Coppelia's mechanical body could recover vitality through recharging, but her soul was still human, not a true machine system, and needed to periodically enter sleep mode to restore her spirit.
The continuous, high-intensity battles of the day had kept her mind constantly taut. The sudden relaxation now caused her to unconsciously enter sleep mode.
Seeing Coppelia maintain a protective posture even in slumber, Columbina said nothing more and quietly walked to her side.
With a good portion of her strength recovered, Columbina decided to emulate how Coppelia had protected her before and keep watch for her through the night.
In the distance, the wolf and the boy who had been watching the commotion also noticed that the unsettling energy disturbance had vanished.
They exchanged a glance and hurried toward the crater.
...
When Coppelia's consciousness reactivated, the first thing that met her eyes was an unfamiliar, rough stone ceiling.
She was lying in a simple yet clean cave, cushioned by dry moss and some unknown, soft animal hide.
There were chisel marks on the cave walls, a few crude clay pots sat on a stone ledge to the side, and a pile of simple, cheap-looking tools and fabrics was tucked into a corner.
From outside the cave came the crackling sound of a fire and... the savory aroma of roasting meat.
Coppelia got up and walked out of the cave. The world outside was still a land of ice and snow, with a biting cold wind howling through a pine forest blanketed in thick snow.
In a sheltered spot before the cave entrance, the boy from last night was turning a large slab of meat roasting over a fire. Columbina sat beside him, holding a piece of cooked meat and nibbling on it in small bites, her cheeks puffed out.
"Miss, you're awake?" Lupus noticed her and gave a friendly nod. "Come have something to eat."
Columbina swallowed the food in her mouth and, with a touch of naivety in her tone, chimed in, "Her body is very special, she doesn't need to eat."
Lupus showed a surprised and curious expression. "How amazing."
Columbina seems more... lively? Coppelia walked to the fireside, sat down next to Columbina, and watched Lupus skillfully prepare the food.
"Miss, I don't think I've properly told you my name," Lupus said, looking up, his grayish-white hair shimmering in the firelight. "My name is Lupus."
"Hello, Lupus. I'm Coppelia." She gave a slight nod, then looked at the girl beside her. "Have you two already met?"
"Yes, Miss Columbina told me the story of your experiences over the last two days. It was very... exciting. I also told her some interesting stories from the wolf pack."
"Have you always lived with the wolf pack?" Coppelia asked, following the thread of conversation.
"Yes," Lupus's eyes dimmed for a moment but quickly recovered. "However, the king of the pack, Lord Andrius, wants me to leave the wolves and live with other people. I don't know why, but I'm trying to... It's just that I haven't been completely successful yet." His gaze flickered to the objects inside the cave.
Coppelia recalled the simple furnishings she had seen in the "room" and understood. She offered comfort, "I've heard that children who don't grow up in human society usually don't have an easy time with verbal communication. The fact that you can speak with us so fluently means integrating into human society surely won't be difficult."
"Miss Gunnhildr told me the same thing. She also said the reason I can't fully integrate isn't because I can't get along with humans, but because... I'm afraid to leave the wolf pack."
Gunnhildr? Hearing this familiar name, Coppelia began to analyze again.
The Gunnhildr Clan only took their ancestor's name as their family name after they overthrew the lonely king of the tower.
Decarabian had not yet been overthrown, so this name certainly didn't refer to a clan. The Gunnhildr Lupus mentioned was likely that very ancestor, one of the heroes who would one day raise the banner of rebellion and lay the foundation of Mondstadt's freedom.
But she quickly suppressed the stirrings in her heart. While it was exciting to meet a figure from the distant past in person, the whereabouts of those few meteorites were her greater concern right now.
"Lupus, those meteorites—besides the spot from last night, where else did they land?"
Lupus poked the fire with a wooden stick and recalled, "Most of them landed in the wilderness and were collected by the wolf pack. But another part... it's strange, they fell inside Mondstadt's storm wall." He looked up, his expression puzzled. "That storm wall is said to be able to block anything, yet it somehow failed to stop that meteorite."
Not stopped by the storm wall?
The storm wall was a barrier maintained by the God of Storms, Decarabian, with his divine power; it was obviously not easy to pass through. Did the power of the fragment itself surpass the gale of a god? Or... did Decarabian intentionally let it in?
If it was the former, the situation was tricky. Such a conspicuous object would have certainly attracted the attention of that god.
If it was the latter, that was even worse. It would mean Decarabian was likely aware of the meteorite's special power. What if he had already studied, utilized, or consumed it?
However, on second thought, even the King of the North Wind, Andrius, was helpless against it, so Decarabian probably couldn't handle those fragments easily either.
"There's something else I'm curious about," Lupus's voice interrupted her thoughts. "The power within those meteorites is something even the Wolf King has never seen, yet you were able to deal with them. That power... what exactly is it?"
"I want to know, too," Columbina said, suddenly looking up at Coppelia with curiosity.
Only then did Coppelia remember that she hadn't properly explained these things to Columbina yet. She gathered her thoughts and spoke in the most understandable way she could:
"This power is called 'Lunar Aegis Power,' a type of 'primordial elemental energy.' However, it's too primal and is incompatible with the current world's environment." Coppelia didn't mention the Heavenly Principles reshaping the world—who knew if those guys in the sky were listening. "Once this primordial element flows into nature, it causes elemental disturbances and drastic environmental changes, just as you saw. It must be controlled, or converted into a gentler form of elemental energy, to prevent undesirable outcomes."
"Did you start your journey to find this power?" Lupus pressed.
"Yes," Coppelia said, looking at Columbina with a gentle yet firm gaze. "Collecting this power is necessary to help Columbina get home."
"Home..." Lupus repeated in a low voice, seemingly reminded again of his own task of integrating into human society.
"Lupus, we must find the meteorite that fell into Mondstadt, and it's highly likely we'll have to meet with Decarabian." Her voice was clear and calm in the cold wind,
"Do you know how to get to Mondstadt?"
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