Chapter Text
His head hurt.
The sunlight that just yesterday had seemed so inviting bore down at him, glaring with the wrath of a thousand flames, pounding into the back of his head, and together with the night of no sleep, left him irritable and angry all morning. Diluc didn’t fail to notice how none of the staff except Elzer even dared come near him today, but that was fine with him.
Elzer took his moods in stride, and was up to ask him if he would like a glass of the finest grape juice Teyvat had to offer with a sympathetic smile. “Something the matter, Master Diluc?” He added.
Diluc sat at his chair, his chin in his hand and fire in his eyes as he wordlessly threw in a small nod of gratitude. He felt himself deflate. “Do not worry, Elzer. I shall be fine. I was simply having some rather troubling thoughts after something I heard and well-”
“Memories?” Elzer replied, his gray eyes quirking up in understanding from where he stood on the other side of the desk. Diluc stiffened, and Elzer took that as a cue to leave.
The redhead chided himself for his surprise. Elzer could always read him like a book, the face that was considered “rude” or “arrogant” to hundreds of others somehow laid out clearly, open to him. He was one of the only ones who could do that, look at him and not see a spoiled lord with everything given to him; an unkind man with little concern for those around him, or someone to be pitied, a tale told around Mondstadt’s dinners; to theorize about and gasp at.
There were not many people left like him in Diluc’s life; and that made Elzer’s involvement in his life so much more special, because he had been there; when his father ran the Winery, when he was learning the ropes, when he wasn’t Master Diluc Ragnvindr, Lord of Dawn Winery; when he was just Diluc, son of Crepus and Brother to-
Well, it didn’t matter now. They were both dead.
One stabbed in the heart, begging for death. His dagger in his father’s heart, and his face in his hands. One gone forever; never to return to him.
And the other? Might as well be.
Because while Diluc had stabbed a knife into his father’s heart, Kaeya had stabbed a knife into his back. Diluc had taken his father’s life; all the pain and suffering, all the joy and pride that could have been, and Kaeya had left him a lifeless shell of a man.
He did not realize when he slipped into memories, back to that night, only blinking back into the present when he heard the tell-tale sound of Elzer’s boots, and sure enough, there he was, shutting the heavy wooden door behind him as he approached Diluc, a glass of juice in hand.
Diluc nodded at him, and truly did smile, the tiniest one he could muster, and took a sip, letting the cold seep over him in waves until he felt significantly better. Elzer cleared his throat, “Anything on the agenda today, Sir?”
Diluc did a quick mental relay. Papers delivered, processing accounted for, and everyone was on duty. It was all in all, a perfect day, as expected of the best. “Not in particular, no. You should really rest, Elzer.” He added as an afterthought, feeling guilty. “It must have been a tedious journey, to and back.”
Elzer looked thoughtful for a second, and although he was usually quick to deny allegations of experiencing emotions or feelings as traitorous as fatigue, he nodded graciously. “Perhaps, I shall …. head home. Take care, Master Diluc.”
Diluc nodded, and as soon as Elzer was gone, rested his head on the (thankfully) empty table. He groaned, all formalities gone, his headache gone but his body aching. It was a rare day, so free and empty, especially so soon to Windblume, and he ached to be able to enjoy it. It had been a while since his trip to the woods.
Perhaps, he would head into Mond, or the hill as he had intended, and get some practice in. He laughed internally at the irony, how something that had been his entire life once was now reduced to a mere hobby to take delight in once in a blue moon.
He stared at the Prototype Archaic he had propped so carefully next to his desk, its handle worn from years of use but the blade still sharp as on the day he got it, nearly eight years ago. He slowly got up from his desk and picked it up, the calluses of his fingers fitting perfectly into the grooves of the handle, and he itched to use it.
He smiled. There was no one stopping him today, was there?
✧✧✧
Of course.
Of course, he failed to account for the green bard who he was sure was too young to be drinking but had no way to prove, and glared at him as he grinned back cheekily. He held a large glass of beer, the mere size of it eclipsing his own tiny hands and making them look even larger in proportion. He lifted it up to Diluc in a toast, and the redhead glowered.
