~•~•~
Arriving back at the harbour, the group is approached by a Fatui underling. As Lyra eyes him suspiciously, he starts talking to Zhongli.
"Ah, you're the consultant of Wangsheng funeral parlour – mr. Zhongli, I presume?" As Zhongli nods, the fatui underling continues. "The Millelith are watching our every move now. These are desperate times, we mustn't act rashly.", the underling says.
"Desperate times?", Zhongli questions. The travelling trio merely listens to their conversation. "The adepti of Jueyun Karst are finally on the move.", the underling explains. "do they intend to exercise force?", Zhongli inquires.
"most likely. I've heard that some members of the Qixing have already gone to meet them... well, I say 'meet', but it's more like they're attempting to stall the adepti outside the city. However, both sides were quite obstinate, and hit an impasse." – "...it seems inevitable, given the current situation.", Zhongli admits.
"the adepti do not acknowledge the Qixing, not after the Tianquan change at least, they only acknowledge the contracts of the geo archon. If the two sides come to blows, Liyue harbour will be in no position to stop them.", the fatui recruit says.
"surely the Liyue Qixing are not the sort to give in so easily?" – "hmph. Their bone-headedness is known throughout the lands. Yet it's because of that obstinacy that mortals and adepti are now on the verge of conflict.", the recruit grumbles.
"and what now? How is it that the Fatui have come under fire?", Zhongli asks, raising an eyebrow. "ugh... that's all Ningguang's during... she proclaimed that 'in these tumultuous times, the Millelith must rein in the actions of the Fatui.' Only now do they want to start keeping tabs on us? Huh! That's the Qixing for you! Anyway, mr. Zhongli, you're one of Childe's close associates. Please understand that your actions will reflect on us. Don't let anyone catch you off-guard."
This is when Paimon decides to cut in. "It looks like things are about to boil over in Liyue harbour..." – "is there anything we can do?", Aether asks. "Do you intend to use your neutral identity as an intermediary between both sides? Or, will you use your sword to turn the balance? Neither path is an easy one...", Zhongli answers, as Lyra nods, agreeing.
"Oh, by the way, mr. Zhongli. We've heard that the Wangsheng funeral parlour has also been caught up in all this. They're currently squaring off with he authorities at the gates." Zhongli merely sighs as the fatui underling leaves.
"Things are taking a turn for the worse... I'm afraid I must leave now to handle things back at Wangsheng funeral parlour. I hope that director Hu has been able to keep things under control for the moment. Consider your next course of action carefully, Lyra, Aether. If you're trying to prevent an explosion, it may be wisest to look for the fuse first." With that, Zhongli turns to the city and leaves the trio.
"Whew... having connections with the fatui seems to be quite the double-edged sword. So what did Zhongli mean by looking for the 'fuse'?", Paimon asks.
"Childe. If there's anyone that wants to see the whole city turned upside down, it's definitely him. He must be waiting for the moment when no one is watching to do something really bad.", Aether answers.
"But where could we find him now? Where would he go at a time like this?" – "there's only one place he would go.", Lyra says, glaring at the path ahead into the city.
~•~•~
Lyra leads her travelling companions through the city, only to go out the other exit of the city towards the golden house. "Come, we have no time to waste.", Lyra says as she opens the door of the golden house and ushers the other two inside.
"Wow... this is the golden house? It looked impressive enough from the outside... but who would've guessed that it was even fancier on the inside... and so full of Mora!!!", Paimon exclaims.
Lyra merely sighs. "Stay on track. We are here for the Exuvia. Not the Mora." With that, Paimon stops getting close to the Mora and flies back to Aether and Lyra's side.
As they go further into the golden house, Paimon speaks up again. "It's quiet... too quiet. Surely someone's gotta be guarding something as important as the Exuvia." Looking around, they see unconscious Millelith guards.
"This is not good... we should hurry.", was all that Lyra said as she runs ahead. Paimon and Aether are quick to hurry after her.
Arriving at the Exuvia, nothing seems out of place. As Lyra doesn't move from her spot, both Aether and Paimon follow her lead, trusting her to know what she's doing.
"You've already fulfilled your task as guides, so why do you still linger here? Haven't you already seen enough trouble for today?", says a voice from behind them. The trio quickly turns around. "Childe...", Lyra snarls.
"If you were Fatui, I imagine that you would be entitled to a generous reward from the Tsaritsa herself. But now, you're nothing but dross – and you're in my way.", Childe states.
