TW: Azar, needles, poison, mention of murder
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"You are exasperation."
The man in front of you doesn't hesitate to show such a dry tone. His eyes are burning of anger, just like his face, while the people behind him are glaring at you with disgust or whatever synonym to these types of expressions.
Sitting on a rather comfortable chair, you blankly stare at him, not showing an ounce of emotion.
"When you have first been assigned to this university, you have agreed to follow the rules and all the requirements to study here."
"Not even you have broken several of our rules by illegally experimenting or going on expeditions without authorization, but you also put your own classmates in danger; to the point some lost their lives!"
His fists slam onto the dark wooden desk, which resonate inside the room along with his voice. Your expression _ however _ remains unchanged.
"Mad, crazy, psycho... Those were the kinds of words the students referred you as. And from where we are now, I can tell these rumours were actually true."
"Mind control and corruption, what the fuck is wrong with you to make these kinds of experiments, especially on a couple of our students..."
"Most of them are only in a coma. The others are just having memory troubles, but that was expected." You speak up; however you couldn't hold a small chuckle. Your stare never leaves the man's; his anger is burning even more.
A silence install inside the room, none daring speaking. The man leans toward you, his brown eyes piercing inside yours.
"You are not only mad or a psycho M.(L/N), you are a monster. No human beings would behave like you did." He then gets back to his position, his glare not leaving yours.
"(Y/N) (L/N), you are officially expelled from the Akademiya. You have a week to pack your things, and you will not be allowed to set a foot back in this prestigious place. Now get out of my sight."
"Lovely, I will not have to see morons like you."
You scoff, stand up and casually leave the room, not wasting your time by greeting the Grand Sage or any of his fellows behind him.
Your expression is still neutral, but you are burning of anger inside. The Akademiya was supposed to be an asset for your experiments and would have allowed you a good place among the scientists, but of course, your experiments aren't accepted among the university.
Born in the nation of Liyue, precisely in Qingce Village. You have lost your parents at a very young age and was taken under the "village's chief's" care. You never had interest in what happened to them since the person you are counting as your parent is the one who educated and fed you all these years, aka Granny Ruoxin.
She has always considered you as her own child, though she sometimes struggled to make you follow some rules, such as not running in the forest alone or being back before dark. These rules seem like the normal rules given to children by their parents; however, it has taken a long time before you started to follow them at the slightest.
You never liked playing with other children to some games of hide and seek or whatever they are used to do. You wanted to see a bit the world from outside, becoming an adventurer and exploring each corner of Teyvat. Every time granny went to Liyue Harbour; you have always asked her to bring back some books about the world and adventure.
Quite looking like the average child's dream, right? Well, this basically ended when you were 17 years old. Granny wasn't at her best and asked you to pick some berries in the nearby forest, which was an easy task for you since you knew the place like your pocket.
As you arrived nearby the abandoned village, you spotted a weird fluffy looking creatures surrounded by hilichurls. It was the first time you have seen this kind of thing in real life. You have read a book talking about a place underneath called "The Abyss" and that monsters were living in there, just like the one before you. The book theorised that the "Abyss Mages" could mind control hilichurls and other kinds of creatures so they can do as they wish.
The mage ordered the Hilichurls to attack a Cicin Mage that was passing by. The way they did as it wished without an ounce of hesitation and all the strength they were putting in it was incredible. You were staring from afar at the scene, peeking behind a tree, until the Fatuus eventually fall to the ground.
For some reason, it made a tilt in your head and your only thoughts were about this kind of magic and power. How great can it be to have control of people and make them obeying you without hesitation? In other words, you developed a great for everything that concern power over others.
When you were 18, you have travelled to Mondstadt to find some books about science and the human anatomy. You started to take a liking to the domain of science and biology, and your path was now all traced.
A few weeks after coming back from Mondstadt, Granny introduced you to a doctor who got graduated at the Akademiya a couple of months ago in only a few years. Named Baizhu, the doctor offered you a job at his pharmacy where you have learned quite a lot of things during these years by his sides. He was only 5 years older than you, but his expertise in medicine is really amazing.
He easily became a close friend of yours, and after a year, he suggested you to enrol at the Akademiya in order to have a diploma and being able to exercise any job concerning science you wish. He even used his connection to this academy to give you a guarantee to study there.
And here you are, or mainly were, studying at the prestigious and famous Akademiya, located in none other than the nation of wisdom, Sumeru.
