Chapter Text
Waking up felt like a chore, to Caella at least. Her body ached as she got up, The deep red blankets fell onto the wooden floors. She went to untangle herself from the sheets and took a glance out the window. Archons, her eyes burned a bit from the light peaking through the curtains. Carefully, she went onto her knees and her fingers curled into the drapes. With a swift motion, she revealed the city of Mondstadt to her eyes, blinding her with its bright sunlight. Caella’s eyes fluttered to adjust herself to the sun's rays before they cleared.
The City of Mondstadt, otherwise known as the city of romance and freedom. That was their slogan for this place, from what Caella heard from Blanche. Many people were at the City Square, buying food or items from the shops, kids skipping rope or playing tag, and some by the large fountain in the middle, making a wish of some sort. Sounds of bards' songs and the laughter and chatter of people were muffled by the glass plane that separated Caella from them.
It's been three weeks since she moved in with her Aunt Blanche and Uncle Sylvan in Mondstadt. Even though she had visited Mondstadt many times before, this was her first time living there. It wasn't too different for her since many people knew about her through her mom, but she didn't know much about them. When Caella met her mom's friends, she would awkwardly smile and say, "Oh yeah, I know you.” when in reality, she forgot. She had never felt more embarrassed in her entire life.
Her feet found the floor and carefully stood up, turning towards her bed. She ran her fingers through her chocolate brown hair, threading the short locks to fix it. The girl hastily arranged her pillows and bedsheets into place, before grabbing her cryo vision that was on top of her desk and her clothes from the opened closet.
Coming out of the bathroom, she finally clipped her vision onto her navy blue, off-shoulder cape. Flakes of cryo glistened into the air, feeling the coolness against her gloved hands. This girl was an inexperienced, cryo vision holder.
Caella gripped onto the rigid railing as she made her way downstairs. She was greeted by the sight of Blanche, sorting out papers as she ate eggs with toast, and Sylvan, preparing paper bags of his famous meat sandwiches. He noticed Caella and gave her a nod of hello, as usual. Blanche, on the other hand, was too concentrated to look up before Sylvan went to clear his throat. The woman took her eyes away from the paper, and then a cheery smile appeared on her face.
“Morning! Sylvie saved breakfast for you. You slept in later today, huh?” Blanche chuckled into her papers, her head pointing towards the covered plate of bacon and eggs.
The girl waved her hand, embarrassed as she sat down at the table, grabbing the plate close to her before picking up the fork, “It was busy yesterday, I didn't know you had a huge sale going on. It wore me out.”
Caella placed the eggs into her mouth and sighed, the scrambled eggs burst with flavour despite their simplicity. She then gulped it down before continuing, “But I’m guessing that’ll be it for this week? I didn’t mind that. It’s not like I have anything planned other than the supply work.”
“That reminds me,” Sylvan spoke up from his spot, making his sister and niece turn their heads to look at him. “Y’sure y’don’t have any plans? A while ago, someone’s knockin on the door askin where y’were. Somethin like…practicin? It was the gal with ‘er pigtails, someone from the church.”
The gears were turning in Caella’s head. Yesterday was such a mess so she couldn’t remember what someone had told her, or any plans they might’ve made. Anyone could have pigtails, but when he mentioned church.… Someone from the church with pigtails…then, her eyes widened then let out a gasp. “Barbara! Oh, shoot!”
“Hey, watchit.” Sylvan scolded, pointing a finger.
“Right… you told me about that!” Blanche exclaimed, setting her papers aside. “You didn’t get your vision until months ago, right? Barbara said she’ll help you! What a sweetie. Don’t worry, with her help, possibility Kaeya’s too, you’ll get perfect it in no time.”
Caella quickly got up and said goodbye before leaving the four-story building. The building is connected to a small outdoor market called General Goods. Timaeus was standing next to the market, using the crafting bench for his alchemy. He watched the girl rush past, wondering what was going on. She was moving in every direction, passing the fountain, Good Hunter, a flight of stairs, a windmill, and finally ending up at the back of the Favonius Headquarters.
The stone wall supported her body as she let out a gasp, still catching her breath from the trip. She reached for her bag, unzipped it, and pulled out a metal bottle. Twisting off the cap, she took a long swig of water, feeling refreshed.
“You’re finally here.” A voice was heard from behind the wall. It sounded familiar. The person poked her head out then all of her, arms behind her back with that sweet smile of hers.
“Morning Barbara,” Caella gasped softly, tucking her bottle back into her satchel. Her gaze finally met with hers, standing up properly to talk to her. “Thanks for doing this. I owe you a lot… I still can’t believe that after months of getting this thing—” Her fingers groped the vision that was attached to her cape, clutching onto it. It glowed a soft light blue. “That I still have trouble controlling it.”
Barbara giggled, shaking her head and turning her body so that the hydro vision attached to her book was shown more, “I had trouble controlling mine too, no worries. I’ll teach you like how my big sister taught me! Though I must say, I think cryo is much more difficult than hydro.”
“I think I can handle it.” The black-haired girl looked at Barbara with determination, a proud smile on her lips.
Barbara cheered, clapping her hands, “You think? Well, I know you can handle it.”
This reminded Caella of her friends in Natlan. Barbara resembled Mualani in many ways - always supportive and kind, cheerful, and fond of singing and dancing. The summer nights in Natlan used to be so vibrant, but everything changed after the incident. Together with Kinich, the three of them would practice combat skills until late afternoon or even in the evening. As a result, Caella learned some combat techniques from them.
For what seemed like an eternity, nearly an hour had passed as they relentlessly practiced together. "Master the art of the catalyst!" Barbara would repeatedly emphasize during their training sessions. Compared to their previous practice session, Caella made noticeable improvements this time around. She managed to exert greater control over the sharp edges of the ice, enhance her swiftness and dexterity, and execute precise shots at Barbara's command. However, there were still mess-ups she couldn’t help with.
“See you tomorrow,” They both said to each other before parting their ways.
As Caella made her way back to General Goods, the sky began to spit droplets of rain, gradually darkening the surroundings as heavy clouds gathered overhead. Frustrated, she sought shelter under the market's awning, where she observed Blanche emerging with a wide grin, clutching a basket in one hand and an umbrella in the other.
“Time for apple picking!” Her aunt sang, passing it over to Caella.
Caella coughed and tightened her grip on the basket and umbrella as they were shoved toward her, preventing them from falling. "What? It's about to rain…”
“And it makes it easier to see those ripe apples. Hurry, who knows who’ll take them? They could cost a good fortune.” Blanche grinned. “By the time you’re back, people will come to the market asking for them! Make sure you get dozens, till the basket is all filled up.”
Her niece rolled her eyes, shrugged, then smiled. She knew this would make them a ton of mora, plus she looked excited for this to happen. Then she finally said, “Okay.”
It was at that moment when Caella reached the gates of Mondstadt, preparing to set off. She had done similar trips for various ingredients in the past, but never for apples on a rainy day. The rain created puddles, splashing against the umbrella she gripped tightly. Taking determined steps, she made her way to the bridge and then followed the path leading to Whispering Woods.