Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

A shiver ran down Kaeya’s spine, shaking him so violently that it took him a few seconds to get his bearings.

Ah yes…

He was still standing in the rain, soaked to the bone and staring off into the vast expanse of gray formed by the torrential rain that showed no sign of stopping.

He had no idea how long he’d been standing there nor how long he’d been spaced out for. He almost wished he could force his mind to drift once more when the horror of what had just occurred began to settle in once more.

And no, he wasn’t unsettled by the dead body of his father, Crepus Ragnvindr, who had died in such a horrific way it was almost too terrible to repeat. But rather, he was horrified by the immediate thought that crossed his own mind when he witnessed the death.

That was his father that had just died before him by the hand of his brother , whose mind was probably in shambles right now, and they were his family. And yet…

How easy it would be to betray Mondstadt now…

Kaeya was horrified that he could even have such a thought but it was immediately extinguished when he thought of his hometown and birth father.

He would never do his father’s bidding. As far as Kaeya cared, he already had a family and hometown he was willing to protect with his life.

And well…

It had been years since his birth father had left him in Mondstadt…

There was no telling whether or not he’d come back for him. But if he did, Kaeya would be ready for him.

But everyone else might not be…

It was this thought that finally spurred Kaeya to move , the image of his father commanding a Khaenri’ahn army to destroy everything and everyone terrifying him even more than the previous thoughts and events.

I have to tell Diluc! I have to tell him… Everything…

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And well…

His timing could not have been worse…

Now he was standing outside again, the rain becoming even more persistent as he helplessly watched his brother lift his claymore, tears pouring down his face as he stared at Kaeya as if seeing through him.

“Was none of it real?” Diluc called out.

His voice was broken and strained, only the deep sorrow carrying it through the sounds of rain. Kaeya couldn’t answer right away as his own throat constricted.

But he held his tears at bay. After all, he had no right to cry…

“Answer me! How much of it was a lie?!”

And still…

Kaeya couldn’t say a word.

Couldn’t tell Diluc that none of it was a lie, that he would never betray Mondstadt. He couldn’t say a word through the heavy guilt weighing down on him.

I’m sorry! I’m sorry I couldn’t save Father! I’m sorry I didn’t tell you both sooner! I’m sorry…

He wanted to apologize, he really did. But no matter how hard he tried, his throat would close up every time and refuse to let him speak his mind.

Diluc hadn’t stopped sobbing and it was clearly taking a toll on him. He could barely keep his claymore upright but every time he stumbled or slipped in the rain, he’d grit his teeth and strengthen his grip, his glare intensifying as he waited for Kaeya to speak.

When it was finally clear that Kaeya wasn’t going to respond, Diluc dropped his claymore, seemingly losing all his energy in one go.

He exhaled shakily, shaking his head in disbelief, his gaze still trained on Kaeya. It was a softer gaze, though no less sorrowful.

“You won’t talk…” Diluc sighed.

He bent down and grabbed his discarded claymore, more tears streaming down his face as he did so.

“Then take out your sword, Kaeya!” He yelled, his voice ragged. “Don’t hide behind your cowardly lies! Fight me like the traitor you are!”

And it was strange, Kaeya thought, that he couldn’t speak no matter how much Diluc pleaded, yet just seconds after his command to fight, he found his hand on his sword. 

Maybe the word ‘traitor’ was right to describe him.

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Perhaps if he had been in a better state of mind, he’d have remembered more of what happened that night.

But as it was, most of the ensuing fight was a blur to him and he was willing to bet Diluc didn’t remember much of it either.

The one thing that stood out clearly among his memories was the moment he received his vision.

It was no secret that Kaeya was deathly afraid of fire, but that had never been an issue for him before. Diluc was always there to ward off the flames for him after all.

But now he was turning his fire infused blade against him and Kaeya’s panic was rising slowly but surely.

Kaeya knew that Diluc could tell he wasn’t trying at all. Every strike of Diluc’s was parried but Kaeya never made a strike of his own. Even when he blocked the attacks, it was obvious his mind wasn’t fully in the fight.

He kept his eyes on the gleaming blade, heart pounding faster every time the flames swept past him.

With every strike, the flame in his brother’s eyes grew as well until it seemed his frustration reached his peak. He yelled in barely suppressed rage, bringing his claymore down on Kaeya’s sword so hard that the force knocked him backwards and onto the slippery grass.

Kaeya scrambled to his feet, a small gasp leaving him when he realized he was still gripping his now broken sword. He barely had time to register the fact before another angry yell grabbed his attention.

Kaeya’s eyes widened as Diluc’s flames spread wings and rushed towards him.

Once again, he was frozen in place, his body refusing to obey him as he vaguely thought he should probably run or at least dodge the attack.

But all Kaeya could do was close his eyes in resignation and wonder at the fact that in that moment, the rage in his brother’s gaze was more terrifying than the phoenix that was rushing towards him.

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Again, Kaeya could barely recall what happened between the moment he closed his eyes and the moment he received his vision.

All he remembered is that the pain he was expecting to come, came sooner and it hurt like nothing he had ever experienced before.

The pain enveloped him completely and he was burning from the inside out.

He couldn’t help the scream that tore through his throat at that moment. Everything he had been meaning to say, every emotion he held inside for so long erupted through him in that one drawn out, desperate yell that set his throat on fire as he fell to his knees.

And after that a moment of silence weighed down on everything, even the rain seemed to have stopped its never ending descent.

Only Diluc’s surprised gasp shook Kaeya out of his trance as he slowly opened his eyes.

For a second, his brain could barely catch up to what he was seeing but once he figured it out, Kaeya became relatively calm.

Yes, he was sitting in a deformed cage made of icicles but… somehow it didn’t seem strange at all. Nor did the small Cryo Vision sitting in his palm surprise him.

He lifted his gaze to see Diluc staring at him through the gaps between the ice and only then did a hint of emotion find its way back into Kaeya’s heart.

All the rage had disappeared from his brother’s eyes, replaced with shock and horror, though his claymore was still held loosely in his hands. A twinge of sadness pricked his heart when Diluc made eye contact with him.

As the two stared each other down uncertainly, the rain picked up again and Kaeya’s prison of ice slowly began to melt around him. That seemed to shake Diluc out of his trance and some of the anger returned to his eyes as he visibly shivered.

He dropped his claymore and took a step back, exhaling shakily.

“Leave…” He said, his voice hoarse. “I don’t care where you go just… I don't want to see you here again.”

And with that he turned away and began stumbling back towards the mansion.

But Kaeya’s body was once again set on betraying him and he found himself stumbling after his brother.

“Diluc, please… Don’t go, I-” 

But Kaeya quickly realized there was nothing he could say. Even so, he kept talking.

“Please just listen to me, Luc-”

“Don’t!” 

Diluc cut him off, throwing a glare in his direction. 

“Don’t call me that…” He said, his voice softer but no less angry. “I’m not… I’m not your brother anymore.”

And with that definitive statement, Kaeya’s nightmare came to its horrific conclusion.

Chapter Text

Kaeya’s eyes flew open, a soft gasp leaving him as his mind ripped itself free from the clutches of the nightmare.

The gasp quickly turned into a sigh as he shut his eyes again, throwing an arm over them in the process.

That nightmare…

He… hadn’t dreamt of that night in so long. It had been years since he last had the nightmare and even longer since the actual event.

It was… Strange. But Kaeya couldn’t help the wry laugh that left him as he thought of the way the dream cut off.

Most nightmares cut off right before the most intense part, for example, a near death experience.

Well… His nightmare had a pretty intense ending as well, he supposed.

He shook his head at the thought, sighing in annoyance as he finally sat up.

He hated to admit it but… the dream had definitely unsettled him. In more than one way.

It had taken years to get used to the strange emptiness that had made a permanent home in his heart ever since he first heard Diluc denounce him as his brother.

Strange how a simple dream could undo all that progress.

But Kaeya was nothing if not determined. All he had to do was pretend it never happened. He was quite good at doing that.

Kaeya forced his thoughts away and glanced out his bedroom window. The sun was shining brightly, making him squint slightly.

It was obvious he’d slept in a little but he knew Jean wouldn’t mind if he was a bit late. She might get worried if he took too long though…

With that thought in mind, Kaeya finally threw the covers aside and set about getting ready for the day.

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Once the thought of his best friend worrying over him had settled in and successfully driven out the last of the nightmare from his mind, he found that it was much easier to get ready and out of the house quickly.

Most times, if he’d slept in or woken up from a nightmare, it took him some time before he could get moving.

But then again, most of his nightmares weren’t about… well, that night.

He shook his head, forcing the thought from his mind once more as he picked up the pace.

Mondstadt was as lively as ever as he walked to the Knights of Favonius headquarters. 

Or at least, that’s where he thought his feet were carrying him. As much he tried to stay out of his head, his thoughts were dead set on dragging him back under.

He didn’t even know why he was thinking so hard about the few words Diluc had said to him.

He knew very well why-

He shook his head sharply, sighing in frustration just as a welcome voice interrupted his thoughts.

“Ah, Captain Kaeya! There you are!”

Kaeya turned to see something he’d never expected to see in a thousand lifetimes.

Barbara was walking out of Angel’s Share, a big smile on her face as she spotted him.

“Barbara?” Kaeya said, smiling back, hoping he didn’t sound as lost as he felt. “I didn’t know you frequented the tavern as well? And at this early hour?”

“Ah, no, I wasn’t-” Barbara stuttered, her cheeks burning in such a way that Kaeya almost felt bad for teasing her. “Actually, I was helping Jean look for you!”

“For me? I realize I may be a bit of a drunkard but even I wouldn’t be at the tavern this early.”

“But… you would…” Barbara said, uncertainly. “It’s Thursday, after all…”

Kaeya frowned in confusion for a second before- Ah right…

Thursday. Inventory Day.

The day of the week where Diluc would come to Angel’s Share and take stock of everything, before staying to bartend throughout the day.

Most Thursdays Kaeya would be absolutely delighted, waltzing into Angel’s Share to tease the man to no end, making snide comments and sarcastic remarks. He wouldn’t deny that he definitely took pleasure in watching Diluc’s expression become more and more irritated.

Diluc, of course, didn’t hold back either, but Kaeya took pride in the fact that, unlike a certain hothead, he had much more control over his facial expressions and body language even if something did get under his skin.

His friends were always on high alert on Thursdays, trying their very best to steer Kaeya away from Angel’s Share to avoid any unnecessary conflicts.

But avoiding their attempts and frustrating them as they helplessly watched the two banter was another thing Kaeya took great pleasure in.

At first, Kaeya thought they were trying to keep him away from Diluc because the two of them were always a nuisance to the other patrons of the tavern.

But after a rather serious and deep conversation with Jean, he realized it was because they thought interacting with Diluc made him sad , despite the way he clearly had nothing but mischievous delight written all over his face.

Kaeya had always laughed at the idea of Diluc making him sad . It was absolutely ridiculous.

As if Kaeya could actually be sad over the fact that Diluc was no longer… his brother.

Or at least, that was the case on normal days.

Today however… he blamed it on the nightmare but his mind did seem intent on broadcasting the word sad to every part of his body every time he so much as thought about Diluc.

Barbara must have noticed the slight drop of his shoulders as well, because she frowned suddenly, taking a hesitant step forward.

“You’re… not gonna go bother him again, are you?” And then a little more sternly, like her sister would: “I can’t allow it this time, Kaeya. You shouldn’t do that all the time. Come on, let’s get you to headquarters.”

And any other day, Kaeya would have laughed it off, marveling at the fact that Barbara actually thought her words would make a difference, before walking off into the tavern and stirring up another conflict with the bartender.

But today when he laughed, he nodded along to her suggestion.

“You’re right, Barbara. I imagine Jean wouldn’t be pleased if I made a ruckus again. I’ll give the tavern a little break, but I can’t promise I’ll be this agreeable next time.” He said, smiling as he began walking away from Angel’s Share.

Kaeya had expected Barbara to sigh in relief as she kept pace with him, but strangely enough he saw her frown deepen for a second and the smallest hint of worry flit across her features, before melting away into a smile.

“Thank you, Sir Kaeya. This way you won’t be late for work.” She paused, frowning thoughtfully. “Although, I suppose you already are… Is there any particular reason you’re late today?”

Kaeya waved away the question, smiling nonchalantly.

“I simply overslept. That’s what I get for reading late into the night.”

Barbara smiled brightly at that, seeming to buy into his lie, as she asked what he had been reading.

Kaeya mirrored her expression as he launched into a fake tale about what book he had been reading and everything he loved about it and why he just couldn’t put it down unless he finished it that night.

It was only after they reached the Knights of Favonius headquarters and had to part ways that Kaeya realized he had been telling her the Tale of Vanessa. The first book Diluc had read aloud to Kaeya when they were kids.

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Kaeya was seriously getting tired of the constant back and forth that his thoughts had fallen into. It was… worrying, to say the least.

If Kaeya had mastered nothing in the years he lived in Mondstadt, he at least had the ability to lock his thoughts and feelings away. After all, there was no other way to keep up a facade on the outside if he couldn’t mask it on the inside.

And the strange thing was, most times it wasn’t a facade. At least when it came to where his true loyalties lay. He truly cared for Mondstadt and all of his friends. If it ever came down to choosing Mondstadt or Khaenri’ah, he’d put his life on the line for the former.

He just wished Diluc had known that. And maybe he did? After all, he hadn’t revealed his secret to anyone for years. 

But he definitely hated him for it. And that’s when Kaeya had to pretend it didn’t bother him at all. 

He’d lied to his brother for years… It shouldn’t be too hard to lie to everyone else and act like he didn’t care.

Strangely enough, no one seemed to wonder about why the two had suddenly broken ties with each other. They simply assumed the two brothers had grown distant after the untimely death of their father. And once Diluc had returned to Mondstadt, everyone became obsessed with a certain…. Darknight Hero.

Whatever the case, it had worked out for Kaeya. He didn’t have to weave lies about why the two suddenly hated each other if everyone was distracted by other things.

His friends though… They were a different story.

Jean was really the only other person besides Diluc who knew the truth. And she had made it very clear from the beginning that no one was to pester Kaeya about what happened between him and his brother.

Again it seemed his feet had a mind of their own, carrying him to Jean’s office rather than his own as his mind wandered elsewhere.

A small smile crept onto his face when he noticed where he had ended up before disappearing just as fast when he saw that the door was ajar.

Through the crack, Kaeya could see that no one was behind the desk so he pushed the door open and glanced around the office.

Jean wasn’t there. Not too surprising.

He supposed she let someone rope her into another strenuous task despite her already overflowing to-do list.

He sighed, shaking his head as he walked over to her desk and glanced at the piles of paperwork.

He hesitated for all of two seconds before deciding to help her out. She probably wouldn’t take kindly to the fact that her Cavalry Captain was once again forging signatures but… He doubted she’d actually be mad. It helped that Kaeya could never be on anyone’s bad side for too long. Except well…

“Oh? Kaeya, not again.”

Kaeya tried not to look too relieved at Jean’s timely arrival, her voice successfully pulling his thoughts back.

“Oh, please.” Kaeya laughed as Jean stopped in front of him and stared disapprovingly. “I’d say my signatures are beginning to look more official than yours.”

“That may be so…” Jean sighed, smiling. “But I can’t let you keep doing that. Are you even signing the right ones?”

“Of course! I’m practically your twin at this point.” Kaeya declared.

He pointed to the pile of papers on the far left corner.

“These are the ones you haven’t read yet.”

Then he gestured to the papers to the right of that pile.

“And these are the ones you’ve read and approved. All they need now are signatures.”

Jean raised an eyebrow in amusement before pointing to the pile of papers on the far right corner.

“And these?”

“Hmm, the creepy Barbara fans?”

Jean laughed at that and nodded.

“Among other things that are simply too outrageous to think about at the moment.” She said, “I must say, I’m impressed. But please, now that I’m here, let me take care of the signing.”

“As you wish.” Kaeya said, grinning as he put the pen down. “Anyways, what were you up to?”

Jean sighed and walked over to the railing surrounding her bookshelves before leaning against it.

Kaeya took in her serious expression and found himself frowning as well.

“That bad?” He asked hesitantly.

But Jean shook her head even as her frown deepened.

“Oh, no, it was just Lisa. She wanted me to help her track down her overdue books.” She laughed.

Kaeya could tell at a glance that she wasn’t lying to him but there did seem to be something bothering her. She seemed almost… confused. Which wasn’t good news for whatever was stumping her. He had no doubt she would do anything to figure out whatever problem had sprung up. He was almost tempted to ask what was up, but he knew she would tell him if she ever needed his help.

And so he laughed along with her.

“Really? She took you along? Doesn’t she normally take Lumine with her for these things?”

“Right, but Lumine didn’t come back from Liyue as she had planned.” Jean sighed. “She and Paimon are off to Inazuma to continue their journey. I’m sure they’ll be okay but I can’t help but worry.”

Kaeya hummed in agreement.

“The whole of Mondstadt’s gonna miss their Honorary Knight.”

Jean smiled at that and nodded.

“I’m sure they will. But not as much as I missed my Cavalry Captain this morning.”

That drew a genuine smile from Kaeya and he couldn’t help but laugh.

“Well, I’m here now, so no need to miss me anymore. Sorry I kept you waiting.”

“No problem.” Jean replied. “You… overslept, I heard? Barbara told me on the way back.”

She didn’t believe that. Kaeya could tell right away. She always knew when he tried to hide something and Kaeya blamed it on the stupid vulnerability he’d shown her that night.

If he had just kept his mouth shut like he should have… Then Jean wouldn’t be able to read him so easily.

But… he had to admit it was relieving to know that someone saw through the facade and wanted to help pull him out of the prison of lies.

“Kaeya?”

Kaeya blinked, turning his gaze back to Jean. When had he even looked away?

He smiled hesitantly and nodded.

“Mhm, I overslept.” 

And suddenly Kaeya didn’t want to answer any more questions or spin any more lies. He was definitely raising some red flags, but at the moment he didn't really care.

And so he avoided Jean's concerned gaze as he rose suddenly and made to leave her office.

“Ah, silly me. I'd almost forgotten I have to meet Bennett at the front gates soon.” He said, hoping he didn't sound as rushed as he felt.

“Bennett?” Jean asked, her eyes narrowing in suspicion as she moved away from the railing. “Since when were you friends with Bennett?”

Kaeya gasped and put a hand to his heart as if he were mortally offended.

“Jean, you wound me! I’d say I’m friends with everyone in Mondstadt!”

Jean didn’t respond to that. She simply kept staring, her gaze becoming increasingly suspicious as she crossed her arms.

Kaeya sighed as he dropped his hand.

“Since about a week ago, Jean.” He told her. “We’ve even been meeting up every day since then. Ask anyone.”

Jean continued staring for a few more seconds before sighing and dropping her arms as well.

“You had better not be lying to me, Kaeya.” She said, sternly.

“Of course not.” Kaeya said, grinning. “Now if you don’t mind, I really should get going.”

Jean simply sighed once more and nodded. With one final farewell, Kaeya rushed out of her office before she could say anything else.

He let out a heavy sigh as soon as he was out of the Knights’ headquarters and glanced behind him as if to see if Jean had maybe followed him out.

He winced internally, knowing that she probably knew something was wrong with him today.

He shook his head sharply before his thoughts could remind him exactly what was wrong with him today and started heading to the front gate.

He hadn’t been lying to Jean when he told her he had to meet Bennett. That was actually a fact and if Kaeya wasn’t mistaken, the boy should be waiting for him by the gates right now.

The part about them being friends… May have been a bit of a stretch. At this point, he and Bennett were little more than acquaintances, though Kaeya wouldn’t mind for their relationship to become more friendly.

He was sure Bennett had no issue with the idea either, given the way he had reacted during their first encounter.

Kaeya had just been strolling around Mondstadt with nothing to do for once, when Katheryne had called out to him as he passed by the Adventurers Guild kiosk. It appeared she had sent Bennett and Lumine out to take care of a few simple whopperflowers but she thought it would be a good idea to send Kaeya out after them.

Kaeya was understandably confused by her request. Lumine was the Honorary Knight and Bennett was a pretty able fighter himself, despite his unlucky reputation. 

When he pointed that out, Katheryne told him it was exactly that ‘unlucky reputation’ of his that made her believe the two might need a bit of assistance.

She seemed pretty convinced her hunch was correct, and so Kaeya agreed to go after them. He didn’t think Bennett’s luck could be that bad, but if Katheryne thought something might go down… He’d be lying if he said he wasn’t the tiniest bit curious to see how bad Bennett’s luck really was.

And well… Needless to say, Kaeya was pretty shocked when he saw how bad things had turned out.

Lumine and Bennett had somehow been roped into a battle with not just three pyro whopperflowers, but also at least five pyro slimes and a whole bunch of treasure hoarders.

It wasn’t too hard to fight off the elemental creatures with his icy swordwork and then he helped the others fight the treasure hoarders.

Throughout the fight, Lumine kept up a running commentary, trying her best to quickly fill him in on what happened. 

The slimes had appeared out of nowhere, completely catching her off guard as she was preoccupied by the whopperflowers. There wasn't much Bennett could do with his vision but he did his best to lure the enemies away from his friend so she wouldn't be too overwhelmed. That's when he accidently stumbled upon a huge building where a bunch of treasure hoarders were apparently hiding out.