“I have Mora today, Master Diluc!” He announced gleefully, as if that were the problem.
Diluc sighed, and walked over from the entrance of the tavern he had foolishly decided to check in on to snatch the mug away. This resulted in outrage from the bard and multiple shrieks accusing him of withholding products that Diluc tuned out as he slammed the glass back onto the counter. The bard looked at him glumly, pouting.
“No.”
“Bu-”
“No.”
The bard looked at him, all hints of despair gone from his face, and he sighed. He picked up the lyre lying on the counter, and jumped off the tool. The soft golden light of the tavern’s lights painted his face in gold flakes, and in his green outfit, Diluc thought for a second that he looked like Mondstadt personified. Youth, song, freedom, and wine, all together in one sulking child.
He sighed at the receding figure of said child, before calling out to him. “Wait.”
The child turned around, and Diluc nearly laughed at the flash of hope in his eyes. “Take this,” he says, peeking up a few pieces of gold from his pocket and dropping it into the child’s eager hands, knowing this was what he had come for in the first place.
“You can come back in,” Diluc peered keenly at him, trying to make an estimate, “six years from now.”
The bard squawked indignantly. “You think I’m twelve?! Y’know, this was fun for a while, but Celestia above, Master Diluc this is getting ridiculous.” He said, stamping his feet in the exact way a twelve-year-old would. “Don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll get it right someday.” He said, grinning as he left, light on his feet and out the door in mere seconds.
Diluc sighed, his headache returning tenfold it seemed. He shook his head, and after turning to a quietly laughing Charles to ensure all was well, he greeted the customers and made his way to leave. Diluc knew there was no point in yelling at Charles for giving alcohol to a child, for he had witnessed firsthand on his days manning the bar how the bard had a way of slipping in like the wind and almost magically teleporting a glass to his hands, and he thanked the Archons that the bard seemed to take the alcohol as more a game than a genuine addiction.
He clasped his hand onto the weapon he dragged with him, and nodded politely at the Mond locals as he headed toward the gates to go out to the Hill. He heard a small gasp as he passed the florists, but as he turned around, he saw nothing but Flora tending to her plants and a girl with his face turned away from her, so he shrugged mentally and continued.
As Diluc approached the Gates, he was pleasantly surprised to run into The Outrider. She was in deep discussion with the guards at the gate, but as she spotted him, she gave him a brilliant grin and adjusted the goggles on her head. “Master Diluc! Fancy seeing you here!”
He nodded at her, ignoring the other Knights. “You as well, Outrider Amber. Are you doing well?”
She smiled again, nodding enthusiastically. “As I can, sure! How about you, sir, any particular reason you’re here this early today? No one sees you in town until the evening at least!”
He shrugged nonchalantly as he walked away from the gates, Amber falling into step beside him. Perhaps other than the librarian, The Outrider was one of the only Knights he did not despise, and even enjoyed the company of. She was bright, and even under pressure, neither her upbeat optimism nor her strong resolve faltered. Those were qualities he appreciated immensely. “Not particularly, no. I have a rather free day, and decided I might as well check in early on.”
She brightened, her brown eyes shrinking as she smiled, before she hesitated. Diluc waited for her to speak again, realizing she had something to say. “Well,” she began, “if that’s the case, could I ask you to do me a favour?”
He raised an eyebrow. “That depends on the favour.”
She hesitated once more, and although at that point they were far beyond the bridge and the wailing child who had once again lost his feathered friends, she spoke in a whisper. “Have you gotten a notice about the situation at Wolvendom?” At his nod of affirmation, she continued. “It’s been a strange week at Headquarters, what with that and trying to figure out why it’s happening; the wolves seem so much more agitated, and I don’t know if you know this or not, but,” she gulped, “There’s been rumours of a lost boy in the wild. Alone.”
Diluc raised an eyebrow, then nodded gingerly. “I am familiar, yes.”
