Your mouth already felt as dry as the desert when you shakily brought the Pyro treat up to your lips. The sheer hotness radiating off the red tablet was enough to make your eyes water and your nose start to run. You were pretty sure that you could probably walk around all of Snezhnaya with this food concoction as a heat source.

The entirety of Lumine's party were on the edges of their seats, eyes fully wide open as they anticipated the moment you ingested the Pyro medication. Xiangling didn't know if she should be excited or fearful about you taste-testing her invention. Xingqiu sat up as straight as he could, his book was open and half-covering his face in nervousness. Chongyun was on standby, ready to shove a popsicle into your mouth in case the worst scenario happens.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" The Traveller prompted.

"Yes." Your eyebrows furrowed in concentration.

She pressed on, "You could get seriously hurt... Though, I truly admire your strength, [Y/N]... Wouldn't it be better if we experimented with the medication more rather than having you take it right now...?"

"I believe I'm one of the lucky ones who doesn't have the horrible side effects of Lord Scaramouche's brainwashing... I'm doing this to save my big brother... You should understand, Lumine... It's always family first where I'm from."

Right after that little speech you made, you popped the Pyro treat into your mouth, causing everyone to tense up. All forms of sweet, sour, and spice just exploded all over your tastebuds and you couldn't help but make an ill-contorted face out of uneasiness while squeezing your eyes shut.

You chewed on it for a few seconds, trying to ignore the growing metallic slimy substance building up in your mouth and crunchy pieces between your teeth. While clenching both of your fists, you managed to swallow the treat before you got too uncomfortable, a sigh of relief left you out of breath.

Parting your eyes open, you slowly lifted your gaze up to glance at your friends. Surprisingly, you felt indifferent, not too hot and not too cold. Your face was still intact and you didn't feel any weird pangs of pain in your stomach, even your brain felt just fine. Disappointingly, you were starting to think that the candy medication was some kind of placebo effect.

"Sweet and sour... yet overall spicy enough for me to handle it, which is weird... I don't think it worked..." The moment you spoke those words, the party gasped in horror, almost jumping back.

Xiangling slapped her hands over her face in mortification and Guoba latched onto the chef girl's leg to find higher ground. The bookworm hesitantly threw his book onto the table and reached into his pocket to shakily pull out a handkerchief. Chongyun even began chanting in Liyuen some kind of exorcising prayer- now you were deeply concerned.

"What's wrong...?!"

You didn't seem to notice the blood slowly dripping from your nose and the way it slid down your lips. To everyone, your sudden nosebleed looked quite horrifying since you were staring at the group so cluelessly. Plus, their fear was doubled knowing that the elemental reactions inside your head might have caused an Overload discharge.

Bringing your hand up to your face and cautiously wiping both nostrils, liquid crimson stuck to the back of your thumb and felt fiery against your skin. Confused and growing disturbed, you quickly looked back at the trio, yet their faces looked blurred with red and purple.

Hot steam whistled from your ears and immediately, you slapped your hand over your mouth to mute a pained whine. Now, the Pyro effect was kicking in, fighting with the Electro shocks in your brain which resulted in continuous neurotic explosions.

Not only was your nose bleeding heavily, but you were also starting to taste iron on your tongue. Honestly, you tried to remain calm, but Xiangling's panicked crying, Xingqiu's muttering about the medication, and Chongyun's choruses of evil-repellent mantras were not making things better for yourself.

Falling weaker by the second, your eyes almost rolled to the back of your head and ultimately fell shut. Gravity was pulling your whole entire body down to the ground and even though you were trying to keep yourself upright, your brain thought it would be best to just give up and fall limp.

Before you face-slammed into the table in front of you, Lumine wrapped her arms around your torso and held you safely against the chair, "Don't worry, [Y/N]... I have you, it's going to be alright...! Please endure this a little longer!"

Xiangling continued to cry her heart out, "Traveller, what do we do?! [Y/N], I'm so sorry, this is all my fault! I knew I shouldn't have added so many Jueyun Chilis! Maybe if I added a cup of milk into the mixture-?! Ahh, I'm sorry! I'm sorry-!"

