Harlequin

Several years ago, when she was a child, Arlecchino stood up to the previous holder of the title of The Page and eventually succeeded her. She reformed the House of the Bonfire; though strict, she insisted that the House be maintained as a collective, allowed its members to complete tasks in their own way, and did not punish them as harshly as her predecessor. This caused Efim Snezhevich, a House of the Bonfire instructor loyal to the previous Arlecchino, to act independently to follow the previous Arlecchino's lead, successfully using Arlecchino's name as leverage. After taking over from her predecessor, her relaxed policy allowed Fréminet to spend more time searching for his Father, who he had not heard from since he was handed over to old Arlecchino. However, he was unsuccessful and was about to give up when Arlecchino threw him a pendant, which was his Father's. He had taken out a group of "scum" and only realized after he gave him the pendant that he was not sure what had happened to his Father. Upon learning what the previous headmistress had told him, he was enraged by her manipulation and told Fréminet the truth about why his Father had abandoned him. After stating that the pendant was all he had been able to find, he quietly left, making her understand that his Father had been murdered by the moneylenders for not handing him over to them.

When Lyney and Lynette were adopted by a noble who attempted to traffic Lynette, Arlecchino learned of the incident and killed the noble, discovering her with other captive orphans. Lyney, who also learned where her sister was being held, encountered Arlecchino, who proceeded to offer the twins a place in the Bonfire House. Though Lyney was initially hesitant to accept due to what had happened, Arlecchino also killed the noble who had taken them in, prompting her to accept his offer. Arlecchino would task them with various missions throughout Fontaine, one of which involved obtaining incriminating evidence from a target who was seen to be in danger due to the presence of the Judicial Office. During the escape, Lyney was knocked unconscious, forcing Lynette to escape with him in tow. When she arrived at the rendezvous point, she was greeted by Arlecchino; as the evidence was ruined, she became fixated on her Anemo Vision, which she deemed more valuable.

Arlecchino began to give Lynette more dangerous missions, and Lyney would eventually ask Arlecchino for a Deception in order to try and keep her sister. Arlecchino refused her request and seemed angered by the idea, telling her that he already had what he needed to support his sister. Lyney's determination to protect her family after a mission that nearly killed them caused her to gain a Pyro Vision. Arlecchino would also eventually consider Lyney his successor at the Bonfire House. Being a native of Fontaine, Arlecchino believes in the prophecy that the people of Fontaine would dissolve into water and ordered the House of Fire to find a way to prevent this. While fulfilling Zarina's wish to collect the Gnosis, Arlecchino asked her permission to use it before handing it over to her, which she agreed to. Following Tartaglia's disappearance from Fort Meropide, Arlecchino decided to investigate Furina and Neuvillette, while sending Lyney, Lynette, and Fréminet to the prison to gather information. During her own investigation, she suspected that neither of the two were the Hydro Archon, especially the former due to her behavior and a "curse" of some sort, and came to the conclusion that the Hydro Gnosis was hidden. She would eventually meet the Traveler during her second meeting with Furina, where she expressed her anger at the Archon's apparent lack of urgency regarding the prophecy in order to protect her people. However, not having Neuvillette around, she decided that such topics would not yield much and concluded the meeting, where she shared her thoughts on her Archon privately with the Traveler. She also thanked them for helping her "children" and would be willing to help them regarding the prophecy if needed.

Arlecchino was then notified of some ancient ruins near Poisson that interested her, and sent an expedition party to explore them. Along the way, they discovered that the Primordial Sea had risen in the city, so they abandoned that prospect to help the people and thus had the Traveler explore it on their behalf. She would later have the Fatui assist Lyney and Fréminet with their tasks to bring Furina to trial. After the prophecy ended, Neuvillette gave her the Hydro Gnosis as a "diplomatic gift", which she accepted. Before setting off for Snezhnaya, she caught up with her "children" at Port Rociomarino and thanked the Traveler for their help. She also returned the Vision of Nobile to them. It is unknown whether Fatui's other known businesses involving House of Fire members are related to her or the former Arlecchino.

appearance

Appearance Arlecchino has a model of a tall woman, thin build, pale complexion. This woman is known for her physique of black eyes with a red pupil in the shape of an "X", she has hair in two layers; the first is shorter and is slightly combed, having a longer lock on her right side that extends to her shoulders and her bangs reach her eyebrows. Above her bangs she has a root of black hair, while her second layer is longer than the rest and is combed in a ponytail downwards with a black elastic band with a reddish detail. Arlecchino's outfit consists of a straight gray corset-type shirt with a blue / black hue, a short white tie with the Fatui symbol in the middle with a reddish and black tone, pronounced shoulders, sleeves with ruffles on the wrists in red and black, tight pants on top while the bottom is a little loose and black. On his arms he has a mark of the black tone up to his hands, his nails are long and reddish, his ring and index fingers have a pair of silver rings. He wears long heels / ankle boots with a gray hue and reddish details, he wears white cross-shaped earrings. He wears his Pyro vision near the nape of his neck.

