Wish upon a star
First of all, I want to thank 8ullred for doing the Beta read as well as proof check/editing. I really appreciate his help. Without him, this fic couldn't have been done.
This fic is dedicated for every Keqing main/enjoyer
Chapter 1: Downfall
-Adventure guild, Liyue's Branch-
An organization that serves as an adventurer-for-hire service for the people and other organizations in all seven nations of Teyvat. It's also a place where people can show off their strength and valor to the people, gain their trust, and earn fame…
The strongest people in the guild will be listed in the Elites class. To enter the Elites, one has to go through a series of challenges in the Spiral Abyss. It indeed was a very difficult challenge to pass, and as a result, only a few people were able to enter the Elites. In Liyue, there were only 2 or 3 people that were able to make it into that list at that time. A true challenge designed to test their limits.
Keqing was one of these Elites.
The Yuheng of the Liyue Qixing, who was working hard for the betterment of Liyue.
Beautiful, famous, smart, and strong… those were parts of her pride.
The reason she wanted to do a part-time job in the Adventurer Guild was different than others:
She chose her own path with her own strength and ability, instead of letting the gods determine her fate. She wanted to prove that humans could be strong not by some blessing or gift from the gods or heaven, but by their strength, will, and non-stop efforts to become stronger.
Everyone loved her and wanted her to help them, which she always eventually agreed to.
Until one day, everything changed…
There were a few newcomers that joined the guild recently and they had never been heard of before. Their performance, however, was far beyond her own. They could finish the Spiral Abyss quite easily without too much effort and of course, they had reached the top of the Elites within a few days. With that in mind, the guild had to increase the difficulty to maintain the number and prestige of the Elites.
As a result, Keqing struggled to finish the now insanely difficult final floor on time when she used to do it quite easily before. Now her position had fallen to the bottom of the list.
No matter how hard she trained, she couldn't keep up with them and kept falling behind.
She became the most insufficient person of all people who were in the same rank with her…she became a burden to them and one day she would lose that rank.
Since then, no one wanted her to do their commissions for them anymore.
Every time someone gave out a commission and when they heard it would be handled by Keqing, they quickly told the guild to give the task for the others to do it rather than Keqing herself… Basically, they didn't want her to do anything other than just to collect some rocks or flowers around Liyue which she had done it countless times and she was getting sick of it, but she had no choice.
The guild also tried to help Keqing by assigning her to do some commission directly so she could have a chance to show her worthiness to them but that last hope was soon destroyed in an instant…
"YOU ARE USELESS!" There was once a person shouted at Keqing like that then and splashed a glass of water right in her face in the middle of the Adventurer's Hall.
"I THOUGHT IT WAS SOMEONE ELSE THEN YOU SHOW UP! I DON'T NEED YOU ANYMORE, STOP POKING YOUR NOSE INTO OUR COMMISSIONS!" Another person shouted then followed up by a slap straight into Keqing's face, leaving a bright red handprint on her cheek…
Then some people started to surround her and blame her…by blabbing with their mouth only because despite being the weakest of all elites, she was way too powerful compared to them and she could just blast all of them if she wanted to.
"You shouldn't be here!"
"You're too weak!"
"The only reason we care about you is because of your status and your beauty, nothing else…"
…
She tried to remain calm but inside she was really angry and wanted to punch all of those bastards right then and there. However, she knew where she was at the moment and she had to swallow those lines from these people.
The guild master then had to intervene to stop the crowd from harassing her.
"I'm so sorry for these incidents, this shouldn't happen again" The guild master tried to apologize to her.
"No, I'm fine…they were right about it…I'm...I'm outdated now…" Keqing put her hand on her cheek to hide the wound caused by that slap earlier while leaving in silence.
It hurt…
It wasn't because of the slap, no.
But the people who she had helped so much now stood against her…
Nothing was more painful than being betrayed by her own people.
It hurt…
She trusted them…
It hurt…
She just wanted to be friends with them…
And this was how they treated her back…
It hurt so much…
Of course, she could still work as a Yuheng, she had a job to do. But doing paperwork for the rest of her life? That wasn't what she really wanted to do, she knew she could do more than that, she believed that human potential is endless. But it seemed like the gods weren't on her side.
Was the thing she desired beyond human imagination? Was it because of her skepticism toward the gods? Nobody knew. Not even herself.
"Why's everyone hating me? I've tried so hard…yet I still can't earn their trust…" She quickly ran back to her house as fast as she could while she could feel her eyes were getting wet while on the way home, leaving a tiny trail of tears.
-Nighttime-
Keqing was standing on her bedroom balcony, thinking about what had happened to her. She looked at the vast night sky with stars while taking out a stone that she had earned as one of the first people to enter the elite's rank a long time ago.
Fate Intertwined is a very rare stone that can be found in Teyvat. A fateful stone that connects dreams. Its glimmers can entwine fates and connect dreams, just as how its glimmer links stars into the shapes of a heart's desires.
When it is thrown into the sky it will often leave behind a beautiful trail of blue or purple light like a comet. And especially if it leaves an orange glow, that wish will come true.
Many people had tried to use that stone before but no one had seen that orange light come out from it, therefore it only remained as a rumor.
She never believed in something called luck or fate before.
But it didn't hurt to try it once
"Here's go nothing" After making a wish, Keqing threw the stone into the sky. It then flew straight up into the night sky while leaving a trail of blue light.
She left out a long sigh then went back to sleep.
To be continued
P/s: If anyone still remembers the drama around Keqing's banner...this fic is based on it
See everyone next time ~