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“Ugh, Paimon doesn’t get it! What did Nahida mean that she was the Dendro Archon but also not the Dendro Archon? That doesn’t make sense!” Lumine felt a little stumped herself when who she thought was the Dendro Archon said that Dottore had in a way, got the gnosis from her but at the same time, didn’t. While Lumine was a little faster at catching onto things than her flying companion, what she couldn’t quite grasp was when it had happened and how .
“If you really want to look for yourself, the real Dendro Archon’s domain is currently in Gandharva Vile. They keep themselves very well hidden away for safety, so look carefully.”
That was the only information she’d been given but it wasn’t that much of a stretch. Domains had a certain aura to them, even the smaller ones with no official entrances. The confusing part was that she’d combed through the entire village and didn’t recall seeing anything like a domain in or around the place, which meant a few things actually.
Paimon complained again so Lumine quickly hushed her. “We need to be quiet about this, Paimon. I don’t think anyone here even knows that there’s a domain here to begin with which is really important.” The floating fairy frowned and crossed her arms as she thought.
Must hurt.
“How is it important though?”
“It means that Nahida knows she’s playing a role right now and the real Dendro Archon doesn’t care that the people of Sumeru consider her to be the Archon. Another thing, if I couldn’t even sense a domain here despite the fact that we’ve both combed through this village that means they likely don’t want to be found whatsoever. Last but not least, if the former Akasha system was powered by the gnosis and it was shut down by Nahida, then that means they’re able to communicate. They might have been able to communicate to one another this whole time but the sages were blocking them.”
“I mean those are all very valid points but Paimon doesn’t understand why the Archon didn’t help Nahida.”
That was a good question and one Lumine was interested to know too but first they had to locate the entrance to this blasted domain. When the village itself offered no clues, they went to the surrounding area and to Lumine’s surprise, they had stumbled upon a gazebo. Made of stone, marble maybe? It was hard to tell because of the vines that twirled around the pillars to settle and amass on the dome.
It was intact and it looked a little too clean to be tucked away in the forest like this with no way for someone to get to it. She’d seen these purple wisteria flowers in Inazuma but these were white and oddly enough, they shimmered a little. There was no decay and the dendro energy was nearly suffocating. Lumine used her elemental sight and everything about the gazebo was lit up in the familiar green light. “This is it, it has to be the entrance.”
“Oookkay but how do we get in?” Paimon huffed and floated around. Lumine walked in and was about to give the fairy a snippy response when the floor lit up and she lost all sense of her surroundings.
It took her a minute to realize that she was still standing in a completely white space but Lumine could start to see shapes taking form. No, it wasn't a white space but mist that surrounded her. Heavy but nothing like the dark fog of Tsurumi Island, the atmosphere was completely different. The gazebo was the same except for a few details. Among the white flowers now hung crystals that cast tiny rainbows all around her. It felt whimsical and fairytale like. Random little knick-knacks sat about with piles of books undamaged by the moisture in the air. Some looked old while others look very new.
There was a path leading into the domain no doubt and so very carefully, she and Paimon made their way through the mist before the sunlight broke through the patch of fog. Gasps of surprise and shock at the sight before the two.
It was a castle that was quite tall with a low wall. Surrounded by fields of crops, a little bit of everything. She could see four domes on the low wall surrounding the castle, the roofs reminding her of a lotus. There was another dome that connected the castle to the fields. Lumine could see two massive trees where perhaps there should have been domes, but they sat on each side of the path leading up to the massive doors to the inner courtyard. Silent guardians that Lumine suspected were quite ancient.
Even the talkative Paimon was rendered speechless as they approached the doors that were open. An invitation? The roar of the waterfall wasn’t too loud oddly enough, not quite a gentle bubbling brook, but it wasn’t too overwhelming. The mist was gathered up by the trees in the inner courtyard, beautiful flowers and fruit hung heavily on their branches. They looked divine with water droplets coating them, making them look extremely tempting. Despite the mist from the waterfall being so prevalent, only the wall behind it was covered in moss.
