Archive of Our Own

'With all due respect, Jean, we had taken extra precaution for things not to get out of hand-' The Chief was interrupted when the Acting Grand Master smacked him across the head with a rolled-up bunch of papers. 

'And yet! You stand here before me requesting the help of fellow Captains because why?' Jean stood up abruptly, bracing herself against her Birchwood desk. The woman looked like she was about to fall over. 

'B-because things got out of hand, J-' the blonde shot the man a killing look and he corrected himself quickly. 'M-madam.' She seemed to appreciate the formal tone and exhaled heavily, face dipping down so her expression was hidden from them. 

'Remind me again what you did?' she asked the trio for the third time that afternoon in a suspiciously sweet voice. 

'We already told you just n-' 

'Well, another time wouldn't hurt would it!' Her head snapped up and the guilty party jumped in their boots.

'Cloned Mona.' Paimon squeaked, flitting behind her meat shield that was Lumine.

'Proceeded to lose all of them.' Albedo added quickly as if the Grand Master would miss that little detail. She stood upright and threw them a harsh glare. 

'Madam.' the trio supplied in unison before hurriedly dropping their heads to stare at the floor. There was a long silence between the acting Master of the Knights and her guilty perpetrators as Jean stared them down, relishing every second that they stewed in guilt and suffocating anticipation for what she would finally decide on. She took a deep breath. She could shout the whole Headquarters down, but that wouldn't bring back the fact that the three (four and more including Mona and her other clones) had gone ahead and delved in ancient alchemy, cloned someone (five times!), and then lose all five including the original! 

'How did you manage to even create the vessels in the first place?' She looked to Albedo crossly, holding a finger up to Lumine to shush her. 'No need to tell me how you got the ancient scripture in the first place, Honorary Knight, I don't need to be an unwilling accomplice on top of everything.' 

'Mona fashioned them out of water, referencing her own reflection. It copied her movements and everything, which wasn't really what we were going for-' 

'Get to the point, Chief.' Jean crossed her arms and the alchemist gulped. 

'So we added more of what was written in the scripture. You know, trial and error...' The Chief brought up a piece of paper with badly scribbled text and motioned reasonably to it. 'But when we did, Mona lost control of her form and the specter drew more power from her vision and multiplied itself. This happened when Paimon was reading a section of mantra that we seemed to have missed out the first time around. I think it was the part that was supposed to give it a little consciousness...? But she didn't notice everything happening in the background so we think all the clones managed to get little specks of consciousness before we managed to stop the chanting...' 

'What do you mean by little specks of consciousness?' the grandmaster narrowed her eyes. She didn't like the alchemist's sudden lack of technical details. The blonde grimaced, clearly caught in his ruse. 

'Um, well.' Albedo shoved his hands into his pockets, not knowing how to easily break the news. 'Let's say each clone is sentient enough to think and speak for themselves but they don't exactly know their... identity.' 

'Then what do they know?' the grandmaster paled at the discovery. 

'That they all look the same and are...' 

'Freaking out over it.' Lumine re-entered the conversation, not sure if it was for better or worst. 'The moment they noticed, they split. The original Mona, the one we're guessing was the only one who'd stayed behind was later dragged away by the first clone. Thanks to Mona imparting her vision sprint to her specters, we were unable to follow them. They were too fast for elemental sight as well.'  

Jean stared blankly at the three, turned away, and promptly started reorganizing her desk like she didn't hear anything.

'D-do you think you could shut off the borders for a bit while we look for them...?' Paimon peaked from behind Lumine's shoulder. The grandmaster laughed, first softly but gradually it turned more hysterical. 'L-Lumine... I think we broke Jean...' 

'Shut off the borders? What are the people going to think are going on? A Vision Decree hunt in Mondstadt too?!' the trio flinched. The Grand Master had a point. 'I will not allow a mistake to throw the people into a panic. The Fatui are still lurking around, Archons know what they would do if they find out something is stirring in our city!' 

'A-are we not going out to look for Mona...s then?' Paimon shrunk back in defeat, watching from behind Lumine's hair. 

'Of course, we are! We!' The grandmaster circled a finger among the four of them. That was when the three realized that was the reason why she'd been packing up. The Acting Grand Master was setting this task on her own shoulders, even when she had mountains of paperwork to do! 'We can't ask Kaeya of Lisa, they'd spend more time trying to normalize the clone than anything else. Amber would wake all the hillichurl camps before sunrise. Eula might end up killing the original...' Lumine winced. The grandmaster had a point. 'So guess who that leaves? Me!' The trio took another step back when the blonde slammed her bag of necessities on the desk. 

'If we don't find Mona and all her clones by tomorrow, Archons only knows what the state of Mondstadt will be in the next few days!' 

'M-My Lord! We've brought another one!' A skirmisher barreled in, hulling an unconscious girl slumped over his shoulder. Another one. Just how many of her were there?! And why was this happening? He knew he wasn't human and that he surpassed the most elite of mortals. Yet he didn't know if creating clones of a Mona he'd been hard-pressed about were within his limits! 

'Lay her there. And keep her covered.' He motioned to a sofa in the corner of the room, conveniently perched right next to a fireplace. This was the usual state he and his men had found the girls in, completely soaked and frozen to the bone. What were they doing out in Dragonspine, in casual wear no less? They wore the same clothing as well, a thin shirt (a staple in Mondstadt) and airy pajama pants. If someone had told him they had been teleported into the freezing cold against their will, Scaramouche would have believed them, yet it was hard to believe. He found them scattered everywhere with various degrees of ice burn. They had been running, but from whom? What did that mage get herself into that all this was happening? He was certain she didn't have any siblings, he'd checked. 

'Sister!' a couple of twins padded over to poke at his new addition to the harem he seemed to be amassing. A strange way to refer to it, since they all looked like the same woman in some shape or form. Yes, they looked similar but he'd managed to note subtle differences on each one. He noticed when he... checked each of them once over. He didn't bother with the latest one because he knew it was just a matter of time that she'd wake and he'd notice that either the colour of her eyes were slightly greener than the original, or when she opened her mouth only to sound a pitch off. Oh yeah, the Balladeer knew. He knew enough about the mage than he should, a shameful amount actually. 

Just before he left for Inazuma, he'd gone to spy on her one last time. Who knew when he would see her next? He needed to ingrain her into his mind forever. That was when he caught her with the traveler. She was doing a divination for the blonde and her pixie accompany. 

'Death of a foe. A harbinger will fall, Lumine.' 

