Chapter 78: Alas, It Is But A Fleeting Dream.

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Unknown is thy birth. Unseen is thy growth. Ascend, I beckon thee, for it is thy only path of salvation.

—Excerpt from the diary of The Lord of Void.

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A few days had floated by at this time and it didn't go by peacefully, no–it was quite a tense time for both Emmy and her friends bar Fischl of course, who was the only one who wasn't trying to hide something from someone.

Sometimes, they felt like they were thieves running away from a noble who had his pants stolen away from him in broad daylight, and yet that noble was still unable to catch them despite the fact they wore the noble's pants while continuously running in front of him.

Harlin walked into an alleyway when he saw Fischl and Emmy taking a stroll on the street, he had many things concerning the party with him and he didn't want the girl to find out while they were still able to hide it.

Though the secret would most likely be squat once they arrived at the time of the party, that is if they were lucky to have her fooled for this long. At most they could keep her in the dark until tomorrow afternoon.

It wasn't like she wasn't going to discover them when they had to dress her in her special garbs.

'I don't believe there is a way to dress a person in some fancy-schmancy clothing, tell them that they are not going or doing anything special with that piece of clothing, and expect them to believe you. No way is happening, or at least I don't believe so.'

Emmy and Fischl walked along, with Emmy having her hand over Fischl's shoulder allowing her to put her other hand behind her back to execute some special hand signs. Harlin followed each of her movements and understood what she was saying immediately.

|Almost done? There is a limit to how much I can stall her.|

Harlin Immediately replied with his hand signs, taking a moment when Emmy shifted Fischl's attention away from the alleyway he was in. His hands moved with practiced efficiency, having been tutored in secret by Emmy for this very moment.

|Done. The gang and I have completed our missions, will you be able to fool her when she is dressed? It isn't required but the impact would be much greater if you did.|

|Not guaranteed, but I will try. Good Luck.|

|I'll take all I can get, may luck be with you as well Boss.|

With these words(?) said, the two of them parted ways from their positions which were at least 10 meters away from each other. Emmy held Fischl by her arms and brought the girl away from the vendor that held her attention. Ignoring the confused look the girl sent her way, the girl tried not to laugh.

Harlin also tried not to laugh at the ridiculous stunt they just pulled. It was like they were in a novel. What they did could only be seen in the novels yet they had done it.

"Ugh, I still have things to do," Harlin said as he grabbed the pair of crates he hid away, and then he carried them away from the alleyway. "I better not get ahead of myself, what if Fischl wanted to come here and the Boss couldn't stop her? That would spell disaster, So I'll quickly go away"

A nearby citizen looked at the exchange with wide eyes as if he couldn't what he had just seen. The man slowly pulled out a book from his pocket and began to write something down on it. If one were to look at his page at this moment one would only see;

[Word on The Street and Eye on The Sky]

[Synopsis:

Lately, there have been siting of mysterious children in Mondstadt making hand signs at each other and being sneaky. Owen, a former special agent and current detective in the Orde Favonias, came to solve the case. Who are these kids? And why do they call a girl with the facial features of an Inazuman their boss?]

The man nodded as if satisfied with his work.

"It could use some work and the outline could be constructed later, but I bet Miko would love this!"

The man slapped his thigh in visible excitement, then pocketed his tools of literature. Then with a smile, the man walked away, in a jovial mood.

No one knew what happened here and they likely wouldn't have cared.

***

"Dear friend Emmy, how goes your day? I feel a cheery mood in the air of this domain, opulent is the atmosphere here in the Immernachtreich. Would you care to visit this Prinzessin? I am sure you will be welcome, I will take care of you. Love you, Fischl."

Fischl read aloud the letter in her hands, a stray ray of sunlight slipping through the trees to caress the paper and dry the ink on it. A wisp of wind blew by and cascaded down from her hair—causing the blonde locks of hair to run about wildly, down to her face and her forest green eyes glistened in an emotion that could only be called happiness.

She breathed in and then started to fold the paper, the girl nodded upon seeing the now-folded page of the paper.

The grass behind her crumbled and Fischl turned at the sound, her eyes going toward the black-haired girl who was laying on the grass.

The rise and fall of her chest along with the soft fluttering of her eyelashes told Fischl that her friend was asleep. Fischl giggled as she went to pick away a piece of grass that was stuck on her girl's cheek unaware of the danger she would be in if she were any other person.

The girl continued to sleep and Fischl, seeing the peaceful expression of her friend got an idea. She rummaged in her backpack and got out an ink bottle and a brush. Carefully, the girl approached and began to make art on her friend's face.

Unaware that her friend was awake the entire time.

Emmy discreetly opened her eye to look at Fischl and upon seeing her happy expression with her tongue out in concentration she closed her eyes once more. She only needed a small gap and thus Fischl didn't know the person she was pranking knew she was doing it all along.

'If she is happy so be it,' Emmy controlled her breathing to once again make it seem as if she was sleeping, while also adjusting her position to give Fischl a better angle to draw on her face.

The girl squealed as she now had the perfect angle to draw, and Emmy tried not to smile.

It was only in the future that Emmy would remember that this day would be her happiest moment and that from that day forward, her life would never be the same again.

Alas, would one's life ever be the same? A birth that was not meant to be among the stars.

***

A/N: Hoh? Foreshadowing? I'm kinda horrible at this maybe, did I do a good job? Gonna read some angst, for no reason I assure you. *Author whistling*.

Chapter gonna be on Sunday because It's gonna be long af. Maybe 6-10k hopefully. Still haven't finished the outline.