Chapter Text
Wind chased over the frozen fjord. An old man sat on his boat, watching the sun rise. He shook the snow out of his fur hat and pulled a pipe out of his pocket. He filled the pipe, lit a match and held it to the tip. After a couple of drags he closed his eyes and coughed. Every breath he took sent a shiver down his body.
Three more hours before he had to go chop wood. Until then, there was nowhere he needed to be.
“Honey?”
He sighed and opened his eyes. His wife had bent down to talk to him. With all the wind he hadn't heard her coming.
“You'll catch death out here.” She said.
“About time it caught up with me.” He muttered back.
She put a blanket around his shoulders and handed him a mug full of hot water. He lifted the pipe out of his mouth and took a quiet sip. She sat down next to him and did the same. They watched the sun rise for a while. The light reflected off the ice and made the entire world drown in white. Slowly the clouds coming out of their mouths vanished, as it got warmer.
“How's Teucer? Shouldn't he be up by now?” The old man said.
She smiled softly. “Tonya offered to take him off our shoulders today.” A pipe appeared out of her pocket. “Got any fire?”
He lit a match and held it to her pipe. She took a relieved drag and sighed deeply. Her lips were pressed together in a thin line before speaking. “Our son's coming home tonight.”
“Which one?” He asked.
Her silence spoke volumes.
“Oh...” He took the final drag of his pipe, making sure to get it deep into his lungs.
“Do you ever think...” She began.
“No.”
“But...”
“What choice did we have? He's made a name for himself, just be proud of him.”
She looked at the ground. “I can't be proud of him.”
He raised an eyebrow.
“Whoever that is, he's not the son I know.”
He grit his teeth, trying to remember a time before their troubles. Back when they had a sensitive and honest young boy. “That son died a long time ago.” He craned his neck to look up at the blue sky. “You think we'd have stopped grieving by now.”
“Tonya!” Teucer ran down the stairs and fell into her arms. “He wrote to me! He's coming back!”
“Really?” Tonya let him hang off her arm. “In that case maybe, I'll lock you in the wardrobe the entire time he's here.” She tickled him.
Teucer laughed uncontrollably, then pouted once she stopped. “Hey, that's not fair.”
“Why don't you go tell Anthon then?”
Teucer nodded and rushed up the stairs again. Tonya could almost hear him opening the door to their bedroom and taking a deep breath.
“Ajax is coming!” He screamed through the entire house.
“Shut up!” Anthon said, with a loud groan.
Tonya snickered and continued setting the table. Eventually both her younger brother came walking down the stairs. Anthon had bags under his eyes.
“You stayed up late again.” Tonya sang.
“Did not!”
“Yeah, sure. In any case I've got breakfast covered.”
“Fine, I'll do dinner.”
They all sat down at the table. Teucer ate away at his food like an animal, singing his “Mr. Cyclops song”. Tonya and Anthon had nothing to add, much to Teucer's disappointment. Their parents still hadn't come back. Tonya guessed that they would see them again at midday. After all of them were done eating, Anthon took their plates and brought them to the kitchen. Teucer stayed in the living room playing with his toys. Tonya followed. He rinsed them, making sure to not waste a drop, then began to scrub. Tonya leaned against the counter as he worked.
“He's back early.” Anthon said quietly.
“I know.” She muttered back.
“Did he write you anything?”
“He didn't tell me if he was hurt or not, just that he's coming home for a week or two.”
Anthon grabbed the brush tighter. “How long are we going to keep this from Teucer?”
“Until he's old enough, it's what Ajax wants.”
“It wouldn't be the first time he's wrong.” Anthon frowned.
“He's trying his best. He really is.”
Anthon rubbed his shoulder and pulled a face. “I'm just so sick of it!”
“I'll talk to him.” She said softly. “Just one last time, okay?”
“You don't have to do that.” He answered quietly.
“Well you're not going to stop me now. Think it through next time.”
Anthon paused his work and put the brush aside to look her in the eyes. “Thank you, Tonya.”
“That's what family is for...”
Teucer waited in front of the door with wide eyes. His family stood behind him to prevent the boy from running into the forest. The sun was setting.
“He's not coming.” Teucer complained after a while.
“Just be patient.” His father said. “He'll get here, when he gets here.”
Teucer bit his lip. “But I want him here now.”
“Don't we all.” His father tried to light his pipe, but his mother pulled it out of his mouth. “What?” He complained.
