Chapter Text
Windrise, ever so windswept, idyllic, and calm ... and yet — for a moment — currently polluted by a literally inhuman shriek emanating from the base of Great Tree.
"WHAT?!"
This, of course, is Paimon, which is a ... Paimon, for a lack of a clearer term, expressing her usual range of wild emotions in the face of the Outlander, Aether, and the Bard, Venti.
"Why didn't you tell us of this before, Tone-Deaf?! Well, uhhh... then, b-bye; c'mon Aether, let's hurry up to Liyue!"
Venti merely smiles and shakes his head in amusement, ostensibly used to Paimon's usual antics. Before the pair can leave, though, he speaks up, "Give me another moment, Windborne Outlander."
Aether's eyes widen, as he and Paimon turns back to see a self-satisfied Venti, hesitantly answering, "Uhm, oh, sorry for borrowing your statue's Anemo...?"
"Ah ha ha, that's alright, especially if it's a way for you to make up for your lack of, what was it, 'star-borne powers'?"
"Y-yeah, you can say that, Venti."
"Relax, I shall not pry... so long as a bottle of wine for me, you buy!"
"Stop the rhymes, Tone-Deafy, Paimon's head is hurting! Besides, what were you going to talk about anyway?! You were the one who wanted us to go soon in the first place!"
In response, Venti's eyes light up in remembrance, before said bard-god clears his throat exaggeratedly. However, what the pair of travelers see after the Lord of Anemo opens his eyes is a wisened stare and an equally wise advice, "Aether, as you, and Paimon, set off on your journey again, remember that your experiences will have meaning."
"The creatures of Teyvat, the songs of its people, and the bustling of its cities; the Tsaritsa herself and the Fatui, or any other foes you may encounter, these are all parts of your journey. The destination is not everything, nor whatever prize or treasure at the end. So, keep your eyes open; take in and experience this world around you — experience Teyvat, Outlander Aether."
At a loss for words, and seeing that Paimon is too, Aether merely responds with a surprised nod.
Satisfied with the Traveler's response, and perhaps Paimon's silence as well, the bard's expression and tone shifts as quickly as the winds he lords over, "Great! That checks off my to-do list of today's Anemo Archon admonishments; back to Venti Time! Well, go and run along now, Morax isn't going to wait you two out!"
Looking at each other, the pair of Aether and Paimon is just going to bid the Archon goodbye ... until an idea pops into Paimon's surprisingly sound mind.
"Hey, Tone-Deafy, since you're not even ruling over Mondstadt, why don't you come over with us too?"
"Eh— Huh?!"
"Why did I allow you both to talk me into this again?"
"Wine."
"Oh yeah! But ... until we get to Wangshu Inn, there's no wine anywhere!"
"C'mon, Tone-Deafy, it's not as if you can teleport us off to Wangchu—"
"Wangshu."
"Ah yeah, Wangshu Inn!"
"Hey, now that you mention teleportation..."
A snap of fingers can be heard, and Aether sees the world swirls into itself. He's just about to scream in terror, but not a moment later, he finds himself stumbling at the side of a bridge close to a tree. Of course, the river under said bridge is now the prime target of a ungodly amount of vomit produced by a certain blonde Outlander, but that's hardly of note to anyone except Venti.
Sheepishly, the perpetrator of the instant Dawn Winery-Wangshu Inn teleportation pathway scoots a little further away from Aether and Paimon. "Eh... yeah... I suppose I should've warned you both earlier..."
"YOU CAN'T BE MORE TONE-DEAF EVEN IF YOU TRIED!!!"
"I... can we stop over first, before you do th— BLERGH! Urgh, tha-that teleportation thing again?"
"Now look what you've done!"
"Drat. Look, I'll get the Inn's staff, alright? We can rest a bit here, maybe stay the night?"
Before facing Paimon's wrathful noises once again, Venti quickly manifests himself out of there and on to the outer stairs of Wangshu Inn. With surprising efficiency, he gets Verr Goldet to fetch a staff to aid the teleport-sick Aether—of course by paying in advance for a room with the scant few Mora he has. However, as he's going to check on the room he's ordered, he's stopped by the appearance of a certain adeptus in light green.
"Lord Barbatos, if one may intrude, is there a pressing matter for you to have to come to Liyue?"
The suddenness causes Venti to exclaim in shock, followed by Xiao's apology.
"A-Apologies, one did not mean to surpris—"
The Anemo Archon turns and sighs out loud, "Oh, it's you, Xiao. Just, please, not too loud nor too sudden, I, ehhh, have people I am accompanying here..."
"It is most unusual for you to come with others. Pray tell, who are these to have caught your keen eye, Lord Barbatos?"
"There's no breaking you of that 'Lord Barbatos' routine, is there?"
Xiao merely shifts his eyes, but Venti chooses to ignore him and continues instead. "Oh, never mind that, but on the topic of these fellows... they're both nice ... people, really, and are, ahhh, visiting outlanders that asked me to be their ... let's say 'guide' to this year's Liyue Rite of Descent?"
