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“You want me to fuck WHO?” Diluc exclaims. It’s not the first request Albedo’s made to bring someone else into their bedroom, just the most egregious.

“Kunikuzushi,” Albedo replies, calm as ever.

“And what makes you think it’s a good idea to bring a Harbinger into our bedroom?”

“Well, for one, he’s no longer a Harbinger,” Albedo replies. He holds up a hand to forestall Diluc’s response. “I know, it doesn’t count for much, but he should get some credit for leaving. But besides that, you have an amazing potential for cruelty that I’d like to see unrestrained by your morals.”

Diluc starts to answer again, and this time stops himself. He can’t deny that the possibilities of what he can do are attractive… “I’ll think about it,” he answers shortly. Then he returns to aggressively cleaning behind the bar.

Diluc doesn’t see Albedo for the next few days. They’re not exactly avoiding each other, but their paths don’t often cross naturally and they don’t seek each other out.

Eventually, Diluc stops in at Albedo’s lab. “I thought about it,” he opens.

Albedo, in an impressive display of control, Geo-seals whatever he’s working on, then looks up.

“I’ll do it, under one condition,” Diluc continues. “He gets no say in what I do to him. No planning, no boundaries, no safeword.”

Albedo is visibly shocked by that. He was expecting some level of cruelty, but… not this. “How do you expect that to work?” he asks.

“You watch the two of us - which I’m assuming you’re doing anyways - and tell me if I’m going too far,” Diluc answers. “You use one of those emotion-monitoring potions you have.”

They’ve used those before for a similar purpose - when Huffman was tied up and gagged, he couldn’t gesture or safeword.

“That would be… interesting. For the both of us, I think. If he’s willing, we can do this.”

Diluc turns to leave, but Albedo calls him back.

“Diluc… I missed you.”

Albedo expects to spend quite a while convincing Scara of Diluc’s insane plan, and is rather shocked when he agrees right away.

“He won’t be able to do much to me,” he says confidently. “And if he does manage it, it’s something new, at least. That is why I left the Fatui…”

Albedo raises an eyebrow at the overconfidence, but says nothing.

They meet in the basement of Dawn Winery. “Better ambience for what I’m trying to do,” as Diluc said, trying to intimidate Scara. Most of the time he and Albedo spend together is down here.

Before Diluc arrives, Albedo and Scara each drink their respective potions.

As soon as Diluc enters the room, Albedo locks the door behind them, taking a seat right next to it. Then, as always with their third, he says “Begin.”

“Strip,” Diluc commands Scara. “And hand over your Delusion.” He complies, if slowly, almost tauntingly.

Diluc isn’t having it. “Faster, or I burn them off,” he says.

“As if you have the control to do that,” Scara responds tauntingly, carefully folding his… whatever that thing is he wears on his chest.

“You assume I care about not burning you,” Diluc says threateningly. Then he immediately makes good on his threat. A wave of flame engulfs Scara, and his remaining clothes - which is all of them - are burnt away, as are the tips of his hair.

Scara begins a complaint, but Diluc interrupts him. “Now, your Delusion.” The Delusion in question has fallen to the ground after Scara’s hat was burnt away.

“It’s right there, can’t you get it yourself?” Scara taunts, insistent on pushing Diluc as far as he can.

Diluc doesn’t ask again. He does pick up the Delusion himself - and then puts on his mask and uses it to shock Scara with his own Delusion.

“I was created immune to Electro,” Scara says. “You’ll have to do better than that.

Diluc pulls out his own Delusion. “But are you immune to Pyro? Or Overload?”

There’s a hint of fear in Scara’s eyes, but he still answers confidently “No, but I doubt you can do much with that.” He’s partly banking on the fact that Diluc doesn’t have the skill to use two Delusions at once. He doesn’t account for Diluc’s Vision.

Chains flow from the Electro Delusion, wrapping around Scara and suspending him in a cross from the rings in the ceiling and floor. “You have no idea what I’ve done even without a Delusion,” Diluc says. “Last chance - you agree to cooperate, or you get hurt.” He turns and looks at Albedo, who nods.

Scara, of course, doesn’t agree. He doesn’t say anything, in fact - partly out of fear, and partly out of curiosity.

Diluc’s hand glows with heat. He traces up the inside of Scara’s thigh, not staying in any one place long enough for it to hurt. It’s more akin to Albedo’s normal teasing of him than actual hurting.

At this, Scara regains some of his confidence. “That all you got?” he asks.

Diluc continues exactly what he’s doing, only increasing the Pyro enough to Overload Scara. The shocks travel from the chains through Scara’s legs, and straight to his dick. He tries to close his legs, but is stopped by the chains.

Three seconds later, Diluc pulls his hand back.

“Do you believe me now?” Diluc mocks.

“Yes,” Scara manages to get out. “Seeing as you’re hard from torturing me.”

Diluc replaces his hand on Scara, this time right on his dick. The Overload leaves Scara gasping once again - and dripping with precome - and Diluc reveling in the power he now has.

“One more time, because I’m feeling nice,” Diluc says.

Albedo laughs.

After turning to glare at Albedo briefly, Diluc returns his attention to Scara. “Will you now stop and listen to what I tell you?”

“Yes,” says Scara. Diluc will be able to do this all night, and he can’t stand it that long.

The chains abruptly dissolve, and Scara collapses to the floor.

“First, an apology,” Diluc says. “Suck me off.”

Scara starts in surprise, then nods. This is something he can do, as Dottore had him - no, don’t think about Dottore now. He starts to pull down Diluc’s pants.

Diluc stops him with the command of “No hands.” He reinforces the command with more chains, attaching Scara’s hands right to the floor. “Your mouth got you into this, it can get you out.”

Scara blinks in surprise, then starts trying to pull down Diluc’s pants with his teeth. Unfortunately, Diluc’s wearing a belt - the bastard. “Show me you mean it,” Diluc says. “I only let you down because you promised to listen. And obey.”

Scara doesn’t respond, just keeps trying to undo Diluc’s belt. Eventually, Diluc’s patience wears out - or at least, that’s what he tells Scara. After another round of Overload that leaves Scara barely holding back a whimper, Diluc says “Let me show you how it’s done. Stand up.”

This is one order that Scara’s happy to follow. The chains on his wrists lengthen enough to allow him to do so, and Diluc kneels in front of him.

Diluc begins quickly, taking Scara in his mouth all at once. He almost wants to make a comment about it being too easy with Scara’s size, it’s enough to prevent him from talking.

It doesn’t stop Scara from talking, however. Which he takes full advantage of, trying his best to degrade Diluc. “Taking my-” is as far as he gets before Diluc seamlessly burns him once more.

“Degradation is my job, Kuni,” says Albedo. “He won’t accept it from anyone else.”

Diluc side-eyes Albedo before returning his attention to Scara, once more bobbing up and down. He doesn’t use any of the tricks Albedo taught him, but he does work Scara efficiently. His mouth drives Scara closer and closer to his climax until -

“Stop,” Albedo commands.

Diluc pulls off, just before Scara can come.

“Why?” Diluc asks over Scara’s objections, ignoring them for the moment.

“He was about to finish,” says Albedo. “He doesn’t have the normal tells of a human.” A pause, and then “I assume you were edging him - if not, feel free to finish.”

Diluc grumbles a bit at that, then thinks for a minute, ignoring Scara’s raging boner in front of him as well as his complaints.

“As I would have said moments after I denied you had you not been a puppet -”

“I’m not a puppet!” Scara snaps at Diluc.

“Don’t interrupt,” says Diluc, seamlessly with another bout of Overload. Scara is so much more sensitive to this one due to the edging, and he does whimper this time.

“As I was saying,” Diluc continues, “you don’t deserve the privilege of finishing. You can possibly - possibly - earn that privilege by impressing me enough. Because of your… unique biology, I’ll have to take other measures.” At this, he summons a smaller, finer chain around Scara’s cock. “If you somehow manage to overcome this… it will not be pleasant for you. Understand, puppet?”

Scara somehow resists the urge to snap at “puppet” again, and says “Yes, sir.”

“Don’t call me ‘sir,’” Diluc says. “‘Sir’ is for your Fatui overlords. You call me… master.”

“Yes, master,” Scara replies, still chafing under Diluc’s commands but holding himself back.

Diluc turns to Albedo. “What should I have him do to earn my favor?” he asks.

Albedo almost laughs at that. “All this and you don’t have a plan?” “I’m used to torturing people for information, not for fun,” Diluc says, mildly annoyed. “And since he left, he doesn’t have anything useful to share.”

“Hmm…” Albedo thinks. Then he grins diabolically. “Get him to admit that he’s just a puppet.”

Diluc grins and agrees, and the look of horror on Scara’s face is delicious. Then he rechains him, this time to his hands and knees.

“Since you can’t do what I tell you to, I’ll just have to take it,” Diluc says. He pulls down his own pants - over Scara’s objections that he’s cheating by using hands - and begins to press into Scara’s ass.

“No lube?” asks Albedo.

“He doesn’t deserve it,” says Diluc.

“At least use spit,” says Albedo. “You’re too big to go in dry.”

Diluc mutters a bit about “controlling him through flattery,” but obliges. He’s not going to turn down the chance to literally spit on Scara, even if it does help him.

He thrusts in again, uncaring of Scara’s gasp of pain. And again. It only takes a few thrusts for Scara to adjust to Diluc’s cock - which, he hates to admit (and doesn’t), he enjoys. Of course, as soon as he does, Diluc pulls out.

“Why stop?” asks Albedo.

“It doesn’t feel right,” says Diluc. “And besides, he hasn’t earned it yet. Despite his acting, I know he’s enjoying this.”

Albedo almost laughs at that. “You’d be right about that. But what else do you plan to have him do to earn it? You’re going to need some way of forcing him to say he’s just a puppet…”

Diluc walks over and whispers in Albedo’s ear.

Albedo breaks out into a grin. ‘I was right to suggest this,’ he thinks, and then out loud “I like your thinking. Then he manifests a rather large Geo dildo midair and hands it to Diluc.

Diluc drags another chair over from the side of the room, places the dildo on it, and invites Scara to take a seat.

“But -” Scara tries to object.

“Now,” insists Diluc.

Scara gets on the chair and slowly lowers himself onto the dildo. He’s about halfway down when Diluc pushes him the rest of the way.

“Could’ve saved some time by not complaining,” Diluc says. Then he summons more chains, binding Scara to the chair at the shoulders, waist, and ankles, and his hands by a short chain to the floor. He’s left with very little, but not zero wiggle room - which was exactly Diluc’s plan. Scara wiggles even more when the dildo starts vibrating, not able to get any of the movement he wants.

Diluc turns to Albedo and asks “Is there any way we can keep him quiet? I’d gag him, but he still needs to admit he’s just a puppet.” That last bit is said with an emphasis that’s to remind Scara of his task.

Ignoring Scara’s objections, Albedo thinks for a moment, then asks “Can I borrow your Delusion?”

Diluc nods, and hands it over.

Albedo summons a Geo mask-like construct, then presses the Delusion against it for a moment. “Put this on him,” he says. “It should activate and Overload him if he tries any funny business, including talking.”

Diluc does so with pleasure.

Once he’s done, Albedo draws his attention once more. “I believe you said something about sucking me off?”

Diluc blinks at Albedo changing the script on him but proceeds to do exactly that, kneeling in front of Albedo and taking off his Delusion mask.

He doesn’t waste time with Albedo’s pants - other than them being already halfway down from Albedo touching himself, he wants to hear Scara complain about unfair use of hands again.

He’d forgotten about the “gag” Albedo had put on him - but thankfully, so had Scara. He got about as far as “hands” before the painful chain reaction of Pyro and Electro shut him up again.

Diluc begins by sucking Albedo’s balls, as Albedo had taught him years ago. As it had every time since, it pays off, with Albedo’s already hard dick somehow becoming even harder.

Albedo always keeps his hand on Diluc’s head when they’re doing this. It’s partly as a guide and partly as reassurance - not that Diluc needs either of those anymore - and nowadays, mostly a threat. When that hand tightens almost imperceptibly, Diluc pulls off and begins the main event. He takes Albedo’s entire cock in one stroke, reveling in Albedo’s gasp before pulling back slightly and tounging at Albedo’s tip. This is always his favorite part, being able to properly taste Albedo’s unique flavor.

Eventually, he goes down again. It doesn’t take long for Albedo to finish - the look of Diluc on his cock alone is impossible to resist. Meanwhile, Scara has been trying to move and getting burnt for his troubles. It’s impossible for him to not try and fuck himself on the dildo, but the mask Albedo made interprets this as an act of defiance, glowing with heat. Eventually, Scara tries deliberately triggering it in hopes of getting enough of a shock to his dick to let him come (the chain’s not nearly enough to stop him), but it somehow stops shocking his dick - and only his dick - when he tries. Seeing Albedo finish is too much for him. He lets out a long whine, tries to slump in defeat and is stopped by the chains, and almost inaudibly says “I’m… I’m just a puppet.”

