Liyue, one of the seven nations that is known for their contracts and wealth, was quite a beautiful sight. However, today, that changed. It was a rather cloudy day. Even though the storm clouds were beginning to break up, they were still very dark. Many of the residents seemed to have locked themselves in their homes along with their families. However, the rest that was out were still trying to do their normal routines, though many of them had anxious looks across their faces. 

No one's POV

Down at the Liyue's Harbor, Beidou was seen standing at the docks looking up at her ship with a focused gaze. Her ship was badly damaged, many parts of the wood either having holes or torn wood that still barely hung on. The sails were torn and the ropes holding them were cut off in multiple areas. Several of the ballistae were even missing, having giant holes where they were supposed to be as if been torn off. Her men were carrying supplies and tools on and off of the ship as others were trying to repair the damaged parts.

Beidou hums to herself as she folds her arms. "Damn...it's much worse than I thought..." She mutters to herself. 

As she continues to study the ship, she could faintly hear a pair of boots approaching from behind. Curiously, she looks over her shoulder to see who it was. It didn't take long before a small smile formed on her lips as she recognizes two familiar faces. 

The first was a shorter young woman with blonde hair. She wore a sleeveless white dress with a scarf and two tail capes. She also wears bracers and gloves that cover only her thumb, with white stockings and boots. Her hair is cut into a bob with bangs, with, straight, shoulder-length twin tails, and is decorated with her favorite flowers and white-blue feathers. Her outfit seems to glow on the emblem on her midriff, the diamonds on her cape, and her stockings glowing a white glow. 

The second has a small body, giving her the look of a fairy. She has thick white hair cropped just above her shoulders, dark purple eyes, and light skin. She wears a long-sleeved white jumper and a night-blue cape flecked with stars, and white stockings with white boots. Rose-gold embroidery and shapes are attached to her jumper, boots, and sleeves. Her accessories are a dark blue hairpin, almost black, and a rose-gold crown that levitates above her head as though it was a halo. Interestingly, instead of walking, she seems to be floating near the girl's shoulder. 

The two casually approach Beidou, who seems to relax a little. She unfolds her arms and places a hand on her hip. 

"Hey, you two!" She says. "Haven't seen you in a while. How is it going at Inazuma?"

"It's been a crazy adventure!" The little fairy-like creature responds with a high-pitched voice. "So much has happened since running into you!" 

Beidou chuckles from the response and smiles more. "Oh yeah? I'd love to hear all about it. But what brings you both here? Taken care of everything yet?" 

The little fairy scratches her head before looking down. "W-well..." 

Beidou gave a curious look at the fairy as she waits for an answer. 

"Not exactly." The first chimes in, gaining the Captin's attention. "We still have things to deal with, but we're taking a break for now."

"Ah, I see. Anything particular that brought you to the harbor?" 

"Well, we were going to go to Mondstadt to go see a few friends, but the Traveler and Paimon wanted to stop by Liyue for the day. And when we arrived, we noticed that everyone seems different. Paimon tried to ask what was wrong, but nobody wanted to talk. That was when we decided to try to find you to see if you knew anything." The little fairy explains, seemingly talking about herself in third person. 

Beidou nods occasionally as she listens carefully.  "Is that so?"

Paimon nods. "Yeah! Do you know what's going on?" 

Beidou nods again. "I do. Basically, over the last week or so, a sea monster has been causing trouble for everyone."

"A sea monster?"  Paimon repeats in disbelief before gasping. "Is it Osial again?" 

The older woman shook her head as she folds her arms. "No. That one isn't coming back anytime soon."

"So, there's a new monster then?"

"Yep. Apparently, ever since it arrived, earthquakes and violent thunderstorms have been constantly happening. It's been getting to the point that people are getting scared that either Liyue might split apart by the shakes or will be swept away by waves. 

"Really?!" Paimon asks in shock as the other looks surprised. "It's that bad?!"

"Apparently. I haven't been around long enough to witness everything myself, but Ningguang told me about it and we had a run-in." 

Flashback 

It was several days ago. Beidou was standing on one side of a small room that had a window open to the outside. Outside, the black clouds filled the air as rain poured heavily and thunder booms loudly. In the room, many shelves and cabinets seemed to be filled with old documents and papers. There were even maps and other documents hanging on the walls as well. On the other side, a woman around her age was looking at her with a serious gaze. 

