Jean led the way through Mondstadt's streets at a steady, unhurried pace. She did not look back often but she was always aware of where Noxira walked, She was just making sure that Noxira could keep up with her pace.
The city was alive again.
Children laughed somewhere near the fountain, and the wind carried familiar scents of bread and apples the normalcy had returned, at least on the surface.
Noxira followed half a step behind Jean. She noticed it again and corrected herself, matching Jean's pace a few moments later, her steps slowed without meaning to. Jean noticed it but she did not comment.
They reached the steps of the Knightsheadquarters, where the stone still carried faint marks from recent chaos. Jean stopped there, resting a gloved hand lightly against the railing.
>>"You know... don't have to force yourself to keep up and you're not being left behind. Don't worry."<<
Noxira startled slightly by Jean's observation and then lowered her gaze.
>>"I... I know, It just... just feels... wrong not to."<<
Jean turned to face her fully now. Her expression was gentle, yet observant. It was the look of someone used to reading exhaustion long before it turned into collapse. From her own experience, Jean knew exactly what it felt like, she recognized the expression immediately.
>>"You've been reacting to the wind Jean said, not dangerously. But noticeably and you are through quite a lot lately, that's just for your well being. Better safe than sorry."<<
Noxira's fingers curled at her side, she know Jean is right but she is still frustrated.
>>"I didn't mean to It's not like it hurts. It's more like... like the air forgets me for a moment"<<
She hesitated, searched for the right words.
Jean listens stayes silence while thinking, the wind stirred then. Lifted the end of Jean's cape but when it reached Noxira, it softened. It doesn't stopped, it just restrained. As if testing boundaries it did not fully understand Jean watched it carefully, I observant.
>>"You' re not a burden"<<
Said Jean said after a moment for the start of her answer and continued.
>>"And you're not an object to be studied against your will Lisa may be curious but she would never see you just as an object, she is just curious and when you're under my protection while you're here."<<
Noxira looked up, a bit surprised.
>>Really? But... why? I'm not even from Mondstadt, I am at most a guest...."<<
Jean answered without hesitation.
>>"Because you're here. Whether you're a native of Mondstadt or not, your safety is my responsibility regardless of your origin."<<
That seemed to unsettle Noxira more than suspicion would have, they moved inside the headquarters and the heavy doors closing behind them. It was at the beginning quiet the only sound was the paper, the ink and the footsteps far down the hall.
Jean gestured toward a chair because Noxria stood awkwardly in the room, Jean stand towards a window open it let the breeze pass through freely.
>>"Sit, you don't need orders right now and you don't have to stand awkward there... Just rest please."<<
Noxira obeyed, lowering herself onto the chair near the window. The wind brushed past her again careful, almost reverent her breath caught a sensation flickered behind her eyes.
Not images but impressions.
A voice counting steadily.
Pressure against her chest and...
Someone saying "Hold it don't let it unravel"
Her hand flew to her sternum Jean was there instantly, kneeling in front of her while Noxria was still sitting in the chair, not touching her but just close enough to anchor.
>>" Noxira, you're here. In Mondstadt and safe. In this moment."<<
The pressure receded and Noxira swallowed heavily.
>>"...I - I heard a voice but... that voice I heard... It wasn't hostile."<<
Jean did not ask whose voice but thought it was Noxrias inner Voice.
>>"Noxira, sometimes the mind protects itself by holding onto what once kept it alive."<<
Noxira looked at her, eyes with uncertainty.
>>"Even... Even if it hurts..?"<<
Jean's expression softened not with pity, but understanding.
>>"Especially then, sometimes pain shows us that we are alive."<<
Outside, the wind passed on but no longer hesitating, rather not lingering either. Far away, in another part of the city, plans were already moving but here, for now, there was only understanding and waiting.
The room fell quiet again and Jean remained by the window, her gaze fixed on Mondstadt and it looked peaceful but she had learned long ago that peace often arrived just before change. Noxira sat quietly now, her breathing even and whatever had stirred inside her had retreated again, leaving behind only exhaustion and questions.
>>"Lumine will return soon and until then, you'll stay here. If anything feels wrong even slightly you can tell me, I help you and listen."<<
Noxira nodded by Jean's comforting offer and the wind passed through the open window, free and unhindered this time. Jean's eyes narrowed not at Noxira, but at the sky beyond the rooftops somewhere else in Mondstadt, footsteps were already moving through shadowed halls.
To be continued (Tomorrow)
->Prolog 1.7Act:B The Lyre Rescue