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Darkness enveloped the Serenitea Realm. Aether could see their animal companions slowly retreating into their cozy homes.
"What do you say. Call it a day?" he asked Paimon who was already yawning into his face. She rubbed her eyes and nodded. It wasn't even that late yet, but it had been a long day.
With lack of a good place to stay, Aether had taken out his handy Serenitea Pot and placed it outside for a comfortable stay.
The Realm Within almost made them forget their current challenges, such as their important mission on Albedo's request. He was looking to find a mysterious diary of a former Mondstadt Chief Alchemist, probably containing some important research notes he needed, and it was rumored to be hidden in a domain deep in the woods.
Albedo had been supposed to join them but he was too busy with his responsibilities in Mondstadt while there was some slight urgency to the quest, so Aether offered to go find it, without expecting the search for the domain itself to be so hard already, tucked into a hidden shadowy corner of the woods.
Thinking it was better to start their search when they were fresh and energetic, they decided to sleep first. The Serenitea Pot was a convenient way to stay the night without having to move back to town.
Leaving their dirty dishes and leftovers from dinner on the table, they made ready to go to bed. Aether was about to follow Paimon into their mansion when he stopped. An eerie feeling filled him all of a sudden.
"What's wrong?" Paimon asked. Aether smiled at her.
"You go ahead. I prefer to take one more walk around the realm before heading in."
Paimon yawned again. "Fiiine. You do you~" She went to bed first without questioning Aether's change of mind, and Aether waited for a brief moment before he decided to exit the Teapot. There was something. He wasn't sure. He didn't expect anyone to come around this specific hidden part in the woods, but something told him he should perhaps reposition the Teapot in a safer spot, further from the domain.
Turned out the feeling was correct and he could celebrate his instincts, only in this situation it barely helped him since he was a little too late.
"Good evening, Traveler."
Exiting the Teapot, Aether immediately found himself facing Childe. Not just Childe. An entire Fatui gang was surrounding the Teapot, and Aether gasped in surprise as he raised his hands to fight, only to be grabbed immediately by two agents.
"Thought I knew something was up. What's a little Teapot doing here in the woods, hm? To think a familiar Traveler would come out. Who would have thought."
Aether's breath hitched at the sound of that voice, and he looked up to see the awful person it belonged to. Dottore.
"You shouldn't have stopped us, Childe. I would've liked to discover that tea realm," Pantalone said. Eep. Were they this close to just... barging in?
"Now now. Where are your manners? We wouldn't want to intrude someone's home. Right? Besides, the little bird came flying out by himself, right into our arms," Childe said with an evil smirk.
Judging from the situation, Aether sensed that Childe had perhaps attempted to guide them away from here. But the Fatui wouldn't just stand by and ignore a mysterious Teapot in the woods. Now caught up in this situation, the 11th Fatui Harbinger seemed to have no choice but to assist his colleagues in whatever they were trying to achieve by ambushing him like this.
"It should be no coincidence we're meeting you here, comrade. Or is it? Rumors really do make their ways, don't they?" Childe said cockily. Aether swallowed. Was he talking about the rumors about the research notes, or...?
"You tell me," Aether replied defiantly. He glared at his friend. It was such a strange dynamic to see Childe like this. He knew he could not betray his group right under the noses of dangerous people like Dottore and Pantalone, and at the same time, he also trusted Childe wouldn't let them harm him.
The fact they were even here at this location in such large numbers told him he had underestimated the importance of their quest. Did Albedo keep important information from him? Aether should thank him for the poor briefing later, if he ever made it out of this.
"Hm. We were about to head inside," Childe said, and Aether glanced at the domain entrance before looking back at him.
"Why don't you join us, comrade? We could use a hand. Your powers and intelligent mind have proven to be useful before."
Aether ignored the mocking tone and thought about Paimon, sleeping unknowingly inside the Teapot and he shuddered. She should stay asleep and safely hidden from this surprise ambush. If this entire Fatui gang was to infiltrate his safe realm, they were done for.
"Fine. I'll go with you." Aether didn't see another way but to steer them away from here than to do as they pleased, for now. Only it didn't seem to be the answer they wanted or expected to hear.
"Well, that was easy," Dottore said slowly. "Too easy, perhaps?" He stepped forward to take the lead over whatever this confrontation was, but Childe held out his arm.
"Trust me, I've dealt with him more than you have. I'll handle it," he said, to Aether's relief. Childe turned back to him and cocked his head.
