"Traveler, the ship's leaving in an hour!"
"Alright, I'll be there in a minute!"
In Liyue, the famous traveler, Lumine, had just finished fighting for a chance to board the Crux Fleet to travel to the secluded nation of Inazuma.
Her journey had been smooth sailing, truth be told. Although there were so unexpected setbacks with the appearances of the Fatui, she ultimately dealt with them with the help of her companions.
Of course, that still doesn't take in the fact of her part ti job in the café, working for a devilish man nad Isaac, which was a whole can of worms in and of itself.
Although being with him does make her journey sowhat better, she still hasn't found out anything about him, or if he knows anything that could lead to her brother.
What she does know, however, is his dichotomous greed, which can shift anyti money was in the talks.
Other than that... Besides the occasional banter, she does enjoy Isaac and his café's company.
It makes the journey a tad bit better.
However, with the recent disappearance of Isaac, who picks up both her and Paimon to go to the café, things have been rather uneasy.
She wouldn't normally worry this much, however...
There was one thing in that café, and in his presence, that she couldn't get anywhere else.
It was peace.
A safe haven where she didn't have to go and fight in an effort to find information, where she could wind down and be herself without worrying about anything.
So being cut off from that... It really did affect her. Although she doesn't show it outwardly, she too missed the quietness.
"It seems like sothing is weighing your mind."
Just then, a gentle rustle of leaves reached her ears as a similarly soft voice accompanied it.
Lumine turned, and saw a man with a carefree look on his face, as if the wind itself was there to drift him anywhere.
"Kazuha, what are you doing here?" Lumine reigned her thoughts and asked him. "Shouldn't you be helping Captain Beidou?"
"Although that's true, that's not always my duty." She lightly shrugged. "The winds guide , and it just so happens that the wind led to you, pondering so forlornly here."
Lumine tried to retort but stopped midway, her mouth hanging open for a brief mont, before shutting close.
She then shook her head.
"It's nothing."
"That doesn't look like the face of soone thinking about nothing."
"..."
She remained silent for a while, before exhaling softly, as if she had given up trying to put up a façade. Then, with a wry smile reminiscent of that of a certain barista she always ets, she spoke.
"...I was just thinking of a friend."
Seeing how she was willing to talk about it, Kazuha nodded lightly and listened without interruption.
She continued.
"I t him at a strange ti in my life. He was so mysterious at first, but when I gradually ca to know him, I realized he was just like , like anyone else. However, there was one thing that separated him from the rest, sothing he always chased after, like an obsession..."
She sighed. "And that is he always wanted to provide comfort for others, no matter how little it was. He would go out of his way, doing arduous tasks, just to see others have a breather."
"To be honest, I admired that about him."
Her voice then trailed off as she rembered all the tis they spent together, no matter how little it was.
Kazuha listened well without uttering any word up to that point, to which he finally said his piece.
"…Such a soul must be like a lantern in the dark, quiet yet steadfast, always giving warmth without asking for anything in return. People like that are rare, and rarer still are those who truly notice their light."
His gaze softened, the faint curve of a smile tugging at his lips. "It is no wonder you admired him, Lumine. To cherish another's kindness is itself a form of kindness, one that speaks volus about you as well."
He let the sea breeze pass between them, carrying his words like drifting leaves before he tilted his head slightly.
"…And yet, I cannot help but notice," He said gently, "That even while rembering him, you wear a forlorn look. Tell , why does this mory leave you so wistful?"
Lumine stayed silent. She didn't know how to answer that question. She asked herself that question many tis now, but even she had yet to co up with a conclusive answer.
"I don't know... He just suddenly stopped appearing one day, and I..." She held her other hand. "I miss being with him. In that café with him and our friends, working beside him as his waitress and helping him in that endeavor of his giving people a tranquil space."
"Yet now, his absence and silence has... left so sort of gap in that I can't explain."
Kazuha listened again, but this ti, he smiled faintly, as if he had fully understood what she ant.
"…Then perhaps it isn't only the man you long for, but also the world he wove around you." He said softly. "That little café, the laughter shared, the quiet monts that stitched themselves into mory. Your admiration may not rest on him alone, but on the sanctuary he created, and the peace it gave you."
