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“I’ve asked you once and I’ll ask you again. Where is the evidence for Scaramouche’s supposed ‘disappearance’?”
“I’m sorry Lord Tartaglia!” the Fatui Agent whimpered. “The evidence is completely confidential, and Her Majesty the Tsaritsa ordered me to tell no one, not even you!”
Tartaglia let out a sigh. “What do you think I am, stupid? Do you think I can’t tell when you’re lying?” he questioned, his eyes empty pools of darkness. “Even if the Tsaritsa told you that, I should be permitted to know. So, why can’t I? It’s not like I’m plotting against Scaramouche or anything.”
The young Fatui Agent spluttered with terror, trying to figure out what to say. “I can’t, Lord Tartaglia! I don’t care what you do, I cannot let you see the evidence!” he spat.
“Hmph……very well then,” the Eleventh Harbinger said emotionlessly, inching closer and closer towards the agent. “ I see how it is. You’ll have to learn the hard way. And let me tell you…..” he continued, amethyst-purple sparks of electricity flickering around him.
“……. I will not be merciful.”
*
“Hey Big Sis Lumine! Can we go find my brother now?” the young ginger kid asked.
“Teucer!” Lumine groaned. “We’ve only been setting up the campfire for ten minutes, and you’re already bored of it? Your brother said he was going to do some important toy selling business, so it’s best not to disturb him right now!”
The short blonde girl laughed to herself. She had only arrived in Snezhnaya for the first time around a week ago, and as the infamous ‘Traveller, the Enemy of the Fatui’ she was treated harshly by almost everyone- with the Tsaritsa and her army constantly trying to capture her. Yet the minute she stepped foot into Childe’s hometown, she was treated almost like a goddess. Teucer, of course, was the most excited to see her again, immediately taking her to all the best places in the snowy land.
“Huh, what are you laughing for? Let’s go and find him!” Teucer exclaimed, grabbing hold of her gloved hand and leading her through the frosty woods of Snezhnaya.
As Teucer led Lumine through the woods - which embraced the small fishing village of Morepesok- she paused to take in the fairy- tale like surroundings.
Virgin-white snowflakes were peppered all over towering, proud fir trees- their branches dancing innocently in the mild breeze. The soothing singing of the chilly winter wind echoed from tree to tree, as a ribbon of mist gently nooses itself around her neck- fitting for the cold weather. As she walked through the forest, Lumine couldn’t help but love the way the soft snow crunched under the weight of her boots, the sound seemed to almost relax her.
While Lumine was busy admiring the stunning woods of Snezhnaya, Teucer had already ran off ahead to find his older brother. The young traveller giggled softly, Teucer’s the same as ever, always excited to see his brother, she thought to herself, although he did say he was investigating Scaramouche's betrayal, wasn’t he……
*
“That should keep you silenced for now. And as for what I’m looking for…” Tartaglia muttered, rummaging his hand through the now-fallen Fatui Agent’s pocket. “it should be right here,”
Now that he had acquired what he’d needed, he began heading to where Teucer and Lumine were. As he was making his way back, he ran his hand across his face, only to find it stained with blood.
Well, I can’t let Teucer see me like this, can I?, he thought to himself, deciding to wash it off immediately. Fortunately, there was a ribbon- like, meandering river nearby.
Less than two seconds after he had set off, the Harbinger heard the enthusiastic echo of a familiar voice.
“Big Brother~ I finally found you, it took forever! By the way, what were you even doi-“ Teucer exclaimed, before abruptly being cut off as he took in the blood- curdling scene surrounding him.
Many of the nearby trees were now coated with a deep, scarlet red, their branches piercing knives, digging deeper and deeper into the small child’s heart. Once soft and pure- white, the snow had been laden with a carpet of blood, where a seemingly- dead Fatui Agent was hopelessly slumped on the ground. Like a disembodied murder of crows, the wind sent piercing, strangled shrieks from tree to tree, and unlike before, the gusts of wind felt unwelcoming and cold. In the middle of it all, he saw his brother, face smeared in crimson- red blood- although it was not his own- staring at him with a lost gaze.
Teucer couldn’t understand a thing. Did his brother- his dear brother- just kill someone? As in, like, end their life? Or was that person just injured? Although no matter which of those it was, it certainly wasn’t justifiable. Wasn’t the toy-selling business’ goal to make people happy? Was this- this murder- what made his brother happy? Heck, was his brother even a toy seller in the first place? Was he casually lying to his younger siblings’ faces the entire time? And if he wasn’t a toy seller, what was he? An assassin? A serial killer? Teucer’s brain kept whirring with questions, each one getting more desperate by the second. Eventually, he let out a scream.
“HOW COULD YOU?” he yelled, his teeth gritting.
“Look, Teucer, I can explain-“ Childe desperately uttered l, before immediately being interrupted.
“Explain? Explain what? That you’re KILLING people?”
“Teucer, don’t say that! I’m sure he’s not dead, just slightly injured,” the ginger sheepishly purred, clearly not getting through his younger brother. Judging by the distraught look on Teucer’s face, he had no other option but to tell the truth. The truth that would expose his beloved brother to the harsh reality of the world, a secret that he had been keeping locked away for God knows how long.
