Summary:
After a boring Diplomatic Mission to Fontaine alongside Pantalone, Childe returns to Morepesok.
Unbenownst to him, Dangers lurk in the Wild.
Notes:
Please note that I added a little bit of romance into the fic now, it won't be major, but I like the Idea of ACT (AjaxChildeTartaglia) having a girl/boyfriend.
It won't be anything major and i won't add a custom pairing.
"57... 56... 55.." Ajax's counting died away as Tonia, Anthon and Teucer began sprinting away from the Town Square, hiding behind the few dozen Houses and Buildings in the Town Center. After 80 meters or so Tonia suddenly did a sharp right and Anthon began climbing some Barrels, leaving Teucer alone to run to his favorite spot: the back of their Home.
"Coming, ready or not!" he heard his brother yell loudly (luckily it was a Work Day, otherwise the neighbors would complain about the noise). Teucer had hidden at the back door that their Father used when he came Home from Work, or Anthon or Tonia used when they secretly met with their friends.
Apart from his exhausted panting from running all the distance, the only sounds he could hear were Mama and Charlie chatting, coming from their House. Teucer refrained from eavesdropping and instead hid behind a row of Boxes
A shrill shriek of Anthon and a loud laugh from Ajax rang across Town, making Teucer look out from behind his hiding spot. He looked at his stopwatch, a gift from Ajax. It seemed like only 3 1/2 minutes had passed.
He fondly remembered how Ajax had showered them with Gifts the last time he visited them. He hadn't met Ajax until Ajax visited for his Father's and Teucer's birthdays several months ago when he returned from a 4 Year business trip.
That time Ajax had introduced his friend, Charlie, and given Teucer a sweater from Smolaritsa, a beautiful birthday Cake and some snacks from Mond.
And this time he had received a very beautiful stopwatch that was Dragon-themed.
Suddenly, Teucer heard the crunching of Snow, and he saw Ajax, Tonia, and Anthon round the Corner.
"No use hiding back there. Caught you, brother! You were the last one found, so congrats!" Ajax exclaimed.
"Ahh! Uhh, I daydreamed..." he let his head hang.
The Door opened and Charlie peered through it. "Having fun, are we?" Teucer nodded enthusiastically. "Yes! Want to join us?"
Charlie laughed. "I'd love to, but your Mother needs a little help with cooking." she pointed at the Potato peeler she was holding in one Hand. "We're making a casserole."
Ajax moved to Charlie's side and took the peeler from her Hand. "How about you spend some time with my siblings while I help my Mother?" He took off his hat and placed it on Charlie's Head.
Teucer heard Tonia cough behind him and turned around. "What's wrong?" "Ugh. Nothing." Teucer turned back to his Brother and Charlie.
"Well alright then, I'll take this lot out for some Exploration,. One sec." Charlie walked into the House and emerged a second later. "C'mon, let's go!" Charlie gave Ajax a quick kiss and patted Teucer on the Back.
While Ajax went in to help his Mom with Dinner, Teucer, Anthon, Tonia and Charlie walked to the outskirts of the Village. "This is your first time outside of Morepesok, right Teucer?" she had taken his hand into hers, walking behind Anthon and Tonia.
"Yes, Mom and Dad don't allow me to go outside." Charlie signaled Tonia to turn right at a Crosspath. "Your Mom allowed me to take you and your Siblings outside for a while. But if you see anything suspicious, or feel tired or cold, tell me, okay?" Teucer nodded vigorously.
"What would be something suspisush? Sus...spe..cious.." Teucer muttered.
"You'll get there." Anthon lightly patted Teucer on the Shoulder.
"Mostly Animals. If you see one warn me, ok?" She unconsciously tapped the Crossbow she had fastened on her side.
As if to test her, they hear a rustle coming from a nearby Bush.
Tonia pulled Anthon back behind Charlie, who was standing behind Teucer. After a moment of Silence a Squirrel emerged, spotted the Group of Teenagers, and quickly scurried away. Charlie lowered her Crossbow and walked toward the Bush.
"Pokeweed. Don't touch it." She swat a curious Hand from Anthon away.
"Charlie, do you know how long Ajax is staying?" Tonia asked.
"Unfortunately, no." Teucer internally sighed.
"This clearing could look like an able spot to have a Snowball fight." Charlie bent down, scooped up a handful of snow, and threw it at Tonia, who dodged it quickly.
Within a minute, Tonia and Anthon teamed up and began to bombard Teucer and Charlie with a barrage of snowballs. Charlie had picked Teucer up and ran behind a Tree, taking cover.
"Create some snowballs, I'll cover you." Charlie bent down and scooped up a snowball, then threw it at Anthon who was about to round the Tree from a safe distance.
Charlie gave a giggle as Anthon ran several meters back into an unsuspecting Tonia. As Tonia castigated Anthon, Teucer had created several snowballs and handed them to Charlie.
"OK, can you cover me while I flank them?"
"I.. don't know what that means.." Teucer gave her an Innocent smile.
"Oh right! What I mean is that you keep throwing at Anthon and Tonia, while I go to that Tree." she pointed at another wide Tree nearby. "And then we can hit them from two Sides!" Teucer flashed a mischievous grin and nodded silently.
