"Who are you?" Asked Clervie.
A simple question, one that would inevitably have been asked sooner or later and had thrown Carman into a loop when he first realized he would have to answer it. He had been puzzling over it for days, at first not even knowing why, he was Carman, a training engineer in Fontaine. But he was also Leo, a person who lived on earth and had seen many tragedies play out in this world through the perspective of a video game. He was also the Brass Wraith, a vigilante who was cracking down on Vasher's criminal underworld drug empire. Who was he? each of those things were technically true, but at the same time didn't fully encapsulate the essence of who Carman was, or who he wished to become.
And who did he wish to become? What did he want to do with this second life? He knew he wanted to improve the technology of Teyvat, he wanted to build a place of technological wonders and not fear Celestia dropping a giant nail on his head. He wanted to explore the world and prevent tragedies he saw in the game from transpiring in here.
But there was only so much a single person could do, he could not be everywhere at once, he could not deal with or prevent crisis's that were born from his interference with the story of the world, even with Ryuzu's help. And despite how capable she was, Ryuzu was far from the most powerful being in the overworld. No, if he wanted to change the world's progression, he would have to build his own organization, one working to save the world, one that would oppose the Abyss, the Fatui, and any other faction that seeks to bring disaster to the nations of Teyvat.
If he was going to have an organization, he was going to need members and staff to run it and gather intel, do missions, gather funds and resources, make deals the whole shebang. But he also had to be careful not to let members of outside factions infiltrate his group. His leaders need to be skilled, competent, and most of all, Loyal, the Fatui may have some of the strongest fighters in Teyvat, but their lack of Loyalty to one another would likely prove to be a major flaw in their organization, one that could be exploited by the right party.
What better potential recruit than a person actively trying to escape the Fatui? Sure, Clervie wasn't shown to be a powerhouse, but she would hopefully be able to offer some insight on how the House of the Hearth operated. Maybe if he offered to help her escape, she would be willing to work with him.
"We are.. members of L'équipe de Scène" Said Carman, his voice careful and confident.
Hearing Carman's introduction Clervie tried to stifle a laugh, "Pft, the stage crew? and what does a stage crew want with me?"
"Nothing, and yet everything Ms. Clervie" replied Carman, his voice level and measured.
"Quite cryptic, cut to the chase, I have other things to do, and don't have time to humor the whims of a... wait, how do you know my name?" Asked Clervie her grip tightening on her spear as she subconsciously started to pull energy from her vision and surround the weapon with it.
"I know many things about you, I would not have approached you if I hadn't done some preliminary research, it was the least I should do when one is considering a candidate to join their organization after all." Replied Carman
"What do you want from me? I am already running from my mother, who is the leader of a powerful group of operatives. What could you possibly offer that would benefit me more than simply returning to her?" said Clervie.
"For one thing, I know that you have been trying to escape that organization for years, often facing cruel punishments after being caught. You crave freedom, information further confirmed by the vision you hold in your hand. In joining us, we will do our best to help you evade your pursuers." Said Carman
"And why should I trust you? How do I know that you aren't just saying this to lower my guard so you can take me back to curry favor with my Mother?" Asked Clervie.
"I can't do anything other than give you my word, and the fact I would not work with anyone who willingly worked with ll Dottoree." Carman replied.
"What does he have to do with anything? Sure he gives me the creeps, and takes the children Mother doesn't want, but I don't know why cooperation with him would be your bottom line." asked Clervie.
"Count your blessings that you don't, let's just say, for the kids who went with him, a quick death is their best likely outcome." Said Carman
"..." Clervie was silent as she tried to process what Carman had said. Then reluctantly she lowered her spear. "Fine, one last question, what is the purpose of your organization?" She asked.
"Are you familiar with the prophecy about the end of Fontaine?" asked Carman.
"No, should I?" Asked Clervie.
"Given the nature of your mother's organization, I would have expected it to have been mentioned, they are quite good at information gathering, but the prophecy I am referring to is one that spells a great disaster to the nation. It goes something like this,
When the sun ascends to its zenith,
Fontaine shall face its final act.
Beneath the city's gilded splendor,
The waters from below shall awaken.
A sin born of the first Hydro Archon's hubris
Shall mark the Fontainians with their fate.
Those bound by this Original Sin
Shall stand before the judgment of the tide.
As the waters rise to claim their own,
The guilty shall drown,
Dissolved into the embrace of the depths.
And when silence falls upon the deep,
The Hydro Archon shall remain,
Alone upon her throne,
Weeping for a nation swept away." Said Carman.
"That sounds, ludicrous.." Said Clervie.
"I can prove it, but only if you come with me." Carman stopped as Ryuzu leaned down and whispered in his ear. "It seems that a search party has been sent out after you, we don't have much time before they come by and spot us, so which will it be Ms. Clervie? Will you put your faith in us?" said Carman.
It took Clervie a moment to ponder, but in the end she agreed, the boy in the mask seemed to be sincere with every word he said. He didn't seem to be lying, but if he was, Clervie was sure she could find a way to escape. He was only half her height after all, how dangerous coul he be?
"Fine, I'll join you, but only temporarily, prove that you aren't all talk and then we can see if I'll join you officially." Said Clervie
Carman nodded, "Alright, then we should get going. What do you think, Production Manager?"
Ryuzu paused slightly before saying, "Director, I can't help but think we should disguise Ms. Clervie before we go, lest someone spot her traveling with us."
A light flashed in Carman's eyes, "Ah yes good point, then lead us to somewhere secluded so she can change without any prying eyes."
