An Encounter in the Abyss: Tartaglia/Ajax X Reader

Chapter 53: The Northern Light

***Y/N POV***

I sat at my desk; the study itself was large, with casement windows on one side showing a patio followed by the glistening lake outside. A bookcase near the room entrance held all the important books and research I had collected. Paperwork was spread out everywhere. Normally, I was pretty tidy, but I had just received lots of information, so there were lots to do. I filtered through the letters, putting each piece of information in order from where they came from and the date. Every member sent me monthly updates, with any urgent messages coming in ad hoc. Although I had the odd urgent mission to go to, most of my days were fairly dull. They don't tell you when you get a high-up job like this: you spend your time trying to sort out issues, and unless a task needs your attention, you won't get sent out as you were seen as a last line of defence if your subordinates couldn't cope. So except for a few exciting missions I had been on, most of the time, I was stuck sorting everything out. Apparently, her Majesty had been busy analysing information and was formulating a future plan to help us bring down Celestia, so we had not been called back yet, and I didn't see that happening for a while, unfortunately. So I was stuck here reviewing all the information.

Katie had joined the Knights of Favonious. She was a perfect spy and gathered information seemingly for us. She started at the bottom, but due to her extensive training previously in the Fatui she had already managed to rise a rank, making different friends along the way. Apparently, the Knights were having trouble with some of the Abyss monsters, but nothing too interesting was happening over there at the moment. The Fatui was not liked, but there was a sort of forced respect. She had also informed me that a particular wealthy redhead with a bit of power absolutely despised us for some reason and to avoid him where possible if I ever went as a harbinger.

I had sent Eleanor to Sumeru since she seemed clever. The problem was; that she was nowhere near as bright as some of the members at Sumeru Academy. I had debated asking Il Dottore for help as he was one of the cleverest people I knew, but I didn't want to be in debt to him; that thought just gave me the shivers. So I told her just to focus on learning things and reporting back. I had a few other people enrolled there, which cost a fortune to bypass their high entrance exams. But, it had finally started to pay off, and I had got some good information back. Eleanor had sent me some interesting books about the Dark Sea, Celestica and the Void Realm/Abyss.

I had planned to send Jade to Natlan since she was fairly strong, but I couldn't get myself to do that to her, as I knew to win in their fierce fights, the Fatui members I sent over would have to be enhanced by Dottore. So I sent over some experienced Fatui veterans who seemed willing to do anything to get stronger and help the greater cause. I allowed Dottore to take some of my blood as payment and experiment with that. He was interested in how my blood reacted to abyssal energy. It seemed like a good deal for me, but I didn't realise how much he intended to take and, as a result, I was out of commission for 4 days recovering. The 4 fighters I sent over had risen and gained a reputation for themselves whilst being uncovered in Natlan. In fact, I had to go over there for 4 weeks once to sort out an issue we were having. Long story short, Pulcinella had sent in multiple members of his team to try and figure out what was happening in a domain that had appeared, but none who entered had returned. Reports stated that this domain was very dark, and you couldn't see enemies unless you could use elemental sight. Since Childe was caught up in some other business, it came down to me. With my ability to sense enemies, I could get to the bottom of it, and I managed to bring most of the members back. The heat there was unbearable, and I was thankful to have a Hydro vision, but I don't want to go back any time soon.

I was about to go over my notes from my colleges in Fontaine when I heard a knock at the door. "Miss Clara Stella, I have got you some refreshments", I heard Pix's voice. We had agreed that they would call me by my Fatui name at work and by my code name when out in public.