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“Welcome,” Diluc started saying, but when he looked up and saw it was his brother entering Angel’s Share, the greeting quickly died down and he directed his gaze back to the wine glass he was cleaning. Kaeya chuckled, setting himself down on the stool right in front of Diluc, so he turned around, refusing to meet his eye.
“Aw, I didn’t expect service at this famed tavern to be so cold,” his brother said in a very annoying drawl.
“My hospitality doesn’t extend to the Knights of Favonius,” Diluc replied dryly.
Kaeya feigned a look of surprise. “Not even to a dear brother of yours?”
“A brother of mine would be better off ordering something and shutting up quickly before I chase him out.”
“A very boorish solution from Master Diluc, no less than what I’d expect,” Kaeya tilted his head, sliding a coin across the counter. “A shame, when just now outside, the wind brings such pleasant melodies in my ears.”
Diluc tensed, recognizing the intent hidden in Kaeya’s words. Reaching for a bottle of dandelion wine to prepare a serving of Death After Noon, he replied, “And so? What did the wind say to you?”
Kaeya’s eye glinted in the warm light of the tavern. “They say that the traveling circus has rustled quite the crowd. Word is that they’d even set a stage in Liyue.”
That took his attention. Diluc turned to his brother, raising an eyebrow. “What has it that you and your friends don’t come to see them perform?”
Kaeya shrugged. “Oh, you know, the usual--they’re rather preoccupied with diplomatic work.”
The Knights have to start a discussion with the governing body of Liyue before they’re able to make any move, which, as always, was going slow . Diluc snorted, sliding a tall glass of Kaeya’s favorite drink across the bar.
“Acting Grand Master Jean said it herself that she’d be happy if you’ll take a break and, oh, maybe go enjoy a circus show?” the cavalry captain said innocently, tapping his finger on the clear surface of the glass. Hmph. No pretense, right to the heart of the issue.
Diluc sighed. “And if I go to see this certain circus, where will one brother of mine be?”
“Covering for his dearest brother, back in Mondstadt, making sure he has a safe journey and a peaceful outing.” Oh, so Kaeya already had everything planned out and he had to do the rough job. Diluc wished he could knock the knowing smile off his face.
The wine tycoon leaned back on the shelves behind him, crossing his arms. Shit. He hated this. Kaeya knew very well that he’d never refuse--if anything, he was grateful for the intel, able to reach him faster than even his own trusted network. “Fine. I’ll go.”
“Enjoy your vacation,” Kaeya said, right before he downed his entire glass. “Now, do you want to hear about my very wonderful day?”
“Leave.”
“Right, I’ll stay quiet.”
----
Diluc stood hidden behind the wet marsh near Wangshu Inn, shrouded by the dark of night. He had made his way to Liyue by day, telling his staff that he’s off to negotiate a trade deal with a merchant from the neighboring nation.
Now, he shed his usual velvet coat for a simpler cotton one, pulling on the hood to cover his bright red ponytail, and donned the Darknight Hero mask (shit--ever since the Traveler pointed out that title, he kept involuntarily associating himself with the name, despite of how dumb it sounded). He fished a piece of paper from his pocket: a map showing the location that Kaeya had stuck in the bottom side of a coin.
He had his fair share of visits to the Land of Geo, mostly for business purposes, and a few times with his father when they were young, but he never truly roamed the open expanse of Liyue’s fields and mountains. His target, which was marked by an ugly heart courtesy of his brother, shouldn’t be too far and hard to locate, though--southwest of Wangshu Inn, an island on Dihua Marsh far from the main road.
The Abyss Order has been spotted, and they’ve set hideout in Liyue . That was the meaning behind the code Kaeya had used during their conversation. The corner of his mouth tilted, remembering how they came up with the crypt--back when they were young and still truly brothers, aiming to fight side by side as proud members of the Knights of Favonius. How ridiculous was it to suddenly track back to those times.
