When an Archon Rises

✫| Thread of Opportunity

Every story has a villain...
And this villain is not to be trifled with.
... Because he knows he's a villain.

As a diplomat who answers to the Tsaritsa directly, he was a well-known and powerful man who does what he wants and when he wants it. He only cared about two things; his experiments and the God who believed in him when no-one else did. It was thanks to the will of the Tsaritsa which gave him the resources he needed to finish and complete his research.

He preferred the shadows, forever walking the dark halls of an abandoned facility that ran deep under the surface of Teyvat, the continent ruled by the Gods of Celestia. He only walks in the light when her will requires his presence, otherwise he'd stay hidden and work on his experiments without interruption... or at least he'd try to.

He was a doctor; and on this day he is very agitated. Not only had the Tsaritsa's will require a specific specimen, Dottore had to give up his own resources to find it... and it'd taken them three bloody days to do so. His disappointment at that alone was enough to ruin his mood, especially when he'd lured another test subject from Qingce Village in half that time.

He was in the middle of said experiment with said subject before the interruption soured his mood even more so. A thick layer of blood from their young body covered his hands and most of his clothing, but he didn't care as he left the stingy room that reeked of death and sanitized medical equipment. The beep of the heart monitor ringed in his ear and faded out the further he left the room.

The blood on his hands dried and his fingertips started to feel like clay. The mask that covered most of his face was great cover to hide the sneer that stained his features. His very name struck fear, and this is why. Dottore was not afraid to make anyone his test subject, his own subjects avoided these experiments because not once had anyone survived.

"This better be good!" He threw his arms into the door that lead into the main room.

One person followed him, and he made a mental note to experiment on them next- for interrupting him. His dark gaze had been sneakily sizing his next experiment up, many plans had been calculated the whole walk over and now that he was in the room and what he saw was not what he asked for, he scratched his mental note and began preparing for other experiments including the people who failed in their mission. "What is this?!"

"My lord..." The first person dared to speak, instantly bowed at his feet in fear. "We have returned.."

"Hm," Dottore hummed, disappointed at what was also dropped at his feet.

A male, long blonde braided hair. The civilians attire reminded him of the get-ups worn at Liyue Harbour, except what this man wore was torn at the sleeves and stomach; the male himself had swelling and blue bruising covering his face and arms. Dried blood trailed off his stomach and face, his clothing equally appeared to have been dried in the stuff. If it wasn't for the shallow breathing Dottore heard when the body collapsed into a heap at his feet, he would have thought the male was dead.

Dottore stayed silent as the rest of the group fell to the floor, bowing at his feet but Dottore did not care... he just wanted answers. "You," he pointed to one of the big guys at the back, commanding the man to stand. "Explain to me," Dottore said with such coldness, everyone in the room tensed up. "What the fuck is this?! I asked for a sprite, not a dumb civilian!"

A tense, unwavering silence settling into the room and the man that was commanded, slowly stood up, but kept his head bowed in his own fear. The reaction astounded him, he felt joy at the control he had over his subjects, but he dared not show it as his anger overthrew what little joy he felt. The Tsaritsa would be appalled at the results of this, if she were here.

"We apologise... my lord." The man spoke quietly.

Dottore scoffed loudly, "Speak louder." He commanded.

"We apologise, my lord." He spoke louder, he paused and cautiously looked around the room as if he was expecting Dottore to say something more. When nothing else was said, he continued. "We did what you asked... you were right. The sprite was in Liyue Harbour, but it was not alone." A small notion with his hand pointed to the collapsed body before him. "He, and someone else protected the sprite. We could not touch it... but-"

"I've heard enough," Dottore spat in disgust. "You were given a simple order, bring me the sprite. But what you gave me is a pitiful excuse and a body I cannot work with! I'm ashamed and appalled." In an instant he flicked his bloody wrist towards two, still bowed subjects and commanded. "Get that filth out of my face, Room 212."

"Yes sir."

Two well trusted agents, stood in an instant, started towards the lowly skirmisher to complete their task. The skirmisher, pale and fear stricken waved his arms up in surrender and stepped back. "N-No wait!" he said frantically causing Dottore to raise a halting hand in silence. The agents halted pursuit but still stood in preparation.

"Speak." Dottore said coldly.

"Uh-" the skirmisher blinked his tearing eyes, surprised before explaining more. "H-he's not worthless my lord... he has power-"

"So what?" Dottore interrupted with authority. "Many of today's people carry and use visions. How is this person any different?"

"He..." The skirmisher seemed uncertain he wanted to continue, he trailed off and gazed at his peers causing Dottore to start glaring with the one eye visible to the crowd. It pierced right through the man; an instant reaction had the man talking. "He wields more than one element," he says quickly and loudly. "Anemo, Electro, Pyro... if you check the state of the Liyue harbour, you'll see the damage he caused. And he doesn't have a vision."

This news piqued Dottore's interest, more than it should have. Before stepping forward, he took note of the many heads that nodded in agreement. "Interesting..." he stepped forward, and moved past the first bowing man.

Dottore said nothing more and instead used a foot to lightly kick the unconscious man over, much like earlier he saw much dried blood and bruises but with a closer inspection he noticed something more. The wounds on the mans face looked nowhere as severe as the dried blood suggested. Hm, self-regeneration. Very interesting indeed.

Without a single word, he crouched and reached for the man. A harsh grip held the mans face as Dottore inspected every wound, every feature that could be of use to him and he did not let the man go until he was satisfied with his findings. "Very interesting indeed-"

He stopped himself short when the unconscious man struggled mildly under his grip and before he knew it, he was looking into quite the bright pair of golden eyes that shone brightly despite the atmosphere he was in. Before the man could become troublesome, he let the weak man go and stood up but kept a firm foot on the man's chest, purposely making it difficult to breath.

"Hmmm," a weak cough from the man had Dottore smiling under his mask. "You say he wasn't alone, yes?" A course of nods confirmed his suspicions. "And I take it whoever was with him could do what he could too, yes?" Another course of firm nods from his subjects had him grinning with malicious glee. "Awesome!"

He suddenly spun, intending to finish with the subject he still had on an operating table, hopefully it hadn't died yet. "You all are free to go. I want that man in Room 212 immediately and I want both the sprite and his accomplice in my care as soon as possible."

Before leaving their sights, he paused at the door, firmly grasping the handle as he glanced back at the loosening up crowd. His gaze turned cold once again as he said harshly, "Don't fuck it up again or you all are going into rooms."

He let his threat hang over their heads as he left the room, thinking of all the possible opportunities that were just given to him.