Blown To You - [Diluc Ragnvindr x F. Reader]

3 - Pantalone of the Fatui Harbinger

Donna gave me specific directions to Good Hunter, so I didn't get lost. Donna and Flora, being the experts in the field, went to Starsnatch Cliff this morning to gather Cecilias for Master Ludwig's commission. Currently, they just arrived and were obviously hungry. Cooking was not my field of expertise, so I volunteered to buy lunch. I was already no help when it came to the labor work, this was the least I could do to help them.

I walked down the staircase after I got the food from Good Hunter. As I reached the last step, a carriage stopped at the foot of the staircase, right in front of me, and when its passengers got off I noticed that all six of them wore foreign clothing. Most of them were muscular, tall men. One spoke to the other in a deep Snezhnayan accent.

I stopped blocking the staircase, so I walked away and only looked back when I was standing in front of Flora's potted flowers.

"The Fatui again." Quinn, the fruit vendor in front of Floral Whisper, said as he observed the Fatui who were climbing the staircase. "Guests my ass, they're plotting something."

I turned to him. "Guests, you say?"

He nodded. "Aye, guests of Pantalone they claimed. Keep on arriving since last week, all of them flocking in the hotel."

"Well, there's a party tomorrow night," I said.

He snorted. "Party my ass. Fatui's don't do parties, sweetheart. They're plotting something. Knights are freaking out of their growing number," on his chest, he crossed his arms, "Pantalone's up to something and that's going to happen tomorrow. I just hope Acting Grandmaster Jean will do something before we're doomed."

I only saw the Fatui when my father and I left the academy during the holidays, but other than that I had no interaction with them. All humans had their shortcomings, but I couldn't dare to believe someone could be as scheming and evil as he claimed them to be.

"Let's not judge too harshly, Quinn. They could be good people. One of them even slightly bowed to me earlier, I think it was a greeting." I said gently, not wanting to start an argument despite our opinions opposing.

"Don't be fooled with those pleasantries," he said.

"How can you say those harsh words? What have they done for you to have that kind of judgment towards them?" I asked, keeping my composure intact so I wouldn't appear hostile.

He clenched his jaw and his eyebrows furrowed. "It happened a long time ago but the wind never forgets and so do the people. There was a Harbinger in Mondstadt before Pantalone. He made a pretense of recruiting children in the city, none of them ever came back. Then there was news that the children were placed in an arena to fight to the death for the entertainment of the rich and sick-minded," he turned to me, hatred reflected in his eyes, "I'll never forgive them, Mondstadt will never forgive them."

A shiver journeyed down my spine as I imagined children bruised, battered... dead. The resentment on Quinn's face was enough to prove that he was telling the truth. For that intense emotion surely cannot be faked.

My mind went back to what he said, 'There was a Harbinger in Mondstadt before Pantalone'.

"Who was it? The Harbinger before?" I asked.

"Last time he showed up one tragedy followed the other. A mad scientist. Cruel and sick. He goes by the name," he sighed, "Dottore."

"But Master Pantalone had nothing to do with it, right?"

It started with a scoff until his left hand rested on his stomach, and he laughed in the most mocking of manners. "I don't know if you're naive, kind, or really stupid," he looked at me in disbelief, "that vile creature denied everything when he got here. He claimed Dottore did nothing of the sort. They were accomplices. The missing lives of the children were enough proof to show that they are all detestable liars," he turned his back on me, "go home, kid. You're too kind for this world." and with that, he went back to his stall.