The Second Archon War: Carmen Dei 28

Carmen Dei 28: Frozen Dreams of Spring

For three days, Amber remained in the Fatui camp. At times, Kollei would depart to tend to the wounded or attend to her other duties, and she would send Amber to the Dream, either to the village or elsewhere to await her return. It was more than a bit creepy to be stuck inside a dream, but it was less terrifying than having to be in the presence of the Dancer. 

Every day, Anastasia Kommisarova found a reason to approach Amber. Whether it was to hand deliver a report to Kollei, or to bring her a book or some other trinket, the Dancer always approached her while Amber was near. And each time, in a most unsubtle way, the Dancer managed to touch Amber.

First she simply touched Amber’s arm, leaving behind a faint string of Hydro energy that rapidly dissipated to nothing. It left Amber with nervous twitches for hours, even though she had Kollei check her over and verify that there was no lingering control. 

“I’d be able to tell, and potentially even break it if she had mind controlled you,” Kollei said, trying to reassure Amber. “My Authority trumps hers, and I’m a healer. S-still…I haven’t tried to do it yet, so just, um, try to stay away from her, OK?” 

The next time Anastasia was so bold as to run her hand along the base of Amber’s neck, and on the third day, she even goosed Amber, which just said all sorts of things about the Fatui’s working environment. Though considering the Dancer’s history, mild sexual harassment was the least of her crimes. 

The tension made Amber sick to her stomach and gave her a nervous twitch when she tried to smile, but through it all, she tried to be the best friend to Kollei she could be. That wasn’t terribly hard, as it seemed like Kollei had no one to be friends with and Amber was a naturally friendly person, but it did leave her feeling drained. 

Kollei spent a lot of time in the Fatui medical tent, tending to patient’s wounds. Not individually, as the patients were usually healed about as soon as Kollei got her hands on them. All it really took was a single touch from Kollei and whatever the malady was, the person affected was healed of it. Bullet wounds, burns, even missing limbs. Though Kollei didn’t regrow the missing appendage so much as fashion a replacement out of frozen vines that seemed to work just as well as the original. 

Universally, all the Fatui treated Kollei like she was a god, or at the very least, God’s chosen emissary. Which, Amber supposed, made a great deal of sense considering who Kollei’s adoptive mother was. People knelt or bowed their heads whenever Kollei approached, and those in bed who were conscious tried to sit up or offer some obeisance. 

For her part, Kollei seemed entirely flustered by the whole thing. She didn’t do the false modesty routine and insist that everyone treat her like a normal person, but instead accepted the offerings and showed kindness and care in return. 

 It was a bit eerie, seeing the absolute reverence everyone treated Kollei with, while they looked at Amber like she was a particularly poorly behaved dog. She was glared at, spat on, and kicked by anyone who didn’t think Kollei was watching particularly closely. Amber tried to take it all with stoic indifference, but it was hard. She naturally wanted to like everyone and be liked by everyone in return, and for most of her life, she had been. Now it was like being around her father when he was drunk all the time and she was a small child again. 

Despite her vow not to do anything to help the Fatui, the tension and lack of anything useful to do drove Amber quickly to distraction, and she soon found herself tinkering. It started when she noticed one of the hospital medical devices wasn’t working. That wasn’t really an issue for Kollei since she used magic to diagnose and treat, but Amber picked it up and had it open with a screwdriver in a heartbeat. 

The nurse or doctor, Amber wasn’t really sure which, yelled at her in Russian, which made exactly zero sense to her. “I’m not going to break it, let me look at it!” she said, holding the device away from the man as he growled at her. 

“Leave her alone, she’s with me,” Kollei told the man. He backed off, glaring at Amber, though he bowed and said something worshipful to Kollei.

While Kollei tended the woman on the bed, a fanuus who had received some sort of head injury, Amber crouched in the corner and fiddled with the machine. Even as a child, she’d been good with machinery and electronics. She’d been especially fascinated with making flying machines, but that hadn’t been the only thing she’d messed around with. She’d found her first job at an electronics repair shop at the tender age of only 15, where she’d been paid peanuts, but at least she’d been out of the house.

