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Fontaine. The region of the Hydro Archon; Focalors, the God of Justice. Under her rule, the people of Fontaine remain steadfast to the notion of justice, as to how each individual perceives justice is for them to decide. But not all was bleak, as a little flower shop situated near the edge of the fine city made it their goal to brighten up the folks with sweetly scented floras.
Opening shop at exactly 8am, a young man and his uncle would rise from their slumber, stomach full of breakfast and ready to start the day.
“Ready for another busy day, kiddo?”
The young man beamed and nodded, “Ready as always, uncle Alexei”.
With aprons tightly wrapped, their morning routine went into motion: bushes surrounding the shop needed trimming, stray branches needed clipping, budding seeds needed watering, round towards the back of the shop repeating the process with the residents of the larger garden. Today being a weekend, naturally the surrounding residents would be sleeping in and it made tending to the garden peaceful. Until the clock struck 8:15 and commotion broke. Andrei chuckles, peering at his nephew.
“Looks like the twins are up. Would you mind handling them for a bit, Lysandre?”
The young man gave a groan but stood up, light reflecting off of his dark ebony hair. He was almost reluctant to leave the garden,
“Business per usual”, Lysandre huffs and marches behind the shop counter to the back room. The commotion was becoming more audible from the bottom of the spiral staircase, although muffled he could barely make out some words. Something about Chance making odd noises in his sleep, followed by the sound of pillow slapping.
“Felix! Chance! If you don’t cut that out right this instant, you can forget about those snickerdoodles!”
Silence came like a flick of light switch. Did that actually work? Who was he kidding, of course it did. The twins love cookies to an extreme, especially snickerdoodles. Lysandre jogs up the steps only to be greeted by two ten year old boys still in their pajamas standing in attention in front of their bedroom door, bedheads galore, and covered head to toe in feathers.
“Good morning uncle Lysandre”, the twins greeted sheepishly.
Lysandre folds his arms, his face a mix between disappointment and amusement.
“Morning boys”, Lysandre spoke with a smirk. “Slept well I hope”
Felix immediately jumped, “uncle, Chance was scaring me on purpose last night! He kept making weird groaning sounds like he was talking to someone!”.
The blue-eyed twin flinched, “I told you I had a bad dream! I didn’t scare you on purpose!”.
Which prompted the olive-eyed twin to protest, “Nuh-uh! You definitely did it on purpose! You know I’m a difficult sleeper!”
Business per usual, the young uncle breaks the tension by clapping his hands and separating the two. They are unusually cranky this morning, nothing breakfast and hot cocoa can’t fix. Lysandre runs his hands through both the twins’ hair, gently ruffling them.
“We’ll discuss it after you two munchkins wash up and have breakfast”, Felix’s pout grew, “unless you want me to tell your dad about this–”
“No no no no no!” the twins plead, “Please uncle, don’t tell dad!”
Too easy.
“Then no more monkey business, am I understood? Go wash up. I’ll wait for you”
The twins marched off with the backs almost in a hunch, it was almost adorable. Maybe he’ll ask Chance about that nightmare once his belly’s been filled up, talking about it may help him sleep better. Strolling towards the hallway window, he threw the blinds open to let the sun in. Not too hot. Perfect weather to run an errand if there are any.
“Good morning my rosebud”, a gentle voice beckons from behind.
A petite woman, still in her red nightgown and strands of hair peeking from her bonnet, saunters towards him. Seeing her face made him grin, he turned to face her with open arms.
“Morning mama”, Lysandre said as he gently hugged her. “Did you sleep well?”
His mother seemed almost hesitant to answer, he caught her eyes darting for a moment but feigned ignorance. “I slept fine, my rosebud. No need to worry about me”
Her cheeks were mildly flushed and she had dark circles under her eyes. She had been crying in her sleep again, these nightmares seem to be on and off for her. But to call what happened to her a nightmare would be an understatement. Alexei whistles, briskly coming upstairs, notices the mother/son duo mid-conversation.
“Chiharu, you sure slept in today”, he greets.
The woman, a little startled, turns to face her brother-in-law. “I was quite exhausted last night, don’t worry. I’ll be down shortly after I’ve washed up and have some tea”.