“I just- I can’t help but feel they’re connected, you know? And I really want to get to the bottom of it, and in case there is a child there, well.” She ended, clumsily, her face shifting into embarrassment, but the intent was clear. “Anyways, no one knows the woods of Wolvendom better than you, Master Diluc, and I would feel much safer going with you by my side.”
Diluc adjusted his gloves, taking in the green grass around them and the cool wind flowing between. “I take it this is not officially-sanctioned Knights of Favonius business?”
She faltered, “No- Not really, I wasn’t even cleared to have this level of information-” She started, her hands moving in explanation but her feet planted firmly on the ground.
Diluc smiled, remembering the third reason he admired the Outrider so much. “What are we waiting for then?”
✧✧✧
The walk was pleasant enough, the girl next to him chattering away at five different trains of thought. She had been shy around him once, back when he was still with the Knights and she was barely a rookie, but long days spent teaching her how to properly harness her vision and training sessions that trailed into the sunset had broken her shell around him, and he was rather pleased at how well-liked Amber was around the town. Jean held her in high regard as well, he remembered, from one of their few conversations about the Knights.
They strolled past the beautiful meadows, rich with grass brushing around and the regular sounds of a stream whizzing by. It was idyllic, and Diluc felt his migraine lessening by the second.
“-down in Liyue. She seemed nice enough, but it was pretty creepy how much she talked about coffins.” Amber said, laughing sheepishly. “I guess that’s what happens when you direct a funeral parlour, but Lord Barbatos, The Millileth had to shut her up at one point!”
Diluc chuckled too, his voice low. “Sounds like you’re quite the bigshot nowadays, Outrider.”
It was almost funny, how quickly her face blended in with her clothes, red and stuttering. “N-No, it’s not- I’m just doing my job, sir!” The title slipped in, perhaps from years of habit, and he laughed again.
“You shouldn’t downplay yourself like that. You are skilled and favoured around Mondstadt, and it is in your best interests to remember that.” He chided softly.
She nodded, and the two of them went on their way until they had left the Winery far behind in the dust. The woods were fast approaching, and Diluc spotted the telltale changing of the trees, dark and mossy compared to the light wood behind them. By the time they came across their first patch of Wolfhook, he gripped his claymore, heightening his senses.
“Be careful.” He warned the girl next to him, and she nodded, pulling the bow off her back, scanning the surroundings. There was nothing of interest in their immediate surroundings, and so they carried on their journey, their voices slowly trailing off into nods and shushes.
After a few minutes, Amber groaned. “We’re getting nowhere like this.” She complained, very out of character for her, but Diluc agreed. “Should we split up? We’ll cover more ground that way.”
Diluc hesitated for a moment, before giving in. “All right. Let’s meet up back at the mouth of the path in an hour if we find nothing.”
She nodded seriously, and set off down one of the forks in the path, carefully avoiding every stick and rock in her way.
In the depths of the woods, all alone, Diluc was once again reminded of days where the two of them had stood in the circles behind headquarters to practice on training dummies, her shriek of excitement the first time she managed to light an arrow on fire and pierce a target straight through the heart. He had taken on a mentor sort of role for her, taking pity on the stuttering girl with fire in her eyes and the mark of pyro on her waist, and soon that went beyond just practicing how to summon flames; he began teaching her basic survival skills, infiltration, and hand to hand combat. Kaeya and Amber had formed a close kinship over pranking him soon enough, and he used to screech playfully at the other boy for corrupting the one person who showed him even a shred of respect anymore.
They, of course, fell on deaf ears, as the two stood giggling at the sopping mess that was Diluc standing in the doorway, a previously full bucket lying at his feet. He glared at them, but his heart hadn’t been in it, and he cracked a smile soon enough, which led to even more shouts of victory.
(He had gotten them back the next week, and Jean pretended she had absolutely no idea how a bag of flour just happened to fly through a window and onto the outraged pranksters faces. Even Varka laughed, because it was quite difficult to scold Diluc while a white faced duo stood seething by him, flour falling off their faces with every angry breath as they glared at him with their arms crossed across their chests.)
