zeaxiix

The mere thought of you drove him crazy.

Well, “crazy” is an understatement — you drive him half-insane. Albedo absolutely and utterly despised every single thing about you.

He hated how disorganized you were, how smart you were, how stubborn you were. He could just go on and on…

Albedo has held this resentment towards you since high school, but you deciding to go to the same college as him really threw him off. To make matters even worse, you two had dorms right beside each other. It felt almost as if you were everywhere, as if you were going to haunt him for eternity.

And because of this, Y/n, he wanted you dead.

And the craziest part is that Albedo isn’t even a violent person! Although, he couldn’t help but find joy in the thought of hearing word of your passing and knowing that he was the one responsible.

It took a lot of planning, light stalking, and stealing a few things from the science lab to complete, but it was worth it. It was all going to be worth it once you disappear.

And disappear how, you ask? Well it’s simple: He was going to make a potion to kill you.

Of course, he could’ve just bought some toxic drugs or what not, but why not use his talents? And where would a college student find lethal poison anyway? At a gas station? He needed something that would kill instantly and efficiently, so what’s better than making of yourself?

Nevertheless, Albedo has made many, many, potions and whatnot before but nothing like this. Nothing to inflict harm upon another.

Now, he may be a little… mentally unstable… but murder is still a stretch for the Biochemistry Major. He just had a vision of your dead body lying on your dorm floor and he wanted to make it a reality. Is that too much to ask?

It was in the middle of the night when Albedo laid out his science equipment all on his desk as he began to work. The thought crossed his mind that there might be a rule against making poisons for the person you despise the most in your dorm, but he highly doubted that.

After about an hour or so of following the instructions for the potion he wrote down in his used notebook, he held the vial of the toxic, pink-purple liquid up to his face as he eyed it suspiciously. Isn’t it supposed to be a more indigo color…?

He must’ve added something wrong, but he failed to notice that. When reaching over to grab his pen to take note of his observations, his hand slipped and the vial shattered as it hit the hard, wooden floor.

“Oh Archons-” He flinched as the glass shattered as it hit the floor. When he kneeled down to cautiously pick up the broken shards of glass and throwing them in the trash with gloved fingers, he noticing a strange fragrance filling the room. It smelled vaguely like… flowers? No, maybe… maybe it doesn’t matter!

Albedo’s eyes widened in panic as he stood up to his feet, feeling a bit dizzy, as he reached over the desk for his notebook.

The handwriting in front of him grew harder and harder to read. His vision was starting to blur, then came a brutal headache.

At this point, even a preschooler could tell that something was horribly wrong. He fell to his knees, his hands moving up to his head, pulling at his dirty blond hair in pain. He hyperventilated, the concentration of the potions’ aroma in the air being too strong.

Don’t tell me I’m going to die here… he thought to himself.

Did he somehow manage to kill himself in his attempt to murder you?

Then, he blacked out.

Abdeo’s been out cold for about six hours until he finally wakes again.

The strange fragrance of the mysterious potion is now gone. He was lying flat on his face on his dorm room floor, not the most comfortable way to be sleeping for six hours straight.

Nevertheless, he sits up rather quickly, that aching migraine from last night hitting him like a bus.

He’s so glad today’s a Saturday.

His original plan for today was to follow you to that café you go to every Saturday morning, put a few drops of the potion in your drink, then watch everything else play out. But, as you can see, his plain had been foiled.

“It’ll take me months to find someone who sells these same chemicals…” he gripes, not even touching on the fact that he still had to return the things he’s stolen from the science lab, but that’ll be fine.

After about 20 minutes of cleaning up the equipment he had used last night, Albedo decided it’d be best for him to get some fresh air. You know, inhaling toxic fumes could be detrimental to your health.

Deciding that it’d be best to get some fresh air outside, Albedo leaves his dorm.

Upon opening the door and stepping out the room, the first person he sees is you. He stopped right in his tracks, feeling this strange, tingly feeling all over his body.

Had he never really… looked at you before? Or has he been too busy hating you to even realize that…

“…you’re gorgeous…” he mutters quietly, not sure if he was talking more to himself or you.

It would have been obvious to anyone who walked by that he had been sitting there staring at you for a while. His gaze was intense, yet brimming with fascination. He had never — never looked at you like this before. And it was making you a bit uncomfortable.

His lips parted, but what left his mouth was somewhere close to complete silence. What is wrong with him??

Pursing your lips together, you narrowed your eyes at the blond and walked right passed him into your dorm.

What just happened…? He blinked. He had never, ever, even thought of saying such a thing about you. Albedo calling you “gorgeous” was not exactly what he was expecting to leave his mouth right then.

He ran back into his dorm and shut the door behind him. Feeling l his face burning red, he refused to believe that it was because of you. No — it was just hot in here… so, so, hot- maybe he should open a window?