Ryuzu nodded and picked up Carman, Clervie, and the dragonfly before running towards a cave she had found during one of her adventurer commissions.
Once she arrived, she put the three of them down, Clervie was surprised by how strong Ryuzu was, her slender frame made one think of careful grace and agility rather than the large amount of strength she exhibited
Taking some of the clothes Ryuzu had purchased from his storage, Carman handed them to Clervie. "Sorry I only have boy's clothing, but this size should still fit you, at least until we can go shopping. Make sure to take anything that can identify you off, we will keep anything important safe."
Clervie was a little surprised but did what Carman asked after he turned and walked towards the entrance of the cave to give her privacy.
Changing quickly, Clervie took off her dress, hairclip, bracelets, and got stuck pondering over whether or not to take off her pendent. It was the first gift she remembered her mother giving her, and it was given before she was taken to the hearth and seeing all the horrors her mother was committing.
Ryuzu leaned over, "There is no need to worry, your belongings will be taken good care of and be returned to you when they no longer pose a risk of discovery."
Sighing after some contemplation, Clervie turned her back to Ryuzu before asking, "Miss, I have trouble with the clasp, could you help me with this?"
Ryuzu helped take off the necklace and carefully placed it on top of the garments Clervie had shed as Clervie put on the clothes she was given. Ryuzu called out to Carman to let him know they were done.
As he walked in, Carman was handed the garments Ryuzu was holding and placed them into his storage. As he arranged them so he could find them later, he accidentally opened one of the descriptions.
[Item: Clervie's Pendant
Rarity: 4 * (Unique)
Description:
A pendent Clervie received from her Mother, Crucabena for her 7th birthday.
The pendant was made using Fontainian jewelry making techniques and Snezhnayan materials. Magic has been imbued into the pendent using techniques developed by Il Dottore which create a compulsion of the wearer to keep wearing the pendant and a Hydro Tracker has been infused into it by Crucabena.
Warning: When equipped, the pendent sends the bearer's location to Crucabena, this function is rendered Null when being stored in the System Storage, or when in a domain as the energies used to construct the spaces interfere with the relaying of data.]
"...." Carman stood staring at the last thing listed in the description, cold sweat dripping down his back. Clervie and Ryuzu noticed that Carman had suddenly gone very still.
"Are you alright?" asked Clervie.
"Yes, I am fine, but I do have one question Clervie, in your past escape attempts, did it seem like your pursuers always knew where you were?" Asked Carman,
"At times, yes, but I think that is because most of them were adults who have trained in tracking longer than I have been alive." replied Clervie.
"Did you ever take off your necklace back then?" Asked Carman.
"No, I didn't want to lose it, so I tucked it under my clothes, I also had trouble with the clasp and didn't want to break it." Said Clervie.
"Well, it wasn't just skill that allowed them to find you so quickly. They had help, the pendent has a tracker in it, thankfully I noticed it, and it is now isolated so it can't send any information but taking it out is out of the question for now, my apologies." Said Carman.
Clervie stood in silent contemplation, what Carman said had shocked her, him taking the pendent had been one of the best signs that he could be trusted, Mother taught them to be very possessive over their stuff, and had told Clervie in particular to hold onto the necklace and to never take it off as other kids might covet it and steal it when she wasn't looking. If what this boy was saying was true, there was no way in Hell that her mother had hired him, as he just exposed a well hidden secret that could, and likely had been used against her.
"Alright now all that is settled, we should probably set up a false trail to mislead the search party, Ryuzu, into finding a group of Hillichurls." said Carman as he traced a circle on the ground, placing some tall grass onto it, Clervie watched as the vibrant green changed to a bright crimson color. Then he made some alterations to the circle and placed the red grass into it, as he did, the Circle glowed a faint blue color, and the grass frayed and split into hundreds of long and thin crimson strands.
Ryuzu soon came back bearing the location of a nearby Hillicurl camp Carman took out the dragonfly and handed it along with the red strands to Ryuzu. "Take these, attach the hair to the underside of the dragonfly as well as the chains, also take one of the Hillichurl's clubs and bash it real good, make it look like she was attacked and dragged off by the monsters after landing."
Ryuzu nodded and left with the red grass and dragonfly, Clervie felt a bit of heartache seeing the gift that had allowed her to escape be destroyed to use as a distraction. She felt a pat on her shoulder, "don't fuss, too much, I doubt that they will take it with them so we can take it back for repairs after they are gone, or if they do take it, I can build you another."
"How? It was a special commission, it's not like the blueprints for that thing are publicly available." said Clervie.
"Please, do you think that us finding you was a coincidence? We were tracking the Dragonfly, we got a signal every time it was activated. As for how I did that, you are smart, I think you can figure it out." said Carman.
Ryuzu returned, "It is done." She said before asking "Shall we head back now?"
"Yes, take us Backstage." said Carman
-To be continued
A/N
Been thinking about elemental bursts and how they would work in a more realistic world since energy building up in a character after triggering reactions doesn't make much sense to me, so instead I was thinking that In this Fic, bursts (in cases other than Mauvika) can be triggered once enough of the ambient elemental energy of a character's alignment is under their control, the most common way of getting elemental particles that are under a person's control is by using elemental energy from their visions in the form of skills as the person imprints their will onto the elemental particles in order to use them. Then, after the threshold of ambient energy is reached, the vision user can expend mental energy to take control over the particles again and activate their burst. The more powerful the burst, the more ambient elemental and mental energy required to trigger it. Thoughts?