"That's it? Where's the usual defiance, Traveler?" he questioned. Shit. Aether hadn't considered his quick surrender might raise suspicions.
He just didn't want them to even think of entering the Teapot and exploring his realm, endangering Paimon, scaring Tubby and his companions and confiscating his precious treasures like the greedy bastards they were. Over his dead body.
"Well, I was about to go into the domain anyway so..." Aether shrugged. He felt the agents tightening their grip on his arms at the slight movement. Calm down now.
"All by yourself?" Childe asked.
Aether nodded. "Yup."
"Search him."
They all looked at Pantalone who came with the sudden command, interrupting Childe's questioning.
"W-what?" Aether mumbled.
"Search him. He seems confident about entering the domain with us. Which means he might already possess what we're here for."
What were they even here for? With such a big group, and even three harbingers?
Before Aether could return the questioning and find the answers, he could feel the Fatui agents patting down his outfit in search for, apparently, something that would fit in there which was in his mind not a notebook, making him wonder whether the Fatui's business was related to his search for the Alchemist's diary at all.
"Hwuh!" Aether jumped in surprise at the feeling of the hands searching him.
"Gehet o-off mehe!" he huffed.
"Easy now. Or hand it to us on your own, it will make it so much easier," Pantalone suggested.
"I h-have nothing to give- stop!" Aether grunted. To his surprise, he heard a chuckle coming from Childe.
"Do not worry. He's not just showing us an attitude. Our little Traveler's a tad ticklish, that's all," he said. Aether's eyes widened. The audacity to expose him like this.
"Oh, is he?" Pantalone asked.
"Always been." The look Childe gave Aether sent chills down the poor Traveler's body.
"So if you're looking for a civil way to make him speak, well," the 11th Harbinger said, and he poked Aether's exposed tummy. Aether let out a little squeak.
"Don't!" he whined, struggling against his captors, but they held his arms tightly and tugged them, exposing his torso even more, of which Childe made use with another playful poke.
"I know of better, more effective ways to make him speak," Dottore said, but his words were drowned by Aether's frantic giggles, caused by Childe's fingers that now danced all over his bare tummy.
"Tell me again, Traveler. What did you find in that domain?"
Aether gasped when Childe added a second hand and squeezed both of his sides.
"N-nothing! N-nahaha!" How cruel. Childe was supposed to be his friend, and he chose to humiliate him like this? With... a relatively harmless torture, he had to admit. But still.
"Let me rephrase that. What were you doing here? Little specific for a spontaneous trip, even for a traveler like you, am I right? Must've been looking for something," Pantalone drawled.
When Aether merely responded with giggles, he sighed and stepped forward. Childe looked up in response when Pantalone grabbed both sides of Aether's ribs and clawed. The movement of his fingers was rather calm and calculated, but so damn ticklish.
Aether's eyes went from squeezed shut to wide open and he shrieked. "AAHHhhah! N-nohohothing!"
His yelps did nothing and Pantalone continued. "What. Were. You. Doing. Here?"
More tickling, firmer and more intense with each word. Aether couldn't believe this was happening. It was all Childe's fault. The other agents stood around them and dryly observed.
"I couhould ahahask you the sahahame! Bwahah!" Aether cackled.
"Who's doing the questioning here?" Dottore butted in, stepping forward with a menacing vibe all over him. Childe stopped tickling Aether with one hand and held out his arm to stop Dottore, but he merely slipped past him with a smug grin.
"Do not hurt him," Childe warned, and for a second Aether wondered if that wouldn't give away their close relationship too much, but yeah, he had worse things to worry about at this moment.
"What? May I not play with him too?" To Aether's horror, Dottore reached for his underarms and dug in firmly. Such a strong touch. It almost hurt, and he actually wished it would - preferring pain over the embarrassing ticklish torture he felt instead.
"NO-Hahahaha d-dohohon't!" Aether screeched. His legs lost their strength, but the agents holding his arms kept him up, exposed and vulnerable to the merciless tickling.
"He may be telling the truth. We should continue. We're wasting time," an unnamed Fatui agent said. Yes. Aether would agree. Childe opened his mouth to answer, but Dottore spoke first:
"You guys go ahead and search the domain, but trust me, it's huge and full of traps. Meanwhile, we're not finished here."
Well damn. Some of the agents hesitated for a moment before they continued their way into the domain, leaving Aether with Pantalone, Dottore, Childe, the two agents who were holding him, and two to three others who stood guard. Such a fun little party.
