Magic Mountain

Some people just won't listen. I already told you, now's not the time to go up the mountain.

Easy there, Old Mann. Let's calm down and talk this out.

We were getting along just fine earlier at the Night Brew.

But the moment I mentioned I was heading for Windrest Peak, he grabbed me and dragged me all the way here.

Oh, Huffman. What's going on here?

As you can see, Old Mann is trying his best to keep people away from Windrest Peak.

Anyway, let me introduce you. This is Lipphart, an adventurer.

What I saw... What I felt... It was terrifying! Surely you don't wish to hear it?

Doesn't look like I'm going anywhere today, so let's hear it. Consider it an extension of our drinking and bragging session from earlier.

So, what sort of "great peril" are we facing here?

The sanatorium's haunted! Seriously! I saw them ghosts with my own eyes!

Ghosts!?

It happened last night...

And that's how it happened — I swear it on my paycheck, and the responsibilities that come with it.

Weren't you bemoaning how little you make as a doorman?

I'm not just any doorman. I oversee demolition work and cultural heritage preservation.

Though yeah, the pay is bad... Well, then I swear it on my reputation at the tavern.

A most serious oath for us Mondstadters.

I should really investigate this myself, but I still have to meet up with the Knights' expedition, who are returning to Dornman Port...

Sorry about this, Traveler, but could you check out the sanatorium for me?

Ugh, kinda-sorta scary stories like this usually mean something bigger's at play.

Then what about super scary stories?

The truth behind those is usually... Uh... basic scientific facts about how superstition can be harmful.

It's fine. I know my way around a fight either way.

Eh, true. We've run into ghosts before, too. Most of them were actually pretty easy to talk to.

So there really are ghosts in this world?

No, no. It's all just strange elemental powers and scientific phenomena at work.

In that case, I won't go today. I'll just stay in Dornman Port and have some drinks.

Zeitlind, were you waiting for us here?

No. I think... Something feels off...

Uh... was that always so far away?

Huh? This place looks kinda different from before.

(What happened here...?)

Whoa!

I am Nihilita, Watcher of Nothingness, the Open-Eyed.

Noble traveler from distant realms, returnee from the sea of stars... Greetings. I bid you welcome.

It... knows you?

But I don't know it.

As it should be. We dwell within the watchtowers of the world. We were never meant to meet, even across countless ages.

Yet I have now fallen into the mortal realm, for one purpose alone. I beg that you ascend to the high heavens and free the Aiones of the past from their inverted fates.

Please, touch the Anemo Archon's statue over there. It is a gateway that leads unto the heavens.

Wait! Can't you see that there's an ordinary person here?

Are you sure Zeitlind is supposed to hear these things? At least let us take her back first!

...

Inconceivable. You really came...

Ah!

Please remain calm. I merely placed her under my protection, so that she shall not suffer any apathic afflictions after ascending.

So, you mean we're bringing Zeitlind with us?

She has her own journey to embark upon. When you reach the temple above the sky, she will be restored.

Hey, hold on! We never agreed to go to some strange place like that. Let Zeitlind out first!

This is not some strange place. It is the seat of governance above the skies. Its name is "Segment-Domain Tau." Or perhaps, let us use its lost name.

The Temple of Space.

The Temple of Space...

(And what it just did earlier...)

That is correct. It belongs to the god who once appeared before you, my creator. Within the temple, you shall find your answers.

Please take this with you. It will aid you in my stead.

Ah! What is this thing?

Uh, could you explain what it actually is!?

A Watcher does not explain. A Watcher observes, in silence.

Once safety may be guaranteed, it will restore Zeitlind.

Don't just assume that we're going! You're just looking to dump responsibility for this onto someone, aren't you?

Noble outlander, are you willing to go?

There it is again, talking to yourself and dodging the question. You haven't been making any sense for a while now, y'know?

Traveler, do you know what it's trying to say?

The Temple of Space...

I will go.

Eh!?

Okay, sure. If that's what you want, then Paimon will go with you.

