With her most recent task bringing her to church, she overhears a dilemma from one of the men dressed in suspiciously familiar clothing. Nevertheless, someone in need is someone who needs help, indeed.


AN: No beta we die like hilichurls


"Thank you, Noelle." A nun graciously accepted the package in Noelle's hand.

Noelle bowed. "You're welcome, Sister Gotelinde."

"I mean it. I would've gone out and gotten it myself if not for how busy I am with the church," she sighed. "It's still so early too."

"Oh, anything I can help with?"

"No need. I'll do this, you go on and do your other stuff now," she smiled and made to move deeper into the church. "Take care, alright?"

"W-Wait! But I'm done with… my tasks… until the afternoon…" Noelle sighed when she realized she was too far away to hear her. It was just her, the church, and the chairs.

Though there was a man in the corner of the church, clad in familiar clothing. What were they again? She remembered Master Jean telling her about them. The… fatooey? Fatwoey?

Though, Master Jean had told her to stay away from them. Shaking her head, she made to go out of the church. As she did, to the side, she could hear murmuring coming from the man.

"Where did I… Where did it go… Dammit, I can't lose that.'

Noelle pursed her lips. Master Jean had said to stay away from them…

"I can't ask anyone for help though… How could I be so stupid?!"

Noelle sighed. She knew how this was going to go. 'I'm sorry, Master Jean.'

She spun around and made a beeline for the man.

"O-Oh, what do you want?" the man responded with a bit of hostility.

Noelle didn't mind. The man was stressed and obviously didn't receive enough hospitality from the general populace.

"Hello, my name is Noelle. I am a maid of the Knights of Favonius."

"The Knights? What do they want with me?" his eyes narrowed. "I haven't done anything wrong."

"You misunderstand. I'm not here because of the Knights of Favonius," she smiled. The man thought it strange. It was as if her smile held no animosity. I mean, look at who she was speaking to! "I'm here because I couldn't help but overhear you."

"Oh yeah? And what did you hear? You aren't getting a single word about my homeland from me-"

"I heard you needed help."

The man's eyes widened. He snapped out of his stupor quickly. "What? No, I don't."

Noelle tilted her head. "You lost something, yet you don't know where to find it. You cannot ask anyone else for help because for some reason you may leave, correct?"

"Y-Yeah," the man slowly nodded. "What are you getting at?"

"Please, I will not ask any questions. I am only repeating what I have heard," the man tried to not let his relief show on his face. At least this one was a bit more amiable. "Though I do wish to help."

"...Alright, I'll bite."

"Wonderful," again, Noelle's smile was a weird thing to see for the man. "Though, I will be needing more information about what you lost. Will that be alright?"

"Y-Yeah, I can answer that," he cleared his throat. This girl was weird. "It's a locket. I lost it while I was coming back from Windrise."

"Did you go to anywhere specific?"

"Not at all. I went out of the church, out to Windrise, sat down on the tree, and went back."

Noelle nodded. "Understood," she bowed once more and made to go out of the church. "I will be back before nightfall with your locket. Please wait here."

"W-Wait!"

"Yes? Did you lose anything else?"

"No, not that. I just lost the locket," the man shook his head. "Aren't you going to ask me why I was at Windrise?"

Instead of the realization and anger that the man had expected, he was given a surprised stare and a raised eyebrow. As if what he had just suggested was akin to throwing trash on the floor.

"Why would I ask that? It's not necessary for my search, is it?"

"N-No. It isn't…?"

"Then I shan't ask," the maid smiled. "Please wait for me. Rest assured I will find your locket."

The man watched the maid leave the church as the door shut with a sound. He picked up his jaw and sighed.

"What a weird girl."


The man had lost a brown locket on the way back to Mondstadt from Windrise. He did not take any other detours and went back straight to the church. That is what she had been told. And that is what she shall do.

Though, it was easier said than done.

"I guess I'll start with this big tree."

The Windrise tree might as well have been a landmark, and this was where the man had told her he went to. Grasslands all around, with a river nearby, that she hoped the locket hadn't gone to. A look to the side told her she wasn't alone. She may have been alone in the search, but not in the area.

