"So, here's the deal." Beidou slaps the map down with enough force that the entire table jiggles on wobbly wooden legs. "I've come into some intel that promises a rare treasure, but not from my usual sources. I keep my circles small. Tight-knit, need-to-know, etcetera, etcetera. When I get something from a new source, I approach it carefully, and while this treasure is worth it, I want to proceed with caution—which is where you come in."
Mona sits at Wanmin Restaurant, an eyebrow raised. "You don't know me," she says, regarding Beidou with a shrewd gaze. "And despite what I see in the stars, I don't know you."
Beidou waves a hand nonchalantly. "A minor detail."
It is nothing of the sort, but if there is something that Mona has learned over the years, it's that normal folk don't listen to what the universe is trying to tell them.
Her hesitation must show on her face because Beidou speaks again. "The Traveler vouched for you, which is good enough for me."
"Ah," muses Mona, "the Traveler. Perhaps not the best judge of character, considering the messes that they often find themselves in." Beidou's grin falls flat, resembling something more like a grimace, and Mona hides a smile behind a gloved hand.
Truth be told, Mona is in a bit of a bind. She has bills to pay and her rent is due. She is running on fumes, entirely out of money-making ideas because the people of Mondstadt are tired of her peddling her fortune-telling skills. Makes it hard for business on even the good days.
"Go somewhere else, then," said the Traveler when she groused to them over tea one day. "As if the transporters aren't right there to use."
It is Mona's first time in Liyue and the moment she stepped foot within these ancient hills, things were already looking up. And then she learned that while those in Liyue are a superstitious bunch, they are hard-pressed to part with their money, especially with the Mora shortage currently in full swing.
The Traveler laughed when she complained about that too.
Meeting Captain Beidou of the Crux Fleet cannot be happenstance. Mona never quite believes in coincidences. The moment that Beidou dropped into the chair opposite her, throwing her boots onto the table, Mona had the inkling that this perhaps must be fate.
"Go on, then," she finally says. "Explain away."
"I already did. A high-seas adventure that ends with a good chunk of Mora. A portion of the spoils practically has your name on it."
"And tell me, Captain Beidou, have you ever implemented astrology into your… line of work before?"
Beidou laughs boisterously. "No, but there's a first time for everything, right?"
Mona takes a moment to think about it. The sky is clear and even though it is mid-afternoon, Mona can feel the alignment of the stars as though it is a cloudless night. "Fate can only be accepted," she muses under her breath.
"What?"
"Oh, nothing. Just thinking aloud. Do you hold your contracts with the same sort of faith that the rest of Liyueans do?"
Beidou's face crinkles, offended. "Of course. Just who do you think I am?"
"Not to mention I'll be there!" Both Beidou and Mona turn to meet the gaze of Xiangling who stands there with a tray of freshly steamed buns. "I mean, not to listen in, or anything."
Mona's face splits with a subtle grin. Another prosperous aspect, she thinks. Xiangling is a woman surrounded by a decent bit of luck, not to mention her food is divine. Even if the job pans out negatively she'll at least be fed well while out on the open sea.
Better than cutting meals to pay for another month's board.
"Alright then," says Mona. "You have my divine eye for this sea-faring adventure."
Beidou shakes her hand so tightly that Mona thinks she might've cracked a bone.
#
With the first night comes the tellings of disaster.
"Hey, how do I ask you to do a reading?"
Mona shoots Beidou an amused grin. "Just as you did. It doesn't require much fuss, so don't overthink it."
Beidou waves between her, the ether, and the stars beyond. "Alright then. Do your thing, I guess."
Mona tuts. It isn't so much as doing her thing. "I'll have you know that this type of magic is the high-level sort that requires years of dedication and carefully honed skills. It is dangerous to dabble in fate, even if you mean well. The universe is quite adept at biting back when it's bothered."
"Seems too fickle for me," says Beidou, leaning back in a chair on the deck. The heels of her boots rest against a barrel, crossed at the ankle. "I'm the 'live by the seat of my pants' sort."
"And yet, you hired me."
