Blossom: Again, just in case some people missed it: I decided to take down chapters 21-23 to revise them. Thank you for understanding :))

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Before Lumine had time to react, Ms. Whopperflower flicked her hand. The ice crystals in her halo spun towards Lumine, condensing into a block of ice that froze her in place.

"It won't hold for long,"  Ms. Whopperflower said, rushing to your side. "Little one, hang in there. I didn't go through all the pains of socializing for you to die on me."

She procured a flask of golden nectar from her sleeve, uncorked it, and shoved it to your lips. "Drink, quickly. It's Energy Nectar. A temporary fix for your injuries."

She shot a glance at the block of ice encasing Lumine, worry creasing her brow. "Quickly! She—"

Right on cue, there was a roar of anger from the block of ice, followed by a relentless cracking noise, as if Lumine were trying to smash her way out from inside. A screen popped up in front of your face, flashing yellow:

[The Player has used Ability: Keyboard Mash]

[The Player's Agility has increased! Duration
of Frozen has decreased by 1 second.]

In your pain-induced stupor, the words meant nothing to you. While Ms. Whopperflower cradled your head, you focused on drinking the flask of honey-sweet Energy Nectar, one sip at a time. Any more than that, and you'd likely vomit it back up. Gradually, you felt the prickling pain from your cuts fade, although you didn't know whether your injuries had actually healed or you just couldn't feel them anymore.

When the flask was drained, which was much sooner than you'd expected, you felt slightly better, which is to say that you felt like you'd been run over by a truck and mauled by a rabid Chihuahua several times. So, just another normal day in Teyvat for you!

There was a sound like a thunderclap, and shards of ice flew in all directions as Lumine broke free from her icy prison. "RAAAAAH—!" Ms. Whopperflower trapped her in another block of ice, muffling her shout of rage. You noticed that the icy-haired woman's face was flushed blue, and her eyes were dull.

"All I can do is delay her." Ms. Whopperflower glanced at you, a pained expression on her face. "I hate to leave you in this state, little one, but I have to hold her off. You have to go alone."

Go...? 

Your thoughts were interrupted by Ms. Whopperflower seizing your arm and yanking you to your feet. The world tilted dizzily.

Her silvery hair enveloped you in a cold embrace, and then she was shoving you away, into the trees. "Go as far as you can. I'll hold her off." Her red eyes flicked to the cracking ice. "Run! Now!"

You ran. The sound of your own noisy footsteps drowned out any sounds from behind. You had no idea if Lumine had broken out of the ice yet, or if she was giving chase, but you couldn't hear any footsteps. All you knew was that you had to keep running.

So you ran until your sides felt like they would burst. Every so often, you turned and headed in a different direction to throw off Lumine in case she was in pursuit. Why, oh why had you skipped P.E. at school so often?

Water. Water. I need water.

You hardly noticed your surroundings change as you ran. First the trees thinned to white-striped birches, then vanished altogether. The grass underfoot turned gray-brown, withered by frost.

Up ahead, you saw a ribbon of blue, bordered by snowy banks. A river! Plunging into the frigid water, you climbed on top of a piece of driftwood and closed your eyes, allowing yourself to fall asleep.

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"Look, look, sir! Over there! I see something on the river!" the young Fatui soldier called, pointing excitedly.

His superior, a tired Fatui agent, sighed, hand on his brow. "What now, Ivan? If it's another squirrel—"

"No, it isn't! You've got to see this, sir. It looks like... a child, floating on a piece of wood."

"A Mondstadtian child, do you think?" the superior asked, slightly more interested now.

"Must be," said the wide-eyed Ivan. His badge was on crookedly—he must be a relatively new recruit. "Should I bring them in, sir?"

"Yes. They'll freeze to death otherwise. Besides, the Lord Harbinger might be interested..."

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When you awoke, it was very cold. Your eyelashes were heavy with something icy and wet—snowflakes. A few feet in front of you, a campfire burned.

"Ah, you're awake!" an eager voice said. The first thing you noticed was the crooked blue-and-silver badge on his chest: four eyes, arranged like the petals of a flower. "Sir, they're awake!"

"Good." A second, deeper voice emerged from the shadows of a tent nearby, and a man in a long black coat stepped out. "I'll deal with this."

A scary grownup!

Without bothering to kneel down to talk to you, the grownup glared down at you. "Listen here, kid. You wandered too far from home and ended up here. Do you know what that means?"

You thought for a moment, then shook your head.

"It means you have to listen to us now. If you do not..." He made a warning gesture. "So tell me. You are from Mondstadt, no?"

You remained silent.

I won't tell the scary grownup anything! 'Cause Miss Ivy said not to talk to strangers.

"Answer me! What is your name?" demanded the grownup, his voice rising with anger.

You stayed silent.

"S-sir... maybe I could give it a try?" the boy with the crooked badge, who didn't look quite as old as a grownup, raised his hand. At the furtive nod from his superior, he crouched in front of you. "Hey, I'm Ivan. I'm a soldier from the Fatui. Have you heard of us?"

You shook your head. "No..."

"What! A child from Mondstadt who hasn't heard of the Fatui?" thundered the scary grownup.

"That's okay," Ivan said, smiling reassuringly. "We're a group of diplomats from Snezhnaya. We're here to save Mondstadt from the dragon." His chest puffed with pride. "I'm the newest recruit, and this is just my first mission, and I'm pretty lucky to have been dispatched, so—"

"Ivan," his superior said warningly. "Don't say too much."

"—ah, right... back to the topic. Before we take you back home to your parents, we need to get you back to camp and ask you a few questions. Right, sir?" Ivan turned to his superior, who nodded. He turned back to you and grinned. "See? Nothing to be afraid of. And since we'll be traveling together, we might as well become friends. What's your name?"

"(Y/N)..." you said, still a little suspicious of the nice boy.

"Nice to meet you, (Y/N). I'll bet you're hungry, huh? We have lots of food back at camp. Let's—"

He stared in surprise as you slipped your hand into his big, mittened one, hunger winning out over mistrust. "Let's go. (Y/N) wants food!"

While the scary grownup packed up the things and doused the campfire, muttering "Spoiled Mondstadtian kids..." under his breath, Ivan walked on ahead with you.

"The camp's not far. Our leader, the Lord Harbinger, is staying there. Can you believe it? A real Lord Harbinger!"

"What's dat?" you wondered.

"Oh, Harbingers? They're the strongest, the coolest, the best of all the Fatui! Although... don't tell anyone, but..." Ivan leaned down, his breath misting. "The one at the camp right now... he's a little shorter than I imagined a Harbinger would be. Don't tell him I said that, or he'll have my head!"

You giggled, trying to imagine the Lord Harbinger. In your head, you were imagining a sort of pot-bellied dwarf. "Short as (Y/N)?"

"Maybe a little taller."

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