10 Going Home

On the morning of the following day, the four reached Mondstadt. They had taken a pit stop at Dawn Winery, much to Diluc's dissatisfaction. Once the sun peeked over the horizon, Diluc chased them out, nodding a farewell to the pair after learning that they were leaving that afternoon.

"And I guess we're back at Mondstadt huh? It's only been a couple of days since we left, but man, I'm already getting the feeling that I'll miss everything here."

"Nostalgia huh. You've been drinking too much again. How many times have we left the current world behind?"

"Hey, hey. This is a completely seperate world! Don't ya feel anything?"

"...."

"Fine, don't answer then."

"Paimon's gonna miss you two! Especially the good food!"

"Heh. Don't worry, we won't forget you or Lumine."

"Yeah, it was fun traveling and beating up random bosses. Say, why don't we ask Da Vinci to somehow make it possible to travel to and fro here?"

"Cú. Unlike singularities, this is a different world. As brilliant as our staff are, it is likely impossible to keep a path open between two seperate worlds."

"Well, whatever happens, just know that you two are always welcome in Teyvat if you somehow ever come back."(Lumine)

"Of course!"(Paimon)

"Hey Lumine! Archer! Lancer!"

Running towards the four, the outrider waved a hand and asked.

"What are you guys doing here?"

"Oh, hello Amber. These two are leaving for their own world this afternoon."

"We thought we would at least stop by Mondstadt, the first place we came to, before we left."

"Ah, you guys are leaving? But I feel like I just met you all!"

Smiling, Emiya patted Amber's head.

"Hey! What're you doing?"

"Ah, sorry. Consider it habit."

"Habit? Oh now I see. So that's why she always floats out of the cafeteria blushing hard."

"..."

Chuckling, Cú turned towards Amber.

"Forgive this old man. He's had one too many cute girls around him."

"W-what?"

"Lancer!"

"What? Aren't I telling the truth!"

"It's not like I wanted that to happen!"

"Yeah, yeah, sure."

"W-well, um anyway! I'll go get Jean and Kaeya. S-see you!"

With that, Amber turned and dashed away, head down and ears extremely red.

"What the heck was that you two?"

Cú, who couldn't hold back, burst out laughing while patting Emiya in the back.

"Consider it skill! And don't think too much about it."

"Hmm. Paimon gets the feeling there's a deeper meaning about it, but eh! Paimon will leave it be!"

"....You seriously forgive anyone with food huh?"

"Hmph! Paimon didn't say that! How did you know??!"

"Hey, Traveler. Oh, and the two other travelers. What's up?"

"Hello Lumine, Archer, and Lancer. Hello Paimon. We heard that Archer and Lancer were going to leave for their own world today."

"Hi Jean and Kaeya. Yeah, they are. Lucky huh?"

"Yes they are. A pity that you cannot yet return."

"Well, if they're leaving, why don't we celebrate this with some wine? My treat!"

"Whoa! Kaeya's treating today! Did the world turn upside down??"(Paimon)

"Sure! Mondstadt has some pretty good wine here! How about you, Archer?"

"...I suppose. Then do excuse us."

"No problem. Let's go!"

~Upon reaching Angel's Share~

"Man! This is some good stuff! Kaeya, you really have good taste in drinks!"

"Aww, thanks. Say Archer, how about you."

"I'd drink, but Lancer said that I would be fighting someone later today and it wouldn't be right to come in drunk hmm?"

"Aww c'mon Archer. As if you were ever a stickler on warrior codes and whatnot."

"Lancer. Remember that we're going home today. You planning on going home drunk?"

"Why not?"

"...sigh."

"Well sadly, Paimon and Lumine can't drink! Paimon really wishes to have a taste though."

"Underage, kid. Unless you want Archer here to go full on lecture mode, I suggest you don't."

Jean simply nodded.

"Lecture mode?"

"Lancer, shut-."

"Where he more or less slams you with a 2+ hour long speech."

"Shut up."

"Or what? Gonna impale me with your blades?"

"....cool it, cool it. I am not arguing with a drunk person."

"Eh~ You're no fun!"

"And here I thought he could hold his liquor?"(Kaeya)

"I'm not drunk!", Cú shouted before shutting his mouth when he noticed Jean's glare.

"If he wanted to, he could never get drunk. But I guess he doesn't feel like cleansing the alcohol out with runes so he's drunk."

"Oh. Runes?"

"Similar to your elemental magic."

"I see."

"Hey E- Paimon means Archer, Lancer! It's already getting kinda late. Paimon thought you wanted to fight Childe!"