Stumbling over his own feet, he opens the window to his bedroom. He may should have done that earlier…

Once the windows were open, he looked down at his sweetly palms. His hands were shaking. His face probably didn’t show it, but he was freaking out.

Why did I suddenly feel so — so strange around her…? Is this a side affect of the potion?

“Don’t tell me I…” his eyes widened, his blood growing cold.

“…No, no, that’s impossible. Love potions don’t exist — do they?”

He wanted to deny it with every fiber of his being, but the discolor of the potion and the strange infatuation with you all fell in place together too easily.

But everyone makes mistakes, right?

Even if that “mistake” is accidentally making a love potion out of what he was going to use to kill his rival, accidentally using it on himself, then falling in love with said rival.

Throwing his head back with a sigh, he ran his fingers through his messy, blond hair. Archons, that dammed headache was coming back again. Is that a side affect of the potion as well? But at this point, that is the last thing in his mind right now.

It’s around 10 in the morning now and Albedo is this close to losing it.

He was already on the brink of insanity before, but that potion did something to him that couldn’t he reversed.

He laid in bed all day thinking, maybe I just have to sleep it off. But he couldn’t fall asleep. He couldn’t keep his eyes closed — not when you were on his mind. His splitting headache wasn’t helping either…

He thought about you endlessly, how could he not? You were just so beautiful and- and… Stop it. Just stop. I can’t feed into my… current “obsession” or it’ll only grow worse.

Albedo tossed and turned in pain and discomfort as he wondered what you were doing right now, at this very second.

Were you okay? Were you out with your friends or in your dorm? He never really payed that much attention to your personality traits to determine if you’re more extroverted or introverted…

Were you even thinking about him?

“Archon’s know what’s happening to me… just why can’t I get you out my mind…?” Was the last thing he said before getting off his bed and began frantically searching through the items on his messy desk full of his own (and some stolen) science equipment and used notebooks.

He had taken one too many painkillers over the past few hours for his headache, but they barely affected him.

It took him until his dorm room was, well, a mess, and his headache to come back for him to realize what actually had happened.

“I made a love potion didn’t I?”

As he sat in the chain before his desk, his face fell in his hands as an exasperated sigh left his lips.

But this explanation is the only logical one out there. You were the first person he made eye contact with since he inhaled the gas let off by the potion. Not only that, but he must’ve added an extra ingredient — which he still cannot find by the way — in it by mistake, causing it to turn a strange purple-pink color.

Now, this may raise the question, “but aren’t love potions supposed to be consumed to take affect on someone?” Well, the large, capitalized words written above the recipe for the potion Albedo failed to make speaks volumes, “DO NOT INHALE OR INGEST THIS POTION IN ANY FORM.” “Ingest” includes inhaling, consuming, and entering the body in anyway.

Finally coming to terms with what’s happened to him, Albedo shows a look of apparent defeat on his face. How could he make such a mistake…?

Well, at least he wouldn’t be a suspect of murder.

Opening his journal again, he started adding extra notes to the page about the potion before getting a bit distracted and beginning to add little drawings on the paper.

He’d rather do that than clean his room anyway.

Without even realizing, he had drawn a picture of you on the next page. You even looked beautiful in his art style… if only he could see your pretty face just one more time— “-Nope. No. Stop it.” He shut his the small book in his hands, feeling the blood rush to his face again.

If he wants the affects of this potion to wear off sooner, he needs to stop thinking or talking about you in general, any means necessary.

Albedo rips the page from the book and tossed it into the nearby trash. The trash with a burned hole in the side of it from a failed experiment from months ago…

He really needed some sleep. Yes, sleep! Maybe he could just sleep this potion off, that way… that way he can get back hating you.

Maybe sleep wasn’t the best decision.

Firstly, it was four in the morning the time he woke up. The sun wasn’t even up yet.

Reaching over on his nightstand to grab his phone to check the time, the first thing he thought of, of course, was you.

“So this potion casts longer than a day… great,” he sighs as sits up, rubbing the sleep out of his pretty, icy blue eyes. “You’re just infecting me mind like a disease aren’t you, Y/n…” he typed in his password, having the fleeting thought of changing it to your birthday.

Speaking of you, Albedo knows all of your social media accounts. As a matter of fact, he has you blocked on all of them except for one.

He only has you unblocked on that one particular social for all of the wrong reasons.

Well, for one, it was for him to stalk your posts, followers, and reposts to find out about your class (and personal) schedule. It was absolutely mandatory that he needed that information to determine when was the best time for him to… get rid of you.

But that plan is long gone now. Mainly because he’d now rather kill himself to end this archons forsaken curse than to ever bring harm upon you. But, unfortunately, he doesn’t have the time to die right now.

“My goodness, you’re divine…” He quietly muttered under his breath as he scrolled through the different photos of you and your college friends. He recognized quite a few of them but just bypassed them.

