Albedo stood on the roof of the office building, surveying the city that had been layered in a film of snow. He leaned by his elbows on the stone barricade, bearing down at the city that was oblivious to its fortunate escape from doom.
Rosaria appeared like a shadow, and stood next to Albedo. He paid her no attention and continued gazing out through his rectangular glasses.
"I handed the evidence to Kujou Sara, just like you asked. She assured that the Tenryou Commission will pull their support for the security ordinance." Rosaria pulled out a cigarette while finishing her report.
"What about the inquiry into the Kamisato deaths?"
"She said they'll support it, only if the Yashiro Commission brings it up."
Albedo closed his eyes, feeling the icy gale sweep against his face. Rosaria took his silence for approval. He too lighted up a cigarette, and smoked it. Rosaria saw Inazuma in its winter coat for the first time, and she thought it was a fitting season for its current state: primed to bloom with the coming of spring.
"Did you know about Tenryou's collusion with the Snezhnayans from the start, Albedo?"
Albedo didn't speak for a long while.
"Yes. I did."
"Then why not use that to stop the shogunate? What was your point in keeping Kazuha on the assignment?"
Albedo gaped at Rosaria. He understood the reason behind her uncharacteristic demand for an explanation.
"The tri-commissions are merely tools to carry out the shogunate's will. Even if one commission was taken down, it wouldn't be enough. I still needed Kazuha to find the evidence that could be used against the Tenryou and the Snezhnayans, but only when I was ready for him to find it."
"So you knew about the risk of the drugs too?"
"Judge me however you will, Rosaria. But the life of one man cannot compare to everything that was at stake."
"And yet, it was through the death of one man that the freedom you treasured so much was preserved."
Albedo fell silent again.
"If I had to do everything over again, I wouldn't have done it any differently. My only mistake was underestimating Kazuha; thinking I could ever keep the wind on a leash."
"I understand why you did what you did, Albedo. But it doesn't mean that I have to like it."
"That's hypocritical, especially coming from you."
"Yea. I guess sister Barbara's nagging has finally gotten to me."
Rosaria threw the cigarette to the ground and crush it under her shoes. Albedo reached into his inner coat pocket and pulled out a brown envelope and laid it beside Rosaria on the barricade.
"For your troubles, plus a generous donation to the church."
Rosaria picked up the envelope and opened it to retrieve some mora and handed it to Albedo.
"My condolences, for when they find his body."
Albedo took the mora and folded it and tucked it into his inner coat pocket. Rosaria slipped the envelope in her coat and turned to leave.
"You really have no idea where it might be?" Albedo called out to Rosaria.
Rosaria looked over her shoulders at Albedo.
"I didn't stay long enough to find out."
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Scaramouche was still sobbing as he clung on to Kazuha, feeling the warmth slowly radiate out of Kazuha's body. The fallen snow like a floral wreath adorned Kazuha's head, a fitting crown for the unseemly departed. Scaramouche laid Kazuha on the ground, then approached Rosaria who stood watching him from the side.
"Give me your gun." Scaramouche ordered.
"And just what are you going to do with it?"
"I don't remember giving you the right... to ignore my orders."
"No."
Scaramouche remembered the gun Thoma had, and glanced over at Thoma's still unconscious body. It laid on the ground beside Thoma, and Scaramouche turned to approach the weapon. Rosaria pulled him by the back of his collar and slammed him into the wall of the teahouse.
"Do you know what will happen, if they find out that one of the top Snezhnayan executives murdered an Inazuma national?"
"GET YOUR HANDS OFF OF ME."
Scaramouche struggled as he tried to break free of Rosaria's grip. New tears were dripping out of his eyes, just after he had managed to put himself together to the bare minimum.
"LISTEN to me, Balladeer. I know what you're feeling right now. But don't make it worse. Don't let the rage blind you like it did Thoma."
"YOU HEARTLESS BITCH. LET GO."
Tears were flooding his eyes again.
"Is this what Kazuha would have wanted you to do? Don't you think that he's seen enough suffering? Don't stain his death with even more blood, Scaramouche."
Scaramouche soothed a little at Rosaria's words, and at the mention of Kazuha's name. He wanted to shield his tears from the strange woman in front of him, but he was unmade; he couldn't stop the tears even if that was all he wanted to do.
In the distance, the sound of ambulance sirens blared. Scaramouche anxiously looked back at Kazuha and pushed Rosaria away with all his had left in him. He stumbled his way back to Kazuha, and picked him up in his arms and carried him towards his car.
"Where are you taking him?" Rosaria questioned as she followed behind Scaramouche.
Scaramouche laid Kazuha gently in the back seat and shut the door.
"To where he belongs."
Scaramouche jumped into the driver's seat. He started the car and drove out onto the road, accelerating towards the coast while Rosaria shrank in the rear-view mirror. He spoke aloud as he drove.
"We're going, Kazuha. We'll go back together."
The road at night was quiet save the sound of the windshield wipers sweeping away the descending snow against the glass. He drove while grasping urgently at the untwining threads that tethered him to Kazuha, saving everything he could remember about Kazuha.
The clouds in the cold night passed overhead as his mind unraveled, his soul fractured as the realisation of never seeing Kazuha again slowly obliterated his being. He gasped and he sighed acutely as he choked back the tears, trying to focus on the road through blurry eyes.
A weak light had begun to break when Scaramouche arrived by the beach, and he stationed the car carelessly by the side of the road.
He carried Kazuha out of the back; spots of blood had blotched the leather seats. With Kazuha in his arms, Scaramouche waddled through the cold towards the beach, until his feet touched the sand. He laid Kazuha down and sat in the sand with Kazuha's head in his embrace, bringing Kazuha's hair and his face his face to a touch.
He sat there until daylight broke through the horizon beyond the rolling waves. The warm rays of light inching gradually over the blue surface until it enveloped them in its orange grasp. Kazuha's cold skin was more apparent in the rush of a winter morning glow.
"I'm sorry, Kazuha."
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Screenshot from Genshin Impact.
Notes:
That's the end, friends.
I had a lot of fun building this story, and I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did!
I wanted to try a darker story after playing the Inazuma story. It was so complex and layered, and the reveal of Scaramouche's origins made me really sad for him.
Tsurumi island was my favourite but it didn't get a mention as it came out after I finished the story.
Anyway, thanks again! Feel free to share, and comment! I would really love to know what you think.
YOU ARE READING
The Vagrant and the Wanderer || (Scaramouche x Kazuha) || Genshin Impact
Fanfic"There was no stain on his soul that the cold river waters could not wash. There was no phantom in his mind that the wind could not carry. There was no bruise in his heart, given by the boy with velvet hair, that the sun could not kiss away." Kazuha...
