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“Regretting it yet?”
Beidou probably should, but she’s always taken on nightmares face first. She stands at the bow of the Alcor and shrugs. “I mean, we’ve picked up worse gigs.”
“No, I don’t think so.”
“Aw, are you worried, Juza?” Beidou’s mouth curls into a smile as she turns to him, arms crossed over her chest.
“When you take a job for the express purpose of showing off? Yeah, that worries me. I know the only reason you took the damn job is ‘cause it came from the pretty little mouth of that—”
“Careful now, Juza,” cuts in Beidou. “The Tianquan left one of her little birdies with us, remember? Wouldn’t reflect well for you to refer to her so casually.” She doesn’t usually allow stragglers on her ship, but the confused Millileth looking entirely out of his element amongst pirates is, at least, entertaining.
Juza laughs. “Take your own advice then,” he says.
Never, thinks Beidou. She’s earned first-name rights with Ningguang, fair and square. Too many dangerous gigs out on the sea and days spent arguing over ticket prices with the woman’s secretary. Beidou hasn’t spent millions fending off Ganyu to not abuse the privilege of it.
“Joking aside, are you truly that worried?” If Juza is honestly concerned, Beidou would rather know now instead of later.
Juza’s face crinkles as he thinks. “I think the job is absolutely nuts.”
“Nuts, as in dangerous?”
“Nuts, as in actually insane.”
Beidou laughs brightly and slaps Juza across the back. “What kind of seaman doesn’t believe in the lost city of Enkanomiya?”
“Myths are only that—cryptic tales to keep us wary of the sea. Mind our boots and hats, and all that.”
She turns her one-eyed gaze towards him. “You don’t wear a hat. I don’t wear a hat.”
Juza grins back. “Off to a terrible start then, aren’t we?”
Beidou nudges him and the tension eases slightly. “Look, I know it’s unorthodox, but it’s in line with our usual work. We find what’s lost and make it found again.”
“Ancient artifacts aren’t the same as ancient cities.” Juza turns back to watch the rolling sea. “You aren’t sailing us to our doom just because you’re bored, are you?”
Beidou is, in a way. Their adventures lately have been lackluster and forgetful, which is saying a lot. The Crux Fleet’s purpose is a simple one: find that which is old and lost, and bring it back to a museum (for a hefty fee, of course). Pillage and plunder, all for the sake of mankind, etcetera, etcetera.
“Of course, not,” she finally says. Beidou can’t help the shit-eating grin that finds her face. “It’s because you’re also bored out of your damn mind. We all are.”
The best part is that she’s right, and Juza knows better than to argue.
#
The first part of the job is also the biggest problem: Beidou has no idea where to even start looking for the lost city of ancient yore. Reconnaissance has never been her strong suit. Beidou is a woman of action, power, and might. She unwisely enters old tombs blindly and does all her own stunt work.
It isn’t that Beidou is bad with people, she just likes the adventure more than the setup. Wining and dining information out of locals is a hassle, especially when it's more myth than fact and she doesn’t know what exactly to believe.
“Anything useful?” asks Juza, leaning against the post of the stall.
Beidou stretches an overpriced map out wide, pouring over the curling details. “Mostly rubbish. I swear, the people here—what a superstitious lot.” A pause. “Say, do you think this map is worth breaking the budget?”
Juza plucks the map from her hands and rolls it up before placing it back onto the shelf. “Now isn’t the time for your annoyingly high-class taste.”
“Hey, I accept only the best when it comes to the Alcor.”
He raises an eyebrow. “And you’ve heard nothing at all?”
“What’s the point of being the captain if I have to do my own dirty work?” Juza gives her a look because the whole crew’s out there, slumming it for details. Beidou rubs at her brow, exhausted. “Right, right, ignore that. There was this one man who said something about sailing off the edge of the world.”
Juza snorts. “I suppose when the prize is fantastical, the rumors surrounding it are as well.”
“Oh, but it isn’t a rumor.” Juza and Beidou turn and meet the serene gaze of Kaedehara Kazuha. “Within every tale is a kernel of truth.”
“And you think this time it’s sailing off the edge of the world?” Beidou bursts into laughter.
“You’ve seen far stranger in your work, have you not, Captain?”
Beidou likes Kazuha. It’s always a pleasure when he decides to join their crew on occasional adventures. “Tell me, Kazuha, what tickles your fancy this time? The promise of the lost city of Enkanomiya?”
