Chapter 79: Chapter 79: The Perfectly Planned Party – Part 1.

Red, was all that entered her line of sight. Her movements were constrained and as she looked up into the red and wet abyss she found herself in, all she saw was a boundless amount of blue-black chains. They held onto her small frame with the strength of several titans and nearly crushed her bones.

She broke down into a cold sweat, a similar temperature to how she felt on the inside. Her body floated in the liquid substance she could only realistically call blood and yet its apparent thickness and weight upon her skin spoke volumes of how incorrect she was.

She shivered as the various snakes that coiled around her arms and legs, her hair on these respective limbs stood up like bamboo on the rocky surface that was her skin as goosebumps numbering in the thousands line up like soldiers to the march. It was at this moment she felt her skin was well and truly alive.

Babump—

Her heart began a vicious parade in the depths of her chest, a possible sign of what was really to come after her.

Was this a dream or reality?

Emmy wondered absentmindedly as she tried to move her fingers but came up short as she discovered they were also chained down by smaller versions of the chains that held her at the bottom of the water.

A small movement of her arms caused many of the chains to rattle like bells atop a guard post and the sound of the bell-like chains caused vibrations of glorious magnitude to be thrown about randomly.

But the disorderly nature of their beginning, they were unusually coordinated, thus, a scene comparable to the leaves of a great tree being scattered haphazardly in the wind was created.

The combined resonance of the various chains created a mechanical symphony of grand proportions that sent waves throughout her being and a feeling of warmth overwhelmed her senses.

Alas, it was not meant to last as the girl, whose eyes were closed in comfort soon snapped open to look into the distance. A frown came upon her face and slowly, her eyes widened drastically at what she saw approaching.

Nothing.

She saw nothing.

And yet, her instincts were blaring signals and her mind was caught in disarray as her sensory abilities, which she prided herself in, were now completely useless to an enemy she could feel the danger of but could not find.

So Emmy did the only thing she could do in such a situation.

She closed her eyes, she shut herself from viewing this wretched place she couldn't understand.

Almost immediately the sounds stopped, the cold vanished and the strange feeling she had was diminished until all of it went away. Like smoke in the night sky or the morning mist, all of the troublesome things went away after her eyes were closed.

She opened her eyes and then her body exploded into a forest of raised hair, goosebumps, and a torturous amount of anxiety. A single eye of a beast that seemed to eclipse the entirety of the liquid she found herself in, the creature opened its maw, revealing the deep darkness that swirled within along with several tendrils reminiscent of that of snakes and swallowed.

"Huah!" A mild yell echoed into a room in the city of Mondstadt as a girl with a sunset-tia pajama burst forward from her bed with such speed and power that she nearly flew off of it.

Emmy woke up.

Heavy breathing was heard in the room in the next instant as the girl held her head as if in pain, tears gathered in her eyes and for once the girl let them fall. It was only after a few moments that the girl looked to her side, her shoulders were tense.

A mild snoring was heard at her side and the girl sighed a sigh of relief.

'Thankfully, she is sleeping soundly, I wouldn't want her to wake up to the sound of me screaming myself, possibly to my death but I would rather that stay an extremely small possibility. Forever.'

Emmy looked around her room, the windows were shut tight but the moonlight still snuck through the curtain and illuminated the room somewhat. Emmy stared at her sheets for a while before finally discarding them and leaving her bed.

She made a small gesture with her finger while making a voice command in her head and a purple screen came up in front of her, showing the time was [4:30 AM]. Heaving another sigh the girl took one last look at the peacefully sleeping girl and then set off to take care of her daily routine.

'It's her birthday today, I need to do this extra early and carefully.'

With thoughts like this Emmy was gone.

The light in the bathroom became lit by a small flame as Emmy quickly bathed herself and quietly did many other hygienic activities, then she came toward her mirror and stared at it.

She patted her face, "I already have how to fool Fischl planned. Inu and the others have already been informed of my plan and they have already been set on their respective paths. Harlin and the others have also been informed, so the only thing to do is to get Fischl on board, none the wiser."

Emmy smirked, she had this in the bag. The girl quietly said a victory celebration while raising her hands as if she already saw her success. Just then a knock came on the door and a voice that still held hints of drowsiness came through.

"Emmy, what are you doing? Are you done, yet?" Emmy went and opened the door to see Fischl rubbing her eyes as if she was still tired and rubbing her head, the girl letting out a low whine in response.

