Chapter Text
Guilt and shame weighed heavy in the air in the Fortress of Meropride.
The medical room was filled with the sounds of nurses scrambling around tending to the group of children, the sound of medical equipment and frantic beeping noises lingering in the room, an unnerving tension arising in the air.
Freminet was the first to pitifully open his eyes, the sight of Lynette and Lyney lying on separate medical beds as he observed their better-for-wear states.
Lynette had hurt her shoulder and arm swimming out from the building, a few torn clothes here and there but otherwise she was alright, albeit asleep from exhaustion after trying to drag Lyney’s deadweight body along.
Freminet had a few bumps and cuts here and there with a few bruises on his body. But nowhere as severe compared to Lyney as he was still asleep, tubes tied to his body as he got the worst out of their injuries.
One of the nurses, also known as Sigewinne had noticed that Freminet was awake, stopping in her tracks as she turned around to face the young man, “Ah— Freminet. You’re awake, do you need anything to drink or eat?”
The boy shook his head, trying his best to avoid social interaction as his heart swelled with guilt at what had happened to his siblings.
All he knew was that Father was not going to be happy with them, but especially him.
His suspicions were confirmed correct when she had came into the Medical Ward herself. After checking on the twins, her intimidating gaze glared up towards Freminet, any semblance of warmth she carried within her gaze was no longer there.
Sigewinne had went up to Arlechinno, talking to her in a low tone as she waved her arms around frantically.
Freminet was straining to try and listen, Father could be incredibly intimidating when she wanted to. After exchanging a few words with the Melusine, she started making her way towards him.
”Wait! Father, he’s still injured. He must stay here for a while longer to rest, please if you would, only take ten minutes to speak to him.” The young nurse called out, jogging up to her as Arlechinno glanced down.
”Hm. Alright, I see then. Now, I would like to spend a few private moments with my children, so please do as kindly as to leave this room for the time being.”
The young girl’s face screwed up in confusion, but had ultimately accepted, walking out of the medical room as Freminet almost wanted to call out for her to stay.
”I am glad to see that you are all in one piece, what a shame it was to see what happened to you guys. Lynette and Lyney are still asleep, but once they wake up I would like to speak to them as well.”
”Your guys’ mission was to take back a few parcels from the Underwater Ruins in Liffey Region, correct?”
Freminet nodded, his eyes glazing over with a familiar sheen of tears he was all too familiar with. “I’m sorry Father…”
Arlecchino’s gaze softened a little, “and tell me what happened there. Tell me, Freminet. Tell me how did this all occur, what happened to Lyney and Lynette?”
It all happened so suddenly. The three siblings had been assigned to another mission by Father, Freminet had been instructed to lead the group as he usually did in underwater missions.
Lynette always took control of Physical confrontation based missions while Lyney liked to lead the stealth based ones.
Father had told them to swim down towards Liffey Region’s underground tunnels to track down a few parcels that had been discarded by Fontaine’s law enforcement officers.
Apparently it had something to do with the Fatui and Father needed these for her work. Apparently they were something important for the Tsaritsa and after giving her these parcels, Arlechinno would be taking a leave from the House for a few months.
As the trio approached the ruins, Freminet had signaled that Lyney was to go left while Lynette would head to the right. Freminet had made sure that he was going to the middle before the three children had split up, each on their way to hunt down the parcels.
The ruins were vast and dark, the blonde blindly searching around before he had heard a terrifying noise above him.
Something was breaking, and the boy had immediately flipped over, trying to escape the tunnel but the force of him moving had cause the metal to snap, collapsing onto him and the rest of the seabed.
He was thankful that the water made the force of the weight not so strong, but he was at a grave dilema, having to heave all of these things off of him. His head dizzy as he desperately tried to free himself from the rubble. Maybe it had been his pounding head, but the water pressure under the ruins had been growing.
After several minutes of trying, Freminet was able to swim free, seeing that the other tunnels had been broken and collapsed as well. Panic surged throughout his gut, realizing his siblings were still in there as he swam towards Lynette’s path first.
Fortunately, the girl had already been halfway out, her face grimaced in pain as she pushed past her brother to make it over to Lyney’s spot. She started pulling metal off of metal as Freminet had went over to try and help.
The poor magician was in a pitiful state, knocked unconscious as Lynette and Freminet had worked together to get his body out of the rubble.
Once they had pulled Lyney out, they had used their remaining strength to swim over to The Fortress of Meropride, Lynette still carrying an unconscious Lyney as Sigewinne had immediately been there to tend to the children’s arrival.
