Chapter Text
“So much for meeting again in Snezhnaya, huh?” Childe choked out a bitter laugh that came out as more of a cough as blood fought its way up his throat. This wasn't the reunion that he'd hoped for, though it was more the one he had expected. Pretending this was a world that they were able to be proper friends was nice at one point, but this was the sting of reality.
The Traveler looked down on his crumpled body in silence, never much for words. And what was there to say? Beg for him not to die, not here? Seems futile when it was their sword that had run through the man. It didn’t seem like he held it against them, though.
What was it that he had said once? That they were just pawns in other people’s games—something like that. They both understood that that’s what this was. The Traveler knew that Childe himself wasn’t a bad person, not really, but they were ultimately on opposite sides of someone else’s conflict. They both had to do what was expected of them. In spite of the things that he had said in moments that they weren’t pitted against each other, there was no way that Childe hadn’t known that this was how things were going to end up one way or another. Neither were just going to switch sides, as much as Childe had apparently wanted to quit his job and travel with them if what he had said in his letters to his siblings was true.
Silence stretched before them, filled only with Childe’s labored breaths. He broke it with a coughing fit before deciding to speak again, his voice weaker than before, “Traveler?”
“Hm?” They lifted their head, pulled from their thoughts.
“Could I ask one last favor you?”
The Traveler stared at him for a moment, considering the request. They supposed that they could grant him that much. They offered the harbinger a short nod as an answer. Despite everything, they respected him enough to grant him a last request.
He tried for a smile, but it came off as more of a grimace, “Thank-” he hissed in pain, “Thank you comrade… Could you-“ he hesitated, “could you be the one to tell my family? That I’m gone?”
They looked skeptical, “…That’s a big ask, Ajax.”
If the Traveler using his birth name surprised him, he opted not to mention it. There were more important things. “I know… It’s just… I would rather they hear it from you than from a Fatui messenger. And well-“ he laughed humorlessly, “Teucer’s still expecting you to visit like you promised, right? Heh… sorry I couldn’t be around for that, but well… we both knew this was how things would end, right?.. I was destined to live a shorter life, and you… well you were destined to be the hero.”
The Traveler wished that they could offer some form of reassurance or tell him that wasn't true, but well- He was right. The Traveler had known that he'd get himself killed one day as long as they'd known him. He was irreparably reckless, always seeking out a fight to feel the thrill it brought him. They had witnessed his lack of self-preservation well enough when they had met his brother. He'd do anything for those he was loyal to, never caring for whether he'd meet his end doing so one day. And so he had. And at their hands no less. They had to do it, and Childe knew it too, but perhaps they could still atone in fulfilling this last request. "I'll... do it. Your request." They didn't know how they were going to go about reporting the news of his death to his family, but they'd figure that out later. They couldn't bring themselves to deny a man his dying wish. Especially a man that, had things been different, they wouldn't have hesitated to consider a friend.
He smiled sadly, "Thank you..." Another coughing fit racked through his body, his body weakened convulsing violently with the coughs. Once it had passed, he continued. "Y'know though, I am... I am glad I met my end at your hands rather than someone else's. I guess you really did mean it when you said that you had been constantly growing stronger, same as I was. I'm happier dying by the sword of someone I respect... Make sure everyone is looked after, won't you? I just wish that I had known that my last goodbye to them really was my last. But there's nothing to be done about that now. I entrust them to you."
Childe's vision was quickly fading, his head swimming. Guess his time was finally up. His eyes were distant as he wheezed out a final thank you before his breathing stilled and his already dull eyes glazed over. He was gone.
They closed his eyes and set his body down. "Go in peace..."