Heat Lighting [Scaramouche | Reader]

17 - again... really?

You and me, always forever
We could stay alone together
You and me, always forever
Say you'll stay, never be severed
—Always Forever-Cults—0:18—

—

"Come on."

Scaramouche led the way to the coast of Tsurumi Island. The crashing of waves onto the shore sprayed the sand with foam. The scenery was beautiful by the sea; a never ending fantasy that spilled across the islands of my home. The experience of this beauty was soured by the mood that hung in the air between the two of us.

I didn't know where we were going, neither did I care. We left the small cottage in the morning and I followed the man silently to the shore of the foggy island. A rifthound followed behind me as well, occasionally brushing up against my side. When I wasn't giving it attention the animal licked my arm to make me laugh. It was at those moments that Scaramouche looked back with his permanent scowl and I watched it soften a bit when he saw me smiling. A cold stare was reserved for when wanted me to follow him faster.

My heart was cracking as I felt a feeling of finality as we were moving toward the salty waters. Cold, dark sky was lit up with stars as we walked underneath it. It reminded me of what Scaramouche had said to me so long ago.

"The stars are only open to those who can touch them. Those select few people can either go right up to them and verify their contents, or stay down here without ever coming to a conclusion as to what they mean."

"But we know what the constellations mean."

"The constellations tell stories, they inspire people. We do not know what the stars hold for us, fate cannot be decided by such arbitrary things. Though the expression that one's fate is sealed at their birth is... moderately true."

A shiver went down my spine as we stopped just before the water could lap at our feet. Was my fate to end up in such a precarious situation sealed at my birth? Would my parents have known that I would become such a troublesome child? If fate was not decided by arbitrary things then why did the stars seem to shine down so pridefully as if they mocked my position in the world?

There were so many questions I could've asked; so many questions I wanted to ask Scaramouche. A seething heat was building upon my chest but I willed it to disappear before the man standing next to me took notice. If he felt anything he didn't make it known. A simply sigh escaped his nose as he turned to face me, and the cold breeze blew past us as we stood in front of the ocean. My hair was tussled by the wind but before I could reach up to fix it, Scaramouche held his hand up to move pieces back into place.

My face grew warm. The blush was unlike anything I had ever felt before. Warm, red, and docile, the feeling brewed in my stomach before slowly traveling up my neck and onto my cheeks. The man's eyes were not focused on mine as he leaned in to inspect each strand to see if they were correctly positioned, yet I felt so unnaturally cared for. The warmth of the gesture was so uncharacteristic, his fingers gently brushing my skin as if I would shy away, and it caught me off guard. The welcome feeling of having someone look at me with such calm passion was never one I never took for granted, so I leaned in and held on to it for as long as I could.

Scaramouche's eyes finally met mine after he was satisfied that my hair was returned to its prior state. Their indigo color held my own eyes hostage as he spoke.The stars that reflected in them captured a look that gave away his emotions.

"We're going to leave for Narukami Island now," Scaramouche started and his voice came out choking. I could've sworn there was a painful watery sheen covering his irises, but he continued to speak. The rifthound behind me whimpered and nudged its head into my side.

"I- I'm..." He started to speak but nothing coherent came out.

"You what?" I whispered, barely audible over the sounds of water crashing around us.

Scaramouche shook his head and allowed his shaking hands to take refuge on my cheeks. His cold fingers spread around my ears and he leant his forehead into mine. I took both of my hands and mirrored him with my hands on his arms. The scared, trembling voice of Scaramouche sent the fear growing in the back of my skull to start exploding across my brain. He was nervous, but why? With me he never acted this way. His confidence seemed to dissipate in a matter of seconds when he looked at me. Scaramouche's eyes searched mine, for what I would never know.

"I... I'm sorry," He rubbed his thumbs over my cheeks with a face painted with regret.

My fingers gripped his arms, "Sorry for what? What's wrong?"

I tried to find an answer from Scaramouche's face, but nothing came from my search. He simply stroked my face and I felt a goodbye coming on. Where was he going? I didn't think he would leave me again so fast. Last time he did I couldn't focus. His face was shrouded in darkness until it was softly illuminated by the purple shine across his own chest and back.

Progress. Progress that we had made would be lost. Progress towards a solution. Progress into normalcy. Progress that would be discounted for the sake of whatever he needed to go do. Progress that created my emotions for him. Progress that changed those negative emotions into more positive ones.

"Are you leaving me again, really?"

My voice came out barely a whisper. I felt his fingers loosen from my face and drop to his sides. He said nothing. His mouth was open but no words came out. My chest felt like it was going to cave in, as if a hole had formed right above the center of it.

"Scara."

"I'm sorry, love. Goodbye."

The world folded in two and my body landed on the ground at Grand Narukami Shrine in front of the Sacred Sakura. The heat that Scaramouche had quenched returned to my hands and my anger pulled at my body left and right. I was exploding in a bright light of purple. My body was on fire. Hot, burning fire that consumed me whole.

I screamed. My vocal chords strained to release the gritting noise and the heat extended past my body to fill the space around me. Red and purple sliced through the air and the breeze around the shrine stopped as I my emotions took over. My throat burned with the noise that escaped it.

"NO!"

—

A scream cut through the air as the pink haired woman walked back to her shrine on top of the mountain. Her brow furrowed, who is that? She walked faster to where it sounded and found the girl she had sent away a week ago to be on her knees shouting. The shrine priestess gasped at what she saw and told the shrine maidens to send for the Divine Priestess of Watatsumi Island.

[name] was having an energy overload. Miko did not expect this from the girl, not one bit. She thought she was ordinary and somehow met the demise of being tracked by Scaramouche. The more Yae looked at the woman she knew, she knew that was not the case. She tried calling out to [name], but it was no use. Her energy flooded the space around her body and cut through the air much like Ei's did at the 100th Vision Ceremony. But Ei's energy was controlled, contained in a small box of a puppet, never to leave her order.

There was something off about [name], Yae couldn't put her finger on it. Her hands glowed reddish purple and when she raised them in the air they sliced through the fabric of time and space. Reality bent and [name] created her own domain. The hot red-purple light made Yae gasp as she ran to enter the gap into the girl's new world where she was tugging on another life force with her power.

"Heat Lightning."

—

a/n;

i'm back, even though school is taking me out rn </3 how did you like the chapter ? i'm working on more ideas but the story is catching up to my plot set up . i haven't played genshin in a while so i'm afraid no sumeru content will be included (i started the story before sumeru came out ㅠㅠ). remember to drink water and have a little snack <3