The Traveller was a very well-known figure in the land of Inazuma. He was known for his dashing good looks, his unmatched prowess, his strange companion who followed him around and contributed almost nothing, and his inability to say no. But he is mainly known for challenging the Raiden Shogun to the death and winning. The point is that everyone knew who the Traveller was, even if they pretended they never saw him walking down the streets.
So when the Traveller walked into the city of Inazuma one day and was arrested, suffice to say, there was almost a riot in the city.
First, let us rewind time for a bit to the day the Traveller invaded the Raiden Shogun's castle with no one but himself (his companion was mainly there for moral support). His one-man army walked through the gates unimpeded (mainly because the guards were taken out by Kujou Sara) and entered the castle. Eyewitness accounts after that have been vague, but the end result was that the Traveller had defeated the Raiden Shogun. The Vision Hunt Decree was abolished within the hour, most of the Tenryou Commission got fired, and the resistance army went home happy.
Now, let us rewind time further back to when the Traveller daringly tried to save his dear friend from an almost life-or-death crisis at the Vision Hunt Ceremony where he fought against the Raiden Shogun and lost. The Raiden Shogun had ordered the Traveller's arrest as soon as it was clear that the Traveller had escaped. The arrest warrant was immediately put out for him, leading to the Traveller joining the resistance army.
Both of these events are connected to each other. With the arrest warrant out, it meant that the soldiers were to prioritise arresting the Traveller on sight. The only people who can rescind the arrest warrant were the Raiden Shogun, Kujou Sara, and the higher ranking officials of the Tenryou Commission.
Unfortunately, at the time of the arrest, Kujou Sara had business out of the city and would not return until a few weeks later. No one dared to approach the Raiden Shogun to ask about the arrest warrant she had put out and forgotten about it. And all of the higher ranking officials of the Tenryou Commission were fired. That left the guards wondering what they should do with the Traveller while said Traveller lounged on the uncomfortable bed in his jail cell.
"Why don't you guys just ask the Raiden Shogun to free me?" Aether asked the guards, interrupting their quarrel.
"No way! She's scary!" one of the guards cried out in reply.
"Really? She's kinda nice once you get to know her."
(The guards did not cry and panic over the fact that they had arrested the Raiden Shogun's friend, but it was a near thing.)
Without any other choice (the choice of asking the Raiden Shogun was never on the table), the guards must wait for Kujou Sara's return to free the Traveller and remove the arrest orders (and hopefully have something in place to prevent this from happening again).
Paimon, the Traveller's companion, was determined to free her friend before Kujou Sara's inevitable return. And thus, she set out on a journey to the far reaches of Inazuma, and by that, the narrator meant the other side of the city where Yoimiya lives.
By the time Paimon reached Yoimiya's house, she was hungry and tired. Once she gets her friend out of jail, she is going to make him treat her to a buffet for all the trouble he caused her!
"Well Paimon, I'm not sure what you want me to do. Do you want me to bust him out of prison? Sounds fun! I can do that!"
"No! Don't do that! It's okay Yoimiya, Paimon will go find someone else."
Admittedly, asking the same person who gave Aether bombs ("fireworks are bombs!" Paimon had said to Aether in exasperation when he tried to argue with her) to create a decoy, who also conveniently forgot to mention she increased the power output tenfold, to get her friend out of prison was a mistake all in itself.
The next person Paimon went to for help was Kamisato Ayaka. Yoimiya was nice enough to escort her across the land of Inazuma and protect her from hordes of bandits, hilichurls, and the Fatui to the Kamisato Estate. Upon reaching the estate, Yoimiya bid Paimon farewell and good luck before leaving Paimon to her fate.
"Good luck Paimon! You're going to need it!"
"What's that supposed to mean!?"
Paimon entered the Kamisato Estate mostly unimpeded, only needing to name herself to the guards at the front of the estate.
(She did not question the reason why there was need to when she is the most recognisable person around or why only she had to name herself when the Traveller never had to every time he came to the estate.)
Unfortunately, Kamisato Ayaka was currently away on business and Thoma was nowhere to be found. With no other choice but to wait for either of them to return, Paimon settled down on a cushion and ate the snacks provided by the servants. She hoped that Ayaka and Thoma would not return anytime soon as the snacks provided were very delicious.