Diluc had been keeping an eye on the Abyss Order, and Jean and Kaeya had been directly involved with his investigations. Ever since the ambush on Dvalin and the Stormterror incident, Abyss activity in Mondstadt had been increasing suspiciously, reaching places they’ve never been seen at before, seemingly growing in numbers. He supposed it’s about time their ranks had reached Liyue.
Kaeya’s note included a crudely drawn snowflake, implying that the enemy consisted of the Cryo faction of the Order. Well, that explained why even Jean decided to hand the job to a Pyro wielder. Diluc was still going to charge them more the next time they showed up to Angel's Share anyway.
Tightening his gloves and checking again that the claymore was safe on his back, Diluc set out in the dead of night to the Abyss’ hideout, feeling much less in his depth in the open grass field compared to the narrow back alleys of his city.
His city. Mondstadt was his homeland, the nation his father had loved so, the place where his brother found sanctuary. Mondstadt was the witness of his effort, of what was his pride and ambition, then of his fallings and cowardice. Monstadt was the reason he left, and more so of why he returned.
Even now, he took it upon himself to protect it the way he couldn’t before--under the guise of a mask, when the streets of the city were barely lit by the lanterns hanging from wooden houses.
He didn't really understand why he did so. One time, his underground network had reported unusual hilichurl activities and as he scoffed at the Knights' inefficiency, Diluc set off himself to deal with it. Since then, he had been digging deeper and deeper within the intricate layers of the Abyss Order, determined to get to the bottom of it.
Maybe now he'll get a semblance of a hint. If the Abyss and their stupid little bubbles had reached even Liyue, there might be something bigger in motion.
The hideout was a cavern on a small desolate island, hidden behind a small hill where there stood ruins of what once was a stone structure. It had a surprisingly large entrance, and the cave below opens up to a particularly large space, though definitely too small for a hideout--until Diluc noticed a narrow crevice on one of its corners.
Hmph. So he had to crawl over to get to the other side. Fun.
Diluc didn’t want to remember the next 15 minutes for the rest of his life, as he crouched on his knees and shuffled his feet, trying to pass through the tunnel.
When he saw a dim light ahead, he heard the faint sound of metal clinking against wood and what must be hilichurl battle cries. Had the fighting started? Was someone else here already? Or could it be a trap?
The tunnel opened up to a wider cave right as a hilichurl fell in front of Diluc’s face, disintegrating into black ash before it touched to the ground. Almost in unison, around it around five more hilichurls drop dead, leaving nothing but cracked masks and broken arrowheads.
Standing in the middle of the cave was a boy wearing a strange, intricate attire, with choppy hair a tone of dark teal. Diluc frowned. What the hell’s a teenager doing here in the dead of the night, bashing hilichurls without even breaking a sweat?
“What are you doing here?” Diluc said as he stood up, pulling out his claymore, looking around. No one else was left and there was a taller tunnel that led deeper in the cavern. “This isn’t a place for a child.”
The boy turned around, a look of pure shock in his face.
And then he growled.
Diluc almost jumped.
“Compared to the centuries I’ve lived, your entire lifespan is nothing but a speck in the wind,” he sneered, starting to walk away.
That was when Diluc registered the ceremonial mask on his hip, the elaborate carvings of the jade spear he carried, and eyes of amber so bright it glowed even in the dark--wait, centuries ?
Of course. “An immortal,” Diluc muttered, trying to not experience whiplash from yet another divine being looking like a literal teenager. He racked his brain, thinking back to the storybooks his father had bought for him and his brother from Liyue, tales of the gods of old--what was the immortal guardians of Liyue called again? “An adeptus.”
The boy-- the adeptus --jerked his head. “You may leave now. It’s dangerous for mere mortals. Fighting the threat to my land is my own burden to carry.”
Diluc crossed his arms, uncharacteristically stubborn. Maybe something about how this adeptus was so quick to dismiss his capabilities irked him. Maybe he’s just annoyed that he made it this far and was just going to be outperformed by a thousand-years-something old who looked too young to drink. “This concerns the Abyss Order, and thus me as well. I need to investigate their activity and what exactly are their plans.”
