Paimon: You're actually Nahida, aren't you! Paimon felt like Katheryne was acting weird when we met at the Sabzeruz Festival. And Dunyarzad... Did you save her?

Katheryne?: It's a really long story. We shouldn't disturb her. Her consciousness is still weakened. Let's chat somewhere else. How about by the Traveler's favorite bench?

Kiana: Ok.

Vert: But first.

Vert got closer to Dunyarzad.

Dunyarzad: What's going on? Why are you so excited to see me? Hehe, hasn't it only been a night?

Paimon: It's actually been much longer than that...

Vert: It would take too long to explain.

Dunyarzad: Oh...? Strange, was I really asleep that long? No wonder I have such a headache...

The group goes with Nahida to the bench.

Paimon: Let's talk about Dunyarzad first. It's such a relief that she's all right!

Durandal: And alive.

Nahida: Hmm-hmm. After we parted on the last day of the Sabzeruz Festival, I left the city and saw what the Traveler had described. Among the countless dreams, I found one that was growing fainter and fainter. This proved my suspicion. Once Dunyarzad could no longer bear the Akasha harvesting her dreams, her consciousness began to dissipate — but this also meant it escaped the Akasha's control. Such a small fragment of consciousness can't last for very long, though. It will return to its original dream... Where both will gradually fade until they completely disappear. I used all the power I had to keep her dying dream alive as long as possible, but it still wouldn't have lasted for much longer if it hadn't been for you breaking the samsara.

Paimon: So it looks like we did manage to save Dunyarzad in the end. And not a moment too soon!

Neptune: At the very last second.

Aether: A very happy ending.

Patrick: This is truly a miracle.

Nahida: Oh? Why are you smiling so happily? I thought you'd be so moved that you'd start crying... Hmm... I need to spend more time observing human emotions.

Paimon: Both are fine! Everyone reacts differently!

Blanc: Exactly.

Nahida: Alright, you must have a lot of other questions for me, right? After all, you saved my faithful believer. As your reward, I'll answer any and all questions.

Noire: Alright. Here are our questions.

Aether: About what I saw in that dream at the Avidya Forest...

Paimon: At the Avidya Forest, there was this incense that made the Traveler fall unconscious and dream of a huge tree and a red sky...

Nahida: You also heard someone's voice, right? It said "world" and "forget me"?

Paimon: Yeah! So you DO know! We've been wanting to ask you what that was about, and if the red sky was related to Khaenri'ah...

Nahida: Hmm, it seems like the Traveler established a connection to Irminsul. That was a message left by Greater Lord Rukkhadevata's residual consciousness in Irminsul... perhaps her last memory before she died. As you probably know, Greater Lord Rukkhadevata disappeared after the disaster in Khaenri'ah. The timings of these events do line up, so your suspicions are reasonable.

Paimon: A message from Greater Lord Rukkhadevata? We thought it was from the Scarlet King!

Vert: We also thought it was you.

Nahida: The Scarlet King... That god who died even longer ago? Some present-day desert-dwellers still worship him. You probably just heard some of their conspiracies.

Durandal: We did.

Paimon: Okay... So, what does the message mean?

Nahida: ...I still haven't managed to decipher it. Even the Akasha isn't currently capable of doing that. Lord Rukkhadevata's residual consciousness in Irminsul seems to be contaminated with something that has a very dangerous aura to it. Many devoted scholars go mad as soon as they connect their consciousness... I've warned the Akademiya about this many times, but people still keep falling victim to it. But I believe this is the key to saving Irminsul. That's why I've kept trying to decipher it.

Paimon: So the tree in the vision was Irminsul... Oh, Tighnari also said that Irminsul is sick. Is it because of the contaminated consciousness? But if even you can't figure out what that vision was all about, it seems like our search for you was all in vain...

Nahida: The Traveler wasn't affected after coming in contact with that consciousness. I've never seen anyone like that. With you here, we may have a chance at deciphering it... No, we MUST decipher its secrets. I've already eliminated all other factors that might affect Irminsul. This is the only one left. This puzzle has life and death at stake... It could determine Irminsul's fate... as well as Teyvat's...

