Chapter Text
Aether turned his head towards one of the stone walls as Yelan was just about to activate the catalyst to free them from the depths of the chasm.
“Something wrong, traveller?” The blue-haired woman asked, noticing the blonde’s distraction.
“I hear something… It sounds like… A flute?” Aether replied, ears straining, eyes still focused on the wall. Was it perhaps an illusionary wall? He wondered. But Aether couldn’t figure out who played the flute, for the only flute player he’s met was Xiao and…
Aether redirected his gaze to the Adeptus, who was now looking in the same direction as he was before, seemingly trying to catch it.
“Oh! I hear it too!” Yanfei exclaimed as the soft melodious tune drifted towards her as well. Slowly one by one, the party, save for the unconscious Itto, began to hear the instrument through the wall.
“But… Why would a flute be playing all of a sudden--“ Paimon’s musings were interrupted as Xiao suddenly ran forward towards the wall, his Adeptus mask appearing on his face. In one swift motion, he tore the wall down with his polearm and then continued to run into the cave, as if he recognized the sound of the flute, which became louder as the illusionary wall fell.
“Xiao! Wait up!” Paimon exclaimed. “Where is he going?”
“He seemed to have recognized the flute. Let’s go after him. The catalyst should be able to be activated no matter where in this space we are, so it won’t hurt to move.” Yelan spoke. At her words, everyone quickly ran after the Adeptus, who was now out of sight.
By the time they caught up to Xiao, they had made it to a lush green cavern, filled with flowers, as if they were atop a grassy hill. If it weren’t for the lack of open air and sunlight, one would have mistaken the scenery for the same serenity as Monstadt. Xiao was at the very end of this cavern, kneeling down over…
“A person…?” Shinobu remarked as they all spotted what exactly Xiao had been running towards. Xiao was kneeling over the body of a woman, her pale pink hair splayed out under her, hands folded peacefully over her diaphragm as if someone had laid her there to rest for eternity. Besides the woman, placed gently in the soft grass, were three items: an umbrella, a katana, and a flute.
“Firatra…” Xiao spoke an unknown word aloud, closing his eyes for a bit as he let out a sigh.
Xiao’s shaky sigh caused everyone to pause in their tracks, swallowing any words or comments they may have had about the sight before them. Then, the Adeptus gathered the woman in his arms, standing up. As Xiao gently held the body to his chest, Aether quietly picked up the belongings that were next to the body. Xiao gave him a small glance, and Aether knew that that was his way of telling him ‘thanks’.
“Firatra…” Yelan thought aloud to herself, repeating the word Xiao has just uttered. “Do you mean, the Old Protector?”
Yanfei’s eyes widened in recognition of the alias. “That’s… Old Protector? No way…!”
“Who’s the Old Protector?” Paimon asked, tilting her head. Yelan was about to answer but Xiao opened his mouth, finally speaking.
“Firatra is the deity of reflections. During the days of the Archon War, the humans gave her the title of Old Protector as she did not fight for a seat amongst the seven. Instead Firatra used her power to protect the humans who lived during that time. From then on, whenever a human was in danger, they would call upon her name and she would come to their aid. This continued all the way until the battle against Khaen’riah where she disappeared. Everyone assumed she had passed just as the other archons did but…” Xiao trailed off, his eyes going uncharacteristically soft as he cast them down towards Firatra’s face.
“The question now is… How is she here? And is she…?” Shinobu trailed off.
“No she is not. Somehow, despite what we thought we knew about this space, Firatra has survived centuries down here. Though… In a comatose state.” Xiao answered what Shinobu was too hesitant to ask.
“Perhaps she will wake up when we return to the surface. Liyue has the best doctors! The Old Protector will be in good hands!” Yanfei smiled.
“Right…” Xiao nodded, though his words seemed more meant to reassure himself.
Yelan pulled out the catalyst and activated it again. “So, shall we leave?”
The group nodded. In a flash of blue, combining the powers of Xiao and of Yelan, they escaped that cursed space and returned to the mouth of the chasm, finally touching real time and space again.
Xiao landed on the soil gently, Firatra still in his arms. And then, he felt it. A wave of power pulsing through the air, ringing throughout Tevyat. It was as if as soon as Firatra’s body reappeared in land, her power and authority as a deity was once again reinstated, and all those who could feel divine power, felt her presence.
“Woah!” Yanfei put a hand where her heart was, eyes widened, looking as if the wind had been knocked out of her. “Did you feel that too, Conqueror of Demons?”
Xiao nodded. “If Celestia still recognizes her then… For 500 years, she has kept her sanity down there.”
“That seems impossible.” Shinobu commented, but then a loud yawn startled her. Itto was beginning to wake up, and the green-haired girl sighed, knowing she would have to tend to her boss once again.
“Xiao, here, do you want these?” Aether asked, holding out Firatra’s belongings. Xiao was about to take them when another hand reached out and plucked them from Aether’s grasp.
“‘l’ll take them.”
“Zhongli!” Paimon exclaimed, surprised to see the archon in front of them out of nowhere.
“So, you felt it too then.” Xiao said. Zhongli sighed, looking down at Firatra’s still-unconscious body.
“I think all of Tevyat felt it.” he said.
“So then…”
“They all know she’s alive.”
Aether and Paimon shared a look, slowly retreating from the two immortal beings’ conversation. They could feel that this was a matter they would never be able to understand. The archons needed their time alone here.
“So that’s Rex Lapis.” a voice said. Aether whipped around to see Yelan, who was watching the adeptus and the archon converse quietly.
“Yelan? H-how do you know about Zhongli’s…” Paimon stammered.
“It’s my job to know, Paimon.”
“O-oh… I see…”
“Out of courtesy I will not bother them for now and move on to my other duties. However, traveller…”
Aether turned to focus on Yelan, recognizing the tone of someone who is about to ask for a favour. Yelan sighed.
“I don’t usually ask for help, since owing people is detrimental to my line of work. However, because the adeptus and archon trust you as a companion, I have no one else to ask.”
“What is it?” Aether asked.
“I want you to try to figure out how it is that the Old Protector was able to survive all that time inside the chasm. And if she ever awakes… Let me know.”
Aether nodded. “I can do that.”
“Thank you. I’m going to do a scan of the perimeter now to make sure there are no anomalies as a result of our expedition.”
“Wait, how do we contact you?” Paimon asked as Yelan retreated. She turned around.
“When I need you, I’ll find you. But don’t bother trying to find me, because you won’t.”
And with that, Yelan vanished, leaving Aether and Paimon alone.
“Aether.” A voice called out, Zhongli’s voice. Aether walked over to the two men.
“Do you know where is the best place for us archons to meet? I’m under the expectation that a few of us may want to gather since Aaina resurfaced.” Zhongli said.
“Aaina?” Paimon asked.
“That is her other name, she insisted that we use that when we were not in war. To her, the title Firatra had become tied to bloodshed, so she wanted to use something different.”
“Oh I get it! Kind of like how you’re Rex Lapis, but you’re also Morax and Zhongli!”
“That’s right. When you’ve lived this long, you become more than one person over time.”
“So Traveler, do you have a place?”
“How about a Teahouse?”