LIYUE MERMAIDS (Modern AU)

New Moon

It's a great day at Teyvayt academy. With every class bustling with energy, there was one class with more energy than ever. In class L-2, one average field trip would change the lives of three special students.

"Okay, class!"
It was Mr. Zhongli. His eyes glittered as he stood on the podium in front of the students. He gestured at a few people standing around him while he addressed his students. "We're all excited today right?"

The students who sat down nodded their heads eagerly in agreement. Mr. Zhongli smiled at them and continued. "But it's our first field trip so we can't forget what we have to do. So please, let me go over our itinerary. The first thing you guys should know is that Guyun Stone Forest is a place of mystery and ancient history. It has been an open secret for around two decades now. As such, we must be careful about where we go. Which is why I expect you all to listen and follow the forest ranger." Answered by groans and sighs Mr. Zhongli continued, "Now, I'll be putting you guys into groups of three to make the attendance process easier.

Group one: Xinyan, Hu Tao, and Keqing

Group two: Chongyun, Xingqiu, and Xiangling

Group three: Xiao, Ganyu, and Yanfei

Group four: Yun Jin and I since the rest of the students are absent or forgot their permission slip." He looked down at his watch, "We still have 30 minutes. Why don't we get going now? We don't want to miss the boat, right?" Mr. Zhongli gave another small smile before turning back and leading his class to the exit.

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The boat ride was a smooth one and the class made it there successfully at 6:34 p.m. This would've been the ideal field trip except...

"Hey, what's that over there?"

Ganyu asked her group as she pointed towards the ruins. The other members of group three glanced over in the direction of Ganyu's pointing finger. They saw nothing but trees. The only structure within sight was a giant rock. Noticing this in confusion Xiao turned toward the rocks with a confused expression. "Umm...isn't that a pile of rock? There doesn't seem to be anything else in sight..." Ganyu sighed. "Come on! Look closer don't you see what's reflecting the sun?"

This time everyone focused on what Ganyu was talking about. Sure enough, something was reflecting the light. "Come on let's go see!" Ganyu called out excitedly. "Hey, no wait, didn't the teacher say to stay close to the ranger?" Yanfei said, "He said we had to stay together."

"Look around! They all left without us!" Ganyu insisted. "They already went ahead and I don't think any of us know where they went."

Yanfei sighed and shrugged her shoulders, "Let's just check it out quickly then we look for the teachers." she said as they started moving towards the pile of rocks. Soon they were walking up a large path that led them closer to the source of the light. Once they reached the rocks, all were stunned as they fell through the floor.

All three students landed in a pile. When they got up, they were surprised to find themselves surrounded by luminescent cave walls that only somewhat lit the way. Looking at their surroundings, they noticed that most parts of the cave walls were covered in moss and vines. The floor was littered with debris from the loose flooring, and in front of them was a circular pool.

"What's this place? Are we in a cave?" questioned Ganyu with a puzzled face. Yanfei walked over to the pool with Xiao and Ganyu. She bent down and touched the water. To her surprise, the water was cool to the touch. "Guys I'm feeling some kind of energy here..." she whispered. She turned to Xiao, "Xiao do you feel anything like that too?" asked Yanfei in a hushed tone. Xiao nodded his head in response. "How about you Ganyu? Do you feel anything?" Ganyu thought for a second and then replied, "Yeah, a little bit..." She paused and thought again. "I dunno...there seems to be a lot of different kinds of energy but none of them feel familiar... How about we head back," she concluded. "But how? Xiao asked, "We fell from the ceiling and the walls are steep and slippery so there's no way to climb back up. Ganyu shook her head. "There must be some way out..." Her thoughts were interrupted when she saw the water starting to swirl above the pool. She grabbed the others and pulled them back. But not before the water splashed on each of them. Ganyu cried out in fear when she realized how wet her clothes were. "Yay..we're soaked..." said Yanfei as water dripped from her shirt. She thought for a minute before exclaiming "Hey, maybe that's it!" 

"What's it?" Gnayu asked with her and Xiao sharing a look of curiosity

"Maybe the water leads somewhere outside!" continued Yanfei "Where did you get that idea?" asked Xiao. "It doesn't make sense. Even if we did, what if we drown before we leave?" Ganyu added. "I agree with Xiao. We can't take that risk."

"Well, we gotta try anyways!" Yanfei countered. All of the sudden a loud splash rang out across the cave as Yanfei dove in and disappeared beneath the surface. "Yanfei?!" both Xiao and Ganyu cried out in unison and rushed toward the edge of the pool to see if she had come back up. Ganyu's heart sunk into her stomach when she failed to see Yanfei anywhere below "She won't drown...right?" Xiao spoke up in worry, and the two looked at each other sadly. Ganyu looked back down at the pool, "Ok, well, maybe it does lead outside..." As if to emphasize her point, Yanfei surfaced gasping for air. "Guys! Come on! It does lead to the surface!" Without waiting for them she dove back in and the other two followed hesitantly.

After swimming for what felt like forever, they finally broke the surface. Ganyu gasped for breath while coughing profusely and held onto a rock for support as she struggled to calm herself down. Suddenly, a light shone on their faces. "What are you three doing here!" shouted Mr. Zhongli from behind. "Ahhh!" shrieked Yanfei, splashing around and nearly knocking herself unconscious from shock. "You scared us half to death!" she shouted at the man angrily. Then, realizing who it was, she apologized quickly, "Sorry sir..." After several apologies from the students,

"It's okay, students," he said with a hint of irritation, "However, expect a full punishment when you come to school on Monday." The students nodded and swam back to shore.