The adeptus spared him a glance, peering those eerily bright eyes at him. “No need. This is a threat to Liyue, and my jurisdiction. It does not need to involve you. Turn back now.”
“This threatens my people too!”
No response. Diluc noticed the faint glow of the green Vision on the adeptus’ hand, bearing the sigil of Anemo. Well, this was his final chance. “The enemies we’re facing are of the Cryo faction,” he called out. “Would you not need a Pyro user’s help, even just a little?”
That stopped him on his tracks, looking back to observe the amulet adorned by a Pyro sigil strapped to his belt. To Diluc’s surprise, despite the deity’s blunt and harsh retorts, his eyes reflected amusement at the Monstadtian’s persistence.
“Humans. Unpredictable as always,” he mused, before turning to fully face him, announcing, “Fine. Then, we shall make a contract.”
Diluc raised an eyebrow. As much as he knew how much the people of Liyue upheld the binding of contracts, somehow he didn’t expect that this warrior adeptus would bring it up.
“Call out my name, and I will be there, be it culling demons and beasts or any dirty work,” he declared, “Adeptus Xiao.”
He looked at him expectantly, and Diluc realized, oh. He was supposed to do just that.
He felt rather stupid, but Diluc decided to just follow through. “Adeptus… Xiao.”
Xiao nodded, seemingly satisfied. “Very well. Even if you are not of Rex Lapis’ people, I will aid you in your need.” With that, he started to walk ahead deeper to the cavern, taking the lead.
Diluc held back a sigh--wasn’t he the one helping Xiao here? But the quicker they finished this, the better. So he tightened his gloves, and plowed forward.
It turned out neither of them were big on conversations.
Xiao was very light on his feet, so silent it was almost scary, even if his pace seemed casual enough. The loose fabrics of his clothing billowed behind him, features dimly lit by the faint glow of noctilucous jade spread out in the cavern.
Diluc didn’t count himself as someone with a high reverence for deities, considering his own could occasionally be found vigorously plucking his lyre like a madman or drunk on the floor of his tavern. But even he couldn’t deny that the adeptus in front of him radiated power, the air around him fizzing like pure ionized energy.
“What purpose does a mortal from the land of the absentee god serve, tracking monsters as so far here in Liyue?” Xiao broke the silence. Diluc were used to Liyueans jeering at Mondstatd’s archon for being out of the picture for most of history, but what took him aback was the unexpected flicker of fondness in his voice.
He sighed. “They’re called the Abyss Order, a legion of monsters hiding in the crevices of Tevyat. Their motives are still unknown… and I were investigating them and trying to drive them away from Mondstadt. Apparently they set a new hideout in Liyue, so I had to see it for myself.”
“A single human, purposeless, not even an authorized knight, going to such lengths?” Xiao asked, edging somewhere between mild curiosity and blatant disbelief.
Diluc had to remind himself that he probably didn't mean it to be as offending as it sounded. Still, it strung an uncomfortable dissonance inside him.
“Yes,” he replied flatly. “What about you, then? One of the mighty adepti, spending his night fending off some obscure nuisances? Could this be how is it all the time? Surely someone will assume you have nothing better to do--"
Xiao turned so quickly, the jade spear suddenly gripped in his hand, its sharp end poised at Diluc’s throat. The taller man stumbled backwards in surprise, hands reaching out to brace himself against the cold cavern wall.
“Do not talk that way of my duty ever again,” Xiao said, voice calm but tinged with a thousand venom. “It is trusted to me by Rex Lapis himself. Insult it, and you are insulting my lord too.” Leaving the threat hanging around them, he clicked his spear on the ground and walked away.
Well. Diluc brushed the dust off his coat, eyeing the adeptus’ back with a brand new interest.
