Snow4k: Liyue cast gets the short end of the stick again...
Oh hey, it's Klee's birthday at the date of posting. How lucky.
Despite starting at some no-doubt delicious food, Aether had lost any sense of an appetite. He couldn't help but sadly smile at what was going on. If this had occurred just a couple of months ago…well, he would've let out cry of relief at Katheryne's news so loud, the Knights of Favonius would take him in for a noise complaint. Getting to explore a new region of Teyvat, trying to find his sister, while hopefully solving the problems in Inazuma concerning the Archon? All stuff that he was looking forward to for one reason or another.
But now…his situation had changed. Dramatically.
"Once you reach the end of your journey, you will come to understand the world's true nature."
Aether painfully remembered it. That was one of the last things Lumine had said to him before she vanished with the Abyss Herald… No longer was he going to regions to necessarily find her, but instead to understand what in the world his sister meant by that. Teyvat's true nature? What did she mean…did it have something to do with her joining the Abyss? Was there something the Raiden Shogun knew? Could it be…about Khaenri'ah?
That last question gave him a shudder. He had tried to bring it up with Venti and Zhongli several times since, but the Geo Archon was apparently bound by a contract and couldn't tell him. And as for Mondstadt's god…Aether had talked with him twice since meeting with Lumine, but Venti dodged the question the first time and the second time had Klee and Barbara present, giving him a form of cover. Since then, the adventurer hadn't seen the bard at all.
But there was one other reason why he couldn't get excited about going to Inazuma, the biggest cause of hesitation. When he heard the alleged truth from his sister, he and Paimon were not the only ones present. Someone else was there…someone who meant the world to Aether, a person that he would also have to leave behind when they traveled across the sea.
"Aether? What should we do?"
He cast his vision up, off his plate, and stared at Paimon from across the table. She had finished eating her food while he hadn't started, so he wordlessly directed his own order right in front of her. The fairy started to dig in again, but not before providing a suggestion.
"Paimon thinks we should tell Jean first. She is the Acting Grand Master after all."
Aether slowly nodded. It did make sense, the last thing he wanted was to cause Jean to have even more work, which him leaving unannounced would certainly lead to. Actually, him leaving at all was going to leave work unfinished whether he told her or not…
"Alright, I agree. So how should we tell her?"
-0-
Luckily he didn't have to go too far in the building, Jean's office was right on the left after all. They had been thinking long and hard about how they would drop the news, so with some heavy footsteps, Aether reached out his hand towards the door and-
That's when he heard it. Another voice that didn't belong to Jean. Hearing this person normally filled his chest with a gentle warmth…but not this time.
Not now…Did I somehow get Bennett's luck? Why did she have to be in there now?!
Even with the wooden door shut tight, Aether was still able to hear the voices inside, freezing him to the spot.
"-So taking in Bennett's account, the Cyro Slimes seem to be appearing closer to Dawn Winery every time they show up. What should we do about this Jean? Why would this happen anyway?"
The sound of footsteps pacing on the marble floor was heard before a response came. "Hmmm… I'm afraid I don't know why this would be the case either, but we need to deal with it as soon as possible. I'll talk to Albedo about this, perhaps the water has changed…? Or maybe there's something happening at Dawn Winery? If so, then I should ask Diluc the next time I see him."
How much work can one person take on? In less than a minute, she gave herself two more tasks to do… Aether frowned, ear to the door. No matter how many commissions he, the Knights, or other adventurers took on, Jean was ALWAYS busy, doubly so now that they had returned from the Golden Apple Archipelago a while back. A pang of guilt hit as Aether thought back to his chat with Paimon, that leaving Mondstadt would leave even more work that wouldn't get done.
He sighed and was about to listen back in to the conversation when he felt a tap on his shoulder. "Hm?"
In a whisper, Paimon spoke. "We should move, the library guard is starting to get suspicious."
Now that she mentioned it, Aether was feeling a pair of eyes bore into him. After all, here was the Honorary Knight himself, standing outside of Jean's office, face practically lying on the door. Honestly if he was anyone else, he would've been thrown out by now. Trying to play it off and lower suspicion, Aether quickly walked deeper into the building. Jean would have to wait until later, he supposed, it was time to stall. And unless he wanted to pass by the guard, there was only one place left for him to go.
Solitary confinement.
Upon opening and closing the door behind him, his tiny companion interjected. "Hey Aether, why did you do that!?"
"I-I panicked, alright? I completely forgot the guard was there, we'll just stay here until Amber leaves and-"
"Mr. Honorary Knight! Paimon!"
