"So, these are the immortals in the world?" Ajax didn't sound too impressed with the group before him.
And Lumine, as much as she would never dare to admit it in a room of gods and adepti and immortals, kind of had to agree.
They looked for the most part normal. Venti was an ordinary college student, Zhongli looked to be your average preppy young man, Ei was the shut-in who only came out for her favorite light-novel and anime convention. Nahida was an actual child who looked her age, Scaramouche resembled a hobo. Klee resembled the strange middle schooler in the back of every classroom. Some of the others, however, like the Tsaritsa, Yae Miko, and Albedo, now they looked impressive.
But still, all of them could easily pass on an Academia campus.
Which Lumine supposed was the point, but still.
Morning and its divine glow came too quickly. Lumine did not get to linger long in the arms of the man she loved, for there was business to be done. The smell of coffee danced with tea of centuries before, mingling with the smell of breakfast done by individuals who had centuries to perfect their cooking.
"Well, almost everyone." Zhongli glanced around the table. "There are a few individuals that are unaccounted for."
"And exactly who do you mean by that, Morax?" Yae Miko raised a teacup to her lips, her violet eyes dancing with mischief.
"I mean the three suspected individuals." Zhongli sighed. "Aether, of course—I believe Barbatos, Lumine, and Ajax saw why he was not likely to come to this meeting."
"Of course he's causing problems again," Scaramouche muttered. He didn't seem quite as angry as his tone suggested, but rather just as mischievous as Miko.
"I noticed that Dainselif never showed up." The Tsaritsa looked around the table, as if she hoped he would pop up right then and there. "Maybe he didn't notice what was going on? He does tend to disappear every now and then, but he always comes back eventually."
"When things are falling out of the sky, Vasilisa?" The former Hydro archon snorted. "I really doubt it. Let's face it, Dainsleif is absolutely the type to get involved when shit hits the fan. In fact, if we haven't seen him yet, we can reasonably expect that he's somewhere where the proverbial shit came from."
"She isn't wrong." Yanfei glanced up from a thick book. "And given who the third missing person is, it's likely Dainsleif is in collaboration with—"
Zhongli shot her a warning look.
Lumine frowned. "Who else is missing?"
The entire table except for Ajax swiveled their heads to stare straight at her. Horror, unsettlement, and pity met her back.
"Should this be obvious?" Lumine couldn't manage more than a whisper.
"We can't expect her to remember everything yet, the constellations only fell two days ago." Zhongli stood, taking an admonishing tone. "It doesn't matter, we know the ones who are missing are the ones who are likely to have something to do with everything that has happened recently."
"What else has happened?" Ajax leaned in.
"You saw the return of dragons to Mondstadt." Venti was uncharacteristically serious. "Durin rose from Dragonspine, and he and Dvalin are fighting again, just as they did six-hundred years ago. I don't know how much longer Dvalin can keep him off."
"Durin isn't the only monster to return," Ei added. "The Thunderbird of Seirai and Tsurumi Island has also come back from the dead."
"We've managed to cast wards to keep safe the settlements of the remaining habitable islands of Inazuma," Miko added. "But I hate to say I've gotten a little rusty in the absence of all of the dangers. I do hope that the wards will protect as long as we need to get this little situation resolved."
"My mother's other monsters have also come." Albedo had deep circles under his eyes. "I'd hoped that we would have been done with those for good."
"Cheer up, Albedo, we'll just keep on fighting!" Klee grinned and gave a thumb's up. "We'll blow up all the monsters just like I used to blow up the fish in Cider Lake!"
Lumine vaguely remembered the little girl in red she knew in her former life and shuddered violently.
"All of our nations are suffering the problems of five-hundred years ago, along with the return of the elemental energy to the people and the restoration of Visions." Zhongli then glanced at Lumine and Ajax. "And the return of several dear mortal friends, as much as I hadn't realized it had happened earlier."
"I tried to tell you," Nahida sang-song.
"Well what can we do, then?" Lumine asked. "It sounds like this world is falling apart at the seams?"
The remaining six former Archons all shared a solemn look.
"That may very well be what is happening," the Tsaritsa finally said. "None of us ever knew what exactly happened, beyond Dandelion Sea. But we all knew something was wrong, when Lumine never came back."
"What?" Lumine's throat tightened. "What are you talking about?"
Venti looked upon her with pity. "All children in Mondstadt study my Ballad of Ascension. Do you remember what happened to the Honorary Knight?"
"She went with the Twilight Sword, to defeat the Prince of Light." Lumine struggled to remember that last eclectic passage, wrapped in metaphors of light and dark, of a sea of lilies. "She and her twin ascended to be gods, having repaired the world—isn't that right?"
"She had one other that went with her." Focalors stared at Lumine. "I know you can do this, Traveler. Who was the one who showed you the truth of this world?"
The title awakened something in her.
"That's who's missing, isn't it?" Flashes of a pixie in white with a shrill voice pierced through the veil between Before and After. "My traveling companion—Paimion!"
Memories of a sea of lilies, the pearl in her hands, and a terrible fight, and the setting sun crossed her vision.
"Something happened." Lumine's hands curled into fists. "When Dainsleif, Paimon, and I went to find Aether and stop his plans. Something went terribly wrong. It looked like I saved the world, and maybe I did. But it was never supposed to be this way."
"You understand, then." Xhongli looked quite sorry for her. "I wish we didn't have to ask—but there is only one place where we are likely to find the answers we need to fix all of this."
"Beyond the Dandelion Sea," Lumine repeated.
"But this time, you won't be alone." Ajax slipped Lumine's hand into hers. "You've got me."
"And me," Venti added.
"And me." Zhongli placed a hand over his heart.
"And me—"
The chorus broke out around the room, filled with familiar faces. Looking upon them all, Lumine was filled with a warmth, a love that seared past all time and amnesia. This was a family of hers, one that had been waiting for her to come home. These were her friends, bonded to her tighter than any family by blood.
This was where she belonged.
This was what was right.
This was how she would make things right.
