Hello again!

This is me lifting the Hiatus on this fic. Hopefully this slots in well and doesn't seem weird. Anyway, please enjoy!

Lumine sighed for the umpteenth time since the negotiations began. She'd been there for around an hour, waiting for something to happen as the negotiations proceeded and so far, nothing had happened. For an hour, she battled the desire to leave and go and look for Naruto, and as looked at the others, she noticed Xiao looking out at the ocean. She quietly moved beside him and tapped his shoulder. "Do you think he could make it?" She asked when he turned around.

Xiao stayed silent for a moment before looking back out at the ocean with a sigh. "Yes. I'm sure. He's not one to be taken lightly. If anything, I wouldn't be surprised if he swam here from Gunyun stone forest."

Lumine blinked. 'Was that a joke?' She asked herself. She turned to Paimon who also had the same clueless look on her face. With a mental sigh, she prepared to excuse herself from the negotiations. "Um… excuse me?" Both the Adepti and the Qixing turned to look at her. "Can I go now? In case you forgot, my companion fell off the Jade Chamber and I'd like to go and look for him. I'm not sure if I'm going to find him or his body, but either way, I want to go."

Lumine wouldn't admit it, but saying that last part out loud had caused a sense of dread to settle in her chest. For this whole time, she'd been denying it but the fact that Naruto, the one who decided to join her journey out of the desire to see the world in a new perspective. 'And if something happened to him, then…' She'd be held responsible. Even though she didn't complete the thought, she knew what she was about to think. She shook her head to clear the thought and looked out towards the sea one last time.

Before she could leave, Xiao stopped her with his hand. "Like I said, I wouldn't surprised if he swam here." He said with a small smile on his face.

Lumine's brows shot up, and she started frantically looking out over the sea, trying to find any sign of Naruto. Sure enough, a little bit out from the wharf was Naruto, kicking in the water as he made his way to the gathering point. The dread in Lumine's heart slowly drained out, replacing itself with sheer happiness as she watched her friend swim to shore. Even Paimon squealed happily, almost flying off to bring him to shore, only for all that to come crumbling down when he crashed headfirst into the wharf with a very loud crack, making everyone cringe from the sound. For a second, Naruto froze, before grabbing the wood with his left hand and pulling himself up on to the wharf with a deep breath. He breathed in and out a few times, before letting out a deep and loud exhale. "I am never doing that again. Haaah!" He looked up and saw Lumine's smiling face, her visage bringing a smile to his own face. "Lumine! If I ever do that again, please give me a kick on the backside."

Lumine laughed. "Sure thing. Either way, are you feeling ok?" Naruto nodded, making her let out another sigh of relief. "Good to hear that. Come on!" She held out a hand that Naruto gratefully accepted and pulled him up to his feet. The blonde boy took off his coat and shook it off. He then lifted up his foot and wiped his shoe, before looking quite intently at the wharf, much to everyone's confusion. "What are you looking for?" Lumine asked.

"I'm looking for a nail. Ah! Found one!" He walked up to the nail and struck his heel on it, creating some sparks. He caught the sparks with his Anemo, creating a Pyro Swirl reaction that spun around his leg. He then used even more Anemo energy to cover himself with the reaction, closing his eyes and breathing out a sigh of relief when he felt the warmth slowly dry his clothes and hair. Once he was done, he shook his head and opened his eyes to see the dumbfound faces of basically everyone. "What?" He asked with a tilt to his head.

Lumine shook her head while Keqing asked, "What was that?" in the same tone a kid would use when they see something strange and awe inspiring for the first time.

Naruto looked confused, before realizing what had happened. "Oh… that?" He sheepishly scratched his head. "Just a little trick I came up with so that I can shoot fire birds out of my Sword like my dad. Pretty cool, right?"

Keqing sighed. "Why didn't I expect this?" Naruto just chuckled. "Anyway, I'll ask Baizhu to give you a check… as soon as the negotiations get somewhere." The Yuheng said with a smile.

