黄金の家
.
Alastor gazed up at the sky, jumping from any high place to another, just to move faster in the dead of the night. The frigid winds that felt nothing to him, made the trees sway, silence engulfed the harbor.
"The harbinger Childe," Alastor murmured, pausing in his steps as he saw a camp of fatui soldiers. The tent had the fatui's insignia, pridefully showing itself to anyone to come to pass.
"Aiya~ C'mon Jecky! Let's switch!!"
Hyde was excitedly floating by his side, as the world suddenly turned black and white. It became entirely silent, as neither human nor god knew that time had stopped in his realm.
Tilting his head to the side, his wry toothy grin was filled with irritation. "And what? You're gonna burn them alive as usual?" He retorted, glancing around their frozen time.
Hyde pouted, huffing as he crossed his arms over his chest. Upset that his counterpart refused to switch places with him.
"Well, what else would I do? I'm one half of a two-millennium old demon, who was taught by the great Feng Huang!"
He exclaimed, dropping from his floating state.
"Besides, I'm the Arsonist half of Alastor!" He exclaimed, flicking his finger. A blue ball of flames zoomed to the camp of Fatui, for it to only be paused in the air.
Jekyll clicked his tongue, his arm outstretched to control the dangerous flames. Demonic flames, also known as Hellfire were volatile to nearly all kinds of life, including gods.
"Don't play with fire if you aren't ready to be burned yourself."
Jekyll snapped, striding to the camp of Fatui footmen and soldiers. Some were asleep, some wide awake as guards. At the time of Rex Lapis's death, they could not easily rest within the harbor.
"Using our master's words against me, huh?"
Hyde chuckled, as the world's time slowly played. He vanished from the sight of humans, an invisible ghost to all except himself.
"Don't test me, Hyde. Once this is all over and this insanity of being two finally ends... We are free from this hellish state."
.
Bolts of fire and emerging gold stone were launched once the pitiful fatui soldiers had a near-death chance. Once all the fatui soldiers were defeated, the trio went up the stairs until they found several crates with golden paper hanging from the lids.
"Sigils of permission? So many at that." Alastor murmured, disturbed by the several amounts of sigils. It was troubling but somehow he was unnerved by the number of sigils, the mere symbol making him shiver.
"Hmm, but how did a relic of the adepti end up in the hands of someone like Childe? Suspicious..." Paimon asked, narrowing her eyes at the sigils.
"It's not just some relic," Aether said, turning to Alastor for some answers. The concept of sigils was not familiar to him, but no matter how much he hated the nation, Alastor was ironically a living textbook of Liyue's mysteries. The dread on the Contract demon's face made them worried even more.
"During the Archon war, Sigils of permission were used to channel divine power. With so much of them, who knows what the Fatui are plotting." He murmured, resisting the urge to burn all of the talismans to dust.
"Maybe the Fatui are copying the talismans in hopes of achieving a similar effect!" Paimon concluded, however that made the worry in Alastor bubble into an even greater fear.
"What would the fatui need so much divine power for?... Maybe... No, that can't be." Alastor whispered under his breath, looking around him for anything to doubt his suspicions. However, the signs were enough to solidify his dreadful theory.
'Damnit!' He thought, as his invisible counterpart glowered at the dull copies of the talisman.
"We better prepare ourselves... If the fatui succeed it is war all over again."
Aether noticed Alastor zoning out again, dazed yet focused at the same time. He watched as the demon trailed a line of fire he traced into the air, written with a language similar to Liyue's ancient writings. Nowadays, all nations write and speak in the same language, however many have barely learned their ancestral language.
"Gah! Imagine the Fatui bringing so much Divine power in battle!" Paimon shivered, making Alastor stiffen.
"Alastor, what does the symbol on the talisman mean?" Aether asked, assuming that the demon would be able to decipher it for them. When he and Paimon asked others about it, they all shrugged and said that it was a word from ancient times, but he felt like there was more to it.
Even the adepti's memory of the language was a bit hazy.
".... Nothing is Restricted. That's what the talisman says." He explained, grabbing one and shoving it into his pocket. If he could test it out on even a single adepti, he could confirm how dangerous it was.
Aether was surprised with his nonchalant answer, staring at the talismans. He didn't expect Alastor to easily answer on the beat, a bit of hesitation and more time to think before answering would have been more likely expected.
"Hmm, alright, that's enough sticking around here. We gotta go meet up with Zhongli soon." Paimon said, beginning to feel creeped out by the situation.
Alastor gave them a reluctant smile, "I'll... try to catch up with you guys. I'll continue investigating this." He explained, gathering a few more of the sigils.
Paimon and Aether gave each other a glance before nodding silently. Aether gave Alastor a serious and worried look, tightly clenching his fist.
"Alastor, please come with us this time. I don't know what kind of issues you have with Zhongli, but I need you by my side at all times. Especially now that we've uncovered the fatui's motives." Aether said, sounding a bit like a demand.
