SailorStar9: After getting Chapter 74 out, this is Chapter 75 of this fic. (Sighs) Guys and girls, is it too hard for you to leave a review, instead of just putting this fic up on your favorited list and story alerts?

Pairings: Albedo/Sucrose, Zhongli/Mitsuko/Kazuha, One-sided Diluc/Mitsuko, One-sided Diluc/Jean

Disclaimers: Genshin Impact and Sailor Moon belong to miHoYo and Takeuchi Naoko-sensei respectively. Me, on the other hand, own absolutely nothing, except the plot, I hope.

Chapter 75: Teyvat Arc: Shadows Amidst Snowstorms, Part Three


A few days later...

"Albedo!" Paimon called, reconvening back in Albedo's camp.

"Traveler, Paimon." Albedo greeted. "I suppose your story is ready."

"How about you?" Paimon asked. "Do you need some more time?"

"No need." Albedo assured. "I am also ready to tell my story."

"Paimon calls dibs!" Paimon declared. "Paimon first! Once upon a time, there was an evil researcher who went into the mountains and did a crazy experiment on whopperflowers to transform their appearance. After a lot of pain and suffering, the whopperflowers finally took on a human form. Then, they stood by the side of the mountain to wait for unsuspecting bypassers. To whoever spoke to them, they would ask some questions, such as: 'Who am I?' 'Who are you?' If the bypasser got the wrong answer, the last sound they'd make would be a 'yelp' before the whopperflower ate them alive in one bite!"

"Truly frightening." the unfazed Albedo commented.

"Paimon is truly frightening." the Traveler agreed.

"What the..." Paimon fumed. "You two aren't scared at all! If you didn't like the story, go write your own."

"In that case, I would add some horror elements in." the Traveler accepted the challenge. "They would turn into that person!"

"In other words, the whopperflowers would ambush and then completely replace their victims." Albedo surmised.

"And then adopt their newfound identity." the Traveler added.

"And then what?" Paimon exclaimed. "Go back to where the person lives? Enter their home!? Eat their whole family!? Paimon made up this story, but now Paimon's the one who's scared by it."

"It's a good story." Albedo noted. "May I write it down? I may bring it up in future conversations."

"What for?" Paimon was puzzled. "Just to scare people with?"

"Yes." Albedo's eyes glinted in mischievousness.

"You've got a real mean streak, Albedo!" Paimon pouted.

So, what's your story?" the Traveler inquired.

"Mine is a little longer than yours." Albedo replied. "It starts with an alchemist. A great alchemist once created Subject One. Subject One was her proudest achievement, and successfully blended into human society. No one ever would have thought that this friend of theirs was in fact a synthetic human. However, unbeknownst to Subject One, the alchemist had tried the same experiment many times before he had come into being. Some of the rejects from failed experiments had been discarded but had not died. Subject Two was one such failed experiment. He was swallowed by a great dragon that came to rest upon a snowswept mountain. Many years later, he was resurrected by the dragon's mysterious power. He saw all kinds of people on the mountain, including Subject One, who had somehow, miraculously, blended in among them. Never in Subject Two's wildest imagination had he thought it possible for experimental life forms such as they to deceive everyone so successfully. He saw the way humans accepted Subject One as a friend, witnessed their affection as they addressed him by name, noticed the tender affection he showed his lover. This was what Subject Two wanted. Now, all that Subject Two desired was to replace Subject One and take the joy of his existence for himself. Subject Two began to unfold his plan. He stole Subject One's books and notes and studied all that Subject One had learned from the alchemist. Subject Two was highly intelligent and he learned quickly. He changed his face into an exact replica of Subject One's face. Then, he found a plant with mimicry capabilities and transformed it using dragon blood and alchemy. And so, not only did Subject Two transform his own appearance to perfectly match that of Subject One, he also created a third entity: Subject Three. But Subject Two wanted to become a perfected human. So, he erased the mark on both his and Subject Three's necks, for these marks were symbols of imperfection."

"He purposely erased it?" the Traveler was surprised.

"In my view, it was probably a subconscious act." Albedo explained. "An instinct. He so desperately craved to become a perfect human being that he forgot something: human beings are defined by their flaws. Subject Two's plan was meticulously crafted. Subject Three would draw Subject One's attention. After Subject One disposed of Subject Three, he would assume the threat had now disappeared, and would let his guard down. The next moment that Subject One was alone, Subject Two would make his move. He would eliminate Subject One and become the only one remaining. He would secretly replace the Subject One of everyone's memories, and inherit his identity, residence, clothing, sword, name, lover and friends. People would have no idea that the individual they knew had become somebody else from one day to the next. But just before Subject Two could carry out his plan, a unique stranger entered the mix. Subject Two tried to make contact with this person but found that they could, like Subject One's lover, somehow sense he was different from Subject One. What's wrong?" he noticed the silence from the Traveler. "Are you scared?"