Albedo still manages to hear it. “What did you say? You’re going to need to speak up.”

Scara grumbles, then nearly shouts “You win, okay? I’m just a puppet.”

Diluc puts his mask on briefly and removes the chains from Scara - all the chains. When he takes it off again, he’s grinning. ‘I broke the Sixth Harbinger’ is his triumphant thought.

“On your hands and knees,” he snaps at Scara, who obliges with surprisingly little complaining.

Diluc pulls the Geo dildo nearly out, slams it back in, drawing a gasp from Scara, then pulls it all the way out and sets it aside.

Once more, he spits on Scara’s hole, then pushes in.

Scara actually moans when Diluc bottoms out, to his own great embarrassment. Thankfully for his ego, Diluc’s brain is too lust-fogged to notice or care. He pulls out slowly, then slams back in, punching a gasp out of Scara every time.

Once Diluc is almost done himself, he traces a line up Scara’s cock. “Be a good puppet and come for me,” he whisper-growls into Scara’s ear.

And he does, unable to stop himself, a full-body orgasm that rips through him, spilling all over Diluc’s hand. The convulsions of his ass are enough to send Diluc over the edge as well, pumping Scara full of his spend.

He pulls off a moment later, looking at the fucked-out Scara beneath him.

“I think that went well”, says Albedo, standing over both of them.

“Shall we do this again?”

Two days later…

“How did you come up with the idea of that mask so quickly?” Diluc asks. “I don’t believe even you could do it that fast.”

Albedo blushes. “Intent-based magic with Delusions is surprisingly easy. But I had the idea months ago to use on you and was waiting for the right time.”

“Why didn’t you?” asks Diluc, somewhat annoyed. He would have loved to be subjected to that mask under different circumstances.

“I could never find the right third,” says Albedo. “It wouldn’t have been the same with just Pyro, and you shot down anyone with suitable Vision.”

Liyue was a disaster.

Zhongli turns out to have been Rex Lapis this whole time. He was always planning to give up the Gnosis and fake his death - for what, Childe can’t imagine, but it makes all his plans rather useless. When he reveals this and his plans with Scaramouche, Childe is pissed.

That’s not the worst part. The worst part is that, as he hands the Gnosis over, Scaramouche doesn’t return to Snezhnaya with it. Instead, he steals a boat and is halfway to Inazuma before anyone knows he’s not doing his duty. They learn this after the fact from an eyewitness report by Captain Beidou, whose ship it was that was stolen.

Upon his return to Snezhnaya, Childe is somewhat terrified of what the Tsaritsa will do to him for his failure. The Tsaritsa simply laughs at his concern.

“There was nothing you could have done,” she says before sending him off to Inazuma to hunt down Scaramouche.

In Inazuma, he finds war.

The Shogun’s Vision Hunt Decree has torn the islands apart. Watatsumi has mounted a resistance and is now a refuge for Vision-holders who wish to keep their Visions, as well as anyone else who disliked the Shogunate for whatever reason. Scaramouche, according to the Tsaritsa, would likely fall into the second group, looking for revenge for being cast aside, but Childe finds no evidence of his involvement on either side of the war.

Failing to find evidence of Scaramouche in the Resistance, he tracks down other Fatui involvement in the war. They’ve been supplying Delusions to the Resistance from a factory in Tatarasuna for years. Why anyone signed off on that, Childe can’t imagine, given the value of a Delusion, but it’s not his job to tell them to stop.

Childe doesn’t want to lend the Shogunate the legitimacy of having two Harbingers, so he leaves those islands to Signora - who’s been here this entire time, for some reason. Instead, he goes to Watatsumi Island - if Scaramouche will involve himself in this war, it will be on the side of the Resistance.

Watatsumi Island is surprisingly peaceful for being in the middle of a war. There are battalions of soldiers training, but no actual fighting. The biggest impact of the war, at least on this particular island, is the lack of food. Which Childe does his part to remedy, spending his days on one of the boats dodging patrols to bring in food. It’s the best place to hear any rumors, he reasons. (He spends his nights in a tent in a remote corner of the island, as the few inns and hotels on the island have been commandeered for soldier’s barracks.)

A week and a half later, he’s proven right when he hears the two soldiers come to collect the shipment of grain gossiping about a Harbinger coming to visit. They don’t immediately shut up when they see him, which means they’re not talking about him, and Signora wouldn’t risk losing the Shogun’s goodwill, which means that there’s a decent chance that it’s Scaramouche they’re talking about.

Childe presses them for more details. They almost immediately supply them, to Childe’s mild disapproval - anyone with that level of information should be better at keeping it quiet. They say that this Harbinger will be meeting with Kokomi - who Childe has gathered is the leader of the Resistance. Which Harbinger it is, they don’t know, but they can speculate that the meeting is on the influx of Delusions. And they give the precise date and time of the meeting - early morning a week from now.

As much as Childe would like to take on Scaramouche head-to-head, he knows that he doesn’t stand a chance - and regardless, the Foul Legacy draws far too much attention. Luckily, behind the shrine that’s been converted to an operations center is another shrine, much smaller and abandoned - and he’d brought one of Dottore’s new sniper rifles.

On the evening of the meeting, he lies flat, ready to shoot as soon as he sees Scaramouche. It’s not the best angle, but he’s a good enough marksman (with a rifle, anyways) to be confident that Scaramouche won’t leave alive.

An arrow hits beside his head, sending up a mini-explosion of earth. “That was a warning shot,” a voice above him says. It’s matched with a boot on his back. “Drop the gun, put your hands above your head, then you can get up slowly and explain to the Divine Priestess why you’re trying to kill her.”

Childe curses internally, then releases his hold on the rifle. When he raises his hands, they’re encased in some kind of shackles - he expects it’s a Geo construct of some kind. The gun is pulled away, and once his captor is satisfied he can’t resist, the boot is lifted from his back.

He rolls over - away from where the arrow hit - and gets the first look at the person who managed to capture him. Drawn bow with an arrow pointing at him - he’d expect no less. Watatsumi Resistance, and high-ranking. Then he sees the ears and tail and bites back a laugh despite the situation. He’d been captured by a dog hybrid. He takes Childe’s Vision and Delusion, somehow knowing exactly where Childe keeps them, then returns the Vision encased in stone. Childe can still feel his connection to it, but can tell that he won’t be able to use it.

His captor releases the bow and it dissolves into wherever weapons go when they’re not in use. Then he walks Childe to their makeshift operations center, where he finds Scaramouche and who he assumes to be Kokomi waiting for him.

“Your assassin, exactly as I predicted,” says Scaramouche as if bored, waving a hand at Tartaglia. He looks ready to continue, but Childe interrupts.

“I’m here to kill him, not you,” he says quickly, pointing at Scaramouche.

“Whyever would you want to kill your fellow Harbinger?” Scaramouche asks in a mocking imitation of confusion.

“You know perfectly well you turned traitor,” Childe spits back.

“Such an outrageous claim,” Scaramouche says. “And you with no proof.”

“Signed orders from the Tsaritsa don’t count?” Childe asks. To one of the soldiers, he says “A scroll in my back pocket. I’d get it myself, but…” He holds up his hands encased in stone.

Kokomi nods and the soldier grabs the scroll and hands it to her.

Childe considers saying something about their lack of caution, but decides against it. She scans it, then announces “Faked,” soaking it with her Vision and rendering it illegible.

As Gorou drags him off to a cell, he hears Kokomi tell Scaramouche “It appears we owe you a great debt.”

The cell where he’s to be kept is alone in the open air, as seems to be common in Inazuma for anyone who isn’t the Shogunate. Once he’s locked up, he asks Gorou to remove the binding on his hands. Gorou, apparently reluctantly, partly agrees, reducing it to a pair of shackles. As night falls, he tries - and fails - to sleep. Comfort isn’t an issue, but Scaramouche outsmarting him again so quickly stings.

He must have drifted off at some point because he’s woken up near midnight by someone shaking him. He’s alert in a second, and seeing that it’s Gorou waking him, he immediately tries to summon a blade. He fails, of course, due to the strange encasing on his Vision.

“Come with me quietly,” Gorou whispers. “We know your orders are real.”

Childe blinks in surprise, then nods and follows. If this is some kind of trap, he’ll have a better chance of escaping outside of the cage.

Gorou leads him to a secluded meeting room where Kokomi is waiting for the two of them. As soon as the doors close, Childe says “Can I ask what’s going on now?” He’s rather exasperated by the cloak-and-dagger nonsense this is turning into.

Kokomi answers a different question. “We know that Scaramouche turned traitor. We knew even before you showed up. But we’re not in a position to fight another god, so we took him in, despite the risk to us.”

She pauses, and Childe notices just how tired she looks. “So I have an offer for you. You get our help to kill Scaramouche, and your freedom, and you reclaim whatever it was he stole from you. You keep supplying us with Delusions and you kill Kujou Sara.”

Childe considers. It’s not a bad deal, and from what he knows of Sara he can take her fairly easily. But he does have a secondary goal in Inazuma - one that Kokomi should already know after reading his orders.

So he makes a counteroffer. “We kill Scaramouche, I kill Sara, I show you how to use a Delusion safely - well, relatively safely - then I join the Resistance until the Shogun is dead, on the condition that I get her Gnosis.”

Kokomi quickly agrees, and Childe belatedly realizes that this was probably her goal in the first place. Not that it matters - he’d still agree to that deal if it was offered, but it annoys him that he’s still so easily manipulated.

They shake on it, then begin planning. Gorou removes the case on his Vision, weakens his restraints enough for them to be breakable, and then returns him to his cage.

The next morning, he’s woken by a nervous-looking messenger. He says quickly “You have been found guilty of high treason and sentenced to death.

Childe pretends to despair - not very well, he thinks - and to fight back - better, but still not very well - as six soldiers drag him off to his execution. It’s all for the benefit of whoever’s watching, of course - all six of his “jailers” know what’s going on.

He’s put on a platform in front of three people - Kokomi, Gorou, and Scaramouche. The six guards leave without binding him in any way, which should be Scara’s first and only warning, but he’s too caught up in arrogance to notice.

“The would-be assassin, thanks to you,” Kokomi says. “If you would like the honor, you may kill him.”

Scaramouche quickly agrees, then makes a show of summoning an Electro ax, examining it, polishing it somehow, and a few practice swings, gloating all the while. And so he’s entirely unprepared for two blades at his throat - one from Childe and one from Gorou - and a hand inside his chest grabbing the Gnosis. He tries backing away and is stopped by another knife in Kokomi’s hand.

As soon as the Gnosis is recovered and Childe’s hand removed - which takes all of ten seconds - Gorou removes his blade from Scaramouche’s throat and stabs him through the heart.

As he sees Scaramouche’s body start to smolder, Childe shoves the Gnosis into Gorou’s hands, says “Run!” and activates his Foul Legacy.

Kokomi and Gorou both turn and run at the panic in the Childe’s voice.

Childe summons as much of an Electro shield as he can, then also runs. He’s caught up to Gorou within a second, after which he shadows him. (Kokomi has wildly outpaced both of them with her Vision.) When he’s counted fourteen seconds from Scaramouche’s death, he knocks Gorou to the ground, covering him.

He does so barely in time for the massive explosion that comes from Scaramouche’s body. It easily overpowers his rushed shields, a wave of force washing over him.

As soon as he gets off Gorou - who thankfully isn’t crushed by the weight of the Foul Legacy - he transforms back into his regular form. Gorou picks himself up and asks “Was that really necessary?” Then he turns around and sees the smoking crater and acknowledges that yes, it was necessary.

“What was that?” Kokomi asks, having returned from over the ocean. “The death of a god,” answers Childe. He’s looking a bit roughed up - the rapid activation of the Foul Legacy takes its toll.

“I know about that,” Kokomi answers. “I mean, what did you do?”

Childe winces. It’s not something he wants to make widely known. “It’s a Foul Legacy form. Abyssal teachings designed to fight gods. And that is all I will say on that.”

Neither of them is satisfied with that answer, but neither care enough to press.

“And now I owe you a death,” Childe states. “Although you may have to wait a few days for me to recover.”

During his recovery, Childe asks Gorou for the Gnosis back. He complies, pulling it out of a pocket, then asks why he was trusted with it. “Did you expect me to use it to shield myself?”

Childe laughs. “It was nothing to do with trust. But the Foul Legacy is incompatible with such a concentration of divine power, and you were closer.”

Killing Kujou Sara goes far smoother than either attempt to kill Scaramouche. He indulges himself with a one-on-one fight, walking into the encampment and challenging her to a duel. She accepts, likely from overconfidence from recently beating an oni for his Vision. Childe can certainly see why they want her dead. If she has as much control over her soldiers as she does her body, she’d make a dangerous enemy on the battlefield. It’s a surprisingly tough fight - Childe is forced to resort to using his Delusion a few times, but he wins out eventually.

After that one fight, he takes the role of common soldier, declining all offers of any higher rank. “I’m a weapon to be pointed, not a commander,” he says.

