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Deep in Inazuma, on the cusp of a civil war, one Archon, one Harbinger, and one Traveler stand still in Tenshukaku.
A duel before the throne.
One winner, one loser.
And one executioner.
The Raiden Shogun observes, but she does not make the killing strike.
It is Scaramouche instead.
In which the Raiden Shogun never abandoned her first puppet.
—
Lumine grips her sword tight, leveling it on La Signora.
“It’s time for me to put a stop to this.”
“You, stop me?” Signora laughs, “For what it’s worth, I’ve grown tired of seeing you around as well.”
Her tone sharpens dangerously.
“But I didn’t have you down as someone quite so foolhardy.”
Lumine feels electric energy crackle against the ice of Signora’s element. She knows where this is going.
It will not be easy.
Signora narrows her eyes, “Before you go saying something you can’t take back, remember that you’re Inazuma’s most wanted criminal.”
The woman side-eyes the Raiden Shogun, who has her arms folded and head bowed. She is waiting for something, and it sets Lumine on edge.
Signora does not seem to have the same hesitation.
“I suggest you consider your circumstances very carefully. Charging into Tenshukaku uninvited and lecturing me in front of the Shogun wasn’t the brightest move. Don’t you think it’s time you stopped digging? ”
Kujou Sara inhales shakily on the ground behind the Harbinger. Lumine feels relieved, despite their situation, that she is alive—Signora senses the Traveler’s sudden distraction and bristles.
“I’m not sure you realize quite how much distance there is between us, both in status…and in strength.”
Lumine almost laughs.
This will not be easy. But Lumine has never asked for it to be.
“I challenge you—” Lumine declares, readying herself for what might just be her most dangerous battle yet, “to a duel before the throne!”
Childe is number eleven of the Fatui Harbingers, the lowest rank, and Lumine had almost died. La Signora is the eighth, and she had seen how the woman had ripped Venti’s gnosis from his chest with no difficulty at all.
But the people of Inazuma need her help. The Harbingers have gone too far.
Signora evidently does not expect this, but does not initially object. Her eyes darken in anger as she inhales roughly.
The Shogun speaks, sealing their fate. A duel before the throne ends one way, and one way only.
“Proceed.”
“My, you’re full of surprises today…” Catalyst spinning fiercely behind her, Signora radiates cold vexation. “So you’ve learned to make the law of the land work for you too, hmm? I never expected to be in a situation where the two of us were on equal footing.”
A cold, sharp smirk cuts across her face, distorting her porcelain features.
“You are aware…that the loser must die? Are you sure this is what you want?”
Despite Paimon’s anxious objection, Lumine nods.
There is only one way this can end.
Signora cackles, and it is not beautiful.
“Then I will deign to share this last dance with you…till death do us part!”
—
Their battle is long and intense. Signora is horrifyingly powerful, and her fire is deadly. For one fraction of a second, Lumine thinks she is going to lose, burnt to ash at the end of the Eighth Harbinger’s whip.
But she does not.
Signora collapses on the tatami covered floor, clutching her injured chest. She seethes, in complete disbelief and denial of the Traveler’s strength.
“But—but how—”
Lumine turns to glare at the woman.
Footsteps echo on the wooden stairs.
Electricity crackles in the air, so sudden and harsh Lumine and Signora both flinch back, edging away from the platform where the Shogun stands, where she now comes to—
No.
The breath rushes from Lumine’s lungs. Paimon gasps behind her, and Signora—
Signora’s face has drained of blood.
The Balladeer is here, standing on the platform with the Shogun. Lumine can hardly believe her eyes.
He holds the Shogun’s weapon, Musou Isshin, in a loose grip, electricity buzzing up the glowing blade and around his arm.
“Scaramouche?” Signora hisses, “What in the Seven—”
“Shut up.”
His voice is pure ice.
Standing next to the Shogun, Lumine inhales sharply as she looks between the Harbinger and the Archon. They look…
They could be related; the Balladeer looks so similar to the Shogun that Lumine wonders how she did not immediately connect the two together upon her introduction to the Archon.
But how is that possible, the Fatui are enemies of Celestia—
A white grin splits the Balladeer’s face in two. It is all teeth.
“I have been waiting for this moment, La Signora,” he practically spits her name. “Ever since I received word you were coming to Inazuma to pilfer our Gnosis.”
Our?
“Our? Scaramouche, what is the meaning of this?” Signora sounds absolutely incensed, and Lumine can tell she's panicking. “Are you betraying the Tsaritsa, your Archon—”
The Balladeer throws back his head and laughs. His eyes are lit violet with elemental energy.
