XLIX

The sight stops your heart for a moment, thudding harshly in your chest. Your eyes desperately roam over his figure, looking for that small, glowing amulet, but finding nothing. It sends a spike of fear through your heart to see him stagger as he approaches, his face worn with eye bags and his smile failing to reach his eyes.

But as your group met him on the dock, you saw his posture straighten, attempting to present himself better than he obviously felt. "Hey! You finally made it! You sure kept me waiting, Captain." He chuckled, but his eyes were dull. "Got a couple of stowaways with you, hm?"

"Blame your almighty Shogun." Beidou responded mockingly, her heeled boots clacking against the wooden dock. "The tempests surrounding Inazuma are getting worse by the minute. It's a good thing we're always up to the challenge."

She turned to the three of you, the ones visible at least. Aether stood to your left and Ariel to your right, Paimon on the left of Aether, her feet kicking in the air.

Beidou waved her arm, a casual gesture. "Thoma, these are friends of mine. Aether, Paimon, [Y/n], meet Thoma. He's a trade partner I've gotten to know recently."

"Your reputations certainly precede you." Thoma chuckles lightly.

"The rumors tend to exaggerate-"

"It's so nice to hear you say that!" Paimon interrupted Aether, who only shot her a fond look.

Beidou sighed, her uncovered eye looking towards the slowly setting sun. "I think it's time I head out. Better to do it while we still have some light." Beidou turns back to you all with a playful smile on her lips. "Make sure to ask Thoma for help if you need it. He's a good one, but if he tries to pull one over on you, make sure to let me know. I'll set him straight,"

Thoma laughs, more genuine this time, almost unburdened by stress of his lack of vision. "I'm sure we'll get along just fine, Captain."

Beidou only smirks and nods. "I'll get going then. Don't want the lasting light revealing my fugitive. Fair travels you three, and goodbye Thoma." She walks off, her hips swaying cockily and her heels clacking against the dock.

When she's finally out of sight, back onto the Alcor, Thoma starts his instructions. "First we'll have to get you all registered at the border checkpoint."

You sighed, rubbing your forehead, already feeling a headache coming on. "This is why Mond is my favorite." You mutter petulantly.

Ariel snickered next to you and you shot him a soft glare. He shrugged. "I'm lucky I don't have to deal with this."

"Lucky you."

"Isn't it kind of dangerous to walk right into the government's hands?" Piped up Paimon, who was nervously wringing her hands.

"Well no matter how hard we try, we won't be able to escape the reach of the Sakoku degree." Thoma's smile turned just a bit mischievous, a strangely good look on him. "We'll be bending the rules just a bit.

We follow Thoma to meet an inspector named Kageyama. She held herself well, with a sweet face and easy demeanor. "Thoma, it's good to see you again." She smiled at him. Her gaze moved to you. "Hello. If you could please state your names, identity, and the purpose of your visit."

"Thoma should have our papers in order, ma'am." I jumped in before Paimon could flounder her way through the conversation.

Thoma nods and hands over the papers necessary. Kageyama checks over the entry papers, her sapphire eyes quick and sure. "It looks like everything is here. Welcome to Ritou."

"Next we'll have to head to the Outlander Affairs Agency."

"Ugh! Really? This place is so strict." Paimon groaned.

Thoma only considered her with patience. "You have to remember that to the citizens of Inazuma, people from anywhere else are outsiders. The Sakoku Degree is forcing even more isolation from outsiders. It's a difficult situation."

Aether nodded. "I understand, but we didn't come all this way just to be refused entry."

"That's the spirit!" Thoma grinned. "Now, let's go. We should get this done before it's dark."

-

The application for residency at the Outlander Affairs Agency, with Thoma's charm knocking the processing fee from a heart-stopping three million to six hundred thousand to only six hundred and a promised dinner.

You had to let out a breath when the fee dropped so much, sharing a look with Aether after he too, blanched at the prospect of paying so much. You could in his face the thought processing in his head of turning around and trying to catch Beidou's ship.

"This is madness!" Paimon screeched as you all walked away from the Agency. "Their sense of finance is insane! Three million to six hundred?!"

"Well, 'processing fee' is only a cover term for 'how much can we milk these merchant's with more money than sense?' It's times like these when having a local friend becomes handy." Thoma says.

"This feels like blatant oppression of immigrants." Aether said flatly.

"There's very little that can be done about it in this closed-nation era when you are an outsider."

"But you are not an outsider." Aether's stare hardened slightly.

"Aether, stop it." You murmured lowly into his ear, lightly grabbing his hand. "Now is not the time."

