73 One Last Journey Together

"Why are we here again?" Aether asked staring at the patrolling ruin guard in front of him. Diluc shrugged his shoulders.

"Dunno. Ask Jean. " Diluc pointed to his ex-subordinate. Jean crossed her arms together.

"As a knight,we are taught to hone our investigation and observation skills. So... i thought why not check here just in case. This is The Thousand Winds Temple after all. " Jean said. Diluc nodded in understanding remembering what be was taught when he was just a recruit in the Knights of Favonius.

"We were also taught to not actively find what we want. We will find it eventually but patience is the key. But since we don't have much time, we're just winging it at this point. " Diluc said. Aether nodded in understanding.

" So when are we destroying this guard? " Aether said.

" Right now. " Diluc said and summoned his Wolf's Gravestone.

"Hah!" He slashed his blade horizontally and a giant phoenix shot out. It rammed into the ruin guard with it's flaming beam and pushed it back. The phoenix then flew up to the sky with it's beak piercing the guard.

*BOOOM!!*

It exploded, pieces of the ruin guard fell from the sky. A chest appeared in the middle of the temple.

"That should do it." Diluc said to himself and turned around to see Aether and Jean. Their eyes were twitching.

"Why did you steal all the fun!" Aether shouted out loud with a tick mark on his forehead.

"I was about to form a quick plan to deal with it! Now it's gone to waste!" Jean said raising her fist in anger. Diluc was in an awkward position now.

" Ahhh..... Ugh..... I... We can fight other enemies....??? Such as Stormterror..... " Diluc made a very quick but very easy to see through excuse. Jean huffed. Aether gritted his teeth.

"Hmph! You better be grateful that we're in a rush here. Or else you're going to get it." Jean said walking up to the chest and opening it. She had a surprised look on her face.

" A teardrop? " She was surprised. Diluc and Aether appeared and looked over her shoulder. Sure enough it was a bright red and corrupted teardrop.

"Maybe it's best to not touch it. It can corrupt your mind." Aether said and snatched the teardrop from her. He put it in his backpack.

"And why are you keeping it for yourself? Diluc asked suspiciously while Jean nodded in agreement.

"Somehow I'm not affected by it. And I can purify it and give it to Venti. " Aether explained and he suddenly got an idea.

" How about I use the corrupted soul of Stormterror to fuel my Dark Wind. I'll destroy his soul and leave the shit that corrupted it. " Aether thought. He will have to try it later.

" Sure.... " Jean rolled her eyes.

" She really is different from the Jean in the office working all day. " Aether thought again. Diluc looked at the sky, it was evening now.

" It's getting late. You guys can stay at my manor tonight. Tomorrow we'll discuss with Venti on how to confront Stormterror. He's at the manor already. Let's go back to Dawn Winery. " Diluc said and teleported. Aether looked at Jean.

" Why not? He invited us. " Jean said and teleported as well. Aether was the last to come out of the teleport point.

" Welcome to my home. Please choose a guest room of your choice. There are only two rooms for you so choose wisely. No fighting of course. " Diluc said and greeted his head maid Adeline.

Aether looked at Jean. "Choose whatever room you want to sleep in. Or if you want we could just share one room together." Aether teased. Jean shook her head repetitively.

"No no no! I won't sleep with a guy like you! I'll choose the biggest guest room! You'll have the other one." Jean said and went in to her chosen room. Aether shrugged. " She's missing out. " He muttered and went downstairs to see Barbatos sitting on the long dining table reading a poetry book.

" Hi Venti. " Aether said. Barbatos looked up.

" Ah Aether you're here! How was it? Did you find enough? " Barbatos asked putting the poetry book down.

"We've found two. " Diluc said appearing in his casual clothes which is a folded white long sleeve shirt and black pants.

"Just two? Is it going to be enough to power the Holy Lyre? " Venti asked.

" We don't know. But that's all we could find before it was evening. " Jean said walking down the stairs elegantly. Aether blushed a little looking at the clothes she was wearing.

Jean was wearing a blue long sleeve shirt that reached her knees. On the shirt it wrote 'I'm beautiful. ' on it.

