Chapter Text
Childe knew he was never the type to be saved. Forget Abyssal beasts; the ranks of the Fatui would have eaten fourteen-year-old Ajax alive unless he learned to protect himself. He had been alone for a long, long while, now. (A tool could always be replaced, and so he had done his best to serve with grace. Enthusiastically, as a living blade that loved to rend.)
Those who swore by him had always left out of fear, or in betrayal, it didn’t matter which—none ever returned to his side. And so, no one would save him now. Tied up, wrists chained above his head with a rusty pair of shackles, drowning in his own wetness. Fluid dripping down his neck and cheeks and between the crack of his ass, collecting in a pool of filth between his knees.
(He cracked a weak grin—a cheeky, rebellious grin, so easy it came like breathing—but quickly had it wiped off his face by a cock hitting the back of his throat, and then a hand at his hair, tugging him so deep the excess cum dripped down and out his nostrils.
They forced him to swallow his pride and call himself Fatui whore, kneeling naked with a boot pressed to his ass. Apologizing and apologizing until the sick fucks were satisfied, as if spreading his legs and sucking their cocks on command wasn’t enough.)
They had him drink an aphrodisiac. Watched as he swallowed every last drop until he was writhing, eyes watering from sheer sensitivity. It had soaked into his veins like fire. His eyes rolled back and his body went taut, as the world drowned in a cacophony of unbearable pleasure.
Fucked until bloated, fucked until snapped and broken. The scrape of cock against his soft insides, the inhuman ache in his muscles. Human bodies blotted out the sun, the faces of his tormentors cycling over and over in the hazy midday of his mind.
Time was easy to forget.
—A man had taken his two arms and pinned them behind his back, other hand at the back of his neck. Pounding him mercilessly, a thick cock fucking his insides apart as it thrusted in and out of his loose, dripping hole.
Occasionally, he would tighten his grip. Childe opened his mouth to gasp for air, choking on the spit in his throat, but nothing would enter his lungs.
Thrust after solid thrust slammed into his squirming body. His head swam from lack of oxygen. He was released only to be folded into another position, curled so severely he thought something would break.
(They knew Childe was strong. So they didn’t abuse his body to restrain him; they abused his body to prove their power over him. And it worked.)
“You think you have a right to bargain?”
New monsters arose to take the place of the previous, and he took every filthy cock that came his way without complaint. Even as they carved new spaces in his belly, thrusting into him as he whined, grinding against the back of his throat so hard he thought he would choke.
“Look at how much this little whore likes it.”
Groping, slapping, pulling and kicking and fucking. The aphrodisiac dug its fangs into him, reducing his mind to fine, pleasure-addled mush as he felt himself stretched and pounded to oblivion. Opened again and again, speared over cock after cock like a piece of meat.
“Look at how loose this fucker is! That little virgin hole of his is never closing back up again.”
His body didn’t matter, not now. Drool spilled listlessly from his lips, head beginning to loll. Filthy noises escaped his mouth without permission. Ones he could hardly identify as his own.
“What do you think he might be saying? Begging us for more?”
“Hold up, let me have another go at him.”
A hand took hold of his hair, wrestling his aching jaw open once more to shove another cock between his lips. The stench of sex and sweat overpowered everything. “To think, in the end, this was all it would take to break a Harbinger.”
Childe stared at the floor in silence through glazed-over eyes, come and saliva smeared across his chin. That’s right—he had to choose between himself and his brother, his mission and his dignity.
“Good little Fatui boy. Listening to our every word.”
A weary expression, one that said, You’ve gotten what you wanted from me, haven't you? So just let my brother go…
“The Tsaritsa would be proud of us. He’s much better put to use warming our cocks.”
He was so tired.
“It isn’t over yet, Tartaglia.”
And that was all before they brought out the second vial of aphrodisiac. Within mere moments, he was wide awake once more, screaming.
***
“Tartaglia, wake up. Look who I brought.”