Standing behind Aether and Paimon, Lyra quietly charges up an attack. 'It is risky... but knowing that he is a harbinger, I have no other choice... I call upon the eleventh, Yui', she thinks to herself.
"Looks like we were just in time, then.", Aether says to Childe. "Hah! Although I'm deeply grateful to you that I was able to effortlessly find this secret location... don't you think that trying to stop me now would just be wasted effort? Stopping the Mora mints, hiding away the Exuvia... hahaha, the Qixing are really pulling out all the stops this time..."
'Yes... keep on talking... I need to build up more energy...' "So you've been planning to take the Gnosis from inside the Exuvia all along?!", Paimon exclaims.
"As one of the eleven Fatui harbingers, it's my duty to see the will of the Tsaritsa fulfilled. She will get that which she desires.", Childe shrugs.
Finally, Lyra decides to speak up herself. "Not if I have anything to say about it." Just as she finishes talking, she steps to the side, now in full view of Childe as she fires her attack at him. 'Cursed energy!'
Childe, taken aback, barely dodges. Lyra holds back a flinch and the urge to cough due to her using her duality. "Oh, so you intend to fight me? Good. I won't kill you, Travellers. I'll just play along – to feel the thrill of battle! Besides, you could never defeat me. Not even in your wildest dreams. But hey, try to relish the fight anyway. Because if you ask me... without that, what else is there?"
Aether scoffs. "We could never defeat you?! You're completely delusional!", he exclaims. "Ahahahaha! Fighting talk, I love it! Now, let's see if you live up to it." Childe takes out his bow, ready to strike them.
"Paimon. Take cover!", Lyra exclaims as she takes out her polearm, spinning it quickly to block an arrow from Childe. Then she turns her head slightly towards Aether, talking in a quiet tone.
"Aether, you go on the offensive, I'll deal with the defensive and cover you." Once saying what she had wanted, she rushes towards Childe, feigning a strike.
Aether does as Lyra told him and hits Childe while he was focusing on Lyra. "Heh... you are quite the team... though it doesn't seem like a fair fight too me. Then again... this was never going to be a fair fight.", Childe comments, switching his bow for dual swords made of Hydro.
Childe quickly dashes to the other side with the help of his Hydro vision and summons a huge Hydro Narwhal, ready to fall onto Aether and Lyra.
Eyes widening, Lyra quickly de-summons her polearm, stretching both her hands forward, tilting upwards, and creates a golden barrier around herself and Aether, shielding them from Childe's Narwhal. "Once I put the barrier down, go for an attack. Quickly.", she commands.
Aether nods, and as the barrier falls, Aether rushes towards Childe striking him once more, which Childe blocks with his dual swords. "Hahah, you really think you can take me off guard just like that?", Childe taunts.
"You should've kept your eyes on me, you know.", Childe hears a voice from behind. Just as he turns, he is hit with an anemo vortex, leaving him open for another attack from Aether, who takes the opportunity and strikes him again.
"Good! No wonder Signora was so wary of you. Well, that just means I can go all out! Brace yourself, this is about to get tough...", Childe says, leaving for the middle of the battlefield.
Lyra narrows her eyes to analyse him in more detail, then looks at Aether once more. "He is activating his delusion. From what it seems, it's an electro delusion. So, from now on be more cautious. I suggest using your elements against him." – "got it."
Childe's attack become quicker and both Aether and Lyra need to make more of an effort to dodge his strikes. As Aether engages Childe in close combat, Lyra raises her hand, readying an anemo attack.
'Ugh... I am already hurt due to my attack at the beginning... it would be easier if I would just use my other elements... but Childe shouldn't know of my other abilities and elements... I'll just have to continue like this I suppose.'
As her anemo attack finishes building up, Lyra shouts. "Aether!" Taking the hint, Aether quickly jumps away from Childe, dodging another strike from him as a large anemo vortex hits Childe one more.
However, Aether was still slightly hit by the attack himself, and was pushed to the side, falling to the ground. Childe then hits Lyra, who lands beside Aether. 'Darn...', is all Lyra thinks. Childe swirls his dual blades around and joins them together to form a spear.
"Not bad. Your swordsmanship is quite impressive. So are your teamwork and manipulation of the elements. But, that's about as far as you'll get.", he compliments. He rushes forward, ready to strike Lyra, as he noticed that she was more strained than Aether.
However, he is blocked by Aether, who uses his Anemo powers to stop his spear from coming closer. As he is blocking his spear, he moves his foot to summon a trail of geo to attack Childe from the side, causing all of them to be blown away from the power surge.
