The walk from Good Hunter to the Knights of Favonius Headquarters felt longer than usual, Mondstadt's streets were alive with the morning rush but today, the air felt thick with a different kind of electricity as they passed the fountain, Lumine felt a sharp tug on her sleeve. Noxira had stopped and her head was tilted, her azure eye scanning the crowd. Small groups of citizens were whispering, casting fleeting glances at the white haired girl who walked beside the Honorary Knight.
A flower girl whispered to her friend.
>>"Look, is that her? The Star Lady from yesterday? She looks like she's made of moonlight..."<<
Noxira's grip on Lumine's sleeve tightened until her knuckles turned as white as her dress.
>>"The Identity recognition is reaching 42% among the local population"<<
Noxira murmured, her voice trembling slightly.
>>"Lumine... they are looking at me as if I am a miracle but miracles are simply data points that science has yet to explain. Why does their gaze feel so... heavy?"<<
Lumine stopped and turned to her, placing a hand over Noxira's trembling fingers.
>>"Because they see something beautiful, Noxira, not everything that is unexplained is a threat."<<
>>"My, my, such a touching scene"<<
Kaeya's voice drifted from behind them, smooth and teasing as always and he strolled past them, his hands resting on his hips.
>>"But let's not keep the Acting Grand Master waiting yeah?. She's not known for her patience when anomalies are involved even beautiful ones."<<
As they climbed the stone steps to the Headquarters, the heavy doors creaked open and the interior was cool and smelled of old parchment and incense. Paimon, who had been uncharacteristically quiet while finishing a stray pancake, finally spoke up.
>>"Don't worry, Noxira! Jean is super nice and Lisa... well, Lisa is mostly just flirty and playful, unless you have a library book overdue!"<<
They reached the large double doors of the Acting Grand Master's office, Kaeya knocked twice, a rhythmic, confident sound.
>>"Come in"<<
A firm female, steady voice called out.
As they entered, the sunlight streamed through the high windows of the office, illuminating Jean, who stood behind her desk with a mountain of paperwork and beside her, leaning against a bookshelf with a playful smirk, was Lisa.
The librarian's eyes immediately locked onto Noxira. She adjusted her hat, a spark of genuine academic hunger flashing in her green eyes.
>>"So~"<<
Lisa purred, her voice dripping with curiosity.
>>"This is the little spark that has been causing all those lovely ripples in my detection charms, you're even more... extra terrestrial than the rumors suggested."<<
Noxira stepped forward, her regal Guardian persona snapping back into place as a defense mechanism. She let go of Lumine's sleeve and stood perfectly straight.
>>"I am Noxira, Memory Guardian of the Archive"<<
She stated, her voice echoing in the room and continued.
>>"I am informed that my presence has caused a systemic disturbance in your energy readings, please state your requirements for data collection."<<
Jean looked at Lumine with a mixture of concern and relief.
>>"Lumine, I'm glad you're here but we don't want to treat your friend as a subject but the readings near Stormterror's Lair are... concerning. They aren't just energy spikes."<<
Jean paused, her fingers tracing the edge of a map spread across her desk. She looked up, her expression turning grave.
Lisa straightened up, her heels clicking softly on the floor as she approached Noxira, she didn't look at the Guardian with fear but with the intense focus of a scholar who had just found a book written in a lost language.
>>"It's quite fascinating, really."<<
Lisa hummed, circling Noxira slowly.
>>"Ordinary elemental energy is like a river it flows but your energy? It's like a mirror that has been shattered, each shard is a memory, and those shards are cutting through the ley lines of Mondstadt. If we don't stabilize you, the Star Lady might accidentally rewrite the history of the wind itself."<<
Noxira's hand went instinctively to her chest, her azure eye flickering.
>>"The structural integrity of my core is... fluctuating."<<
She admitted, her voice losing its regal edge and becoming small again.
>>"I am not bleeding I am... remembering but the Archive is locked, I cannot contain the Memory overflow."<<
Lumine stepped between Lisa and Noxira, her hand resting protectively on the Guardian's arm.