"No I was just doing some stuff, you can go in if you want. I'm done anyways," Emmy looked at the girl in amusement, her Fischl speech had been canceled when she was tired. One of the many reasons Emmy liked to wake up early, was so she could see a sleepy Fischl.

"Mhmm."

Emmy moved out of the way as the girl entered and shut the door to the bathroom. Almost immediately her expression turned serious and she clenched her fists. Her eyes lit up with determination.

"I– no. We will do this."

Emmy went towards her room to change and for once in her life do her hair.

***

"Hmm? Thou wants I the Prinzessin to accompany you on a stroll today?"

"Yes."

"Is there no training within this one schedule? Should we not strive to be the best and defeat all others before us? Why should we go for a stroll when our rest days are already clearly determined, does thou wish to break thy promises and goals," Fischl gasped, "Was the Duke such a flimsy person?"

"No, but today is a bit more... special."

"How so?" Fischl tilted her head in curiosity and Emmy tilted it back so she could finish doing the girl's hair, not wanting an inappropriate angle messing up her styling.

At her question, Emmy had to stop herself from laughing as she hid her face with her hair. Imagine someone asking you why a day was special but you couldn't tell them because you wanted to surprise them. But the funniest part was that the person forgot it.

"I got a fortune cookie the other day that gave me a location and a hint toward something... you might like."

It was an explanation that was full of holes and anyone would poke those holes but not Fischl. She believed Emmy's lies. Emmy was filled with guilt but she still pushed through, after all, it was to give Fischl a surprise that she wouldn't forget.

"Something that I the Prinzessin might take a liking to? Hmph! A mere mortal dares to proclaim such a tale, their arrogance knows no word but very well this Prinzessin will oblige. My curiosity has been tickled and my interest has risen exponentially. We will go to see this mortal and hear what he has to say."

"I'm the one who said that though, I don't even know the gender of the fortune teller, only their location. I don't even know if the person we're looking for even is a fortune teller, it's a complete mystery. So by calling them a mortal you're calling me a mortal."

Fischl looked at Emmy via the mirror in confusion and asked, "Aren't thou mortal? Why does thou reject it so?"

Emmy snorted and was about to respond confidently that yes she was a mortal but a certain memory came to mind and she stopped. She remembered what those nine lights told her and how she was their sibling.

Suddenly Emmy wasn't sure but seeing the confusion grow deeper on Fischl's face she answered with a bit of hesitation that Emmy didn't notice that Fischl unfortunately did. But one glance at Emmy was all she needed for her to know it wasn't the time for her to ask, so she kept silent.

It was one of the few moments when the young Fischl understood and reacted brilliantly to social cues. Even the perceptive Emmy didn't find her out.

After that, the two girls kept silent for a while with Emmy putting the finishing touches on Fischl's hair, and then with a flourish, she let the girl go. Fischl got up and started checking it for herself.

She nodded in satisfaction.

It was a simple two-side bun hairstyle that was followed by Fischl's long hair. They were both connected to a few stray strips of long hair that were deliberately left alone, it gave the girl a cute look.

"It's amazing!"

"Well... I'm the one who made it after all," Emmy blushed as she received the girl's praise. Emmy discreetly looked at the time and clapped her hands as she said, "Alright we are running out of time to go to that place, so let's go now."

"Alright! Onwards, I shall see what individual has piqued my interest with my eyes."

"Hmm."

Emmy looked on a Fischl ran out of the room door, her purple dress fluttered as she went. The girl stood there for a while before she went and took a bag in the corner of the room and then began to go down the stairs and out of her house to see Fischl waiting for her.

"Shall we go," Emmy held Fischl's hand and the girl looked stunned for a moment before she nodded and they both started walking towards an area in southern Mondstadt.

***

Meanwhile, in another area in Mondstadt, a bunch of people ran around busily. Tables were being shifted and bags moving around. Plates were being rattled and stoves were lit up in a flurry as they prepared for something.

These people by the looks of their speed and efficiency seem to take after the work ethic of an ant colony. This should also be able to explain why they were able to dodge each other while also helping one other flawlessly, It was as if they were capable of a hive mind.

Suddenly one of them who had a small package in his hand mumbled, "I hope the boss can stall her for a few hours with that trick of hers or get caught red-handed while trying to prepare. She should be able to do it right?"

Another one said, "Honestly this is a nonsensical situation to find yourself in, isn't it? A few months ago you even knew what we were going to do with our lives and yet the moment we g we acknowledged the boss we were solely planning for a large birthday party. It is quite ridiculous."

