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The Unlucky Prince and the Princess of Punishment
As soon as the Princess of the Empire of Eternal Night shot an electro-arrow into the Blob, the latter recoiled but regained his senses as soon as he saw the ineffectiveness of this attack, the electro blob charged at his Highness as she fled, tears in her eyes. If a knight of the order or any student of the Hirlichurls language happened to pass by, they would surely hear the girl exclaim and curse at this harmless Blob...
“I, Fischl Von Luftschloss Narfidort, will not be impressed by a mass of elemental energy without a shred of consciousness! You'll soon be less of a show-off when I deploy my trusty familiar Ozvaldo Hrafnavins, Show the extent of your power Oz!”
At these words, the blob stopped its charge, intrigued by the sudden cries of this strange woman. He stared at her for a long time, but nothing happened...until the young Fischl stepped back, blushing, no doubt out of embarrassment, and ran off, leaving the poor Blob behind. It came to its senses and went off to chase a butterfly passing by.
Breathless, Fischl leaned against the trunk of a massive oak and sighed. What bad luck, his servant, commonly known as Oz, had left his mistress that very morning for a well-deserved short vacation. Short, a word far too long for the princess, deprived of her companion, her translator, her friend... a hard week lay ahead for Fischl, Adventurer of the prestigious Mondstadt Guild.
As soon as she returned to the Wind City, she went to the receptionist, Katherine, and told her she was ready for any request, with, if possible, a companion to join her.
After a few hours without any requests that would suit the princess, she set about finding a temporary way to fill the absence of her elemental summoning.
She walked for long hours on the beach, the whole afternoon, the sun now fading into the background, the moon rising, the birds now silent, the Empire of Eternal Night about to open its gates, the ideal environment for the Midnight Princess, but that didn't stop her from feeling oppressed by the stifling nature, her, alone, in the middle of the menacing shadows of the trees, without her servant, ready to defend her at the cost of a few feathers. Oz.
Just then, a blond head popped out of the bushes, and Fischl swung her bow fiercely at it.
“Ouch!”, the blond boy stumbled under the sudden blow, ‘But, that voice...Oh My apologies young adventurer I considered the worst far too quickly’ she replied offering a hand to come to the poor boy's aid. He accepted it and stood up, rubbing the back of his head where the blow had been inflicted and apologizing in turn for having surprised the young woman.
“Princess of the night, I heard Miss Katherine of the Adventurers' Guild was worried about you, you weren't coming back, I wanted to volunteer to look for you, but I was afraid I'd be refused...for hem...my sake-”
Bennett, a promising young adventurer, close in age to the Princess, is known within the guild for being as brave as he is unlucky. He has asked on several occasions to join Fischl in her quest for new horizons, but she, worried about her colleague, has never broached the subject with him.
This time, however, she gladly accepted the company of such a nice young man. She explained that her companion had left for the week, and that she'd agreed to go on a short trip with him. At her words, the young man jumped of joy, and the two of them returned cheerfully to Mondstadt, exchanging views on various subjects such as their program for the week, or what they had read about the Traveler and their Flying Guide that very morning in one of the many gazettes that speak of them in Teyvat, true models for any self-respecting adventurer. Passing Katherine, the two greeted her and she sighed with relief. Then, hunger pangs made them head for the “Good Hunter”, Mondstadt's famous take-away and on-site restaurant.
As the two teenagers stood in front of Sara, the owner, she told them that unfortunately, she had just stopped the day's orders, Bennett sighed heavily, once again, he had shared his bad luck with a friend. Fischl also sighed, and Sara smiled at them, handing them some of the leftovers they could still use and lent them the kitchen “Don't do anything that could be silly”.
Bennett apologized to Fischl and moved on, pretending it was to prevent any accidents involving fire. As for the Princess, she set to work concocting two portions of “Die Heilige Sinfonie”, a mysterious dish perfectly representative of her cookery. After a few dozen minutes, she found her new partner leaning against the fountain opposite the huge Goth hotel, she handed him his meal, which he gladly accepted,
“wow I didn't expect the Princess of Punishment to cook so well!” he said before swallowing the first mouthful,
“aremh, what adventurer by that name would be incapable of cooking, it is after all the travel guide's survival staple”
Bennett swallowed hard and then coughed “...it's spicy...”
