eternal flame | tartaglia x reader

Chapter Ten

A few hours later, the front door swings open, "I'm home, my love," you hear Maksim call out.

You don't reply.
"Y/n?" he calls again, this time a little bit louder.

Eventually, he makes his way into the kitchen, where he immediately spots you, letter torn open on the dining room table. You see his face pale once he takes in your undoubtedly angry expression.

"A week, Maksim!" you exclaim. "You have a week to get 100,000 mora!"

There's no other way to describe the look on Maksim's face than as one of pure guilt.

"I'll get it, y/n, I will, just listen-"
"I won't," you cut him off. You really can't stand to listen to excuses right now. "You'll get the mora, and then I'll listen. I'm going to bed now." you declare.

You don't bother to look at Maksim's expression before turning around and walking to your bedroom, closing the door behind you.

You don't see Maksim the next morning. Or the next night. In fact you don't see him any of the days for the week after that. You're busy in your own right, taking care of paintings and other artwork that you've been commissioned for, and you don't have time to chase around your fiancé all day. So, you're only left to hope and pray to the Tsaritsa herself that Maksim has gone off to make back the mora that he owes.

However, by the time that the sun is setting, one week after the Agent delivered the letter of warning, Maksim still hasn't returned with the money.

And so, for the sake of his future, of your future, and of the future you share together, you set off to look for him.
You're quite well acquainted with a good amount of the residents of Liyue Harbour by now, and they all try to be helpful in locating Maksim. Though you practically have to shake it out of him, Shintou, the jade vendor, admits that your fiancé's been hiding out at the Pearl Gallery for the last few days.

"The Pearl Gallery?" you repeat back to Shintou, whose face seems to be coated in a layer of cold sweat.

"Listen y/n, Maksim said that-" the man starts, eyes glued to the ground.

You see red for a second, you're still being asked to listen? Pathetic.

"I don't want to listen anymore," you seethe, spinning on your heel and taking off towards the Gallery. If Shintou is calling out after you, you can't hear it over the sound of ringing in your ears.

The boatman, Pinghai you believe his name is, transports you to Pearl Gallery in silence, and it feels like the longest ride of your life. The silence of the boatman, the gentle rocking of the boat, it all feels like a calm before a storm.

First lightning strikes before you even have a chance to set foot on the deck of the Pearl Gallery. You can see Maksim from your seat on Pinghai's boat. He's relaxed, he's smiling, and then he's pressing his lips to some woman's mouth.

Something snaps inside of you.

"I'm sorry, but could we just return to the Harbour?," you ask Pinghai. Your voice is barely a whisper.

The man doesn't reply verbally, but turns the boat around.

It's like you're looking at a series of paintings or photos from a kamera, the way that you recall the next moments. Each footstep feels heavier, each breath you take is more laboured. By the time you finally reach your home, you can't find the strength to move a step further from the inside of your front door. What you thought was anger bubbling up inside of you, has turned into a white-hot pain.

It hurts.

You feel like clawing your heart out of your chest, it hurts so, so much. You can't seem to catch your breath, and you quickly realise it's because of your sobs that you're practically gagging on. When did you start crying?

It doesn't matter now.

The pain of your heart quickly spreads to the rest of your body and it's all red, white, flashes of memories and the engagement ring on your finger burns, and you look down and realise that it's literally red-hot. It's not just the ring though, it's the entire house. Your sobs turn into coughs and you're choking on the smoke from the flames that engulf your house. You're confused because the flames seem to be coming from your hands and that's not possible- it can't be.

You know that you should stand up- should turn around and leave the burning house, but you can't. You close your eyes instead because you're tired, you're so tired. You decide that maybe this is it- maybe this is enough.

You must really be reaching your limit because the next time you open your eyes you see hands wrapped around yours, long fingers and thick calluses that feel strangely familiar and for some reason- nothing is on fire anymore, but it smells like smoke.

"You need to stay awake," a voice tells you, and you can't help but smile at the sound. It's just like Ajax's.

And you're so tired, but you think that you might be okay now that you've heard his voice one last time.

So you close your eyes again.