Childe raised his head groggily, greeted with the sight of two figures.
The Traveler’s quiet, kind demeanor had broken down completely. He was dragging forth a small boy, arms tied to his sides and eyes filled with fear.
Childe’s eyes widened in confusion, understanding, and then horror.
“Oh? If you can still recognize your brother, then they haven’t broken you as badly as they claimed.” Aether’s eyes traveled across his body, observing the full extent of the damage.
It was clear that he’d spent the whole day serving the treasure hoarders with his body. His shoulders sagged, too strained to carry his weight, expression haggard and blue eyes even more vacant than before.
Aether glanced at the crudely-constructed sign nearby, on which the words were scrawled ‘HARBINGER HOLE - FREE USE. TEACH HIM A LESSON WITH YOUR COCK!’. Either an inside joke or a genuine invitation, it seemed to capture his situation perfectly well.
A long, wooden pole was tied to each of his ankles with a hefty piece of rope, keeping his legs spread wide apart—providing easy access to his asshole, loose and raw and dripping with come after being breached so many times. Milky fluid spilled out with each slight movement. He was tempted to reach forward and pry it open himself, pushing a thumb against the pink, trembling rim far past the brink of overflowing.
“Do you know what your brother has been doing all day, today and yesterday?” Aether asked calmly. Teucer gazed at Childe, and then back at him, shifting without a word. “Acting like a slut. Do you know what that means, Teucer?”
Childe tried to say something, but he could only make out a choked sob, twisting his wrists in their restraints. Teucer remained silent, as if in shock.
“Someone useless, trained for nothing but his body. Giving himself away so many times, he’s become nothing. Your brother here is a perfect example.”
Childe was still strung up, yoked to a firm signpost, bent over at the waist and settled on his knees in a position that placed his full body in view. Cum soaked across the floor in pools beneath him. He was nearly unrecognizable, if not for the bright, distinct color of his hair, dirty and matted with bodily fluids.
“Disgusting, isn’t it? And yet even now, he hasn’t been broken,” Aether remarked, shaking his head. “You must be happy to have such a strong brother. Stay put and make him proud, alright?”
Teucer didn’t move from his spot, blinking mutely, as though he could barely understand his words. Traveler approached Childe until he was close enough to nudge his face up with his foot. Even now, the glimmer of resistance in his eyes was impossible to miss.
Aether’s lip curled. “Would you like me to finish the job?”
“Traveler,” Childe rasped. He writhed in a futile attempt to free himself, chains clinking. “Let him go.”
One could tell he was mustering all his energy just to stay conscious. In a genuine way, Aether admired that quality. The harbinger’s love for battle had bred a scrappy, resilient animal that fought tooth and nail for life, even at its most wretched moments.
He reached forward, raking his gloved fingers across his chest. Childe was covered in bites and bruises and scratches, probably beaten after the bandits got tired of fucking him. Not to mention absolutely filthy. It wasn’t just his hole dripping in come; he was practically slathered in it, skin coated in flaking bits of grime and unnameable bodily fluids.
His body shuddered backward beneath his touch, jolting as though it hurt. Aether raised a hand to his face.
His cheeks were blotchy and flushed, sticky with sweat, dark pupils abnormally dilated. Aether could so easily stroke the tip of his finger across the glassy surface, feel the texture of his vacant eyes beneath his skin. Childe’s breathing was shallow, his mind too tired to evoke fury.
He couldn’t stop quivering. The effects of the aphrodisiac ravaged him, long after his body could no longer keep up.
“So tell me,” Aether murmured, caressing his jaw. “Have they… taught you a lesson, as they put it? Would you like to tell me about it?”
A young boy’s voice broke the stillness. “What are you doing to him?!”
“Run,” Childe croaked. “Gods, Teucer, run.”
Aether turned around, fixing onto his small figure, and Teucer instantly went pale. And yet he held his ground, forcing the rest of his cry out in a stammer. “G—get…”
“Get away from big brother, now! O-or else…!”
