By Beidou's charts, the Death's Omen needed at least another week to make Inazuma. On the other side of the sea, once Lumine agreed to Yae Miko's request, she took the starship that very night. At that speed, she could reach the Death's Omen in a few hours. She left Paimon to nap in Inazuma and flew solo.
It was deep night when she boarded. Rosalyne wasn't in her cabin.
Smart girl that she was, Lumine guessed where she'd be. She turned down the corridor toward Su Xuan's room. The instant her boot crossed the threshold area, a pressure like silk and steel brushed her legs.
A telekinetic barrier.
"Hah. Knew it," she sniffed. "He's 'exploring a domain' again."
Every time she thought about those "dangerous domains," heat coiled low in her belly. But tonight's job was to fetch Rosalyne and head for Inazuma. Why was she the one doing pickup duty at midnight while Rosalyne—clearly—enjoyed herself?
Unacceptable. She'd at least "eat" before leaving.
She glanced at the violet sheen of the telekinetic ward coating her clothes and strode in.
Rosalyne was perched on the office chair.
Rosalyne: "?"
Lumine: "?"
"You're back?" Rosalyne blinked.
"You're sitting here?" Lumine blinked right back.
They spoke in unison, then Rosalyne flicked a glance at the closed inner door. That was answer enough.
"Cloud-Retainer's disciple is… very interested in Su Xuan. She's monopolized him for a day and a night."
Lumine: "?"
Su Xuan wasn't who he'd been at the start. With Lost Sky Magic, he only needed to breathe to recover energy; stamina turned into strength; a perpetual motion machine in boots. But Shenhe? For all her talent, she was still flesh and blood, unlike diary-bearers. "Exploring a domain" with him for a day and night sounded like suicide.
Lumine's eyes narrowed. Rosalyne's hair was still a little damp. A transparent lie if ever there was one.
Rosalyne noticed the look and coughed. "C-calm seas, nothing to do. You… understand."
"Hmph." Lumine flipped her a small purple chess-piece.
Rosalyne caught it on reflex—froze. "A… Gnosis?"
Lumine relayed Yae Miko's instructions. Hearing that Inazuma wanted Scaramouche handled before Su Xuan landed, Rosalyne lit up.
"So even his 'birth mother' doesn't want him around? Delicious."
She clapped Lumine's shoulder, grinning. "A real sister. This helps a lot." Then she slid over a bank draft. "My private funds. Not much, but it should keep you flush for a bit."
Lumine glanced down—over two million Mora. She whistled internally. She might not be roaming seven nations with only Paimon anymore, but with Su Xuan she'd met just as many people—somehow even turning an old enemy like Rosalyne into a sister. Not a bad life.
She had asked Su Xuan privately why she'd challenged Rosalyne to that duel before the throne in Tenshukaku. After all, Rosalyne had died because she lost to Lumine. When Lumine heard the full story, she'd gone numb. She'd picked that fight because Rosalyne had dug into Barbatos's chest for the Anemo Gnosis—and kicked him for good measure. And then Barbatos had side-stepped the kick like a feather on the wind. Lumine had decided Rosalyne bullied her friend and thrown down a duel on the spot. In hindsight? If Su Xuan hadn't shown up in this world, she'd have been tricked into a lot of things.
"Come on, let's at least report in," Rosalyne said, eyes drifting to the inner door—and catching Lumine doing the same. The Gnosis had arrived a week earlier than planned. A day or two wouldn't matter. But Su should hear it from them.
They pushed in just in time to see Beidou hauled up by the hair, head tilted back in a losing "challenge." Kokomi and Shenhe were already down; Shenhe's pose made Lumine rub her temples. A true immortal's disciple—white hair fading to gray at the tips, jewel-toned eyes, every inch the fairy—crumpled by Su Xuan's "merciless" coaching. And Beidou, captain of the Crux and mistress of this very ship, also planted. Su Xuan bullying the host on her own turf… was this legal?
"Lumine? You're back?" Su Xuan asked from the bedside.
"Yae Miko sent me," she said. "Hand Rosalyne the Gnosis, then ferry her to Inazuma to end the Balladeer."
"Mm." Su Xuan ruffled her hair, then looked to Rosalyne.
"I'll go with her when she's done," Rosalyne nodded. "Miko was right: if I stride in beside you, the officials will choke. Better to slip in by starship."
