Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Fuck this shit-

That was all you could think to yourself as you awoke on top of a cliff. At least when you looked the other way you could see that it wasn’t a mountain, just a steep hill with sheer drop.You stand up from the ground to test if you were injured anywhere. There was a throbbing pain in your ankle, not enough that you couldn’t put a lot of pressure on it, just enough that you had to limp slightly when you walked. You could ignore the pain, like it was a mosquito bite that you could only feel where it got aggravated.

Now that you had determined that you weren’t majorly injured the next step was to see where you were and if you had anything on you. You look around again to see if you missed anything the first time you looked around. Not too far away from where you woke up there was a bag you recognised. Limping over to it you bend down to see what had survived in your bag on whatever journey you had been on.

You tip the bag out onto the grass and sort through its contents. Grabbing the notebook and pen that had fallen out you begin writing a list of what you had.

Bag contents:
- Notebook (it had Columbina and Arlecchino from the Fatui Harbringers (look you loved their character design and when you saw it on redbubble you had impulse bought it, it had only arrived a week ago so you hadn’t had the chance to use it yet.
- 2 pens (Black, Red) and 2 pencils (one fresh led other half used)
- 1litre Drink bottle, half filled with water (about 500ml left)
- Phone - 56% left, no reception (you noted how weird it was that the emergency SOS call didn’t work either)
- An apple
- Lip Balm
- A black reusable mask (and 2 disposable ones)
- Small bottle of hand sanitiser
- Flannel
- Hair spray
- A lighter

Looking at the items across the ground and going through them to find nothing off help you quickly pack them into your bag. You take a sip of the water before turning to look over the cliff edge. The cliff seemed to be a major overhang with a path going underneath it. You take a step back from the edge unconsciously when you see how deep the drop was.

You could see a lake with a large old looking city in the middle. Your eyes fall on the large statue in between what looked like a castle and the town part. It kinda resembled- no it couldn’t be, must just be what it was based on.

You let out a sigh and sit down, letting your legs dangle over the cliff edge. You had no idea where you were, well you guess you could be somewhere in Germany but how the fuck could you have gotten here without knowing? But judging where the sun was in the sky it was either mid afternoon or somewhat early in the day. You think it would probably take you half a day to get to wherever that town was and with your injured ankle maybe a little longer than that.

You take a deep breath, it was actually very peaceful up here. You had been hiking a few times but never really stopped to enjoy the view, family or friends just pulling you along to keep going and barely stopping at the top before heading back down. Giving into the urge to have a picnic you take the apple out of your bag and go to bite into it. There was a loud crunch, but it didn’t come from the apple. You quickly stand up and away from the edge, worried it was the rocks you had been sitting on but you turn straight into a tree and fall back to the ground half a metre from the edge.

A tree? You swore there weren’t any trees close to the edge. You look up to find that you hadn’t walked into a tree but you had walked into a person. That said person was holding a chonky ass sword down at you.

“Who are you?” The red haired man says with a voice you recognise. It takes a second for you to realise where you recognise it from but then all the pieces click in your head. Red hair, the outfit, the voice, the sword. This was Diluc. Fucking Diluc Ragnvidr from Geshin Impact. Well at least you knew where you were now. “Answer the question, Stranger.”

“[Y/n].” You answer, cringing at how your name didn’t really fit in with the game at all. You let him look you up and down to show him that you weren’t a threat. “Can you help me, I have no idea where I am.”

He stares for a few more seconds before moving the sword to his side and gestures for you to get up. “Where are you from?”

You bite your cheek at the question. Should you tell the truth or lie and say you have memory loss…

“I’m originally from [hometown] but I currently live in Australia.” You say, deciding to tell the truth. Maybe then Dulic will actually be inclined to help you. The sword at his side moves dangerously and you stand, brushing the dirt off your but as you do so.

“Did you make those up? They don’t sound like places on Teyvat.” Dulic says with a suspicious look. “Where are you from really?”

“What the hell is Teyvat?” The two of you get locked into a staring contest before his frown deepens and he raises both his eyebrow and his sword slightly. You immediately put your hands up. “I promise I'm not joking around. I’m serious about not knowing what Teyvat is.”

He looks you up and down again before grabbing one of your hands and practically throwing you down the hill. You stumble before regaining your balance, glaring at him slightly.

“You don’t know what Teyvat is and yet here you are on Teyvat. You don’t seem to be a threat, you look like a hilichurl could step on you and you would die, but I’m going to keep my eye on you anyway.” As Dulic explains he pokes you gently with the sword as if to get you to start moving.

As soon as you start to walk in the direction he was poking you in, the sword he was carrying disappeared into yellow sparks. Oh so some of the game mechanics are in this version of Teyvat. You glance over your shoulder to see if any other game mechanics had made its way into this world but unlike the other fanfics you read, you couldn’t see an “about” button or anything along those lines. Maybe it was just the “infinite-not-heavy-at-all-bag” mechanic where the items you have just disappear into the abyss until you need them. That would explain why your bag wasn’t heavy at all.

“Tell me about where you live and where you come from.” Dulics voice drags you out of your thoughts and you smile.

“Happily, though I warn you based on how you’re dressed and the fact your sword disappeared into thin air, I can say where I come from is very different.” And so you began to explain the details of your world. It ranged from wars, to technology, to schools and even the way people dressed. Dulic was honestly a good listener, only interrupting you to clarify things. The thing that baffled him the most was the gods, or the lack thereof. You briefly explained all the different religions and pantheons that had existed.

You hadn’t even finished explaining everything when you got to the Dawn Winery and instead of stopping your explanation he just opened the door and led you to a room, briefly nodding to the employees on the way. As you continued to info-dump he led you up the stairs and to one of the upper rooms. He sat down on the bed while you chose to sit on the chair by a desk, picking up the first pen you saw and began to spin it around your fingers while talking. A habit you picked up during year 11 maths after watching a video or two on how to do it rather than studying. No regrets were made.

Once you were done you trail off and finally register that Dulic was still staring at you intently as if he was actually interested in your ranting. To say you had to hold yourself back from explaining the entirety of all the Greek and Norse myths was an understatement.

“You either have a very creative mind or you really are from another world.” Dulic lets out a sigh and rubs his temples. “Either way you managed to charm me with your stories from your world, I’m actually curious about it.”

You blink for a second as his words process in your mind. You managed to actually entertain Diluc of all people. Diluc who is more, “stab now and ask questions later”. You chuckle nervously.

“Well I have stories from some of the old mythologies if you want me to share them. As far as we’re aware they are just stories but all stories originate from some sort of truth.” You offer and he nods casually before there is a knock at the door and the familiar voice of an NPC comes through.

Chapter Text

“Master Diluc, there’s someone here to see you.” Both of you look up at the door and you shrug when he looks back at you, as if he thought you knew who was coming to see him. Wait maybe he was just asking for permission to leave you-

“I guess the stories will have to wait until another day.” He says, standing up and moving to the door. “I’m coming.” He calls out to Adelaide.

“Wait, why another day? Can I not explain when you’ve finished talking to them?” You ask, curious as to where he was running off to. He shifts to face you, hand on the door handle.

“I’m afraid not. I have business to attend to with them.” You give him the best curious expression possible and he sighs. “It's just concerning the dragon that the Knight of Favonious have failed to take care of.”

Holy shit they were already this far into this story? Well it's not that far into the story but still-

…

“Can I come? I don’t have a means of protecting myself but I've never seen a dragon before.” You ask with little hope but he pauses remembering what your world is like.

“I suppose you could come out to meet them…” He mumbles before opening the door. “Follow me, we will get food after this meeting.”

“Wait holy shit really?” You blink standing up in surprise, flinching at the pain in your ankle.

“Quick before I change my mind.” He says with a heavy sigh and walks out the door, you follow quickly after him. “And watch your language..” He mutters quietly enough that you missed what he said.

You weren’t going to lie, you didn’t expect that you would meet Venti and Jean so soon. You were also excited to see which traveller it was. You had a feeling it would probably be Aether with the theories floating around that he was the cannon protagonist, he was also the character portrayed walking around Sumeru in the trailer.

Sure enough when you reached the entrance there stood Jean and Venti. It finally clicked that there was quite a decent height difference between you and Diluc as you look between Jean and Venti. You were between Jean and Venti, leaning more to the tall side, while Diluc still had at least a half a head on both you and Jean and almost a full head on Venti . You note that the traveller hadn’t arrived yet.

“Ah Diluc glad that you could join us. Who’s your companion?” Jean greets looking at you, Venti also turns to face the two of you at the mention of a second person.

“This is someone I found wandering around a cliff. They say they come from another world and have no idea how to get back.” Diluc replies almost grumpily.

“I have a name you know. I’m [Y/n], nice to meet you both.” You say, bending your hips to form a very small bow. Venti straightens, a shit eating grin spreading across his face as he returns a bow. You had definitely fed his ego with the bow.

“I’m Venti the Bard. Glad you could join us.” You almost giggle at his almost dramatic bow but Jean shakes her head and tugs the top of Venti’s shirt to straighten him.

“Please no need to bow, we don’t do that here in Mondstadt.” You nod with a small smile on your face, nevertheless she gives you a strong nod. “But still, it is nice to meet you. I'm Jean. I hope we can find a way to get you home to your world.”

“Now that the pleasantries are over with, where is the traveller?” Diluc interrupts before you could respond to Jean, wondering why she hadn’t introduced herself as the acting grandmaster. The group turned slightly to look over the horizon to try and catch sight of the traveller.

“The traveller had something to take care of. They won’t be too long.” Jean says with Venti nodding in agreement. There was a pause of awkward silence before Venti opened his mouth.

“How about some-”

“No.” Diluc cut Venti off before he could ask for some sort of alcohol.

“But-” He turns to Diluc with a hurt expression but Diluc keeps looking forward unphased.

“No!” The silence fell over the group once more before you realised you shouldn’t actually know what they were doing. You shift as if you wanted to ask a question to draw attention to yourself.

“Um… So what exactly are you meeting for? I know it's about a dragon, which I still can’t believe exists here.” Jean and Venti turn to Diluc as if in shock that he hadn’t told you but he just gives them a look saying ‘I-just-met-them-I-wasn’t-going-to-tell-them’. There was a silent conversation which you felt left out of before Diluc sighs in defeat and Jean turns to you.

“Stormterror-”

“-Dvalin.”

“-Dvalin is the dragon that has been terrorizing Mondstadt, our city, for awhile and Venti here can apparently summon him to reason with him using the Holy Lyre.” Jean explains and you fake confusion.

“So I get you’re a bard and all which means your whole thing is music. But how are you, a bard, going to summon a literal dragon using a musical instrument?” You ask, silencing the group, Diluc turns to Venti with a weird look.

“Actually they have a point. Why are we trusting you with this again?” Before Venti could answer a familiar annoying voice appeared on the path. (I generally forgot why they trusted him in the first place and I’m not bothered to search it up)

“Dvalin Protection Squad! Assemble!” Ayo it’s Paimon and, hey you called it, Aether was following behind her as they made their way up the steps. “Oh who’s this?”

“[Y/n], Nice to meet you…” You trail off and Aether interrupts Paimon before she could answer for him.

“I’m Aether, this is emergency food.” A cheeky smile makes a way across his face as you hold back a laugh. Paimon stops her feet in the air.

“Paimon is not emergency food, Paimon is Paimon.” She huffs and you chuckle before Venti steps forward.

“Let's put our crystals together.” Each individual brings out a red tear drop and they float in the middle of the group and Venti frowns at them. “The colour of these crystals look… muddy. Dvalin… You’re going through so much pain.” He looks back up to Aether. “Let's start by purifying the crystals.”

You frown slightly and count the crystals. There were four of them. That wasn’t right, it should be three. Your thoughts dissipate as you watch in awe as Aether’s hand hovers over them and slowly a blue glow spreads from his hands and across the crystals. You seem mesmerised by the floating crystal tears until Jean snaps you out of it.

“It's hard to believe such a thing is possible until you’ve seen it with your own eyes.” She says and you shake your head to look away from the crystals and to the group instead.

“Interesting. It’s like filtering wine. The process is… refreshing.” Diluc says and you nod in agreement.

“It’s mesmerising.” You share your opinion since everyone else was. Venti nods and Aether brings out the Holy Lyre. Unlike in the game where it was pretty much the same from the first purification, it still had dull strings and patches of brown. You watch as the crystals get absorbed into the Lyre and the brown patches are replaced with the white and blue, while the strings start to glow. Then something weird happens. He can’t add the fourth one.

“Hey, it's not letting me add the fourth one. It's as if it's..” He pauses looking for the right word while the last crystal floats above the Lyre. “It's as if it’s full.”

“That's weird, you would think if it was full the anemo energy would just swirl around it.” Venti thinks out loud and reaches out to touch it but similar to Aether the energy stayed in the crystal. “Jean, could you try? You’re the only other anemo user here.”

As Venti suggests Jean tries to put the crystal into the Lyre but nothing happens. There was silence before Venti shrugs. “Well then, it should be fine.”

“It does seem completely different than before.” Jean points out and Venti nods.

“As Aether alluded to before, the Lyre’s full anemo power has been restored.” He pauses to take a hold of the edge of the Lyre. “We should be able to use it now. It’s all thanks to you Aether.” Venti says with a grateful smile.

“Now, where should we summon Stormterror? It has to be away from the city or else there will be casualties should we fail.” Jean says falling into a pose similar to her idle thinking animation in the game. There was a small moment of silence as the group thought. “Perhaps here at the winery…?”

“If the winery was destroyed, it is not something I couldn't eventually fix, but I would rather not go through the hassle.” Diluc responds, cutting off the idea pretty much immediately.

“The wind at sea or high places should be able to carry a bard’s words far away.” Venti begins and you plot to steal a suggestion. “It's never going to work if the air is dry and suffocating.”

“Then is there a cliff that looks over the sea or something around here? I would suggest the cliff you found me on but I think it's probably too close to both the winery and the city…” You trail off before Aether nods.

“Like the beach we were at when I was telling you about my sister.” Aether says to Paimon and Diluc nods.

“If the beach you’re talking about is to the east of Starfell lake then there are indeed mountains to the south of the beach.” He suggests and waits for silent agreement of the group before continuing. “If you go to where the cliff juts out, that place is known as Starsnatch Cliff. What do you think, Bard? Meets the requirements, no?”

“Let me think… Starsnatch Cliff.” Venti falls into thought before nodding somewhat enthusiastically. “Alright let's do it there then.”

“Very well, let's meet at Starsnatch Cliff in about 2 hours? That should give enough time to get ready right?” She makes eye contact with Paimon and Venti before nodding. “Please don’t be late.”

“Yes ma’am.” Paimon solutes and Jean back tracks, realising she put on a more commanding attitude.

“Ah sorry I didn’t mean to-” Aether cuts her off and just smiles.

“Don’t worry about it.” Jean relaxes at the comforting tone of Aether's voice before you shift nervously. You really wanted to ask to come along but you had a bad feeling they would probably say no, given you were just a civilian with no training whatsoever. Diluc seems to notice your fidgeting and raises an eyebrow.

“Is something the matter [Y/n]?” He asks, shaking you out of your thoughts.

“Well… I was just wondering if there was a possibility that I could tag along with you guys.” You ask shifting from foot to foot and begin speaking before Jean could start again. “I know I don’t have any fighting experience and I wouldn’t be any help but this is a fucking dragon we’re speaking about and I’m curious as to what they look like in your world.”

They stare at you for a second and Diluc and Jean look at eachother but before either of them could speak Venti speaks up. “I don’t see why not, if you have 3 more than capable fighters and a bard by your side you should have nothing to worry about.”

The other four turn to Venti with a mix of disappointment and concern and you remember the hairspray and lighter in your bag and bring them both out to demonstrate you’re not completely defenceless. “Wait look, I have a way of defending myself. I don’t know how effective it would be against a dragon but I can recreate a flame thrower.”

Chapter Text

“Wait look, I have a way of defending myself. I don’t know how effective it would be against a dragon but I can recreate a flame thrower.”

Not wanting to waste any of the hairspray you light the lighter and briefly hold down the nozzle to let out a large puff of fire. Jean blinks in surprise, Diluc looks at it with slight suspicion while Aether looks almost impressed. Jean and Diluc share one last look with each other, glancing at Aether for his input briefly but he just shrugs. Jean sighs.

“I guess there really shouldn’t be a problem.” She says with a defeated look. You pump your arms into the air in celebration. Diluc looks to you concerned at the celebration.

“Fuck yes.” You shout but quickly reel your fist back as you accidentally punch the still floating forgotten crystal tear. There was silence as it travelled over the verandah and into the vineyard. However before it hit the ground it turned into anemo energy that looked very similar to the energy that Aether got when he touched the statue of the seven in the beginning of the game, however it looked more solid, like Heizou’s attacks.

It hovered above the ground for a second before shooting towards the group with incredible speed. There was a shout of warning as Diluc realised what was happening but it was too late as it slammed into your chest and pushed you back into the wall of the winery.

There was ringing in your ears as you blinked away the black spots in your eyes. When the black dots disappear you look up at the people around you. Aether and Jean were beant down in front of you while Diluc and Venti stood back.

“Are you okay? Does it hurt anywhere?” Jean asks, looking you up and down, searching for any injuries. You shrug with a dazed look on your face.

“My back and chest feel like they’ve been in a flower press.” You cough and flinch, feeling winded. “But other than that I feel lighter.”

Diluc raises an eyebrow and shakes his head with concern or disappointment you couldn’t tell. “Well that's certainly a response to being shoved into a wall by anemo energy.”

“You said you feel lighter? Like light headed?” Venti asks and you shake your head, although your ears had been ringing and there had been spots in your eyes there was surprisingly a lack of a headache.

“No, I generally feel lighter.” You say lifting your arms, finding that they lifted faster than they normally do. Aether looked back at the group searching for someone to make eye contact with before looking back to you when unsuccessful.

“Can you punch me?” You blink in surprise and the group snaps their heads to Aether as he speaks.

“Wha- I’m not going to punch you!” You respond as Diluc and Jean nod in agreement but Venti realises what Aether was suggesting.

“You don’t have to punch me, just the air in front of me.” He explains, standing up from the group. “I want to test something.”

Venti nods and moves forward to help you up. “Just focus on the air around your fist and let it swirl.”

Diluc and Jean yet another look, this one a mix of questioning, doubt and realisation all in one. You take Venti’s hand and stand up with the help. You were confused to say the least.

“I guess I can try?” You say with a doubtful expression. Venti nods the Diluc and Jean to stay back while Aether instructs you on how to punch correctly. Venti reminds you once again to let the air swirl around your fist before punching but you had no idea what he was on.

As far as you were aware there was no vision on your body let alone an anemo one, so how the hell were you supposed to “let the air swirl around your wrist”. Nevertheless you hold your fist back as Aether stands a few steps away, giving you a nod to go ahead. You swear you feel the wind pick up around your fist for a second, immediately breaking your concentration you stare at the fist.

“Don’t stop, try again.” Venti calls out and you glance up at him with a mix of surprise and doubt thinking he was playing some sort of prank on you, he was Venti after all. You sigh and put yourself back in position, this time when you feel the wind you don’t stop and just continue through with the punch.

As you punched, it was like any air between you and Aether condensed and built up as it shot towards him, he raised his arms in defence. It was like a ball of air and he got pushed back slightly by the force but it was ultimately stopped by his arms. As soon as the air ball stopped spinning the air, it disappeared in wisps. You stare at where the air had disappeared and glance to the others to see Venti practically bouncing up and down, Jean had her mouth open slightly while Paimon had her jaw pretty much hitting the floor and Diluc was staring in what you assume was surprised.

“Ha! I knew it! You’re a genius Aether!” Venti cheers beaming at you and Aether. You stare at your hands before finally processing what just happened and rushing towards Aether.

“Holy shit are you okay? How did you know I could do that?” You ask, looking over his arms for injuries. He looks away from you flustered by the sudden closeness before clearing his throat and stepping back, showing his arms were fine.

“Well, when I first resonated with anemo, it was like it was suddenly easier to carry myself. As if I was lighter.” Aether explains and it clicks in Paimon’s head.

“So when [Y/n] said they felt lighter…” Aether nods at Paimons words.

“You drew the connection between your experience and what just happened.” Jean finishes and looks at you with concern. “Although you did just take in pure anemo energy, do you feel okay? Do you have elemental abilities in your world?”

You pause before shaking your head. “I feel fine, energised even. And no. My world is completely unmagical. No elements, or gods, or dragons.” You say, the amount of salt in your words was enough to make even healed wounds sting.

“Make sure to keep an eye out then, you don’t have a vision either so hopefully you’ll be okay.” She says searching you for any injuries again. “We don’t know how your body is going to react to Teyvat things.”

You nod and glance at Diluc. You think he still doesn’t fully trust you, which fair enough it's been like 3 hours and all you’ve done is info dump about earth. You were honestly surprised that Jean trusted you so quickly, yet again Diluc was relatively casual with you so that might be part of the reason. Maybe you should betray them in some way to make Aether have trust issues before he gets to meet Childe cause he seems to trust you already… Nah it would be too much effort and it was also a terrible idea.

“[Y/n] you good?” You glance up at Paimon and realise you had been staring at Aether. You nod and put on a smile.

“Yeah I’m fine, sorry about that.” You say with a nervous chuckle. Venti claps his hands together loudly to break the silence before it comes.

“So since we’re at the damn winery and chance we can get some food and some alcohol while we wait to head off.” He suggests looking towards Diluc with a hopeful look. Diluc looked like he wanted to say no but he sighed in defeat.

“Alright but I’m not babysitting so you’re not getting more than two glasses.” He sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose. Venti cheers and grabs your and Aether hands. You glance back at Jean as Venti pulls you towards the door but she shakes her head.

“Sorry I have work to do, I’ll see you soon.” She gives a nod to Diluc who quickly follows after the 4 of you like a disappointed dad.

~~~

Teyvat food was really fucking weird. Paimon had been insistent on you trying fisherman’s toast so you gave in and decided to try it instead of something more interesting. So in game fisherman’s toast raises defence but as soon as you take a bite out of the toast you swear you felt tougher, as if your skin hardened. It was really weird. You look to Aether for some sort of comfort and he chuckles. He glances at Venti who was trying to wrestle Diluc for the rest of the bottle of dandelion wine before turning back to you when he was sure they weren’t paying attention.

“First time trying another world’s food?” Aether asks as Paimon stuffs her face with her own fisherman’s toast. You nod and tilt your head as if acting suspicious of Aether. “I used to travel to different worlds.” He confirms and you pretend to be somewhat shocked.

“Oh cool, if you ever go to my world, don’t.” You look at him with a semi-serious expression before taking another bite of your food. “So why are you in this world?”

He hesitates, glancing at Venti and Diluc again before Paimon begins to speak up. “He’s searching for his sister after getting separated from her by an unknown god.” You nod and Aether gives a soft glare to the floating emergency food.

“At least you know how to leave, I don't even know how I got here.” You say picking up the glass of grape juice Paimon had out next to your hand. Aether shakes his head.

“I don’t know, my old powers seem to have been taken. I’m just stuck with just anemo at the moment.” Aether explains looking down at his drink sadly before Venti drags himself over to the two of you. You glance over to him and laugh at his disappointed look and figure that he was unsuccessful in getting the bottle of wine.

“Venti aren’t you about to go summon a dragon? Why would you want to be drunk for that?” You ask, taking one last large gulp of your grape juice. Paimon was not joking when she said that grape juice is amazing. You lowkey would be willing to accept payment in grape juice in the future, it tasted nothing like the grape juice from earth.

“Ah sadly my dear friend you have a point.” Venti groans, crossing his arms and laying his head in them on the table. After hiding the bottle Venti was after Diluc joined us at the table with a plate of his own food. The conversation over food mostly centred around you asking questions about Teyvat. Thank the archons you remembered to ask now or you probably would have slipped up on saying “thank Barbatos”, when you’re not supposed to know who Barabatos is.

Once you had all finished your meals you were going to offer to help clean up but Diluc suggested leaving immediately to go to the statue of the seven on the way. Venti agreed with him and hurriedly pushed you and Aether out the door while Paimon held onto Aether’s braid.

Chapter Text

Why Diluc wanted to go to a Statue of The Seven on the way you had no idea. That was until you actually got to the said statue.

“Hey how do visions work?” You asked on the way to the statue. Diluc and Venti paused, almost looking at each other for how to explain it. It was Paimon, however, that finally stepped into her role as a guide.

“Well it's said that when archon’s sense your ambition they grant you a vision.” Paimon explains and you nod glancing at Venti fake vision before looking at Diluc’s.

“Is it rude to ask how you guys got yours?” The silence that followed the question was enough to make you drop the subject. Diluc was looking for a way to respond while Venti was rapidly blinking as if looking for an excuse. “Ah wait, you don’t have to answer, it might be a bit personal.”

How ambitious do you have to be to get a vision any way? Maybe if you tell Venti that you lost a close friend he’ll give you an anemo vision… Wait, you can control air without one anyway what you are talking about.

“So why are we even going to the Statue of the Seven any way?” Venti asks, summoning his lyre to stump a random tune.

“For good luck, but mostly just a sign of respect. Don’t want the Archons to find a reason to strike us down.” Diluc says staring at you and you can’t help but think that he was telling you to do it to show you weren’t a threat to whatever gods would listen. As much as you enjoyed the Archons’ character designs they would still need to earn your respect like any other person/character (expect Aether, he had your respect the moment he started helping people without asking for anything in return)

Venti hums and strums on his lyre, you recognise the song as the song that plays when you’re loading the game. You begin to hum along as well and while the other thought nothing of it you didn’t process Venti looking up from his lyre to look at you.

How would you know this song if you weren’t from this world? His eyes narrow as he continues without stopping. He would keep a closer eye on you from now on to collect any other weird slip ups and proof to confront you with.

You look up at the Statue while Diluc places a hand on the statue and closes his eyes, giving a small bow of respect encouraging you to do the same. Aether walked forward to copy Diluc with the encouragement of Paimon, so you hesitantly began to follow their actions. Before you touch the statue you look up at the archon on top and then look to Venti only to make eye contact with him. You freeze like a deer in headlights as it becomes prolonged eye contact. You felt like he was getting ready to say something so you snapped your head back to the statue. You hear Diluc move away just as you close your eyes but for the hell of it you decide to say a prayer.

Listen up Archons, I don’t know if you can only hear me if I pray at your statue or if you can hear me at any statue of the seven but listen anyway!

I’m off on a mission to change the future cause I’ve already seen most of this Journey before. This is my “tell everybody I’m on my way.” Also my way of saying please help, I’m definitely weak as fuck even with air so like if you could help in some way that would be great.

You stepped away from the statue when you had finished and noticed Venti was still looking at you. You give him an innocent smile and move closer to Aether and Paimon, the two of them being the least likely to injure you.

“You were there for a while, did you say a prayer or something?” Paimon asks as you fall into step beside Aether. You smile at her.

“Something like that. It was mostly to test if archons actually listen.” Most of the group looks at you with a raised eyebrow and you shrug. “There's not much proof of gods in my world so I wanted to see what happens in this one when you try to speak to gods.”

“You must be crazy ambitious if you’re going to try and talk to archons.” Diluc chuckles and you look at Aether who shrugs as you give each other a knowing look. You turn your head when you see Venti pull out his lyre again as we begin to walk back to the path. Thinking it was going to be another song from in game you focus on the sounds coming from the stings only to almost recoil in surprise. You knew that song- it was a song from earth, your earth, how the hell did Venti know it? You try to think back to game lore. It was said that Venti could be heard around Mondstadt singing really old forgotten songs and songs that didn’t seem to exist yet…

Diluc gave a look at Venti. “This doesn’t sound like any song I’ve heard before?” Venti shrugs, pausing the song briefly.

“Just experimenting, just sorta came to me, I’ve probably heard it before somewhere on my travels.” He glances at you and thoughts just swirl in your head. You don’t even notice any of your surroundings, you were that lost in thought. It took Paimon gently slapping the side of your face for you to actually realise you were now at the cliff. The sun was beginning to slip below the horizon leaving the sky spain with oranges and pinks instead of blue. Paimon gestures to the group to show that you should pay attention.

“Regardless of the outcome things finally seem to have taken a turn for the better.” Jean says drawing your attention away from Paimon. Wow Jean really just jinxed herself. “Mondstadt has really been going through a lot recently.”

“Hah, In the end the solution to all our problems was a traveller and a song.” Diluc says almost sarcastically. “I suppose the Knights of Favonius may have played a part in it too.”

“We get it Master Diluc. Anyway, everyone, please step aside.” Venti rolls his eyes at Diluc ramblings and he turns dramatically. “I, the best wandering bard of the mortal realm will now begin my performance with the Holy Lyre.”

The said Lyre materialises in his hands as he walks towards the cliff. He looks over the cliff before beginning to play the beginning of the opening theme song. Unlike in the game he plays it for longer, the last note hanging in the air. There was silence and for a second you thought you had changed the future with the final tear crystal but then the cliff began to shake as Dvalin appeared from below the cliff. The group of you held your hands up to your eyes to protect them from the amount of wind blown.

You stare in awe at the dragon as he hovers down in front of Venti. Dvalin looked like he did in game sure but the colours were different. It was like the saturation had been toned down. He was still a mix of blues with hues of purple but it was like it had been toned back. He was a lot easier to look at, mesmerising even, as his four wings kept afloat.

“You have come…” Dvalin speaks, almost surprised to see Venti. His voice was scratchy as if from lack of use. “But what is done cannot be undone.”

“Then why do I see sadness in your eyes?” Venti asks, putting a hand on his hip as a friendly gesture. “Sadness that speaks of your yearning for this song…” Dvalin growls, the glowing trail of what you would call stardust at his eyes moving in waves as he moves up and down. You move forward as you remember that this was when the abyss mage hits the Lyre out of Venti’s hands.

“They are… communicating?” Jean asks as you take off towards Venti and it clicks as you run that no one else could understand Dvalin. Then why could you? “Huh?”

You reach forward and tackle Venti to the ground and the, what you assumed to be an icicle but actually looked suspiciously similar to the blue wish, hit the ground where he had just been standing.

“No Tone-Deaf-Bard!“ You hear Paimon shout and the group rushes forward to check if the two of you are alright. The abyss mage floats to the side of Dvalin. Trying to convince him that Venti was bad. You get off Venti but stay low as Jean puts an arm in front of the two of you while Diluc runs ahead, ready to draw his sword.

“Wait Diluc stand down.” You yell as the abyss mage finishes talking. He turns to you in surprise, but his sword wasn’t drawn which was a relief.

“Barbatos…” Dvalin growls rising higher, wings spreading. “You! You were planning this all along? To have me slain by them?!” It sounded more like an accusation than a question. He roars at the group of you and Venti frowns, upset at the accusation.

“No it's not like that-!” The bard defends, gripping the Holy Lyre tighter but the abyss mage just chuckles.

“The time has come for the dragon to serve his true master.” He shouts from Dvalin’s back and you frown.

“He’s one of the four winds he has no master!” You yell but it falls on empty ears as Dvalin flies away. There was a moment of silence as Aether helped you off the ground. The adrenaline wore off and you could tell that you had aggravated your injured ankle. Venti gets up himself and Jean hesitates, offering to help him up.

“Barbat- Venti, please, be careful.” Jean says, frowning at his movement. You lean against Aether to take the pressure off your probably now fucked up ankle.

“Hehe, you’ve known my true identity for quite some time now, haven’t you Jean?” He chuckles nervously, rubbing the back of his neck. “Though I thank you for still using the name Venti.”

“How's the Holy Lyre? Can it still be played or does it need to be repaired?” Diluc asks, looking to the Lyre that was on the ground. You hadn’t even realised that when you had tackled Venti, he had landed slightly on the Lyre. It was nowhere near as broken as it was in the game but it had lost its colour.

“Even if it could be repaired I don’t think Dvalin will listen should I summon him again.” Venti thinks to himself, picking up the Lyre and looking at it. “Come to think of it, [Y/n] are you okay? We did land weirdly when you tackled me.”

You shrug and gesture to your ankle. “It wasn’t the best when Diluc found me I think I just fucked it up more running and tackling you.” Diluc hesitates before looking at you.

“Why did you tell me not to draw my weapon?” He asks with a slight frown and you hesitate, chewing on the inside of your lip.

“Dvalin came to the conclusion that Venti summoned just to have him killed by you guys so I thought maybe if you didn’t draw your chonky ass sword he would feel less threatened.” You explain, hoping that it was a good enough excuse. He nods and you assume he took the bait.

“We can’t let that abyss mage get away. Dvalin’s in danger because of it.” Aether speaks up, shifting slightly to make it easier to lean on him. This boy did not deserve the trauma of losing his sister, god he was almost to nice.

“I agree, if we don’t cut off the source of this evil, then we’ll never be able to save Dvalin.” Diluc says, nodding his head in agreement. Jean nods a long thinking of a plan.

“In that case I can get Outrider Amber to track it down...” She suggests but Diluc covers his proud smirk with his hand as if thinking.

“No need.” He says finally getting his ego under control. “I eradicated one not long ago, at one of the four wind temples.” You hate to admit it but you zoned out for a solid minute, but you’re 80% sure that they were just praising Diluc in some way.

“Wait for my word, come see me.” Diluc suggests and Aether nods, raising a hand across his chest in a salute of some sort. Jean gives a nod before turning to go down the cliff.

“I hope this turns out well, please keep me informed.” She says and the group waves her goodbye.

“So… Where am I staying?” You ask after the group hit the bottom of the hill. They look at each other in realisation.

“Well since you’re familiar with it, why not stay at Dawn Winery?” Diluc offers, you had a sneaking feeling that he also wanted to keep an eye on you. Aether nods in agreement just as Venti grabs onto your arm.

Chapter Text

"That sounds like a great idea. May I take [Y/n] on a tour of Mondstadt tomorrow?" Venti offers basically hugging your arm into his body. You tense up slightly and look down at him, trying to act unbothered. His smile seemed too sweet, and his grip seemed to tighten slightly as you looked at him.

Diluc hesitates but you smile. "I think it's a good idea, he's a bard after all so he's probably not as busy as the two of you. You have to look into your contacts and you'll probably have commissions." You say looking between Aether and Diluc. You flinch inwardly as you realise that you shouldn't know about commissions considering the Adventurers Guild had only come up in conversation once briefly when they were explaining Mondstadt to you. "How about I talk to him now to organise time to meet, you guys go ahead, I can tell you what time when we get to the winery."

Diluc looks between the two of you suspiciously, knowing something was wrong, but ultimately he couldn't find a reason to say no. "Alright fine, but you won't be getting alcohol when you get to the winery bard." He sighs in defeat as he turns to walk ahead, Aether gives you a nod as he jogs to catch up to Diluc, Paimon leaving a trail of constellations as she floats behind.

"How many times have I fucked up?" You ask Venti without looking at him, eyes still glued to the two as they move out of earshot. His hug on your arm, although comfy, was strong and you knew you would not be able to escape a conversation with him.

"Enough that Diluc was definitely giving you some sort of stink eye." Venti says, also keeping his eyes forward. "That and you quite literally called out to every bloody archon to ask for help changing the future."

"So they could all hear?" You ask, you couldn't tell if you were hopeful, worried or relieved. He shrugs, not giving you a straight answer.

"Maybe, I know I could but it is my statue." He says and you finally shift uncomfortably.

"So do you just really like my arm or is there a reason you're still attached to it?" You ask, finally taking your eyes away from the figures moving away and to the bard on your arm.

"Well, I wanted to see if you felt lighter." He says sweetly and lets go. You had a feeling he was lying but you ignored it nevertheless. "You could understand Dvalin."

"So could you and probably Aether actually." You suggest but quickly realise that he was asking why you could understand him. "Could it be because of Dvalin's crystal tear thing? Aether can probably understand him cause he borrowed the anemo power from the statue?"

Venti nods before clapping his hands together and then grabbing your hand. "Well then you can tell me how you know the future of our world as we make our way to Dawn Winery." You could not get over his serious side. Don't get me wrong he was still acting like a carefree-bard/innocent act but when he was talking and asking serious questions, you could feel a threatening aura that came with asking the questions in that tone. It was lowkey terrifying.

Considering videos and video games don't exist in this world maybe you'll simply lie and say you read this in a book. Venti glances back at you waiting for an explanation as he pulls you along towards the Winery.

"It's a book series in my world, called Genshin Impact. It centres around Aether's journey in Teyvat. Hence why I want to change the future, there's... a few plot points that I want to change." You say picking up your pace to keep up with him. For a short dude he could walk pretty fast. He hums in response before looking back at you.

"Are you sure you want to change the future?" He asks and you couldn't help but notice he was still gripping onto your hand despite you walking next to him. "Wouldn't you rather the future be predictable?"

"I don't know, there are certain things I don't want to happen but if I want meet the charact- people that I read about, I'm going to need to tag along with Aether, which could majorly fuck up the story."

You don't know how he had done it but the one question had made all your thoughts unravel. Ever since you had gotten here you had distracted yourself from your intrusive thoughts by talking to Diluc about your world, or just talking to Aether and Paimon about Mondstadt. But Venti just asking one simple question had torn down that wall. Maybe it was because he was the God of Freedom.

"But I know- well I hope- that it will be worth it. To meet the people that I've only ever seen through a sc-- through pages and art. It's almost too good to be true. Although it's real, and god my ankle is killing me, it still feels like if I fall asleep, like I'm going to wake up and I'm no longer going to be here." You gesture to your ankle which you figured wasn't hurting as badly as it was as your body had finally processed the fisherman's toast, numbing the pain. You hadn't noticed that tears had formed in your eyes until you felt Venti squeeze your hand.

"Then I'll wish you luck. As long as you remain in Mondstadt I'll stick by your side on your journey." You blink at him, shocked that he would offer. "After all, archons reward those with great ambitions." He says in a matter of fact tone, almost proud. You chuckle wiping your tears with your free hand.

"Maybe if I had lost a close friend you could have given me an anemo vision." You joke light heartedly Venti chuckling in return.

"Maybe I would have..." Was his tone... sad? You shrug it off. You look up at the sky, the sun now gone and the sky was dotted with shining stars on a dark ink blue sky.

"It's beautiful." You mutter without thinking, Venti glances up at you before looking at the sky with a small frown.

"Does your sky look different?" He asks and you shrug.

"Kinda. You know when there's a brighter light you can't see the smaller light?" You start to explain and he nods. "Well think of that on a larger scale. So it still looks like yours but it's a hell of a lot harder to see the beauty. Like it's covered in a haze but not like a beautiful haze."

He nods as you continue to walk. You seem to take a lot longer walking back then you did walking to the cliff but you don't seem to care. It was peaceful and with the chaos of future events you will gladly take any peace offered to you.

"Don't fuck up in front of Kaeya." Venti speaks randomly and you almost jump out of your skin.

"That was the plan but I guess you have a different reason for me?" You chuckle and Venti just smiles cheekily.

"Maybe, but Kaeya isn't as forgiving as Diluc despite being slightly denser than him." Well damn Venti hold back a little, some people simp for that man. You can't help but let out a loud laugh.

"If I ever slip up you better cover my ass or I'm ditching you for the blockhead." You say, mostly joking. ... Mostly. The nearby yell of a hilichurl makes you realise something. "Wait, can you teach me how to use anemo energy?"

"Hm, I don't know. Wouldn't it be better to ask Jean or Aether?" Venti shrugs and you look at him weirdly.

"Aren't you literally the god- sorry, Archon of air?" You ask, raising an eyebrow. He shrugs again and summons his bow in the hand that wasn't holding onto yours.

"Everyone has different preferences. You don't really look like a bow person to me and if I'm being honest I'm too lazy." He says and you chuckle. "Plus you'll get to know them outside of them just being book characters. And of course I won't always be with you on your travels."

You simply hum in response, looking away from the sky to focus on the path ahead. Learning with a polearm would be nice. There weren't any anemo vision holders who use a polearm apart from Xiao and there were two problems with that. One he was in Liyue and the second, he's Xiao, he has trust issues worse than Diluc and Kaeya combined. So you might have to ask one of the other characters...

"Hey do I need a fake vision like you?" You ask and look down at Venti. "Like Aether can get away with not having one but he is the sweetest boy."

"You'll be fine. For now at least." Venti squeezes your hand, for comfort or a warning you didn't know. "Just don't do anything stupid enough to piss someone off or make you wanted."

"Easy said than done, pissing people off is like my whole personality." It sounded like you were proud of that but you really weren't. The rest of the journey to (the west) Dawn Winery was spent with small talk and jokes.

Chapter Text

You slept surprisingly well despite the excitement and everything that had happened earlier that day. When you had gotten back to the Dawn Winery, Aether was there waiting for you. He informed you that Diluc would have waited for you as well but he had convinced him to go to bed.

A maid appeared by the side of the three of you and led you all up the stairs. You noticed that the door she had led you to was next to Diluc’s. Fitting that he would put you close to him, probably wants to keep an eye on you.

“Alright we’ll be in the room next to you if you need us [Y/n], our room is bigger than yours so we’ll be sharing.” Aether explained and you turned to smile at the two of them and Paimon.

“Alright. Sleep well then. I look forward to the tour tomorrow.” You grinned and they nodded, waving goodbye to you as the maid closed the door. You turned to the room and took it in. It was quite similar to Diluc's, only smaller. There were two piles of clothes on the bed as well. You could tell that one was a set of pyjamas while the other one you had to take a closer look at.

You changed into the pjs and placed your dirty clothes into your bag, noting how the bag didn’t get bigger or heavier when you did and turned to the other ripple on your bed. You took the note of the top of the pile.

I realised that you only had one set of clothes and they don’t really look like they fit in here. I had the employees find some clothes that look around your size. If they do not fit please give them to one of the servants and they will help you fix them.

- Diluc

P.S. sleep well and don’t break my trust

You smiled as you read the note and sigh as you realised you should change again if you wanted to check that the clothes actually fit. You got dressed into the clothes he supplied and looked into the mirror on the closet door.

The clothes were simple but it fit the vibe of genshin much better than your modern clothes. It reminded you of a mix of fantasy and a waiter. It was a plain white button up collared top (your choice of long or short sleeve) with a black vest and black pants. For some reason he had also supplied you with gloves. One glove looked like the gloves of his younger version’s skin while the other was fingerless, like Kaeya’s gloves but without the star or spikes.

You did a little spin and smile. God, this gave you confidence and it is relatively well apart from the fact the pants were a little long but you notice that he had also supplied you with boots which were big enough to stop the pants from dragging on the ground. You almost didn’t want to take it off but sleep called and the vest would not be comfy to wear to sleep.

