"We Will Meet At This Journey's End"

Mondstadt's Disappointment (3)

AN: Who let Aether have that much gender oml he needs to share. also ill be making the chapters much longer from now on to fit more stuff in without making the story have too many chapters <3

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"Master Diluc. What do we do?" Paimon whimpered from behind Aether's back. Diluc turned around with a mix of a soft yet terrifying expression and Paimon ducks behind Aether even more.

"Leave this to me"

They leave the hideout takeover in the hands of Diluc, good idea too. He uncovered the Holy Lyre in less than an hour, and defeated the agent guarding it with ease, leaving Aether and Paimon in awe and a little terrified.

They emerge from the ground with the Lyre in hand and return home, all while Aether accepts more and more commissions along the way. Even Diluc himself was starting to see how much these people were taking advantage of a kindhearted traveler. However he said nothing as he saw it to be none of his business, sharing a glance with Paimon instead.

Once they reached Angel's Share again they were greeted by the Acting Grandmaster of Mondstadt, Jean. Along with Venti, who seemed a little tipsy. Aether waved them over to see the Holy Lyre, and handed it over to Venti while asking what should be done next.

"Oh? Why this old thing is practically useless! It's not even fit to play music in Master Diluc's tavern" Venti laughed, looking directly at Paimon. "Oh well, I'll just take this off your hands and bring it to the statue"

"Wait wait wait, you mean you just wanted us to bring the lyre for you to play music to drunkards?!" Paimon almost yelled in his face.

"Hehe~"

"What do you mean hehe?!"

"Anyyywayys~" Venti drunkenly ignored Paimon. "It's not the lyre, but the strings. This piece of junk has lost all it's anemo power. It's worthless now!"

Aether wanted to both punch Venti in the face and laugh until he could no longer breathe. He had yet to admit it, but Venti had been a great friend to him.

"Wait, Aether, do you still have Dvalin's tear?"

Aether stepped forward with the tear in his hand. "It's right here, why?" 

"Maybe we can use the tear to replenish the lyre's energy!! Bring it here."

Aether took the lyre from Venti and gently placed the crystal liquid on the instrument, watching it flow down. The 5 of them watched in awe as the lyre transformed from a basic instrument to a beautiful one, one with plenty of anemo energy. Venti's face lit up in excitement as he grabbed the lyre and danced around with it in his arms.

"Yes!! It worked oh thanks the heavens it worked!" He slurred his words slightly and Aether couldn't help but laugh, all while Paimon angrily spun in circles around Venti trying to get the lyre back. Venti gave Aether a quick glance and small wink before he quickly changed the subject.

"Once the Holy Lyre is working again, we can take it to Stormterror's Lair. I'll be able to break the magic seal and we can defeat Dvalin" Venti's expression changed from cheerful to mysterious after saying this, although he quickly returned to his natural perkiness. "But for now, I'm so sleeeepy~! Let's collect some more crystals later" With this he ran out of the door giggling as the rest of the group shared their own goodnights. Aether also ended up having to pay for the buckets of wine Venti inhaled that night.

Paimon was ready to go right to bed, however Aether had a feeling he wouldn't be able to complete this mission and help the people of mondstadt at the same time, so he sacrificed some of their sleep to get things done, while dealing with a very grumpy Paimon. He managed to get 4 out of the 30 requests completed, protecting transport balloons, delivering letters, and gathering resources, before finally getting too tired to continue. The two of them headed home and fell fast asleep, one of the few nights since losing his sister in which he managed to sleep well.

The next morning the two of them woke up and headed out to find the rest of the group. They were told to meet at Dawn Winery, and when they arrived, Aether was greeted by some pleasant news. Diluc and Jean had uncovered an underground hideout and, after investigation, collected 3 more tears of Dvalin. Diluc handed the crystals over to Venti, who stared at them solemnly, muttering something about Dvalin's pain, before cheerfully glancing at Aether and asking him to purify the crystals again.

Diluc and Jean held their breath as they followed Aether's hand with their eyes, watching him barely touch the gems only for them each to flow from a blood red to mystical teal. As Aether concentrated, Jean mumbled to herself about how unreal the whole ordeal was, still staring at Aether's hand. 

"It is hard to believe such a thing is possible, until you see it with your own eyes." Jean smiled.

"Now, use the crystals on the Holy Lyre like last time" Venti stuck his hands out for Aether to take the gems cupped in his palms. As he placed them on the instrument one by one, the lyre got more bright and beautiful until it was practically unrecognizable from its original form.

"Aha!! This is perfect!! With this summoning Dvalin will be a breeze" Venti exclaimed.

"Now the question is, where should we do it?" Diluc interrupted, having previously not said anything  during the whole meeting.

"Well, it can't be anywhere near the city!" Jean whispered abruptly. "We can't alarm the people of Mondstadt right after the first sighting."

"Aether?"

"How about...someplace high up? Or maybe near a beach, not many people go there this time." Aether looked at Paimon for reassurance, getting a big smile in return.

"Yeah!!"

"How about, the cliff right on the edge of that beach in the corner? Starsnatch cliff was the name?" Diluc replied, with a little more cheeriness in his voice.

"Very well, Starsnatch cliff it is!" Jean gave a slight nod of approval to the group. "Lets meet back at around 2pm and head there together."

"That works, I have some business to attend to in the Winery, see you all then" Diluc said, walking inside the building they had been standing next to the whole time.

"Alright then! Catch ya later guys." Venti followed Diluc, making empty promises about singing little tunes in exchange for wine.

The remainder of the group simply glanced at each other in disappointment as they walked away together, heading back to Mondstadt.