A New Objective

"He has a…what?" Paimon nearly exclaimed out loud.

Aether swiftly glanced around their surroundings to make sure no one had heard that accidental audible gasp from his companion. Luckily, it appeared like they were in the clear. It would've been an unnecessary bother if someone had approached them to ask what was wrong.

"Keep your voice down" he told her calmly.

Furina was guiding her own cohort near the waterways, giddily pointing at something swimming through. The most logical explanation was that some aquatic creature had caught her eye and she was trying to keep it in her sight. It made sense if she had seen a radiant fish or something similar as she always seemed to be quite fond of such creatures.

The person being led around her by her didn't appear to show any kind of hostility towards her. On the contrary, he looked to be happily going along with what she was doing. Had it not been for the empty badge he had with him, he wouldn't have captured Aether's attention.

"The person Furina is with…" he decided to tell Paimon what he had seen, "…he has something with him that resembles the badges that the Fatui usually have."

"WHA-"

Aether nearly reached out to stop her from shouting but Paimon managed to stop herself. Once again, no one around paid them any attention.

"Did you mean…he's Fatui?" she asked, whispering.

"I think so" he nodded, "I'm not sure about this fact but I also think he has a delusion."

"Huh!?" Paimon tilted her head, "Really? A delusion?"

Aether then pointed his finger towards Furina and the supposed Fatuus as they continued to keep their sights fixated on the waterways, not even noticing the puzzled stares of the citizens nearby.

As luck would have it, the suspicious man stood in such a manner that the empty badge on his belt was visible for an ample amount of time. Aether glanced at Paimon, confirming that she had indeed seen exactly what he had caught sight of earlier.

"Oh! That really does look a delusion!" she told him with a strong hint of surprise, "Ooooo…do you think he was sent here by the Knave?"

"The Fatui has other factions within it" Aether replied, "He could also be not under the House of the Hearth."

"Hmm…that could be the case."

Keeping his eyes on the strange person, Aether could not make a proper assumption of his true intentions just from a glance. While Furina being genuinely excited around him was not something to worry about, the problem lied in his current inability to sense whether or not the smile on her companion's face was a façade.

He had many encounters before in his journey where some people appeared trustworthy and honest at first, only to show their true colors later. A couple of times, him and Paimon had been fooled before and that only served to strengthen his reluctance to pass judgment.

But then, he noticed a familiar figure striding into view at the corner of his eye.

A quick turn of the head confirmed that it was indeed who he thought it was.

"Paimon" he alerted his partner.

"Huh? What is it?" she asked immediately.

He then gestured towards Siora who had come from the observational deck. He wondered if she had heard the mini-commotion from Furina's arrival and headed over to investigate.

"Oh yeah!" Paimon smiled and nodded, "Siora! She's part of the Marechaussee Phantom so she'd know who that guy is!"

"Exactly" Aether smiled as well.

Now with a plan in mind, Paimon floated over to Siora with Aether following. Speaking to the melusine before she could have her attention taken somewhere else was the priority. As she worked for Neuvillette, there was a big chance that they'd also know everyone who was close to Furina.

"Siora!" Paimon waved as she approached her.

"Oh! You two are still here?" Siora smiled, waving back.

"We have something to ask you" Aether said to her.

Putting a hand to her chin, Siora stared at both of them for a second before speaking again.

"What is it? I'm ready to answer any queries!" she said excitedly.

Aether and Paimon glanced at one another and nodded before proceeding with what they had in mind.

"Well, Paimon and the Traveler were wondering if you knew who that person with Furina is" Paimon said.

"Oh? Lady Furina? Is she here?"

Siora appeared to be confused at first but when she looked in the direction where Paimon gestured to, she could clearly see Furina and the strange individual next to the former Hydro Archon. They were happily talking about something, not paying much heed to the small crowd watching them from a respectable distance.

Aether instantly noted the pleasant smile reforming on Siora's face. It was a sign that they might not really need to be that suspicious of whomever it was that was with Furina.

However, the moment she revealed his identity, one assumption of his would be confirmed true.

"That? That's just Master Drakonov" Siora told them in a casual manner.

"Drakonov?" Paimon raised an eyebrow.

"Drakonov…" Aether mumbled under his breath.

He already had a hunch that the person named Drakonov had features that heavily implied he was not from Fontaine. And from his name alone, he understood that it was almost certain he was Snezhnayan or at least had Snezhnayan roots. Though, in spite of Siora's positive reaction upon seeing him, Aether also had to consider that he had something with his person that only members of the Fatui possessed.

That was another thing he had to ask Siora about.

"Is he Snezhnayan?" Paimon asked bluntly.

Siora nodded.

