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It was dark. A sea of nothingness. Suspended inside the unknown abyss, Childe had lost all sense of time and direction. How long had he been floating in there? How much time had passed?
Will he ever find his way out?
He would have tried to find the light. Break free from the intangible prison he was trapped in. Yet, there, he couldn’t muster the strength to move, let alone fight. A sad state he found himself in — weak, pitiful. Where was the raging torrent in him that he was so proud of?
Suddenly, the world shifted. He couldn’t see it, but he could feel it; the rumblings, the minute quakes that reverberated. The pitch black that enveloped him swirled, gradated into gray, and finally broke into a blinding white. He felt himself disintegrate along with his surroundings, his ears buzzing with indiscernible noises. He felt himself being pulled up by an invisible force, not an inch of his body was within his control, and…
Pain.
That was the first real sensation he could feel from his body. He cracked his eyes open and immediately shut them as he was met with the bright glare of fluorescent lights above him. Childe let out a grunt as he pried his eyelids apart once more, slower this time to allow himself to adjust.
“Ah. Perfect timing. You’re finally awake.”
A woman’s voice. Bold with deep, hidden edges. He knew who that voice belonged to.
Childe slowly turned his head to his side, a person donning ash and ebony standing a few feet away from his bed.
“Arlecchino. To what do I owe this pleasure?”
He had intended to sound snarky but his voice ended up croaky and hoarse from lengthy lack of use and dehydration. It only made him sound comically pathetic.
Damn it.
If Arlecchino noticed, she paid no heed to it. Instead, she moved closer to the bed. The corners of her lips tilted up slightly but her eyes were cold and calculating. A predator seizing up a potential prey.
Childe pushed himself up into a sitting position. He felt the throbbing around his head and the sharp pain of broken ribs around his torso.
Child’s play. Nothing he never experienced before.
“Don’t get too sentimental, I’m only here for an errand,” said Arlecchino.
“Of course,” Childe scoffed. He didn’t expect anything else considering the only affiliation he shared with the Fourth Harbinger was matters related to the Fatui. Cold and professional, the only way one should be with other Harbingers. Despite that, Childe was relieved that the Knave was the one in his hospital room, the lesser evil of all evils. Sure, he was indifferent to her but at least he didn’t harbor any resentment toward her. In fact, Childe could admit that he secretly harbored a semblance of respect for her, largely due to her running The House of Hearth.
“Do you remember everything that has taken place in the past few weeks?” Arlecchino asked.
“That’s a loaded question considering a lot has happened.”
“Well, recall them. Her Majesty is requesting a report on what occurred in Fontaine and I want to make sure I did not miss anything from your side.”
“Right,” Childe sighed. Truly no rest for the wicked. Here he was, sitting with mortal wounds in a Snezhnayan hospital and he was already coerced into work.
Again, nothing new.
He massaged his bandaged temples, coaxing for memories to flood his head. Some appeared to him in a fuzzy haze, some fell upon him hard like an unwanted brickload.
“Well, I came to Fontaine because of Northland Bank errands, but truthfully I probably ended up there because of an abyssal calling.”
And so he began to tell her of the agitation he felt. How he lost control of his Vision, the beginning of it all. Being charged guilty without a cause by The Oratrice and banished to the Fortress of Meropide. Heeding the mysterious calls that have been reckoning him. Swimming through the underground ocean and encountering the whale that had been haunting his dreams.
And then, an endless, ferocious battle. It gave him euphoria unlike any other but after a while, things had turned hazy. His body went on autopilot, his mind drifting away from his grip. There was only a moment of pure clarity during this encounter.
Lumine.
When the whale managed to break through the dimensional walls into the Opera Epiclese, Childe was at the end of his wits. Then, he saw her. Saw the fear and worry across her face. Fear for the dire consequences of the hydro monster running amok the nation. Worry, for his fate. A glimpse of her face had given him enough willpower to shatter the fog clouding his mind and replenish the strength he thought he had lost, Enough to push back the monster to where he belonged out of the sheer desire to protect those precious to him.
Of course, he didn’t convey this particular information to Arlecchino.
“And after that, the next thing I know, I’m already here,” Childe ended with a shrug.
“I see,” Arlecchino nodded. “That is everything, right?”
“Everything pertinent to the Fatui and Her Majesty’s goal,” Childe replied. “Other than that, I have the right to keep some things to myself, just like every other Harbinger.”
“Hmph. Ever so uncouth to your superior,” Arlecchino retorted. “Though I suppose you do have some use other than collecting debts and being a ruthless war machine.”
“What do you mean by that?” Childe narrowed his eyes.
“My informants have told me that if it wasn’t for you keeping the monster at bay from going on a wild rampage in the overworld, things would have been much more dire,” Arlecchino explained. “So I would like to express my gratitude. Thank you, Tartaglia, you are a factor that helped us escape Celestia’s sentence upon Fontaine.”