Naruto blinked. "What do you mean get somewhere? You had an hour and you still didn't get somewhere?" Keqing chuckled nervously while Naruto rubbed his head. "Come on! You guys are functional adults and those guys are… old glowy animals with mystical powers," Cloud Retainer opened her mouth to speak but Naruto raised a hand. "Not now. You've lived hundreds of years, and still haven't mastered the art of negotiation? Or are you just too prideful? Which one is it? Just because you were Rex Lapis' right hands, doesn't mean you have to act all high and mighty when it comes to people." The Adepti were stunned, both by the fact that they were being berated by a human (one who called them glowy animals nonetheless) and by the fact that they couldn't deny anything he said without proving his previous point.

Ignoring that, Naruto continued. "In fact, while we were collecting materials for the Rite of Parting, we heard all sorts of tales about how Rex Lapis used to interact with his people, so why can't you do the same? Are you too high and mighty? Are you too important? How about both sides just swallow their pride and sign a Contract? I mean at this point, it looks like that will be the only thing that's going to appease you."

Keqing, Lumine, Xiao and Paimon, all stared at him with dumbfounded expressions on their faces; their minds filled with the exact same thought. 'Did this guy just chew out the Adepti and the Qixing?' The Yuheng and the Vigiant Yaksha looked at each other and came to the same conclusion. 'Why didn't I expect this? He doesn't know how to keep his mouth shut afterall.'

Speaking of the Adepti, Cloud Retainer was the first to recover from the verbal assault. "You dare insult One like that? One will assure you, should you step out of line, One will not hesitate to dispatch you by Oneself!"

Naruto facepalmed. "Ya'know, we wouldn't be crossing any lines if you hadn't kept pushing it towards us. I mean from what Lumine told me, you wanted to destroy the city of Liyue after finding out that Rex Lapis was dead. I don't know how deep your relationship went, but right there, you sounded like a child throwing a tantrum! Are you a child throwing a tantrum? If you aren't then act like it!"

Cloud Retainer opened her mouth to retort but this time, Madam Ping cut her off. "Oh, that's enough. If you're so worried about Liyue Harbor, then why not leave it to the Qixing and see how it goes from there? We have time, after all. We've always had time." The Adepti gave the idea some thought.

Meanwhile, Naruto moved next to Lumine, who immediately started looking him over, much to his confusion. "You feeling ok? You fell from quite high up." It took Naruto a second to realize she was talking about the stunt he's had his clone pull off.

So, he just sheepishly scratched his head with an equally sheepish smile and started taking off his jacket and rolling up his sleeve. "I'm fine Lumine. I heal fast. What might actually be a problem though, is my arm." He held up his bandaged right arm that hung limply from his elbow. Then, with neither elaboration nor hesitation, he grabbed the thing and pulled it right off with a pop. The sound drew everyone's attention and they stared at the stump that was his right arm and the severed forearm he held in his right hand. "So much for Fontaine's best prosthetics. Well, good thing I have some spares!"

With a swirl of Anemo, the arm in his hand was replaced with a new one with cleaner looking bandages and fuller looking skin. Naruto wiped his stump on his now dry shirt and attached the new arm to it. He flexed his fingers a few times and moved it around, letting out a satisfied sound once he was done. Only then did he notice the others looking at him with a healthy dose of… something in their eyes. So, he did what anyone would do in that situation. "What? Is there something on my face?"

Keqing recovered first. "How did this happen? I never saw you wearing that bandage last year, so you must've lost that arm between then and this year right? What even happened to make you lose an arm? You of all people? You're one of the strongest combatants I know, so if something took off your arm, then they must've been super strong-"

"Woah, woah! Calm down Keqing! I lost it while I was fighting a few Lawachurls on Dragonspine. Nothing major. Just a few oversized Mitachurls… with elemental abilities." Naruto explained hurriedly, idly wondering why everyone who learned about his injury tended to over react. 'Maybe she thinks I lost it in a commission she gave me? She did send me on a good number of them back then.' Keqing opened her mouth to say something, but stopped when she realized that she may be probing a sensitive subject. Seeing her expression, Naruto gently placed a hand on her shoulder and gave her a smile. "Don't worry about it ok? I still beat the Lawachurls, so there's nothing to worry about."

