Frozen Heart

Chapter 41: Memories

"Don't give them too much water while I'm gone!"

"You're always so careful with your roses, Rosalyne"

His laughter echoed through your head.
You haven't heard that name in years. How long ago was it now? 500 years? Ever since he perished in the war, you did not care about any living being. Not even your roses. But now that you remember them, you wonder. Have they been reborn? Replanted?

Mondstadt, your old home. Freedom is what your Archon wished to gift his Nation. Yet he failed to free one from the past.

The Tsaritsa took you in out of pity. You reminded her of herself. She lost all of her love to everyone, you did too. Or so you thought. In all of your immortal years, you would've never thought that you'd find someone once again. Yet you did. You did and she was bringing you joy and warmth into your once frozen heart. Now that the seal was broken forever, you might not be able to see her again. You couldn't even tell her that you loved her, only give her small signs of affection, and that was it. Why? Why did it have to end now?

You wanted to do so much more with her. You wanted to plant some roses with her. You wanted to teach her more cryo tricks. You wanted to visit your old home as a new person with her.
You wanted.
You wanted.
And you wanted.
Now it was all taken away from you.

"Is it too late for love Signora?"

That is what you have been asking yourself ever since she entered your life.

He always called you "his Rose". But you were nothing more than the thorn of a Rose. Nothing more but a pain. Always rejecting the touch and comfort of others.

Is it really too late now?

The pyro was burning inside of you, and you couldn't control anything anymore. You just had one mission. Were you going to accomplish it without harming her though?

🌹🌹🌹🌹

"Signora..." you watched her turn into the Crimson Witch of Flames once more. The cold desert became warm. Scaramouche looked pleased with the results and laughed,

"That's right! Embrace all of the anger you feel towards me!" he finally moved his foot away from you, removing the pressure he put on you this whole time. Just as you were relieved from the pressure that just left, you felt another pain hit you, literally. Scaramouche kicked you across the floor, right next to Azalea and the Traveler.

"Y/N!" Azalea and Traveler shouted and turned to you. You dismissed their help and shakingly got up.

"Nevermind my pain. We need to help Signora" you looked up to her. She didn't seem to care about anything but getting rid of Scaramouche. Azalea also looked over to them, her face had a sudden change of expression.

"All of this is my fault..." you heard Azalea say, "if I just had a plan like main core always does...then she wouldn't have...you wouldn't...you all wouldn't be in danger" her voice began to shake. You turned to her and kneeled down, gently holding her shoulders,

"Azalea, it's alright! None of this is your fault. You couldn't have known!"

You saw the tears in her eyes take shape. The first time you had met her, she had this blank expression, thinking she was just a clone lacking emotions. But she wasn't. She was hiding them all along. Never wanting to show the Archons most weakest and vulnerable part.

"It is! I am just too young to even be an Archon! If the former Archon hadn't passed away back then...then I wouldn't have to deal with all this pressure!"

You turned your head to the other two fighting, looking up at the Traveler who was just as lost as you.

"I'm a foolish child who can't handle anything! I am always doing everything wrong, why can't I just be a child?" she cried.

"You are not foolish. You have done so much for your Nation in only under 500 years! You've done so well on your own and you still are!" you wiped away her tears and looked at her with confidence. Azalea stared at you for a while and turned to the two Harbingers fighting. She lifted her arms and summoned branches around Scaramouche, holding him down.

"G-Go! I don't know for how long I can hold him down like this..." she held her own feet steady with thick branches coming from the ground. You nodded and summoned an ice-blade, striking at Scaramouche. The heat around him though became a little unbearable, yet you fought through it.

"Y/N! Don't go in further! That's way too dangerous!" Traveler yelled after you.

"I won't back down! I have to save her..." you regulated your body temperature to be cold so this immense heat was survivable. It might've burned some parts of your skin, but you didn't care now. Scaramouche tried to wriggle out of Azaleas branches, turning his head to you in anger. He let out a big shockwave, removing the branches around his body. You blocked the attack with your blade and tried to strike him again,

"You're getting on my nerves. Why don't you also release your anger huh? Aren't you mad that your beloved Signora has become this monster?" he said while blocking an attack from her. You glared at him,

"You will perish here, Kunikuzushi."

He frowned and balled his fists, focusing his attacks only on you. You didn't care about the attacks and just launched at him, Azalea blocked them off for you with the branches, Traveler also helped with their Geo walls. Signora got him with her whip and removed his arm. He held his wound and smirked,

"I guess I should take this more seriously now huh?" he said and reached for his hat, which flew directly into his hand. He removed the mask that was stuck to the hat and put it on, engulfing into pure electro. The force he created pushed you away, almost flying away, but the branches under your feet held you in place. Soon, Scaramouche looked way more different. His arm was healed and instead of two, he had six. An eye was hovering behind him with a circle surrounding it, just like the Shoguns. His face was just covered with the black mask, it slowly opened its empty hollow eyes, glowing brightly purple. Scaramouche summoned two electro blades to the middle parts of his hands.

"Now. Let us begin the true fight." he laughed with his echoey glitching voice.