Chapter Text
"Hello, Ms. Lisa."
Noelle smiled softly, and waved a gloved hand toward the woman. "Hi cutie!" Lisa flashed her usual saccharine smile, waving a few fingers adorned with rings. "Please feel free to call me Lisa, by the way." The girl nodded bashfully, red blooming across her face. "Aw, are you blushing, cutie?" She tried to avoid the witch's eyes, filled with mirth and a teasing joy. "Heh...I'm sorry. I have to clear up some dust around here, I'll be back." The girl walked briskly to a secluded corner of the library and caught her breath. '
Miss Lisa...what a tease.
"Thy Prinzessin der Verurteilung has arrived, along with her noble avian companion, Oz!" Noelle turned slowly to see Fischl standing there with her fists on her hips. Oz was perched on her shoulder and he gave a slight nod in greetings. "Ah...hi Fischl. And hello to you too, Oz. Anything in particular bring you here?" "I have come to give thy due companionship because Prinzessin refuses to let the fruits of her mind lay idle." The maid raised an eyebrow towards Oz in a secret request for translation.
"She came to visit because she was bored and didn't want to stand around doing nothing."
"Oh," Noelle nodded. "That's a fair excuse. I'm sorry, but I must disappoint. I promised Miss Lisa I would help clean the library but instead I ran away because I got flustered. That isn't very noble of me, so I must repay her. I do think Bennett has returned from his expedition, so maybe you can give him a warm welcome!" Fischl's visible eye sparkled with excitement, and she did a small curtsy.
"Prinzessin thanks you and offers gratitude. Now, she must search the city and all its cobblestones to find the intrepid adventurer named Bennett!" Noelle sent the girl off with a fond smile and turned her attention back to her work. Hopefully she'd be able to meet up with them, along with Razor. The cleanup itself was mundane, but it was made just a little more entertaining by Lisa's idle jokes and quips.
Safe to say she was pleasantly surprised when Klee came bursting down the steps, The Traveler hastily trying to catch up.
His name...it was Aether, right?
The little girl spotted Noelle and waved eagerly with one hand, holding her plushie Dodoco in the other. Aether waved as well, sheepishly smiling as he scanned the room for the librarian. The maid almost wanted to giggle as she saw Lisa tower over Klee, hands resting on her hips. "Klee?"
"Yes, Miss Lisa?" "What have I told you about being loud in the library?" "Um...that I'm not supposed to be?" "Correct. Now, mind telling me why you dragged Aether along with you?"
"I'm sorry. We meant to come tell you that Jean had been looking for you because apparently she's struggling with an urgent matter. This one had just happened to come out of solitary confinement when I walked out of her office," He said, ruffling Klee's hair just a little. Aether was mellow and calm, something that Noelle had always appreciated in a person.
"Hey!" The girl crossed her arms and pouted. "At least we found Miss Lisa." Aether's floating companion nodded from his side, giving Klee a not-so-subtle wink. The maid chuckled at the scene, knowing that things were always a little more interesting with Klee around. "Ah, Noelle."
"Yes?" "Your work here is done." The librarian took a look at the clock before turning back to her. "And it's high time you head home to rest. If you don't," she placed a finger to her lips in a mock thinking expression. "I may just have to ensure that you actually do rest. By my own means, of course." The knight-maid waved her hands in front of her face, nodding hesitantly. "I will, Miss Lisa. Promise."
Although a little night training never hurt anyone.
"Good! I'll see you around, then. Here's your payment, by the way." She placed a bag of Mora in her hands, along with scrolls to help with her knightly studies. "Oh, the bag of Mora itself is okay. You don't need to-" "Just take the scrolls, Noelle. Think of them as my special gift."
A few minutes later, Noelle exited the library with red dusting her cheeks. "Oh, I must look like a tomato or something," she murmured. As she looked down at the stone steps, she noticed a gathering of people nearby. More specifically, a gathering of Knights. She tilted her head up, curious to see what exactly they were here for. Jean stood in the middle of the crowd, as if she were making an announcement. But it apparently wasn't a positive one.
Her face was set in a grim scowl, and the Knights around her had similar expressions. A few of them even looked like they were willing to commit a rage-fueled homicide. Some, on the other hand, looked very anxious. Something really serious must've happened. As she slowly jogged down the steps, she could spot Lisa out of the corner of her eye. The woman was livid, though one couldn't tell by the way her mouth was set in a stone-cold lone.
