Chapter 3 - Reaching For the Peak

Ekaterina took her mask off. With no clients inside the bank, she could afford to take a break. Things had been way too hectic lately, and with the Geo Archon's passing, people had been flocking to Northland Bank for various reasons. Some believed disaster was looming, and that now was the time to spend without a second thought. Others were positive that it was a golden opportunity to invest in some crazy schemes.

To Ekaterina, it was both foolish, and a source of comfort. Foolish because Liyue's people had been way too dependent on their Archon, but seeing them panic was amusing, to say the least. And comforting because the Tsaritsa's frozen will had proven to be more resistant than Morax's rock-solid one.

What worried her more now was having to deal with-

"Heyyyy girlie~ Heard that Zapolyarny Palace sent some new funds for my mission. Mind if I check that out?"
11th Fatui Harbinger Tartaglia pushed the doors open, in all of his gingerness and glory.

The receptionist quickly put her mask back on. "Good morning, Lord Harbinger. I trust that you're in a good mood?"

The warrior walked to her counter, still beaming.

"Well, unlike my gloomy colleagues, I see in the current situation an opportunity that's-"

"That's quite hard to come by, I know, Lord Harbinger." she cut him off. "You'll find the Mora sent by Her Majesty in your personal vault, as usual."

Seemingly satisfied with the answer, the Harbinger headed for the vault, when she stopped him.

"Lord Harbinger, if I may..."

Childe raised a brow. "If it's for a date, you'll have to place a reservation ahead of time. I'm booked for the next three weeks, girlie."

The receptionist really wanted to knock her head on the counter. "No...I wanted to talk about your next course of action."

"My next course of action? Well, keep looking for Zhongli, of course." he shrugged like it was obvious.

"I know you mean well, Lord Harbinger, but you're spending so much time and energy on...a drinking buddy? Shouldn't you be focusing on, you know, the Gnosis?"

"…"

Actually, yeah. Why was he so bent on finding the dude? He'd had a few drinks with him, and that was it. Tartaglia didn't even know if he had a family, in fact, he hardly knew anyhting about him at all. But there was something about that enigmatic funeral parlor consultant. Zhongli was hiding a big secret, he was sure of it. There was raw, primal power beneath that refined exterior. Power that he was just craving to see unleashed. And maybe it drove him a bit mad.

Mad to the point of searching for a guy who had vanished without a trace and was most certainly dead.

"You must think I'm a little crazy, huh?" he snickered "Well, maybe you're not wrong. I did get messed up at a pretty young age."

"Lord Harbinger, I would never-"

"But sure, I'll play my part in Her Majesty's grand scheme. Do we have any leads on the Exuvia's whereabouts?"

Ekaterina handed him a map. "Our scouts have a few locations in mind, but most of it is pure speculation for now."

"Not bad, not bad." he said while inspecting the map. "With that many locations, I should probably get started right now. Figure I can look for that old man while I'm at it."

The Fatuus put the map away in his shirt and headed for the exit.

"Lord Harbinger, wait!"

"Hmm?"

"This is a pretty important mission. Aren't you supposed to dispatch an elite squad to assist you in the search?"

Childe looked at her as if she'd just mocked his power. "Elite squad? Girlie, I am the elite squad."


"This was a mistake."

From the low wall she sat on, Ganyu took another glance at the Yuheng, who was in the middle of a heated debate with the Adventurer's Guild's receptionist.

She couldn't help but feel a bit bad for Katheryne. From the way Keqing was waving her arms around, one could tell that things were not going her way. The half-qilin really didn't want to deal with this, so she didn't, and watched from a safe distance. Her colleague was known for her efficiency, but the conversation was clearly getting nowhere. How long had they been at it for? An hour, maybe. When she finally came back, Ganyu had nearly fallen asleep.

"Unbelievable! Does she even understand the gravity of the situation?"

"Oh, my. Here it comes."

Keqing shook her purple head in disbelief. "Everything is wrong with this Guild. According to their so-called receptionist, an adventuring permit can only be revoked by the Branchmaster herself. But guess what? Branchmaster Lan is out there somewhere looking for a sword! A SWORD! You're a branchmaster, be available! Now we can't even cut off his Mora supply. If the Traveler manages to sneak into the city, he can claim any quest and get paid for it!"

Ganyu nodded through the rant. "Please calm down, Lady Keqing. Are there any good news?"

