Genshin Impact: Frostburn

Half an hour passed and he finally finished the current stack of paperwork. In these memories I also experienced being buried in endless amounts of paperwork, I could only wish him luck cause I didn't want anything to do with it. No one could get me to do paperwork, not when I'm still alive.

"So, tomorrow is the day you broaden your horizons and establish your own connections. I know this seems harsh but time is not on our side as you already know."

"I understand."

There has been mass recruitment inside the Fatui and many bases are being built. I also got to know the process of selection between potential allies. They pick those who are ambitious and have little morals or are blinded by their greed and use them. Some of them are probably going to be discarded when they're no longer needed.

There's also the pressure of different factions among the Harbingers. They really didn't want me to join their ranks.

"Leo, throughout the past years you have shown great understanding on subjects that most of the populace won't be able to understand all their lives,"

"I'm not someone who would say this but... I'm proud of you."

A sense of pride welled up in my heart as I heard those words. A feeling of accomplishment and satisfaction rose, and I could barely contain myself.

"That is why I am willing to trust this to you,"

Dad then pulled a sack of mora from under his desk and put it on the table.

"This sack of mora has an exact amount of 10 million mora,"

A new sense of excitement then amplified the sense of satisfaction I felt. Like I've achieved a Guinness World Record award.

"And I will trust this on you. Whatever you do with it will be entirely up to you. Whether you spend it on luxury, store it, or make it grow, I will not interfere."

"Thank you, Dad! I won't let you down!" I said enthusiastically 

Dad nodded in acknowledgment. He then pulled another sheet of paper from one of the drawers at the back of his room and handed it to me.

The sheet of paper contains the necessary details for smooth travels across all nations. It's an Identification card of sorts, but it has a much greater importance as it could help get into establishments that normally would not be open to the public. Mainly the Northland Bank and a few others.

"There's many more I wish to teach you, but I believe it's better if you learn them yourself—There's no better way to learn than to experience them yourself."

I stayed silent and listened to him talk. Dad tends to talk to himself and have monologues most of the time. It's also why I learned about some classified things, he tends to leak them when he's in a good mood.

After half an hour of pure rambling, he finally finished. Dad approached me and patted my head, a nostalgic and melancholic smile ran across his face.

"Finally, I want to tell you this before you go," He paused and gently ran his arm across my face before pulling it back. "I told this to Leon when I sent him to Capitano, and I believe I should also tell you."

He looked at me with an expression full of regret and pain. "Vulnerability is the gateway to suffering. Do not let others see you weak, Leo. The world is full of wolves that will bite you when they see you wounded and suffering. Only trust yourself, not your comrades, not your friends, not even me, just yourself."

Dad's expression was nothing I'd seen before. I've seen him mad, happy, disgusted, and sad but nothing looked as miserable as he looked right now.

He turned back and stood at the window side where the view of the garden was visible. He stayed silent as if letting me digest what he had said.

Finally, he permitted me to leave.

"That is all I wish to tell you, you may leave anytime you want."

"Ah! Yes, Thank you, Dad,"

I took the sack of mora and the sheet of paper and turned to the door. Before I left, I looked back at him one more time and left with his words still lingering in my mind.

****************

A couple of minutes after Leo left

Pantalone was staring at the garden below his office room. His mind relives the moments of his life that led him to become the person he is now.

The pain of separation, the friends he had to cut off, and the ultimate choice to join the Fatui. His life, his reality, was different than that of normal people. Born in poverty, he had to do everything to survive. Even when he had an ample amount of mora, greed, and jealousy sparked in the hearts of his used-to-be friends. In the end, he was left alone, without anything but mora.

A knock on the door pulled him out of his trance. Outside was a voice very familiar to him. Someone who he has spent the most time with, someone who he trusts the most.

The doors opened and a man with a huge build entered.

"Why are you here, Dmitri," Pantalone asked nonchalantly.

"The Hydro Archons agents have been dissolved, it seems like they didn't find out anything about the prophecy." He replied as he threw a pile of papers containing the details.

"I see, a pity, I expected much from them," Pantalone said, sarcasm evident in his tone. "Let's leave this matter at hand, for now, I want to hear about the Academia and the negotiations for the future development of the plan."

Dmitri pulled a new pile of papers before hesitating to give it to Pantalone.

"What's wrong?" Pantalone asked in confusion.

"My Lord, is it the right decision to give that amount of mora to young master Leo? Forgive me for doubting but I don't find the reason why you would do such a thing." Dmitri asked in genuine confusion and wonder.

Pantalone thought for a while as he once again looked outside the window. In there, Leo is seen reading a book while seated with crossed legs on the ground.

"My reason," Pantalone paused and closed his eyes before continuing. "Did you know, the Tsaritsa told me not to treat Leo as a child? There's also the fact that since then he has never asked anything. Whatever they talked about that night sparked something in his mind."

Pantalone faced Dmitri and sat on his chair. "You see, I've noticed it since I visited them when they were still a toddler. Leo is not normal, I saw an intelligence mixed with wonder in his eyes. I knew at that moment that he was not what he seemed to be."

