Spoilers for the identity of Crimson witch of flame artifact, and Defenders will artifact.
Most say that as you're dying, much like a story unraveling itself before you, your entire life would flash before your eyes.
With that, all stories have a beginning.
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It's a sunny day in Mondstadt when Rostam, the brave (idiotic) soul that he was, decides to try making friends with the lass sent from abroad. She had been referred there from the Sumeru academia, as a transfer student of some sorts. In exchange of her firepower, she would be allowed free rein in the Mondstadt great library.
And that's where Rostam finds the witch. It's not hard to spot her; wearing heavily modified robes of greys and greens, the woman is easily perusing through a tome that would probably drive him insane within a few pages.
Rosalyne-Kruzchka Lohefalter, his mind supplies, seems to be a stony individual. Rosalyne speaks little, and says even less, leaving her past a mystery that no one talks about. She's polite, yes, but only when spoken to by a superior. To others, she's cool and emotionless, leaving conversations something to be desired for. Some people like their own company more than others. Most believe that she's content on being alone.
But Rostam doesn't think so.
Rostam is a man with many faults, but the one thing he's sure about is his ability to judge people.
And so, while confidently striding down the stairs up to greet her, his shoelaces think that this is the perfect moment to rebel against their master for the crime of foul smelling socks. They hold a council meeting, weigh the pros and cons and decides to trip him up. It works perfectly, and Rostam is sent flying down the stairs at a speed reserved for loosened arrows.
And while the staircase turned 90 degrees, he did not.
Momentum didn't really work that way.
He's sent over the railing, does two complete backflips, hits his head on a table on the third and is now sprawled against the ground like the trash he is.
Rosalyne, watching the entire circus, hides her laughter behind some cleverly disguised coughs.
Rostam pretends not to notice.
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The middle bit,
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Rostam is not stupid. Some people may look at him, take in his bright smile and his cheery demeanor, and sometimes overhear his conversations with Arundolyn when they're both riled up and ready to do something crazy, and leap to the 'meathead' conclusion without stopping to think.
But it has nothing to do with his studies or intelligence, or how fast he can write up a mission report or catalogue the newest monsters and their weaknesses. It has everything to do with having good eyes and ears, a decent memory, and the ability to use those things in conjunction with one another.
Rostam is an optimistic at heart, but for you see, he's still grounded in reality, thank you very much.
He understands emotions and how humans are usually bad at dealing with them. Rosalyne may not emote nor talk much outside of missions, but she has… moments. Moments of thoughtful pauses when she looks like she wants to say something, but stops at the last moment.
He sees Rosalyne stick to the shadowy corners of the library, how she quietly tucks herself into a space, humble and making herself small and out of the way, or how loud noises scared the living daylights out of her. He notices how she flinches at the sudden touch of another person, but not flames she produces herself; how she shies away from campfires, braving the cold wilderness over the group fires in the middle of camp. He sees Rosalyne stare at children with envy, but subconsciously rubs her arms and pulls the robes around her tighter, recoiling slightly whenever a father or mother passes her by. But when talking to the grandmaster, as boisterous as he is, she's devoid of any of these ticks.
To Rostam, it doesn't take much to figure some things out.
In hindsight, it was something Rostam always knew. Rosalyne-Kruzchka Lohefalter is not a angry or icy person at heart. She was soft, thoughtful, sympathetic, and kind, and all the flowery words in romance novels that Arundolyn pretended he never stole glances at whenever he stopped by the general store after deployments.
Her mask was just a product of a world where hate was so easy to manifest.
So when others may find it irksome or insulting when she sits down next to him with a stack of books, turns to the first page and continues to read without a single word spoken, Rostam is content with the calm.
The two sat in comfortable silence as the world faded away to leave them alone, with only their soft breathing and pages flipping as ambience.
Afterwards, when the sun dipped below the hills, the air turned cold, and the fires dimmed, he tosses his cape over her shoulder to cover her. And when Rosalyne doesn't flinch away at his touch, the sight says more than words ever will.
All in all, not bad for a first date.
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The filler,
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"What would I do without you, Rostam?" Rosaylne asks as she takes his hand to step around an oncoming group of slimes. Theres a bellow behind her, and then a couple of high pitches squeaks as Arundolyn comes charging past, a group of the little bastards on his tail. The ones who'd focused on her immediately divert to the newer and louder threat because apparently their minds are as one tracked as their adorableness is lethal.
"I shudder to think of the possibilities," Rostam deadpans back to her. "Though I have always imagined it would somehow involve fire. And a great deal of screaming." He pauses for a second. "Also a fair share of maniacal laughter."
"I'm not sure whether to be offended or impressed," Rosaylne answers, the smile on her face betraying her thoughts. "Especially since all of your imaginings seem to have me as some sort of super villain."