“Here’s a lesson for you, Teucer—don’t trust so easily. You never know who might be an enemy, ready to stab you in the back at the first opportunity. And even money can’t buy a true alliance.”
He flicked Childe in the chest, eliciting a small jolt and a whine. “This man, for instance, relied on me a bit too readily, and now he’s paying the price.”
Without further warning, he pivoted and kicked Childe square in the stomach. The harbinger gasped, curling in pain with gritted teeth. Teucer cried out in distress.
“I never even told you my real name,” the Traveler spat. “It’s Aether. How about that—I’ll let you be the one of two people in Teyvat who know.”
He kicked him in the side again. Childe grunted, shutting his eyes tight. “You trusted me that much, and you didn’t even know my name. You don’t know where I come from, or my age, or what I’d sacrifice to find my sister. Do you really think we’re alike?”
“You were his friend!” Teucer howled, charging forward at Aether. The Traveler struck him back to the floor with the back of his hand, not a trace of remorse in his movements. Teucer sobbed, tears streaming down his face as he scrambled to get back to his feet.
“What do you think you can do to me, brat? You’re too weak to accomplish anything.” Aether scowled, brow furrowing. “I thought Snezhnayan kids would have the most grit to them. Seems you’re nothing but a useless, spoiled hypocrite.”
“Stop hurting him!”
Aether ignored the rest of his outbursts, continuing to deliver sharp kicks to Childe’s exposed torso accompanied by hitched groans of pain. “Get away,” Teucer sobbed, crying out from the floor. “Stop—”
“He’s an obnoxious, pathetic brat, Tartaglia. Just like you. Did you teach him that, or does it run in the family?”
Aether raised his foot, pressing the tip of his boot right against Childe’s neck and pinning him to the wood.
“I could snap your neck right now. Press down a little harder, and…”
A light push. Childe let out a moan, grasping helplessly at empty air. “But that would be boring, wouldn’t it?”
Aether ignored Teucer’s cries, continuing to roll his boot against the soft flesh of his throat. “You’ve already disappointed me enough.” Childe’s hips bucked forward involuntarily in an attempt to ease the pressure, blue eyes rolling upwards.
“Don’t tell me… this turns you on, doesn’t it?”
“Ugh.. ah…”
“Stop! Don’t kill him!”
Aether released his foot, leaving Childe coughing and spluttering. “Can’t you be quiet for just one moment?”
Childe let out a garbled noise as he saw Aether reaching for Teucer. “D-don’t…” His eyes widened, tears dripping down his cheeks. “Don’t, d-don’t…”
Within a few moments, Teucer’s screams subsided. Aether had tied him to a nearby tent, gagging him with two thick strips of fabric. Quiet and restrained in the corner with a perfect view of his brother, unable to do anything but watch on helplessly.
“There,” Aether laughed, walking back up to Childe. “How’s that? You didn’t think I would hurt him, did you? Are you really crying?”
“Please,” Childe gulped, chest shaking and tears streaming down his cheeks. “Let… let him go—”
“Oh, I can’t just let him go, Tartaglia. This is a very important experience for both of you. Educational, I might even say.”
“Y-you…”
“It didn’t have to be like this.”
“Please,” he panted. His voice betrayed his vulnerability—cracked and stripped bare, his only possible stand.
“Keep begging, Tartaglia. Absolve yourself of the guilt.”
Childe shut his eyes, gasping for air. “That’s right, worthless maggot. Useless to everyone. Your family, your goddess, the world. Me, your friend? No wonder no one can stand the likes of you.”
He gestured dramatically with his arms outstretched. “Who do you think will protect him when you’re gone? From me, the world, those treasure hoarders lurking just around the corner?
Then, leaning in closely, quiet enough that only the two of them could hear— “You shouldn’t have let him come to Liyue. A city full of people who loathe you, and a ginger-haired boy with your face. What do you think could happen?”
Childe’s eyes widened as the implication sank in.
