Chapter Text
When you're left astray in a world you only vaguely recognize, yet can't quite remember, do you still answer the call?
Minuette didn't take very long to even entertain this notion; the idea that they could play a hero of someone elses fairy tale was just that.
Another dusty story on their everyday bookshelf, that they would end up forgetting until someone else picked it up and asked about it.
( "How did become a hero?" The imaginary young'in would ask, eyes wide and brimming with child-like wonder. They'd clutch the book of memories as if a trance had taken them over. Indeed, heroes are the stuff of legends and myths, are they not? )
Minuette rushed forward, amidst the screaming of fireworks launching into the air and colorful explosions lit up the entire night sky. Firecrackers danced with flames along the edges of clearly marked paths, and the youth hollered in excitement in the distant city of Liyue.
Even from a place such as The Chasm, where Liyue and Sumeru bordered each other, Lantern Rite festivities were truly a sight to stop and admire, no matter who one might be.
Minuette didn't realize, until they had toppled one of the people over, and had rolled them out of the way of an oncoming attack from a monster, that the thought had never occured to them. Playing hero, or being a sidekick.
In that brief moment, that small window of time, Minuette had probably saved this persons life. Or at least a few limbs. It has been a "do or die" moment, and Minuette had chosen without hesitation, their body moved of their own accord.
( Imaginary Minuette replied after a beat, "kid, in order to be *the* hero, you have to first be *A* hero, to someone," pat the imaginary kid on the head, "I started small fry". )
The young blonde had ducked out of the way of the monster attack nimbly and, upon seeing their child like friend in safe hands, nodded a silent "thank you" to Minuette, and retaliated against the horde.
That is not where the adventure begins.
- Prologue; A Minute to Spare -
- Initiating ... -
Turns out, adventure and guild jobs payed pretty consistently; Minuette hummed contently as she counted the Mora she was handed in a pouch.
They sat at a nondescript table at the average inn just outside of Liyue, counting the Mora they had recently been paid in exchange for their services, as well as any loot they had dug up.
Said service having been a relatively simple job of escorting a few merchants and their carts to the very well known Wangshu Inn, also located within Liyue.
This job had been made easier since, much to Minuettes surprise, there were no monsters to be found nearby Wangshu Inn, as well as the accompaniment of two youths who seemingly wielded elemental abilities via a gem.
The entire walk from just outside the wealthy city to Wangshu Inn, the blue haired lad with the deep ocean blue gem made wide gestures and sly expressions to the other, Minuette presumed them friends. As the other, light blue hair and matching gemstone, would wave and face red as he chewed on popsicles.
That was really when the reality of their language barrier smacked Minuette right on the noggin.
They couldn't understand what the others said, and thus relied more on gestures and universal expressions via hands and facial expression to get their points across.
Minuette had offered Mora (the blue hair boy exclaimed as he taught them a few of their words) in exchange for some of the popsicles the other carried. They were waved off, yet still handed one flavorless, very cold popsicle nevertheless.
During their impromptu job, Minuette had caught a glimpse of a young man with sharp golden eyes and a gleaming turquoise gemstone attached to his gloved hand, though didn't pay too much mind.
They had turned when someone behind them shouted and touched their shoulder for attention.
By the time Minuette looked back, the cat eyed man was gone, as if the wind dusted and dried up before leaving the house.
Minuette had shrugged this off initially, but could not quite put into words how they felt as though the land surrounding Wangshu Inn had eyes and ears everywhere. It has been unsettling when they camped out there, to say the least.
Noticeably, Lantern Rite decorations were in abundance this time of year, even in the most ordinary places. Birdsongs carried by the wind swept through and tousled the earth, almost affectionately, if elements could have emotion.
Minuette paused their counting, the realization of just how much Mora they acquired sinking in alongside their rapidly blinking eyes.
They gestured over to the nervous nelly of an innkeeper and pointed to their pouch.
"How much do I owe you for the night?"
A chorus of negatory noise greeted their ears, which, along the waving of the innkeeper, seemed to mean "no need". He smiled pleasantly however, when Min handed him a small fee anyway.
They pointed at the cooked fowl and salad, "thank you," when really they meant "wow this is surprisingly good considering how your inn is nearly collapsing into the ground!"
The innkeeper gave Min a book of words as they left, and a rather plain translucent green rock. They graciously accepted; even if their eyes could not smile back, they nodded to him as they boarded a wagon headed towards the northern inn. They had enough Mora for a few nights, surely, they thought as they fiddled with the green stone, eyes scanning the pages.
Yet when they thought of the young man they had glimpsed, and the fields bereft of monsters, Minuette admitted to themself that they were perhaps toeing the line between *"harmless adventure in a new world"*
and
*"actually getting involved in this new worlds storyline".*
The very idea of themself becoming some isekai hero made Minuette cackle, much to the confusion of the merchants with their wagons full of goods and a paid stowaway.
Footsteps as light as feathers danced across the fields nearby, just out of sight, an art of motion and stealth. Minuette did not notice, too busy in their own musings, as sharp eyes gleaned for info, as they approached nearer and nearer Wangshu Inn.