eternal flame | tartaglia x reader

Chapter Eleven

You're surprised, to say the least, when you wake up in a room alone. For a moment you wonder if last night was just a nightmare, just a worst-case scenario made up in the deepest subconscious of your mind as you slept. That is, until you take a moment to assess the situation you're in. Physically, you feel as spry as could be, though there's plenty of evidence that suggests you're not actually doing as well as you feel.

First and foremost, you did not wake up in your own bedroom. Looking out the window, you immediately recognize the scenery as Wangshu Inn. When you take a moment to look around the room you're in, the large bed and fancy decor, a spike of panic strikes you at the realisation that you're in a luxury room. You don't have the money for this- how are you going to pay? With Maksim's debt-

The world freezes for a moment.

Maksim.

You look down at your arms and notice that the sleeves of your shirt are singed down to the elbow.

Ah, that's right. It all comes rushing back.

The memories are a fresh wound that leaves a bitter taste in your mouth, but you're overcome with even more confusion than before. Who found you? How did you get here?

You head down to the front desk in search of answers.

"A young man dropped you off here last night," Verr Goldet says.

It's just your luck that the inn is owned by possibly the most reticent person in the entirety of Liyue. No matter how hard you press the woman, she doesn't divulge any useful information.

"And you're sure that you don't know who he was?" you ask again, furrowing your brow further.

"He did not provide the inn with any identification, no," the owner replies, her face blank.

You repress the urge to roll your eyes at the woman. She's obviously well-versed in evading questions.

"Okay, I'll be back later to settle my bill," you sigh, finally giving up on getting any useful information out of the woman. You turn around to retreat to your room. If you're already paying for one night you might as well get another nap in before you return to the harbour to inspect whatever's left of your house.

"There's no need," Verr Goldet calls out behind you. "He already paid. The room is yours for the next month. Enjoy your stay."

It's strange, the way that the flow of emotions work. Last night, you felt so much, so intensely that you couldn't bring yourself to escape from a flaming house. Now, the next day, you don't even feel a pang of sorrow as you stare at the ashes of the scorched building you once called home. The damage isn't all that extensive, somehow the flames seemed to be contained to the doorway and front portion of the house. You probably have enough mora saved up to rebuild it, now that the wedding is off. But really, what's the point of living in a house alone? It's probably better to abandon ship now and leave all the decisions up to Maksim. Really, it's the least he can do.

You decide that your lack of feeling well- anything, when it comes to Maksim, is a concern for later. Right now, you focus on packing your essentials to bring back to your room at the inn. The grief, the suffrage, the rest can wait for later.

A knock on your door interrupts your third nap of the day. You muster up the small amount of determination you have left and open the door, feeling goosebumps rise on the back of your neck as you take in the person standing there. The uniform is both familiar and not, the sharp edges and blacks and greys are what makes you recognize it as belonging to a member Fatui. You keep your eyes glued to the ground, refusing to let your voice waiver.

"I won't help with his debt. I have no association with him anymore, it's not my problem," you state, attempting to shut the door once you're done speaking.

The Fatui agent with the weird uniform sticks their boot in the doorframe, stopping you from closing the door completely.

"You're no longer associated with him?" the agent asks, and his voice isn't distorted like agents' usually are either. It's almost familiar.

You squeeze your eyes shut and shake your head in response, not trusting of your voice to stay unwavering for another sentence.

"Can you look up at me?" the agent asks, and now his tone is dipping into something meek, something a little bit shy.

You open your eyes but don't move them from the agent's pair of shoes.

"Look at me, y/n."

There's something about the way that the agent speaks your name that has your head whipping up, your eyes darting to meet his-

" Ajax," you breathe.

Momentarily, you wonder if this is all just a big dream. The debt, the fire, the Pearl Gallery, the conversation you're sharing with your estranged childhood sweetheart.

"It was you?" you ask, unable to do anything but gape at his presence.

"It was. Sorry, I would have come by earlier, but the bank keeps me busy just about all day long," Ajax flashes you a sheepish smile.

You nod in understanding. Though you'd like to chastise him in your head for acting all too casual, there's something heavy looming in the air.

"You can tell me what happened," you say, "I can take it."

Ajax sits down on the bed in the room with a sigh- and there it is, there he goes acting all too casual for the situation. In any case, you sit down beside him, crossing your legs and waiting for the story to unfold.

"I didn't know that it was your house," Ajax starts. "I handle debt collection at the bank, and a patreon wasn't paying back their loans, so I went to check up on it. Once I showed up, all I saw was a house on fire. I heard coughing coming from inside so," he taps on the hydro vision hanging off of his waist.

You glance down at Ajax's vision, and definitely not the strip of his abdomen exposed by the unbuttoned portion of his uniform.

"You passed out in my arms so I brought you here and had the boss lady call a doctor to make sure that you were okay. That's about it."

Well, at least Ajax wasn't stalking you.

"Can I ask, is Maksim..." Ajax trails off rather quickly, but you understand what he's trying to ask.

"Yeah, the same one from Morepesok," you admit.

"And when you said that you're no longer affiliated with him?"

"We were engaged. Now we're not."

You pray that Ajax doesn't press any further, because there's really no telling how you might react. Ajax has always been your wildcard, someone who causes you to do and feel things that you don't understand. Luckily, Ajax says nothing else.

"How interesting that we met again in Liyue, I mean, talk about coincidence," you say to fill the silence.

Ajax stands up with a small smile. "Some astrologers claim that our fates are all predetermined. They're as good as written in the stars."

He takes a few steps towards the door before pausing and fishing something out of his pocket.

"These are yours, I wanted to make sure that they went directly into your hands."

Ajax drops something into your hands and makes a swift exit, without even giving you a chance to say goodbye when you still have so many questions.

You don't even have a chance to go after him, as you find yourself rooted to the spot. It's like you're finally awake for the first time in your life. The fog that's been plaguing your mind all day clears, and you can finally feel .

In your hands sits two items- your scorched engagement ring and a pyro vision- glowing in all of its glory.