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Before
Nothing was ever perfect, Lisa always knew that. Oh, she learned that lesson young. But perhaps, this was the closest she would get, spending her last week in Mondstadt walking around and enjoying the sights that she had grown up with. Sights she had rather taken for granted, she supposed.
But truthfully, could you blame her? Mondstadt was certainly her home, but at some point her home became too small. Something cluttered with too many memories that never quite seemed to matter.
She mostly blamed her mother, but not in an accusatory way, (not like she did with other things.) Her mother simply… didn’t know how to stay still. And Lisa didn’t feel that way, but eventually you do learn that this tiny little home that you’ve spent your whole life in isn’t enough.
There was more to the world, and Lisa knew that acutely.
Which was why she had focused so much of her aspirations on Sumeru. An entire city that ran on a currency of knowledge? How was that even possible? And how could she get there? Her mother had mentioned the great city of Sumeru offhandedly, not a favorite place but the most unique. One worth writing about. One worth remembering.
Lisa wasn’t sure if Mondstadt was worth remembering, but maybe if she had been born elsewhere she’d feel differently.
She did long to see something with a new perspective. She remembered the first letter her mother sent her that gave her that desire to see more.
The view from Mt. Tianheng is unbelievable, Lisa, I wish you could see it! The harbor below, the way the ships bob along the horizon as if they could simply slip over the edge… This sight makes me think of what more the world has to offer, I haven’t even sailed the oceans, Lisa! I haven’t walked the hidden streets of Khaenri’ah, I don’t even know what’s in the center of the chasm.
I have so much to learn, and there’s so few places that have filled me with that longing. I hope it is something that you have inherited from me, this urge to explore, to know everything that our very world has to offer us. If you take anything of me, Lisa, I hope that it is this curiosity that I have always known.
Hope you are well, I’ve asked Alice to check in on you again. All my love!
Now, sure, that wasn’t a particularly lovely letter to get from her mother. To know that the only needs and interests she had in life were… staying far, far away. It filled Lisa with regret, maybe, that she hadn’t understood that sooner.
But, it was that very letter that made Lisa, young and yet far too wise already, decide that she, too, would run as far and wild as she could.
So maybe it was a little bit funny that Lisa chose her final week in Mondstadt, for who knows how long because graduating from Sumeru Akademiya wasn’t exactly easy, to see Mondstadt. To see it the way her mother somehow saw everything.
And maybe it was a little bit funny because, during that final week, her eye was caught by a spectacular sight. Not enough to keep her there, or desperate to return anytime soon, but something that made her think I wish I’d seen you sooner.
A knight, titled and proper, in her simple training breastplate and sheathed sword, returning through the gate of the city after dealing with something out in the wilds. That was obvious in the way she held her shoulder with a wince, in the dirt and scorch marks all over her armor, the grimy-sweat that had beaded along her forehead.
Her pretty blonde hair was pulled back with a bow, messy and haphazard after whatever ordeal she dealt with, but it still shone beneath the mid-day sun as if it had been shot through with gold threading.
The golden-haired knight, Lisa decided, tucking herself onto a bench with her book in hand and watching the knight pass by. Smiles and waves were shared with various people milling about, all perfectly courteous and giving despite the possible injury she was nursing. She was gracious and gentle in her words with the people she passed, though her walk was determined, however halted it became with every conversation.
Lisa smiled at that, though she hardly knew anyone in the city. Her mother wasn’t the type to… have friends. Not here anyway. She flitted about all over Teyvat but never knew how to cultivate a friendship where her roots were. Except Alice, of course. Alice had been kind enough to check in on Lisa so often, and toting her own newborn along more frequently.
Lisa was happy to be leaving, but if she had chosen to stay here… she would have done more. She didn’t truly want to be her mother, despite how wonderful a job she was somehow doing at following in her footsteps.
See how funny it was for Lisa to begin her own reflection just before departing her home? She understood her mother’s letter though, quite suddenly. Here is a sight that makes you realize how much more there is in the world.
Hilarious that it was a pretty blonde knight who looked a little too uptight for her age to make her think things like that.
Lisa spent the rest of her day watching the crowds pass her by near the gate to the city. She made that bench hers, and she had her book propped open, but she watched the people. The people that she was soon to leave, and forget, and maybe never come back to. She could cherish those memories though, finally, and remember Mondstadt for the colorful people and the traditions and the festivals. She could remember Mondstadt as more than just the chain that bound her and her mother together.