While Naruto was comforting Keqing, Lumine couldn't help but look at the scene with some contempt. Sure, she was happy that Naruto was comforting his friend, but there was a pang in her heart that throbbed in a really unpleasant way whenever she saw any woman giving Naruto the time of day. It was something she could never understand and something that she'd never felt during her years of travelling with her brother, which just made the feeling all the more confusing. While she was thinking this through, her lips twisted into a thoughtful frown, but luckily for her, only her floating travel guide noticed her expression. "Hey Traveler? Are you ok? You've been looking at them with a frown on your face for a good while now."

The high-pitched voice of the floating fairy broke her out of her trance and she shook her head to clear her thoughts. "It's nothing Paimon. I was just wondering about the Fatui's motives. Why did they decide to awaken an ancient beast?" She said, smoothly changing the subject.

"One believes that their motive may have been to draw Rex Lapis out of hiding." Cloud Retainer answered, startling Lumine. "If he had not passed on, then Rex lapis would've surely stepped up to protect Liyue from the wrath of the Overlord of the Vortex. Thanks to the deluded nature of those Snezhnayan diplomats, Liyue harbor had to weather this crisis."

Lumine nodded, sharing at least a small amount of contempt towards the Fatui and their actions. Meanwhile, Naruto walked up to Lumine and placed a hand on her shoulder, startling her yet again. "You ok there Lumine? You look like you swallowed a bug." He leaned closer to his face, completely unaware of what it may look like to anyone watching.

Lumine stared into his eyes and felt warmth rising to her face. The ocean blue of his eyes somehow reminded her of the sky. She shook her head and put on a smile. "It's nothing. I was just thinking about something. After we defeated Childe, you and him seemed to be on good terms and you mentioned something about his battle lust being out of the way. Can you explain that a bit?" She asked, trying to draw attention away from her flustered expression. She did a good job at it, with only the slight pink dusting on her cheeks giving away her heart's true desires. Desires even she didn't know of.

For his part, Naruto (being as dense as a black hole) didn't notice a difference and answered her question. "Basically, Childe fell into the abyss when he was a kid and he awakened his Foul Legacy; ya know that weird armor he was wearing? That one. It's a very powerful transformation, but it drains a person's life force in a somewhat strange way because it replenishes it afterward. That means you can't use it for a long time, but it gives you a powerful boost when you do use it. Add that effect with a Delusion and it is doubled. Between them both, a Delusion is worse because it eats away at a person's life force permanently, causing premature aging in the person who's using it. Sadly, the effects of the Delusion are permanent and the only known counter against it is having a Vision, which can slow down the effects dramatically. It also amplifies the negative emotions of the user, in this case, Childe's lust for battle."

Lumine nodded at the information before she realized something. "Wait, how do you know so much about his Foul Legacy and his Delusion?" Her face took a worried expression. "You don't have a Delusion do you?"

Naruto quickly raised his hands. "No no! I've just beaten the living hell out of a lot of Fatui and I've seen a lot of then overuse their Delusions." His face darkened and voice lowered. "It's quite the sad thing to watch. One moment they're giving it their all and the next, they're on the ground, withering away with no one but the one they tried to kill for company." He shook his head to clear the thoughts. "Anyhow, no use talking about that. I want to go and eat something. I just fell from the Jade chamber. I think I deserve at least that." Right on que, both his and Paimon's stomachs grumbled loudly, making them both laugh sheepishly.

Lumine laughed at her companions, the previous tension in her heart all but forgotten. "Sure! Let's go." Ignoring the negotiations behind them, the trio turned and headed towards the city. They've done their part. They could deal with the political affairs of the harbor later. Right now, they needed some food, some good rest and a long time away from any sort of fighting.

-Timeskip-

"Haa! That hit the spot!" Paimon let out a satisfied grain as she practically inhaled half of her serving of the Sticky Honey Roast Naruto had prepared. Apparently, he wasn't bluffing when he had said he could make it on the road. "For the tasty meal, you are hereby relived of Paimon's ugly nickname!"

