Chapter 3

A young girl with gray hair like the boy from earlier came up. She was wearing a medium length white skirt with red and black accents and a tight black long sleeve shirt. "My name is Noelle," she said smoothly, "I am in charge of watching you."

"Just me? What about Paimon?" he asked. How come I'm a threat but not her?

"Ms. Celestia has already shown her loyalty and is not a threat against any of the Archons," Noelle replied.

"That's another question," Aether began, whirling around to look at Paimon, "How come your affiliation is Celestia. Something you didn't mention earlier. And something that apparently carries some weight. And something that is also your last name. Are you your own group?"

"Paimon's name is Paimon Celestia. Paimon is an ambassador of sorts. Paimon can move freely throughout the entire city and within everyone's territories. In exchange Paimon has promised not to rat anyone out and will not supply any information about any of the other groups."

"What about your parents? Why is no one concerned that an ELEVEN year old is so well versed in the mafia politics of this city?" Aether asked loudly, his anger shining through.

All of his anger dissipated when she wobbly said, "Paimon is an orphan. Paimon has no parents. The Archon groups have raised Paimon. They are Paimon's family and Paimon is theirs!" She brightened up as she finished.

"I suggest we go to the dining hall. It's dinner time after all."Without waiting for an answer, Noelle turned and briskly walked to the dining hall with Aether and Paimon trailing behind.

***

The dining hall was what looked like a refurbished storage unit. I wonder how the police haven't found any of this. It had lofty ceilings with a chandelier light fixture that cast dark shadows around the room. Around the table sat some familiar faces but also several new ones. Eula and Lisa were talking to a girl with long brown hair and a red bunny headband. Barbatos, at the head of the table, was talking to Diluc who was on his left and someone Aether didn't recognize, she had long black hair with ornate gold pieces on the ends. Noelle moved to sit next to the boy from earlier who was talking with a girl, who really only looked 17. How old are these people? She had curly blonde hair and was wearing a white dress with blue trim, interestingly enough she was wearing a gold cross necklace. I would think a disciple of God would have trouble with all of the murder. Paimon easily sat across from Cross Girl and fell into easy conversation. Aether stood for a minute before sitting in between Ornament Hair Girl and Paimon. As he walked closer to the table conversations grew quieter before eventually stopping altogether. They really don't trust me. Not even enough to talk about casual things. Once everyone was seated, Barbatos lightly tapped a knife against his glass.

"As you all can see. We have a guest. To those of you who haven't already heard. Sora will be staying with us for the time being. He is from beyond the city borders." Unknown Boy's eyes widened when Barbatos said that. "He will be staying here until I deem it safe for him to leave. Noelle is currently on guard duty. On another note. Dvalin reappeared today. Three blocks north of Diona's. Mona is on tracking duty at the moment, what's your status?"

Oh so this is Mona. Interesting. Aether looked closer at the girl as she spoke. "I've been scrying across the vast space of the internet. So far he has not shown himself. If you wish I can inquire with Fischl and the information her father possesses."

"No. For now keep it within us. Only as a last resort will we call upon Etwas for help. I would even ask Beelzebul before asking him," Barbatos said both names with palpable disdain. "Lisa, what is your status with information collection?"

"Well darling. I have at least enough to get Jean on his tail. I can redact enough information that he will be incriminated without anything being traced back to us."

"Fantastic. In that case, let us eat," Barbatos said with a grand gesture to the food on the table. Everyone served themselves and slowly chatter began again. Aether was content to simply listen in.

"So Bennett," Noelle began, "How's Razor~?" So that's Unknown Boy's name. Bennett. It fits him I suppose. I wonder who Razor is. Judging by his face I suspect a significant other.

"He's good. A little sad because Cyno's working again. Poor guy just thinks that a project at work has picked up. Which I suppose it has. Just not in the way Razor thinks," Bennett turned to Barbatos, "Hey Ven!" Barbatos perked up and looked over. Interesting. That's the second time he has responded to 'Ven'. It must be his real name.

"What's up kid?" Barbatos asked.

"What's the news on the Akademiya? Apparently Cyno has been working a lot more lately. Hasn't been home in a few days according to Razor." The plot thickens. So Bennett's significant other is unaware of their boyfriend and brother's involvement. Well, I assume unaware.

