“…Huh?”
Sandrone was even more dazed, the panic in her deep blue eyes yet to fade, replaced only by confusion.
She stared fixedly at this ghost that emitted a Glimmer, floating in the air, wearing strange clothes, and even knowing his name.
“You…
who exactly are you?
Why do you know my name?”
Columbina seemed even more puzzled.
She looked at Sandrone’s panic, which didn’t seem faked at all, and the pure look of a stranger in her eyes.
As a fellow Fatui Harbinger, even if their relationship wasn’t close, she shouldn’t be having this kind of “seeing a ghost” reaction, right?
She had clearly spoken with the familiar tone used between Harbingers.
She tried to float forward a bit, wanting to get closer to see if Sandrone was playing dumb, but the moment she moved even half an inch, an invisible pull grabbed him and yanked him back.
Only then did he remember that his range of movement was firmly locked by that small mirror.
So she stopped in mid-air, his voice carrying a hint of inquiry: “Sandrone, you…
don’t recognize me?”
She paused for a moment and asked a question he considered crucial: “Where is the Clockwork mechanism on your back?
Is it off for maintenance?
Or did you swap it for a newer, more hidden model?”
“A-A Clockwork mechanism?!”
Sandrone’s voice rose an octave, the expression on his face shifting from fear to chaos.
“What on earth!
You…
don’t come any closer!
Stay away from me!”
She clutched the quilt tightly as if using it as a shield.
“What exactly are you?
How did you get in?
What do you want?
If you don’t make it clear, I’ll scream!
It’s remote around here, but if I cry for help, someone will hear me!”
She tried to make her voice sound intimidating, but a slight tremor betrayed her.
Hearing this, Columbina obediently floated back a short distance until she had almost returned to the space directly above the box.
It wasn’t that she was afraid of her “screaming,” but she felt that if the Sandrone before her truly didn’t know her, then causing a commotion would indeed be inappropriate.
After all, her current state and origins were very difficult to explain.
“I am Columbina.”
She muttered softly, her tone full of confusion, “Do you really not know me?”
Sandrone was completely bewildered, finding the floating Damselette before him utterly baffling.
She frowned, the wariness in her eyes increasing as she blurted out, “Who knows you!
You…
you thief!”
Columbina tilted her head again.
Her perception swept through the cramped room and finally landed on her own transparent fingers.
He couldn’t help but let out a soft chuckle, her voice sounding gentle, “Steal what?
Steal the air?”
Sandrone’s face instantly flushed red, half from annoyance and half from embarrassment.
What the ghost said seemed to…
make some sense.
In this dilapidated house of his, even if a thief came, they’d have to leave a couple of copper coins with tears in their eyes.
Columbina wanted to ask more, like “Is this Snezhnaya?
Where is your Workshop?” or “Where did you park that Big Guy of yours?” but a sudden tugging sensation struck him.
It was as if an invisible rubber band had been stretched to its limit and then suddenly snapped back.
“Hm?”
She only had time to let out a short syllable before her entire spiritual form distorted as if being sucked into a whirlpool, turning into a streak of silver light and shrinking back into the open box on the table with a “whoosh.”
The next second, she fell back onto the gravel of the moon, the large mirror before her still shimmering with a faint silver Glimmer.
On the other side, Sandrone stared at the suddenly empty space for a full half-minute before belatedly patting his cheeks.
“…V-Vanished?”
Sandrone’s heart pounded wildly.
She waited in uncertainty for a full minute, and only after confirming the ghost was truly gone did he dare to slowly release the corners of the quilt she had been clutching.
Only then did he belatedly realize more details: the other party was floating!
And the way they finally disappeared…
was completely beyond what a human could achieve!
She took a few deep breaths, forcing herself to calm down.
She carefully got out of bed, her bare feet stepping on the cold floor as she slowly approached the table.
Her gaze first landed on the open box—the lid was completely wide, and the inside was empty, save for the soft velvet lining.
And on the inside of the lid was a mirror about the size of a book, its frame carved with intricate vines and gear patterns.
The mirror surface wasn’t ordinary glass; it flowed with a warm and strange luster under the dim light, looking quite valuable.
“A mirror?”
Sandrone was stunned.
She had imagined the box might contain gold coins, jewels, confidential documents, or even some dangerous mechanical device, but he never expected it to be a mirror.
Although the mirror itself looked expensive…
was it worth protecting with such an elaborate lock?
She reached out and gently touched the mirror surface; it was cold and smooth.
The mirror reflected his shaken, slightly pale face.
It looked just like a very beautiful mirror.
“Was that…
the ghost of the mirror?
Or some kind of optical illusion?”
She frowned in thought, unable to come up with a reasonable explanation.
But at least this mirror should be worth quite a bit of money, perhaps enough to solve his urgent needs.
The Moon.
Columbina stood before the floating Silver Mirror once again.
She was silent for a moment, seemingly digesting the brief and wonderful experience from just now.
“Sandrone…
doesn’t know me.”
She reached a conclusion.
His ethereal voice was silent in the vacuum, heard only by herself.
“The panic was real, and the residence was truly dilapidated…
not at all how a Harbinger should look.”
She remembered Sandrone’s blustering look when questioning the “thief,” and the embarrassed expression after her own counter-question.
The corner of his mouth beneath the blindfold seemed to curve slightly.
“The timeline…
is much earlier?
Before he obtained the codename ‘Marionette’ and joined the Fatui?”
Columbina speculated based on the limited information.
This meant that the story of Teyvat might still be in an even earlier period.
Interesting.
She sensed his own condition.
That pulling sensation had disappeared, but she vaguely felt that projecting herself through the mirror was not without cost.
There might be a duration, there might be intervals, or it might require certain conditions—like the box on the other side of the mirror being opened, or Sandrone triggering something.
She refocused his attention on the floating Silver Mirror in front of her.
The mirror surface was now as calm as usual, but he could see that deep within it, it was vaguely connected to another space—Sandrone’s cramped room.
This was a one-way vision; she could see the scene over there, but they seemingly couldn’t see or hear her.
At this moment, the scene in the mirror was Sandrone’s profile.
The Damselette was carefully removing the mirror from the box lid, then looking at her own face in the mirror, showing a small hint of joy at discovering a valuable item.
She even picked up a piece of old velvet and began to carefully wipe the mirror frame.
Columbina watched silently.
By her aesthetic standards, the young Sandrone indeed possessed a vivid temperament that was different from later on, one that hadn’t been overly polished.
Although her clothes were shabby and there were shadows of fatigue under her eyes, that stubbornness and the small expressions of trying to hide vulnerability that occasionally leaked out…
“Truly my good Bestie.”
Columbina thought to herself, with a subtle interest akin to an archaeologist discovering the early form of a precious artifact.
She just watched through the mirror as Sandrone touched the mirror over and over, watched her carefully wipe the dust off the surface, and finally watched him hug the mirror and let out a satisfied sigh.
Then the Damselette climbed into bed and curled up, but clearly didn’t fall asleep immediately, staring at the ceiling with open eyes, seemingly processing the bizarre encounter of the night.
Columbina watched until Sandrone’s breathing gradually became long and steady, and after confirming she had fallen asleep again, she slowly shifted his gaze away from the mirror.
The lunar surface remained desolate and silent.
But at this moment, Columbina felt that in this piece of eternity’s loneliness, there seemed to be a tiny and interesting observation window.
She lightly tapped the floating Silver Mirror, and a ripple spread across its surface.
“An interesting development.”
She whispered to himself, his ethereal voice dissipating into the endless Akasha.