In the darkness, he felt the rough itch of grass, and the smell of fresh air. Opening his eyes, he was met with the canopy of a very large tree, after sitting up he was met with a large expanse. There were rolling green hills as far as the eye could see. A myriad of trees, bushes, and rocks dotted the landscape. On his right was a forest with what looked to be stone structures peeking out over the treeline. A large cliff behind it all.
On his left however, was something much more interesting. A large walled city with beautiful stone buildings and windmills sat atop a rock ledge. Along the path towards the city, there appeared to be a small camp setup.
As he stood up from the ground, he did a quick check of his person to ensure all was as expected. Unlike the dream, all of his usual effects, tools, equipment, armor, and weapons were accounted for. He also found the normal storage items he carries with him safe and sound. Setting down his safe and opening it up he could see all the dirt, stone, wood, and mud someone could ever need along with various other landscaping and building tools, workstations, and an emergency stash of potions. He closed it and picked it back up, placing it back in his inventory.
Somehow, in his quick check of the nearby environment, he missed the blatant tall ornate statue in front of him.. The base is carved out of a gray rock, a ring of gold encircling the base. Splitting the base in two was a red crystal, the cylindrical post spread out and flattened creating a large circular platform for the statue's central piece. On top of it all was a humanoid figure covered with a large cloak with angelic wings protruding out of their back. Walking around to the front of the statue, the figure was depicted carrying an object in both hands. The figure's facial figures appeared unpolished, perhaps from lack of construction or simply time itself.
As he got closer to the statue, he felt… something coursing throughout the statue and into the surrounding ground. Despite its age and artistic value, the force coursing around it was curious. In his curiosity, he placed a hand on the golden plaque attached to the statue. Likely against his better judgment, he sent a short pulse of mana into the statue, hoping for a reaction, but was met with silence. Afterwards, he looked back towards the city, and noticed the twilight setting in. He made up his mind to head there before night fell, he did not know what nightfall meant here, after all.
He took his hand off the statue and started to descend the stone steps. As he was walking away the statue pulsed with Anemo flashing a seafoam green color before settling back down to the inactive state it is in. Turning around after hearing the noise, he looked back at the statue to see it lifeless just as he left it, though the wind did seem to be picking up in the general vicinity. Strange.
Shrugging it off he continued his walk to the city. Deciding it to be faster than walking, he let his wings spread. Normally he can show or hide them at will, but since he wanted to fly, they would have to be visible. He jumped off the floor and flapped hard. He could keep himself afloat for about 3 or so seconds before, but with the Soaring Insignia he got from the Empress of Light, he never tires out and can fly as much as he pleases.
However, as he soared away from the tree, a faint sound of a harp could be heard along the breezes of the wind, though in his haste to reach the city before nightfall, he did not seem to notice the sound.
Riding the low wind currents close to the ground, he flew up the side of the ledge and landed in a roll at the top. He hid his wings and looked around to make sure no one saw him. Even if this is a foreign area, he wouldn't want to freak out the locals. He started a light jog towards the city, reaching the end of the small hill he was on. He slid off the steep face and landed on a dirt path, deciding that it would more than likely lead to the city, he followed it. Along the path was a tree that looked to be growing some kind of fruit, his curiosity got the better of him as he diverged towards the tree and reached up to grab a fruit.
With a light tug, it ripped off the branch. He inspected it for any insects or signs of rot before taking out a bottle of water and pouring it all over the food, doing his best to clean the potential snack before consumption. Its aroma is curiously sweet, as he slowly moves it closer for a bite. Taking one, he notices a slightly bitter taste before it quickly turns sweet. He could think of a few dishes to make with this new taste.
As he bit into the fruit again he continued along the path slowly, mind thinking back to the strange dream he had. He starts to recollect all that has happened since the attack. What was that large chess piece looking thing, why was it shaped like an angel statue?
He reached the bridge to the city as he focused back on the place in front of him. There was a bunch of pigeons gathered in the center of the bridge, as he walked forward, they all flew off. Stopping just at the gate of the city, he looked through and saw a neat plaza with a beautiful fountain centerpiece.
Hearing the clearing of someone's throat, he looked off to the right where the sound came from. "Welcome to Mondstadt, traveler. My name is Lawrence, how can I help you?" The man spoke up.
"Mondstadt?" Phineas asked.
