Fatal Fiction

The door the lab the Dr. Gale usual left from swung open and the men lead you out into someplace very dark. But it smelt very different, it wasn’t a bad smell, but there were so many different variants to the smell you couldn’t even think about deciding it.

“This way, lass” the man behind you said as he made his way down the hard path in front of you.

You all stopped in front of some sort of cell. It was boxy and black. It was placed on top of round supports. It looked weird, like everything so far.

The man in front of you opened the door to the cell, “it’s only for a lil’ while, lass. Up you go…” he looked to man that still had his hand on your back.

You looked to him too, he gave you small nod. Same as the one he gave you with the food. He gestured for you get inside. You stared at him for a while, until you climbed your way in. He did say there was more food, maybe you would get some soon. You sat down on the floor of the cell, it was cramped, but that was okay.

To your surprise the man who had opened the door got in the cell with you. He sat on the edges that stuck out from the wall. Why would he sit there? The sick, dark skinned one followed, sitting on the far wall from you beside the other man, closing the door behind him.

The masked man and man that gave you the food got into a different part of the cell.

The cell seemed to shake and growl. You covered your ears and sunk further into the cell floor.

You stayed like that for a very long time. Until the cell finally stopped its terrible noise.

You looked up when the doors of the cell opened and the men got out.

The man who was beside you got out then looked at you, “come on, lass. Out you get.”

You slowly climbed back out of the cell. But everything looked different, there were buildings, small buildings everywhere.

The man guided you to one of the buildings as the other men followed.

The door made a lot of noise as it opened. The inside was different than Dr. Gale’s lab, there were no white walls, or long tables to do work at. What did they do with all this weird stuff?

All the men entered as the man lead you into the middle of the room.

“Where should she sleep, captain?” The man beside you asked.

“She can sleep in the guest room.”

He nodded to the man before leading you further into the room, into a hallway and into a new cell.

He open the door, it too had weird stuff all over it. There was a long flat thing that took up most of the room.

“You can sleep here for the night. I’ll have Gaz find you something more comfortable to wear.” That man said.

You still didn’t know who he was. You looked to him, pointing your finger at him. “Name?”

“Oh, I’m Johnny.” He answered.

“Johnny…” you slurped out.

He nodded at you. He gestured for you to enter the cell. And you did.

“I’ll be right back, okay?” He said before leaving.

You sat down in the corner of the room. You waited. You were used to waiting. So it was okay.

The sick one entered the room. He was carrying things.

“Johnny asked me to find you stuff to wear.” He sat down the clothes down on the floor in front of you. “Do you need help getting dressed.”

It took you a moment to process what he asked you, “no.”

“Okay.”

You stared at the sick man for a long time, would he get you and the others sick? Was he in any pain?

“You… sick?” You slurred out. Pointing at him.

He seemed puzzled by your question, “no, I don’t think so. Why would I be sick?” He asked you.

“Your… skin dark.”

“Oh… no I’m not sick, little one. I’m just a different color than you, that’s all.” He answered.

People came in different colors. That’s weird. But I just if he says he’s not sick, then you guess he isn’t.

He reached into his pocket, he pulled out another one of the hard food things.

“Here you go. If you need anything you can come out there” he pointed to the door, “one of us will be out there” He handed you the food before leaving.

You gulped down the food. It tasted just good as the other one.

You looked at the clothes on the floor. You didn’t need to change, there was nothing wrong with what you had on. They weren’t dirty or ripped. So you didn’t touch them.

You laid down on the floor, hoping to finally get some sleep. And that Dr. Gale wouldn’t be to mad when he came. If he came, the men hadn’t said anything about him coming.

You had lived with Dr. Gale for as long as you can remember. Well lived with was the wrong word. You had your cell, he slept somewhere else, outside the lab you think.

You’re not entirely sure where he would go other than here. There was anything a person could ever need here; food, water, shelter. What else could a person need other than that.

