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Dearest Ajax,
Everyone says hello! I keep telling them to just write their own letters but no one will. I hope you don’t mind that mine get so long, I gotta make up for them somehow. Teucer started talking recently! I’ve been secretly trying to get him to say your name and I show him pictures of you all the time. He has to know who the coolest older brother is y’know. No offense Anthon. Eh, he’s not going to read this anyway. Not all of us could become Fatui after all and I greatly suspect that they don’t write to you because they’re jealous. I’d look at their diaries if they actually kept them.
Speaking of that, I hope you’re remaining safe. It can’t be easy I’m sure, but I pray to the Tsaritsa everyday that we will get to see you again soon. As much as I adore hearing of your adventures in your letters, I want to hear them directly from you instead. We miss having you around.
Summer is coming to a close and it feels odd to get ready for fall without you. I feel like it’s been years since you left, though I know realistically it’s been a matter of weeks. I worry since I haven’t heard from you much in that time. Can I send you some of the usual treats we make? I remember which ones are your favorite! But… I don't want someone else to steal them before they get to you, or have you get in trouble for receiving them. Hopefully you get this letter soon since I will probably try to send them to you anyway.
Love you and miss you big brother!
Write to me soon,
Tonia
Tonia!!
I’ve missed you a lot! It’s been a hectic few months and I haven’t had as much time to write. Even now I don’t, but don’t worry about the treats. I move around too much for them to get to me before they go bad. I appreciate it though.
We are moving camps once again so you may not hear from me for some time. I am thinking of you all though. I’ll write to you when we return.
~Ajax
Dearest Ajax,
I will forego packaging treats for you as you requested, but know that I want to send them anyway. I miss you very much every day and I look forward to your next letter.
Please enjoy these photos that Anthon helped take. The first in the stack should be one of the family. I’m in the middle with Teucer. The second one is father packing up his tackle box before he went out fishing, the last round of the summer season. The next few are of the woods around home, since we thought you might be homesick for a more familiar landscape. The colors of the leaves are some of the most splendid we have ever seen this year! The photos truly do not do it justice. The last one is Teucer sitting in a tree fort. We spent all afternoon building it!
Are you at the new camp now? Tell me what it looks like!
Have you gone on any exciting missions recently? Or gone hunting? I know you were really excited about those kinds of things before you left, and Father assured us that you would have lots of opportunities to experience those things while you trained with the Fatui. Still be safe, even while you’re being reckless.
Good luck out there! Love,
Tonia
Hey,
Tonia made me write my own letter this time even though she promised to mail it out with hers. I don’t see the point, but whatever. I’ve gotten a lot better with the Kamera, even better than the photos she sent you. Come back soon so I can show you. They’re too good to mail to some rotting military camp for you to leave out and ruin.
~Anthon
Dearest Ajax,
I fear that something terrible may have befallen you. I was hoping to receive a letter from you in the last few weeks, but I’ve gotten nothing. I’ve begun checking every day, even going out in some of the passing storms to do so. Father and Mother are concerned as well, since they are now trying to keep me from looking. I know they are just trying to be cautious of my well-being, but it is frustrating similar to when you ran away.
It is now late autumn. The early snows have stripped the trees of their remaining leaves, so the little bit of color we had is now gone. Anton is frustrated since his photos are no longer turning out as exciting. I suspect that the cold may be damaging his Kamera a little, so I have begun to secretly save up my allowance to buy him a better model for his birthday.
How is the weather where you are? Is it snowing still? Are you staying warm? Have you made friends during this time, and you were just so busy with them that you forgot to write home? I would rather have that be true than the alternatives my head comes up with.
Please write to me soon so that I may lay my worries to rest.
With love,
Tonia
Tonia,
It took awhile but I got your letters. I ended up returning to the capital rather than the camp that was originally planned. With autumn setting in the storms have been bad so travel has been more difficult. We had some unexpected setbacks in the return journey, but I assure you that I am now safe and sound.
Things are moving along and I am up for another promotion. Pay is currently in negotiation, but I should be able to pay off my debt faster than before. When I have the time, I will pick out some treats and gifts for you and the others. I might even be able to get Anton a new kamera myself, so spend your allowance on something for yourself please.
I should be in the capital for a while now so please direct your letters here. My current address is written on the envelope, sending letters there will bring them to me directly.
Tell Anthon that I look forward to seeing his photos.
