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Laughter, shouting, the scent of food drifting from the countless vendors lining the street. Books, fresh off the presses of the Yae Publishing House, their garish covers blown up to banner sizes and drifting in the wind. Outlanders from the various nations, rushing about with misplaced visitor passes and a general lack of awareness as to how Inazuma functioned.
The Irodori Festival was going to be the death of Kujou Sara.
To say the woman was on high alert would be a massive understatement, she had already nearly had to make two arrests, and if the Traveller and the housekeeper of the Kamisato Clan had not intervened with the Arataki Gang… she had been aiming for a third. The whole Tri-Commission was working tirelessly to make sure everything went off flawlessly, though even they had a few moments to rest.
Not that Sara intended to make use of them.
She stood near Eipekkusu, arms crossed and expression serious as she kept a close eye on the crowd. Calx, the artist from Mondstadt, would likely be starting another painting soon. That was likely to draw a great deal of attention, and attention meant distracted civilians; a prime target for pickpockets and scoundrels.
Her position near the shop gave her an excellent view of the central market, and had nothing to do with the large display of statues to the Almighty Shogun set atop the counter. The shop had already given her enough of a headache over the past few days, not to mention the embarrassment of Ei realising that Sara herself had been looking into procuring one of their statues. She claimed it was for cultural, and artistic reasons. Ei had not been so sure, but was too kind to tease more than she already had. After all, it was only a matter of time before Miko found out Sara had panicked when Ei saw the statue. Then the poor General would truly be doomed.
And so she waited, and watched, and debated if it would look unprofessional for a General of the Tenryou Commission to eat a skewer while overseeing things.
Her gaze was drawn by a familiar figure, dark purple braid swaying slightly as she weaved through the crowd. Speak of the Archon. Sara had not been expecting to see Ei at the festival proper, though judging by the expression the other woman was wearing, there was a decent chance it was the Shogun in control at the moment. Most of the Inazuman citizens moved aside for her immediately, but a few of the Outlanders took slightly longer to pick up on the importance of the approaching figure.
The drunken bard, it seemed, truly didn’t get the memo.
Sara tensed slightly when the young man approached the Shogun, removing his cap with a flourishing bow and a lilting laugh that rang out across the market. Normally Sara would be more defensive of her Archon in moments like this, for even if the Shogun was more that capable of taking care of herself, she did not like seeing strangers approach so carelessly. Instead, however, Sara stood momentarily frozen, unable to shake a slowly building feeling, as if the air itself was growing heavier for a moment. Like the moment before lightning struck, the still and calm where your hair stood up and the world was silent, Sara couldn’t help but feel she was watching a potential natural disaster form. But that was foolish, surely. If Ei or the Shogun wanted the boy gone, he would be removed with varying levels of lethality.
Instead, she watched in silent wonder as the Shogun’s stoic expression melted into Ei’s warm smile, her own laugh joining the bard’s. Who was he?
The two broke off from the rest of the gathering, heading down to the docks it seemed, but after a short time they had left Sara’s line of sight. Every bone in her body ached to follow and observe, but there were so few people Ei ever acted like that around, and most were old friends or close allies. Miko, the Traveller, Sara herself… if Ei was acting this way around that bard, then Sara did not want to interrupt them. No matter how much she wanted to view that smile her Archon was showing him from a closer distance.
Night had fallen by the time Ei returned, alone this time. The market square was empty, shopkeepers long since having packed up for the night and the visiting attendees off partying in their lodgings, or otherwise fast asleep. Even the guard was down to the bare bones night crew, Ei had only passed a few Shogunate soldiers on her way back into town.
She wanted to say she was surprised to see Kujou Sara still standing vigil near the market square, the young General pacing near the portraits of the Five Kasen. The woman was breathtaking at night, moonlight catching her golden eyes as she surveyed the art with a thoughtful frown. Even when alone her smiles were few and far between, Ei had learned. Not out of unhappiness, usually, she was just… stern. It was terribly endearing.
