It has been a week since Aether and Paimon left Mondstadt and a hungover Lili, who promised to follow after them, for Liyue and as the two of them stood in front of Liyue Harbor, surrounded by merchants either buying or selling wares, the two realized how easy-going city of Mondstadt is compared to the Harbor.
"Wow! Liyue Harbor sure is bustling!" Paimon exclaims as they eyed the city's citizens around them flitting from one stall to another, looking for the products they desire.
Aether nods, eyes taking in the sights of Liyue Harbor. It sure is a different kind of busy than Mondstadt.
"Must be because of the Rite of Ascension!" the little tour guide beamed and grabbed Aether's clothes to drag him. "let's go watch the Rite of Ascension!"
"Yeah, lets."
Who would've thought that a seemingly innocent activity would lead to murder? Not Aether and Paimon, that's for sure.
"let's get outta here, Aether!" Paimon whispered, scared shitless as the Millelith patrolled and interrogated the attendees one by one, high on alert, all exits blocked by the local military force.
Although it wasn't a very good idea, it was better than staying and waiting your turn to be interrogated so with a nod, Aether and Paimon snuck around and out of the area.
"Phew! That was nerve-wracking!" Paimon breathes out, wiping off the nonexistent sweat off her forehead. Aether could only stare at his tour guide in disbelief.
"Hey! You two!" a Millelith shouts after them, eyes full of suspicion.
"Eek! Run!" Paimon screeches, making Aether sigh.
Looks like today is leg day.
-0-
To be saved is nice, a little suspicious, but nice; but to be saved by a Fatui who is a Harbinger to boot is very suspicious and most definitely not nice at all.
"Oh don't be like that, comrade."
The Harbinger smiled, sending chills down Aether and Paimon's back, their defensive stance never wavering.
"I saved you from the Millelith, didn't I?"
"What do you want. Spit it out." Aether demands, making the Harbinger laugh.
Aether imagined scenarios, but none of them were even close to what happened.
After handing him a Sigil of Permission, he was told to climb mountains to meet an Adeptus deep in the mountains and show the sigil to spread the word that Rex Lapis has been killed.
"That Fatui is suspicious!" Paimon exclaims as the two of them traversed the Liyue landscape, eyes drinking the sights of old civilization ruins in the wilderness and, oddly enough, dancing Hilichurls.
"Fatui is shady. Period." Aether responds with a deadpan face, the two of them ducking as treasure hoarders walked past them, chatting about what should they eat for lunch.
"Paimon wouldn't doubt it if someone said that the one of the requirements for being a Fatui is to be shady."
Aether let out an amused huff. "Probably."
-0-
Diluc watched as the exuberant girl leave the city with nothing but the clothes on her back and a bottle of wine in her hands in the dark of the night. It has been two days since the Honorary Knight left the Mondstadt for Liyue, leaving a hungover Lili who promised to follow the two after she recovered from her hangover. He watched as the girl look up and stare at the stars as she walked, tripping numerous times, making her let out a small surprised squeak before laughing; only to repeat the process.
It was weird to watch.
With a sigh, Diluc turned around and headed back to the tavern, waving over one of his men. "Keep an eye on that girl." the man then looked around the tavern, trying to find the girl he was talking about. "Lili. The other Outlander."
"Oh. Got it sir." And with a small nod, the man left the tavern.
DIluc sighs, relieved that there will no longer be wild drinking competitions because of her.
-0-
It has been one hell of a climb and Aether is tired. It wasn't even five seconds when he reached the Adeptus' abode when the Millelith shows up, spears pointed at him, accusing him of something he didn't bother understanding. It was all not true anyways.
"The Sigil of Permission…so it's true." the four-legged deer-moose thing Adeptus said to itself before ordering him to climb the other mountains to tell the other Adeptus the bad news.
What the hell? Don't they have powers or something? Why can't they just, you know, telepathically tell each other what's up?
Aether sigh as he prepared to go down the mountain so he could climb the other mountain where the other Adeptus lives.
What a lazy bunch.
Aether couldn't help but think as he and Paimon descended the mountain, stomachs only half filled to save daylight.
"Man, Paimon can't believe it! First, we get saved by a Fatui Harbinger and now we're tasked to relay the bad news to the other Adeptus?" the tour guide huffs, most likely from the lack of compensation. "what's next? Fighting in a civil war?"
Aether grimaced at the prospect of fighting in a civil war that doesn't involve him. God, he just wants to find his sister, what's so wrong with that?
"don't jinx it, Paimon." Aether softly chided his floating companion who shrugged.
"Paimon's just saying."
"Still, don't jinx it."
Replies:
DeadliestSin17: thank you! I hope you enjoy this chapter!
Redaer Copious: we're still preheating the symbolic oven over here but Lili can't build up immunity. She's just not built like that bc I find it more fun to let her feel the feels without building immunity to it. It's not like she's stuck in time, her body looping back to square one when she inevitably gets hurt one way or another. It's more of a you can and will die but you're a persona non grata in the eyes of the Beings who manage the Afterlife so once your face shows up at the gates, they kick your ass out back into the land of the living. Also, what do you mean by she's still tiny? her physical size? I mean, yeah, I imagined her to be smaller than Scaramouche by a few inches but at least she's taller than Paimon.