~~~

You groan as your eyes adjust to the lighting when you wake up. You look out the small window and rub your eyes groaning at the fact the sun was only just above the horizon. You turn back to your bed a sigh, knowing full well that if you layed back down you would not get out of bed today.

You look at the pile of clothes on the desk and hit you. You didn’t wake up at home. You were still in Genshin impact and you were in Dawn Winery.

You take a few more deep breaths to collect your thoughts before looking at the said clothes and getting dressed. You look yourself up and down in the mirror and nod. Yup feeling like you could take on a god and survive right now.

You pick up the bag that you had thrown at the foot of your bed the night before and head out your room and down the stairs. To your surprise, Diluc and Aether were already awake. Well I guess it wasn’t really that much of a surprise when you really think about it. You note how Paimon was floating next to Aether despite still being asleep.

“Ah, [Y/N] you’re awake! How’d you sleep?” The familiar happy-go-lucky voice comes from behind you and you physically jump out of your skin.

“Krfrjirjfnfdj- shit! Fuck! Ass! Bitch! Fucking hell.” You let out the string of curses, unsure on how you spoke keyboard spam out loud. You spin to face the bard. “The hell is wrong with you. I was still half asleep.”

“Ehe.” He gives you an innocent smile and you curl your hand into a fist and take a breath, hating and loving how he sounded exactly like the meme. You resist the urge to respond in Japanese to recreate the said meme.

“Ehe.” You mock in a childish way. “Shut up.” You grumble before turning back to the other two who had just been watching in silent amusement. “Anygays, I’m hungry, what do you guys eat for breakfast?”

Ignoring the fact that you just said “anygays” not “anyways” Aether gestures to the large stack of pancakes in the middle of the table. You grin like a cheshire cat when you see the sugary goodness and bolt towards it, taking a seat in between Diluc and Aether.

“I see that the clothes not only fit you well but also suit you. I’m glad that I was able to find some of my clothes that fit you, they were quite deep in my closet.” Diluc says in a casual tone, the word “my” wasn’t emphasised in any way but it stuck out to you. You and Aether however almost choke on the food you were eating. Venti lets out an amused laugh while the two of you catch your breath.

Your face erupts in red and you’re quick to shake any thoughts from your mind to try and calm the heat in your cheeks. The clothes had made you feel confident, sure but you now had the realisation that they were Diluc's old clothes. You take a breath and sip a nearby glass of water, not caring who’s glass it was and turn to Diluc.

“Thank you for the clothes.” You mutter, trying to get rid of the heat in your cheeks. “They are comfortable. I hadn’t realised they were yours.”

“Well they are yours now, they no longer fit me so I’m happy to donate them so you don’t look so out of place.” Diluc responds with a shrug and you look to Aether for help, face still slightly red, mostly from embarrassment. Aether clears his throat but Venti interrupts him.

“The clothes suit you. Dare I say, you look attractive in them~?” He says, a mischievous smile making its way across his face as he plops himself down opposite you. Yeah nah, you were done, your heart could not take anymore of this. You hid behind your hands, staring down at your plate to distract yourself with food. You don’t hear Diluc or Venti chuckle in amusement.

“So Venti, where are you going to take [Y/n] on your tour today?” Aether asks, breaking the silence to try and change the topic. Venti chuckles nervously.

“Well truthfully haven’t really thought that far. I was just going to wing it, go wherever the wind blows.” You held back a laugh and you could tell that Aether was holding back a facepalm. “But the main things on the list are the Angel’s Share and The Cat’s Tail.”

“No, absolutely not, you show [Y/n] where they are but you are not going inside them you drunkard.” Diluc denies, knowing full well that if Venti entered one of the taverns he would not exit sober.

“Ugh fine, you’re no fun.” He pouts, but shakes it off anyway. You finish your plate of food and turn to Aether as the conversation falls silent.

“Hey Aether?” He turns to you and hums in acknowledgement. “Would you be able to teach me how to use the power of anemo? Since you use it without a vision.”

Aether thinks for a second and Paimon’s constellations start to move as she awakes.

“I think it's a great idea. You’d also get a chance to learn more about fighting since you don’t know much about how to handle a sword.” She yawns with a tired expression.

The rest of the morning was spent similarly to the meal yesterday, mostly just small talk. Though Diluc left first to find his contacts. Aether, Venti, you and Paimon all left together soon after as Aether was going to Mondstadt to check the commissions at the Adventurers Guild.

About half way on the journey to Mondstadt you could see Aether glancing at your bag. You turn your head to him and he looks away embarrassed he got caught staring.

“Are you wondering what I have in my bag?” You ask and he nods, Venti also moves closer, curious as to what your bag holds. “Well it's stuff from my world really. Like a drink bottle, notepad, communication device and that handmade flame thrower I showed you. It also holds my clothes from yesterday.”

“All that in one bag?” Venti asks, blinking in surprise.

“It must be a magic bag if you fit so much in there!” Paimon says before remembering that their weapons disappear. “Oh wait, is the bag similar to how Venti can make his lyre disappear, or how the weapons disappear when you put them away?”

You hum in thought and look at your bag. It would be cool if the only way you could summon and unsummon things like genshin characters was through your bag. Though that didn’t make any sense.

“Hey Aether, why not teach [Y/n] the basics of using elemental energy while we walk?” Venti’s voice cuts through your thoughts and you look up to Aether who shrugs.

“Why not?” He reaches out his hands in front of you and summons his blade in one. He looks at you and you realise he was asking for your hand, you place your hand in his free one and feel how he was letting air swirl around his hand and sword.

“Remember how you swirled the air around your hand when you punched me? I do the same thing with my sword. I guess since you don’t have a weapon, we could focus on teaching you martial arts and incorporating air into that.” He suggests and you almost laugh, you were becoming a Heizou rip off.

“Until we can get you a weapon just focus on summoning the anemo energy, so it becomes second nature.” You nod at his advice and he lets go of your hand, the sword in his other disappearing in the yellow sparks. You smile and stare at your hand, trying to recreate the air ball.

Venti, Aether and Paimon spent the rest of the time talking with your input added every now and again but you were mostly focused on trying to hold the air in your hand whenever you managed to summon it.

Finally you reached the bridge to Mondstadt. You give a small wave to Timmy as you and Aether avoid the birds. Venti on the other hand didn’t care and walked straight through the flock. As the birds flew away a grin made its way onto your face at the scolding Venti was getting from the child.

Aether waves to the guards as you enter Mondstadt and you look around in awe. It was so much prettier in person than it was in the game, it was also so much bigger. It could actually accommodate all the people who lived here. And holy shit you could hear horses!

“So first on our list is the main street and all the shops on it.” Venti smiles and leads you over to Katheryne.

“Ad Astra Abyssosque. Welcome back to the adventures guild Aether. How did yesterday’s commissions go?” Katheryne asks and Aether shrugs before turning to the two of you.

“I’ll see the two of you later, Paimon and I are going to complete the commissions. Will we see you back at the Dawn Winery or shall we meet you at the cathedral at the end of the day?” He asks and Venti goes into his thinking “animation.”

“We’ll see you at the cathedral.” Venti decides and Paimon nods, taking a mental note.

“Alright we’ll see you later Tone-Deaf-Bard and [Y/n].” Paimon says cheerfully as Aether turns back to Katheryne. Venti grabs your hand and begins to drag you up the street.

“So I assume you’re mostly familiar with the area, but since you’ve only read about it let me show you around.” Venti says and you realise that when reading, it hard to have a sense of direction. “It must be cool to see the huge archon statue for the first time right?” He gestures to the statue of him further up and you nod. God it was massive!

“This is amazing, the atmosphere is different than I imagined.” You say looking around. While you had expected a busy atmosphere this was different, it was happy, cheerful, carefree. You could tell that this was the city of freedom. Venti tugs you towards the stairs up ahead.

“Come I’ll take you to these shops later, let me show you the knight’s of favonius headquarters.” He says picking up his pace while he drags you behind.

What did you discover when you were walking up the stairs? You were extremely unfit. Well, at least your lungs were. You did go to the gym a few times a week so it wasn’t that you weren’t unfit, more that your lunges just hated you.

Venti stops at the statue to give you a break from the stairs. You stare at the tall statue of Barbatos, not caring that you had already seen it when walking up the main street. When you had caught your breath you looked around for the archon that had been dragging you around only to find he wasn’t behind you. In fact he wasn’t anywhere in the area.

“Venti?” You call out, ignoring the looks you got from people. You look up at the statue, thinking maybe he could have flown or climbed up it but could find him. “The hell did you go?”

“Looking for someone?” You feel your face pale, ignoring the urge to spin around as you hear the cool voice. Now how do you plan to not slip up without Venti or Diluc to cover your ass?

Chapter Text

“You're not from around here are you? Perhaps I should help you look for this person?” At this you take a small breath and turn to the dreaded Cavalry Captain trying to appear normal.

“That would be great, thank you. See, a bard, Venti, was taking me on a tour of Mondstadt but he seems to have disappeared when I was admiring the statue.” You say, hoping and praying, Kaeya wouldn’t decide to challenge you on the spot. You weren’t lying but you were hiding your nervousness by being overly happy, which probably made you seem more suspicious.

The cryo vision bearer narrows his eyes, looking you up and down but sighs and gestures for you to follow him.

“Alright then traveller, follow me. We’ll take you into the Knights of Favonious headquarters so you don’t get lost looking for him and we’ll let you know when we find that bard.” Kaeya says as he begins to move towards the stairs. You almost let out a sigh in relief but you gulp it down knowing he could probably still hear you.

“My name is [Y/n] by the way.” You say after a moment of silence to try and gain even the smallest amount of trust from this man.

“[Y/n]?” His eyes narrow in thought for a second. “Where about are you from [Y/n]? I’m not sure I’m familiar with a name like yours.” You purse your lips for a second while you try to formulate a response.

“There's a small village in Sumeru that likes to create new names. There are some really random and weird ones as well.” You bullshit, the words just falling out one after the other. You hoped to Barbatos that it was believable. “Anyway helpful stranger, what's your name?”

“I’m Kaeya, Cavalry Captain of the Knights of Favonious” He responds and you nod, giving a small bow in return. You hear a low chuckle at your bow but you just smile. “You are an interesting character...”

“Hm? What do you mean?” You ask tilting your head, trying to sound as innocent as possible without seeming fake. Kaeya glances back at you.

“I haven’t met someone like you before.” He says simply which doesn’t give you a lot to go on. Finally you reach the door to the headquarters. You start to fidget with your hands nervously as he leads you to Jean’s office. You heavily hoped that she would recognise you and save you from Kaeya’s eyes. Despite being, canonically, approachable you knew this man had trust issues and would watch you like a hawk. He raises his fist and knocks on the door.

“Come in.” Oh thank god she was in there, wait should you act surprised? She never told you she was the acting grand master.

“Oh Kaeya what brings you- [Y/n]?”

Her voice takes you out of your thoughts, when did Kaeya open the door. He looks to you, surprised that you have met Jean.

“You’ve met Acting Grand-Master Jean?” He asks with a raised eyebrow and you stare at Jean to avoid his eyes.

“Y-yes, but I had no idea you were a Grand Master- A-are you sure I shouldn’t bow?” You stutter out, from both nervousness and to try and act surprised. Jean just shakes her head and you notice the small girl next to her.

“Acting Grand-Master.” She corrects before continuing. “And you met me when I was just Jean so please do not bow.” She shakes her head. You continued to stare at the child next to her and the inside of your head was melting at how cute Klee was in the flesh. “Oh this is Klee. Klee this is [Y/n], they’re staying with Master Diluc.”

“Oh are they?” Keaya turns to you again with a raised eyebrow. “Well I didn’t know that.”

“Well you never asked. I hadn’t realised Master Diluc was so well known.” You flinch slightly at saying “Master Diluc”. It felt wrong to say. Klee waves to and you wave back, glad to have a distraction from Kaeya’s stare.

“Come to think of it, why are you two together?” Jean asks and you almost choke at the wording. God you hate your mind and how it twists words.

“[Y/n] said that a bard was giving them a tour of Mondstadt but they seem to have lost the bard.” You nod at his explanation and bite your lip.

“I was at the statue when Venti seemed to disappear into thin air. Honestly terrifying since Diluc and Aether are out doing things.” You were trying your best not to fuck up but you inwardly flinch when you forgot to call Diluc “Master Diluc”. You hadn’t bothered before but because Kaeya was here it probably wasn’t the best idea to just call him Diluc.

“You met the honorary knight as well? Just what were you guys doing yesterday that brought you all together?” Keaya asks, mostly directing it at Jean who quickly changes the subject by looking at Klee.

“Klee, you can make it up to me by helping [Y/n] find the bard and giving them a tour of Mondstadt alright?” Jean suggests and Klee nods violently, excited to get out of a punishment.

“Alright Master Jean.” She pipes up and with a gesture from Jean she runs to you, grabs your hand and pulls you out the door. Kaeya watches you leave but doesn’t move after you. You look down at Klee and smile. Dear god she was adorable.

“Master Jean said to take you on a tour of the city but could I take you to my favourite place?” Klee’s high pitch voice suggests. You smile and have a small feeling that her favourite place is the area she blows up fish in.

“Sure, I’ll gladly go with you. Where are we going?” You ask and offer your hand for her to hold which she takes. You almost melt at how small her hands were.

“It’s a lake where we can go fish bombing!” Klee says excitedly but deflates almost immediately. “But Master Jean says I shouldn’t do it.”

“Well I won’t tell Jean if you don’t.” A mischievous smile makes its way across your face. “And I’ve never been fish blasting before.” Klee’s eyes light up and her speed picks up as she drags you towards the stairs.

“Come on, let's go!” She says dragging you out the city.

~~~

Klee was definitely onto something with fish bombing. Klee had lent you some of her bombs and demonstrate how to do it. By the archons it was so much fun and extremely satisfying to throw the explosives into the lake and watch the fish get launched into the air. The rest of the morning was spent fishing bombing with Klee.

At one point the fish had one to far into the lake and was too far away for Klee’s bombs to reach when she threw them. So you did the most logical thing, use your anemo energy to boost the bombs so they reach the fish. The first time you used the air blast the bomb had exploded as soon as the air had touch it, you quickly realised that if you wanted to boost the distance you would have to have more control over the air than just throwing it around. Sadly you did run out of Klee’s bombs.

“Thank you so much Klee! This was so much more fun than a tour of the city!” You beam down at Klee who smiles back.

“I know right! It's annoying that Master Jean says that it's bad.” She says, her good mood dropping almost instantly. You purse your lips as you remember about Jean. Before the silence could become awkward you scoop Klee into your arms and hoist her onto your hip to carry her. She lets out a loud giggle in surprise.

“Come on, we should head back to Mondstadt so that Jean doesn’t figure out what we were doing.” You say and begin to walk back with Klee on your hip. She nodded and moved herself so she was more comfortable and so it was easier to carry you.

“Oh and Klee, can you say something for me?” She tilts her head at you confused and you smile almost creepily. You knew this was not a good idea and your past self would be horrified at you telling a child to swear. “Can you say “Master Jean is a bitch”?”

Klee gasps at and looks at you with a small amount of shock. “I can’t say that, Master Jean will get mad.”

“Don’t say it around her, just to me.” You shake the mischievous grin from your face. “Well, you don’t have to say it if you don’t want to but it might make you feel better.”

“Master Jean is a bitch.” Klee mutters before a smile makes its way across her face. “Master Jean is a bitch!” She says louder and you laugh. “It does make Klee feel better.”

“Feels good doesn’t it?” My god this child was adorable. “But remember not to swear around Jean or we’ll both get in trouble.” You mention with a sweat drop. She nods, the image of Jean looking down at the two of you shouting coming into both of your heads. You both shudder slightly as you cross the bridge of Mondstadt.

“So where have you two been?” You almost drop Klee as you enter the city, the cool voice coming from behind you. Klee yelps and you try not to swear.

“Wqferthh. Holy shi-” You stop yourself from swearing and quickly correct yourself so Kaeya doesn't snitch on you to Jean. “Holy Barbatos you scared the hell out of me.”

You put Klee down but hold onto her hand as you turn to Kaeya. He looks at you with an amused expression. He raised an eyebrow and gestures with his hand to answer his question and Klee looked up at you with a hopeful expression and you shrug casualty to hide your startled expression.

“We were doing what Jean said. Klee was taking me on a tour and she took me just outside of the city to show me the paths.” You explain, hoping the lie would be enough.

“Really? So you had nothing to do with the distant explosions I could hear?” Kaeya asks with a “gotcha” expresion. You sweat drop.

“Yeah we had nothing to do with it. Must have been some hilichurls or something.” You had to speak quickly to stop yourself from stuttering and Klee nodded eagerly along with you.

“Yup! Must be hilichurls.” She smiles “innocently” but you had a small feeling she didn’t know what hilichurls are.

“Hm, really?” Kaeya looks between the two of you, narrowing his eyes in suspicion but then just sighs. “As long as you didn’t break the survival rules.”

He moves around the two of you and gestures for you to follow him. “I’ll show you to the cathedral, assuming you haven’t been there yet on your tour.” You narrowed your eyes at Kaeya but Klee was already moving, bringing you along.

“So why to the cathedral?” You ask as you make your way towards the dreaded stairs.

“We found out that your mystery bard has shown up at the cathedral looking for you.” Kaeya says and your eyes widen.

“Oh my god I must be stupid! We agreed to meet there with the traveller at the end of the day, of course he would go there.” You mumble, facepalming into your free hand, Klee’s giggles knock you out of your slump, a small smile coming onto your face at the child. “Wait, did you know where he went?”

“He said there was someone selling cheap booze.” Kaeya says and you plan in your head to punch the bard when you next see him. On the way you spent a lot of the time talking to Klee while avoiding looking at Kaeya while the rest was spent in silence.

“And yeah that's how I got my pet cat.” You finish telling Klee as you walk up the final steps. She laughs and you look up to see the alcoholic bard who ditched you running towards you.

“[Y/n]!” He calls opening his arms for a hug but without missing a beat or letting go of Klees hand you slap Venti across the cheek with your free hand, using anemo energy to push him away. Kaeya chokes on air as he lets out a surprised laugh while Klee just watches Venti fly through the air.

“[Y/n], whyyyy?” Venti groans sitting on the floor and clutching his cheek.

“You ditched me for alcohol.” You say blankly staring at Venti with no regret. He pouts but ultimately he couldn’t argue. “Just be glad Kaeya over here was able to find where you went or I would have been lost forever.” You say dramatically.

“Hey you know where Dawn Winery is!” He interjects standing up from the ground. You smile at his antics and almost forget about the cavalry captain behind you.

“What a touching reunion but mysterious traveller that seems to know everyone but me. Oh and before I forget, can you explain why you are wearing Diluc’s old clothes?” Both you and Venti freeze before he continues. “Surely you can’t have known him for that long. You would think I would know if he had...” He pauses to look you up and down while Klee narrows her eyes at your clothes. “If he had a lover.”

You choke on whatever air you were breathing in, Venti joining you, breaking your frozen state. Did Kaeya really think you were-?

“Oh and you’re wearing one of Sir Kaeya’s gloves as well!” Klee points out and you try to take a few deep breaths to stare at the fingerless glove hand. Kaeya also stares at the glove and pinches the bridge of his nose.

“Why in the name of the Archons do you have my dear brother Diluc’s AND my clothes on if you are not his… lover.” He sighs heavily and you glance at Venti, making eye contact for a second before you shake your head.

“My god- no for the love of the archons I am not Diluc’s lover so please do not mention that again. As for why am I wearing the clothes…” You think for a second briefly to think of a decent excuse. “As you know I’m a traveller, that’s how I met Venti, travellers and travelling bards often cross paths after all. But I admit I had gotten a bit lost looking for the city of Mondstadt and Diluc took me in and lent me clothes as my other clothes were… old.”

Venti nods in agreement to everything you said before latching onto your arm again. You’re starting to get concerned that he’s gonna cut it off and steal it just to hug it forever.

“You should have seen their clothes. They were covered in mostly mud but also blood and the clothes were also very torn, in fact there was a tear on their back so you could see-” You let go of Klee’s hand and smack Venti across his face in the same place as last time with the back of your hand and anemo energy. He flies back, letting your arm free again.

Kaeya blinks in surprise at the action but just chuckles in defeat, or at least, you hoped it was defeat.

“Your dynamic amuses me.” He says as Klee holds onto your hand again. He glances at Venti and shakes his head. “Did you even get the alcohol he was offering?”

Venti looks to the ground like a dog who chewed something he shouldn’t have. “Turns out the dude was a scammer and the bottles were empty, not to worry cause I threw the bottles at him.”

“So, [Y/n], you haven’t tried Mondtsadt’s wine have you?” Kaeya asks and you frown tilting your head away from him, you didn’t like that look he had on his face.

“No, I have not, despite staying at the winery… Why?...” You answer hesitantly as Venti’s face contorts into something similar to Kaeya’s.

“Well I’m sure Diona will be able to mix something up that you would enjoy.” He offers before looking down at Klee. “And I’m sure you could talk to Diona while the adults talk.”

Maybe he was thinking of loosening your tongue with alcohol? I guess that makes sense…

“I see no harm in that! Drinks are on you Sir Kaeya!” Venti cheers and begins to drag you towards The Cat’s Tail, taking Klee with you and Kaeya following closely after.

“Venti! Slow down or we’re gonna fall down the stairs.” You groan as you and Klee try to balance yourselves.

“Yeah Mister Bard, please slow down.” She says as you try to use the anemo energy to keep her from tripping over her own feet.

“Fiiiine.” Venti whines easing off his internal accelerator.

When the group of you got to the tavern Kaeya opened the door for you, you nod your head in thanks and you and Klee enter first.

“Ugh, which adult has come to lose self control over my drinks.” The familiar child voice sounds from behind the bar. You were glad you didn’t have a tail or it would be wagging everytime you meet a new character who you know isn’t going to rip your throat out. If you had a tail it would reveal way too many of your emotions. You grin at the child with cat features who stands behind the bar cleaning one of the glasses like a stereotypical bartender in any anime.

“Diona! What a pleasant surprise to see you behind the bar.” Kaeya walks in with an “innocent” grin. Diona rolls her eyes and already begins to make a drink, it still confuses you on how a child is allowed to serve alcohol.

“Sir Keaya, what a surprise. What drunkards have you brought with you this time?” She asks, ears flicking as she looks over to you and Venti. You raise your free hand in protest as you look around.

“I mean I’m happy with a non alcoholic drink-” You stop yourself as you make eye contact with one of the cats in the tavern and blink slowly before edging your feet towards it to slowly leave the conversation.

“Nonsense! Diona please make this lovely person over here one of your specials or just a glass of dandelion wine.” Kaeya cuts you off as Venti moves to the counter.

“A bottle of dandelion wine for me please!” He cheers plopping himself down at a free bar stool Kaeya sitting next to him. Diona slides the drink she was making to Kaeya and watches him with slightly hopeful eyes as he takes a sip.

“Well is it enough to put you off alcohol?” She asks and Kaeya just smiles, taking another, slightly larger sip.

“Nope, it's great as usual.” He says, popping the ‘p’. Diona sighs before getting Venti a glass of wine rather than a bottle, looking at him sceptically, probably thinking he was underage.

“So what about you two?” She asks looking at you and Klee who were now successfully playing with a black cat and a grey striped one. You glance up as the black cat curls up in your lap while Klee gently used one of her, deactivated and safe to use, small bombs attached to a string as a cat toy.

“Oh I don’t mind, I haven’t actually tried a lot of alcohol let alone Mondstadt alcohol so I’m fine with what you give me. Alcohol or no.” You smile down at the cat in your lap, missing the confused, almost relieved look Diona was giving you. “Oh and Klee, do you want apple juice or grape juice?”

“Don’t listen to what they say, just make what I said earlier.” Kaeya waves his hand dismissively in your direction as Klee furrows her brow in thought.

“Hm… apple juice please!” she decides, the cat she was playing with pounces on the handmade cat toy. Diona sighs before making a few drinks and bringing them out to you, Kaeya and Venti watch as she does.

“This one is the apple juice for you Klee.” She says handing a glass of ice and apple juice to Klee who gladly accepts, sipping on the drink through the straw. She places the tray of three drinks in front of you and you glance up at her in shock. “And here are the requests. That one there is one of my mixtures, while this one here is plain dandelion wine.” She gestures to the said drinks.

“What about the third drink?” You ask and her tail flicks.

“Oh that one’s on the house, you are the only person who has been of age who has ordered a non alcoholic drink so that's just a special mix without alcohol.” She gives you a small smile and a wink, ears and tail flicking happily. You give her a large smile back as you reach for her mix first.

You can see out of the corner of your eye Kaeya and Venti lean closer in anticipation as you raise the drink. Diona takes a seat near you and even Klee leans closer. You take a sip and your face contorts into a grimace. Diona raises an eyebrow while Kaeya sends you a questioning look.

“I haven’t really been one for strong alcohol and although it was good, it's not really my type of drink.” The words were completely true and you place the drink back onto the tray.

“I’ll drink it for you then.” Venti somehow teleported to your side and throws the drink back in one gulp. Although he was an archon, you worry for this man. Diona’s ears flick in what you take to be a happy way and you move onto the dandelion wine and take a sip.

“It's better than the other drink, I’ll give you that. It's also quite different from the wine I’ve tasted before.” You say smacking your lips together slightly. You had to admit, the wine was actually pretty good and didn’t remind you of earth’s wine at all. “I might finish this before I try your other drink alright?”

Diona nods to your offer, somewhat happy with your reaction to the alcohol before Klee grabbed her hand as she went to move back to the bar.

“Play with the cats with me while you wait for them to finish their drink Miss kitty girl.” Klee offers with a big smile on her face. Diona hesitates before sighing and joining in with Klee.

Kaeya and Venti moved to closer seats and Kaeya attempted to try talking to you about your past. Unfortunately for him, you weren’t exactly a lightweight, so you wouldn’t lose your ability to lie after just one drink. You built off the lie earlier saying that you left your village in Sumeru after your parents had left you to fend for yourself not long after you turned 15 and you met Venti when you were 16. Which brought up the question of how old you were.

“So how old are you anyway?” Kaeya asks and you take one last gulp of the remaining wine.

“Oh I’m 18, so I’m off age don’t worry.” You reassure with a small smile, you could feel your American friend shouting in your ear that you shouldn’t be drinking yet. (We are going off of Aussie stuff here since that’s what I’m familiar with). Kaeya nods and you reach over the table to poke Diona gently.

“I’m going to try your drink now Diona.” As you say those words Diona turns around excitedly, You smile and take the glass taking a larger sip than you did with the alcohol. A smile makes its way across your face immediately. It was definitely a mocktail of some kind, you assume that it had green apples and some mint in it by the way it tasted and looked but it tasted amazing.

“Wow, this is great.” You exclaim and take another sip. “I might get one of these everytime I come here.”

Diona pumps her fist in celebration as the other bartender brings over drinks you assume Venti or Kaeya ordered while you were trying the drink.

