Kill Me Slowly || Tartaglia/Childe

Chapter 02

Martin taps his foot impatiently, glancing at his pocket watch then back at you repeatedly. The moment the long hand strikes 12, marking that a minute has passed, he looks up to you, only to see you being taken away. Martin's heart drops down to the deepest pit as he remembers what Noelle had told him earlier. He was surely going to be killed by Noelle when she comes back. He panics, hands tangled in his hair as he tries to make a decision. Should he follow after you and fight the soldier or should he wait for Noelle?

"Ah damn you, Klein!" He messes his hair up. "If only you didn't run away, I wouldn't be in this situation right now!" He knows that blaming the horse right now was of no use, but what could he do? He didn't know how to fight nor does he have an idea where the soldier was taking you. "Think harder!" He tells himself, clenching his fists so hard that his knuckles have turned white. He clicks his tongue in anger, finally making his decision. He was going to go after you, after all, he thought it was better to die in the hands of the soldier instead of Noelle.

Martin leaves the carriage and walks stealthily, avoiding the dead leaves and branches on the way. Martin stops in his tracks, looking back for a while to see if Noelle has arrived yet but he didn't see anyone. The moment he turned back, you weren't in sight anymore. He clicks his tongue in annoyance, walking to the area he last saw you. "Bah, I shouldn't have look—"

He sees blue petals on the dirt that was somehow leading him somewhere. "Gah, I don't even know anymore." He curses under his breath. "If I follow this, it might lead me to the princess, but if I don't, where do I go?" He pauses, looking at the two paths in front of him: one that had blue petals and one that had none. "Okay, let me do my ultimate trick! Eenie meenie miney mo!" His finger point to the path with blue petals. "I hope I'm right." He says, following the blue petals.

After walking for a few whiles, he sees a large building come to view. As much as he wanted to enter the parameter, it was heavily guarded by soldiers. "What do I do now?" He asks himself, trying to think of a way to get you back safe and sound. Martin looks around his surroundings: trees, shrubs, leaves, and... rocks! He picks up the biggest rock he could find and throws it to one side, creating a loud noise that alerted the soldiers.

"Now's my chance!" He runs to the nearest area, hiding behind the door. "Now where do I find the princess?" He ponders, scratching his chin. He was about to leave the area but he overhears a conversation.

"Intruder, you say?" Spoke a woman. "Yes, Captain. This intruder was within our parameters and was stealing a glaze lily." Replied the soldier. "Just a flower? The intruder didn't steal anything else?" She asks. "No, Ma'am." The soldier shook his head in response. "Remove the hood. I want to see who this intruder is." She tells the soldier. "You've got guts coming into a military base, I tell you."

Martin was about to jump in and protect your identity but he felt a hard thing poking at his back. He turns around and sees a soldier pointing his gun at him. "Move it." He commands Martin. Martin moves aside and the soldier grabs him by the back of his collar. He opens the door and reports, "Another intruder in the premises, Captain."

The brown-haired woman who they call captain laughs. "That's two intruders today! Isn't that fun? You must be the partner! Well, come join!"

The soldier pushes Martin beside you, making him kneel. "What do we do with them, Captain?" The soldier asks. "What do we do indeed. Good question. I like it." She smiles at both of you, thinking of the many ways to punish you both. "You're scaring them, Beidou." A white-haired woman says as she enters the room.

"Please do knock before you enter, Ningguang." Beidou says, glaring at Ningguang. She ignores Beidou and heads towards the both of you. "Don't mind her. Are you both thirsty? Or maybe hungry? We got plenty of food! Perhaps you'd like to try our bamboo shoot soup prepared by our best chef, Xiangling!"