Speech = ``...´´
Thoughts = [... ]
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Her hand met her face with a slap as she tried to wake herself from whatever nonsensical horror she had found herself in.
The sting that followed through was neither pleasant or expected...and clearly failing to achieve its intended goal as she was still THERE. Only with a new addition to her face in the form of a red hand shaped mark.
That…..was not meant to happen.
Not at all.
The sensation of pain coursing through her face was almost a bit disorienting, not in the fact of how painful it was, which surprisingly...it wasn't. But rather how unexpected the reveal was.
Her hands came back to her face, slowly, almost shyly palming her cheeks, sensing the smoothness of her skin, fingers gently stroking the spots that now dully ached and demandedsome sort of ease.
Alright, that idea had clearly not worked…..so it was time for plan B.
What was Plan B you ask? Well, it was rather simple to be honest. If pain was not enough then she needed to check again whether she was just deep within a dream or something. She was not very informed about those scientific thesis and information about what went by in the brain...she had heard that dreams were unstable.
They could be weird and full of discrepancies, which explained why people could sometimes dream of flying turtles that breathed fire and owned castles.
So.., with everything going on at the same pace of a roller-coaster perhaps now a few changes had appeared in her appearance by now and she could use them to find the relief that she was just dreaming.
Yeah, it was not much of a plan all things considered, hell it kinda sucked to be even considered a plan B…. more like a plan F negative or something. Sadly, right now she would take anything if it could make her feel better.
The other option was to throw herself out of the window...and that sounded a bit pretty violent and extreme.
Yeah, shocker...she was not someone freely willing to hammer herself in the head if it was not necessary, especially when most of those times her "real" body ended up graving something or just falling down her own bed as if trying to emulate the very same thoughts her "dream self" had in those very moments of panic.
Only far more crudely and sluggish...and ending in a few bruises here and there when you landed on a wall or two. So no, not a fan of that idea if it was shown this was somehow just a very deep dream.
..
..
But...what if it wasn't….?
She bit her lip. The thought plagued her more than she would like to ever admit…, even when she tried to push it away it still came back, rearing its ugly head at the corner of her mind.
Again..
And again..
And fucking again…
Like it was taunting her, having a laugh from afar at her thoughts which she had once believed private only to herself.
She looked at her hands, finding them trembling even as she tried to clench them tightly. Her knuckles starting to lose a few shades of color while a cold sweat started to slid down her forehead.
She shook her head, grimacing inwardly. Yeah, better not to think much about it.
She turned on her heels, wailing her arms and taking a few long and deep breaths, trying to slow down her now quickened heart as it throbbed loudly within her chest.
In fact, she should think of something positive instead of all these depressive and dangerous staff, like-like….like puppies and rainbows! Yeah, that...sounded alright if not a bit cliche. After all, who could not like those things..? They were cute!
A thin smile made way through her lips. She almost wanted to pat at her back for a job well done as she set herself to mutter those things out loud.
``Puppies and rainbows…´´
-.-
``Puppies and rainbows..´´
-.-
``Puppies and rainbows..´´
-.-
``Dead puppies and bloody rainbows…´´
..
She sighed, hanging her head between her hands in defeat.
``Fuck I suck at this...´´
With nothing else to do she awkwardly made her way towards the mirror she had so abruptly pushed away a few moments ago in her panic. Slowly though with a little of apprehension she grasped the edge of the dresser mirror, hands clutching tightly the smooth wooden frame of the object...before she pulled it back to face her.
Unwittingly she closed her eyes shut just as the entire length of the mirror was about to reflect her visage.., biting her lip in silence as she could not help but pray that it would work.
That it had to work.
Childish, perhaps…..but all habits die hard as she started to count to three in her head. Holding onto dear god that whatever happened, that it would be something good.
She took a deep breath.
[Three..]
Sweat started to prickle at her eyes before sliding down her chin.
[Two]
Her jaws clenched tightly.
[One]
Alright, now or never.
Just as the numbers reached zero she opened up her eyes, the light of day flashing out once more into her line of sight as she glared at what would be her own reflection with both anxious need and hope.
And….
..
..
Nop.
The face that was not her face was still there.
