Gonna live this life as the Heroine Villianess

❄️ Chapter 20 👑

This wasn't supposed to be happening. All around her, the citizens of Mond were running around, scattering in different directions as they grabbed their young and fled. Screams of terror filled the air as a dragon with scales of various blue hues swooped through the air, it's claws grazing the roof tops and sending the clay shingles raining down on them. The attack of Stormterror. Dvalin's second appearance in the game. Which meant...

A small figure rose up into the sky in the distance. From where she stood, she could easily tell the person was a woman, with short, flowing blond tresses and a dress with a foreign design. If she squinted, she could just make out the gold embroidery and green embellishments on the fabric, which glowed as she shot anemo at the dragon through her hands. No vision. It had to be her. Wren ran.

The fight was quick. Dvalin's large shadow that loomed over the buildings soon disappeared into the distance. The young girl glided to the ground, where Amber rushed over to her, seemingly worried for her safety. Upon closer inspection, the girl had petite, fairy like features- large, luminous gold eyes, a heart shaped face... and a lean figure, which she guessed was from her swordsmanship as she glanced at the dull blade at her side. Wren stopped beside a large pillar, a good 10 meters from the pair, who stood in front of Barbato's statue. "So you have the power to go up against the dragon..." She knew this cut scene. It was Kaeya's first appearance in the game. But it was all happening too fast. Wren couldn't care for the traveler's arrival, as it meant less problems for her. But it also meant that Kaeya's attention would soon be divided- and that put her mission in peril. 

Traveler? Are you a new ally? Or a new storm?

~❄️👑~

Her name was Lumine, just like the female traveler in the canon lore. She turned out to be a very kind, calm person- if not slightly subdued, unlike her travel companion, Paimon- who was knon to ask dumb questions and was motivated by food. But everyone loved Paimon. Now, Wren watched from the top of Sara's stall as Kaeya and Lumine conversed by the teleportation waypoint near the stairs. They're backs were turned towards her, but she knew what they were talking about. Sighing, she dangled her feet over the edge and swung down, swinging from the roof from her legs. "Sara?" The woman turned, and to her credit, didn't seem surprised at her position; she must have gotten used to her quirky habits. "One mora meat for the road please. And a serving of radish balls." Wren dropped a handful of mora onto the counter, gave her thanks, and swung herself back up. When she glanced back to the waypoint, both Kaeya and the traveler were missing. She raised her eyebrows. That was fast. Wren yawned, gazing drowzily up at the sky. Nothing to do, nothing to do... so bored... eh?

Wren turned. Beside her, Lumine sat hugging her legs to her chest, staring back at her curiously. Paimon was nowhere in sight. "She's with Kaeya," Lumine said, as if sensing her confusion. "Food." Wren snorted. "Ah. Right." Figures. Lumine stayed quiet, rocking on her heels from where she sat. The wind blew particularly harshly in that moment, and she had to squint to avoid her hair blowing into her eyes. Wren turned back. "What are you doing here?" Lumine smiled and straightened. "Well, I noticed that you like to climb buildings and such. Apparently you like the high grounds more." She giggled. "To be honest, I like climbing too! Kaeya just told me off for climbing the wall instead of taking the stairs." Wren laughed. "He told me that too."

So yeah, Lumine was a good friend, she found, and it was nice to finally have a partner. It had never taken her long to take down hilichurl camps, but with Lumine, they could slaughter all of those monsters in a blink of an eye. And it was nice, to be relied on. Lumine was new to this world, and Wren spent the day running her through with all the things she would possibly need to know. It was hilarious how she too, thought that slimes were too cute to be killed. "Maybe I could keep one as a pet?" The traveler mused. "You already have Paimon though." "Ah, right." ("Achoo!" "...Paimon? Is everything alright?")

It was late at night when the two finally made it back to Mond after a day of looting domains, completing commissions and requests, and hunting down bounties. Wren hadn't felt this alive for years. It was nice, to finally have someone to talk to- just like her friends back at home. Wren stared at her new friend, who was happily munching on a piece of toast. She could easily envision her scrolling through instagram while listening to streaming her favorite songs, or sprinting to school because she was late to exams. In another world, they could also have been pretty close. 

"...Wren?" "Eh?" "Something wrong?" Lumine gave her a worried look. Wren flashed a quick smile. "Its- It's nothing. Just remembered something..." Lumine didn't look reassured. "... I had fun today," She said softly, as they headed along the path. "It was nice meeting you." "Yeah..." Wren couldn't help but feel bad for the girl. Her only goal was to find her brother, her other half- but had to help so many other people on the way... she was given the title of a hero, but no one really saw her own troubles, did they? Did they actively try to help her in return? And then her brother was actually... yes... Lumine was going to be going through some tough times. Wren just hoped she would be able to help. After all, that was what friends were for, right?

"Ah, if it isn't Miss Wren- and our new hero...?" The two turned, both wearing matching expressions of mild distaste. Kaeya lopped towards them with an easygoing smile on his face. "Ha- well, don't you two look close?" Wren frowned, schooling her face into an expression of what she hoped looked like, Why do you care?  He smirked, unfazed by her obvious annoyance. "If it isn't too much trouble... I have some business with Miss Wren, traveler. Do you mind...?" Lumine blinked, flicking her eyes from Wren to Kaeya. She could almost hear the gears turning in her head. Please, don't take this the wrong way, Lumi- "Okay," Lumine said, shrugging her shoulders. She turned. "See you Wren! I'm gonna go get Paimon! Byeeee!" Her last words were drawn out as she sprinted off in the other direction. Ahhh- don't leave me alone, wait-

Wren sighed, and crossed her arms. "What do you want?" She huffed. "As you probably saw, I was actually having a good time." Kaeya chuckled. "I sincerely apologize-" You don't look sorry you jerk. "But I do have something I must tell you." She frowned. "What?" Kaeya smiled. "You were in town at the day of stormterror's attack, correct?" She nodded. "It's come to our attention that there are crystals planted in various domains around Mond- the dragon draws its power from those crystals. So they must be destroyed." A fragmanted truth. But at least he gave her the gist of it. "...So?" "The traveler already agreed to tag along- the outrider and Mondstat's librarian are coming as well- as am I." He tilted his head. "You want me to come, don't you." He grinned cheekily. "Read my mind~ truly a genius, Miss Wren..." She rolled her eyes. "Like I said, flattery will get you nowhere, Sir Kaeya-" She headed into the inn. Looks like she would have to free up her schedule for the next few days. Who knows how long this would take. "And wipe that smile off your face, you look stupid."

~❄️👑~