Meanwhile, in a jail cell of Inazuma City Prison, Aether woke up refreshed after an uninterrupted nap, the first uninterrupted nap since the day he fished Paimon out of the sea, and was considering asking if he could spend a few more weeks in prison.
Back at the Kamisato Estate, Paimon was getting anxious as time continued to tick by without Ayaka's or Thoma's return. She did say that she hoped Ayaka and Thoma would not return anytime soon but she did not mean hours and hours later with no sightings of them!
In the end, Paimon gave up on waiting for Ayaka and Thoma and decided to make her way to the Grand Narukami Shrine where, hopefully, Yae would be there to talk to the Raiden Shogun to free Aether.
Meanwhile, back in the Inazuma City Prison, Aether was learning how to fold a paper crane (very badly) from one of the prison guards when someone familiar dropped by. And by dropping by, the narrator meant being brought into the prison in handcuffs.
"Good afternoon, Aether. Surprised to see you here."
"Kazuha? What are you doing here?"
"I came back to visit the country and as it turns out, my arrest warrant had not been retracted. What about you?"
"Same as you, I still had an arrest warrant out from when I crashed the Vision Hunt Ceremony."
"Ah, I understand," Kazuha paused, looking down at the crumpled near-indistinguishable paper crane in Aether's hands. He did not ask why a blind person was learning to fold a paper crane or why there was a prison guard in the jail cell teaching a blind person how to fold a paper crane. Instead, he asked, "Are you learning origami? If you'd like, I could show you how to fold a paper tanuki."
"Come on in!"
(Prisoners were not supposed to share cells, but none of the prison guards wanted to bring it up.)
At the Grand Narukami Shrine, Yae Miko perked up from where she was lounging on the wooden floor behind the closed doors at the sound of Paimon calling her name. She sneaked a peek through the crack in the door, watching Paimon frantically fly around the shrine calling for Yae. She shut the door, debating if the amusement was worth the effort of getting up. Eventually, she opened the door fully and stepped out, straightening her crumpled clothes as she silently walked towards Paimon. She stepped behind the small being, her clothes pristine with nothing out of place, waiting until Paimon turned around and shrieked in surprise at her 'sudden' appearance.
Paimon quickly explained the Traveller's current predicament, not allowing Yae to have even a single word in (not that she wanted to). Once she had finished explaining, Yae allowed a faint smirk appear on her face.
(She really wanted to laugh out loud. Perhaps later behind closed doors, she could let loose her undignified laughter. It was really typical of Ei to be unaware or to forget something like this.)
"And? What do you want me to do? Aether is not in any danger, merely apprehended and locked behind bars. There is no need for me to go rescue him, is there?"
"But-!"
"He will be freed once he finishes serving his time or when Kujou Sara returns, whichever comes first."
"Ugh! You're so unhelpful! Paimon wants to give you an ugly name!"
"Oh? What kind of name will you bestow me with?"
"You-! Paimon is leaving!"
True to her word, Paimon left the Grand Narukami Shrine with an angry huff. At the same time, Yae was preparing to leave the shrine, having found her entertainment for the entire week.
By the time Paimon arrived at the Kamisato Estate, the sun had disappeared beyond the horizon and the moon and stars had taken their place in the sky. She was also followed by an angry horde of hilichurls as she ran towards the estate screaming in terror.
Let it be known that the guards standing outside of the Kamisato Estate, who contributed nothing to the efforts of ending the Vision Hunt Decree, were indeed worth their weight in gold when it comes to doing their actual job. The army of hilichurls were easily vanquished and Paimon was treated to their annoyed looks as she thanked them profusely for saving her life, before promptly disappearing into the estate and leaving the guards to deal with the pile of dead bodies at the entrance of the estate.
(Koharu took a step outside to see what the commotion was about and fainted as soon as she saw the pile of dead bodies.)
Fortunately, Thoma and Ayaka were home this time around but Paimon was too tired and hungry to talk to them. Instead, she fell face first into her dinner and only woke up the next morning with both Thoma and Ayaka gone for the day.
(Paimon did not despair but she came really close to it.)
Meanwhile, back at the Inazuma City Prison, the guards on the night shift were currently relaxing on a soft couch in the Traveller's teapot realm watching over their charges sleeping together on a luxurious king-sized bed.