Before too long, the three adventurers were safe and sound once more. Or at least, mostly safe and sound. Lumine and Kaeya were not too banged up, but it seemed like Bennett had received more than his fair share of burns and injuries.

What shocked Kaeya more than the injuries the poor boy had sustained, was the look of pure joy on his face as he talked up a storm about how epic the battle they had just fought was.

“Wow, that was insane! I can’t wait to tell everyone about it! And, Captain Kaeya!” 

Bennett stopped short as he stared up at Kaeya in adoration.

“I never imagined I'd be able to fight alongside you in my whole life! That was amazing! I can’t thank you enough!”

Kaeya grinned and waved off his thanks.

“On the contrary, I should be thanking you!” He said instead, grinning at the starstruck expression on the boy’s face.

“But… I haven’t done anything.” Bennett said, uncertainly.

“Oh, but you have.” Kaeya insisted.

He shared a glance at Lumine, knowing she knew exactly what he was talking about.

He smiled and gestured for her to go ahead and explain if she wanted to.

She grinned back and turned to Bennett.

“The treasure hoarders are always pretty active, wouldn't you say?” She asked.

“Well yeah….” Bennett replied, frowning in confusion. “We hear about their crimes almost every other day. Why?”

“Do you remember the last time we heard anything about them?” Lumine asked, knowing the answer would probably be no.

Sure enough, Bennett's frown slowly disappeared as shock transformed his features. He glanced back at the building the treasure hoarders had just abandoned.

“Did I just… Discover a treasure hoarder stronghold?” 

“And not just any stronghold.” Kaeya said, grinning. “A few of my informants told me that the treasure hoarders were gonna try and keep the Knights and Adventures Guild occupied so they could rob as many citizens of their belongings. But we couldn't stop their plans if we knew nothing else about them. They've been keeping quiet for quite a while so we decided it would be best to hunt them down instead. Let's just say we've been searching for this place for way too long.”

And Bennett’s eyes had lit up with happiness as he laughed.

“Wow, maybe my luck isn't so bad after all!”

His luck definitely wasn't a bad thing, Kaeya decided. And he decided to take full advantage of it too. He had asked Bennett if he would be ok with sharing any unusual or ‘unlucky’ things he encountered on his commissions. Bennett couldn't be more enthusiastic about accepting his request.

And so every morning since then, Bennett would give him a report on any strange occurrences that he'd encountered the previous day. 

So far, nothing had turned up and every day Bennett came back with nothing to report, Kaeya's anxiety grew.

Just like before with the treasure hoarders, things were strangely peaceful and quiet these days and Kaeya couldn't help the uneasiness he was feeling.

He trusted Bennett's innate ability to stumble upon trouble and hoped it would be enough. But now it seemed he would have to ask his informants to try again in addition to starting his own investigation. He might even have to tell Jean and despite her being more than capable of protecting herself, sometimes Kaeya felt the need to make sure she didn't get involved in anything too dangerous.

Something told him things were about to get intense.

“Sir Kaeya!” 

Kaeya was shaken from his thoughts by Katheryne’s call and he turned to her and smiled in a strange repeat of the morning he had just been thinking about.

“Yes Katheryne? Is Bennett in trouble again?” He asked jokingly.

He hadn't expected Katheryne to frown suddenly and sigh.

“Actually… Bennett hasn't returned since I sent him on a commission last night.”

Kaeya's eye widened slightly before he frowned as well.

“That's not normal, is it?”

“Well, it's not uncommon. Most of our adventurers like to take their time and sometimes end up staying the night elsewhere. But… That's rarely the case for Bennett. In fact, he takes great pride in the fact that he can get his commissions done so fast…”

“I see…” Kaeya said, nodding slowly.

He trusted that Bennett could protect himself if he was in any trouble and besides there wasn't any evidence that he was even in any trouble.

Kaeya decided there was no need to jump the gun just yet.

“Can you tell me what he was sent out to do?”

“Of course.” Katheryne said, nodding. “He went to help repair one of the transport balloons in Springvale.”

“So there is a chance that he stayed the night in Springvale.” Kaeya said. “For now, I think it should be safe to wait it out. If he's not back by today, I'll head down to Springvale tomorrow morning.”

Katheryne nodded in agreement.

“Thank you, Sir Kaeya.”

“Don't mention it.”

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Even before Kaeya had met Bennett, he’d still had pretty much the same opinion of him that he had now. 

He wasn’t worried about the boy in the slightest. He’d seen the kid pull himself out of terrible situations more than a few times and his determination and fighting abilities were no joke.

But he was sure he was giving off the wrong signals to the people of Mond as he rushed around town, trying to see if anyone had any idea what could be holding Bennett up.

He wasn’t worried. But explaining that to everyone would be a hassle. Not to mention he’d have to get into the strange way his brain was working today.

Or rather, every day of his life since he came to be in Mondstadt. He honestly wasn’t even surprised anymore. 

Whenever Kaeya had something on his mind that he’d rather ignore, his brain would try to override it by doing anything and everything to steer him away from the thought.

So no, Kaeya wasn’t worried about Bennett.

But right now, he had to keep himself busy to make sure his thoughts didn’t get the better of him once again.

And since there was no other pressing matter to attend to, he decided it shouldn’t hurt to make sure Bennett really was ok.

As it happened, no one seemed to know a thing about what Bennett was doing at the moment. It shocked Kaeya how little the people of Mond seemed to pay attention to the boy.

But… he supposed the boy didn’t hang around Mondstadt too often. Even in the week after they met, Kaeya did notice that the boy always seemed to head out again, shortly after he reported his findings.

Still, he didn’t want to give up so easily. And so he went to find the one person who seemed to know everyone in Mondstadt.

Thankfully, he found Amber right where he expected her to be, chatting away with Sara at the Good Hunter.

“Amber, Sara, good afternoon!” He called out as he walked over to them.

“Ah, Kaeya!” Amber exclaimed as she turned to greet him. “Are you hungry? I was just about to order! I can get you something if you like. My treat~”

Kaeya grinned but put up a hand in polite decline.

“I’m not hungry at the moment, but there might be something else you could help me with.” 

“Oh? What is it?”

“I was just wondering if you’d been down to Springvale yesterday. Bennett had a commission there last night but he hasn’t come back…”

“Oh, I did actually!” Amber said, nodding. “He was still there when I arrived. But he seemed to be in a rush. When I stopped to say hello and make small talk, he asked me if I could help him with the repairs. Maybe he had somewhere else to be?”

“He went to Wolvendom.” Sara said suddenly, before Kaeya could even get a word in.

“Oh? How do you know?” Kaeya asked.

“He placed an order yesterday. Said that he wanted it delivered to Wolvendom last night. He must still be there with his friend! That boy who lives in Wolvendom.”

“Ah, Razor…” Kaeya said, nodding. “That makes sense. Maybe he lost track of time and decided to stay with him.”

Amber nodded in agreement.

“The poor kid has enough experience having to camp out all over Teyvat. I doubt he’d have trouble hanging out overnight in Wolvendom. He should be fine.”

“Right…” Kaeya agreed. “Well, thanks for the intel, you guys! I’ve been searching for quite a while now.”

“No problem, Sir Kaeya. Are you sure you won’t stay to eat something?” Sara asked, probably guessing he wasn’t planning on staying by the way he took a step back.

“Ah, maybe later.” He said, grinning. “I can’t shirk my duties so openly, you know.”

That drew a laugh from the women and he grinned along, giving them a short wave as they bid him farewell.

Once he was out of sight, he let the frown creep back on his face. For the time being, it seemed Bennett wasn’t in any trouble but that could quickly change.

He should still go down to Wolvendom the next morning or maybe even that night to make sure Bennett was ok. 

But for now… there was nothing else that needed to be done. And that spelled trouble for Kaeya.

He sighed, vaguely wondering if he should go back to headquarters and catch up on his own mountain of paperwork.

But he could barely focus on that on a good day so he doubted he’d be very productive…

Still, he’d be setting a bad example if he were to… shirk his duties so openly.

And so, with one final sigh, he began trudging back to headquarters, trying to keep his thoughts from straying all the while.

Chapter Text

Diluc sighed heavily as he stood behind the counter at Angel’s Share, wondering when the hell this… enthusiastic bard was finally going to stop rambling on about wine and dragons and apples. About songs and wind and flowers. About maybe leaving earlier than expected because- 

Wait, what?

“Huh? You’re leaving? Already?” Diluc asked, finally tuning back into the conversation.

“Heh, I knew that’d grab your attention!” Venti said, giggling. “You haven’t listened to a word I said, have you?”

“I- That’s not true.” Diluc sighed, crossing his arms. “I was listening very attentively. I was merely surprised to hear you say you were leaving early.”

Venti smiled brightly at that.

“Ok, I’ll believe you for now.” He said. “And yes, I am leaving. Aren’t you glad you’ve got one less thing to worry about?”

Diluc didn’t reply, choosing to simply glare at Venti for a while.

“Well, it seems you’re aware of how much you annoy me.” He grumbled. “But that’s never stopped you from hanging out here the entire day before.”

“That’s true.” Venti said, his gaze thoughtful. “But today… I feel like you’ll have a lot more troubling your mind than usual.”

Diluc frowned in confusion. An archon was telling him he’d have a lot to worry about today…

That… was a warning, wasn’t it?

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

But Venti only smiled once more and hopped off his stool, giving a short wave.

“I can’t tell you everything now, can I? That would ruin all the fun.” He said, with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes.

Diluc felt a tiny prick of worry and suddenly began regretting all the times he’d been blunt with the archon. Sure, he shouldn’t have done so when he found out in the first place but… that’s just how he spoke to everyone. Surely, Venti didn’t mind? He tolerated Paimon of all people!

“Don’t worry too much about it.” Venti said, as if reading his mind. “Just make sure you think carefully about your choices this time around.”

What… what was that supposed to mean?

And with that, Venti strolled out of the tavern, completely oblivious to the fact that he had just made Diluc worry more with his words.

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It wasn’t long before Diluc’s worry melted away into annoyance as he realized he might know what Venti was talking about.

It was inventory day, after all.

And that meant a certain blue haired Cavalry Captain was going to waltz in soon to test his patience while he was supposed to be working.

Still, it didn’t quite make sense.

That had never stopped Venti before. If anything, the bard tended to especially stick around when Kaeya dropped by, clearly enjoying watching the two banter in front of him.

So why had he chosen today to finally give Diluc some respite from his irritating laughter every time Kaeya landed a jab against him?

Whatever the case, Diluc soon forgot he had anything to be worried about and instead let his irritation grow as he wondered when Kaeya would make his appearance.

Inventory day was always a hassle for Diluc. He just wanted to get his work done peacefully and go home, for god's sake. He wasn’t trying to pick a fight by simply existing in the same area as Kaeya.

He knew Kaeya hated him and he definitely deserved it. But why wouldn’t he just take a hint when Diluc deliberately stayed away from him, trying to save him from any interaction with the source of his hatred?

Instead, he’d take every chance to throw an insult his way, even if he was simply walking past him on the way to the tavern.

Diluc deserved it. He knew that.

Which was why he never quite tried to push Kaeya away whenever he came by to annoy him. After all, he’d already pushed him away once before…

He just sighed and dealt with it, irritation clouding his features every time Kaeya said something.

It wasn’t because of his comments, of course.

It was because… Diluc actually wanted to answer each of his insults.

But not with another insult of his own.

Rather he wanted to apologize every time Kaeya said something against him.

And because he knew he couldn’t apologize, didn’t deserve to apologize… . He kept his apology hidden away even as it annoyed him to no end. He hid the guilt behind frowns and blunt insults of his own, trying desperately to convey the message that he just wasn’t a good person and Kaeya should stop being near him before he got hurt again.

But… Kaeya never seemed to get it. Or maybe he did but simply wanted to get back at him somehow. Diluc couldn’t say anything to that because the archons knew Kaeya had every right to try and get back at him in whatever way he wanted.

His thoughts shifted slightly to the present when he realized that it was already past early morning and Kaeya still hadn’t come in as he was expecting.

The man usually started his weekly task of driving Diluc insane super early in the morning when he was probably supposed to be at the Knights’ headquarters.

Well he didn’t expect any less from the Cavalry Captain. The Knights were… as inefficient as always.

His train of thought was broken when the door to the tavern opened… far too timidly to be the person who he expected.

“Oh… Barbara?” Diluc asked when the deaconess finally peeked in and carefully stepped inside. “What brings you here?”

She was definitely here for someone, if the way she kept glancing around at the tables was anything to go by. When she apparently didn’t find who she was looking for, she turned to Diluc and smiled politely.

“Good morning, Master Diluc.” She greeted. “I was just wondering if Sir Kaeya stopped by here. Do you mind if I check upstairs?”

Diluc didn’t mind. Except for the fact that he knew Kaeya wasn’t up there.

“He’s not here.” Diluc replied. “Is he not at headquarters?”

“No…” Barbara replied. “Looks like he might be running a little late today.”

Kaeya? Running late?

As inefficient as the Knights were… even Diluc had to admit that Kaeya took his job as Cavalry Captain very seriously. Even if there was no cavalry to captain at the moment. At the very least, he always made sure he was on time in case Jean or anyone else needed anything. And if no one needed assistance, he always had his own things he was investigating.

Before he could think about it any longer, Barbara made to leave, drawing his attention back.

“Well, anyways, I should go. I’m sure he’ll turn up.” She said, with a kind smile that somehow made Diluc feel a twinge of guilt.

Diluc simply nodded and waved, turning away as she left the tavern.

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For the next hour, Diluc found himself unconsciously awaiting Kaeya’s arrival. 

If he was being honest with himself, maybe he was always waiting for him, despite the intense arguments that always occurred when they were together.

But he had never realized it before because Kaeya was always there and Diluc couldn’t help but wish he was gone .

Now that he was… something didn’t sit right with Diluc.

His irritation only grew every time the door opened to reveal more of the usual patrons and he had half a mind to walk down to the Knights headquarters and find Kaeya himself before demanding an explanation.

But… Diluc supposed it was better this way. Hadn’t this been the goal all along?

He’d finally annoyed Kaeya to the point where he realized he should stay away from him. 

It was… better this way.

The door opened once more about an hour after Barbara had left and this time it was Noelle.

Diluc knew Noelle well enough. She was probably the only person in his eyes that was actually qualified to be a Knight and yet… she was still just a maid.

That was not to say she was useless, of course. Noelle was one of the most studious and efficient people Diluc had ever seen and he knew the Knights would benefit immensely once she became a part of their ranks.

For the Knights and Noelle’s sake, he hoped that happened soon.

This wasn’t the first time Noelle had stepped foot in the tavern, unlike Barbara.

In fact, Thursdays were the days she mostly stopped by as well.

Usually to drag a certain someone back to the Knights headquarters before all hell broke loose, but sometimes she would stop by to say hello and ask if Diluc needed help with anything.

Diluc appreciated the offer every time, but he always declined. The poor girl had enough on her plate as it was.

Since it was still pretty early in the day and there weren’t too many people in the tavern, Diluc assumed she must be here to find Kaeya and take him back to headquarters.

Sure enough, she smiled and waved at Diluc before glancing around in much the same way Barbara had when she came in.

“Oh? I don’t see Kaeya around.” She said, turning back to Diluc. “Has he already come and gone?”

“You’re in luck.” Diluc sighed. “He hasn’t come by today.”

“Oh… I see.” Noelle said, frowning in confusion. “I haven’t seen him at headquarters either, but maybe I just missed him.”

Diluc waited as Noelle continued frowning for a bit before shrugging and looking up at him once more.

“Well, do you think you’ll need any assistance today, Master Diluc?” She asked, smiling kindly.

Diluc gave her a small smile in return, despite everything. But he once again shook his head, politely declining her offer.

“I hope you have a good day then, Sir!” She said, before stepping out of the tavern and leaving Diluc alone with his thoughts once more.

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Two people had already come and gone, looking for Kaeya and for some reason, that made Diluc’s worry grow by the second.

He didn’t think anyone else would come looking for him. Or at least he hoped that was the case. But if they did, Diluc had made up his mind to ask them if Kaeya was ok. Of course, they may not know either but it didn’t hurt to ask.

Maybe someone had discovered his whereabouts by now.

He waited for the longest few hours of his life and had to mentally shove all thoughts of Kaeya away from the forefront of his mind.

It was an hour past noon at this point and if Kaeya was still nowhere to be found then maybe something bad had happened to him…

Diluc sighed in frustration and shook his head sharply as if that would make his thoughts shut up.

When he raised his head and opened his eyes he almost gasped aloud when the door to the tavern flew open. Definitely not Kaeya’s manner, but it was abrupt enough to give him a little shock.

His shock turned to confusion when he recognized the small girl dressed in red that rushed into the tavern as if her life depended on it.

“Kaeya! Kaeya, where are you??” Klee yelled as she ran all over the first floor before bounding up the stairs to the second.

Diluc frowned worriedly. Another person looking for Kaeya. Klee probably wasn’t a good source but he did make up his mind to ask the next person what was up.

Thankfully, he was spared having to follow Klee when the door opened once more.

Amber stepped in, looking somewhat irritated, as she glanced around the tavern, clearly looking for someone.

“Hi, Master Diluc.” She sighed, turning to him. “Sorry about that, she just wouldn’t listen to me and came running in. I’ll go get her.”

“Wait.” Diluc said, before she could go anywhere. 

Amber stopped and waited expectantly but Diluc suddenly realized he didn’t know how to word his question. And if he wasn’t mistaken, there was a hint of annoyance in Amber’s eyes that was surely directed towards him…

“You wanna know why she’s here, right?” She asked, before continuing right away, not even giving Diluc a chance to deny it. “She thinks Kaeya’s here, because she didn’t see him at headquarters. She… doesn’t want him to be here. Says it’s bad for him.”

Amber looked like she instantly regretted saying that as Diluc winced at the statement. Klee was right of course. It was bad for Kaeya to be anywhere near Diluc. 

“He shouldn't be drinking on the job, you know.” Amber said quickly.

It was a useless attempt at swallowing her words and both of them knew it. Drinking on the job was very much a crucial part of how Kaeya tended to get his info from unsuspecting drunkards. But Diluc appreciated her attempt to gloss it over. At the very least, it saved him a bit of awkwardness.

Thankfully, he was saved from having to say anything because right at that moment Klee came running back down.

“Klee can’t find him, Amber!” She cried. “If he’s not at headquarters or his home or here, then where is he?”

“I was trying to tell you before you ran off.” Amber sighed. “But anyways, don’t worry too much, I just saw him at Good Hunter not too long ago. He was just looking for Bennett, that’s why he’s been running around all over the place and somehow evading us all.”

Amber glanced towards Diluc, a knowing glint in her eyes. She knew what he wanted to know, after all. Diluc sighed internally, gratefulness and relief washing over him. He really hadn’t known how to get his question out and Amber had spared him the embarrassment.

“Oh really? Well, come on, let’s see if we can catch up to him!” Klee said, grinning as she began to tug on Amber’s arm.

“Alright, alright, I’m coming…” Amber said, smiling and waving at Diluc hastily.

Diluc simply nodded once more and watched as the two red clad girls left the tavern.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Now that he knew Kaeya wasn’t in any danger, he wasn’t so tense anymore. But that didn’t change the fact that he was acting out of the ordinary. 

Why didn’t he come to make a nuisance of himself as usual?

Amber had said he was looking for Bennett and running all over the place to do it. It must have been a very urgent and important matter to him if he decided to forego the tavern.

But… that wasn’t right either. Kaeya had come to pester him during the Stormterror incident, for god's sake.

To be fair though, he had come to tell him the Knights could use his help taking the people to safety, only to throw in a snide remark about his secret identity.

“Are you gonna help or just pretend you’re as helpless as everyone else, Mr. Darknight Hero?”

Diluc’s eyes narrowed in irritation at the very thought of Kaeya’s annoying remarks. So why was he so anxiously wondering why he hadn’t come to do the same today?

For the next few hours, Diluc tried his best to just focus on his job and lock all his thoughts away. But it was much easier said than done.

By the time the sun had set, Diluc was absolutely exhausted for some strange reason and he had half a mind to close the tavern early.

But he knew he couldn’t let a simple inconvenience get in the way of his job. And so he decided to keep working.

And he may have succeeded at it too, if another one of Kaeya’s friends hadn’t come in and broken through the last of his resolve.

“Hello? Master Diluc? Have you seen Kaeya?”

Diluc glanced up with a sigh as Mona came in, glancing around and increasing Diluc’s irritation every time she did so.

He didn’t even know Kaeya had so many friends . Although he should have guessed. The man was a huge talker and everyone in Mond loved him. And now that he thought about it, Diluc recognized most of the people since they’d always come in to drag Kaeya away.

Mona was a first though and he frowned as she suddenly brought out her scry glass and began muttering something as she glared in concern.

She put it away quickly and strode forward before speaking.

“Has he come here today?”

“No…” Diluc sighed, his voice laced with annoyance. 

“Hmm, strange…” Mona muttered. “An aura of sadness clouds his constellation, so I’m a bit worried.”

Diluc didn’t comment on the fact that Mona’s first thought was to come here if Kaeya was sad. He honestly didn’t know what to say. Did he… make Kaeya sad?