"I surrender!" Tonia shouted, waving her Hands from behind a Tree. Anthon had run behind an arrangement of rocks, shouting "Every man for himself!" and leaving Tonia to fend for herself. It didn't take long for her to become overwhelmed by Teucer's rapid creation of snowballs and Charlie's good aim.
While Teucer jumped in excitement around Tonia, Charlie went to get Anthon.
"C'mon Anthon, the longer you draw out getting hit by a snowball the scarier it will be!" Charlie sang-taunted. When she rounded the stone she noticed how pale he looked.
"Are you alright Anthon?" Anthon jumped and gave a sigh of relief. "Oh, it's you, Charlie! I just saw two things out in the Forest!" Anthon pointed into the distance. "They looked really scary!"
"Really?" Charlie did her best to sound convincing and looked in the direction where Anthon was pointing. There was nothing indicating someone had been there.
"Must be some Adventurers." Charlie muttered. They were too reckless and didn't care about the dangers of disrupting the Wildlife. If she hadn't been with Ajax's siblings she would have followed them and given them a piece of her Mind.
"No, one of them had this big of a cloak on them" Anthon stretched out his Arms "And it had such a wide robe! With a crow mask. The other was really pretty with golden hair and-" Anthon blushed, stopping himself from talking further.
Meanwhile, Charlie froze. In her training with the Fatui, she had only heard of these Creatures. "The Abyss Mages," one of her bunkmates told her. "they can wipe out 10 of us in one go, create a shield out of some elements and they can teleport!" Where she was there were no incursions by the Abyss Mages, but their reputation made Charlie hope she would never meet them.
"Charlie? Are you ok?" Anthon had stepped closer.
"Yes... c'mon, let's get you back to Tonia and Teucer." Charlie placed her hand on his back and guided him back.
She subconsciously patted her hip, only to remember that her 'Vision' was taken from her after she was discharged. The reality of the situation setting in on her made Charlie quicken her steps.
"C'mon guys, time to return Home." Charlie waved at Tonia and Teucer, who were making a huge Pile of Snow to jump into.
"What? Why?" They all replied in unison. Charlie desperately thought of a cover story.
"Well I haven't had the chance to play hide-and-seek with you, so let's return to Morepesok." Charlie gave Tonia a quick look.
"Alright, but let's play hide-and-seek tag!" Charlie let out a sigh of relief. She thanked the Archons that Tonia had picked up on the Hint.
After a few complaints from Anthon and Teucer, Charlie began to lead them back to Smolaritsa.
Teucer and Anthon, blissfully unaware of Charlie's tense state and Tonia's continuous glances toward her, became restless and ran circles around Charlie and Tonia.
"Look, who's that over there?" Teucer pointed ahead. Charlie, knowing Teucer, grabbed his and Anthon's Hand. "One second." She crouched down and crept behind a Bush to take Cover.
'This is definitely the cause of the Berries' Aether thought as he stopped for another minute to mitigate the Stomach ache he had gotten.
First the track to "морепесок" was not really a Path but more a labyrinth aiming to confuse his orientation. Thankfully Aether had an internal Compass.
But then he stumbled upon a group of Deers that were similar to the ones he was familiar is. They had knocked him out for a few hours, causing him to have to continue towards морепесок in the Night. Then during the morning he had gotten hungry and made the Mistake of eating some Berries.
As if it couldn't get any worse he felt a presence nearby. He looked around but spotted nothing.
" Ето тот же человек,кто был там тоже?" Aether froze as he heard a female voice say something. He tried to find out where the Voice was coming from, but before he could make a step his headache intensified.
"Смотри, он упал!" Aether heard another Voice yell something before losing consciousness.
Charlie looked up and registered that Teucer was right.
"No, she looks different from the Person from before." Nodding, Charlie ran toward the Boy who had fallen down with Teucer, Anthon, and Tonia in tow.
"What happened to him?" Teucer exhaled.
"His breathing is okay. But he is not responding. Let's get him to morepesok." Charlie picked him up and gave Tonia a thankful smile when the latter took her Brothers left and right.
It took around 45 minutes to reach Morepesok. Charlie marched straight to Dr. Krumina, telling Tonia to go with her siblings to their Parent's house.
"Good afternoon Zein, it's an emergency. Is Dr. Krumina present?" Zein looked up from the Notepad he was scribbling in and gave a surprised look when he noticed the Boy in Charlie's hands.
He nodded and stood up, disappearing through an "Employees Only" Door. A few seconds later he emerged and signaled her to go through the Door.
"Dr. Krumina, I found this Boy in the Wilderness he fell unconscious just when Ajax's Siblings and I found him."
"Bring him here." Dr. Krumina helped her place the Boy on a clinic Chair.
"Any Idea how long he spent outside before you found him?" Dr. Krumina spoke.
"No." Charlie chose to not mention the Abyss creatures Anthon had spotted.
"Hmm... his condition is surprisingly stable. For now, the best thing for him is rest." Dr. Krumina said.
The Door Charlie had entered from swung open and Ajax marched through with Zein in tow.
