Chapter Text
“Mona, my most esteemed friend, the Prinzessin graces your abode with her presence!”
Mona groans, rubbing her eyes as she awakens to loud raps at the hollow door. “Coming, coming,” she yells, and slips her feet into her home slippers before opening the door. She winces as the bright sunlight nearly blinds her.
“What, Fischl?” She says groggily. “I stayed up late last night working on an article.”
Fischl lets her proud expression fade in sympathy. “Ah, I’ll speak plainly. I brought you food.” She holds out a lidded pot of food in offering. “Let me in?” she asks.
Mona sighs and cracks a small smile, stepping back to allow her entry into the apartment. “Thanks, Fischl. Come on in. Sorry, I didn’t clean up, so ignore the mess.” She follows her guest into the house, shutting the door behind her. ”What did you want from me?”
“I was hoping to get a divination on my future,” Fischl replies as she sets down the crockpot on the dining table and takes a seat. “But of course, I want to chat with you too.”
“Oh,” Mona says with pleasant surprise. She just got a new set of astrological tools, so it's actually quite fortuitous that she has someone to test them on. “Yes, sure, sure,” she agrees readily.
She sits down after pouring them both tea, and they chat over lunch.
–
“Oh, good,” Fischl breathes a sigh of relief. “That’s good, isn’t it?”
Mona waves her hand over the water’s surface, causing the constellation to ripple away.
“Yes, it’s good,” Mona replies. “It means the expedition will end smoothly, and that you’ll be able to pass any adversities you face along the way with ease. Rest easy, you’ll be fine.”
“Thanks,” Fischl replies. “I’ve been quite worried about this one. I even considered rejecting it since it sounded so dangerous.”
“You should have more faith in your abilities. Dangerous expeditions are nothing for you, O brave Prinzessin,” Mona half-teases with a smile. She produces a drop of galaxy-coloured water from her fingertips and lets it fall into the water to cleanse it, then rests her head in her hands. “Want me to divine anything else? It’s a bit of a waste to set up for just one prophecy.”
Fischl shrugs. “What do you want to do? I don’t have anything else I want to know.”
Mona flips through a wheel of index cards with a wave of her hand. “Let's see… there's career, tragedy, fortune…”
Fischl shakes her head. “I don't want to know those. Some things are better discovered for yourself.”
“Okay…” Mona replies. “How about love?”
Fischl laughs. “Love? Me? There's probably nothing in the cards for me.”
Mona raises an eyebrow. “Oh? Then let me divine it, since you're so sure. Maybe you'll be surprised.”
“Doubt it,” Fischl says dismissively. “But go ahead.”
Mona draws up her hydromancy wheel and concentrates, tinkering with the gears of her new equipment and loving how smooth it feels. After all the steps are complete, she waits, and lets fate take the wheel. Surely, it'll say the same as it always does with Fischl- nothing. She watches as the symbols line up slowly, the lines connect and…
Oh?
“What? What is it?” Fischl asks immediately. Mona figures her surprise must have shown on her face.
“You’ll… experience love in the near future, it seems,” she reveals.
Fischl’s jaw drops. “Huh? No way. Really?” She pops up behind Mona, peering at the wheel. “Are you sure you're reading it correctly?”
Mona scoffs. “Of course I'm reading it correctly- Hey! don't touch it!”
Fischl pouts as her hand is smacked away from the dial. “That’s so strange… Who could I even love? There’s nobody I know that I’m attracted to at all. Does it say anything else?”
“The words will flow from your tongue freely as they always do,” Mona reads. “But when you meet your love, they will dry up like a river.”
Mona didn’t expect Fischl’s face to pale.
“What?! Does that mean I won’t be able to talk?”
Mona immediately tries to interject. “Ah, no, usually prophecies aren’t quite so literal-”
“I can’t have that happen! I want- no, I need to talk! How else will I command respect as the Prinzessin der Verurteilung?! Without my speech, my loyal subjects will leave my side, and, oh- perceiving my descent from the throne pains me so-”
“Fischl, it’ll be fine! I promise you, the prophecy likely doesn’t mean what you think it does-”
“I cannot fall to the vice of love- I have no need for it! This I swear on my majesty as Prinzessin, I shall not let such evil conquer me and impair my tongue!”
The astrologist’s words falter on her tongue as the distressed girl flees the house with that decisive declaration.
“Ah, that silly girl…”