𝗛𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗵𝘂𝗿𝗹 𝗦𝘂𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗰𝘆 ✦ 𝗚𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗻 𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁

𝗪𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴

[Edited again]

"Another please!" y/n exclaimed, slamming her glass against the counter after she finished drinking her fifteenth cup of grapejuice. Her request sounded like more of a demand...

The bartender began to hastily search for more grape juice but Diluc stopped him.

"You know, if you keep this up, you're going to get sick." he said to the girl, voice exasperated, "That is if you don't drink all the grape juice we have first."

Y/n pouted, "But alcohol smells weird and apple cider burns my throat."

Diluc sighed heavily heavily the girl gave him a miserable look, "How about I get you something to eat instead?"

Y/n shrugged, "Okay."

"Hi! We'd like a seat at your... uh... least conspicuous table!" a voice chimed, scaring the crap out of y/n.

She whipped around, nearly falling out of her seat then relaxed at the sight of that bard she'd seem plenty of times. Y/n was aware that he was broke and even though she didn't care too much for music, she still gave him generous tips whenever she managed to find him.

...

What?

She was rude but she wasn't heartless.

"Uhm... the second floor is almost always empty. You'd be less conspciuos there." Diluc replied then narrowed his eyes, "But aren't you a bard? Wouldn't you prefer to sit on the first floor where there are more customers?"

Y/n blinked, recognizing Aether and Paimon behind the bard. However, telling from how their eyes were fixed on the ground, y/n figured they didn't want to be recognized at the moment.

"Let's save the paid performance for later." the bard said nervously, "We'll be going now."

Both y/n and Diluc watched the trio run up the stairs to the second floor, both of them thinking similar things. Well, not really.

Y/n was wondering when she'd get food.

It was literally a few seconds before knights burst into the tavern. Y/n, who may I add is still wanted for committing arson and raiding Springvale, turned away quickly and busied herself with her cloak to appear less suspicious than she already was.

I mean, the description the inhabitants of Springvale provided said, "Suspect is a small child with messy h/c hair and s/c skin covered in scars. She was wearing a black cloak with fur on it and her face is painted."

Her current appearance matched the description perfectly. And she'd already had to deal with Diluc scolding her for her actions.

The small child part was embarrassing enough since she was an a young adult. She didn't need jailtime too.

"Master Diluc, have you seen two thieves around?" one of the guards demanded as y/n quietly thanked the bartender for the cheese and crackers she was given. She quietly arranged the slices of cheese and the crackers to look like bears. She already looked like a child. Might as well act like one too.

"What's all the fuss about?"

"Haven't you heard? Two thieves were caught stealing the Holy Lyre!"

"Oh? How odd."

"Isn't it? The Holy Lyre is a treasure that was played by the God of Anemo themself.  Such a precious piece of cultural heritage-!"

"Why would someone try to steal something they can't sell off? Would be better to steal from my cellars." Diluc hummed.

The guards seemed puzzled.

Heck, y/n was puzzled.

'What's a cellar...?'

"Sorry, I went off topic. I believe they went that way." Diluc said simply, pointing to the door.

'Please leave, please leave, I need to pee-' y/n thought, shifting uncomfortably in her seat, 'I am going to pee my pants if you don't leave, leave, leave, leave-'

"Thank you Master Diluc." the guard exclaimed before leaving the tavern. As soon as they did, y/n let out a squeak and ran for the bathroom, cursing under her breath.

•••

The fact that y/n was in the bathroom all evening, even after the tavern closed, was concerning. For the people outside, it might seem as though the girl fell asleep on the toilet or had really bad indigestion problems. However, y/n was trying to figure out why the heck she was having so many unnecessary flashbacks.

It wasn't uncommon for y/n to start hallucinating and remembering memories she didn't even know she had after having over ten cups of grapejuice. It just happens.

But... to be honest... all day, she felt as if something had been burning a hole through the pocket within her cloak. She recalled looking into a box that held her things from when she was still a little toddler.

Matr had kept the things she'd grown out of in said box. The day Y/n had gone through it, she'd taken out a glove with a what looked like a cryo vision embedded into it. She'd kept it, figuring it had once belonged to a family member.

Something about it just felt... off. Wrong.

Of course, y/n paid no mind to it as she exited the bathroom and hopped onto a chair by the counter so she could lean over and just sit there in misery.

Everyone was gone and she was alone again. She could smell Diluc's trail, having had years to memorize his scent and learn to distinguish it from others.

As odd as it was, it helped a lot throughout y/n's childhood. Considering how many times she'd won fights against tough opponents but typically left in bad conditions.

With a small huff, y/n got to her feet and began following the trail, trying to put together sentences in her mind so she could tell her scarlet haired friend just how much she hated being left behind and why he shouldn't just leave her by herself like that.

It was when she came across an entrance to what looked like a secret base that she stopped abruptly.

Every nerve in her body was telling her not to go in and she felt... scared.

"Screw it." she said, going in.

(This is why you don't write at two in the morningggggg-)