NOCTURN BRIDE • genshin Impact | ✓

CHAPTER EIGHT.

a threat — poor fickle bard that led the tune of the wind was considered to be a nuisance — a deemed worthy opponent by empress taarista. though the apostle did find it odd; in a way, because weren't tsarista and barbatos friends at one point? then again, it wasn't her business to meddle within.

the only thing she needed to make sure, was for barbatos to stay alive.

"little apostle, you never fail to impress." signora laughed, as her fox-like gaze eyed onto the apostle's expression. she was angry, mad, absolutely outraged by the fact that the poor fool was going to be eliminated! "but, you ought to thank me. without me, you wouldn't have known about her highness's plan, and by the time you'd search for him, he'd be long gone by then!"

oh? the piety apostle raised her brow? did signora take her as a fool? a clown nonetheless, it was a displeasing sight. a bold assumption of an apostle — god's benevolent messenger — a sacred being that mortals took as a useless entity. it was like an insult, telling god that they wouldn't be alive without mortals. labelling god's eternal spirit as a matter of belief: god doesn't exist if their people doesn't worship.

then what was the piety apostle? a ghost?

"my my~ dearest signora~" the apostle spoke in a childlike playful manner, leaning closer, and closer, and closer towards the fair lady. she inhaled, sniffing onto a scent of fresh mint with an undertone flavour of champagne and wine that signora held. "do you take me as a fool?"

"you smell just like a naïf, it amazes me how you've managed to make it at this point in life!" with a giggle, the apostle tutted herself from her unladylike behaviour as signora's vexation was visible. cold fumes slowly ignited the air, freezing the floating air particles that slowly became snowflakes. "but if you really insist on having my thanks~"

the apostle leant closer, as their breaths almost collided with one another. flicking signora on the forehead with her slender fingers, she couldn't help but grin.

"i suggest you to kneel and beg for it!" she exclaimed in delight, eccentrically waving her hands. pride, is something that restricts further growth of mortals. it confines them, it shackles them, rips their futures apart.

pride isn't something to be proud of.

now, signora and the piety apostle held a love-hate relationship, strikingly similar to what others refers to as frenemies. to be more precise, it was more of a mutual benefit relationship — signora's workload would be significantly reduced with the apostle, and the apostle could giddy around, looking for peace within teyvat.

a helpless delusion, but there was no harm in hoping.

"little apostle... you don't know when to shut your mouth do you?" the air surrounding the two started growing cold. frozen flakes of ice breezes through the anemo swirl that denied the cryo residue. signora held onto the apostle's chin, tilting it upwards as she leaned forward. "do i need to freeze your pretty little tongue?"

"touché~" letting out a laugh, the apostle embraced herself with the tender wind as she blew away the cryo dust. floating above the ground, she let out a jest, tutting the fair lady's action. "but i'm afraid you're still far too weak, dearest maiden. though, feel free to vex me whenever you feel like it."

"am i?" raising a brow, signora lifted her dominant hand as a swirl of frost glazed through the apostle's neck. "let us be the judge of that. if i were to-"

"greetings the la signora and dame apostle." a fatui diplomat with his neatly kept bronze hair interrupted the mini-provoking session between the two highly ranked commanders. "apologies for intervening your conversation, but her highness would like to have a private audience with signora."

"very well," signora lowered her hand, before swatting her other hand towards the diplomat; signalling him to leave. "i suppose our conversation ends here, little apostle."

"indeed~" twirling around mid-air, the apostle extended her hand, before yellow luminescent rocks formed by her finger tips. sighing, she retracted her palm, before looking at signora. "farewell fair damsel. i hope you don't speak much of our conversation to her highness."

"very well." signora nodded, as her heels slowly clunked onto the marbled floor. before leaving the apostle, she turned around, asking the apostle her final question. "and where will you be headed to?"

the apostle didn't answer. only with a timid smile; she was heading to a place where signora knew she was heading to.

"a place where my heart once belonged."

to windrise, underneath the stars once more. be it, for she couldn't foresee the next time she would meet her, ex-beloved.

"didn't you always belong here?"

"in teyvat? or are you perhaps referring to my heart?" the apostle made a light hearted joke, gesturing her hands by her heart. "though, i'd be damned if my soul originated from the soil of teyvat."

"then where were you from?" signora asked. if the apostle wasn't from teyvat, or the soil of teyvat — as the apostle emphasised a clear disdain within the word soil. an embarrassing remark, to be born as a mortal — she saw it as a shame, a sign of weakness. now, signora then wondered, where would the apostle had come from; if she hadn't come from the seven nations of teyvat.

now, the apostle's origin, was a matter that none spoke of. no one dared to mutter a word of when, where, who and why when it was related to her past.

although, the apostle ought to applaud signora's bravery. perhaps, it wouldn't harm much if she told a fragment of her own story.

"hm~ mortals labels my home origin as," the apostle paused, putting her finger by her chin as she tilted her head as she started reminiscing her sweet homeland. "a place where gods resides."

celestia, the beloved island of the sky.

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( CHAPTER VIII )