AMONG MIST • GI

26

CHAPTER TWENTY SIX ;
THE CRUX

ACT FOUR ;
JUST LIKE HOME

A few days had passed and I had started to notice something. I had been upping my rank in the adventurers guild as Aether did much more personal tasks.

To put it simply, he looked a lot more miserable with Paimon meekly trying to encourage him to keep on going.

I wanted to ask what had happened, but stopped myself as trying to intrude on his personal life seemed rude.

So I let it slide and he had started to look more hopeful.

Even more hopeful than normal.

It was a spectacle to see. Never have I seen someone so eager to go to another place. Let alone one with a psychopathic god that takes away its citizens visions.

So firstly we want to talk to a former citizen of Inazuma, Atsuko, who now resided in Liyue.

She told us that leaving Inazuma was a pain and happened just by a stroke of luck. So if it was hard getting getting out, it was definetly going to be hard to get in. Her story was certainly concerning.

"You could ask someone from the Crux Fleet if they have sine way of getting you to Inazuma, they're well-known in Liyue" She started, the idea was plausible, "voyaging far and wide has made them a well-traveled group with a wide range of experiences. They may know how to break through the storm."

We were then told that even though it would be hard to persuade something as tough and refined as a crew of an armed Fleet, it wasn't entirely impossible.

Besides, traveller seemed well acquainted with Beidou anyway.

"If you're that unsure Paimon, why don't you make a raft and see who makes it to Inazuma first?" I turned to the pixie who was clearly second guessing herself

"NO!NOPE!NONONONONO! Piamons fine with going to the Crux Fleet! Let's go find Captain Beidou!"

﹌﹌﹌

One we had boarded the large ship, we headed to the front where the captain was, beside her standing an unfamiliar face.

She seemed as happy and enthusiastic as ever.

"Hey, traveller! Fancy seeing you here! And the other outlander! And... the... floaty thing!"

"HEeeY! Paimons not a 'fLOaTy ThINg' for the last time! Paimon is Paimon!"

"Paimon..." the new face mused with a hum, "What a fascinating being. You three give off not only the essence of the wind and earth,but also of... yes... the stars..."

I deadpanned at his wording.

'This guy speaks like a second Zhongli...'

"what."

"what."

"Eh? The fragrance of the what what? That's the weirdest compliment Paimon's ever heard"

"Pay it no heed... I mean only to say I am certain... that it is by fate, not chance alone, that we should meet... and that gives our encounter meaning."

"And this must be your bard-for-hire?" Aether joked as he started at the very poetic spoken man.

Beidou huffed, "I prefer other means of entertainment."

"This young man is Kaedehara Kazuha, a temporary addition to my crew for reasons I won't bore you with. Occasionally, he opens his mouth and flowers come out instead of words."

"With this fine ship and soft sea breeze... would it not be romantically irresponsible of me not to acknowledge it with a line or two of poetry?"

Beidou then mentioned 'the clash' and explained how it's a martial arts tornemant that she holds, the prize being a dead vision. However, such a thing is useless to us.

So, Aether explained this and Beidou seemed indifferent.

"Well why didn't you just say so? Inazuma? No sweat! So, in that case, if you win the tournament I'll give you the choice: Masterclass vision or a ticket to Inazuma aboard the Alcor. Up to you."

"Well... that was easy." Aether sweatdropped slightly. It didn't really take any effort to persuade her.

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storm eunice trying to blow me over 😍😍
sorry for no updates, my Internet has been going out for VERY WELL KNOWN reasons.

I've noticed many tiny angry fandango man fans and so I'm concocting a tasty story. In the mean time I drafted the MC's constellation because I was bored so here's a teaser I guess‼️

girlbossing right now