Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“The elements are crying…”

Diluc looks out of his bedroom’s window in the Ragnvindr Mansion. The entire city of Mondstadt is enveloped in harsh winds and several smaller whirlwinds dot the city of freedom, forcing people to stay in closed doors in hopes to stay safe and away from the tragedy. 

He can’t help but think his old self would’ve done anything to help the city.

Unfortunately, Diluc doesn’t quite remember his time in the knights. His memories of being a kid are a blur after everything that’s happened to him the past five years. There are only a few memories he remembers distinctly from his time before the Fatui.

Diluc’s happiness and determination when Crepus teaches him the Ragnvindr Clan techniques with the sword and blacksmithing.

Diluc’s first sight of Kaeya.

Diluc being successful in smithing his first claymore and watching over Kaeya as he learns how to make his own sword.

Diluc receiving his Vision to save Kaeya.

Kaeya giving Diluc his first craft.

Diluc falling in love with Kaeya and their first stolen kiss, with many that follow after.

Crepus’ death and Diluc’s weakness.

Eroch’s and the knight’s refusal to honor Crepus’ sacrifice.

Kaeya’s confession of being from Khaenri’ah and his mission.

With how vividly the memory of betrayals plague his mind, it doesn’t surprise Diluc that he harbors anger towards the Knights of Favonius, even if it wasn’t anyone’s fault other than the traitors. He knows it quite well, which is why he also understands their hands are tied over the situation presented by the nobles. It still fans his anger at the Knights’ response regardless of this understanding. But...

Diluc feels the betrayal of the people of Mondstadt towards Kaeya hurt him more. Kaeya who was left behind to pick up the pieces and become the head of the Ragnvindr House despite not having blood relations to the family. Kaeya sacrificed a lot to be in his current position as Cavalry Captain and Diluc is not blind to the implication.

The knights kept Kaeya in a position of power due to his hold over the Ragnvindr House and its assets. 

Speaking of… Kaeya left an hour ago after Diluc healed him enough for him to get out of the manor. The Knights guarding the Ragnvindr Manor don’t stop their cavalry captain, especially not with this kind of emergency. Diluc should’ve been out there helping the people of Mondstadt, but right now, he honestly feels nothing but disdain after Kaeya told him what happened. Mondstadt’s high society chose to cast Diluc away for his actions and he understands why. But it doesn’t mean he’s not bitter about it - Kaeya is too.

Diluc is looking up to the skies to see the silhouette of the dragon and something firing anemo attacks right at the dragon. Perhaps it’s Barbatos? Kaeya did tell him that Barbatos has been helping them for a year already even if Diluc hasn’t met the fellow Archon yet. He lets out a sigh of relief when he hears the pained roar from the dragon and the tornadoes subsided a little. He doesn’t know who or what managed to drive the dragon away, but he’s thankful they did. He can still sense the terrible state of Mondstadt’s elemental leylines, but at least the people can leave their homes without being flung away by the winds. Diluc wonders if he should leave the manor to find Kaeya in the middle of this mess.

Adelinde enters the room and looks at him sternly as if reading his thoughts. “Master Diluc, I’m here to inform you that Master Kaeya went in for a few minutes to give us this,” she says, giving him a cloth-wrapped bundle. “He left again in a hurry when the dragon shrieked though. He told us to make sure you don’t leave the house.”

Diluc scoffs at the order but agrees to whatever Kaeya might be planning. He takes the bundle and opens it, eyes widening in surprise at seeing an Agnidus Agate Gemstone. It’s an incredibly rare item that one can only get from an extremely strong Pyro Regisvine at a chance or mined carefully from one of the volcanoes in Natlan. Agates are primarily formed within volcanic and metamorphic rocks which makes Natlan the primary source of this gem and it’s rare to find anywhere else. He wonders where Kaeya got a stone this pure.

Diluc touches the gem and a voice whispers in his ears. 

A pilgrimage for a wish; a battle to earn a name…

Burnt to cinders for a dream. 

If the intention yet remains, achieve ██ s truth he has.

“Kaeya…” Diluc whispers the name before shaking his head. The words are familiar to Diluc in a way he can’t remember how. It might’ve been one of the memories that the Gnosis implanted in him, but he wouldn’t know unless he dives deeper into his power - something he doesn’t want to do without asking other Archons about it first. Diluc doesn’t understand why Kaeya gave him this, but agates are essential foci to pyro users like them. He’ll keep the gem for now and ask his devotee later.

He hopes Kaeya is safe. The only way Diluc can track Kaeya right now is the man’s new pyro vision and that doesn’t tell him a lot of things. Sighing, he looks out the window again, annoyed at the uncertainty of the situation outside. 

Kaeya stares at the sight with an incredulous expression. “You’ve got to be kidding me…” he whispers out in awe as he watches the ‘fight’ going on above the clouds. He spots Amber looking very worried at the stormy skies. Does the outrider know who’s fighting the dragon? 

Kaeya looks around and spots a knight running towards the Favonius headquarters. He calls the man over and orders him to tell the other knights to help keep all civilians in closed doors. The knight scurries away with the orders to pass around his fellow knights. With how much of an emergency the Stormterror is, no one bats an eye that Kaeya is giving orders to the knights despite the criminal charge against him. Kaeya is honestly thankful for their loyalty and no nonsense behavior right now.

Kaeya looks back to the ‘fight’ in the skies as he hears the cry of the dragon who flies away. He looks around and sees that the harsh winds haven’t died down in the slightest even though the tornadoes that the dragon spawned are gone now. ‘Looks like I have my work cut out for me today…’ he sighs and walks over to Amber who’s fussing over a blonde teenager. Kaeya starts approaching them and puts on a disarming smile.

“You’ve actually got the power to go up against the dragon…” the sound of his clapping echoes in the background, causing the blonde stranger and Amber to look at him. “Are you a new ally... or a new storm?”

Amber looks affronted at his words while the blonde doesn’t look fazed at all. Interesting. 

“Stormterror is attacking Mondstadt itself!” Amber paces and turns to Kaeya looking very worried. “Kaeya, Aether, you’ve come at the right time. We must-”

“Hold on, Amber,” Kaeya says with a sigh. He knows things are quite dire right now, but the blonde is literally a stranger in Mondstadt and that’s something that needs to be addressed. “Are you perhaps forgetting to introduce us?”

“Oh right!” Amber squeaks in surprise. “This is Kaeya, our Cavalry Captain. These two are travelers from afar, Aether and Paimon.”

‘From afar? Is that all we know of them?’ Kaeya frowns at the lack of information.

“Long story short…” Amber continues her explanation, “he’s looking for his twin sister that got separated from him a long time ago.”

“I see,” Kaeya hums in thought. That’s not much information to go on, unfortunately. He’ll have to check with his information network and Diluc’s thoughts on this. “Welcome to Mondstadt — though you haven't arrived at the best of times, I'm afraid. I understand the anguish of being separated from family.”

“We’re actually looking for the Anemo Archon right now,” Paimon pipes up unexpectedly. 

Kaeya’s eye look at the two strangers sharply. That statement just made both of them high on his priority list to look into - especially with what Diluc is right now. “I'm not really sure why you're looking for the Anemo God… But everyone has their secrets, right?” he says with a teasing smirk.

The two look at Kaeya worriedly, thinking they said something wrong. Kaeya just laughs it off and tells them to relax as he won’t press them for more information for now.

“First and foremost,” Kaeya looks at the two gratefully, “on behalf of the Knights of Favonius, I would like to extend our thanks to you for your help just now.”

“Well, we couldn't just leave the situation to fester,” Aether says with a smile.

“I see. Well, your fight to defend the city against the dragon just now was witnessed by no small number of citizens.” Kaeya turns his head towards the knight’s headquarters. “I formally invite you to our headquarters, please come with me.”

Kaeya leads them to enter the building and go inside the Grandmaster’s office to see both Jean and Lisa in the room. He nods to Lisa in greeting before turning to Jean, “I brought them straight here as I know you would ask me to.”

After introductions, Aether and Paimon recount their story to them. Kaeya settles to lean on the wall near the door with his arms crossed while they listen to the traveler’s request.

“Mondstadt welcomes you, windborne travelers,” Jean introduces herself to Aether and Paimon. “I am Jean, Acting Grand Master of the Knights of Favonius. This is Lisa, our resident librarian.”

“Oh! Are you sweeties here to help us out? You're both so adorable!” Lisa says, looking over both of the newcomers. “Sadly, the timing is regrettable... Stormterror has caused quite a ruckus in the region since its recent resurgence.” She sighs and continues, “Simply put, Mondstadt's elemental sphere and ley lines are now akin to a yarn ball in the paws of a kitten. For a mage, it couldn't get much worse. My skin is one elemental particle away from a full-blown breakout.”

“If it weren't for this interference, the Knights of Favonius would have better ways to help you than just putting up missing person posters.” Jean sighs, pressing a hand on her forehead. “We simply ask that you repose in Mondstadt while we help you seek out your sister,”

“Perhaps we can help too?” Aether offers with a smile and Paimon agrees with him.

Kaeya is glad the traveler doesn’t mind helping. Mondstadt is honestly very lacking in available hands right now, even if this helping hand is suspiciously well timed. “Good. In that case we need a plan.”

“With Stormterror now directly attacking Mondstadt, we may have an opportunity to cut this problem off at the source.” Jean also looks quite relieved at the offer and starts laying out the plan as well. “Lisa has revealed the sources of Stormterror's power with her detection magic.”

Kaeya whistles in surprise. That was fast. The tornado situation didn’t happen until a few hours ago. “Is that so? You’re working quite hard, Lisa.”

“You’re not the only one that learned a thing or two from the bard, Sir Kaeya,” Lisa smirks at him. “They're located in the abandoned Four Winds' Temples. Stormterror's ability to whip up these kinds of storms can be attributed to it drawing power from the temples.”

“Our objective is to deal with three of the four temples,” Jean says seriously. “I trust everyone understands why we are only dealing with three.”

“Paimon doesn't,” the fairy grumbles softly.

“It must be a local thing…” Aether says, looking lost as well.

Kaeya chuckles when he hears the low conversation of the two and can’t help but feel bad about it. Maybe he should mention the reasoning later. Now that they have a plan though… he needs to go back to Diluc and let him know he’s leaving the city for a while.

“Knights of Favonius, time is against us. The storm is rampant. There is no point in maintaining a defensive position.” Jean takes a deep breath and nods at each of them. “Alright. We need to take initiative and act before the situation escalates.”

“I’ll be by the Temple of the Wolf which is far east of Windrise. I trust you know where that is?” he asks and Paimon nods to him enthusiastically. “See you later then,” Kaeya says and leaves the headquarters immediately to go towards the Ragnvindr Mansion in the city. Hopefully, Diluc is still inside and he didn’t leave to do something stupid.

Diluc is sitting by the window of his bedroom when Kaeya comes in. The redhead doesn’t look away from the window when Kaeya announces himself, but does hum in response. He’s still holding the agate Kaeya sent earlier, causing the knight to smile.

“How do you feel right now, Diluc?” Kaeya asks, sitting across from him, putting his hand on top of the other’s which is holding the gem.

“I’m feeling a complicated amount of things, Kaeya,” Diluc sighs and turns to him. Diluc’s eyes and hair tints are glowing which, to what Kaeya observed, denotes that his power over pyro is currently being used. “You have to be specific.”

Kaeya chuckles and presses a kiss on Diluc’s hand. “My Archon,” he says with the reverence he normally doesn’t show. “I am referring to the current crisis of Mondstadt for now.”

“Mondstadt will be destroyed if this storm doesn’t get snuffed soon,” Diluc says seriously. “The elements and ley lines around the city are frayed beyond what they can handle. I’m doing the best I can without touching a leyline to stabilize it, but it’s honestly making me wish I can’t feel the energy of the world...”

“Yes, Lisa has said something along those lines as well.” Kaeya crosses his arms and looks out the window. It does look very dire outside. “We have a plan to deal with this storm situation, but we’re required to go to each of the Four Winds Temples except for the dragon’s itself.”

“So you’ve pinpointed where the disruption is coming from… that’s good.” Diluc looks at Kaeya worriedly. “Will the Knights of Favonius be able to handle this? I know the Knights are shorthanded right now.”

“The curious thing is that a traveler from who-knows-where visited the city today and unexpectedly managed to fight back against the dragon,” Kaeya casually says with a shrug. “We kind of asked him for help with the matter and they thankfully accepted. For now the plan is to go through all three temples with them and deal with the problem.”

“I see…” Diluc looks out the window with a frown. “I wanted to tell you that I also felt Archon energy earlier when the dragon attacked. It’s gone now, but I think it means Barbatos is back in Mondstadt.”

“That’s reassuring, honestly,” Kaeya says. “Ah right, speaking of Archons… that traveler is somehow looking for our Anemo Archon. They might look for you too so I’m gonna keep an eye on them.”

“How curious…” Diluc looks back to Kaeya with a smile. “Are you trying to protect me?”

“Of course,” Kaeya gets up to give Diluc a long hug. “I’ve lost you for five long years…. And now that you’re back to me, I don’t want to lose you again.”

Diluc hugs him back fondly, still not believing how long Kaeya waited and looked for him. He still doesn’t know how to answer such devotion, but Diluc is willing to learn. “I understand. I’ll be careful to not disappear again.”

“You better,” Kaeya huffs, still not releasing Diluc from his hold. 

“Are you sure you’ll be alright?” Diluc says worriedly, glancing at the pyro vision now hanging on Kaeya’s belt. “You haven’t exactly experimented on using your new vision yet. I should go with you-”

“We’re both under heavy scrutiny right now Diluc,” Kaeya sighs, looking exhausted. “The only reason I can go out and do this mission is because I’m still the Cavalry Captain despite the criminal charge thrown at me.”

“They shouldn’t even lay a hand on you,” Diluc growls, looking angry with his eyes flashing with the pyro in his veins. 

“Yes, you’re right about that but we can’t do anything about it for now,” Kaeya shakes his head and presses a kiss on Diluc’s forehead. The redhead grumbles but settles down for now. “There are knights stationed outside of Ragnvindr Mansion and they’re watching this place even with this emergency. If you think you can sneak out of Mondstadt without anyone seeing you, then maybe you can help me out from the shadows, my sunshine.”

Diluc thinks for a moment before agreeing. “I think I can sneak out,” he says, “but you should go to the temple as soon as possible before that traveler gets there and doesn’t find you around. I’ll follow later… after I look into something.” Diluc presses a finger at Kaeya’s lips when he opens them to ask. “I’ll let you know about it when we both get back to Mond or the Winery.”

Kaeya smiles and licks the finger, causing Diluc to blush hard. The redhead hisses at him in embarrassment and Kaeya just laughs it off.

“I’ll see you later then, my Archon.”

“Please stay safe, Kaeya.”

Kaeya settles by the entrance of the Temple of the Wolf, waiting for the traveler. He would’ve gone inside on his own but after talking with Diluc, it sounded like a bad idea considering his new vision and all. He tries conjuring up small wisps of fire while he waits. 

Fire is fundamentally different from ice. While ice requires Kaeya to have precise control and be creative enough with how it forms, fire is more about power and using it as an extension of one’s own body. He’s seen how Diluc fought with his pyro vision when they were still knights and the fire always looked like it had a life of its own. He also remembers when Diluc always sported burn marks from his own fire while training when they were young. Fire is a volatile element and Kaeya wonders if he can adjust to it on the fly.

Kaeya’s going to have to improvise a bit as he doesn’t know how to wield his new vision just yet. It takes another hour before he sees Aether walking towards the temple entrance and he waves at Kaeya when their gaze meets.

“You’ve arrived,” Kaeya says, crossing his arms as the traveler shows up. “Come closer. Can you smell that?”

Aether blinks before sniffing around. “It’s the smell of burnt Pyro Slimes…”

Kaeya smiles, glad to know this new person is not as unreliable as others. He looks back to Mondstadt, making the traveler look back as well.

“Looking at it from a distance, it really does look bad, doesn’t it,” Kaeya muses as watches strong winds continue to circle around like a cyclone in Mondstadt city. It’s thankfully not as strong as when the dragon was still attacking, but it’s still very concerning. “Anyway, something must have happened in the temple. I imagine there will be slimes, hilichurls, and… whatever is giving Stormterror extra power.” Kaeya chuckles with a shrug, “Oh yes, it is going to be lively in there indeed.”

“No doubt nothing more than a disorderly mob of creatures,” Aether smirks, sounding confident.

“Oh ho? You’re quite the brave one, aren’t you?” Kaeya thinks back to a certain redhead. “It’s a pity that the Temple of the Wolf has been disturbed by such an atrocity. Let’s head inside and clear it out, for The Four Winds sake as well. No one makes offerings to The Four Winds anymore, yet the old winds never vanish...”

Kaeya shakes his head and enters the temple with Aether. “This is my first chance to fight beside you. Think we'll make a good team?” he says with a laugh. “Let me show you how the Knights of Favonius conquer our adversaries.”

They both enter the domain and Aether gulps at suddenly being transported to an underground enclosed area. Kaeya pats his shoulder, giving him a smile and points up ahead.

“If I'm not mistaken, the end of the temple should be up there,” he says, pointing towards a building farther along the way to which Aether squints to figure out how far it is.

“Wait…” Paimon looks at it then back at Kaeya, looking suspicious. “How do you know?”

“Experience,” Kaeya’s eyebrow rose at the question. “... the kind of experience you get after years of dealing with things like this for others. Come, let’s go further in.”

A bunch of slimes and hilichurls stop them in every room, but they make quick work of it. In the first room, Kaeya made a lot of use of the room’s wet state to cause a lot of vaporize reactions with him tossing a few fireballs at their path. It easily deals with the hilichurls blocking them and Kaeya makes quick work of the door. 

Kaeya manages to destroy the flamethrower towers accidentally with a fireball due to his lack of skill in the pyro element. Thankfully, Aether didn’t seem to notice it wasn’t intentional. Kaeya notes that the traveler is using anemo skillfully for someone who doesn’t look to have a vision on them. They made each fireball from Kaeya stronger with the swirling reactions. 

“Aether... Unless I'm mistaken, you don't seem to have a Vision,” Kaeya says curiously. “So how exactly is it that you're able to channel elemental energy?”

“I don’t really know,” Aether says apologetically.

“It was a very strange occurrence,” Paimon shrugs at Kaeya and they both don’t quite answer the knight’s question. Kaeya hums at their lack of real answers, but puts it to the back of his mind. He can ask Venti about it later if he knows anything about this anemo user. Knowing Diluc, he’s definitely seeking out Venti right now.

The three of them clear out the rooms up till they reach the end of the temple where a tall wall that they probably can’t scale easily stops them. 

“Ugh, finally... we're here,” Paimon says, sounding tired.

“Seems the path ends here.” Kaeya looks around before spotting an anemo stone. He pokes it with his sword and it causes wind currents to create an updraft. “Let's use the wind currents to fly up. You have your glider with you right?”

Aether nods and puts it on. Kaeya lets the traveler go first, ensuring the teen won’t fall before following as well. The room they land on is a square full of random broken wooden platforms or barrels. It has considerably damaged walls as well.

“Water!” Paimon shouts, “We can use this to put out fire!”

“Good idea,” Kaeya notes, even though it will dampen his control over fire. “That's some keen observation.”

Aether breaks the water stone and causes rain to fall in the room. It extinguishes the fire from the pyro slimes and makes it easier for both their blades to deal with them. Kaeya observes him carefully and is actually surprised by how well Aether weaves along Kaeya’s actions. It’s like he’s used to working with someone who also uses a short blade.

“We should get Jean to give you a title and make you a knight,” Kaeya says appraisingly. While he and Diluc are going to leave Mondstadt as soon as possible, it doesn’t mean they want the city to be destroyed when they do. Having someone like Aether might help the city of freedom survive this whole mess.

“Speaking of, did you know? Stormterror was once one of The Four Winds,” Kaeya says casually as he inspects the underwater spikes they encounter. The water wasn’t too deep, but they decided to make some bridges off of some wood that was lying around from the previous room instead of making Kaeya evaporate all the water. If Kaeya was still a cryo user, he could’ve just made ice bridges easily. Pyro isn’t proving to be that useful as a tool so far.

Aether looks surprised about the information on the dragon. “Why is he attacking if he’s one of the deities of Mondstadt then?”

“I'm not aware of the exact details,” Kaeya says apologetically as they walk. “If you're interested, you can ask the Acting Grand Master about it.”

The three of them travel further ahead and Kaeya opens the door to the main temple area. There, a glowing stone rippling with anemo energy sits in the middle of the room.

“Is that the thing that Stormterror is using to gain its power?” Paimon pipes up when they see it.

“Seems probable,” Kaeya says as they approach it cautiously. “Let's deal with it.”

“Right,” Aether swiftly destroys the stone and the anemo energy collecting within it dissipates into nothing.

“Bravo! What a performance!” Kaeya claps with a surprised expression. “You have to forgive me for watching you through this little journey of ours. You are, to my surprise, a well-trained knight. The battles you just fought were sights to behold.”

Aether looks abashed and rubs the back of his head with a short laugh. “It’s not worth complimenting really...”

“I see you already have the knightly value of modesty,” Kaeya laughs. “Stories of your heroic deeds to save Mondstadt from destruction shall be known throughout the City of Freedom, well into the future. Please do visit me at our headquarters when you have the time.”

“Sure, I’ll go back there after the last temple probably!” Aether says with a smile.

“Great,” Kaeya grins and gives a conspiratory look at him. “I also know a lovely tavern, if that's more your thing. Quite rewarding, no?”

“I’ll definitely reach out to you,” Aether nods, looking happy at being told about a tavern. The blonde looks young, so maybe he won’t be served anything alcoholic though.

“We've seized another temple from Stormterror's grasp!” Paimon cheers and pushes Aether along. “Let’s go deal with the last temple!”

“Yes, do go on ahead, I can take care of the rest here,” Kaeya says with a smile. “You go take care of other things while I'm at it.”

“See you later then, bye-bye~!” Paimon says and both her and Aether leave the temple.

Kaeya waits for the travelers to be out of sight before he glances at the pillar where he feels the telltale sign of elemental disruption. “There's no way hilichurls organized an ambush like this themselves – not with their limited mental capacity… Thus YOU were behind this.”

“Gohus, Chiso Vonph!” the Hydro Abyss Mage chants before it gets interrupted by a burst of flames slamming into its body. A red figure crashes into the mage with a claymore wreathed in flames. The power of the strike makes it fall unconscious from the pain.

“Did you have to be so dramatic?” Diluc sighs as he makes sure the Abyss Mage isn’t dead from what he did.

“You like me this way, sunshine,” Kaeya laughs and helps him wrap the mage with rope, deciding to bring the captive for interrogation afterwards.

They quickly make their way back home with Diluc dragging their unconscious prisoner without anyone else knowing or seeing them sneak into the underground cellars in the Dawn Winery. While tying the mage securely on a chair, Kaeya tells Diluc to stay in the Winery for now instead of trying to return to Mondstadt and Diluc agrees, saying he did have plans with Venti to meet anyway. 

With that, Kaeya leaves him and starts his trek back to the city of freedom. “Looks like Mondstadt is gonna give us an explosive farewell instead of letting us leave quietly,” he chuckles while thinking of the current events.

Chapter Text

Kaeya gets back to Mondstadt from the side entrance, using one of the boats he left behind at Whispering Woods. After making sure the boat is fully secured, he enters the gate and nods to Guy who doesn’t comment at the odd choice of entrance. Kaeya’s investigations always make him pop up at random places and Guy didn’t have full information regarding what happened before the Stormterror attack the previous day.

Kaeya scales the walls near the side entrance to get to the upper tier of the city. Guy watches him nervously as he does so, but Kaeya just flashes him a grin and continues until he’s at the top. He scales another two walls, greeting the windmill keeper - who shakes her head at him - with a wave of the hand, and goes straight towards the Ragnvindr Mansion after making sure no other civilian sees him do so. He has to keep the charade that Diluc is still in the mansion, but he’ll definitely tell Jean about it before anything happens. As he enters the mansion, Adelinde welcomes him home and tells Kaeya that Diluc went out to do something. 

“Diluc’s back at Dawn Winery,” Kaeya says once he locked the door to the mansion. “I can sneak you out as well, but I know full well your abilities. How are the other staff holding up here and at Angel’s Share?”

“Most of the staff are unhindered by the knights,” Adelinde nods with a smile, completely understanding what he implies. “We should be able to leave the mansion with a skeleton crew acting inside for a few hours before someone notices that this house is practically abandoned. Angel’s Share is still operational with Charles and Patton there as per their contract. Do you want to pull them out as well?”

“No,” Kaeya shakes his head. “If we pull them out too soon, people will notice we’re removing Ragnvindr aspects from Mondstadt and that will be another mess considering the criminal charges they put on Diluc. Try to do what you said about the mansion though. Diluc wants you all out of the city before something worse happens, and you’ll be safer back at the Winery where there are fewer traces of the knight order.”

“Understood,” Adelinde bows. “I shall go ahead and do what should be done, Master Kaeya.”

Kaeya smiles at her. “Come now, Adel, there’s no need to call me master when we’re in private.”

Adelinde gives him a fond smile but doesn’t reply as she leaves. With the matters of the mansion out of the way, Kaeya goes to his room to start packing things he wants to bring to the Dawn Winery and their eventual sojourn to Natlan. 

Speaking of...

He’s thought about their eventual move ever since he recovered Diluc last year. Kaeya knows Diluc would not stay in Mondstadt - not after what he is now, what he became. He knows Diluc is the responsible kind of person - their talk a few days ago definitely proved that. As an Archon, Diluc is more attached to the country he’s supposed to govern compared to his hometown. 

Is Kaeya really prepared to leave everything he created in Mondstadt to follow Diluc who initially threw him out of his life? Is he prepared to leave Jean, Lisa, Klee, Albedo, Fischl, Vile, and all the people who helped him get back on his feet through these five years?

The answer didn’t come to him until the stupidity that transpired at yesterday’s town square. The fact that some people in Mondstadt sought out to wound him makes the decision easier - nevermind that it was only a hired hand, at the end of the day, Kaeya still ended up injured.

How can he stay and protect people who want to harm him instead of hear him out?

While he hates to leave his friends and Klee who became a little sister to him, Kaeya doesn’t think he can stay any longer than necessary. He supposes he should try to keep in contact with them. Maybe through letters? That would be the easiest way. The main problem is how Klee would react to him leaving…. He grimaces when his imagination ends up with a burning Mondstadt and he dearly hopes the kid doesn’t explode anything when he tells her the news.

After Kaeya packs what mementos and gifts he wants to keep with him in a knapsack, he starts pulling out clothes and frowns at his closet. He didn’t have as much clothes outside the formal and knight issued ones. He’d rather not be caught in his knights clothes or the stuffy noble-looking clothes he has when they leave the city. Though, he supposes he can keep the shirts and pants - those are actually quite comfortable. He hopes his order for new clothes comes sooner rather than later.

Kaeya puts the clothes in the bag - and isn’t he glad he invested in getting a larger pack like this - careful not to damage any of the other items he already put inside the bag. When he’s done, he looks around his room with a cursory glance to see if he left anything important behind - however unlikely it is, considering all his precious items are stored in one drawer - and finds nothing else he cares to carry or is irreplaceable. 

Nodding to himself in satisfaction, he leaves his room and chuckles when he sees there’s no one around working in the mansion that he can immediately detect, proving that Adelinde works fast. He really likes the Dawn Winery staff and everyone Crepus kept loyal to the family. Kaeya did everything in his power to keep the staff within the Ragnvindr family when Diluc ran away - and he’s very glad he did so.

Leaving the mansion, he goes to the stable at the back which housed his precious steed, a dappled grey holsteiner named Sweet Flower - lovingly nicknamed Sweets, and puts the bag at the back of the saddle carefully. After making sure the knapsack won’t hinder his horse that much, he gives her an apple and pats her gently. He walks towards the Knights of Favonius headquarters together with his horse. Thankfully, no one bothers him, clearly seeing he’s not in the mood for idle talk.

The current entrance guard Athos lets Kaeya through with a salute and Kaeya leaves Sweets with him. He’s sure the knight won’t mess with her and will leave the horse at the HQ’s stable where he’ll pick her back up after he’s done with Jean.

Kaeya knocks on Jean’s office door and enters when he hears her through it. Jean is writing something in her paperwork before looking up to her guest. She sighs in relief when she sees it’s Kaeya and smiles tiredly at him in greeting. She continues with her paperwork that never seems to diminish on her desk due to her refusing to delegate to others.

While Jean’s dedication to being Acting Grand Master is admirable, it’s also troublesome considering she refuses to take breaks. Kaeya thinks the issue will be even worse when he opts to leave Mondstadt after this whole mess is over. He feels guilty that he’s leaving Jean, but he’s made his choice and he’s only here to inform her of it.

“I trust Diluc is out of Mondstadt now?” Jean says, still reading through her paperwork.

Kaeya blinks before giving a chuckle - trust Jean to know what Diluc plans to do even after all these years of being apart. “Yes,” he confirms, sitting on the couch in the office. “He snuck out earlier while I was helping with the temple issue. Is it a problem?”

“Officially, it’s a problem,” Jean says with a smile, “but as your friend, no, it definitely is not.”

Kaeya grins and relaxes on the couch, knowing Jean is on their side for whatever comes from this mess. This is why he liked her and let her have the credit for most of his achievements the last few years.

“For what it’s worth Kaeya,” Jean says after a few minutes of companionable silence.  “I’m truly sorry for what the people are doing.”

Kaeya’s gaze softens at her words. “You don’t need to apologize for the stupidity of the nobles, Jean. They made their choice to make the Ragnvindr’s their enemy. As much as it pains me to say, we will be pulling out of Mondstadt.”

“I understand your choice and approve of it even if it will leave Mond in dire straits for a few years,” Jean sighs and slumps at her chair. “Hopefully the difficulties will make the other nobles get out of their high horse and finally realize their mistakes once the Ragnvindr’s are gone - even if that sounds like wishful thinking.”

Kaeya looks at her with sympathy - he never did like dealing with the other nobles considering they see Kaeya as a mere commoner, no matter how wrong that assumption is, and an outlander who has no rights to Mondstadt economical progress.

“Anyway, I came here to report about Aether’s trip to the Temple of Wolf with me and tell you about our decision to leave Mondstadt.” Kaeya gives her two pieces of paper. “The first is my written report of the mission. The second one is my thoughts about Aether - I figured you’d want some opinion of him since we had the chance.”

“Thank you Kaeya,” Jean takes both gratefully and puts the papers on the inner drawers of her desk - the drawer Kaeya knows is full of sensitive information. “Ah, that reminds me. Kaeya, may I trouble you to look into this Treasure Hoarder group that’s been skulking around inside the city after the storms died down? All I managed to find is that their leader is named Izzard.”

“Izzard, hm?” Kaeya thinks about it before nodding. That man is one of the marks he was going to deal with this week anyway - before the whole Stormterror attacking the city incident. “You don’t mind what method I use right?”

“Of course not,” Jean shakes her head. “I just hope you don’t give me a huge headache if things go badly.”

Kaeya chuckles and stands to leave. “Well then, I’m off to put out a net for our little bug. I’ll see you once he’s caught.”

“Take care, Kaeya,” Jean says, already distracted by her endless paperwork.

Kaeya goes out of her office with a mind to put an order at Good Hunter to send a delivery for Jean’s favorite pizza later. He’s not sure that she would eat at the right time - considering the amount of work she still has to do.

The moment Kaeya leaves the headquarters, he bumps into Aether and his companion Paimon. Remembering Jean’s request, he thinks he can delegate the mission over to the traveler instead - it’s not that dangerous afterall and Kaeya is quite busy.

“This is bad… such a hassle,” Kaeya tsks, playing up his annoyance with a shake of his head. “What am I going to do…”

Aether blinks at him, clearly surprised. “What’s wrong, Captain Kaeya?”

“Oh, thank the Thousand Winds! Traveler, your arrival must be the grace of the gods!” Kaeya continues to play up his persona towards Aether - who actually looks quite suspicious now. He grins sheepishly and dials down the flair. “If I may ask, could you spare a moment? Also, just call me Kaeya.”

“Can’t say I don’t have time… although I did want to talk to the uhh… Acting Master?” Aether scratches the back of his head. 

“Acting Grand Master, and that’s totally fine,” Kaeya corrects him. “I’ll tell you the details and then you can go talk to Jean after! But first, let's talk in the courtyard just outside the headquarters. Come with me.”

“What's with the sneakiness…” Paimon looks suspicious of Kaeya while Aether just shrugs and follows the knight.

The walk to the courtyard gives Kaeya enough time to spin a tale that can capture the interest of an adventurer - which, if he’s correct, Aether and Paimon are. He looks around to be sure there aren’t any eavesdroppers and turns to Aether. 

“Tell us what it's about already!” Paimon says impatiently, stomping in the air.

“How should I begin... Oh, right, let me tell you a secret first,” Kaeya says with a smile, trying to make the lie look like the truth. “It's a secret of my past, and I confide in you to keep it.”

“Don't worry, Paimon's lips are sealed,” the fairy makes a zipping motion of her hands at her mouth while Aether nods.

“As a matter of fact, my grandfather was a pirate!” Kaeya says boisterously.

“Oh,” Paimon looks at him with disappointment.

“Wait, why do you sound so blithe? Do you think I'm making it up?” Kaeya pouts at them. “Look at my eye patch! I inherited it from my grandfather and this is solid proof that we are related by blood!”

“I never knew you could inherit eye patches,” Aether says disbelievingly.

“My! Aether, how could you not know such common knowledge!” Kaeya is internally panicking. He knows the traveler wouldn’t be this easy to con. “This is no different from children inheriting their hairstyle from their parents!”

Aether and Paimon still look at him with expressions of doubt and incredulity, but Kaeya pushes on.

“Yesterday, I was glancing through the notes my grandfather left and stumbled upon records that spoke of a treasure…” Kaeya starts explaining his made up story.

“...Treasure!?” Paimon suddenly shrieks at the word. Ah, there it is, the greediness Kaeya needed.

“According to his notes, the treasure is buried in the ' Lost Arcadian Ruins '.” Kaeya ignores the shout and continues. “But the location of the ruins is currently unknown. I've tried searching for clues…”

“Kaeya! What kind of treasure is it? Gold? Or better yet, gems!?” Paimon asks him hurriedly.

“Hmph! Treasures that consist of nothing but gold and gems are third-rate treasures…” Kaeya thinks about what he can use to bargain and… “My grandfather's treasure is a sword! A magic sword that grants the wielder unrivaled power!”

“Oh wowwwww!” Paimon says with such wonder. Kaeya can’t believe the fairy is so taken by this ridiculous tale, but continues on anyway. Aether looks amused by the fairy’s reaction, but generally looks like he doesn’t believe a thing Kaeya is saying.

“The sword was dropped from Celestia into the sea by a god. It was later salvaged by my grandfather's crew by pure coincidence. The moment he gripped the sword, thunder roared, billows hollowed, and the clear skies were suddenly swallowed by raging winds…” Kaeya remembers giving this story to Klee before as a bedtime story.

“With the might of the magic sword, my grandfather went on to defeat a hydra, a silver-haired banshee, a wicked abyss dragon… But the immense power of the sword enticed many more greedy pirates,” Kaeya shakes his head in disappointment. “To avoid meaningless conflicts, my grandfather hid the magic sword.”

“A hydra, silver-haired banshee, and an abyss dragon... Do they really exist?” Aether says with exasperation, clearly believing none of the fake lore he spouts.

“The world we live in is fascinating, full of unknown and inexplicable wonders,” Kaeya says with a shrug. This, at least, he really believes. “These incredibly thrilling adventures are romances that could only be told by pirates.”

“Holy moley! That's just insane!” Paimon seems to still believe his tale no matter how ridiculous it is.