Huh? Where did it go?

If my earlier discourtesy has stirred anger within you, come at me with blade in hand. I will await you in the mortal world.

Hello!

Huh!? Humans...? I thought the "uplifting" had already ended. More cases like Hilda's, then?

No, wait. Perhaps you were simply unlucky. Newcomers who have only recently passed the trial of the Apathic Interval, maybe?

Greetings, newcomers. My name is Istoria. I hail from the age when the Dark Dragon King rent the sky open. And you are?

What sorta age was that?

Anyway, call me Traveler.

Paimon's Paimon.

Zeitlind.

Hmm. So, you're Zeitlind.

!

Ah. Dexter. You are here as well!

Now I understand. You must be people of the present age. In which case, you have come to reinforce us!

That was quick!

Also, Dex's real name is Dexter, huh? Is it your friend?

No. We call it Dex too. But it just sent me a secret signal.

As such, I introduced it using the more official, more impressive-sounding name.

Hey, Hey, Traveler. Paimon wants a formal name and a secret code, too.

Ah, but now is not the time for such talk.

Since Nihilita has sent you up here, that means it is finally our time to strike back.

Wait a minute! We're still confused.

How confused? More confused than I was the first time I looked upon Escher's paintings?

Ah, yes. Come, come, it's team huddle time. We've a strategy meeting to hold.

Does the team include me?

Ooh, Paimon almost forgot. Istoria, do you know how to send someone back down to the ground?

I do.

Then can you tell us how to send Zeitlind back? She's just an ordinary person.

In the past, that would have been nearly impossible. But the temple's laws and order draw close unto collapse, making it now a trivial matter.

You simply need to do me a small favor.

Hmm, alright, but it better be small.

Oh, it's simple. Smash a few crappy guards, rescue an old friend, and escort us back to the center of the Pillar Hall.

That doesn't sound too bad.

And do you know what kind of god rules this place? Traveler is looking for her.

This was once the sacred hall of the God of Space. But she is nowhere to be found.

After the mistress vanished, one of the two stewards fell from grace and departed.

The one who remained, Melanta, grew increasingly severe with us. He did not descend into the mortal world, but he has descended into madness.

Melanta? Does that mean that the one who fell from grace is that self-absorbed Nihilita guy?

Correct. The Watcher who introduced Dex to you is one who departed. Nihilita of Nothingness.

Hah, so it really was that big-winged guy who talks to himself, doesn't care what people say, and changes the subject whenever you ask him uncomfortable questions!

Huh. Does he really talk that much?

*sigh* No matter. The two of them were once divine familiars who watched over the world from the Pillar Hall of Space.

The Temple of Space selects people and objects from a specific historical age or a now-vanished civilization, using them as the smallest possible segments.

Once elevated, the chosen are preserved here as living memories, forever.

That doesn't sound like a very happy fate.

I suspect it was not originally designed as an eternal paradise or some heaven in the sky.

Still, the God of Space's sisters would occasionally bring things of interest into the temple and grant small pardons for acts of change.

Oh, Paimon gets it. This place was a spotless but dull bookshelf that the sisters then covered in stickers and stuffed with light novels.

Then Melanta, driven by longing for his creator, reversed all the rules to their original form. He began purging everything that had changed, punishing anyone who broke from precedent.

I gathered the courage to leave the relative safety of the temple's center, hoping I might be able to save an old friend.

But my lack of Pankration training caught up with me, and I ended up getting chased by the guards and hiding in that spot earlier.

Alright. That's the introduction. What's our plan?

We fight our way through and save anyone we know.

Fine. Looks like Melanta's the highest up the ladder we can reach for now. Hopefully, we can get some answers from him.

It's as we thought. There's nothing in the graveyard.

Old Mann must've made a mistake...

Still, look at the portrait on this grave. This girl was so young... There's a sad story behind this one for sure.

Are you friends of my sister too?

Eek!

You look... exactly the same.

S—Sister...?

