My Dear Friend | Chilumi

The Heist

The aurora borealis that was drawn into the sky lit up all of Snezhnaya that night. The waves of greens and blues slithered in between the stars like a piece of fabric in the wind, carefully woven in the night.

Childe had a hard time believing something so beautiful could be fake.
He personnally chose not to believe that theory. The stars felt sacred to him. They were the only unbroken link between every person in Teyvat. No matter how far away you were from someone, you could always be linked by looking at the same star. That's what he would tell Teucer when he was younger so he wouldn't cry before he left. He had told that story to all of his siblings, as it would one day be their story to tell their own children. It was not just a simple story to Childe, though. He actually believed. How else would he be able to reassure himself that his family was safe when he was far away on long journeys? Now that he was home, he hoped she too was looking up towards the stars, and that she was safe from harm.

That's why he was here alone, wasn't it? He was the one that caused her so much pain in the first place.
He would not forgive himself if he enabled something to happen to her by his fault.
He found himself doing something he depised. Keeping her in the dark. He hated it when Zhongli and Signora did it to him. He knew the other harbingers were scheming things themselves that he had no control over. He was tired of all that and he hated the feeling of being lied to, he hated not being perceived as worthy enough of the truth. Now, he himself was doing it to her. It was not in malice, nor for personal gain, but he couldn't bear to place yet another burden on her shoulders. He could do it himself and he would do it himself. It was never his plan to involve her in the first place anyway. She is so stubborn anyway, she wouldn't have listened.

He thought of his family enjoying the warmth of a fire on this cold night and glanced up one last time towards the stars for guidance. He took a deep breath and focused on his mission once more.
May the stars guide me.

Crouched on top of the bank of Snezhnaya, Childe watched the guards start their rounds around the building.
That was his cue.
He slipped inside the building through a window on the side of a wall and landed perfectly silent on the cold concrete floors. He closed the window behind him and hid underneath a desk in the pitch black room he was in. He waited to listen for any sounds before sneaking into the hallway.

Dressed in an all black suit, he hugged the walls as he tiptoed through the corridors of the bank. He checked his watch.
Shit, I'm behind schedule.
He picked up the pace and kept walking through the corridors, calculating his every step, watching every corner. He has to get to the main chambers before the guards were done with rounds, or else he would be done for.

Arrlechino had paid some guard a hefty sum of money for the flooring plan of the bank, as well as their scheduled rounds and usual posts. Everything had been done anonymously, of course. She said to Childe; "I don't care how much money I have to spend, that artifact is worth more than Pantalone himself. He doesn't even have a clue how rare it is, he just has it laying around in that vault, wasting away its potential."

She was ready to spare no expense for that artifact. Childe had to admire that ambition of her's.

As he turned to the last corridor, with the heavy metal door at the end of the room, he was suprised to see a woman standing still just in front of the door.
Right, the puppet.
He had forgotten about her for a moment.
Quite like the Katherines at the adventurers guild, the marionnette had created this one with a unique goal in mind. Protect the vaults, sound the alarm if necessary. She was built as a sophisticated alarm system, and Childe could not pass by her. He hid back against the wall and checked his watch again.