Mondstadt. Late night.
Inside a luxurious and elegantly appointed room at the Snezhnayan Diplomatic Embassy.
"Oh? So Dvalin was repelled by the outlander Traveler and that person from Liyue."
The woman's voice was impossibly soft and languorous; just hearing it was like a cat's claw dragging lightly across the heart, scattering one's thoughts.
"Yes, Lady Signora."
Anastasia, wearing a half-mask and a purple-black uniform, replied with a slight bow.
Her deference was absolute.
As a Fatui consul, she was perfectly aware of just how terrifying the woman lounging casually in the chair before her truly was.
Snezhnaya, one of the seven nations of this world, had its diplomatic envoys who went by the particular name: the Fatui.
In recent years, the Fatui's ability to move aggressively through all seven nations, imposing their will with a posture that brooked no argument, owed everything to the existence of the eleven Fatui Harbingers.
The Harbingers, the eleven strongest among the Fatui and absolutely loyal to the Tsaritsa, formed the leading edge of Snezhnayan power. Each one had been granted authority by the Tsaritsa herself, and each possessed strength that placed them beyond the reach of ordinary mortals.
The woman in the chair was the Eighth Harbinger, codenamed Signora.
"Heh. Some troublesome unexpected individuals have appeared..."
A cold smile passed briefly across Signora's strikingly beautiful face.
Her left hand propped up her chin. Long golden hair cascaded over her snow-white shoulders and down her neck. Her long, rounded legs were crossed, her skin delicate to the point of translucency, faintly luminous under the light.
Her voice remained soft and faintly coy, the kind that might make an unwary man lose his composure entirely.
To Anastasia, hearing it made her body tense involuntarily.
"S-sorry, Lady Signora. We failed to anticipate..."
Signora shifted slightly in her chair. As she moved, the curves of her slender waist drew the eye in a way that was deeply difficult to ignore.
A butterfly mask covered her right eye. Her ice-blue gaze fixed coldly on Anastasia.
"There is still no news of Barbatos."
Cold sweat broke across Anastasia's forehead: "Lady Signora, I will go to the Knights of Favonius tomorrow and apply pressure. On the grounds that they have failed to eliminate the rampaging dragon, I will propose that the Fatui take over Mondstadt's city defense."
"Then, as long as we set a trap and deliver a decisive blow to Dvalin, even that carefree Anemo Archon wouldn't simply stand by and watch his beloved guardian fall into desperate straits, would he?"
Signora's laugh was cold: "A decisive blow? You underestimate the former guardian of the Four Winds. However, judging by the current situation, Dvalin's mind does appear to have fallen into chaos. If we truly take over the city defense and use Mondstadt as bait, it may not be entirely impossible."
"Do it. Go see Jean tomorrow."
Signora shifted her posture, crossing her legs: "And how is the investigation into the Skyward Lyre progressing?"
Anastasia replied: "Based on our reconnaissance over the past several days, we can confirm that what is currently enshrined in the Favonius Cathedral is the genuine article. I have already assigned a skilled Fatui Cicin Mage from the embassy to wait for an opportunity to steal it."
"Mm. Don't fail me again."
Signora examined her fingernails with apparent disinterest.
Anastasia caught the edge concealed in those words and couldn't help but stiffen.
Lady Signora had never shown the slightest mercy to those who failed her.
"Yes. I will see the mission completed."
After Anastasia left, Signora rose from her chair, left the meeting room, and returned to her bedroom.
The lighting was dim.
A large, luxuriously appointed bed occupied most of the space.
It was not that a larger room was unavailable; given her rank, no one in the Fatui would object if she had them build her an entire villa in Mondstadt.
She simply preferred it this way.
In overly large, empty spaces, memories she had no wish to revisit had a way of creeping in.
Splash.
After removing her clothes, her bare form stepped into the bathtub.
The water, originally cool, turned to steam the moment it made contact with her skin.
I suppose this is one benefit of being the Crimson Witch of Flames. No need to heat bathwater.
Though if I released the power of my Delusion, this water would turn to ice again...