His eyes lingered on one particular photo of you until he realized what he was doing. It felt wrong — feeling this way about you, that is.

Albedo desired, he silently longed for you and only you. To see your face again, your real face, to listen to your sweet voice start up an argument with him. Watching your arms cross over your chest as your beautiful eyes stared at him with such hatred and annoyance.

Albedo’s fantasies were rudely interrupted by someone knocking at his door. When getting up to answer it, somewhere deep, deep inside of him desperately wanted it to be you — but it seems the Archon’s didn’t shine their favors upon him today.

He looked through the peephole and his eyes landed on the long, black ears sticking up from his short, black hair.

“Oh, it’s just Tighnari,” the blond muttered, a hint of disappointment in his voice. Although he enjoyed Tighnari’s presence, he isn’t exactly… you.

Tighnari is a Botany major who graduated from the same high school as Albedo; he is also one of the solitary alchemists’ very few friends.

With a disappointed sigh, he opened the door.

It took only Tighnari’s concerned expression for Albedo to realize what he must’ve looked like. He hasn’t paid that much attention to himself ever since he woke up on the floor the other morning. Oh, and don’t even get me started on how disheveled his room was.

He’s a relatively clean person, but going crazy with love can do something to a person. Especially someone who’s already a bit messed up in the head.

The two males stared at each other for a bit until Albedo says quietly, “Oh- I wasn’t expecting visitors…” he pressed his lips together as he raked his fingers through his messy, blonde hair.

“Yeah, I can tell.” his ears drooped down a bit as he sighed, “I’ve been calling you all day yesterday — and today! I assumed you were just out somewhere but without your phone? That was unlikely.”

Call? When did I receive a call…? “You called me?”

“Yeah, the other night? You borrowed my notes and I kinda need them back…”

Albedo blinked in confusion before his eyes widened in realization, “Oh, yes… I’ll go get them right now.”

Albedo rummaged through the miscellaneous items on his desk until he came back with a few papers in his hands. “Yeah, I completely forgot I had them,” and completely forgot to copy them down as well…

“It’s alright,” he gave the Albedo a small smile. “Why do you look like you’ve been asleep for five years, it’s only nine AM. You’re usually up by no—“

“-nine AM!?”

“Yes, I- did you not know?” Tighnari’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion. He sighed, “It’s- whatever. Have a good day, Albedo.”

Before he could say goodbye, Tighnari was already gone.

Albedo walked back into his dorm room and slammed the door shut behind him, not really caring about how loud he was. He stood with his back against the door and his hand lingering on the doorknob for an extra moment or two as his mind ran wildly with thoughts.

“I should’ve told him about the potion… or maybe I made the right decision by biting my tongue.”

By Monday morning, Albedo forced himself to go to class. But he wasn’t exactly prepared — mentally, I mean. He did stay up all last night staring at photos of you (and cleaning his room), but he wasn’t as tired as he thought he would be.

This potion is really taking a toll on my mental health…

Before he left his dorm, Albedo stood in front of the mirror above his sink and took a long look at himself. How couldn’t he have ever noticed the dark circles under his eyes or how messy his hair was.

But he didn’t care. He was just going to class and coming back. Nothing more, nothing less.

With a sigh, he left his door and locked the door behind him. Before he turned to walk away, his eyes drifted over to your door. The image of you the morning he woke up from his unconscious state came back to him. Oh, how he wanted to see you again.

Good thing you’re in his first class.

He sat in far back corner of the classroom, deliberately trying sitting away from everyone else. His face rested in his palm, his missing sleep catching up to him, his eyelids growing heavy until he noticed someone walking by to get to their seat.

It was you. You paid no mind to him, but his eyes watched your every move even as you took his pen, his only pen, off his desk. It was but a fleeting moment when your skin grazed his hand to snatch away his pen.

It took him a moment or two to really realize that you had taken his only pen. But it didn’t matter to him, he wasn’t going to take notes anyway…

Looking over at you, you stared at him with a small smirk on your lips. You held the bottom end of the pen between your teeth, obviously teasing him.

Obviously, you expected Albedo, well, pre-love potion Albedo, to seethe in anger, but he only stares at you with an unreadable expression on his face. His pale blue eyes staring straight into you from across the lecture hall.

What’s up with him…? You’d think.

When the lecture began, his eyes were still stuck in your direction. He could only see the side of your face, but that was enough for him. His mind went blank as you chewed on the pen, his pen. Were you still teasing him? Or is it only a habit?

How could he focus on whats being said by the professor when he’s imagining all of the things he could be doing to you right now- stop it! Stop thinking of her like that!

Albedo let out a shuddering sigh before pressing his red face into his palms resting on the desk before him. Albedo is usually a very calm and composed person, but not around you apparently.

