Chapter Text
Barbara wiped the sweat that had begun to bead at her forehead, finally setting down the broom she had been using to sweep the outside of the cathedral.
It was a hot day in Mondstadt, the sun seemed to want to burn out any living being on Tevyat. Thankfully the occasional blow of wind kept her from dying of a heatstroke.
Despite having to sweep at least once a week, her endurance hadn’t been getting much better. It was really starting to become difficult to have to do this so often.
Maybe I should ask Noelle for help on that… Barbara quickly waved off that thought, knowing that there was no way she would be able to do the workouts that Noelle did every day.
Barbara thought about Noelle, and her mind drifted to last night. She seemed better after they talked but she was still unsure.
Maybe I should go check up on her…
She did have free time finally, although the real problem would be finding Noelle. Around this time of day she could be anywhere. Maybe I should check the knights? No no, I doubt she’s there…Springvale? No that’s not likely either…perhaps I should just start asking around.
Barbara just decided on that when she saw someone running towards her, that being Bennett. Barbara waved at him, but the closer he got the more she could see his expression. He looked panicked and was running towards her faster than usual.
“Bennett? What’s wrong? Are you hurt?” Barbara ran forward to meet him, concern filling her face.
“No-! No….” Bennett was bent over, out of breath with his hands on his knees.
Barbara placed a hand on his back, allowing him a moment to catch his breath.
“Breath carefully, don’t try to force anything out,” Barbara placed her other hand on his chest.
“It’s Noelle-! She’s gone!” Bennett stood up, speaking quickly.
Barbara immediately felt a shock of fear. “What?!”
Barbara grabbed Bennett's shoulders. “What do you mean gone ?!”
“Amber told me she was going to Noelle's place to pick her up to go to lunch and her entire place was destroyed! Noelle then ran into the woods and she disappeared !!” Bennett explained rapidly. “Her elemental trace just suddenly ends!”
“What happened? Why did she run off??” Barbara questioned desperately.
“I don’t know! I was just given a very brief explanation by Amber before I ran to tell you!” Bennett protested.
Barbara let go of Bennett, biting her thumb anxiously. “Where’s Amber?”
“She’s near the entrance of Mondstadt, she’s gathering people to try and investigate right now,” Bennett replied.
“Then let’s go then!” Barbara grabbed Bennett’s arm and started pulling him to the entrance.
“Wait wait- you're joining?” Bennett asked.
“Of course! I’m not just going to stand by while Noelle could be who knows where!” Barbara replied firmly.
Bennett seemed to understand the tone of her voice and didn’t press further, even though Barbara could tell he wanted to.
The pair arrived at the entrance quickly, with a few other familiar faces awaiting Barbara.
“Barbara!” Amber looked over at her, her attention being pulled away from the people who were already there, being Eula and Fischl. “Are you here to join?”
Barbara was about to respond when she noticed Amber's arm was half-hazardly bandaged. “Amber! Your arm!”
“Oh- it’s really nothing,” Amber began but Barbara had already begun to unravel the bandages to get a better look at the wound.
There were a bunch of tiny cuts as if she had been stabbed in the arm by a bunch of little thorns.
“What happened?” Barbara asked as she summoned a bit of hydro to Amber's wound, healing it.
“I’m gonna have to start from the beginning, it has to do with Noelle’s disappearance.” Amber sighed, looking down.
Fischl turns to Amber, her arms crossed. It’s clear she has yet to be informed about what happened as well.
“This morning, I brought Noelle out on an investigation with me. She’s seemed down, you know? I thought getting fresh air would help her out.
When we arrived at Starsnatch Cliff, Eula showed up and we noticed one of the roses Noelle usually wears in her hair was gone. Eula said she saw it back at the headquarters- so Noelle split off from us to go and get it. But we agreed to go and eat lunch together after the investigation.
The investigation went by super quickly, so I checked at the headquarters to see if she was there but she wasn’t. Someone said they saw her running back to her house so I went to check there.
I knocked on the door but there was no response. But I could tell she was in her house cause I could hear glass shattering from inside!”
Glass shattering? Did someone break in? Barbara felt a knot twist in her stomach.
“I was pounding on the door, calling for Noelle. I kept hearing more glass shattering so I eventually broke down the door, worried that Noelle was being attacked.