Her flawless face tilted up toward the ceiling, strange and idle thoughts drifting through her mind.
If any of her Fatui subordinates could see Lady Signora in this moment, lying in her bath and pondering such things, their jaws would likely hit the floor. This was the fearsome Signora?
Of course, this kind of mood only surfaced on rare occasions, in the depths of the night, when no one was watching.
The vast majority of the time, she was the Eighth Harbinger that countless people feared and obeyed without question.
For some reason tonight, something that had been buried over the centuries surfaced quietly.
Her ice-blue eyes stared blankly at the ceiling.
After a while, as if a thought had arrived from somewhere far away, she rose from the bathtub.
Remaining droplets of water traced down her figure, sliding from her long neck over her slender shoulders before being evaporated into wisps of steam by the Pyro element before they could travel further.
Signora wrapped herself in her robe and walked to the bedside, pulling open a drawer.
Inside sat an exquisite dark gold box. The polish of its surface made clear that someone cleaned and maintained it often.
She opened the box. On a silk cushion lay a pale golden hourglass.
The marks of time were visible on it. Decades of years had naturally faded and weathered its exterior, but the glass itself had not a single crack, which spoke to the care it had been given.
Those fair, slender hands of hers had eliminated countless enemies for the Tsaritsa, destroyed countless monsters, and never once trembled from the blood they had spilled.
Yet when she reached for this small hourglass, her movements were infinitely careful.
Like a little girl handling her most precious and fragile treasure.
She picked it up and lay back against the soft pillows.
Holding the hourglass above her face with one hand, she gazed at it in the dim moonlight filtering through the window.
She probably didn't even notice the expression on her face in that moment. Soft. Unguarded. Almost innocent.
Like the girl she had once been, still carrying something tender in her heart, still singing quietly for the person she loved.
But such moments of remembrance never lasted long. What was lost could never come back.
Like things reduced to ash by flames.
They could never be restored.
The softness on Signora's face faded slowly.
She set the hourglass back in the box and closed the drawer.
When she turned away, her expression had already become cold and composed.
She was once again the Signora who served only the Tsaritsa, ruthless and unreadable.
---
It was already evening by the time Ji An left Saeed's house.
He spent the night in the lodging arranged for him by the Knights of Favonius.
Early the following morning, he set out again.
Crossing the bridge at the city gate, he spotted the flock of pigeons. His hand moved before his head did. He drew his elemental musket, fired a blank, and scattered the birds in every direction.
A small boy named Timmie, as it turned out, had been watching. He burst into tears and declared loudly that he was going to tell his mother.
Ji An could only beat a hasty retreat.
Once in the outskirts, safely away from other people, he reached out through their mental link.
Herloxia.
Before long:
"Chirp."
Herloxia glided in.
Per Ji An's standing instructions, when left on her own she would forage and find Magical Crystal Chunks and similar sources of ley line energy to replenish herself.
"Herloxia, fly northwest. We're heading here."
He held up the rough sketch map Saeed had drawn for him.
Herloxia's red eyes flickered twice in acknowledgment, and then she carried Ji An onward.
Several hours later, they arrived.
"What is this thing."
Standing outside Stormterror's Lair, Ji An looked up at the wind barrier spanning the sky and mentally cursed his luck.
Saeed had not mentioned anything like this.
"Did this appear after Dvalin attacked Mondstadt?"
He studied the barrier radiating its immense, hostile power and said to Herloxia: "Give it a bombardment. See what happens."
"Chirp."
Boom. Boom. Boom. Boom.
Herloxia extended all four cannons, trained them on the barrier, and opened fire.
Under the sustained barrage, the wind barrier buckled and twisted, and the points of impact were nearly torn open each time.
But each time, the surrounding Anemo element flowed in and sealed the gaps again.
"These winds have some unusual property."
Ji An looked at the barrier, vast enough to enclose all of Stormterror's Lair, and shook his head.
"And because we can't breach it in one continuous strike, it keeps patching itself before we can push through."
