to show she was fine. She survived massive broken bones, so why did this hurt so much? Lumine was clearly having the same thoughts, returning to Venti who waved at them, impressed.

"I want to know more about the Anemo God," Lumine cut to the chase. Venti tilted his head in confusion.

"You speak of the God of Anemo, Barbatos? He already disappeared from Mondstadt a long time ago. Liyue and Inazuma's respective gods of Geo and Electro are still present, but Mondstadt has seen many a moon since they last saw their own god," Venti sighed, fingering his lyre as Kaori tilted her head.

"Oh-h? Really?" Kaori said, her voice becoming distorted. Venti suddenly sweatdropped, fumbling to keep a hold of his lyre. Lumine flinched, grasping Kaori's wrist and pulled her away for a moment.

"Kaori, you're having an elemental distortion. Wake up," Lumine frantically whispered. Kaori stared blankly, whispering, "I think the Eye of the Storm did something to me."

"She's- she's a demon?!" Venti yelled, running forward, only to crash into a barrier.

"Kaori, WAKE UP!" Lumine yelled, slapping her friend as hard as possible. Even then, Kaori couldn't wake from the trance. Kaori shook her head, stumbling back slightly as she spat out some blood, feeling the sudden surge of increased Anemo coursing through her veins.

Lumine sighed, drawing out her Silver Sword with a sad expression. "I'm sorry," she said, before plunging the blade right through Kaori's body.

It wasn't like she wanted to kill Kaori. No, this happened a lot of times, and Lumine knew this was the only way to get Kaori back to her normal self.