You felt a similar unease with the casualty Thoma used to speak about merchants coming to sell their goods only to lose millions of mora just to stay in the country when it was entirely unnecessary. However, now was not the time to ruminate over the policies of a country you have not been in for more than a few hours, nor to the person helping you bypass the system so you may enter for personal needs. Especially not considering you're not here to interfere with the country at all, so why become angry when there was nothing going to be done?

Aether glanced at you with a confounded look, but rolled his eyes and let it go. It filled you with a sense of cynical amusement that Aether was looking at you, asking why you were not as upset as him when he was the one to forbid you from involving yourself with other countries' happenings, seeing as what came about last time.

The truth you could admit to yourself was that you had a bit of a hero complex, and a desire to be a part of something bigger, the story of Genshin Impact. It had always been so exciting to be a part of the story, and once you got a taste of it with Dvalin, you didn't want to let it go. So even though you had genuinely forgotten about the platform breaking in the heat of the moment, maybe you could admit to yourself that even if you did remember, you wouldn't have said anything, mostly because you knew that if they knew, they would stop you.

But something you saw in Aether, was that he did not see the same sparks in himself that he saw in you. Though he simply wanted to find his sister, Aether had a habit of letting people walk over him to help them instead of taking the initiative to involve himself in their problems. It was a similar sense of righteousness that he did not acknowledge in himself that he pointed out in you.

Of course, he was right in saying that your habit was dangerous, you just found mirth in the light hypocrisy of his current upset.

"It's not all despair. The overseas merchants tend to stick together and they started the International Trade Association. It's a system built by and for outlanders that provides them help, structure, support, and advances commercial interests."

"Trying to survive here feels like a full time job!" Paimon sighs, her airy voice filling the dead street.

"We need to get into the country anyway, we're still looking for information about Lumine. Maybe it would be helpful to ask the Raiden Shogun herself."

"Well, nothing is set in stone. Perhaps you'll meet her while you're out for lunch." He teased.

"How likely is that?" Paimon lit up.

"Not at all." Thoma said plainly. "But, I have a way for you to meet with the Raiden Shogun, though it comes at a price."

"What?! You too Thoma?" Paimon shrieked.

"Not mora!" Thoma chuckled, waving his hand dismissively. "If this is something you really want, you'll just have to agree to help with some other problems first. It's my personal rule when it comes to help like this."

You sigh, already tired from the day. "What's the sitch man?

"Just like I said earlier. The International Trade Association is always struggling to survive. If you could, go down there and check things out, see if there's any ways for you to help. Talk to Kurisu, he's a good friend of mine."

"If you don't mind, I hope we can do this tomorrow morning?" You gesture to the now dark sky. "We've been traveling all day and we spent the rest of the afternoon and evening dealing with just being able to reside in Ritou without being arrested. We're all exhausted and we'd like to rest in a proper bed."

"Of course, I understand." He smiled kindly. "There's an inn I can take you too that's sure to have some rooms left open even so late into the night."

"Thank you." You nodded to him. "Not just for your flexibility, but for your help throughout the day. I think our arrival in Inazuma would've been much harder without you."

"No doubt it would have. Inazuma's quite a pain right now." Thoma motions you along, but you notice his step is much less bouncy than it was earlier. Even though he was never as energetic as you remember him being in the game, he still managed to keep up a reasonably excited appearance. But now, it seemed as if his energy had depleted. His strides dragged a bit more, his shoulders slumping and his eyes drooping.

By the time you all made it to the inn, Thoma looked out of breath, panting slightly, his face whiter. You suppose he has been running around all of Ritou for you all and with his vision gone, it might be taking much more of a toll on his body than you thought.

"Thoma, you should sit down for a moment. I'll go request the rooms." You gently pressed on his shoulder and it was telling that he flopped into the lobby bench with no resistance, just a small nod.

You did as you said you would, requesting a fairly large room with two beds.

Thoma said goodbye soon after, seeming ever so slightly better after his short rest. You, Aether, Ariel, and Paimon all went up to your room, immediately falling onto the nearest comfortable surface.

"I know we've been sleeping in the teapot instead of in the barracks, but man does it feel different to sleep in a real bed in the real world." You sigh happily, sinking into the plushness of the bed.

The room was silent for a moment until Aether spoke. "[Y/n], did Thoma seem a little... off to you?"

"...In what way?"

"He looks sickly. Fatigued. Not to mention the way he was trying to cover it up."

"He is..." You hesitated, worried about sharing something that is most definitely your fault. "He's supposed to have a vision. But his got taken away, I think. Being away from your vision can cause deterioration in a number of ways. I guess Thoma is experiencing that deterioration physically."

"Hm."

And that was that, the room was silent once more.

"...So. Helping merchants with taxes, huh?"

You could hear Aether sigh into his pillow. "Stop talking."