Lumine giggled at Paimon's antics, savoring her own Chicken mushroom skewer. They were at Wangshu inn where Naruto had taught Lumine how to use Statues of the Seven to quickly travel quickly between places they had already visited. He had then prepared Chicken mushroom skewers as an appetizer while they waited for him to finish preparing the main course, which was the roast. "By the way," She spoke to Naruto, "is there something else in these skewers? They taste somewhat different from the ones we make or buy from Sara."

The blond boy just closed one eye and placed his index finger over his lips. "That's my little secret. Can't have you knowing all my culinary secrets now, can I? If that happens, I might end up getting back my ugly nickname from Paimon."

The response made Lumine laugh and Paimon let out an indignant "Hey!" After they were done laughing, the trio continued eating in a comfortable silence. During the meal, Lumine unknowingly gravitated towards Naruto, eventually leaning on him tiredly. Without thinking twice, Naruto wrapped a hand around her waist, pulling her closer so that she could rest her weight on him. In hindsight, it was quite a romantic sight for anyone who witnessed it, but alas, only a few people in the world were as dense as these two, one out of inexperience, and the other because most of the affection he's ever had from the opposite gender was them testing their superhuman strength on him.

However, one person who did see the innuendo in their position was their trusty floating guide, Paimon; and she was hella confused. 'When did they start seeing each other that way? And how come Paimon didn't know about this? Hmph! They got together and they kept this a secret from Paimon. What is she, chopped fowl? Speaking of, Paimon would like some more Sticky Hone- Wrong topic Paimon!'

Before Paimon had an existential crisis, Naruto noticed the expression on her face. "What's wrong Paimon? Is it something with the roast?" He asked with some concern.

The little fairy was startled out of her thoughts at the question. Instead of brushing it off, she decided to double down. "Yeah! There is something wrong! How come you never told Paimon you were dating?" Naruto and Lumine tilted their heads in confusion, making Paimon understand that they had no clue what on earth she was talking about. "You're both lying together like a couple, looking all lovey, dovey without a care in the world! You have to be dating!" She shouted with an accusatory finger pointed at them, feeling betrayed that she wasn't informed of this.

Lumine made a confused expression. "No we're not. I used to do this with my brother all the time. Whenever we got tired, we'd just lean on each other and relax for a bit. I don't think anyone would see that as us dating."

Naruto nodded and followed up. "Yeah, we're just resting. Besides, if laying against a friend is considered dating, then what about when I carried you after you fell asleep that one time? In your logic, shouldn't that also be a romantic moment?" He asked the fairy.

"Uhh…" Paimon let out a confused sound, gob smacked that neither of them seemed to realize the romantic side of their actions. So, she decided to do the sensible thing. "You know what? Paimon gives up! You win! Feel free to hang around all you want, however you want! Paimon doesn't care anymore!" With a final 'hmph', the little fairy turned around.

Naruto and Lumine chuckled at her actions and the former wondered why he heard three separate sighs from inside his head. 'What?'

"Nothing." Answered the voices with another set of sighs.

A few hours later, Naruto suggested that they should go and meet Zhongli to see how everything was going with him. Lumine and Paimon agreed, and they were now in the road towards WangSheng Funeral parlor. Once they got there, they met the director of the parlor, an eccentric woman by the name of Hu Tao. "Welcome to the WangSheng Funeral parlor. It's good to see you again, Naruto. If you're interested, there's a special limited time offer on Coffins for this week." She said with a wink.

Naruto chuckled and held out a fist which she bumped. "Good to see you too, Hu Tao. Sorry to say, but we aren't interested in any coffins as of now. What I'm more interested in knowing is where I can find your consultant, Mr Zhongli. He helped us out with the setting up the rite, and, now that everything has settled, we'd like to thank him for his help. Oh, these are my friends. The blonde one is Lumine and the floating one is Paimon. I know you like to do the intros yourself so I didn't say anything yet."