Back then, electronics and machinery had just made sense to her. But now? Now, Amber could practically hear them. She could just see what was wrong with this one: a little corrosion that had made a connection bad. She had it fixed in a handful of seconds, putting the now functional device back even before Kollei had even finished healing her patient. 

The doctor had snatched it up and examined it suspiciously before eyeing Amber and saying something that sounded grudging. 

“I just cleaned it up a bit, that’s all. Easy fix,” Amber told him, shrugging helplessly and hoping the man knew even a little German. 

“If she says it’s fixed, it is,” Kollei told the irate doctor, standing as the patient wept and got out of bed to bow to Kollei. “You’re welcome, Ivana. Take care. Blessings of the Cryo Archon be with you.”

After that, Amber started going out of her way to find misbehaving electronics in the hospital, and the doctors and nurses even handed her some, along with the own personal electronics. She had them all working, and working better than ever. One suspicious nurse eyed her and asked in fair German, “You didn’t put a bug on it, did you?”

Amber mentally kicked herself. She should have been doing just that. She could have, probably, and put one on they’d never be able to find unless another Tinker took a look themselves. But no, she’d just genuinely been helping the enemy fix their broken gear because she was nervous, bored, and people needed help. 

“No! It’s all in order, see for yourself!” Amber said with overly forced cheer. 

Thankfully she was rescued after that by the fact that Kollei had put the hospital out of business again by healing all the patients, so they made their way back to her quarters with her usual honor guard of stone-faced seven-foot-tall fatui with a variety of elemental weapons that looked like they could put down an Endbringer. 

“Thank you for helping them, we don’t have any really good Tinkers at this camp, and well, my Mother doesn’t put much stock in electronics so we’re not really equipped to take care of them,” Kollei said with a sigh. “I’ve tried to explain to her what a computer is but she calls it ‘Fontainian nonsense’ and won’t listen further.” 

“Fontainian?” Amber asked curiously. “What’s that?” 

“Some country in Teyvat, I think. She doesn’t answer a lot of questions. Does Venti ever tell you knights about Teyvat?” Kollei asked. 

Without even thinking about the possible security implications, Amber shrugged and said, “He says he’s from somewhere called Mondstadt, and that it’s apparently wine country? He mentioned the Seven Archons, but we’re still missing three and the only guesses I have about them is that they’re someone in Genius Invocation TCG, though who I have no idea.”

“Yes, those I know. That dramatic strumpet is Hydro, the hot-headed motorhead is Pyro, and that old fart is Geo,” Kollei said with a roll of her eyes. “Names however I have not gotten.”

“Well I’m glad to know my Archon isn’t the only annoyingly cryptic one,” Amber muttered, then let out a yelp when one of the bodyguards slammed the butt of his rifle into her ribs. 

“Do not mock the Tsaritsa, scum” he growled in perfect German, which made Amber shudder. How many of them were listening to everything she said and reporting it to the Dancer? 

“Andrey! I told you not to touch her,” Kollei snapped. 

The guard immediately backed off, bowing. “Forgiveness, Princess. I cannot bear to hear your Benevolent Mother’s name derided.”

“She wasn’t, my Mother can be rather vague at times, even with me,” Kollei sighed. 

The Fatui looked like he wanted to say something, probably about how ‘somethings for not for mortal minds to hear,’ but he kept his big trap shut for his princess. But Amber was pretty sure she didn’t want to run into the man without Kollei to protect her. 

Back at Kollei’s rooms, there was hot chocolate and warm pastries waiting for them, which they both eagerly devoured. Though Amber was pretty sure she would be the first POW in history to gain four kilos in her captivity. 

“So, uh, I have to ask…how do you do your…thing.  You know, the Cryo and Dendro at the same time? I didn’t think anyone could do that,” Amber asked curiously as they ate. 

“I probably shouldn’t tell you,” Kollei sighed, and Amber felt both disappointed and hurt. 

“I wasn’t, I mean, I’m just asking as a friend, not, you know…” Amber wilted slightly because that was at least partly a lie. She did want to gather information, especially since she had a line back to the Knights.

“It’s fine, it’s not like you can tell anyone at the moment anyway,” Kollei said with a wave of her hand, which actually made Amber tear up. “It’s simple: I am a Dendro Allogen, gifted my Vision by Lord Buer. I met her, actually, in a dream. But, well, the other side of it is my mother grating me her Authority. I’m pretty sure that’s what happened to Ami Raiden and Kenta Wang too.”

