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Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.
The ticking of the clock was the first thing Klee registered as she sat up in her place at the small-sized desk and chair, blinking away the sleep from her light red eyes, barely acknowledging the scattered leaves of paper and crayons that surrounded her.
It didn’t take too long for her to remember where she was, given the absence of any other person around her.
Klee was in solitary confinement. Again.
But she couldn’t exactly remember what she did. Did she blow up some fish from the pond again? Was another section of the forest burnt down by her bombs once more? Klee couldn’t put her finger on it, but she guessed whatever she did had been enough to land her back in what could've considered her second or third home.
“So hungry,” the girl muttered to herself as she hopped off her chair, striding over to a corner of the room where her rucksack lay, a soft glow emanating from the shiny, red crystal orb clipped to the back of it.
Her “Vision” as her parents and everyone else had called it, an unexpected gift that had presented itself to her in the aftermath of her first-ever solo project. That had been a very explosive moment for Klee, in more ways than one.
Making bombs had been invigorating for the girl before, but with her Vision, it only made things so much more fun.
Klee couldn’t tell how much time she had spent in the room altogether. Amber usually came around to take her out to the Good Hunter for a little snack after her time in solitary confinement, and the older girl hadn’t made her appearance yet. She could be busy with Outrider duties, but Amber always made time for Klee-
BOOM!
Klee let out a yelp as she crashed to the ground, the sounds of ticking drowned out by the sounds of things crashing and falling apart. Just as Klee was about to get on her two feet, another explosion rang through the air, quaking the room and causing the girl to crash to the ground once again.
“What’s going on?!” Klee exclaimed as she scrambled to her feet once again, panic creeping onto her face as she made to grab her backpack from the floor and sling it across her back.
Had she accidentally left some of her bombs lying around again? It was possible, but there was something about this explosion that rubbed Klee off the wrong way. “Are you hurt, Dodoco?”
Klee’s attention turned away from her lifeless doll as three loud bangs on the door rang through the room, making the girl instinctively jump back.
“Klee! Open...the door...”
Klee’s eyes went wide as she recognized the slightly muffled voice from the other side of the room. The little knight ran for the door, stumbling in her steps as a relatively smaller quake hit the room once again. Managing to get a grasp on the door handle, Klee pulled it down several times, using her little weight to try to push the door open, but it didn’t budge a single bit.
“It won’t open!” the girl cried out, still attempting and failing to get the door open as smaller explosions rang through the room.
“Something must’ve jammed the locks. There’s no time to waste, you’re [*cough cough*] gonna have to use your bombs, Klee!”
Klee trembled where she stood, very confused and scared. She didn’t know what was going on, and here she was being cajoled into using her bombs to break down the door, one of the several things she had been told to never do.
Another loud explosion rang through the room and Klee was able to hold on to her chair, preventing her from crashing to the ground again. More things began to fall out of place in the room, and Klee didn’t know how much longer she’d be safe there.
“Please, Klee! You have to!” the voice from the other side called out desperately, followed by a very violent coughing fit.
“Okay, Klee is a brave girl. I hope Jean won’t be too mad,” the girl thought to herself as she used the summoning trick Lisa taught her to conjure her book.
A specially refined copy of the Favonius Codex, a present from her mother as she was dropped off with Jean and the Knights of Favonius, following the receipt of her Vision. Lisa and Sucrose helped her out wherever they could but always made sure to keep a good distance in case anything was about to blow up.
But this was not the time for remembrance. There was no time to waste.
“Hyah!” Klee summoned a relatively smaller bomb, one fit for the task at hand, and flung it in the direction of the door. The small explosion from the impact caused the door to fly open, bits and pieces of mahogany flying in several directions, and Klee wasted no time in running out of the room and to the person that had been on the other side.
“Wood!” Klee ran to the side of the hunched-over guard, not missing the horrible state of the hallways in the midst of thick smoke. The entrance doors, as well as the doors to the library on the opposite side of the hallway and frankly everything else, were completely broken down.
Immobile bodies littered the floors in pools of blood, injuries ranging to mere cuts and gashes to missing body parts.
And Klee was terrified.
“K-Klee-” Wood began to speak but got interrupted by yet another coughing fit, the splatters of blood escaping his throat enough to make the girl create some distance.
“What’s going on? W-what happened to everyone?”
The little knight covered her nose and squinted her eyes, hoping to get as little smoke into her system as possible. The guard continued to cough for a moment before reaching out to the girl with what little strength he had left.
“Listen t-to me, Klee. Get out of here and run as fast as you can… and don’t look back.”
