APHROS DELOS CHAPTER, ACT I, PART II
You guys returned back to the Knight's headquarters before realizing Amber happened to stand outside of the headquarter as she greeted you guys. "Well if it isn't the Honorary Knights! I'm just on my way out to gather intel. I didn't expect to run into you here!" She waved, sounding cheery as always though, neither you nor Aether could return such enthusiast.
"Huh? What's wrong? Did you run into some trouble?" Amber asked out of concern before Paimon filled in her about what had just happened. "Oh Schubert, I know him. Lemme guess, he said you didn't have any manners? Oh but, Y/N would have good manners though, was it not good enough for his standard?" Amber thought.
The memory about him was unpleasant, whether it's in-game or right now, you can't stand him. "That's why Y/N is super pissed right now. If anything, Paimon really thinks that guy should be bowing down to Y/N since he is a Prin-" You covered Paimon's mouth to avoid her saying unnecessary stuff.
"Paimon, don't be silly. I'm just a lowlife commoner who just happened to travel here." You laughed nervously before letting her go. Amber seemed to be intrigued by the sudden secrecy but you can't let anyone else know about this. "Anyways, it seems you are no stranger to his rants..." You quickly changed the topic, trying to get back to the story quest flow before Paimon makes any unwarranted statement that might as well change the future.
Amber just giggled before talking her usual lines in the game. You just listened to their conversation, taking not much participation as you were lost in your own train of thought. For some reason, the more you try to think about the endgame ending, the more blurry it becomes.
You could only think that the cause of this was because of your involvement. Ever since you took Aether's place as the only Traveler that every nation could rely on, you somewhat also become the center of the lights. Aether wasn't alone when he took down Stormterror, Aether wasn't the one to fight most of the Fatui, Aether wasn't the only one that reached out to the adepti and he wasn't the one that truly finish off the Harbinger.
You were there. Sometimes, you can't help but wonder if the reason you are doing this is that you just want to have some sort of recognition towards the characters you love. It almost felt like you are forcing to be the star but you aren't sure if this path was right.
You snapped to reality as soon as you heard Paimon's thanking Amber before turning to you and Aether with a confident smile on her face. "Good luck, you three! I've got my own matters to investigate!" Amber waved us goodbye as we went to separate ways.
"Who would've guessed the Knights have a member of the Lawrence Clan... Well, if you want to learn about the conduct of the Lawrence clan, who better to ask than one of their own family members?" Paimon said as we set out to Stormbearer Mountains which only took a few seconds to get there with the help of a teleport waypoint.
The moment you arrived, the place was infested with a lot of Fatui soldiers roaming around the mountain, and while Paimon was busy yapping away with the statement of the obvious, you launched an attack on them with your sword. You managed to clear a few of Fatui and Aether had covered the side you weren't able to reach.
You tried to find the last one that you remember vaguely it being the Pyro sniper Fatui and the moment you noticed he already aimed for your head on the high tower, you immediately put on a shield to protect yourself from the bullet before there appear a claymore-wielding, the young woman appeared and swiftly dealt with the Fatui who was about to snipe you.
As someone who knew the future, you weren't worried while the other two were stunned. "You don't think twice before reaching for your sword, do you? Ugh... do you have any idea how long I've been tracking these targets? ...And now you get to stake a claim. Hmph, you think you're stronger because you got to them first? Ugh... mark my words, vengeance will be mine!" She said with her hand on her hips as you could only be helped but smile.
The other two asked her what she meant by vengeance before she pretended to be fussy over the credits of clearing Fatui and expressing her relief that you three are unscathed. "I see, thank you for your concern and your help back there." Eula was a bit taken aback by your reaction before she gained her composure back.
"Why would I be concerned for the safety of my arch-enemies?" She asked as you only smiled while Paimon is absolutely bewildered by how she called you guys arch-enemies. You know her character so well though you weren't sure how to talk to her so you just spit out some bullshit that might come to your mind.
"By that I mean, you were concerned about how to bring one of us back if we were truly injured, no? Aside from that, you do happen to be Eula, right?" You questioned as she nodded before Paimon leaned to your ears, whispering how she's very odd.
"You dare to call someone you've just met "strange"? Forget the aristocracy, that's rude even by normal standards!" She probably overheard it which made her quite shocked that she overheard it. Eula immediately snapped out of the rude comment before having quite a suspicion towards you guys. "Speaking of which... how do you know my name?" She questioned, suspicion was clear in her tone.
Before Paimon could introduce, you took the lead instead. "Well, I'm Y/N and this is Aether, we're the Honorary Knights of Favonius. We're trying to investigate an aristocrat named Schubert Lawrence but the thing is we lack etiquette to the point we can't reach him." You explained as she laughed at the last sentence before sounding quite disappointed by her uncle's behavior and asking us why we need to investigate him.
"Master Jean gave us the assignment to see if he was truly involved with the Fatui." Eula thought before talking one of the voice lines that somehow just etched into your head for a reason that was so obvious. She was so used to being villainized.
Paimon began to run her mouth saying that she agree with such a reputation, it's quite hard to not be the gossip since they were known for being a ruthless leader which Eula made an offended noise towards while adding it to her vengeance list. This lead to Paimon being frustrated by her speech and her laughing at Paimon's reaction.
"Curious... We've only just met, and you've already given me three causes for vengeance. It's been a while since I've encountered anyone as interesting as you." She stated which just made Aether quite confused and asked why she seems to be happy about it. "I assume you need me to teach you the conduct of the Lawrence clan. Only then will you finally be able to communicate with my uncle, correct?" She quickly get back to the work topic as Paimon nodded.
"True, after all, Amber recommended us to go to you for help." You stated as she immediately put us to some training while Aether asked about the vengeance thing to which she only respond that she only cooperating since it's from Jean and Amber.
"You don't seem to be confused, Y/N. Have you met people like her as well back in your world?" Paimon questioned as you just smiled at her.
"Yeah, more or less, she just needs someone to treat her like a normal human being." You said while following her from behind to go back to Mondstadt. Well, if the future is going to change since you are here, should you just take action with your own hands?
TO BE CONTINUED
Author Note:
Shhh... This is not an update, a hallucination. Anyways, thank you for reaching 1M because I genuinely did not expect this. I appreciate you guys so much and I wish you all the greatest day you could have today. And thank you for reading as always!