“A gang of Treasure Hoarders has been very active lately and many ruins have had their relics stolen by them.” Now it’s time for Kaeya to give them the real information. “I'm afraid that they will soon discover the Arcadian Ruins and the magic sword will be lost…”

“We won't let it fall into the wrong hands! We must get the sword before them,” Paimon urges Aether to accept the request, who does so unwillingly. “Rest assured that Paimon and Aether are here to help!”

“Wow~” Kaeya smiles gratefully at them. “That’s great! Please keep it a secret. I'll wait for your good news! If I’m not here, I’ll leave a letter to one of the knights containing more information I can find about it.”

With that, both Aether and Paimon leave and Kaeya watches them go. Once he’s sure that the two have left, Kaeya goes back inside the headquarters to pen the supposed letter. After creating a realistic-enough clue, he leaves it to the knight, Wood, who usually keeps watch over Klee’s solitary confinement room with instructions to provide it to the traveler when they come back. Kaeya is unlikely to be around when the two come knocking to ask for more clues considering he has to be in Dawn Winery before sunset. 

Kaeya slips out of the building and heads to where he knows Vile stays for the evening and provides her instructions to give to the traveler pair. He goes back to the headquarters for his horse and saddles up to begin trotting towards the gate. Some civilians see him leave the city, but they assume he’s on official knight business. Once he’s out of the bridge however, he starts a gallop until he’s in the Springvale area. He visibly relaxes and slows Sweets down to a walk to calm her down to not let her get too tired. 

He breathes a sigh of relief when he spies the Winery in the distance and lets Sweets canter off faster towards it. He leaves her in Tunner’s capable hands and enters the Dawn Winery with a fond smile. 

“Kaeya, you’re back!”

A red blur slams into him and proceeds to hug the life out of him - causing him to almost stumble at the action. “I’m home, Luc. Ow-” Kaeya laughs despite the pain in his waist area. “Careful sunshine, my wound still not completely cured remember?”

“I’m sorry- '' Diluc immediately lets go of him and looks at his waist, prodding it with his fingers gently and applying more archon energy to it. He still isn’t used to using his new powers and his inexperience made Kaeya’s wound scar. As Kaeya says, it definitely isn’t healed thoroughly even when Diluc tries to mend it more.

“It’s fine, sunshine,” Kaeya looks at him with a fond smile. “How’s the winery staff while I was out?”

“Elzer’s doing everything in your stead as usual,” Diluc stops his healing and steps back, eyeing Kaeya from top to bottom to see if he has any more injuries. “Adelinde and most of the manor people came half an hour ago and are finding a place to settle before we leave for Natlan. Thankfully, it seems that most of the houses around the winery are unused and are part of the Ragnvindr territory so we let them stay there.”

Kaeya nods, putting away his coat and walks further into the winery. “Did you manage to find what you were looking for?”

“Ah,” Diluc blinks in confusion before remembering what he told Kaeya. “Yes, he should visit us soon to talk about what’s happening.”

“Alright. That means we have some time to relax until then,” Kaeya pulls Diluc to the master’s bedroom in the winery. “What about our prisoner?”

“They’re still unconscious,” Diluc shrugs, letting Kaeya lead him further into his room. He doesn’t know what the knight plans, but he’s not going to deny Kaeya anything. “They will probably wake up sooner or later.”

“All the more that I should go down there then,” Kaeya nods distractedly, pushing the redhead onto the bed and climbs on top of him. “Diluc…”

Diluc flushes red at the position - now finding out exactly what Kaeya planned to do when the knight inches closer, planning to kiss him. 

“You two have been busy while I was away, hm?” Venti gives a giggle and Kaeya gets off the redhead immediately, gaping at the bard with a flushed face. “Aw, don’t give me that look, Sir Kaeya~! I heard you and Diluc finally kissed after all these years of you pining.”

“How did you even get in?” Diluc’s blush hasn’t abated as he sits up but Kaeya just scoffs. “You’re in a very playful mood considering the emergency situation Mondstadt is in.”

“Ah well, that’s why I’m back here ahead of schedule,” Venti shrugs and plops down to sit at the desk chair by the window that he probably came from. “I tried calming Dvalin down a few days ago but he kind of raged and flew away when some strangers came across us.” 

“That’s… unfortunate,” Kaeya frowns, sitting beside Diluc and wrapping his arms around his Archon. “Do you know why he’s attacking Mondstadt?”

“I do in fact!” Venti crosses his arms and sighs. “It’s the poison from killing Durin all those centuries ago. I didn’t realize the poison back then had worse effects and the Abyss Mages used that vulnerability to make Dvalin angry at me and Mondstadt.”

“Abyss mages?” Diluc looks confused for a second before remembering their prisoner. “Right, we have one in the cellar. Also, I would like you both to know that the Fatui don’t exactly have any connection with them as far as I knew as Sandrone.”

“We don’t exactly know that for sure Diluc,” Kaeya retorts. “You as Sandrone was merely a puppet for the Tsaritsa, considering I found you being mind-controlled without any memories of being Diluc.”

Diluc falls silent at that and begrudgingly agrees to the assessment. “...fine. You may be right that there may be a connection then, but our problem right now is the dragon.”

“Now that Venti is here, we can plan properly,” Kaeya nods at the bard. “I assume you both know you’re Archons?”

“I feel the same energy coursing through my chest on the bard, so yes,” Diluc hums and confirms he does. 

“That’s normal!” Venti laughs and pats his chest. “We Archons have a connection to each other, even if it’s just knowing one of us is near each other. No other Archon decided to invade Mondstadt and Natlan because they can feel our presence around the territory.”

“I really thank you for keeping Natlan safe while I’m incapacitated, Lord Barbatos,” Diluc bows low to his fellow god.

“Ah, don’t bow to me Diluc,” Venti coughs awkwardly. “And call me Venti please. We don’t want to spread that I’m actually active right now. Ah right, speaking of Natlan - Kaeya!” Venti says, throwing a bag at him, smirking. “I got your package ready! I also have a gift from the Anito for Diluc.”

Kaeya perks up and looks very excited as he catches the bag. “I’m going to try it on now-” he says and runs to the bathroom with the package.

Diluc looks at his own package in confusion as he opens it. “Clothes?”

“Not just any clothes~!” Venti giggles. “These are going to be what you wear in Natlan as an Archon of that land. Well, that’s what they told me anyway.”

“I… see,” Diluc takes out the entire getup and squints at it. 

The top piece seems to be styled as a flowy drawstring. The bottom part looks like it’s a combination of an asymmetrical skirt and what’s supposed to be a sarong, but it’s longer than the ones Diluc has seen before. It looks similar enough to a robe and thankfully seems to cover most of his skin. He tries the black hood on and it’s curiously very comfortable on his head - he thinks he'll wear it a lot. Looking through the rest of the ensemble makes it seem to be a normal outfit - except the last piece which looks to be a bird mask of sorts. It reminds him of his mask as Sandrone but it looks to be more natural.

As Diluc continues to inspect the gift, Kaeya gets out of the bathroom with a flair. “I LOVE IT!” he shouts with a laugh.

Diluc looks towards the blue-haired man’s direction and his jaw drops at Kaeya’s outfit.

“Wow, that really suits you,” Venti says with amazement. “You really know what you want, neh?”

“Of course,” Kaeya chuckles and twirls around, causing sunset hued feathers to flutter along his movements, something in the design feels similar to a peacock. He wears a loose-fitting short robe that reaches up to his thighs. It’s held close by a sash of a darker shade and Diluc now notices his Vision attached to it. The sleeves reach up to his wrists which are adorned by golden armguards that glint in the lighting of the room. Diluc’s eyes roam down to see Kaeya’s thigh peeking out of the robe’s parting slit in a very provocative way. He looks away in embarrassment when he notices Kaeya is not wearing pants, but a pair of very tight fitting shorts.

It’s a very provocative outfit - especially when Kaeya deems it fit to remove his arm from the right sleeve, leaving anyone who sees him with no choice but to stare at his almost naked state.

Diluc is so red that you can barely see where his hair starts instead of skin.

“Looks like you like it,” Kaeya laughs and gives Diluc’s cheek a kiss. “You’ll catch flies if you don’t close your mouth soon, sunshine.”

Diluc’s jaw closes with an audible click. “Are you sure that’s not indecent?” he can’t help but blurt out.

Kaeya blinks, before chuckling again and slinging his arm on Diluc’s shoulder. “It definitely is, if I were still a knight,” he grins, amusement swimming in his lilac eye. “Alas, I am no longer one as soon as they decide on a trial date.”

“My, you two really are eloping, hm?” Venti giggles with a wistful sigh. “I had hoped you would stay, but I know it wasn’t to be. My people are a little too free, and left quite a mess.”

“It’s alright, Venti,” Diluc says, holding onto Kaeya’s hand and squeezing it gently. “I wish to stay until we help you with this crisis Mondstadt is facing. I feel responsible for how you weren’t here to actually help due to Natlan…”

“Ah,” Venti blinks in surprise, as if taken aback by the offer. “I’m surprised you still want to help, despite the trouble you received. This issue is inevitable, I’m afraid. Even without me going to Natlan to help your land, the trouble with Dvalin would still have happened. It is my fault, not yours.”

“Even so,” Diluc insists, the fire in his eyes burning with determination. “I won’t be able to rest easily if I don’t help you deal with this mess.”

“Okay then,” Venti smiles brightly. “I appreciate your help!”

Chapter Text

“How are you holding up, Diluc?” Venti asks curiously, strumming his lyre occasionally. 

“I’m still at a loss,” Diluc says with a sigh. “There’s just too much information from Celestia that I can’t make heads of what I should be doing with it. I haven’t done much with my Gnosis aside from granting Kaeya a new vision and I was hoping to ask you for information.”

“So you changed his cryo vision to pyro?” Venti nods and glances at Kaeya. “I’m surprised he hasn’t gotten any complications from that change yet. An allogene isn’t supposed to change visions once they’ve been granted one due to how it changes the body’s composition to fit that element.”

“What?” Diluc looks at him in surprise and grabs Kaeya’s hand tightly. “I did something wrong with wanting Kaeya to be mine…?” he asks as he glances over to Kaeya worriedly.

Kaeya shrugs at the information, “I don’t feel anything different aside from feeling hotter than before I got pyro.”

“That’s good then,” Venti chuckles. “Be sure to rest more if you use your vision for the coming days though. You never know what side effects the change could give you since there hasn’t been a precedent to this kind of event before. I can help teach you more about being an Archon before I set out to deal with Dvalin. You up for it?”

“Yes,” Diluc says with determination. “I don’t want to hurt anyone else with my actions. I intend to actually use this power for good if I can.”

“Of course you can!” Venti smiles at him approvingly. “Now do you have any specific questions you want answered immediately?”

“Yes,” Diluc groans as a headache assaults him at the question. He’s been having migraines ever since he woke up to the world being so…noisy in his senses every day. He’s wondered how the other Archons put up with the information he receives from the element he now controls. Pyro is everywhere… It's been a cornerstone of human civilization since its early days. Diluc didn’t realize how much people relied on fire - despite him being one of the vision holders for pyro before this whole god business. “How do I make these feelings from the world using pyro stop?” 

“Hmm… you can’t exactly stop it, but you can direct it to something simpler,” Venti says, conjuring a small breeze inside the room. “You say you hear the whole world right? It’s similar to my senses due to the wind blowing everywhere. I just make my senses focus more on Mondstadt - the city and its surroundings - instead of the entire world.”

“How do you do that then?” Diluc grumbles at hearing he can’t stop it entirely. 

“Firstly, you need to imagine a sort of territory for the area you want your senses to be focused,” Venti grabs a map and places it at the table to show Diluc and Kaeya an example. “On my end, I imagine a dome of wind around here,” he points at the entire Cider Lake area of the map. “My power encompasses the whole area and mutes out anything further than this. It takes some practice though.”

Diluc closes his eyes and pulls power from his heart and thinks of what he wants to encompass as a territory. Heat picks up from where he sits and spreads throughout the entire Ragnvindr lands. Next, he thinks of a dome just like Venti suggested and covers the entire area with the power he gathered. He lets out a breath and opens his glowing eyes to Venti grinning approvingly and Kaeya looking at him in wonder.

“Looks like you got that part easily,” Venti says with a laugh. “How are your senses now?”

Diluc hums and nods gratefully at his fellow Archon. “It’s better than earlier, but I can still feel the rest of the world at the back of my mind. Thank you.”

“Good,” the bard stretches and sits at the table. “Now, if you don’t have anything more pressing to ask, I can tell you about our responsibility as Archons. Unfortunately,” he turns to Kaeya apologetically, “we can’t say anything to a non-Archon due to our contract. It’s a heavy secret.”

Kaeya shrugs again and gives Diluc’s cheek another kiss. “I’ll go out and check on the traveler and Mondstadt then. Are you two planning to go back to the city anytime soon?”

Venti hums in thought and nods. “Yes, I was planning to look around after a while to check on things in the city and fix the leylines there. Diluc can sneak in with me and he can stay in his tavern until we have to leave. I can teach him about how to fix leyline outcroppings while we’re there.”

“Alright, I’ll see you two later then,” Kaeya jovially leaves the two Archons. 

Diluc looks at the bard with a serious expression once he hears Kaeya’s footsteps recede. “Is this about that order regarding Khaenri’ah? It keeps me tight lipped when I try to say something to Kaeya about it.” 

“That’s right,” Venti sighs and flops at the table tiredly. “Celestia doesn’t want the truth to come out and we have to keep it a secret. You can’t even allude to it - trust me, I tried some centuries ago.”

“Tell me what really happened.”

“You would really want to know this despite the fact that you can’t tell Kaeya about it? Ignorance is bliss, you know.”

“I would still want to know. To ignore the plight of those who I might conceivably save is indolence.”

“You’re a good person, Diluc. I’ll tell you then.”

Kaeya leaves the room without looking back and prepares to go back to the city. He saw how the bard considered him when he said it was a secret. He suspects they will possibly talk about Khaenri’ah.

Kaeya concludes that it doesn’t bother him as much as it would’ve before. Either way, they still have an issue to resolve and he has a treasure hoarder to mess with. 

He dresses back to his knights uniform despite not wanting to, aware that the citizens wouldn’t be appreciative if he uses his new outfit. Kaeya leaves the Winery on his horse and makes his way to Mondstadt, wondering how far the traveler got with the clues he left behind along the way.

Kaeya makes it back to the headquarters and gets told that the traveler pair have left with his letter already. He decides to wait in his office in the meantime, hoping that Vile did as he asked earlier on. 

As he works on what little paperwork is left on his table, he hears the telltale mutterings of the fairy that travels with Aether. He leaves his office and greets the two. “Aether, Paimon - you're back! And it looks like you got the intel.”

“Yes and no. It's a lot more complicated than that,” Paimon grumbles. “It’s a riddle: ‘ Three six-armed giants reside in the city in the lake. Two guard the statue, one, the treasure. ’ What do you make of it?”

“Riddles? How quaint. Let me think…” Kaeya makes a thinking motion. "The ‘City in the lake’ is clearly Mondstadt... As for the Six-Armed Giants... Hm…”

“Is it crabs?” Aether says to which Paimon screeches about giant crabs.

“Aside from asking just where we would find giant crabs…” Kaeya looks at the two with amusement, “Crabs have eight legs, not six…”

Aether scratches the back of his neck with a laugh. “The windmills, then?”

“Hey! That's smart!” Kaeya pats his shoulder, “A windmill has six blades... It fits.”

“Wow! That makes sense,” Paimon pipes up.

“So, out of the three windmills, two are close to the statue…” Kaeya leads them on “The other one is guarding…”

“Ooh! Ooh! This one Paimon knows! The treasure!”

“Heh... Let's hope it's really that simple,” Kaeya says with a chuckle.

“Come on, Aether! Let's go take a look around that windmill!” Paimon starts pulling Aether out of the headquarters and off they go. Kaeya watches them go with a twinkle in his eye. 

Aether and Paimon come back a few hours later and ask him for a clue again. 

" She doesn't love him at all. The passion rushing through the clear spring is just a front. When she's cold and alone, her true heart is revealed. " Kaeya reads the note with a raised eyebrow. “Is this some page stripped from a love novel that you just happened to find?”

“Oh, so it's not a clue,” Paimon deflates with a pout. “No wonder someone as clever as Paimon wasn't able to get it.”

Kaeya laughs at the fairy. “I'm just joking.”

Paimon harrumps at him and angrily stomps on the air yet again. “Take this more seriously, Kaeya!”

“Haha, this riddle is hard to figure out. Clear spring... Is it referring to Springvale?” Kaeya hums as he looks at the note more. "’Passion rushing through the clear spring…’ So when does passion rush through a clear spring?”

“Maybe when there are people bathing in the spring water?” Aether suggests with a shrug.

“Such inappropriate behavior… Unless... that's something you two get up to?” At the two’s affronted expressions, Kaeya knows they didn’t like the joke. “Oh, my apologies. I shouldn't judge what one does in their own time.”

Paimon shrills in an annoyed tone at him, “What's wrong with you? What kind of people do you think we are?”

“The thing is, if the ‘rushing passion’ isn't coming from the clear spring, then it's coming from the people bathing,” Kaeya shrugs.

“Hmm... Maybe it's when the water level of the clear spring changes?” Aether says. “Actually, is there a waterfall in the area?”

“As a matter of fact, there is a waterfall behind Springvale,” Kaeya nods to Aether. “Only the clear spring that blesses Mondstadt can reveal the passion described here. And the ‘heart’ of the waterfall must refer to the cliff on the left side of the waterfall. I noticed it once when I was out on patrol in the area.”

Kaeya runs his fingers on the last lines of the note. “The ending, ‘cold and alone,’ probably has something to do with cryo, which can be controlled by a Vision. You should probably take someone who can manipulate cryo with you.”

“Thanks for the help, Kaeya,” Aether says. “Now the problem is we don’t know anyone with cryo…”

“It's nothing. If a Knight of Favonius couldn't even answer a riddle, how could we be trusted to solve criminal mysteries?” Kaeya’s finger twitches at the reminder that he’s no longer a cryo user… and the other competent cryo users in Mondstadt are Eula and Rosaria. “Maybe you should try and seek out Rosaria - she’s a nun of the church of Barbatos. There’s also Eula, who is also a Knight of Favonius but she’s harder to find. Both of them are cryo users that you can possibly ask for help.”

“Okay, thank you for the suggestions Kaeya,” Aether smiles at him and ushers Paimon to come. 

Kaeya waits for the pair to leave for the church before getting out of the headquarters with a squad of knights. He orders them to be ready for a possible fight and leads them to the ruins to wait. It only takes a few more hours before he sees Aether and Paimon excitedly go inside the ruins. He orders the knights to stay hidden until more people start showing up to go inside the cave. 

“You guys know what to do,” Kaeya points to the treasure hoarders. “Get them all.”

The knights salute at him and jump right into the fray, catching the bandits off guard and easily dispatching them. The knights leave most of the hoarders tied up outside of the ruins as Kaeya and three other knights run inside to check on the travelers and the leader of the hoarder group.

“Paimon won't let you have the treasure without a fight!”

“You would be wise to not underestimate us,” a male, yet squeaky voice replies back. “My gang is just outside waiting for my order. However, they're not as... sociable as me.”

“I'm sorry to rain on your parade…” Kaeya strides in confidently with a smirk. “But your gang won't be participating in your current plan. If you'd like to ask why, you can go see them... in Mondstadt Prison. Or perhaps you'd prefer to join them permanently?”

“The Knights...?!” the treasure hoarder leader - Izzard - turns around in surprise, looking frightened by his appearance.

“Hey, it's Kaeya!” Paimon points to Izzard hurriedly, “Kaeya, he wants to steal your treasure! Get him!”

“Ugh... almost had it!” Izzard grumbles as he starts moving away from them.

“Oh, you mean the treasure?” Kaeya raises an eyebrow with a snort. “Sorry, but there wasn't any treasure to begin with. You came all the way... for nothing. Just give it up.”

“What? No... treasure?” Paimon blinks, shaking Aether, “Did Kaeya just say, there isn't any treasure?”

“Hah. You got me good,” Izzard shakes his head with disappointment. “Didn't think the Knights would resort to such tactics.”

“A thief has no right to criticize the methods of the Knights of Fav–” Kaeya’s eye widens as Izzard opens the door behind him, “Wait, what are you…” 

“You're not gonna get me!” The door unlocks to reveal a ruin guard readying itself to attack the intruders. “Okay... Oh god... Wh–What is this? I didn't mean it!”

“Haha... What a troublemaker,” Kaeya watches in amusement as the ruin guard menacingly walks towards Izzard.

“You! Knight! You're not gonna watch me die, are ya?” Izzard looks at Kaeya and the ruin guard frantically.

Kaeya crosses his arms and hums. “What an interesting suggestion.”

The ruin guard steps closer to the hoarder who screams in fright. “Fine! I'll confess and go quietly! Please, just help me!”

“Alright then. Guess I will have to do some overtime work after all,” Kaeya summons his fire and engulfs the machine. The heat was hot enough to melt the structure holding the ruin guard to collapse on itself, leaving just a chaos core at its disintegrating remnants. “Well there’s that. Don't forget what you promised... or that thing will be the least of your worries.”

“How embarrassing... Having my life saved by a knight…” Izzard glares at Kaeya. “Hey... Is this how the Knights of Favonius treat the people they catch?”

“I'm just joking,” Kaeya turns to the few knights he took with him inside the ruins. “Alright... Let's take him back.”

“Sir! Yes sir!” Two of the knights tie Izzard up and lead him outside. 

The remaining knight comes up to Kaeya and points to the traveler pair. “Captain, should we take these two in as well?”

“What!?” Paimon shrikes in surprise while Aether just blinks.

“Haha, of course not. They are the ones who made this arrest possible,” Kaeya shakes his head. “Without them spreading our fabricated intel, we wouldn't have been able to catch the treasure hoarders.”

“So the intel is fake,” Aether says, “as expected.”

“You're a bad man for lying to me!” Paimon cries at him, “shame on the Knights!”

“Alright, alright... Stop it already,” Kaeya sighs. “Though the treasure doesn't exist, you did want it for yourself, didn't you? Otherwise, you would have informed me of your intentions, no?”

“That... well... ah…” Paimon looks away before pulling Aether’s arm with a huff. “Let's go, Aether. Paimon's done talking to him!”

“Ha. Just a sec,” Kaeya chuckles and brings out a sword. “You did help me out, so you do deserve a reward. This is the ‘Triumphant Harbinger of Dawn That Points Towards Victory’ . As its name suggests, it symbolizes light and victory. If you don't mind, I would like to present you with this Harbinger of Dawn as a reward.”

“Harbinger of Dawn?” Paimon asks curiously.

“That's right. It suits a well-cultured and disciplined person such as yourself, wouldn't you say, Paimon?” Kaeya offers the sword to Aether.

“Well... If the reward is this Harbinger of Dawn…” Paimon looks conflicted.

“You'd forgive me, right?” Kaeya gives her a bright smile. “I'm honored to have such an understanding friend.”

Paimon takes a few more seconds to deflate in the face of his handsomeness. “Yes... yes…”

“You have my apologies for the deception,” Kaeya says to both of them in the end. “I will not use the same method twice.”

“...Paimon has been completely charmed,” Aether shrugs, not looking all that bothered by being used.

“Thank you for understanding, Aether,” Kaeya laughs and nods to them. “Now, I have to go interrogate my suspect… Please excuse me. Do come visit me at our headquarters when you have the chance.”

Kaeya leaves the ruins and orders his squad to head out back to the Mondstadt jail and deal with the criminals they apprehended. He doesn’t follow them, but travels to the headquarters instead. While Kaeya knows the knights are loyal to Jean, it doesn’t mean he fully trusts every knight in the order. He wouldn’t put it past someone to attempt something if he even comes close to the prisons.

He knocks on Jean’s office door and enters after a confirmation. “Hey Jean, I managed to deal with the hoarder issue,” he reports. “I’ll pen a report later for you to look into when you have the time.”

“Ah Kaeya, thank you,” Jean looks up briefly and gives him a smile. “Also, there’s still some leftover pizza from what you ordered.”

“Oh? I’m surprised you didn’t decimate the entire thing as you usually do,” Kaeya sits at the extra table in the room and opens the box of pizza to grab a slice. 

Jean pouts at him but gives another fond smile. “Well, circumstances are very dire right now. I’ve just been in a meeting with the Fatui diplomat just a few hours ago and they’re pressuring us quite hard over this whole Stormterror situation.”

“What do they want now?” Kaeya grumbles, rubbing his forehead. 

“They want us to leave the Mondstadt defense in the hands of the Fatui…” Jean sighs and leans back on her seat with another sigh. “They also want to kill the dragon…”

Kaeya narrows his eyes. Killing Dvalin would straight up cause chaos in Mondstadt’s already unstable leylines. He should tell Venti and Diluc about the situation before the Fatui make their move. “First, they kidnap our Diluc and spin a tale of the Ursa situation… now they also want to bother with this?”

“Yes… it’s troubling honestly,” Jean sighs again. “I gave the traveler the title of Honorary Knight so he has more freedom to look into the issue. Hopefully he’ll have some more information for us to make a real plan of action.”

“Let’s hope for that then,” Kaeya finishes up his slice of pizza and gets up. “I’m going out to meet with Diluc - he should be back in the tavern by now if you need both of us. We’ll stay long enough to help, Jean. Don’t worry.”

“Thank you for your help, Kaeya.” Jean’s shoulders sag with relief at the words as if some weight has been removed from it.

“Let your conviction burn as brightly as the fire in your soul, Jean.”

“May the Wind guide you and Diluc as well, Kaeya.”

Chapter Text

Khaenri’ah was a country that boasted immense technological advancement centuries ago. The country was home to several who were incredibly close to spiritual awakening and enlightenment. They served no god, as they were almost gods themselves on their own. In essence, the people were really close to creating their own Gnoses. 

Celestia does not want this to happen. 

And thus, the country is destroyed by the power of the divine. 

Venti tells him the harrowing tale with a vacant gaze. As the story unfolds, Diluc discerns the bard was one of the main instruments used for the destruction. He wonders if the Archon feels guilty about what happened, now that there are only two of the original seven left. The only two who know the truth. And now, there's a third who knows - him.

Unsurprisingly, the tale did not end with just the ruin of the kingdom. Celestia did not take any chances.

A curse is bestowed upon the remaining population who were unable to resist. 

Khaenri’ahns are cursed to transform into monsters should they succumb to despair.

With how the war erupted, the curse took over thousands immediately - causing panic and horror amongst the masses. The confusion of the sudden mutated beasts appearing produced even more despair.

Ultimately, there was nothing left but monsters in the ruins of Khaenri’ah.

Diluc gives Venti a gentle hug after he finishes his narrative. While Venti is one of the people directly responsible for the country’s fall, Diluc knows the bard had no choice in the matter. He can feel it with the heart that keeps him alive - he is also one of Celestia’s puppets now.

Diluc contemplates if Kaeya is also afflicted with the curse. If he is, Diluc will do everything in his power to prevent him from breaking down from hopelessness.

With a sigh, the two gods fell into silence, appreciating the bond their shared burden gives them. 

Pyro is the element of power. 

Diluc knows of this ever since he received his vision back when he was a child. It consists of overpowering force tempered by the unflinching will to accomplish tasks and desire of the user. 

Venti teaches him that pyro represents energy and life , rather than anger and rage, which is a common misconception that non-vision wielders know. It is also a fallacy that he had before he received his gnosis. 

He did realize that his pyro is affected by his emotions before, but he didn't think it was more than just emotions. Pyro allogenes use their inner energy as a source of their power. This is how pyro users handle fire as if it is an extension of their own body. This facet is a sharp contrast to the other elements, which manipulate already present sources of their element, though pyro vision users can also control or enhance flames nearby. 

Venti then demonstrates to him how to enter the leylines and manipulate it to teleport among waypoints but warns him not to use it unless the bard is around just in case. He also teaches how to fix them, should there be any breaks among the connection to each line. Diluc gets to practice along the way to Mondstadt while the bard shows him how to deal with leylines overflowing at certain points. Thankfully, it’s mostly just dealing with the monsters that gathered nearby to get stronger around the roots.

After they sneak back to Mondstadt, Venti leaves him in the Angel’s Share tavern to investigate on his own. Thankfully, no one notices their arrival due to how Diluc is using his new clothes and, even though he gets curious gazes, no one recognizes him immediately due to the bone mask and how different it is from his noble outlook. The knights are still occupied trying to fix the issues within Mondstadt due to the attack, and none of them dare go drink in Angel’s Share for fear of their Cavalry Captain disciplining them. In addition to that, Patton has been instructed to not let any knights (that isn’t Kaeya or Jean) enter the tavern.

Diluc picks up a glass to wipe clean, thoughts stuck on the concept of pyro from his lessons with Venti. He understands the concept of having an inner fire. His own burns bright from his determination to protect his precious people. He doesn’t know how he could’ve confused this emotion to be of anger and rage when he was younger.

He sighs and puts down the glass to pick up another one to clean when he hears Charles come out from the stockroom and hands him some papers. “This is this week's accounts, Master Diluc.”

“Hmm…” Diluc peruses the contents with a frown, “this disaster has greatly affected business.”

“Well,” Charles chuckles at him knowingly, “it’s not going to matter soon, right Master?”

Diluc smiles back at him with a nod. “You would be right.”

A familiar bard barges into the tavern looking panicked. Diluc raises an eyebrow at Venti who is followed by a blond boy and a fairy-like creature.

“Diluc!” Venti pants and looks back at the window of the tavern, “we'd like a seat at your ahhh... least conspicuous table.”

“The second floor has little to no customers right now,” Diluc nods and points to the stairs, “you'd be less conspicuous up there.”

“Thanks Diluc! We'll be heading up now, see you in a bit!” Venti drags his companions over to the second floor in haste and hides out of view. 

From what Kaeya tells him of the bard and his own experience the past few hours with him, Venti is quite the troublemaker. Diluc wonders what kind of mess he’s up to for him to be so worked up. His question gets answered when two knights come knocking into his tavern despite Patton glaring daggers at them for going in.

“Ah, Master Diluc,” Otto looks surprised to see Diluc, but doesn’t say anything about it. Diluc relaxes his tense shoulders in recognition. These two knights are of Kaeya’s own squad and won’t arrest him for being outside the mansion. “Have you seen two thieves around?”

“What happened?” Diluc asks curiously, seeing more knights swarming around outside than usual. “Why have you mobilized so many guards?”

“You haven’t heard, Master Diluc?” the other knight, Miles, grimaces with a shake of his head. “Two thieves were trying to steal the Holy Lyre!”

“Oh?” Diluc raises an eyebrow at that. “How odd.”

“Isn't it?” Miles grumbles in annoyance. “The Holy Lyre is a treasure that was played by the God of Anemo themselves. Such a precious piece of cultural heritage–”

“Why would one want to steal something they can't sell off? Wouldn’t it be better to steal from our cellars…” Diluc mutters to which the two knights look at him weirdly. Diluc coughs in embarrassment “Sorry, off topic. I believe they headed that way.”

“Understood!” Miles thanks him and both knights leave the tavern after telling him to not get caught outside of the Ragnvindr Mansion by the other knights.

Diluc sweeps his eyes on the tavern, noting that there are no more customers that aren’t already part of the Dawn Winery staff inside. He walks to the door and locks it before going upstairs.

“Today I think I'll have a glass of-” 

“You can put down that bottle you stole from behind the counter,” Diluc says with a deadpan on his face.

“...something cold,” Venti finishes with a wry smile at Diluc.

“Right,” Diluc places a bottle of Dandelion Wine on the table for the god anyway. “I want answers.”

“Lemme finish my drink first?” Venti looks at him with hopeful eyes. Diluc just stares at him unflinchingly. 

“How about answering my question first?” the stranger who was with the bard asked.

“Oh, you wanna ask ‘Who's this?’ Am I right?” Venti turns around with a laugh, breaking his stare off with the redhead.

“Actually... yeah,” the blonde chuckle.

“He is Master Diluc, the ah... the sort of owner of this tavern. He's very famous - or infamous right now I could say.” Venti takes the bottle given by the redhead and pours it into his glass to full, taking a sip with a happy grin. “This is Aether, he’s the traveler from afar that I’m sure you’ve heard of by now, and Paimon - his guide.”

“Ah,” Diluc turns to Aether. “Yes, I’ve heard of him. It’s nice to meet you and Paimon.” He watches as Venti downs the whole bottle of the wine and it hasn’t even been five minutes. “I just heard about some thieves from the guards. For the record, I like your guts for trying to steal the Holy Lyre der Himmel.”

“It wasn't us that stole it!” Paimon shouts in protest, “the real thief is still out there!”

“This is the hotshot of the Knights of Favonius,” Venti stares at his bottle with a pout when he sees there’s nothing more. “Why would someone so aspiring steal Mondstadt's sacred treasure?”

“Hotshot...? Oh, so you’re the Honorary Knight,” Diluc nods. “Are you and the bard close friends?”

“I've only heard him play once,” Aether says sheepishly.

“Well... Despite only being a passing traveler, you still offered your help to Mondstadt in its time of need,” Diluc gives him a smile. “Now, answers. Why did you steal the Holy Lyre?”

“You sure you want to know?” Venti leans back in his seat as if he didn’t already know the answer. “It could implicate you more in the affairs of the Knights of Favonius.”

“That's fine,” Diluc looks out the window and spots Kaeya making his way towards the tavern.  “I somehow always end up implicated in their affairs.”

“If I tell you the story with a performance, will you believe me?” Venti pulls out his lyre and strums a quick tune.

“Hold that thought, we have a visitor,” Diluc gets up from his seat and goes back down to open the door when he feels Kaeya's pyro is close enough to the tavern. Kaeya grins at him and enters the establishment. They both go up to the second floor where Venti somehow got another bottle of Dandelion Wine from where Diluc doesn’t know, but lets it be for now.

“Kaeya!” Aether and Paimon look at the knight in surprise. “Are you here to arrest us?” Aether looks nervous.

“No, I’m here for Diluc,” Kaeya raises a hand with a chuckle. 

“Then, can I start my show now?” Venti strums his lyre again and the four of them listen to the bard sing the song about the dragon.

The story Venti paints is not a pretty sight. It’s the story of the sky dragon, Dvalin, heeding Barbatos’ grave calls for help and the brutal battle with the wicked dragon that follows…. A battle where Dvalin ingested venomous blood and fell into slumber… only to awake to be expelled from Mondstadt due to fear.

“Hm…” Kaeya narrows his eye at the information. 

“This is confidential information,” Diluc frowns, casting a glance at Aether before looking back at Venti. “Why did you let me know?”

“Why? Hmm... Perhaps the winds are changing,” Venti grins up at him. “What say you, Master Diluc?”

“I promised I will help you and Mondstadt before we left, Venti. I haven’t changed my decision,” Diluc sighs and nods. 

“Right. Aether, as one of the Knights it seems you're not a suspect,” Kaeya pipes up and informs them of what he was told outside. “‘Blonde' is the only description on the wanted poster. You should be safe. As for Venti however, it'd be better if you stayed in the tavern.”

Venti laughs with a cheer. “No problem! I like taverns.”

“Don’t you dare drink my stockroom dry,” Diluc gives Venti a warning glare to which the bard giggles. Diluc sighs and turns to Aether. “I’ll contact a few more people who can possibly help. Come by here again after midnight.”

Aether and Paimon agree and leave the tavern to see if they have any commissions to deal with before the set time of their appointment.

“So, I’ve heard you’ve been busy, Venti,” Kaeya sits across from the bard and takes the bottle he’s been drinking from to pour himself a cup.

Venti shrugs, drinking more wine from his glass. “What can I say? The nuns didn’t believe me when I said I’m Barbatos.”

“Of course they won’t believe you,” Diluc sighs, facepalming. “You may look like your statues but you don’t exactly… exude the benevolence the church thinks you have. Even if you showed up last year, you were on your Archon getup.”

“If Barbara were there, she wouldn’t have disagreed with my request, you know,” Venti pouts.

“We know that quite well, Venti.” Kaeya gives him back the bottle of wine. “So, what’s the plan now that your Lyre has been stolen?”

