"I've made people dig their own graves." You spoke softly to the moon that shined behind Celestia. "Back then... When I still had power."

Digging up snow with your bare hands has got to be one of the most painful things a person could do. Imagine the pain. After all the snow had been dug, cold hard dirt was next. Imagine the damage, you can feel it under your fingernails.

"I made a mother stand back while her son laid down in his shallow grave. It was hard to restrain her but the soldiers knocked her around a little. That made her shut up. She was still denying her unpaid debts. Who was she trying to save?"

You wondered if you would be forgiven for the war crimes you've committed. It was astonishing how much you've changed. You might have gotten weaker.

"Her son was four years old. I told him to dig a hole in the ground as part of a silly game. Once he was staring up from the ground... I threw dirt on him. I made a small pile on his chest. He had to lift his chin to breathe. Almost immediately, the mother let out a shrill scream and broke down. She collapsed and admitted that she was unable to pay her debts. We imprisoned her. The boy was taken by his extended family."

Your knuckles rolled over the windowsill and you extended your open palm towards the moonlight.

"I almost buried a kid alive."

The moon was disgusted by you.

"But surprisingly, my Lord stopped me. He was... touched by how the mother didn't throw her child away. I've seen it happen countless times. I didn't know why Lord Scaramouche was so affected by it. If he wasn't there, who knows what could have happened..."

Being alone has got you thinking about your role in this whole situation. At first, you thought yourself to be another person in the crowd - a potentially attractive character who was pursued by men who would come and go. You thought you were desired. Now instead, you were being hunted.

You just wanted, naturally, to be a follower.

Instead, you cowered at every shadow that loomed in front and behind you, at the corner of the room, and the shadows you saw when you closed your eyes. You had to lead yourself through this nightmare. You've always hated being alone.

Were you the one seeking revenge? Or is it the other way around? Was someone else seeking revenge against you? You could write a list, front and back, of how many enemies you have made in your lifetime. This discomfort continued to linger. The lunatic laugh of a Harbinger was ringing in the air. It was a sound that used to bring you comfort, now it's a spiralling disarray of noise.

Remembering all that has happened, you were angry. Insanely angry - to the point you were stirring in a fiery state of calmness. You wanted to strangle the Traveller.

The desire to abandon your weapons and fight with your bare hands was almost uncharacteristic of your usual self. It was like your body moved on its own. If you closed your eyes, you could imagine it. The Traveller was in front of you. There was fear in her eyes. You were squeezing the juice out of a poor fruit, digging your thumbs in deeper and sinking inside to spill more nectar on your hands. The Traveller was in front of you. Choking.

The Traveller was in front of you.

In the darkness of the room, movement from the blonde girl came in like disturbing cracks in a frozen-over lake.

The Traveller was in front of you.

"Get back!" You shouted, holding one arm up and having your spray gun pointed at the girl. She froze in place and stared at you for a few seconds before leaving her sword in its sheath. "Get back and show me your hands!"

Lumine silently raised her hands to show that she was unarmed and unwilling to put up a fight. You held your aim right between her eyes, her usual peach-coloured skin was draining from her face and she was left as pale as a ghost.

"Traveller, you have a lot of explaining to do but unfortunately I'm running low on time. It seems that every second counts for even the slimmest chance of me making it back to my home nation. Give me one good reason not to shoot you and leave on my own accord."

"[Y/N], calm down..." The girl spoke softly. "I was thinking of letting you stay at the Wangshu Inn, but I don't think the journey is worth it. The Fatui has been crawling everywhere outside the city. It's too risky to go anywhere-"

"I said give me a reason, not your opinion."

Lumine's breath hitched the slightest when you adjusted your grip on the spray gun, your finger directly touching the trigger. She responded with her reason; "I know how to get you back home."

"Traveller, I can't stay here any longer. My Lord Scaramouche knows I'm here and next time, he's going to bring a bigger army with him. I expect the Wangsheng Funeral Parlour to be destroyed by tomorrow morning."

