Collei awoke with a great yawn. The bed in which she had slept was quite cozy; so much so that she didn't want to get up. Back home she always got up at first light, but now she didn't know what time it was, only that daybreak was long due; she was so comfortable that she had overslept. With some effort, she overcame her laziness and got up from bed. She was wearing the nightgown Sucrose had lent her, which was quite comfortable, albeit a little oversized. She stretched out and approached the window. It was a nice day, so nice that the storm from the previous day seemed to have never occurred. However, Collei could see its more than evident passage by looking at the garden's terrible state: its flowers, always colorful and lively, had all been damaged by the intensity of the downpour. The soil from the flowerbeds had been moved by the water, and was now scattered all over the place, along with some plants which had also been washed away. She sadly watched the devastated garden and an employee unacquainted to her removing the ruined flowers like a lost soul. Then, she saw Dori; she was near the fountain, talking to somebody Collei knew very well:

"Master Tighnari!"

She left the room in a hurry, without changing her clothes, or even put some footwear on. She ran through the hallways until she left the palace through the front door. When she was descending the path to the garden's lower level, Tighnari turned towards her. Thanks to his hearing, he had heard her coming.

"Good morning, Collei. Did you sleep well?" he greeted her.

"Master Tighnari, were you looking for me?" Collei dropped her head in a regretful manner. "Sorry to have worried you."

"Not at all. Dori has already told me everything. You did the right thing by asking her to let you stay until the rain let up. Honestly, I'm proud of you."

Collei looked perplexedly at Dori, and Dori winked back at her. The version Dori must have told Tighnari completely contradicted what really had happened. Collei saddened: they were lying to Tighnari and she was feeling guilty for it.

"Is something wrong, Collei?" Tighnari asked, when he saw her downcast.

"Huh? No! It's nothing! It's just…" Collei tried to think of an excuse to justify her expression. "It's awful to see the garden in such a sorry state."

"Indeed it is; it's a real shame," Dori nodded. "Though I feel sorrier for Mandana. She truly cares for this garden, and always pushes herself to keep it as gorgeous and well-cared as possible, despite that I never asked her to be this thorough. This has been a hard blow for her."

Mandana continued cleaning up the damage caused by the storm. From her position, Collei was able to behold her inexpressive face. She could only imagine how great her grief must be for her to show no emotion whatsoever, and seeing her in such a state made Collei feel very sorry for her. Dori suggested that they should go back inside, that they could wait until Collei had had breakfast before taking their leave. While the three of them went towards the dining room, Tighnari asked Collei:

"Where did you get that nightgown from?"

"Sucrose lent it to me," Collei replied. "By the way, Dori, do you know where she is now?"

"I think she's still asleep," Dori said. "Which is quite odd: she usually is already in her atelier at this hour."

When they reached the dining room, they found that Sucrose was there, still wearing her nightgown, and having a couple of Teyvat Fried Eggs and a juice for breakfast. Although she hadn't changed yet, she had already brushed her hair and concealed her ears. Sucrose turned towards them.

"Good morning," she greeted. "Did you just get up, too, Collei?"

"Uhm… yes. Just a little ago," Collei answered. "Hey, have you seen the garden?"

"No. I had a very long dream and woke up quite sleepy, so I came straight to eat breakfast to perk myself up. Why do you ask?"

"Because of nothing urgent," Dori intervened. "For the moment, you two focus on eating breakfast and then go get changed. Do you want something, Tighnari? It's on the house."

Tighnari accepted Dori's generous offer and asked for a coffee. Dori asked another one for herself as well; she didn't want to be the only one without anything on the table. Collei ate the same breakfast as Sucrose.

Sucrose asked Tighnari whether he had come to check if Collei had spent the night there, to which Tighnari nodded. He admitted that he had been worried because Collei hadn't returned home, and was afraid that she had been imprudent enough to try to do so in such a downpour. He felt relieved, delighted, and also a little proud when Dori had told him otherwise. Sucrose moved her lips and Collei sank her head. Before Tighnari said anything, Dori distracted him by bringing up a subject about artifacts and a collaboration, to which Tighnari politely, but categorically refused.