“Tonight we raid the Fatui who have taken the Lyre in their possession,” Diluc says seriously. “While I do not want to deal with the Fatui right now, they leave us no choice.”

“Speaking of the Fatui,” Kaeya brings out a letter that makes Diluc gasp in surprise. The letter is waxed with a very specific symbol Diluc knows intimately - his mark as Sandrone. “My informants sent me this through the same way I got the information about you being in Natlan last year, so I believe it’s genuine.”

Diluc takes the letter hesitantly, staring at it with trepidation. He doesn’t know who from the Ninth would send him a letter after what happened in the last months he’s been a Fatui. He can think of Irina and Natasya, but he didn’t really know them well enough compared to Leo--. He scrunches his eyes shut at the reminder of his cruelty to the one friend he murdered in cold blood. 

Kaeya takes his hand and squeezes, reminding him that he’s not alone and that Kaeya will always be there for him now. Diluc takes a deep breath and opens his eyes. He removes the wax carefully and unfurls the letter to read it carefully.

Sir Sandrone,

We hope you are in good health. The Ninth Division has once again been left to its own devices after you have been branded as missing in action. Those of us who know of your true identity hope that you are well where you currently are staying. While we cannot send any of our division over to help you right now, please know that most of us still believe and will follow you.

The Ninth misses you Sir. 

We hope that we gave you a home here in Snezhnaya while you worked with us. The other divisions are once again poaching our members, but we have limited them to fewer numbers compared to before. The Ninth still works as a center of education and intelligence as you wanted it to be when you gave us your plans that first year. If you need our help, please know that our knowledge is yours too.

The second page of this letter contains the people who wish to follow you where you may lead if you let us. The third is a painting Tasya has made of us before the tragedy that befell him . 

We wish to see you again Sir. We haven’t forgotten your dedication in making us better for Snezhnaya.

Belovedly yours,

The Ninth Division Leaders

He puts the letter down, complicated emotions churning inside him. He stares at the words as if trying to see if he missed something obvious like a trap of some sort but finds none. This can’t be true right?

He checks on the second page, eyes widening at the amount of people who wanted to follow him. Kaeya hums in interest as he reads behind him. “That’s a lot of people, sunshine.”

“I… know,” Diluc swallows dryly, suddenly conscious of how he has more people to have as his own if he so wishes. “I don’t understand why…? I left them without warning.”

“It means you touched their lives significantly, Diluc,” Venti lays his hand on the redhead’s gently. “It is good for you to receive this kind of support this early. Remember that the faith your people have on you increases the chances of your survival, and your own power as well.”

“What do you mean by his chances of survival, Venti?” Kaeya frowns.

“Ah right you don’t know…” Venti leans back on his chair and crosses his arms. “Since Diluc was formerly human, despite Tsaritsa’s experimentation on his body and his now Archon status, he isn’t quite as strong as he should be, especially with what his element is.”

“It’s okay Kae,” Diluc pulls the knight to his lap and hugs him tightly. “I just need prayers and offerings of my people to make myself live as long as the other gods in Teyvat.”

“Why wasn’t I told of this before?” Kaeya’s eye widens, adjusting to Diluc’s manhandling and sitting on his lap properly. “And how can I help?”

“You already help a lot,” Diluc blushes and looks away. 

“Diluc’s right,” Venti laughs. “You’ve been actively offering and praying to Diluc since the day he became an Archon. Your strong feelings managed to boost up his healing when he received that life-threatening hit.”

“Oh…” Kaeya looks at Venti in surprise for a moment before twisting around and capturing Diluc’s lips into a passionate kiss.

“That’s definitely one way to give an offering,” Venti laughs at the sight. 

Kaeya pulls away and licks his lips with Diluc looking up at him shyly. “I can get used to this,” Kaeya notes with a sly smirk and Diluc hits him playfully in the chest.

Chapter Text

Venti, Kaeya, and Diluc continue to plan in the private room on the third floor as the tavern goes back into operation. After a thorough look at the list provided to him by the Ninth, Diluc offers to go to the Goth Hotel to gather information about the Lyre, to which both of them disagree. He manages to direct them to the list of agents that are supposedly loyal to him from the division and points to at least three names who are stationed in Mondstadt that will help them without a fuss.

Kaeya begrudgingly lets Diluc go out to meet with the agents as long as he’s in full disguise and Kaeya is around just in case. Venti stays back in the tavern to continue hiding from the knights that roam the city. Diluc agrees, still wearing his new getup - only hiding his hair more on the black hood, and they visit the Goth Hotel in the middle of the night. Surprisingly, the guard on duty is one of the three people listed which made their infiltration easier.

Luke lets them in and quietly leads them to a room specifically reserved for Ninth Division operatives. When asked why they have a specific room, Luke just smirks and tells them that they’re a pretty important division nowadays. Diluc looks curious, but the guard already left them to call the other agents and to go back to watch duty.

Diluc and Kaeya wait in tense silence before a knock on the door announces the presence of the agents they are waiting for. Kaeya has a hand on the hilt of his sword, ready to strike should he need to, as the Fatui enters the room.

They close the door quietly before coming to kneel in front of Diluc. “Lord Harbinger, we are glad you are safe.”

Diluc stares at the blond man who has the insignia of a phoenix holding the Fatui symbol pinned to his uniform. Diluc recognizes this man - he’s one of the leaders he appointed back when he was still Sandrone. “Lyosha? What are you doing all the way here? Also, don’t kneel to me. Please sit down, we need to talk.”

Lyosha grins as he and the other agent sit down across from the redhead. “The Ninth is loyal to you Sir Sandrone,” he says. “While you were only with us for a scarce two years, you have shown us better leadership than what we have years previous. Also, Lord Pantalone is quite the bitch.”

The agent beside him, Pavel if Diluc remembers right, sighs with an annoyed expression, “You’ll get both of us killed if any of the others hear you.”

“It’s the truth though,” Lyosha guffaws in his amusement. “Lord Pantalone has been trying to poach us since last year. You can’t tell him no without good reason because of his position.”

Diluc frowns at the words. “Pantalone is the Harbinger in charge of the defense of Snezhnaya… why is he pulling forces from the Ninth?”

“Hell if I know,” Lyosha gripes in his annoyance. “The Ninth is supposed to be the department for education and you clearly steered us that way when you were still with us.”

“We believe it is caused by your absence,” Pavel interrupts Lyosha with a stern glare. “Lord Pantalone believes that the division’s talents in many things has other uses than just for Snezhnaya’s education.”

“So the other Harbingers went back to how they were before I became the new Sandrone?” Diluc sighs. “How in Teyvat do they think stunting education in Snezhnaya will help?”

“They think Zhenya’s got the education side of our job fully planned out since he’s the school director,” Lyosha shrugs. “He’s been doing such a great job at that by the way.”

“Oh right, how’s your nephew doing?” Diluc asks with concern, remembering news related to his division before his last mission. “Last I’ve heard they had a case of flu?”

“He’s doing fine, thanks to Lady Colombina,” Lyosha gives him an amiable look. “She sends her regards by the way and wants to know when you’re coming back.”

Diluc blinks in surprise. Coming back…? What…? 

“...the Tsaritsa hasn’t replaced me…?” Diluc asks with trepidation.

“Her Majesty believes you will be back,” Lyosha’s grin drops as he shakes his head, “that’s according to the rumors anyway. Zhenya concluded you’re no longer loyal to Snezhnaya after the year you’ve been missing.”

“How did he reach that conclusion…?” Diluc frowns. “I’ve been unconscious for the past year due to a life-threatening injury.”

“Oh, we know that Sir,” Lyosha looks over to Kaeya who has been standing guard behind Diluc the whole time. “But with the way the Knights of Favonius and Sir Kaeya here acted around you pretty much led us to believe you are here on your own volition.”

“We initially plotted to get you back to Snezhnaya after we got the news of you getting brought in here,” Pavel explains further. “But with how closely the Knights of Favonius guarded you and how the Anemo Archon was seen around numerous times the past year, we opted not to risk it.”

“And then you woke up,” Lyosha makes a pained expression, but he pulls it back immediately that Diluc thought he imagined it. “You clearly had no intention of going back to the Fatui.”

“I’m sorry…” Diluc lowers his gaze, biting the lower of his lip. He doesn’t know what else he can say. He doesn’t know how to apologize to his division properly after leaving them so abruptly. 

“Sir Sandrone, don’t apologize,” Lyosha shakes his head. “We know who you are now after further investigation when we got here in Mondstadt. While I’m not a genius like Lazar or Zhenya, I’m not stupid. The Fatui have wronged you.”

“No! I’m not- you guys aren’t at fault for what happened!” Diluc tries to interrupt him, knowing it was completely his own fault that he fell into the Fatui’s hands in the first place. Kaeya places his hand on Diluc’s shoulder and he stiffens at the touch. He looks back to Kaeya in confusion. 

“That’s not what they said, Diluc,” Kaeya says with such a gentle tone that Diluc unconsciously relaxes. He goes back to what Lyosha said and grimaces at his own misunderstanding. 

“I…” Diluc looks back at Lyosha and Pavel, who are watching him with concern. “I still apologize for leaving the Ninth abruptly. It was never my intention to leave the division after my mission to Natlan. It’s just…”

“That is why we are loyal to you, Sir Sandrone,” Pavel offers him a smile. “Or would you rather us call you Sir Diluc?”

“Ugh, no,” Diluc shakes his head immediately. “Don’t call me Sir. I’m no knight.”

“You’re an Archon now though,” Kaeya teases him before looking at the two agents. It seems Kaeya at least trusts the two now to let that information slip. “You can call him Lord or Master mayhaps?”

Diluc sighs at the suggestions and facepalms with a groan. “You don’t need to…”

“Oh? So that’s what happened with that lightshow back in Natlan last year,” Lyosha pipes up in surprise. “We’ll call you Master Diluc then. What do you think, Pav?”

“That’s fine,” Pavel crosses his arms. “This information will be kept to the top of Ninth though. We are still unsure if there are going to be… bad apples within the division due to your disappearance.”

“I appreciate this,” Diluc gives them a tired smile. “I want to grab you all from Snezhnaya and bring you to where I can protect you properly…”

“That will take a lot of convincing, Master Diluc,” Lyosha grins. “I doubt that Her Majesty Tsaritsa is going to let you have that without consequences.”

“I know…” Diluc looks down, a haunted look in his face. “I have to face her one day…”

“I wonder if there is any stock to those rumors,” Kaeya muses with consideration. “If the Tsaritsa believes you will be back as Sandrone when you woke up, could that be the reason why you have a room set up for you here? From what I know, the Fatui have not had a Harbinger stationed here in Mondstadt for the past year.”

“Actually, we have reasons to believe the Fair Lady will come soon,” says Pavel. “Several cicin mages have made their way inside the Mondstadt border recently. Most of these mages are part of Mistress Signora’s division.”

“That sounds like trouble,” Kaeya scowls. “I haven’t heard of this even within my network.”

“Mistress Signora works very well with stealth and plotting.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Kaeya taps on Diluc’s shoulder to get his attention. “It’s almost midnight, we need to go back.”

“Ah,” Diluc blinks, bewildered. The time went by that fast? “I will come back here later, Lyosha, Pavel. I need to help retrieve the Holy Lyre for Lord Barbatos. Do you have any information about where it’s stored?”

“It’s in some ruins near Springvale village,” says Lyosha and gives them a small paper with a drawn map on it. “I figured you were here for that reason so I went ahead and looked at the ongoing mission for that.”

Diluc lights up at the offered information. “Thank you. This saves us a lot of time.”

“No problem, Master Diluc,” Lyosha grins at him. “I’m quite happy to help.” 

“Stay safe you two,” Diluc gets up, pocketing the paper. “Tell Luke I want to talk to him as well when I visit you all again.” 

“Sure thing! We’ll see you later then. Good luck on the hunt.”

There aren’t that many customers when they get back in Angel’s Share, which is to be expected from recent events. At least the staff didn’t have to clean up much before leaving after midnight.

The traveler pair come on time and Diluc serves them some food and drinks stating that they’re still waiting on one more person. Venti idly performs by the wall despite the lack of audience and Kaeya is busy rechecking their stockroom and the accounting books.

“Diluc, there’s a crate with a few bottles missing,” Kaeya pops out of the back room, wiping his hands with a towel.

“Blame the bard,” Diluc says as he cleans a glass before putting it aside.

Kaeya turns to Venti with a scrutinizing gaze to which the bard just winks at him. “You’re going to pay for two of those bottles, Venti,” he says as he sits on the barstool beside Aether, who is still eating. He takes a clean glass and serves himself some wine from a bottle that Diluc gives him. “How are you two?”

Aether blinks in surprise at being addressed and gulps down his food before replying. “We’re fine,” he says with a smile and Paimon pipes in her agreement. “As you said, we weren’t harassed by anyone by being blond though some did look at me suspiciously.”

“That’s good to hear,” Kaeya looks up at the clock with a frown. It’s been half an hour past midnight already. Seeing the time, he knows it’s almost time for their guests to all be in. He gets up to help Diluc with preparing food.

Their guest finally barges in the tavern, looking very tired. “I’m so sorry I’m late.”

“You’re finally here~” Venti cheers and glides over to the bar to grab Kaeya’s drink, who scowls at him.

Jean looks at the people on the bar and gets surprised by who is already there. “Wait, you're… Aether?” 

“Why is the Acting Grand Master here?” Aether asks in surprise as well.

“Well, first of all, I contacted more than one person,” Diluc gives Jean a plate of food similar to what he served to Aether and a glass of Apple Cider. “Secondly, she came here as ‘Jean’ herself, not as the Acting Grand Master. A Jean you would never see, even as a Honorary Knight.”

“This is a surprise,” Jean sits beside Venti and starts eating the proffered food. “I heard about the Holy Lyre, but I never suspected it was Aether.” Jean turns to Venti, “Then again, when I heard of a bard, I knew it had to be you. So, I’m assuming you will be using the Holy Lyre to purify Stormterror and return him to normal...?”

“That’s right,” Venti looks at her sadly. “I’ll do my best to return Dvalin to normal.”

“Knowing that the story came from you, Venti, I believe you. I can't think of any reason for Dvalin's betrayal, given it was once one of The Four Winds,” Jean sighs and gulps down the entire glass of cider. “As Acting Grand Master, I obviously cannot make such a statement publicly.”

“There’s that issue with the nobles who want me and Diluc out of power too,” Kaeya pipes up and Diluc gives them a plate of satisfying salad. Aether looks at the two in confusion, but Kaeya doesn’t expand on it.

“There’s diplomatic pressure from the Fatui that makes it hard for us to reach a peaceful resolution to the Stormterror issue too,” Jean’s grip on the glass tightens. “People would think I've lost my grip on the gravity of the situation. That's why I can only do this in private.”

“We know what the Fatui are after,” Diluc crosses his arms and looks at Venti. 

“Actually, I was thinking,” Venti grins at Jean. “What do you think of Barbatos coming out again after last year’s incident?”

“That would certainly make the nobles back off I think,” Jean says, “but not the Fatui.”

“The Fatui are after you, Venti,” Kaeya reminds.

“Wait, why are they after Venti?” Aether cuts them off, looking lost in the conversation.

“Ah right,” Venti gets off his seat and presents a bow at the traveler pair. “I believe you two have proven yourself trustworthy enough. Allow me to reintroduce myself. I am Barbatos, the Anemo Archon.”

“AHHH!” Paimon shouts, pointing at the bard accusingly, “that was true?!”

“He isn’t lying, no matter how it looks like it,” Diluc shakes his head.

“I know you are looking for the Archons like me and I’m sorry for the deception,” Venti says as he sits back down, strumming his lyre. “I unfortunately do not have any information regarding your sister as of now.”

Aether deflates at the Archon’s answer. “That’s alright… I still have six other Archons to ask about it then.”

“Make that five,” Kaeya says, nudging Diluc. The redhead stares at Kaeya before sighing begrudgingly.

“I am the Pyro Archon,” Diluc mumbles as if afraid anyone else would hear him. Kaeya holds his hand encouragingly.

“Wait-” Paimon scrunches her eyes, staring at Diluc. “The Pyro Archon is female and they’re in Natlan, last I know.

“I am her successor,” Diluc grumbles and looks away. “I do not have a god name yet, but I will in the near future. As I’m new to this business of the gods, I am unable to give you the information you desire as well, Aether. I apologize.”

“It’s alright,” Aether shakes his head with a smile, “at least it narrows down my search, right?”

“If I do find anything with regards to your sibling, I will contact you as soon as I can,” Diluc resolves.

“Oh yeah,” Kaeya notes as if remembering something, “what if you give Aether a pyro vision now? He doesn’t have a vision as far as I can see but he can control anemo pretty decently.”

“You can grant visions, Diluc?” Jean asks with clear surprise.

Diluc glares at Kaeya half-heartedly before nodding to Jean. “I gave Kaeya one,” he says as he points to the knight. “I don’t think it’s a bad idea to give Aether another element now. Do you want it?” he asks as he turns to Aether.

“Uh, sure. Why not?” Aether shrugs. “How do I receive it though?”

Diluc turns to Venti with a raised eyebrow. “He got anemo from you. How did he do it?”

“Well…”

“Aether touched the Barbatos statue and it blessed him with it,” Paimon pipes up as Venti shrugs.

“How do I give him pyro then? I don’t have a statue of the seven yet,” Diluc frowns. “I can’t feel anything in Aether being an allogene so I can’t give him a vision either.”

“Maybe Aether needs to touch your hand?” Kaeya suggests. “You and I were practically holding hands when you altered my vision.”

'That might be worth a shot ,' Diluc thinks before offering his hand to Aether. “Let’s see if that works.”

Aether grasps the hand offered to him and he feels the power of fire course through his veins with a gentle heat. He blinks in amazement and grins at the gathering. “I think that worked.”

Diluc releases his hand with a raised brow. “Want to show off then?”

Aether raises a finger and a small ball of fire emits from it. He lets a wisp of anemo circle around the fire and it causes a mini pyro swirl. “Yep, I can definitely feel it. I’m going to need to train myself in using this with anemo.”

“Amazing,” Venti observes, looking fascinated. “I didn’t know anyone could handle more than one element without causing issues to their bodies. You’re an anomaly.”

“I don’t like how you worded that,” Aether says with a grimace, “but I know how to control all elements back on the previous worlds before this one. Something is just blocking me from accessing the power of this world after I woke up a few months ago.”

“As interesting as this is,” Kaeya leans over the bar, “we still have to plan out our issue with the Holy Lyre.”

“Right,” Jean coughs to grab their attention. “I have a rough idea of where the Holy Lyre der Himmel is.”

“I have information about that,” Diluc cuts her off. “The number of Fatui that have come to Mondstadt is far from limited… and I have people within that are willing to provide me with what we need.”

Jean raises an eyebrow at him in question, but doesn’t press since she knows of his previous allegiance to the Fatui. “The conflict between Mondstadt and Snezhnaya stems from the conflict between the seven nations and their respective gods. The Tsaritsa seems to be after the Anemo God's power.”

“So they want to kill Dvalin?” Aether frowns. “That doesn’t seem to add up to me.”

“Right,” Jean nods to Aether. “Either way, if the Knights of Favonius publicly prevented an attempt on Dvalin's head, then… they think the only other way to affect Lord Barbatos power is to take the Holy Lyre.”

“Not that it would work,” Venti says with a shrug. “The people have been giving me power through their renewed faith for the past year. I’m more powerful than I was a few years ago.”

“The Holy Lyre is not being held in the Goth Grand Hotel,” Diluc offers. “They don't want to leave something stolen in a place where it could be so easily found.”

“Paimon gets it. If too much of a scene gets made, then it becomes a big diplomatic issue.”

“Hmph, such is the diplomacy between the seven nations,” Diluc scoffs. “I ought to change that one day…”

“We already have a good standing with Natlan due to us being friends,” Venti giggles. “I imagine the old rock Morax wouldn’t mind being friends with you either.”

“We’ll see when I meet him.” Diluc turns to Aether with a smile, “Ready to go?”

“You bet I am!” Aether grins back eagerly, pumping a fist to his other hand. “I missed having a highly offensive element at my beck and call.”

“Tsk… pyromaniacs.”

“You’re one to talk, Kaeya. You’re also one of them.”

Chapter Text

“Alright, who’s going to the hideout?”

Aether observes the people in the tavern with curiosity as they plan their attack. It is surprising to know two of the seven gods he seeked for information act like normal people in the world. He reckons it’s not every day you find out that a god is talking to you. They are not like any of the divinity he usually sees on the previous worlds that he and his sister traveled to. Gods do not mingle with people - that is what Aether has learned throughout the centuries of world hopping that they did before getting stranded in Teyvat. 

He wonders why the gods of this world are so different. 

And yet, there is a god that does conform to the norm he knows. His mind wanders off to the unknown god who took his powers and sister. 

Lumine… 

He is hit with agony at the remembrance of his loss after being torn apart from his other half. While he knows Lumine should still be alive, considering what they are, he can’t help but feel grief at their separation. The beginnings of tears begin forming in his eyes, and he tries blinking them away - hoping no one picks up on his mood. They have never been apart for as long as he’s known. Now they are separated for who knows how long it’s been. 

He seldom loses grip on his emotions as it hinders his control over his power, but the subject of his sister always pulls on his feelings easily. At the sensation of fire running through his veins without his control, he shoves the depressing thoughts to the back of his mind.

He wants to inquire about the matter of events when he was forced into deep slumber filled with nightmares, but Aether also feels that Venti is shackled by something that prevents him from speaking the truth. Regardless of whether or not the bard can answer, he resolves to ask the god later to confirm his intuition. 

“Oh, this location is close to the waypoint behind Springvale and it’s just by the Forsaken Rift domain,” Venti says as he looks at the map Diluc provided.

“Forsaken Rift?” Jean asks with concern. “I haven’t heard of another domain in Springvale.”

“Oh, that’s because it was sealed some years ago, can’t remember when,” Venti shrugs. “It is said in ancient times, people would venture into the valley to seek out the ancient tree on the altar. They would whisper their secrets into the tree hole, relieving themselves of the burden of keeping the secrets to themselves. The Forsaken Rift is filled with long-forgotten secrets.”

“Oh? Do you keep your secrets there too, Venti?” Kaeya jokes with a lazy smirk.

“Maybe,” Venti gives him a stink eye at the quip. “You can probably find out if we open the gates to it again. We can do that later though - the Lyre is more important. Even though my Lyre is a relic with barely any power left, it is still mine and I don’t want the unfaithful to touch it.”

“What do you think they planned for it anyway?” Aether asks. “We already know they can’t kill Dvalin, and it’s unlikely they can take the dragon’s power with the instrument.”

“I think they intend to use Barbatos' connection to the wind to draw me out,” Venti shrugs, “just like Lisa traced the source of the storm to the temples. That is if they have someone who’s good with the aetherial arts as she is in Mondstadt.”

“I can’t help but feel something isn't right about all of this,” Kaeya says. “We’re missing something.”

“Whatever it is, we’ll deal with it,” Diluc says firmly. “Let’s go get that lyre back and deal with Dvalin’s sorrow. Jean, I trust you to handle the knights and make sure they don’t suspect us.”

“I know Diluc, don’t worry,” Jean offers a smile. “May the Wind guide you all. Stay safe and be sure to come back unharmed!”

“Let your conviction burn just as bright as your soul, Jean,” Diluc smiles back and leaves the tavern with their party of five - Diluc, Kaeya, Venti, Aether, and Paimon.

“Aether, here. Take this,” Diluc gives him a mask attached to a dark hoodie.

Paimon looks at it curiously, “What is it?”

“A disguise, to protect your identity. Put it on before you run into the Fatui,” Diluc explains as he hides his hair fully on his black hood as well. “Unfortunately, they are still one of Mondstadt's allies. At least that's the facade we're maintaining… our actions are going to get them stirred up. Better to not implicate yourself on a personal level. Kaeya, you have your outfit right?”

Kaeya gives him a thumbs up and leaves their party to go elsewhere, saying he’ll catch up eventually. Aether looks at his retreating back curiously, but follows Diluc and Venti towards Springvale anyway. As they walk, Aether figures out a peculiarity he didn’t realize the first time Paimon said it to him.

The people of Teyvat don’t use the teleport waypoints.

“We can get there faster if we teleport to the waypoint, right?” he asks hesitantly, hoping the other two don’t conform to his conclusion.

Diluc looks at him with a confused expression while Venti looks amazed. “So it was you that was attuning to the waypoints! Makes sense,” the bard grins at Aether. “Yeah, we can use the waypoint to travel, but Diluc only knew of those recently and Kaeya doesn’t know how to use them yet.” 

“So we’re going the long way then,” Aether sighs as he shakes his head at the lost time. Then again, they are going to wait for Kaeya to get to the location before they can storm into the hideout.

“Don’t look so down now,” Venti laughs at his disappointed face. “Once we teach Kaeya how to use those waypoints, we don’t have to walk so much like now. I’m sure Diluc here would appreciate it too.”

“It would certainly make me more… inconspicuous if I can appear wherever I want,” Diluc says after some consideration. “Although the waypoints in the city are way too open for me to use…”

Aether looks at Diluc and finally asks what he’s been meaning to question since they first met. “I’m sorry if I’m being too curious but… why are you being so secretive within Mondstadt?”

Diluc blinks at Aether as if he’s surprised at the inquiry, before some sort of epiphany lights up in his eye. “Right, I forgot you aren’t from Mondstadt and just recently arrived,” the redhead sighs with a shake of his head. “You know of the Fatui now, the people who took the Lyre and wants to kill Venti’s dragon friend.”

Aether nods, actually quite interested in knowing more about the organization that seems to want chaos to bloom in this world.

“I am a former Fatui agent,” Diluc looks away with a pained grimace. “Sandrone, the Ninth Harbinger.”

Aether squints at the information, not really knowing what it means, but it does make sense why Diluc is working in the shadows rather than publicly. “I’m not sure what a harbinger means…. But you did say you’re a former agent, so I’m sure that you aren’t going to suddenly backstab us, will you?”

“I won’t hurt Kaeya again,” Diluc shakes his head immediately at the question. “I’ve caused enough pain for the past four years.”

Aether smiles at him and nods. While Diluc didn’t explicitly say he won’t stab them in the back, Aether does trust Kaeya enough. He’ll give the redhead a chance to prove himself trustworthy. Besides, Diluc is an Archon - one of this world’s supposed gods so he should be one of those that make the rules. Who is he to judge? Aether is just a traveller who knows too much about different worlds, even if he’s not so in tune with this one. Good thing he has Paimon as a guide, even if she’s a very suspicious one.

“Hm… a Harbinger is one of the Tsaritsa’s appointed leaders of the Fatui, isn’t it?” Paimon pipes up as she floats beside Aether, looking thoughtful. “How did you manage to get out of the Fatui? I would think they’d kill you for being a traitor!”

“I helped him get out,” Venti chuckles. “Although, he kind of died in the middle of it.”

“What?!” Paimon shrieks at the bard. “He died?!”

“I… did,” Diluc nods solemnly. “It’s the reason I ended up becoming an Archon.”

Aether can sense a longer story than what the two are letting on, but he doesn’t really want to pry. If they share the information, he wouldn’t mind listening. It’s their story to tell.

“Thank you for sating my curiosity even though you didn’t need to tell us,” Aether says firmly. “I was just puzzled by your actions so far.”

“I understand,” Diluc gives him a smile. “I would be as cautious as you are if I was in your position. Given that you don’t really know us well, you have already displayed a lot of trust in us.”

Aether smiles with a nod. Honestly, they’re not as bad as the people of the old worlds who acted very suspicious of Aether and his sister when they offered their assistance. Although, he does need their help as well, so he thinks it’s a mutually beneficial relationship so far.

Then again, it’s in Aether’s nature to help.

The group of four reach the area stated on Diluc’s map and they look around curiously for anything that is out of place. Venti calls out to them, pointing to a small cave-like entrance in a nook of the cliff. They take a rest around the rocks, waiting for Kaeya to arrive before they storm inside the Fatui hideout.

“There’s a waypoint at the front of the village here,” Aether says after checking on his pack of food, potions, and other possibly useful ingredients. “I'm already attuned to it, but maybe Diluc should as well?”

Diluc looks apprehensive at going, but Venti urges him to do it. “What are you afraid of?” the bard teases. “You’re disguised well enough that no one would immediately realize you’re a redhead.”

Diluc deflates at that and begrudgingly goes to Springvale to look for the waypoint. Venti gives Aether a smirk and strums his lyre absentmindedly. “So what did you want to talk about?”

Aether chuckles and nods appreciatively at him. “How long has it been since a war occured in this world? A catastrophic one.”

Venti hums, looking lost in thought before he opens his mouth again that utter an unimaginably bigger number than Aether thought possibly. “Five hundred years.”

“What?” Aether breathes out in shock.

“It’s been five hundred years since the world was reshaped again to what it is right now,” the bard says with a sad smile. “Yes, it’s been longer than that when you two were separated.”

Aether feels dread in his bones at the knowledge. How long has Lumine been awake? Did she also get into deep slumber as he has? Or was she awake since the start and has been struggling to find him for all these centuries? What has she been doing all this time? Where is she now? 

Why didn’t she find and contact him yet?

Venti can see how Paimon immediately senses the storm of emotions within her charge and tries to comfort him, but there’s nothing much the fairy can do other than hug Aether. Venti looks on sadly at the two of them, but he knows the traveller can get through this heartache and become stronger for it. He absently strums his lyre to a longing tune, a bid to get Aether’s attention away from his spiraling thoughts.

The sombre mood continues until Diluc and Kaeya appear together, both in their Natlan-esque outfits now. Kaeya has an additional hood on to hide his hair, but nothing else to hide his beautiful dark skin. Venti thinks the man would look good with tattoos on - he should suggest that to him one day. Maybe after they deal with these Fatui.

“Yoho~! You’re here at last,” he greets with a smile. 

Aether looks up to greet the two of them, but ends up blinking in his surprise at Kaeya’s outfit. “You’re… more provocative looking than last time.”

Kaeya looks dumbfounded for a second before he laughs at the description. “Doesn’t it suit me though?” he grins widely at Aether.

Aether looks to Kaeya’s chest, then down below his robe which barely hides those toned legs of his. He nods appreciatively. “Definitely. I like this version more”

Diluc flushes red at Aether’s blunt approval. Venti laughs in amusement. His fellow Archon is too easy to embarrass. Makes him think that the other has been too emotionally suppressed before all this. The thought makes the bard pause and he looks at Diluc with a new eye. Venti hums to himself as he resolves to help make the new god be freer at expressing himself.

“Are we all ready?” Diluc grumbles, the red in his cheeks not fully gone.

“Yes,” Aether replies, the gloom in his expression not all there anymore. Venti is sure that will come back again when he’s not distracted by action. The bard will be sure to lend an ear to the traveller when he needs it.

“Alright, let’s go in then,” Diluc leads them inside the cave. 

The cave opens up to an underground ruin that Venti briefly recognizes as one of the old settlements used during Decarabian’s time. Surprisingly, the items and structure within aren’t damaged as he thought it would be.

“Those platforms look like traps that would flip around if we step on them,” Kaeya comments idly.

“They don’t flip around until certain times,” Venti says with a nod. “If I remember right, it takes five minutes or so.”

“Let’s sprint over then,” Diluc starts doing just that, and the rest of them follow. 

They pass the trapped platforms easily before it could flip on them and they come across stairs leading up. All of them ready their weapons as they continue up and they see a Fatuus agent in front of another set of stairs leading up to a door. 

Diluc frowns at the agent before looking over them. “That Fatuus isn’t an agent for combat,” he says. “Let’s talk to him first before attempting a fight.”

Aether and Kaeya sheath their swords in acceptance of his words. Venti keeps his bow up, but nods at him. Diluc walks up to the guard who brandishes his sword at them, but looks especially scared to see them.

“No, NO! Don't eat me! Ah? You're... You're human?” the agent screams in fright when they approach. “The entire floor's defenses... have been broken. I thought it was the Abyss Order attacking…”

Kaeya and Diluc share a look at the information. Venti frowns at the words. The Abyss Order huh? Those folks have been getting more brave recently… he might have to investigate that as well.

“We have come for the Holy Lyre der Himmel,” Aether glares down at the guard. 

“H–How did you guys know the lyre's here?” the guard trembles at his words. This guy really doesn’t look suited to be a guard.

Aether tries again with a different tactic. “We have come for your life.”

“Ahh, no, don't!” the guard pitifully screams in fright. “I have valuable information! I'll tell you! We hid the Holy Lyre in the depths of these ruins. The place it's being kept is locked up tight. If you're after the key, keep going further into the ruins, but d–don't come after me!”

Diluc steps up and growls at him. “Tell us where this key is.”

“I don't know which one of the guards has it!” the guard shakes his head, still trembling in his boots. “I'm sure you can find the guards and find out for yourselves!”

“This guy looks like he's about to wet himself…” Paimon says, looking exasperated.

“Y–You just worry about yourselves!” he continues on. “One of the Harbingers is already in Mondstadt. Signora. When she gets her hands on you she's going to string you up and torture you. When that time comes, don't you dare say a word about me.”

Diluc looks alert at the information and frowns as the guard runs down the stairs they climbed up initially. 

“Did he say Signora? What a strange name…” Paimon looks over to Diluc. 

“Signora, Number Eight of The Eleven Harbingers,” Diluc frowns, “this is going to be a mess. We need to act quickly before she gets wind of what's going on.”

Venti looks worriedly at the redhead who became incredibly tense at the knowledge of another Harbinger in Mondstadt. The bard thinks Diluc believes Signora is here for more than just Venti - she came for him as well.

Kaeya tinkers with the device by the door and it opens to reveal another set of stairs. Knowing that they’re on a time limit now, they rush up and come across a device in the middle of a large room. Messing with the device proves fruitless as it stays inactive despite their attempts.

“We need a key,” Paimon pipes up as she pokes the middle of the mechanism. “It might be in… a nearby room?”

“There’s multiple rooms,” Diluc notes as he looks around. “Let’s split up.”

“Good idea. I’ll take the top left, see you after I clean it up!” Venti says and hops onto the stairs as the other three split up to their chosen rooms. The bard comes across a Fatuus that is having a staredown with a mitachurl locked up in a reinforced iron jail cell. 

Coming up to the guard, Venti greets him enthusiastically.

“Wh-Who are you? Wh-What are you doing here? Argh!”

“Give up~” Venti says, swirling some wind around the guard. “No-one's going to rescue you.”

“Did you already beat all the other guards?” the guard asks, looking worriedly at the wind. The agent looks like he has a pyro delusion, but he’s possibly just like the first guard they dealt with - a noncombatant.

Venti smirks and lets the wind pick up further. “I kicked their Snezhnayan butts.”

“What!?” Oh he definitely looks scared. “I–I'm not scared of you. A real Agent will come to my aid!”

“Oh, I dealt with him already,” Venti says casually. A lie it may be, but they really will deal with it soon.

“Ugh… Ah…” the guard looks conflicted but sighs in the end. “Fine. Not like I have a choice anyway. Alright. You're free to go. But I don't have the key unfortunately. You'll have to ask the next guard you come across.”

Venti pouts at his words but shrugs as he leaves the timid guard to his continued staredown with the mitachurl. He drops back down to the middle room where Diluc and Aether are already waiting. 

“Let me guess, no key?” Venti says as he gets closer. The two shake their heads and they wait for Kaeya who comes out from the west room. He looks a little singed, but otherwise fine. 

“Who’d have thought cicins are really hard to kill with a sword?” Kaeya says wryly as Diluc touches him to send healing pulses through Kaeya’s body. Hm, what a worrywart. “Here’s the key, Aether.”

Aether takes the key and inserts it to the device. The mechanism activates easily and the main door to the base opens. They run in and see another device on a platform. Venti ushers them all on the square platform and turns the device on. With a rumble, the platform detaches itself from the wall and starts going up, similar to an elevator.

