Cat's Tail, Downers, and Outcasts

I wanted to go home.

Instead I was at the Cat's Tail, a popular tavern that happened to be next door neighbours with the Adventurer's Guild. Though it wasn't as popular as Mondstadt's pride and joy, the Angel's Share, it was famous for single handedly disrupting the monopoly the aforementioned tavern had over Mondstadt's wine industry ever since it hired that young girl Diona as the main bartender.

Mondstadt was the city of Winds and Freedom, but it was also famous for its wine industry.

My head hurt and the various smells in the tavern were making me nauseous. I already gagged several times, trying to keep the bile that kept coming up my throat down. Leaning back into the open window behind me helped, the fresh air smothering the smell of alcohol while exposing my hot skin to the refreshing breeze at the same time.

The smell of alcohol.

Surrounded by people who were in various states of inebriation.

I didn't want to be here.

I wanted to be anywhere but here.

Unfortunately tonight was the monthly get together for the Mondstadt Branch's Adventurer's Guild. Something that came as a surprise to me until Branch Master Cyrus himself asked if I was going to come this morning.

"Ah, Selena!" The Branch Master greeted me as I arrived at Katheryne's desk to start on whatever Commissions were available for the day. "I trust that you will be coming to the Cat's Tail later this evening?"

"No, why?" I asked, wondering where this question had come from. The question had come completely out of left field that it had taken me a few seconds to answer.

The only thing that I knew about the Cat's Tail was that it was the second most popular tavern in Mondstadt and the one place that had broken Angel Share's monopolization over the city famous for the winds, freedom, and of course the alcohol.

Cyrus stared at me in surprise before turning towards Katheryne.

"Did you not tell her?"

The famous receptionist of the Adventurer's Guild who managed to man the receptionist desk of Liyue, Mondstadt, and likely the other nations as well shook her head, looking apologetic.

"I apologize, Branch Master Cyrus. I did not. It seems to have slipped my mind."

The dark haired receptionist straightened her posture before turning towards me and then bowing again.

"Miss Selena, I apologize for not informing you of the gathering tonight."

I was confused. "What gathering?"

Dread pooled in my stomach. No really, what gathering?

A gathering implied that there was going to be a lot of people and I wasn't fond of crowds or being in situations where socializing with others was mandatory.

I prayed that it wasn't mandatory.

"Every month there is an event where those of the Adventurer's Guild of Mondstadt get together at the Cat's Tail for the purpose of socializing with one another. Food and drink will of course be provided for by the Adventurer's guild."

As I feared, it was a social event. Even worse was it was likely one where alcohol would be involved because the Cat's Tail was a tavern.

There were a lot of taverns in Mondstadt.

I… didn't remember this being in the original game. Then again, a pixelated game was hardly representative of the real deal. I knew from personal experience that worlds were much more vast than any piece of fiction portrayed them to be.

I tilted my head. "That's… I don't think they do this in Liyue, do they?"

I would have known that if they did. I could be oblivious at times, but I wasn't that oblivious. Otherwise I would have died long ago.

Katheryn shook her head.

"No, Liyue does not have this custom. This gathering was a fairly recent addition that came about a few years ago. It is held only in Mondstadt, I believe."

I tried to imagine the Adventurer's Guild in Liyue having this kind of event, but couldn't picture it. The Branch Master of Liyue's Adventurer's Guild was the serious, no nonsense type like a lot of Liyuens I had interacted with and I couldn't imagine her taking the time to organize a get together.

Why add more work on her plate? Especially when she was already struggling with her workload as it was?

Not to mention that the Adventurers in the City of Commerce were of a different breed to the ones who worked in Mondstadt. They were hard working and serious, but at the same time that sense of camaraderie that I had seen in the Adventurers' here… was lacking.

Though I suppose it was to be expected.

It wasn't said out loud, everyone was a competitor. And while the people of Liyue were hard working, they were also very self-serving. Oftentimes when it came to helping others they only thought about how situations would be able to benefit them.

Not all, but enough to become a stereotype. It was unfair to lump all of them in as being greedy people who looked out only for themselves; there were also many altruistic individuals as well who helped people for the sake of helping them.