“Up all night, General?” She called, her face falling into a contented smile when Sara reflexively snapped to attention, only to ease back into a more relaxed pose. “Are you hoping the shop will re-open in the morning and you can buy another-”
“ Ei ,” Sara hissed, colour creeping over her cheeks. “Ei please. I-I just, I thought it might look nice at home- maybe in my office or-”
“Relax, Sara,” Ei laughed, and it took all the willpower in the world for the Tengu not to pout. “I know how devoted you are, and I am not so insecure as to worry you care more for trinkets than the original article.”
Sara sighed, any protests lost when Ei pressed a hand to her cheek. She was smiling, Sara noted, but there was something behind her eyes. A sadness, or maybe melancholy was a better word. It had not been there earlier today.
“That bard, did you know him?” Sara asked, and the way Ei’s smile faded into a ghost of what it was before confirmed the woman’s suspicions. She was… upset, perhaps. Or maybe just nostalgic? “The one with the silly hat.”
“It is a silly hat, isn’t it?” Ei sighed, letting her hand fall from Sara’s face to instead take the General’s arm and guide her to a bench across from the displayed artwork. The two sat, Ei leaning her head on Sara’s shoulder, and the Tengu leaning her own on top of Ei’s. “Can I trust you not to repeat what I am about to tell you?”
“O-of course!” Sara nodded, trying not to headbutt her Archon. “On my honour as a General of the-”
“Sara, my dear, we are well past the need for oaths,” Ei said, and her laugh was like music. Sara blushed and sputtered, before muttering a quick affirmation that she would not speak of whatever was about to be said. “That was the Archon of Mondstadt. The God of Freedom.”
Sara’s mind reached the kind of abrupt emptiness that some holy men would only dream of achieving. A perfectly clear head, with only one core thought remaining.
“I arrested the God of Freedom,” she said in a voice so serious and mortified that Ei had to lift her head to gauge her expression. “Or- well, I let him go. He… found his paperwork eventually. The Traveller helped him.”
If Ei had been laughing before, she was almost cackling now. The sound reminded Sara of a certain Guuji, though it was distinctly softer and less mocking when it came from her Archon. She sighed, resigned to her fate. Either the bard would come back with a vengeance or her own Archon and lover would be the death of her.
“He… he’s an amicable sort,” Ei finally calmed down enough to speak, her tone softening back into a quiet nostalgia. “I never talked to him much, back then. Makoto was fond of him, though. The ideals he represented. He was… a summation of her thoughts on transience, in a way. Freedom is so elusive, yet so enduring. It is paradoxical, but embraced nonetheless. He chose to live undercover amongst his people, preferring not to lead… it seems that has not changed.“
There was a pause that hung heavy in the air, clouds drifting overhead in the telltale warning that Ei’s mood had shifted. It was a common sight, when she talked about Makoto, but still Sara couldn’t help but feel for her.
“The Traveller knows of him, and it seems perhaps a small handful of others, but I doubt you need worry about him holding a grudge. Your willingness to detain him was likely testament to his disguise.”
Sara nodded along gaze lifting to watch the clouds roll in.
“I much prefer the hands on approach you have taken thus far,” Sara murmured, offering a silent prayer that Ei not make some joke about her choice of the term ‘hands on’.
The problem with such prayers was, of course, that Ei heard them.
For her dear General’s sake, however, the Archon did not take the bait, instead she took one of Sara’s hands in her own, tracing the scars that littered her fingers for a moment before she gently kissed the back of her hand.
“Makoto considered it once, but only in passing,” Ei recalled absently. “She wondered if perhaps Inazuma would benefit from such an arrangement, but she cared too much for her people. I protested it for all the wrong reasons… that the power balance would shift, that people would no longer have the proper leadership. And perhaps that is still accurate. But… she was so in love with this country.”
A soft rain began to fall, Sara closing her eyes for a moment as she focused on the sensation of it.
“I am glad that you reached that decision, Ei.”
“As am-”
The sudden silence stirred Sara from her reverie, and she looked over at her Shogun. Ei sat paralyzed, eyes wide as she stared at the fifth and final portrait of the Five Kasen. Where the rain touched the canvas, a figure could be seen starting to reveal themselves.
“Who… is that?” Sara asked slowly, as the shape of an ornate Kasa hat became more apparent.
A bolt of lightning, so close and so violent that it shook the bench they were seated on and sent Sara’s wings erupting from her back in fright, was Ei’s only reply.