The one from before nodded before he looked up and said a few more words, "It could be called a shocking situation however if I was to go back to that day I'll still do the same thing again.No let's get back to what we were doing before we have as little time as it is."

The other one nodded and then got back to work.

***

On Emmy's side of things, they had just arrived at the small alleyway where they were supposed to go to. Fischl held Emmy's hand tightly as they both went to look inside the alleyway, Emmy was relaxed while Fischl was a little scared. Sensing her mild fear Emmy began to speak in a soft tone.

"You know this place isn't even that scary, The only people that could try to go to say frogs and possibly vagrants which are vastly inferior to our current strength. At most, it could be considered human levels in strength however individuals with that type of strength would never be able to hurt us or allow them to capture us. They could have a good fight, yes but we will still be them into the ground with no trouble. So you don't have to worry too much."

Fischl was visibly relieved to hear Emmy say such words but she didn't reveal it saying, "This Prinzessin wasn't scared, she was just wary of villains who would covet her body and was thus preparing to smite them with her royal authority. My enemies hath grown cautious and hide in the shadows, thus the Prinzessin must be careful lest she pulls you into a trap."

"Hmm. I believe you," Emmy gave her a look that betrayed her thoughts entirely and looked forward, "We are almost at our destination we have just arrived. Fischl, say hello to mister Androt, the person we were supposed to meet today through this fortune cookie type thing."

Fischl looked to the front and there she saw a man with a ragged beard that looked sharp, eyes that were covered in black bags, and shabby hair. This man was the definition of unkept but Fischl noticed that he didn't smell as much as his appearance would suggest, so her expression showed that of confusion. Likely from the fact that her imagination did not agree with what her senses were trying to say, which sent them in mild disarray.

She felt a bump on her shoulder and there she saw Emmy giving her a look, the girl gestured with her head toward the man who looked at them tiredly as if he didn't want to be there.

"What can I do for ya, lasses? You here to accompany this old man, yer."

At his word, Fischl held in a shiver as the hands she held behind her back clenched tightly.

This guy was a pervert!

"Hmph!" Fischl turned her head and didn't speak to him.

Emmy on the other hand rummaged through her pockets to find a small piece of paper and silently handed it to the man who looked at it in confusion before he read it and all the sloth that settled within his brows dissipated instantly. The man with the lines on the piece of paper repeatedly as if he couldn't believe his eyes. Then with a shocked expression, the man look at Emmy and asked.

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"How— How did you obtain this I wasn't even sure that another person could have this. Why do you have this?"

"I got it in a lottery," Emmy said in a casual tone as she reveled in the man's shocked look.

Inu was a really good actor, the girl mused.

That paper was blank and Emmy was amused to see her shadow guard treat the blank paper as if it was his life purpose and goal. He even had tears in his eyes and she could even feel a backstory coming in a few moments.

"Ah, how long have I searched for this? Kuk! Oh, Hanna, how I have missed you. I the fortune master have long since searched for this one piece of paper for many years but alas, it did not enter my hands. Up until today, I had thought that fate deemed me unfit to get ahold of this object and I have searched far and wide to the point of bankruptcy, but now once again have it within my grasp. I shall never let it go now."

Suddenly he looked at Emmy and said, "Lass what is it that you require, I know that it is not because of kindness that thou sought my cherished object. Your motives may have not stemmed from kindness but I shall grant one wish of yours, one within my capability."

Emmy tapped her chin, "The person who gave me the cookie, when they saw what I had obtained told me to come to find you and that I would obtain a treasure for my services. So because today is a special occasion, I brought my friend along with me for a stroll."

"A special occasion you say?" The man looked at Fischl and his eyes glowed with the essence of stars, Emmy and Fischl were amazed. "I see, so that is how it is lass. Indeed, for a lass such as yourself to appear before me today is the product of fate, very well. The wishes that stem from the bottom of your heart shall be granted by me, Androt, The Great Mage of Seven Lakes."

"Huh?" The two girls said in confusion. Emmy was stunned as what Inu said wasn't within the script she had gifted him.

"Alas, I do have not the time for your upcoming questions and shall take my leave. Here is a token of my appreciation, take it and leave this place with haste. A joyful occasion is upon you, it is best if you do not miss it. Farewell then."

"Wait—" Emmy shouted as a large gust of wind blew into their faces and with a vigorous wave the man disappeared.

Dazed the two girls looked at each other and then looked at the golden knight piece along with a note left behind on the ground. Slowly Emmy approached the two objects and took both of them, then she took out the note and began to read it aloud.

