Ascender || A Xiaother fanfiction (AU) {UNDER REWRITING}

Chapter 7 (OLD)

"ℓαɳƭε૨ɳ ૨เƭε ρƭ.1"

Aether's POV:

The days went by faster than we could keep up with them. All days went the same. We did daily commissions, met up with a few familiar faces, helped around in town and sometimes helped with the Lantern Rite preparations as well. The only thing that was different was the fact that ever since that incident with Xiao, when he suddenly disappeared without saying goodbye, I never saw him again. I always looked around the area, hoping to spot him hiding somewhere, but he was nowhere to be found. I thought he got busy with other matters so after 2 days I gave up on looking for him constantly and instead just waited for him to show up.

On the morning of Saturday the sun slowly arose as the moon went into hiding. As that happened, the light of the sun escaped into my room through the window, it's beam reaching my eyes. I squinted before opening my eyes and sitting up. I raised my hands into the sky as I stretched and yawned. I looked out the window and saw as a flag sort of subject flew across my window. As a reaction my eyes opened wide and soon the realization hit me in the head. It was the day of Lantern Rite.

I got up and headed to change my clothes. Once i took a glance in the mirror, I noticed how my braid was quite messy and tangled. So instead of heading out, I sat down on the side of my bed, placed my hair over my shoulder and began to undo it. Once I did, I held my fingers in one place firmly and slowly began brushing my hair out with them. Once I was done I braided my hair once again, I placed the round hair decoration at the end of it which held it together. As I finished I stood up and stood in front of the mirror, fixing the front of my hair. Once I finished I turned to Paimon and tapped her shoulders.

"Paimon, wake up. We have to go to Liyue Harbor to celebrate Lantern Rite." - A

Paimon woke up immediately and flied up from the bed with a wide smile.

"Paimon's awake! Paimon's awake!" - P

"Are you ready to go?" - A

I asked with a smile as I walked up to the door of my room. Paimon quickly followed and then we headed out. Once we got downstairs we noticed how the whole building of Wangshu Inn was decorated from head to toe with gold decorations which were surprisingly pleasing to the eye since we never saw Wangshu Inn decorated before. We left the building and looked back to see that even the outside was covered in lanterns and gold garlands. The build looked absolutely beautiful in this sort of decoration. After admiring the Inn from outside for a bit we headed off to Liyue Harbor.

As soon we were nearing the city we could see the streets were bustling and the city was covered in decorations from head to toe. The closer we got the more we were able to see and hear. The city was three times busier than it usually was. Merchants yelled in the intention of inspiring others to purchase or order from them, children were laughing and running around, youngsters were chatting with each other. As soon as me and Paimon got to the bottom of the stairs that leaded to Xinyue Kiosk and Liuli Pavilion, a nice smell hit Paimon's nose, which to she immediately reacted to. She raised her head as she closed her eyes and took a big sniff.

"Traveler can you smell that?" - P

I closed my eyes as well and took a big breath throughout my nose. I could have felt the smell of fresh cooked and well seasoned meat which unsurprisingly brought me an appetite. I then opened my eyes and looked at Paimon with a smile.

"Are you ready to have breakfast?" - A

Paimon's eyes at the hearing of breakfast suddenly sparkled and she yelled as she flied a little higher, then dropped down on the same level she was at before.

"Paimon's ready!" - P

"Then let's find out where this smell comes from!" - A

With that we turned towards the stairs and ran up on it. Once we got up we first went to the restaurant which was to our right, just to find out that's not where the nice smell has originated from. Then we gave a shot to Xinyue Kiosk on the other side of the stairs, but to our surprise that wasn't the place either! Then the last place that could have came to mind for the both of us was Wanmin Restaurant. We headed towards that place and the closer we got the stronger the smell got as well. Then as it turned out, we were right. The nice smell originated from Wanmin restaurant. We sat down and then after a bit Xiangling popped up from behind the counter.

"Hey you two! What can I get you today?~" - X

She asked playfully.

"Hi Xiangling! What is that amazing smell?" - P

"It's a new recipe I came up with a few days ago! Ningguang was just placed a huge order out of this dish so maybe that's what you smelled!" - X

"We'd like to get one each as well then if possible!" - A

"Of course! Coming right up!" - X

With that Xiangling immediately turned around and began doing her thing all around the kitchen along with her father, Chef Mao. Soon our food arrived and we immediately dug in. After we finished eating and stood up, Xiangling suddenly popped up from behind the counter once again.

"Hey, Traveler! Don't forget you will have to let Paimon stay here for a week after the celebration is over!~ I need a food tester!" - X

She said playfully. I turned around and smiled.

"Of course, I didn't forget!" - A

Then we waved goodbye and headed to take a walk around the city. During the walk, Paimon turned to me and asked.

"So Traveler, are there any programs that are tied to time?" - P

I raised my hand to my chin and thought for a bit before awnsering.

"Well there will be a theatre performance at around 10 that will last around two hours and at 7 there will be a concert, preformed by Xinyan and Yunjin. Would that be fine for you if we parted after the concert?" - A

"Sure!" - P

Paimon smiled.

"So it's still 9 so we still have some time... Let's look around maybe we find something interesting." - A

As we made our way around the bustling streets, after a while we spotted a stand where many people solved puzzles. According to the fact I considered myself as someone who was good at puzzles I grabbed Paimon's hand and said.

"Paimon, Let's try solving a puzzle over there!" - A

I pointed on the direction of the stand, to which she nodded and then we headed off and took a seat, beginning to do the puzzle that they placed in front of us. In an hour we managed to complete 5 puzzles from the stand, the last two being the two hardest. We managed to complete them quickly but still sometimes we froze during the last two. After we completed the last one I felt like my brain was drained and soon It was time for the theatre to start anyways so me and Paimon go up and headed on our way to the location where the performance took place.

1254 words!