Scaramouche had thought it was him for sure since Inazuma was probably the only place in Teyvat where a being strong enough to off him resided. His own maker, the one and only Ei, Raiden Shogun. He'd been bitter then, but move on from it pretty quickly. There was no way the mage would be able to predict his fate. Fate had long forgotten him. But just in case she was right, he'd sent for reports on her daily activities every day whilst he was in Inazuma. She was afterall, the only mortal who had been able to capture his interest over the millennia that he'd been alive. He had fancied the thought that he would happily fade into nothingness if she was the last thing that flashed through his mind when he was finally taken out by the traveler or the Raiden Shogun herself. 

Instead, the harbinger that fell in Inazuma was none other than Signora, finally burning herself to ashes. He would have felt a tinge of remorse if he hadn't been overwhelmed with relief that he was now able to travel back to Dragonspine. Back to spying on the mage he so loyally hounded from a distance. He'd received news of the mage muttering how she was sure to 'prove that umbrella-head wrong' on the same day, which only made him feel all the more excited to leave the closed state.

'Master Scara...?' An imitation draped herself over his shoulders and he momentarily stiffened before allowing her to continue. This was the one that smelled closest to his mage. 

'What is it, Hoshii?' Did he mention that he named each of them? Finder's keepers, right? At least he could tell them all apart. Most parents couldn't tell their twins apart if someone as much as questioned their confidence. He looked up to peer into the clone's eyes, reaching up to cradle her face in a palm. He wished he could say he didn't play favorites, but Hoshii was by far his most prized imitation, being the closest replica to his Mona, save for the fact that she had dark green eyes and gleamed and shone against candlelight instead of pale green ones that sparkled in the sun. Alas, this was the closest he would ever get to having the original Mona gaze down at him so tenderly and with such fondness. 'Why do you look troubled, my Star?'

'That's one more that looks just like me.' She leaned into his touch, her closed eyes making her look like the real deal. 'After you... check her, what if you decide you like her more than me?' Hoshii pouted up at him and his heart nearly exploded from his chest. Yes, he could tell them apart, but to the... untrained eye, each girl could be easily confused with Mona in two (or three) glances. The Balladeer had to admit that when he started his little collection, he'd indulged himself a little in that fantasy. The girls were very eager to please him when they woke up, happily snuggling and grinding against him as they smothered him in tender touches. He only let them because they looked like her. Archons, what is he going to tell the original when he ultimately ended up capturing her? 

That's right, he had a search warrant already out for anyone who looked and dressed like her. Sooner or later, he was going to catch the original (where is she anyway?!) and how many imitations of her would he be hoarding by then? Definitely, a situation that would be hard to explain himself out of.

'Hoshii! You can't just hog the Master all day!' another girl tumbled onto them, landing prettily on his lap as she hulled herself up to kiss him on the cheek, pulling away with a smug smile. Ah, this was the one with the exactly pale green eyes, but her hair was one shade off the original's dark purple. She was still absolutely stunning, though.  

'Runa! Don't pounce on me like that!' He growled playfully, cradling her in his arms, cuddling her. Wow. He was really getting used to the skinship. Runa was more affectionate than the others, able to completely disregarding his shouts and curses at the Fatui men that came in and out of his quarters. Like a cat, she would make herself comfortable on his lap, even going as far as to nap on him. 'And you know I cherish you all equally.' All the imitations, that is. Once he got his hands on the real deal... that would be a completely different story. 

'Cheh. I can't believe you're still fawning over the Master like that. Can't you see our sister is right there on the verge of death?' the hill of bodies looked up to behold another version of the girls. She was dressed in the Balladeer's outerwear, its shoulders too broad for her small frame but she made it work somehow, tying a sash tightly around her tiny waist, bringing the entire outfit together. She'd changed from her soaked pajama pants into his sleeping shorts as well. The sight of her in his clothes made his cock jerk in appreciation. 

'Ooooh, it seems that Master likes what he sees, Kirei!' Runa wiggled playfully in his lap and he blushed. He'd named her Kirei for a reason. Unlike the mage he first saw, this one was... curvier where it counted. She had the right colour hair and eyes but it was something about the shape of her oculars that was different. They were more almond, while Mona's was more catlike. All in all, Kirei would have been a hit if she were to appear in Liyue unannounced as if he would ever allow that to happen without him around. She even had a beauty spot above her lip that added to a more sophisticated look. 

The oriental-looking woman blushed, turning away. 'W-what's there to see? We all look the same, he'd react to you the same way he'd react to any of us!' With that, she turned her nose up and strutted away from them, looking almost disgusted. That attitude was initially what got him wondering if Mona had recently gotten a sunspot on her face that his men did not tell him about, but as the clones kept pouring in, he knew it was likely that she was just another imitation. 

'Guys, shut up already! She's waking up!' the last girl hissed at the harem and its master. She was the one who reached the fifth girl's unconscious body first. This girl was entirely different in every shape and form. The only thing that linked her to the rest was her uncanny resemblance to the rest (of course) and how fucking stubborn she had been when he'd approached her. She'd fought to evade him, even going as far as to cut her luscious locks short when his men had grabbed her by it! The only way he'd managed to convince her to come with him was by showing her the rest of her "sisters" 'She's got your eyes, Kirei, your hair as well. You have to see this!' 

Wait. He was supposed to be the first one that got to a look at every newcomer.

Hurriedly, he shrugged the girls off to plod over to the girl, Runa yelping as she was slipped off his lap, with Hoshii sliding off lazily to stretch herself out onto his king-sized bed. 

'Hi! My name is Ryusei, at least that's what my sister says my name is, I'm quite sure that weird dude over there picked it. I don't really know what my real name is, but I'm just rolling with it for now. Hey!-' she yowled when the Balladeer practically shoved her out of the way. He didn't really pamper her like the rest of the girls. This one was the kind that needed... what did people call that notion? Tough love. Talking to her nicely only made her take advantage of you, he learned the hard way. 

'My name is...' That voice. Oh, how he'd missed it. 'Scumbag? What the heck are you doing here? A-and all these... did she say sister?' He never thought her insults could sound so sweet. Then again, it could have been because he was so used to the other girls. Especially Ryusei and Kirei.

'Mona.' he spoke her name breathlessly and her eyes lit up at the sound of her name. Perfect pale green eyes, framed in cat-like lashes. Her hair, the exact shade of plum, fell flawlessly against unblemished porcelain skin. He didn't need a whiff of her to know she was the one he was looking for. The original. 'There's so much we need to talk about.' 

