Cold Clouds 8 - (Genshin Impact, Ganyu!SI)

Amakane Island is a safe and pleasant place to entertain a picnic.

It was distant between the twins' newest lair and Ritou, but it also those lovely sakura trees that made for a wonderful springtime attraction. As of now, no one but us was visiting- and by 'us' I mean me, the twins, Chiyo and 'Yae-tan'.

I would have been quite happy to go with just the twins, but Chiyo was 'suspecting' something was afoot (I don't even recall hiding the fact that the closeness with the girls had increased) and Yae was... well, a little brat that required attention.

Bratty was the little pink-furred fox that had latched on Ei. Some may say that she saw something not many would in the introvert, but the truth was that she just saw an easy prank target whenever she was in the mood.

However, Yae and I had a bit of a weird bond. She would always strut about, trying to 'make me beg' to scratch her tiny head, get those fluffy ears teased and loved, while also expressing her 'pride' by showing me her puffy fluff by her belly to rub and play with.

She had standards, but I think she actually adopted me in the long-run. Hence why she was essential in playing 'mediation' with the twins. While they weren't outright competing for primacy over my heart, stuff like 'who gets to rest their head on my lap' could be deadly if too frequent of a question.

Thus, Yae would get to sit on my lap and get her fur groomed nicely like any cute little kitsune fox familiar like her. No one could complain, Yae was willing to play my side and never favor theirs, and I would avoid some disruptions.

Well, not from the twins as there was still a 'suspecting' Oni girl that was really trying to fight off the great struggle that is having a short attention span. And, truth be told, handling Chiyo was far easier than the problem truly was all about: I told her to find five strong Oni Kabutos with a bug-catching net I had bought for the occasion so we could play by having the Kabutos fight for us.

As any good ideas being introduced to Chiyo, a simple process ensued: 1) Skepticism at this being a fun game; 2) Reluctant interest to comply to the hassle; 3) Intrigue at the 'cool' appearance of the Oni Kabutos; 4) Curiosity kicking in; 5) Dopamine settling in.

Ten minutes was all the oni girl needed to find all I asked her to. And after sharing the kabutos one for each guest (Yae would play too with my assistance), we found a tree stump and we started to play the silly game I still remember from the game (the reason I did was because of Itto's reward being a disappointment and a half).

Ei was unsure how fun 'playing with Kabutos' could be, but as Makoto coaxed her to give it a go, she slowly realized what I had introduced her to. With enough encouragement, the bugs would fight and follow the right commands.

It was absurd how intelligent those are- I thought that the Traveler had an easy time ordering those around due to some BS ability tied to their nature as a descender, but I also remembered that kids were good at this too.

What should have been a peaceful picnic turned in a rather fun experience. It was a date alright, but the romance was kept to a stable minimum. There were moments where hugging and tender touching were involved. I even got the chance to kiss a few cheeks and get my cheeks kissed (not my ass, by the way, that's for the bedroom only), but no one exaggerated beyond that.

The entire evening went on cutely so, and everyone had their fun. It wasn't anything that truly got us too far into our tentative relationship, especially since so many regulations had to be entertained to avoid anyone getting more than they were due. I didn't want to play favorites, and I didn't want to be the 'mistress' of a harem.

I liked to be top in bed, that didn't mean I liked to be boss in romantic bonds too. Control was not as pleasing when it came to actually having to be in charge of a future Archon or two, especially when that may piss off Celestia somehow.

So, I had to be rather careful how this was going to develop, but I was delighted to know I had the fortune of time and patience from my girlfriends to try and get this complex work done in due time while they were also involved in the decision-making process.

With that first date concluding positively, it was time for it to be done. Makoto had to almost yank Ei and Yae out of my reach so they could get back to their own chores in their new city, while I moved back to Ritou with Chiyo to catch a break.

The oni girl was sleepy for sure, happily going for a zombie-walk to her room while I decided to address the last batch of paperwork waiting in my office. I wasn't exactly prepared to feel a soft breeze pass by me as I stepped inside the room, the window that I had previously kept shut was now partly open as a familiar puffy bird was within sight as he perched by one of my desk's edges.

"Hello Xiao."

The bird tensed up briefly. "Ganyu? You are older."

