The sun was beginning to dip towards the horizon as the small, strange, and surprisingly successful, adventure team made their way back towards the welcoming gates of Mondstadt. They were tired, they were covered in a fine layer of dust and Regisvine ash, and they were all, in their own, unique ways, incredibly happy.
They paused on the bridge leading into the city, the gentle, evening breeze a cool, welcome balm. Bennett, his face a mixture of pure, unadulterated joy and a familiar, ingrained, and slightly apologetic, melancholy, let out a long, happy sigh.
"This was the best adventure ever," he said, his voice full of a sincere, heartfelt gratitude. "Thank you guys, so much, for being a part of Benny's Adventure Team for the day." His expression then shifted, a shadow of his usual, self-deprecating bad luck clouding his joy. "I just know," he sighed, "that you probably could have found even more treasure if my bad luck hadn't been… you know… getting in the way."
The reaction was immediate, and unanimous.
"Hmph! Such a foolish notion!" Fischl declared, her voice a dramatic, and surprisingly, loyal, pronouncement. "The whims of fate are a fickle, chaotic tapestry! To attribute the absence of a gilded coffer to one's own, mortal aura is an act of supreme, and unfounded, vanity!"
Oz, in a rare, moment of direct, personal agreement, chimed in, his voice firm. "Indeed. What the Prinzessin means to say is, do not be so hard on yourself, Bennett. The day's haul was most impressive."
"That's right!" Klee added, her small fists clenched with a fierce, unwavering loyalty. "That's not true at all, Bennett! You were a great adventurer today!"
But it was Ren, who had been listening with a quiet, thoughtful expression, who truly, and finally, reframed the curse. He turned to the perpetually unlucky adventurer, his glowing azure eyes full of a new, brilliant, and wonderfully, kind, logic.
"Bennett," he began, his voice calm, steady, and full of an unshakeable conviction. "What are the normal things you find on your treasure adventures? When you go alone?"
Bennett blinked, a little surprised by the direct question. "Oh, uh… well," he stammered, "usually… cabbages. Sometimes a sweet flower. They're delicious, though!"
"Right," Ren nodded, his expression serious. "And today. Think about today. Our adventure had so much treasure, right? Mora, artifacts, even a few precious gems. But… you didn't find any of it, did you?"
Bennett's face fell a little. "Well… no. You guys found all of it."
"Exactly," Ren said, a small, triumphant smile on his face. "So isn't it clear what happened? You didn't find any treasure… because you were too busy protecting us."
Bennett stared, his mind a complete, baffled blank. "Protecting you? But… I didn't do anything!"
"Yes, you did," Ren insisted, his logic a beautiful, shining, and utterly, wonderfully, irrefutable, thing. "Your bad luck… it's like a magnet, right? It pulls all the unlucky things towards you. So while we were looking for treasure, your bad luck was busy. It was pulling all the traps, all the falling rocks, all the… the angry cabbages, away from us and onto you. Your simple presence and your bad luck meant that Klee and I were safe."
He looked at the stunned, speechless adventurer, his eyes full of a pure, sincere, and deeply, grateful, light. "That's why we were so lucky today. If you hadn't been here, I am absolutely sure that Klee and I would have been the ones stuck in all the unlucky situations. But we weren't. Because you were there, taking all the bad luck for us. You were our shield. Our hero."
The new, brilliant, and incredibly kind, perspective hung in the air, a beautiful, shining re-framing of a lifetime of misfortune. Bennett's bad luck was not a curse. It was a superpower. A protective, selfless, and incredibly potent, shield.
Bennett stared at the small, smiling boy, and his mind, for the first time in his entire, unlucky life, began to see his own curse in a new, and wonderfully, heroic, light.
"And honestly," Ren finished, his voice full of a quiet, sincere, and very genuine, hope, "right now… I am not a part of any adventure team. But I would love to be a part of Benny's Team. I would love to join, whenever I'm in Mondstadt."
"Me too!" Klee immediately shouted, her hand shooting into the air. "I want to be in Benny's Adventure Team forever!"
"Hmph!" Fischl declared, with a grand, regal, and very proud, toss of her golden twin-tails. "The Prinzessin der Verurteilung does not merely 'join' a mortal endeavor! However," she added, a rare, genuine, and almost shy, smile on her face, "she would be honored to grant her divine, sovereign patronage to the noble and heroic 'Benny's Adventure Team' from time to time."
"We're in," Oz confirmed, with a happy, affirmative squawk.
Bennett looked at them, at the strange, powerful, and utterly, wonderfully, loyal, group of friends who were now all, officially, a part of his team. His team, which had for so long consisted of just one, very unlucky, member, was now a full, and very formidable, party.
A single, hot, and very happy, tear traced a path through the dust and the grime on his cheek. He wiped it away with the back of his hand, and a grin, so wide, so bright, and so full of a pure, unadulterated joy, spread across his face.
"Okay," he said, his voice a choked, happy sob. "Okay. You're all in."