Chapter 1: Chapter 1
Chapter Text
Everything hurt.
Collei had a pounding headache, her ears were ringing, her lungs felt like fire, and it felt like there were thousands of tiny needles in her skin.
Slowly the pain became more bearable till eventually Collei's senses were back. She was laying on an operating table, medical equipment surrounded her, Collei also noted that they were attached to her in one way or another. It was uncomfortable.
"You back with us, dear?" A voice spoke up, Collei despised the owner of the voice.
II Dottore or The Doctor was next to the operating table she was on.
He gave the young girl a sickening smile, "Color me impressed, you're the only one who survived getting injected with the Archon residue, even if it was just barely. I knew you were different from the rest of them, you're quite special."
Collei wished she didn't, she wished she died like the others so then she would have to deal with any of this anymore. But of course she didn't, Collei's never granted mercy.
"You're going to become quite useful to us, Collei, starting tomorrow you're going to start training."
"Training?" Collei blurted out. Her throat felt like sandpaper, just one word managed to make her throat feel like it's on fire.
"Yes, training to hone in the new abilities the Archon residue will give you." Dottore replied.
New abilities? What kind of abilities? Collei wasn't entirely sure what Archon residue was, only that it was super painful. And now, she's going to have new abilities?
Distantly she wondered if it could help her escape…
"You can't get any answers to your questions if you don't speak them, child." Dottore spoke.
Collei hated how well he could read her, she hated him.
"What… do you mean abilities?" Collei's throat hurt so much, but she refused to let him know how his experiments affected her, even if he already knew.
"You'll find out in your own time, but the Archon residue will make you far more powerful."
So she was going to be turned into a weapon? For the same people who ruined her life?
Dottore smirked, “Now, now, don't look so glum. Don't you want to be powerful? The powerful control the weak, after all. They can do whatever they want because who can stop them?”
Collei didn't bother to respond. Becoming someone who hurts others because they can, becoming like him, didn't interest her in the slightest.
Seemingly picking up on this, Dottore spoke again. “You know Collei, the Gods have forsaken you. Don't you want to get them back? What better way to do that than controlling one of their own, against them no less.”
Collei still didn't respond. But something inside her stirred at the man's words. Something dark and foreign. Something powerful. She could almost touch in on it, it was like it was right below her finger tips. But…It scared her too. Collei has never felt something like this before. It was likely the Archon residue Dottore was talking about. Was it even safe? What's the consequence behind these new powers? And why was the pull to it so strong? Collei swore she could hear distant whispering in her head.
Dottore’s smile only grew, he couldn't hear her thoughts but her face told him all he needed to know. This was going to be very interesting. “Think about it. And prepare yourself. Your training starts tomorrow.” He told the young girl before promptly leaving her alone with nothing but her thoughts and now the Archon residue.
┗ •◦இ•◦ ┛
“She'll be ready tomorrow, correct?”
“Indeed.” Dottore confirmed.
“You're sick in the head.” The person said coldly. “How exactly am I supposed to train something like that? And giving it to a child no less...”
“You can't deny the good that can come out of this.” Dottore replied. “Something that powerful will only lead us closer to achieving her highness dream.”
“Don't act as if you care for her highness plan. You only want to see how this will turn out.” The person bit back.
“As if you're any better. We're all only here for personal agenda, especially you. We do what we please and in return we help The Taristsa.”
“I’m well aware of the terms I agreed upon joining, but don't act like what you're doing is for the greater good. Quite frankly it's sick.”
“I don't care what you think. The only reason you know about what I'm doing is so you can help me, so don't try to play the hero.”
“Tsk, I'm well aware. However, don't be surprised when I train her to attack you.”
The Doctor simply laughed at that.
┗ •◦இ•◦ ┛
“Rise and shine, Collei dear.” Dottore spoke in a sarcastic tone.
Collei roses from her admittedly light sleep, not that you could get a good night's sleep in a hard medical bed in a laboratory, and looked at the man. It was one of the younger clones. Despite the pain Collei sat up, the younger ones tended to have more of a temperament and she didn't feel like pushing the limits this early in the morning.
“Come. It's time for your training.” Said Dottore.
Collei suppressed a sigh. She could count the things she'd rather do less on one hand. Just when she woke up too.
“Are you going to come here or do I have to drag you?” Dottore snapped Collei out of her thoughts. Right, she had to follow him to wherever, lest she wanted to piss him off more.
Tentatively, Collei stepped on the ground, no doubt making the clone more angry at how slow he was being, but she didn't quite trust her feet to not collapse under her.