"It's been years since we last spoke," I argued, yet smiled. "And you look bigger yourself."

Xiao nodded. "I am better too. How are you?"

I approached the desk. "I am well and thriving. You?"

"I speak better. I understand humans a bit more. These humans, they love you."

I offered a cordial grin. "I helped them be great, just like the Assembly is doing with their own responsibility."

There was a pause and I sat by my chair as the bird got closer to me, then jumped off the desk and landed on my lap.

"So, what's the matter for this visit? I doubt you are here just to say hi, Xiao."

A little shiver went down the bird's body, but he offered a truthful nod.

"Yes. I... I am sorry to say, but I bring a message from Morax."

I leaned back on my chair. "What is it about?"

"He wishes for you to join the Assembly in handling Osial," Xiao explained quietly. "It's not a permanent duty but- but the waters are growing more restless once again."

"I thought the Assembly was preparing just for that," I pointed out, frowning as I could tell Guizhong and Cloud Retainer didn't laze about and forgot about improving their designs in those few years. "Why would my presence be-"

"Morax said you know why," Xiao argued, my response cut short as I narrowed my eyes at the bird. "I don't know what that means, he just said you would understand."

...Fuck, I guess I do know why. I had kicked the hornet nest when I left, I guess Osial just got a hate-boner for Guili because I came from it. Still, it sure took a while for his revenge to be ready, so I guess my little 'zap trick' did more damage than I had initially thought.

Which means I can potentially kill Osial on my own if I so wished.

"I guess that's a fair request. But I am about to give you a counter-offer. Something that makes this little trip to Guili less stressful for us all."

Xiao frowned, but I refused any rejection of the idea I had in mind for my unexpected trip back home for a week. And it all started with a... little surprise visit to the cause of this grievance.

Osial was giddy.

Revenge was soon to come to those fools that preached peace and unity as their strength. Weaklings in his eyes and mind, idiots that would be quick prey of him and his wife. But not now as he slumbered, his beloved Beisht keeping him company in his resting hours.

There was nothing that worried them- the fiercest in their water domain. Nothing could really pose a threat to these two as they enjoyed a few hours of recovery and then... back to plotting on how to destroy the feeble Guili Assembly.

The humiliation of about a decade ago would be cleansed- the brat that electrocuted him, that wounded him, that pissed him off would finally pay for the heinous stupidity she was born to. Part of him wanted to just focused on the half-bred, but the brat had gone deep in the hellhole that was Inazuma.

There was no way she was still alive with how dumb she was. Dumb like the rest of his foes. Oh yes, he could already imagine the feast of blood and gore unfolding within his sea, destroying those dwelling in the land and then... you know what? He would mate with his wife after that victory. They would celebrate with some long-needed babymaking and show the world he was the toughest deity around.

All was well in his little wet dream... until his body reacted to noises- no, words.

"Kaaaaa... meeeee..."

Twitching in his slumber, Osial ignored the distant loudness of some fool trying to stir him awake. He may be vindictive but he really wanted to sleep now.

"Haaaa... meee..."

Okay, now it was getting incredibly ridiculous, what the hell was going on and who was the fool that was disturbing his slumbe-

"HA!"

Osial finally opened his eyes, annoyance briefly staining his many faces, but then all the snake heads focused on the large beam of light blue energy that was soaring down into the water and towards where he and his wife were resting.

A quick look could easily confirm the beam was made by a combination of Water, Ice and Electric Elemental energy. It was a powerful beam for sure and... oh right, it was coming for him as he had a single thought in mind before it collided with them.

Oh, that's quite shiny.

Luckily for Osial, there was no pain. Upon impact, the beam detonated in a wide-reaching explosion that tore him and his elemental wife within mere seconds. No one would hear his last words, and Beisht was still asleep when she perished with her 'strong husband'.

The massive blast tore apart a large portion of that underwater terrain, slightly lowering the sea's level for both Guili and Inazuma much to the confusion of many as only a single individual came to see this and she looked pleased with the end result before flying back to Ritou with her cloud.

"That's the best way to end my first date's day~."

AN

Ganyu is thus above standard Archon-level. This is definitely not going to cause huge issues in the future.