Chapter Text
A cold rainy night in Mondstadt, the rain hitting the ground making a pleasant noise. It was calming, if it wasn’t for the soft whining of a small child interrupting the these sounds. The whines seemed to get louder and stronger as heavy footsteps drew closer to the source. It seemed to be a child, no older than 6 or 7. He was stumbling through the muddy terrain, only having a ragged coat to keep him warm, at least it was supposed to as it was drenched by now.
As the rain didn’t hit him anymore all of sudden he looked around confused to find a cape, shielding him. Following where it came from he met the gaze of a man, a man with a mask covering half of his face, whitish hair and an almost familiar aura.
“What’s your name?”, The man asked, breaking the silence between them. The kid however continued it. The man watched him a while, before he opened his mouth to ask again. The kid suddenly mumbled something inaudible, now facing the ground. “Speak up!”, The man commanded harshly, making the kid wince.
Both exchanged looks before the older one just sighed and crouched down to the kids level. “Look, I’m not going to hurt you”, he said, “I just want-“ “Kaeya” The man looked quite surprised as the kid suddenly spoke up. “My name is Kaeya” The kid now faced the ground again.
“Well then, Kaeya, call me Pierro”, the man said and put a hand on Kaeyas head,”why are you here?” Was he getting soft?
The kid looked back up at the man. “My father wanted to get juice for us, for the journey, but he hasn’t come back”
“Stop lying”, Pierro hissed coldly. Kaeya didn’t flinch this time. “I am sorry, my father told me to say that” “Then why are you really here?”
“I’m supposed to spy on the people here”, Kaeya said, falling into a short silence. He knew Pierro expected a reason for that. “I do not understand why” Pierro looked at Kaeya for a while, deep in thought.
“Well, if you do not know, then forget about it. I’ll take you with me. That way you’ll be safe”
No, he didn’t go soft it seemed. He was just recruiting a new member for the Fatui. Raising a child as one, would normalize this life for them and increase the loyalty, that would please the Tsaritsa, wouldn’t it?
Before Kaeya could react he was picked up by Pierro and they started walking along the muddy path.
Kaeya clutched to the fabric of Pierros cape. It was warm, it comforted him, along with the odd familiar feeling he got from this person. Soon exhaustion washed over him and his eyes fell shut.
Near the border to Liyue, Pierro looked back once more to see a man searching the darkness with a lamp before returning to the mansion. It seems he was looking for Kaeya as the source of the whining previously.
Pierro just mumbled something before turning his gaze to Kaeya, who was now sound asleep. He still clutched to the cape and Pierro wrapped it around him like a blanket. A tiny smile seemed to form on his otherwise stoic face before continuing his way back to Snezhnaya.
“I have high hopes for you, Kaeya, don’t mess up”