Taking over the Abyss

62- A Heartfelt Family Reunion

You'd requested an audience with the Shogun first thing in the morning.

By this point, the Shogunate knew who you were and allowed you to step in without much questioning, Astrilde, Mylin, and Sindri all following you. The three had insisted on shadowing you for the day, Astrilde in particular proclaiming today was her 'court ordained hang-out day' with you. You were fine with it, given the trio were among the least likely to start an argument, and more likely to just chat politely with Ei, if anything at all.

Sitting at the top of the Tenshukaku, you watched as the three look around with varying levels of patience. Sindri, sitting almost perfectly still beside you, only glancing off every so often to the other two. Mylin, staring straight up at a bird's nest on the rafters. Astrilde, leaning over the railing and trying to catch stray sakura petals with her hands.

"... ah!" Hearing Astrilde let out a gasp, you turned to ensure she wasn't about to fall, only to see the purple haired girl leap back. "Woohoo! I caught one, look!"

She bounded over to you, twin braids whirling behind her, showing you the pair of petals she'd caught. Sindri leaned back to avoid getting trampled, staring off into the distance and silently hoping he'd get his personal bubble back soon. You observed the petals, nodding your head sagely, "Pretty. The color is vibrant, and there's no tearing."

"I've heard you can use them for flavoring," Mylin commented, having gotten all the entertainment she could out of the nest. Astrilde tilted her head.

"Really?" She looked down at the petals in her hands, then grinned, "I'm gonna more of them! I'll make sakura petal flavored pudding for the vishaps!"

True to her promise, Astrilde ran off to go and try to catch more. Sindri gently tugged on your sleeve, shuffling closer to you. He leaned in to whisper to your ear, "... I brought a bribe, just in case."

"Like what?" You asked, keeping your voice quiet despite the lack of Shogun. You watched Sindri dig around the long sleeves of his coat before pulling out a packaged roll cake. "Good, very good. Place that on the table. Thank you."

"I predicted it would come in handy. I'm happy to assist," Sindri put the roll cake on the table.

Within a few minutes, Ei arrived. She glanced at you, your three subordinates, and then the roll cake. Taking a seat across from you, she met your gaze and greeted you, "I wasn't expecting to see you today. My apologies if you were waiting long, I was quite busy earlier."

"No, it's my fault for requesting to meet with you out of nowhere," you smiled at her politely, "the situation in Sumeru has... developed. Uh, to put it simply, the Akademiya is trying to create an artificial god, and they're using the Electro gnosis and Scaramouche to do it."

"Scaramouche?" Ei tilted her head ever-so-slightly, not recognizing the name.

You wondered if Scaramouche would be mad about that or not, "Prototype puppet."

"Oh," Ei said.

"Yeah," you weren't surprised by her reaction, "Do you think you can lend us a hand? At the very least, with Scaramouche. The rest of the plan has already been figured out, but I have no idea how strong he is by this point."

"Hmm..." Ei thought about for a moment before giving you her answer, "Miko said that I shouldn't get involved to avoid causing any trouble with Sumeru, but if Scaramouche is my creation, than as his creator, it is my responsibility to handle him. This is something I should have done long ago."

"Thank you." You were relieved beyond words. You were dreading the possibility of having to fight against giant mecha-mouche. With Ei's help, it would be much easier. "I can make a portal tomorrow, since I know that moving so far across Teyvat might be difficult."