Chapter Text
Everything hurt. Being in foul legacy form for so long really was a mistake. A mistake childe did not regret. I mean, it was a massive abyssal whale! Who would give up a chance to fight a one of those!
Although that throw from skirk kinda hurt ...
But never mind!childe hummed happily,and old folk song that his mother used to sing for him. his mother who he was going back to see!
hopefully.
with his long absence from his harbinger duties,there was bound to be a large stack of paperwork to complete the second he returned to zopalyarny.but alas,he was heading home .He shifted over on his seat, or at least,if a plank of wood on floor of a travelling trader cart could be considered a seat...
Childe dragged the large bag onto his lap,and checked the inside.they had recently gone over a particularly bumpy part of the road,and he wanted to make sure none of the gifts inside had been damaged.He reached in and pulled out the first box.It was an ornate jewellery box he had found being sold at a shop in the court of Fontaine.The second he saw it,he had immediately thought of his little sister,tonia.she had been gifted quite a few pieces of jewellery by him before,although most were a little bit fancy for a 12 year old girl.but,he had missed many birthdays during his missions,and she deserved it .
The box was for all her pieces to be treasured in.
It was decorated with small shards of glass,which had been smoothed at the corners and edges by the sea's currents.The fontainian locals seemed to call it "sea glass" which was very fitting,if a little on the nose. It depicted an underwater scene,showcasing carved seahorses and jellyfish,as well as some flat fish that he childe didn't recognise.
Oh well,she'd love it anyway.
He set the box down,careful to not let it get scraped on any splintered wood pieces.He reached in again,pulling out the next gift. He plucked out a large stuffed toy.turns out ,after his battle with the whale,toy sellers had started selling large pushes of it.He had stumbled across one of these story tellers on his way back from the house of hearth,after his scolding from the knave.really,who did she think she was!He was fine,if a bit sore.He really didn't need to go Eventually,he'd given up trying to argue,and decided to just go home.NOT because he needed the recovery time.honestly,what kind of weapon would he be if he had to go lick his wounds at the palace every time he got a bit beaten up!
He put down the plush next to the jewellery box.
He stuck his hand and pulled the rest of the objects out. A fontainian cookbook for ma, herbs for jelena.
He paused.
He held up the last gifts. One was a fishing stablizer, an invention that recently graced the markets of fontain's fishing association. He had originally bought it for his pa, but after thinking for a little longer, he wasnt sure. Pa had never accepted his gifts in the past...
"Halt! "
The cart lurched forward, throwing childe across the small compartment.
That really didnt help his still-sore muscles.
He peeled hinself of the wooden sides. He rubbed his cheek, which had been the first to collide with the walls, and then his shoulder which had taken most of the impact. Glancing around,he noted most of the gifts were fine.except for one...
The jewellery box.
He scrambled over,his aching and now bruised knees scraping across the uneven floor.
Oh no
The gifts had been thrown around,as well as him.the plush and book were fine, and the herbs were in solid,shatter proof bottles.
But the box was delicate
And now ruined.
Childe turned it over gently in his hands.the corner had before been embellished with careful carvings of romaritime flowers and seaweed.but now,the silver had broken off, and the 'sea glass' had cracked and shattered.
Busy with his mourning of the box,childe didn't stop to think why they had stopped.that was,until one of the agents pulled back the threadbare curtains that separated the inside of the cart to the outside.
"Lord harbinger,sir."
Childe looked up,confused,until his gaze locked onto the agent.
"Yes? What is it?why have we stopped?"
Childe looked over,still cradling the box in his hands.
"It's the garde,sir. They've told us we can't pass.we don't have the paperwork."
He tilted his head,confused.
"Don't we?the fatui should have passage through here"
"That's the thing sir.we can't let them know we're fatui.dont you remember?"
Of course.how stupid was he.That was the whole reason he was in this dingy,rickety little cart,and not the carriages used by the harbingers.
Because of his weakened state,the knave had insisted childe lay low for the time being.that meant he couldn't have one of those carriages.it also meant it would take a whole lot longer to get back to snezhnaya.
And this stop would push it from 4 days to 5.
Or at least according to the agent it would.
"Fine.lets set up camp here then."
The agent let the curtain fall before walking off,probably to talk to the gardes about staying around here.childe listened to him walk a few steps before realising something.
He pulled the curtain back again,and stuck his head out the side before shouting to the agent.
"Did they tell you why we had to stop?"
The agent turned around.childe continued looking to him for an answer .
"According to them, some weird purple patches of stuff have been appearing 'round here.theyre getting some guys to come here in the morning to check it out.apparently it looks like the stuff the whale left around the opera epiclese,so they don't want to risk it".
Childe nodded,and the fatues turned around again to continue forward to find the gardes once more.
Childe leant back against the back for the compartment.turning over the ruined box in his hands,he though.The stuff the whale left behind...that meant...
Abyssal energy.