stranger [C. TARTAGLIA]

04

"printsessa. what have you done?"

the people around you looked at you in horror, their eyes filled with fright. it was if they were looking at a monster, not at someone of royalty who they swore to look up to.

you blinked, staring down at your bloodied hands. your clothes were covered in the red liquid that was also smeared below you. you started to shake, tears filling up your eyes.

"this... this is..." you breathed out, unable to process what was happening.

when you looked back at the crowd, they screamed and began to run the opposite direction away from you. "w-we're sorry! please, spare us!"

"everyone, run!"

"she's a monster!"

"wait!" you reached out to them, but they all ran. "come back! i-"

"halt!" men in armour trapped the people from escaping. they stepped back when they saw the guards with armed equipment.

"kneel! this is an order from her majesty!" one of them said.

the people did as they're told, their knees shaking as they did so. you watched the scene unfold in front of you, both confused and afraid.

"...fire."

in a second, canons roared from a distance, shooting everyone who kneeled down before them. you could hear their shouts, their pleads, the sound of their bodies being torn apart by the canon.

blood splattered everywhere, not a single child nor elderly was saved. you stood there motionless, watching your people get killed by the very guards that once protected them.

"this is... y-your fault..." a throaty voice said behind you.

you turned back and saw a man covered in his own blood, a huge hole in his chest was seen as he tried to crawl towards you.

you gaped at the sight. "what...?"

"how could you... do this to us?" with his final breath, he stopped moving. just then you saw that he wasn't alone, there were piles of bodies behind him too.

they all were pierced by what looked like familiar looking icicles, one that only you could have weilded.

your eyes shot open, gasping for air as you sat down your bed. you woke up in cold sweat, still calming yourself down after the dream you just had.

or rather, a very unpleasant memory.

as you panted and tried to control your breathing, you looked at the bed next to you. it was still empty, it looked as if the bedsheets hadn't even been moved.

it was already dark out, you could see the bright moon from the window. you wondered if childe hadn't came home yet, but in your mind you'd rather have that than him bugging you.

you heaved in a deep sigh and got out of bed to fetch water from the kitchen outside. you quietly opened the door and looked out, you saw light coming from the living room.

you walked there quietly and saw that the same ginger you were just thinking about was passed out on the office table. his head was resting on top of some papers, while his hand was still holding a quill.

your eyebrows furrowed, did he fall asleep while working on some papers? you thought.

your feet inched to you to his direction, not even realizing you were already in front of him. what were you even going to do? give him a blanket? carry him to bed? absolutely not. you didn't care enough to do all that, you didn't want to be friendly with the harbinger.

his tousled ginger hair sprawled all over the papers, you noticed that he placed his mask on top of the table. he was also wearing a maroon button up, his usual uniform hung on the chair he was sitting on.

you saw that some ink was smudged on the paper from the quill he was holding, so you tried to take it away from his hand.

before you could even take the said quill, his eyes immediately shot open and grabbed your hand harshly, pulling you closer to him.

"and what do you think you're doing?" he asked, staring at you.

you blinked, surprised by what just happened. "i was-"

"trying to take advantage of me as i sleep?" he grins.

"what? no!" you tried to push your hand off him but he was much stronger.

"really?" he stands from his chair, pulling you even closer to him than before. his other hand trailed to your waist, his face getting dangerously close to your neck. "then what were you doing?"

you felt his hot breath hitting your skin, sending shivers down your spine. "i wasn't doing anything." you said, trying to remain unfazed by whatever he was doing.

he hums in response. he spots the already fading mark that he left you that night and smirked. "i told you, if you're going to do anything of those sorts you can always just ask."

"and why would you think i'd want to do any of that?"

"because you haven't pulled away from me yet."

your bodies were pressed so close against each other. you didn't even realize that your other hand had been gripping the edges of the shirt that he was wearing, almost as if it was begging for more.

maybe you did want more, maybe that night turned something in you and you didn't even realize until he came into the picture again.

you stared at his eyes, dull and clouded like the ocean. it reminded you of yourself back then, it irritated you how you could even remember your old self through him.

"so?" he waits for you to answer, his eyes darting at your lips then back to your [E/C] ones.

you knew where it was headed, you weren't dumb enough to not notice the way he stared at you, the way he held you. but you couldn't, it was wrong even though deep down you knew you wanted it.

"get off me tartaglia." you glared at him, placing your hands on his chest as you pushed the taller man away from you. "enough of the teasing, and don't get ahead of yourself."

you took a step back before things could go any further. childe just smirked as he placed his hands on the sides of his hips. "you think i'm teasing you?"

"trying to get a reaction out of me i suppose." you crossed your arms on your chest. "are you that into me?" it was your turn to put on a sly smirk on your face, wondering how he'd react to it.

he only chuckled, "it seems like you're the one getting ahead of yourself printsessa."

you knitted your brows, frowning at what he called you. "don't call me that."

"and why not?" he took a step closer to you, bringing back the distance you had with him earlier. "isn't that what you're known for?"

"you-"

"the dear princess who massacred an entire village at a young age. we were told you got executed by what you've done, yet why are you still breathing right before me?" he took a strand of your hair and began to twirl it around his gloved finger.

"shut up."

"i'm sure the people of snezhnaya misses you, printsessa smerti."

not being able to control your anger, your hand made contact with his cheek. the sound of the hard slap echoed throughout the room, childe's eyes widened from what you just did.

as your palm stung, you quickly retracted it back and turned away from him. no one said a word, you just walked back to the bedroom and covered yourself with the duvet, forcing yourself to go to sleep and tried to forget what just happened.

°

a/n: if anyone were to ask me if this story would be a happy ending; for the draft i have rn, i'd say its bitter sweet :0