Chapter Text
***
Just a week ago you would have laughed if someone had told you where you would soon be and with whom. Actually, everything had started quite harmlessly...
The day had passed in tranquillity. Apart from the normal walk-in customers who came to your little store, there were only a few special ones and most of these typically visited at dusk or at night anyway. As far as that was concerning, you had a very special job. Your store didn't open until noon so you could still get enough sleep despite the night shifts, which you usually called "customizable work hours."
During the day, you sold all sorts of interesting things in your store. From gems to antiques to tarot cards and other aids to divination. Among other things, you also carried a rich assortment of special brushes, inks, and papers for creating talismans. Your regular customers for the latter ones were a few of the closer shrines. Most of the divination stuff, that you thought was close to your limit but still sold well, was bought by superstitious people or older ladies with too much cheap jewelry and too little income. Tarot cards were all the rage and were only tolerated because you needed the money and because you had discoevered some particularly high quality and pretty card sets. Generally, only things that were aligned with your motto: "Safe to use." were on sale. These were bjects that would not cause any adverse events even if used incorrectly. A so called Ouija board* for example, belonged into the category "Very bad idea", after all it was your job to get rid of evil spirits and demons and not to give them even more possibilities to hurt the normal people. Some people would probably compare your job to that of an exorcist, but you yourself felt that this term not only did not cover all the important things about your job, but was simply inappropriate. Exorcism was not your main occupation. You sometimes referred to yourself more as a spirit guide, or companion on the final journey, when customers inquired what your exact job description was. Officially - at least officially in the circles you moved in - you were called "Lux Aeterna".
People came to your store when they felt that a recently deceased loved one was not at peace and was still haunting the house, or when unexplained things were happening in their home and they found no one else to turn to. Whether truly haunted or not, you took every customer very seriously, one of the reasons your store had a good reputation in that regard. Most of the "unexplainable" things could be solved in the course of a conversation or at the latest after a short inspection of the apartment. If the customers could not be convinced, one of the things that you unfortunately could not change but in the meantime simply accepted without a word, then you performed a small ritual with a serious face, lit some incense, gave the affected a talisman - of course not for free, after all, your work was also a service - and everything was good again. Your teacher had already taught you that what required the most work and care was the psyche of the people and their faith. If they believed that something bad could happen to them, it actually could. And if they believed that their problem was solved, it was solved.
In summary, you sold pretty stones, talismans, incense, and above all, a sympathetic ear and the feeling that someone cared.
In the beginning, you had been upset several times about people's stubbornness and narrow-mindedness, but the more you learned about people's circumstances and how to deal with them, the quieter your complaints became. What your normal customers didn't know was, that some of their concerns were not entirely unfounded. At night, your real work really began. Capturing an evil spirit on the grounds of an abandoned house, sealing it, and sending it away to be purified was a regular part of your to-do list. In addition, you strolled around the neighbourhood on patrol to catch various lost spirits who either had not yet been able to detach themselves from their earthly existence, or who simply had not realised that they were dead. Fortunately, the latter was much rarer. Having to tell the victim of a serious accident that he or she was dead had never been one of your hobbies.
Tonight, too, you set out, slipped on your coat, dimmed the lights in the store and went to the back door. After a quick glance, you were sure you had everything you needed and stepped out into the fresh air. The sky was dark, cloudy and a fresh wind was blowing. It was a bit stormier than usual, you probably would encounter fewer ghosts today. You had the most work to do on still, warm nights when the moon was full, when the energy piled up and didn't know where to go, that's when most supernatural beings felt attracted and roamed around the houses.
The leaves of the trees rustled as you walked along the sidewalk, the glow of the lanterns yellowish but steady, the chirping of crickets waxing and waning. The air smelled pleasantly of summer wind with an announcement of rain. The wind played with your hair and the hem of your long coat. As you passed one of the few playgrounds you paused.
You had heard something. Not with your ears, more with your heart. It sounded like a child crying. Any other person would probably have run away in panic or at least walked on with an uneasy feeling, but you were used to many things. Curious and continuing to stroll leisurely, you entered the playground and walked in the direction of the sound.
"Hello?" you asked cautiously into the darkness between the swing and the elephant slide, before crouching down to look less threatening.
"Are you okay?"
A little girl anxiously poked her head out from behind the slide, sniffling and rubbing her eyes. She wore winter clothes inappropriate for the season, thick little boots and a thick jacket from whose fur hood her pretty blubbery face peeked.
"Where's Mom?" she asked.
You regarded her with a smile, ignoring the fact that you could see right through her. An uncomfortable prickle on the back of your neck told you that someone was watching you, but you couldn't back out now. With children, you always had to be a little more sensitive. You didn’t care if the observer thought you were crazy!
"What does she look like? Maybe I can help you?"
By now the girl had stopped crying, but was still looking at you out of big fear-filled eyes. This was probably where you needed to build up some trust.
"My name is Y/N and what's yours?"
"Lia." she sniffled.
"My mom is tall and pretty, like Snow White." she said, now stepping out from behind the slide.
