Neutral's apartment was comfortably small. The living room, which they had cleared out to accommodate, Adam, Kayjax, and Aren, was a cosy room with beanbags littered around the carpeted floor. On each beanbag was a pale grey cat plushie, which Neutral insisted must not move.

"That's their home! Hopscotch gets the pink beanbag, Cookie gets the blue bean bag, and Violet gets the purple bean bag!"

"But why don't you get real cats?" Kayjax asked, politely nudging Hopscotch out of the way so they could perch on the fuschia beanbag. "I mean, I could understand that real animals would have designated territories, but..."

"I, um, it's a bit complicated... basically, the Knights of Favonius don't allow pets in apartments."

"Isn't this your apartment?" asked Aren. "Not that I care, but it seems weird that the Knights would control how you manage your own apartment."

"That's the thing," Neutral replied. "While this is my apartment, the Knights pay for rent and everything. It's convenient for me to be close to the HQ in case of any short-staff emergencies, so we agreed for me to live closeby as long as they pay for my rent. It happens with a lot of the other Knights, too."

"Oh."

"Where would you have liked to live, Neutral?" Adam asked.

Neutral perked up almost instantly. "I was thinking of this adorable cottage near Windrise. It's quiet over there, and not too far from the city if I jog. And it's so peaceful...it's right by the lake, and all the birds come there in the morning."

"Sounds boring," Aren replied, picking at his fingernails. "I'm hungry. When will dinner be ready?"

Neutral glanced at the clock. "Yasmine said they'd be back with some Good Hunter food a while ago. They wanted to pick some valberries beforehand...maybe they're running late?"

Kayjax bit down on his pencil. "Yasmine's not the tardy type, though. They'd have warned us preemptively if something would hold them up. You don't think anything-"

BANG!

The door crashed against the wall. Neutral screamed.

There stood Yasmine. They looked relatively unharmed, and in their hands they carried two bags of food and a basket of valberries - but the look on their face was enough to send monsters and mortals fleeing for the hills.

"Did something happen, Yasmine?" Kayjax asked.

"Fuck yeah, something happened. Here's your shit," they handed Neutral the bags of food - by which I mean they dropped the bag in front of them with no regards for the contents within - and stalked off to the bathroom.

Adam and Kayjax exchanged looks. Neutral peered into the bag of food. The smell of chicken wafted through the air, and Aren drifted to its contents hungrily.

"Dibs on whatever smells best," he said. "And I get the fries, too."

"We'll split the contents evenly," Kayjax said, "and Yasmine should get first dibs. That is, if they're even planning on returning from the bathroom."

"Ha ha." Funnily enough, Yasmine had returned from the bathroom. They had changed from their usual business attire into a loose black button-up shirt and matching trousers. They settled on the beanbag and tossed Cookie aside. Neutral made to say something, but now didn't seem like the time to get in Yasmine's bad side.

"What happened? Did you get attacked by another abyss mage?" Adam asked.

"Worse."

"What is it, then?" Aren snuck another fry from the bag of food. His theft was currently going unnoticed by Neutral. "Was it multiple abyss mages?"

When Yasmine made eye contact with Aren, however, the flame in their eyes settled. Guilt replaced it, and they averted their eyes. "It's nothing. Don't worry."

"Oh, no no no. You don't get to storm in here with eyes like fire and say that nothing's wrong. Something happened, and I want to know what." Kayjax was not smiling.

Yasmine remained silent.

"I'm serious, Yasmine."

Yasmine inhaled deeply. They ran a hand over their face and chose their upcoming words wisely. "Okay," they said. "I had a run-in with Osore."

Aren went horror white. The fry fell from his hand.

Yasmine noticed his startling change in demeanor instantly. "It's fine, though," she hurriedly said. "I- I don't think, uh...well, he's quite the character, but he seemed-"

"What did he say?" Aren whispered. He was noticeably trembling.

"Pardon?"

"Did he mention me? What did he say, Yasmine? WHAT DID HE SAY?"

