【𝐁𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐲】➛𝑺𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒎𝒐𝒖𝒄𝒉𝒆, 𝑻𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒂𝒈𝒍𝒊𝒂[ON HOLD]

011

"Now this truly is a shock...who would do this?" Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Paimon fiddling uncomfortably as we walked to the harbour, however, I chose not to say anything...

"What do we do next?" Aether mumbled, looking anywhere but my eyes,

I sighed, "We have to report this...whoever did this must be punished," Paimon squeaked at my words, causing both me and Aether to turn to the fairy, "Are you alright, Paimon?" she frantically nodded,

"uh yeah...But can we go eat first? Paimon feels...uneasy" I quirk a brow, Aether shaking his head in disappointment before making our way to Wanmin restaurant,

We found ourselves at a table and took a seat, deciding on our food. 

"I'll go order for us," the blonde got up from the table and walked over to Xiangling, happily taking orders, oddly enough, I felt as if eyes were on us...

"Uhm...(Name)?" I turned to Paimon, she was trying to be quiet by the sound of it, I nodded in acknowledgement, "About what we saw...Paimon noticed something," I shuffled closer as Paimon took a deep breath "Paimon didn't want to believe it but...earlier, Aether was trying to find materials in the chasm, and he didn't come back with anything, and when we saw the bodies, Paimon also noticed that the slashes matched how Aether would fight...you don't think that..."

My breath hitched, "Let's...Let's not jump to conclusions. But if what you say is true then...I-I don't know..." I pressed a hand to my head, conflicted.

"The food should be coming anytime soon...are you both alright?" Aether took notice of our expressions as he sat back down, I gave a hesitant nod as Paimon just looked away...for the rest of the meal. It was awkward and silent until I paid,

"Thank you for the food-"

"HANDS UP!" My head whipped in the direction of the shouts, dropping the small bag of mora as I saw Millelith guards along with Fatui guards running towards us, armed,

"Ma'am step away from the traveller!" I turned to the person who spoke, Keqing. "He will be taken in for the serial murder of innocent miners-" Thinking irrationally, the blonde sprinted, Paimon was indecisive and flew towards me instead as Aether ran, guards began going after him as they chased him out of the city.

I looked around, finding another less crowded route and instantly going after Aether. As I ran above higher grounds and watched from afar, Aether managed to get quite far, a good distance from the golden house and the guards eventually lost him. But I didn't, my eyes were attracted to the mop of blonde sticking out of the window of an old abandoned shack.

As the guards left, they decided that they'd put up wanted posters. Paimon and I walked over to the shack where I had previously seen the blond. "Aether?" I peeked around the corner to see the distressed boy sitting down, Paimon would usually fly over to him with glee, but instead, she hid behind me, tugging on my hat. His amber eyes looked up at me, his brows furrowed...

"I..."

"Did you do it..." Paimon spoke quietly as I stood in front of her protectively. Aether began to shake his head desperately.

"No..no! This has to be a mistake...why would I do it?!" I took a deep sigh and walked closer to Aether and sat down next to him, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"I suggest we go somewhere where there is less suspicion surrounding you... News spread fast. I'll help you until we find proof..." I smile at him reassuringly, "How about mondstadt? you're trusted there, aren't you?" 

Aether calms down, "I suppose so," I pat his back, comforting him as he took in deep breaths of air, however Paimon on the other hand still floated a few feet away from Aether.

"Though why were there Fatui? There's no way that they were after you for the same reason..." I brought up the sighting of Fatui amongst the Millelith guards, "Did you do something to tick them off that badly?"
Aether sighed and shook his head as I helped up back up on his own two feet,  "Then to Mondstadt then, we have to be quick...Let's get to the Dawn Winery at least by sundown," I held Aether's hand and felt him tighten his grip, but not too hard, more like a squeeze.

We took another route to ensure that we won't be crossing paths with any guards or fatui...But one thing we did not take into consideration was the adepti. We walked a fair distance from Wangshu Inn. From here where we stood, atop the hills, Wangshu Inn was a fabulous sight. However, my sightseeing was interrupted by the high-pitched screech of the white-haired fairy, whipping my head around, there stood the last standing Yaksha, Xiao.

"Traveller...Paimon." His eyes travelled past Paimon to me, "And you," He nodded at me, 

"Xiao, What are you here for?" Paimon asked, a hand on her chest as she recovered from the scare, Xiao didn't even spare a glance at her before he glared at Aether, seeing I stepped in the way,

"Listen whatever you heard- there's no solid proof-" I was interrupted as Xiao spoke with a stern voice.

"I went to the scene. Those wounds, the slashes. Matches your fighting style," Paimon squeaked as she hid behind me, Xiao continued as Aether stared with horrified eyes, "Not to mention, the slashes weren't clean...meaning it was done with a dulled blade, and from what I've heard, you were alone, meaning no one could be your alibi, Paimon and (Name) were both waiting for you and (Name) came from the opposite direction of the crime. And I'm sure we can all agree that Paimon couldn't have done it." Xiao then looked at me,
"I'm sure that's more than enough solid proof, (Name)..." I stepped back a few steps, Paimon who was behind me now hugging onto my arm as we both looked from Xiao to Aether,

"I- didn't..." The blond was on the verge of tears, his hands balled into fists as his eyes looked up at the Adeptus, then to me, "(Name)...Please...You have to believe me..." his eyes held real pleading as his voice shook. Xiao on the other hand looked over at me and the afraid Paimon,

"I'm leaving this in your hands... whether you decide to help him or not...it's your decision." he walked in between me and Aether, brushing shoulders with me before he spoke again, "Remember your occupation." his last words before disappearing.

We stood there in pure silence until a choking sob escaped Aether's lips, "I didn't..." I couldn't help but lay a comforting hand on his back, 

"...Let's get going...We'll set up camp and...discuss things," My voice itself was shaky as I held both of Aether's hands, Paimon still hid behind me.

We managed to get to an open space as we entered the land of the wind, the sun had long gone and left us with the faint light of the moon. Aether and Paimon were quick to fall asleep, leaving only me and my thoughts as I strolled around the premises of the camp, eventually leaning on a tree, and taking off my hat. Letting out a long sigh, I smile to myself

"I should put "actor" in my resume..."

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I have so many ideas I don't know what to do