I sat in the dining hall of the Zapolyarny Palace where I was told to wait for the harbinger that was supposed to be my companion in the venture to the abyss, still contemplating the possibility of meeting my brother there. What if Tsaritsa's suspicions were correct and Aether was the one responsible for their actions? Would it mean he's the enemy of humanity? Would it mean that he's my enemy too? I was fighting against the abyss order since I woke up in Teyvat... If he was actually there all the time... Observing everything from the dephts of the abyss, why didn't he come out to meet me?
I sighed.
"How much longer?" I asked myself looking towards the door. I didn't know how long have I been in this room but apparently it was enough to drink a whole pot of tea that I was given by the maids to keep myself warm.
Suddenly the door opened all the way with a loud thud as they hit the statues standing at the sides of the entrance. I opened my eyes a bit wider at the unexpected noise then put the cup with warm beverage down while turning to face the person that stood at the entrance. It was a tall adult man in white suite with a mask covering bigger part of his face, leaving only half of his lips and cheek visible. His red eyes shone as he smiled widely looking at me... I could understand, why Signora called him unstable cus unlike Childe he didn't even hide the fact of being a bit psychotic. He ran his hand through the silver-blue hair before coming closer to me.
"So you are Mondstadt's hero?" He asked sitting on the chair next to me. I was still a bit taken a back so i only nodded my head.
"What's with fatui and the masks?" I thought trying to scan his expression... which wasn't really the easiest task what with the fact that his face was almost completely covered. All I could tell for sure was that his smile was creepy and made me feel uncomfortable. "S-so when do we leave?" I asked after a few moments of silence through which he kept grinning at me making me even more uneasy than I already were.
"Whenever you're ready." He answered. "I wouldn't have come here before making sure I was prepared to leave right away." And so the conversation was over... He didn't seem like he wasn't talkative but apparently it was very easy to make me speechless here in this situation, so I stood up and headed towards the door. "Already?" He seemed surprised, but I had no time to lose. I wanted to go as soon as possible to make sure that abyss had nothing to do with Aether. "Okay then." He stood up after i nodded again and followed me to the entrance of the palace, which surprisingly I was able to remember the way to even with my awful sense of direction. He waved off a man that stood on the other side of the door and the fatui officer instantly bowed then headed in the opposite direction to us, probably being the one to announce our departure to the cryo archon.
I was glad for having a companion that was used to Sneznhayan climate. If I were by myself, I would've never thought about bringing specifically stored warm drinks and food with myself, which - as i realised by now - was a must have when traveling in these parts. We've been on the road for a few hours by now and the last thirty minutes was spent hiding in a cave from the storm outside. Starting a fire took ages because of the partially frozen, partially wet wood and trying to cook anything here would probably take even longer with how fast everything seemed to freeze.
"You don't seem to wear a vision on you." I pointed out looking at the man in front of me that was trying to start a fire. It was probably the first sentence that any of us said since we left the palace even though he did make some weird unexpected noises from time to time when he saw something that interested him or suddenly started giggling to himself, probably reminding himself of something that I would not dare to ask about.
"Why would I need such a useless accessory?"
"Useless?" It was weird hearing someone say that. Everyone i met untill now seemed to be proudly using their vision, even Childe that was also a fatui harbinger kept his out in the view and liked using it in battle. "How can something that allows you to use magic be called useless?"
"Once you witness the power of Delusion, these small orbs that anyone can use become pretty useless to you."
"Delusion?"
"Eh..." He sighed. "You battled our Tartaglia if i recall correctly? Did he not use his second element along with foul legacy?" Now that he mentioned it, I didn't see electro vision on Childe.
"He did. Was that delusion?" I was curious. I never heard Paimon mention it, which means that it wasn't common enough for anyone to know of them. Why did fatui posses them so commonly then?
"That's right. They are only a replica I managed to recreate, which is why they put a strain on our bodies so much and not anyone can use them." He suddenly grinned again. "But once I aquire perfection in producing them no one will be able to stand against us... I don't have enough research material though." Then he turned to me with a grin still present on his uncovered part of the face. "I did hear that you own two elements without possesing either vision or delusion. Maybe you would help me with my research?" Again, I felt incredibly uncomfortable. I didn't like this man one bit nor did I trust him any more than that and his smile only made his impression on me worse.
"I'll think about it." I said not willing to risk making him my enemy, I didn't know what he was capable of... If I did know then maybe I would've realised right away when he was adding some weird concotion to the fire... But I didn't - and suddenly, the weird smell in the air made me drift off with his grin being the last thing I saw.
"Can we hurry?" Said the pixie in front of us. I didn't mind hurrying... I didn't mind speeding up even a little bit, but Zhongli wasn't into the idea. He treated the whole endeavor as a stroll through the mountains and an opportunity to take in his surroundings.