Uh, so, you've gotta be the younger sister of the person buried here, right?

Well, are you also her friends?

I... don't think we count.

You scared the old man at the gate last night, so the Knights sent us to investigate.

I see. Well, I'm just here to look for her. I didn't expect that rumor to be true.

A rumor?

That "those who go to the sanatorium will stay there," or something similar.

In her letters, my sister said the sanatorium was about to close, and that she was going somewhere far away.

Um... M—Maybe she went traveling around the world or something?

No wait. Her gravestone is right here... Sorry.

It's alright. Before I came, I thought the same way you did. It took me some time to prepare myself before I could come here for answers.

I might have arrived a bit too late last night and ended up frightening the old man.

Please help me pass along my apology. I'm sorry for causing all this trouble.

It's okay. Paimon totally gets you. Just gotta explain it to everyone, and you'll be fine.

It was a little late last night. I'd planned to ask the old man about the situation, but he fled without even looking back.

For now, I want to look for traces of how she lived her life. Perhaps that would lead us to some clues on... why she would...

Y'know what? Let us help you. It's getting late, and the sooner we finish, the sooner we can head down the mountain.

Right, Traveler?

By the way, what's your name?

Ah...

...

Wh—What is it? Is it an, uh, embarrassing name or something?

In that case, Paimon can, uh, give you a nickname... How's that sound?

No. It's just... I had planned to... Well, I came to say goodbye.

Hmm...

Zeitlind. My name is Zeitlind.

Alright then. Let's help Zeitlind look around together, shall we, Traveler?

Well, well. If it isn't our great master of anti-self-termination, Josephus. So, why are you here, cursing all who live?

Cut it out. Nobody dies in the Temple of Space.

How strange. Did you try testing that rule, Sir Anti-Self-Termination?

Keep talking, and a new batch of guards will be on its way.

Alright. Special times call for special treatment. I won't make fun of you.

Traveler, Zeitlind. This is Josephus. He's a friend of mine.

No need to be so sentimental. Everyone here is everyone else's friend.

If you can't come to love or be loved by everyone over such long periods of time, you'd drown the world in sorrow.

Come. Let us set our course for the heart of the world. A realm not reserved for the old or the dead, for the rich or poor.

Hehe, I've quoted that poem before.

It's safer here. I don't know why, but the suppression-type guards can't get in.

Organization-type Keepers usually don't harm people either. Unless you try to steal relics, that is.

Zeitlind, you've been gripping that suitcase this whole time. Your knuckles are all pale.

It's safe here, so just put it down for now, 'kay?

Well, unless you've got stolen relics in that suitcase. But that can't be, right?

Mhm.

Still, Paimon's sure it's gotta be full of valuable items.

Not really. Just some things I needed to say goodbye to before leaving.

Huh?

It's nothing.

You and your sister have vastly different personalities.

What did you say!?

Ah... I mean... Have you... met my sister? Did she come here before? So the "Hilda" you mentioned before really is...

Easy now, young Zeitlind. This place is safe. We can take our time talking about your sister.

Shameless fellow. Hilda called you Grandpa.

I couldn't tell you how many years ago I was born. Still, I have heard you all speak of an age long past, when the gods waged war across the land.

In my time, there were no gods living in our lands at all. Have you ever seen an angel?

That makes you a great-great-great-great grandpa, Grandpa Istoria!

Nay, nay. Once you get here, all are caught within stagnant space-time. Saints and commoners, wise and foolish, young and old. There is no difference.

That is to say, don't call me Grandpa.

Then let's call each other whatever we want. I'll call you "Grandpa Istoria," and you can call me "young Hilda."

She was a good lass. But for some reason, she always looked a little gloomy.

Indeed.

Hey, stop getting sentimental! Zeitlind's suitcase has been stolen!

Hey, give it back!

It got away. This is going to be a difficult chase.

Wh—What do we do...

Don't let this get you down, Zeitlind. I have a theory.

Traveler, come with me.

There it is.