Chiharu gives her son a peck on the cheek before walking away. Once he was sure his mother was out of earshot, Lysandre lets out an audible sigh, his whole body falling against the nearest wall. Alexei picked up on his mood shift like a Hilichurl to fresh Sunsettia.
“I know that look, what’s wrong?”
“Look? What look?”
Alexei cucks a brow with arms folded. His signature ‘you’re not fooling me’ stare. One could surrender to that gaze almost immediately, but because this was the man who raised him. The jig was up, besides - Lysandre was horrible at hiding his body language.
“Did you notice mother’s face? Her eyes–”
“Dried and red? Yeah, I noticed”, Alexei ran a hand through his hair, his shoulders falling into a shrug. “She’s thinking about your father again”.
His father, Andrei. Not a day goes by where Lysandre doesn’t think about that talk his uncle gave him, it was after closing hours and it was unusually dark outside. The twins were out with their friends and he was made to sit at the dining table opposite to his mother and uncle. He recalls the tension in that room, it was so thick you could slice it with a knife.
He was in a good mood that day, he had just gotten back from a three day trip in Mondstadt picking up a batch of Windwheel Asters for a merchant. He felt like nothing could ruin his spirit, even if it was something as trivial as a stray cat knocking over a plant pot. He couldn’t be more mortified. In the clearest detail his uncle began to recall stories about how his parents met, his Inazuman and Snezhnayan heritage, about the Sakoku Decree, and the Fatui.
The Fatui.
Tears rolled down his cheeks in droplets, the droplets then became a river. Seeing him cry also made Chiharu cry, she reached a hand to comfort her little rosebud. Only to pull her hand back when she realized her son was not weeping from the revelation, but from pure rage.
“Fatui… It’s the Fatui’s fault…”, he remembered cursing under his breath, he could’ve sworn he frightened his mother by how enraged he must’ve looked. He stormed off to his room that evening and locked himself in, refusing to touch dinner or see Felix and Chance off to bed. That night he swore to himself to take down that twisted organization, even if he had to strangle every agent one at a time. After all, he has a Vision now. The Archons must’ve seen this coming.
A gentle hand patted his head, pulling Lysandre back from his deep train of thought, an aura of uneasiness radiating so strongly.
“I know you’ve been thinking about him too, kiddo”
“Y-You do?”
Alexei nods, “One thing you and your old man have in common, you wear your heart on your sleeve”.
Wear his heart on his sleeve? Dad? From the stories he was told, his dad was a really well-kept together kind of man. Chatty, sociable, a tad oblivious, and very much a romantic. Maybe he would’ve loved it here in Fontaine if the Fatui didn’t get in the way. But it was all wishful thinking.
“I mean, I feel like I’m staring at my old man everyday when I look at you, uncle”
“Why? Because we’re twins?” Alexei asked, a small smile forming in the corner of his lips.
“I’m just trying to lighten the mood a little, that’s all”
The uncle/nephew duo exchange a quick hearty embrace, the former patting the latter on the back. It made him feel a little better. Just a little. As Andrei turned to leave, he quickly paused his steps.
“Oh, before I forget. Monroe was here looking for you earlier, albeit having to squeeze through a mob of your admirers”. Admirers. Calling those persistent women that come solely just to gawk at him ‘admirers’ made his spine shiver, “uncle, don’t even joke about that. You know how uncomfortable they make me feel”.
Andrei smirked a mischievous smirk.
“You say you feel uncomfortable by them, yet you’re too big of a gentleman to turn them down”
Dammit. His uncle was right, he’s too much of a softy. And besides, at least some of them had the decency to purchase something instead of loitering about. He prays to the Hydro Archon most of them had already left the shop, he was just enjoying a quiet start to the day. His thoughts were interrupted yet again his uncle’s chuckle.
“In any case, Monroe came to give you a letter. I told him to leave it by the cashier”
Oh thank goodness, no one’s read it yet.
“You’d better hurry before the twins decide to snoop”
Yep, there was the trigger sentence. Not a moment too soon, because he can hear Chance’s voice just at the foot of the stairs.
“Oooo~ A mysterious letter. Let’s open it!”
He leapt over the railings faster than a deflated Anemo slime, leaving a small gust of wind in his wake. As the twins searched for a letter opener, they were both yanked off their feet by the collar of their shirt. A presence looming over them. “Didn’t I tell you not to touch things that don’t belong to you?”
