Snowman 7

Legend of the Snowman-Mancer 7

Euri Lawrence

Descending from the peak of Vindagnyr atop dragonback was a unique, indescribable experience. The horizon was so far away, stretching out past the borders of Mondstadt to Liyue and beyond. It seemed as though all of Teyvat was spread out before us, all its treasures and mysteries open for the taking.

I’d ridden Durin before, of course, but not like this. There was something special about this, singular flight, something momentous. This was it, the culmination of my nine years of self-imposed exile. The countless hours of preparation, of enchanting and experimenting with the Anemo gnosis and Cryo magic, were about to pay off.

Or maybe, it was my sister who made this special. She nestled behind me, clinging onto my torso for dear life. I felt lightheaded in a way that had nothing to do with the cool air and altitude.

Did I mention how absurdly strong my knight captain little sister was? Because she’s really fucking strong.

“Dovahkiin fah hin kogaan mu draal~Ack! Hrk!” I coughed out the last few words of the song, desperately trying to get Eula to release me. I grew handholds from Durin’s body, the snow readily obeying me to form chains that locked us in place.

“You’re dedicated to music if nothing else, brother,” Eula said primly. She let go, finally switching to grab something a lot less squeezable than my poor lungs. Of course, she acted as if she hadn’t just tried to evict my soul from my body like the last dregs of toothpaste. “Did you compose that just for today?”

“Hrk! Oww…” I massage my poor ribs. “Yes, it’s a song about the Dragonborn, a fabled hero of another world.”

“And are you the Dragonborn? Or is Durin?”

“Lumine, duh. I mean, she’s not here to kill Alduin, but she sure has no problem stealing elemental magic from Celestia.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Don’t mind, don’t mind,” I waved her off. Really, the view was splendid. It broadened the mind and made me feel as if anything was possible. I stood in my saddle and stretched out my arms, screaming as loud as I could. “WOOHOO!!!”

“▄▄▂▃▃▄▄▅▅!!!” Durin joined me. Happy as a clam, this one. His was more of an earth-shaking, cloud-scattering roar than a cheer, but I couldn’t begrudge him a bit of harmless fun.

If a few people down below pissed themselves, great. If they happened to be the first of the Fatui agents scoping out my mountain, doubly great.

I could practically hear my sister roll her eyes behind me. “Really, brother?”

“Why not? My self-imposed exile is over. I’ve got an awesome familiar. And, I get to make an entire country’s worth of people collectively piss themselves with existential terror. Today is a good day.”

“I feel that your time as a hermit has only worsened your eccentricities, and not in a good way.”

“Give it a try, sister. Shouting to the wind is an incredible way to get things off your chest.”

“I’ll pass. One of us must retain a sense of propriety.”

“Suit yourself.” Shrugging, I spread my arms out again and shouted, “Oh yeah! Fuck you, Amber! Who’s gliding now? This son of a bitch right here! You said sleighs aren’t gliders? Fine, my glider’s a motherfucking dragon!”

“Really, brother? Are you still on about that? That was five years ago!”

“Fuck yes! Deny me my gliding license, will she? Sleighs are too gliders!”

“They’re not. Your sleigh is a deathtrap.”

“Sush, Eula. Let me have this!”

“As you will, brother,” she said, indulgently patting my back.

Truly, today was a good day.

X

Lumine

Today was not a good day.

Jean sent Lisa, Amber, Kaeya, and I to investigate the ley line disruptions around some temples. They were historically important to Mondstadt, though I wouldn't have known that judging by their ruined states. I didn’t mind the ruin-diving, it was part of the adventuring experience, but the dragon looming over our heads made everything so much more stressful.

Then, as if that overly complicated hiking trip wasn't enough, Paimon and I met Venti, Barbatos himself, skulking around in front of the cathedral like a rat. His cathedral, might I add.

It was wild. I now had to come to terms with the fact that the “God of Freedom” was a lazy, homeless drunkard whose sole contribution to the nation he presumably ruled over was as a connoisseur of wine.

No wonder Jean looked so overworked. The Knights of Favonius was the closest thing Mondstadt had to a ruling body and their grandmaster up and left with the majority of their forces. Far be it for me to judge, but Mondstadt had to be one of the least functional nations I’d ever been to in all my travels.