After slamming the door of the Sage's office _ which attracted a lot of attention toward you _ you stormed through the corridors of the academy, and as you walk, students get out of your path, as if they knew you would let your anger out on anybody in your way.
Whispers and murmurs were heard as people stared at you, but you are used to them. Your reputation matters not to you. The opinion of people about you was never a bother.
As you walk in direction of the exit of the building, your breath gets heavier and heavier, exposing more and more the anger burning inside you. You would be ready to kill anyone who gets in your way, and it isn't a hyperbole.
You finally reach the doors of the Akademiya in two minutes only. As you counter the fountain, you cast your Akasha in it.
You know that those devices are made to have a view on people. You knew it since the beginning. This is why your trafficked it so it would only let you have access to some information without being spied.
You could feel some people's eyes widen at the sight since it would mean "rejecting the wisdom offered by the greater Lord".
Well, fuck this wisdom and Lord, your privacy and life isn't the Akademiya's business.
As you get out of the building, you take a deep breath of the fresh air and you remove your hat. You just cast it on the ground, receiving some glares from the guards at the entrance.
You take a look at the wide green landscape in front of you. On a hand, you don't want to leave a nation full of cultures, beauty and mysteries waiting to be solved, but on another hand, you know that you wouldn't be left alone if you stayed here.
During your years of studies at the academy, you have heard some rumours concerning a certain student that has been fired due to his craziness and that he had to leave the nation as well.
You could tell the student in question did exist and got fired from this school; you have found some notes from him in some books or during some expeditions. You quite wished you had met him; his notes were interesting and helpful concerning some stuff.
But well, it's good to have dreams.
"(Y/N)!"
A voice called from behind you and fast footsteps could be heard as well.
"I've seen you in the corridors, and you looked upset. Is everything alright?"
Matthew. He is a student who was in your class. For some reasons, he was the only one who approached you and talked to you when it wasn't necessary or required. You do know one of the reasons is that you caught his eyes, but you don't think it is a good excuse to come to you for some chatting. Even after all the incidents you have purposely caused, but they were counted as "accidental"
Average NPC. Dark brown hair, deep blue eyes and a bit sportive, Matthew was usually called handsome or good looking by other people, though you have never taken any interest in him.
You slightly turned your head, only enough to be able to barely see him from the corner of your eyes.
"I appreciate your concern, but my feelings are none of your business." You have always replied to people in cold and distant ways. You never wanted to associate with the students or the staff. They are all looking so suspicious. You get off of the barrier you were taking support on and start walking toward the stairs to leave him.
"You have always been a distant person, but your sudden anger is quit-"
"I have been expelled, is that enough to you? Now I would require having some peace, and besides, I don't think it is a great idea for you to be seen near a madman."
You don't let him a chance to reply at your dry tone and climb down the stairs. You easily disappear among the crowd of people so he won't follow you.
You walk without a goal through the streets of Sumeru City. These streets have always been extremely animated: dancers, singers and merchants were always presents, no matter if you were in an alley or one of the main roads. It is quite different from Liyue's streets that are mainly flowed with merchants and restaurants. There weren't that many artists there.
You let out a small sigh to calm yourself down a bit and decide to drink something at a tavern so you can take a few thoughts about this news.
After 15 minutes of walking, you eventually arrive at the tavern and sit at an outdoor table giving a view on the forest and large river.
A waiter quickly arrived to take your command. You asked for apple cider. She immediately leaves to prepare the drink and you lay yourself on the table with crossed arms.
The first thought that came to your mind was the Akademiya. This damn school was your only chance to get a proper diploma and allow you to have a great place among the scientists and researchers. You want to make the Grand Sage pay for what he just did to you.
It is no need to have a big brain to know that you cannot attack the Grand Sage directly and easily, so you need to do something that would piss him off.
You redress yourself and put a hand on your mouth to think. One of the Grand Sage's greatest interests is the Akademiya. To make the Akademiya work, you need students.
Students... You have heard yesterday about a certain masquerade coming up in a few days. Blowing up a whole building like that would only cause too much attention. You need to do something discreetly and that would piss off the old hag.
You slam your fist on your other hand as an idea came to your mind. You have excellent capabilities in chemistry, why not sharing a bit of your abilities? You could create some sort of drug or poison to sicken the students and send a wonderful letter of thanks to the Sage.
Wonderful plan. You will just see which poison to use later.
The waiter comes back with your glass, and as soon as she gives it to you, you grab it and drink a good sip of the delightful and cool drink.
You contemplate the landscape and daydream for a while.