In an attempt to calm himself down, he searches through his backpack for a good few minutes for something to write with until he finds an old pencil from the beginning of the school year. “I thought I had lost this,” he muttered.

It didn’t take long for where his notes were supposed to be is replaced by yet another drawing of you. As a matter of fact, all that he’s been drawing lately is you… but we should all know the reason as to why by now.

When Albedo drew you, he studied every single detail of your beautiful face, and having a front row seat to you made this even easier.

When class was over, Albedo signed with relief. But he did have a few more classes left for the day… but they could wait.

He had a more important person on his schedule today…

After packing up all his things, he followed right after of you out the lecture hall. Archon’s, you were divine. You even smelled divine…

The mere thought of you drove him crazy.

This is the longest fanfic I’ve posted onto tumblr yet so yippie!

If you want a part two, I might make one :3 !!

It was dark.

Not only dark, but quiet, too quiet. Your body felt weak and heavy.

Where am I? You panicked, Am I… home? You thought hopefully, your eyes slowly blinking awake. Your blurred vision slowly focused in on someone standing above you. It was a man, a man with dark hair that faded into a light teal.

Dark haired man, soft facial features, beautiful, teal eyes… I’ve never seen him before… You wondered as he opened his mouth to say something but you quickly sitting yourself up cut him off.

You probably shouldn’t have sat up so fast because that made your head throb in pain. You clenched your eyes shut and groaned with your hands on your forehead. Wait, your forehead was bandaged up?

The resting smile on the man’s face slowly faltered as he saw you in pain, “Hey, you had quite a fall last night…”

You blinked, your mind subconsciously ignoring the rest of his words, “Fall?” I fell? When did that happen?

You couldn’t remember anything, you can’t even remember where you were last night or anytime yesterday!

“Th- thank you for your help but…” you quickly jump out of bed, but the second you stood on your feet your legs trembled and your head throbbed. It felt as if you had been hitting it with a brick for the past hour.

And your legs, your legs were weaker than they’ve ever been… d- did I have a concussion!? Maybe you did have a rough fall…

“…but I need to get home! I… I have to…” you trailed off, feeling dizzy.

“…have to…?” He raised an eyebrow at you, expecting you to go on.

“I- I don’t remember… what… I have to do.” Panic overwhelmed your injured body, you fell back against the bed for your legs giving out under you. “Wha… What’s wrong with me…!? why can’t I remember anything!?”

You knew you couldn’t remember, but by how you were reacting, what you needed to do was very important to you.

The man placed his hands on your shoulders, caressing them gently. “Hey, hey it’s gonna be alright…” He said gently in your ear, “Amnesia is a common symptom of a concussion, but it’s fine, I’ve gotten you now, Y/n”

You rested in the Man’s home for a day or two until you felt good enough to walk on your own, although, your headaches never really seemed to go away.

Your injuries were tended to not only by the dark hair man, but by the maids that work for him in this place, his mansion. His name is Venti.

There are about 10 or so maids who work here, (all women) in the age range of 19-21, you falling in that category. You haven’t seen all of them, but only a few from them changing your bandages or taking your temperature.

You later came to know that each one of these maids were Mondstadters, highly religious ones at that, who worship and follow the Anemo Archon Barbatos.

Once you got well, Venti (or Master Venti as the maids called), came in your room. You were visibly bored, having nothing to do for hours.

“Oh, Y/n!~” he sang, his voice light and cheerful.

You perked up, finally having at least a little entertainment from the Master of the Mansion, “Yes Venti?”

He seems a bit too cheery and playful to be a billionaire who has a bunch of maids literally working for him… You thought, but you quickly brushed it off.

“I have a proposal for you…” he sat beside your on the bed, his eyes never leaving your face, “You could either stay here with me and work for me as one of my maids, or you could leave this mansion and go back to your normal life.”

He leaned in close to you, his real eyes narrowing as he whispered, “the choice is yours, Y/n.” You instinctively shifted away from him, your face getting a bit hot.

Oh, how you would’ve loved to go back, but the only problem with that option was that you don’t remember your address. Hell, you don’t even remember where you’re from, if you worked, nothing!

So you, of course, chose the most reasonable option, and that is to stay with him. “Well, I don’t really know what I need to go back home to so… yes, I’ll stay.” You gave him a smile and he returned it with a laugh and an even bigger grin.

“Hee-hee! Oh, that’s perfect! I’ll have you start right away!!… Only if that’s alright with you my Cecilia!” He was so happy you had decided to stay with him, a bit too happy…

“My Cecilia?” Does he call all of his maids that?

Without giving you a second to really comprehend what you just signed your life away to, he dragged you out of bed and stood you in front of the full length mirror on the closet door. You couldn’t help but notice how disheveled you look. You no longer had the bandage on your head, and you’re wearing a pretty casual outfit. Sadly, due to your memory loss, you’ve forgotten what you wore this outfit to.

