try again ; xiao

seventeen.

{ the harbingers mentioned in this chapter aren't actual depictions of their characters, as they haven't been fully revealed - except tartaglia + signora }

[ part 2/2 mission ]

"we'll be alright," 

"..i want to try again."

•••

the dazzling chandeliers above glistened in the majestic ballroom, reflecting off the sparkling outfits of the honoured guests. the blonde haired girl spotted her ginger lover, calling out to him in a loving yet cringe way. 

"sugar tart~ there you are." lumine walked up to him, delicately stepping and standing next to him. 

"wanna dance?" he smirked, grabbing her hand. tartaglia led her to the dance floor, where they began to slowly dance to the music. other fatui guards and soldiers gathered around the pair, admiring their elegant movements. 

"my dear, you look absolutely stunning tonight." he complimented her. in response, she smiled and said,

"i know."

— 25 minutes later..

a refined gentleman appeared from above the guests on an elevated stage towards the front of the ballroom. clearing his throat, he tapped the microphone, catching the attention of the fatui.

"ahem, ladies and gentlemen, we are gathered here to announce one of our newest harbingers, lumine. we give thanks to you, members of our organisation for turning up tonight on this fine celebration, and most importantly our leader, our great ruler. please welcome her majesty, the tsaritsa." pierro concluded, moving off the stage. applause and shouts of joy erupted the hall. 

a small figure entered the stage, ceasing the cheers of celebration. 

"thank you, thank you. honestly, i never expected you guys to actually be this nice to me. it's rather considerate of you to set this up for me." the spotlight revealed the mysterious speaker to be none other than scaramouche, not the tsaritsa. gasps and booing noises filled the room. 

"aww, don't you guys miss me?" he crossed his arms, frowning. tartaglia's eyes widened at the sight of the purple haired boy. gritting his teeth, he let go of lumine, glaring at scaramouche, who was poking his tongue out at the crowd. 'this guy again..'

— meanwhile, on the other side.. (spiral abyss frfr)

"alright, that should be all of them.." xiao huffed, knocking the last guard out. y/n was shocked. xiao didn't even need any of the weapons at his disposal. given they were just blunt weapons, it was probably useless to him anyway. 

while scaramouche had distracted the main fatui group with his little diversion, the others - consisting of kazuha, xiao, heizou, y/n, and itto - were busy trying to beat as many guards outside the building. surprisingly it was working extremely well. shinobu, thoma and the kamisato siblings were helping them behind the scenes.

"great work, i'll try and open the door now." shinobu said through the ear piece, catching the attention of the group. a loud creaking noise could be heard from the heavy door as it opened.

"yahoo! you're the best, 'nobu!" itto cheered, almost blasting everyone's ears from how loud he was being. y/n covered her ear, almost pulling out the ear piece.