"You're outnumbered, Duke," said one of the Fatui members. "The Fortress is already ours."
Wriothesley scanned all of the enemies. Even though, he had defeated a large number of foes in the past, he had never been in a situation like this before. There were about 45 Skirmishers, 3 Electro Cicin Mages, 1 Cryo Cicin Mage, and 1 Wind Operative. He knew the Cryo Cicin Mage and the Wind Operative were going to pose the largest threat for him.
"Tell me," Wriothesley spoke. "Is this Arlecchino's doing?"
The Fatui members began to laugh eerily.
"Father only ever cared about stopping the prophecy," answered one of the Fatui Skirmishers. "We used to work under her, but not until she devoted her resources to helping the people of Poisson out. Can you believe that? A Harbinger "helping" people out. It's a disgrace."
"So, you all went rogue? Don't you Fatui also have a code to follow? You really think the Knave will let you get away with this?"
"Father gave up on Infiltrating the Fortress plan," added another Skirmisher "So, that's why another Harbinger had to take over. We just switched our alliance."
Wriothesley scoffed. "Sandrone, then..."
"Nope!" laughed the Cryo Cicin Mage. "Try again!"
"It can't be that fool, Childe-"
"Hey! He may be a fool, but he's hot!" The Cicin Mage yelled. "Don't you dare talk shit about my future husband!"
A second Cicin Mage scoffed. "Your future husband? Are you dumb? He's obviously going to marry me. We actually have a thing."
The third Cicin Mage chimed in. "You must be both out of your minds. You see these earrings I'm wearing? He gifted me it! So, he's obviously mine!"
Wriothesley's head was pounding now. Another headache was forming. He was about to name another Harbinger when the Wind Operative interjected.
"Enough of this bullshit! Focus on the goal! Lay this Duke to rest already!"
"Leave this to me," said one of the Cicin Mages, taking a step forward, her electro Delusion at the ready. "I can take the Duke alo-"
The Cicin Mage's shield was instantly broken and she was frozen to the core by Wriothesley by a single charged attack.
"Don't underestimate him!" cried the Wind Operative. "Everyone, attack all at once!"
The Fatui members rushed at Wriothesley from all sides. The Duke used all of his experience and cryo abilities to hold them back. He managed to defeat 20 of the Skirmishers and the remaining 2 Electro Cicin Mages single-handedly, but his stamina was quickly draining. There was just too many of them.
He needed to take out the Wind Operative, who kept attacking from a distance, but he couldn't do it with all the heavy-hitting Skirmishers in the way. And he had no idea how he was going to face the Cryo Cicin Mage, knowing that his cryo vision would do little damage. His normal, charged, and plunging attacks could do only so much.
Fuck...
He dropped to his knees after taking multiple heavy blows to his stomach. His face was riddled with scratches. If only there was someone else that could keep the Skirmishers and the Cryo Cicin Mage at bay, he could deal with the Wind Operative.
If only...
The elevator finally arrived to their floor. There was a sudden burst of pyro in the area that blasted the majority of the Skirmishers backwards. A Grin-Malkin Cat appeared, moving around freely, making its way towards the Cryo Cicin Mage.
Confused by the cat's sudden arrival, the Cryo Cicin Mage stared in disbelief at the somewhat cute appearance before her. Then, like magic, Lyney appeared out of nowhere, leaving nothing but a large burst of pyro damage behind him, instantly defeating the Mage.
Lyney glanced at Wriothesley kneeling, and scoffed. "This doesn't mean that I like you or anything. I just noticed something was off when I recognized some of the House of Hearth members upstairs."
Wriothesley was surprised by Lyney's sudden appearance as well, but unlike the Fatui members, he didn't allow this to stun him. Instead, he jumped back to his feet and made his way directly towards the Wind Operative, dodging all her attacks along the way.
The Duke and the Fatuus faced off, but ultimately, Wriothesley had the upper hand. He unleashed his own elemental burst. The last thing the Wind Operative saw was a purple sword that exploded, and she was instantly defeated.
Wriothesley now turned to Lyney. For the first time, he was grateful that the annoying magician hadn't left the Fortress. He wanted to apologize for thinking that he may have been one of the bad guys. But instead, he said something better. "Thank you for the assist."
Lyney's cheeks flushed pink for a second before his normal, envious expression returned. "Whatever. I'll take care of the rest of these damned Skirmishers." He pulled out his bow. "You go on upstairs. They're everywhere. Lynette and Sigewinne are keeping them busy in the Dormitory Block, but even they can only do so much."