"I see, well if she's that pretty I'm sure we'll find her soon."
You held out a hand to her.
"Where did you see her last?" you asked gently as she took your hand and looked a little less lost.
"Over there, we went for a walk and then I wanted to go play with the others."
You walked with her across the small playground in the direction she had pointed, opening a mental link to her to find out where her mother was. Shortly you found out that her mother was already on the other side. At least the glowing thread coming from her transparent heart led to nowhere. The glow was actually always a sign that the other part of the connection had died. Lia looked at you questioningly as a relieved sigh escaped you. This made the whole thing so much easier than you had feared.
"You know what, I think I know where your mom is."
You stopped and squatted back down to her eye level.
"To go where your mama is we need some magic though," you had to grin, this was your favourite part. Lia's eyes got even bigger.
"And I need your help for that Lia, I can't do it alone."
You pulled a piece of paper out of your pocket, it had the shape of a butterfly and was decorated with what looked like very complicated writing.
"Do you like butterflies?" Lia nodded.
"Well, this one is a very special magical butterfly. It's still asleep, but when I wake it up, it starts to glow," you began your explanation.
"I can't take you to see your mom, but the butterfly knows exactly where she is."
You placed the paper on your palm and breathed on it. The lines twitched, began to glow until the entire paper butterfly shone silver, then it twitched, came to life, and flapped its wings. Despite the wind, it rested calmly on your hand, much like a real butterfly. Lia's eyes lit up.
"The butterfly knows where mommy is?"
"Yes.", you nodded to her and gave her the butterfly which calmly crawled over to her hands.
"Don't let it go. Now close your eyes and think wholeheartedly about your mama. And when you open them again, you'll be there, too."
"Really?"
"Really."
You patted her head encouragingly as you watched her close her eyes, the silver glow that shone from between her hands growing a little brighter. The thread that connected her and her mother tightened and in the next second little Lia dissolved into myriads of tiny silver dots that flew up to the sky.
A small smile, somewhere between joy and sadness, played around your lips while you watched her for a while. You took a deep breath and brushed a strand of hair out of your face before a polite cough made you turn around.
"Oh, I forgot about him..." you thought as your eyes fell on the one who must have been watching you since earlier.
In front of you, slightly lit from the side by a streetlight stood an extraordinary person, his eyes had interrupted your train of thought. Those golden amber eyes that rested on your figure with a warm, friendly expression in them. The man was slightly taller than you, wore his hair shorter in the front and seemingly in a long ponytail in the back. You weren't sure for a moment if you had imagined that the lighter tips of his hair had glowed softly. His left ear was adorned with an earring that reached down to his coat. His face looked like it was cut from marble, at least from what was clearly visible of it. He stood upright in a posture that commanded respect but also gave the impression of reliability. He was dressed in fabrics of brown and gold tones decorated with various patterns reminiscent of dragon scales.
An aura emanated from him that made you torn between the need to run away from these eyes and the need to sink into them forever. The mental pressure this man created made you automatically hold your breath until it suddenly subsided as if the stranger had withdrawn his aura.
Another throat clearing snapped you out of your confused stupor. Apparently you had stared too long and too obviously, which your counterpart acknowledged by raising a corner of his mouth.
"Uh...sorry, I was a little...surprised," you said a little sheepishly, returning your gaze to his face. Surprised was not an exaggeration. If someone had told you at that moment that an angel had appeared, you would have believed it immediately. How could someone look so good? Yes, he was wearing rather asian and unusual clothes, but he looked damn good in them! Besides, you had the feeling you had seen him somewhere before.
"I hope I'm not disturbing you, but would it be possible for you to help me further? It seems I'm a little...lost."
One of your eyebrows shot up. A, "From the looks of it, a little more than a little." was on the tip of your tongue.
"I almost thought so. There's rarely anyone else out at this hour, Mr.?"
Slowly you wondered if he might have seen the ghost, though he almost made too calm an impression for that. On the other hand, he would have approached someone who had been talking to himself all the time without hesitation. Without realising it, you were lost in thought again.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Zhongli, a consultant from Wangsheng Funeral Home." The stranger introduced himself with a professional tone.
"Y/N Lux Aeterna and owner of the non-store.", you introduced yourself to him again, to which he nodded.
"It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance Miss Y/N."
"Mr. Zhongli, where were you originally going? You don't look like you're from around here."
"Well, that's a little more complicated."
"Don't worry, I have time. But we might want to continue the conversation on the way. I have to finish my rounds today before I go back to the shop," you remarked with the thought of finishing the rounds a little faster than usual. "At least, if you don't mind."
"Not at all, I understand that work comes first."
And with that you continued on your way, now with a very handsome companion at your side. This also gave you a chance to think about why he looked so familiar. And the name Zhongli also rang some bells with you. Since you didn't feel compelled to make small talk and your companion didn't ask any questions, you rummaged around in your brain for the answer. When you found it, you stopped in shock and stared at Zhongli for a moment before remembering that it was rude and you didn't want to explain yourself.
