Chapter Text
Mona had never been to Liyue for the lantern rite, as mostly she had been busy with her jobs, and she had brushed off her own wants to see the sky light up with paper lanterns, as it had been just another chance for her to spend her hard-earned and hard to come by mora on “trivialities.”
But now, well, now she had time, time to spend and pack her bags for a trip to Liyue harbor.
She packed her bags, humming the latest tune she had heard from a bard, and in high spirits, she headed to Liyue harbor.
On foot, of course, she couldn’t afford a horse or anything of the sort, and her portals were basically short distance travel anyways.
She made it to Wangshu Inn by late night when she hurried, and her luck had been surprisingly good, as she had not been robbed by a treasure hoarder in the darkness.
Of course, her readings for the next day sent mixed symbols. Embarrassment. Rain. A new constellation she had not seen.
A butterfly. The strings of fate and death. (A bridge between worlds, between people.)
…
She snaps the rotating circles shut with a flick of her wrist. A snap and her future is gone, no longer spinning in her palms. (Fate is never gone. Fate is always maintained)
The next day, she heads out in her cloak. She hopes that her future predicament won’t be about her clothing.
She knows that it’s… different. And she should change it, but she wasn’t about to become another stuck up old mage that wore only dark and embroidered cloaks and big floppy hats.
She would be different. (She wouldn’t get old enough to be like them)
She would make it before the rain hit.
She did not make it before the rain hit, and a soaking Mona had in a panic, teleported herself inside the closest building.
...
It was rather dark in her she thought. Absentmindedly taking off her cloak to wring her hair into.
And… cold. It was cold in here and Mona felt as though she had been transported to the very feeling of looking at a corpse.
The cold chills. The dark, sunken eyes. (Clammy air, her bone-thin hand touching you, last days of life)
…
No more.
She would not think about that, for she was Mona Megstius, her future may be ordained but her past was behind her.
A snap and a loud and cheery boo rings in her ear and the lights turn back on. (Flash-like lightning. Gone already. Everyone is gone)
She is met with several realizations. Firstly, the person that had yelled… was dressed in all black and…
This was a funeral parlor.
Of all the places to enter rather forcefully. This was unfortunate.
And secondly. She had hit the other with a palmful of water.
The other’s brown hair was wet and darkened to an almost black, matching their black clothing.
Hurriedly she reaches towards the other and apologizes.
“Yo miss! The funeral parlor closed so how’d you get in? You gotta tell me. It would be soooo useful for pranking Xiangling!!” The brunette turns and looks at her with big red eyes.
In the back of Mona’s mind, she thinks that this… strange funeral worker reminds her of Klee. (YOu are searching for comfort. Weak.)
Instead of an answer, all Hu Tao gets is silence and the girl with dark blue hair blinking emptily at her.
Hu Tao waves their hand in front of the other’s face.
“Wake up sleepy head! The late risers are the early croakers!” They smile full force, determined to get this strange girl to tell them how she got in. For completely wholesome reasons of course!!
“Err… Uhh.” Mona comes back to the funeral master’s presence closer now, insistently staring at her. “I’m… afraid that is a secret I am not willing to share for now.” She manages to bumble out, hurriedly putting her cloak on.
And Hu Tao watches as the girl, mage, they suppose, gathers the water from around them, drying Hu Tao’s hair and her own, gathering the water into a ball. She moves her hands and a large circle. Multiple actually, a whole chart or something of the sort forms in front of her. She taps at the wheels a couple of times, making sounds like chiming bells, and Hu Tao is maybe a little confused. Who is she and how did she get in? Hu Tao is dying to know and as much as she hides it, she doesn’t want the knowledge for a malicious reason.
Perhaps the opposite in fact.
The tables disappear with a flick of the girl’s wrist.
“So. Hu Tao is it? My name is Mona.”
It’s Hu Tao’s turn to stare, unblinking at the girl in front of them.
“Gee Mona, are you one of those future tellers? How’d you know my name? It’s not very nice to introduce someone to yourself you know!” Hu Tao watches with satisfaction as Mona’s eyes go wide. She sputters and apologizes again.
“Kidding of course! I don’t mind very much but Zhongli might… Hmmmmm....”
Mona sighs and places her hands on her hips. “If so, as an apology for entering your… rather creepy abode, allow me to buy you dinner.” She also subtly checks her wallet, breathing a sigh of relief. Her wallet seems full enough, and she’s glad that she saved up for this trip. (Skipped meals)
Hu tao sees Mona check her wallet and skips forward, wrapping an arm around the other.
“Don’t get ahead of yourself Mona! The rain’s still coming down! I know you must be in such a hurry to take someone as cool as me to dinner but I don’t wanna get soaked again.”
Mona flounders, surprised at the sudden teasing and contact. Her shoulders stiffen and she rolls them, subtly trying to get Hu Tao off her. Unsurprisingly. It doesn’t seem to work as Hu Tao continues, dragging her with chirps of glee and promises to show Mona the cremating room. Mona politely refuses, and Hu Tao counters with an “Oh but I insist!” And off they go, Hu tao showing Mona around the funeral parlor, past the photos of stern and serious looking relatives of her, numbers and the term “Wangshen Funeral Master” printed under them.
