The rhythmic chime of a church bell spread through the room, and curtains clinked against their rods in a warm, sticky breeze. Garbled voices filtered through the windows as patrons passed them by; they spoke with high energy and spirit, unlike the pair that entered. One voice a hushed soprano, another a thoughtful tenor.

"Thank you Mister Zhongli." The soprano wore a dress that whispered with each step.

"It's no trouble," Zhongli's voice hid a dash of mirth behind it, "it's the least I can do, as your services have proved invaluable." They paused, perhaps in observation, and Xingqiu prayed they lacked scrutiny. The peace of laying still bolstered his breathing, and it kept his sternum from wringing his lungs. "You're awake."

Blinking the sleep from his eyes, his anxiety returned tenfold as he gazed between the archon and the nun. He wasn't ready for this yet. Not that he ever would be.

"That's a relief. I was beginning to worry that the anesthesia was too much." He flinched. The nun was only examining his bandages, but he hadn't seen that in his peripheral vision.

"Oh, sorry," she rested her hands on his shoulder, "you're probably really confused. I'm Barbara, the Deaconess at the Church of Favonius. That's where we are right now."

"Venti brought you here last night, after the fight."

Right. Venti.

He returned his gaze to the ceiling, suddenly numb to Barbara's prodding. To her credit, she moved with great efficiency and care, even if every touch made his skin crawl and burn like hell. He knew he didn't have a choice, but he hated strangers touching him. She rubbed a cold salve into his first stab wound, which didn't bite as he thought it would.

"The majority of your wounds should heal within a few days. I'm a hydro user too, so that should reduce a great deal of the recovery time. That said,'' she crossed to his other side where Zhongli watched dutifully, "your leg will take longer. At least a few months. That Fatui agent cut clear to the bone." Xingqiu hissed in pain as she removed the bandage from his leg.

"Anyhow I've heard from Mister Zhongli that you enjoy reading." This was a clear effort to distract him, but at this point he didn't care. It felt like insects were feasting on his insides.

"Yeah," he winced, "it's a great pastime." Barbara turned around, reaching for something out of his view,

"Have you ever read A Legend of Sword? I just finished that one myself."

"Really? Did you like it?"

"Yeah, it was good! I liked the way the author described the combat. It felt like I was there fighting alongside the protagonist! And of course Mister Albedo's artwork is gorgeous. Did you know the illustrator lives here in Mondstadt?" For a moment, he forgot himself. A gentle sting buzzed beneath his skin.

"You actually liked the combat scenes? I-I mean I did too! It's just everyone always told me they were too long."

"Pshh," Barbara smiled, "isn't that the whole point of the story? The main character is a swordsman! That would be like people telling me I sing too much." She began wrapping his leg with gauze, "It's a shame it didn't do better. Mister Albedo had to lend me his copy, since the publisher didn't release the translated version outside Liyue."

"Yeah…I wish I could write better in Common. It's so hard when I think of a perfect word in Liyuen, and I can't find a suitable replacement! I end up writing myself in circles, and then months later I remember exactly what I was looking for. And then I see that word EVERYWHERE!"

"Wait," she pinned the bandage, "did you write it?"

"Oh, uh…" she smiled. Genuinely. "Yeah."

"That's so cool! Now I can say I've met both the authors! Seriously, you did a really good job! I'm gonna make Jean read it now for sure!" Xingqiu's heart swelled. He had forgotten Rex Lapis was even in the room.

"Perhaps I'll have to read it as well."

"You should! Oh shoot!" She glanced at a clock just out of view, "I have to prepare for my next service. I'll be back later this evening!" The way she ducked out of the room reminded him of Xiangling as did the haste. She shut the door gently, but her heels portrayed her urgency as she sprinted down the hall. He fell right back into his awkward routine as the homesickness struck.

"So, what really hap-" "How are you feeling?" Both spoke at once, neither one sure of their standing, and a painful silence lingered. He figured it was better to answer first. That seemed more polite, right? Give before you get?

"Oh, um…I'm okay. I guess it doesn't hurt too much," Rex Lapis seemed to think of something and decide against speaking, "but I suspect it will when I start walking again," he laughed beneath his breath. Even though nothing was funny.

"I see. It's good to see you've recovered so expediently," Zhongli chose his next words carefully, "I don't mean to scare you, but I've seen similar wounds to yours with far more unfortunate outcomes."

"I know. It was bad. I-thank you for saving me." He couldn't bring himself to make eye contact, even if it was impolite.

"None of us knew what we were running towards. Still, you fought well." The praise rolled off his shoulders. Instead he fixated on a poster tacked to the wall. The lyrics to a song in Mond, written alongside the Common translation, were delicately penned in loopy, sparkling cursive. "I can fill you in on what we know, if that's what you wish."

Xingqiu nodded, "please."