Very few of the battles after that are remotely interesting - with the loss of Sara and the addition of Childe, the Resistance steadily pushes through Kannazuka and prepares for a direct invasion of Inazuma City.

Of course, proper use of the Delusions that are still flowing in help. Safety won’t stop them draining their users, but it does reduce it - and more importantly, makes them more effective and less prone to backlash.

Between battles, Childe, Gorou, and Kokomi (nominally, as she’s rarely present) begin their plans to kill the Shogun. Once more, it can’t be a straight fight - contrary to popular opinion among the Harbingers, Childe knows when there’s a fight he can’t win. So another assassination attempt it is.

Childe’s first plan is to steal into the Tenshukaku, taking the Shogun by surprise when she’s conducting business.

Gorou points out that there’s nowhere in the Tenshukaku that has both a free shot to the Shogun and is far enough away that they won’t be caught in the blast from her death. Then he proposes baiting her out and taking a shot from there. Unfortunately, by Childe’s insistence, it needs to be somewhere secluded to avoid loss of civilian life, and the Shogun only leaves for public appearances.

After about a week of going nowhere, Childe bemoans his lack of shielding abilities. Gorou asks if he can use the Gnosis to create better shields, and Childe answers “I don’t have enough power over others to use it effectively.”

He then pauses and studies Gorou. After far too long for comfort, he says “But you do.”

Gorou raises both eyebrows. “You’d trust me with that?”

Childe sighs. “After the Liyue fiasco, I wouldn’t trust anyone with it. But you’ve returned it before…” He trails off, and the subject is dropped for now.

After another week of increasingly harebrained schemes, none of which have any chance of working, and a stall in pushing into Inazuma City because the Shogun would likely defend it, Childe agrees to loan Gorou the Gnosis. “And this way, I still have the option of the Foul Legacy if it’s needed.”

After that, the planning is quite straightforward, for a nice change. Wait until the Shogun comes out for some ceremony, take a shot at her, and Gorou contains the energy with the Gnosis once his shields are strong enough - which shouldn’t be that long, considering his natural affinity for Geo.

These plans all go out the window when, as the Resistance defends Kannazuka, the Shogun joins the battle.

Up until that point, as was now standard, the Resistance had been fighting off the Shogunate fairly easily. They’d been pushing the offensive for long enough that any offensive had been seen as foolish at best. Among the soldiers, it’s the subject of more than a few jokes.

As soon as Childe sees the Shogun, floating above the rest of the army, he curses and activates his Foul Legacy. He shoots off a few arrows, hoping for the rest of the archers to follow his lead, then the distance is closed. He quickly comes in behind her, turning her attention to him from the rest of the army. And then they fight.

The Shogun isn’t nearly as strong as Childe expected. Granted, she can’t use the Musou no Hitachi without destroying her entire army, but her offense feels… lacking. It’s almost as if she’s holding back. Her defense, however, is impeccable. She can perfectly block Childe’s strikes as fast as he can make them. The occasional volley of arrows that comes from behind is vaporized before they touch her - Childe’s not entirely sure how, but assumes it’s some sort of Electro aura.

Childe backs up, ignoring the volley of arrows coming at him - with his Foul Legacy armor, they’re little more than an annoyance. The Shogun follows, pressing the attack. Once they reach the edge of the ocean, Childe continues backing up, hovering over the water. The Shogun follows. As the two fight, an arrow narrowly misses the Shogun. This wouldn’t be notable except for the fact that it was close enough that it should be vaporized but wasn’t. And also from the fact that it hadn’t curved down over such a distance.

From slightly behind the front lines, Gorou curses. Then he shoots another arrow, letting it charge longer than normal to consolidate the power of the Gnosis.

After the arrow misses, more fire. The Shogun manages to dodge most of them, but some connect, and they cause significant damage. Childe quickly presses the advantage from this, driving the Shogun back to the bulk of the army.

Another arrow hits, and the Shogun stumbles. Childe attacks from above, and the Shogun blocks. Childe keeps pressing down, and the Shogun drops into the water.

As soon as her foot touches the water, Childe uses it, a surge of water engulfing her and dragging her down. She attempts one last strike but the water binds her, and Childe finishes the fight with a decapitating strike.

As soon as he’s won, he speeds away from the body in preparation for the explosion of divine energy.

It never comes. Instead, the body simply dissolves. Childe questions this, but decides that he can question it later and returns to the fight on the shore, attacking from the rear. On the shore, as soon as the Shogunate soldiers see the Shogun fall, the battle turns into a rout. The soldiers continue fighting, but all hope that the attack is successful is lost.

After that battle and the death of the Shogun, the Resistance finalizes plans for the direct invasion of Inazuma City. Now that the Shogun is dead, there’s nothing stopping them, and they decide to press the advantage as soon as they can. Of course, this leaves no time for considering anything else, including why the Shogun’s death wasn’t anywhere near as destructive as it should be or why she had no Gnosis. Childe raises some concerns about this, but eventually agrees that there can be time for this later.

The landing on the south of Byakko Plain goes as well as can be expected, in large part because of the loss of morale from the death of the Shogun. The Shogunate is cleared off the plains quickly, after which the battle devolves into individual scuffles in the streets of Inazuma City.

The first order of business upon capturing the city, even before clearing it of the remaining Shogunate soldiers, is destroying the Statue of the Omnipresent God - now no longer omnipresent. All ninety-eight Visions are removed from it - ninety-six of them to be returned to their owners, the last two having died, to be given to anyone who can activate them. And then a dozen soldiers with sledgehammers - no one knows where they got the sledgehammers, nor does anyone care to ask - destroy it. Well, as much as can be done with sledgehammers - Gorou takes over with his Vision once there’s only solid stone left.

While mopping up the last of the Shogunate soldiers, Childe enters the Tenshukaku alone. There are no soldiers there that he can find, everyone having abandoned it after the Shogun’s death. There are a few terrified children who’d come in to hide from the fighting. Childe removes his mask and tells them how to get out of the city without attracting any attention. They’re more than happy to listen.

In what appears to be a deserted corridor, the back of Childe’s neck prickles. Out of pure instinct, he throws himself to the floor, barely dodging a thunderbolt.

He’s back on his feet within seconds, looking for where the sudden attack came from. It doesn’t repeat, but the Shogun steps out of an alcove and draws her sword from within her chest.

Childe curses internally, then sends a prayer to whoever might be listening that he survives this. He’s already overused his Foul Legacy lately, and without it, he doesn’t stand a chance. (Even with it, he needed help to beat the Shogun last time.) He’d wonder how the Shogun survived, but he’s too busy surviving himself.

While Childe is desperately dodging the Shogun’s attacks, Gorou gets a sudden feeling that he’s needed elsewhere. He summons a binding around the legs of the soldier he’s fighting to end that fight quickly, then runs for the Tenshukaku.

As soon as he enters the building, he knows exactly where he’s needed. He slows down slightly as he sheathes his sword, draws his bow and lets the Geo energy accumulate. He runs through a hole in the wall, barely dodging another lightning bolt as he does so.

There’s a moment of confusion when he sees the Shogun before he decides that there’s time to puzzle that out later and looses the arrow. It hits the Shogun in a spray of earth that buys Childe time to catch his breath.

His bow dissolves and he draws his sword again. Their only chance is to keep the fight at close distance - for some reason, the Shogun’s attacks only get stronger with distance.

Gorou begins the offensive and Childe joins a few seconds later. Without his Foul Legacy, he can’t do much, but he does serve as a distraction.

Then he gets an idea. “Box her in,” he calls to Gorou, rolling out of the way of another lightning bolt.

Gorou nods and thrusts his sword forwards. As expected, it’s dodged, but a wall still rises from floor to ceiling behind her. The Shogun counterattacks, in response to which Childe retreats behind Gorou, who blocks with another wall summoned, this one more transparent.

Electro energy explodes from the Shogun in all directions. Gorou falls to his knees maintaining the walls, but they do survive. However, the other physical walls - and the ceiling - are blown out. (The floor, being built on stone, survives.) Childe dashes forwards and places a hand on the Geo wall, summoning three Electro sides to the box encasing the Shogun.

The Shogun begins a consistent assault on the back wall. Childe electrifies it, making it harder and adding a backlash - not that the backlash does much.

Childe sees an opportunity in the small space and summons his narwhal underneath the Shogun. The small space constricts its size, but it also makes it impossible to dodge, sending the Shogun flying and into the electrified ceiling, knocking her out.

Gorou resummons his bow, opens a small gap in the wall, and takes aim through it.

He’s stopped by a voice calling “Wait!” from behind them. In an instant, Childe has turned around with an arrow drawn and pointed at a woman who had apparently appeared from nowhere.

“Why should I?” asks Gorou, not taking his eyes or his aim off the Shogun.

“I’ll give you the Gnosis in exchange for her life,” the mysterious woman answers, drawing said Gnosis from a pocket.

“The Gnosis and a promise from her to abdicate, leave Inazuma, and never return,” Gorou counteroffers.

“And an explanation on how she returned from the dead,” Childe adds.

She sighs and agrees. Gorou closes the hole in the wall, not taking his eyes off the Shogun.

“The two Shoguns is easy to explain,” she says as she hands the Gnosis to Childe. “The one you fought first was a puppet designed for day-to-day rule.”

Which would be why it didn’t count as a god’s death, Childe thinks.

“And your oath to abdicate and never return,” Gorou says to the Shogun.

The Shogun doesn’t answer, instead making one last desperate assault on the walls. Gorou reopens the gap, and before any attack can get through it, sends an arrow through the Shogun’s head.

“Get the other two walls,” Childe commands. “I can’t hold it.”

Gorou curses, then summons another two walls, while Childe removes the Electro ceiling. A wave of Electro comes from the Shogun’s body, entirely directed up.

The mysterious woman vanishes as suddenly as she appeared.

“That was… odd,” Childe says. And then they both return to the city, finishing the sweep for the Shogunate soldiers.

After the cleanup, Childe finds Kokomi - who’s extremely busy with the administrative work from taking over the country.

“The Shogun is dead and you’ve won,” he says. “And I must return to Snezhnaya.”

She nods without looking up.

The last thing he needs to do before returning is get the Geo Gnosis from Gorou. Gorou hands it over, but as soon as Childe touches it, he pulls his hand back sharply from the burn.

“Apparently I can’t hold more than one,” he says. “And since you won’t want to come to Snezhnaya with me, I’ll be back.”

“I can come with you,” Gorou offers. “The war’s over, I’m sure I can be spared for a few days.” Truth be told, he’s been at a bit of a loose end since the war had ended.

Childe nods. “Excellent - that should save some time. If you’d like to stay in Snezhnaya, I’m always recruiting for interesting people like you.”

Gorou blinks in shock. After a moment, he nods. “Maybe. I don’t know if I’ll be needed here again… but I’ll consider it.”

Childe grins. It’s a better answer than he’d expected. “In that case, the ship leaves in three hours on the tide… the two-way one.”

Gorou laughs, then goes off to pack hurriedly.

The trip to Snezhnaya goes quite smoothly. Gorou has questions about the Fatui that Childe is mostly happy to answer - although Gorou’s not always happy to hear the answers. Childe also continues his attempted recruitment of Gorou, which leads to a large number of their conversations being about the Fatui in some way or another.

The first thing Childe does upon arrival in Snezhnaya is tell Gorou exactly how the meeting with the Tsaritsa will go. She tends to be rather strict when it comes to respect, and while Childe thinks that with two Gnoses, he’s bought enough goodwill for her to disregard any slip-ups, he doesn’t want to take the chance.

Childe enters the throne room beside Gorou. They proceed to the base of the Tsaritsa’s throne and kneel, and when the Tsaritsa says “Rise,” Childe proceeds to his lesser throne, while Gorou stands behind it.

The Tsaritsa begins “Tartaglia. Your return from Inazuma comes slightly later than I had hoped, but no later than I expected. Report.”

“Your Majesty,” Tartaglia says. He reaches into his chest for the Gnosis and gestures for Gorou to do the same. “I report success on all counts.”

The Tsaritsa is impressed, although she does not show it. “Very good,” she says. She walks to Tartaglia’s throne and accepts the two Gnoses. Both of them are curious at how she can hold more than one, and both are disciplined enough to not ask.

After their report to the Tsaritsa, Childe gives Gorou a tour of the city, who is suitably impressed by the landmarks. On the journey over, Gorou had decided to stay for a few days - what’s the point of a four-day journey if he’s only going to stay for a few hours?

Childe leaves the city the morning after their arrival, going to somewhere in the country. He gives Gorou no details.

Gorou spends those few days alone, mostly touring the city. He does, however, spend some time asking questions about the Fatui - he trusts Childe, but the person trying to recruit you might not always be the best source of information. He finds that Childe was entirely truthful, leaving very little out.

He returns a few days later, ready to go out on another mission.

“Where will you be going next?” Gorou asks.