So it’s true that the adeptus seemingly spent his days like this, eliminating all threats to Liyue in the dead of night. Apparently, all by a contract to the god he served, which must’ve been centuries ago. He was also very easy to set on edge, Diluc thought begrudgingly.
And what Xiao had said to him… despite the rudeness, it wasn’t entirely wrong either. It echoed a question Diluc himself harbored in the back of his mind, locked away simply because he's too doubtful to confront it. Now it was present again, pestering him in the silence between them.
For what, exactly, had he been fighting for?
If anything, he had abandoned Monstadt in the worst three years of his life: casting away his wealth, his position within the Knights, and his only family, in pursuit of a desperate answer.
When he returned, he found his long time friend Jean as the appointed Acting Grand Master--a role more befitting than ever, but still a burden too much to take upon herself.
And so did his brother--the moving image of the boy he kept close in his memories, a source of comforting nostalgia, only to realize that the person who stood in front of him now was a stranger.
So was it a form of repentance? A way to ask for forgiveness, for leaving his home behind?
Or was it stubbornness? An insisting voice inside him, saying that he'd protect Mondstadt in a way the Knights couldn't?
Was he really doing it for the people of the land, or for whatever sake of his own?
Suddenly, Xiao held out a hand in warning, and Diluc realized there's loud noises echoing from only several feet away--
"Duck!"
Xiao himself did the opposite, vaulting overhead, managing to leap gracefully within the tight space right on time to avoid a huge chunk of ice that materialized above their heads out of thin air. Diluc rolled behind, cursing their rotten luck, instinctively channeling a wave of blazing Pyro to his claymore.
He took out his weapon and came face-to-face with a Cryo Abyss Mage, shielded by that bubble he despised so much. Xiao was already on the other side of the tunnel, his spear ready in hand.
"Put your flames to use," he called out. "Let me handle the others."
"Wha--you're leaving the Abyss Mage to me?!"
"You do mention that you have personal business with them. It is as you hoped!" And with that, he sped off and disappeared behind the corner of the cavern tunnel, probably taking his time to get to the small fries.
Diluc held back a deep sigh. Seriously. Fuck this one particular adeptus.
Whatever, fine. It's not like he couldn't handle one Cryo Abyss Mage.
"I'm pissed, so you better prepare yourself," he muttered at the mage who was chuckling in a low voice, blanketing his weapon with searing hot elemental energy. It wouldn't be laughing for long.
Diluc made quick work with the mage and got out with what was barely a lead. Turned out even though it led a cavalry of hilichurls to this hideout, it barely knew anything about any bigger plan, simply following orders from a higher-up.
Could it be a diversion? Or was the Order trying to keep some of their own in the dark? He needed to get back with Jean and Kaeya on this.
The end of the tunnel opened up to a large cave, stalactites adorning its ceiling, a large clear pool taking up almost the entirety of the space. Remnants of hilichurl weapons and tools were scattered in the ground and sunk on the water, nothing more than broken bits. From the looks of it, Xiao must have cleared out a ridiculously large horde of hilichurls in what must be less than ten minutes.
But that wasn’t what shocked Diluc and ran his blood cold.
Xiao was kneeling by the pool, holding on to his spear which was planted in the ground, only--there was something wrong.
“Stay back,” he snarled, and Diluc watched as whips of shadow black as ink curling and twisting around him, engulfing his body.
Diluc gritted his teeth, pushing back the bangs from his face. “Hell no.” He didn’t understand what was exactly happening, but he needed to do something --Xiao was now crouching, grasping his spear tight as if it was his only lifeline. The shadows were unrelenting, growing frenzier by the second.
Diluc averted his gaze from the agonized adeptus, darting around the cave, desperately trying to look for anything that might have been able to help Xiao. Damn. How in the Seven do you help an immortal warrior from an unknown darkness trying to swallow him from within?