"Hey, do you think we can ask the warden if he'll let us watch the prisoners here for the rest of their jail term?"
His partner, in lieu of a reply, smacked him upside his head.
(The guards rotating in for the day shift almost sounded the alarm when they saw an empty jail cell with a floating teapot inside.)
This time, Paimon opted to stay at the Kamisato Estate until Ayaka's or Thoma's return. One way or another, Paimon will definitely get Aether out of prison by the end of the week!
"Oh, you're the Traveller's friend. Are you looking for Lady Ayaka? She and her attendant, Thoma, just left for a business trip and will not return until the end of the month."
Paimon finally broke down and despaired.
Back at the Inazuma City Prison, Yae walked into the prison unimpeded with a row of prison guards bowing to her. She smugly strode forward on top of a red velvet carpet until she came to a stop in front of the jail cell housing Aether and Kazuha.
"So the rumours are true," Yae said, drawing the attention of the occupants.
"Guuji Yae?" Kazuha said, blinking in surprise.
"Yae? What are you doing here? Did you come to free us?" Aether asked, his face lighting up with hope.
"No," Yae answered curtly. "I came here to laugh at you."
And laugh, she did.
Paimon spent her day sulking at the Kamisato Estate. The servants did not comment or complained about it. The officials of the Yashiro Commission ignored her presence. Even Kamisato Ayato pretended to not have seen her. She was this close to freeing Aether, only for fate to take that away from her. How was she to free her friend now? If only there was someone else like Ayaka in the Yashiro Commission who could help her.
"Wait a minute…" Paimon said as she sat up.
Paimon turned to look at Kamisato Ayato who was reading several important documents at the side and instantly, a figurative lightbulb went off her head.
(She also felt kind of dumb for not thinking about it earlier.)
"Ayato! Paimon needs your help!"
Back in Inazuma City, Arataki 'The One and Oni' Itto heard of the Traveller's predicament and proceeded to yell angrily at the guards standing outside the prison. His subordinates tried to stop him of course, but there was nothing they could do once Itto's mind was made up.
He spent the entire afternoon demanding for the Traveller's release and the city guards were content to ignore him. That was until he stomped too hard in his protest and cracked the stone pavement, leaving a deep crater in the shape of a foot. The city guards were not so content to ignore him after that.
Itto was thrown into a jail cell beside the Traveller's and was left to stew in anger behind bars.
"Once I get out, I'm taking Aether with me! You hear me!?"
"Itto? What did you do this time?" Aether asked in curiosity. "Wait, never mind, I don't want to know. Didn't you just get out of jail a few weeks ago? Shinobu is going to get angry at you again."
"It wasn't a few weeks ago," Itto said before laughing. "It was last week!"
When the warden came down to inspect the new prisoner, Itto waved at him and greeted him like he was meeting an old friend.
"Oh hey Kujino! Did you cut your hair? I remember it being longer last week."
(The warden did in fact cut his hair two days ago but instead of verbally replying to Itto, he scowled.)
Back at the Kamisato Estate, Paimon finally explained everything to Kamisato Ayato who patiently listened to her as he continued to sign off documents after documents. Once Paimon was done talking, Ayato placed aside his brush to give his full attention to her.
"Paimon, the Yashiro Commission is the cultural representative of Inazuma. We may handle civilian affairs, but public security is not one of them. I understand that you wish to help the Traveller and it is very admirable for a friend to do that, but there is nothing that I can do."
"...Paimon would have taken you seriously if you weren't drinking milk tea and eating cake in front of Paimon."
"My apologies, I had missed lunch."
Meanwhile, at the Inazuma City Prison, the wall dividing Itto's jail cell and Aether's jail cell was completely obliterated thanks to Itto. The prison guards were doing their best to guard the prisoners and look away from the devastation. If they saw nothing, then it never happened. They were also ignoring the board games and card games that Itto had whipped out from nowhere to start teaching Aether and Kazuha how to play them.
"Itto, there's one problem," Aether said as he looked down at the cards Itto shoved into his hands.
"Yeah? What is it? Do you want me to explain the rules again?"
"Did you forget that I'm blind?" as he lifted the cards up with one hand and waved his other hand in front of his sightless eyes.
"Then let's have a beetle fight!" he yelled excitedly as he pulled out an onikabuto from his pocket.