>>"You said they are echoes of things that haven't happened. Is she in danger, Jean?"<<
>>"The Abyss Order has already begun to move"<<
Jean answered, her voice hardening into that of a commander.
>>"They've sensed the leaking memories. To them, Noxira isn't just a girl she's a map to the past and the future, they want to harvest those shards."<<
Suddenly, the windows of the office rattled a cold, unnatural wind swept through the room, extinguishing the candles on Jean's desk.
Noxira gasped, her knees buckling as she clutched her head.
>>"Heavy..."<<
Noxira whispered, her voice distorted.
>>"The fire... it's not just a memory anymore, someone is... calling back."<<
Kaeya, who had been leaning casually by the door, immediately drew his sword, the steel glinting in the dim light.
>>"It seems our guests didn't want to wait for an invitation. Grand Master, we have company at the gates."<<
The tension in the room snapped like a bowed string as the wind howled outside, the atmosphere within the office grew heavy with the smell of ozone and damp earth the unmistakable scent of the Abyss.
Jean didn't hesitate, she drew her sword, the blade glowing with a fierce Anemo light that cut through the sudden gloom.
>>"Lisa, stay here and begin the stabilization process. Kaeya, with me! We cannot let them breach the main hall!"<<
Jean commanded, her voice ringing with the authority of the Lionfang Knight.
Kaeya gave a sharp, uncharacteristic nod, his playful smirk completely gone.
>>"Understood. Let's see if these mages have improved their cryo shields since last week."<<
They vanished through the doors, their footsteps echoing down the corridor.
Lisa turned her attention back to Noxira, her expression shifting from scholarly curiosity to urgent concern. She placed her hands near Noxira's temples, purple sparks of electro energy dancing between her fingers.
>>"Hold on tight, little spark. I'm going to create a localized field to dampen the feedback, but you need to focus on Lumine's voice. Don't let the calling take you"<<
Noxira was trembling violently now, her azure eyes had turned a deep, pulsing violet and faint, ghostly images began to flicker in the air around her the silhouette of a massive white city, a golden throne, and the brief, terrifying image of a woman with long, silver hair standing amidst ruins.
>>"It hurts..."<<
Noxira gasped, her hands clutching Lumine's arms so hard it left marks.
>>"The memories... they are sharp. They are trying to... return home. Lumine, please... Don't let me go back to the Dark Room..."<<
Lumine pulled Noxira into a tight embrace, ignoring the static shocks from Lisa's magic. She pressed her forehead against Noxira's, trying to anchor her.
>>"I'm right here, Noxira. Look at me. Remember the flower? Remember the tea? Those are your memories now!"<<
Outside, the sound of battle erupted the clashing of steel, the muffled explosions of elemental magic and the high pitched cackling of Abyss Mages. The office door shook as something heavy slammed against it from the other side.
Paimon hovered anxiously, her tiny hands over her mouth.
>>"Lumine! Something's coming through the floor! Look!"<<
A dark, swirling portal of Abyssal energy began to open right beneath them. An Abyss Herald, cloaked in waterblades and shadows, began to rise, its voice a grating metallic rasp.
>>"The Memory Guardian... the Prince demands the return of the Archives. Step aside, Traveler, or be erased from the history we seek to reclaim!"<<
Lisa stays by Noxira and keeps trying to calm her down.
>>"Hold on tight, little spark. I'm creating a localized field to dampen the feedback. Lumine, her energy... it doesn't respond to the Ley Lines. It's a language the world has forgotten."<<
Noxiras eyes are zrembling and her eyes are pulsing violet and said while fighting.
>>"The memories... they are sharp. They are trying to return home. Lumine, please... don't let the fire take me again! Don't let me go back to the Void of the Archive!"<<
The Abyss Herald is rising from the portal and says decisively.
>>"The Memory Guardian... the Prince demands the return of the Archives. Step aside, Traveler or be erased from the history we seek to reclaim!"<<
Lumine Drawed her sword instantly while she narrowed her eyes.
>>"She isn't an Archive anymore and she's my friend and you're not taking her anywhere."<<
The Abyss Herald didn't hesitate with a cruel, mechanical hiss, it lunged forward, its twin waterblades spinning like a lethal vortex.
