Before dawn, the eastern sky had yet to brighten.
Two slender figures passed quietly through the 'Goshawk's Trail,' entering Mondstadt proper and reaching an exit atop a cliff.
'Let's begin,' Coppelia said softly. She held out her hand, a wisp of Geo energy flowing from her palm to form a protective shield around them, its color similar to the cliff face to serve as camouflage.
'Mm,' Columbina placed her hands gently on Coppelia's shoulders, and a feeling of weightlessness instantly enveloped them both. Their light bodies lifted off the ground, and they slowly drifted down along the steep cliff face.
The two landed deep within an alleyway. The alley was empty, and from a distance, they could occasionally hear a few faint coughs or the creak of a door hinge.
'We need a disguise,' Coppelia said quietly, glancing around. Their attire was too conspicuous here.
Soon, they found a few courtyards where old clothes were hung out to dry and 'borrowed' some ordinary gray, coarse cloth robes and cloaks.
They donned the robes to cover their bodies and pulled the hoods of their cloaks down to hide their hair and most of their faces. Columbina also used a similarly dusty gray cloth to carefully cover her eyes, concealing the mesh-like ornament.
With their disguises complete, they waited patiently in the shadows of the alley until the sky began to lighten and a few scattered figures started to appear on the streets, their numbers gradually increasing.
It was time to blend into the crowd.
Coppelia took Columbina's hand and stepped onto an outer ring street. An overwhelming sense of life—no, of survival—assaulted them.
Densely packed, low-slung stone houses and haphazardly piled junk made the streets feel cramped. Most people wore drab, worn-out clothing, their faces showing the sallow complexion of chronic malnutrition and a numbness honed by the heavy pressures of life. They moved hurriedly, their gazes lowered, and spoke in hushed tones as an invisible exhaustion permeated the air.
As Coppelia and Columbina walked among them, they felt wary gazes occasionally sweep over them.
Their purpose on this trip was to find the nameless bard from history, but searching for him slowly was like finding a needle in a haystack.
Coppelia's gaze swept across the street, searching for someone she could get information from, finally settling on a corner where a few sallow and skinny children were gathered, playing a game.
A slightly older boy was playing the 'noble knight,' his head held high, trying his best to imitate a dignified tone as he shouted, 'Commoner! No looking around! Hand over all the 'sparklies' you found today!'
The other children, playing 'commoners,' cleverly dodged the 'knight's' attempts to catch them, trying to run behind a large rock nearby that they were imagining was 'outside the city.'
Their movements were restrained and their laughter suppressed. Even as they played, they didn't forget to glance nervously at the street, as if ready to scatter at a moment's notice.
Coppelia and Columbina approached quietly, stopping at a moderate distance to watch in silence.
The children noticed them. They watched warily at first, but seeing they weren't patrolling soldiers, they then noticed one of the figures was standing blindfolded while the other was squatting nearby, watching their game with an envious gaze.
The boy playing the knight walked over and asked, 'Hey, miss, do you want to play with us too?'
'Yes, your game looks very interesting, but...' Coppelia replied to the 'knight' in a cheerful tone, then pointed to Columbina. 'I can't leave her side... she can't see.'
The 'knight' boy didn't know what to say to that and just stood there, stunned. The other children gathered around as well.
'Actually, I was hoping to ask you for a favor. As a reward, I'll perform a magic trick for you,' Coppelia said.
'A magic trick?' a slightly bolder girl asked curiously.
Coppelia didn't explain what a magic trick was.
She held out her hands, and a faint glimmer of elemental energy flickered at her fingertips.
Dendro energy gathered in her left hand while a ball of water formed in her right. She then brought her palms together in front of her chest, and one by one, emerald Dendro Cores popped out from her hands, scattering onto the ground.
Next, she condensed a Geo crystal in her left hand and coated it with a thin film of water. With a snap of her right fingers, a spark of Electro jumped across the water film with a faint sizzle. Instantly, the Dendro Cores on the ground flew up as if pulled by invisible strings and smashed into the Geo crystal. With a series of crackles, the crystal shattered into several small pieces. The entire process was brief and dreamlike.
