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1. Albedo
He likes the lunches he has with Mona. Even though their fields of study are vastly different, they share the same passion for the truth, and from that arises a mutual respect. Even though he doesn't see her too often, he'd call her one of his friends.
He certainly knows her well enough to notice that something's different about her today. He'd started an experiment that needed to sit for a few hours, and so decided to see if Mona was free. She'd opened the door somewhat slowly, as if she didn't want anyone to see inside, and then accepted his offer with a bit less than her usual zeal.
She remains slightly off throughout lunch, and he remains unable to figure out why. Her responses to some of his more obscure questions, which she usually responds to easily, take her a moment longer than he'd expect for her to formulate. At one point, though, he casually mentions an obscure species of Inazuman flower and she instantly spirals into a long rant about all the places it's found.
He raises an eyebrow. "I didn't know you knew so much about Inazuma's flora."
She turns slightly red. "Ah, I mean I don't, I just happened to read a book on it recently…"
He hums nocommitally, and takes a sip of his coffee. "Yes, I understand the feeling well," he says even though he doesn't.
Perhaps the strangest instance is when Klee stops by, and Mona masterfully carries along a discussion with the girl about explosives while steering her away from using them too often.
Mona is… quite bad with kids. Usually she's quite stilted when she talks to Klee, with awkward phrasing as if she doesn't know if she should talk as if to a peer or a child. Her rapid growth in the area is unexpected and, at present, unexplainable.
She notices his staring after Klee leaves, and raises an eyebrow.
"What, did I say something funny?"
"... Not at all."
Mona smiles, somewhat manically, and takes another bite of her sweet madame. He wonders what made her decide against her typical salad.
She doesn't insist he pay the bill the way she normally does, but he covers it anyway.
2. Bennett
He knows he ought to be more careful, but he could've sworn he saw a treasure chest inside the small ruin in which he's now trapped. Perhaps, given his luck, he should have considered that the metallic gleam actually belonged to a ruin guard, but he's just not the type to second guess his decisions. It's something he's working on.
As he currently stands, though, between the monster and an ancient stone wall, he's worried that he won't live another day to practice self improvement. He takes a deep breath, and shifts into a defensive stance when for seemingly no reason the ruin guard turns around and lumbers off.
A woman with a hydro vision pops up next to him. "it'll be distracted for a moment," she says. "Mind helping me take it out?"
He nods.
He winds up losing track of her, as they fight, but is able to see that she's holding her own. Before too long, the ruin guard lies defeated.
"I really owe you one!" He laughs. "I've… got a bit of an unlucky streak, and happened to activate this guy. I'm Bennett, by the way."
"Mona Megistus," the woman says. "I'm an astrologist."
"Wow! Can you, like, see the future?"
She laughs, as if at an inside joke. "I have my ways of reading fate." Her expression falls slightly. "It is a shame that it cannot be kind to us all."
He blinks, thrown off by the sudden sadness of her words. There's something personal there, something he doesn't know enough about her to understand.
"But!" She adds after a second of awkward silence, brightening, "I'm sure your future holds good things, Bennett. I'll be going now- I wish you the best!"
With a quick wave, she's gone, turning herself into water and spiriting away. Mona's a bit strange, he decides, but certainly not unkind.
He decides to loot the ruin guard before he leaves himself, hoping to find something he can sell at the Adventurer's guild. While he's poking around, he notices a couple strange yet familiar marks.
Huh, these look just like electro-charged damage. I didn't think ruin guards had elemental energy.
3. Lyudmila
Now that she thinks about it, she's not actually sure what's in her job description. She's a "Fatui diplomat", sure, but in practice she just spends all her time gossiping with her coworker. Fortunately, the gossip has been good recently.
“Have you heard?” says Mikhail. “They say our sixth harbinger disappeared.”
She frowns. The sixth- that's Scaramouche. She's never been under his direct command, but she's heard horror stories. Apparently, he likes to keep people around just because he likes the expressions of fear on their faces. His reputation is feared enough that being assigned to him is used as a punishment even for older recruits. Despite all that, though, he's a harbinger for good reason. She once heard a rumor that he'd wiped out three whole bloodlines singlehandedly, and she can't say she doubts it.