“Teucer,” he began, placing his hand on the young kid’s shoulder. “Listen to me, and don’t say a thing until I’m done, okay?” Teucer nodded, his eyes already beginning to flood with salty tears. “I know this’ll sound a little shocking, but…..”
“……I’m not a toy seller and I never have been,”
The small child’s eyes widened with shock, as he stared at his brother with a soulless gaze.
“Tell me, Teucer,” Childe asked, his voice stone-cold. “Do you know who the Fatui are?”
“Aren’t they the ones who rule over Snezhnaya?” Teucer responded.
“Good, good,” the Harbinger nodded. “Now, have you been told anything about them?”
“Well, Big Sis Lumine told me that they aren’t nice people! And Tonia said I should stay away from them!”
“Oh, I see. Then what would you do if I were to tell you that I’m part of the Fatui- and even one of their Harbingers?”
“I- I wouldn’t believe you! You’d never hide anything like that from me, woul-“ Teucer protested, until the realisation hit him.
Why else would my brother be asking me this if he wasn’t a Fatui? he asked himself internally.
“You’re part of the Fatui , aren’t you?” whispered Teucer.
After a long pause, his brother finally responded.
“……..yes,”
“And…..and you were hiding that from me MY ENTIRE LIFE?!” Teucer cried, tears rapidly flowing down his chubby cheeks at ever-increasing speeds.
Childe couldn’t do anything but to croak out another ‘yes’, which only seemed to infuriate Teucer even more.
“B-but I don’t understand! Why are you only telling me now? Is it because I saw you killing that person? If you’re part of the Fatui, does that mean you kill people for a living? How am I supposed to trust you with anything now?” he paused for a minute, prior to crying out another desperate question. “…….are you planning to kill me one day too?”
“Huh? Of course not, Teucer! Heck, I care about you more than anything, you and the rest of our family are my whole world!”
“Then why didn’t you tell me this earlier? If I really am ‘your entire world’, why should it be that hard? Does everyone else already know about this?”
“Unfortunately, yes,”
Just as Teucer was about to open his mouth to speak again, Childe immediately covered it with his gloved hand.
“To answer you other questions, I hesitated to tell you because, well, I didn’t want to ruin your childhood. I only ever want to see you happy, so I’d rather not expose you to the darker side of the world- and of your brother. There’s no way you’d look up to me then,”
“So you made up the whole ‘toy seller’ act only so I could see you as a good role model? You- YOU’RE A MONSTER, BIG BROTHER!” screamed Teucer, slapping the sincere smile off his sibling’s face- both figuratively and literally- with all his might. “I HATE YOU!”
Right at that moment, the siblings’ attention was diverted as they heard the all-too-familiar call of a honey-voiced girl.
“There you are, Teucer! I was searching for you everywhere, you really shouldn’t have run off like that!” Lumine smiled, only to be treated with the sound of a deafening silence.
Teucer had had enough. In the span of only an hour, he’d realised his entire life he’d been lied to, and now the traveler was here only to make everything worse. Succumbing to the overwhelming pain that circulated every nook and cranny of his mind, he hastily dashed away, attempting to get as far from his brother as humanly possible.
“Teucer, wait! We can sort this mess out- please don’t go!” Childe begged- reaching his hand out- but it was much too late. His brother was already far, far into the wintery woods of Snezhnaya.
“Childe, are you okay? What happened?” Lumine questioned, immediately sensing something was wrong.
Half-expecting him to give one of his snarky responses or “‘It’s fine, girlie”’s , what happened after immensely shocked her. She saw him do something she’d never seen- heck, even dream- he’d do. Cry.
It started as a single, lonely tear rolling down his cheek, then another, and then yet another. Slowly, it turned into a sob, before it became a whole darn breakdown. He fell to his knees, losing almost all hope of getting his dear, innocent brother back. Everything happened at the wrong place, at the wrong time. If Teucer wasn’t so eager to meet him, then maybe everything would be fine. Maybe Childe could’ve told him a few years later, when Teucer would be mature enough to understand. But of course not. Of course life was like that, throwing tragic events at you. And, for the first time in years, Childe felt weak. He didn’t feel like Tartaglia, the 11th Harbinger, or Childe, his title given by the Almighty Tsarista- he felt like that same cowardly, frightened Ajax he’d promised to leave behind years ago, the one he was prior to being consumed by the Abyss.
He felt pathetic: a pathetic older brother, a pathetic role model, a pathetic Harbinger, a pathetic friend and a pathetic person in general. Even with his head buried deep in the snow,he could feel Lumine’s shocked eyes digging deep inside him. His Lumine. The girl he had grown to love- platonically and romantically- had to see him like this. It pained him awfully so, to show the Ajax that had been hidden away for so long to one of the people he cared about the most.
Maybe Teucer was right, he thought to himself. Maybe I am a monster, and there’s nothing I can do about it. The so-called ‘Protector of Childhood Dreams’ had finally failed his duty. After all, childhood dreams can easily be shattered, and it seemed that this one just had.