"Hehe. Lass, was this lord cool just now? I have to inform you that the knight piece on the ground is not for the blonde girl but for you the black-haired one, most likely you are the one reading this right now," Emmy paused and looked at Fischl, the other looking at her in surprise. Emmy continued, "Emmy, was it? You shall be the knight of the Prinzessin, she called herself I recall. This old man is not sure. Aish, my memory has become so bad. Here is a little phrase for you, [As the light of dawn ascends to Celestia it does not stop but as the dawning star moves, where does its dominant heat become attainable? On the shadows crea(e)k and ashes fall, a single jewel for one ball.] Heh, I'll give you a hint. You are looking for an object, a chess piece, the most powerful one on the board. Good luck."

"What does the old bird want with this Prinzessin? I don't understand it, ugh! Annoying."

As Fischl said a few words in annoyance, Emmy swiftly calculated, unknowingly going into her [Realm of Thought] as she tried to decipher the words. She didn't know the answer in advance as that would cause them to go to the planned venue a bit too early for her tastes. Thus she wanted to solve it for herself.

One thing she noticed immediately was that there were various redundancies within the text. Something like [Ashes fall] or [Dawning star moves, when does its dominant heat become attainable.]. These words, without a doubt, were talking about the sun and the sun at its hottest when it is at the peak of the sky, hence the line [Ascends to Celestia].

'However, Celestia is not at the top of the sky of Mondstadt but exists in a diagonal toward the city. So the line involving the dominant heat was merely something to throw us off or was it something to narrow down the search for the queen piece? But it uses Celestia twice in its connotation, so does that mean it is a clue to its position as well.'

After she analyzed the paper for about 3 minutes Emmy had already found the location and her expression was grim.

She had solved it too fast!

Emmy was covered in mild sweat as she thought of how to stall Fischl, judging by the time that told her on the system interface, she had to stall her friend for 1 to 2 hours at most.

[8:30 AM]

Emmy wondered how time could pass so quickly, they were just at home a while ago and now that they went back toward the street, it was already past 8 am.

"Emmy…" Fischl suddenly spoke as she raised her head toward her friend and Emmy glanced at her, silently asking her to continue, "This… What is happening today? We aren't going for training, this weird guy in the alleyway just now who looked very much like a vagrant suddenly became this great master that got extremely emotional over this piece of paper that you brought him out of nowhere and then flew into the sky while giving you this stupid golden knight piece and then leaving us with this stupid riddle like thing."

Emmy looked on in shock and then Fischl stopped, her face flushed. Emmy thought she finished but it was only the beginning as the girl was merely taking a breath. Then she opened her mouth once more to rant at a speed that should not be possible for a girl her age.

"Hehe. As for the boys, oh lord Barbados, as for the boys and Noelle as well. Where are they? Where are they?! I haven't seen them, we haven't seen them for how long? 3 days, 3 days Emmy! We haven't seen our friends for 3 days and we are just acting like it's completely normal for our friends that we saw every day to disappear for 3 days! Where are they? Now we are just strolling around while our friends are who knows where doing who knows what! Or maybe they were kidnapped? But from what you said earlier that is unlikely in a lot of ways since if I can fight thugs they most certainly can. So that begs the question. Emmy… Is something going on?"

Fischl felt like she was going mad.

Every day she was worried about what her friends were doing and where they were. If she found them just lazing around now, well…

Hehe.

They better pray she wouldn't find them then.

Emmy was in a state of shock as she looked at her friend's rant with an indignant face and she could practically see the steam of anger go off of her head in copious amounts. Once again the girl went to take a breather, she took long smooth breaths of air. Seeing that she was about to continue on her rant once again Emmy jumped to intervene as she wouldn't want to get caught up in the girl's ranting for the entire day. Who knows, it might even last longer than that.

"Fischl, calm down, they are just busy. I believe their parents have something they want them to do is all. I assure you that they will come back to us in a few days or maybe even a few hours. Anyways, what I'm saying is believe in them and their strength."

"Hmm."

Emmy grabbed her hand and pulled her toward a shop that sold various small trinkets, "Let's do a little shopping."

"Alright."

So for the next hour, and a half the two girls partook in what they would like to call "mild windowshopping" but anyone would agree that doing such a thing for so long would no longer be considered mild in the slightest.

The two after all of that came to the city square or rather the front of the Favonios Cathedral where they sat on the steps while eating some candied fruit they bought from a Liyue merchant. There were quite a lot of them lately.