'Hey! Why does she get a normal-sounding name and I get Ryusei?' the short-haired clone whined over their little reunion and Scaramouche growled at her, causing the girl to flinch. He quickly bundled his mage into his arms, noting her curves and how she seemed to fit better in his toned arms. Perfect. She was simply perfect. 

'W-what are you doing!' the mage struggled in his arms while Ryusei cheered her on in the background. 'Unhand me at once, you dirty little...' 

'Oooh? I like this one.' Kirei watched the Balladeer wrestle with Mona in his arms, trying his best to fend off her attacks without dropping her. 'I wonder why she isn't named in the Master's tongue?' 

'Special treatment! This is special treatment!' Runa bounced up and down on the bed, jostling Hoshii that was snoozing nearby. 

'Calm down, Master Scara is probably off to give her a once over. Maybe put her in new clothes? She's been through enough for today, Runa.' Hoshii waved the overly energetic girl from her face, eager to go back to sleep. 

'What do you mean once over?! What are you going to do to me, you pervert?!' Mona screamed, Ryusei cheered louder and Kirei covered her mouth to hide a giggle. 'Put me down right now you gremlin!' He ignored her cries, squeezing her tighter to his chest as he kicked an adjacent door open, quickly made his way through it, and kicked it shut with his foot. His attention solely focused on the woman in his arms. The original. 

His Mona.  

'What's up with her?' Runa whispered over to Ryusei, flinching when the sound of shattering pottery crashed in the background. 'Can't she see how hot Master Scaramouche is? What I'd give to be back in his arms again!' she hugged herself dramatically while Ryusei rolled her eyes. 

'It's called having an inkling of self-preservation, Runa. Not everyone jumps on the first good-looking person that rescues them, you know?' The short-haired woman clicked her tongue as squinted through a gap in the sliding door. 'Not to mention, unlike the rest of us, she seems to recognize him. Seems like she's not fond of him either.' Another crash. 'We should probably harp on that fact a little more than "but he's hot!" Come on, Runa, you only think he's the best because you haven't seen a decent-looking man beside him yet. We were on a snow-covered mountain for goodness's sake.'  

'Ryusei has a point. Remember that pretty blonde man with his little braid and sparkling teal eyes? I'll never forget his face till the day I die!' Hoshii piped up eagerly. 'Do you think sister Mona would know anything about him?' 

'By the Gods, this isn't the time for that!' Kirei interrupted the three girls. 'Listen. They're starting to calm down. It seems that Mona has grown weary of hurling the Master's collection of pottery at him.' 

'Why have you brought me here, and how did you find all my specters so quickly?'

'A thanks would be nice, you know. And maybe a sorry too. Do you know how much all this stuff cost? You couldn't pay me back in your lifetime!' 

'Answer the question, Scaradouche!' Ryusei's eyes widened with excitement, mouthing an 'Oh my God did she really just call him that?!' to Kirei who merely shook her head. 

'You mean Runa, Hoshii, Kirei, and Runa?' Scaramouche listed the girls off in order of when he found them. 'I should be asking you that question!' 

'You-what-y-you named them?!' Mona sputtered. 'You can't just do that!' 

'S-so what and why not? I found them, I get to name them!'

'Archons.' The mage swore. 'You're getting emotionally attached to them, aren't you? What day and time is it?' 

'It's just past dinner and no, I am not getting emotionally attached to them!'

'You've had them for less than half a day and you already named them in your native tongue!' 

'Big deal! I-I just needed a way to differentiate them.' 

'What if I told you they were the property of the knights? Are you willing to give them back?' 

'Fuck no!' The distinct sound of a table-flipping reverberated through the room. 

'My point exactly!' 

'Why are they talking about us like we're just things?' Runa frowned. 'What does Mona mean by property of the Knights? Who are they?' 

'Ah, it all makes sense now.' Kirei curled a knowing finger under her chin and the girls turned to watch her intently. She raised a brow. 'Don't you get it? Us all being in the same place in that cave, having no recollection of each other yet looking strikingly similar in more ways than one?' The girls shook their heads and Kirei sighed. 'We're essentially copies. Body doubles. Which is why we don't have an aim, or goal, or memories to even speak of.' 

'Wait. Does that mean we're basically clones? How are you okay with any of this?' Ryusei screeched, tripping over Runa's legs to hobble over to the curvier woman. 'What's going to happen when they, the knights or whoever, decide they don't need us anymore?!' Kirei looked at the short-haired girl sadly and shook her head. Honestly, she had no idea. 

'I was doing fine hunting the first one down when a group of your goons ambushed me!' The girls perked up at the source of information. 'You can't give them new memories of you, it's hard enough for me when they fuse back with me! I retain all the memories they had running through Dragonspine! Hey! Why are you looking so guilty for?' 

'So we fuse back with her.' Hoshii nodded in acknowledgment before blushing. 'And she gets our memories to boot.' 

'Why are you turning red all of a sudden?' Ryusei pointed an accusing finger at her fellow clone. 'D-don't tell me y-you and the Master...' Hoshii blushed harder, avoiding eye contact. 'Oh ew, Hoshii, when?!' 

'It isn't what you think!' the girl blushed redder than an apple, flailing her hands in front of her face. 'I-it was during his inspection of us. He asked me strange questions about the stars and how he disliked them. His demeanor changed when I said I didn't study the stars. That was when I realized he was looking for someone, and I didn't fit the bill. The fact that he had Runa under his care kind of tipped me off.' 

'Now you're just changing the subject!' Ryusei cut her short and she shot her a glare. 

'W-well he did save my life and I was very thankful. So I asked him if there was anything I could do to thank him and...' Ryusei made a disgusted face. 'Shush, as I said before, it's not what you think! He asked for a kiss, which I thought was rather mild. I expected worst, so I obliged.' 

'That doesn't sound like something that would make you blush so hard though.' Kirei prodded further and Ryusei turned to look at her, distress clear in her eyes. The woman smirked and continued. 'It wasn't just a kiss, was it?' Hoshii turned away jerkily. 

'Ah well. It was kind of hot and heavy... there was...' At this point, Ryusei had already plugged her ears. 'Lots of tongue and um...' she gestured two fingers in a come heather motion. Ryusei gagged while both Runa and Kirei hooted. 

'Lucky girl, did you manage to finish?' Runa wrestled her into a nuggie smothering her till she let out a meek "yes". 'Nice. At least I'm not the only one-' She stopped herself but it was too late. The rest of the girls had picked up on her slip up. 

'Oh? It seems the Master has been rather indulgent with the both of you. I like to think both Ryusei and I've been spared.' Kirei giggled giddily. 'Being the first one of the bunch of us found, I'm guessing he was... less innocent with you?' 