Aether: Why do you look like Katheryne?

Nahida: To be accurate, I'm using the Akasha as a medium to occupy Katheryne's consciousness.

Paimon: H—How did you do that!? Poor Katheryne! Uh, does this mean you can also occupy other people's consciousnesses?

Nahida: Theoretically, I can enter anyone's mind as long as they're wearing their Akasha Terminal. The Akasha is the legacy of Greater Lord Rukkhadevata. As Lesser Lord Kusanali and The First Akasha Terminal, my consciousness has always been linked to the Akasha. I've always respected my people's free will, so I've never actually occupied their consciousness. When necessary, I just borrow this bionic Snezhnayan puppet.

Paimon: Oh... Uhh, hold on, did we just learn some deep, dark secret? So Katheryne is... No wonder Paimon felt something was off about her...

Neptune: Another plot twist. Katheryne is just another puppet.

Paimon: What about your own body? Why do you need to borrow other people's? Don't you live in the Sanctuary of Surasthana?

Nahida: ...That story begins a long time ago. After Greater Lord Rukkhadevata disappeared, the Sages found my newly born self and took me back to Sumeru. At that time, I was young and weak. The sages kept me in the Sanctuary of Surasthana, ostensibly for the sake of "protecting" me, but I've hardly heard from them since. However, I do understand that they had hoped to find Greater Lord Rukkhadevata instead of me, a symbol of her passing.

Paimon: So... the sages basically put their new archon under house arrest? How dare they... Why don't you teach them a lesson, Nahida!?

Vert: You need to punish them!

Nahida: In some ways, they aren't wrong. Greater Lord Rukkhadevata was omniscient and omnipotent. Even after her death, the Akasha is still empowering this nation. And I... I'm still really far away from being able to call myself the God of Wisdom. Moreover, the Akademiya is also far more proficient at governing this country. My existence has little meaning.

Aether: To me, you're already an excellent archon.

Paimon: Yeah! You've got a lot of believers. Just look at the Sabzeruz Festival! Everyone who showed up truly loves you.

Vert: And you can learn more as you get taller and become a full grown adult.

Nahida: Hehe, thank you for the kind words, but I honestly don't need physical freedom as long as I can connect my consciousness to the Akasha. Trying to find a way to save Irminsul is my life's mission and top priority. I will work on that, and try to live up to being a deity in the meantime... ...Every once in a while, I will also take up the duties of the God of Wisdom, and enlighten a lost soul here and there. Doing all that... should be enough.

Aether: About the sages' plan...

Nahida: There's never been any big problems with the Akademiya's governance of Sumeru. This is the first time I've seen them step out of line.

Noir: It's corrupt.

Patrick: (Just like the World Government from "One Piece".)

Nahida: I wonder what caused them to go down this path, and what they hope to achieve... Even though the city's residents haven't noticed anything strange, if the Travelers hadn't broken the Sabzeruz samsara, the situation could've become dire.

Vert: (The Fatui must be behind this.)

Nahida: I tried to do some investigating in the Akasha, but I couldn't find anything suspicious, and all the people of interest seem to purposely avoid wearing their Akasha Terminals... I think they're deliberately trying to hide something.

Paimon: Oh, that reminds Paimon... In Gandharva Ville, there was a sage who had invited Tighnari to join some kind of project... Could it be related?

Nahida: Regardless, I need to first investigate the sages' motives, make things right, and punish them if needed... But I'll have to be discreet, or they'll see me coming.

Aether: No one has realized the issue with the Akasha?

Nahida: You mean how the Akasha stops you from having dreams?

Paimon: Yeah, it's been such a long time. No one's noticed something's up?

Nahida: It's not that no one noticed — it's more like no one cared. Ultimately, it's all rooted in the sages' misdirection.

Paimon: Misdirection?