"Figured that I could use the advice."
Mona's expression sours then and she turns to Beidou with a half-lidded, annoyed gaze. "I don't give advice, I only tell you the truth that I see." Her tone is clipped.
Beidou blinks. "Sheesh, I get it. No need to be so testy."
"I'm not testy, I just don't enjoy such a blithe tone when it comes to—" Mona pauses, her face wrinkling as she reads the slick sheen of the water bowl she peers into. Shadows, she sees, dark and crisp things, curling about an uncertain future. Then, she looks skyward and sighs.
Beidou waits before asking. "Is there something wrong?"
"The alignment of the stars isn't prime for this excursion."
"Surely they can't have changed much since yesterday when you said they were perfect."
Yesterday they were perfect, which is why Mona is confused. She has no answer for the strangeness of what her Hydromancy shows, only that it doesn't bode well. "If I am to be brutally honest—"
"Which I hear you are."
"—we should head back, at least for a few days to wait it out."
"What do you advise—"
"Which I won't," reminds Mona, her voice unwavering as she says it. "But I am telling you exactly what it is that I see. The stars do not lie, nor can we change fate. It is best to turn back to the Harbor at once."
Beidou tilts her head to the side. "And if I say no?"
"I will say it is a mistake, but remind you that I am not the captain."
Beidou considers her words. "No, I think we'll keep on. I know you trust your stars, but I trust my gut, and right now I'm feeling lucky."
Mona, perhaps unwisely, says nothing else.
#
She should have. Mona should have said something because it's been nothing but disaster upon the ocean's mighty waves since the moment they left port.
At first, it was just a storm, nothing entirely unknown when sailing across the sea—even if it cropped up randomly. But then it was another storm, and another. The winds got so bad that a hole was ripped right into the heavy canvas of a sail, something that's quite the feat.
"There's a spare, at least," says Beidou as they hoist its replacement. "And, at least Kazuha is decent with a needle. He'll have the other repaired in no time."
The ronin's fate is surrounded by murky waters, leading Mona to be certain that no such thing will happen. Kazuha makes it through about seven broken needles before he gives up, citing that the winds are bad, and he doesn't want to push his luck. Finally, someone with the right idea.
After the winds, they get lost. Not just lost, but abysmally turned around to the point where their maps don't make sense and the stars seem backward.
Beidou holds a parchment upside down. "I don't get it," she says. "We were sailing south, but when you look at the stars—"
Mona does and sees that they are not those one would find hovering over the stretch between Liyue and Inazuma. "Truly puzzling," she says, deadpan.
Beidou waves her annoyance away. "Right, right, you warned me."
"I did."
"Alright then. If you're so worried, do another reading."
Mona sighs, pinching the bridge of her nose as she tries to ground herself. Once she finds her center, she conjures Hydro, spreading it into a wide and flat disc because she's too lazy to look for a bowl. It shimmers underneath the twinkling of the stars.
"So?"
"Nothing good, which shouldn't come as a surprise considering this is the second time I've told you as such." Mona errs on the side of caution, though, and looks at her reading from every angle possible. "Nothing has changed and fate has spoken. It is clear that the treasure you seek must be cursed."
"Cursed?" Beidou bursts into laughter. "What's a measly curse to me? I defeated Haishan with my own bare hands, and that was before I received my Vision. I laugh in the face of curses."
"You shouldn't," says Mona. "I will caution you a second time, Captain Beidou—We should turn back. This trip is a lost cause."
Mona already knows what Beidou's answer is, though, clear as the fate that's just been shown to her.
#
"It is worth the money and food," Mona tells herself late one night at the bow of the boat.
It is not. It's as obvious as the misaligned stars in the deep, navy sky that Mona has made the worst mistake in taking this job. It's a miracle that Beidou has survived this long, that she manages to keep a crew, and her ship from sinking into the stark, icy cold waters.
"Third time's a charm, right?" asks Beidou when she nudges her for another look into the ether.