"What happened then?" Paimon pressed. "What happened to the stranger?"

"He became a new stage in Subject Two's plan." Albedo continued. "One more person that Subject Two had to dispose of. It's as if there were three identical roses in a garden. Only one of the three was a fine specimen, while the other two were defective specimens that bore poisonous thorns. In all the world, only the gardener who tended to them could tell which was the good specimen. People do not like poisonous plants. Only a perfect rose can fetch a high price. If the inferior specimens wanted to conceal the fact of their worthlessness, they would have to take the gardener out of the picture using their poisonous thorns. This is exactly what Subject Two was thinking. So, he hid in the shadows and waited patiently. Maybe soon, he would get his chance to become truly human."

This is not just a story. The Traveler realized. These are real events. Albedo is trying to tell me the cruel and unbelievable truth.

"That was intense." Paimon shivered. "So, what happened after that? Did Subject Two's plan succeed? Paimon can't bear thinking about it."

"Fortunately, it is just a story, and even in this story, Subject Two did not succeed." Albedo assured. "But, you can never let your guard down on Dragonspine. Monsters mutated with Durin's power and blood are also creatures of Rhinedottir, just like me. You must beware of all such creatures."

"Don't say that!" the Traveler rebuked. "You're not a monster, you're my friend."

"Sucrose said the same thing numerous times." Albedo chuckled. "It's okay. I know what I am. You and I are both 'different', so there is no need for me to hide the truth from you. The only thing is that sometimes, when I think about how mighty the power of alchemy is, I feel so small. As beings who set foot in this world, how arrogant are we in desiring to control our destiny, and in desiring to create? Is creation an arrogant act, Traveler? If not, why do we call the ones that created us and control us, 'gods'? If it is, then what qualifies us to call ourselves creators? How far must we take our reverence and respect, and what purpose does it serve?"

"How did you feel when you took out the impostor?" the Traveler asked.

"Nothing special." Albedo admitted. "But whenever I think about it, I feel a twinge of grief."

"Traveler!" Amber called out. "Are you here?"

"Thought we might find you here." Eula noted.

"We're here to deliver a message from Cyrus." Amber stated. "There's gonna be a big event down at the base camp, and they want you there too, Traveler."

"Winter camp is nearing its end." Eula explained. "Apparently, even provisional instructors are required to attend."

"Then I won't keep you." Albedo remarked. "I have some things to attend to here, so forgive me for not seeing you down."


At the Adventurer Guild's camp...

"Who is this guy?" Paimon instantly spotted Joserf.

"Allow me to introduce Joserf." Amber spoke. "He's Joel's father."

"Dad!" Joel beamed. "This is that traveler I was telling you about. The traveler's helped me out loads in the past, and this time we even built a snowman together."

"Joel has told me everything about you." Joserf nodded. "I can't thank you enough."

"I'm glad you're finally reunited." the Traveler remarked.

"Wait a second." Paimon blinked. "Why is Cyrus discreetly wiping tears away, and what is Pallad doing here?"

"Pallad is the hero of the hour this time!" Amber declared. "Go on, Pallad, tell us what happened in your own words."

"The weather was fine on that fateful day, and I had a feeling that lady luck was smiling down on me." Reckless Pallad started. "So, I trusted my gut and set off to explore somewhere new. Somewhere dangerous. Because where there is great danger, there is also great treasure. But I had only been away from the group for a very short while, when I fell down a slope and just started rolling. The place I fell to was somewhere I didn't recognize, and I'd sustained a few injuries. I remember thinking to myself: 'This is the worst luck I've ever had in my whole life'. Then I met Joserf. He'd heard the sound of me falling and came out to see what was going on!"

"So, it was completely by chance, then." Paimon noted.

"I thought he must have been someone from the Adventurers' Guild here for the event." Reckless Pallad continued. "But after a few words of conversation, it was clear that he was having memory problems. He didn't even know his own name. The temperature was freezing, and there was no time to deal with all that there and then, so I convinced him to come back to the camp with me and figure everything else out after we got there. We got back to the camp, ran into Joel, and the moment he saw him, he froze for a second, with this completely stunned expression on his face, and then he started crying out: 'Dad! Dad!' That's when Joserf suddenly started to remember."

"My memory has still not fully recovered, but Joel and his mother..." Joserf admitted. "They are the only ones that I will not... no, that I cannot forget. Daddy's right here, Joel." he assured. "Daddy's right here."

