Chapter 2: Monstadtian Companions (1)
He could still remember it vividly. Lumine, his sister, assisting an Abyss Herald. It was like his worst fears were realized.
Truth be told, he always kept the idea that the "Abyss Princess" would be his sister at the back of his head. It was something he wanted to disprove as quickly as possible.
"We need not rush, brother. I have more than enough time to wait for you. We have always...had enough time."
Jolting awake, he saw the sight of clear blue skies. He groaned as he started rubbing his temple.
Evidently, the tent they set up last night was not used. Now that he thinks about it, did they even eat? Well, that didn't matter right now. They can just eat after Paimon wakes up.
Speaking of his companion, he's been feeling movement on his lap for a while now. Looking down, he saw his guide peacefully sleeping on his lap.
Aether couldn't help but crack a smile at the sight of his companion.
Repeatedly poking her cheek, she woke up with quite a vengeance.
"Ahhh! We didn't eat last night!" Food never did seem to leave her mind for long.
"Hm... For an apology, how about we go to Good Hunter?"
The suggestion piqued her interest. "Feeling generous now, are we?"
He shrugged. "Think of it as an apology."
After packing up their things, the two made their way back to the City of Freedom, Monstadt.
=-=-=-=-=
As they made their way to the city gates, they were greeted by some familiar faces. They even passed by Godwin earlier, who requested they give another letter to Glory.
The blonde had kept it to himself, but he always wondered why Godwin kept sending letters. It's not as if she could read them herself.
But pushing that matter aside, they arrived at their destination, Good Hunter.
Greeting them there were three surprising figures. Jean, Lisa, and Noelle were there happily chatting amongst themselves.
They were all having a conversation while eating some pancakes which got Paimon's attention.
"I never knew they served pancakes at Good Hunters."
The little comment seemed to get the three ladies' attention.
"Ah, Honorary Knight! Hello!" the knight-in-training greeted.
"Hi there, Noelle. Still working hard, I assume?"
"Yes, of course! There is not a single moment where I am not improving myself!" she announced with a determined look.
"That's all well and good, Noelle. But don't you believe taking a break is necessary sometimes?" the Acting Grand Master commented.
The Librarian, Paimon, and Aether all looked at her with an amused expression, much to her embarrassment.
"Ahem! Good to see you again, Honorary Knight. What brings you here?"
"Well, you see, your honorary knight here's been too lazy to feed me! Paimon went a whole night without eating!"
"Oh my, that certainly is troublesome! Would you like me to make some pancakes then?"
"No, no. We're f—"
"Yep, yep! Thanks, Noelle! You truly are a knight!"
The Maid of Favonius couldn't help but blush at Paimon's compliment — what she perceived as a compliment, anyway. She then got to work by borrowing Good Hunter's cooking area.
Sitting down at the table Jean and Lisa were not, he couldn't help but find Paimon's sleaziness amusing.
"What? She offered! It would have been a waste to turn down her famous pancakes, you know?"
"Yeah, yeah. Anyway, hi there, Jean and Lisa. Rare to Jean— I mean, you two out like this. I think." That last part was because he had not been in Monstadt for quite some time now.
"Same could be said to you, cutie. What brings you back here? I thought you'd be all over Inazuma by now."
"Hm... About that actually..." The traveler then explained to them all that's happened in his journey.
Some things were left out, of course. Information about Zhongli and Lumine most notably.
"Ah... So you mean to say that the seas are closed off."
"Yep! That's why we came here to relax for a bit. Where else would we relax besides the City of Freedom, right?"
"Well then, as for you 'relaxing' how about you and I go on a—"
"Lisa, we're going to be busy for a while, remember?"
"Aw... Come on, isn't a little bit—"
"Lisa..."
The librarian couldn't help but giggle at her friend's response.
It didn't take long after that before Noelle came back carrying two plates of pancakes.
After a few minutes of eating and idle chatter, the two ladies excused themselves. Noelle followed shortly after for her routine training.
Rubbing her belly, his floating companion commented, "Those were really good pancakes..."
"Makes me wonder if she'd be a better baker than a knight."
"For sure! Noelle would probably be the greatest baker in all of Monstadt!"
"She certainly looks the part, haha."
While the two were talking about the knight, more familiar faces seemed to notice them.