"I thought we were here for information only."

"[Y/n]."

"Okay."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"It's just that-"

"Go to sleep!"

-

The next morning began the most painful day you'd ever experienced, which is impressive given the amount of painful days you had gone through.

The situation with the Crystal Marrow scheme from the Kanjou Commision was incredibly dull to sort out, but you understood why it was an important issue to deal with for the merchants (gods know you hated the taxes you had to pay in your first life, if you had to pay these you would probably end up homeless).

So you and Aether and Paimon worked through the problem as quickly as possible while Ariel toiled away in the inn room, probably snuggling under your covers with his nasty shoes (nasty purely on the principle that they were shoes in bed, not because they were actually dirty as dirt never seemed to stick to any part of Ariel). Thoma cleared up the issue at the end after everyone had been confronted and then quickly pulled you all aside after Aether had further questioned Thoma after Ayaka's first mention.

Thoma explained who Ayaka was, who he himself was, and what his purpose of getting close to us was.

"She's so excited to meet you and find out if the rumors of your feats in Mondstadt and Liyue are true and if you have the strength to change the tide of the times." Thoma's face was brighter than it was yesterday, something that settled an anxious ball of nerves that coiled in the bottom of your stomach. "There were a few hiccups in the test I gave you earlier, but you did ultimately succeed. Now, with your help, even the Vision Hunt Decree may be-"

"No, sorry." Aether said flatly, his face placid but you could see a hint of annoyance.

"Ah." Thoma's face fell. "Perhaps our sources were misinformed."

"I have no desire to be involved with your country's inner-political issues. I simply wish to see the Raiden Shogun and be able to travel the island."

"I see, and as promised, I will help set that up for you." It was clear Thoma didn't like Aether's answer, a flash of upset crossing his face before he fixed it into a polite and understanding smile.

"You didn't put up much of a fight." Paimon commented.

Thoma only shrugged. "Our business in Ritou is over, but we'll be seeing each other again soon." He reached into his bright red jacket and pulled out a golden envelope, handing it over to Aether. "Here's an Invitation letter for when you get to Narukami Island. I'll be at the Komore Teahouse. Good luck!" Thoma gave one last smile before he walked off.

"Well, he's not so bad a guy!" Paimon nodded to herself as if agreeing with her own sentiment.

"Paimon," you started. "He didn't tell us how to get to Narukami Island and outlanders can't leave Ritou."

"He's testing us, again." This time Aether was openly annoyed, a frown pulling down the corners of his lips. "Am I always to be involved with these countries' personal conflicts? I stumble into the first two and now, despite my refusal, this one is trying to actively pull me in."

"For a moment, yesterday, it was like you wanted to be involved."

Aether raised his eyebrow. "Hm? When?"

"When Thoma was talking about the Outlander Affair Agency ripping off merchants."

He was quiet for a moment. "That was passing aggravation. I would not have chosen to involve myself if I could help it."

"But now that you are involved, it must be done."

"What are you trying to say?"

You scoffed. "Don't you think it's a teeny bit hypocritical to yell at me for participating in stuff like this but then you do it? It's just, with you, you must do it. You have no choice now."

Aether takes a deep breath. "I think you are purposefully misconstruing why I was angry with you. I was not mad you wanted to be involved. I was mad because it was dangerous and you blatantly disregarded your life to be a part of it when you had the foresight to be safer. If you want to be helping the merchants with their taxes, go right ahead, but neither you nor I are participating in this country's severe civil issues."

"What if I want to help with the big things? The things that matter? The things that could change everything?"

"Will you forget information that can save you from a life or death situation?" Before you could utter a single syllable, Aether was already talking again. "If the answer is not a completely confident 'No' then I see no reason why you should get involved."

You groaned, frustrated. "Okay, what if I tell Ariel everything I remember of my visions? Explain to him everything I've ever seen so he knows as much as I do?"

"Ariel is much more protective than me. If you can bypass him, who am I to stop you?"

You rubbed your forehead. "How did we switch the sibling roles? When did I become the younger one?"

"You've always been the younger one." Aether rolls his eyes, the annoyance fading away to fondness. "But you've always been more outwardly parental than I. Don't forget, I have millennia's worth of wisdom, I just don't always show it."

"Clearly. Sometimes you seem so young you feel as if you're only a few years younger than me."

Aether narrows his eyes. "I can't tell if that was an insult or compliment."

"Your choice."

Aether shook his head. "Let's just head to the border and see what we're dealing with."

"You got it older brother, big bro, boss man." You jokingly saluted him and you had never seen such an 'I want to die' look on his face as he turned and walked off.

a/n - I totally forgot to mark this story as hiatus. Oops. But hi everyone, I hope you enjoy the chapter.