"Fatui girl, you better not die on us!" Chongyun threatened but then his eyes went wide with terror. "[Y/N]? Hey, don't ignore me! [Y/N]?! Ugh...! Heart be pure, evil be erased. Mind be purged-"

"Stop yelling and give her the coolant! Can't you see dear [Y/N] is in pain?!" Xingqiu bashed his friends and rushed over to your side to place his handkerchief under your nose.

In the middle of the chaos, you felt yourself slowly slipping to sleep. You felt a falling sensation all over your body and for some reason, the scent of burning candles was filling up in the air. You didn't know if what you ate was going to be the last thing you ever tasted.

What if this was just a huge failure and you ended up dying from internal bleeding? At least the one who loses their life isn't your big brother. You would be happy to sacrifice yourself for him. But would Nikolai be alright without you, even if you were nations away and dead? How would your mother deal with your sudden death? Would your father finally write a letter back?

I wonder how Lord Scaramouche would react if I died right now?

Why were you remembering him?

•••

You can feel paper in between your fingers, cool and sharp along the edges. It's been such a long time since you've sat at your desk, you can still remember the comfortable cushion of your chair, the oil lantern stationed to the right of you, and the handwritten letters inside the drawers. You knew you were in Snezhnaya, in the Fatui basecamp, in your office.

As your eyes adjusted to fixate on the parchment in your hands, you saw that you were in the middle of work. You were organizing Scaramouche's documents, reading countless papers and old receipts. After dumping a whole cartload into your room, he told you he wanted to keep tabs of clients' tabs and notify him right away about any outstanding debts.

The memories were all starting to fall into their rightful places. This was one of the first few days of your new secretary rank and you were slowly getting used to the different work. But you came to the conclusion that you really hated paperwork and really missed the battlefield. After all, your precious spray guns and tank were laying on the weapon rack untouched for the past few days.

Enough sulking about your firearms, your attention was drawn towards a folded slip of paper with a date highlighted in bright yellow ink. Opening it, you read it further and took a business card and I.D. from the clip that was also attached.

"There's a shop owner who is late on his payments... Well, I'll make sure to remind Lord Scaramouche about this." You spoke under your breath and later, glanced at the I.D. picture. Right away, your legs jumped up in astonishment. "Whaha?! This squishy-looking man has no eyebrows! Sir is going to have a fun time bullying him!"

If Scaramouche got his kicks out of secretly making fun of the 11th Fatui Harbinger, Childe, surely he would enjoy harassing this pathetic tough guy, right? At least your superior was having fun? You've only known him for a few days but he sure is getting friendly with his secretary, you're pretty sure that both of you are on a 'I'm comfortable enough to complain to you' basis.

Back to the task at hand, you wrote down quickly on your to-do list to investigate this tax evader's shop. Giggling softly, you were excited to know that you would be going out with your boss on a mission to, hopefully, arrest this eyebrowless man. This also means you can equip your guns again!

You really looked up to Lord Scaramouche and wouldn't even waste a breath to carry out any of his orders. All the more, his nonchalant compliments, or even snarky comments, were enough to keep you hooked on for the next compliment/comment. He was nothing like the rumours, he was very easy to get along with. You can even say that you liked him.

A knock on the door made you look up from your paperwork and wonder who could be on the other side. You grew excited like a puppy who was going to welcome her master after the end of his nine to five job, sitting up straight on your seat and everything.

But then again, Scaramouche doesn't really knock on your door. He does whatever he wants even if it's against your wishes. You weren't in the position to complain, but also, you didn't see his sudden intrusion as a bad thing. You're okay with letting Scaramouche come inside whenever he wants to.

So this knock you just heard can't possibly be your boss. If he wanted to enter, he would've barged in by now and made himself at home. Sometimes he would lean against your desk to check out your work progress or even disregard and disrespect your workspace by sitting on the table itself.

You felt like you could relax for now knowing that a fellow agent was outside your room awaiting permission, "Come in!"

