(I might tie some of the new Archon Quest into this, No major spoilers! I'm also making it up as well so no worries.)
We had run back to Mondstadt as fast as we could. Not because I was in pain, but because we had to report back before more trouble was stirred up. As we approached the bridge someone came running towards us.
"Y/N!" It was Amber. She seemed to be in a hurry and in a rush. She stopped just short of us almost toppling and tripping over her feet from stopping so abruptly.
"Woah, Amber what is it?" I asked,, holding a hand out so she wouldn't go falling over.
"Oh good you're alright! I was worried. Just heard news from Honorary Knight. Apparently the treasure hoarders are getting themselves involved with the abyss order." She explained. My heart dropped. I glanced over to Bennett who seemed to have the same reaction as me.
"What in the world are they doing messing with the Abyss order?!"
She shook her head, "No idea. Jean went out to Wolvendom to scope out around the area. I came looking for you two as soon as I heard. I wanted to check if you were alright." Her eyes went down to my hand. She took mine into hers, "Your hand! Dang it, I knew I should've just gone."
"No, don't worry about it. Bennett helped me out plenty, I'll go ask Lisa to check it out." I told her. She sighed and nodded, "Go quickly, I don't know if it's serious, but better safe than sorry."
-----------------
As we walked up the Favonious steps Bennett asked a question, "The Abyss Order.. Weren't they the ones that had to do with that Dragon?" I took a moment to answer. We weren't technically supposed to be too open about what went down during that, but since it's Bennett I think he can know.
"Well, yes. I wasn't there directly but that Dragon is actually closely related to the anemo Archon. The Abyss Order corrupted him, made him believe the city turned its back on him." I explained. We stepped into the library where we looked for Lisa.
"That sounds.. Complicated. So, were they like friends or something? The dragon and anemo Archon?"
"Indeed."
I spotted Lisa organizing a bookshelf in the far corner. "Lisa!"
She turned around quickly and put a finger to her lips. "Shh, this is a library." She put her finger down when she saw who it was. "Oh Y/N and her cutie! What brings you over here?"
I showed her my hand and she examined it. "Hmm.." She hummed. "Well that's something you don't see everyday."
"What is it?" Bennett asked nervously.
"I've just never seen this type of scar. It's not impossible to cure or anything," She flipped my hand over and continued looking, "I can tell it was made with Abyssal energy."
"What? Abyssal energy? This is definitely weird now." I sighed.
She took my non-injured hand and led me over to her desk. For a librarian, she definitely has a lot of non-librarian things. She picked up a book and read it over, and flipped through pages. She took a deep breath in and tore one of the pages out. "My poor book.." She whined.
Lisa handed over the page to me and it was a lot of letters and numbers that certainly made no sense to me or Bennett. "And what is this?" I questioned.
"I'm no Albedo, so I can't concoct something for it. My abilities are limited dear." She pointed to one of the many letters, "However, if you take this to him, I have no doubt he can."
I lifted an eyebrow, "Isn't he all the way in Dragonspine?"
She shook her head, "Actually no, you can probably find him upstairs. He came back while you two were out. Quickly now, I don't know how long he plans on staying."
------------------
We headed up the stairs and looked down the long hallway. "Woah, I never thought the Knights Headquarters would look like this.." Bennett marveled.
I chuckled and led him down the hallway to Albedos lab, "Not many people get a chance to come in here. You are very lucky. Special privileges for special people."
"Special people.." He trailed off.
"We're here." I knocked on the door, but when I did the door slid open. I poked my head in and looked around, "Mr. Albedo?" I asked looking around. My eyes stopped on a familiar head of blonde hair and let myself in.
"Sorry for the intrusion, but I need your help with something." He didn't move but looked focused on something else.
"Mr. Albedo?"
"Albedo is fine, don't worry with formalities." He spoke softly. He turned his head and met eyes with me, "Oh Y/N, what can I help you with?"
I handed him the paper Lisa gave me and he read it over while I explained. "Lisa said you might be able to help me with this scar. She said something about Abyssal Energy."
His head perked up, "Abyssal Energy you say.." He hummed looking at the paper. "Yes.. I can make something for it. It might take a little while though. Are you in any pain?"
I hesitated, "No I feel fine." This earned a worried glance from Bennett. Albedo stood up.
"Good, I will try to have it for you by later on tonight. If it really is infused with Abyssal Energy I want to take caution with it. From what I hear, they're at it again. I'm not much of a fighter, but I will tell you to take it easy."
"I got it, thank you Albedo." He slightly smiled and Bennett and I left the lab.
Once we got outside Bennett stopped, "You didn't lie did you? I really do hope you aren't in pain." His face fell, "The Abyss order seems like a pretty big and bad organization. If they could corrupt a dragon, who knows what that magic can do to a human?"
"Don't worry I promise I'm not in pain. I'm sure whatever is going on with the treasure hoarders and Abyss is going to get handled by Jean and Aether."
He stepped closer, "I sure hope so. I'll make sure you take it easy! If your hand gets in any worse shape who knows what will happen?"
"Don't stress it too much. If you're so caught up in my troubles how will you worry about yourself?" I laughed.
"You're part of my adventure team now." He took his hand and intertwined it with mine nervously, "You're troubles are also my troubles now. So I'll make sure to protect you until you get back to 100%."
My voice was caught in my throat, "Bennett.." I softly smiled at him, "You are just too convincing. Since you are the team captain, I'll oblige"
I really didn't want to lie to him. But I'm still worried about those treasure hoarders and I had to do something about it. Jean and Aether were already solving things, but the ones that ran into Dragonspine are still a threat, they most likely wouldn't have left that area if they were targeting us. So I would go back.
Alone.
It's been too quiet in this story, I needed some additional drama.
