Return of The Maid-Knight (A Genshin Impact Fanfiction)

Return of The Crimson Embers

Sometime after their time at the Golden Apple Archipelago comes to an end, Aether, Noelle and Ayaka are now walking through a tunnel in The Chasm which presumably leads to Sumeru. Ayaka scouted ahead while Aether and Noelle were behind her.

"Noelle..."

"What is it, Aether?"

"I saw it."

"What do you see?" Noelle curiously asked.

"Your past. You've been through a lot."

"My past? I-I see. There must be some parts of it that shows incompetence, isn't it?"

"I see no signs of it. But you have no idea how proud I am to have a disciple like you, who rose so far that you exceeded even Zhong-- I mean, Rex Lapis."

"You don't need to hide it, Aether. I knew who Master Zhongli is already."

"Wait, how?"

"After I saved Master Xiao, I sensed that someone else's power aside from mine, that is akin to an archon, helped him to escape the depths. I didn't tell you who it was since there are a lot of witnesses."

"I see. Also, Noelle... Can you tell me anything you know..."

"What do you want to know about, Aether?"

"Your mother... This Silver Knight that Lumine told about, is she real? I never heard about her in the Knights' records back in Mondstadt."

"Indeed she is. I myself never knew who my mother or let alone the Silver Knight was until that fight with one of those Abyss Lectors... The moment your sister said that I am her daughter... And after I learned what she did to Inazuma... I felt bad, but I promised her that I will walk a path different from her. Not for vengeance, but loyalty... To you."

"I see... What did she do? The people at Inazuma really despises her and upon seeing you they were on guard."

"Like Master Kazuha's friend, she tried to oppose Lady Ei. But unlike him who directly confronted her, mother... She mercilessly slayed any soldier of the three commissions that got in her way. She has clearly lost the sense of reason upon returning to her homeland, and instead of saving it from having the citizens getting their visions removed, she ends up suffering death by divine punishment."

Noelle knew all this, because in her near-death experience she met her mother, Shirogane's spirit and the latter told her all about herself and Noelle promised that she will never take her blood-tainted path.

"And because of such acts..."

"Yes. She was erased from history, as it would sully the knights' name if it were to spread to the rest of Teyvat. All her hard work to become a honorary knight is all for naught after she uses it to exact her vengeance."

"I-I'm sorry to hear about that."

"What's happened cannot be changed, Aether. So it's alright to move on."

Both of them then held hands as they walked forward, Ayaka kept on stealing glances and gritted her teeth at the sight of them both holding hands. Someday she swears that she will finally defeat Noelle.

It wasn't long until they see light, and they find themselves in an area shrouded with woods. Paimon begins to talk to Aether about going to a vantage point, and afterwards try to ask a local for directions.

Noelle and Ayaka noticed a woman walking away, and that she is ignoring Paimon's calls. The girls then followed her while Aether went to the Statue of The Seven which is conveniently on top of the vantage point.

They followed the woman to a cave where they saw her in a meditative like state, and to her left is something that made Ayaka poke Noelle's shoulder.

A tiny creature with a leaf on it's head, and a wide line-shaped smile. The moment Noelle took another step it notices the both of them, and a flash blinded them.

"Lady Ayaka...? Where is this?"

Noelle finds herself alone in the middle of a clearing with giant roses and flowers. She sees a trail on the ground that leads to a particularly big rose, and she climbed to the inside of it to see a familiar sight that made her widen her eyes.

"We meet again, Maid-Knight of Mondstadt!"

In front of Noelle, is that very woman from the Fatui who had hurt Aether back in Tenshukaku after he protected her from one of her attacks.

"Lady Signora... I thought my attack has killed you... How are you...?"

"Ufufu~ A lady has her secrets. Oh, and wench.... Time do die."

Her eyes glowed red, as she summons an ice cocoon surrounding her, which then turned red, and it explodes revealing Signora in her harbinger form.

"Now I truly have the chance to tell you to please stand down. If you are indeed alive, then-"

"I see that you still have that naivety, wench. If you never learn from your mistakes, it will come back to haunt you... Like how you failed to save him after that shot I fired."

"You...!"

Noelle's rage is felt by herself, as her eyes begins to glow in a golden color, and a translucent cape sprouts out of her back. An adeptus portal then opens as The Unforged then flies in which Noelle then caught.

"Finally you have shown your true form, Daughter of Shirogane."

A battle then ensued between a fiery whip and an unforged Geo claymore, which slowly set the rose petals around them on fire, leaving behind ashen petals in their wake. After a few moments of the battle, Noelle raised her claymore up, and after a large beam emanates from the blade, she strikes it down, which cleaves off Signora's right arm.

Noelle stopped and widened her eyes at what she just did. Adding further to the shock, the arm reattaches itself back to Signora's body even without Noelle's power.

"What? How...?"

Noelle is then caught off guard as Signora lurches forward, and grabbed her in the neck. She then raised the maid-knight a few feet upwards while strengthening her grip on her neck, choking her.

"This is the end now, Transcended One."

Noelle tried to struggle to no avail, as Signora then laughed evilly only for her to be kicked in the side of the head, so sudden that she had to loosen her grip, freeing Noelle.

Signora then looked at her assailant, who turns out to be the ice blue haired Shirasagi Himegimi, Ayaka.

"Apologies, but if anyone's going to kill Shirogane's daughter..."

Ayaka's blue eyes glowed, and a pair of heron wings out of ice sprouts out of her back; an icy aura surrounds her.

"...It's me."

"W-What's this...!?" Signora said in surprise.

"Ugh... T-thank you, Lady Ayaka..."

"A SECOND Transcended One?"

"Second in order perhaps but by no means in stature, the real battle begins now. Noelle's fate is none of your concerns."

"Ufufu~ the more the merrier so they say, right? But I don't care how many wenches there are, it's all the same. I'll send you both to hell myself."

Ayaka smirked at her, before speaking again "We'll see about that!"

And with her wings Ayaka flew forward in the speed of a bullet, her right hand gripping the hilt of her tachi, preparing to execute an unsheathing slash to the crimson witch in front of her...

Only for Signora to slap Ayaka in the face, sending her flying back.