Aether spun around as fast as possible. It was a good thing he did so too, because a moment later the owner of this voice ran up to him and leapt into his arms, laughing all the way. After causing him to spin in place twice, Aether signaled that it was time to release their half-tackle on him, lest they both wind up on the floor, to which they reluctantly complied. As expected by where they ended up, the eager hug-giver was none other than a 'young' girl named Klee. Spark Knight Klee to be precise, someone who was known for her…interesting hobbies and who loved explosions and her friends, though hopefully not in that order.
"Klee? What are you doing here?" Paimon asked as Aether got his bearings. Silly question really, both of them were well aware of her frequent visits to this room.
"Hehehe…I'm sorry. I forgot that Mondstadt's fish are off-limits!" With that one-sentence explanation, the adventurer was absolutely positive why she ended up here once again. I can see it now…She got too addicted to fish-blasting with Jean in the archipelago, so when we got back here…yeah, rest in peace fish. And despite her words, nothing about Klee's cheerful expression said that she actually was sorry.
While the two continued their chat, Aether's gaze washed over the room. Since it was his first (and hopefully last) time actually inside solitary confinement, might as well take in the "sights". Unsurprisingly given its' location, it was structured exactly like Jean's office, with the same floor, windows, wallpaper, and bookshelf embedded in the wall, though this one had significantly less material to read. The true difference between the rooms lied in its' furnishings, or rather lack thereof. No grand desk or piles of overflowing documents, no welcoming carpets, just a plain wooden table smack in the middle with some seats dotted around.
Actually, there was something that did catch his eye…on the table there existed some drawings, all featuring a multitude of vibrant colors to display several monstrous creatures. Specifically there was one drawing that had a certain likeness to several people in the Knights of Favonius.
Aether chuckled to himself. Leave it to Klee to lighten up the mood. Somehow being with her just made everything feel so innocent, like there was nothing in the world that could cause harm. It was quite a different feeling than he got when he was alone with Amber, but it was a welcoming thing nonetheless.
I'm going to miss this.
Thinking that thought caused his throat to clench up. Had he really just accepted it now, so quickly? That this was last day in Mondstadt? That he would soon be in a completely different region with nobody he knew besides Paimon? Sighing deeply, he turned back around to face the fairy in question who was still in a conversation with Klee.
"You know Klee, something Paimon was wondering…isn't there a Knight typically outside this room?"
The Spark Knight pondered for a minute before realizing who she was referring to. "Oh! You mean Mr. Wood! Master Jean told him he didn't have to do it anymore!"
"Jean did WHAT?!" The fairy shouted, eyes as wide as dinner plates.
"Yeah! She said something about," She tried to put on a 'Jean-voice' for the next part. "'Klee has shown that she doesn't leave without permission' and that Mr. Wood could patrol someone else. She really trusts me, I'm so happy!"
"Uhh…that sure is trust all right…" Paimon, clearly stunned by Klee's interpretation of what was going on, could only offer a confused reply.
It was only then that both of them had noticed that Aether had been silent for a while. Klee's voice came first, smile quickly fading.
"Mr. Honorary Knight? You seem sad…did Klee do something wrong?"
The Honorary Knight in question blinked dimly before responding. "No…no, you're fine. It's just…Klee, can I talk to you?"
"Hey hey hey!" Paimon interrupted, she knew what he was going to say, a byproduct of the two of them always being with each other. "Are you really telling Klee first, of all people?" Aether knew what she meant, ignoring the language. They came here to tell Jean the news, not a kid. And case in point, the Spark Knight didn't recognize the casual insult and just looked at Aether curiously. Despite this however, the blonde couldn't help but feel like this was right thing to do, so a firm nod came immediately.
"I am. She'll figure it out sooner or later. Plus I have to tell everyone after all, might as well begin here."
Yeah, I need practice before I tell Amber.
After putting a finger to her chin, Klee responded. "Hmm…Klee doesn't really get it, but if I can help you Mr. Honorary Knight, I will! Master Jean told me that's what a Knight of Favonius does!" Klee grew a look of pride at seemingly correctly remembering what she was told.
A smile reformed on Aether's face as he gestured for Klee to take a seat near him. Paimon exhaled and shrugged before floating over to the adventurer's side, knowing that she would likely need to speak at some points.
Silence laid over the room for a moment while Aether racked his brain for the right words to say to Klee. If "Mr. Wood" was still outside the room, he likely would've grown concerned at the sudden drop of noise… After what seemed like forever despite only being a few minutes, he softly spoke.
"Klee…do you remember back when I wasn't in Mondstadt for a while?"
"Uh…oh yeah." She was trying her best to recall what he meant. "Master Jean told me you went somewhere called…Li-way."