She threw him a look that said: You know what.
“You drink, I smoke, we all have our way of dealing with these things.” His father muttered.
Teucer didn't understand why that made Tonya throw a glare and his mother kick his father's shin, but he didn't like it. “Stop fighting! Do I really have to be the gwownup around here?” He'd heard Tonya say that before and thought it sounded quite nice.
Tonya immediately snapped her head back and his mother backed off. His father looked at the snow on the ground. “Our son better be here soon.”
A couple minutes later they heard the sound of a horse approaching. Ajax rode through the treeline as fast as he could, then came to a stop in front of the house. He wore a heavy winter coat like the rest of them, except that it was white instead of brown.
Teucer ran towards him the moment his brother jumped off the horse. Tackled into an embrace, Ajax smiled. “Miss me, Teucer?”
Teucer almost cried. “So, so much! Did you bring something for me?”
“Off course.” Ajax reached for his bag. “This is from Inazuma, I hope you'll like it.”
Teucer's eyes grew wider as he excepted the new toy. “Wow!” It was model of a boat, but unlike any boat Teucer had ever seen before, not even on his trip to Liyue.
“I'm sorry, but the rest got lost during a storm.”
“That's fine.” Teucer quickly said. He hadn't seen his brother in months, for once it didn't matter. He didn't want him to leave faster to get more toys.
As Teucer played with the boat, Ajax got up and went to Tonya and Anthon. He caught Anthon in a hug first.
“Good to see you again.” Anthon said.
Ajax smiled. “You too. Has Teucer been alright?”
Anthon looked at the ground. “He won't stop talking about you.”
Tonya joined in on their little circle. She hugged Ajax too and whispered in his ear. “You suck at riding a horse.”
“Thanks, Tonya.” Ajax said. The siblings grinned at one another.
Lastly Ajax turned to their parents. “Hi, Papa, hi, Mama.”
“Good to have you back with us.” His father said. His mother just smiled. “Let's go inside before we all freeze to death.”
They went back into their home. Ajax looked around. Tonya wondered what he was looking for. It hadn't changed much, even though he'd been gone for a year. Her brother stopped in front of the fireplace.
“Don't they have fireplaces in other nations?” Tonya said.
“Not as many as here.” Ajax got louder the longer he talked. “It's always the best back home, isn't it?”
“I wouldn't know.” She continued further inside. Ajax followed slowly.
The dinner table had already been set. The food was kept in clay pots to prevent it from loosing heat. The family gathered around. Ajax waited until everyone else was seated before taking the remaining spot. Pots were handed around the table, until everyone had something on their plate.
“Let us pray for warm winters.” The father said.
“Let us pray for warm winters.” Everyone repeated, before digging in.
From the corner of her eye Tonya saw Ajax wipe something from his nose. “Hey! Don't wipe your snot at the table.”
“Sorry, Tonya.” He said sheepishly and his hand disappeared under the table.
“Sometimes I wonder who's the older one.” She said, perhaps a little too loudly.
“Don't shout at dinner.” Their mother gave her serious look.
“Sorry, Mama.” Ajax said, but their mother was already back to eating. Her glass was filled with firewater.
Teucer let his toy boat sail through the soup. When his father took it away, he started to pout in silence. Tonya had already finished her food, same as Anthon.
“What's going on with the toy market these days?” Tonya asked. It was their code for Where have you been?.
“I traveled to Inazuma recently, then took a little detour to Fontaine to check up on some new models.” Reconnaissance...
“Did you find what you were looking for?” Were you in any fights?
“Sadly not, but I'm going back there in a couple of weeks.”
Tonya swallowed. “Don't forget to write this time.” Tell me, if you get hurt.
“I won't, I promise.” A lie.
She couldn't help but sigh. Her father was the next to speak after pulling a fish bone out of his mouth. He put it on the side of his plate. “I could use your help chopping wood tomorrow.” He held eye contact with Ajax.
“Sure.” Ajax looked down at his plate and took the final bite. “Thank you for the food, Mama.”
Mama took a long drink of firewater. “Anthon cooked it.”
“I see. Good job, Anthon.”
Anthon nodded. “I'm learning.”
There was a long silence, until Teucer finally decided he'd done enough pouting. “Can you read me a story Ajax?”
“Sure, once you're in bed.”
“But I want one now!”
“I need to help clean up first.”
“It's alright, Ajax.” Mama began her second glass of firewater. “Go read him a story.”
