The domain welcomed them unceremoniously. Instead of paved floors and chiseled pillars, it bore mud and dying lanterns. Unlike the domain in Jueyun Karst, it clearly didn't exist for commerce purposes; perhaps the ley line didn't replenish frequently enough, or maybe the memories here just weren't very remarkable. In any case, Xingqiu felt more akin to a miner than an investigator.

They were surrounded on all sides by enormous deposits of iron ore, and his feet sank into the ground each time he grew close to a cluster. Lights were few and far between, so he could barely see Zhongli and Kaeya as they paced ahead. Running his hands along the wall to keep steady, he cursed his adolescent height disadvantage. He couldn't keep up. But then again neither could Venti. The bard suddenly froze behind him, which stopped him in tandem.

"Are you okay?"

"I just…heard something strange. Did you hear anything?" Before he could deny it, a voice ambled down the tunnel. Vaguely familiar, it crackled like static as if the source were caught in a metal cage.

They turned to face it and Venti disappeared. In a single eye blink, the world around him changed. Suddenly he stood outside in a field of verdant grass. The sky above grumbled in rage as it threatened to pour, and in the distance a great city wall rose above the fields. An enormous domed structure boasted amongst the clouds, and suddenly it burst into flames.

Feuern!"

"Venti! What's going on?" A brigade of arrows launched above them into the air, hundreds of people flooded the plains, and a strange seelie darted before his eyes like an ornamental fly.

Venti didn't seem to notice him, and instead he kept charging while directing a squadron of vision holders. He was dressed differently. In fact, he appeared far more plain than usual. His hat was gone and his hair undyed. He carried his lyre. His cape was now a tattered, muddy brown. It fluttered in the wind as he raised his arm skyward,

Wir werden unsere Freiheit ZURÜCKHOLEN! Unsere Leben anfangen! Mutige Frauen und Männer, lasset uns kämpfen! Für Mondstadt!" The group shouted with the strength of a thousand men,

Für Mondstadt!" Elements of every kind exploded across the field, and the wall crumbled as if it were made of sand. Xingqiu blinked.

He stood in the same field, but now the city fell to ruin; a regal looking man with flowing red hair raced past him. In the rubble, Venti had fallen. Two arrows protruded from his chest. The seelie gazed upon his lifeless husk. It glanced up and stared straight through him.

"Xingqiu! Xingqiu! It isn't real! Wake up!" He jerked alive as if he had suddenly fallen, but he stood still, and vertically at that. Venti searched his face frantically. They were no longer in the same place, and the others were nowhere to be seen.

"Oh thank heavens. Are you okay?" Venti's eyes lingered on his cheeks for some reason, and he gripped him by the shoulders as if he might shatter.

"What was that?"

"I don't know. All of a sudden I saw this vision- like an actual vision, and then I woke up here. You were still out of it."

Looking around the room, the cavern they entered wasn't too different from the previous entry tunnel. Dirt floors, dirt ceiling, dirt walls. Except, on the far end of the room stood a table and an accompanying bookshelf. The surface of the table held glass bottles filled with various solvents and an open notebook. Enormous stacks of notebooks, at least half his height, also lined the base of the desk along with a substantial number of empty wine bottles.

"Don't look at me! I didn't do it!" Xingqiu rolled his eyes and glimpsed the open notebook. The pages were crumpled as if it had been doused in water and suddenly dried, so the pen marks bled down the paper.

Glossary of Confiscated Artifacts

Item: Crystal Prism

Affiliation: Fatui, frequently carried by "mirror maidens" Source: Traveler

Date of Confiscation: April 2nd, 20XX

TD: April 23rd, 20XX

Researchers: Albedo, Sucrose

Volunteer Vision Holders: Amber, Kaeya, Myself, Fischl von Luftschluss Luftschloss Narfidort, Barbara, Sucrose

Procedure:

Expose prism to electromagnetic radiation (ER). Wavelengths = 10^3 - 10^-8.

Durability test

Smash with mallet (standard smithing mallet, obtained from local blacksmith)

Drop test (release from hands of Barbatos statue, y≈ 95 m)

Exposure to elemental energy (P, C, G, E, H, A)

Observations:

High refractive index (n); 2.7

Disproportionately large response to infrared

Unbreakable until proven otherwise (3 trials for each individual durability test, no observed scratches, dents, chipping)

Lumine threw it as hard as she could onto concrete. Did not break.

Highly conductive

Conclusions:

Likely mechanical origin

Concentration of lasers?

Sensors

Does not mechanically fit with any other pieces obtained from ruin guards (see pages 17-43)

"Does Calx come here often?" Venti read over his shoulder,

"No. I know what you're thinking, and he didn't put this here."

"This dates back to months ago."

"And these," Venti leafed through several of the notebooks, discarding them by chucking them across the room, "belong to the Fatui." The bookshelf held only a single sheet of paper.

"Who's Adelinde?" Apparently Venti knew who that was, because he suddenly became eager to read the page. It was another ledger, and her name was hastily scrawled on the side in blue pen. "Venti?"

"She's the head maid at the Dawn Winery."

"Let me guess…innocent?"

"Yeah."

The earth trembled beneath their feet, and Xingqiu nearly lost his balance. The mocking cry of an abyss mage followed. The pair abandoned their post and fled through the nearest exit. He had no idea where they entered, and he still didn't recognize the following room.

Xingqiu stood in a field of glaze lilies that stretched to the horizon. The flowers stretched wide open, as if someone had been singing to them, and they closed sleepily beneath the autumn sky. He stepped forward and his toes splashed in blood; he narrowly avoided stepping through a woman's face.

Her clothes, torn by embers, were of a fashion he had never seen before. Except for maybe in history books. She lay still, her eyes still wide open as she stared through a sea of fluffy clouds. A sword split her sternum in twain, nailing her to the earth.

A melody he never heard before filled his ears. A melancholic piano sang a simple melody. It was followed by a familiar flute.

"Guizhong!"

Something shoved him. Flames licked the coat on his back and he drew his sword; he turned, expecting to face a mage, and instead he found an overheating control board. A screen glared back at him and blinded him with blue light. It spewed so much smoke that he could barely hold his eyelids open. Tears streamed down his face.

He recognized the delusion right away as it flashed before his eyes, but he didn't recognize the giant creature rushing forward. He lethargically threw his arms up to guard his face, and it sprinted through him. The same red haired man from before suddenly emerged from behind a caravan, and flames spewed from his hands just as they had from his brother's. Something detonated and he knew it wasn't real.

Now he crouched at the base of the machine, and he choked as he attempted to fill his lungs. He heaved and summoned the power from his vision; he snuffed the flames as he drowned sparking fuses. Something cold grazed his cheeks and he succumbed to darkness.