"When in doubt, Rosie dear," Rostam grins, "do feel free to go with both options."
"I'll keep that in mind. You'll be my first minion."
"…Rosaylne," Rostam questions, in a tone that shows how much he's already going to hate the answer, "… I can't believe I'm going to ask this… but did you set Arundolyn on fire?"
"No, I just set everything else on fire." She mumbles, staring at the ground beneath her like it was the most interesting thing at the moment.
"Ah, much like the forest incident."
"One time-" She flares, but cuts herself off with a sigh. "I maintain that I made the correct tactical decision."
"It was on fire." Rostam said, flatly. "You were on fire. You set the forest on fire."
"That was entirely the fault of those Ruin guards." She denies, because really, Rostam is blowing it out of proportion. "And it was only a small section of the forest."
"-a parent does not need a reason to love their child. They just do." Rostam replies quietly. "But what we learn as we grow is hate, Rosalyne. Confusion, pain, and guilt. We learn how it is like to regret, to despair, and to hold grief, and when one learns such matters without family nor friends to expect support from, that is when we start holding it against ourselves."
"Some direct those emotions to those around them. Some drown those emotions in acts of pleasure and greed. And some," He looks to Rosalyne, curled up next to him in the burn ward, "-some bottle these emotions until a shell forms around them."
Whispers, crying, poverty, mockery. Blame, in tiny gestures, never explicitly stated but heard so loud.
Hate is so easy in a world like this.
"So no, Rosalyne. I do not hate you. I do not fear you. Your rationality is spurred by emotion, which makes it all the more terrifying, but I am not-"
"If you're about to say you're not scared of me," said Rosalyne, "don't."
"You are the scariest person I know," Rostam said, "and one of the reasons for that is your control. I know that what you did was an accident."
Rosalyne, curled up beneath him, said nothing.
Rostam took it as a sign to continue. "I cannot save you from your pain... or make it go away. No-one can. Your experiences are yours alone, and no one will understand yourself better than you. How you choose to change yourself can only be decided by you."
Rosalyne, upon hearing that, started to shudder underneath him, silently sniffing at the harsh truth.
"... But that doesn't mean I can't help. I may not be able to save you, but I can stay with you. I can stay by your side. When you're sad, when things are hard... I can listen. I can stay until you're happy again, or maybe even just okay."
"Then why would you commit yourself to a life of fighting?" She rasps, the tears warbling her words.
"Any idiot can swing a sword. It's the reasons why they do so that's important. I'm no one special. No ones going to remember my name." Rostam chuckled, and turned her body to face him, hugging her despite his burns.
"But you? You're a crimson flower that'll shake the world to its core. You haven't even begun to bloom. Arundolyn told me you would shake the stars. I told him you would shatter them all."
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The climax,
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"WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING?"
Rostam doesn't flinch at the yelling, but at the tears running down his lovers face.
He answers in a small voice. "I'd hoped that my life would have been worth it for the people I'd sworn to protect. I'd hoped that it would be enough to save you."
"Then you're a fool," is Rosalyne's blunt response. There's a fire that's inside her now, not the type of fire that burns with hatred and pain, but a type of fire that provides warmth and shelter that's building in her chest that gradually grows stronger and stronger and threatens to overtake her, but she continues to stokes it with the love she's grown to have for this stupid idiot of hers.
"The dead can't do anything. If you want to help people, then live and actually do something." She lays it down thick and brutal. "Misery does nothing. You taught me that. Misery only breeds more m-"
Misery. Agony. Torment.
Above it all, pure, unadulterated, pain.
It eats through her insides, carves out her brain, and sets the world ablaze. It seizes at her vocal chords and she scream and screams and screams until there is nothing left to scream. Something gives and tears in her throat, but she carries on, a silent cry amidst the wreckage, because there is nothing else but this, there will never be anything but this and she when she tries to speak again, much like the body of her lover in her arms, her tongue has turned to ash in her mouth.
And yet, she continues to scream.
There was fire and blood.
All the pain you could imagine,
And plenty more that you could not.
And this is the part where the end is supposed to go. But for Rosalyne,
There came ice.
Yes, I know, I know, Signora isn't from Sumeru, but if it irritates you so much, you can imagine she was a Mondsadt orphan that had Sumeru adoptive parents. Some heavy topics here, but my headcanon here is that Signora always had extremely powerful pyro abilities that she couldn't always control when she was a child, way way wayyyy until she was an adult. The artifact set implies that she needed the hydro timepiece to control her powers, and that she either made/had a goblet that contained her liquid fire. Either way, she was an extremely powerful pyro user that didnt have complete control over herself.
If you have an idea you want to see, please leave it in the comments.