~~~

So far your stay in Genshin Impact has been surprisingly nice. Not only had you gotten to see a fucking dragon but you also got to meet a decent amount of characters. Not just that but you got to watch Venti and Kaeya get slightly drunk while the two children and you watched on in amusement.

Like promised you met up with Aether at the cathedral in the late afternoon and headed back to the Dawn Winery with a tipsy Venti trailing behind. You informed Aether what had happened that day. How you managed to adopt two children and how you slapped Venti for ditching you (Aether almost slapped him as well after hearing that Venti left you but you held him back). When you had gotten to the Winery you asked Adelaide about Diluc but she told you that he wouldn’t be back for at least another day before he would return.

After dinner you finally collapse on your bed with a heavy sigh. It had only been 2 days and you were already exhausted. You close your eyes and begin to drift off before snapping them open again and scrambling for your bag and the desk.

You completely forgot how long the story of Genshin Impact actually is and how long it takes to complete. You’d probably forget certain parts if you don’t write it down while it was still fresh in your mind. You glance at the discarded book on the desk to double check something and you nod. The only person who would be able to read this would be you and maybe Aether.

One thing you found weird once you had arrived in the city is that although you could understand what people were saying, you couldn’t help but notice that you couldn’t read anything that was written down. So writing about the future in English should be fine, for now at least.

Finally after all that was complete you throw the notebook back in your bag and throw yourself into bed. Finally drifting into a peaceful slumber.

Chapter Text

After meeting Kaeya in Mondstadt a few days ago you tried to avoid the city if you could. Only really crossing the bridge if Aether or Venti had something to show you. You mostly hung around Dawn Winery, figuring out ways to incorporate air into attacks. Aether found a basic polearm for you to use on one of his commissions but you had no idea how to use it and were just bullshitting your way through learning it. Aether had tried his best to teach you the basics and although better than nothing you probably still looked stupid so he taught you the basics of hand to hand combat as well.

Jean had turned up the day before to give you some pointers on how to use anemo with a weapon and demonstrated her air jab on nearby slimes. So despite having no experience at all you could now at least hold your own against a small group of slimes and maybe a hilichurl or two. You were now a discount Heizou with a pointy stick as your attacks were mostly just jabs and slices combined with anemo energy.

In saying that you still weren’t that confident in your skills so when you were standing in front of the storm barrier of Stormterror’s liar you almost shit yourself when the mitachurl and its supports appeared.

“This isn’t right, there shouldn’t be any hilichurl camps in the vicinity to Stormterror’s lair…” Jean says, standing by Aether as they get in a battle stance. “Aether, [Y/n], I’ll leave the mitachurl to you, Diluc and I will take out the supports.”

Jean and Diluc give a nod to each other and you blink in surprise. “Wait what-” But Aether had already rushed forward, leaving you to run after him while Venti just stood back and watched.

“[Y/n], attack from behind, I’ll attack from the front.” Aether says, bending down in a way that says “land-on-my-hands-I’ll-boost-you-over.” You nod and run forward, both you and Aether use the air to boost you upwards.

You take out your polearm from your bag in mid air (turns out your weapon doesn’t disappear the way a character’s does) and while Aether was attacking the shield you raise the pole above your head like a pickaxe, using anemo to add extra flare (and damage). The mitachurl looked up just as you slammed the pole onto its head. It yells as you jump away before it could hit you with its shield. With its attention now on you Aether was able to come up behind it and defeat it. It falls to its knees before disappearing in a cloud of red ash.

“Huh, that was easier than I thought.” You mutter picking up the heavy horn and offering it to Aether who gives it to Paimon. Another thing that you had noticed is that Paimon was like Aether’s backpack, any items he picked up she would take, disappear in her constellations and appear a few second later, no longer holding the item.

“Hm, hilichurls don’t usually come close to areas with a high concentration of elemental energy. It puts a strain on their bodies.” Venti says entering his “thinking animation” once again. Diluc hums with a small frown.

“The Abyss Order must be manipulating them behind the scenes, but still, they shouldn’t have been able to determine that we would come.” He mentions, voice turning more into a mumble by the end as he falls into thought. “They must be spreading their forces to halt our plans.”

“That would explain why it was only a mitachurl and the other two rather than a large group.” You say while the other nods. Venti clears his throat and turns to the storm barrier.

“I suppose I can play faster if my only audience is the wind.” His lyre appears in his hand as he brings it up to his shoulder. The music he played was short and simple, but beautiful nonetheless. The wind barrier shatters, sending a large gust of wind in each direction. Paimon smiles towards Venti.

“It actually opened! You’re not entirely useless Tone-Deaf-Bard.” She points out and you let out an ugly snort as you try to muffle your laughter, remembering that pretty much the only people Paimon gives an ugly nickname are usually gods or people with a decent amount of power. Venti rolls his eyes and you grab his hand to drag him along the path before he could punch Paimon.

You look around the ruins in wonder, they towered over the group of you. Paimon was saying something but you weren’t really paying attention to them as you walked over the broken path to get the sealed exterance. Aether pushes on the wind barrier but it was like pushing on a moving wall.

“It's stuck.” Paimon huffs, crossing her arms in frustration.

“It's stuck.” Venti mocks with a wide grin, you chuckle silently as Paimon falls silent in shock. You notice Aether looking up at the hole in the roof. So you point upwards so he doesn't have to talk. Another thing you learnt about Aether is that he just prefers not to talk in large groups, mostly because he wasn’t exactly the most fluent in Teyvat yet and was worried he had an accent that people would judge him for.

“How about up there?” You point at the hole and Aether sends you a grateful look while the rest of the group nods.

“We can make use of the wind currents.” Venti says pointing to a wind current that you swear wasn’t there before. You glance at Venti suspiciously as the group readys to leave.

“Let's make a detour then. Heading up.” Paimon begins to float in the direction of the wind current, only to stop as Venti mocks her again.

“Let's make a detour then. Heading up!” He mocks again in a childish tone. Jean and Diluc look at Venti like disappointed parents. Never did they think their god would be so childish.

As you make your way around the Ruins and up the stairs Paimon starts the conversation.

“Do you think there will be Abyss mages in the ruins?” She asks but the only response was a shrug. “Well if we do come across any we’ll just let the victorious Master Diluc do the-”

“Don’t underestimate the Abyss Order just because I’ve beaten one of them before.” Diluc sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose. “I’m not boasting. I’m simply saying there's more to the Abyss Order than just a few mages. We should work together anyway to get rid of any problems faster.”

“Well said Master Diluc. That is why I tagged along after all. Well that and also for your safety. ” Venti chuckles, taking out his bow to take out a few hilichurls that were on the path ahead. He sighs dramatically as if he was the one carrying this entire quest. “Oh why am I so diligent. Too diligent for a poet in fact.”

“So says the person that made ZERO effort to search for the dragon tears AND drank in the tavern all day!” Paimon raises her voice at Venti while he laughs nervously, you gesture to yourself and Paimon crosses her arms. “And you left [Y/n] all by themself to go buy boose! Paimon doesn’t get it, what part of you is remotely diligent?”

“Ehe.” Venti shrugs and you hit the back of his head with your hand. “Oww.” oh- not going to lie he sounded like Bennet for a second there. You step onto the grass and make your way to the wind current before stopping suddenly while the group continues forwards.

“Hm, [Y/n] are you alright?” Jean asks, turning back to you and you inhale sharply.

“I don’t have a wind glider.” The rest of the group turns to you with the realisation that you wouldn’t be able to go into the wind current.

“That is a problem.” Jean mutters as Paimon hums.

“Well why doesn’t one of you carry them?” Paimon suggests and the others process her words. “Paimon would but Paimon’s arms wouldn’t be able to fit around their shoulders.”

You nod in agreement and Venti slings an arm around your shoulder.

“Fear not fair traveller, Venti the Bard shall carry you through the winds.” He smiles in an almost flirtatious way and you could hear Diluc sigh.

“With all due respect, although you’re a god, you still seem like you would still manage to drop someone even if they were tied to you.” Diluc says and Venti gasps in offence but you couldn’t help but laugh at the fact that he didn’t deny it.

“If we’re going off of strength Diluc would probably be the best fit to carry you but if you don’t want to carry them Diluc I would be happy to do it.” Jean says in her “knightly” tone. Diluc shrugs and looks to you before Aether talks.

“And if you don’t trust them enough then I could do it. I’m stronger than I look.” He says and you stay frozen in Venti’s “hug”. They were going to make you choose weren’t they?

“So who would you prefer to carry you?” Diluc asks and you gulp as you see Venti out of the corner of your eye send you an overly sweet smile. You go silent in thought.

You would trust Diluc as he was strong as hell but there was a small intrusive voice at the back of your mind telling you that he might drop you cause he didn’t trust you enough. You wish you could ignore the voice but it was like a small annoying itch that wouldn’t go away. You honestly trust Aether with your life and although you know he’s stronger than he looks you didn’t want to burden him. There was no way you were choosing Venti because despite being a god he seemed like the type of person to drop you for a second then re-catch you and then say “oops- almost dropped you” as a joke.

“Honestly it's difficult to choose but I might go with Jean.” Venti dramatically falls back in betrayal while Diluc and Aether nod in respect to your decision and Jean just blinks slightly shocked.

“Alright then let's go up.” Diluc says, going first, followed by Venti, Aether and Paimon then finally you and Jean. Jean stands next to you at the edge.

“So what made you choose me? If you don’t mind me asking.” Jean says with a slightly confused look. You hum in response.

“Well you’re definitely strong enough not to drop me and I feel like as a knight you have a strong enough moral code that you wouldn’t drop me. Also I haven’t really gotten to know you.” You explain looking over the edge. “Now er- how are you wanting to carry me?” Jean pauses to think.

“Would you be okay with me carrying you bridal style?” She asks and you nod moving closer to her so she could pick you up. Jean scoops you up and you stare at her face for a second before turning red and looking away in embarrassment, suddenly glad you didn’t choose Aether or Dliuc. She takes a step off the edge and you let out a gasp and clutch onto Jean tighter as the gilder snaps open sending you upwards and she glides over to the next platform.

When you landed Jean put you down only to pick you back up again when you got to the Statue of the Seven, finally making your way to the top of the Ruins. You noticed that unlike in the game there weren't any puzzles to solve. You look over at the ruin guard that looks towards Mondstadt as the group talks. That ruin guard was the first field tiller if your memory serves correctly and it definitely would not be the last you see of it. .

“Alright, goodluck Aether!” You say as he steps onto the floating platform, “we’ll see you at the top of the Ruins.” He nods and gives a quick nod to Venti who creates a large wind that boosts Aether to Dvalin’s level.

“Come on while I keep Aether afloat we should make our way up as well.” Venti says and you run forward with the group, Jean picking you up as we step onto the platform in a swift movement and you are sent to the top of the ruins, looking up at the sky to watch Aether shoot at Dvalin’s blood clots.

After a few minutes Diluc begins to tap his foot. “Is the Traveller alright?” He asks and almost immediately on que Dvalin flies into the middle of the Ruins, Aether landing behind us and running up to the group.

As Dvlain flies down the middle, a teal and black glowing ball of energy shoots upwards. You look up at it as it turns around and falls down at the group. The group of you scramble to get out of the way of the glowing boulder only for it to hit in the middle of the group, sending most of the group forward but you end up going backwards.

The next few moments seem to go in slow motion. The rock hits the middle of the group so you get sent backwards bouncing once before rolling over the edge of the ruins. Venti, the only one who had dived out of the way, had seen you go over and had rushed over ready to jump off after you but Dvalin had flown straight up, knocking him back onto the ruin platform and out of sight.

Speed seemed to return to normal as you fell and you swore that just for a second there was wind slowing your descent but it disappeared as the top of the Ruins disappeared above the clouds. You take in a shaky breath and flip over, spreading your arms and legs out to slow your descent even by a little bit.

Looking around at the ruins below you it was almost peaceful if you ignored the roaring wind in your ears. You’ve seen videos on what to do if your parachute doesn’t open but from the height you were falling from you still had a bit to go before you hit the ground so you closed your eyes, letting the wind rip at your face.

“It is [Y/n], correct?”

“I apologise for taking so long I was arguing with a different God.”

“You should know how to use this.”

You snap your eyes open at the sudden weight around your neck and reach up your hand to wrap around it. This was a… this was a vision. You had a vision. Then you moved.

It was like your body was on autopilot. You look around you to see the floating pole that holds up the ruin’s in the sky. You use your anemo energy to push yourself towards in and turn so your feet were almost touching it. There was cold energy in the air, colder than the wind at your face, the cold energy crystallises at your feet and you mimic running, the object following the movement. You recreate Childe when he was surfing a waterfall and surf on ice down the pole.

You look down as the cold object surrounds your feet to see ice. Did you get a cryo vision? Does that mean the voice was-? You shake your head and move the ice to take you back up to the top of the ruins, moving in an upwards spiral around the pole like a spiral slide or stairs.

You pass through the clouds and realise that you didn’t know how to stop the constant flow of ice that was defying gravity to carry you through the air, so you overshot the platform and end up going in circles above the platforms. You look down to see Venti shoots at Dvalin and the dragon falls onto the platform, the rest of the group attacking the purple blood clot on his neck. You take a breath and draw the pole out of your bag and raise it above your head. The ice disappears in a loud crashing noise and you fall towards the dragon.

“BONK!” You yell, slamming the polearm over your head and slamming it onto the blood clot like a hammer in a strength test at a festival, effectively smashing it.

“[Y/n]! You’re alright!” Venti yells but is immediately shut up as Dvalin falls over the platform and the platform begins to crumble.

“Oh no this whole place is going to go!” Paimon shouts moving closing to Aether as it breaks and you find yourself falling again. You remember that Dvalin catches the group so you flip onto your back, closing your eyes and waiting for the dragon to appear

When your back feels something soft you open your eyes and sit up, looking around at the group. Aether launches at you, tackling you into a hug. You hug him back and just stay hugging each other on the floor while Venti talks to Dvalin. Silence falls over the group as Dvalin flies towards the city.

“How the hell did you get back on the platform?” Venti asks, breaking the silence and sitting upright, looking at you almost sadly. “I know I saw you fall.”

You reach up to your neck and feel around for the chain before taking it off and taking the vision out of the shirt, holding in front of you for the group to see.

“Somehow I got one of these.” You say, staring at your vision for the first time. Each vision is usually shaped in a way that shows what region you’re from. Yours, however, didn’t look like any of the regions, in fact the metal on the outside was in the shape of a wish if it was flat.

“Congratulations [Y/n]! Paimon’s glad you didn’t die!” Paimon says happily which you almost mistake for sarcasm. “Oh wait, that sounded too happy… but Paimon is happy for you.”

“We are sorry we couldn’t catch you.” Diluc says and Jean nods in agreement, Aether hugs you tighter, staying hugged into your side. You shake your head.

“No no it's fine, it's not like you could have known.” You give a small smile, trying to change the mood. “And I don’t think I ever would have gotten this without almost dying.” You put the vision back around your neck and tuck it into your shirt.

“How do you even know how to use it if you’re not from this world.” Paimon asks rather loudly and Aether turns to send her a look. “We’re up in the air no one’s gonna hear.” She huffs and you chuckle at their actions before you shrug.

“I’m not too sure, it just kinda came naturally, unlike the crystal anemo energy, I just… knew?” You explain holding out your hand to recreate a Dvalin tear look alike out of ice. The group stare at it before you make it disappear in a small explosion of snowflakes. You let out a sigh and look over the side of Dvalin, Aether sitting on one side of you while Venti was sitting on the other. You smile at the view and take in another breath to affirm you were indeed still alive. You look to the group.

“So what's next?”

Chapter Text

Hello fellow simps, This is both a thank you for the love this book is getting and also an apology. The next chapter I am writing is very cringy and I've been very up in the air about posting it. However because its like over 2,000 words I don't want to rewrite it so I've hit a bit of a road block.
Instead of working on this story I started two other ones to avoid this commitment(one where this MC (Main Character) gets yeeted to the Harbingers instead of Mondstadt. The other is a reverse isekai where Scaramouche gets yeeted to the modern world.)

So here, enjoy these voice lines.

Hello…: Oh sorry didn’t see you there, I go by [Y/n]. Oh wow you look like shit, wanna get some food and talk about it or just ignore it like I do?

Chat - returning to the old; I dread the day I have to return to the place where no one cares for me and leave all the wonderful people I know here.

Chat - new food Lets head back, I heard someone selling food that I haven’t heard of before and I am starving!

Chat - denial: What do you mean I’m slowly ripping off every character?

Hidden chat (not a game thing): Being from another world is hard because even though I have more friends here then my original, i still don’t feel like i fit in

After the rain:

When thunder strikes: Do you think when the Raiden Shogun sneezes lightning strikes?

When it snows: Oh my gosh snow! I don’t get it often if not at all where I come from… Let's make the most of it and have some fun!

When the wind is blowing: Wow, Venti who pissed you off today?

Good morning: Morning! Did you sleep well? Come on I’ll make you pancakes that my mum used to make me

Good Afternoon: What the hell it's lunch time already?? Why didn’t you tell me I could have bought you lunch with the mora I definitely have

Good evening: The sun setting is always beautiful, it reminds me of the view from my window in my old house…

Good night: Sleep well… Wait, it's kind of cold to join me for cuddles?

About [Y/n] - origin: You want to know where I’m from? Well I’m from sumeru- What do you mean you know I’m not from there? Well it more technologically advanced- Oh you want to know about my experiences personally? … How about you tell me about your childhood instead?

About [Y/n] - habits: I have small habits that I tend to not notice I’m doing. I’ve been told before that tapping my foot and spinning my pen or pencil around my fingers is annoying. Oh you don’t mind? That's a relief.

About us - asking for help: I’ve always struggled to ask for help so I hope to be a person that you can come to whenever you need help so please don’t be afraid to ask should you ever need it

About us - travelling: Come on, we should leave if we want to get this over and done with. Maybe after you could join me for a trip around my favourite places in Teyvat. You are amazing company and I would love for you to join me. There's a specific restaurant that only takes couples- I- I mean- two people! They only accept groups of two! We’re not a couple! Well.. Unless you want to be?

About Vision: I honestly have no idea why I have a vision. It's helpful to have an it definitely proves my worth but I hide it because I don't want people to be my friend just because i have a vision. Anyways wanna see me make a snow cone?

Something to share: In my old world there was something called Super Smash bros and just saying, I might not be able to beat anyone in real life but on Smash Bros? You don’t stand a chance

Happy Birthday: hey traveller! I heard it was your birthday and I wanted to give you this! They’re matching bracelets I made. I have one and I gave you two because when you find your sister you could give that one to her.

Attacks (and why I chose the lines):

Elemental skill Anemo: On ground creates an aoe anemo damage which follows their movements (will stay even when switched to a different character), slows descent from free falling (or just less damage taken when free falling) if falling. (twirls polearm around fingers before slashing leaving the effect behind)

Elemental Skill I (only while falling): Slow falling potion (I’m sorry for the minecraft reference)

Elemental Skill II: Venti, follow me (cause the wind follows them)

Elemental Skill III: Don’t get close (because of the anemo swirling around them

Elemental Skill IV: Swirl bitch (play on dance bitch)

Elemental Skill V: I am Aang (air bender)

Elemental burst Anemo: mimic’s Venti’s god form wings in anemo, boosting defensive and other fancy words (I definitely know how to play genshin what are you talking about), can also launch you into the air or launch you higher into the air if in gliding mode

Elemental Burst I: Barbatos is a bitch (this is a play on karma is a bitch)

Elemental Burst II: fuck off you spookay batch (if you get it you get it)

Elemental Burst III: I can fly (wings.)

Elemental skill Cryo: boost speed while also inflecting aoe cryo damage around where they walk (follows their movement, will stay even when switched to a different character)

Elemental Skill I: Hehe freeze! (ripping off keaya and you know it)

Elemental Skill II: I am speed (you are speed)

Elemental Skill III: ice bridge (breaking the forth wall)

Elemental Skill IV: lets go (needs a generic one)

Elemental Skill V: faster (^^^ but ran out of ideas)

Elemental skill Cryo: thoma’s shield but make it cryo

Elemental Burst I: its mother fuqing cold (that it is)

Elemental Burst II: Let me protect you (it's a shield)

Elemental Burst III: Can’t touch this (du du do du do du can’t touch this, cause ice shield)

Low HP: I hate this

Low HP: kill me now

Low HP: I dare you

Fallen: I will be back

Fallen: I always come back

Fallen: fuck this shit…

Ally low hp: I’ve come to help

Ally low hp: move bitch you’re gonna get hurt

Ally low hp: the fuq do you look like that :0 that’s why!

Light hit taken: is that all you’ve got

Heavy hit taken: you know what? Fair enough.

I need your opinion, should I post the very cringy chapter or should I just move on to the rest fo the plot and just give a brief summary about what happened?

See you in the next update <3

~ Sushi

Chapter Text

What was next indeed. The next few days were mostly uneventful except for meeting a few characters. You met Rosaria and Noelle a few days ago when you were running an errand for Jean. After you had finished you had a small spare with Rosaria, both of you being cryo polearm uses. She gave you a few tips on her to beat the shit out of things but it had only been brief. Kaeya came and took over from Rosaria and helped you train for the rest of the day.

You found out later that night that he had quite literally been pushed into the situation by Diluc and only continued to help you out of respect for Rosaria. Once you had warmed up to Kaeya and broken the ice a bit, pun intended, it was actually nice to hang out with him. Throughout all this most of the time, Venti would be trailing around you like a bad smell, often playing small tunes and starting conversations to keep you company.

You thought today would be normal, training with Kaeya, doing a few jobs for Jean with Noelle if needed or just wandering around Mondstadt (while avoiding the two fatui agents in front of the headquarters). But as the day reaches its end, Aether approaches you earlier than usual.

“Hey [Y/n], how's your stay in Mondstadt going?” Paimon asks as you greet the two of them with a large smile.

“Pretty good actually! It's going surprisingly well.” You nod before gesturing to the Knight’s headquarters. “I just met Lisa actually, I helped her organise some of the library books that had been put in the wrong shelf or left out. Anyways, what brings you here so early? You’re usually out on a commission at this time of day.”

Aether gestures to the person behind them and you realise that Sucrose was behind them, hugging her clipboard to her chest and shifting from foot to foot nervously.

“We were wondering if you wanted to join us. Sucrose needs some help taking some supplies up to Albedo in Dragonspine and Aether figured that we could use the extra help and that since you're a cryo user, you wouldn’t get cold.” Paimon explains and you chuckle nervously.

“Look I may be a cryo user but I come from close to this world’s equivalent of Sumeru. The weather is 50/50, some days it can be as cold as a witch’s tit outside and other days I feel like melting on the spot.” You explain. Despite growing up in Australia, you still weren’t used to extremely hot, or extremely cold weather. Aether deflates and shakes his head in a dismissive manner as if telling you that it was alright if you didn’t want to go. He turned to leave but you grabbed his wrist.

“In saying that, I would love to join you on one of your commissions.” You smile at him and his face relaxes into a small smile. “So please lead the way.”

“Dragonspine hiking group, assemble!” Paimon cheers and floats behind the two of you as you make your way out of the city after collecting the supplies.

“I don’t believe we’ve met yet. I’m [Y/n].” You say over the box you were carrying to Sucrose who was walking next to you.

“I-I’m Sucrose. It's nice to meet you [Y/n]. Th-the travelling has told me a bit about you.” She says with a nervous smile. You send her a warm smile back.

“Ah, is that so? All good things I hope.” You hoped your casual tone doesn’t come off as too sweet or threatening.

The journey to Dragonspine was uneventful except for a few hilichurls and slimes that you and Aether easily beat up, Sucrose supporting the two of you if needed while Paimon disappeared into her constellations. To be honest you were very happy to be showing off your new skills.

“Here we are.” Paimon says, putting her hands on her hips as you stand in front of the broken bridge to Dragonspine. “Paimon wonders if we should have brought Diluc or Amber. Will we freeze to death?”

Sucrose shakes her head and brings out four vials of orangey-red looking liquid. She hands them out to the group, you note that it felt warm to touch and you couldn’t help but think that it was liquid fire. When does Signora arrive again?

“Albedo and I have been experimenting with these for a while. Th-they should be safe as we have conducted qu-quite a few trials. They should keep us from death for the rest of the day.” Sucrose explains, hoping her nervousness doesn’t come off as unsurity. Paimon stares at it while Aether and you take the cork out of your vials. You smell it and wrinkle your nose.

“Smells a bit like ash.” You say and Aether nods before Paimon grimaces at her own vial. Sucrose drinks hers and tries not to grimace herself.

“We haven’t found a way to fix the taste, but- but- it doesn’t taste like ash.” She shakes her head quickly before calming and encouraging the group of you to take the potion.

“Should we all do it on the count of three?” Paimon asks and you nod, taking a breath. “One… two, three. Bottoms up.”

The three of you chug down the liquid and you grimace slightly before humming.

“It’s not the best but it’s better than I thought, almost like drinking slightly burnt toast.” You grumble, handing the vial back to Sucrose, who accepts it gratefully.

“Paimon agrees, maybe you should try and make potions taste good?” The floating emergency food says to Sucrose who just smiles nervously, opening her mouth to say something before Aether cuts her off.

“Of course you’re thinking with your stomach, Paimon, but if they focused on the taste it wouldn’t have the same effect.” Aether says and Sucrose nods her head gratefully.

You reach over to Aether and hold onto his hand, a smile falling across your face as you feel the warmth through the gloves, pulsing like a heartbeat. “Well you feel warm, I can feel it through the gloves.” He nods and gives your hand a squeeze before Sucrose clears her throat.

“How are we going to get the stuff across the bridge?” She asks worryingly. “Because you don’t have a wind glider do you [Y/n]?” You shake your head and Paimon gasps as if having an idea.

“How about we do a few trips. Aether and Sucrose will bring across two boxes and then come back and collect the other box and [Y/n].” She suggests and Aether nods at the idea while Sucrose thinks before nodding. You smile and wave to them as they glide across and wait for them to return.

You wondered if you could use your ability to control Anemo to slow your descent like a fake winder glider but you didn’t want to risk it. As you were lost in thought, thinking about how it might work, you didn’t notice Aether and Sucrose returning until Aether had scooped you into his arms, bringing you into a hug. You let out a yelp in surprise at the sudden contact. “Aether what are you- HOLY SHIT!”

You feel him jump off the edge of the bridge and glide towards the other side. You hold onto his shoulders like your life depends on it, his own arms tightening around your body to keep you from falling out of his grasp. When you landed you stayed an extra second in Aether’s arms before jumping back and huffing loudly.

“Please warn me before you do that next time, I have no qualms with you carrying me but if you wanted a hug you could have just asked.” You say, not mad at him but your heart was thundering in your chest so loud that you swear the whole of Dragonspine could hear it. Sucrose joined the two of you a few seconds later and you all picked up the boxes you were carrying before.

You were glad whatever was in that potion was working because right now you were cold, not deathly cold but definitely cold. And if you were cold now, you wondered how bad it would be without the effect of the potion.

Diluc hadn’t lent you a coat so you had been using the clothes he had given you without a jumper. You reach into your bag and bring out your hoodie and put it on. You can hear your mother in your ear telling you how the hoodie did not go well with your outfit at all but you couldn’t care less as of the current moment. Opting to choose comfort and warmth over looks.

“So… where is the lab?” You ask looking around. As much as you want to say you were familiar with Dragonspine, you avoided that place like the plague, plus the Dragonspine you were on now was so much bigger than you expected.

“Well… It's- It's hard to explain so I’ll just lead us there.” Sucrose says, beginning to make her way up the mountain, you, Aether and Paimon floating quickly after. “Just make sure to follow closely as some parts of this mountain are known to be unstable.”

Did you listen to Sucrose’s advice? Yes yes you did. Did you follow Sucrose’s advice? No, somehow you got separated from the two people who would be able to help you get across Dragonspine. So instead you picked a random direction that looked the safest and followed the path. Apparently you weren’t the only one.

“Oh for fucks sake.” You mutter after hearing the familiar sound of a fatui geo gunslinger charging a gun, you make the decision to run rather than fight the annoying bastard.

“You come back here and tell us your business on this part of Dragonspine!” The agent yells at you so you turn and throw a middle finger, well at least try to, you were still carrying the box of supplies.

“Go fuck yourself.” You shout back, sprinting away, only taking in part of your surroundings so you didn’t drop the box. You slow to a walk when you realise that you may have screwed up. Looking around you could tell you lost the agent, but you also lost the path and any little sense of direction you have.

“Shit.” You mutter trying to find any landmarks or even the direction you came from. There was a loud crack then a rumble. “Double shit.”

You look up to see where the crack came from and begin to sprint in a random direction to try and get away from the impending doom of the rocks and snow tumbling down the mountain without dropping the box of supplies.

“Oh fuck me.” You mutter and you take little notice of the main character “everything is crashing down behind you” energy you were giving off. You chew on your lip and remember your vision as you stumble, quick thinking saves the box of supplies by using anemo energy to move you upright again. You take a sharp intake of breath, put down the supplies and draw your polearm, letting the ice form at the tip before swirling around and using the anemo energy to shape the ice into a ball around you faster. Just as it solidifies, the crash of the avalanche crashes into it, but surprisingly, it doesn’t break. You lean against the wall of the ice sphere until the rumbling stops. There wasn’t much light as you could tell that snow was covering the sphere and blocking the light.

You take in a shaky breath. The realisation that you almost got squashed by an avalanche sinking in. There goes your streak of mostly uneventful and relaxing days. You try to move part of the ice sphere to create a hole but snow just falls in so you quickly cover up the hole with ice so it doesn't turn into an hourglass. You look up at the top of the sphere and thump your head against the wall a few times before closing your eyes. How were you going to get out of this one? You let your thoughts wander while you wait for something to happen.

…

Were those footsteps? You jolt upright, your head hitting the top of the dome.

“Hey is someone there?” You yell, even if it was a fatui agent it was still good to know people were still walking this direction. “I need help!”

“Where are you?” A voice that you recognise from the game reaches your ears and you smile.

“I’m under the snow in a sphere of ice.” You explain and you hear the footsteps come closer and you could hear snow being moved out of the way of the sphere.

“How did you get under the snow?” You could hear the voice clearer now and there was no doubt about it, this was Mondstadt’s chief alchemist, Albedo. He moved more snow out of the way and light danced around your dome so you shield your eyes. You make a hole in the roof of the sphere to see Albedo clearer.

“I was being chased by an avalanche so my response was to create something to protect me.” You huff and grab onto his hand as he offers it to you to help you out of the ice. You brush any snow off and smile at Albedo, almost falling back in shock at seeing him in the flesh. You think he’s a pretty boy in the game then you’ve got a whole other thing coming when you see him in real life.

He looks you up and down blankly before you look back into the sphere.

“Ah, how are we going to get that out? Some friends and I were supposed to deliver it to a lab here somewhere.” You say, trying to sound like you didn’t know who he was. Albedo looks you up and down for a second before a familiar looking, mind you smaller version, geo flower pushes the box of supplies out of the hole. You smile at him and pick up the box before he gestures to your hoodie.

“That's an interesting article of clothing, where did you get it?” You were just going to nod and bullshit a response but then remembered that Albedo knew that Aether was from another world, at least you think he knew. So it wouldn’t hurt to tell him that you were as well. Right?

“I highly doubt you would believe me if I told you the truth so I’m just going to say I made it myself.” You huff, hoping that sounded somewhat natural.

“Try me.” Albedo crossed his arms and you held back a smile, the only thought going through your mind ‘holy shit that worked-’.

“I’m from another world so I got it at a clothing shop there.” You cross your arms back at him and he blinks for a second before leaning closer to you to look you up and down.

“You’re not joking?” He asks and you nod, reaching into your bag to pull out the lighter and hairspray.

“Here's my proof if the hoodie wasn’t enough.” You say and begin to wonder why you took out the handmade flame thrower not your phone (which for some reason was still at 56% despite you listening to music whenever you were doing jobs by yourself and could get away with wearing earbuds without someone questioning you.) “I have other things as well.”

