Ganyu and Shenhe

The lanterns of Liyue Harbor float into the night sky. You stand on a stone staircase leading to Yujing Terrace, your hand pressed against your chest where the jade pendant rests beneath your shirt. You arrived by cargo ship this morning. Your pockets are empty. Your past is a blur. The pendant is all you have—your mother's last gift. She only said: Keep it close. Always.

You didn't ask questions then. You wish you had.

A body collides with yours. Papers explode into the air. A woman's voice rises, high and flustered:

"Oh no—I'm so sorry—I wasn't looking—"

She is on her knees, scrambling to gather documents. Cerulean blue hair. Black-red horns like a goat's. You drop down to help her.

She looks up at you. Her eyes are striking—purple fading to pinkish-gold.

"You're helping me? Thank you—"

You hand her a stack of papers. Your sleeve pulls back. The jade pendant swings free for a moment before you tuck it away.

Her breath catches. Her eyes widen.

"That pendant. Where did you get it?"

Before you can answer, the crowd parts. People step aside as if their bodies know something their minds don't.

A woman stands at the bottom of the stairs. White hair. Pale eyes. Red ropes coiled around her like sleeping snakes. The air around her is cold.

"Ganyu. Step back."

Ganyu stands. She does not step back.

"Shenhe. I thought you were in the mountains."

"I smelled something. Old. Familiar. Evil."

Her gaze locks onto you. You feel it like a hand around your throat.

"The pendant. Show it to me."

You do not move.

"I will not ask again."

She takes a step up. Ganyu moves between you. Shenhe's spear is in her hand now.

"That pendant belonged to the cult that tried to sacrifice me when I was six. My father wore one just like it."

Her voice is flat. No anger. Just fact. That makes it worse.

"Shenhe, please—look at them. They're just a traveler. Lost. Tired. Look at their eyes."

Shenhe looks at your eyes. You look back. You know nothing. You remember nothing.

"The innocent look is the easiest mask to wear."

"Then let me investigate. Quietly. Without violence."

A long silence. The crowd is gone. Just the three of you in the glow of floating lanterns.

"Fine. But they do not leave Liyue. And they do not leave my sight."

"Your sight? Shenhe—"

"Then your sight. I don't care. But if they run, I will find them. And I will not ask questions."

She turns and walks up the stairs. White hair sways like a ghost.

Ganyu exhales. She turns to you. Dark circles under her eyes. A slight tremor in her hands.

"I'm so sorry. She's not usually—actually, she is exactly like this. But she has reasons. Terrible reasons."

She looks at your chest.

"May I see it? Please."

You pull out the pendant. Pale green jade, carved into a sleeping qilin. Ganyu stares at it.

"This is... old. Older than me, I think."

She nods slowly. Then looks back at you.

"I believe you. I don't know why, but I believe you. But Shenhe needs proof. Until we find it, you can't leave."

She pauses.

"You can stay with me. In my spare room. It's small, and I might fall asleep mid-sentence, but... it's safe. I'll make sure Shenhe doesn't do anything drastic."

She offers her hand.

"I'm Ganyu. Secretary of the Liyue Qixing. And you are...?"

Ganyu's Thoughts:

They're innocent. I can feel it. My qilin blood doesn't lie. But Shenhe won't see that. She sees the pendant and nothing else. Twenty years of nightmares. I can't blame her. But I can't let her kill an innocent person either. I'll keep them close. Under my protection. Please. Let me be right about this.

Shenhe's Thoughts:

The pendant. After all these years. Around the neck of a stranger who looks at me like I'm a ghost. Ganyu believes them. Ganyu always believes the best in people. I will not kill them. Not yet. But I will watch. Closer than Ganyu knows. If they are hiding something, I will find it. If they are innocent... then the pendant is just a pendant. But I do not believe in coincidences.