~•~•~
"Aether, Paimon, go on ahead. I will meet you at Windrise, alright? at the big tree.", Lyra says once they are out of earshot of Albedo. "Okay? But Paimon wants to know why."
"just... some things I want to take care of here in Dragonspine... on my own.", Lyra adds. "Alright. see you at Windrise.", Aether shrugs. The blonde traveller and the pixie leave, as Lyra looks back to the campsite.
They are still in sight of it so Albedo could see them converse. 'I call upon Yui, the eleventh' she hides her presence and heads back to the campsite. There she sees Albedo, still standing where he had when they left.
"I made a point throughout of telling them how ordinary the results were... but what was that sediment I saw forming at the bottom of the vial? It should not have been there... what could it mean?" He looks back to a vial on the table.
Lyra follows his action. 'those born of earth are bound by its imperfection, but those born of chalk are free of impurities...', she thinks to herself.
"those born of earth are bound by its imperfection, but those born of chalk are free of impurities... you and I alike, Aether, both composed of a substance that has yet to be fully defined...", Albedo says as Lyra goes closer, unnoticed.
"Lyra... Aether...if one day, I lose control... destroy Mondstadt... destroy everything... can I rely on you to stop me?", Albedo says out loud. Lyra remains silent. Then she steps out of her shadow and makes her presence known to Albedo and shifts it, so it doesn't make him uneasy.
"Lyra...", the alchemist mutters. "I apologise for intruding on your privacy, Albedo..." – "... so you heard?" – "yes, but I knew.", Lyra confirms.
She holds out her left hand, emitting a bright warm glow of it. "Light exceeds the darkness. Corruption shall not win. Take away the curse and be blessed from within."
Albedo feels his spirit lifted. Lyra starts coughing. "Lyra! You didn't have to do that!", Albedo shouts. "I would be a bad friend if I didn't! especially if I was the one who helped making you!", she exclaims.
Albedo freezes at that. Lyra sighs. She summons a blue spear and makes her eyes flash yellow. As Albedo looks closer at the spear, his eyes widen. 'Those distinct yellow eyes... it can't be...'
"Dylan...?" – "hey there, Kreideprinz. This is the reason why I didn't show this life earlier. I don't want the others to know just yet. And Timaeus... he doesn't need to know.", Lyra chuckles.
"so you knew all along... that means... well, it explains how you knew so much about alchemy."
~•~•~
"Hey Aether! Sorry if I took too long.", Lyra says as she arrives at Windrise through the teleport waypoint. "Oh, we weren't waiting for too long. What did you have to do?", Aether inquires.
"Just had some things to clear at Skyfrost Nail. Now, let's head to Liyue, the nation of contracts!" Lyra starts leading the way towards Springvale. "So... could you maybe tell us more about Liyue?", Paimon asks.
"Sure. Liyue is the nation of contracts. The archon ruling there is the Geo archon, also known as the god of contracts. His name is Morax, however, the locals call him Rex Lapis. I do as well. Just a little fun fact at the side, Rex Lapis is the one who makes Mora, hence why Mora is called so. Anyway... while Barbatos is absent, Rex Lapis comes and descends once a year at the Rite of Descension. That is why we are going now. The Rite of Descension is in about three days.", Lyra explains.
"well, good that you planned ahead!", Paimon praises. Lyra laughs.
"the last time I was in Liyue was in my last life. It was not that long ago, so Liyue should still be the same. While Rex Lapis is the god of Liyue, the Liyue Qixing are the one who govern Liyue. The Liyue Qixing is a committee made up of merchants and business leaders. They specialise in commerce and trade sectors. The job of the Qixing is to implement the policies laid out by Rex Lapis and manage the day-to-day governance of the nation of Liyue.", she continues.
Paimon and Aether are in awe. "Paimon wants to know more about the Qixing!" Lyra giggles. As they pass Dawn winery and take the opposite way of the one leading to Stormterror's Lair, she continues to tell them about the Qixing.
