Aboard the Alcor, cutting through the restless sea, Beidou secluded herself in the captain's quarters.
Shame gnawed at her, certain her crew mocked her behind their weathered hands.
On deck, her sailors hauled ropes and scrubbed planks, stifling grins that betrayed their thoughts.
Who could've guessed their fearless captain would star in the broadcast's latest jest?
Paired with Ningguang, her supposed rival, twisted into a romantic farce no less.
The crew swapped glances, their mirth barely contained beneath her shadow.
Yet whispers crept among them, seeds of doubt taking root in salty air.
In Liyue, beyond her fleet, Beidou spent more time with Ningguang than anyone.
Their public spats masked a bond that might, just might, hold deeper truths.
Perhaps the spoof wasn't pure fiction, a glimmer of reality in its absurdity.
Both in their mid-twenties, neither courting suitors, lonely nights could blur lines.
Beidou's grit outshone Keqing's, her spirit forged in storms and tavern brawls.
After a bout of fury and flushed cheeks, she steadied herself, mask intact.
She stormed onto the deck, her glare daring any soul to crack a smile.
The crew averted their eyes, shoulders quaking with suppressed laughter.
"Laugh out loud, and you're dangling from the prow!" she snarled, retreating inside.
Their heads swiveled, guilt and glee warring as they bit their tongues.
Eventually, they scurried to the bow, snickering in hushed, conspiratorial tones.
Back in her cabin, Beidou uncorked the broadcast's gift, a sleek spirits cask.
Its carvings promised to refine any brew poured within its oaken belly.
"Really now?" she muttered, skeptical, tipping her flask's contents inside.
Minutes later, she popped it open, a potent aroma curling into the air.
Her eyes sparked, and she took a hearty swig, savoring the burn.
"By the storms, that's a fine kick!" she crowed, wiping her lips.
The trade-off—her dignity for this liquor—still stung like a fresh lash.
Laughter leaked through the planks, her crew's restraint crumbling at last.
"Looks like the prow's getting crowded today," she growled, veins pulsing.
She flung the door wide, their pleas for mercy swallowed by her thunderous stride.
Meanwhile, atop the Jade Chamber, Ningguang's composure frayed at the edges.
Her trio of secretaries, caught giggling, now swayed beneath the floating palace.
Her image—ruthless wealth, piercing gaze, beauty unrivaled—lay in tatters.
She'd carved her legend: a titan of trade, Liyue's radiant star.
Now, the broadcast painted her as Beidou's moonstruck paramour, a ludicrous twist.
Outrage simmered, her refined world upended by this crass jest.
She and Beidou, a pair? Their every trait clashed like storm and stone.
Attitude, habits, essence—all opposites, irreconcilable as sea and sky.
Both unwed at twenty-six, yes, but women pairing off? Absurdity piled high.
"What game is this broadcast playing at?" she hissed, head throbbing.
She drew from her new pipe, its clean draw a small balm amid the storm.
The gift mocked her, tempting her to snap it over her knee in spite.
"That outsider, Xander, could he be tied to this madness?" she pondered.
Suspicion coiled, her mind tracing threads to the stranger from beyond.
At that moment, a fiercer tempest breached her door—Keqing, eyes ablaze.
Across Liyue, in his humble rental, Xander prepped for his next draw.
A violet bolt shattered his window, crackling with indignant fury.
Keqing landed, cat-eared and silk-clad, her blade a hair's breadth from his throat.
"Confess, are you the puppetmaster of this Second Creation Broadcast?" she demanded.
In one hand, she clutched Skyward Offal Blade Technique, her revenge primed.
Should he admit it, that book would find its way into his mouth, she vowed.
Xander froze, the air thick with static and her unrelenting glare.
The Shadowfang Blade at his hip hummed, sensing the storm's edge.
He'd poked the hornet's nest, and now its queen had come to sting.
Beidou's crew, Ningguang's wrath, and Keqing's blade—all his doing.
The broadcast's echoes rippled, a tide he'd unleashed on Teyvat's shores.
His draw would wait, this confrontation a prize he hadn't bargained for.
Keqing's fury crackled, a thunderclap poised to judge his silence.
Liyue bustled beyond, blind to the clash brewing in its quiet corners.
Xander's jests had summoned this reckoning, a storm of his own making.
***
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