Lumine couldn’t help but take a closer look at the tiny explosion of little flowers of every color that grew on the moss. The cobblestone at her feet was wet but not slippery. This place was filled with life, from birds she’d never seen before to the large sleepy jungle cats that seemingly didn’t have a care in the world. In fact they looked quite fat.
Scattered about, she could see mushrooms too. Some looked very familiar while others seemed a little too otherworldly. They finally found a door that led to the inside of the castle. The first big room looked like a place of storage, a small pool of crystal clear water. Despite its depth, she could still see the very bottom. While Paimon was looking around the room, Lumine spotted stairs and made her way up into a room that stole her breath. An inner garden filled with delicate flowers that crept up the walls and a door off to the side while the stairs continued on.
The stairs going up were briefly connected to a floating chunk of earth covered in grass and more tiny flowers, blue this time. As one went further up, the stairs were connected with another chunk of earth, but this particular one was meant to catch the steady fall of water from above as it landed in the small pool before traveling to fall into what could only be a drain far, far below. She kept going, her curiosity too great to ignore and came upon the first dead end. A chamber with a massive fountain at its center that fed the large and quiet waterfall outside. It also fed into the area below the fountain, patches of water that were still connected but also separated by a tiny stone ridges that once again was made into the pattern of a lotus.
Different flowers floated in the separate areas, some she knew because Tighnari had taught her a few of them. Lumine stepped out to look at the very start of the large waterfall. There was one more level above her, but she wasn’t sure how to get to it before she thought back to the other door she’d seen in the indoor garden. That had to be the way to reach the very last level.
Making her way back down, she saw that Paimon had finally made her way out of the storage room and was looking around the indoor garden with stars in her eyes. “Through these doors, Paimon.” Lumine said as she zipped down the stairs. The door led to more stairs but at the end there were only a few rooms that were firmly locked. So once again they made their way down and instead stepped out to see that the way up was actually on the outer layer, the path sweeping up and around leading into the thick grove of trees that had covered the top of the castle. Another little pond teeming with tiny fish and a much smaller gazebo that looked like it was about to be swallowed up by the trees sat next to it, filled with books that looked old and fragile. Some of the titles, she couldn’t even read.
The final gazebo that sat at the very top of the castle had a tree growing on top of it, its branches full of more delectable fruit. The floor was a scene, possibly from a city that had been lost to time. At the very center stood…
“Huh, Tighnari?” Paimon blurted out.
The fox hybrid laughed and while he most certainly sounded like Tighnari, he looked very different. He still had his distinct patches of bright green in his hair, however the base color along with his ears and tail were a startling white, much like Nahida’s. His eyes were no longer the hazel green color but just a bright and clear green.
That spring green, young and golden, full of vitality.
“Sit.” he commanded and with a wave of his hand seats made out of vines were created before them. Even a tiny one for Paimon. “I’m sure you’re quite confused right now.”
“A lot confused, actually.” The fairy huffed but happily sat in the chair made just for her. Once they all sat down, Lumine could not contain herself anymore.
“You were the Dendro Archon from the very beginning?”
“The very, very beginning? Goodness no, I’m old but not that old.” He chuckled. “To put it simply, I was just a young familiar to King Deshret while he was in his spiral of despair, I was also there when she had to step in and help him rid the desert of the forbidden knowledge. My people and I were saved thanks to the Dendro Archon’s grace, but in my reawakening, my own power was significant enough that I gained a dendro Vision. Kusanali took me in as her most trusted advisor. It was then we noticed that some of the taint of the forbidden knowledge had remained within her at the time so we were unsure of what to do.”
Lumine’s nerves were on fire as she listened to him. On the surface he was definitely talking about Nahida… or was he? She looked into his eyes and there was a knowing twinkle there. “You were given the gnosis but Kusanali remained the leader of the nation?”