“That’s right.” He leaned back up. “Teucer, why don’t I show you what I meant earlier?”
Aether kicked Childe’s legs forward, forcing him into an uncomfortable kneeling position. “You see this body of his? What do you think happens when I play with it?”
Childe’s eyes widened in protest as Aether reached around him, taking hold of two pink nipples in his hands. Childe grit his teeth, shaking his head, trying to avoid the reaction he wanted as Aether cruelly pinched and squeezed and rolled the sensitive nubs between his fingers.
“Ugh, mm, n-nghh…!!”
Childe let out a full groan, shuddering and jolting in his embrace. But Aether still wasn’t satisfied, reaching down to palm at his cock. Childe let out a full-bodied wail at that, thrashing in his grip, body curling inward from the oversensitivity.
His cock remained soft in his hands, long worn out from round after round of mind-breaking, drug-addled sex. It was unlikely he would wring anything more out of him in this state.
“Mm. I see.”
Childe sobbed, trying to push him away. He’d fallen unconscious multiple times after the second dose, only to be jabbed sharply awake by a pleasure so strong it hurt. His body had been on fire, flesh and insides melting from the heat as each drop sent liquid desire pooling in his gut. Eventually, that ran out, too, and there was nothing left but a hollow shell running on empty.
Please, Childe pleaded, head dropping back toward the floor in exhaustion.
Aether shook his head.
“Then, I guess I have no choice.”
A slash of wind and Childe collapsed to the ground in a trembling heap, chains snapped. Aether grabbed his legs and hacked at the ropes, tossing the fragments of broken stick off to the side. Even after losing his restraints, Childe couldn’t find the energy to rise onto his elbows, let alone his knees or legs.
Aether, of course, knew this fully well. He flipped Childe onto his back with a boot, limbs like jelly and mind hazy, leaving the soft skin of his chest and belly vulnerable and exposed.
It all became clear what Aether intended to do as he removed a thin glass vial from his pocket, filled with a strange yet familiar liquid.
“No…!”
A new burst of energy surged through Childe. He began to writhe, attempting to push himself onto his elbows, shoulders trembling and eyes wide in fear. Even so, Aether kept him pinned to the floor with just one hand. “Aren’t you curious, Harbinger? Don’t you like to test your limits?”
Childe knew exactly what that would do to him, his body, his mind. He tried to reach forward, to bat his hands away, but his trembling limbs could barely exert any force at all. Tears leaked from his eyes, legs already jerking instinctively below.
Aether simply grabbed his jaw, shoving him back to the floor with a firm thud. An easy endeavor, even for a child. A hand wrested Childe’s mouth open, flaked with cum and spit and tears, another bringing the vial to his lips.
“Ungh.. un, uh…”
Childe shook his head, eyes wide in desperation.
“Another dose.”
Moments after the first few droplets hit his tongue, Childe writhed, spasming and jerking like a man being electrocuted. It jerked him back to life, scarred limbs moving on their own as he struggled to throw Aether off once more.
“Augh, stop—!!”
He found himself coherent again, thrust into clarity, even as his vision blurred and his brain threatened to split from the pain-pleasure- pain.
“Good,” Aether remarked, watching his reaction with interest. “Your body’s getting used to it, huh?”
He was beginning to flush a deep red again as he gasped for breath, head thrown back and tears springing in his eyes. Droplets of sweat formed on his brow as he clawed at Aether, moaning and gasping in agony.
“This type of concoction is typically used in small amounts. Why is that?” He brushed Childe’s hair back, already sticky with sweat. “Because when you use too much, you risk destroying the user’s mind. Fry their brain with pleasure, they say. Get them addicted to it, morbidly so, until they can’t live without it.”
“Unh,” Childe choked, shaking his head. “Uh, uh, nguh…”
“In case you’re curious, you’ve already taken more than twice the lethal dose. One would almost think you’ve used these before. It’s a miracle you’re still alive, but I’d expect no less from the Eleventh.”