When you finish your drink, you put down the glass and deposit the payment near it. You reluctantly stand up and walk back toward the Akademiya so you can go to your room and start packing your stuff.
~~~
You finally arrive inside your messy room, with only the light of the sunset from the window lighting the area.
You close the tall door behind and lay on it. You let out a small sigh and your eyes land on the wooden even more messy desk. Papers were scattered all over the place, all full of registration and formulas.
You peacefully walk toward the furniture and let yourself sit down on the chair. You quickly assemble the sheets in one pack, pick a blank one and put it right in front of you.
You think about writing to Baizhu about your expulsion so he no longer sends letters to this address here.
Or at least, to let him know that the birds you both are using to send letters must be educated to send letters elsewhere.
Both of you kept writing to each other from times to times. He asked news about you every months, and you were usually writing to him for advices concerning some works or other things. You have never told him about all the incidents that happened, or at least told him they were accidents and you weren't the entire cause of them.
You softly take your feather, outs it down on the paper and starts writing.
"To Baizhu,
Good day doc.
The purpose of this letter isn't about advices or any troubles concerning some work. Actually, you won't need to worry about these kinds of things anymore.
Let's get directly to the topic: I have been expelled from the Akademiya.
The reasons of this expulsion are not the most pleasant; one letter would be too short to explain in details so we could maybe talk about them when I will be back in Liyue.
And don't tell anything to Granny yet; she would be worry as always, so I will find something to cover everything.
I don't have future plans right away, but I will surely go back to Liyue and keep studying chemistry through books, even though it won't be the same as at the Akademiya.
I will contact you in a few days when I will depart from here.
Best regards
(Y/N) (L/N)"
You re-read the paper to check if everything is well written, fold and attach it to your bird's leg before letting it freely fly toward Liyue Harbour. You let as well the window open in case if the letter arrives at night so the bird will be able to deliver his reply to you. It has taken you both a while to educate these birds to go from the Akademiya to Bubu Pharmacy, but at least both of you managed.
Baizhu told you he was privileging birds over post office since these animals are quickly delivering letters. Indeed, it should only take 3-5 hours for it to reach the pharmacy.
Well, now one thing is done. Next thing to do is to clean a bit this dump before starting to create the little gift-poison for your little colleagues.
~~~
"Now onto the mixture." You whisper as you bring the poison you extracted from the almonds to a colourless liquid. Actually, it is only distilled water.
The amount of cyanide you have collected is enough for the poison to be dissolved into the water so it will still have effects. You have purposely taken the right amount so the victims won't die immediately.
From your speculations, it should start having some effects between 8-15h after ingestion.
You calmly stir the solution with a little stick, waiting for the poison to be dissolved a bit, and hear some soft and low sounds coming from your window.
A bright blue bird lands on the edge of your window, and you notice a paper attached to his claws. You turn around to fetch some bird food and give it to the small animal.
You caress it a bit and slide away the paper from its paw.
You go back to your chair, sit down and unfold the paper. As you expected, the doctor writing style is telling you this letter is from Baizhu. He replied faster than you expected.
"Dear (Y/N),
I was starting to read a letter sent by the Akademiya at the moment your letter arrived, and to be honest, I was a bit worried something happened to you.
It surprised me that you got expelled. I am glad that your expulsion is due to 'unacceptable behaviours' and not bad results.
"Sick experiments" is the only reason given in the letter from the academy. They asked me to come to Sumeru City for a briefing of the facts, but I had to refuse due to my disease.
I probably have forgot to mention that the Akademiya are really strict concerning experiments and researches, and if they find that they are "susceptible to interfere with their way of governing", they would not hesitate to expel you. At least, that is what we could see with a certain student who tried to make "enhanced humans" as he called them.
In all cases, what is done is done. Now, if you wish to come back to Liyue, you can be sure that the door to the pharmacy is still wide open for you. Concerning your Granny, you can be sure you will be the first one to tell her what happened.
For now, pack back your stuff, and get rid of the Akasha as soon as possible (strangely, you can dream again once you have removed it or are far from people who wear it).
PS: I received the letters from the Akademiya because your granny asked me to put my name as your responsible. She would also not really understand everything about these academic stuff, with all my respect to her.
Take care and see you soon,
Baizhu"
You sigh as you read the letter. Welp, he doesn't seem mad but he would probably wait for you with crossed arms, his golden eyes piercing right inside yours and would ask for explanations.
You would have also really liked to have known before about him being sort of "responsible of you" while you were studying here and about those tendencies of the Sages. At least he confirmed about the suspicious activities concerning the Akasha.
