"Such a beauty as you could-" You cut Alvis off with a clear refute; A stern, loud, "No."
The children 'aww'ed and some the adutls went silent from gossiping, but you kept silently glaring at him, obviously upset. It was none of the audience's business, anyway. Alvis was being a huge jerk by doing this, knowing his and your reason for knowing each other's names, yet he was making it so that he was the victim. How rude.
Alvis in your past life was irresponsible, immature, and an absolute man-child. It's honestly amusing to see him like this, surrounded by kids you told yourself that he was exactly like. You didn't think he would be any different in this world - and you were right.
Alvis looked distraught, panicked at the children's displease. "Aha..." He nervously trailed off, his gaze rapidly panging all over the place. He suddenly clapped his hands loudly, and everyone turned back to look at him. He wore a smug smile. You felt yourself get even more irritated. "Oh, pitiful is me!" He sighs, "Thy has rejected the most magical magician!" Alvis exclaims, with you receiving narrowed glares from the naive audience. It was weird and giving you second-hand embarrassment on top of your humiliation.
You rolled your eyes once again, scoffing and folding your arms. "You're so annoying." You seethed, turning your head away from the sight. You just wanted to have a good time, and your unfortunate luck just had to make you bump into him. It was awful.
You fully turned around, walking away back to where you came from. You pretended to not hear the yells that came from Alvis' despicable mouth and ignored him. You didn't have time for him. It was a mistake going over there, he wasn't worth your time. You sighed, this was pointless.
A familiar shimmer of gold suddenly caught your eye. You became frozen in place.
Standing far from the flower beds of the Inteyvats, was a girl with one in her hair. Fair skin, a graceful stance, and with a radiant little smile that reached to her eyes - yet seemingly cold at the same time. She conversed with the intimidating guard, Cathal, and both seemed to know each other to a degree. She moved with such elegance and poise that you almost got the impression she had done it a million times before. She wore a white and blue dress that fit her perfectly. You stared at her with wide eyes.
The girl blinked. As if sending your gaze, she tilted her head towards you, her golden irises meeting with yours. Your breath hitched. Her brows slightly furrowed. You both stared each other down, (which was just Lumine confused and trying to figure out why you looked like you had just seen a ghost,) and you felt somehow exposed - as if you had just been skinned, or left vulnerable. You wanted to look anywhere else than her, to leave and cling onto your sister, just like when you were a child. But, you couldn't. You couldn't tear your eyes away from her perfect form. It felt impossible to. She was the girl who would later torment the archons of Teyvat, to inhabit the unwavering desire to submerge the land into the chaos of Abyss, in which she ruled as a princess.
It was Lumine, standing a few feet away from you. In real life. It felt surreal.
You tried to calm your nerves, forcibly trying to ease away your stiffness. You exhaled sharply, blinking a couple of times to make yourself avoid looking at her. You missed her concerned smile directed at you when you finally managed to stare at the ground, but you still felt a gaze burning you. You glanced at her for a second, checking to see if she left, and then dropped your gaze back down again. Cathal seemed to be done talking and nodded, and Lumine returned his gesture with her own. You lifted your head again, just as Lumine turned around gracefully and started walking her way into the Royal Knight's headquarters - your sister's workplace. The door gently shut behind her, while Cathal stood back on guard, scanning the area attentively as if an ambush were to happen.
You were still too stunned to much a single inch, even when she was gone. Cathal eyed you suspiciously, and it made your blood run even more colder. You ducked your head down immediately, taking shaky steps toward him. You gulped once you reached your final step in his direction, clenching your fists to stop them from trembling so obviously. After a few dead moments of silence between you two, you heard him suck in a deep breath. At that moment, you feared for your life once again.
"I'm back." Your sister's voice chimed in, opening the heavy door with force. You felt relief wash over you. "You're early." Cathal finally talked. His gruff and deep voice didn't betray his looks at all. Lucianne looked tired. "It was just a quick discussion." She says lightly with an annoyed look. Lucianne seemed stressed.
She sighed heavily, before giving you another apologetic look. Why does she always do that? "Let's go, Y/n." Lucianne tried to smile. It was forced. What happened in her discussion with her co-workers that made her look so frustrated?
You nod weakly, taking the initiative and gently taking her hand in yours, in hopes to make her feel at least a little better. Your sister's smile widens slightly in response. Cathal's silver armor suddenly clacked loud enough for you to flinch. Lucianne takes that as a humorous sign that you and her should go, with her lightly giggling at the man. She started to lead you towards, where you assume, your house.
