Chapter Text
It happened in Huitzli Hill – the day 4.2 million of your mora was stolen.
You had been collecting Brilliant Chrysanthemums and various other plants that you intended to use in a new recipe later that night. There was no way to predict the events that were about to transpire.
As you hummed, you counted the stems you had collected thus far– 10 sweet flowers, 6 mint, 14 Brilliant Chrysanthemums… your mouth watered thinking about the sweet Fontainian dessert recipe and the Natlanese spin you were going to put into it. Oh, sevens! Your stomach grumbled, as if on cue. Only a few more mint and you would be skipping home, ready to satiate your craving.
Your plan was simple: finish collecting plants, head home, cook the dessert, enjoy it (the best step), and enjoy a rejuvenating evening complete with a bath and some light reading.
It certainly didn’t include a certain “Malipo” Kinich. Or losing 4.2 million mora.
You were collecting your 12th and final stem of mint in front of an old stone structure. Some parts of it were completely dilapidated, but the central part appeared to be mostly intact. Being the adventurer you were, the contents of the abandoned building would have your full, undivided attention on a normal day, eager to explore every nook and cranny and pile of rocks you could find. Today was no normal day, however, as you had your mind set on the harmonious taste of mint and Brilliant Chrysanthemum blending together in a cross-cultural culinary masterpiece. Getting home to your kitchen was of the utmost priority.
But when you heard voices coming from behind those cracked stone walls, your curiosity compelled you to reconsider.
One hand on your weapon and the other holding your flower basket, you cautiously approached the entrance, following the sound of the voices. The immediate inside of the building was well-lit with torches, but an open gate led to a different, dimly-lit room deeper in the building. As you crept towards that open gate, you saw two figures arguing– the sources of the noise.
“I REFUSE TO BE REDUCED TO SOME PAPERWEIGHT!! The Great K’uhul Ajaw will not tolerate such mockery!”
“Fine then. A large rock should work anyway. I’ll look for one outside.”
You panicked for a moment. They would see you! The figures didn’t sound particularly dangerous or even malicious, but you braced yourself regardless.
“... Who are you?”
You were face to face with an unamused-looking man. He was lean, with tattoos peeking out on his arms and neck from underneath his black top. In his eyes, you saw hues of green, yellow, and orange that stared back at you with a piercing gaze. His hair was a bit messy, multicolored locks being held up with a patterned headband and barely veiling earrings on each ear. His appearance was overall reminiscent of the Scions of the Canopy, his baggy pants and compression top donning several square-based patterns. Frankly, he had a lot going on with his outfit. What interested you the most, however, was the Dendro vision attached to his pants.
“Perhaps I shouldn’t mess with him,” you thought, eyes glued to the vision.
Not that it was even a concern. Did you look so utterly unthreatening that he had to ask that question in such an unbothered tone? Even so, you took your hand off your weapon as a designation of innocuous intent
“...Uh, I’m [name]. Who are you?” You asked, laughing nervously.
The man sighed, crossing his arms. A brief moment passed before he opened his mouth to speak.
“...’Malipo’ Kinich of the Scions of the Canopy. Do you have a moment?”
Malipo… you recognized his name. You were quite sure he was a Hero of Natlan, and this fact made you feel more at ease
“I suppose. For what, though?” At the very least, if your trust was misplaced, you knew you could fight your way out of a sticky situation.
“I just need you to stand on something for a moment.”
It sounded easy enough. He led you past the open gate, into the other room where two pressure plates lay on opposite sides. In the center, a floating, pixellated, Saurian-looking… thing floated about.
“Who is this?!” The thing shrieked in a tone not particularly easy on the ears.
“This is [name]. [Name], please stand on the plate over there. We’re just completing a commission,” Kinich spoke curtly.
“Oh, okay. Just like the ones in Liyue,” you commented to yourself as you walked over to the plate on the right of the room. You stepped on it, and it began to light up. The batch of pixels continued to fuss, following Kinich as he went to stand on his respective pressure plate.
“So… uh, what is that thing?” You asked hesitantly. You had debated asking this question, but figured you might as well let your curiosity get the best of you since you likely wouldn’t see the two of them after you helped them solve the puzzle. After all, Kinich was now standing on the plate, so that moment couldn’t be too far away.
“WHAT?! How DARE you address the Almighty Dragonlord, K’uhul Ajaw with such insolence?? A lowly servant like yourself should be groveling at my feet with offerings of grapes and fruit juice!! This transgression will–”
The moment Kinich’s pressure plate lit up, every single torch in the room was blown out in an instant and the three of you were met with the resounding metallic sound of the gate closing behind you.