'He was um... more forceful with me and I kind of liked it...' Runa touched her fingers gingerly and Ryusei groaned. 'He was mad when he first saw me, even more so when I said I didn't recognize him. And he really got up in my face about it... Oh, c'mon Ryusei, he was hot!' Runa shot the traumatized girl a glare when she heaved again. 'I'm not gonna mince my words, okay? He told me he would help me remember who I was and I said, fine. We had this tussle while my clothes were still wet, getting his soaked as well. I think he took his clothes off to intimidate me or something so I did the same. It... kind of got weird after that.' 

'How weird?' Hoshii raised a brow, now interested in the sordid details. 

'I bit him and he bit me back and then um.' Runa licked her lips and popped them nervously. 'I sucked him off.' Hoshii muffled a scream and even Kirei's eyes widened a fraction. 'I don't know how to describe it he was really breathy and his body went completely limp when I started on him. He was pushing my head down and everything so-' 

'I thought we all woke up with no memories of anything?' Ryusei's voice was shrill, you could see the gears working overtime in her head. 'How did you just know that you were supposed to do that with his... that!' 

'I-I don't know! I just sort of knew, you know?!' Runa blurted out. 'I have all these memories of romance novels in my head where the hero saves the damsel in distress and um... all that that comes after! Let's stop talking about this! So far we know that we're all Mona's clones and Master Scaramouche has done weird things to two of us that Mona is going to find out about when she inevitably reabsorbs us along with our memories. What else?' 

'If he's indirectly made out with her through Hoshii and gotten a blowjob from Runa, then would the next thing he wants with the real thing be...' Ryusei figuratively did the math on her fingers. 'O-oh.' 

'W-what are you doing?' 

'I just wanted to check something, mage... Stay still.'

'G-get away from me!' 

'How about stopping the Master from royally screwing up his chances with our original before she ends up hating him forever or worst, killing him?' Kirei jerked her head towards the commotion that was starting up again behind the doors. 'I mean, he obviously likes her a lot, why else would he have done out of his way to collect all of us?' 

'Guys, she managed to bring him down with his own hat!' Hoshii wailed from a peephole she made in the paper door. 'I can't watch this, I'm going in!' 

Neither of the girls was quick enough to dive after her as she forcefully slid the door open, leaping into the path of one of Mona's hydro turrets. 

Memories swirled through her head. Mona saw visions she somehow recognized but didn't remember participating it. She saw the familiar scene of the five clones encountering each other. Experienced the split-second panic that raced through their mind before they bolted. Felt the blistering cold as the clone ran through Dragonspine; confusion of not knowing where or what she was. Weakness that washed over her when she finally surrendered to the cold. Her meeting Scaramouche in his quarters. He looked at her almost tenderly, then they- 

'You pervert!' she screeched, growing red as her mind involuntarily recounted the steamy moment she shared with the harbinger. 'She didn't even know the first thing about you!' By the time she came to her senses, the Balladeer was surrounded by a harem of women who looked almost exactly like her, a fact she was well acquainted with since she was partly to blame for this entire mess. But what else, Archons forbid, did this weirdo do with the rest of the girls while she'd been out hunting the first one?!

'M-Ms. Mona! Please have mercy on Master Scaramouche!' A girl with similar coloured eyes as her but darker hair pleaded with her. The way she addressed the Balladeer only made her angrier. How dare he teach an image of her to address him as her Master?

'Don't call him that!' She barked, feeling slightly guilty when the bunch of them flinched. 'Just how many of them did you touch, you disgusting man!' She pointed an accusatory finger at him that shook slightly when she remembered the feeling of his fingers in her. She squeezed her thighs together. Damn him and his stupid talented fingers!  

'Ms. Mona, I'm so glad to finally meet you.' A more oriental-looking form of herself appeared before her in a blink of an eye, grabbing at her hands before she could fire off another bolt of hydro energy. 'I'm not interested in violence, in fact, I'm more interested in the stars, just like you are. Perhaps we could sort things out with other ways, hmm?' Mona shivered at the specter's taunting gaze. It was weird enough cloning herself five times, but interacting with a clone that looked, sounded, and spoke just like she did was on a whole new level. 

'Kirei, get away from her! She's going to reabsorb you if you aren't careful!' Scaramouche wrestled with Runa who sat indignantly on him in an effort to weigh him down. It didn't help that Mona had gotten a few hits on him while she was lobbing miscellaneous items at him. 

'Relax. Can't you see that as body doubles we wouldn't be able to maintain our form for much longer? Just look at Ryusei over there.' The entire group turned to look at the short-haired girl who was shaking in a corner of the room, her clothes were soaked through as her form started to waver just like Hoshii's did. 'It seems we weren't made to last forever, Sir.' The woman chose her words carefully, still holding the struggling mage at bay. Ryusei in question looked up in acknowledgment of her given name. 

'Ryusei? Is that her name?' Mona turned to look at the shorter-haired version of her. She looked weaker by the second staring right back at her with a look of terror. 'Come here, Ryusei. Your memories will live on in me, there's nothing to be afraid of.' Kirei carefully let go of one wrist allowing Mona to hold a hand out for the girl who crept hesitantly towards the mage. 

'No!' The Balladeer struggled harder against Runa, who'd jammed a leg under an oak-carved desk to weigh herself down. Not his Ryusei too. He didn't particularly like the girl but he hated the thought of losing yet another copy to the original that now stood before him. This was altogether a bad case of wanting your cake and eating it too but the Balladeer didn't care. He knew for a fact that Mona would never treat him as warmly as the others had. Archons, Mona was right. He had grown emotionally attached to the group of imitations and now he's paying the price for it. 

'Balladeer, you can't keep her in pain just because you want her around.' Mona mumbled as the specter lost her form with a splash just as her fingers touched her gloved ones. Her eyes squeezed close as the ball of energy phased into her. The familiar memory of running through endless white snow was blasted front and center in her mind. Again, the memory of the harbinger flashed through her mind. He didn't touch her. The only consistency between the girl he named Hoshii and Ryusei was the fact that he saved them from a painful fate. 

'Of course, that goes for you as well, Ms. Mona.' Her eyes snapped open to meet mischievous ones. The woman named Kirei eyed her had her exactly figure from after puberty had formally hit her just a few months ago, filling out her curves so ardently it made herself blush. Mona glared at the woman questioningly and she laughed. 'Surely you must realize that the Master is quite fond of you?' 

Scaramouche? Fond of her? What nonsense!

