That single sentence from the Tsaritsa left everyone in the hall dumbstruck.
"Huh? Hand Ajax over to Alice!? Her Majesty the Empress, surely there's been a mistake?" Pulcinella blurted out, disbelief thick in his voice.
"Indeed, whatever else he may be, he is still one of our Fatui Harbingers—"
Before Pulcinella could finish, Pantalone was already nodding along beside him. "I think it's fine. Mayor, he's the one who caused this whole mess. It's only right that he bear the consequences."
As he spoke, he shot Tartaglia a glance, looking rather like a man celebrating the fact that he'd never again have a creditor knocking at his door for money.
"Pantalone, you—!"
"I've said it already. My decision is final."
The Tsaritsa's tone left no room for refusal. Behind those ice-blue eyes, something was clearly being calculated.
In truth, Tartaglia was never in Snezhnaya anyway — he was usually off slacking in Liyue, and there was nothing pressing for him to do at the moment. Better to send him off to keep company with the witch.
That way, Alice would be compensated, and if any useful intelligence came of it, so much the better.
And if Alice later went to meet Ye Xi, then Tartaglia would get to meet Ye Xi as well.
She had long wanted to draw in a powerhouse like Ye Xi, who held the Authority of [Time], and fold him into Snezhnaya's plans.
With that thought, she gave Tartaglia a pointed look.
Tartaglia caught her meaning at once. He just found the wording deeply strange.
Hand him over to Alice?
Why did that phrasing make it sound like a family falling apart, with his parents awarding custody of him to the other side?
He adjusted quickly enough — the Tsaritsa's orders were not to be defied. Drawing a deep breath, he looked at Alice and squeezed out a smile. "Lady Alice, I look forward to working with you."
Alice hesitated. She had the odd feeling she'd just acquired a very large son out of nowhere.
Her first instinct was to reject such a meaningless form of compensation outright.
But on second thought — she was about to take Klee back to Mondstadt, which meant she'd have a chance to see Ye Xi.
Why not let Ye Xi decide what to do with him? Call it a gift on first meeting.
At that, Alice gave a reluctant nod. "Fine. Then you'll come back to Mondstadt with me. Ye Xi is in Mondstadt right now."
And just like that, Alice left with Klee and Tartaglia in tow.
Watching Alice walk out of the palace, the Tsaritsa let out a quiet breath.
"Our plans have failed one after another lately. Dottore's strongest Segment is dead, neither Heart of God was recovered, and now even Arlecchino has gone silent. This Ye Xi has thrown far too many schemes into disarray. We need to find a way to meet him."
"Pantalone. You'll go."
The Regrator had still been quietly enjoying the show, congratulating himself on having kept his little treasury intact.
He hadn't expected the wretched assignment to land on him before he'd even finished gloating.
"I'm to find Ye Xi? You can't be serious."
Pantalone opened with a protest ready, but one look at the Tsaritsa's unquestionable gaze and he could only nod in resignation. "Yes, Her Majesty the Empress."
Mondstadt City.
Once he'd heard that Klee's mother had gone to Snezhnaya to fetch her, Ye Xi stopped worrying.
With the girl's own mother on the case, whether he went or not made little difference — the woman was a witch, after all.
So he sat in Acting Grand Master Jean's office, drinking coffee with Lisa and idly leafing through reports he'd grabbed at random off Jean's desk. Lisa sat across from him with a book in her hands, glancing up at him now and then, a faint smile at the corner of her mouth.
It wasn't long before Klee's cheering carried in from outside.
"Big brother Ye Xi, I'm back!"
A tiny figure had barely entered his field of vision before a small red ornament attached itself to him.
Ye Xi laughed and ruffled her hair. "Klee, that duck didn't do anything to you, did he?"
"Nope! Uncle Tartaglia is a good person! It was Klee who wasn't careful…"
Klee blinked her big eyes, her voice all innocence.
She may have caused trouble, but she was honest about it, and she explained everything that had happened at the Northland Bank from start to finish.
"…It's all thanks to Uncle Tartaglia. He used some kind of Foul Legacy Transformation to protect me, and now he's so weak he can barely walk."
Jean sighed helplessly at that. "So it was your doing after all. If Mister Tartaglia hadn't gotten you out of the Northland Bank, how many bystanders would you have dragged into it?"
"Jean, I've made you worry again."
Just then, a mature, languid voice drifted in from beyond the door.
Ye Xi looked up to see a tall woman in a long red dress stepping inside. Her hair was a fiery scarlet cascade, and there was something mysterious and unfathomable in her eyes.
That figure of hers was seriously impressive. And so pale, too.
Ye Xi caught himself looking twice.