"Yes, he is" she answered, "He is actually a citizen of Fontaine now. And he has been living here for the past year."

"He has?" Paimon's eyes widened in surprise.

Aether, too, was caught off guard by this revelation. That was another piece of information that put a bit of doubt in his original guess. Unless he was a Fatuus with a long-term convoluted plan in mind, staying in one place long enough to be considered as a citizen of Fontaine by one of the melusine detectives was not a thing most of the Fatui would do.

Not that they'd go under the radar for that long given the efficiency of the Marechaussee Phantom as well as other organizations such as Navia's Spina di Rosula.

"He's the maestro of Fontaine's Grand Orchestra as well" Siora added, "He's held that position for approximately four months now."

"What!? Maestro of the Grand Orchestra?!" Paimon exclaimed.

"For four months now?" Aether asked, getting more and more puzzled.

"Mm-hmm! I think that is how he became acquaintances with Lady Furina…" Siora continued, "The Grand Orchestra sometimes has live performances during plays at the opera. And since Lady Furina is very interested in arts and music…"

That appeared to answer the question regarding how Furina would've been so familiar with Drakonov. Though, it was strange that she was being so friendly with him given the strong hints that he was Fatui.

Aether was sure that she had many more associates in that particular line of interest but he had never seen her "hang out" with anyone. That most likely meant there was more to Drakonov that one could catch on initially.

"Ah! So, they share the same interest and they both have important positions" Paimon seemed to connect the dots as well, "Paimon can see how Furina would be friends with him."

Still, there was one glaring thing that Aether needed to address.

"I believe he has a badge on his belt that is similar to the ones that the Fatui have on them" he told Siora.

To add to his puzzlement, that didn't seem to faze the melusine at all.

"That thing?" Siora smiled, briefly looking at Drakonov in the distance before turning to Aether and Paimon again, "You see, around a month before the floods came, Master Drakonov was confronted by some Fatui who had a problem with him because he was Snezhnayan but wasn't affiliated with them."

"Eh? What?" Paimon asked, astonished.

"A problem…with the Fatui?!" Aether appeared to be shocked as well.

"Afterwards, he asked Estelle from Beaumont Workshop to create a fake delusion for him so that the Fatui would stop bothering him or at least, believe him to have his own "Fatui" agenda and stay out of his way" the melusine continued, "However, when the nation became flooded, he was part of those who boarded Duke Wriothesley's Wingalet and that was where he lost the fake orb in his badge. He has told Estelle that he'd asked her to create a new one soon but in the meantime, he goes around sporting that delusion-less badge."

As the member of the Marechausse Phantom had no reasons to lie to them, Aether and Paimon had to accept what they heard as the true answers to their questions. Siora's account of the incident that Drakonov had run into dashed any assumptions that he was affiliated with the organization.

On the contrary, he had been quite at odds with them to say the least.

"Umm…what about the people of Fontaine?" Paimon inquired, scratching her head, "Won't they mistake him as someone part of the Fatui?"

Using the information he had gotten from Siora, Aether answered on the melusine's behalf.

"If he has been a part of the Grand Orchestra for at least four months now, most citizens would've heard of him" he said, "They wouldn't have a reason to think he is Fatui, especially after having clashed with them."

"You're correct!" Siora giggled, nodding along happily, "Master Drakonov might be Snezhnayan but he is a part of our nation now."

"Whoa!" Paimon exclaimed in awe, "Even without his job as a maestro, he'd still be someone that Furina would find interesting!"

"I agree" Aether nodded, "Thank you for clarifying that for us, Siora."

"My pleasure, Traveler" she smiled, "And since I know that the little commotion over there is just because of Lady Furina's appearance, my investigation is complete! I'll head down to the harbor now. I hope to meet you two again!"

"Thanks for the help, Siora!" Paimon waved appreciatively.

And with that, the melusine went back towards the elevator shaft, probably to use it to travel downwards to the harbor several floors below them.

All that was left for Aether and Paimon to do was to process everything that was relayed to them. It was certainly possible that they had managed to never run into Drakonov during their relentless journey through Fontaine up to that point. Still, it was rather strange that they had never heard about him given his position as well as his history.

The bit about him possessing a fake delusion made sense too, considering that most of the Fatui would probably believe him to be a part of other factions at a glance without the need to thoroughly inspect him. After all, some conductor in Fontaine pretending to be a part of them would be the least of their concerns given recent developments.

"Well, Paimon is now convinced that he's just a friend of Furina's" she said, floating over to Aether's left side, "Do you think the Fatui will target him once they find out his delusion is fake?"

"Maybe" Aether replied.