"So Emmy, why hast thou guided the Prinzessin toward the bastion of the Anemo god?"

"Eh? Well, I found what the riddle was trying to say to me. I know where to find the strongest piece."

"Where is it? The greatest guardian and yet the worst sacrifice, the one who has been named the clutch and the crutch, where doest thou find such a fabled piece?"

"Under the Barbatos statue."

"Huh?!"

"It's under the Barbatos statue," Emmy repeated gently, and upon seeing the confused look on her friend's face she asked, "Do you want me to explain?"

Fischl nodded.

"Then walk with me."

Emmy got up and extended her hand toward Fischl and the girl looked at her in confusion for a few moments before she held her hand with her slightly greasy fingers. Emmy silently made a command in her mind and the next moment Fischl suddenly felt that her hand seemed a bit cleaner than before.

Emmy didn't give the time to think through and began to explain, "It was really simple really," It was, she found it out in under 5 minutes, "You see Celestia on our right?"

Fischl nodded.

"Well, the line [As the star of dawn ascends to celestia] means as the sun reaches a point that is in a similar diagonal to Celestia so now that the sun is in a diagonal we should head to the location now. The other line [Shadows crea(e)k and Ashes fall] or was it the other way around? Anyway, it means we have to find it in a shadow and the later lines I'll explain when we arrive at our destination."

Fischl once again nodded and the two girls walked along until they arrived at the Barbatos statue in front of the church.

"Here?!"

"Yep."

Emmy said as she looked around, seeing the multiple people walking around the area. She looked at the tall statue in front of her that had to be at least 7 to 8 meters tall.

The statue of Barbatos was one of a young-looking effeminate male who was covered in robes, his hair consisted of two side braids and he had his hands joined together at the sides as if asking for something. He had two wings at his back.

She stopped just before she could step into the small circular water mote around the statue. She looked back at Fischl and saw the girl looking at her as well, silently asking her questions.

"Can you see it? The diagonal drawn by both the sun and Celestia that hits the Barbados statue."

"...!"

Emmy chuckled when she saw the frightened look Fischl showed to her as the girl looked back and forth between the 3 objects on either side.

"But why? Can it not be drawn by any location other than the statue of Barbatos?"

"Yes, which is why the other two lines come in, [Ashes fall and shadows crea(e)k] along with, [a single jewel for one ball]. I thought it was strange, why would those words be there if not to throw me off but then I figured it out. The true nature of this puzzle. A puzzle that can only be known to those who studied Mondstadt's history."

"It's history. Like the tyrants?"

"Much more than that but yes the tyrants are involved as well. It was said that long ago a beast of shadow attacked Monstadt but Barbatos defended it. It was said that the sky was covered in ash that day. Thus the term [Ashes fall]. The term [Shadows crea(a)k] is a word within a word or a letter from a foreign language masquerading as the letter from the alphabet of most of the letters in this letter. An optical illusion or maybe a real one. Who knows?

"The point is the man was referring to both the shadows cast by the evil beast and the sun during this time of day. The term [A single jewel for one ball] was the real reason I figured it out. Two words: Ludi Harpastom"

"The festival?"

"Yep. Specifically the one related to where the young girls or jewels in this case would throw a ball into a crowd of young men to see who she would marry. It was a voluntary activity but back then some young girls were forced to take part. By the tyrants of that era, the Lawrance ancestors."

"But what does that have to do with Barbatos's statue?"

"Because it was exactly on the palm of his statue that they stood on to throw that ball. Thus," Emmy moved toward the bushes under the statute going toward the shadows, she reached in before pulling out a golden queen piece and a piece of paper, "We have solved this puzzle and attained our prize."

Emmy waved the piece in the air while Fischl looked on in amazement. Fischl exclaimed in excitement and jumped in Emmy's arms with a bright smile all the while singing praises. Emmy smiled as Fischl praised her for the second time today.

It was truly a great day.

Nothing could go wrong.

After a long while Emmy patted Fischl on the back, and the girl pulled back. Emmy showed her the letter in her hands and Fischl immediately wanted to go to the place she read about there.

It was a roleplay convention.

As Fischl ran around excitedly Emmy concealed the sly look in her eyes and ignored the pain she began to feel in her chest. She silently moved her energy there to relieve that mysterious pain and opened her eyes to see Fischl waving at her from ten meters away.

With a wave Emmy departed as well, silently wiping off the blood that came from her mouth.

Just a little more.

Please.

***