The platform stops on another floor with a large room. The Holy Lyre is situated on the far end, locked in some sort of jail cell. Venti makes a face at seeing the scene. Really? A jail cell? He scoffs with both amusement and disgust at the treatment of his instrument.

“Where did you rats scurry out from… Signora is not going to tolerate this kind of interference in our affairs.” The Fatuus guarding the lyre glares at them and ready to attack. Oh, this one is definitely an agent equipped for battle unlike the other ones. “I, Zamenhoff, will be the one to take care of you — save her the trouble of having to deal with you herself.”

“Be careful!” Paimon disappears in a flurry of stars at Aether’s worried glance. 

Aether readies his sword, looking around as the agent disappears in an illusion of smoke. Venti hums as everyone looks around, ready to spring into an attack or defense. He sends a gust of wind in the direction of where he can feel the agent skulking around, which evidently surprised Zamenhoff and cancelled the man’s invisibility.

Diluc charges straight in with his claymore engulfed in fire, slamming it down at the agent who hastily puts up his daggers to block. Kaeya slips forward and attempts to drive his sword through the agent's unguarded back. Before the sword reaches, the Fatuus leans backwards to fall down into a handstand and kicks Diluc away when the redhead stumbles. He slips back into the shadows immediately and circles around the group, looking for who to attack first.

Aether frowns at Venti’s side and he can see the traveler is flexing his hands experimentally. From what the bard can feel, it seems that he’s trying to use the pyro he just received a few hours back.

“Do whatever it is you’re thinking of, Aether,” Venti encourages him with a grin. “I can help make it powerful using my wind if needed.”

Aether grins madly at that and lets go.

“Wao,” Venti lets out a whistle as Aether unleashes a huge pyroblast laced with anemo that encompasses the entire room. It’s a good thing that Diluc has innate fire resistance, and that Kaeya put up a fire shield at feeling the change of temperature in the room. 

The agent isn’t so lucky.

While the Fatui agent is using a pyro delusion, he doesn’t have the fire resistance innate to pyro vision users. The agent screams as he gets burned by the anemo-enhanced pyro attack. Kaeya swiftly gets close to the agent to disarm and tie him up. Zamenhoff growls at them and squirms, trying to get the ropes undone but he’s likely to be feeling a lot of pain. 

Well, it’s not really Venti's problem. It’s their fault for taking something that is his .

After securely restraining him, Kaeya searches for the key to the cage on his person and triumphantly gets it from a pocket. He gives the key to Aether who goes to find the lock.

Paimon appears again in a splash of stars and looks excitedly at them. “Finally, the lyre is back in safe hands!” 

“Signora is going to end you,” Zamenhoff gnarls at them. “The songs bards sing of your demise will be so terrifying – the people of Mondstadt will never sleep again for the nightmares they give them.”

“Big talk for a guy who got beaten easily,” Paimon retorts with a raised eyebrow.

“What is Signora really after?” Diluc stares down the agent - at least, that’s what Venti thinks. That bone mask really makes it hard to figure out his expression.

“I won’t tell you anything, vermin,” the agent shakes his head defiantly.

Diluc pauses before removing his mask and hood. Zamenhoff looks up in shock at his appearance and quivers in fear. 

“Say that to me again, worm,” Diluc looks down at him with masked indifference, his tone sounding dangerous. The temperature of the room starts rising and Venti can feel his skin crawling at how threatening the aura around Diluc has become.

“S…sir Sandrone…?!”

Chapter Text

The party of five separated after clearing out the remains of the ruin that the Fatui used. Venti went along with Aether and Paimon to Mondstadt to report to Jean, while Diluc and Kaeya went back to the Dawn Winery.

“Are you alright, Diluc?” Kaeya asks him gently. They ended up cuddling after coming home due to Diluc feeling drained from what he just did to the agent.

Diluc didn’t like to go back to being Sandrone… but he can’t help but do it this time around due to his stress at hearing Signora being in Mondstadt. Pulling from his memories of the three years he was in the Fatui dredges up more than just the images of what he did. It also pulls at his feelings - feelings of cold seeping through his veins, threatening to freeze him should he betray his master.

“Well?” Sandrone raises an eyebrow at him, looking utterly bored at their conversation.

Zamenhoff gulps and squirms even more at his bindings, but this time out of fear. “Lady Signora is - she’s here for Barbatos. I don’t know the details!”

“I don’t believe you,” Sandrone grips the agent’s hair and pulls him up to stare him down. “Tell me the truth. Is she here for more than Barbatos?”

The agent grunts in pain, still looking at him fearfully. Zamenhoff gulps and nods at the question. “She might be here for you too - I really don’t know the details!!!”

“Useless,” Sandrone throws him to the ground roughly. If the agent has some new burn scars tomorrow, then that’s their fault.

“I’m… scared of falling back,” Diluc admits, burying himself further in Kaeya’s arms, wanting his warmth. 

“You’re still Diluc to me, sunshine,” Kaeya runs his fingers through the red hair lightly. “Sandrone is a part of you, isn’t he? You need to learn to accept what happened back then.”

Diluc groans at the words, not really wanting to do that. He doesn’t want to be a ruthless person. Sandrone is cruel… even if his Ninth division says otherwise. 

“No matter what happens,” Kaeya kisses the top of his hair. “I’ll always love you, Diluc.”

“I love you too…” Diluc sighs but Kaeya’s reassurance definitely makes him feel better. There’s something bothering him aside from the identity issue though… Diluc looks up to Kaeya and frowns. “Kae, is there something wrong with your pyro…?”

“Hm? What’s with the sudden interest, my dear?” Kaeya blinks - at least Diluc assumes he did, that eyepatch makes it hard to know - and tries distracting him with a kiss.

“Kaeya, we promised not to lie to each other,” Diluc grumbles but kisses him back.

"Nothing can get past you huh, sunshine?" Kaeya chuckles and gives him another smooch. "I am running a bit hot compared to a normal person. It doesn't hurt, at least right now."

“Should I get Adelinde to prepare fever medicine?” he asks worriedly.

“I don’t think I need it?” Kaeya says with a chuckle. “You worry too much my dear.”

“Welcome back,” Jean smiles at the party of three. “I see you managed to get the Holy Lyre. Hopefully without issues, I hope?”

“Not much resistance,” Aether shrugs as he sits on the barstools and asks for an apple cider. 

Charles gives him his drink and offers a tankard of dandelion wine to the bard. Venti takes the offer with thanks and starts sipping on the wine with a happy face.

“That’s good to hear,” Jean looks behind them in confusion. “Where’s Diluc and Kaeya?”

“Oh, we separated after we raided the hideout,” Venti giggles as he takes another sip of the delicious elixir. “They’re probably having fun back at the Dawn Winery.”

“I see,” Jean pinks a bit, probably figuring out Venti’s implications. She coughs to hide her embarrassment and goes back to the matter at hand. “What do you think, Venti? Can you summon Dvalin?”

Venti pulls out the lyre, looking at it with melancholy. The pattern of flowing wind carved on the rosewood... and the strings still feel cool to the touch too. Oh, the memories…

“Although this lyre is the real thing, I doubt that it's going to work,” he says sadly. “As you can see, the lyre has been through a thousand years of history. Its Anemo power has run dry. In this condition, you couldn't play music fit for even Diluc's tavern with it…”

Paimon looks at the bard, unbelieving, “You – did you just borrow the Holy Lyre to play music for drunkards to hear?”

“Hehe~” Venti gives a short giggle that Paimon takes offense to anyway. He ignores the displeasure reeking off the fairy and continues. “Anyway, we won't be able to call Dvalin with it. The lyre itself is fine, but the strings…” he looks at Aether and gives a smile. “You're up, outlander!”

“Huh?” Aether blinks, surprised at being addressed. “I don't know how to fix instruments.”

“Relax! It's not broken,” Venti laughs at his concern. “It's just that the intensity of its Anemo power has greatly diminished. Aether, do you still have Dvalin's Teardrop Crystal with you?”

“Yep,” Aether looks at Paimon who nods at him, summoning the interesting dimensional bag they have. The blond takes out Dvalin’s Tear from the bag and offers it to Venti. How convenient. He should make one for himself too.

“Great! Try to use it on the Holy Lyre,” Venti offers the lyre and Aether takes it carefully. He places the crystalized tear close to the instrument which glows as it takes in the anemo within it. The lyre glows further and changes its appearance, looking more like the instrument Venti actually used back then. It’s sadly not enough power… “It worked, as expected,” the bard smiles at the traveler in gratefulness.

“The lyre has such a youthful glow,” Jean says in amazement.

“Thanks to Aether having purified the crystal, the Holy Lyre won't continue to lose power,” Venti turns to Aether with a grateful smile. “That said, its power is far from replenished. It'd be great if we could get more crystalized tears.”

“Right. How do we do that?” Aether crosses his arms with a serious expression.

“I can surmise that Dvalin will already be crying…” Venti looks down, thinking of his beloved friend. “Suffering alone in some deserted place…”

“Dvalin…” Jean also looks down, pained at the thought of someone’s hardship. “This is not something that an Honorary Knight can accomplish alone. I will mobilize the rest of the knights to assist.”

“Are you sure that’s wise?” Venti says, crossing his arms with a frown. “Diluc and Kaeya will be bound to help with this quest as well. I’m actually going to visit them after this so I can tell them the plan.”

“Ah,” Jean sighs and places a hand on her forehead. “That’s right… the Ragnvindr case isn’t resolved yet…”

“It’s fine, my dear Dandelion Knight,” Venti comes over to her and pats her back comfortingly. “We’ll figure out what to do. Just make sure that Mondstadt is still in one piece after all this, okay?”

“Very well,” Jean gives him a salute and promises to do her best in keeping Mondstadt safe. “Please stay safe out there - all of you.”

“Heroes supporting each other and setting out on a journey together... How exciting!” Venti’s eyes glimmer in excitement. “Lemme come up with a song for you…”

“Is that all you're going to do? Just sing?” Paimon grouches.

“Wouldn't be much of a bard if I didn't now, would I?” Venti grins at the fairy.

“Hmph. You're so cheeky... If you weren’t a god, I’d give you an ugly nickname!” Paimon harrumps as Venti laughs.

“Come on Aether, let’s go to the Winery first,” Venti offers his hand to the traveler who takes it with a smile. The two of them disappear from the tavern with a wisp of wind.

Diluc has always been attuned to the leylines even if he is resting, setting an alarm system that informs him immediately once visitors come near the area.

And there is only one being who can just bring himself onto the Winery's door with just the breeze to assist him.

Considering the sun’s angle, Diluc figures it’s close to tea time when Venti and Aether had arrived so he tells Kaeya about it and moves to prepare some refreshments while Kaeya sets out to greet them. Diluc, once arriving at the kitchen, starts to make some tea and hopes the Apfel Früchtetee would be a good offering to Venti. Adelinde comes to the kitchen to see him already preparing for tea, and offers to make some small sandwiches and pastries for them as well.

Diluc appreciates Adelinde’s readiness to help him as she places plates full of very attractive snacks on the ready tray. He thanks her as he places the teapot beside it, letting his pyro continue to heat the water inside. When he leaves the kitchen with the full tray, Diluc is met with the sight of Venti trying to ask Kaeya for a bottle of wine while Aether and Paimon just watch with amusement.

With a fond smile, he pushes the tray over to the group at the living room of the Winery. Diluc serves them with plates of the snacks - which Paimon devoured hers greedily - and the tea. Diluc carefully pours each of them a cup from the pot, making sure none of the dried fruit doesn’t drop to the drink. His steady application of pyro keeps the tea warm and ready for them to appreciate.

Venti smiles wide at seeing the offered tea. “You’re spoiling me, Diluc,” the bard says as he takes a breath to appreciate the tea’s aroma. He takes a sip and, if it was even possible, his smile widens further. “You prepared this perfectly. I love it.”

“I’m glad it’s to your liking,” Diluc gives him a smile and sits down as the rest of the party drinks the refreshments. He gives them a few more minutes to enjoy the food and drinks before probing at what news they have.

“Hm, well…” Venti summons the Holy Lyre which looks healthier than how it was when they retrieved it. Diluc can feel anemo energy swirling within it and he can finally see how this is an instrument of a god. “It’s barely usable as it currently is. Thankfully, using Dvalin’s tears managed to restore some of its anemo power… but we need more to restore it fully.”

Kaeya hums, looking to be deep in thought as he swirls the tea in his cup before taking a sip. “Where can we get more of Dvalin’s tears then?”

“There are a couple of locations where I can feel a concentration of anemo that aren’t my doing, so it’s possibly there,” Venti says. “Do you have a map?”

Kaeya gets up to rummage in a drawer and pulls up a map of Mondstadt. He gives it to Venti who spreads the paper on the table, careful not to hit any of the teacups. “So there’s these three locations - Thousand Winds Temple, Eagle's Gate, and somewhere in Dadaupa Gorge.”

“I can take the domain,” Aether says, still nibbling on his sandwich that Paimon jealously stares at. “I’ve been there before, so it should be easier for me to figure out what’s new or different from last time.”

"Since I am able to touch Dvalin's Tear without adverse effects, I think I should find one as well," Diluc offers. "It will let us cover more ground. Do you have any suggestions as to where I should go, Venti?"

“Well, it’s either the ruined temple or the hilichurl camps…” Venti glances at Kaeya before looking back to the redhead. “I’m sure you’d rather face possible ruin guards, yes?”

After knowing what hilichurls are now, Diluc agrees readily. While ruin guards are also part of Khaenri’ah’s legacy… hilichurls are its actual people - only cursed to become such. “We’ll go to the thousand winds temple then. Are you coming with me, Kaeya?”

“Is that really a question at this point?” Kaeya raises an eyebrow. “Of course I’m coming.”

“Let’s all meet up here after then. You can come and stay here in the Winery if you end up finishing before me and Kaeya get the tear at our location,” Diluc offers to the two.

“Thanks, Diluc,” Aether gives him a smile as he gives the rest of his snacks to Paimon who cheers in delight. “We’ll take you up on that offer if it happens.”

“Make sure to teach Kaeya how to use the waypoints!” Venti says as he disappears in a wisp of wind.

Aether waves at them and disappears with Paimon.

“That looks convenient,” Kaeya notes with curiosity. “Is it some sort of teleportation?”

“Yes,” Diluc picks up the used plates and cups and places them all back on the tray so he can get them back to the kitchen. “I’ll teach you how to use the waypoints… we’re going to have to use them to travel between Mondstadt and Natlan later on, maybe.”

“Is it instant travel?” Kaeya’s eye glints at the prospect.

“As far as I know, it is.”

“I definitely need to know how to use them then,” Kaeya gets up to help him clean up. “I’ll go get my sword and some potions then we can be off.”

“Okay. I’ll meet you outside,” Diluc gives him a quick kiss to the cheek before picking the tray up and going to the kitchen. 

After Diluc cleans up, he picks up his claymore from their weapon rack and frowns at seeing the chips on the blade. He’s going to have to change his weapon soon… or at least attempt to repair it. It’s going to be enough to handle some ruin guards though, and he can always rely on his pyro if it comes down to it. Diluc realizes he hasn’t actually used fire offensively since he woke up.

He puts on his coat and hoodie, letting the mask stay rested on his neck for now, and leaves the house. Diluc sees Kaeya with two horses and his eyes widen in surprise.

“I didn’t realize you guys kept Grapes,” Diluc says with awe as he stares at the beautiful holsteiner horse that perks up at his presence. The horse comes closer to the redhead and leans on him to give an affectionate nuzzle, to which he laughs at in relief. He didn’t know how much he missed his precious horse. It’s been years…

“I wanted to reunite you with Grape Juice way earlier, but we had to send her to the equine vet early this year,” Kaeya explains as he grooms Sweets. “She only got back this week and we’ve been rather busy.”

Diluc hums as he also grooms his beloved horse. “I’m just glad to see she’s still alive and well.”

“She was a little fussy when you didn’t come back after a year,” Kaeya sends a wide smile at him. “She’s just as fussy as you were back then.”

Diluc huffs but he has a smile on his face, continuing to give affectionate pats and rubs to the horse. “I suppose we’ll be riding together again, Grapes?” Grapes neighs at him, looking quite excited. Diluc chuckles and hopes that continues on their long run towards the ruined temple.

“Shall we set off then?” Kaeya raises an eyebrow as he fastens his saddle on Sweets. “You better remember how to ride…”

Diluc gives him a deadpan look and prepares Grapes’ saddle properly, showing that he does still remember how to ride a horse. Both of them mount their horses and look at the road ahead of them. 

“We should go up through the south road here so we can activate Barbatos’ statue for travel up there,” Diluc says as he points up the higher elevated land. “After that we should visit Springvale for two waypoints.”

“Alright Diluc, lead the way.”

The two of them travel at a slow pace, not wanting to make their horses tired immediately. When they reach a fork in the road, they see the light coming from the statue of the seven that rests in the middle of the raised land. Both of them go over to it and get off their steeds. 

Kaeya looks over to Diluc with curiosity in his eye. “So how do I ‘attune’ to this?” he asks.

“Place your hand on the statue and ask for a blessing,” Diluc says with his arms crossed. “Make sure you’re sending some elemental energy through the contact. It will grant you some connection to the statue.”

Kaeya nods as he does the instructions. Diluc can feel the connection click in place even if this isn’t his statue and nods in satisfaction. “That should do it,” the redhead says. “I can teach you how to teleport after we get to the two waypoints in Springvale.”

The two leave the statue and mount their horses again to start the trek to Springvale. Curiously, Diluc leads them to the south road instead of the north, but Kaeya immediately realizes why when he sees a weird monument in the middle of the lake. 

Diluc stares at the lake in disdain before sighing. “I suppose we have no choice but to swim across…”

Kaeya chuckles as he looks around the lake. “This area looks shallower. Probably ankle deep,” he says as he gets off his horse. “You don’t need to follow me to the monument, you know. Am I doing the same thing as earlier?”

“You don’t need to ask for a blessing for this one,” Diluc grumbles. “Just send elemental energy through it.”

Kaeya nods and hops off across the rocks within the lake, somehow managing to keep himself mostly dry. He connects to the monument without difficulty and hops back towards Diluc and his horse.

“You know, this would’ve been easier if I was still cryo,” he teases with a grin at Diluc.

“Haha,” Diluc laughs dryly and pouts at him. “I know how unwieldy flames are…”

The two of them ride into Springvale proper and get greeted by a few of the villagers waving at them. Diluc has no fear in this area, for this village is still a part of the Ragnvindr lands. They settle in front of the monument and Kaeya sends his energy in the stone without problems. 

“Alright, there’s another one right before the bridge connecting to Mondstadt, and further into Starfell Valley,” Diluc tries to remember his mental map of Mondstadt and nods to himself. “Let’s go to the one near Mond first then start rushing to the ruins. What do you think, Kae?”

“Sure thing Diluc,” Kaeya grins. “I told you to lead the way.”

Diluc shrugs and they canter off towards the east, before following the road north towards Mondstadt. Being this close to the city, Diluc pulls his mask up and properly hides his red hair on his hood. They reach the intersection leading to Mond and they see the monument sitting to the northeast of it. Kaeya walks over and activates it again. Both of them swiftly leave the area, not wanting to leave a chance that a knight or noble would see them both when they have a mission to finish.

“Luc, there’s a statue there too,” Kaeya says as he looks to the south of the road they’re taking. 

“Oh, that’s right,” Diluc starts leading them towards it. “This one is Venti’s favorite area. We might as well connect with it too.”

The two of them touch the statue and ask for blessing while sending it elemental energy. The statue glows briefly and a connection forms without issue. 

“I think we’ve dallied enough,” Diluc looks at the sky with a frown. It’s close to sunset already? “Let’s hurry to the ruins before it gets totally dark.” The two of them let the horses gallop fast along the road leading to the temples, ignoring random hilichurls that see them - those will stop chasing them soon enough.

“What’s with all these hilichurls by the road…?” Kaeya frowns as they continue along. “It’s like they’re protecting something…”

Diluc also frowns at Kaeya’s words, starting to get worried about what they’ll find at the temple. They get blocked by more hilichurls along the way, which they both dispatch easily and hurries along. They decide to ditch their horses roughly at the entrance of the ruins, and run past a mitachurl which thankfully doesn’t notice them or the horses. They carefully go up the stairs leading to the Thousand Winds Temple. 

Venti was right about there being ruin guards. At least Diluc can only see one walking around.

Thankfully the fight with the ruin guard was painfully easy. Diluc can’t help but sigh in relief as he holds the red crystallized tear in his hand. He turns to Kaeya and offers his hand. “I’ll show you how to teleport now so you get a feel of what to do first before you attempt to do it yourself.”

“We should get our horses though,” Kaeya tells him with a smile. 

Diluc shakes his head at forgetting about that. The waypoints had been so useful at getting around that he had momentarily forgotten about their horses back at the ruins. They quickly make their way to the entrance, where their horses wait patiently, grazing on some small patches of grass. They mount their rides with Diluc patting Grapes' neck gently before he reaches out to hold Kaeya's hand and grips it tightly. He then closes his eyes to concentrate on where they want to go, letting the waypoint he has chosen pull them from the ruins in a flash of particles. 

“You two are finally back,” Venti says with a wry smile, drinking a bottle of wine.

“Woohoo!” Paimon cheers, “Dvalin Protection Squad! Assemble!”

Venti puts down the bottle and looks at them eagerly. “Let's put our crystals together.”

“Oh…” The three groups show their crystalized tears, each having different shades of red. “The color of these crystals look... muddy. Dvalin... You're going through so much pain…” 

The bard looks sad and guilty as he turns to the traveler. “Let's start purifying these crystals first. Please, Aether?”

Aether takes the crystal on his hands and starts purifying the tears which lose their red coloring and change to a light blue.

“It’s hard to believe such a thing is possible, until you've seen it with your own eyes,” Kaeya notes with interest.

“Interesting. It's like filtering wine,” Diluc hums as he pokes one of the purified crystals. “The process is... refreshing.”

“I think we should have enough tears now. So next we…” Venti takes the lyre out and gives it to Aether, “use the crystal on the Holy Lyre like last time.”

Aether accepts the lyre and holds the tears close to its strings. “Let me give it a try…”

“It worked!” Paimon cheers in her happy sparkles.

“The lyre's Anemo power seems fully restored. We should be able to use it now,” Venti says with a relieved smile. “It's all thanks to you, Aether.”

“I suppose this is the part where we summon Dvalin?” Kaeya raises an eyebrow. “It must be away from the city, else there will be a lot of casualties.”

“The wind that blows at sea or in high places should be able to carry a bard's words far away.” Venti hums as he thinks of a location. “It's never going to work if the air is too dry or suffocating.”

“Paimon understands. Sea or high places, right?” the fairy hums with a thoughtful expression. “The best location to play the lyre would be…”

“A cliff?” Aether suggests. 

“If you go east from Starfell Lake, there are mountains south of the beach,” Kaeya offers.

“...Oh! You mean that beach Aether was snoring away on, and Paimon had to wake him?” Aether glares at the fairy who just giggles sheepishly.

“If you head to where the cliff juts out – that place is known as Starsnatch Cliff,” Diluc turns to Venti. “What do you think, Venti? Meets the requirements, no?”

“Lemme think... Starsnatch Cliff…” Venti hums, “...Alright, let's do it there - tomorrow though. It’s already evening and it will be better to deal with this matter with daylight.”

“Very well,” Diluc looks at Kaeya. “Can they all stay here for the night?”

“Why are you asking me?” Kaeya chuckles. “This is also your home. And of course they can stay here.”

Diluc sends him a smile before he turns to Aether, Paimon, and Venti. “Well, you heard him. You can stay here for the night and we can go to Starsnatch cliff tomorrow.”

“Let me lead you to your room,” Kaeya offers to Aether and Paimon. The two cheer and follow him upstairs.

Venti gives a smile at the cavalry captain but doesn’t follow. The bard strums a note on the Holy Lyre, waiting patiently for the redhead to ask what he wanted.

“How is Murata…?”

“She’s recovered enough to help with keeping Natlan stable,” Venti gives him a soft smile. “We still need you to get there as soon as possible to really deal with everything though.”

“What about the Anito?” 

“Well, they’re back to what they were doing before you attacked them,” Venti says wryly. “Though there’s a brewing leyline disruption on one of the volcanoes - not the big one if you’re worried - so yeah, that one will possibly erupt soon.”

“Is there anything I can do to help…?” Diluc asks guiltily. 

“Not at your current power level, no,” Venti sighs. “Once you figure out how to fix the leylines without my help, then you can start thinking about preventing natural disasters and the like. Murata and the rest are doing their best to possibly mitigate the damage of the event.”

“I understand," the redhead nods. “I will go back to Natlan soo-- Kaeya?” 

Diluc’s eyes are wide as he turns to a room that is starting to smell burnt. He runs towards it without a second thought, ignoring Venti now.

Kaeya feels something is wrong when he steps into the room. He doesn't know exactly what was wrong until a wave of dizziness hits him and he falls to the ground gasping. Fire licks at his skin and he stares wide eyed at it. He didn’t- he isn’t using his pyro. Why is it-? He screams as he feels his body boiling up from the insides and threatening to burst from within.

He can’t handle this.

Without even thinking, he reaches for his vision. He doesn’t know where, exactly, he is, or how he ended up there anymore. All he knows is that his vision is flaring, and he… he needs to… he needs someone. Anyone to help-

Flames dance on his skin. He flinches when he touches the vision, feeling heat crackling through the air. The only reason the vision isn’t damaged is most likely because it was made specifically to handle elemental reactions.

He tries to get the fire to back off. But the pyro persists to crackle around him, unwilling to be contained within him, anymore. It continues to burst out of him, becoming more insistent the more he tries to contain it.

Trembling, he closes his eyes, tears falling and evaporating just as quickly, as he prays to Diluc for help.

Kaeya tries to reign his flames in more- but his head is spinning. His breathing is coming in uneven gasps. Is he hyperventilating? He feels his body tremble, and a sob forces its way out of his throat the exact moment Diluc answers his call by barging into the room in a blaze of fear.

“Kaeya?! What’s wrong?!”

Kaeya tries reaching out to him but he feels so weak.

“Shit…" Diluc rushes beside him and holds his hands tightly. "I need you to calm down. Can you do that for me?”

“I-I’m trying...”

“Okay. Hm," Diluc bites the bottom of his lips, hair glowing red as he wills his power over pyro to overrun Kaeya's out of control one. "Kaeya, I need you to breathe. In for five, out for five, okay? I’ll give you counts. Starting now...”

Diluc talks him through the breathing exercise. It takes a while before Kaeya is actually able to breathe to the rhythm, but Diluc didn’t mind. He keeps telling him that it’s okay, and just starts counting for him all over again.

Eventually, Kaeya manages to get his breathing under check again. The flames still crackle over his skin and on his covered eye - he dearly hopes the eyepatch isn’t damaged, but it wasn’t bursting out like it had been, before. Now, it’s just internal heat, rather than exploding out from everywhere.

“Are you good, Kae?"

“Y-Yeah,” he takes a moment to look at his surroundings. He eventually recognizes it as a guest room - one he was going to let Aether use. After he takes a good look, trying to see beyond the scorch marks, he can see familiar walls, and furniture. Everything around him is smoking. He can only assume that the scorch marks had been left behind by his flames lashing out at literally everything around him.

Worriedly, he glances behind him. The door leading into the room wasn’t in any better condition. It was just barely holding on with both his pyro and Diluc's rush to get in. Venti, Paimon, and Aether are looking at them and the room worriedly from outside the door.

He flinches at the damage. He's glad the flare up didn't happen in one of the wine storage rooms. That would’ve caused an explosion or worse. Kaeya looks back at Diluc, still a bit shaken. “Y-Yeah, I’m good now. I think... Thanks.”

"It's okay," Diluc still looks very worried. "What happened?"

“I… I don’t know,” Kaeya shakes his head. “There’s still something… in my eye…” he grunts and pulls the eyepatch off himself. 

“Your odd eye is glowing, Kae,” Diluc is frowning as he caresses Kaeya’s cheeks gently, rubbing a finger under the golden eye. “I feel something on it but I can’t figure out what…”

Kaeya groans, blinking tiredly. “I… guess we should ask Venti about this…?”

“Tomorrow,” Diluc nods, helping Kaeya up. “Let’s get you to bed and rest first.”

Chapter Text

Kaeya didn’t sleep well despite how exhausted he felt from the outburst of his elemental energy earlier that day. While Diluc continues to fret over him for the entirety of him being in bed, Venti has to step in to drag the redhead away from the knight so he can actually rest properly. 

It takes half a day before Kaeya wakes up lucid enough for them to finally talk about what happened the previous day. When asked about it, Venti calls it an elemental backlash brought forth by Kaeya’s body rejecting the pyro energy coursing through his veins.

“I told you,” Venti gently massages Kaeya’s left hand, smiling reassuringly. “No allogene is built to handle two elemental energies - especially submission elements such as cryo and pyro together.”

“I’m sorry…” Diluc sits guiltily across the other side of the bed. 

Kaeya gives an amused huff and lifts his right hand towards Diluc, gently brushing the other’s hair. “Come on, sunshine. It’s not your fault. I wanted to be yours too.”

Venti hums. “Well, from what I’ve gathered in testing your energy now, you’re almost half free of the cryo channels you initially had.” Venti prods at Kaeya’s arm, causing the blue-haired man to flinch at certain points. “That pain you feel is your pyro trying to convert the cryo veins into one it can use.”

“So I’m going to be bedridden for a while, is what you’re saying?” Kaeya sighs, slumping on the bed. 

“Hmm. Not necessarily, unless something aggravates your internal energies again. For safety sake, you may want to stay here and rest,” Venti suggests, taking his hands off the knight and leaning back on his chair. “I will be honest to both of you, Kaeya is very lucky. He’s lucky that this is the worst he’s experiencing. His changing of elements would’ve caused his body to melt - literally - as that is the elemental reaction between cryo and pyro.” 

Diluc stiffens in his seat at the words, looking at Kaeya with undisguised horror and self-blame. Well, that won’t do. Kaeya pulls the redhead to the bed, making him stumble from the new position of being seated and now straddling the knight. Diluc shifts himself so he isn’t squishing Kaeya with his weight and looks at him with worry, tears already beginning to form in those beautiful rubies of his. 

“Diluc, shh, my dear sunshine,” Kaeya presses gentle kisses along his eyelids, running his fingers through the red hair, knowing that he needs to calm his lover before thinking about the situation. “I’ll be alright. You’ll be with me every step of the way, right?” 

“Oh! That might actually be why it took this long for you to get side effects,” Venti hums in his seat, staring at the couple in the bed. “It’s possible that Diluc’s power subconsciously made sure that the pyro in you flows steadily instead of rapidly taking over your elemental veins. The distance between the two of you may have triggered this reaction - or it could be due to how much pyro energy was being used during yesterday’s raid.”

“We’ve been apart even farther before yesterday though…?” Diluc settles beside Kaeya on the bed, burying his face on the knight’s shoulder. 

“Well, as I said, his acclimation is only halfway,” Venti nods to Kaeya. “It probably didn’t matter before today…. You will possibly experience another explosive episode when you’re closer to full readjustment. I can’t really be sure despite my millennia of age - this is the first time I’ve seen a human survive a change of element.”

“So it has happened before,” Kaeya’s eye sharpens at the bard, “and a non-human survived?”

Venti grins and chuckles. “You’re really sharp,” he sighs with a shrug. “Morax has an adepti who switched from hydro to anemo. It wasn’t as bad of a change due to anemo being the next native element after hydro. As the cycle of elements says: ‘the moistness of water mists and rises, and thus wind is born’ . The last time I heard a human get blessed by two gods at the same time - it wasn’t a pretty sight.”

Diluc is silent as they talk. Kaeya doesn’t know what the redhead is thinking, but he hopes he’s not planning to do something reckless. Although… it wouldn’t be Diluc if he wasn’t reckless when being overprotective. Hm… he needs to make sure to ask Diluc of his plans later.

“Is there anything we can do to lessen the effects?” Diluc grumbles from Kaeya’s side. “I don’t want Kaeya in pain…”

“We keep you in close proximity to Kaeya,” Venti says. “I did notice some of your energy is inside him, so I do think my theory is right. How do you feel right now Kaeya?”

“Slightly sore, but nothing bad really,” Kaeya says, flexing the hand Diluc isn’t clutching. “It feels like I just went through hours of hard training.”

“That’s good,” Venti crosses his arms with a considering expression. “I am deciding if I want both of you to join me and Aether to confront Dvalin… considering your current state.”

“Wouldn’t it be better if I stick close to you and Diluc?” Kaeya says, raising an eyebrow. “You being an older Archon should be able to help manage this issue, right?”

“I could help, or I could make it worse,” Venti shrugs. “Anemo, cryo, and pyro are all elements of submission. Fire is extinguished by wind. Ice is melted by fire. Wind is obstructed by ice. The three are volatile energies if not balanced correctly. You have residual ice which is gradually melted by Diluc’s fire, and my wind is stronger than that fire which will cause it to extinguish. I’m afraid to upset that balance any further than it is right now.”

“We’re still helping,” Diluc looks up at both of them, determination shining in those rubies of his. “I’m sticking with Kaeya all the way though…”

“That’s fine,” Venti smiles kindly. “I’ll go ahead and tell Aether we’ll wait for you two to get ready. Just send a message to the wind when you want to go and I’ll hear it.”

“Thank you, Venti…” Diluc gives the bard a small smile before he snuggles Kaeya’s side even more. The bard leaves the two be and goes to find Aether.

“My dearest sunshine,” Kaeya shifts to the side so he’s facing Diluc more and pulls the redhead up so their noses touch. Diluc rubies turn to him with a questioning gaze but also still full of guilt. “You are not at fault for this. It was also my choice, and I do not regret it.”

“But Kaeya…”

“No buts,” Kaeya presses their lips together briefly and smiles at him. “Whatever happens, I will be with you forever. Isn’t that what we promised each other back when we were kids?”

Diluc’s eyes widen and he flushes lightly before nodding meekly. “I remember…” he says quietly. He’s silent for a moment and looks lost in thought. “I’m going to try and make you one of my Anito.”

Kaeya blinks at the unexpected statement. So that’s the plan his beloved cooked up, hm? Although, he thinks they shouldn’t rush this kind of thing - considering what happened when they rushed in changing his vision. 

“I hope you don’t plan on doing that now, my dear,” Kaeya chuckles, giving him another light kiss. “We already have enough on our plates at the moment.”

“I know that,” Diluc pouts rather cutely. “I’ll ask Murata and the other Anito about the process before I do anything.”

Kaeya grins and gives him another brief kiss. They fall into a comfortable silence, just basking in each others’ presence. Kaeya’s thoughts flit through various subjects - this sudden elemental backlash, the Dvalin issue, his and Diluc’s ‘traitor' case with the Knights, and talking about the Anito, Kaeya remembers their eventual move outside of Mondstadt territory. 

“Hey, sunshine…” he caresses the redhead’s cheek, trying to think of a way to gently tell his beloved about what's on his mind and decides to just say it anyway. “What do you think of selling the Ragnvindr mansion inside Mond?”

Diluc looks at him curiously, clearly also thinking about it now that he asked. “... it’s your choice Kaeya,” he says eventually. “I don’t own it anymore.”

“It’s yours by birthright, Diluc,” Kaeya replies gently. “It’s also the house in which we both lived during childhood with our father. It’s only fair for you to have a say in its fate.”

“I suppose…” Diluc mumbles, “I think selling it will be better in the end. Both of us will not be in Mondstadt before the end of the year if we can help it. It’s… better for others to have a use of the building. I’m sure father wouldn’t mind….”

“Mmn,” Kaeya smiles at him in agreement. “You’re right. Although, we don’t want the house to be misused.”

“What about turning it into an orphanage?” Diluc says, planting his head on Kaeya’s chest, seemingly content to listen to his heartbeat. 

“Oh, that’s a good idea. I’ll ask Elzer to set it up so it’s sold to the Knights instead of other nobles.”