No, that wasn’t right. Kaeya hated him. If anything, the only emotions Kaeya should feel around him were anger and hatred.

Those were the emotions both of them harbored towards each other. At least Diluc chose to make it seem like he hated his brother as much as he hated him.

He could never hate Kaeya though. He wished he had told him that years ago but now… now it was too late.

A twinge of sadness pricked his own heart but he ignored it. He didn’t deserve to be sad about it. Not when it was entirely his fault.

“Well…” Mona’s voice brought him back to the present. “If he’s not here, I’ll go check the Knights’ headquarters. Maybe I can help him somehow.”

Diluc didn’t doubt that she would. Anyone would be able to do better for Kaeya than he had.

The slight sadness vanished when he couldn’t help but smile as Mona left. He was happy for Kaeya. His… brother had a lot of friends to support him.

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Diluc’s exhaustion proved to be too much for even him to surmount and he ended up closing up shop early.

And that’s why he decided it wouldn’t hurt to nod off a little as he waited for Charles to come and help with the cleaning up.

He definitely wasn’t expecting a harsh knock at the door late into the night, waking him up just as he had drifted off.

Diluc blinked several times before sighing and rounding the counter. He waited until he heard another impatient knock before frowning in irritation.

“We’re closed, read the sign.” He grumbled, loud enough for the person on the other side to hear.

“Diluc, open up. It’s me, Jean.”

Diluc’s eyes widened slightly. His immediate thought was that it must be about Kaeya. After all, Jean was his closest friend. But she was also his boss and must know he’s not here right now.

So if she wasn’t looking for him, she must be here to tell Diluc something regarding the Cavalry Captain. 

Diluc sighed and shook his head, desperately trying to reel his thoughts back into line. He shouldn’t jump to conclusions like that. Nothing had happened to Kaeya, Jean was simply here because…

Well, he’d have to open the door to find out. That much was evident by yet another harsh knock at the door.

Diluc opened the door right away this time, taking in Jean’s serious expression as she stood there, arms crossed. He raised an eyebrow in question before startling backwards when Jean pushed her way inside.

Diluc gave her an incredulous stare before closing the door and joining her by the counter where she had sat down on a stool.

“What’s this about?” He asked, warily.

“I just wanted to know if Kaeya’s been here all day.” She said, cutting right to the chase.

Diluc simply shook his head, tired of having answered the same question several times already.

“Is he… not at headquarters?” Diluc asked carefully, almost dreading the answer. 

“He is now.” Jean replied. “I just wanted to know what he’s been up to all day. I didn’t believe his story about looking for Bennett so I decided to ask you. I know you wouldn’t lie to me.”

Diluc was the type to be completely honest with everyone, almost always getting dangerously close to the line between kind honesty and outright bluntness. In fact most times, he jumped that line over to the latter. Most people didn’t appreciate it but Diluc didn’t really care.

His conversation with Jean, however, made him somewhat uneasy. She was just barely holding back on her glares and Diluc couldn’t help but want to shy away from her gaze. 

The two had worked together once upon a time when he was part of the Knights and once again even more recently with the Stormterror case.

But… Diluc honestly didn’t know where he stood on his relationship with her. They’d once been great friends but then… it all went down in flames.

He didn’t doubt that Kaeya had told her what happened that night, if the way she always looked at him since then was anything to go by. When Diluc returned to Mond, he found that the two people he desperately wanted to talk to wouldn’t look his way except to glare in anger and hatred.

Even now, her words were sharp and to the point. As if she wanted to say her piece and get out right away.

In fact, it seemed like that was what she was doing right this second, the scraping of the stool against the floor dragging him out of his thoughts.

“Well, good night, then.”

Before Diluc could even think about it, he found himself reaching forward, stopping just short of grabbing her arm.

“W-wait. Jean…” He said in a rush.

Jean stopped and turned to face him but said nothing.

“Is… Kaeya ok? Has something happened to him?” He asked, uncertainly.

Jean didn’t reply right away, simply choosing to stare for a few seconds. Diluc couldn’t be sure but he thought he saw a hint of sorrow flash across her face before it faded away into uninterest once more.

“If you’re wondering if he’s sick or injured, then rest easy.” She said, her tone dry. “He’s fine in that department.”

He’s fine… in that department?

Did that mean something else was wrong with him?

Hadn’t Mona said he was sad or something?

Diluc didn’t know how much he believed her astral readings but… his own gut feeling told him something was terribly wrong.

“Anyways, I must get going now. I have to find him soon.” Jean said, before rushing out without another word.

That left Diluc alone in the empty tavern, wondering what could possibly be wrong with his brother. For a while, Diluc simply stood where Jean had left him, his mind blank.

And then, as if longing for someone, an ache settled in his heart.

It didn’t take long before the hurt vanished and Diluc decided to erase all traces of worry and concern from his mind.

After all, none of that made a difference anymore.

Chapter Text

“I’m not your brother anymore…”

These were the words that echoed in Kaeya’s pounding head as he ran through the sheets of rain, away from his home. The air was frigid around him as he gripped the icy blue orb in his hand, the vision glowing almost blindingly bright.

Kaeya paid no attention to anything, all his thoughts hyper fixated on the five words that had brought his world crashing down around him.

Once again…

Kaeya had lost everything.

The thought made his chest tighten until he could barely breathe and his head ache until his vision blurred.

Was this… just his fate? Was he bound to lose everything over and over again in a twisted cycle?

His thoughts froze to a stuttering stop when a misstep threw him off, making him fall to the slippery grass below. His mind flashed back, flickers of the fight flashing through his mind. His thoughts were all over the place and Kaeya actually gasped aloud, half expecting to see Diluc brandishing his flames against him once more.

It took him a few minutes to calm down enough to realize that was all in the past. The very near past ….

Kaeya shivered violently, vaguely noticing that he had been shivering slightly the entire time already. He wondered if it had anything to do with the freezing Vision held tightly in his hand.

He scrambled to his feet, forcing himself to run once more, despite feeling the adrenaline wearing off. Despite knowing he’d probably collapse from exhaustion somewhere or die of hypothermia. The cold air was only becoming more intense, making Kaeya’s breath catch in his throat.

Before long, Kaeya’s brain caught up to his feet. It seemed like he did have a destination in mind, after all. When his thoughts clicked back into gear, he finally noticed the towering windmills just ahead of him and realized… There was one person he still had left and that’s who he wanted to see right now.

Although… he didn’t quite know if his feet would carry him all the way. The adrenaline had taken almost all his energy with it and he was barely staying upright at this point. Each step was dangerously close to throwing him off his feet once more, but the thought of his best friend pushed him forward.

But as he neared her house, he realized it was probably the worst idea he ever had to go to her right now. What would she think if he suddenly turned up at her house like that? Surely, she’d pester him about what had happened and… Kaeya didn’t have an answer for that right now.

But it was already too late when the thought came to him. His feet had already dragged him all the way to her house. Kaeya stared blankly at the door, shivering as he raised a sluggish arm and knocked on the door.

The door opened almost immediately as he knew it would. Jean was a light sleeper after all.

His vision was blurred but the bright blue of her eyes and the golden glow of her curls were still visible and brought a smile to his face.

Just as he let out the smallest of relieved laughs, his legs gave up on him and he found himself falling to the floor.

Or at least he would have but instead of cold, hard ground, he was met with a pair of comforting arms holding him up steadily.

He shivered weakly, trying to get his legs to carry him once more when he heard Jean muttering worriedly.

“J-jean…” he stuttered out. “I… I’m-”

“Shh, let’s get you inside first, Kae…” Jean murmured, supporting most of Kaeya’s weight as he finally stood up, albeit shakily.

Kaeya was barely aware of what happened after that, his mind moving as sluggishly as his feet but somehow he knew that something was terribly wrong. Besides the obvious…

Kaeya was freezing. Even though he was now inside Jean’s house and sitting on the couch in front of her fireplace, though he had no memory of how he’d gotten there. And there was even a blanket wrapped tightly around him. He gripped the blanket tighter around his body with fumbling fingers but somehow nothing eased the biting cold.

“Kaeya…? Can you hear me? Kaeya!”

Kaeya flinched at Jean’s call and turned to face her. He still couldn’t see well for some reason and his head was swimming.

He could recognize the confusion on her face though, because that was something that rarely happened. The confusion lasted all of two seconds before it vanished into knowing sorrow.

“Kaeya, give me your hand.” She said, gently but firmly.

Kaeya wordlessly gave her his right hand but she shook her head.

“The other one, Kaeya. Give me your Vision. You’re… scared and you’re using it unintentionally.”

Ah… that explained the frigid cold. Who would have thought? He’d nearly died thanks to two visions in one night.

With a shiver, Kaeya finally let go of the glowing blue orb and handed it to Jean. She took it wordlessly and Kaeya silently marvelled at the way she refrained from asking any questions. He knew she must be wondering when he’d received the Vision but it was obvious her concern for his well being came first. She placed it somewhere out of his reach before coming back with a mug in her hands.

“Here, hold this instead.”

Kaeya didn’t need to look to know it was hot cocoa. Something Kaeya had absolutely fallen in love with when he was a child and still loved to this day.

Somehow, the warmth from that simple gesture made Kaeya tear up. He shivered again, the cold slowly vanishing but fear beginning to settle in. It had been a bad idea to come here. Kaeya wasn’t ready to lose Jean yet.

“Kaeya…?” Jean asked, hesitantly. “Can you tell me what happened?”

He wanted to. He really did. He had to tell someone what just happened or he might actually go insane and run away or do something worse. But… if he told Jean… she’d leave him too, wouldn’t she?

And so Kaeya simply shrugged, not knowing if he wanted to tell her or not.

“Ok… Take your time, Kaeya.” Jean said, softly. “But I would like it if you decided to tell me. I want to help and I can’t do that if I don’t know what happened.”

He knew that, of course. But he also knew that there was no guarantee she’d still want to help after hearing what had happened.

But this was Jean and Kaeya had never been able to keep things from her for too long. Before he could even think about it, he was turning towards her and speaking, despite his thoughts desperately warning him against it.

“I…” Kaeya began, his voice catching in his throat. “I lost everyone again.”

He could barely hear the whisper himself but he knew Jean had heard him loud and clear. Her expression had pinched into confusion once more but this time there was something hidden behind it. Fear.

“What… What do you mean by that, Kaeya?” She asked, hesitantly.

Kaeya made a strange noise, something between a laugh and a sob, before shaking his head.

“Father is dead and Diluc kicked me out.” He said vaguely, instantly regretting the words.

“What…” Jean asked, a soft gasp accompanying her words. “Crepus… is dead? And Diluc… why would he kick you out? How… how did this happen?”

Kaeya scoffed, some of his fear giving way to bitterness.

“I suppose I must have said something to tick him off. As for Father’s death… I bet Diluc would blame that on me as well.” 

Jean sat there in confusion for a few seconds before shaking her head in disbelief.

“But you would never do anything against your father… He took you in when you were abandoned! You’re indebted to him! Diluc knows that! So why would he…”

Well, that was because Diluc now knew something else about that old story about his father abandoning him that Jean didn’t know. Kaeya was only getting more convinced that this had been a terrible idea.

“And what exactly did you say to him that made him kick you out?” Jean seemed to want to say a lot more but kept quiet in favor of waiting for Kaeya’s response.

But Kaeya couldn’t speak anymore. He simply shook his head, wondering why he had even come here in the first place. A shiver shook him once more and he decided to put down his mug to ensure he wouldn’t drop it.

“Kaeya, come on. Give me something to work with.”

Kaeya shook his head again, more firmly this time. He had half a mind to just get up and leave so he wouldn’t have to answer her questions. How he wished he could go back in time… 

“Kaeya, answer me.”

Kaeya was beginning to grow irritated. Why couldn’t he make up his mind? If he wasn’t going to tell her, he should leave right away. Why was he still here, giving her a chance to continue prying?

“Kaeya, seriously. I need to know what you told Diluc that made him throw you out. This doesn’t make sense. You came here because you wanted my help, right? Well, I can’t fix this if I don’t know what’s wrong. I can help, I promise! We’ll make Diluc come around!”

A wry smile settled on Kaeya’s face. There was no going back with what had happened with Diluc. He knew that. Diluc was probably going to spread the news himself, wasn’t he? 

It was that thought that finally made him decide to speak. Even if Jean was going to leave him as well, he’d rather she heard the tale from him first hand rather than some rumors.

“I guess it shouldn’t hurt to tell you…” Kaeya said, softly, his gaze downcast. “It seems I’m destined to lose everyone anyways. I’m sure I can handle losing you too…”

That was a lie and he knew it. But… there was no going back now.

Jean didn’t say anything, simply frowned in concern as Kaeya began his story.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“Kaeya? Kaeya, wake up!”

Kaeya awoke with a shuddering gasp and a shiver as if the cold air from his nightmare had followed him out.

He blinked several times before finally realizing he was still in his office, a mountain of paperwork still waiting to be signed on his desk. He glanced up to see Jean standing there, worry and concern written all over her face.

Kaeya sighed and dropped his head in his arms once again.

He… had dreamt of that night again. At least the worst part was over, but it didn’t make his heart ache any less.

“Kaeya, look at me.” Jean said, sternly.

The tone of her voice made Kaeya look up in confusion. Focusing back on her face, he realized he had failed to notice the other emotion hidden beneath the concern.

Jean was mad.

And Kaeya really didn’t have the energy to deal with her anger right now. So he simply sighed and rested his head against his arms once more, but still kept eye contact with her.

She crossed her arms and glared at Kaeya for a few seconds before speaking.

“You look way too drained for someone who simply overslept this morning.” 

Kaeya sighed, letting his eye slide shut as he did so.

“Jean…” He sighed. “I’ve been running all over Mondstadt since the morning and I really just wanna be left alone to sleep right now.”

“Something happened between you and Diluc, didn’t it?” She asked, her tone accusatory.

“What?” Kaeya frowned in confusion.

Nothing had happened between the two of them. Kaeya should hope so, especially since he went through such pains to ignore even the thought of him.

“No? How would anything happen between us if I haven’t even seen him all day?” Kaeya asked.

“Exactly.” Jean said, eyes narrowing as if what he had just said was incriminating evidence. “You never skip out on a chance to bother him. And today’s Thursday. You’re always at the tavern on Thursdays. This just proves something is wrong with you.”

“Nothing’s wrong with me, Jean.” Kaeya sighed. “I just wanted to give the man a break. Is that so surprising?”

“ Yes. You never give him a break, Kaeya.”

Kaeya lifted his head, glaring in frustration. Why wouldn’t she just leave him alone?

“Jean, I swear nothing is wrong with me. Can you please just leave me alone? I’m really, really tired…” He said, raising his voice slightly.

The anger in Jean’s eyes lessened slightly and she took a small step back. Kaeya sighed, putting his head back down and waiting for her to sigh in frustration before leaving the room.

But the frustrated sigh never came. Instead, she began to speak again after the moment of silence.

“Didn’t you promise you’d never hide anything from me again?”

The question was uttered softly, a hint of vulnerability and pure, raw concern showing through. Those simple words took Kaeya’s memory back, reminding him exactly when he’d made that promise to her.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“So there you have it. I’m a Khaenria’ahn spy, in charge of destroying Mondstadt one day to save that god forsaken nation. And any day now… My father is gonna come back for me.” Kaeya sighed, wrapping up his story. “I suppose it’s best this way… When he comes, I’ll face him alone.”

Kaeya kept his gaze trained on the ground as he finished telling Jean exactly what he told Diluc. Now it was just a matter of time until she exploded in rage the same way Diluc had.

He waited patiently, but the eruption of anger never came.

Instead, when he looked up in confusion, he found Jean staring at him with sorrowful eyes. The clear pity in her gaze made him growl in frustration and he looked away quickly.

“Stop doing that.” He demanded. “Just show me how you truly feel and leave me just like everyone else has.”

Kaeya hadn’t expected her to say anything to that but when she began speaking, her words completely threw him off.

“I’m sorry…”

Jean… was apologizing to him? 

“W-what for…?” Kaeya asked, almost dreading the answer.

“I’m sorry for not knowing what you’ve been going through all these years. I’m sorry I was never able to help.” 

There are tears in her voice and Kaeya’s own throat begins to tighten at the words. Jean… always managed to surprise him. It was evident now that she wasn’t going to throw him out. He still had Jean. 

The tears that he had held back for so long began slowly streaming down his face.

“It’s not your fault. You couldn’t have known.” Kaeya choked out.

But Jean shook her head, taking a second to wipe her tears before reaching out to wipe Kaeya’s away.

“I should have known…” She insisted. “I should have realized those… sorrowful looks on your face had a deeper meaning.”

Kaeya simply shook his head, finding that he couldn’t form words anymore.

“I will never leave you, Kaeya.” She said firmly, despite her shaky voice. “I know you would never betray Mond.... and I’m always going to be here for you. And I don’t want you to ever think otherwise.”

The tears only came faster and harder at those words. Jean leaned forward to hug him just as he began to shake and shiver once more. She let him sob for a while before sighing and gently running a hand down his back.

Kaeya didn’t know how long he cried for but he could feel the tendrils of sleep reaching out to pull him under when Jean finally spoke one last time.

“Kaeya?”

“Hm?” He hummed sleepily.

“Can you…” She paused as if rethinking her words. “I want you to promise me something.”

“Anything…”

“Promise me you’ll never hide anything from me ever again.”

“Ok… I promise.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Kaeya felt a rush of deja vu as he choked up again at the memory.

That promise…

He definitely didn’t regret making it but… it did bring back more unwanted memories. But also a reminder that this was Jean . She would never leave him. She’d made good on her promise from back then so it was only fair that he did the same.

“I…” Kaeya had no idea how to tell her but he did anyway. “I had a nightmare last night...”

“About…?” Jean asked after a pause. 

The tone of her voice made it seem like she already knew very well what he had dreamt about. But he answered her question anyway.

“That night…” 

Kaeya laughed bitterly and shook his head.

“I can’t help but wonder sometimes… If I hadn’t told Diluc back then… would we still be brothers right now?”

“Oh, Kaeya…” Jean sighed, coming around to hug her friend. “You guys are still brothers. You both just need a little help realizing that.”

“Well…” Kaeya sighed tiredly. “That help had better come soon.”

The two friends fell into a comfortable silence after that, neither letting go of the other as they embraced each other in the stillness of night.

Chapter Text

Kaeya didn’t know how long they remained like that but he definitely didn’t mind. Jean’s hugs always made him feel better. Of course, they never took away all the pain, but they took away enough. At the very least, they reminded Kaeya that someone was there.

The stress he’d been feeling all day slowly began to bleed away and he found himself beginning to nod off. But Jean moved away suddenly, making him whine in annoyance and reach out for her.

He was just about to fall asleep. Why couldn’t Jean have stayed until he nodded off? 

“Aw, Jean, don’t go yet…” He muttered sleepily, his head dipping forward slightly before he caught it at the last second.

Wow, maybe he was more tired than he realized.

Now that he finally had nothing on his mind, he did notice his head felt heavier than usual.

Well, that’s what tended to happen after he suffered a terrible nightmare and then proceeded to run around town like a madman.

He supposed he deserved this. But at least Jean was there to help.

Or maybe not because she was still staying stubbornly out of reach, despite the captain still reaching towards her.

“Nuh uh, nope.” Jean said sternly. “You are not going to fall asleep here. You were already asleep when I came in. You know it’s bad to fall asleep at your desk. Your neck is going to ache in the morning.”

Kaeya laughed tiredly at that and smirked at her.

“That sounds awfully hypocritical coming from you, Jean.” He laughed.

Jean glared and rolled her eyes but didn’t deny the statement. Both knew it was because she couldn’t. More often than not, it was Kaeya finding Jean asleep at her desk rather than the other way around.

Still, Kaeya always made sure to get her to a proper bed whenever he found her like that, so he decided to allow her to do the same. He was dead tired and would much rather fall asleep in his office but knew he would regret it later on just like Jean had said.

“Alright then…” Kaeya sighed, dragging himself to his feet. “I’ll go home if you carry me.”

Jean laughed at that and shook her head.

“Come on, don’t be lazy.” She said, before walking towards the door and waving him over. “I’ll walk you home but you have to use your own feet.”

Kaeya simply sighed and grinned.

“As you wish, my Grand Master.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Kaeya was glad his mind was void of thoughts for once but it was a bit of a hassle. When his mind was empty, he tended to become less aware of his surroundings. And that lack of alertness feeding off of his exhaustion was not a good combination.

Needless to say, he’d have face planted at least five times if Jean hadn’t been there to steady him every time he stumbled.

He didn’t even know why he was this tired. It wasn’t like he hadn’t gotten sleep the previous night. Sure it wasn’t very restful sleep either… but it was sleep nonetheless.

“You’re emotionally drained, Kaeya.” Jean said suddenly.

Kaeya blinked when he realized he had been voicing his sleepy thoughts.

“Ah…” He sighed. “Right… emotions…”

Jean smiled endearingly, throwing an arm around his shoulder as they walked the dimly lit streets of Mondstadt.

“Yes, Kaeya. Emotions. It would do you well to start acknowledging that you have those.” 

“You say that as if a whole Diluc doesn’t exist.” Kaeya replied, bluntly.