With those soft and kissable lips that could make people lose their focus, with that fair and pale texture of her skin that reminded her of fresh spilled snow which was still partially covered by that silky and smooth cascade of long, dark pink hair neatlytied into a braided side ponytail while a pair ofdark green-blue eyes blinked time and time again as they inspected said reflection.
Once again, she sighed though this time more loudly.
``This is the start of a nightmare...´´
She mumbled, her voice barely audible through her lips while she started pinching the bridge of her nose, clutching her right hip with her remaining hand.
``I am Crucabena now...´´
Flinching at the implications of that very statementshe spoke with that strangely pleasant sounding voice she now possessed, she heard herself say what should have been impossible...but there was no denying reality now.
No matter how fuck up or weird it had become in the blink of an eye.
She was now the Fourth Harbinger of the Fatui.
The master of the House of the Hearth.
And the Worst mother in existence that would make Cocolia look like a saint in comparison. The mere thought, the mere fact to even bear such an idea inside the walls of her mind making her gasp, aghast of such a horrific admission.
How joyful.
How nice.
How fair…
Of all the people that she could have become, of all the characters in this world of fantasy so far removed of her own she had become her.
A woman who groomed children into disposable tools of murder. A sadistic, insane menace that lied and schemed to pit her "children" against each other in blood games. A person who could not care two shits about her own daughter about going through all of that to the point of death and considering such a loss a boring and tedious thing.
Looking back at her own reflection on the mirror she could not help but frown and grimace at the person behind the glass. The magic of her appearance now gone as childish curiosity and infatuation gave way to something uglier...and darker.
The thought of sharing the body of this….this "thing" that she would have loved nothing more than to strangle with her own hands making her stomach churn, a burning bile slowly rising up from the depths of her body and leaving that scorching scent all through her neck.
Look at her…
Look at her put a show of a loving mother….yet truly not knowing the meaning of the word.
Look at her be so glamorous and attractive to the eyes of others, yet hiding underneath the callous inhuman nature that lurked just underneath such a mask.
You know, when I had chosen to choose her character this was NOT what I had thought would happen.
She snapped out loud, anger and annoyance channeled at nothing truly in particular which only bothered her even more. The deafening silence of the large room and the gentle breeze of the morning winds was her only answer.
Just as expected.
It took her a while before she managed to find the strength to regain her bearing, small as it was…..there was no point in trying to fight against something that she had no control over with.
So she did the very next thing she could do.
Think.
If she was Crucabena...then it meant that she had to be in Fontaine right now. The nation of Hydro and justice….and over-sized hats and umbrellas strong enough to sent you flying miles up in the air.
The memory of a certain blond, sunglasses wearing girl floating in the air like a huge golden flower made the edges of her lips crease with a small smile. Yeah, perhaps that was just a gag the developers had made….but it surely would be amusing to see that happen.
Also, she should not be surprised to either hear about or even see other characters wandering around either in Poison or Fontaine proper like the gentle yet ever stoic Neuvillette and the ever flamboyant yet timidFurina at the courthouse…. or perhaps the bright and cheerful Navia down at Spina di Rosula headquarters in Poison. Well, baby/child Navia by nowif her math was not that far off….but the point still stand.
She would still love to see what a baby Navia would look like though….
With her golden shiny hair and those glinting blue eyes looking at the world around her with curiosity and wonder. Oh dear how she would love to hold that sunshine of a girl within her arms and softly pinch that baby pouting face of hers
Her mind was all rainbows and sun-shines at that thought. Too bad that the camera was not yet invented yet in Fontaine.
Her face furrowed, lips twisting a little at that. She would have to do something about it or something, there were so many characters she would want to take a photo of and it would be such a waste not to.
``Perhaps I could take over the creation of the device itself or just help fund it...´´
She mused to herself, holding her chin as she thought about it for a while.
It would not be that difficult if she used it a messenger or decided to go disguised….and it was not like Crucabena was not well off.
The House of the Hearth was not cheap to maintain, let alone direct so many resources to these facilities and the children. She surely was rich to afford this…..and with the Fatui backing her up then it was not unlikely to think she could very well try to swim in Mora Mr Scrooge style.
And if all things failed she could just ask Sandrone. The girl had made a living talking android in the form of Katheryne, surely a box that takes pictures could not be that far fetched.