“Natlan, most likely,” Childe answers. “We’re still hunting Gnoses, Dottore’s in Sumeru, and Arlecchino in Fontaine.”

Gorou nods. “I’ve always wanted to visit there,” he says.

“You could come with me,” Childe says, half-jokingly.

Gorou laughs. “I don’t suppose I could join on a trial basis?” he asks.

Spending years wandering Inazuma while watching the neglect of the god that created you destroy the land is not a pleasant existence. He considers joining the Watatsumi army solely out of revenge - they’ve clashed with the Shogun many times over the years - but decides instead to leave Inazuma.

He declines an offer of membership with the Fatui - they hold no purpose for him, and he would never willingly work with Dottore - and spends more years wandering before he arrives on Dragonspine. Where he’s nearly killed by a cave-in - which he swears is the mountain doing it on purpose out of spite - and only barely saved by… someone. His last thought before unconsciousness is seeing a sunburst of Geo stopping a rock headed for his face.

He wakes up in another cave higher up on the mountain. Out of instinct, he tries to leave the cave, but is stopped by an offhand voice saying “Durin’s influence can’t reach here.”

Scara turns around, looking for the source of the voice. He finds someone hunched over an alchemy bench, doing something intently. Whoever it is seals the alchemy bench with a burst of Geo, then stands up and turns around to see Scara.

“You’re awake,” the alchemist says, followed quickly by “Who are you?”

He pauses for a second. “Call me Scara,” he says eventually. It’s what the Doctor called him in some in-joke he never understood. But it’s one of the two names he has, and most people outside of Inazuma can’t pronounce Kunikuzushi properly. “And you?”

“I’m Albedo,” answers the alchemist. Then he continues the questions. “Have you ever had any contact with either the Abyss Order or Khaenri’ah?”

“No, why?” is the answer.

“I’m trying to determine why Durin holds a grudge against you. He isn’t normally so aggressive. Have you ever had dealings with the Fatui? I know it’s unlikely, but I -”

“Unfortunately I have,” Scara answers, cutting Albedo off.

“That would do it,” Albedo concludes. “Add it to the fact that you’re an artificial life-form and he thinks you’re too dangerous to leave lying around.”

“How did you know I was created?” asks Scara suspiciously.

“First, you survived that rockfall. Even with my intervention, no mortal could have survived that. But more importantly, your breath doesn’t fog in the cold.”

Scara curses under his breath. He knew he’d forgotten something arriving here - although how much good it would do when he first encountered Albedo while unconscious, he doesn’t know. He takes a deep breath in, holds it for a few seconds, then exhales a massive cloud of fog.

“You mean like this?” he asks, his breath now acting as a person’s. Then he starts. “Neither does yours.”

Albedo raises an eyebrow. “Apparently your creator made you to blend in with humans,” he says, then immediately regrets it.

“I was made to stand above them,” Scara snaps. “Not that it matters what I was made for.”

Albedo tries to recover. “Maybe you were meant to appear human so that humans will follow you?”

Scara appears somewhat pacified at that. “Maybe…” he allows. “The Shogun is stupid enough to believe that people follow those like him and not just power.”

After an awkward pause, he asks “So who made you, and why?”

Albedo sighs, then answers. “I was made by Rhinedottir - you may know her as Gold. As to why… I’m not entirely sure. I may simply be a proof-of-concept, artificial life with the ability to think for itself. Perhaps I was to be the first artificial life to create life myself - I find this to be most likely, given how she trained me.”

“Did she succeed at teaching you?” Scara asks. He means “can you create artificial life,” and Albedo knows it.

“Teaching me, perhaps. Unfortunately, soon after the Cataclysm, the Art of Khemia - our way of creating life, although it appears that it’s not the only one - was greatly weakened. Even Rhinedottir could only create no more than a few rats.”

“How soon after the Cataclysm?” Scara asks.

“A slow decline that stopped about ten years later,” Albedo answers. “Before you can ask - I had the same question - you weren’t created with Khemia, something I didn’t think was possible until I met you.”

“Even you don’t know how I was created. Of course,” Scara huffs.

Albedo pauses, lost in thought. “I have a suspicion,” he says after a moment.

“And what would that be?” asks Scara, his eyes narrowing.

“That you aren’t truly alive,” Albedo says, quite matter-of-factly.

“What do you mean by that?” Scara asks, surprisingly not angrily.

Albedo sighs. “That you were only meant to be controlled, to not live independently. From what I suspect, that was only mostly a failure - in this case, a failure you should be grateful for.”

“What do you mean by mostly?” asks Scara suspiciously.

“I suspect that there are certain directives within you that you must follow. The obvious one would be to not attack your creator, but there may be others. Given time, I can probably find out what they are…” He trails off at the look on Scara’s face.

“Before I left Inazuma, I considered joining the Watatsumi Army. I didn’t. I’ve reconsidered that decision hundreds of times, always wondering why I didn’t. And now this… it’s plausible.” He throws up his hands. “What am I supposed to do with that?” he exclaims.

“That, I can’t answer,” says Albedo.

Scara pauses for a second. “Will you kill the Shogun for me?”

Albedo starts. “I don’t have that kind of power,” he answers.

“Of course you don’t,” Scara says. “But I could ask you.”

Albedo nods. “Which doesn’t stop you indirectly plotting her death… Interesting. That is not an oversight I would have expected. In which case, why couldn’t you join Watatsumi?”

“They were already opposed to the Shogun,” Scara says.

Albedo nods. “Of course.”

Scara begins excitedly muttering to himself. Something about the Fatui is all that Albedo can hear.

“How do I get off this mountain if it’s trying to kill me?” he asks eventually.

“I’ll come with you,” Albedo answers. “Durin is… well, it’s complicated, but he won’t risk killing me.”

“I see,” says Scara.

Of all that Liyue is famous for, music is not traditionally part of it. They have a few native musicians, some of which are quite good, but they aren’t nearly as well-known as other nations’ music. However, Rex Lapis does care for music - and so, every four years, Liyue hosts the Linyue Festival.

The first festival was, despite Rex Lapis’s patronage, a small affair with only a few actual musicians attending. The second one picked up a lot of steam from Mondstadt’s bards, due mostly to the endorsement of Venti. And the subsequent ones simply snowballed, the honors from Rex Lapis gaining prestige and competition.

The four hundred and seventieth festival is nearly canceled because of Morax’s death. It’s saved by a timely intervention by Venti. “It’s what he would have wanted,” he successfully argues. (He knows that it is, in fact, what Zhongli wants.)

He also manages to convince Xiao to attend. “It’s to remember Rex Lapis,” he says. “And how long has it been since you’ve heard me play?” The answer to that last question is about fifteen years, which is a long time even for a pair of immortals.

“And whose fault would that be?” Xiao grumbles, but nevertheless agrees to attend - although not to sing as Venti also tries to convince him to.

\The festival traditionally takes place over seven days. The first half of the last day will be dedicated to tributes to Morax - Venti had argued against that change unsuccessfully, not least because Xiao had been on the other side of that argument. As “one of those closest to him,” Xiao is offered the role of judge several times, all of which he denies. It is, however, the only part of the festival he plans to attend in its entirety. For every other category, he chooses only a few musicians to minimize the effects of karma. Venti, who, as the seventy-two time winner has managed to talk his way into seven of the twelve categories plus the opening and closing, is always one of them. He hadn’t managed to talk his way onto the first performance, instead coming third. The first two are nearly as good, Xiao thinks, even without Venti’s healing abilities.

Venti is about to take the stage when Xiao hears his name called in… was that Vanarana? He’s there in an instant, spear drawn, ready to take on whatever is threatening whoever called him. Which, he quickly determines, is the avatar of Marana. He leaps into battle alongside the Traveler, quickly defeating it and its minions. And then another two times when it revives somehow.

“Thank you,” says the Traveler.

“Paimon doesn’t think they could have survived without you,” Paimon says.

“You’re welcome,” says Xiao. Then he gusts away through the maze that is Vanarana - he’d been here before, and not willingly.

He’d given up hope of hearing Venti’s performance, but he does manage to return in time for the last half of the closing verse.

Despite the length of that song - from past experiences, it takes anywhere from nine to fourteen minutes depending on the mood Venti’s in - he’s still met with thunderous applause… and then rushed off the stage by the manager of the competition.

“Thanks to the great length of that performance, I don’t have time for my usual speeches,” she says, to gales of laughter. “Next up is Yun Jin…”

Xiao gusts away. Yun Jin is skillful, but he doesn’t enjoy her singing.

The second half of the day is dedicated to war songs, one of the few categories that Venti isn’t participating in. Nor does Xiao care much for war songs, despite Venti’s insistence that he could perform well. After the afternoon’s performances are complete, Xiao tries to find Venti and fails. Despite Venti’s many attempts to teach him, he never could use the wind to find people - “to hear something other than your name,” as Venti put it. After about half an hour of searching through the various taverns in the city, he leaves the city once more, returning to his role as protector.

The second day is traditionally quieter after the excitement of the opening, which makes it both more pleasant and safer for Xiao to listen. Venti’s performances run nearly back-to-back, ending the morning and beginning the afternoon, with a five-minute intermission between them.

Xiao appears before Yanfei’s performance, which comes just before Venti’s. He’d been rather surprised to see her here and came entirely out of curiosity. And he’s not the only one - he can see Cloud Retainer there as well. He’s even more surprised when she turns out to be a pretty good singer - it was not what he’d expect from her.

Venti’s first performance of the day is apparently one he wrote himself. (He’d refused to tell anyone anything about it beforehand, saying that he wanted a surprise. He hadn’t even told the organizers, only that it wouldn’t be nearly as long as the first one.) He’s saying as much on stage when Xiao hears a call and disappears.

He reappears in the forest of Wuwang Hill somewhere even he doesn’t recognize. The ghosts of humans are not normally a problem. But apparently, they still scare children - which is why he’s called here now.

As soon as he appears, the child in question runs behind him and hides his face in Xiao’s legs. “There’s a ghost,” he says, voice shaking. He looks around - he can see spirits everywhere, but there’s only one strong enough for mortals to see it. To his surprise, it is indeed a malicious spirit of some kind, a poltergeist that feeds on fear.

He ignores the spirit for now and tells the child “Don’t be afraid. If you’re not afraid, it can’t hurt you,” trying to be comforting

The child looks at him. “I can try,” he says. Then he shouts at the spirit “Go away! I’m not scared!”

Xiao almost laughs at the sudden turnaround.

The poltergeist makes one last rush at the child, then turns and floats off.

The child turns to Xiao. “I think I’m lost.”

Xiao extends a hand, says “Hold on,” and gusts above the forest to see where they are. Once he’s oriented himself, he speeds towards Qingce Village. Once he arrives, going slower than he normally would, he sets the child down. “Do you know how to get home from here?” he asks.

The child nods and runs off.

Xiao gusts back to the harbor, to find, of course, that Venti’s performances are both done. Time must run differently on Wuwang - he swears that he was gone for less than three minutes, but intermission alone is five. He remains for the next few performances, then leaves.

Once more, he searches for Venti after the day’s performances are done, and once more, he fails to find him.

The next few days repeat in a similar fashion. Right around the time Venti begins his performance, Xiao gets called away for increasingly trivial reasons. Normally, he wouldn’t mind such calls, but their precise timing makes it rather annoying. The second time the Traveler calls him, he nearly snaps at them when it turns out they only wanted an inhuman opinion on their cuisine. Which again, he’d normally be happy to provide, but it’s really a bad time. And given it’s in the far end of the Sumerian desert - why the Traveler is cooking there and how Xiangling got there, Xiao doesn’t know - even if he returns as soon as he can, he’ll miss the end of Venti’s performance. And every time Xiao tries to find Venti, he can’t, to the point where he suspects Venti’s avoiding him for some reason.

As planned, the last day’s morning is dedicated to remembering Rex Lapis, and as planned, Xiao attends the entire morning. It’s the first time he properly hears Venti over the festival - no one calls him for the entire morning.

Venti’s last performance is the beginning of the end - or less dramatically, the first performance of the last day’s afternoon. And, of course, as soon as he’s introduced, Xiao gets called away.

After the end of the competition are the awards, which Xiao does stay for out of curiosity, and at which Venti wins his seventy-third first place. And after the awards, Xiao tries once more to find Venti, and this time succeeds when Venti calls him to a room in Dawn Winery.

“Where have you been?” they ask each other almost in unison.

Venti laughs and then answers. “It was one of the conditions of the festival that I don’t go out and get drunk every night. Apparently, mortals don’t get better at music the more drunk they are.”

“You’ve spent so long in bars, you should know how drunk mortals act,” Xiao answers.

“Probably…” Venti laughs again. Then he turns more serious. “But where were you for most of the festival? I was starting to worry because I didn’t see you.”

“I kept getting called away,” Xiao answers. “Somehow it always happened as soon as you took the stage.”

Venti nods. “And of course, you being… you, you’d never turn down a call.”

“Of course not. You can still call me even after so many calls to get rid of stray cats,” Xiao answers.