"Hello, Mister Crystalfly. Have you seen a brown locket somewhere nearby? A man wearing a mask on his eyes should have come here earlier."

Crystalflies were tiny little creatures. Yet, though they were small, one could not possibly miss their shine.

There seemed to be an endless supply of them though. When she was a child, she took to collecting some so she could show them off and let them go right after. Yet when she caught them they always became something that the other knights called Crystal Cores. She was worried that she might've killed them, so she went back to where she got them and opened the jar.

But the crystal flies were already back there. So she thought to herself, did she even catch them at all? The crystalflies vanish too when it rained. Did that mean that crystal cores were simply a part of the crystalfly, and not the crystalfly itself?

Was Crystal Core something akin to their excrement?

Noelle shook her head. That was a thought for another day.

Alas, the crystalflies did not give her any indication that they understood her, or recognized her plight. They provided no help, but they did look nice to look at.

For anyone else in Mondstadt, it would've taken them forever or maybe never to find. Though she didn't know that she was one of the handfuls of people who would've even considered taking the task of finding the locket for the man.

Luckily for Noelle, she had both the kindness and the means to effectively look for that little trinket.

Her vision glowed slightly as she closed her eyes. Her affinity to geo was more than just making a shield and strengthening her sword. Her ability as a wielder of a geo vision had given her a natural affinity to rocks and all kinds of minerals. Not to the point that she could control them, but she could see- no, feel traces. Traces of what had been.

The cliffs and mountains told stories of their perseverance. The ores told stories of their birth and value. And the ground told stories of brief pasts.

Her vision pulsed once and all of a sudden, it was as if Noelle had gained another sense. Through her vision, she felt that she could see again with her eyes closed. Although, this time, everything was in monochrome.

The traveler had told her about something similar to that skill of hers before. Elemental Sight, he called it. The ability to sense traces of elements as if one was seeing them, their elemental energies flow firsthand.

Everything was in black and white, except for the ground, the rocks, ores, and of course, the slight trail of golden brown leading to… somewhere.

"Ah, could this be it?"

For some reason, visions had a mind of their own in the sense that they knew what you were looking for. If Noelle was looking for something, let's say a trinket like a locket, then when she used her sight, it would sort of highlight it.

It only worked for things attributed to geo though, unlike the traveler's. But that was more than enough for now.

The trail seemed to be leading up north. It was a good idea to use the sight first, rather than spend some time looking for it where it wasn't.

She opened her eyes, turned around, and bowed to the crystalflies. "Thank you anyways, Mister Crystalfly. I have a locket to look for."

She didn't need to keep her eyes closed to keep an eye for the trail. It was like it was already engraved in her mind after seeing it once.

Nevertheless, this little quest she was on already started feeling quite exciting for the maid.

It was like looking for Mister Wyatt's lost key all over again! So exciting!


Following the trail, Noelle was led to a road. She used her sight once more, only to find that it led to a cliffside.

"Oh, some mora." She was going to donate that later.

It was strange. One could find many items scattered around. She'd been outside of Mondstadt many times. And every time, it was as if new things had spawned.

"Instructor's? I think Miss Lisa would like to examine these." The librarian did like to keep little artifacts like these ones.

Though she felt like she would be scolded if she gave them to Mister Kaeya. Last time she did, the captain had taught her that she could sell them for a hefty price. Master Jean found out later and scolded them for it.

Something about teaching Noelle the wrong things. A story for another time.

The sun was bright in the sky, and the locket would've had at least a bit of light bouncing off of it considering there was nothing to provide shade for anything in the clearing.

Alas, there was no sign of the locket anywhere in this second area she was searching. The trail of her sight ended here. But the sight didn't fail her, not at all. It simply wasn't leading to the locket in the first place.

Noelle pursed her lips. She didn't want to unsheath her sword for this. But she knew these kinds of rocks. These were the kind that broke apart easily and always seemed to have something contained behind them.

