mania! ➺ tartaglia

twenty one.

"Here. Go again."

You were currently practicing on your fighting strategies with Childe. You honestly didn't think you needed to, but he insisted on it. Your eyebrow arched at his request.

"You're not tired yet? We've been going for three hours now.." You stated, stretching your strained neck while he simply chuckled amongst himself.

"You're not ready yet, and we don't have much time, anyways." He responded, causing you to dismiss your polearm and cross your arms over your chest at what he had said to you. At your sudden gesture, Childe looked at you expectantly to pull your weapon back.

He huffed after you wouldn't budge.

"You have to take this seriously. Fighting and defeating two Harbingers will not be a piece of cake-"

"Why the sudden loss of faith in me?" You boldly asked, assuming that he had switched his feelings about you becoming a Harbinger so fast. Though it was all a part of your own plan to find out more about your delusion, you couldn't help but feel disappointed in his behavior.

Childe seemed to hesitate, and then finally, he let out a sigh and raked his hair back with a hand, "I.. do. I just think we should prepare more.." He muttered, finally getting rid of his water blades in order to see eye to eye with you. You didn't expect it, but he ended up holding out a hand towards you, offering a small smile, "It's for the best. I am confident in your abilities, and I know that you'll pass the test with ease." 

You didn't believe his words for a second, but you were too tired to argue with him. Biting back a scoff, you nodded and pulled yourself together, one blazing weapon prominent in your fist. 

He smiled. 

"Good. Let's begin." 

Though the thrill of battle was no longer present for you, it certainly had not faded away for your opponent. He still enjoyed going head to head with you, just like he used to do when the two of you had been mere clueless teenagers and nothing more. A sudden memory had been triggered.

"This is Y/N. She is the newest Harbinger.. The divine twelfth." spoke La Signora, one perfectly manicured hand on the shoulder of a girl who stood tall, looking straight forward as one of her superiors spoke. Childe took a few steps forward, and then stopped in his tracks. 

You appeared to be around the same age as him, or perhaps even younger. It was intriguing, since now he wasn't the only new Harbinger. 

He gave you a gentle smile. 

"I am Tartaglia.. Number eleven of the Harbingers. Pleased to finally meet you." 

While training, he had heard a lot of talk go around about you, some of them rumors and some of them not. You had been under the Tsaritsa's care for as long as you could remember apparently, and now, at age 18, you had finally earned your title of the twelfth, just around the same time that your colleague had earned his title as the eleventh. 

You didn't say anything as Signora left your side to attend to other matters, until the corners of your lips curled upwards, greeting the ginger with a wicked grin. 

"I heard you like battle. Show me what you've got." 

Those words had easily managed to stupefy the boy as he stared at you in disbelief due to what you had said. Though his seniors would always encourage him and his need for bloodshed, he thought that you would have been different for some reason, but you were exactly like him, or maybe even worse. 

His once friendly smile seemed to morph into the same nefarious smirk that you had given him before he pulled out his bow. That was your first clash with the eleventh, and it certainly would not be your last.