Venti laughs, then cuts himself off. “I forgot about that,” he says. “Since you never managed to hear me, would you like a… private show?”

The way Venti asks makes Xiao think that there’s another meaning there. “Yes, but just the music,” he answers.

Venti grins and pulls his harp out from… wherever he keeps it and begins playing. For a second, Xiao’s paranoid that another call will come, but it doesn’t, and he relaxes to the music.

As soon as he closes his eyes, a wind picks up, moving him around. He assumes that it’s Venti messing with him again and doesn’t pay attention to it until his head is dropped in Venti’s lap.

He looks up in surprise and sees Venti grinning down at him. Venti releases the harp midair, playing one-handed while the other hand strokes through Xiao’s hair.

“Gorou.”

His name snaps him out of his shock-induced haze. “Yes?”

“The charges are treason, conspiracy to commit high treason, participation in a banned terrorist group, and four counts of manslaughter. How do you plead?”'

As was previously planned, he says “Guilty.”

The judge says “You are hereby exiled from Inazuma. Leave before sunset tomorrow and return on pain of death.” Then she bangs her gavel.

The rest of the trials pass in the same haze. Every important member of the Resistance is there, plus any common soldier that didn’t manage to escape. The leadership is given the same sentence of exile, while the soldiers are let off relatively easy, their only punishment being a few years of hard labor rebuilding the Tenshukaku.

He’s halfway to Dornman Port when he shakes off the last of the shock from the disastrously failed assassination attempt. It was an all-or-nothing bet, he knew, but he didn’t think he’d properly understood what failure truly meant until it happened.

He arrives in Dornman Port in the early afternoon two days after the trial and decides to make the trek to Mondstadt the same day. Unfortunately, it’s longer than he reckoned on, and it’s nearly midnight when he arrives.

Upon arrival in Mondstadt, he explains his situation to one of the Knights at the gate. Visitors are apparently not supposed to enter the city after dark. As he’s arguing with the guard, who seemingly wants to let him in but can’t, a wandering bard comes from the inside, winks at the guard, and pulls Gorou inside. And then drags him off to a tavern to tell his story properly.

Once he’s done the first telling of his story, the bartender asks “What exactly went wrong with your plan?”

“They had a spy,” Gorou almost growls. “They knew we were coming, they knew our every move. And it’s really damn hard to touch the Shogun if she knows you’re there.”

“There are few things that can derail a plan worse than a traitor within your ranks,” the bartender says, as if speaking from experience.

“Did you ever catch whoever did it?” asks one of the tavern’s other patrons - one who’s extremely drunk.

“Of course not! The entire Resistance disintegrated after we failed. We never got the chance.”

“What do you plan to do from here?” asks the bartender, heading off Gorou before he can get any more riled up.

“I have no idea,” answers Gorou. “I’m only here because the first boat I could get on was coming here.”

The bartender nods. “I suppose you need somewhere to stay for the night?”

“I could use one,” Gorou admits.

“I can help with that,” says the bartender. “The tavern’s full, but Barbatos knows I’ve got enough spare rooms for you. Which is probably why he brought you here.”

Someone calls across the room. “Diluc! Not just any stray you take in can replace me!”

The bartender - Diluc, apparently - glares across the room at the shouter, then says “Ignore him. He’s my… was my… it’s complicated.”

Gorou nods. “I won’t ask. But why is it you’re willing to take me in so quickly?”

Diluc sighs. “I’ve had my share of failed assassination attempts.” He doesn’t elaborate.

Later - Gorou thinks it’s about half past one in the morning - Diluc announces last call. A loud chorus of groans follows, and the tavern slowly empties, the last few people being chivvied out by Diluc after fifteen minutes or so.

Leaving the city is a lot easier than entering it. Diluc just nods at the guards and opens a postern gate. Apparently Diluc comes around this late at night regularly.

They walk mostly in silence for about fifteen minutes before Diluc points out the winery mansion.

“You weren’t joking about having a lot of spare rooms,” Gorou says, mildly surprised.

Diluc flushes slightly. “Lucky birth.”

Once he’s shown Gorou to one of the spare rooms, he says “Let one of the maids know if you need anything” and leaves Gorou to collapse on the bed for his first proper sleep since the trial.

Gorou wakes up around noon the next day. He rolls out of bed and does his best to tidy up the room. It’s not like he’d made much of a mess, or that Diluc needs it, given that he has maids, but it’s the principle. He makes his way downstairs and is greeted by one of Diluc’s maids, who seems quite happy for a chance to stop mopping.

“You’re Gorou?” she asks.

He nods.

“I’ve been wondering when you’d show up. Diluc’s out in town - I don’t know what he’s doing. There’s breakfast waiting for you in the dining room… although you should call it lunch.”

Gorou thanks the maid, then calls her back to ask where the dining room is.

In the dining room, he uncovers what amounts to a pile of steak, potato, and cheese, stacked up. There’s a note next to it, from Diluc, which he reads as he eats. He’d spent so long being insanely busy with the Resistance that he’s used to such multitasking.

It’s fairly concise, as Gorou would expect from Diluc. As Gorou was told by the maid, Diluc’s in the city and invites Gorou to join him. He doesn’t say what he’s doing, just that he can’t be missed. He says that Gorou is welcome to stay as long as he needs to, as he’s a person that won’t take advantage of another’s kindness. And he mentions that he’d made the meal and used his Vision to keep it warm. At first, Gorou does a double-take at his ready admission that he has a Vision before remembering that it’s only in Inazuma that they’re banned.

Once he leaves the mansion, he returns to the city, mostly so he can find work. Diluc is entirely right that he doesn’t want to stay for free if he can avoid it.

“Katheryne? What are you doing here?” he exclaims, seeing her at her kiosk at the entrance to the city. She never leaves her desk in Inazuma.

“I have always been here,” she replies.

“What about the Katheryne in Inazuma?” he asks.

“Information on the workings of myself through Teyvat is limited to Adventurer’s Guild members,” she responds as if she’s giving a canned response. “And unfortunately for such a promising young adventurer such as yourself, we do not accept new adventurers during Mondstadt’s harvest season. Even those we previously tried to recruit.”

Gorou shakes his head in confusion. He’d been previously recruited by Katheryne in Inazuma, which means that they’re the same person or they somehow share memories…

He abandons that line of thought. He won’t be able to get any answers out of an uncooperative Katheryne. Instead, he asks “What stops you from hiring during the harvest?”

“Mostly tradition,” answers Katheryne. "The farmers of Mondstadt need as many workers as they can get during the planting and harvest seasons.”

Gorou’s eyes narrow. Adventuring is rather useless if you can’t feed the city, but he wouldn’t expect the Guild to bother with that. He doesn’t pursue it though - again, Katheryne won’t talk about anything that doesn’t suit her. “Can you point me to any of those farmers that are hiring?” he asks instead, not expecting an answer but thinking it’s a better chance and more useful than anything else he can ask.

Katheryne answers nonetheless. “Dawn Winery is currently in the midst of their semiannual hiring spree. In fact, Master Ragnvindr is currently in town for that purpose. He’s in the main square - just go up, you can hardly miss him.”

“Thanks,” Gorou says as he turns and walks up the main stairs of the city. As he climbs, he mutters to himself “So that’s what he meant by ‘can’t be missed.’” Whatever he was expecting, it wasn’t that.

Ten minutes later, a slightly out of breath Gorou makes it to the main square of Mondstadt. The disadvantage of building your city into the side of a hill is that it makes it somewhat more difficult to get around. To his immediate left is a sign advertising for the Good Hunter. Underneath that sign is another sign advertising for work at Dawn Winery. There’s a small crowd - thirty people or so - mostly waiting around for their chance for Diluc to take their name. Gorou takes a seat and waits for Diluc to work through the rest of the crowd.

“Next,” calls a bored-looking Diluc as the current person leaves, looking somewhat annoyed. Someone else walks up to his table and starts talking - for some reason, no one else can hear them.

“How do you know who’s next?” Gorou asks the person sitting next to him.

“Whoever gets up first, mostly” is the answer. “They always hire everyone they can, it’s not like there’s much competition.” Gorou nods.

A moment later, he asks “Are you that Inazuman revolutionary that appeared at Angel’s Share yesterday?”

Gorou blinks in surprise. “That would be me. Why?”

“Is it true that you took the first shot at the Shogun?”

“I’m a… was a general, not an assassin.”

The man nods. After a moment, he asks “Did you take any shots at the Shogun?”

“It’s rather useless to try once she knows we’re there. She can grab arrows out of the air,” Gorou grumbles. “Didn’t stop me from trying, but most of my arrows went to her soldiers.”

Diluc calls “Next,” and Gorou answers the call.

“I thought I’d see you here,” Diluc says. “I suppose the Guild sent you here?”

Gorou nods. “What is your arrangement with the Guild?”

“The Knights mandated it after one year when the entire workforce quit to join the Guild,” Diluc responds. “When neither they nor the owners would back down on their wage demands, the city nearly starved. And despite Barbatos’s calls for a revolution - or so they say - the Knights stepped in and stopped the Guild from hiring anyone new during the harvest.” He shakes his head as though to get rid of an unpleasant memory. “But enough of ancient history. You’re here for work. I assume you’re more interested in actual harvesting rather than the administrative work?”

Gorou agrees. “Tracking supplies and the like was the worst part of the Resistance.”

Diluc holds back a sigh. “Very well.” He briefs Gorou on pay - which is surprisingly generous - duties, hours, and such - long hours this year because of an early winter and limited demand for ice wine - then ends with “You start tomorrow in the vineyard at half past eight.” Then he calls “Next.”

The next three weeks are extremely busy for Gorou. He’s busy the entire day in the vineyard, after which he has little energy for anything else. He’s told that it isn’t normally this busy except after the freeze, but this year’s freeze will be sooner than normal.

Little time for anything else also includes finding another place to live. As convenient as it is to not have to walk into the city every night, now that he has work, he’d like to avoid living on charity.

Gorou and Diluc eat together almost every night, mostly in silence as both of them are too tired for small talk. Most nights, Diluc cooks, which Gorou is almost more grateful for than the room. About twice a week, he’ll get too wrapped up in papers to remember, and twice he falls asleep in those papers, in which case Gorou sighs and throws together dinner for the two of them. And on the one occasion where Diluc goes missing for two days straight - he’s told that it happens occasionally, it’s nothing to worry about - he’ll cook for himself. He’s not a bad cook, he just doesn’t enjoy it much, nor does he have the energy to.

(When asked why he doesn’t let the maids cook, Diluc laughs. He doesn’t trust them to not burn down the house, he says, and it’s far too hard to find a half-decent chef for hire.)

Three days in a row go by when the morning starts with a frost. There’s no effect on the harvest, other than a lot more workers bringing gloves.

The next morning, Gorou wakes up to a howling blizzard. He gets out of bed, noting that the house is somehow warmer than normal, and walks to the kitchen, where he finds Diluc with a cup of coffee.

Diluc greets him, then points out the window. “That is Barbatos thinking he’s being funny.”

Gorou blinks. “Barbatos does things like that?”

Diluc scoffs. “Only to me. I’m convinced that if you could get out of here, you’d see the storm is entirely contained in the vineyard. Shows what I get for asking for a cold snap.”

“Why would you want a cold snap?” Gorou asks.

“An experiment with ice wine,” Diluc answers. “I’m told that if you freeze the grapes before harvesting, it concentrates the juice, which makes for far sweeter wine.”

“And you couldn’t get a Cryo user to freeze them for you?” Gorou asks. “I’d think that would be easier than getting a god to change your weather.”

Diluc sighs. “You underestimate how pliable Barbatos can be. And even if he wasn’t, I have a talent for driving off Cryo Vision holders. Diona hates the entire wine industry. I’d have no chance at convincing Rosaria to take on any additional work, and she’s not leaving the Church anytime soon. Eula hates me for some reason, which she’s passed on to Mika, and Kaeya is… well, he’s Kaeya.”

Gorou nods. He briefly considers asking about Kaeya - he’s heard stories - but decides against it. “It would probably make a better wine from a natural freeze anyways,” he says instead.

“Perhaps,” replies Diluc. “Whatever the case, it’s not going to happen, as convenient as it may be. Are you cold?”

Gorou blinks at the sudden change of topic. “No - I don’t understand it, but I’m actually warmer than before,” he answers.

Diluc nods. “That would be my Vision. I wasn’t sure if it was affecting the entire house - normally, I only bother to keep myself warm. Surprisingly, it’s not that much more effort.”

“Increasing area-of-effect somehow doesn’t increase the power needed,” Gorou replies. “Unless you’re doing something with a lot of precision.”

“I wonder why,” asks Diluc, not expecting an answer. Gorou doesn’t give one - he doesn’t know either.

After a moment’s silence, Diluc says “Well, this day’s going to be completely useless for the both of us. We won’t be able to get out through that storm, either to town or to harvest and I can’t work in the cold - Vision heating is too distracting.”

“I’ll appreciate the day off,” Gorou replies. “Your harvests are rather exhausting.”