"If he's vanished, I worry for the future of our organization… and he had something important on him, didn't he?"
"Trust in the Tsaritsa," Mikhail insists. "If Scaramouche is missing, I'm sure it's because of some important secret mission. He wouldn't betray the Fatui- he's served her imperial majesty loyally for years."
"If you say so," she says. She's not totally convinced. Each of the Harbingers is powerful, but each of them has their own agenda. She's sure that fear rather than love of the Tsarista is what keeps them in line, and Scaramouche does not seem the type to fear anything. She'd seen him in person, once, and the expression of unrestrained joy on his face while electrocuting an abyss mage for information is one she will not soon forget.
A girl in pigtails and a large hat walking past them stifles a giggle.
4. Childe
He'd been shocked when he heard about what happened in Inazuma- he didn't particularly like Signora or Scaramouche, but he wouldn't have predicted her death or his betrayal. Well, he probably could have predicted Scaramouche's betrayal. Taking the gnosis, though, is a pretty extreme move.
Even so, it's still his job to track him down, and so he will. Inazuma isn't very big, and Scaramouche can't hide. Not forever. And if Childe can't find him, someone else will- the Tsaritsa will have all that she desires. Besides, Scaramouche is fairly cowardly most of the time. Childe suspects that he might just find the gnosis abandoned somewhere.
He's heard a rumour that someone matching Scaramouche's description had been seen heading towards a domain on Mt. Yougou, and so he decides to check it out. He'd also heard that a girl in a large hat had been seen walking out, but he's not totally sure what to make of that. He'll cross that bridge when he gets to it, he figures.
The mix of hydro and electro slimes inside are a bit of a pain to deal with, but he is not the Tsarista's vanguard for no reason. The slimes are taken care of, and he continues forwards into the deepest part of the domain.
He notices a room, half hidden. He pushes the door open, and inside is a sort of shrine. A dias sits in the middle of the room, and on it rests Scaramouche.
Childe rushes forward, checks his pulse, but there's nothing. His body is the same temperature as the rest of the room. For some reason, he's reminded of a toy one of his siblings had abandoned on the floor.
Just to be safe, he checks the body, but finds no sign of the gnosis. There's no indications of foul play either. It's as if Scaramouche had simply gotten bored and decided to drop dead on the spot. He resolves to find that girl the rumors mentioned- she's his only lead, now.
There's a smile on Scaramouche's face, and for some reason it does not unsettle him as much as he feels it ought to.
5. Lumine
She always finds herself coming back to Mondstadt. Her travels bring her all over, and she has friends everywhere, but for some reason Mondstadt is the closest thing she has to a base of operations.
Right now, she's pickings mushrooms near Springvale. The sun is high in the sky, but the breeze is comforting and almost homely. Perhaps the atmosphere is what keeps her coming back.
She's meeting Mona for lunch later. The astrologist is a bit unusual, sure, but Lumine likes her all the same. She'd sent a letter asking if she was free, and gotten one in reply, so she hadn't actually seen her yet.
She's a bit anxious, in all honesty. According to Albedo, whom she'd met up with earlier, Mona has been acting a bit strange recently. According to him, she'd seemed a bit off when he'd last met her, and he couldn't identify why. Lumine doesn't believe Albedo is the type to exaggerate, and so she sincerely hopes nothing bad has happened to Mona. Perhaps she's just distracted with a new astrolabe, or something of that vein- Lumine hopes that's the case.
She breaks out of her reverie and returns to mushroom picking. Before too long, she's interupted again.
"Comrade!"
"Childe? What are you doing here?" She's never seen him in Mondstadt before. Last she'd seen him, he was looking for Scaramouche in Inazuma. It's unusual for him to be in Mondstadt, now, especially considering that she hasn't heard anything further about the Fatui's quest for their renegade sixth.
Childe jogs up to join her and flashes a smile. It's one of his fake ones.
"Fatui business. Top secret. However, and I will pay you for this information, have you seen any girls with big hats and pigtails around here?"
