Arlecchino
'How troublesome.' The fourth of the eleven Fatui Harbingers sighed.
The journey from Fontaine had taken longer than expected. Complications in the nation and in transportation held her back, and now Arlecchino was unsure if she'd even make it in time.
She walked off her private boat and was immediately greeted by her subordinates.
'The attack should already be underway…' She still hadn't gotten the location of the mansion as she left Fontaine before she could be informed. So she would have to wait for her agents to notify her of any important updates.
A vein appeared on her otherwise stoic face. The fact that anyone dared to take one of her children made her blood boil.
Who knows what those people had done to her children? She'd make sure to make their end a drawn-out and painful death.
That was her first reason for wanting to personally assist in the raid. It was both personal and for her image. If any noble found out she didn't punish those who dared cross her personally, then they would no doubt act again.
Not that they don't do so anyway, but at least they'd be hesitant.
She walked through the port and towards one of the House of the Hearth's buildings. Two of her children followed close behind.
'And if our reports were right, then Auguste Verrhault should be there as well.' This was her second reason for coming personally.
House Verrhault's close ties with Fontaine's judicial machinery made the man extremely valuable for her specific operation.
Arlecchino had planned ways to convince the man to assist her in a professional collaboration. But after this revelation, she was glad she could go with a more… direct method.
She was sure she could make the man work for her.
No matter how much "convincing" it took.
She entered the building, and multiple agents greeted her once more. She responded in kind but quickly made way to her office for the reports.
A Fatui Agent was waiting for her in front of her office door. They bowed their head slightly, "My apologies for the delay, Father."
"No need to apologise. To expect such a delicate operation to go smoothly would be naive. You've done well, all things considered."
The agent lifted his head and handed her some files, "These are reports and updates for the attack on the mansion today. Along with a full debrief of the compound raid three days ago."
Arlecchino raised a brow. The mansion files were expected, but why would the compound be relevant right now?
"Did something go wrong in the raid?"
Her question made the agent pause. "...Not exactly."
She waited for him to elaborate.
"Our infiltration team was caught and mostly killed in our first attempt. But the last one alive, Henri, was saved by a third party."
He paused as he tried to recall the name, "I believe his name was Ren Roman."
'Oh?' Arlecchino couldn't help her surprised expression.
Oblivious to the thoughts going through her head, the agent continued. "Ren Roman ended up helping us with the final compound raid after getting clearance from Commander Ivan, along with support from Volkov."
Arlecchino was intrigued. "...And how did the compound raid end?"
The question actually made the agent flinch, which only made her more curious. "The compound was identified through intelligence gathered from Henri. Ren Roman was assigned to the infiltration team but disappeared before they set out… Once the team arrived at the compound…"
Her eyes narrowed slightly.
"The entire compound had been… cleared by Ren Roman."
"I see." She hummed in curiosity, "Thank you for the files, I'll be sure to read them thoroughly. But prepare transportation for the mansion attack right now."
"Yes, Father." Without another word, the agent left Arlecchino to her own thoughts.
She eyed the files in her hands.
"How interesting…"
/ — /
Ren
"So, that's the place, huh?" Henri called from his side.
"Yeah. Hard to believe there's such a large place in the middle of the forest." Volkov responded.
Ren stayed silent as he stared at the large building. The building itself was already absurdly big, but the area around it was unreasonably wide.
He, Henri, and Volkov were positioned high in the trees at the edge of the forest. The rest of the Fatui force stayed far back to not risk being detected.
The three of them were assigned to go first due to their strong stealth capabilities and because no one could stop Ren from going first, even if they tried.
Volkov pointed at something, "There."
Ren narrowed his eyes and spotted figures patrolling the area.
'What the hell?' What patrolled the mansion's outskirts weren't human guards, but humanoid mechs.
These were nothing like any mechs he'd seen… Well, the only mechs he'd ever seen were Ruin Guards and other similar machinery. But they were large weapons of destruction. These mechs were sleek and most likely agile.
He extended his senses toward one and frowned.
These mechs were powered by Elemental Energy, but with something else mixed in there. If he weren't looking closely, he'd have missed it entirely with how similar it felt.
"Damn, looks like they really do have mechs." Volkov cursed, "Gardemeks are a pain to deal with, and Fontaine nobles have them in spades. So be careful."
"Noted," Ren responded.
Teyvat just got weirder and weirder. How the hell was Liyue the center of economic activity when a nation like Fontaine has tech like this?
He eyed the area near the mechs and found a spot where the forest's shadow extended far enough to reach them.
Turning to Volkov and Henri, the three exchanged a silent nod as Ren submerged into the shadows.
