The Final Chapter

A Meeting In Snezhnaya

Chapter 6

Tartaglia opened the door to the large meeting room. All the other Harbingers were there. All except for two. The Jester and Damselette were missing. The third of the Harbingers was sent out to a diplomatic mission in Sumeru and could have imense trouble in returning since the war situation got pretty intense. But its not like the Jester to be late. Especially not in an emergency meeting like this.  The other ones were already there. They sat down at the meeting table and discussed the war on the other side of the world. He sat down too and listened to the conversation. "Informants talk about a powerful geo attack over a sea machine. Very similar to the fighting style of the desceased Geo archon. Also an unknown man who fights alongside the Electro archon who also posseses the power of Geo but seems to hold no vision...", he heard Pantalone say. Arlecchino scoffed: "The Shougun struck down far too many of the Abyss machines with his help. We seemed to have underestimated the enemy..." Tartaglia froze for a moment. The enemy? On which side was his nation in this fight? Of course they wanted the gnoses of the archons but not their deaths? There was no reason to support an attack on Inazuma... They already retrieved the gnosis of the Electro archon. "We certainly did. They still hold up when they should be dead already!", the Doctor said almost in a roar. Capitano sighed: "Come on, stop talking in metaphors. We all know that, that means the Geo archon joined the fight at the Front!" A look from Arlecchino hit Childe. It was mocking him. She had no idea, that he knew about the Geo archon. Not only knew about him, but knew the archon personally and was there when the exchange happened.
The door opened and the first of the Harbingers entered the hall. "Pierro... It is not likely for you to come late to meetings you scheduled...", Pulcinella said sipping his tea. His beard moving with every movement of his mouth. "I apologize to everyone for coming here late, but I had a very important conversation with the Tsaritsa regarding the war...", he sighed. "The war?", Tartaglia asked without thinking. The rest of the Harbingers began to smile. "Oh, Childe... We all know you are hungry for a fight. But this a whole other league", Sandrone giggled. The rare moment Marionette showed any emotion. Now all of them were mocking him. "Yes...", the Jester continued moving through the room to his rightful place at the head of the table, "...the war. Damselettes mission got results... Sumeru is out of the picture." With that he sat down and looked at slowly around the table. The ginger man next to him rose his eyebrow. He framed it as a good thing. "Sumerus archon?", Capitano asked. "The God of Wisdom is held hostage by Columbina. With her help we caused chaos in Sumeru. Like this they wont be able to participate in battle at the Front, making it easier for the Abyss. She will be on her way back shortly after she concludes her mission with the assasination of the Dendro archon", Pierro replied. "Wait, wait, wait...", Tartaglia got into the conversation, "So we want the other nations to loose the war?" The other Harbingers looked at him. An unnerving silence filled the room. "Poor Childe... No one has told you yet...", Arlecchino teased him and grinned sinister. "Told me what?" He stood up leaning on the table, staring holes in Pierros head. The First of the Harbingers sighed frustrated. His gut told Tartaglia that this info wasn't supposed to come out. "Childe, please...", the Jester tried to calm him down. But his attempt backfired. "Told me what?!", the last of the Harbingers yelled. The Jester instantly arose from his seat. "Ajax! Sit. Back. Down" The room froze in fear, as his eyes, burning with rage, lingered on Tartaglia. The subject of this intimidation however, did not listen. Childe pushed back his chair and left the room. Not only did they not take him seriously, they wanted to keep him out, because they knew he would not agree with their goals. They manipulated him to use him. He nothing more than a chess figure to them.
Back in the room the Jester sighed and then looked at the remaining group. "Who, the hell, invited him?!" The harsh voice of the first Harbinger cutting through the air like a sword, causing everyone to go silent. He looked around bit nobody said anything. "WHO, THE HELL DID IT?", he screamed again, hitting the talble for more attention. Il Dottore cleared his throat: "I did. Didn't think he would co-" "And that justified you potentially ruining the plan? Do not get cocky after the sucessful retrieving of Sumeru's and Inazuma's gnoses, Dottore!" Pierro turned to him directly, yelling, no threatning him. Everybody knew what had happened to the last Harbinger that had caused a plan to fail, because the Jester liked to remind them of his cruel death. And before Dottore could even flinch the blade of the Jester cut through his neck, leaving the Harbinger to sink down to the floor. Everyone at the table held their breath as Pierro walked out of the room. Today was no time for cruel examples. With the death of Dottore and the loss of Childe for their cause, they began to lack personal. And that shortly before their plan was completed...

Tartaglia stepped outside of the city heading to his home, a little village not far from the city. The cold winds blew in his face. Nothing he wasn't used to, but still not pleasant. He walked this way every time. Not for training but to avoid his siblings seeing him with Fatui agents. But this had an end now. He would not be 'Childe' any longer. No pawn in their game. And for what exactly? They were gaining nothing from that war. They had the gnoses of those archons already and to assasinate any of them was never the plan. The Tsaritsa wanted to fight Celestia and not the other nations of Teyvat. They kept quiet for a reason. He sighed. When did he get so soft? Was it the Traveler's influence on him? Did her sympathy for the other nations get to him? Maybe. Maybe his friendship with Mister Zhongli and that rock girl influenced his views too. He smiled at that thought. As his eyes wandered over the snow he saw something in the distance. His village was near and the lights in the distance illuminated the way before him. It was hard to see anything since it was getting darker. As he stepped closer his eyes widened. Oh no.