The twins let out a gulp.
“But– The letter has no name”
“It’s mine. Your dad said Monroe came to give it to me”
“The legal assistant guy in the weird purple hat?”
Thank the Archon Monroe wasn’t present to witness this, he would’ve twisted the twins’ ears for insulting his favorite fedora.
“Yes, him”, Lysandre huffs, lowering the twins back down; not before swiping the letters from the front counter. “You two run along, I want to read this in private”.
The twins responded by sulking, he knew they wanted a chance to snoop. And he just dashed their plans before they could even utter the words. No matter, they were out of his hair. He proceeded to skim through the content of the letter as fast as humanly possible.
“Fatui delegates are on the move. Bishop caught wind of an exchange between them and some no-name attorneys by the tavern last night. The meeting is set to happen at midnight behind the city theater. The encrypted map is on the back of the envelope. See you there, Rosebud” – signed, The King’s Horseman”
Fantastic. Just fantastic. He was hoping to get tonight off to catch some sleep. Andrei and Chiharu soon emerge from the back room, catching Lysandre with the letter.
“So, what is it Monroe needs from you today dear?”, his mother wonders. He tried playing it off with a playful smile, maybe she’ll buy it. “Oh, nothing much mama. He wants me to come keep him company at the office since Oliver’s meeting with a client tonight”
She nods, “I see. Well, if you boys decide to stay out late then you can both grab dinner together”.
Smooth, technically not a lie. Not the first time Monroe’s come knocking for extra company, but tonight was different.
“Will do, mama. Will do”, was all he could muster before watching her disappear into the shop’s garden with his uncle not too far behind her. Great. They bought it, now he just needed to act normal until closing hour. No sweat. Just another milk run.
~~~
17:30.
The last customer had just left for the day. Felix and Chance wave their goodbye and he now has time to clean up before heading out. Ah shoot. He just remembered he was going to talk to Chance about his nightmare, by the time he wraps up the munchkin would still be asleep. Maybe he can leave a note, or catch a quick chat. Something. Anything!
“Uh– Chance?”, Lysandre blurted.
The blue-eyed twin turned to his uncle, the warm sunlight shining an orange glow against his back.
Come now. Spit it out. “A-About your nightmare”, he started, strolling over and got on one knee before his nephew. “Do you want to talk about it?”
“Talk about it? Why?”
“I had a hunch maybe talking about it would make you feel less scared”
“I… suppose that might work. Okay”
Okay, now they were getting somewhere.
“So a couple nights ago, I woke up in the middle of the night to this weird sound outside the window. It sounded like someone climbing”
Climbing? Oh boy.
“And you took that climbing noise into your sleep?”
“No, not the climbing noise”, Chance protested. “I peeked through the curtains and saw this black figure with a cape climbing up the wall and into your bedroom window. I don’t think he saw me”
Smooth, Rosebud. He was spotted. And by his nephew no less, the saving grace of it all was the lack of lamp posts in the vicinity of his bedroom window. But he digressed.
“So, you saw a burglar is what you’re saying”
“I don’t think it was a burglar, otherwise dad would’ve made a fuss about something going missing. Not to mention he would’ve contacted the peacekeepers”
True. Man, is there anything this kid doesn’t notice?
“Do you think maybe it was a ghost?”
Ghosts. In Fontaine. Pretty sure he didn’t tell Chance any local ghost stories from his trip to Liyue. All those tales from Wuwang Hill would probably give him more than just a nightmare, that’s for sure.
“Chance, relax. It’s nothing malicious”
“How do you know? You couldn’t have seen it, you went to bed early!”
“Alright alright. Point taken, so I deduce that your groaning is less groaning and more talking in your sleep”
“I kept dreaming that he came in through our bedroom window instead, he would just stand there by the foot of the bed and stare at me. His eyes were glowing green and he wore a creepy mask”
Does his costume look that scary, especially to a ten-year old? Whatever.
“Okay look, I may be in a hurry but I can assure you Chance. It doesn’t sound like the paranormal, and it doesn’t sound like someone was trying to break in either”
“Then how do you explain what I saw?”