That drew a laugh from Jean, making Kaeya smile slightly.

“Well, yes, you are right about that. The only emotions he shows are annoyance and anger and…”

“Hatred.” Kaeya said, smiling wryly. “Bitterness, disgust, loathing…. Towards me.”

“That’s not true, Kaeya.” Jean sighed. “Diluc doesn’t hate you. I’ve been telling you this for years.”

“But you have no evidence for that, Jean. How am I supposed to believe you when he glares every time my name is mentioned in a conversation?”

“He just… doesn’t know how to approach the situation. Look, he hasn’t exposed you since that day right? That has to mean something. ”

“It means he doesn’t want me to expose his secret. That’s all it means. That’s the only reason he lets me live in peace.”

Jean sighed and shook her head.

“One day, Kaeya.” She said, her voice firm. “One day, I’m going to prove it to you. I… don’t approve of his actions. But I don’t think he did it out of hatred or malice. You’re still his brother. ”

“I’m glad you think so…” Kaeya sighed, suddenly way too tired to continue the conversation. “If only your belief in that statement would make it so.”

Jean turned her sorrowful eyes back to Kaeya but he just turned away. He was way too tired for this conversation right now.

“Kaeya, you-”

Kaeya’s eye flew open suddenly, turning to Jean just as she stopped talking abruptly. The two made eye contact, the same question in both gazes.

They weren’t alone in the dark streets… were they?

“You heard that too, didn’t you?” Jean whispered.

Kaeya nodded slowly, turning his head towards the strange noise he had just heard.

“I still hear it in fact.” He whispered back. “Come on, let’s hide.”

The two quietly made their way to a small alley, making use of the many transport carts to hide. As they settled down, Kaeya focused his ears on the noise, frowning as he tried to discern the sound.

Yup, that was definitely the sound of heavy breathing. From Kaeya’s experience, he could tell whoever it was had run a long way and was probably hurt, if the painful wheezes were anything to go by.

So… not a threat then?

Kaeya couldn’t be so sure. Years of experience told him never to trust anyone that he didn’t know as well as Jean or Diluc. Even if that person was injured, it could very well be an act. They needed to proceed with caution.

But suddenly the sounds of breathing were accompanied by rushed footsteps and a pained grunt when the person stumbled and suddenly Kaeya realized he recognized the voice. He didn’t know him well but there was no mistaking it.

“Jean…” Kaeya turned to her. “That sounds an awful lot like Razor.”

She nodded immediately, her train of thought closely following his.

“It sounds like it’s coming from the front gate.”

They both turned to each other once more and nodded before carefully leaving their hiding place. They both ran the rest of the way to the gate and sure enough, there was Razor, struggling to stand on a heavily bleeding left leg.

Razor was already looking in their direction, probably having heard them approaching. His eyes were wide and terrified for a second but once he recognized them, the fear dulled a bit. But not completely.

“Knights! I… need help.” Razor said, keeping his voice unnaturally quiet for some reason.

“Razor… What happened?” Jean asked worriedly as she and Kaeya helped him stand.

Razor hissed in pain but kept his foot stubbornly planted on the ground. Then he glanced over his shoulder, eyes wide with fear.

“Shh! Not too loud.” He whispered. “The bad men… still near.”

“Bad men…?” Kaeya asked, sharing a look with Jean as he supported the boy’s weight. “What do you-”

Before Kaeya could finish his sentence, a horrible thought occurred to him.

Razor was obviously attacked by… someone, but… hadn’t he been with Bennett that morning?

“Razor…” Kaeya asked, glancing down at him. “Where’s… Bennett?”

Razor turned guilty eyes towards the Knight and growled in frustration.

“Razor couldn’t protect him.” He told him. “The bad men… took Bennett.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Of all the amazing abilities Jean possessed, the one Kaeya admired the most was her ability to immediately take charge, no matter the situation.

This situation was no different, her eyes taking on a determined glint as she beckoned Kaeya to help her carry Razor to the cathedral.

“No, I… don’t want to… bother Barbara.” Razor said, struggling futilely against the two Knights. “Don’t need healing. I’m ok.”

“Razor, you are not ok.” Jean insisted. “We should get you patched up before you try to tell us anything else.”

But Razor shook his head, the fear in his eyes only growing by the second. 

“Bennett… is in more danger. Focus on him first. I… don’t need healing right away.”

Kaeya glanced at Jean and could see her resolve crumbling. Razor was a stubborn kid and once his mind was set on something, he wasn’t going to let anything shake him.

Kaeya quickly took note of the boy’s injuries and decided that maybe Barbara’s healing could wait. The boy was a little scratched up pretty much everywhere but his leg required immediate medical attention. He could probably help with that until Razor was ready to go to the cathedral.

When his gaze met Jean’s again, he could see that her thoughts were basically on the same page as his.

“Fine…” She sighed. “But once you tell us what happened, we are taking you to the infirmary and bringing Barbara over.”

Razor nodded wordlessly and the three began making their slow and painful trek to the Knights headquarters.

Razor barely made a sound the whole way, though Kaeya could tell his leg wasn’t going to hold him up much longer.

Several minutes later, they finally reached headquarters and then, a few more struggling steps forward, and they were in Jean’s office. Razor all but collapsed onto one of the couches in the corner of the room and dropped his head in his hands.

Kaeya and Jean waited patiently for the boy to get his bearings and begin telling his story.

“Bennett… came to Wolvendom yesterday.” Razor began, struggling to put his thoughts into words. “He… brought meat. I was happy but… Lupical said they sensed danger. They said Bennett should stay… so we could protect him. And he could leave when it was safe. Today… when the sun was out… nothing happened. Me and Bennett looked for wolfhook and treasure together. My wolf family was still… being careful. And then at night… they sensed that danger was close. Bad men were approaching. I could smell them everywhere. But Lupical went to… to…”

At this point, Razor seemed at a loss for words. Kaeya glanced at him sympathetically. He’d never heard the boy say so many words together like that before. He only ever had to communicate with his wolf family on a regular basis. And the few human friends he did have always did the talking whenever they hung out with the boy.

Thankfully though, Jean seemed to have caught onto his drift.

“Your family must have gone to the entrance of Wolvendom. Correct? Leaving you and Bennett alone, supposedly to protect you.”

“Y-yes!” Razor said, nodding. “My sense of smell is good but… not as good as my Lupical. If they said bad men were at the… entrance… I trust them. They said it was too dangerous…. For me and Bennett. But they also said to protect Bennett…. With my lightning. If the bad men came for us.”

From the way Razor’s gaze suddenly became dark, Kaeya was sure the situation hadn’t gone as planned.

“The bad men did come for us. We both fought but… there were too many.” Razor sighed. “I did my best but… I couldn’t protect Bennett.”

“Hmm…” Jean hummed thoughtfully as she came to kneel down next to Razor. “Razor… Can you tell us anything about the bad men? Do you know what they looked like? Or what they were trying to do by kidnapping Bennett?”

Razor frowned for a second, deep in thought.

“They… had many weapons.” Razor told them. “Hammers, knives, arrows. They… like treasure!”

“Treasure hoarders.” Kaeya said.

“Yes!”

“And did they say anything?” Jean asked.

Razor’s frown deepened, worry on his face as he tried to recall the words.

“They said… ugh.” Razor’s words cut off with a frustrated growl. “Razor can’t remember. Hard words…”

“That’s ok, Razor. You did well. We’ll find Bennett, I promise.” Jean said.

Razor nodded, sighing as he dropped his gaze to the floor once more.

There was a small pool of blood forming beneath his left leg at this point and Kaeya wanted to do what he could for the injury as soon as possible.

But Jean seemed to have other plans. Before he could even take a step forward, she glanced at him and gestured to the back of the room.

Kaeya sighed and joined her as she walked over to her bookshelves, deliberately turning away from Razor so he wouldn’t hear what she had to say.

“You want me on the case?” Kaeya asked when she turned to him with a purposeful gaze.

Jean nodded slowly, seemingly in deep thought.

“Yes, and I don’t want to jump the gun or head out too early but… I think we should probably send out a team of Knights to Wolvendom right away and-”

“No! Don’t send Knights right now!” Razor interrupted.

Jean winced at the shout and Kaeya couldn’t help but grin slightly. It seemed she had forgotten that Razor had better hearing than the average human.

But the grin dropped as soon as it came when Razor kept talking.

“The men! They said… I can’t tell anyone what happened. If the Knights… try to save Bennett, they will kill him! I had to tell someone… and I didn’t know who to tell except the Knights… but please! Keep it a secret!”

“Hmm…” Jean hummed thoughtfully. “This does complicate things. But thank you for telling us. I was unsure about this myself.”

“I can go by myself.” Kaeya volunteered. “You’ve said it yourself. I’m an excellent Knight and I tend to work alone anyways. And I’m the best at getting information quietly.”

“That all may be so, Kaeya.” Jean agreed. “But it doesn’t change the fact that you really shouldn’t go alone in this kind of situation. I would go with you but… I should probably stay in case the kidnappers come back for Razor or someone else. We still don’t know their motives or methods so we should tread carefully.”

“I can go with Kaeya!” Razor offered.

But Kaeya shook his head before Jean could reject his offer.

“Razor, it’s too dangerous. I admire your courage but you’re a target too now. It’s best for you to stay here where it’s safe. I can go alone.” Kaeya insisted.

“Mhm, Kaeya is right. Not to mention, you’re still injured and should probably focus on getting better right now.” Jean agreed.

Razor hesitated for a few seconds before sighing and nodding. 

“Ok… I trust you.”

“We’ll do our best to live up to that trust, Razor.” Jean said firmly. “Now… Don’t forget to tell us if you remember anything else.”

“Ok, I will.”

“Now then…” She said. “Kaeya, you know where the first aid things are. Patch him up as best you can and then take him to the infirmary. In the meantime… I know exactly who I want on the case with you.”

Kaeya gave her an incredulous look, crossing his arms as he did so.

“I said I’ll go alone. Don’t worry about me, I can handle myself. I don’t need someone to go with me.”

But Jean shook her head firmly and Kaeya knew there was no arguing with her.

“You’re going with someone and that’s final. Besides, this person isn’t unfamiliar with the Knights so it should be fine.”

Kaeya threw her another look, hoping he conveyed his message well enough. She couldn’t possibly be thinking of pairing him up with… him?

“I hope it’s not who I think it is…” He voiced.

But Jean simply grinned and Kaeya barely held back an irritated sigh. She shrugged nonchalantly and walked out of the office quickly before he could say another word.

Kaeya stood there in tired disbelief for a while before sighing and deciding he should probably take a look at Razor’s wounds.

He found the first aid kit exactly where it had always been: the last drawer on the right side of Jean’s desk.

He got to work right away, cleaning and wrapping Razor’s smaller wounds before turning his attention to his left leg.

Kaeya couldn’t help but hiss when he saw the damage.

Razor had once again fallen silent since Jean had left, barely making a sound despite the pain Kaeya knew he must be in.

But at the sound of Kaeya’s hiss, he glanced down at him.

“Is it… bad?” he asked hesitantly.

Kaeya wasn’t one to sugarcoat and so he sighed and nodded slowly.

“It’ll heal. You won’t lose the leg but you definitely won’t be using it any time soon…” He sighed. 

Most of his left leg had suffered from a deep gash, starting from his hip and tearing down all the way to his knee. Kaeya was surprised he had run all the way from Wolvendom and then walked to the office.

His leg was still bleeding sluggishly and Kaeya had only just now noticed the slight tremor in the boy’s hands and how all the color seemed to have drained from his face.

“How… did this happen?” Kaeya asked in spite of himself as he began to clean the wound.

Razor winced slightly before sighing.

“Me and Bennett… were hiding when we sensed the bad men.” He explained. “We were in a tree. But the bad men found us and threw a knife at me. It hurt a lot and… I fell off the tree with Bennett. I fell on top of him and his arm wouldn’t move after that. I think… I broke it when I fell.” His voice was laced with guilt.

“And then…?” Kaeya asked, gently prompting the boy to continue. 

As Razor spoke, Kaeya began to feel more and more sympathy for the boy. From what he understood, he was injured before the fight even began. Which meant he’d done more than just run on the injured leg. That also meant Razor was a more skilled fighter than most people gave him credit for. He’d been injured but still managed to escape the ambush without any more major injuries.

Razor continued his story, telling Kaeya that besides weapons, the treasure hoarders also wielded “elements in bottles.” Kaeya grinned at the wording, correctly assuming he must be talking about potions. He was proven correct when Razor amended himself and told him they carried those “things that Lisa was always making”.

“Potions?” Kaeya prompted, holding back a smile.

“Yes! Potions… Bennett was fighting with his fire but… treasure… treasure hoarders… threw electro potion his way. Bennett fell back and… hit his head hard.” Razor continued. “After that he couldn’t fight well… he got hurt a lot of times and Razor couldn’t run fast enough to save him.”

Razor sighed heavily, closing his eyes just as Kaeya finished wrapping his leg.

“Do you… have more questions?” Razor asked, eyes still closed. “I will… try to answer.”

“Hmm…” Kaeya hummed.

He definitely had more questions but he could tell Razor was just about done with words for the rest of his life. He settled on asking one more question.

“Where exactly were you two when you were ambushed?”

Razor opened his eyes slightly, frowning thoughtfully.

“We were on a small hill… you can see Mondstadt from the hill. There’s a tower of rock near it. And a tree that bends. If you walk from the beach… you will find it right after the curve in the path… you will know because grass is all gone… burned by Bennett’s fire.”

Kaeya took in Razor’s words and nodded. He was pretty sure he knew what Razor was talking about.

“Thank you for telling me, Razor. You did well.” He said, echoing Jean’s words from before. “You can sleep for a bit now, but when you wake, we’re going to the infirmary and getting Barbara.”

Razor nodded sleepily and closed his eyes once more. Kaeya sighed after a few seconds, wondering if he should just leave and go to the location right away. Jean wouldn’t like that he left by himself but what else was he supposed to do?

Already his thoughts were coming to terrifying conclusions about Bennett’s fate. He knew it wasn’t his fault in the slightest but Kaeya felt strangely responsible for Bennett. It was highly possible that it was just the poor boy’s luck once again but Kaeya didn’t want to think about what could happen to him every second they waited.

Kaeya had just made up his mind to leave the office when Razor gasped suddenly.

Kaeya turned to him, eye wide and concerned when he saw that Razor had bolted to his feet.

“Razor? What’s wrong? You still shouldn’t be standing right now.” He said, trying to gently sit him back down.

But Razor shook his head, stubbornly remaining standing.

“I… remember something! Something important!” Razor said. “I have to tell Jean!”

Kaeya’s eye widened a bit more.

“You can tell me, Razor.”

“No! I have to tell her… so she can tell your partner too!” Razor said, firmly. “This… can’t wait! Very important!”

“Ok, Razor, calm down for a second, I’ll-”

But before Kaeya could finish his sentence, Razor narrowed his eyes at him and ran off with such speed that it left Kaeya stunned.

He sure was a strong kid, that was for sure.

But that didn’t change the fact that he would only be doing more harm to himself if he kept overexerting himself like that.

With a heavy sigh, Kaeya ran after the boy.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Jean was at the end of her patience and she decided she wasn’t going to knock again. If Diluc was set on not letting her in, she was just going to let herself in.

It occurred to her that the man might have gone back home and definitely wasn’t expecting her to drop by again just a few hours after she left the tavern. Not to mention it was pretty late into the night and Angel’s Share had been closed when she came by the first time.

But still, she couldn’t ignore the slight chance that he may still be inside. And Jean really couldn’t think of anyone else to put on the case with Kaeya. He knew the ways of the Knights like the back of his hand, even trusted them to some degree despite not associating with them anymore.

If the treasure hoarders didn’t want the Knights involved… Well, Jean hoped for their sake that they knew how to deal with the Darknight Hero.

Despite their shaky relationship, Jean knew she could trust Diluc to protect the Cavalry Captain and bring Bennett back in one piece.

And so, without bothering to knock again, Jean simply reached out and opened the door. She was surprised it wasn’t locked. Hadn’t Diluc closed up shop earlier? Maybe he had forgotten to do that when she left…

As she stepped in, she couldn’t help but marvel silently at how clean the tavern was. It was as if Noelle’s spirit had taken over Diluc and left once the tavern was spick and span. Or maybe Diluc had simply spent more time than needed trying to get the tavern back into shape for the next morning,

Jean guessed the latter must be true when she found Diluc asleep at the counter, his head resting on his arms.

She felt a wave of deja vu, her memories flashing back to just a few hours ago when she found Kaeya in the exact same position in his office. She was afraid he was going to wake up with a sore neck so she had immediately woken him up, determined to get him to a proper bed.

That… hadn’t really worked out but at least Kaeya had someone to do that for him.

A twinge of sadness pricked Jean’s heart as she wondered if there was anyone who would do the same for Diluc. Obviously, there wasn’t… otherwise he wouldn’t be asleep at the counter right now. She vaguely wondered if Diluc even had any friends . Knowing him, he probably didn’t consider any of the people around him friends.

Before she could allow herself to dwell on that for too long, she sighed and strode forward, tapping the man’s shoulder to wake him.

He stirred awake almost immediately as she knew he would. His sleeping habits were quite similar to hers and it didn’t take much to wake him.

“Hm?” He hummed, lifting his head and rubbing his eyes. 

He sat up straight but winced and rubbed the back of his neck before slumping forward once more. Yup, he was definitely gonna have a sore neck all day.

“Jean?” He muttered, finally looking up at her. “What are you doing here? Has something happened?”

Jean nodded, cutting right to the chase.

She hated that she had to drop this on him right away but she knew he would take charge immediately. Yet another thing the two had in common.

“Bennett has been kidnapped by treasure hoarders.” Jean said, her voice dry and phrases short as they often became when she talked to Diluc. “And I can’t send the Knights or he might die. So I’m only sending Kaeya.”

She didn’t hate Diluc exactly. But she definitely felt some frustration towards the man. If only he knew how to balance his emotions. Sometimes, she wished she could talk to the level headed Diluc of days past. Not the hot headed and reckless Diluc that had torn apart his relationship with Kaeya. And not the dry and emotionless Diluc that didn’t know how to fix that relationship.

She knew Diluc often became level-headed only when he was thrust into a situation that required him to have his wits about him at all times but also not let his recklessness get the better of him.

She could only hope that this would be enough to get the two brothers to at least talk to each other normally.

Besides that, Diluc and Kaeya really were the best suited for this job. Both of them were clever and efficient on the battlefield. 

Killing two birds with one stone. Jean hoped it would work out well.

Once Jean had vaguely explained the situation, she waited for the man to respond.

But for a few seconds, Diluc simply stared. And then he sighed, dropping his head back down on his arms, face turned away from her.

“Why are you telling me this?” He muttered tiredly. “Don’t tell me you want me to go with him?”

“Yes, precisely.” Jean replied.

“No.” Diluc said, irritation in his voice. “Why can’t you send someone else?”

“I already told you the Knights can’t be involved.”

“Well, in case you’ve forgotten…” Diluc said sarcastically. “Kaeya is a Knight.”

“You know there’s no stopping him.” Jean sighed. “Besides, he spent all day looking for him only to find out he’s been kidnapped. I’m not going to stop him from searching for his friend.”

“Why can’t you go with him?” 

“I have to protect Razor and Mondstadt in case the kidnappers come back.”

Diluc finally lifted his head to stare at Jean. She barely held back a wince when she saw the exhaustion in his gaze. Emotionally drained, just like Kaeya. If only the two could see what she did. Clearly, they were both as affected by everything as the other…

Jean could tell that Diluc was probably going to give in any second. The resolved glint he usually held in his eyes was all but gone.

“I’m not going.” He said simply, putting his head back down.

Well, Jean definitely hadn’t been expecting that. But she couldn’t give up now. She had to figure out a way to get Diluc to go with Kaeya but… she had no idea what would convince him.

Thankfully, she was spared having to give it another try because right at that second, the door to the tavern flew open, crashing against the wall harshly.

Jean took a surprised step back as she turned to see Razor rush in, his leg wrapped in bandages that were already turning red.

Diluc had immediately stood up when the door first opened, eyes wide. But they only widened more when someone else stepped in after Razor.

There stood Kaeya, gaze trained on Jean as he crossed his arms in irritation.

“Sorry about that, Jean. I couldn’t stop him.” He told her. “He remembered something big.”

Razor didn’t wait for anyone to recover from the shock he gave them by throwing open the door.

“The bad men! They said something about testing… testing something. Called a Delusion! They said taking Bennett would help them do that!”

Jean turned her head towards Razor sharply, her eyes wide. This was… shocking new information.

“Razor, are you sure?” She asked hesitantly.

Razor nodded firmly.

“Yes! Delusion was the hard word I couldn’t remember!”

If this was about those counterfeit Visions made by the Fatui… this whole thing was probably much bigger than a simple kidnapping.

“Razor, when you were ambushed… Did the men try to attack you and Bennett equally? Or did they try to attack Bennett more?” Jean asked.

“The men looked like they only wanted Bennett. It would be easy to take me too because of my leg but they only took Bennett.” Razor said. “But… they said they would come back soon.”

Jean nodded thoughtfully.