Sucrose waited until Collei finished her breakfast, and the two of them went to get changed together. First, they went to fetch Collei's clothes, and then they went to Sucrose's room to get changed. While they were getting dressed, Collei thanked Sucrose for lending her a nightgown; it was quite comfortable. While on the subject, Collei also asked her something out of curiosity:

"Why do you sleep with your gloves on?"

"Huh? Uh, uhm… Because…" Sucrose wavered for a moment before giving an answer. "Because I feel more at ease when I'm wearing them."

Although the answer in itself was nothing out of the ordinary, as everybody had their own habits, the way Sucrose had expressed it made Collei think that there might be something else. Nevertheless, she didn't ask any further; it seemed to her like Sucrose didn't want to talk about it.

After they got dressed, both went back to the dining room, where Dori and Tighnari were waiting for them, then all four of them left the main building. At last, Sucrose saw the ruined garden; its state caused her great dismay.

"Is this because of last night's rain?" she asked.

"Indeed. It had never rained with such intensity as yesterday. Mandana is tending to whatever remains of the garden. As for the others, they are checking whether the water has also caused damage to the palace structures; and the basin as well, since the palace is built on a cliff," Dori explained. "And regarding you two, are you leaving already?"

"Yes. We should go back to Gandharva Ville without delay," Tighnari affirmed. "The storm from yesterday has also caused quite some damage there. Although there has been nothing dire to regret, we will need to do a lot of repairs."

Collei approached Sucrose to bid her farewell.

"Although this experience has been full of ups and downs, I really enjoyed its ups, Sucrose," she said with a smile. "You know, whenever you need to go out again, just let me know."

"But how do I do that?"

"It's actually quite simple," Dori interceded. "You let me know the day before, and I send them a letter. If Collei is available, she will be here in the morning."

"That's actually not simple," Sucrose objected. "It feels more like we're putting Collei in a difficult position all of a sudden, and that's assuming that the letter reaches her on time."

"What do you want to do, then?" Dori grumbled. "You know where Gandharva Ville is, and there's no instant method to communicate from a distance. The only easy way out would be that Collei lived here. Which doesn't sound so bad…"

"What are you up to now, Dori?" Tighnari said suspiciously.

An idea had just come to Dori's mind: as long as their agreement of Collei being Sucrose's guide and escort were in effect, the Forest Ranger trainee would be allowed to stay in the Palace of Alcazarzaray. That way, they wouldn't have to depend on the circumstances, and Collei wouldn't need to constantly come and go, either. Tighnari, although he had agreed to Collei's job, he wasn't so inclined to that idea. Perhaps it was just because he was a worrywart when it concerned Collei, but he saw only problems. The first one was that he pictured Dori asking for a more than staggering rent.

"Not happening, young lad!" Dori refuted smilingly. "Collei is, in a sense, an employee of mine right now. And my humble house is for my employees as much as it is for me. In short words: it's free!"

One problem less, but Tighnari had more arguments: another one was that, even though Collei was on vacation from her studies at the moment, she still needed to do her homework in order not to fall behind.

"I-in that case," Sucrose intervened, "I have a desk in my atelier that I barely use. Collei can study there while she makes me company. And besides, I'll be more than happy to help her!"

Tighnari raised his eyebrows. By the way Sucrose had said it, it sounded like she was aware of Collei's current level of education. He also noticed that Collei was showing no signs of embarrassment whatsoever. All together made him fathom that Collei had already told her on her own volition. Were that the case, it was quite a surprise for him: he knew that Collei and Sucrose were getting along together, but not to that extent already. And in that case, he had no issue in letting Sucrose take care of Collei, but still…

"I'll just be honest," he sighed, "I don't think that Collei is ready to live in a new environment on her own just yet."

"But Master, don't you say that everyone has a first time?" Collei replied. "Besides, I'm not alone: Sucrose lives here, too."

Tighnari was flabbergasted. He wasn't expecting that Collei herself would be in agreement with Dori's idea, nor that she would use one of his own speeches against him. He burst into laughter.

"All right, all right. I concede," he said, without stopping laughing. "If Collei herself is in favor of doing this, then I have no further objections. So then, do you want to come to Gandharva Ville to collect your stuff?"

"Ah! But before that," Collei was talking to everybody present, "I'd like to help out with the cleaning works in the Ville first, if that were possible."

"But of course!" Dori nodded. "Judging from how Tighnari had said it, it seems that it will take several days until everything is cleaned up there. You can come once you have finished. I will let my most trusted employees know about this, just in case Sucrose and I aren't home when you arrive."

