~•~•~
"so, this is the storm barrier... it looks so dangerous.", Aether says. "Let me at it. Willow, you don't have to give me the holy lyre... I can do this with my normal lyre.", Venti says, stepping forward.
Lyra nods, then she looks back. "enemy attack! Prepare to fight back!", she shouts out as she constructs a geo structure in front of Venti to make sure he will not be hit by the enemies. "Whisp. Do what you have to. We will fight the monsters off.", she says.
"something's not right. There shouldn't be any hillichurl camps in the vicinity of Stormterror's lair...", Jean mutters as they start fighting against the enemies. "everyone, back.", Lyra orders and the others oblige.
"Winds of justice!", she shouts out. She moves her hands to her sides, then above her head, hands crossing each other. A large anemo vortex starts to build up. Then, she moves her hands forward. All of the enemies get sucked in and get propelled back with the vortex. The anemo vortex takes in some of the nearby pyro and it creates a swirl reaction. This kills the enemies in an instance.
Then she turns around and makes the geo structure disappear. "this was really unusual. Areas with high elemental concentration like this place puts a heavy burden on the hillichurl's body... the abyss order must be manipulating them..." Lyra says.
"I suppose I can play faster if my only audience is the wind." Venti mutters and plays a tune, making the storm barrier disappear. Paimon gasps. "it actually happened! You're not entirely useless, tone-deaf bard!" Lyra chuckles. "let's get moving."
~•~•~
After a lot of struggling, they manage to get to the top of the tower. There, they discover a seal. "oh, we can't advance any further. The ruins seem to be guarded by ancient seals.", Venti says. "Is this the work of Dvalin?", Paimon asks. Venti shakes his head. "no. these ruins were once part of old Mondstadt, as Lyra has said before. Dvalin just happens to be nesting in these ruins for now. These ruins even predate the existence of the four winds."
Lyra nods. "Mondstadt nowadays is a city without a ruler. However, before that happened, it was ruled over by a tyrant, Decarabian, the former anemo god. Anyway... Venti and I will sing you that story when we have the chance in the future. We already sang it to Jean and Diluc tho."
Diluc looks closer on the seal. "the markings on this seal... if my archaeological knowledge is not mistaken, this appears to be a light actuator. If we retrieve and reintegrate all the parts, we should be able to get it working." – "yes, that seems about right. There are three more halos circling the tower which means there are three more corresponding light actuators to activate.", Venti says.
Lyra looks out, noting the light actuators' positions. "I can see them scattered below. I will go and activate them all. All of you better stay here.", Lyra says. "why?" – "it will take too long if we all go down the tower. I myself have a quick way of travelling down the tower." – "oh?", Diluc voices the thought of the others.
"these devices.", Lyra points at a teleport waypoint. "they are called teleport waypoints. They are scattered across the whole continent. There are some below as well. Though to teleport to one, you have to activate them. Everyone has to activate them themselves to be able to use them. I however, have a way to use them without having to activate them for me." – "if that is so, can't you tell us?", Paimon complains.
"you don't have the power necessary to do so. Not that you're weak, it is just a power I had in the past and I am still able to use it- it's not one of the harmful ones, I swear, don't look at me like that Aether- From what I know, there are barely people left with this power, as it comes from an ancient kingdom. The kingdom was destroyed a very long time ago and it is said that there are little to no survivors. That, however, is a story for another time. Tata~" 'teleport waypoint: Old Mondstadt, north' with that, Lyra disappears into thin air.
~•~•~
"and I am back." Just after a few minutes, Lyra appears beside the teleport waypoint, making the others jump. "well, that was quick.", Aether mutters.
"I'm thinking about turning these adventures into songs after we're done...", Venti says. Lyra nods. "they would definitely make good songs." – "hopefully, this song will be sung for years to come by the people of Mondstadt, just like the legend of Vanessa.", Venti muses.
Jean chuckles. "I have loved that song since I was small." – "I enjoy singing it as well", Lyra chimes. "but enough about songs. Is everyone ready?" Jean nods. "I am completely prepared and fully confident we can do this." – "you're so reliable, master Jean.", Aether compliments.