He moved through the darkness until he arrived near the two mechs. He emerged from his body the moment they went past him and summoned Geo from the ground to impale them instantly.
It took around three Geo spikes before they stopped moving.
'Sturdy fucks.' This could be a problem. While a few mechs could be dealt with easily, facing a dozen or more, each with weapons and presumably firearms. He wasn't sure he'd be able to deal with it without using his stronger moves.
Which was worrying, as if there was anyone remotely competent or strong in the mansion, he could risk getting worn down before getting to them.
Henri and Volkov dropped down beside him a moment later.
"We'll handle the rest of the Gardemeks," Henri said, nodding towards his fellow agent. "Go find the dead god remnants and deal with them."
Ren nodded, and the three went their separate ways.
He extended his senses again, looking for a specific wrongness in the area. He'd never seen actual dead god remnants before, but he had a feeling that it felt similar to Karmic Debt.
It didn't take long for him to sense something not too far away.
A crunching sound was heard from somewhere in the area, which was probably either Henri or Volkov.
Without wasting another second, Ren rushed towards where he sensed the energy.
He arrived in front of a hollow metal box with black-purple energy swirling inside it like it was alive. Which was unsettling, as the thing was called dead god remnants.
Walking closer, Ren realized that these things were similar to something else he'd seen in the Chasm.
'It's like that Chasm sludge. Gross.'
He quickly discharged raw CE at the box. The dark energy resisted for a second, but dissolved not long after.
Ren took care of the rest faster. Already knowing what he was looking for, he quickly exorcised all the dead god remnants, and the area was cleared.
The moment the final remnant was exorcised, Ren let out a shuddered breath that surprised himself. He didn't realize that he'd been so tense around the remnants.
"What the heck…" He looked at his hand, realizing that it was trembling slightly.
"Why is this—?"
"Roman!" Volkov's voice shouted out.
Ren stopped his thoughts and turned his head to see Volkov with 7 other Fatui operatives. Cicin mages, skirmishers, and the bunch.
"The scouting team got a clear read on the building. Without the dead god remnants messing with their perception, they spotted a smaller building next to the mansion."
Volkov didn't need to say anything more, as it was enough for Ren to get what he was insinuating.
That was where the trafficked people were being held.
Ren's eyes narrowed, "Let's go."
/ — /
Ren sneaked through the mansion's courtyard with a group of Fatui's as another team moved to cover the exits on the main building.
They stopped at a nearby patch of trees not too far from the smaller building. It was hard to get a look at what was in there as the building basically had no windows.
Henri appeared out of his invisibility mode, "Alright, did a quick check around the building. There are a lot of trafficked people there, at least nearly a hundred or more."
Ren's stomach churned as his heart rate increased. But he held back and waited for what else Henri had to say.
"There are a few armed guards and a handful of mechs. So taking them out shouldn't be a problem."
"The issue is how to eliminate them without risking the victims," Volkov added.
Eyes turned towards Ren, and Ren didn't need to be told twice.
"I'll send you all a signal after I take care of the guards."
Volkov nodded, "We won't be far."
Without another word, Ren submerged into the shadows again and surfaced near the building's perimeter.
Slowly, he moved towards a large gate to enter the building, but had to hide in the shadows again when a pair of mechs walked by.
They seemed to be walking in a loop around the building, but their weapons weren't in any ready position. So they still must not have found out about the mansion attack.
Seeing the opportunity, he waited until they crossed paths and slipped into the shadow of the nearest one as it passed.
He held his breath as the mechs walked inside the building and moved through the shadows to the shadow of a couple of stacked crates.
Emerging just his head, his eyes narrowed once he saw the inside of the building.
People held in cages. Men, women, and even kids quivered in fear as the Gardemeks walked past.
From this spot, Ren also spotted 3 guards, each holding a gun.
The guards themselves won't be much trouble, but Ren was more worried about the mechs.
Gardemeks wouldn't care about collateral, they just needed the target eliminated. But the guards would be more cautious as they risked being killed if they didn't do their job.
So Ren decided to take care of the mechs first.
Submerging through the shadows and into one of the mech's shadows, he found his moment and emerged with his blade in hand.
In an instant, he took both heads off in one motion. The metal bodies hit the ground with a loud thud.
'That's definitely gonna get noticed.'
It did. Immediately, guards shouted from inside the buildings, and the people in cages cried out, startled by the noise.
"W-What's going on?"
"Mama, I'm scared!"
Ren tried his best to stay calm through all the shouts as his eyes locked with one of the guards who raised their weapon towards Ren.