"Paimon, it's only 2pm."

"She's not wrong though. We could have anywhere from 4 to 10 hours before being sent home."

"Ah, so you two are leaving now?"

"Yep. It was nice knowing you Kaeya. You too Jean. Tell Amber and everyone else we said bye then."

"Of course. Safe travelers, travelers. May the wind guide you on your way."

"Bye Lartoria~. It was fun drinkin' with ya Kaeya."

"Lancer, she isn't Lartoria. She's Jean."

"Ah? Right sorry. Jeez, maybe I am a little drunk."

"Disengage. Now."

"Aww."

"Lancer..."

"Fine."

"Well, we're gonna get going then! Don't want to make him wait!"

~On Qingyun Peak~

"Finally! Do you know how long I've been waiting?"

"Ah, sorry Childe. We went to the bar for a bit."

"Explains the alcohol smell. Hey, perhaps you would like to try some Snezhnaya specialty?"

"Nah, I'm good. Don't want to piss off Emiya here."

"Lancer-"

"It's all good. He told me last time."

"...sigh. Well, then Cú. Runes I suppose?"

"Don't tell me you're restricting yourself as well."

"Didn't plan on it. Was Cú's idea."

"Then don't get them."

"As if I'd be allowed to fight you 1v1 if I did. All three of them threatened to fight me if I didn't have Cú use runes."

"I see. A shame."

"Perhaps."

"Alright you two! Paimon's gonna start this battle! To your sides please!"

"How long is this fight going to last?"(Emiya)

"Umm....."

"As long as it should!"(Childe)

"No. It'll end when someone clearly wins or when those two get contacted again to go home."

"Hmph. Fine."

Running quickly, Childe made his way to the edge of the cliff as Emiya dashed to the face of the mountain.

"Ready?"

"Begin!"

"Hey Cú, come sit with us up here. It gives a pretty good view."

"Kay'."

As the trio sat high up on the peak, the two below began their fight.

Empty-handed, Emiya dashed forwards toward Childe as the latter knocked an arrow.

"Don't blame me if you lose this quickly!"

With a loud twang, Childe fired his notched arrow, blue hydro power quickly engulfing the shot.

"Hmph!"

In a flash, Emiya countered with a white blade that seemed to appear out of thin air.

"As if."

The white blade then disappeared, before being replaced with the black bow Childe had seen earlier when Emiya fought against the boss from Lumine's memories.

"Hah! As if I'd let you charge up a shot like that!"

Childe then fired two more arrows as Emiya before replacing his bow with his signature hydro short swords.

Emiya, while dodging both arrows, quickly fired a round of arrows at Childe before switching back to the white blade from before.

"....So you also use a bow and dual-type weapons."

"Oh so you also duel-wield? Take out the other blade then!"

"..."

Right before Childe hit him with a double downward slice, Emiya parried with the white blade and newly projected black blade.

"Alright!"

The two continued to exchange blows. As the fight dragged on, Childe noticed that despite there being so many openings, he could never hit Emiya once while Emiya had managed to cut him a couple times.

"What the-?"

Up above, Lumine and Paimon were also confused.

"Hahahaha! That bastard is the same as ever! Honestly, he's way slower than me and can barely keep up with me in anything, but because of his unique technique, you shouldn't look down on him."

"Unique technique? Paimon wants to know!"

"Heh. He'll tell you if he feels like it."

"Aww."

"Interesting. So, instead of the traditional fighting ways, he takes chances instead."

"So you caught on. That's correct."

"Whaaaa? Paimon doesn't get it! Lumine, please tell Paimon!"

"Haha. Sorry Paimon, but Cú's right. This one is not mine or anyone's to tell."

"Hmph!"

-Down Below-

"This'll end it!"

With a roar, Childe let loose a single arrow into the sky.

Emiya, with Hawkeye, immediately noticed the danger of such an arrow, and thus decided to hop away.

"Damn. You react quicker than Cú does."

"Not quite. I simply notice a few more things. A class advantage I suppose."

"Huh."

Switching back to his melee form, Tartaglia dashed forward again.

"Apologies."

Emiya let loose a broken phantasm from his bow at a charge time much faster than Tartaglia expected.

"Whaa?"

"Who says I have to wait that long to charge it?"

"At least it has less power."

"Hmm. Or else you would've been out from that shot alone."

"Then I'll show you something just as good!"

Dispersing his two short blades, Childe then switched to a long spear.

"Riptide!"

By instinct, Emiya knew this attack was dangerous. This blow was much more powerful than that arrow from before.