"Where did you get those clothes Jean? It certainly is not be from my wardrobe. " Diluc commented. Jean slowly and shyly pointed to Aether. Aether blushed more and got a confused face.

"Did you took it out from my backpack Jean?" Aether asked and Jean nodded looking down.

"I didn't know what I was thinking. I didn't pack any clothes. I should take this off —

" Keep it on. " Aether said. Jean got confused and tilted her head.

" But.... it's your clothes? " Jean replied.

" You can wear them. You can keep it if you want to. I'll buy more later. Plus you look cute in them." Aether said. Jean looked down.

" Really? You think I'm cute....." Jean fiddled her fingers nervously. Diluc and Barbatos looked unaffected at what's going on between them.

"Bro I'm thousands of years old and I'm still single. How pathetic am I?" Barbatos asked himself.

" How does a woman's touch feel like...." Diluc thought disappointed in how he isn't in a relationship yet.

"Mhm! Actually I'll go get my clothes now since you took mine." Aether said and disappeared. He appeared thirty seconds later with his own casual clothes.

He was wearing a yellow color shirt that is also too big for him. It reached to his knees as well. In the middle it had shooting stars drawn on it.

"Now we're almost matching. Hihi." Aether giggled. Jean smiled. Barbatos decided that it was enough lovey-dovey time for them and coughed into his own hand. Jean and Aether looked at him and blushed. She looked away while Aether rubbed his head smiling sheepishly.

"Now that we're back on track. It's not enough to power the Holy Lyre at all." Barbatos said th truth. Aether remembered something and summoned his clone to get his backpack. The clone arrived back with what Aether wanted and disappeared.

Aether searched his backpack and found the things that he needed.

He took out five more teardrop crystals. All of them were purified. Barbatos and the others widened their eyes in shock.

"How.... where....." Jean asked.

"During the fight with Stormterror it drop teardrops from its eyes. That's where I collected them." Aether lied a little.

" Oh. So it is true. You can purify them. But I have to see it with my own eyes though. " Diluc muttered. Aether took the corrupted teardrops with both of his hands and did what he wanted to do.

He destroyed Stormterror's soul that was in the teardrop. The evil was still in the teardrops so he absorbed it and infused it with his Anemo Element. One fifth of his Anemo Reserves has now evolved into The Dark Wind.

Barbatos widened his eyes at the changes happening in Aether's magic reserves. "Is that.... The Dark Wind? Never thought a mortal would ever have that part of the Anemo element. I'm interested to see where Aether will go after defeating Dvalin. " Barbatos thought intrigued at Aether.

" Woah. " Jean marveled at the change of color in the teardrop.

" Interesting. It's like filtering wine. The process is.... refreshing." Diluc made a comparison. He actually feels refreshed, actually all of them do now that the evil is gone from the teardrop. After the purification process was completed, Barbatos decided to talk.

"I think we have enough teardrops to power the Holy Lyre now. " Barbatos said cheerfully. Diluc raised his hand.

"Hold on. I imagine we're all tired because of our adventures. So I suggest we sleep and discuss things more tomorrow morning. Does it sound good to all of you?" Diluc asked looking at each of them. Jean nodded.

"I don't see why not. I'd rather have a good nights sleep for once." Jean said. Diluc said and clapped his hands. Maids came out of a room pushing trays and carrying bottles and wine glasses.

"Then my friends. Let us have a wonderful dinner together." Diluc said. They all smiled.

" Don't forget future heroes of Mondstadt. " Aether added. Diluc smiled a little.

" And future heroes of Mondstadt. Let us eat!" Diluc shouted. Paimon appeared her mouth watering at the variety of food laid on the dining table.

" Yeah! " Barbatos shouted excitedly and sat properly to eat. Paimon sat on a taller chair to eat with them.

Aether smiled at the scene. " I'm going to say this over and over again. I don't regret living this life that I wanted. The adventures, the battles and the love. I don't regret anything. And things are going to get more exciting in the future. " Aether thought excited.

" C'mon Aether. Why aren't you eating? Don't tell me you don't want to." Paimon said munching on some chicken. Aether grabbed a chicken leg and munched on it.

"Happy now?" He said raising his eyebrow.

"Mhm!" Paimon answered and they started eating.

To be continued.....