No guessing required — this had to be Klee's mother, Alice.
It was his first time meeting her.
Ye Xi didn't stand on ceremony, greeting her easily. "Hello, Lady Alice. The rumors really don't do you justice."
Alice nodded, her gaze lingering on him for a moment, her tone weighted with meaning. "I've been keeping an eye on you for quite some time, Ye Xi."
The existence of a Descender had long since been marked out by her as a matter of primary concern.
Descenders were vanishingly rare, and on the continent of Teyvat, every last one of them was strong enough to change The World.
The advanced knowledge they brought from other worlds could turn this one upside down.
"Oh, right. I've brought you a present." Alice stepped aside as she spoke, revealing Tartaglia standing behind her.
"A present too? You shouldn't have!"
Ye Xi had been rather curious to see one of those rockets Alice was famous for inventing.
Then he saw Tartaglia's sour face, and the whole day soured with it.
"Why is it you?"
"Ahem… at last I meet Brother Ye. I've heard a great deal about you." Inwardly, Tartaglia was drowning in feelings.
He'd been under orders from the Tsaritsa to recruit Ye Xi into the Fatui.
Now look at him. He hadn't even met Ye Xi yet, and he'd already been fired.
"I don't want to see you. Get lost, get lost." Ye Xi wasn't Zhongli — he was hardly short of Mora.
"Ye Xi, on this trip to Snezhnaya the Tsaritsa awarded this Harbinger to me. He's of no real use to me, so why not let him work under you?"
Alice's words left Ye Xi baffled. "He's of no real use to me either."
"Actually, there's another matter I came to see you about. I need your help."
"The prophecy of Fontaine is about to come to pass, and the one person who can break it has been captured by you. Without her, Fontaine will be in grave danger." Alice looked at Ye Xi, her eyes full of expectation.
Fontaine.
Ye Xi's heartbeat quickened at the word.
Before he crossed over into Teyvat, Genshin Impact had only been updated as far as the Sumeru version. He had no idea what came after.
And what was this prophecy of Fontaine?
He'd captured the one who could break it?
"Who? Who did I capture?"
"The Fourth of the Fatui Harbingers. The Knave. Arlecchino!"
Ye Xi smacked his forehead. Right — he'd turned that woman into a pet and kept her in the Serenitea Pot.
"The Primordial Sea water in Fontaine has grown extremely agitated. It could drown all of Fontaine at any moment."
"Ye Xi, that Primordial Sea water can dissolve every single person of Fontaine!"
"It won't affect people from other nations, but once the sea breaks its bounds it will swallow the whole of Teyvat, and we'll be caught up in it too."
"I want you to go to Fontaine and help its God weather this crisis."
Ye Xi sank into thought.
He knew absolutely nothing about the situation over in Fontaine.
In Sumeru, in Inazuma, in Liyue and Mondstadt, he'd always had a clear picture in his head.
But the danger facing Fontaine was an unknown.
And unknowns meant risk.
Alice accepted the coffee Lisa had brewed for her, took a light sip, and nodded. "Don't worry. With your current power, the crisis in Fontaine will be simple enough for you. As for the details, you should have a good talk with that Fatui Harbinger."
"Understood. When I go back to the Serenitea Pot, I'll ask Arlecchino."
"Mm. With you handling it, I can rest easy."
Off to one side, Tartaglia pointed at his own face. "And me? How about you take me back with you? The Knave and I are colleagues, after all."
"You?"
Ye Xi looked him up and down. "Looking as wrung-out as you do, you'd better stay in Mondstadt and recover first."
"Once you're healed, then you go to Fontaine."
Grand Master Jean offered, "Then Mister Tartaglia is welcome to stay at the Cathedral of Favonius for the time being. The sisters will help you recover."
"Th-thank you."
Tartaglia had assumed that meeting Ye Xi would at least earn him a chance to see Arlecchino. He hadn't expected Ye Xi to shut the door on him entirely.
Ye Xi shrugged.
Was he joking?
He wanted to come home with him?
With that many wives at home, if this duck wandered in and saw something he shouldn't, wouldn't Ye Xi be taking a catastrophic loss?
Bitterness welled up in Tartaglia, but there was nothing to be done. The Tsaritsa's order had already come down; all he could do now was go along with it. Being handed off to Alice sat poorly with him, but at least Mondstadt was a pleasant enough place. Compared with the cold and the pressure of Snezhnaya, it felt downright warm here.
"I'll take Klee back to rest now, then." Alice patted the top of Klee's little head as she spoke.
"Bye bye, big brother Ye Xi!" Klee waved happily and went skipping along behind Alice.