Lumine blinked, caught off guard. "...What do you an by that?"
Kazuha's gaze drifted skyward, watching the clouds float lazily across the blue. His words then ca slow, like a poem carried on the wind.
"The wind can guide a traveler to many places, but only the traveler can decide which path is ant for them. In the sa way, the answer to your heart's question is one only you can uncover, Lumine. I cannot give it to you, only point you toward it."
With that, he gave a small bow of his head, the faintest smile lingering on his lips, before turning away. A gentle breeze stirred, tugging at his cloak as if to summon him elsewhere. Without another word, he followed the gust, leaving her behind in quiet thought.
Lumine remained where she stood, watching his figure fade with the wind. His words echoed in her mind, circling endlessly, until they began to take shape.
After a long while, she lowered her gaze, a solemn yet determined look in her eyes.
"Then... Perhaps… if I could bring Isaac back… and be with everyone in the café once more… then maybe those peaceful days would return."
It had only been a week or so since Isaac had disappeared.
"Yes... That's right."
But in the eyes of his precious custors and friends, it felt much longer.
"It's his fault... Why would he leave without saying anything..."
And in that vacancy of his presence, sothing else was filling the gap he left in their hearts.
"Isaac... maybe I can even keep him there... for his sake?"
All of them yearned for his return.
The witch in Mondstadt, the Yaksha in Liyue, the Kitsune in Inazuma, the God of Wisdom in Suru, the Archon in Fontaine...
All of their eyes were on him.
---
anwhile, in Nod-Krai.
In a secluded dark and damp prison, where rodents and other insects crawl and fester on the cold, hard cobbled walls, a young man was chained down to the ground.
His feet, arms, and even neck were all shackled, and his mass was significantly thinner.
- Thud, Thud
The sounds of footsteps soon echoed through the cold and narrow hallway. The footsteps continued, until their owner finally stood just inches away from the chained young man.
The latter looked up, but instead of looking at his captor with resentnt, he was looking at him with eyes of clarity, nothing like a man who had been imprisoned.
The man who ca then spoke.
"Did you figure it out?"
The young man remained silent for a few monts before laughing coarsely, as if all the moisture in his throat had already dried up.
"...I have."
"And what have you learned?"
"..."
The young man paused, before looking back at him with a calm expression.
"…I have learned what it ans to be swallowed by silence. To be left in the dark, with nothing but the gnawing of rats and the stench of stone, stripped even of the smallest comforts n take for granted."
His voice was hoarse, yet steady. "When hunger claws at your stomach, when thirst dries your tongue, when loneliness scrapes against your mind… you begin to see the fragility of the body, the vanity of comfort. And yet..."
He then closed his eyes, drawing a faint, rasping breath, "And yet... I also learned that despair is a forge. It burns away the trivial until only the core of one's being remains."
The man's gaze lingered on him. "And what do you think now, of that goal you so stubbornly chased?"
At that, the young man's lips curved into the faintest smirk, one that almost didn't belong on such a gaunt face.
"…It has not vanished. If anything, it shines brighter. Like a beacon in a sea of fog, it pierces through hunger, pain, and this solitude. I see it more clearly now than I ever did in comfort."
His eyes glimred with a quiet fire. "Strip of all else, and still my resolve remains. My body is chained, but my will is unbroken."
The man shook his head. "You say this yet you still harbor doubts. Not about the process itself, but the outco. You fear what your resolve would cause."
"..." The young man didn't know how to answer. He was right.
The man studied him for a long, silent mont before exhaling faintly through his nose. Without another word, he reached into his pocket and tossed a key to the ground beside him. The tallic clatter echoed sharply in the damp cell.
"This trial is done. Free yourself, Isaac." The man said as he turned away, his footsteps already carrying him back down the hall. "Lunch is in two hours."
The young man lowered his eyes to the key, the smirk still playing at his lips. Even amidst the damp stone and crawling filth, his resolve burned like an unwavering fla.
"Thank you... Captain."
He still has lots to learn.
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