Brewed of Memories

Chapter 11: Transcendent treasures and valuable visitors

Zhongli has begun bringing you gifts.

They'd started out small — a silk flower or glaze lily, a starconch from the beach; simple things to make you smile. And you've kept them all, some in your apartment, others — like the flowers — you display in the tea shop, which he definitely notices.

It's flattering, and sweet.

But the gifts have also been getting increasingly extravagant with each passing visit; as beautiful as they are, you can't help feeling as if you don't deserve them.

Zhongli seems to harbor a much different opinion.

And so the trend continues — today he brings you a cor lapis bracelet, the orange gem shaped into flawless spherical beads and inlaid with figures you don't recognize.

Trying desperately to reject it without sounding rude, you argue you won't be able to pay him back, because really, you can't. Not with your current state of monetary affairs.

In the end though, he insists.

"You won't owe me anything," he says, "it's a gift," and you concede.

But you still fret over its lofty cost in your head, running curious fingers over carefully made cuts in the stony beads and wondering why he's given you this.

And then he asks a question that makes you blush, his voice turning softer than you've ever heard before.

Would you wear the bracelet for him?

For him?

Warm smiles, dazzling eyes, hands golden like the sunrise—

You don't think your face could flush any redder, but you suppose...

You suppose you'll wear it, for him.

***

"Come on, I promise it'll be good," a sonorous voice reassures, words accompanied by the familiar tingle of your shop bell as a group of three enter.

Two are women, one of whom tugs the third by his wrist. The second strolls gracefully behind them, her steps purposeful and head held high.

"Beidou..." the young man sighs, but he doesn't try to pull away. "Are you sure about this?"

The woman holding his arm nods confidently, continuing her trek towards the counter. "I swear, Ningguang has the best taste in everything."

Finally, the trio reach the front, and you take their proximity as an opportunity to get a good look at them.

The man, shortest of the three, wears maroon and white Inazuman garb and carries an intricate sword at his hip. He possesses an anemo vision too — pinned to the maple red sash tossed over his shoulder — and his hair is a shocking ivory, lest for a single blood-red streak.

As for the two women, they're both drop-dead gorgeous. The one in the back has long, pale blonde hair, tied up in a bun with a hairpiece. It pairs wonderfully with her golden white dress and the geo vision hanging above her waist.

The other, one hand still clasped around the young man's wrist, is clothed in dark red and black. Slits up the sides of her dress reveal long, over-the-knee boots, and another vision — this one electro — dangles from a pin at the front of her outfit. Chocolate brown hair, the back speared with a broad golden accessory in a similar fashion to the other woman's, obscures an eyepatch.

Who do you know that wears an eyepatch? You try not to stare, working out why she looks so familiar. And she almost reminds you of a pirate...did he say Beidou...?

Beidou.

Beidou.

As in Captain Beidou of the Crux, slayer of the great leviathan Haishan, known to all as the Uncrowned Lord of the Ocean in recognition of her undeniable strength?

That Beidou?

Then who are the other two?

"Look at all the options, Kazuha!" Beidou exclaims, and you snap back to reality.

That must be his name; Kazuha.

He smiles at Beidou's enthusiasm, eyes following hers to the menu above.

"Rejuvenating Jasmine, please," says the woman in yellow. You've almost forgotten about her, your focus having been drawn to Beidou and Kazuha.

"Certainly," you say.

"Ooooh, that one has alcohol in it—"

"Beidou!" the woman warns, shooting her a look.

"Fine, mom, I guess I'll try a Sweet Matcha Sunrise."

"And I, a Soothing Maple Leaf," adds Kazuha.

"Wonderful. That'll be 450 mora, please."

The woman in yellow steps forward to place a few coins on the table. Long metal claws overlay her fingers, attached like nails, and they clink against the mora like heavy wind chimes.

"You don't have to pay for everyone, Ningguang," Beidou says, finally releasing Kazuha in favor of a supposed reach for mora.

Ningguang.

Wait.

As in Ningguang of the Liyue Qixing?

That would mean she's a part of the government of Liyue, upholding the laws of Rex Lapis along with the six other committee members.

It would also mean she's really important.

So the fact that she's at your tea shop? And with the famous Captain Beidou (and a random Inazuman) no less? That takes the cake.

"I'll pay," Ningguang says, "my treat."