The sun was starting to set over the city, and with Dragonspine looming in the background, it was a beautiful change of scenery. Unfortunately, Noelle's mood didn't change much.
"Maybe I should surprise Barbara at the Cathedral. Would she appreciate that? Or would I be a bother?" She mulled it over along with what she just saw as she made her way to the Cathedral. Climbing up the steps was annoying, and the maid was almost ashamed to say she'd tripped once or twice.
Finally, she made it to the plaza. The statue of Barbatos stood high above, releasing prayers and wishes to the wind, hopefully to be heard by the divine. Noelle walked up to the Cathedral and made her way inside. For once, her luck turned out well. The deaconess was sitting on a pew near the doors, a neatly wrapped lunch box in her lap. She headed over, and peeked over Barbara's shoulder in curiosity.
"Oh! Heh, I didn't see you there. What brings you here, Noelle?"
The maid rubbed her neck awkwardly, stammering out her response. "I um, I just wanted to, ah, visit? I hadn't seen you in a while and was wondering how you were." "Aw, Noelle." Barbara placed a hand over her chest and smiled gratefully. "You're so sweet, you know? Well, you caught me at the right time. I finished my shift for today and was just planning to eat."
"Oh, great!" She inwardly cringed at how eager that sounded. It made her seem desperate. "I finished my job with Miss Lisa today, so that means I'm free tonight as well." The deaconess grinned, then patted the seat to her left. "Come join me. I really like your company, after all."
Noelle took her seat and they sat there in an awkward yet comfortable silence. A few minutes later, Barbara broke it with a question. "Hey, um...have you eaten?" She could feel the hollow pit in her stomach only grow larger, yet didn't want to be a bother to the other girl. "Heh, I'm okay. Thank you, though." "Noelle, please don't lie. I can see it through your eyes. When did you last eat?"
"Er...maybe an hour before sunrise?" Barbara's face went from inquisitive to concerned as she rummaged around in her lunch pack. She pulled out a chicken-mushroom skewer and pushed it into the maid's hand. "Eat. You can't help others if you refuse to do the bare minimum for yourself."
Noelle hesitantly took the skewer and munched on it quietly, feeling guilty. She hadn't meant to make Barbara worried. "I'm sorry," she murmured, hoping that the girl wouldn't hear. She was a little shocked to feel the lightest of touches on her shoulder. "It's okay. All I ask is that you learn to look out for yourself every once in a while. But now that we have that out of the way, how have you been?"
The maid chuckled softly. "Well, it's been eventful. Miss Lisa can be such a tease, though. Fischl and Oz came to visit, because Fischl was bored and had nothing to do. I do wish I could have gone with them, but I needed to finish my job first, you know?" Barbara nodded and urged her to go on. "Aether and Klee burst in soon after, and she got a scolding from Miss Lisa about being loud in the library." Noelle couldn't help but giggle at the recent memory.
"And then after I left, I saw Jean and a crowd of Knights outside the headquarters. They all looked really tense. Some were anxious, while others were nearly shaking with fury. I do wonder what happened to warrant that reaction." When she looked to her right, she noticed Barbara was just as worried as she was.
"Do you suspect anything in particular?" The deaconess shook her head. "No, I don't think we should speculate about it. If it's going to affect the citizens of Mondstadt, then I'm sure Jean will let us know." Noelle nodded subtly and stood up. "Aw, are you leaving so soon? We haven't even been here for long..."
Barbara mock pouted and looked at the other girl with pleading eyes. "Ah well, I must start my training soon. I'm sorry I couldn't spend more time with you." Noelle rubbed her hands sheepishly, feeling a wave of guilt rush over her as she watched Barbara's eyes turn slightly downcast.
Strangely, it didn't last long. She perked up again and winked, wagging a finger for emphasis. "What about if I join you for medical and social support? It's never good to train without having someone on standby in case you need help!" Even though the knight-in-training knew it was a obvious ploy so that Barbara could come along, she did realize that the healer was half right.
She laughed at the irony of it before offering a gloved hand to the blonde. "Come then, while the night is still young."
