~•~•~
As the trio is alone, Lyra sighs."alright. Let's look for Zhongli.", she says.
"Huh? Why are we doing that? Paimon thought we would first investigate Rex lapis' 'death'?"
"which is why we need to find Zhongli. The rite of Parting is our strongest lead after all.", she explains.
"Paimon cant argue with that... thought that reminds Paimon. If your prior life was called Azure, where does Zhongli's nickname of 'Lilia' come from?" Lyra shakes her head.
"You'll find out soon enough."
Arriving at Wangsheng funeral parlour, they ask the front staff about him. "Excuse me, do you know where Zhongli is?", Lyra asks.
"Unfortunately, Zhongli isn't here at the moment. It seems he went to Northland bank." – "thank you.", Lyra nods and leads the trio to Northland bank.
"Doesn't the northland bank belong to the fatui?" – "Paimon, enough of your questions. All will be clear in due time.", Lyra cuts off Paimon's train of thought.
Aether and Paimon look at each other. "You know something we don't, don't you?", Aether asks.
"Perhaps I do, perhaps I don't. We'll see.", Lyra taunts.
"You totally do!", Paimon exclaims.
~•~•~
Once they arrive at Northland bank, they see Childe, Signora and Zhongli. "You call this 'cooperation between harbingers'? Cooperation involves communication, you know...", Childe says.
'Seems like it will all be cleared up now.', Lyra thinks.
"Hehe, don't take it to heart, Childe. Besides, aren't you happy that you got to skip the formalities and bring chaos to the land? I'm sure you must've enjoyed that...", Signora says. She then looks upon the trio.
"... oh, it seems that some of your friends have arrived.", she announces.At that, Zhongli and Childe look at the newcomers. "Hey, it's Zhongli and Childe! And.... You! Signora!", Paimon exclaims.
"Haha, it's you three. I believe we've met once before... in the city of bards, was it? I'm glad you still remember my name. Ah, right. I imagine that it must have been rather hart to forget watching helplessly as something precious was snatched away from your friend.", Signora taunts.
As Aether was about to step forward, Lyra holds her arm out to stop him. As such, he relents. "Well, if it isn't Aether, Paimon and Lyra-" – "Childe. I may still be recuperating from our fight but I am not afraid to hit you.", Lyra snaps at him.
Effectively. Childe shuts up. 'So she is able to instil enough authority over Childe to shut him up... interesting...', Signora thinks to herself.
"anyway... straight to the point... Zhongli and Signora deceived me... curse them for leading me on.", Childe spits.
Lyra chuckles, then sighs while crossing her arms, drawing the attention of the others to her. "Figures... I assume you're here to fulfil your contract, Rex?", Lyra says as she eyes Zhongli.
"What in the world are you talking about?!", Paimon exclaims. "Ah... seems you know...", Signora says.
"... the contract is fulfilled. That which thou seeketh is now bestowed unto thee, for my promise is solid as stone.", Zhongli states as he hands out his gnosis.
"Hmph, how sanctimonious.", Signora says as she takes the gnosis, being careful to hold it tightly. Aether looks at them dumbfounded.
"So Zhongli is actually Rex lapis?" – "what! So you're the lord of geo?! No, wait! That's an exciting twist and all – but why give the gnosis to the Fatui?!", Paimon exclaims.
"I do not give it for free. I give it as agreed upon in the contract... for it is a matter solely between the Tsaritsa and I." – "I'm afraid I don't understand...", Aether says.
"Yeah, you don't think you went a little bit too far with that whole fake death think!? Everyone was preparing the ceremony for you when splat, this big dragon falls out of the sky and all of Liyue goes into an uproar. Talk about disaster! And don't think Paimon forgot about you, Lyra! If you knew all along, why didn't you tell us?!"
"because I knew that the moment you knew of the truth, you'd try to stop it. And I am not one to stop a contract here in Liyue. That would be absurd of me, considering... well, you know the truth.", Lyra snaps back.
"Hehe... gathering all the forces that had been bubbling behind the scenes, and then stirring them together in a pot that was bound to boil over... that's what he wanted to see, am I right?", Signora says.
"Wait... what?", Paimon says. "perhaps it's best that I explain.", Zhongli starts.
"As you know, I've dwelt upon this world for more than six thousand years. It is now 3700 year ago that I founded Liyue together with the adepti. Even boulders that can withstand whirlpools will erode with the passing of time. I kept convincing myself that cracks had not begun to form and that the end of my time had not yet come. Until one drizzly day, as I was strolling along the harbour, I heard a merchant tell one of his worker, 'you've finished your duties, go ahead and call it a day.' I stood motionless among the crowds, asking myself, 'have I already finished my duties?'. But as I began to consider relinquishing my Devine role, I soon discovered that many reasons still remained to not hastily depart. Was Liyue, the city I had dwelt in for so long, already prepared to enter its next age? I decided that a test was needed in order to reveal the answer. So I feigned my own death, and gathered the cast of Childe the adepti, and the Liyue Qixing to play their roles together on the stage that was Liyue.", he explains.