“The Inazuma no Himegimi and Mushu?” Amber muttered, rubbing her chin thoughtfully. “Huh. So, they were parahumans, but Raiden granted them some power? And your mom,” boy oh boy did it feel weird to call the Tsaritsa that, “did the same with you? So you’re like…half angel or something?”

“I’d say god, but…sort of. If nothing else, I’m becoming one,” Kollei said, peering into her cup and looking pensive. “I’m not really sure what it even means if I’m being honest…but…yes. I’m not human anymore, not fully.”

Sensing Kollei was hurting, Amber slipped out of her seat and went over to hug Kollei, who sniffled and leaned her head against Amber. “Hey, it’s OK. I’m sure your mom means well. Venti has done…stuff…to me. You know, exorcised my demon. There are times now…I don’t know what to call it but divine revelation? Like, I was always good with machines and stuff, but now? It’s like I can hear them talk to me. Not like when my demon would possess me and I’d go into a Tinker furor. It’s different. I’m totally in control the whole time. It’s scary, but…it helps my friends. And you’re helping people! Not like-”

Amber cut herself off, and Kollei chuckled, moving away from her to pick up a lace hanky to dab at her eyes. “Not like my mother, you mean? She has helped Russia greatly. She would help others too, if they’d just accept her.”

“Accept her slavery?” Amber blurted, putting a hand to her mouth. For someone trying to weedle her way into the enemy’s good graces, she was really bad at this. 

“Service. Disciple. Like a mother to a child. Because Amber, if people don’t…you know what will happen,” Kollei said, ice in her tone.

“Scion blows up the world or something,” Amber muttered, rubbing her arms in the chill air. Kollei did like it cold, even in her rooms. “But if that’s the case…shouldn’t your mom want to work with Lord Barbados and the others? Not, you know…attack them?”

“They had a chance to help her when she fought the Sustainer upon her arrival. They ignored her. I think you can understand why they’d mistrust her,” Kollei said stubbornly. 

Because she was causing the freaking apocalypse and they were trying to stop her from freezing the world to death, Amber said, but this time only in her own head. And she was at least 80% sure Kollei couldn’t read her mind. 

“Ok, that’s true, I suppose. But I mean…this is really important. Shouldn’t they try talking it out again?” Amber pressed. 

“Yes, I hope…” Kollei sagged, looking despondent. “I don’t know what I hoped, honestly. I was thinking that maybe, if I captured you, there could be a prisoner exchange and we’d have a chance to come to the negotiating table, and maybe I could talk to Lord Barbados…I just don’t know.”

Amber’s heart leapt. “Yes, exactly! I think we could get you to talk with Lord Barbados! That it would be possible to negotiate something! Maybe at least an amicable exchange of prisoners. I mean, the war has lasted almost three weeks now, so both sides have to have some, right?” 

“Yes, but how would I even start that?” Kollei asked, sounding miserable.

Amber took her hands. “Um, Kollei, don’t be mad, but…I might have a way to contact Lord Barbados…”

That got her friend to sit upright in hurry. “You do? But of course! If you pray to him, he’ll hear you on the winds, right?”

More like over the short wave radio, but sure. “Yeah, something like that. It’s pretty reliable, so-”

“That’s great! Do you think you could set up negotiations?!” Kollei asked eagerly. “No, wait. Hmmm. I do have a contact…but if my mother finds out…no.. I’ll just have to try it. It’s worth it! Come on, let’s go to bed!” 

“Uh, ok,” Amber said uncertainly. It was barely past 8pm, and while it was dark outside, they normally stayed up far after this. Kollei changed into her night clothes and hopped into bed, out like a light in moments. Amber, for her part, sent another message. 

“...so that’s where I’m at. No other information, but did Barbados respond?” Amber asked Lauren hopefully. 

“Better than that. Naomi and Capri sent a message. They’ll be here personally in a couple of days. And if they’re here-”

“Then Barbados isn’t far behind,” Amber said, closing her eyes and letting out a soft breath. “Ok. We can do this. I can do this.”

