Kaguya? - Asked Yuzuru, tapping her hand on the floor. It was dirt.
Question. Why was I on the dirty ground?
Response. Oh, that's right; I traveled through a portal created by Shido.
Question. More importantly, where's Kaguya?
Kaguyaaaaah- Said Yuzuru, while raising her head from the ground. The moment she opened her eyes, she saw herself at the feet of a statue of a boy with an orb on his hands. Behind the statue, a massive tree gave her shade. It was easy the biggest tree she had ever saw in her life, with so many leaves that sounded with the wind that she felt her worries disappear for a second.
So… Is the ground comfortable miss? – Said someone. When Yuzuru hear that, she jumped up and looked back. There she saw a boy with emerald clothing appropriate of a bard, with a funny hat and everything. His factions were soft and delicate, in a way he reminded her of Shiori, the feminine Alter-Ego of Shido when he was forced to cross-dress.
Response. No. Question. Who are you? - She asked, slowly turning to face him, without breaking eye contact and trying to summon El Na'ash, her side of her Angel Raphael- Alert. Why? –
If you're wondering about an object, sadly it's not with you- said the boy with black hair as she grasped at the air as nothing came out- I saw you crossing the barrier of this world and noticed that something separated from you and landed across the ocean.
Repeat Question. Who are you? – Yuzuru was getting more and more suspicious of the boy.
Nobody important. You can call me Venti- The bard then took out a lyre and sat down on top of a stone slab that was at Yuzuru's left- I'm a bard at Mondstadt, Miss Otherworlder.
Request. Take me to Mondstadt. I need to find Kaguya- Yuzuru promptly bowed her head to Venti, while making the request.
Mmm… The name rings a bell… is she Inazuman by any chance? – Asked Venti
Response. No, we both come from a country called Japan- responded Yuzuru, as she raised her hear
Figures… It would be too good if both of you came from here, then out and then came back again- The bard jumped down and began playing the lyre while walking- Follow me, I know a few people that might hear you out
Yuzuru just shrugged and began walking. She still had some abilities as a spirit, but she couldn't command the winds like she wanted to… Still, changing her shoes from her normal wear to comfy alpinism boots seems is a really good move, as the road was mostly dirt with some stones here and there.
After a couple of minutes and a slight detour to a forest for something to eat, they arrived at Mondstadt.
It is a walled city, with big windmills going over the stone walls, with an architecture that Kaguya would love for being both closer to German origin and so antique. Yuzuru smiled and was about to talk to Kaguya at her side… but she wasn't there.
It was so painful. They were together since they split from the original Yamai… Or was it since they were a natural couple of twins? Sure, they remember feeling like being one at some point, but they don't have much memory before that… so they could've been twins that just lost their memories along the way and their brains just made something up…
The point still stands. They were together ever since they were spirits, and they started young, very little, maybe even younger than what Yoshino looked like. They matured, watched and helped each other grow. Maybe Kaguya doesn't remember, but she gave most of her share of food to Yuzuru as they were on the move, with the excuse that she didn't need to eat so much, including her carefully prepared butter and jam sandwiches.
Just looking around was like looking at Kaguya's dream. The center street had beautiful flowers of various colors, the shops and houses were big and well illuminated with sunlight, flag strips hanged from building to building, the smell of freshly baked bread and fish came to her from the Good Hunter, a small restaurant on the central plaza of the first level of Mondstadt.
A shining fountain was in the absolute center of there. Kaguya loves fountains. Every time she found a coin on the ground, she would save it on her shoe or in her glove just so she could throw it into a wishing fountain. She said that would give her extra luck in their next challenge.
Venti kept walking into the city, and Yuzuru followed him. Up the stairs, she found more houses and a bigger plaza, with a statue of the same boy as she saw back at the big tree. After checking it out, Venti went left to a building that looked like a miniature castle. If Kaguya would've been here, she would be ecstatic about a real Knight Garrison.
The guards there looked at Yuzuru suspiciously, but upon a voice from behind, they were silenced:
To what we owe the visit of Mondstadt's most famous bard here at our headquarters? - A tall, imposing woman with blonde hair got close to the pair from the back. Her tone was firm but sweet, and her clothes looked like a person in both a position of authority in a medieval castle as well as a yoga instructor with those tight pants.
Oh, Acting Grandmaster Jean, just the person I wanted to see. I think Miss Yuzuru has some important business regarding her stay here. She came here to for the Meteor Shower, but she got separated from her sister, ring any bells? – Said Venti
I see… I'll have to ask Kaeya to sort this out for me, I'm kinda busy- Yuzuru looked at Jean and noticed she was oddly on guard while talking to Venti
I would say she has too much in common with our dear Honorary Knight and that she should be handled by someone as adept as yourself- Venti took out his hat and bowed, the moment Jean saw that, her demeanour instantly changed
Understood, I'll take care of this issue immediately, thanks for telling me- To Yuzuru, this was a sort of code between the two- Come with me Yuzuru- Afterwards, she walked towards the entrance of the building
Agreement. Understood. – Yuzuru bowed for Jean, and then she rose up and waved at Venti- Departure. Thanks Venti- Then she followed Jean inside the knight headquarters and into an office
This is my office Yuzuru. For what I managed to get between the lines, you're an otherworlder, correct? - Said Jean, looking through the window
Affirmation. Yes, I traveled here from another world. I woke up today in front of a statue, near a big tree- Said Yuzuru
So near Windrise… what else do you know? – Said Jean
Response. I came here with 11 other people. All of them are my friends. We escaped a gruesome fate. I need to find them- Yuzuru was a bit nervous, being separated from Kaguya too long always made her feel incomplete… It didn't matter if she couldn't reunite with the others for a long time as long as she was with Kaguya soon.
