A puzzle a day keeps the smooth brain away

Just like the previous one, the metal gate of the tower was already raised, and right below the gate's lever is the same pile of seemingly discarded papers placed on top of a bag. As for what's written on it? Well, what else could it be other than some treasure hoarders thought regarding how to solve the tower's particular puzzle, worded in such a way that'll make you question how deliberate things actually are?

Still, even if that's the case, Xinyan still picked up the papers, her eyes scanning through the contents.

The tower itself, while practically identical in terms of its architecture from the outside, the interior is vastly different.

Rather than nodes containing elemental energies, it was instead numerous torches placed within the center of the room, lined up alongside white lines of what looks like chalk, with each torches placed at two different elevations in a triangular formation.

"Oh, this seems more up your alley, Yuu." Lumine remarked, as she circled the congregation of unlit stone torches. "Maybe you're onto something when you chose this place the first time around."

"Perhaps. But yes, I'd rather do this than drown myself in constant battles."

"I'm sure you'll understand the joy one day."

"I'd rather not."

Letting out a tired sigh, I turned towards the busy Xinyan. "What does it say?"

"Just like the one before, basically." As the rockstar flipped through the pages, she continued her explanation. "Though there's a lot more rambling than hints really. Something about the guy started seeing an old man hanging around or something."

"A Ghost?!"

Paimon, who was floating absentmindedly next to Lumine, suddenly exclaimed before hugging the blonde's head from the back, as if doing so would hide herself from them.

"There, there, Paimon." Reaching her hand back, Lumine gently patted Paimon's hair. "It's probably just stress getting to his head, so you don't have to be afraid."

"Yeah, Paimon." Dropping the papers onto the ground, the rockstar walks over towards her as she tries to comfort the little fairy. "It's probably not what you're thinking of."

"Right. Of course!" Paimon said, a bit too loudly, as her head peeks out from behind Lumine. "There's no way there's a ghost here or anything, right?"

Just as she said that, a sudden gust of cold wind started to blow towards Paimon in particular.

"Ah! Ghost!"

Scared out of her mind, Paimon practically launched herself into the crook of Lumine's neck, surprising the blonde quite a bit though she was quick to hug her before raising her eyebrows at me.

"Really?"

"What? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"You know exactly why."

"No, I don't think I do. Care to enlighten me?"

"Hmph, whatever." With a harsh click of her heels, Lumine walked towards the stairs and sat on the steps, Paimon still in her embrace. "Go on then, use your massive brain and solve this thing."

"As you wish. Come on, Xinyan, I'll be needing your help on this one."

"Coming!"

Once the two of us were in front of the torch puzzle, I took out my notebook from my bag and dipped the quill with ink before drawing the exact formation in front of me into the empty page.

"Can I ask you something, Xinyan?"

"Hmm? Sure, what's up?"

Now that I've drawn it and had a good look at the way they're connected, there's something familiar with seeing an upside down triangle within a much larger one.

'What was it called again? Triforce?'

"Do you think I went too far with Paimon?"

Looking at her expression, she looked confused at the sudden question, but quickly shook herself out of it before glancing at the person in question.

"Hmm… not really, I guess? Well, I guess you're being a bit mean-spirited but in the end, it was all in good fun." She replied before turning her attention back towards me. "It was, right?"

"That's the intention, yes. I just can't help but mess around with her, that's all."

"Then that's fine. Besides, if you do go too far, I imagine our leader would knock some sense into you."

"Haha, probably."

"But why ask? Is there something wrong?"

"Not really. Just thought I overstepped. Dealing with kids has never been my forte, after all. Try to light the higher one, please."

With a snap, a small blaze was created on top of her pointer finger before it was launched straight into the torch with a flick.

The moment the fire made contact, the higher elevated torches all began to light up, leaving the lower ones still inactive.

"What a coincidence, I'm not good with kids either. Or rather, kids aren't exactly fans of me."

"Why?"

"To them, I look scary." Rubbing her hand across her face, Xinyan frowned. "I tried doing my makeup in different ways and they still ran away whenever they looked at me."

"Really?"

"Mhm. There's this one time when a kid was being bullied, yeah? After I helped him and scared the others away, I thought that surely, he won't react like the others."

"But?"

Xinyan became quiet before letting out a sigh. "But just like the ones before, he ran off once he recognized me."

"Ouch. Sorry to hear that."

"It's okay, I got used to it."

"I don't think it's something you should get used to. Now try lighting the lower one next to it."

