𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓑𝓪𝓵𝓵𝓪𝓭𝓮𝓮𝓻'𝓼 𝓔𝓷𝓭𝓲𝓷𝓰 | 𝕤𝕔𝕒𝕣𝕒 𝕩 𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕕𝕖𝕣

𝕴𝖓 𝕽𝖊𝖒𝖊𝖒𝖇𝖗𝖆𝖓𝖈𝖊: ᴛʜᴇ ʙᴀʟʟᴀᴅᴇᴇʀ'ꜱ ᴅᴏᴡɴꜰᴀʟʟ

"No, wait, please! Anything but the gnosis!" he shouted as Lesser Lord Kusanali slowly withdrew the gnosis from his mechanical suit.  "That's mine! Don't even try! I'll never... I'll never go back!" 

 The pain in the puppet's eyes was excruciating as Nahida took possession of the gnosis. The wires tethering the puppet to the suit strained, unable to contain his struggle. Eventually, they gave way, and the puppet fell to the ground, his eyes empty with the realisation of his futility. In that split second, you realised that he was going to plummet into the ground, possibly ending his own life. You couldn't let this puppet, guilty as he was, destroy himself. Not now, when his story hasn't come to an end. In a flash, you dashed over to him, catching him in your arms. 

 "Y/N, what are you doing? He's the BALLADEER!" Paimon shrieked as she flew after you, "What's gotten into you? Why did you catch him?" You paid no heed to Paimon's words... she would never understand. Hearing a voice in your head, you realised Nahida was telepathically speaking to you. 

 "You saved him?" She asked. 

 "Lesser Lord Kusanali, I don't think the Balladeer deserves to die here and now. Can you please entrust him to me? I promise I will take good care of him..." You thought. You glanced over to Nahida, and she nodded at you, her emerald eyes sparkling. 

"Originally I planned to nurse him myself, but since you are willing, I will allow you to take him. Now that I have both gnoses, I will enter Irminsul... Take care of him." She said, before opening a portal into Irminsul, and stepping through it. 

 The Balladeer lay limp and helpless in your hands. Tears were flowing down his face... He was... crying? You didn't think that the once majestic Fatui Harbinger was capable of shedding tears upon defeat. You felt a pang of sympathy for the puppet. 

 "Hello?! Y/N?" Paimon asked, shaking your shoulder. 

"We better get him into a nearby inn. He's not in the best state right now." You replied. Surprisingly, the puppet was as light as air as you picked him up and carried him out. He was shaking uncontrollably as he lay in your arms. Finally, you reached a little inn nearby, and you placed the Balladeer onto a bed. You could tell that the broken tubes on his back were hurting him immensely, and you couldn't do anything to help ease his pain. 

"Paimon, instead of hovering around, could you make yourself useful and go find some painkillers?" "What do you think I am, your slave?" Paimon groaned. Reluctantly, she flew out, leaving you and Scaramouche alone. He was curled up into a ball, his head tucked into his arms. 

"Hey... Balladeer?" You cautiously placed your hand on him. "No... don't touch me... Leave me alone!" he stuttered through his tears. You stroked his hair gently. "It's all over now. Everything's going to be okay. Take a deep breath... in... and out." You stayed by his side as his panicked breathing slowly calmed until he was able to breathe normally. 

 "I've failed. I lost everything. I... I'm worthless. I wish I'd never been born at all." He choked on the last word and wiped away a new wave of tears. "Why are you so nice to me? Why do you e-even care? I tried to kill you... And I'm worth nothing. Nothing! I'm no use to you, so why did you keep me alive? Why..." You wanted to tell the puppet everything, but not now. Not when he's on the verge of tears, struggling to breathe properly. 

Just then, Paimon burst in through the window. "I found it!-" she began, before she saw Scaramouche. "Y/N, what- is the Balladeer crying?!" She almost shouted. 

"Paimon!" You hissed at her, and took the jar from her hands. "Good job on finding the painkillers. Now, do you mind if I have some time alone with him? I'll make you some Sweet Madames after this." You whispered, and at the thought of food, Paimon's stomach was rumbling already. Without a second's hesitation, she whooshed out of the room, leaving you and Scaramouche alone. 

"Turn over?" Scaramouche did as you asked. You weren't certain whether painkillers would work on puppets, but it was soon proven that it did, because as you rubbed it onto his back, his pained expression slowly eased. You needed to get the tubes out of his back, but you didn't want to hurt him too badly. So you carefully took them out, one by one. To your surprise, although it was attached to his body, it wasn't too hard to take out. With a little bit of force, you were able to pull them off the Balladeer's back. You slowly took off the Balladeer's clothes so that you could clean up his wounds. Seeing him without his clothes on made you fluster a little, but you reassured yourself it was only to take care of him, nothing more. His clothes were tattered from the events of the day and you figured he couldn't wear them anymore. You found some clean linen in the room.

"Balladeer? I'll need you to sit up," you whispered, and helped him up. You slowly put the clothes onto him, and set him back onto his bed when you were done. "All done." You said, but he didn't react. 

"Balladeer?" You patted him gently, and realised he was asleep. You smiled. "Asleep already? You've had a long day. Rest well, Scaramouche." 

You slowly walked out of the room, turning off the lights. You found Paimon whizzing around outside, murmuring names of different food. "Sweet Madame... Jade Parcels... Mondstadt Hash Brown... Tricolored Dango..." 

"Paimon!" You shouted, and she instantly flew over to you. " "Y/N! Can I have my Sweet Madame now?" 

"Be patient, let me shoot down some fowls first." You drew your bow and fired at some nearby pigeons. How you wished you were back at Mondstadt's bridge, picking off pigeons one by one as Timmie watched you in horror. You picked up the fowl, and dropped it on a stove near the inn. In seconds, the food was ready, and Paimon munched off it greedily. You wonder how her tiny stomach could even fit so much food. 

 As you left the room, Scaramouche wiped a tear off his face. "I cried in front of her, h-how embarrassing." he whispered to himself.