Chapter Text
News of the newcomer joined into the harbinger rank was spreading among fatui. His feat was marvellous as he raised from the lowest rank member to the highest position. It was an impressive record considering he was the first youngest person to be a harbinger. As a welcome party, Tsaritsa gathered everyone for the celebration.
The party was dull. Everyone only came to see the new harbinger. Dottore was no exception since the new kid caught his curiosity. He saw a ginger young man with a big grin on his face. The young man looked like a friendly and outgoing person, the opposite of Dottore’s personality.
While he was busy examining the new kid, The Eighth Member of Harbingers, the Fair Lady Signora, came forward and spoke to him. She wore a beautiful draping dress to flaunt her beauty. Dottore sneered at the rest of the invited guests, who were stunned by her gorgeous looks. Those people had no idea how old she was.
“What do you think of the new member?”
Dottore rolled his eyes and took a drink from a servant. “Seems like a brat.”
Signora chuckled at his answer. “Well, you are not wrong. However, he makes a good pawn, don’t you think?”
“We can always use him as my experiment if he becomes a failure.”
He spun his drink and sipped it. The alcohol felt burning in his throat. Dottore watched the figure of the new harbinger from afar. He had a great potential to be a strong experiment. A tall lean build filled with packed muscle. If the scientist modified him, he would focus on enhancing his speed and making his attack more critical.
Dottore must make a note about this.
Signora raised her eyebrows. “Where are you going? The event is not over.”
“Back to my lab. This is a boring party anyway.”
Dottore was never a fan of the crowd. He always left and got back early from any gathering. As usual, he returned to his lab instead of his room. At this point, Dottore had lived his life there. He spent his time tinkering with machines, making a new way to enhance his creation or creating a new abomination. Since sleeping on the floor or cramped couch was uncomfortable, he had a separate room to take a rest in that place.
A few days had passed since the party. Dottore had nothing to do since he had finished his job. That man did not have new material for the experiment, the other harbingers were busy with their mission, and his subordinates (somehow) managed to escape before that man dragged them to misery.
What a boring day.
As he was about to tinker with his new creation, he saw Childe run to his lab. Dottore smirked at the sight of a rat entering the snake den. There were multiple ways to enter his lab, one of which was directly from the front door. However, Dottore put his machine creation in the front yard to protect his lab. All of them were active and ready to maim any intruders who did not know better.
This must be another harbinger quest considering no one told him about the safe entrance. Perhaps it was Pulcinella test for the new kid.
Today might be an interesting day after all.
Dottore put a teabag in a cup of hot water while humming. Normal people would run at the sight of the machine. He expected the same thing for the new kid. The Mad Man cackled, took his cup of tea with him and watched everything from the window.
This was going to be a good show.
Childe stared at the trap in front of him. Five Ruin Guards were sitting on the ground. The moment he stepped in, they would awake and attack him. More automaton slept behind them. Near the entrance were two Ruin Hunters and one Ruin Grader.
Dottore sipped his drink. Most of the newcomers ran into tears or screamed like a girl after facing his creation. He wanted to see the new recruit end up the same way. That boy would realize his limit and be a feeder for his experiment.
That was what he thought until Dottore noticed Childe was smiling.
He stepped into the field and took his bow. The light on the Ruin Guard's eyes went red as they awoke from slumber. Childe snipped their weak point, yet failed a few times because of his awful accuracy. Dottore only laughed at the scene, it was clear that he was terrible at archery.
Childe was sighing, realising his action was futile and would consume too much time. This was not the best situation to practice his least usable skill. He stared at his bow and changed his mind. Instead of using the bow, that kid threw his arrow with all of his strength. Dottore spitted his drink after he saw the whole thing. The arrow penetrated the Ruin Guard's weak point and went through its head.
The new kid was strong.
STUPID STRONG.
Childe switched his stance from ranged to melee. A water polearm manifested on his hand. Dottore assumed it was an ability bestowed by vision. He was quite interested in the skill and would like to have an experiment with it. By the time Dottore snapped back to reality, Childe had finished the first opponent. Five Ruin Guards were broken on the ground
while smaller automaton-like Ruin Cruiser and Ruin Destroyer attacked him. Childe used his mask and activated his delusion. The combination of pure raw force and electro-charged finished the enemies quickly. He must be going through rigorous training to achieve such a feat at a young age.
After some minutes of fighting, he finally moved to the last boss. Two Ruin Hunters and a Ruin Grader might be too much for him. Childe decided to gamble everything and switched form to Foul Legacy.
At this point, Dottore had pressed his face against the window for a better view. He had never seen such a glorious power in his entire life.
Childe returned to normal after beating the final boss. That man stretched his body before moving back to his mission. “Phew, that was fun! Thank Tsaritsa I only use Foul Legacy for mere seconds.”
The Ruin Grader fell to the ground. Childe then walked away to enter the building. Before he reached the doorknob, Dottore had already opened the door. That man rushed out of his lab to meet him. Childe being the youngest member was staying polite and greeting his senior. “Nice to meet you! I’m the new Eleventh Harbinger, Tartaglia. Tsaritsa told me to greet all Harbingers. I hope we can work well in the future.”
The young man was surprised when Dottore knelled down on his knee. He held Childe’s hand and stared deeply into his eyes.
“Will you let me experiment with your body?"
Tartaglia was not amused by his confession. His answer was as dead as his eyes.
“No.”