Once the group of four left Mondstadt, Aether decided to lead the team to a waypoint. "What's that?" Emma asked as she stared at the strange device in front of her. "This is a waypoint, it teleports you where you want to be." Aether explained as Emma exclaimed in shock. "How come I'm hearing this now! All my time walking around is such a waste now!" Emma said dramatically as Aether just sheepishly smiled. "Oh whatever, let's get this over with." Emma sighed as Aether used the waypoint to Springvale.

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"Springvale?" Emma questioned. "Sorry. I haven't unlocked all the waypoints yet." Aether apologized. "It's okay! Besides, I wanna help you out more." Emma reassured as Aether's cheeks heated up. "Ahem..." Paimon fake coughed as the two looked at her. "O-oh! Sorry." Emma gave the two a sheepish smile as Diluc handed Emma and Aether a mask. "A disguise, to protect your identity. Put it on before you run into the Fatui." Diluc said as the two did as they were told then the group continued their quest from there.

After the long walk, the group found the Fatui's hideout, which was near a cliff. "So this is the place?" Emma asked. "Yes, let's head inside." Aether nodded as the group entered.

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Emma let out a small gasp as she looked around the hideout. It resembled a ruin with few chests around. The bridge that led to the next room had a mechanism, which was a blazing machine where you can only walk when the machine was down.

"Okay, let's wait a moment." Aether said as they waited for the machines to turn down. After a few seconds the machines went down as the group hurriedly ran across the bridge. Then the group went up the stairs, and soon spotted a Fatui guard standing there. "Let's interrogate him." Aether whispered as they approached the man. "No, NO! Don't eat me! Ah? You're...you're human?" The man said as he seemed afraid at first but quickly realized it was just them. "The entire floor's defenses have been broken. I thought it was the Abyss Order attacking..." The man said. "Abyss order? So they know of them too. But why would he think that?" Emma thought as she crossed her arms.

"We have come here for the Holy Lyre der Himmel." Aether said in a leader-like tone. "H-How did you guys know the lyre's here?" The guy exclaimed as he was taken off guard. "The place is being kept locked up tight. If you're after the key, keep going further into the ruins, but d-don't come after me!" The guy confessed. "I don't know which one of the guards has it, but I'm sure you can find the guards and find out yourselves." The guy continued. "This guy looks like he's about to wet himself..." Paimon mumbled.

"Y-you just worry about yourselves, One of the Harbingers is already in Mondstadt." The guy said as Emma raised a brow. "Harbinger? Are they part of the Fatui?" Emma thought. "Signora. When she gets her hands on you she's going to string you down and torture you. When that time comes, don't you dare say a word about me." The guy said as he quickly left.

"Did he say Signora? What a strange name..." Paimon said as the group moved forward. "No.8 of the Eleven Harbingers, goes by the name Signora." Diluc said. "The fact that the Fatui can run amok across the seven nations like they do is entirely because of the Eleven Harbingers." Diluc said bitterly. "We need to act quickly before she gets wind of what's going on." Diluc warned as the group reached another room where there were separate small rooms.

Emma looked at the mechanism that was in the middle of the room. "Looks like we need a key. Let's check the rooms." Aether said as they decided to head to the room that was on the top left. They entered to see a guard and a Mitachurl that was locked in a cell. "Wh-who are you? Wh-what are you doing here? Argh!" The guard said as he seemed a bit spooked. "Give up, nobody is coming to rescue you." Aether threatened. "Did you already beat all the other guards?" The guard asked in fright ."I kicked their Snezhnayan butts." Aether said as Emma snickered a little. "What!? I-I'm not scared of you. An agent will come to my aid!" The guy tried to act brave.

"Oh, I dealt with him already." Aether said. The guard went quiet as he tried to think of something. "Fine. Not like I have a choice anyway." The guard said as he gave up. "Alright, you're free to go, but I don't have the key unfortunately. You'll have to ask the next guard you come across." The guard said as Emma was surprised at how nice he was. "Well, let's try the next room." Paimon said as the group headed towards the second room. The room was just barrels and wood structures that seem to be places where people can stand.

After some digging around, they still haven't found the key. "Let's head to the next room." Paimon said before almost getting ambushed by Pyro slimes. It wasn't much of a big deal as Aether took care of it. "Hm... now that I think about it, why does Fatui sound familiar to me?" Emma mumbled as Diluc looked at her with confusion. "Did you say something?" Diluc asked, breaking Emma's thoughts. "Uh, no. Nothing at all." Emma replied as Diluc just nodded before the group went to the next room.