::
Noelle had always been self-conscious and insecure. She knew she couldn't afford to let it hinder her. But standing in the bathroom of her tiny quarters, with just a thin wall separating her and Barbara, she couldn't keep her mind from going haywire. Unbuckling her armor, she let it slip off her body before placing it gingerly on a nearby stool. Leaving her leggings and boots on, she picked up a roll of tight yet flexible gauze and soundly wrapped her chest.
She threw on a gray mid-length tunic and quickly tied her hair back, letting the lavender lopsided bangs hang around her face. The maid took the rare liberty of staring at herself in the mirror, and she was surprised at her body's change in appearance. Just a few months ago, she was short and scrawny. Now, she could easily spot the lean muscle in her arms and the ones rippling across her back when she flexed her shoulders.
One could say that the scars she bore on her fair skin were unsightly for a girl like her. Noelle had heard it from all sorts of people. Luckily, it was the one thing she didn't care about. To quite the contrary, she was proud of her scars. They showed her devotion to Mondstadt and its protection, to joining the ranks of the knights. A few snide comments here and there wouldn't faze her.
She opened the door and noticed Barbara sitting at the foot of her bed, eyeing her expectantly. “You took a while,” she quipped. “Heh, sorry. Are you ready?”
She nodded and Noelle walked over to the other side of the room to retrieve her claymore. It was a beautiful weapon, dubbed “Prototype Archaic” by the ever so stoic Wagner. Apparently there was many a legend about its creation over in Liyue, and the girl couldn’t help but wonder how it had ended up in her hands.
It was a deep obsidian lined with gold accents, and she adored how the leather-wrapped hilt seemed to mold perfectly into her grip. No wonder blacksmiths sung so many praises about it.
Picking it up, she let it hover behind her back before it dissolved away, stored for her future usage. The two of them walked out into the lower plaza of Mondstadt, by the city gates. "So...where are we going?" Barbara was always upbeat and peppy, tonight being no exception. "Hm, normally I like to train by Vennessa's Tree. I feel better knowing that our founding knight is watching over me, and there's always monsters to clear out nearby. "
"I like that! Well, we should get going now, yeah?"
They made their way over the bridge, scaring away Timmie's pigeons and watching Barbara secretly snicker at his pout. Noelle gasped dramatically, and placed a hand over her head. "The oh-so-reverent Barbara, teasing a little boy about his birds! How scandalous!" The blonde giggled again, a teasing mirth glinting in her eyes.
The Statue of The Seven shone like a beacon in the distance, and they trekked through the plains toward it. The maid placed her pack on a rock, a safe distance away from a nearby hilichurl camp. She turned toward Barbara and nodded her head. "Watch and learn!" Noelle crept slowly toward the nearest hilichurl, gripping her claymore for dear life.
She was not about to embarrass herself by messing up royally in front of the deaconess. Now I don't normally curse, but there is no way in hell you're going to fail this. Not unless you want to become a laughingstock. Unfortunately, said hilichurl spotted her before she had a chance to really plan out what she was going to do.
"Gone with the wind," she muttered before slamming the sword on its head. There was a sickening crunch and she grimaced slightly as it dissolved into ash. By then, all the monsters' eyes were on her. She spared a glance toward Barbara, who stood by the rock, catalyst in hand. A quick moment passed before she returned her attention to the attacking hilichurls.
Noelle's favorite strategy was always to take out the big one first. This mitachurl happened to be carrying a massive steel axe, glowing red-hot at the tips. She launched herself forward, placing her weight on her right foot and her momentum behind the swing of the claymore. The sword lodged itself in the monster's ribs and it let out a guttural roar, wildly revolving its now scorching weapon.
The girl activated her shield just before the grass burst into flames, heat blazing all around them. She tore the sword out of the mitachurl's body, its curved tip glistening with reddish-black blood. When she looked at its slowly dissolving body, Noelle was horrified. Normally, her commissions and tasks weren't so...gruesome.
A gaggle of hilichurls approached closer, claws bared and growls rumbling in their throats. The maid thrust into a charged attack she'd been practicing, spinning her sword like a propeller. The momentum alone was enough to slice the head off one of the nearby monsters.
It rolled onto the ground, and there was a gush of ebony blood flowing out of the now headless corpse. There was a shrill gasp, and it took Noelle a moment to realize that she had made it. Fortunately, there wasn't much time to dwell on it. She stored away her sword, hoping to refrain from using it.