If the locket was there, then she wouldn't ask how it got there.

No matter how curious she was.

"Just a little love tap should do it."

With a shout, she swung her sword at the rock formation with moderate force and-

The impact caused the entire rock formation to evaporate as well as anything within ten meters of the maid.

That was not even half of her full power!

Noelle swung her sword once more to clear the area of the dust around her. Though she had to be careful not to swing too hard this time.

"Let's see what we have here…"

A quick survey of the area told her that there was no locket, yet the trail ended there.

Rather, it was leading to the blue, astral, floating figure within the destroyed rock formation.

"Oh, hello Mister Seele, have you seen a brown, old, locket?"

She wasn't sure if the seele could understand her. But she knew that they were intelligent to some extent.

Creatures that roamed the lands, yet now would provide rewards to those who led them home, Master Jean had told her.

It was quite sad.

"I'm looking for an old locket for a man wearing a mask over his eyes? Have you seen anyone like him before?"

"■■■■■"

The seele made some kind of noise. She couldn't tell what it was supposed to convey, but the moment she neared seele, it began moving in a direction behind her.

With the sight's trail ending here, she didn't have any other leads.

Besides, if nothing else, the seele would lead here somewhere. The locket may be there, it may not be. But it was worth a shot. Besides, it was simply following a seele.

How hard could it be?


It was frustrating.

Following the seele around wasn't difficult at all. Quite the contrary, it was fairly straightforward and simple.

The hard part was finding out when it stopped, and when it went for detours.

"M-Mister Seele? Where are we going?"

"■■■■■"

"I-I'm sorry but I can't understand you."

"■■■■■"

"I… uh… No?"

"■■■■■"

"Wait, can you understand me?"

"■■■■■"

"And… that answered nothing." Noelle sighed. Still, she followed the seele to wherever it went. She was unsure if they actually understood human language.

The blue seele continued to lead Noelle quite literally up, down, left, right, and center. It was frustrating, but she had to be patient. Hopefully, this seele lead her to her goal, rather than a wild goose chase.

Wherever the seele went, Noelle had to follow as it would suddenly stop at random intervals, and continue once more when Noelle was nearby. Almost as if it was waiting for her.

Oh, the seele went up a tree? Have to chase after it.

Did it go near the water? Gotta get the feet wet.

Did it go to a rock? Odds were she needed to break that rock.

Oh no, it went in a loop, crisscross applesauce? Gotta do whatever it's doing too.

Did it suddenly go back the way it came? Well, gotta follow it.

Did it go back more than once? There's probably a puzzle somewhere.

That's another thing Noelle thought weird. There were random puzzles everywhere, along with chests suddenly popping up from the ground when she went near, or slimes that suddenly appeared out of thin air.

She remembered a time when she had picked up four carrots, and then a chest had suddenly appeared. She did the same to some other carrots somewhere else yet it only ended up spawning Slimes out of nowhere.

Who was leaving all of these puzzles and secret chests everywhere? What was their purpose?

And where was this seele going?!

Speaking of, the seele stopped in front of Noelle. She dutifully followed it and stood next to it.

"Are we any closer, Mister Seele?"

"■■■■■"

To her surprise, instead of floating about some more, the seele instead had stood still. It circled around the maid twice. She giggled.

She looked in front of her and she realized why.

"Oh, we reached your home." she smiled. After only ten minutes of wandering too.

She wouldn't call it a waste of time. She had a lot of trinkets to bring back after all the chests they found.

As the seele slowly went back into its home, becoming smaller and smaller, she couldn't help but feel satisfied.

"You're home. Please, take care."

This time, she received no response as the seele became still, its aura floating in the wind.

"If only I could find that locket…" she pursed her lips. "Oh, perhaps I can use the sight again?"

She closed her eyes, and her vision glowed softly. She smiled.

The trail was back!

Noelle could feel a faint gold trail that flowed like the river in front of her. Following the trail with her eyes as she opened them, she couldn't help but chuckle.