"What happened during the meeting?" You managed to say, now that you were far from your sister's workplace. "Ah..." Lucianne slowed down her pace, hesitating, but kept walking. "I'll tell you at home." She smiled. You understand; It's probably top-secret information. Whatever happens in a private meeting shouldn't be shared with just anybody. "I won't let my little sibling out on the knightly affairs of this kingdom." Lucianne giggles. "But why? Isn't it supposed to be a secret?" You asked. "Since, you know." You paused. "I'm just a regular person." Lucianne hums for a moment, and it made you second guess whether you should have asked in the first place. "Siblings aren't supposed to keep secrets from each other." She says, confidently. "Didn't you say that?" She raises an eyebrow, teasing you. "Right." You mumbled.
You remember saying that to your sister, but it was way back then, long before your death happened. You were 12, and you saw your sister writing in her diary. Of course, she got embarrassed and never showed you or told you anything about what had been written in it, even with what you said about siblings and secrets. It never passed your mind again after that incident happened, but this Lucianne - the "new" one, still remembered it? This Lucianne was probably different than in your past life - if so, what was the situation that made you say it?
"It's not really the happiest of topics to discuss." Lucianne's face grows serious for a second, before forming a small smile. You swallowed. "Don't worry, though. The royals and some of the higher-ranked knights got it covered." She said, continuing to walk in her prior pace. You had a bad feeling about it. You don't know how far you were into the past, but the future of the Kingdom of Khaenri'ah wasn't bright, and the Celestia was to blame. Maybe the cataclysm was closer than you anticipated... A chill ran down your spine.
You got to your destination faster than you expected. With your sister working as one of the Royal Knights of Khaenri'ah, you should've known your house would be near the heart of the kingdom.
Though, your house's appearance was completely unexpected for you. You thought it would be bland, plain, made out of gray stone bricks, just like every other building, but no. It was covered in vines, flowers, and all kinds of plants.
Your sister looked completely normal and didn't react at all. She was used to it. You sighed inwardly. It must be because of you. There wasn't any other explanation. You probably were the one who planted it all. But, you know what, you sort of liked it. It was a refreshing contrast to all of those plain gray buildings. The pop of color was quite nice. It was arranged rather beautifully, too.
"I'll wait for you inside, after your done watering," Lucianne said, humming as she walked towards the door, taking out a key from her pocket and spinning it around in her finger. "...Alright." You responded hesitantly, confused about what you were supposed to do. What, were you supposed to water the plants or something?
Apparently so.
Your sister opened the lock and entered the house. You were left standing outside, amused. A few beats of silence passed before you decided to just suck it up. You marched towards a large chest filled with gardening tools, reaching for a fancy-looking watering can from underneath. You were kind of nervous to be using something that looked expensive as this. If you didn't know any better, it looks like this was a greatly treasured and unsused collection. It was just a watering can for goodness sake! Why is it that it looks like it's cleaned and polished every day?
You paused. You slowly moved your gaze toward the object in your hand, realizing. You sighed gravely, knowing that it may also have something to do with you.
You moved from the bottom potted plants, the vines, and flowers, until the very last hanging plant. It took you about 3 minutes, more or less, with how many flowers and tiny shrubs were mixed in with the flourishing and surrounding vines there.
But, somehow, you found yourself not complaining. It felt relaxing, soothing, and... familiar. The majority of your body's memories in this world may not be passed down onto your actual memories, but muscle memory was certainly present. Another obvious sign as to how in love you were with plants. The thought almost made you chuckle in amusement.
It was clear this version of you took extreme care of the plants you grew, with each and every one of the petals blooming and flourishing greatly. It was something you weren't used to - taking care of plants and all. In your previous life, you were way too busy with all of your school works and side jobs to take care of any flowers, no matter how much you wanted to. It was nice to see that a wish of yours had been fulfilled in this world.
You sighed, finally finished. You opened the door to your house. A warm breeze hit your body as the smell of chicken wafted through the air. You fully stepped inside the living room and took in all the new sensations. You smiled as you heard your sister humming and skilfully maneuvering through the kitchen to the sound of sizzling, as evidenced by the clanking of metal. The kitchen was openly connected to the living room, so you could see your sister no matter what. In the faint light of the living room, her armor, which was unkemptly draped on its stand, gave off a faint shine. It felt like home.
"Whatcha making?" You said, pulling out a chair from the nearby dining table and fully slumping into it. After a long day, it was nice to officially relax in the comfort of a house.