“Ok, then it’s settled.” She said. “I’m staying here. And Kaeya, you’ll go investigate with Diluc. Hopefully you two can find Bennett before things get out of hand.”

“Didn’t I tell you I’m not going?” Diluc said.

But Jean could tell his resolve had finally crumbled. They all knew his history with Delusions. If there was anything that would get Diluc fired up and ready to take action, it had to be this.

He had spent three years of his life trying to find the source of his father’s Delusion, after all. He had come up empty handed that time but now… now the opportunity was here. It was so close.

Diluc wanted his revenge. And Jean knew he wouldn’t pass up the opportunity. And she told him so.

“Stop acting like you’re not going to sneak out the first chance you get. Why not just go with Kaeya if you’re going anyways? You know he’s gonna need someone watching his back.”

Diluc simply sighed before glaring at Kaeya as if this was all his fault. Kaeya glared right back at him, completely unphased.

“What do you say… brother?” Kaeya asked with a smirk.

Diluc simply sighed and turned away, facing Jean once more.

“I’ll go with him.” He said, simply.

“Great!” Jean said, beaming happily. “Then you two can work out the details yourself then.”

Kaeya turned to glare at her but she simply smiled and gestured for Razor to follow her out.

Finally leaving the two alone in the tavern.

Chapter Text

For a while, the two simply stood across from each other, each staring daggers at the other in the strained silence.

While Diluc was relieved to see the man, since it confirmed that nothing bad had happened to him, he couldn’t help but want him gone once again. Old habits die hard. He really couldn’t help the unease that came with being around Kaeya. Seeing the man was always a painful reminder of what he had ruined.

And so he did what he always did. He simply glared.

Or at least he tried to.

But in the end, his curiosity got the better of him and he asked Kaeya the simple, pressing question that had been plaguing his mind since the morning.

“Why didn’t you come to the tavern today?” He asked, his voice carefully devoid of emotion.

Kaeya smirked at the question. Of course he did. That was his one and only expression whenever he was in Diluc’s presence.

Then he tilted his head and squinted, the smirk growing wider and more infuriating.

“Is that… concern I see?” He drawled. “My, that’s new. Since when was my well-being any of your concern?”

Diluc sincerely hoped Kaeya didn’t notice the way he winced slightly at the sarcastic remark. He had no idea how to answer that and just like always, Kaeya had stunned him into silence once more. The man wasn’t wrong of course. Kaeya’s well-being really shouldn’t be any of his concern. Not after he had so openly tried to murder him about four years ago.

But well… Kaeya really didn’t have to remind him about that every chance he got. Diluc mentally sighed, knowing the man had every right to.

And so once again, Diluc glared at the man, hoping it would drive him away. They apparently had to solve a kidnapping together now but they didn’t have to interact otherwise.

But he knew Kaeya probably had other plans. Hardly daring to hope, Diluc held his breath, waiting for the next jab but it never came.

Kaeya simply shrugged, the ever present smirk still on his face.

“Well then…” He sighed. “As Jean instructed.... I’ll see you in the morning to work out the details.”

And with that, Kaeya nearly left the tavern. Nearly.

If Diluc had even a moment to think before he spoke, Kaeya probably would have left. But Diluc suddenly realized he shouldn’t let that happen. Because Kaeya obviously wasn’t going to go back to his house like a normal person. Diluc was sure he was going to the crime scene at this hour to investigate. Kaeya had always been reckless like that. And Diluc told him so.

“I know you’re not going to bed like a normal person.” He said, irritated. “You’re going to go investigate right now, aren’t you?”

Kaeya didn't turn around but stopped just short of the door.

He cast a sideways glare at the man and Diluc was surprised to see annoyance in his gaze. Normally when Kaeya glared at him, his hateful gaze was always full of malicious glee, but this time… this time there was nothing but hate and anger.

“Jumping to conclusions now, are we?” He asked. “You shouldn’t be so quick to assume, Master Diluc. Who’s to say I haven’t changed since four years ago?”

Ah… there it was again. The painful reminder.

Diluc chose to ignore it, like always.

He sighed and crossed his arms.

“It’s dangerous to go out there alone right now.” He said simply, ignoring the jab.

Kaeya turned away and shrugged, moving to open the door once more.

“You’re welcome to come along if it concerns you so much.” He said, though the tone of his voice implied that he really didn’t want Diluc to come along.

But Diluc was nothing if not stubborn. And so with a heavy sigh, he rounded the counter and followed as Kaeya left the tavern, not turning back to see if Diluc was coming.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Kaeya had to admit. The journey down to the crime scene was pretty eventful. And it would have been just as enjoyable, had a certain redhead not decided to tag along.

Kaeya had absolutely no idea why Diluc felt the need to accompany him. It was probably because of how ‘inefficient the Knights were and how they couldn’t be trusted even with the simplest tasks.’

Kaeya had hoped his snide remarks would deter the man because he honestly didn’t need a walking reminder of his worst nightmare following him.

But then again, Kaeya was the one who often sought him out, albeit to annoy the heck out of him.

Kaeya often thought to himself about why he did that. It wasn’t like he’d see Diluc otherwise. If he kept to himself, so would Diluc, and they’d never have to be near each other. Then Kaeya had realized, not too long ago, that that was precisely why he was always near Diluc. 

It was obvious Diluc would never seek him out. 

But Kaeya realized he wasn’t ready to lose the man. Despite everything…

More than that, he wanted to believe there was a chance for… something . Maybe Diluc wouldn’t take him back or apologize. But maybe he wouldn’t hate him so much?

So far, Kaeya had been proven wrong. And what was worse was that Kaeya himself had no courage to bring up what had happened all those years ago. Not directly at least. Not after what had happened last time he did that four years ago.

He could make plenty of sarcastic comments about it though. And just hope that one day, Diluc would take notice and realize Kaeya just wanted to talk.

But… every time Kaeya made a comment like that, the man would simply glare or say something cold as if he wanted Kaeya to leave.

Kaeya would never do that though. Not completely, even though it was clearly what Diluc had wanted. Kaeya had long since given up on his personal goals of throwing hints the man’s way. It was still there but not as strong as the desire to make sure Diluc wasn’t alone.

It didn’t take a genius to see just how Diluc’s three year disappearance had affected him. Kaeya never found out the details, but he knew it must have been treacherous, using their father’s delusion and tracking down the men behind it. 

Diluc was never the same after that. Even little Klee had noticed he was all alone and had no friends. 

“Why does he never smile?” She had asked innocently. 

Kaeya didn’t have an answer to that.

And so… maybe it wasn’t the best way but… that’s why he always went down to Angel’s Share on Thursdays. To make sure the man wasn’t alone, despite knowing he was the last person Diluc would want to see.

And so he tried his best to take comfort in the heavy but stealthy footsteps following him through Mondstadt. He didn’t look back at the man but knew he was following him and that was enough. 

Diluc asked no questions throughout the journey, though Kaeya was absolutely sure it piqued his curiosity as to how Kaeya knew such a roundabout way to Wolvendom.

There was obviously no direct path from Mond to the forest that Razor lived in. But Kaeya had long since formulated his own route. He could never know when he’d have to get to Wolvendom fast to make sure Klee didn’t blow up her friend’s hometown on a harmless playdate.

The route he had devised was quite simple. Head to the little training arena behind headquarters. Say hi to Ellin if she was around, then ask her not to tell anyone she saw him. Before climbing and jumping down from the city walls. After that, it was a short glide down to Cider Lake before forming an ice bridge and ending up on the beach that marked the entrance to Wolvendom. Then maybe say hi to Ross before taking care of the hilichurls that had seemingly accepted him since they never tried to attack him.

Things had gone smoothly up to that point. But it was when Kaeya and Diluc had to fight together when the real problems began.

Almost immediately after exchanging a few words with Ross, a guard hilichurl spotted two unwanted guests on the beach and immediately alerted its companions.

Without a word to Diluc, Kaeya simply sighed and summoned his sword. Just a few hilichurls after all. He saw no need to be tactical about this and he definitely didn’t plan to use his Vision on these easy targets. 

Kaeya dashed forward and landed a strike on the hilichurl, watching as it flew through the air and hit the ground hard. Kaeya thought that was the end of it but just as he strode forward to put an end to the nuisance, a dark cloud formed above its head, rainwater falling down on it and effectively healing its wounds.

Kaeya sighed in annoyance, glancing up and spotting the hydro samachurl positioned on a small hill, safely away from his sword.

He glanced back to see Diluc attacking another hilichurl, only to be met with the same problem.

“You take care of the samachurl.” Kaeya said shortly. “Then join me to take care of the rest.”

Diluc simply nodded once and went to get rid of the samachurl. Once he was gone, Kaeya turned his attention back to the hilichurls. 

Or at least he tried to…

It had been ages since he fought with someone else and he couldn’t help but constantly glance around, trying to make sure he knew exactly where Diluc was at all times.

It didn’t make sense for him to be so paranoid. It was just a few hilichurls, after all. But every few strikes, he glanced up to see where the red head was. There was really no way to miss him, but at some point… he couldn’t see the man anymore.

That’s when Kaeya completely lost focus.

Where was Diluc? Had he dealt with the samachurl? If so, then why wasn’t he helping him like they agreed?

Before Kaeya had time to think about those questions, he was snapped out of his thoughts when the sound of a hilichurl cry hit his ears.

He turned around, eye widened when he saw that he was now cornered by at least four hilichurls. The shock wore off almost immediately as he got ready to cut them down. He’d been cornered by far worse, of course. It was only a matter of time before he’d be free of the annoying creatures.

But before he even had the chance to raise his sword, he saw something out of the corner of his eye that made him gasp and duck for cover immediately.

Raising his head, he realized he hadn’t been mistaken when his first thought was that it was something out of his worst nightmare.

A huge phoenix had flown down and swept away the hilichurls, burning them to a crisp right before his eyes. The hilichurls that were very close to him . That phoenix almost hit him, again.

The rage in his brother’s gaze was more terrifying than the phoenix that was rushing towards him.

No, no, not him . Kaeya shook his head and closed his eye. Not him, not him, Diluc was obviously aiming at the hilichurls, not him, he wasn’t back there, four years had passed since then, Diluc wasn’t going to hurt him, or at least he hadn’t tried to since then so maybe-

“Are you ok?”

Kaeya’s head snapped up, eye glaring daggers at the red head, and effectively bringing up his mask before Diluc could notice how terrified he was.

Diluc was staring down at him, a strange expression on his face that Kaeya couldn’t quite place. He looked almost… concerned? No, that couldn’t be right. His brows were furrowed slightly… Maybe annoyance?

Oh well, Kaeya didn’t have time to think about that right now. For now, he had to get away from the pyro wielding maniac.

Kaeya vaguely noticed the man still standing there, a hand outstretched somewhat hesitantly. Kaeya growled in annoyance and batted the hand away.

“I’m fine, I don’t need your help.” He said, irritated as he stood up and took a few steps back.

Diluc didn’t say anything, simply stepping back as well.

He hoped the man couldn’t hear the way his heart was practically pounding out of his chest as he tried to get his breathing under control.

He’d given him quite a scare but Kaeya couldn’t believe how little Diluc had changed. Still the same hot head he was all those years ago.

“Are you crazy?” He asked, finally. “Do you normally go in guns blazing when you have to fight a few hilichurls? For all your ranting about the Knights’ inefficiency, it seems you depend on your Vision an awful lot! Why would you even waste your energy using your Vision on small fry like that?!”

Diluc’s small frown grew and he huffed in annoyance.

“I simply thought we could get it over with quickly. If you Knights weren’t so incompetent, I wouldn’t have to use my Vision to get you out of a tight spot.”

“I had it under control.” Kaeya said sharply. “The only reason I got cornered in the first place was because you were taking too long with the samachurl and I decided I should probably look for you to make sure you hadn’t ditched me.”

“I-” Diluc stopped talking abruptly and sighed.

Then he shook his head, leveling a glare at him again.

“Ok. Fine. Whatever. This argument is obviously going nowhere. Can we please just continue and get this over with?”

Kaeya scoffed at his lame attempt to redirect the situation. But he simply rolled his eye and agreed.

“My pleasure. I do have one request though. I’d appreciate it if you kept your Vision wielding to a minimum around me. You see, I have a history with the element you so bravely wield.”

And with that, Kaeya brushed past the man and continued deep into Wolvendom.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Damn, way to go, Diluc.

Diluc couldn’t help but mentally curse at himself as he followed Kaeya deeper into the forest. Years later, and he was still no good at protecting the man.

He’d gone to take care of the samachurl as Kaeya had instructed, only to be taken completely off guard by the cryo shooter sneaking up behind him. It had taken him a while to get rid of the samachurl because of that. Normally, he wouldn’t mind getting a little wet when dealing with the creatures but he couldn’t risk getting frozen solid at this point. 

It was a dangerous game of dodging both the hydro and cryo attacks, without anyone watching his back. At long last, he’d gotten rid of them both, only to be met with alarm when he couldn’t immediately locate Kaeya.

The man hadn’t gone off by himself had he? It was dangerous in these parts and that was the only reason Diluc had come along anyways.

Surely, Kaeya didn’t hate him enough to simply ditch him regardless of the obvious protection he’d come to provide…

Diluc couldn’t be sure and he almost decided to move deeper into the forest to look for Kaeya when he heard a hilichurl yell.

Head snapping to the right, his eyes widened when he saw the Cavalry Captain cornered by four hilichurls. Kaeya seemed to be hesitating for whatever reason. His eye was widened in shock and Diluc didn’t have time to reconsider his options.

A surge of rage flew through his body, directed at the imbeciles who dared corner his little brother and threaten to hurt him.

Before he knew what he was doing, his claymore became infused with flames as he lifted it high up in the air before bringing it down in a flaming sweep.

In the split second between his fire taking flight and finally clearing the enemies away, Diluc felt a stab of regret when he realized his mistake.

Through the hazy flames, Diluc could see the exact moment when the mild shock in Kaeya’s eye had flared into outright fear .

He knew why of course. The last time, Diluc had sent that phoenix in his direction was… four years ago when he had tried to murder him in cold blood.

When Kaeya practically fell to the ground, ducking away from the flames, Diluc’s heart broke as he sprinted over to the man.

He was concerned, of course he was. But he didn’t want Kaeya to think he was mocking him by throwing those flames towards him once more only to be concerned about his well-being, which the man had reminded him earlier that he had no right to be.

And so…

He decided to end the argument while things were still somewhat civil. He deserved the jab Kaeya had made right after. 

He deserved all of the man’s hate and more. Diluc was just glad he hadn’t told anyone else besides Jean. He didn’t think he’d be able to handle more glares than he already received.

He shook his head, sighing and deciding to turn his sorrowful and guilt ridden thoughts to better use. If anything, this situation had just proved that he was still the same man he had always been. Fighting first, questions later. Not to mention way too over dramatic for his own good.

He had to fix this. He couldn’t let his flaws get in the way. And so he resolved to hold off on using his Vision the next time they came across any enemies.

As they walked, Diluc couldn’t help but be drawn to the bright glow of small lamp grasses all around the path, illuminating their footsteps.

A small grin tugged at his lips before falling when Kaeya called on him from up ahead.

“No time for that, Diluc. We aren’t kids anymore, remember? We’re not here to go flower picking.”

His voice was venomous and he no doubt knew exactly what he was doing. In all honesty, even if Kaeya hadn’t brought up their past, the memory was already at the forefront of his mind. 

Memories of nostalgic walks late at night, each boy holding the other’s hand, marveling at the soft blue glow of the lamp grasses and the delicate red of the calla lilies growing near the lake behind the winery. All while their father watched on with a fond smile.

Yup, Kaeya was right. They weren’t kids anymore and they’d never get that time back. All of which was entirely Diluc’s fault.

Diluc’s thoughts came to an abrupt stop when the sound of Kaeya’s footsteps stopped short. Diluc paused and glanced up, wondering what had happened.

“Up ahead.” Kaeya said shortly, drawing his sword. “Try to be a little less destructive this time.”

With that, the man went on ahead, not waiting for Diluc to catch up.

Diluc summoned his claymore and moved forward, quickly taking note of all the enemies. Three hilichurls, one of which had a shield up. Diluc winced slightly, knowing he’d have to use his Vision to take down that shield. But he decided he could probably do without and just attack whenever there was an opening. 

Besides those three, there were also two pyro shooters, one positioned on a raised wooden platform and the other standing on a hill right behind it. 

Kaeya was already dealing with the two hilichurls on the ground that didn’t have any shield, so Diluc decided to take down the shielded one. It obviously wasn’t too hard but he did find himself having to make a conscious effort to not simply burn down the shield every time the hilichurl blocked his attacks.

Before long, he landed a final hit on the hilichurl, watching as it faded into ash and dust. Glancing up ahead, he saw that Kaeya had lured the hilichurls a little distance away, probably so he could deal with them without having to worry about pyro arrows coming his way.

Diluc decided to get rid of those shooters for him in the meantime. He quickly climbed the hill, focusing on one of the shooters. He raised his claymore and almost brought it down harshly when he noticed the explosive pyro barrel placed right behind the shooter.

He hesitated for all of a second before bringing it down, carefully avoiding hitting the barrel. It was… annoying to say the least. Maybe in the past he’d be better at this. But after three years of having to launch into any and every fight as if his life depended on it, things had changed. Diluc wasn’t used to this restrained style of fighting. It was tough having to calculate his hits to avoid triggering an explosion. All the while having to avoid the arrows from both shooters. Diluc was used to… ‘going in guns blazing’, as Kaeya had said.

But Diluc was also incredibly stubborn. He wasn’t going to let a few hilichurls get the better of him. And so he continued with his calculated strikes, vaguely wondering when Kaeya was going to come and help him out with the other annoying shooter that wouldn’t let him land a fatal strike on his companion.

Just as he had the thought however, it seemed that shooter thought better of aiming towards the red head and decided to aim elsewhere. Diluc couldn’t care less where he aimed, as long as it wasn’t at him. He completely ignored the other shooter and continued fighting the one in front of him.

Just as the hilichurl in front of him dissolved into ash, Diluc realized his mistake with a startled gasp. It seemed Kaeya had too, because suddenly he was running towards him, eye wide with fear.

“Diluc, watch out!”

But it was already too late. The pyro infused arrow had already left the bow and time slowed as Diluc took a step back seconds before it hit the explosive barrel in front of him.

The last thing he heard was a terrified scream of his name before the brightness of the flames enveloped his vision and the thunderous explosion rang in his ears. Diluc shut his eyes just as he was thrown backwards into oblivion, a rush of heat washing over him.

Chapter Text

It was perhaps the first time in his life where Diluc didn’t feel disoriented and lost. Ironically enough, despite how hard he hit his head against the ground, his mind still managed to put together one persistent thought.

I can’t leave my… Brother to fight alone.

Of course, although his brain seemed to be working fine, the rest of his body simply wouldn’t respond to anything.

Slowly, he became aware of his surroundings but they only confused him even more. Why did everything sound so muffled? Was he underwater? Or maybe… he had been asleep? And he was just waking up? No that couldn’t be right… Wasn’t he doing something just now? Something important? Something to do with… the man who was currently screaming his name as if-

“Diluc! Don’t you dare die on me!”

Dying? He wasn’t dying… but he did feel uncomfortably… hot…

He also couldn’t see at all. But he supposed that was probably because his eyes didn’t seem to want to open at the moment.

Irritation at that fact rose to the surface as Diluc vaguely remembered what he was supposed to be doing. He was fighting something… Kaeya was there too… and then… he had been bested by a damn hilichurl.

The thought only irritated him more but suddenly it felt as if he was swimming once again. It appeared his consciousness couldn’t make up its mind. 

He didn’t know how much time had passed but after what felt like an eternity of going in and out, his mind resurfaced and this time it stayed alert.

That being said, someone was shaking his shoulder frantically and Diluc couldn’t hold back a strained groan when it twinged in pain.

“Stop… that…” He muttered, trying to move away from the person, but whoever it was only persisted more violently.

“Not until you open your damn eyes!”

Oh. 

Right, it was Kaeya who was shaking him so mercilessly. What did he want from him again? Wait, no he had to stay alert! 

Diluc desperately grabbed at the retreating tendrils of awareness before finally making an effort to open his eyes. The feat proved more difficult than it should have and when he finally cracked his eyes open, he found that he couldn’t see anything beyond colorful blurs.

With a frustrated groan, he let his eyes slide shut once more but opened them immediately when Kaeya gripped his shoulder painfully.

“Ah! Ok, ok, I’m awake…” Diluc muttered, turning his head to the blue blur sitting beside him.

Turning his head somehow ignited a terrible headache and he was almost tempted to shut his eyes again. But he knew that would only mean more pain.

Speaking of pain, it appeared his body hadn't gotten the memo that he should probably stay completely still at the moment. At some point, he suddenly realized he was shivering, and that only made the pain in his shoulder continuous.

“W-why…” He stuttered, as his vision slowly began to clear. “Why is it so… Cold?”

Kaeya frowned in confusion before a realization seemed to dawn on him. Diluc watched blankly as the man suddenly unclipped his Vision from his belt and threw it somewhere off to the side.

The biting cold began to vanish almost immediately and Diluc turned confused eyes to Kaeya. But it seemed the man had no intention of explaining what had just happened and Diluc didn't have the strength to question it or try to figure it out himself.

