Act 3, Scene 3
14th of the 4th Cycle
"I must respond rightly, else Celestia will laugh me out of their halls."
"But Inazuma is separated from Teyvat, right? Celestia doesn't know yet, we have time." Mona responded, face scrunched up in thought.
Aether added to her words, "Besides, Beelzebub is also the Lord of Storms, will Celestia allow a single god to hold two titles?"
"There is no precedent, but Celestia is in turmoil. I do not know how they will respond." Paimon didn't have a physical body, but Aether could tell she was troubled from her voice, "For all I know, Beelzebub will abdicate as the Lord of Storms once she usurps my seat completely."
Mona interjected, "She is now a Void God, yes? How can she still be the Lord of Storms?"
"How can you be a Fontainean citizen if you were born in Mondstadt?" Paimon rebuked.
Mona looked away, redness on her cheeks.
"Ahem." Aether cleared his throat, "Still, there's no way you can win this engagement. We are in her home territory, and she has already gotten a head start."
Paimon didn't respond. Aether sighed and stood up, Mona followed him.
"Where do we go now?" She asked him.
"My goal is to find out whether my sister is in Inazuma, the only person powerful enough to find out quickly is the Shogun."
"We are at war with the Shogun, are we joining the Sangonomiya?"
"No." Another mad plan was forming in Aether's head, "We are joining the Civil War on the Shogunate's side."
Mona let out an exasperated sigh, "What kind of incredible scheme are hatching now?" Sarcasm dripped from her words.
Aether looked affronted, "Why are you so adverse? Wasn't there one genius Fontainean general who said, and I quote; "The heart of warfare is deception. Therefore, the generals who can deceive even themselves are invincible." This sort of thing should be right up your alley."
"You forget that she was known as Isabella the Mad. And she lost a hundred battles against Natlan before winning the hundred and first battle."
"But she won the war, right?"
"'Won' is… pushing it. More like she 'didn't lose.'"
He shrugged, "Good enough for me."
"Gods damn it."
As they were about to get on their horses, a blonde man hollered at them, waving. Aether and Mona shared a glance, before deciding to humour him.
"You- you two," He gasped for air, the man had ran all the way over, "you two are not from here, right?"
Mona stared down at him from the top of her horse, "You aren't from here either, only Mondstadters and Snezhnayans are blonde, and you don't look Snezhnayan."
The man scratched the back of his with a sheepish look, "Ah, yeah, got me there. I'm Thoma, born in Mondstadt, but a loyal servant of the Kamisato."
Mona raised an eyebrow, "...And?"
"Well, I know who the two of you are. I got some contacts from Liyue who came here a few days before you guys. I was hoping you'd meet Lady Kamisato."
Aether snorted, "I bet my golden arm that your Lady Kamisato wants to drag us into a plot against the Shogun."
Thoma's smile stiffened a bit, "No need to be so… hostile, man. It was just a request!"
"Well, she can request again after we meet the Shogun."
"Alright then," Thoma raised his hands in surrender, "if you have a change of heart, you can go to the Komore Teahouse in Inazuma City, they'll sort you out."
Aether inclined his head and spurred his horse, and began riding out of the city. Mona followed after him, muttering under her breath.
"Peace. Stifle. Hide."
They raced out of the city gates, Kanjou troops none the wiser.
Act 3, Scene 4
21nd of the 4th Cycle
Inazuma City didn't have any walls, it didn't need to. The City sat at the heart of Inazuma, no enemy force has ever set foot on Narukami Island, let alone reach the gates of the City.
"Four, five… six. Six thousand men at least." Mona counted, using her spyglass.
In the eyes of the people, Inazuma City must be unreachable to the enemy, so it was a terrible surprise for them to find 6,000 men camping outside the city limits.
"She must be expecting us. They've locked down the entire perimeter, there's no way we are getting through."
"Can't we use your spells as we did at Ritou?"
Mona shook her head, "Look there, at the foot of those tents. Those are wardstones, they have runes carved into them that interrupt any use of foreign magic."
Aether took the spyglass from her and made his own observations, "None of them look like levies. They've all got standardised armour… even arquebuses, these are professional soldiers."
"They must be reserves, the main army should be at the Front, fighting against the Sangonomiya."
The both of them were on a hill overlooking the plains outside the City, where the Shogunate encampment was. The only reasonable way to bypass the blockade was to return to the Deicide and sail around it, Aether thought.
Until Paimon made her presence known.
"This isn't working," She grumbled, "I must act now, lest I be too powerless later on."
"Are you planning to-"
"Beelzebub had five centuries to turn Tenshukaku into an impregnable bastion. She has been planning this for centuries, every manner of anti-divinity spells, traps, runes and curses must already be carved into its very walls."
Paimon breathed out.
"There will be no chance for me to break in myself without being heavily disadvantaged, so someone must invite me in."
Aether understood, Mona did too. Paimon would distract the Shogunate troops while the two of them break into Tenshukaku, and invite Paimon from inside. Furthermore, there was no better time for Paimon to unleash her full power, Inazuma is completely separated from Teyvat, and Celestia's gaze does not fall here.
Mona already got to work, imbuing spells into their horses to make them run faster and have more stamina.
Paimon stared at the imposing walls of Tenshukaku, her face morphed into a rictus snarl.
"You want a war, Beelzebub? I'll give you one."