Stuck In Another Reality? Darn.

Chapter 15.

You sighed in aggravation. All the work you did was for nothing? Damn. You couldn't help but pout; though you stopped as Gotelinde came running back to you, tears running down her cheeks- she cried even more at the sight of Aether.

"I so deeply apologize. As soon as I got close to the Holy Lyre, an unknown person created a portal inside and got to it." She said after calming herself down.

Aether's face fell as he had little idea of who had stolen it without a good description. You obviously, had less of an idea.

Grimly turning to the Gotelinde, Aether firmly stated- "There is no need to fear, we'll get the Holy Lyre back."

"Oh, please do! To think that I was worried about it being stolen while it was outside, not in a guarded vault..." she sullenly said.

You patted her shoulder and gave her a comforting smile. "Hey, don't think for a second that it's your fault. It's the fault of whoever stole it."

She slowly nodded, a smile coming upon her face once more. "Alright, I have no doubts that it will be returned! Just in case however, I'll send a few guards out, to see if they find anything." She said.

You nodded, as you and Aether went outside to meet Venti.

"Well...tough news. The Lyre got stolen." You quietly spoke. Venti turned, his eyes a bit wide. "What? Really?" You and Aether noded. "We really should go to Diluc's tavern and discuss with everyone. Jean, Diluc, and Kaeya." You firmly said.

They nodded in agreement. "You're quite the strategist, aren't you [Name]?" Venti asked, wanting to know more about you. Though he was playing a bit dumb.

"Eh, kind of. I guess I just picked it up from those I spent my time with. It's more like common sense...It'd be tough not to pick up on some skills from hanging around a person who has a leader title." You admitted, Kokichi mainly on your mind. You sighed and fiddled with the scarf.

"What do you mean?" Venti asked curiously. You mentally slapped your face as you realized that you hadn't explained to Venti. "I'll tell you later, we need to get to the tavern."

~A small trip from the Knights headquarters later~

The entire groups faces were deep in thought after a quick explanation of what had happened.

"I have some contacts that can yield information." Diluc finally said, breaking the silence. You smiled in relief at this. "How soon can they get back to us?" You questioned, now going on full business mode.

"Give me a few hours. We can reconvene here after the tavern closes." Diluc said firmly. You smiled in relief and turned to the rest of the group.

"We really have little choice other than to trust in Diluc's contacts for now...we really can't afford to go looking by ourselves, we need to have their solid information. How about we try to explain who stole it and why?" You commanded.

Kaeya looked over the bar. "Why don't we try discussing this on the second floor? It seems a lot less crowded there."

A walk later, everyone was gathered by the table. "Alright, so let's give some basic information." You stated.

"Me, Venti, and Aether went to the Cathedral earlier to borrow the Holy Lyre der Himmel, believing it to be able to help 'purify' Dvalin. While there, it was stolen when a Sister went to retrieve it for us." You admittedly didn't even feel out of breath, used to giving out the starting speeches in the trial.

"Just how did you manage to convince her to retrieve it?" Quizzed Jean curiously. "I believed I told her not to lend it out without paperwork."

"Well, I told her about both Aether's and Kaeya's positions...and she told me that I was blessed by the Anemo Archon?" You questioned towards the end.