𝗜 𝗪𝗔𝗡𝗡𝗔 𝗚𝗢 𝗛𝗢𝗠𝗘 ✦ 𝗚𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗻 𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁

𝗙𝗮𝗰𝗮𝗱𝗲

"Ah, sir, you're here. The kites you asked for are finished." the old lady at the toy stand greeted as the group approached, "Would you like to take them now?"

"Yes. Thank you." Zhongli said as y/n finally managed to calm herself down.

"It's rare to see customers who want to buy this type of kite nowadays. In the early days, we used to get orders from people of all walks of life..." the woman was saying as y/n spaced out.

'Kaori likes kites... she's no longer a little girl but maybe she'd still like one...' y/n thought, 'Would she want pink or...?'

Y/n stopped, her heart sinking in her chest.

'Does she even like pink anymore...'

"Well, this is Mr. Zhongli from the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor so he's probably well-versed in all these walks of life." Paimon exclaimed, "We've talked about a whole bunch of things while traveling with him..."

"Fashion, economics, jewelry and jade pottery..." Aether listed, "Perfumes, flora and fauna..."

"He seems to know Liyue's favorite topics, money and government, really well, but he likes talking about less useful topics instead." Paimon continued.

"That's why we have y/n here." Aether reminded the pixie, snapping the h/c haired woman out of her daze.

"Huh? What?" she asked, puzzled.

"Well, that's because I prefer to share fun things with you." Zhongli chuckled before patting y/n's head, the young lady quickly becoming flustered once more, "But, I do tend to ramble. Y/n does a good job of making sure I stay on topic."

Y/n wheezed, "ʸᵉᵖ."

"Children's toys are very fun things, that's for sure. I enjoy watching the children at play as much as anyone else. But there is more to it than that." the woman droned on, "Finely crafted toys are well-loved by children. But this craft itself has been honed over thousands of years, and there is meaning behind that. I have made kites in Liyue for forty years, and I am intimately familiar with the forms passed down from my ancestors. The meaning of these seven kites is far from banal."

"Oh no..." y/n murmured as the kites were passed to her. She already knew what was going to happen.

"These are used in the Rite of Parting. The kites represent The Seven since, as you can see, there are Seven." y/n said before Zhongli could say anything.

"I took the liberty of coloring outside the lines when doing the insignia of the Anemo Archon." the woman explained as y/n's sanity continued to turn to dust, "As for the kite that honors the Geo Archon, one must follow the contract given right down to the last letter. These patterns are ancient, and you can also find them in the Golden House."

"Ah, Paimon's heard that name before!" Paimon began to say and Aether glared.

"Paimon! Hush!" he said sharply.

Y/n looked confused, "How do you guys know about the- ah... nevermind."

'Did I ever mention it? Or maybe I let something slip without realizing it...' y/n thought, feeling nervous, 'Maybe I should tell Ningguang. Especially with that Fatui boy snooping around.'

"The design of this kite displays a firm grasp on the cyclicality and eternity so dear to-" Zhongli stopped talking as soon as y/n gave him a stop-talking-we-don't-have-time-for-this look.

He looked a bit guilty as he gave y/n an apologetic look, "...my apologies."

"It's fine." y/n said with a shake of her head before looking at Aether and Paimon once more, "To put it simply, the designs on each kite represent each Archon's Divine Ideal. Eternity for Electro. Wisdom for Dendro. Justice for Hydro. War for Pyro. And... you get the point."