Chapter Text
Like starlight on water
Chapter 1 – Variables
“Paimon still thinks we should’ve stayed another night in Mondstadt,” Paimon complained for what had to be the fifth time that morning.
Lumine adjusted the strap of her bag without looking at her floating companion. “You only miss the free food.”
“That’s not true! Paimon also misses... the uh...” She puffed dramatically. “The atmosphere!”
Lumine let out a soft chuckle, and a warm breeze swept through the Dihua marsh, carrying the scent of grass and seawater. The rocky dirt road stretched far ahead of them, golden beneath the afternoon sun.
“Hey! Check it out! That looks like a statue of the seven!” Paimon shrieked in excitement. She pointed at a prominent statue in the distance, surrounded by orange flowers. “Maybe if you resonate with it, you’ll get the power of geo?”
“Well, there’s only one way to find out.” Lumine shrugged.
Up close she could distinguish that the statue before her was in fact different from the ones she’d seen in the land of freedom. This one had a larger frame and gave off a different sense of authority and mystery. Wearing a hood and looking at a cube in its hand as if it holds all the answers in this world.
Lumine met her companion’s excited gaze. The little fairy clutched her tiny fists with eagerness and gave Lumine a quick nod.
With a soft exhale, Lumine placed her palm at the base of the statue and lowered her head. After a second, she felt the power of geo surrounding her like a soft blanket and settling inside her core like an unshakable armor from within.
“Did it work?” asked Paimon cautiously. Lumine only smirked at her little friend, twirling around and taking a few steps from the statue. With a sharp inhale, Lumine raised her left hand and summoned a round glowing geo construct, smashing it down into the earth a few feet in front of them with a loud rumble.
Paimon erupted in a gasp, “WOW! It’s huge! Wait, can you still use anemo? Or is it one-element-at-a-time thing?”. Lumine could still feel the anemo softly swirling around on her skin but still decided to try it out in case something felt different. With her right hand outstretched in front of her, she summoned a windblade just like she’d grown used to.
“This is amazing! Paimon has never heard of anyone using elemental abilities without a vision, let alone multiple elements!”
“Well, I guess I’m just built different.” Lumine shrugged taking a few steps towards the dirt road they were walking on earlier.
“No kidding! Do you think you’ll need to eat twice as much now?” The little fairy followed.
“Archons, I hope not...” Said Lumine dramatically. Both erupted in laughter and continued their walk onward. Towards Liyue Harbour and whatever awaited them there.
. . .
"Ekaterina, how are the preparations going for the Rite of descension?"
"Good, Lord Tartaglia. Vlad and his men are reporting that everything is going well and according to plan." The masked woman with a brown braid answered, glancing down at the documents in her hand and handing over a folder. "Also, your mail got delivered early this morning." She added handing over a few letters to the young man in front of her.
"Alright, it's almost 10 am, you should open up the bank"
"Yes, sir".
The man looked through the documents in his hands lazily while walking up he steps to his office. A folder with a report from his subordinate, a messy letter from a skirmisher, a letter with a Fatui insignia and a letter from his home. The last one piqued his interest the most, settling a warm feeling in his stomach. With a small smile, he closed the door to his office behind him and crashed down into his seat at the desk. His office fell silent, the only sound being a muffled babble from the lively street below his window. Carefully opening the letter from his little sister and reading the neat handwriting scribbled onto the paper.
"Hello big brother,
How's your trip to Liyue going? Have you arrived yet? Everyone at home really misses you, so try to write to us more often. Tell us, how's the weather in Liyue harbour? How're the people there? Anthon told me that people from Liyue are made of rocks and that they eat rocks. Is that true?"
Ajax snorted quietly at this absurdity.
"Dad's been having some headaches lately but other than that everything's been normal. I'm doing good in school and got some praise from miss Ivanovna last Wednesday. She said that my writing has gotten really good! Teucer's been driving me crazy with all the questions about you. He's asking every day if I've gotten a new letter from you. He wants to know if you've seen any new cool toys.
Promise you'll come home soon,
Love, Tonia."
A soft sigh escaped from Ajax's lips. Here alone, in his quiet office he could drop the harbinger mask sometimes, especially while reading the letters from his family. He'll have to write an answer as soon as he checks out the rest of his mail.
His gaze landed on the unsigned letter with the Fatui insignia on it. The fact that it's unsigned usually means that it's some general intel for the harbingers. After prying it open, he found that his suspicions were correct. He sank back into his chair, swinging his legs onto the edge of the table.
"An unknown variable emerged in Mondstadt.
Known as "the traveler"
Gender: female. Age: unknown.
Description: Blonde short hair, pale complexion, small frame. Spotted in Mondstadt, origin unknown. Usually wears white clothing and is accompanied by a small floating companion.
Earned the title "Honorary knight of favonius" after defeating a corrupted "dragon of the east" named Dvalin. Wields anemo element seemingly without a vision.
Keep your eyes peeled, proceed with caution."
"The traveler, huh?" He murmured to himself, his ocean blue eyes still lingering between the sentences in the letter. Didn't Signora mention something about a blonde traveler? He tried to recall what that arrogant woman was talking about. And she wields anemo without a vision? Interesting... Still deep in his thoughts he looked through the window where the afternoon sun cast light onto Liyue's red terrasses and gabled roofs.
He silently hoped for a chance to fight this "traveler."