The two of them fall into intimate silence again, causing Kaeya to almost fall back to sleep. That is, until he hears a subtle whisper of his name from the redhead.

“Kaeya…” 

Kaeya looks at Diluc curiously. “What is it, sunshine?”

“Would you still uhm… like me… if… hm...” Diluc frowns, “if I was born a girl?”

“Oh Diluc,” Kaeya smiles at him and hugs him tightly. The knight wonders what brought this question on, but he’ll go along with it carefully for now. “If you’re thinking that I wouldn’t love you if you were a girl, then you’re sorely mistaken. I wouldn’t have minded - I love you no matter what you are.” 

“You do…?” Diluc gulps, hesitantly wrapping his arms around Kaeya. “I still don’t understand how you can love me…”

“I’ll tell you every day if I have to, Diluc. You’re my sun - the light that showed me the way out of Khaenri’ahs hold on me and I’m not letting you go. You taught me that I can be happy as well,” Kaeya runs his fingers through the red locks gently. “And you know… gender is a social construct here in Teyvat. I’ve been raised to not care about people’s sexuality before I was cast out of Khaenri’ah. That has stuck to me even now.”

“I remember,” Diluc chuckles at the memory fondly, relaxing at the fingers running through his hair. “You were so confused when people kept calling you indecent for dressing like a girl, even though you’re male…”

“Mmn,” Kaeya gives the redhead’s crown a kiss, “what brought this on though?”

“Hmm…” Diluc closes his eyes in thought. “I’ve been remembering things I know aren’t from my memory since I woke up from the coma,” he says eventually, frown deepening. “And I’m feeling... afraid? That my thoughts aren’t fully my own anymore…. That I might just change from the Diluc you know….”

“I see,” Kaeya presses another kiss on Diluc’s hair. “It must be from your Gnosis then… you did mention getting knowledge from it before - memories might be part of it. If it’s getting worse for you, we can tell Venti and ask him for help. Either way my dear, I will still love you, no matter what happens.”

“Thank you Kae…” Diluc looks up at him and touches their lips together. “I love you.”

“I love you too, Luc.”

“You two sure took your sweet time,” Venti teases with a grin, once again commandeering a bottle of dandelion wine in his hands. “Aether’s still doing some commissions from the guild, but he’ll be here soon.”

“Do you think we have time to pass a smithy before we go to Starsnatch Cliff?” Diluc asks, sitting across the bard on the long table. 

Kaeya sits beside him and grabs the teapot and pours himself a cup of what looks to be Pfefferminztee. He smiles happily surprised, taking in the refreshing aroma of his tea, before having a sip of the slightly spicy sweetness with a touch of mint that he thoroughly enjoys from the drink. Adelinde must’ve prepared this tea, because it’s completely catered to his tastes.

“Hm, probably,” Venti shrugs. “We’re not really on a strict timeline here, aside from me not wanting to let Dvalin suffer longer. Why, did your weapon break?”

“It’s at its breaking point. That’s why I want to visit a smithy first before we go, just in case we need to fight,” Diluc chances a glance at Kaeya’s cup and he grimaces at what flavor it is. Kaeya grins up at him, taking another sip of his tea. Of course, the redhead doesn’t take a cup immediately - unsurprising, given that Diluc isn’t fond of this kind of tea but it’s Kaeya’s favorite. “I don’t want my weapon to randomly break when we’re fighting.”

“Oh, that’s true,” Venti blinks, a considering expression on his face. “I never really cared for weapon maintenance since I use a bow, and it’s not exactly a forged one.”

“I vote we wait for Aether before picking up new weapons,” Kaeya says with a good mood from the tea and their long talk. He’s feeling better now than when he just woke up, but he’s still a bit lethargic. Some more downtime before all the action would do him well. “I’m sure he’s gonna want a better weapon forged as well.”

“That’s true,” Venti takes an apple tart from the array of snacks laid on the table and devours it. Kaeya raises his eyebrow at the bard who only grins up at him as he takes another tart. “They should be here soon. He and Paimon were really concerned for you, Kaeya.”

“Well, it’s not any day you see someone randomly combust without warning,” Kaeya quips with a laugh. “I’ll apologize for scaring them later when they arrive.”

“It isn’t anything to joke about,” Diluc huffs beside him. “I swear, if you don’t tell us you’re feeling under the weather later, I’m going to hit you.”

Kaeya laughs again as the redhead takes a kluntje and places it on a teacup. He glares at the teapot like it offended him, but Kaeya knows that he doesn’t like to skip on teatime - a habit formed from when they were kids. With a heavy sigh, Diluc takes the pot and pours it over the rock candy, which breaks under the heat. He scoops a spoonful of cream and adds it to the tea, only stirring it once, before he takes a sip. Diluc grimaces a bit but doesn’t complain. He sets the teacup down and turns to Venti.

“There’s also that matter of Kaeya’s eye reacting to the backlash,” Diluc frowns. “You told me not to worry about it, but do you know what it actually is, Venti?”

“Of course I know,” Venti puts down his wine bottle with a dramatic sigh. “Kaeya’s under my protection for a reason, you know? I know he’s Khaenri’ah’s so-called ‘lost prince’ even if he wasn’t lost in the first place. His blood is another reason why the elemental backlash didn’t destroy him on the inside.”

Kaeya quirks up an eyebrow, looking interested in what the god knows of him. The knight knows that Diluc has been informed of the Archon’s truth, even if the redhead hasn’t told him about it. While he doesn’t like it that they’re keeping information from one another, Kaeya understands the need to - especially if it’s an edict between gods.

“So what exactly does my excellent blood offer?” Kaeya asks with a teasing grin.

“Khaenri’ahns do not use elements - you  people use khemia. Khemia is not supposed to be possible in Teyvat due to it being the power to create life .” Venti looks at Kaeya seriously, “I won’t bore you with the details, I’m sure your alchemist friend can tell you more. Just know that your blood is necessary in the complete process of khemia.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Kaeya hums in thought. While he hasn’t exactly talked to Albedo much, just occasionally due to Klee, they do have some semblance of acquaintanceship from being knight captains. Maybe he’ll take a visit to the alchemist’s workshop with Diluc when they have the time. “So, I know my eye is what marks me as royalty for Khaenri’ah - my biological father also has a similar eye. Is it really that important? And why did it react during the backlash?”

“You can think of your eye as some sort of catalyst,” Venti assumes a thinking pose, looking like he doesn’t know how to explain it. “I’m not the best at this subject - I can’t really explain it… if only Suoh was still alive …” the bard whispers the last part, probably not intending to let them hear it.

“What can you say about it then?” Diluc spares a glance at Venti, but he goes back to drinking his tea. 

“If it helps, I really don’t know anything about my eye aside from it being very different,” Kaeya says as he finishes his second cup of tea. “I was left here in Teyvat when I was barely old enough to remember many details of my old kingdom. I just hide the eye cause it will incite misunderstandings.”

“Oh, uhm,” Venti looks at both of them with a complicated expression before he takes a long swig of the bottle of wine in front of him. The bard only lets the bottle down when there’s nothing left in it. “It can be used to create a connection - like a portal - between Teyvat and Khaenri’ah, which is technically what we call the Abyss now.”

Kaeya’s eyes widened in surprise. Now that’s something he didn’t expect. It explains just how his father actually got him to Teyvat though. He looks at Diluc who also sports the same realization as he does. 

“Wait-” Kaeya jolts with panic, “if my eye is able to do that, did I make one yesterday?! I couldn’t control anything during the backlash, not even my vision!”

“Thankfully no,” Venti smiles at him as he shakes his head. “Although, there might be some abyss mages that would get curious enough to investigate the abyssal energy that came from this place.”

At the information of possible abyssal forces coming close to Dawn Winery, both Ragnvindrs immediately think of ways to counter the problem. It’s at this moment that Aether and Paimon come into the mansion and join them at the table.

“Hey Aether, Paimon! How were the commissions?” Venti asks eagerly, the previous topics already thrown to the wind.

“It was boring and easy,” Aether says, glancing at Kaeya worriedly. Paimon proceeds to shovel snacks into her mouth, but is also glancing at the knight with worry. “How are you?”

“I feel better,” Kaeya says, smiling at the two of them. “If something like that happens again, just throw Diluc at me,” he jokes. Diluc sighs but there’s a fond smile tugging at his lips. Kaeya grins at seeing it. 

“If he’s well enough to joke around, that means he’s well enough to join us to the cliff, right?” Paimon asks curiously.

“That’s right, we’re going to continue our quest!” Venti exclaims. “But Diluc has told me of an important side quest we should do before then.”

“What does he mean?” Aether turns to Diluc with a questioning gaze. 

“We’re going to a smithy,” Diluc says with an exasperated tone. “I need a new blade.  Kaeya does too as his old one isn’t built for pyro resistance.”

“Oh,” Aether nods. “I’ll join you guys. I think I should change my weapon too. Pyro’s actually pretty strong. My sword’s already chipping despite it only being a day with the element.”

“Finish up your snacks and rest for a bit,” Diluc smiles at the adventurer. “We can go when you two are ready to go out again.”

The group of five leave Dawn Winery through the teleport waypoint in Springvale. Kaeya only stumbled slightly after they reappeared, but he still looks healthy so Diluc thinks that’s a good thing. Thankfully, the small village is already used to Aether using the waypoint that they aren’t even surprised at the bigger group suddenly appearing. They’re greeted warmly by the villagers as they go further in and trek up to the smithing house Diluc frequented when he was still a knight.

Diluc frowns when he sees most of the workers having grimaces in their faces. When they come closer to the forge, he already figures out what the problem is.

The heat isn’t stable - heck, it looks very erratic and nothing like what it needs to be.

“What’s going on with the forge…?” Diluc says as he comes closer to the weirdly cold coal on the furnace. A furnace that is clearly on fire but it’s not emanating the heat it should be.

“Ah, Master Diluc,” the head blacksmith of Springvale sighs when he sees them. “You’ve come at a bad time unfortunately.”

“The forge hasn’t been heating up properly for a long while now,” one of the other smiths answers his question. “Well, it’s been unstable for about a year actually.”

“How are you able to make crafts if the forges are like this?” Diluc asks with a confused frown. “There’s no way you can bend the metal with low heat like this.”

“It isn’t always like this,” they answer with sighs all around. “We’re able to make some metalworks every few days, just not as good quality as last time it worked properly. It’s like this even in the main city forge.”

Venti makes a surprised gasp that makes their group look at him in confusion. The bard laughs nervously and pulls Diluc away in a bid for privacy.

“What is it, Venti?” Diluc asks, still with confusion.

“So uhhh, I may have forgotten to tell you something,” the bard has a nervous look. “Do you remember that Archons are all gods of something right?”

Diluc tilts his head and nods. “Yes…?”

“What do you think you’re a god of?” 

Diluc’s thoughts about the smithy grind to a halt before it turns to pick at Venti’s words. What is he a god of? He doesn’t know. He tries to think hard about it but Venti decides to speak up once again.

“Perhaps... the god of wine?” Venti grins at him and Diluc has to fight the urge to punch his face. “I’m kidding! I’m kidding- don’t hit me.”

“You know what it is,” Diluc narrows his eyes at the bard. “Tell me.”

“Why does everyone believe I have all the answers…?” Venti grumbles with a dramatic sigh and nods anyway. “Why do you think the forges of Mondstadt have been having issues since last year?”

Something clicks in Diluc's mind. “... I’m the god of forges?” he asks with surprise. “What does that even mean for me?”

“How should I know?” Venti shrugs, totally unhelpful and the urge to hit him grows strong again. “We all figure out what our powers are by ourselves. You can, I dunno, maybe start by helping out that smithy with their forge issue.”

Diluc sighs and takes a deep breath. Alright, he can do that. The two of them go back to the forge area which got commandeered by Kaeya, who is trying to use his pyro to light the forge up to the right temperature. It’s somewhat working but it does look taxing for the knight, which is something none of them want. 

Diluc pulls Kaeya, who whines at the manhandling, away from the forge. He stares at the stone forge and the coal inside it. From what he can see, the air flow is unblocked and the coal is dry, ready to combust at any time. Letting his instincts guide him, the redhead kneels down and touches the reddened coal from Kaeya’s attempts - to which most of their party shout in concern for, but he ignores them. 

He can sense something from the rock that isn’t dissimilar to how his pyro feels after he got his Gnosis. Taking that as a good indicator, Diluc places his hands on the forge itself and closes his eyes, concentrating on the essence within it.

Diluc doesn’t realize it, but his body and the forge glows red from his bid to form a connection. When he opens his eyes and stands up, his ruby pupils bleed into a gradient of white chasing orange, similar to the burning coals of the forge.

Venti is smiling at him, stepping towards him after distracting their party and the curious Springvale folk away from Diluc. “Figured something out?” the bard asks.

“Yes, no thanks to you,” Diluc is still breathing heavily, but he’s calm and smiling. “Give me some metal to work with.”

Venti turns to the smiths from the village and grins at them. “You heard him, care to provide him with materials?”

“Y-yes, sir. Right away,” the smith pulls several blocks of different metals and ores, placing it on a table with an anvil on it.

Diluc steps forward to touch the offered ores, humming in interest for a few of them. He can definitely sense something within the minerals and he files that observation for later. He places the ores down and peruses the metal he’s provided. 

“This will do,” he mumbles, picking a lump of steel and Diluc goes back to the forge, which is now spewing the right temperature for heating metals. He places the lump on the burning coal, unfeeling of the fire licking at his hands. He doesn’t feel the need for clamps or tongs. 

Fire won’t hurt him - not anymore, especially not fire from the forge that he resurrected, his own dominion.

Diluc picks the reddened metal when he senses it’s ready. The steel doesn’t burn him despite him touching it without a single protective tool. He places it on the anvil and picks up the hammer, striking at the metal with a clear goal. He gets lost in the motion of crafting, forgetting his audience at how natural it feels to do this task.

Kaeya stares in awe at how Diluc works on the metal. The redhead manipulates the metal easily with the strike of the hammer. While Kaeya knows how to work with smithing, he can never really get to Diluc’s level with it back then. This though? This is more than just blacksmithing. It's like an art form.

He's beautiful.

Venti hums beside him as they watch the redhead work. "I think he'll be here for a while," the bard says at last. "The first connection to godhood tends to throw you into a trance... and he'll be like that until he's satisfied."

"We can do something else while we wait for Diluc to snap out of it then," Kaeya says, eye still glued to his sunshine. "Have any ideas, Aether?"

"Oh yeah," Paimon exclaims, "we have a request to investigate the wolf attack here in Springvale!"

"Ohh…. wolves huh…" Venti looks thoughtful.

“Well, you might as well do that then,” Kaeya glances at them briefly with a grin, “I’m staying here though.”

Venti chuckles with a shrug. “Alright, I’ll join Aether and Paimon to investigate then. I might as well visit the old man after.”

Kaeya doesn’t pay them any mind as he goes back to watching Diluc. The redhead is mesmerizing as he shapes the metal with precision. He’s appreciative of the way that the Anito’s gifted outfit shows off his Archon’s toned muscles. He wonders if the deities thought of this when they decided to gift Diluc this new outfit. Kaeya chuckles at the thought and decides he’s going to give his thanks to them regardless. They did an amazing job with both of their outfits anyway.

Diluc sets the hammer down before proceeding to use his pyro to cut several small parts of the blade. He then hammers the edges a bit more before he steps back from his work, still faintly glowing. Kaeya tries to figure out what he made, but he can’t make out much of anything except for it being a sword. The redhead takes the metal and proceeds to quench it on the bucket provided by the smithy. The aura surrounding Diluc disperses the moment the metal touches the cooling liquid and he staggers back, looking exhausted.

Kaeya steps forward and catches Diluc just before the redhead stumbles. “You alright, Diluc? How are you feeling?” 

Diluc exhales a deep breath, closing his eyes as he relaxes on Kaeya’s hold. “... Tired… but content.”

“So what did you make, sunshine?” Kaeya asks, shifting so he can support Diluc’s weight easier. 

“Made a sword for you…” Diluc says, sounding sleepy. “Should… be able to… hold pyro… yawn- easier….”

Kaeya peers at the bucket, trying to see if the metal would be cool enough by now, but he doesn’t want to risk checking it without a tong or clamp. “Do you mind sitting down for a bit, Diluc? You look ready to fall asleep any second now.”

“Mmn…” Diluc still has his eyes closed but he nods slowly. “Mmkay…” Kaeya leads the redhead to a stone bench and sits him on it. Diluc groans at the hard surface but otherwise, he’s sitting down properly.

Satisfied that Diluc is situated properly and won’t fall, Kaeya goes back to the quench with a pair of tongs. The knight slowly pulls up the metal Diluc worked on, jaw dropping from surprise at the craftsmanship of the blade piece. He knew Diluc could craft claymores without a problem when he was still a knight… but this?

This is the legendary backsword, Aquila Favonia.

At least, it looks like it. He’s seen the sword in the headquarters and knows for a fact that Diluc crafted this right in front of them. Kaeya frowns as he looks at the blade’s cutting edge. He can feel elemental traces along and within the sharp metal, but none from the false edge. While Kaeya is curious about it, he knows not to mess with the blade for now, considering that it still doesn’t have a handle. 

He looks back at Diluc who looks more awake than earlier. The redhead blinks, and Kaeya can see that his eyes are back to their normal red-orange hue. Figuring there’s no time to lose, he shrugs and brings the forged blade over for Diluc to see.

“I can’t believe you managed to recreate the Aquila Favonia, Diluc,” Kaeya says as he sits beside the Archon.

“Did I really?” Diluc’s eyes are wide as he takes in the metal blade. “Oh… I didn’t think I could,” he flushes, looking embarrassed of all things. “I just thought of what is the best sword I can give you and it just happened…”

“I feel that Aether would feel quite envious when he sees my sword,” Kaeya grins at him with amusement. “You’re probably gonna have to make him a sword too.”

“You’re right,” Diluc groans, but he’s smiling now, not really bothered by the prospect. “I don’t know what I can make him though…”

“Don’t forget your claymore,” Kaeya swiftly reminds him, before noticing the familiar figures of their companions approaching. “Although, I think you can wait until later for that.”

“Huh? Why?”

“Hey~! We’re back!” Venti calls out, with Aether and Paimon following the bard towards them. “I got a gift for Diluc for a job well done!”

“Welcome ba-” Diluc turns to the voice and chokes on his next words.

Kaeya looks at the bard properly and sees the gift that Venti mentioned being waved at them for everyone to see. His eye widens at the sight of the obsidian and crimson sword in his hands and his mouth drops as he slowly recognizes it. 

Where are these archons finding all these legendary weapons?!

Chapter Text

Venti laughs at the gobsmacked expression Diluc wore when he is given the Wolf’s Gravestone. It took some convincing from the bard to get Andrius give the claymore up, but he’s now glad that he pushed through. Diluc is holding the legendary longsword with undisguised awe and inspiration.

With Diluc thoroughly distracted by his shiny new (or should he call it old?) claymore, Venti turns to Kaeya and the newly crafted blade he’s holding. “Is that Aquila Favonia?” he whistles in amazement.

“It looks like it,” Kaeya nods to him, “but it’s definitely not the original one. This one was forged by Diluc here.”

“I figured as much,” Venti nods, touching the smooth metal. “Hoo… he added a way to channel elemental energy through the cutting edge. How interesting!”

“I’ll probably craft the pommel for this sword if Diluc doesn’t do it himself,” Kaeya says with a grin. “It’s going to be my sword from now on afterall.”

Venti agrees and chuckles when he sees Aether looking enviously at the new blade and Diluc’s claymore. “We’ll get you your own legendary sword too Aether, don’t worry!” He looks at Aether with a critical eye, “Hmm, maybe I should give you something I technically own? It will take me maybe a day or so to recover it from where it’s stored though, if you’re fine with a little wait?”

“As long as I get a legendary sword, why not?” Aether shrugs with a laugh. “Although, with how much we got sidetracked, I don’t think we have the time to go to Starsnatch Cliff today, huh?”

“Yeah, the sun’s almost setting!” Paimon says with a huff.

“As much as I don’t want to wait, you’re right,” Venti hums in agreement, “we’ve had quite a bit of excitement today.”

“I suppose we should all go back to the Winery for rest then,” Kaeya nods to them and gets up to poke Diluc out of his fanboying state. “Come on sunshine, let’s go. You can appreciate your new toy at home.”

Diluc startles at the poke and whines at Kaeya at the mention of the new toy. The knight merely raises his eyebrow at the redhead, who deflates at the look sent his way. “Fine… let’s go home.”

Aether runs off to tell Draff they’ll be off again and might come back the next day. The group of five disappear from Springvale and reappear at Barbatos’ Statue of the Seven in Windwail Highland situated just north of the Dawn Winery. They glide down from the cliff, careful not to land anywhere close to the grapevines.

The head maid is already by the front of the manor when they get close, ready to serve them. Kaeya immediately ushers Diluc to their shared master bedroom to let the god rest. Aether and Paimon request to use the kitchen so they can prepare some snacks and travel rations for themselves. As for Venti, he requests for a bottle of wine to be brought over to the library.

With everyone having their own plans for the rest of the day, Venti decides it’s possibly a good idea to start his journey to get that weapon for Aether. It will take him a while to mess with the seals of the Millennial Movement weapons….

That is, of course, after he drinks a bottle of good wine! With his request made, he sits by the manor’s library, waiting for one of the Ragnvindr employs to come by with his drink. He smiles to himself as he remembers how in tune Diluc was to his powers as a god. He’s happy and proud of the former Noctua. 

Kaeya frowns when Diluc falls asleep immediately when his head meets the pillow. He touches the redhead’s cheek gently, surprised he didn’t realize how tired Diluc was due to what happened in Springvale. He supposes the trance Venti talked about is the cause. He sits on the bed, wondering what exactly happened in the small village. He hopes Venti will explain properly when Diluc wakes up...

Speaking of the weapon… he turns to the incomplete blade and considers his options. He can make the sword handle himself and make it usable without having to bother Diluc, or he can wait for Diluc to wake up and ask him if he wants to deal with it.

But… It's Kaeya’s future sword. He actually wants to be the one to finish it.

Kaeya glances at the sleeping Diluc again and makes up his mind to do it. If Diluc complains, that’s something for his future self to deal with. For now, he wants to make this blade a beautiful sword he can use for their adventures.

He leaves their shared room and goes to apprise Adelinde and Elzer of the situation. The two dutifully understand the situation and they go to make arrangements. Thankfully, the two guest rooms prepared for Aether and Venti are still available for their usage. However, he’s informed that the bard left the manor just before Kaeya left his room. 

Well, there goes asking the Archon questions...

With a shake of his head, Kaeya thanks the two of them for their continued work and updates. He goes out of the Winery, bringing with him the unfinished sword, and moves to the Ragnvindr workshop that’s situated slightly farther from the grapevines. 

He sets the blade on his work table and starts making measurements of the tang Diluc left for the handle. There isn’t much he can use, but that’s easily fixed by adding more volume to the grip and crossguard. Kaeya hums as he remembers how the legendary Aquila looked and resolves to make the guard look similar to it. He sets to work on it and he gets lost in the process of repetitive motions of sanding wood down, cutting and melting metal, and fitting the parts properly.

It’s inevitable that Kaeya’s mind drifts to other subjects he actively did not want to think of. 

Kaeya did not tell Diluc about what he believes is the real reason for his pyro to go out of control. While Venti did explain the how, the god only speculated on reasons as to why. Now that he’s had time to think, Kaeya knows why it happened. 

The events that transpired… are due to his wayward thoughts.

The feelings of his perceived uselessness in the events that've been happening recently. While Kaeya repeatedly tells Diluc that he does not regret his decision of changing his vision, he still feels annoyed at how bad he is at handling pyro. He knows that it’s stupid of him to think of such things considering it hasn't even been a month since he received the power over fire. It took him three years of painstaking training to get his incredible control over cryo and using it in conjunction with his Khaenri’ah-based bladework.

Now though… his specialty is basically back to zero.

Kaeya heaves a deep sigh, continuing the mindless scraping of wood for the sword’s grip. 

“Hmm…” He slides the wooden grip on the tang to test how it looks and encases the metal. “Looks good,” Kaeya murmurs and removes the wood. “Time for the pommel then…” he picks up a block of brass and prepares it for melting above the forge with a crucible. It’s not a good idea to melt it entirely within the forge or it will lose most of its carbon content. Kaeya fans the flames of his personal forge and watches the metal heat up steadily within the ceramic bowl. He’s glad that the issue with forges didn’t affect the Ragnvindr’s property too. With a satisfied nod to himself, he picks up one of the molds he used for previous crafts before. It’s a little bigger than the grip he made, but it’s easier to reduce and cut off metal than to add to it later on.

With this new sword, hopefully he can make use of his unique swordsmanship to make a difference. Venti said that the sword can handle elemental infusions easily which means he doesn’t have to worry about his lack of control over pyro. Kaeya can just overload the sword with his elemental energy if that’s the case.

With the brass melting slowly, he starts working on designing the cross-guard. Since he already used brass for the pommel, Kaeya decides to continue using brass for the guard. “Hmm… since I want it to look like Aquila,” Kaeya frowns thoughtfully, “I’m going to have to work it cold and hammer it to shape…. That’s going to take a while.”

Kaeya shakes his head and resolves to deal with the details later. He pours out the melted mess on the crucible over to the pommel molds and then uses the extra liquid metal to make several thin strips of brass sheets for his cross-guard later.

With the initial preparations for his blade over, Kaeya turns the forge off and leaves the workshop. Looking up at the sky shows it’s closer to midnight instead of early night time. It seems he stayed inside the forging station longer than he thought. He hopes Diluc is fine when he gets back.

Diluc’s eyes flicker open, a dazed look in his gaze and not really all there yet. Confusion is swimming in his mind from what he saw. He dreamt of another life yet again… this time it was in a familiar land - Mondstadt. Although, it isn’t the current Mondstadt - no, it’s an old Mondstadt. How does he know? Well… the distinct visage of the legendary Grandmaster Arundolyn talking to him certainly helps. 

Diluc doesn’t understand why the man is talking to him in the dream, until the moment Arundolyn calls him Rostam. He is taken aback by the name, not because he didn’t know who Rostam is, but because… Diluc has always had the ambition to become like Arundolyn when he was a kid. He shared this dream with Kaeya who he thought would be the next Wolfpup to his Grandmaster.

The events of his eighteenth birthday derailed that plan of course.

It isn’t just Arundolyn or Rostam in the dream though…. There is also a woman with pale blonde hair, clearly a noble, and is infatuated with Rostam, even if the knight didn’t like her the same way. Diluc can’t shake the feeling that he knows the woman from somewhere… but from where ? He thinks he’s seen the woman recently - even if that’s an impossible feat in itself due to Rostam dying 500 years ago. Unless the woman is also an immortal like Venti and the gods…? 

Diluc sighs and sits up, feeling lightheaded. He looks around and notices the lack of Kaeya beside him and the darkness outside the windows. ‘ Where is Kaeya?’ he wonders as he gets off the bed slowly. He thankfully doesn’t stumble when he puts on a slipper and leaves their shared room. With how dark it is despite the lanterns dotting the hallways, it’s possibly close to midnight when he leaves his room. He quietly makes his way to the kitchen, feeling quite famished and dehydrated.

Rummaging in the kitchen shows that the maids have kept him some food to eat in the cryo box - there are two containers that have a note attached to it that tells him as much. Diluc resolves to thank his employees come morning and settles to eat on the table. Taking the one with his name, he goes to their dining table to start eating the salad with a burger steak.

The back door of the manor opens and closes quietly that Diluc almost misses it while he eats. There is Kaeya, looking exhausted but proud of himself. 

“Oh Diluc, you’re awake,” Kaeya sits across him with a smile. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m fine. I think I just woke up due to hunger,” Diluc answers, gazing at his half-finished plate before looking back at him. “Where were you?”

“I was at the workshop at the back,” Kaeya replies, leaning forward to steal a cherry tomato off his plate and munches on it. “I’m working on making a handle for the sword you forged for me.”

“Ah,” Diluc blinks in realization that yes, he did leave the sword unfinished. “Right, I’m sorry I wasn’t able to finish crafting it. Are you sure you want to work on it instead of me?”

“Of course!” Kaeya grins. “It’s going to be my sword - I’d love to work on finishing it. I was more afraid of you complaining that I took matters into my own hands.”

Diluc flushes with a pout at him. “I’m not that bad with my crafts-”

“You fought me over the sword you crafted me 6 years ago Diluc,” Kaeya raises an eyebrow at him. “And all I ever did back then was maintenance for it.”

“I-- just forget that happened please,” Diluc groans, facepalming in remembrance of his old days. Kaeya just laughs at him and tells him to continue eating. 

Diluc grumbles as he continues to eat. He looks up to see Kaeya leaning on the table, watching him with a smile. Diluc feels shy for just a second, but smiles back at his knight. “Are you not hungry?”

“I’m full just by looking at you,” Kaeya’s smile widens, bordering on the teasing smirk he usually has.

“What a tease,” Diluc blushes, trying to hide it with by pouting. “Adelinde also left a box of food for you in the cryobox which tells me you also haven’t had dinner. Go and get it, I’ll accompany you while you eat.”

“Very well, my beloved Archon,” Kaeya chuckles as well and gets up from his seat. “I’ll be back.”

Diluc watches his devotee go to the kitchen and waits, not wanting to finish his food before Kaeya comes back. It only takes a minute for him to come back with his box of food and sit across Diluc again.

“Oh? A moon pie at midnight huh,” Kaeya chuckles again when he opens the container. “Quite fitting I suppose. Let’s share the goulash and finish up our food, my dear Archon.” 

Diluc smiles and takes the mug of goulash, heating it up for them before taking a sip. He leaves half of the mug for Kaeya and finishes up on his steak. “Drink the soup, I think you need it more - you were working while I was asleep,” Diluc leans on his seat and takes this time to watch the knight. “Promise to let me know if you need help with your weapon, Kae?”

“You should look at your weapon first before you attempt to help with mine, you know.” Kaeya points out, taking the mug and sipping at the heated goulash. 

“Well, considering it’s a legendary claymore, it shouldn’t be in that bad of a shape,” Diluc shrugs. “I’ll look at it tomorrow, when we’re both awake…. I still feel sleepy, even more now that I’ve gotten some food in me.”

“Very well. I can’t leave my Archon to be sleepless just cause I’m taking my time eating,” Kaeya laughs, finishing up his moon pie and the mug of soup. “I’ll go put these in the kitchen then I’ll join you in bed.”

Diluc yawns and gets up with a nod of agreement. “Don’t take too long…” he grumbles and goes to their bedroom to hopefully sleep.

Venti grumbles as he carries a sword he fully intends to give to Aether. It’s heavy on his back as he walks to the Dawn Winery. He would’ve flown over, but he’s a little tired from using up so much of his power to remove the seals over the Millennial Movement weapons…. Even with his steady increase of power due to his reappearance last year, he’s still not a strong god due to what his purview encompasses. 

Then again, Diluc’s purview is quite interesting to know. Venti doesn’t know what power the forges can give the redhead, but he hopes that the new god figures out his power easily compared to how Barbatos found his own. As the god of freedom, it wasn’t easy to figure out what exactly his purview was… not until his friend died . When his power activated, it was to destroy Decarabian’s rule - the wish of his friend to see the birds fly free. 

His power of freedom is tied to the people he has bonds with. In this case, it’s the citizens of Mondstadt. Every single one of them.

Barbatos has found his power is only strong if his people actively wish to be free of their perceived chains. It’s why he never made the people revere him and let them govern by themselves over the years. He doesn’t want to be powerful if it means making his people suffer and always wish to be free. Barbatos is the god that brings about change - a breaker of shackles and bindings. 

It’s why he’s never really been that close to Morax who is the god of contracts - their purviews are almost antithesis to each other. 

As much as Venti plays around and tries to befriend the rock of a god for centuries , he knows that Morax doesn’t find his company completely pleasant. As it is, they classify more as acquaintances with shared burden than friends. Well, that would hopefully change with him helping the new Archon. Which reminds him that he has to set the two to meet after this whole Dvalin issue is finished.

Venti arrives at the Dawn Winery to see Kaeya swinging his new sword in his favored Khaenri’ahn bladework. He watches for a bit but doesn’t disturb the knight who undoubtedly noticed him already. He goes into the manor in search of Aether or Diluc. Venti looks around to see if Aether is in but doesn’t see the blond or fairy anywhere. Closing his eyes and listening to the wind tells him that the traveler duo is all the way over at cape oath. They’re probably on a commission then.

He finds the redhead doing some paperwork at Kaeya’s office. Venti shrugs and sits himself on the edge of Diluc’s desk, curious as to what the redhead is working on. “Letters?” 

Diluc glances at him briefly before going back to writing. “Remember the Ninth members I talked to a few days ago?” he says, grabbing a piece of paper and offering it to Venti. “They sent me this missive that came from Signora.”

Venti takes the letter and looks through it, raising an eyebrow at the demands the other Harbinger is asking of the redhead. “Is she seriously thinking you’d bow down to her?” the bard asks incredulously. “Not even I am asking you to worship me despite me being your first god as a Mondstadt citizen.”

“You’re a special case of a god, if you don’t remember, Venti,” Diluc retorts with a hum. “La Signora is… difficult. I didn’t have much of an interaction with her back when I was still Sandrone, but I’ve noticed a few things when we did. She’s very devoted to the Tsaritsa and aims to hmm… what’s the word… copy her in a way?”

“Hoo? A copycat of her own mistress eh? Not the kind of person I’d like to meet,” Venti shrugs at the god comment, putting the letter down. “What do you plan to reply?”

Diluc smiles, looking mischievous. “I’ll tell her to fuck off, basically.”

Venti laughs in merriment at the answer. The new Archon never ceases to amuse him so far. “I suppose I’ll have to expect some explosive comeback from the Fatui due to that then,” Venti hops off the table and looks outside the window of the office. “You realize what vision she has, right?”

“Yes,” Diluc purses his lips at the question. “It’s a surprise… I sensed it the moment she stepped on Mondstadt’s city proper. I thought for sure that she was blessed with cryo.”

“As you said, she’s a copycat of the Tsaritsa who frolics in her own icy palace,” Venti picks up the useless pyro vision Diluc has on his desk. “Us gods are mere pawns for Celestia, but what of the mortals below us? What of the followers we acquired throughout the years? Are they mere insects in the eyes of Celestia that they choose to exterminate whenever they choose?”

“Venti…” Diluc grimaces, going quiet for a while. Venti lets him think - the bard knows he still hasn’t come to terms of his divinity. It makes sense when you’ve lived most of your life as a mortal - Barbatos had to go through it too, being a wind sprite that he is. “Speaking of being a god... I’m getting more memories from the Gnosis. Is this normal?”

Venti hums, thinking of his own experience with his own heart. “It’s normal,” he says after a while. “I’ve had most of Decarabian’s life in my head, after all these years I’ve become the anemo Archon. Memories and imprints stay in the Gnosis depending on who bears it - no matter how short their time with it is.”

“Then why do I have memories as Rostam? I know he’s a legendary knight here in Mondstadt, but I don’t remember reading any record of him being a god.”

“Huh,” Venti blinks in confusion before letting out a puff of realization. “Rostam was never a god, that I can assure you. Hmm… maybe it’s because he was a very strong pyro vision holder at that time? Murata might have been impressed with the man’s valor at the time and it bleeded into the Gnosis. I’ve had a few anemo holders that impressed me as well.”

“I see…” Diluc bites the bottom of his lip, looking worried. “He isn’t the only one I’ve dreamed about,” he says, looking at the bard seriously. “I’ve been dreaming of this woman - honestly I don’t recognize or know of her from history books, but she’s always with Rostam and Arundolyn. Somehow, she seems familiar. Who is she, Venti?”

“You won’t stop until you clear your doubts, huh? Very well, I’ll tell you.” Venti sighs and sits across from Diluc to begin another old tale - the tale of the elegy for the end.