Dr. Gale was relatively nice to you. He could get angry sometimes but it was never at you. He had many training drills he would have you do. Today was ear training day, Dr. Gale had a special room for it. It trained your ears, he said, your big fluffy triangle ears that poked out the top of your head. It would hurt but Dr. Gale said you would get better the more you trained, he always gave you a treat afterwards too. That and a pat on the head.

Luckily your fast would be over tomorrow, you were happy to be able to lay down and rest. Dr. Gale had finally gone home for the day. You couldn’t wait for your meal tomorrow, it was thick and tan in color and zero taste, but that’s how all food tastes.

Dr. Gale had dimmed the lights in your cell so your headache wouldn’t get worse, he was so thoughtful. You were just on the verge of sleep when you heard a loud bang outside of your cell.

Your ears flatted against your head, your tail fluffed up and wrapped around your legs and you pushed yourself as close to the corner of your cell as you could.

Your cell door opened and a large man filled the doorway. He was not Dr. Gale. “Captain, you might want to see this…” The man spoke, he spoke weird, his voice didn’t sound anything like Dr. Gale’s.

“This better be important, Soap.” Another man said as his frame entered the door way. His voice was even more different from the other man’s. Why do they talk so weird?

“Bloody hell… he was supposed to have weapons, not a hostage.” The newest man continued. He studied you for a long moment, mainly looking at your tail and ears.

The first man stepped closer, “come on, wee lass, let’s get you out of here.” He said.

You hissed at him, pushing yourself further into the corner.

He turned to the man beside him, “Captain, what are we gonna do? How we gonna get her out?”

The ‘captain’ didn’t answer the man, he was still looking at you, “we’re not going to hurt ya’, I promise.”

You try to look fierce, your ears pinned against your head. Just then your stomach growls loud in the quiet of the room. You squeeze your stomach through your thin shirt. You look to the man above you, expecting him to yell at you for not lasting longer.

But he doesn’t, instead he reaches into his jacket for something. It crackles and makes a lot of noise as he removes it. He kneels down, on knee on the ground. He continues fiddling with the object until it rips to reveal something inside.

He holds it out for you, you flinched away, “Easy… Here, food. You come with us, and you can have more.”

You stared at him for a long while, but he didn’t move away. He was more patient than Dr. Gale.

You finally reached out to grab it, your shirt riding up slightly. The man standing in the doorway gasped softly. Your hand grabbed the ‘food’, it was hard. Everything about these men were weird. You slid back into the corner, pulling your shirt down over your very visible ribs.

You looked from the ‘food’ to the man’s face.

He gave you a slight nod, “it’s good, I’ve had one.”

You took a small testing bite. It might have been crunchy, but it did taste good. Better than anything you ever tasted.

You devoured the rest of the food in a few bites.

“Good girl.” Said the man in front of you, “come on, we’ve got more, but you have to get out of here first.” He stated as he stood and moved into the hallway slightly.

How could you say no to more of that good stuff. Dr. Gale won’t be to mad with you will he?

You stood on shaky legs and slowly made your way to the man in the hallway. He smiled at you. You were doing the right thing.

In the hallway, there were two other men, one very tall and his face was covered in a mask. The other had oddly colored skin, was he sick? Skin shouldn’t be that dark.

“Come on” The man that gave you the food said as he put his hand on your back and leaded you out of the lab.

To be continued…

You froze when the bathroom door opened. You had no where to hide no towel to cover the flowing blood coming out of your wrist. No trash close enough to throw the razor blade.

You looked up to find Konig’s face. His eyes full of worry. “Libeling?” Was all he said, as he took in the scene before him.

“I… I…” you couldn’t get any words out. You started to tear up, “Konig…” you reached for him.

He wasted no time in pulling you to his chest. Rubbing your back as he slide down the wall, still cradling you in his arms. As you sat in between his legs, he took your freshly cut wrist into his palm, pressing gently to help slow the bleeding.