"Don't be ridiculous." Mona sniffs, aggravated, but makes a show of collecting Hydro at her fingertips. "Fate is set in stone. It doesn't change."
"But it can be tweaked, right?"
Mona frowns. "It can waver, perhaps—"
"Good. Figure it out, then."
Her Hydromancy shows exactly the same as it has from the beginning, which is what Mona says to Beidou. "The third time's a charm," she starts. "You said that. So listen to what I say: things are not in our favor if we continue this way. We should switch to westerly winds."
"Westerly winds?" Beidou's gaze narrows. "We're en route to Inazuma. There's nothing to the west—"
"I thought that you hired me because you trust my judgment." Beidou's jaw tightens. "Are you going to listen to me or not? Because as it stands, nothing has been in our favor since we left the Harbor."
"Mona—"
"I know that I am blunt, and I know that when people ask for readings, they're never prepared for such truth. This is a matter of safety, though. While your crew might follow you to the depths of the ocean, there are others here, aboard this ship that will not."
Beidou sighs, dragging a hand through her hair. Then she waves it about. "Westerly winds," she repeats. Mona is aware that it sounds ridiculous, but Beidou must be tired of their arduous journey because she continues with, "Alright. We'll change course."
Mona smiles the moment her back is turned. When she looks into her magic once more, things have already shifted.
#
The Crux Fleet goes to bed lost in the deep and wakes up in the port waters of Liyue Harbor.
Beidou blinks in the bright, early morning sun, utterly baffled. Mona shrugs when they share a glance because she has no answer either, and neither does fate, Hydromancy, or the stars.
"Days, we sailed south," says the captain, turning back to stare at the harbor, unblinking. "Days, we sailed. It should be impossible that we've wound up here."
"The universe is only as impossible as what is written in the stars. I have no answer, but clearly, fate has smiled upon us this time. She rather likes it when she's listened to."
Beidou frowns, tapping her chin. "I don't like it. I really don't. Magic, astrology, the whole lot of it. It's just…" She gestures vaguely, which greatly amuses Mona.
Just one concern. "Are you still planning on paying me? I did guide the Alcor back to safety, even if you were deaf to it most of the time."
"I give credit where credit is due. You'll get the agreed-upon amount, rest assured." Beidou's mouth quirks into a grin. "Maybe even a rehire if you're up for it. Tell me—has anyone ever put you on retainer?"
It's an interesting idea that Mona is tempted to take. "I look forward to discussing such a possibility over a meal after I consult the stars. Surely, you understand."
When the Alcor pulls into the dock and lowers its anchor, there is an unfamiliar face who waits for them.
"Ah, crap," says Beidou, her mood instantly souring.
"Captain Beidou," greets Ganyu, a salty-sweet smile plastered firmly across her face. She shuffles through her folio of paperwork and hands over a short stack. "A few, this time around. Failure to file a proper adventure license, forgetting to pay your exit fee when leaving the harbor, the lack of paperwork filed for whatever it is you're bringing back—"
"Which is nothing, considering that our trip got cut short." Beidou shakes the stack. "They'll be paid before you can even file these away."
And then, Ganyu turns to Mona. "Mona Megistus," she says politely. "Pleased to make your acquaintance. I am Ganyu, Secretary of the Liyue Qixing."
"The pleasure is mine," says Mona with a gentle flourish. But when Ganyu begins to shuffle around in her paperwork once more, Mona gets a sinking feeling in her gut.
"For you," says Ganyu, holding out a lone ticket, crisply printed and signed with her signature. "Unauthorized use of divining powers'," she recites. "The ticket is payable at the Yuehai Pavilion. Next time, all you need to do is file for a license to sell your tricks."
"They aren't tricks—"
Ganyu bows sweetly, ignoring Mona's protest, and then she's gone without another word.
Beidou bursts into laughter. "I guess you'll have to take up my offer in order to pay that off."
Mona purses her lips, mildly annoyed. "It could be worse, I suppose."
It could. And despite the absurdity of her last week, the fickle nature of fate has seemingly calmed itself. She folds the ticket up and tucks it into her book to worry about later.