Kaeya enters the manor with Aether and Paimon in tow, talking about their different sword styles. They continue talking until they reach Kaeya’s office where they find Diluc and Venti looking all solemn. The atmosphere within the room is so thick and heavy that Aether tenses beside him, ready for a fight.

Sensing the need for privacy, Kaeya ushers the travelers inside and closes the door. “What’s going on?”

Diluc looks up in surprise, seemingly not noticing their arrival. Venti on the other hand, looks very happy at the distraction, and he leaps from his seat and grabs Aether’s hands. Oh, he’s actually handing over a sword to the blond.

“Aether! I got you your sword, here!” Venti is grinning wide at the offering he gives to the traveler.

“Oh,” Aether holds up the sword with wonder, staring at the craftsmanship and tiny details of the azure blade. “Thank you Venti. You didn’t really have to, you know? I was just kidding yesterday.”

“Nah, you deserve a reward after all the help you’ve given to Mondstadt,” Venti laughs and shakes his head. “A really good weapon is a nice reward, neh?”

“Don’t mind if I take it then,” Aether chuckles, inspecting the legendary sword some more. “I’ll take good care of it. What’s the sword’s name?”

“This sword is called Freedom-Sworn. It was created during Mondstadt’s war for freedom from Decarabian’s rule, and was sealed with its fellow weapons after the rebellion succeeded,” Venti explains with a melancholy smile at the sword. “As long as you stay true to yourself as you hold this weapon, you will receive my blessing from anywhere .”

Kaeya lets the two talk while he comes over to Diluc’s side, silently asking him what is wrong. The redhead doesn’t answer him, but rather his grimace worsens. Kaeya furrows his brows with confusion, but he grips Diluc’s shoulder tight in support. 

“Anything I can help with, sunshine?” Kaeya asks quietly, just in case.

“I’ll fill you in about the information later…” Diluc takes a deep breath and shakes his head. “Let’s talk about the plan regarding Dvalin for now.”

“That’s right!” Venti goes back to the seat and brings out the Holy Lyre. “We’ve dallied long enough. Let’s go to Starsnatch cliff today so that I can talk to Dvalin. We can teleport over to the Thousand Winds Temple - that’s pretty close to the cliff.”

“Ah...” Kaeya blinks. “There was a waypoint at the ruins?”

“Hm? Yes there is. It’s to the west of the ruins - you probably wouldn’t have seen it if you followed the road,” Aether says, checking on his map. “See here?” he points to a spot he marked with a circle.

“Are you able to teleport me and Kaeya without us attuning to the waypoint?” Diluc asks Venti curiously.

“Nope~!” Venti laughs, grinning wide at the two. “I’ll let you ride the wind to get there instead. You shouldn’t have problems gliding through the air currents I make for you, right?”

Diluc grumbles, looking at Kaeya for his opinion. “I think it should be fine,” Kaeya shrugs, “I’ve ridden through Venti’s winds before. It’s not that dangerous… just too fast.”

“I assume we’re all ready then?” Venti claps his hands and a veil of anemo envelops all four of them. “Let’s port over to Windrise first so I can set these two up with a current.”

The four nod to each other and they disappear from the Winery. They flash back into existence by the statue of the seven at Venessa’s tree. Kaeya looks over to the statue and frowns. Did this statue look different from last time…?

“Ah, this place really is the best for me,” Venti smiles longingly at the tree.

“Is this place really where the legendary Venessa is buried?” Aether asks the god curiously. 

“Technically, yes,” Venti shrugs, squinting at his statue. “Did you offer things to my statue by any chance?”

“Yes we did!” Paimon pipes up in a sparkle of stars. “I told Aether that anemoculus will help strengthen his connection to the statue. It should, right?”

“That is true, and it definitely helps make me stronger as well,” Venti nods, looking grateful at the travelers. “Thank you very much.”

“I just did what felt right,” Aether scratches the back of his head. “It wasn’t any trouble.”

Venti gives a light giggle. “Anyway, let’s get these two lovebirds set up and we can go on ahead, Aether.” Venti walks forward to a patch of land without grass and raises his hands. Swirls of wind gather all around him before a huge magic circle appears beneath him. A burst of anemo springs forth, summoning a wind domain that spans far into the skies, leading towards the cliff in the distance. “That should do it.”

Kaeya watches the show and wonders if Diluc would be able to do things like this in the future. Pyro is a strong offensive element, and considering Natlan has volcanoes… wait… would an angry Diluc cause volcanoes to erupt?!

“We’ll see you two over at the cliff, bye~!” Venti waves at them with a cheeky grin, grabbing Aether’s hand and they disappear in a sparkle of lights.

“Well, what are we waiting for, Kae?” Diluc stands over to the gushing wind, readying his glider. “Let’s go.”

Kaeya nods and brings out his glider as well before they jump and the winds carry them all the way to Starsnatch Cliff without issues. 

“Everyone is finally here,” Venti cheers as they land beside them before taking out the Holy Lyre.

“What a view!” Paimon exclaims excitedly.

“Lovely for a fated reunion, isn't it?” Venti chuckles. “Well, we must be prepared for a fight.”

“Hopefully, nothing extreme happens,” Kaeya says, readying himself for a fight. How would they even fight a flying dragon? “Mondstadt’s been going through so much recently…”

“I suppose having too much freedom leads to such events. Alas, I have no desire to lead the country so Mondstadt will be what its people want it to be.” Venti walks to the edge of the cliff, holding the lyre. “Everyone, please step aside!”

Venti plays the lyre, beautiful in its simplicity and soft tunes - but you can feel the deep emotions the bard put into it. If Kaeya remembers it right, the song is named Reminiscence. A rush of wind slams into the cliff, nearly blowing them away as Dvalin appears in a flurry of anemo, looking angrily at the bard.

“You have come…” Dvalin growls at Venti. “What has been done cannot be undone.”

“If so, then why do I see sadness in your eyes?” Venti says with a smile at him. “Sadness that speaks to your yearning for this song…”

Dvalin growls again but does not reply to the bard. Instead, Kaeya looks up sharply, sensing a sudden elemental trace behind the dragon’s neck - a second later Venti is attacked by a concentrated burst of cryo. The rest of the team rush to help Venti, staying in front of him as if to shield him in case another attack happens. Kaeya grits his teeth, knowing exactly what they’re dealing with from that attack. An abyss mage of all things right now...

“Do not be fooled by him, dear dragon…” the mage’s poisonous words continue beside Dvalin. “He left you to rot alone… and now he attempts to deceive you once more.”

“Barbatos…” Dvalin growls again. 

Kaeya is ready to put a pyro shield up for their group, hoping they won’t be attacked. He can see the others readying themselves as well, but the knight doesn’t believe they can do much if the dragon decides to flatten them all in this cliff. Not when Venti is injured.

“Let your wrath fester!” the abyss mage cries out to the dragon. “Mondstadt has already turned its back on you!”

“No we haven’t!” Kaeya says in desperation. “Mondstadt still believes in you!”

“You!” Dvalin doesn’t seem to have heard Kaeya at all as he roars angrily at their group. “You were planning this all along? To have me slain by them?”

“It's not like that!” Venti cries out desperately. “He’s lying!”

“The time has come for the dragon to serve its true master…” the abyss mage cackles at them and hops back on Dvalin’s neck. “While you bewail your pathetic selves and watch the world tremble with fear!”

“Dvalin…” Venti watches with sad eyes as the dragon takes flight and departs in a rage.

And, once again, there is nothing Kaeya can do to help his friend.

Chapter Text

“Are you alright Venti?” Aether and Paimon fuss at the bard worriedly. 

“I’ll be fine,” Venti grins, though he grimaces when holding his arm. “We’ve got a problem though…”

“I don’t think it’s possible to play this anymore,” Kaeya says, offering Venti the broken pieces of the Holy Lyre.

“Ugh…” Venti picks at the strings and the broken wood. “You’re right. Unfortunately, it looks like it's beyond repair…”

“What do we do?” Paimon flits around looking agitated.

“We can't let this Abyss Mage get away!” Aether says determinedly. “Dvalin didn’t look that angry until the mage talked.”

“You're right. If we don't fight the evil at its source, then we can't save Dvalin at all,” Diluc shakes his head and turns to Venti. “We should find the Abyss Mage first. Does your power encompass wherever it is Dvalin settled at? Where did he actually go?”

“Dvalin… he went to the direction of old Mondstadt - particularly the ruins of Decarabian’s tower…” Venti shakes his head. “I can’t pick up much more. He’s kicking up a storm in the area that’s out of my control - might’ve made a domain too.”

“I don’t believe it’s a good idea to rush then,” Kaeya says, looking out to Mondstadt. “We’re definitely going to fight him - but not just him from what just happened. Can you give us a day or two to investigate what the Abyss Order is planning?”

Venti sighs but nods. “I’m going to Windrise to heal up,” the bard says. “Just say you need me through the wind and I’ll come over.”

“Are you sure you don’t need anything from us that can help you, Venti?” Aether says, still worried for the injured Archon.

“I’ll be fine! Don’t worry about lil ol’ me. See you around~!” Venti giggles and disappears in a flash of particles. 

“Aether, Paimon, while we all think of what to do next, you two can continue doing whatever you want for now,” Diluc says. “You can still stay in the Dawn Winery in the evenings if you wish as well.”

“We’re going to check with the adventurer’s guild first to see if anyone needs help,” Aether shrugs. “I’ll look for Venti after and see how he’s doing. He didn’t look so good, no matter how he tried to hide it.”

“Can you also look into giving Jean an update about what happened as well?” Kaeya pats the traveler’s shoulder, who nods at him. “We’ll figure out what the Abyss is planning.”

Aether nods at both of them and with that, the pair teleport back to Mondstadt. Kaeya looks over to Diluc, who seems to be lost in thought. “What’s the plan, sunshine?”

Diluc hums, glancing over at Kaeya. “Let’s talk to my agents,” he proposes. “If they have no information, we can ask that mage we captured a few days ago.”

“Sounds good to me, but are you sure you’ll be safe around the Fatui safe house?” Kaeya crosses his arms, raising his eyebrow. “La Signora is already in Mondstadt, is she not?”

“Yes, she is in Mondstadt,” Diluc says, frowning. “I need to be able to sneak in without her knowing… or I talk to her,” he shrugs. “Either way, she can’t do anything to me if I still hold my Harbinger title.”

“Alright then,” Kaeya sheaths his sword and straightens himself. “We need to sneak around the side gate again, I suppose.”

“It’s unfortunate I didn’t have a chance to attune to the waypoints in Mondstadt before this whole incident…” Diluc sighs, shaking his head. “At least, we managed to get the one at the entrance…”

“The entrance is a bit too open, sadly,” Kaeya sighs, “then again, we can still hide your features with your bone mask and hoodie. Shall we go?” 

Diluc nods, covering himself up before grabbing Kaeya’s hand. “Let’s go,” he smiles at Kaeya and pulls at the leylines he feels within the grounds. They both disappear from the cliff and reappear near Mondstadt’s city gate. The redhead looks around, seeing a few travelling merchants entering the city. 

Kaeya, noticing his gaze, hums in thought. “I think we can still skirt over to the side entrances and get in easily. Or do you want to use the front entrance?”

“Let’s go in quietly,” Diluc decides. “It will be hard for us to explain your outfit, Kaeya.”

Kaeya blinks, looking down, likely forgetting he wasn’t wearing his usual knight outfit. “Ah. I didn’t realize I am still wearing my new getup,” he chuckles mirthfully. “Alright, let’s go to the east gate.”

The two of them sneak in with the use of a boat that is somehow left behind on the shores of Whispering Woods - a fact that makes Diluc look at Kaeya suspiciously, but the knight just grins in return. They hastily make their way to Goth Grand Hotel and see the same guard as last time, Luke, greet them in surprise. 

“Lord Sandrone!” Luke stands in attention at their presence. “What’s the occasion, Sir?”

“We’re here to talk to Lyosha if possible,” Diluc says quietly, hoping there aren’t eavesdroppers around. Kaeya is keeping watch, but it’s always a good idea to be careful.

“I’ll escort you into your office, Sir, but…” Luke seems reluctant to say something, glancing at Kaeya sitting at the benches near the staircases.

“He’s with me. He can be trusted,” Diluc says with a brief smile before he looks serious at him. “What’s going on inside?”

“Lady Signora is inside,” Luke informs him, still looking around warily. Diluc can understand the caution, considering he is in a foreign country. “She’s been making a racket after someone raided an important camp here in Mond.”

“Ah…” Diluc grimaces. That was definitely their fault. “I’ll deal with her. Can you lead us first? Standing out here in the open is dangerous for all of us.”

“Of course, Sir!” Luke stands into attention again and opens the door for them. 

Kaeya gets up at seeing the door open and joins them inside the hotel. They are led to the same office room as their last visit to the establishment and told to wait there.

“So what exactly is the plan, sunshine?” Kaeya crosses his arms, sitting on a couch.

“I plan to make Signora a deal she can’t call me out on,” Diluc says.

“You’re playing with fire, Diluc,” Kaeya says, frowning. 

“I know,” the redhead smiles at him, “but believe me when I say we have an advantage.”

“Is this related to the fact you and Venti have been talking privately a lot?” 

“I…” Diluc flinches, looking guilty. “I didn’t want to worry you with Archon matters.”

“Lighten up, sunshine,” Kaeya chuckles. “I know you two can’t talk about certain subjects with me. I also harbor my own secrets I haven’t told you. I don’t hold it against you.”

A knock on the door leaves their conversation to a halt, and the door opens to admit Lyosha. The Fatui adventurer grins at the sight of them, closing the door behind him and joining them in the seats. 

“Nice to see you both alive and well! What can I do for you, Sir Sandrone, Sir Kaeya?” Lyosha asks, straight to business.

“Thank you for coming immediately, Lyosha,” Diluc starts with a smile. “I want to ask if the Fatui know anything of the Abyss Order and their movements here in Mondstadt.”

“You mean to ask if the Fatui have a hand at what’s happening with the dragon,” Lyosha sighs with a shake of his head. “It’s honestly weird - we have nothing to do with the dragon situation as far as I know. While I’m no Harbinger, I am pretty much one of your second in command so I do have information that gets sent to me…”

That’s troublesome , Diluc thinks. That means this whole situation might not have been part of the Tsaritsa’s plan then. “What of Signora? Where is she?”

“She’s currently in another office room similar to this one,” Lyosha admits readily. “She didn’t look thrilled about the situation, or your letter either.”

“Do you think she will strike me down if I meet her right now?” 

Lyosha straightens and looks at him seriously. He seems to be worrying himself about how to answer his question. Diluc gives him time to think, as it lets him plan his words a bit more.

“La Signora cannot touch you,” Lyosha finally says after the tense silence. “I have recently received word from home that you are still my superior, Lord Harbinger Sandrone.”

Perfect . Diluc smiles at the news. While initially he didn’t want to be associated with the Fatui after everything the organization has done to his old life, receiving the Gnosis and talking to Venti gave him a new perspective of what is actually going on. He finds that he doesn’t mind being one of Tsaritsa’s hands in this war after being told the truth of Celestia. Diluc does want to stop human experimentation though, especially when it concerns children being used for it.

“Wonderful,” Diluc nods at him. “Thank you for this news. It gives me much more resources to work with. I do wish to confirm if this means you can act openly about helping me?”

“Probably not,” Lyosha leans back on his seat, observing the redhead, “at least, not yet. It’s still very dangerous for you here in Mondstadt due to the case against you. Once you’re outside of this city though, expect the Ninth to assist you in any way we can.”

“You’re right, sunshine. They really are loyal to you,” Kaeya whistles beside him. “What did you do to deserve their loyalty?” 

Diluc shrugs, not really knowing what to say, but Lyosha grins. “Let’s just say Sir Sandrone gave us more than what the other Harbingers have done for us in the almost four years he was our leader. He is definitely one of the better people to work for, that’s for sure.”

“My, you’re so charming that you’re getting praises on top of praises,” Kaeya chuckles. “Well, having Fatui as resources would probably help us in our quest to get to Natlan soon.”

“Speaking of Natlan, I’ve read your letter and forwarded the request back to Snezhnaya,” Lyosha nods to Diluc. “I haven’t received a reply - which is unsurprising considering the distance between Mond and there, but I’ll send you the details of how many wish to move over once I have it. I’m coming with you guys on your journey to the new country  - there’s no reason for me to stay here.”

“Are there others beside you coming?” Diluc asks and the agent confirms. He thinks of the logistics of their travel after this whole Dvalin issue is wrapped up. “Since the Fatui have no hand in the Stormterror situation, I’m going to talk to that Abyss Mage we captured way back,” Diluc turns to Kaeya. 

“I can do that for you instead,” Kaeya says. “No need to worry your pretty head over grisly details that I can handle.”

“Very well,” the redhead sighs after thinking about it, understanding the point. While Diluc doesn’t want Kaeya to hurt his own people, the Khaenri’ahn royal-turned-knight has been feeding their connection with lingering thoughts of uselessness subconsciously. 

Diluc doesn’t want Kaeya to feel useless.

“I can go and tell Signora you’re here to visit then,” Lyosha offers, wanting to get out of the sudden awkward atmosphere in the room. “I’ll contact you at the Winery when I have more information for you,” Diluc nods to him and the Fatuus leaves the room.

“I’m not leaving the room when you talk to her,” Kaeya says, matter of factly.

“I wouldn’t expect you to,” Diluc nods, “just be prepared for her disdain at your presence.”

They feel the change in the air before the knock, the room becoming colder as the door opens to reveal a blonde woman sauntering inside, looking regal and noble-like while glancing briefly at the two occupants.

“So the Puppet is still alive after all,” Signora huffs, “to what do I owe the pleasure of a visit from you and… this knight ?”

“Fair Lady, it has been a while,” Diluc forces himself to calm down in the presence of the other Harbinger. He pulls onto his experience as Sandrone and assumes his own mask to meet her head on. “I am here to deliver you a warning, of sorts.”

“A warning you say?” Signora laughs at the words. “And who are you to issue such?”

“I may be a new Harbinger, but Her Majesty gave me this position for a reason,” Diluc stares her in the eye in challenge. “Do you know what her last mission for me was?”

Signora frowns. Of course she doesn’t know Sandrone’s mission. The Harbingers are given assignments from the Tsaritsa herself and these are top secret. While Signora may be her favored, she is not the real second in command of the Fatui - that position belongs to Pierro. “What of it?”

“Why do you think Natlan is off limits to the Fatui right now?” Diluc smirks, trying to make it seem he’s not nervous at all. “I’ll let you in on a secret. Natlan is my territory and Her Majesty is waiting on me to make the country’s allegiance to Her official.”

“How can a vermin like you manage that?” Signora scoffs, clearly not believing him. “You aren’t strong enough to challenge an Archon. I have doubts that the Pyro Archon would willingly give you her seat of power.”

Diluc doesn’t deign her a response - instead, he dips into the well of power he feels within him that comes from the Gnosis. His practice with the mark of his divinity shows when Signora’s uncovered eye widens in surprise, looking shocked and she looks ready to bolt. She would know of what he holds, despite not being a god herself.

“You… how…? You’re not human anymore-”

“Barbatos already knows of your plans, Signora,” Diluc says finally. “I need you to change your plan of attack.”

“And what would you know?” Signora haughtily harrumps at him. “I have heard you’ve been sleeping for more than a year, out of the loop like the insect that you are.”

“The fact that you are talking to me instead of capturing me tells me that Her Majesty still treats me as her Harbinger,” Diluc’s gaze sharpens dangerously at her. “It would do you well to watch your words with me.”

“You have no way to contact Her Majesty,” Signora retorts, but she looks slightly wary. “She will take my word over yours.”

“What do you think the Gnoses are for?” Diluc raises an eyebrow. “I may be new to this godship, but I have the second oldest of Archons teaching me what I am capable of. Do not test my patience.”

Signora falls silent at that, looking at the redhead with a calculating gaze. “Very well, I’ll listen. Need I remind you that I still have a mission to retrieve Barbatos’ Gnosis.”

“Barbatos has agreed to give you his Gnosis on the condition that you order your agents to leave Mondstadt and keep it as free from Fatui influence as much as we can,” Diluc crosses his arms. 

“This is not approved by Her Majesty,” Signora shakes her head. 

“It will be,” Diluc sighs, looking at her with boredom. “I am not your enemy. I am not loyal to Mondstadt - you know of this. I pledged my entire life to Her Majesty as Sandrone, and I will honor my word. I will speak with Her Majesty and explain the details myself. Just do as I say and you’ll complete your mission.”

“You are not playing me for a fool, Ragnvindr ,” Signora huffs again, still dismissive of him.

“I know that your burning hate for Barbatos is due to what happened 500 years ago,” Diluc says softly, gaze sympathetic at her. “But it doesn’t justify destroying the city Rostam sacrificed himself for.”

“You dare utter his name…!” Signora snarls at him, looking ready to gauge his eyes out.

“I do dare, for both of your memories have been granted to me due to your visions,” Diluc doesn’t flinch despite the room’s temperature dropping. “A vision you have forsaken to serve Her Majesty.”

“You know nothing of me boy,” Signora hisses, frost coating her nails. 

“I know enough,” Diluc rises to his feet, Kaeya following him, he has achieved what he needed from this meeting already. “Meet Barbatos at his church after we deal with the dragon. I assure you that he will give you the Gnosis then.”

Signora glares at him hatefully, the room seemingly getting even colder. Diluc and Kaeya walk to the door, ignoring her anger, and leave the seething Harbinger in the office without a second glance back.

“Was it wise to do that Diluc?” Kaeya asks when they’re walking out of Mondstadt so they can teleport without anyone seeing.

“It’s the only way I know she’ll listen to me,” Diluc replies with a grimace. “She’s like one of the four winds , or Liyue’s adeptis . She wouldn’t care about what I say if I was still mortal.”

“I was talking more about the Rostam thing, but also that I guess,” Kaeya shrugs. “Are we going straight back to the Winery? Or did you need something from the city?”

“It would be nice if we can attune to the monuments inside but… I can still see a lot of knights walking around. It isn’t safe for either of us to linger further,” Diluc shakes his head. “Rostam and Signora’s situation was an unfortunate set of events that happened in the past. Still, she hates Barbatos for being an absentee god, causing Rostam to die and… I don’t want Venti, nor Mondstadt, to suffer from her revenge.”

“So she’s as old as my kingdom’s destruction, based on Teyvat’s timeline that is,” Kaeya notes, “that’s a long time to harbor a grudge. Do you think she’ll follow your plan?”

“She will, if she values her life,” Diluc takes Kaeya’s hands, squeezing it tightly. “I’m certain I can cause her control over pyro to be removed if I want it to…. I would rather not do it though. That would be a bit explosive...”

“Hm,” Kaeya squeezes his hands back. “From how you acted in the hotel, you’re planning to continue being part of the Fatui then?”

“For now,” Diluc purses his lips. “I know I told everyone else that I’m no longer with the Fatui… but I can’t deny that they have better resources than Mondstadt right now. We need their help with this issue with the Abyss Order - especially if the two organizations really aren’t connected.”

“You don’t fully believe the information your second gave you?” Kaeya hums in thought.

“It would be folly to believe every scrap of intel we get from outside sources,” Diluc says with a smile at him. “I have you to help confirm the information, no?”

“That you do,” Kaeya chuckles. “Let’s go back to the Winery then. I’ll pay a visit to our little prisoner and you can continue your leftover work.”

Kaeya comes out of the underground prison rooms of the Ragnvindr lands around midnight. He is contemplating the information he gleaned from the Abyss Mage they captured before. A plan to find a specific Field Tiller core, a way to use a Statue of the Seven, experimentation on several deities dead or not, and… a Princess of the Abyss.

Kaeya does not know of any other Khaenri’ahn noble that would still be alive to date - especially not a princess. 

While he was left to fend for himself at a young age in this somewhat backwards world of Teyvat (compared to Khaenri’ah), Kaeya knows for sure that he is the only child of the last king of the empire. If he isn’t the only one left, then Dainsleif should’ve informed him about it. Something just doesn’t add up...

Kaeya finds Diluc slumped at his desk, sleeping but also looking quite uncomfortable at it. He chuckles, about to attempt carrying the redhead to their shared bed but he wakes up, mumbling incoherently in Kaeya’s arms. 

“Go back to sleep Diluc,” he says softly, shifting the other’s body in his arms on a better bridal carry.

“Mm, Kae…” Diluc closes his eyes and snuggles more on the knight’s chest.

Kaeya smiles, feeling the redhead fully relax and fall back to sleep. He carries Diluc to their bed and tucks him in, pressing a light kiss on his forehead. He’ll join in after he deals with another matter. 

He backs off the bed, and with one last longing look at Diluc, he leaves by teleporting back to Mondstadt’s entrance. He waves to Swan and Andrei who don’t stop him as he enters the gate. Kaeya walks into the city without care on who will see him - it’s late enough that there aren’t many citizens mulling about, only those too drunk to care about what’s going on. 

Kaeya sees the teleport waypoint at the center of the city and attunes to it easily. After that, he starts going up the steps towards the cathedral in search of Rosaria or Vile, hoping the informant already has what he asked her for. They meet up around the shadows of a pillar and exchange information and mora. Thankfully, Vile did her work and gave him enough information to plan even further.

Kaeya leaves the cathedral and enters the Knights of Favonius headquarters. He sees the lights on Jean’s office are dark so he doesn’t enter. He’s not here for her anyway - not yet. Kaeya goes up to the third floor of the headquarters and goes to the farthest door from the stairs and knocks.

“Come in.”

Kaeya enters the adequately lit room that houses several bottles and other alchemical tools. He closes the door quietly and regards the sole occupant of the workshop. “Albedo.”

“Captain Kaeya,” Albedo blinks, looking emotionless, but he’s known the other captain enough that he knows the man is surprised. “To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?”

“I need your help with something,” Kaeya sits across from the alchemist. “What do you know about Khemia?”

Albedo narrows his eyes at him, seemingly looking for something Kaeya doesn’t know. “Why do you ask this?”

Kaeya swallows dryly. He doesn’t really want to know, but he needs to if he’s to understand what his eye and blood can do. Venti told him he doesn’t have the knowledge. “If I tell you I am from Khaenri’ah, would you believe me?”

“Of course,” Albedo says, matter of factly, “you weren’t very subtle about your lineage - although I don’t blame you for no one would know of it considering it has been five hundred years since the last was known. That however does not answer my question.”

Kaeya breathes deeply and starts explaining what he needs to know from the alchemist. Albedo is silent as he listens, only questioning him a few times on some details before they start experimenting. It takes them hours of talking and tests on his blood and eye before some kind of result looks promising. 

They only realize it’s already late morning when Klee barges in to drag Albedo for breakfast. Feeling exhausted from not having slept and the amount of information he gathered the past hours, Kaeya opts to join them in their breakfast before he leaves after a goodbye to the pair, teleporting to the Dawn Winery. 

He enters the manor and informs Adelinde that he will be sleeping for a few hours and to only wake him up in an emergency if possible. Diluc is at the dining table, looking to be having a late breakfast. 

“Where were you, Kae?” Diluc asks curiously, nibbling on a bagel.

“I was looking up information about the Abyss, and I talked to Albedo as well,” Kaeya says, pressing his lips on the redhead’s cheek who blushes at the action. “I should sleep though, or else I might pass out on you while I’m reporting.”

“Okay,” Diluc nods, smiling up at him. “Have a good rest, Kae. I’ll wake you up in five?”

“I don’t mind having just four hours, but if you don’t mind, that works too. See you later,” Kaeya gives him another chaste kiss and goes to their shared bedroom to sleep.

Diluc stays true to his word and wakes Kaeya up after five hours. Venti and Aether come to visit at an earlier hour, but they don’t disturb the sleeping knight. Kaeya greets them wearily, still looking exhausted from the work of the previous day, but looks as ready as he can be.

“Dvalin is at Decarabian’s ruins for sure,” Kaeya tells the group. “I’m sure Diluc already told you that the Fatui have nothing to do with it, and I confirmed his informant is not lying. The Abyss are merely using them as a scapegoat for their plans with the deities here in Mondstadt.”

“Hoh? You mean the Abyss Order has plans about Andrius too?” Venti hums, looking troubled. “They’re being pretty daring. Do they think me a fool that would not fight back?”

“Considering you’re losing your power soon, I don’t think that’s a statement you should be saying lightly,” Diluc says with a frown. “It will be hard for Mond-”

“Wait, wait- Venti is losing his power?” Aether cuts them off. “What do you mean?”

“Ah,” Venti scratches the back of his head. “I kind of made a deal to hand over my power as a god to the Fatui as long as they leave the city and its citizens alone. After we save Dvalin, that is.”

“What?!” Paimon shrieks, looking alarmed.

“Why would you?” Aether looks confusedly at them. “I thought you guys said the Fatui are up to no good.”

“Technically, they aren’t doing anything good… but these two planned behind our backs to make a deal with them. I know they wouldn’t make a deal that is disadvantageous for us so I’m not against it. Besides, the Fatui are diplomats - we can’t touch them,” Kaeya drawls out while the two look sheepish. “Apparently Diluc hasn’t been branded as a defector by their goddess yet, so we’re going to be using that as leverage while we can.”

“We plan to make Signora finish her mission here without any conflict happening,” Diluc says apologetically, forgetting that the travelers didn’t know what they were going to do. “I just ask that you don’t attack her if she does approach you. You won’t miss her presence when she appears before you.”

“That’s doable, I guess…” Aether nods slowly. “What does that have to do with Venti’s power as a god though?”

“Signora’s mission is taking Venti’s power,” Diluc shakes his head. “We can’t tell you the specifics of it yet, maybe we can at a later point, but we made a deal with her that ensures the safety of Mondstadt.”

“How are you so sure she won’t betray you?” Paimon asks, skeptical.

“If she’s afraid of her goddess then she won’t,” Diluc answers with a shrug. “Whether or not we make this deal with her, she will attack Venti. We might as well get something out of it.”

“I’m not that strong of a god, you see?” Venti says, smiling unconcerned. “The Seven Archons preside over their own part of Teyvat. Only in performing our duty and receiving devout prayers can we attain power, but I don't like the idea of ‘ruling’ Mondstadt – and I don't feel Mondstadt would really like it either. That said, I’m quite sure she won’t have issues in a fight with me. People say I’m the weakest of the Archons afterall~”

“Mondstadt’s history says Barbatos wished for the people to ‘Go forth and establish a city of freedom without rule’,” Kaeya explains, “and the people of Mond did just that.”

“Not sure I believe you,” Aether squints at the bard, “but fine. As long as no one gets put in too much danger, I suppose I’ll play along.”

“So!” Venti claps, wanting the topic to be dropped. “Let’s talk about our plan of attack at Stormterror Lair.”

“I won’t be joining you on the attack,” Kaeya says immediately. 

“What? Why?” Paimon demands, looking surprised. 

“Does that mean Diluc won’t be joining us as well?” Aether asks, a little worried.

“The Abyss Order is doing a two-front attack,” Kaeya sighs, sipping on his tea to calm his nerves. “While we’re distracted with the Stormterror issue, they plan an attack on Mondstadt and some sort of ruins in Liyue - I couldn’t get much information aside from it being in Minlin.”

“So you plan to stay here in Mondstadt to protect the city,” Venti nods, looking thoughtful. “This reduces our firepower quite a lot…. Is there anyone we can pull to the exploration team that can help us without questioning who I am?”

“I would’ve suggested Jean, but if Mond would be attacked, she won’t leave the city defenseless,” Diluc crosses his arms, thinking as well on who can help. “I apologize - I don’t know many people in Mondstadt now…”

“It’s fine, Diluc,” Kaeya smiles at him. “I would recommend grabbing Eula and Amber. We’ll make sure Mondstadt is still standing when you come back.”

“What about the attack in Liyue?” Aether frowns, “I haven’t explored that far into Liyue yet to know where this ‘Minlin’ is.”

“Hm…” Venti closes his eyes and Diluc feels the distinct pull of the god’s power. “I’ll have someone look into it, don’t worry,” the bard smiles and looks over at the traveler. “Let’s go and get these people Kaeya recommended and save Dvalin.”

“Alright, let’s go,” Aether nods. “We’ve delayed this long enough.”

Diluc watches the three of them disappear, possibly teleporting over to Mondstadt. He hopes that they won’t have issues recruiting people to their cause. While Aether is strong and able to use two elements at will, Diluc doesn’t want only the two of them to confront the dragon, even if one of them is a god.

Kaeya slides a few papers over to Diluc’s side after the party of three leaves. “Here’s what I managed to compile from the Abyss Mage we captured a while back,” he says with a sombre look. 

Diluc nods and starts reading, furrowing his brows at the plans listed and the mention of a person of interest. “Princess? Do you have any idea of who this is?”

“Unfortunately, no,” Kaeya shakes his head. “I’m going to try contacting Dainsleif to get information from him, but I doubt he’ll answer my call.”

“Who is Dainsleif?” Diluc looks at him sharply.

“The Twilight Sword of Khaenri’ah, basically the… bodyguard for our royal lineage,” Kaeya shrugs. “He abdicated that title though, and became the Bough Keeper, guardian of the world tree Irminsul.”

“Huh,” Diluc knows of Irminsul. His gnosis resonates deeply with the tree even if he doesn’t understand why yet. “That implies he’s possibly immortal if he’s the guardian of Irminsul.”

Kaeya hums in interest. “Did your gnosis tell you anything about the tree? I admit I don’t have much knowledge of it.”

“Well, yes…” Diluc pauses, hesitant in saying more for fear of Celestia striking them down. When the warning to stop doesn’t come, he continues. “The gnosis taps into the power of Irminsul. If we pull too much from it, it causes an imbalance of elements and will get back at us, siphoning our own life energy in order to recover what was lost. While the Geo Archon and Venti have lived thousands of years, it doesn’t mean they can’t be killed.”

“That sounds dangerous,” Kaeya frowns. “Is that why there is only one Archon of each element?” he mutters, donning a thinking pose. 

“There are multiple requirements to becoming an Archon,” Diluc places his fake-vision on the table. “The most important one is having a vision and achieving the ambition or dream that triggered the blessing for you.”

“Doesn’t that mean I am a candidate?” Kaeya looks at him sharply. “I already achieved my dream.”

“Yes,” Diluc smiles, nodding at him. He knows full well what Kaeya’s ambitions are. “Although I won’t be relinquishing my divinity to you anytime soon, and I doubt you want me to die just for that to happen.”

“Yeah, no,” Kaeya snorts, huffing at him for even suggesting such. “I’m not letting you go again.”

“Good,” Diluc gets up from his seat, already finished reading all the information Kaeya compiled. “Let’s go to Mondstadt and inform Jean of the attack. We can probably help shore up our defenses or be an early attack force.”

Chapter Text

Eula is decently surprised when the traveler invites her to help with the Stormterror situation. The two of them aren’t acquainted aside from being part of the knights, and they haven’t talked with each other before. Also, with how chaotic the situation is in Mondstadt, she feels that she should be helping within the walls of the city instead of out here. But, after seeing how the suspicious bard seems to control anemo like he was born with it, she quickly figures out that it is Barbatos with them. 

The noble drops her inhibitions in joining the cause, even if the Outrider Amber is here as well. While she doesn’t believe in getting saved or having the blessings of a god, him being here means this is an incredibly serious matter. If it will save Mondstadt, then she’ll help with all her might.

She is honestly wary about the invitation, but after hearing she is recommended by Kaeya, Eula figures out why she is chosen. As a knight, she is supposed to be dealing with things out in the open. However, with who she is and what her family represented, Eula’s choices of work teetered on the edge of the darker side of things. 

Eula is part of the Kreuzlied organization that encompasses the darker side of the Knights of Favonius. She technically doesn’t do much for the organization aside from being in a position of power in the Knights, but she does use them to grab information she needs.

One such information she attempts to access is about Diluc Ragnvindr.

Eula quickly figures out that Diluc was captured by the Fatui on his sojourn of vengeance against the military organization. One thing that she didn’t expect is finding out that the redhead became a Harbinger - the highest official position one can get in the Fatui. Their spies tell her that Diluc is still considered as a Harbinger despite him being missing in action for a year.