You lost the concept of time as you sat curled up in his lap, sobbing into his chest. He never made a move to get up, he hugged you close, rubbed your back, kissed your forehead, whatever seemed to calm your breathing more, he did.

It was only after your breathing had stopped did he say anything, “Libeling, you… don’t need to hurt yourself. Promise me, you’ll come to me if feel this way again, please?”

“Okay… I’ll come to you. I’m sorry” you spoke softly.

“No, don’t be sorry, libeling. I’m sorry I did not notice sooner.” She answered with a kissed to your swollen cheeks.

“Come, let’s get you cleaned up, yeah?” He asked as he stood and placed you on the counter.

He didn’t speak as he rummaged through the drawers in the cabinet, finding the first aid kit. He gently cleaned your wrists, taking the time to make sure you were properly cleaned. He then wrapped your wrist in a clean bandage.

He didn’t speak about it as he cooked you dinner. You were glad he didn’t make a big deal about it as you ate.

It had been months since Capitano had allowed you stay in Zapolyarny Palace. And even longer since Childe had dragged you into that room with all of the Harbingers. The introductions to the other Harbingers had passed in a blur of cold stares and formal nods, none of them leaving much of an impression. Your mind had remained entirely fixed on Capitano.

Your days were simple, when your arm flared up again you had to go to Dottore, who per the usual required one if not two test before he would give you your meds. I’ll make him pay, one day…; your resentment had now turned to straight malice.

It was two months ago when you were awoken by an other nightmare, it was always the same: the fall. Falling from the high altitude of Dragonspine into that abyssal nightmare. It was that night that your bitter resentment finally snapped into sharp clarity, Jean had abandoned you, and you wanted her to feel the same pain you felt. You wanted her to fall. For the first time in months you smiled, your lips had stretched slowly into tight razor-sharp sneer, showing your teeth like a cutting predator.

This morning you were again in Dottore’s lab. As he treated you as a lab rat, luckily since you were some what close to Capitano he behaved himself. For the most part. Today was one of those days that he seemed to forget that he had to act properly. He wanted to inject condensed pyro energy into your jaw, just to see what would happen.

“Come now, treasure. It won’t hurt, not for long anyway.” He said as he came closer to you with the syringe. His eyes gleaming with ruthlessness.

“No, this is wrong!” You yelled at him.

You were backed into the far corner of his lab. The closer he got the more you almost feel the rage and fear growing inside of you. He placed his hand on your shoulder, “now, stay still.”

The needle tip touched your jaw. Your body felt like it was exploding, it wasn’t painful, it was pleasantly cool. In your now foggy mind Dottore seemed to be thrown across the room. You look around you to find shadows, thick curling shadows, similar to the shadow wolves in the Abyssal Pit. The shadows clung to you swirling around your body, creating a wall of black smoke between you and Dottore.

Once you realize that Dottore was no where near you, the shadows faded, and the fog in your mind vanished.

Dottore was slumped against the opposite wall of you, surrounded by broken glass bottles. His breathing was shallow, his eyes closed shut.

The door slammed open to reveal Capitano. He took in the scene before him: Dottore unconscious on one side and you curled up in the corner, knees still pressed to your chest.

You walk right past Dottore, walking straight towards you.

He kneeled down to your level, “Are you hurt?”

“I don’t think so…” you answered.

“What happened?” He questioned.

“He wanted to put… liquid pyro energy in my jaw. He tried to force me…” you shallow that lump in throat, “after that I’m not entirely sure what happened.” You blabbered.

“Hmmm…” he studied you for a moment “come, let’s get you back to your room.”

“Okay”

He brought his hands closer to you, “May I?” He asked.

It took you a moment to realize he was asking is he could carry you.

“Yeah…” you answered bashfully.

You didn’t wait any longer he slide one arm under your knees, the other behind your back, gracefully picking you up. He made his way into the hallway.

