I joined the fatui just because everyone is pretty

Chapter 6 [Pierro]

The halls inside weren't much different from the outside. Although it wasn't cold anymore, the hallway was cold and unfeeling nonetheless. One could sympathize with newbies that came here for work. Alisia almost had to thank the gods she wasn't stationed there. 

Although the hallways felt cold and unwelcome did not mean that there were few people there. Entirely on the contrary. There are tons of people. Guards, maids, butlers, and other workers weren't so easy to pinpoint what they were here for, they would run around with a large number of documents or other items.

None of them bat an eye at Alisias presence which was almost painstakingly evident that she was lost and had no idea about what she was doing. Trying her best not to stick out she walked deeper into the castle, having no idea where she is going. 

As she walks there are fewer and fewer people running around the hall. In addition, it became colder as she walked further. An uneasy feeling came over her. Wouldn't this be the perfect place for the tsaritsa to be? The thought made Alisia stop in the empty cold hallway. Even if she had acted confident about becoming a harbinger, she was most definitely not ready to meet the Tsaritsa. 

Alisia quickly walked in the opposite direction and closer to the busy hallways. Finding a chair in a quiet corner Alisia sit's down to relax. A heavy sigh is emitted. She throws back her head to rest on the chair and closes her eyes. 'Honestly, how am I supposed to find the way to this guy?' She thought.

"What are you doing sitting here?" A deep male voice says. Alisia opens her eyes giving the man in front of her an annoyed look for a second before she sees the man. She jumps in her chair scrambling to sit straight, then choosing perhaps standing would be better. "My apologies, I didn't hear you coming..." She manages to say although her palms and neck are starting to sweat.

The man raises an eyebrow, the only expression he gives. "Let's go," he gives no more explanation as he turns and walks. Alisia follows. 

They did in fact, walk back into the empty cold hallway. Alisia started to sweat even more. He wasn't taking her to the tsaritsa right? They stopped outside a large set of double doors. Alisia swears her spirit could leave her body a second time. She was barely holding back shaking. However, when he opened the door it was just a large office with no one inside. Alisia quietly gave out a sigh of relief behind the man. 

The office was large and well-decorated. You could tell this man was interested in spells based on the books on his shelf, and that he was a fan of antiques as they were everywhere in the room. They sat directly opposite each other on a pair of sofas and a coffee table. 

There was already tea on the table. "I was quite surprised when I heard you would come to visit for the first time in 3 years," The man stated matter of factly, no matter how flat-toned he would say it one could tell he was somewhat annoyed. Alisia was a water slide of sweat. She couldn't just say 'oH I lOsT mY mEmOrY, sOrRy I dIdN't ViSiT hAhA'. 

It was just a few seconds but his stare was unbearable. "I-um I'm so sorry I didn't visit for a while, a few things happened and-" Alisia regretted not running away. He raised an eyebrow. "I-I.." She gave a sigh of defeat. "I lost my memory around three years ago, therefore I had no idea we knew each other," In the end, she said the very thing she didn't want to say.

Pierro just stared blankly. Before suddenly breaking out in laughter, something Alisia did not anticipate. She sat there frozen, not sure if it was a good thing he was laughing or not. "Memory loss, HAH, no wonder you acted so strangely," The laughing slowly died down.

He leaned forward and poured tea into two cups moving his fingers slightly over the handle when pouring the second cup. She thanked him for the cup of tea but didn't drink it. He took a sip from his coup and noticed her hesitating. He gave a scary smile that made her want to drink the cup of tea even less. "Why aren't you drinking your tea?" She gave a polite fake smile. "I'm not quite feeling tea today,"

He was still for a moment before easing up and leaning back into his seat and chuckling quietly. "Good to see you still know when to be wary," He said. "Pardon...?" She asked. "You knew it was poisoned, no?" Goodness, this man wanted her dead because she didn't visit in the past three years it seemed.  Seeing her expression he gave a huff. "It's not deadly of course, you'll just be a little extra sleepy today," He reassured. Alisia just gave out a stiff 'Ah...'

She really didn't want to visit again...