Looking around for an exit was futile in the pitch darkness. You immediately unsheathed your weapon, ready to fight Kinich and the… “Almighty Dragonlord K’uhul Ajaw” for deceiving you, but they seemed just as startled.
“Who’s there?” Kinich yelled. You saw his outline and tattoos illuminated in shades of green, yellow, and blue– presumably his Nightsoul state. He didn’t emit enough light to see what was going on, beyond him brandishing his claymore in a defensive stance.
You backed up, heart beating and eyes darting around as if it would help. You jumped when your back hit the wall, but felt relief knowing that you wouldn’t have to worry about an intruder attacking from behind if your back was to the wall. Surely if you flailed your weapon around in all directions in front of you, you would emerge unscathed…?
Well, sure. That is, if it really was a wall behind you.
“AAHHH! GET OFF OF ME!” You shrieked, instinctively flipping backwards towards the center of the dark room. You had felt hands on your side– the wall must have been a person, and it certainly was not Kinich or his egotistical companion. You stood firm and ready for battle, turning in different directions with your weapon at the ready. Kinich with his glowing outline rushed over to you, his back to yours as he assumed a similar stance.
“GAH– WATCH WHERE YOU’RE WAVING THAT THING, LOWLY SERVANT!” You heard the same irritating voice from before as you felt your weapon hit something softly.
“We’ve got a bunch now boys, let’s run!” Suddenly, the three of you heard a hushed voice coming from above followed by quick and heavy footsteps fading into the distance. There was an opening in the ceiling that had not been there before– sunlight streamed through a wooden trapdoor that now hung open, swinging back and forth.
Kinich wasted no time in pursuing the voices. You watched as he used a grappling hook of sorts to hoist himself out of the building and sprint away. The little pixelated dragon followed soon after, leaving you to collect yourself.
You sighed, taking a thorough look around the room to ensure there were no more immediate threats. While you had no pyro vision or matches to relight the torches, the opening in the ceiling provided enough light for you to find your way around.
Lowering your weapon at last, you looked around. On the floor, near the pressure plate you had stood on, your basket of flowers had toppled over in the commotion. You gathered the stems, dusting them off and placing them back. At this point, you noticed a lever beside the closed gate.
Pulling the lever and watching the gate open made you feel a little less dejected. You decided to sit and wait for Kinich to return while your heart rate returned to resting.
Only a few minutes passed before your new acquaintance dropped in from the opening in the ceiling. He looked weary, panting as he dusted his hands off.
“I was unable to catch them. I’m sorry you had to experience that,” Kinich said, looking genuinely apologetic.
“...That’s alright. Neither of us are hurt, so it’s all good,” you said, offering him a half smile as you stood up.
“They didn’t take anything from you, did they?” He asked.
“Nope! I’ve got my flowers, my weapon, and my mora!” You exclaimed with relief, patting your side to ensure your bag of mora was still there. Your expression dropped. “My mora pouch…”
Kinich’s brows furrowed and the two of you looked around the room, as if you wouldn’t have already noticed a bag of mora just lying on the ground, defenseless.
“How much was in the pouch?”
You were starting to panic. You counted on your fingers as if those values meant anything, before throwing your head into your hands and groaning. You sat back down and brought your knees to your chest.
“4.2 million mora…”
“...What?”
You looked up at Kinich with a defeated look, biting the inside of your cheek to contain your tears and any other unsightly expression that threatened to appear.
“What business do you have carrying around that much mora…? Nevermind, uh,” Kinich knelt down awkwardly next to you. He was clearly unsure how to console you, especially considering you’d met less than an hour ago.
“I’m truly sorry, [name]. I would have never dragged you into this if I knew it was going to end like this. I should have been more cautious.” Kinich placed his hand on his chest and bowed his head as a means of expressing his sincerity. “They’ve certainly gotten away by now, but I could try to find them again.”
It was tempting to say yes, but at the same time, it wasn’t really his fault. You didn’t feel good about sending a man you’d just met on a wild Qucusaur chase to find some thieves that probably had a contingency plan to protect such a large amount of stolen mora anyway.
“No, I’ll…just do some commissions…” The words came out sounding more demoralized than you intended.
“Let me help you, then. It’s my fault for involving you, so I’ll repay you by assisting in these commissions,” Kinich insisted. It was clear he felt quite guilty for the entire situation despite having no direct involvement in the thievery. Helping you gain back some of your riches would help absolve him of guilt– plus, having someone to help with commissions never hurt. Unless the commission was actually a trap to steal mora from adventurers, but the likelihood of that happening to you twice was pretty low.
“...That would be greatly appreciated,” you accepted his proposal, but questioned just how willing he was to help you regain the full 4.2 million. “But that would take weeks, if not months…”
Kinich stood up, offering you a hand. You placed yours in his, and he helped you up. He was stronger than he looked.
