The transition was not a walk, it was a glide through infinity as Lumine stepped across the threshold, she expected the cold stone of the Abyss or the clinging sludge of the darkness. Instead, she was met with a searing, sterile light. Lumine blinked several times until her eyes adjusted to the brilliance, the stench of decay and the electric heaviness of the Abyssal air had vanished.
Instead, it smelled of ozone, cool marble, and... the distant scent of rain on dry asphalt.
>>"Where... where are we?"<<
Paimon asked, surprised and confused, as she rubbed her eyes.
>>"Is this still the Abyss? It almost looks like... Celestia... Only without the annoying clouds..."<<
Lumine looked around, they stood on a vast plaza of pristine, white obsidian around them, buildings rose, defying all architectural logic known to Teyvat.
They were sleek towers of black glass and silver metal, stretching like fingers into a sky that knew neither day nor night.
It was a soft, neutral gray, laced with golden lines that resembled the circuitry of a gigantic clockwork mechanism.
>>"This is not the Abyss..."<<
Noxira said quietly, her voice no longer echoing with a tinny ring, but clear and almost reverent
>>"This is the Zero-Layer, the heart of my core the realm of my Memory and the capital reconstructed to protect the physical integrity of the information."<<
Lumine stepped to the edge of the plaza, and beneath them lay no great depth, but an endless sea of flowing data fragments billions of glowing runes surging like a digital ocean.
Yet the silence of the city was deceptive, in the midst of the perfect white streets, Lumine noticed something that didn't belong.
A black stain, like ink on a white dress a tear in the perfect reconstruction, from which a violet flicker emanated.
>>"Someone else is here..."<<
Lumine murmured, resting her hand on the hilt of her sword.
>>"And that someone isn't exactly here to clean up."<<
Lumine was about to take a step toward the black rift when Noxira suddenly gasped aloud, she pressed her hands against her temples, and the blue cracks on her face began to flicker the color of the Abyss, acting here like a malicious virus.
>>"Noxira! What's happening?"<<
Lumine whirled around and rushed to Noxira's side to support her as she began to sway.
>>"It... it hurts..."<<
Noxira forced out, her voice now layered with static noise.
>>"The information is being overwritten. They... they aren't just erasing. They are infecting the truth with lies."<<
Lumine looked back at the black stain, it was spreading the pristine white stones of the plaza began to dissolve, transforming into the dark, pulsing matter that Lumine knew all too well from the deepest spheres of the Abyss. Yet, in the midst of this corruption, a figure stood.
The figure was not tall, almost delicate, wearing a robe that fluttered in a wind that shouldn't even exist here. In their hand, the figure held a staff, at its tip hovered a dark, cube-shaped artifact an image of Khaenri'ah's technology, but distorted by dark energy.
>>"An... Abyss Lector?"<<
Paimon hissed, hiding behind Lumine's shoulder. >>"But this one looks... different. Somehow cleaner? And way creepier!"<<
The figure turned around slowly, their face was hidden behind a mask designed to look like a laughing face, but the eyeholes glowed with a toxic violet light.
>>"The Memory Guardian..."<<
The intruder's voice sounded like many whispering voices layered over one another.
>>"The Archive is finally open. We have waited a long time to rewrite history according to our desires... so, step back, Golden Star. In this sphere, you are merely a guest. But we... we are the rightful heirs of this place."<<
Lumine drew her sword completely from its sheath, the golden light of her blade forming a sharp contrast to the sterile white city and the black stain of corruption.
>>"Noxira is not a book for you to simply scratch around in..."<<
Lumine said, her voice as cold as the marble beneath her feet.
>>"Get out of her core or I will delete you! And I'll do it without any correction mode."<<
The figure with the laughing mask tilted its head slightly to the side, as if finding Lumine's determination amusing. The dark artifact at the tip of its staff began to rotate faster, and with every revolution, new black veins ate their way into the white floor.
>>"Delete? How brave for a being that consists only of fragments of memories."<< the intruder countered, his voice swelling from a whisper into a hollow laugh.
>>"You call it Noxira... you give the Memory Guardian a name, as if it were a living child or a human but look at it, Traveler. It is already shattering under the weight of our presence."<<
Behind Lumine, Noxira sank to her knees a stifled cry escaped her throat as one of the black corruptions reached a glass tower in the distance. The glass didn't shatter, it transformed into black, oily data that rose into the gray sky like tears.
