Duchess of Crime | Genshin Impact

3. the infirmary ♥

"Hm, your tests don't indicate anything..." Sigewinne eyes up the report in her hands, "Can you tell me your story again?"

I shift on the infirmary bed, the smell of chemicals infiltrating my nose. There are a few patients here, each suspiciously eyeing up the purple meat Sigewinne has provided them. Her gentle spirit as a Melusine shines through as she softly encourages them to eat.

Sigewinne then awaits my answer, her pen ready to begin making more notes, "Well, when I woke up after my trial, I was already in the fortress..." I ponder.

"And you had to have a guard explain where you were?" She finishes off for me, nodding her head.

I remember waking up freezing and shivering in my bed. I had no idea that I had even been through a trial, the guard was shocked when I started asking her questions. It's a pain that since then, I've only had the tiniest tidbits of memory come back.

"I understand why Wriothesley is somewhat worried about you, then." Sigewinne quietly says to herself.

Him? Worried about me? I can't see the Duke even thinking about me, I'm here to serve my time like the rest of the inmates, right?

"Sigewinne, what does Wriothesley plan to do about the incidents?" I take my chance, hoping she can explain more about the primordial seawater problem.

Instead, she hushes me, pointing to the walls and then to her ears. She scribbles on her notepad before ripping it off and handing it to me.

"Wriothesley has it under control currently, but you mustn't talk about it openly."

She bounces away, preparing a concoction at her nurse station. It glows a little, with blue sparkles and strange vapour. She then returns, handing it to me, "Take 2ml a day for 2 weeks."

Fortunately, Sigewinne prepares the first dose for me, making me watch carefully so I know how to administer it myself. Drinking from the cap, I immediately feel funny. Blue swirls crawl across my eyes and for a second, I see the stars.

"When you take this, make sure you sit down for 10 minutes to prevent nausea and fainting." She smiles as I recover, her ruby-red eyes sparkling.

♥

Rubbing my head a little, I still feel strange after the medicine. As I look up, I notice a crowd gathering near the Pankration ring. Approaching them, I weave through the crowd and see two burly men fighting on the floor.

"Give me my credit coupons back!" One shouts, trying to grasp the coupons that were being held out of reach.

"I won, fair and square!" The other man bellows whilst he happily sits on top of his opponent.

I pat my own pockets, I still don't have a credit coupon to my name. I should go and see whether there are any available workstations today. Finally, the guards come running and break up the crowd, amongst them, Louis catches my eye.

Walking off, I'd better not get in trouble for being amongst the crowd. However, I can't help but turn my head again, the sense of somebody watching me becoming more apparent. With one last glance, I try to shake off the anxiety and head towards the elevator for the second floor.

With a whirl, I follow Louis' map and find the workstations. I approach the guard, "Any work today?" I question.

He merely grunts, pointing towards a raggedy machine in the far left corner. As I get closer, the remnants of an "out of order" sticker have been recently peeled off. Great, I get the dodgy machine. Reading the manual, I learned about the brief history of the machines and the types of parts I'll be assembling.

Following the guide perfectly, I trace the screws into their holes and click other parts together-it's definitely tedious but doable. Looking around the dimly lit room, other inmates concentrate, somehow assembling cogs at amazing speeds. A clunk brings my attention back to my machine, a bright, red glow emitting from it. What the hell do I do now?

"Give it a kick, love." A feminine voice speaks as she walks behind me, "These machines are notorious for this."

With her instruction, I slam my foot into its side and to my surprise, its blue glow returns.

"-Ah, thanks..." I peer at the woman, her luscious, ginger locks tumbling past her shoulders. She's dressed in steampunk fashion, proudly donning a belt with all sorts of tinkering objects hanging from it, whilst a pair of goggles dangle around her slim neck.

"Call me Gracie." She grins, extending a gloved hand.

We shake hands, "Oh-and, don't worry, you'll find yourself making cogs faster than you can see your fingers soon enough."

Gracie's voice is laced with an interesting accent, is she Fontainian too? I think back to the prophecy, my stomach churning at the thought of all these people turning into puddles. Guilt plagues my heart, how could I mercilessly douse my victims with this horrific water?

Blinking back, Gracie's already wandered off onto her next project, her workstation filled with all sorts of objects. I wonder whether she got bored of making these plain cogs. Continuing with my work, a couple of hours pass by before I call it quits.

Collecting my credit coupons, I stuff them into my pocket. A measly 300 credit coupons...they sure are stingy with them.

"Hey, you!" Gracie's voice shouts from behind as she jogs up to me, she's taken off her belt of objects and looks quite plain with her white blouse plus the brown, leather vest and trousers combo. "Want to grab a bite to eat?" She smiles warmly, striding in front with her combat boots as I nod.

♥

"I never win the meal lottery!" Gracie whines, pushing the orange sludge with her fork.

We sit in the cafeteria, my food doesn't look appetising either but I force it down, hoping it will quieten down my stomach demons. The chef had tutted at Gracie when she started complaining at his window, she had practically begged for a better meal.

"So, I never got your name?" She asks before sipping on her glass of water.

"Oh-it's Gwen," I reply, somewhat happy to have made a new friend but I worry about her finding out my crimes.

"Gotcha! Gwen's a curious name, definitely not Fontainian." Gracie muses aloud, interested in my origins.

I cross my arms, "I come from Mondstadt."

She widens her eyes slightly. "Wow, that's far out-what are you doing here, then? I mean, what crimes did you commit in Fontaine?"

My body bristles, my heart plummeting to the floor. Do I tell her the truth, or lie?

I stammer, "I-I can't actually remember..." I guiltily laugh.

It's not exactly a lie, is it? I know I've discovered what I did, but, nobody can ever know.

Gracie tilts her head with curiosity, "Really? There's been some rumours floating around..."

"They say, that you're the reason the prophecy is coming true, you know, with the whole 'dissolving people' gimmick." She sweetly smiles, her voice holding back dark emotions.

♥