>>"Lumine, watch out!"<<
Paimon shrieked, diving behind a stack of Jean's books.
Lumine summoned her sword in a flash of golden light, she met the Herald's strike head on, the clash of steel and Abyssal water sending a shockwave through the office that shattered the nearby flower vase. Lumine gritted her teeth, her boots skidding across the wooden floor. The Herald was stronger than the ones she had fought before it was empowered by the leak coming from Noxira.
>>"You cannot protect what belongs to the Prince, Traveler!"<<
The Herald roared, kicking Lumine back toward the window.
Lisa was strained, her face pale as she maintained the purple dome of electro energy around Noxira.
>>"I can't... hold this much longer! She's outputting too much Memory!"<<
Noxira was on her knees, her hands pressed against her ears. The lavender light from her eye was no longer a glow it was a jagged flame, as the Herald raised its blade for a finishing strike on the distracted Lisa, Noxira's head snapped up.
She didn't summon a weapon, she didn't cast a spell. She simply screamed.
A pulse of pure, colorless energy erupted from her. It wasn't an explosion of force but an explosion of truth. For a split second, the room transformed. The walls of the office vanished, replaced by a fleeting, ghostly image of a burning white library.
The Herald frozen midair. Its waterblades didn't just stop, they unraveled into mist, the creature let out a distorted cry as its own memories were forcibly pulled to the surface by Noxira's presence.
>>"Memory... corruption... detected... Memory... has gone... wrong..."<<
Noxira whispered, her voice sounding like a thousand people speaking at once.
The burst of power sent the Herald crashing through the office doors and out into the hallway, but the cost was immediate. Noxira collapsed forward, the lavender light fading into a dull, sickly gray. Faint, glowing cracks appeared along her collarbone, as if her very skin was a vessel that had been overfilled.
Lumine rushed to her side, catching her before she hit the floor.
>>"Noxira! Hey, stay with me!"<<
Noxira's breathing was shallow, her eyes unfocused.
>>"The fire... I stopped the fire... but I can't feel my hands, Lumine."<<
Lisa dropped to her knees, exhausted. She looked at the cracks on Noxira's skin with genuine fear.
>>"She didn't just fight him. She tried to 'archive' him. Lumine, she's not overpowered... she's self destructing. Her body can't handle the weight of what she's protecting."<<
Noxira's fingers, cold as ice, drifted toward the book Lumine had used to press the flower earlier, it was a Memory she saw in her inner eye It had fallen from the desk during the struggle. Even now, in her halfconscious state, her instinct was to protect the few warm memories she had.
>>"The journal..."<<
She rasped, her violet eye flickering one last time before fading back to a dull, exhausted azure.
>>"Lumine... is the flower... still there?"<<
Lumine's heart constricted, despite the cracks on her skin and the fact that she had just altered reality, Noxira only cared about the small piece of affection Lumine had given her.
>>"It's here. I've got it"<<
Lumine whispered, pulling the the girl closer to her chest.
The sound of footsteps approached fast and heavy. Jean and Kaeya burst back into the room, their weapons still drawn but they stopped dead. They saw the shattered office, the unconscious Herald in the hallway and the cracks of light slowly fading on Noxira's skin.
Lisa looked up at Jean, her hat lopsided and her breathing ragged. She didn't say a word, she simply shook her head, the silence spoke volumes.
Kaeya sheathed his sword, his single eye lingering on the Star Lady with a look that wasn't just curiosity anymore it was recognition. He knew that whatever she was, Mondstadt was no longer just a peaceful city It was now the front line of a war over the world's memory.
>>"We need Barbara, now,"<<
Jean commanded, her voice soft but urgent.
>>"And Kaeya... seal the Headquarters. No one speaks of what happened in this room. To the public, it was just a stray Abyss raid."<<
As Lumine lifted Noxira, she noticed a single petal from the Windwheel Aster had fallen out of the journal. It was no longer red It had turned a shimmering, crystalline silver.
Noxira hadn't just protected the memory, she had changed it.