Coppelia distributed the shattered pieces of the Geo crystal to the children. Their eyes widened, astonishment replacing the numbness on their faces.
They had never seen a so-called 'magic trick,' let alone an elemental reaction.
'Miss...' the bolder girl couldn't help but ask, her voice filled with longing, 'how did you do that?'
Coppelia placed a finger to her lips in a shushing gesture. 'You should never ask a magician about their tricks in front of an audience.'
The children didn't seem to fully understand, but they all obediently said, 'Oh,' their eyes shining even brighter.
'Oh, right!' The boy playing the knight remembered Coppelia's request for help. 'What favor did you need, miss?'
Coppelia took the opportunity to say, 'I'd like you to help me find someone, alright?'
'What kind of person are you looking for, miss?' another child asked.
'A bard. He's a young man with short, black hair, with braided pigtails at his temples that have a color gradient. He's always carrying a lyre.' Coppelia described him in detail.
A child frowned. 'There are way too many bards who carry lyres.'
Another child's eyes lit up. 'I have a friend who loves listening to bards sing! I'll go ask him!' Before he even finished speaking, several of the children had already run off happily, clearly excited to be part of such a 'secret mission.'
A few children remained, including the girl who had asked about the magic trick. She looked at Coppelia with anticipation. 'Miss... can you perform it again? Just once.'
The girl's intentions were written all over her face: she wanted to enjoy this strange delight all to herself while her friends were away.
Coppelia shook her head gently, her tone soft yet firm. 'I can perform it again, but we have to wait for your friends to come back. Things that bring people joy shouldn't be kept to oneself, right?'
The girl's face immediately turned red. She looked down, a little ashamed, and scratched her hair.
Columbina stood silently to the side the entire time, her expression under the hood as calm as ever, like a silent statue 'watching' it all unfold.
Soon, the children who had run off returned, with a few new faces who had heard the news trailing behind them. But their faces were crestfallen.
'We couldn't find him,' said the boy who had led the search. 'We asked several people, and they all said they'd never seen a bard who looked like the one you described... We couldn't help you.' The other children chimed in, much of their earlier excitement having faded.
Coppelia's heart sank a little, but her voice remained gentle. 'I see, that's alright. Thank you for being willing to help me.'
She had suspected this might be the outcome; the children's network was limited, after all.
Seeing the children's disappointed little faces, she was moved and continued, 'I'm still grateful for your efforts. So, I've decided to perform another magic trick. The payment this time is for you to introduce me to a bard—any bard will do.'
The children looked at each other, most of them appearing troubled. They were mostly the children of commoners or even slaves and had no contact with people like bards. Just then, a boy timidly raised his hand. He seemed to be one of the newcomers who had just arrived. 'I... I know one. He doesn't live far.'
Coppelia's eyes brightened slightly. 'Then after I'm done with my performance, I'll have to ask you to introduce me. Is that okay?'
The boy glanced at his friends around him, then back at Coppelia, and mustered his courage. 'Can you... start the performance now?' He was very curious about the wondrous sight his friends had described.
'Of course,' Coppelia smiled.
The children immediately forgot their earlier disappointment and let out small cheers, gathering around again with eyes shimmering with anticipation.
This time, Coppelia's movements were different. She took a light breath and cupped her hands in front of her chest.
A tiny, extremely faint wisp of Anemo energy—completely different from the fierce gales that raged around Mondstadt's high tower—quietly gathered in her palms.
Her control was exquisite; she didn't cause any disturbance in the airflow, only creating an incredibly gentle wind field in a small area that slowly enveloped the children, lifting them up.
The children let out short gasps of surprise, flailing their arms and legs instinctively. But they soon realized the force lifting them was so gentle and stable, as if they were being supported by the softest feather mattress.
They had never experienced such a feeling. In Mondstadt, the wind meant violence and danger; it was a symbol of Decarabian's power, a tool of oppression.
But the wind surrounding them now was so warm and docile, carrying with it an indescribable sense of... freedom.
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