“I have been working you rather hard,” Diluc admits. “But winter would be here early regardless of what Barbatos did, and I’m not banking everything on an experiment. Thanks to your work, we only have a day’s worth of harvest or so left.”

“I’m not complaining,” Gorou answers quickly, “but I do need a break.”

The rest of the day is spent mostly quietly. Neither of the maids show up through the storm, which leaves Diluc and Gorou alone together the entire day. They talk more than they have ever since the first night when Gorou showed up in Mondstadt, mostly for lack of anything else to do. Diluc is very interested in the details of the Resistance to the point where Gorou almost suspects him of trying to create his own revolt.

When asked why he’s so interested, Diluc answers “I also had my time as a rebel. My motivations were far more selfish than yours - entirely revenge, to be honest.” And then they’re on to talking about Diluc’s misadventures in Snezhnaya.

“…I managed to actually land a hit on Dottore,” Diluc finishes. “To this day, that’s the closest I’ve come to revenge.”

Gorou nods along. From his one-time dealings with the Fatui, they’re not worth it to work with. Still, he has to ask: “What caused you to go on such a quest for revenge in the first place?”

Diluc grimaces. He doesn’t want the details publicized, but he can tell Gorou is trustworthy. He tells Gorou as much, then begins with the disappearing children. The only part of the story he leaves out is his messy breakup and disownment of Kaeya.

The next morning dawns cold and clear… in the sky, at least. The ground, less so. There’s about a foot of snow on the ground, ending right at the boundary of the vineyard and confirming Diluc’s theory of the localized storm.

The crowd gets to work. They know where the remaining unpicked grapevines are and, almost more importantly, where the already-picked vines are to dump the snow.

About half an hour in, Gorou asks Diluc - who, for the meantime, is working with the other pickers - if he can use his Vision to melt the snow.

“I doubt that I can control it enough to not thaw the grapes,” Diluc answers. “And thawed grapes are completely useless.”

“I might be able to shield them,” Gorou answers. “At least enough to clear the paths.”

Diluc raises an eyebrow. “Care to demonstrate?”

Gorou digs through the snow to the ground, then pulls off a glove and touches the ground. A thin wall of earth erupts through the snow, then curves over the tops of the grapevines.

“Impressive control,” says Diluc. Then he sends a wave of flame down the path, causing a massive cloud of steam and almost entirely clearing the path of snow.

The wall shatters as Gorou releases control over it. Underneath it, the snow covering the grapes remains mostly intact. The top had slightly melted and then refrozen into a somewhat solid chunk of ice, which Diluc picks up and throws onto a pile of waste snow. The grapes underneath are still frozen solid.

Diluc nods in approval and the two move through the vineyard repeating the process. It takes about an hour - there isn’t much vineyard left unharvested, but making such barriers is fairly exhausting for Gorou.

Once they’re done clearing the paths, Diluc leaves to begin the wine processing. This will continue through the night, with only Diluc and a few backup workers, pressing all the grapes before the weather has a chance to warm up.

Diluc comes in at half past four in the morning. He’s not as tired as you’d expect - he does have experience working through the night. But he still collapses on his bed the first chance he gets.

The next night, the entire collection of harvesters is invited to Angel’s Share for a night of free drinks. There’s enough of them to fill the bar, and regardless, it’s closed to everyone else - except that one bard that brought Gorou here when he first arrived.

Diluc, who for tonight is on the other side of the bar, sees the bard and shakes his head at him. Venti, of course, doesn’t leave and instead takes a seat next to Diluc.

“Was the cold snap to your liking?” he asks.

Diluc sighs. “Well, I can’t say it didn’t work.”

“Whatever did the two of you do cooped up together?”

Diluc blushes furiously. “We talked.” Then he looks around for Gorou, who is, thankfully, on the other side of the room and apparently not listening.

Venti laughs. “Oh, I didn’t mean to imply anything… inappropriate. It seems your mind went there all on its own.”

“You knew exactly what you were doing,” Diluc says, face still red.

“Perhaps,” answers Venti. “Although if I did, I’d imagine that it would work better.” Then he walks away, to where Gorou is in a rather heated argument with a few others on how, exactly, a Pyro arrow flies without lighting the entire arrow on fire.

“It doesn’t have time to burn,” Venti interrupts. “Any fool with more arrows than sense can try it, you don’t even need a Vision.”

“Thank you!” someone exclaims to Gorou. “If I wasn’t drunk, I’d show you - you don’t need a Pyro vision, I’ve done it before!”

Gorou throws up his hands. “Fine!”

Venti laughs, then drags off Gorou. “Tell me, what went on during that snowstorm?”

“Very little,” Gorou answers. “I needed a rest, Diluc kept me far too busy. And it’s not like there’s much to do trapped inside by a storm.”

“Oh, I’m sure you could’ve come up with something,” Venti answers. Then he walks away, leaving a very confused Gorou.

Later in the night, Charles announces “Last call,” to an even louder chorus of groans - no one likes the end of free drinks. The trickle out starts with Diluc, as he’d been almost the only one paying attention to the time. Gorou follows soon after - he’d stopped drinking about an hour ago to avoid a hangover.

They walk in silence, as Gorou would expect from Diluc, but this time it feels somewhat more awkward. Eventually, Gorou asks “What exactly did that bard say to you?”

Diluc blushes again, mutters something about “meddling gods,” and doesn’t answer the question.

“I see,” Gorou replies.

“What exactly do you think you see?” Diluc says. “You like someone, but you don’t want to admit it to yourself,” Gorou answers.

“I have no feelings for you, despite what that damned bard might say,” Diluc grumbles.

Gorou stops walking. “It’s me you like?”

Diluc freezes. “That is not what I meant to say.”

Gorou takes a breath and says “But what you wanted to say, I think.”

Diluc tries to deny it as he starts walking again. Gorou says “I like you too,” and Diluc stops again. Then he turns to kiss Gorou.

Gorou hesitates half a second before kissing back.

The morning three days before the Rite of Descension is a chaotic one at Dawn Winery. As nearly every prominent businessperson in Teyvat does, he’s spending a night in Liyue to hear Rex Lapis’s predictions for the coming year. And of course, he can’t leave without half a dozen staff asking last-minute questions about what to do in his absence. And Kaeya, for some reason - he claims it’s to help, Diluc suspects it’s simply to annoy him.

As a child, he took this journey annually with Crepus - the yearly trip was always an exciting journey, although he remembers the disappointment when he learned that Rex Lapis wasn’t the type of dragon that could breathe fire. He hadn’t been in years - he’d been too busy trying to hunt Harbingers, there was no time left for anything business-related. He’d returned just under a year ago, which was just in time to miss the last one.

Diluc is about to leave on the two-day journey when a voice stops him. “Spare a ride for a god?”

Diluc halts the carriage, sighing, He’s already leaving an hour later than he’d wanted, but he can’t exactly ignore Venti. “You’re a god. Can’t you take yourself there?” he asks, annoyed.

“If only,” Venti laughs. “But the Rite of Descension is important enough that Morax blocks all other flights. And as the god of wind, flight is my chosen method of travel.” He proceeds to demonstrate this by flying into the passenger seat of the carriage.

“So much for asking,” Diluc grumbles. “You can come. But it’s just me going, so don’t expect any free wine. Or any wine, for that matter.”

“What kind of drunkard do you take me for?” Venti protests as the carriage starts moving.

“Based on how you act in my tavern every night, a crazy one,” Diluc answers.

“Oh, when I’m drunk, of course. But I’m not always drunk. Do you know how much it costs to get drunk on a god’s alcohol resistance?”

“I’ve been giving you free drinks for months now. I know how expensive it is.”

“Why is that?” Venti asks. He’d never questioned the abundance of free alcohol before - he hadn’t cared, for that matter, but now he’s curious.

“The Church talked me into it. I thought it would be worth it to avoid paying their taxes. I was wrong.”

“The Church collects taxes in my name!?” Venti exclaims indignantly. “I thought they were just useless!”

“Not in your name,” Diluc reassures him, somewhat amused. Of course the god of freedom would take exception to his church being used for tax purposes. “The Knights got them to do it because they know who everyone is.”

“Oh, all right,” Venti grumbles.

“You should be grateful they’re doing it,” Diluc continues. “It counts as you exerting control over Mondstadt, which is what gives you your power.”

“There is a reason I don’t use that power,” Venti grumbles. Then once his brain catches up to what Diluc said, he asks suspiciously “How do you know where we get our powers?”

“You spend four years hunting the Fatui, you learn a fair bit about divine power,” Diluc answers.

“What exactly were you doing in those four years? I still haven’t gotten a straight answer out of you.”

Diluc sighs. “Some parts I won’t tell you, some parts I can’t tell you, and you know everything else. Here’s your straight answer: no.”

“Fine,” Venti huffs.

The trip into Liyue is almost entirely uneventful. The most interesting part of the journey is when Venti meets the Vigilant Yaksha at Wangshu Inn. He claims they’re old friends.

They arrive in Liyue proper on the morning of the Rite. Diluc abandons Venti to find his unusually expensive reserved seat. (He’d had to stand once before, presumably in a bad business year, and would rather not repeat the experience. The predictions were always longer than he expected.) He’s wondering where Venti plans to watch from - he wouldn’t be able to afford a seat - when he sees the dragon circling overhead. Then he lands, and to the surprise of the crowd, transforms into a mostly-human form. (He keeps the fangs, the claws, and a greatly reduced tail.)

Rex Lapis mutters to himself “I was not expecting that,” too quietly for anyone to hear. Then he raises his voice and begins his predictions, eyes turning milky white as he does so.

The predictions are, in general, an average year for business, if chaotic. One of note is “Taverns, brothels, and other places where men go to lose themselves will find an increase in services needed.” While hopeful for Diluc’s business, it is still rather foreboding.

Of course, it’s overshadowed by the next one - “Visions, Delusions, Gnoses, and other implements of the divine will either greatly increase in power or simply stop working.” Which is fairly terrifying to anyone who knows what that means - and judging from the crowd’s response, that is very few. And it’s not even good for business.

Once the predictions are done, the square empties, and Diluc wanders around the city, enjoying his rare day off. He finds himself sitting in a tea shop of all places - he doesn’t know what drew him there, but he figured “why not.”

A few minutes after his tea arrived, he nearly chokes as Venti walks into the shop talking to the human incarnation of Rex Lapis. (This one’s more human, having dropped the claws and tail.)

“Whatever possessed you to take human form for the predictions?” Venti asks, gesticulating wildly.

“Instinct,” Rex Lapis answers. “For some reason, it was vitally important that someone in this year’s audience knows this form.

“You’re saying that your predictions told you that?” Venti asks.

“Exactly,” is Rex Lapis’s only response. Then to the shopkeeper, he says “A pot of herbal spice, if you please.”

“Of course, Mr. Zhongli,” he replies, completely ignoring the contents of the god’s conversation.

“I suppose he’s another old friend?” Diluc asks, moving over to their table once they sat down.

“And who might this be?” Rex Lapis asks Venti at the same time Venti asks “Is it so strange to visit friends when passing through?”

Rex Lapis and Venti look at each other, then Venti speaks. “Zhongli, this is Diluc, current owner of the Dawn Winery, and far more importantly, my source of free drinks and rides. Diluc, this is Zhongli. Just Zhongli if you know what’s good for you. And yes, he’s an old friend as well.” He then leans forwards and whispers “He can’t shield conversations involving a mortal.”

“Or involving more than two people,” Rex Lapis - Zhongli continues. No one is surprised that he can hear Venti’s whispers. “And that is the limit. If you could see us in the first place somehow, I can shield you.”

The shopkeep comes over with Zhongli’s pot of tea, then notices Venti. “Haven’t seen you in what, twenty years?” he comments, then moves on to the next table.

“Why could I see through your shield?” Diluc asks.

“Likely something to do with a Delusion and a Vision combined,”

Zhongli says. “I don’t know the details, but the concentration of divine energy probably has something to do with it.”

“I left my Delusion behind a year ago,” Diluc says, looking around to see if anyone’s listening. “And if you can’t shield us, shouldn’t we be having this conversation somewhere else?”

“The people of Liyue hear enough that unless they’re deliberately listening, they won’t care. And there’s no one that would want to listen that’s any threat. As to your Delusion, both Delusions and Visions leave their trace on humans.”

Diluc takes a second to process, then nods. “Of course that thing would have weird effects.”

“It shouldn’t have too much of an effect on you once you stop using it,” Zhongli states.

“That’s some good, at least,” Diluc grumbles. “I hope to never use it again.”

“Why do you still have it, then?” asks Venti.

“What do you suggest I do with it?” asks Diluc. “I refuse to return it to the Fatui, and it’s too corrupting to just throw it into the ocean.”

“You never thought of asking your god that you obviously have some sort of relation with to destroy it?” asks Zhongli.

“I can do that?”

“He can do that?”

Diluc and Venti ask over each other, nearly in unison.

