What do you get the Archon who struggles with mora but wants for nothing? Or: Lumine searches for a thoughtful gift and uncovers a bit more than she wanted to.
Two-parter for Zhongli’s birthday. Will be angsty but also sweet.
Posting ahead of 12/31. Second and final piece will be posted on 12/31. Available on AO3 as well.
If the legends were correct, it should be here. Lumine took a look around and then peered down at the map again.
“This looks like the place…” Paimon chirped. “Look at the way the starconches shimmer, they look like little rainbows!”
And it was certainly foggy in this section of Guyun Stone Forest. The tiny island was a little ways away from the highest peak, where Zhongli cast Havria’s artifacts not too long ago. Weeks felt so much longer to her when she was out adventuring but for Zhongli…
Time was certainly…a strange thing for the ex-Archon. And as such, when Lumine asked about his birthday, he gave a chuckle.
“It’s been so long since someone has asked. I only go by the constellations and even those have changed…the correct date would be the final day of the year. The 31st of December. Why do you ask?”
“I like knowing special dates for my friends,” was all Lumine said.
It earned her a smile that suited Zhongli, one she longed to see more of, and another tale over dinner. All the while, she was wondering just what did one get the Geo Archon who knew the lands he ruled like the back of his hand?
Although he always seemed to struggle with Mora, he never seemed to want for anything, either.
And thus, Lumine turned to some of the legends she overheard from storytellers and treasure hoarders alike. Zhongli was traveling with her more often and while his weapon was more than fine, he deserved something that suited him best.
And she had just enough time to do so.
The only clue she had to go off of came after Lumine placed the last Stone of Remembrance in place, when the Nine Pillars were finally complete, glowing in their former glory once again and lighting up Cuijue Slope. It was a small engraving near the well-defended treasure hidden deep in the chamber.
They also say that a divine island would emerge from the sea, rainbow-clad and fog-shrouded…all who are fortunate enough to set foot on that island will find treasures buried for time incalculable.
What better weapon than the Vortex Vanquisher, the one said to have cut through the rainbow? The one rumored to have bested the churning vortex that once preyed on Liyue, now at rest again? It was the Jade Chamber, not the Spear, that now held Osial; after much deliberation and research, Lumine was more determined to obtain something worthy of the Archon’s abilities.
Especially after enduring the challenge hidden behind the Nine Pillars.
“This better be worth it,” Paimon whined. “You know, you could have just…made a cake or something instead. At least it would be something tasty!”
“You just want the cake for yourself,” Lumine chided, poking the tiny floating figure in the stomach. “I’m surprised you can still fly with all the eating you do when we’re in Liyue.”
“Leave Paimon alone! It’s not Paimon’s fault that the food is so good here!”
As they trekked through the fog, finding remnants of the Jade Chamber along the way, Lumine eventually came upon a small cave. She kept reminding herself all the while that Osial was gone, that it would take more than this to awaken him again.
A chill ran down her spine when she reached an open chamber. It was old. Ancient . Almost reminiscent of Sal Terrae, minus the abundance of salt and petrified figures.
“Ruins from whatever was here before Osial, maybe?” Lumine wondered. “It’s older than the Jade Chamber, that’s for sure.”
She kept going, wary of any grumblings or groans. But she could only hear the distant sea. In the last room of the tunnels, she came upon an untouched trove that had Paimon’s eyes glittering. At the apex was the Vortex Vanguisher, piercing the ground, its blade embedded in the dirt so deep that, at first glance, Lumine thought it was a shovel.
When she pulled it free, the luminous blade pulsed, resonating. Nearby, something else glowed, although just what it was at first was hard to determine. The thing was so covered in dirt and dust that it wasn’t until Lumine carefully brushed away the centuries of mess that she realized what she held in her hands was a hair pin . Elaborate and yet simple in its design all at once, not unlike the ones Beidou and Ningguang wore. Except it matched the Vortex Vanguisher’s flourishes and designs in an uncanny way.
“Huh,” Paimon floated over, examining the hair pin from all different angles. “Do you think Zhongli wore such a thing when he took down Osial? His hair is long enough…”
Lumine hummed in thought as she turned the piece over in her hands. Paimon wasn’t wrong , really, but…what was that?
Her fingers brushed over an engraving on the inside of the first piece, something only the wearer or someone who put it on the wearer would feel as they did their hair. Lumine rested the polearm in the crook of her arm as she rubbed at the caked-on dirt and something a bit more rust colored that she preferred to not think about. It clearly belonged to someone-why else would there even be a hair pin down here to begin with?
The characters weren’t quite what she was used to but not far off from the kind she saw in Dragonspine or Sal Terrae. Her lips and tongue formed the rough sounds, sounding it out under her breath.
“I think we’re done here,” Lumine whispered, more to herself than to Paimon.
Osial left nothing but destruction in his wake but she couldn’t bring herself to leave this here, either. Wasn’t it precisely what he appreciated about her being a Traveler, an Outlander, that she searched for knowledge and stories of this world? What if it brought him more pain than comfort to see it once more?
“It may very well just end up here again,” Paimon warned. “He doesn’t seem to appreciate treasure when he sees it.”
“What he treasures most of all is no longer here, Paimon, don’t be disrespectful.”
Lumine carefully wrapped the hair pin and tucked it into her pack. She said she would help him uncover what she could.
Guizhong’s hair pin would be no exception.