In front of her was a small rock formation, almost akin to a bench. And on it, flickering light could be seen coming off of a small, rusty, brown locket. Approaching it to make sure, she could see a small but noticeable inscription on the rocks.

'Viktor was here!' it said. She chuckled. She looked back at the resting seele and gave it a wave.

"Thank you very much!"


Noelle watched the man gently cradle the small locket in his hands. He slowly opened it. Almost as if the slightest mistouch was enough to break it.

"Did you… clean it?"

Noelle nodded. "Yes. It was rusty and dirty. I took the liberty of cleaning it," she said. "However, I never opened it. I hope you will believe me-"

"I do," the man said. He closed the locket and put it back in his pocket. "I believe you. You took the time to clean a locket belonging to someone like me, after all. I'd be an idiot not to be grateful in some way."

Noelle smiled. Though the man seemed irritated, his words and his tone reflected just how much he appreciated her help.

The man cleared his throat. "Anyway. T-Tha… Thank… T-Tha-n…k…."

Noelle titled her head. "Excuse me? Are you having throat problems?"

He shook his head. "N-No. I just wanted to say Than… thank… T-Thaa…n…k-"

"Tank?" Noelle nodded. "I suppose I could serve as one. My shield is quite sturdy."

The man gritted his teeth. "Ah screw this!" Red-faced, he turned his head away and scoffed. Yet as he viewed the maid again, he could see the slightest upturn of her cheeks.

He chuckled. "You cheeky girl," Noelle could only act innocent. "So, what do you want?"

"...Excuse me?"

"You found my locket, it's only right that I pay you back. Anything within reason, as long as it doesn't have to do with Her Majesty, the Tsaritsa."

"Oh, I didn't do it for anything in return. I simply did what anyone else would do-"

"You're wrong," the man shook his head. "You helped the Fatui. You, a maid of the Knights of Favonius helped me, a Fatui." he chuckled at the irony.

"But-"

"No buts. Not everyone would have done what you did. Heck, I'm sure that no one except you would have done it too. For nothing in return, no less," he told her, a bit of heat seeping into his tone. If Noelle had been affected by it, she didn't show it. "You may think it's alright to do this without any pay, but my pride, Viktor's pride as a Fatui, will not allow it!"

Especially since Noelle seemed to be a nice girl. It reminded Viktor of that girl who made him pancakes.

As a Fatui, he was subjected to the malice of all kinds, even when he wasn't doing anything. He understood why though. The Fatui hadn't had a decent reputation lately.

But, that locket, it was important to him. It reminded him of home. When he lost it, he felt alone. And when he realized there was no one he could ask for help, nor could he leave his station at that time, he truly felt isolated.

Yet, this girl had overheard his plight and helped without a second thought, even when he knew that their grandmaster had been telling them to avoid the Fatui. She was… nice, and helpful.

She was kind.

And as someone from the land of frost, kindness as warm as hers was scarce. And yet, there was a good reason that it was.

"Hmmm, I don't really want anything right now though. I honestly did not help you for personal gain."

He scoffed. "You just wanted to help?"

Noelle nodded. "Yes. Precisely."

It sounded nice, in theory. But maybe it was because of Viktor's upbringing, but people who did things without any gain, who helped for the sake of helping, and who were kind for kindness' sake…

It left a bad taste on Viktor's tongue. It brought up memories. Memories that he'd rather not remember.

He might have to keep an eye on Noelle from time to time. Just so he could make sure no one was taking advantage of her. How to convince the general populace that he had good intentions for once was another story altogether. But he never cared about what other people thought of him so why start now?

"Okay, how about this. Ask of me anything you need, as long as it's within reason and I'll gladly do it." he was giving her the chance to gain the favor of a Fatui. Granted, it was only someone akin to a grunt, but a Fatui was a Fatui nonetheless, for better or worse.

Noelle immediately nodded. "Of course. Though I do have to insist that I do not need anything from you."

"You never know. Keep it in mind, don't forget it. If you do, I never will," Viktor gave her a resolute gaze.

"The Fatui always repays their debts. Always."