Hu Tao slumped when she learned that he wasn't after coffins, but perked up again when she heard that Naruto brought a friend. "You know me well Naruto." She turned to face the two girls. "Hey there Lumine and Paimon! My name is Hu Tao, the 77th Director of the Wangsheng Funeral parlor. If you need anything related to coffins and funerals, this is the place to go!" Lumine blinked at the introduction, but the girl had already hopped back to Naruto. "Anyway, Mr Zhongli should be at Northland Bank. That's where he said he'd be at least."

"Northland Bank? As in the Fatui owned bank?" Paimon echoed in disbelief. "Why would he need to go there?"

Naruto shrugged his shoulders. "I'm not sure Paimon, but it can't be good. What do you say we go and see the situation for ourselves?" The girls nodded and waved goodbye to Hu Tao, before they took off towards the bank.

"You call this 'cooperation between Harbingers'?" Childe's voice echoed around the bank, much to the amusement of one and the disregard of the other. "Cooperation involves communication you know."

"Heh. Don't take it to heart Childe." Signora answered. "Besides, at least you got to bring chaos to the land. You must have enjoyed that." Childe looked like he was going to stab Signora, but the sound of the door opening distracted them and stopped a potential Harbinger backstabbing. "Oh look. Seems your friends are also here." Right on cue, Naruto, Lumine and Paimon walked inside the bank.

"Childe and Zhongli! And you! You're…" Paimon stopped on her tracks when she noticed the familiar woman. "You're Signora!"

Signora turned to face them fully. "Heh. It's you two. I believe we've already met once before. It was in the City of Bards, wasn't it? I'm glad you still remember my name." She chuckled a little, seemingly unaware that Naruto was in the room with them. "Ah, right. I imagine it must've been hard to watch helplessly as something precious was snatched away from your friend?"

Childe crossed his arms and deadpanned at Signora. "Right… And if I recall, you also happened to lose said precious thing along with all the diplomatic power the Fatui held in Mondstadt in the process." He responded drily, before tilting his head to avoid a spike of frost bound for his head. Ignoring the attempt on his life, he turned to look at the trio with a smile. "Hello again. Sorry about all the ruckus I caused. Either way, this was the one who activated the emergency system and sent more Fatui on to the Jade Chamber. On behalf of her, I apologize." Another frost spike came at his head, but a shield of Geo energy stopped it from hitting Childe.

"Order! We are here for negotiations. Not to cause conflict." Zhongli's calming voice was edged with a hint of power as his eyes flashed with Geo energy. "If you wish to quarrel and bicker, then I'd advise you to take it somewhere other than Liyue Harbor. Preferably, back to Snezhnaya." The rising level of elemental energy made the occupants of the room straighten their backs.

Signora was the first to regain her composure. "Right… I don't think any of us want to be here for any longer, so," She turned to Zhongli and held out her hand. "According to our Contract; Morax, hand over the Gnosis."

Lumine and Paimon turned their heads so fast, Naruto could've sworn he heard a snap. "Morax!? You mean Zhongli, broke old Zhongli, is actually Morax?" Paimon asked in disbelief. Childe and Naruto chuckled while Zhongli seemed unfazed by the little jab.

The man looked at Signora with a blank look before sighing and holding out his own hand. "The Contract is fulfilled. That which thou seeketh is now bestowed unto thee, for my promise is as Solid as Stone." With that, his chest glowed gold and a brown and gold chess floated out and levitated an inch above his hand. The traveler trio stared at it in awe, unwilling to believe that he'd just give away the Gnosis to the Tsaritsa and her Fatui.

A glint entered Signora's eyes. "Hmph. How sanctimonious. The Lord of Geo still honors his contracts."

Lumine broke out of her shock and looked at Zhongli with a uneasy expression. "You're the Lord of Geo? But why give the Gnosis to the Fatui?"

"I do not give it for free. It is based upon a Contract we agreed upon and it is a matter between the Tsaritsa and I." Zhongli spoke, keeping his eyes on Signora and her twitching hands. "However, seeing the atrocities committed by the Fatui in both the land of Mondstadt and in Liyue, I am no longer certain that adhering to this contract is a good thing. Nevertheless, I shall honor it. The Gnosis is yours."

