𝚂𝚘𝚛𝚛𝚢 𝙰𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚝 [𝚐.𝚒 𝚟𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚘𝚞𝚜 𝚡 𝚐𝚗!𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚛]

XXXVIII

A gasp left your mouth as all the air was punched from your lungs. The sensation of falling curled in your stomach, harsh scrapes scratching against your skin as you fell through the air.

Your back hit the harsh ground, the air once again leaving your body, making you feel flat against the ground, as if nothing was filling you up. Absentmindedly, you realized you were laying in a patch of stark green grass, towering trees shading you from a bright, violent sun.

You heard rustling around you, rushing foot falls and far away calls that couldn't be heard over your haze of pain. Your shoulders hurt, your back hurt, and your legs had felt like they had been running for far too long. Little droplets of blood dripped from the cuts across your body, staining the rips in your dusty, now riddled with dirt, clothes.

A shadow hovered over you, thin fingers wrapped in gloves pressing delicately to your neck. Your growling stomach churned at the scent of berries mixed with rich earth from the person above you, a groan leaving your lips as you tried to move.

Hands pushed your shoulders down to stop you from moving, the voice turning stern as those lithe fingers searched all over, looking for all your bleeding wounds.

A harsh bark, an order from the person, sent some others (Assistants? Friends?) scrambling, but all it did to you was send a shock of surprise through your body.

-

Your eyes snapped open to the usual darkness of your little dungeon cell. Sweat formed on your brow as your head hung to your chin. As you continued to wake, that scent of sweetness and earth still invaded your senses, filling you with a wave of longing.

How long have you been hanging here? Arms slowly pulling from your sockets, stomach caving in and muscles weakening as you were denied food until you provided something of worth.

A cynical chuckle left your lips. You supposed you had something of worth now. A vision, you had finally realized after your fall, showing you not in the clutches of the abyss was pretty important you'd say. Of course, you'd never say it, never tell Lumine that eventually, you wouldn't be in her hands anymore, wrapped in her chains, at her command.

Eventually, you'd see sky, see the sun, two things you hadn't realized how much you could connect your happiness to until it was gone. The cold, dank, lifeless air of the cell and the creeping dark that never left. The lack of windows and the creaking of your chains condemned you to misery.

You lifted your eyes when you heard the door creak open. Little light spilled through the crack before the door was shut once more, and the only thing illuminating the room was now the Abyss Princess' outfit decorations, which glowed an ominous, royal and strangely cloudy purple.

Her arms were crossed, lips set into a deep frown as she looked at you, a soon-to-be skeleton swaying in rusted chains.

You took a deep breath and raised your head, looking her in the eye as you prepared for her usual onslaught of questions.

-

Back in the tavern at the beginning of dusk, Aether waited with baited breath for Diluc's return. He hadn't had the energy to sight see Mondstadt even though he missed the atmosphere more than he thought he would.

Liyue, despite its incredible beauty, could feel rather suffocating at times. The towering, intimidating mountains that littered the landscape, the always busy harbor, the shimmering lake constantly stuffed with boats. It was quite a shift from Mondsadt's rolling hills and small cliffs. The city buildings were close but never so tight it felt like they could fall over and the streets were lined with people but never to the point you could very easily bash your shoulder in someone else.