Now….convincing her to do that however would be a different kind of problem., but it wasn't like she would kill her for making such a simple question right? Right?
``Well, I better cross my fingers it doesn't come to that... ´´
She said, clasping her hands together in silent prayer before she decided to walk away..or stumble from the dresser mirror. Her head was still hurting pretty bad...but there was nothing she could do about that….like, was there even painkillers in the form of pills in this world?
Shaking her head she found herself staring back at a rather large and ominous wardrobe. In fact it was so large and tall that she almost found herself tilting herself backwards to actually see it reach the ceiling.
Why? She did not know….oh wait, you meant why she was starting at the wardrobe? Ah, well..for n-nothing?
Yeah, that was right...for nothing in particular. It was pretty big and had caught her eye for that.
…
…
Fine! She had always been curious about what kind of outfits the Knave that came previously to Arlecchino would actually wear. She did seem to be one for fashion, though not as much as Signora.
And...she also could not leave this room in just a nightgown….. SO THAT!
Taking a moment to take a breath she clasped the handles of the wardrobe...and pull it open. The hinges softly creaking in response as the thick polished frames of wood slowly revealed what laid behind.
..
``Alright, this…..was not what I was expecting´´
She mumbled as her eyes could not find a single trace of space not occupied by any piece of cloth. Row after row of dresses and shirts and other stuff painting a rather colorful scene before her.
Formal, semi-formal, for grand celebrations to more mundane yet still somehow stylish choices of clothing. All of themneatly piled or divided in groups of color, size, season and even hues.
The level of cleanliness and order surprised her her, especially with how much of a contrast it was with what she usually did in her own flat. However, not as much as what she found in a corner to her right, specifically inside a neatly shaped, rectangular looking box that felt out of the ordinary.
Were there jewel's...or rare gems insde perhaps?
Special gloves for hunting?
Rings..? Amulets?
Crucabenas own vision or delusion...? Stored away just in case instead of wearing it everyday?
The possibilities were endless, her curiosity leading her thoughts to multiply and peak up in interest as she went by to open the thing from its lids and..
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
``Why is there a whip in here?
-.-
A collar and a…..rope?
-.-
Gods….that is a lot of rope..´´
She felt her cheeks heat up as she immediately set herself to put the thing back from where she had pick it.
She hoped it was for torture.
She really hoped it was.
Deciding to not waste any more of her time with whatever sick and deprave things could be still hidden in there she chose the piece of cloth that looked the same as what she had seen Crucabena wear back in the trailer. The white blouse under that black coat, paired with that grayish tie and brooch. A pair of black gloves alongside that long and black stilted skirt...which fitted her rather well to say the least.
Graving the thigh length boots and closing the doors of the wardrobe she made her way towards the dresser again to begin her task of picking a fresh pair of socks.
``Oh come on! Seriously..!?´´
She gasped incredulously upon inspecting the contents of the dresser, nothing out of the ordinary only for one of her fingers to clumsily slid onto a secret button and reveal a set of needless and razor sharp knives ready for use.
All of them long, and slightly ending on a curve at the very end to a point. And though the other half was mostly smooth, there were a series of sharpened edge notches near the base. It was almost like a duel edge in a way guaranteed that if you survived the initial stab, the removal would be far from clean.
She closed her eyes feeling herself age over course this sadistic woman would have weaponized her entire room.
What was next? Guns inside the bathroom walls? Axes coming down from the chandeliers? Spikes hiding underneath the floor?
..
..
You know what? She did not want to find out.
She decided to ignore them and not think much about what kind of uses the real Crucabena may had for those tools, eagerly pushing the button that had unwrapped them to her sightand concealing them yet again
In the end she end up choosing a simple yet practical white silky socks, a pattern of roses weaved around them.
``Alright, I am ready…...at least I think so´´
She muttered as she made sure that nothing looked out of the , nothing of this did not help her on her most direct and pressing problem.
What was that you ask? Well, simple…..she did not know whether this was before Clervie was thrown down inside this hell pit called "home" or after she was already dead.
You still don't get it? Ok, lets laid out it thick and simple….
The first one meant that she had time to make things better so that she at the very least could survive. She almost found herself bitterly laughing at such notion. Yeah, right...make things "better" tell that to the hundreds of children corpses this woman surely had or has even now under the carpet. Crucabena may had the looks of a young woman….but by the looks of she surely had been in power of the House for a long time.