His sight was now fixed on Furina and Drakonov as they were now browsing through the newspaper stand that he and Paimon had intended to check out before they arrived. Like before, the maestro was not acting suspicious in the slightest and whatever he was conversing with Furina about seemed to be nothing out of the ordinary.

Now seemed to be the perfect time to finally interact with Drakonov.

"Let's go talk to Furina for a moment" he suggested.

"Mmm-hmm! Paimon wants to see what this Drakonov guy is like up close!"

The citizens near them noticed their presence as they approached the former Hydro Archon and her companion. They all took some steps back as whispers could be heard, speculating on what business the famed Traveller now had with Furina.

As Aether and Paimon got closer, they could clearly hear what the conversation between Furina and Drakonov was about.

"Ah! I believe one of the Steambird issues had a clear photo of Mt. Mingyuan without any foggy obstructions. Some parts of Yilong Wharf might be visible in that same photo as well."

The two of them immediately took note of how relaxed Drakonov sounded. They could also tell without looking that he was smiling while saying that.

"There is!?" Furina eager voice then followed, "Oh! Do find that issue please! I've not had the chance to observe it on a clear day before."

"It must've been taken from Lumidouce Harbor" Drakonov said, rummaging through the older copies of the newspaper, "Have you been there before, Furina?"

"I haven't had the chance to do that either" she nervously laughed, "I…I haven't gone that far out much yet."

"You can take one of the boats down below in the harbor" he said jokingly, "Or you could also walk your way over there."

Feigning annoyance, she crossed her arms.

"Hmph! As if I have the time to do that" she replied with an air of dramatization, "You know very well that I am to oversee the latest play that was submitted by Gabin. My coming days are filled to the brim with important matter."

Chuckling, Drakonov placed a folded copy of the Steambird in her hands.

"Here it is" he told her, "The photo's on the third page."

Without wasting a single moment, Furina unfolded the newspaper and quickly turned a page to search for the picture in question. As soon as she saw it, her face lit up.

"Oh! Mt. Mingyuan is as magnificent as they say it is!" she remarked in delight, "I wonder…could it rival some of the peaks in Fontaine in terms of height? From this picture alone, I assume that it must be one of the highest mountains in all of Teyvat."

"You might be correct in that regard" Drakonov nodded, "Though I am no explorer nor do I have knowledge on the topography of the other nations."

"I wonder…beyond Mt. Mingyuan…" she muttered with eyes full of curiosity, "…can we see the nation of Liyue?"

"It might be a fair distance further than that" he laughed a bit.

Clenching the newspaper tightly, Furina's determination rose significantly.

"I will make it my goal to, one day, traverse every nation that I haven't been to yet!" she declared, loud enough for everyone nearby to hear.

Drakonov grinned in amusement before he glanced to his side, realizing that two important individuals were standing right next to them.

Aether and Paimon were both left startled as the maestro of the Grand Orchestra suddenly turned to face them. They were quietly listening in to their conversation, being convinced more and more that Drakonov was really a friend of Furina.

They, however, had not anticipated having the spotlight being abruptly shone upon them.

"Ah! Traveler, Paimon" Drakonov greeted them both a nod.

"Huh?" Furina instinctively raised an eyebrow upon noticing them as well.

"Furina was just talking about the two of you" he added jokingly.

The former Hydro Archon locked eyes with both Aether and Paimon for a moment before she shook her head vigorously, directing her attention and her annoyance to her friend the next moment.

"W-What!? D-Drakonov!" she yelled at him, pouting slightly, "I-I never mentioned them at all!"

The Snezhnayan let out another chuckle before speaking again.

"Well, there aren't many who have as much experience going around Teyvat as these two have" he explained, "You could ask them for pointers if you do intend to follow through on that goal of yours."

Furina then promptly put her hands on her hips and exhaled to regain her composure.

"That is logical" she commented before properly addressing Aether and Paimon with a smile, "Good afternoon, Traveler and Paimon. What brings the two of you to Romaritime Harbor on this fine day?"

Since there was no cause that necessitated lying to her, Aether decided to reveal the real reason why they were at the harbor on that particular day.

"We're just taking a day off here" he replied.

"Yeah! Taking things slow for a change" Paimon grinned, putting her hands behind her, "A vacation of sorts…hehe!"

"Resting, huh?" Furina placed her hand near her chin, "I suppose you have been running around Fontaine, taking care of problems non-stop ever since you've arrived. A bit of rest is deserved, yes."

While Paimon was not privy to it yet, Aether understood that Furina would be the best person in all of Fontaine to empathize with anyone wishing to spend some time away from their duties. With that in mind, he knew better than to pester her for too long since she really seemed to be content with being around Drakonov.

