At the same time in another room,
A very important teaching session was being held!
*The "Puppy eyes" lesson, or in her case, the "Kitten look"...?
...
Either way, she decided to learn it for one reason only:
To be able to stop her father from drinking so much!
...
And apparently she was a natural...?
*With how happy everyone looked, she definitely was, right...?
-Yay, Diona is doing so great! Can you make your eyes even bigger...?
-Oh! When you lower your ears it becomes even better! If only I could do that!
-Diona looks so cute! Lily wishes I also had cat ears!
-My friends look better! B-But I won't mind having soft looking ears too...
This and more was heard from the children surrounding her,
Yet Diona decided to ignore their words and focus on the task at hand...
...
She was learning this new "skill" for the sake of her father!
This highly embarrassing "expression" she decided to master to save him from himself!
This was necessary to make sure that her father's health wouldn't worsen any more than it already had!
*And it was also made so that he won't become stupid and also so he would have more time for her and...!
...
...
A-anyway, she had to master this skill as soon as possible,
All for her father's and her own future and family bond!
*At first she thought about asking Venti to teach her,
But considering that he still had an allergy to her, even now...
...
It was really nice that Klee and the others agreed to help her with this,
Even if they probably wanted to spend time with Venti, having so much fun...
*If not for his allergy, she could have joined them too,
Not for all of their "activities" of course, but at least some of them...
...
Comfortably sitting down by his side and listening to his calm singing together with everyone, while the sun enveloped her with its warmth and the nice smell coming from Venti making her slowly...
...
...
...
E-either way, it wouldn't be much longer until she fully masters this skill, right...?
A-and since the children helped her so much, she should thank them somehow, right...?
...
...
They seemed to be in love with her ears,
Looking at them with starry eyes...
...
A-a little touching wouldn't be so bad, right...?
I-it wouldn't feel bad, right…?
-Master Albedo, I brought the equipment you asked for. -Timaeus respectfully said upon entering the room and putting the items at the table nearby, soon noticing the container standing in the middle of it. -...The "Anemo Crystaltears", there are truly many of them...As for what we can do with them...
He couldn't help mumbling in interest and thought,
His words soon getting too quiet for anyone to hear...
*Though Albedo could not truly fault him for getting distracted,
As he himself still wondered what they could make out of those new "materials"...
...
Since those "Crystaltears" came from the Anemo Archon himself, they were of the highest purity,
Thus simply making more "Anemo potions" out of them somehow felt particularly improper...
*Perhaps, if they could somehow infuse them into an item, thus giving it magical properties...
...
But would that not be the same as creating a synthetic artifact...?
Could they, with enough research, make something like that...?
...
...
Even if the the amount of "Crystaltears" was great, he did not want to use them needlessly,
Especially since asking the Archon for more would be in really poor taste...
*"Venti" already went through enough recently and deserved to take a break,
But maybe if he already owed an appropriate item, they could infuse it with the tears instead,
And then, the item itself could be fundamentally changed, with its properties becoming that much more...
...
Or it would not be able to stand the strength of the elemental infusion and ultimately break,
With him foolishly destroying an item which possibly holds sentimental value for the Archon...
...
...
And considering the events of a few hours ago, when all of Mondstadt united in order to save their Archon,
Ready to do whatever means necessary to save Venti, despite the possibility of getting hated afterwards...
...
Klee and the other children fake crying in order to lure him in, while Lady Vennessa restrained his movements,
As they and everyone else soon reminisced and reminded him of things he did in the past, how they didn't blame him for certain things:
With master Jean reminding him of his importance, how noble and selfless he has been and how grateful they are for their freedom, but still know that he will help them should they need it,
All the while Lady Vennessa, Master Diluc and Alder Knight Fredrica all told him in their own way to finally be the hero of his own story instead of letting others be it, to be selfish this one time...
*And all of this was said with such great emotion, it was not hard to imagine what could have happened if they failed to get the Archon's soul back into his body...
...
They might have resorted to picking up their weapons and forcing their way into Celestia to get his soul back,
And in order for this plan to succeed, they could have joined forces with a recently hostile group,
Possibly even the Abyss Order or the Cryo Archon with the Fatui...
*No matter if it was Klee, Sucrose or even himself,
All of them, in one way or another, came to care about "Venti",
And in his case, it was gratitude for being accepted in Mondstadt...
...
...
So the idea itself was sound, but risky nonetheless,
If they were to follow it, they would need to act with great care...
...