And just like before, the moment a lick of flame made contact with one, the rest of the lower torches lit up as well.

With every single torch lit, their bright orange light let out a brief flash before settling into its previous state.

"That should do it."

Putting the bottle back, I kept the quill and notebook in hand for the next one. Standing up, I offered a hand towards Xinyan, which she took as she pulled herself up.

"Let's go to the next one. Oh, and just so you know, you don't look scary. To me, at least. And I'm pretty sure Lumine would agree with me on that." I said as we walked towards the stairs. "Just putting it out there. Though I don't know how much that means, coming from someone like me."

"Hahaha, it's fine. I appreciate it."

Before we could climb up the stairs, Lumine, who was busy squeezing Paimon's cheeks, suddenly stood up and handed the giggling Paimon over to Xinyan.

"Take care of Paimon for a bit, Xinyan, I need to have a word with our walking encyclopedia."

At her words, Xinyan gave me a side glance before taking Paimon into her hands and hugging her closer, much to Paimon's delight.

"I'll be waiting upstairs then."

As her figure ascended, she stopped for a bit and mouthed me good luck before continuing upstairs.

Now with just the two of us down here, Lumine walks towards the lever on the wall and closes the gate.

'Uh oh.'

Seeing her figure walking closer, with nary an expression on her face, my mind began running a million miles a minute, scrambling for what to say.

Before I could open my mouth, I suddenly found myself being enveloped by the comforting warmth of her body, as the familiar weight of my hat disappeared as she, at some point, took it off and put it aside.

"Uh… princess?"

"Shh… be quiet."

Feeling her hug tighten, I slowly wrapped my arms around her waist, reciprocating her gesture. Though I found her sudden action confusing, I nonetheless enjoyed every second of it.

Though the prospect of being seen by others in such an intimate gesture is quite embarrassing, I resisted the urge to pull myself away.

"You did a good job, you know?" She said, in a whispering tone.

"I'm not sure I follow?" Though not sure what's on her mind, I followed her example, lowering my voice to make sure only she can hear me.

"With Xinyan." A sudden tingling sensation in the back of my head caused me to sigh. The feeling of her warm hand making a mess of my hair felt as good as it always was. "A simple reassurance like that can go a long way."

"I don't think that's something worth praising, though? Anyone with half a brain cell can say what I said to her."

"You'd be surprised, Yuu. People can be quick to dismiss someone else's worries."

"I guess. Though I suppose I never got to experience that, being too scared to say what's really on my mind despite–"

"Shush. That's enough."

Feeling the subtle warning coming from her muted voice, I stopped myself from rambling further.

As the arms around my neck started to slacken, she lifted her head from the top of my shoulder, separating the two of us for a bit.

"Can you take off your mask?"

"But–"

"Xinyan's upstairs, the gate is closed, and," as if to hammer the point even further, she lifted the discarded hat with anemo and held it over the side of our heads, blocking anyone from looking from above the stairs, "I'll even add a little something to that."

"Sigh. I don't really have a choice, do I?"

"You do." The tip of her fingers grazed at the edges of the white mask, sending a slight shiver down my spine. "You always do. You can say no right now, and I won't press any further. I know how much you hate other people from seeing what you look like."

"Except you. You know that."

"I know."

Looking straight at the pair of golden orbs staring intently at me, I slowly tip the edge of the mask by the chin. Although there was a brief moment of hesitation, I shook it off before eventually, the jagged white mask was off.

With nothing separating my face, an intense urge to look away from her suddenly appeared, causing the direct eye contact we have to break, with me focusing somewhere just below her eyes.

Though I tried to be discreet about it, she still noticed my instinctive reaction.

"Don't worry, take your time."

Taking several deep breaths, I force myself to look directly into her eyes once more, trying to ignore the feeling of ants crawling across my skin.

Once I felt comfortable enough, I nodded my head, causing a bright smile to appear on Lumine's face.

"You did great. I'm so proud of you."

"Thanks, I guess."

"Now," with her right hand cupping my cheeks and her thumb brushing against the edge of my lips, I felt a skip in my nonexistent heart, "your reward."

Closing the distance between us, I felt the soft sensation of her lips touching mine. Feeling her tongue prodding my mouth, I gently opened them, letting the hot appendage explore the inside as much as it wanted.

Pushing my own tongue inside her mouth, I felt myself becoming lightheaded, the burning sensation within as well as the sweet scent of Inteyvat threatens any semblance of self-control I had.

