Faded Harmony

The Winery's Ghost

Whenever Lyra visited Nocturna's grave, there would always be fresh flowers on them, sometimes flowers native to Liyue, and sometimes native to Mondstadt, sometimes the azure Glaze Lilies, sometimes Qingxin flowers or Calla Lilies. Once, someone had left Silk flowers, much to her amusement, and she wondered who had left them there. She knew she was not the only one who missed her friend. She who would sometimes stare at the ceiling in the night, replaying scenes and conversations over and over again so she wouldn't forget. Nocturna was not only her friend—she was also someone's adopted grandchild.

Lyra hung upside down on the bed as she read, using the light of the lanterns outside, when a knock on the door sent her crashing to the floor. The door opened, revealing a concerned Diluc, whose face quickly turned to exasperation as he pulled her up.

"Did you hit your head?'

"No," said Lyra, rubbing her back.

"Sorry about that."

"What sent you here, Darknight Hero?"

Diluc's expression looked pained at the mess of a name. "I would rather not be called that."

"Isn't that your nightly title?" asked Lyra, taking a seat on the bed.

Diluc sat on the chair, as Lyra pulled her legs up on the bed. "You've been spending far too much time with Sir Kaeya." Lyra shrugged, and Diluc's expression hardened a little, the air changing as he took on a more serious tone. "Venti was attacked earlier."

"By any chance...?"

"He's okay, he said he hadn't lost anything. He's taken refuge for now, although, he declined to say where."

Lyra was pretty sure that Venti had taken refuge in Celestia and now only a major situation could bring him back down, but that would be left to the future to decide. At least the god was safe. Lyra studied Diluc's impassive expression. "You don't seem too unhappy about this."

"He was single-handedly draining my winery."

Lyra smiled.

After a little more prodding, Diluc admitted he had dropped by her house for some respite before heading back to the tavern. Word on the street was that the 'Darknight Hero' was being tracked down by the Knights of Favonius, and Diluc was growing tired of hiding from their patrols. But Diluc was far faster than the average person, and he seemed to be more annoyed than tired.

After bidding her farewell, he stalked silently out of her house and headed down to his tavern, as Lyra watched from her door before leaving it to fall shut silently behind her.

                                  *

"I don't want to."

"You know you can't just ignore a direct order from your superior," said Kaeya, a smirk on his face as he played with a coin.

"I don't care."

"Just head down to Springvale, and find out who's scaring the hunters. I'm sure our honorary, legendary singer wouldn't mind gracing the area with her voice."

"Can't you do it?"

"I have something else to do," he said, pocketing the Mora. "A treasure hunt of sorts."

He smiled as Lyra made an annoyed sound in the back of her throat. "You're enjoying this."

He shrugged in a nonchalant way, as another knight walked up to him, a hand to his chest. "Captain Kaeya!"

Kaeya gave him the briefest of glances before turning to Lyra and winking, as he walked away with the knight in tow. Lyra walked to Springvale, her eyes either on the sky or on the grass. Little slimes huddled around, but mostly ignored her, and she them. Settling onto the banks of the river, she wondered if she could pick up some Calla Lilies, but had a feeling Diluc wouldn't like them. They seemed more like Kaeya's kind of flowers.