Through Wine And Song [XiaoVen]

9. Your Plan Means War

And with that the squad of four, plus Paimon, began to make a plan, hoping to verify it along with extra defence with the Knights of Favonious.

Outside the knights' headquarters, Aether and Venti went over their plan to convince the current Acting Grand Master.

"So you're saying the missing cases are because of some corrupted rogue wind spirits?" Jean asked, pausing the writing she was doing.

"And we don't know their plans. We need the Knights of Favonious to act as a line of defence after us." The bard said, his form now changed to his civilian one.

"I'm not sure if the knights would be of any defensive value at all, especially the majority without visions."

"Please Jean, it's gotta be worth a try." Golden eyes shined as Aether leaned on the desk between him and the blonde anemo user.

The Acting Grand Master thought for a bit before giving a firm nod. "I'll see what I can do."

Thanking her, the pair left the building and reunited with their companions.

"Master Jean said she'd see what she could do." Aether spoke, excitement clear as day.

"That's good to hear!" Lumine responded before swerving the conversation topic to something else.

Venti, however, was distracted by a faintly familiar silhouette running through the streets of Mond.

He tapped Xiao, immediately gaining his attention and signalling towards the figure.

The adeptus' eyes grew a bit wider, mouth slightly agape. "Do you think...?" He whispered and trailed off, his gaze turning to his partner.

"There's no mistaking it, we're gonna have to speed up our part of the plan." The archon replied softly, eyes still focused on the city's intruder.

"What about the travellers?"

"Since we aren't even sure what they're doing right now, we should keep the information to ourselves until we can confirm anything." The bow user folded his arms over his chest.

"Venti, Xiao! What're you two whispering about?" Paimon asked them.

"Just on look out, you never know what lurks in the shadows."

Lumine hummed, reluctantly accepting the reply.

"What're we gonna do in the meantime?" Paimon queried.

"Like while we wait for the knights to mobilise?" The bard questioned back, earning a nod from the small girl.

"It's best we stay in the city until then, we don't know what they plan to do if we leave." The adeptus was the one to respond, his eyes still fixated on any open space between houses.

The group stayed silent for a while after that, the twins contemplating what to do next while the couple observed the area of Mondstadt City they could. Eventually, they decided it best for the travellers to survey the outside of the city walls while Venti and Xiao continued their observation inside.

"How's your wing?" The Vigilnt Yaksha asked once the blondes were out of sight and earshot.

"In my current form I'd usually not have any sensation where my wings are but I still feel pain where my injury would be." The bard sighed, anxiety over the situation still high. "But that doesn't matter right now, we need to make sure nothing happens."

"I cannot defend a nation knowing that you still ache, allow me to do what I can to help you...please." The polearm user's eyes gave way to his deep craving to comfort his lover.