Fate Reflected in the Water
Thwack! Sonoko, seeing the little brat clinging to Ran's side this late in the evening — and actually planning to tag along on their girls' outing — drove her fist straight down onto Conan's head. "Listen here, brat, aren't you just like that smug detective friend of yours? Only interested in solving cases? What business do you have coming with us? Stay home like a good boy."
"Ow! That hurt—!" Conan let go of Ran's hand and clutched his throbbing head.
Violent maniac. She only ever swings at me because I'm a kid. Would it kill her to just ask nicely?
"Ran-neechan, I'm curious what astrology is like too. Please let me come with you — I get scared when I'm home all by myself." If it meant not getting left behind, Conan was fully prepared to swallow his pride for the moment.
Sonoko read the look on Ran's face and a sense of impending doom crept over her. "Ran, you're not actually thinking of taking this brat along, are you? This kid wanders around crime scenes without a second thought — there's no way he's afraid of anything. And he'll just get in the way the whole time."
Ran, who had already been wavering, softened the instant she saw Conan's pleading expression. "Come on, Sonoko, let's bring Conan along. Dad won't be back until late tonight, and I can't exactly leave him home alone."
She looked down at Conan and asked, "You promise me you won't run off or say anything strange, okay?"
"Mm-hm, I promise! No running off, no funny business." Deal with the promises first; everything else could wait until they saw how things played out.
"Oh, fine." Seeing that Ran's mind was made up, Sonoko could only sigh and give in.
Sonoko led Ran and Conan down a shopping street, then turned into a narrow side street, then left, then right... By the time they finished weaving through the back lanes, the glow of the shopping district had all but vanished behind them, and the only light came from the occasional streetlamp, spaced far apart, throwing faint pools of illumination over the three figures.
Ran gazed down the nearly deserted road and felt a chill crawl up her spine. "Sonoko, is it really around here? You didn't get the directions wrong, did you?"
Conan had his doubts too. Who on earth set up shop in a place where almost nobody passed by? Surely Sonoko hadn't just gotten lost and dragged them out here for nothing.
"Ah! Found it! I told you — when have I, the great Sonoko, ever taken a wrong turn?" Sonoko, who had been scanning left and right, suddenly lit up, pointing at a small stall ahead and calling out to Ran in excitement.
With that, she grabbed Ran's hand and hurried toward it.
Conan turned to look at the spot Sonoko had pointed at and found himself at a loss for words — there was, admittedly, a person running a stall there, but it was absurdly bare-bones.
There was hardly any light around, and Conan wasn't standing close, so all he could really make out was someone seated behind a table with something resting on it. There wasn't even a lamp.
Only when he drew nearer did he realize it was even more spartan than it looked — he had assumed the table would be covered with fortune-telling tools of some kind, yet the only thing on it was a shallow disc whose purpose he couldn't guess. Its surface was crystalline and clear, apparently holding a layer of water, and in that water the stars of the night sky were reflected.
Conan glanced upward and noticed that from this spot, the stars overhead were vividly, unmistakably visible — whereas back on the shopping street, and anywhere the lights ran bright, the stars were either hidden behind towering buildings or drowned out by streetlamps and neon, practically invisible. So that was why this astrologer had picked such an out-of-the-way place to work, he thought. Commendably dedicated, really.
Sonoko, still towing Ran by the hand, soon reached the astrologer's table.
"Who would like to go first? And what would you like a divination on?"
At the voice from behind the table, Conan realized it belonged to a remarkably young woman, and he looked up. The dim lighting made it impossible to see her face clearly, but he could just barely make out that this so-called astrologer was nothing like the mature fortune-teller he'd been picturing.
She looked very young — no older than twenty-five, perhaps even younger — wearing a wide-brimmed, pointed hat, with two long braids trailing down her back and a mid-length cape draped over her shoulders. Faint traces of star-shaped ornaments glimmered on her clothing.
Seriously? This is just a girl playing dress-up! The look might be a little imposing, Conan supposed, but he found himself doubting whether any of this could possibly be legit.
While Conan was muttering to himself, Sonoko and Ran had already settled the question of who would go first.
Since Ran still seemed hesitant, Sonoko boldly took the seat in front of the astrologer herself.
"Ahem — I'll go first, then." Eyes shining with anticipation, Sonoko asked, "O great master, I'd like a divination: when will my destined one finally appear? Is there anything I need to do?"
Conan's eyes narrowed to slits. Heh. Called it. Of course that's the question Sonoko asks.
"My name is Astrologist Mona Megistus. Just 'Mona' is fine — no need for 'great master.' I'm still studying under my own master, ah— I mean, I'm still in training."
Indeed, the astrologer plying her trade in this obscure little back alley was none other than Mona. And the reason she went around telling fortunes for people was, naturally, money.
Ugh. Mona was utterly resigned to it. Barely scraping by in Teyvat had been humiliating enough — why, upon arriving in Conan's world, had she been assigned an identity with no money to her name either? It had left her no choice but to come out here and divine for coins just to make ends meet.
One small comfort, at least: in this world she owned a house of her very own, so unlike her days in Mondstadt, she no longer had to pay rent, which cut out a significant expense. And fortune-telling here was far more lucrative than back home — especially with high school girls. Squeezing money out of them was almost laughably easy.
Conan caught on to Mona's surname — Megistus? Not Japanese? Some kind of special family, maybe?
"Oh, right, Mona. So what do I need to do?" Sonoko nodded along in a daze and repeated her question. Who has a name that long? Honestly, she hadn't caught a single word of that mouthful the first time — thank goodness she didn't have to say the whole thing.
"Nothing at all. Just place both hands on the rim of the hydromancy disc — ah, that's the dish right in front of you." Mona gave her instructions in a calm voice.
Sonoko did as she was told, resting her hands on the rim of the disc. She peered at it curiously, holding her breath as she waited to see whether the water before her would change at all.
"Fate, reflected in the water!" That was all anyone heard Mona cry.