Act 2, Scene 1

22nd of the 1st Cycle

Stone Gate was a colossal fortress. It was built in a natural gate formed by two mountains, or perhaps it was carved from the mountain to form a gate. In any case, Aether believed it was as impregnable as it looked.

Paimon told him it was built by an ancient civilisation known as the Guili Assembly back when the Archon Wars still raged. Back then, Mondstadt was still a frozen and savage land, so the Stone Gate was raised to protect the prosperous Assembly from hilichurl and barbarian raids from the north.

The Old Aristocracy too, had tried to invade Liyue several times, bashing their heads futilely against the Stone Gate. Since its construction, this castle has never fallen. The Guili Assembly has long since crumbled to dust, but their legacy still stands in the form of this mighty bastion.

31st of the 1st Cycle

Nine days later, they arrived at the city of Wangshu. The city was built on an island in the Bishui River, around a colossal stone pillar where the Wangshu Inn sat on.

Aether told Paimon that there's no way such a rock formation is natural, especially in the middle of an island in a river.

"Of course it isn't natural. That rock was thrown back during the Archon Wars by Morax, when an army from Qingce tried invading the Guili Assembly. If you dig it up, you'll probably find the bones of thousands of men."

As Aether led his wagon through the city gates, he marvelled at the beautiful architecture and bustling atmosphere, a far cry from the rustic and peaceful Mondstadt. Wangshu was an important trade city, it sat directly on the road from Mondstadt to Liyue, and while still smaller than Mondstadt, its population is still steadily growing.

Unlike the lands of the Anemo Archon, which was more a confederation of independent city-states with the same religion, Liyue was a unified country. Aether could see the banners of the Liyue Qixing hanging from several government buildings as they passed by. Millelith patrolled the streets.

They would rest here for a day, then continue southwards.

8th of the 2nd Cycle

It took a sennight to cross the vast Guili Plains. Three separate cities once stood in the Plains, each ruled by their own god. Paimon tells him that the Assembly was an alliance of three gods, the Lord of Rock, the Lord of Dust, and the Lord of Soil. It dominated the region that is now Liyue, their Assembly stretching from Cuijie to Mingyun to Dihua.

But it fell, like most kingdoms, and out of the three gods only one now remained.

They left Guili's ghosts behind them.

Act 2, Scene 2

12th of the 2nd Cycle

They encountered a Statue of the Seven north of the city, Aether strolled up to it and put his had on its gold embellishment just like he did with the Statue at Starfell Lake. There was no response.

Paimon looked at him curiously, but he shook his head. She frowned.

"Perhaps Morax is rejecting you, try forcing it."

"What do you mean?" Aether was quite confused, he could understand a god rejecting his presence, he never expected all gods to be as welcoming as the God of Freedom, but what did 'forcing it' mean?

Paimon scoffed, then said "If Morax isn't going to give you his power, then take it from him."

She gave him a look that said 'why are you so stupid?'

Unconvinced, he retorted "I don't think antagonising a god will benefit me much in looking for my sister."

"I don't think your sister is in Teyvat anyway!"

"What?"

"What?"

Aether stared at her.

"Well," She spoke defensively, "all the nations of Teyvat are interconnected by trade, except for Inazuma, your actions in Mondstadt must've spread across the continent by now. There is no way your sister hasn't heard of you."

"So," Paimon spoke painfully slowly, "your sister is either sealed, dead, in the Abyss, or in Inazuma."

"..."

Aether refused to believe his sister is dead, he could still feel his connection to her, no matter how weak.

"Then we go to Inazuma, then the Abyss."

She nodded in agreement, "Right, so how about you absorb Geo now? Don't worry about the Geo Archon, I protected you once before, right?"

Technically, yes, but her 'protection' was more along the lines of giving a baby a knife and telling it to fight off a mugger.

He put his hands on the Statue again, and this time he pulled. Unlike Anemo, which flowed into him naturally, Geo was much harder to take. But he succeeded nonetheless, his outfit shone gold, assimilating to the new energy.

He felt something break.

"What is it?" Paimon asked him.

"My old powers are returning… a seal broke"

Her eyes hardened, shining harsh gold. "All of them?"

He shook his head, "No, I have like, only twenty percent of it back."

Paimon was quiet for a while. Then-

"Looks like we have a change of plans, if absorbing a new element breaks the seals on your power, we are still going to have to visit every nation on Teyvat."

Aether found that he couldn't argue.

Act 2, Scene 3

16th of the 2nd Cycle

As they approached Liyue, the smell of fish and salt hit him like a carriage at full speed.

Aether gagged, Amber was right, after all, he already missed the smell of Mondstadt.

"Tough it out, Traveller, you'll probably get used to it." Paimon showed no sympathy, as usual.

He forced himself forwards, breathing through his mouth. But when he approached the cliff edge, the sight took his breath away.

The City of Liyue was massive, he knew it was the largest city in the world by both land area and population, but he was still shocked to see its size. Buildings and roads stretched as far as the eye can see, over a million lives lived in a single place. Liyue truly surpassed expectations.

And the ships in the harbour, by the stars… hundreds of ships of all shapes and sizes entered and exited the harbour. Longboats and knarrs from Natlan, galleons and caravels from Fontaine, galleys from Sumeru, and the junks of Liyue. All of them came and went like unending tides. Liyue was truly the centre of all trade in Teyvat.

Then there were the Treasure Ships. The word 'ship' didn't give them justice, Aether felt, they were floating cities. Five masts and at least 150 metres long, they dominated the harbour, while other ships sailed in their shadows.

And above it all, the Jade Palace floated in the sky, defying gravity.

"..."

"A magnificent sight, isn't it?"

"Hey! Are you two ignoring me!?"

Aether flinched and turned around. There was a woman who was wearing… well, Aether didn't know how to describe her choice of attire. All he knew was that her hat must contain more fabric than the rest of her clothes combined.

"Who are you?" Paimon asked the mystery lady, a dangerous glint in her eyes.

"Are you saying you no not of my illustrious self? I am the great Mona Megistus!"

Aether had a feeling she was quite full of herself.

She continued, unaware of their growing discomfort. "Haha, as usual, my predictions are correct! Our meeting was ordained by fate!"

Paimon coughed, "And uh, what do you need from us exactly, weird lady?"

"Well, I need you two to guide me to Mondstadt! I am on a mission from my master to retrieve a certain box fro-"

Aether interrupted her, "Miss, we just came from Mondstadt, no way in hell we are going back without even stepping foot in Liyue."

"..."

"Hah?"