"Master Diluc!! Paimon has something important to tell you- Divya?!"
Standing next to the tall man was Divya, who turned and waved at Lumine and Paimon with a smile on her face. The fairy seemed to have completely forgotten what she had wanted to say, because she immediately floated to the brunette and snuggled happily against her face.
The girl laughed, patting her head before inspecting Lumine for any injuries.
"Are you hurt? Injured?" She whispered. The blonde shook her head, an immediate response out of embarrassment.
"Yes...about Kaeya. I should have known he would see this as the perfect opportunity to get back at me" Diluc said, crossing his arms and glaring at the distance as if he could see the blue-haired man he was talking about.
"Sounds like there's a bit of bad blood between you guys then?" Paimon asked.
Divya turned to look wearily at the red-haired man, gingerly anticipating his response.
"I shan't get into that right now. More importantly, the Knights of Favonius are responding more or less as I anticipated. All we need to do now is think of a counter plan"
"You could steer clear of the Tavern for starters?" The blonde proposed.
The eighteen-year-old immediately shook her head.
"That won't do. If Master Diluc doesn't arrive at the Tavern like he usually does, Huffman will immediately connect the dots and understand that he is the Darknight Hero" Divya explained.
Not surprised about her presence of mind, the man nodded in affirmation.
"Hmm... So what are we gonna do?"
"...Maybe a distraction?" The brunette proposed.
"A distraction?" Diluc and Lumine questioned simultaneously.
"Yes. A distraction to take the Knights' attention away from both the Abyss Order and Master Diluc, if only temporary. At the very least, long enough for him to deal with the attack as he deems fit" She explained.
Understanding dawned on the Hero, who mulled over her suggestion. A few seconds passed before he snapped his fingers.
"Yes...We can use this to create the perfect alibi", he slowly said. it was evident on his face that a plan was slowly falling into place.
Unfortunately, the floating child didn't quite understand the meaning of the word and tried asking the man. Instead of getting an answer, he directed them to instead seek a few flowers. The blonde was a little peeved at having to trek to find Mist flowers when it was evening, but knew she had to do it.
She didn't want Diluc to suffer the repercussions.
"Mist Flowers? I have some here I think" Being the Traveler's saving grace, Divya reached for crystalline blue flowers that were shaped like a rose diamond. She had a bunch, cradling them delicately in her arms before looking at the red-head in question.
"Is this enough?"
Diluc's eyes widened slightly at the scene before him. There she was, holding the mist flowers up against her chest with her face just peeking out of the blossoms. Her eyes seemed to reflect the blue hue of the flora, shining and glittering a sapphire blue like them. She looked...ethereal, as if she were the Dendro archon amidst the flowers; pure and untainted by the misgivings of the world.
I am getting ahead of myself Diluc realised starkly. He quietly cleared his throat, before he started to talk.
"Um...yes, this is enough" he quickly spoke, hoping the pause and his change of tone when unnoticed.
"That's good" The brunette said with a smile on her face.
Quickly nodding, the red-head excused himself before he briskly walked off to start the arrangements. He didn't notice heat rushing to his cheeks at the sight of her smiling between the blossoms, nor the red-tint of his ears when she gazed at him happily.
"Greetings Mr. Huffman of the Knights of Favonius. To what do I owe the pleasure at this hour?"
"I'm merely procrastinating. I thought I might indulge myself with a beverage or two.... Oh!! Traveler!! Fancy meeting you here!"
"Oh!! We were just in a mood for an evening stroll!!"
"What would you like to drink?"
"I'll have a Dandelion Wine I suppose"
"Ooh! Paimon wants Apple juice!!"
A subtle nod from the bartender indicated the start of their plan. The three tilted their heads in response, a sign of affirmation.
"Ah!! Paimon forgot to bring her coin pouch!! Lumine, do you have any on you?" The travel guide was the first one to take a step in the direction of the commencement of the plan.
"I also forgot to bring mine. What about you Divya?"
"I'm afraid I didn't anticipate all three of us to be here at this hour. So unfortunately, no I do not have enough Mora for the three of us"
Diluc's sharp mind noted that the brunette hadn't lied. Despite this, she still went with the flow of the plan. It interested him to say the least.
"Then I must regretfully ask you to come back when you can pay"
Huffman tried to pay for all three of them, but Paimon smartly refused. A quick side glance from Divya made Lumine aware that they had to be quick. The brunette couldn't leave, for she was another alibi for the two.
They were quick to spread the filtrate of the Mist Flowers. Making sure that the slimes were approaching, the traveler and her guide quickly made their way back to the tavern.
The two returned to see a smirking Divya, a complaining Huffman, and a mildly irritated Diluc.
Just as expected, another knight rushed in, frantically trying to persuade the knight to leave the tavern and aid with the situation at the side gate. Seeing his reluctance at leaving, the red-head decided to brutally attack him with sarcasm. It took a lot of willpower for the eighteen-year-old to not burst out in laughter at his sarcastic comments.
Oh? tHe MaTtEr Of YoUr DaNdElIoN wInE?! Pfft-!
No no!! No laughing!!
Flustered and ashamed beyond comparison, the knight had to leave to counter the attack of the slimes. He tried to warn the traveler and after placing his hopes on her, he left.
Diluc sighed, and Lumine relaxed after he left.
"Good. That's him out of the way"
"Everything's going according to plan!!" Paimon gushed.