Thankfully they didn't, and she managed to walk towards the blue haired man.
Seeing Collei walk to him, Dottore walked out of the room, expecting her to follow. Suddenly he stopped and looked at the young girl. “Don't think about trying any funny business like trying to escape. Guards are stationed everywhere, and trust me, you won't like what happens if you get caught.”
Collei just nodded at the man’s unneeded (it was very needed) warning. It'd be a bad idea to try to escape now anyways. She'd never been outside the lab, so she didn't know the layout of the building, much less any exits. She'd just have to bide her time for now.
The halls seem to twist on forever, Collei did her best to remember the hall they were going through, she might need it for later. Despite her ever growing curiosity on where they were going, Collei kept her mouth shut. She already pissed off this clone enough for one day.
Eventually they arrived at what seemed to be the entrance (or exit?) If the facility.
Standing there was a woman. She had long white hair with black streaks and an intense gaze.
“Here she is.” Dottore spoke, motioning towards Collei, causing said girl to tense up.
“Hm. Good. Get along now.” The woman spoke. Waving her hand for Dottore to leave. Her voice was just as intense as her gaze.
Collei heard the man grumble something before leaving. The woman set her gaze on Collei, causing her to freeze up. The woman Then knelt down to her height.
“Now, now. No need to be so tense, I don't bite.” The woman spoke with a smile. Collei didn't move, not trusting the woman in the least.
“Hm, I suppose all things come in time.” She said, noting Collei’s distrust. “I'm known as The Knave. Come. I'll show you where you'll be staying.”
Chapter Text
Collei didn't know how to feel about The Knave. She didn't want to like the woman, but she had been nicer than any adult had been to her in a long time.
The cold of Snezhnaya was something Collei didn't think she'd ever get used to. Being from Sumaru, she was used to the heat, while she couldn't remember much, but she knew it didn't get very cold there.
The Knave had been kind enough to give her snow boots and a winter jacket, it didn't change the fact that she was shaking like a leaf, though it was definitely better than it would be without.
Collei noticed that The Knave would peek back at her every so often, probably to make sure she was still following behind her, walking in the snow was a struggle for the green haired girl, but she made do.
Collei made sure to try and memorize the path they were taking, she would need to know her way around if she was going to escape after all.
She ignored the voice in her head telling her it'd be useless since everything looks the same with all the snow. If the Fatui knew their way around she could figure it out too.
It seemed that The Knave wasn't much for conversation since she hasn't spoken since introducing herself, but that was fine with Collei since she wasn't much for conversation either.
Eventually Collei could see a large house in the distance. She guessed that would be where she'd be staying for the time being. She noted that it wasn't heavily guarded. That just made things easier for her.
“We’re here,” The Knave announced. “Come, you'll be introduced to everyone, they'll take care of everything else.” The Knave opened the door to the house and motioned for Collei to come in
Collei didn't say anything but followed what The Knave instructed. She'd be introduced to everyone? The fact that there were other people didn't surprise her. What did surprise her was the fact she'd be interacting with them. Collei was aware that there were other kids who shared her fate of being experimented on by The Doctor, but he would always keep them separated from each other.
Stepping inside, Collei was immediately blasted with warmth, it felt nice compared to the harsh cold of the outside. The house itself was very...homey. There was a lit fireplace that not only provided warmth but bathed the room in a comforting orange.
Collei wouldn't mind staying in a place like this- No. She can't think that way, it was obviously a trap, she refused to fall for whatever game The Knave was playing.
The Knave stepped behind Collei and placed a hand on her shoulder. The suddenness snapped Collei out of her thoughts and she had to suppress a flinch.
Only now did Collei notice a few dozen kids watching her. She did her best to suppress an embarrassed flush. Archons, she's only been here a few minutes and she's already making a fool of herself. How did she not notice them? She needed to get herself together.
“Children, this is our new member of The Hearth, Collei. I trust you will all treat her kindly and make her feel at home.”
The children all gave verbal agreements along the lines of “yes, Father.” Why Father? Collei couldn't help but wonder but she quickly let go of the thought, she had bigger issues to worry about.
The other kids regarded her with some smiles and the occasional wave. Collei felt a slight twist in her chest, she didn't like this, not one bit.
“Lyney.” The Knave started, “Come help Collei get settled in. The rest of you, get ready for dinner.” She said before walking off.
The rest of the kids did too, all talking, probably about her, and going back to their business.
Collei hated this, she had no idea what to do, she's never been in this situation before. She felt like a fly in a beehive, and her head was a mess.