That… sounds awfully familiar. There's only one person she knows who matches that description.
"Why are you asking?" Interjects Paimon (bless her little pixie heart).
"You know how Scaramouche ran off with the gnosis? Well, I found him, but…" Childe's face takes an unexpectedly serious look. "Anyways, I think that girl has something to do with it."
What on earth could Mona possibly have to do with gnoses, and the Fatui? Whatever it is, Lumine thinks she'd like to ask her first before selling her out to Childe. And besides, she can tell he's not being completely honest with her- she figures she's allowed a little lie of her own in turn.
"I don't think I've seen anyone like that, sorry."
Childe thanks her anyway, and then takes off towards the city proper. When he's out of sight, Mona jumps out of a nearby tree, startling her.
"Thank you," she says. There is something decidedly un-monalike about it. Albedo was right- there's something off about her. Even the way she's standing seems strange. There's still that same self-assured aura, but something about it is far less innocent than Lumine is used to.
She pulls her sword. "Who are you?"
0. Scaramouche
The shrine at Mt. Yougou is just about the last place he wants to be. The memory of his awakening is not one he likes to be reminded of; however, it's fairly secure and out of the way, making it the best place for him to be at the moment.
He needs a plan, and he doesn't have one. His current situation isn't looking very good. The Fatui are actively hunting him down, and he's not adjusting to the gnosis as well as he'd hoped he would. He's alone, with no allies-
"The stars told me you'd do something stupid. You say they're fake, and yet here you are."
"Mona," he breathes. Perhaps he has one ally.
"What did you even do?" She asks, coming to sit beside him.
He tells her. He probably shouldn't, but he does.
After the meteor incident, she'd followed him around demanding answers about the false stars, and although he'd never actually explained himself they'd somehow gained a begrudging respect for each other. Mona had a certain amount of poise and self confidence that he found admirable, and apparently she found something in him tolerable enough to spend time with.
Around the third or fourth time she kissed him, he'd started to consider that she might actually like him. It is a novel feeling. He is well used to being hated.
But Mona, probably for a very stupid and flimsy reason, likes him. So, he tells her about the gnosis, and the Fatui.
Mona hums, deep in thought. "Is there any way you can sneak back to Mondstadt?"
He shakes his head. "They'll be watching all the ports. It's too dangerous. Even if I can sneak out, I can't sneak into anywhere else. There's nowhere to hide here, either."
She frowns. "Is there really nothing you can do?"
"Well, I could theoretically bind myself to the gnosis and abandon my body, but that wouldn't be any help." He laughs, dejected. Mona's brow furrows.
"Can any vision holder use any gnosis?"
"Well, yeah-" he stops. She can't seriously be considering what he thinks she's considering. "Wait, Mona, you can't do this."
"I'd just have to… absorb it, yeah? Then I could walk out of here with you."
"Mona, it's not that simple. If I sealed my consciousness in the gnosis, and you used it, you'd be like a prisoner in your own mind. I could hear you, but I'd be in total control. Plus, you'd be stuck like that, until I could come back and retrieve my body."
"Alright."
"So- wait, you're okay with that?" He can't imagine anything worse. Even for her, he does not think he'd be able to watch someone else live his life and use his body like it's their own.
She shrugs. "I trust you."
"Why?"
She smiles. "Don't you know?"
He thinks he does. They have never established what they are, and those three words have never passed between them, but he does not think they need to.
"Okay," he says. "If you're really okay with this, I'll do it. If you're ever uncomfortable, tell me, and I'll figure something else out."
She smiles, and kisses him. "If you don't take care of me, I'll annoy you so much that you'll have no choice but to come right back here and return to your own body."
He laughs, and looks at her through his eyes for the last time in what could be awhile. He takes a deep breath, closes his eyes, and seals himself in the gnosis.
He's distantly aware of being picked up and held, but the sensation is muffled as though he's half asleep. He comes to blinking down at his own body.
"Well, that's something," he says in a familiar yet unusual voice. In the back of his head, he hears Mona laughing.