Aether chuckled a bit at the slight mispronunciation. "Good. Well…" He took a deep breath, this part was going to be hard as he feared Klee's reaction. "I'm going to be doing the same thing tonight…and I'll probably be gone for longer this time."
As he thought, Klee understood as her neutral expression quickly darkened into one of sadness. "But…but why? Klee doesn't want that!"
Why…why indeed. Is this my fate? Am I a slave to whatever my sister and the Archons want? They can't or won't tell me what I want to know, but I'm always expected to help out with their problems. Aether sighed again. No, that's being unfair to Venti and Zhongli…I'm sure they have their reasons. I want to trust them. Unfortunately, he couldn't very well tell Klee any of what he just thought. Firstly, she definitely wouldn't understand anything (after all, she treated the Abyss like they were harmless) but more importantly, only himself, Paimon, and Amber knew about the truth of his sister. He always felt hesitation at telling anybody else, and now it was too late to change that.
So he opted for another explanation, one that was true even if it wasn't his main reason for going to Inazuma. "Klee, who's responsible for keeping Mondstadt safe?"
The Spark Knight's eyes lit up again. "That's easy! Master Jean and Bennett and Kaeya and Albedo! Everyone helps! I've even heard that sometimes that weird adult helps out too, hee~"
Ignoring the Diluc slander, Aether nodded along with her while Paimon stared in amusement. "Yeah, everyone helps…but where I'm going, they don't have anyone like that. There seems to be a lot of fighting there, so it's hard for the people to feel safe." He silently thanked Kazuha for providing a picture of what was going down in Inazuma, the Vision Hunt Decree wasn't exactly something he wanted to tell Klee about.
"So, you're gonna go and help those people?"
"Hopefully, yes."
"I see." Shockingly then, her face switched to one of determination. "Then can Klee come with you?!"
Aether shook his head slowly. Inviting her was absolutely out of the question. Albedo and Jean would never let that happen, to say nothing of anyone else. The only person coming with him on his 'trip' to Inazuma would be Paimon, as much as he wished otherwise. But he saw an opportunity to let her down easily. "You can't Klee. I need you to stay here and watch over everyone. Who else is going to look after Dodoco?"
"You don't have to worry Klee, Paimon will look after him!" The fairy excitedly stated with a twirl.
"Ohhh…ok then." Klee looked down at the table separating the two of them from her, tears threatening to escape.
In a hurry, Aether spoke up. "Klee, I have a favor I need you for." The sudden request captured the attention of two pairs of eyes. Recalling what he'd heard earlier, "I need you to find Bennett in town and let him know all this, he still should be around the main area. Meanwhile, I will tell Jean everything we just spoke about. Can you do that for me?"
Instantly the tears stopped while Aether breathed out again. "Ok, Klee will! But wait…I'm still in trouble for fish-blasting…"
"I'll talk to Jean about that too. As long as you don't leave the city, it will be fine, I promise you." He stuck out his pinky finger.
Klee couldn't resist. She copied his motions exactly and with finger interlocked, Aether repeated a rhyme he heard quite a while ago.
"You make a pinkie promise, you keep it all your life.
I break a pinkie promise, you throw me on the ice.
The cold will hurt the pinkie that once betrayed your friend,
The frost will freeze my tongue so I never lie again."
He played around a bit with the words to make it a bit more kid-friendly. Sneznhaya kids are something else. It seemed to have had the desired result too, as the Spark Knight was now giggling.
"That was also my promise to come back safely Klee, I won't break it." The pair let out a final nod to each other, stood up, and finally headed outside the solitary confinement room.
After checking to make sure the library guard wasn't suspicious of Klee coming out, Aether spoke low. "Alright, I'm going to see Jean now. After I close the door, count to five. If I don't open it again by then, you can leave and look for Bennett. Got it?"
"Yup!"
"Are you sure about this?" Paimon spoke so quietly that she couldn't hear. "If Klee goes outside Mondstadt, we'll get in trouble. I'd rather not spend our final day on Jean's bad side."
Undeterred, Aether looked back down at the child. "We'll be fine. I trust Klee."
"Awww…" Klee rubbed her eyes to hide her happy tears. "I'm really, really gonna miss you Aether!"
Flashing a final smile to her, he gulped and knocked on the door to Jean's office. Please don't let Amber be in there…not yet.
"Come in."
"Hey Jean!" Paimon's voice rang throughout the room…with only the Acting Grandmaster in it. Seems that Amber had indeed left by now. The door shut behind the pair as Aether mentally counted down.