The Hotel Bouffes d'Été in the Vasari Gallery is a beautiful building with a neat facade, radiant doors and windows, and a daily coming and going of very elegant and well-behaved children. However, unlike other beautiful hotels at the Court of Fontaine, the owner of the Bouffes d'Été does not live in town, and no one seems to know anything about her. The hotel deeds only show a false signature, as the real owner is someone else. When the doors close, in the middle of the night you can hear children murmuring the word “mother.” Some idolize her, others fear her, and others have mixed feelings about her. What doesn't change, however, is that when talking to her, everyone adopts a much more respectful tone. The organization to which these children belong is called the “House of the Bonfire” and is attached to the Fatui. It has welcomed orphaned children from all over the world, and the luxurious Hotel Bouffes d'Été is only a small part of that home. For her part, the “mother” that the children talk so much about is the current director of the House of the Bonfire, known as Arlecchino, La Sota and the fourth of the Eleven of the Fatui. There are all sorts of opinions about the Fatui and this member of The Eleven, but for most of the children in the house, their mother is the most important person in their lives. “If we can call this place 'home', it's thanks to mother.”

Anyone who has had dealings with Arlecchino has been able to feel the crushing pressure he emanates. She always knows how to steer the conversation in her favor, and very few are able to hide any secret by looking her directly in the eyes. When he has to act, he shows no mercy, chatting and laughing as he takes care of everything. He even has the consideration to leave the scene sparkling clean so as not to traumatize those who come after him. However, none of that is what makes her truly fearsome. What is most terrifying is what is unknown about her. Even her children, who deal with her on a daily basis, don't really know her. For example, they don't know what she likes, what she doesn't like, or what she thinks about when she stands looking at the sea. Every time August comes around, the kids rack their brains thinking of a birthday present for her, but she always receives them with the same expression. It all continued like this until last year, when a lizard that fell from the ceiling gave Fréminet the fright of his life. Lynette, always so agile, caught the little intruder and cornered it by covering it with a bowl on the table. When Arlecchino got home, he thought that the bowl and the lizard were his gift for that year. The next day, when Lyney brought a work report to her mother's office, she saw that on the table there was a terrarium with a familiar little animal. The temperature and humidity of the terrarium were perfect, so the lizard was very comfortable in it. Plus, it felt like my mother had had reptiles before. As The Knave raised his teacup, Lyney looked away from the lizard, but etched the moment into her mind. After that, Lyney, Lynette and Fréminet gathered a lot of information about how to raise lizards to share with Mother the next time they saw her.

After that, Lyney, Lynette and Fréminet gathered a lot of information about how to raise lizards to share with Mother the next time they saw her. However, when Lyney returned to her office a few days later, the terrarium no longer had any tenants. “Mother, and the lizard?” “As she tried to escape from the terrarium several times, I ended up releasing her. We were not able to live together for long, but that was her choice,” said Arlecchino with complete seriousness. Seeing that Lyney was at a loss for words, he pointed to a curious bird on the windowsill and said: “Plus, shortly after we got out, that guy over there swallowed it, and now he’s waiting for me to give him the second plate. Throw him out, will you?”

Beauty is something that everyone likes, and it is in their youth that children become familiar with this concept. They start to secretly put on accessories, cut their hair with scissors... Mother doesn't mind these little acts of rebellion, so she doesn't usually interfere. Once, however, a little girl refused to take off a necklace that revealed her movements during a night operation. That was a matter for the mother. Arlecchino entered the young woman's room with a pretty bag. The girl, who had been standing to one side, well aware that she had made a mistake, had taken off her necklace and left it on the table. After grabbing the necklace and inspecting it from top to bottom, Arlecchino walked over to the girl and placed it back around her radiant neck. Then he gently lifted her long blonde hair above her ears and said, “Oh, so you have your ears pierced.” Mother took a velvet bow and some jeweled earrings out of her purse, lifted the girl's hair and placed the luxurious accessories on her. With his hands on her shoulders, he led her to a mirror, where the girl saw that she looked like an elegant rose adorned with precious stones. Judging from her face, she seemed very uneasy, but there was no doubt that she looked dazzling. “I think it's great that they've started to care about their appearance, but I don't want vanity to get to their heads and affect their judgment.” The girl, a bundle of nerves, apologized: “I'm so sorry, Mother.” Trembling, she put her hands to her ears to remove those earrings while saying: “I promise it won’t happen again…” The mirror reflected the serene face of the mother, whose smile never changed. “Shhh... Calm down. It's normal to wish for things that are out of your reach, but I wouldn't want regret to embellish your memories from now on.”

