The Puppet

Returning from Liyue

"Goodbye, Liyue! Hellooooooo, Mondstadt!" The traveler yelled as they crossed the border. "Liyue was cool, but the city of freedom will always hold a special place in my heart."

"Really?" Kaeya asked as he walked up to her. "Based on how you acted in Liyue, Lumine, I thought that Zhongli had all the places in your heart."

Lumine blushed hard as she heard Paimon laughing her tiny lungs out. "He is right! As soon as you saw the former Geo Archon you were head over heels for him. Paimon was starting to think that you were going to ditch everything to chase after him."

Lumine flailed her arms in anger. "I'm a straight woman! I see a hot man with a voice like that, I simp! I'm not complicated!"

"Simp? I don't know word." Razor asked as he came up.

"I'll explain later, Razor," Amber said, patting him on the head. Kaeya and Amber had originally joined Lumine to help with the Stormterror mess but stuck around long afterward to Liyue. Razor, meanwhile, stumbled across them while they finished clearing out the temples to stop the dragon's whirlwind over the city. He ended up joining their "lupical" afterward. "But seriously, Lumine. You had us running all over Liyue trying to convince him to join us. We had to drag you away while reminding you we need to make a stop back home before heading to Dragonspine. And that was after we nearly died to a Pyro Regisvine... twice."

"It's not my fault that the stupid plant always knows where you are running when those stupid flame pillars appear." Lumine snapped.

Paimon giggled. "So, we just have to go to Mondstadt to stock up and to get some warmer clothes. Dragonspine isn't known for its beaches and warm sun."

"What? Cover up this amazing body?" Kaeya asked.

"Wear winter clothing and I'll buy you a dozen Dandelion Wines," Lumine stated. "We will be passing by the winery anyway."

"You drive a hard bargain, Lumine," Kaeya said as Razor stared off into the distance. "But will you even be able to buy wine, considering your age?"

"I said it once before and I'll say it again," Lumine grumbled. "I'm a lot older than-"

"I smell smoke." Razor interrupted.

"Klee probably blew up something again," Amber said, walking over and following his line of sight. "I should really-" The words caught in her throat.

"What?" Paimon asked as she and the other two walked/floated over. "What do you-" They all stopped when they saw it.

The blackened scar that was once the Dawn Winery.

"What happened here?!" Lumine asked as the group walked around the ruins. There was barely anything left. The vineyard, the manor... it was all gone save for a few blackened support beams.

Kaeya bent down and picked up a piece of the vase he had gifted to Diluc to secretly return his vision. "My guess would be the Abyss Order. But even then..."

"Diluc strong," Razor said. "Diluc is Hero Darknight. Kill mages easily."

"The fatui maybe?" Amber asked. "But what reason would the fatui even go after him anyway? I'm pretty sure they don't know anything."

"And we were only gone for a few months. When did this happen?" Paimon asked.

Razor sniffed. "Only smell smoke. Can't smell anything. But smoke is old. This not new."

"HEY! You guys are finally back!" A familiar voice rang out. Hearing Paimon's groan Lumine instantly knew who it was: Venti, the former Anemo Archon. The bard ran up the hill. "I'm guessing this isn't what you wanted to see when you first came back here."