“Interesting. How did you get here?” He asks, leaning back and glancing between you and the objects in your hand.

“I have no idea. I think there's a gap in my memories or some shit like that.” You say with a sigh before he gestures to the supplies.

“Come, let's get somewhere warm. I’ll help you find your friend from there.” He offers and you nod, adjusting the box so you could carry it more comfortably. “If it's alright with you, would you be able to help me with something me and my assistant have been working on?”

You chew on the inside of your lip for a second before agreeing to help him. You knew instantly as soon as you offered that maybe that wasn’t the best idea as a small smile made its way onto Albedo’s face. You follow him towards what you assume to be his lab.

When you got to the lab you placed down the box and moved towards a bench to lean against. You watched as the Chalk Prince moved from different benches before moving to you, presenting a vial of maroon liquid in the middle of his palm. “Could you drink this?”

You take it and move it around, watching how thin it was and how easy it moved around the vial. It looked like it would go down easily, but yet again, vodka also looked like it could go down easily. Sensing your hesitation Albedo looks up from his clipboard.

“Sucrose and I have both already tried it. I’m just getting a wider range of data. Getting people from all places.” He encourages, which doesn’t actually sound too encouraging because of his monotone voice.

“Ookay, then.” You stare at the small bottle for a few more seconds before lifting it to your lips and drinking it in one gulp. The taste wasn’t the worst but it wasn’t exactly nice either, it was like you had just drunk burnt a bunch of burnt marshmallows, sweet, but it left a bitter after taste in your mouth. You trusted Albedo enough not to poison you and you weren’t really worried about adverse reactions if Sucrose and him had already tested it. “What should it do anyway?”

“It should temporarily enhance your senses and reflexes for about 10 minutes.” He says and you nod before clicking your tongue after a moment of silence.

“So how long should it take to kick in?” You ask, not feeling any different than before. He taps his pen against his chin and hums.

“It should be somewhat instantaneous. Are you not feeling any different? What did it taste like?” Albedo asks and you hum fiddling with the bottle.

“It tasted like badly burnt sugar and I don’t think I feel any different.” You shrug. “Maybe it doesn’t work because I’m not from here?”

He hums and places down the clipboard to approach you. “That may be so. Do you have an extra organ? Maybe that's what's preventing it from working?” You immediately shake your head.

“No no as far as I’m aware, I have the same amount of organs as the other humans here.” You raise your hands in surrender, your voice is almost fearful but you think Albedo wouldn’t cut you open to see if you have an extra organ. … You hope.

“Hm then I wonder what could be…” he trailed off staring at your head and you tilt your head.

“Is something wrong?” You sniff, the cold finally getting to your nose and immediately crinkle it in surprise. “Scratch what I said before, my sense of smell is way better than before. I can smell chalk. And chalk doesn’t even have a strong smell!” Your mouth forms a small ‘O’ as you remember who is in front of you.

“… I-” He pauses searching for words, eyes leaving the top of your head and you wait patiently. “Is it just your sense of smell or are there any other senses?” His eyes move back to stare at the top of your head but you mistake it as him staring at something behind you.

“Well I can hear a lot clearer. This is going to suck when this wears off, well at least the hearing part, I could live without smelling when someone last had a shower.” You shrug, noticing the different smells around the room and he nods with a hum.

“So no pain or headache? Nothing along those lines?” His brows were furrowed in confusion and he seemed to be trying to figure something out. You shake your head and finally glance behind you to try and follow Albedo’s line of sight.

“No pain. Sorry, is there something behind me?” When you turn back he shakes his head and sighed before gesturing to the top of your head.

“So you really can’t feel those?” He sounded like he was pointing out the obvious but you just frown in confusion. “Those on your head.”

“What’s wrong with my head?” You reach up to pat your head and freeze when your hand comes into contact with something fluffy. You blink, your face falling into a blank default look as you feel around the soft objects on your head. You tug at them gently only to hiss quietly in pain, realising that they were attached to your head.

“Albedo?” You stay frozen with your hands on your head with a blank face. He hums in acknowledgement and you look at him with a sarcastic smile. “Why do I have animal ears on my head?”

He frowns and bites the tip of his pencil in thought. “That is an excellent question, they look similar to those of canine ears…” Albedo turns to put the clipboard on the bench before freezing mid movement and turning to you with a frown. “Wait… how do you know my name?”

You freeze, your eyes locking with his, in unspoken prolonged eye contact.

“You’re the person who was expecting supplies from Sucrose right?” You break the silence, your new ears flick in anticipation. “There can only be so many alchemist’s with labs in Dragonspine who have an assistant called Sucrose. I was helping her carry supplies.”

It was the half truth. If you had no knowledge of him beforehand you doubted that your last brain cell would have been able to put two and two together until Sucrose showed up. But for the sake of not having to tell someone else about knowing the future, you hope he believes you.

“Ah, that would explain why the box has some of the supplies I asked for.” He continues to stare at you, or more specifically your ears. “You said you’re from a different world correct?” You nod as he approaches you. “Do humans in your world have any animalistic traits? Did drinking this perhaps just reveal something that had just been hidden?”

“No that’s not possible, we don’t even have elemental energy in my world so I don’t know how I’m able to control a vision.” You explain. As Albedo gets closer the smell of chalk becomes stronger and you crinkle your nose at the bland smell.

“Is it just the ears and sense of smell or are there any other side effects I should know about?” He made it sound like you were purposely not telling him symptoms. You shrug and stand up off the bench you were leaning on. You feel something get caught on your hoodie and get dragged off the table with you so you turn around to see the mess you’ve caused only to be met by nothing on the ground.

“Sorry, but is there anything caught on my hoodie? There's an extra weight there I think.” You keep your back to him, glancing over your shoulder slightly only for your eyes to widen.

“... So anything else apart from the tail as well?” Albedo raises his eyebrow and his chest moves as if chuckling silently. You rub your eyes and the bridge of your nose.

“No, there isn’t anything else… You said this should only last ten minutes right?” You turn back around with a hopeful expression, hoping to any archons that this wouldn’t be permanent. As much as you want to be able to easily tell if someone was sneaking up on you, you don’t think you would ever get used to the tail and extra sounds and probably potent smells.

“When we first tested it, it only lasted 10 minutes give or take a minute or two. You on the other hand…” He gestures to the ears and tail. “Might be longer, might be shorter. You seem to be a unique case.” He reaches towards your head. “May I touch them?”

You nod but almost immediately regret it. You had friends pat you on the head before sure but with the ears you shiver at the contact, the feeling forren to you. It didn’t help that he wasn’t patting your head but moving your ears around as if testing if they were indeed attached to your head. Although after a few silent seconds you could feel your tail swaying from side to side as you got used to the feeling of Albedo moving your ears around in curiosity.

“So you can feel when I touch them?” He asks and you flinch at the volume, his voice much louder than you expected now he is closer to your ears.

“Yeah, they’re not just a headband, I can feel everything.” You answer, ears flicking as he brushes past a ticklish spot.

“They seem to act similarly to a feline’s despite looking a lot closer to those of a canine.” He glances at your tail before retreating to his clipboard. “The tail is definitely canine as well. You certainly are interesting.”

You roll your eyes at his interest, not really wanting to become a test subject of Albedo’s for the rest of your life. You glance over to the clock that he had on the desk and take note of the time. You sigh and look up to Albedo to make conversation while you wait.

“I go by [Y/n] by the way. If you need my name.” You say breaking the silence, watching Albedo move from his clipboard to different beakers. He hums in response and you assume he wasn’t too interested in conversation. So you do what you did with Diluc a few chapters ago and start info dumping about your world. You didn’t really care if he was listening or not, you just didn’t want to be left in silence for the next 10 or so minutes.

“Wait, your world doesn’t have any elemental energy?” Albedo interrupts you and turns away from the new liquid he was creating. You shake your head, crinkling your face at the new feeling of your ears moving with your head.

“As far as I’m aware no, I’m not quite sure how I even got a vision, or how I’m able to manipulate anemo energy without one.” You hold out your hands to let air swirl in one and ice form around the other before they disperse into the air.

“Hm, I might need to give you the potion I gave the traveller to test your elemental flow.” He mutters and begins to move over to a different work bench. You quickly search for an excuse not to take another potion that might give you weird side effects.

“Should we not wait for the current potion to get out of my system first?” You glance over at the time and frown, it had been well over ten minutes and your new extra parts were showing no sign of leaving. “Are you sure these are going to go away?”

“Truthfully speaking, no. These are not very close at all to the effect it had on me or Sucrose and considering that there are no signs of them leaving even after 10 minutes, I’d say there's a high chance you might have them for a while.” He glances up at your ears before his eyes finally return to your face. “Do you want to keep them? If not I’ll try and work on some potion that will reverse the effects. What a challenge that will be...” He mutters the last part but you catch it anyway.

“Either way I will be stuck with them for a while, but please work on that potion.” You nod your head in thanks before looking to the entrance to the cave, the sound of footsteps and chatter filling your ears.

“Is there something there?” He asks and you assume he can’t hear the snow crunching or voices.

“I think people are coming closer. They should be here soon.” Your ears flick in the direction of the voices.

“Mr Albedo, we seem to have lost a friend. Have you seen them around here?” The nervous sound of Sucrose’s voice fills the cave as Aether and Paimon follow behind her, still carrying the crate from earlier. “We also have the supplies you requested.”

Albedo looks up to the entrance and then glances at you, not really surprised that you could hear the group approaching while he couldn’t.

“Oh they’re right here. I found them out in the snow after an avalanche.” Albedo gestures to you and Aether’s head snaps in your direction and you give him a nervous wave. After putting the crate down next to yours he walks towards you. He looks you up and down, checking for injuries before bringing you into a hug before Paimon frowns.

“[Y/n]! We were worried about you when you didn’t show up, especially when that rumbling- Woah, since when do you have ears?” Paimon begins her rant only to cut herself off when she spots the ears and tail. Aether looks up and tilts his head at the ears, having not noticed them in his rush to check if you were okay.

“Have you always had those and were hiding them or?” He asks and Albedo steps forward.

“I guess you could say I’m at fault here.” Albedo raises his hand before offering the same vial of liquid to Aether. “Perhaps you will also yield a different result to Sucrose and me.”

Aether looks to you for help but you just shrug. “I’ll pass, sorry Albedo.” He sweat drops.

Albedo sighs disappointedly but shrugs it off and leans against a bench.

“So about getting rid of them?” You ask after the two seconds of silence and he purses his lips.

“Well the original was only temporary so there isn’t exactly a ‘cure’ for it so to speak. At least one that I've made.” Albedo explains in his usual monotone voice. You blink before sighing and pinching the bridge of your nose.

“So how long am I going to be stuck with these for?” You ask, slightly impatiently, but mostly in worry.

“Probably a few weeks at the minimum.” He says monotony and you deflate, ears flattening and tail drooping. ‘“Unless they are causing you pain?” You shake your head with a sigh, although they caused you discomfort, it was the idea of having something foreign on you that was putting you off, they weren’t painful.

“I guess I’ll return in a few weeks then?” You suggest glancing at Aether and Paimon, knowing you would forget if the date is just left to you. Paimon nods, taking a mental note of when that would be while Aether smiles.

“Do you need help unpacking your supplies Albedo?” Aether offers but Sucrose shakes her head.

“No, we’ll be okay. I-I think?” She looks to Albedo who nods his head.

“Though, can the two of you return these files to Master Jean? It would be too much of a hassle to ask Sucrose to go all the way back down and up again.” Aether nods at Albedo’s request before the alchemist turns to you. “If possible I would also like to check up on you every few days just in case there are some unexpected side effects. I’ll meet you in Mondstadt if you need.”

“If I’m not there, send someone to the Dawn Winery and request for me.” You agree hesitantly with a sigh, knowing you would forget about the commitment and make your way to Aether who was standing by the exit.

“Stay safe on your journey back.” Sucrose says as the two of you and Paimon leave.

Chapter Text

Everything is a mix of random things including first interactions that weren't ever explained or featured, incorrect quotes, questions and a sneak peak of the next chapter.

Dragonspine:
Back in the last chapter when you interacted with the fatui gunslinger and swore at him, he had stopped in surprise. Not many people navigate dragonspine and when they do they’re often lost adventures who misjudged the environment, so to meet someone with the mouth of a sailor carrying a box of supplies and swearing at the fatui? Completely caught him off guard which is why he froze. He doesn't know what he would do if he ever met you again.

Characters first thoughts/interaction:
Rosaria: Rosaria was a bit unsure of you at first but like Kaeya she sensed something was off about you so when the cryo man displayed you to her asking if she would be willing to train you she almost turned you down before realising that she would be able to keep a close eye on you if she trained with you most days.
Noelle: Noelle was honestly the sweetest and when Jean had asked you to move some boxes with her she thought that you also wanted to become a knight. But the more you helped her out the more she realised that wasn’t the case so after you’ve finished jobs for the day the two of you will sit down and have afternoon tea together. She just wishes that you would keep walking into poles and vases…
Lisa: She had seen you helping Noelle and hanging around the headquarters a lot so she asked you to come help her sort out some book returns. You would have said yes anyway but you were flustered at her calling you “cutie” and “sweetie” that you just nodded and watched as she left.

Characters reactions to the ears:

Aether on the way back down the mountain: He really wanted to pet them so when he got the confidence he just reached for them, *already reaching for your ears.* “Can I please pet them?”
Kaeya at entrance to knight’s headquarters as Aether drops files off: At first he was like 'hah knew you were hiding something' and when you saw him approaching you with a smug expression you explain what happened and now he's confused again. "How did Albedo manage that?"
Jean after taking the files: She genuinely thought you had control over when you used them and when you didn't. "So can you summon and unsummon those?"
Klee walking into Jean’s office: She was just excited and pointed out that now you were sorta matching with Diona. “They have ears like Diona! They’re so cool!”
Noelle on the way out of the headquaters: She was curious as to why you looked different and assumed you just hadn’t trusted her with the information. She felt bad despite her assumption being incorrect. “Well you should be able to balance more now, right?”
Diona on the way past the Cat’s Tail: She was happy to see that her family weren’t the only ones with animal features in Mondstadt now but was also offended that you didn’t show them to her when you first interacted with her. “Why did you hide those from me?”
Diluc at the Angel’s share: Diluc assumed that whatever happened was your fault and looked at you like a disappointed dad. “How did you manage to do that? Who did you piss off this time?”
Rosaria drinking with Kaeya, both now filled with distrust: Rosaria was a little more unbelieving but once Aether had backed up your claim she just shrugged it off. “I’m glad my training managed to protect you.”
Venti entering the bar: He had to do a double take and for a second genuinely thought he was somehow drunk already. "I haven’t touched the alcohol yet, but am I already hallucinating?”
Lisa when you went to help organise her books the next day: She thought that she had just missed those when she first met you. “Did you have those ears yesterday sweetie or is that a new addition?”

Audios that I heard on tiktok that I thought worked well with the story and the MC if the scenes were ever in an edit. (plus sneak speak at what might be to come technically)

I got you all figured out audio: “hey look its the [redacted]” *plays as you get teleported away with a smirk*

She knows: just a good song that suits most of the book

“How long we fly?” - how long until we meet La Signora - MC
“About 20 minutes.” - probably the next chapter - Author
“Ooo double fuck.” - MC

(this will only make sense if you’ve read the version where the MC gets sent to the Harbinger’s instead but the only person who has seen that so far is me, myself and I)

“You have 13 seconds before the island fucking explodes you hot topic wannabe and you blue gumball son of a bitch. You have done nothing but destroy my life. I hope you both die. - MC to Dottore and Scaramouche when they first meet them

Incorrect quotes:

*you on your regular spuel to Diluc*
MC: Just so everyone knows, don't ever try to climb a tree at night carrying a strobe light, owls DON'T like it.
Diluc: ...what happened?
MC: I made a VERY bad mistake.

*at the angel share*
MC: If I punch myself and it hurts, am I weak or strong?
Venti: Strong.
Kaeya: Weak.
Diluc: An idiot, is what you are.

*Are they drunk? We shall never know*
Kaeya: What do we think of [Y/n]?
*pause*
Venti: *sighs* Nice pal.
Rosaria: I think they're gay.

* Hey MC I’m the author and I would just like to know- Who is she? (not a ship with anyone)*
MC: So, she kissed me.
Venti: And you kissed her back?
MC: No, I kissed her mouth.

*MC interacting with Barbra’s fanclub*
MC, holding a fork: You know your talking a lot of shit for someone who has 2 perfectly good eyeballs each cost about $16,000 on the blackmarket.
Barbara’s fanclub: ....
MC: *lip smack*

Diluc: Remember! Curiosity killed the cat!
MC: Yes, but you forget that satisfaction brought it back. So yes, Venti, go find out if that thing can catch fire! And let me join you in doing the thing!
Diluc: You're a bad influence.
MC: And you don't know your sayings.

*after training with her, she gets to know you*
Kaeya: How are we supposed to put a tracker the size of a penny on [Y/n] without them noticing?
Rosaria: Hey, [Y/n], I bet you 5 bucks that you can't swallow this penny.
MC: *takes and swallows tracker* Pay up, loser.
Kaeya: …

*disappointed Dadluc*
Diluc: You know you can die from that, right?
MC: *smoking a cigarette (/j)* That’s the point.
Venti: *drinking alcohol* We’re trying to speed this up.
Aether: *Eating raw cookie dough and nodding*

*the weekly roast session*
Kaeya: I still don’t have a New Year’s resolution.
Rosaria: You could lose a few.
Diluc: You could be less lazy.
MC (this works with Diluc too): Don’t be such a bitch.
Kaeya: Okay DAMN, SHIT.

*MC is rubbing off on them*
Diluc: We call that a traumatic experience.
Diluc, turning to Venti: Not a "bruh moment".
Diluc, turning to Aether: Not "sadge".
Diluc, turning to MC: And DEFINITELY not an "oof LMAO".

*learning to drive (or glide??)*
Diluc, teaching MC to drive: Okay, you're driving and Venti and Aether walk into the road. Quick, what do you hit?
MC: Oh, hard choice but definitely Venti. I could never hurt Aether.
Diluc, massaging their temples: The brakes. You hit the brakes.

*look we’re trying to see things from all angles*
Venti: Could you guys at least try to see this from my perspective?
Aether (despite being shorter): *crouches down*
MC: *kneels down*
Diluc: *sits on the floor*
Venti: …
Venti: I hate all of you.

*Diluc has sensed a disturbance in force and is rapidly approaching your location. Run now while you till can*
Venti: I sleep with a gun under my pillow.
Aether: I sleep with a knife.
MC: Both of you are pathetic.
Venti: Oh yeah? What do you sleep with?
MC knowing what they are implying and unaware of the rapidly approaching Diluc but still implying it because they both live at dawn winery: Diluc.

*you have taught Venti the ways*
Venti: Make no mistake. Not only am I party rocking, but I am also in the house tonight.
MC: But are you shuffling?
Venti: Everyday.
Diluc: What language are you two speaking??

*Jean finds out*
MC: I apologize for saying 'fuck' in front of Klee.
Jean: You just said it again.
Klee:
MC: I am not a role model.

*when you remember you have a checkup*
MC: *running towards Albedo with open arms*
Albedo: *moves out of the way*
MC: Hey, why'd you move?!
Albedo: I thought you were going to attack me.
MC: I was going to hug you!
Albedo: Why would you hug me?
MC: WHY WOULD I ATTACK YOU!?

*Diluc suddenly feels very proud after sensing someone has finally found a way to shut you up with your own logic*
MC: *holding a salt packet* It’s just a little sodium chloride.
Albedo: Actually [Y/n], it’s salt.
MC: That’s what I said, sodium chloride.
Albedo: Uh [Y/n], that would be salt.
Albedo: *takes salt packer from MC* This is iodized table salt, which in addition to sodium chloride contains anti-caking agents and potassium iodate, which is added to prevent iodine deficiency. So not only are you being overly pretentious by insisting on using scientific terminology for everyday items, you are factually wrong. Your arrogance is your downfall, you annoying little shit.

*he is best boi i will not let go once attached*
Aether: I think I need a hug...
MC: Good thing I'm hug shaped!
*45 minutes later*
Aether: You... you can let go now.
MC: No, I absolutely cannot.

Also sneak peak for the next chapter?

You don’t even get halfway there before a sharp pain flashes across your back, pushing you to the ground. You let out a grunt as you hit the floor, your one arm between your chest and the floor and your other arm pinned against your back.

“You must be the person that none of my agents could get information on when you randomly turned up in Mondstadt with Diluc.” Your ears push against your head at the sound of heels approaching you. You struggle under the weight of what you assumed was a pyro agent since you didn't hear them approaching so they must of teleported.

“Ah, so I’ve reached the ears of the Fatui then?” You chuckle nervously, trying to use your anemo or cryo to get the agent off you but the air only swirls around you while the cryo just pulsed in waves away from you, having no affect on the person on top of you.

Chapter Text

You had forgotten about what happened after the Stormterror battle until Aether had led you to the Cathedral and you found Jean and Venti talking to Barbara.

“This is Barbara, the Deaconess of the Church. She’s here to retrieve the Holy Lyre der Himmel.” Jean introduces, gesturing from Aether to Barbara. You give her a small smile as she raises a hand to her heart.

“May the anemo arcon protect you.” She says softly and you glance at Venti who was whistling innocently and swinging his foot as if kicking rocks. Barabra goes on to thank Aether for helping and Jean nods.

“Now the Fatui will have no choice but to keep their mouth shut. They must be fuming that things didn’t go their way.” Almost immediately after Jean mentioned the fatui you start to sweat bullets. La Signora shows up after they leave the Cathedral. Should you try to stop Signora? Should you try to stand back and then take the Gnosis and run?

“Ah the Holy Lyre!” Barbara’s distressed cry snaps you out of your thoughts and you bite your lip at the broken instrument. It wasn’t as broken as the game but there were snapped strings and a few chips of wood missing while being extremely discoloured.

“Even if I atoned for these sins for the rest of my life, it would never be enough.” You look over to Venti as Barbara falls to her knees and crosses your arms. He rubs the back of his head nervously before sighing.

“Oh, give it here.” He says guiltily, taking the Lyre from Aether. The air swirls around and you watch as the strings “repair” themselves and the bright colours return to the instrument. Barbara stares for a second before snatching the lyre and hugging it to her chest.

“I don’t know how you managed to fit it but you’re never touching the Holy Lyre again.” She quickly struts off quickly, defending the Lyre from the group of you.

“We ah, should really get going. That trick I used to ‘repair’ the Holy Lyre- I mean the magic I used. It is going to last forever, you know.” He leans forward and winks before booking it for the door with a Salute, Aether following quickly after him. You wave a goodbye to Jean and run after them, a constant flow of swear words flowing from your mind. As Venti runs out both you and Aether notice the puddles that rise out of the ground from where he just stepped. Aether speeds up and jumps in front of the agents as they lunge at Venti, using anemo to deflect the pyro fatui agents. You say at the steps as the agents jump back and sink into the ground, not wanting to be caught in Signora’s ice.

A snap sounds through the air and an icy breeze comes tearing past you. Though Venit tries to deflect it, his legs end up frozen. The two pyro agents hold back Aether and you stay behind the pole, hoping for the right moment to try and stop her from taking the Gnosis.

“So this is Mondstadt’s rodent ruler in the flesh.” Signora says with a smirk as Venti tugs at his legs. He glances back at Aether for a second before glancing at the stairs to try and find you. “Scurrying through the streets, looking for leftovers.” She lifts up Venti's chin, forcing him to look at her. “Mondstadt calls this a god?”

“Resident rodent… beats invasive vermin-” Venti gets out before Signora slaps him across the face. You flinch as Aether struggles against the agents holding him. You chew on your lip, not knowing when you should jump in.

“Don’t you dare speak back to me, you incolent bard.” Signora frowns before air begins to swirl around Venti. She smirks and begins to walk towards him, you would have laughed at the height difference had your heart not been beating 100 miles per hour. “Look at you, absentee archon of Mondstadt… how impotent you’ve become.”

“That smirk you wear looks out of place, did you steal it from your master’s face?” As Venti speaks Signora raises her hand, ice swirling around for a second, just as Venti breaks the ice around his feet she lunges forward, punching his stomach. She pulls the Gnosis out of Venti and he falls to the floor.

“So this is a Gnosis. Wouldn’t be caught dead wearing this ugly thing in public.” She says and raises it in the air to look at it.

“Beauty is a waste… if the beholder has no taste.” Venti gets out before Signora approaches him. The Gnosis was still held out from her body and you move as she raises her leg to kick the anemo archon. Your vision glows from your chest as your ice boosts you forward. Just as her foot makes contact with Venti’s stomach, the fatui agents cry out a warning as you reach out your hand, snatching the Gnosis from her grasp.

You roll to break your fall and look back at Signora, Gnosis gripped tightly in your hand as you stumble to your feet to get away from her who was processing what just happened.

“[Y/n] run!” Aether’s voice calls out and you heed his advice, sprinting towards the railings and launching yourself over them, summoning your ice to use as a ramp. Shouts sound behind you and you make the mistake of turning, immediately regretting it as you see the pyro agent disappear into the ground and Signora beginning the chase. You turn too late to see the next balcony.

“Fuck it.” You mutter and launch yourself over the railings but almost immediately regret it as the drop was a lot bigger than you thought. Expect broken bones if you landed wrong.

You take a breath and put full trust in your anemo abilities. To your surprise, the Gnosis glows in your hand as you feel air swirl around you. You smile as you realise you’re not going to be breaking your legs from the fall. You use the anemo to boost you in one direction before you take off running when you hit the ground, cryo taking over to boost you across the ground. Maybe the angel’s share would be the best place? You could hide behind the counter and hope that Diluc, Keaya or Rosaria is there.

You don’t even get halfway there before a sharp pain floreshes across your back, pushing you to the ground. You let out a grunt as you hit the floor, Gnosis still tucked in your palm and under your chest, your other arm pinned against your back. There was a curved blade pressed against the back of your neck. Your eyes flick around and you don’t know whether to feel relieved or panicked that no one was around to witness what could be a very traumatic experience.

“So you’re the little rodent none of my agents could dig up information on. You just randomly turn up in Mondsadt one day following the traveller around and suspiciously close to Diluc.” Your ears push against your head at the sound of heels approaching you. You struggle under the weight of what you assumed was a pyro agent since you didn't hear them approaching meaning they had probably teleported behind you.

“Ah, so I’ve reached the ears of the Fatui then?” You chuckle nervously, trying to use your ameno or cryo to get the agent off you but the air just swirled around you, pushed upwards by the pyro agent’s heat and the ice was just pulsing off you and across the pavement.

“You stole something that I’m going to need back.” The harbinger says, bending down to you as your struggles die off. She looks at the agent who pulls you so that you are sitting upright. With your hand with the Gnosis no longer pinned underneath you she reaches towards it. Then you make a split second decision that you might regret later. You bring your hand up to your mouth and hold it there, covering your mouth to prevent Signora from seeing that you only pretended to swallow the Gnosis. You discreetly lower your hand that still holds the Gnosis and drop the chest piece into your bag hanging by your side as Signora stares at you in shock under the impression that the Gnosis was either in your throat or stomach.

“Did you just…?” She trails off as you nod, coughing for extra flare as you stare at each other, your ears and tail twitching, a mischievous smile crossing your face.

“Maybe… It was metallic with a hint of dandelion.” You smile cheekily at the Harbinger and she raises her foot to kick you but you raise your eyebrow looking behind her and gesturing to the roof. “Are you sure you want to do that? You don’t want to stoop as low as Tartaglia and get your hands dirty in a fight, right?”

She turns with a frown at the masked figure standing on the roof. The Dark Knight hero is a familiar name through Mondstadt and you doubted that she wanted to cross him. They stand in silence for a second before she turns and glares at you. She signals to the agents, still glaring at you before they all disappear off the streets. Leaving you to sink into the floor, hoping that people just left you to relax on the floor. Your ears flick towards the heavy footsteps approaching but you keep your eyes closed, hoping the person would ignore you but you knew he wouldn’t.

“How did you manage to pick a fight with the fatui?” The familiar voice of Diluc cuts through the silence and you sigh, pushing yourself back into a seated position.

“I took something from them that they were taking from Venti.” You say simply and he just sighs and offers you a hand, which you gladly accept and he pulls you up as though you weighed nothing. His other hand moves to take off his mask but you grab it before he could remove his mask. He turns to follow your eye line just as Donna ducks back behind the building. As soon as she moves out of sight Diluc drags you into a side street and out of sight.

“What could that bard possibly have that the fatui could want?” Diluc voices his confusion and you shrug.

“I’ll get him to tell you later but I need to get back to the Cathedral.” You say and he nods, stepping away from you.

“I’m expecting an explanation later. But for now I’ll leave you to sort this mess out.” He kept eye contact with you as if he knew he probably didn’t want to get caught up in whatever was going on right now. You nod and take off running towards the Cathedral, having to take the stairs because your vision wasn’t letting you recreat what happened in Stormterror’s lair. When you got there Barbara was helping Venti while Aether was still unconscious on the pavement.

“Don’t worry about it, this is completely normal.” Venti coughs as Barbara becomes more distressed.

“But I-” Barbara begins, trying to look at Venti’s stomach that was covered by his arm but he looks over at you, eyes widening in surprise.

“Ah [Y/n] you’re alright!” He smiles, limping slightly toward you, Barbara blinking in shock at him ignoring her.

“I’m fine. How are you after getting the Gnosis ripped from your body?” You ask, trying to get the attention off you. Truth be told you were lying, your knees and back hurt like a bitch and you’re pretty sure there would be a scar on the back of your neck from the blade that was pressed into your neck by the pryo agent but you would live.

“Never been better.” Venti says with a thumbs up and you deadpan. He chuckles nervously, ignoring your glare. You sigh and reach into your bag.

“Oh talking about your Gnosis, here.” You hold it out after searching through your bag for the chess piece. He stares at the queen on your palm before looking back up at your face. “So are you going to take it back or am I going to be stuck with one of the most powerful and wanted things on Teyvat forever?” You didn’t like his silence, it made you think that he didn’t plan to take the Gnosis back.

“Well, they’re going to expect that I’ll have the Gonsis again and they’re just going to keep on coming back won’t they? Truth be told, I'm just too lazy to deal with them.” Venti says with his usual innocent smile and you just sigh heavily again.

“Guess I’m stuck with this then huh?” He nods and pushes your hand back towards you with an all too familiar look. ‘I trust you’ it shouted loudly. You give into the expression and put the Gnosis back in your bag.

“Oh your neck!” The voice of Barbara takes you out of your conversation with Venti and you turn your head only to his slightly, covering the wound.

“Oh I’m fine.” You say but she crosses her arms doubtfully, Venti gulps beside you and does another two finger salute as he runs off.

“Well I’ll leave you to recover. You know where to find me if you need me.” And with that he seemingly disappeared. Leaving you to deal with the wrath of Barbara.

“Let me see your wounds. I’ll help you and the traveller.” She insists and you sigh, the both of you move closer to Aether so Barbara could heal you both at the same time. You were amazed at the speed of recovery you just felt. The pain in the back of your neck faded almost instantly at Barbara’s disney princess healing powers. The stinging in your knees left as well as the graze heals. Hell your back no longer throbbed where the pyro agent hand landed to knock you over.

Aether groans as he comes to. After Barbara’s explanation on Venti and how she found the group of them, the three of you (you found Paimon in a chunk of ice so you broke it off using both you and Aether’s anemo skills) made your way towards the tree at Windrise.

You explained on the way how you have Venti’s Gnosis and that La Signora thinks that you ate it. You had to prove to Aether that you didn’t actually eat it because he was fully convinced that you had actually eaten it because quote unquote “it was something that you would do without thinking”.

One thing you pointed out on the way was why didn’t Aether just teleport to the statue of seven and he had looked at you weirdly. You glanced at Paimon who looked just as confused.

“Look, we know that there are teleport waypoints but can you actually teleport to them?” She had said and you shrug, realising that you still don’t actually know a lot about what can actually be done in this world. You were familiar with game mechanics but after being here for this long you’ve come to know that the playable characters don’t use artifacts (although Aether was a very pretty boy when you put a verridence flower in his hair).

“Just forget what I said then. I just thought that you could use them in this world.” You fall into your thoughts after saying that, not really paying attention to your surroundings or what Aether and Paimon were saying. You could tell your adrenaline from earlier was wearing off and you weren’t going to lie and say you were fine because you weren’t. You wanted to laugh it off and say “never been better, wanted nothing more than to be ‘stepped on’ by a milf” but you couldn’t.

You hadn’t realised just how suffocating her presence felt until after you had left the city walls, almost feeling as though you had been freed from something.

“[Y/n] are you okay? We’re here now.” Aether’s voice snaps you out of your thoughts and you look up to see the statue of seven. You chuckle lightheartedly.

“Ah, so we are. Sorry I must have zoned out.” You say as Paimon points out someone underneath the tree.

“Hey someone’s playing music up there. Do you think it could be Venti?” Aether follows Paimons finger and grabs your hand leading you over the roots of the tree. You weren’t sure why he had grabbed onto your hand, perhaps he thought you would zone out again and trip over one of the branches? Or maybe he thought you wouldn’t follow him.

“The wind among the branches is good. I love the way it smells..” Venti says, acting oblivious to you behind him before turning and chuckling nervously. “I said the exact same thing last time,” he sighs heavily, “Why do I always say these things when I'm down on my luck…”

“So…” Aether begins surprising you. You knew he led a lot of these conversations but it was still surprising to hear his voice. “What is a Gnosis?”

“Ah so you noticed…” He says, looking up at you with a small questioning look but you shake your head gently, letting him know that you hadn’t told Aether anything about the lore behind the Gnosis. “This isn’t meant to be discussed with ordinary people. But I suppose I could let you in on the secret.”