“I’ll get your uniform prepared for you, Y/n,” Venti grinned, “I just need you to tell me your size, Cecilia.”

Oh, he just knew you’d be beautiful as one of his maids… Just by the way he can’t pry his eyes off of you. But he has to control himself, it’d be bad him to show favoritism for one of his maids. Just like an Archon loving all of their followers equally.

It wasn’t long before Venti returned with your uniform, it was a long black dress down to my ankles, a white apron and a lacy headpiece with ribbons. It was a pretty generic maid dress, but it wasn’t nothing.

You spun around a few times in the mirror admiring the cute dress, although it was a bit tight in the chest area.

Venti’s eyes lingered a second too long, then forced himself to snap out of it. I can’t get too attached to my maids he thought.

Clearing his throat, you turn to look at him. “Is it alright or do I need to get you another size?” He asked, his eyes raking up and down your body.

You failed to notice his gaze when you shook your head, “Oh, no, it’s perfectly fine.”

“Perfect! I’ll let one of my maids show you around. Her names Maria and I believe she’s about your age.” He left for a minute or two and returned with a pretty woman with light brown hair and black-brown eyes. She, of course was wearing the maid uniform.

“Y/n, this is Maria. Maria, Y/n. I’m optimistic that you two can get along,” He winked before leaving the room in a bit of a hurry.

You wondered whatever he could be doing, but your thoughts were interrupted by Maria. “So you’re the young lady Lord Barbatos was talking about.” She plastered a smile on her face and reached out her hand for you to shake.

Reluctantly, you took her hand, “Lord Barbatos?” What’s that about? You thought.

“Uh, yeah… I’ve been here for a while and this is the first time I’ve had a conversation with someone that isn’t Venti or about my injuries…”

She pursed her lips together at the tone of familiarity at how you said his name. “…Venti…”

“Ah, yes, well I’m glad to be someone you can talk to.” She smiled at you but it didn’t seem entirely genuine. You would’ve taken note of that but you honestly could care less about what she thought of you.

“Me too,” You responded.

You and Maria walked for what felt like hours through every single room on all three floors of this huge mansion. Not only that, but she explained every detail of every nook and cranny of this place. But you did learn some valuable information.

This mansion is deep in the woods of Mondstadt and no one is allowed to stray too far away from the mansion. She says it is because “Lord Barbatos told us that vicious monsters lie in these woods, so it’s not safe to wander too far.”

And that “Whoever deliberately tries to leave him or say anything against the Anemo Archon is “taken care of.” None of the women here exactly know what that’s supposed to mean, so we all try our hardest to be on her best behavior!”

The way the words came off of Maria’s mouth was so easily and casually was a bit… disturbing. It’s almost as if she doesn’t even understand that this wasn’t normal. Is it normal?

“Does- Does that mean he kills them-!!?“ you shriek, her hand swiftly coming up to cup it over your mouth as you struggle against her.

She pressed a finger against her lips then removed her hand for your mouth, “Don’t. Say. That.” Maria stated firmly, her eyes widening.

“But why…?” You muttered quietly. Her black irises shook with fear as they look to her upper left.

You followed her gaze and there it was, a security camera. She composed herself and plastered that fake-ass smile on her face again, on the contrary, your eyes remain wide and as shocked as she was as she drags you along by your wrist. “How about we visit the library again, hm?”

In the library, Maria drags you behind a bookshelf, one of the only camera blind spots in the Mansion.

“What did you think you’re doing shouting such… such nonsense like that! Ven- Lord Barbatos would never, ever do such a thing!!” She cried, “Do you want to get us punished!?”

Punished? “I feel like that’s the least of our worries right now,” you whisper-shouted, “we need to get out of here right now!”

You tried walking away but she only yanked you back over to her. Seriously, she needs to stop manhandling me…

“You can’t leave, haven’t I told you? Lord Barbatos would be furious! Not only that, but monsters roam in the wood beyond this mansion.” Her voice dropped to a whisper, “he told us that the last young lady who left to retrieve something from the woods never came back.”

She sighed, “But why would you ever want to leave anyway? He has treated your wounds, he’s feeding and sheltering us in this nice home, and all he asks for in return is your labor.”

You froze. You can’t deny that Maria put up a good argument. And yet, something about this place just creeps you out anyway.

“Maria, why do you call Venti “Lord Barbatos” rather than “Master Venti” like the other maids? Isn’t Barbatos an Archon, a god?” You cocked an eyebrow at her.

She only scoffed, “Just what’s so wrong with me referring to my god as a proper title? Who do you think you are saying his name like that, he’s not your friend from high school, you know.”

You only rolled your eyes, “But Venti- oh- sorry, “Lord Barbatos” isn’t a god, or is he?”