“You could be imagining things. It was dark outside, stare at nothing for too long and your mind starts making stuff up. It’s pareidolia”
“Pare-whatzit?”
“Pare-i-dolia. Like when you and Felix spotted a smiley face in one of my bouquets when it was just the petals bent a certain way”
Please buy it. For Archon’s sake please buy it.
“Ooooh~ I guess it makes sense”
Thank you Archons. Thank you very much.
“I’m gonna go tell Felix what you told me. Thank you uncle Lysandre, you better hurry and not keep Mr. Monroe waiting”
Oh, so now it was Mr. Monroe. Not ‘legal assistant guy in the weird purple hat’. No time for that, he had to go pack up. It’s a long trip into the city, especially if he wanted to make it in time to catch the exchange. It was now 18:05. Plenty of time.
~~~
“Any minute later and you would’ve been late, Rosebud”
A firm yet brotherly voice greets him. A tall character donning a neatly trimmed purple tuxedo and fedora sitting atop his head, his Cryo Vision hanging off of his cape. Under the glow of the moon, you could just make out the shape of a snowflake-esque masquerade mask, one eye hidden under a tuft of platinum blonde hair. Lysandre emerges from the shadows, having undergone a wardrobe change. His whole attire had shifted from a soft rose pink to that of a deep purple, his dress shirt black, his mask; a combination of a rose and a butterfly. And just below his neck, decorating his jabot was his Dendro Vision - glowing brilliantly like a fine quality emerald.
“I’m here, aren’t I?”, he shot back with a cold undertone. “So, what’s our strategy Monr– I mean, King’s Horseman?”.
Silence, followed by a deep sigh. “Ambush. I have Thorns stationed at each corner of the alleyway. If those delegates try to make a run for it - they won’t make it very far”
Peering down from the theater’s roof, besides the nightscape of Fontaine’s inner city, members of the Guild of Thorns prepare for the signal. Some with weapons in hand. Just like his mentor to prepare for the worst. “Should these Fatui delegates be dumb enough to put up a fight”, an icy white light radiates from his mentor’s hand. “We’ll jump in at the last moment, like we always do”.
Hovering his hand over his Vision, thorn-covered vines slither down his arm like preying snakes. “Won’t be the first time I’ll have to whip them into shape, won’t be the last”, Lysandre mused with a hint of delight in his voice. “You’ll get your chance, Rosebud. I hear footsteps". Followed by two Fatui delegates and a group of attorneys, and they look immensely impatient.
“You better have the Mora like you promised!”, hissed one of the attorneys.
“Relax my friend, everything you requested is in this briefcase”, this delegate was a tease. Unlatching the locks on the briefcase to reveal the goods. The attorneys were drooling like stray dogs to meat. What an appalling sight. Lysandre managed to catch a glimpse of the shimmering Mora before the briefcase was shut.
“As long as you hold your end of the bargain. Make sure our comrade goes free in the next court hearing. Try anything dicey, and we’ll be paying your families a visit”
“Is that a threat, Fatui scum? Did you forget whose nation you’re standing in?”
“We remember. And as far as the Hydro Archon is concerned, our exchange is far from her definition of justice”
You can almost hear the sweat dripping down the cheeks of those attorneys, heck the night was so quiet you could’ve sworn you heard teeth chattering. Without a moment to waste, the briefcase was lifted towards the desperate blood suckers. Time slowed down as the item of value was inches within their grasp. That was, until they got cold feet. Literally.
“What the– we’re frozen to the ground!”
“Why you– it’s an ambush! You alerted the peacekeepers!”
One of the attorneys, overcome with panic, let out a scream as his mind began to click, “Peacekeepers don’t use Visions, you idiots! It’s THEM!”
“Them? Whose them?!”
An echoing thud silenced the motley group, Lysandre and his mentor rose from their descent. Making eye contact with each and every one of them. “These soon-to-be ex-attorneys are referring to us”.
The two Vision-bearers stalk forward, calm in posture but also alert for a fight. The delegates continue to put up a struggle, “You low-level vigilantes think you can do this to us?! Do you know who we are!?”. Without missing a beat Lysandre’s face was inches from theirs, staring them down with the green glow of his eyes. He could’ve sworn he heard a gulp. Vines crawl up the base of their frozen feet, wrapping around their limbs and keeping their arms nice and tight to their bodies. Can’t have any funny business.