I couldn't count the number of times I had to hear all the snide comments from the other Adventurers about monopolizing all the good, high paying jobs from the locals. But the only reason I took them in the first place is because the best paying jobs were often monster hunting quests that were above the level of most Adventurers there.

Dangerous monster quests, hence the high reward in the first place.

I still remember that one green Adventurer who was so obsessed with fame and money and making a name for himself that he pretty much forewent common sense of every kind, possessed completely by his ambition.

He was the second son of a wealthy family and could have easily lived his life in comfort with little to want. But he didn't seem to be satisfied with that.

Instead he seemed to want to be famous. Was downright obsessed with it as he kept going on and on about it wouldn't be long before anyone knew his name.

And blinded by that same ambition he had refused to listen to the advice of veteran Adventurers when we warned him against taking the riskier jobs, sneering at us and deluding himself into thinking that we wanted to monopolize the higher ranked tasks for ourselves.

That arrogance ultimately sealed his fate.

It was a tragedy that could have easily been prevented had he actually listened to the advice of his older, more experienced peers as well as exercised patience.

I was lucky enough to retrieve most of his remains from the Primo Geovishap in the middle of eating him.

But as gruesome as the scene that I came across was, it was his mother's scream of anguish when I had to tell her what happened that stayed with me. Being screamed at and blamed for his death had not been a pleasant experience, but she was a grieving mother who had just been told that her son had died due to his own recklessness and that he had come back in pieces.

"I see." I nodded slowly.

"The last one was held several days before you transferred to the Mondstadt Adventurer's guild, I believe." Cyrus rubbed his beard, looking ahead of him with a contemplative look on his face. He then slapped me on the back in a friendly gesture; thankfully not hard enough to send me tumbling forward. "You should come! It would be a good way to introduce the new high ranking Adventurer who managed to make a name for herself here after just a month!"

"...eh?" I said dumbly once the words registered in my mind.

I tried to tell Cyrus that as much as I had appreciated his offer, I would have to turn it down. Taverns that served drinks and likely to be surrounded by a lot of people who would no doubt be taking advantage of the free food and alcohol?

It wasn't my kind of scene.

However Cyrus was adamant that I attend, which came as a complete surprise to me.

Just like everyone in the City of Freedom, Cyrus was pretty laid back. He gave the Adventurers who worked under him a lot of liberties as long as you weren't breaking already established rules or laws or harming others with yout antics.

I had tried to tell him that my Commissions would last well into the night, but Cyrus rebuffed that there was no set quota for carrying out tasks the guild assignments and in fact when was it the last time that I ever took some time off?

Before I knew it I had been given a paid mandatory week off and an expectation that I would be at the monthly Adventurer's gathering.

…

…

…I had no idea how long I had been standing there, staring after the man who just suddenly cleared up my schedule for the next week without getting my opinion on the matter.

To my shame I felt my eyes water and my lip tremble as my mind tried to process what had just happened.

Did he just-? Could he do that?

Of course he could.

He was the Branch Master of Mondstadt's Adventurer's Guild and a well respected person in Mondstadt to boot. He was friendly, loud and amicable and the kind of person who exuded charisma and drew a lot of people towards him. He was an experienced Adventurer who had garnered enough prestige and reputation to become the person who managed the other Adventurers after years of Adventuring.

And me?

I was just a mere Adventurer. A high ranked one, but an Adventurer all the same.

Not to mention an Outlander who had just been here for around a month who pretty much knew no one.

It didn't take a genius to see who would win this situation.

I could hear the concern in Katheryne's voice as she spoke to me, but I couldn't decipher what she was saying and honestly I wasn't in the mood to talk after what Cyrus did.

I walked away from the Adventurer Guild Receptionist desk and if I was walking as if I couldn't get away from it as fast as I could without breaking into a run, well I pretended other people didn't notice even though I was sure that they did.

I made my way towards the training grounds where I spent the rest of the late morning to afternoon venting out my feelings on the training dummies until a Knight of Favonius with a forced smile on their face asked me if I could not destroy their entire training grounds.

…

I did feel bad that they pretty much had to replace everything afterwards. I tried to hold back, but the disastrous state of the place told me how good of a job I did once I was shaken out of my thoughts.