Go ahead and put them on. Once you get used to them, you'll understand that no matter how beautiful a gem is, it will always be a cold, inert object. This will be your new lesson: understand where your emotions come from, master them and use them, but never let them master you.”

The Bonfire House was completely different before Mother rewrote its rules. Although the name of the previous Sota was Crucabena, very few people called her that; the children referred to her as “mother”. And she really did seem like a perfect mother: cheerful, loving, sweet, always worrying about her children and telling them all kinds of stories. However, anyone who had not grown up with her would feel chills when hearing such stories... He spoke of unimaginably cruel things as if they were beautiful children's stories, in order to encourage the children of the Bonfire House to kill each other so that a powerful "king" could be chosen. Although she called herself “mother,” she never saw the Bonfire House as a family, and to her, the countless sacrifices were nothing more than an entertaining experiment. ... Before young Arlecchino took over as La Sota and changed her name, everyone knew her as Peruere. Like the other children of the House of the Bonfire, she was also an orphan of uncertain origin, as well as the “daughter” of her “mother” Crucabena. Many people were aware of Crucabena's favouritism towards Peruere, and that he cared much more for her than for his own biological daughter, Clervie. That is why very few understood why Peruere paid for the care he received from his mother with a bloody death. Because Crucabena's disturbing experiments took place in a very remote location, very few people knew of their existence. For this reason, Peruere ended up being branded a matricide after murdering Crucabena, and her madness became known to everyone. ... When things calmed down, Peruere – then already under the name “Arlecchino” – gave no explanation. Not only did she let the rumors continue to circulate, but she even fueled them herself.

Whether as a diplomat or an assassin, the most important thing was to always be one step ahead of her rival, so being an unknown worked to her advantage. Today, at the place where Arlecchino killed his mother, there is a small tombstone that reads: “Here lies the glow of dusk to greet the rising of dawn.”

In order to hide his origins and burn the truth, Arlecchino always claims to be from Fontaine. But the reality is that, when she was little, she realized that she could control a special type of flames. No one in the House of Fire knew of such a power, so everyone was very curious about this ability. However, when she was little, Arlecchino did not consider it to be something to boast about, but rather a curse. Every time he wasn't careful enough, the power would spiral out of control and eat away at his body. First it was his fingertips, then his palms, and finally his forearms... All of this had left him with charcoal-black marks and made him feel like a pile of dry firewood being incinerated. Then, Arlecchino had a feeling: if that dark shadow were to extend from his arms to his shoulders, and then to his heart, he would probably experience a certain “change.” That would probably be the moment when fate would reveal its plans for her. ... Even leaving aside the corrosion on his body, those flames were also the cause of many other problems. The people she burned to ashes with them became shadows of sorts: sometimes they were just fragments of memories, other times they were clothed in dazzling colors. As more and more people fell through his hands, Arlecchino heard all kinds of voices. The screams, wailing, and cursing would sometimes wake her from her dreams, but she eventually grew accustomed to it. After all, she rarely dreamed of anything worth remembering, for her dreams were usually plagued by a crimson moon and barren fields. Very rarely, shadows were preserved more completely and became self-aware.

Although they were nothing compared to Clervie's shadow, they appeared before Arlecchino to repel the other voices and give him a few brief moments of tranquility. Like playful children, they sometimes accompanied her for a while and other times they simply left. Arlecchino remembered very well who they had been in life, but he never called them by name.