The third Room had a chest with a seal on it. "Strange. Where's-" Emma was suddenly cut off as three Electro flies came as they started to shoot Electro at them. "Ugh. These things are so annoying." Aether groaned as he quickly pulled out his sword as took care of the flies. After that, the seal disappeared as Aether opened the chest. "Seems like we've turned this room inside and out... but no key. Time to move on to another room!" Paimon said as the group headed towards the last room.

"There's one more room left that we haven't tried, surely the key must be in there?" Paimon said as they entered the last room. In the room stood another guard as he noticed the group. "W-Who are you? How'd you get here!?" The guard said as he seemed a bit shocked. "There's nothing to discuss, give up now." Aether said. "Ha...like hell!" The guard laughed before pondering. "The will of Snezhnaya is as solid as the permafrost! I will not yield!" The guard said until suddenly a Fatui mage appeared.

"Emma, stay back! We'll handle this." Aether said as Diluc and Aether went to fight the mage. Emma stood in the sidelines as she gripped her staff tightly. "I know they care about me, but is it selfish of me to at least help out?" Emma thought before suddenly the mage appeared behind her. "You look cute, I bet Tsaritsa will like you." The mage giggled as Emma quickly backed away.

Aether saw this and quickly ran towards before slaying the mage with no mercy. Emma stared at him with wide eyes and she never saw this side of Aether. "....Aether..?" Emma spoke out softly as Aether snapped out of his thoughts. "Oh! I'm sorry you have to see that..." Aether quickly apologized before picking up the key. "C'mon, let's keep moving." Aether left the room with Paimon following him, meanwhile Emma stared at him in daze, completely confused yet a bit scared.

"Emma, are you alright?" Diluc placed a hand on Emma's shoulder which broke Emma's daze. "A-ah, I'm alright, let's go." Emma gave the red-head a reassuring smile before the two followed Aether and Paimon.

"Hey Aether, what do you think that mage meant when she said that the Tsaritsa will like me?" Emma asked as the gate opened to reveal an elevator. Aether just stayed quiet as the four got on the elevator and headed up.

Soon the four were at the floor where the Holy Lyre was being kept. "Yes! Let's go get it." Emma quietly cheered as the group headed towards the lyre before a cage suddenly blocked it. "Where did you rats scurry out from?" A voice spoke out as a Fatui agent appeared.

"Stay back Emma, we'll handle this." Diluc said in a low whisper as Emma nodded. "Signora is not going to tolerate this kind of interference in our affairs. So I'll be the one to take care of you -- save her the trouble of having to deal with you herself." The agent suddenly disappeared as the two were on guard, not knowing where the agent was.

"I'll start with you!" Suddenly the agent appeared in front of Emma who was taken off guard. Emma quickly brought up her staff as she blocked the agent's attack. "Tch, thought you'll be easier then I expect-" Suddenly Diluc came up behind the agent and did a full swing with his claymore. The agent was caught off guard as he was sent flying to the other side of the room. "You guys look tougher than you look..." The agent coughed as Aether ran him and attacked him. Emma looked away as she didn't like the scene very much, heck you can even say she was afraid of Aether at this point.

Soon after, the cage lifted as Aether defeated the Fatui agent. The four walked towards the Holy Lyre. "Finally, the Holy Lyre is back in safe hands!" Paimon cheered. "Glad that's finally over!" Emma clapped her hands in glee. "Where did that guy go, though? He was here a second ago..." Paimon asked. "Signora is going to end you. The songs of bards singing of your demise will be so terrifying-- the people of Mondstadt will never sleep again for the nightmares they give them." The Fatui agent said as it seemed he had escaped. "Big talk for a guy who still ran off in the end...chicken." Paimon said sarcastically.

"We should get outta here. Or else more will come." Emma warned as everyone nodded in agreement.

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"Hey Emma, are you okay? You seemed scared when I was getting rid of that agent." Aether asked as Emma tense up a bit. "Uhm....don't worry, I'm fine. I was just scared that the agent would attack me." Emma smiled as she hid her shaky hands. "If there is something bothering you, please tell me." Aether reassured with a smile but there was something wrong with it. Like it was hiding a malicious intent.

"Yeah I will!......I will...." Emma mumbled as she stared at her staff. The crack on it seemed to have gotten bigger and Emma didn't have a good feeling about it.

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Editors: Stars_Ensemble