Somehow, I managed to get through the next few hours by wandering around Mondstadt while constantly looking at the clock as the clock hands moved far too slow for my liking. But eventually the dreaded time came and I dragged myself towards the Cat's Tail all the while dreading having to be surrounded by other people who were going to be getting drunk very, very soon.

I was tempted to skip the event, but it probably wasn't worth the trouble it would bring me the next day considering that the Branch Master had been uncharacteristically insistent that I come.

And now here I am.

At a tavern full of drunk and rowdy people.

As soon as Cyrus finished introducing me to the guild (though I was sure everyone knew who I was at this point), I had tucked myself away into the very corner, as far away from the others as I possibly could with my back to the wall.

I watched the other Adventurers mingle with each other, either catching up on stuff or talking about whatever Commission they had fulfilled all the while trying to ignore the smell of alcohol that wafted through the room.

The smell made me gag several times, but I covered my nose and mouth so that I wouldn't end up throwing up. Because that was the last thing I wanted.

Cyrus may have made me come, but that didn't mean I was going to willingly cooperate. Maybe it was petty of me, but I was still bitter that my boss had essentially forced me to take time off and then come to an event where most people seemed to see me as some sort of curious sight or find my presence unpleasant. Even though they tried to be subtle (keyword being tried), it was still obvious that some of them were staring at me when they thought I wasn't looking.

Not to mention that I could hear them.

"Isn't that Selena Sinclair?"

"What's she doing here?"

"Didn't think she would come to this."

"Thought she was too good for this kind of thing."

"I honestly thought she was some sort of urban legend."

"There is no way she could actually be doing that many Commissions. She has to be falsifying them."

And other comments similar to them.

Sighing, I poured myself another jug of water. It was the only thing that I could stomach right now. Being here must have rattled me a lot more than I thought if I couldn't even stand food despite essentially not eating all day due to my nerves and anxiety for the suddenly horrible day.

Or maybe it was because I hadn't eaten all day that I was feeling queasy.

"Hey, Miss Selena! I didn't know that you were here!"

"Guten Abend! I, the Prinzessin der Verurteilung, greet her most loyal follower Dame Selena!"

"She says hello."

Despite my current misery and the fact that time seemed to, I couldn't help but crack a smile at the teenagers and the raven that had come up to my table to say hi.

"Hello, Bennett." I smiled at them. "And greetings, your Highness and of course her most loyal retainer, Oz."

The two teens were Adventurers like me, Bennett and Fischl. But they were younger. Much younger.

I often kept to myself and took on solo commissions both in Mondstadt and when I was still working with the Liyue Branch. But that didn't mean I had never partnered up with people on Commissions. Sometimes I went on commissions with either Bennett or Fischl or both. Of course I had also gone on commissions with other Adventurers during my time here, but those two were often the ones who asked if they could join me or if I wanted to join them in future ventures.

I suppose it made sense that we would team up with each other from time to time. After all, in one way or another the three of us were the outcasts within the Guild.

I had grown used to it. I had accepted long ago that as much as I blended in with humans, I would never fit in. I knew that and I suppose others could sense that in me as well, giving me space even if they didn't necessarily realize that they were doing it.

There was only one person who had been close to me in recent times, long after the mortal members of the Grancypher Crew had left the mortal plane centuries ago. But the two of us didn't talk with each other any more.

Not since that night.

My outcast status was self-imposed. I purposely shied away from interaction with others, threw myself into numerous solo commissions that lasted from morning to late into the night that left me with little time to socialize with others and avoided people in general unless I was buying food or grabbing a late night dinner to go and eat at my house. And while I didn't necessarily mean to snub people, my avoidance of others had not gone unnoticed.

And people began to talk.

Last I checked, the consensus was that I was a cold, stuck up condescending individual who looked down on others. Or that scary lady who most people held their breath whenever she interacted with them, only releasing it once I left the area.

It didn't help that I was friendly with Eula Lawrence either.

I really didn't have anyone to blame. And while I suppose the right thing to do would be to correct the misconceptions of other people, I honestly didn't see the point. Once people already labeled you either based on first impressions or rumours, it was difficult to change their minds. And I didn't want to waste time on something that was already futile.

But that wasn't the case with Bennett and Fischl. The two of them were still teens. And teenagers were often kids who, while not young children any more, were also not adults. They were instead in that frustrating point in time of their lives where they were still trying to discover who they were and trying to find their place in the world.

