The stone bridge of Mondstadt was still beneath their feet when Lumine stopped abruptly, her hand flying to her chin in a familiar gesture of realization.
>>"Wait! Paimon, did we pack the Goulash? The thick one"<<
Lumine asked, her eyes widening.
>>"Ugh! Paimon was so busy thinking about the Fisherman's Toast that she totally forgot!<<
Paimon squeaked, doing a distressed loop in the air.
>>"We can't go to Dragonspine without warm food! We'll turn into ice cubes before we even find a campfire!"<<
Lumine turned to Noxira, placing a hand on her shoulder.
>>"The teleport waypoint is just up ahead. Stay there and wait for us, It's safer than trekking back through the crowd. We'll be back in ten minutes, I promise."<<
With a streak of golden light and a faint pop of Paimon's complaining, they were gone, heading back toward the city gates.
Noxira stood alone on the path, the wind rustling her white dress. She didn't move toward the waypoint Instead, she turned her head toward a cluster of whispering pines near the lake. The air there didn't move with the wind, it sat heavy and still.
>>"The Traveler is fast but she is predictable and you know it too right."<<
A voice murmured from the shade.
Rosaria stepped out from behind a tree, her silhouette sharp against the fading afternoon sun. She didn't look like a nun, she looked like a predator that had finally cornered its curiosity and she walked slowly toward Noxira, her heels clicking on the dirt path until she was inches away.
>>"You didn't go back with them"<<
Rosaria noted and her eyes scanning the silver lines on Noxira's collarbone.
>>"Why? Too much noise in the city for a sketch like you?"<<
Noxira didn't flinch, she simply looked up at Rosaria, her azure eye calm.
>>"The city is loud with memories of people who are still alive. But you... you are loud with memories of a night that won't end. I thought you might want to speak without the Traveler's deep care getting in the way, you are a woman who likes to talk under four eyes and not with listeners."<<
Rosaria stiffened, her gaze turning lethal. She reached out, her cold, gloved fingers hovering just a hair's breadth from Noxira's throat not to choke, but to feel the rhythm Albedo had mentioned.
>>"You talk about my shadow like you've lived in it"<<
Rosaria whispered, her voice a dangerous silk.
>>"Tell me, Memory Guardian. If you can hear the stones and the wine... what do you hear when you look at me? No metaphors. No books just the naked truth."<<
Noxira reached up, gently closing her hand over Rosaria's hovering fingers. Rosaria's skin was freezing from the early mountain winds, but Noxira didn't shiver.
>> "I hear a fire that was lit by a sin"<<
Noxira said softly, her silver cracks glowing with a faint, steady pulse.
>>"And I hear a woman who kills the darkness so the light doesn't have to get blood on its hands. You aren't lonely because you are alone, Rosaria. You are lonely because you are the only one who knows what the light actually costs."<<
The silence that followed was heavy Rosaria didn't pull her hand away and for a moment, the mask of the cold blooded Sister cracked, revealing a flash of the girl who had been raised on a mountain of bandits.
>>"I told you to keep your curiosity back"<<
Rosaria finally muttered, though her grip on Noxira's hand loosened.
>> "I kept the lock"<<
Noxira replied with a small, sad smile.
>>"I didn't look at the secrets. I only looked at the weight you carry. It's... very heavy. Let me carry a bit of the cold for you while we wait I don't freeze, Rosaria. You don't have to stand alone there and think nobody cares or understand."<<
Rosaria looked down at where Noxira was holding her hand, her first instinct was to pull away to snap a biting remark about personal space but the sensation stopped her and Noxira's skin wasn't warm like that from a normal person like Barbara but it was steady like a hum of energy that ignored the biting wind.
>>"You're a real piece of work little star"<<
Rosaria muttered while clicking her tongue, she didn't pull away but she turned her head, staring off towards the Whispering Woods so she wouldn't have to meet those azure eyes. >>"You say you respect the lock and then you go and describe my heart like you're reading a grocery list, you got some nerve for a miracle that's falling apart."<<
Noxira tilted her head and her silver hair is shimmering in the light.
>>"I'm not reading you, Rosaria I'm just feeling the air around you It's... brittle. Like a frozen lake that's afraid someone might walk on it."<<
Rosaria's eyes narrowed, a flash of red beneath her cowl and hisses.