"Oh, yes, Dijun' Descension is soon approaching... one understands; if these two have earned your erstwhile trust, then they are surely of good character; one will not pry further. Farewell, Lord Barbatos."
The yaksha proceeds to vanish in a turquoisie flash, whilst the Anemo Archon he'd left mutters something along the lines of preferring the name Venti, as Aether walks up the Wangshu Inn's stairs, aided by Paimon and one of the Inn's staff.
"There goes all my Mora, then..."
The battle against Dvalin and the sudden attack by La Signora, coupled with the teleportation-sickness, has rendered Aether for a bedrest. For this, Venti has gotten his comeuppance in the form of a naggy Paimon, but soon, she finds herself without anything to do while Aether rests for the night. Checking the Traveler's condition once again, she proceeds to exit their shared room quietly to move to the plaza of Wangshu Inn, where she can hear Venti attempting to woo Mora out of the wallets of the people visiting Wangshu.
As for Venti himself, he knows just as well that he can't expect Aether to pay for his own sick rest, and attempts (with surprising success) to earn whatever Mora he can before the night slumbers too deeply. A dozen or so songs and ballads later, he's able to gather enough for the room's fare, and more. Of course, his first instinct is to ask a passerby for the nearest vendor of alcoholic drinks.
"So, just close to the Dihua Geo Statue of the Seven?"
"Yes, Mr. Bard. Though, while I dislike said wine he peddles, it may be more to your taste."
"My taste?"
"Yes. Hulu, the vendor, he seems to be selling rebranded dandelion wine from Dawn. He's always claiming it to be made in Liyue, but any experienced, ah, connoisseur of wine would know of the taste of dandelion wine..."
"That's great! Thank you, my good man, I'll get going now!"
A few dozen footsteps later, however, Paimon is there to block the Bard's beeline towards this Hulu person.
"Uh, anything I can help with?"
"Where are you going, Tone-Deafy?! Are you going to leave Aether alone, after all that?"
"Oh no, I'm just trying to buy a bottle of supposedly local wine, is all!"
"Always drunk, huh... Wait, 'supposedly'?"
"Yeah, 'supposedly'! I heard that this guy sells rebranded Dawn Winery wine, which is the best, of course, so that's why I'm going."
The God of Freedom grows wary and weary when He sees Paimon's thinking expression.
"Uhm, no ... Don't tell me that you mean..."
"YES! We should extort the guy!"
The God is silent for a while, but then the duo laughed out loud in tandem, past grievances forgotten in favour of whatever grievance they are about to enact upon a poor, unwitting, and untrustworthy, merchant.
"Paimon, what do you think of Venti's plan?" Aether asks while sightseeing, for once, afforded by the cart he's on with Paimon, and the crates of wine the deviously devilish duo bought off Hulu. Venti was able to hire a cart to Liyue Harbour with whatever Mora he has, and so the cart prods along the widening road as the Guili Plains shifts into a village, situated on a high ground overlooking the Sea of Clouds and Liyue Harbour. The Anemo Archon himself is not with them though, for he has taken off to haggle with Diluc Ragnvindr on a deal to smooth over their plans for the newly seized wine, but only after he and Paimon explains to a befuddled Aether on their scheme this morning: that they posed as Dawn Winery's employees to coerce Hulu into selling all his wine very cheaply.
"Paimon thinks if Master Diluc agrees, we'll get lots of Mora!"
"Ever pragmatic of you, huh? I just feel bad for the merchant you two swindled..."
"Hey, cheating a cheater is fair in Paimon's Paimonictionary!"
"I guess..."
Not a moment too soon, the cart stops for a while, before said bard in green opens the door, hops in, and greets the two, "I'm back!"
"How did it go, Tone-Deaf Bard? Is Master Diluc angry, or..."
"About a third of the wine hasn't been rebranded, and he asks 40% from the profits off these. For the rest, he asks 10% only, so we can split up the profits equally!"
"Oooh, Paimon likes the sound of that!"
"What about the permits?"
"Here you go!"
Taking the slip of paper from Venti's outstretched hand, Aether can see the emblem of the Dawn Winery and what seems to be Diluc's signature. Being an outlander, he's not exactly proficient in Teyvat's writing system, and passes off the paper to Paimon for her to peruse herself.
"Oh, so you're now a temporary reseller for the Winery, then, Venti?"
"Yup! This way, we can sell these crates to a local merchant, instead of setting up shop ourselves."
"Oh right, Paimon remembers!" She turns to the blond Outlander, and explains, "since Liyue is the land of Rex Lapis, the God of Contracts, the markets of Liyue are highly competitive and permits are hard to get. This'll make things easier for sure!"
Just before Aether can ask further, however, the cart stops. A knock can be heard, and the driver muffled voice calls out that they've arrived. The trio opens the door and steps out of the cart, finding themselves on the edge of a hill, upon which Aether and Paimon feast their eyes on the manifestation of Teyvat's splendour and wealth: Liyue Harbour, where the people haggle and the ships dock, coming to and fro from all corners of Teyvat. Somewhat feeling their amazement second-hand, Venti speaks out to the duo:
"Aether, Paimon, let me introduce you to Rex Lapis' Liyue Harbour!"