After having an audience with the Tsarina, receiving her Deception and inheriting the name “Arlecchino”, someone summoned the young Sota on an individual basis. It was director Pierro, who hid half of his face with a mask. “I know you still have many doubts and dissatisfaction, and I am willing to answer five questions, whether about the world... or about yourself. You do not need to ask me for promises or to ask me about the Fatui's plans or the ideals of Her Majesty the Tsarina. I will answer these questions without reservation." Arlecchino did not fully trust Pierro's sincerity, so he argued: “In that case, let me say that I do not like confusion and ambiguity, as well as word games and lies.” “Very prudent of you. Well then, I will answer your first question: why did we choose you and why did you accept? Because immature people die for following their ideals, while mature people are willing to survive no matter what in order to achieve their goal.” ... “Third question: why do I keep dreaming about a crimson moon and what the hell does my power mean?” “In the past, I served the last dynasty of the ancient underground kingdom, the so-called Eclipse Dynasty, and before that was the Crimson Moon Dynasty. As for you and the secrets from before you were born… I recommend you read “Hleobrant the Lover.” I didn’t usually read such stories when I was in the academic world, but I did read that book. Although the veracity of its story is doubtful, the most important details are extremely accurate.” ... “Fifth question: What will happen to me and the members of the House of the Bonfire when this is all over?” “

To be honest, none of you have a place within my ideals, as all I seek is the implementation of fatuous morality. However, I can promise you that, once we achieve this, the Tsarina will once again be a goddess who loves all of humanity, and everyone’s wishes will be fulfilled within her ideals.” Although the term “moral fatua” was confusing and ambiguous, Arlecchino accepted the answer. When the Fatui had answered his five questions, the mist clouding Arlecchino’s eyes dissipated. “Arlecchino,” Pierro called her as he was about to leave. She turned around. “Instead of thinking about how the world is, you should think about where it is going.” Arlecchino turned and continued walking forward. His only response was the sound of his footsteps.

Hopscotch

Marelle In order to ensure the confidentiality and security of their operations, the members of the Bonfire House have multiple secret codes. One of them is “marelle”, which was created by Arlecchino. Marelle is a very popular game among Fontaine children. It consists of drawing squares on the ground in a certain order, throwing sandbags at them and jumping from square to square in turns. It is not known when this game first became known or who created its rules, but in their childhood, all the children in the Bonfire House played marelle, dragged along by the older ones. Jumping, laughing... Thinking about the marelle always evokes happy and radiant memories. That is why, at first, the children did not understand why their mother was unsure whether that word should mean “rest” or “danger.” What they didn't know was that in the old Bonfire House, marelle was not just a game. At that time, children jumped into squares under the watchful eye of adults, and were not allowed to step on a line or alter the rhythm of the game. Needless to say, if they made a wrong jump, some very sharp blades awaited them. Children lost their balance, they did not have enough stamina, they made mistakes due to the fear they felt... Many, too many children fell out of the boxes with the floor, flooded with a dark red color, as the only narrator of the suffering of their past. None of them would have associated it with anything relaxing, as their faces changed dramatically at the mere mention of the game. Despite having many doubts about it, Arlecchino ended up giving it the meaning of “rest”. Thus, the marelle would no longer be associated with anything dangerous and everyone would talk about it with laughter and joy.

Those sad memories remained only in Arlecchino's heart, so that after cleaning the blood and dust, the children could see a great future ahead of them.

Vision

Vision Arlecchino's power has several sources. The baneful flames burn in her body, so that the noble blood that flows through her veins is both a curse and a gift, her most primal power. The merciful Tsarina forgave her sin of matricide and granted her a Deception, proof of her favor and a badge of honor. This was the third source of her power. Between one event and another, she received a Vision while still answering to the name Peruere. While Clervie was still alive, Peruere proposed to her the plan of murdering her mother. Perhaps because she lacked self-confidence or because she loved her mother, Clervie refused. Thus, her fate came to an end when she was pierced by a cold sword. At least she felt happiness as she headed towards death, for she was finally free... However, for Peruere, who had survived, the wheels of fate had only just begun to turn. Mother’s ambition did not cease even after the experiment to choose a “king” ended. Peruere then decided to carry out the plan she had put aside. From that day on, she secretly calculated the gap between herself and her mother. Since it was her mother who taught her to fight, she knew perfectly well the strength that flowed through her veins. But for adults, the strongest child of all children is still a mere chick. However, Peruere never gave up in the face of adversity. Despite all the wounds and battle scars, and despite the fact that the bad moon flames, which she could not fully control, dyed her body black, she grew stronger and stronger. Then, on a night when the moon shone brightly, a Vision descended before her eyes without warning. The luminous, transparent, round Vision aligned perfectly with the moon, so that the bright star was tinged with a crimson red color.

Vision

Was that his wish? Or was it perhaps the result of thinking for hundreds of days and nights without rest?