Chapter Text
Mona smiled at the sun. Sumeru was beautiful, sure the journey was long and tedious but it was worth it. Mona could hardly believe her luck, being sent to Sumeru, an all expenses paid trip, for two whole weeks?! For an astrology convention!? Being a writer for Teyvats most popular newspaper sure had its benefits. Now then, to the first event..
“Nahida…it’s not safe out here.” The wanderer mumbled, looking up at the Sumeruen sky. The sun was setting, meaning more monsters were coming out. The white haired woman giggled at that, “You forget that I am an archon. I can protect you, don’t worry.” She teased, pulling on his sleeve to direct him further in the forest. “It’s not me that I’m worried about.” He grumbled underneath his breath and Nahida gave him a smile that said, Well then, I suppose you’ll protect me. Wanderer sighed, yet again, and allowed the small woman to do as she pleased.
Mona looked at the parchment paper and frowned.
Five Sumeru roses, three pinecones, one Harra fruit and some slime condensation. Stir until the concoction is thick and pasty under moonlight.
“How much is ‘ some ?’ Well considering it needs to be ‘ thick and pasty ’ I’m guessing at least three batches.” She murmured.
Day one of the convention had gone great. There was an elderly astronomer leading the event, Kahbir Sharma. Mona found herself entranced once the man began speaking of potions and spells that had the potential to enhance one’s connection to the stars, and she couldn’t help but want to try it out for herself. Kahbir had smiled at her and neatly written a few potions she could try out, though looking back it Mona wishes she had asked him to be less vague. Mona sighed at the never-ending Sumerun forest. All she needed was to kill a couple of slimes to make the potion. She ran her fingers through her hair as she ventured deeper into the jungle. Now only if the slimes could show.
“Why are we here again?”
“It’s a surprise.” She giggled.
Wanderer sighed for the nth time, allowing the snow haired deity to tug on his sleeve and lead him wherever she planned to. The pair came to a gathering where there was some kind of …pixie things? “These are Aranara. They’ve been wanting to meet you for some time, which is pretty rare considering they’re very shy.” Nahida explained, squatting so that she was eye level with the Aranara. They chittered at the dendro archon in greeting. “Go on, say hi!” The wanderer awkwardly sat down beside her and spread his arms open, beckoning the small creatures over. They plodded to him excitedly, tittering and chirping as they did.
“Why did these things want to meet me anyway?” The man huffed as the aranara piled in his arms, ecstatic to be held by him. Nahida sat next to him, resting her small head on his shoulder. “The aranara work in mysterious ways, but I’ve heard that they appear to be people with childlike innocence in their hearts.” The man scoffed, “Me? Childlike innocence? Please.”
The archon peered at him curiously,
”I think you’re pretty innocent.”
“And I think you’re pretty delusional.” (Calm down, hat guy💀)
“Maybe not in the sense where you’ve never committed a crime, but in the sense you’ve been reborn. Scaramouche isn’t a child but the wanderer is. He’s only recently been given life, and in that sense, he is a child.” Nahida muses philosophically.
The wanderer’s gaze flitted down at his lap where the aranara had decided to doze off in his arms, “I am over 500 years old.” He deadpanned, and Nahida giggled, ”As am I, all I meant was that…hmm..I suppose you’ve been mentally reborn. Does that make any sense?”
Wanderer looked at the small woman by his side and his eyes softened in amusement, “I guess you’re right. Scaramouche is dead, but I’m still here. He’s a part of my past, but I am my own present and future.” He paused for a little, slowly moving to rest his cheek atop Nahida’s head, “I miss him, a little though.”
“You do?”
“I mean he was a little fucked up in the head and all but…I guess he was kinda badass.”
Nahida laughed at that, her small hands coming to clench her stomach. The taller flushed darkly, “Yeah, yeah laugh it out.”
She wiped a tear from her emerald eyes, still giggling a little, “What do you miss the most about his life?”
“I guess…the sense of control I had as him.” The wanderer muttered, playing with his fingers. He didn’t know why he was telling her this, but he knew she wouldn't tell anyone. (
It was almost funny, his entire life he’d spent getting hurt and being untrusting of others and yet she had managed to get past all of that.)
”I miss how I could do whatever and people would let me. Like, look at me! I’m a harbinger and if you don’t listen to me or the Tsaritsa will curse your whole bloodline, RAAH !” He sighed a little as his cheeks turned a light hue of pink,
“There was a girl, too..”
Nahida perked up at the mention of that, the wanderer hardly ever mentioned interest in a girl, let alone anyone.
”Yeah?”
“We had this whole flirty-enemy thing going on. I’d sometimes pop into Mondstadt to harass her, she’d tell me to go away but I didn’t. I wish I visited her more, maybe took her out on a date or two. Before I killed Scaramouche, at least.”
“What stops you from doing that now?”
“She doesn’t know who I am and as charming as I was, I’m beyond harassing girls now.” She smiled at him sympathetically,
“Well, as a wanderer you have the ability to make your own memories. You’re on a clean slate now and who knows? Maybe you’ll find your way back to Mondstadt and take her on a date!”
The Wanderer chuckled at her hopefulness, “Careful Nahida, you seem more eager than me.”
Before either of the two could utter a single word, a blood curdling scream was heard from somewhere behind them.