When Lisa left Mondstadt, she left with a bag full of clothes and a trunk full of books and nothing more. She was bundled into a caravan with other travelers that took them south through the hills of Mondstadt, the watery crossing at Stone Gate. They went through the marshes of Liyue and eventually, the long journey terminated at Liyue Harbor where Lisa dragged her things to an inn for the night before her ship to Sumeru in the morning.
Lisa did not think about Mondstadt during her journey. It became a thing of out of sight, out of mind, and she was okay with that. She didn’t compare the landscape of Liyue to that of her home, or note how the weather was sultrier and the breeze that came off of the ocean held a different scent.
She did, however, think about that knight, for just the briefest of moments, when she boarded the ship early in the morning and the sunlight cast across the water like spilled gold, twinkling to the horizon that stretched before her. And then the thought fled away, like the wind that blew through her hair, like the ripples on the water, and Lisa felt the jitters of nerves fill her once more at the prospect of being so very close to Sumeru.
After
It had been a day spent in the fields, helping Kaeya clean the horses and trim their hooves and nail in freshly smithed horseshoes. The horses need to be pampered, Jean. Kaeya had said charmingly, despite the both of them having grass and dirt stains all the way up their knees and being rather grimy from their work.
Kaeya was like her in some ways, insisting on knowing everything that had to do with his craft. As the newest Cavalry Captain, he threw himself into caring for the horses, maintaining their health, knowing what to look for and what meant sickness. Jean thought he was avoiding some things, but she didn’t have much room to talk.
As a Captain herself, Jean knew everything that went on in her company. Infantry wasn’t made up of the most complicated of people, after all. Not like horses… Jean laughed to herself and swiped her wrist over her forehead.
“It does look like a summer storm will be gracing us soon, Kaeya.” Jean said, stretching her neck this way and that, peering up at the sky, feeling the static humidity that curdled the air.
“We should get these scamps back home then, I wouldn’t want all of our pampering to go to waste.” Kaeya sighed before letting out a sharp whistle that echoed over the plains the horses were grazing in. Kaeya’s own personal favorite horse came trotting toward them, its mane gorgeous and blowing in the light breeze and Jean could only think, how very fitting.
Jean’s horse for the day, assigned by Kaeya, was attached by her lead to follow Kaeya’s and so they easily mounted the two and made their rounds herding the horses back along the fence toward their stables. They weren’t going to make it in dry, though, Jean already knew.
She didn’t plan to spoil Kaeya’s good mood though. His humming was jovial and loud, barely heard over the small stampede of horses that trotted along ahead of them, but it was nice to see him so carefree for once. So Jean sat atop her horse and tagged along, enjoying the breeze while she could, enjoying the birds that chirped and flapped overhead.
It was warm enough that rain would be nice, and rather needed, if the yellowing of the fields was anything to go by. Or Jean’s own dirt-caked hands, a hint of blood from where she nicked her thumb while trimming one of the horses.
And so it started, slow and pattering down like the gallops a few additional horses. Neither of them had worn their armor, so their simple shirts, dirtied as they were, caught the rain quietly. It was warm enough that steam and spray began to rise off of the horses bodies as the rain picked up, a steady drizzle that was easy enough to ride through.
Jean heard Kaeya bemoaning their luck, but she smiled. Mondstadt always looked rather gorgeous in the rain. The windmills turned as always, rain water flinging from their cloth sails, the stone roads glistened and the fountains typically ran over in a cumbersome manner.
It was nice and remarkably soothing, and Jean was going to have to change out of her dirtied clothes anyway, so she truly didn’t mind as the tepid rain soaked her through. Kaeya rode ahead to lead the horses slowly through the main gate, veering off to the right toward the rows of stables as Jean brought up the rear.
The stone bridge was loud beneath the fresh horseshoes, the birds had already fled from the herd, and Jean slowed as she reached the gate. Most people were hustling along through the rain, rushing to finish whatever errands or chores they had left. Jean cantered along a bit, further from the gate just as a horse-drawn wagon wheeled through, the occupants doing their very best to cover themselves with little more than their own arms.
Jean watched as a woman slipped from the front bench of the wagon and rounded it to pull out a trunk and a bag. Jean almost dismounted to offer her assistance, to carry these heavy things for her, wherever she needed to go, but an obviously-bored knight posted at the gate offered rather quickly instead. The woman smiled, though tightly, and he picked up the trunk with some effort.
The woman was… Jean pondered for a moment the best way to put it. She didn’t look unhappy, but she certainly didn’t look pleased either. More like a decision had been made to remain stolid upon entering the gate. Though her lips twitched into the faintest of smiles, the woman’s eyes darted about, heedless of the rain now, and took in the sights before her. Her braids had become frizzy in the rain, her robes wet and weighed down despite how light and airy they looked.