Capitano looked down at you curled in his arms, and said, “I’m surprised that you were able to hurt him.” He paused for a moment, “a pleasant surprise though.” He let out a small chuckle.

After what seemed like hours of poking, probing, slicing, and many other tests, Dottore lead you back to Capitano. Per his order.

“So how did someone without a vision survive an Abyssal Pit?” Dottore asks as he walked in front of you.

“I… I don’t know.” You answered sleepily. His tests had made you tired. Even though you didn’t want to do his stupid tests, it was the only way he would give you your medicine. I should kill him!

You stoped dead in your tracks. You’ve never thought of hurting someone before, let alone killing them. Ever since you had gotten out that abyssal nightmare, you were so much angrier and resentful than you had ever been.

Dottore look at you from over his shoulder, “come now, treasure. We don’t have time to stay still.”

He’d been calling you that since Capitano had left the room. You hated it, you weren’t some object for him to play with. You felt anger rise up to the surface again but you held it in. You tolerated it so you get your meds. He did give them to you, like he promised. The pain in your arm had faded but it did nothing to dull the pounding in your skull.

Dottore lead the way through more hallways. Hopefully making his way to Capitano. He halted in front of a door made of dark oak. He knocked twice.

“Enter” Capitano’s deep voice came through the door.

Dottore opened the door, letting you enter first. He stayed in the doorway.

“Your little finch.” He said bluntly before leaving, closing the door behind him. God, him and his nicknames!

“I hope he didn’t treat you harshly.” Capitano spoke from his spot at the deck at the far end of the room. He was still wearing his armor from before, along with his coat. You could still remember the softness of the fur lining the top.

“It could have gone better.” You replied.

“Hmmm.” He hummed. “On another note, I am unaware of any living arrangements you might have outside of Snezhnaya. That being said, if you have someplace you would like to be returned to, I can arrange it.”

You thought for a moment, “I used to live in Mondstadt.” You paused, just the thought of Mondstadt and people who lived there, made fury rise up in your chest. “But I don’t think I want to return there. I don’t think I would like to go anywhere.” You answered.

“That’s acceptable. You can remain here, there is a guest room, across from mine. I will show you later, first I must finish this.” He gestured to the papers in the desk. “You can feel free to wander the palace, or stay in here. It is your choice.” He said before going back to his work.

You spied a couch across from the doorway where you stood. You walked over and plopped down on your back on the soft cushions.

You let out a sigh. Dottore’s testing had tired you even more after the abyssal pit.

Not soon after did you doze off to the quiet haven of Capitano’s office.

You awoke with thick blankets covering you. The cushions were softer than you remember them being. Why does everything feel more comfortable after you wake up?

You lifted your head up slightly to find that you were no longer in Capitano’s office. You were in a large bed four poster bed covered with a white duvet. There were thin white curtains that ran from each post and connected to the other.

Wait! Did Capitano carry me to bed?

Your headache was finally gone, maybe you were just tired and had needed some sleep. You wandered to the door and opened it, there was a door on the opposite wall, that must be Capitano’s, if had put you in the guest room he said earlier.

You drifted into the hallway and made your way down it. If you were going to stay here you might as well learn how to navigate the palace without assistance.

Just when you were about to turn around a corner, you bumped into someone. You looked up to find a man with bright ginger hair.

“Oh… hello, you must be the one Capitano was talking about.” He grinned widely. “I’m Childe, by the way.”

He grabbed your wrist and pulled you down an other hallway before you even had time to reply “Come on, let’s go meet the others.”

To be continued…

You stayed close to your cold savior. He hadn’t spoken another word since you had started walking. You held your now purple arm to your chest, it ached with each beat of your heart now. Getting worse by the minute.