“Yes he is!” She exclaimed, a bit too defensive.

“All of the women here are from here, the land of freedom, so naturally we worship the Archon Barbatos. But since “Venti,” as you may call him, is such a faithful man, many of us believe that he is Barbatos. So we worship Venti as our Anemo Archon.”

This is insane.

Venti? A god? And if this is true, then why didn’t he tell you this in the first place…

“Let me get this straight,” you laughed with a hand rubbing your temple, feeling a light headache coming back, “Venti is the Anemo Archon?” You thought that everything coming out of her mouth was complete nonsense and you made that blatantly evident.

“It’s really not that hard to believe, Y/n.” She crossed her arms.

For the rest of the morning you and Maria just organized books while keeping the subject on other things.

“How long have you been here, Maria?”

“About 6 months, but it only feels like a few weeks… oh, how the time flies by…” she let out a dreamy sigh before continuing, “All of the girls who work here are hired at the same time by our Master but…” she trailed off.

“…But I guess Lord Barbatos made an exception for you…” she had a tone to her voice that you couldn’t quite put your finger on.

Finally it was lunchtime, you had worked up an appetite after all the walking work you did.

All the the maids met in the kitchen after one or two of them had prepared a meal for everyone. Just as you were about to sit down, one had stopped you.

She seemed about your age with dirty blonde hair and green eyes, her name was Amalia. “Could you please bring this up to Master Venti for me?” She handed, more like shoved you a tray of food. On it was a nicely prepared male and a drink.

“Thanks!”

“H- Hey- but…” you tried off, she was already gone. …But I’m hungry too…

With a dramatic groan, you left the kitchen with the tray. You weren’t really left with much of a choice….

It took a while for you to carefully balance the tray in your hands while walking up three flights of stairs, but you made it. Walking up to his room, you knocked a few times and waited.

“Come in!” Venti shouted through the door. Slowly, you walked in his room. It was a pretty normal bedroom giving that he was treated like a god according to Maria.

He was sitting at the desk in his room, his cheek resting in his palm as he stared at you. His eyes lingering on the chest area of the dress he picked out…

“Ah, Hi Y/n! I wasn’t exactly expecting you to bring this up to me, haha,” He smiled with a small laugh.

You set the tray down at his desk. At first, you were going to ask why he doesn’t eat with the rest of the maids, but the thought slipped your mind when he started up a conversation with you.

“How are your injuries?” He enquired, not paying any mind to the food in front of him. “You having anymore headaches?”

What’s with the sudden interrogation? “Uh, kinda. Actually, I feel a lot better than before. Only a couple of headaches here and there…”

“That’s good! Other than the headaches though, I’m so glad you’re feeling better, my flower.”

“Oh, thank you… Venti.” You turned to leave then stopped yourself, remembering one last thing.

“Oh, and I have a question…”

He looked at you again, a curious glint in his teal eyes, “Yeah?

“Are you actually Barbatos? Like, the Archon Barbatos?” His eyes widened. It was a bold question, yes, but he wasn’t surprised by the question but by how straight-to-the-point you were.

He laughed a bit then said, “Well, do you think I am?”

You pursed your lips together, not exactly knowing how to respond. “I hope you enjoy your meal,” you smiled and left the room.

He watched you intently as you exited, his eyes lingering on the door after it shut behind you.

Quickly, he snapped himself out of it, “Archons, what am I doing!? I can’t get too attached to her- any of my maids! I just can’t!”

He put his face in his hands as he tried to clear his racing mind. “Haha, how can I stop thinking of her? She’s just so… special”

“Yes, “special” like every single one of my followers.”

“Because I treat all of my maids equally.”

proceed to part two !!

“Did you hear? They still haven’t found those poor girls that went missing last month.”

“Really? That’s so unfortunate… I heard yet another disappeared last night!”

“Oh my, is that true?”

These were the types of conversations that were circling around all of Fontaine as of late. The “serial disappearances of young women case” is the most popular news story out right now.

News papers, pamphlets, social media, everything and everyone is talking about this case.

They’re all so invested in it purely because it is happening in real time.

How disgusting.

Why is everyone in this nation so obsessed with drama; even while their friends, wives, sisters and daughters are being taken from them one by one. And even they, themselves, could be next.

Even you could be next.

—

It was a hot Saturday morning that day. Your friend had finally gotten you to agree to attend Lyney and Lynette’s magic show today. She’s been begging you ever since she first heard word of them performing there, the biggest theater in Fontaine. Sure, this isn’t their first time performing there, but it’s still and opportunity she just couldn’t pass up.

You could never buy the tickets before they sold out, guess that just shows how great they are at performing.

You both sat in the front row of the huge auditorium to get the best view of the stage.

When the show began, you could see the charming Magician himself: Lyney. Next to his stood his beautiful assistant and Twin Sister: Lynette.

