"Excuse me, do you sell the moon here?" Paimon asked, confusing y/n.
She had allowed Aether and Paimon to guide her since she was the one carrying the food. They'd walked up to this random man and then Paimon asks the oddest question y/n had ever heard.
"Yes. How many would you like?" the man replied and y/n deadpanned, only becoming more confused.
'But... there's only one moon... right?'
"It is not convenient to speak of numbers here." Paimon replied and y/n let out a confused noise.
"Ah, well said. Please use this to ascend to the Chamber... ah, yes. Speaking of which - are you two the guests that Lady Ningguang has arranged to meet with today?" the man asked the trio.
"Yup!" Paimon chirped.
'And yet the code they used was not the one for the guests, but for the Yuheng. What's going on here...' the man wondered.
"Thank you." Aether said with a nod and stepped on the platform the man had gestured to.
Paimon followed while y/n stayed back with a hesitant look on her face as she watched them.
"Scared?" Aether asked.
Y/n averted her eyes, "Nye."
The blond chuckled and held out a hand, "Come on. I won't let you fall. I promise."
Y/n hesitated a moment longer but took Aether's hand and allowed him to pull her onto the platform.
She shut her eyes "If I die, I'm going to kill you."
"How can you kill me if you're dead?"
"Shut up."
The ride was quick and was amazed when she saw the massive Jade Chamber. It was huge! Shiny!
"Woah..." she breathed then spotted a familiar white haired lady approaching with two other females close behind, "EH??? AETHER! SHE'S MISSING A NO-"
Aether slapped a hand over the girl's mouth, so panicked that he hit her a bit too hard and y/n whined in protest.
'SHE HAS NO NOSE. I CANNOT FIND THE NOSE-' y/n thought, laughing internally.
"I've been waiting for you, returnee from Jueyun Karst." the woman in the lead greeted them.
"Ah, it's Ningguang!" Paimon exclaimed, "Since this is our first meeting, um, we've prepared a gift! Hope you like it?"
"Oh, for me? You have my thanks. It seems that I have made things difficult for you, considering that you were supposed to be my guests." Ningguang said and y/n began to wonder how she could keep a straight face fore so long.
"Hehe... oh no, it's nothing." Paimon assured the woman with a small smile, clearly a little nervous.
"Nice place, this Jade Chamber." Aether complimented, moving his hand from y/n's mouth so she could speak.
"It's my first time coming to a place this high up..." y/n squeaked, her voice high pitched due to her ever growing fear of being so high up.
"This palace floats in the skies, higher than the peak of any mountain. From this vantage point, one may survey all of Liyue." Ningguang explained, "I have been gathering the funds necessary to build it from the time I began learning the merchant's craft. And since becoming the Tianquan, I have spared no effort in hiring the best craftsmen to constantly extend it. At first, it was but the size of one room. Now, it is large enough to blot out the moon in the skies above Liyue."
Y/n blinked, 'I bet you could nuke a city with this thing if you loaded it with explosives.'
"One day, I believe it will overshadow all seven nations. Not many from outside of Liyue earn the right to ascent to the Jade Chamber. But I have been in correspondence with the Acting Grand Master of the Knights of Favonius, who spoke highly of you." Ningguang continued, "As such, I have been putting eyes and ears out ever since you reached Liyue..."
"What!?" Paimon yelped.
Y/n deadpanned, "Really?"
"And I finally got wind of your movements when you were on the way to Wangshu Inn."
"...Wait. Was Verr Goldet one of your people!?" Paimon demanded.
"Just Verr Goldet?" Ningguang asked then shook her head, "No. Everyone at Wangshu Inn is one of ours."
Y/n's eyes widened, "What the fu-"
"@&%*!" was what Paimon said while y/n tried to figure out if anyone at the Inn seemed suspicious or anything.
She gasped, "THE CHEF."
"We also ran into the Yuheng not long ago..." Aether added.
"At the Guizhong Ballista, yes?" Ningguang asked and Aether nodded.
"Uh... you weren't peeking on us from the skies the whole time... were you?" Paimon asked hesitantly and the woman laughed.
"I fear that peeking would have been a little difficult from this altitude." Ningguang chuckled, "Our eyes and ears are more than sufficient. You three are very interesting people, after all. It would be natural to take an interest.
"Keqing said that the Qixing would not wish ill on Rex Lapis." Aether said and y/n frowned.
'What does that have to do with anything????'
"Well, I wouldn't expect you to trust us, considering that you have had far more interactions with the adepti. The reason I invited you here was to clear up some misunderstandings."
Ningguang began to walk and y/n turned her eyes to the Jade Chamber. She looked around in silence.
Then back at the chamber.
Nobody was watching.
'Time to get that souvenir for Zhongli!' y/n thought then bolted for the chamber.
Somehow, nobody seemed to notice the sudden disappearance of the very noticeable menace.
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(I have finally decided how y/n is going to die. And what she's going to say.)
(Why are you still here?)
(You wanna know what I'm gonna do?)
(Aight fine.)
(Ayo, if y/n met Lumine, do you think she'd be able to tell she's Aether's sister?)
