One plus three equals four

"~♪"

Atop the hillside gazebo near the edge of the cliff, with the view of the stone forest where the adepti resides as well as the giant tree with a part of it's branch frozen solid, the sound of a guitar beings strummed as well as the low singing coming from Xinyan accompanied our rest as we enjoyed the slight warm coming from the mid morning sun and the slightly chilly wind coming our direction.

As opposed to the expected sound of an electric instrument, the axe-guitar currently resting against her thighs, positioned in such a way as to not accidentally hurt herself, is currently playing a rather muted melody according to the deft movements of her fingers, sliding back and forth across the fretboard. Despite that, she still managed to convey the spirit of rock and roll that she herself embodied quite well.

Laying against the soft grass, I stared at the empty skies, enjoying the somewhat familiar yet still undeniably foreign tune Xinyan plays, reminding me of the many times I've traveled in the past, accompanied by the various music I can no longer listen to. Something that I dearly miss, now that there's not much to do to pass the time other than training or conversing, which, to someone like me, gets tiresome very quickly.

"~♪"

Sitting atop the wooden fence surrounding the gazebo, Lumine and Xinyan sat next to each other, with Lumine listening intently to the music being played while the white fairy sits on her shoulders, laying her small head against the blonde, swaying as she desperately fights the creeping sleepiness.

Xinyan, on the other hand, looks as if nothing else around her exists, her sole focus was on her guitar, as she continued her singing in a soft voice, careful to not agitate the Milleliths nearby as she puts her everything into this performance.

"~♪"

With a final strum of her guitar, she finished the last of her song. As her performance ended, Lumine and I gave her a well deserved round of applause, causing her cheeks to redden as she rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment.

"That was amazing, Xinyan." Lumine praised.

"Yep, I loved every second of it." I said, as I sat myself up. "I imagine there's quite a lot who'd line up to watch you live, huh?"

"Hehe, I've got some dedicated fans, that's for sure. I'm just glad you enjoyed them, I know rock's not doing too hot over here in Liyue."

"Let me guess, too loud?"

"'An awful racket not fit for human ears' or so they say." Xinyan said, sheathing her guitar as a brief look of disappointment crossed her face. "That's why I always appreciate folks like you who do enjoy my performance."

"Well, your performance is great, there's no denying that." Following her encouragement, Lumine pats Xinyan's shoulder. "So don't look so down, okay?"

Smiling at her words, a smile slowly crept up the rockstar's face.

"Thanks, Lumine."

While the two of them continued chatting, I laid back down in the soft grass, staring at the sky as I fell back to my routine of creating shapes once again.

Once the two of them finished their talk, Lumine jumps down from the wooden fence and stretches her body, startling Paimon and causing her to suddenly be jolted awake.

"Oh, sorry Paimon, I forgot you were sleeping."

"Fwah… it's okay." She said, covering a yawn as she wipes her eyes and carefully stabilizes herself. "Are we going now?"

"Yep." Wrapping an arm around Xinyan, she leads the half-awake Paimon by her hand and walks closer to me. "Do you mind if Xinyan comes with us?"

"Not really." After picking up my bag and putting on my hat, I turned my attention towards the rockstar. "Are you sure? I thought you were looking for inspiration here or something."

"I was." She said nonchalantly. "But I thought tagging along with you folks for some adventure might just give me the spark I needed, and I don't really have any performances scheduled for a while. Besides, it'll be a lot of fun, don't you think?"

"Well, with you and your music accompanying us, things would be a lot more lively, I suppose. But just to make sure, you can fight, right?"

"Of course!" At her reply, she suddenly pulls out her axe-guitar again, showing it off to me with a proud smile on her face. "This lovely little thing ain't just for music, you know? It's been through so many modifications that I lost count!"

"You do realize we're not trying to kill anyone, right?"

"I know, I know, don't worry. This thing on its own is sturdy as a rock! I've tried it before, so I'd know."

"I see. In that case, welcome to the club, I guess."

As soon as I gave her my reply. Lumine clapped her hand rather loudly, gathering our attention.

"Good. Now that we have Yuu's approval," just like before, she smiles as she offers Xinyan her hand, which the rockstar takes without hesitation, giving her a toothy grin in return, "welcome to the party, Xinyan."

"Ahaha, I appreciate the warm welcome."

"Of course!" With a last pat on the rockstar's shoulder, Lumine began leading the rest of us forward. "As the leader of this new party, it's imperative that I make sure that the newcomer feels welcomed."

"Who woke up and decided that you'll be the leader?"

"I did. Why, would you like to be one, Yuu?"

"Nope."

Reaching the end of the cliff, Lumine walked towards the edge and looked down towards the bottom, briefly looking over the area before turning towards Paimon.

"Was it that one, Paimon?"

Checking over the map one more time, Paimon nodded at Lumine's question. "Close. It's over there on that island thingy, the one with the tree."

"Hmm." Rubbing her chin in thought, Lumine suddenly turns toward Xinyan. "Do you have a wind glider?"

"Got one right here." Pulling a string from her back, a reddish gold wing suddenly unfurled before closing. "I was planning to glide down after I finished my business here."

"Great!"

"Whoa!"

Without any prior warning, my hat was suddenly taken off and I was swept off my legs, as I find myself being princess carried for the first time in my life.

"Let's not waste any time then!"

