LIYUE HARBOR
THE RITE OF DESCENSION
It is a well-known fact that before you are able to go to Liyue Harbor, you must first pass in Wangshu Inn. You'll meet a lot of weird people there, and certainly, you'll enjoy your time there.
After you pass through the Inn, follow the trail and head straight for a couple of minutes or maybe hours. Keep walking, and then you'll finally reach the entrance of Liyue Harbor.
The city is aesthetically pleasing to the eyes, with delicious dishes and multiple of stores. You'll find yourself wanting to spend more mora than usual. Liyue Harbor was usually filled with people, but since today was a special occasion, it is more crowded.
"Excuse me! Excuse me! Let me pass through!" A boy wearing unusual clothes said, as he pushes through the crowd in the city. He spots the trio, and his eyes widened once he noticed the pixie-like creature.
"You there!" He shouts, running towards the three friends who looked at him confusingly. Once he reaches them, he bends over and pants. After a few seconds, he stands up straight and points to Paimon who only tilted her head in confusion as she whispered in Y/N's ear, "This guy is weird."
"You there!" He repeats, staring straight at the pixie. "How much are you?"
Paimon frowns, clenching her fists. "How much am I?! Listen well, mister! I am not for sale!"
"A talking toy? This just gets better and better!" He looks at Aether, "How much is this toy?"
"I am not a toy!" Paimon says, before pulling the two away from him. "Come on, guys!"
But before they could even leave, the man managed to grab a hold of Y/N's hand. The mortal turns to look at him, confused. He grabs something from his pocket, and put it in her hands.
It was a silver necklace that had a design of a crow preparing to take flight. In the back of it were ancient-looking words that she didn't understand. "How about we trade things?" He suggests, "You take this necklace, and I'll take that talking toy."
"I am not a toy!"
The girl attempts to pull her hand away, but he only grips it even tighter. She winces as his nails dig into her hand, bruising her. "Mister, please let go. My friend is not a toy, so please stop bothering us."
Aether attempts to help the mortal, but once he makes eye contact with the man, he freezes.
"Aether?" Paimon asks, waving her hands over his face but he doesn't move. The creature floats towards the man, trying to remove his hands from gripping Y/N's hand, but she ultimately fails.
"Hey! Let go!" She shouts, catching the attention of other people.
"Mister please let go!" Y/N says, but the man continues to stare at her with an odd expression on his face. He mutters something in a different language, and at the same time, the mortal attempts to kick him.
But once she did, he disappeared.
"Huh?"
"Wait, what just happened?" Paimon asked, floating at the place where the man once stood.
"You there." They hear another man's voice. The two turned around to face the direction where the voice came from, and they saw one of the millelith running towards them. Once he reached them, he asked, "What's wrong?"
"A man was here a while ago! He called me a toy, and asked how much I was. Then! When we turned to leave, he grabbed her hand and asked if they could do a trade! Then when she denied, he started to hurt her and he spoke in another language!" Paimon explains, fuming. Then she grabs Y/N's hand, and shows the red marks that the man had given to her a while ago.
"A man?" The millelith repeats. "The people who saw you guys said that you were talking to air. There's no man in here with you."
"What?! Are you trying to say that we're crazy?!" Paimon says, "There was a man with us! We clearly saw him! Aether can confirm it- wait, Aether?"
The blonde traveler was still frozen in his place. He stared at the ground, not blinking, not moving, not breathing.
"Aether?" Y/N calls, but he doesn't respond.
Paimon moves towards the boy, waving her hands around his face once again. "Aetherrrr!"
The female mortal follows what the pixie-like creature did, with the crow necklace still in her hands. The symbol accidentally touched his forehead, and once it did, he snapped out of it. "What's wrong?" He asked.
"What's wrong?! We're supposed to be the ones asking you that question!" Paimon tells him. "Now this is Aether, honorary knight of the knights of favonious back in Mondstadt! Aether, tell him about the man we saw!"
The traveler just looks at his friends with a confused expression. "A man? What man?"
The millelith sighs. "It appears to me that you three have no problem that I can help with. If that's the case, then I must get going. While the Millelith stands guard, evil shall never prevail!" He says, before turning around to leave.
Once he did, Paimon starts to pinch him. "What do you mean by 'what man?' ?! You clearly saw the man with us!"
Aether just frowns, genuinely confused. "I have no idea what you're talking about." then, he turns to Y/N. "You know someone from the Qixing, right?"
The mortal nodded at his question. "Yes. They'll be here once it's time to start the rite of descension. I can ask them to let you go near the Geo Archon once he arrives."
Aether nodded. Since neither of them have ever been in Liyue Harbor before, none of them were familiar with the place. So the trio decided to ask around on where the Rite of Descension was happening.
"Ah, you three are travelers. Where are you from?" One asked them after she answered their question.
"Only me and him are travelers from Mondstadt! She's a local here in Liyue!" Paimon answers.
The old woman smiles at Y/N, "Ah, you look a bit familiar to me.... Aren't you the young girl in Wangshu Inn?" The mortal nodded in response.
"Well, I wish you goodluck in your travels." The old woman says, before the they bid goodbye and headed towards where the rite of descension was happening.
Once they did, they saw some people waiting for the God, though they were quite far from the center where a statue stood. Paimon, however, rushes towards it in curiosity. And once she did, a millelith scolds her. "Hey you there! You're not allowed to get too close!"
"Ah! I'm sorry for her." Aether says, as they moved away from the statue. They waited at the side for a few minutes, and chatted until the Qixing finally arrived to start the Rite of Descension.
Once Ningguang saw Y/N who cheekily waved at her, she smiled. Though, she was quite confused as to why the girl was now allowed to go somewhere far away from the Inn. Then, she saw the blonde traveler beside her, and her questions were answered.
She had heard of him before: an outlander who arrived in Mondstadt and had helped them defeat stormterror. He had no vision, but he could wield elemental powers.
The Qixing walked towards the statue, and so, they started the rite of descension. Y/N prepared herself to ask her friend if the traveler could come closer once Rex Lapis arrived.
The statue lights up, reaching the sky. And then, the Geo Archon arrived.
Dead?
"AND THEN, THEY FOUND EACH OTHER."