𝗜 𝗪𝗔𝗡𝗡𝗔 𝗚𝗢 𝗛𝗢𝗠𝗘 ✦ 𝗚𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗻 𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁

𝗚𝘂𝗶𝘇𝗵𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗕𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗮

"Oh."

Y/n stared at the Guizhong Ballista with a blank expression, Aether and Paimon looking curious.

She glanced at Zhongli, "It's broken."

"It's broken!?" Paimon and Aether demanded as y/n frowned at the mechanism, "Can it be fixed?"

"With spare parts, maybe." y/n replied, "Telling from how it looks, someone broke it. Intentionally. Zhongli, if we had spare parts, do you think you could fix it?"

"I might be able to... speaking of spare parts, I believe there are some nearby." Zhongli confirmed and y/n's eyes brightened.

"Yes! We won't have to go far off!" she exclaimed then beamed at Aether, "Could you and Paimon look for the spare parts? I want to stay here and check out this mechanism a little bit!"

"What? You're making us do all the work!" Paimon snapped, "Of course we won't-"

"Sure." Aether interrupted, earning a confused look from Paimon.

Y/n grinned, "Thanks! I'll treat you to dinner then! Or lunch! It depends on what you have a preference for."

Paimon automatically switched up, "Okay then, Aether! Let's go find those spare parts!"

While Aether and Paimon raced to find the spare parts, y/n remained by the Guizhong Ballista with Zhongli.

Zhongli simply watched with an affectionate look as y/n curiously observed the mechanism with round eyes.

"Wow... so cool..." y/n murmured, awe in her voice and sparkles in her eyes, "Look at this thing! I'm no mechanic or anything, but the design is fascinating!"

Not even a second later, Aether and Paimon were back with the spare parts.

(It took me a couple of seconds to grab the parts and go right back-)

"Will these work?" Paimon asked, showing Zhongli the spare parts they'd found.

"They look like they'd work..." Zhongli murmured, "Give me a moment. I'll try to repair the device."

Y/n watched like an excited puppy and perked up when Zhongli stepped back, "Is it done?"

"It is done." Zhongli replied, "The Guizhong Ballista has a more complex design than I thought."

"Well how do we turn it on?" Paimon questioned as y/n stared at the turret.

"Oh, here." she chirped, "There's a scope."

Y/n stepped to the side so Paimon could use the scope, watching as the pixie searched for the Cocogoat they needed to find.

"Nothing there... nothing there... nothing there again..." Paimon murmured before exclaiming, "Oh, treasure hoarders!"

"...what."

"Hey! What do you think you're doing!?" someone behind y/n shouted, "You fixed up the damn turret!"

"Huh!? Treasure Hoarders!?" y/n squeaked when she spotted the people.

"Yep, that's what Paimon just said." Aether sighed as y/n immediately hid behind him with wide eyes, shaking.

"Not a turret. A Guizhong Ballista." Zhongli corrected, "Also, kindly state your name before you ask a question, it's just good manners."

"Are you blind or something, old man? You're looking at the leader for the Treasure Hoarders!" the man who had shouted at them exclaimed, "This thing nearly killed us when we approached the mountain! We risked our lives trying to disarm it!"

"Well it's a damn shame it missed!" y/n snapped, "You treasure hoarders have no business here! Get a job or become adventurers you damned bums!"

"WHAT'D YOU SAY YOU WENCH!? the treasure hoarder demanded.

Zhongli and Aether didn't like that.

"You heard me! Get a damn job!" y/n shouted back, "You can't intimidate me! You're nowhere near as scary as those stupid geovishaps! If you're so mad about us repairing the Guzihong Ballista, do something!"

"Get em, y/n!" Paimon exclaimed.

"You know what? Fine! We will! The next thing you guys will be repairing is your faces!" the treasure hoarder yelled.

"Tut-tut. Vandalizing the legacy of an adeptus for selfish gain. Disgraceful behavior." Zhongli said as he crossed his arms, "It is not we who need reprimanding, but you."

(I loved this line, ugh)

Aether and y/n didn't have to do anything, Zhongli beat the shit out of the treasure hoarders by himself.

Dropped a whole planet on them-

A H E M

"Those lowlives didn't know who they were messing with!" Paimon exclaimed as the treasure hoarders ran away.

"Troubling ourselves over this is not worth the time. We should focus on our contract with Qiqi." Zhongli reminded them.

"That's right!" Aether realized and looked at y/n, "Y/n, you have good hearing, right? So you'd be able to tell if there was an adeptibeast nearby, right?"

"I mean, yeah. They have a different sound than most living beings..." y/n murmured, "I haven't heard anything out of the ordinary to be honest so... my best guess would be that a Cocogoat isn't a real thing. Especially since a mechanism made by an adeptus couldn't detect this so called adeptibeast."

"So we're going back empty handed?" Aether asked and sighed when y/n nodded.

Well, though they didn't find the Cocogoat, it was still quite an interesting experience.

Especially since y/n actually had it in her to scold a group of treasure hoarders.

(The fact that this works with both Kaeya's biological Dad and his adopted Dad-)