Long enough to have a child of her own blood and flesh...and that was certainly not good for anyone's health...
Two: If Clervie was already dead...then she was beyond screwed, she really doubted she would fair any better than the real character against a rage hellbent meant to be Arlecchino.
True, the white haired girl had said that she had won because Crucabena did not have the will to go all out against her given how she was so hell bent in bending Arlecchino to her will like a puppet….but come on guys, how on earth was she suppose to fight a super child soldier of an ancient bloodline with an even more ancient and cool and terrific curse when she had never gone to self defense classes?
Yeah, no, it didn't look good for her...
So what could she do about it? If Clervie was alive thenchanging the canon was a possibility and a no brainer, she liked living after all thank you very much!
However…. could it be done?
It wasn't that she was against such a notion, gods forbid that these children deserved better….but Fate seemed to be ever prevalent in Genshin, not truly changing as it guided the people of this world towards uncertain endings.
No gods or mortals able to fight or shrug it off as even the divine were beholden to its cruel and uncaring rules.
After all, Fontaine was prophesied to be covered in the waters….and it happened no matter what the characters tried to do against such an outcome. A self fulfilling prophecy.
Now, if the canon story was the way the world was meant to be….did that mean that Arlecchino would become the Knave no matter what? That she would die by her hands?
It was a chilling thought that disturbed her…one that made her lose her balance momentarily.
Crucabenas ending had been a violent one….flashy, but violent nonetheless. And since she was going to be in the receiving end of it this time….it didn't feel nearly as epic as it had before.
Yes, this time there was no prophecy going around and she doubted Celestia had a bone to pick with a mere mortal like a Fatui Harbinger….but if the scrip was already written for her in the skies…
Then she was fucked either way.
As if waiting for that pertaining thought a new wave of skull born agony now mixed with this fearful stroke climbing behind her back made her legs womble with weakness that for a moment she feared that she would fall on her knees on the spot. Forcing her to lean against the closest thing she could find. Her face grimacing with a scowl, half covered by her gloved hands trying to keep her head steady while her lips opened up and closed between shallow breaths.
Her lungs felt on fire.
She clenched her teeth, hands clasping tightly.
She hated this..
She hated everything about this.
The unfairness of her situation and the utter lack of clues that she was given about it to properly fix it or at least know what was going to happen next.
It kinda stink that she was not the protagonist of one of those visual Iseakis where a magic window popped out without effort with everything one would need to survive.
Yeah, that would have surely come in handy by now.
Too bad that she cant have nice things.
``Fuck…., what I am going to do? Hell, what I am suppose to do?´´
She racketed her brain trying to find an answer to it, but much to her disappointment she came out with nothing of substance. A lot of what ifs and what would be….but nothing truly certain to iron out into the paper what she could do without major complications.
She really wished the gods of this land could throw her a bone or something.
Like a signal.
She was not expecting for the dual doors leading to the room to open loudly on that very moment, hinges creaking as they were partially shoved open apart.
She was not expecting for a small, diminutive girl dressed with a small fitting white dress and a simple coronet of the same color over her head to stumble her way inside and almost fall flat on her face in the process.
And least of all she was not expecting for the small child to look so similar to her once she rose her head and glared at her direction. Eyes that glinted with muted fear melting away into relief once they found her.
It was only then that she realized why she was feeling that sense of familiarity with that girl.
Mother…? Mother? Are yo-Mother!? You are awake!
Shit...not like this!
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A/N
Hi, here comes another chapter, forgive me for any grammar mistakes you may find and I hope you may like it. Feel free to share your thoughts and your opinions about it, I would greatly appreciate them.
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Also, you may notice that sometimes our "Crucabena" may be kind of a scatterbrain at this point, losing the focus of her thoughts on more mundane and banal things instead of focusing on what is truly important.
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DDDXXX: You are right, I don't think I have seen many fics where the character was isekaid into a particular npc like this case, mostly placed as Ocs more often than not.
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enginier2172: Clervie and Peruere are going to feel confused that's for certain, especially our now chibi and adorable Arlecchino when she senses the lack of evilness inside of her, that voidinstead filled with something fluffy and warm.