Chapter Text
A few hours ago
"Ugh I have way too much on my plate." Aether was frustrated. He had already decided that this time he wouldn't take up any tasks unrelated to his main goal i.e. to meet the electro archon. And he had even persisted quite well till now! Even firmly refusing Thoma's request.
He definitely doesn't want a repeat of what happened in Mondstat and Liyue. He's had just about enough of being a criminal on run (¯―¯٥). Plus this time the stakes are way higher...
Well back to the problem at hand, he now has a total of 3 main tasks he has to complete as soon as possible and get back to his main mission. He really couldn't stop himself from being involved in the end...
Guess what's done is done. To solve this, Aether has decided that he'll ask for help from his team he has left behind in Liyue! Since it would have been too much to ask Beidu to take them all here...
So, this is how he has planned things:-
1st) He'll do the Sacred Sakura Ritual himself, since it's the most dangerous of the three tasks. His friends are really strong but he still wouldn't want them to take any risk. Plus he is indeed curious about Kazari or Miss Masked Maiden, as Paimon likes to call her.
2nd) He'll ask Xiao to help with Obarashi's Legacy. It's a fairly easy task with lots of puzzles... He'll make sure to compensate Xiao with almond tofu after this.
3rd) Lastly he'll ask Ganyu to help with Yoimiya's firework festival preparation and helping Sakujirou escape. Although it's a stealth mission so it shouldn't be too much trouble if things go according to plan! Besides, the main reason he's asking Ganyu is cause he was hoping she'd be able to take a proper brake from her work and enjoy the festival by the end of it. Also Yoimiya is a really friendly person so maybe Ganyu will make a new friend and hence won't be so lonely anymore.
Heh, I am pretty good at this thing. One more thing to add to my growing list of awesomeness, thinks Aether while smirking to himself while Paimon just shakes her head flying beside him. Ha! Who am I kidding! Obviously Paimon being Paimon only adds more praises, inflating Aether's ego even more (；¬ ¬).
After having their fun Aether finally teleports to Wanshu Inn.
There, on the second floor they find Xiao brooding standing at his usual spot.
"Hey Xiao!", greets Paimon while Aether just nods going back to his silent ways as he does when near other people... Paimon continues for him, “We were wondering if you could help us with a task in Inazuma.”
“Hmm” seeing that Xiao was considering it Aether smilingly offers “I will make Almond Tofu for you after it’s finished”. “….Fine” comes Xiao’s reply as he turns his head to the side while Aether notices a slight flush to Xiao’s ears.
Aether briefs Xiao in on the mission and teleports him to Inazuma.
Now for Ganyu’s turn, they teleport to Liyue harbour and as expected Ganyu easily agrees but they did have to persuade the 3 Jade Chamber secretaries who started panicking at the thought of Ganyu leaving again. In the end Aether managed to calm them down with the promise of returning Ganyu by the end of the day.
And just as before after briefing Ganyu on what’s to be done he teleports her to Inazuma.