One of the hilichurls lunged at her, angrily spouting words in a tongue she couldn't comprehend. She grabbed the scruff of its neck and slammed it into her armored knee, a blow sure to at least render it unconscious.Her shield came apart in thin shards, and now it was just her against 4 enemies.
She swore she could hear Barbara amongst all the chaos, shouting words of encouragement. "You got this, Noelle! Don't let them get to you!”
Energized by Barbara's words of encouragement, she kicked the heel of her boot into the ribs of a nearby enemy, pushing it to the ground. And as it was distracted, she pounced. Noelle landed on top of the hilichurl, and slammed her gauntlet-adorned fist into its mask, creating cracks in the fragile porcelain.
It went limp, and she stood to face the other three. By now, they had clubs and shields comprised of Dendro, and no accessible way to burn them. At a loss of what to do, she made a beeline for Vennessa's Tree, hoping to find a plan along the way.
Then it hit her. Unfortunately, she would have to pull out her sword again. As she approached the statue of Barbatos, she offered up a silent prayer to both the Anemo Archon and the Lionfang Knight. 'Oh Divine Barbatos and Revered Vennessa, please forgive me for what I'm about to do.'
She ran straight up the trunk of the tree, and as she was about to fall, she backflipped. Quickly realizing she was facing the wrong way, she made a split-second turn in the air before she fell towards the ground. Noelle summoned her claymore and prepared to take the brunt of the landing.
The hilichurls had gathered around the base of the trunk, waving their weapons with rage. When she landed, the sword embedded itself in the ground, spewing rocks and dirt everywhere. The monsters were knocked back a few feet, blown by the sheer force of the impact.
Yet again, she used their disorientation to her advantage, quickly finishing them off by decapitation. Blood sprayed everywhere, and for a moment the ground itself was black, coated with fluids from the now dissolving hilichurls.
She spotted Barbara rushing over, and dimly noticed how the Anemo crystalflies seemed to gather around her in the moonlight. "Goodness, Noelle! Are you alright?" In her combat-fueled haze, the maid didn't notice the deep gash running along the length of her belly, staining her blood-soaked tunic even more.
The deaconess summoned a small bubble of water, and stripped off Noelle's shirt. Both of their cheeks went red at that, and the maid immediately covered herself with her arms. "Heh, I'm sorry. It'll only be for a few minutes, don't worry! Not to mention that there's almost no human beings in sight right now."
Noelle slowly uncovered herself, and let the healer work. The water bubble was soothing against her quickly festering wound, a cool touch to its burning pain. A silence settled over them, Barbara concentrated on her role and Noelle thinking about the training session that'd just occurred.
She didn't understand why their deaths had seemed so vivid. And she hated to admit it, but she relished that feeling of power. Easily able to take them down with a swing of a sword or a fist to the face.
Are you crazy? You're not going to help anyone if you indulge this feeling. Remember, Knights have a code of honor. Break it now, and there go your chances of becoming one.
Noelle shook her head, hoping to clear her thoughts a bit. "Is everything alright?" Barbara tilted her head in concern and Noelle smiled fondly. "I'm alright, thank you." "Well, that's good. Also, I just wanted to tell you how AMAZING that flip from the tree was!"
She flushed again, red splotches dancing across her face. "Oh, ah, thank you. I do hope Lord Barbatos didn't see it as disrespectful though." The deaconess waved a hand in dismissal. "I'm sure he didn't! That was a feat I'm sure even some of the knights couldn't do! But before we go back, let me wrap your wound."
The girl pulled some gauze out of a burlap bag, and set out. Her fingers were thin and nimble, gentle and flowing as if they were a stream of water. Noelle was almost mesmerized by the touch. Barbara finished soon after and took a step back, admiring her work.
"Ah, a job well done! And Noelle, your skin is so smooth, it's wonderful. You have so many beautiful qualities, you know?" By then, Noelle was fully red, trying to cover her face with her hands.
"Tha-thank you. It means a lot, Barbara." "I'm glad to hear that! Now, let's head back home." The maid took this as an opportunity to make a move. "I can walk you back to the Cathedral, if you would like." The healer beamed, her eyes twinkling.
"I would love that! Plus, I would have had to ask you to stay the night regardless. That wound needs more supervision." To the maid's surprise, she pulled out a coat from that same bag and draped it over her shoulders. "I don't want you getting a cold," Barbara said with a small smile on her face.
Both of them content, they made their way back to Mondstadt, the midnight moon shining over them.