Chapter Text
Wanderer walked through the streets of Sumeru City, making sure the after effects of Irminsul's burning did not affect the general populace. But what was odd to him was the amount of disgusted stares he was getting. Yes, he was used to getting odd looks because of how he acted, but this was different.
After a while he noticed Cyno off to the side with someone who tried to rob someone during the move back. He waited for Cyno to get done before moving over to talk to him.
“Another thief?” Wanderer scoffed, “people don't know when to keep their hands to themselves.”
Cyno immediately had his polearm pointed to Wanderers neck. “I was wondering when you might show up…”
“Huh-” Wanderers eyes were wide, but he didn't move. “What are you going on about?”
“You know exactly what I'm talking about.” Cyno pushed the spear tip more into Wanderers neck. “Harbinger.”
Wanderers ears started ringing, feeling like he was going to throw up whatever he had eaten before going on the stroll. He took a step back, putting his head in his hand. Was it because Irminsul burned? Was it Dottore's final move?
Wanderer felt someone grab him as he almost fell over. He began to get pulled, probably to the holding cell under the Grand Sages office. The puppet didn't fight. He should have expected this with Irminsul being burned.
—
Wanderer watched as the General Mahamatra went up the elevator. He didn't go near it, he didn't even move. He couldn't move. He moved his hand to his back, the feeling of the tubes and needles were all over his body. He fell on his knees.
And as the lights started to dim he saw a warm orange portal open in front of him. He had seen them when exploring the rain forest, and from his time in Nod Krai. but he didn't reach for it. Instead he stayed where he was.
[Hat Guy, it's okay.]
Wanderer heard Nicole from the Hexenzirkel inside his mind.
[Lord Kusanali foresaw this would happen, and asked me to bring you to Mondstadt if it did. She knows how hard you're trying to fix your mistakes, and wants you to continue.]
Wanderer blinked before getting off the ground and turning away. “But what can I redeem if everyone knows what I have done.” he heard the portal warp and the sound of two pairs of feet.
“You can start by knowing we all have your back.” Albedo.
Wanderer felt arms wrap around him. “I don't care if you're an Ex-Harbinger. To me you Hat Guy!” Durin.
“We won't let them take you!” Klee.
Wanderer gave a weak chuckle as he put his hand on Durin's arms. “You're all too nice to me…”
“Then let's go. Traveler is also waiting for you in Mondstadt.” Albedo set Klee down and then all hugged Wanderer. Durin clinging to his back, Klee his leg, and Albedo his side. Although Albedo was much more gentle then the other two.
“Alright…” Wanderer chuckled.
[wait–the–break–can’t-]
The portal disappeared and the room started to distort. And then everything went black.
—
Wanderer sat right up when he awoke, ignoring the pounding headache as he looked for the other three that were with him. He sighed in relief seeing that Durin was asleep right next to him and Albedo was already Awake with Klee sleeping in his lap. Wanderer shifted to look at Albedo, who was looking right at him.
“Do you have contact with the Hexenzirkel?” Wanderer asked as he went to get up, only to fall over. He looked down to see a large fracture down his right leg.
“Don't move much. Your leg needs time to heal. You were in a tree when I woke up, but I accidentally dropped you while getting you down.” Albedo stood up, putting Klee down on his jacket that he rolled into a pillow. “And no, I lost contact. I don't even sense any elemental energy except for us.”
Wanderer hummed, watching as Albedo rewrapped his leg, as it was wrapped before he moved. “I'm assuming you were waiting for me or Durin to wake up before exploring.” Wanderer sighed, “we aren't exactly in the most covered spot.”
Albedo nodded. “I've seen to buildings from the distance. They are much taller than what I've seen in Teyvat.” he sat on his knees. “I will go and look. I want you to stay here in case anything happens. We don't know the laws here, so we must be careful.”
Wanderer nodded as he watched Albedo stand up and walk out of the small camp he made.
—
Albedo walked out of the forest so see the true height of the buildings. They were massive. The people walking by didn't seem to give him a second look. He was glad he left his lab coat at the small camp, it would make him blend in less. He walked down the street listening to the way people talked. It was Inazuman with a different accent. He was more glad to have learned all of Teyvat’s mainly spoken languages.
We watched as people at small stands exchange a paper currency, ‘Yen’ as he heard. When he noticed that someone walked into a shop with the characters for ‘pawn’ written on the side. He hummed and walked to the building. He stepped inside and walked to the counter before pulling out 1 Mora.
“Can I trade this in?” he asked in Inazuman. The clerk looked at it for a second before running some small tests.
“100,000 Yen.” The clerk was wide eyed. Before they took the coin and got the Yen out and gave it to Albedo. Albedo then went to walk out the door. Just before reaching it he heard the box on the wall talk, but that's not what concerned him. It's what they said.
“A new Villain has recently been attacking what appears to be random neighborhoods near Musutafu for the past few days. The Villain has been described by the Police and Heroes to be dangerous and unstable. Run if you see him, and don't hesitate to call the police. The Villain has deemed himself to be named Scaramouche.”
They then showed a picture that, even though blurry, Albedo could clearly recognize. Hat Guy. The villain looked exactly like Hat Guy, except the clothes. Without a second thought he walked out of the pawn shop and looked for anything resembling a clothing store.
After finding the clothing store, Albedo found some clothes that would look to fit Hat Guy, Durin, Klee and himself. He got several hoodies for Hat Guy so that he wouldn't be as easily spotted. After buying them and some food, he began to walk back to where they set up camp.
—
Klee and Durin had already woken up by the time Albedo got back to the camp. Wanderer had been trying his best to comfort Klee who was trying not to cry from being in the unknown location. Durin had made a small fire after Albedo made a safe area for the fire to be.
They all sat around the fire, dressed in the clothes Albedo had given them, eating food that technically only Durin, Albedo and Klee needed.
Klee was right next to Albedo when she spoke, “Brother Albedo, where are we?”
Albedo cleared his throat as he looked at Klee, giving her a soft smile, “we are in a place called Musutafu. They speak a language similar to Inazuman, so only me and Mr Hat Guy would only know the language.” Wanderer nodded as Albedo looked at him for confirmation. “We are lucky because they also have powers here. I will need to do more research tomorrow. Why don't you come with me, Klee.”
She thought for a moment before nodding, “can we go fish fish blasting?” she asked.
Albedo hummed, “I don't think so. We don't want to get into big trouble.” His response made Klee look down, but she understood where he was coming from.
After a few more hours, Durin curled up with Klee in his wings as Albedo took Wanderer a little further away to talk.
“Hat Guy, you need to be careful if you go to the city.” Albedo looked at Wanderer with a stern expression.
Wanderer raised a brow, “and why would that be?”
“This world has a heroes and villains system, similar to the Simulanka before you saved Durin.” Wanderer motioned for Albedo to continue. “And one of the villains looks exactly like you. He goes by the name Scaramouche.”
The puppets' eyes twitched, “that's not possible. I just woke up today, It's not like my soul can split.”
“I'm aware. But that is why I got you shirts with hoods to make it easier for you to get around.” Albedo explained. “Tomorrow I'm going to find a library with Klee, if you can, take Durin and learn more about this society.”
Wanderer nodded, “that seems to be the best solution for our current predicament.”
Wanderer and Albedo walked back to camp, Wanderer would stay up the whole night to keep an eye on the others.