She was a tall woman with fair skin, red eyes, and an overall elegant appearance. She has long straight hair, where half of it is tied up into a wide bun (that itself resembles a bow) and the rest falls into two divided parts. Her hair is white, reaches her knees, and fades into an ashy color. Her bun is accessorized with a black hairpin, and she wears a red tassel decoration atop her head which lays between her eyes. She wears a white, high-necked sleeveless qipao dress with side slits that reach up to the thigh. It is decorated with a fur neck wrapped around the collar, yellow patterns with gold banding, and black lace along the edge of the dress with her Geo Vision on her left midriff. In addition, she wears a pair of black high gloves reaching to the ruffled extensions stretched from the upper arm. Her gloves are decorated with copper patterns and claw attachments on the thumb, ring, and pinky fingers that act as fingernail guards. The side of her left thigh has a red tattoo. The side slit in her dress reveals black shorts with diamond-cut patterns. She wears a pair of brown high heels, with another tattoo around her right ankle. She also carries a smoking pipe with her. Her outfit is described to have intricate embroidery which is the hallmark of this graceful dress.

"So...remind me why you brought me here again?" Beidou asks as she stares at the woman with a blank look.

The other woman nods as she folds her arms. "Right." She closes her eyes momentarily to sigh before reopening her eyes. "Six days ago, sailors and tradesmen began to notice something massive swimming in the ocean as they were returning to the Harbor from trips. It was too deep to see from above, but they managed to notice a large shadow. At first, they thought nothing of it, thinking it was a whale or some other large sea creature that they saw regularly. However, it wasn't until one of the trading ships was attacked by this...thing, did they start to suspect it was a sea monster."

"When was the attack? Did anyone get hurt?"

"It was the day after it showed up. And no, nobody got hurt. It only attacked the ship momentarily before it suddenly left. Everyone is fine. However, their ship was heavily damaged that they had to abandon it and swim to land."

"..." 

"That's not all. When it arrived, this storm followed. And there have been occasional earthquakes along the shore for several miles as well."

"A sea monster causing earthquakes?" Beidou asks, being a little skeptical. 

"You don't believe me?"

"I'm not saying that. I've heard tales of monsters powerful enough to cause earthquakes and such like Osial and a few others-even gods. But you already took care of that one."

"Correct. What's your point?"

"My point is that I'm trying to understand the situation. All other creatures that I've heard that can do it have either died, been slain, or don't even exist in the first place. So you're sure that something this powerful has gone unnoticed until now?"

"It hasn't happened before it was spotted. And shakes have been so severe that I've been debating whether or not to relocate the people to somewhere safer until this can be taken care of." 

"How bad can it be?" 

"It already sunk an island." The woman says grimly. 

"Seriously?"

"Yes. It was three days ago. Luckily, the island was abandoned. However, sailors witnessed an island sinking into the ocean with their own eyes. They noticed the monster swimming away as if running away from a crime scene."

"Are you sure it did it?"

"There is no other logical explanation. A group and I gathered to discuss it too, but no one had any conclusion besides it being the cause."

"..." Beidou looks down as she places a hand on her chin, thinking deeply. The other woman saw this and let her be to her thoughts. 

As if on cue, the ground began to shake. The two felt this and look around the room and saw a lot of documents and shelves beginning to shake as well. Dust fell from the cracks of the wood over their heads. It kept going to the point that the two were stumbling, trying to balance themselves from falling. Outside, they heard many civilians screaming and yelling in panic from the shaking. Items rattle and fell from tables and shelves as they heard a faint but low roar coming from the ocean. The two struggle to run over to the window and catch a glimpse of a blue glow under the water as a large silhouette seems to be swimming away from the docks. 

"There it is!" The woman says as she held onto the walls as support. 

"That's it!?" Beidou shouts as she held onto the window's frame. 

"Have any suggestions otherwise?!" 

They could only watch as the shadow kept swimming away. Soon, the two saw the glow fade into the ocean. When they did, the shaking stops. The two continue to stare off where they saw the glow leave before Beidou looks at the woman.

"So...you want me to deal with it?" She asks as everything was calming down.

"Correct. Either slay it or chase it off as far away from Liyue as possible if you can't. I don't care which you choose."

"And what kind of pay would I get? I understand the situation, but I want to know how much this means to you." 

"Anything you want. I can write off your debts, give you and your crew bountiful supplies, enough Mora for ten ships- you name it."

"...You're this serious about it...?"

The woman nods. "If it's not taken care of soon, then we may lose Liyue forever."

"..." Bediou steps back from the window as she kept her gaze on the woman. "Fine, I'll do it." She says, making the other crack the tiniest smile. 

"Thank you. I would do it myself, but I need to calm the people and make preparations for the worst."

"I understand. Did you send anyone else before me?"

"No. I know you're the only competent person I can trust on a mission like this."

"Fine. Any other information I should know about?"

"I don't have much else to say. As far as where it's been, sailors have said that it's mostly seen here." She says while walking away from the window and into the room. She motions for the captain to follow, which she does. The two walk over to the map on the wall and begin to chat some more.

...

"And that's how I was told about it," Beidou says to the two in front of her. They both looked surprised by what she told them. And seeing as neither would say anything, she continues. "So, yesterday, I took my ship and men out to deal with it."