Besides, there was such open concern in Kaeya's eye at the moment that Diluc couldn't help but focus on that instead. 

“Do you remember what happened?” Kaeya asked.

Diluc frowned for a second and nodded as his mind began to sluggishly provide the answer.

“I… That hilichurl… I ignored it. And it shot the barrel next to me…”

As Diluc spoke, he suddenly had a horrible realization that he must have been badly burned. Sure, it seemed the pain hadn't caught up to him yet. But that was probably because of his addled brain. 

Regardless, he had to get those burns treated fast. He knew from experience that the longer burns were left unattended to, the more they'd hurt.

But when he attempted to sit up and see just how bad his injuries were, Kaeya pushed him back down.

“Don't worry, the flames didn't reach your skin before I doused them.” He said as if reading his mind. “Your jacket didn't fare too well though. Not sure if it's your favorite one or something but… It's useless now.”

Diluc shook his head tiredly.

“I've got like… A whole bunch more…”

“Of course you do…”

His vision was mostly clear now but his head still hadn’t stopped swimming. The slow spinning of the world around him made it hard to concentrate on anything, but even so, Diluc saw the exact moment the concern on Kaeya’s face vanished, as if hidden behind a veil. Now the only emotion he could discern was anger and annoyance.

“You should consider yourself damn lucky.” Kaeya growled suddenly. “Not only are you fairly Pyro resistant because of your Vision, you should be grateful that I’m faster than most. If I hadn’t put out the flames when I did, you probably would’ve suffered at least a few minor burns.”

Kaeya looked like he was about to say something else but abruptly stopped speaking and looked away, eye still narrowed in anger.

“How could you be so careless? You should have lured the damn hilichurl away before trying to fight it!”

“Ah… right…” Diluc sighed, wondering why he hadn’t thought of that. 

He blamed the fact that Kaeya was there. It wasn’t his fault that the man somehow hindered his ability to fight properly. Especially when he couldn’t see him. Somehow Kaeya’s safety outweighed his own in his mind. He didn’t even care that he probably dislocated his shoulder and sustained a concussion, because Kaeya was sitting in front of him, completely unharmed.

The thought brought a small smile to his face, surprising both himself and Kaeya. Kaeya turned towards him, his frown deepening as he leaned back.

“What are you smiling about? You think this whole situation is funny?” And then he paused, some of the previous concern coming back to his face. “Or… did you hit your head harder than I thought…?”

Diluc shook his head, immediately wincing right after as the pain flared up again.

Kaeya sighed and stood, reaching down with one hand.

“You probably have a concussion.” He said. “Maybe… I should take you back.”

“Ugh… no, we should keep going.” Diluc protested as he took the offered hand and stood on unsteady feet.

As soon as his feet were under him, they decided they didn’t want to carry him and Diluc's eyes widened as the world spun violently. He nearly fell to the ground once more but Kaeya gripped his arm firmly. His gaze was only getting more annoyed by the second.

“You’re even stupider than you look if you think I’m gonna let you keep going like this.” He told him. “You can barely stand, let alone walk!”

“I can walk.” Diluc protested, frowning.

But even he knew it was a long shot. The more he became aware, the more he realized that he probably hit his head really badly. Somehow, words were hard to come by and those he could speak came out slurred. Besides that, he could barely process his own emotions. He just felt blank as if he was navigating the world aimlessly. But… if Kaeya was there… things would be ok, wouldn’t they?

Even now, Diluc could tell that his thoughts were being strange. Kaeya hated him, didn’t he? Why would things be ok if Kaeya was there? 

But for now, all Diluc could think about was the raw concern on Kaeya’s face when he first woke up. For now, that was enough. It would be gone soon enough but for now it was there.

And so he persisted.

“Let me come with you. I can’t leave you to fight alone.”

The anger in his brother’s eye vanished, replaced by confusion. Then his gaze became wary and suspicious.

“Ok…” Kaeya said, slowly. “But… You’re not walking on your own. I can’t risk you falling and hitting your head again. Or worse… setting off another Pyro barrel.”

With that, Kaeya begrudgingly supported the red head as the two slowly began to walk down the path once more.

Kaeya looked more than a little uncomfortable but Diluc somehow felt content in that moment. He blamed it on the head injury of course. Diluc knew that if his thoughts weren’t so jumbled up inside his head, this whole situation would be more than a little awkward for him.

But in that moment, with his head spinning, his shoulder aching, his body supported by his brother… Diluc allowed himself to smile for the first time in years.

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This whole situation was more than a little awkward for Kaeya. 

After the initial fear of seeing Diluc get launched into the air and land among raging flames had worn off, he felt that he should probably keep his distance. He didn’t want to embarrass the man. Diluc was probably already annoyed at the fact that he had been caught off guard like that. Kaeya didn’t want to make it worse for him.

But once the man had woken up and turned unfocused eyes towards him, fear had suddenly gripped him again.

His eyes were wide and blank, almost completely emotionless. For a split second, it reminded Kaeya of the blank look Diluc had had on his face the night of his 18th birthday. Right after his father had died in his arms. One second, his eyes were flooding with torrential emotions and the next… all those emotions drained from his face as he turned away.

The icy fear that gripped his heart was so strong that he didn’t even realize the air around them was growing rapidly colder until Diluc mentioned it. 

Speaking of that, Kaeya stopped walking for a second to search for the Vision he had thrown on the ground. It seemed he was still incapable of controlling his fear and not letting it bleed into the power of his Vision. Quickly clipping it back to his belt, Kaeya continued walking, pointedly ignoring the way Diluc’s eyes continued to linger on his face.

That was another thing that was making everything unbearably awkward for him.

Diluc had never looked at Kaeya with anything other than anger, annoyance, and hatred since that fateful night. 

But once Diluc began to regain his senses and the blank look vanished… there was a certain innocence and… trust in his gaze? Kaeya had no idea what to make of it. Not to mention that it was yet another terrible reminder of their past.

Diluc… looked so very young in that moment. No matter how much Kaeya wanted to put the distance back in between them where it belonged… somehow, he couldn’t.

That didn’t mean he was happy about it though. If anything, he knew this… moment or whatever it was… would only last until Diluc’s concussion wore off. And then it would definitely be back to normal. In fact, Diluc himself would probably be mortified at the fact that he was trusting Kaeya. Especially after the man had broken his trust so painfully years ago. 

Kaeya was still hesitant about everything and was very seriously considering either knocking some sense into the man so he’d stop acting this way, or taking him back to Mond to get looked at.

But then…

“I can’t leave you to fight alone.”

That time, his words hadn’t been slurred and confused. They were persistent and determined, as if he was still in his senses and chose to stand by the brother he had left all those years ago.

The words had filled him with confusion as he tried to discern whether Diluc was speaking from the heart or from delirium.

But then Kaeya caught sight of his wide, unfocused eyes once more and sighed. Definitely delirium.

And as usual, Kaeya chose sorrow and regret over hope at the way Diluc was acting. He tried not to let his heavy heart get in the way. And to do that, he needed to focus on more important things. Like what they were doing in Wolvendom in the first place. 

And so, Kaeya had reluctantly given into Diluc’s persistence and began to support him along the path, albeit very awkwardly. Strangely enough, the usual sarcasm that always sat on the tip of his tongue was nowhere to be found. Suddenly, he just wanted to get this over with and take Diluc to the cathedral or something so someone could take him off his hands.

Shaking his head sharply, he decided there was obviously no use thinking about it. It was much harder than usual but Kaeya eventually managed to bring his thoughts back under his control. Finally aware of his surroundings once more, Kaeya realized that they had almost made it to the area where Razor and Bennett had been attacked.

Eye widening slightly, he picked up the pace, careful not to jostle the man leaning against him. Sure enough, Razor’s description had been spot on. The earth was slightly raised on this side of the path and Kaeya could clearly see the whole of Mondstadt with its bright lights piercing through the night. A small structure made of rocks was situated off to one side. Probably from an old ruin or something…

There was another rock structure right in front of a tree that bent over the path. That must have been the tree the boys had hidden in. Glancing down, Kaeya hummed to himself, the remnants of potions and burnt grass only confirming that they were in the right place.

“This is it…” Kaeya muttered, creeping forward slightly and glancing over at the tree. 

“I wonder…” He said slowly. “Where the treasure hoarders could have taken Bennett from here…”

Diluc suddenly shifted from his position against Kaeya’s shoulder and leaned forward, pointing down at the base of the tree.

“Look…”

Kaeya glanced down, finally noticing the purple wolfhook berry that was lying there, hidden in the grass. Letting his gaze travel, Kaeya noticed another one not too far off. And another…

“They were collecting wolfhooks together.” Kaeya said, eye widening slightly. “The kid probably left a trail. Come on.”

Kaeya began to follow the trail of wolfhooks, somewhat frantically, hoping that maybe they could catch up to the kidnappers before they left the surrounding area.

Logically speaking, they may already be long gone considering the amount of time they lost due to Diluc’s injury. And besides that, they must have expected Razor to bring someone despite their warning not to.

Still, Kaeya followed the trail as quickly as he could without letting go of Diluc. At some point though, the man seemed to realize he was holding them back. Kaeya felt it when Diluc moved away from his shoulder, gripping his arm instead and picking up the pace slightly. He was still quite unsteady on his feet and his grip wasn’t nearly as strong as it should be. Kaeya ignored the man entirely, making no comment as he continued on the trail. He didn’t have time to think about how weird all of this was right now.

The trail continued deeper into the forest and kept going past the Hall of Andrius. It kept going until they were right behind the ruin where it stopped abruptly near the edge of a small cliff.

Diluc sighed in disappointment as he let go of Kaeya’s arm and sat down near him. Kaeya couldn’t help but mirror the action, sitting down as well. He began to vaguely wonder what these men were even doing with Delusions when he heard a strange sound.

His eye widened immediately and he crept forward until he could peek over the edge of the cliff. Diluc followed suit and before long, they had both spotted what they were looking for.

There, not too far from the cliffside, stood at least four treasure hoarders, two of which were holding Bennett down by the shoulders, keeping him on his knees. 

The poor kid’s arms were tied behind his back and Kaeya could see, even from a distance, that his wrists were bruised and bleeding. His normally white blonde hair was streaked with blood and when he moved, one of his legs stayed dormant.

Despite being heavily injured, the boy struggled against his captors, pushing and shoving to no avail. 

The kidnappers stopped whatever conversation they were having and began to laugh at the boy’s futile attempts at escape. Bennett paid them no mind and just kept struggling against the bindings, causing more blood to trickle down his wrists.

The sound of their ruthless laughter and the sight of the poor kid filled Kaeya with rage and he desperately wanted to jump down and teach those men a lesson. But they were clearly outnumbered at the moment and there was no telling whether or not there were more men around right now. Besides, the sight of a Knight after they’d specifically warned against their involvement might mean certain death for Bennett and probably Razor as well if they ever got their hands on him.

And so he stayed put for the time being, simply choosing to listen into the conversation. 

But it seemed Diluc had other plans. The man next to him growled in anger suddenly and lunged forward, nearly diving off the edge of the cliff before Kaeya grabbed him and harshly pulled him back.

“Diluc!” He hissed, trying to keep his voice down. “Are you crazy?!”

The man turned angry eyes on him, trying to wrench his arm away, but he was clearly still not at his full strength. Kaeya almost felt bad. Diluc really was the same as ever. Despite not being affiliated with the Knights anymore, he still had the heart of one.

His own injuries were clearly not at the forefront of his mind so Kaeya decided he couldn’t win with that angle.

“Any sudden rescue attempts could result in Bennett’s death right now. We should wait for an opportunity.” Kaeya whispered. And then, as an afterthought, “Besides, how are you planning to rescue him when you can’t even walk without my help?”

This seemed to convince Diluc for the time being. The anger in his eyes softened and he sighed, letting his body relax and his gaze drop.

“Fine.” He said simply, turning away and watching the kidnappers once more.

Kaeya let his gaze linger on the man for a few more seconds before resuming his spying as well.

In the short amount of time that passed, it seemed that the men had gone back to ignoring the boy they’d kidnapped and resumed their conversation.

“Honestly…” One man sighed. “I have no idea how the boss is planning on doing this.”

“Didn’t she say she has a grand plan or something?” Another responded.

“She did.” The first man confirmed. 

A third man laughed and kicked at Bennett. The boy barely made a sound and that’s when Kaeya noticed that he had slowly but surely begun to loosen the knots around his wrists. Kaeya’s eye widened slightly as a flicker of hope entered his heart. Maybe… if Bennett could get free on his own, he could grab him and run? No, that wouldn’t work… who would drag Diluc along then? For the first time in his life, Kaeya was beginning to regret not calling for backup.

Shaking his head, Kaeya decided to focus on the positive, however little there was of it. At the very least, they might overhear something valuable.

At that thought, Kaeya tuned back into the conversation. 

“This kid is lucky enough to be the first test subject.” The man who had kicked him said, laughing out loud.

“It’s strange, isn’t it?” The fourth man said, slowly walking towards Bennett.

This man had been eerily silent the entire time. Neither joining into the conversation, nor laughing along with the others. He had just been quietly watching from the sidelines. But now, there was an unsettling smile on his face as he kneeled down to be at eye level with Bennett.

“So very strange… A Delusion can do everything a Vision can do and more…” He said, his voice filled with wonder. 

Bennett didn’t respond. From where Kaeya and Diluc were watching, they could only see the back of his head, but Kaeya felt that he could safely assume the boy was glaring at the man.

The man paused and smiled more widely, his eyes seeming to bore into Bennett’s.

“But…” The man continued. “There is one minute thing a Vision can do that a Delusion can’t. Can you guess what that is?”

For a solid second, Bennett stopped struggling and Kaeya almost thought that maybe the boy was actually going to respond. The man’s question had gotten Kaeya thinking as well. He didn’t know much about Delusions. The first part of the man’s statement had been pretty much all Kaeya knew. The counterfeit Visions held much more power than the archon given ones. But they often backfired against their master. Kaeya had thought they were pretty much exact copies of Visions, only way more dangerous.

He glanced at Diluc, figuring he must know the answer to this question. But his expression was also twisted in confusion.

Kaeya sighed and brought his attention back to the scene in front of him just in time to see Bennett slam his head into the strange man’s face.

He would have cheered if the circumstances were different. 

Unfortunately though, Bennett’s luck showed no sign of giving him a break. The boy was obviously weak, so the hit did nothing more than anger the man as he fell back. In the blink of an eye, the man was on his feet, kicking Bennett in the stomach harshly and glaring distastefully as the boy cried out before falling onto his side. Bennett didn’t move after that and Kaeya sighed, glancing away from the sorrowful scene.

“Come on, we should go.” One of the other men said to the strange one. “We don’t wanna keep the boss waiting.”

“Right…” The strange man sighed. “Unfortunate that she wants the test subjects alive.”

And with that, the men hastily left, dragging the unconscious boy along with them. They were surprisingly fast and Kaeya soon lost sight of them in the deep forest.

Sighing, Kaeya got to his feet and absentmindedly reached a hand down to Diluc. 

But the man simply growled in frustration and batted his hand away. 

Oh? Back to normal already?

Kaeya glanced down as he had the thought, barely holding back a grin when he saw Diluc sitting there, arms crossed, looking for all the world like a child throwing a tantrum.

His next words sobered Kaeya up real quick.

“Why did you stop me? We could have saved the kid at that time!”

Kaeya sighed and shook his head.

“I already told you. They could have easily killed him if we had interfered.”

“No! They clearly said they were going to keep him alive!”

Ah, there was the passionate anger Diluc was known for. While what he was saying was true, Kaeya could easily see that the men could care less whether or not Bennett lived. Sure they needed to keep him alive for the ‘boss’, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t dispose of him and kidnap someone else. In fact, Kaeya was pretty sure they probably had more people in place, ready to nab another ‘test subject’ whenever they needed one. 

But explaining all this to Diluc would be tedious and probably unproductive. Once the man was set on something… it was almost impossible to change his mind.

Still, Kaeya knew he had to say something or he would never stop nagging him.

“Regardless, Diluc…” He sighed. “We were outnumbered, 2 to 4. I shouldn’t even be counting you since I doubt you’d even be able to hold your claymore up at this point. Say we did go in to save him. They’d knock you out first, and then what? I can only hold them off for so long until they land a hit on me too. Jean trusted us with this case. We can’t just recklessly throw ourselves into battle without thinking! Isn’t that why you came along with me in the first place? To make sure I didn’t make a fool of myself and do something reckless? Who am I supposed to rely on if you’re gonna be acting the same way I do?”

The anger in Diluc’s eyes had been growing since Kaeya began speaking and towards the end, he had opened his mouth, supposedly to protest or yell at the man. But when Kaeya had posed that last question, he closed his mouth abruptly, the anger vanishing all at once, replaced with confusion.

Kaeya winced internally. Of course, Diluc was confused. After all they’d been through, Kaeya had just admitted that he still relied on him to a certain degree.

Diluc had been acting strangely today because of his injury, and Kaeya blamed his slip of tongue on that. Diluc probably hated the idea of Kaeya, his traitor sibling, relying on him at all , but Kaeya hoped he wouldn’t comment on what he had said.

Thankfully, it seemed Diluc wasn’t going to comment on anything . The confusion bled away, replaced with frustration as he huffed and turned away, arms crossed once more.

Kaeya smiled in relief as he reached a hand down once more.

“Come on, don’t be mad.” He said. “At the very least, we did get some valuable information!”

“Like what?” Diluc grumbled, taking the offered hand and standing, gaze still turned away.

“Well, you tell me.” Kaeya replied, supporting Diluc once more and descending down the path. “What’s the one thing a Delusion can’t do that a Vision can?”

At that, Diluc frowned, deep in thought. Kaeya could practically see the gears in his head spinning and he stayed quiet, letting the man gather his thoughts.

“I… can’t be sure but…” Diluc sighed. “It’s on the tip of my tongue… ugh, I can’t remember at all, though.”

“That’s fine, don’t stress about it right now.” Kaeya told him. “Chances are, you’ll probably remember it once you give your head a rest. For now, we should get you to the cathedral.”

Diluc stopped abruptly, shaking his head.

“No, no, I can’t.” He sighed. “I have to meet Diona at the winery early tomorrow morning.”

“Diona?” Kaeya asked, deliberately ignoring the other part of that statement. “Since when were you friends with Diona?”

Diluc laughed slightly and briefly told him how the two weren’t exactly friends yet, but Diona was now warming up to him ever since she found out he held the same distaste for alcohol as she did. 

“Margaret offered me a drink as I passed by on the way to the tavern one day. Diona was there too when I told her I didn’t like alcohol. She was clearly shocked and asked me if she could visit the winery sometime so we could both… um… devise a plan to make the worst drink and end the wine industry.”

Kaeya laughed out loud at that.

“And you agreed to that?”

“For now…” Diluc sighed. “I intend to help her out for a bit before telling her why I can’t exactly destroy the industry. You know she’s doing it for her father, right? She hates it when he’s drunk and so… at her age, the only solution is to get rid of wine entirely. I’m… going to tell her that I’m doing what I’m doing… for my father as well. Maybe… we can be friends through our shared loyalty to our fathers? She’s a good kid and… I know she’ll get it.”

At some point during Diluc’s speech, Kaeya had deliberately spaced out. It was much better than having to listen and relive the now painful memories of what used to be their shared loyalty towards Crepus. Perhaps… Diluc thought that was all a lie now. After all, Diluc couldn’t know that Kaeya’s loyalties were always with Crepus and his brother. Despite Diluc’s strange behavior over the past couple hours, Kaeya wasn’t ready to have this sort of conversation with him.

But then Diluc wrapped up his story, looking at him expectantly and Kaeya gave him a strained smile in response.

“I’m sure she will, Diluc.” He said briefly, desperate to move on from the topic. 

But moving on from the topic meant that he’d have to take Diluc back to the winery and he hadn’t been there in years and that was yet another thing he wasn’t sure he was ready for. 

Diluc must have noticed his hesitance because the small smile on his face dropped suddenly as he slightly shifted away.

“I… could go back on my own. You don’t have to worry about me.” He said, voice uncertain.

But at the end of the day, Kaeya really didn’t want to leave Diluc unattended. One glance at his dilated pupils and uncertain gaze told Kaeya that he’d most definitely end up hurting himself again.

And so with a heavy sigh and a forced smile, Kaeya shook his head.

“And risk you making a fool out of yourself again? Never.”

Chapter Text

“Are you ok?”

The softly spoken, concerned question jolted Diluc out of his confused daze and he glanced up to see Kaeya looking at him. The concern on his face was definitely dimming, a more neutral gaze trained on him as he waited for an answer.

Ah right… Kaeya had just asked if he was ok.

Well, considering his shoulder was still aching and his head was still pounding quite painfully… ok was not the word to describe how he felt at the moment. Not to mention… Now that his head was clearing the slightest bit, the first pinpricks of awkwardness were beginning to settle in.

He suddenly wanted to get away from Kaeya, tell him he should go back to Mond, and walk to the winery himself. Obviously though, he was pretty much incapable of even walking a few steps forward without the risk of falling on his face.

So no, he wasn’t ok. Kaeya shouldn’t be here with him on the way to the winery , the place they had both considered home until Diluc ruthlessly cut him off. The urge to get Kaeya away from him was stronger than ever. He was just going to end up hurting him again at some point, wasn’t he? There was nothing good that would come out of trying to get close to him again.