Childe let out a scream as the next shock overtook him, head slamming against the floor. His dick was hardening again, filling out delightfully against the harbinger’s will.
“That’s more like it. Let’s keep going, see how much longer you can last.”
Aether slipped his glove off and placed his fingers at Childe’s wet, leaking rim. Just the mere sensation was enough to set Childe off. He wailed, hips jerking up and down, groaning as Aether circled the edge teasingly, already loose and relaxed from the aphrodisiac and excessive amounts of sex. Childe was flushing as though he had a fever, panting and whimpering with need.
“No need to be so dramatic, Tartaglia.” Aether glanced over at Teucer, who was still watching. Kneeling on the floor, locked onto the scene in terror, unable to comprehend what was happening and yet unable to look away. “You want to make a good example for your brother, don’t you?”
Childe gasped aloud, a sob escaping from his throat. Within moments, Aether had shoved his two fingers into his hole. Come dripped out in gobs as Childe was stretched open once more, howling at the sensation. His dick was so hard it hurt.
“Nagh… angh…!!”
‘The aphrodisiac heightens one’s sensitivities, drowning them in raw sensation.’
With pleasure laying waste to his senses, the only thing keeping Childe grounded was the thought of his brother. And even then, the fact that he was watching, watching him be defiled and broken, was tearing him apart.
Aether was so unimaginably cruel.
“Stars above, you are loose,” Aether marvelled, spreading his fingers against his walls. “Loosest one I’ve fucked in a while. Those guys did a real number on you, didn’t they.” He thrust them in again, angling right at his prostate. Childe cried out, tears spilling from his eyes.
“How many times? Ten? No—of course, it was far more than that. Thirty? Fifty? Eighty? Do you think you made it that high?”
“Ah, ah, ngah… a-ah—”
Childe moaned aloud as Aether’s digits jabbed against his soft insides with little resistance, lubricated by the bucketfuls of come that had been dumped into his seemingly bottomless hole. All of it gushed out with the force of Aether's fingers pistoning in and out of him, wet and gooey with slick.
Childe cried out, legs kicking at dirty floor beneath him.
“Ugh, agh, g-gah—!!!”
His movements grew more and more stiff, body tightening in agony. He felt himself nearing the precipice, and yet, before he could release—Aether quickly retracted his fingers, gripping the base of his cock until Childe collapsed back down with a horrific shudder. After so many orgasms, his body was more than willing to let this one go; there was little left to give, drug or not.
He was gasping, barely breathing, fighting to bring air back into his lungs.
“Ngh, nn, ah… ah…”
“You poor thing,” Aether cooed. The harbinger was paralyzed but for the constant shuddering and twitching, as though a current was being passed through him at random.
Can’t take it, he screamed out.
No more, no more, no more…
“You know what? Perhaps you aren’t so useless. I think you’d make quite the pretty cocksleeve after all,” Aether remarked, sighing like he was genuinely mulling it over. “That would be quite a spectacle. Tartaglia, fine Snezhnayan whore, fucked until he can’t remember his name. All he can think about is having his sweet, sweet little hole filled up nice and tight, bred until his little belly is bulging with cum.”
“Ugh,” Childe gasped, shuddering. “Ah…”
“Hmm… how should I finish you off?” Aether began to undo his own clothing, completely unfazed. “At this point, your hole is probably ruined. Filthy, as well.”
The clinking and muttering became background noise as Childe lay there helplessly, eyes shut tight, splayed before him like a patient on the operating table. Unable to move, unable to think, forced to absorb punishment after punishment.
“Ah… I know.”
By the time he realized what he intended to do, it was far too late.
Childe opened his eyes to find Aether’s lower half hovering directly over the tip of his cock. Rubbing his entrance tortuously against it, slick dripping over the tip in trails. His expression betrayed his enjoyment of the look on Childe’s face as his intentions became clear.
“Please,” he rasped. “Please. Don’t.”