Childe blinked. Okay, he didn’t expect to be told that. The last time he allowed his rage to take over, he had made an enemy of an entire nation. Now, he has helped prevent the destruction of a whole nation. Apparently.
So this is how it feels like to be a hero, huh?
“You’re welcome?” Childe replied, unsure how to perceive the situation he didn’t intend to manifest.
“Well, now that’s done I have to return to work,” Arlecchino said. “Oh, and before I forget, a delivery for you.”
Arlecchino tossed a small, hard object onto his lap, along with a small envelope tied to it.
“This…” Childe’s eyes widened.
“I won’t be your courier service next time,” he heard the other Harbinger say.
Childe picked up his Vision. The small, blue sphere in the center gleamed brighter and clearer than he previously remembered.
“I promised that I would get it back from her,” he muttered.
“Breaking your promises. Not exactly impressing the lady are you?”
Before Childe could retort back, Arlecchino had continued on. “I’ve heard rumors previously, about you and the traveler. I thought they were just speculations made by grunts and agents with too much time on their hands. Now I know that you are the one with too much free time.”
“I didn’t realize that the esteemed Knave is privy to gossiping,” Childe smirked.
“There’s no such thing as gossip. There’s only information with varying degrees of importance.”
Childe rolled his eyes. “So you’ve heard rumors. Are you here trying to confirm their validity from me?”
“I have no need for that,” Arlecchino shrugged. “I’ve come to my own conclusion after finally meeting Lumine.”
“Great. Then there’s nothing more to discuss in that regard. My personal life is none of your business.”
“It is not,” said Arlecchino. She placed a hand underneath her chin. “Although it is a shame.”
“What?”
There’s something in the way Arlecchino stared at him that made his skin crawl. That alerted his fighting instincts awake.
“It’s a shame that dear Lumine had to settle for the lowly Eleventh. She could do so much better than that.”
If Childe wasn’t bedridden, injured with several broken bones that rendered him unable to move, he would have unleashed the sharpest hydro blade and struck Arlecchino with it.
All Harbingers are predators. Each of them was trained to hone their instincts to detect the threats of other predators without fail, the basic qualifications for the rank.
And right then, Childe could feel the threat emanating from Arlecchino. The unspoken challenge of trespassing his territory and taking away what’s his .
He sure as hell won’t make that happen.
“Nothing can hold Lumine down,” Childe hissed, eyes narrowing at the Fourth Harbinger, “she wouldn’t remain somewhere she wasn’t happy in and if somebody held her against her will, she would find her way out. If she chose to stay at a place, it is only because she wanted to.”
“Indeed, the Traveller is an elusive bird,” Arlecchino replied. “All I’m saying is, she could give a bit more thought on where she decides to plant her nest.”
“Why you…”
“I have to go now,” Arlecchino said dismissively. She turned abruptly and started heading towards the door. She paused by the doorway, looking over her shoulders back at Childe.
“Whatever you do, do not derail her from her ultimate goal,” Arlecchino said. “She might just be the key piece that could make Tsaritsa’s vision a reality.”
“I couldn’t even if I tried,” Childe replied. And with that, Arlecchino walked away. Childe felt the tension in his muscles melt away the moment he was left alone in the room. An encounter with another Harbinger is always stressful, but Childe didn’t expect their conversation to circle around Lumine. His Lumine.
If possible, he wanted her away from all of them. For more reasons than one.
“Talk about a rude awakening,” he huffed to himself. He laid himself down, plopping his head back onto the pillow. He heard a rustling sound from underneath him the moment his body made contact with the mattress. What was that?
He shifted and pulled out the object from underneath him. Oh right, the envelope. He flipped the small paper to its back, a scribble was written on it.
To Childe.
It was written in Lumine’s handwriting. Childe felt the corners of his lips tilting up. He pried open the envelope and pulled out the piece of paper inside excitedly. His day was about to get better.
Ajax,
You broke your promise.
Uh-oh.
You promised you wouldn’t do anything reckless. You promised you wouldn’t use your Foul Legacy’s powers too much. You promised you'd come back to take your Vision back from me. None of that was kept. If I didn’t already care so much for you I’d hate you so much right now.
Dear Tsaritsa. Please don’t let this be a break-up letter. His heart won’t be able to take it.
You have a lot to make up to me. I can’t make time to come and see you right now. Or maybe I don’t want to. I’m still so angry at you. But I hope you’re recovering well. Once you’re well enough, come and see me in my teapot. We’ll talk.
Yours,
Lumine
Childe let out a sigh of relief. Lumine was furious. That was expected and he’ll own up to all of his faults.
Yours . His.
At the least, despite all that he had done, she was still willing to be his.
Arlecchino may be right. Lumine could have anyone in the world, people who are better than him in many ways.
But one thing he was sure of is that no one else in the world could treasure her the way he does.
Childe held the letter tight against his chest, a wide smile stretched across his lips.
He had a lot of planning to do to appease Lumine’s anger. And he was surely going to remind her that she has been and always will be at the forefront of his mind.