Ye Xi smiled and nodded, watching them go. Lisa rose, set her coffee cup on the table, and gave a small smile. "Looks like you've picked up another headache."
"I have. The Fontaine business really is thorny." Ye Xi sighed. "Still, if Alice says so, then Arlecchino must know something."
"So when are you going to the Serenitea Pot?" Lisa asked.
"In a little while. Perfect chance to ask her." Ye Xi stood and stretched. "And to see how she's doing these days."
With that he turned toward the door. Lisa followed him, murmuring a caution. "Be careful. The situation in Fontaine isn't clear yet — don't put yourself in danger."
"Don't worry, I will be." Ye Xi smiled, pushed open the door, and walked out into the warm sunlight, heading for the Serenitea Pot.
Evening.
Inside the Serenitea Pot, everything was as peaceful as ever. Flowers perfumed the air, water murmured over stone, as though the whole place had been sealed off from the troubles of the outside world.
Ye Xi stepped into the pot realm and followed the flagstone path to the courtyard.
"Ye Xi, you're back!"
Ganyu and Keqing had just gotten off work. Ever since hearing about Klee, the matter had weighed on them both.
So the moment their shifts ended, they'd hurried back to wait for news.
"Relax. Klee's mother already brought her home." Ye Xi slid an arm around Keqing's shoulders and leaned in near her ear, catching a faint, clean fragrance.
"You… stop that. I've been running around all day, I probably smell."
"You do not! My wife Keqing smells wonderful! Want to hit the hot spring together later?"
"Focus!" Keqing slapped his hand away and planted her fists on her hips. "This whole thing is that Fatui Harbinger's fault! If it weren't for him, Klee would never have been in danger."
Ganyu nodded, her face reddening. "Right. If the Lord of Geo weren't so close with him, the Ministry of Civil Affairs would have opened an investigation on him ages ago."
"Ummm… actually, this one really isn't his fault."
Ye Xi didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Tartaglia had it rough. The man had been protecting Liyue from a little troublemaker's bombs, and he'd ended up as the scapegoat for it.
Bad enough that the Tsaritsa had punished him — now Liyue was piling on with condemnations of its own.
Lucky for him he'd stayed in Mondstadt. If he'd gone back to Liyue, they'd have settled accounts with him the same day.
Ye Xi had no particular interest in the man, but he explained the situation anyway.
"S-so that's what happened…"
"Then we really did wrong him."
Understanding dawned on Ganyu and Keqing. Who would have guessed Tartaglia was the righteous one in all this?
"Oh, right — there's something else I need to handle. Where's that cat of ours?"
"Oh, you mean Perrie! She should be in the yard." Keqing glanced around, searching for the little cat.
"Perrie?" Ye Xi realized that this must be the pet name they'd given Arlecchino — and what a name it was.
That afternoon, he'd listened to Alice tell him Arlecchino's story.
How she had fought her way up from an orphanage called the House of the Hearth, killing the dearest friend she'd ever had, becoming the Father, and in the end turning around and killing the [Mother].
Arlecchino's name, once upon a time, had been Peruere. And the best friend she'd had back then used to call her Perrie.
"Pretty name, isn't it? Lesser Lord Kusanali came up with it."
"Oh?"
Ye Xi understood at once.
Nahida was a God, after all. She would have been able to hear the voice of Arlecchino's heart.
Add in the Dendro Archon's unique gift for reading minds, and she had probably known Arlecchino's whole history long ago.
Seen that way, the name she'd chosen wasn't unreasonable at all.
"Perrie's over there!"
Ganyu pointed to a rattan chair out in the yard.
There, Arlecchino the cat sat on the rattan chair, lazily sunning herself in the last of the fading light.
Hearing footsteps, she lifted her head, saw Ye Xi, and got the distinct impression that he was coming for her.
That puzzled her.
She'd been in the pot long enough now that she had gradually adapted to life here.
The thing was, Ye Xi had barely paid her any attention all this time — and today he'd come looking for her.
That was out of character.
[What do you want with me?]
Ye Xi didn't answer. Instead, he activated the [Transformation] skill outright.
Keqing had just been reaching to scoop up the cat when a beam of white light struck it.
An instant later the cat's shape began to swell and shift, growing larger and larger.
"…!?"
"Wh-what's happening!"
Keqing stared, jaw hanging, and stumbled back several steps.
Ganyu said uncertainly, "Is this… a Shapeshifting Art?"
"Shapeshifting Art!? What is that!"
Before Keqing could get an answer, a human silhouette appeared within the white light.
A woman with short white hair took shape.
"…!"
At that, Keqing and Ganyu both cried out.
Not because the cat had turned into a person.
But because the woman in front of them wasn't wearing a stitch of clothing.
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