目利き
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Alastor sighed, silently standing by Wanmin's restaurant as Aether dealt with the perfume. The woman named Ying'er just creeped him out too much, he was able to subtly compare her to the Infamous Lisa Minci, Razor spoke of.
Speaking of Razor...
"Al! Al! There you are!"
Alastor turned his head to the side, seeing both Bennett and Razor were dashing towards him. He smiled wryly, though his discussion with Aether concerning the two would keep them safe, it may hurt their feelings. Even so, as long as the pair were not caught up in the crossfire of the argument he was satisfied.
"You two had fun?" He asked, ruffling their hairs. The pair smiled earnestly, pleased to be treated as if they were his younger brothers.
"Yeah! But Razor doesn't seem to want to ride a boat." Bennett snickered, making the wolf boy glare at him.
"What happened?"
"We almost fell!" Bennett said in a rather enthusiastic tone. Alastor blinked in surprise, turning to Razor with sweat rolling off his forehead. The wolf-boy nodded, muttering incoherently.
"Benny, be careful. Benny doesn't get wet or Benny gets sick." Razor bluntly explained, making the young adventurer blush.
Alastor snickered. "Well-"
"Hey, Guys!!"
Paimon zoomed to the trio, grinning brightly while Aether trudges behind her. He looked exhausted, though he did carry a scent which Alastor discerned as the silk flowers they bought. Once he saw the pair, he turned to look at the demon he signed a contract with, a guilty expression on his face.
Alastor smiled sadly, before ushering the two to a table after swiftly ordering some food for them.
"So what did you guys want to talk about?" Bennett asked though he felt like something bad was about to happen.
Alastor nudged Aether, the boy taking in a sharp breath.
"I think you should go back to Monstadt."
Bennett and Razors eyes widen in shock. "Wh-What?! Why?!" Bennett stammered, feeling like he was being abandoned. Alastor saw this and hurriedly explained.
"Bennett, it's not what you think."
" Th-Then, you're not kicking us out of the team?" Alastor smiled at the question, patting the boy's head.
"No. You two will have to temporarily return to Monstadt until this situation has subsided. Both the Milellith and Fatui are involved and I don't want you to get caught in the crossfire." Alastor explained, his tone was serious and concerned.
"We think that something alike to the stormterror incident will happen, but much more dangerous... So, please... Bare with it."
It was selfish of him. But all Alastor could think of was keeping them safe. Aether was capable due to being a celestial traveler, but these two boys... They were mortal.
Bennett sniffled, rubbing his teary eyes. He was sad, but he felt warm and fuzzy. He never had someone to call an older brother because of people treating him as unlucky, but heading Alastors words... He felt like he had one. He turned to razor, surprised to see the boy smiling at him.
"Benny don't cry. Razor is going with Benny. We explore Monstadt together." It was uncharacteristic, but the usually stoic wolf-boy grinned brightly. Razor was kindhearted and tried hard enough to Understand others worrying for him.
"Once this is all over, let's go explore all of Liyue until we uncover all of their secrets!" Aether happily announced, excited to travel with others.
Bennett's eyes sparkled in excitement, "Then... I and Razor will go and explore Monstadt! Once you come back we'll tell all sorts of stories!"
.
Aether had stayed in Liyue harbor, but Alastor was able to safely escort the pair back to Monstadt. It was difficult for him to part with them, but it let them be safe.
As long as the people he cherished were out of harm's way...
He could live peacefully...
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Aether went up the stairs that lead to Yujing Terrace, he was slightly worried about Alastors absence. He paused in the middle of the steps, sucking in a breath and calling out his name.
"Alastor"
Blue flames swirled beside him before vanishing as fast as it appeared, "You called?" Alastor was there, smiling softly at the blonde. Aether found himself assured with his presence, nodding at the simple question.
"What are we doing now? And why are we going up here?"
"Mr. Zhongli said we had to get a Cleansing bell! His friend has one apparently." Paimon explained though it made Alastor flinch a bit.
He knew one Adeptus in Liyue to carry the cleansing bell. One of the two Adepti that signed a contract to Rex lapis that he found trouble disliking.