The door creaked open and a masked messenger appeared with a half-smile on her face.

You greeted the young woman, "Ah, Lyudmila, it's a surprise to see you here. I thought you and Mikhail were assigned a mission in Mondstadt?"

"You're correct... I'm just making my final runs as everyone's errand girl before Mikhail and I head out for the Stormterror Crisis, secretary [Y/N]..." She twirled her light-brown hair out of nervousness and aimed her gaze away from your desk.

"So, why did you come to my office? I hope it's not bad news."

The messenger shifted awkwardly on her feet, "Not bad news nor good news... I'm here to tell you that your brother has returned from his expedition."

"Really?!" You jumped excitedly up from your seat, completely abandoning your work. "That's wonderful news, Lyudmila! I have to go welcome him! I have to tell him about my promotion! No- I'll prepare his favourite food and then tell him everything that he missed! Big brother must be so tired after his long journey but I can only imagine how happy he'll be knowing I was promoted!"

As you tightened your scarf and secured your outdoor jacket over your shoulders, you paused when you noticed the anxious look on the girl's face. You knew how much of a worrywart she was but the tense aura she was emitting made your excited rambling come to a halt.

"What's wrong...?"

"I'm sure the lieutenant already knows about it," Lyudmila frowned deeply. "He seems really angry. Actually, he's on his way to speak with Harbinger Scaramouche right now... Though, I believe something terrible happened during mister Nikolai's mission... "

Right away, pushed past Lyudmila and you walked out of your room. The thought of an expedition going wrong was enough to strike fear in any Agent, you just hoped that your brother wasn't hurt while out of the nation.

You sped through the hallway, not even bothering to reply to the recruits who were trying to bow and greet you. For some reason, you felt erratic thumping against your rib cage. Pushing the doors, you swiftly exited the building and made your way to one of the conference tents- where missions are planned and distributed, you figured your brother would go there first.

The snow crunched under your feet as you jogged your way through countless tent setups and training grounds. You were supposed to be happy and excited that your brother is back at the basecamp but the way the surrounding soldiers backed away from a certain Geochanter Bracer was enough to make your stomach turn over.

"Big brother...!" Just as you were about to greet him with a wholesome wave, you saw your brother angrily ripping his mask away from his face. The way his eyebrows furrowed and jaw clenched, you could tell that he was in a bad mood. Blinded by his rage, Nikolai didn't seem to notice you standing alongside the crowd. Slowly, you lowered your hand and stood still.

The young man started to stomp towards a Harbinger-occupied tent, however, a Pyro Fatui Agent placed a hand on your brother's shoulder as a way to block him from advancing further.

The hooded figure pleaded, "Nikolai, don't... It's not worth it-"

"Shut it, Kliment, you've only been getting on my nerves during our mission and I've had enough. It's time for you to back off and stay out of my business." The Geochanter spat out hatefully, making your heart sink. It's been so long since you've heard his voice and the first thing that came out of his mouth were insults.

"What happened in Fontaine was a part of our bounty, you can't undo what happened-"

"This isn't about Fontaine." He fired back, shaking his weapon in the air. "This is about my sister. Let go of my arm, now."

Kliment shook his head in disapproval, "But, Nikolai, it was the Harbinger's decision. We don't have the right to go against-"

"It's Lieutenant Nikolai to you, soldier. And you should know when to keep your mouth shut. I'm the one with the higher ranking, you should learn to respect me." At that very moment, your brother gave a rough shove to his teammate and continued to walk away with little to no regard for potential injury.

Behind his mask, the Fatui Agent swore out of frustration, not even bothering to argue back. Although Kliment wanted to chase after his partner, he was too heartbroken to pursue further and sadly went to join the other Geochanter Bracers who might enjoy his presence instead. The blond man aimlessly walked past you and didn't seem to notice either.

You heard rumours that Nikolai and Kliment became good friends over time, but why were they fighting? Perhaps something did happen on their mission? Plus, it's not like for your big brother to argue with his comrades, he's usually so calm and collected.