Zhongli chuckles at the response. “You’re more powerful than you give yourself credit for - despite your best efforts. And anyways, it’s divine energy. Manipulating it is your entire job.”

Diluc laughs at the look on Venti’s face. “Well, that’s one way of doing things.”

“As long as I don’t keep the power,” Venti grumbles.

“That shouldn’t be a problem,” says Zhongli. “It’s easy enough to dissipate harmlessly. For a god, anyways.”

“On the topic of destroying Delusions, can you tell why your predictions will happen?” asks Diluc.

“That is a somewhat complicated answer,” Zhongli answers. “Anything directly related to my domains - Mora, which includes business, the movement of the Earth, and so on - I can accurately predict. Anything outside of that gets increasingly fuzzy. I can’t tell you why there will be a sudden influx of Naku Weed next year, just that it will cause a decrease in the price of wine. As to your specific question, I don’t know why divine power will decline or increase. I suspect the answer is the domain of Celestia, and as such, far beyond my information.”

Diluc nods. “Not very helpful, but at least I know there’s something coming. Although there’s nothing that I can do about it.”

“As useless as a mortal in the face of Fate,” Zhongli says. Seeing Diluc’s confusion, he clarifies: “It’s a somewhat infamous saying among the adepti.”

“Well, I can’t exactly argue with it,” Diluc grumbles.

“I know better than to try,” mutters Venti, to Diluc’s amusement. “I’ve given it up as a lost cause.”

“It’s a long story,” says Zhongli to Diluc. “One that I’m not getting into now.”

“I suppose you have all sorts of history together,” Diluc says.

“Ask him why Liyue’s a no-fly zone for the Rite,” Venti says cheekily.

“That’s a story I’d like to hear,” Diluc answers, looking at Zhongli. “He got his pet dragon to dive-bomb you as you were speaking?”

“What? No, I’m far more creative than that,” Venti objects.

“He didn’t try to interrupt the Rite,” Zhongli says. “He knows better than that. No, I just closed the air as revenge four hundred years ago… for what, I can’t remember.” He absolutely does remember, but it’s not exactly something he can tell Diluc. “And I’ve left the rule up ever since simply because it’s amusing watching him find alternate ways to get to the Rite when he wants.”

“And I’m the latest in your series of amusements,” says Diluc, somewhat amused himself.

“Indeed,” Zhongli replies.

“Well, as interesting as this meeting has been, I do need to return to Mondstadt,” Diluc states, getting up from the table. “Will you be coming, Barbatos, or is the no-fly order over after the Rite?”

“The no-fly is a week on either end of the Rite,” Zhongli answers before Venti can. “Unless he’s suddenly learned to walk, he’ll be returning with you. But you’re not staying the night?”

“I came here on business,” Diluc answers. “I spent four years away from home. Now that I’m back, I don’t intend to spend any more time away than I have to.”

“What were you doing for the last four years?” Zhongli asks.

“Mostly hunting Fatui,” Diluc replies.

“And something else he won’t tell me about,” Venti states. “Yet.”

“I thought you seemed familiar,” Zhongli says. “I’ve heard stories about the Delusion Thief.”

Diluc shakes his head. “The whole point of that name was to keep me covert.”

“I can assure you that it worked,” Zhongli states. “And I will keep your secret. Although there is someone I know who would quite enjoy a rematch.”

“I’m not fighting Tartaglia again,” Diluc states. “Three times was enough.”

Zhongli raises an eyebrow. “You beat him three times? Most impressive.”

“I managed to hold him off long enough to run away three times,” Diluc corrects him. "If I'd beaten him, he'd be dead. And he never used his Foul Legacy - if he did, I'd be dead."

“You may have been captured,” says Zhongli. “They had enough interest in you to not want to kill you. I expect that’s why Childe never used his Foul Legacy.”

Diluc grimaces. “Don’t remind me. I was captured once and managed to escape. Not an experience I’d want to repeat. And I really do need to get going.”

“Very well then. I hope to meet again.”

Diluc and Venti leave the tea shop, returning to their camp from last night.

When Diluc returns home, he finds a note waiting for him.

Bennett first encounters Xiao after a disastrously failed commission. The hilichurl camp in Dihua Marsh he’d been assigned to clear had a Stonehide Lawachurl in it that, somehow, no one had thought to mention. Or maybe it had arrived after the scouts left. Regardless, Bennett had walked right into the camp expecting a few mages at worst, and had almost immediately been knocked unconscious by a wave of earth.

He reawakened in a bed in Wangshu Inn (although he didn’t know that), heavily bandaged. Surprisingly, he was fully awake almost instantly, rather than drifting in and out of consciousness like he’d expect after an injury like that.

A moment after Bennett wakes, a woman walks in the door. “Oh good, you’re up,” she says.

“Where am I?” asks Bennett, trying to be on guard.

“Wangshu Inn,” the woman replies. “I’m Verr Goldet, the owner of the place. You got knocked out by a bunch of hilichurls.”

“I do remember that much,” Bennett says.

“I’m rather surprised you survived, even with Xiao’s intervention,” Goldet continues.

“I always survive, somehow, no matter what scrape I end up in,” says Bennett, struggling to get up and ending up sitting. Then “Wait, who’s Xiao?”

“He’s the adeptus that saved you. Most know him as the Vigilant Yaksha. He took out the hilichurl camp - if you were commissioned to do it, which by the looks of you, you were, don’t worry, we have an arrangement with the Guild. Anyways, he then saved you.”

“I see,” says Bennett. “I don’t suppose I’ll be able to thank him?” Goldet laughs. “No. He's most often here, and still, barely anyone sees him. He much prefers solitude.”

“If you see him, will you pass on my thanks?” Bennett asks. Goldet nods.

She doesn’t have to, however. The next day, when Xiao brings in another body, Bennett manages to catch him and thank him in person.

“No need. Protection is my job,” Xiao replies. Then he’s gone in a gust of wind.

The second time Bennett encounters Xiao, they’re both watching the Rite of Descension. Bennett had heard that it was a much better vantage point to watch the descending dragon from above the city, rather than within it, at least if you didn’t care to hear Rex Lapis’s predictions for the coming year. And Bennett, with no business interests whatsoever, is only here for the view. (Businesspeople from all over Teyvat came to hear the predictions. Diluc had hired Bennett, along with three other adventurers, as bodyguards, then told them in no uncertain terms to be out of the city during the actual Rite. Bennett had heard rumors that this was because he was involved somehow with Rex Lapis, but he’d dismissed those as just rumors.) Regardless of why, he’s pleased with the outcome - watching the dragon from below, the city from above, and… the adeptus that had saved him from the side? He considers a greeting, but decides against it.

The two watch together as the dragon descends into the city, taking on a human-like form. They can’t hear the predictions or the reactions to them, but one of them does cause quite a commotion. (The two of them would later learn that, bound by a millennia-old contract to reveal such relations, Rex Lapis had announced he had taken a lover.)

When it’s over, Xiao gusts away and Bennett starts climbing back down the mountain.

(It becomes quite clear why Diluc wanted so many bodyguards when Bennett fends off three separate attempts on his life on the two-day journey home.)

The third time Bennett encounters Xiao, it’s in a cave inhabited by Abyss Mages. They had been causing significant trouble on Dragonspine, and someone had commissioned him to clear the mountain of the mages. Given that his Pyro Vision made him rather suited for the work on the snowy mountain, Bennett accepted. (The extremely deep pockets of the anonymous commissioner also had something to do with it.)

On the fourth day, having summited the mountain and coming down the other side, he discovers a rather extensive cave system.

Throughout most of it, there are no traces of Abyssal activity, but some of the entrances were inhabited.

It’s in one such opening that he finds a heavily-wounded, unconscious, tied-up Xiao. He quickly frees him, uses his Vision to cauterize the worst of the wounds, and tries to wake him up without shaking him too much.

Xiao does wake up. As soon as he does, his spear manifests in his hands against Bennett’s throat. When he sees that it’s Bennett - or more accurately, that it’s not an Abyss Mage - he releases Bennett, then turns around warily.

Not a second later, the cavern fills with the popping sounds of Abyss Mages teleporting in. Unlike the rest of the mountain here, there’s more variety of elements than Bennett’s ever seen, at least among the mages.

Xiao tackles Bennett out of the way of a Hydro bubble, then says “Run.”

Instead of running, Bennett strikes at the nearest mage - which happens to be a Dendro one, setting its shield on fire - and casts his Inspiration Field on the ground. He’s not going to abandon someone who once saved his life.

Xiao growls, then dons his mask and begins attacking. His Anemo doesn’t do much to the shields on its own, but it swirls them into other shields with great effectiveness.

As soon as Bennett steps outside of his field for a strike of opportunity, he feels some sort of oppressive presence from Xiao. As well as the sense of foreboding, his attacks are weaker, his reactions slower, and the mages’ attacks that hit are more impactful. Once he’s back inside the circle, the physical effects wear off, but the foreboding remains.

When the last of the Abyss Mages are defeated, Xiao turns to Bennett. Removing his mask and dismissing his spear, he asks “How did you survive?”

Taken aback, Bennett replies “I can handle a few mages, and you did most of the work.”

Xiao sighs. “Not the mages. How did you survive me? I was holding back, and you still should be near-dead by now.”

“You weren’t attacking me,” Bennett answers, thoroughly confused.

“It’s not me attacking you. It’s me in any sort of combat that harms anyone that sees it.”

“You mean that… presence I felt outside the ring?” Bennett asks.

“Your field must protect against it,” Xiao says in wonder. “I’ve never seen anything like it. You are extremely lucky. And I am lucky that it was you that found me. And also that you stayed.” A moment’s silence, then “Why did you stay?”

“You saved me once. I won’t abandon you after that,” Bennett answers, quite seriously.

“As I told you, no thanks are required. Protection is simply my job. But you have my thanks.”

“And it was my job to hunt Abyss Mages,” Bennett answers.

“Then your job is finished. Every mage from here to Port Ormos came when you freed me.” And then Xiao is gone once more.

Bennett scouts the rest of the mountain just to be sure, then returns to Katheryne. Included in his payment is a Fatui recruitment letter inviting him to Tartaglia’s personal guard. He doesn’t take up the offer, preferring to keep an adventurer’s independence, but frames the letter.

The fourth time Bennett encounters Xiao, it’s intentional. After conferring with Verr Goldet, he makes a gift of almond tofu and waits on the balcony every night for the yaksha to return. After four nights, he finally catches Xiao.

Before Xiao can disappear again - not that he would, though Bennett doesn’t know that - he blurts “I have a gift,” holding out the plate.

Xiao accepts the dessert, though he mutters about “that damn woman giving away my secrets.” Once he starts eating, he sees Bennett watching him and offers to share the dessert.

“That one’s for you,” says Bennett. “I had to eat the six failed attempts I made.”

The start of a smile can be seen on Xiao’s face.

The fifth time Bennett encounters Xiao, it’s on business. A strangely well-connected and well-informed consultant had asked him to deliver a message to Xiao. For purposes of this delivery, and this delivery only, he was given directions to a floating pagoda in Jueyun Karst, and a Sigil of Permission.

“He can tell when someone’s there,” Zhongli tells him. “He won’t be expecting you, but with that sigil, he won’t be able to harm you if he shows up a bit paranoid. And he will show up - no need to wait four days like you did last time.

Bennett doesn’t question how he knows any of this - or how he got his hands on a Sigil of Permission - but simply accepts the message, sealed with a scintillating Geo symbol carrying a strange energy. Following his directions, Bennett climbs to the top of a mountain, then jumps, his glider catching the updraft. He arrives on the pagoda, then, seconds later, Xiao appears.

“What are you doing here?” he exclaims, manifesting his spear.

Bennett raises his hands nervously, then digs around in his bag for the letter. “Delivering a message,” he says, handing the envelope to Xiao.

“Who - oh, it’s him again. Such useless ceremony - why he can’t talk to me in person I don’t know,” Xiao mutters after accepting the letter.

“He what!? And he only tells me now?” Xiao shouts after reading the letter, which dissolves into golden motes when he’s done.

Bennett steps back, then nervously asks “Who did what?”

“Rex Lapis has taken a lover,” Xiao growls, anger still smoldering. “Apparently, they’ve been together for a year now. And he only now tells me!”

“Is it that much of an occasion?” Bennett asks. “Only in the sense that it happens twice a millennium,” Xiao answers. “And of all people, he chooses a Mondstadt businessman?”

“Wait - he’s really involved with Diluc?” Bennett asks, surprised and remembering the rumors surrounding Diluc’s last trip to Liyue for the Rite of Descension.

“Yes. And no one thought to tell me!” Xiao exclaims. Then he gusts off angrily to find Rex Lapis.

Bennett waits for the air currents to clear before gliding down from the floating pagoda.

On their sixth meeting, Xiao finds Bennett. When he gusts into Mondstadt, he finds Xiao talking to Katheryne. He waits for Bennett to finish talking, then as Bennett walks out the gates of Mondstadt, greets him.