"And then what happened? Did you manage to slay the monster?" Paimon asks curiously. 

"Well...not quite." Beidou replies with a soft chuckle.

"What do you mean?"

"Before I could, we had to flee. The ship got too damaged before we could finish anything." She says as she points at the ship with her thumb.

"Yikes! It was that tough?!" Paimon shouts as she saw how damaged the ship was.

"I could have taken it! If the storm wasn't there, I wouldn't have to worry about my men or the ship sinking."

"Wow..." Paimon mutters in awe. The other doesn't say anything, just looking down as if thinking. 

"Yep. That being said, I managed to scare it off for now. Once my ship gets repaired and my men rest, we'll be going back out to find it."

"Are you sure it's wise to go back out so soon? What if it's still mad?"

"I actually plan on that. Plus, if it's not gone soon, it most likely will come back. Either way, I need to get rid of it eventually."

"Huh. How long will your ship take to repair?"

"At current pace? Almost a week. If it wasn't for the help of Ningguang, we'd be stuck for weeks." 

"Wow. Good thing you have her help."

"Eh. She just wants to get this done as soon as possible."

The trio kept talking for a little while. Eventually, the sun was beginning to set. And as it did, one of Beidou's crewmen was walking over to the side of the ship after dropping off some supplies. They noticed something washing on the shore in the corner of their eyes. There even seemed to be a small pool of blood surrounding it. 

"Huh...?" They muttered. They lean over the railing and squint their eyes to get a better view of it. After a moment, their eyes widen in horror, gasp, and stumble back. "H-hey! I think someone's bleeding and washing up on shore!" They shout, gaining everyone's attention. 

"Huh?" Almost everyone on the ship and the dock said. The trio below even heard it, turning to look at the ship in confusion. 

Without hesitation, practically everyone ran over to see what's going on. Beidou did especially, running as fast as she could to see. Paimon and her partner look at each other and shrug, before deciding to join. When she got over, she moves everyone out of her way to see. The crewman who saw the body first points to where he saw it, eventually Beidou noticing as well.

"Men! Gather all the medical supplies you can find!" She orders as she looks at the crew over her shoulder. 

Before she could hear any of them reply, she hops onto the railing and jumps into the water. As she did, the crew began to scurry away to do as told. The other two glance at each other and nod before turning around and running off the ship to the docks. 

When Beidou splashed in the water, she immediately began to swim towards the body as fast as she could. She quickly got to it and instantly wrapped the person's arm over her shoulder and began to make her way back. From what she glanced at, the person was a male around her age, though she brushes the thought out. 

Soon, she reaches the docs. The other girl and Paimon were waving at her to swim over. She does and Paimon floats over to help try to lift the man up, though was struggling with how small she was. The girl helps out as well and the trio managed to bring the man up onto the docks before Beidou climbs up and lands next to him. 

Due to this, the trio got a good look at the man. As said before, he looked around Beidou's age. He was tall, probably taller than her by an inch or two. His body was well built and his muscles were visible through his clothes due to them being soaked. He had long navy blue hair that went down all the way to his spine that seemed to start fading at the bottom. He had tan skin, though looked extremely pale. His eyes were shut, due to being unconscious. He had very little clothes, wearing only a black shirt, grey pants, and a black belt. He didn't wear shoes or socks surprisingly. And what little clothes he had were torn, revealing parts of large scars under his shirt. 

The trio stares at him with worry. Just as Beidou was going to check his heart, they could faintly see he was still breathing, much to their shock.

"H-he's still alive?!" Paimon shouts, which causes the girl to give her a look.

"Good!" Beidou says. She lifts his shirt up and over him to reveal a large gash on his right rib, which was still bleeding. She uses the shirt to cover the wound and presses hard on it to stop it from further bleeding. They wait a moment before some of Beidou's men were running over. 

"He's still alive and bleeding badly! Have the supplies ready and in my room!" She orders her men. They all nod and ran back to the ship. One of the larger ones helps get the man up and has his shoulder over theirs as Beidou did the same. She looks at the other two and motions them to follow with her head. "Help keep the shirt on the wound! It's the only chance we have to save him!"

The girl nods and ran over to do as she said. Paimon floats beside her and stares at the man's face curiously. As she did, she could have sworn she saw his eyes flick up briefly as if waking up. But if they did, they closed almost immediately after.

"?" Paimon shrugs the thought off as everyone went to aboard the ship, trying to help out as she could. 

To be continued...

Hey, everyone. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. I'm sorry if some things seem off. I tried my best to get all the characters right, but I'm still new to writing Genshin Impact-related stuff. Please let me know if I got anything wrong so I can improve. I don't know when the next chapter will be out, but hopefully in a few weeks. I'm busy, so it'll take a while. But for now, that is all. I hope you all have a wonderful day/night. See ya.