Chapter Text
There had been many ways that Tartaglia had seen this day ending. Sitting down to a meal with a certain consultant being the main one. What he hadn’t expected was the said consultant being the very Archon he was supposed to steal from. The mission he had been sent over to complete by the Tsaritsa herself. And the real kicker? He was just a pawn in the real plan to get the gnosis. Zhongli, no it was Rex Lapis, had known all along and still led him along knowing full well his role in it all. What made it worse was he had considered that man as probably the first friend he had made since his stint in the Abyss. There was a pain in his ribcage that no medication could fix.
He looked over at Rex Lapis, for what he didn’t know. Some kind of sign that it wasn’t all an act? But the Archon only gave him the barest of glances before leaving the bank. It hurt so much more now. Childe was quick to leave the city as soon as he could. He needed to be somewhere high up, somewhere no one would bother him for a while. Quingyun Peak sounded perfect.
The air was cold this high up. It was the closest he could get to the biting cold back home in Snezhnaya. The view from the ledge he was sitting on was rather nice as well. He would miss Liyue when the time came that he was ordered back to the Tsaritsa’s side. There was so much more life here.
Childe hadn’t been expecting anyone up here so when he noticed a blue glow in his peripheral vision without hearing anything approach him beforehand, he was quick to turn his head towards it. What he wasn’t expecting to see was something similar to a large Seelie floating there as if it had always been in that very spot next to him.
“I can feel your heart crying young one. You have been through much pain in your life haven't you?” A gentle yet weary voice seemed to echo around him, filling his head with a strange feeling. It was… talking to him? Childe wasn’t in much of a mood to put on his usual carefree mask. It seemed content to just float there anyways.
“Well, I wouldn’t say that things have gone well for me too often.” He answered noncommittally, shrugging his shoulders and putting on a weak version of the usual smile he would wear when asked similar questions normally. “I lost a lot when I became trapped in the Abyss as a kid. Myself. My innocence. My family sees me as a monster when I’m from a place where family is the most important thing you can have. I became a weapon for my country because that's what they expect of a monster like me. Just when I thought I was turning myself around and starting to connect with someone it turns out I was just an ignorant piece in their plan. The time we spent together was just an act…”
The blue spirit seemed to glow brighter in thought. “I am old. Those whom I used to care for have all moved on and do not need me anymore. Your pain resonates with my own. Tell me young one, if I could give you a new life would you take it? Leave behind your past self and walk anew?”
Tartaglia didn’t even think before the soft yes came out of his mouth.
It happened so suddenly and yet with no fanfare. The spirit quickly started to fade from existence and at the same time, Childe could feel a pressure filling him inside. If he had time to dwell on it maybe he would have noticed his body changing but he didn’t stay conscious for long after that.
Somewhere in the Northland Bank, a letter from the Tsaritsa landed on an absent Harbinger’s desk.