Chapter Text
Mona sighed, leaning back against her desk. Her eyes flaked over the words on the page over and over again. The product of her latest divination.
Albedo/Kaeya
Hurt/No Comfort
Mona (Genshin Impact)
Albedo (Genshin Impact)
Kaeya (Genshin Impact)
Jean (Genshin Impact)
Sucrose (Genshin Impact)
Fischl (Genshin Impact)
MCD
Implied/Referenced Suicide
Angst
Sorry guys but if I’m hurting so are you
those were the messages she’d received from the other side. While she had no Idea what in Teyvat a ‘Genshin Impact’ was, nor what it meant by ‘Original character’ the sheer amount of names on this that she knew of from this scrying was enough to spark worry in the astrologist. This divination, she decided, was one she couldn’t afford to ignore. Her eyes scanned the list once more. Out of all the people here her gut told her that Fischl would be the most helpful in her escapades. She gathered her papers and rushed out of her apartment and into the busy streets of Mondstadt. She made her way down to Katherine, greeting her with a friendly wave. No need to seem too worried too quickly. She thought. Unnecessary panic always makes things more difficult.
“Mona, Ad astra abessosque, how may I help you? Looking for another commission?” Mona forcefully relaxed her shoulders.
“Ah, not this time I’m afraid,” she answered hotly. “I’m looking for die Prinzessin, have you seen her around?”
“Excuse me! That’s Die Prinzessin der Verurteilung! If one is to address her highness one will do so respectfully or not at all!” A familiar voice huffed behind her and Mona turned immediately to face Fischl, who did not look as irritated as she sounded.
“My sincerest apologies, your highness,” she curtsied apologetically and meets Fischl’s eyes with a hint of the worry she’d been harboring. The Princess’s expression shifted and she led Mona away from the prying ears of any of Kaeya’s informants.
“What troubles you, Great Astrologist Mona Megistus?” Mona sighed and showed Fischl the transcribed page and Fischl raised an eyebrow.
“This was the result of my latest scrying and I haven’t a clue what any of it means. What is a Genshin Impact? Angst? Hurt-Slash-No Comfort?” Fischl smirked.
“Ah! You speak in the tongues of literature my dear astrologist!” She proclaimed smugly. “You could’ve simply said you were creating such beautiful art!” Mona moved to protest but Fischl talked over her. “Angst is a genre of dread and sorrow, Hurt/No Comfort implies certain doom!” Her smile dropped. “Though I don’t know what a Genshin Impact is.” Mona glanced back at the page.
“Okay so why are Albedo and Kaeya’s names slashed?” Fischl’s eyes brightened again.
“Usually in editor notes, a name slash means a ship!”
“What does a boat have to do with Kaeya and Albedo?” She glared when Fischl lightly slapped her arm.
“Not a ship ship, a relationship.”
“Oh.”
“So based on what I see here in the tags, ‘Albedo’ and ‘Kaeya’ are going to get together, or are into each other but it doesn’t go well and someone dies. This is quite a dark story you’re writing Megistus, I appreciate the ambition aber vielleicht it is a good idea to change the names so that you aren’t condemning our allies to death.” She laughed boisterously. Mona chuckled along with her. I’ll do my best.
Mona made her way back towards her home, she needed to plan her next move immediately. Her stomach growled dangerously as she passed Good Hunter. Well, immediately after lunch.
Mona sighed, sitting back at her scrying table once again. It had been about an hour since she’d returned home and her eyes had already become tired from staring at the same damn words all day. Captain Kaeya and Chief Alchemist Albedo fated to death? How preposterous. But her divination has always been masterful, she’s never been wrong. It appears she would need to pay the Cavalry Captain a visit. Her heels clicked against the pavement on the stairs to the Knight’s headquarters, she shimmied through the cavernous doors and into the great hall. A younger girl with blonde hair and a blinding smile bounced over to her. Klee her mind supplied.
“Woahhhhhh you’re awfully pretty!” She laughed, holding a small stuffed animal close to her chest. “Dodoco says hi!” Mona found herself smiling softly at the child, she crouched down to meet the girl’s eyes.
“Well hello to you too Dodoco. Klee, could you tell me where the Cavalry Captain is?” The girl’s eyes widened with joy.
“You know Klee’s name!”
“Of course I do.” Mona winked, trailing a hand against the girl’s cheek, “I’m magic.” Klee gasped.
“Like Dodoco.” She stated more than asked. Mona nodded anyway. “Klee will go find big brother Kaeya for you!” She giggled before running off. Mona stood and leaned against one of the pillars, mulling over the information once more. Fischl didn’t believe her because she thought it was a story. Maybe it’d be best to withhold the scrying’s physical transcript from Kaeya? Perhaps her story would be more believable. What a pain. She thought idly. The sound of footsteps resounded in the hall and Mona straightened looking directly at the most disheveled man she’d ever seen. It took her an embarrassingly long time to realize it was Kaeya. Beside him, Klee was watching him anxiously, seeming to also notice the odd behavior. A fake smile stretched across his face in an unnatural way that gave Mona shivers as she approached.