The imitation seemed to read her mind or maybe it was her expression of disbelief because her face morphed into a more amused one as she giggled. Mona had no idea that was how she sounded to everyone when she herself laughed. 

'Well of course! Did you think he would score the whole of City looking for anyone with "pale green eyes, long plum coloured hair and an unhealthy obsession with the stars" if he didn't?' the grip she had around her wrists tightened and she led the mage closer to where Runa had the harbinger in an armlock. How she did it? Mona had no idea, she only knew that the petite specter had somehow managed it. Mona was still in such a daze from absorbing Ryusei, she didn't notice Kirei planting both her hands on the Balladeer's chest. 

'W-what are you doing?' she attempted to pull her hands back but the woman seemed to have the strength of a bear, holding her firmly to him. She looked down at the harbinger, tired from craning her neck to meet the specter's gaze. He stared back up at her intently, almost in shock, as if he couldn't believe that she'd bring herself to willingly touch him. Well, she wasn't exactly willing, she just somehow didn't really mind having her hands on him. Familiarity from Hoshii flooded her senses and she practically melted into his gaze. 

'Scara...' his name slipped from her lips before she could stop herself, drawing a gasp from the Balladeer. 'N-no wait I didn't mean...' 

'Ah... so it works.' Kirei chuckled, looking rather happy with herself. She confidently let go of the mage's hands to climb off the Balladeer, aiming to restrain his wrists next. Almost automatically, Mona scooted closer to him, closing the gap between them. A hand straying to trace up the sides of his face gently while the other massaged at his chest. His breath hitched.

'H-Hoshii is that you?' Scaramouche recognized that look. The only difference was that her hair was the right colour now. Perhaps it was his soul-deep denial that he would ever be able to win Mona. Not this easily. The woman above him frowned.

'You've got a lot of guts calling out another woman's name at a time like this, Balladeer.' Irritation flashed across the mage's eyes and his mouth slammed shut. This was Mona. The one and only Mona whom he'd been tirelessly keeping tabs on and she was being... Nice to him? 'I don't understand why I feel like this all of a sudden. You saved all those girls, maybe touched a couple from what I can deliberate... But she consented to it and all her feelings now it... It's almost as if I... like... you?' Her confession came out from nowhere and thank the Gods she had a hand over his heart because that line could damn well make his chest explode.

'How sweet.' the couple snapped their heads up at Kirei who purred, fastening her grip on the harbinger's wists and easing her weight onto them. 'Now you, Runa.'

'W-what do you want me to do?!' The girl disentangled herself from the mess of limbs. She was sweating, or at least she looked so.

'Go on, touch him. You're the only know who knows how to.'  The adjacent woman balked, looking between the harbinger's legs. A tent slowly but surely pitching itself under his shorts. By just staring at Mona? 'You know you don't have much time left.' Runa whipped her head up to glare at Kirei but was distracted by the look the harbinger was giving his muse. He was in a daze as she delicately stroked from his chin to the side of his cheeks. He was unblinking, almost as if believing the mage would disappear if he did. Jealousy bubbled in her gut. She could make him feel like that as well, she was a clone after all. Not forgetting that she'd done the deed before!

Scaramouche's eyes widened when he felt his draw shorts come loose, but he simply refused to look down to check things out. Mona was slowly but surely drawing closer, her lips so close to his he could feel her breath on them. He just had to wait patiently for what seemed like Hoshii's fondness for him to sway her. What he didn't expect was a familiar wetness to take him into its depths swallowing his cock with one fell swoop. The suction was just too much for him and he groaned out just as the mage's lips met his, swallowing his moans. She was in a daze, kissing him just like he had when he'd found Hoshii the first time. The sensation of Mona's lips somehow being both on his length and lips was overwhelming, he couldn't help but buck his hips and struggle against an unseen force that held him down. 

'R-runa...' he managed to gasp out earning another frown from the mage who pull apart from him, a line of saliva was the only thing left connecting them. God, he missed her lips already. She turned to look at a vision of herself, languidly suckling on his length and her eyes widened, mouth hanging slightly open at the sight before looking back at him. The woman down south didn't relent and he choked out a pitiful moan all while staring at Mona's bewildered face. He must look so pathetic to her now...

'You should really stop calling out another woman's name you know?' she broke into a grin before turning to look at Kirei who was having a bit of trouble holding the Balladeer's wrists down. 'Let him go. And you.' She turned to regard him once more. 'You're not allowed to touch her, or any of us for the matter. Or you'll never see me again.' The hold on his wrist vanished and his hands flew to grab at Runa's head when he managed to stop himself. 

'He's so obedient.' Kirei cooed as the harbinger gripped at thin air, not knowing what to do with his hands. She shared a sadistic smile with her original, who smirked back at her devilishly.

'M-Mona...' her name rolled off his tongue like a prayer. 'I don't -unf!- I-it's not what it -ah!- looks l-like.' A crescendo of laughter seemed to echo around him. Through hazy vision, he caught sight of two Mona's looking over him. They smiled the same, laughed in the same tone. He looked down to find another with his cock down her throat and groaned. He's dead. Somehow, he'd managed to die and go to Mona heaven. Or maybe it was hell because he wanted to at least fuck the real one so badly yet he couldn't tell which one she was in his delirious state. She'd even gone and said she'd disappear if he as much as touched one of them! Hell. He was definitely in hell. 

'Yes, Scara?' one of the Monas replied but it sounded wrong. Different. He panted as the one between his legs slurped particularly hard on him. 'What is it, Master?' Okay, that had to be the imitation. The real Mona would never- 

'Master? You called?' Dazzling pale eyes beamed down at him. Fuck. Now what? 

'No, the real one. I want -mmph!- the real -Ah Gods!- the real one.' He could barely think, only beg. Every little suckle drove him higher to the point of desperation. Mona #1, he decided to label them now (who cares about naming them anymore?), stretched an open palm onto his chest, and dug her nails in. The pain-pleasure bringing him to even greater heights. He growled, arching his back in an effort not to cum. At least he knew the one between his legs wasn't the original one. Mona would never... 

'Should I take over, Master?' Mona #2 brought a teasing finger up to her lips as she fluttered her lashes at him. Her offer nearly made him have an aneurysm. He tried to calm himself down as much as he possibly could for someone in his situation. Think, Scaramouche, if this Mona would do it and the original Mona wouldn't, that could only mean... 

'Not unless I go first!' Mona #1 pushed herself off his chest and out of his field of vision. 

Aw Fuck!

There went his carefully thought-out reasoning. Now he had to deal with Mona #3 since he wouldn't be able to tell them apart when he looked down. The Gods were playing a mean prank on him and they knew it. 