The words came out clipped, like it was taking all it could to force them out. He could already imagine it—Aether sinking down over his cock, clenching tightly around him, milking him of every last drop left in his trembling, aching body as he thrusted his lithe hips up and down.
He felt dizzy as Aether lowered himself, stretching himself over the tip. Nails digging into Childe’s chest, knees planted firmly at his sides.
“Augh… ah, please…”
He moaned shakily, clawing against the floor beneath him.
“Your execution,” Aether breathed.
It was more than metaphorical, and yet far greater than literal. Some deep, inner part of him was being churned to bits, and there was nothing he could do to stop it from happening.
What would Teucer think, watching this man press his body to his, grasping at his scarred chest and taking some part of his soul with him?
Aether seated himself fully on the rest of his cock, letting forth a pleasant sigh of relief as he bottomed out. A choked scream was ripped from Childe’s lips. His hips bucked up to meet him against their owner’s will, limbs thrashing like branches caught in a storm.
Childe entered a momentary state of shock, eyes blanking and mouth open in a wordless cry as his sanity was squeezed from him. Aether hummed in delight at his reaction, enjoying the devastated look on his face as he tried to find purchase in reality.
And then, Traveler began to grind his hips. Savoring the way Childe writhed beneath him, his whole body shuddering from untethered pleasure. Aether lifted himself off partially only to slam himself back over, burying him to the hilt. Childe howled.
“Please,” he sobbed. His body was wracked by sensation, erupting forth as Aether broke into a brisk pace, riding him faster and faster, bouncing over his cock without mercy. The harbinger’s hips arched helplessly beneath his supple frame, any control of his body far beyond his reach.
Drool spilled from his lips, dark lashes fluttering.
“Uh, ah, h-hah— huh, ah—!!”
Childe had nothing left to give, and Aether was still finding new ways to extort him. Squeezing out pleasure with each thrust of his hips, sliding over Childe’s cock with effortless poise.
“I’ll… b-break…!!”
His chest heaved with exertion, tears bubbling over his cheeks. Aether beamed.
“Yes, you finally understand what I want.” Childe sobbed, a raw and primal noise. “To see you completely shattered and broken.”
He slammed his hips back down, savoring the next scream. “Why don’t you call upon the Abyss, Tartaglia? You’re just using borrowed power to survive. One of these days, it’s going to kill you.”
Childe was swallowed up once more. His upper body lurched off the floor, fingers clawing desperately for some kind of hold.
“I may as well speed up the process.”
The world was swimming in a great, mushy stew of gold and amber. And yet unfocused as his vision was, he could make out the blurry sight of a child. Expression utterly crushed to see his hero, his last protector, being reduced to this state. This wasn’t fantasy, or history. This was real.
Big brother, he could hear him shout.
Aether brushed a hand over his lower stomach, right below his belly button. “How many cocks do you think have been in here?” His fingers curled, pushing down at the flesh below. Childe convulsed. “Fucking you over and over, pumping you full. That must have felt incredible.”
Childe was choking back tears, scratching and writhing, as if it would help him fend off his tormenter. “I’ll give you more. Oh yes, Tartaglia. I’ll milk you entirely dry, fucking everything from you until there’s nothing left.”
“P-please…”
“What’s that, you creature? I can’t hear what you’re saying.”
“N-not… not…” He reached upward, pawing at Aether’s wrists. “Not in front of him,” he sobbed.
Aether stopped. His expression became neutral again, features momentarily softening.
“Teucer,” he called.
Even without turning around, Aether could hear his muffled noises, the sound of him kicking uselessly against the dirt.
“Make sure you watch every last second of this,” Aether said slowly. “Make sure you embed this picture in your mind, alright?”
“Or, how else will you ever be able to help your brother when the time comes?”
Why? Childe asked voicelessly, expression falling. Aether must have seen it in his eyes, because he leaned foward to murmur in his ear. “Because I can, Tartaglia. Because you let me. ”
Somehow, Childe understood.