"Yes, also known as both 'The Crown of the North,' and 'The City of Pastoral Song,' there are no words that can truly describe the beauty of this city." Lawrence said.
Mondstadt, huh? Sounds like a neat place. "Are there good places that you would recommend to visit?" Phineas asked, curious to know more of the city.
"There are two popular Taverns in the city, Angel's Share and the Cat's Tail. There's also the Favonius Cathedral, if that's more your thing."
"Must be beautiful up close, then. Anything I should watch out for?"
"The city itself has a low crime rate, mostly due to the presence of the Knights of Favonius and a rumored vigilante. There's also been recent sightings of a large dragon around. So best be careful just in-"
His sentence was cut off by the wind's sudden change. Dark gray storm clouds gathered above the city. Usually Phineas was used to Terraria's sudden rainstorms, but something about this one felt off, Ominous.
It came flying from behind the city. A large six winged blue dragon flew low to the ground, destroying a building as it flew by. "That's Stormterror! Sir, you need to-" Lawrence turned around but paused, when he found the man he was greeting missing. A red feather dancing in the wind where he once stood.
Taking to the skies, Phineas went to confront the dragon. But due to the powerful winds it was creating, he couldn't fly as easily as he normally could. He was just about to get its attention but then he heard screaming. Tornadoes have gathered around the cathedral and citizens were getting caught in them.
Tornadoes were not native to Terraria, but he had heard stories about them and their destructive potential from the traveling merchant that would show up every so often. Diving down, he grabbed a woman who was clutching onto a young boy.
"I got you, hold on tight!" He yelled to them over the howling winds. He quickly scanned for an area that was relatively safe from the tornadoes, finding a fairly sturdy looking building that looked a little less grand than the cathedral with the large statue out front.
Setting them down out front A man in armor watching the commotion rushed up to them. "Abagail, Conner!" He shouted as he hugged them tight. The man looked up to Phineas, "Stranger, I don't know who you are, but I cannot thank you enough for saving my wife and child."
Just as he was about to open his mouth to speak, Phineas was interrupted by a ferocious roar. He merely nodded to the family and spoke up before flying away. "Get inside, and stay safe." He turned around and took off once more leaving another few feathers in his wake.
Setting his sights once more on the dragon, he sped up to close the distance quickly. He pulled the Zenith from its sheath as the blade summoned its previous forms around itself spinning in a cone shape. He prepared to slash across its abdomen.
"No! Attack the crystalline growths!"
He heard a voice suddenly echo in the wind as he was pushed back away from landing the strike by a sudden powerful gust of wind. He paused for a brief moment, before having to dodge out of the way as a torrent of air bullets whizzed past him towards the dragon. Looking to the left, he saw a girl with blond hair gliding in the sky summoning the projectiles. It seems that she also noticed him as they shared a glance.
Phineas jerks his thumb over towards the dragon and then shakes his hand holding the Zenith, to get across that he was going to be going in close, the girl nodded in confirmation. Taking initiative, he flew close to the back of Stormterror. Grabbing onto the back wasn't that tough, though the dragon did attempt to shake him off. After stabilizing on its back, he slowly stood up and made his way to the dark, malicious looking crystal embedded into its back.
He made a claw shape with his hand as the Zenith broke apart and mimicked large claws. With a swipe of his hand, the blades tore into the side of the crystal, shattering a large chunk of it as a dark bloody fluid poured out of the wound. Stormterror shrieked in pain and thrashed around even more, Phineas lost his footing and fell off, hovering in the air, as he watched Stormterror fly off.
The girl glided over to him, "Thanks for the help with the dragon, I didn't know if I could have successfully driven it off. How did you know to attack the crystal growths on it?"
Phineas thought for a bit, debating on whether or not she would call him crazy. "A voice in the wind yelled at me to attack them instead of just the dragon. That was right before a strong unnatural gust of wind blew me away from the dragon."
"So you heard it too?" Phineas' eyes widened at her question.
"This should probably be something we discuss more on the ground." Phineas concludes.
"Ah, you're probably right."
The two glided down towards the courtyard out front of the Favonius Cathedral. Touching down in front of the large statue, a girl in all red runs up to the girl he was flying with.