“Are… Are these your relatives?” Mona knows such is probably a rather rude question, but it is always better to hear such truth from the person’s mouth in admittance than hear it from the stars in hushed whispers, a secret she should not be privy to.
Hu Tao nods, too solemnly compared to their past cheery attitude, and Mona catches sight of the little plaques beneath the years and numbers.
Deceased.
Mona swallows shallowly. Well, fucking shit. She jogs a little closer to Hu Tao who by now, has let go of her shoulder.
“My parents are nowhere to be found.” Great way to start a conversation, Mona. She coughs then continues. “I mean, I figured I had just intruded upon something I was not meant to find.” She twiddles with the fraying edge of her cloak, fingers picking at dark navy strings.
Hu Tao smiles (Strained?) and speaks again in that cheery upbeat voice. “Don’t go and get attached now miss Mona! I’m not sad because of these old buffoons!” They let out a boisterous laugh, too loud for someone who had just been looking at lines of her own deceased kin.
“The rain should pick up soon!” Hu Tao beams at her and directs Mona to a chair in the corner. A waiting room Mona supposes. Now with Hu Tao cleaning up the funeral parlor and leaving Mona alone, the atmosphere drops. The air is clammy and old, and it reminds Mona of walking into the rooms of the recently deceased. Of the old lady’s hushed and rapid breaths, a fatal fever, rain on her face she looked up to the sky for guidance instead of beside her.
Mona breathes in and out and focuses, summoning water to her palm, molding it, shaping the liquid into shapes. Water illusions.
A duck quaking in her hand. She clenches her fist and it is gone. A flower hovering and losing petals by the second.
A hand reaches out and grabs it. The flower-
Hu Tao grabs it, hand encircling the stem, and holds it despite the gathering water dripping down their hand and smiles at Mona.
“Neat party trick Mona!” And their loud voice snaps Mona out of her trance, and she drags her eyes from the hand gripping her dying creation. She rubs her cheek absentmindedly.
They both watch as the flower wilts and dies, melting back into a puddle of water sitting in Hu Tao’s hand.
And the other doesn’t even seem distressed or sad about its death. Unlike how Klee would be, the girl was always sad when Mona’s creations died or disappeared. Unlike Albedo’s, Mona’s creations aren’t permanent, flitting water, always moving streams briefly paused by her hand.
Mona twists her wrist and the water evaporates.
“The rain has gone down, and I brought us an umbrella!” Hu Tao seems so excited about the prospect of dinner on Mona (Or perhaps she’s just always that way?) And Mona doesn’t want to trample on the rampart enthusiasm now that it’s back so she nods, and doesn’t comment on the fact that it is only one umbrella.
So she sucks it up and deals with it when Hu Tao grabs her shoulders. When they are too close together under the umbrella and it makes her breath short. (Too close, too close, too close) When they arrive at the cheapest but nicest looking restaurant Mona can find (Wanmin) And the man working the front counter winks at her.
“Never thought I would see the day someone took that one on a date.” And he gestures towards where Hu Tao is “Picking out a table for us!” (Scaring the patrons) And Mona forces out a smile.
“It’s not a date… More of a way, a means of repaying my debt to them.”
The man smiles and laughs a little then takes her order.
She pretends she doesn’t notice, doesn’t care (She doesn’t) when the waitress and chef (Xiangling) sticks her tongue out at Hu Tao when delivering their food.
(Hu Tao laughs at the face she makes when Xiangling leaves.)
(They’re not mad at me.)
Mona doesn’t release her sigh of relief upon the realization, but she does shift her weight, moving a fraction of the way forwards, closer to Hu Tao.
(She doesn’t notice the way Hu Tao’s cheeks get brighter when she gets closer.)
(Doesn’t notice when they get brighter when Mona buys them dessert.)
(When Mona loosens up and laughs at one of their jokes.)
(When Mona offers to walk them home.)
And she does, she walks Hu Tao home, a box of food in her arms, Hu Tao had insisted she take it instead of them.
(“You need it more than me! You’re as thin as a skeleton and trust me, I’ve seen plenty of those!”)
The box is warm, but by the time they get back to the funeral parlor, where Hu Tao swears they don’t need Mona walking them from here to their house, the food has gone cold.
“Watch this! I’ll heat it back up for you righty’o.” Hu Tao swipes the box from her hands (Just like the flower.) And Mona sees the vision on their clothes light up. Orange and reds spilling across dark cloth where it is pinned.
Hu Tao’s hands glow, their face now cast in a brighter harsher red than the soft moonlight above them.
And they hand it back and Mona realizes she hadn’t noticed at all what Hu Tao was doing to the box, but when it arrives back in her hands it is warm.
She says her farewells and thanks. (Are you disappointed they’re gone so fast, Mona?)
Hu Tao is jumping in the air as she leaves, waving so violently Mona hopes their arms don’t hurt in the morning when they wake up.