There is a lot to be said when it comes to family tradition.

Keqing knows this better than anyone, perhaps. She feels the expectation that sits heavy on her shoulders. Every day it sinks deeper into her bones, wearing her down a little bit more.

It's easier to pretend to be unbothered. Keqing throws herself into her work, pulling long mornings and even longer nights because the exhaustion helps keep the depression at bay, whether or not she means for it.

Even so, she has her moments such as this. Keqing walks the long length of the Cartographer's Hall of the palace in Jueyun Karst. Centuries of her ancestors stare back from the portraits that dot the walls, their dead eyes haunting her.

"And so, I think that you are scheduled to be gone for at least a week. The boat will sweep down the eastern—Miss Keqing?"

At first, Keqing doesn't hear Ganyu's voice come to a halt. Instead, she stares at her grandfather's face. There is a difference between her and him—she is loyal to the crown on the surface but remains critical of Lord Rex Lapis's reign as an Archon.

Ganyu nudges her. "Keqing?" she asks, this time more informal.

"Ah, sorry. I was just thinking."

"Are you worried about the sea this time of the year? I know that you prefer your feet to remain solidly on the land."

Keqing offers her an amused smile. "Yes, well, mapping the land is certainly easier than the sea. Far fewer instruments and there isn't the risk of being thrown overboard."

Ganyu's face crinkles and she laughs slightly. "Is that something you worry about?"

"I'm aware that my tenacity annoys others. It's only a matter of time."

"It's good then, that I'm the one who handles the fines. I'm sure that I can find some sort of code violation in regards to the improper use of a gangplank." Keqing has no doubt of it.

"Hey, how did the last meeting with our Lord Rex Lapis go?" A pause, and then, Keqing murmurs, quite annoyed, "Celestia bless his name."

Ganyu laughs again, an indelicate sort of snort. They've come to an agreement over the years; Ganyu will maintain her devout loyalty as the adeptus she is, and Keqing will maintain her overt skepticism in regard to their ruler. Rex Lapis is not an unkind man, he's just old and set in his ways. Keqing thinks that Liyue would flourish far better if he embraced the future.

"He's the same as always," says Ganyu with a soft sigh. She nudges Keqing again. "Which is probably why you're itching to get out of here. You push off soon, yes?"

"First thing in the morning."

"Right then. Be well, Miss Keqing." Ganyu gives her a mock salute, slipping right back into that carefully maintained formality. "I'll try again to bring your ideas to his table."

Keqing smiles, thankful for Ganyu's effort even if she knows that Rex Lapis will never give them thought.

#

It takes the subtle sway of the ship for Keqing to realize just how rigid her life is.

"I wonder," she murmurs, trying to not get too distracted as she measures the stars. The ship is anchored for the time being and the rest of the crew is asleep. Keqing is on the deck carefully mapping this section on Liyue, far to the southeast of the Yaoguang Shoal.

"I wonder…" she starts again, tapping her mouth with the end of a pen. "Just what am I doing with my life? Is there more to it?"

Keqing starts to think yes, her heart yearning for something more than just maps, protractors, and measuring sticks—but the moment the idea begins to sink in, she pushes it away. "No," she tells herself, leaning over the half-blank parchment. "This is my calling, just as it was all those of my name who came before me. I am the Yuheng. I am my work and my work is me."

Even if she butts heads with their Archon's archaic ideals, Keqing still goes home at the end of the day wholly satisfied with her work. She might work for Rex Lapis but she's in service to the people of Liyue, and that's the driving factor that tends to keep her on her toes.

"I am my work," she repeats as she measures out a new, crisp line before marking it on the map.

She tries not to think about how it sounds more like she's convincing herself than believing it.

#

Later in the week, Keqing is thrown from her bed in the middle of the night. The boat lurches far too much for it to be the natural cadence of the ocean's waves. She hears shouting up top on the deck. The door to her cabin is thrown open, revealing a man unknown to her.