As Zhongli moved to place the Gnosis in Signora's waiting hand, her thoughts were filled with pure bliss. She'd finally get back the image she lost after she lost the Anemo Gnosis. She'd be the first of the Harbingers to present Her Majesty with a Gnosis. Oh, she could see it. 'Yes… come to me!'

"So this is the Geo Gnosis? Hmph. A lot underwhelming compared to the deeds of its holder." And just like that, Signora's little daydream was shattered, snatched from her hands by a very familiar masked figure who sauntered over. "Is this little thing's wielder really capable of the feats of the Rex Lapis, or were all of them just his own power?"

Everyone glared at the newcomer with some level of apprehension. Well, everyone except for Childe, who just waved at him with a good-natured smile that hid his nervous eyes. "Sage! Long time no see. Heard you gave Osial a good beating. Look, I didn't do anything this time. It was them." He pointed at Signora, making her blink from her fellow Harbinger's audacity.

Sage crossed his arms and gave him a dry look that was obvious even through the mask. "Yeah… didn't do anything…" He echoed sarcastically. They stared at each other for a good few seconds before a polite cough from Zhongli broke the silence.

"As… strangely entertaining as this is, I cannot allow you to interfere with the Contract. Therefore, I must ask you to return the Gnosis to Signora. If you do not…" Hie eyes glowed with power as condensed elemental power shrouded his form, covering him in an ethereal glow.

Although Sage looked calm outside, he couldn't help but sweat inside. 'Damn. Talk about a presence.' He pushed the feeling aside and walked towards Signora. "Of course, of course. But before that, you have to understand that the Fatui have been a rather large thorn in our side for quite a while now. So, think of this as my way of getting revenge." Unable to restrain herself, Signora fired off a lance of ice at the Abyssal envoy. Sage just sighed and slapped away the projectile with the back of his hand, sending it towards the roof of the bank.

"Really? What are you going to do in here, Harbinger? Freeze all of Liyue and repeat the mistake you made in Mondstadt that lost the Fatui their hold on the land of freedom?" Signora's eyes narrowed at the mention of her mistake, making Sage laugh. "Why the long face, Fair Lady? Afterall, it was the Fatui that attacked an innocent bard and an Honorary Knight of Favonius."

"How do you know of that, you brat?" Signora seethed. Sage laughed and his appearance shifted to a very familiar head of blond hair in a familiar mask. With one final chuckle, he pulled off the mask, revealing the grinning visage of Naruto Uzumaki. Lumine stared at the face with betrayal, anger and sadness swirling in her eyes. She looked behind her to dismiss her fears, but all that greeted her was an empty space where her companion should be.

"Shapeshifting sure is something, isn't it?" Sage asked in Naruto's voice. Maintaining eye contact with the Harbinger, he walked around her and walked behind a pillar that obscured him from view. "I mean one moment, I can look like this, and the other…" Instead of Sage, who walked out was a copy of Signora herself. "I can look like this." Even the voice was perfect.

Before everyone could get overwhelmed, Sage reverted back to his normal form, the mask on his face and the Gnosis still in hand. He walked up to the counter of the bank and grabbed a piece of paper. "Anyhow, I'd like to have a private conversation with just the Traveler because I can see that she has many questions, so I'll let you take the Gnosis. But before that, I have to do something."

He moved his hands and let the Gnosis levitate in front of his face, before bringing them together in a prayer like gesture. "Here we go." Slowly, he parted his hands, revealing a duller looking Gnosis clinging to his left hand. Clinging to his right, was an orb of gold energy with a Geo sigil at the center that bore a striking resemblance to an Oculus. "Would you look at that? It worked!"

Suddenly, he vanished before appearing behind Zhongli and slamming the golden orb into his back. He then appeared in front of Signora and thrusted the Gnosis into her arms before kicking her in the stomach, making her disappear. "There! The Gnosis goes with her to the Tsaritsa and the Authority of Geo goes back to Rex Lapis! Everyone is happy!"