His gaze turns into something amused. “More like the enjoyment of watching you flounder about.”
“So it isn’t real, then,” surmises Beidou.
“We should keep an open mind,” is his polite reply. “Stories might be stories, but they come from somewhere. Most cultures share the idea of a city lost at sea, so it isn’t so far-fetched to think that it might exist.”
Beidou snorts. “But sailing off the edge of the world—”
“Yes, well, everyone is prone to exaggeration, even you and I.”
Juza thumbs at his chin. “I’m not sure I like the idea of heading off with only a direction in mind.”
“We’ve sailed out into the ocean blue on less.” No one can refute her, so Beidou shrugs. “Either way, we get paid, right?” Juza scoffs, turning to walk away without another word.
Kazuha laughs, just a soft chuckle. “I don’t think he likes losing,” he says, good-naturedly.
Beidou waves his words away. “You’d think he’d be used to it by now.”
#
The journey is treacherous. Uncharted waters are always unpredictable, but even Beidou doesn’t expect the difficulties that arise.
At first, it’s just the tossing of the sea. Storms are nothing new and the crew of the Alcor manages, but the way that the waters remain choppy for days on end doesn’t bode well. Beidou orders them to proceed with caution so their adventure halts to a crawl as they traverse at a snail’s pace.
It is only the beginning they soon learn.
“Pah! More of the food?”
Xiangling sighs, rubbing at her face. “I mean, I can still use it. I’ll just have to cut the bad bits off.” The thumbs at her chin. “I’m not sure why our supplies are going bad, though. It’s not as though there’s a reason.”
Beidou feels Juza’s stare before she meets his face. When she finally does, he scowls back, mouthing the word, Cursed. It’s been his mantra lately. “You superstitious git,” she murmurs, throwing him a rather rude gesture in return.
“He might not be wrong, you know,” says Kazuha from where he sits on the railing.
“Be careful there,” says Beidou, frowning. “If you fall overboard we aren’t retrieving you.”
Kazuha chuckles and then tugs at the rope that anchors him to the mast. “No worries here, Captain,” he says, giving her a mock salute. “But, what I said still stands. Remember when you pestered that man for more information.”
“Tell me more about the edge of the world, old man,” she’d asked.
“Sail the Westerlies until you can’t anymore, though I wouldn’t suggest it. It’s a cursed journey.”
“Curses aren’t real,” says Beidou, but the words feel flimsy in her mouth the moment she says them. “Look, it’s just a string of bad luck. We’ll make it work as we always do.” Even if she’s starting to wonder if the entire trip is a fool’s errand. Juza was right, of course. None of this will be worth impressing Ningguang.
Kazuha watches her for a long, calculating moment. Then he hums softly, pulling out his knife to whittle away at a block of wood, saying nothing else.
“Good news,” says Xiangling, poking her head back out of the galley. “At least the potatoes are in good shape, so we aren’t entirely out of luck.”
Beidou puts on a smile, but she wonders how long she can keep pretending.
#
“I’m not the only one seeing that, right?”
Kazuha thumbs his chin as he watches the sea through a narrowed gaze. “No, I see it too.” A pause. “Peculiar.”
What lies ahead of them is the end of the world. Beidou sees the choppy edges of the water, swelling as they storm, and then—what looks like a sheer drop-off. A sharp, clearly defined edge. If the Alcor keeps its steady pace, they’ll tip right over it.
“Do we keep sailing?” asks Juza, his voice quiet.
“I…” Beidou wants to say no. It is the logical choice, but none of this makes sense. Logic stopped mattering the moment they sailed off to find something that isn’t supposed to exist. The edge of the world, they’d joked about this entire time, figuring it was more metaphor than anything else.
They’ve been proven wrong. There is a nagging feeling in Beidou’s gut. “Yeah,” she finally says, “we keep sailing.”
Juza doesn’t look surprised. Kazuha gives her an intrigued glance. “Right then. I suppose we should sound the alarm? Prepare for the worst?”
The alarm is raised as the crew goes to high alert. The Alcor tosses and turns with the waves as they sail towards the end. Beidou stands at the bow, tied to the railing, her fingers curled tightly around the wood in a white-knuckled grip.
“Worried?” asks Kazuha from beside her.