Diluc answered Bennett, "I think they have been fine tuning the development of the Akasha Terminals. But I think the Fatui have been interfering. Which is probably why the General Mahamatra is working more than usual." Bennett hummed, apparently satisfied with that answer.

"How is Fischl?" Cross Girl asked Mona.

"Oh, she's good. Etwas is being terrible as always. I hope that one of these days she finally leaves," Mona said, "Of course if she leaves I hope she joins us. After all, Fú Jin's kid is a part of the Qixing. You can't deny that she wouldn't be a valuable asset."

"At the moment she is more useful as an unassuming pawn. Should she leave, we lose access to her father's server," Barbatos said, "As soon as Dvalin has been dealt with you can invite her. Until then she must stay where she is." Mona seemed slightly uncontent with his answer but left it alone. They're just blatantly using Fischl. Even to the point of what sounds like what might be physical abuse. It does sound like Barbatos has a plan though.

"And what about you?" Cross Girl turned her gaze to Aether, "Venti told us some stuff. I want to hear it from you though. What's it like beyond the border?" 'Ven' is just short for 'Venti.' What an interesting name.

"To be honest I don't remember very much. It was years ago," Aether said, mostly truthfully.

"Years ago? But you only just arrived today?" Eula asked. Aether paused, unsure how much information he was willing to divulge. Obviously Barbatos and Diluc know some of it. And Paimon. So I can't lie without garnering suspicion from them. I suppose I just withhold some details, names and the like.

"I didn't arrive today. Me, my sister, and our friend entered Teyvat five years ago. We were stopped by Asmoday. I woke up in an alleyway today with no memory of the last five years. And no sign of my sister or our friend. Paimon found me and brought me to you guys." There no real details. Simply the basics. And hopefully enough to prove I pose no threat. While Aether can't use a gun or other weapons, he is in good physical shape. And knows the basics of several hand-to-hand combat types. And it's for a situation like this that their mother made them take those self-defense classes. Although I doubt she thought we would get involved with the mafia.

"Interesting," Cross Girl said, "So, Paimon brought you here? Knowing nothing about you?" She turned to Paimon and raised her eyebrows, "Did it ever occur to you he could be one of the Abyss' people? Or a police member? That this could be an elaborate trap." So their prime worry is the Abyss. Didn't Paimon say they caused the Cataclysm?

Paimon at least had the decency to look slightly ashamed under the scrutiny of all of the Knights. "Paimon has faith in you guys! Paimon knows that you guys could handle it if Sora was a part of the Abyss then he would be dealt with swiftly and sent back to the Princess as an example." The Princess? As if Paimon sensed his confusion she turned to him and said, "The Princess is the leader of the Abyss. Her second in command is 'The Twilight Sword.' No one knows where they came from."

"There are no records in the police files or within my archives," Lisa added.

"And Fischl's father has no information on his servers," Mona said, "Even I can't find anything online."

"It's as if they just appeared one day," Paimon said, "Paimon knows some information about their other members. Like Demivie is directly below the Twilight Sword! Frostsword is someone within the police. Oh and Gold is a world renowned chemist specifically known for genetic modification and creation! She is also wanted for murder. Kreideprinz is Gold's first creation and Wachsprinz is her second. Now whether she truly genetically created them or not is a different story. Paimon thinks she did though! And then they have ranks below those five. Abyss Heralds are the next rank. Then Abyss Lectors. Then Abyss Mages. Each have varying strengths and weaknesses." As if they appeared one day. How odd. Of course they could have scrubbed everything from the world. Or they could be outsiders, like me. I believe it's the first. Afterall, the odds of there being more outsiders than me, Dain, and Lumine. Slim to none.

"Which I suspect is something to do with Gold," Barbatos said, "They don't look human. Nor do they act human."

"We also don't know any of their real names," Lisa said.

"No matter how deep into the internet I scry, there is nothing," Mona added.

"We will find something someday. Eventually they will slip up. And we will be there to take advantage of it," Barbatos said.

"Yeah, us and everyone else in this archonforsaken city," Diluc mumbled, "I suspect even Asmoday will get involved." Diluc's tone was one of finality, which shut the conversation down any further. The others engaged in small talk while Aether simply sat and let the thoughts roll around in his brain.