Is your sister between the missing people? – Asked Jean, walking to her seat so she could write something
Description. Yes. She looks just like me, but her bust is smaller, and she has chunibyo- Yuzuru just wanted to hug Kaguya at that moment.
I see. You're not the first otherworlder we manage to find- Said Jean
Excitement. Is the other one Kaguya? – Yuzuru was pumped for a second
Sadly no, this otherworlder is blonde and uses strange clothing, with bits and pieces that glow, do you know this person? – Jean asked, while showing a picture of the Traveler.
Negation. We have never seen this person in our lives, I'm including us 11- As she was saying this, Yuzuru raised a hand to her chest
11? Why 11? What about the 12th person? – Jean was confused
Response. I don't know. Shido… is a special case. Can't talk too much about his condition, but he told us to come here to save us all. I trust Shido. Shido will explain once I meet him again- Yuzuru grasped her chest. It was a certainty. Shido will find her eventually, because he's the man capable of splitting the sky. He's the man that fought destiny to keep her alive. To keep all of them alive. He has a plan.
I see… I will need a description of all the people that came with you, as well as any and all object you brought here. It will make it easier to contact other nations to see if they are there. Once we finish up, I'll send a knight to save you a room in a Mondstadtian hotel while we prepare some documents and get you a provisory identification. It will take around a week. With that, you'll be able to travel across Teyvat in search of your friends- Said Jean. After the Traveler caused waves in Inazuma by joining the resistance, it was decided that Mondstadt should be making ID's so people without a place could be held account table if anything were to happen.
Agreement- Said Yuzuru. She followed this by short descriptions of all the spirits except Kaguya. She just rambled on and on about her. Same case with Shido. Her stories about them slowly morphed the face of Jean from normalcy and routine to absolute bewilderment…
What kind of world do they come from?! Military operations with things even more dangerous than Ruin Hunters?! Visonless Element Wielders?! Not to mention the true nature of the girl in front of her… A walking, talking natural disaster? It barely seemed real. Truly the sense of normalcy differs a lot from world to world…
This also made Jean question the origin world of the Traveler… How is it? What is its sense of "normal"? Do all people from that world travel to others or is it like these girls and are powers "bestowed" upon them? Do they also escape from an organization hunting them down on their own world? These questions are better left for the actual Honorary Knight, as this girl holds no answers.
It was already nightfall when they ended. And while Yuzuru was escorted to the hotel, Lisa came into Jean's office.
So, How was that young lass, Jean? - She asked, leaving a hot tea and cookies besides her
Honestly, if it wasn't for Barbatos-sama himself I wouldn't believe her. I'm glad he was able to disclose information about the Honorary Knight and himself to us so we could be prepared for cases like this one, because I didn't expect it to happen so soon…- Jean put her hands on her face with her thumbs on her temples. She was mentally exhausted
Well, better prepared than sorry, right? – Lisa chuckled, she was happy to see Jean this flustered over another person
Not to mention… The man that traveled with her… Is a real menace. I would say that even more so than the Traveler- Jean looked at the report she herself wrote, and still couldn't believe the pages upon pages of information
Let me see- Said Lisa, while extending her hand. Jean gave her the 10 or so pages full from margin to margin with information about Itsuka Shido and all the abilities he has. To say that he was more dangerous than the Traveler was an understatement, but his limited time of activation and the fact that Traveler can still grow was the reason why Jean lowered him to the level of the Honorary Knight- If we get on the bad side of this man…
Mondstadt could be erased from the face of Teyvat in an instant. And she said that they were running from something. Apparently, as long as it doesn't know that they came here, it can't come here. Which is good, they erased all their traces on their world- Jean was in a cold sweat. They needed to help these Otherworlders to appease the man, but they would get on the wrong side of whatever was following them
Are you sure this is a good idea? – Asked Lisa- The man seems reasonable, he would probably understand if we do not offer assistance.
Our best bet is to get them all together and kick them out of Teyvat as soon as possible. The last thing in our plates should be another faction to fight against, we have our hands full with the Fatui and the Abyss- Jean was very calculative in her risks, but Lisa didn't understand one thing…
What about the possibility that she lied about these things? – She asked- Surely you wouldn't believe a youngster just because she waltzed in here saying that her boyfriend can wipe us all out, even if Lord Barbatos says she's an Otherworlder-
I saw it in her eyes. She knew she couldn't trick me, so she said the truth. She's a very intelligent and calculative young girl, so she knew that we would be pressured to help her if she flaunted their biggest weapon in our noses…- Just as Jean said, Yuzuru talked about Shido's feats and abilities as long and detailed as possible just to maximize his impact over the psyche of the Knights of Favonius.
