Cinis [Genshin Impact]

XIV. Mountain Shaper

.˚ :: !┊temper problems ❞

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷

"Let's go see Mountain Shaper first." Aether said after some thought. "We can call it a day after we talk to the demon conquerer and rest at the inn."

"Ooh~ Good idea!" Paimon clapped her hands.

You nodded, "Alright, this way!"

✦

Your body felt sore from all the walking you had done today but nevertheless, you pushed through and arrived at Mt. Hulao.

You raised a brow when you and Aether came across a man hunched over, praying to the adeptus.

"Have mercy, O mighty adeptus! I beg you... show mercy upon me and my brother... spare our lives!" He cried.

"What's wrong?" Aether asked worriedly.

The man turned around in slight shock. He blinked, taking in the three of your appearances, "Who are you? What's going on?"

"We asked you first." Paimon crossed her arms over her chest.

"...Oh! You enjoy safe passage in Jueyun Karst... It can only mean one thing!" The man smiled. "You must be adepti messengers! Sent here to rescue me and my brother!"

"Huh?" You blinked in confusion at his assumptions.

Paimon and Aether shared a look with you. "What is he talking about?" Paimon asked.

You stepped back a bit when the man prayed again, but this time to the three of you. He explained how his family was poor and the only reason he was here was to find enough treasure to support his family.

"We followed the path up the mountain, but suddenly, the amber... it swallowed up my brother, Li Dang!" The man explained.

"What? We're not adepti messengers... we just wanna find the adepti like everyone else!" Paimon said. Unfortunately, the man absolutely refused to believe you weren't messengers.

Aether sighed. "We'll take a look." He murmured.

"Thank you!"

And that's how all of you ended up breaking the surrounding ambers in search of the mans brother. You seemed to be having the worst luck as the ambers you broke had slimes trapped inside, it was not a fun time dealing with the slime condensate that got on your clothes.

Luckily, Aether had found the brother, who led him back to the top of the mountain.

"Thank you for rescuing my brother, O mighty messengers of the illuminated adepti." The man immediately said when he saw all of you.

"Have you ever seen the adeptus here?" Aether asked the two men.

Their face twisted to a look of confusion, "What? No... I mean, like everyone else, we've heard that there's adeptus living in Mt. Hulao. But regular folks like us will never have the chance to meet them. No way. Unlike you guys... You're adepti messengers, so it's a whole different story."

You hummed, it was true, regular people in Liyue have never seen an adeptus before. But they'd pray to them whenever anything seemed to happen to them.

You watched the two brothers run off and sighed. "...Boy, it'd be super helpful if we actually were adepti messengers. 'Cause it seems like this adeptus has got a real temper problem."

You snickered at Paimons choice of words, and gazed at the seal ahead of you.

You blinked in surprise when you heard a new voice. "Who dares trespass on my mountain? Who is it that frees the thief from his incarceration?"

It was Mountain Shaper, no doubt of it. It took the form of a red and orange coloured crane, with a beautiful pattern in its wings.

"Foolish mortal, come forth and receive your punishment at once!" It demands, flapping it wings.

You and Aether shared a look, you let him walk ahead and followed closely behind.

"...You intrude the sanctity of Mt. Hulao, you destroy the amber of my mountains and you free a thief whose freedom is not yours to give. The thieves ignorance was an affront to the adepti... but your actions are an abomination of the highest order!" It exclaimed.

Paimon gasped in alarm, "Wait! We can explain..."

"Moon Carver sent us..." Aether said quickly, holding out the sigil of permission.

The crane blinked in surprise. "Moon Craver... trusted a mere mortal as his messenger?" It observers the sigil, "is this... a Sigil of Permission? one is surprised to find that such things still exist in the mortal realm." It explained the history of the Sigil and told Aether to speak about what he came here for.

Aether spoke his truth about what happened in Liyue Harbour.

The adeptus looked more and more shocked as the story progressed. "Rex Lapis... Assassinated? At the rite of Descension!?" It sounded infuriated.

"One now knows why Moon Carver has sent for us. Once one has dealt with certain matters here that require my attention, one shall converse with the other adepti."

While Aether and the adeptus talked about the amber situation you walked around the mountain, stumbling across a bunch of glaze lilies gently swaying with the wind.

You glanced at the tombstone and brushed away the dust and leaves that surrounded it before making your way back to your friend. You saw that the adeptus was now gone and assumed it was time to move onto the last one for the day.

"Are you ready to go?" You asked softly.

Aether smiled at you softly. "Sure, let's get going now." He said gently taking a hold of your hand and making your way down the mountain together.

"Paimons starting to get a little hungry from all this travelling." The floating girl complained, rubbing her stomach.

"Why don't you eat some grass?" You suggested playfully.

"No! Paimon wants yummy meals from the restaurants in Liyue! You have money, [Y/N], you can pay for our meal!"

━━━━━━━━━━━━━