The two famous alchemists of Monstadt alongside the Spark Knight.
"Why hello there, Traveler."
"Um... Hello, Traveler!"
"Honorary Knight, long time no see!"
"Hi, there! What're you three doing out this early?"
"Well you see, Paimon, this little Miss here seems to have found something peculiar. She asked Sucrose and me to accompany her. I'd like to examine this item she's found."
Looking at the girl in question, she had her usual bubbly expression, maybe even more than usual. Aether was worried something was gonna happen but with Albedo and Sucrose there, he was sure nothing bad would happen. He hoped so, anyway.
"By the way, Sucrose, how have your studies been?"
"About that actually, Traveler... I was wondering if you'd be willing to travel alongside me for a while."
"Oh? This is the first time I've heard of this," Albedo slipped in.
"Ah, well... You see, I wasn't quite sure if he would be willing to accept... I was going to inform you once he had given his okay on the matter..." Sucrose replied, her ears drooping a bit.
"I jest, Sucrose."
"Oh...! Um... But well, since you're here. Would you be willing to do that, Traveler?"
"I'm fine with it. Should be fun."
"Thank you very much! While I can't assure you that it'll be fun, I will make sure to at least make it interesting for you."
The braided blonde chuckled at her eagerness. Sucrose was a bookworm at heart but it seemed that she had been taking steps to travel around more. Perhaps one day, she'll be more willing to travel around by herself.
Klee then cut in, "Anyway! Come on, Albedo!"
The girl didn't even wait for a reply as she started running down to the gate.
"Wait for a second, Klee...!"
His warning was futile as Klee bumped into the blue-clad astrologist.
"Ow..."
"Oh my. Are you okay?"
Klee, as if a toy, sprung back in action like nothing happened. "Yep! I'm fine!"
Nothing seems to get Klee down even for a second, huh? Well, maybe except Jean.
"Hello there too, Traveler, Sucrose, and Albedo."
"Hi, Mona!" Aether's companion replied, possibly cause she was left out of the greeting. "It sure has been a long time since we last met each other. Are you still able to pay your rent?"
Mona scowled at her. "...Certainly. Sure, there have been some hiccups here and there, but don't doubt the Great Astrologist of Monstadt."
"'Great Astrologist' huh? I wonder who could that be..."
Mona ignored that comment.
"Hello there, Mona. This is my partner Sucrose. You don't mind if she joins us for breakfast, do you?"
"Her? Of course not. The more people treating m— I mean, the more people to exchange notes with, the better."
"Th... Thank you."
"Think nothing of it." She then focused her sights on Aether. "So, I take it something interesting has happened in your journey?"
He looked at her blankly for a few seconds before remembering that she actually was a great astrologist. Though, judging by her reaction, he realized that she didn't know anything specific that happened.
If she did know what happened, she would have reacted far kinder. That's what he thought anyway.
And judging by Paimon's reaction, she probably figured that as well.
It took a few seconds but Mona noticed the long looks on their faces and tried quickly changing the subject.
"Oh, right! Albedo, Sucrose, shall we talk about this over some breakfast? I'm quite famished, myself."
"Yes, of course. That will be of no problem."
"Hey! What about Klee's request?!"
"Hrm, yes. This is quite the predicament." Albedo then looked at the Traveler with an expectant look in his eyes.
"...Hm? Oh."
"Ugh, fine! Klee, come along with us for a while we wait for these three to finish."
And just like the three girls before them; Paimon, Aether, and Klee went off on their own for a while.
"So Klee, whaddya wanna do for now?"
The little girl thought about it long and hard before coming up with an answer.
"Do you know of Grand Master Jean's sister?"
Both of them were taken aback for a second. Did she mean Barbara? He hadn't confirmed it yet, but he had connected the dots that they were siblings a long time ago.
"Do you mean Barbara, Klee?"
She nodded. "I think so. Do you know where she would be at this time?"
"Well knowing her, she's probably at the church."
"Then let's go!" she announced before running off. Despite her having short stature, she sure could run.
The two sighed as they ran after her.
Running up the flights of stairs, they found themselves at their destination, right outside the Favonius Cathedral.
"Hm... Well, I don't see Jean's sister anywhere. Are you sure she's here?"
