Still that same cliff—truly a place worth remembering.
After Star and Mona revisited it, the place already felt different.
For Mona, it was mostly added bashfulness.
They didn't wait long before spotting Lumine, Paimon, and Fischl approaching.
"Star! Mona! We asked around!" Paimon zoomed over first.
Lumine and Fischl followed. When they reached the pair, Lumine's expression flickered with surprise; she studied Mona a moment longer, then looked as though everything had clicked.
She gave Mona a knowing smile, making Mona shift uncomfortably.
Fortunately everyone's mind was on business; apart from Mona, no one noticed Lumine's odd look.
For now Lumine didn't seem inclined to speak up.
All of them understood—except Fischl, who remained in the dark.
After all, she and Star had only shared a brief brush of lips, nothing deeper.
Star believed an honest talk wouldn't be far off, but with urgent matters at hand, this wasn't the time.
"A soaring snow-clad peak—surely the festering bud of darkness," Fischl said, glancing at Star before clearing her throat and addressing Mona.
"A mountain of snow? That's the only clue?" Mona asked, turning to Lumine.
"Everyone dreamed of the very same peak," Lumine explained.
A random mountain would be worthless, but a shared dream of one changed everything.
"Towering into the clouds, a peak none have seen, bitterly cold—and in the dream everyone felt compelled to reach its summit," Paimon added.
"Reach the summit... reach the summit?" Mona echoed, recalling yesterday's divination and searching for a link.
"What sort of person yearns so desperately to stand on a mountaintop that others feel it too?" Star mused aloud.
"Could persecuted souls lie buried up there?" Fischl asked gravely.
But that seemed unlikely; dying in an attempt to conquer the mountain sounded more plausible.
Oz voiced the same thought.
"According to my divination, the Constellation's owner is named Leonard," Mona told them.
"Huh? You can even divine a name?" Paimon exclaimed.
"Of course—I told you, I'm a genius," Mona huffed proudly.
"Still, Leonard is common in Mondstadt; history must hold countless Leonards."
"With your clues, if we narrow it to Adventurers, we might..."
"Wait, Mona," Star cut in, sensing something.
She warily eyed the distance where a lone figure approached.
"What's wrong?" Paimon asked, still unaware of the newcomer.
A small silhouette finally came into view.
"Hey, chatting? Mind if I join?" the straw-hat-like figure greeted with a smile.
Malice practically dripped off the stranger; without hesitation Star pulled out her bat.
"You're... that vagrant from Inazuma?" Lumine asked, equally wary.
"Indeed, long time—huh?" He broke off as a vast watery dome swallowed the group.
In an instant every one of them vanished.
Where they had stood, only a small hydro star-chart remained.
"Hmph, interesting. That girl's been wary of me since we met—did she know who I am..."
The Grey-haired girl was dangerous; even he had to take her seriously.
Last time he hadn't eliminated the threat; now their escape proved faster than expected—the astrologer seemed able to'see' things.
"Soldiers, go after those—" A colossal meteor interrupted him.
He lifted his hat, eyeing the falling star with a faint frown.
Seems their matter would have to wait.
———
"Mona, why'd you bring us here?" Paimon shook water from her soaked hair.
Mona's hydro element had splashed her; she'd flown too high and Mona hadn't time to be precise.
Still, damp hair was no big deal.
"Even the simplest divination shows that man is a Fatui Harbinger—how could you know him? Too dangerous!" Mona panted; teleporting everyone had taxed her.
The main reason was Star; for some reason, moving with her drained stamina at an alarming rate.
"What, that youth is actually a Fatui Harbinger? Such a vile figure…" Oz exclaimed in shock.
"I told you long ago—he's up to no good." Star sighed as she stowed her bat.
She'd even planned to strike first and give the man a solid whack.
But Mona's reaction caught her off guard; she'd never imagined Mona could ferry someone away like that.
No matter—she'd deal with him next time.
"A Harbinger, huh." Lumine's brows knit as she recalled the Lady—hardly a pleasant memory.
The man just now held the same rank; she hadn't seen it coming.
"And he's incredibly strong—you can feel it just by looking; his power must be beyond imagination!" Mona added.
She desperately wanted the others to grasp how dangerous he was.
Yet when she glanced at Star, hesitation flickered across her face.
"Even compared with Star, they're probably about equal…"
Mona still had no real way to gauge Star's strength; every attempt at divination about her came up blank.
She could only judge by instinct.
"Hm… the gap between him and me is only this much." Star pondered, forming a C with finger and thumb.
A hair's breadth separated the tips.
"Oh right, near Wangshu Inn we ran into lots of Fatui too, and they said a Harbinger was around," Paimon suddenly remembered.
"Why are the Fatui so interested in these meteors?"
"Probably hatching some scheme?" Star offered a pointless remark.
Not that she cared; apart from the Harbingers, ordinary Fatui troops were only middling among human foes she'd faced.
They posed virtually no threat to her.
As for Harbingers—like that man just now—heh, next time they meet, Star would let her bat do the talking.
"Could these meteors be the Fatui's doing?!" Paimon blurted.
"Do the Fatui have the power to yank someone's Constellation down?"
Fischl listened to the speculation, then slowly turned her gaze to Oz.
"Ozvaldo Hoenf von Jusis, what say you?"
"Er, milady, I deem all things possible," Oz replied, equally clueless.
"Grant equal sacrifice, and the seed of calamity sprouts anywhere… Fatui, this Prinzessin shall remember you." Fischl paid Oz no mind; she'd expected no answer.
Yet her vow to remember the Fatui was sincere; she'd seen the man's murderous glance at Star.
The malice stoked a rage she'd rarely felt in her life.
Practical enough to know she stood no chance against a Harbinger, she resolved to trip up common Fatui in future adventures.
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