Chapter 29: Everwinter 2

"If my memory serves me true, your name is Leonid."

"Yes, Your Majesty. You are correct."

"Then, by my will tell us. Who are you?"

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

The sudden question stunned me. I could not answer immediately as I tried to process what she meant.

"Your Majesty, I'm afraid I don't understand the question." I asked, unable to believe what she had said.

"Then let me repeat myself. Leonid, son of Regrator, who are you truly?" 

'They know, they definitely know.'

I was unable to answer. Multiple potential replies and questions came to my mind. Each of them shows a different solution. Should I tell them? Should I lie? Is this why Papa didn't see me these past few days? 

"It looks like the man of the hour can't give any answer. Are you truly a being from the abyss?" A man with a mask said. His voice was full of sarcasm and glee. He is Dottore, the second of the Harbingers, also known as the doctor.

"No one told you to speak, Dottore. Show some respect to the Tsaritsa." A man with a rasping voice said. He has a small stature yet signs of aging are seen on his figure. He is Pulcinella, the Rooster, fifth of the Harbingers.

The Tsaritsa waved her hand and the room grew silent once more. The authority she has paired with her divine looks and charisma was enough to make everyone behave.

"What is your answer, Leonid." The Tsaritsa asked once more.

With a deep breath, I decided to tell half the truth. "I don't know. I just have these... visions of the future and a few memories of a person that I don't know."

They all frowned. I could feel their judging eyes directed at me. Contrary to that, the Tsaritsa's expression never changed like a fine sculpture.

She stood up from her throne and approached me. As she got close, her eyes met mine.

"Tell us the details. Don't be afraid, no harm shall befall you."

The corners of her lips curved upward as she gently caressed my face, her voice soft and reassuring. Despite the chill in the air, her hands were warm, easing my earlier nervousness and restlessness. At that moment, I felt a warm feeling in my chest. She returned to her throne.

"Speak whenever you're ready."

***

A few moments passed and I told them about my so-called "Visions"

I told them significant and insignificant details of the future, but I left behind the most important events, such as the events that would happen as they gathered the gnosis.

"Quite the astonishing visions you have, might I remind you that lying in front of the Tsaritsa and us would warrant your punishment even if your father is one of us."

Crucabena said. She is the Knave who holds the position of the fourth of the Fatui Harbingers. I know we don't have a good relationship with her because of the recent events, but she's leading the witch hunt. Can she be more tactful?

"I agree with her judgment. Do you perhaps have any evidence to prove that what you say is true?"

A man with a mask said. He has a well-built body that is covered with a thick white and black coat and armor. It's Capitano, the captain and the first of the Harbingers.

'I guess it's fine to say what I know about their operations in the future.' I thought as I pondered what to say.

"Yes, I do." With a deep breath, I continued. "A few years from now the Tsaritsa will order to gather the gnosis from all over Teyvat, whatever the method."

With that, their eyes widened. Even the Tsaritsa's eyes widened in surprise.

"How do you know about our plans?!" A boy with a huge hat said. He has purple eyes and purplish-black hair. It's Scaramouche, the Balladeer, and the sixth of the Harbingers.

"I believe he is too dangerous to be kept alive."

A girl with a robot said. She sat on the hands of a robot. I believe that one is a modified version of a Ruin Guard; an automaton made by Khaenriah, a godless nation that is now destroyed. It's Sandrone, the Marionette, and the seventh of the Harbingers.

"That is something only known to the Tsaritsa and a few selected individuals. There's a chance that Pantalone told him to say this."

A woman who has whitish-blonde hair said. She has a mask that covers half of her face and wears a red coat. It's Signora The Fair Lady, eight of the Harbingers.

"I didn't tell him anything. Do you believe I would tell such important information?"

Papa reasoned. Papa is the ninth of the Harbingers also known as Regrator.

"There is no guarantee that you won't do that, Pantalone, and if you expose such important information, only the Tsaritsa could save you from our hands." Pulcinella declared.

"Then, I believe we should hear a different evidence?" 

A young girl with a mellow voice said. She has a white coat all over her body. Her eyes are covered in a white fabric and there are wings on the back of her head. She is Columbina, the Damselette third of the Harbingers.

What else can I say? There are plenty of events in the future but it needs to be something that is already known at this time.

An idea came to me. This will probably alter how things go into the future, but it would also give a bit of leeway for some events to not happen.

"Baal is dead. The current Raiden Shogun is her sister, Beelzebub."

Their expression distorted into a frown. I could see the confusion in their eyes, especially Scaramouche.

"What a liar. You dare try to deceive us? To have the audacity to lie about a god's death. How presumptuous," he sneered, voice dripping with contempt.

I ignored his accusations, my focus locked solely on the Tsaritsa. She, of all people, understood. She was there during the Cataclysm—the time when most of the original Seven fell, the gods of each nation died.