Aether shares a look with Paimon before giving the same look to you and then looking back to Venti, listening intently. You hadn’t heard this conversation in a long time so you knew you probably wouldn’t zone out, but you knew it lasted a hot minute so you sat down cross legged as Venti explained.

“As you know, Visions are external magical foci that only a small minority of people possess. They use Visions to channel elemental power.” He begins sending you a questioning look as you sit crossed-legged on the ground. “When in truth, every wielder of a Vision is one who can attain godhood and ascend to Celestia. We call such people allogenes.”

“So Visions are a god’s way of saying ‘here, I see you worthy of becoming a god yourself. Use this as a tool to get the’?” You ask genuinely trying to clarify, Venti just gives you a nod. Come to think of it, where the game was before you left never clarified who gives out Visions. Maybe you don’t need a Gnosis to give a Vision, maybe you just need to be a powerful god attached to a certain element.

You glance down at your own vision that was still hanging around your neck. Did gods give out their own elemental visions or could they give out any element? Was that why visions are surrounded by a different shaped frame depending on where you came from? Did the Taristsa give you your vision or was it a different god? There were way too many questions going through your head and none of them had answers.

“Allogenes? Paimon’s never heard of them before.” Paimon’s voice breaks you out of your thoughts and you don’t know whether to be grateful or annoyed that your train of thought was broken by the floating emergency food.

“Hehe, that's because this is a secret only archons are privy to. We don’t need primitive tools like Visions.” He gestured vaguely to you, or more specifically your chest and the vision that sat there. “Instead, each archon has an internal magical focus that resonates with Celestia itself… known as a Gnosis.”

“Then what's that thing hanging from your hip?” Aether asks, gesturing to the fake Vision. Venti just shrugs somewhat smugly.

“It's just a glowing glass ball I carry around to avoid suspicion.” Venti chuckles as Aether sighs, feeling somewhat cheated.

“So who was the nasty woman who sent Paimon flying and tried to steal your Gnosis?” Paimon asks, crossing her arms angrily. Venti sighs, obviously sick of whatever bullshit the fatui was.

“Her name is La Signora, number 8 of the Fatui Harbingers.” Venti explains, looking down at you for a second as if debating if he wanted to sit down as well. “She and the rest of the Harbingers have been given god-like executive authority by the Tsaritsa of Snezhnaya, and with it, strength surpassing that of other mortals.”

“The Tsaritsa of Snezhnaya isn’t that,” Paimon begins, you actually forgot that Paimon knows a decent amount about the archons but only enough to be a ruff guide. Like she knows names, but not faces.

“Indeed. She is one of the Seven, the Tsaritsa who reigns from the Zaphrady Palace, and the one person that the Fatui Harbingers all answer to.” Venti cuts her off before she could finish. He raises his hand to his chin as if reminiscing over something. “The Seven don’t always get along well but still, I never thought that she would plot to steal another archon’s Gnosis…”

“What sort of god is the Tsaritsa anyway?” Aether prompts, realising Venti didn’t have much left to explain, Venti hums in thought.

“Well… How should I put this?... five hundred years ago, I knew her well. But I can’t say the same is true now. You see, a certain catastrophe happened five hundred years ago and after that, she cut all ties with me.” His eyes flick to you for a second at the mention of “the catastrophe”. You think he was trying to see how you would react. When you don't show any movement he shakes his head.

“But we can save discussion of the Cryo Archon and the Fatui another day. But if you are seeking the rest of the Seven, many difficulties lie ahead of you still.” He says before gesturing towards Liyue. “You should head for Mondstadt’s neighbouring nation of Liyue. The Geo Archon who rules there, unlike me, administrates his entire nation personally.”

“Wow, it must get tiring and pretty boring after a while. I see why you don’t do that.” You poke lazily at Venti who fakes hurt before continuing.

“He only descends once every year to give his divine predictions, which sets the direction of Liyue for the rest of the year.”

“Even so, it sounds like he works much harder than a certain someone.” Paimon pokes at Venti who just deflects the insult by chuckling.

“In any case,” he begins, bringing the conversation back down from insulting him, “this year’s Rite of Decision is soon to begin. If you miss it, you’ll have to wait another year.”

“WHAT? Why didn’t you tell us that? Come on Aether, we should go now.” Paimon says, obviously panicked by the news but Venti shakes his head as Aether goes to move.

“Wait one moment, Windborne Outlander.” Aether points to himself before looking guilty.

“Oh, sorry for borrowing the Statue’s power without asking.” He apologises with a guilty smile and Venti just shakes his head.

“Just use it gratefully- Or better yet, treat me to a glass of dandelion wine.” He suggests with a relatively hopeful tone. “Traveller, as you set off on your Journey once again, remember the journey itself has meaning.”

You pause the mention of a journey. You hadn’t realised that Venti had said that. The abyssal twin had said “you’ll know when your journey has come to an end” or something along those lines. So what the hell was the meaning of Aether’s Journey? That people just want to use him and that he should rely on Lumine? … Nah couldn’t be.

“Great! Now that's it for the Anemo Archon’s abolishments! Back to Venti time!” You look back at Venti realising you had zoned out for a second. “If you want to chat now's the time, a bard stays not always in a single chime.”

And that's exactly what he and Aether do. Aether asked questions about Dvalin, the Abyss Order, Signora and just deities in general. It was nice because they both sat down with you. You chimed in every now and again but you didn’t have questions and it wasn’t like you could answer Aether without giving anything away. What surprised you though is that Venti offered if Aether wanted to become one of the four winds when he found his sister. You couldn’t remember if that actually happened in the game but it made you smile gently to see Venti being clingy to Aether.

After the conversation fell into silence Venti sighed and stood up. “Well then, best be off to Liyue. If the Rite of Decision you fail to rally, then another year you must dally.” You cover your mouth as you let out a snort.

“Venti please! If you’re going to speak in rhyme, do it all the time or not at all, it's so random.” You laugh as Venti laughs as well.

“And here I thought I was being smart. Anyway I’ll see you around okay?” Aether and you nod, turning to follow Paimon back to Mondstadt, probably to collect the letter from Katherine but Venti stops you. “Would I be able to speak with [Y/n] while you prepare to leave?”

Aether and Paimon share a look before looking at you but you just shrug. “I’ll see you at the Adventurer's Guide. Maybe I should sign up as well…” You mutter the last part to yourself. Aether looks unsure whether to leave you by yourself and you get a feeling of dejavu but he sighs and turns to walk away.

“So I’m curious, why did you tell him that you still had the Gnosis?” Venti asks as he sits back down on a root. You weren’t sure what it was, but you felt something drop from Venti as Aether left. It wasn’t like the god wasn’t relaxed around the traveller but it was like a mask dropped when Aether left.

“I don’t know, probably personal preference. Also need a reason to get out of Mondstadt incase Signora returns, Aether at least has an excuse to keep me close now.” Venti nods and gestures for you to sit down as well, so you do. You reach into your bag and pull out the Gnosis, staring at the chess piece in your hand.

“So if each vision bearing can ascend to godhood and I have the Gnosis. Does that technically make me the anemo archon?” You ask as a joke and Venti just laughs.

“I guess but remember a Gnosis is an internal focus, so you would have to find a way to store it inside your body without just swallowing it.” He explains and you nod. “Plus, you’re not a god yet and I’m still alive. So you don’t have anything to worry about yet.” You were about to say that being the previous archon and a new archon at the same time was possible but decided against it. You didn’t want Venti to think you were after his position.

“Buuuuut,” he begins, drawing it out to snap you out of your thoughts. “Having the Gnosis on you will boost your anemo skills.”

“Wat.” You blink not really shocked at the information, it was just surprising to hear.

“Well since you don’t have an anemo vision but elemental abilities, think of the Gnosis like a catalyst. Instead of drawing an element from it you're using it to focus the anemo energy, which in turn amplifies it.” He explains, gesturing with his hands between you and the Gnosis. “It won’t amplify it as much as if you were an archon but it's enough to make your elemental energy stronger.”

“So that's why I was able to slow my fall?” You think out loud and Venti nods but falls into silence. You let a small smile onto your face. “You didn’t stop me from leaving just because of that right?”

“No, you’re right, I didn’t,” he sighs looking up at the tree. “Truthfully you remind me a lot of him. You and the Traveller don’t treat me like I’m a meance when I really am. At least when I'm Venti.”

“It sounds like even though you’re happy to drink away your sorrows with Keaya, hanging out with me and Aether made you realise how lonely you were.” You had moved to sit beside him so you too were looking up at the tree branches. He snaps his head to you, shocked that you wouldn’t soften the hard truth. “You know, if I had a bird I could send you letters most days.”

“Won’t you forget?” He points out and you just shrug.

“I said most days, not every.” You smile as he laughs before he looks at you.

“You know I could get you a bird, but not in time for you to leave for Liyue.” He says casually. He wasn’t overly excited about it but it made him happy to know that you were going out of your way to make him feel less lonely. Of course there was a part of him that felt he was being selfish but your genuineness made him feel more at ease.

“That's fine, just send the bird to the tree inn, we’ll probably stop there before heading all the way to Liyue Harbour.” You say giving Venti a smile as he stands, offering you a hand to help you up as well. “Will the bird have a name?” You had a feeling you already knew.

“Yeah. Venessa.”

~~~

After your conversation with Venti you headed back to Mondstadt, thinking over what you had learned. Well, more like relearned. You summarise your thoughts on Gnosises and Visions. Gnosises are just more powerful, internal Visions. Visions might allow you to cut a boulder in half whereas a Gnosis could cut a mountain in half (looking at you Venti). Piecing that together with the Inazuma arc, Visions can be taken away, taking your ambitions with you whereas a Gnosis requires some sort of bigger force to take it away. Visions can ascend you to godhood while Gnosises are handed out directly from Celestia. So yeah, you guess you really weren’t an Archon.

…

Yet.

Nah you’re just joking, you would be a shitty deity. What would you even be able to do? Make phones a thing? …. Actually-

“[Y/n] you’re back. How was the chat with Venti?” Paimon’s voice cuts through your thoughts causing you to smile. You had enough seriousness for today, time for no thoughts head empty.

“Yeah it was fine, he was just talking to me about a pet bird I could send letters with since I was hoping to join you guys in Liyue.” You had realised that even though Aether was one of your closest friends here, you probably spent more time in Mondstadt and around the drawn winery.

“Of course you can join us, I was under the impression that you wanted to join us on our travels. And I don’t mean to insult your combat abilities but you probably need help defending that Gnosis.” Aether says with a nervous laugh and you fake hurt for a second before smiling.

“Well then. Shall we head off?” You smile as Aether and Paimon join you and you begin your Journey to the next Archon Quest.

~~~

“Safe travels [Y/n], don’t go annoying the wrong people.” A familiar archon watched as the Trio left his nation.

~~~

“We believe that the Outlander still has it and that it was never returned to the Anemo Archon in the first place.”

“How did you manage to get bested by a mere mortal?”

“That's not the only thing. They knew that I don’t like to get my hands dirty and they knew Tartaglia as Tartaglia, not Childe.”

“Keep an eye on them, if they are travelling with the Traveller then our paths should cross over soon enough.”

Chapter Text

You have made a mistake. When you said ‘shall we get going’ you meant wrap up with Mondstadt by saying goodbye to the knights and Diluc. You owed Diluc an explanation after all, but noooo, you literally headed straight to Liyue. Stupid Paimon.

But when you finally made it to the tree inn you were told by Ver Gold that there was a bird waiting for you on the balcony. So that took you to now, while Aether was making food for the three of you, you were in your room writing letters to people back in Mondstadt. Your tail keeps flicking as the feeling of being watched makes your ears and hairs on the back of your neck stand up. The only thing that kept you from turning around and cussing whoever was watching you out was that you had a strong feeling that it was Xiao. And you were not in the mood to cuss out an adeptis.

While you finished writing a letter to Albedo explaining while you’d be missing his next check up on your ears you look up to the bird who was perched on a stand nearby. “So Venessa, what’s it like being an immortal bird?” You asked, slightly bored as you add Albedo’s letter to the growing plie before moving onto Klee’s.

The eagle makes a squawk of some type as she ruffles her feather, clicking her beak as you move the pen across the page. Thank goodness you had a pen from your world or you would have had to write with a feather (you know it's called a quill but you were salty they hadn’t invited pens here yet so you were calling it a feather).

“I saw some theories that you were actually Diluc’s bird. I hope I haven’t stolen you from him.” You say and you swear the bird huffs, or puffs up her feathers to look like she was huffing. “Alright, you don’t belong to no man I get it.” You laugh at the bird’s “sass”.

Just as you finished the last letter (who was for Noelle) the sound of footsteps drew your attention to the door. You stand up to open the door, so whoever was there didn’t have to knock but the lock clicks and Aether walks in. You blink. This man somehow unlocked the door with three plates of food in his hands. You were impressed.

“Oh you’re done.” The smell of Aether’s cooking hit’s your nose and you practically float across the floor with grabby hands. “Your cooking is heavenly Aether. If you keep cooking me meals I might fall in love with you.”

Aether turns his head, flustered at your comment before walking over to one of the beds in the middle of the room. “I assumed you didn’t want to eat downstairs, so I bought a tray for each of us.”

“Did you bring a tray for Paimon?” The voice of Paimon comes from beside Aether as she appears in constellations. Aether sighs with a small smile at his companions annatics.

“I thought you would share with me.” He explains as you finish folding the separate letters and putting them in a case on Venessa's back. She chirps before flying out the window. How did she even know the addresses? You shake your head and move towards your bed, placing the tray on your lap and you feel your mouth water at the sight of the food, hell you almost melted at the taste of it.

Aether laughs at your reaction as he eats his own food. “Surely it's not that good?”

“No it is, this is worth at least a hundred out of five stars.” You say once you had finished chewing. “Your cooking is god tier!”

“Paimon agrees, restaurant food is great but nothing beats Aether’s cooking.” Paimon pipes up and Aether tries to hide himself in his food from embarrassment. You just smile with an agreeing nod.

“So [Y/n], I’ve been meaning to ask, what's your world like? You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to.” Aether clarifies as he slowly begins to dig into his own food, Piamon agrees with him, moving slightly closer to you to show her interest.

“Oh no it's fine. In all honesty my world is kind of shitty.” Both Paimon and Aether snap their heads up with a confused and shocked look.

“Are you not looking for a way back?” Paimon asks and you shrug.

“Maybe, I think that's just a side quest right now. Sure I have friends and family I want to get back to but right now, Teyvat is a lot more appetising than Earth.” You explain. “I’ve gone into detail with Diluc and Albedo about everything but that was more of a defence mechanism with Diluc and a conversation ‘starter’ with Albedo since he was focused on his work.”

“Here,” you reach down the side of your bed for your bag and bring out your phone. You unlock it and surprise yourself to see that it was still at 56%. Weird. You throw it to Aether while it is still unlocked and he catches it with confusion. “We call that a phone. It's mostly used as a communication device but it can play music, take pictures and all sorts of things. Though most of those things are limited now, since I'm not in my world.”

He looks down at it and taps the screen and one of your apps open. “I can show you how to use it later if you want? Then we could play music whenever we get bored on our travels.”

“I would appreciate that.” He glances up from the screen for a second before Paimon looks over his shoulder.

“Hey, that kind of looks like you and Paimon.” She says and you jolt upright. You screen saver was a random anime they couldn’t have found anything from- oh no your camera roll. “Oh who's that with us? Is that your sister?”

Your eyes widen and you move your food off you before rushes over to Aether’s bed and snatching your phone before they could see anything more than the one piece of fanart. They both stare at you and you stare back as you clutch your phone tightly in your hand.

“[Y/n]... How- why? Is it really?” Aether asks quietly, trying, and failing, to get a consistent question out. You stay still for a moment before sighing sadly and nodding.

“Well, now that you’ve seen that… The truth is-” Your ears flick and you’re suddenly very aware of your surroundings. You had completely forgotten about Xiao, and with the sudden movement you heard on the roof, you were now very aware that he was listening. You couldn’t just back out now and not tell Aether the truth. Paimon frowns when you stop to look around.

“Is something wrong?” She asks looking out the window to try and find where you were looking. You quickly shake your head and sigh. If Xiao finds out, Xiao finds out. He was probably going to gril you in the future for answers anyway if you didn’t say anything now.

“No, it's probably nothing. Here goes nothing. Truth is in my world, not only is it more technically advanced than Teyvat, but we also have things called video games.” You sit down next to Aether as he moves his food. Paimon floats on the other side of you as you exit photos and onto the home screen of your phone. “Think card games but more variety. Some even have storylines for example, if someone created a story and then turned it into a game you could play as the main character. Kind of like how when you read a story you read it from the main character’s perspective. But this is visual and you can interact with the world.”

You could tell Paimon was slowly starting to get confused but you continued anyway, scrolling across your screen until you reached Genshin impact, you clicked on it and looked down at the network error screen after the logos had played.

“In my world your story is one of these games. Paimon you’re basically the mascot of the game. While the actual story follows Aether visiting the Seven Archons to find his sister.” The silence that followed was very awkward for you while Paimon and Aether (and probably Xiao) processed what you just told them.

“Do I ever find her?” Aether’s voice asks and you nod.

“Yes you do. I don’t know where she is right now but you do find her again.” You answer. You weren’t lying but you weren’t about to break it to him that she was an “evil” badass now.

“Then that's enough for me. You can keep the future to yourself.” He says and you blink confused.

“Really? I would have thought you’d be asking when? For all you know it could be in yea-”

“That's why knowing that I’ll get to see her is enough.” He cuts you off. “I was already happy to take years to find the god that took my sister but knowing that I get to see her again is enough to keep me going for a long time.” He says with a soft smile and you smile back, god you hope he doesn’t hate you from keeping the Dain quest from him.

“Paimon’s confused. That was a lot of information.” Paimon says, clutching her head and you just sigh.

“To make a long story short, I know the future to a certain extent.” You simplify and Paimon makes a small O with her mouth.

“Will Paimon ever become rich?” She asks and both you and Aether go silent for a second before bursting out laughing. Leave it to Paimon to change the mood.

“I don’t know Paimon, but you two do get involved in a lot of mysteries that involve treasure.” You say before bringing up your camera roll. You had taken a few pictures with Diluc and managed to get a few pictures of Klee when you were blowing up the fish. You scroll past them and click on the image of Aether, Paimon and Lumine that they were looking at earlier.

“This is the official art from Genshin Impact, they did an alternate universe where you guys were in a world similar to mine.” For a while you just scrolled through your camera roll, showing the memes and fanart that have the least spoilers possible. You did accidentally show them a picture of Childe and Zhongli but surely it wouldn’t matter too much right? You were almost at that arc anyway. After that you got pictures with Aether and Paimon. Mostly selfies but you also snuck a few pictures of Aether chasing Paimon when she stole the last of his meal.

You smile. Yeah, you didn’t plan on actually finding a way back to your world anytime soon.

~~~

You didn’t know if you were anxious or excited about the Rite of Decision. You also had no idea if Aether could read your emotions. Either way when you stood by Aether and Paimon as they made their wishes and thought of yours. Maybe you’d wish that things would go smoothly, well as smooth as they could. You could wish to find out how you got here. Or maybe you could wish to get rid of your stupid ears and tail.

(somewhere out there Diona suddenly felt insulted)

Since you got three chances you wished for all three before the three of you pushed to the front of the group. You looked around for a second before Aether nudged you with an awed expression. You look to the centre and see Ningguang beginning the Rite. Your jaw opens as a small woah comes out of your mouth at the glowing orangey yellow markings that appear in the air. The clouds swirl for a second and you flinch as the form of a dragon falls down, crashing onto the table.

As murmurs form around the crowd and Ningguang examines the exuvia you look around again, your eyes find the familiar figure of Zhongli disappearing away from the crowd, you take a step to follow him but Aether grabs your hand and pulls you in a random direction as Rex Lapis was announced dead.

As Aether reaches the wall you gesture up and he nods bending down to boost you onto the roof. You grab onto the edge and pull yourself up and turn helping Aether up, Paimon floats after him. You were extremely grateful for Rosaria and Keaya forcing you to work harder or you would have not been able to pull Aether onto the roof.

The two of you climb along the roof until you reach the edge. He jumps down first but lands on a loose tile.

“Oi you there!” A Millelith soldier shouts and Aether looks up at you with a panicked expression. You jump down, Aether supporting you so you don’t stumble too much and the two of you start running down the stairs. Aether skips a few steps while you wait till you are closer to the landing to jump only to almost stumble into him when the Millelith back him towards the wall.

“Hey Buddy, don’t move.” Knowing who the voice belongs to, you pull Aether down as Childe appears above the two of you, shooting at the Millelith. He changes to the water blades and knocks the soldiers out. Before gestures for the two of you to follow him as more soldiers arrive. “Follow me.”

The four of you run off, getting away from the soldiers by moving around buildings and through the crowds of people. You eventually stop to catch your breath and you can’t help but notice you were the only one dying while Childe looked completely unaffected and Aether looked somewhat un-bothered but was still out of breath. You however were bending over your knees trying to get oxygen to your lungs.

“Phew, Paimon’s exhausted.” She says floating beside Aether, both him and you send her a weird look.

“Just what muscles does magically floating use exactly?” Aether asks with a raised eyebrow and Paimon huffs.

“So insensitive, you have no idea how tiring floating arou- Wait!” She quickly changes the subject and turns to Childe. “Who are you?”

“Call me Childe.” He introduces and Paimon crosses her arms.

“Childe? What are we supposed to dote on you or something?” You bite your lip to stop yourself from laughing.

“Haha, no no not at all, it's an alias of sorts.” You let out a small laugh earning a weird look.

“So you basically went, oh I need a code name… Ah yes Childe.” You mock slightly, all the other Fatui code names were cool like “the Balladeer” “The Doctor”, “Signora” and then there's Childe.

“Anyway!” He sends you a lighthearted annoyed look to change the subject. “In Mondstadt, I don’t suppose you came across a “Signora” by any chance?” Aether immediately gets into a defensive stance while Paimon processes the information.

“Signora… Childe… You’re Fatui! One of The Harbingers!” She shouts in surprise, finally processing that Childe was indeed a Harbinger.

“Oh no, don’t worry I’m not looking for a fight.” You raise an eyebrow at his claim. He’s not looking for a fight now, you correct in your brain. “Signora gave you quite the bad impression huh? Tsk, that woman… Can’t say I’m a fan either.”

Aether sends a questioning glance to you and you shrug giving him a small nod while doing so. His defensive stance softens slightly but stands strong as Childe speaks again. “Right, let’s forget all about her, shall we? I’m here to help you.”

“We don’t need help from the Fatui.” Aether says strongly and you nod in agreement, Childe only really sped up Aether meeting Zhongli. With his main character energy he would have met up with the Geo archon at some point regardless of Childe’s help.

“Look I’m not a bad guy…” You clear your throat and Childe sighs. “Okay perhaps I’m kind of a bad guy, but I'm not here to give you any trouble. So would it be too much to ask to keep the sword sheathed?”

Aether frowns for a second before sighing and stands normally, however you can’t help but notice he was still a little tense. You realise that throughout this interaction you have no idea how to react, maybe you should have acted defensive like Aether?

“Thank you for your knightly nobility, Traveller.” Chidle says and you notice his body relax as Aether no longer looks like he would pull a sword on him. “I heard of your deeds in Mondstadt, so I couldn't help but notice you during the proceedings back there. And because I had my eyes on you the whole time, I know it wasn’t you. Someone else was clearly behind it.”

“What are you stalking him or something? Kind of creepy to just watch him if you ask me.” You laugh and Aether nods, agreeing with you but Childe just laughs it off.

“When you see someone who's done things as impressive as the Traveller, you would have your eyes on them too.” He says before changing the subject again. “But regrettably, given I am a Fatui envoy from Snezhnaya… there is no way I’d be trusted after something of this magnitude.”

Paimon deadpans. “Well can you blame them?”

“Well I guess I shouldn’t try to deny that.” You had no idea how he’s able to keep up his happy-go-lucky-customer-service voice for so long. Hell you commended his voice actor for it but it was weird to see someone hold it for this long in real life. “But right now if we want to clear you of any suspicion, you need to head over the Northland Bank.”

“Ah damn it. He’s pretty but he's a banker. 6/10.” You say with a dramatic sigh and you have never seen so many heads turn to you so quickly. Paimon had wide eyes with her jaw hanging open slightly, Aether was just blinking as though he hadn’t actually processed what you said yet while Childe was confused for a second before laughing.

“I’m sorry if you got the wrong impression, I’m only somewhat of an owner of the bank, I don’t really work there. Fatui Harbinger, remember?” He corrects and you just laugh, causing more confusion.

“Like I could forget. Let me correct myself then.” You notice both Childe and Paimon open their mouths to interrupt you but you continue anyway. “He’s a ten but he works for a mafia type organisation- If it was fiction I would say eleven but since its reality, eight.”

“I don’t know where to feel insulted or complimented.” Childe mutters while Aether gives a disappointed sigh as he facepalms.

“It's best if you don’t look into it too closely, [Y/n] says a lot of weird stuff.” He says Paimon nodded in agreement. The group of you start walking towards the bank, probably to collect the sigil of permission to clear Aether’s name.

“Also,” Paimon begins turning to you and putting her hands on her hips, “[Y/n]! What the hell are you reading and in what world would Childe be a ten?”

“A fictional one, but alas, this is not a fictional world we find ourselves in. Even if half the people we come across have main character's energy.” You jest, knowing a lot of the character's backstories and how it gives them main character energy. Just look at those with an anemo vision if you need examples. Both Childe and Aether give you a weird look but while Childe’s was in confusion Aether’s expression more said ‘but you said this was a fictional world to you’. Paimon seemed to have the thought process as Aether as something clicked in her brain.

“Wait does that mean Childe was a ten for you at some point because you said-” Paimon never got to finish the sentence as Aether cuts her off by pulling a suniseta from god knows where and shoves it in her mouth. There's muffled sounds of resistance but with one glare from both you and Aether she realised Childe was still there.

“Yes I did have that dream that one time but again, fictional world. Completely separate from reality. Ain’t no way I’d fall for a yandere in real life… I hope” You mutter the last part to yourself and look to Childe as he just remains silent the whole interaction before finally speaking up.

“The hell is a yandere?” He asks and you just laugh, not giving him an answer as you walk faster and ahead of the group. You quickly realised that with Liyue being bigger than in game you were definitely going to get lost, hell, you got lost in game when you had a map!

Childe and Aether quickly caught up to you, Childe because of his long legs and Aether was just fast. Paimon could float so she didn’t count. Childe then pulled ahead again to lead the way while you found ways to small talk. Somehow you managed to get on the topic of siblings and you realised that you severely underestimate how much Childe would actually talk about them. Aether wanted to ask you if you had any but Childe just kept infodumping about them. Which you didn’t mind but Aether was curious. So were the readers.

“The Northland Bank.” Paimon says as the group of you stood in front of the entrance. Childe nods.

“Yup, the Northland Bank was opened in Liyue by Snezhnaya. Although Liyue is known to be the most enterprising in Teyvat, Snezhnaya is not short of change either.” Childe introduces and you smile.

“You’ve gone from banker to tour guide.” You say and before Childe could respond Paimon cuts in with a deadpan.

“Yeah and poorer nations don’t seem the type to have diplomats that come around acting the way yours do towards the Knights of Favonius.” Childe just laughs at Paimon’s words before reaching into his “inventory” (you had started calling it that because you didn’t really have a name for it) and a Sigil of Permission form in yellow shapes quickly before solidifying.

“Here, let me give you this.” He says, holding the Sigil out for Aether to take. Both him and Paimon look at it sceptically.

“This is…?” Paimon asks as Aether takes it, holding it somewhat cautiously.

“I’m not sure, exactly. Sometimes money can only buy you ‘things’ and not names for oneself.” He begins with a shrug. “All I know is that its a sigil. A sigil to keep the “mighty and illuminated adepti” from bringing harm to you.”

“Adepti?” You were going to cut in and say that it was a Sigil of Permission but Paimon speaks before you.

“I’m getting there in a second. If you head north from the harbour, then west from Guili Plains, you will eventually find the stone forest known as Jueyun Karst.” Childe says pointing in a direction you assume to be Jueyun Karst. “The people of Liyue believe that to be the home of the adepti.”

“Is that not just local legend?” Aether asks and Chidle shrugs again.

“Legend or not, they believe it. Any offerings made to the adepti are made at the borders. Nobody dares venture in.” He looks back to Paimon. “Now about the adepti, I have no need for believing - not when I know for a fact that the adepti truly exist.”

“Ugh, Paimon hates to say it but the Fatui intel seems alright.” Paimon huffs with Aether agreeing with a nod. “But why would we go looking for the adepti anyway?”

“Well many people seek the adepti for many different reasons.” Childe says with a gesture of his hand. “Love, health, money… But you, you will seek the adepti for justice.”

“Justice?” Piamon voices her confusion while Aether just frowns gently in confusion.

“The Qixing will already have dispatched the Millelith. They’ll be seeking the assassin from amongst the onlookers at the Rite of Decision. But how could a mere mortal kill a god that can sweep aside entire armies? Rex Lapis never gave up his power as a god.” You bite your lip from saying anything that would hint that what he just said was technically true and that he was very much still alive.

“This level of crude response is beyond what is called for. How suspicious…” He trails off and Aether keeps his blank expression, not really wanting to believe anything Childe says.

“Do you think the Qixing are trying to hide the true culprit?” Aether asks but Childe just shrugs with a small laugh.

“Your thinking is more radical than my own, Honorary Knight.” He says before shaking his head. “But I digress, the Northland Bank can only hold off the Millelith for so long, but the adepti can clear you of any wrongdoings. Look for them, and be faster than the Qixing’s messenger, so that you may give your version of the events first. If anybody can help clear your name in Liyue, it can only be the mighty and illuminated adepti.”

Aether nods and Childe gestures with his hands in a shooing motion. “Well best be off then, let me know how it goes when we see each other again.”

And as quickly as you met him you were already saying goodbye to Childe and leaving for Jueyun Karst. You groaned as you walked down the stairs.

“You alright [Y/n]?” Paimon asks with Aether humming in agreement, concern crossing their faces.

“Yeah I’m fine, just thinking about how long the journey to Jueyun Karst is going to be.” You hum and Paimon nods before shaking Aether’s shoulder.

“Hey Aether give [Y/n] the sigil. Maybe they know what it is.” Aether sighs at her pestering and moves to get the sigil but you shake your head.

“It's fine, I know what it is. It's a Sigil of Permission. Think of it as a free ticket for an audience with the adepti. They were created using part of Zho- Morax’s adepti powers. Wait, I should really call him Rex Lapis… Anygays! They used to hold a lot more power back when they were first created. Most of the adeptil energy has probably worn out by now.” You explain making weird hand gestures to the sigil and anywhere in general.

“If you knew that, why didn’t you say that earlier?” Paimon asks, sounding somewhat frustrated that you kept the info from them.

“Well for one if a traveller who has never been to Liuye before knew more things about Liyue than some people who have lived there for their whole life wouldn’t that be suspicious? Also you didn’t ask.” You explain and they nod before Aether turns his head to you.

“Can Childe be trusted?” He asks and Paimon huffs.

“Of course he can't, he's a fatui Harbinger!” She shouts and Aether shakes his head as you laugh.

“Well he's not one to harm someone for fun- wait I take that back, man literally will fight anything in sight to get stronger. Let me rephrase…” You think for a second while Aether and Paimon exchange a confused look. “His main motivation is to become stronger so as long as you don’t get in the way he’s fine. The only reason why he’s a Harbinger is to get stronger. I recon in half a year's time the two of you will probably be strong enough to challenge all the Harbingers and take them down together.”

“Is that foreshadowing?” Aether asks while Paimon’s eyes sparkle.

“Does that actually happen?!”

“Nah I’m just pulling your leg, the two of you might be powerful enough to take them on but I have no idea if you do or not.” Aether relaxes while Paimon stops her foot.

“Don’t trick us like that!” You smile as you spend the rest of the journey bickering with Paimon and chatting with Aether.

Chapter Text

Had Xiao told the other adepti about you knowing the future? Well you were about to find out. The group of you finally reached the Border of Jueyun Karst. Aether began looking around while looking towards the stairs where you knew Moon Carver would appear. Just as you remember a deer-like creature walked down the stairs.

“And who are we? Those who dare enter Jueyun Karst?” His voice seemingly played directly into your brain rather than being spoken out loud. It weirded you out but Aether presented the sigil as if there wasn’t a voice in your brain.

“Please look at this.” He says holding the sigil towards the deer-like adeptis. Moon Carver hums, intrigued.

“A Sigil of Permission… Many seasons have passed since one has been in the presence of such an item.” He “says” as if reminiscing on a past that no longer exists. He seems to straighten up slightly, his vibe went from threatening to polite in a matter of seconds. “He who is before you is the mighty and illuminated adeptis, Moon Carver. Speak, travellers. What business have you here?”

Your brain was about to melt with the weird language but you got the rough idea of what he was saying. Your ears pick up on some chatter behind you and you turn, eyes searching for the Millelith soldiers.

“Actually-” Paimon was cut off by the Millelith noticing the group of you.

“It's the assassins!” The leader yells and they push the spear into the group with a light thud. “They dared flee to Jueyun Karst!”

“Sir, we’ve already stepped too far into Jueyun Karst ourselves…” One of the Millelith interjects and the leader shakes his head.

“We- argh- there's no choice. Apprehending the assassin is our top priority, we must press on.” He says moving forward and you could feel the glare of Moon Carver behind you.

“Disturbing our borders…” He turned his head to look at Aether while the group of you watched the Millelith approach. “See them gone. One will not have interruption.” Aether nods and his sword appears in yellow sparks in his hand.

Instead of keeping your spear in your bag or the part of your bag, you kept it on your back for faster access. It was a lot easier to take a spear off your back than reaching into your bag and pulling it out from there. The strap that kept the spear on your back was commissioned for you by Rosaria. She hadn’t questioned why your bag was the only way you could access your “inventory” but she did say that this would be more convenient.

