Chapter Text
When you enlisted in the Fatui, you thought you’d be fighting. A lot.
What you didn’t think you’d be doing was this.
“Gaining intel” on the Knights of Favonius—which is just stalking each and every single knight until you find out the very obvious truth that they are, in fact, not a threat to the Fatui. Your supervisor tells you “you’re the only person who can do this!” when in reality he’s either throwing you to the wolves or think you’re a nuisance on the battlefield.
Either way, by now, you’ve learned the daily routines, traumatic events (break ups, divorces, their superiors, etc.), and basically everything about every single knight including a few of the garrison commanders. You’ve hand-written and submitted countless reports on them as well.
Now, you’re onto your next big target—the vice-captain of the 5th company. His name is Lohen, you believe.
He’s a hard one to pin down—the mint-haired fellow. You try to gain intel on his whereabouts through your usual sources, but they don’t wield very satisfactory results. He’s either constantly on the move or purposefully covering his tracks. Either one isn’t a pleasant conclusion for you.
Your superior keeps demanding the report, and his demands become increasingly urgent and aggressive. Just as you think he’ll have your head, you finally get a proper lead.
Dragonspine. The cold, steep peak that’s taken countless of lives.
Apparently, he’ll be there for the next whole week to run a few errands for the alchemists of the Knights. You were unsure of whether he truly was at Dragonspine, but you decide to shoot your shot (since it was your last chance anyway).
And score, because you find a small camp for one near a cave, and inside the tent is Lohen’s Knights of Favonius identification documents. It seems that you’ve found his camp, and you’re on track to finding the elusive fellow himself.
You’re hiding near the tiny camp, behind a bush, when you hear footsteps through the snow. You’ve been there for… what? Four hours by now? Tough job. Anyways, the warm hum from your pyro vision is the only thing keeping you from freezing at this point, but when you peek over the bushes to investigate the source of the footsteps, pure joy warms you up like a pyro seelie.
Finally, after weeks of effort and hours of waiting, your target was in front of you, and you stoned your resolve not to let him out of your sight. Ever.
He was wearing a dark fur coat and some plain uniform pants. His cryo vision dangled from his belt, catching some of the sunlight and flashing your eyes with the glow. His outfit looked warm, but not warm enough to survive in Dragonspine for any normal person.
But then again, none of your sources ever described the vice-captain as a “normal person.”
His hair was also oddly well-maintained for someone running around Dragonspine. Even your hair was messy, and it usually wasn’t ever because your supervisor expected your hair to be well-maintained for the “professionalism.”
He sat down near the campfire before taking out a lighter and lighting the bundle of wood. He looked relaxed—almost awfully so. It was like the mind-numbing cold wasn’t effecting him at all.
It was then that you noticed a small spray of blood on his coat and his cheeks, which could’ve come from a boar, but there was no hunted game in sight.
Your eyes narrowed, and then you noticed the blood on his spear too, which was partially stabbed into the thick snow.
You were still surveying the mint-haired man when suddenly, a small hare jumps through the bushes you’re hiding behind, causing it to rustle loudly. Before Lohen looks at the bushes (and right at you), you duck down.
You don’t hear any movement from Lohen or the creature—just the sound of wind screeching around you. For a second you think you’re safe.
And then, you feel the cold sting of a blade at your neck and a chilling gaze falls on your back.
“Well.” Lohen says, “have you had fun watching me? Stalker.” He enunciates the last word with a whisper.
Darned hare—rabbit… fuck, whatever it was.
You feel the cold, sharp edge of metal pressing against your neck further as his other gloved hand curls around your right shoulder.
“Not gonna talk?” He muses from behind you.
Instead of wasting your breath to formulate a suspicious excuse, you quickly grab the hand pressing the knife against your throat, twist it, before turning around to strike the man behind you.
It doesn’t work as well as you wish, however, because the moment you turn to face the man, he tackles you into the dirt and presses both your hands to your sides. Your pyro vision hums faintly as your heart beats from the adrenaline.
He’s not looking down at you with an expression of anger, disgust, or contempt, but rather a manic smile. His wine-red irises dig into you as he breathes, the cold atmosphere making his breath visible.
“Who sent you?” He asks, moving so his hips are on either sides of you to pin you further into the cold dirt. He’s practically sitting on you. “The Fatui?”
Whoa. Spot on.