“Correct. We were both fearful that with the forbidden knowledge still known to her at the time, how catastrophic it would be for not only the avatar of Irminsul tree itself to perish, but also a god. I’m sure you’ve learned in your travels that when a god dies, a mark is left in its place. So I was given the gnosis and became the archon while Nahida simply kept up the image while searching for a way to heal the Irminsul tree. To make sure we covered all bases in case of suspicion, I made a perfect copy of the gnosis. They probably won't figure it out immediately but at some point they will.”
Paimon huffed angrily. “So why didn’t you help Nahida back then?”
A dangerous look glittered in Tighnari’s eyes as he stared down at the fairy. “Do you think so little of me that I would just leave my friend and fellow co-ruler of Sumeru to be captured by those stupid sages without a fight?” Paimon shrank while looking incredibly sheepish at that moment. “The sages got the news before me as to what happened. I did my best to be the first to meet her but those sages had beaten me to the punch. I also couldn’t just appear and say that I was actually the dendro archon out of the blue, now could I?”
“O-ooooh.”
“Is the gnosis the reason for your coloration too?” Lumine asked. It actually looked good on him.
“Yes. When I took the gnosis the power bleached my brand new dark fur coloration. The Tighnari you see outside of this domain is also me, I’ve just used my power to revert to my old self to blend in. Every few generations I’ll grow ‘old’ and disappear into this domain and sleep for a time before reemerging. I find a set of ‘parents’ and solidify my identity. It’s how I was able to escape the detection of the sages while also being right under their large noses to see if I could find and locate Nahida.”
“But you never could.”
“No, but then a Traveler from afar came to Gandharva Vile smelling like starlight came along and with the help of some fellow individuals just wanting to do the right thing, they made a plan and managed to free my old friend at last.” Tighnari smiled. “You have my thanks.”
Lumine mulled it over before she blinked. “Wait… is that why Nahida sent the sages to all live here with you in Gandharva Vile?”
“Very clever. She showed them mercy but I am not Nahida.” His smile took a very scary turn.
“I assume with that very same logic, why you were able to handle the false god’s lightning.”
Tighnari's smile lost its scary edge, much sweeter, his eyes softening. “It still hurt but yes, I was able to recover much faster than your normal individual. It’s a shame I couldn’t go all out on the Doctor but I’ll get my chance another day. I’m just thankful that Collei now has one less burden to carry with her Elezar taken care of.”
They talked a little more until Paimon got hungry. Tighnari gave the fairy permission to get some of the food in the storage room. It was now just the two of them. When she was certain that Paimon was gone and out of hearing range did she ask if he remembered her .
“I felt the shift from Irminsul myself and I know for certain who you might be talking about, but it's not coming to me. It’s like when something is on the very tip of your tongue but you can’t recall what exactly. I suspect the gnosis is helping me somewhat but I also suspect that somewhere, I have a book that has the truth. However… if I think about it logically and what she might have wanted, I pray that I never find that book.” There was a deep sadness in his eyes then. A loneliness that felt old.
“Does anyone other than Nahida know?”
“Just you. I’d like to keep it that way. Can you imagine what Cyno would do? I would never be left alone and he would demand I move to Sumeru City so they could keep a close eye on me. I couldn’t live like that. I like it here. It keeps me busy and I can watch over my forest while Nahida watches over our people.” He shook his head, laughing at the scenarios that played out in his mind.
Lumine mulled over another question as she studied his face. “Can I come back here to visit with you?”
Tighnari’s sharp eyes met hers and for a long while they did not speak before he smiled. Sweetly… tenderly. “Just you. Leave Paimon with Collei.” She flushed at his boldness but why was she so surprised about it? Tighnari had always been straightforward with her in that regard. “The next question will be you asking to see my bedroom, yes?”
“Tighnari! ”
His laughter held her heart hostage and Lumine was thankful that while her first kiss with Tighnari was short, at least Paimon didn't see them.