Chapter Text
“Getting married without telling us, Lumi…”
She doesn’t know how they found out. Did the wind tell Venti? Did the earth carry a message to Zhongli? She just knows that they are here now and Venti’s subtly insulting Childe the whole time. Childe, by the way, seems to find this rather amusing. In fact, he’s been behaving quite suspiciously and the arrival of those two hasn’t fazed him even a bit. It just leads her to one conclusion and even though there's still a bit of uncertainty swirling in her mind, she decides that she'll have to ask Childe later.
"And to that harbinger too," Venti mutters, pouting a bit.
"Hm? Tartaglia might be an adequate choice. He'll be sure to provide you with anything needed."
Of course, Zhongli would focus on the mora.
"But does he have his heart in this?"
They turn to look at Venti. He has a smile on his face—and there's a glint in his eyes, one that doesn't promise anything too beneficial for Childe.
The anemo archon looks up, staring directly at the traveler.
"I have a fun idea."
Oh archons, it's going to be anything but fun.
Before she can react though, Venti grabs her arm and makes a run for it, dragging her behind him. Zhongli follows with a tired sigh but does nothing to stop the bard.
"Wait? Where are we—"
"My dear traveler, the cruel harbinger needs to overcome a challenge!"
Huh?
"I'm not handing you over to him that easily! Not until he proves his heart to me!"
At that moment, she sees the door which would lead them outside the house. She wants to stop, tell the bard to get it together but before she can do so, Zhongli's calm voice calls out to her.
"Let him be," he mutters, a thin smile on his face, "it'll do him well to get some sort of reassurance."
Lumine bits her lips. She knows he's right—Venti needed something like that or he'd never find his peace with the marriage. At least not soon.
"Plus I'm sure this will prove itself to be interesting."
Of course.
Lumine sighs. Seems like she has to play along now.
They exit the house and she wonders what the bard has planned for her fiancé. By the look on his face, she can tell it's going to be chaotic.
In the meantime, alerted by sudden loud noises, Ajax's mother walks into the living room, expecting to see any of their guests. Of course, no one is there.
"Oh my," she muses out aloud. "I should probably tell Ajax, hm?"
She doesn't even have to take a step further before she hears a crashing sound and said son comes running down the stairs.
He blinks, his gaze immediately setting on her.
"Mama," he speaks up after averting his gaze to look around the living room. "Where's Lumine? And the other two?"
Natalya shrugs her shoulder at him.
Abyss.
At that moment, a paper crane flies in. The harbinger catches and unfolds it to reveal a short letter.
Dear Harbinger,
Let's have a scavenger hunt!
If you can find your beloved before sunset
The wedding bells will chime a song of glory and affection
But if you dare to lose this benevolent bet
You will face my objection
Ajax takes a long breathe, crumbling the letter unconsciously. Then he smiles at his mother.
“I’ll be back with Lumine before lunchtime.”
Natalya blinks. “And her two friends? Venti and Zhongli, if I remember correctly.”
He chuckles.
“Ah, I fear they might have to go back sooner than anticipated—both of them lead a busy life.”
“Oh no, that’s too unfortunate.”
“It really is,” he mutters in agreement, grabbing his and Lumine’s coat.
(How dare the bard forget to take her coat as well. She must be freezing so badly!)
“He isn’t… going to really stop me from marrying, right? He’s the God of Freedom, after all.”
Zhongli chuckles at her question, shaking his head slightly. “You know the answer to that already.”
She does. Undoubtedly. Venti is merely trying to have his fun here, and he understands how precious the freedom to choose and love is. He would never ruin this for her.
But he’s also just as chaotic as Childe.
“Do we really have to do this?”
The anemo archon turns around to face her with a grin.
“Of course! It’s such a joyous occasion, after all!”
Then he goes on about his way, greeting the people they pass by with a cheerful hum and tunes on his lyre.
“He’s purposely drawing attention,” Zhongli points out to her. “To leave hints for Tartaglia.”
Lumine’s busy thinking though—considering what to do. There’s no point in trying to change Venti’s mind—he’s having way too much fun as it is, therefore he definitely won’t stop as easily.
Oh right. She remembers something suddenly. The rest of Childe’s family arrives today.
That’s when the gears start to turn in her head. A small grin forms on her face and she turns to tug at Zhongli’s coat, catching his attention. A bit in front of them, Venti stops as well, staring at her with curious eyes.
And then she voices a request towards the consultant.
“Could you go back?”
Venti frowns at these words, walking up to them, with his hands on his hips.
“Hey,” he speaks up, the frown turning into a pout, “The harbinger has to find you on his own.”
“I know,” she reassures the bard, “I’m asking Zhongli for something else.”
Knowing she has both their attention for sure, Lumine speaks up and tells them what exactly she wants to do.
“I’ve seen them near the food market.”
“Oh, that bard? He was quite lovely with the lyre! I think it was around that one restaurant…”
Childe’s running through the village, asking around for a bard clothed in teal and traveler with sunkissed hair. He gets a surprisingly large amount of replies—perhaps too large. Just about everyone seems to have seen the bard and the traveler, accompanied by a rich-dressed man. It’s frustrating. He doesn’t know where to search because according to everyone’s reports, the missing people were everywhere.
Right as he feels frustration settle in him, a little child calls out to him.
“I saw the pretty people near the forest....”
Archons . That bard did not. Drag Lumine into that forest. He did not.
Dread settles at his core for a moment before vanishing, shoved aside by him.
“Thank you,” he mutters before turning on his heel and dashing towards that forest.
Forests in Snezhnaya?
They only promised horror stories.