To the unknown Future

Chapter 17:

After that dreadful incident, I retreated inside of my consciousness because of the pain and betrayal that strongly affected my soul and my mortal body. I was in constant pain, and I didn't have any rest at all. At those times, I can only see from my vacant eyes how Venti and his friends worked hard to understand my situation and try to bring me back to my cheerful exterior... but it was impossible even if they try to force my will to do it. 

The reason why I was trying to thrive in Teyvat, the sole purpose that I followed the Feiyun's branch of exorcism, was to meet my god and redeem myself from the false accusations. But in the end, all were for naught. He still didn't believe me, and even took back my wings. 

My glass wings, the pair of wings that I had ever since I ascended as an angel... the biggest part of my identity, were taken away from me. 

I watched from my vacant eyes as Venti talked to me as if I was responding to him, and hear more tales about Teyvat. After a couple of days, he brought Francis' wife to help me around the Serenitea pot while he was outside and helping with their research. 

Francis' wife was an enjoyable company. She was lovable, kind, and careful around me... I quite liked her aside from Venti. All the times while I was in that state, Venti and the others tried to help in their own ways to cheer me up or get a reaction out of me, but I still feel detached from this world, from my own body, although I can take care of myself in a few things. 

It was until it was the month of the Windblume Festival. Francis' wife told me the tales about this festival and how the people of Mondstadt celebrate this occasion for the Anemo Archon. I felt nothing about that and twitched a bit when he mentioned Venti being popular in the city and might be getting a love poem or two with a few windblumes. 

'I... I'm just his friend, right, I shouldn't cut his connection to people who admire him, I'm just a friend,' I thought and felt shocked myself from my train of thought.

'I shouldn't cut his connection to people? What am I saying??? How absurd! We never had that kind of relationship!' and after that, my emotions cooled down once more. 

I watched silently how Venti took care of everything and helped me go back to Liyue before the Windblume Festival. Even though I want to see and enjoy the event, since I'm in this current state, I cannot speak my thoughts or even my actions. I also understood Venti's stance of getting me back to Liyue harbor to get help from my original family, but the last conversation between Xingqui and Venti left a bad taste in my mouth. 

'I know that we are friends, and I shouldn't burden him, but Xingqui putting the blame on him first and then compensating him for helping me... doesn't that feel wrong to him as well?' I thought while looking at my frowning younger cousin. 

The first few weeks were fine with Xingqui and I, but when my family heard of my dilemma, they immediately set out to get me and tried to exorcise me. 

'There's no evil spirit, just a broken one,' I thought while staring at their frustrated faces. They ventured high and low with me on tow to the mountains to find a cure, I experienced bizarre things that I didn't even know exist in both my original world and in Teyvat but it exists. 

Until we met face to face with a dilemma, there were a group of hilichurls that were threatening a child that was at the edge of the cliff. It took a lot of me to move my body at will and take my sheathed sword out to purge the monsters.  

After that encounter, we went back to the hidden arena on the estate near Mt. Tianheng and my hellish training started all over again. The small children played the role of "hostages" to make me react inevitably as I did so. They were not harmed and they seemed to see it as a fun game to help me, but it strains me to do so. 

Everything was on repeat until Sir Zhongli told my family about getting a blessing from the Anemo Archon for my fast recovery in the Windblume festival, which they weirdly agreed on. Apparently, I was the only person in the family to get an Anemo Vision, aside from the fact that I am an adopted daughter. 

The day before our departure to Mondstadt, Zhongli asked Xingqui and I to help him collect some Qingxin Flowers and Starconch shells. It was when the two of us were alone did Zhongli started talking and telling me about the story of the Anemo Archon. 

I have no particular connection with such a god because I was devoted to my original god, however, because I was betrayed and thrown away, I do not want to be in their presence anymore. 

"-Would you like to take the chance to offer a windblume wreath to his statue?" Sir Zhongli asked me, and I cannot help but fall into a delusion in a while. 

"The Anemo Archon, the god of freedom and Wind?" I asked, my throat hurts a bit from a little to no use of my voice for a long while. I cleared my throat while frowning.

"Yes, indeed," Sir Zhongli said and I felt the wind breeze from where I was standing, I stretched my hand up to the sky and whispered another question. 

"The sky, does he have wings to fly?" I asked curiously, the sky, was once my home, and with my wings, I can go anywhere, without restrictions, go as far as the eyes could see... but that was all in the past now. 

I put down my hand and cooled down my emotions once again. 

"That's just lore, I am one of his vision bearers, and yet not a single time did I feel the blessing of this Archon. Say no more, my belief towards such deities was already extinguished," I said and took a deep breath before opening my glider and heading to Xingqui's location down the beach. 

When I got near him, I saw something peculiar near his radius, it was wriggling, and there seems to be a condensed hydro element there that could hurt Xingqui. Xingqui seemed oblivious of that peculiar thing, and he turned my way and waved, calling my name. 

'This oblivious little heir, so carefree and happy to little things, but I think, that's just one of his good points as my cousin and little brother. He should stay like that,' I thought and took a deep breath, 

'I'm Uriel, the sixth disciple from the sixth branch of the Feiyun Family. We purge evil in the face of Teyvat and save kindred souls from evil and corruption, this new identity in a new world, I will embrace it,' Uriel let go of her glider and plunged down in the direction of the peculiar being.

Summoning the Anemo vision to her sword, she changed her stance and have her sword hit first before her body. A loud explosion occurred and Uriel lets go of her sword and did a backflip to get the distance between her and the peculiar thing. 

"Uriel Jiejie, what was that?" Xingqui runs towards her with his sword in his grasp. Uriel put her arm out and told him to step back instead. 

"I will handle it, get Sir Zhongli's attention, and go to a safe distance," Uriel said and looked back to the tall structure of the monster she was facing. 

"That's a ruin guard, how did it get here? and it has Hydro element too?!" She heard Xingqui's voice in a distance before taking action. Taking her embedded sword on the sand, she strikes the arms and legs of the Ruin guard but it only left some scratches. 

"Uriel, use your Vision and strike the eye of the Ruin Guard," Uriel heard the advice from Zhongli and immediately put it into action. She used a whirlwind and rode it a few steps up from the ground and used her vision of her body and her sword to strike the core of the Ruin Guard.

Unfortunately, her strike was a bit weaker and it didn't stop the Ruin Guard and she got thrown to the side by its mechanical hands. 

"Uriel!" Xingqui and Zhongli called out her name in worry.