"It's amazing how this place aged." He said looking around the ruined buildings and shrines of Lingyu Pass making Paimon even more on edge than she already was. "Maybe we should stop here for a supper?" That was apparently all he needed to say to make her forget about all the hurry. It always amazed me how food was probably the most important aspect of life to this creature and made her instantly forget about everything else there was. What amazed me even more was how fast she ate though... Five minutes after we stopped and she already ate three portions of food which obviously was bought by me before we left seeing that neither of the two thought to supply before the road.
Suddenly I heard a quiet steps nearby... At first I thought that i imagined something seeing the lack of reaction in the two and no matter how clueless Zhongli was most of the time, he was still pretty good in the field so he wouldn't just ignore an enemy approach.
"Huh?" A voice came towards us, but the man still didn't react. I turned around and saw a young boy with a green coloured cape and a not very boy-ish outfit... In fact the only thing that made it clear that it was actually a male was his posture. His appearance seemed pretty feminine. He didn't seem hostile, however I still decided to call for my bow just in case.
"Morax?" Said the boy catching me off guard. Zhongli on the other hand still kept himself busy over his tea not paying much attention to the person in front of him... but if he knew his real identity then he had to be something more than just a random passerby.
"And you are?" I asked examining him once again, but finding nothing out of ordinary. He had an anemo vision by his belt and didn't seem particularly powerful, however he did turn hostile the moment his eyes met mine.
"No one of importance to a fatui." Typical Mondstadtian for you...
"Tone-deaf bard!" Shouted Paimon suddenly flying up from behind us apparently getting over her belly pain from eating too much.
"Paimon?" He seemed surpsised and a bit anxious after seeing the pixie. "Where's Lumine?" He asked then instantly turned to me with suspicion in his eyes to which i just shrugged.
"She was kidnapped! Signora took her!" Shouted the girl and I clicked my tongue after feeling the not-exactly-friendly gaze that was rested on me turn into more of an angry one.
"It wasn't Childe's fault." Said Zhongli finally acknowledging the appearance of the boy bringing all attention to himself. "In fact we are now on our way to Sneznhaya to... explain this whole situation." To my surprise he was as calm as before.
"You don't seem to be in a hurry." Said the male with an annoyed tone in his voice.
"I told them we should have hurried!"
"Like hell you did!" I raised my voice at Paimon, "You were in a bigger hurry while looking for food in the bag!" She pouted crossing her arms at me and the anemo vision bearer looked at me with surprise.
"Aren't you Signora's friend in arms? How come you're with Paimon now?" He asked to which the girl herself scratched her cheek.
"That's a long story." She said. "Why are you in Liyue though?"
"Ah. Well I haven't seen you or Lumine in a while and figured I might surprise you in Liyue... Didn't expect this kind of situation to occur though..." The boy examined the surroundings before jumping and exclaiming excitedly. "Maybe I should help you!"
"Yes, you sh-!"
"No, thank you." Said Zhongli cutting Paimon off. "We are good enough without alcoholic bards slowing us down."
"Slowing us down he said..." I thought looking at the man himself sipping tea calmly, not being in any kind of hurry and from Paimon's expression I could tell she had the exact same thoughts at the moment.
"Oh come on! I bet you're dying to hear the awesome stories of my adventures in the last three thousand years!" Three thousand years? I got a bit confused there for a moment before everything started to become clear. Zhongli didn't have any way of knowing mortals from Mondstadt seeing he never really went there from what he told me... Then again the boy in front of us didn't raise an impression worthy of a deity... Guess I had to admit Signora was right on this one after I heard her report of her mission in Mondstadt. I shook my head then looked at him with an intention of wanting to say something but he interrupted me before I could even start. "And I'm not willing to let a fatui harbinger just take you to Sneznhaya without any assurance he's trustworthy." He smiled at me a bit rudely.
"You're welcome to tag along..." I sighed before looking to the side at Zhongli that ignored the further part of conversation and focused on his tea once again. "... but what is your name? Assuming it't not 'tone-deaf bard;" I looked at Paimon that smiled awkwardly.
"Call me Venti, how should I call you for now?" He asked calming his expression a bit.
"Childe." He heard about me. That much was obvious from how his expression became surprised suddenly... Well many people that used to train with me in my early days as Fatui were the one sent to Mond for diplomatic missions and they liked to show off the fact that we used to be on the same position which was annoying to me... I felt like my strength was belowered by them when they did that no matter how much they praised me. I didn't like it when lower ranks compared themselves to me even if it was in the past tense... Especially since they were nowhere close to me. "Well... Should we head off then?" I asked getting up and looking to brown haired archon that was visibly displeased with the anemo rachon joining us, but the boy himself seemed busy catching up with Paimon.
"It's going to be bothersome." He said.
"Aren't you two the only left from original seven?" I asked still observing him.
"Yes we are... And after three thousand years he still seems just as annoying." He sighed making me look towards the boy being overly energized... No wonder he was getting along with Paimon so well, but as a person with multiple younger siblings - I was past the point of being bothered by overly energetic surroundings, so i just chuckled and started going towards the two that were quite ahead of us by now.
This could be fun.