𝐆𝐨𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐬 | 𝐳𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐢

18

"Ae-"

"Aeth-"

"Aether!"

Opening his eyes, the said traveler groaned in pain as Paimon overtook his vision. blinking away the blurry vision, Aether sees Venti and as well as Childe surrounding him.

"You landed pretty rough there, traveler. are you alright?" Venti asked as he helped Aether stand back up. "i-i'm okay. just didn't know there was a hole."

"Yeah, my bad for not warning you guys. i was already falling myself," Childe apologized.

Shaking his head, "it's alright, as long everyone else is okay... now where are we?"

Everyone looks at their surrounding only to see themselves in some sort of dark cave, but it had some things around it. on the walls, there were old looking lanterns hanging as well as some ancient stones.

Continuing on looking around, Aether sees a stone looking chair in the center. the top half was cracked while the bottom remain still. it had some sort of gold detailing on it, making it look like a high and mighty chair.

"Another cave?" Paimon asked.

Childe shrugged, "maybe, if so then there's probably another pathway we can go to."

About to walk around to find another path, Aether stopped him. "w-wait! i don't think this is any sort of cave."

Paimon and Childe looked at the tracker in confusion, "what do you mean?" they asked.

Aether was about to answer only to see Venti touch one of the ancient stones. from just a small tap, the whole cave started to rumble, making the group nearly trip.

The stones that were sitting still are now coming together, now standing by the chair. as the small rumble continued on, the stones started to shine, showing three different symbols.

The first one showed a star, the second one showed a dragon, and the last one showers a full moon.

Once it shone the symbols, the small quaking stopped. sighing in relief, Aether glared at Venti who raised his hands up in defense, "oopsie~" then the lanterns on the walls lit up, creating a fire that somehow lit up by themselves.

Getting the creeps, Paimon looked around frantically only to point at the gold detailing chair, "look!"

Looking at the chair, it started to transformed into a big one that now has more detailings on it. the once broken top was now repaired and the stone was replaced by a cushion. the construction was now being supported by a gold rather than gray dull stones.

"Woah!"

Venti walked closer to it and observed the chair, including the stones surrounding it. "ah, now i know where we are."

"Huh?"

Turning back to the others, Venti smiled gleefully, "this isn't some any cave, this was her throne."

🌙 🌙 🌙

Standing on top of a high cliff and looking down at the Chasm, he took off his demon like mask and sighed. his dark green hair with teal highlights and green tattoos/markings on his arm shone from the moonlight above.

Alatus or going by Xiao was staring intently at the Chasm, feeling something is wrong. usually Xiao isn't the one that feels this weird feeling. this type of feeling was something he hasn't felt in a long time. the last time he felt it was when he last saw her.

Putting his mask back on, Xiao teleported down from the cliff and immediately enter the underground mine. this wasn't his first time exploring the Chasm, and let's just say he didn't like the last time he went.

Holding tightly to his jaded spear, Xiao walked through the mysterious tunnels that made previous miners too afraid to go in. the ones that were brave enough somehow didn't come back which left the others cower in fear.

Continuing on the lookout, Xiao's mind drift back to the time he was actually happy. genuinely happy with the people he care about. rather it be his yaksha siblings, Morax, or her.

When was the last time Xiao had heard her voice?

Her soft and delicate voice that would sing throughout the night. the one where it helped Xiao sleep peacefully despite his trauma haunting him in his life.

The adeptus remembered the time when the moon goddess would sing a lullaby to him whenever he can't sleep. he won't admit it, but Xiao has always looked up to her. at first, he was slightly suspicious of her, but when she welcomed him in open arms, that's when Xiao realized someone out there actually cares about him.

Most people would think that Xiao is an adeptus that doesn't care about other people's feeling.

Wrong.

He's a broken soul that has been through so much. he was abused by his previous owner and he had lost his yaksha siblings from corruption. so when he first heard about the moon goddess being missing, that was nearly his broken point.

When Morax had told him to not look for her, Xiao had to convince him saying that there's a way to find her. even though it has been years, she still out there, waiting for someone to find her. we just need to trust her that she's sending out clues.

Xiao knows that the moon goddess isn't the type to leave. during the times he had spend time with her, she looked so happy and carefree, especially when Morax was with her. so why would someone take that away from her?

Not only did it affect her happiness, but the people that knows her as well. when Xiao had convince Morax to look for her, he could remembered the crestfallen face he had every time he thought about her.

Morax really did love her.

What a tragic love story. it was like they're meant to be, but at the same time they're not. they're the right people, but it seems as though the universe didn't see it that way.

"A dead end?"

Now staring the rock wall in front of him, Xiao observed it until he noticed something. if mortals were to see this, they would've given up and left because they would think it's a dead end, but it's not.

Placing his gloved hand on the wall, Xiao closed his eyes and let the wall glow green until he feels himself being teleported somewhere else.

🌙 🌙 🌙

"There's nothing around here. are you sure we're at the right place?" a voice asked as they gazed around the unfamiliar place they're in.

Moving his red eyes, he closed his eyes for a moment and feel the wind shift a bit. peeking one eye open, he nodded, "i'm sure."

Raising a brow, Beidou hummed and placed both her hands on her hips, "alright, lead the way. some of you guys follow me while the rest stay within the ship!" she announced to the crew mates.

Kazuha glanced from his left to right and hear something calling for him. ever since that strange light encounter back in Inazuma, Kazuha hasn't stopped thinking about it since, so when he mention it to Beidou, she was just as confused as him. the two decided to visit a dear friend of Beidou who has the possible answer to it, and her name was lady Ningguang.

(not edited)
6/25/22