“Amber, you need to be careful. This is a chance for vengeance, yes, but I don’t want to be stuck avenging your death. If you have a chance to get away, take it.”

“No. I can’t. If there is a chance for peace, then Kollei is that chance. She’s a good kid, Lauren!”

“A good kid whose mother is a complete monster and who threatened Poland with war, then declared it. She’s just as bad as any of the others, just cuter. Ask her about Bonesaw some time,” Lauren said coldly. 

“She told me that Riley was a scared little girl like her, and her mother wants to rehabilitate her. Maybe she’s a little rose-tinted in her view of that, but Bonesaw really was kidnapped by Jack Slash! Look, all I’m saying is, she’s not totally evil and there has to be a way to end this war that doesn’t involve millions of dead!” Amber hissed in frustration. 

“Amber, I-”

“I love you Lauren, but I’m doing this. Good night,” Amber huffed, then shut her radio off and rolled over on the cot. The acid in her stomach kept her falling asleep for long hours. She was doing the right thing, wasn’t she? 

As soon as Kollei closed her eyes upon the waking world, she opened them within the dream. She glanced over at Amber, tempted to take her with her on this journey, but her cot was still empty. Kollei could see the mist of her spirit, but apparently Amber hadn’t fallen asleep naturally yet. Kollei could have dragged her into the Dream one way or another but decided against it. This was a mission she had to undertake on her own. 

Traveling in the Dream wasn’t hard. You just had to visualize where you wanted to go, and take a step with your eyes closed. The hard part was that Kollei didn’t really have a firm grasp of where she was going, or geography in general. She’d barely had time to study up on European geography, let alone the rest of the world. Still, this shouldn’t be too hard, as Kollei did have a fair idea of where she was going. 

The House of Wisdom, Kollei thought, squeezing her eyes shut and picturing Baghdad in her mind. She stepped forward, and-

“Frozen nara will not take one more step, or Arabalika turn you to leaves and snowflakes!” a high pitched voice warbled. 

Kollei’s eyes snapped open, and she found herself surrounded by tiny little faeries, who had various sticks and twigs leveled at her. Someone with a more gentle upbringing might have been charmed by the ugly-cute of the aranara. Kollei, however, had grown up in the irradiated ruins of Moscow, and if there was one thing she knew about faeries, it was that they were very, very dangerous. So she wisely took Arabalika at his word, especially since the little aranara was fully capable of making good his promise. 

“I-I’m here to see Lord Buer! I, um, I need her help!” Kollei stammered, hastily taking out her Vision and showing it to the Aranara like a talisman. “My lands are beset by war, and I seek the wisdom of Lord Buer to help quell the conflict!”

Arabalika lowered his staff, the twin leaves on his head whirring into motion so that he could hover up to inspect the Vision. “Hmm. Frozen Nara smells of Tushar Nara. Very scary. We must protect Sarva Nara from Tushar Nara! However, Frozen Nara is also one of Vasara Nara that Sarva Nara has called. Hmm. We must speak with Aagarah Nara. Wait here.”

Arabalika flew off into the forest that surrounded them, and the other aranara lowered their weapons, toddling closer to inspect Kollei.

“Why does Frozen Nara smell of Tushar Nara?” one of them asked. 

“Um, w-well…if you mean the Cryo Archon…she’s my mother,” Kollei admitted. 

That got surprised cries from the others, but one aranara nodded sagely. “Yes, you are like Dramatic Nara. She is the daughter of Gaj Nara. This is known.”

“Ahh, like Dramatic Nara,” the others echoed, nodding their heads and making little tinkling sounds as they did so. 

Kollei had to fight back a smile. She’d never met Raiden Ami personally, but that sounded like a rather apt description of her. In fact, she and Kollei were of a similar age. It would be nice to have someone to talk to who understood what it was like to be the daughter of a god.

“I’ve always wondered, um, are there faeries in Russia like you?” Kollei asked, crouching down to study the aranara more closely. 

“Aranara grow from Sarva and follow Sarva Nara. Aranara do not know what nara Tushar Nara has. Tushar is too cold for aranara,” they explained. 

Kollei nodded, and made a mental note to ask her mother what sorts of fantastic creatures she’d brought with her. They’d noticed the slimes, specters, and whopper flowers of course, but those had been encroaching globally since the arrival of the first Archon. Cryo slimes in Russia just seemed natural at this point. 