The two of them were also very lonely and desperately craved acceptance from others, something that many people here took for granted.

Bennett was a young man who was the kind of boyish protagonist that came straight out of the stories that were meant for adolescents. Spiky platinum blonde hair, blue shorts and a zip up tight fitting vest, and goggles strapped over his forehead.

He looked very much like your standard shonen protagonist.

He was cheerful and outgoing… though there were times that I saw him falter. But for the most part, he had the kind of personality that drew people in. No matter what happened, he would always bounce back.

I was absolutely certain that he would have been a very popular person…

…if it hadn't been for his bad luck.

Bennett was literally the unluckiest individual you could come across. And if my old memories were correct, his constellation was literally bad luck in latin or something along those lines.

Nothing ever seemed to go right for the poor boy. Whether it be his client canceling at the last minute on him, perfect weather transforming into a complete downpour, or finding himself locked up in a trap set up by either Treasure Hunters or Hilichurls. No matter what he did, he would always find himself in trouble.

Even worse, those who teamed up with him often found themselves caught up in the constant misfortune that constantly haunted him like a shadow. Eventually people began to avoid him. They may have pitied him, felt sorry for him, but they weren't willing to interact with him out of fear that his bad luck would somehow infect them if he talked or hung around them too long.

His old team had abandoned him because of this. Even if on paper Benny's Adventure Team was still an official team, everyone knew that the team had broken up.

Despite his upbeat nature that seemed to be at odds with the bad luck that followed him around, there were times that I saw the loneliness show. It struck me as unfair because Bennett himself was a good person who unintentionally drove others away from him for something that wasn't his fault. For something completely out of his control.

The sight of Bennett being avoided for something that wasn't his fault left a very bitter taste in my mouth and I vowed to keep him company whenever I could. The same bitterness in my mouth when I watched Eula Lawrence being scorned by the rest of Mondstadt's population that couldn't see past her name.

While I partnered with Bennett whenever I could, I knew that I couldn't help him fend off that loneliness entirely. He needed a peer, someone around his age.

A friend who could look past the disasters his luck brought down on him.

I, on the other hand, was an old washed out soldier who belonged in the past.

His current companion, Fischl, on the other hand looked very much like the protagonist of some sort of gothic fairy tale or a fantasy novel aimed directly at girls. She had light blonde hair and green eyes, with one of them being covered with an eye patch and she wore a frilly leotard outfit with a coattail in colours of black and purple.

Though in her case it was very much on purpose as she was basing her clothes, actions, words, and self on a fictional character. Or maybe more accurately, she was roleplaying.

She was supposed to be some sort of princess from a fallen kingdom, I think? A world traveler? I was assuming based off of how she first introduced herself to me and from what little I still remembered from my old life. I should probably read the actual novels to try and get a more clearer picture of the character that she was trying to portray. I did know that she was a… it was some sort of japanese word to describe people with grandiose delusions who convinced themselves that they had special powers or something.

Chuuni…

Chuuni something. Maybe Chuunibyou? I couldn't remember. But if I ever went to Inazuma one day, I would be sure to look it up if the word existed at this point in time.

Fischl's manner when she interacted with others was formal, polite and she spoke in a loud and enthusiastic round about way that her familiar, Oz the Raven, thankfully translated for everyone else. She also threw in a lot of German words that I literally bought a dictionary for to try and translate what she was saying to me half the time (not that I did this in front of her). Fischl's words and the way she presented herself made sense if you realized she was roleplaying as a princess.

The sole survivor of an entire kingdom, kind.

Fischl's real name was Amy as I heard her parents call her at times, but every time you tried to call her by that name she vehemently doubled down on her Fischl persona. A persona that she likely created because she had been unhappy with who she was as Amy.

I suspected that Fischl was essentially everything that Amy was not. Or was it through Fischl that Amy tried to escape from herself?

Because people who were happy with themselves did not try to become someone else.

Though most people in Mondstadt didn't say it to her face, a majority thought of her as delusional and avoided her if they could. Don't interact with crazy after all. I heard that even before she started addressing herself as Fischl, Amy had been known to roleplay as her favorite characters in the past.

