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Chapter 8: A Father and an Angel
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When Peruere killed Mother, her goal was not to replace her.
After years of pains and sorrow, the girl had had enough with Crucabena and, after mustering her most in that last fight, she overcame her 'predecessor'.
That being said, the newly-named Arlecchino had truly taken over the House of the Hearth from Mother.
Not only had Crucabena weeded out most of the members to leave a limited pool of quality loyal troops that Arlecchino had to personally 'see to correct into her control', but it was also fair to say that foreign operatives were all opposed to her.
It would take years to see changes, but she had to start from somewhere. And that first flower was one of the youngest survivors of Crucabena's harshest treatments: Freminet.
The boy was shy, quick to bring to shivers. The boy loved his toys, and he was quite dutiful. Young, fragile, weak - Crucabena would have discarded him if not for the fact the child had been too young to fully gauge his potential.
Arlecchino sought not to dispel the hopes of this child, who so earnestly and honestly addressed her as his Father. The change in terms to a more paternal variant was not about her loathing for the word 'Mother' (it was, but the pettiness was hardly a deciding factor, surely not), but rather a necessity to erase what once was Crucabena.
Instead of warm but ruthless Mother, Peruere sought to be a cold but understanding Father. She would not pursue the notion of destroying the hopes of the orphans, rather to sharpen their wills to be more fitting for the business. The House of the Hearth was, at its core, a business for the production of excellent operatives for Snezhnaya.
So any agreement with Il Dottore regarding the procurement of 'specimens' were to be annulled upon further notice, and Peruere outright refused to consider any deal in that regard. Still, the issue persisted over their limited pool of reliable 'recruits'.
So, Arlecchino's main focus was to slack off the requirements for 'search program': orphans as old as eight years-old were acceptable rather than limit the pursue to just those up to six, and they could be both 'strong and weak' depending on the potential specialization they may provide to the house in return for sheltering and training them.
Yes, despite her best efforts, she had to give away a lot of concessions to lift the lacking recruitment effort to a more fitting approach. And, even then, the house was barely filled with many kids within a few months to a full year.
Freminet was joined by a few older boys and a few older girls. The boy hardly interacted with those, but he seemed calm enough to interact with her in the private. He was very nervous, worried of failing - even though she made it clear that he was too young to be punished too harshly.
Each time Arlecchino saw Freminet flinch, it felt like a cruel reminder that, no matter how softer her hold over the House was when compared to Crucabena, the overall expectation of pain and worse lingered through the rules of the House itself.
She had changed some, but had decided against doing anything radical. The reason why she held her hand back was based on two reasons:
Ignorance, as she was, despite her own wisdom, unfamiliar with how a family should properly behave and could only apply what blend best suited her between the 'normalcy' of Crucabena and the 'quirky' additions given to her by Sampo when he was still around;
Awareness, as she knew that her position wasn't given to her on the basis of strength. The Tsaritsa had made a decision on her sentence upon a single meeting. One that, despite its simplicity, had left a perpetual state of unease within Peruere whenever the name of her older brother came up.
After all, that meeting started with a mere question.
"Young Peruere, child of the Crimson Moon... tell me, what can you tell me about someone that goes by the name of 'Sampo'?"
It was that one time she actually broke from her stoicism. She had held that flat look for days, if not weeks. She held it through prison, through the sneers and the disgust of the guards, through the fearful glances of those in Snezhnaya as she was taken to the court of the Cryo Archon.
The cold had ultimately settled in her heart as she realized, as she looked at the Tsaritsa more intensely, that two things made sense on why she was forced to speak up about Sampo. Neither of those were present upon the Tsaritsa's voice or responses to her own curt responses, but on her appearance.
Pale blond hair, jade-green eyes, and a... a loopy smile. One that reminded her so much of her brother but- but this one was outright stripped of any warmth.
She rarely saw Sampo adopt such an expression, and this one was so... so worse. Much worse.
It was like someone had outright torn the Archon's heart from the way she despaired in that false smile.
Nonetheless, Arlecchino learned a few things from that meeting as she was made a harbinger and a replacement to Crucabena: the Tsaritsa was actively looking into her brother's whereabouts. She didn't seek to kill him, and his warrant for capture implied he was still alive and well.
Looking into some antiquate intelligence left behind by Crucabena, she was able to track him down to Liyue for a time but then he outright disappeared.
That reassured her as Crucabena had been unable to find much on him beyond his general location, with the Northland Bank actually refusing to adhere to her request for more information due to some 'disagreements' between the bank's leadership and Crucabena herself.
That being said, Peruere knew better than personally looking into the matter. After all, if the Tsaritsa was taking a look on this subject, it was fair to assume she would track Arlecchino's actions if she was to dabble into research on the topic. And, as far as she could convince herself, Sampo had proved himself strong enough to survive and maybe grow strong enough to handle any sort of threat for the time being.
He didn't need rescuing, but part of Peruere wished for her brother to return.
As an adult, Arlecchino knew she had to let go, but there was such a thing as a little Peruere chiding her for 'forgetting' the warmth it gave her to be with family. For while Clervie was gone, Sampo lasted and existed... within reach. In due time.
This tiny fragment lamenting upon this matter was that distant childish note that refused to die.
It had survived back when Sampo was first forced away from Fontaine, then again when Clervie died in that duel against her.
The pain had torn her innocence apart, leaving behind a most pragmatic entity that still sought to improve the lives of the youths under her care... But a sliver of that childhood endured, like a bubble that was unrelenting against its potential demise.
And it called upon her from time to time.
Thus, she allowed it to keep the hope alive, perhaps truly nostalgic upon the chances of meeting him once more in the near future.