>>"The... the Library of Solari..."<<
Noxira gasped, tears streaming from her blue eyes.
>>"Lumine, they aren't just erasing me... they are erasing everyone!"<<
Lumine felt a heat rising within her that had nothing to do with the elements of Teyvat, it was the wrath of a protector. Without another word, she lunged off the ground, her blade leaving a trail of pure gold as she charged at the masked figure.
But the intruder merely raised his staff.
>>"In this world"<<
He proclaimed and the ground before Lumine suddenly folded like paper,
>>"Information is the only weapon and I know your weakness, Golden Star."<<
Suddenly, the environment around Lumine shifted, the white city flickered and for a moment, she wasn't standing on white obsidian, but amidst burning ruins.
Before her stood not the Lector but the back of a familiar figure with blond hair.
>>"A...Aether?"<<
The word escaped her and her attack faltered for a fatal split second.
The figure didn't move, he stood in the wreckage of a burning Khaenri'ah, his gaze fixed on the black sky where the red cubes of the Unknown God hung like drops of blood.
>>"Aether... is it really you?"<<
Lumine's voice was barely a tormented whisper. Her sword sank, the golden glow of her blade flickering.
Before the figure could answer, she heard Noxira's voice distorted, as if coming from an unimaginable distance, overlaid by a shrill screeching.
>>"Lumine... No! Don't listen!"<<
Noxira clawed her fingers into the white ground of the Zero Layer, as dark blue lightning surged across her skin.
>>"He is reaching... into your memories! He is using your core's longing to manipulate your perception! That isn't him... it's only what you desire!"<<
The figure of Aether began to flicker, the image becoming blurred and unrecognizable. One moment he looked at her sadly, the next, his face transformed into a shadowy, formless shape. The intruder behind the laughing mask let out a hollow chuckle.
>>"How easy it is to extinguish a star. If one only chooses the right image. Do you see, Traveler? Your memories are the chains with which we shall bind you."<<
With a sudden movement, the intruder thrust his staff into the ground and the vision of Aether didn't just burst, it transformed into black, thorn-like vines of Abyssal matter that snapped toward Lumine's wrists.
>>"Lumine, watch out!"<<
Paimon screamed, desperately pulling at Lumine's scarf to break her trance. Lumine snapped out of it, the warmth of her brother was gone, replaced by the icy cold of the Abyss vines already brushing her skin. Her gaze hardened again and the gold of her blade flared with an intensity that pushed the black mist back for a moment.
>>"You dare..."<<
Lumine hissed through gritted teeth, her anger burning hotter than any sun she had seen in the vision of the true sky.
>>"You dare use his image for your filthy games!"<<
Lumine froze as the vines of the Abyss whipped past her face, but she didn't even see them.
Her entire focus was suddenly on the figure now standing in the burning rubble actually, He hadn't been there before, and this time she felt something.
>>"Aether?"<<
It wasn't just a copy, it wasn't the flat image of a Lector. Lumine felt it in her blood in that strange bond that has connected twins for eons, the way he stood, the slight tilt of his head, the aura of melancholy and infinite weariness this was no cheap trick.
>>"Lumine... listen to me!"<<
Noxira's voice became a pained shriek.
>>"The Zero Layer is connected to the Abyss! He has built a bridge! He has... he has summoned a real memory-file from the depths!"<<
Lumine took a trembling step forward, emotionally overwhelmed.
>>"Noxira, tell me the truth... is this an image... or is it really him?"<<
Noxira held her head as blue light leaked from the corners of her eyes.
>>"It is... his signature! It is a part of him that he left behind in the Abyss! An echo so strong that it takes on flesh and blood as long as the rift remains open!"<<
The figure of Aether slowly turned around, his face was pale and his gaze met Lumine's with an intensity that nearly forced her to her knees, he did not speak, but his lips silently formed her name.
>>"Lumine..."<<
The intruder with the laughing mask stepped behind the echo of Aether and placed a hand on his shoulder, the black claws of the Abyss dug into Aether's golden garment, but the echo didn't flinch.
>>"Do you see it now, little star?"<<
The intruder whispered provocatively.