After god knows how long, the two of us slowly separated ourselves from each other, panting for dear life. Seeing the swelling of her lips, I gave her a final kiss before resting my head on her shoulders.

"How do you feel, Yuu?"

"Much better, thanks to you."

"That's good."

The rising and falling of her body as she catches her breath makes me feel relaxed as I enjoy the quiet atmosphere.

"What brings this up anyways?"

"What do you mean?"

"The hugs, the praise, the kiss; all of it."

"Simple, really." Feeling the slight tilt of her head, she suddenly kissed my cheek. "You look like you needed it."

"That's it?"

"That's it."

"There's no other reason?"

"That's all the reason I need. Hell, I don't really need a reason at all."

With her free hand once again playing with my hair, she continued in an exasperated tone.

"Yuu, stop thinking that you need some kind of reason to do something like this. You don't need one." She explained, knocking her knuckles against the top of my head as if to emphasize her point. "If you feel like it, then do it. Within reason, of course, but you get the idea. Just like you have been doing since the first time we got together."

Once her rant was over, she let out a sigh. "Do you understand?"

"…yes ma'am."

"Good. Now, if you don't mind," hearing a tapping noise from my right, I raised my head slightly, only to see her left hand shaking as it struggles to not let go of my hat, "please cover your face. I don't think I can hold on to this any longer."

Looking at my surroundings, I found the white mask laying on the ground. I must've dropped it at some point during our 'talk'. "And here I thought you're supposed to be strong."

"I am. But this oversized hat of yours is something else."

"Indeed." Grabbing the mask using anemo, I placed it in my hand and onto my face. Once I made sure the mask was in place, I took the hat from her hand and placed it back where it belongs. "It's two of a kind, after all."

"Hmm, can't wait to see the other one."

"I can." The mere thought of meeting the other one, especially when, not if, he realizes that I'm basically identical to him, brings a chill down my spine. "Hell, I can afford to wait till the end of time if I have to."

"And do you think that's possible?"

As we made our way towards the stairs, I couldn't help but ruminate over her question. At this point, it's better for me to prepare for every eventuality, whether I wanted to or not.

That is to say, it's better that I expect the absolute worst to happen, no matter how much I want the opposite to be true. Just as I've been doing for the majority of my life.

"Ha, not a snowball's chance in hell."

As we stepped into the second floor, Xinyan, who was currently leaning against the wall with Paimon in her lap, perked up the moment she saw the two of us.

"Ah, there you are!" Xinyan exclaimed. "You two sure take your sweet time down there, huh?"

"Sorry for making you wait."

"Nah, don't sweat it." Waving away Lumine's apologetic response, Xinyan held Paimon by her waist and stood up before cradling the white fairy as she walked towards us. "I had a lot of fun chatting with this adorable stuff right here."

"Hahaha, it tickles, Xinyan!"

"I can't help it, you're just so cute, Paimon!" She said, not stopping her hand as she continued tickling Paimon, eliciting even louder laughter out of her.

"Well, it's nice to see the two of you getting along so well." I interjected, walking closer towards the torches in the middle. "You haven't tried messing around with it?"

"Nah, I'm not really good at this kind of stuff, and I'd rather not make it more difficult for you."

"I see." Taking out my notebook and quill once again, I opened an empty page and drew the five torches placed into a star formation. "Sorry to cut your fun short, but I'll be needing some help."

"No worries. Here you go, Lumine."

"Thanks for taking care of her."

"Of course! I had a lot of fun, so don't worry about it!"

While sitting in between two torches, I beckoned the approaching Xinyan and pointed towards the torch on the left. "Please light this one up."

"You got it!"

Hearing the now familiar snap, the torch in question lit up, as well as two other torches that were connected to the previous one by the white chalk line on the floor.

"I see." Writing the number one on the torch Xinyan lit up, I continued the numbering in a counterclockwise manner and marked the torches numbered one, three, and four. "So that's the pattern then. Just to confirm, please light up torch number two."

Showing the sketch I've drawn to Xinyan, she nodded her head as she did as I told her to.

As expected, following the chalk line, torch number five lit up while torch number three was now turned off.

"As expected. In that case, the end result we're looking for should be a situation where something like torch number five and two are active, leaving the other three able to be activated by way of torch one, or something similar."

Focusing on the drawing once more, I began to simulate the next potential solution using the current state of the torch as the baseline.

"So far, we've used torch one and two, that leaves every single torch lit except four. Since we can't deactivate torches, then the next one is no doubt four, which would then leave one and two off.