“Hi!” Bennett answers.

“I have a gift for you,” Xiao says somewhat awkwardly, manifesting a jade sword.

Bennett reaches for the sword, then shudders as it attunes to him. “Primordial jade? Where did you get this?”

“I made it,” Xiao answers. “With some help.”

“Thanks…” Bennett says, nearly speechless. “But… why?”

“Because I have found myself fascinated by you,” Xiao says. “I’ve encountered many people over two thousand years. And none of them are quite as unique as you.”

Bennett blushes slightly. “I would like to join you on your adventures… and, perhaps, in peace as well,” Xiao continues. “If you’ll have me, of course.”

“Of course I’ll have you,” Bennett answers. He hadn’t considered them working together with any regularity or living together before, but he knows it’s the right choice.

Xiao sighs in relief. He’d surprised himself with how much he actually cared.

“What would you like to do?” Bennett asks. “I have my commissions, but they’re rather simple for someone like you.”

“You’d be surprised at how much time I spend clearing out hilichurls. I think us Vision holders forget how much power we gain from them. And even the greatest adventurer can be defeated by hilichurls on occasion.”

Bennett blushes at the memory of their first meeting, then smiles. “Will you join me then?”

“In addition to your regular commissions, there is an available S-plus ranked commission,” Katheryne tells Bennett.

“What would it be?” asks Bennett warily. S-plus commissions are rare, nearly always extremely dangerous, and represent additional opportunities for advancement within the Guild.

“Capture a Fatui Harbinger,” Katheryne replies.

“Can I get more details?” asks Bennett, a moment after recovering from the shock.

“Certainly. You are to deliver alive any Fatui Harbinger captive to the Mondstadt Adventurer’s Guild headquarters on any day at midnight. Upon verification of the captive’s identity, you will be paid one hundred million Mora, plus an additional ten million Mora per Harbinger ranked beneath them, plus an additional fifty million Mora for the delivery of Il Dottore. As is typical for S-plus ranked commissions, completion gives all benefits of a typical S-ranked commission, and there are no penalties for declining.”

“Can I have some time to think about it?” asks Bennett. One hundred million is a lot of Mora, but he’s not sure he wants to work as a kidnapper - or can capture a Harbinger, for that matter.

“You can, but the commission will continue to be offered,” Katheryne replies.

With Bennett’s luck, any amount of time later and the commission will be taken. “Can I reserve it while I consult with my team?” he asks. He thinks he knows what Xiao will say, but wants to talk it through anyways.

“Of course. You have five minutes.”

Bennett walks over to a somewhat secluded alley and calls “Xiao.”

Xiao appears in a gust of wind, spear in hand. “You called?” he asks, looking around for danger. Once he’s assured they’re in no danger, his spear vanishes.

“There’s a new commission available - to catch a Fatui Harbinger,” Bennett states with no preamble.

Xiao raises an eyebrow. “Mondstadt has that much of a grudge? I didn’t think you cared for Barbatos that much.”

“Mondstadt’s views on gods are weird. If it’s someone looking for revenge on Barbatos, it’ll be one of the extremely devout church members. But we don’t have time for that now. What do you think about us taking the commission?”

“I’ll do it,” Xiao answers without hesitation. “I have my own grudges.”

Bennett nods and walks over to Kathryne to accept the commission.

He returns, and asks Xiao “Is there any specific Harbinger that you want to capture?”

“Yes, but we won’t be able to capture him,” Xiao answers. “Unless you know a way to get into Zapolyarny Palace.”

“You can’t get in as wind?” Bennett asks, surprised.

“Nearly every important building in Teyvat has general elemental wards designed to protect it. As a side effect, they keep out the wind, which includes me. Someone calling me, on the other hand, gets past anything.”

“Interesting,” says Bennett, thinking. “I might be able to get us in - I used to know one of the guards. Which Harbinger is it you’re targeting?”

“The Doctor,” Xiao answers.

“Whoever commissioned this also seems to dislike Il Dottore,” Bennett says. “What is it he did to you?”

“We have a history,” Xiao answers. “Not one I like to talk about.”

“That’s alright,” Bennett replies. “What do you know about the layout of the palace where Dottore is?”

“I was there once, and don’t have Morax’s photographic memory. But you don’t want to confront him anywhere he knows he’ll be often. And especially not in his laboratory. Our best chance would be to take him outside. I don’t suppose your guard is an inside guard?”

“No, she’s a door guard. On the upside, that means she’ll be able to get us in. On the downside, I don’t think she’s ever been beyond the walls.”

“Are all the guards consistently in the same place?” Xiao asks.

“Yes. It’s supposed to keep the guards knowing what’s going on in every place. And before you ask, no, she doesn’t know any of those guards.”

“Well, that doesn’t help much. You’re decent at stealth, aren’t you?”

“Of course,” Bennett responds. “I’d have to be, to consider sneaking into Zapolyarny Palace.”

“Can you get in to watch the Doctor? You can call me whenever he’d be vulnerable - I can’t get in unless you call me, and we’ll need to fight our way out.”

“I’m good at stealth, but not that good,” Bennett protests. “I can get to Dottore - probably - but if I stay near him, I’ll get caught eventually.”

After a moment of silence, Bennett says “I suppose if I could find wherever he sleeps, I could keep hidden for long enough for him to leave whatever protections he has.”

“You’d want to get in really early, follow him for longer than you think you need to, and make sure he’s not going to his lab,” says Xiao. “But that would work. Assuming you could find it.”

“I have enough experience finding people that want to stay hidden,” Bennett answers. “And once he’s vulnerable, I can call you.”

“As long as you’re sure,” Xiao says. “Shall we go?”

Bennett nods. Xiao takes his hand, pulls him close, and gusts away towards Snezhnaya. Less than a minute later, the pair are on a hill overlooking the bustling city, Bennett looking extremely windblown.

“There’s the palace,” Bennett says, looking at the central collection of buildings behind a wall.”

The first thing Bennett does is find his guard friend. If she can’t get them in, they’ll need to come up with a completely new plan. She will, of course, get him in, even without knowing why, and even provides him with a spare guard’s uniform.

After half a day and half a night of sleep in a rather sketchy inn, he gets into the palace complex at around three in the morning. Looking like a guard, he’s mostly ignored by the few people around at this time of night. Getting past the other guards is also surprisingly easy, as they have predictable, strict patrols.

Assuming that he’ll find Dottore’s chambers in one of the buildings in the center of a cluster, he looks through the windows of the larger buildings, occasionally using Elemental Sight. There are a few important officials, including Capitano, but there is no sign of Dottore.

Sighing inwardly, he turns around, ready to leave and do proper reconnaissance this time. He’s stopped by three Dottores.

“What have we here?” one of them asks.

“A volunteer for our testing?” another answers.

“No, look at him. He wouldn’t stand up to anything,” the third replies.

“He seems like a warrior - maybe we could give him to Tartaglia. When he gets back, he’s going to be pissed at us.”

“That’s Signora’s job, and she won’t credit us for anything,” the first responds.

While the three are arguing amongst themselves, Bennett whispers “Xiao.”

Xiao appears in a second with his spear drawn, taking in the situation. After a few seconds when the Dottores are shocked by the appearance of another person and Xiao is shocked by the existence of multiple Dottores, Bennett attacks. Xiao follows him, immediately knocking one of the Dottores unconscious with the spear butt before the others have time to react.

“I’ll sound the alarm,” one of the remaining two says, before running away.

“Bloody coward,” the other grumbles, fending off the intruder’s coordinated attacks with a hastily conjured ice staff. He’s still being forced backwards, until he dashes into a building.

“Let’s grab that one,” Bennett says, gesturing at the unconscious Dottore on the ground.

Xiao wordlessly grabs the unconscious Dottore’s legs. Bennett grabs the head, and they start running towards the exit. They’re stopped by the roar of what appears to be an Electro Lawachrul, nearly twice the size of a normal one.

“Ignore it,” Bennett pants. “They look scary but leave you alone if you don’t - oh shit.” The last part is in response to the lawachurl charging straight at them.

“I did warn you, don’t confront him anywhere he normally is,” Xiao says, dropping the Dottore and jumping out of the way. Once it’s past and returning for another charge, Xiao picks up the Dottore and holds the point of his spar to his throat. “Call it off or this one dies,” he says, shouting at the Dottore in what he assumes to be a control booth. That Dottor comes out with a blowgun and shoots the lawachurl almost immediately, causing it to collapse. “What is it you want?” he asks, somewhat desperately.

“Safe passage out,” Bennett says. “We’ll let him go once we’re outside the walls.”

Xiao almost smiles.

“Agreed,” the conscious Dottore says. As he does, a deafening siren goes off.

Xiao and Bennett start walking towards the exit, Xiao keeping his spear on Dottore’s throat, with Bennett constantly turning, looking for any hint of treachery. There are a lot of guards coming out, most prepared to fight, but Dottore tells them to hold back and to open the gates. Capitano awakens, the third Dottore returns, and the two start arguing, dragging the second Dottore into it. The gist of it, from what Bennett can make out, is that Capitano wants to sacrifice the Dottore ‘segment’ and neither of the Dottores care to. It appears that the Dottores win, given that they aren’t stopped.

Once they’re out of the gates, Xiao immediately gusts off, carrying Dottore with him. The remaining two Dottores and dozens of soldiers prepare to attack, but Xiao returns within seconds to remove Bennett from the situation.

The two arrive on the same hill overlooking the city as they arrive on. From there, they can see the entire palace in chaos, with the surrounding area’s people getting up to observe whatever’s going on.

“You can’t take two people at once?” Bennett asks.

“I can, but I’m vulnerable when doing it,” Xiao answers. “And a bit slower.”

“That’s fair,” Bennett replies. “That wasn’t a situation in which you’d want to be able to be attacked. I suppose you’ll need to take us one at a time back to Mondstadt, then?”

“No, it’s not that much slower,” Xiao answers. Then he picks up Dottore and grabs Bennett close and sets off to return to Mondstadt.

Three minutes or so later, the three arrive behind the Adventurer’s Guild headquarters in Mondstadt.

“Also a lot more uncomfortable,” Bennett says, even more windblown than normal. “Not that I’m complaining.”

“Really? I don’t notice a difference,” Xiao says. “Maybe it only affects passengers.”

“Doesn’t really matter,” says Bennett. Gesturing at Dottore, he continues “Where do you suppose we should put him for the next twenty hours?”

“Why do we need to keep him?” Xiao asks.

“The commission was to deliver him at midnight right around here,” Bennett replies. “I don’t know why, but I also don’t know who posted it, so I can’t exactly deliver him.

“Strange,” Xiao says. “You could probably keep him inside the Guild headquarters, if you think people won’t question it. Is he recognisable?”

“He was rather infamous a few years ago - something to do with missing children. I don’t think many people would recognize him, but if anyone does, they really won’t be happy. It doesn’t matter anyways, I have private storage. As long as I can keep him quiet, there shouldn’t be any troubles.”

Xiao whacks him on the head again. “That should keep him out for a while. Tie him up, gag him, and stick him in a sack, and as long as he’s somewhat secluded, he won’t be able to draw any attention to himself or escape without outside help. Even the most powerful can be rendered useless with good rope.”

“I can do that,” Bennett says.

Twenty hours later, Bennett waits outside with a bound and still unconscious Dottore. At two minutes to midnight, a masked Diluc arrives, not expecting to find anyone.

“That was surprisingly fast,” Diluc says. “I didn’t think there were any Harbingers left in Mondstadt.”

“There weren’t,” Bennett replies.

Diluc looks at the body. “Dottore. I’m impressed. How exactly did you manage to travel outside of Mondstadt and return in one day?”

“I had help,” Bennett answers.

“Can you tell me where exactly you found Dottore? I was under the impression that this version never left the capitol.”

“I found him in the capitol,” Bennett replies. Then he does a double-take. “What do you mean, this version? Are the three that I sw different?”

“You managed to survive three Dottores? That is… beyond impressive. But yes, there are various versions of the Doctor. I don’t know how - or why - but I intend to find out. But that’s enough talk. Find me at the winery tomorrow for your payment - two hundred and forty million mora.”

“That is what you agreed on,” Bennett says, somewhat shocked by the sheer amount of money.

Diluc picks up Dottore, slings him over his shoulder, and walks off. Bennett returns to the Guild headquarters to sleep.

“Congratulations!” Katheryne tells Bennett. “Payment is to be arranged with the commissioner. As you have now completed one S or S-plus ranked commission, you are now eligible for Adventure Rank 35, at which point you will be eligible for another Ascension Quest.”

“Thank you,” says Bennett. “It’s been so long since I’ve thought I could do it, with my luck…”

Katheryne continues. “To complete this next Ascension Quest, you will need…”

“No, you were as much a part of this as me,” Bennett says to an unmoving Xiao, piles of coins behind him.

“What would I do with any amount of mora, let alone a hundred and twenty million?” Xiao insists.

“I don’t know! Hire a full-time chef to make almond tofu!”