Venti's Shock: Yet another Path power?!
That feeling…
It was uncanny.
Lumine drew a steadying breath and forced herself to calm down. "Alright. I'll wait here," she whispered, eyes scanning every shadow, every patrol route, every echoing footfall in the vaulted crypt of the Favonius Cathedral.
Questions about Kairo's powers could wait. The priority was simple: let him slip in and bring back the Holy Lyre der Himmel.
Invisible under Seele's Path: Phantom Illusion, Kairo moved like a pocket of empty air. Candlelight trembled along pillars and stone ribs overhead, shadows folding and unfolding as Knights of Favonius murmured on their rounds—none the wiser to the phantom weaving between them.
Snatches of talk floated through the hush:
"Stay sharp. After the dragon attack, the Fatui might test us again."
"They tried once already. We strengthened the watch for a reason."
Kairo's brow ticked. The Fatui were aiming for the Lyre too, huh.
He reached the inner dais.
There it was—graceful and severe all at once, resting on a carved stone plinth. Deep-stained wood, silver filigree, the Wind's sigil breathing the faintest emerald glow.
"Pretty," he murmured as he let the invisibility fall for a heartbeat, fingers brushing a string—Anemo rippled like a sigh through the air.
Then the Lyre was in his arms, and the world lost him again.
A crackle of violet stung the air.
A black-purple silhouette unfolded beside the plinth—a Fatui Electro Cicin Mage. Her gaze snapped to the stand.
Empty.
"It… vanished?! Which damned rat—"
Rage flashed across her eyes. She scoured the chamber for a trail, a draft, a scuff—nothing. No Anemo residue, no footprints, not even a hair out of place.
Someone had beaten her to the prize. Someone she couldn't see.
"Playing ghost, are we?" she hissed.
Smack!
A sharp palm strike clipped the back of her head. She staggered, nearly sprawling. She spun—no one. Only echo and candleflame.
A chill lanced her spine. "Show yourself, you—"
Boots pounded. Firelight lunged across the floor as Knights burst in, blades drawn.
"Fatui infiltrator! You dare profane the Cathedral and steal a holy relic?!"
The Cicin Mage's eyes iced over; she bit back a curse and became a streak of lightning, bolting for the exit.
Invisible in the churn, Kairo hugged the Lyre, amused despite himself. He'd wanted to test how Phantom Illusion handled a live hit: strike, reveal, re-cloak. The answer? Very nicely—and hard enough to buckle a target who wasn't braced.
This Path skill is absurdly good.
Up above, Lumine heard the horn and the sudden chaos roll through stone like thunder. Her stomach dropped—until a low whisper warmed her ear:
"Move."
She flinched—then flushed, turning toward the voice she still couldn't see.
"The Fatui showed," Kairo added, calm as a night breeze. "We've got the Lyre."
Relief lit her face. She matched his pace, ghosting from arch to arch. The great doors slammed wide behind them; knights spread like a wave through the nave. A breathless sister stammered to a captain, "The Holy Lyre—stolen! Notify Acting Grand Master Jean!"
Orders snapped. "Seal the Cathedral! No one in or out!"
By the time the search grid closed, two shadows had slipped into an alley. Paimon popped her head out from a corner and zipped over, eyes round.
"You're okay?! It got really loud in there!"
"Talk on the way." Kairo flicked Ripple across the two of them; speed lifted them like wind under wings. Paimon gulped, nodded, and clung to Lumine's shoulder as the trio threaded Mondstadt's lanes and vanished toward their inn.
Behind them, the city stirred to alarm. Horns pealed; hooves rang on stone. Torches cut long blades through the dark as patrols fanned across plazas and walls.
High on the Cathedral roof, a green-cloaked bard watched the pattern unfold, eyes bright with surprise.
"Another kind of power," Venti murmured.
He had already felt two distinct currents around Kairo—neither of them elemental. Now a third: an invisibility so clean even the wind could not hold its imprint. He had half prepared to receive a botched heist.
Instead, success rode out under the moon.
"Mondstadt could do worse than a foreigner like him," he said, amused. "If only he'd stay."
He smiled—and his outline unraveled into a breeze.
At the Knights' Headquarters, hurried footsteps hammered past oaken doors.
"Acting Grand Master!" A silver-helmed knight burst in, face set. "The Cathedral's been breached. The Holy Lyre der Himmel has been stolen!"
Jean was already on her feet, shock hardening to steel. "What—?"
"Ma'am, no direct evidence at the scene, but patrols engaged a Fatui Electro Cicin Mage fleeing the crypt. Strong Electro signature, likely their asset."
"Fatui…" Jean's hands clenched white.
She knew what the Tsaritsa's agents were—cold ambition in fine gloves. To touch the Wind's sacred relic on Favonius ground was less theft than a declaration.
"Lock the city," she ordered, voice cutting clean. "All gates sealed. Full patrol mobilization. No unauthorized departures."
"Yes, ma'am!"
Horns cried out again. Torches bloomed. Windows cracked open across the sleeping city as night grew teeth and armor.
"What happened?"
"Why the Knights?"
"Is the dragon back?"
"Don't be stupid, the sky's calm! It must be the Fatui!"
"The Cathedral—someone said a holy relic was taken!"
Word spread like sparks on dry straw, and Mondstadt held its breath.
Jean strode for the Cathedral herself. This was not a matter to delegate.
Elsewhere, in a cramped, fire-lit cellar, heat wavered the air until the walls themselves seemed to ripple.
A tall man in black-red stood at ease, a smirk ghosting his mouth—a Fatui Pyro Agent. Three elite troopers waited off his shoulder, eyes like shuttered steel. They watched the far corner, where violet flicker coalesced from the shadows.
The Electro Cicin Mage stepped into the light, cloak frayed, temper sparking at the edges.
She had missed her prize.
And someone unseen had laid a hand on her.
Someone who didn't belong to Teyvat's elements at all…
To be continued…
Lyre in hand, city on edge, and a bard who knows more than he says—what price will the wind ask for a song stolen at midnight?
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