Mona huffed, her eyes hazy. So it appeared the potion had some harrowing side effects. She looked at the parchment paper, the red writing swirling out of the page into the air, Five Sumeru roses, three pinecones, one Harra fruit and some slime condensation. Stir until the concoction is thick and pasty under moonlight. DO NOT ADD MORE THAN TWO BATCHES OF SLIME CONDENSATION OR YOU WILL EXPERIENCE MASS HALLUCINATION.
Mona, ever the slime connoisseur, was pretty sure she had hunted down like twelve slimes, thus six batches, meaning she was, eloquently put, fucked . She really needed to start reading properly. Despite the organic nature of the ingredients, they did had a dizzying kick. She watched as butterflies flew past her, almost in slow motion. She reached out to touch them but they disappeared just as they had once appeared. Where was she? She groaned as her head throbbed and she collapsed to the ground. Her vision swam as…wait were those words? She squinted at them, realising they were Sanskrit. Thankfully, Mona knew a little about the language.
“सूर्याद् अवतीर्यं तं स्तुवन्तु |”
“Praise the one who appeared from the sun? What does that even mea-“ Mona didn’t get to finish her sentence as her body hit the ground with a soft thud .
“How did you get here? Not that it matters; you’re not supposed to be here, witch. But you’ve caught me on a good day. So I’ll allow it, just this once. Just don’t tell anyone about this.”
There's a massive tree in front of Mona. She looks around, her vision fuzzy yet her mind is clear. Its trunk is white and the leaves that fall from it are pink. There’s also some kind of…blue liquid that oozes from the tree. Mona almost feels hypnotised as she walks closer to the tree. With each step an eerie feeling of dread fills her. She feels almost possessed as she begins sprinting closer to the tree, something tells her she needs to be close to it. She stops, inches away from the tree. The blue liquid oozes ominously and she feels compelled to touch it. She does.
“Everything in Teyvat starts with a seed.” A woman’s voice calls out. “And our seeds would grow into plants and the plants..they would become trees.” Mona whips her head around, coming face to face with a tall woman. Her gaze didn’t meet Mona’s as she gazed upon the tree.
“You’re beautiful,” Mona blurts and the woman turns to her, blonde hair following the movement of her head,“I was, wasn’t I?” Mona cocks her head to the side,
“Was?”
“Never mind. Do you know what Irminscul is, witch?”
Mona hums, as if in deep thought and leans in closer to the woman. “I only know this because I'm…well, not to brag, but an elite witch. Being Fontaine’s, dare I say, Teyvat’s most sought after astrology columnist and all. But despite my status, I’ve only ever heard whispers of Irminscul. A mystery so secret only Sumeru’s archon and a handful of other people know the full extent about.”
The woman turns back to the tree and looks up at it.
“It’s good that you’re being honest with me. Then again, I’m not too sure you can lie to me, not like this at least. ” She smiles ominously, “Irminscul are all the records of Teyvat. Every person has a branch in the grand tree that is Irminscul.”
Mona tears her gaze away from the other woman and gazes upon the tree.
“Is this it then?”
She nods, smile vanishing.
“Despite the existence of Irminscul not being disclosed to the majority of people, if one knows where to look…it shall bloom.”
She turns to Mona, face hardened in seriousness.
“If one were to come into contact with Irminscul, what do you think could happen?”
“…they could erase history from the depths of this world and nobody would ever know.”
“You catch on quickly, witch. You’re clever. Everything you know, question it. It’s come to light that the seeds of Teyvat may be blooming to their potential.”
“What does that even-“
“Silence,” She hisses impatiently,
“I do not know how long this ley line will continue to last so listen to my words carefully, witch. The seeds of Teyvat are blooming and with them, the rot is making itself known too. There is a lot…we do not know. A lot that the rot may have taken in it’s path of destruction. A lot it may have hidden from our eyes.” Her eyes find the tree yet again, “A lot they may have tampered with. You have potential to prevent the rot from taking over. Use it.”
“I d-don’t…what are you even talking about?”
Mona’s eyes widen as the woman begins to fade into golden dust. She brings her misty hands to Mona’s shoulders.
“It appears my time is over. Return to where you belong, witch.”
This was the wanderer’s own personal hell. Lo and behold, Mona Megustis, lying unconscious on the Sumeruean forest floor and screaming bloody murder just five meters away from him. He didn’t believe in astrology but one may say it was fate. Nahida crouched beside the unconscious woman and shook her shoulders gently.
“Miss? Miss! Please wake up!”
The archon pleaded desperately. Wanderer swallowed thickly, eyebrows furrowing is disappointment .
“Tsk. She’s not dying, calm down. She’s just hallucinating.”
Nahida looked at him in a mix of confusion and concern,
“Judging by how she’s screaming and the cauldron half full with…ugh, god what even is that?” He wrinkled his nose as Mona decided to let out yet another bloodcurdling scream.
“We have to do something! W-we can’t just leave her here!”
The archon stuttered shakily.
“We were never going to.” He found himself growling out harshly as if the very idea was offensive. Nahida recoiled a little in shock and the wanderer cleared his throat. ‘It’s not her fault.’
He scolded himself and put his hands on her small shoulders.
“Hey, breathe. There’s nothing we can really do for her right now except help her sober up, okay?”
Nahida nodded and he couldn’t stop the small smile from coming on his face. He let go of her shoulders and looked down at Mona. He exhaled and propped the squirming woman up against him. “Wake up.” He deadpanned, slapping her awake.