"Next, whether we chose one or two shouldn't matter since they'll just end up the same anyway, just backwards. Let's go with one, then. In that case, that would leave two to four off with one and five on.

"Four and two… messes with the projected solution too much… three? Activating three would make it so that everything but three is off… after that, we want three to be off, which leaves one and five…. Let's go with one.

"One and four are now activated, all that's left is two, three, and five. Just activate five and… bingo!"

Having gotten the solution, I wrote down the string of numbers and handed it to Xinyan. "Here, just ignore the first two numbers and we should be–."

Turning my attention from the bright orange congregations towards Xinyan, I realize that she is currently staring at me, mouth agape with surprise evidently written all over her face.

"What? Why are you looking at me like that?"

Now that I was no longer hyper focused on my notebook, I realized that the room felt strangely silent. Looking around towards the other occupants, even Lumine and Paimon were staring at me.

"No, seriously, why are you looking at me like that?"

"No particular reason." Lumine said, shaking her head. "It;s just that I've never seen you so excited about something that's not Mora related before."

"You make it sound like I only care about Mora."

"Don't you?" Crossing her arms, the edges of her mouth began to curl into a smile.

"You know the answer to that already."

"I might need a reminder, now that I think about it."

"Time and place, princess. Time and place." Fighting down the creeping blush, I turned back towards the silent rockstar and waved the notebook in front of her. "Your turn, Xinyan."

"...right. Sorry. Seeing you acting all childlike is… surprising."

"What kind of image do you have of me?"

Not giving me an answer, Xinyan read the solution I wrote before turning towards the torches, snapping her fingers several times as she lit them up in quick succession.

Then, with one final snap, all five of the torches are now lit, giving off a bright flash once before turning back to normal.

"Whoa!"

"Amazing!" Suddenly, I felt a weight coming from the top of my head. "You're a smart one, aren't you, white mask?"

"Of course." Reaching around the hat, I grabbed the fairy by her waist and cradled her in my arms. "Though I'm sure I can't even begin to compare to our favorite guide with how knowledgeable she is."

"Hehe, that's obvious!"

Shaking my head at her antics, I stood up and gathered my things back into my open bag before handing Paimon over to Lumine who was waiting next to the stairs alongside Xinyan.

"Here."

"Mhm. You did great, by the way."

"I'll say!" Xinyan exclaimed, slapping my back as she laughed. "Just looking at the entire thing already got my head spinning, and it didn't even take you more than a couple of minutes!"

"You're exaggerating, Xinyan." I replied as I walked up the stairs.

"Come on, just take the compliment!"

"Yeah, yeah."

As we reached the third floor, the difference between this one and the previous floors was immediately apparent.

Rather than the center of the room, the torches are instead placed on the wall. And, just like the previous tower, there was a chest located at the center wall, surrounded by intelligible letters. A sign of it still being sealed.

"How do we go about this one?" Xinyan asked.

"Try lighting one up and see what happens. We'll go from there."

Nodding in understanding, Xinyan walked into the center of the room before deciding that the torches on the left wall would be the first one.

As it lights up, compared to the other floors, not a single other torches lit up alongside it.

"Uh… did I do something wrong?"

"Unlikely. Try the one next to it."

As she did so, the same thing happened. The torch itself lit up, but none of the others did.

"I think I did something wrong."

"Or maybe, it's just that simple?" Lumine interjected from the side. "Maybe that's what makes this one different. Maybe it's just as easy as lighting up every single one individually."

"It can't be that easy, leader."

"Who knows?" She said, shrugging her shoulders. "It might just be that easy."

Though Xinyan's brows are furrowed in doubt, she nevertheless did as she was told. And once every single one was lit up, the same ethereal melody played as the seal surrounding the chest disappeared.

"Huh. It really is that easy."

"Told you so."

"Come on, come on! Let's see what's inside!"

And just like before, Paimon impatiently flew towards the chest and, after opening the lid with a bit of struggle, immediately dove into the pile of Mora inside.

'Now we just need three cubic acres of Mora piled together, and we'll have the next Scrooge McDuck on our hands.'

After letting Paimon have her fun, Lumine stored everything inside and the three of us make our way out of the tower towards the center of the ruin.

"Looks like it's going to rain soon, leader."

"Yeah. We should finish the next one quickly, then."

Once she saw another third of the pedestal lit up, she led the way towards the final tower.

"After that, once we hand over those guys to the Millelith, we'll take some rest and wait out the rain."