A flimsy hope, but one that was somewhat rekindled by a most unexpected meeting. One that was just as chilling to her heart as that meeting with the Tsaritsa.
Back when Peruere claimed Crucabena's role, she could remember the number of the Harbingers being lesser than those many expected them to be. Yet, she also didn't expect for a new one to come so soon after her rise to the title of 'Knave'.
The visit itself was also unwarranted and unfolded without much warning. All she knew was that Freminet came running to her office, ignoring the formality of knocking and asking for permissions, eyes burning with tears as he said something about a 'strange woman' at the entrance of the building.
It was a bit of a surprising reaction, but she ordered him to reach his room as she took care of this. As she walked the halls of what had turned for a time a warm place to train new operatives, Arlecchino took notice of the uncharacteristic cold and desolation - the children had all vacated the premises of the public grounds, seeking shelter away as the Knave finally made it to the entrance.
And she recognized the figure due to her unusual characteristics.
The newly-appointed Third Harbinger 'Damselette' appeared to be a most unusual woman by appearance alone. Her dark-brown hair had dark pinkish edges, her closed eyes were covered by blindfold of white crosses that barely covered her eyelids, three pair of pure white wings flapping softly behind her head, and a smile exuded a familiar but twisted attitude.
It was unlike anything she had experienced before, but Arlecchino outlasted the dread as she greeted the fellow Fatui agent.
"Damselette."
"Knave," The shorter woman greeted back, her smile growing more accentuated. "Apologies for the lack of warning but... I am on a mission from the Tsaritsa herself~!"
The happy tone didn't soothe her nerves, rather it did the opposite as Arlecchino felt the strange burden on her back suddenly doubling after hearing that.
"Truly? How may I... help you?"
"In private. It's a secret mission after all."
The correction was met with a nod, but overall Damselette behaved herself as she was taken to Arlecchino's office. She looked around, perhaps expecting to find orphans around but... her 'Children' were of a smart breed - they could sense a monster had just entered their home and they had all gone to their rooms, places meant to be the safest for them.
Upon arriving to destination, the door was closed shut and Damselette took to sit in front of Arlecchino.
"So, what's this mission you mentioned?"
It had to be urgent and important. Enough to force the matter without enough of a warning for this situation.
"I was told by the Tsaritsa herself that I had to locate a person. She said that you may have clues on this individual. Sampo Koski, your former brother."
The air grew tenser at that announcement, causing Peruere to frown and harden her posture.
"I already told all I knew to the Tsaritsa on the argument."
"Perhaps. But people tend to be forgetful after a lengthy time of not meeting their friends- even the closest buddies. Still, I am not trying to push it upon you, I will still find him in due time - I am good at finding people, after all."
...
"Why are you looking for him?"
"Oh, that's simple," Damselette smiled happily. "I want to befriend him!"
...
"What?"
"Ah, I see. Maybe my emotions is not conveyed truly without context," The shorter harbinger beamed, her elbows resting on the desk as her hands cupped her own cheeks. "It happened a while ago. I was training to become a harbinger when- when I first felt him."
Arlecchino frowned even more as she saw the dark-haired woman shudder in what she could only translate as delight.
"It was for a moment, it was wonderful and- and then I kept on feeling him. Pulses that traveled with my heartbeat, drumming and almost luring me to want to know and meet the source of such melody. So goofy, so loony~!"
Deranged, delusional, romantic.
It was leaving Peruere with a worse dread than ever. Making her grasp at the edge of the desk as she held back a livid look. While it was true she wasn't one that would show much feeling for others nowadays, Sampo was an exception. And she could tell this demented 'colleague' of her was assuring her of hurting him in the long run.
"I thought this was an assignment from the Tsaritsa."
"It is," Damselette assured, her smile lessening for a time. "After all, she has shown interest in him - not as much as me, of course. But can you blame me? A poor damsel that is smitten to the bone- I bet he has a dashing smile! Say, do you have a picture of him for me to-"
"Crucabena hardly took any pictures of us."
This statement was delivered with utmost poison, and the shorter Harbinger huffed in dismay.
"Bully, what a tragedy! Still, I guess we can get the Kamera rolling once I find him, because, of course..."
For a brief moment, Arlecchino felt her body freeze up in terror. It was the briefest of moments, so sudden that it stuck around longer to her mind due to the way it started and ended, leaving her eyes wide open as fear flashed mixed with disgust. She knew any lesser beings would have suffered worse at the sight of what she saw in Damselette in that short moment.
Pink molten blood burned down her lips, a single bright pink eye open to check upon her as the white center studied her with relentless intrigue and affection.
Love Love Love! That was all that came from that brief sight.
"I will find him~! Even if you don't help me, I will find him, bring him here and we will all be... close and intimate~!"
She giggled as she saw Arlecchino standing up, glaring down upon her.
"Well, I think I am done for now. You can't remember after all, so I will leave you to your chores but... worry not."
The Damselette stood up too and then walked to the door before turning back to Arlecchino.
"I will never hurt him truly, or my name is not Columbina~."
The door closed softly and, just like she suddenly came to visit, Columbina vanished from the orphanage right as she stepped outside of Arlecchino's office.
Growling, Arlecchino felt a rare bout of anger bubble at that brazen claim, knowing that she will have to stop this somehow but...
Not now. Not when she was overburdened as she was and... she hoped that, whatever Sampo had done, it was enough to fend off the dangerous monster trying to 'befriend' him.
AN
Columbina gives me the sort of vibe I can only imagine in a bible-accurate angel. Monstrous in its true shape, impossible to understand for common humans, and, worst of all, the one entity that falls the hardest if she falls for someone - in this case, an unwitting Sampo that did nothing to deserve this Eldritch bullshit by his doorstep.