“Mona! A pleasure, you’re looking radiant as ever.” You aren’t. She bit back the retort.
“You aren’t.” Oops. The Captain tensed before chuckling awkwardly.
“Rough morning, what can I do for you?” She narrowed her eyes.
“You could honor me with a meeting if it isn’t too much trouble.” She glanced offhandedly towards Klee. Don’t involve her. She pleaded with her eyes. Kaeya nodded and gestured for her to follow him.
“Stay here Klee, we’ll be back.” The girl frowned but sat on a nearby bench, playing with her Dodoco. Kaeya shut the door to his office behind Mona, cutting off her view of Klee. “What’s wrong?” He asked immediately, voice losing any sort of faked jovial tone. Mona took a breath.
“How is Albedo doing?”
“How should I know?” Is the immediate sharp answer.
“Is it wrong to assume with your renowned vein of informants that you’d be aware of your fellow Captain’s location?” She watched his eyes narrow and a scowl remain on his features for a long moment.
“He’s been in Dragonspine all month.”
“Running an experiment?”
“Expedition.”
“…what?” Mona frowned. What kind of expedition took an entire month to complete? Dragonspine conditions were dire but not so cruel as to warrant that much of a delay.
“An expedition to go retrieve some scarlet sprouts to bring them home and study how they survived such a harsh environment.”
“That shouldn’t take more than a week.” Kaeya rolled his eyes.
“Astute as always.” Mona watched him carefully for a moment. His hair looked like a nest for a very unfortunate bird, bags looked sewn onto his eyes, and his uniform was haphazardly put together. How long ago did the Captain last sleep?
“You’re worried about him.” She assumed, taking a step towards him. He slumped into his chair, burying his head in his hands.
“Jean believes he’s fine, she said he’s late all the time…” he groans, voice muffled by his hands. That was tough, everyone respected the Acting Grand Master. If she said it was fine nobody would argue, but the pure disarray it was sending the Cavalry Captain into, it would be cruel to ignore.
“Then let’s go confirm his status.” She stated simply. Ignoring how quickly Kaeya perked up. “Don’t act so surprised, if it’s truly bothering the Cavalry Captain this much, it’s obviously going to be detrimental to your work ethic. So let’s confirm Albedo’s status and go home.” Kaeya hesitated for only a second before he reached in his closet and pulled out a coat. Mona reached in the closet to pull out a second coat, when she saw Kaeya’s pout as she shrugged it on she rolled her eyes. “Cmon obviously I’m not doing this for free, a girl’s gotta eat.” They made their way out of the Knight’s headquarters, promising Klee to return within a few days at her insistent puppy dog eyes and set off towards Mondstadt’s gates.
“Why do you care so much about Albedo’s health? Archons know you don’t actually care if my work ethic is slightly worse than usual.” Mona’s thoughts flickered back to the sheet still in her pocket and sighed.
“My scrying table divined something off happening with someone from Mondstadt, Albedo’s absence seems far from coincidence.” A half truth hopefully will bide him over. Kaeya doesn’t push after that though Mona believes it’s less to do with the believability of her lie and more with his worry for the alchemist. Soon enough the chilly bite of snow mountains whipped against Mona’s cheek and she shivered in her coat. They stopped at the bank of the river and Kaeya reached for his sword.
“Stay close and we can make it across.” Mona sighed.
“For a man with so many informants, you are remarkably naive about my capabilities.” She melded with the water and within seconds was across the bank. When she glanced back Kaeya had a noticeable look of shock on his face. “Keep up slow poke!” She called out, trying to regain his focus on the current task. He sighed and began freezing the water ahead of him. Mona watched as Kaeya slowly made his way across. Something in her gut squeezed. UpUpUp!
She looked up on instinct. She was too late to stop the Glacier ice from falling on Kaeya, screaming herself hoarse as she watched him disappear in a puddle of red. She couldn't see anything but that mess of a broken body in her sights. She felt ice pierce through her ribs. She closed her eyes, tears freezing as they rolled down her face. I failed, I failed, I failed.
Albedo/Kaeya
Hurt/No Comfort
Mona (Genshin Impact)
Albedo (Genshin Impact)
Kaeya (Genshin Impact)
Jean (Genshin Impact)
Sucrose (Genshin Impact)
Fischl (Genshin Impact)
MCD
Implied/Referenced Suicide
Angst
Sorry guys but if I’m hurting so are you
Mona sighed, leaning back against her desk. Her eyes flaked over the words on the page over and over again. The product of her latest divination.
Wait.