Ah yes. Starsnatch Cliff. The kind of place you'd take a date to impress them, or summon a traumatized dragon with trust issues. No in-between.
We made it there eventually. The wind was dramatic. The mood was moody. The grass swayed like it knew something we didn't.
Naturally, I was multitasking on the way—picking apples and stuffing berries into my hoodie pockets like a starving squirrel in hoodie drip. Survival instinct, don't judge me.
Diluc, standing at the edge of the cliff like he was posing for a perfume ad, nodded once. "Looks like everyone's here."
Jean turned just in time to catch me mid-pocket stuff. "Shigeru... what are those?"
I froze. "...Emergency snacks."
"Seriously?" she raised a brow.
"Look. We're about to summon a sky lizard with abandonment trauma. I'll probably get hungry. Don't question my foresight."
Paimon floated in, blinking. "You're unbelievable."
"You're edible-sized," I countered. "Let's not cast stones."
Thankfully, the conversation pivoted. Jean, with her eternal Knightly optimism, spoke up. "At long last, things are beginning to take a better turn."
"Yeah," I said. "The wind's not trying to murder us today. That's progress."
Diluc added, "In the end, the solution was as simple as a traveler and a song from a bard... and probably that idiot too."
"Hey," I said. "If this idiot is saving the world, I expect royalties."
Cue Venti, stepping forward like he was about to drop the hottest single of the century. "Everyone, stand back. I, the greatest wandering bard of the mortal world, shall now begin my performance."
He held the Lyre like it was a sacred artifact, not something that had literally been duct-taped back to life. The air turned all sparkly and dramatic like someone hit the "Boss Fight Approaching" button.
I've seen this cutscene before. Multiple times.
But seeing it in person? Kinda lit. Not gonna lie.
Venti strummed, the music soared—and boom. There he was. The Sky Daddy.
Dvalin arrived with that deep, echoey voice. "You have come."
Bro sounded like a child whose dad said he was going out for milk and never came back.
"What's done is done," he growled, all sad and betrayed. The emotional damage was real.
Venti, bless his theatrical little heart, tried the Talk-no-Jutsu. "Why is there sadness in your eyes, old friend?"
"Because maybe he's been poisoned, gaslit, and left in a sky cave for a century," I muttered.
Then Dvalin roared. Real big. Real angry. I saw my life flash before my eyes and I've only lived like, a few days in this world.
Venti tried again. "Please, hear me out!"
The Lyre? Cracked like an iPhone screen. Bard? Down. Laid flat like a pancake with style.
Then came the discount Saturday morning cartoon villain—an Abyss Mage. "He left you. Lied to you. He's deceiving you even now."
Oh great. Misinformation AND bad vibes. Classic.
Dvalin went full rage mode. "Barbatos!!" he howled, like an ex screaming the name of their toxic lover.
I was almost too stunned to speak.
Almost.
"Holy crap," I whispered. "Bro's really in his villain arc. And I'm watching it front row with berry stains on my hoodie."
The Abyss Mage kept yapping about trembling worlds and vengeance and some melodrama about fate. Honestly, he lost me halfway through.
I was too busy trying not to wet myself from witnessing an actual apocalyptic-level breakup between a dragon and a god.
Dvalin turned to Venti, eyes glowing with "You betrayed me" energy. "You... You planned this all along. To have me slain by them!"
I flinched. "That's not true! We didn't bring weapons! Only apples! And emotional baggage!"
Ofcourse that's a lie. There's a big ass claymore on Diluc's back.
Venti still tried to explain, desperate like a man caught texting his ex. "No! It wasn't like that! I only wanted to help you—"
But Dvalin wasn't hearing it. He roared one last time, grabbed the Abyss Mage, and vanished into the sky like Batman but more toxic.
The silence afterward? Deafening.
The Lyre? Beyond repair. Cracked harder than my pride in math class.
Venti? Collapsed. Face-first into his own despair.
Jean ran to him. "Barbat- Venti! Are you alright?"
He groaned. "I need... five business days to recover emotionally."
Everything? Wasted.
Or at least, that's what a normal person would say.
Me? I crossed my arms and nodded. "Alright. Not bad. That's the prologue, right?"
Everyone turned to look at me like I'd lost it.
Which I have. But also—plot knowledge, baby.
"Come on. That was a solid Act One. We'll fix the dragon. Punch some darkness. Play emotional karaoke with Venti. It's not over."
Jean blinked. "...You're far too calm."
"I've seen worse. Like 2021 Twitter. Now THAT was chaos."
Despite everything—the broken Lyre, the runaway dragon, the sobbing bard—I wasn't worried.
Because deep down, I knew...
This was just the beginning of the drama.
And I was here for it.
*Cue anime theme song.*
***
So. The dragon left. The lyre broke. The bard's heart? Shattered like my dignity after tripping on nothing in front of Lumine yesterday. And now here we are—emotionally dismembered and very much confused.
