Chapter Text
As the sun rose over the peaked roof of Aether's mansion, the Serenitea Pot filled with life. A man with white hair gazed out his bedroom window, muttering lines of poetry as he did so. A young woman wandered into the kitchen and kindled a fire under the stove, calling upon the power of an ancient god to help her. From nearby, strange music (if you could even call it that) filled the air, played on a bone whistle. A child stood in the center of a small village, doing stretches and ignoring the now-golden sky. And right above her, perched on a rooftop, the last of the Yakshas did just the opposite, losing himself in the beauty of the moment.
--
Xinyan smiled slightly. Qiqi and Xiao did the same things every day, and although he would never admit it, she could tell that Xiao was happier than usual. He hadn't complained when she opened the door, for one. She had recently taken up residence in one of the houses in the little village, which just so happened to be the same house whose rooftop Xiao spent his mornings on.
It was a little strange, being the only human in the village. Qiqi and Xiao both had living quarters of their own - in the main house, no less - but they spent most of their waking hours here. And since they were far from being mortal, every hour was a waking one. Xinyan, however, actually lived here as an alternative to the mansion. When she first moved in, Xiao had refused to talk to her, but as time went by the two had warmed up to each other. And today he didn't even mind Xinyan disturbing his rooftop by opening the door right in the middle of a particularly spectacular sunrise.
A sunrise which was about to bring big changes. Even Qiqi looked up from her exercises, awestruck, as a bright golden meteor streaked through the sky. Its tail looked like ribbons trailing behind, painting a small portion of the sky a slightly paler shade of gold. Smaller blue streaks appeared, circling the tail once before turning downwards. As beautiful as the display was, the meteors came with a deeper significance, too. Something very important was happening. They just didn't know what. Frightened, Qiqi retreated behind a building, while Xiao hopped down from his, frowning.
"Something's happening," he said. "I'll protect us. Stay with me."
--
Hu Tao sat up, dazed. She didn't know what had just happened. Just half an hour ago she'd been playing cards with herself, and winning for once, but then everything had suddenly faded into a golden haze. She'd felt some strange sensations. Flying through the air. Falling. And then something she couldn't explain, as if all the strength was draining out of her. It was unlike anything she'd ever felt. Hu Tao was usually good at adapting to strange situations (she had to be, with her job), but this was different. She was here, in this strange place, and she was alone, and she was uncomfortably aware of just how weak she really was. And it scared her.
Where was "here," anyway? It was a graveyard, there was no doubt about that. A glance at the building behind her told her that she was in Mondstadt. Strange. She'd wondered if the golden haze had been the work of the adepti, or spirits perhaps, but she couldn't think of any logical explanation for why a Mondstadtian spirit would be in Liyue Harbor, and Mondstadt didn't have adepti. Perhaps it was all just a dream. Maybe she'd wake up surrounded by playing cards, a little disoriented but still fine. Or it might be that the gate to the afterlife was in fact located in Mondstadt, although if that was the case she would definitely have known by now. Maybe...
Before her train of thought could progress any further, Hu Tao was brought back to reality by a hand on her shoulder. Another hand reached down in front of her face. She took it, and the stranger helped her pull herself to her feet. He walked around to face her, smiling.
"It's good to see you again, Hu Tao."
Whatever had just happened, she was safe now that the Traveler was here. A good thing, too, because Hu Tao could tell that everything was about to change.