They hadn’t waited long when there was a rattle of wings and a roar of engines, and Kollei let out a yelp and covered her head as a giant dragon flew down, landing with a crash and rearing up over Kollei. 

KOLLEI MOSKAYLOVA. WHY DO YOU INTRUDE UPON THE REALM OF DREAMS? The Flower Dragon roared. 

Slowly, so as not to be threatening, though how she could threaten a giant dragon was another question, Kollei stood up. “I…I am here to petition Lord Buer! There needs to be a…an intermediary, and arbiter, for any hope of peace talks between Russia and the other nations!”

PEACE TALKS? The dragon rumbled, leaning down so that her petal-like face was less than a meter from Kollei, blotting out the entire sky. IT WAS YOUR PEOPLE WHO STARTED THIS WAR. WITHDRAW TO YOUR ORIGINAL BORDERS AND THERE CAN BE TALK OF PEACE. 

“That…isn’t within my power,” Kollei admitted. “B-but what about prisoner exchanges? O-or negotiations to end the conflict? We…we need a third party! There’s bad blood between my mother and Barbatos. I…I don’t understand it all, but they have a dark history. I-Isn’t Lord Buer from an entirely different Teyvat? Perhaps…perhaps she could act as a neutral party!” Kollei suggested. 

The Dendro Drago regarded Kollei for a long moment, then suddenly vanished, replaced by what looked like a perfectly ordinary twenty-something caucasian woman in a green robe, wearing horn-rimmed glasses. She adjusted them, frowning at Kollei and smoothing back a bit of her messy brown hair. “That sounds surprisingly rational for someone who helped kick off what people are already calling World War III. Which is silly, because it’s just another dumb European war without involvement from the rest of the world. And frankly, we’d like to keep it that way.”

“I know. I never wanted this war. But, well, I think this is a grudge match between my mother and Barbatos in many ways,” Kollei admitted. “And, well…you know what’s coming. What happened to Lord Buer. And, um…I think my mother, too. What the Sustainer will do to this world. You can feel it in the Dream, right? That history just…ends. And he’s responsible.”

“What does that have to do with invading Poland?” Tessa demanded, folding her arms over her chest.

“Everything! We need every tool at our disposal to fight him. And to claim as much of humanity as possible as ours before he does…whatever it is he’s going to do. It has something to do with the demons that possess parahumans, I’m certain of it,” Kollei said, scowling herself, though not at Tessa as much as the problem. “Barbatos ran away from one cataclysm. My Mother thinks he’ll do the same to Europe. So, she wants as much of it as possible to protect them. If we could just make them understand…”

“That doesn’t sound like a recipe for peace. It sounds like you’re not actually interested in sitting down at the bargaining table,” Tessa pointed out. 

“I am! Just…we need to start with something. Prisoner exchanges! Just to open up a dialogue. Please,” Kollei begged. 

Tessa frowned, glancing over at a small screen that appeared in mid-air. “Hmph. Nahida says to go ahead if I want to. And Barbatos is willing too. Says thanks for looking after Amber.”

“Really?! Lord Buer will do it?!” Kollei gasped, delighted at the prospect. 

“Heck no. She can’t set foot in Europe, not in the current conditions anyway. Bad enough that two Archons are going at it. Three would be a complete disaster. No, she’ll send me as a diplomatic envoy. And I am under strict orders to ONLY be an envoy,” Tessa said firmly. 

Kollei was slightly disappointed, but not overly so. “Does…does she have any advice for me?”

“You’re on the path to wisdom. But you’ll be forced to make a choice, and soon. Don’t be afraid to do the hard thing, even if it seems like the wrong choice. Wow, bunch of fortune cookie stuff, eh?” Tessa shook her head. “I’ll be in touch. Don’t worry, I have your number already. Just send a message to Flower Dragon and I’ll get it, or find me in a Dream.”

“Alright! I’ll do it,” Kollei agreed eagerly, then stepped away. Not out of the Dream, but to another, more familiar part of the Dream. The Ice Palace. 

