History repeats itself (a Genshin Impact OC insert)

Chapter 7 - the holy lyre and the crystalline tears

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"though Paimon has a question... who else wanted to steal the holy lyre? I mean, they only have a fake one now, but what is the other thief's intention?" – "do you remember what they had on?", Lyra inquires.

Aether thinks for a moment then begins to describe the thief's outfit. "a cicin mage. One of the fatui's underlings I see..." – "but why would they need the holy lyre?", Paimon asks.

Venti then speaks up. "Jean said earlier that the fatui are trying to take Dvalin's power for the cryo god... I fear this might fall short on their true intentions. I think they intend to use Barbatos' connection to the wind to draw him out. Just like Lisa traced the source of storm to the temples."

"the god of anemo? ...he hasn't been seen for more than a thousand years. What makes you think that's their intention?" Diluc states. Lyra then chimes in. "correction. He was last seen 500 years ago. I can confirm." The tavern owner then stays silent.

"Lynda- Lyra I mean." – "it is fine. You can call me Lynda if you want to. Though if others should ask, tell them it is your nickname for me." Venti nods. "just like I call her Willow!"

Jean nods. "well then, Lynda. Do you know anything about the fatui? Were you in contact with them in your past lives?" – "..." Lyra closes her eyes. She sighs after a moment.

"... my tenth life. I was in a deep relation to the fatui, and my actions were guided by what had happened in my life prior – my ninth life. Though in my tenth life I swore an oath to myself to never speak of it. So sorry, I am not allowed to talk about it and would not like to talk about it further. However, I can confirm that what whisp said is true. Their true intentions may be unknown, however, the Tsaritsa seeks something from the other archons", she reluctantly answers.

Jean nods. She can understand that there are hurtful memories, so she does not try to press it any further. "regardless, they also positioned one of their harbingers here. La Signora, No. 8 of the eleven fatui harbingers." – " the reason the fatui can run amok across the seven nations like they do is entirely because of the harbingers. I still remember the time when there were only seven harbingers... anyway, back to Dvalin.", Lyra mutters.

Jean nods at Lyra. "Venti, do you think you can summon Dvalin with the help of the lyre?" Said bard shakes his head.

"although this lyre is the real thing, I doubt that it's going to work. As you can see, the lyre has been through a thousand years of history. It's anemo power has run dry. In this condition, you couldn't play music fit for even Diluc's tavern with it...", he shrugs.

Lyra stifles a laughs. "Bards fight to get on stage of my tavern. Don't make assumptions!" – "is that really important, master Diluc?!", Paimon exclaims, then turns to Venti. "and you– did you just borrow the holy lyre to play music for drunkards to hear?!" – "Ehe" – "what do you mean 'Ehe'?!", the little pixie shouts angrily.

"anyway, we won't be able to call Dvalin with it. The lyre itself is fine, but the strings... you're up, Aether!", Venti changes the topic. Aether looks at him dumbfounded. "I don't know how to fix instruments."

Lyra shakes her head. "he means giving the lyre the teardrop crystals of Dvalin. They hold very high amounts of anemo power." – "... oh."

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Aether takes out the two purified crystals and puts them onto the lyre. Then, the lyre starts repairing itself. "it worked, as expected.", Venti cheers. "this youthful glow...", Jean mutters.

"thanks to Aether having purified the crystals, the holy lyre won't continue to lose power. That said, its power is far from replenished. It'd be great if we could get more tears." Lyra sighs. "I am fairly certain Dvalin has already been crying... suffering alone in some deserted place." – "this is not something we can do on our own. I will mobilise the rest of the knights to assist. When you get a teardrop crystal, please let Aether perform the purification process.", Jean states.

Aether nods. "Leave it to me." – "oh~ heroes supporting each other and setting out on a journey together... how exiting!" – "now is not the time for a song, whisp." – "seriously? You have been thinking of another song? You deserve an ugly nickname. Oh, Paimon knows! From now on, you'll be known as 'tone-deaf bard'!", Paimon proclaims.

Lyra sighs as she shakes her head. "anyway... I know of a way to find these teardrops. They are corrupted, correct?" Venti nods. "in my eleventh life as Yui, the spiritual dualist of Inazuma, one of my jobs was to cleanse the land from corruption. To cleanse the land from corruption, I had to of course figure out where this corruption is. So, one of my abilities was to be able to find those corrupted things." 'I call upon Yui, the eleventh.' She then creates a bright yellow orb.

"this is part of my duality. There is another part, however that is not important as of right now." The orb breaks into multiple little pieces, however only three stay behind while the others disappear into thin air. "it seems there are only three tears around. Will that be enough, whisp?" – "yeah, two more should be enough.", Venti confirms.

The orbs then fly away. "huh?! They're gone! How are we going to find the tear now?", Paimon asks. "got it. One tear is in the thousand winds temple, one in Dadaupa gorge, within the camp of the eclipse tribe, and the other is in the ruins deep within the forest. We should head there once it is daytime again-", Lyra says, but cuts herself off as she coughs.

"Lynda! Are you alright?", Jean asks, worried. "y-yeah, I am alright, Jean... I just used some of my past power... there are some powers that are harmful for most bodies, those which aren't made for that power... and Yui's dualist ability is one of those. I should be fine though... I only need to rest up for a while. Though I won't be able to fight for now... so I trust you will get the tear without my help.", Lyra assure the others.

Aether and Paimon nod. "you got it! You just rest up." – "Paimon is right, Lynda. You did more than enough, so you deserve some rest. Come, I will bring you to the Favonius HQ. you can sleep in one of the rooms there." – "thank you, Jean..." – "once we get the tears, we will meet up at Dawn winery. Lyra, do you know where that is?", Diluc asks.

"yes, got it. I will meet you there once I rest up. It's best if I keep the lyre safe for now."

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