Keqing scrambles to her feet, pulling her dressing gown tight around her. "Who are you? How dare you—"

The man scoffs gruffly, reaching out to pull her up to the deck. Keqing follows on bare feet, knowing that it's safer to not fight it and just go along with the flow. Once above deck, she's tossed to the deck, her knees smarting against the wooden floorboards.

She expects pirates.

She does not expect a high-heeled boot to drop into her field of vision. And then a sword, the tip pressed gently underneath her chin to raise it.

"Captain Beidou," says the woman who stands before her in a loud and boisterous tone. "At your service, of course. Surely you've heard of the Crux Fleet and our wily ways on the high seas."

"You'd be hard-pressed to find someone who hasn't," says Keqing, her voice hard like a stone, unwavering.

Beidou chuckles softly as she watches her. "So, here is how this goes. We've boarded your ship, so now it's ours. Everything on it too. It'll go well for you as long as you behave—got it?"

Keqing doesn't respond.

Beidou digs the sword deeper against her throat, just enough to pinch, but not harm. "I asked you a question, kid."

"You realize that you've boarded one of Rex Lapis's official royal vessels, no? Taking us hostage would be high treason."

Keqing does not expect the woman to roar with laughter. "This tiny schooner? A royal vessel? Doubtful. Nice try, though. You've got guts, which I like." Beidou drops the sword and steps away. "We don't intend to harm you, we're only here to pilfer your stuff. Behave and everything will go swimmingly."

Xiangling is tossed to the deck beside her and the others follow suit.

Keqing is left wondering if this is Celestia's divine justice for having no faith in her Archon.

#

At the next port, Beidou dumps the entirety of Keqing's crew, save one.

Xiangling lays at the captain's feet on the creaking floorboards, bowing slightly. "If my option is to be left here," she says, "I'd rather go with you. I have no idea if I'm cut out to be a pirate but the thrill of the sea is sure to bring forth new culinary opportunities."

Beidou's brow raises in interest, tapping at her chin as she thinks. Xiangling cooked for the whole crew, wowing them with her prowess. "You'd come along? Be my little private chef?"

Keqing doesn't fault Xiangling. She's the sort of woman who seeks adventure, giving in to the idea of it easily if food is on the line. Xiangling grins back at Beidou. "Anything if it means I get to experience new gastronomy of places I've never been."

It's a deal that's easily set, sworn under the name of their beloved Archon.

Then, Beidou turns her steely-eyed gaze onto Keqing. "And what about you?" she asks, nudging her with the tip of a boot.

Keqing sneers. "What about me?"

"Are you satisfied with whatever it is that you do? Or do you want to come with us like your spunky little cook over there?"

Keqing blinks, surprised that she's been asked. Of course, she won't, she has a job to do. She's the Yuheng of the Liyue Qixing, a stubborn servant of Lord Morax himself, a position that she's been gifted by blood right. She works hard, keeps her head down, and—

Lives a rather unsatisfying life.

"Yes," she blurts, unable to stop herself.

Beidou's expression shifts, smug. "You'd be at the bottom of the ladder. End of the food chain."

Sounds better than a life of devout misery. Keqing is not the impulsive sort, she thinks things through and plans everything to the tee. There is a reason that her maps are sought after; her attention to detail is second to none and her judgment is critically sound.

Except at that moment, perhaps.

May Lord Morax have mercy on my unbelieving soul, thinks Keqing, not that she really cares.

#

Life at sea isn't new to her but piracy turns out to be more than just pillaging ships and stealing from others.

Beidou runs a tight operation, a real clock with a thousand cogs. Every person has their role and they all fall into place. When wound together, everything moves along like a well-oiled machine. Even Keqing, who spends her mornings tossing chamber pots over the railings, and afternoons swabbing decks and scrubbing worn, wooden floors.

It gets easier. She is hesitant to break the rules because it is in her nature to abide by them. But as time ekes on, she falls into place, just like every other hesitant-at-first member of the Crux's motley crew.

