As the two remained locked in stalemate high in the air, a childish voice sounded from behind.
"Hey, hey, Traveler, are you okay?"
The voice drew closer.
"Come to think of it, a wind glider can stay this high up for so long..."
"Huh? Traveler, who is this guy?"
At such a height, how could there be someone else?
Ji An looked around in bewilderment and stopped cold.
Coming into view was a small spirit with silver-white hair, a little crown on its head, and a cloak that shimmered like the night sky.
The girl behind him: "Think of it like Paimon finding a new pet."
"W-where's the similarity? Paimon is not a pet!"
The little spirit called Paimon stomped her foot in indignation.
Ji An was equally at a loss for words.
What kind of pet? Who wants to be anyone's pet?
Just as he was about to say something:
"Whoa, Stormterror is charging again! Traveler, and you, that good-looking human, watch out!"
Ji An felt the girl behind him tighten her grip, a flicker of panic in it.
The two swayed unsteadily in the air, on the verge of falling.
Then, all at once, a gentle wind rose and softly caught them.
Ji An blinked. "This is...?"
A mysterious voice sounded in their ears, androgynous and unhurried, warm as a spring breeze.
"No need to worry. I have asked the winds of a thousand years to hold you, so you will not fall."
A brief pause.
"Now imagine that you can gather this wisp of wind. Let it pierce through the clouds..."
Paimon: "This voice... who is it?!"
The girl behind Ji An patted his back. "Try doing what the voice says!"
Stormterror was right ahead.
With outsiders present, calling Herloxia was out of the question.
Trying couldn't hurt, in any case.
Ji An closed his eyes and followed the guidance of the mysterious voice. Immediately, an elemental power of wind he had never perceived before began gathering before him.
So this is what a Vision feels like.
He was genuinely curious, though he understood that this power was merely on loan from whoever that mysterious person was.
The same applied to the girl behind him.
Before both of them, vast streams of wind gathered and coiled, responsive to their will, ready to be shaped into projectiles and hurled in any direction.
"What are you spacing out for? Hit it."
The girl fired the moment she finished speaking, sending a torrent of wind projectiles into Stormterror like a machine gun.
Stung and reeling, Stormterror flapped its wings and twisted to dodge.
Has this turned into aerial combat?
Ji An stared for half a second, then snapped into action, adding his own barrage to hers.
Under their combined assault, Stormterror was struggling badly. Its massive body began to list, as though it couldn't hold on much longer.
Paimon cheered: "Yes! Traveler, keep going, press the advantage!"
Needless to say. With victory in sight, neither of them had any intention of letting up.
They pushed the wind power to its limit, striking at Stormterror's weak points again and again, seemingly on the cusp of bringing it down.
But then the situation changed completely.
Stormterror let out a roar. The horn on its back erupted with a dark, heavy light.
The wind element in the air lurched, responding to it.
Dark clouds swallowed the sky. The world seemed to change color.
Violent tornadoes tore up through Mondstadt and the land around it, shredding buildings and terrain alike as the people below ran screaming.
"Dvalin... how could this be?" Even the mysterious voice, so unshakeable until now, broke with surprise.
At the same moment, Ji An and the girl felt their grip on the wind element slip entirely. The force holding them aloft was rapidly weakening.
They swayed and lurched, barely keeping from tumbling out of the air.
Paimon: "Hey, hey, mysterious person, what's happening?! Help Traveler and them!"
But the mysterious voice seemed deeply shaken. "Whose power is this, interfering with Dvalin..."
With its strength suddenly surging, Stormterror wheeled around and fixed its eyes, blazing with dark blue flame, directly on Ji An and the others.
Being stared down by a creature of that size with eyes like that was not something either of them had experienced before.
Both of them felt the hair rise on the backs of their necks.
"Ah!" The girl behind Ji An cried out. At that altitude, in those howling winds, the wind glider could no longer bear two people.
With the support gone, they dropped.
Not far away, Stormterror opened its jaws. Several wind projectiles packed with terrifying energy were already gathering inside.