"Joserf, don't you remember anything else at all?" Paimon pressed. "The Boar Princess, feeding the foxes?"

"I'm sorry, I have no recollection." Joserf shook his head. "Maybe it's because of the head trauma? I'm not sure. I woke up and found myself covered in blood. My things were gone and there was nothing to indicate who I was or how I got there. I crawled into a cave and settled in for a slow recovery. After my legs and feet were a little better, my hunting skills were what kept me alive."

"Dad, I was so worried about you." Joel sniffled. "

"It's time for Pallad and I to have another discussion concerning his breaches of adventurer discipline." Cyrus gave Reckless Pallad a flat look.

"Everyone's gone." Paimon noted, after everyone left off. "Seems like they've all got their own stuff to do now. We've been on Dragonspine all this time, and somehow Paimon still forgot to ask Albedo about how to make a fruit jucifier machine that can keep the juice fresh. Maybe we should try Timaeus again. He does seem pretty eager to please, after all!"


Later that night...

Albedo returned to the alchemy lab in the Knights of Favonius headquarters. "I'm back." he spotted his mint-haired assistant sleeping on the sofa that was propped against the wall and brushed his nose against her exposed cheek.

"Wha..." Sucrose mumbled tiredly, her eyes fluttering open. "Bedo? What time is it?" she muttered drowsily.

"By the wall clock, close to 3.20am." Albedo took a look at the clock on the wall. "Go back to sleep, sugarplum."

"M'kay." Sucrose moaned and dozed off.


The next day...

"Timaeus!" Paimon called out as she and the Traveler approached the alchemy store.

"Traveler and Paimon." Timaeus greeted. "What can I do for you? Wait a minute. You've got that mischievous look on your face. You're not still thinking about that ridiculous juicer thing, are you!?"

"Timaeus, will you help us?" Paimon begged.

"I really have no stake in this either way." the Traveler shrugged.

"If the Traveler isn't really interested then maybe I'll give this one a pass." Timaeus sighed. "It's just the weirdest request ever."

"But Paimon's Sunsettias are gonna go to waste without it!" Paimon whined.

"New research project, Timaeus?" Albedo stepped in. "We meet again."

"Albedo!" Timaeus sighed in relief. "Thank goodness. So, the situation is, Paimon wants a machine that can turn fruit into juice and keep the juice fresh. I mean, surely it's..."

"Majorly important, that's what it is!" Paimon insisted. "If you can manage to invent this, we'll never have to worry about fruit going bad ever again!"

"Turning fruit into juice is not hard but keeping it fresh is more difficult." Albedo reasoned. "But if you simply want to keep the fruit from rotting, there are many ways to achieve this. Right, Traveler?"

The mark is back... the Traveler realized, recalling Albedo's bare neck when he first approached them. Is this a prank!?

"What's wrong?" Albedo asked. "Is there something on my neck? From the look on your face, it's as if you thought I had just played a practical joke on you that was in exceedingly poor taste."

So, it WAS a prank! The Traveler glared.

"Albedo, you were saying?" Paimon pressed. "How do you stop fruit from going bad?"

"One way would be to bury your fruit on Dragonspine, where the snow never melts all year round." Albedo replied.

"But then Paimon won't be able to eat them!" Paimon whined.

"You could always live on Dragonspine." Albedo joked. "Or you can give the fruit to me, and I would take it to Dragonspine for you. But since you don't like the cold, you'd have to send someone else to pick them up when you want them. This is where you come in, Traveler. Fruit buried on Dragonspine will stay fresh for much longer. However, it is also possible that the fruit will sprout and grow into fruit trees. Who knows, maybe the next time you visit, it will have grown into an orchard. You can water the trees, add fertilizer, and when they finally bear fruit, you will have some fresh Sunsettias."

"Then Paimon'll have to be a gardener." Paimon complained. "That's not the goal here!"

"I don't think being a gardener is so bad." Albedo mused.

"Albedo!" Paimon fumed. "Stop trying to get your hands on Paimon's super-sweet Sunsettias!"

"It bothers you, doesn't it?" Albedo smiled.

"Of course it bothers Paimon!" Paimon snapped. "They are the rarest super-duper sweetest Sunsettias ever. And they're not for you!"

"But they're just Sunsettias." Albedo pointed out. "I think you are only so attached to them because you don't have much fruit of this quality in your possession. When someone's pockets are full and their spirit is fulfilled, they don't easily fall prey to this kind of yearning."


SailorStar9: Any OOC-ness is regretted. *Grins* Don't you just love plot bunnies sometimes? Reviews are much appreciated.