Aether and Lyra thankfully land on their feet, standing up slowly to look at the now smoke-covered centre. As the smoke clears, Childe is nowhere to be seen. The travelling trio's eyes widen, as they look up to the Exuvia.
"Hahaha. Didn't think you had that card hidden up your sleeve...", Childe taunts. "you were just playing us to get close to the Exuvia!", Paimon exclaims. "Oh, quiet down. Stop acting like some wide-eyes recruit. You've seen this world. You of all people should know... this should have been expected.", Childe merely says as he strikes the Exuvia.
"Well then, I'll be taking Morax's Gnosis now!", he continues, as he takes his hand out again, only to find his hand empty as he opens it. 'Lucky for us, Rex is not really dead... and I have the Gnosis safely inside my box.', Lyra thinks.
"Hahaha... I see. Well, this is most unexpected. You... you beat me to it, didn't you?", Childe exclaims, striking down to the middle of the battlefield once more, forcing the trio to jump out of the way, back onto said battlefield. Childe then is surrounded by both Hydro and Electro, as the trio watch him closely.
As Childe gains a new battle suit, Lyra's eyes widen in realisation. 'No way... that power... that power is that of the Abyss!' Childe then pulls back his spear from the ground and makes it bigger.
"Not bad! But this is going to cost you!", Childe declares, his voice distorted and strikes the ground, making it crumble. "Ahhh!", Paimon shouts, as the trio falls down. Luckily being hit by no rubble, the trio stands up as quickly as they could.
They look back up to see Childe slowly floating down to where they landed. He releases another powerful shockwave, removing all the rubble and debris, effectively leaving them with another battle ground. Aether looks as Lyra, who looked more terrified than Aether has ever seen.
"Change of strategy. You will fight him and cover me. I need time to build up another attack so we can beat him.", she says, as calmly as she could in this situation. Aether looks at her, worried, but agrees nonetheless.
Readying his sword, he runs at Childe, attacking him while also dodging Childe's blows in turn. "You got to the Gnosis ahead of me, didn't you?!", Childe remarks as he fights Aether.
"Did you simply move faster? Or... did you leak the information regarding the golden house to me on purpose? No matter. Hand the Gnosis over. Now. Don't make me take it from you." – "W-we didn't take it", Paimon exclaims from the sidelines. To that, a thought comes to Lyra's mind. 'The gnoses would make it harder to hide my aura, but... it would make me stronger and give me more energy...', Lyra smirks.
'If it's the gnosis you're after, then why not see the power of one? Even better, the power of two gnoses!' Lyra taps the box on her side, turning it into a ball of light. "If you want to see true power, then so be it.", Lyra snarls, as she holds the ball of light to her chest.
"Feel my fury!", she exclaims. Aether, noticing that she has taken the offensive, quickly runs to the side of the battlefield, not wanting to be hit by another attack of her. Especially now that she had somehow powered up. Everyone could feel he power-spike that came from Lyra.
At that, Childe turns his attention to Lyra instead of Aether. A wind current starts forming around Lyra, levitating her into the air. "You are using a very dangerous power there, Harbinger. Abyssal magic is not something to play around with... but... your Abyssal magic is nothing compared to mine.", she snarls at Childe, holding up her left hand.
Childe stops the attack he was readying and looks at her confused. 'How does she know of my Abyssal magic? Or more specifically, my foul legacy?', he thinks to himself.
Just as Aether had seen when she attacked Signora, Lyra summoned a spear out of nowhere. However, this time, it was far larger than before. "Behold, the true power of Abyssal magic!", she exclaims as she throws it down towards Childe.
Not being able to dodge, Childe is hit full force, his Abyssal armour disappearing. Falling to the ground, he pants. Lyra lowers herself back down quickly, tapping her side where the box was once more, the box reappears. "Look, Childe's back to normal again.", Paimon says as they approach him.
As Lyra gets closer, she herself falls to the ground. "Dammit. All my energy is spent... and my starting attack is catching up to me...", Lyra grumbles as she holds one hand to her head.
"Ugh, well then... time to cool off...", Childe starts. "It seems the burden of the Fouls Legacy Transformation was too great for my body. I lacked the opportunity to think this through..." Lyra scoffs.
"Foul Legacy is not something to play around with. That is dangerous Abyssal magic." – "now that I consider the matter more carefully, you never had any hence of beating me to the gnosis... you had no connection to the gnosis, no tater where it had been taken.", Childe mutters. 'And this is why it is so great to have my connection to the archons a secret.', Lyra thinks to herself.