“Nah. Apprehensive? Sure, but never worried. The Crux Fleet can handle it, we always do.” And it’s true; Beidou’s gut curls in anticipation, not fear. As the edge draws closer, Beidou’s excitement rises. “Brace yourselves!” she yells above the spray of the ocean. Her crew does, fingers digging into creaking wood, feet planted against the worn deck.
The edge doesn’t come. The Alcor seemingly sails right past it, revealing a spell that acts as merely a veil. On the other side, the ocean is calm, the waves having stilled to pristine, clear waters. The Alcor creaks as it continues on smoothly.
In the distance is a gate. Beidou’s gaze narrows.
“Is that—” Kazuha starts.
“Oh, yes, ” cuts in Beidou, her mouth curling into a smirk.
A beast stands before it, hideous and foul, serpentine and dragon-like. A protector, guarding the entrance to something grand and spectacular. “Boys, I think that we found it,” she says, unable to hide the smug tone of her voice.
“Beidou,” warns Juza, but she’s already ignoring him.
Her fingers twitch, excitement bleeding through her. Beidou likes a challenge, and this beast poses the best one she’s seen in a while. “Say, Juza—think I can handle it alone?” Juza knows better than to say no. Instead, he just rubs at his brow and sighs before waving vaguely. Beidou reaches behind her to grasp the hilt of her claymore.
Once closer, she realizes just how truly fearsome the creature is. It roars the moment they are within eyesight, taking a threatening stance, kicking up sand and the tide from where it sits just before the island.
The Alcor docks at a safe distance.
“Keep her steady,” says Beidou as she pats herself down for a final check. “I’ll handle that bastard out there.”
Kazuha, at least, looks amused when she dives off the bow and into the water.
#
So, it wasn’t the lost city of Enkanomiya.
Ningguang’s mouth tugs into a soft frown. “A pity,” she says with an airy sigh. “I thought that, perhaps, we might have discovered something fantastic. Could you imagine?”
Beidou leans against the edge of her desk, arms crossed casually over her chest. “I mean, no, it wasn’t the lost city of myth, but it wasn’t nothing, you know? We sailed to the edge of the world—”
“Allegedly.” Ningguang says it with good humor.
Beidou sniffs. “We found a place full of magic, guarded by a fantastical beast.”
“Probably an old relic left behind by some dead god.” Ningguang waves her hand, disinterested.
“So you don’t want the spoils?”
Ningguang taps a sharp, jeweled claw against her chin. “Now, I didn’t say that. I’ve paid you your advance, and so I expect such spoils.”
They share a knowing grin and then Beidou bursts into laughter. “It’s always a hard bargain with you, isn’t it?” It isn’t, and they know it. Ningguang shoots her an amused look in return, her eyebrows drawn up. Beidou continues with, “No worries. It was the typical sort of plunder—old artifacts, gold, and jewelry. Doesn’t mean much to the likes of the Crux Fleet. Naturally, it’s yours.”
“Naturally,” agrees Ningguang. “I trust Ganyu has given you the appropriate paperwork?” Beidou cringes, but nods. “Good. Well then, Captain Beidou, I declare this little adventure officially complete. Until the next?”
Beidou likes the way that Ningguang’s eyes sparkle when they shake on it.
#
Later that night, Beidou stands on her deck under the cover of the stars. “Are you planning on staying?” she asks Kazuha, nudging him with an elbow.
“For now? Yes, I think so.” He turns to give her a placid look. “I saw you pocket it, you know. Whatever it was back at the shrine. Did you declare it to our gracious benefactor?”
Beidou snorts. “Ningguang won’t miss a trinket that she knows nothing about.”
“Call me curious then.”
She can trust Kazuha and his kind smile. Beidou shakes her head as though he drives a hard bargain and dips a hand into her pocket. The trinket she pilfered from the shrine at the edge of the world is a small little thing, glowing a bright purple as it crackles with electricity.
“A vision of something divine, don’t you think?” she asks, holding out her palm for Kazuha to take a better look.
“Unique,” he says, a soft grin spreading across his face. “Just like the Captain that holds it, I guess. It suits you.”
Beidou pockets the item once more, petting at the fabric of her clothing.
“Where to next?” asks Kazuha, leaning against the railing of the ship.
“I’ve heard a rumor of an island with giant heads carved of stone.”
“Are we being paid for this one?”
Beidou laughs heartily. “We’re pirates by nature. The Crux Fleet doesn’t do things for free.”
With that, she commands Juza to take the helm at head east. On to the next, she thinks, the ocean salt tickling her nose.