Aether looks at him in a deadpan. "Let me guess – you had another plan in case it all burned down." Zhongli nods. "That's right, which is why I continued to safeguard the Gnosis until now.", he admits.
At that, Lyra freezes. Fortunately, no one was paying any attention to her, so no one noticed. 'It could've ended badly had we not been able to take down Osial on our own... he could've died for real...'
"so you mean that if the chaos ever reached the point of no return, you would simply appear and use your divine powers to bring Liyue back under control?", Paimon asks.
"Of course. And it would have been all too easy for him, too.", Signora starts. "Just as a child quickly matures after losing their parents, so has Liyue matured when faced with the death of its deity..."
"in the end, the resolution to all that has transpired was even more satisfactory than I could have hoped for. Take the adepti, for instance. Owing to their years of seclusion, they were the least informed. Yet, when faced with a crisis, they, commendably, showed the greatest amount of restraint possible. Not only did they manage to co-operate with the Qixing, but in the end, they even made efforts to understand the hearts of the people. Credit is also due to Signora, the emissary dispatched by the Cryo archon to fulfil our contract. At my request, she kept everything she knew in strict confidence – this despite the eavesdropping ears of her colleague, Childe. This meant I could remain as Zhongli even having the chance to fulfil the age-old traditions of Liyue in this mortal form. Thank you for joining me on this journey, dear travellers. All of these things turned out as I had planned. There is only one thing that I had not anticipated... and that was the conduct of the Liyue Qixing. I had expected them to do no more than the adepti... to come to the defence of Liyue. But when all was said and done... they seized the opportunity to supplant Liyue's divine protectors, and used the subsequent power vacuum left by my death to quickly gain complete control of Liyue.", Zhongli says.
"huh? That doesn't sound good at all!", Paimon shouts. "Hah.. on the contrary, I think it is excellent. The time of the adepti and gods in Liyue has ended, so it should only be natural that the Qixing take over the responsibilities of Rex lapis.", Lyra says, as Zhongli nods.
"I had always feared that it was too soon for them to take over from me, and it was also that which I longed for the most. As such, this is the best parting gift anyone could have given this god of old.", he adds.
Childe looks between all members of the conversation, then speaks up himself. "Hey, what about me? Doesn't anyone feel the least bit of remorse for deceiving me? You've practically kept me in the dark!", he exclaims.
"Heh, I think that thanks would be more appropriate. You certainly played no small part in all of this... wreaking havoc and turning the city upside down. The lord of geo ought to thank you for your performance, if anything. If you hadn't created the pressure of a battle between mortals, adepti and a god, the lump of coal resting in the hands of the geo Archon – Liyue – would never have been able to become a dazzling diamond of a city.", Signora says.
"Huh? Just whose side are you on, mocking me like that? Are you itching for a fight?", Childe asks. "We were both equally fooled.", Aether says to him. Childe sighs.
"Be that as it may, you've come out this as the hero of Liyue. I, on the other hand, will forever proscribed as a disturber of the peace, no?", Childe retorts.
"Heh... well then, which the gnosis in my possession, I have no use for such idle chatter. We should return to Zapolynarny Palace and seek an audience with her majesty, the Tsaritsa. Come, Childe.", Signora orders.
"ugh, fine... I'll meet you there later. I'm not sharing a boat with the likes of you.", Childe answers as he rolls his eyes. "hmph, do as you wish." With that, both Fatui harbingers leave Northland bank, leaving the trio together with Zhongli.
"Now then, is there anything else you wish to ask me?", Zhongli asks the trio. Lyra thinks for a moment the looks back at him.
"To be honest, yes. What could possibly be worth a gnosis?", she asks him.
"Right! As Zhongli always told us, 'a good trade is a fair trade'. Paimon has no idea what could be a good trade for a gnosis."
"realistically speaking, there is no such thing. However, I am the god of contracts. For thousands of years, I have made countless contracts. If the deal was of no benefit, then I certainly should not be inclined to agree to it. My agreement with the Cryo archon will be the last of my contracts as the geo archon – my 'contract to end all contracts'. As for the bargaining chip that the Tsaritsa used to balance the scales... uncover that answer for yourself in your future journeys.", Zhongli merely says.
~•~•~