>>"Your brother is part of this memory archive, he is woven into the fabric of this world deeper than you will ever be. If you attack me, if you try to close this rift... you tear him apart as well."<<
Lumine felt her sword arm grow heavy, the gold of her blade almost completely extinguished. Was it a trap? Had her brother placed a part of his own soul as a guardian in the Abyss? Or was the enemy using a genuine piece of Aether's essence as a hostage to paralyze her?
Paimon hovered desperately between Lumine and the echo.
>>"Lumine, don't do it! This... this feels so real! But... but Noxira is suffering! We have to do something!"<<
The echo of Aether took another step toward Lumine, his gaze was empty, and the hand he reached out to her trembled slightly a detail so real it tore Lumine's heart apart.
>>"Lumine..."<<
The echo breathed again, it wasn't a call, it was a please behind Lumine, Noxira finally collapsed.
Her cry was no longer a human sound, it was the screech of metal on glass, a sign that Noxira was breaking down, her body shrouded in static discharges.
The white towers of the Zero Layer began to warp as if reality itself were melting under her pain.
>>"I am... critical..."<<
Noxira murmured, her eye flickering an unnatural white, her voice was now completely monotonic, devoid of all human warmth.
>>"External interference detected... Deletion protocol... initiated."<<
>>"Noxira, no! Not everything!"<<
Paimon screamed while trying to dodge the sparks jumping from Noxira's body.
Lumine stood in the crossfire before her the longing of her life, and behind her the being she had sworn to protect.
In that moment, the protective instinct she felt for Noxira flared up that unshakable sense of duty that stands above one's own desires. Yet in her eyes lay the quiet sorrow of knowing that some hungers are never satisfied or take much longer to be fulfilled.
She raised her sword, but not against the echo. She drove the blade with all her might into the ground between herself and her 'brother' a shockwave of golden light shot forth, holding back the Abyss vines.
>>"You are not him,"<<
Lumine said and a single tear running down her cheek, though her voice was as firm as steel.
>>"Aether would never allow an innocent child to die for his echo, he put her to sleep to preserve her... not to use her as a hostage!"<<
She whirled around and grabbed Noxira by the shoulders, regardless of the electric shocks coursing through her arms.
>>"Noxira! Look at me!"<<
Noxira lifted her head, her face was a mask of coldness, but as she saw Lumine, something changed. Pure madness flared in Noxira's gaze a destructive desire to just end it all, to burn the entire space of this world, to set everything ablaze just so the pain would stop.
>>"Cleanse, destroy... Delete everything... because pain... memory... Cleanse it all,"<<
Noxira whispered with ice-cold eyes.
>>"No!"<<
Lumine pulled Noxira into a firm embrace, just as one would hold a frightened child.
>>"You are the Memory Guardian, you are the storage for those who can no longer speak. If you delete everything, they will have no one left. I am your anchor. Don't remember the pain... remember me! I am your shield."<<
For a moment, the world held its breath. The echo of Aether in the background distorted and became a black shadow that screamed in rage as the emotional connection to Lumine snapped.
Noxira's body relaxed instantly, the white light in her eye giving way to the deep blue that now shone like a calm ocean. Authority over the Zero-Layer returned.
>>"Lumine...?"<<
Noxira's voice was clear again, though it trembled. She raised a hand and touched Lumine's face.
>>"You... you chose me... despite the dissonance."<<
Lumine felt the trembling in Noxira's body subside but the cold now emanating from her was different, it was no longer the cold of a dying system, but the absolute, unapproachable cold of a judge.
Noxira slowly pulled away from Lumine's embrace, her blue eye glowed so intensely that it simply evaporated the intruder's black mist. She no longer looked like a frightened child. She stood up and with every movement, the Zero Layer seemed to repair itself.
The warped towers straightened, and the shrill noise vanished, replaced by a deep, powerful hum. The heartbeat of the core.
>>"Impossible..."<<
The Lector stepped back, the laughing mask suddenly looking ridiculously out of place.
>>"The echo... the corruption... you should have shattered!"<<
Noxira looked at him, there was no hate in her gaze, only an infinite, distant superiority, like a goddess looking down upon mortals.
>>"You built a bridge to sow lies"<<
Noxira said, her voice now echoing from all the walls of the glass palaces simultaneously, like an endless resonance.
>>"But you forgot that I am not made only of paper. I am made of the will of those I preserve."<<
She raised her hand, and the golden circuits in the gray sky began to glow brightly.