"And (y/n)?" Wriothesley asked, worry evident on his face.
"...we couldn't find her."
Without another word, Wriothesley entered the elevator and ascended to the upper levels, one-by-one.
[Unknown POV]
"Wake up, pretty girl~" the mysterious cloaked figure said in a sing-song voice.
You jerked awake. You looked around the room and noticed that you were tied to a chair smack dab in the middle of the topmost floor in the Reception Area. Normally, there would be several workers here, but now it was completely empty, aside from you and the cloaked figure.
"Who are you?" you asked. "What the hell do you want from me?"
He shrugged his shoulders and played with his pyro knives. "Honestly, I don't even know why I was asked to keep you alive."
Taking in his appearance, you finally recognized that the person before you was an elite, upper ranked Fatui Pyro Agent. He appeared to be someone who had worked hard to climb the ranks and was now working really closely with a Harbinger.
"The name is 'Reckless' Pallad," he added. "I don't expect you to know me, but back when I was in Mondstadt, I had a reputation of luring unsuspecting adventurers to me by pretending to always be in trouble. If it wasn't for the fucking Traveler and his flying pet, I'd have already been rich. But no matter... I now have a much better purpose in life."
You had no idea who the hell this guy was, but you figured he was just some creep that everyone hated.
"Wh-where is everyone?" you tried asking another question.
"Most likely dead," he answered casually.
Your eyes widened at the statement, your lips quivering. "What have you done?"
"Let's just say, we betrayed the Knave and are now proceeding with a secret mission involving taking over the Fortress of Meropide."
You had heard of the Knave before. As members of the House of Hearth themselves, Lyney and Lynette worked for her. From what you heard about Arlecchino, she would have no reason to take over the Fortress.
"Why?" you asked.
"Because my new boss needs a secluded and quiet place to conduct his experiments. And what better place than the autonomous stronghold underwater away from all eyes and ears, home to the largest manufacturer of Fontaine's clockwork meka! Am I right?"
"You won't get away with this," you said. "Not with the Duke around to stop you."
The Pyro Agent burst out laughing. "The Duke? That fool didn't even notice me for the past three months, while I gathered intel right under his nose! I even stole the Fortress's most protected blueprint, which by the way, thanks to you I was able to find, ha!"
"What are you talking about?"
"Do you remember the first time you arrived at the Duke's office and you saw your criminal file? Do you remember what you did with it?"
You tried to remember that day. "I hid it... inside a book."
Reckless Pallad laughed out loud again. "Yes, you did! And goddamn, you picked the perfect book to hide it in! The book I had been searching for for months! You just happened to pull it out right in front of me!"
"What do you mean? You weren't there-"
"Sweetheart, I'm always nearby," he now sneered devilishly, his eyes becoming lustful as though remembering something. "I've seen you alone on your bed.. I've seen you with the Duke..."
Your face drained of all color. "What do you mean... you saw us?"
The Pyro Agent used this opportunity to showcase his stealth abilities, completely vanishing before her. Not a trace of him left.
And then it hit you. Reckless Pallad has been watching you all along. He watched you in your most intimate and private moments. You wanted to puke at the very thought of it. You felt violated.
Suddenly, the Pyro Agent reappeared right next to you, his face so close to yours that you let out a scream. He used his tongue to lick your ear, violating you further. Your entire body shivered unpleasantly from the unwarranted touch.
"Don't touch me!"
"You have no idea how much you've turned me on in these past few days," he whispered in a low growl. "And the fact that I can't have you because the Boss wants you, really frustrates me."
His pyro began seeping through his fists again - something that always happened whenever he got too frustrated with something that was outside of his control. A bit of ash fell on your thighs, burning through your pants.
"Get away from me, you freak!" you yelled in pain, now struggling against the wires that had tied you down. You attempted to use your anemo powers to loosen the wires, but you were bound too tightly.
"Maybe... Maybe I can just have a taste," he said, smirking. "There shouldn't be anything wrong with that."
Just as he was about to reach under your shirt, footsteps approached you from the distance.
"How disappointing," the voice said coldly.
Reckless Pallad immediately straightened to face the person. "I wasn't going to do-"
In a flash, there was some kind of an invisible attack that sent the Pyro Agent flying backwards and crashing into a wall, knocking him unconscious (and hopefully dead).