Why is he going into that tent?!

Master Childe isn't here yet, he is still in his own expedition and La Signora and Lord Dottore just left for theirs. The rest of the Harbingers were attending to their own missions or operating in another Fatui basecamp. The only single person of authority, higher than yourself, is no one other than the Sixth.

"What have you done to my sister?!" Nikolai shouted at the top of his lungs which made your blood run ice cold. "Explain yourself, Harbinger Scaramouche!"

You slapped your hands over your face out of fear and slowly made your way around the tent. In all honesty, you admit that you were too scared to even set foot inside. You didn't know what else to do, but you just wanted answers as to what your brother was so angry about.

Shyly peeking through one of the purple curtains, you saw your Lord Scaramouche placing carved wooden figures on top of the map of Teyvat. He didn't seem to notice you either, still, you crouched down to remain hidden.

"You must be [Y/N]'s older brother," Scaramouche replied unemotionally, shifting the wooden pieces along the map. (He was probably in the middle of planning your next mission with him.) "What do you want?"

Nikolai's grip on his Geo staff tightened, "I was told that she was in the Infirmary building after evaluations. What the hell did you do?!"

"Is that the way you talk to your superiors, Lieutenant?"

"Answer me." He continued to ignore the other man's authority. "What happened to [Y/N], Harbinger Scaramouche? As her older brother, it is my job to protect my younger sister. So, tell me what you did to her."

Scaramouche glanced back at the Geochanter and then returned his attention back to the table, grinning creepily at the memory, "Be reassured, I didn't do anything she didn't like."

"What do you mean you didn't do anything?! I was just told by my comrades that you made her fight one of Harbinger Dottore's prototype robots- without her weapons?!" Nikolai shouted in disbelief and frustration. "I know how dangerous those machines are! She could have died!"

A Geo energy-infused rock was hurled at the Harbinger, to which Scaramouche parried with a small Electro burst from his hand. That reckless move just placed your brother on a potential death sentence. Scaramouche doesn't even like to be looked at the wrong way, throwing a rock with the intent to harm was just too far.

"I was also told..." Nikolai gulped angrily, increasingly finding it extremely difficult to hear himself. "That during her sparring match with you, she was choked... and her airway was almost closed shut. She could have suffocated by your hands."

"It was deserved, she attacked me while I wasn't looking- something both of you seem to have in common." Finally, Scaramouche turned towards the other male and faced him with an annoyed expression.

"You know our father works for the Snezhnayan Embassy..."

"I'm not scared of [Y/N]'s father, Lieutenant, and you are a fool for thinking so."

Scaramouche has always known that you and your brother were indeed half-siblings. He knew about your mother, her previous boyfriend, and now-husband. Though, you found it a little creepy that your boss would continue to ask about your family. But then again, you were grateful he didn't make fun of you for your half-blood relations with Nikolai.

The Geochanter grew more furious, Geo elemental energy was surging through the staff and causing the rocks at his feet to rise, "I don't like the way you Harbingers do evaluations! It shouldn't be so complicated! A simple sparring match between comrades should just be enough!"

I should step in... I should stop this before things get dangerous! But why can't I find the strength to move...?!

"Luckily, I was given my Lieutenant title because La Signora was satisfied with my Geo casting! My sister didn't have to prove anything to you, Lord Scaramouche. She was the best Cryogunner Legionnaire in her section! You knew she would beat the others so you made her fight against Harbinger Dottore's war machines!"

I'm scared of Lord Scaramouche. Is that why I'm frozen in place? He might punish big brother for going against him and then me for interfering with his business! I don't know what to do.

"Are you finished with your rambling?" Scaramouche provoked, he too was becoming upset.

Nikolai's eyes darkened, "Did you know about my mission plans, sir? Were you the one responsible for sending me out to Fontaine to kill an innocent man- who had a family?! This is not what I signed up for!"

"That man was involved in espionage against the Fatui, I believe it was the right thing to do. Good work." Scaramouche gave your brother insincere flattery, sarcasm dripping from every word.