It was then that raw, unfettered panic overtook Aren. He abandoned all sense of decorum and grabbed Yasmine by the front of their shirt. "Does he know I'm here? Is he LOOKING for me?"

Yasmine opened their mouth. They closed it and bit down on their lip. "He asked about you."

Aren let go of Yasmine's shirt to hug himself tightly. He began to rock himself. "He's gonna kill me. I'm gonna die. I'm gonna die. I'm gonna die. I'm gonna die. I'm gonna-"

"You're going to be okay, Aren." Yasmine's hand was on the small on his back, rubbing comforting circles. (Well, they weren't really comforting, judging that Aren's breathing was still uneven and raspy). "We won't let him get near you. It'll be ok-"

He batted their hand away, mumbling nonsense to himself.

"Okay? OKAY?! THERE'S A MASS MURDERER LOOKING FOR ME! If he knows I'm in Mondstadt, it's only a time of matter- matter of time before he finds me. And he's gonna take me back to-to Snezhnaya and he's gonna- I'm going to be sick."

This last sentence was spoken too quickly for the others to initially comprehend. Only when Aren stood up and rushed to the bathroom did Neutral gasp and run after him. The sound of retching sounded from outside the bathroom, and horrible, gut-wrenching sobs followed after.

Even though Aren was a colossal handful, and could probably make a grown adult cry, it was often hard to remember to that he was still just a ten-year-old boy a long, long way from home.

"Easy, Aren," came Neutral's soothing voice. "Breathe, okay?"

"Can't...can't, I can't...I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die, you don't understand..."

"You will not die. That I can promise to you. Even if I have to relocate, even if all of us have to move to the ends of Teyvat to continue this ridiculously elaborate plan, your safety is our priority, alright?"

Aren did not reply. He began to hyperventilate.

"Breathe for me, dear. In for four...yes, just like that...out for four. Good, good. Again, yes, you're doing great... and out for four. Shall we get something to eat?"

When Neutral and Aren plodded back into the living room, Yasmine, Adam and Kayjax did anything to make it seem that they weren't eavesdropping on Aren in one of his most vulnerable moments. If Aren noticed their odd demeanour, he did not speak of it.

Neutral handed him a plate of sandwiches that they had helpfully cut into crust-free triangles. Aren settled into the armchair (cat plushie free, thankfully) and sank his teeth into one.

Nobody spoke of Aren's panic attack for the rest of the evening. After dinner, Kayjax and Yasmine busied themselves discussing their next course of action, Adam did the dishes and Neutral tidied up the lounge. For the next hour or so, Aren was left to his own devices in the living room. He found he was too exhausted to even complain.

When Yasmine and Kayjax returned, they were equally shocked to find Aren curled up on the armchair like a cat, fast asleep.

Kayjax circled around him as if Aren was a particularly large bear. "Is he...actually asleep?"

Yasmine nudged him. Aren curled in on himself, mumbling. "Yeah."

"Good. We can talk in peace." Kayjax threw a blanket over Aren, tucking it under his chin.

Goodness, Aren was so much more loveable when he was sleeping.

"What do you mean, talk in peace?" asked Adam, drying his hands on his apron.

"Sit down. I'll explain." Kayjax removed his witch's hat, tossed it to the side and ran a hand through his hair. "Fuck, I can't believe I didn't think of this earlier...how much could they have heard?"

"Who's they?" Neutral asked. Things were taking a turn for the worse, and they were not a fan of it.

"Aren's telepathic, right? I can't help but wonder if the Fatui have some sort of mental connection to him. There has to be a way for them to know what he's thinking, right? If the Fatui knew that Aren wasn't in Snezhnaya, that still leaves six other nations for him to potentially be in. Sure, we could chalk down Osore choosing to look in Mondstadt as a freaky coincidence, but how and why did he assume that Yasmine knew who Aren was? It's all to...odd to be true. "

"What if different Harbingers are looking in other nations?" Yasmine suggested. "For all we know, Aren could be the topic of conversations all over Teyvat."