By reflex, both of my hands were already wrapped around Lumine's neck as she started running towards the edge of the cliff.

"Are you crazy?!"

"Just this one time!"

The moment she jumped and the moment gravity started to take hold, I could feel adrenaline coursing through my body, similar to the times I would reluctantly ride a rollercoaster back in the day, as well as the rushing of the wind as we came closer and closer towards the ground.

Safe to say I did not miss this feeling at all.

"I swear to god, Lumine, if I die because of your stupid stunt—!"

"Relax, Yuu! Everything will be just fine!"

"I don't feel fine at all!"

With no control over the fall whatsoever, I gathered as much anemo energy as I could just in case something went wrong.

Thankfully, at the sound of something unfurling, a sudden jolt upwards broke our fall as we slowly started to glide down, moving closer towards our destination at a steady pace.

"I… am so… going to kill you for that."

"No you won't. And stop exaggerating, you fly all the time. At high speed, no less."

"I said it before, and I'll say it again, having control over my own movements is different than having to rely on something unreliable!"

"Ouch. Unreliable? Come on, Yuu, have some confidence in me."

"I'll consider it if you warn me the next time you're about to jump off a cliff!"

Glancing behind Lumine, I saw Xinyan carrying Paimon in her hands, following the two of us not far behind.

The moment we touched down, I quickly separated myself from her. Before I could sigh in relief, I collapsed towards the ground, before quickly propping my body up with my hands as I waited for my legs to stop shaking.

"Oh god, my heart."

"You're a puppet, do you even have one?"

"No, but that's not really the point." Pushing myself off the ground, I stabilize myself for a bit before walking towards Lumine and snatching my hat from her head. "Don't ever do that again unless it's an emergency."

"I get it, I get it."

"No you don't. Come here you little shit."

"Wah!"

Putting her head into a headlock, I grind my knuckles against her head in annoyance.

"Let me just drill this into that thick skull of yours…!"

"Ah! It hurts, goddammit! Let me go!"

"Just let me get my point across and we're all good to go!"

"I get it, I get it! Just, get off of me!"

Relaxing my grip on her head, she pushes herself off of me, catching her breath as she rubs her head while fixing her hair simultaneously.

"Well, now that that's out of the way–"

Before I could continue, I suddenly felt myself being tackled to the shallow water behind us.

"Payback time, you bastard."

Before I could react, her hands started to make their way towards the side of my stomach before her fingers started jabbing itself directly into it.

"Ahaha! Stop it! Ahahahaha!"

"How do you like that?"

"Stop that, ahahaha! You're going to make me wet!"

"Oho? I didn't know you had that kind of interest, Yuu."

"From the waters, you fuck! The waters! Ahahaha!"

Eventually, I've had enough and decided to just blast her away from me, which ended up soaking both our clothes in water.

"Haa… fuck sake." Feeling the added weight of the water in my clothes, I controlled the surrounding wind to dry my clothes and hair. "Ugh, I hate this."

"Don't hog the winds to yourself!" Lumine shouted, as she ran back towards me.

Despite being blown away close to the tree, there doesn't seem to be a spot of dirt on her white dress.

"Well?" As she stood in front of me, she gave me a questioning look while spreading her arms wide open. "What are you waiting for? Blow me!"

"Phrasing!"

"You know what I mean!"

While the two of us were surrounded by the winds, Xinyan, who has apparently landed for quite some time now, decided to approach us once things calmed down.

"Are they always like this, Paimon?"

"Not always." She said with the map in tow as she flew out of Xinyan's grasp. "The only time that they're remotely close to being like this is that one time in Mondstadt when Lumine was being an idiot."

"I was just trying to have fun!"

"We were trying to steal something important, you idiot! And no, I know how it sounds, but we have a very good reason to do so, Xinyan."

Xinyan, who has her mouth halfway open in protest, decided to shelve her thoughts and listened to my explanation.

"I see." Pulling out a notebook from somewhere, she jotted down something before closing it. "You certainly had a grand old time, huh?"

"What did you just write?"

"Ah, this? Don't worry, this one's filled with whatever inspiration I came across. Gotta write them down before they disappear, you know?"

"So… nothing about us committing a crime, right?" Lumine asked in a worried tone.

"Relax." She laughs, as a sly smile appears on her face. "Why would I ever incriminate you two, when you're practically a walking fountain of inspiration for someone like me?"

"...I don't like the way you're saying it."

"Ahaha! Come on, I was just joking!"

"I've heard that one before."

"So what's next, leader?" Xinyan asked as she looked around the area. "There has to be something here if you're going out of your way down here."

"Of course. Which place exactly, Paimon?"

"Hmm… should be just right there." Paimon pointed towards the ground just several steps away from the bonsai-like tree.

"Well, what are you waiting for, Yuu?" Just like before, she threw another shovel at me. Thankfully, I was prepared for it this time around. "Start digging."

"Oh hey, where did that shovel come from?"

Suddenly, Lumine stops mid-shovel, the realization of what she had just done finally hits her. Not that I could blame her, I forgot that Xinyan isn't in the know about these things.

'Well shit. At least, we don't have to be all sneaky about it from this point.'

Glancing at Lumine who was desperately trying to signal me to say something as visible sweat started to run down her face, I decided to ignore her and looked away.

'Not my fault. Sorry princess, you're on your own on this one.'