Paimon was nearly in tears: "Traveler! And that human! Aaah, what do we do, what do we do?!"
In that instant, Ji An turned and pulled the girl against him with one arm, wrapping her in.
"Arcane Transmutation!"
Working from memory, he shaped something in his hand that functioned like a parachute, which snapped open above them.
Their rate of descent dropped sharply.
At the same moment, he called out through their mental link: Herloxia!
Stormterror's projectiles had finished charging and were about to fire. At that range, a direct hit would leave almost nothing.
Then a cannon blast struck Stormterror across the side of its head.
The impact wrenched its aim. The wind projectiles discharged wildly in the wrong direction.
Paimon: "WAAAH! What is that thing?!"
Stormterror shook its head, clearly staggered by the hit. The unnatural fire in its eyes dimmed noticeably.
The mysterious voice returned, rather belatedly: "My sincerest apologies for startling you. Leave the rest to me!"
The wind rose again beneath them, steady this time, holding them up.
Ji An exhaled, though he kept both hands on the parachute.
That mysterious person had already proven once that they could zone out at a critical moment. If it happened again, there would be no Herloxia to bail them out a second time.
Supported by the wind, the two drifted slowly downward.
The chaos in the sky began to settle. The dense clouds thinned and parted. Whatever the mysterious person had done, it appeared to be working.
---
When his feet touched solid ground, Ji An finally let himself breathe.
Then he noticed something was off.
His right hand was still holding the parachute. That was fine.
His left arm, however...
The warmth in his hold registered a moment too late.
Ji An turned his head and found himself meeting the gaze of the girl he was still holding.
He went still for a moment.
She had an extraordinarily fine-featured face, amber eyes, and light golden hair pinned back with a pair of white and blue flowers that lent her whole appearance an understated elegance.
After a beat under her calm, steady gaze, Ji An came back to himself and released her.
He cleared his throat. "Why is no one saying anything?"
Paimon, hovering nearby, was pressing her fingertips together: "Hehehe... seeing the Traveler being held by a man... it's just too embarrassing for Paimon to interrupt."
The golden-haired girl was composed in a way Ji An was not. She straightened her clothes without hurry and said simply,
"It's fine. It's perfectly normal for a pet to get clingy with its owner."
Ji An stared at her: "And who exactly said I'm your pet?"
"If I hadn't grabbed you up there, you would have fallen."
The girl's lips curved slightly. Her hands settled on her hips. She looked, just a little, like she was enjoying this.
"Don't forget that."
Ji An pressed a hand to his forehead: "If you hadn't grabbed me, I also wouldn't have been swept up there in the first place. Who do you think dragged me into all of this?"
"Speaking of which, you two are a strange pair. What's your situation... actually, hold on."
He had been nagged by a sense of familiarity since the moment they had landed.
But the string of sudden events had left his head in complete disarray, and he hadn't been able to place it.
Now, standing still on solid ground, it clicked.
He had briefly played Genshin Impact once, a long time ago.
This golden-haired girl was the sister character he had selected back then. Lumine.
And this little floating spirit was the travel companion Lumine had fished out of the water in the game's opening.
The entire situation felt like it was breaking through some kind of dimensional boundary.
Sure enough.
The golden-haired girl put her hands on her hips: "You can call me Lumine. Or Traveler, if you prefer."
Of course I know you're Lumine.
Ji An almost said it out loud: "Lumine, I've played as you before!"
He caught himself.
Something about that sentence felt deeply wrong.
Paimon huffed: "Hmph, Paimon is not a mascot!"
Lumine nodded: "Right. Paimon is emergency food."
Paimon stomped her feet: "That's even worse! How is emergency food better than mascot?!"
"Hey Traveler, we already went through this when we met Amber. Why are we doing it again?"
Just then, a voice called from the distance.
"Hey, disciple! Disciple!"
A flash of blue light in the air.
Mona stepped out of nothing, large hat and all.
Paimon: "Wow, she dresses so boldly!"
Mona: "Huh?! A mascot that talks??"
Paimon: "Paimon is not a mas... cot!"
