Chapter Text
Sara couldn’t take it anymore. She felt pitifully useless, and the words coming from the multitudes when she walked through Inazuma City did not help at all. “She looks lost.. what is she doing?” “Poor woman..”
She decided she had had enough. Her father had cast her away, the Shogun had been too busy with diplomatic affairs with the Sangonomiya girl, and was not able to stop the change that happened in Generals. Takayuki had appointed Masahito back into the General position, and Sara was powerless in that decision.
She was stranded between diplomatic affairs and the remnants of a war. So she took the first boat off of Ritou, even though she didn’t know where it was headed. She didn’t care enough. She was already too ashamed of herself for running, but there wasn’t any turning back now. She always went through with her plans, and she wasn’t one to leave one half done.
Sara arrived at Mondstadt's shores at night, a sailor instructing her to go straight, to follow the paths carved by the millennia of people who walked them before her. So she did, and she came across a city surrounded by stone walls, the gigantic windmills visible from the outside. she crossed the bridge, mesmerized by the sheer size of everything. but as she approached the gate, two guards stopped her. ‘Ugh, what a nuisance.’ she thought. Still, she understood where they came from.
“Halt, suspicious yet respectable traveler! What are your affairs in Mondstadt?”
Suspicious yet respectable..? What a strange way to greet foreigners. She looked at both of them with her usual analyzing gaze, and hummed. She supposes going inside was better than sleeping in trees.
“Greetings. I am passing through, just a short visit.” She didn’t mind if it wasn’t, though. No one would remember her back in her homeland. She had turned into a nobody in a few days’ time.
The guards looked at eachother, before letting her through. “Have a nice night, ma'am.”
She felt.. odd. There weren’t any people in the streets, the shutters of the windows were closed and all the lights, except for a few lampposts, were off. It felt like she was isolated, all again.
“Hah.. how ironic.” Sara spoke softly. Immediately after, she felt the hairs on her neck rise. Someone was here, and they were watching her.
Trying to act as unbothered as ever, she looked around as if taking in the beauty of the city. She saw no one, so Sara walked further into the city, eventually reaching a grand double staircase. She steeled herself, thinking that this couldn’t be worse than the trek up to Narukami Shrine.. ah. She was getting nostalgic again.
Each step made her legs burn, but she kept going. She had no place to go, so she decided she would take in the sights before seeing if any inns were open, and hoped that her stalker would either leave, or have the guts to face her.
Once she finished climbing.. she noticed how big the statue in the middle of the plaza was. She would dare say it was bigger than the Raiden Shogun’s back in Inazuma. Not to mention the huge cathedral in the back. She had never seen a building this big, not counting Tenshukaku’s walls.
She felt it again. The gaze on her. She felt confident enough to call out to whoever was following her, now that she was in a much more open space.
“Alright. Who is that, and why are you following me?”
She heard footsteps directly behind her, and she turned to face the figure.
She was tall, perhaps half a head or so taller than Sara, dressed in white robes with red and black accents, and the shine of the moon on her skin made it look almost platinum. But what stuck out the most to Sara, was the dagger that the other woman was spinning in her hand, not even sparing it a look as she was staring directly into Sara’s eyes.
“Who are you, and what are your intentions in Mondstadt?” The stranger spoke.
“Ku-“ She caught herself. “Sara. I.. I’m a wanderer. I came because I had nowhere to go.” The night and the trip had taken its toll, and the tiredness had hit her full force, right at the worst time. It had lowered her guard, and she wasn’t about to try and fool a woman with a weapon.
It seemed that the stranger wasn’t satisfied with her answer, because faster than Sara could blink, the tip of her dagger was on Sara’s throat. Her breath hitched, but her brow furrowed in annoyance. She wasn’t playing around, huh?
“Again, but the full truth this time.” her assailant demanded.
“I fled my homeland because I had no purpose there, and it seems I have none here either. Not even a second chance.. hah.” Sara swallowed hard, her brows still furrowed. “Do it. I have nothing, and no one will notice that I'm gone here.” Sara challenged her, but all she got was the withdrawing of the blade.
“Rosaria.” The stranger spoke, without explanation.
“Excuse me?”
“That’s my name. Now, behave, and have a good stay.” Rosaria turned and started walking, disappearing behind the doors of the cathedral.
Sara stood speechless in the square, eyes fixed on the doors the woman had retreated to. What in Celestia had just happened? How did she get let off the hook that easily? And just who was this ‘Rosaria’?
She decided she would leave the questions for the morning, as her limbs felt like mush and her weapons weighed ten times what they had ten minutes ago. She took a final look around, and started her climb down the stairs.