With everything settled, and a warm farewell, Collei left the palace alongside Tighnari. After they left the basin behind, Tighnari adopted a pensive expression. Collei didn't dare to ask him what he was thinking about, although she pictured in her mind what it could be. Her suspicions were soon confirmed:

"Are you really sure about this, Collei?"

"Well… I'd lie if I said that I'm one hundred percent sure," Collei admitted. "But I'm sure that I'll be fine. Actually, Sucrose looks after me more than I look for her, and Dori is a good person, just like you say."

"I don't doubt it. I'm sure that she had to insist you a lot in order to convince you to spend the night in the palace, safe from the rain."

Collei stopped dead in her tracks. "You knew?" she said, quite ashamed.

"I suspected it: each time I mentioned your decision, you pulled a long face and Dori changed the subject," Tighnari reasoned. "I'll let it slide this time, though: it has shown me that you will be in good hands."

For the rest of the trip back home, Collei kept mulling the subject over. Was Tighnari really opposed to Dori's idea initially? Or did he just feign it in order to see her determination? After thinking too much, the only thing Collei was able to make sense of was that she ended up with a slight headache.

Sucrose watched Collei and Tighnari leave until they were out of sight while climbing the road outside the basin; then, she focused her attention on the garden. She walked around it, looking at every flowerbed one by one. She picked flowers which were the most intact from each species present in the garden and stared intensely at them, as if she wanted to burn them with her gaze. Dori gawked in bewilderment at her. Even Mandana, who had been just staring to the ground, turned her gaze towards Sucrose when the latter passed by. When Sucrose finished her rounds in the garden, she was carrying a diverse, yet battered bunch of flowers. She returned to Dori, and without giving her time to even react, she asked her:

"Do we have seeds from these flowers?"

"Huh?… Oh, yes, we always have a stock of seeds so we can keep the garden in bloom all the year round," Dori replied. "Why do you ask?"

"Because I want to fix the garden."

"Thank you for your kind offer, Sucrose," Mandana, who had heard her, intervened, "but you don't need to bother. No matter how much it pains me what happened, it's my duty as the gardener to return the garden to its former radiance, even if it takes me weeks."

"That's why I want to do something," Sucrose insisted. "If you let me help, we'll have it done by today."

Mandana stared at Sucrose like if she had just talked nonsense. Dori then remembered: Sucrose was a bio-alchemist. She had plenty of knowledge and experience about dealing with plants. She had managed to make flowers which barely measured a foot be larger than her, or to have some flowers double their nectar production. She had even succeeded in creating seeds which several flowers sprouted from. Her idea was to make an ultra-rapid growth potion, which would make the seeds reach their flower phase in no time.

"Hey! I like the idea!" Dori opined. "If it goes well, the garden will be back to its former splendor before tomorrow!"

"And if it goes wrong?" Mandana doubted.

"Then we might end up with the most original garden in all of Teyvat!" Dori teased. "Now, joking aside, I believe that it will go well: I see Sucrose quite confident."

Since Dori had given her seal of approval, Mandana went to get the seeds from the new storehouse, while Sucrose went to her atelier, which used to be the storehouse before, to begin preparing the potion. Dori, meanwhile, waited for both of them sitting on the fountain's edge. A few moments later, Sucrose returned; however, instead of with the potion, she came with a long face.

"I'm sorry. I spoke too soon," she apologized. "I don't have the necessary ingredients for synthesizing the potion."

"And what do you require?"

"Whopperflower nectar; in particular, energy nectar. it's essential for the potion to provide the necessary nutrients for the instant growth."

"What a problem… We don't have that, either, at the moment," Dori regretted. "Oh well, no choice, then. Shall we go out and hunt some Whopperflowers?"

"What!? Right now!?"

"Yes, right now. No time like the present. I'm going to get some equipment and provisions prepared. I will be back shortly."

And just like that, Dori headed off into the palace. Sucrose sighed; she had already grown accustomed to Dori's sudden ideas. Just then, Mandana returned from the other side, all prepared to plant the seeds. Sucrose conscientiously apologized to her for making her go for naught, as she wasn't able to synthesize the potion, and the seeds must be irrigated with the potion just after being planted for it to take effect. She also told her about Dori's sudden idea. Mandana was surprised when she heard it, not because of the suddenness of the idea, but because of the idea itself.