But Diluc had no choice. Despite his unease at being assisted by Kaeya, he did want to get back to the winery in… almost one piece. 

“I’m fine.” Diluc said, turning away from the man as they continued to trudge along the path to Dawn Winery.

Diluc was just glad that the rougher part of the journey was over. They were nearly to the winery at this point and Diluc knew there would be no more cliffs and hills they’d have to descend. That had been particularly awkward for him as he had to rely on Kaeya most of the time to make sure he didn’t slip and fall.

Now though, he should be ok even if he didn’t lean on Kaeya for support. He hadn’t made the move yet because of how lost in thought he had been but now he carefully unwound his arm from around Kaeya’s shoulders and hesitantly stepped away.

He cleared his throat awkwardly as Kaeya glanced his way, but Diluc simply kept his gaze on the ground and his hands in his pockets. If Kaeya noticed him stumbling every few steps, he made no mention of it.

“Sure you can walk in a straight line on your own?”

Ah… It appeared he was mistaken. Diluc glanced over at him, frowning at the way the man was smirking slightly. Slowly but surely, it seemed they were reaching normalcy once more. The initial shock of the incident was apparently wearing off, and while Diluc was glad at the fact, it left him feeling strangely empty, as though he should have taken more advantage of the hesitant truce they’d reached in light of his injuries.

Diluc could feel his own signature glare returning to his face as he turned his gaze back to the ground.

“That’s rich, coming from a drunkard.” He muttered.

Kaeya laughed out loud at that. And then he opened his mouth to say something, seemed to think better of it, and closed it once more, settling for a small smile.

Diluc sighed silently, marveling at the way this exchange had seemed more like… brotherly banter than anything else. Why was he feeling so uneasy about it then? Was it because he knew it would inevitably fade away? After all, it had been him that destroyed their brotherhood in the first place. 

He really didn’t deserve to hope for their future. He was never going to fully get his brother back. He himself had made sure of that.

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“That’s rich, coming from a drunkard.”

The next quip was right on his tongue. Something along the lines of it being entirely Diluc’s fault, him being the head of the Dawn Winery and all. But he let the words die on his tongue and dissolve in his mind.

The smallest hint of sadness pricked his heart, bleeding its way into his hesitant smile but Kaeya hoped Diluc wouldn’t notice. 

It was better this way, wasn’t it? Kaeya had expected this so he definitely shouldn’t let it bring him down.

But somehow he couldn’t help it. And he hated himself for it. He knew things would go back to normal. After all, a relationship so terribly broken couldn’t simply be fixed just because the two had stopped throwing insults at one another for a little while.

Still… Kaeya had definitely let himself get caught up in the moment. It wasn’t his fault. Things had just felt so normal all of a sudden. Like they were brothers once again.

Kaeya sighed and frowned, realizing he didn’t even know what normal was anymore. What defined the normalcy of their relationship? Was it when they acted like brothers? Or when they acted like enemies? What was real and what was fake?

Kaeya could barely wrap his head around the questions, let alone find the answers.

Sighing, he settled on the easy way out. Their distance was what felt most comfortable. Definitely not what he preferred, but he couldn’t doubt that it was the most normal at this point.

Kaeya didn’t want to go back to throwing sarcastic comments and indirect hints at Diluc, watching and waiting for a flicker of understanding in that formidable glare. A hint of the innocence and trust he held in his eyes back then.

But it seemed the man next to him was already putting the distance back where it belonged. For that, Kaeya was grateful. At least he didn’t have to do it. This way, Kaeya himself could ease back into their usual banter. It would take him a while to shield his heart against the empty feeling that came if he fell too deep into his thoughts. Of course it would, after that nightmare and then this whole situation with Diluc. But he could do it. He’d done it before all those years ago.

If Diluc wanted to go back to normal, Kaeya was fine with that. It was better this way. He himself had accepted that the minute he decided to tell his brother his secret all those years ago.

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It began raining just as the winery came into view. At this point, Kaeya could admit to himself that perhaps he should take a break for at least one full day before trying to run off on these sort of late night investigations.

As he let his guard down and put his thoughts to sleep, Kaeya realized with a jolt that it must be at least 3 in the morning at the moment. The slow throbbing behind his eye was enough evidence for that.

He was definitely used to running on less hours of sleep than was advisable but most of the time, his adrenaline made up for the lost energy.

Now, with his mind and body completely drained - or emotionally drained, as Jean had put it - the exhaustion was really starting to catch up to him.

Thankfully, they had pretty much arrived at the winery and now he could finally get Diluc into more reliable hands and head back to headquarters to tell Jean what they had seen. 

And after that… passing out on his couch seemed as good an idea as any.

As the two trudged through the path between the grapevines, Kaeya realized with a jolt that he should probably at least help the poor guy walking next to him with his dislocated shoulder. Kaeya vaguely wondered why he hadn’t done so sooner but perhaps that was because he wasn’t sure how to interact with Diluc at all since the incident.

Regardless of why he hadn’t mentioned it sooner, Kaeya turned to the man and cleared his throat awkwardly, waiting as Diluc turned to him with a questioning gaze.

“Do you… want me to pop that back in for you?” He asked, vaguely gesturing to his shoulder.

Diluc glanced down at the useless arm and back up once more before smiling hesitantly and shaking his head.

“Don’t trouble yourself.” He said, his voice slowly but surely returning to its usual dryness. “I’m sure Adelinde can help me with it.”

Kaeya nodded and turned away, barely holding back a sigh. Well it looked like that was the end of their moment of normalcy. Or abnormalcy. Or… whatever.

No more words were exchanged as the two finally made it to the front door. Kaeya strode forward, ignoring the slight surprise that crossed Diluc’s face as he knocked on the door. He was far too busy focusing on suppressing the deep sadness that kept trying to consume him as he stood in front of the place that held so many memories of his past.

The door opened almost immediately and Kaeya once again ignored it when Adelinde opened her mouth only to close it right away, eyes widening slightly when they settled on Kaeya’s face.

“Sir Kaeya.” She said. “What brings you- Master Diluc! Are you-”

“I’m fine, Adelinde.” Diluc replied, stepping up to stand next to Kaeya. “Just… a little bruised up.”

Kaeya couldn’t help the short laugh that escaped him at the understatement.

“A little bruised up?” Kaeya asked, as Adelinde practically pushed past him and dragged Diluc inside, already signalling for someone to get first aid and dry clothes. 

“You would have died if not for me.” He continued as he let himself in as well.

“Died?!” Adelinde asked, clearly trying to keep her composure as she finally acknowledged his presence once more.

Kaeya winced slightly, realizing he should probably be a bit more tactful with his words. Sighing, he decided he should give her a gist of what happened and then leave as quickly as possible. Diluc no longer needed him and he had to get back before Jean actually got mad.

“Well, he’s definitely sustained more injuries than a few bruises as he claims.” Kaeya sighed. “But it’s nothing too serious. He most definitely has a concussion and a dislocated shoulder but other than that he should be fine. Don’t worry too much, he should be back to normal in a few days.”

Adelinde looked beyond relieved as Elzer came up behind her to quietly hand her the first aid things. She gestured for Diluc to go sit on one of the couches before she turned to Kaeya once more.

“And you, Sir Kaeya? Are you alright?” 

Kaeya wasn’t going to lie to himself. Her concern caught him off guard. Of course it did, when he was so desperately trying not to think about everything that made this place his home. Adelinde was definitely one of the people besides Diluc that he sorely missed after that night.

She was like a mother to both him and Diluc. So many times she would put up with their random escapades out into the grapevine fields, patiently distracting them by pointing out the windwheel asters and crystalflies instead. Many of their days passed with her, the three of them catching crystalflies late into the night and setting them free all at once, marvelling at the way they made a place for themselves among the stars in the night sky.

“Sir Kaeya?”

Kaeya blinked and brought his gaze back to the woman standing in front of him. It seemed all her attention was on him now. She had even given the task of helping Diluc to Elzer and was fully focused on him.

He gave her a bright smile and nodded.

“Yes, I’m fine. Thank you for your concern.” He bowed his head slightly in a polite gesture. “I really should be going now, however. Sorry for troubling you so late at night.”

“Oh, it’s hardly a problem.” She looked like she was going to say something else but thought better of it and simply smiled. However, after a moment’s pause, she spoke once more: “It was nice to see you.”

With that, she smiled once more and went back to taking care of Diluc. The red head was currently trying to argue that he definitely didn’t need any amount of bedrest whatsoever and that he was going back to work first thing in the morning. Elzer looked like he was at the last of his patience. 

But as Kaeya made to leave, it seemed as though his sudden departure had caught Diluc’s attention. He stood up in the middle of the conversation, leaving Elzer to silently fume as he watched the man walk up to Kaeya.

“You’re leaving?” He asked, an expression on his face that Kaeya couldn’t quite read.

Kaeya simply nodded and waited to hear what the man would say next.

“Aren’t you tired?” He asked, frowning slightly. “And you’re soaking wet. Should I get you some dry clothes? And… it’s pretty late, maybe you should stay the night?”

Kaeya had never heard Diluc speak in such a way before. He sounded so confused and hesitant that Kaeya wasn’t sure if he even wanted to know the answer to that question. The question that, like everything else, Kaeya chose not to think about lest he get too deep in his own head once more.

He definitely wasn’t going to look his brother in the eye when he answered him. Those eyes that were back to being strangely trustful, open, and innocent that it couldn’t help but remind him of what Diluc used to be and-

Nope, he wasn’t letting his thoughts go down that route. This wasn’t the Diluc of the past. No matter how much he’d like to have that Diluc back.

And so he smiled again, hoping it didn’t look as strained as it felt.

“That’s fine, I don’t need much sleep anyways.” He said. “Besides, I really should get back before Jean starts worrying.”

And if those words somehow made Diluc’s still unfocused, yet strangely bright eyes dim slightly in obvious sadness, Kaeya once again pretended not to notice.

After all, it wasn’t a good idea to get caught up in a moment that was inevitably going to end. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“Master Diluc?” 

Diluc glanced up to see Adelinde standing by his bedroom door, open concern written all over her face. Of course she was concerned. He’d barely spoken a word since Kaeya left about an hour ago.

He felt slightly guilty at the fact that she wouldn’t go back to bed because of how worried she was, but he didn’t know what else to do.

He’d finally agreed to resting for a few days (which he definitely wouldn’t follow through with), he’d eaten everything the staff had brought him (though he doubted he would eat much more in the coming days if his head was going to continue spinning like this), and he’d gone straight to bed at Elzer’s command (though he definitely wouldn’t be sleeping very well).

Despite all that, Adelinde still seemed worried and at this point, Diluc knew she didn’t even know what to do to ease her worry.

The hesitant look in her eyes said as much.

“If you need anything else, Master Diluc, don’t hesitate to wake me.” 

Diluc smiled tiredly for her sake and nodded.

“Will do, Adelinde.” He said softly. “Thanks.”

“No need to thank me.” She replied, returning the smile before leaving hesitantly.

Once she was gone, Diluc let a heavy sigh fall past his lips. He really should go to bed so his damn concussion would stop rattling his head and thoughts.

But all he could do was think about how messed up the present was.

“Besides, I really should get back before Jean starts worrying.”

Shaking his head and sighing in frustration, Diluc mentally chastised himself at even asking Kaeya to stay. Why had he even done that? Was he out of his mind?

He had apparently gotten too lost in the moment and forgotten what their present looked like. 

This was not the past, where Kaeya would always be by his side and he wouldn’t even need to ask if Kaeya would stay because Kaeya would always just know that Diluc wanted him to be near.

This was not the past, where they were brothers and each considered the other the most important person in their lives.

No, this was the present. And in the present, Kaeya hated him, hated being near him, and had another, better , person who had become the most important person in his life.

Jean was always going to be there for him, she’d made that clear to Kaeya. She’d made clear to him what Diluc should have when he came to him with his trust.

But Diluc hadn’t done that. Whereas Jean had handled Kaeya’s secret carefully, locking it away in her heart along with the trust she would never break, Diluc had broken not only his trust, but also shattered his whole life and their entire brotherhood with his own hands.

And that…

That was something Diluc would never forgive himself for. 

Perhaps having to work with Kaeya was his punishment. Having to be with the very person he threw away and being forced to relive these sorrowful memories. Wanting to be brothers again but knowing it was all too impossible.

Only another reminder that it was better for them to stay away from each other.

Diluc was nothing without his resolve. And so with another heavy sigh, he made up his mind to shield his heart from memories of the past and focus solely on their mission. That way, they’d crack the case faster and Diluc and Kaeya could go back to what was normal. 

Being strangers to one another.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“Jean… Jean? Come on, Big Sis, go home, it’s late.”

Jean startled awake at Barbara’s voice, blinking rapidly to adjust her vision to the now dim lighting of the cathedral. 

The cathedral? What was she doing here? Falling asleep on the floor no less?

Barbara must have caught onto her confusion because she knelt down to be at eye level with her and smiled somewhat guiltily.

“I’m sorry, Jean.” She said, “I’d meant to send you home once I’d healed Razor to the best of my ability but… I ended up falling asleep myself.”

Her gaze turned worried as she looked at her sister.

“You look exhausted… Please go home soon.”

Jean smiled tiredly and nodded, accepting her sister’s hand as she stood up slowly.

“How’s Razor?” She asked.

Barbara sighed, her ever present smile tinted with worry.

“He’ll recover but for now… he’s still in a lot of pain. That’s why I woke up just now. He tried to leave the room, saying he could help find Bennett but couldn’t make it two steps past his bed…” She sighed.

Jean mirrored the action but put a gentle hand on her sister’s head.

“You’re doing your best. Mondstadt is lucky to have you.”

“And you, Big Sis.” Barbara said, her smile becoming less strained.

And then she began to push her sister towards the door of the cathedral, an uncharacteristic sternness in her voice.

“Now, off you go. Go home and get some proper rest.”

Jean laughed despite herself, vaguely wondering when her little sister began to grow up on her.

“Alright, alright, I’m going.” She laughed.

With a final smile and wave shared between sisters, Jean left the cathedral. Her smile faltered as soon as she was out of Barbara’s sight and she let her gaze fall. 

She would go back home and get some sleep as she promised her sister but before that… she was going to wait for Kaeya to come back.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The worry that had settled in Jean’s heart when she first realized that Kaeya had probably immediately gone to the crime scene when she left with Razor, only grew when she noticed how much time had passed since she fell asleep in the cathedral.

It had to be at least 3 in the morning at this point, if not later.  And Kaeya had pretty much been on the verge of passing out when Jean first tried to take him home. 

And she was sure the amount of sleep he’d be getting would only decrease if this case was as big as she thought it must be. 

She didn’t want to think about what that would do to her Cavalry Captain. The worst part was that she could do nothing about it. She’d nag him to no end, insisting that he at least get a few hours of proper rest, but he wouldn’t listen. And Jean didn’t have it in her to force him into taking some much needed time off.

Besides, the logical side of her mind wouldn’t allow her to pester him too much, reasoning that since he’s one of two people actually going out into the field and investigating, it would be counterproductive to put him on leave. Kaeya was her best knight and if anyone was going to solve this, it was him. She only wished he didn’t have to strain himself too much, but Mond needed him desperately.

She sighed, letting her emotional and logical sides battle it out for a while before ultimately coming to the decision that she would make him rest all of tomorrow and take on his duties instead. She had no doubt the man would probably try to sneak out at the first sign of trouble but maybe if she went with Diluc, she’d be able to convince him that there was nothing to worry about.

She knew that despite their rocky relationship, if Kaeya were to put her safety into anyone’s hands, it would be Diluc. Not that she needed protecting, but it was nice to have someone watching her back, and Kaeya had always been overprotective of the people he loved.

She doubted there would be much trouble the next day anyway. The kidnapper would probably want to lay low for a while but she could never be too careful. When Kaeya came back, she’d ask him what he’d found so they could begin profiling the kidnapper and get some leads.

She was so lost in thought that she barely noticed her office door was slightly ajar despite the fact that she’d definitely closed it behind her before she left.

Her slight confusion melted away immediately when she opened the door fully to find Kaeya standing near the wall, eyes glued to the map of Mond she kept beside the sofas.

She barely registered anything else as she sighed in relief and strode forward immediately, giving him a short hug in greeting.

“Ah, Jean…” He said, hugging her back, the smile clear in his voice. “Hi… I thought you were probably still at the cathedral.”

“I was.” Jean confirmed, moving away and looking up at him. “I completely lost track of time and ended up falling asleep. I only just woke up because Barbara woke me. She was awake because poor Razor tried to go find Bennett again. Anyways, Kaeya, I know I said I wanted you on the case and that we should start investigating right away but I didn’t mean right away . You were already exhausted long before we found out about this but I guess I didn’t clarify because I knew you’d still go regardless but I really wish you’d stop doing that and-”

Jean abruptly stopped her worry induced ranting to stare curiously at Kaeya. At some point during her rant, the man had sat down on one of her couches and then his gaze dropped from her face to the floor below. She realized with a start, that she’d never seen Kaeya’s eye look quite so blank as it did in that moment.

All emotion had seemingly drained from his face, leaving his normally bright eye looking dull and confused.

She took a hesitant step forward before kneeling down to look him in the eye. She sighed, having a feeling she knew what this was about.

“Kaeya?” She began. “What happened when you went to Wolvendom with Diluc?”

Kaeya didn’t speak for a few seconds and Jean almost decided to take a step back and let him process things on his own until he was ready to tell her. But then he looked up, meeting her gaze with that blank eye and a sad smile.

“I… went to Dawn Winery.”

That simple admission made a wave of guilt wash over Jean as she wordlessly leaned forward and wrapped her arms around him.

She cursed herself mentally for not realizing this might happen. She’d had the best intentions when she’d sent Kaeya with Diluc but… well needless to say, she really should have seen this coming. Of course the two would come across the winery at some point. It wasn’t Kaeya’s home anymore but it was still Diluc’s. 

The poor guy had to go back to his old home, probably doing his best not to let all the now sorrowful memories get to him. And all because Jean had insisted on sending him with Diluc. Maybe not one of her best ideas but… Jean was at a loss.

It wasn’t easy. It had been hell for her since the night Kaeya came knocking at her door, rainwater and loss weighing him down. And then the next day, things had only gotten worse when she woke up, hoping it had only been a bad dream only to see Kaeya asleep in her living room, a heavy reminder that this was definitely a reality.

Her two best friends were at odds with one another and she was the only person besides them that knew what happened.

Naturally, she knew what had to be done. She was the only person who could try and help make things right. At the end of the day, the two would have to come to terms with one another, but she was the only one who could make it work if both were too stubborn for their own good. Which they were and she knew that.

But she never could have expected that the next three years would go by without so much as a sign from Diluc. She didn’t even know if he was still alive.

She definitely thought it was a dream when she heard the strange rumors that the uncrowned king of Mondstadt had returned. 

In retrospect, she probably should have treated it like a dream because no matter how much she tried to talk to him, Diluc wouldn’t say a word about what happened that night. He knew she knew. She could tell that much.

But every time she tried asking what happened and why he had disappeared off the face of Teyvat for years, he’d immediately shut up and refuse to speak.

And even the way he spoke…

It was as if she’d been demoted from best friend to mere acquaintance. He didn’t act like he didn’t know her but it was quite clear to her that he’d rather not be around her or Kaeya.

She’d almost given up until she finally saw a hint of emotion on the man’s face. Sometime during the Stormterror incident when Kaeya had become involved, she realized with a start that Diluc was showing obvious concern for his brother. And then she realized that the concern had always been there, just hidden beneath a mask that she found eerily similar to Kaeya’s. 

Still, she couldn’t be sure if there was a deeper reason for Diluc’s distance and so she never directly tried to force the brothers together. The way she saw it, the more she pushed against their already delicate relationship, the more likely it was to shatter completely and lose even the weak strings still holding it together. 

She thought she’d finally come up with a foolproof plan when she put the two together for this case, not realizing it would basically be torture for Kaeya and probably Diluc as well.

But now the deed was done and she knew neither of the boys would back down from the case.

Jean was startled out of her thoughts when she realized her best friend was shaking in her arms. Her heart broke when she realized he was desperately trying to hold back the tears that had been struggling to show themselves since he woke up from his nightmare just last night.

Just last night…

It felt like it happened years ago.

Jean shifted slightly and sat down on the couch beside him so they could embrace each other more easily and Kaeya practically melted into the hug. He was crying softly now, still trying to hold the worst of the sadness back.

“You don’t have to hide anything from me, remember?” She muttered softly.

Kaeya didn’t respond, only sniffed and let out a shaky breath. The two sat in silence for a while before Kaeya finally broke the silence with a strained laugh.

“It’s ridiculous, isn’t it?” 

His voice sounded so broken that Jean was almost shocked into silence. But as it was, she had to tell him that whatever he was referring to (probably himself) was not ridiculous in the slightest.

“If you’re talking about your tears, then no.” Jean said firmly. “I… can’t imagine what you’re going through but… I’ve known loss too, Kaeya. You don’t have to be strong all the time. You’re allowed to let down your walls. And I’m so glad you’ve chosen to do so in front of me. Your tears aren’t ridiculous because they mean you’ve chosen me as an ally in your war against your emotions. And allies only make us stronger, not weaker, right?”

