Archons Out

One day, Raiden called all the current Archons to the base at Inzuma to discuss something rather important. "Look, Murata hasn't been seen or heard from since the 21st century arrived, I'm worried about her and I called you all here to see what you may know" she told the others. "Well Raiden, the only Archons that can answer that question is Nahida and Qiqi, they became Archons before me and Zhongli so just maybe they know a thing or two" Venti said. "Of course your first instinct is to accuse the little ones, but you are right though" said Qiqi. "Well speak up, what do you know about the whereabouts of Murata?" asked Raiden hesitantly. "Back in I believe 1998 or so, she came to the old Regisvine and told me that she wanted to retire, I told her not to as she was the first and best Archons to exist, but she just smiled and went away" told Qiqi. "And a few days later, she came to Sumeru and told me and Yaoyao about there not being a place for Pyros to train, I asked her why, but she just said that Pyros weren't accepted at Inzuma anymore, the Hydros told tales about them burning down local neighborhoods and killing the innocent, so everyone seen them as threats, then she walked away looking quite regretfully" finished Nahida. "I see, I think I have came to the conclusion that someone's keeping her hostage and wants us to do something about the Pyros" stated Zhongli. "Now what made you come up with that conclusion?" asked Venti. "Well think about it, ever since Raiden became Archon, she basically disappeared into the unknown, and she's probably been captured because she's a Pyro too, but the question remains, who did it and where is she?" Zhongli pondered. "Well Zhongli, seeing that no else has an alibi, we have to agree with you on this, you will be our detective, surveying the area for clues, meanwhile we will ask some of the locals about Murata, is that fine with you?" Raiden asked. "Yes but I would much prefer if Nahida and Qiqi come with me, and Venti shall be with you" Raiden agreed, and off they all went on the investigation. When Zhongli and the two arrived back at the base, they saw that they were scratch marks on the door. "Probably just a cat or something trying to get in" assured Nahida. Zhongli wrote something down in his notepad. When they entered, there were surveillance cameras everywhere. "Huh, I don't remember the base having any cameras, or any modern technology for that matter, why is that?" wondered Qiqi. "Oh, it sure is cold in here, what's the temperature?" Nahida said while shuddering. Then she saw the thermometer, and there was a note beside it. "32 degrees Fahrenheit, that's sounds like the ideal temperature for a Cryo" she continued. Qiqi was sweating a little after she read the note, it said that, "Only Cryos can go past this point, any other element would freeze to death" "Hm, now Qiqi, you said that you talked to Murata before she disappeared, so how come this says only Cryos can go past this point, I'm not one to assume, but do you have anything to do with this?" Zhongli asked while putting the pieces together. "I told you, I talked to her the week before she left, I haven't even stepped foot in Inzuma for the past few years, so don't go accusing me of anything" she said irritatedly. "Well he didn't said it was you so just try to stay clam" comforted Nahida. "Well Qiqi, looks like it's only you who can go past this, so tell us what you saw when you come back, alright?" Qiqi just snorted but pressed on. When she approached the second floor, she saw a large garden with some trees sprouting out, there was a note stuck on a tree. It said, "If you want to find the Archon of Pyro, Murata, you have to find the secret room in here" Qiqi stomped back angrily onto the first floor. "I saw nothing but a garden with a note that said they there's a secret door, this seems like work only a Dendro would do!" Nahida had finally lost her patience. "I told you, you need to stop assuming things, just because there's a garden there, doesn't mean that I did it, you need to pipe down on your accusations!" "My accusations, I have you know I chose to do this, I could've stayed home, but I chose to came and help you, and you lie in my face like this?!" "No one said anything wrong about you!?" Zhongli interrupted the argument when he checked the playback on one of the cameras. The three were astonished when they saw what the camera picked up, it showed a recording of Murata being tied up, with a tiny hand waving before cutting out. "Uh, well Nahida, it couldn't have been me, so by technicality?" said Qiqi while sweating a lot now. "You know Qiqi, ever since you checked that thermometer, you've been sweating an awful lot even though it's freezing, why is that?" Nahida asked cordially. "Well uh, I keep telling you, I didn't do it!" "You cannot speak, your alibi was contradicted the moment you arrived in this place!" she finished gravely. "Actually, I've made an fascinating discovery which made me craft my own theory" Zhongli added. "And what may that be?" asked Nahida. "If you look at the top right corner at the beginning of the video, you see someone jumping and taking the note off, then at the end, look at the hand, it has a ring on the middle finger, I want you both to show me your hands please" Zhongli checked Nahida's hand, there was nothing so she was safe. Qiqi was rather hesitant when asked to show. "Do we really have to-" "Show him your hand, Qiqi" Nahida sternly interrupted. She finally did, and Zhongli saw that she had a ring on her middle finger, just like in the video. "So my theory was correct then, so you're the one who captured Murata and trapped her in that secret room, Qiqi, it all makes sense now" concluded Zhongli. Nahida used the vines from the garden and started choking Qiqi until she had little to no air left to breathe. "You are a swindler, crook and a thief, capturing Pyros so that you can erase them from the planet, I thought you liked the Pyros, but I guess I was wrong!" Nahida shouted. "Nahida, please I didn't do it, please believe me!" she said while being in asphyxiation. Zhongli tried and tried to pull Nahida away, but it was no avail. Meanwhile, Raiden and Venti were going by locals' door seeing if they knew anything about Murata. Most of them didn't hear their knocking, they ignores them, or either wasn't at home. Eventually, one local did open the door, Raiden explained what there were doing, but he was staring at Venti with the sharpest eyes. "You, you ruined our chance of winning the championship!" he said. This was the tennis player that hit the ball inside Venti's hat and chased him. Poor Venti tried to run away, but he was surrounded by the rest of the team. "Now boys, show him how we tennis players really are!" their leader cried. Venti was tackled by every single player, Raiden just pretended not to see Venti, and just went back to the base. When Raiden returned, Nahida tried to look like she wasn't asphyxiating Qiqi. "Uh, did you guys figure out who it was, and did you find Murata?" she asked. "Yes, it was Qiqi all along and Murata's in a secret room, by the way, where's Venti?" said the little Dendro. "Venti, he had to go help someone with some work, and he's probably heading back home, and a secret room, you say?" she wondered. "Oh yes I remember, you go to the second floor and you hit the back wall three times, quite a genius way if I do say so myself" So Raiden unlocked the secret room, then they all saw Murata, wearing clothes of the late 1500s. "Murata, thank goodness you're still alive, I or we missed you so much!" Raiden said while hugging her. "Alright I missed you too, Ei, but I do need to tell you guys something" "Which is?" they asked. "This was all staged, this was all such a elaborate scheme to get you Archons to come here so that we could have a big celebration here this weekend!" the Pyro said cheerfully. "But what about the cameras, the thermometer, the garden, and the video?" asked Nahida while being confused. "All set up with the help of me, Qiqi, and Yaoyao, I specifically told her not to tell you, Nahida, so that it would be a surprise" Ol' Nahida felt embarrassed and apologized for strangling Qiqi, Zhongli smiled, and Raiden and Murata just laughed endlessly before they all headed back home. As for Venti, he only took a few hits before he used the wind to blow all the players away, while unfortunately not being informed about the celebration.