"It's messy," Kayjax said. "If there are already Harbingers organizing the destruction of one nation, it's nonsensical for all of the others to be running rampage. Personally, I think my idea is the most logical."

"Of course you do. Your ego has stretch marks."

"Talking about destroying nations," Neutral said, "we should really get started on that plan Yasmine had. Y'know, the one about tricking the Harbingers into-"

"Wait. I've been thinking about that, and there are flaws." Yasmine chewed on their lip, evidently deep in thought. "How many Harbingers are even tasked with destroying Mondstadt? Is it all of them? One or two? Aren said himself that he can't handle more than two people at a time."

"Six nations, eleven Harbingers, plus any abyss members co-operating with them. That's at least two Harbingers per nation. It works out nicely for them, especially because there are still people in Snezhnaya should anything go wrong."

"How do we deal with them? We don't even know which Harbingers are destroying Mondstadt!" Adam held his head in his hands. "Gods, this is ridiculous..."

"I had an idea about that," said Kayjax. "It's dangerous, though, so I need to ask the person involved if they're up for it."

"Who's involved?" asked Yasmine. "Is it one of us?"

"Yeah..." Kayjax surveyed his companions, lost in thought. "Adam's too recognisable because of the yellow in his hair. It makes him stand out. The same goes for Yasmine, too...plus, your speech mannerisms are different. It'd give you away. I doubt they'd even be up for the task. Neutral."

Neutral squeaked. "Me?"

"Don't take offense, but you have forgettable features. I doubt anyone would recognize you, especially if you were clad in Fatui uniform."

"I-If I was clad in WHAT?" Neutral blanched. "F-Fatui uniform? Are you sending me off? Did I do something wrong?!"

"Quiet, quiet. I'm just wondering if the mercenaries at the Goth Grand Hotel have any info on the Harbingers' plan. They're insignificant in the grand scheme of things, so I doubt that they'd have the privilege of being told anything confidential. That being said, there's always the chance of them gossiping amongst themselves...although that in itself poses as a great risk...Okay. Okay."

Kayjax placed his hands on Neutral's shoulders. The latter trembled. What did Kayjax have in store for them? Would he ship them off to Snezhnaya? Banish them to the corners of Teyvat? Force them to chase down a Harbinger?

"Neutral, how would you feel about joining the Fatui?"

Neutral fainted.

Celeste did not remember the last time she cried.

Their mother wouldn't fail to remind them about the consequences of tears. "It'll ruin your makeup," she would say, "and no one likes an ugly girl with mascara running down hrr face." Their father would agree. "My daught is nothing if not resiliant. I will not bestow the family honour unto a child that cannot hold her tears."

Nobody had ever bothered to tell the poor girl otherwise. While school teachers never saw them cry, they never assumed that she wasn't allowed to. Celeste had been a recluse through their school years, so it was natural for people to assume that she never wanted to show emotion, not that she never was able to.

And so this was how Celeste grew up. If she ever felt the need to cry, she would excuse herself to somewhere private and let the tears fall there. Never a few minutes more of waterworks, though. Bloodshot eyes was a telltale sign of weakness that their father could see through as if she was a sheet of glass.

All of that went to pot now, it seemed. Her tears were fairly uncontrollable. She stuttered and hiccuped, one gloved hand failing to muffle her sobs. Her tears dropped into her tea with quiet splashing sounds. The appeal of the tea was fairly absent anymore. Kuma should've kept it.

Ah, that was rather selfish, wasn't it?

Celeste buried their head in their hands. Their hands itched and ached to claw at something, to channel their energy into something raw and violent.

She could not hold a catalyst, though. She could not swing an orb at her opponents with bruising force and send them flying for the hills. She could ask for lessons, but...no. not after the kettle incident.

Celeste dipped the tip of their finger into the tea. It was cold, and even if it wasn't, she didn't particularly fancy drinking a mug of their own tears, however poetically symbolic is seemed. She stared at their own murky image in the reflection and leapt out of their skin.