Klee got closer to the guard once again, noting the rapidly dulling light in his eyes. “But...where should Klee go?”
“Just...keep running till you find... a safe place…”
Klee watched in horror as the guard slumped to the ground, no longer speaking or moving. Another explosion shook the foundation of the headquarters, and the girl took it as her cue to get going and fast.
Klee only managed to take about 3 or 4 steps before suddenly stopping in her tracks, the little eyesight she could muster through the smoke making her aware of the familiar door room next to her, not too far from the solitary room.
Jean’s office.
Where was Jean? Where were the rest of the knights? Were they all dead as well? And just what exactly was going on?
Noises and voices from beyond the busted entrance doors caught the girl’s attention and Klee wasted no time in running outside, forsaking Wood and the rest of the deceased knights inside the hallway.
*:..｡o○ ○o｡..:*
No…
Klee wasn’t seeing right. She couldn’t be seeing right.
Just outside the Knights of Favonius headquarters lay the mangled, yet familiar forms of who she considered her friends. The unmistakable fabric of Amber’s clothing on the battered body that lay on the floor, a broken bow lying next to her body.
Not too far away from her was a long, slender body that laid face down on the gravel, a sword digging deep into its back, and with that particular shade of blue hair and the person’s clothing, Klee didn’t take too long to figure out who that was.
It was just so...hard to believe. The Cavalry Captain himself...defeated?
“Nnngh~”
A nearby grunt drew Klee’s attention to the moving figure not too far from the other bodies, and judging from the messy blond-ponytail and blood-stained white tights, there was only one person Klee’s mind could go to.
“Jean!”
Jean looked up wearily at the red-clad figure running towards her, feeling her strength and consciousness slowly leave her with each passing second.
“K-Klee…”
The little knight knelt beside the older woman. “You’re hurt! Klee can help, maybe Sister Barbara can heal you-”
“Klee, no,” the dandelion knight coughed out, blood trickling down the side of her mouth. “It’s no use...she’s gone. Everyone’s gone.”
Klee felt her eyes go wide at the other’s words. “W...where’s Albedo?”
Jean hissed from the pain of her internal and external injuries, trying to direct all her focus on the child in front of her. “I...don’t know. He could be in Dragonspine, or out of Mondstadt entirely. I...I’m sorry, Klee.”
Jean felt her heart shatter at the sight of tears well up in Klee’s eyes, spilling over uncontrollably at the news concerning Albedo. “B-but, what do I do now? You need help!”
A moment of silence passed between the two before another explosion rocked the city, prompting Jean to speak up, a hint of sternness in her tone.
“Klee, listen very closely…you need to run as fast and far away as possible.”
“But-”
“But nothing. Please, Klee, you’re gonna have to be brave for me here…”
Jean shakily rose a blood-coated hand to the girl’s face to wipe away rapidly flowing tears from her cheek, smearing it with blood in the process. "Do you promise to run away?"
It took a few moments before the little girl gave a firm nod, lips pursed in an attempt to look brave. Jean managed a weak smile, trying her best not to be shaken by the girl’s sniffling.
“Then flee, my little sunlight. Never forget how proud...of you...I am…”
Klee let out a small, shaky gasp as Jean’s hand suddenly slumped to the floor, along with her head that now carried lifeless eyes, no signs of breathing to be found.
And as much as Klee wanted to let herself cry there and then, she could not afford to stay around any longer. She didn’t know what danger could be laying in wait around her, and even though she didn’t want to leave Jean’s side...
She had no choice but to do so.
*:..｡o○ ○o｡..:*
Mondstadt, the supposed City of Freedom, was in ruins.
It reminded Klee of the time the city had gone into a state of emergency after the sudden attack from Stormterror, but this looked far worse.
Buildings ripped right out of place, structures on fire and bodies within every step Klee took. Not to mention the unsettling amount of elemental energy that the little knight could feel, and one glance at the city with her elemental sight made her aware of the disturbing amount of Anemo energy spreading the other elements to cause more destruction.
It wasn’t like her bombs would be able to make things any better, all she could do was run.
Klee had made a very quick stop at Albedo’s workshop not too far from the Knights of Favonius headquarters, but the building had been torn down as well, with little to no trace of Albedo’s presence having been there in the near past.
Klee hadn’t bothered to wipe away the tears that had long begun to flow from her eyes. She wanted to see Albedo again, the whole situation was beyond scary.
Nearing the gates to Mondstadt had been quite the journey. Klee took note of the Adventurers Guild booth, where she had seen Katheryne dutifully occupy day and night, now in battered ruins.