Oh, thank goodness!

Looks like we've only recovered a small part of Lind's stuff, though.

Then it's as I suspected. Your suitcase and everything inside it have been classified as relics of this age.

The rest were likely dispersed and placed in other areas.

Don't worry, Zeitlind. We'll find them together.

...Thank you all.

Then, shall I tell you about the themed areas?

Okay then, tell us.

I'm listening.

Besides people like us, some landscapes, relics, and even ecosystems were also uplifted to this place.

The temple was originally meant to preserve them as segments of human culture, though some gradually developed their own functions.

Take, for example, the Luyang Academy from ancient Liyue. It has now become an area devoted to art and painting.

Then there's Venipi, a laborer who once hauled stone for The Mausoleum of King Deshret. Under orders, he rebuilt a desert style complex called the Desert Pavilion.

Last is my personal favorite, the Mahavaipulya Chamber. Besides ancient texts, it also contains new novels written by some of the uplifted.

But since the purpose of the Temple of Space is preservation rather than evolution, they were also the first to face punishment.

So if we go to those three places, we can find the things Zeitlind lost, right?

You could also free those areas and rescue the others. If it's not too much trouble, of course.

Oh ho, Istoria. That's gonna run you extra.

I wouldn't put it like that. We should go help everyone *and* find my things along the way.

Your personal effects are of utmost importance here, Lind. You are, after all, someone who lives in the present.

This place is but an anthology of the past. It has no future, whereas you still have yours.

That makes your needs the most important. Do you understand?

In the end, a living person may amount to nothing more than a name on gravestone.

Even so, a name carries countless memories, as well as the stories and strength passed on through them, young Zeitlind.

Let us return and rest for now. I suspect you still have many questions.

A cursed mountain where none who enter ever return...

Um, what exactly are we looking for?

Maybe a note. A scrap of paper... Or perhaps just traces of a life that once existed here.

With the demolition already this far along, there may not be much left to find. Still, I have to try.

E...scher? As in, Escher the Engineer?

Does the name ring a bell? He's from a very long time ago, though. Surely not someone you know...

Eh, you know what? Who knows. Maybe he really was famous. Actually, that pisses me off. Why didn't I make my mark in history?

You know what? Let's just call him "Maukie" from now on.

Escher?

Just an unlucky, ill-natured painter.

His family calls him "Maukie", and so do we.

"Maukie"... Paimon feels like she might've heard that before...

Ach. No, no. This isn't the time for that either.

Let me ask you, do any of you have combat strength on par with a junior Remurian Centurion or higher?

Don't worry, Traveler can beat people up just fine.

Come on, then. Let's head out and show them what Pankration, or maybe Machaira, means to you.

...

!

Zeitlind! Are you alright?

Mm. I'm fine. My sense of time's a bit off, though. Like a very long while has passed, and yet also just an instant.

That sounds like a familiar feeling.

You've felt this way before?

You must've been through plenty of misfortune, too. How long has it been for you, then?

About... five hundred years?

What? Has so much time passed already?

Oh, no. He's talking about the time-weirdness stuff that happened to him.

That said, Paimon's not sure if "five hundred years" is that accurate at this point either.

As for this time, it's only been about ten minutes or so?

Huh. So that's how long it's been?

Say...

Hmm?

You never asked us for our names.

Ah, yes. When I tried to call for help just now, I realized I didn't even know what to call you.

Sorry. At first, I was planning to... Well, never mind.

I already know that you're Traveler. What about your pet?

Hey! Paimon's not a pet! Paimon's Traveler's best guide and companion!

Yes, Paimon's not a pet.

And if you're gonna make another corny joke, you can stuff it.

Oh. I'm sorry, Paimon.

Well then. Hello, Paimon. Hello Traveler.

We'll make sure you get back down safely. But for now, we don't have any leads as to how.

So let's keep moving forward. We need to find someone and ask them what's going on.

There's so much dust on the bed. It must've been meant for sanatorium patients back in the day, right?