Paimon nods. "Even master Diluc accompanied us to the very end. Despite only being an accidentally involved... bystander." – "you shared your secret with me, and I only returned your trust to the same extent." – "so 'trust' is what drove master Diluc here." – "as for master Jean... 'responsibility' perhaps?", Paimon says.
Jean nods. "What about the tone-deaf bard." Lyra closes her eyes. "It's 'freedom'.", she answers. "freedom?", Paimon asks. Lyra deadpans. "I have told you on multiple occasions that Mondstadt is the city of freedom."
Venti nods. "Mondstadt is a romantic city, without the reign of a king. And its citizens enjoy the most freedom amongst the seven nations. I hope the dragon that once protected Mondstadt will soon be free too... no one should have deceived him by telling him that Mondstadt betrayed him. And no one should have told him that it was his eternal duty to protect the city. He has the right and freedom to choose his own way of life.", he says.
"Venti...", Paimon says sentimental. "Well then. Will you be channelling anemo energy for us, Whisp?" – "oh, so you did recognise my voice!" – "of course, I did." – "Oh! No wonder these two said your voice was familiar!", Paimon chimes. "well then, time to fight."
~•~•~
Lyra and Aether fly high once again, shooting anemo energy at Dvalin. They manage to weaken him and land on a flying platform. The others are already waiting for them.
"alright, a plan I just came up with. Everyone, help get the dragon down. Aether, once Dvalin is down, go to the crystal on his neck and use the same thing you used on the tears. I will handle the destroying.", Lyra orders. They all nod. Lyra's plan goes off without a hitch.
"We did it! Lyra, you're a genius!", Paimon exclaims. "don't celebrate too soon; the platform is breaking!", Lyra shouts. The ground beneath them gives in and they fall.
Lyra looks around frantically. 'what do I do? There are boulders in the way, and I can't see everyone from here...' Then, she sees Dvalin flying down.
To that she closes her eyes. 'I know he will save the others... I don't know if he will save me... I am not hiding my complete aura right now after all... he may see me as a threat.'
"Lyra?! Where are you??", Jean calls out frantically. "Dvalin! Look for Lyra and catch her!", Venti orders the dragon. Lyra smiles. For her, as long as the others are save, it is alright.
plus, she has another ace up her sleeve. "I call upon Cia, the thirteenth." She turns into Cia and spreads her golden wings. She manoeuvres around the boulders and flies up into the sky.
"Willow?? Willow?? Where are you?! No, you can't leave me just yet!", Venti cries out. "shh... there, there whisp. I am alright." the group, which was now safe on Dvalin's back look up to see a blue haired woman fly above them.
Name: Cia
Vision: Hydro
Affiliation: Sumeru Akademiya
Constellation: Alatus stella (winged star)
"I understand that Dvalin sees me as a threat because of my aura, but that doesn't mean I don't know how to save myself.", she says as she lands beside Venti and changes back to normal. "Willow!", Venti exclaims. He jumps into her arms and hugs her tightly. "I thought I lost you again..."
"it is alright now, Whisp... I am here..." he lets go of Lyra. "And what do you mean with threat, Lyra?? Dvalin, explain yourself!", Venti demands.
"... I apologise... I was not aware that she does not mean any harm to Mondstadt... I just assumed due to the power radiating off of her. It rivals that of yours, Barbatos.", Dvalin defends himself. "it does?", Venti says, shocked as he looks at his old friend.
"it is my fifteenth life after all. I have all of my past powers, so my auras have overlapped each other by now and are probably as strong as a god all together. However, I am not able to use all of my powers at once; that would kill me in an instant.", Lyra says, shrugging.
"ah. Good to know. Though which life was that?", Venti asks. "Cia, the thirteenth life. I was an astrologist and a fortune teller of Sumeru in that life. I used to study under the Rtawahist Darshan. Basically the Darshan that focuses on the study of stars, including astrology and astronomy. I also had wings as you just saw.", Lyra explains.
Then, she looks out into the sky. "Man, I love this life." – "oh? How come?", Diluc asks. Lyra looks down onto the city of Mondstadt as she answers.
"well... looking past all bad things that have happened this life, i met people like my travelling companions, Aether and Paimon or people like Jean and you, Diluc, but i also get to meet people of the past, like Venti. For now though, we are going to arrive back at Mondstadt soon."
~•~•~