A week later.
Despite Kenshin and Jean's newfound bond, they were still worried about Mio and Yahiko.
They spent some time together, but it was almost negligible, as Jean was swamped with work even if Kenshin helped her.
"Kenshin!" Amber came running into Jean's office without even knocking. "Your parents are back!"
"Really?!" asked an exhilarated Jean with a big smile.
"Let's go and meet them" Kenshin said with a tense smile, standing up. But his factions only relaxed when he checked with his own eyes that his parents were well. Their souls weren't damaged in any way, and all they were feeling now was anger. "I'm going to get a sandal to the head".
Jean ignored him and quickly pushed him to the gate.
"Amber, who found them?" asked Jean, thinking of giving that person a huge reward.
"Lumine" it was Kenshin who answered. "She is waiting with them, and let me tell you so you are warned, they are very, very angry".
"You probably did something to anger them" Jean said, not caring about that. Their anger only meant they were alive to feel it.
They quickly arrived at the gate, where Yahiko and Mio were sitting with a face that screamed 'fury'. Lumine was beside them, looking at them with a worried gaze.
She found them this morning accompanied by some Fatuis, but seeing her those guys quickly left. She introduced herself and offered help, and much to her surprise, they were Kenshin's parents.
But on the travel to Mondstadt, they didn't speak a single word, they were just calmly walking with their icy expressions.
"Yahiko, Mio!" Jean shouted in happiness and relief, and quickly hugged them.
"Jean" Yahiko and Mio's faces changed for the first time since they left the mansion where they had been taken to, and hugged Jean. "And.....you".
Their face expressed pure disdain.
"Ouch" Kenshin grimaced. "That hurts even me."
Lumine looked curiously at the scene, wondering why Kenshin's parents were so angry with him. Weren't they kidnapped? Why did they come back angry with the person who made them regain their freedom?
"What happened?" now that she was assured that Kenshin's parents were safe, she could start focusing on the reason behind their anger.
"We met a certain woman" Yahiko started. "Who told us about your...dalliances"
"Well, fuck" Kenshin surrendered to the major force that allowed this situation to happen.
"I knew it!!!" one thing was happy hearing this. "Lothario is a Lothario!!"
"Paimon!" Lumine quickly grabbed the flying child, sensing that this was not the moment. But she was also curious about this. Why wasn't Jean angry?
"Are you going to explain?" asked a frigid Mio, hugging a worried Jean to console her.
"Eehhhhh" Kenshin drawled. How do you explain that a few women conspired behind your back to 'share', and after years you accepted that plan naturally?
The answer was obvious. You blame someone else.
"The Shogun forced me!" Kenshin said, before paling at how it came out. "The Shogun proposed it!"
"The Shogun?" asked a confused Lumine.
"The Shogun, the Raiden Shogun, the Immortal Shogun, the Narukami Ogosho, the God of Eternity" Paimon breathed in and out after delivering all that. "And also, the Electro Archon".
"What?!" Lumine looked at Kenshin in shock. He was fucking with an Archon?
"Do you think that we are going to believe that?" asked a very unimpressed Mio. "We educated you and watched you grow. Do you think we are not aware of your tricks to deflect the attention?".
"But it's true!" complained Kenshin, slowly backing up. "Why don't you believe m-, never mind, I wouldn't believe me too"
"Hmm" Jean timidly spoke. "He's telling the truth".
Yahiko and Mio looked at the flustered Jean, and back at Kenshin again.
"It's true" nodded Kenshin with cold sweat on his back. "And even Yae is in.....fuck".
Mio sighed and sat on a nearby bench.
"Just come out with it" she tiredly said.
"There is Sara, who you already know, Yae, who you already know. Ei, who you worship. Shenhe, who you don't know, and a girl from....Fontaine" Kenshin grimaced when his parent's face turned darker with each name. And he didn't want to bring Makoto into this.
"Fontaine?" questioned Yahiko with a grim face. "Are you sure you don't mean Snezhnaya?".
"......." Kenshin kept silent, but his face told the truth. "She...works for them."
Lumine felt her world spinning. Even after getting his parents kidnapped by the Fatuis, he still mentioned her. Jean also realized it.
"Working?" asked Yahiko again.
".....maybe" Kenshin had to admit. Arlecchino probably wasn't sowing flowers.
"What did she tell you?" asked Jean with a frown.
"That she was one of the women 'your son has a relationship with'" muttered Mio. "When we confronted her about it, she left us".
"She was probably there to make sure you 2 were good" Kenshin shrugged. He was confident no one in the world knew Arlecchino as well as he did, and he wasn't going to budge in this, not even while receiving everyone's hard look.
"Haahhh, Kenshin" Yahiko sighed in exasperation. "Did you know about this?"
"Yes" Jean nodded, feeling a bit guilty for hiding it. "It happened during that festival in Inazuma, we made a 'Contract'".
"Sealed by Rex Lapis himself" pointed out Kenshin.