Fischl took a mouthful from her own plate and with a puzzled look on her face, she looked in the direction of her friend to observe any emotion or impression on his face, but nothing.
Then she asked, “Young adventurer, don't you smell something burning? I wonder where it's coming from... my dish?” she gave a disappointed look. Bennett noticed the look on her face and hastened to say that her dish was perfect.
In panic, they rushed to the source of the opaque smoke, just before the main entrance to Mondstadt, where they discovered a masked, red-haired man confronting an Abime pyro mage in front of a group of flaming trees. Without missing a beat, Bennett charged at the mage with a pyro attack, which had no apparent effect on the mage; he sighed, “Of course...”, before the masked man yanked him up by the collar, dodging a shot from the mage. He shouted at the two youngsters to go back in the city, but Fischl shot an electro-arrow which inflicted damage on the mage's shield - not much, but more than Bennett's unsuccessful attacks.
As for the mage, it laughed at the helplessness of its two opponents. Two of them? What had happened to the third? Suddenly, the mage took a blow to the head with his claymore and went tumbling into the air. The masked man got to his feet and waved his thanks to the two young adventurers who had helped him, before disappearing, as he had appeared, in pursuit of the mage.
Bennett sat down on the ground against one of the few trees that hadn't suffered from the scene and sighed at length with his eternal smile glued to his face... "My friend, you seem perplexed,” said the ruler of the Empire of Eternal Night, ”what's the matter with you?"
“Once again, I wasn't much help...” Fischl moved closer to him, bending down, dropping her bow to the ground, “What are you talking about my friend, this masked gentleman was only able to inflict the final blow on this vile mage thanks to our diversion” She patted his head with a smile. Bennett rubbed the back of his head “You're right, thanks Fischl, you're definitely the coolest adventuress ever!”
Fischl blushed in embarrassment, she stepped away from him and looked away, “Tell me something I don't know yet."
Bennett laughed and stood up, leaning against the tree. Both wondered about the mysterious masked person who had taken care of this pyro mage. The idea of the potential Night Hero, so popular in Mondstadt, crossed the minds of both youngsters, and Fischl and Bennett found themselves excited at the idea of having met the Famous Hero of Mondstadt. This Hero had made his appearance some time before, spotted by some drunks unwillingly leaving the angel's gift one fine evening. According to their accounts, he was illegally defending the city from potential threats, such as an abnormal presence from the Order of the Abyss...
On the way back, the two young people were wondering about the potential identity of this mythical red-haired Hero, and the Princess of the Empire of Eternal Night showed a sign of weakness, yet ironic because from her mouth escaped a yawn, which she tried to justify the next minute.
Her behavior made the unlucky adventurer laugh, as he stumbled and barely caught himself on his comrade's arm. Both of them refrained from commenting, embarrassed by the situation, and walked to the north gate of the city. The silence was broken when Fischl was startled by a thud; she turned towards the source of the noise and almost shrieked when she saw her adventurer friend lying on the ground. “Bennett?! She rushed over and tried to wake him up, Bennett can you hear me?” The young man didn't answer her, instead she could hear a laugh that chilled her blood, an Anemo Rogue Hilichurls stood behind her and nearly knocked her out too. However, she narrowly dodged with her friend in her arms.
What could a Rogue Hirlichurls be doing in the area, and above all, what could he possibly want with the princess and her companion? With Bennett unconscious in her arms, despite regular archery practice, Fischl soon found herself unable to flee or counter-attack, she tried to take refuge in the city gates but soon found herself thrown into the air, Bennett escaped her grasp and she saw him fall helplessly, luckily, for once, into a bush.
She sighed and tried to free herself from the wind field that held her in mid-air, but nothing could be done. The Rogue Hirlichurls dropped a small note on the unconscious Bennett and quickly took off with the girl, who was struggling as best she could.
- - -
After a few moments, Bennet jumped to his feet, pressing down on the back of his skull. He slowly remembered the violent blow he had received earlier, which had made him lose consciousness. He saw the note. By the light of a streetlamp, he read: - Dear Darknight Hero, this message is addressed to you by the Order of the Abyss. We have one of your comrades, and if you don't come and get them in two moons' time in the Dadaupa Valley, we will eliminate them. -
Bennett's adventurous blood ran cold as he looked around him: they'd kidnapped his companion. He hurried into the City and passed a few craftsmen setting up in the early morning.