If any of the girls or Shido comes to Mondstadt then Jean knows that they are to be treated with the upmost respect. Sure, neither is gonna do anything unreasonable, but there might be some things like lodging and food that they can't provide by themselves, but being VIP's changes things.
As she was watching across the window the moon, she thought of not only Kaguya and the fated day in which they could finally stop fighting each other to allow the other to live, but also she thought about Mukuro and Tohka, as she relates those two closer to the moon and space than the rest…
How is Mukuro doing? She's really unstable, but in the short time they have been friends they quickly found common ground. Tohka is the toughest of all the spirits, but right now she's probably without her angel. Sure, she can still create her shields, but that's not her specialty.
Yuzuru herself tried the minor powers of Raphael, and they still work. She can still fly and command the wind, but she cannot use it to attack like she was able to before. She needs El Na'ash for that. Also her flight speed is greatly reduced, and loses a bit of height each time she moves, but she can command a rising air current to regain it, so it's not that bad.
There's something else she managed to discover though. The density of an unknown energy similar to reiryoku in this world is so high that she can convert it to reiryoku in a 10:1 proportion and use all of her current abilities without ever running out. It wouldn't be exaggerated to say that she is more powerful here without Raphael El Na'ash than in Earth with it, although all that power is useless without any means of attack.
If this applies to every single spirit… well… There's no way any of them is in any real danger. With this thought, she drifted to sleep in the comfy bed of the hotel.
When she woke-up, she looked to the side of the bed and expected to meet the gaze of Kaguya, get up together and go to Shido's house to eat breakfast, or go down in the spirit mansion and prepare their own to go to school. It was still somewhat cold but they would bring hot tea in a thermos to drink in recess.
But sadly nothing of that could've happened. The sun shone with strength outside, the climate was like the days between summer and spring, the windmills rotated gracefully with the wind inside the walled city of Mondstadt, in the continent of Teyvat.
After 20 minutes, she dried her tears and decided to go outside to see the city that will be her place to live for the next 6 days. She also needs information about the world so she was about to go to the Library after breakfast. She was not gonna sit idle, she needed to get enough knowledge of this world to plan her expedition and search for Kaguya and the others.
When she got out of the hotel, however, she heard a familiar voice.
Kahkahkah! Rejoice in this frabjous day, for I have arrived! –
This voice… The tone and even the weird and completely unhinged chunibyo commentary…
It couldn't be, right?
Kaguya! – Screamed Yuzuru while flying outside, leaving behind her a wind current strong enough to knock down a heavy man, once on the main street, she saw the back of the figure of a young woman more or less the age of Kaguya, happy and surprised, Yuzuru flew in her direction- Happiness. Kaguyaaaaah! – The moment she hugged her though, something was amiss. The usual warmth that she felt every time they touched wasn't there, the flow of their reiryoku wasn't there either… when she realized this, she jumped back ashamed- Apologies. I confused you with my sister- She bowed, sobering up instantly from her immense happiness
The name… It rings a bell, though I don't know from where… You… Have we met before? – Said the girl, facing Yuzuru
Mëin Fraulein? Your speech…- Said a deep, male voice near her
Don't interrupt me Oz, this is certainly weird… - The girl raised a hand to her chin- I feel a certain… connection… to this girl- She knelt down to see Yuzuru's face.
The moment Yuzuru raised her head in surprise to see the face of that person, something inside her head just felt into place. She isn't Kaguya; she definitely isn't Kaguya… then why? Why do her aura, her voice and her actions feel like Kaguya?
She definitely wasn't Kaguya, but she was Kaguya in a way.
She was a Kaguya Variant.
My name is Fischl von Luftschloss Narfidort; the Prinzessin der Verurteilung. It was time we met again; Yuzuru- Presented herself the blonde girl with green eyes and a purple gothic dress, while extending a hand to the redhead. A lot of information about her was rushing into Yuzuru's head, all at once. But the only thing she was able to say while grabbing her hand with an astonished face was…
Salutation. Nice to see you again, Amy. My name is Yamai Yuzuru-
-o-
Chapter 2.5 [Intermission]: Blue and Black; Gold and White.
So what you're saying is that, if we help you you're gonna help us save Teyvat when the time is needed?-
Yes, that's correct. I have an idea of when the end is gonna happen, so I can give you troops that you can trust-
How do we know you're not gonna betray us?-
You don't. But I'm searching for a way to save my loved ones. I'm sure you can relate… -
Ho-How do you know the name of the Traveler!? -
Would you believe me if I told you I come from the Future? -
How far in the future? –
Far enough to tell you that is planning something big, and you alone cannot face what's to come. If you want to survive and make sure your friends do so, you should lend me your ear…-
I better lend you both then, so tell me, what's your plan, Itsuka Shido? –