The infirmary felt smaller with so many people in it, but not uncomfortably so. More like a gathering of friends around a hearth than a formal meeting. Jean had claimed the chair beside his bed with the practiced efficiency of someone used to taking charge, while Kaeya lounged against the wall with his characteristic smirk. Barbara hovered near the door, ready to shoo everyone out if her patient showed any signs of distress.
And Venti—the Anemo Archon, if Lumine was right—sat cross-legged on the windowsill like he owned the place, his lyre balanced casually across his knees.
"So," Haru said, his voice still rough from two days of unconsciousness, "I'm guessing I missed some important conversations while I was out."
Venti's grin was equal parts mischievous and ancient. "Oh, just a few. Nothing too dramatic—only the fate of Mondstadt, the corruption of an ancient dragon, and whether or not the mysterious stranger who fell from the sky in a coffin is secretly a harbinger of doom."
"...Please tell me that last one was a joke."
"Mostly," Kaeya said dryly. "Though you have to admit, the entrance was a bit ominous."
Lumine squeezed his hand. "They're teasing you. Everyone knows you're one of the good guys now."
"After what you did during the Stormterror attack," Jean said, her voice warm with genuine gratitude, "there's no question about your character. You saved countless lives, Haru. The entire city is in your debt."
The praise made him uncomfortable—he'd just done what anyone would do, right? But the way everyone was looking at him, like he'd performed some kind of miracle...
"Speaking of Stormterror," Venti said, his tone shifting to something more serious despite the playful smile never leaving his face, "we need to talk about what happens next."
He strummed a few notes on his lyre, and the sound seemed to carry more weight than mere music. "Dvalin—that's Stormterror's real name—he's not evil. He's corrupted. There's a difference, and it's an important one."
"Corrupted how?" Haru asked, though something in the back of his mind whispered that he might already know the answer.
"Abyssal influence," Venti replied, and the temperature in the room seemed to drop a few degrees. "Something or someone has been poisoning his mind, turning his grief and pain into rage. But here's the interesting part—" His green eyes focused intently on Haru. "After your little light show two days ago, that influence... vanished."
"Vanished?"
"Completely. Like it was never there." Venti tilted his head, studying Haru with ancient curiosity. "The Abyss Order has abandoned Dvalin entirely. Which means either they got what they wanted, or..."
"Or they're afraid of something," Lumine finished, her grip on Haru's hand tightening slightly.
An uncomfortable silence settled over the room. Haru could feel everyone's eyes on him, and he had the distinct feeling that he was missing some crucial piece of information.
"So what does that mean for Dvalin?" he asked finally.
Venti's expression brightened immediately, the serious moment passing like a cloud over the sun. "It means we can save him! The corruption is still there—it'll take time to fade completely—but without the Abyss Order actively feeding it, we actually have a chance to reach him."
"We?" Haru raised an eyebrow.
"Oh yes, we!" Venti practically bounced on the windowsill. "You see, I had this whole elaborate plan involving 'borrowing' the Holy Lyre der Himmel from the cathedral—don't give me that look, Barbara, I would have returned it eventually—but given recent events, I think a more direct approach might be better."
"More direct how?"
"We walk up to Dvalin's lair and ask him nicely to stop terrorizing the city," Venti said with completely straight face.
The room erupted in various sounds of disbelief.
"That's your plan?" Kaeya asked.
"That's insane," Jean said.
"That's definitely going to get us killed," Barbara squeaked.
"That's perfect," Lumine said, grinning.
Everyone turned to stare at her.
"What?" She shrugged. "It's exactly the kind of impossible thing that somehow works when Haru's involved. I've seen him turn certain death into victory by accident twice now."
"I don't do it on purpose!" Haru protested.
"That's what makes it work," Venti laughed, clapping his hands together. "Oh, I like her. She understands the poetry of it all."
"There's nothing poetic about almost dying!"
"Says the man who literally fell from the sky in a coffin and then proceeded to dramatically pose his way through every crisis since," Kaeya pointed out.