Klee wasn’t even sure she wanted to check for the receptionist’s body in the midst of all the rubble.
Klee felt herself go sick as she recognized some of the bodies she came across, surprising her considering how mangled most of them were. The corpses of Flora and Donna just next to their flower shop, the top-half of Wagner’s body sprawled across his workbench…
Klee shook her head vigorously as she scaled the walls of the entrance gates, aiming to get to the highest point she possibly could. She had to hurry, there was no time for her to be caught up in her thoughts.
*:..｡o○ ○o｡..:*
Klee made a promise to Jean that she would run away, and she intended to keep that promise.
Right after one final stop.
Looking down from Klee’s aerial view didn’t make the Spark Knight feel any better. What used to be a beautiful span of greenery now appeared as a wrecked land full of fire and disaster. As Klee began to lose altitude, she could make out a familiar-looking building, surrounded by rows upon rows of grapevines and other smaller outdoor furniture.
The famed Dawn Winery owned by Master Diluc, now engulfed in flames along with the vegetation.
Klee turned her eyes away from the horrific scene, focusing on her real destination she was steadily approaching. Finding her footing and balancing herself on solid ground once again, Klee cast her wind glider aside as she walked over to the edge of the mysterious woods she had come to be a constant visitor of.
Wolvendom.
The entrance to the forest wasn’t in the best state, embers of fire dotting several points and scorching everything it came across as it spread slowly, though it was nothing compared to the inner parts of Wolvendom, judging from the concerning amounts of thick, black smoke that rose from within.
No matter, it would stop Klee.
Klee wasted no time in running straight into the forest, stomping on scorched grounds past several burning trees, but none of those mattered to her for now. She had to know if one of her best friends in the whole world was still alive and safe.
Or if he had suffered a terrible fate like everyone else.
Klee came crashing to the ground with a small “oof!” , having tripped on an object that had been likely out of sight. In the middle of the girl’s attempt to regain her footing, she failed to notice the burning tree that had begun to in her backwards direction at an alarming rate, until she turned around, eyes going wide at the soon-to-be cause of her demise-
BOOM!
Klee let out a yelp as she suddenly flew back, landing roughly a few feet away from where she had previously been. That hadn’t been just any explosion. Being the mistress of bombs she was, Klee knew the difference between a normal explosion and one that had occurred as a result of an elemental overload…
“Klee almost...crushed by tree…”
“Razor!” Klee cried out, instantly recognizing her friend’s gruff voice in the midst of the chaos. She couldn’t see him, but she could feel his presence.
And he had just saved her.
“Klee wanted to see if you were okay, so I came here as soon as I could!”
“Bad idea, need to run away…”
Klee noted the other’s voice carried a certain strain to it, as if he were trying to force the words out of his mouth. He could be injured, badly.
“Forget Razor...Klee must run…”
“No!” Klee lunged forward, ignoring the growing lump in her throat as she sought out Razor. She didn’t want to be alone, not at a time like this. “Klee can’t leave you! Klee won’t!”
As if ignoring the girl’s declarations, Razor spoke up again, his voice sounding even more strained. “Klee, run...need to...hide…”
Klee, barely able to see past the blurriness from the tears forming in her eyes, combined with the heavy smoke that surrounded her, reached out in the direction of Razor’s voice. “Let me come with you!”
“No! Razor must...find rest of lupical...too dangerous.”
Klee was about to speak up again when a loud explosion rang through the woods once again, causing even more flaming trees to fall to the ground.
“Go! Now!”
Klee had no choice but to run, eyes squinted as she tried to navigate through the fiery woods with little to no vision. Some way, somehow, she was able to find her way to the edge of the woods. Every step she took led her further away from Razor, from the only other person that was around her.
Everyone was gone and Klee was all alone.
A huge explosion shook the ground and caused Klee to stumble in the middle of her run, and a quick turnaround in her steps enabled her to really take in the absolutely wrecked state of Wolvendom. Fire at every corner and turn, there was no possible way anyone could survive in the heart of it.
Razor...he was still in there…and if he tried to use his Vision to save his family, the overload could make things horribly worse.
“Razor…” Klee crashed to her knees, fresh tears spilling out of her big, red eyes, not caring about the rest of her clothing that had begun to burn at the edges, covered in soot, ash and dirt.
She didn’t care about anything else but how her whole world had just come crashing down at once.
