ajax0x

[ajax0x]

Linked through pain

Tw: light violence, self harm, implied abuse, murder/assasination + first ever fanfic ive made public

Childe x g/n reader

might countine the story if this goes well!!

Fanfic under the cut!!!

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Ajax was 6 years old when he first found out about soulmates.

He remembers asking his parents why they had matching marks on their skin, and he remembers the way his mother smiled and crouched down to be on eye level with him as she explained.

"Every person has a soulmate, and every person is linked with their soulmate in a different way. Me and your father had a matching mark on our skin, my dear"

Listening to his mothers words made him curious, and he remembers asking one thing and one thing only.

"How will i know in what way me and my soulmate are linked?"

His mother only smiled in response.

"One day, you will just know"

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He was 9 years old when he woke up screaming.

Everything hurt, his entire body felt like it was on fire. His mother and father rushed into his room in a panic, worried for their son. His screaming had been so loud, he woke up his younger siblings. His mother was the first at his side, frantically asking him what happend and checking over his body for any signs of visible injuries.

When she found none, she simply hugged her son and rocked him back and forth until the screaming stopped. Once ajax was able to talk again, he tearfully told his parents that he had just woken up in horrible pain, and that was when they knew something was wrong.

His parents never said it out loud, but ajax knew they were worried. Worried, not for him, but for his soulmate.

That was the night ajax found out that he could feel his soulmates pain, and they could feel his.

That night was only the first, as ajax started waking up in horrible pain regulary.

After the first time it happend, ajax promised himself that one day, when he was older and stronger, he would find his soulmate.

And he would protect them so no one could hurt them like that ever again.

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He was 14 when he went missing for 3 days.

He was gone for 3 days, and once he came back, he was never quite the same.

He had gained a sudden bloodlust, and went from this soft, gentle young boy to this..

Monster.

Nobody said it to him, but he knew they were all thinking it.

Ajax started getting into fights with the other kids, beating them bloody, and yet it was never enough.

He had a thirst for more, and his parents couldnt give him that.

Once his parents couldnt handle him anymore, feeling like he had become a danger to everyone around him, they took the only option they had left.

He was 14 when he was sent off to the fatui.

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Military life suited him.

He did exceptionally well in combat, and rarely got into trouble.

Sometimes, his family would write to him, and he would always be happy to write back.

Ajax pushed himself to his limits and beyond on the battlefield, often times ending up with a broken bone or two after a fight, and his soulmate no doubt felt all of it.

Ajax was the cause of most of their shared pain these days, and he felt kind of bad because of it, but he just couldnt stop himself from testing his limits.

He just hoped they would forgive him for it one day.

They were still getting hurt too, but it wasnt as bad as it used to be, and ajax no longer woke up screaming in pain each night.

Everything was going just fine.

Until it wasnt.

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Ajax was 16 when it happend.

He had woken up in pain once again, but this time, it was different. His screams had been loud enough to wake the dead, and when someone came to check on him, they found him frantically clawing at his arms and wrists.

A few fatui soldiers attempted to pin him onto the floor, but when he couldnt scratch at his own skin anymore, he would scratch at anything and everything else. He kept saying the same thing over and over again, but among his screaming, nobody could figure out what he was trying to say.

And when they couldnt calm him down, they knocked him unconscious instead.

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When ajax woke up again, he couldnt remember much of what happend, but he remembered the pain.

His soulmates pain.

He had felt his soulmates pain before, but this time it was different. It wasnt like any of the other times, it wasnt like the shared pain he had felt as a child, it was like hell itself. His entire body felt like it had just gone through the worst kind of torture imaginable, and he wondered

"What kind of person can endure such pain?"

For ajax, that was the worst night of his life.

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They called it, 'the incident', and it had managed to catch a certain harbingers attention.

Pulcinella was a very reasonable man, and he saw potential in ajax. Potential for something more than just a fatui soldier.

It was his call that would forever change ajax's life, for better or worse.

He was 17 when he was awarded his harbinger titel.

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Ajax went by childe these days, and with his new position as a fatui harbinger, thoughts of his soulmate faded into the back of his mind.

He never stopped wishing he could meet them one day, to protect them from harm and be there for them, to grow old with them and start a family one day, but his work simply didnt allow him enough freetime to activly look for them.

'The incident' was the last time he woke up screaming in pain, and he could only hope it would stay as the last time forever.

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Childe stared at the busy streets of liyue through a window, waiting for the sun to set. Because when the sun set, all was fair game, and there would be no innocent people on the streets to get into the middle of what would go down tonight.

He didnt normally partake in debt collections, but he had been feeling especially bloodthirsty lately, and who was he to pass up on such a opportunity?

It was practically handed to him on a silver platter, after all.

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Through the now empty streets of liyue ran a young man, no older than 25. He had been running for what seemed like hours, trying to escape the unescapable, turning and jumping at every sound in the dark.

He was running like he was a mouse being chased by a owl, and in a way, he was. Just a prey being chased by a predator, praying to any god willing to listen to safe him from his ultimate demise.

It seemed the gods had answered his prayers, as the next moment he spotted a person walking near the harbor, looking no older than 19. He reconsidered his options for a moment, but he soon heard the laughter of the person he had been running from all this time, and with that his choice was made.

The young man grabbed the person by their hair, slapping his hand over their mouth and pulling them infront of him as a human shield. He didnt care if they got injured, as long as he could save himself.

A laugh came from the darkness as the person struggled against the mans grip.

"Do you really think a human shield will save you?"

Childes voice echoed throughout the empty streets of liyue. Footsteps could be heard coming closer, and it only caused the man to start panicking more, pulling on the hair of the person he had snatched.

"Boo"

Childe had always had a talent for sneaking up on people, and as the arrow of his bow hit the back of the mans head, he thought of it as pretty useful.

The mans body dropped limp to the ground, the arrow having pierced through his head, coming out on the other side and making for a nearly instant death. The person he had attempted to use as a human shield was still standing where he had held them, most likely paralyzed from shock, though visibly shacking. Childe almost felt bad for them, almost.

"Go, im not here for you"

That was all he needed to say, as the next moment, they had already started running as far away from the scene as possible. Childe watched them run, knowing his job here was done.

Atleast, thats what he thought.

Just as childe was about to turn around and leave the scene, he watched the person who was still running trip and fall flat onto their face, though they quickly got up again to keep running from the scene. He thought nothing of it at first, ready to leave aswell, until..

He felt a sharp pain on his face, like he had just fallen flat on it.