For the entire journey, Alastor has been less of a companion by the day. It could be because he despised Liyue, but Aether was slowly getting too curious about what had happened to the contract demon. In the beginning, he didn't plan on prying at Alastor's past.
Was it wrong that he wanted to be someone he confided in?
Alastor tried his best to hide his frown, forcing a false smile into his lips. He cupped Aether's cheek and smiled darkly. Both of his companions shivered as a floating sensation surrounded them.
"Go to Zhongli and pay no mind to my choices. I'll be investigating so you don't have to worry."
He said, his voice echoing through their minds. They couldn't resist it and the last thing they saw was ember feathers floating around them...
before they forgot it in an instant.
.
Alastor walked up the stairs to Yujing terrace, reluctant yet he was required to do so.
There, he stared an elderly woman back, as she softly spoke to the Glaze lilies.
"Ping." He called quietly, easily alerting the elderly woman.
Madame Ping smiled, "Alastor... It is an honor to be in your presence once more, Great demon of Contracts." She bowed, noticing their surroundings had gotten quieter, as none of the mortals were able to notice them.
"Tsk. Take a look at this." He exclaimed, tossing the golden talisman to the Adeptus. Ping caught it, narrowing her eyes at the counterfeit.
"A sigil of permission... no. It's a fake, a perfect copy." She scowled, looking to Alastor for answers. The sigil glowed in response to her presence, showing how identical it was to the real thing.
"The Fatui will summon a sealed god. Overlord of the Vortex, Osial."
"That is absurd! Why would the Fatui want to summon that accursed being?" The Adeptus looked outraged, slowly feeling fear grow inside her. The mere thought of someone resurrecting an ancient and dangerous god.
Alastor sighed, his gaze stuck to the sky as he thought about the Fatui. The memory of his dear friend unconscious on the floor and without his Gnosis finally came to mind.
'The Tsaritsa. What is she up to? Why is she collecting The sevens Gnosis?!' He thought, walking away without another word. Madame Ping called out to him, but he was too focused on the matter at hand.
"Childe. If you succeed in this pathetic endeavor... I'll make sure nothing is left of you."
As he headed down to the Harbor's entrance, he immediately felt a familiar presence lurking in the shadows. He paused, sending a sharp glare to the area where the presence had come from. Invisible to others, there was a shadow of a young man looming on the walls.
Alastor growled under his breath, "Of all the times you have to show up in front of me..." He murmured, hurrying away from the scene. Blending into the humans around him, he easily lost the person following him.
This was his enemy after all.
By the roof of the buildings, a lone figure stood invisible to humans. His amber eyes glanced back at the demon who disappeared from his sight, clicking his tongue as he retreated to his post.
.
"Huh, what happened? Why is the city swarmed with Fatui and Millelith?"
"Where's Alastor? I thought he'd meet us here." Aether murmured, looking around for their companion. He would prefer their contract demon to stay by their side, especially with both Fatui and Millelith on guard.
"Alastor..." He whispered, and a swirl of flames danced to his side.
Zhongli's eyes widened. It was his first time experiencing this kind of event, Alastor appearing in a beautiful flurry of flames.
"I'm here." Alastor smiled, bringing comfort to the pair. His presence alone giving them warmth and assurance.
"Al! Did you finish investigating? Cause we got a bunch of Glaze lilies, but Aether got attacked by a whopperflower for his singing." Paimon snickered, "The flowers must have thought his voice sucked."
Aether blushed in embarrassment, lightly smacking the back of Paimon's head. He glared at her, but she was still giggling while rubbing the back of her head.
"Is that so?" A small smile formed on Alastor's lips, a bit upset that he could not pick himself some glaze lilies. It was one of his favorite flora after all.
"E-Enough. Let's go check on the situation now." Aether coughed into his palm, dragging Paimon by her scarf.
Alastor chuckled, but subtly felt a hard stare. He looked back to Zhongli.
The man had a small frown on his usual blank face, his eyes filled with guilt and regret. But... Alastor who once felt nothing with that look felt a bit of pity. It was an abnormal feeling for him. But somehow... it didn't feel like he was looking at Zhongli. Through him, Alastor saw someone else. He just couldn't figure out who it was.
"Oi." He called out, catching the man's attention. Zhongli's amber eyes were stuck on to Alastor, noticing that he wasn't wearing his usual scowl at the mere sight of him. Something felt off.
"Let's get going now. That Snezhnayan scoundrel of yours has been causing too much trouble for me." Alastor clicked his tongue, shoving his hands into his pockets. Instantly, he left Zhongli and returned to Aether's side.
Zhongli just stood there, the wind blowing at him as he stared at the demon's back. Something inside hime stirred, unable to handle the silent pain he withstood.
He asked himself quietly, sighing before that simple sentiment was buried deep inside him.
"A journey has always been more enjoyable with a companion... Would I have enjoyed mine if you were by my side?"