“I have nothing to tell you.” You respond, eyebrows furrowing. You channel the power from your vision, causing flames to swirl around you both. Right before it makes contact with Lohen’s skin, however, spikes of ice rise from the ground and in the next second, your flames are gone.
“Really?” He breathes out a chuckle, leaning back to look at you with a grin. “Because I’m not sure you have much of a choice.”
Before you can pull another stunt, Lohen holds the knife above your eye with the point right over your pupil. White-hot fear shoots through every vein in your body as you try to move your head away, but Lohen grabs your hair to still you. You hiss in pain as he pulls your hair.
“Fuck you—“
But the man pulls your hair harder, shutting you up. The knife also seems closer to your eye, though you can’t tell whether it’s your fear playing tricks on you or if he actually moved his hand.
“Still don’t feel like talking?” He asks, a chuckle escaping his lips.
You suck in a sharp inhale, and you can feel your heartbeat pounding in your ears.
“If you value your ability to see, tell me who you work for.” He says, the sly smile still on his face.
This is your first time getting caught, since you’re particularly good at your job, but you also get the feeling that this will be the last time you’re caught.
You decide that the extra torture isn’t worth it, and if you’re going to die anyway, better die in a less painful way. You’ll talk.
“…The Fatui.” You say reluctantly after a small sigh.
Your answer draws a satisfied grin from Lohen. He holds the tip of the blade farther from your eye now. It’s fascinating how steady his hand is, because although it’s right above your eye, the knife barely moves.
“Next question.” He clicks his tongue before continuing to speak, “why have you been following me—trying to find my whereabouts? Pervert.”
You feel your heart skip a beat as you come to the realization that he knew he was being tailed. You thought you had been perfectly stealthy, but it seems that wasn’t so.
The question was how did he know? You had built a web of connections in Mondstadt by helping the citizens out, and the information you did gain on your targets were not from asking the people straight-up, but rather from directing the conversation to “gossip.” It wasn’t like there was anyone to tell Lohen that you were actively seeking information about him.
So you come to the conclusion that he must’ve seen or heard you. Perhaps he had always been closer than you thought he was?
Lohen lowers the tip of the knife once more, snapping you out of your train of thought and throwing you right back into the pit of molten fear.
“I was directed to. You weren’t the only target.” You say, trying to reveal as little information as possible while still answering his questions. You’re surprised you don’t stutter, considering how nervous you really were.
Lohen nods, and suddenly, lets go of your hair. Your head falls back into the cold dirt with a thud, and he withdraws the knife above your eye before pressing it against your throat.
“So you have a lot of victims, then? Is it just the knights?” He asks, tilting his head slightly. Originally, his head was blocking the sun from your eyes, but once he’s moved, you find the glare blinding.
“Yes.” You respond before swallowing down the boulder in your throat.
He nods once again before humming.
And then, he stands up before turning around to walk back to the campfire. You’re incredibly confused but prop yourself up before standing up fully and making a beeline for the trees nearby.
Except you don’t make it that far, because a huge ice wall appears in front of you. You almost run into it before melting it with your powers, except another one appears, then another.
“I could do this all day, y’know?” Lohen calls out from behind you. You turn around to see him sitting near the campfire, one arm slung over his leg. “You’re coming back to Mondstadt. With me.”
“What?” You ask, eyebrows furrowing. Why would he take you back after realizing that you’re a threat? Why isn’t he going to kill you? Will he kill you?
There were so many questions in your head, and no answers. Lohen, sensing your confusion, sighs before signaling for you to ‘come here’ with his hands.
You do, and cautiously. Clearly, you wouldn’t win against Lohen in a fight of ‘who has better control over their vision,’ so it was better to relent and find another opportunity to escape. Besides, he could probably still kill you even from the farther range.
He pats the ground next to him to tell you to sit down, and you do. He throws a few loose twigs into the warm fire before speaking, “the information you have.” He says, looking down at the glowing flames, “I could make use of it.”
It makes some sense to you, but what doesn’t make sense is why he wouldn’t just torture the information out of you, not that you’d prefer it if he did.
“I don’t know much about the Fatui.” You say. In your mind, you’d rather be discarded earlier than forced to come up with a web of lies and go down ugly.
To that, he laughs. It sounds casual—completely contrasting the wariness you were feeling.
“Not the Fatui.” He says, finally looking at you. The flames from the fire make his irises appear even more terrifying, because now they’re glowing. It looks like a never-ending spiral staircase into a dark pit you could just fall into. “The Knights of Favonius.”