You fold the letter and out it aside. Now, you must focus on your poison since it won't make itself alone. And you are almost done with it.
~~~~
Three days have passed since you have been expelled, and tonight is finally when the masquerade will occur.
Your stuff is almost all packed, and you just need to clean the room as well as put two or three things is your bags. Then everything would be ready.
For tonight, you decide to wear something quite elegant yet a bit casual, first to not immediately be recognised by everyone since you don't seem like the kind of dude who would wear elegant stuff, but also because you have the right to shine a bit.
You decide to wear a black dress jacket with a dark red dress shirt. You added a white tie with a ruby on it, and a small chain is linking the two sides of the collar of the shirt. The mask is assorted with your clothes, some small red gems are decorating the sides. Simple but elegant.
You give yourself a last look on the mirror before grabbing your wallet to put it in your jacket's inner pockets and exiting your room. You brought everything that could be necessary for this evening: some homemade smoke bombs, the cyanide, Mora. Only the necessary.
The school's halls are empty and quiet. Only your footsteps can be heard. The silent it so deadly that the sound seems to resonate. The other students have probably already headed toward the place earlier since it is already 21h30 (9h30 PM).
The party occurs in an underground "building" or rather market in the capital. You have seen the organisation and people putting the furniture in place a few days before.
You walk in the dark streets, and a feeling of being followed starts to install itself. You turn your head. Nobody is here.
You start to walk again at the same pace, still getting mentally ready for a fight, though the secret is to go to a place filled with people since nobody would try to attack you there.
You have taken some defence class with Madame Ping for a few years, but you know that the best way to win a fight is to first avoid it.
After minutes of walking, you eventually reach destination and enter the Grand Bazaar. You hope that the supposed person following you will stop since it could lead to grave consequences if they caught you drugging some drinks.
Or you will simply have to get rid of them...
The place is already crowded with a lot of people, all dressed in elegant clothing, following the theme of today's party.
You find a free table to sit and look at the surrounding. You don't pay much attention to the background since your only focus is the students. You recognize most of them; some have been in your class, while some only by view. Fortunately for you, no-one seems to have recognized you.
A waiter goes by and asks you what you would like to drink. You go for an apple cider again, since you don't plan on drinking much tonight.
Students are dancing with their partners on the dance floor as classical music passes by. It kind of looks like a ball if your opinion was asked. You would have also preferred something based on Sumeru's culture; their music and everything you have encountered in their culture were beautiful.
The waiter rapidly brings your drink, a drink you don't drink immediately. Your eyes caught two students leaving their table to join the dance floor, their glasses still full.
You get up and walk toward their tables, looking around that nobody is paying attention. From your small handbag is taken out a tube containing the colourless poison.
With a graduated pipette, you pick some of the poison and put it right above the drink.
As you were about to put a drop inside, you feel a tight grip on your wrist, making you jump a bit.
Fuck, you have been caught in the act.
"T-t-t-t... What do you think you are doing?" A man's voice is lowly saying from behind and he rapidly turns you around for you to face him.
Eyes widened, you try to hide your fear and remain calm.
The man has light blue hairs, with two wavy strands at the front. He wears a black suit with dark blue accessories. The top of his face is hidden by a mask that has a similar form to a bird's beak or something in the style.
While one hand is gripped on your wrist and the other is holding yours by your waist in order to keep you close, the man brings the tube near his face and smells it before putting it a bit away.
He then smirks at you.
"Cyanide, am I right?" He chuckles and shakes his head.
"Drugging a glass is old game and not discreet at all. Let me show you how to poison successfully someone."
He lets go of your wrist, picks the two tools in your hands and puts them in your jacket pocket. With then gently grabs you hand, the other still on your waist, and brings you to the dance floor.
You find it a bit awkward to dance with a stranger just like this, though it is only because you didn't find other choices than agreeing.
"So you actually have no-one to dance with that you are forcing the first person you see to dance with you. Am I right?"
"Am I already a bother to you?" He asks with a mocking tone.
"It's not like I had any choice but get along with you." You send him a dark look.
"We always have a choice."
You two are dancing at the same path as the music goes: calmly yet imposing.
He is the one leading, forcing you to follow his movements, and you rapidly notice he sometimes gets quite close to people.
At a moment, the man brings your hand between you both, and lightly kisses it. You frown, wondering what he was doing until you noticed one of his fingers holding a syringe like a hook. He grins at you and hide the syringe between you both's hands.