Klee let herself cry. She sobbed into her gloved hands and cried. Cried for Jean and Kaeya, how they couldn’t even save themselves. Cried for Razor, who had saved her life and risked his own in the process. Cried for Albedo, whose fate and whereabouts were unknown to the girl. Cried for the people of Mondstadt, who were most likely dead as well.
Klee cried for herself, for she was alone. She didn’t want to be alone. She prayed to Barbatos to see someone, anyone at all.
“Well well well, what do we have here.”
A sinister voice caught Klee’s attention and the girl shot her head up to see a familiar-looking red figure floating high above her. Looking closely, Klee felt chills run down her spine as she recognized the form from her previous adventures with Lumine.
That was Mr Fluffball- no, Jean had taught her what it really was, a Pyro Abyss Mage.
But...there were several of them. Not just Pyros, but Cryos, Hydros and even Dendros too. There were other creatures as well, ones that Klee had never seen or learnt about, but they didn’t look so friendly.
It was an entire fleet from the Abyss Order.
Klee can’t stay here, I have to run now. Scrambling to her feet, Klee made sure her rucksack was secure on her back before attempting to run away. A scream tore through the air as she tumbled to the ground, hissing in pain as she turned back to see a shard of ice next to her now slashed leg, blood trickling out of the wound at an alarming rate.
“There’s no escape for you, girlie.” Klee looked up to see one of the Pyro mages right in front of her. “Mondstadt was only the first step, next will be Liyue, then the whole of Teyvat will be under the control of the Abyss Order!”
No! Klee tried to drag herself away from the scene, but the state of her leg prevented her from making any great progress. And even if she wanted to, there was no way she’d be able to fight the entire fleet on her own, there were just too many enemies.
“Oho, don’t bother, child. You won’t be going anywhere .”
The Abyss Mage drew its staff and pointed it in Klee’s direction, pyro energy gathering at the crystal orb and ready to shoot. Klee desperately tried to crawl away, but it was useless.
She was useless.
Klee screamed once again as she felt herself suddenly engulf in searing flames, the energy of the mage’s cruel attack too much for her to handle. Her entire body crashed to the ground as she kept screaming, and not even the mass of tears that flowed from her eyes could extinguish the flames.
No. This couldn’t be the end for Mondstadt, for Klee. The Abyss Order couldn’t have just won like that. It wasn’t possible, how could they have failed?
“Mama! Papa! Help me! Please…!” Klee used the last of her diminishing energy to cry out to her parents, but who knew where they were at the moment, or if they were even alive?
It didn’t matter, Klee just wanted to see them again. Klee wanted to hold their hands and hug them and hear them say she was a good, brave girl. She wanted to make them her special Fisherman Toast and eat and laugh with them. She wanted to see Albedo again. She wanted to see everyone else again.
Klee didn’t want to die, but she was burning. She was burning all over, and the mage didn’t stop. She was going to die. She was going to die.
Klee jolted from her place on the small desk, blinking her eyes rapidly and registering the wetness on her cheeks. The girl did a quick visual sweep of her surroundings, taking in the familiar furniture and her backpack that lay in its usual corner of the room. The sound of a ticking clock rang in the girl’s ears, and she realized where she was.
She was back in solitary confinement, but that was the least of Klee’s concerns.
It had all been a dream- no, a horrible nightmare.
Fresh tears welled up in the girl’s eyes as she sprung from her seat and ran for the door, crying out Albedo’s name in the process and banging on the door till it was opened by Wood. The guard, taking in the girl’s distressed state and knowing she rarely cried in solitary these days, didn’t waste any time to take her straight to Jean’s office.
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“Paimon doesn’t know why Jean sent for us, but we should probably hurry up. She said it was an emergency.”
Lumine nodded as she and her floating companion made their way into the Knights of Favonius headquarters, sending warm greeting smiles to Porthos and Athos at the doors. The hall of the headquarters seemed mildly busy, knights of different ranks littering different points in the vicinity.
The duo made their way to the left of the entrance, where the office of the Acting Grand Master was situated. Getting closer, they could make out muffled talking and...crying?
Lumine turned to Paimon for any piece of advice she may have. “Hey, don’t look at me, I don’t know what’s going on either!”
The blonde rolled her eyes as she opened the door, slightly jumping back at the sudden amount of noise that sprung up all at once.
She didn’t expect other people to be present.
Lumine took note of Amber engaged in some sort of discussion with Kaeya, and though the man’s back was turned to the traveller, she could still make out the somewhat worried expression on the Outrider’s face.
On another side of the room stood a tired-looking Lisa, involved in a conversation with Jean and even Master Diluc himself, someone Lumine definitely did not expect to see here in the Knights of Favonius headquarters.