“How pathetic; do you honestly believe that I ever considered that filthy excuse for a god to be my Archon? ”
His face twists in a snarl. “She can rot in the abyss for all I care—her desires are unachievable and the Fatui are a joke.”
Signora practically screeches in fury, and turns to address the Shogun.
“This boy is the Sixth Harbinger! He conspires with me to steal your gnosis—”
Electricity snaps across the room and strikes Signora in the chest, rippling across her skin and searing it raw. Lumine almost gags at the sudden smell of burned flesh; Signora screams in what must be agonizing pain.
The Balladeer glares, slowly edging closer to the woman, catalyst glimmering with energy from his attack and adding to the fearsome image. He still holds Raiden’s blade in one hand.
As Signora heaves for breath, Lumine is momentarily confused when she begins trembling on the ground. She thinks the woman broke down into tears. But when she raises her head, Signora is laughing, and it is one of the most disturbing things Lumine has ever seen. She looks hysterical, and Lumine can see bright, overwhelming fear in her eyes.
“Scaramouche, you have no idea what you’ve done; I claimed two Gnosis’ from the two oldest archons, and when I get this one I will—”
In a blinding flash of lightning, the Balladeer is there, in front of the woman faster than Lumine can blink. He’s the one trembling now, and she can feel the rage curling off his body as if it were alive. He snags a handful of blonde hair to rip Signora’s head back and get right in her face, drawing the charged blade across the cuts and blisters on her chest. The welts and scorched skin break open.
Her scream is shattering.
The Balladeer snarls down at her, “If you even think about touching the Gnosis, you will beg me for death.”
Lumine looks to the Electro Archon, completely convinced Scaramouche is going to kill Signora right this instant. What she has seen of the man in the past—it is nothing in the face of his current power, what he must have been hiding.
The Raiden Shogun gazes at the scene impassively. She’s looking at the Eighth Harbinger as if she is something so inconsequential she had forgotten why the woman was there to begin with.
Signora grips at the Balladeer’s hand in her hair forcing her head back, struggling to speak and and switching tactics. She grits out her own accusations between her panting breaths, deciding to address the Shogun.
Lumine isn’t sure if her face lit red from anger or pain or both.
“You don’t understand,” She pleads to the Archon, “It’s not just me— Scaramouche has sworn absolute loyalty to the Tsaritsa of Snez—”
Raiden’s sword clatters to the ground as the Balladeer abandons it entirely, using his hand to choke Signora instead. His teeth gleam in the light as he bares them.
“Be silent.”
The Electro Archon raises a slow eyebrow, finally speaking—and she is completely emotionless.
“Who do you think sent him to Snezhnaya to begin with?”
As if silently told to do so, the Balladeer abruptly releases Signora, throwing her to the ground and picking up the Archon’s weapon once again.
Signora coughs and sputters where she lies, eyes wide as she stares up at the Shogun.
“The Fatui Harbingers’ end goal is not one I agree with, nor one I shall let come to fruition. It interferes with Inazuma’s eternity, and therefore must be abolished before it can do harm to the nation.”
Signora tries to stand, breathing heavily, but falls back to her knees.
“No–”
“Kunikuzushi is an object of my own design. He is mine, and has been gathering information relative to my endeavor. He was never a true member of the Fatui Harbingers, and he never will be.”
“You traitor!” Signora screams, red from pure fury. “How dare you deceive us—you will be discovered and held responsible—the Fatui will make sure—!”
Scaramouche and the Raiden Shogun both slowly form a small, identical smile. Barely visible if you aren’t looking for it.
Lumine will never forget how they look in that moment.
Scaramouche raises the sword.
“Unfortunately for you, they are never going to find out, until it’s too late.”
He takes a step towards her.
“Stop! I order you–!”
Electro seals condense in the air behind him.
“And you!” Signora is nonsensical, screaming at every person in the room.
Lumine can’t rip her eyes away from the gruesome scene.
The Balladeer gives a single bloodthirsty smirk, and his voice is laced with pure, vicious ridicule.
“The Fatui acknowledge your sacrifice in the name of the Tsaritsa.”
Signora finally snaps, giving a desperate scream and lunging at the Balladeer. She intends to rip his heart out.
“Filthy rats— all of you!”
The Balladeer’s eyes flash.
He raises Musou Isshin.
Lightning tears through space in a blinding flare, slicing through the air faster than the eye can follow.
The Balladeer reappears behind the woman, bringing the sword down in one long, graceful arc.
Tenshukaku is bathed in electric light.
Dying embers drift to the ground.
Signora is slain.
—
Lumine leaves Tenshukaku alive, sensing the piercing stare of identical eyes pinned to her retreating form.
She knows they are not finished with her.