>>"If anyone walks on it, they drown. That's how it works, so stop trying to play the hero and worry about yourself. You're the one who can't even walk through a city without cracking."<<
She finally pulled her hand back but instead of walking away, she reached out and pulled the hood of Noxira's cloak even tighter around her face, nearly obscuring her vision with a gruff, sudden movement.
>>"There"<<
Rosaria grumbled, her voice sharp but her movements strangely careful.
>>"Hide that shiny face of yours If the Traveler comes back and sees you looking like you've seen a ghost, she'll blame me for scaring you and I've already had enough lectures from the Acting Grand Master to last a lifetime."<<
Noxira peeked out from under the hood, a small, knowing spark in her eye.
>>"You're worried about me, be honest and admit."<<
Noxira smirked a bit and steps closer to Rosaria
>>"I'm worried about my schedule, don't get a big head about it"<<
Rosaria countered instantly, her arms crossing over her chest.
>>"If you shatter here, I'm the one who has to clean up the silver dust. Now shut up and wait for your golden knight to return."<<
She stepped back into the shade of the pines, her silhouette nearly merging with the darkness, she was still guarding, still watching but the bitter wine scent had completely faded.
A few moments later, a golden light flickered on the bridge as Lumine and a huffing Paimon reappeared.
>>"We're back!"<<
Paimon yelled and looked around.
>>"Did we miss anything? Oh! Rosaria? You're still here?"<<
Rosaria didn't move from the shadows. >>"Just making sure the local slime population didn't decide to have a miracle for lunch. You're late, Traveler. Move out before the sun decides it's had enough of you."<<
Lumine looked between the two, sensing a strange quietness.
>>"Noxira? Are you okay?"<<
Noxira looked at the shadow among the trees and smiled softly.
>>"I am fine, Lumine. The night was just... keeping me company."<<
Lumine lingered for a moment, her gaze drifting toward the dense thicket where Rosaria's silhouette had long since dissolved into the grey purple dusk. She felt the chill in the air, but looking at Noxira, she saw no shivers only a serene, almost metallic stillness.
>>"If she said anything to upset you..."<<
Lumine began but Noxira gently shook her head, the silver cracks at her throat catching the last of the dying sunlight.
>>"She didn't, Lumine. She simply reminded me that even a miracle needs to keep its hood up when the wind turns cold"<<
Noxira replied, her voice soft and rhythmic, she adjusted the heavy fabric Rosaria had tugged over her brow, feeling the faint, lingering scent of frozen dew on the hem.
Paimon hovered over to the bags, patting the warm parcel of Goulash with a look of immense relief.
>>"Well, if Rosaria's done being a spooky guard dog, we should really get moving! The stars are starting to peek out and Paimon definitely doesn't want to meet any Cryo Regisvines in the dark!"<<
Lumine nodded, though her hand stayed close to her sword as she turned toward the south. >>"She's right, the path to the base of the mountain is a long walk. Let's head to the waypoint."<<
As the trio began to walk, the city of Mondstadt became a distant crown of stone behind them. Noxira walked in the center, her footsteps light and making no sound on the gravel. She didn't look back at the city but she could feel the steady, silent presence following them from the treeline a shadow that refused to leave her side, yet refused to be seen.
>>"Lumine?"<<
Noxira whispered as they reached the glowing blue glow of the Teleport Waypoint, Noxira looked at him and then in the sky for this blue glow.
>>"Yes?"<<
She saw Noxira looking towards the waypoint and smiled and explained.
>>"You can't see them from that far away, not even the glow, you have to be quite close."<<
>>"Is the mountain very loud?"<<
Asked Noxira and Lumine paused, looking toward the jagged, snowy silhouette of Dragonspine piercing the night sky like a broken tooth.
>>"It's the quietest place in Teyvat, Noxira but for someone who hears the stones or the the memories stored within... I imagine it might be the loudest thing you've ever encountered, I'm not sure but I guess..."<<
Noxira nodded, her azure eye reflecting the waypoint's pulsing light and she reached out to touche the cold stone of the ancient device, her silver scars flickering in greeting.
>>"Good"<<
She murmured and a small, courageous smile touching her lips.
>>"I have a lot of empty pages in the Archive, I think the mountain has a story it's been waiting to tell me, perhaps they can fill in the gaps."<<
With a flash of brilliant cerulean light, the bridge was empty, leaving only the rustling of the pines and the faint, fading scent of dandelions in the cold night air.