A Winter's Tale

Going back

Preface:

Notes:

I wrote this story ages ago sometime in 2021. I'm not going to take it down now. Some things hurt, but deleting it completely hurts even more. Harbinger Trailer... Faces reveal... well cursed... damn it ><. Thought I had still a little more time before too.

It bugs me if some of the story parts are/sound -wrong- now, but it was just my idea of things at the time. And I don't feel like being ashamed of it or deleting a whole story now because of it or rewriting everything -____- (I wouldn't know how either. Should I switch Pulcinella with Capitano, but that also seems questionable and wrong to me).

Please no stupid comments about Pulcinella. Just don't say anything at all. Okay, thanks.

I just hope you all have read the story before already... if you are new to the story... just think to yourself.... he could've been handsome. I'm so sorry but truth to be told, mhy should be.

Here we go.

//

I am Tartaglia, but I am also often called Childe. I am the eleventh of the Fatui Harbingers, and I now lead a quiet life in Liyue.... much... too...quiet... In the evening I can listen to the same old stories that my grandpa, I mean crush, tells me. My wallet is also constantly empty, as I have already forked out a fortune to maybe end up with him. This is not the life I imagined when I was young. I miss the adventure and the fights. Especially the ones I can't win. I also miss Snezhnaya's cold winters and I never thought I would feel this way.... Speaking of cold... I still think very often about the man who once gave me the cold shoulder. What if I can't forget him?

They call me Pulcinella, I can't reveal my real name. As the fifth of the Fatui Harbingers and mentor to the new recruits, I have a lot to do. The winter and the battles in Snezhnaya are hard, but I have to deal with these sissies. I would much rather travel the world, but Pierro won't let me go, they "couldn't do without me." Yeah yeah, I know why. I dutifully do my job, but motivation looks different. A few years ago I was allowed to look into the enthusiastic eyes of my bravest and most talented trainee before he left the headquarters. No one ever must know that I miss and envy my Childe - he can go anywhere he wants now....

#

Emptiness. That was what Childe saw when he looked into his wallet. How he was going to finance the next meal, he no longer knew. Accordingly, he had to go to the Northland Bank.

"Sir Tartaglia, you must be careful, you are already deep in the red. Actually, I can't give you any more money," said the local employee. Childe tilted his head, not knowing whether to play the "But I'm a Harbinger tour." But basically, he thought it was pathetic himself that he had invested thousands and thousands of mora in a man who was dating him but had yet to let him doing it with him, even though he was really trying everything. By now he also knew that it was Liyue's Archon and that was the problem - everything had a price. He was beautiful, educated and sexy ... and one day he would be at his feet. Only, a little more mora would probably have to be poured.

"All right. I'll sort it out. Can you put me through to Pulcinella?" he asked, leaning impatiently against the counter. When the lady finally thrust the teyvat-phone into his hand, he was quite grateful.

"Hi. Childe, you call again, huh?" he heard the voice of his Harbinger colleague and, as he once were, superior.

"Um... yes... I thought I'd check in again," Childe replied a bit shy, biting his lip. Hearing his voice after a long time was kind of strange. However, it didn't sound as intriguing as usual due to the crackling on the line.