Her gaze shifted, a flicker of surprise betraying her icy composure. Only the gods knew that Baal was dead, and fewer realized that the current Shogun was no more than a shadow, a kagemusha crafted to embody Inazuma's once-great deity.

"Enough." Her voice cut through the room like frost. "What he said is true."

Silence fell over the chamber as her words lingered, heavy and unquestioned. The Harbingers exchanged glances, their expressions masked in disbelief. The Tsaritsa herself confirmed my words.

"So, you hold such an amazing ability, but the question remains. Why can you wield the power of the abyss? And these memories of another person that you speak of, what are these memories that you see?"

With a deep breath, I answered nervously.

"These memories. I can see the life of this person who died. Aside from that, it's all blurry. As for the power of the abyss... I don't know why I can use it."

I didn't lie about my memories being blurred. How could I remember the things in my childhood properly? I'm not some sort of computer that can store everything. 

"I believe I can answer the question about the power of the abyss, Your Majesty."

Dottore stood up. The corners of his lips raised in a smirk.

"If you allow me," He said as he knelt in front of the Tsaritsa.

"You have my permission."

With the permission given by the Tsaritsa, Dottore left the room for a moment. When he got back, he carried two vials of red liquid which I assume is blood. He gave a glance at the Tsaritsa and an old man with a mask covering half his face. He is Pierro, the Director and the very first member and Harbinger of the organization.

With a nod of his head, I was pulled aside, and a table made of ice emerged where I sat. Dottore puts a glass cylinder on the table and beside it are the vials of blood.

He took different crystals that were glowing from inside his coat and laid them on the table. From what I could see from their glow, I assumed that they were full of elemental energy.

He placed one of them inside the glass cylinder, followed by one of the vials of blood.

Instantly, the blood wiggled, as if resisting the element from the crystal. Soon cracks formed and the glass cylinder broke along with the crystal inside.

"This is the blood from Leonheart, Pantalone's other son and the twin brother of Leonid. What you saw here was the resistance it made as it made contact with the elemental crystal." Dottore declared.

"What is new about this, is it's not every day that we see people who could resist elements, but they're not that rare either." Signora reasoned.

Dottore's grin grew wider, his eyes gleaming with satisfaction. "At first that's what I also thought. But as I examined it I realized something. Most people wouldn't reject the elements this much, yet his blood alone was able to break the glass cylinder along with the crystals as we've seen. From my experience this never happened before, so I did a few more experiments and realized. He doesn't resist them, he is immune to them."

The whole room was silent. Everyone around had a look of disbelief on their faces. I am as shocked. Is that why he's fine against the Tainted hydro phantasm and the ice beam of the Lawachurl?

"So what you say is that even if the gods themselves attack him, he would be fine?" Capitano asked.

"If it's purely an elemental attack, then I believe it would be correct."

The room grew silent once more. In this world, there has been no one who has absolute immunity to all elements. The mere thought of someone being immune to all elemental attacks is as unbelievable as saying the pigs could fly.

"Preposterous! Are you saying that if the Tsaritsa used all her power to kill him he would still be unscathed?!" Scaramouche declared in disbelief.

"If this already surprised you then what I'm about to show you will be more unbelievable."

Dottore then asked for one more glass cylinder, placed another crystal inside, and dropped half of the blood inside the vial.

The blood quickly devoured the colors of the element and the red blood turned purple; the color of the crystal. 

"It absorbed the element?" Sandrone exclaimed.

"Oh we're not done yet, be patient and watch."

Everyone's attention goes back to the purple blood and waits for anything to happen. A few moments passed and the blood stayed completely still.

"I fail to see any sort of progress," Pierro exclaimed.

"Any second now," Dottore assured everyone.

A creaking sound was then heard. The blood contorted as if it were in pain. As fast as it devoured the element, the blood changed color and it turned white. It shined and expanded.

Capitano was quick on his knees and quickly covered the glass cylinder where the blood continued to gain mass with a thick layer of ice. Everyone took cover and an explosion was heard.

I paled as I saw the aftermath of the explosion. The table was blown to shreds and there were black markings all over the place. 

"Dottore are you trying to kill us?!" Crucabena stood up in rage.

Dottore ignored Crucabena as he bowed in front of the Tsaritsa on her throne unfaced.

"Forgive me for my lack of safety concerns. This is how I always do my experiments and forgot to make the necessary preparations"

"Next time, do not make the same mistakes, you are forgiven." The Tsaritsa declared.

The Tsaritsa then erected a new table and chairs where everyone sat.

"Ehem, then as you saw, the blood absorbed the element but it could not completely integrate it on itself and exploded."

"We see what you mean, but how does this include the abyss?" Pulcinella asked.

Dottore chuckled. "Oh, did I say that we are done? I have one more demonstration to make and this one might be more dangerous than the previous one."