Lysandre watches as his mentor strides forward to the gang of attorneys, an icy gust blew with each step. In a hush yet threatening tone, he yanked at a raggedy-looking one wearing a gaudy brown suit by the collar. “Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t report you to the peacekeepers and essentially end your career right now”.
The attorney squeaked, sweat beads rolling down his face.
“P-Please!”, the pathetic suited man begged, “I-I- my wife, she’s pregnant a-and sickly! I need Mora to pay her hospital bills!”
He paused, his grip still unrelenting. “So it doesn’t bother you that you’re accepting bribes from the Fatui just to win a big score?”; immediately letting go of the collar. Even from behind, Lysandre could tell his purple clad mentor was trying to control his breathing. Quickly he turned to face the young rosebud, nearly startling him. “Tie them up and get them out of my sight!”
“Wait– I thought we were going to apprehend them–”, only for his mentor to give him the hand.
“If these pathetic excuses for ‘certified professionals of the judicial system’ want their moment of glory, we’ll give it to them”
Was this part of the plan? Because it didn’t feel like it. It felt like his mentor was improvising. Ironic, since they are behind a theater. Lysandre opened his mouth to protest but decided to see where this was going. He bundles the accomplices together per his mentor’s request, with the briefcase of Mora being carefully handled by one of the Thorns.
“Drop that case off to the peacekeepers' station with a map to this alleyway”, under the glow of the moon the attorneys could feel that piercing glare through the shadows of the fedora. He smirked. “You’re about to get your fifteen minutes of fame, gentlemen. Prepare to appear on the frontpage of the Steambird”.
The Steambird Newspaper, quite renowned in Fontaine and is read all over Teyvat. These attorneys weren’t about to be ostracized from just the region of justice, but from the remaining six regions as well. Despite having their feet frozen, they crumble to the ground with tears escaping their eyes. They were about to lose everything: their job, their status, their income, and possibly their marriages. But Lysandre wasn’t done, not yet. The King’s Horseman recognized the look in those eyes, as much as he wanted the assignment to be over he knew his apprentice wanted this out of his system, maybe it’ll help him sleep better.
Marching towards what he assumed to be the leader of the delegates, Lysandre locked eyes with him, emotions slowly seeping through the cracks in his voice.
“...Andrei Aslanov”
“I- What? What are you talking about?”
That wasn’t the reply he wanted, “I won’t repeat myself again, Fatui. Tell me what you know about Andrei Aslanov”
This delegate was a feisty one, struggling and trying to kick himself free despite still being tied up. He tried to feign arrogance, “I don’t know who you’re talking about. You’re wasting your time”. That’s it. Time’s up. Maybe he should finish this one off instead of letting the peacekeeper lock him away, he wouldn’t even need his Vision’s power for this. All it would take is for one punch- no, a couple punches- to knock some senses into this fool. With his teeth and fist clenched, he knew right there what had to be done. Before he could even raise a hand, he felt a grip on his right forearm. It held firmly, but not tight enough to hurt him.
“That’s enough, Rosebud. It isn’t our place to play judge, jury, or executioner”.
“But sir–”
“Let him go, kid”
Tch. Just when he thought he had something. What was he thinking? There’s hundreds, if not thousands, of Fatui agents crawling all over Teyvat. If the last rat he caught didn’t know anything about his dad, why would this one know? He felt like such an idiot. The grip on his forearm slowly came off him.
“Go home, Rosebud”, spoke the King’s Horseman with a gentler voice. “I’ll handle everything here. You have your own responsibilities in the morning”.
Letting out an exasperated sigh, Lysandre had no choice but to surrender to the futility of the situation - he needed to be home before dawn and get some semblance of sleep. And this time, he needed to make sure his nephew didn't spot him again. It was a long journey back to the flower shop, but he arrived just at the crack of dawn. He lazily threw off his clothes to the floor, kicked off his boots the moment he unstrapped them, haphazardly tucking his mask away in his bedside drawer. He didn’t feel like changing into his pajamas, a waste of time. Lysandre resigned his exhausted boxer-wearing body to the comfort of his mattress.
And the morning cycle would start all over again.
~~~