"Good news? Oh right, sorry." she sighed. "According to Katheryne, he probably hasn't left Liyue. The only other Guild he's registered at is the Mondstadt branch, but that was a while ago."

"Still in Liyue..." Ganyu muttered to herself.

Was a part of her hoping that he had already left the nation? Maybe it was because she wanted this whole thing to end. If he'd made a successful escape, she could help out with the Rite of Parting, mourn Rex Lapis, and eventually move on. Thankfully, pretty much every member of the Qixing apart from Keqing was already preparing the ceremony. But as long as the Traveler was still out there, her conscience wouldn't allow her to rest. Besides, if she did manage to catch Aether, she would be able to question him, give him a chance to explain himself, maybe learn more about him...

"Wait, learn more about him? What am I thinking?"

Maybe her internal struggle was too obvious, because Keqing immediately noticed that something was off.

"Hey, what's wrong?" the businesswoman asked. "We're making progress, one step at a time. Don't worry, Aether will be behind bars in no time, I promise."

That was certainly not helping. But Ganyu flawlessly regained her composure, and hid her worries behind a polite smile.

"I'm fine, really. I was just wondering, what will we actually do with the Traveler once we've arrested him?"

Keqing looked at her like the answer was obvious. "Well, if he's guilty, he'll probably be executed. Killing a god is a pretty big deal, and it's probably the only outcome the people will accept. Catching the culprit would really prove to them that the Qixing are worthy of ruling in Rex Lapis' stead. So, yeah. An exemplary punishment would probably do the trick."

Ganyu felt a lump in her throat. Death. Actual death. They would kill him without a second thought.
It was for the better, right? She just had to embrace it. She had already promised that she would avenge Rex Lapis, this would only be the continuation of her oath.

Curse her oath.

The Yuheng narrowed her eyes. "Ganyu, I feel like there's something you're not telling me. You do want to see him arrested, right?"

"I...I want justice for Rex Lapis' murder. But I think we shouldn't get ahead of ourselves. We're not actually sure that Aether did it, even though he's our only suspect so far."

If Keqing actually had cat ears, they would have twitched right about now. Was the secretary hearing herself? Well, it was true that Ganyu had been through a lot, and she was feeling pretty lost. Her devotion for Rex Lapis that Keqing had always despised was proving to be one of their biggest assets in their investigation, after all. And it was the Yuheng's duty to look out for her, even though Ganyu was older than her entire bloodline.

"Ganyu, look into my eyes. I don't know what you saw in him that night, maybe it really was something good, but it's in the past. Right now, he's a suspect who's resisted arrest and assaulted a Millelith squad. We're eventually gonna catch up to him, but remember that he's strong, armed and dangerous. You're a war veteran. You know better than anyone else that hesitation can lead to death. So I need you to promise me that you'll attack him if he tries to escape again."

"I..." The half-qilin took a deep breath. "I promise. I won't let my judgement get clouded again. We're in this together, and I won't let you down."

Keqing gave her a satisfied nod. "Good, I know I can count on you. If we're in the clear, then we can move on to the next part of the plan."

"The next part of the plan?" her horned head tilted.

"As much as it hurts my precious pride, there's a chance that we won't be able to track him down alone. Think about it. With the momentum he has on us, he could be pretty much anywhere in Liyue right now. But if we got help from the adepti, his number of potential hiding spots would be greatly reduced."

Normally, Ganyu would have done a double take. After all, pretty much everyone in the harbor knew about the Yuheng's aversion for the divine. But given the special circumstances, they needed all the help they could get. Besides, the Qixing had yet to officially announce the Geo Archon's passing to the adepti.
Knowing Cloud Retainer, things were about to get noisy.

"So if I got everything correctly, we're going to Jueyun Karst soon?" the secretary asked.

"Yup. We're leaving tomorrow morning from the city gate. You can go home and pack. In the meantime, I'm going to gather an elite Millelith squad to escort us, and the best steeds I can find." Keqing began to walk away, but stopped in her tracks before looking back. "Hey, I know I'm not the most tactful person in the world, but I know we can do this. We can change Liyue's future for the better."

The adeptus nodded energetically. "We sure can. I'll do my best to support you, Lady Keqing."

As they walked their separate ways, the half-qilin thoughts drifted towards their wanted fugitive. Where was Aether right now? What was he thinking? Who even is the Traveler?
Ganyu would probably find out in an unpleasant way. She just had a feeling.