"Fine then," She dawned the same tone of voice you were using. "We'll let you stay somewhere else, lay low for a few days before we can start moving closer to the border."

"I want to be on Captain Beidou's ship right now."

"That's not possible."

Your spray gun glowed coldly with elemental energy, making the Traveller leer with narrowed eyes. A tug at the bottom of your lips made your mouth part, ever so slightly so that the blonde could see how tightly you gritted your teeth.

The girl continued, "I think the only temporary place for you to stay is Bubu Pharmacy, after that we can relocate you again."

"And then what will happen after that, huh? Tell me, Traveller, where will you send me once all of my hiding places are infiltrated by my comrades? To a ship that might not even exist...?!"

"At least try to appreciate how I'm trying to help you-"

"Liar!" You shouted all of a sudden, holding on to your last bit of restraint. "You say you're helping me but for the past few days, I feel as if everyone in your party hates me. Including you. So, why did I find poison in the popsicle I was going to eat?"

She was dumbfounded, "Poison...?"

Elemental energy pulsed from the nozzle of your gun and Lumine began to shake her head.

"I combined the Pyro medication with Cryo infused popsicles. I figured that erasing the mind control wouldn't hurt as much if it had an element you were used to. Instead of applying pure Pyro to the Electro, why not melt it?"

"Well, it didn't work. I never ate it and your friend got sick. Get your hands off your sword." You motioned your weapon upwards when you noticed her familiar hand position.

Lumine kept her sword at the ready, "I'm sorry if you thought that I had ulterior motives. It was all a big misunderstanding, I didn't know Chongyun was going to steal your medication."

"Traveller, you have prior knowledge that your friend has a tendency to eat whatever snack you give him. Why do you think otherwise now? Especially if the medication looks exactly like his regular snacks. Get your hands off your sword!" You ordered for the last time.

Lumine looked as if she was thinking of what to say, her eyes glanced behind you and seemed to have noticed someone from afar. Still, her hand was holding on tightly to her sword handle, her lack of compliance made you nervous.

"I'm disappointed, Traveller. I thought you would be able to help me... but I was wrong. Being in your party made things worse. Worse for me, worse for Xiangling, Xingqiu, and your friend. Worse for you. Even Mr. Childe, I think he had the worst of it."

The girl let out a sharp breath.

"That's right," Your voice rumbled. "I know what you did to Mr. Childe. It's the same thing that you did to me. He trusted you like how I trusted you. He saw you as a friend like how I did. His feelings for you-"

"I'm just trying to look for my brother." Lumine glanced away, daringly grinning under her forced emotionless expression. "I thought Childe held the clue as to where Aether would be. I thought that maybe if I used the money Childe gave me I could finally begin my search beyond Liyue. I don't plan on staying in this nation for a long time."

No one is important to the Traveller, not even her very party members. Xiangling, Xingqiu, and Chongyun were only important for the sole purpose of being from the nation of Liyue. You wondered if Lumine abandoned more of her party members after leaving other nations. Maybe she was in the land of Mondstadt and moved on from the people who helped her navigate through it.

Her twin brother, Aether, must be important to her. You wondered if he had the same personality as his sister. Witty, charming, alluring. Now, that would be a sight to see.

"That's the truth then?" You felt rage beat against your ribcage.

"Yes. I'm searching for my brother," Lumine muttered. "Unlike you, I'm not hiding."

"I know where my brother is."

The eye contact was like a slash against your retinas, thin and sharp with a touch of grace. Grace was power, like how the Traveller tilted her head a little to shake a strand of hair from her eyelash was exactly how you imagined an enemy readying for an attack.

Then, she unsheathed her weapon, raising it in front of her face and lowering it slowly. Lumine angled her sword in a way where you can see yourself on the blade's reflection. She was graceful. A challenger. No longer a friend.

You had the same poise as well. You mirrored her attitude and prepared for battle, the temperature around you dropped enough for you to see your own breath as you sighed. Blue sadness glowed from your spray gun, you thought it was a shame that it came to this.

It was the same colour that shined when your gun was aimed at Scaramouche.

