Chapter VI: Act III

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Trouble at the Harbor
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Aether's eyes sparkled in amazement as he, Paimon, and (Y/n) entered the harbor.

"This is your home, (Y/n)?" Aether asked, looking over his shoulder to look up at the taller male in the group.

(Y/n) hummed softly. "Yep. Home sweet home," he answered.

Paimon twirled a bit as she popped right in front of the duo. "If you wanna find the Geo Archon, this is the only chance you'll get all year. Guess it's a good thing Venti brought it up earlier, otherwise, we definitely would've missed this year's Rite of Descension." She states.

"Do you know where it is?" Aether asked, glancing at his younger companion.

"Well, Venti brought up the time, but Paimon... knows nothing about where it is... Ehe. Look, we're already in Liyue so let's go ask some of the locals. Oh, right. About the Geo Archon, "Morax"... Did you know? The Mora that we use is named after this god. But it's seen as impolite for people from outside Liyue to refer to the Geo Archon by that name. So we should refer to the Geo Archon by the name Rex Lapis, like the people of Liyue do." Paimon explained.

(Y/n) sweatdropped. 'Could've just asked me...' He thought.

Aether looked around for a few seconds before intertwining his hand with (Y/n)'s own (S/c) hand, and headed off to look for people to talk to.

(Y/n) allowed Aether to pull him as his eyes drifted over to where the Rite of Descension would be held soon.

The only two promises he could currently remember were to not fuck up the timeline and to meet up with (F/n) in Inazuma.

There had been some close calls with the timeline part, but thankfully, he hadn't broken it yet – except for the fact that the (H/c)ette allowed Crepus to live, instead of dying like the said man was supposed to.

Cart vendors chatted happily with the shoppers as the trio walked up a set of stairs.

Aether blinked, realizing he didn't know how to start a conversation since Lumine usually did that, so he looked at (Y/n) with a helpless look.

The said (H/c)ette deadpanned but shook his head. "Ah, Linlang, it's nice to see you again!" (Y/n) greeted kindly.

The said woman's eyes widened when she saw the familiar figure and gently smiled. "(Y/n)! It's nice to see you. Is there something that you need?" She asked with a curious look.

(Y/n) returned that smile. "Ah, yeah. My friends were wondering if you knew any information about this year's Rite of Descension," he answered.

Linlang brought a finger up to her lips with realization. "Rite of Descension... Oh yeah, that reminds me, isn't that today? Once a year, Rex Lapis bestows upon us his divine prediction, guiding us on how to run Liyue for the coming year. Last year it was the Yuheng of the Liyue Qixing that was given the honor of asking for the divine prediction." She explained.

"Liyue Qixing?" Aether asked, confused.

"Ooh! Paimon knows this one! Mondstadt is to freedom as Liyue is to contracts. Liyue has a strong focus on business and trade. The Liyue Qixing – the seven leaders of the seven enterprises of Liyue – hold true control over Liyue," Paimon piped up.

Linlang softly giggled. "That's what outlanders always say. But true control over Liyue will always be held by Rex Lapis. The Qixing is compromised of mere mortals. Rex Lapis is a god. Mondstadt's god is nowhere to be seen, where our god is forever with us. Stay in Liyue long enough and you'll see... Given that you just left your godless city, it's time you experienced what it's like to be in a city whose god has walked with it through all of history."

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