"It'd be much easier to just purchase it, and she can afford it with no issue," she said. "Maybe she just wants to spend time with you?"

"Why do you think that?"

"You noticed that the boss treats you differently from the rest of us, do you?"

Of course she did, and she hadn't stopped mulling over it ever since she had been given her room until her first conversation with Soltani, when she decided to listen to his advice and just focus on doing her job properly. Still, that treatment kept carrying on. Dori remodeling her old storehouse to turn it into Atelier Sucrose made sense, as an alchemist needed their own workspace; however, the rest could still be regarded as special treatment, being above everything the staff, which was an innovative creation. And quite expensive to make.

"Well, those of us who have been knowing her for a long time have also noticed that she's livelier whenever she's with you," Mandana continued. "But she hasn't had many chances lately. That's why I think she's come up with that idea."

That was a complete surprise for Sucrose. From the way Mandana had said it, it seemed like Dori was fond of her. Until then, she had assumed that Dori was being this nice to her so that she could accustom herself to her new life better. Was that perhaps the real reason, actually? Nonetheless, she didn't get to ask Mandana about her opinion on that matter because Dori had already returned. She was carrying a leather backpack.

"I brought jars to fill them with nectar, and food for when it's lunchtime!" she announced. "If you are ready, let us be on our way!"

Although bringing food made perfect sense if they were going to spend several hours, Sucrose couldn't help but think that they were going on a picnic after hearing what Mandana had told her. They both bid Mandana farewell, who, since she was going to plant the seeds no longer, returned to her previous task of cleaning the garden. After they had just finished climbing down the entrance ramp, Sucrose asked Dori:

"Where are we going?"

"Do you know the shortest route towards Sumeru City?" Dori asked, to which Sucrose nodded. "Well, if you continue westwards, you will reach an area where there are plenty of Whopperflowers. That's where we are going."

Most of their route was the same road which Sucrose had taken the previous day to go to the city, along with Collei and the others. That road, however, had considerably changed due to the rain: it was now completely muddy and, from time to time, they had to avoid large puddles of water which had formed, so as not to get their feet wet. Even so, in their footwear soon predominated the brown colors of the mud.

Sucrose couldn't help but feel uneasy all the time, in fear that they might run into another Withering. Furthermore, that was a matter which Dori must be made aware of posthaste, both for her own good and her caravans'; thus, she told her what had transpired the previous day.

"Yes. Tighnari has already told me this morning," Dori said. "I confess that I'm worried about you, but I don't want to confine you in the palace, either. As long as you stay clear from them, you should be fine; and Collei and I know how to do so quite well. You can rely on us to keep you safe."

Just like Nahida had told her the previous night in her dream. Sucrose truly was scared of the Withering, and she couldn't even fathom a theory as to why she had been targeted by it. Nevertheless, she knew that the others would protect her from it, and she believed in them.

When they reached the last intersection before the city, instead of turning left and going towards it, they turned right and took the narrow path, going deeper inside the rainforest. Along the way, a large hollow tree trunk stood out, as it served as a bridge to cross over a river. Soon after, the path bifurcated. The trail on the left was completely flooded, but their destination was following the right one, which had a fairly steep climb until it reached a cave.

Next to the entrance of said cave there was a plant. Its shape looked like a question mark, and from its topmost end hung a yellow bellflower. Overall, that plant looked like a street lamp. There were more plants like that one following the path inside the cave, although that cave was rather a tunnel, as the ceiling ended after several steps and the path opened up into an open area surrounded by rocky walls.

There were many tiny houses with leafy roofs scattered throughout that area, and the several streetlight-shaped plants in the vicinity were arranged as if they were real streetlights: they were facing the paths, as though they wanted to light them up at night. The whole place looked like a village, and Sucrose beheld it in stupefaction. She recognized those tiny houses: they were Vana for Aranara.

"Dori, what is this place?"

"This area is called Vanarana. According to Sumerian mythology, this is where the fantastic creatures of the forest, the Aranara, live," Dori explained. "But, as you can see, it's just that: mythology. I'd love to be able to use this place as a tourist attraction, yet there is no way to persuade Nahida whatsoever."