A stream of pure frost shot out of one of your guns as you raised it to the blonde's face. In the middle of the icy flow, you fired from the other, and one uncontrolled Cryo bullet blasted through the air. In turn, Lumine stepped forward and held her hand out, fingers curling around the mist and bullet, tightly grabbing ahold of them.

At that moment, the air froze, the slightest movement was bound to shatter your reality. An unbelievable reality. Your frost only managed to graze her cheekbone, the rest was pulled into a swirling ball of an element you knew was from the land of freedom.

Shards of glass whirled, a symphony of crashing music. For the first time ever, you felt doubtful about your powers. You felt doubtful about your vision - if you even deserved it. The Traveller never failed to surprise you. The ability to harness two elements at once has never crossed your mind before.

Obviously horrified, you cut the transmission and jumped back, stumbling a little from the shock. The alien before you stood down as well. She released your ice from her whirlwind and showered the air with harmless water droplets, elegant was all she was. Eventually, you cowered away and looked at her like she was not from this world.

"What... are you?"

Lumine had a stern look on her face.

"How...? Without a Vision even...? Two...! Without a Delusion... I..."

"Pack your things." The Traveller cut into your rambling. "The Funeral Parlour is no longer safe for you. It's time to hide somewhere else."

Your knees gave in and in turn, a hand pushed your hair away from your eyes. Such a thing was impossible. There was no way someone like the Traveller had the ability to wield elements - two in fact without any sort of Vision or Delusion. It was a foolish assumption on your part, you ignorantly concluded that she had a Geo Vision - mindlessly associating her with the nation of Liyue. Can she control other elements? She was a weapon on her own.

The thought made you quiver.

"I suggest we start getting ready." Lumine turned to the open window and stared past the neighbouring buildings. "We are going to Bubu Pharmacy in the morning."

"No, I want to leave right now." You fired back just as quickly, grasping the wooden tiles on the floor. "Let's go, Traveller. We'll move during dawn and by sunrise, it's like we were never here. The Funeral Parlour will just be seen as an unjustified raid by the Fatui and will be forgotten just like that. Let's go, Traveller."

"Now...?" Lumine had a wistful half-grin on her lips. "You would rather leave right now than stay to say goodbye to the party?"

A cynical laugh was caught in your throat, "I doubt that Xiangling, Xingqiu, and your friend would like to wish me goodbye. It's better to leave without them knowing... I have everything I need on my back, let's go."

"Fine then."

Lumine stepped in front of you and extended her hand, her open palm facing upwards. Catching your breath, you glanced at her untouched fingers and then up at the girl. You found it to be quite impossible that she was able to grab ahold of your icy mist, and decided not to pursue another fight. You doubled down.

Hand in hand, you were pulled up to your feet and stood face to face with the Traveller. At this moment, you didn't see her as your saviour, not even a friendly acquaintance, you saw her as a hero - and you deemed yourself to be the villain. As always. Nothing has changed. You accepted it.

Her lashes lowered and she stared at you through them. You saw her as an alluring creature, a being not from this world - outside Teyvat. In the shape of a human. The only obstacle in her way was the absence of her brother. You didn't want to dwell too much on it.

With a light pat on the back of your shoulder, you moved along with the Traveller. She guided you out of your dark cold room and out to the second floor of the Wangsheng Funeral Parlour. The guns on your hips clinked together with the straps they were bounded to and the ice tank on your back held you down to earth.

Once you entered the Funeral Parlour and made your way down to the main floor, you and Lumine were greeted by a certain floating companion. Paimon was expressing frantic concern since Lumine had said to not come upstairs no matter what they heard. They obviously noticed the ruckus and gunshots from the little quarrel you had with the Traveller.

While making your way to the foyer, you were ambushed by the Director in a random attack. Hu Tao popped up in front of you and opened her arms widely. Without any warning, she pounced on you like a fiery Pyro slime and trapped you in her grasp. She gave you a warm hug goodbye.

In return, you placed your arms on her back, still unfamiliar with receiving such an affectionate gesture and patted her in even beats.