"But, even so, why would you let him be like this?" Dmitri asked. He was there when Pantalone was hurting, the times when he was new to the Fatui and the role of a Harbinger. He knew, that this action was not normal for him to do.

"I'm taking a gamble, to see if he has what it takes to be the pillar that we needed. There will be losses when our war starts, that's why I'm betting on him to be a safeguard for us."

"But isn't Leon enough? He has strength and the talent to reach heights never reached by humans."

"Leon, that child is not the safeguard we need," Pantalone said as he shook his head. "He's soft and inflexible, I doubt that he could compromise."

Dmitri then asked, worry and anxiety evident in his voice.

"But what if Leo will fail? He might not be the safeguard you thought he was."

The corners of Pantalone's lips slightly raised. A smile full of contradiction appeared on his face. 

"Then, he will be a pawn in the making, just like his brother."

****************

It was early in the morning and I was standing in front of the Mansion with a custom made snowglobe in hand as I waited for my baggage to be loaded to the carriage.

Dad was standing beside me as we waited for the maids to finish.

"This is the day, are you nervous?" Dad asked.

"Yeah, kind of," I answered honestly. This is my first time traveling by myself and in a world full of danger and terrorists on top of that. Wait, we are the terrorists!

"You remember what I taught you all these years, right?" Papa asked as he fixed my collar.

"Yes, I remember them all, Dad."

His face is the same as ever, I can't figure out his thoughts most of the time.

The maids lined up in front of us before making way and standing on the side. They finished the preparations and it seemed like it was time to leave.

"Be careful out there," Papa said

"I will," I replied as I nodded.

Where's Bena? She's still not here.

I sighed as I thought that she might be busy with other stuff.

As I was about to get on, a gust of wind passed by and a melodic voice called out behind.

"I'm here, Good morning." Columbina greeted me.

"Good morning, you're late,"

"I'm just in time, so, what is it that you want to give me," She asked as she tilts her head.

I then showed her the custom snow globe that I ordered.

"Here, a gift of appreciation."

The snow globe was nothing grand or luxurious, all it had was a dancing girl in the middle frozen in time. The only thing unique about this is that the girl is modeled after Columbina.

I received no reaction from her. Her face is as stoic as ever.

"You... don't like it?" I asked, nervously.

She looked at me straight in the face with an unreadable face. 

"Uhhhh, did I perhaps do or say something wrong?"

"What is this?"

"It's a snow globe."

"Why are you giving this to me?"

"To show my appreciation? You've been helping me with my vision training and I want to give something back... you don't like it?"

She took the snow globe and rotated it as she examined it.

"This is the first time I was gifted something this unconventional."

"It's not unconventional. What gifts did you receive before then?"

"Heads, weapons, limbs, blood."

"..."

"Now those are what you call unconventional," I said with a blank face.

Her hands were slow and every single movement of her fingers was controlled. I could see how she was trying not to crush it, even the aura she used to have seemed to be softer now and she looked more approachable.

The corners of her lips slightly raised as she gently hugged the snow globe.

"But, since you're the one who gave this, I will treasure it." 

"Ehem!" A grumpy voice behind us interrupted.

Looks like we're taking so much time, Dad seems annoyed, I better get going.

"Then off I go. I'll come visit from time to time!" I said as I waved at them from the carriage. Columbina and Dad waved back at me and a sense of excitement filled my soul.

*** 

The carriage left along with Leon. Columbina and Pantalone watched as the carriage disappeared in the distance.

"I'll go now," Columbina said as she turned around. Despite her carefree demeanor, she is not someone who would skip work, contrary to that she is a diligent person.

"What do you and the Tsaritsa want with Leo?" Pantalone asked, his voice carrying a sense of pressure and seriousness.

"Whatever do you mean?" Columbina replied as she slightly turned her head in wonder.

"You know what I mean, Damnslette." Pantalone hissed as he faced Columbina.

The fact that the enigmatic Columbina was the one who was tasked with monitoring Leo is already suspicious enough. Anyone could tell that she isn't all she lets out to be. Some even say that she is part of the lost race of seelies. A race that once guided humanity but ultimately lost its physical body and was turned into a shell of what it once was, guiding adventurers to hidden treasures.

With a sigh Columbina replied. "The same as you want. Do you know what your twins are?"

"What do you mean?" Pantalone asked. He has some assumptions on what Leo and Leon are but he never entertains these thoughts in the fear that he might lose them.

"I'm sure we've talked about Decenders before, no?"

Pantalone's eyes grew wide as he replied. "Are you implying that Leo and Leon are Decenders?!"

"No at all, they're not descenders... Hmmm, yes, something in between," Columbina said calmly. "yes, I guess you can call them, Half Descenders. Someone who isn't part of this world but at the same time a part of it."

Pantalone frowned at the notion. "Is that even a possibility?! The concept itself is absurd!" 

"Anything could happen, Pantalone. The world is full of wonders and Teyvat has its own laws." 

After she said that, a gust of wind mixed with snow passed by and she disappeared.