But in the midst of all the commotion, it was the cries from the middle of the room that drew Lumine and Paimon’s attention. Walking further into the room, the traveller made out the familiar head of mint-coloured hair, belonging to none other than Sucrose, and even with her back turned to the traveller, Lumine saw that she seemed to be trying to calm someone down.
“What’s going on?”
Most of the noise turned down as most focus turned to the duo that had just entered the room looking more than confused.
“Honorary Knight, I’m glad you were able to make it,” Jean started, making her way over to Lumine’s side. “It seems that Klee here has demanded your presence.”
“Eh??? Why?” Paimon asked as she floated closer to the centre, Lumine trailing closely behind, till they were both able to make out the scene in front of them.
Standing there with crossed arms was Albedo, who Lumine knew to be the Chief Alchemist of the Knights, and clinging to his leg was a far smaller form donned in familiar red clothing and seemed to be racking with sobs.
“Hey Klee, why are you crying?” Paimon asked out loud, loud enough for the little girl to hear in the midst of her crying. Klee whipped her head back from Albedo’s trousers, revealing a tear-stained face with puffy, red eyes.
“Lumine!” Klee suddenly detached herself from Albedo’s leg and launched herself in Lumine’s direction, latching herself onto the latter’s own legs. Lumine flinched where she stood, taken aback by the feeling of tears beginning to soak and stain her high stockings.
“Paimon is still confused…” Lumine heard her companion whisper into Jean’s ear.
“K-Klee had a nightmare, a-and nobody c-could help Klee!” the girl cried more into the older’s legs, Lumine giving her small, comforting pats on her hat-covered head.
“It couldn’t have been that bad,” Paimon spoke up as she floated down to Klee’s level.
“She’s a child, it must’ve been a horrible experience for her!” Sucrose spoke up timidly from her place beside Albedo, the latter observing the scene with the traveller and Klee with a quiet demeanour.
“She’s also a pyromaniac,” Kaeya said with a light chuckle, earning an elbow jab from Amber. Klee’s crying had gone down, but she still clung to Lumine’s legs with occasional sobs escaping her.
“Still doesn’t explain why she wants us here. Besides,” Paimon turned to look at Diluc where he stood, “why are you here? Don’t you hate the Knights of Favonius?”
“I do,” the redhead started, crossing his arms, “but Jean called for me nonetheless. Since my winery suffered a terrible fate in Klee’s little dream, she only saw it fit that I was made aware of that.”
“Hoh, maybe this whole situation will soften your heart a little.”
Diluc squinted his eyes at the Captain on the other side of the room, clearly not ready to deal with his remarks. With a sigh, he began to make his way to the door. “Speaking of, I really must get back to the winery. Thank you for the er...revelation, Klee.”
Klee’s head shot up from the traveller’s legs and swiftly turned to where Diluc stood. “Wait, mister!” The little knight detached herself from Lumine and swiftly walked up to Albedo, looking up at him with puffy eyes. “Can Klee go with him? I-I want to see Razor, since he lives somewhere close to the winery.”
The alchemist stared at the girl for what felt like an eternity before speaking up. “Alright, Klee, but take Lumine with you. And stay out of trouble, I’ll speak to you again later.”
The girl’s eyes lit up before hugging the other’s legs once again. “Thank you, Albedo! Klee will be good this time, promise!”
“If you’re coming along then hurry up, I don’t have all day.”
“Coming, mister! Let’s go, Lumine!”
Lumine managed to keep herself on her feet as she was suddenly dragged by the hand by Klee, taking disorganized steps towards the door as she waved a quick goodbye to everyone else, Paimon floating closely behind with a mildly exasperated look on her face.
Klee held on to Lumine’s hand for the most part of the trip, and even though the traveller didn’t entirely mind, she wondered what the little knight had dreamt of that shook her to the core so much.
But Klee knew all too well, the images still flashed through her mind even in broad daylight. And as she walked hand-in-hand with Lumine and Paimon, trailing just behind Diluc, Klee decided that if that day would ever come, she wouldn’t be scared.
No, not one bit. She’d be a brave girl. She’d create the biggest and best bombs she could make to fight against the threatening evil. She’d save Jean, Razor, Albedo and everyone in Mondstadt.
She would learn anything and everything she could from Albedo. She would be more attentive to Jean. And if she ever saw her mother again, she’d turn to her for help as well. Klee would be a hero, no matter what it took.
Klee would save everyone’s lives.
Even if it would mean losing hers.