'Scara.' His eyes refocused on Mona #2, or was it Mona #1, he didn't know anymore, who gazed down at him, stroking his hair from his now sweaty forehead. 'Do you want to cum?' He would slap her if he was allowed to touch her. What kind of question was that?! 

'Yes.' He hissed out just as the suction turned into gentle uncoordinated tugs. He couldn't begin to wrap his head around how many hands were on him. 

'Ask nicely.' Mona #1 (fuck it, he'd start from the beginning) pouted, dipping her lips mere centimeters from his. A tongue darting out to lap at his lips teasingly. 

'P-hah!- Please!' His breath caught in his chest when the tugging became more insistent. Too much, everything was too much. He scarcely perceived a smile from the woman as her lips met his. Fireworks lit up behind eyelids he didn't notice he'd screwed shut as he climaxed with a strangled moan. He could feel the woman grin through their kiss before she stiffened at a slight breeze that whisked past them. She moaned into his lips, the jerking of his cock slowly to a more rhythmic pump as he continued to spend himself. He barely noted how there wasn't a mouth over him when his seed splattered across his stomach and oozed down his thighs.

Mona #1 withdrew from him in a daze, her pale green eyes clouded over as if she was coming down from a vision before bringing a sticky hand to her lips, tasting him. Had it been her hands all along? He wanted to ask but the words escaped him. 

'So that's how you taste.' She mused, licking every bit of him off her meticulously, each delicate finger to her palms and down her wrists. Gods, he'd really cum buckets from her little torture session yet he felt himself harden again at the sight of the mage happily lapping his seed up. 'Oh, you're up again.' Thanks for stating the obvious, genius. He wanted to snap at her when she brought the same hand down to poke at his hardness, causing newfound urges to bloom in his nether regions. 

'Ms. Mona, I think it's about time that you-' Mona #1's eyes widened and she brought a hand up to her lips to shush her partner but it was too late. The harbinger had managed to connect the dots and was sitting up quickly to survey the room. Mona #3 was gone, which only left Mona #1 and #2. If #2 addressed Mona #1 that formally, it could only mean... 

'Did you do that on purpose?!' his mage wailed, backtracking from him but to no avail. He was on her in an instant. 

Mona would be lying if she said she hadn't felt drawn to the harbinger the first time she met him. It wasn't wise to take him on the first time she encountered him, not with Fischl and Lumine in tow. His power levels were way off the charts. And in a peaceful city like Mondstadt? It was just asking the Knights to kick her out for starting a ruckus with the Fatui. Yet it was the same power that pushed to scry after him, but no matter how much she looked during the clearest of night skies, she could never spy even a glimpse of his constellation. 

This curiosity was only lit anew when Lumine returned with word that the harbinger wasn't even human to begin with (which made perfect sense!), and that he was a prototype vessel created by the Electro Archon, supposedly destined to rule over Inzauma in her absence. Lumine had been worried that given free will, the harbinger was likely searching for a way to create more puppets like himself, while she -as well as Albedo- was more interested in learning about the logistics behind the entire creation. 

Which was what got her into this crazy situation in the first place. What was she thinking, imitating a God for Archon's sake! The plan after she subdued the first clone was simple. Find the others and suppress them the same way she had the first one. But she was quickly surrounded by Fatui goons, who knocked her out and presented her on a silver platter to the Balladeer! The man in question, who then attempted to feel her up on the account that this was just regular protocol now that he was amassing his sick Mona-look-alike harem. So no, kissing Scaramouche was not written in her stars this night. 

That was until a clone had jumped to his defense when she shot him with a particularly potent bout of hydro, effectively quelling her. Much to the harbinger's noticeable dismay. The memories that filled her from the clone were overpowering and so different. Mona reckoned it was because she had 'lived' longer than the first one she encountered but quickly brushed it aside when she saw a vision of both her and the Balladeer entangled in each other, lips locked with his hand disappearing into her- she didn't want to think about it!

However, it was the emotions that coursed through her when she witnessed the scene that caught her off guard. She'd fully expected the harbinger to have forced himself on the unsuspecting clone but found no trace of disgust in her memories. The clone had consented to the act, and judging by the emotions that followed it, Mona dare say she enjoyed it. So of course, Mona, the curious and inquisitive soul that made her who she was, simply had to try it out for herself, didn't she?

It was supposed to be a peck on the lips, just a little one. But the clone's feelings and recklessness ate at her, egging her on as if to urge her to partake in the feast that was his lips. She did, and he had the audacity to call her by that clone's name. How dare he! Right when her, the original had... lowered her standards to him? She'd kissed him back fiercely. No one took Mona, the greatest astrologist of her time, for granted. And Archons, he felt good; tasted so good she could barely describe it, the clone's feelings singing in the background as she drank him in like a bee to nectar. 

The cheeky specter he'd named Kirei, Mona made a mental note to question him on all their names, set Runa on the vile task of taking his manhood into her mouth. She should have been disgusted, repulsed even. But watching an image of herself do something so dirty only made her loins catch on fire. His face said it all, complete and utter ecstasy, so much so that he struggled to form proper sentences. She never pegged him as such a man who would enjoy such debauchery but who would she know? She wasn't the one that was more than a millennia-old. 

She was without a doubt, completely taken by his vulnerable state. She didn't know she had it in her, didn't really bother that the first word out of his mouth was the name of the clone nestled between his thighs. Still, her sadistic streak reared its ugly head when she'd gazed down to meet his pleading eyes and she decided to tempt fate. 

'You're not allowed to touch her, or any of us for the matter. Or you'll never see me again.'

She'd said and was giddy with power when he actually listened. The enabling of the cheeky clone didn't help either, as she'd unleashed her full perverse intent on the harbinger, imitating the tone and formalities of her fellow clones. The confusion that riddled his face was delicious and Mona could have reveled in it forever until Kirei brought her attention to Runa. The poor girl was shaking like a leaf by the time she noticed her, eyes imploring the mage to absorb her already. So she did, after sharing a look with Kirei, she sent the curvy clone to rescue the poor girl from her predicament. By that, she meant stopping her from choking on the thick piece of meat between her lips. Mona's jaw felt sore just watching her. 

Mona barely had time to distract the harbinger when Runa practically leaped into her touch with a sigh of relief, not before casting a longing glance at the Balladeer himself. It was at that moment that Mona knew she was in trouble because of this one. The emotions hit her like a ton of bricks. Bitter jealousy shook her to her core before wanton want for the man she was harassing overtook her. That was when she kissed him a second time, and by the sevens did it feel different. Coupled with the affection from accidentally canceling the second clone, her initial curiosity of him morphed into lust for the man. She didn't even have time to process Kirei curling her fingers around his length to pump him as he twitched in her hand. Everything seemed to come naturally, her lips on his as he thrust into her hand hysterically. At one point, she'd wanted to take him into her mouth herself!