Archons, you knew they were attractive, but seeing them in person was totally different than from online.

But the one who was most excited was your friend, literally shaking in her seat with excitement.

—

As the performance was nearing its end, Lyney made an announcement to the audience, “Now, ladies and gentlemen, for my next trick I will need a participant from the audience!”

There was a brief period of silence in the Opera house. You could’ve sworn that you saw Lyney staring at you, but when you looked at him, his gaze was back at the rest of the audience.

He then says, “So many choices… Ah! You, ma’am, I’m the front row.”

The breath left your lungs when his index finger pointed in your direction, but he wasn’t looking at you. He was looking at the person right next to you, your friend.

The spotlight shone on her and her face lit up in the biggest smile you’ve ever seen. As she walked up the stage, you just couldn’t take your eyes off Lyney. Why was he staring at you earlier…?

When she reached the stage, Lyney took her hand and explained to both her and the crowed the trick he has going to preform: a disappearing act.

When the trick was completed, that’s also when the performance ended. You watched your friend run off stage, and over to you in excitement, “Oh my God, Y/n! Y/n!! Can you belive what just happened!??”

“I know it’s crazy right! How did he choose you of all people—“ Just as you were speaking you heard a voice overhead.

“Excuse me,” She said. It was Lynette, the co-star of the show… “Lyney asked for you backstage.” She was staring right at your friend. What was happening today!?? This is insane.

Without a second thought, your friend runs up the steps and over to Lynette to go backstage.

Before they disappeared behind the curtains, Lynette said, “It’ll be a while, so you may want to wait outside.”

You nodded at the illusionist then she left with your friend, leaving you alone in the Opera House. You didn’t want to sit in there all alone of course, especially because of the disappearances of young women happening recently. You decided to wait outside in your car for your friend to come out.

It had been nearly an hour since she went back there… was that a bad an idea? Or… did she get lost? You don’t know, maybe you could try texting her…

you

“I’m waiting for you outside in my car”

“are you coming out soon?”

“hello?”

…again. Why hasn’t she responded yet?

Well, she did drive her own car here, maybe she’ll be fine if you went home. It is getting late.

—

“It was a long day, wasn’t it, Lynette?” Lyney smiled, carrying an unconscious young woman in his arms.

Lynette didn’t respond to her brother. She only glanced at him then down at the woman, “Sit her there,” she pointed to the chair in the middle of the room.

“I’ll get the rope and tape,” she walked off and Lyney did as she asked. Coming back over to him, Lynette tapped the woman’s mouth shut and tightly tied her wrists and ankles to the wooden chair.

“Well that was easy, huh?” Lyney smiled.

“Lyney, you can be so stubborn sometimes…” she said in a rather exasperated tone.

Lyney glanced over at her and furrowed his eyebrows, “Whatever do you mean?”

“I mean that you chose this woman rather than our agreed target,” she sighs, placing a hand on her forehead. “If this girl doesn’t have the right blood type, then we’ve failed our mission, do you not understand that? Not only that, but if we do that same trick again than that woman goes missing, people will grow suspicious of us.”

“And now that we’ve brought her all the way here,” she paused, “She’s gonna have to die.” She whispered as to not alarm the hostage.

“I- I know that, dear sister, it’s just— there’s plenty of fish in the sea, right? Haha…” He laughed nervously but his sister didn’t dare to even crack a smile.

“Ahem, well- anyway… killing her won’t be a problem, would it?” He reasoned, looking down at the poor girl, who had probably gained consciousness during their banter, shaking her head frantically and crying.

“Father will be angry that we’ve failed to retrieve the right target, Lyney.”

“Then we’ll kill her and it’ll be like she was never here to begin with, ‘kay?” He smiled and rested his hands in the girl’s shoulders. She began to cry and struggle beneath the restraints.

“But we still failed the mission.”

Archons, she just won’t let this go, will she? He thought.

With a groan, Lyney finally says, “Alright, alright… we’ll just have to find another woman just like Y/n in… three days? We can do that, right? We could even get help from Freminet if he were to agree.”

Lynette only cuts her eyes at him and crosses her arms over her chest, “Alright, whatever you say.” She walks away, an unreadable expression on her face.

Lyney sighs then turns back to your friend, a wicked smile on his face, “Shh, shhh…” he hushed, placing an index finger on his lips.

He smiled at his hostage, but behind that charming, pretty, smile was a sociopath. Lyney walked over to the closet in the room and grabbed something long and silver, a saw.

“It’ll only hurt for a little while, ‘kay sweetie?”

—

It’s been two days since you went to that magic show, and it’s been two days since you’ve seen your friend. Did something come up on her way home? Did she even make it home?

Sitting at home all day isn’t going to make it any better, so you decided to go out today and probably file a missing persons report.