"I don't pose!"
"You absolutely pose," Lumine said fondly. "It's adorable."
"I—" Haru opened his mouth to argue, then caught sight of his reflection in the window. Even now, propped up in the infirmary bed, his hair was somehow perfectly tousled and his unconscious posture could have been pulled from a heroic painting. "...Okay, maybe I pose a little."
The laughter that filled the room was warm and genuine, and Haru felt some of the tension leave his shoulders. These people—his friends—they weren't looking at him like some mysterious threat or divine champion. They were just... happy he was okay.
"So," Venti said once the laughter died down, "what do you say? Ready for another impossible adventure?"
Haru looked around the room—at Jean's determined expression, at Kaeya's amused confidence, at Barbara's worried but trusting smile, at Lumine's hand warm in his own.
"Yeah," he said. "Let's save a dragon."
The others filed out after that, leaving behind promises to return with more details about Dvalin's lair and strategies for approaching an ancient dragon without immediately becoming dragon food. Jean mentioned something about preparing supplies, Kaeya made a joke about writing his will, and Barbara fussed over Haru's bandages one more time before reluctantly following the Acting Grand Master out.
Venti was the last to leave, pausing at the door to give Haru a look that was far too knowing for comfort.
"Sweet dreams," the bard said with a wink, and Haru had the strangest feeling that the Archon knew exactly what kind of dreams he'd been having.
Then it was just him and Lumine.
"I should get you some food," she said, standing up and stretching. "Barbara said you need to eat something before you try moving around too much."
"Lumine."
She paused, looking back at him.
"Thank you. For staying with me."
Her smile was soft and warm and made his heart skip. "Always."
After she left, Haru found himself alone for the first time since waking up. The infirmary was quiet except for the soft sound of wind through the windows, and finally—finally—he had a chance to deal with the very insistent blue panel that had been flickering in his peripheral vision for the past hour.
He sat up carefully, his body still protesting the movement, and walked over to the window. The view showed Mondstadt spread out below, peaceful in the afternoon sunlight. No signs of the chaos from two days ago, no evidence of the battle that had nearly cost him everything.
"Okay, Echo," he said quietly. "What the hell happened to you?"
The system panel blazed to life with an enthusiasm that was almost overwhelming.
[OH MY GOSH, YOU'RE FINALLY TALKING TO ME!][Dude, I have SO MUCH to tell you! First off, I'm me now! Like, actually me! I have a personality and opinions and everything!][It's like I was sleeping before and now I'm AWAKE, you know?][Also, I think I might have accidentally absorbed some kind of ancient system fragment during your whole glowing-light-show thing, which is SUPER weird but also kind of cool?]
"Slow down," Haru said, rubbing his temples. "One thing at a time. What do you mean you absorbed something?"
[Okay, so you know how there was all that dark energy around during the fight? And you did that whole dramatic power-up thing that was absolutely AMAZING by the way?][Well, when you released all that light, it didn't just push the dark stuff away—it kind of... ate it? Absorbed it? I don't really know the technical term.][But some of that dark energy had system code in it. OLD system code. Like, ancient civilization old.][And when your power absorbed it, I absorbed it too, and now I'm... more.]
"More how?"
[Well, for starters, I can actually tell you your power level now! Wanna see?]
Before Haru could answer, a new panel appeared:
[CURRENT POWER ASSESSMENT][Physical Capability: Vision Bearer+ (Above average Vision user)][Elemental Mastery: Archon-tier (Wait, that can't be right...)][Aura Generation: Off the charts (Literally, I don't have a category for this)][Overall Threat Level: Harbinger-class][Note: These ratings are based on current observed capabilities. Your dual-element mastery is theoretically impossible, but here we are!]
Haru stared at the panel. "Harbinger-class?"
[In a good way! Mostly! You could probably take on most Vision users and give even experienced fighters a real challenge, but you're not gonna go crazy and try to take over nations, right?][Right?]