You didn’t know if your savior knew where to go, to get out of here. But following him was better than sitting in your own sourness. You knew Jean had tried to catch you, but you couldn’t help but feel like she had abandoned you. She couldn’t have jumped after you and saved you in time, could she? If she had jumped, could she have saved you from this. Your arm, shoulder, and part of your jaw now mutated with fowl Abyssal sorcery. She saved Diluc first, not you. How could she?

It felt as if you had been walking for hours. Maybe it had been hours, there was no where to tell what time it was in this god forsaken place.

Your savior lead you to a cave. He wasn’t hoping we could take shelter in that cave was he?

As if he could hear your mind he said “This cave will take us out of here.”

“Will it take long?” You asked, you didn’t think you could take much more walking.

“No, we don’t have to go in very far to get there.” He looked down to your now shaking legs, he studied you for a moment before walking closer to you.

“What… what are you doing?” You questioned.

He said nothing as he grabbed your waist and hoisted you over his shoulder.

“I’m a grown woman! I can walk myself!” You grunted at him and you hit is back slightly.

“Your legs are shaking.” He stated as he carried you toward the mouth of the cave. Like that solved it.

The violet starlight disappeared into pitch blackness as you both entered the cave. It seemed to only be a minute or two before light gave way to light again.

You felt the cold even before you had exited the cave. Bitter, numbing cold, for a second you were glad for your saviors warmth. The fur atop his coat shielding your still normal arm from the cold. The opposite one seemed entirely unfazed by the cold.

When the cave gave way to the open world again. You were out in the middle of an icy wilderness, no trees, no life, the only thing other than never ending snow you could see was a large structure. It was blurry and blocked by a cloud of mist.

Your savior carried you the whole way. When the clouds of mist finally parted to let you both in you could see the rich architecture of what seemed to be a town. With a huge castle in the middle.

You stared in awe. This place was captivating, “what is this place?” You asked.

“This is Snezhnaya. And that…” he gestured to the castle, “is Zapolyarny Palace.”

He continued walking, to the palace. The roads were paved with smooth dark grey stone, withered by weather and traffic. The sky above was a pale grey overcast, and a never ending drizzle of snow fell down.

You passed houses and shops, till you were both meet with the massive entrance to the palace. Two Fatui guards opened the doors, the tipped their heads respectively to your savior, paying little mind to you.

Your savior gently set you down on your feet. His hands stayed on your shoulders for a second two long.

“Well, well, what do you have here? What little pet have you brought into the palace, Capitano?” A voice called behind you.

Capitano. That was his name.

You turned to find man slightly smaller than Capitano. His glasses shimmered in the light. Dark colored locks of hair run down to his shoulders curling slightly.

“I found her in an Abyssal Pit. She survived.” Capitano stated blandly.

Your now mutated arm flared in pain again. You clinched it to your chest with a grunt, rubbing it to try to dim the pain.

Capitano looked down at you, hearing your grunt. He placed his hand on your back, “Come, let’s see Dottore. He can help with the pain.”

He lead you further into the palace. The man with glasses glanced at you briefly as you passed. He looked to your savior “Capitano.” He said with a tip of head.

“Pantalone.” Capitano replied. He didn’t even gaze at him.

He lead you down multiple hallways, and a few staircases, twisting and winding into the palace. No wonder he could find a way out of the abyssal nightmare, that was a piece of cake compared to this.

He stoped at door he opened it to reveal what look to be a lab of some sort. Selves covered the walls, littered with medicine bottles and box’s of ingredients. Two tables took up the space in the middle of the room, filled with more bottles, flowers, and herds.

The man at the table looked up from his work. His face was half covered with a mask. The usual mask every Fatui wears.

He looks to Capitano, “I hope this is important.”

“It is. She needs something for the pain.” Capitano stated.

“I’m not a physician, Capitano. You can get pain meds from someone else.” Dottore said as he looked back at the bottles on the table.

“I think you will see, she could help your studies.” Capitano countered.

Dottore looked up, he finally noticed your arm. His head tilted in curiosity, he stood from his chair walking towards you.

