Two Faced // Tartaglia (R18)

The Snezhnayan Song

The Antares warrior finally took the keys from the lobby to their own apartment in Liyue, which was also sponsored by Grandmaster Athena. She had silently hoped the stay in Liyue wouldn't drag on too long, especially with the specific task being a temporary business. They noticed how the people of Liyue have always been amicable, other than the fact that stories would spread just like wildfire across the city. Some of the people immediately caught wind that a cold and elusive Cryo warrior from Antares was going to stay in Liyue for an extended period of time. Though the people remained oblivious about the premonition of war that could destroy half of Teyvat.

The people of Liyue described this particular warrior as a stand-alone person, an Antares born warrior also talented in the arts and music other than sparring skills and assassination being a Warmonger trait. Though Astrea was mostly trained to annihilate enemies in the first place rather than a spar. Regardless of the initial objective, they were encouraged to sign up for a musical street event just to amp up their reputation in the city.

"I go by the name Astreanova from Antares and here is my performance of the day. Enjoy."

Music has always been something the people of Antares had in common. The people loved routine performances by the children, young men and women as an escape from their mundane daily jobs. Astreanova chose to indulge in performances whenever they wanted to forget the dreaded past.

Despite not believing in a deity, the warrior played a musical tune on an ancient instrument that was dedicated to the Cryo Archon, Tsaritsa and Snezhnaya. It was known that the Tsaritsa had a kind and gentle soul that was motivated by love; nicknamed the Goddess of Love by some before the Great Archon War happened. The particular music she played was composed by Astreanova and the first love, Aliyahstellaris. The song was called The Snezhnayan Song of Ice and Love. Their mind immediately recalled a profound childhood conversation.

"Do you want to meet the Cryo Goddess someday?" Aliyah questioned innocently.

"You mean the Cryo Archon Tsaritsa in Snezhnaya?" Astrea replied, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm not really sure if she exists. Besides, Snezhnaya is a thousand miles away from here."

"Maybe one day you should seek the Archon. It's going to be a long spiritual journey to seek the truth of this world." Aliyah giggled sweetly. She continued,

"It would be an enlightening experience for you who doesn't believe in a higher power."

"I'm not so sure about that, Aliyah." Astrea replied lazily.

"I've always wanted to go to Snezhnaya. A place where winter is eternal." The other girl remarked once more.

Astrea pretended to be asleep afterwards, ignoring the other girl's enthusiastic chatter about the Tsaritsa. The black haired warrior knew they had nothing better to do with Archons ever since she learned about the war, hence all she wanted was to continue living with the people she loved.

Their sole wish wasn't granted in the end. The vision Astrea possessed will always be in remembrance of all the people they had lost that night, even if having one means that the warrior is in line to be the next Warmonger. The reason they survived the civil war cum invasion had been due to them being elusive and being able to dodge almost everything that came to their senses.

The show ended and a small crowd of people applauded her music. Astrea expressed a huge gratitude by giving some of the audience a small souvenir from Antares and the children especially enjoyed the trinkets.

"Thank you Astrea sister! I really really liked your perfwormance!! Pwease come again and play for us Liyuen okay?" A little girl cheered in delight.

Astrea smiled and patted her head.

"I will when I have time."

The crowd slowly dissipated in a minute, except for the presence of a tall brown haired man, almost ginger, who wore a red Fatui mask on the side of his head. He had relatively pale skin with a pair of deep blue eyes that enhanced his overall look.

"That was quite an enchanting performance, coming from someone who's not from Snezhnaya." He clapped.

The young warrior raised an eyebrow before bowing ever so slightly, all due to respect. They didn't pay attention to the uniform he was wearing at that time until the last minute.

"Thank you for the compliment, sir. Are you from Snezhnaya by any case?" Astreanova questioned.

"I am, as a matter of fact. Anyway, you can call me Childe. I believe you are the Cryo vision ruthless warrior some people have been talking about recently." The man casually took out his hand, motioning for a handshake.

"Hope we can get along." He smiled.

Astrea had doubts of communicating with a dubious stranger, but knowing that he's from Snezhnaya, the place Aliyah would love to visit, it probably wouldn't hurt to form a new acquaintance.

"Yes I am. You can call me Astreanova or Astrea. Nice to meet you in Liyue, sir Childe." She shook his hand for a second before letting go.

"Likewise, Astrea girlie. So what brings you to Liyue?" He grinned sheepishly and pointed at their suitcase. "Let me hold that for you if you don't mind."

"Um..... it's alright you don't have to help. I mean, I'm fine sir, thank you." Astrea refused politely. It didn't help that he seemed to recognize her birth gender just by a glance.

The ginger haired man pulled a stern face all of a sudden, as if a switch was flipped and she noticed his deep blue eyes were actually more lifeless than they seem to be from afar. His expression changed in a moment as he smiled innocently.

"Hahahaha. You must think I'm a creep, right? I'm not a bad guy, don't worry. I mean, I might work with the bad guys but I'm not like the rest of them, you know."

It was then Astrea noticed the details on his particular uniform, they were eerily similar to a pattern of the Fatui especially the mask on his head. He had a Hydro Vision neatly placed on his belt. The Cryo warrior refused to stare too much due to the abs window he purposely put on display.

A part of the warrior wanted to throttle him then and there and ask him to take them to one of the Harbingers so everyone would be closer to the truth and massacre each one of them as the Warmonger of Antares. But it wasn't a good time to go on full rampage. Besides, all the mental strength training from Athena shouldn't be for naught. Astreanova had an important task to do and report back to the Grandmaster of the city.

Astrea gripped the instrument case for a few seconds before forcing a smile on their face.

"No worries, it doesn't concern me with who you work for, it's a job and a job has to be done right? Your personality doesn't have to be associated with your job."

Childe's deep blue eyes widened for a second before he smiled.

"You're right, miss Astreanova. I absolutely love that opinion of yours. Oh wait, look there's something behind you!"

Astrea was fully alarmed as she turned her head to inspect on what could've been an emergency. But it was just Childe pulling a prank so that he could grab ahold of the instrument case.

He moved at an incredible speed and she couldn't even notice the second he took the case.

"Gotcha! Now tell me where we should go next. This is me doing you a favour as a fellow Fatui general welcoming you to Liyue. No need to thank me, I believe I'm fairly older than you and could pass as your brother." Childe casually showcased his charm and grinned. Astrea didn't respond at first, their cold exterior was evident on her face.

The warrior silently thought,

Appearances can always be deceiving. Anyone can turn out to be two faced in the end. Only time will tell.