Before we start, I have watched the trailer for Natlan including the new characters, and I must say... IT LOOKS AMAZING!!!!! The layout of the map looks amazing, the enemies look awesome, and for the new characters... THEY ALSO LOOK AMAZING!!!! Including Mavuika, who everyone is most likely guessing is the Pyro Archon! I'm so excited for the new land to explore! Also before I forget, Sethos is part of Ceres love interest list

Ceres P.O.V

After we left the Fatui's hideout, we started make our way back to Mondstadt, as we were leaving the village, I heard a small sound. I followed the sound that led me to a tree. As I approach the tree, there was a baby bird on the ground

"Aw, poor little birdie. Did you fall off your nest?" I asked as I carefully scooped into my hands. I looked up at the tree and saw the nest

'Looks pretty high up, but the mother will be worried about her baby' I thought as I placed the baby bird on head and I started climbing up the tree

After doing some climbing, I made it to the tree branch where the nest is. I carefully crawled towards the nest, making sure I don't fall off. Once I got close enough, I picked up the baby bird from my head and placed it back in the nest along with its siblings

'There we go. Now the baby is back home safely' I thought as I carefully crawled backwards, but I fell to the side of the tree branch

"Ah!" I let out a scream as I fell, I braced my myself for the impact, but it never came. I opened my eyes and saw Diluc beneath me "Diluc! Are you okay?!" I asked as I immediately got off of him

"I'm fine... What were you doing in the tree?" Diluc asked as he sat up from the ground

"I heard a baby bird cry and I found it on ground by the tree. I wanted to bring it back to its nest, so the mother wouldn't be worried" I said and I felt Diluc patting my head

"You're too kind for this world" Diluc said

"Ceres! Diluc! What's taking you guys so long?!" Paimon shouted

"We're coming! We better start going now" Diluc said as he picked himself up and started making his way towards Aether and Paimon

I was about to follow after Diluc, when I suddenly felt a pair of eyes staring at me, I turned around only to see nothing

'What was that? Who was watching me just now?' I asked myself

"Ceres! You coming?" I heard Paimon call my name and noticed they were on the other side of the lake

"Oh! Sorry! I'm coming!" I said as I quickly ran around the lake to catch up

No One P.O.V

The figure who was watching Ceres emerged from behind the shadows of the boulders, they stared at Ceres once again

"To think I'll be one of the first of my people to finally meet the rumored priestess... I wish the people of Khaenri'ah were here... They would've love to meet her and especially her kindness towards everything is very pure" The figure said as they left and continued they're journey looking for something or someone

Mondstadt

After the group walked through the same path that they took, they finally made it back to Mondstadt and started heading to Angel's Share where Jean and Venti were waiting for their return. Once they entered, Ceres was tackled into a hug and she managed to keep herself from falling onto the floor

"Welcome back!" Venti said with a grin as he hugs Ceres's waist

"We're back and we got the Holy Lyre back too" Ceres said and Aether pulled out the Holy Lyre

"You managed to retrieve it!" Venti said as he started to inspect the lyre "The pattern of flowing wind carved on the rosewood... and the strings still feel cool to the touch too. Oh, the memories..."

"What do you think, Venti? Can you summon Dvalin?" Jean asked

"Although this lyre is the real thing, I doubt that it's going to work" Venti said and everyone looked shocked

"He's right. I don't sense any Anemo power left in the lyre and it doesn't look so youthful as before" Ceres said

"She's right. In this condition, you couldn't play music fit for even Diluc's tavern with it..." Venti said and Diluc glared at him

"Bards fight to get on stage of my tavern. Don't make assumptions!" Diluc shouted

"Is it really important to talk about that right now?" Ceres asked with a sweatdrop

"And you! Did you just borrow the Holy Lyre to play music for the drunkards to hear?" Paimon asked as she puts her hands on her hips while glaring at Venti

"Hehe" Venti chuckled and it made Paimon even more mad

"What do you mean 'hehe'!?" Paimon shouted

"Anyway, we won't be able to call Dvalin with it. The lyre itself is fine, but the strings..." Venti then turned to look at Ceres "You're up, Ceres"

"Me? But I don't know how to fix an instrument" Ceres said

"Relax! It's not broken. It's just the intensity of its Anemo power has greatly diminished. Ceres, do you still have Dvalin's Teardrop Crystal?" Venti asked

"Of course" Ceres said as she pulls out the crystal from her bag

"Great! Try to use some of your power along with the crystal on the Holy Lyre" Venti said

