Venti POV
He took a deep breath and marched into the exquisitely decorated court. And hoped that Jiliana recognised him. Which might not be easy, since he was certain he had changed a lot over the past few centuries.
He was wrong. Apparently, he hadn't changed enough for her to not know him on first sight. Her expression didn't change much, only a glimmer of recognition in her eyes, and an upward twitch of her lips. Venti freely smiled at her, and slightly jerked his head towards the guards accompanying him. Jili got the message, and dismissed the guards, so that only the two siblings were left in the court. That's when his little sister dropped her facade, and ran over to give him a nice big hug. "Barbs, where've you been?! There has been no news of you in the last century, and now you suddenly show up in my court!"
Venti giggled at his old nickname. "Hehe, but don't reveal my identity, I go incognito these days. Venti's the name now. Sorry for barging in so suddenly, but we really need your help." "Nono its alright, and has something happened? It must be serious if you came all the way to Fontaine for this."
He sighed. "Yes its serious, We need you to heal a dear friend of ours. Somehow, she has accumulated a great amount of karma, such that it made her go unconscious for days now. I tried my own healing powers, but they did no good. It always returned."
Jiliana pursed her lips. "Karma you say.... Yes indeed, that's quite serious. And while karma can never be truly removed, it can be suppressed. I am assuming you need me to go with you?" He nodded. "Very well. Just give me a minute, I shall inform the guards."
Once that was done, he took her hand, and teleported both of them to Zhongli's house in Liyue, where Lumine was currently residing.
________
Xiao POV
He blinked as a flash indicated that Venti was back... Hopefully with the Hydro Archon in tow.
Behind the bard was a woman, a few centimetres taller than Venti. Her gown seemed to be made of water itself, and was of a aqua green-blue shade. She did not have much makeup on, and her hair was done up in a simple but elegant bun. But she exuded an aura of power similar to the other Archons.
Her eyes went up in surprise as she exclaimed, "MOR-" She was cut off by Zhongli slapping a hand to her mouth. "Yes yes it's me, but I'm also incognito. Zhongli. And nice to see you after so long, Jiliana." Jiliana shook her head, and said, "Seems I am missing a lot of things. You HAVE to explain everything to me later." "'Later' being the key word." Xiao spoke up. He bowed slightly. "I'm Xiao, an adeptus of Liyue." She nodded. "Nice to meet you, Xiao. Now I hear someone need my help?"
"Yes." Zhongli replied. "Her name is Lumine. She recently had an altercation with Raiden Ei, which seems to have triggered something. She is this way." Jiliana followed them through the house to where she was still unconscious.
But something once again didn't seem to be right. Jiliana's eyes widened in what could only be called utter shock. She instantly grabbed Zhongli and Venti by the collars, and dragged them into the next room, out of earshot. What was it with Archons dragging other Archons away recently?
Unable to contain his curiosity, he crept closer to the door, quiet as a cat, where Jiliana was exclaiming something.
Zhongli POV
"WHAT THE HECK, YOU TWO!" Jiliana screamed right at them.
"Calm down, Jili. Is something wrong?" Zhongli spoke in what he hoped was a soothing voice.
"HOW DO YOU NOT RECOGNISE HER!?!?" Apparently, Jilian's temper had been spiked. She didn't get angry very often, but when she did, you had to be extra careful.
"Will you please explain what you mean by 'recognise', Jili?" Venti asked worriedly.
Jiliana lowered her voice. "I believe you said her name was Lumine?" When they nodded, she continued, "Are your memories really that poor? Think back. Who did we know long ago, whose name was ALSO Lumine? Please don't tell me you have forgotten." Since Zhongli had a better memory, after a few moments of silence, he murmured, "Our lost sister Lumine... The one for whom we were searching." Zhongli blinked.
"W-W-Wait a minute. ARE YOU SAYING WHAT I THINK YOU ARE SAYING?" Venti exclaimed. "YES! I recognised her the moment I saw her. How the actual heck did you not recognise her?" Zhongli looked at Venti and said, "That will explain why we have been having that feeling that we know her. But... How is it possible that the person for whom we have been searching for millennia just... found her way into our world?" Jiliana shook her head. "I don't know..."
Venti said, "I think we should first go and heal her, we can directly have a face to face talk after that." Zhongli and Jiliana nodded, and they all headed back into the room, where Xiao was pacing. Right. He'd almost forgotten about Xiao, in this huge revelation.
Jiliana put her hand on Lumine's forehead, flinching when she felt her temperature. She began softly humming a tune he recognised. She used to sing it when they were hurt badly during the Archon War. Lumine's forehead grew slightly wet, and water trickled down her hair. He just prayed that this worked.
Lumine POV
She had no idea how much time she had spent in this hellhole, or if she'd even get out. Her rational thought process was leaching away, driven off by the demons and spirits of monsters she had killed in her long lifetime. Was this the price she had to pay for protecting her home, her family, her people? If so, then it was a cruel price to pay. But as they said, the Fates are cruel, never fair.
She tried to regain some amount of consciousness from time to time, only to fail dreadfully. As she continuously felt less optimistic, something broke through her mind. A... song. It ran some bell in the back of her mind, but she paid no attention to that, as she latched onto the soft voice, her only hope of salvation. The fog in her mind started to clear, but then the song stopped abruptly. No, she wanted to shout. No, don't stop, get me out of here. But she was still powerless. To her thankfulness, it began again, but this time she heard another tune accompanying it, this one all too familiar. The tune her bard friend, Venti loved to sing. So Venti is here... She thought. He is helping get me out of this abyss, and he has help.
The song continued, until the last of her demons began to be pushed into the back, and she finally opened her eyes after what seemed like a century. The first thing that hit her senses was the sound of a collective cheer. She blinked, as she instinctively shielded her eyes with one of her hands. When she got re-accustomed to the bright light, she tried to sit up, and looked around her curiously. Four people were crowding around her, and staring intently at her. She recognised three of them. Zhongli, Venti and Xiao. A wave of guilt went through her, as she saw all their worried expressions. She must have given them a dreadful fright.
"W-Where am I?" She asked.