A Single Spark (Scaramouche x Reader)

Chapter 27 - Surprise!

Early the next morning, you were shaken awake by Zhongli.

"Xiao was out late last night, and he spotted a group from the Abyss order in one direction, and a team of Fatui in the other," he wasn't panicking, but there was definitely a sense of urgency in his voice. You knew from Xiao that when Zhongli wanted to hurry, it was never good.

You crept out of your tent to see Venti making arrows and Xiao sharpening his spear. Venti looked up and tossed you an apple. "Keep your strength up," he whispered. You nodded and bit into the juicy red fruit.

There was a rustling from the cliff above, and Kuni jumped down. "They're closing in," he said in a low voice. "It's not going to be pretty."

The sun was starting to rise by the time you got your boots on and your weapon in shape.

You could hear the distant tramping of feet right when Xiao grabbed you and drug you to a tunnel in the nearby cliffside. The others were already hiding in there with some of the more important supplies and the weapons.

"What are we doing? The fight is out there," you said. Kuni put a finger to your lips as Venti cast a quick spell over the entrance of the tunnel. "Illusion" the bard mouths.

You nodded as your hand found Kuni's and you slumped to the ground of the cave.

All is quiet.

All is still.

Kuni hugged you tight as he faced the cave head on. It's like he was trying to form a shield around you.

He's nervous, you realized. His indigo eyes don't show it though, and his face is so stern it could be chisled from stone.

That's when you saw some hilichurls pass by the mouth of our tunnel, and your hand slowly moves for your claymore leaning against the wall. You could hear a human voice communicating in hilichurlian, a brief pause, then the same human voice communicating in the Teyvat standard language in a Mondstadtian accent. There's a murmur that rippled through the air. A group of people communicating... with a Snezhnayan accent.

Are the Fatui and Abyss Order...working together? And who's the Mondstadtian? You noticed a mitachurl has been staring at the entrance a little too long. It sniffed a few times, then walked towards the camp. You could hear the gruff voice saying something to the hilichurls, which said something to the human interpreter.

"What did they say?" a familiar voice asked. You exchange glances with Kuni, and even Zhongli raised an eyebrow.

Childe.

"What did they say, little girl?" he asked.

"They–they," she was stumbling to get the words out.

"Spit it out!" a gruff voice said. You heard the girl's high–pitched voice let out a scream.

"Enough!" Childe shouted.

A slap.

"Get out of my sight," the harbinger said darkly, then it changed to a sweeter tone. "Can you tell me what they said, please?"

"The–the people you're looking for...they're behind an illusion. Over there."

Shit shit shit.

"Go, go go!" Zhongli says, making the rock split apart just enough so we can get through. All supplies has been abandoned. It's you and your weapons. Once you were so far inside that you couldn't see light anymore, you stopped. You heard the sound of shifting rock, and suddenly you were in a cavern full of luminescent crystal ore. It sparkled turquoise and blue, and for a second your eyes had to adjust.

And that's when the first wave comes through.

Venti took the opportunity to gather the smaller enemies in a wind current, which Kuni fused with electro energy, causing an impressive swirl. Xiao took his place at the front, spear in hand and a dark aura forming all around him.

Zhongli is with him in an instant offering support for his son. You felt a geo shield form around your body. That's when you noticed a group sneaking past the defenses, heading towards Venti in the back. He didn't notice, too busy firing arrows and making the occasional prison of air.

You took off running. You chop the head clean off of a hilichurl on your first swing, and a Fatui agent's hand is cut off on your second. You coated your weapon with electro, shocking a hydrogunner so bad he became paralyzed. You made quick work of the rest, and before long you were standing in a pool of blood. A flash of blue rushes by.

Tartaglia.

You took off after him, snapping your fingers and creating a small bolt of lightning. It took him off course for a second, but only for a second. His blades were poised, Venti turned around, eyes wide.

CLANG! His blades of water ricocheted off your claymore. Venti got the memo and flews to a higher spot. He knew to help you if you needed it.

"Long time no see, Zasha," the ginger said.

"I renounced that name," you hissed, "It's (y/n)."

"Tch, you can't escape the Fatui," he said. Childe is stronger than you when it comes to muscles, and you're slowly getting overpowered.

Your vision crackled, small currents of electro energy crawling their way into Childe's blades. Up his arms. To his heart.

You knew he felt it. He was losing concentration, and the water blades diminished. He pulled out a bow, and whipped out his mask.

Electro vs electro. Great.

Thankfully, it was close range. Your claymore clanked against his bow, which he was now using as a shield. It cracked, but didn't break.

"How–how did you get so strong?" the eleventh asked.

"Because I have friends to support me. You only have allies."

You were about to go in for the kill.

"Zasha, listen to me, please," he says quickly, "make sure my siblings will be okay. They're just kids."

You paused, and thought back to a time long ago.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Please, she's just a child!"

A woman shoved to the ground. Her head hit a rock.

"She's seven, and I don't need her."

"Mommy!"

"Come on, you'll fetch a nice price."

"Mommy!"

A slap across the cheek.

You're grabbed by your shirt collar.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Get out of here," you whispered to the Harbinger. "If I ever catch you trying to attack me again, I'll make sure your siblings don't have an older brother."

He shoved you aside, heading for an opening in the tunnel. You fell from the vantage point you were on, and Venti caught you with his wind, letting you fall safely to the ground.

You rushed forward, dealing a few more kills.

A pain in your chest.

You looked down to see a silver arrow with cerulean feathers.

Childe, you bastard.

You broke the arrow, and continued fighting.

Thankfully, the fight didn't last much longer with your unbridled rage fueling the fire.