"the Liyue Qixing were established around the end of the archon war, about 2000 years ago. With the savage fighting between gods concluded, commerce and artisanship flourished, and those seven who prospered above all others joined to form the Qixing. the half qilin Ganyu, an Adepti, chose to remain in Liyue to help the humans build a new government. She took up the post as the organization's secretary, working alongside its changing roster for centuries."
"quick question. What are the Adepti?", Paimon chimes in. "they serve Rex Lapis. Bound by contract to him, they keep the land save from any evil or threat."
Aether, who just noticed the great change in scenery, is stunned. "wow... Liyue is beautiful...", he mumbles. "it truly is... can you see the big tree in the distance? That is our first stop. Liyue harbour is too far for us to make. That tree is known as Wangshu inn. We will stay there for the night.", Lyra tells her companions.
"Paimon can't wait till we arrive!" Lyra chuckles at Paimon's exclamation. "How about we first stop by the nearest statue of the seven of Rex lapis? That way, Aether can see if he can activate all elements of Teyvat or if Anemo was just an outlier."
Her two companions nod and they head to the nearest statue of the seven. Once they do, Aether steps forward and touches the statue. Just like with Barbatos' statue of the seven, a glowing orb comes from the cube the statue is holding and goes to Aether.
"Alright. It seems you are able to gain all elements. Now you have both Anemo and Geo. Either way, let's continue to Wangshu inn."
~•~•~
"and here we are! This is Wangshu inn. Come, I'll pay the rooms for us to stay in. it is getting rather late, and I would hate to camp outside with all of the monsters around here." Lyra sighs as they go up the tree. On their way to Wangshu inn, they were attacked by monsters multiple time.
Lyra, not wanting to strain herself too much, only used her anemo vision and the gnosis she was given by Venti. The gnosis made it easier for her to resonate with anemo and deal more powerful anemo attacks.
At least the gnosis doesn't take a toll on her body, so she does not have to worry about that unlike her other abilities. The travelling trio goes to the reception. "hello, I am Verr Goldet, the boss of Wangshu inn. How can I help you?", the receptionist asks
"hello the names are Lyra, Aether and Paimon. We are travellers. We would like two rooms for one night, please.", Lyra says to Verr. "right away. That would be 10.000 mora, please."
Lyra gives her the money, and Verr gives them their room keys. "the rooms are above; you will see your room numbers quickly.", she informs them. Lyra nods and they head upstairs. "I hope you two don't mind if you share a room?", Lyra asks her travelling companions.
Paimon shakes her head. "no, Paimon doesn't mind." – "Excellent. If you wish to rest already, then do so. If you seek me, I will be at the top terrace." Lyra then parts from the other two, who head to their given room.
~•~•~
As Lyra arrives at the terrace, she leans on the railing. "Liyue is as beautiful as it used to be... For one who dwells to long in the darkness, one will never find the light to the end.", she recites one of her quotes from her past lives. Little did she know, a certain anemo user of Liyue was watching her ever since she went onto the terrace.
"... how do you know that quote?", the boy asks behind her as he jumps down to the girl. Lyra looks back at him, slightly taken aback by him actually showing himself to her.
'Alatus... no, Xiao. He is alright and safe. But I do wonder... what happened to the other Yaksha? Even as her I wasn't able to gain any information about them...', Lyra thinks to herself. Then, she goes back into reality.
"well... it is something I read in one of an old Adepti's notes. I believe their name was... Liliang. From what I know, she assisted Rex Lapis during the Archon war and died protecting the other Adepti.", she answers.
The adeptus stays silent. "who are you?", the adeptus asks. "the name is Lyra. And that is all a stranger should know. Unless, you want to get to know me which I highly doubt. However, I would appreciate it if I also knew your name.", Lyra says.
The adeptus scoffs. "adeptus Xiao, conqueror of demons." He turns around and jumps away. Lyra looks back over the terrace, sighing.
"I do wonder what happened to him... he used to be, well... less cold. Regardless... it has been about 2300 years since I last approached any of the Adepti as an equal... I wonder, would they let me talk to them if I showed them one of the Sigils?", she mutters to herself.
She shakes her head. After a little longer, she goes back inside. While she did think Xiao left, in truth, he had been watching her this whole time.
"just what are you, Lyra? Is that even your real name?"
~•~•~