[Normal POV]
You turned to see who had now entered the room. You hoped and prayed it was Wriothesley, but to your terror, you found yourself in the presence of an even bigger threat. It was a Harbinger. And not just any. Even with his more casual appearance, you recognized his silver-blue hair and pointed mask right away.
It was none other than Il Dottore, the Second Fatui Harbinger.
"It's always me at the center of everything, isn't it?" said Dottore, laughing boyishly. "Are you really surprised?" [A/N: IYKYK!]
You were at a loss for words. What did the Second Harbinger want with you? What was going on in the Fortress of Meropide? Was everyone you loved truly dead?
"You probably have many questions for me. Tell you what, I'll let you ask me three."
You scrambled through all the different information in your head.
You decided to ask your first question. "What are you planning to do inside the Fortress of Meropide?"
"And here I thought my reputation preceded me," Dottore sucked his teeth, disappointedly. "I figured that perverted Agent would have already answered that for you."
You silently smacked yourself for the stupid question. Of course, there was only one thing that Dottore ever wanted anywhere he went. To turn the place into his private experiment lab. The Fortress of Meropide was known for it's production of clockwork meka. He would have an endless supply of it, which he could later turn into his own army.
You now asked your second question. "I don't understand why I'm being tied up here. What does your taking over the Fortress have anything to do with me?"
"Now, that is a wonderful question." Dottore's eyes widened slightly and he let out a wide smile. "You see even I didn't expect this to happen. I thought getting control of the Fortress of Meropide would be good enough for a day's work, but... where do I begin?"
He paced a little until he let out a sigh. "It was during your trial. You see, I was there. I was very intrigued to learn that there was someone who was actually going on trial for first degree murder. I wanted to know what type of person you were. And when you arrived on the stand..." He touched his chest, reaching for his heart. "It was love at first sight."
"Wh-what?" You couldn't help but be taken aback by that comment. Your cheeks involuntarily flushed pink.
"Not the tacky, romantic, I-want-to-fuck-you-so-badly type of love," he added, waving his hand dismissively. "No... it was something much more. You killed someone who you thought deserved it, and without any remorse."
You didn't know how to respond to that. It was true. Albert deserved it. And you didn't feel any remorse. Not after what he did to Lynette and to what he had done to several other young women.
Dottore stared into your eyes, his love deepening for you with each passing moment. "I even went to see the corpse after. I saw what you did to him. It was art - a wondrous masterpiece I had never before witnessed. Nobody has ever pleased me like you have, (y/n). That's why... I chose you."
You furrowed your brows and asked your next question. "What did you choose me for?"
"I chose you to be worthy." Dottore sighed happily. "Building all these experiment labs across Teyvat was just the tip of the iceberg. There has only been one thing I've always desired. After all these years, through my research, I can finally elevate a single human to a god. And I decided that it should be you."
You could not believe what you were hearing.
"I know you're wondering, why you. It's because you're already a goddess in my eyes."
You now kicked and struggled against the chair you were tied up in again. Everything Dottore said sounded ridiculous. "Why don't you just turn yourself into a damn god?! Wouldn't that be more befitting?!"
Dottore laughed again. Then he covered his mouth with his hand, hiding his growing, evil smirk.
You realized you had asked a fourth question. Dottore was no longer going to answer anything else.
He now pulled out a large syringe from inside his clothes and flicked the needle. There was some kind of oozing pink liquid inside that clearly looked to be dangerous.
"This won't hurt... much," he commented.
You thrashed around in your chair. You used all of your anemo powers to try and loosen the wires again, but you realized it was ineffective. Whatever material they were made of, you couldn't fight against it. They were designed specially to capture you.
Just as Dottore was about to stab you with the needle, the doors to the Reception Area burst open. Wriothesley and Sigewinne stormed in first.
Seeing what was happening before them, Sigewinne pulled out what appeared to be a toy gun and shot at Dottore. Her aim was immaculate. Her bullet reached the syringe, knocking it out of the Harbinger's hand.
"How annoying," Dottore said through gritted teeth.
"(y/n)!" Wriothesley rushed towards you and Dottore without hesitation.
Dottore merely smirked and simply stepped out of the way, giving the Duke full access to save you. Wriothesley wasn't sure if this was some sort of a trick, but he decided to use his cryo abilities to freeze the wires and then smash them anyway, all the while keeping an eye on Dottore to ensure he didn't do anything underhanded.
Once you were free, you jumped out of your seat and unleashed a burst of anemo power, aiming at the Harbinger.
With an almost lazy flick of his wrist, he redirected your anemo attack to the ceiling instead.
