Chapter Text
"Collei, dear, come sit with us," my mother's soft voice called me over to where they sat - her, my father, and a stranger. He was an older man, his face lined with years of wisdom, his eyes holding a hint of mystery.
My small, fragile body, always more delicate than those of other children, moved slowly towards them. They watched me with a mix of concern and something I couldn't quite place. It looked a lot like despair.
"This is the seer," my father introduced, his voice hoarse, his hand placed protectively on my back. "He is here to help you."
I studied the seer, a shiver running down my spine. His voice was low and hushed when he finally spoke. "Little one, you've been touched by the deev."
My heart skipped a beat. The deev? I was too young to fully understand the implications, but stories of those supernatural entities, cloaked in negativity, often served as cautionary tales, warning of chaos and misfortune. It felt like I had been branded, cursed.
"But... what does that mean?" I stammered, looking up at my parents, hoping they'd deny it, reassure me. But all I found was hollowness, an unspeakable dread reflected in their eyes.
The seer sighed deeply, a sorrowful look on his face. "It means, Collei, that you are special, but not in a way we'd prefer. However, there is a way to contain this."
Relief washed over me at his words. There was a solution. I could be saved. But my relief was short-lived as he continued, "In order to save you, your parents must agree to a deal."
The room went quiet, my parents looking at each other, the weight of the decision pressing down on them. My mother broke down into sobs, her hands tightly clutching mine, her silent plea echoing in the room.
My father's chest heaved as though the weight of the world pressed down upon him. His eyes, misty with desperation, met those of the seer. "Please...do whatever it takes to save our little Collei," he whispered.
“Mommy…Daddy…I don’t wanna go,” my voice trembled, barely more than a breath against the cool Sumeru air. The sounds of the city seemed distant, muffled by the pounding of my heart.
My mother, the light of my little world, knelt down in front of me. Her smile was fragile as she brushed a strand of hair from my face. “Oh, my sweet Collei. This kind gentleman will make you strong and healthy, just like other children. He promised that you would be back with us tomorrow. Just one day, my love. You are so brave.”
Her words wrapped around me like a warm blanket, and with a hesitant nod, I gathered the tattered remains of my courage.
"Bye, Mom, bye, Dad," I murmured.
They waved, their smiles like the sun trying to pierce through a raincloud. My heart didn't understand the weight of that moment.
That goodbye was swallowed by the wind, and it was the last whisper of my old life.
“Follow me,” the seer intoned with the finality of a closing door. His voice was a strange lullaby, and I complied, my tiny feet padding behind him.
Sumeru city receded like a dream as we ventured into the outskirts. The journey seemed to stretch into hours, each step heavier than the last. Why were we walking so far? Wasn’t the cure supposed to be close? The whispers of trees and the crunch of foliage beneath our feet were my only companions. My little heart beat like a frightened bird in my chest.
I was sick; my body frail. My legs wobbled; my eleazar sapped the strength from them. I felt like a leaf being torn from its branch.
I...can’t...breathe properly...
The world was spinning as I stumbled, and just then, figures clad in armor and masks emerged from the shadows. The last thing I saw was the Seer, his mouth twisting into a sinister grin as he uttered, "I have the child."
Hands, cold and unyielding, seized me as if claiming a possession. Panic welled up inside me like a storm. The air seemed to thin and my consciousness slipped away.
As my eyes fluttered open, the world still felt like a haze. I could barely understand where I was, with cold and stark walls enveloping me. The hand gripping mine was huge, almost like a giant’s, and it was squeezing so tight that my little fingers tingled.
Tears stung my eyes. This wasn’t the kind man my mommy and daddy promised. This was something bad; like the monsters in my storybooks. The guard looked down at me and I shrank back; his eyes were hidden but I could feel them, like when you know someone is watching you.
The guard halted outside a massive door, turning to me with a gruff command. "Stay quiet, kid. The doctor doesn't like disruptions."
Before I could muster a response, a creak heralded the opening door, giving way to a sterile chamber that seemed to bleed coldness. The room was a sea of white and chrome, with glass containers filled with swirling liquids lining the walls. The air was heavy with the sharp, metallic scent of cleanliness, and something else - a bitter, unnatural smell that made my nose wrinkle.
At the heart of this chilling mausoleum of a room stood a figure with blue hair. The doctor’s back was turned towards me, his form a rigid silhouette against the luminescent ambiance. His coat was so white it appeared ethereal, and his every movement seemed calculated, almost robotic.
But what ensnared my gaze and shackled my breath was the small form lying at his feet. A child, not much older than I, with life extinguished from her eyes. Her gaze, an empty abyss, seemed to beg for the freedom that was snatched away.
My heart felt like a fragile bird trapped in a vice, and the coldness in the air was now an icy tempest in my veins.
The doctor turned to face us, his motions precise, like a machine. “Ah, the new specimen,” he stated, his voice the rustle of parchment in a forsaken library.
I stumbled back, the sight of the lifeless child reflected in my mind's eye, a phantom I couldn’t dispel. His eyes followed my horror-stricken gaze and then returned to me. A sliver of what seemed like amusement danced in his frosty depths. “Worry not,” he spoke with a voice that tried to mimic the caress of a lullaby but instead rang with the hollowness of a crypt. "You are stronger than the previous ones. I can sense it."
His words were designed to be comforting, but they felt hollow against the chilling reality. The image of the deceased child still haunted me, my mind a whirlwind of terror and confusion.
"Welcome, Collei," he finally said, his voice echoing ominously around the room. "We have important work ahead of us. For the glory of the Fatui, we endure."
His words were a storm, but through the torrent, a tiny voice questioned within me, "He will cure my Eleazar, won't he? This is why I am here."