Diluc and Jean dipped. They said something about "coming up with a plan." But let's be honest, they were either going off to strategize like mafia power couple bosses or going on a very intense, no-nonsense date. Jean, being all noble and composed. Diluc, brooding like a shampoo commercial in human form. I gave it five minutes before they forgot we existed.
Venti, our resident poetic alcoholic bard, floated away dramatically, probably to write an emotionally unstable breakup song with a suspicious amount of wind metaphors. Poor guy. One moment you're playing the lyre, the next you're face-first on the floor getting verbally roasted by your ex-dragon bestie in front of your squad.
Naturally, with everyone scattered like puzzle pieces tossed by a toddler, I suggested the obvious.
"Let's just go back for a while. I'm hungry, emotionally tired, and I think something in my pocket is rotting."
They didn't argue. Which meant yes, back to civilization. On the way down the cliff trail—me still pocketing apples and berries like some feral squirrel—I decided to drop some spicy info.
"Hey, remember when I said I knew something about your twin?"
Boom. Instant attention. Lumine turned so fast her hair almost summoned anemo energy. Paimon gasped like I just announced I was giving away free food.
"Wait—what!? You said you might have info! Spill!"
"Okay, okay, chill. I do have some info. But I can't give you the whole package. Spoilers and stuff. Gotta keep the script spicy and keep Dainsleif from losing his job, y'know?"
They both squinted at me. I could feel their judgment molecules.
"Alright, alright. So here's the tea: Your brother, Aether? Yeah. He woke up 500 years ago before you do."
Cue dramatic gasp. Mostly from Paimon.
"Woke up where, exactly?" Lumine asked, serious mode activated.
"Khaenri'ah."
BOOM. Lore grenade tossed.
"That nation without a god." I added with more dramatic flair than Venti on stage.
"Flourishing kingdom, tech-savvy, brainy, full of people who had zero interest in divine intervention. They were all, 'We have engineering and logic, screw you Celestia.' Real badassery. It was like if Mondstadt and Sumeru had a baby, and that baby went through an edgy goth phase and invented nuclear physics."
"So what happened?" Paimon asked, eyes wide.
"Well, turns out the gods didn't like the 'screw you' part. So naturally, they pulled a classic divine hissy fit. Said, 'You know too much,' and then—BOOM. Whole nation turned to rubble. Your brother? Emotionally wrecked. Now chilling with the Abyss Order. Possibly their prince. Definitely dramatic. Probably journals his feelings with a feather quill."
Lumine looked like her brain was buffering.
"Wait... so he saw all that go down?"
"Yup. Front row seat to the apocalypse. Probably had popcorn. Or trauma. Probably trauma. Might've gotten PTSD and a glow-up in the same century."
Paimon scratched her head. "So he's... with the Abyss now?"
"Yeah. But don't worry. He's watching you. Real helicopter sibling vibes. You're like, the only thing that makes him smile probably. Like a cat video in the middle of a war. He might be burning kingdoms on Tuesday but checking your status on Thursdays."
Paimon blinked. "That's... sweet? Paimon think so?"
"Oh yeah, real Hallmark card energy if the card was dipped in abyssal corruption. But he did traveled with Dainsleif for a while though."
Lumine narrowed her eyes. "Okay but who's this Dainsleif you keep talking about?"
I paused. Dangerously.
"Oh that guy? Yeah, Khaenri'an. Broody. Mysterious. Wears a cape like he's auditioning for a gothic fashion show. Not a fun guy. Definitely allergic to sunlight and good vibes. But he looks good though. Like, objectively. He's got that brooding anime swordsman aesthetic down to a science."
"...Is he friend or foe?" Lumine asked, tilting her head.
"Yes."
"What?"
"Exactly."
Lumine groaned. Paimon was now looking like she needed a notebook.
"Okay, okay, last question," Paimon said. "Why can't you tell us more?"
I shrugged. "Because if I do, Dainsleif will show up in the middle of the night and strangle me with his cape. That dude lives for the lore drops, alright? He appears like once a year to keep the story spicy. If I do it for him, he's out of a job. Gotta be respectful."
"But—"
"Nope. Enough questions. I'm hungry, I haven't had a proper bath in three days, and I'm 93% sure something crawled into my sleeve and died."
"Wait, WHAT?!"
"Anyway, let's head back. My feet hurt, I smell like ancient trauma, and I need meat. Real meat. Preferably roasted. With spices. And a chair."
"Who even says 'and a chair' like it's a delicacy?" Paimon muttered.
"People who haven't sat down in four hours, Paimon."
And so, with the sun setting behind us like the end of a badly written soap opera, we headed back. Me, clutching my berry stash. Lumine, pondering everything. Paimon, probably thinking about food again. And the world? Still burning in lore we barely understand.
But don't worry. I've got bath plans.
And dinner plans.
And plot-ruining knowledge I'm absolutely not allowed to share.
Yet.
_____________________________________________________
End of Chapter 10
Quest Completed: Mission Improbable: Lore Dump, Cliff Edition
Rewards: +300 Lore Knowledge, Suspicious Berries ×5, Apple of Existential Crisis ×2, and +1 Step Closer to Stealing Dainsleif's Job.