She'd barely come down from her high when Kirei innocently called her by her more formal greeting, instantly snapping her out of her haze. It didn't take a renowned alchemist to put two and two together and she watch in horror as the Balladeer sprang up (among other things) to look around the room. He'd quickly noted that Runa was now missing, leaving just the two look-alikes in his room. She could see the light bulb above his head light up when his eyes landed on her. She immediately looked towards the last remaining clone to see her grinning like a Cheshire cat. The bitch had played her! 

She'd barely gotten an accusation out when the Balladeer pounced on her. She landed on her back just in time to hear the sliding door click shut. 

'You're going to pay for what you did to me, Mona.' Scaramouche purred into her ear and she gulped. It didn't help that with all the girls' memories and feelings still swirling in her head, his voice managed to sound alluring and even sexy. Oh man, she was really going to pay for tempting fate, wasn't she? 

'A-aren't you going to chase after Kirei? She just slipped away.' Change the topic and deflect. That was something Lisa had taught her, it was something she was going to put to use now. She deflated when the harbinger chuckled. 

'I like to think that she's giving us some privacy. You don't expect her to spectate us when we go all the way, do you?' he buried his nose in her neck, biting and sucking so hard she was sure it would mark the next day. Current day Mona would have snapped and cursed at him for thinking he had the right to do such filthy things to her, instead she mewled happily under him. 'You have no idea how long I've held out for this moment, mage.' His words made her heart flutter. Archons, she had to get it together before they did something they'd both regret!  

'You've got to be joking, Balladeer.' She made a halfhearted attempted to shove him off but her stupid brain was too busy celebrating the weight of him on her. Her feeble attempts only made him laugh more. 

'Mona... can you feel me right now? Come on, it's not like you haven't already.' he guided her hand to his hardness, encouraging her to give him a few light pumps. 'Does this feel like I'm joking to you?' 

'I- um...' Mona made the mistake of looking between them. The sight of his erection made her mouth water. Stupid feelings and stupid memories! She didn't finish her sentence, gulping audibly instead and lifting a leg to give him better access. She wanted to feel those fingers so badly. 

'Ah... and here I thought you would make me wait.' he dove down, covering her mouth with his roughly, hands seeking the honeypot between her legs. He groaned when he dipped a finger into her molten heat. 'Sevens, you're so wet, Mona. Was it the sight of watching yourself go down on me, or all the memories the girls had imparted to you that made you like this?' Everything! She wanted to scream at him as his tongue collided with hers. 

He didn't bother with the second finger, immediately positioning his member at her entrance as he eased into her. She yelped and begged him to go slower, the second leg immediately going up as she tried to spread herself even wider for him. The bastard shook his head. 

'I'm going to enjoy this, Mona.' He dipped the tip of his cock into her entrance, pulling out and easing even deeper the next time around. 'I'm going to take my time working my way into you. Fill you up, mage. Fuck you so hard you'll feel me for weeks.' Gods, why did he have to say it like that? She whimpered under him, not sure if she wanted him to stop or to just ram himself home already. The memories from all the girls confused her to no end. 

'You promise?' Stupid, stupid girls! Mona inwardly cursed as she blurted out more words that would only serve to spur him on. The Balladeer growled, clenching his fist so tight she was surprised it didn't draw blood. 

'Fuck, Mona, you're making this so bloody hard for me.' He was telling her this now that he was practically halfway into impaling her with that steel rod of his?! She couldn't help but shoot him a glare and he growled, hissing through gritted teeth. 'Don't look at me like that, my Star, you'll make me lose control.' 

'Do it.' She whispered breathlessly, giving in to what she'd now resolved now to be her conscience. The tirade of voices wouldn't shut up otherwise. She was defenseless against them. Not to mention how gently the Balladeer was attempting to be with her. It made her heart melt all over again. And for all his talk, he looked like he was in pain, not so much the pleasure she saw on his face earlier on. He'd suffered enough. Both of them had, and they were both due for their rewards. 

'Fuck no, Mona, you're too tight.' His arms shook around her as she chipped away at his resolve. She never thought she'd be in a position where she'd literally have to force a man to screw her, let alone a harbinger at that. 

'Just do it already!' She sniped at him, canting her hips to give him even better access. She could have sworn his legs buckled a little. Just a little more. 

'Well, ask nicely!' She stilled, his reply completely throwing her. Was he really fighting with her at a time like this? Well. Two could play at that game.  

'For me, Master Scaramouche?' she drew his title out as much as she could, even going as far as to wrap her legs invitingly around his waist and coiling her arms around his neck before she threw in the kicker. 'But you promised.' And pouted. 

She watched a metaphorical string snap in his head (she could have missed it if she as much as blinked), and his painful expression transformed into a cruel perverted one. 

'You're gonna regrets saying that Mona.' snarled at her, his voice now deeper and more threatening as he pushed himself in without drawing out, grunting as her tightness coiled and pulled him in deeper. 'You want this, don't you? Always have, since the day you saw me.' He gasped when he bottomed out in her, punching the tatami mats as he fought to keep himself off the edge of his orgasm. 'Stars be damned, Mona, you too fucking tight.' 

'That's b-because you didn't -hng!-' She whimpered when both of them tried to adjust themselves, him being in her and her accommodating his size. 'Prepare me enough!' 

'Prepare you? You were -Ah, Gods!- fucking leaking all over the place, woman!' hands grabbed at her hips to stop her from wiggling. Unbeknownst to her, she was slowly getting him off with each squirm of her hips. 'Archons, tell me you're okay with me moving already.'  

He didn't wait for her to reply, already easing himself out shallowly before surging back into her with a blissful moan, cursing and muttering under his breath. His grip on her hips traveled up to her tiny waist as he proceeded to move her entire body on him while he gradually picked up his pace, slamming into her. Her legs flailed from either side of his shoulders, falling apart into an obscene spread eagle from his ministrations while she moaned in abandon. Her moans were punctuated with little hitches of breath each time his cock kissed her cervix. 

'Faster... faster... Master...' Mona had long abandoned any rational thought. The only feeling she was chasing was that of her climax, a feat she was extremely close to thanks to the harbinger that was rutting above her at the very moment. He gratefully picked up the pace and she yelped when he brought his head down to lap at a nipple. Hands falling from his shoulders to tangle in his hair as she tugged him close to her chest. 'Right there, Scara, Gods you're gonna make me cum!' 