But Noelle whipped around, aiming a glass at me. It only narrowly missed me, smashing into the doorframe next to me. Around her feet was tons of broken glass and ripped pages!”
“Noelle tried to attack you? But why would Noelle of all people try to attack a friend?” Bennett asked, a confused yet slightly hurt expression.
“I have no idea! She looked like she immediately regretted it afterwards though,” Amber crossed her arms, stress clear through her body.
“After that, Noelle ran into the forest and disappeared. I tried to stop her but I wasn’t strong enough to keep a grip on her,” Eula finished Amber’s story, traces of guilt hovered in her words.
“Did anyone notice anything off about Noelle that would’ve indicated why she did this?” Bennett looked around at the group, as if desperate to find an answer.
“I…I think we’ve all noticed how tired she’s been,” Fischl spoke for the first time.
Barbara had to do a double take when she heard Fischl speak. She spoke simply, without elegance. Her body usually held confidence and pride within it, putting the title “princess” to good use.
But now Fischl’s entire demeanor had shifted. It was just, slumped. Tired. Oz didn’t comment on it either.
“I believe I was the last person to speak with her besides Amber and Eula,” Barbara spoke up softly.
She presses her lips together, her eyebrows knitted together. She didn’t want to reveal such a private conversation between her and Noelle, but she knew it could possibly help with the investigation.
More than anything, she wanted Noelle to be found as soon as possible.
“I told her I felt uneasy about her becoming a knight, and she admitted she didn’t want to become a knight anymore.”
The entire gathering of people was shocked into momentary silence.
“She- she said WHAT?!” Amber yelped. “But that’s been her ambition since day one! What could possibly change her mind?”
“I know that something Fischl said pushed the thought to the front, but I believe this is something that she had been thinking about before that.” Barbara tried her best to remember every detail she could. Anything that could help Noelle.
The adrenaline was kicking in, and Barbara was desperate to hold onto it. If she allowed herself silence she might shatter.
“I expressed my anger with the knights to her,” Fischl spoke up.
“Anger with the knights?” Eula turned to Fischl, a hint of irritation in her voice.
“I’m talking about the ones who offload all their work onto her, and she accepts it all with a smile.” Fischl didn’t meet Eula’s gaze, although she held similar traces of anger, even if from a different source.
“She works harder than most of the knights do, and she does so much for all the people of Mondstadt. Yet after all of that, she still isn’t a knight. She shouldn’t work so hard for an organization that doesn’t see her worth.”
“Hey.” Eula warns. “In case you haven’t noticed, two people from that organization are standing right here.”
“I don’t take back anything I said,” Fischl said flatly.
“Guys guys! There’s no need to get so worked up!” Barbara stepped forward.
Tension sparked between the pair, but neither of them said anything else.
“I’m going to investigate her house,” Eula steps forward, turning away from Fischl. “I feel there may be many clues to her disappearance hidden within it.”
“Is that legal…?” Bennet asks.
“The knights are allowed to do a search on a house if given reasonable means. I would count this as reasonable means,” Eula responds.
“Miss Eula, may I investigate with you…?” Barbara asked tentatively. “Or at least just go inside?”
Eula turned around, a serious expression on her face. “This evidence could be key to Noelle's disappearance, if you don’t know what you’re doing you could potentially destroy something essential.”
“I won’t touch anything, I’ll just stand and look. Please…” Barbara can’t meet Eula’s eyes.
“C'mon Eula you can let her go in,” Amber spoke up.
Eula sighed. “Fine, but you can’t touch anything.”
Eula turns around, looking at the rest of the group. “I’m assuming the two of you want to look as well?”
Bennett and Fischl both nodded.
“Same goes for you, don’t touch anything.”
Eula opened the door, walking inside the house.
The floor was covered in glass and ripped shreds of paper, with books spread out as well. Pieces of furniture were pushed over and broken wood splinters gathered around said furniture.
Barbara was horrified, the sense of dread she felt only got worse as she continued to look around the scene. The cloth roses Noelle had loved so much were also thrown onto the floor without care.
Barbara covered her mouth, looking away from the whole ordeal. She almost wished she’d stayed outside.