It was like a mix of unimpressed and longing in her eyes. Jean was curious, she’d clearly arrived from far away, or had been gone long, but she had come back for whatever reason. And Jean didn’t recognize her at all, which was only a bit odd. She was certain she had seen nearly every single face, at least in the city, once in her life.
But this woman was new, and maybe she wouldn’t stay long, maybe she wasn’t pleased to be here, maybe this was a stop on a much grander journey, but the way her green eyes had flickered around the city stuck with Jean.
“Jean? We should change and make our way to the headquarters. Varka had words with Hertha this morning and I think we’re needed as well.” Kaeya interrupted her pondering and Jean realized she’d been seated atop her horse for far too long. She needed to take her in and remove her saddle, brush her down, feed her a few carrots for being so docile.
“Right, my apologies, Captain. Let me take care of this little lady and I’ll meet you at the barracks.” Jean smiled faintly, pulling her thoughts and her gaze from the woman new to Mondstadt and facing Kaeya’s gaze.
“Do not linger, that would be very unfashionable of you.” Kaeya teased her with an easy smile, and took off, his boots sounding against the wet stone as Jean glanced back toward the main gate. She was gone now, the woman who had just arrived, and Jean shrugged, rearing her mount around to head toward the stables and finish her voluntary cavalry-duties for the day.
Finally
Lisa had heard the praise and the adulation from people she hardly knew. Oh, your mother was always so sweet, no one’s surprised you’ve done so well! What a triumphant return, a legendary graduate of Sumeru Akademiya! What more will you do? How will you use your talents?
Lisa smiled and nodded, because she tried to be polite, but once those people turned their backs, her smile slipped and she fled because she hated to hear things like that.
She had grown up quite a bit since her time leaving Mondstadt. And even now, returned to a home she thought she wouldn’t see again, she’d been spending her past few months in banality. Enjoying the plants that she did not see in Sumeru, enjoying the breeze that was not as stiflingly hot as Sumeru, enjoying the open stretches of green grass. She had been surprised at the feelings she felt when she returned in that rickety little wagon in the rain.
Something about Mondstadt seemed so different, and very much the same. What a treat. Lisa did rather enjoy a little paradox here and there.
The problem was, however, that she returned and found her childhood home rather untouched from the years that had passed, her mother never visiting while Lisa was away, it seemed. Not that she visited while Lisa was here, but that wasn’t the point. It was dusty and stale and needed a good bit of cleaning and airing out, and so she spent her first few weeks on that and she didn’t think about Sumeru.
But once that was all well and finished, and she had a home that didn’t smell of old, she had very little to do. She had done it, you see? She had gone off to Sumeru Akademiya, the most prestigious establishment for knowledge-seekers, and she had worked herself into exhaustion to graduate in two simple years. So now what?
Lisa did a lot of walking after those first few weeks. A lot of walking around the city, around the villages, running her hands through the cold lakes, hearing about the various monsters that were popping up here and there. And then people were talking to her more, as if anyone spoke to the Minci’s before Lisa became some type of prodigy. So then Lisa found ways to occupy herself indoors, ways that kept her from the people and their words and their reminders of what she had done and what she had fled.
And when that proved entirely too boring for her voracious mind, she went to the library. The library that occupied two floors of the Knights of Favonius headquarters, and despite what it used to be, was rather unimpressive. It was poorly organized, books were piled on the floor, and most offensively of all, there was no record of what actually belonged there.
Lisa had been personally insulted that anyone had let a collection of knowledge turn so sad. Then she met Varka and thought, mm, yes, that makes sense.
She spent a few weeks reading through some of the more interesting titles that the library held, constantly running into the trouble of finding the next installment of the series or a matching volume and doing her very best to organize little stacks that at least she recognized. She became so fed up with it all that just mere months after returning home from her years abroad in Sumeru, she stormed over to Grand Master Varka’s office and knocked a quick, polite knock for the sake of it before opening the door anyway.
She marched herself into that office and put a fist on her hip, eyed the confused man, and said-
“The library has become atrocious under your care and I demand you do something about it.”
Succinct and to the point, Lisa was proud of herself. But Varka merely grinned and shrugged.
“It’s a library.” He said, “do I look like a librarian to you?”
Ooh, Lisa’s blood boiled. She had dealt with rudeness, with cut-throat contemporaries, with entitled brilliant minds, she had encountered ancient and wrinkled sages that thought they knew everything there was to know in life and yet… Here was the Grand Master to the Knights of Favonius, quite possibly being the most irritating person she had ever encountered.