"That's right! We tried to tell you we didn't take it!", Paimon says, exasperated. "Your show of ability today for surpasses that of Signora's initial assessment of you in Mondstadt. Tell me, how could that be?", Childe asks, standing up.
Following his lead, Lyra stands up herself, still holding her head. Both Aether and Lyra stay silent at that. 'Through gaining more elements, I am gaining back more of my initial power...', Aether thinks to himself. 'Because of the gnoses. Even though my own powers are getting harder to use, they are the new source of my power...', Lyra answers in her thoughts.
"You both already know the answer, don't you? I can see it in your eyes. But if that is a secret you wish to keep, I guess I'll just have to curb my curiosity. This battle has already left me satisfied. Anyone who strives as I do to grow stronger shall be called a friend, even if our friendship can only be shown in battle against one another", Childe says.
"Pretty sure that's not the normal way to make friends.", Paimon deadpans. "Unfortunately, I must bring this amiable conversation to an end. My quest still beckons. Given that the gnosis wasn't taken by anyone, then we must look once again to the beginning. Perhaps it was never in the Exuvia to begin with. In fact, it might be that the Exuvia was just a diversion of sorts."
Lyra freezes. 'Oh no...' "What? So you mean that... Rex lapis still lives?", Aether asks. "Yes. It appears so. Interesting to say the least... it seems that the guardian deity of the capital of commerce is also well-versed in little manoeuvres beyond the boundaries of contracts."
'Unfortunately for you, had your dear Fatui comrades told you the truth, you would already know of the contract between the Tsaritsa and Rex lapis.', Lyra wants to remark, but keeps her thoughts to herself.
"As such, we must now look to our backup plan.", Childe says. "Backup plan?", Paimon questions. "I had hoped it would never come to this. I absolutely detest working with those who are weaker than I. The truth is, the world belongs to those of us who desire to become strong. I seldom willingly mingle with any dull and boring weaklings who think otherwise. Unfortunately, we cannot be picky about our methods as Fatui Harbingers. Children must all learn to eat their vegetables sometime."
"so, what are you planning to do?", Aether asks. "I will awaken the god that lies dormant beneath Guyun Stone forest." At that, Lyra freezes up again. "Osial?!", Lyra exclaims.
"Yes. Osial, overlord of the vortex, who was defeated by Morax the geo Archon in the Archon war, and who has remained pinned beneath the waves by the geo Archon's stone spears ever since. If such an ancient god were to be unleashed upon Liyue harbour, defenceless without the protection of its deity... do you think the cunning Rex lapis would just stand aloof and watch the ensuing destruction?"
Lyra's blood boils at that. "You dare awaken that god?!" – "but how would you even awaken a god that has been sealed away for 2000 years?", Aether asks. "Simple! I've already prepared the means to awaken it." Lyra's breath hitches. "The sigils of permission...", she mutters as Childe summons a few around him.
"Oh, Paimon remembers now! The fatui have been researching them..." – "you've been trying to duplicate them.", Aether says.
"Indeed. The one that was given to you was just a by-product of our research. With the power of so many sigils of permissions concentrated in one place, along with that which was bestowed upon me as a Harbinger by our Tsaritsa... breaking the subduing might of the Geo Archon's spears for a time should be no obstacle."
Lyra shudders. "Using the power of Liliang... known as the most trusted Adeptus of Rex lapis... to subdue the might of the Rex lapis himself..." Childe chuckles at Lyra's remark.
"Using the powers of ancient beings in such a situation fails to interest me and is largely against my principles. But knowing that such action will not only force the geo Archon to show its hand, but you as well... that makes matters a little more intriguing.", Childe says.
'Stop him. Stop him. Stop him. Stop him. Stop him.', Lyra's mind repeats. Even though they are deep within the golden house, they can hear a storm starting up outside.
"Ahahaha. Let's see – will the nation that has lost its deity be swallowed up by an ancient malice once more? If you wish to drown together with the people of Liyue, you're free to stay and enjoy the show!", Childe says as he disappears.
"Quick! We need to get out of here!", Lyra says, summoning a cloud. The trio hops onto the cloud, floating up and out of the golden house.
Once outside, Childe is nowhere to be seen. "He's already gone? That guy is fast.", Paimon says. Then, they look up to see the Jade chamber floating above them towards the sea.
"What's going on?!", Aether exclaims.
~•~•~