Knowing that Diluc is in Mondstadt, Eula grows nervous of having such a volatile and high-profile character within the city of freedom. She continues digging into the matter and ends up making a mistake at handling the information.

One of the Lawrence family finds the paper trail about Diluc being a Harbinger on her desk when she has left the city for a mission. Eula comes back to Mondstadt, only to see it on the verge of a civil riot. Thankfully, as unfortunate as it sounds, the attack from Stormterror helped stop that riot from happening.

Another thing that makes Eula nervous about the situation is the current Cavalry Captain of the Knights of Favonius. She can’t figure out what the knight is really planning. Considering Kaeya’s own private network of spies and informants, Eula has thought that he is part of Kreuzlied. It is the furthest from the truth. While he definitely knows about the organization, he doesn’t hinder or help them. 

Eula believes he should be angry about the Fatui connection as the Ragnvindr family marked them as enemies due to the last master’s death. But… with how Kaeya’s acting regarding the situation, Eula believes that the Ragnvindr household will pull out of Mondstadt instead.

It doesn’t make sense to her.

Eula knows the political climate within the city would completely change once the wine makers are out of the country - it's only a matter of when. She realizes there's not much time before they leave the city of freedom and she needs a plan before it comes to pass. 

She doesn’t want the Lawrence family to take power again.

Eula can’t help but think she is chosen for the task of accompanying the god in order for her to not be in the city. She is tempted to ask Barbatos what he thinks about the situation. However, she’s also scared of the answer.

Whatever may happen might stop her quest for vengeance.

Kaeya and Diluc sneak into Mondstadt easily by using the side gates again. Diluc has half the mind to tell Jean how such a security breach is bad for the city, but they have more pressing matters to talk about.

Aprising Jean of the situation brought the knights into high alert. With the defense of the city left to the knights, they offer to go outside of the city to attempt an assault towards the Abyss forces gathering around the city. Considering the situation, Diluc asks the Fatui loyal to him to help their attack. Lyosha immediately pulls through and gathers ten agents who won’t ask questions and will follow his orders. 

This brings them to the current situation where Diluc is leading the Fatui as Sandrone yet again. He surprisingly does not find it abhorrent compared to last time he had to pull on the memories of being a Harbinger. The agents are rightfully wary of Kaeya due to him being a knight, but they don’t ask questions.

Kaeya brings their contingent of Fatui agents to the gathering spot of several Abyss Mages and coerced hilichurls. Diluc frowns at seeing the dozen mages with many more hilichurls in the camp. This wouldn’t be an easy fight it seems.

Thankfully, the visions the agents have are varied enough that they won’t have issues with shields. Diluc lets Lyosha handle the delegation of the agents while he and Kaeya survey the surrounding. 

“This is pretty close to Andrius’ domain, isn’t it?” Diluc looks down over the cliff, watching a group of Abyss mages giving orders to hilichurls. 

“Do you think we should go over and ask him for assistance?” Kaeya asks, looking over the other cliffside. “However, I do think we have enough firepower to deal with everything here though. Your Fatui agents look competent and strong enough.”

“They’re not my agents,” Diluc grumbles in a low voice, “but you’re right. We don’t need Andrius’ help for this. Let’s go ask Lyosha what he thinks - these are mostly his associates than mine.”

The two of them back away from the cliff edge and move back to the small camp the agents made. Lyosha greets them and gives a rundown of the organization he did for the Fatui. The three of them will be leading a team of four agents each and with consideration that they all use pyro visions, their teammates are of a variety of hydro, anemo, and cryo users.

Diluc doesn’t like being separated from Kaeya, but he is acting as Sandrone right now and should not be seen as someone who relies on another so easily. He has to look like a good, dependable superior to these agents. With that said, he learns of the four’s names and the basics of their abilities. The redhead immediately figures out that he has to be the main damage contributor for the group and conjures a plan to subjugate the area. The Fatui agents don’t question his plan and proceed as ordered.

The group approach the hilichurl camp quietly, sneaking along the top of the cliff before plunging down on the unsuspecting foes. The hilichurls scramble to pick up their weapons to defend while the abyss mages screech in anger, shields hastily formed. Diluc sends elemental shields around each of the agents before coating his claymore with blazing fire. 

The redhead slams the pyro-infused weapon into a cryo mage’s shield, breaking it in one swing and hitting the mage within it. He doesn’t stop to inspect the damage, and sprints to another mage to hopefully break its shield. Unfortunately, the second mage is a hydro but it doesn’t mean Diluc can’t break the shield - it will only take more than one strike. He infuses more pyro on the claymore and wills the air around the mage to heat up, aiding in vaporizing the water shell protecting it. The abyss mage shrieks in fright when the protective shell disappears into mist, trying to teleport away. Diluc immediately slams his claymore towards the mage’s head, hopefully knocking it unconscious or dazed enough for the agents to deal with it.

Diluc looks around to check on the situation and smiles at seeing the agents dealing with their enemies efficiently, they even got the first mage he incapacitated. He leaves the hydro mage on the ground and engages the mitachurl that’s being held back by two of the Fatui. Diluc calls the two to fall back and he charges in with his blazing sword, easily cutting through the mitachurl’s shield. The mitachurl roars in defiance and attacks him with its bare hands which Diluc easily dodges - the bigger the target, the easier it is to dodge. The redhead cuts down the mitachurl with ease using the legendary claymore.

He studies the situation again and confirms they have the camp fairly neutralized. Diluc stretches his arm, takes a deep breath, and charges back in to help his agents deal with their remaining enemies. 

He hopes the other two groups don’t have problems.

Kaeya is glad Lyosha gave him agents that have considerably high firepower. While he has a new sword now which he can imbue with pyro easily, it doesn’t change the fact that he has a very low grasp of how to handle fire. He tells the group as such and lets them lead the attack, offering to provide them support instead. The agents look apprehensive at the choice, but lets Kaeya watch their backs.

The knight carefully lets his pyro coat the blade Diluc made for him and smiles at the bright red glow the sharpened edge exudes. Looks like Diluc’s craft can handle his unstable pyro control. The blade should be hot enough to cut through other metals if he’s right about this. He gives a practice slash towards a rock and the blade easily sinks right through, cutting it in half. Smiling in satisfaction, Kaeya nods at the Fatui agents and signals them to attack. 

Kaeya watches the agents make immediate work on the hilichurls and mages that were not expecting an attack in their camp. There are a few who manage to escape and draw their weapons and shields, but their attackers don’t relent. Kaeya sees a cryo mage attempting to cast some magic and he rushes in to attack it. His blade slices through the cryo shield without issues, breaking it in one strike, and causing the scorching steel to stab into the mage. The mage shrieks in pain and disappears into particles of light.

Kaeya blinks in surprise, not expecting a one hit kill to happen but he’s not complaining. He looks around to find more targets and starts picking off hilichurls and mages that aren’t already being attacked by his group. He’s pleasantly surprised by how competent the Fatui are with the sudden subjugation job they got. Kaeya thinks adding some Fatui to Natlan may be a good idea after all. 

That is… as long as they’re loyal to Diluc.

He briefly wonders how Diluc and Lyosha’s groups are doing. That is… until a flaming claymore interrupts his attack on a mitachurl. Kaeya gapes as Diluc slams his blade on the mitachurl’s side and knocks it away as if it weighed nothing. The redhead looks over at the knight as if appraising his state before nodding to himself and joining in the fray again. 

Kaeya shakes his head with a chuckle at the archon’s actions and goes to find an agent to help out. What an overprotective god… no, that’s not accurate - Diluc is more than a god for Kaeya. 

With the redhead’s group of agents helping Kaeya’s own, they make short work of all the hilichurls and abyss mages left in the vicinity. They all go towards Lyosha’s group, only to see them take care of their last enemy before they arrive. With that, the invasion is hopefully over. 

“I don’t sense anything else here in Brightcrown or at Windwail Highland aside from the usual dwellers,” Diluc tells them while they heal their injured people. “I’m not used to this detection skill yet to figure out the status in Starfell Valley…”

“It’s alright, Sir Sandrone,” Lyosha nods at the god. “We didn’t see or hear about any suspicious movements for the monsters in that area so I don’t think we have that much to worry about.”

“Besides,” Kaeya grins and pulls Diluc to him, “you can trust Jean and the rest of the knights to protect Mondstadt even if we’re not there, can’t you?”

Diluc hums in answer, clearly thinking, before he nods slowly. “Right… I should remember to trust the city’s own citizens to defend themselves, considering I am not one of them anymore.”

“That’s right,” Kaeya hugs Diluc gently, letting the other know he’ll still be by his side. “We need to trust our friends to deal with the issues they encounter without us. If you want, you can take this incident as if it’s a test for Mond. Whatever happens, I’ll be with you, so don’t worry too much, okay?”

“You are a good follower, Sir Kaeya,” Lyosha smiles at them, clearly not bothered by their display of affection.

“Merely trying my best,” Kaeya chuckles, not denying anything. “If anything, you’re all surprisingly quite loyal to my Diluc here.”

“That’s just how much of an impact Sir Sandrone had in Snezhnaya,” Lyosha shrugs. “Although, only the Ninth Division really knows most of what he’s done. Snezhnaya’s education has… not really been a good thing for decades before Sir came and proposed the academic changes. Now everyone’s benefiting from it, so most of us are thankful that he’s giving a chance for the next generation to get a better education.”

Diluc buries his face in Kaeya’s chest, trying to hide how much he is blushing at the compliments Lyosha is unconditionally giving. Kaeya chuckles again at the redhead’s actions, amused at how easily flustered the redhead still is even after so long.

“Ah…” Diluc suddenly pushes himself off and gazes to the west with a faraway look, “... the winds have calmed.”

Kaeya looks over to Lyosha who nods and gets up to rally the agents up for their return to the city. The knight pokes Diluc’s cheek to get his attention and the redhead blinks a couple of times before his eyes focus and turns to him. “Let’s go back to Mondstadt, hm?”

“Mmn... yes.”

Aether sighs in relief once they’re on the ground, exhausted beyond belief. While he has the power of flight (before that unknown goddess took all his power away), it still feels weird and scary to be flying via dragonback. He and Lumine visited a world that had dragons before, but he’s never ridden on the back of one. It just didn’t feel the same  compared to his own wings that gave him the freedom to fly.

His name means sky for a reason.

Paimon looks decently exhausted despite not being part of the big battle from a few hours ago, but Aether can’t blame the fairy for it. He’s found, after months travelling with her, that his guide isn’t really built for combat. And today’s battle needed her to be of some help or else she would also be swept away by the dragon’s winds.

She is an incredibly valuable information source - even if he can’t completely trust everything she says. Aside from that, Paimon has that magic storage bag which makes their adventure way much easier than it should be. 

“I’m gonna go and check up on things first,” Venti says after he makes sure everyone landed on the ground safely. “Go rest and be free~ I will come see you again in the morrow.”

Aether nods at the god who promptly disappears, and he turns to their other companions, Eula and Amber, who look just as drained as they are. “Are you two going back to Mondstadt?”

“I should,” Amber groans out a whine. “I feel so tired…! I’ve never felt this tired since… ever!”

“I will be returning to the city, yes,” Eula lets out a small huff of breath, but doesn’t tell the outrider off unlike when they first interacted in the party. Aether thinks the archer gained some respect from the noble-born after what happened in the fight with Dvalin. 

“I was thinking of camping out but after that battle, I think I want to cash in on an inn for the night,” Aether shrugs and checks his mora pouch. “How much are inns in the city worth?”

“It shouldn’t cost you more than 500 mora at least,” Amber answers with a smile. “I can recommend you one if you’d like?”

“That would be helpful,” Aether smiles back and nods, “thanks Amber.”

“No problem!” Amber bodily stretches and jumps in place, seemingly getting her energy back. “Alright, let’s go to the city and sleep the day off!”

“In that case, I shall report to the Acting Grandmaster about our mission,” Eula says with a sigh, obviously trying to play off her fatigue, “I shall leave you three to your plans.”

Amber watches Eula leave with a worried look, but wipes it away when she looks back to Aether and Paimon. “Well, let’s go! There’s no point in just standing here. Chop chop~”

Aether chuckles and follows her lead. While he and Paimon can easily teleport back to Mondstadt, he’d rather not use the energy he still has for that. And, it will end up with him leaving Amber alone which isn’t something he wants to do.

The archer leads him to a cheap inn settled behind the Good Hunter and leaves the two for her own home. Aether promises to see her tomorrow to help with the debriefing with Jean as well and they agree to meet up in the headquarters in the morning. With that, the two travelers have a good sleep for the night after dealing with the country’s primary problem.

The next day, Aether’s stomach wakes him up - surprisingly, before Paimon. Remembering that they didn’t even eat dinner last night before falling asleep, Aether thinks he should just grab some takeaways from the Good Hunter and eat back at the inn. With that plan, he looks at the fairy who is still in dreamland.

He supposes he can give the fairy a treat.

Aether leaves Paimon to her sleep and jogs over to the restaurant to order some easy food to cook and pack away. He ends up with two sets of chicken-mushroom skewers, fisherman’s toasts, and a stack of tea break pancakes. Thankfully he manages to bring the food to their inn room without any spilling. Paimon wakes up to the smell of food and looks at the spread with genuine happiness.

“Let’s eat breakfast Paimon,” Aether offers with a smile, giving the fairy a small fork.

“Thanks Aether!” Paimon says, already digging into the pancakes and skewers. “You eat too! I remember we didn’t eat last night!”

“Of course Paimon,” Aether chuckles, grabbing the other skewer and starts eating slowly. “We don’t have a lot of things on our list today aside from reporting to Jean and getting our daily commission. Should we take a break while we’re at it?”

“Don’t forget Venti wants to talk to you today!” Paimon reminds him after chewing on her toast. “After that, maybe look for Diluc or Kaeya? If they aren’t with Venti that is.”

“Oh, good idea,” Aether nods, starting on the toast, humming in thought. “We can figure out how to meet the other Archon if we ask them, particularly Venti…”

“Yup~” Paimon finishes her share of food and looks longingly at Aether’s plate of pancakes. The traveler snorts and moves it over to her and she cheers at more food for her. “Although, we should be going to Liyue after you tie up loose ends here in Mondstadt. The oldest Archon is the one that handles that area so maybe they know something about your twin!”

“Here’s to hoping…” Aether finishes up on his breakfast and cleans up their used plates and utensils. “Go get our stuff ready, let’s leave when you’re done packing.”

“Okay~”

After checking out of the inn, the two of them travel towards the Favonius headquarters. There, they meet up with Amber who still doesn’t look as energetic as she usually is. 

“Come on, let’s go in,” Amber pushes the two of them to the building in a hurry. “I still have to find Kaeya who apparently disappeared during all this conflict,” she says with an annoyed huff.

Aether laughs and lets himself get dragged to Jean’s office. He sweatdrops at seeing the towers of paper on the longtable at the side and even more at the main desk where Jean is working hard. 

“Maybe we should come back later…?” he offers, seeing how busy she is.

“Ah, Honorary Knight, Outrider, thank you for coming despite being so busy as well,” Jean finally looks up after hearing his question. “I’m sorry for this mess. I’d offer you seats but…” she gestures to all the seats that are covered with even more paper.

“It’s fine, Acting Grandmaster,” Amber immediately refuses, “we’ll stay standing. We’re here to report about the subjugation of Stormterror - the Dragon of the East, Dvalin.” 

As the Outrider reports their encounter, Aether interjects a few times to provide a better account of what happened, but otherwise their report passes without much questions from Jean. 

“Thank you for the report,” Jean says as she signs another paper and puts it on a separate file. Aether notes she has not stopped working even while they reported - how hardworking. It must be hard to be the highest level of authority during a crisis… “You two have earned yourselves a vacation. But I know the travelers here are going to the adventurer’s guild to get commissions anyway,” Jean chuckles and picks up another file. “That said, can you deliver this to Cyrus since you’re going there anyway?”

“Sure,” Aether shrugs and takes the file, “if there’s nothing else, we’ll be off then.”

“Aether, Paimon,” Jean calls them out before they leave and they stop to look at her in confusion. “Without you, we possibly could not have prevented any lives from being lost. Thank you, from the bottom of our hearts.”

Aether and Paimon smile at her and wave goodbyes after accepting the sincere thanks. The two make their way along to the Adventurer Guild Headquarters, looking around to inspect the damage from the continuous storm that Dvalin caused. There are many people busying themselves in the streets and their homes or stores. It makes Aether glad that the citizens aren’t in despair despite the amount of destruction caused and they are moving about energetically, cleaning up debris and fixing torn roofs among other things.

“Here we go! This is it! Crisis! Danger! The thrill of adventure!!”

They reach the guild to see Cyrus shouting enthusiastically outside, trying to cajole people to join the adventurers. 

“Adventurers' Guild! Finally, our days of rescuing kittens and finding lost puppies are over! The age of adventure is upon us!” Cyrus continues despite only having a thin crowd of curious teenagers. “Roll up, youngsters, join the Adventurers' Guild today! In this time of great upheaval, we must rally together, take on the dragon, and save our great city of Mondstadt!”

“Uhm, Cyrus,” Aether interrupts him by pulling his arm gently towards the guild’s entrance. “Yeah, about that… the dragon issue has already been worked out.”

“...What!? WHAT!?” Cyrus looks at them with surprise and some dismay, “The Stormterror threat is resolved? I missed the Acting Grand Master's speech?”

Aether nods slowly, a bit scared of the guildmaster’s reaction. “Here’s the paperwork from the Acting Grand Master, please receive it.”

“...Bah! Stormterror should have put up more of a fight! We didn't get to join in…” Cyrus continues to grumble, taking the files from Aether who bolts away from the guild.

Aether goes to the city square and talks to the citizens if they don’t look too busy. He finds that the trade routes were closed due to the incident, but with their completed subjugation, it will be open sometime soon. He also gets recounts by knights regarding what happened in the city while they were away. Apparently some guy named Albedo helped, along with Jean. Aether resolves to meet with the chief alchemist one of these days - he sounds quite interesting. He also gets told that there are no casualties, even though he already knew of it when they talked to Jean. It’s still a relief to know though.

“Hey Aether,” Paimon pokes his shoulder gently. “It’s lunch time, we should eat.”

“Oh,” Aether blinks in surprise. He didn’t think time went by so fast. “Sure, we’re close to the Good Hunter anyway. Do we have enough mora to grab you three dishes today?”

“Hm, I think so,” Paimon nods with a smile. She’s the one that actually holds their mora pouch so he’ll trust her judgment. 

“I think you deserve the treat,” Aether pats the fairy’s hair gently. 

“Thank you, Aether!”

They make their way to the Good Hunter which, thankfully, does not look all that damaged aside from the tarp on the side being torn. Sara greets them cheerfully and asks for their order. 

“Hey there,” a voice cuts in. “Why so cold? I've always thought that we enjoy quite the intimate friendship.”

“Oh hey Kaeya,” Aether looks back in surprise, “I didn't see you there…”

“Hahaha... It seems your great battle sharpened not only your combat skills but your wit as well,” Kaeya chuckles with a soft smile to the two of them. “A knight after my own heart. Alas, I am already taken.”

“Ah, the handsome Mr. Kaeya,” Aether grins at him, while Paimon huffs at the interruption. 

“Ah, so you do feel something for me. And people say my charm is fake,” Kaeya grins back, looking happy at being able to tease him. “To bask in the presence of Mondstadt's new big hero is quite the morale boost. And that's coming from a knight.”

“Sweet-talking sugar-coated Captain Kaeya…” Paimon grumbles at him. “Thanks to you, my lunch is delayed!”

“Haha, I apologize!” Kaeya nods to Sara, “If they order anything, you can put it on my tab as long as it’s only about six dishes worth.”

“So generous!” Paimon squeals in delight, already giving Sara her ordered dishes along with what she knows would be Aether’s choices.

“What are you doing here?” Aether turns to Kaeya with a wry smile. “Amber’s looking for you by the way.”

“Oh dear, I better not let her catch me. I’m just looking for a quiet spot to collect my thoughts,” Kaeya says, looking up at the Barbatos statue far into the church area.

“While all the other knights are working hard to clean up after the battle…?” Aether asks with a gentle smile.  

“Thinking can be an arduous task, you know. Believe me, I'd much rather be taking out the trash,” Kaeya huffs, looking back at him. 

“What are you and him going to do now?” Aether asks softly, knowing it’s still a bad idea to say the redhead’s name out loud.

“Us? Nothing right now,” Kaeya crosses his arms, looking lost in thought, “we’re leaving Mond soon though... Also, I'm trying to work out what others are plotting. That's why I'm here – somewhere quiet, where I can collect my thoughts.”

“So, whatcha thinkin' about, then?” Paimon interjects their talk, finally back from her ordering at the counter.

“The Abyss Order,” Kaeya sighs. “A dragon wreaks havoc in Mondstadt, a prominent noble house accused of being traitors awaiting trial, and almost having the Acting Grand Master to leave the city to combat the threat. Strategically, that's the perfect moment for the Abyss Order to make their move.”

“Thankfully, we managed to keep Jean in the city then,” Aether says. “Putting all that together does paint a rather grim picture.”

“If you were with the Abyss Order, would you squander this golden opportunity by sending in nothing more than a few hilichurls?” Kaeya asks with a sigh.

“You're right, it doesn't add up,” Aether nods. 

“To get to the bottom of it, I decided to ask the Fatui for help gathering information,” Kaeya says with a grin. “They’re a pretty competent lot and we managed to get information about several invasion plans all around Mondstadt.”

“Woah, that sounds dangerous,” Aether says with surprise. “I’m assuming you and the redhead dealt with it?”

“Yep. On the day you made all hell break loose in Stormterror's Lair, we fought several camps of hilichurls with numerous abyss mages close to the lake. Also, there were apparently some that managed to get into the city, but thankfully there was Jean and Albedo here to help protect the city.”

“I suppose that’s why there are no casualties after the chaos,” Aether nods to him in thanks for the information.

“Well, the same day, Albedo saw shadowy figures lurking in the city itself,” Kaeya sighs again. “If I was here, I would’ve tracked them down and gotten more information than what our chief alchemist managed.”

“Inside the city!?” Paimon looks worried, “what were they doing here? I thought the city had the knights ready for an invasion?”

“Well, all the other knights were outside, fighting the enemies there. As you can imagine, that left the inside of the city completely unguarded… that is, except for Albedo who is in charge of reinforcing our walls with his geo,” Kaeya shakes his head in exasperation. 

“That sounds like such a bad idea,” Paimon pipes up with a frown, but it turns to cheer when Sara places their orders on the table which she proceeds to eat happily.

“Right?” Kaeya sighs, as if he couldn’t believe what happened, “and so he approached the Abyss Order carefully and received some rather interesting intel that I think you should know about. The situation is this: The Abyss Order... they are united under a single leader.”

“The Abyss Order has a leader?” Paimon asks in surprise after chewing on her food properly.

“Yes,” Kaeya nods to her and nudges Aether to start eating too. “And it was this very leader who devised the plot to turn Dvalin into a weapon of war.”

“Thank you for this information, Kaeya. Oh, also for the food,” Aether grins at him as he starts partaking on the offered food.

“There's more... The Abyss Order has a name for this leader... They call her ‘T he Princess ’,” Kaeya tells him seriously, “be careful if you deal with the Abyss, okay?” 

Aether frowns at the information. Why does he feel like this Princess is very important to him?

“Now, I'm sorry to cut this intelligence briefing short, but I do believe I spy Amber heading this way…” Kaeya chuckles. “I believe you said she’s looking for me so… I'd best go before she catches me. See you~”

Kaeya slips away into the alleys and disappears from view just as Amber arrives looking like she ran all the way here.

“Grr! One minute I see Kaeya, the next he's slipped away! Clear sign of a guilty conscience…” Amber huffs in annoyance, still looking around in hopes to find the elusive captain.

“He does a lot behind the scenes…” Aether tells her, still finishing his food and Paimon agrees with his sentiments.

“Are you sure? Because that sounds like exactly what he'd say to talk himself out of trouble…” Amber says suspiciously, looking at the amount of food on their table. “Did he bribe you with food?”

Aether grins up at her, not answering but continues to eat.

“He sets a terrible example for someone who's a Cavalry Captain,” Amber shakes her head with a fond sounding sigh. “But let's forget about him. I worked super hard these past two days and my tummy's rumbling. Let me join you!”

Aether lets the outrider take some of his food without resistance - it was free anyway. 

“So,” Amber drawls out in the silence while they continue their lunch, “now the Stormterror threat is behind us, what are your plans for the next step?”

“Paimon thinks it's time to leave Mondstadt, and keep looking through the seven nations until we find clues about his sister.”

“Huh, really?” Amber looks sad all of a sudden. “Oh... Well, I guess this is goodbye for now…”

“I will miss Mondstadt,” Aether nods at her with a fond smile.

“Hey, don't feel down!” Amber shakes her head, smiling back at him, “You'll always be a friend of the Knights of Favonius and our Honorary Knight. Wherever you may go, and wherever the wind may blow.”

“I'll definitely come back and visit,” he promises.

“That's the spirit! Remember, Mondstadt will always welcome you,” Amber grins, happy with his promise. “Alright, now let's finish up before it gets cold!”

After finishing all the dishes that Paimon ordered for them, they all settled in their seats looking satisfied.

“Mmm, that was goooood! Note to Paimon, Kaeya is a good source of free food.”

“Oh, I almost forgot to mention,” Amber exclaims, “Jean's waiting for you at the Cathedral. It's something to do with the Holy Lyre del Himmel…. You'd better head there now.”

Aether and Paimon agree to go and they start walking up to the church. He hopes that the knights will let him continue his travels without hindering them. While they helped the country with their issue, he’s worried about how he’s not getting anywhere in his search for his sister. 

He hopes it won’t be long until they get reunited. Aether can’t wait to tell her about his new friends and adventures in this new world.

Chapter Text

Kaeya sighs, walking towards the Ragnvindr Mansion at the eastern side of the city. There aren’t many of his employees left in the city, but he doesn’t want to make the choice for them either. He wonders how Diluc is handling the Fatui matters, but the knight has to trust the Archon would be fine if left alone. Well… not as alone considering he has Lyosha, but Kaeya has noticed he and Diluc have been a bit too reliant on each other.

A butler greets him as he walks into the mansion, telling him about what happened while he was away. Kaeya now knows there is a contingent of knights who are definitely on a payroll from the Lawrence noble house. Unsurprising, considering the history behind that family - but it's uncomfortable to know that so many comrades of his are blinded by greed. He’s going to have to tell Jean about it later.

Kaeya thanks the butler and tells him to leave for the Dawn Winery within the week and to order the rest of the household of the same. He is left alone in the foyer as the butler leaves to follow his orders, and Kaeya looks up at the large painting of the old master of the house - Crepus Ragnvindr.

He doesn’t know if Crepus would be proud of him if he was still alive now. Kaeya has done everything he could to be the master of Ragnvindr noble house even when he wasn’t born to it. The loss of Diluc after his father’s death didn’t give them any time to mourn the man properly, nor did it give them time to think things through. 

If Kaeya had a choice, he would’ve voted for Elzer to be the master of the family instead of himself. The only reason he didn’t outright fail was due to his own upbringing back in Khaenri’ah as its crown prince. He knows how to lead, but a country is different from a noble house or winery.

The events have already come to pass - it’s already been five years since that fateful situation and the effects are still felt even now. Kaeya spends a long while self reflecting in front of his second father’s portrait, hoping he’s made the right choices over the years.

Aether and Paimon made their way to the cathedral to see Venti waiting on them. The bard beckons them to enter the church with him and they see Jean and a nun talking near the altar.

“There you three are,” Jean smiles at them and gestures to the nun beside her. “This is Barbara, the Deaconess of the Church. She is here to retrieve the Holy Lyre der Himmel.”

“May the Anemo Archon protect you,” Barbara bows to Aether and Paimon with a secretive smile as she glances at Venti. “I'm not really in a position to speak compared to our Acting Grand Master… But I still want to thank you all on behalf of all of Mondstadt for your assistance!”

“We couldn’t just sit still when we had the power to help,” Aether smiles back at her. 

“Fortunately, everything was resolved peacefully…” Barbara shakes her head, sighing with relief, “I can't imagine how an all-out war between the military and the dragon would have ended…”

“Now the Fatui have no choice but to keep their mouths shut,” Jean gives a shrug. “Our friend should be helping with that matter as well. Diplomatically speaking, they gained nothing, and on the contrary simply proved how vexatious they can be.”

“I wouldn’t say that’s true, Jean,” Venti says with a secretive smirk. “The Fatui did gain something from this.”

“Ah… that’s right,” Jean grimaces. “I know Diluc and Kaeya are leaving soon. That’s going to be a huge blow to Mondstadt’s stability… but we cannot stop them.”

“That’s right,” Venti sighs as if it can’t be helped. “They were both raised in the city of freedom thus freedom is what they shall have. We have no right to keep them here.”

“Sounds like quite the story. So, did you bring the Holy Lyre with you?” Barbara asks curiously. “We cannot ask you to keep defending the lyre forever. The Seneschal has been pressing me for a while now…”

“We ahh... did bring it with us... Umm... It's just... it's a little…” Paimon looks at Venti pleadingly.

“Oh, don't worry! I'm not here to collect rent! The Church has always received special funding…” Barbara shakes her hands and smiles at them.

“Well… as much as I want to give it back, it’s unfortunately badly damaged,” Venti sighs and shakes his head as he shows off the instrument. 

“Aah…” Barbara looks distraught at the sight of the lyre, taking it from the bard. “What am I gonna do… Lord Barbatos…!”

“Uhh,” Venti chuckles sheepishly. “You don’t need to problem yourself with it. Don’t worry~”

“How am I going to explain this misfortune to the Seneschal?” Barbara looks ready to cry.

Venti sighs and offers his hand. “Oh, give it here…” the god takes the lyre and coats it with elemental energy. The lyre looks as good as it was before the damage, but Aether can sense it’s not the same - more of an illusion. He remembers a similar effect used in previous worlds he’s been in called glamour magic. He wonders if it’s the same thing. “There is no way to fix the instrument, but with my power, it should look and feel like it’s still good for use.” 

Barbara takes the lyre gently, looking at it with shock and awe. “B-but Lord Barbatos-”

Venti shakes his head and smiles. “Remember, I’m Venti. Please just don’t let anyone else touch it or the magic will be dispelled.”

“Thank you…!” Barbara nods and runs off into the shrine below the cathedral.

“Well, there’s that,” Venti shrugs, looking over to Aether and the fairy. “... we really should get going. I still have more to tell you before your trip to the next Archon’s land.”

“I have a lot of questions for you,” Aether nods.

“Oh I know,” Venti grins. “I’d rather tell you in private rather than here where shadows may be listening.”

Venti starts walking out of the Church with Aether and Paimon following him. However, just as they come out, they are suddenly ambushed by Fatui Agents, instantly restraining Aether down onto the ground. Paimon lets out a shocked screech and tries punching the agent - only to be flung away by an ice storm coming from another woman walking towards them

“You’re early, La Signora,” the bard glares at the woman, but he doesn’t attack the Harbinger. 

“At last, Mondstadt's absentee god in the flesh,” La Signora sneers at him as she gets closer to the god. “You are even weaker than I expected.”

Aether struggles against the hands holding him and glares at the Fatui. He doesn’t like the vibe he’s getting from the woman - he feels Venti is in danger.

“You’re rather brazen to come right here in front of my church,” Venti grins as anemo energy picks up around him. “Are you that arrogant to believe in your diplomatic immunity? I’m above such things.”

“Hah!” Signora laughs, cryo energy lashing out around her person. “You’re the weakest Archon - your power is nothing if even that wet-behind-his-ears whelp can defeat the all powerful Murata. I’m more than enough to beat you.”

“He’s arguably stronger than you are,” Venti laughs mockingly, shoving the rest of the Fatui agents away from the cathedral entrance with his power over wind. 

Aether struggles more and kicks away the two agents that restrained him after Venti’s help. He rushes over to Venti’s side and unsheathes his sword. “You’ll have to go through me before you touch Venti!”

"Sandrone is weak," Signora sighs, shaking her head, the cryo energy coiling around her tightening even more. “You’re a nuisance,” she raises her hand and a burst of cryo towards the traveler. 

Aether cries out, unable to fight the strong cold despite his usage of pyro. He ends up slammed onto the cathedral’s wall, unmelting ice holding him in place. “What the- why isn’t it melting-?!”

“Hmph. Your puny flame is not close to doing anything to my ice,” Signora snorts arrogantly, now ignoring Aether. She turns to Venti, walking to the bard with a frightening glare, hatred in her ears. “Now, give it to me.”

“How about no?” Venti smirks. “Your part of the agreement isn’t done yet.”

“Don't you dare speak back to me, insolent bard,” Signora moves to attack him, but Venti just grabs the raised arm looking bored. The Harbinger summons more of her ice and starts crystallizing the bard from their joined limbs. “What agreement you and that puppet have does not apply to me! You really are so impotent and useless.”

“Oh? So the reason you dare to mock me is merely because you hold power borrowed from your master?” Venti narrows his eyes. 

“Should’ve just held your tongue,” Signora’s fury peaks and she thrusts her arm forcefully in Venti's chest. The god groans in pain as the Harbinger pulls out, her hand holding a glowing chess piece.

“So... this is a Gnosis?” Signora plays with the piece mockingly. “Wouldn't be caught dead wearing this ugly thing in public.”

“It won’t suit you anyway,” Venti snarks while heaving harsh breaths, grinning despite the pain he feels. “Remember… the contract,” Venti glares at her before falling unconscious.

“Tch. We have what we came for,” Signora walks away with her agents, a sway in her step.

“Venti…” Aether reaches out for the bard but he knows no more when a retreating agent hits him on the head.

“I see, so you still went ahead and hurt Venti just for the Gnosis, even after I told you he’ll offer it easily...” Diluc mumbles to himself. He’s standing in one of the cathedral’s towers, watching the events unfolding at the front of the church. He doesn’t plan to interfere - Signora should not fail her mission when she can still be useful to him. He doesn’t drop down until the Fatui envoy leaves with her prize. 

“Venti, are you still alive?” Diluc kneels beside the fallen Archon, shaking his shoulder gently.

“Didn’t expect it to hurt,” Venti grumbles, slowly sitting up with the redhead’s help.

“Apologies,” Diluc gives him a wry smile, “I could only tell her to not kill anyone here for the sake of her mission. I can’t stop her revenge on you that well.”

“It’s fine, it’s fine,” Venti shakes his head, smiling at him. “I kinda deserved it… it was sort of my fault anyway.”

“Where do you want to rest?” Diluc asks, even though he already knows where the bard would stay. “And should I bring the traveler as well?”

“Vennessa’s tree please,” Venti looks over to the two unconscious travelers, “I think it’s best if someone else finds them and deals with their injuries. I certainly can’t right now.”

“I’ll give a tip to Barbara then,” Diluc nods and sends a wisp of pyro to the deaconess, hoping that she would follow it. 

“How convenient,” Venti chuckles at the usage of his power, “did you steal that from me?”

“Yup. Let’s get you to Windrise,” he picks the bard up and teleports them to the Statue of the Seven at the legendary tree. Diluc sets him at the base of the tree where a few crystalflies already start flying over to perch on Venti.

Venti lets out a deep breath of relief, looking at Diluc seriously. “I know you are still part of the Fatui, but that doesn’t matter in the long run,” he starts. “The Tsaritsa will take your Gnosis sooner or later as well. She needs it for her grand war against Celestia.”

“I know,” the redhead sighs as well, sitting beside the other god. “I’m prepared to meet Her Majesty again before I settle in Natlan. If she kills me there, then it just means I’m not as powerful as a pawn for her.”

“You’re betting yours and Kaeya’s lives on that sliver of hope that you’re powerful enough for her, huh…” Venti chuckles shaking his head, “you’re crazy.”