"Hey, I snuck out some extras for you," says Xiangling one day.

Keqing tuts at that, dragging the mop across the deck. "Don't let the captain catch you."

Xiangling scoffs, sitting atop a barrel. She shoves a mouthful through her lips. "Nonsense. I've got her wrapped around my finger."

"Oh?" Keqing raises a brow. "Is that why I'm still a swabbie?"

"Be more useful, I guess." Xiangling shrugs, taking another bite. "All I know," she continues around her food, "is that she'll eventually soften up."

At first, Keqing would have disagreed but she's seen Beidou over the months and learned that the woman cares. The captain is honorable, splitting her time across the entirety of her fleet, and at her right hand sits another powerful force by the name of Ningguang who watches others with a shrewd eye, fingers curled around a pipe.

"Rude," says Keqing, clicking her tongue.

When Xiangling grins back, though, she laughs.

#

Keqing is diligent in her work even when it comes to scrubbing ships clean. She rises in the ranks, nursing lye-soaked, cracked, and bleeding fingers. Eventually, her worth as a navigator is seen by Beidou herself after taking notice of the maps that were pilfered from Keqing's ship.

"I didn't know that you made these," she'd said, spreading the parchment wide over a table. And so, Keqing's job changes.

One night, Keqing is charting a roadmap of the stars as they are seen over Inazuma. Beidou and Ningguang share her company as they lounge about the deck, the latter puffing at her pipe with sweet-smelling smoke.

"Say," starts Beidou, watching Keqing with a lazy gaze, "you seem to have found a good spot here. Think that you made the right choice staying?"

Keqing's hand pauses, her quill hovering over the half-empty parchment. "I'm happier doing as I wish, of course, no longer shackled by the oppressive rules and regulations of Rex Lapis."

Beidou bursts into laughter. "It's always the same with you, talking as though you've met the man!"

"I have, which I've told you before. How many times must I remind you that my vessel was a royal one?" Beidou has never believed her, no matter how many times Keqing repeats it.

Beidou scoffs, waving a hand. "I've seen the royal fleet before. Please."

"I chart maps, not fight wars. Of course, my ship wouldn't look the same."

"Still."

Keqing snorts softly, turning back to her work. She pens what she sees, marking it with an expert hand. "Rex Lapis isn't an unkind man," she finally says, "but he is set in his ways. He is like an old stone, unwavering in his ideals. Liyue, as a result, often feels stagnant."

Ningguang speaks next, smoke curling around her. "You're not wrong. Liyue holds this antiquated likeness to itself."

"I would point out that even as a naval officer, you still marched to the beat of your own drum. Didn't we find your vessel way off course?"

Keqing pauses again, tense. "Off course?"

"Surely you don't think we didn't follow you for days before striking. What kind of Captain would I be?"

Keqing turns to Beidou, her head tilted. "So you've actually known I was telling the truth this entire time? You willingly attacked a royal vessel?"

Beidou shrugs. "It gets boring out here."

"Is this where you throw me overboard, doubting my loyalty?"

"Not until that map is done, at least."

Keqing bursts into laughter at the absurdity of it all and Beidou cracks a rare, real grin.

#

The next morning, the sun breaks the horizon in a brilliant display of pinks and oranges. And, just at the edge of the sightline, there is a ship.

Beidou watches through a spyglass for a long moment before tossing it to Keqing. "Hey, tell me what you see."

Keqing looks through the glass, spotting crisp, golden sales, and flags that bleed black, bearing dragons. "Looks like the Royal Fleet," she says, amused. And then, upon further glance— "Ah, and that would be the Sinae Unicornis."

"Which is?"

"That would be Rex Lapis's personal secretary, come to fetch me, I suppose."

Beidou nudges Keqing with her elbow. "And when she gets here?"

"I'll tell her to buzz off. I'm already enjoying one adventure." Keqing pulls the eyeglass away and meets Beidou's adventuring grin with one of her own, a twinkling gaze that speaks volumes.