Fading Colors in Shadow

Violetgrass

"Are you doing alright?" asked Wriothesley, sitting on the edge of the infirmary bed, as Sigewinne left to tend to someone else.

"I guess," Camille said, touching the bandage at her throat. "How come you and Miss Clorinde were there?"

"One of the guards told me he saw you tinkering with the elevator and heading down. Something seemed off about it, so I headed down myself. When I didn't come back in five minutes, Clorinde came after me." Wriothesley was tweaking something on his mechanical gauntlets, and when Camille took a closer look, she realized he was trying to pull off a sticker. "Clorinde and I were having a meeting at the time."

"Tea?"

"An actual meeting," he said dryly, successfully pulling off the sticker.

"Is there something going on?"

"Nothing you need to worry about," he said, crossing his legs as his gauntlets vanished. "Just some difficulties in the Overworld."

She crossed her legs too, unconsciously mirroring him. "Thank you for coming when you did. I'm not sure I would've made it out if you hadn't."

"I doubt that too."

***

Camille headed back to her room, and raised an eyebrow at the stack of wrapped presents on her desk. Each was marked with a name she knew. These were the people who had been trapped in the Fortress, and had been brought out by Wriothesley.

She inspected the boxes, and found one with a letter attached to it, written by Pierre, who had recalled the incident where she'd attempted to talk to Kaveh, and been tossed aside. He'd apologized for not being able to help, and had also wrapped up a mirror for her. Camille set it on the desk, and then continued to unwrap the other presents. Paint, a lamp... and then a shadow's flicker caught her attention. She looked back at the mirror.

Louis Andre stared back at her, pounding on the glass, glaring at her with fury in his eyes. Camille stepped back, stumbling, and then falling to the ground with a thud. When her eyes moved over the mirror again, he wasn't there.

She turned the mirror to face the wall, her heart pounding. Footsteps echoed around the room, and she turned to the door.

"Are you alright?" asked Wriothesley, with a raised eyebrow. Camille wondered if he was nearby when she'd fell.

"I'm fine," she said, glancing back at the mirror.

When Wriothesley's eyes landed on the turned-away mirror, his eyes narrowed. "What happened?" His tone was strangely sharp for the situation.

"I thought I saw Mister Louis—sorry, the victim slash assaulter in my case—in the mirror."

He breathed a sigh of relief, and then she raised an eyebrow at that. He stepped over to her. "I apologize if I came off as aggressive. The last time someone couldn't look at themselves in a mirror, Sigewinne had them stay at the infirmary for days. That girl almost starved herself to death." He ruffled her hair. "Neuvillette sent some psychologists along with the other doctors for the victims of the Dark Fortress incident. Would you like to meet them?"

She shook her head, and turned the mirror. "It's alright." She gazed into the mirror, and her face stared back at her. "It won't happen again."

He tilted his head. "Either way, you ought to head to the infirmary. You have a scrape." Wriothesley nodded to her arm, and she looked down too.

"This is a scratch."

"Scratches can still get infected."

"Alright, alright, I'm going," Camille said with a hint of exasperation. He smiled and waved at her as she stepped out of the room. Wriothesley stayed a moment longer, his eyes moving over the painted walls of her room, each stroke of the brush speaking of her longing for her home in the Overworld.

Camille headed back to the infirmary, mentally counting down the number of days she must've spent there. She walked in, not very surprised to see a lot of people there. Pierre was still there, looking a little better than usual. Camille noticed someone she'd never seen before, and he didn't look like a part of the Fortress. He had a white scarf around his neck.

"Ah, Doctor Baizhu," said Wriothesley, walking in after her.

The Doctor turned, and Camille had to take a step back. That was not a scarf. It was a snake.

"Oh please. Don't be so dramatic," hissed the snake. Camille just stared at it. Now there were snakes talking?

"Changsheng, you're scaring the child," said Baizhu, in a light berating tone. Camille noticed a woman just behind Baizhu, a girl with bandaged, but not injured wrists. She wondered what the bandages were for then. The girl offered her a smile and a polite nod. Baizhu's glasses glinted as he looked at Camille. "I am Baizhu, from Bubu Pharmacy." He nodded to the woman with him. "This is Chaoxing, my assistant."

Chaoxing gave him a nod of approval, which made Camille think there was more going on. "I'm just here in the place of his usual assistant Qiqi. I'm not very fond of travel."

"We'll take care of you as best as we can, Miss Chaoxing," said Wriothesley, who seemed to know how to play nice when he needed to.

Chaoxing shook her head. "Oh, please don't go to any lengths for me. You've already been quite hospitable."

Camille was still staring at Baizhu. "Baizhu..." A memory clicked in place. "The best physician in Liyue?"

He nodded. "I'm flattered. I was asked to help by... some people in the Qixing."

Chaoxing winced at that. "Well, Yelan and Keqing really did team up on you this time." Chaoxing spotted Kaveh in the corner, sitting on the bed and staring at the floor. Something in her eyes shifted. Camille thought it looked like pity, but no, it seemed more intense than that. Chaoxing pulled on Baizhu's coat a little to get his attention. "Baizhu, do you mind if I talk to him?"

Baizhu looked at Kaveh as well. "Go ahead."

As Chaoxing made her way to Kaveh, Baizhu gave Camille a medical glance. "Did you ingest any zise fen?"

"I didn't, no." Camille shook her head, and then considered him. "Zise fen means 'violet powder,' doesn't it?"

His eyes flashed with approval. "You're correct. It was made from Violetgrass." Camille watched as he pulled out Violetgrass, handing it to her. She took it from him, inspecting the bell-shaped petals. "It's not a very easy drug to make, however, which is a little concerning, considering the state some of these patients are in. From where did you get such a large supply?"

Wriothesley put a hand on Camille's shoulder, as Camille handed the flowers back to Baizhu. "It seems we need to launch another investigation."

Camille flinched when the sounds of someone sobbing rang through the infirmary, and she looked around in alarm. There, in the corner of the room was Kaveh, crying on Chaoxing's shoulder. Chaoxing had her eyes closed, and was rubbing his back gently, murmuring soothing words to him. Camille wondered how the woman was able to do something even the psychologists couldn't.

"That's my girl," said Baizhu, a smile on his face.

"Aren't you jealous?" hissed Changsheng, watching Kaveh and Chaoxing with distaste.

"Of course not. She's mine."

"Confident men are definitely attractive," Camille said absent-mindedly. "That's the most emotion Kaveh has shown in weeks."

Wriothesley nodded in agreement, and then looked at Baizhu, inclining his head politely. "Thank you for bringing her here."

Baizhu shook his head. "When we received the report and the request from the Qixing, they mentioned a patient with severe psychological damage. When Chaoxing read that report, she asked me to bring her here. I suppose it was because she wanted to talk to him."

Camille nodded, watching Kaveh. Sigewinne bounded over to the sobbing fellow, offering him a glass of water.

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