"This is an adeptal abode like Cloud Retainer's place. Right Xiao?" When Lumine turned around he wasn't there; his outline blinked away like an afterimage. Instead of the gentle adeptus, a massive, autumn hued tree stole his place. Its leaves fanned in a nonexistent breeze, and they glared back at her. Mockingly. "Alright then," she continued merrily on her way, "if you ever feel like coming back, do let me know."

As the scenic islands around her waded through their river of clouds, she toed her way across the vibrant, Morax-gold bridges that linked them. Only the bridges and a false sun illuminated the space, and the realm fell eerily silent the further she walked. It shifted, the islands pulling from under her like a cloth from a table. Lumine was blanketed beneath a sheet of stars, and in all directions, "there's. Nothing."

It was futile, but she kept going anyway.

She arrived at a solitary door, and though she didn't know how, she knew it came from "the abyss." With grandiosity, the doors swung open revealing an empty frame. It was just a gray stone door, like any of the countless others built before the domains. Still, it seemed to fit the dark and drab environment.

She walked across. Glaze lilies sprouted beneath her feet; firmly shut and out of place their leaves lacked any roots, but they opened in her brother's presence. She ran after him knowing he was an illusion. But at least she had an opportunity to see him, right? Would his face look any different? Had she forgotten? Did he change? She didn't get to find out.

She tripped on her own two feet and ruined it all. Her knees ached as she knelt upon the false ground, and she thought maybe this was her punishment. To spend the rest of her days chasing after him while never getting any closer. To bury her emotions as they frothed and festered, while everyone around her grew from the problems she solved for them.

The uncaring universe around her, in its infinite glory, granted her a small clock. The smallest of answers. It peeked up at her like a face buried in sand, and she lifted it only to find it wasn't a clock at all. It was a compass. The needle turned as she jostled it, bound to a force she didn't know. Khaenri'an symbols lined the circumference, and she could only guess which way faced north.

A few asymmetrical edges gave the impression of a top and bottom, and usually north was on top, right? She glanced up. The stone arch followed her, and now its doors led somewhere; an entirely new scene waited beyond and the needle gravitated towards it. She thought she may as well walk through it.

"This better not be another fucking hallway."

It was exactly that. Well, almost. While it looked like she stood at the Chasm's surface, she was still just as stuck. There was only one direction, and that was ahead. Like an enormous hologram, the compass in her hands also projected onto the overcast sky. The device was posed at an angle different from how she held it. Her north was actually north west, and even then the directions didn't seem to be spaced correctly.

The needle didn't move no matter how hard she jostled it. It didn't move when she moved either. The gate behind her was still there, but she couldn't walk back through it. An identical gate stood several meters away. Before she could reach it she heard a shout, from the sound of it Chongyun's voice, though she didn't see the exorcist anywhere.

"Chongyun?" Her voice echoed against the surrounding mountains, and for a moment she stood there dumbfounded. Had an evil spirit taken his voice and likeness, only to tempt her into the depths where she would be mercilessly slain? Or was it actually him? The irony of being haunted by an exorcist did not escape her.

"-nhe?" his voice cut in and out, bouncing off the walls as he ran circles around her.

"Chongyun?" she called again, "Xiao, Noelle?" Like her first day in Teyvat she held a map she couldn't read, an answer in her hands. She didn't know what to do with it. Her other companions answered back, and their voices carried only slightly better than Chongyun's. They all called like songless birds.

She could be in the depths of another illusion, or she could actually be on to something. She didn't know what to trust, or even if there was anything to trust. But if the Chasm was meant to trick her then perhaps she could trick it back.

The Chasm had recreated her brother's image, but it never showed his face. Maybe people were too complex to recreate with full accuracy. She wouldn't know unless she tried.

"Xiao! What's your favorite food?" She was going insane. She was sure of it. Yelling into motionless clouds, locked inside the hopeless depths of the earth, running on only a few sips of water and a dream. She really was a stupid, stranded outlander.

"What?" His voice dripped with confusion. It sounded like he stood right beside her, and the intonation sounded right. She didn't want to, but she let herself hope.

"What's your favorite food?" She turned to look at the source.

"I don't have a favorite food."

"Yes you do!" She couldn't take this any longer. The illusions, the karmic entities, the pacing in circles like she was chasing her own tail. Looking for something. Anything. "It's-"

"Just because I only eat almond tofu doesn't make it my favorite. If you've only heard one song is it your favorite song?" Recognition sparked like a single match, illumination in darkness. Maybe she was right, because this was an extremely specific quote to call upon.

"No. You have to have heard them all," she paused and smiled as she recalled the rest, "and that's impossible. Because new ones are always being written. This world-"

"-is full of lost ballads just waiting to be rediscovered."

"Past, present, and future. You can't tie them down,"

"but you can hear them all the same." It was something Venti repeated a few times, in his rare moments of wisdom. Evidently, Xiao had been listening the day they arrived in Liyue harbor the first time; when she wanted to give up entirely on finding Morax, Venti had convinced her to persist. And maybe that persistence really was the key.