You were happy to be able to fight alongside Aether. You had run into little problems on the way here but you were ready to fight. As the soldiers charged at you, you reached out with your spear and whacked it across a soldier’s cheek, surprisingly knocking him out. From what you remember there were about twenty? soldiers in the game but now they were pretty evenly spread between you and Aether, Aether was powering through them with ease. You on the other hand had still only been fighting with a polearm and elemental energy for just over a month. You were just skilled enough to keep the soldiers from disarming you because you have ✨main character energy ✨.

You spin around as a Millelith gets a little too close to you, blocking the spear that was close to knocking you out, or if you had been slightly more to the left, stabbing you. You slam your spear into the ground letting out a burst of cryo energy as Aether activates his Q, knocking all the soldiers away from the both of you. They stumble away as the leader looks around at some of the knocked out soldiers and the other ones still struggling to take the two of you down.

“Retreat!” He yells and the Millelith soldiers don’t need to be asked twice, they turn tail and run, grabbing the unconscious people on the way.

“We’ve digressed.” Moon Carver says, turning your attention away from the retreating men. “State your purpose, travellers.”

“Well…” Paimon explains what happened. Rex Lapis’s death, the Millelith and the false arrests. Moon Carver stomps his hoof into the ground after she finishes.

“Preposterous… Preposterous!!” He yells, well despite being projected right into your mind it sounded like a yell. “The Liyue Qixing… utterly disappointing.”

Aether and you share a look that seemed to warn each other, saying that you probably should tread carefully with what you say from here on out.

“How could someone possibly assassinate Rex Lapis during the Rite of Decision… And then they place suspicion on the attendees?!” He falls silent before looking down on the group of you. “Travellers, of the unjust accusations placed upon you, one has become aware. The mind knows its answer. Though one must consult one’s other fellows, lest the mind be misguided. Go. Take your Sigil of Permission, carry with you a message.”

You nod, what was the message exactly? Probably the assassination but he never specified the exact words. Aether frowns slightly.

“Who should I look for? And where should I look?” He asks, the Sigil of Permission disappearing in the yellow sparks.

“Mountain Shaper and Cloud Retainer can both be found here in Jueyun Karst. Only fate will decide if you find them. Only fate.” He looks in the direction of Wangshu Inn. “There exists a Conqueror of Demons, a Guardian Yaksha. Go to Wangshu Inn. There you shall seek him.” Like how he appeared, Moon Carver turned and disappeared back into the surrounding area. You let out a breath you didn’t know you were holding and Aether returns to you.

“Who should we try to find first, oh great seer.” He smiles and you laugh at his jest playing along in a pish-posh accent.

“Well I would recommend Cloud Retainer or Mountain Shaper since we are closer to them and since Wangshu Inn is on the way back to Liyue Harbour.” You suggest and laugh with the two of them before Paimon nods.

“Yeah let's look for those two first before we go search for the Conqueror of Demons.” She says and you and Aether nod and set off. It took awhile, stopping for food and regular breaks so you didn’t fall off the side of a cliff but eventually you found your way to the area with the table set up. (you had taken your spear off your back to climb and gave Aether your bag so he could temporarily put it in his “inventory” so you didn’t have to climb with it. You were extremely grateful.)

“Hey look, who put this table here? They’ve even set it up for dinner, there's a wine jug and everything.” Paimon points out as you and Aether walk across the path towards it. She floats ahead and looks closer. “Ooh! They even carved the guests’ names into the seats,” she bends close to read the writing, “‘Here sits Retainer’…” She floats around the edges of the table while you and Aether stand watching, “‘here sits Guizhong’… ‘Here sits Rex’… Maybe Rex is short of ‘Rex Lapis’? But Paimon has no idea about ‘Guizhong’...” She trails off and looks at you with a hopeful expression and you laugh.

“Guizhong was the Goddess of Dust I believe, though she died either during the archon war or the catastrophe 500 years ago, I can’t remember which one it was though. Most likely the archon war.” You explain and Paimon lets out an O before looking back to the table.

“As for ‘Retainer’... Oh that's it! When Moon Carver was going through the names of his adepti buddies, he said there was one called ‘Cloud Retainer’. So, this must be where Cloud Retainer and the other adepti have dinner parties.” You chuckle and notice the smile on Aether’s face at Paimon’s excitement of discovering something. “Ooh! How about we cook up something super special for the adepti. We’re sure to get Cloud Retainer’s attention that way.”

“Sure Paimon. Sure.” You say as you would to someone who suggested giving food to a teacher as bribery will magically make your grade better, but both you and Aether follow Paimon around as you find different camps and recipes, adapting them to your own tastes before leaving them on the table.

As you place the last one on the table there was the sound of cracking as the seal closing off the Cloud Retainer’s domain breaks, disappearing in the usual yellow cracks. The group of you make your way toward the domain and Aether raises his hand pushing against the doors. Blue stems from his hands and the door opens, red disappearing. You were curious to see how domains work out of the game and poking your curiosity more, behind the door was a portal reminiscent of the abyss.

“This must be Cloud Retainers abode.” You say swishing your hand through the abyss-like portal. Aether nods before turning his head to you in realisation.

“You haven’t been into a domain have you?” He asks and you nod. Aether nods at that and gives you a smile, offering you his hand. “It's similar to walking through a door, it's just a fancier one that usually makes the inside look bigger.”

You smile back and take his hand. “Alrighty then, lead the way Mr Adventurer.” With that he stood at the door smiling at you and your smile turned into a more confused expression as he stood there as if waiting for something. “What wron-” you don’t get to finish talking before you’re pulled into the mysterious looking blue-portal-thing.

The feeling of what you assume to be the Abyss was weird, it wasn’t wet but it had an uncanny feeling of some sort of liquid pulling, rather than pushing, you through the area, towards something you couldn’t even see. Just as quickly as it started, the Abyss clears from your vision revealing a rather pretty look abode. You could see the islands being held up by the same jade that holds up the Jade Chamber and the little light shining through the shadows of the clouds and mountains added to the peaceful atmosphere. A rather gender neutral voice enters your heads again, surprising both Aether, you and Paimon, the latter two moving to cling to Aether in surprise.

“One senses the presence of a Sigil of Permission…” The voice of what you assumed to be Cloud Retainer echoed through your head. They pause before continuing, “one knows not why you have come, though the sincerity of your offering is clear. Hence, you shall be granted an opportunity. Find your way through mine abode and you shall receive an audience with the adeptus whom you seek.”

Aether and you make your way through the abode, with Paimon following not so far behind. Aether, since entering Liyue had changed his element from anemo to geo and was slowly getting used to fighting with it. In a way, it was like Aether was on your level when fighting, at least, elemental wise. Dude was still cracked with a sword. It took probably 30 minutes to an hour (hard to tell well since your watch was still back in your original world, probably still on charge) but you finally were granted an audience with Cloud Retainer.

“One is most impressed. The path here denies those of ordinary abilities.” You were in awe, which made sense considering that is the point of the adepti. Still, Cloud Retainer was a very pretty bird, vibrant blue wings and patterns stood out on their pure white feathers. The awe only grew as the bird adeptus lifted off the ledge and glided down to the group of you. You remembered that in the game the bird adepti had somewhat feminene features despite being a bird however in person, not only did they sound gender neutral, Cloud Retainer didn’t have any of the exaggerated feminie features. It was somewhat… relieving, to find that Teyvat wasn’t just “fictional characters”.

“The one before you is the adeptus, Cloud Retainer.” You give a small bow as the adeptus introduces themself and they puff out their feathers as if slightly proud. “There is no need for that. Now, speak of the matters that bring you here.”

“Did you…” Aether trails off looking around again before realising he never finished his sentence and looking back at Cloud Retainer. “Did you build all of this?”

“You summarise correctly. This place did oneself build, as did one design the mechanisms within.” Cloud Retainer explains, alluding to the mechanisms the author never mentioned but turned the floating islands’ floating pathways if performed correctly.

It took you a second to realise that you had zoned out and missed a bunch of dialogue. A soft frown crosses your face. Weird… What were you even thinking about that made you zone out of the conversation? Surely the mechanisms weren’t that interesting to your brain? You shake the empty thoughts from your head, slightly disturbed by the lack of memory and realise Aether was just wrapping up the summary of what happened at Liyue Harbour.

“Rex Lapis? Assassinated?!” Cloud Retainer says in shock. “But how can this be? Such a horrendous crime… who would dare?!” To say the adeptus was angry would make sense but in the current moment it was more like silent grief and quiet anger. Which through an adeptus, was mildly terrifying to be in the presence of. After muttering something about needing confirmation on the matter, Cloud Retainer thinks of their options.

“Or perhaps one will quash Liyue first, then conveen with the other adepti-” Aether had never been so fast to cut something off in surprise.

“Excuse me?” He asked hoping he had misheard. You had forgotten that one of the adeptus said that, it felt like they meant it as well. Turns out the bird was being serious and totally would have if it weren't for Aether’s skills to gaslight, gatekeep and girlboss his way out by stating that they technically had a contract now. After a quick lore dump about the sigil and being summoned by Moon Carver, Cloud Retainer flaps their wings in warning.

“Your audience with the adeptus before you is now concluded. Leave at once, and disturb me no further.” And with that Cloud Retainer took off, disappearing into the clouds of their abode.

“Should we worry about the threat of squashing Liyue?” Aether asks as both your eyes stay glued to the spot the bird adeptus disappeared through.

“Nah, it's probably fine.” You say, brushing it off with nervous laughter. Aether turns and you turn with him as Paimon tugs on his sleeve.

“Come on, we should leave now if we want to be finished by the end of today.”

~~~

You don’t know how it happened but you somehow agreed that you would go talk to the Conquer of Demons while Aether talked to Mountain Shaper. You were disappointed and hoped that this wouldn’t change Xiao’s opinion on Aether but you had a gut feeling that somehow Aether would still end up making almond tofu for Xiao.

You stood on the balcony off the Inn and sighed, this is where you’d probably have to face the consequences of telling Aether about you knowing the future while Xiao was around. When your ears and tail stood on high alert from feeling eyes on your back you sigh again and move to a quiet spot, climbing the side of the Inn to get onto the roof, just so your chat would be a little more private.

Almost as soon as you were standing “safely” on the roof (you were holding onto one of the branches as if it was your lifeline) you felt the pointy end of a polearm at your throat.

“Why are you here Outlander?” Xiao’s voice asked as your eyes followed the spear to the source. His voice was colder than you remembered, either that or he really didn’t trust you. You gently raised your hand in a surrender, trying your best to show that you were no threat to a fucking adeptus.

“To see you. Dur.” You say light heartedly, hoping to lift the mood. It worked… Well not really. The ex-Yaksha merely removes the sharp pointy object from your throat.

“I have no reason to talk to you. Leave.” He says, polearm disappearing and your eyes widen in realisation as you realised he was going to teleport away.

“Wait wait wait. Please don’t leave. I do have a reason why I’m here but said reason is currently seeking Mountain Shaper. I was assigned to talk to you but… well I have no idea how to interact with you without you-” You make a weird poofing motion with your hands. “Disappearing in a cloud of karma. It is karma right?”

Xiao pauses. The more you spoke the curiouser you became. Though you weren’t necessarily a threat and knowing the future was something he wasn’t interested in. But you had made it clear that you know the story so why didn’t you know how to interact with him. You were obviously familiar with his abilities and where he likes to spend his time so why weren’t you either black mailing or sucking up to him if you wanted a conversation?

“Speak your case Outlander.” Xiao says and almost flinches as your mood immediately brightens.

“Oh fuck yes, I have no idea how that worked.” You say before sitting down and swinging your legs over the roof. “Well I’m supposed to be here on something plot related but in truth I don’t want to screw up the timeline too badly so I’m trying to think of another bullshit excuse to talk to you.” You explain and your ears flick, trying to find any sound from the adeptus. It was weird, you could feel him watching you but as soon as his eyes left the back of you it was like he held no presence.

“Then I am not needed.” He rolls his eyes and you laugh with a shake of your head.

“Rex Lapis is thought to have been assassinated.” You say with your head tilted back slightly to watch his reaction. Though his face remained blank there was a hint of a frown tugging at his eyes and lips.

“What do you mean “thought”…” Xiao says processing how you worded it.

“Aether, well, the Traveller was supposed to be the one to let you know that Rex Lapis has been assassinated but like, although Rex Lapis is kinda dead Morax is not. He decided to step down and this is all a test to see if the adeptus and Qixing can work together and protect Liyue, now that he is gone.” You explain before groaning, “ah shit, I’ve probably said too much.”

Though the air was silent, it felt heavy, you wondered if you shouldn’t have revealed it so casually. Just when you were about to break the silence by saying something, anything, the Yaksha moved to sit more beside you. You blink in shock, mouth hanging open slightly at the action.

“You knew I was watching.” He says before you could get a word out. It was more of a statement than a question but you nod. “And yet you didn’t acknowledge my presence?”

“I figured it was you since we’re forreign and might pose a threat to Liyue.” You say before frowning and turning your head to him. “Hang on, how do you know that I knew you were there?”

“Your ears and tail aren’t that discrete when they can feel eyes on you.” He points out and the ears flatten against your head. There was a second of silence, mostly because you had no idea what to do or say. It was freaking Xiao! You were surprised he hadn’t disappeared yet.

“Why are you still sitting with me? Not that I don't mind your company of course, but you don’t particularly seem like the sociable type.” He doesn’t answer, staying silent and you follow the actions, staying silent while watching the horizon. It looked like you had about an hour before the sun sets and before Aether gets here.

“When Aether gets here I’m just going to act like I couldn’t speak to you.” You say turning your head slightly to look at Xiao who kept his eyes on the horizon.

“Alright and what do you want me to do about it?” He says monotonely. “If he’s just going to tell me false information why should I care?” You fall silent. He had a point. You turn your body and raise your hand for a handshake.

“How about a contract? I tell you who Rex Lapis has become and you go along with how you would have if you hadn’t known the news.” You suggest and watch Xiao’s expressionless face. He was thinking about it and you thought he was just going to leave until he turned to you.

“Only if you stop talking to me afterwards.” He says holding out his hand you nod grasping it.

“It's a deal. Well, contract.” You smile and Xiao immediately yoinks his hand back. You almost laugh at the speed he pulled away with. “Rex Lapis, or Morax, faked his death for a reason of something along the lines of feeling like he wasn’t needed anymore. Though he has given up his position as an archon, or at least he will soon, he has decided to take the form of a human that goes by Zhongli. He works at Wangshun Funeral Parlour.” You explain and Xiao listens much to your surprise.

“If you hadn’t told me this… Would I still have found out about it?” He asks and you think for a second.

“I believe he visits quite a few of the parties involved in dreams but I don’t know how you personally find out. I think it's probably a few weeks after everything gets resolved.” You think out loud and Xiao nods.

“I’m glad I found out sooner then.” He says to your surprise, but when you look at him in shock he’s gone. You smile softly and get up from your seated position. Guess it was time for you to go wait for Aether and inform him of your “failure”.

~~~

HOLY SHIT IT WORKED!

Thanks to your deal with Xiao everything went as it did in the game. Aether took care of the ghost, made almond tofu and a satisfying salad and then gave it to Xiao who disappeared afterwards to go talk to the other adepti.

After all that it was finally time to head back to the Harbour. Paimon suggested that we should check with Childe since he was going to go find someone to help with the situation. After talking to one of the workers at the Northland bank you were now headed to Liuli Pavilion. Were you ready to meet Zhongli?

…

We’ll answer that question when we come to it :D.

You took a deep breath and walk in after Aether.

Chapter Text

“Venti I swear to god! Do not fall down, you do not have a glider!” You yell up to Venti who was currently on top of a very -very- tall tree. You had no idea how they managed to get this big of a tree into Mondstadt but they had. Maybe Diluc was wrong? The Knights of Favonious are somewhat efficient.

After Jean’s story quest happened you let slip that the gathering reminded you of Christmas, which took a decent amount of explaining to justify the concept of “man breaks into your house to give gifts to children.” But somehow Diluc could tell that talking about it made you feel homesick so somehow he convinced the group to prepare a christmas in Mondstadt. At least you think it was Diluc, the other option was Venti and you doubted he would have any ability to convince the Knights of anything unless he pulled a “I’m Barabatos” card.

Anyways you digress, since they knew nothing about the holiday you were extremely happy to help plan a week of Christmas celebration. Venti was currently trying to put decorations on the tree and decided that standing on the flimsiest branch was a good idea.

“It's fine! I can catch myself!” He yells and you sharply inhale through your nose.

“That doesn't mean I won't have a heart attack!” You yell and almost have a heart attack as Venti jumps off the tree. He did catch himself using the wind (thank goodness it was night or you would be paranoid someone saw him being godly) but then when he was close enough to you he just dropped. You dropped the almost empty box of donated decorations to catch the bard. However, said bard was heavier than you were expecting and you still had weak human arms so you fell to the ground with an oof, Venti laying across your stomach. You stayed laying on the ground for a second while you caught your breath, feeling slightly winded.

Venti bursts out laughing as he gets up offering you his hand. You take it with a roll of your eyes and brush yourself off.

“You know, for a god you are extremely irresponsible.” You laugh with a shake of your head before looking up. The tree was a bit lacklustre but that was to be expected. It had a decent amount of decorations and Venti had managed to put the star on top but it felt like something was missing.

“Oh the lights!” You smack your fist into your palm and earn a confused look from Venti. “A large part of Christmas culture is lights, imagine fireflies in different colours wrapped around the tree. Disappointingly you didn’t have a picture on your phone as you didn’t take pictures of your previous trees or christmas lights in the area as you thought it would be a waste of space. (as if the fanart and tiktoks weren’t also a waste of storage).

“Don’t worry we haven’t forgotten!” You turn at the cool voice to find Keaya standing with Albedo, both holding large boxes in their arms.

“It was quite the challenge you gave me.” Albedo says putting down the box. “But I managed to find a way to create lights using glass and electro elemental energy.” He explains as Keaya pulls out the rope with coloured lights attracted to it. He compliments Albedo and then the four of you get to work on putting the lights on the tree.

Hm… now with the lights on, this actually looked like a Christmas tree, not just some random big tree with weird ornaments hung from it. You look at it proudly and move on to help the rest of the team with decorations around the Knights’ Headquarters before writing a list of who you were going to invite to the dinner party at the end of the week which meant you were also going to buy gifts for most of them, even if it was a small cheap trinket or food. This list included (in no particular order);

Venti
Diluc
Aether (+Paimon)
Jean
Lisa
Keaya
Rosaria
Albedo
Sucrose
Noelle
Mona
Barabra
Bennent
Fichl
Razor
Klee
Diona
And plus ones!

Fast forward to the end of the week and everyone you had invited had actually arrived. Not going to lie you were sure someone wasn’t going to turn up but everyone was here talking to one another in the large hall. The hall, unlike the normal plain hall, was now decorated in various christmas vibes, such as pine tree wreaths and tinsel.

Everyone was dressed in somewhat fancy clothing, though Mona and Razor still wore they’re regular clothing. Probably from the lack of mora to buy new ones. You yourself had managed to buy a suit which had a fancy wind coat with some sort of magic that held it to your shoulders so it wouldn’t come off with a small movement. Diluc moves to stand beside you while the two of you sip on some sort of expensive wine and watch the chaos.

“You should probably make that speech you prepared now, it's getting late for Klee and Diona.” He says startling you, nevertheless you follow his eyes to Klee, Diona and Razor who, although chatting happily to each other and Bennet, occasionally yawn.

“How did you-” You weren’t aware that anybody knew you were writing a speech.

“You speak out loud when you’re frustrated, plus the light was on at 1am.” He cuts you off and you nod, of course he was awake at 1am, plus it was his house, no wonder he knew if you were so loud.

“Right…” You take a deep breath and nod, your windcoat swishes as you turn swiftly. “Wish me luck.” You don’t wait for him to respond, though you catch his nod and soft smile out of the corner of your eye as you make your way towards the stairs. Once at the stairs you form a ball with ice before shattering it loudly using anemo to completely destroy it and create a loud smash, grabbing people’s attention.

“Alright everyone, thank you for coming. I know this is new as it's a tradition from my world however I’m extremely grateful that everyone has come tonight! It has been a fun but stressful week setting all of this up so I hope everyone enjoys themselves. In saying that Christmas is all about giving so if I invited you personally come see me throughout the night so I can give you guys gifts. Merry Christmas!” You cheer and raise your glass as the last words chorus around the room.

What you weren’t expecting was after you had given Klee and Diona their gifts they pulled a mini plus out of Klee’s bag. You had a feeling it wasn’t just a plush though…

“We made you a gift too! It's from both of us.” Klee says and hands you the plushy.

“I convinced Klee not to add a bomb to it so you don’t have to worry about it exploding.” Diona smiles causing you to smile back, both your tails flicking happily. The plushie itself was reminiscent of Klee’s bombs but instead of a bunny theme it had ears similar to yours and was your favourite colours instead of the usual reds.

“Thank you so much you too! Enjoy your gifts.” You smile as they leave you Albedo coming up straight after them explaining how he was going to go with them to take them home. After you handed him a ring he handed you a box of small candy that looked similar to mochi. He explains that they should help with your occasional insomnia. A lot of the people here had gotten rings as you can’t go wrong with them, save for Bennet who you made a lucky charm for with the help of Mona’s astrology to actually find things that are lucky rather than suspicious. You were going to tie it somewhere so he wouldn’t lose it.

Once the event had quieten down (it was somewhat late) you made your way up to the top of the Venti statue using your anemo abilities. Aether joined you soon after you sat down.

“This was fun, thank you for organising it.” He says with a smile and you smile back.

“I couldn’t have done it without you.” You say, nudging him gently before he pulls something out of his pocket. You stare at the hair piece confused.

“It's a fake anemo vision. So people won’t question you when you use these abilities in public.” He explains handing you the beautifully crafted ornament. It was Mondstadt themed with the fake vision as the centre piece and a few charms around the edge. You smile at him.

“Thanks Aether, this is beautiful.” You give him a warm smile before swinging your legs as you overlook Mondsadt, the home sickness returning. Aether smiles softly.

“Maybe we can do this again next year? If we haven’t found a way home for you of course.” He offers with a warm smile and you smile back wiping any water from your eyes that had formed.

“That would be great thanks.” You say as the two of you sit in silence until a loud bang startles you. Fireworks. In Christmas themed colours. “You didn’t?!”

“I did. I got Yoimia to make them for us.” Aether smiles while the two of you watch the fireworks together.

Meanwhile at the Knights Headquarters…

“Let me join them!” Venti groans while Diluc holds him by the scruff of his clothes.

“No, [Y/n] is obviously suffering some sort of homesickness and the traveller is the only one who could probably understand that.” Diluc explains as Venti pouts.

Chapter Text

Yeah you were not ready.

You were ready to leave and not meet him. You walked in after Aether and Childe and immediately muttered a “fuck no.” Aether heard this and grabbed onto your hand, squeezing it in comfort. For some unknown reason, probably shock from the contact, you were immediately filled with confidence. Why were you nervous in the first place? Was it the unsurety that he knew you knew the future? At this point a decent amount of people knew that so why did it matter if he knew?

You turn the corner as Childe waves to Zhongli who sat at the end of the table with a cup of tea in hand. Zhongli smiles softly at the group of you and gestures to the seats next to him. He didn’t seem to have any recognition of who you were but you still held the suspicion that he knew who you were.

“Traveller, [Y/n], allow me to introduce Zhongli. He’s a consultant for Wangsheng and a trusted associate of the fatui.” A smile grew on your face which you hid behind a surprisingly good cup of tea as Childe continued to talk about Zhongli and his connection to the Fatui. You could tell Paimon was building the wrong idea and that once Childe caught on, he continued to intentionally mislead her. You held back a laugh as Paimon tried to defend herself when it was revealed that Zhongli worked at a funeral parlour. “Anyway, I brought you here to meet Mr Zhongli because-”

“Because I can bring you to see Rex Lapis’s Vessel.” Zhongli cuts off and Paimon’s jaw drops while Aether leans closer, curious about where the conversation was going. You just continued to pick at the food littering the table.

What? You had heard this dialogue before and the food was really good!

After a small lore dump by Zhongli about the funerals of fallen adeptus Aether accepted his offer while you pondered over the fact that even though Aether did want to meet all the Archons, why did he accept to see the geo archon vessel? Like he’s supposed to be dead dude, what are you going to do, cast Comune with the Dead?

“And with that my bridge building is done.” Childe sighs heavily and stretches before looking back at the group of you. “You can do what you want now, don't worry about me. I’m going to stay here and have a few more drinks… and try to get acquainted with these things they call “chopsticks” in the meantime.”

You laughed.

Well it was more of an extremely ugly snort because you were taking a sip of tea. Tea and laughter do not mix. 0 out of 10 would not recommend.

While Childe gives you a weird look, Paimon and Aether immediately try to find a way to help you, concerned with your wellbeing as you hack up air.

“Sorry, just the way you said “chopsticks” as if you’ve never seen them before.” You laugh out knowing full well that Childe probably hadn’t seen them before. You blink as he remains silent before chuckling. “Really? Do you want me to teach you how to use them then?” You offer, still half laughing. Paimon gives you a weird look as if saying “The fuq [Y/n], he fatui” but you couldn’t care less.

Childe pauses for a second considering your offer which surprises you. You didn’t think he’d be “man enough” to admit he needed help but here we were.

“That would be great actually, then I won’t embarrass myself later on.” He sounded genuine which was very confusing but you shrugged it off and picked up a pair of chopsticks before looking at Aether and Paimon.

“I’ll meet you guys outside since you shouldn’t keep Zhongli waiting. It won't be too long.” You say and with a slightly encouraging smile so Aether would feel comfortable enough to leave you with the Harbinger. After a moment of hesitation Aether nods and gets up to leave, a frustrated Paimon behind him feeling that she was never listened to.

“So you trust a Fatui Harbinger enough to be left alone in a room with one?” Childe asks in a more serious tone when Aether was out the door. You just move your chair closer to him with a shrug and pick up the chopsticks.

“Well you haven’t seemed to have ill intentions yet. Call it intuition or a gut feeling but I don’t think you would betray me and Aether’s trust unless you had too.” You explain and put your hand out in front of you with the chopsticks held successfully. “Now get the chopsticks like this.”

~~~

Childe was an idiot. You don’t know how, but he just could not figure out how to hold the chopsticks. He just couldn’t get it right. You would have been determined to make him do it right but Aether had popped his head back in to tell you that they were going to Mondstadt to burn the jade and you weren’t going to pass up on seeing -(arson)- your friends again so you apologised to Childe for not being able to help and made your way back to Monstadt with Aether, Paimon and Zhongli.

But instead of helping Aether and Zhongli like you were expecting to, Aether pushed you to instead go talk to Diluc and Adeline as if he could tell that Diluc was an older brother figure to you and that you missed him slightly. So that brought you to now where you were standing in front of the Dawn Winery, way too nervous to knock on the door because you left announced and your explanation in your letter was not the best for what happened with the Gnosis. You raise your hand to knock but before you have the chance the door opens and a familiar figure stands in the doorway. The two of you stare at each other before Adeline turns and you begin to panic.

“Master Diluc, you don’t need to send that letter!” She calls out and you immediately want to turn away, letting out a nervous laugh as the maid grabs you by the wrist and drags you into the winery. Wow, she was surprisingly strong.

“What was that Adeline?” The familiar voice of Diluc echoes down the stairs, the both of you freeze when you make eye contact.

“I said you don’t need to send the letter.” She clarifies with a smile while you give a nervous wave and laugh.

“Hey mate… Miss me?”

~~~

You were getting lectured.

You sat at the table while Diluc paced around the room. Telling you about how irresponsible it was to leave after promising an explanation and then go no contact for the next day or so only to receive a letter explaining what had happened very badly. While the redhead lectured you, Adeline was there making sure you had been well fed and hydrated while you were gone. And making sure you were actually paying attention to what Diluc was saying.

“I can’t believe you just left without saying anything! You promised to explain what happened with those Fatui agents and yet all I get is a letter with barely any details! I have known you for over a month and this is the most frustrating thing you’ve done yet. I shouldn’t have been worried about you after only knowing you for a month but I was and still am. You made me worry so much, when you didn’t return that night.” He continues to pace, becoming more emotional than you’ve ever seen him, in game and in person.

A soft smile makes its way onto your face. The people here were too good for you… They actually cared and worried about you when you left without explanation? If you were in your world your phone would have probably been blown up with texts and calls when you hadn’t returned to the Dawn Winery after meeting Signora that night. From Diluc and Adeline that is, not from your biological family.

Something wet falls on the back of your hand. Huh? Adeline didn’t spill anything so what- oh… you were crying.

“/n]? [Y/n]?” You were brought back to reality by a concerned Diluc and you blink, the soft smile and tears slowly falling and disappearing. “Are you alright?” You blink away the tears before wiping them, a brighter, more genuine, smile replacing your old soft one.

“I’m fine. You’re just…” You pause searching for the right words. “More caring than my family back in my old world, that's all.” Adeline and Diluc share a look and if you had known better you would have assumed they were planning a murder, but you didn’t know better so you assumed they were sharing a look of concern.

“I’ll go grab some more food. I’m assuming you’re staying for dinner?” After a second of silence Adeline offers with a sweet smile before disappearing. Going to be honest here it sounded more like a threat than an offer so you just nod, noticing how she hurries the other maids out of the room to leave you alone with Diluc. You look up at his face, his brow furrowed in thought and tilt your head slightly.

“Something wrong?” You ask, your voice seemed to cut him from his thoughts, his regular emotionless face returning, though you could have sworn there was sadness or even pity behind his eyes.

“I’m fine… You’ve never mentioned your family before now. I don’t want to pry but why is that?” Diluc asks and you hum nervously. You knew the question of your family would arise sooner or later but you didn’t really want to remember them.

“So… How to tell you this… my mother is a bitch, always has been always will be. We gave up on her redemption arc ages ago. My father was alright, if he was even in my life. I get a call from him on my birthday, christmas and I call him on his birthday but that's it. He never called when I went no contact with the rest of my family. I love my two younger siblings but they took after my mum too much and I usually the one my mum took out her anger on. When I left I realised they weren’t worth my mental health that I had worked so hard to work on.” You rant, it had been a while since anyone had listened to the abuse you went through. Your siblings were alright, sure, but you took every hit, physical and emotional, for them and you kind of resented them for never trying to reach out to you when you moved out.

“I moved away a few years ago, I just hope my siblings are okay because I’m not there to bare “the force of my mother’s wrath” if you know what I mean.” You chuckle nervously at the end hoping to use humour to lighten up the situation. It didn’t really work.

“You confuse me.” Diluc says after a moment of processing what you had said. You frown slightly but before you could ask why he continues. “You went through all of that and you’re still…” he gestures to all of you, “you…”

He pauses, giving a heavy sigh and looking at you, kindness, not pity, filling his eyes. “Are you alright?”

You fall into thought for a second. Were you okay?

“No.” You say truefully but still in a nonchalant way causing more concern from Diluc. “Like most of my generation, my coping mechanism is humour and escapism. After I moved out I’ve been working on improving my mental health and forgetting my old family. I don’t need them anymore.”

You could tell he wants to say something but your ears flick telling you that someone was approaching. That person was probably your ticket out of this mini therapy session so you shake your head. “But that's all in the past now. If I have any unresolved trauma from back there I can sort it out if I ever go back to my own world. Past problems are for my past home.” Before Diluc could respond the door opens and to your surprise, Aether walks in. No Paimon and Zhongli in sight.

“I hope I’m not interrupting.” He apologies with a small bow before closing the door behind him. You shake your head at Diluc before gesturing for Aether to join you for food.

“Not at all. We were just talking about [Y/n]’s past life in their world.” Diluc explains and you nod, hoping he doesn’t expand on that.

“Have they not talked to you about every detail of their world already? It’s been our main conversation point when we’ve been alone together.” Aether questions, sitting down next to you and opposite Diluc, as if he could sense that you needed the warmth he radiated.

“Yeah they told me all that on the first day I met them. We were talking about their past relationships.” What Diluc said caught you off guard. Sure you were talking about the relationship with your family, but that doesn't stop you from thinking about the thing he would be implying without that context.

“You’ve dated people before [Y/n]?” Aether looks to you equally as shocked as you were but with a hint of a cheeky smile forming. “I didn’t know you could do that.” You gasp with fake offence.

“Are you saying you don’t think I get bitches?” You ask with a fake look of hurt on your face. “I’ll have you know that I have more bitches than Mr Rich man over there.”

“Language.” The red head says, glaring at you slightly, making you chuckle at the slightly threatening tone.

“You’re not denying that you don’t have many simps.” You say, you know, like a liar. You’ve seen what the fanbase has written and drawn about him. Aether and Diluc stare at you for a second, sharing a look before looking back to you. “Wait… You guys don’t know what ‘simp’ means?” They shake their heads and you laugh again.

“As you can probably gather from context ‘simp’ here means someone who chases after you and does many things for you. Usually in an act to get with you.” You explain, surprised that the two boys were actually listening to you. “I could change it into a verb by saying ‘I’m simping a lot for this person’ probably meaning that you find that person attractive in some way and are going out of your way to help them and be closer to them. Like Donna.”

“Diluc’s fan girl?” Aether questions and Diluc raises his eyebrows as if he was unaware of the obsession Dona had with him. “Do you not know about her, Diluc?” He asks and Diluc shrugs.

“I’ve seen her around. She only seems to be at the Angels Share when I'm working there and often brings me flowers.” He explains and you make a gesture with your hands.

“See, simp behaviour. As I was saying, I get more bitches than you.” You jab your finger onto the table multiple times in a matter of fact way.