Nahida: The sages convinced everyone to believe that being unable to dream is a sign of rationality and wisdom. Not dreaming is a badge of honor in Sumeru... ...Even if the truth is that their dreams are reaped by the Akasha. With their propaganda in place, the sages can maximize their use of the Akasha to facilitate their research. Besides, Greater Lord Rukkhadevata must have created the Akasha in the hopes that it could be used to its full potential. That's why I've never come out strongly against this. Anyway, the perspective advocated by the sages drowned out any voices of doubt. By now, even those who never use Akasha Terminals find it too shameful and embarrassing to talk about their dreams.

Vert: When we were at the Golden Apple Achipeligo... was that you who spoke to us through the communication device?

Nahida: Oh yeah... that was me.

Paimon: So it was you!

Nahida: That's right. It was me.

Noire: Now why did you contact us?

Nahida: I was curious about you. I already knew who you were. You all are amazing people.

Neptune: And unique.

Vert: Nahida... I hope that we can see you again but in your original body.

Nahida: You will see me again, Vert. Green Heart. You can give me another hug the next time we meet.

Vert: Oh thank you, Kusanali. And know one more thing. The Fatui are going to steal your Gnosis which will cause the Akasha to lose its power. Keep that in mind.

Aether: We don't have any other questions.

Nahida: Got it. I hope my answers were satisfactory, seekers of knowledge.

Patrick: You're still not gonna ask about your sister?

Aether: Now is not the time for that.

Nahida: To be honest, maintaining Dunyarzad's fading dream took a lot of mental energy... I think I may need to rest for a while. Oh, and you don't need to worry too much about the Sages' activities for now. The Akasha won't be able to conduct another project on the scale of the Sabzeruz samsara in the immediate future.

Paimon: Go and get some sleep. Leave everything to us!

Kiana: We're gonna bring down the sages if it's the last thing we do.

Nahida: Hehe, what a relief. *yawn* This is truly the most exhausting birthday I've ever had.

Nahida leaves. And Katheryne was in control again.

Katheryne: Hmm... Travelers? Paimon? Why am I here? Do either of you know?

Paimon: Uhh... Maybe you were sleepwalking? You know, you can't wake up a sleepwalker. We, uh... We happened to walk by, so we thought we'd wait for you to wake up!

Katheryne: I see. Huh... I should visit my maintenance personnel sometime. Oh, I'm fine. I better go. Thank you.

Katheryne leaves them.

Vert: Glad all that's over.

Asuka: It was very tiring.

Paimon: What should we do now?

Kiana: I think we should go get something to eat.

Paimon: Good idea!

(Serenetea Pot, night)

The party except Aether and Paimon were back in the Serenetea Pot at their meeting.

Vert: I still can't believe the sages would keep a Loli Archon locked away so nobody can see her. And that they are doing something evil with stealing dreams and turning people into puppets.

Patrick: It's obviously because of the Fatui. They have been behind the previous evil schemes in the previous Archon quests. First they tried to kill Dvalin, then awakened Osial, took advantage of Zhongli's contracts, caused the Vision Hunt Decree, killed a lot of people with delusions, and now this.

Durandal: And it's obviously a plan by the Doctor, Il Dottore.

Kallen: Well we're gonna have to wait till then.

Patrick: I'm guessing in the next parts of the Archon quest we're gonna go to the desert. Which means that Altera and Ishtar are coming along. I'm also gonna summon several more servants for the desert.

Kiana: Which ones?

Patrick: Caster Xuanzang, Caster Nitrocris, Caster Scheherzade, Saber Lakshmibai and Assassin Kama.

Neptune: Aren't you also going to summon Rider Ozymandias?

Vert: And what about Lancer Ereshkigal?

Patrick: Don't feel like summoning them.

Neptune: Come on. Please.

Kiana: You don't mind your other half being here, do you, Ishtar?

Ishtar: ... ... ... I... don't mind...

Patrick: Fine...

Kallen: Let's hope that we can bring the sages to justice. Dismissed.

Everyone leaves then goes to their rooms to sleep for the night.

Vert: I won't let anything happen to you, Nahida. I'm gonna teach those haters a lesson.