The Tsaritsa's Vessel (Diluc x Female Reader)

What Life You Had In Store

Reader POV

"Run, (y/n)!"

Those were the final words of my dying father, as an icy arrow pierced his heart. My tears dry as I ran to the icy woods.

My father was the last of our kin to protect me from the Fatui of the Tsaritsa. It all began when one day, the whole of Snezhnaya was engulfed in purple light, of which I was said to glow green. We never knew what that meant until a Fatui came to our doorstep informing me, my parents and older brother that I am the most suitable candidate for a certain ritual that will prolong the reign of the Tsaritsa. Later on, my brother learned that suitable candidates will be possessed, their bodies to contain the Cryo Archon, and the soul of the possessed will perish.

But my family, despite how powerless we are against a God, would not allow my life to be sacrificed. My family do not believe in the Tsaritsa's and the Harbringer's sense of justice, mainly because not even an ounce of prosperity trickled down to the poor villages, and given the stories from the foreigners who visited our village of the misdeeds of the Fatui operating all over Teyvat.

That's why we tried to flee to many villages, but would eventually be found by the Fatui. One by one, my brother, mother, and father died before my very eyes. My heart was ripped repeatedly open and I am agonized by each loss that sometimes I do not know why else do I keep fleeing when I know someday I will be inevitably caught.

But I cannot and I will never let them die in vain. I must live the life that my family wished for me— my future that they protected with their life.

But is it really just my future? For life to be at stake, it must be something much greater.

And so I will run and hide as much as I can, until someday, maybe, I could find a place to start a new life. For my family's sacrifice, I will make sure it happens — no matter what.

~~~~~