His eyes widened as it fell on a Cryo barrel left behind by the hilichurls, and--oh, by Celestia. He quickly muttered a prayer to the Archons and an apology to Morax for the stupid idea that just crossed his head and was about to act on.
Diluc tackled Xiao, sending him splashing headfirst into the clear lake, letting out a startled squeak very in contrast with the low growl from before. He sent a spark of fire in the barrel’s direction and a freezing chill rushed through the cave chamber, enveloping everything in bits of frost.
Xiao, with only his head above the water, turned into a block of ice in an instant.
Despite everything, Diluc had to hold back a laugh.
“Unbelievable,” Xiao grunted, moving his neck uncomfortably, which was still stuck in the block of ice with the rest of his body. "Never even expected that freezing could solve a karmic corruption episode."
Diluc couldn’t help but throw a smile at the distress radiating from the young-faced adeptus. He was using waves of Pyro heat to gradually melt the ice encapsulating Xiao, cross-legged on the cavern floor, his coat soaked wet.
He put down the Darknight Hero-- no, the falcon shaped mask, and found Xiao frowning up at him. “You’re even younger than I thought.”
Okay, he didn’t like being told that by someone whose height barely reached his shoulder. It's time to address the issue at hand. “Will you tell me what that was?”
Xiao’s frown turned into something more clouded and grim. “I suppose I do owe you."
And so Diluc listened as the other man told him in short sentences about the Yakshas and their mission, of his contract with Rex Lapis and the fighting he endured for the last few millennia. And the karmic debt and its constant corruption and toll on him, which Xiao had the nerve to dismiss as something unimportant.
He couldn’t help feeling a streak of surprise and… admiration. Bringing down wrath and judgement, behind the mask of a demon's, hidden from the people’s gaze. The extent of Xiao’s selflessness and sacrifice made Diluc’s nights spent jumping from roof to roof seem rather silly. His three years of running away felt like nothing other than cowardice.
Xiao seemed to read his stunned expression and sighed. "It's nothing. I am just paying a debt and following through with my contract."
"You did all this for centuries."
"That’s a given. My initial fate was so much worse. I am simply doing what I am tasked to, and what I must.”
Diluc shook his head. "It's noble. Idiotic, but noble."
"Did you just call a centuries-old Yaksha idiotic?"
"You can't take care of yourself to the point where I have to freeze you in a block of ice to stop you from writhing in pain--"
"Do not even continue."
They were quiet as more ice melted away. Xiao was shivering, teeth lightly chattering, but was seemingly determined to hide it.
"Aren't you the same?" suddenly he asked, tone flat. "Gallivanting in the night, isn’t it for the sake of protecting your people? Aren’t you fighting with a selfless will, rather?”
"Are you actually serious."
"I do think it's a foolish act, but even I will admit that your deeds take courage."
"No," Diluc cut in, feeling weird that Xiao was now somewhat complimenting him, something he'd assumed the yaksha wasn't capable of. He knitted his eyebrows, a sense of relief sneaking in as the ice around Xiao's arms melted away under his palms. "In my case, it is just selfishness and unabashed guilt. I don't even understand why I keep doing this."
Xiao leveled a look at him, silent for a moment, before huffing a grunt.
"It was love, Diluc," he said matter-of-factly. "You love your homeland. Your god was a gentle and loving one. I see that the people of Mondstadt had inherited such aspects in themselves."
Him? Driven by love? Laughable. Diluc didn’t consider himself worthy enough of claiming something as virtuous as that.
But it was true that he cherished Mondstadt. The memories from his childhood with his family, which was the happiest he had ever been. Even the present, as he lived his daily lives among the other citizens, whether it was idle chats in the tavern or boring business meetings with merchants, or the occasional banters with his brother or his friends. The years he spent away from it only strengthened how Mondstadt was Diluc’s home, the only one, and always will be.
Whatever it really was, that it was ‘love’ was surely a thought. The fact that the adeptus who seemed to look down on humans so much to be the first to propose such a notion… there will absolutely be more times in the future in which Diluc might ponder about this strange exchange between them.