“We need the Holy Lyre der Himmel if we want to rescue Dvalin,” Venti said. “It’s my lyre, the one I used to play when Mondstadt was first founded. With it, I can channel enough Anemo energy to purify Dvalin’s corruption. You know, that thing I was trying to do when you interrupted me.”

“You don’t have to guilt-trip me, you know,” I grumbled. “How was I supposed to know you were busy smooth-talking the dragon?”

“Well, in any case, we need the lyre.”

“It’s not my fault that a certain god isn’t recognizable by his own worshipers. Really, can’t you descend on a tornado or something?”

“Ehehe… Would you believe me if I said I’m actually the weakest Archon?” he laughed sheepishly. Really, Venti was just about the most unreliable god I’d ever met. It was better than him being a tyrant, but that was a low bar. “I was really hoping they’d give me the lyre.”

“Now what?”

“Well, there is only one thing we can do.”

I recognized that look. My older brother had the same look in his eyes whenever he was about to do something reckless. “We’re going to steal it, aren’t we?”

“We’re going to steal it,” he confirmed shamelessly. Here he was, the God of Wind, Freedom, and apparently, grand larceny as well.

Joy.

My palm met my forehead with an audible slap. “A god… is stealing his own holy relic… from his own cathedral…”

“Well, when you say it like that, anything can sound ridiculous.”

“I… Whatever. How are we going to do that? I mean, the Cathedral is always guarded by knights, right?”

“And you’re the Honorary Knight of Favonius,” he pointed out. “How about you pretend you’re the one on shift?”

“That’s not how that works. I’m an adventurer, not a knight. Besides, they all know each others’ schedules.”

“Then we’ll have to sneak in.”

“Ooh! Paimon has an idea!” my travel guide and emergency ration said. “What if we make a distraction somewhere?”

“That might work. Now that you mention it,” Venti hummed, “I know someone who’d be perfect for the job. And hey, here he is now.”

I looked around and saw no one. “Huh? Where?”

Just then, an earth-shaking roar resounded throughout the city. It was nearly deafening, a tangible force that made my bones shake and teeth ache. The bell above the knights’ headquarters began to toll, a warning for all that danger was coming, not that anyone could possibly mistake the motherfucking dragon flying towards us.

I’d heard it before, from other worlds I’d walked. It was the roar of a beast far, far larger than nature ever intended, an apex predator that had no need to hide. Teyvat was hardly the only world with dragons, just like it wasn’t the only world with humans.

My sword materialized in my hand. Venti didn’t seem alarmed, but then again, he was Venti, god of drunkards.

There, far off still, was a bright, white glimmer that reflected the sun in a cloudless sky. It looked like a tiny cloud at first, but that was the distance playing tricks on my eyes. As it drew near, its true size was revealed. It was as large as the Favonius Cathedral, almost twice Dvalin’s size.

And there was music, actual musical accompaniment, to the arrival of a dragon. I considered myself a well-traveled gal, but that did it. I was officially confused.

“Let's sing a song full of hope, full of pain,
Why don't you sing along my friend, for it's our last refrain~”

“T-That’s really big,” Paimon said nervously. “Dragons don’t eat Paimons, right?”

“I don’t think you’d be a snack, never mind emergency food,” I muttered dryly.

Venti ran up the steps of the cathedral, hands waving above his head happily. He was even humming along to the music. “Hey! Over here!”

The dragon landed above us, curled around the Statue of the Seven like a giant cat. I ran after Venti, praying to any god listening that I wouldn’t have to fight a second dragon.

“Forever young, ever strong, ever brave,
Memories like this never end, no, they don't fade away~”

When I caught up, I saw that the dragon had two riders. They were a pair of twins, one man and one woman, like Aether and I. They were each incredibly beautiful, with fairy-like features and light-blue hair that framed perfect, alabaster skin. Like my brother and I, I noticed that the man had longer hair than the woman, his hair kept in a shaggy wolf’s tail behind his head.

He was also the one singing. Him, and a whole host of little snowmen that were bouncing along on the dragon’s back. He sang like no one was watching, holding out a mic made of ice for his sister, only to be pushed away with an exasperated sigh.

He didn’t let that get to him though. He hopped off his mount, twirling and dancing, until he reached Venti and I. Venti, being the bard he was, joined in with the song and began to strum his lyre.