"Right," Haru said quickly. "Definitely not conquering anything. But Echo, about that dream I had—"
[Oh, the nightmare thing? Yeah, I felt that too. Creepy stuff. But I honestly don't know what it was.]
Haru's blood ran cold. "What do you mean you don't know?"
[I mean it felt... foreign? Like it came from somewhere else entirely. Maybe it's just your brain processing all the weird stuff that's happened lately?][I wouldn't worry about it too much. Probably just stress dreams!]
The fragments of the dream came rushing back—the burning city, the grief-stricken boy, the cold voice promising power in exchange for performance. But the details were already fading, like trying to hold water in his hands.
"Echo," Haru said slowly, "have you ever heard of anything like what I saw in that dream?"
[Nope! But hey, I'm still figuring out what I can do now. The good news is, I'm way more powerful than before! I can give you better abilities, better feedback, even tactical analysis in real-time!][Whatever that dream was about, I'm sure it's nothing to worry about!]
Before Haru could ask what that meant, he heard footsteps in the hallway outside. He quickly dismissed the system panels just as the door opened.
"Haru, I brought—oh."
Lumine stood in the doorway, a tray of food balanced in her hands, staring at him with a curious expression. He realized he was standing perfectly still by the window, probably looking like he'd seen a ghost.
Which, technically, he had.
"Sorry," he said, trying for casual and probably missing by several miles. "Just... looking at the view."
She set the tray down on the bedside table, her eyes never leaving his face. "Uh-huh. And does the view usually make you look like you've just learned the world is ending?"
"What? No! I was just... thinking."
"About?"
About strange dreams and ancient cities and a grief-stricken boy whose face I couldn't see clearly.
"About how lucky I am," he said instead, which wasn't entirely a lie. "To be here. With you. Alive."
Her expression softened immediately, and she stepped closer to him. "You scared me, you know. When you collapsed. I thought..."
"I know." He reached out and touched her cheek, marveling at how something so simple could feel so important. "I'm sorry."
"Don't be sorry for saving people, Haru. Be sorry for making me worry about losing you."
"I can work with that."
She laughed and stepped into his arms, and for a moment everything else faded away. The dreams, the systems, the ancient threats and impossible adventures—none of it mattered as much as the feeling of her warm and alive and safe in his arms.
"So," she said against his chest, "ready to eat something? Because Barbara will literally drag you back to bed if you don't, and she's stronger than she looks."
"Food sounds good," he admitted, realizing for the first time that he was absolutely starving.
They settled back on the bed together, Lumine curled up beside him as he worked his way through what appeared to be Barbara's idea of a recovery meal—which meant enough food for three people.
"Where's Paimon?" he asked around a mouthful of particularly good bread.
"Getting into an argument with Good Hunter's owner about proper seasoning techniques," Lumine said dryly. "She'll be back soon, probably with strong opinions about Mondstadt cuisine."
As if summoned by her words, the window burst open and a familiar fairy-like figure zoomed into the room.
"Lumine! You'll never believe what Paimon just—oh! Haru's awake!" Paimon did a little loop in the air, her enthusiasm infectious. "Paimon is so glad you're okay! Everyone was really worried, and Lumine barely ate anything while you were sleeping, and Barbara kept checking on you every hour, and—"
"Paimon," Lumine said gently, "breathe."
"Right! Breathing! Very important!" Paimon settled down to hover near the food tray, eyeing the leftovers hopefully. "So, what did Paimon miss? Please tell Paimon there's been some interesting drama while she was gone."
"Well," Haru said, sharing a look with Lumine, "apparently we're going to try to have a friendly conversation with an ancient dragon."
Paimon's eyes went wide. "Ooh! That sounds like terrible idea! Paimon loves terrible ideas! When do we start?"
And despite everything—the dreams, the warnings, the growing certainty that something dangerous was coming for him—Haru found himself laughing.
A / N: From now on, I will only upload 1 chapter per day maybe two if I am feeling it. Thats all!😁