He then brings you near a couple peacefully dancing and as you both pass by them, the blue haired man dives a bit the syringe injects the liquid in the woman's body.
As expected, she puts her hand behind her neck _ where the dude picked the thing _ as if it was a mosquito.
Right after that, the music stops, letting people know a new song will be played. Everyone in the dance floor stops dancing; some are staying there while the others are leaving to get a drink or something.
The man makes a sign indicating you to follow him, which you did. He brings you to a table and calls a waiter to order a drink. He chooses Fire-Water while you choose a Monaco. As the waiter goes away, the man looks back at you, a smirk on his face.
"I hope this little demonstration is instructive to you." His tone sounded so calm while you just give him a look and nod.
Your gaze then goes toward the people present at the party. You will try to ask for a syringe to this weirdo so you can try his method by yourself.
"Interested in the students as I can see." He just says and takes a sip of his drink. Your head immediately turns toward him.
"Would you mind telling me why you are targeting especially the students?"
You just silently stare at him with his smirk still present on his face. What kind of question is that? This man will probably not expose you since he poisoned someone too, but you don't really see the point of telling him the how and the why.
Though, this man already sort of helped you, so to make a fair thing, you think it wouldn't be too bad to tell him.
"I got expelled from the Akademiya." You just say with a cold tone. His smirk grows a bit.
"Oh really? I wonder what would make them expelling such a young looking person. Usually, it is the students who are asking to leave." He answers on a half-amused way.
"Would you even understand?" You roll your eyes and glare at him.
For real, this weirdo is getting on your nerves by being curious. And the worst is that he seems to enjoy the fact you are annoyed.
"Well, I am quite familiar with the Akademiya, as well as science."
He takes a sip of his drink as you silently stare at him. You sigh and bring your glass in front of your lips.
"Rules broken. And illegal experiments." You swallow a bit of your drink.
The man chuckles a bit and adds: "What about the people you purposely murdered and kidnapped?"
You immediately cast the drink in your mouth into your glass as you hear these words. Some people turn around to glare at you before minding again their own business while you stare with wide eyes at the guy in front of you.
He chuckles again and puts his hand in front of him for you to shake it.
"Il Dottore, 2nd of the Fatui Harbinger. Also known as The Doctor."
Your brain makes a tilt as you hear the name.
Il Dottore... This is a name you are familiar with, not in a bad way actually. You have heard about him quite a lot during your stay at Sumeru. Some people said that he attended at the Akademiya but got expelled, and some said that he found a cure for the disease called "Eleazar". But what you mainly understood about him is that he is high ranked among the Harbingers and is extremely dangerous. "Never interact or try to deal with him" professors used to say.
"(Y/N) (L/N)." You shake his hand, "A man like you must not have come here for frivolities. Is there any matter you would like to talk about?"
It is now your turn to play the curious one. The Fatui Harbingers must be extremely busy, meaning Dottore wouldn't just come here without any reasons. What's more, he seemed to already know who you are, even before you introduced yourself. He must be that one person following you earlier.
"Direct, I like it. You saw it right; I am not here for nothing. To make it quick, suspicious activities concerning a certain student _ you _ has been known by the Fatui, and after collecting more information about your experiments, it has been decided to meet you in order to suggest you a place among the Fatui."
You raise an eyebrow. Sure he didn't say everything so it is a bit weird to hear, but what makes you more concerned is the fact you were even known by the high ranked.
"Aren't only Snezhnayan allowed to work in this organisation?"
"Of course not." He grins at you, "I am from Sumeru. You could even see that a lot of us aren't from Snezhnaya."
"And what place would I get among the Fatui? I don't want to be a pity soldier who doesn't achieve anything. I worth more." You say with confidence.
"Of course, of course. You would directly become my assistant for sure, and by the path you seem to take, we will get along lovely. If your skills are becoming greater and greater, you will just keep being promoted to a higher rank."
You think for a bit at the proposition. You have no plans on what to exactly do now that you got expelled from the Akademiya. If you return to Liyue, you would probably end up working with Baizhu; but if you choose to follow Dottore, you may learn even more since his experiments are quite known to be "sick". You would also be able to work on your goals and chemistry in exchange of your loyalty to the Cryo Archon.
Of course, you choice is quickly made.
"I don't have any clear plans concerning my occupations since I am expelled from the Akademiya. I would be grateful to work with a great scientist such as you. I would be more than glad to accept you offer."
A grin appears on his face.
"Perfect. I hope you won't make me regret hiring you for this job."