Past Lives || Dottore

4

The snow crunched beneath her feet, the soldier just barely in front of her. He walked through the snow with ease, simply ignoring the fact that he was carrying the suitcase he picked up from her a while back. Y/n looked away from the soldier, feeling awkward. The walk was taking a long time, and she didn't even know what to look for. At this point, her mind was starting to wonder if this whole thing was a good idea, or if the soldier was leading her into a trap.

She really hoped it wasn't a trap.

"Almost there, Miss. Y/n." He said, breaking through her worries.

Oh, thank God. She thought.

A harsh wind blew through the trees, kicking up snow and forcing the two to pause their trek. The cold wind stung at her face, her blood rushed to her face, warming it up quickly. She loved that feeling.

When the cold bites at ones' faces and forces the body to warm it up, when the warm of the blood is just enough to keep the skin from freezing. It was times where the wind was harsh and gave no mercy where she truly felt alive. Y/n inhaled deeply, feeling the air sting her lungs. The soldier looked over at her, staring for a few second before saying something.

"You..." He trailed off, almost like he was unsure of what to say. "You really like the cold, do you?"

Her head moved to look at him, a shy smile growing on her face. "I do, yeah. I'm the only one in my family that likes the cold this much."

The soldier nodded, turning back forwards. "Interesting." He mumbled. His voice went back to his normal volume, asking a few more questions. "Have you always liked it like this?"

"Well, no." She chuckled lightly. "I used to hate it. The way that the cold seemed to hurt after a while wasn't appealing to me at all. It was my sister to loved it at first." She grew silent, a somber look on her face. "Then she grew sick and couldn't go outside without her condition getting worse and, I guess I found out why she like it so much."

"May I ask why?" He said, moving carefully through the trees.

"I guess the reason was why I hated it in the first place. The way that the cold hurts when you breathe, and the way it hurts in general. My sister taught me that the most beautiful things are the most painful things." She laughed lightly, following the soldier carefully.

He stayed silent, which made sense. Not even Y/n knew what to say to that, but sometimes silence was the best reply.

The two of them continued walking and eventually, they broke through the tree line and arrived at their destination. Y/n stared up at in shock. It was a well-built house; it was painted dark, -whether it was to blend in with the trees or stand out against the snow, she didn't know- just barely 2 stories, but she had a feeling that there were more underground than aboveground. Clearly, the home was cover for the lab underneath.

Her mind trailed back to the vial. It felt like such a long time since she last laid eyes on it, but in reality, it was just a few hours. She pulled it out of her pocket carefully and looked at it. The glow was bright against the white background of snow, and she just hoped that he wouldn't notice it.

She pocketed the vial and walked up to the front door, where the soldier was waiting patiently. If he saw the vial, he made no comment on it. He probably knew better, as such color was Dottore's color.

Y/n reached up and knocked on the door, the echos of the knock reverberating through the house. She pulled away from the door, suddenly terrified at what could be on the other side. She knew it was too late at this point, and she knew she couldn't leave even if she wanted too.

The trek into this place was too long, and they took too many turns for her to get her bearings in the forest. The white of the snow would work against her, and Archons forbid if there was a snowstorm. She could've left earlier, back when she just left the house, but she had a feeling Dottore would use his clones to find her and forcefully put her in this house.

In short, she was fucked.

The door creaked open, a child appearing on the other side. The child looked up at Y/n, smiled, and pulled the door wider. "Come in L/n Y/n. Welcome to your new home." He looked over at the soldier and scowled. Such a face felt unnatural on a child's face, but it seemed to fit the character.

"You may go." The soldier nodded, turned, and left. His footsteps crunching in the snow disappeared as he went into the forest. She turned her attention back to the child, who seemed to have taken her stuff inside to who knows where.

Y/n walked inside, shutting the door behind her. Looking around, the inside of the house seem larger then the outside. She had heard of such magic before, but she never imagined it would be used outside of Liyue.

Inside, there were at least four stories, the staircase in the middle of the hall leading both up and down. She imagined that there some type of elevator, but if there were she couldn't hear any mechanism.

The child appeared again, smiling up at the grown woman. "This way, I'll lead you to your chambers." He turned and left, leaving Y/n to follow him around like a lost puppy. She couldn't help but feel ashamed, following a child like her life depended on it. If her sister were here, she would've laughed.

"I'll be your guide until you can find your way without my help." He said, his footsteps  echoing through the hallway. "I do hope you won't be using this new information to try and escape, it would be a big shame if I would have to help the others clean up your corpse."

Y/n froze, staring at the child with horror. How could such a small thing say something so horrific, and nonchalantly too?

"Hurry, I don't have all day." He called.

"R-right." God, she's going to have to adjust quickly.