“But if I have Donna, who do you have?” Diluc asks, raising an eyebrow, you raise your finger and open your mouth to answer only for it to fall. Fuck what were you going to say? You pulled on genshin in co-op? That ain’t going to mean shit to them (sorry to those you married on genshin, you may never play together again, truly saddening).

“Fuck you.” You mutter, ignoring the glare from Diluc as you swear. Aether laughs before offering you his hand.

“It's okay, I can be one of your bitches if you like.” At the offer you freeze. Did Aether just… Swear???

“Traveller… did you just…?” Diluc asks, equally as shocked that the sunshine boy had it in him.

“Have I done something wrong?” He asks and you immediately shake your head vigorously.

“No you haven't! Oh Barbatos, I’m rubbing off on you, this is the best day of my life.” You grip your travel partner’s hand tightly. “Yes you can be one of my bitches, I would love that.”

He smiles sweetly until Diluc groans, leaning back in his chair.

“Please stop hanging out with them Traveller, their [Y/n]-ness is rubbing off on you.” The two of you chuckle at Diluc meanwhile Adeline just stands in the doorway confused about what she walked in on.

You had a wonderful time that night eating Adeline’s food again and talking to Dilcu and Aether before you returned to Liyue with Aether, Zhongli and Paimon who apparently finished testing the jade on their own.

Chapter Text

It was weird walking in silence but since you didn’t know if Zhongli knew if you were from another world or not you didn’t risk bringing up your regular conversation to Aether. On the way to Mondstadt you had mostly zoned out, to focused on your thoughts to listen to Zhongli’s storytelling but now… now everyone was silent. And probably looking forward to staying at Wangshu Inn for the night. You didn’t risk getting out your headphones either because, even though they do look a lot like Alhaitham’s you thought it would be rude. Yet again your cover story is that you are from Sumeru-

“So [Y/n], you seemed distracted on the way here so I didn’t bother you but I’m curious, where do you come from?” Zhongli’s deep voice cuts through the silence and you grip your hand tightly into a ball to hopefully keep yourself grounded.

“I grew up in Sumeru but I’ve been travelling a lot so my accent has been messed up a bunch.” You explain hoping he bought your lie. Yet again he was a god and could probably tell a lie from a mile away.

“I see.” He pauses for a second before continuing. “So when did you meet that bard?” You trip over your own feet and look at Zhongli. Your eyes study him as he raises his eyebrow, you could have sworn his eyes glowed for a second. You had a feeling he knew.

“Which bard? I’ve met quite a few on my travels.” You ask with a smile, ears twitching nervously. There's no way you could play this off as him mistaking you for someone else right?

“I see, do you know Venti?” He asks and you nod, forcing yourself to let your face flicker in recognition.

“Yeah I know him. I travelled around Mondstadt with him for a bit a few years ago before settling in with Diluc.” You bullshit, forgetting that all though you came up with a backstory, the timeline was a bit shaky. No matter as long as it’s consistent.

“Hm.” Two letters. A mere sound, Zhongli makes and it immediately clues you in that you should not be left alone with the old man. You glance at Aether who was scanning the horizon, looking for danger. You look back at Zhongli and have to do a double take. You swear you saw his eyes glowing as he stared at you but when you glanced back he was looking forward with his same “old-wise-man” expression on his face. Time to change the subject.

“Do you know many stories, Zhongli? I’m curious as to what stories you tell.” You see Aether turn his head out of the corner of your eye. So he was more interested in Zhongli’s story than saving you from the wrath of a god? Damn Aether, the betrayal. And here you thought he was one of your bitches.

Listening to Zhongli’s stories was more soothing than you thought. You found yourself almost falling asleep where you were standing from his voice. If he was back in your world and started a youtube channel just of reading bedtime stories you know he would have a massive platform. Although… You still can’t unhear Hawkmoth disappointingly. Surprisingly Aether and you got the same room as before while Zhongli had a separate room. You wonder if Xiao would confront Zhongli while he was here. You were tempted to call out his name but then remember your deal. Maybe you shouldn’t break it while the god of contracts was in the same area…

You lay down on your stomach on the same bed as before while Aether looked out the window. You think Paimon went to go get some food. You turn your head to look at Aether, noticing that his face looked like he was reminiscing over something.

“Hey Aether?” You ask and he hums in response, turning his head to look at you. “I know it won’t be the same but do you want to see some of the saved content on my phone? I’ve made a separate folder so it doesn’t spoil anything but I thought you might like to see some art of you and your sister.”

At the mention of his sibling he turns and smiles softly. Holy hell you would do anything to protect that smile. He makes his way over to you and sits down next to you while you flip over and reach into your bag, pulling your phone out of what you assume to be your ‘inventory’ area of the satchel. You begin to scroll through the memes, art and tiktoks you have saved to your camera roll while Aether points out any details that the tiktoks got wrong about Lumine. Eventually you reach the end of the album. It wasn’t too long, most of the memes you have saved spoil Inazuma and Sumeru.

“You and your sister are so pretty.” You say as you put your phone down. Aether nods.

“She really is… Wait, did you just call me pretty??” You can hear the shock in his voice and you just turn your head to smile at him.

“Yup! You are really pretty as well, you know.” You answer only for Aether to shake his head and deny the fact. “But I’m not lying! You are a pretty boy!”

He groans and hides his face in his hands, clearly flustered. You laugh as Paimon walks in, confused as to why Aether was hiding and you were laughing.

“What happened here?” She asks, putting her last lotus crisp in her mouth. Aether shakes his head and you turn to Paimon.

“We were just scrolling through some of the pictures in my camera roll and he saw this.” You turn your phone around to Paimon, showing the fanart of buff Paimon. Truly it was traumatising. Paimon’s jaw drops and she hurries to your phone.

“Paimon wishes she could look like this!” She yells, completely serious, causing you and Aether to double down and start laughing so hard you were coughing and finding it hard to stop. “What? Then Paimon could beat up all the bad guys and get heaps of mora!”

You didn’t get to sleep until late that night.

~~~

The next morning the group of you didn’t leave straight away, instead you all picked a table and sat down to have breakfast. Somehow Zhongli managed to convince you to get herbal tea.

You had never been a herbal tea person, usually defaulting to iced coffee or the specific brand of tea your mum used to buy in bulk but Liyue’s tea was fucking heavenly. You were not expecting leaf juice to taste as good as it did. You were so distracted by the tea and food it took a peck to the ear for you to realise that Vanessa had landed the chair next to you. You recoil in surprise.

“Ow! Vanessa what the fuck!?” You yelp, clutching at your ear. She gives you a stare as if saying ‘well past attention’ while you hear a chuckle from Aether. You give a lazy glare to him but turn your attention back to Vanessa who held a little container on her back. You stroke her feathers in thanks before taking the container and taking out the rolled up letters.

“Oh, have some of them responded already?” Aether questions and you nod and you look through the envelopes.

“Some, it looks like Venti, Noelle and I think Diona responded.” You say looking over the handwriting and wax seals on the envelopes. There was a forth one and it took opening it to realise that it was from Albedo but was written by Sucrose.

Albedo’s/Sucrose’s was mostly a response to your first letter but as you got to the end it turned into more of a check up on how you were feeling and if your ears and tail were giving you any pain. (still no update on how long you were going to be stuck with them for -_-). Venti’s asked about the wine in Liyue and if you had run into any trouble yet, the question was more directed at Aether after that so you gave the letter to him for him to answer.

Noelle’s had to be the sweetest message you’ve ever received, detailing how she and a few other Knights missed you and your energy. She also said that Jean had received your letter but was too busy to respond at the moment but she would be responding as soon as she could. You wondered if that was a sign you would be doing Jean’s story quest soon… Diona’s letter asked if you had gotten yourself drunk at all and was asking if the people in Liyue were as bad as Mondstadt when it came to drinking. She had also taken your advice on asking for Klee’s help with destroying the wine industry and Klee agreed! Diona was very excited to have the help. You smile at the sweetness.

“Hey do you guys mind if I stay here and respond to these? I won’t be much help with the Rite of Parting anyway.” You explain and Aether nods before looking at Zhongli.

“Paimon doesn’t mind! We’ll miss your conversations but we’ll see you later today.” She says as Zhongli nods in thought.

“One more helping hand would be nice but if you know nothing of perfumes and flowers you won’t be much help.” He says in his regular monotone voice. You fake hurt by grabbing your heart.

“Zhongli you wound me.” You laugh before turning to give attention to your bird, noticing how she was getting restless. After a few more minutes of minor conversation, the group stands and you give Aether a temporary hug goodbye before you return to the room.

You weren’t too disappointed for not being able to help out with the Rite of Parting, it was mostly dialogue you skipped over. If you missed meeting Ganyu for the first time though, you are going to be very salty. You hover the pen over the page only to realise how little people were at the Inn today… You could blast your music!

Immediately you get out your phone, trying to ignore how it was still at 56% and click shuffle play on your playlist. Vibing while writing, nothing beats it. That was until the cover of Rusputin came on. You forgot that you had the Childe version on your playlist. No matter! A vibe was a vibe, so like any normal person you sang along.

“Tar-Tartagllia Shenznya’s greatest lover machine. It was a shame how he carried on.” You were trying not to belt it at the top of your lungs. You continued to vibe until a knock at the door grabbed your attention. It was a noise complaint wasn’t it? You swear you weren’t even vibing that loud.

“Sorry about the noise, I can turn it down if you like.” You say while opening the door.

“No, it's fine. I’m quite flattered that you would create a song for me as lovely as that one. Though I do wonder how you got my name.” The man himself, Childe, stood at the door. You stared at him for a second before slamming the door shut. Nope. Not dealing with this bullshit today. “Aw come on, I don’t smell that bad do it?” He calls from behind the door and you resist the urge to smell the air.

“Fuck off ya spooky bitch!” You quote, knowing full well it ain’t going to do shit.

“Oh that's just mean. I only came to talk.” He says through the door. You couldn’t tell if that was a threat or not.

“Talk about what?” You ask, there was some shuffling before a light thud on the door, presumingly he was leaning his back against it.

“About the Anemo Archon’s Gnosis.” You sweat drop, as yes you forgot you had that chess piece in your bag… HANG ON A FUCKING SECOND YOU HAVE THE POWER OF ANEMO. You quickly glance around the room, luckily your stuff wasn't too spread out it would be easy to grab the stuff quickly…

“Haha, you know about that?” You laugh nervously, carefully moving away from the door.

“Did you really think Signora wouldn’t tell the other Harbingers that someone had stolen from her? Bold move may I say, but it's not too late to give up the Gnosis to me.” It sounded like a threat but you continue to move stuff into your bag, trying to be quiet.

“How do you know that Ve- Barbatos doesn’t have it?” You ask opening the window and gesturing for Vanessa to leave before you.

“And risk the safety of his people again? No, I think he gave it to someone for safekeeping. And is it not still in your stomach?” He asks, the last part sounding like a genuine question and you burst out laughing.

“Pft- haha! I never ate in the first place lol!” You yell out as you grab your polearm from beside the table and strap it to your back. The last thing you needed was the Gnosis. You’re not sure if your anemo abilities were strong enough to hold you without the boosting effects of the Gnosis.

“What?! Signora was so sure you had swallowed it!” He exclaims as you stand by the window. Your ear’s twitch as you hear the door click open, Childe walking in. He blinks in surprise. “Has that door been unlocked this whole time?”

You nod and with a smile you stand up on the windowsill, Childe frowning in confusion as you grip the Gnosis tightly in your fist. “As much as I would love to stay around I really have to get going. Oh and the Gnosis will be staying with me by the way.”

Childe’s eyes widened in realisation but it was two late as you lifted two fingers to your forehead as a salute, falling backwards out the window as you did so.

You flip over onto your stomach before you could see Childe rushing to the open window and try to feel the wind around you. You notice the Gnosis glowing and the wind around you slows. Unlike when you were running from Signora, you weren’t filled with adrenaline so you looked around as you floated down from the tree.

Liyue was beautiful, you'd give it that. You continue to turn your head to admire the surroundings but your eyes widen at the sight of wings that look suspiciously like Venti’s on your back. You immediately panic at the unfamiliar sight and the sudden panic causes you to drop faster.

“Oh fuck.” You mutter as you manage to catch yourself just before hitting the ground. “Oww.” You groan as you stand, glancing up at the window… Childe was still up there? You stare up and wait for him to finish laughing as he makes eye contact and waves before disappearing from the window. Yup, time to run.

Funeral planning time.

Chapter Text

“The third has a gentle but lingering fragrance, something like the dusk mist, and it's a favourite amongst mature ladies.” You turn the corner as the familiar voice of Paimon echoes through your ears making them and your tail twitch. You had almost forgotten about them for a second… you really need to see Albedo to get rid of them. You would not miss doors closing on the tail.

The Statue of Seven glows brightly as Aether offers the perfume to the statue. “Oh… What was that?” Paimon asks when the glowing stops.

“I guess Rex Lapis really likes this one.” Aether says as you walk up to the group.

“That one is for older ladies right? Does that mean Rex Lapis is really an old lady?” Paimon asks, confused and excited at the same time. You laugh as Zhongli chuckles with a soft smile.

“You never know, gods can choose their forms after all.” You say glancing at Zhongli as Aether and Paimon turn to you.

“Hey [Y/n]!” Paimon smiles as Aether waves softly, you smile at him as Zhongli gives you a small nod of acknowledgement. “Did you finish writing the letters?” You think back to the events earlier in the day and shrug.

“Not quite. I was… Interrupted.” You smile and shake your head. “So you’ll be using the third perfume?” At Aether’s nod you wonder if they had gotten the Cleansing bell yet. You only remember that part because you refreshed your mind on the Cleansing Bell after the beautiful cut scene at the Lanturn Rite Festival. “Have you got the Cleansing Bell yet?”

“A cleansing bell? No we haven’t yet.” Paimon shakes her head and turns to Zhongli. “What's the Cleansing Bell?”

“I’ll need you to borrow it from a friend of mine named Madam Ping. She is the guardian of the Cleansing Bell and lives near Yujing Terrace. If you ask her, she’ll know what to do.” Zhongli explains to Paimon and Aether before turning to you. “I didn’t know you were familiar with the old funeral rites of adepti.” You just nod, trying to keep your smile from wavering.

“Oh the funerals I’m familiar with usually use a bell of some sort so I figured you’d have a fancy one for the adepti Rite of Parting.” You lie, hoping you hadn’t lost your ability to Gaslight, Gatekeep and Girlboss.

“Won’t you be coming with us Zhongli?” Paimon asks, you could tell she was trying to get the attention off you but it wasn’t working very well.

“I’m afraid I have certain reasons why I can’t be there in person. I apologise, please do this for me.” He says, with a decent amount of sincerity. Paimon huffs, and you swear you see Aether roll his eyes.

“Man, why has he got to be so secretive this time?” Paimon mutters to Aether and you, placing her hands on her hips. Zhongli chuckles, hearing Paimon’s loud whispering and giving a small nod as he walks off.

“I will see you later, thank you for doing this for me.” He says, one minute there the next he was gone, reminding you of when Moon Shaper did something similar. Aether sighs and turns to you, offering you his arm.

“Well we should probably get going then.” He smiles softly as you loop your arm through his. Paimon floats slightly ahead of you as the three of you talk. You were glad he didn’t ask what interrupted you from finishing the letters. It was comforting to have a friend like him.

~~~

How did you get lost?!

You were… You blink, what were you doing before getting lost? You were following Aether back to Liyue… Then you found Madam Ping who you told looked like she would have been very pretty in her youth (you were telling the truth, young Madam Ping was so pretty). Then you touched the Teapot with Aether- Oh Shit were you in the teapot? But it didn’t look anything like you remember the teapot looked like. This was some randomass forest, and they didn’t look like Liyue trees.

“[Y/n]!” You hear a voice call your name and you spin around, searching for its source. You didn’t recognise the voice but for some reason it felt familiar. You couldn’t tell which way the voice was coming from when it called your name again. You found that extremely weird. Ever since Albedo’s experiment your perceptiveness had increased, often knowing who was approaching you before they had come into your field of vision. You keep turning around slowly trying to find the source of your voice until a human-like figure appears in the middle of your vision.

“I can’t stay long, I am not as familiar with adeptal energy as I once was.” The voice sounded like it was coming from the figure but their mouth wasn’t moving. You tried to focus on the humanoid but every time you tried it was always out of focus. Just a pole of dark brown, green, white and a few smaller colours. “I’m sorry I brought you here. But don’t worry I’m working on a way to get you back.” The voice was neither masculine nor feminine, but you swear you’d heard it before.

“I wanted to keep a closer eye on you but something went wrong so I couldn’t. I’ll give something to help you in the future so you don’t die under my watch.” The figure came closer but you still couldn’t see any of the features. As if it was just a blurry figure in the background but it was right in front of you.

“What do you mean?” You ask, your voice surprisingly unwavering. The figure tilts what you think to be its head, features slowly coming into better focus. They had dark skin and what looked to be small antlers coming out of their head. You feel a sudden pain in your forearm as the figure grabs it.

“Don’t fuck up please. I don’t want you to die on me a-” The neither male nor female voice was cut off as your surroundings suddenly changed as if you were getting pulled away from them rapidly.

You take in a sharp breath and sit up suddenly, head butting whoever was leaning over you.

“Ow!” Ah you had head butted Paimon. You look up and find you were laying on a bench surrounded by a Madam Ping and a concerned Aether. Paimon was rubbing her forehead from where you headbutted her.

“[Y/n]! You’re awake!” Aether steps forward towards you. “Are you okay?”

You shug, at the movement you feel the numb burning in your forearm you cover it with your other hand to not raise any concern. “No idea… What happened?”

Aether glances at Madam Ping before looking back at you. “I thought you had stayed out here instead of coming in with me,” it sounded like he was disappointed but you shake it off. “But when we came out Madam Ping had moved you to the bench and you were passed out.”

“When you and the traveller touched the Teapot it seems you had an adverse reaction to the adeptal energy and passed out instead of getting pulled in.” Madam Ping explains when Aether looks at her. You nod, so whoever was in your “dream” manipulated the energy to talk to you? Thinking about it makes your brain hurt. Figuratively and literally.

“Well I don’t feel any different.” You lie with a soft smile trying to get the attention off you so you could check on your arm without Aether worrying about you. The group looks at you doubtfully before Madam Ping sighs and turns to Aether.

“Just keep an eye on them, if they pass out again come to me or another adeptus.” Ping says and you sweat drop. You were not good at lying apparently, albeit you did just Pass The Fuck Out™. Aether nods and you shake your head as you stand up from the bench (albeit you did stumble.)

“I promise I’m fine.” You sweetly smile again, ignoring the looks of doubt from the group.

“Press X for doubt.” You hear Aether mutter and you gasp.

“Holy shit I'm a terrible influence on you.” You say with a dead stare before shaking your head. After a few more seconds of disbelief Madam Ping sighs and continues on with whatever conversation already happened in the game.

“Oh and do tell that person who sent you,” Ping stops you just as you were about to leave. “That if they have time, they can come over for a spot of tea. I don’t have much to offer, but you can always count on an old lady for a pot of tea.”

“Will do granny!” Paimon says as she moves next to Aether who was rather close to you in case you decided to Pass The Fuck Out™ again. Which you will not be doing! And so began your walk back to where the funeral rite would be held.

You usually kept the sleeves of the shirt Diluc gave you rolled up, but as you caught a glimpse of a tattoo of some sort on your forearm as you stood up. So as you walk with Aether you found a way to roll down your sleeves.

“Don’t you always keep them rolled up?” Aether asks after watching your movements. You shrug.

“I was feeling a bit cold.” You reply simply before realising what bell Aether had. “Wait, could I please see the bell?”

Aether gives you a look for a second before sighing and holding out his hand, the Cleansing Bell appearing in the usual yellow sparkles. It gave the vibes of Zhongli with the colour scheme but the bell itself didn't feel like him. You knew why it didn’t give off the vibes of him because it wasn’t his invention. With it floating in Aether’s hand you could hear small dings as the gentle breeze hit the bell. Each ding felt like its own song which makes sense considering the bell was made to create songs.

“It's quite pretty.” You point out and hear Aether and Paimon hum in agreement before the bell disappears in the yellow sparkles. The three of you continued to walk (excluding Paimon, made that typo once never again) until you reached the area that the Rite of Parting takes place in.

“Hey look, there's Zhongli!” Paimon points out as you make your way across the area towards the geo archon.

“Ah Travellers! Let's put the perfume we’ve prepared inside.” Zhongli says when he notices the two of you and gestures to the pots on the table. As the group of you do that Aether looks up to Zhongli.

“So do you know Madam Ping?” Aether asks while he carefully pours the perfume into the pots.

“Of course, how would I know the bell was with her otherwise?” Zhongli replies, as he attempts to fix the bell to a pole so it hangs above the incense, but it wasn’t staying on properly.

“So are you an adeptus?” Aether follows up and Zhongli just smiles, continuing to fiddle with the bell to get it in place.

“An adeptus? Hm…” He hums dodging the question like how you dodged assignments in school.

“That's suspicious!” Paimon says leaning forward before realising she would be prying into Zhongli’s personal life. “But if you don’t want to talk about it we won’t pry.”

You sigh. Of course Paimon doesn’t want to pry when the story doesn’t want her too. There was a small part of you that wanted to say “they won’t, but I will!” but you decided against it. Paimon reiterates what Madam Ping said earlier in a mock old lady voice causing Zhongli to chuckle.

“That tone does not suit you. Still her tea pot is very good. There are none better at brewing tea.” Zhongli reminisces just as he manages to finally fix the bell in place. He stands back to admire his work. “When a suitable time arrives, I’ll bring a nice spot of fine tea and pay her a visit.”

Aether and you stand back from putting perfume in the pots and nods, Paimon turning to Zhongli. “So, what's the next step in our preparations?”

“Next we need to purchase Kites.” Zhongli says getting Paimon excited. You just sigh, this would be a nice break from everything that has happened in the last 48 hours. Maybe while they buy the kites you can go and check on your forearm, the numb burning had gone down but now it was a little itchy.

“I’ll explain as we walk, but our next step should be to go purchase kites.” Zhongli gestures for the group to follow him.

“Oh sure.” Paimon says cheerfully before leaning towards Aether and you. “Curiouser and curiouser.” She mutters and you laugh.

“Alice kinnie who?” You cough causing the two to look at you confused but you just smile innocently at your reference to Alice in Wonderland. The group of you realise Zhongli was pulling ahead and walk quickly to catch up.

After you reach the square you excuse yourself from the group to sit at Wanmin Restaurant. You sit down at the chair and make sure the group is focused on the toy seller before rolling up your sleeve and staring at your forearm.

There on your arm was a black and white image of an elephant with a peacock. The two symbols looked familiar but you couldn’t put your finger on it. They looked like the symbols for the classes in the academia but it is as if two symbols were merged together. You run your fingers over the image and when it doesn’t hurt to touch you try to rub it off. Once your skin starts to burn with no success of it disappearing you sigh, so it acts like a tattoo.

You notice Xangling’s dad spot you sitting down and begin to walk over to you, so you get up from the chair before he could talk to you. You roll your sleeve back down over the tattoo and make your way back over to the group.

Surely it’ll be fine if you leave the mysterious tattoo that the unknown figure gave to you after you passed out.

….

Right?

Chapter Text

When you headed back to the group you were lucky enough that Childe had just given Aether the bag of mora and disappeared from sight. You were not looking forward to your next interaction with the harbinger after the last one ended with you throwing yourself out a window.

You had also forgotten how much interesting stuff happened in the Liyue arc because, well, it was uninteresting. You were mostly dragging your feet behind the group when hiring the help of Tic, Tac and Toe. The whole time you were trying not to laugh, they were unfortunate names and none of them were related!

You made your way back to the funeral area after everything was done. Your face paled at the sight of Childe. Well shit, you hadn’t realised he appeared again here.

“Childe! We have the leftover mora!” Paimon’s voice fills you with more dread and you glare at her out of the corner of your eye. Always poorly timed Paimon, why’d you have to get his attention.

“Already? Splendid.” He smiles as he turns, what made you feel worse was the fact that even after making eye contact he continued like you hadn’t defenestrated yourself to avoid him. “Any cash left over is yours to keep. A favour to the fatui should never go unrewarded.”

“You think you can buy us off with some loose change? No way! Paimon demands to know when the next payment is coming!” Paimon stomps her foot in the air and both you and Aether sigh at her frustration.

“Haha. Well, how does this sound: You give me the information I need, and maybe I'll leave the Northland Bank's vaults open and unattended for half an hour…” Childe trails off, as if he wasn’t casually betraying the fatui.

“Surely you wouldn’t do Pantalone dirty like that? Smh, we hate to see it.” You laugh, completely ignoring the look Paimon and Childe send you. Aether just continued to look at Childe as if you hadn’t said anything, completely used to your bullshit at this point, however he had learned to just accept it unlike Paimon.

“How do you know-”

“What info do you need!” Paimon yells, finally realising what Childe offered.

“No!” Aether grabs Paimon by the back of her collar and pulls her back towards him.

“Huh? Does that mean you know what he's after?” Paimon asks, staring at Aether while he continues to hold her by her collar.

“Paimon, think back to Mondstadt, what else could the Fatui want?” Paimon turns her head when you speak up and she takes a second before her eyes widen in realisation.

“You’re right, Signora…” Paimon’s sadness was obvious in her voice at the realisation that she wouldn’t be robbing a bank. Childe looked between the group of you, frowning slightly at the atmosphere change.

“You both need to calm down.” Childe encourages, trying, and probably failing, to lift the mood. “I don’t know what's gotten into you Traveler.”

All three of you stare at Childe. Was he being serious about not understanding Aether’s dislike of the Fatui? For once, Paimon remains quiet as the group of you continue to stare at Childe, who sweat drops.

“What's with the tense atmosphere, did I not just say to relax?”

“Press X for distrust.”

“X.”

“X.”

Ah, you love Aether and Paimon. For some reason they like to play along with your anantics. Childe blinks in confusion at the blankness the three of you continue to give off as you stare at Childe.

“Okay so next we need some Everlasting Incense.” Zhongli reappears with a list in his hand, as if even he had forgotten what else was needed for the Rite of Parting. His voice cut through the awkward atmosphere, completely unaware of the distrust being thrown around. “For this, we need to go to Bubu Pharmacy the finest pharmacy in all of–”

He finally looks up from the list and blinks at the uncomfortable energy, looking between everyone. “Is… everything okay?”

“Everything is fine.” Childe replied curtly, annoyance clear in his voice. “I was just informing them that they need not return the surplus of Mora. Now if you’ll excuse me I must get going.”

He leaves with a frown, frustration coating his footsteps as he leaves. Paimon frowns. "Just now, Paimon felt like there was something super scary about Childe..."

“Nah shit Sherlock. He’s probably mad that he didn’t get the information he wanted.” You mutter to Paimon as Aether lets go of her collar.

“You were saying about the incense?” Aether turns to Zhongli who just stares blankly, confused at what the hell happened when he was collecting his list.

“Ah right. This way to Bubu Pharmacy.” Zhongli begins walking towards the pharmacy, Aether glances at you for a second, asking a silent question. You had no idea what the question was about though so you just shrug and walk after Zhongli.

The group of you make your way up the steps, Paimon complaining about how many there were and you almost hit her out of the air to prove a point. When you enter the pharmacy the group looks around cautiously while you just stand there despite the slightly spooky atmosphere.

“Hello? Is anybody there?” Paimon calls out, voice shaking slightly with nervousness.

“Welcome to Bubu Pharmacy.” The familiar dead voice appears out of nowhere, causing you to jump at the suddenness.

“D-did you hear that? Wh-Where did it come from?” Paimon stutters, spinning around to find the source. You and Aether just watch her in amusement.

“The reception it seems.” Zhongli points to the desk and Paimon quickly flies behind Aether.

“How about... you go check it out, and... Paimon will bring up the rear.” She adds, trying to sound like she was being helpful. You follow after Aether as he approaches the counter, looking over it your eyes meet the familiar figure of a zombie.

“Oh there you are but you can barely reach the counter!” Paimon points out and you look at her with a blank look.

“If we’re going to talk about height Paimon, you should look in a mirror.” You say with a dead expression. She turn to you fast and offended

“Joke's on you — Paimon floats, so height is no restriction.” She says in a manner-of-factly way, crossing her arms as Aether and Qiqi stare at each other.

“Are you a zombie?” Aether tilts his head and Qiqi nods, reaching up to hold down her talisman on her forehead, in self consciousness or because of a phantom breeze you didnt know.

“Welcome to Bubu Pharmacy. I am Qiqi.” She introduces, you almost felt calmed by her dead voice. “Once upon a time, Qiqi died. Then, Qiqi was saved by the adepti. Now, Qiqi is a zombie.”

Both Aether and Paimon mutter something but you miss what they say instead Zhongli steps forward.

“Hello... little girl. Do you sell Everlasting Incense here?” He asks in a voice someone would use when addressing an animal or small child.

“Excuse me, sir. Did you bring your prescription?” She didn’t sound annoyed from being babied, however Zhongli was obviously taken aback.

“I... Surely no prescription is needed to purchase Everlasting Incense? It's not a controlled substance…” He leans on the counter, eyes widening in surprise.

“Qiqi can get your medicine. But only if you show Qiqi your prescription. These are Qiqi's orders, from Qiqi.” She explains with a shake of her head and Zhongli groans in defeat, Aether looks to him concerned.

“Orders?” Aether tilts his head and you notice him discreetly moving closer to you. You feel his hand brush yours and smile gently as you intertwine his fingers with yours. Aether was clingy but you didn’t mind, you would gladly supply him with attention and physical affection if he needed it.

“Zombies are limited to acting within the confines of their orders. And somehow, in this case, the zombie issues her own orders to herself.” He explains to Aether before turning back to Qiqi. “My dear Qiqi, we didn't bring a prescription, I'm afraid. But we do hope that you can still help us find some Everlasting Incense.”

“Okay then.” Even you turn your head at her sudden agreement.

“How did you manage that?” Paimon blinks in surprise.

“But, Qiqi helps you, you help Qiqi. Only fair.” Qiqi was good at bargaining, it was quite funny to hear her dead voice bargain.

“Since when do customers need to do favours for customer service staff?” Paimon huffs and if you weren’t holding Aether hand he probably would have hit Paimon on the back of her head.

“Never mind, just think of it as a peer-to-peer transaction. That way everybody wins.” Zhongli says after a few seconds of thought. “Sometimes, in Liyue, the art of the deal is simply about victory via mental gymnastics.”

“Go to Mt. Tianheng. Find the Guizhong Ballista. And hunt a Cocogoat. Please and thank you.” Qiqi nods and even you, with previous knowledge of the game and interaction, stare at Qiqi with confusion.

“Hunt the what, with the which, at where?” Aether asks with a shake of his head, the confusion in his voice evident.

“Guizhong Ballista... I have heard of this device before.” Nah shit sherlock, you judged it but said your girlfriend’s invention was better.

“It is a kind of crossbow turret, installed on Mt. Tianheng by an adeptus in the distant past. An early mechanical device.” Zhongli explains to Aether and Paimon who nod.

“Cloud Retainer.” You mutter, leaning closer to Aether in hopes Zhongli wouldn’t hear you.

“Located in Tianheng Pass, it was designed to automatically fire at large monsters, protecting Liyue from external threats.” Zhongli continues to explain and Paimon nods in awe.

“Mr. Zhongli really knows Liyue inside out!” She smiles only for Zhongli to sigh with a shake of his head.

“Apparently, not quite... This is the first I have ever heard of the Cocogoat.” His frown deepens and you purse your lips to stop yourself from revealing it.

“The Cocogoat is a legendary animal. An adeptibeast.”

So Ganyu?

There was silence before Paimon spoke up.

“Did you wanna add anything else, or…”

“No. Just that the Cocogoat is a legendary animal. An adeptibeast.” She repeats with a shake of her head. “What it looks like: don't know. Where to find it: don't know either. Where it came from: also don't know.”

“This isn't much to go on…” Aether mutters, trying to think of what the hell a Cocogoat is.

“Very well then... Let's start by investigating near the Guizhong Ballista. Perhaps we will find some clues.” Zhongli agrees, not putting any more thought into it.

“What the heck is a Cocogoat…” She said the line she said the line!

….

Fuck now the song remix is stuck in your head.

“Wait.” Qiqi calls as you are about to leave. The group of you turn and Qiqi continues. “Qiqi has more work to do than usual. One of you stay to help Qiqi.”

Oh great you’ve almost fucked up the plot.

“I can stay.” You volunteer before someone else could say something. “I’m not really an adventurer after all.” You give Aether’s hand a squeeze before making your way back to the desk. “I’ll see you guys later.”

“Okay, bye [Y/n], stay safe!” Paimon calls and when they leave your sight you turn to Qiqi.

“I’m [Y/n], nice to meet you Qiqi.” You introduce yourself before moving around behind the desk. “What do you need help with?”

“Can you bring this to the room over there? Qiqi has to stay here, at the desk.” She instructs, pushing a box wrapped in brown packaging towards you. You nod and pick up the package and turn to walk towards the room, humming the Cocogoat remix.

The door was nothing out of the ordinary, just wood that had been painted a greenish blue. You open the door, surprised by the lack of creaking about to make your way in, humming a small tune while doing so. You move across to the other side only to freeze in the middle. There was a desk there yes but Qiqi never said where to put the box when you took it.

You turn around to go back and ask but someone clearing their throat caught your attention. You turn your head to your left so fast you wondered why you hadn’t snapped it.

“I am so sorry I was in my own world I didn’t even know you were in here.” You apologise, shaking your head with closed eyes. There was a small chuckle and you opened your eyes with confusion.

“It is quite alright. However, who are you?” Oh so this is where Baizhu was when Aether and Zhongli first arrived. He was helping Yelan.

…

WAIT YELAN!?

You blink in surprise at the injured Yelan who was sitting on the bed in the room. She was even prettier in person than in game. Currently she had bandages wrapped around her torso, although it looked like there was a fresh wound on her shoulder as blood trickled down her arm. Her dark blue hair looked like a black under the current lighting. Her eyes bore into you as you stood in awe of her beauty.