And while I couldn't blame them because Fischl often confused people whenever she talked, with Oz having to act as a literal translator, all I could see was a lonely girl who had so little confidence in herself that she felt she had to be someone else to be able to function.

Like Bennett, Amy or Fischl or whoever she was desperately wanted friends. And while Fischl had confidence in spades, she was also very much alone.

"What is this?" Fischl huffed. "One of my most loyal retainers whose presence is often missed has decided to grace this soiree and she does not have the mindfulness to greet her master and fellow retinue?"

"She's wondering why you didn't come over and say hi." Oz translated.

"I… wasn't really paying attention." I admitted. "I'm sorry, this isn't my kind of scene and I was just counting down the time when I could leave."

"Huh?" Bennett looked taken aback. "You want to leave, Miss Selena?"

"Just call me Selena, Bennett."

Being called Miss made me feel old. Granted, I was thousands of years old but still.

"Wait, what?" Fischl broke out of her princess persona, stomping her foot on the ground in a huff. "Why?"

"Does thy lady find herself displeased with her surroundings?" Oz inquired, speaking in olde English now that his master had broken character.

"Like I said, I'm not one for social events like this." I said.

It wasn't a lie, but it was a statement that barely scratched the surface. Just how did I explain to these two that drunk people made me uncomfortable? In a city that was famous for its many taverns and wine?

Drinking was a social pastime here and it was often how people bonded with one another. I had been invited for drinks frequently in the past, but I had turned down all invitations. I had never liked drinking or the concept of getting drunk, but after the Kingdom of Constellations… I couldn't help but associate it with a time that I desperately wanted to forget.

Associate with him.

"Miss Selena?"

I was snapped out of my musings by someone calling my name and abruptly brought to the present to find myself staring into the concerned faces of two teenagers and a raven.

"Ah, sorry." I smiled, but I knew that the smile didn't reach my eyes. "I was thinking about something."

The two teens traded glances with each other, communicating a conversation that I was not privy to. I couldn't help but feel nervous, even though whatever they had in mind was probably not malicious.

They were good kids.

I heard chairs screech and looked up again to see that Fischl and Bennett were sitting across from me.

"What are you doing?" I asked, my mind trying to process what they just did.

"Why dost thou look confounded?" Fischl scoffed. "I, Prinzessin der Verurteilung, and her loyal subject Sir Bennett have generously taken it upon ourselves to keep companionship with you in this fine establishment until the destined time."

Uh…

"She means that she and the young man will be keeping you company for the rest of the night."

"That's not necessary." I shook my head. "You two don't need to keep me company. You should go spend the rest of the night with other people your age."

That was the wrong thing to say because Fischl straightened up in her seat, her face turning red in indignation. However, Bennett spoke up first. Most likely to prevent his friend from going into an angry tirade.

"Nah, we don't mind." Bennett grinned, giving me a thumbs up. "You're always there for us so it's time for us to pay back the favour. My dads are always saying that if someone does something for you, you should always make sure to pay them back no matter what!"

"Indeed." Fischl sniffed. The girl was no longer going to go off on a tangent, but at the same time she still seemed pretty miffed at me. "The Prinzessin der Verurteilung always pays back her debts! 'Twould be improper and unbecoming of royalty!"

What were these two talking about? The only thing I ever did was accompany them on commissions, and that was only because they looked so lone-

-ah.

"Besides, people always look as if they can't get away from us fast enough." Fischl huffed as she broke character again. "Do they really think that neither of us can see the relief in their eyes or posture whenever we leave?"

Bennett nodded, looking subdued.

My heart ached for the two of them.

I had long ago resigned myself to the isolation that accompanied immortality, accepting that unless the friends I make are immortal themselves then I would outlive them all and be forever damned to continue existing even if everyone I knew was gone.

But Bennett and Fischl?

The two of them were lonely, but it wasn't by choice. They were outcast due to circumstances that they couldn't control. Bennett his bad luck and Fischl the persona she used to help her cope with life.

I sighed. As much as I thought that they could spend their time better with other people who were actually enjoying the monthly Adventurer's gathering rather than sitting around with me and waiting for it to be over, it was ultimately their choice.

"Alright, alright." I sighed, rubbing my face. "If you want to stay, then I can't force you otherwise. Should we order something to eat then while we try to pass the time?"