He took a seat on a bench and thought long and hard about the various possibilities openning to him. Whether to visit the adventurers' guild, involve the Order of Favonus or investigate the identity of the Hero of the Night himself... Katherine told him that the Traveller had been in Natlan for a few months, while the information she gave him on the Mondstadt Hero was not very developed and limited to what he had seen the night before. As noon approached, after several hours' research among the locals into the possible identity of the mysterious Hero, Bennett began to despair. However, an idea crossed his mind when he spotted the Captain of the Cavalry, Kaeya Alberich himself, leaning against the main façade of the Angel's Gift. From Bennett's point of view, Kaeya had done a lot for him, teaching him the sword skills of Favonus, even though he wasn't a member of the order. The adventurer sighed with relief and stepped towards him.
“Oh my dear Adventurer Benny, what's that exhausted look you're pulling there ?” he asked with a big smile as he stared at the young man's dark circles, “another inconclusive adventure?” Bennett laughed, but quickly regained his seriousness, he had to be very meticulous with his words, otherwise he'd end up interrogating the Hero's identity...
“Mr Kaeya, can I ask you a favor?” Bennett attempted to the Captain of the Order, the latter nodding and pointing to the door of the building, “Can I get you a drink?” The adventurer hesitated, then accepted, pushing open the door of the Angel's Share.
The atmosphere inside the bar took Bennett's mind off the stress he'd been under since early morning. A bard with greenish braids was playing a ballad to a table of happy drinkers who were telling each other about their mornings. Kaeya took a seat at the bar, much to the dismay of the owner who was on bar duty at the time. He sighed and Kaeya asked for an alcoholic beverage, which earned the waiter an eye-roll. Bennett ordered a grape juice, and as he did so, his eyes met those of the owner, and a strange sensation overcame him.
However, this feeling dissipated when the knight beside him asked him to explain his request. Bennett then recounted his adventure of last night, from how they'd found themselves outside the City last midnight with his friend Fischl, to how he'd been knocked unconscious and when he woke up his friend had disappeared. “...and after that, I started looking for the Darknight Hero to help me...
Kaeya smiled and listened willingly as he recounted his adventure, at the end he couldn't help but asking “why the Darknight Hero? You can come and ask the Favonus Order to investigate your friend's disappearance” from behind the bar, the proprietor mumbled, " I'm not surprised this boy doesn't trust the Order, they're so incompetent’ This remark earned the Captain a smirk, ”Well, well do you see that, Diluc you're going to help this poor boy find his friend? Without even a clue as to why she disappeared? Perhaps you got some ?” Diluc huffed once more and turned to face his two customers, “Well, why not, you drunkard”
Between the two men, Bennett felt oppressed, he had omitted the detail of the letter to not to mess up the peace of mondstadt, imagining for a moment that the citizens or the order of favonus would declare the Hero a nuisance because of a third party's involvement in the conflict between the Hero and the Abyss Order.
After a few hectic verbal exchanges Kaeya laughed and turned back to Bennett, “And so, my friend, you still haven't explained to me why you were specifically looking for the Darknight Hero.” Bennett froze, stammering out a few words before saying, “Because he's the only one I spotted outside the city last night, and he might have some clues...”
Kaeya smiled as Diluc understood the situation perfectly, but he couldn't help the young man as long as the Captain was around - it would have been too good if the captain hadn't suspected anything. Unfortunately, Diluc was perfectly aware that the latter suspected him of being the Hero, so it was too risky for him to act in his presence. Kaeya looked at Bennett's face and pointed out that his lack of sleep could be dangerous for his adventures, to which he replied, “I'm going to try and get some sleep after I've found some clues, otherwise I won't be able to close my eyes...”. Kaeya smiled, “I'll look for clues for you, so why don't you get some rest?” Bennett thanked him and Kaeya left the establishment, paying for their drinks. All that remained were the bar's regulars, the green bard and his music, a cat, Bennett and finally Diluc. A silence settled between the two, then it was the Adventurer's turn to start the discussion. “And you Boss ...do you have any information on the Darknight Hero..?”
Diluc stared at him for a moment before Bennett swallowed, he then sighed and nod “Meet me tonight near the North Gate” Bennett almost jumped of joy at the barman's implication.
He then left, to the curch, for Barbara to look after his injuries from last night, without telling her, without her to be worried, it wasn't something new. And she lended him a bed to rest a while.