“I know. Better get started soon then, shouldn’t we? How about we head to the Adventurer’s Guild now? The Stadium of the Sacred Flame is pretty close, anyway,” He suggested.
“Sure. We should probably report the incident to the Guild as well, so this doesn’t happen again. It would be good to do that sooner rather than later.”
Abruptly, the little green pixel dragon popped out of nowhere with an angry expression.
“Little Kinich thinks he can just put me in time-out without any repercussions… Prepare to face the wrath of the Almighty Dragonlord, K’uhul Ajaw!!!” The Almighty Dragonlord, K’uhul Ajaw declared, flying around Kinich’s head.
“Oh, I felt like something was missing! It was you!” You exclaimed. “Uh, the Almighty lord… K’uhula… ”
“That’s the Almighty Dragonlord, K’uhul Ajaw to you, MORTAL! The audacity you must possess to pose TWO transgressions in one day will be duly punished, for the Almighty–”
The Almighty Dragonlord, K’uhul Ajaw was cut off by Kinich batting him away with his hand, out of sight.
“I apologize for him. He can be quite crude. And you can just call him Ajaw,” Kinich said, starting towards the now-opened gate. “Ready to go?”
You grabbed your basket of flowers and set off to the Adventurer’s Guild with Kinich.
—
“Ad Astra Abyssosque! Welcome to the Adventurer’s Guild,” Katheryne greeted.
“Hello, we’re looking for commissions that pay well in mora,” you said, feeling a bit embarrassed saying it out loud.
“Of course. Here’s a list of commissions that haven’t been accepted– the highest paying commissions will be in the back.”
You and Kinich flipped through the pages, secretly (and foolishly) hoping to find a commission that would pay exactly 4.2 million mora. Unfortunately for the two of you, most of the available commissions ranged from 80,000-200,000 mora. Even the highest paying commission only offered 400,000 mora.
“These aren’t looking too great… I guess this is definitely going to become a multi-week affair,” you muttered before looking up at Katheryne. “Is this really all there is today? Should we come back tomorrow?”
Katheryne seemed to hesitate for a moment before answering. “Well, I do have a suggestion that may be rather far-fetched. But seeing as you are both well-renowned adventurers, I suppose I should mention it regardless.”
You and Kinich share a glance before looking back at Katheryne, egging her on to continue.
“... There is a commission from the Liyue branch of the Adventurer’s Guild that has not been accepted for about 3 months now. The commission involves defeating numerous Ruin Machines and retrieving family relics from an abandoned building located in Wuwang Hill,” Katheryne continued. “The commission was posted by a noble in Liyue who has gradually increased the reward over time, but locals refuse to take the commission due to fears regarding the spirits that reside in Wuwang Hill.”
“... And how much is the reward?”
“10 million mora.”
Your jaw dropped. You shared a knowing look with Kinich, but composed yourself quickly after remembering that you were in Natlan. Liyue wasn’t even the neighboring nation. In between the Stadium of the Sacred Flame and Wuwang Hill, there was the plateaus of Natlan, the entire Sumeran desert, the jungles of Sumeru, not to mention the plains in Liyue–
“So are you good with that? We could split the pay 50/50.” Kinich interrupted your thoughts. You stared at him for a moment, dumbfounded at his nonchalance.
“Did you miss the part where she said it’s in Liyue?” You asked sarcastically.
“No. Is there a problem with that?”
“Have you looked at a map of Teyvat before??”
“If you don’t want to do it, I’ll just take the commission myself. 10 million mora to retrieve some relics is too good to pass up.” Kinich was serious.
You took a moment to think. He was right– 10 million mora for some relics was a great deal. Ruin monsters didn’t scare you, nor did Wuwang Hill. And you’d heard the sands of Sumeru were beautiful.
“...Would you really be willing to?” You asked, searching his expression for any indication that the commitment he had expressed was simply in jest.
“Of course. It’s my job to help you get your mora back, and I would walk out of it with a sizable sum, too,” he said as if it was an obvious choice.
What were you getting yourself into?
“Then…I guess we’re taking it,” You took a deep breath. Accepting this commission filled you with mixed emotions– excitement and anxiety being the most significant. On one hand, you admonished yourself for foolishly accepting such a lengthy commission with little to no forethought. But on the other hand, the novelty of a good adventure never failed to attract you. New regions, new enemies, new friend…and new friend’s peculiar dragon companion.
“Alright then. It’s settled. We should set off tomorrow. Where should I come find you?” Kinich asked, evidently ready to start the journey that lay ahead as soon as possible.
“I live within the Children of the Echoes,” you said. “Let’s meet there at 6 am?”
“Alright. I’ll be there,” Kinich said plainly. He turned and walked away without another word.