|| A contract which must be upheld ||

008

Meanwhile in Liyue

" he didn't accept the almond tofu again I presume?" Verr Goldet said as Aether sadly nodded, holding an untouched plate of almond tofu. The brunette sighed and shook her head.

" her death must hit him the hardest " she said, looking up at the stairs that led to the roof. Her face showed a mixture of concern, and sadness as she yet again sighed. " perhaps we should just let him be for now." She said as she looked back at the traveler and his companion.

He nodded, his face looking identical to Verr Goldet's. " you may eat that, like always" she said as she returned to sorting out papers on her desk.

" Wooo whe! Paimon's starving!" the pixie said as she rubbed circles on her growling tummy. " I wish I could be as optimistic as you, Paimon." Aether said as he looked at the ground sadly while walking towards the roof of Wangshu Inn.

" Well.. think on the bright side traveler! At least Osial was defeated and she went down in a blaze of glory!" She exclaimed happily as she chowed down on the almond tofu in her hands, arriving on the roof of Wangshu inn where a certain adeptus resided.

He sighed, shaking his head, " I never even got to pay her back for helping me.." he said clenching his fists and Paimon finished the plate of almond tofu.

" well..Paimon thinks y/n was happy with her decision!" she said, trying to cheer the blond haired male up. Just as she said that, a teal haired male teleported behind them with crosses arms and an angry expression.

" and why would she be happy with that?" He hissed, venom laced in his tone. The little pixie visibly tensed up and let out a little yelp. " a-adeptus xiao!" She squeaked out as she slowly turned around to face him, who has an annoyed expression on.

" answer my question mortal." He said as he glared daggers at Paimon. " p-p-paimon was just trying to cheer Aether up!" She said waving her hands in front of her defensively. All the male did was click his tongue in annoyance and huff.

" leave, and do not disturb me." He said as he turned away and teleported off again. A little light blue snowflake was clipped to his hip, swaying softly emitting a soft light blue glow.

" and just like that he's gone!" Paimon huffed and crossed her arms. Aether crossed his arms and shook his head, closing his eyes and sighing. The little snowflake attached to the adeptus's hip had caught his eye. ' that must be y/n's' he thought to himself before shaking the thoughts out of his head again and walking back into the inn, Paimon following behind the blonde haired male.

Present day

" Y/N STOP PLAYING AROUND WITH ANTS ON THE FLOOR AND HELP OUT HERE " Beidou yelled out. Currently you were on the notorious ' Crux Fleet ' , a ship belonging to Captain Beidou, and currently on route from Inazuma to Monstadt, the city of wind.

" I WASNT-" you started before getting cut off. " I DONT CARE JUST GET OVER HERE " she retorted. Sighing, you stood back up from your crouched position and dusted the back of your short f/c dress. It had long fluttery white sleeves that seemed to shimmer in the sun, the back part of it being a long flowy dress. Almost like a cape but not attached to your back but instead your waist. The front of your dress had a small thin bow just above your chest and small ruffles. You had changed out of your short hanfu, for obvious reasons.

You walked to the deck where you saw Beidou arguing with somebody on the deck. Walking closer, you saw red horns peeking out from around the corner and heard a booming voice..there was no mistaking that voice.

You walked out on to deck saw Itto arguing with Beidou over who would win in an onikabuto battle. " HAH AS IF ! YOUR HUGE BUT DUMBER THAN A HILLICHURL." Beidou exclaimed while loudly laughing with her arms crossed.

" EEEEEXCUSE ME?!?" He said with a shocked expression, his mouth slightly agape. He pointed a finger to himself before yelling back, " ILL HAVE YOU KNOW THAT I AM IN FACT SMART."

" PSHHH KEEP DREAMING BUDDY " she retorted back rolling her eyes and scoffing. You sighed, reaching into your pocket for a small bag and walking out onto the deck.

" HEYYY IF IT ISNT MY BUDDY Y/N " he yelled out with a large grin, waving his entire arm violently as if he was trying to show you where he was. This guy was like a huge loud boulder who wouldn't hear him from anywhere with that voice of his?!? Sighing again, you walked up to the two with the little bag in hand.

" Why are you here Itto " you say giving him a side eye. " WELL IM HERE TO SAY GOODBYE TO MY BUDDY OF COURSE!!!" He said back. ' does this guy have to be so loud 24/7?!?' you thought to yourself as he kept on yelling and rambling about how his day went and how he beat a kid in rock paper scissors today. You deadpanned. There was no actual way this big brute plays against little kids, and STILL loses 24/7!!! Like be real..

" if your here to meet your Buddy then they must be missing " you say sarcastically, attempting to walk past him. Suddenly you feel a large arm hook around your shoulder.

" DONT JOKE AROUND LIKE THAT!!! " he said leaning his body weight on you. There's no way a regular human could stand this guys weight..just how much did he eat in a day?!? Having about enough, you showed him the small bag with a smug expression.

"Hey Itto....you wanna know what's in this bag..?" You say softly swinging the back left and right. His eyes followed the bag that was swung left and right, like a curios child. You smoked putting a hand on your hip and you continued to swing it left and right, like you were hypnotizing him.

He nodded vigorously, his hands curled into fists and positioned light he was about to fight in front of his chest. " well..then go get it!" You said giving him a closed eye smile and using some of your Adeptal strength to throw the small bag into a far away forest, Itto running after it.

" OKAY! BYE BYE NOW Y/N" he said as he ran after the bag like a dog. You burst out laughing as you watched him get smaller and smaller, disappearing into the hills. Poor Itto...there was only a singular piece or chocolate in there. Maybe you should've put beans inside it instead. You shrugged, oh well.

Turning around to walk back to your small cabin inside the ship. Normally you didn't like to be outside when the ship set sail. There was just something about it..it made you feel sick. Either way you made your way towards your cabin stationed inside the ship, opening the door to see the small singular bed and your old torn hanfu.

' I wonder how Xiao's doing right now....'

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A/N: I ACCIDENTALLY DELETED A FULL WRITTEN CHAPTER FROM MY NOTES I LITERALLY WANT TO CRY AUGH ☹️☹️😢😢😢😢✊✊✊✊✊