“So when I'm gone, oh when I'm gone,
I'll be right there, close to the sun,
Keep holdin' on, keep holdin' on,
And I'll be right there, close to the sun,

I raised my sword cautiously, but immediately lowered it again when I saw the crest on the woman’s breast. She was a knight of Favonius, though that raised several new questions.

Chiefly, if they had a fucking dragon rider, how was it that Kaeya, their calvary captain, couldn’t even afford a horse?

I didn’t allow myself to relax completely. The knights who had been guarding the cathedral were on edge. They obviously recognized the woman, but none of them seemed to like her much. They all looked like they’d swallowed a lemon.

Then, as I looked on, the dragon shrank several sizes until it was only as big as a housecat. It was exactly like watching snow be compacted.

The dragon hopped onto the man’s shoulder as he continued his duet with Venti. Until finally, he looked at me.

“Keep holdin' on, keep holdin' on,
And I'll be right there, close to the sun,

Close to the sun~”

The song ended and he dipped to one knee. His mic twirled in his hand, morphing into a beautiful, crystalline flower that was a perfect match for the ones in my hair. He held it out to me with a warm, earnest smile that made my face warm and heart beat.

“Lumine, Traveler from a Distant Star, you are the one. You are the light of my life, the hope for this world. In all the nations of Teyvat, there is none like you,” he said. The square fell silent as people realized what was happening, but I was no longer paying attention. The world shrank to just me and him. “All your highs and lows, your greatest joys and deepest sorrows, I want to experience them with you. If you would have me, I would accompany you unto the Sea of Flowers at the End.”

I froze.

My face burned as I tried to process this mess.

I knew I was pretty. Both Aether and I heard enough compliments to that effect. We’d had our fair share of admirers throughout our travels. On occasion, we’d even had lovers, cherished friendships that blossomed into something more before inevitably wilting away in time.

But never had a stranger randomly proposed to me!

I didn’t know how to react. Nothing had prepared me for a strange, handsome guy to swoop down on dragonback, serenade me with a song, and then ask to spend the rest of his life with me.

“H-Huh? W-What? I-I don’t…” I stammered. Never mind speaking calmly, I wasn’t sure I could stay on my own feet for much longer.

He was undeterred. He reached out and took my hand in his. His gaze was magnetic, pools of ice that sucked me in. “Do you believe in destiny? You’re the one who’s always been on my mind. I would make the greatest days of your past, be the least of your future. Will you grant me the privilege of walking by your side?”

“I-I-I don’t…”

Before I could make an even bigger fool of myself, his twin stalked over and slammed a gloved fist into her brother’s head, driving him into the paved ground. She dusted off her hands with an imperious sniff.

“Hmph! When will you stop causing misunderstandings, brother?” she demanded. “How many times must I tell you to mind the time and place before you mess with someone?”

“Oww,” he moaned. Other than the sizable goose egg on his head, he looked completely fine. “Hey, now, I am minding the time and place, Eula.”

“Oh?”

“Yup! Good humor is about managing expectations. And, I wouldn’t get a better crowd than just after Durin makes landfall. See? I’m managing time and pla–Ow! Stop hitting me, woman!”

“No! Sit still and take your punishment!”

“For what?”

“For playing with a maiden’s heart!”

The twins, dragon still wrapped around the man’s neck like an oversized scarf, ran off into the distance. The pulsing heartbeat that wouldn’t still only moments before died like a torch quenched in a lake, leaving only sad disappointment in its wake.

Sighing, I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Give me back my expectations, damnit…”

“Ehehehe…”

“You shut it, Venti.”

“Hey, in his defense…”

“Yes…?”

“He’s a wonderful distraction.”

Author’s Note

I could’ve copied the dialogue directly from the Archon Quest, but opted not to. It’s more fun this way.

Personally, I never liked the innocent, blank slate interpretation of Aether/Lumine. The two are said to have traveled countless worlds. They’re not naive, helpless toddlers who need to be spoonfed information by Paimon. They have their own frame of reference.

For example, one conversation between Paimon and the Traveler has them talking about how alchemy is a publicly available practice on Teyvat. They were surprised to see alchemy stalls open on the street because in other worlds they’ve been to, alchemy’s usually been a secretive art.

Song is “Close to the Sun” by FatRat.