Ajax held his smile and got up. Teucer followed his example and both of them went upstairs. It was like a collective sigh went through the room. Mama propped her elbow on the table and covered her eyes. Papa sat completely still.
Tonya crossed her arms. “Anthon and I are cleaning up today.”
“Thank you, dear.” Papa said.
She took everything she could carry off the table and walked to the kitchen, dragging Anthon along with her. They were out only a second before their Mama picked up her glass and went away to her chair by the window. Their Papa followed her stiffly.
Anthon was still at the dishes by the time Ajax was done with Teucer's story. He had sent Tonya upstairs, since she got just like the grownups when Ajax came. Anthon was only eleven, too young to remember what was on their mind every time. Tonya was fifteen.
“Where did everyone go?” Ajax asked, as he came down the stairs.
“Mama and Papa are in the living room. Tonya is upstairs.”
“Yeah, I heard her come up.” He pointed at the dishes. “Should I help with those?”
Anthon nodded. Ajax picked up a towel and began drying them.
“Your hand's shaking.” Anthon mumbled.
Ajax looked away. “You noticed.”
“Did you get hurt?”
Ajax hesitated. “A bit.”
“Badly?”
“Not very, no.”
Anthon's eyes stung, he stopped scrubbing. “I'm not Tonya. I can tell when you're lying. I saw you wipe that blood off your nose. I spend all these months hoping you're still alive and now that you're back I have to pretend like nothing happened.” He sniffled.
Ajax took him into an embrace and rubbed his back, as he cried. “I'm sorry, Anthon.”
Anthon pushed him off. “I want to go upstairs.”
The young boy climbed the stairs without looking back, tears still ran down his cheeks.
Tartaglia looked after his brother and felt a sting in his own eyes, but he ignored it. The dishes needed washing. He took up the brush that Anthon left and started scrubbing again, until everything was spotless. Drying didn't take as long. Finally everything was back where it belonged.
He leaned onto the counter and noticed something warm running down his nose. When he rubbed it off there was another bloodstain on his hand, like the one from before, only this one was larger. He leaned over the sink and watched the blood drip down. Foul Legacy had taken it's toll once more. Closing his eyes, he imagined the rush of the battle again. A smile grew on his lips, only a day and he missed it already.
After the dripping stopped he washed it away with some Hydro from his vision to not waste any of their water. Then he walked back to the table, to pick up the coat he had hung over the chair. He headed for the door.
On the way he saw his mother sitting in her usual chair. She still had that glass in her hand.
“I'm going out.” Tartaglia said.
“Have fun.” His mother didn't even turn to look at him, she stared out of the window into the snowy forest outside. “Try to be home in time for breakfast.”
He didn't answer. For a moment he stood there, contemplating if he should. Then he turned away from her and was out of the door in no time.
The night was cold. Tartaglia's fingers had already gone numb in spite of his gloves. In the distance he heard some wolves howling. A mad grin spread on his face and he ran for the treeline.
The howling got closer. It was like they could sense him, sense what he wanted. Their snarls sent shivers down his spine, just the way he liked it. He summoned his Hydro swords and charged at the cursed wolf pack.
He was too fast for the first one. It's body hung limply, it's fur was coated in blood. The second and third came at him, one bit into his calf, while the other jumped at his chest. He grabbed the one on his chest by the neck and twisted until it snapped. Before he could take care of the wolf that had bitten into his leg, three more already charged. Grinning even wider, he cut through their coats, until they dropped to the ground whimpering.
His eyes stung. He felt something wet run down his cheeks. Finally he ripped the tenacious one on his leg away and stabbed it through the back. It breathed it's final breaths. His heart beat in his ears from the adrenaline, from the fear. Part of him was still smiling on the inside relishing in the thrill, but outwardly he had stopped smiling.
He let himself drop into the dyed snow. His lungs burned. A sob worked it's way up his throat. The tears on his face began to freeze. The blood had already run cold. Whatever thrill he had felt was drained in moments. The injury on his leg started to burn painfully and still he hoped that the wolves would jump up and continue their fight again. Just to chase the numbness, just to remind him that he was still alive, he would do anything.
He didn't know what else to do, he laughed surrounded by the carcasses, hoping he was far enough away from the house so that they wouldn't hear.
The wind carried the mad laugh to the window, where Ajax's mother still sat in silence. A tear rolled down her eyes, as she waited for her son to come back.