Sucrose was dumbfounded. That was the place Arake had told her. However, that place was nothing like she had expected whatsoever: it was deserted. No matter how much she looked inside each Vana as they moved forwards, she didn't see any Aranara. Why? If that place was really Vanarana, then it was supposed to be full of Aranara. Why was nobody there? Sucrose thought that she might have lost the ability to see the Aranara, but soon discarded that possibility because she had seen Arake in her dream. Then, what other reason could there be? No matter how hard she thought, she couldn't even come up with a theory.

"What are you staring at so much, Sucrose?" Dori asked. "Are you looking for Whopperflowers?"

"Huh? Uh… Yes! That's it!" Sucrose lied. "Is this where they are?"

"Almost. They are at the top," Dori said while pointing above the rocky walls with her thumb. "There's a spot at the end where we can climb up."

Sucrose followed Dori up a pass which went behind the Vana, and they arrived at a spot where the top of the wall was just a hand's width above Sucrose's height. Sucrose helped Dori to climb up, and then she did the same, although with more difficulty than she had expected. They continued onwards. Sucrose had been so focused on the empty Vana that she hadn't noticed the vegetation in the area until then: there were no trees in that place. Gigantic trumpet plants abounded throughout the place. They were so humongous that Sucrose and Dori seemed like ants close to them. From where they were, they could see the tops of the plants standing at the bottom. The water from the recent rain which filled them gave them a mystical touch.

"If I were given a Mora each time I'm surprised by Sumeru's landscape," Sucrose commented, "I think I'd be as rich as you are, Dori."

"If you keep being this impressionable, it might be possible," Dori teased. "Well then, shall we begin our hunt?"

Whopperflowers were plant-like monsters. They were omnivorous and quite intelligent; they knew how to adapt to the environment in which they found themselves, and blend in with it. They were able to walk, yet they spent most of the time buried in the ground, absorbing nutrients from the soil like plants, showing only a stem on their head, which adopted a shape identical to the plants around it. By doing so, any possible prey heedlessly approached them and, when they touched the fake plant, the Whopperflower felt the touch and jumped out, catching their prey unprepared. Anything could fall prey for a Whopperflower: from insects or small animals up to even humans.

Unfortunately for them, Sucrose and Dori, from different sources of experience, knew how to differentiate a genuine plant from a camouflaged Whopperflower from a mile away, and without needing to resort to Elemental Vision. And Sucrose knew a good method for hunting them:

"I discovered this method back in Mondstadt thanks to a person dear to me: Whopperflowers always lie in ambush, but they never expect to be ambushed themselves," she explained. "All we have to do is lay a trap where they're hiding, and then lead them on coming out."

"How did you discover it?" Dori inquired.

"Actually, she was the one who discovered it. She threw a bomb at a plant which turned out to be a camouflaged Whopperflower," Sucrose clarified. "The Whopperflower was burned to a crisp before it could even react."

Dori had already heard of such a person many times. Her first and best supplier had a daughter in Mondstadt. From what she had heard, that girl was cheerful, innocent, and prone to getting herself into trouble, just like her mother. But what had caught her attention the most was that that girl really liked to play with bombs, which made her deduce that she was the same person Sucrose had mentioned.

"So, how do we prepare the traps?" Dori asked.

"What I do is place one of my flasks next to the bait-plant, and then I touch the plant with a stick. Then, when the Whopperflower jumps out, it crashes into the flask, which explodes on its head."

It wasn't a bad plan, except for the fact that Sucrose had never thought of preparing before setting out at any point; she didn't have anything with her. As an alternative, Dori came up with the idea of trying with her lamp. They approached a Mint plant which looked identical to those around it. Dori summoned her lamp, and sprinkled Electro dust around it. Sucrose summoned her staff and readied herself.

"I hope this works…"

With the tip of the Hypostasis' wing she touched the plant, which immediately buried itself at full speed. Moments later, there was an explosion and a Whopperfloer was blown up. It was a Pyro Whopperflower, and it had reacted with Dori's Electro dust. The trap had been a success. Sucrose approached the motionless Whopperflower, and gave it a few taps with her staff. After ensuring that it was dead, Sucrose began to extract the nectar from its flower. She got plenty of nectar, yet only scant of the purest kind, the energy nectar she needed, which she only filled the bottom of a jar with.