“How ever did that happen?” He asked as his hands pried your arm from where it was clinched to your chest.

“I touched some mud in the…” You looked to Capitano.

“Abyssal Pit.” He answered.

Dottore gasped slightly, “Fascinating. I think I can get you those meds. But first, a few tests.”

You looked to your savior. He nodded his head. “Come find me when the two of you are done, Dottore.” Capitano demanded.

“Yes, yes, of course.” Dottore quickly replied, rummaging though the selves.

To be continued…

The mountain groaned and protested with the impaling snow that came raining down. You barely had time to look up before a boulder crashed down, almost on top of you had Diluc not moved you out of the way. You crashed on the stone close to the edge, you scurried away.

“Diluc!” You heard Jean yell.

You looked to find Diluc’s leg crashed under the boulder. He grunted and tried to pull his leg out, but to no avail. You tried to move closer to him, but a loud snap in stone made you stop. You looked down to find a crack growing across the edge, separating Diluc from you.

“Just stay there, I’ll come get you in a minute.” Jean said as you looked at her.

Jean used her Anemo vision to push the boulder away with a hard gust of wind. Jean pulled Diluc to his feet. Other than his leg he didn’t look like any thing was hurt.

“Hold on dear, I’ll be right back.” Jean moved Diluc to the mountain wall, setting him down gently.

Just as she came to get you surges of snow came raining down in between you. You panicked and stepped back a step, only to find the edge was smaller than you thought and you plunging down to the mountain floor. The last thing you saw of Jean was her rushing to the edge with her hand outstretched, yelling your name.

Dragonspine’s tip faded out of view. The screaming winds of your fall vanished instantly, followed by an unnatural, breathless vacuum as the pale white of dragonspine snow gave way to a bottomless violet chasm.

You landed on of obsidian stone that hummed with a low, rhythmic vibration. Overhead, the sky was gone, replaced by a swirling nebula of dark violet and starlight that felt altogether alien. Ruined pillars of an ancient, forgotten civilization hung upside down in the air, drifting like ships in a dead sea.

Some of the ruins had bright symbols that made you dizzy and your head hurt when you looked at them, you had to force yourself to look away.

You took a step off of the stone and onto dirt. You trip on your own feet, your hand falling to you. Only what you thought was dirt was mud, thick and stiff.

It clawed its way up your arm. You cried out as pain erupted up your arm. You ripped the goo of you as it continued to made its way to your shoulder, up to your jaw. In your race to get it off, you grabbed your dagger, scraping it off to reveal muscle no longer covered by skin, but hardened purple muscle that glimmered in a orchid purple, were your veins once where there now laid pulsing pale pink bloodstream that pulsed with your heartbeat.

Once all the mud was off you plopped down on the stone with a puff of relief. Note to self, do not touch the mud.

Just then you heard a low growl behind you. You turned to see a dark wolf made of shadow. Standing, you grabbed the sword on your hip. It lunged, and you positioned you sword to jab it in its throat.

You looked down at the wolf, you then looked up to find he was not alone. There was five more of them. They circled you, watching you with predatory eyes.

The pack of wolfs lunged, but they never reached their target. A sudden, monstrous pressure slammed into the chamber, cracking the obsidian floor. Through the violet fog walked a towering silhouette, his dark cape billowing despite the dead air. With a single, casual sweep of his hand, a shockwave of absolute force sent the monsters crashing into the stone walls, reduced to ash before they could even screech.

He stood over you, an absolute void of light blocking out the swirling Abyssal sky. The dark visor of his helmet offered no reflection, only an endless, intimidating blackness.

“Who are you?” You ask, you’ve seen him before, in Mondstadt when a heavily armored Fatui delegation moved through the city months ago, he had been in front.

“A shadow passing through.” He answered.

You gripped the handle of your sword more tightly.

He look at your hand, “Save your strength. If I wished you dead, we would not be speaking."

To be continued…