A boy with light brown hair and purple eyes, who she assumed was Lyney, walked up to her with a smile.
“Hi Collei, I'm Lyney, in case you haven't already guessed, I'll be showing you to your room.”
Collei nodded mutely.
Lyney talked her ear off the entire short walk, clearly he didn't mind her quiet and closed off demeanor. That's probably why The Knave chose him to show Collei to the room.
“Here we are!” Lyney exclaimed with far too much excitement for a simple room.
It was fairly large, six beds on each side with a night stand next to them. Each bed and night stand were decorated differently, likely to suit its owners.
Lyney led Collei to an empty bed. “This one will be yours.” He told her with the same friendly smile.
Once again Collei just nodded mutely.
“Did you bring anything with you?” Lyney asked. Collei shook her head.
“Ah- that's alright. You'll have your own things soon enough. But since you don't need to unpack, we can head straight to dinner!”
With that Lyney let her out of the bedroom and to the dining hall.
Collei did not like the dining hall. It was too loud and there were too many people way too close to her.
Lyney sat next to her. While Collei wasn't sure how she felt about the boy yet, she was glad she was only next to one complete stranger instead of two.
The girl sitting next to Lyney, Collei is pretty sure she's his sister but wasn't actually paying enough attention to know for sure, she was also grateful for six e she kept Lyney from hounding her. He'd still check up on her every once in a while and ask about the food, how she was doing, because that would drastically change in the span of a few minutes, but was mostly focused on his sister.
The food had actually been a pleasant surprise. It tasted good and there was plenty of it. The Doctor would only feed her every so often, and usually was stale bread and crackers with some water.
This all felt too good to be true. Too bad, Collei had no idea what The Knave was planning with her, or anything about her. Collei didn't know what would get on her good vs bad side, what she could do to play it safe, Collei hated that. She heated all of this.
For now she'd just play along. Unlike with Dottore, there were other people, ones who knew what to do. She'd watch and observe them.
“Collei?” Lyney’s voice snapped her out of her thoughts. “Aren't you going to eat anymore?” He asked, her purple eyes were filled with concern.
Collei glanced at her half eaten plate, the food was good yes, the best and most she's had for...she couldn't even remember. There was no telling how long that would last for her. Collei refused to let her guard down or get soft.
“I'm full.” She muttered in response. Lyney looked like he was about to protest but his sister interrupted him. “It's okay, Lyney, the first few days are always rough.”
Lyney sighed in defeat at that, muttering a ‘yeah, yeah, you're right in agreement.’
“Alright then.” His voice was back to being chipper. How was he always so happy? “Let me finish dinner and we can go back to the room, alright?”
Collei nodded.
The rest of dinner went by without anything notable. Lyney shot her concerned glances if you so often. Collei wondered if he was in on whatever The Knave was planning. No one was that worried about someone they just met (right?).
Soon enough, dinner was over and the kids all went to wash up and get ready for bed.
Collei didn't bother, just plopping down on her bed.
From the corner of her eye, Collei could see Lyney give her an exasperated smile.
“My bed is just right across from yours. Feel free to wake me if you need anything during the night, alright?”
Collei gave a non committed hum in response. She was tired. Never before has she been around so many people. It’s…Collei doesn't know but she thinks she isn't a fan of it. Collei just wanted to call it a night. That's what she'd do in the lab, she'd sleep for as long as possible. It was the only way she could keep herself sane. Collei wanted to do that same here, but she wasn't quite sure she trusted the people around her enough for it.
Despite that, Collei, against her will, ended up falling asleep rather quickly.
Tomorrow she'd start figuring out a plan to get out of here.
Notes:
So the reason this chapter is so pov heavy is because I wanted to show that Collei is kinda stuck in her head. I tried to hint at it being kind of her coping/defense mechanism since she's in a new place that she doesn't trust, but I'm not sure how well I did that. 😅
LydsTherinNotaMon on Chapter 1 Thu 29 Feb 2024 03:33AM UTC
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Writer_Anomaly on Chapter 1 Thu 29 Feb 2024 01:07PM UTC
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Bella_Daze on Chapter 2 Thu 11 Jul 2024 04:15AM UTC
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chikachika_bowwow on Chapter 2 Fri 12 Jul 2024 12:38AM UTC
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Dreamerzz on Chapter 2 Thu 18 Jul 2024 05:15AM UTC
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Writer_Anomaly on Chapter 2 Thu 18 Jul 2024 05:17AM UTC
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