"Oh, dear..." He sighed, scratching the back of his head. He was so glad that his eyes were masked by a spell, before pulling up his hood.
There at the side of the stairs was an elderly woman gazing at alone glaze lily. She sighed, melancholic yet unsurprised.
"All things must change..." said the woman, though she looked sad it was not disappointed.
"Are you alright?"
"It's nothing, it's nothing. I just thought it a great shame that so many of these Glaze Lilies have wilted." The old woman sighed, gently caressing the petals, careful not to break the fragile lily. Nostalgia shrouded her eyes, a kind of yearning within them.
"What happened to them?" Paimon asked worriedly, slightly able to notice the sense of sadness in the woman's voice.
"Back in my day, people said that Glaze Lilies can read human hearts."
Alastor sighed, unable to take the woman's musing. It felt painful for him to reminisce over glaze lilies. Once flora of Liyue covered the lands, yet now it felt rare to the immortal eyes. Guili plains once were covered in glaze lilies, but now he was unable to see any of the flowers.
It was a sorrowful end to such a beautiful flower.
"The teapot... We have to enter such a small thing?" Paimon grumbled as Aether approached the teapots.
Alastor's eyes met Madame Ping's, causing a sense of familiarity to wash over the elderly woman. The boy sighed, giving her a close-eyed smile that unnerved the woman somehow. He felt familiar yet she was somehow cautious for no reason.
"Let's get this over with, then."
.
Once again leaving the work to Aether, Alastor was too reluctant to even participate in a ritual for Rex Lapis. He despised the god too much to even pay respects once they supposedly died. But he was well aware it was staged.
Igniting a blue flame into his palm, he concentrated on the other Telepathic connection he had. With Aether being with him for such a long time, he became more accustomed to his connection with the Traveler. It almost had him neglecting his thousand-year contract.
"Barbatos."
The flame started to wriggle in his palm before a voice echoed out of it. He sighed happily, finding it convenient that he alone could hear the familiar voice.
"Alastor~ It's been so long since you used our link! Thank goodness you haven't forgotten me."
Venti's voice carried a childish relief, but the bard was genuinely happy to hear Alastor. "I was worried that you abandoned me..." He whispered.
Alastor's scoffed, "I would never dream of that. Mondstadt is my home... wherever you are is home. Remember?"
The bard was quiet before a mild sputtering arrived. "D-Don't say such embarrassing things with a passive tone! You gotta say it with more emotion!!"
Alastor rubbed his head, a slight migraine attacking him with Venti's loud mental scream. Normally, Venti would rebuke him with a teasing comment but there were times where he became flustered due to his words.
'...I'm not lying. Wherever you are, I will follow. That was my pledge as a person who you saw as your Knight.'
a̵̶̡̨̘̼͓̙͖̰̞͉̜̋ͨ͐́́̕͘͜͝ṅ̷̩͓̥̩̠̫͔̮͎̞̺̖͎̘̍̄͂͒̈́̽̓̚̕͜҉҉̵̸̧̡̨̛̛́͜͟͡͡o̶̡̢̘ͯͧͫ̽͐̑͗ͫͤ̈ͬ̂̐̚͢͞t̞̝̮̼̹̠̭̻̮̭̰͓͊ḩ̴̶̧̛͓̦̈̏͐̓̒ͪ̒͂̽̀͂ͪ͋ͧ́̚̕͘͟͞҉̶͟e̳̳͍̩͎̹͙̺̩̪̲͖̮͈̭̗͉̰̦͑͒ͪ̐̆̐ͮ̒̀͒͋̉ͮ̈́̀̚r̛̯͔͉̺̮̣̎ͩ̃̐͒̊̐̒ͦ́̐̐̃͆͊̃̉͜͞͏̶̡̀͜͞ ̸̶̵̼͚͎͔̮͙̤̥̓̀ͫ͋̊͌̀̂ͬ̓̎ͫͥ̐̆ͧͥ̀͠͏̡̨͏̶҉̴̷̛̀̕l̨̨̛͙͓͚͚̭̹̰̥̖̮͓̫͍͍̹̼͔̊̊̌ͧ̆̽̊ͥ̑ͭͥͫ̃̒͒̌̀̚͘͜҉̶͘̕̕͟͝ḯ͕̝͇̣̺̳̜ͯͪ̋̊̉̿͛ͭ̂̀ͧͨ̓̓͘ͅ҉̨̛͞͝ȩ͇̟̰͔͍̮̝̟̹̫̫̣͆ͭ͑̓͒̑ͯ̔̐̂̆̏̾ͣ̾ͅͅ͏̴̴̵̴̸̷̵̨̧̧̢͟͟͠͡͝
"Well, excuse me for a bit... Aether got himself into a mess and now we're planning the Blockheads funeral." He groaned, before hearing Venti's roar of laughter. It made him irritated, to say the least.
