Music to my Ears [(Y/n) x Venti]

Chapter 37

  A somber silence fell on the group as they entered the sacred room. It was much bigger than (Y/n) had imagined.

  Lush indigo curtains clothed the large, arched windows, and a dilated sunroof shone from above. Catching the light of the sun was a massive instrument-one (Y/n) had heard about all too often. The Earth-Bound Star. She knew it glowed and radiated with massive power, able to make the wildest of her dreams a reality. Surrounding the Star was a large, round pool of water, crystalline and shimmery. (Y/n) felt compelled to reach out and skim its surface, but as she stretched her arm out-

"(Y/n)! Don't touch anything unless I tell you that you can!" Her father snapped frantically. Once she'd brought her hand back down and bowed her head in embarrassment, she heard him let out a deep sigh.

  She looked up to see him and the Prince exchanging unreadable glances. She bit her lip, hoping she wouldn't make a fool of herself again.

  "Hey," she heard, before feeling a light tap on her shoulder, "don't worry about it! I was about to do it too, but you beat me to it!"

  It was Kaeya Alberich, who'd stayed quite hushed until now. He offered the girl a small smile as his eyes twinkled in the slightest.

  "Your Highness, everything is ready for-"

  They were all interrupted by a large crash, leaving (Y/n)'s ears ringing and her nose tinged with the smell of smoke. Her heart pounded like a rabbit's as she looked for the explosion, but her mother beat her to it, quickly rushing out of the room.

  "It's an archon! He's outside of the temple, and it looks like he's looking for His and Her Highness!"

  (Y/n) gasped in fright. She'd never met an archon, but she'd heard horrible things of them. She'd heard that they had no heart-that they were practically robots for the Divine. She envisioned sinister faces and depraved eyes as they fought her people outside the walls of the temple.

  "We have to hurry!" The Princess spoke for the first time since she'd been here. She usually left the talking to her brother.

  Everything happened in a flash. (Y/n)'s little, round eyes couldn't comprehend everything happening, but she found herself being pushed to the edge of the pool she'd been told not to touch.

  "On our signal, everyone needs to touch the water, okay?" Her mother spoke in simple terms. The children seemed to understand.

  Another crash was heard. (Y/n) wanted to scream, but her mother shushed her. "Save the tears for later, okay?"

  "Your Highnesses..." The priest cleared his throat, but everyone could sense the tension in his voice.

   Both siblings stepped forward, their eyes shining with determination.

  "Lumine..." the Prince called before we reached out to touch the colorful pool. "Come find me when the time is right."

  She opened her mouth to protest her surprise, but in a moment, all that filled the air were screams.
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  It had happened in such a flash that I could hardly process it. The traveler had received my message and made it to the island...and just as she touched it, the portal lit up...and now I was lying on the ground, muscles sore and face straight in the dirt.

  I heard a groan behind me and got up to see what it was. Luckily, it was only Diluc. He grumbled something incoherent as he wiped at a cut on his cheek.

  "Where are we?" The traveler asked.

  "I don't know..."I admitted, looking at my surroundings.

  Before us was a tower, unbelievably high and pale against the murky sky. I realized with a start that there was no land around us and the tower's foundation, just an endless ocean of gray purple.

  "Are we...away from Teyvat?" Diluc spoke, noticing the strange scenery.

  "Not quite. I can sense that we're somewhere in the Abyss."

  He nodded at me, as if he was satisfied with the answer and not at all concerned that we're in the realm of monsters. Beside him, Jean stirred uneasily.

  "Maybe we should've brought more people.." she murmured, but I walked ahead of her.

  "I know where we have to go." I called. "This way..."

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  Every time I breathed, my bruised ribs stung. I tried not to show it, but my legs and my arms ached and groaned every time I moved.

  From the moment I had stepped foot into this place, I had felt something tug at me. A strange power surged, right from the top of the tower. Little did we know, monsters lurked and guarded every single floor of this stupid place. And every time we climbed another set of stairs, getting us closer to our destination- to (Y/n)- we were met with more enemies.

  Finally, we made it to our goal. A tightly sealed room rimmed in gold glistened and shined, asking us to come in. Beside me, Diluc and Jean staggered along as the traveler and her companion nervously watched my lead.

  "Please tell me I'm done running to find you...(Y/n)." I whispered the last part, resting my forehead on the door before us. I needed her to be here so badly. I needed to see her friendly face, to hear her warm, glassy voice, to touch her soft lips and...

Kiss her?! Where am I going with this? I sighed,  taking a step back. Then, with the flick of my wrist, anemo surged through me. A storm flew in, battering against the door. It gave in, slamming open and battering against its hinges. I cleared my thoughts and walked in, turning to look around me. And there, in the center of it all, a statue of the seven with my face staring back at me.