She had finally laid hands on a starship and knew its worth; for someone always on the road, it was a dream. But she didn't ask for one. With her identity, such things were better handled by the Tsaritsa.
"Need to prepare?" Su Xuan asked.
Rosalyne shook her head. "Gnosis in hand. I'll dangle it in front of the brat—let regret tear his heart—then send him back to the ley lines."
Her smile bared teeth.
Su Xuan: "…"
He snapped a photo.
[fierce_flame_witch_grimace.jpg]
[First time I've seen Rosalyne make that face.]
Rosalyne: "….."
Brother. While the blonde auntie is "busy," you're… journaling? And posting an ugly photo? How am I supposed to face the sisters?
[Still, the villain-face fits.]
[With Ei's Gnosis in hand, Rosalyne's ready to land and torment "Thunder Cannon" with what he craves—]
[—then kill him.]
[Why do I say her villain-face matches?]
[Because the one she's killing is the revered hero.]
Rosalyne: "?"
Hero? Since when?
The awake girls all blinked—and then widened their eyes. So Scaramouche's "script" had more scenes.
[This begins with the Witches' Tea Party—a quiet circle not many know. Think of it as a few best friends who have tea and cause world-scale problems. Representative members:]
[Alice, the one who "blew up the Stormterror ruins." Barbeloth, the astrologer…]
Mona: "?"
A terrible hunch set her teeth on edge. After the "first" Kusanali… did even granny and Alice get tangled up with Scaramouche? The False Firmament had snapped, right? To whitewash him of all people?
[One witch, codename M, likes to write fairy tales.]
[After witnessing Rheindottir create the dragon Durin and the disaster that followed, she wrote a different sort of tale about Durin:]
[Cursed into a dragon, he would destroy a world called Simulanka.]
[But M's heart wished for a savior to lift Durin's curse and save both dragon and world.]
[Intrigued, Alice and Barbeloth got her blessing to build Simulanka as a concept realm from that tale—]
[—and to summon people from Teyvat into it to save Durin.]
[A classic "Western-flavored hero saves the world" setup.]
Mona stared. She already knew where this was going. Of course the "hero" was him.
"Granny and Miss Alice… are crazy," she groaned. "You didn't—tell me you didn't summon Scaramouche as the hero."
Durin—the same Durin whose corpse poisoned Mond for five hundred years—what about him was worth saving?
[Leave aside Durin's assault on Mond, leave aside Thunder Cannon's rampage in Inazuma. As a story, it's just a fairy tale.]
[But should history be forgotten?]
[No. Except here we have the exception named Thunder Cannon.]
[Across all Teyvat—aside from Rukkhadevata, who erased herself to cleanse Irminsul—]
[—only Thunder Cannon's history doesn't exist in the world.]
[So…]
[He heard the witches' call: "You are this world's hero. Save its dragon."]
Every girl: "Heh. Of course."
He really was Thunder Cannon. Fate would set him as a hero if it had to twist the sky.
[In the end, he played the hero: lifted Durin's curse, saved the dragon, saved Simulanka.]
[I remember Kirara even asked Alice a hard question:]
["Were we all arranged to enter Simulanka?"]
[Alice answered:]
["I dislike the word 'arranged'. I'd call it fate, whispering. Fate chose a few pure, kind souls and brought them in."]
Silence. If he was among those "pure and kind," the line cut like a knife.
Rosalyne kneaded her brow. "Pure and kind… sure. So the 'ones above' will spare no cost to fix his reputation?"
Su Xuan said nothing. He simply turned Lumine around, smoothing a hand down her back, and added:
[Lumine was there too. For some reason, she kept blacking out in Simulanka.]
[The False Firmament can't touch her, and she entered by will alone—matched to a world's will.]
[So why the fainting?]
[My guess: the witches feared a Descender's brilliance would outshine their "preset hero," and used some device to dull her.]
[After all, Thunder Cannon was the chosen hero of that expedition.]
Lumine: "….."
So fate couldn't move her, but it could nudge the people around her—sandbagging her to keep his halo intact.
Rosalyne drew a long breath, the laugh low and sharp. "Exactly. A world like that—what's left to praise?"
She raised Ei's Gnosis, eyes cold.
"To hell with your 'arrangements.' I'm killing the hero."
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