"Tell us the truth, Traveler. Tell us why you're here, and we will let you go. Simple as that."
Childe was the one to say this, and Aether could feel that he was geniune. Not in an evil or mocking way, but as his friend, he tried to convince him. He didn't want to torture him, but he also couldn't just let him get away while his presence here seemed very suspicious to the other Harbingers.
"I wahahas j-just ehexplorihing!" Without proper time and energy to think of a better excuse without mentioning Albedo or the former Chief Alchemist, it was this lame excuse he blurted out.
"Wrong." Dottore's fingers that had been lazily wiggling under his arms renewed their tickle attack with vigor, making Aether scream again.
"I ahaham tehelling the truhuhuth!" Aether cried. No matter how harmless it seemed, he surely began to feel the effects of the intense tickle torture he had to endure.
"No, you are not." Childe's hands lowered and dug into Aether's thighs. He squealed and bucked weakly.
"Plehehease! I'm reheally ahaham!" It was obviously a lie, but now that the Fatui was involved he had no idea what was up with Albedo and his request. He did not want to find out by telling on him, or the details of his mission.
"This is useless." To his surprise, Dottore grabbed his arm and yanked him roughly out of the Pyro Agents' grip. He threw him on the ground and followed after him, pinning him down in a smooth motion.
"Dottore!" Childe warned, but to probably everyone's surprise instead of doing something else, Dottore resumed the tickle torture. Except it was even more intense as he pinned Aether's arm above his head and attacked his exposed armpit mercilessly.
"NOHOHO!" Aether lifted his hand, trying to get his elements to help him out, but another hand caught it and pinned it down as well. Childe!
"Tough bean, isn't he?" Childe said in a tone that sounded as if he was trying to lighten the mood, and he squeezed Aether's hand as if to encourage him to hang in there while Dottore continued to wreck him.
"Ahahahaa no plehehease- waahahah! S-stahahap!" Aether gave Childe a pleading look, but he merely shook his head as if to warn that it was useless to fight back now.
Dottore continued the cold and chilly tickle torture and glared at him. "Pantalone, head in there first. We'll follow soon."
Pantalone seemed unbothered by the command and nodded. "We'll meet again, ticklish Traveler."
He went in, and some remaining agents followed him, leaving Aether behind with The Doctor, the two Pyro Agents, and Childe.
"What are we even doing this for? He doesn't have it on him. Might as well check that little pot of his," one of the agents said.
Still laughing uncontrollably, Aether could barely feel the tiny sting of panic when he heard this, but Childe laughed as well. "Really now? The Traveler's home isn't just a little holiday spot, you know. The Realm Within is even bigger than the domain behind us," Childe reasoned.
"Searching for the vial over there would be like looking for a needle in a haystack, and we just sent the majority of our men away."
Aether nodded frantically, but it was ignored, or not even noticed. He had been shaking his head from side to side all this time anyway. "PLeheheease! I reheheally don't hahaave aahahanythihihing!" he cried, taking note of Childe's words in his mind. A vial. So many Fatui members and they came to look for a tiny vial? Containing what?
"He seems to be really ticklish, but he doesn't have it?" It was funny to hear the other agent say that, and Aether nodded frantically.
"Yeheheheah! I d-don't knohohow w-what you're lookihihing fohohor!" he cried.
Childe nodded. "Maybe he's telling the truth then."
Dottore did not respond yet and continued to tickle Aether. The evil monster. But in the end, his attack ceased, until he stopped completely.
"Fine. This leads to nowhere. Bind his arms and take him inside with us," he said. Aether blinked tiredly. What?
He felt how Childe helped him on his feet. The two agents tied up his arms behind his back while Childe wiped the grass from Aether's shoulder.
"Make sure he doesn't escape. We'll go search the domain with him. If needed, we can always continue this pleasant conversation."
Dottore moved in first with one agent after him. Childe nodded at the second agent who also went inside, until Childe and Aether were left by themselves.
"Just do as you're told, then you should be fine. You really don't have it, do you?" he said.
"Have what? I don't know about any vial," Aether hissed. Childe smirked.
"I knew that. You're way too ticklish to endure such a torture otherwise. I trust you really don't know. Let's go."
Proud that he still got away with a little lie, Aether prayed that his adventure with the Fatui was going to be problem-free, but for now, he was safe from harm, and so were Paimon and his compaions in the Serenitea Realm.
And if he was going to make it out of here alive, well, he was going to have a serious word with Albedo.
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