>>"Lumine is my anchor. And you... you are merely a glitch in my archive."<<
With a fluid motion, Noxira reached into the air as if pulling aside a curtain. The ground beneath the Lector tore open, but instead of fire or Abyssal sludge, pure white light erupted.
>>"Noxira, wait!"<<
Lumine called, stepping to her side, her sword still ready.
>>"He has information about Aether! We need to know how he got here!"<<
Noxira paused, her gaze flickering briefly, becoming cool and calculating.
>>"His mind is already connected to my core. To question him, I do not need to keep him alive. I will extract his essence and... delete the corruption."<<
She answered coldly without turning her head.
The Lector tried to raise his staff, but the black veins on the ground suddenly turned against him, transforming into silver shackles of pure code that pinned him down.
>>"No! You can't! The Prince will..."<<
>>"The Prince is not the authority here!"<< Noxira interrupted ice-coldly.
>>"Here. Am I the Truth."<<
She said it coldly and with complete authority.
A bright flash jolted through the room, for a moment, the entire Zero Layer was bathed in a light brighter than the sun. When Lumine could see again, the black stain was gone. The Lector was gone, deleted from the reconstruction as if he had never existed.
Only a small violet crystal hovered where he had stood, containing the extracted information.
Noxira swayed slightly, the authority in her gaze extinguished. She suddenly looked small and exhausted again. She turned to Lumine, clutching the crystal tightly.
>>"Lumine... I was able to secure the echoes... but... do you really want to see them? It contains... the reason why he left you behind."<<
Lumine stared at the violet crystal in Noxira's hands, the name she thought she heard in her head moments ago had been nothing but a rustle in the wind of the Zero Layer meaningless. What mattered was what Noxira revealed now.
>>"Left me behind?"<<
Lumine repeated hoarsely, the words feeling like a tear in her own soul.
>>"Noxira... you say that as if it wasn't an accident. As if he left me alone in this world on purpose."<<
Noxira lowered her gaze, her features becoming unapproachable. In the sterile brightness of the Zero Layer, the blue lines on Noxira's face looked like veins of liquid pain.
>>"Memories do not lie, Lumine... feelings do. The final sequence is stored in this crystal. He didn't lose you when the gods attacked. He led you here, into the safety of timelessness, because he knew you were his only way back."<<
Paimon hovered nervously closer, her voice trembling.
>>"But... if he wanted to protect her, why didn't he tell her the truth? Why has Lumine had to run through all of Teyvat for months, risking everything to find him?"<<
Noxira didn't look at Paimon. Her gaze remained fixed on Lumine, deep and serious, as if she held the fate of the world in her hands.
>>"Because he knew you are a star, Lumine a star cannot be caged. He knew you would search for him, and he needed you to be strong. He left you behind so that you would love Teyvat before you learned why he wants to destroy it."<<
Lumine took a step forward. Melancholy burned in her eyes, yet her posture was that of an unshakeable warrior.
>>"I want to see it"<<
Lumine said, her voice as firm as the white obsidian beneath her feet.
>>"Activate the crystal, Noxira. If he believes he must carry the weight of the world alone, then I will prove to him that I am no longer a child who needs to be hidden in the dark."<<
Noxira hesitated briefly, then she nodded, holding the crystal between her palms.
>>"Understood. But I will be there with you."<<
The crystal didn't shatter, it dissolved into millions of glowing particles that made the white city around them blur.
The smell of ozone and asphalt vanished, giving way to the heavy heat of burning gold and the metallic taste of blood.
The vision manifested:
Lumine no longer saw the Zero Layer. First, everything was black, then an image appeared and the floor manifested. She stood in a room that looked like the throne room of Khaenri'ah, but the ceiling was torn open. Melancholic music began to play while the red cubes of the Unknown Goddess hung in the sky like bloody scars.
At the center of the destruction stood Aether. He was alone, his gaze fixed on a sealed chamber the chamber where Lumine had slept.
He placed a hand on the cold metal of the door.
>>"It is better this way"<<
Lumine heard his echo whisper, it was his real voice, full of despair.
>>"If she wakes now, she will see what I am doing. She will hate me. Noxira... seal the archive, erase the paths. Let her only wake when the world is silent again. Even if she never sees me again for it... at least let her live."<<
Lumine saw the echo of her brother turn away and step into the darkness of the Abyss, while behind him, the city fell into ruins.