Zhongli looked at his hands, and, sure enough, he felt the power of Geo coursing through him again. "Why? Why did you do this?" He asked with pure anger in his eyes.

Sage chuckled. "Because something's coming, and the Lesser Abyss Order would rather have the Seven prepared, just in case." Everyone except for Childe looked at him confusedly, making him sigh. "Alright, let me explain. Recently, the Abyss order has been up to things, and not everyone is actually happy with it. Under the beliefs of their old leader, their actions have been… less than stellar. They may not be human, but that doesn't mean that all of them are the same." Everyone listened on intently, wondering if Sage may just drop a massive secret. "Eventually, some people got tired of the constant carnage. Traveler, I believe Captain Kaeya of the Knights of Favonius told you about a certain 'Prince'?"

Lumine's eyes widened before narrowing. "How do you know that? No one was there when he told me that. Unless…" Her eyes widened a bit when she realized. "You were listening in on it back at Mondstadt!"

Sage laughed. "Your ability to come up with likely scenarios is very good, but unfortunately, that is not what happened." He walked up to a pillar and leaned on it in a carefree manner. "In truth, who do you think gave him that little bit of information?" The Traveler shrunk back when she realized what Sage was implying. "As for how we know that you know, you can thank your beloved Anemo Archon for that. I made a deal with him."

"Venti…" Lumine whispered. "Why would he do that? Why work with the Abyss Order?"

Sage sighed. "Honestly, we were forced our hand by him. That bard knew of all our plans discussed in the open, so we made the first move. We offered to share any and all intel we had about the Abyss Order and our plans in Mondstadt for his silence regarding the matter and intel that Mondstadt had on the Abyss. What he chooses to do with that information, is his knowledge alone."

"Oh, right! Forgive me for getting sidetracked. As I was saying, the Prince was the first to feel tired of this, and he soon became aware of a swelling rebellion within the Abyss order. Instead of quelling it, he gathered everyone and severed ties to form the Lesser Abyss Order. Personally, I think the name could cause quite a misunderstanding and should be changed to something more like The Abyssal Resistance, but oh well. Either way, I came here to inform you that the Abyss order, the greater one, is up to something big. It is part of the reason I made an appearance in the recent battle Perhaps you'll be interested? Or perhaps not." He pushed off the pillar and circled around the group. "Either way, I do not care. I'll tell you anyway. The Abyss is planning to create something big. They need some components for it, but one of the biggest and one of the hardest to procure is the body of the Overlord of the Vortex, Osial."

Everyone perked up at the news. Such a big plot, all laid bare before them by an untrustworthy ally. And if the Abyss succeeded… "B-But you killed Osial, right?" Paimon asked with a stutter in her voice. "So there's no chance for them to succeed, right?"

Sage sighed. "Unfortunately, no. With my level of power, I can only seal him away. Not kill him. And, even if I could kill him, it would bring a catastrophe of an unimaginable scale on Liyue Harbor. Therefore, I weakened him, and transferred him somewhere else. Hopefully, Osial shall be safe for now." With a small chuckle, Sage changed the subject. "Anyhow, enough about my reasons. I would like to know why Rex Lapis decided to stage his death. Will you indulge me, oh great Lord of Geo?"

Zhongli narrowed his eyes but decided to comply with a sigh. "Very well. I am the oldest of the Archons, and I may very well be one of the oldest beings to roam this world. I've lived for over 6000 years and I've been an Archon for 2000. The Archon War was a bloody battle, and I lost many friends through it all. Eventually, the responsibilities of being an Archon started wearing me down, but I kept telling myself that it was nothing. That I could keep going. Then, one evening, I was strolling through the harbor, observing the people when I heard a merchant tell his subordinate, 'Your duties are finished. You can clock off for the day.' That made me stop and think. Were my divine duties over? Were they really needed? After giving it some thought, I came to the realization that I was tired. Therefore, I decided to free myself from these constricting duties and live among my people."