And Lumine felt that something died. She was on an epic journey to meet all the Archons to find her brother, and Kenshin was using his friendship with them to 'set in stone' a harem. The world was so unfair sometimes.
"You mean that while we were making an emotional trip to the house our family had for generations, you were making the Geo Archon secure you a harem?" clearly, Yahiko thought the same.
"I don't" Yahiko and Lumine felt a bit better hearing that. "Ask Jean, she was the one present there".
Now all sights fell into the ashamed Jean, who nodded slightly.
"What were you thinking about?" asked tiredly Mio.
"Well...." Jean didn't know how to answer.
"Of course, I pushed her to it" Frederica arrived, smiling and looking at the whole group. "I received Barbara's letter saying that Kenshin's marriage with my daughter was going to happen soon. I can't miss that, can I?"
"That little gremlin" muttered Kenshin gritting his teeth. "I subestimated her".
"And pray tell why would you do that" Mio asked the new arrival.
"Of course, for my daughter's happiness" despite being in the center of the storm, Frederica didn't lose her smile. "And as you can see, it all ended well. As people in Mondstadt say, 'If you didn't need wine, it wasn't a problem to begin with'".
"But-"
"My daughter is happy now, and so is Kenshin. I really don't see the problem" Frederica cut Yahiko short and hugged her daughter. "To think that the girl shouting that she wanted to be a Princess Knight is going to finally marry, time flies".
"Mom!!" the embarrassed Jean shouted in embarrassment, but she didn't see Kenshin after looking for him.
Kenshin had escaped once again.
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"There is no way I'm staying there" Kenshin muttered, while going to the other exit the fortress had.
He had been thinking about a little something since his 'duel' against the Fatuis.
He knew that he was bound to clash with them sooner or later, as they wanted him to do something, and he wasn't sure he wanted to.
He knew he could take on Signora, and maybe a few other Harbingers, but from what Arlecchino told him, the higher positions were just overpowered.
He was confident about his fighting ability inside his Plane as he had been fighting with Ei, but he could only tie with her now, of course only if he didn't cheat.
But he knew he had to 'combat sense' like Sara, Shenhe and Jean had, not to mention Arlecchino. Maybe it was because of their innate talent, or because they had been training a lot, but he only had his raw power.
What would happen if some enemy could somehow 'counter' his strategy? Or if they simply had even more raw power?
He will die, and despite being accepting of death as he was, he doesn't fancy the idea at all.
So he needed to 'train' somehow. Ei was too strong for him, and too fast, so fighting with her consisted in making a shield and holing up like a turtle. As shameful as it was, Ei was just that talented.
But who could he fight with? He didn't mind losing, he even welcomed it, but there were not many beings able to put up a fight against him on his Plane, his only way of fighting.
He hadn't faced Dvalin, but if the rest could beat him, it was not a challenge to begin with. He sounded arrogant, but it's a fact.
The moment Yae taught him how to build a Plane like Ei's, his ability gained an extremely strong offensive ability. It was almost unfair.
But again, hadn't he been training since he was a child? The rest of the people trained their bodies and Kenshin trained his soul, as a result, he was this strong now.
So who could he fight? He needed a friendly entity willing to spar with him, or at least fight without killing him, and strong enough to put up a fight.
"Maybe Xiao can" muttered Kenshin. As much as he teased him, Xiao was a Yaksha who protected Liyue for 2000 years, he must have a lot of techniques.
And that opened the door to a lot more people. Yae, the Adeptus,.....maybe not that many.
But there was such a being near him.
"Barbatos, I need to talk" Kenshin saw the green 'air' around him, and Barbatos readily materialized next to him.
"What do you need?" he asked with a smile.
"A fight" Kenshin directly said the core of his petition. "I have that special place, we go in and fight".
"I don't like fighting" Barbaots said with a shake of his head.
"But I need it" Kenshin insisted, making Barbatos look at him. "Those Harbingers are too strong, and I got contacted by someone a week ago, someone a bit special."
"Someone you are wary against that doesn't come from Snezhnaya?" inquired Barbatos with a curious expression.
"He called himself the 'Prince of the Abyss Order'" Kenshin revealed scaring Barbatos, but he continued. "I don't know what is happening, but the entire world is starting to move. Snezhnaya is moving forward with their plan and the Abyss Order is moving again, all at the same time. We need all strength we can gain".
"What did he want with you?" said Barbatos with a frown. "I don't think even you could have escaped if he didn't allow you to".
"He wanted to make a deal" confessed Kenshin, making Barbatos frown even more. "They wanted me to help the hilichurls, that's it. No more strings attached, no information exchange, no further deals".
"Did you accept"
"No, not yet. I want to ask for Morax's opinion first" Kenshin shook his head, making Barbatos nod in approval. "And even if I want to do it, my life is not only mine any more. But I still need a fight".
"Okay!" Barbatos nodded excitedly. "I will show you what this bard can do!"