"Are you thinking about going somewhere outside Fontaine, Furina?" Paimon inquired, "That would be an unprecedented event, right?"

Furina flinched slightly upon realizing that Aether and Paimon had overheard her talking about her goal. However, it was futile trying to deny it so she addressed the inquiry as genuinely as she could manage.

"You are correct on that, former clapper loader" Furina nodded, "Once my schedule is cleared up, I'll embark on an adventure that will be talked about for ages. I can assure you all that it will be a memorable journey no matter what!"

"That sounds like a fun-filled adventure" Aether smiled.

"Oooh! Then, you might be the first former Archon to travel around all of Teyvat!" Paimon ecstatically commented.

"I suppose you are correct" Furina smirked.

"Ahem!"

All three of them shifted their attention towards Drakonov who was staring at Furina with a very amused expression on his face; like a person who was about to say something with the intent of messing with their friend.

At the same time, Aether sensed a very faint hint of elemental energy emanating from nearby but he was unable to pinpoint the source yet.

"Furina, aren't you going to ask them to join you in this adventure you're planning to pursue?" he asked with a smile.

All Aether and Paimon could do was exchange puzzled looks at each other.

"Drakonov!" Furina yelled, "There is no need to pull either of them into this. This has nothing to do with them, understand?"

She shot a glare right at her companion while he responded with a bemused chuckle.

"It's just a suggestion" he shrugged.

She instantly put her hand on her face in exasperation. Witnessing it up hand gave the people around them an invaluable insight into the dynamic that the two friends shared. After facepalming, Furina let out a heavy sigh before speaking to Aether directly.

"I presume you haven't met Master Drakonov before?" she asked.

The Traveler nodded, shifting his gaze between Furina and the Snezhnayan.

"He might not act like it but he's the maestro of Fontaine's Grand Orchestra" she introduced him, "A rather prominent figure in the entertainment side of life, if I'm being honest."

Drakonov appeared to quite enjoy and appreciate what Furina had said about him.

"Thank you for that enlightening and honest introduction, Furina" he said, "Traveler, Paimon…once again, it is a pleasure to meet you in person."

While it was not easy quickly getting rid of the presumption they had of him, Aether found nothing in his presentation to suggest that he wasn't exactly as Siora had described him to be earlier. And with Furina vouching for him, there was no reason to doubt that he was anything more than a friend of hers.

Yet, something still seemed…off.

"It is a pleasure to meet you as well, Master Drakonov!" Paimon replied with a smile.

"Nice to meet you" Aether added.

Everything made sense but at the same time, something wasn't entirely right. It was like the pieces of the puzzle had fit perfectly but they weren't where they were supposed to be. For the time being though, he couldn't say any of his thoughts out loud…at least, not until he could prove there was something more to Drakonov.

"We must move on, Drakonov" Furina suddenly said, tugging on his cloak, "The golden streamfish have already swam downwards to the harbor. We'll miss their entry into the deeper waters if we remain here any longer" she then glanced at Aether and smiled, "And besides, it would be unwise to continue bothering the Traveler and his companion when it is their day off."

Aether did not require her to repeat herself to know that their little interaction was about to end. It wasn't too abrupt though as it was nothing more than a chance meeting after all.

"Ah! Yes, we'll have to cut this conversation short it seems" Drakonov chuckled as he began to follow her, "Farewell for now, Traveler, Paimon."

"Oh…uh…goodbye for now" Paimon awkwardly waved while Aether simply nodded.

In just a matter of seconds, Furina entered the elevator with Drakonov in tow before they disappeared from view. The small crowd that had gathered nearby dispersed soon after, leaving only the two of them standing near the newspaper stand.

"That Drakonov guy really does seem like her friend, right?" Paimon asked as soon as the coast was clear.

"I think so too" he nodded, "Furina's been around for a long time. She'd have already known if he was trouble."

"Yeah…" she said in agreement before perking up, "So, now that's out of the way, Paimon will check the other issues of the Steambird for the scenic photos that Charlotte took, okay?"

"Oh right! We were supposed to do that" Aether chuckled, seemingly moving on with their original plan.

"Hmm…some of these don't have Charlotte's photos in them…" Paimon complained, "Paimon will keep these to the side since they won't be needed."

"Don't accidentally skip over those that do have the photos."

As he joined Paimon in searching for particular issues of the Steambird, Aether realized he still could not shake off the unexplainable feeling in his gut that he wasn't far from uncovering any kind of mystery that was related to Drakonov.

Even after being presented with evidence first hand that showed that he was just a normal citizen of Fontaine, he was not fully convinced about what was shown to him despite wishing to believe it wholeheartedly.

Somehow, he felt compelled to uncover an unknown truth that not even he knew about…yet.