“None of the windows are broken…and the walls don’t look like they’ve suffered damage that would signify a break in…” Eula walked around the house, analyzing everything
She bit her thumb, an uncharacteristically anxious expression on her face. “If there’s no sign of a third party…did Noelle do this?”
“She did run off after we opened the door…” Amber trailed off. “But why? None of it makes sense.”
Bennett suddenly yelped in pain, drawing the attention of everyone in the group. Blood was dripping from the palm of his hand, causing him to wince in pain.
“Bennett!” Barbara ran over to where he was standing, taking his hand into hers. “How did you hurt yourself?”
“I cut myself on one of the pieces of glass on the floor,” Bennett replied as Barbara healed him.
“I thought I told you not to touch anything,” Eula said sharply.
“I’m sorry, I just saw an envelope on the floor and wanted to see if the letter was still inside it,” Bennett said sheepishly.
Barbara turned around, looking at the floor to find said envelope. She picked it up, reading the back of the envelope.
Eula rolled her eyes, giving Barbara an annoyed look, but at least didn’t comment this time.
Noelle’s first and last name was written on the back in a very elegant cursive, filling the entire back of the envelope with her name alone. Barbara turned over the letter, closing the envelope to try and discern the symbol pressed into the wax sealing.
Barbara gasps, covering her hand in shock.
“What is it? What did you find?” Amber asked, turning to Barbara.
“The fatui insignia is on this wax seal!” Barbara said shakily.
Eula stopped looking around instantly when she said that. She ran across the room, ripping the envelope from Barbara's grasp.
She knitted her eyebrows together, a grim look appeared on her face. “Amber, get Diluc now.”
“On it!” Amber ran out through the front door.
“The fatui! I bet they kidnapped Noelle!” Fischl said, coming by Eula's side to look at the envelope.
Eula pressed her lips together, not responding. “Let's try to look for the letter that was in this envelope. Be careful of the glass.”
But I thought we weren’t supposed to touch anything…? Barbara decided to ignore that thought, too worried about Noelle to be concerned about Eula's contradicting statements. Her eyes trailed across the papers on the floor. Everything she picked up didn’t match the elegant handwriting on the back of the letters.
Just what did the fatui do to Noelle? Barbara feels sick with stress.
“These pages…I think they’re from the knights rules book,” Bennett picked up a page, looking at it.
Eula walks over next to Bennett, reading the sheet.
“You're right…but why would they be ripped out like this?”
“I got him,” Amber responds, dragging Diluc through the door.
“Will someone care to explain what’s going on? Amber just said something about fatui and didn’t explain further,” Diluc crossed his arms, annoyed. “I have a shift I was supposed to be working at Angel's share.”
“Noelle went missing this morning,” Eula hands him the envelope. “This was found on the floor of her house. You know more about the fatui than anyone else.”
Diluc takes the letter, turning it over with care. His eyes dart across the page, looking at every little detail. A look of anger crossed his face within seconds.
“What does it mean?” Barbara asked worriedly.
“Did the fatui take her? Did they threaten her?” Fischl berated him with questions.
“This isn’t the type envelope the fatui would use to threaten someone,” Diluc’s hand is shaking, the envelope slightly crumpled in his grip. “This fancy seal, this handwriting, that’s not done with ill intent. I’ve intercepted enough fatui letters to know what there intent is based on handwriting alone.”
“This is an invitation card.”
“An…invitation card…?” Fischl asked, a look of horror crossing her face. “But she wouldn’t…”
“This morning…Noelle defended the fatui in front of me…” Amber slowly spoke, dread evident across her face.
“And yesterday Noelle asked me for information on the fatui.” Diluc spat out his words as if they were covered with venom. “Then she suddenly disappears without a trace.”
“There’s no way…! It can’t be-” Bennett stutters, trying to think of any explanation he can. “It’s only an envelope! We can’t jump to conclusions so quickly!”
“I’ve spent years deciding every single part of the fatui and their communications.” Diluc glared at Bennett. “I know an invitation when I see one.”
Barbara could barely hear the words spoken in front of her. A soft ringing at first, until it overwhelmed her every sense.
She dropped to her knees, her hand clutching the fabric of her dress. Her entire body shook, her head facing the floor. Her breath was rapid and shaky.
Barbara, who’s voice usually sang the most beautiful tunes, let out a painful cry of emotions. Her entire world, dissolving in front of her eyes.