But he was faster, his hands already in a hand sign as Vader and Yoda tore out of his shadow, going towards two guards and disarming them before they could get a shot off.
More startled shouts appeared as Yoda threw one of the guards across the building.
Ren looked around for the last guard and lost his breath when he finally spotted the man.
He was holding a woman by the hair with his weapon pressed against her temple. Slowly backing towards the exit as the woman shook in fear.
The man noticed Ren's gaze and pushed the gun harder towards the woman's temple, "Back off, or I'll blow her head off!"
Ren's blood boiled at the woman's cries, and his eyes glared fiercely at the man. But even with all his rage, he still didn't move.
'I can't attack him outright, or he'll hurt her.'
He lowered his sword and raised both his hands slowly, while meticulously shaping them into another hand sign.
The guard gained a little confidence after seeing Ren's surrender. His hold on the gun wavered slightly as he started to reconsider whether he should actually retreat.
But that hesitation cost him.
The moment the gun drifted an inch off her head, Toad's tongue shot up from the guard's own shadow and wrapped around the weapon, yanking it away.
"What the fuck is that—?!"
In the blink of an eye, Ren had already closed the distance. He grabbed the woman and pulled her away, putting himself between her and the guard, and gently pushed her away.
"Shit!" The moment the guard saw Ren take the woman, he tried to run.
But Ren was faster and caught him by the collar without any effort. He grabbed the man, throwing him over his body and down to the ground with force.
His hand hovered above the man's chest without thinking, already preparing to summon a geo shard and crush the man's heart. He'd done this plenty of times in the compound raid. It wouldn't even take a second.
But something stopped him.
With a sudden clarity, his eyes moved to the people around him. Their eyes were locked on Ren, both in fear and anticipation.
They didn't know if Ren was here to save them or if he also wanted to take them away.
What took Ren's attention the most was the terrified gaze of a small boy.
They'd already been through so much, and if Ren brutalized this guard in front of them, it would only traumatize them more.
What they needed was comfort and reassurance.
It didn't matter if they were saved physically if their hearts were only further damaged.
So with great reluctance, Ren stopped his extension and just punched the man clean in the face. The guard went out cold instantly.
The building went entirely quiet as the remaining people stared at Ren in anticipation.
Ren wasn't a savior or a hero, but if that's what the people needed right now, then there was no harm in pretending.
He turned towards a terrified girl in a cage and gave his most gentle smile, "Don't worry, you're safe now."
The instant he finished his words, sighs of relief rang out in the building, and soft, relieved sobs echoed throughout.
Hope filled the people's eyes for the first time in who knows how long as their savior emerged not from the sky, but from the shadows.
"Yoda, tell the Fatui to get in here."
Yoda immediately ran outside and let out a howl.
The rest of the Fatui arrived a moment later and quickly got to breaking the cages open one by one.
Some of the freed people were too shocked to say anything, but almost all their eyes were fixed on Ren. They stared at him with wide eyes filled with grateful tears, and Ren didn't know how to respond to such a sight.
It only took a few minutes for almost all the cages to be emptied. Ren was ready to head out to the mansion himself, but he spotted one last cage near the back.
A woman was curled around a small child, both of them shaking, and when one of the Fatui skirmishers reached toward the cage door, she flinched back hard enough to hit the wall.
She wasn't taking anyone's hand. Not like this.
'No, STAY AWAY! Someone HELP ME—!' The memory flashed through Ren's mind, making him hold his head in pain.
Ren walked past the soldiers, trying to calm her and crouched down a few feet away, making sure he wasn't too close.
With a quick hand sign, he brought out a single Rabbit Escape.
Both woman and child jumped at the animal's sudden appearance, and were unsure how to react.
Slowly, the rabbit hopped forward, slow enough not to scare the mother-daughter duo. It pressed itself against her leg, gently rubbing itself on it.
The action seemed to do the trick, as her breathing slowed, and her grip on her daughter loosened just slightly.
Even the kid's hand hesitantly went out to pet the rabbit, and the rabbit leaned into her touch, making her chuckle.
"Don't worry, you're safe." Ren held out his hand, "No one will hurt you again."
She stared at his hand for a long while before slowly taking it, her other arm still wrapped around her kid.
Ren slowly brought her up, and the Fatui handled the rest.
Once the building was fully cleared, Ren summoned Orochi and told it to accompany the freed people and Fatui out of the area.
As he watched them go, his mind immediately locked onto the actual mansion.
He was itching to move on, to let loose as he did back in the compound raid.
But he was a man of his word.
He wouldn't do anything out of hand until the Fatui found their guy.
But the moment they did…
The things he'd do would make the compound look like child's play.