“I know,” Diluc smiles at him, nodding in agreement. “I plan to make myself useful to her by becoming the ruler of Natlan. My predecessor, Sandrone, was not changed even after his death - it means she doesn’t replace her Harbingers easily. She has also not seeked to change me despite my disappearance a year ago. I think I have a chance.”

“Do you know the fastest she has replaced a Harbinger?” Venti raises his brow at him, looking skeptical.

“It’s funny actually,” Diluc nods again, his smile not letting up. “I’m the first replacement she’s ever gotten in the recent century.”

“Huh, that’s interesting. But, you do know she will call for Natlan’s aid in the war if it comes to that.”

“I will do my best to make my people ready for such an event. Natlan is no stranger to war due to her previous Archon’s purview.”

“That is true. Alright, I’ll leave you to your plans,” Venti closes his eyes, looking relaxed against the tree. “Come meet me before you start the trek to Liyue. I’ll join you there to introduce you to Morax - might as well surprise the old rock.”

Arriving at Windrise upon the suggestion of Barbara, Aether and Paimon find Venti at the great tree of Mondstadt and inquire about what happened with Signora. Venti, albeit reluctant to get away from his relaxation, turns to entertain them.

“The wind amongst the branches is good, I love the way it smells…” Venti sighs with a fond smile. “Haha, I said the exact same thing the last time. Why do I only say these things when I'm down on my luck?”

“So... what exactly is a Gnosis?” Aether asks casually, sitting beside the god that’s idly strumming his lyre.

“Ah, so you noticed,” Venti sighs, smile turning wry as he looks over to the traveler. “This isn't something I'm meant to discuss with ordinary people. But I suppose I can let you in on the secret as you aren’t ordinary in the slightest.”

“As you know, Visions are external magical foci that only a small minority of people possess. They use these Visions to channel elemental power,” Venti takes the lyre in his hands and it transforms to a Vision. “In truth, every wielder of a Vision is one who can attain godhood - as is the case of Diluc - and ascend to Celestia - as is the case for the legendary Venessa. We call such people allogenes.”

“Allogenes? Paimon's never heard of that term before.”

“Heh. That's because this is a secret that only Archons are privy to. We don't need primitive tools like Visions,” Venti shakes his head. “Instead, each Archon has an internal magical focus that resonates directly with Celestia itself... known as a Gnosis.”

“What about the thing hanging off your hip?” Aether asks with a raised brow. He noticed that the vision never glowed whenever the god used his power, so he had suspicions.

“Eh-he. It's just a glowing glass ball I carry around to avoid suspicion,” Venti grins. “Mortals don’t really have the ability to use the elements without a vision.”

“Huh…” Aether frowns. “Should I get myself a fake vision then? I’m pretty suspicious considering I can use two elements.”

“That’s true,” Venti hums in thought before shrugging. “Although I don’t think you need to get one, I can provide you one if you really want it.”

“I’ll take the precaution regardless,” Aether smiles. “I should ask Diluc if he can provide me one too. I’m sure I’ll be using his element a lot in this journey.”

“So who was that nasty woman who sent Paimon flying and stole your Gnosis?” Paimon asks urgently.

“Ah her. Well… her name is Signora, Eight of the Harbingers,” Venti shrugs, seemingly not caring for the events. “She and the rest of the Harbingers have been given god-like executive authority by the Tsaritsa of Snezhnaya, and with it, strength surpassing that of other mortals.”

“Diluc didn’t seem all that strong though…?” Aether comments with confusion. “Signora on the other hand…”

“That’s an unfair comparison,” Venti chuckles. “Diluc is only… twenty five years old compared to Signora who has more than five hundred years on her.”

“Five hundred?!” Paimon shouts in surprise. “But she looks so young?!”

“Yeah, that’s what I said about having strength surpassing mortals,” Venti says, amusement still gleaming in his eyes. “Give our fire boy a few decades and he’ll be stronger than me.”

“That’s interesting,” Aether adopts a thinking expression. “What about this Tsaritsa of Snezhnaya?”

Paimon blinks, surprised yet again. “Wait. The Tsaritsa of Snezhnaya? Isn't that-” 

“Indeed. She is one of The Seven, the Tsaritsa who reigns from the Zapolyarny Palace of Snezhnaya, and the one person that the Fatui Harbingers all answer to,” Venti explains for Aether. “The Seven don't always get along well, but still – I never thought that she would plot to steal another Archon's Gnosis… at least, until I saw Diluc’s situation last year.”

“Hmm… What sort of god is the Tsaritsa?” Aether asks curiously.

“Ah… this question would be better asked to Diluc, no? How should I put this?” Venti shakes his head, reminiscing of the past. “Five hundred years ago, I knew her well. But I can't say the same is true now. You see, a certain catastrophe happened five hundred years ago, and after that, she cut off all ties with me.”

Aether hums, looking at him with curiosity. “Will I even see Diluc again after this? I know they are leaving Mondstadt soon.”

“Yes, he’ll join you in your journey to Liyue which is the neighboring nation of mine,” Venti nods to him. “Speaking of, Aether, if you seek the rest of The Seven, many difficulties lie ahead of you still.”

“Even still, I will continue forward in search of my sister,” Aether says with determination.

“I understand. The Geo Archon who reigns in Liyue, unlike me, administers his entire region personally. He only descends once every year to give his divine predictions, which set the direction for Liyue for the rest of that year,” Venti explains some more.

“Sounds like you’re just a lazy bum,” Paimon retorts at the god.

Venti laughs, ignoring the fairy. “...In any case, this year's Rite of Descension is soon to begin. If you miss it, you'll just have to wait another year.”

“WHAT!? Why didn't you tell us before? Well then bye. Aether, we're going!”

“One moment, Windborne Outlander,” Venti calls out.

“You mean me?” Aether asks in surprise, this being the first time someone called him as such.

“Yes. Aether, as you set off on your journey once again, you must remember that the journey itself has meaning,” Venti gives him a soft smile. “The birds of Teyvat, the songs and the cities, the Tsaritsa, her Fatui and the monsters... they all are part of your journey. The destination is not everything. So before you reach the end, keep your eyes open. Use the chance to take in the world around you…”

“I understand,” Aether gives the god a smile as well. 

“Great. So that's that for the Anemo Archon's admonishments! Back to Venti Time!” Venti resummons his lyre and starts singing.

Aether and Paimon leave the bard be and they go off to Mondstadt in search of Kaeya or Jean.

Diluc once again faces the worst enemy he’s ever had in his entire life.

Paperwork. 

Lyosha is looking apologetic as he adds another tower of documents set on the office  he’s been using in the Goth Hotel. As Sandrone, he didn’t mind doing paperwork as opposed to going on field. The administrative work is in line with his job as the head of the Department of Education in Snezhnaya. However, the documents left in the office are all about public relations and information gathering… things that he simply shouldn’t be handling.

It’s all Signora’s fault.

She left Mondstadt immediately after taking Venti’s Gnosis and didn’t even have the decency to finish looking through her damn paperwork.

Diluc sighs as he continues reading the files carefully. He doesn’t want the diplomatic relationship between Snezhnaya and Mondstadt to worsen even more than it already is. Mondstadt won’t last with only trade from Liyue - it’s not a good idea for a country to mooch off of just a single country. 

While Snezhnaya is far from the rest of the world, it boasts an incredible technological advancement compared to everyone else and they have helped the development of other countries. It’s also what makes the cold country have so much power over the others. He grimaces at the reminder of the hammer hanging above Snezhnaya. Celestia does not like humanity to go past a certain amount of advancement… or evolution.

Diluc hopes that the Tsaritsa knows what she’s doing. Despite only living in her country for close to four years, he’s come to love it as if it’s a second home to him. Well, it is home for Sandrone, so he supposes it’s still right that he calls it such. Hopefully, Natlan will also grow on him. He’s going to spend his entire godhood there afterall.

“Are we ready for extraction anytime soon?” he grumbles some more as he affixes his Sandrone signature over the documents. 

“Most of the guys were ready to leave the moment Signora showed herself,” Lyosha reports. “We only have a few stragglers left to inform, but there’s no need to wait to go.”

“Hmm…” Diluc hums as he reads another report, his eyes not really seeing the words on the page. “There’s a slight change in plans - I won’t be joining you guys immediately to Natlan.”

Lyosha raises an eyebrow but doesn’t object. “How do you propose we enter the country then? I don’t suppose they’ll be happy we’re sort of invading them.”

“I am their Archon now,” Diluc sets the paper down and looks the adventurer straight in the eyes. “I’ll make something for you to bring authenticity to your claim that you’re my people. If they give you trouble…” he gazes at the pyro vision on the agent’s belt, “pray to your vision and I should hear it.”

Lyosha straightens at meeting his eyes, but doesn’t react negatively - instead he smiles at the Archon. This is why he chose the man to be one of his second in command - the courage and loyalty to him. “Very well, Sir. When do you want us to head out?”

“Maybe it’s better if you leave immediately…” Diluc sighs, looking out of the small window of the office. “The Knights of Favonius will strengthen their hold of the city as soon as the chaos is over. The Fatui will have no choice but to comply with their demands due to the damages Signora’s agents have wrought here.”

“To be fair, we also did some damage here,” Lyosha grimaces, undoubtedly guilty as well. “I don’t blame them if they want to ask us for recompense.”

“I would rather not give the Knights anything,” Diluc frowns, going back to the files he still has to finish up. “That’s why you’re all leaving as soon as possible. I’ll give you the item tonight so pass by the Dawn Winery before leaving for the borders.”

“Understood,” Lyosha salutes him. “Do you want me to help with the documents, Sir?”

“I would appreciate it, but you have work to do,” Diluc shoos him out of the office with a fond smile. Lyosha just chuckles as he leaves his leader to do his job.

Now with relative silence, aside from the tens of feet running around the hotel and shifting objects, Diluc continues to deal with the mess Signora left him with.

Diluc’s going to wring that witch’s neck if he sees her again.

Kaeya finds Diluc in the Fatui hotel room, still working on papers. He gives an amused huff and tells the redhead to eat the takeout dishes he brought with him. The Archon grumbles in protest, but does eat while looking over his work.

“Do you have any kind of item you can do away with before we reach Natlan?” Diluc asks distractedly, “something like a badge, medal, or charm…”

“Hm? Why and what for?” Kaeya asks curiously, thinking of what he can provide. 

“I need a vessel for my Archon power - something I can provide Lyosha and his agents as proof he’s one of my people,” Diluc answers, still looking through the files he has on hand while eating on the other.

“Hmm,” Kaeya strikes a thinking pose before blinking. “Why not give him a dagger you make with your godly power?”

Diluc looks up at him with surprise. “You’re a genius!”

“Oh I know,” Kaeya smirks. 

“I can probably make one easily in the manor’s furnace - it’s still operational with some ores ready for use, yes?” Diluc puts away the papers, standing up to ready himself to leave.

“Yeah,” Kaeya chuckles at his enthusiasm to make another craft. “I see you’re still excited as ever to hit the forges.”

“Of course I am,” Diluc shakes his head. “I don’t know what the extent of my powers are yet, so any time I’m with forges would let me figure that out!”

Kaeya nods in agreement. Finding out that he’s the god of forges is interesting, and Kaeya is quite curious as well. He helps Diluc get ready and they leave Mondstadt city quietly via teleportation to Dawn Winery. They both go to the family’s private forge and Kaeya starts pulling out materials for Diluc who already sat in front of the forge, holding it. The god starts glowing red - as is the forge, the fire burns immediately and steadily.

The redhead pulls away briefly to ask Kaeya for an ore, which the knight readily provides. Diluc puts his hands back into the inferno his power created within the forge. “Hm… it feels the same as last time,” the god muses, his ruby eyes already hued a gradient white and orange. 

“Do you feel anything from two different materials?” Kaeya asks, giving him another slab of ore. 

Diluc accepts the second ore and hums, sending his energy through both stones. “Yes. There’s something different with it… feels like this one’s melting point is slightly higher,” he raises the one on his right. “I should probably use this because Lyosha is a pyro,” he says, handing the other ore back to Kaeya.  

“Do you know how long it will take you to finish the dagger then?” Kaeya accepts the ore and stores it back in a box of ores. 

“Give me an hour,” Diluc says, placing the ore to the forge - once again without any tool.

“Alright,” Kaeya backs off, easily seeing the other is already slipping into his trance. “I’ll come back in an hour with food for you. It’s almost dinner time anyway.”

“Thanks…” Diluc mumbles out, not really paying attention to the knight anymore.

Kaeya chuckles, leaving the forge building and enters the Dawn Winery manor. Adelinde asks him what he needs and he tells her that they’re going to need dinner for Diluc in an hour. The maid leaves him to complete the task and Kaeya goes to seek Elzer.

“How’s it going Elzer?” Kaeya asks, feeling bad about the situation he - they - forced on the man.

“As well as it could be, Master Kaeya,” he replies with a sigh, “I think we’ll survive for at least five years before we have to give up this land.” Elzer is working on making sure the Dawn Winery would survive with just him and a skeleton screw within the next few years. It’s not going to be an easy task, and they will definitely lose a lot of money… but it’s not an incredible loss if the exchange is a whole country to develop and possibly profit from.

“Should I draft a contract with the Gunnhildr to receive the land after those years then?” Kaeya asks, picking up a blank sheet of paper and a quill.

“Not giving the land back to Mondstadt itself?” Elzer asks for confirmation while he continues perusing documents. 

“Giving this land to the church will make it easier for the wrong people to grab it,” Kaeya replies, already making a bid for Jean’s family to receive his inheritance from Crepus. “Jean will take care of this place. Also, if our sojourn to Natlan doesn’t work out within the five years, we could always come back here and take the land again. However much I doubt that would happen, it’s nice to have a backup plan for things like this.”

“You would be right, Master Kaeya,” Elzer nods approvingly. “Don’t worry about us here - we’ll keep the winery afloat. I trust you to help Diluc more, rather than think about us.”

“Thank you Elzer. I’ll leave this all to you then,” Kaeya finishes the letter and pats the man’s shoulder reassuringly before he leaves the room. 

Checking the time on the grandfather clock by the fireplace, he realizes it’s been an hour since he left Diluc. Kaeya grabs Diluc’s food in the kitchen and goes back to the forge building of the Ragnvindr. He arrives just in time to see Diluc placing the completed craft on the available quenching liquid.

“You good, Diluc?” he asks, placing the food by the crafting table and coming closer to the god.

Diluc takes a deep breath with closed eyes and the glow from his use of his power ebbs away. When the redhead looks at Kaeya, his eyes are back to the beautiful ruby Kaeya knows well. “Yes, I’m fine. The dagger’s done… it should prove to them that Lyosha is mine.”

“That’s good. Now come here and eat,” Kaeya smiles, beckoning him over to the table. “We still have a bit more prep to do.”

Diluc returns his smile indulgently, approaching Kaeya and looking over the spread. "So sweet," he says before joining his lover at the table. "Thank you, Kaeya."

"Anything for you, Diluc."

Chapter Text

Diluc gives Lyosha the crafted dagger when the adventurer visits after dinner. 

“This… feels like a legendary weapon, Sir,” Lyosha gives an incredulous look towards the redhead when he holds the weapon. 

“I made that a few hours ago, it’s not a legendary weapon but it will help you convince the Anito that you’re one of mine. Don’t lose it,” Diluc shrugs, unsurprised by the reaction considering he did use his power as the god of forges to craft the dagger. “Take care on your way to Natlan and remember what I told you if you need help.”

“Yes sir!” Lyosha salutes him dutifully. “We’ll get to Natlan safely. Please do not worry about us.”

With that, the Fatui adventurer leaves the manor and, together with more agents, the Mondstadt borders. Diluc dearly hopes that nothing happens to them but he’s given the group his protection already. He doesn’t need to coddle them - they’re trained grown men and women. He just needs to trust in their ability.

He turns to the one person he trusts the most - the one who never abandoned him.

“Kaeya… are we ready to move out?” Diluc asks softly, feeling a bit melancholic now that they’re almost on their way.

“Yeah, just say the word,” Kaeya tells him with a fond look around the manor. “I’ll miss this place…”

“I know I haven’t lived in this place in recent years compared to you, but the Dawn Winery is also a part of me,” the redhead smiles. “You and me, running along the grapevines… playing with whatever we imagined back then.”

“We were so carefree then,” Kaeya chuckles. “Who’d have thought you’d become a god, and me a knight - your retainer.”

“You are more than my retainer, Kaeya,” Diluc counters, holding his hand and squeezing it. “Let me send a message to Venti and we shall go.” The redhead once again spawns a wisp of fire, not unlike a seelie, and he lets it fly to find the other Archon.

“The rest of the family already left for Natlan,” Kaeya watches the fire sprite float away. “Those who are still here are the ones that decided to stay.”

Diluc nods, looking out at the grapevines. “Are we really doing the right thing…? Should I really stay as a Fatui - my father’s killer?”

“We don’t know if that’s the truth yet,” Kaeya pulls him close for a hug. “However likely it is.”

“I know,” Diluc leans to his touch before perking up. “Ah, Venti’s at his statue in Mondstadt.”

“I would’ve thought he’d be in Windrise,” Kaeya says while carding his fingers through the red hair. “Let’s go and check it out? May need to hide your appearance as usual though.”

“Mmn… of course,” Diluc sighs. “Let’s go. I don’t really want to be away from Natlan too long. I already left it long enough as it is.”

Kaeya hums before pulling away. “Let’s go then. Might as well use the main gate teleporter… we don’t want unnecessary questions.”

The two of them go inside the still-recovering city of Mondstadt without fanfare, having Kaeya escorting the masked foreigner (Diluc) harbored no questions from the entrance guards. None of the citizens bother them during their climb either, being busy with cleanup and repairs to their establishments.

Arriving at the large statue of Barbatos outside the Favonius Cathedral, Diluc and Kaeya find Aether and Venti at the top. Glancing at each other, they decide that Diluc should be the one to go up and check out what’s happening - Kaeya will stay below and keep the traffic away from the statue.

The climb up takes some time as Diluc carefully uses some of the clothing folds of the statue to get himself up to the arms. By the time Diluc manages to reach the hands of Barbatos’ statue, Aether looks ready to leave. “Aether, wait a moment,” he calls out immediately. 

The blond looks surprised at being called but does stop. “What is it, Diluc?”

“We’re going with you when you leave for Liyue,” the redhead explains quickly, glancing at the bard who’s just looking out to the city of freedom. “Can you wait for us by the Stone Gate? We’ll be there in an hour.”

“Oh, sure! No problem. I was going to make some food to go anyway. See ya!” Aether nods and hops off the statue and rides the air with his wind-glider. 

Diluc watches the traveler go until he can't see the other anymore. He walks to the hands of the statue where the bard is sitting down, drinking something. Venti sips his drink, which - to Diluc’s surprise - is simply a bottle of regular cider. 

“You know, this view brings me back,” Venti says with a far off look. “The first time I saw this view, I hadn’t even taken on this form yet. It was about twenty-six hundred years ago, before the world had come under the rule of the Seven.”

“You’re such an old man,” Diluc scoffs, but lets the bard continue. “Go on… I’ll listen,” he says softly, knowing that Venti also needs his release.

The bard laughs at the poke on his age and continues his story. “At that time, Old Mondstadt was ruled by a tyrant, who sealed off the city's perimeter with a ferocious hurricane. Even the birds couldn't get in or out.”

“Old Mondstadt…” Diluc hums in thought. “I remember reading about this in the history of Mond. It’s called Stormterror’s Lair now, right?”

“That's right. The tyrant of the winds who once ruled from that tower was Decarabian, God of Storms,” Venti smiles, a little brokenly. “Back then, I was but a wisp among the thousand winds. I wasn't a god of anything — I didn't even have a human form…” 

Venti states they won against the god… at a cost, and that the current form he takes was that of a friend. A friend who died while liberating Mondstadt from Decarabian. 

Silence stretches for a time, and Diluc doesn’t really know what to say to the god of freedom. He finds that he doesn’t want to know exactly what powers Venti’s purview provides the god now. Freedom isn’t easy to achieve…  

“Did you ever wonder why Mare Jivari is called the windless land, when the entrance is so close to Mondstadt? Close enough that a random adventurer managed to cross it?” Venti asks with a faraway look. “I took the winds of the outworld and sealed it all into Teyvat - this inverted world of ours…. I killed millions due to that. I just didn’t want to think about it.”

Venti being so detached isn’t a look Diluc wants on someone he considers a close friend. Unfortunately, he doesn’t know how to fix this aside from just staying by his side. He wonders if in the coming years, he’ll end up as jaded as the bard is.

Careful not to disturb his fellow Archon sitting at the hands of his statue, orange eyes scan the evening streets of Mondstadt. Diluc really didn’t have a habit of doing so - he rarely has the time to really look due to the circumstances of his return to the city - but he is struck by the sudden realization that soon he wouldn’t be able to do this at all.

He won’t be able to look out over Mondstadt as his father wished of him when he was still the young knight captain.

His - and Kaeya’s - Mondstadt.

Home.

Not for long, unfortunately, and he is torn when it comes to his feelings on the matter.

On one hand, this is where he grew up, the place - for good or ill - that initially forged him into the righteous person he is today. While the Fatui manages to change him into something colder, at his core he is still the Diluc Ragnvindr of Mondstadt. His time as Sandrone the Ninth Harbinger didn’t change that aspect of him. He’d like to think that he was caring for his division and he stayed true to his values with his people. He feels a pang at his chest at the brief memory of Leonid. 

Diluc shakes his head to get rid of the depressing thoughts. He is no narcissist but he quite likes being the person he is - human, god, archon, whatever he is now - and couldn’t imagine being any other way. It just wouldn’t be him.

On the other hand, with the exception of a few individuals he is leaving behind here - and he is more than capable of just taking them with him, should they want to - there really isn’t anything for him here. While the Dawn Winery is his ancestral obligation, it was already given to Kaeya when Diluc went missing. When they both leave, he is giving it to Elzer to continue until the man believes it impossible to continue. By then, Diluc will ask Elzer and whoever remained to join him in Natlan with the rest of his people.

Speaking of his people… he still hasn’t decided if he should trust the Ninth Division’s offer completely. A lot of his people want to depart from Snezhnaya and join his new country and help with rebuilding Natlan. He is hesitant purely due to fear - fear of the Tsaritsa and her power over him and his people.

Diluc doesn’t know if he can completely trust the memories he had as Sandrone, and it makes him very cautious of the consequences of him accepting the help from the Fatui. Accepting means it will lead the Tsaritsa straight to him - should his people betray him.  Lyosha clearly has his back at least - so do the other leaders he appointed - but the rest are...

Diluc shakes his head to remove the thoughts of the Fatui off his mind for now and looks back to what he’s leaving behind in Mondstadt.

Here there are just memories - some fond, some haunting - but all of them done and over with. He wants to think that beyond a fondness for the city, what really tied him to Mondstadt?

Try as he might, there is only one answer.

Kaeya .

His sole tie to the city is leaving with him… and Diluc can’t find anything else that does keep him here.

“We’re leaving today,” Diluc tells the silent bard, “will you come with us?”

Venti doesn’t reply and the redhead infers it as a refusal. Diluc moves to leave but the other god gets up from his seat. “Yes... I wanted to see the blockhead Morax anyway.”

“Alright,” Diluc nods, “thank you, Venti.”

“Yahoo~!” 

The familiar cheerful cry makes Aether jump in surprise, not expecting to see Venti again when Diluc and Kaeya show up at the Stone Gate. 

“Venti!” the traveler smiles at the green clad bard. “Wasn’t expecting to see you again this soon.”

“Heh,” Venti shrugs. “I wasn’t really going to, but I need to be here when Morax notices our beloved redhead here stepping into his territory.”

“Oh that makes sense,” Paimon exclaims, “The Seven have their own territories and now that Diluc’s one of the Seven, it might look like he’s invading Liyue!”

“Yes, that’s the reason I had to bring Venti on this trip,” Diluc chuckles. “I don’t think the Geo Archon would like me randomly popping up in his country without warning…”

“We should start moving,” Kaeya nods to the border. “We’re burning sunlight.”

In Liyue, two men are busy perusing some wares in the marketplace. One of them, a man with dark hair and amber eyes filled with knowledge and hidden power, suddenly pauses mid story and looks to the north with a frown.

"Xiansheng? What is it?" his companion asks in confusion as he doesn't see anything interesting at the shops the other man is glancing at.

"It's... nothing I suppose," the man shakes his head and turns to smile at his associate. "Now where was I...? Ah right, the Cor Lapis sold here is..."

“Oh... wow,” Diluc stumbles as they cross the border between Mondstadt and Liyue. Kaeya is immediately by his side and holds him upright. Diluc struggles to keep his control over pyro as it reaches out to the pyro visions throughout the land. 

“You’ll get used to that sensation,” Venti pats his back reassuringly. “You remember what I taught you about territories, yeah?”

Diluc nods, focusing on their group of five and forcing his field of power around only them. He breathes a deep sigh of relief when the overbearing sensation of the world recedes from his mind. “I am not going to get used to that,” he grumbles and stands properly. “Thanks, Kaeya.”

“No problem,” Kaeya steps back and they continue walking further into Liyue lands. 

Diluc wonders if he’d ever be as strong as the Geo Archon whose power he can feel even from just the border. 

“Finally! You kept me waiting so long I almost fell asleep,” a female voice rouses Diluc out of his thoughts, and he turns to see a scantily dressed woman sitting at one of the benches in the gate stop. “Haha, as usual, my astrological predictions are proven correct. You. Yes you. There’s a lot more of you than I divined, but it’s fine. Come with me.”

“Um... Are you some sort of door-to-door fortune teller?” Paimon asks in confusion. “Sorry, but we're not really interested.”

“You're not from this world, are you?” the woman asks Aether haughtily. 

“H–How do you know about that?” Paimon gasps in surprise.

Aether frowns, suspicious of the sudden callout. “Who are you?”

Diluc, Kaeya, and Venti share looks with each other, the bard just shrugging. 

“How do I know? Because I'm a master of true astrology,” the woman continues to be annoyingly arrogant. “If you've no other questions, let's be off.”

“For starters, who are you?” Aether doesn’t take a step towards the  woman.

“Fine, I'll exercise a little patience, and explain,” the woman sighs, sounding annoyed. “I am Astrologist Mona Megistus. But considering that it is most rude to misremember names, I allow others to call me Mona. I am on a mission from my master to retrieve a certain box from Mondstadt.”

“That doesn’t concern us,” Kaeya smiles towards her, but there’s a distinct dangerous tilt to his voice. “Let us continue our trip, Miss Mona.”

“Hey wait a minute!” Mona panics when they start walking again. “Please - it was part of an agreement she made with a friend 50 years ago. But she isn't as spry as she used to be, so it's now up to me.”

“Not sure what getting some box back has to do with us,” Paimon harrumps at her. “Why do you need us to come along?”

“Well… that's because I would also like to take on the guardian of the box,” Mona explains. “My master and her friend contended in the mystic arts all their lives without a clear victor. If I triumph here, then I will show myself to be superior to my master!”

“This has nothing to do with us,” Diluc sighs, also starting to get irritated by this situation. “Miss Mona, we are on urgent business to Liyue. Please don’t block us any further.”

“Wait… you!” Mona points at the masked redhead with a frown. “What is up with your constellation?!”

Diluc frowns, confused at her question. “What exactly do you mean by your question?”

“Ah,” Venti pumps his fist on his open palm, “I forgot about that.”

The redhead turns to the bard, about to question the other god, but the astrologer beats him to it. 

“Why do you have two constellations?”

Chapter Text

Diluc doesn’t know what to think about this astrologer that is becoming quite the nuisance to their group, but the question of his constellation triggers a brief image of a phoenix to pop up in his head. He doesn’t know what it means, but the redhead thinks it’s related to what this astrologer is going to tell them.

“Will you let me look into your constellations for a bit? This is so strange… I’ve never felt or seen anything like this before,” Mona steps forward, standing in front of Diluc.

The redhead glances at the rest of the group, seeing all of them don’t seem to really know what to do, so he shrugs in answer. “Make it quick.”

Mona immediately does her craft - astrology mixed with hydromancy as she claimed. The image of two constellations shows up in front of her, one of them is a little faint.

“This faded one is called Noctua. It represents vigilance in the darkness of night… A lone guardian keeping watch, longing for the splendor of dawn, yet destined to solitude in the dark days preceding its arrival,” she explains quickly before amending, “...Or, wait, maybe Noctua's the one tied to wealth...?”

Diluc does remember he was born under the constellation Noctua, but he’s not about to tell Mona that. Since he knows about Noctua… does that mean… the other one might be his constellation as a god?

“The other one is…” she frowns, looking confused. “I’ve never seen these stars before… How strange. Do you know anything about this?”

As soon as the question is out, fire suddenly engulfs the scryglass and Mona screams in surprise, letting the magic fade. “What the heck was that?!”

Venti chuckles nervously behind Kaeya, and Diluc can’t help but shoot a suspicious look towards the bard. He doesn’t comment on it though and instead, Diluc addresses the astrologer with a bored look.

“You’re the astrology expert, not any of us,” the redhead lets his irritation color his voice. “You’ve wasted enough of our time, Miss Mona.”

“If you want to go to Mondstadt, it shouldn’t be too hard,” Kaeya says with a fake smile. “From what I can see, you’re capable of defending yourself. The road from here to the city is not that dangerous.”

Mona seems to have finally gotten the memo that they’re not very fond of how she acted. She casts one hopeful look at Aether, but the traveler doesn’t answer the silent plea for help. With a dejected look, she leaves them and starts walking to Mondstadt alone.

When their party of five reach the first waypoint, they all attune to it and take a short break at the side store named Pop’s Teas. The quaint store offers yellow tea that seems to be a home-made recipe of the owner, Pops Zhou. 

Diluc decides to buy a pot of the tea for himself and Venti, while Kaeya, Aether, and Paimon go off to explore a little of their surroundings. He sips on the tea, smiling at the slight nutty flavor he can briefly taste, yet it’s still mellow and sweet. Putting the tea down, Diluc decides it’s time to ask the bard what happened a while ago. He pointedly looks at the bard who sat across him. 

“So… what exactly did you forget,” he asks Venti with a deadpan, not willing to ignore what the god said.

“Ehehe…” Venti twiddles his thumbs, acting all innocent but Diluc is not easily fooled. “I may have forgotten to tell you that your constellation will change…?”

Diluc sighs - seems he was right about that then. “How will I know my constellation then?”

“Well… from what I can see, you should be Oriens Dei,” Venti hums thoughtfully. “Fitting, I suppose… for one who represents dawn.”

Oriens Dei … Diluc has to remember this name from now on.

“Do you perhaps have anything else that you’ve forgotten to tell me?” he asks, raising an eyebrow at the bard. “Especially with regards to being a god or Archon?” he asks the last bit quietly, not wanting the people around them to hear.

“Hmm… You may uhh… get a god name later,” Venti answers with a shrug. “You know my names - Barbatos and Venti. I wasn’t always Barbatos though, and you know where Venti comes from.”

“The name isn’t given to you by your worshipers huh…” Diluc mutters with a frown. Does Celestia provide it then? He wonders how he’ll receive his name as an Archon…

“Don’t worry about it,” Venti smiles, sipping on his tea. “It will come to you as a revelation - you’ll see.”

“We’re back,” Kaeya takes an unused seat from the neighboring table and sits with them. “I think we’re ready to go further in. Aether looked around and saw a Statue of Seven on the following island.”

“Let’s go then,” Diluc nods and finishes his tea. 

“Hmm…” Venti finishes his cup as well and stands up, looking towards the towering establishment in the distance. “I wonder…” he whispers with a smile.

Would he still be there?

There is a familiar power that visits him in his rest, one that has been a constant presence to him for thousands of years. He turns, watching the mist part for a large figure that stalks forward, looking at him with his golden eyes. He bows before him, his fist resting against his chest.

“What is it you need of me, my lord?” 

“There’s a disturbance by the Stone Gate…. It’s close to where you are, so I believe I should warn you about it.”

Interesting. “Do you wish for me to remove whatever it is?”

“... no. That won’t be necessary. Just observe for now.”

“Very well, my lord. I will be on guard.”

The group of five travel down from the small shop and come across a small herbalist shop. They don’t pause, continuing to move across the stone bridge and they continue the trek to the Statue of The Seven. Once there, Aether places a hand on the statue and it glows, as if approving of the traveler. 

“Oh… geo huh,” Aether hums and thrusts his hand to the ground. A small pedestal shows up from where he gathered elemental energy. “Interesting. This element’s different from the other two I have now…”

“Your way to receive our blessing really is strange,” Venti notes with curiosity. “Anyway, you guys go and attune. Maybe Morax would notice you, Diluc.”

“Ah, right,” Diluc steps closer, now that he’s not staring at the form of the sculpted man on top of the statue. The redhead lays his hand on the statue and pushes his energy to it. As expected, there’s a brief golden light that shines from the statue as if acknowledging his presence. 

Kaeya attunes to the statue as well, but there’s no golden light compared to when Diluc did it. Diluc wonders what that means, but he supposes he’ll find out once they meet Morax.

“Alright, now that that’s done, let’s go to Wangshu Inn,” Venti says. “It’s almost night, so we might as well stay there before we leave for Liyue proper.”

“You just want to drink some wine,” Kaeya says with a laugh as they start walking along the paved road.

Venti laughs, not denying his words. They are stopped at the next bridge by the Millelith posted at the entrance. Kaeya takes over and tells the guard they’re here on official business, showing what seems to be paperwork signed by the Acting Grand Master of the Knights of Favonius. Diluc wonders when he’s had the time to get that, but knowing Kaeya… it was probably done way before the Stormterror issue was resolved.

Once their paperwork was checked, their way to the inn was no longer blocked. They follow the paved road and end up crossing the wooden bridge connecting to the big establishment in the center of the island.

Aether looks around curiously, seemingly amazed by the architecture of the whole place. 

“Looks great, doesn’t it,” Venti chuckles, looking up the whole flight of stairs. “I wouldn’t want to use the stairs though.”

“We won’t be able to anyway,” Kaeya says with a grimace, pointing upward, “the stairs are undergoing repairs.”

“How do we get up then?” Paimon asks worriedly.

“Hey, is that an elevator over there?” Aether asks, pointing to the side of the building. 

“Looks like it,” Kaeya nods once he sees the box. “Let’s go then. We should get a room and hope it’s available in such a short notice. I remember Liyue inns being full anytime there’s some sort of festival, and the Rite is just around the corner.”

The group of five immediately get on the elevator, making it a little cramp but they’ve got no choice. Aether immediately attunes to the teleport monument that they see the moment the elevator stops. The rest of them do the same before Kaeya breaks away from the group to see to their rooms.

Kaeya goes down to the main lobby of the inn and talks to a man who was walking around. It seems that the knight already had experience with this establishment before, so the group leaves him to the negotiation.

“This is a nice view!” Venti says with a smile, looking around the views provided by the inn. “It makes me want to play a song.”

“Why not? As long as you don’t trouble the other guests, it should be fine,” Diluc says, leaning on the wooden railings.

“Yeah Venti, why not? Might as well entertain us while we wait for our rooms,” Aether agrees with a teasing grin. “Maybe you’d manage to score yourself a free drink too.”

Venti laughs again and nods, summoning his instrument. He plays a lilting tune briefly before smiling at the others. “Alright then, I’ll perform for you.”

The sounds of a lyre echoes through the open area of the Wangshu Inn. Its soft tones accompanied by a voice inherently familiar to him as he turns his head to its direction. The clear, lovely sound of the instrument flutters in his ears, carried by the winds to where he lay on the roof and he sits up, captivated by the song that seems to summon him. A song of innocent temptation beckoning for him to come hither.

There is only one person that he knows invokes this feeling in him. 

He drops down from the roof, coming to a stop in front of the green-clad bard who looks at him fondly as he continues to perform. Mesmerized as he is, he doesn’t immediately notice the Archon’s companions who look at him curiously. He only has eyes for the siren.

The performance finishes and Barbatos gives him a sweet smile. 

“Hello, Xiao.”