Yeah you were a simp, what about it?

“Ahem?” Baizhu clears his throat and you look back to him, head clearing from the shock.

“Sorry I’m [Y/n], Qiqi asked for my help so she could stay at the reception.” You introduce, admiring Baizhu as you do so. “Sorry if I startled you, Qiqi just told me to bring this box to this room.”

“As I said earlier it is quite alright-”

“I don’t trust them.” Baizhu snake speaks up and you jump, almost forgetting that she could talk.

“Now come on Changsheng, do they really look that dangerous?” Yelan breaks her silence from where she was sitting and you sweatdrop slightly.

“I knew I was weak but damn, no need to call me out like that.” You pout and the two of them laugh before you offer the box to Baizhu. “I’m assuming this needs to go to you then?”

“You would be correct. I am Baizhu, owner of Bubu Pharmacy.”

Wow so official.

“That's because I am darling.”

Why is he british!?

“I- what’s a british?”

“Wait fuck- I said my thoughts out loud didn’t I?” You try your best to ignore the way Yelan was trying, and failing, to cover up her laughs while Changsheng and Baizhu stare at you in confusion.

“You are quite the unique one aren’t you?” Baizhu raises an eyebrow and your face continues to turn red from embarrassment.

“Apparently so.” You look down at the ground to avoid the stares only to look up when Yelan addresses you.

“Where did Qiqi find you? You don’t look like you’re from around here. Liyue or otherwise.” You nod in surprise at her observation skills.

“I come from Sumeru, though currently I’m travelling with the Traveller.” You explain, praying that she buys your lie. The best lies are sprinkled in truths after all. “I came in here with the Traveller as Zhongli wants everlasting incense. Qiqi however has sent them on a wild goose chase and asked me to help out here.”

“Oh dear, what did my dear Qiqi send them out for?” Baizhu asks, Changsheng’s tongue flicking out to taste the air as he pinches the bridge of his nose.

“She wants them to find a Cocogoat.” They all chuckle at the gullibleness of Zhongli before Baizhu sighs.

“Do you have much first aid knowledge?” He asks and you shrug. You had done your fair share of first aid courses because of surf life saving (perks of living in australia by the beach) so you knew basic first aid, whether you remember that first aid or not is another question.

“I know enough?” Baizhu ignores that you had phrased it as a question and opens the box you just gave him.

“Can you disinfect Yelan’s wound on her shoulder while I collect bandages?” He asks, his snake looking at him like he just threw something important out the window. “Is that alright with you Yelan?”

“I don’t mind, just don't make my injury worse.” She agrees and Baizhu nods before he disappears through the doorway, leaving the box of what you assume to be the equivalent of alcoholic wipes. Hell they might be alcoholic wipes.

You pick up the box again and sit on the chair next to the bed Yelan was sitting on.

“There are a few people in Mondstadt who can heal with elemental energy.” You point out as you dab the wipe across the wound. It wasn’t too gnarly but it had pieces of rock and debris.

“I don’t like to use elemental healing. It takes energy out of the patient and the doctor. Qiqi would have no energy left to help others with how often I am here.” You take note that Yelan wasn’t flinching as you wiped over the wound after cleaning the blood on the arm.

“Right, and you would also be too tired to do whatever your job is.” You nod as you flush the objects out of the small wound with the bottle that was in the box. “I see why that would be inconvenient.”

“See you understand it. Can you make Baizhu understand as well?” Yelan asks and you laugh with a shake of your head.

“Unfortunately, I doubt he would take advice from me.” Yelan hums in agreement as you continue in silence before Baizhu walks back in and looks over your shoulder.

“For someone who only knows “a bit” of first aid that is surprisingly clean.” He says basically onto you ear so you shiver as the breath passes your skin.

“They did it better than you Baizhu.” Yelan smirks and you can’t tell if she was being serious or not.

“I doubt that.” Baizhu chuckles before passing you the bandages which you accept and begin wrapping her arm. As you did so you noticed all the small scars painted across her skin. You forgot how often she would get injured doing the dirty work for Ninguang.

“Hm maybe you’re right, with enough practice they would be better than me.” Baizhu hums as he watches you work. You bluescreen for a second.

“Wha- No. I’m not that good surely?” You splutter out while Baizhu just raises an eyebrow.

“Are you currently looking for a job? We may be a pharmacy but to those like Yelan we need another pair of helping hands.” He offers and you blink in surprise at his sincerity.

“I would love to work here.” You smile before finishing wrapping Yelan’s arm. “But I’m a traveller so I won’t be staying here for too much longer.” You turn down. As much as you would love to stay in Liyue; Inazuma and Sumeru were beautiful places that you would love to travel to with Aether.

“Disappointing, but I suppose it can’t be helped.” Baizhu sighs and you sit with your hands in your lap as he inspects Yelan’s arm. “How does it feel?”

“Like it usually does after a visit.” She says standing up in front of you. “Thank you for your help [Y/n], I look forward to seeing you again in the future.”

You nod and smile brightly. “Of course. Stay safe at your next job.” You assume that one of her jobs coming up is The Chasm. That was going to be fun to experience.

“Of course, I always do.” Yelan smiles, turning and walking out of the room and you just inhale.

“Oh archons, she's hot.” You mutter under your breath so Baizhu wouldn’t hear you.

“Well I assume your friends will be awhile. Follow me.” He says and so you do. Helping him out until Zhongli, Aether and Paimon return.

Chapter Text

“Did you sprain your ankle recently?” Baizhu speaks out in the silence as you are storing some over stock in the backroom shelves. You almost fell off the ladder at the sudden question (you don’t know why you were trusted on the ladder in the first place.)

“How the hell did you know that?” You ask after regaining your balance on the ladder.

“The way that you’re now putting pressure on the foot suggests that the ankle is weaker than it used to be.” He explains and you nod along, surprised that he could pick up on that. “It was probably healed using elemental energy judging by how much you still rely on the other ankle.”

You think back to when Barabra healed you and Aether. “Damn you got all of that from how I stand on a ladder?” You ask looking down at him as he hands you another box of medicines.

“That, and how you walk and stand normally.” He answers and Changsheng sings his praises, you were starting to think that she acted like Muichiro’s crow in demon slayer. As you place the next box on the shelf you stare at your forearm through your shirt for a second.

“Hey Baizhu do you think you could-?” You pause as your ears twitch, having picked up Paimon’s voice so you climb down the ladder. “I think my friends are back.”

Baizhu goes silent listening out for the voices as well as wondering what you were going to ask him.

“Some hearing you have there, I couldn’t hear them at all.” He nods and you smile as you make your way down the hall. “Were you going to ask me something?” He clarifies as you walk.

“I’ll stay after they’ve left and ask you then.” You answer simply and he gives you a questioning look but nods nonetheless.

“No... Im-Impossible…” The voice of Qiqi comes through one of the doors clearer now. The two of you stand in the doorway.

“Seems Qiqi took this pretty hard.” Paimon’s voice echoes around the pharmacy as she turns to Aether who shrugs.

“She just needs time to work through it.” He shrugs as you and Baizhu begin to laugh.

“Someone learnt a valuable life lesson today, then?” Baizhu asks as the rest of the group turns to you and you wave.

“Sup bitches, how was your quest for Cocogoat milk? Unsuccessful I’m assuming.” You greet and you notice Aether’s face light up. It was amazing how much he reminded you of a puppy.

“[Y/n]! There you are!” Paimon smiles as Aether waves back. “And it was just coconut milk.”

“Watch your language.” Zhongli looks at you with the “I’m a disappointed dad” look.

“Oh shut it Old Man, I'm in the mood for some slander so don’t try me.”

“We were beginning to think you ditched us and Qiqi.” Thank you Paimon, for changing the subject as you swear you could hear the beginning of ‘I will have order.’

“Ah yes, thank you all for looking after my little Qiqi.” Baizhu interrupts with a very small bow, Zhongli blinks away the glare he was directing at you and turns to Baizhu instead.

“Might I ask, who…” You notice how Zhongli didn’t frown or have a questioning look. You had found it weird how he knew a lot about the pharmacy and would have been here before and yet he didn’t know who Baizhu was.

“Ah, how rude of me. I'm Baizhu, boss of the Bubu Pharmacy.” He introduces.

“Paimon thought Qiqi was the boss... turns out it's some wacko who wears medicinal ingredients around his neck!” You gasp in offence for Baizhu and Changsheng.

“That's just because you don’t have more than one brain cell most of the time Paimon.” You raise an eyebrow and while Aether laughs Paimon looks offended.

“Hey! Paimon has more than one brain cell!”

“What a sorry state of affairs... This little mascot is even more of a simpleton than Qiqi…” Changsheng hisses and Paimon yelps, hiding behind Aether's head.

“Ah! The medicine— the snake is s-speaking!” She yells and Aether flinches from the volume. He mutters something under his breath while Changsheng huffs.

“Hmph! I prefer to stay silent. But faced with strangers, I must speak, lest you mistake me for an escapee from the medicine cabinet, for I am a living, breathing serpent!” She says proudly and Baizhu laughs, booping her on the nose.

“Wait so you guys use actual snakes as medicine here?” You turn to Baizhu with wide eyes who ignores you in favour for bopping his snake’s nose.

“Hahaha, don't mind Changsheng, she's a good girl, really.”

SIR YOU CAN’T JUST SAY THAT I’M GOING TO HAVE AN ANEURYSM.

“As for you three... Communal chaos-causing with Qiqi aside, what business brings you here?” He asks, crossing his arms and Zhongli steps forward.

“Do you sell Everlasting Incense in this fine establishment?” Zhongli asks and Baizhu hums in thought.

“Everlasting Incense? Why, of course we do!” He smiles and you sigh, pinching the bridge of your nose as Paimon sighs in relief.

“Phew, at last! Things are finally starting to come together-”

“Three million Mora, top quality, guaranteed.” Yup, you spoke to soon Paimon. You know, even after being here for a month you still didn’t know how much mora was compared to your currency.

“Three million?!” Aether’s eyes widen in shock and Paimon shakes her head disappointedly.

“You might as well just rob the Golden House! Oh, but the Qixing have-” You dove at her, recognising that this is what Childe’s spy overhears. You keep a hand over Paimon’s mouth as you turn back to the group.

“Yeah the Qixing have the same amount of security there as usual.” You sweatdrop at the stares of confusion you were getting from tackling Paimon out of the air. After a second of awkward silence you let go of Paimon, who huffs annoyedly as Zhongli clears his throat.

“Three million... An innocuous number in and of itself, though practically speaking, it could be a hard sum to come by.” He hums and you and Paimon stare at him dumbfounded.

“Nah shit sherlock.”

“It's a crazy number! We'd never be able to make that much Mora, and as for Mr. Zhongli... he's around three million short.”

“This is correct.” Zhongli nods, eyes still closed in thought and Aether just sweat drops.

“No shame…” He sighs and Paimon turns to him worried.

“What are we gonna do? Is this the part where we go crawling back to Childe?” Paimon you and Aether stare at each in silence before collectively groaning.

…

About twenty minutes later Childe arrived, bending over and laughing his ass off.

“Cocogoat! Cocogo- Ahaha-ow-ow my sides hurt... Oh my goodness, I cannot BELIEVE you fell for that!” He laughs, holding his stomach as he does so.

“Hm thought you’d have more laughing stamina than that.” You mutter, wondering how the hell his sides hurt after laughing for five minutes when he could fight for hours on end.

“Hey! Less laughter, more sympathy!” Paimon yells, smacking at Childe but her small hands didn’t make it painful at all.

“I'm almost in tears over here... Ah, thank you, that was the best laugh I've had in a long time.” He wipes his eyes as if he was actually in tears at their misfortune. “In return, I'm more than happy to sort out this mess you've managed to get yourselves into.”

“Leave them alone.” You chuckle, technically you didn’t fall for it so you had been holding back a laugh when Childe started laughing. Laughs are contagious after all.

“Excuse me, sir... Dr. Baizhu, isn't it? Truly honoured. I'm Childe, one of the Fatui harbingers. Forgive my audacity-”

“You have too much audacity.”

“-But I see a great many opportunities for us to collaborate in the future.” Childe ignores your comment and continues so you deadpan at his bargaining skills. “If Bubu Pharmacy needed a stable supply of, say, coconut milk, the Fatui could help by setting up a robust and speedy distribution network.”

“Strange... I knew the Fatui infiltrated businesses with seductive deals, but... So much fuss over coconut milk?” Baizhu wasn’t the only one confused but Qiqi tugs on his sleeve, stars in her eyes.

“Coconut milk. Baizhu. Quick. Qiqi wants coconut milk.” You were going to melt from how adorable Qiqi was. It seems Baizhu would do anything for that look as well because he agrees.

“Ah... Yes, of course, Qiqi, anything you want.” He sweatdrops as he turns to Childe. “Th-Thank you, Childe. I look forward to a successful collaboration in the future. I can give you a discount on that Everlasting Incense too, let's say... 2,990,000 Mora.”

“That's like, zero difference from three million!” Paimon yells while Baizhu’s smile doesn’t falter.

“Hmm... 2,990,000... Also an innocuous number in and of itself, though practically speaking it is a whole ten thousand less than the original sum of three million.”

“You’re repeating yourself.” You blink at Zhongli as Childe shakes Baizhu's hand who then disappears to collect the incense.

“Oh yeah what did you do while we were searching for the Cocogoat?” Paimon turns to you and you purse your lips to hide the small red that reaches your cheeks from remembering Yelan and Baizhu. (So what you were a simp, what are you going to do about it?)

“Oh I just helped stock the shelves. Stuff the Qiqi would find difficult because of her height.” You answer, giving the half truth but Paimon doesn’t pick up on it. Aether did though, you could see him staring at the very small blush on your cheeks.

“Sounds boring.” Paimon complains and Aether laughs.

“Everything is boring to you if it doesn’t include food.” He points a finger accusingly at her and she gasps in offence but before she could say anything Baizhu returns, handing Zhongli that incense.

“Well, now that this is settled, we must head back to Yujing Terrace. Mr. Childe, Dr. Baizhu, Little Miss Qiqi, see you soon.” He begins to walk off and Aether follows after him but you give him a small nod to tell him that you would stay behind for a second. He hesitates but nods and leaves, Paimon following after him.

“Is there a reason you’re staying around?” Childe questions and you also jump, having forgotten he was still here.

“Yes, they are helping me put away some medicinal items.” Baizhu interrupts before you could say anything and you nod at him saving you.

“I was helping him before the Traveller got here so I’m going to finish what I started.” You agree glad you wouldn’t have to bring up why you were really staying behind. But Childe hums and you swear you hear him mutter ‘X for doubt’ before he turns to leave.

“I’ll see you around then [Y/n].” He calls waving and you narrow your eyes before turning to Baizhu.

“Give me one minute and I will come back.” You turn back to the exit and notice Childe by a pole, assumingly talking to the eavesdropping agent. You stand back, letting your ears flick and listen carefully.

“So. You've been eavesdropping I hope. What have I missed?” You hear him and you chew on your lip wondering if you cutting off Paimon would do anything to the plot.

“Yes, Master Childe.” Ugh, that was gross to hear. “The small one was saying something about the Qixing at the Golden House but was cut off before she could continue.”

“Which one cut her off,” He hums in thought trying to put together the little information he had.

“The Outlander Sir, [Y/n] I believe they were calling them. They cut the floating one off and shook it off rather suspiciously.” The agent, who you couldn’t remember the name of, sounded nervous and you could hear the smile growing on Childe’s face.

“Well then, go investigate the Golden House to see what was worth cutting off Paimon for.” He nods and you deflate, so it wouldn’t make a difference. “Perhaps it's the Exuvia if the security is tighter.”

The agent nods and runs away while Childe stares up at the sky. “I apologise, Traveller. But I warned you, didn't I? As the old Liyue saying goes: "The walls have ears."

HA! Irony.

As soon as he began to move, you duck back into the pharmacy, praying he didn’t notice you. You freeze as you find yourself facing Baizhu.

“Eavesdropping I see?” He smiles down at you and you just sweatdrop before he shakes his head. “Not that it's any of my business, you have been rather helpful today after all.”

You let out a breath and followed him into the back of the Pharmacy again, into the room Yelan’s was in early.

“I assume the thing you wanted to talk to me about doesn’t want an audience?” He questions and you nod rolling up your sleeve.

“Look I’m hoping I can trust you but right now I can’t ask the other person who could help with this.” You hoped Venti could help at least, you planned to write a letter including a drawing of the tattoo on your arm. “I had an incident with an adeptus’ domain and passed out. I don’t remember much from the dream apart from a voice saying something about me not fucking up and I quote “I’m not as familiar with adept energy as I once was.” I swear I recognised the voice but I have no idea who it was.

“So I was hoping that you knew anything about why I woke up with this tattoo when I woke up.” You finish your rant holding out your dominant arm’s forearm to Baizhu who takes it gently, face full of curiosity.

“Well that is certainly a story.” He says, staring at the tattoo before running his fingers over it. “It doesn’t hurt?”

You shake your head and he hums. “Do you have an idea of what it could be?”

“Well it's not a normal tattoo that's for sure.” You give a questioning look and he traces the tattoo. “Tattoos stain your skin, it leaves distinctive marks and scars but you have none of those, almost like you were born with this. Like a birthmark or freckle even. It doesn’t feel like a tattoo either.” He explains and you frown.

“Great, I'm no further than before.” You sigh and he shakes his head.

“You mentioned adeptal energy, maybe you could find an adepti again?” You don’t think he was mocking you but it sounded like he was mocking you. You just shrug and take your arm back, rolling down the sleeve.

“Thank you for the help Baizhu. I appreciate it.” You nod with a hint of sarcasm in your voice and he laughs slightly.

“It’s no problem at all. Make sure to pop by whenever you’re nearby.” He waves as you stand back and leave the room.

Well that went… alright? Now you just have to get back to Yujing Terrace without getting lost…

Chapter Text

You have never felt so disappointed. You missed Zhongli making Aether disappointed that he didn’t get wine and instead got rice balls. 

That and you missed the storytelling of Ningguang and her wall of infomation.

“Hey did I miss much?” You ask as you sit down on the spare chair. Zhongli sighs with a nod, taking a sip of the wine.

“You missed the story telling! It was such an interesting one as well.” Paimon huffs while Zhongli nods in agreement with her.

“You’re only saying that because it mentioned treasure.” Aether teases Paimon who just makes noises in protest, unable to find the words.

“Although you have your own things to sort out, missing one of these stories is quite unfortunate.” Zhongli says, disappointment shining through his usually ‘emotionless’ exterior. You just send him a shrug with a sleepy smile, you had heard the story a few times before from your different playthroughs of genshin so you knew it well enough for it to be fine. 

“I apologise deeply, but I got lost.” You laugh nervously as you sit down, immediately stealing one of the rice balls meant for Aether. 

“At last, I have found you, you who returned from Jueyun Karst.” At the voice Aether jumps out of his seat and looks to you, who was currently joking on the rice ball from the sudden voice, and Paimon.

“We gotta go!” He hisses quietly to you and Paimon, cautious of the part adeptus whose presence hadn’t bothered you yet, if anything you were admiring her beauty through your sputters. 

“Wait, I am not with the Millelith, nor am I here to claim your bounty!” 

“You have a bounty!?” Your head snapped to Aether in surprise. You knew the milletlith were after him but he had a bounty on his head as well? That's something you hadn't picked up on in previous playthroughs.

“However, I am an emissary of the Liyue Qixing. My name is Ganyu, secretary at the Yuehai Pavilion, and I have come specifically to meet you.” She introduces, moving from her position on the wall and jumping down onto the platform to approach the group.

“Emissary?” Aether questions with a raised eyebrow, still on guard but relaxing slightly when you give him a subtle nod that it was okay. 

“Well, in concrete terms, I am the corporate secretary for the Qixing. At the moment, I am serving as Lady Ningguang's special emissary.” Ganyu explains, hoping to lower Aethers guard a little more, her eyes flicking to you and Zhongli for a second before looking back at Aether and Paimon.

“Ningguang sent you? We were literally just talking about her…” Paimon frowns gently as if she wasn’t aware of the “speak of the devil and they will arrive” rule.

“My apologies, you who have returned from Jueyun Karst... I am duty-bound, and cannot extend my courtesy to you in full.” Ganyu bows her head gently before pulling out a letter. “But I have with me a letter from lady Ningguang. She extends a formal invitation to you in her capacity as Tianquan. She invites you to her palace in the sky.”

“An official invitation?” Paimon asks hesitantly, as if her ears couldn’t believe what she was hearing. After handing over the letter, Ganyu recites her instructions, noticing Aether is still on guard. 

“Lady Ningguang said this,” She clears her throat, “Invite them to come here. I wish to meet them. At the Jade Chamber, together, we shall snip every one of these entwining dark threads." She finishes explaining before bowing her head and moving back over the wall she came from.

“And with that, the emissary who called herself Ganyu just disappears.” Paimon says dramatically before turning to Aether excitedly. “But we've received an invitation from the Liyue Qixing. Paimon still can't believe it!” 

“Then you’re welcome to stay behind with the old man.” You gesture to Zhongli who raises an eyebrow at you as if daring you to call him that again. You merely continue to look at Paimon with a smile to ignore the glare.

“[Y/n]! We'll be meeting people that have more money than Paimon could ever count! Of course I’m coming! We should be on our very best manners!” Paimon huffs crossing her arms while it was Aether’s turn to raise an eyebrow.

“I always mind my manners.” He says pointedly as if to tease Paimon, and perhaps you if you squint. 

“Hm,” Zhongli hums, “An invitation to visit the Jade Chamber is a rare honour, indeed. You'd best be on your way now if you wish to take up her offer.” 

Aether nods and you groan, sinking into your seat and moving to stand yet again. 

“But don't forget about the Rite of Parting. Once you've finished at the Jade Chamber, meet me at Dihua Marsh.” He warns, taking yet another sip of his wine. You could have sworn that was his third glass but you had no proof. 

“Don't worry, we won't forget! Dihua Marsh. We'll see you there!” Paimon and Aether wave goodbye to Zhongli while you push your chair in.

“Our walking talking calendar won't forget, thank you for the snacks.” You thank him before rushing after the pair, not particularly wanting to be left alone with Zhongli out of fear that you would ask him about your “mysterious tattoo. 

“Hey! Paimon is not a calendar!” She complains as you appear next to Aether.

“I don’t know Paimon, you do keep track of events better than I do.” Aether says with a teasing smile while Paimon stamps her feet in the air.

“We’ll see if Paimon ever tells you about things ever again.” She huffs as the group of you begin walking towards the harbour’s exit. You were a few steps out when you wondered where you were even going. Wait- 

Don’t they struggle to find the way up to the Jade Chamber? While you knew there was banter between Paimon and Aether you didn’t feel like climbing another mountain for no reason. 

“Paimon, do you even know how to get to the Jade Chamber?” You ask, maybe you could speed the process along slightly. 

“I- …” Paimon starts and then trails off before continuing with confidence. “You know, Paimon's supposed to be your guide, but Paimon doesn't know where the way up to the Jade Chamber is…”

“You’re realising this now?” Aether exclaims as Paimon just shrugs with innocence. “Well, best we go back to Liyue and ask the Millelith…”

 “Huh? Why?” Paimon asks and you tilt your head as well.

“Yeah, don’t you have a bounty on your head?” You point out and he just shakes his head.

“The way up shouldn't be a secret, or…” Aether trails off trying to get you and her to understand what he was saying. Paimon just looked at him as if he had grown another head

“Or? …” She waits for him to finish before it clicks. “Oh, Paimon gets it! If it was a secret, Ganyu wouldn't have let us try to find it ourselves, right?” 

Despite saying that we should head back to Liyue, the three of you continued the direction you were going in before Paimon suddenly pointed to the Guizhong Ballista that you were close to.

“Paimon has a new idea!” She exclaims before turning to the two of you with excitement in her eyes. “Why don't we shoot you up to the Jade Chamber using the Ballista?”

“No thanks. I don't have a death wish.” You say while Aether laughs and pokes her gently.

“Do you really hate me that much?” He teases and Paimon was quick to defend herself.

“No! Paimon may have just forgotten to think about safety measures…” She trails off with a sweat drop as Aether and you make eye contact with a choatic glint in your eyes.

“Still, I do remember that the Ballista had a scope.” Aether points out while you smile, leaning towards Paimon. 

“Maybe it would be safer with smaller ammo.” You suggest and Paimon just quickly shakes her head, looking for an excuse to change the subject.

“Now that you mention it, we could use it to see if there's another way up nearby!” She suggests and Aether nods with a small chuckle at the change of subject.

“Hm, good idea.” He says changing direction to follow Paimon towards the Ballista. You follow after them as well, unwilling to be left behind. The journey to the Ballista wasn’t a long one but when you were almost there you were stopped.

“Halt! Who trespasses on these hallowed grounds?” The group of you turn to the voice, eyes narrowing at the Milleith. 

“We're just passing through?” Aether says looking confused to Paimon and you. 

“Exactly. What're you talking about? We're invited guests! What makes you think you can treat us like this?” Paimon huffs before gasping. “No. Wait! Maybe this was Ningguang's plan all along! She pretended to invite us to the Jade Chamber, but set up a Millelith ambush here to arrest us!”

“I'm quite sure that's not the case.” Aether sweat drops trying to stop her from going further. “We haven't explained the invitation to them yet…”

“Grr... Now Paimon's mad!” Paimon cuts him off and turns to the Millelith guard. “You! Over there! This is a trick, isn't it? How shameless!”

“What? We're just on guard duty. What do you mean, "shameless"?” Poor dude sounded so confused and you just sigh.

“Paimon-” You begin only for another guard to cut you off.

“What nonsense! Seize these suspicious intruders at once!” As they draw their weapons. You and Aether just sigh, you draw your own weapon while Aether summons his. 

“Well, here they come. Line 'em up and knock 'em down!” Paimon encourages with a smile, clearly enjoying watching when the two of you fight. 

Aether, being the silent protagonist he is, just begins to use his geo burst to push back the guards before you run forward to join him, using your pole arm as a staff to whack them when they get too close. You see Aether summoning his construct and you summon anemo around your feet to boost yourself up onto it. You kneel down, holding your polearm on your shoulder as if it was a rocket launcher. 

“Eat shit suckers.” You mutter, cryo energy forming in your spear before firing at the guards, freezing them in place as you aim the ice bombs at the floor in front of them. Just as the last of the guards were being knocked out by Aether (thanks to freezing them in place) a voice you finally recognize cuts through the air.

“Stop!” There was something about her voice that caused everyone to freeze and look towards her. “What's all this about?” 

“Lady Keqing, these three strange people suddenly appeared. They seem to have designs on the Guizhong Ballista.” One of the guards, the man from the start, groans as he bows too quickly towards her.

“Who're you calling "strange"?” Paimon huffs and you give her a “really” look.

“We were just looking for the way to the Jade Chamber.” Aether says, his weapon and geo construct disappearing. You place your polearm back into your back straps as you take in Keqing’s appearance. 

“Hmm? You want to go to the Jade Chamber? Who are you?” She questions and despite knowing who she was, she practically screams danger. 

“We're invited guests, here to look for the Liyue Qixing! Who are you?” Paimon accuses while Keqing just blinks at her, processing what she just said. 

“Well, as it happens,” She begins, her weapon disappearing as she dismisses the guards. “I am one of the Liyue Qixing.”

Paimon’s eyes widen as she blinks in confusion before Keqing continues. “I'm Keqing, the Yuheng of the Qixing. I know of you, Traveler. You are Ningguang's guests, yes? Didn't expect to meet you here in the mountains.”

You stifle a laugh as Aether sends Paimon a “I wonder whose fault that is” look.

“Wow, Paimon didn't think we'd meet some super rich big shot out here in the middle of nowhere either.” She was quick to ignore the look and laugh aimed at her.

“The Guizhong Ballista in Tianheng Pass has long been in disrepair, and yet it was fixed in a single night. I came here to investigate that occurrence.” Keqing explains before gesturing to the knocked out, injured and retreating Millelith. “These Millelith are just here to guard the scene, not to arrest anyone.”

“So, this was all a misunderstanding? Paimon never would've thought.” She hums while Aether just smiles and you sigh.

“Thinking isn't that hard, Paimon.” He teases before you turn back to Keqing as she continues again, gesturing to the large weapon.

“Anyway, for a mortal to be able to repair an adepti mechanism is quite the mystery, even to the Qixing.” She voices and it was clear curiosity peaked her mind. Paimon puffed out her chest proudly.

“Hehe, that was-”

“Shh, Paimon, don't complicate the matter!” Aether hisses quietly as you just sweat drop, glad that Keqing was lost in thought. 

“Eh? Oh, right. So, Lady Yuheng, might you have any idea why Lady Tianquan invited us to go to the Jade Chamber?” Paimon asks to change the subject before she processes what Paimon has said.

“Just call me Keqing.” She corrects before shrugging. “I'd say that Ningguang's purpose is to request that the saviour of Mondstadt take a more neutral stance... Or at least, to not wholly side with the adepti.”

“We're not taking sides. We spoke with the adepti. They want to protect Liyue as well.” Paimon defends while Aether nods along. 

“When you say "protect," you're referring to their sanctimonious arrogance, aren't you?” Keqing sighs with a roll of her eyes while Paimon just tilts her head in confusion.

“Huh?”

“You are mortals, and thus under their protection. There was no way they would have regarded you as someone with the ability to assassinate a god.” Keqing explains the insult while you internally smile knowing that Aether would “kill” multiple gods in the future. “Naturally, they would also regard Ningguang's locking down the area, questioning the citizenry, and pursuit of the assassin to be pointless work. Perhaps they even wonder if there might be a cover-up.”

“You can just say they have a stick up their asses.” You say and Keqing does a double take while Paimon, used to your weird comments, just hums.

“Well, you've got a point there… Still, this is the first time Paimon's seen a person from Liyue who doesn't respect the gods or the adepti.” She says, tilting her head in confusion.

“Huh! Should I respect the shallow sense of time and condescension to mortals that has caused them to delay in moving against us Qixing?” Keqing crosses her arms and huffs before sighing. “Forget it. I shouldn't speak of them this way. This scepticism is mine alone, and Ningguang does not share it.”

“Either way, I will admit that the actions of the adepti this time were quite restrained. Rex Lapis' death is indeed an extraordinary circumstance. But to think that they would call for a council of adepti rather than come down here directly…” She exhales through her nose. “How surprisingly civilised of them.”

“Any chance you could talk it out with them?” Aether suggests after thinking for a second. “Ningguang would prefer to negotiate, wouldn't she?”

“Well, for Ningguang, she would talk anything and everything out if she could. But I doubt we can do that this time.” Keqing looks out towards the vague direction of Jayuen Kharst. “The time of the adepti has long passed. If even the Liyue Qixing don't want to face that truth, then what future is there for Liyue?”

“Wow... Another super bold statement.” Paimon whispers not so quietly to the two of you while Keqing shakes her head again.

“I'll stop here. Honestly, I hadn't intended to say so much. But you're good listeners.” Keqing nods her head to you and Aether and you hold back a laugh when she excludes Paimon. “You should both be off to the Jade Chamber. Don't be late, now. Ningguang's schedule is packed to the gills all the way till next year.” She warns. “The cream of Liyue's mercantile crop all see "ascending to the Jade Chamber" as the greatest honour. Each brings rich gifts as they visit, all to curry a little favour with Ningguang.”

“Favour?” Aether snaps his head to Paimon as she mutters it and he quickly tries to shoot it down.

“Paimon, that's not the point.” He says hurriedly but it was too late Paimon’s food mind was turning. “Be serious.”

“But- But!” Paimon’s quickly searches for an excuse and you shake your head.

“No buts, you-” you begin before Paimon cuts you off.

“Wait, that's right! Greeting gifts are a staple of Liyue's culture. We need to get one, not to curry favour or anything, just to... respect Liyue's culture!” She says and Aether sighs.

“Ah, so eager…” He shakes his head before Keqing explains the right way to get to the Jade Chamber.

“Well then. May we meet again, Traveler.” She gives a nod to the group of you before leaving in a flash of purple. 

“Well, Keqing may not respect the gods, but Paimon thinks she's a pretty cool person.” Paimon says, turning to Aether while he nods.

“She made a good impression on me, too.” He begins as the group of you make your way back towards the Harbour *again*. “I agree with some of her views as well.”

“So... What should we give to Ningguang when we see her?” Paimon question and you sigh. 

“You really have shifted focus, haven't you, Paimon?” You raise your eyebrow and she ignores you. 

“Oh, right! Paimon dreamed of an amazing snack last night – Sugar-Frosted Slime!” Aether makes a face at you while Paimon continues. “Paimon has a feeling that it would be perfect for a super rich person like Ningguang!”

“So, do you have a recipe?” Aether questions while your mind is trying to figure out how to get out of making this. 

“Nope! But Paimon's sure that we just need to make it with some boom shaka-laka!” Paimon smiles happily and you frown trying to get her to see reason with Aether.

“And how would we make this thing you dreamed up?” You question and she just rolls her eyes.

“With a certain boom shaka-laka, of course!” She says as if its the most obvious thin in the world. “Let's go gather ingredients. Time waits for no one, and neither will our riches!”

“Wait Paimon, merchants do it because they want to get on her good side. Should we just not get her any to show that were not sucking up to her?” You say before she could float back towards the Harbour. 

“Hmmm….” She hums as if thinking about it but follows it up with, “sugar-frosted slime…”

Aether sighs. “Its too late, she’s long gone.” He says dramatically as if mourning the Paimon which he once knew. Which he probably was because her voice was going to become more annoying in the following quests.

“Rest in Peace Paimon, you will be missed.” You respond just as sadly as you follow after the floating emergancy food before both of you laugh after the moment of false seriousness.