Chapter Text
Albedo had been following a group of people for a while already. They weren’t just any group of people though, they were knights, and they’d kidnapped his assistant Sucrose. Albedo never cared too deeply for people, as he found relationships to be bothersome. They required so much effort, meeting someone and then having to talk to them again and again or the connection would falter and die. Sucrose, however, had carved a hole for herself in his life. She was a talented bioalchemist, and she possessed knowledge that would be extremely dangerous if fallen into the wrong hands. As such, Albedo was pursuing her kidnappers. He didn’t know who they were besides the fact that they were knights, and as such he couldn’t just let them take his assistant. Not to mention that as much as he didn’t like to admit it, having someone to help with his work actually was quite nice.
As such, he now found himself faced with a steep cliff wall, with no other way past it than up. The party of kidnappers had just disappeared over the top, and he was determined to catch up to them.
Thankfully, Albedo had a geo vision, which did make climbing a fair bit easier. He couldn’t directly mould the solid rock in front of him with the powers he had, he wasn’t an archon after all, but he was able to conjure up some geo crystals as extra footing for himself. It wasn’t the quickest climb with how steep and tall the wall was. Albedo had to work hard to conserve his stamina to be sure he’d reach the top without falling. He’d been climbing for a while, more than halfway up the wall, when a voice from above called out to him.
“Hello there!” he heard a man’s voice calling, startling him a bit. Oh, no. He's the chatty sort . He only let out a small grunt as a response, reaching up to take hold of a bit of rock jutting out from the cliff just above him. “Slow going?” the man up top continued. Albedo looked up, letting out a small sigh. “Look, I don’t mean to be rude, but this climbing stuff is a bit harder than it might look. I’d appreciate it if you held off on the distractions.” “Oh, pardon me then.” the man replied. Albedo couldn’t see him very well from where he was situated, but he seemed to be wearing an eyepatch, and had his dark hair tied in a low ponytail hanging over his shoulder. “Thank you,” was all he said as he carried on climbing. The dark-haired man stepped back from the cliff’s edge, leaving Albedo to climb.
Maybe two minutes had passed before Albedo heard the voice calling from above again.
“I don’t suppose you could… speed things up a little bit?” the question rang. Albedo didn’t have time for this. “If you’re in such a hurry, why don’t you make yourself useful and throw me a rope or something? You’re not exactly helping right now,” he quipped. The man at the top took a moment to respond. “I could do that,” he finally said. “I even have some rope up here. I’m afraid you might not accept my help though, as I’m only waiting around to kill you.” Albedo’s suspicions were confirmed, he was indeed one of the kidnappers who’d stayed behind to intercept Albedo’s pursuit of them. “That does put a damper on our relationship,” replied Albedo, before returning his focus onto the wall he was hanging onto.
Yet again, the man persisted. “I promise I won’t kill you until you reach the top.” He sounded at least vaguely sincere, Albedo thought. Still reluctant to accept help from someone only waiting to kill him though, he decided to simply say no. “However comforting that is, I’m afraid you’ll just have to wait.” Albedo was growing tired, and almost struggled a little to keep his footing as he reached for the next hold. Mr. Eyepatch muttered something Albedo couldn’t hear and stepped back from the edge. He only gave Albedo about two seconds to himself though, before he returned. “What if I give you my word as a Khaenri’ahn?” he asked. Albedo almost laughed at that. “No thank you, I’ve known too many Khaenri’ahns.” He heard a sigh, followed by a question. “Is there any way I can make you trust me?” Albedo looked up at the other man. “No, I can’t think of anything.”
“I swear to you on the soul of my father, Crepus Ragnvindr, you will reach the top alive,” the man said in a resolute voice, clearly being impatient to get Albedo up to the top. He stopped, looked up, and thought for a second. Better to die by sword than fall to his death, he thought. “Throw me the rope,” he finally said with a sigh. The man disappeared for a second, then returned with the promised rope. Together, they got Albedo up to the plateau at the top of the cliff.
