Ch2: Infinite dream that can't be changed

Author's Note; The first two chapters were written one after another. I jump from fandom to fandom but I try to update all my stories and yet my muse to write is a fickle thing. Anyway 'Era that had been Shining' an ost from Overlord, 'Inuyasha's Lullaby' theme and various 'Agni Kai' remixes were the music that some of my inspiration came from.

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Once upon a time, Lumine was a traveling star that had fallen from afar. Stripped of her wings and powers she was little more than an individual above that of a common mortal.

She wasn't sure what to make of the foreteller fox that was elusive like lightning. Inari was supposedly a defunct god, one that didn't hold relevance anymore, but still held important experience the same way he stoically grasped a folding fan.

An important lesson Aether taught her was to never trust immortals, for they lied and lured in people to worship them just so they could extend their lives. Ideas are like diseases that spread like the common cold upon being heard.

After all, gods only truly die once they are forgotten by humans, while humanity was the one to create them in the first place. Only time would tell but regardless Inari was her guide and traveling companion for now.

"Springvale is a good place to stock up on supplies but since there's a 'little sidequest' we need to get done first before heading off to the big city," Inari commented. "There's also a lot of broke people so be careful of those who might swindle you out of money."

Draff was the name of the hunter that gave them fowl and boar meat for a couple of hundred Mora. Lumine came to quickly learn that it was the main currency used across the various nations. Yet sometimes raw materials would also be traded their weight in gold or silver.

Another thing she couldn't help but note was how the Mondstadtian language sounded like butchered German. In time she would grow used to it.

One other jarring difference was the fact that Inari was composed of pure Electro energy compared to the fleshy human vessels of the common folk. Nothing ever came of that observation, it was just another vague innocuous analysis of Lumine's surroundings.

"Not to be rude but why isn't anyone bewildered by your features?"

He furrowed his brow while turning in the direction of Lumine. "All cast illusions to avoid the unwanted attention. The only thing they think I am is but an average foreigner."

"I suppose that makes sense."

"Well, time to go beat up a giant lizard!" Inari stated with excitement that she wasn't sure was fake enthusiasm or not.

"Are we going to fight that dragon?" Lumine nearly let out a sigh.

"Sorta, but instead I'm going to play a song of healing, and you're going to sing to him so that Dvalin's corruption is fixed."

She and her brother once met a boy with a green cap that played the ocarina. The situation had a similar feel to it Lumine thought to herself. Upon high noon, not Hyrule and no moon plummeting to the earth, freedom clung to the wind.

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The closer I and Lumine got to the tallest tower that was the highest point in Mondstadt besides Dragonspire the wind harshly picked up. By my inclination something was wrong with the timeline for Barbatos was nowhere to be seen.

Yet who was I kidding? The eccentric tiny windspirit was probably ideally still in a deep slumber as the world passed on by.

No matter, due to certain circumstances cleansing miasma was a proficient skill of mine, thus to rid corruption was in the same vein. Of course, Lumine's status as a foreign entity might also be a big help.

A long time ago the sole tower used to be a magnificent palace with a dreadful amount of stairs, now the only way up was to scale the walls. Meanwhile, I had another solution in mind, Electro constructs came in handy which made platforming to the top easy.

My balance was never that good so Lumine grabbed my hand and hoisted me up near the end. One Abyss Herald but mostly the several Abyss Mages set out to further provoke Dvalin.

Lumine went straight for the Abyss Herald while I went straight for the Abyss Mages. It was annoying to have to also be on the lookout for oncoming gusts of wind that were the result of a dragon flapping its wings.

Catalysts were my weapon of choice. Yet per tradition, once I activated my elemental skill it became two chained sickles, (a kusarigama) that eclipsed the distance between enemies.

In my opinion, the people of Khaenri'ah were reduced to an undesirable desolate fate. With a sickening splat, one of them was fried by electricity, while it looked dead the creature was destined to painfully reform in the depths of the Abyss.

Part of the curse of the Abyss was that 95% of those who had Khaenri'ah lineage would be revived upon death. However, each time it happened more of their humanity was stripped away. A punishment truly benefiting from what they had done.

I'm not sure what was worse, how gods had all the same emotional faults as humans, or mortals that played at being a god. Perhaps I'd have more empathy if I wasn't doomed to preside over infinity even after the heavens were prophesied to fall.

"Are you alright?!" I shouted out to Lumine but it turned out she made quick work of the Abyss Herald. Now all that was left was to perform a duet to calm the angry dragon.

Hence I got out my flute and began to play a forgotten melody. It wasn't exactly any of Barbatos's finely curated songs but back in the day, Baal, one of prodigies used to say I was the better musician.

Deep down I knew she only thought that not out of respect for her predecessor but because it was a short tune. Unlike her sister she only found joy in fleetingness, the current situation felt like one of those short-lived moments.

Meanwhile, in the background, the Traveler hummed a medley of her own that I thought I recognized. My only hope was that it was more than enough to pacify Dvalin.

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Venti stirred from his deep sleep. It was the sadness and anger of his old friend of the East that called out to him. Yet when he woke the first thing he heard was the Archon's Lullaby, the original rendition of which only Inari knew how to play.

As much as Venti respected the former as a musician, Inari was also a hypocrite. The Nine-tailed fox claimed to be just an observer but then he'd dive nose first into affairs that didn't originally concern him.

Celestia, the highest divine order in all of Teyvat, even bestowed upon Inari the name Beleth but he rejected it. All the while Inari called his compatriots in godhood by what the heavens bequeathed, so to Inari, Venti would always be referred to as Barbatos.

"Infinity" was supposed to drag on forever yet the day it came to a halt all the gods and mortals were irreversibly shaken. Regardless, time's arrow waits for no one, and the drums of space hammer on.

Even then Venti's first meeting with all the other Archons had happened almost as if it were yesterday in an era that had been shining. Those in attendance were required to join the meet in their base forms, thus Venti was but a windspirit and Morax a dragon, etc.

In contrast to that Inari defied the status quo by walking the hallowed grounds of Celestia in a humanoid avatar. Safe to say he was the first ever to be kicked out of the revered banquet that day, and yet the next meeting a new policy had been integrated.

Imitation is the greatest flattery after all, and humans are the most beautiful to be free to do what they choose. Despite that everything has a price, and Inari looked the same as he did before everything fell apart and the Seven of them drank together for the last time.

In infinity's wake to the bottomless pit of the ocean to the endless blank sky, the only thing new was that a fallen star trailed behind Inari.

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Voice Line Snippet

About the Vision: "I threw away my blasted chess piece a while ago. Oh wait I meant to say centuries back, anyway that's the awful fact about infinity, it's impossible to escape."