𝚂𝚘𝚛𝚛𝚢 𝙰𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚝 [𝚐.𝚒 𝚟𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚘𝚞𝚜 𝚡 𝚐𝚗!𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚛]

XXIII

Mornings at Wangshu in were, without a doubt, much better than the cheaper ones back in Mond. The rooms themselves were wonderfully comfortable and you hadn’t gotten a better sleep in an inn in your life, this one and the last.

After cleaning yourself up, you, Ariel, Aether, and Paimon made your way to the restaurant on the side. But you were so busy talking you accidently ran into another person walking back to their room. Just shoulders collided and before you could even say an apology they whipped around.

“Watch it!” Their brown hair gathered around their face in messy strings, hands on their waist with their hip cocked to the side and their leg pointed out at a strange angle, an angry scowl on their face.

You put your hands up in mock surrender and muttered a ‘sorry’ and watched as they whipped back around and walked away. “Weird.” But you shrugged and continued on.

The rest of the morning went rather easily, a hearty breakfast at the restaurant and laughter after your easy night. You enjoyed the switch from Mondstadtian to Liyuen cuisine, liking the stark difference in flavors and textures.

Unfortunately your wonderful morning had to come to an end and by early noon you were all packing up the little you took out from your bags to get back on the road. This day was much more pleasant with a comforting breeze wrapping around your sore limbs. You whispered a little thanks and the wind rustled your hair in return.

Starting on the road you felt eyes on the back of your head, not malicious, but strangely curious. You turned around only to find no one until you raised your eyes to the top of the inn. A figure was standing there, so unmoving you could’ve mistaken him for a wind vane in a still breeze, but you knew the only creeper on top of the inn was Xiao.

Happy that you got to see him at all, the last time being when you nearly had a heart attack in the chasm, you waved before walking off with the rest of your group who looked back confused, but you waved them off.

The trek to the harbor was short, thank god, and it was early evening when you finally made it. The lanterns along the street illuminated the pathways in a soft, orange glow, reflecting in the windows of the many shops lining the open area. People mingled in the street, even so late at night, in quiet conversation.

Despite the calming atmosphere, you couldn’t help but be excited. Not that you were anticipating the pain the people of Liyue feel seeing their god ‘die’, but watching a dragon fall from the sky with the dramatic music playing in your head would be epic as fuck.

Though coming to Liyue to see Zhongli’s death wasn’t the only reason you came, even if it was a big one.

The dream you had of everyone’s death was extraordinarily alarming to you, and the growing anxiety you felt everyday had you slowly letting go of the thought that it was a stress dream or simple nightmare. You did your best to lowkey look into any dream analysts or whatever bullshit could tell you about this stuff so you didn’t worry Ariel or anyone else, but you came up empty in Mond.

Coming to Liyue, you hoped the harbor that housed all kinds of people from many countries would hold someone who could tell you about dreams or visions or nightmares. If it got desperate enough, you might be able to pray to some of the adepti or subtly inquire about it to Zhongli. You didn’t want to alarm any of the people closest to you and you didn’t want this dream to be common knowledge among the people you cared about.

Of course, the fact that this could all be nothing wiggled in the back of your mind. You hadn’t had another dream since, and the fact that you might be stressing out or over thinking over nothing would not surprise you, it wouldn’t be the first time it happened. However, trying would not hurt.