This was not something she could or should hide from her mother. Perhaps she should have sought approval before this, but, well, she didn’t want to simply be told no. Now that she had the pieces moving, however…

Much like in the waking world, the Ice Palace was aglow with elemental energy to Kollei’s eyes, and filled with artwork of stunning beauty. Much of it was newly created by her mother when she’d woven the palace, but many of the great treasures of Russia had been deposited here to display to the world. Vasily Surikov’s Conquest of Siberia was on prominent display in the front hall. Kollei had to pause to study the piece for a moment, even if it was just a reflection. It was an important historic work, and quite striking, and yet…what sort of message did it send to visitors?

She was still looking at the painting when she felt a sudden change in the air, and turned to find her Mother smiling at her from a landing above her. Or rather, she saw Bronya smiling at her, not the Cryo Archon. 

“Kollei, it has been some time since you visited. I have missed you,” Bronya said, gliding down the staircase. She was dressed in a long trailing pale blue gown, with a platinum tiara on her head. Kollei made to kneel, but Broyna tisked at her. “Stand and greet me properly, young lady.”

Blushing, Kollei hurried over to embrace her mother, the icy chill of her touch reassuring to her now. “I’ve missed you. How have you been?”

“Busy, of course. There is much work to do. But still, you seem to be in good health,” Bronya said, holding Kollei back and studying her. A frown creased Bronya’s lips, and she shook her head. “But what is this about you keeping one of His knights as a pet and companion?”

“Ah, that is what I am here to talk about,” Kollei admitted.

“Hmm, not the whole truth, but close enough I suspect. Come,” Bronya took Kollei’s arm, and together they stepped into her sitting room, where Bronya seated Kollei and conjured up bowls of ice cream for them. “Now, what is it you wish to speak of?”

“Well, um, I did take Amber prisoner…and quite a few others,” Kollei admitted. “I, um…I’ve been thinking…we should do a prisoner exchange.”

Bronya’s look was hooded as she carefully carved out a bit of Plombir flavored ice cream with her silver spoon and brought it to her lips. She waited until she’d swallowed to speak. “An exchange of prisoners. With that wretched wind sprite.”

“Well…his representatives, anyway. If you’re going to rule them, we have to establish your good will. And, well…the war has to end sometime. We have to open a dialogue for that. Negotiate. We don’t want to fight them forever, right?” Kollei asked nervously.

Bronya kept her eyes on her dessert, taking another bite, then setting her spoon down before she raised her eyes. “I would fight Barbatos until he is dead, or I am.”

Kollei’s heart sank, and she sagged in her seat. Would this all be for nothing?

“But. You raise a good point. I do, in fact, wish to be embraced by the people of Poland. These foolish Yankee mortals have joined the fight as well. Fine. Perhaps they tire of war. Words can wound as deeply as swords. You may have your bargaining. But I smell the scent of Dendro on you.  You have more to tell.”

“I…I asked Lord Buer to provide an intermediary to act as arbiter. A third party to help with negotiations,” Kollei admitted. “She’s neutral since she knew an entirely different Cryo Archon, which means she can’t be the same one you or…or the Anemo Archon knew.”

Bronya cocked her head to one side, tapping one finger on the table. Long moments ticked by, but Kollei refused to look away. At last, her mother nodded. “I accept your reasoning. I do not have strong feelings on this Buer. And as the God of Wisdom, her emissary will be well chosen. Very well.”

“You…you give your approval?” Kollei asked hopefully.

“Yes. Though our offensive will not pause, if you can negotiate a favorable exchange of prisoners, I will permit it. Those children who have fallen in battle can be returned to me, and those whom my forces have taken are a small price to pay. We will triumph in the end,” Bronya said dismissively. “Barbatos always was the weakest of the Seven.”

Springing to her feet, Kollei nodded eagerly. “Of course! I-I’ll see to it right away! Thank you, Mother!” 

Kollei quickly hugged Bronya and turned to go, only for her mother’s voice to stop her.

“Kollei. See to it that you do not grow overly fond of your pet. Barbatos is weak, but tricksome. Do not give in to his lies. Remember: I am the one who will always love you.”

“Yes, of course, Mother,” Kollei hastily agreed, then stepped out of the Dream and back into her body. Reluctantly, she let herself sleep and get some rest. She’d need it for the morning’s work.

This had to work it out. It just had to.