“Captain Pix?” A voice came from the door of their office that successfully broke Pix out of their trance. “It’s Ichika.”

“Come in.” they said with a shake of their head.

With that, in came the Kanjobugyo representative for the Fatui. Pix smiled at the young woman and turned to her as she shut the door behind her.

“Good evening, Ichika. What brings you by?” Pix asked, successfully hiding the pressure the situation had on them.

Before speaking, Ichika looked around as if checking for any potential eavesdroppers. There was a certain mischievousness in her eyes which gave Pix mildly suspicious vibes and it wasn’t exactly helping their job anxiety. As much as they appreciated her, Ichika tends to go over the top when it comes to helping Pix, and they felt this was about to be another time.

“Don’t tell anyone,” Ichika said, and immediately Pix knew it would be another thing they’d get in trouble for. Ichika took out something from her pocket and gingerly held it in her hands. “but I thought you’d want to hold onto this.”

In Ichika’s hands was a kunai sharpened to the tip that the edge gleamed from the moonlight streaming in from the window. Pix’s eyes glinted at seeing the masterpiece of a weapon. In their eyes, there were traces of elemental energy, but the kind of elemental energy that it was, they weren’t sure. Before they drifted off trying to determine the elemental energy of the kunai, they immediately snapped themselves out of their daydream and lifted their head to Ichika. There was a proud smile on her face, but it was one Pix couldn’t reciprocate.

“You said that there was a mastermind behind all this, right?” Ichika enthusiastically began. “Well, I took this from one of the scouts when they said they found it at one of the crime scenes and I just know it’s gonna help you find the man behind it all.”

Pix nervously chuckled. Not only are their own troops a handful, but so is their Kanjobugyo representative and they honestly don’t know how they can keep up with them atop the mountain of paperwork they have to deal with.

“I appreciate the enthusiasm, Ichika, but you know I’m already under so much fire with your supervisors.” Pix explained, a nervous yet goofy smile on their face. “Any more and I’m sure to be ejected back to Snezhnaya.”

“I know that, but listen!” Ichika tightened her fists. Her familiar passion burned in her eyes. “I have an idea where this mastermind is.”

Having known Ichika for almost three years now, Pix knew that when she had an idea, it was going to be a valuable piece of information. They couldn’t remember the last time Ichika gave misinformation or even weak ideas. Every idea of hers was always worth a shot and Pix felt honored that they were the one Ichika tells them to.

“Alright.” Pix sighed and crossed their arms. “Let me hear it.”

“Let’s hope I don't get caught, shall we?”

Pix jumped from roof to roof as they inched their way to the harbor, the kunai Ichika had given (but had technically stolen) hidden in their sleeve. It was a moonless night, perfect for an undercover mission in the eyes of Pix. A black sleeved oversized cloak and a white fox mask they’d picked up at the local mask shop hid their appearance, and with a quick change in their gait and how they spoke, they shouldn’t be readily recognized.

Pix reached the barren harbor in a short time and camped on the roof that overlooked most of the area. Pix laid low, hidden in the shadows as they strained their eyes to watch out for similar elemental energy as that of the kunai. Pix put full trust in Ichika when she said the mastermind would be here.

So far Pix had only seen the blue of the water, green of the crates, and a hint of green in the gentle breezy wind. None of that musky, eeriness was present in the area, but Pix didn’t want to leave just yet. In the corner of their eye, Pix then noticed a Fatui agent by the ships of the nobles of the city. Curious as to why a troop of theirs is out late, they went to confront the man.

As Pix got closer, an unusual feeling began to rise in their chest. It was an oddly specific feeling that they knew they’d felt before, but that was a long time ago. It felt like the shivers they felt when their father told them stories of urban legends and the great beasts of Teyvat.

Pix jumped off the roof and landed a few feet from the agent as he continued staring at a noble’s docked boat. Pix wasn’t even spared a glance.

“Gentleman, might I inquire about your business here?” Pix said. “I had received notice back in Liyue that we were established a curfew.”

“Ah, yes. Forgive me for that, Captain Pix.” The agent began. Suddenly, the eerie feeling rose in their chest. Pix didn’t recognize his voice and they recognized all their troops' voices. ”I’m just here to take care of a few things.”

The agent quickly threw something onto the boat before being harshly tackled by Pix. They pinned him on the ground by his wrists and that’s when Pix got a good look at his uniform. They froze. It was a Pyro agent’s uniform but it was incredibly outdated. Pix had seen all versions of all uniforms and they knew this uniform dated back to before they even joined the Fatui.

The boat they stood in front of suddenly erupted into flames, knocking Pix and the agent into the large crates nearby. The flames roared and glowed brightly against the dark sky and no doubt would you be able to see it from halfway across the city. Pix hurried onto their feet and while the agent was a priority to capture, they couldn’t let the fire spread to the nearby boats.

They jumped into the dark waters, and upon their feet making contact with it, it froze, giving them the ability to walk on water. Their feet went numb casting Cryo energy, but this was a situation they needed to use their Delusion. They frantically ran around the boat occasionally using their Cryo Delusion yet again to shield themselves from the falling debris that chipped off the boat because of the flames. Their arm went numb, but they kept going.

Once they covered the perimeter of the boat, Pix jumped back onto the docks and with a swift movement of their hand. The ice around the boat closed in on the vessel and instantly froze every part of it, the fire going out with a ‘hiss’.