Sage nodded. "So you burned out. I get it. As a representative of the Lesser Abyss Order, we wish you well on your retirement, Lord of Geo. Also, if this idiot ever asks you for a fight, then don't entertain him. That's probably going to be the Delusion talking."

Childe sheepishly scratched his neck while Zhongli and Lumine palmed their heads. "Anyhow, I must be leaving now. I'll see you somewhere else. May the blessings of the Seven be with you~" He laughed a bit at the end and vanished.

Just then, the door opened and Naruto came running in, making everyone turn to him simultaneously. Lumine ran up to min and began looking him over. "Naruto! Are you ok? What happened?"

Naruto gave a smile and nodded. "Yeah. I'm fine. As for what happened, I walked inside and suddenly I was back in Mondstadt. I used a Statue to get here and ran here as fast as possible. Don't know what happened though. Anyway, what happened here?"

Lumine pursed her lips and explained everything from Sage's appearance to Zhongli's identity. By the end of it, he was left with his eyes wide open in shock. "Waitwaitwait! You mean that Zhongli, the man who had to borrow money from Childe because he was broke, is the Lord of Geo and the creator of Mora?" Lumine nodded. "So couldn't you just like… make some Mora?"

Everyone sighed together while Naruto mentally smirked.

-Timeskip-

'Ningguang is good at this but even so, -Rex Lapis chose to entrust his beloved nation to his people and pass on to join his departed friends-. What a way to end off that old dragon's tale.' Naruto thought to himself as the people of Liyue cheered for the Qixing. Next to him, Zhongli nodded with some pride, satisfied with the speech while Hu Tao looked at him with a cheeky look. 'Even so, if it comes down to it, will he side with Celestia or will he side with us? I don't know and I can't tell. I need to talk to him alone.'

Just then, the Tianquan called for Lumine, catching her off guard. "Hero of Liyue. Please ask for anything you wish, and as the Tianquan of the Liyue Qixing, me and my subordinates will do everything in our power to accomplish it."

Lumine looked down in thought before nodding to herself as everyone watched her closely. "In that case, can you help me put up some missing person posters?" Everyone looked at her with confused expressions oh their faces, so she elaborated. "You see, the reason I'm on this journey in the first place is to find and reunite with my brother. I originally planned to ask the Archons, but in light of the current… circumstances, I cannot do that, but I still want to do something to help."

Ningguang smiled. "Very well. As the Qixing, we promise to spare no effort in looking for your brother. May you be reunited Traveler." Everyone cheered while Naruto held Lumine's hand reassuringly, completely unaware of a pair of purple eyes watching with an interested glint in them. They smiled at each other and watched as the Rite of Parting came to a close, marking the end of an age and the start of another for the people of Liyue.

After the Rite, Naruto and Lumine, along with Paimon, made their way to meet up with Zhongli. On the way however, the former got dragged off by Keqing to help with the Rite cleanup and some other commissions that recently came up, leaving only the Traveler herself and Paimon to talk with the Geo Archon, and without wasting a second, Lumine asked him the million Mora question. "Do you know anything where my brother could be?"

Zhongli placed a hand on his chin in thought. After a few seconds, he sighed mournfully. "My apologies Traveler, but I cannot recall a figure of your likeness." Lumine deflated, making the Ex-Archon wince. 'My deepest apologies to you Traveler, but I fear your brother's fate maybe less grandiose than you believed. I truly hope you reunite one day.'

Meanwhile, Naruto helped the laborers with clearing up everything at the Rite of Parting, chatting and moving materials to orders from Keqing. He also kept an ear out for Lumine, and mentally winced when he heard Zhongli dash her hopes for gathering any clues about her brother. He also listened in on Zhongli explaining Inazuma's situation to the girl, making him wince again. 'Are you trying to get us to go to Inazuma you old coot!?'

Well, either way, one thing was very clear. These next few weeks are going to be something.

6k words! That's a heck of a lot more than I expected. The next few chapter will probably be the Dain quest and some other quests. Hopefully after this, I can return to writing again. Anyhow, hoping you enjoyed.

Peace out!