Let us recall that in order for one to participate in the sacred art of beetle fighting, both sides must first own a beetle worthy of battle. This also meant that there is a minimum of two beetles required in total. After all, there could not be a beetle fighting if there is no opponent to be fought. For Itto, he always carries his fighting onikabuto with him. For the Traveller, he had just crafted a mystical compass that could point the way to the closest treasure chest which required a staggering number of thirty onikabutos. Why does such a tiny compass require that many beetles? The answer will forever remain a mystery.
"Sorry Itto, I haven't caught any onikabutos lately."
"Don't worry! I can go out and catch one right now!"
Although the prison guards were willing to ignore the broken dividing wall, the board games, the card games, and a mystical teapot that contains an entire world inside, they were not so willing to ignore the new hole in the jail cell that led outside the prison.
"Aw come on! I promise to come back!" Itto grumbled as he was escorted back to prison by several guards.
(Aether felt bad for the prison guards and the warden so he and Kazuha helped to fix the broken wall using the materials from Aether's teapot realm.)
Back at the Kamisato Estate, Paimon finally gave up arguing with Ayato and left the building premise. Who else could she ask to free her friend from prison? Sangonomiya Kokomi? Now that was an idea. Even if she lacked the power to free the Traveller, Paimon could borrow the resistance and mount a prison break!
(It was by this point that Paimon realised she really did not care to free Aether the legal way anymore.)
Now, how was she to get to Watatsumi Island without getting maimed or murdered by mobs along the way there?
"Oh, Ayato! Can you help Paimon? It's not about freeing Aether this time…"
Being escorted to a remote island across a battlefield by a band of ninjas was definitely a once in a lifetime experience.
Meanwhile, at the Inazuma City Prison, Itto was escorted into the jail cell opposite of Aether's. Itto complained the entire way, even as he was shoved into the jail cell loudly exclaiming that he was not the kind of person to break a promise. At the same time, Aether apologised for Itto's outburst and the structural damage to the building, even when the warden assured him that it was not his fault.
(Kazuha just wants to know when Beidou will be done robbing bandit camps to pay for his bail.)
On Watatsumi Island, Sangonomiya Kokomi was enjoying her tea after an enlightening discussion with Kujou Sara. At least it was enjoyable until her instincts screamed at her just before her face met the full force of Paimon flying into her without any brakes.
As soon as that occured, many things happened at the same time. The guards from both the Watatsumi Army and the Tenryou Commission screamed in surprise. Gorou yelped and backflipped out of the window, falling several feet into the pool of water beneath the Sangonomiya Shrine. Kokomi hit the floor with the back of her head and instantly blacked out. Sara did a spit take the moment a white blur collided into Kokomi and was now struggling to breathe as she attempted to cough out the tea that went into her windpipe. Paimon had blissfully passed out at the time of collision and was unaware of the chaos she had caused. And the ninja escorts returned back to the Kamisato Estate after patting themselves on the back for a job well done.
(No one spoke of the incident and if anyone asked, everyone vehemently denied that it happened.)
Everyone sat down for tea hours later after Sangonomiya Kokomi woke up. Paimon had wanted to explain her actions, but Kokomi shushed her and shoved a cup of tea into her hands.
"Less talking, more tea," Kokomi said as she took a long sip from her cup of tea.
(After everything that had happened earlier, tea was the bare minimum Kokomi needed to refill her lost energy.)
Once everyone had some sufficient proper rest from the earlier surprise, Kokomi and Sara gave Paimon their full attention.
"Aether got arrested because no one removed his arrest warrant, so Paimon needs Sara to go back and free him," Paimon explained as she lowered the empty tea cup onto the table.
"Why didn't you just ask the Raiden Shogun? She knows you," Sara asked.
"Sara! You're here! Why are you here?" Paimon asked, blinking at Sara as though she had just realised her existence.
(Sara was tempted to stomp out of the room in anger, but she could not do that as long as she still had an image to uphold so she settled for a scowl instead.)
"Paimon, the Raiden Shogun knows who you are! You could have gone up to the Shogun's Castle, talked to her to free the Traveller. And yet, you chose to travel to the other side of Inazuma to come find me instead!"
"To be fair, Paimon was looking for Kokomi, not you."