Aether rode him until he no longer had room for breath. Until his eyes rolled back, tears shuddering on his lashes, each squelch punctuated by a frenzied moan. He whined and whimpered, squirming in the dirt, robbed of coherent speech or thought as every last thrust tore his soul from his body.
Overstimulation was a word lost to him. Raw, undiluted sensation enveloped every inch of his body in a thick fire, until his own flesh and muscle had become the beast, ravenous. He didn’t soften, and Aether didn’t pull off. The Traveler just slammed himself over his cock like it was his mission to destroy.
He was trapped in a permanent climax, an endless dry orgasm, screaming and screaming until the world disappeared around him.
He was losing his mind.
Childe let out a ragged noise as something hit him in the face. Aether’s palm. The scent of sex filled his nostrils once more, his body’s movements becoming discernable within that ruthless ecstasy.
“Did I say you could sleep? Come on, now. Look at you, making me do all the work. Harder, scum. Fuck me harder.”
Childe groaned, tears running down his cheeks. Everything hurt—everything felt slick and full and raw, like he would burst at any moment.
Aether hit him again.
“You’re weak. Weak. Come back, fool. Face the music. Everything is your fault, Tartaglia. You were born to meet the end.”
Weak, weak.
He came again, body going limp in Aether’s hands. The boy was going for another round, seemingly infatigable.
“It would be a shame if the bad guy won, don’t you think?” His voice rang out of the fog, echoing and echoing in his boiling shame.
“Agh… ugh… ah…”
“Come on, now, don’t let him down…”
It was like time itself was stretching out. The dark sky blurred before his eyes, a sick parody of celestial beauty.
He heard Teucer’s screams fading into the background, and then everything went dark.
***
Aether let out a long sigh as he stretched, a faint glow to his cheeks. He cleaned up, tugging his clothes back on and clasping his sword to his belt.
The man splayed on the floor was utterly finished. His eyes were still half-open, but blank and unresponsive—utterly devoid of life. By all measures of the word, he was no longer awake.
“Boring,” Aether remarked. “He couldn’t even last this long.”
He pocketed the vial of aphrodisiac, still half-full. “Any more of this would just kill him.”
Aether walked toward the remaining witness. Teucer shut his eyes instinctively, bracing for impact. His throat was hoarse from screaming. Ever since the gag had come loose midway through, he’d been howling, thrashing and kicking until his limbs gave out.
There was rushing wind, and when Teucer opened his eyes again, the ropes had fallen at his feet. He raised his arms outward, hardly able to believe his freedom.
“Go—”
His body moved before his mind. Teucer hurled himself at the enemy, body sore and aching.
“Idiot,” Aether snarled, knocking him back to the floor. “Haven’t you learned your lesson? Your brother couldn’t beat me, and neither can you.”
Teucer shook at the words, puffy eyes glistening with tears once more. “Go help him. That’s all you can do now.” Aether adjusted the cuffs of his gloves. “I didn’t kill him, just so you know.”
“I’ll never forgive you,” Teucer wept.
Aether turned away.
“I won’t… I-I’ll never forgive you…!”
“If you want revenge on me, you better get strong fast. Because the moment I find her, I’m leaving this place.”
He gestured to Childe’s body, naked and prone behind him. “I suggest you two get out of here. Or there really will be no tomorrow for you both.”
Aether turned back one last time as he walked away. This time, with his sunniest smile, an unsettlingly warm look in his eyes. “Tell your brother thank you when he wakes up, alright? I’ll pay the bill for him the next time we meet. All debts repaid, none forgotten. I would love to be friends with him again.”
He spat on the floor, and was gone.
Teucer fell to his knees, crawling toward his brother. He was still breathing, stomach rising and falling shallowly in the cool air.
Ajax’s eyes tumbled closed. The words fluttered in his head, but he couldn't move his lips to make them out.
I’m sorry, he pleaded. I failed.
The two were totally alone. One young boy sobbing as he tried to reawaken his brother, lying unmoving on the floor.