"A-Are you hurt?" She asks while grabbing her and checking for any possible injuries, the girl being questioned shakes her head. The girl in red then turns her attention to Phineas, "You, I saw you flying up there too, thank you for rescuing those people, and for your help. But who are you? You don't look native to Mondstadt."
Before he could answer, he heard slow clapping and the sound of someone approaching. Everyone turned to look at the new arrival. A man with long, navy blue hair and a tan complexion. His left eye was a dark blue while his right was covered by an eye patch. Some kind of animal hide with a lot of fur was draped over his shoulder and back acting like some kind of cape. "You've actually got the power to go up against the dragon. Are you a new ally, or a new storm?"
The girl in red adopts a contemplative stance, "Stormterror is attacking Mondstadt itself! Kaeya, Lumine, Stranger, you've come at the right time. We must-"
"Hold on Amber." The man now known as Kaeya interrupts, "Are you perhaps forgetting to introduce us?"
"Oh… right." She speaks to Lumine and Phineas, "This is Kaeya, our Cavalry Captain." She then gestures to the blond girl and her floating companion "These two are travelers from afar. Lumine and Paimon…" She then turns to Phineas, "As for him, I am unsure, he wasn't with us when Stormterror started his attack. But he did help drive him off."
"Travelers from afar, and…?" Kaeya gestured to Phineas to speak.
Realizing that he was asking for a name, Phineas spoke up. "My name is Phineas, Champion of Terraria. I am on a journey to find my friends and bring the one responsible for ripping all of us from our home to justice."
Kaeya nods his head in understanding. "Can't say that I've ever heard of Terraria before, but our current situation is more pressing," turning towards Amber, "is that all we know of them?"
"Eh- Long story short, I met Lumine and Paimon while out on patrol, eliminating Hilichurl camps that have gotten a little too close to Mondstadt. She got split up from her brother and got lost so I told them that I would help them put up missing posters in the city when we would get back. But then Stormterror attacked."
He hummed in understanding then set his attention to Phineas. "And what of you, Phineas? What's your tale?"
"My friends and I were celebrating the defeat of the Dark One, and Terraria's freedom from its ages long war against Cthulhu. I… was about to propose to someone I hold close to my heart but the party was interrupted by someone proclaiming to be 'The Sustainer of Heavenly Principles'." Lumine's eyes widened at the mention of the name, something that did not go unnoticed by Phineas, but he continued.
"She attacked us and captured my friends and family in these large swarms of black cubes." Paimon looked to Lumine with a worried expression, she was stunned in silence. Kaeya seemed to tense up at the mention of the cubes. "The last thing I saw was the one who I held close being lost in the dark chaos. Then I woke up here in this land underneath a very large tree."
Kaeya took a deep breath. "I see. Welcome to Mondstadt, though, you haven't arrived at the best of times, I'm afraid. I understand your anguish of being separated from family, both of you." He turns to Lumine, "I don't really know why you're looking for Barbatos, but everyone has their secrets, right?"
Lumine visibly shudders at that, which Kaeya picks up on. "Haha, Relax! I won't push you for more." He places his hand over his heart. "First and foremost, on behalf of the Knights of Favonius, I would like to extend our thanks to the both of you for your help just now."
"Well, we couldn't just leave the situation to fester. Right, Paimon?" The floating child nods excitably.
"I couldn't, in good faith, leave a city full of innocent people at the mercy of an out of control dragon. Even if the place is so foreign to me." Phineas declared.
"Indeed, and your fight to defend the city against the dragon just now was witnessed by no small number of citizens." He turns to Phineas, "And there is a family I believe looking to thank you for saving them." Phineas nods. "The Acting Grand Master of the Knights of Favonius is also very interested in meeting the both of you, and formally invites all three of you to our headquarters."
If anyone knew more about this place then surely, it would be them. From what he could gather, they seemed like the governing body here. Maybe they would have an idea as to how to help him, though that dragon has to be taken care of first. He looks over to see Kaeya jump over the railing and off the ledge quickly followed by Amber and Lumine, jogging over he sees them gliding down towards the building where he dropped off that mother and child.
Vaulting over the railing, he opened his wings and quickly glided down to meet them, hearing Paimon speak up as he landed. "So this is the Knights of Favonius Headquarters? It looks smaller than I imagined."