He thought it over. "Herloxia could break through using special energy. But even if we get inside, getting the Seelies out cleanly under these conditions would be another problem entirely."
He made his decision. "Let's head back. I'll ask Saeed, or Grand Master Jean, if they have any ideas."
---
Mondstadt City.
Ji An left Herloxia in the outskirts as usual and walked back through the city gate.
At the head of the bridge, he spotted Mona and Klee.
Mona was holding a thick notebook in her hands.
Klee spread her little palms: "Oh, so big sister wanted the stuff that was originally in the box? You should have said so earlier."
A look of apprehension crossed Mona's face: "You didn't damage it, did you?"
Klee shook her head quickly: "No! Not at all!"
Mona let out a slow breath of relief: "Then..."
Klee pointed at the notebook in her hands: "That thing is the book you're holding, big sister."
Mona froze. Then her expression cracked into something close to horror.
"Eek! Th-this book, this completely inexplicable diary... from that old lady... Could it be... her diary from fifty years ago?!"
Ji An had been approaching, curious at the commotion. He walked over: "What's going on? Did you find the thing?"
"Ugh... disciple."
Mona looked utterly stricken, her face the picture of despair: "I never imagined. The thing my master sent me all this way to retrieve after fifty years..."
"Turns out to be her embarrassing teenage diary."
Ji An: ...
A diary?
Who asks someone to travel across the world to retrieve a diary?
Mona, looking as though the sky itself had collapsed, hugged her head and groaned: "It's over, it's over! No wonder! No wonder the old lady said, whatever you do, don't look inside, or she'd tear me limb from limb..."
Klee looked back and forth between Mona and Ji An, growing anxious:
"Did... did Klee cause trouble...?"
She thought about it, then brightened slightly: "Ah! But big sister only said she wanted the box! She didn't say what was inside!"
"Klee doesn't know anything! Klee is leaving now!"
Ji An chuckled, shook his head, and said: "It's not your fault, Klee. This is Mona's own doing for never figuring out the situation properly."
From the very beginning, from the moment Mona had set out to find her so-called great rival and challenge them, nothing had gone as she had planned.
Mona: "Wuwuwu, disciple, what do I do, I'm completely done for..."
Seeing she seemed genuinely distraught, Ji An relented and offered: "It'll be fine. As long as you don't say anything, your master won't know you read the diary, will she?"
Mona looked like she had already accepted her fate: "Impossible. Astrology sees through all deception. You've seen that yourself."
She slumped. "I spent all my Mora getting here, gained no knowledge, and now on top of everything, I can't even go back because of this diary. How did things end up like this..."
As she spoke, her eyes kept drifting sideways toward Ji An.
"I can't go back! If I go back now, the old lady will tear me apart... But if I stay in Mondstadt, I have no money at all..."
She raised her voice just slightly: "Oh, what is a person supposed to do in a situation like this? If only there were some kind-hearted disciple who could spare a little Mora to support his poor, hopeless master... Does such a person exist anywhere in this world?"
Could you be any more obvious?
Ji An rolled his eyes. Then, after a brief internal struggle, he sighed: "Fine. I'll support you."
"YES! Disciple, I always knew you were the best!"
Mona lit up so completely that she launched herself at him, arms wrapping around him, pressing close.
Ji An: "Hey, hey, hey! What do you think you're doing?!"
The high-cut leotard and black stockings were difficult enough to deal with from a distance. Having her suddenly plastered against him was another matter entirely.
"Hehe! Since disciple is supporting me, that means I belong to you now! You can ask me to do anything!"
Mona said, with an expression that managed to be simultaneously smug and coy: "But your master has been working on a research topic lately... Could you advance me some funding for that too?"
"No. Off you go."
Ji An said without expression.
"What! Disciple, you're so cruel!"
Mona's face flipped instantly to outrage.
"I'll still give you living expenses," Ji An said, shaking his head. "But you don't get to freeload. As it happens, there's something I need you to divine for me."
-------
A/n: New content and stories posted on my patreon go check it out!
patreon.com/deadlygoober