Some time ago, you discovered a new game by chance in your spare time. It was called Genshin Impact, and in the course of the story you played the traveller who was looking for his sibling and met lots of people along the way. You remembered that you had met a certain Zhongli in Liyue. A certain very handsome consultant of a funeral home. A certain consultant who had a certain secret. You cursed under your breath and cast a slightly nervous glance at Zhongli who was keeping up with you with ease and looking around with interest.
"This way." you finally said as you turned into an alley. It was a dead end. A few steps before you reached the brick wall you stopped and turned to your left.
As usual, you put a hand to the wall, saying in your mind the words to unveil, and a heavy wooden door appeared, a window from which light shimmered dimly, and an old sign with the image of a shining star on it. You opened the door and let your guest enter before closing it again behind you. If you hadn't spontaneously realised who he probably was, you would have been much more surprised at the lack of astonishment on his face. On the contrary, he was very relaxed about it, almost as if it were an everyday occurrence.
"No wonder," you thought, "If he's really over 6000 years old, I'm sure he's seen something more shocking than an invisible store."
You offered him a seat in your office and disappeared into the kitchen only to return moments later with tea for both of you. You had used the brief pause in the kitchen to mentally freak out, have a minor meltdown, and wonder how the hell you were supposed to handle the situation.
When you had both taken a sip of the tea, which to your relief was acknowledged with a satisfied sound from Zhongli, you resumed the conversation.
"Well Mr. Zhongli I honestly don't know if I can help you at all. As far as I can tell from the situation, you are not necessarily...of this world, or am I mistaken." you said over the rim of your teacup.
"Oh...that's correct I'm afraid.", he sighed and set the cup aside. "From what I have seen, I am no longer in Teyvat."
A nod from you.
"I will be quite frank with you, I am not a mage, I cannot open portals to other worlds. I merely help the dead cross or banish demons back to where they came from. As you probably saw in the playground earlier."
Thoughtful silence filled the room, following your explanation.
"However..." you began again, frowning as a possibility occurred to you. "I could try to find a way through divination," you offered.
"But I can't guarantee anything, fortune telling isn't exactly my strong suit."
"I would be indebted to you if you could try."
Zhongli's gaze was on your desk, he seemed to be thinking about something important.
"You can spend the night here. Normally I don't let customers spend the night in my store or private rooms but I'm happy to make an exception for you since you have nowhere to go."
With those words, you gave him a smile and rose.
"I would just have to prepare the guest room, you are welcome to look around the store until then if you want."
"I would be very grateful for that."
Zhongli seemed a little relieved not to have to spend the night outside in an unknown world. You pointed to a door that led into the normal sales area. In the doorway, you turned around once more.
"Are you hungry? I haven't had dinner yet today either."
"If it's not too much trouble..."
And with that, you disappeared into the living area of the house.
Zhongli meanwhile finished his tea and stood up. Since you had given him permission, he looked around the store to pass the time. Many of the items there looked at least familiar, some he had never seen before. In front of the shelf with the precious minerals and polished gems he stopped a little longer, a few of them he even took in his hand to look at them more closely. Here in this world there was so much that was unknown to him. After spending the whole day being stared at by people on the street and trying to understand how cars and various other devices worked, he never thought he would find at least something that reminded him of home.
After noticing the lack of elemental and adeptal energy, he was a little surprised to see you talking to a ghost child at night. He watched with interest as you handled it with care and practice until the soul finally detached itself from the earth. He concluded that this was not the first time you had to deal with these circumstances, especially concerning the "magical" butterfly. And a little hope stirred in him that here was at least one person who could possibly help him.
Zhongli had not expected you to be so sensitive to his aura, and when he noticed your reaction, he withdrew his elemental energy. During the day, he had used it to find his way around and perhaps find a portal that could bring him back after one had unfortunately transported him to this world. While he had felt quite entertained by all the new things, the dragon in him was not in a good mood. Liyue was his nest and he was very far from it. Even if he wanted to, he could not have protected Liyue in those moments. And even though he was officially retired, the Geo Archon couldn't quite shake the feeling of being worried. After all, he had taken care of this land for almost 6000 years, so much so that he couldn't just let it go overnight. He sighed slightly and put back the stone he had been looking at.
Somehow it reminded him of this one story....
***
*The oujia or witchboard is used by followers of spiritualism as a tool for communication with spirit beings. On its surface there are usually all the letters of the alphabet, the numbers from 0 to 9, the answer options “yes" and "no" and a word of farewell such as "goodbye" or "Farewell". It is probably best known for various movies in which the use of a witchboard usually has tragic consequences for the main characters and is also often used to summon evil spirits or demons.
*Lux Aeterna is the name of the chant from the liturgical mass for the dead, which asks for eternal light to show the dead the way. Since our character sees herself as a guide, i.e. as a light on the dark path of death, and is supposed to lead the lost souls from our world to the next, this title is quite appropriate. Thus, the profession itself is not understood in such a way that one is the eternal light itself, but takes over its task by proxy if necessary.