Despite himself, despite how much he hated and despised the Knights, he found himself wondering what it was like now. Did Jean still walk into headquarters and have to yell as politely as possible for Lisa to sleep somewhere that was not Jean’s desk? Did Amber still rush down as soon as mid-day break was announced to shove a steaming heap of Sticky Honey Roast into her mouth? Did Kaey-
He paused in his steps, slowing his breaths down again to heighten his other sense - and yes, there it was.
The rustling of leaves.
Something was moving.
He unsheathed his claymore, channeling pyro energy into it as he turned, his steps impossibly quiet. He moved his other hand toward the bushes the sound came from, slowly, gently, pushing the branches out of the way.
He didn’t know what he was looking at at first, a mishmash of green and orange and white sitting on the clearing in front of him, but the thing moved up, and Diluc’s breath caught in his throat.
It was a boy.
A child, perhaps not even a teenager, although his cheeks lacked much of the fat so evident in children at that age. No, he was clearly starved, his bones poking through the skin in silent pleas for nutrition, his hair wild and ruffled, down to his waist. Diluc spotted a clump of the purple fruit Wolvendom was known for grasped in his hands, the juices leaking out and staining the boy’s hands, and as Diluc traced his hands down the boy’s arms, he gasped.
Dozens, perhaps hundreds of criss-crossed cuts lay across them, new wounds, blood still fresh on them, old scars, healing, and Diluc’s heart lurched at the sight of them. They should have not have been there- They should never have been there, because he was a child, a young boy, Celestia Above, what is he doing here why is he alone-
The boy turned around quickly, his eyes widening as he looked at Diluc, who had dropped his weapon into the bushes the second he had first spotted the child. The white haired child backed away, hands shaking, as Diluc stood rooted to his spot, moving back into the bushes. Diluc came back to his senses, the shock of seeing him overridden by the need to not let him out of his sight. He reached out a hand, slowly stepping forward, making to yell at him to wait, when the boy did the strangest thing.
He howled. A panic-stricken, fear-ridden, blood-curdling howl, an animalistic tone so wrong in the voice of a human child, and he ran from the clearing, his hands still stained and his arms still bleeding. And Diluc. Just. Watched.
Stood rooted to the spot and watched as a boy in pain ran from him fear, ran into the unknown, an unknown boy with unknown origins, but a boy nonetheless, and a child-
And Diluc. Just. Watched.
He did not know how long he stood there, how long he was frozen until his body started shaking. The Wolfhook stained the grass it had fallen on, the purple leaching into the green around it, and Diluc wondered if the grass around the boy turned red as he ran, fleeting droplets of blood soaking into the ground from the arm of the boy Diluc let get away from him.
He did not know when the sun began to set, but as the fading light hit his eyes, he was suddenly reminded of the Outrider who was probably out looking for him. He buried the old guilt that rolled in his heart at the sight of the Wolfhook under a wave of fresh guilt at the realization that he was inconveniencing her. He knew that she was fine, more than capable of looking after herself, but he worried as he hurried through the woods, his body on autopilot as he moved branches out of the way.
To his relief, there she stood, hand on hip, her face morphing into a smile as she saw him. “Right on time! Did anything happen?”
He shook his head. “Nothing.”
Because, he thought as he walked back to the Winery after the girl fumed at him for walking her back to Mond, it was true, was it not?
Once again, he had seen a boy in front of him, his eyes begging for help, but his mouth too afraid to ask for it. Once again, he saw a boy shaking in fear, an unknown, terrified child.
But this time, he stood. And he did nothing.
His father had offered a hand to the boy, his blue locks dripping in the rain and his tiny body shaking. He had reached out and tenderly grabbed it, and Diluc had watched from behind his father’s leg, smiling as they sat in front of the fireplace inside together and the maids tended to the unfamiliar boy’s cuts.
But this time.
Diluc.
Did.
Nothing.