But if that lance simply swung out in a wide arc to deal damage, then all he needed to do was to parry it with a stronger slash.

"Hmph!"

As Childe tried to slash across, he felt his blade meeting resistance. Emiya was holding a large sword in his hands.

"What?..."

"Heh. Normally, it's supposed to only be held in one hand, but my parameters are lowered so I'll make do with two."

"Geez, how many weapons do you have?"

"Much more than you probably. But anyway, that melee form is a little annoying. So let's seal that away."

Feeling the hair on his neck stand up, Childe dashed backward as Emiya made the large blade disappear.

Childe watched in awe as lightning seemed to sparkle from the ground near Emiya's feet as a strange, short, jagged dagger manifested in his hands.

"Sorry Childe. But don't worry, the effects will go away after awhile."

"Damn!"

Emiya rushed forward and stabbed the tiny dagger into Childe's chest.

"Rule Breaker!"

"Aghhh!"

Tartaglia felt the hydro power he acquired from his vision flow out from him. Suddenly, it felt like he couldn't use any elemental energy.

"Wha...wha?"

"Stop! Stop stop stop! This battle has gone a little too far. Emiya, release that!"

"What? This is a fight. You can't just stop it in the middle."

"You! You literally just sealed his elemental energy!"

"Emiya did what?"(Lumine)

"Huh?"(Paimon)

"Agh. See that weird looking dagger? It belongs to arguably one of the strongest witches in our world. Dagger's name is Rule Breaker. And it does exactly what its name says."

"A rule breaker? Whoa!"

"I should have stopped this battle upon seeing his weapon being projected."

"Nine lives?"

"Of course!"

As the two servants continued talking with Cú berating Emiya on overdoing it, Lumine and Paimon came to Childe who had collapsed onto the ground.

"Are you okay Childe?"

"I'm fine but....Cú's right. It feels like my elemental power has been sealed away."

"Oh don't worry too much", Emiya said having overheard, "The effects will wear off in about a day."

"....sigh. So I guess the match won't continue?"

"Of course not! Paimon thinks Childe's being stupid! You can't possibly beat Emiya without elemental energy!"

"No, I guess not haha."

Having declared the results of the match, the four were interrupted by a bzzt sound.

"Emiya! Cú! This is Da Vinci! We're establishing a connection!"

"Ah, Da Vinci. Given that you contacted us now, we're going home no?"

"Yep! Everything's all set up. Just tell me when you two are ready."

The two then faced the three figures in front of them.

"Well, I guess this is goodbye now. It was fun meeting ya missy Lumine and tiny Paimon. That battle was great, Childe. Say, maybe one day you can visit us instead!"

"Yeah, maybe. The duels were fun! I'll miss you two."

"Bye bye! Paimon's sad to see you two leave, but Paimon knows that you two probably miss home like Lumine does. Paimon will miss you!"

"Goodbye Emiya, Cú. It was fun traveling with you two and hearing your stories. Maybe one day, when I find what I'm looking for and accomplish all I need to do, I'll try to travel to your world. Goodbye. I'll miss you."

"Heh. Don't forget us okay? We'll miss you two! Teyvat was fun. Say, if the Throne exists here, maybe one day we'll be back too!"

"Agreed. It was a nice adventure. And....a nice dream....cough. Anyway, may you stay safe on your travels. Goodbye Lumine, Paimon, and Tartaglia. Or, should I say Ajax?"

"Huh? How-"

"Don't worry too much about it. He probably read your weapon and gleaned your name from it. Trade skill. That's how he guess my name too."

"No. If anything, your movement gave yourself away."

"Aw, shut it. Anyway, we're ready Da Vinci."

"Alright! While the monitor doesn't make it very clear, I can see what seems like a girl, a guy, and a floating familiar. I may not know who you guys are or have enough time to know, but thank you for taking care of these two while they were trapped there. If any of your world's people end up here, we'll be sure to send them back!"

"Thank you miss..."(Paimon)

"Leonardo Da Vinci! Calling me Da Vinci will be fine. I give you permission too!"

"Thank you Da Vinci."(Lumine)

"Bye everyone. Until the next journey."(Lumine)

"Goodbye."

In a flash of light, the two servants disappeared, leaving just three figures on top of the peak.

"Well, that was fun. Back to business now, I suppose."

"Yeah...."

As the three traveled back to Liyue together, memories of the strange travelers flowed through their minds.

"Let's not forget them."

"Of course."

"Paimon agrees too!"

-Fin-