Freminet hung his head low, too ashamed to even dare to look up at his Father. He knew the repercussions of failing a mission, and this time he knew he was getting the shortest end of the stick.
”You know what happens when you fail a mission.”
”Yes Father…” Freminet monotonously droned, mentally putting up a shell to prevent himself from bursting into tears.
”Those ruins belong to Fontaine Research Institute, you know what those people say about damaging Government property.” Arlechinno’s tone was gravely stern, her gaze imposing as Freminet wanted to run away and hide.
He prayed that Sigewinne would come back inside the room and tell Father to leave. He just wanted to be alone with his own thoughts right now.
”Yes Father, I understand…”
”Those government officials will start tracking us down one by one, they will find out who was trespassing those ruins. And when they find out who it was, they will arrest you. They will arrest you and you will be thrown into jail.”
Arlechinno’s tone did not waver, “I am not afraid of them, but who knows what they will do with you in there. Who knows what they will do with Lyney and Lynette when they throw them in there too.” She sighed, a glancing away as she peeked over at the twins who were still asleep.
”The government here already has a watchful eye on the Fatui and the House, if they find out it was one of the children in the House of the Hearth—who knows how severe your punishment will be.”
Freminet nervously fidgeted with his hands, he didn’t mean to commit a crime. He didn’t intend on trying to kill all his siblings, all he was doing was following Father’s orders. He tried to breathe in a way that wouldn’t give away the fact that he was crying now.
Maybe it was his grave silence, or the bobbing of his Adam’s Apple that gave it away but Arlechinno had raised his head to look up at her.
”Stop those tears now. There is still a way to get out of this, but I need your full cooperation Freminet.” Arlechinno scolded, as Freminet bit down on his lip, nodding as she retracted her hand from his face.
”We will go back to the House tonight, you will pack up your belongings and I will arrange for Childe to take you on a one way trip to Liyue.”
Freminet’s eyes widened in horror, tears dripping down his cheeks. “Father no!”
Arlechinno’s stony expression never dropped, slowly standing up as she turned around, walking towards the door as Freminet got up after her, his body aching as he glanced down at Lyney and Lynette’s resting bodies.
”Would you rather be arrested, put on trial, and executed? I cannot be there for you all the time, you are going to be 18 soon, you have to learn to think for yourself. I know you are capable of being a good child.” Arlecchino restated.
For that, Freminet didn’t have a proper answer as he wordlessly followed the Knave out the building, the first to exit as he zoned off looking at the surface.
”Sigewinne, if Lyney or Lynette were to wake, please tell them that I will be back by tonight. Same routine as earlier, step out of the room so I could have a few words with them.” The Melusine nodded, her expression a little concerned as she watched the blonde boy exit the room.
”Excuse me… F-Father, um Mr. Freminet is still supposed to resting in the Infirmary for further evaluation.” Sigewinne said, nervously looking up at the Harbinger as the woman glared over at her. “He will be getting proper rest at home. I will insure that.”
And to that, the Harbinger was gone.
The trip back to the House was unnerving, Freminet groggily following behind Arlechinno as he wrung out the water from his sweater, his head pounding the closer they got.
”Pick up the boxes at the front of the house, there should be enough to fit everything in there. I will be in my office making some arrangements.”
The sound of Arlechinno’s heels clicking with every step only made Freminet feel even worse.
After being taken in by the House of the Hearth when he was only 10 years old, he had lived with Father and all his siblings for eight years now.
Father had been the one to show him true familial love other than his real mother. She had been the one to take care of him when his mother was no longer able to.
Freminet thought about his siblings; Lyney and Lynette. How they had been through thick and thin together, he didn’t want to leave them but he had no other choice. He really didn’t want to go to jail, or be executed, but leaving was the best option he had at the moment.
He feared of what would happen to them when they did wake.
As he was packing up, someone had came into his room and called out for his name. After he turned around, he had been relieved to know that it had just been Estella, one of the youngest children in the House. Only four years old as she crawled onto his bed, curiously watching as she swung her feet.
”Fwem-ney? What are you doing?” Freminet gulped, debating on how he should tell her that he was leaving.
”I… I am leaving.” Freminet mumbled, hoping that Estella did not have the best hearing.
”What?! Why… why are you leaving?” Estella’s little voice was full of confusion, her voice nearly on the brink of tears as the boy sighed.