"All right. I'll give it a try" Ceres closed her eyes and concentrated on using her power on the Holy Lyre and transferring it into the lyre along with the crystal. After a minute, Ceres felt Anemo power flowing into the lyre, she opened her eyes and the Holy Lyre regained its youthful glow as the brown rosewood turned into a pure white

"It worked! As expected of the priestess" Venti said

"This youthful glow..." Jean said

"Praising yourself? Really?" Paimon said as she lifted up her brow

"...I was talking about the Holy Lyre" Jean said as she sent a glare at Paimon

"Thanks to Ceres having purified the crystal, the Holy Lyre won't continue to lose power. That said, its power is far from replenished. It's be great if we could get more tears" Venti said

"Right. But how do we that is the question. Do we hit him or something?" Aether asked

"No hitting Dvalin, please" Ceres said

"I can surmise that Dvalin will already be crying... Suffering alone in some deserted place..." Venti said

'Dvalin... I wish I was here sooner, then maybe I would've helped lessen your suffering from loneliness...' Ceres thought to herself with a sadden expression

"This is not something that an Honorary Knight can accomplish alone especially with the help of the priestess. I will mobilize the rest of the knights to assist. When you get the Teardrop Crystal, please let Ceres perform the purification process" Jean said

"I'll do my best" Ceres said with a determined look

"I'll help you out the best I can, Ceres" Aether said as he places his hand on her shoulder, giving her some reassurance

"Heroes supporting each other and setting out on a journey together... How exciting! Lemme come up with a song for you..." Venti said as he started to think of the lyrics

"Venti, how about you save song once we save Dvalin" Ceres said

"Okay. Since you say so, Ceres" Venti said

"Also, is that all you're going to do? Just sing?" Paimon asked

"Wouldn't be much of a bard if I didn't now, would I?" Venti said

"Hmph. You're so cheeky... You deserve an ugly nickname" Paimon then started to think of an ugly nickname for Venti "Oh, Paimon knows! From now on, you'll be known as Tone-Deaf Bard!" Paimon declared and it made Ceres chuckle

"Don't laugh at me, Ceres!" Venti said as he clings onto her arm and Ceres rubbed his head to comfort him

"This search reminds me of a feud I once had with the Fatui" Diluc said

"Really? What happened?" Ceres asked

"Six months ago, a thief stole treasure from the East Temple of the Four Winds" Diluc said

"What did the thief steal?" Ceres asked

"Was it a cup used by Barbatos?" Paimon asked and Diluc shook his head

"No. Although if such an thing existed, it would be very valuable. Among all the relics they managed to dig up, one particular object was very rare... It was a vial which contained the Anemo God's breath" Diluc said

"Anemo God's breath...?" Ceres had no words to say after that

"Relics come in every shape and form, huh..." Paimon said looking dumbfounded

"Anyone with an eye for fine art would like to add this relic to their collection. Once word got out, the Fatui started trying to seek it out as well. They've made tons of counterfeits that can be found everywhere. In response, I just bought every one I could find, irrespective of its authenticity. We're still at it now. I've bought more than  two thousand fakes to date, and the Fatui are yet to find the real one" Diluc explained his story, and it left Ceres speechless

"Whoa. You guys are insane... So, it means that the real one must be out there somewhere on the black market, right? Hmmm... Paimon'll give you a discount on them if she find any, cause Paimon's just great like that!" Paimon said as Mora appeared on her eyes

"Sure, you can try to find the real one. I'll take what you find, even if they're fake. Once you're done, find me at the winery. I'll trade you a beer for every 20 you find" Diluc said

"Can I take part too?" Venti asked as his mouth started drooling

"Seriously, Venti?" Ceres looked at him with a deadpan look "Anyway, how about we split up to look for the Teardrop Crystals? It'll go quicker that way" Ceres suggested

"I agree with Ceres. We'll be able to cover more ground if we split up" Venti said and he wrapped his arm around hers "I'll team up with Ceres!"

"Huh?! Why should it be you? I want to look for the crystal with her!" Aether complained as he grabbed her other arm

"No! Me!"

"Me!"

Then the two were playing a game of tug of war, pulling Ceres by her arms as they try to drag her to their side

'Is this really the time to argue?' Ceres thought to herself with a sweatdrop

Diluc grew agitated and an irk mark appeared on his forehead

"Enough!" Diluc shouted as he hits both Venti and Aether on their heads "We don't have time for this. Ceres is coming with me, Venti is going with Jean and Aether is with Paimon. Are we clear?" Diluc asked as he glared at them

"U-Understood" Both Venti and Aether stuttered

"Once you retrieve the crystal, let's meet Dawn Winery" Diluc said

With that said, the team went their separate ways in different directions. Diluc and Ceres were heading to the ruins in the woods, Jean and Venti went to the hilichurl's huge camp and Aether and Paimon went to the ruins of Thousand Winds Temple

As Diluc and Ceres were making their way to the ruins, Ceres was trying to come up with a conversation

'What should I say? I want to chat with him, but I have no idea how' Ceres thought to herself

"Ceres" Diluc called her name, and she jumped

"Y-Yes?"

