Into Madness [Scaramouche x Fem!Reader]

Chapter 8 - Memory

He was gone when the morning came. 

Pushing the still-warm sheets off your legs, you sat up, the events of last night still fresh in your mind. It hadn't been easy to spend the last of it by his side, and feel him leave, the ghost of his touch still lingering on your palm. But you had to face the fact that it was over, and that you'd let him go.

It wasn't until you'd pulled back your tousled hair that you realized you had failed your mission.

Panicked, you scrambled around the room, looking for something, anything, that might hint to where he had gone. 

But what good will finding him do? You'd made your decision, but you also knew that you couldn't bear to take him back to the fatui, after what he'd done. You didn't know what it would entail, but you'd been in the fatui long enough to guess.

Lost in your thoughts, a spark in the corner of the room caught your eye. Bending down, you examined it. 

Your eyes widen as you take it in, the glimmering purple shape flickering in the dim light. 

It was a stone, crudely chipped off yet glimmering with electro all the same. You knew it immediately to be a fragment of power, as the sparks that fizzed around it seemed far more brilliant than any electro crystal. 

You picked it up, almost dropping it as a shudder went through your body. It was harmless enough, at least. 

From the tabletop, however, was a note concealed underneath. Written neatly in what you could only assume to be his handwriting. Your heart racing, you opened it.

"On the off-chance you were able to find this, congratulations. One would assume that with the almost nonexistent abilities of perception someone like you would possess, it would be quite a struggle. But since it is you, y/n, I assumed you'd be able to do it."

Yup, it was him, all right.

"Though my own actions seem to confuse me, I have left you a message nevertheless. On top of this letter is a fragment of my catalyst I have left behind. Don't worry, it's small enough to be harmless yet decorative, so I do hope that you will keep it. In case you were wondering, it doesn't affect the usage of my weapon in the slightest, so don't delude yourself with any excess intentions you may think I have. 

That's all I'd really like to say, but if I wanted to add something else as a closing note, I'd ask you not to forget me. Hopefully we shall meet again after I rise to godhood."

Huh. 

You didn't expect him to write so much, but holding the stone gently in your hand, you tucked it close to your heart. 

It was hard to forget him, alright.

Making a mental note to yourself to turn it into an amulet, you closed your eyes with a sigh. It was hard to accept that this would likely be the end to everything, that you might never gaze upon those cold, lavender eyes again.

You planned to stay in Liyue for a few more days before returning to Snezhnaya. You were still loyal to your nation, after all. You wouldn't give it all up for him, and you liked the logical part of you that seconded this notion. As a newly made Harbinger, you doubted the Tsaritsa would demote you, as you had proven yourself numerous times, and it was normal to be bested by a fellow harbinger way upward from your rank. 

There would be punishment, of course, but you'd faced the fact that there would be the moment you let him go. 

Scaramouche would've had it way worse had he been the one to return to Snezhnaya.

Well, I guess that's it, then. It's time to enjoy what time I have left in this nation. Bringing a leftover cup of tea to your mouth, you flinched at the surprisingly bitter taste.

Had Liyue's tea always been so bitter?

Massaging your mouth, you noticed something was wrong, especially the light sizzle of electro that danced around the liquid's edges. That dammed traitor scum.

He'd clearly drunken from the same cup not too long ago, if signs of his delusion remained. It was likely left from when he'd split his catalyst, and the sting that came after the overwhelmingly bitter flavor after your drink seemed like another message, a reminder that he was gone.

The tase certainly fit well with the situation, and you forced yourself to finish the rest of it, drunk on the strangeness of it all. Savoring ever last drop of that tea as if it were the last you'd see of him. 

The following two weeks days that passed were very much the same, and as you checked out of Wangshu Inn to leave for Snezhnaya, a glimmering purple amulet now on your neck, you gazed forlornly at it. 

Perhaps you'd come visit again, if opportunity arose.

Yet as you rose to depart, you toppled to the ground as a splitting headache struck without warning. Clutching your skull, you writhed against the pain and dots that swam in the corners of your vision. 

It was unlike anything you'd ever felt, and as the seconds passed, you felt as if you were going to die. 

But worst of all, were the trains of thought the leaked into your mind, thoughts and memories that were yours but also surely not your own, as if watching the world rewrite your memory. Yes, you'd become harbinger, somehow, after Signora's passing, but why had the rank of 8th Harbinger been empty for hundreds of years?

It hurt.

Archons, it hurt.

Yet as a sudden, sharper pain lit your senses on fire, you felt the dampness of blood on your fingers, combined with a hot, shocking sensation. 

You must've cut yourself on your amulet. 

Wait, amulet? What were you doing with an amulet again? It must've been somehow important to you, but you couldn't remember.

"That's all I'd really like to say, but if I wanted to add something else as a closing note, I'd ask you not to forget me."

A voice flooded your thoughts, so familiar, yet foreign to your senses. You could've sworn you'd surely heard it before, but where?

"If I wanted to add something else as a closing note, I'd ask you not to forget me."

"I'd ask you not to forget me."

"I'd ask you not to forget me." 

Who?

But as the amulet in your hand stung you again from your open wound, a name surfaced, from the very depths of your thoughts and a trail of memories that surely should not have existed?

Scaramouche.