”It’s… uhm. I am… graduating. Father wants me to work towards greater things outside of the house.” Freminet lied. He hated lying, but it was one of the many skills he picked up in the Fatui and one that he was especially good at.
”Why? Why can’t you stay Fwem-ney? What will you do after you gwadu-aded… how will I train now and gwow strong like you?” Estella pleaded, shaking Freminet’s shoulder as he didn’t dare to budge.
”Estella, kindly exit Freminet’s room. He has some matters to attend to.” Father’s voice chimed in from the doorway, the sound of the young girl’s footsteps echoing away as the boy felt frozen.
”Father… how will I gwow strong now that Fwem-ney is leaving?”
”By eating all your vegetables and going to bed on time, you are still far too young to began combat training. Now Estella, run along I have some matters to tend to myself.” Father’s voice said, gentle but there was a cold exterior around it.
The sound of the door shutting and someone sitting on his bed made Freminet turn around, glancing up at his Father with a deadpan expression, trying not to get scolded again.
”I have already made arrangements with Childe, he will be the one responsible for taking you to Liyue tomorrow morning as well as the one responsible for your housing situation.”
”You leave tomorrow morning at First Light, understood?”
”Understood.” Freminet mumbled, closing another box with duct tape.
Arlechinno seemed to be satisfied with that answer, leaving the room as the Blonde was left all alone again.
He placed his mechanical parts inside a box, hoping that they wouldn’t get destroyed on the boat ride. He decided that he wouldn’t box up Pers, his trusty robotic penguin as maybe holding it on the ride there would bring him a sense of comfort that Father had stripped away within a few words.
Freminet went to bed that night feeling like he had ice around his heart and the cryo vision by his nightstand glowing the entire evening.
Father had woken him up very early that morning, instructing him to get changed and ready as she had some of her Fatui Subordinates helping move boxes out of the House.
Freminet clutched onto Pers as he watched the number of items in his now barren room slowly disappearing, finally standing in a empty guest room as he tried not to think about it too much.
”Freminet, don’t dawdle.” Arlechinno’s voice was stern as usual as the boy had slowly walked out, following the subordinates and the Knave as they headed down towards the dock.
The sun hadn’t even started rising over Fontaine just yet, but the harbor had still been crowded with people alike. The Knave slightly knelt down, a hand on Freminet’s shoulder as she whispered into his ear.
”This is where we depart now, I am not going any further. Up ahead at the port is Tartaglia, you will go to him and he will escort you onto the boat with his and my subordinates. You will listen to what he says and do what he tells you, that is my final order as your Father.”
”And Freminet, don’t think that this act mean that I do not love you any less. I am doing this because I want to ensure your safety. I will inform the other children in the house that you have graduated for the time being.”
”And as my final mission to you as your Father, my last order to you is to make a name for yourself. And don’t disappoint me like you did this time.”
Freminet felt numb, but his innate clockwork instincts had driven him to listen and walk up to the port where the other Harbinger had been waiting.
”Hello Freminet, glad we meet again. It’s a shame that Teucer wasn’t able to come along this time. He said that he was very sad he wasn’t going to see Mr. Penguin.” Childe said, trying to enlighten the mood as Freminet quietly stood there holding Pers.
”Not a morning person I see, that’s alright by me. We should head on board, the boat sets sail in almost half an hour.”
The interior of the boat was simple, it was a two-floored vessel with top and bottom seating. The rest of the seats had been scarcely filled by other Fatui passengers.
Those Cicin Mages and their little bugs were quite pesky…those creatures always left dust everywhere no matter what delusion the Mages carried.
”Have you ever been to Liyue?”
Freminet nodded, the memories of him and his siblings visiting the place during Lantern Rite had been some of his favorite memories. The atmosphere, the setting, the performances. It was such a shame that he was never going to experience that with them ever again.
”That’s quite exciting, it’s been a while since I went back too. I would be more than excited to see Mr. Zhongli again, hopefully he shares more Liyuean cuisine with me. I want to eat at that Yum Cha restaurant I saw last time, such a shame my vacation was cut short, I hope to see my business partner there again.”
Freminet tried to ignore the Harbinger’s excessive chattering as he stared down at Pers, trying to feel a sense of comfort in this strange and uncomfortable space.
Brunch had been served around an hour in by one of the Fatui subordinates, Freminet stomaching down most of it as he wasn’t the biggest fan of Sandwich wraps.
The boat ride had been approximately around nearly a day long, lasting 16 hours as they finally pulled up to Liyue Harbor’s dock the next morning.