~Ajax
Dearest Ajax,
I’m so glad to hear that you are safe! I’ll send my letters to the capital from now on.
When I heard that you were up for a promotion, I’ll admit that I was surprised. I didn’t realize how talented you were, but I am glad that the Fatui were able to recognize it. I informed Mother and Father, and they are incredibly proud of you! We are hoping you will be home to ring in the new year with us.
Anton seemed rather despondent when he realized that you would not be home for his birthday, but that all changed when a man stopped by with a package for him. He informed us that your salary negotiations had finished, and immediately after you had picked it out for Anton so he came to deliver it personally! You must have made some really amazing friends if they are willing to go to such lengths for you.
Teucer is speaking quite a bit now! Anthon is especially fond of him, doting on him all the time, even if he won’t admit it. It is quite a humorous sight.
Write back soon!
Tonia
Tonia,
Unfortunately, I will not be returning home. While I do miss you all, I do not wish to risk the wrath of the Harbingers and leave my duty to the Fatui before my debt is paid off. The last thing I want is to become more of a burden to the family.
I’m glad Anton liked the new kamera! These days, time is a blur and so I barely remember picking it out. I’m not sure who could have dropped it off either… maybe the tag fell off and they just happened to notice before it was thrown out, so they delivered it in person. I don’t think I am quite as well known in the Fatui as you might think. Those who I would consider friends were all transferred to a different location recently, so I don’t think I’ll be seeing them for a while.
The weather is exceptionally bad recently. We get a day of snow and then frozen rain follows it, encasing the roads and buildings. With the hills around us, you can hardly walk up the street without tripping and sliding halfway back down again. Because of this, I will have to pause my letters for a while. I will hear from you again in spring.
~Ajax
Dearest Ajax,
I hope you are able to visit soon with spring now in full bloom. I wonder what it would be like to visit a place like Sumeru or Inazuma during this season; I’ve heard that those regions have some of the most gorgeous and wonderful flowers in all of Teyvat! If you ever go to visit, will you send me some pictures? Possibly a specimen? I’d love nothing more.
With love,
Tonia
The hiss and crunch of paper being squeezed out of shape was followed by the dull thud as it hit the wall before falling into the near-empty garbage bin on the other side of the office space. A drawer slid open with a wooden clunk, a fresh sheet withdrawn from its depths, before it was shoved shut once again. The brass tip of the quill tapped against the ceramic ink bottle, the dark blue liquid dripping once onto the oak table before it began scratching hasty lines onto the page.
Ajax spent a long time thinking about a reply to his sister’s latest letter. He ended up skipping over the details of his “promotion” and the majority of the work he was currently doing. He didn’t want to admit to his travels either since they were… well, they were incredibly confidential. He was quick to leave out details of his training as well, since he knew that his family, or at least Tonia, would worry about him nonstop if they knew the danger he put himself in.
How else was he supposed to get stronger, if not through constant danger?
Ajax rewrote the letter about 17 times before he was satisfied with the story it had spun. It made it seem like he was having fun, out of danger, and most importantly, that he still cared how his family was doing.
Heaving a long-suffering sigh, Ajax sealed the letter and handed it off to an attendant waiting in the hall. The person always changed, but the little jump that his heart did when he called for them never seemed to cease. A vision of Yacovich would always briefly cross his vision when the door opened, the past overlaying itself with the present. Ajax had once tried to bring the letter down to the mailroom himself, before the previously mentioned attendant had stopped him in his tracks, informing him that his letters needed to undergo inspection before being delivered, due to the confidential nature of his work.
What a fantastic display of bureaucracy!
Besides the extra care he needed to start taking with the content of his letters, the most annoying part about Ajax’s current circumstances was the Harbinger constantly looking over his shoulder. At least, he could when standing on a particularly tall stool while Ajax was sitting down. So what if he had accidentally killed the wrong person a few times? Give better directions! The buildings also weren’t his fault. Why keep those explosive barrels so close by if you didn’t want the surrounding structures to be destroyed? At least get better signage so that people would know.
Ajax paused, regarding the fruits of his labor. He read over his letter a few times, checking for spelling in case he needed to rewrite it for the eighteenth time. His handwriting wasn’t the best, but honestly he couldn’t fix it at this point. Or he didn’t care to. Focusing on making nicer letters just made every line lopsided and words would be different sizes, and it was overall less legible than if he just didn’t think about it. Tonia had nice handwriting. Anthon did too. Well, they could still read it so whatever.