"Fried chicken." She said back, twisting the knob of the stove to increase the heat. You smiled a little, happy at the fact you'll be eating something you liked. Fried chicken is the simplest and the tastiest meal one such as you could have. "I'd have to prepare spaghetti too." She muttered to herself. "Dinner might take a while. You wanna wait in your room?" Lucianne asked, poking the chicken. Her gaze ping-ponged from what she was cooking and to you. You answered with a quick "But I wanna hear about what happened during your meeting." and leaned forward to lazily hoist yourself up the chair.
You could hear a giggle as you straighten your back. It was your sister. "You want to know that badly?" Lucianne turned to face you, a smirk present on her lips. You nodded sternly. "Well," She began, and you walked towards her side. "Everyone was so stressed about the recent reports of machines going rogue, you know, the ones that were created by that alchemist, Gold." She sighed exasperated.
It hits you suddenly. You froze, and your stomach twisted into a knot. You knew what was going to happen, and it was terrifying. You were going to have to go through the past of Genshin Impact. The gods, the curse, the monsters, it was going to happen. And you didn't have any way to stop it.
You saw your sister in your peripheral vision, confusion written over her face. She looked as if she was silently asking what was wrong. "Hasn't she been making those things for a while now?" You nervously said. Your sister blinks, then looks to the side. "Yeah, but the higher-ups think it's," She pauses and says with a scrunched nose, "A step towards the future of Khaenri'ah."
"So they've been just allowing that? How come the knights came to meet about it just now?" You asked, but you already knew the answer. Lucianne sighs. "Guess Quilton got orders to acknowledge it." She rolled her eyes. You raised an eyebrow, searching your mind for who might be Quilton. You guessed that he probably was your sister's boss or some kind of leading force of the royal knights.
The royals knights of Khaenri'ah - A powerful force that serves the royal family. They manage the defense, and offense, and aid in helping citizens. Your walk through the streets with your sister made you notice how heavily guarded it was. In every corner, a guard was standing, stiff as a board. With Khaenri'ah being a prosperous and huge kingdom, you saw them everywhere.
And it made you feel a sense of awful dread, knowing that all of them would turn into monsters that were responsible for terrorizing and becoming a nuisance in the far future of Teyvat.
A chill went up your spine.
Lucianne went back to cooking, checking to see if the under-side was burned. You took that as your queue to leave, humming and walking towards the stairs. "Wake me up when dinner is ready." You try to say as nonchalantly as you could, but a pang of anxiousness was still crawling under your skin. You heard your sister respond with a hint of accusation, but the pot was starting to sizzle louder and you couldn't hear her well, so you kept heading up to the second floor.
Strangely, every step you took felt oddly familiar. It was almost as if you'd done this before. "Woah," You let out a soft breath. "Deja vu. Or muscle memory. Or both." You muttered to yourself while trying to find which door led to your bedroom.
You came across a door. It was a warm brown, with a white oak sign that had your name carved into it, hanging from a tiny thumbtack that was firmly stuck to the wood of the door.
Your name. It was something so familiar, yet something you couldn't recognize. This was the same name in your past life, but what about here? Did the name truly belong to the same person?
You shook your head to get the thoughts out of your mind. Of course, it did. Even though your life and your body seemed different, it was still you. You were experiencing all of this. And you were also too exhausted to have an identity crisis.
You twisted the doorknob, opening the door. You paused in amusement, blinking a few times upon seeing what was inside.
It was a room full of greenery. If you didn't know any better, you would've thought it was a greenhouse. You tread carefully, avoiding branches and not stepping on small vines.
Finally, you plummeted into the soft, bouncy, warm comfort of your bed. After a second of tossing and turning, you snuggled successfully snuggled into the blankets and pillows.
You let out a freeing breath. You were going to just fall asleep right then and there, but you suddenly bolted upwards when an idea struck. You should probably write down what happens in the future, and about the destruction of Khaenri'ah, the twins, just in case you wouldn't forget. Just in case.
You dug into all of the drawers you could see under the layer of leaves, trying to find a notebook. You must've kept one, right?
And your assumption was correct. There lay a black velveted-cover notebook in the 23rd drawer you searched through. You opened it, and it seemed like a planner. Perfect, exactly what you need. You got out your trusty pen (that you found during the search,) and slowly wrote down everything that you remember.
You didn't even realize half an hour had passed when a shout of your name came from downstairs, which broke your train of thought. "Yeah?" You responded. "Dinner's ready!" Lucianne calls. You took a second to briefly glance over the page you had been writing it. It had doodles, and arrows pointing to the date on which the event happened, basically a mess only you could understand. "Coming!" You shout back, rising from your chair and walking to the door.
"How long am I gonna be here for?" You muttered to yourself, anxiety creeping in once again when you noticed that the exact date of the cataclysm was never said.
Thoughts filled your head as you closed the door behind you.