"This is not enough," she said. "To be able to synthesize the potion I need the full bottle."

"In that case, we should keep looking," Dori suggested. "Ah! There's another one there!"

Near one of those gigantic plants there was a regular, average, ordinary flower. Nevertheless, Dori was already sparkling the dust from her lamp. After she finished, she backed away from the flower, and Sucrose tapped it with her staff. Just like the other one, the flower buried itself and, the moment after, a Whopperflower jumped out. The Cryo Whopperflower reacted with the Electro dust, causing it a strong electric shock. However, this Whopperflower remained standing. Dori shot an Electro orb at it, and Sucrose used her staff to throw a whirlwind at it. With this, they managed to finish it off. Sucrose obtained more energy nectar from this Whopperflower than from the other one, and the jar was now half full.

They carried on with their Whopperflower hunt. They encountered a Cryo Whopperflower again, and again they had to finish it off. Dori's Electro dust wasn't as effective as Sucrose's flasks, which wiped a Whopperflower out instantly, regardless of its element. The next Whopperflower was a Pyro one, and just like with the first one, the explosion from the Pyro-Electro reaction was enough to deal with it. Their greatest problem, however, came with the next one: it was an Electro Whopperflower, which was immune to Dori's dust. They had no choice but to fight.

Dori summoned her claymore and called her genie out. The genie attacked the Whopperflower unabated with the claymore while Dori stayed in the rear. Since the genie was coordinated with Dori's Electro Vision, it was also immune to the Whopperflower electrical discharges; therefore it could work as a shield and attract the monster's attention as well. In the meanwhile, Sucrose ran around the battlefield, throwing Anemo whirlwinds towards the Whopperflower while keeping a safe distance from both of them in order not to receive any possible stray attack. After a few minutes of battle, the Whopperflower finally succumbed. Sucrose approached it and obtained its nectar, and Dori gave the genie a coin.

"I see that you already know your way around the Catalyst Staff," Dori commented. "You are far more skilled than our last time."

"I've been practicing…" Sucrose said blushingly.

With the energy nectar from this last Whopperflower, Sucrose's jar was now full. At last, she had enough nectar to be able to synthesize the ultra-rapid growth potion. Dori attracted her attention by giving small tugs on her vest, and gestured to her to accompany her towards the edge of a cliff nearby. From that spot, another bottom area could be seen. That area was much larger than the one whence they had come. In its center there was a small lake with a rock in the middle. Said lake was surrounded by numerous Vana. The streetlight-plants were also present there, along the path bordering the lake, as well as every other which led to that area. Just the same as with the other area, that place was deserted.

"Did you want to show me the views?" Sucrose asked, surprised by that view.

"Something like that." Dori put her backpack onto the ground. "I felt that this is a good spot to rest and eat."

Sucrose liked the idea. After so much activity, she had worked up quite an appetite. They both sat down at the edge of the cliff, and Dori opened the backpack. Sucrose was eager to know what she had brought with.

Then, all of a sudden, sparks were heard. Sucrose and Dori turned towards the direction whence they came. It was the Electro Whopperflower; it wasn't dead. It had stood back up and was now concentrating energy into its flower. It shot it in the form of a laser blast. None of them had time to stand back up and dodge the laser attack; it hit both of them. Sucrose was pushed towards the side, but Dori, being light in weight, was blown away.

From that moment onwards, everything transpired in slow motion for Sucrose. She saw how Dori had been flown away from the cliff and was about to fall into the void. She didn't think it even once; she ran towards her. She arrived very fast, much faster than every other movement around her, and jumped. She reached Dori and hugged her against her body. They were still barely beginning to fall down.

At that very moment, Sucrose realized the grave mistake she had just made. From the way she had jumped off of the cliff, and how she had turned to firmly hug Dori, she was now facing up; she couldn't deploy her Wind Glider like that. She looked at the ground below. Everything was still going slowly. The cliff wasn't very high, maybe like jumping off from the window of her room. Perhaps she wouldn't die from the fall, but it would hurt. It would hurt really bad. The only thing Sucrose could do now was resign herself and prepare herself for the impact. She shielded Dori with her body as much as she could; then, she closed her eyes and gritted her teeth. She didn't know how much time she had stayed like that, but it felt like an eternity to her. She felt immense pain throughout her body just an instant before losing consciousness.