As soon as he was up, Albedo reached for his sword. He wanted to get this over with as soon as possible. He was still out of breath from climbing so far so fast, but he could easily still fight. “Oh, oh, we’ll wait until you’re ready,” said mr. Eyepatch, holding his hand up in a kind gesture. “Thank you,” was all Albedo said in response, surprised at the grace he’d been given. If it meant a quicker fight, waiting a little couldn’t hurt. “And thank you for the help, as well,” he had to add, before sitting down on a rock to catch his breath and take in his surroundings. Sitting down like this, he could finally see his foe better. He indeed had dark hair, blue. It had a lighter streak through it though, adding some dimension to it. He was dressed in an unnecessarily complicated outfit for a knight, Albedo thought. Belts, multiple light layers, a bit of fur, all in shades of blue, black and white. And.. was that a corset under it all? At his side, he had a sword as well. Looking at his face, Albedo could see the blue of his eyes - well, eye - with a nearly star-shaped pupil. His face was angular, but more beautiful than Albedo might have thought from the way he’d spoken before. He was also taller than Albedo, but that shouldn’t be a problem. There was something about him that Albedo couldn’t quite put his finger on, something about his aura, that was oh so intriguing. Taking his focus off the way this other man looked, he took off his boots to shake out a few pebbles that had gotten caught in them during the pursuit up to this point. Albedo felt a pointed look at him, and looked up to meet the other’s curious eye.
“I don’t mean to pry,” the tall man started, “but you wouldn’t happen to be part of the Fatui?” Albedo almost couldn’t believe what he was being asked. “Do you always begin conversations this way?” he answered the question with a question of his own. “My father was killed because of a Delusion he’d gotten from them,” said the man. Ah, that’d explain the swearing on his soul. Albedo nodded in understanding. He opened one of the various pouches on his belt to show the other man its contents. “I’m simply a travelling alchemist. I don’t care much for the Fatui either way.”
The man nodded with a small smile, clearly satisfied with this answer. “He was a great man, my father,” he began. “He was a winemaker, one of the best. He’d ship out his specialty dandelion wine right to Zapolyarny Palace in Snezhnaya for the Tsaritsa and her Harbingers. They trusted him, and once when he went himself to deliver a special shipment of the wine, they granted him a Delusion to help keep him safe. On the way home, he was ambushed and tried to use its powers, but it backfired and wounded him. When he complained to the Harbingers the next time they met, they were offended, and he was killed in cold blood.” To Albedo’s slight surprise, he produced a Delusion from his pocket, presumably the very same one, based on how he was looking at it. “Impressive, I thought Delusions shattered when their wielders die,” he said, genuinely impressed at its being whole still. “As did I, but evidently not.” He continued with his story after a brief pause. “I love my father, so I sought out the Harbinger that killed him, and challenged him to a duel. I failed,” he said with a little shrug. “The harbinger let me live, but left me with this,” he went on, pointing to his eyepatch. “How old were you?” Albedo asked, now truly interested in the story after having seen the Delusion himself as well. “I was eleven, but I wasn’t strong enough.” Albedo nodded as he went on. “I dedicated my life to the study of swordsmanship, so the next time we meet, I’ll simply not fail.” He seemed to hold back a little laugh at the thought. “I will go up to the Harbinger and say: ‘Hello. My name is Kaeya Alberich. You killed my father. Prepare to die.’” Kaeya, huh. A suitable name for such a character. The man, Kaeya, smiled a little mischievously at the thought, clearly hoping that day would soon come.
“You’ve done nothing but study swordplay ever since then?” Albedo asked. How long could that have been, 15 years? “Well, lately I’ve put more effort into trying to find that Harbinger. It’s been years, I’m starting to lose confidence a little bit.” He shook his head, but continued nonetheless. “I work for the Knights of Favonius to pay the bills, mostly. There’s not a lot of money in the field of revenge.” “Well, I have hope you’ll find him some day,” Albedo said, finding himself meaning those words.
Instead of responding to this, Kaeya stood up, and Albedo followed his example. “Are you ready, then?” Kaeya asked. “Whether I’m ready or not, you’ve been more than fair,” Albedo stated simply. He unsheathed his sword as Kaeya did the same. Kaeya looked at him, seemingly excited for the upcoming fight.