But the shadows of doubt loomed larger as memories of my parents' words whispered like ghostly tendrils, “The Fatui, the envoys of the Zapolyarny Palace... They wear masks, not just on their faces but on their intentions. Never to be trusted...”
The doctor’s words did little to ease the fear gnawing at my insides. Trembling, I stepped forward, my eyes fixed on the gleaming syringe he held.
"What... what is that?" My voice wavered, echoed eerily in the room.
"A little concoction I've been working on," he replied casually, as though we were discussing the weather, not a mysterious substance he intended to inject into me. "Archon Residue. It's rather promising."
"Will it...will it make me better?" I asked, hating the childish hope in my voice.
"Better?" He paused, then shrugged. "Perhaps. Stronger, definitely."
The next moment, the cold bite of the needle pricked my skin. I bit my lip to keep from crying out, hot tears stinging my eyes. The liquid burned as it coursed through my veins, like ice and fire all at once. My body convulsed involuntarily, and darkness began creeping into the corners of my vision.
"Stay with me, Collei," the doctor commanded, his voice echoing as though from a distance. "You must stay with me."
I fought against the darkness, clinging desperately to consciousness, gritting my teeth against the unbearable pain. I would not give him the satisfaction of seeing me succumb so easily.
And then, as swiftly as it came, the pain receded, leaving me gasping for air. The doctor released a low whistle, stepping back to observe me.
"Remarkable," he muttered, sounding more to himself than to me. "You survived."
Days turned into weeks and weeks into months, and the tormenting ritual continued. Every day, the hum of machines, the sharp smell of chemicals, and the piercing pain of injections were a relentless tide, washing over me, carving into my very being.
The doctor often muttered to himself, his words full of calculations and results. Sometimes, he spoke to me, but not as one speaks to another person. His words were clinical, probing, detached – as if I were a lab specimen under a microscope.
Slowly, my thoughts began to change. I wasn’t sure if it was the Archon Residue, the cold isolation, or the persistent whisper of Dottore’s voice in my ears, but I found myself believing in what he said. That I was being made stronger, that my purpose was larger than myself. That the Fatui was my salvation.
"Collei, are you ready for today's procedure?" The blue-haired doctor's voice echoed through the sterile room, its frosty quality doing nothing to ease the chill that always seemed to permeate the stone-cold table beneath me.
"Yes, Doctor," I responded, my voice a mere echo in the stark, impersonal space.
A few months ago, the mere sight of these glaring lights would've had me trembling. Now, they served as a constant reminder of the reality I had unwillingly embraced. As the cruel wave of yet another Archon Residue experiment swept over me, I clung onto my consciousness, my eyes fixed on the void of the vast ceiling.
I caught the Doctor's gaze, his eyes as cold as the Snezhnayan winter but carrying a hint of approval. "You're adapting well, Collei. Better than I anticipated.”
I swallowed hard, my throat parched. "What do you mean?" My voice was a mere whisper, exhaustion seeping into every word.
He tilted his head, observing me with the detached interest of a scientist examining a specimen. "Most subjects don't survive past the first few experiments. They... break," he paused, choosing his words carefully, "But not you. You're... different."
His words slithered through the room, a chilling compliment hidden within his twisted observation. The cold comfort of being a 'survivor' against his inhumane trials sent shivers down my spine.
I forced a weak smile, not entirely sure how to respond. He was praising me, wasn't he? This was a good thing. I was serving the Fatui, as I was supposed to. "I... I'm glad to be of use to you."
A thin, cruel smile graced his lips. "Indeed, you are, Collei. You've proved yourself to be a valuable asset." He approached, his gloved hand reaching out to pat my head gently, a fatherly gesture that was utterly disconcerting in this cold, unfeeling environment.
"From now on, consider yourself not just a test subject, but a soldier," he declared, his voice echoing in the eerily silent room. "One of the Fatui. You'll be trained, molded to be an integral part of our mission."
His proclamation should have incited fear, a panic-laced horror at the grotesque reality of my existence. But it didn't. Instead, an odd sense of satisfaction washed over me, dousing the embers of my previous life. I was valuable. I was needed. I was a soldier of the Fatui.
"And do you understand your place here, Collei? Your purpose?" the doctor's question rang out, his piercing gaze challenging me, attempting to unravel my thoughts.
I stood tall, my posture rigid. An empty canvas where fear and desperation once painted their art, I was now filled with something darker, something more profound. "My parents…they threw me away... my own blood," I murmured, my voice as cold as the steel surrounding me, devoid of the desperation it once held.
A flicker of satisfaction sparked in his icy eyes. "Indeed, Collei. They cast you aside, deeming you a burden. However, we... we recognize your worth. Learn to rein in your emotions and the archon residue within you will become a formidable weapon. We will hone that control."
A torrent of emotions threatened to break through the surface, but it was not sorrow that dominated; it was an unbridled fury. It was as if the Archon Residue itself was enraged, refusing to be tainted by weakness.
In an instant, shadows wreathed in flickering purple flames spiraled out from me, consuming the contents of the lab in a dark vortex. Papers fluttered, glass shattered, and machinery groaned.
Dottore remained unmoving, the corners of his mouth twisting upward. The shadows seemed to avoid him, as if acknowledging their maker.
The tempest subsided as suddenly as it had erupted. I stood in the eye of the storm, the epicenter of my unleashed power, my expression a glacier of cold determination.
"Yes, Doctor," my voice was a whisper, yet it seemed to reverberate through the ravaged room. "I am your creation. Your tool to wield."
His smirk deepened, and for a moment, his usually cold eyes held a glimmer of something akin to twisted pride. "Magnificent, Collei. A true masterpiece."