Dottore then asked the other Harbingers to prepare in case of emergency.

This time around, the glass cylinder was replaced with a much sturdier and more sealed container, and the blood was placed inside. Unlike before, he did not place crystals, but inside he placed a black goo. I could feel its malicious aura, it was similar to the abysmal power I used, but it contained a more sinister feel.

As it was placed, my eyes never left the container. The first blood was definitely from Leon, then the second was mine. If I continued to absorb the energy inside the Magical crystal chunk from that time I would have probably exploded. Shivers ran down my spine as I imagined what could have happened.

I watched as the blood quickly devoured the goo and its color turned pitch black. It contorted without rest and cracks formed from the container as everyone watched, tension filling the room. 

Moments passed and the whole container was riddled with cracks. The blood never stopped contorting and only when an hour had passed did it finally stop and its color returned to red. 

"Dottore what was what black thing you used?" Papa asked. His face was pale.

"That was forbidden knowledge. The ones found in the ruins of the desert in Sumeru."

Everyone looked at Dottore in disbelief and horror.

"You took that thing here?! Are you mad?!" Signora exclaimed.

"But that is not important now, is it? It's completely gone and the blood stabilized." Dottore reasoned.

Everyone's shoulders dropped and sights of relief filled the room.

"To summarize, the blood absorbed the Forbidden knowledge and successfully integrated it. It makes me conclude that Leonid is not compatible or is rejected by the elements of the world but has high compatibility with the abyss."

Everyone was silent. I could see in their faces the discomfort they felt except for two. Columbina's reaction never changed. She was stoic and a smile never left her face. It's as if she already knew what was happening. While the Tsaritsa looked unfaced.

"I suggest the extermination of the twins," Scaramouche suggested.

"You have no right to decide Balladeer!" Papa roared as his face contorted in anger.

"Why are you being so emotional? For someone like you who never looked back to the evil you've done, you are being such a good father. What a hypocrite. Besides, there's no proof that they're your real children. I say to nip it in the bud before it becomes a problem."

I feel the frustration of Papa as he clenches his teeth. I was scared. I understand why he said that. We could be a problem in the future, especially me who could wield the power of the abyss. Even if I dedicate myself to helping them, there's no guarantee that I won't turn back against them considering my berserk state when I used its power.

"I agree, they could be a problem in the future," Signora said.

"This is outside of my field of expertise, I shall stay neutral," Sandrone said.

"We would play the fool if we drank the poison served in front of us. I agree with the Balaldeer's judgment." Crucabena said.

"I would stay neutral. Their powers could be an asset for us, but I am not willing to take the risk. I'll leave the decision to all of you." Pierro declared.

"Then, I will vote against it," Pulcinella said and continued. "There's a future where we could benefit from them. If we leave behind such an opportunity to strengthen our ranks, we might not have another one. I also don't want to see such young kids die because of our worries that may not happen. I am willing to bet on that possibility."

"But the abyss is not something anyone could control." Capitano's gaze hung low as he spoke. "I witnessed it firsthand, the devastation it brings, how dangerous it could be. The abyss does not discriminate. No matter how much I don't want to take the life of a child, the risk is too much. I will agree to your suggestion, but only Leonid must die" 

Dottore then stood up.

"Then I will say my piece. I vote against killing them. The amount of breakthroughs they could bring to our cause, the things we could learn about the abyss, and the war that we will declare. I believe they could be the key to all this."

His lying. He's not someone who thinks of other people. He just wants to experiment with us and use it for his own goal. 

The room grew silent. I was sweating profusely and I could see Papa clenching his teeth to the point where blood dripped from it. As I thought there was no more way out, a mellow voice rang.

"I vote against it."

Everyone looked in the direction where the voice came from and everyone wore shocked faces. 

"I thought that I had enough surprises for today, but who would have thought? The Damselete of all people would side with them. What's your reason?" Scaramouche asked. 

"No apparent reason, I just feel like I should side with them."

"No apparent reason? This is a serious discussion that could decide the future, yet here you are, taking a side without weighing the facts." Scaramouche sneered.

"Enough. The votes are half. Thus, we shall let the Tsaritsa have the final verdict." Pierro declared.

Everyone waited for the Tsaritsa to speak. I couldn't feel anything. All my senses were turned off as I waited for her words. I could hear my heart beating loudly. With each second, with each thump of my heart, I grew more and more tense as I waited for her verdict.

Our eyes met. With a smile, she spoke.

"This is not an easy decision. For that, I shall give my verdict tomorrow. For now, I wish to speak with Leonid alone."

"As you wish, Your Majesty." Everyone said in unison.

With a bow, everyone left the room. My gaze followed their backs as they left one by one. Papa gave a sidelong glance and his mouth moved as if telling me something. The doors were closed and I was left alone with the God of Love.