Pix breathed out slowly and rubbed their freezing arms, glad that the danger was gone, but they weren’t exactly glad of the outcome. The mysterious agent escaped and now the whole probably knew of this incident. They were going to face their supervisors' wrath because of this and they wouldn’t be surprised if they were going to receive a notice forcing them out of Inazuma.

Pix took out the kunai from their sleeve and held it up to the starry sky. They now recognize the weapon’s energy to be the same as that of the agent’s, and deep down, Pix knew who that agent was — or at least what group that agent’s part of. Honestly speaking, Pix was a little pissed they weren’t informed of them before arriving in Inazuma.

“I’m so so sorry, Captain Pix! I didn’t mean for this to happen!” Ichika rambled on and on about how sorry she was about landing Pix in this situation while they packed their things.

Unsurprisingly, the incident last night reached the Kanjobugyo and was pinned on the Fatui. Since Pix was their commanding officer, they received all the backlash and was ultimately asked to leave Snezhnaya as the Kanjobugyo would resolve as much as they could before allowing the Fatui to help again. Not to mention them finding the stolen piece of evidence Pix had on their person. Ichika admitted to taking it, but ultimately nothing was stopping the Kanjobugyo from temporarily evicting the Fatui out of the city.

“I am a little curious though…” Ichika began shyly. “Did you… find him? The mastermind?”

Pix hummed at her question and tucked their gun into its concealed holster strapped to the side of their chest.

“Right, him.” they said, flashing back to last night’s events, focusing most especially on the outdated Fatui uniform. “Well… I think we should save this conversation for another time, but let’s say I did.”

Hope flashed in Ichika’s eyes. “That’s good, right?”

They smiled. “Good.”

Pix really resisted the urge to say ‘frustrating’. As Ichika happily pranced around the room, Pix thought hard about them — the Fatui rejects. A long time ago, Pix was told about a faction the Fatui once had, but their personal knowledge on the faction was severely limited. All Pix knew was that the faction rebelled against the main faction, the Fatui, and because of their aggression, the Harbingers had to cut them off. Whatever happened after that, no one knows. The stories mentioned the cutting of ties with the rebel faction was more of them just never contacting each other again and leaving them to fend on their own.

It was frustrating to Pix because they weren’t told that the rebel faction everyone had been referring to all this time was in Inazuma. With the uniforms they still had, they must’ve used to to disguise themselves as Fatui and hid behind the name to protect themselves. They were hiding under their nose this entire time and they didn’t know because, as mentioned, they weren’t told about the Inazuman origins of the rebel faction.

“And of course, when I turned a blind eye on this city, that’s when they caused trouble…” Pix, eyes closed in ponder, thought aloud, catching Ichika’s attention.

“Don’t beat yourself up over it, Captain.” She tried consoling them, thinking she knew what Pix was talking about. “No one would’ve known that trouble would happen the moment you leave.”

“No, no one would’ve, because I was deprived of information.” Pix slung their bag over their shoulder. “I’ll see you soon, Ichika. If you can, keep me posted.”

Ichika saluted. “Will do, Captain.”

Pix swiftly left the office and headed straight for the docks.

They saw the Kanjobugyo littered everywhere desperately finding information on the situation. No one spared them a glance as they passed by and they supposed it was unsurprising by how they thought the explosion was the Fatui’s doing. To Pix, however, getting evicted from Inazuma was a loss for the Bakufu.

They sighed. Hopefully when they got home the Harbingers would believe them when they said it was because of the rebel faction which no one bothered to tell Pix about. They eventually reached the far side of the docks reserved for the Fatui and there were a handful of their troops waiting on the pier. They all lifted their heads when they saw Pix in their peripheral visions.

“Sorry about the sudden leave everyone.” Pix said with a scratch of the back of their neck. “We were framed.”

“Framed?” asked the gunslinger.

They nodded. “Let’s prepare to leave. I can tell you all about it—”

Pix was cut off by the sudden rush of wind. Leaves on the ground were carried away and their hair was whipped back. It was as if someone didn’t want them to go just yet. Out of instinct, Pix turned around them and saw a young man clad in different shades of green both in their clothing and elemental energy that surrounded him. They found them suspicious, and just like they had taught their troops, they found him suspicious too.

“Wait… that was the guy lurking outside of the headquarters last night!” the Pyro agent exclaimed and pointed an accusing finger at him. Immediately, the troops with Pix drew their weapons with an intent to hurt the young man. “Grab him!”

“I don’t really think this is necessary—” Pix tried reasoning but their troops already engaged.

Without warning or even some kind of tell, two copies of the young man made of concentrated Anemo energy separated from him and charged at their group. All of them were caught off-guard by this.

“Protect the Captain!” yelled the gunslinger and fired at the in coming copies.

As the rookies were preoccupied, Pix would’ve face-palmed at the situation if it weren’t for the young man’s sudden movement. In the blink of an eye, he charged at them, eyes burning with determination and familiar revenge. Pix extended their arm and launched icicles in an attempt to not hurt him, but freeze him in place. It was easily ducked as if it were something anticipated, alarming Pix. They didn’t know exactly what happened next, but after the sound of a familiar gunshot of a Fatui-issued firearm, they blacked out.

“Captain!” was all Pix heard before lost consciousness.