Spell-Bound (Genshin x Magi! OC)

Chapter 7 - Had It Not Been

Adalia watched as their faces morphed into resentment and anger, unaware of how much she enjoyed the contrast  of the gratefulness she usually received.

It felt liberating.

"Scheherazade-sama, thank you for saving my child!"

"We owe you our lives, Scheherazade-sama."

"Scheherazade-sama!"

"...Scheherazade-sama."

Ỉ̵̞̪̦'̴̧̘̖͕͔̥̬̭̝͚̖͉̑̊̆̄͐̒͛̅̓̕͜m̸̧͕͚͎̲̖̙̮̩͔̭͙̞̠̲̀͂̔̃̾́̾̚ ̷̨͙̪̦̬͓͈̾͝n̸̖̬̠̖̋́̈͐̊̋͘͝o̶͙̘̣̭̰͎͙̣̟̥̯̐̋̿̈́͋ͅͅt̴̨͚̯͎̰͈͍̝͆ ̵̢̡̙̥͖̠̩̝͓̦̤̞̼̫̗́́̊͒͐͌̈́̍̈́̇̌y̷̜͍̗̩̰̟͍̣̞̾̆̈̇̀͐͑͂̑͝͠ǫ̶̥̠͇̎͂͛̓́̈́͑̉̈̿͜͠ŭ̷̢̡͓̻̳͈̖̝̻͙̞̼͕̋̈̂͂̈́̋ṛ̶̡͎̼̪́̒̆͆̈́̌̈̓̆͋͂̽̆͘͠ ̵̰͎̣̻̲͙͉̠̰̖̈́̏́̒̐́̕͝͝ṗ̵͓̟͖͇͙͎̪̹̬̝̰͙͑͒̔͂̆̐͘͝r̵̢̛͚̞͉͓̰̟̼̮͎̫̭̃͂̊́̊̐̂͂e̶͕͕͙̖̪̥͎̘͕̊͋̐́̓̑͜ͅc̶̡̨̫͍͈̋̈͝i̴͍̟̼̿̉̃̔̽̀̑̚͠ő̷̦͕͔̞̯̭̲͖͈̔̑̇̂̆̀́͒ȕ̷̗̺̣̓͐̅̂̅̐s̴̢̳̻̫̙̗͐̇͐͐͝ ̵̺͇̭͚͎͉͈̟̗̘̫̯̲͔̠̅̒̏͒S̷̡̲̘̮̅̀̋̂̾̒̚͝͝c̸̦͇̥͉̰͎͎̘͋ͅͅh̸̨̡̝̠̯̥̳͕̮͖̣̦̗̭̿e̵̡̛͈͔̝̟̭͚͔͈͓̿͋̌͋̒̉͝h̶̩̗̲͉̟̮̙̄̈͗̌͊͝͝ȩ̵̨͎̠͎̌͂̽̒̿̈r̵̡̝̼̤͑̈́a̶͚̥̘̯͊̆͊̒͐z̷̨̧͉̳̯͖͉̜̣̜̯̗̖̈̈́̐̍͐̌̓́̍̊̈́̚̕͝͝ă̴̧̹͎̯͇͇͚̻̮̲̘̱̊̈́̈́́̀̊͊̕d̸̯̯͌͐͌̈͜͝ẹ̸̡̢̗̓́͒̇͋̈́̂́̾̅̽͌͝

"Well, that is what I would like to say."

Aether became confused.

"Huh?"

She giggled, hand covering the twitch of her lips. "Young traveler, such was a small prank in exchange for the annoyance earlier."

A sigh of relief came from the boy. "Then....my sister?"

"My knowledge shall be shared over lunch, of course."

"Thank you!"

Paimon watches silently, sceptical without proof, as Adalia changes facades so easily. Surely that malicious smile couldn't be completely fake, people had to put something behind their actions to seem even remotely convincing. Right?

"I shall pay for the meal instead, an apology for the small scare I gave you."

Then again, she is paying for their food. Adalia can't be that bad.

_________________________________

When Diluc chose to work at the tavern today, he didn't expect the Traveler and his little floating companion to walk in with a new addition.

"Diluc-danna, it's nice to see you!" Paimon waves.

Aether offers a smile, which Diluc responds to with a nod.

His red eyes follow the group even as they walk up the stairs to the second floor, the hard stare lingering even when they were out of sight. A quick decision is made to follow the newcomer after their departure.

"Now that we have settled down," Adalia sets her staff on the chair next to her. "Let us converse."

"What was my sister doing when you saw her?"

"Hmm....she was watching someone with a longing gaze, perhaps it was you, until a small thing appeared behind her in a bow. Blue fur and masked, I could not hear what they discussed, but the voice was....scratchy?"

"An abyss mage...why was she talking to one?" He muttered to himself.

'It referred to her as their Princess as well,' She thought to herself. 'With the way you look right now, I doubt your ability to handle even that fact.'

Adalia, with her accumulated experience with human behavior, thought of humanity as a weak-minded race. Once told a truth they dislike, their behavior turned disgusting and malicious. There was a rare exception to this habit, but as she's seen, it was unlikely.

"That is all I have to tell you."

Aether looks up at her, eyes like a dog begging for scraps.

"Nothing else? Even a little?"

"That was the first and last I saw of that woman."

Paimon, who was finished with the skewers Adalia bought, decided to raise her own questions.

"By the way, where are you from?"

"Child, please wipe your mouth," She hands Paimon a napkin. "Where I am from....it isn't in Teyvat, I can say with certainty."

"Doesn't that mean...!?"

Aether's eyes widen. "You're not from this world."

"Correct, and if you paid attention enough," She grins. "You would have found out much earlier."

"What was it like!?" The boy asked with an excited gleam to his eyes.

"The country I lived in was bathed in sunlight and the streets were alive with the many merchants that flowed in from around the world. There were gladiators who fought in a colosseum, brave soldiers who wore shining armor, and royalty who governed the land."

Paimon excitedly floated closer. "What about other countries!! And the food!!!"

Adalia's eyes darkened. "Unfortunately, I only know of the Leam Empire."

"What? By now, Paimon just thinks you like not telling us things."

"Paimon-" Aether tries to quiet her.

"I was kept in captivity, child. One cannot know of other countries if they did not have the opportunity to explore the land themselves."

Her smile was gone, replaced with a cold look of contempt.

"Had it not been for that, I would have told you more."

"O-Oh...Paimon is sorry...."

"I will accept the thought, though it does not mean you have been forgiven."

The atmosphere became heavy with the silence that followed, thick with awkwardness. Paimon had a newfound interest in her shoes and Aether looked everywhere besides Adalia's eyes.

The Magi sighs. "How about we visit Albedo? I have not seen him for a while."

"But Dragonspine takes almost a whole day to get to!"

"It does by foot, not how I travel."

"Paimon doesn't get it. Everyone travels by walking, how do you get anywhere without doing it?"

Aether huffs. "Says the one who can float in air."

"Hey! Paimon will let you know it's very tiring to do this all day."