As you were walking on the sidewalk, across the street you noticed a very familiar man preforming a magic trick for a few people surrounding him.

You began walking towards him, maybe he might know something about your friend. As you grew closer, he looked up from the crowd at you.

An even bigger smile than before formed on his handsome face as he greeted you, “Ah, I remember you! The beautiful young lady in the front row of my show the other day!”

You blinked, you didn’t expect him to remember you. The magician took his hat off his head and pulled out a bouquet of beautiful rainbow roses.

“For you, ma chérie,” he bowed, handing you the flowers.

You stared at him in disbelief, why me? You thought, reaching for the roses. “Thank you, Mr. Lyney,” you held the flowers tightly to your chest with a small smile on your face.

“No need for the formalities, just call me Lyney, dear,” he froze, thinking. The crowd began to disperse assuming, that the performance was over.

“Say, you went with the lucky woman that got called on stage at my last performance, did you not?”

“Yes, that’s me! My name is Y/n, nice to meet you,” you put your hand out for him to shake. Ignoring your initial intentions, Lyney grabbed your hand and laid a soft kiss on your knuckles.

“It’s a pleasure, Miss Y/n.”

You felt you face heat up from his gesture but you quickly ignored it, “Oh, I had a question, do you have any idea what happened to my friend after you called her backstage? She hasn’t answered her phone since then and I’m really worried…”

“Oh no,” Lyney responds, “Shortly after you left, she did too. My dear assistant Lynette made sure she got to her car safely. I hate to think of the worst, but young women like her have been disappearing recently…”

Lyney watched as your face paled in horror at his words.

“No, it couldn’t be…” You muttered, you didn’t want to believe it, you couldn’t!!

But it was far too possible.

“Oh, I know, I know,” He coos, placing a hand on the small of your back as if to comfort you. But in reality, he just really wanted to touch you, “I get your pain. I’m always scared to death to let my sister go out on her own because of these kidnappings.”

You nodded, fighting back the tears trying to force their way out of your eyes.

“Hey, how about this,” he hold both of your hands in his, a smile on his pretty lips. “I could help you put up missing persons posters or…”

“Thank you, Lyney, but I wouldn’t want to trouble a busy man such as yourself…!”

His smiled widened when he heard you say his name. Your voice is so cute.

“Oh no, no, no! It’s no trouble at all, ma chérie!” He waved his hands as if dismissing what you just said.

Hesitantly, you agreed.

—

“You know…” the magician began, his hands behind his back, “You are far too trusting of people, Miss Y/n! Your just following me out here all alone…”

His playful smile dropped to a deadly glare, “…You don’t even know my true intentions.”

You opened your mouth to say something but nothing came out, instead you just stared at him. You didn’t realize what was happening until it was too late.

Pulling you close by your waist, Lyney stabs a syringe to the side of your neck.

“L- Lyney…!“ you cried before loosing consciousness and falling to the ground.

—

Ugh… my head hurts… where am I? You thought as you opened your eyes. You were lying in a small, dark room. Alone.

Instantly, you panicked.

You racked your brain for what happened before you blacked out, and all you could come up with was his face.

That can’t be true, right?

But he was so nice…

You tried freeing your wrists and ankles that are cuffed together to no avail. I mean, what were you expecting?

You couldn’t control the tears rolling down your cheeks as you sobbed uncontrollably, you couldn’t help it. You trusted Lyney, you fucking trusted him and he went and did this!?

You don’t think you’ll ever be able to forgive him.

Your sobbing must have could his attention because you heard some movements then saw the door open.

You were met with Lyney, a manic grin on his charming face, “Oh, what’s wrong, ma chérie,” he pouted and kneeled down for his face to be at your level.

He cupped your face in his hands as he gently wiped your tears from your cheeks with his thumbs.

“Hey, now… I understand you’re upset, sweetheart, but I had to do… this!!” He said as if the word “kidnap” or “abduct” are horrible swear words that he would never say.

“I could never, ever give you away to The Doctor for him to run who knows how many experiments on you! Who do you think I am!?”

A psycho. Is what you wanted to say but couldn’t cause of the tape he put over your mouth.

Lyney removed his hands from your face and tilted his head at you, a slight frown on his face.

“Hey, hey, look at me,” he said, “If I gave you away to that… that maniac, gods know what he’d do to you. I can’t let him take you away from me, I need you.”

You shook your head violently, you wanted to cry out and scream but you couldn’t. And even if you could, you’re terrified of how he would react.

“I understand that you might be upset, confused, angry, but none of that matters because we can finally be together with no one to get in the way of us.”

“No Lynette, no Freminet, no Dottore, just you and me.

Together forever.”

I’m aware that the song “dead girls” by Penelope Scott is about kids committing suicide, but I felt that the title was fitting because there were literally dead girls in Fontaine.