erased || dottore ✓

eighteen

Once back to his lab he had taken a tight hold of her hand, "the notes are in one of my offices here. Some of the things i have written down may be a bit confusing for you, but .. well, you don't need to understand everything that's on them."

He pulled her along. The carriage long left behind as they entered the lab.

Now's my chance!

As they walked she tried her best to memorize each turn and twist they made. It was difficult, but she needed to memorize for later.

She had to.

"Here," he said finally. Stopping at a door, "this room is one of my offices. The notes are more detailed than any others I tend to write."

"Why is that?"

He smiled, "because, the research for these notes are a tad bit more important."

She .. decided not to ask any further on the subject.

Once he opened the door though, she was quickly greeted with a well organized room. A desk sat the far end with a few stacks of paper sitting on top of it.

"The pile on the right is a copy of the ruined notes from the forest. Feel free to look at those first."

"Huh? Where are you going?"

She turned to look at him when she noticed his presence leaving the room. And with his hand on the doorknob he gave her a tiny smirk.

"I'll be right back, just need to check on something is all."

She gulped when he closed the door. Her eyes looking over to the notes that he had mentioned.

Gathering any courage she could find, she went to the desk and sat in the chair (which was way more comfortable than she previously thought). Looking towards the notes then, she carefully plucked up the first page.

She dearly hoped that whatever she was about to read ... was only going to be good things.

But ..

She highly doubted that.

Shaking her head and briefly skimming the contents, she noticed how there were many dates.

"Well," she said letting out a deep breath she didn't know she was holding, "let's see what the Doctor was researching in the woods back home..."

• I recently came upon a village that was well hidden within a forest. The terrain is much like Sumeru despite the village and forest being situated in Mondstadt.

• The scenery. Despite it being similar to Sumeru - both the plant and animal life was the same as Mondstadt's.

• Many days have passed now, I haven't found anything unusual. The village people towards the east of the forest don't like the fatui though. Which is to be expected.

• I recently came across a young woman who was probably a little older than me (or, at least, older than this version of me since I'm a clone). Her name was Vella. She introduced herself kindly and without fear. She was an odd one. She didn't have a vision.

• i met Vella again. She was hunting in the woods by herself like she was doing previously. She told me about her sister who was the same age as this clones body. And a little brother. A fiance. Along with a grandma who wasn't long for this world.

• i shared my condolences with her about her grandmother despite not actually caring. Finding a way into the village is way more helpful than not.

• Vella recently told something interesting to me about the village. It had unique materials. The materials consisting of plants and rocks that were only native within the forest, and that only an advance hunter who was accustomed to the terrain would be able to find it.

• getting into the village and finding the already obtained materials would be more efficient.

• i saw Vella's sister today. Her name was y/n if I recall. I didn't introduce myself or make myself known. It was clear that the girl was training and trying to work hard to become a hunter for her village.

• Y/n was just what I needed. I could use her to find the materials I needed if I couldn't get into the village.

• i tailed her for a few days. She had quite the knack for scavenging for materials. I was impressed by her knowledge over such things. Though, it is quite apparent that she lacks common sense and any knowledge pertaining to the sciences.

• y/n isn't very strong when dealing with hilichurls. She mainly runs from them.

• she trips a lot over uprooted branches

• she ... doesn't like the archons very much. And she doesn't like visions eithe. "A waste of time" she had said to herself.

• y/n wasn't in the forest this time around. Vella was. She seemed very concerned with how Arthur (her fiance) was acting.

• Vella started to talk to me more about Arthur's behavior. Noting as to how he was getting violent.

• from what Vella was telling me, Arthur had grown more and more interested in the hilichurls along with the idea of Khaenri'ah. I understand his interests...

• Vella, over the days, had grown increasingly worried over her siblings safety. Arthur was planning to use them for an experiment. No, a sacrifice. He wanted to see if sacrificing human life would then turn a hilichurl into a human being.

• y/n and Laphi (Vella's younger brother) were the prime sacrifices.

• Arthur-

"You certainly got far, now didn't you?"

She jumped when she felt his hands on her shoulders. His head bending down close to her and she couldn't stop herself from making a small sound from the way his breath tickled her ear.

Regaining her focus, she pressed the notes down onto the table, "what is meaning of this?!"

She tried to sound mad, to sound as if she was demanding answers. But, in reality, she knew she sounded scared. Confused. And lost.

Dottore pressed his lips to the shell of her ear, "I'll be more than happy to explain it to you, my darling."