Chapter Text
The Delusion Thief is chained to the wall, hands bound behind his back with thick metal cuffs. He's kneeling, because his bonds are too short for him to stand upright - but most Snezhnayans would have been forced to sit or else strain their wrists. Childe can't see the man's eyes past the thick tangle of red hair plastered over his face with sweat, blood and grime, but he can tell from his posture that he's conscious.
There are two corpses in front of him. Both out of his reach, both Fatui guards. Their delusions are in shattered pieces on the ground.
"Rise and shine," Childe greets with a playful lilt, shutting the cell door behind himself. "You've caused us quite the bother."
"Good."
Hoarse voice - has he been crying? Or one of the soldiers tried choking him before meeting their unfortunate end. The Delusion Thief raises his head to look at Childe, revealing the smattering of bruises across his skin and that his left eye is swollen shut. He's young, as young as Childe is, but he still looks capable of the countless murders he's been accused of.
That in mind, "I'm Tartaglia, Eleventh of the Fatui Harbingers. Please, call me Childe."
He nudges one of the corpses out of the way with his foot - the soldier has been burnt to a blackened husk of his former body - and sits himself in front of the prisoner.
"You're my executioner?" He asks.
Childe shakes his head, "The others would never trust me with something so important; I'm pretty new around here, you see."
"Right."
"What's your name?"
The Delusion Thief considers him for a moment, squinting his right eye. It's rather dark in this cell, with just one lantern by the door. It was probably much brighter when that soldier had been burning alive.
"What do you want from me?" He asks, rather than providing an answer.
"Well, I suppose my colleagues want you to stop murdering our men. But I…" Childe leans over the prisoner, so that he will feel the Harbinger's breath against his face, "I just want a good grade, in all honesty."
That admission gives the other man more clarity, guessing - "Because you're new? They are testing you."
"Ah, smart and pretty," Childe pets his cheek, digging his fingers against his jaw when he tries to bite the offending digits. "Damn, a rabid puppy? Sandrone's playthings are always so obedient as well."
"I'm not the passive type," he says, forcing his mouth open against the pressure of Childe's hand.
The two corpses make that abundantly clear.
"Feisty is a lot more fun," Childe concedes. He drops his face, smirking at the pink splotches where his fingers dug in between the violet bruises. "Very, very pretty," he adds, both honestly and to frustrate the prisoner.
But he appears wise to such taunts now, especially once Childe has stopped invading his space. "If you're a Harbinger and you are being tested, then you are either here to torture me or to butter me up."
"You think our organisation is so savage?"
"How else do you think I got these bruises?"
Hm, true - "I think we can both agree that you are in a much better condition than your attackers over there."
For the first time, the prisoner tilts his face towards the men he has killed. The charred man behind Childe and the more human-looking one a metre or so to their left. Zigzagging scars pattern his arms but his lifeless eyes are still intact and staring onward.
"So you're trying to butter me up," he concludes.
"I'm trying to appeal to your sympathy. All the other Harbingers think I can just fight - my missions have largely been 'leave no survivors, cause no problems'."
"Am I supposed to be feeling sympathetic towards you or towards your victims?"
Childe tuts despite the smile creeping at the corner of his mouth, " Me , of course. My colleagues think I'm totally incapable of diplomacy and strategy. That's why I'm ranked so low."
Eleventh out of eleven total… Completely unfair. An insult, honestly, on top of his childish codename. You behead one woman with 'sovereign immunity' and suddenly you cannot be trusted to leave the country.
"I don't think torturing me is going to help your reputation." Out of someone else's mouth it would seem like a plea; a wimpy trick to keep themself safe. The Delusion Thief sounds unbothered, however, continuing - "I'm not going to help you either way, though, so feel free to work through your options."
Childe doesn't need him to cooperate. He needs him to become more amicable.
"I already have the information I need - you showed your hand with that third soldier."
He has been a prisoner here for over thirty-six hours. About every twelve, they sent a guard in to force some water down his throat. The first guard never finished his shift, neither did the second; both dying in this man's cell. However, the third person to enter did manage to leave, sans four fingers lost to frostbite and a case of hypothermia that might have killed him off by now.
The first soldier had a pyro Delusion. The second an electro one, the third a cryo one. The name ' Delusion Thief ', well, all they had known previously was that some redheaded foreigner in a cloak was tearing through their ranks with a stolen electro delusion. Both Arlecchino and Capitano failed to apprehend him, with the former being hospitalised for her efforts. The Harbinger to finally arrest him was Pantalone - who does not carry a delusion.
"It's such an interesting ability, to naturally control delusions not made for you~" Childe says, thumbing over the loop on his belt that he usually clips his delusion onto.
"Only useful for fighting Fatui." The man counters.
"You're not even trying to deny it?"
"The evidence has been thoroughly laid out." He nods towards the corpses.