You were astonished to see how easily he deflected your attack. Wriothesley jumped in next and attacked Dottore with his icy fists, but the Harbinger easily dodged every move. To further toy with the Duke, Dottore did all of his dodging with his hands clasped behind his back.
Sigewinne used the opportunity to shoot at Dottore from a distance again, but this time, none of her attacks reached him.
At this point, Lyney and Lynette also arrived inside the Reception Area. Upon seeing the commotion, Lyney aimed his bow at Dottore and began shooting pyro-infused arrows at him.
Lynette used her anemo-infused blade to rapidly strike at the Harbinger. She then charged her attack and unleashed two additional rapid strikes. When that didn't work, she attempted a plunging attack from mid-air to strike the ground below, hoping to deal large-scale anemo damage. But none of her attacks connected. To assist his sister, Lyney flourished his hat, unleashing a firework surprise. But also to no avail.
Wriothesley sprinted forward a short distance, hoping to catch the Harbinger by surprise, entering his Chilling Penalty state thus increasing his forceful fists. Although he managed to connect his fists this time, Dottore's increased defense allowed him to block every punch, taking no damage.
You were becoming increasingly frustrated by Dottore's overwhelming power. He wasn't the Second Harbinger for nothing. Even against five people with visions, he remained completely unharmed. And he hadn't even unleashed any of his own attacks. He simply dodged, parried, and ricocheted every attack that came towards him.
"It's no use!" you cried.
Everyone was absorbed in trying to take down Dottore that they didn't hear you. You looked around the room, hoping to find something to help you. Your eye caught the syringe with the pink liquid on the ground.
You picked up the syringe and examined it.
Dottore said this liquid had the power to turn you into a god.
You contemplated stabbing yourself with it, but your gut was telling you otherwise. If this was guaranteed, he definitely would have injected the liquid himself.
"I'll just have to risk it," you said out loud to yourself. "If you become a god, then so be it."
You aimed the syringe at Dottore. You waited for an opening before torpedoing the syringe towards him. Due to your anemo powers, you were able to send the syringe flying at full speed.
The Harbinger didn't see it coming. The syringe stabbed one of his shoulders. Surprised by the sudden sharp pain, he turned to see what just happened. In an instant, as though you had teleported to him, you pushed down on the plunger until all of the pink liquid entered his body.
"(y/n)", he managed to say. "You-"
He felt his entire body jolt once before it shut down. The Harbinger fell to the ground, and he lay there unmoving.
Lynette daringly approached him. "Is he... dead?"
Lyney grabbed his sister's arm and pulled her back. "Don't get too close. We can't be too sure."
Wriothesley approached you and examined you from top to bottom. "Are you okay? Did he hurt you earlier?"
You shook your head. "No... you came in just in time to stop him."
"Thank goodness." He brushed your face gently with his hand.
Sigewinne watched the two of you interact, and a knowing smirk planted on her face.
Before anymore words could be exchanged, the lights inside the room began to flicker ominously. You searched around the room, worried. Where Dottore once lay, the ground was now empty.
"H-he's gone!"
Everyone looked around in panic. The Harbinger hovered near the ceiling, his arms outstretched beside him. His eyes were flickering an abnormal shade of red never before seen on any human being before.
Lyney shot a pyro-infused arrow at him, but an invisible shield around Dottore blocked him from being injured. He suddenly teleported from the sky and in an instant stood before Lyney. Startled by his sudden appearance, he took a step backwards. The Harbinger attacked Lyney, sending his body flying into a wall.
Next he attacked Lynette, sending her flying too. After that was Sigewinne's turn.
Dottore now teleported in front of you. You saw his bright red eyes making him look like nothing like him anymore. You covered your face with your hands. He raised his fist, but something inside him made him hesitate. Wriothesley was ready to defend you.
Instead of attacking you like he did the others, the Harbinger teleported several times away until he was outside of the Reception Area, now loose somewhere inside the Fortress.
You and Wriothesley rushed towards the entrance and watched Dottore descend to the lower floors.
"I think I might've just fucked things up more," you commented, with a sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach.
Was this the end of the Fortress of Meropide as we knew it?
A/N: Thanks for getting this far! I hope you're ready for the finale and one final lemon chapter!
Unpopular opinion: I actually really like Dottore for some reason, and I think he's going to be OP when he returns in future Archon quests. That's why I made him kind of unbeatable in this LOL.
Do you think Dottore really turned into a god like he expected? Or is it something else? Comment your thoughts! :D