"You don't actually believe he's dead, right?"
"No. As much as I hate him, I know that he wouldn't die by mortal means. With the amount of chaos between the Qixing and the Fatui, it's planned too perfectly."
"Hmm... Well, I wish you the best of luck! Just...try to help our dear Honorary Knight."
"Tsk. Don't doubt me. I was made your Knight for a reason."
A promise made by the contract demon and the lionfang knight. Yet the demons reasons to protect Barbatos was of his own delusions and longing.
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"All finished then? Splendid. Any leftover cash is yours to keep ― a favor for the Fatui should never go unrewarded." Childe grinned at the trio, finding himself a bit more glad to see Alastor than the traveler himself.
"You think you can buy us off with some loose change? No way! Paimon demands to know when the next payment is coming!"
Childe chuckled darkly, noticing how greedy Paimon was compared to her companions. It left a crucial opening for him, "Haha. Well, how does this sound: You give me the information I need, and maybe I'll leave the Northland Bank's vaults open and unattended for half an hour..."
Paimon's eyes shined brightly, "What info do you need!?"
Aethers eyes widened at her reaction. Truly, her greed blinds her from the disaster that would come with passing information to harbinger. " No!!" He yelled, startling the floating child.
"Huh? Aether, does that mean you know what he's after?" Paimon asked, beginning to worry with her companion's dark looks. She felt like she messed up even more.
"Have you honestly forgotten the chaos that happened in Monstadt?" Alastor's eyes held a murderous glint at the mere memory of that woman kicking Venti as if he were insignificant. Clenching his fist, his eyes flashed from yellow and blue to black and red. He felt conflicted for a moment.
Childe blinked in surprise, before dismissing it as a trick of the light, seeing that those blue optics were glaring venomously at him.
"Yikes! You're right, Signora..."
Childe sighed, staring darkly at the trio while trying to keep calm. "You three need to calm down... I don't know what's gotten into you." He said, trying to feign ignorance to the chaos within Monstadt.
"Just what is this about? The atmosphere got so tense all of a sudden."
Alastor's hand began to twitch, his vision losing the colors. Agony, yet he tried to keep calm in a situation where he would blow up at any moment. Thankfully... The lesser evil controlled the conscious for now...
While the greater evil?
Hyde was busy yelling curses at Childe with no one none the wiser than Alastor himself. The sounds of footsteps caused Alastor to snap his gaze to a pensive Zhongli.
"Next, we need some Everlasting Incense. For this, we need to go to Bubu Pharmacy, the finest pharmacy in all of-"
"Is... everything okay?" Noticing the intense atmosphere between the three travelers and the harbinger, Zhongli had assumed they argued. However, he felt a shiver down his spine once his amber orbs met Alastors dead gaze. Along with the lingering feeling of an ominous being floating beside him, he still wishes to know who Alastor was.
"Tsk..." Alastor clicked his tongue, looking away through pure irritation. Zhongli's face was enough to anger him without having to say a single word. He truly did despise the man with all his heart, and that was never going to change.
Be it, god or mortal, The contract demon would forever resent the god of contracts.
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author's note;
I have two reasons and two reasons only to send Bennett and Razor back to Monstadt... and that is so they can make an adventure team with Fischl. Also because I constantly get scarred that Bennett and Razor get major death flags, and I'm only making it worse by dragging them to Liyue...
I went to Inazuma and Bennett was on my team... He died. I am not going to endanger him in this story!
[Edited on; June 08 2022]