"Do I make you feel uncomfortable?" Diluc asked and Ceres looked at him a confused look "I noticed you were trying to say something, but based on your expression, you have nothing.  That's why I asked if I make you feel uncomfortable since you have nothing to say"

"No, you don't make me feel uncomfortable. It's just... I don't know how to start a conversation. I usually follow along in the conversation, not coming up with one" Ceres confessed looking a bit embarrassed

"Really now? The priestess has no idea how to start a conversation"

"Yeah... I know I should be able to know what to say, but I never started a conversation with someone outside of the temple before" Ceres confessed as she presses her two fingertips together

"I see. Based from what I read in the stories, the monks and priestesses never interacted with anyone outside of the temple much" Diluc said as he recalled the history

"Yep. Hence why we don't have many acquaintances outside of the temple" Ceres said as she stares at the blue sky "I've always wondered what it'll be like to make friends and what kind of things people do, guess I'll get the chance since I'm in this era"

"If you want... I'll help you try to experience the new things" Diluc said and Ceres looked at him with a surprised look

"Thank you, Diluc. I look forward to it" Ceres said with a gentle smile, and Diluc felt his heart skip a beat when he saw her gentle smile. He quickly moved his gaze forward to calm his beating heart

As they continue to making their way to the ruins in the woods, Ceres saw the entrance

"Up ahead!" Ceres pointed

"We made it. Let's head inside and find the crystal" Diluc said and they entered the ruins, Heart of the Jungle

Once they entered, they were greeted with some parts of the structure covered in plants and monsters roaming around. Before they walked forward, they noticed a huge gap in the center, they both ran forward, jumped and used their gliders to get to the other side safely. When they landed, a fire arrow went past them, the one who fired it was a pyro hilichurl. As it was trying to reload its bow, Diluc charged forward and defeated it. They resumed their exploration, along the way they encountered two pyro slimes two hilichurl archers, one was cryo and the other was electro. Ceres used her sword to fight the pyro slimes while Diluc handled the hilichurl archers. After defeating them, the door opened to reveal two more pyro slimes, one small and one big, and one pyro hilichurl archer and one electro hilichurl archer. Diluc took care of the pyro slimes and the archer and Ceres took care of the electro archer. After defeating them, they used the wind to get to the top of the pillars and carefully climbed to the other side. Then they stepped on the platform that started moving on its own, as they moved from platform to platform, they finally reached the another door. When it opened, it showed two electro slimes and one hydro samachurl, who started to chant a spell. A rain cloud appeared above them, they quickly moved out of the way before they got socked by the rain, giving the electro slimes an advantage since they'll use their electro powers on them. Diluc handled the electro slimes while Ceres handled the samachurl. After defeating them, appearing before them was a pyro Abyss mage. It was a lot more challenging since the mage has a protective barrier surrounding itself, it teleported to the different side of the room and summoned three pyro spirits that started firing their flames at the duo. Luckily, Diluc picked up Ceres and moved out of the way. Once they were gone, they continued to break the barrier. Ceres put her sword away and started to use her catalyst magic, she summoned a whirlwind at the Abyss mage and finally the barrier broke. Diluc didn't waste any time and he quickly charged in to attack while the mage was trying to recover. Not a minute later, Diluc defeated the pyro Abyss mage and the door opened. They saw the wind current going up, they both jumped up and they summoned their wind gliders, and the wind carried them up. Once they got to the top, they saw a treasure chest. They landed by the stairs and walked towards the chest. Ceres opened it and inside was the Teardrop Crystal

"We finally got it!" Ceres said as she places the crystal in her bag

"It's too early to relax. We're still not done with Stormterror. Besides, the Fatui could also be planning something..." Diluc said

"Did something happen between you and the Fatui?" Ceres asked

"Let's just say... I personally despise them. If I were to choose between eating a Cryo slime alive or joining the Fatui... I'd prefer to be crushed to death by a meteorite" Diluc said

"That's... very dramatic..." Ceres said with a sweatdrop

"Anyways, let's head to Dawn Winery. We'll wait for the others there" Diluc said

"Okay" Ceres said and they both started heading to the winery

To be continued