The five of them sit at tables upstairs in Angel’s Share. After the place had been properly barricaded, patrons gathered into clusters to converse amongst themselves as they awaited a return of the monster. Diluc had led their small group from the bar up to the second floor for more privacy as they discussed the situation. Venti followed along, seemingly for the sole reason that it would be more pleasant to swipe a bottle and enjoy it upstairs away from the uneasy crowd. That very thing was exactly what he did. He sat enjoying the beverage at the table next to the other four, seeming quite cheery and content.

 

“So it’s a Riftwolf?” Kaeya voices for the group. “But what is one doing within Mondstadt, and without a pack?”

 

“It is very unusual,” Dainsleif agrees. “I have not come across this often. I would consider it an anomaly.”

 

Rosaria leans backwards in her seat. “It’s weird, got it. How is that going to help us when that thing comes back and decides to attack someone?”

 

“We can just kill it,” Diluc comments. “With all of us, we can do it while protecting everyone in the tavern.” 

 

“If we kill it, whatever it is after will still remain.” Dainsleif settles his gaze on the pyro allogene. “What will keep another Riftwolf from going after the same thing this first one is drawn to? Then it will put you in this same situation again.”

 

Kaeya tapped his chin. “Riftwolves usually have prey, something they are hunting, something drawing them. As creatures of the Abyss, they are drawn to elemental energy and power, correct?”

 

“That is correct, which is why when you stumble across the remainders of packs of Riftwolves, there are usually Ley Line disturbances nearby.”

 

“Ley Lines and other elemental forces along those lines?” Kaeya questions.
 

 Dainsleif nods. “Yes, depending on what you are referring to.”

 

“Kaeya, what are you getting at?” Diluc asks.

 

The knight rightens his posture where he is sitting so he can lean forward. An impish look gleams in his eye. “Ley Lines are connected to Irminsul and carry memories. What if this Riftwolf is chasing after an imbalance produced from Ley Line activity that is a memory. Think about it, what would be mobile, nearly impossible for Dainsleif to trace, and still not yet harmed by a monster hunting it?”

 

Diluc folds his arms in front of himself. “Are you suggesting that the Riftwolf is being led around by a ghost?”

 

“If it is spawned by Ley Lines then it would be a reanimation of a past individual,” Dainsleif felt the need to clarify. “It is only a loose projection of what they were at a certain moment in time, where Irminsul has let slip that moment-long memory of them.”

 

Diluc’s gaze turns to the displaced blonde. “Minute ghost then.”

 

“It would make sense that the culprit is not something feasible to deal with physically,” Rosaria interjects. “It would also make sense why camps and houses were gone through but not destroyed, if it was a ghost-like thing. Also why the Riftwolf caused no damage, it was not after the places, only the ghost it was following, that it could not get to.”

 

“However it will start causing damage eventually.” Dainsleif adds. “While it may be preoccupied with its hunt now, eventually the corruption within it will start corroding everything around. Especially if it has no outlet for its elemental energy.”

 

Kaeya motions with his hand as he speaks, “And that is what we do not want.” 

 

“Obviously,” Diluc confirms. “So if you are saying this thing is after this apparition, we have to eliminate it first? Then we will be free to get rid of the Riftwolf.”

 

Dainsleif responds, “From my understanding, that is correct.”

 

“Then what do you suppose we do?” Rosaria asks.

 

“We have to draw out the ghost do we not?” Kaeya says. 

 

“If we can capture it, we can find a way to dispel it.” Diluc finishes the thought for him.

 

“But how do we draw out a ghost we know nothing about?” Kaeya thinks aloud. “Especially since it does not seem to want to show itself, or else it would have by now.”

 

“We do know about it,” Rosaria draws their attention to her. “I mean, going off of what we know, the thing is destructive, but without doing any real damage. Which means it is playful, right?” 

 

“And the only things that went missing were storybooks and toys,” Kaeya adds. “Indicating… that we may be dealing with a child ghost?”

 

Dainsleif pauses to think it over. “You are suggesting that the Riftwolf is after an apparition of a child?”

 

Kaeya waves both of his hands as if they will help demonstrate his point. “It makes sense does it not? Children are not often malevolent. The Riftwolf is feeding off of that energy, which is why it has done no real harm yet.”

 

“But if it is a child, why has it chosen to bring itself here?” Dainsleif questions him further on his reasoning. “We have to be certain, or otherwise the plan we surmise could go eminently poorly.”

 

“The thing wants to play,” Diluc spoke, surprising the others after being silent for the conversation. “It does not want to cause destruction, it just makes a mess wherever it goes in search of a playmate. At least that is what I would guess.” The bartender shrugs.

 

“Aw, Diluc, I did not know you had such a soft awareness and consideration for children,” Kaeya coos.

 

Diluc’s gaze is harsh and unamused as he turns it to Kaeya. “No, I am just used to cleaning up other peoples’ childish messes.”

 

Kaeya opens his mouth to respond but Rosaria is faster to cut the two men off. “So how do we draw it out and trap it so we can fight the Riftwolf?” Fortunately she is successful and stops the brewing quarrel.

 

“Perhaps with a children’s game?” Kaeya suggests. “If it wants to play, why not offer it an opportunity to?” 

 

“Ehe,” Venti’s laugh garners the attention to himself. The others turn to look at him as the Bard tilts his head and tips the empty bottle in his hand. “And what my brave trustees do you plan to do with the apparition once you have captured it? You don’t want to confine it. Don’t you think you need to dispel it so the memory can return to Irminsul where it belongs?” The bard meanders to join them at their table. He slips between Diluc and Rosaria, who both give him a mildly perturbed look as they are forced to shift to make enough room for him.

 

“Memories can sometimes manifest in Teyvat because they are missing something when they were alive that they feel like they were not able to accomplish I think.” He hums thoughtfully as he makes a show of thinking. “Perhaps this lost memory wants to play like you have surmised, and once it achieves that, it will be satisfied and can be released. As for that, I know an old nursery lullaby that might do the trick. If someone could draw the memory out and keep it still, then it might just work to put the remnants of the child’s memory at rest.”

 

“Then we have a strategy,” Diluc states. 

 

“We only need a game to play to entice the child apparition out,” Kaeya chimes in. “And I think I know what we can do.”