Childe had gotten off the boat first, instructing his subordinates to carry the boxes down to the city. Freminet was the last to get off of the boat, feeling a sense of homesickness the moment he glanced around Liyue.
It already had been so different from his home country and he didn’t even know how to properly speak the language here.
There were so many strange new faces, ribbons and tall skyward buildings around. Unlike Fontaine, the buildings were condensed and close by one another. The people dressed so differently compared to the residents in Fontaine.
There was a man dressed in a long brown suit approaching the group, Childe had immediately waved and approached him. Freminet looked back at the ocean and saw how vastly different it was from Fontaine’s and hoped that it was just as lively.
”Freminet! Come over here.” Tartaglia had called out, waving the kid over as Freminet mechanically went over by the two men ready for any given order.
”Mr. Zhongli, this is Freminet. Due to some circumstances with the Knave we had discussed prior to arrival, he will be living here indefinitely.”
Indefinitely? So this meant he was never going back to Fontaine was he.
Freminet could feel his heart breaking, the cryo vision on his sweater glowing.
”Ah. I see, welcome to Liyue Mr. Freminet. I am Zhongli, I am but a humble consultant at the Wangshan Funeral Parlor. I will be assisting you in finding residency and settling in. Liyue is a beautiful place with a rich history and vast culture, I hope you will like it here.”
The man appeared to be around his early thirties, his dark brown hair, sharp eyes and a small semblance of a grin on his face. Probably trying to make himself look more approachable to the boy. He didn’t seem to smile that often, just like Father.
”Oh… I’m Freminet.” The young man muttered, trying to speak up loud enough so that he would not be asked to repeat himself.
”Hello there young man. Would you two mind following me so I can show you your residency.”
”We don’t mind at all.” Childe had butted in, a hand on the boy’s shoulder as he started walking forwards, urging the Blonde to follow.
There were so many unfamiliar places and people here in the city, it was hard to tell which building had been exactly what as Freminet clutched onto Pers tighter.
They had walked out of the city to a more vast area as Tartaglia and Zhongli had been talking the entire way there. Freminet quietly trailed behind, trying not to gather too much attention onto him as he stared at the ground.
”We are here.” Zhongli said, stopping suddenly in his tracks as Freminet promptly bumped into the older man and immediately apologized under his breath.
”This is Wangshu Inn. I have arranged for you to stay here for two weeks, after that it is up to you to find new residency. I will help you if you need assistance, but I cannot guarantee your housing.” The man firmly stated, looking down on the boy as he gave him a small smile.
”It’s a nice place here Freminet. It’s got free food and spacious rooms. Most importantly, it’s got a great view of Dihua Marsh and Jueyan Karst.” Childe added in, looking up at the building as Freminet’s dull expression didn’t change.
Oh how he yearned to be back at the House with his siblings and Father. Oh how he missed his home.
The trio were interrupted by a Fatui agent running up to them, Zhongli seemed to tense up while Tartaglia seemed indifferent. Right away, Freminet could tell that this agent was Tartaglia’s.
”Lord Childe, the boxes the Knave requested to be sent to Wangshu Inn have already been delivered to the guest room.”
”Good. That’s all I needed.” The ginger curtly replied, turning back to look at Freminet as the boy felt nervous under his gaze. “Let’s bring you to your room.”
Freminet sighed, knowing there was no other option as he reluctantly followed the man. Tartaglia was the Eleventh Harbinger in the Fatui and despite hearing playful stories of him from Father, or the Knave in the past, it was by no doubt that he was a good fighter. Although reckless and careless at times, he still proved himself to be pretty reliable in Harbinger Affairs.
The room Childe had brought him to was indeed quite spacious with a single bed and a large window. The given amenities were standard, Freminet’s belongings stacked in the corner with one another waiting to be unpacked.
”If you want to eat something, you can just go downstairs and order. The food is always fresh—they have a ton of seafood as well.” The Harbinger said, trying to make the boy feel more comfortable.
”I’m not hungry.” Freminet muttered, still holding Pers in his hands as he sat down on the bed, glancing over at the window as he imagined looking outside his own window back at the House—staring out at the big beautiful sea.
”Give him some time, it usually takes a while for someone to grow accustomed to new surroundings. We should leave now.” Zhongli said, his tone firm as Tartaglia nodded, turning around to leave.
”I will be around Liyue for the next week, if you need me just find me in town.” Childe said, waving at the boy as Freminet meekly waved back.
He collapsed onto his bed and fell into a dreamless sleep.