𝗦𝗵𝗼𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿 | ᵂᵃⁿᵈᵉʳᵉʳ

▬ 𝗟𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗔 𝗣𝘆𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗱

Two weeks ago

The wanderer was still on his mission given by Nahida when his investigation led him to the desert. A group of eremites was his suspect for the leyline disruptions.

He immediately caught them with a few Fatui soldier as their collaborators. Just when he thought that they were done, he got caught in a quicksand that swallowed him and sent him underground.

"Great, now where am I?" He muttered in dissatisfaction as he dusted himself.

"Oh, a human? No- a machine? How interesting." A deep voice suddenly spoke. He had thought it was the big statue of a human-like cat that was behind him.

Before he knew it a dark smoke suddenly blew his way and made him pass out. When he came to his senses he saw that his body had turned into a cat and his real body was possessed by the voice.

Before he can protest, the body thief snapped their finger and put him in a deep sleep.

Present | Sumeru

Y/n and Mimo watched as the wanderer struggled to move as he was held up in front of Sirius' face. He managed to scratch him here and there but in the end, he was powerless in a cat's body.

"Alright, that's enough." Y/n says as she managed to place a metal collar on Sirius. Just when the two were fighting, she used her skill to see Sirius' stats and made a collar that can suppress his unusual power.

"What's this? Why can't I use my magic?" Sirius asked as he tries to take off the collar only to be electrified.

"I'll take that off if you give back his body." Y/n says as the wanderer nodded in agreement.

"Well, I can't do that if I'm restrained, now can I? How about you take this off and I'll turn things back to normal?" Sirius says but Y/n and the Wanderer were not having it since, despite his words, his mischievous smirk tells them otherwise.

Y/n sighed and turned around to have a secret talk with the wanderer. They whispered and nodded before they faced Sirius again who was still trying to take off the collar from his neck.

"Alright, it is decided. We'll take you back to the city to meet the god of dendro." Y/n says as he began to laugh, saying that it's impossible for him to leave this place as he was bound to protect the tomb whatever his form may be.

"Then, let's just blow this place up so you don't have to guard anything. Hol' up lemme get my grenades." Y/n says as she opens up her item box and began to rummage through her stuff.

"Woah woah woah, stop right there, young lady. If you blow up the tomb I'll be forced to kill you before I'll disappear. When that happens, you can kiss this body goodbye. It's my duty to safeguard this place due to my contract. The only way to break the contract is when I'm dead or powerless." Sirius says.

"Aren't you powerless now? With that collar I gave you?" Y/n asked and suddenly Sirius froze in place and began to shake. Soon a burst of laughter echoed.

"You're right, I'm free. With this darned collar, I'm free!" Sirius exclaimed with joy while Y/n and the wanderer watched him hop around like an excited dog.

"I see, so that's what happened. Sirius, was it? You say that you're a familiar of one of the priests that I've entrusted in the past. Can you perhaps return to your original body?" Nahida asked as Y/n brought Sirius and Wanderer back to Sumeru.

"I can but it will take a few weeks for me to undo my magic." Sirius replied which left Nahida no choice but to wait. She entrusted Wanderer and Sirius to Y/n who was also left with no choice but to agree.

Taking home the grumpy Wanderer and clingy cat, she sighed in relief the moment she set foot inside her house.

"Did you move again?" The wanderer asked, seeing as they went in a different direction than her last house.

Y/n proudly bragged that it was her newly built home that cost her millions of mora. Sirius immediately made himself home and entered and lay on the couch just as he does when he was still a cat.

"Come upstairs, I'll show you guys your room. Well, it's supposed to be baby girl's room but since you're in his body, you can use it too." Y/n says as she held the Wanderer in her arms.

"Why do I have to share a room with this weirdo? Let him sleep on the couch." The wanderer says in annoyance.

"If you don't want to sleep together with him then he can sleep in my room. It's your body anyway so I can just imagine you being him. So, what will it be?" Y/n asked and he simply clicked his tongue.

After showing them the other room, Y/n left them to take a satisfying bath time. With a glass of wine, she soaked her body in the bath tub and relaxed. Indulging herself with luxury after a long day in the desert.

Meanwhile, Sirius and the Wanderer were speaking about the hierarchy in the house. Starting with Y/n who is the owner of the house, she was the absolute authority inside the house.

"Then it's me next, even if I occupy this wretched body of yours, that still doesn't change the fact that you're the cat." The wanderer says, sitting up sternly on top of the bed while Sirius was squatting on the floor.

"Hmph, why would I listen to you? You're the one who got tricked by me and the one that looks like a pet." Sirius says in disagreement.

The wanderer simply smiled and took a small device out of nowhere. In the center of the device was a red button and its purpose was to shock the collar's wearer. With a push from his paw, a wave of electricity came from the collar on Sirius' neck.

"H-how did you get that? Isn't that on the lady's person? Why- Aaahhhh!!" Sirius asked despite the pain before he was shocked again by the mischievous Wanderer. Apparently, he secretly snatched the button from Y/n's pocket when she was holding him in her arms.

"Who's the pet now?" The Wanderer exclaimed.

"Ack! Alright I get it! Stop it already! How can you hurt your own body? Are you perhaps a masochist?!" Sirius asked which irked the Wanderer that he *accidentally* pushed the button once more.

"Say that again, I dare you."