Have you seen the Traveler?

Once they had calmed down, Tony and Yinsen kept thinking about the little girl in the large crate. Choosing the time when surveillance was usually at its slackest, they moved the crate behind the table where they ate.

All sorts of materials were piled there, and it was the darkest spot in the room. Only then did they carefully lift the wooden lid.

The little girl's rare white hair immediately caught their attention, but her eyes were even more striking.

They were large and almost blue-black. Looking closely, Tony noticed patterns like a starry sky within them, as though mysterious stars lay hidden in their depths.

Tear tracks covered the girl's fair little face. Curled up inside the crate, she was quietly sobbing. Her eyes lit up when the lid opened, but instead of speaking to Tony and Yinsen, she quickly scanned the room, apparently searching for something.

After looking around, the little girl blinked her sparkling eyes. When she failed to find what she was looking for, the light in them immediately faded. Huge tears rolled down her cheeks, one after another. The sight of her grief made both men's hearts tighten.

"Don't be afraid, child. We're good people."

Yinsen felt it most keenly. He had never told Tony that his family had already met a tragic end. He had lied about being able to reunite with them once he got out to give Stark something to hope for. Otherwise, Tony, who had no family himself, might well sink into despair and lose the will to fight.

If his family were still alive, Yinsen's desire to see them would give Tony a goal to work toward, too, renewing his determination to keep trying for his friend's sake.

But in the stillness of the night, Yinsen would feel a deep melancholy. His wife and children's faces and voices seemed to linger before him.

If his children were still alive, they would only be a few years apart from the little girl before him.

Hearing Yinsen's voice, the little girl wiped away her tears and gradually stopped crying.

Tony really had no experience with children. As far as he knew, they were creatures who screamed, threw tantrums, and pulled every trick in the book whenever they were unhappy. Yet seeing this little girl crying so pitifully left him aching inside.

Judging by her behavior, she clearly knew what sort of place this was. She had hidden alone in the crate without making a sound, endured her fear until Yinsen opened it, and refrained from crying out or doing anything else that might attract attention.

She hardly seemed to fit Tony's idea of a little troublemaker.

No! She was definitely a little troublemaker.

This child had actually dared to sneak into a terrorist hideout. Her guardian was far too irresponsible!

"Hi, kid. This isn't a playground. Who brought you in here? Where are your parents?" Tony's voice grew stern, and his tone wasn't particularly pleasant.

The girl had only just calmed down, but Tony's questions made her lips tremble and her eyes grow wet again. Yinsen immediately felt a little annoyed with him.

He gave Tony a discreet nudge below the table and shot him a warning look.

Yinsen frowned at Tony: Hey, watch your tone.

What's wrong with my tone? Tony felt put out. He thought he was merely being a little too concerned. Still, when it came to dealing with children, Yinsen, who had actually been a parent, was the expert.

So he stiffly forced a bright, sunny smile and apologized to the child in what he considered his very gentlest voice. Then he crouched off to the side and kept quiet.

"Don't be afraid, child. This man is Tony Stark. He's a good person. He didn't mean to snap at you, little one. He just got a little too worried when he saw you. You know, it's dangerous here," Yinsen said gently. "I'm Ho Yinsen. What's your name? How did you end up here?"

The girl looked at Tony, then at Yinsen, apparently believing what Yinsen had said.

"I... I'm Paimon. Have... have you seen the Traveler?"

"The Traveler?"

Tony and Yinsen paused. This was the first time they had heard anyone called that.

Tony asked, "Who's the Traveler? Is that someone's code name?"

Paimon shook her head, growing anxious. "The Traveler's name is Aether. He's a traveler from another world. He's really famous! He's even Mondstadt's Honorary Knight."

"Wait, wait, wait."

"What's Mondstadt?"

"Mondstadt is Mondstadt! It's the Free City-State in Teyvat governed by the Anemo Archon."

"..."

Paimon's words left both men confused. Hearing all this talk of other worlds, knights, and gods, Tony began to wonder whether this Traveler existed at all. Could he be the sort of friend children imagined?

After all, children often dreamed up a best friend no one else could see. Even someone as clever and precocious as him had once had an ET friend from another planet during his exceedingly brief childhood.

Seeing their doubtful expressions, Paimon hurried to explain.

"It's true! Please believe me."

So Paimon told them what had happened in the desert.

As they listened, a new possibility began to emerge, reminding them of what Yinsen had heard at the door earlier.

"Could the person they brought in an hour ago be the Traveler Paimon mentioned?"

Yinsen shared his thought with Tony.

Tony had considered that possibility too, and nodded. "That must be it."

From what he had observed over the past two months, this place was a terrorist base. It was remote and deserted. The fact that the military still hadn't found him after he had been missing for so long showed just how unlikely an ordinary person was to stumble in here.

So the injured person those men passing the door that afternoon had mentioned was most likely Aether.

But remembering what they had heard earlier, this Traveler named Aether was probably in terrible shape right now.

From Paimon's description, Tony recognized that the damned Fragmentation Bomb had been made by Stark Industries. Even he had nearly been killed by one, let alone someone who knew nothing about bombs.

That thought worried Tony. He hesitated, choosing not to tell Paimon about Aether's condition, and only explained their guess to her.

"That's great! The Traveler's still alive!"

Paimon didn't notice that the two men were hiding anything. Instead, she was delighted to finally have news of her companion.

"After the Traveler passed out, lots of people came. Paimon did what the Traveler said and hid in the sand. When Paimon saw those people take him away, Paimon secretly flew after them and found this cave."

"There were so many people outside. Paimon wanted to see the Traveler, so when Paimon spotted a big crate, Paimon hid inside."

The girl took little sips of water as she recounted her wild adventure. Tony admired her courage, but also wanted to give the little kid a good spanking.

Yinsen, on the other hand, felt nothing but heartache for her. That the little one had found the courage to make such a decision was already admirable.

Tony had wanted to say a few more words, but seeing Paimon's proud, brave little face, and with Yinsen signaling him, he decided not to bother scolding her further.

Now that they had found Aether, it seemed they would have to finish welding the Iron Man Armor ahead of schedule. Otherwise, given the extent of his injuries, his chances of survival were slim.

As they talked, the terrorists watching the surveillance feed seemed to notice something.

Tony had just draped his clothes over the sleepy Paimon when footsteps sounded outside the door.

Yinsen's heart jolted. He hurriedly closed the wooden lid over the large crate where the little girl was hiding, then sat down beside the table just as the door opened.

"What are you doing?!"