Rising Storm || Genshin Impact

16: "You're from Earth, aren't you?"

hey guysss short update because i thought the last sentence was a good way to finish off the chapter lolz

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After the meeting, the crowd dispersed from Jean's office, all going about their daily plans. Y/N hummed, making her way to the city gates, when Diluc suddenly dragged her away to a small water fountain by the HQ.

"Wha- Diluc! Hello! What?" Y/N stammered.

"Don't 'hello' me," the redhead hissed. "Why did you told them about the harbinger? I thought we agreed to keep the details confidential!"

"Childe? I never told them anything about him!"

Y/N stumbled back in unease. As far as Y/N knew, the knights didn't have any information regarding that night's incident. But with his fiery eyes and awful scowl, Diluc seemed to think otherwise.

"Is that so? Then tell me why Amber knew that the Fatui were involved in that night's incident!" he scowled.

"Amber knows? What?"

Y/N was puzzled, Diluc must've hit his head too hard.

Then, she suddenly realized.

"Plus, we shouldn't be undermining Y/N's involvement in this case. She was there when the harbinger appeared that night, wasn't she?"

"Gah! Amber knows! What the hell! Did you tell her?"

Diluc slapped his forehead with a grimace, struggling to maintain his composure despite his internalized impatience.

"Why would I tell her? God! You're so slow!"

"Wait..." Y/N whispered. "That means that the rest of the knights must know too! None of them were even phased when Amber brought it up!"

"That's exactly what I've been trying to say!" Diluc growled.

He huffed in exasperation as the girl finally began to understand the situation. Y/N looked stupidly astounded, her jaw dropped on the floor as she merely blinked.

"So you didn't tell her..." Diluc mumbled, ashamed with his once again, clouded judgment.

Y/N vigorously shook her head, "Nope, I didn't say a word."

"Then who could've-" Diluc's eyes widened. "Dammit! That bastard Kaeya!"

The redhead stormed off in fury, Y/N swore she saw a trail of steam following behind him. She was once again, left isolated and wary of these unnerving occurrences. Did Kaeya tell Amber? If so, how did he know?

"What a pain." Y/N muttered. Teyvat wasn't as enjoyable as she'd hoped.

...

"Ready to go?"

The next morning, Y/N met Venti at the bridge to search for the hidden devices, as per Jean's orders. The bard smiled, leaning against the stone wall expectantly with his legs crossed. The traveler walked past him without sparing a glance. Oh, how badly she wanted to wipe that smirk off his face. It took a lot of restraint to resist the urge of throwing him off the bridge.

"Let's go, you snitch."

Venti blew air through his sealed lips in response, but rushed over to follow the girl nonetheless.

The weather was no different than the usual in Mondstat: clear skies, cool breeze, the scent of sweet flowers lingering in the air. Today, the sun was emitting a dreadful, dreadful heat. So much that Y/N was already sweating from walking halfway across the bridge. How did Venti manage to survive under so many layers of clothing, and a cloak?

"Hey! You scared away my birds!"

A young boy shrieked at the two figures as a crowd of pigeons flapped away upon their presence. The child was holding a bag of wheat, almost tearing up as he screeched in cheap agony.

"Sorry Timmie! We're busy!" Venti shouted out with a wave, completely disregarding how the boy was now having a full-blown breakdown in the middle of the stone bridge.

Y/N heaved, to distracted by the sun's scorching light to be worried about Timmie and his birds.

"Alrighty, snitch," she breathed. "Let's start at Windrise."

...

The group began their trail along the paved forest paths, the sound of their feet muffled by the soft earth and sand. A tense silence surrounded them; Y/N was still not over the embarrassment Venti had caused her back at the HQ. Had he simply kept his mouth shut, perhaps the traveler could have gotten off with a clean record.

"I know you're mad at me, Y/N. But think about it!" Vent exclaimed, as if reading the girl's mind. "They let you in on the operation thanks to me! Plus, I got caught too, you're not alone."

Y/N scoffed, "As if a god like you would let yourself be caught on purpose."

Venti opened his mouth to say something, but was stunned before he could do so. He lowered his gaze with his eyebrows narrowed, slowing down his pace. Y/N glimpsed at the bard behind her starting to lag behind.

"What? You're tired already?" she teased.

Venti didn't seem too amused with her joke.

"Y/N," he whispered. "...how do you know that I'm a god?"

The girl's breath hitched; not this again

How could she be so careless? Spewing around such confidential information as if it was common knowledge, she was bound to raise suspicion. The characters - no - the people in this world had no idea about Genshin Impact. Y/N wanted to spare herself the inconvenience of explaining. She didn't want Aether to have an existential crisis.

"I-I- well..." she stammered.

Venti's gaze kept burning onto Y/N, pushing for her to respond. When the girl remained silent, the bard finally spoke, his words chilling the traveler to her spine.

"You're from Earth, aren't you?"