-Mister Albedo, is there anything wrong...? If you are worried about what we could use the "Crystaltears" for, there is still enough time to decide that. -Sucrose soon said, looking and sounding concerned, before she paused for a few seconds. -...Mister Timaeus and myself are here to help you out, as well! And we can take care of other projects in the meantime, such as the "Genius Invokation TCG" project...
-I forgot all about it. -Her words were interrupted by a shocked sounding Albedo, his expression mirroring his voice. -...Even though Mondstadt is still recovering after the recent crisis, as the people are making preparations for the resumption of the Weinlesefest festival, how could I forget about a side project I was commissioned to help in...?!
He couldn't help saying in even more shock, as well as some horror,
Unable to comprehend what was suddenly wrong with him now,
It was not normal for him to become so absentminded...!
...
Could recent events have affected him more than he originally expected...?
But then, considering how they mostly had to do with their Archon...
...
Was he actually more than just grateful to him for being allowed to stay in Mondstadt...?
Was he in truth, just like Klee and Miss Alice, seeing Venti as part of his family...?
...
And if so, were these his own feelings or simply him "following the crowd"...?
Something was wrong,
She was not sure what, but something was definitely wrong...
*And surprisingly, it did not feel like the "disaster" kind, but a "confusion" one,
Was Albedo perhaps having trouble in deciding what to make of the "Crystaltears"...?
...
Emilia was not certain why she just thought that,
Perhaps it was something to do with a "Twin connection" she heard about...?
...
And yet, even if it was the case, she would not feel guilty for leaving the city at this time,
As there was a certain matter she still had to take care of:
The talk with that...Dragon, Durin.
...
Hence, once more, she was walking through Dragonspine,
Dvalin, once again, escorting her the whole way through...
*It was not hard to ascertain the main reason of why he was there,
And yet, the company was appreciated nonetheless...
...
It was finally time to come face to face with her fears,
And hopefully, this time, there would be no interruptions...
*Not only due to her being uncertain if she could do this again,
But also due to her wish that Mondstadt could be peaceful for once...
"...Oh, it's you, master's "successful experiment". And you are also loved and accepted by all of these humans, unlike a failed experiment such as myself who was thrown away and swallowed by a dragon."
"You want an alliance with me, making such an unbelievable contract, even though I tried to replace you and kill off your human friends...?"
"...Alright then, I agree to your terms, Albedo. No, if we are to act like twins, I should call you accordingly...
...B-b-bro...T-ther…
GAH! This manner of speech is simply repugnant! Must I truly call you with such closeness in order to make this "Twin" thing believable?!"
...
...
It is quite funny, how this whole situation started,
Remembering how she was in the past, it appears that she changed quite a lot...
*Not only was she working well with her "Twin" now, but was even worrying about the people of this land...
...
Somehow, it appears that Mondstadt and its people grew on her over time,
And even this dragon, whose "boyfriend" she was soon about to inquire...
-Thank you for accompanying me once more, Dvalin. You must be eager to spend time with Durin, yet decided to match my own pace just to keep me company. -She couldn't help gratefully saying, as the two have just entered Wyrmrest Valley and were now walking deeper. -...I can not deny that without your help, I might have not reached this place and would have turned back long ago...-She admitted, before deeply sighing to steel herself for what she was about to do. It was now or never and this was something that she had to do. -...Durin, I am here to have a discussion with you. I need to know why you did THAT to me. -She said upon finally reaching the "cave" and stopping before it, looking at the heart with a determined expression. -I have to know your reasons and decide for myself whether you deserve my forgiveness or not.
...
"So you have finally arrived, after avoiding this place for so long and with Dvalin accompanying you no less.", a familiar voice was reverberating around the place, one which somehow sounded really sad, "...Alright, I don't mind following your request. This discussion is already long overdue."
At these words, a bright light suddenly shone inside the cave, before a familiar dragon shape was formed,
One which soon started to rapidly shrink, until it took the shape of a human male, the light finally disappearing...
-I realized that this form shall serve better for our discussion. -Durin soon admitted, looking anywhere but at Emilia, as he motioned for her and Dvalin to follow him inside the cave, which they did. -...I am quite surprised that you even decided to come and talk with me, considering what happened...-He added with a deep sigh, upon arriving at the nest and sitting at the edge of it. -...Before you start questioning me further, there is something you need to know: I never wanted to eat you...! I never wanted to hurt anyone! All that time, for so long, ever since "Mother"...I was living a lie, an illusion. -He sadly admitted, before sighing again. -...And I didn't realize it until it was too late.