Spring was indeed nearing its peak. The wild storms of late autumn and winter were finally settling down into the occasional flurry, and animals were beginning to return as well. Ajax leaned back in his chair, staring out the window of his own private office to watch the sun reflecting on the snow outside. Thinking.
It had been about this time last year that his issues began to arise.
He briefly recalled how blood had sprayed around him when his father had taken him ice fishing for the last time. He still had no idea what had happened. But he did remember the defeated horror in that man’s eyes before he had been packed off to join the Fatui. That calmness had been one of the most chaotic periods for his mind and body. The chaos after had been the most calming.
The world just seemed to keep flipping on its head whenever he was involved, didn’t it?
It wasn’t long after his leg began bouncing that Ajax was practically storming down the long grey halls towards the training grounds. He was vaguely aware of people leaping out of his way as he went, but he paid them no mind. He cast a rather ominous figure, ginger hair bright against the cold stone, brighter still as it crowned his disturbed frown. His eyes seemed to slash the air in front of him, freezing all who crossed paths with him, like a basilisk gazing upon its prey.
Ajax shifted his expression to be a touch more friendly when he reached the training grounds. Yet everyone present could practically taste his murderous intent, and of the few who had seen him spar before, they could prematurely smell the tang of iron from freshly spilled blood. Ajax didn’t bother to change out of his usual work clothes, preferring to test their combat capabilities and kill two birds with one stone. He unslung his dark velvet cloak from the shoulders, tossing it to the side as he stormed to the center of the sparring ring. The soldiers who occupied it, suddenly didn’t. As Ajax took up a fighting stance, waiting for an opponent, the surrounding crowd inwardly cringed before they pushed one of their own forward to meet his fury.
The soldier barely had time to register his own fear after his feet crossed that line of chalk before he was meeting Ajax strike for strike.
The sparring lasted just over an hour. The soldiers were beaten back, one by one, and Ajax grew increasingly frustrated with their skill. In the first few weeks, they had been fun, but he had quickly surpassed them, and now they were no better than the wooden training dummies he had grown up seeing. Even his own dragging exhaustion wasn’t enough to close the gap in their skill level.
I have to find someone stronger!
From his office patio, Pulcinella had a great view of the training grounds. When he needed to think through a particularly tricky logistics problem, his usual method of solving it involved attentively watching the soldiers train while his brain did the complex work in the background. Usually this worked quite well. Unless, of course, the object of his frustrations was placed directly before his eyes.
The Tsaritsa hovered over his shoulder, watching with an impassive gaze as Ajax threw another soldier out of the ring. It wasn’t a push. He picked the man up, practically sweeping him off his feet mid strike, and tossed him out of bounds.
“What are you planning on doing with him?” she asked.
“I’m working on it,” Pulcinella ground out. His temper wasn’t usually this short, but… they had been watching for over an hour and the kid still wasn’t tired enough to leave. At this rate there wouldn’t be anyone left in a fit stage for combat!
“Is he enough of a threat that we should consider killing him?”
Pulcinella had contemplated the idea before. “I wouldn’t call him a threat, per se, but he is a pain in the neck. At this point, I don’t care how good he is at killing people, that child is a danger to our coffers!” Pulcinella suddenly wiped around, narrowing his eyes at the Cryo Archon. “Do you know how much mora he has cost us in destruction of property, just in the last month?”
The Tsaritsa was as cold as ever. “Then send him to go beg for more from the Geo Archon.”
“By himself?!”
“Of course not. But please pick out a good babysitter for him. I’d really hate to see such promising talent get cut down for a lack of decorum.” With a sharp turn on her heel, the Tsaritsa strode back inside the palace.
Pulcinella spared one more glance at Ajax, worrying thoughts clouding his head, before rushing after the Archon. “Do you intend to make him a harbinger?”
“If he wants to be.” The Tsaritsa paused by the office door, pursing her lips in thought. “I’d at least offer it to him if he was trained a little better.”
“How will we test his strength? His loyalty? If he gets killed immediately after getting the title, it will make the rest of us look bad,” Pulcinella said.
The Tsaritsa said nothing in response, but her lips pulled into a faint smile, smirking like she knew something about this random kid that Pulcinella had failed to gather. He didn’t dare react until long after she had left, and even then he could only bring himself to glare at the door while a vein throbbed in his temple.