She screamed as her orgasm hit her, completely uncaring that the men outside would hear her. The Balladeer followed quickly behind her, spearing himself into her in earnest as he shot his load as deep as he could manage. The searing heat from his spend only served to prolong her orgasm, each twitch of his cock triggering a mini quake throughout her entire body. They panted before she pulled him down for a blistering kiss in appreciation. He returned it passionately, moaning into her lips and embracing her in his arms to cuddle her. Another memory that she was familiar with because he'd done the same to her imitations.  

'I didn't peg you as the sort that would cuddle after sex.' Nonetheless, she nuzzled into his hair, clenching around his cock playfully. He wasn't making a move to pull out and really, she was feeling quite sore. 

'Fuck off and let me have this, Mona.' he grumbled into her neck, weakly sliding his semi in and out of her. The friction sparked tiny shocks of arousal in the mage and she shivered under his weight. It didn't go unnoticed by the Balladeer. 'Oh? Ready for round two already? Sevens, you're hard to please, aren't you?' Mona gasped dramatically, modestly slapping at his back to kick him off when he laughed. 'Don't worry, my Star, there's more where that came from. Don't you worry.' 

His confidence made her blush harder as he impishly bit into her shoulder, latching on as leverage to position her leg more comfortably around his waist. 

'W-wait, Scara...' She wiggled uncomfortably, accommodating the familiar stretch in her pussy as he grew harder in her, filling her up once more. 

'Fuck, I love it when you say my name like that.' Mona yelped when she felt him twitch violently in her, hands flying to brace herself against his shoulders. 'I could stay in your cunt forever if you'd let me, my Star...' 

'You're going to break me at that rate.' She refused to meet his eyes. The man really knew how to say the filthiest things. 

'Oh, that wouldn't be good would it?' his voice was soft, almost gentle as he pulled out to thrust himself back into her harshly; a distinct contrast between words and action. 'Especially since I plan to keep you plugged with my cock for the better part of when we're alone together.' His statement made her head spin. 

'You can't do that!' she wailed, nails digging into his arms as he rammed himself into her. 'T-the -hnn!- knights will wonder where I am. They're probably -Kya!- looking for me n-now.' Her statement didn't seem to sit well with him, his thrusts becoming more and more violent. 'S-Scara I'm serious... Umf!' 

'First, you take all my girls away and now you want to leave too?' his voice was grave and possessive, sucking hard on a pulse point of her neck. 'That won't do, Mona...' She didn't want to leave either. In fact, a reckless less rational side of her wanted to stay in this moment forever. But reality would quickly catch up with them whether they liked it or not. Lumine and Albedo would have alerted the Knights by now. She didn't need Kaeya (of all captains) walking in on all this.   

'You know where I am, where I live.' She managed to gasp out, his thrusts growing more erratic and hard to match. 'F-fatui diplomats are -hanh!- everywhere. I couldn't run from you even if I tried. A-at least until you get tired of-Ah!' It was true, no matter how hard she peered into her stars or attempt to avoid him, fate had always brought them together. There was no use fighting it. 

'No, I want you to want me.' his voice came out as a strangled moan as his hips gradually lost their rhythm. 'I want you to want this.' Archons, this man was infuriating! Did she have to spell it out for him?! 

'I do. Gods, I want everything, Scara. Oh, fuck...' Her orgasm took her by surprise and spasmed around him, mouth opening to scream but nothing came out. The harbinger above her eye's jolted open in shock and he swore loudly, hips bucking sluggishly as it fought to pull out and push back into her tightening core.   

'You got to give a man a warning -Ah, fuck... fuck... fuck...' Hot seed splashed into her womb as if to drown it in its potency. The Balladeer flattened himself onto her greedily, hips bucking spasmodically as he continued to spew into her tight canal, riding out his climax. Mona wound her legs so tightly around him she thought her legs would cramp up. 'You... must be crazy if you think I'll give this up, mage.' 

'Too much.' Mona squirmed under him, her lower belly feeling way too hot and tight. 'I'm too full, Scara, stop...' 

'Once more, my sweet.' He pushed into her again, forcing his own cum to squirt lewdly from her opening and dripping onto the abused tatami mats. His hardness had barely wavered. 'I don't think you quite understand what this entire situation means for you yet, mage...' Hooking her legs on his shoulders, he pushed down on her. The pressure of him leaning on her belly squeezed more of his spend from her aching hole. He didn't care. 

'You said you wanted everything, my Star, and I never break my promises...' 

He ignored her whines of protest that steadily turned into pretty pleasurable moans of delight, relishing the way she moaned for him. She was his in all shape and form, and he would keep her around until she learns it. 

'Hey, wait! Isn't that one of them?' the group looked towards where the pixie was pointing and caught sight of the familiar astrologist hobbling along the path to Good Hunter. She was leaning heavily on a branch that acted as a convenient walking stick. 'If she knows he way back to the city, she should be the original, right...?' 

'Only one way to find out.' Lumine interjected, essentially slapping the pixie out of the air to run-up to the limping mage. 'Hey, Mona! Is that you? We've been looking everywhere for you!' She turned, and Lumine caught a heavy scent of Sakura Bloom and Dendrobium flower. A peculiar scent for someone who had recently hiked down a snow-capped mountain. Her face was flushed and a scarf thankfully covered her neck, Archons know how she made it down the mountain in such unforgiving temperatures without turning into an ice cube. Was that a bite mark on her shoulder? 

'L-Lumine! I was about to go looking for you but I didn't know where to start! There's so much I need to tell you about how the clones work a-and..' the mage flushed more as if remembering something. 'I was going to write everything down and discuss it with everyone. But it's late and I thought everyone would be in bed by now... '

'Are you crazy? We literally watch you get kidnapped by your own clones! Who would be able to go to sleep knowing that?!' Paimon asserted, flying up into Mona's face, attempting to check her for injuries. 'We managed to catch one, but she turned back into a water phantom and disappeared before we could ask where the others were. There's still four more on the loose!' The mage chuckled and waved the pixie away. 

'I figured out really quickly that when they dissipated, I was able to reabsorb them. I took out the remaining four before coming back here.' 

'All by yourself?!' Jean ran up to the party, taking her turn to inspect the mage. 'You do seem quite roughed up. Why are you limping? Your knees aren't scrapped. Did you twist your ankle on your way down?' The grand master's fussing drew a nervous laugh from the mage as she shifted from side to side away from the blonde's prodding.