Aether has the strangest travel companion of all time. That was his first thought when his journey with Paimon began.
Aether has the strangest travel companion of all time, even though she's somewhat cute. That was now.

Shenhe looked at him with an empty gaze. Where her eyes really soulless, or were there too many expressions trapped within?
Also, why did she sneak into his tent so early in the morning?

"Would you like some dew?"

Aether blinked twice. Was he drunk? Maybe he was going to wake up at Angel's Share, with Venti snoring over the counter as usual.
But there wasn't a hint of alcohol in his system.

To make her intentions more obvious, Shenhe poured the content of a small flask into a cup. "Would you like some dew?" she asked again.

"I...Yes?"

The adeptus disciple looked satisfied with his answer, for some reason. Before he could react, she brought the cup to his lips and held his chin with her free hand. The Traveler immediately pulled back from her touch, a mix of confusion and embarassment on his face.

"What are you doing?"

"Did I do something wrong?" she asked. "I thought you wanted to drink some dew."

Aether shook his head. "That's not the problem, it's just that most people would find it a bit weird to drink like this. I can hold the cup myself."

Her eyes widened as she slowly nodded. Wait, was this actually news to her? She really was clueless about human manners. Actually, he didn't know much about her at all. She was acting as his guide, and could get violent without her red ropes, but that was all the information he had on her.

A spark ignited in his brain. "Shenhe, you haven't spent much time with humans, have you?"

Seeing as she had no reason to hide it from him, she answered honestly. "No...I've lived in the mountains with Master for many years. The only humans I see are pilgrims and herb gatherers, but they're either praying or too intimidated to talk to me. I've never gotten close to anyone, so I don't know how to make you feel comfortable around me. I'm sorry."

Maybe he was offering her a form of emotional support, but Aether wasn't stupid. He had yet to shatter the burden she'd been carrying this whole time. One day, perhaps he would be able to see her really smile. For now...

"You're always so nice to me," she continued. "and I can't even properly return the favor. I'm hopeless."

He patted her head. "Shenhe, it's all good. You'll learn little by little, don't worry. And I'm here to help you out, so don't be afraid to tell me how you feel."

Right. He would be there, looking out for others on while on his own journey. His kindness moved her deeply, but a voice from outside the tent interrupted their moment.

"Hey, if you're awake come make breakfast! Paimon's starving over there!"

"Right, right." he chuckled. "You coming to help, Shenhe?"

The adeptus disciple was still crouching down in the tent. When she heard her name, her head rose. "You...really want my help?"

His face lit up with a smile. "Why else would I ask? We're friends and travel companions, we do these things together. It's all part of the adventuring lifestyle."

Seeing how enthusiastic they were, she would have felt bad to turn them down. The fairy was approving of her friend's point with quick nods, and the Traveler was already preparing the food. The morning sun behind them was giving off the impression that they were shining, and she couldn't help but feel drawn to them. To him.

"Friends..."

The ice around her was melting.

"I'm coming."

...

Aether took another look at the map. "So once we've exited Tianqiu Valley, we're into the Karst, huh?"

Shenhe leaned over his shoulder. "Right. Master lives on Mt. Aocang, over there. Since Jueyun Karst is not easy to navigate in, it might take us another two days to reach her."

"Two days..."

He had been on the road for over a week now. If he was lucky, he'd be able to end this whole thing soon, he just had to push forward one last time. The lofty peaks that the adepti called their home were in sight. It would be quite the climb, even with a guide as reliable as Shenhe. There were rumors of Treasure Hoarders being quite active in the area, too. Not that they would be any match for them.

"Here's hoping everything goes according to plan."


I've been a bit sick lately, so finding the motivation to write wasn't easy. That's why this chapter is on the shorter side.

I'm really hyped though, because we're about to reach my favorite part of the story. I'm gonna take my time for the next chapter, and make sure that it's really good and fleshed out, espacially because spoiler: there's gonna be a flashback, as well as the introduction of a depressed yaksha. I'm also going to write a birthday oneshot for a certain Electro queen in the coming weeks ;)

By the way, for those waiting for the final chapter of Please teach me how to fly, it might take a while. I'm going to finish this story with a little bow on top, and I want it to be my best chapter yet. An ending fitting of what I've built until now, that I hope will satisfy both you and me. So please be patient and look forward to my next uploads!