“You seem a decent fellow,” Kaeya said. “I hate to kill you.”
“You seem a decent fellow,” Albedo answered in turn. “I hate to die.”
-
Swords drawn, the two men faced each other. Kaeya started with a few careful feints that Albedo parried with ease. He even made a few countering moves of his own, taking in Kaeya’s posture and analysing his moves. Albedo knew he could rely on his Vision if the going got tough, but he was still careful in studying his foe. Kaeya also seemed to be paying close attention to his every move, and for a minute that was all they did. Eyes locked on each other, circling around one another. Soon the battle transitioned from the more lighthearted banter it had started out to a more serious fight. Sword clashed against sword more often, in a methodical rhythm that quickened like a heartbeat. Kaeya seemed the better of the two simply in swordplay, which wasn’t too surprising. He’d been studying from a young age after all. Albedo wasn’t far behind, though, and while he retreated carefully up a small slope, he still matched every one of Kaeya’s moves with his own blade.
“Using Vennessa’s defence against me, eh?” Kaeya asked with a smirk. “With this terrain, I thought it fitting,” Albedo simply said, parrying a blow as he spoke. “Naturally, you must expect me to attack with Lawrence then,” said Kaeya, shifting his stance mid-movement into a different sort of offence. Admittedly, Albedo had considered the possibility, but was a bit surprised at the fluidity of the move. “Naturally,” he replied even so, matching his opponent’s shift. “But I find Gunnhildr cancels out Lawrence quite nicely, don’t you?” Albedo had been backed almost into a corner on his little incline, but he knew there was ground below, so he simply hopped down the few feet between him and the ground. He met Kaeya’s eye as the other looked down at him. “Unless the enemy is well-versed in older tricks from Khaenri’ah-'' he paused mid-sentence to spring into a jump, only to disappear in midair. He reappeared behind Albedo, standing firm on the ground as if he hadn’t jumped at all. “-which I am,” he finished his sentence. Upon his earlier mention of being a Khaenri’ahn, Albedo had wondered if Kaeya knew their tricks. It seemed he did.
Their fight continued after the brief interruption. The pair was almost flying across the rocky terrain. Swords clashed rhythmically, Albedo keeping a mental log of the thrusts and parries being exchanged. Had there been spectators to see their fight, it would have been a marvel to witness. Both men knew what they were doing, and this was clearly far from either’s first fight, though it was the first between the two. Kaeya was a worthy adversary, Albedo thought. It might be a shame to kill someone so talented, if it came to that.
Gradually, Albedo gained new confidence. He’d seen what Kaeya was capable of, and though he’d taken it a little easy until then, he wanted to end the fight so he could get back to his mission in recovering his assistant. Like a well-oiled machine, Albedo’s moves got more pointed, and increased in rhythm. Kaeya was doing his best at keeping up, but clearly hadn’t expected such a change in pace. Yet, he remained smiling, seeming to grow more elated with every blow that passed between the two.
“You’re wonderful!” Kaeya exclaimed. “Thank you,” Albedo responded between two slashes. “I’ve worked hard to become so.” All the while, the edge of the cliff was growing ever closer. “I admit it, you’re better than I am,” Kaeya said after another few parries. Albedo wasn’t sure that was the case, but alas. “Then why are you smiling?” he asked, using his blade to push Kaeya to the ruined wall at the edge of the cliff. Albedo was inches away from achieving victory and being able to resume his journey, but he couldn’t let up just yet. “Because,” Kaeya said, “I know something you don’t.” He smirked as he spoke, mischief seeping into his voice and a twinkle brightening his eye. “Oh?” Curiosity overtook Albedo, and he decided to hear out what this other man had to say before taking further action. “And what might that be?” Suddenly, Albedo was pushed off Kaeya, away from the wall.
“I happen to have a Vision.”
As Kaeya spoke, his blade became coated in frost. He swung it, sending a spray of icy crystals bursting forth toward Albedo. He had to hop back to avoid the blast, losing his advantage in the process. Albedo had calculated nearly every possible outcome, but he hadn’t stopped to consider the possibility of Kaeya also having a Vision.
