Paimon looked at Amid, then at the tree, unable to figure out how to communicate with a tree.
Aether watched her, then suddenly spoke.
“Paimon.”
Paimon turned her head, “Hmm?”
The corners of Aether’s mouth curled up slightly, with a hint of a reminder:
“Did you forget?
Azhdaha.”
Paimon froze for a moment, then her eyes widened sharply.
“Oh, right!”
She clapped her little hands, becoming completely excited.
“At that time, Kun Jun, who was possessed by Azhdaha, could see their memories from the Shitou!”
She flew closer to Amid, looking him up and down, her eyes full of surprise.
“So… you can really see the tree’s memories?!”
Amid was still holding the tree, and upon hearing this, he immediately let go with his little claws, turned around, and nodded vigorously.
“Bi!”
‘That’s right!’
He silently gave Aether a thumbs up in his heart.
‘Good brother!
Well done!’
This example was given just in time; it was like being offered a pillow just as one was getting sleepy.
Tighnari listened from the side, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.
“Azhdaha…” He repeated the name and looked at Aether,
“You are talking about the one in Liyue’s legends, the Geo Dragon King who fought side by side with the Geo Archon Morax, right?”
Aether nodded.
A flash of surprise appeared in Tighnari’s eyes.
“Judging by what you said, you have actually met this one.”
He was indeed a bit surprised—after all, that was a legendary existence, an ancient being from the same era as the Geo Archon.
But it was only a bit of surprise.
After meeting Aether and Paimon, he had already become accustomed to the various bizarre things that happened to this duo.
He withdrew his gaze and looked back at Amid.
“Since there is a precedent, what Amid said should be true.”
He paused, then added:
His voice became serious, carrying a sense of awe for nature:
“The forest will remember everything.”
Paimon listened, stunned.
“The forest will remember everything…” She repeated it once, then looked at Amid,
“So, can you really communicate with trees?”
Amid nodded again.
With the example of Azhdaha, plus Tighnari’s old saying, Paimon finally stopped doubting.
But she quickly thought of a new question.
She tilted her head and asked curiously:
“Then why can you communicate with trees?”
Amid was stunned for a moment.
‘Why?’
‘How do you expect me to answer that?’
‘Because I am a Celebi?
Because I am the God of the Forest?’
He opened his mouth, only able to let out a helpless “Bi.”
Tighnari looked at him, and a thought suddenly flashed through his mind.
“Could it be…” He said slowly,
“Are you an Aranara?”
Amid was taken aback.
Aranara?
Of course he knew about the Aranara; they were the forest Pokémon of Sumeru, the kin of the Dendro Archon.
But he was a Celebi, definitely not an Aranara.
He immediately shook his head.
But just after shaking his head, he paused.
After thinking about it, he nodded again.
‘Not an Aranara, but if you talk about being kin…’
‘Should that count?’
He was the child of Mother Nahida, her family.
Kin or whatever, that should count too, right?
Paimon watched him shake his head first and then nod, her little brain working at high speed. New chapters come out on g.com first.
Then her eyes lit up:
“Oh!
I understand!”
She flew in front of Amid and began to explain:
“Shaking your head first, then nodding… You mean, you are not an Aranara, but you are also the kin of the Dendro Archon?”
Amid’s eyes lit up, and he nodded vigorously.
“Bi!”
‘That’s right!
Paimon, you are so smart!’
Aether and Tighnari looked at each other and nodded as well.
That made sense.
Since he was the kin of the Dendro Archon, it was not so strange that he could obtain information from trees.
After all, being kin, having some special abilities was normal.
But one face was not very happy.
Nahida.
She stood to the side, listening to Paimon say the words “kin of the Dendro Archon,” her little face full of unhappiness.
Amid was her child.
Her hope.
The only light in her five hundred years of loneliness.
Not some kin.
The word “kin” was too distant, too alienated, like a superior-subordinate relationship.
But she and Amid were not like that.
They were family.
Amid was proud of his successful lie, when he suddenly felt a gaze land on him.
He turned his head and met Nahida’s eyes.
Those four-leaf clover-shaped eyes carried a little grievance, a little dissatisfaction, a little—
‘I am not happy.’
Amid was stunned.
‘Is Mother jealous?
No, is she angry?
That’s not it either…’
‘Is it because she doesn’t like me being called kin?’
His heart warmed, and with a flap of his wings, he flew straight back from the air.