"She's probably inside, Klee. Though I don't doubt that idea that Barbara's just to the side... And there she is."
Looking to the left side of the cathedral, they saw Barbara humming to herself all the while sweeping the leaves off the ground. Though she was humming, it was in a very low and drab tone.
Just then, they heard someone calling for the girl they were precisely looking for.
"Sister Barbara, Sister Barbara!"
Turning around, they saw the famously unlucky adventurer of Monstadt, Bennett. Alongside him was Razor who was looking worse for wear. The silver-haired boy had his arm slumped over Bennett's shoulders as the adventurer dragged his friend.
Looking back at the Sister, she dropped her broom in an agitated fashion. The girl seemed to snort before slowly walking out to the front of the cathedral.
Aether and two other two tried their best to act natural as she came over.
"Hello there, Bennett, Razor. How may I help you today?" Her tone was very dull.
"Sorry to ask for this again, but can you please heal Razor?"
"Razor fell... from a high spot. Razor apologizes for... bothering Barbara again..."
Setting him down on a nearby bench, the Deaconess got to work on healing as much as she could. Meanwhile, Bennett walked over to Aether, seemingly having noticed him all this time.
"Hi there, Traveler. Seems like bad luck has struck me again... But man, to think that my luck is getting this bad."
The three couldn't help but stay silent.
Bennett then went on to describe what happened to Razor. Apparently, while he was fighting some monsters, Bennett had to use the strongest version of his skill. The wolf boy then just happened to pass by, flinging off a small cliff.
Bennett groaned as he retold the story.
"Bennett, may I have a word with you?" the deaconess requested, her tone sounding irritated.
"Bennett, how many times have you requested for my help this week?"
Reaching for the back of his neck, the young adventurer stared at the ground.
"Um..."
Seemed like this was going to be an earful.
Looking back towards Razor, the wolf boy tried reassuring his friends.
"I am... fine. Need more... rest before leaving."
And with that, the three left.
Klee seemed satisfied with what she saw of Jean's sister. She noted that she was somewhat like Jean; always helping others, but unlike her, Barbara seemed to tell others how she felt.
Aether and Paimon figured she didn't do it much, but they felt no need to correct the little girl's assumption.
Walking back to Good Hunter's, they saw that Mona had left.
Sucrose and Albedo were studying some notes, supposedly gotten from Mona. This was interrupted however by the ever so energetic Spark Knight.
"Come on, Albedo! Let's go!" she said as she ran towards the gates of Monstadt.
Not even having the time to collect his notes, Albedo quickly put them aside and started running for Klee.
Sucrose took their notes and shoved them inside a bag on her side before following after her mentor.
"Wow, Klee really is a force to be reckoned with, huh?"
The blonde could only nod in agreement.
"But wow, we sure have met a lot of people today, huh?"
"Um, Honorary Knight!"
Turning around, they saw someone they didn't usually talk to.
"Hi there, Donna!" Paimon greeted with a wave. "What happened for you to call us like that?"
The girl was fidgety. She had her hands behind her back.
"Oh— Um, well... I was wondering if maybe you could help me with a small favor?"
"Of course! It'll be no problem for us!"
Aether nodded alongside Paimon.
With a sigh of relief, she revealed what she was hiding. It was a freshly baked moon pie.
Just from that alone, the two immediately realized what the situation was.
"Could you... help me give this to Master Diluc?"
An awkward laugh followed after they agreed.
They made their way to Angel's Share, Donna becoming increasingly anxious with every step.
Making sure to whisper, Paimon asked, "Are you sure she won't faint before we get there?"
"...Well, if it comes down to that, we can give it to Diluc ourselves."
"THAT'S A HORRIBLE IDEA!"
Seems like she didn't notice his tone of speaking.
"I'm sorry, what is?" the girl behind them asked.
"It's nothing, it's nothing!"
Traveler held in a laugh as his companion scowled at him the whole time they walked towards the tavern.
Standing in front of the door, the three got ready to face the wealthiest man in all of Monstadt.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
OrionePH
OrionePH Okay, so it seems like I did decide to continue this after all. Just like before, this was written purely so I could destress. There's barely any proofreading here but I hope you enjoy it nonetheless!
Weekly Power Status
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Ranking 
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