Memories of you.

Arrival.

Lumine groaned in frustration as she attempted to keep herself upright, lifting a hand to her forehead so she could see further into the distance, immediately letting out another, louder, groan after seeing no sight of Liyue harbour. Turning her head to face Paimon with a visibly annoyed expression.

"Paimon, my legs are genuinely about to give out, how much longer do we have to walk?"

"..Paimon is sure we are almost at Liyue harbour, it's definitely around here somewhere!"

She raised an eyebrow after her companion finished speaking, sighing and moving to sit down on the ground below, pulling the small fairy down and looking at her with a knowing grin, ruffling her hair and speaking in a doubtful tone.
"You have no idea where we're going, do you Paimon.?
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"Not a clue, no."
Paimon looked up at her with a guilty expression as she spoke, causing Lumine to quickly change her expression to that of a small smile, choosing to forgive the fairy almost instantly... which is not because she has a soft spot for her.
Lumine yawned and stood up too fast for her liking, wanting nothing more than to sit down for another good few hours, but deciding against it for the sake of continuing her journey. Stretching her arms for longer than necessary as a last-minute attempt to postpone the long walk ahead.

"Well.." She shrugged, signalling for Paimon to float up next to her. "There's no point in sitting here and sulking, come on!"
By the time she finished her sentence, Lumine had already set off, walking with a newfound energy and accidentally leaving Paimon struggling to catch up.

"Hey, wait for Paimon!"
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"Paimon, when you told me 'a few hours' I didn't think you meant EIGHT!"

She closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose after speaking, looking as if she hadn't slept a wink for the past week due to her extremely visible eye bags and fatigued
movement, not having the energy to properly scold the small fairy at the moment.
"This harbour better be worth it because that walk was one I don't think I'll ever forge-"

"Oh Archons I can't feel my legs."

"Paimon thinks you're being dramatic, it wasn't that bad!"

She attempted to suppress her laughter after speaking, failing miserably and breaking into a long, very annoying, fit of giggles. Accidentally throwing a blind eye to Lumine's look of displeasure at her display, finally finishing up with her hysteria and looking up at her travel companion

"Sorry-"

"No."

Lumine was beginning to question if finding her brother was really worth it if she had to put up with this, she obviously decided it was because she just took a deep breath, mentally prepared herself, and grabbed Paimon by the hand, dragging her along to the entrance of Liyue harbour.

Once they made it through the gates, the two travelling companions had what could only be described as expressions of pure entrancement. Getting distracted by the sights and sounds of the city in front of them, causing them to have no idea where to start, the restaurant, the pharmacy, the harbour itself? They didn't know.

Luckily for them, they appeared to have arrived in time for some kind of event, spotting multiple crowds of bystanders gathering in a nearby area, having no better leads they walked over with Paimon sitting in Lumine's arms, making for a very uncomfortable position for the girl in question.

"Paimon, you know I'm happy to carry you if you're feeling tired, but this is overdoing it, I can't feel my arms, you've rendered my limbs useless today."

"But.. Paimon wants Lumine to carry her! Paimon is tired, and this is one hundred per cent the most practical way!"

"Paimon you can fly."

"That's not relevant!"

She attempted to adjust the small girl in her arms, moving to balance her on her hip much like carrying a small toddler, finding it much easier to work with and setting off into the large crowds, trying to find the most easy-looking person to talk to, unaware of the golden set of eyes already watching her from the densely populated crowd.

Lumine was about to approach a small group of people that were gathered near the quieter area of the crowd, before she was stopped completely by a firm grip on her shoulder, turning her head around ever so slightly, only to be greeted with a pair of golden eyes staring right back at her. An unreadable yet strangely familiar figure standing directly behind her, speaking in a calm tone.

"You seem to be rather unacquainted with Liyue harbour, please forgive me for prying, but you are unfamiliar with Liyue as a whole, am I correct.?"

Lumine turned around to completely face the voice that came from behind her, now completely curious about the unfamiliar man, his ordinarily appearing looks had a borderline godlike underline, noticing his uncanny resemblance to the multiple statues of the seven she passed on the way here, but saying nothing about it.

Zhongli, on the other hand, recognised Lumine the second she stepped through the gates of the harbour, his initial shock now dying down and being replaced with complete mesmerisation, the woman he knew all those years ago was back, and with a.. fairy? The way the small girl balanced on her hip almost reminded him of a toddler with its mother, forcing an unwilling smirk onto his lips.

"Mhm! Paimon and traveller are journeying across Teyvat to find her brother, we're here to talk to the geo archon, hopefully he knows something!"

Zhongli only smiled softly as Paimon, whose name he thankfully just found out, spoke, suppressing a small laugh at the mention of finding the geo archon, oh how he wished they knew. How he wished she knew."

"The geo archon you say? You both happen to be in luck. The yearly 'rite of decension' has begun. Rex Lapis is set to descend and provide guidance on the path Liyue is set to follow this year, perhaps you could try and catch him while he is here.. although, with the amount of protection he is under it may be a challenge to talk to him."

After the strange man was finished speaking, Lumine tilted her head in confusion, and a tiny bit of frustration, deciding against asking him for a detailed explanation of the rite of decension and instead choosing to smile up at him, her tone polite, but had a small hint of scepticism laced within.

"Thank you, mister..?"

"My name is Zhongli, Lumine I presume?"

"How did you- never mind, you're the first person to call me by my name here.. thank you."