Furina tried her best to hide her panic but at this point, she was nearing a meltdown. Why were there two Archons in Fontaine now?! She knew Aether had connections but for two of the Seven to come running to help?!

And both of them were in the Palais's basement within the last day?!

'Okay, Furina. Breathe in; breathe out.' She told herself and put on a smile as always. "Morax? Do you mean the Geo Archon? He's here in Fontaine too?"

"Uh-huh. They threw me into his cell just as he was let out; seeing as you and Aether didn't know, I'm assuming he didn't bother swinging by." Venti nodded with a cheery grin first before faking a pout while crossing his arms. "Then again, I don't think he knows you're up here, Aether."

Aether simply sighed at Venti's carefree answer. He didn't doubt he was telling the truth; he just wondered how Venti could be so casual about the entire thing. "Did he say where he was staying or for how long?"

"Nope, he just told me why he got arrested then bailed on me," Venti sighed too at how quick Zhongli was to leave him behind. "I'll go look for him later while exploring the city. It's been a long time since I last visited and I want to take in the sights. You know, without being wanted by the guards."

"That was your own fault."

"How was I supposed to know playing music is illegal?" The bard pouted, conveniently leaving out where he was playing his music, making Aether roll his eyes. "Anywho, let's dig in, I'm starving. " Without any further ado, Venti started devouring his plate of fine food like he hadn't eaten all day… which might be the case. Aether rolled his eyes in amusement but couldn't blame him; the food in the Palais was naturally the best in Fontaine. He and Furina, the latter still trying her best to mask her nervousness, started eating too.

Ei had noticed the Kamisato heiress enter the hotel and quickly left, having no doubt seen her too. It was amusing but slightly saddening. She knew as a result of the Raiden Shogun's actions, her people could be intimidated by her very appearance but she had hoped Kamisato would not be one of them.

"Am I right in assuming that lady is the one you were waiting for?" Zhongli, ever the perceptive one, asked.

"Yes, Kamisato Ayaka," she nodded before sighing. "It seems she was not expecting to see me here and panicked." It was the natural reaction but Ei couldn't help but feel upset at it. In any case, Xiao returned to their sitting corner in the hotel lobby with some beverages. It had a different taste from what she was used to, but Ei liked the sweet taste of the Fontanian drink.

As she continued to drink the local speciality, she heard Zhongli requesting his… assistant(?) to go outside and speak with their "compatriots." The Adeptus bowed his head in acceptance before doing as was asked, exiting the hotel to bring the rest inside.

Her mind was racing as Ayaka tried to figure out why her Archon was there. Well, the obvious answer was due to Aether's arrest like the rest of them but that also brought more questions too. Why was she in disguise and talking with an unknown Liyue native alone? She would expect there'd be an entourage to accompany an Archon, even if it was the Raiden Shogun…

Their discussion was halted in its tracks when Xiao came out the front doors and joined them. Naturally, the first question was— "Why were you talking to her?" Ayaka did her best to keep calm but a little agency slipped into her voice.

"You speak of the Electro Archon?" Xiao replied with a question of his own. "I happen to bump into her while out in the city. "

Quite the coincidence but it was not like Ayaka had any reason to suspect there was anything more.

"I take it was after you met up with Mister Zhongli. Does he know who she truly is?" Keqing interjected before letting out a short hum. "Then again, I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if he does." Ayaka didn't know who this Zhongli was but she could surmise he was held in high regard by the Yuheng.

Xiao simply nodded and motioned for them to follow him, turning around and not bothering to look back to see they were following him. With not much choice, the group with varying amounts of reluctance between them followed him inside the hotel where the Archon was waiting…

Diluc frankly had no clear idea what to do. Yelan had told him and Xiao to go off and do his own investigation while he went to meet with a contact. The Adeptus didn't need to be told twice and vanished the second Diluc's back was turned, leaving him by himself. He was fine with it to be honest, but he still needed to figure out what his game plan should be. He first thought to go check on the Steambird and see if he could talk to the journalist who did the interview but was turned away. That was to be expected honestly.

So he decided to have lunch by himself first, finding himself a nice restaurant to eat in… and almost immediately had his guard up when he heard a very familiar high-pitched voice. "What?! He's here too?!"

He knew that voice anywhere so the question was why was she here? Diluc's eyes snapped towards the corner of the room where he spotted a table guarded by two men in black suits and glasses. As for who they were guarding…Well, looks like his next step was obvious— he gave the receptionist a brief apology before exiting the premises to find a way around the restaurant. It didn't take long before he found what he was looking for, an open window that should be near the table in question.

The winery owner made sure he was hidden from the view of any passerby when he camped himself under the window and strained his ears. "—least eleven people then? That's a lot so fast if I have to be honest." He managed to pick up on a voice.

"Well, we can't be sure if they are all in cahoots with one another yet, ma chère Charlotte," a second voice said. "I highly doubt they'd find and join forces with each other so soon. At least all of eleven of them."

It didn't take a genius to figure out what or who they were talking about. That was when Paimon chimed in, "Most of them don't know each other so Paimon thinks it would be a while for them to learn they are all here for the same reason. Well, probably for the same reason."

Two thoughts went through Diluc's head; firstly, who were they and how did they already figure out that there was a conspiracy working to help Aether? Secondly… eleven? There were eight of them, nine if he includes the General Mahamatra's partner. That meant there were more in Fontaine that might have the same interest as them. 'Before that… why is Paimon helping them?'

Shouldn't Paimon be on their side in helping Aether? To Diluc, that meant there was more to this situation than it appears…

"But to make our job easier, why don't we just ask one of them?"

'…What?'

Before Diluc could move, a head poked out of the window and looked at him with a smile. "Yahoo! Now, who might you be?" asked a blonde woman with a fancy yellow dress.

"…Tch, guess I wasn't careful enough."

"Nope, monsieur~"

A/N: The Aerina brainrot finally took enough control for me to resume writing for this fic. I really hate how I only have 5 braincells all fighting for control (;_;)

Either way, here we are with the next chapter with Natlan around the corner. Here's hoping Pyro Traveller is viable enough so I won't feel bad using him like I did Hydro Traveller.