He let slip a small chuckle. "Then, it might be love for you too, Adeptus Xiao."
To keep going on like that, passing by decades and seeing your friends left before you.... What could it be other than love? Love for the land created by the god he revered so much, love for the mortals he claimed to not care about yet his hands were smeared with blood for the prize of their safety. Diluc could see how tired his eyes seemed and the stiff gait in which he carried himself, and yet the pride he had for his duty was enough to reflect the meaning behind it.
A flicker of surprise passed through Xiao’s face. "Nonsense."
But the smallest smile that he made when he turned his face away was not missed by Diluc.
Weird. So they might have something in common after all.
Diluc frowned. "Wait. I never told you my name."
Xiao blinked, looking like a wild boar caught on its track.
"I, uh--"
"Adepti aren't all knowing, aren't they?"
"It's--well, one time, you see, Venti told me--”
“The bard told you what ? Wait, you two know each other? And had a conversation about me ?”
The immortal warrior looked like he was trying hard not to visibly panic. At the same time, the last of the ice melts away from Xiao’s soles, and that night Diluc learned that apparently adepti can teleport, because he immediately disappeared with a quiet pop --and so the Darknight Hero was left alone in a desolate cavern in Liyue, cloak soaked wet and hair a wild mess.
“What the fuck.”
----
The next morning, Diluc woke up in one of the most lavish suites in Wangshu Inn, memories of the last night a haze that he wasn't even sure had truly happened.
With that was the realization of how tired he was--and then he might or might not dozed back to sleep. When else was he going to have the chance? Kaeya said to enjoy his vacation and so he would.
But later in the afternoon, the wine tycoon was met with a surprise when he wandered off to the topmost floor of the inn, searching for a breather and a sight of Liyue to bring home with him.
Xiao was sitting on the edge of the terrace rail, uncaring of the height, a light breeze rustling his hair--a sign of how he was favored by the wind.
Upon seeing him, Xiao only tilted his head slightly, raising his eyebrows, then turned his gaze back to the mountain outlines of Liyue in the distance. As Diluc approached him, arms crossed and eyes trained at the clouds above, he didn’t quickly teleport away into thin air. He took that as a good sign, considering what he heard from the boss and what happened the night before.
“I thought all mortals would only do things for their own gain, or for the recognition of others,” Xiao mulled in lieu of a greeting, dismissively swinging his feet back and forth in the air. “Well, I suppose there’s bound to be exceptions.”
He had a small pout on his face, and Diluc was suddenly reminded of those times when Kaeya would sulk and he would spend the entire day trying to cheer him up--even though the other way around had happened more often.
If Diluc told the mighty yaksha of thousands of years old he just got the urge to ruffle his hair, he’d probably end up being thrown several hundred feet down to the wet fields of Wangshu.
“Adeptus Xiao,” he started firmly, pondering just how he could make it clear that he understood, that he saw his love and devotion for his nation, that at the very least there’s one more person who will always acknowledge what he gave for nothing in return. "Thank you."
At that, Xiao seemed to lose balance for once, almost slipping from his perch, and when he tried to duck his head, Diluc saw a flustered expression on his face--very human and very young.
It was almost inaudible when he replied, "And to you too."
“So. About you and Venti--”
“I am going to jump off this building.”
“Okay, forget it.”
----
“He thanked you?” the boss--Verr Goldet, was it?--asked incredulously. “Well, that’s unheard of.”
He was talking with her as he was checking out of the inn when his eyes caught on something. A book sat on an end table, looking like someone left it there on purpose. His Liyuean literacy was horrible, but he remembered the book from when their father would read to him and Kaeya--the gold embossed on its teal cover read ‘Yakshas: The Guardian Adepti’.
He would like to know more, to truly acknowledge and appreciate someone who deserved to be known. As a toast to what was surprisingly a pleasant acquaintance.
“Can I take that book with me? I’ll pay.”