Gods above, she looked horrible. Their hair was a bird's nest, framing her face like a bush of barbed wire, and their face...Archons, their face. She touched a hand to the thick mascara streaming down their cheeks. Abysmal.

Before she could right themself, the door opened.

"I thought I'd find you here, Celeste."

She cursed under their breath and frantically swiped at the mascara. Alas, all she did was smear it across their face. In sheer desperation, she covered their face with their hands and kept their head on the table.

The scent of pine lingered in the air. A hand touched their shoulder tenderly. She flinched.

God, Krone's hands were cold.

"Hello."

"Hi, dear. Is everything alright?"

"Fine."

Krone pulled up a barstool and perched on it. They hooked a finger through the handle of Celeste's teacup and raised it.

"Chamomile? Fancy."

Celeste did not know whether Krone was going to drink it. They did not want to risk them doing so.

She raised a hand and smacked the cup out of Krone's hand.

Or tried to, anyway.

Krone, being Krone, had sensed something amiss from the get-go. They lifted the teacup out of Celeste's batting range, and set it far from them.

"I sensed that something was wrong. You've confirmed my suspicions."

Celeste did not move.

"Dear Celeste," Krone shook their shoulder gently, "whatever is the matter?"

"...I'm stupid."

"Oh? What makes you think that?"

"I can't work a freaking kettle without causing problems. I can't do anything. I can't help anyone. I'm selfish, and I'm always gonna be selfish and I can't change because I don't know how."

Krone was silent for a moment. They mulled over Celeste's words carefully. "I see..." She finally said. "Does this have any connection to why Kuma was covered in water when I saw her earlier?"

"She probably hates me," Celeste mumbled. "N I can't blame her. I'm fucking useless."

"Well, I may not be Snezhnayan, but I don't think that the Tsaritsa would appoint useless people to be the renowned Harbingers. That takes skill and plenty of competence, y'know?"

"It doesn't. I bet I'm only here because my father put in a good word for me 'n a shit ton of money, like he always does."

"I've had the pleasure of meeting Her Majesty the Tsaritsa before, and she does not seem like the person to accept bribes. From what I heard, there's an endurance exam that every Harbinger has to pass. You passed yours with flying colours, right down to the combat section. A useless, stupid person would not be capable of such."

"It wasn't even difficult. Anyone could beat up a couple of soldiers."

"Celeste, dear, do you know how many people have failed to become Harbingers, or even work with the Fatui this year alone?"

"... No. "

"Three-hundred and sixty-eight. Three-hundred and sixty-eight people have tried desperately hard to be where you are now. You did not - in fact, you could not - get here by deceitful means. It would simply be impossible. Wisdom cannot be conveyed through material purposes. Money means nothing in the eyes of power."

Krone took Celeste's chin gently between their fingers and lifted their gaze until their eyes met. They said nothing about the mess of mascara on Celeste's face, which they were grateful for.

"Celeste Valluy, you are here because you deserve it. Whether or not you can work a kettle does not define your worth."

Celeste sniffled. "Okay."

She rose from their barstool. As soon as they did, something (someone?) from behind the door shuffled.

Without missing a beat, Celeste crossed over to the door and flung it open.

A plastic cup fell to the ground. Evidently it the one that Kuma was using to eavesdrop on the conversation within the kitchen. She smiled up at Celeste sheepishly.

"Heya."

"You were eavesdropping," Celeste said flatly.

"Yeah. Sorry."

Celeste stayed silent. The thought of Kuma seeing them at their most vulnerable was repulsive.

"I, um...for what it's worth, I'm sorry if I made you feel incompetent or anything. I swear that wasn't my intention." She held out her hand, offering a handshake to make amends. "Do you still hate me?"

Celeste hesitated before accepting the handshake. "You're forgiven on one condition."

"And that is?"

"You teach me how to use a polearm, and you teach me well. Heaven knows that I cannot wield a floating book for the rest of my days."

A wide grin spread on Kuma's face. "That I can do."

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