"Now, now, Paimon. Don't let looks deceive you. The headquarters gets the job done and then some." Kaeya said, opening the large doors. A large open atrium laid inside the headquarters, to which Kaeya immediately led the group to the first door on the left side of the hall.
Opening the door, he walked in followed by the group. "Jean, I've brought them." Kaeya said as he gestured to Lumine, Paimon, and Phineas. Looking at the two people in the office he saw a woman with blond hair tied into a ponytail at the back and blue eyes smiling warmly at them. Her outfit was mostly white with black and gold accents, and she had a regal navy blue cloak hanging around her neck. Then leaning on a railing behind her was who Phineas could only describe as a witch. She had the iconic pointy hat except it was purple, underneath it was shoulder length dirty blonde hair with sharp lime colored eyes. The rest of her outfit being some other shade of purple with white and gold accents.
Kaeya began to recount the attack on Mondstadt from the dragon Stormterror, from his own perspective, witnessing Lumine and Phineas driving it off, then leaving Lumine and Phineas to explain their situations to the Acting Grand Master.
"I see… Well regardless, Mondstadt welcomes you, windborne travelers. I am Jean, Acting Grand Master of the Knights of Favonius." She says as she places a hand over her chest. She then gestures to the woman who has stepped down from the platform. "And this is Lisa, our resident Librarian."
The woman named Lisa turned towards the two, "Oh! Are you sweeties here to help us out?" Phineas raised a questioning eyebrow at the strange nickname given to them. "You're both so adorable!" He crosses his arms and gives a deadpan expression at Lisa. She smirks at him before continuing, "Sadly, the timing is regrettable. Stormterror has caused quite a ruckus in the region since its recent resurgence." The three of them only nodded at that. "Simply put, Mondstadt's elemental sphere and ley lines are not akin to a yarn ball in the paws of a kitten."
So that's what those mysterious energies he felt from the statue was, he knew it was some sort of power but he only thought it was a battery of some kind as he couldn't get it to do much. If the word 'elemental' is anything to go off of then it has to be some kind of thing found in nature, right? "For a mage like myself, it couldn't get much worse. My skin is one elemental particle away from a full-blown breakout." Well that settles that internal debate then, It has to be nature's elements.
"If it weren't for this interference, the Knights of Favonius would have better ways to help you than just putting up missing person posters and asking around. We simply ask that you three repose in Mondstadt while we help you seek out your missing people." The Acting Grand Master requested.
"If I help you guys deal with the dragon and the problems it's causing, then can I ask for help and/or information in return?" Phineas asked Jean.
"Y-yes! Of course we can help you!" She stuttered in surprise from the offer.
"I really should help out as well." Lumine spoke up.
"Paimon will help too!" Paimon kicked her feet
"Good. In that case we need a plan." Kaeya states.
"With Stormterror now directly attacking Mondstadt, we may have an opportunity to cut this problem off at the source." Jean deduced. "Lisa has revealed the sources of Stormterror's power with her detection magic."
"Is that so?" Kaeya questions
"They're located in the abandoned Four Winds' Temples." Lisa nodded in confirmation."Stormterror's ability to whip up these kinds of storms can be attributed to it drawing power from the temples."
"Which means our objective is to deal with three of the four temples, due to Stormterror being the Dragon of the East, he is unnaturally drawing power from the other three. So we need to cut off those extra sources." Everyone nods their heads in understanding of the reasoning. "Knights of Favonius, time is against us. The storm is rampant, and there's no point in maintaining a defensive position. We need to take initiative and act before this escalates any further."
"I think it would be faster if we split up into three groups of two, that way we can cover more ground faster." Kaeya suggested.
"Excellent idea, Kaeya." Jean agreed. "Amber, you take Lumine and head for the Temple of the Falcon. Kaeya, you and Phineas head for the Temple of the Wolf. Lisa and I will take the temple of the Lion." Everyone nods. "If we're all in agreement, then we should head out immediately."
Kaeya puts his hand on Phineas' shoulder, turning around he sees Kaeya holding up his thumb towards the door. "Let's head out then, shall we?"
And that's another chapter done. This one took me a bit of off and on writing, but I managed to bring it all together in the last day or so. I hope you all enjoyed, and do please remember to leave a review if you want to speak your mind. I really don't know what people think of this and at this point I'll take anything.
That being said, I have finals this week so don't expect the next chapter so soon. God, I cannot wait for Summer.