"Apologies Doctor, Ajax ignored my rejection." Zein hissed.
"It is alright." Dr. Krumina waved Zein away and continued with his basic analysis.
"He has some bruises, but they are very minor. I'll treat his injuries and send you a message if he wakes up.
"Alright, thank you." Charlie nodded. After doing a bit of small talk with both Dr Kurmina and Zein she returned to Ajax's Home.
"How did you find him?" Ajax walked alongside her, asking her once they had exited the office.
"Teucer found him while on our way back."
"Did you have Trouble keeping them in line or why did you return so early?
"Anthon saw an Abyss Mage and another Person, about 30 minutes before we met the Boy."
Ajax stopped walking "Abyss order? What is the Abyss order doing here?"
"Beats me, but I didn't want to risk your Sibling's safety, so we went back to Snezhnaya. Tonia helped rein in your Brothers. Does she know you aren't a Toy Salesman?" Charlie saw Ajax give her a nervous glance.
"Not yet, but I have a broad idea of what to say to her." They arrived at Ajax's Home and entered. Charlie spotted Giendrius, Mariya, Tonia, Anthon, and Teucer all seated at the Dinner Table.
"and *fwoosh* I hit Tonia with a snowball and she ran behind the Tree. And then Charlie and I went ahead and split up. And-" Teucer was excitedly narrating the snowball fight, leaving out no gaps.
Judging from how Giendrius had given Ajax a somewhat angry stare when they had entered Teucer had already told them about the "Bird-man" Anthon had dubbed.
"And then Charlie told us had to go which was okay." Charlie gave Giendrius a hug before sitting opposite of him, making Ajax take the Seat with no eyesight to his father.
"-the boy was really weird looking, he had this animal look in her eyes before he fell!" Teucer finally took a breath and began to eat from the casserole."
"Teucer, don't go around calling other people animals." Mariya warned, before giving Charlie a friendly smile. "How is the boy doing now?"
"He seems to be doing good, Dr Krumina is taking care of him as we speak" Charlie took her Plate and took some of the casserole onto her Plate.
"Oh, and Anthon thought the Gold Boy was a girl for a second!" Teucer piped up.
"I did not!" Anthon flushed and tried to kick Tonia under the table for giggling, only to hit his Father, who gave Anthon a soft slap on the shoulder.
"Stop bugging your sister, Anthon." Giendrus murmured. An Alarm rang in the Kitchen, making Giendrius and Mariya fight over who was going to get the 2nd Batch and who was allowed to continue sitting. Charlie smiled as Mariya relented and let her Husband get the Casserole, who gave her a quick kiss on the cheek.
She saw Tonia roll her eyes out of the corner of her view.
After an hour of eating and talking by the Table, the mood eventually simmered as everyone began to digest the Food.
"Well then," Charlie stood up and pulled her Chair in. "It is late, so I have to get going. Annika is gone for another 4 Days, so I have to take care of her Horses."
Ajax jumped up, making Giendrus clear his throat. Charlie shot a glance toward Ajax. Instead of walking her back, Ajax simply gave her a quick peck before Mariya thanked her again for helping with cooking and saw her off.
Ajax looked at his Father expectedly, but the ladder didn't make a move. Instead of the usual anger or frustration he saw in his father's eyes when Ajax caused trouble, Ajax instead only saw disappointment.
Ajax excused himself after the 3rd Round of Nine men's Morris with Teucer and Tonia, before going upstairs and writing a quick letter to Pulcinella.
Hi Pulcinella, 22.01.497
Someone spotted an Abyss Mage near Morepesok.
Why are they so close to here?
- Tartaglia
He silently crept out of his room and exited through the back. The Post office wasn't too far away, and Ajax dropped the Letter into the Box, thankful that the collection Date was already tomorrow.
During the short walk home, Ajax stretched his Arms and fingertips. Ever since that 'Diplomatic mission' that turned out to be listening to Pantalone ramble about Mora for 3 hours he had been edging for a fight.
And a simple Abyss Mage should do the trick to calm him down.
"Your Highness..." Sodalis spoke out after the Princess acknowledged his presence. "I have scouted this Town, and there appears to be a minor Problem." Sodalis cursed himself seeing his Highness' eyes glare at him. "The 11th of the Harbingers is currently residing in this Town."
Lumine muttered out a silent curse.
"This is unfortunate... we should have acted sooner." Lumine turned to Sodalis. "It is not a coincidence that a direct vassal of the Cryo Archon had come into contact with Aether within a day of his awakening." Lumine turned to Insenum.
"Stay here and observe the situation. I am certain Cryo Archon is ambitious enough to attempt to bring Aether into her fold." Lumine almost gave a dry laugh.
'Teyvatians. How foolish they were to mess with beings beyond their imagination.'
"But to make sure, stay near Aether and make sure he gets the opportunity to discover the Truth of this World."
Insenum gave a deep bow. "Yes, your Highness." Lumine turned to Sodalis, who nodded and opened up a Portal to the Abyss.
Notes:
Well then! See you in hopefully at most 2 Months, depending on School again :)
I must admit, i look really forward to writing next Chapter.