Fair enough, "I know I said that I already have all of the information that I need, but there is one more thing I'm curious about. Aside from your name, of course."
"Yes?"
"Obviously, you turned those delusions against their masters, but why destroy the delusions too?"
He could have kept them around to use against anyone else who might enter the cell without a delusion - after all, not every Fatui soldier can use one safely. Or he could have tried to use one to break out of his chains, or to at least warm himself up in this cold cell. Childe is wearing a coat, but he has been stripped down to just a tattered shirt and trousers.
The prisoner thinks about it, for long enough that Childe starts to become bored of looking at his pretty face. But he is glad he stayed when he finally replies - "Call me Diluc."
"Really?" Why reveal a name now, and after a question with no relevance to that discussion?
"I don't think you will be killing me all that soon," Diluc explains, smiling a little, "so I would rather you call me by my name."
Maybe Childe truly is awful at diplomacy, because he leaves that interrogation with a new resolve to keep their prisoner alive and even well-fed, whilst Diluc surrendered only his first name to Childe's questioning.
~~~
"- In conclusion, the 'Delusion Thief', otherwise called 'Diluc', is prime Harbinger material." Childe argues in front of the other Harbingers.
Though Scaramouche is presently on assignment elsewhere and Arlecchino remains too injured to attend. It's not a full assembly, but nine is still a better turnout than Childe had expected for a meeting called by the newbie.
"He has murdered hundreds of our forces," Pantalone points out, actually reading through the papers Childe handed out. "Forcing our soldiers to defer to him could weaken their loyalty to the Fatui. Is the risk worth the reward?"
"Reward? Regardless of his strength, he holds no fidelity towards the Tsaritsa. There is no benefit to bringing him into our ranks." Signora's argument makes sense, and Sandrone and Capitano nod their assent.
Childe brushes her off, "The Balladeer wasn't originally loyal to the Tsaritsa, and even Lord Pierro isn't native to Snezhnaya. Hell, Arlecchino would happily betray us all to further her own ambitions, even now."
"Do not speak against the Knave when she is not present to defend herself." Pierro warns.
Childe had been most surprised at his attendance. Pulcinella had previously explained that as the first of the Fatui Harbingers and their leader, Pierro only appeared at the most crucial of meetings. Childe first saw him at his own induction ceremony, and not once more in the six months since then. For him to RSVP to his summons at all was shocking, for him to RSVP 'yes' had been mildly panic inducing.
And then he'd reminded himself that they are both Harbingers, both loyal to the Tsaritsa. Pierro may have authority over him, but Childe has been acknowledged by their Archon just the same as he has.
Even so, he keeps Arlecchino's name out of his mouth as he continues, "I think that having someone with the heavy-hitting capacity to render our own weapons obsolete is more valuable than you all believe."
"I agree with you," Il Dottore pipes up, though he would prefer someone else's assent. Dottore is too creepy, smirking as he says - "This Diluc boy has mastery over delusions we have never seen before. I'm sure I could convince him to cooperate with us."
There's an obvious underlying threat to that statement that no one needs to acknowledge.
"I am also with Childe," Pulcinella says, smiling much more warmly, "He has spoken to the boy more than we have, and if he judges him capable then it is only a question of trust."
"We obviously cannot trust someone who has made a bloodbath of our soldiers -"
Columbina's giggle cuts Signora off, her airy chuckles twinkling in the cold quietude of their meeting room. "I think a new boy would be nice~"
That's four for bringing it to consideration and four against. The only one left to make a judgement is…
"I want to meet with him, this 'Delusion Thief'," Pierro announces, eyes flicking from them toward his chessboard. "He is a strong enough fighter with a unique ability, but I must know if he can be controlled."
The rabid puppy needs a leash. Childe wonders if he's in a cage here, too.
"If you find that he cannot be controlled?" Pantalone asks.
"Then Il Dottore may have him."
Dottore grins behind his papers once again, and they all rise to leave. Fairly successful, as far as Harbinger meetings go, and Childe is certainly holding the record for 'newest member to try and bring a known enemy into their ranks'. Arlecchino would have definitely shot him down as having a childish crush, and Scaramouche would have disagreed for the sake of it. Pierro must know this, but he is letting himself be the tie breaker.
Pulcinella catches Childe on his way out, "That was a risky move so early on in your career here."
"Please, I'm just doing what is best for the Fatui."
"Do you know what that is yet?" Childe frowns and Pulcinella pats his shoulder. "I am not trying to condescend you, but you are sticking your neck out for a criminal too dangerous for any of us to even approach whilst wearing our delusions. I am concerned that you are bored cooped up here, and see this as a project to prove yourself with."
Childe scoffs, "Lord Pierro has taken over now. If this works out he will receive the credit, if not then he will handle it. I'm just the good samaritan who brought the matter up for discussion."
Pulcinella's creased brow does not relax, but he does let go of Childe's shoulder and allow them to go their separate ways.