“You certainly do not.” Lisa intoned, before deciding that at least the man wasn’t an idiot, it seemed. “But, I can be. Hire me as the librarian.” She said airily.
Varka frowned though, his big bushy eyebrows pulling downward in a way that only served to make him look foolish.
“You’re… a hint more capable than that, no?”
“Yes, yes I am. But that is what I would like to do now.”
Varka studied her for a moment, and simply shrugged. “I can make that happen… but you wouldn’t prefer something more substantial within Favonius?”
He almost seemed concerned, but probably more for himself so Lisa shook her head.
“Quite certain this is what I want. I can make the library something worth visiting once again.”
He gave her a look, one that implied he wasn’t quite sure if Lisa was playing a trick or not… but then seemed to give up on trying to figure it out. “You’ll have a lot of work to do.” He laughed, entirely not taking responsibility for any of it.
“I am aware.” Lisa smiled tightly. And she would have continued talking, informing Varka of all of her demands, such as new shelves and an assistant for at least a few weeks and a budget to begin growing the collection but-
“Jean! You enjoy work, don’t you?” Varka called quite loudly all of a sudden as he completely cut off Lisa’s train of thought until the only thing rattling around in her head was because you certainly don’t.
“I do, sir. How can I help you… both?” A new knight joined them in Varka’s office, heavy footsteps thudding on the floor, her voice twinging higher at Lisa’s presence. Lisa turned slowly as Varka continued.
“This is Lisa Minci, brilliant Sumeru graduate, I’m sure you’ve heard of her.” Varka introduced, and Lisa held her frown because she rather liked being just Lisa Minci but no one ever let her be that anymore, and she faced the knight and held herself together remarkably well.
Because she was not entirely unfamiliar. So Lisa’s bit-back frown eased and her lips formed a smile that was actually genuine at the sight of a certain golden-haired knight who had clearly grown a bit and earned herself an even higher title than she last held. The ranking across her shoulder was one of captaincy, three swords in parallel to make up the sigil there, her sheathed sword held up by the wrap of her thick leather belt.
“It is very nice to meet you, Miss Minci, I am Jean Gunnhildr, Captain of the fifth.” She spoke graciously, though Lisa saw the intrigue in her eyes. Such bright and curious eyes, entirely locked onto Lisa’s own. How cute, Lisa giggled to herself.
“It’s nice to meet you as well, though I’m not sure what Master Varka has called you in here for.” Lisa was gentle with Jean, and narrowed her eyes and turned toward Varka as she continued, but he only grinned.
“Yes but here’s the thing, Jean is a hard worker. And you need a hard worker to help you, so take Jean!” He cheered to himself like he was quite the strategist and Lisa pitied the nation of Mondstadt solely because of this man, but Jean made a little noise of agreement and Lisa turned to her.
“I would love to help you. What is it that you need?” And so earnest, too. Jean looked so serious, fixing her gaze on Lisa, and all she could do was smile in return.
“I am taking over the leadership of the library. And it needs… I would say a rather drastic overhaul.” Lisa sighed, pursing her lips once she spoke and ensuring she didn’t say anything too insulting.
“Ah, actually, yes I agree. It truly does.” Jean smiled and laughed genuinely. Perhaps she spent quite a lot of her spare time there, if she had any. “I will assist you for as long as you need. Do we have a budget?” Jean tilted her head and asked Lisa, just Lisa, because as mentioned, she was in charge, wasn’t she?
It made her preen just a bit as she turned toward Varka again. “We do. And I will be sure to iron out the details with you at a later date. For now, the library is closed. Jean, if you’d join me?”
And Lisa turned to leave Varka’s office, large and ostentatious and so very unnecessary, she thought. But she eyed the bookshelves as she passed and made a mental note to come catalogue these books some time soon as well, because Varka mustn't have any need for them in there.
“What has brought you back to Mondstadt, if I may ask?” Jean prompted her as they crossed the tiled hallway, their steps loud in the cavernous entry of the Favonius headquarters.
“Perhaps,” Lisa started, opening the doors to the library and stepping inside to view the depressing shelves that took up the second floor. “I was just looking for a new challenge.”
Jean laughed rather charmingly and joined Lisa in her slow stroll past the shelves.
“I think you’ve found one rather worthwhile, then.” She said gently, and Lisa nodded.
“As do I.” She smiled at Jean, trailing at her side in wait of their first step to begin organizing such a sad and forgotten thing, and Lisa thought that it truly was a wonderful new beginning for herself.