I hope Bennett doesn't accidentally get blown up…
-0-
"I see…Are you sure you can't stay one final night? We could see you off in the morning…"
Aether frowned. "Believe me Jean, we really want to do that too. But the situation in Inazuma sounds very…unstable. We don't want to keep Beidou waiting for any longer than necessary. I want to leave by sunset today, this will allow us to arrive at Liyue tomorrow night. I'm sorry for the trouble again"
The first part of the conversation was proceeding more or less how Aether expected it to. Dropping the news, apologizing for the suddenness of leaving, and receiving the response of 'there's no need to apologize, you helped us out in more ways than we can count' were all things he predicted when planning this out with Paimon. Although he still didn't tell the Acting Grand Master about his sister, he could at least be truthful about what he had heard from Kazuha.
But then Jean threw a curveball, one that wasn't entirely unexpected, but still caught Aether off-guard.
"And what about Amber? Have you told her yet?"
His eyes widened slightly, a near indiscernible amount, before returning to normal size just as as quickly. That's right, she does know. Even though by now everybody in Mondstadt had learnt about their relationship through word-of-mouth, he forgot that Jean was one of the few Amber told directly.
"I was going to tell her of course. It's just that-"
"You weren't ready when you heard her talking to me, is that it?" She closed her eyes and smiled at the Honorary Knight from across her desk. Paimon let out a low whistle.
Aether rubbed his head, a habit he felt like had been picked up from Bennett. "So, you saw me outside then? Sorry for eavesdropping." He knew that he wasn't really in trouble anyway, Jean was clearly finding his little failure amusing.
"Not necessarily. I felt someone's presence outside the door, but it instantly faded while Amber was talking. Simple process of elimination told me it was you and Paimon. Oh, but I don't think Amber noticed, she was too busy relaying Bennett's story."
"I see…" A moment passed before Aether thought of his next move. "So, where is she now?"
The Dandelion Knight was quick to answer "I sent her to Dawn Winery to ask Diluc about what's going on with the Cyro Smiles. We need to find out why so many are showing up in that area. I was planning on talking to him myself, but she insisted…"
Now it was Aether's turn to smile. Amber, it's all well and good to take Jean's assignments, but please remember to take care of yourself too. With that thought, he stood up and thanked Jean for the information, and proceeded to go for the door.
"Ah, Honorary Kn- no, Aether?" I have one final thing to request."
Hm? Aether paused at the entrance and turned back with a curious look. "What is it?"
"After you talk with Amber, could you come back to Mondstadt with her? Though it's on short notice, I would still like for the rest of the Knights to see you off. And I might be able to give you a little more time with her."
That last bit made him smile a bit. Honestly, there was a part of Aether's mind that wondered about what it would be like if he were to just slip away from Mondstadt after telling Amber. How long would it take anyone to notice his absence? Would he truly be missed? But then the second passed and he knew he would never do that. After losing Lumine so suddenly…doing something similar to the people of Mondstadt, his friends, was completely unthinkable. Plus, he had nothing to do for the rest of the day after not taking any commissions, and Klee and Bennett were surely going to spread the word around themselves.
"Thank you Jean, I appreciate that."
-0-
A few minutes had passed since Aether had left headquarters, assuredly to head directly to Dawn Winery and talk with Amber, leaving the Acting Grand Master all alone once more. She was neck-deep in documents, as to be expected, but these weren't the typical reports about local problems (that would become tomorrow's commissions) or written rants about Eula's activities (that would get turned into ash), but rather she was looking at the Knight's patrol routes.
If Kaeya covers that part of her route, it still leaves a gap around the front gate. Maybe I can ask Diluc for assistance? Surely he wouldn't mind…as long as I keep him away from Kaeya that is.
Working shorthanded was by no means a new thing for Jean. In fact, it arguably had become the standard situation by now. As far as she was concerned, the Honorary Knight leaving was just another challenge for her to handle. Looking over her handiwork, she let out a sigh of relief and thanked the archons that Liyue wasn't on the other side of Teyvat.
This will only be for two nights, hopefully nothing goes wrong…An image of a comically large fire engulfing Mondstadt flashed in her mind at this. Jean shook her head. ..I should let Klee know what's going on, explosions will absolutely not be permitted tonight.
As she headed for the lone door to the hallway, an amusing thought came to the Dandelion Knight. To think she was currently shuffling Knight assignments just so that Aether and Amber could spend a little more quality time together…Aether himself wasn't even around a year ago. A slight grin appeared across her lips. Mondstadt really does attract all kinds of people.
Receiving a quick salute from the library guard, Jean turned left and headed straight for solitary confinement. Klee would likely be disappointed at the news, but she would understand.
…Seconds later, the Acting Grand Master's amusement vanished.