Ji An and Lumine, in unison: "Emergency food."
"Why are you two saying the same thing at the same time?!"
Paimon threw her hands up: "Can we please move on from the emergency food thing? That's three times now!"
"Disciple, are you alright?"
Mona turned to Ji An, looked him over quickly, and relaxed.
The fall had carried them quite far from the city. Mona had come out from Mondstadt looking for them.
Seeing Ji An unharmed, she grabbed his arm: "Thank goodness. Disciple, come on, let's get back!"
She pulled. He didn't move.
Mona turned and found the golden-haired girl holding Ji An's other arm.
"What are you doing, holding my disciple's arm?"
She took immediate offense.
Lumine didn't let go. If anything, she held on slightly more firmly, and said plainly: "He's a pet I found."
Mona: "???"
"Disciple, you..."
Faced with Mona's deeply suspicious look, Ji An felt a headache forming.
He really wanted to say: I am not involved in any kind of strange arrangement!
"Her name is Lumine. Ignore her, she's joking."
Mona snorted: "She doesn't look like she's joking. Honestly, the nerve of some people, clinging to another person's disciple like that."
Lumine: "I've never seen a master dress this provocatively either."
Mona flicked her hair: "What would you know? For astrologers, every Mora saved on fabric is a Mora that can go toward research. It's entirely rational."
Lumine put her hands on her hips: "A very elegant way of saying you can't afford more cloth."
Paimon: "Pfft!"
Mona drew herself up: "You little..."
Then she stopped.
She looked at Lumine's face properly for the first time, and something shifted in her expression. The annoyance faded. A trace of genuine surprise replaced it.
"How curious." She circled Lumine slowly, studying her. "I didn't expect to find another person from beyond this world."
Ji An was not surprised. He remembered from the opening that Lumine and her brother had been traveling between worlds before they were stopped by an unknown god.
"How do you know that?"
Lumine's expression changed. She looked at Mona carefully.
Mona flicked her hair with practiced calm: "Perceiving truth is the most basic ability of an astrologer."
Paimon lit up: "Whoa, perceiving truth! Can you divine where treasure is for Paimon?"
Mona: "Absolutely not. Astrology is a serious discipline for understanding the truths of this world and observing the threads of fate. It is not a tool for getting rich."
Paimon: "Just this once!"
Mona shook her head firmly: "It is a matter of dignity and proper spirit. An astrologer who uses this art for such narrow purposes will be abandoned by the stars."
Paimon was about to push further, then caught Lumine's expression and abruptly changed course.
"Paimon was just joking! It's not like I actually want to get rich!"
She clasped her hands: "But can you do a divination for the Traveler? She got separated from her brother."
At the mention of her brother, Lumine's expression dimmed. Then a thin thread of hope appeared in her eyes as she looked at Mona.
Ji An said quietly: "Her name is Mona."
Lumine released his arm, met Mona's gaze, and said: "Mona. Can you find out where my brother is?"
Mona shook her head without hesitation: "I'm sorry. That, I cannot do."
Paimon: "Hey! But you just said you could perceive truth and observe fate! How can you not help the Traveler?"
She crossed her arms: "Oh, I know what this is. You're still upset about the argument earlier."
"I wouldn't do anything so petty."
Mona sighed: "When I said 'this world', I meant this world specifically. She comes from somewhere else entirely. Tracing the fate of someone from beyond Teyvat through the stars is not something I can simply do."
Ji An nodded: "She's telling the truth."
When it came to divinations involving him, Mona had said the same thing. Fates from outside this world created too much interference.
Lumine was quiet for a moment, then nodded: "I see. If that's how it is, then it can't be helped."
"Disciple, we're heading back to Mondstadt!"
Mona turned to Ji An.
"Wait."
Lumine stepped forward before Mona had finished speaking. She came to stand in front of Ji An, tilted her head back to look at him, and a glint of something mischievous came into her eyes.
"I still don't know your name."
What does this woman want with my disciple?
Mona panicked: "Disciple, don't tell her your name is Ji An!"
Paimon: "Pfft!"
Ji An: "..."
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