"I must get going too. I won't have a second to spare if I'm to be back in time"
Nodding, Divya made way for the three to quickly exit.
"Stay safe" She said to them. The blonde smiled back in response, whereas the man gave her a curt nod before they rushed out.
Now to find where the hell Kaeya is here
Raising her head the brunette began to scan the lower floor, her eyes flitting from person to person quickly. After a few moments of quick scanning, she sighed.
Seems as if he wants to be hidden at all costs.
Fine then. I'll just finish up this commission for a painting of Angel Share while they're gone.
"...The situation is sorted now. I never expected the Abyss Order's army would turn out to be nothing more than a few slimes" Huffman spoke as he rushed back to the tavern, panting from the slight exhaustion he had faced a few moments back.
You say that and yet you're panting as if you ran 10 kilometers in a desert, thought Divya. Nevertheless, she continued to dry the damp cloth she held in her hands.
"That is a surprise. Perhaps the Knights' true calling is to be slime exterminators. Who knows, domestic pet control may turn out to be a more valuable use of your resources" Diluc said, crossing his arms and raising an eyebrow at how exhausted the knight was. Clearly, endurance wasn't on his bucket list of achievements.
"Master Diluc please, have you no respect at all? And Traveler, how come your face is so damp? You didn't leave did you?"
"No, it's just warm here, so Divya was running a damp cloth over my face" Lumine said, following the brunette's sudden actions.
"Is it...? If that's the case, why are you also out of breath?" The knight narrowed his eyes in suspicion at the blonde woman.
"I accidentally knocked some paint water down, and she got startled by me. That's why I was running a damp cloth for her face" The brunette explained to the knight.
After observing that his suspicion still remained, she showed the stained cloth to him, along with pointing out the place where she had supposedly spilled paint water. The nineteen-year-old did a double take at the cloth.
When did she get that?! She had a clean cloth just now!! How did it get stained?
After an inspection, he sighed and apologized to the Honorary Knight for his blind accusations.
Thankfully, the knight hadn't questioned how startling someone would cause them to seem intensely out of breath.
"You ought to get back after this. Send my regards to the rest of the Knights" Diluc intervened, his eyes narrowing slightly at the eighteen-year-old girl before turning to the confused knight in front of him.
Giving his farewell, Huffman walked out of the tavern, more baffled than he had ever been.
"Phew!! That was close!! Paimon was sure we were screwed....Divya you're the best!!" Paimon flew towards said teen, snuggling against her cheek causing her to laugh at the child's actions. Giving her a few head-pats, she turned to the bug-eyed Lumine and the questioning Diluc.
"How did you come up with such an excuse on the spot? Besides, you needn't have done that. I already anticipated this eventuality, so everyone here except you three are my own people from Dawn Winery" The red-head spoke up finally.
"I didn't come up with it on the spot actually. I really did spill some paint water, and I technically did startle Lumine by wiping a damp cloth on her face. The situation seemed to fit, so I simply spoke the truth and let the Knight connect the dots on his own" she said, smiling and showing the cloth that she had been handed back.
Fascinating...she played with his intuition whilst speaking the truth....
Truly, she is dangerous yet interesting....
"And you forget Master Diluc. You have not one, but two alibis" She said, flashing a smile at the rather startled red-head.
"B-but the cloth you wiped my face with was clean!! Where did you get the dirty one?!" The star-born being exclaimed, still shocked at how the cloth seemed to magically disappear.
"Paimon was confused too!!"
Laughing at her confusion, the brunette gestured for the blonde and the fairy to come close.
She held the cloth up in her right hand, pinching it with her fingers. Flicking her wrist towards herself, she quickly brought the inside of the cloth up, and the side facing herself, down. Lumine's eyes sparkled at the simple trick she played.
There were two cloths, one above the other. Due to one being recently damp, they seemed to stick together to form one piece. Just by flicking her wrist, the brunette switched the dirty with the clean one. Well, previously clean one.
Because she had had to place the dirtied cloth above the clean one for a few moments, they were both dirty. At least they served their purpose of tricking Huffman.
A slow applause caught everyone's attention. Diluc mentally groaned at the sight of Kaeya walking from within some dark corner of the Tavern.
"Fantastic!! Such a brilliant, yet simple move. You never fail to interest me Divya" Kaeya spoke joyously, genuinely marveling her presence of mind.
"Kaeya?! Where did you come from?" Paimon shrieked from her position in the brunette's arms.
"I just picked a good spot to quietly sit and watch the show"
"You've been here this whole time?!"
Shit. He must have been on the first floor. That's why I couldn't see him thought the eighteen-year-old.
Scoffing, the red-head crossed his arms and asked the most important question.
"So? You plan to report everything to the Knights of Favonius?" He asked, his flame-red eyes glaring harshly at the other male.
"I have no interest in exposing secrets. I was just curious to see how far Mondstadt's Darknight Hero would really go. And you did not disappoint"
"I have nothing to prove to you"
"Oh, naturally"
The brunette tensed at the subtle change in their tones. She flinched slightly at the tension, and very slowly backed away from the two. It was the start of an argument. She didn't remember if they ever argued in front of the traveler, but if they did....
She wanted to get out immediately.
"Sorry, we're closing. Please see yourselves out"
.....I suppose that's good i guess....
I don't have to watch another aching fight...
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