The tides of the battle were thus turned, and Albedo had to reconsider the strategies to employ in such a fight. He’d have to use his own vision if he wanted to win, that much was for sure. He dodged flurries of freezing air and parried blows, retreating once more as he kept his defences up and considered his plan of action. It took a lot out of him to keep going at this pace while also figuring out what to do. “You’re amazing,” he still managed to tell Kaeya. Good swordsmanship had to be appreciated. “Why, thank you,” Kaeya said, very casually for the amount of force he was exerting. “I ought to be after all this time.” As he said that, Albedo had let his guard slip for just a moment, but long enough to hit his back against a stone pillar, and then being pinned there by Kaeya’s blade. Kaeya was smiling, clearly thinking he’d won the fight. “There’s something I ought to tell you,” Albedo spoke up while catching his breath. It would only be fair of Kaeya to hear him out, after he’d spared him the same courtesy earlier in their fight. “Ah?” Albedo was right. “Pray tell, then.”
“You’re not the only one with a Vision.”
He focused his energy as he spoke, summoning one of his geo blossoms to blast Kaeya away from him. Now it was Kaeya’s turn to be surprised. As Albedo also used his Vision to aid him in the fight, he managed to drive Kaeya down the same path they’d just traversed, geo energy blooming in the air every few seconds, accompanying one of Albedo’s strikes. Using a bloom to distract Kaeya, Albedo knocked his sword out of his hand and sent it flying. Before Albedo could do anything further, Kaeya lunged for his sword, seemingly using a burst of cryo energy to give him a boost on the way. Oh, a new technique. I’ll have to make note of that. As Kaeya regained his sword, he turned back around to face Albedo again. Albedo got a running start, and jumped straight for Kaeya. He knew he couldn’t make it on his own, but he summoned one of his geo platforms to boost him further, drawing inspiration from Kaeya’s trick, and then plunged to land right in front of him.
“Who are you?” Kaeya asked Albedo, mouth agape, admiration in his voice. “I told you,” said Albedo, “I’m an alchemist.” “No, I simply must know more.” “Get used to disappointment.” There was a moment before Kaeya opened his mouth again, seemingly stunned by this response. “Okay,” was all he said.
It had been a while since Albedo had been part of a fight so satisfying, or fought against an opponent so compelling. They continued their dance for a while, exchanging blows back and forth. Once, Albedo managed to knock Kaeya’s sword straight up in the air, but the other man caught it with ease as it came back down. Kaeya’s eyebrows raised at this, a question in his eye. Albedo didn’t have time to respond, though, as he was too busy contemplating his next move. They were nearly evenly matched, both using their Visions very well, but only one of them could come out on top. Albedo stayed calm and calculative, but it seemed Kaeya’s energy was running out. Albedo gained more and more ground, pushing his opponent back as the other’s moves became more frantic with every passing second. Their eyes never left each other’s, and Albedo almost found himself entranced by the indigo sparkle of Kaeya’s eye. It egged him on, giving him the strength he needed for the final push. With a clatter, he knocked Kaeya’s sword to the ground, and this time it stayed there. Albedo watched Kaeya sink to his knees, gaze falling to the ground in defeat. “Kill me quickly,” Albedo heard him say.
Albedo thought for a moment. He couldn’t kill Kaeya, a man filled with so much determination to fulfil his purpose in life, to avenge his father. He’d also been a wonderful opponent in their fight, it would be a shame to see his life’s efforts wasted, for him to be killed here, by a man he’d just met. Albedo let out a sigh, then cupped Kaeya’s cheek with one hand. Kaeya looked up toward Albedo, meeting his gaze. “I would sooner destroy a stained glass window than end an artist such as yourself,” Albedo said softly. Perhaps for the first time since meeting Kaeya, he let a small smile grace his lips, accompanied by a soft sigh. “However, I can’t have you following me either, so..” He went on, trailing off at the end. He summoned power to the hand not on Kaeya’s cheek, then tapped him lightly on the forehead. A geo flower bloomed, letting out a flash of golden light, knocking Kaeya unconscious.
Before he left the scene, Albedo took the time to write a small note to Kaeya, placing it in his hand.
“I didn’t introduce myself before. I’m Albedo.”