"The point is that you could have saved the time and effort if you went straight to the Raiden Shogun in the first place!" Sara said with a sigh, rubbing the bridge of her nose in irritation.
"Oh, Paimon knew that…"
Sara wondered how the Traveller's friends had to deal with the antics of Paimon and the Traveller. She also wondered if she could get tips from them as she foresee that this would become a recurring thing.
(Somewhere in Mondstadt, Jean sneezed and scored a long black line across her paperwork.)
In the end, Sara decided to return to Inazuma City with Paimon and the Tenryou Commission delegation the next morning. Kokomi bid them a farewell, looking far too happy to be rid of them.
The trip back required several days of travel. After all, it was not often that travellers moving between islands would be escorted by an army of ninjas willing to carry them upon their shoulders. And so, although the Traveller's freedom was so close that Paimon could almost taste it, she was bound to the rules of mortal travel and locked to the speed of having to walk instead of fly or teleport.
"How do people travel around like this? It's so boring and tiring," Paimon complained as she sat on the shoulders of a Tenryou Commission soldier.
Beside the soldier, Sara was debating if she should tie Paimon up with the high quality rope in her supplies to silence her for the rest of the trip.
"Paimon is hungry!"
Sara breathed in and out to calm herself. If this keeps up, the Traveller would be one companion short once he is freed.
"Oh, is that a hilichurl camp?"
'Perfect timing,' Sara thought to herself as she pulled out her bow.
By the time the party made it back to Inazuma City, there was a trail of dead hilichurls and bandits and a slightly calmer Kujou Sara leading the party. The entire trip, no one in the party said anything, not even Paimon. The trip was filled with blissful silence, if one does not count the screams of terror from the hilichurls and bandits.
"That was a refreshing trip. Don't you agree, Paimon?" Sara asked with a refreshing smile on her face, so unlike her usual facial expression.
"Yes! Paimon agrees!" Paimon said quickly, nodding her head rapidly.
(Unbeknownst to everyone, Kujou Sara was quickly shifted to the top of Paimon's 'Do Not Anger' list.)
The party split up once they reached the gates of the city, the soldiers eager to return home.
(That or they were really eager to get away from Sara and Paimon.)
Sara made her way to the Inazuma City Prison with Paimon cautiously following behind. For some reason, ever since Sara attacked the first hilichurl camp on the trip, Paimon had been suspiciously silent the rest of the way.
(Not that she was complaining of course.)
The two arrived at the Inazuma City Prison where the warden formally greeted them before leading them down to the jail cell where the Traveller was held. The first thing Sara noticed was that the prison had seemingly been renovated in the timespan after she left and before she returned.
Firstly, the jail cell Aether is in has been enlarged. Where there were once two jail cells, there was now one large jail cell. Secondly, one section of the wall had a fresh coating of paint. More specifically, a vaguely human-shaped discolouring on a section of the wall.
Next, unless the prison rules had been changed, there were two occupants and two prison guards in the jail cell playing a board game. Or rather, one Kazuha and two prison guards playing a board game in the jail cell while Aether cheers Kazuha on.
And also Itto is in jail again but that is normal and on par for the course.
Sara sighed as she closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose to calm herself. Meanwhile, Paimon flew over to Aether, squeezing herself through the bars to give Aether a hug and complain about the hardships she faced during her journey.
"Aether, get up, you're free to go."
"Can Kazuha come with me too?"
"...Fine. Both of you get up, you're free to go."
"What about me?" Itto asked, pouting from behind bars.
"What was he arrested for?" Sara asked, turning her head to look at the warden.
"He damaged public property, madam."
"Stay in there and reflect!" Sara growled at Itto, the latter backing away looking chastised.
Aether left the prison with Kazuha and Paimon by his side, smiling as he felt the sun upon his skin. It felt invigorating to be a free man once more.
"Kazuha! Aether! Paimon!" Beidou called out as she approached them. "Kazuha, did Aether free you?"
"No, it was Kujou Sara. I can explain what happened but it is a long story."
"Well, explain it to me during lunch. Heck, why don't you two come along? My treat, I gotta use the bail money for something."
"Oh boy! Free food!" Paimon cheered happily.
It was a day later before Kuki Shinobu showed up to pay Itto's bail, only for the oni to be arrested again the next day.
The entire time all of this happened, Raiden Ei remained blissfully unaware of everything.