The little girl lit up with delight when she saw Paimon.
"Wow! It's been so long since an animal talked to me!"
Paimon was stunned. A-Animal? Was that a nickname… or did she actually think Paimon was some kind of mysterious wild creature?
With a drop of sweat on her face, Paimon said awkwardly, "Little girl, I'm not an animal—Paimon is a fairy! Paimon's name is Paimon!"
Zephyr's mouth twitched. _Seriously? Paimon's really sticking with that whole 'fairy' thing all the way, huh…_
The girl tilted her head in confusion and asked,
"Huh? You're not an animal? Then… are you a plant?"
Paimon's expression froze.
Then the little girl tilted her head again. When she saw Lumine, she lit up even more.
"Wow! Another animal!"
Zephyr and Lumine both froze. _What do you mean another animal?! Can't you tell we're clearly human?!_
The little girl cheerfully introduced herself.
"Hello, Miss Sister and Miss Plant! My name is Chloris. I'm Mondstadt's one and only botanist!"
Zephyr paused in thought. _Chloris… that name sounds really familiar…_
"I spend every day in the wild, keeping company with plants. But I do miss having animals around. If you're not busy, please chat with me more, okay? Pretty please~"
Then it hit Zephyr. _Ohhh, that annoying tone... So it was you all along!_
Chloris continued, "It's strange though… I consider myself pretty well-versed in plants, but I've never seen a talking plant before."
Paimon puffed up angrily, "Paimon is not a plant! Paimon is a human!"
Chloris blinked in confusion.
"Human? Then why is your body so tiny?"
"Uh… because of this and that… Look, the point is— Paimon _is_ human!"
"Got it, Miss Animal."
"You totally didn't get it!!"
Paimon was fuming.
Lumine gently asked, "Little one, where's your family?"
"My family? Oh, I have a little sister. Her name's Flora. Do you know her? She's that girl who only likes flowers—she runs a flower shop in Mondstadt. Compared to her, I'm way more open-minded. I'm interested in all plants—the weirder, the better! So naturally, that makes _me_ the big sister. Sigh… that useless little sibling of mine."
Zephyr twitched at the corners of his mouth. _Man, this kid's train of thought jumps around way too much…_
"Forgive me for asking, but… how old are you exactly?"
Chloris puffed out her chest proudly.
"Me? I'm already twenty-eight!"
"…Sorry, I meant _'two-eight'_, as in two times eight."
"You scared me for a sec…"
"But still, sixteen, huh… You really don't look it…"
Chloris lifted her chin with a huff.
"Hmph! Judging age based on height again? Typical shallow thinking!"
Paimon grumbled, "Even if you say that, your size totally screams little kid!"
I mean, right in front of them was a girl who looked like she was seven or eight at most!
However, Chloris seemed genuinely offended by the comment.
"You're calling me a kid? You're even shorter than I am!"
"P—Paimon is short for a _reason_! Eight thousand years ago, Paimon was a powerful Archon! Then came the war between gods and demons, and Paimon—"
Zephyr cut in, "It was six thousand years ago. Six. Don't mess up your own backstory."
"Why are you nitpicking something so minor?!"
Chloris looked quite pleased with Zephyr and said,
"Still, this Miss Animal here seems much more agreeable."
Lumine's eyelid twitched.
"Little girl, you can just call me _sister_, okay? Can you please leave out the 'animal' part?"
Chloris looked a little reluctant but eventually gave in.
"Okay then… Sister."
"That's better."
Paimon asked, "What are you doing out here all by yourself anyway?"
Chloris replied, "Isn't it obvious? I'm observing plants."
"Observing plants?"
"As expected of Miss Plant—I mean, _Little_ Sis. So clueless."
"You—! You're the clueless one! Also, PAIMON is the big sister here!"
"No, _I_ am!"
"I am!"
Zephyr was speechless. _Are they really arguing over something this dumb?_
Lumine gently stepped in, "Chloris, what kind of plant are you observing?"
Chloris pointed down at a flower at her feet. It looked like a purple version of the Sweet Flower.
"I'm trying to figure out whether this is an entirely new species, or just a mutant variety of Sweet Flower."
"Have you figured it out yet?"
"Not yet. Based on the information I've gathered so far, it's more likely an entirely unknown species."
After saying that, Chloris let out a goofy giggle.
"A brand-new species of flower… hehe, how exciting!"
Paimon scratched her head. _Wow, she really does_ love plants that much, huh.
"If I publish my research in Mondstadt, I'll probably make a lot of money!"
Paimon muttered, "Aha, _there's_ the real motivation."
"No, no, you've misunderstood! I've never even touched money. I have zero interest in it.
I'm a botanist! Discovering unknown plant species is what excites me most, what I'm passionate about, and what I'll devote my life to!"
Everyone: shocked.jpg
"Damn, I gotta say—just, damn."
"Oh right, Sister," Chloris said cheerfully, "I've got some special plant materials with me. Wanna take a look?"
Paimon jumped in, "What kind of materials?"
Chloris shot her an annoyed glance. "I was talking to the blonde sister over here, not you. Why are you butting in?"
"You—! You think Paimon _want_ to talk to you or something?!"
Zephyr chuckled awkwardly. "Alright, alright. What kind of treasures do you have? Let me see."
"Hehe, I've got _lots_ of treasures." As she spoke, she pulled out a few fruits from her pocket.
"This one's Snapdragon, this is a Valberry, that's a Razzali Berry, some Mint, and a Matsutake. Hmph, all of these are rare breakthrough materials for Vision holders!"
"Huh, not bad. Do you have Windwheel Asters?"
"Windwheel Asters? There's tons of those around Windrise. I don't sell them."
"…Fine."
Paimon said, "Hey, kiddo, you actually know about Visions? That's pretty impressive."
"I'm not a kid!" Chloris snapped. "And in Teyvat, that kind of stuff is common knowledge. Not that a _plant_ like you would understand. You see, a Vision is—"
"Paimon _know_ what a Vision is! Not only do Paimon know, my partner—the Traveler—_has_ one!"
Chloris's eyes went wide. "What?! Sister, you have a Vision?"
Lumine tilted her head. "Do I?"
Paimon answered for her, "Yes, you do!"
"I do."
Zephyr clarified, "Technically, Lumine doesn't have a Vision. But she _can_ use elemental powers."
"That's impossible!" Chloris exclaimed. "Only people with Visions can use elemental powers! That's, like, the most basic rule of Teyvat!"
"You're right—but that only applies to people _from_ Teyvat."
Paimon puffed up proudly. "Exactly! The Traveler isn't some ordinary person—she's from _another world_!"
"Another world? That's incredible! Sister, what's your world like?"
"Well, in that world, there are these terrifying creatures called 'Curses.' They feed on humans…"
Paimon then gave a brief and _very spooky_ description of the Jujutsu Kaisen world—purposely emphasizing all the scary parts, just to spook the little girl.
"That's… terrifying…"
Zephyr stared at her, confused. "You really just casually shared all that? And why'd you only talk about the creepy stuff?"
"Cough, sorry, got carried away…"
The little girl was now trembling a bit.
"B-But… Sister, if you're someone that powerful, then you probably need lots of breakthrough materials, right?"
Zephyr had a giant mental question mark hovering over his head. _How the hell did we get back to _that_ topic again?_
//END
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