"The moon has seen countless heartbreaks and goodbyes, but this is different. It's not a goodbye but more of a hello new world!! I think that saying hello in the sun is way too overrated and boring. Saying hello to the moon must be new for it since everyone seems to fall asleep once it rises in the sky...!" Hu Tao paused her rambling and relaxed into the hug. "This is it, [Y/N]. I won't stop you from going back to your family."

"Director, I would like to apologize to you and the staff." You hung your head low in front of the girl. "Because of me, your Parlour was raided by the Fatui. Once I get back home, let me send money as collateral for the damages."

"Nah, don't worry about it! We'll start repairing little by little." Hu Tao leaned in closer, eyes sparkling like shiny flowers. "But if you really want to, just tell me how to break into the Northland Bank heheheheheheeeeh-!!"

The Funeral Director snorted a little when she forced herself to silence her giggles as Lumine walked towards the both of you. With a bittersweet smile, Hu Tao gave you her best playful wink and bid you farewell. Lumine intruded to speak with the Pyro-user about what is to happen next.

You overheard discussion about the Millelith and the Fatui if either were to show up in the morning, deny ever hiding or knowing a soldier that stayed in the room above. Deny, deny, deny. Lie if needed. The presence of a Fatui runaway is bound to raise tensions between the two military forces.

"So, you are the Fatui soldier the Traveller has been taking care of?"

While Lumine and Hu Tao drifted away from you, the voice of an older man was heard from behind you. Turning to the side, you glanced back at the gentleman sitting at a wooden table, sipping tea next to a few broken chairs.

You were fixated on this mysterious man, his hair captivated your interest. A long ponytail of highlighted black hair fell elegantly on the back of his neck. With gloved hands, the teacup was raised to his lips and at the same time, amber coloured eyes pierced through you from afar.

"I've heard of your bounty." He spoke over the cup. "Both bounties."

You felt your eyes roll at the mention of the bounties and your lips tugged downwards, "Why don't you give me a twenty-four-hour headstart and then you can start hunting me down?"

"I don't plan on pursuing you for the selfish gain of Mora. I sense deception in the Fatui's bounty and insecurity in the Millelith's. Bounties are, in a way, a type of contract that binds the third party into the agreement. You are the third party."

"Who are you?"

"I go by Zhongli."

You felt your heart skip a beat at the name. It was like you were being pulled into two parts of yourself. Right now, you were too focused on how you were going to get back home and completely forgot why you were in Liyue in the first place.

You were here for him, the very man having tea time right in front of you. The irony was painful now. You were brought back to the very beginning at the Northland Bank. Childe said that Zhongli had the answer you were looking for - the answer that you and Scaramouche were looking for: the location of the Geo Archon's Gnosis.

Scaramouche abandoned the Gnosis mission to search for you instead, you were completely dumbfounded by his decision. If only he had waited a day longer, Scaramouche would have gotten the lead towards the Gnosis. Zhongli was here and he is the one who has the answer.

The Traveller was speaking with Hu Tao, it was the only opportunity to turn on everyone and go back to being the villain. You could take out your weapons, hold everyone at gunpoint, and demand for an answer. You could forget about going home, you could toss everything out the window.

You knew that this was your only moment to figure out which side you were on.

"Bounties can be tricky in their own way," Zhongli continued to speak calculatedly, his hand moving to the smooth beat of each word. "Once someone announces how much Mora is worth for the capture of another person, anyone who reads it will be inclined to fulfil the contract. As for you, the third party, the reason why you are hiding is that you are running from capture."

"I have a question for you, Mr. Zhongli." Your voice moved faster than your train of thought. By the time the words already left your mouth, you bit down your tongue as punishment.

"What is it?" He asked politely.

You saw Scaramouche in front of you. His arms were crossed as he paced back and forth, waiting for your response. You can see him walking beside the table, stepping over the broken chairs and leaning against the counter. Scaramouche looked at you and gave the sign of approval.

"Where is the Geo Archon's Gnosis?"

Zhongli adjusted his posture at your forward question, "Why are you asking such a thing?"