She pulled away to look at his face and was happy to see the man smiling tearfully at her.

“Quit your job, Jean.” He said, with a short laugh. “And join Venti as a bard.”

Jean laughed along with him and shook her head. 

“Only if you do the same.”

Kaeya smiled at that, but the smile didn’t last nearly as long as Jean would have liked. His gaze turned sorrowful again and he rested his head against her shoulder once more. At least the tears had stopped for now.

“I just…” He whispered. “I don’t even know why but… I miss him a lot. And I don’t know what to do about it.”

“Oh, Kaeya.” Jean sighed, embracing him once more.

She understood. Of course she did. Kaeya had been overwhelmed with so much lately. The nightmare, the case, working with Diluc. For the second time that night, she wondered if this was a terrible idea.

“I think…” He continued. “I’m just going to do what I always do.”

Jean couldn't help the feeling of dread that pierced her heart at those words. She knew exactly what he was talking about.

“I’m… just gonna pretend it doesn’t bother me. I just won’t think about it too much. If I do that… I think I can pull through with the case and then once it’s done… We can go back to normal. Back to being strangers that hate each for some reason. Too many reasons.”

And despite desperately wanting to tell him that there were no reasons because they didn’t hate each other , she knew now was not the time. She knew that both of them were far too broken to be simply fixed by a few of her attempts.

She had to let them figure it out on their own at some point. She didn’t know when that time would come but she believed in both of them.

And so, even as her heart broke for the nth time, she nodded her agreement to his statement.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Finally Diluc had something to be grateful for.

Yes, he’d just woken up to the blinding sunlight. His head was pounding so hard, spots were constantly flashing across his vision. He felt like he’d been run over by a stampede of horses, his shoulder having taken the brunt of it.

But at least he’d had a dreamless sleep for once and that meant one less thing to brood about all day.

Three years of living alone with only his dead father’s Delusion and several revenge plans roaming his head definitely did a number on him. Not to mention the frequent near death battles he’d encountered along the way that liked to make appearances in his dreams, sometimes with much more horrible outcomes than reality.

Of course not every dream had been like that. But enough that he often dreaded going to bed at times.

The sad part was that he could almost claim to be used to them. After all, those dreams had been his life for three years. While they didn’t actually mess with his head or scare him too much, they definitely messed with his mood.

The worse the dream, the less likely he was to humor people.

So yes, he was in all the world’s pain but besides a small twinge of sadness, he wasn’t feeling too bad emotionally.

Oh right and the enormous amount of regret for trying to act like he and Kaeya were still brothers last night. Naturally he blamed the concussion. 

But for the time being he decided to ignore it, as he’d decided last night. 

So yes, he wasn’t feeling too bad all things considered.

That was until he realized he’d slept much later than he should have.

Glancing out the window, his eyes widened when he noticed that it was definitely past noon at this point.

He’d missed his meeting with Diona. The poor girl must have come and gone already when the staff told her he was asleep. He didn’t know too much about her but since she was just a kid she might have been really disappointed and tried to reschedule. But again, maybe she was too disappointed to even do that.

Diluc couldn’t be sure and he knew he should probably ask Adelinde if Diona had rescheduled but all he could do was sigh and throw an arm over his eyes.

As it turned out, Adelinde had decided right at that moment that she should come and check on Diluc herself.

A small knock sounded at the door and Diluc tiredly allowed her to come in.

Immediately he noticed the look of worry on Adelinde’s face and cursed mentally. Diona had probably been really disappointed.

“Good morning, Master Diluc.” She said.

“Morning….” Diluc sighed, glancing at her. “I missed Diona, didn’t I?”

Adelinde hummed and stepped in, the worry on her face growing as she did so.

“Right, about that…” She paused, as if she didn’t know how to continue.

Diluc took that to mean Diona had been really upset and he sighed, finally sitting up and deciding to pay her a visit.

“I should go and tell her I’m sorry…” He muttered, standing and rummaging through his wardrobe.

Adelinde’s worried eyes followed his movements as he spoke.

“I’ll ask her if she wants to reschedule. She must have been so sad. I didn’t-”

“Master Diluc.” Adelinde interrupted. “Diona didn’t show up this morning.”

Diluc frowned in confusion, turning to her and waiting for an explanation and suddenly the look of worry on her face put him on edge.

“Do you know why?” He asked warily.

“Well… The other maids were in town today and well… I don’t pay much attention to them because everything they say may as well be baseless rumors but…”

“What did they say, Adelinde?” Diluc asked, keeping his tone respectful but urgent.

The look in her eyes melted into something akin to sorrow and it took all Diluc’s willpower not to run down to Mond that very second.

“Diona probably won’t be able to come to the winery for a while and well… You should probably visit the Cat’s Tail. Margaret will explain it better.”

And then Diluc’s resolve cracked and he barely took a second to grab his coat before he rushed past Adelinde and through the door, running as fast as he could to get to Mond before it was too late.

Chapter Text

Diona yawned deeply, her head dipping forward as sleep tried to drag her away from more important things.

But she simply shook her head sharply, a frown on her face as she did so, making sure her tiredness didn’t get in the way of her mission.

Well, maybe ‘mission’ was too dramatic a term for what she was doing awake at almost 6 in the morning. But it was important to her that she personally greet her father and his team when they came back from their hunt. 

Already Diona felt that they’d been gone too long, despite it only being about a day since they left. But her dad had been drunk way before he’d had to leave and so… it felt like he’d been gone much longer.

Sleep and sadness began to encroach on her once more but she shook it off again, focusing her eyes on the small spring in front of her.

She’d finally gotten a chance to stay at Springvale with her dad for a few days and it was just her luck that the man was as drunk as ever. And then when he’d woken the next day, he’d apologized as usual and Diona had shrugged it off as usual, offering to make him something to help with his hangover. But her dad had left in a rush, apologizing once more as he spouted off some nonsense about a super important hunt.

She loved her dad, she really did. But lately it felt like the only important things in his life were wine and hunting.

She sighed, knowing that probably wasn’t true and that both of them had been busy lately. It was just bad timing, no one’s fault, she reasoned.

Regardless, she fully intended on catching her dad early today so maybe they could do something together. That is, if she was awake enough to do anything. She didn’t even know why she was so tired. She usually woke up at around 8 anyways when she had to bartend at the Cat’s Tail. Two hours less of sleep couldn’t possibly make so much of a difference, could it?

Her train of thought stopped abruptly as a chill rode up her spine, her eyes widening slightly. She knew that feeling. She didn’t know it well thankfully but she’d been trained well enough by her father to know what it meant. She was being watched.

Her immediate thought was that if it was someone dangerous, she ought to locate them right away and lead them away from the village. She was the only one awake in the whole town so she was the only one who knew there was danger.

Her stare into the spring became more intense, her thoughts running a mile a minute with this new information. She couldn’t tell how many people were out there but she could definitely tell it was more than one. Sneaking, prowling, and waiting for an opportunity to strike. Her ears picked up on every slight shift the people made.

She also knew they were targeting her, though she had no idea why. Every movement forward was in her direction. She could tell that much because of how the sounds were clearer and clearer with every shift. 

If they were after her, that was more the reason that she should move as far away from the village as possible.

If they wanted something from her… well then, they’d just have to catch up. These people weren’t going to leave here with what they wanted.

With that goal set in her mind, Diona casually stood up, yawning and stretching in an all too exaggerated motion.

“Wah, it looks like Dad won’t be back for some time.” She hummed to herself.

As she expected, the noise had stopped. Whoever was out there was waiting for her next move.

“I could probably go for a little walk before he gets back.” She mused, as she casually began to walk towards the stone steps leading away from Springvale.

It was still slightly dark in the surrounding forest, as the sun hadn’t fully awoken yet. Diona decided she better move quickly, taking advantage of the fact that she probably had better mobility in the dark than her pursuer.

She broke into a slow jog, grinning to herself when the sounds of quiet tailing began to follow her once more. She kept up a running commentary of how nice it felt to run by herself in the early morning and how she felt invigorated enough to take down the wine industry that very day.

And then all at once, she stopped abruptly once she felt she’d run far enough. She quickly took note of her surroundings. There were plenty of trees and bushes around, providing several good hiding places if anything went wrong. Her eyes found the abandoned adventurer’s camp near a small hill that animals sometimes made a home in. There was a small space behind it, big enough for her to hide in comfortably, but small enough to be easily concealed. That was where she always hid whenever she played hide and seek with her dad or Klee. She decided that’s where she would hide now if things got out of control.

It took her only a few seconds to note everything down and once she did, she turned around, grinning out into the forest and her still hidden pursuers.

“Think you can bully me?” She taunted. “Well, guess you haven’t heard but… I’m Diona! Slayer of the wine industry! Now come out and show yourselves!”

She wasn’t going to lie. 

The eerie laughter that followed her words sent a trickle of fear into her heart but she stood her ground as a small group of treasure hoarders surrounded her, emerging from the trees. 

There were only four of them but for some strange reason Diona suddenly felt as though she had bitten off more than she could chew. These men seemed to have come with a purpose, a goal that they would definitely meet, whatever it took.

Diona knew what it meant to have a goal. She also knew that these men wouldn’t back down unless they had what they came for. And Diona was getting the sinking feeling that they had probably come for her specifically.

She’d given them what they wanted by luring them away and now she was cornered.

But Diona was not going down without a fight.

And so when the first man lunged forward, a knife in hand, Diona immediately summoned the power of cryo and formed a shield of ice around her while simultaneously darting out of the way.

She didn’t have time to get her bow, nor the icy cold brews she normally tossed at enemies as a sort of freezing potion or ‘ice bomb’ as Klee always called them. 

But that didn’t mean she couldn’t fight with her fists. And despite her distaste for the Cavalry Captain of Mond, she had to admit his icicles had inspired her to try doing so herself. She’d never practiced seriously but now she had no choice but to fling small shards of ice towards the kidnappers and hope they’d leave her alone.

If the circumstances had been different, she’d most definitely be proud of herself. She’d landed a few solid hits on every man, barely sustaining a few scratches herself whenever she had to let down her shield. Every time the men grumbled about her being too fast to catch, she’d allow herself a small grin, despite the fear that was quickly catching up to her.

A few times, the reality of the situation tried to dawn on her, but she quickly chased it away, letting the adrenaline guide her through the motions. Yes, she was possibly about to get kidnapped, but it wasn’t over until it was over, right?

And so she kept fighting, simply grinning as the men’s movements became more irritated and fueled by anger. But it seemed she could only ignore her fear for so long.

Before long, the adrenaline began to wear off and once again, she had to let her shield down. The combination of exhaustion and fear from the fight caught up to her all at once, freezing her in place.

She almost didn’t make it in time when her eyes widened to see the big hammer coming straight towards her. But her mind clicked back into gear just in time for her to dart away and up into a tree.

Once she was there, she wasted no more time quietly leaping to another and another. She kept moving until she was in the tree right next to the small camp and right behind the kidnappers. There, she took a second to catch her breath and make sure she hadn’t been seen.

“Ugh, where did that annoying kitten go?”

“Listen, I’m tired, I think we should give it up.”

“What?! Give it up?! And be bested by a little cat?!”

Diona quietly slipped down the tree and curled up behind the small tent, peeking around it to see the men arguing.

“Hey it’s fine. I think we should head back for now.”

“Ugh, you’re all useless.”

And then the sound of retreating footsteps as they moved out of her sight.

“Hey, there’s always next time! We don’t need a second test subject right away, after all.”

Diona sighed heavily as she curled up further, her heart pounding in her chest as she vaguely thought that she came very close to never seeing her father again.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

For the first time in his life, Kaeya woke in a state of confusion. 

He supposed that was what tended to happen when he let his emotional side win against the logical one. Jean would argue it was because he rarely did so and that it would do him well to listen to his emotions more often. He’d counter that he would only do so when she did the same.

Although she was probably better at it than him, Kaeya knew she often pretended not to be as worried about someone or something as she actually was. She claimed she did so because worrying would help no one, to which Kaeya would counter…

Well, needless to say, their arguments were quite unproductive, neither side yielding to the other and so they usually just fizzled out.

Regardless of how strange their arguments were, Kaeya’s current situation was even stranger. Because he had just woken up in Jean’s office, feeling as if a handyman had mistaken his head for a nail and hammered away at it for at least five hours before realizing he was hitting the wrong thing.

Besides that, his throat was incredibly sore and besides that, he felt that he could sleep for years despite only just waking up.

Yup, definitely strange. But not entirely surprising. He did, after all, decide to walk back to Mond in the rain last night. 

Kaeya sighed, sitting up and cradling his aching head in his hands, trying to get his thoughts back together. Before he even got a chance to wonder what time it was, the door opened suddenly and Kaeya lifted his head to see Jean coming in.

He smiled when he saw that she’d brought pancakes, probably from the Good Hunter because she couldn’t cook to save her life. She could do everything else to save her life! But definitely not cooking. Not to worry though because Kaeya had her covered there and if he wasn’t around, her little sister was more than capable of cooking a dish worthy enough to save several lives.

Kaeya shook his head, almost laughing aloud at the strange sleepy thoughts roaming his mind. But Jean had already caught onto his wide smile and she frowned as she set the plate down, waving him over and sitting down at the table near the couches.

“What are you smiling about?” She asked, suspicion lacing her voice as he came to sit beside her.

“Nothing.” Kaeya grinned. “Only that you probably got this from Good Hunter because you can’t cook to save your life.”

He smiled widely when she only sighed and rolled her eyes. Then she punched him in the arm, making the smile drop from his face right away.

“Ow! How could you do that to your bestie?” He asked, glaring at her in mock offense.

“Well, is my bestie willing to chase off the enemies coming for my life with his amazing cooking skills?” She asked, grinning.

“Of course! Is that even a question? I’ll even get Barbara to join me! And don’t say it like that, you know I’m amazing at cooking.”

Jean sighed, the brightness in her eyes dimming slightly as she nodded.

“That I do…” She muttered. “And I take this to mean that you’re still very tired. But feeling better otherwise?”

Kaeya nodded, smiling at the slight hope in her eyes. He knew what she was referring to. He was definitely still tired but not emotionally drained anymore. At least not detrimentally so.

There was and would always be the slight twinge of sadness in his heart that would never go away but… for now, it wasn’t weighing him down as it had been for the past several hours.

“Ah, but I should warn you.” Kaeya said, shifting away from her slightly as he finally turned his attention to the pancakes. “I seem to have caught a cold.”

Jean sighed and looked like she was about to punch him again. Kaeya discreetly shifted more away from her.

“Of course you did.” She said, slight irritation in her voice. “Last night you almost fell asleep on me again. But I insisted on running to your house to get you dry clothes. By the time I came back you were already asleep but I forced you awake and made you change. Looks like my efforts went to waste.”

She sighed as she started eating her breakfast and Kaeya grinned, a teasing remark on the tip of his tongue. But before he could get a word out, he stopped short, wondering why he hadn’t noticed the suppressed worry in her eyes sooner. Now that the sleepiness was wearing off, it was so obvious that it startled Kaeya into silence. But only for a solid second. And then he started speaking again.

“What happened?” He asked, cutting right to the chase.

Jean turned to him and frowned in confusion. Kaeya could see right through it.

“What do you mean?”

Kaeya stared at her, an incredulous expression on his face. Did she really think she could hide this from him? Whatever had happened must have been big, since she didn’t immediately look away from his stare. Instead, her confused gaze turned slightly guilty before she finally looked away.

“Jean.” 

But she didn’t respond, simply choosing to eat her pancakes as if nothing was wrong. All while blatantly avoiding Kaeya’s insistent stare.

“ Jean. ” 

She set down her fork a bit harshly before turning to him with a frown.

“No.” She said simply. “I am not saying a word until you eat your breakfast. Do you even remember the last time you ate something? I bet you didn’t eat a thing all of yesterday, did you?”

Kaeya flinched at the accusatory tone in her voice and sighed. Now that he thought about it, she was right. He didn’t recall eating anything yesterday. He definitely hadn’t done so on purpose but he just had so much on his mind that day. 

Now that she’d pointed it out, he definitely felt guilty. It was a bad habit he’d been trying to break for as long as he could remember. Sometimes he’d get too focused on something or too deep into his emotions that he’d forget about basic human needs like sleep and food. 

Years before, it would have been both Jean and Diluc keeping an eye on him and making sure he didn’t forget about these things. In recent years, the task had fallen on Jean’s shoulders and he could only imagine how worried she must have been about him all of yesterday. 

That didn’t change the fact that whatever had worried her now was most definitely more important than eating. But Kaeya knew he wouldn’t get a word out of her otherwise, so he simply sighed and began eating as fast as he dared with Jean’s watchful eye on him.

Sadly for both him and Jean, Kaeya really didn’t have an appetite that morning. Besides everything from last night still roaming around in his head, he also had a sore throat and a terrible headache.

But he did his best to at least clear half his plate before he pushed it away and turned back to Jean who was just finishing up.

“Ok, now tell me what’s up.” 

Jean glanced at his half empty plate and sighed in resignation before turning to him.

“Well…” She said, standing suddenly. “I think it would be much easier to just show you.”

And with that, she walked out of her office, waving him over. With a frown on his face, Kaeya followed her out.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

They’d barely stepped out of headquarters and Kaeya already had the sinking feeling that whatever had happened was much more terrible than he expected.

Mondstadt was normally a very talkative town, with conversations and laughter following him wherever he went. 

But as the two walked through the streets this time, the town’s musings seemed to have increased drastically, exclamations and questions following them in a continuous stream. Not to mention that the talk of the town seemed to have taken on a very dark undertone, which was quite unusual for Mondstadt. 

The town’s people were no longer laughing and smiling as they spoke, but instead held frowns and dark expressions on their faces, putting Kaeya on edge as he picked up the pace.

“Wait.” Kaeya said, eye widening slightly as he caught sight of something strange.

He stopped and stared for a while before turning to Jean who had stopped with him.

“Is… the Cat’s Tail… closed?” He asked in disbelief.

If the circumstances had been different, maybe Jean would have cracked a joke at that. But as it was, her expression had taken on the same dark undertone as the rest of the town.

“Yes. That’s part of what’s troubling me. The other part is… why it’s closed.” She replied as she began walking again.

“Don’t tell me…” Kaeya asked as he walked along with her, a feeling of dread settling deep in his heart.

“It’s not as bad as you think.” Jean sighed. “Apparently… Diona was almost kidnapped. But let’s go to Margaret’s house first and then we’ll talk.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The door opened immediately at Jean’s first knock, a relieved expression crossing Margaret’s face for a brief moment.

“Ah, Acting Grand Master. You’re back. And Captain Kaeya, good afternoon.”

Kaeya’s brain short circuited for a second as he processed the words ‘You’re back’ and ‘good afternoon’. That meant Jean had already been here and he’d slept much longer than he should have.

Kaeya greeted her politely as she stepped back to let them inside.

“She’s upstairs in her room.” Margaret sighed. “I don’t know how responsive she’ll be but… Please give it a try. Catch those men soon please.”

Jean smiled and nodded.

“We’ll do our best, Margaret. We’ll catch them in no time.”

With that, the two began making their way upstairs. Jean seemed to have caught onto his confusion because she answered the unspoken question.

“I noticed the Cat’s Tail was closed this morning when I went to get breakfast for the two of us. I tried asking around but everyone said the same thing. They had no idea why it was closed, only that Margaret had said she didn't know when they would open up again because Diona was sick. I had a strange feeling that something must be wrong and so I paid her a visit. That’s when Margaret told me Diona had come running to the Cat’s Tail very early in the morning when she was just getting ready for the day. She said she’d almost been kidnapped in Springvale by treasure hoarders so Margaret closed up shop and brought her home. I asked her if it was alright for me to come back later with you and ask her some questions.”

Kaeya sighed and nodded as they reached the door.

“They’re not waiting around at all …” Kaeya sighed. “This had to be just hours after Bennett.”

“I know…” Jean muttered. “It makes me wonder how long this whole thing has been in the works. Oh by the way… I didn’t wanna bother you about this before but do tell me if you two discovered anything last night.”

“Ah right. I meant to tell you sooner but…”

But he’d dissolved into an emotional mess and fallen asleep.

But Jean just smiled and waved off his unspoken apologies.

“No worries. Just let me know at some point. The end of the day should be fine.”

With a final nod, Kaeya lifted his hand to knock on the door… before stepping back in alarm as the door swung open of its own accord.

Jean and Kaeya looked down in shock, the pink haired girl glaring at them from her place by the door.

She looked terrible, her hair all over the place and her clothes covered in dirt. She had obviously been crying but she looked as if she was desperately trying to hide it.

Kaeya watched in silence as she sighed and shook her head, brows furrowing in anger.

“Could you two be any louder? I could hear you from a mile away.” She sighed as she waved the two in.

Kaeya and Jean shared a look before following the girl into her room. Jean shut the door behind her as Diona sat down on her bed and curled her knees up close to her chest. She watched the two warily as they stood by the door and for a few seconds, the three just stood in the silence, each waiting for the other to speak.

And then…

“Well? Aren’t you here to question me? If you’re going to do it, then do it quick. I don’t wanna think about this any longer than I have to.”

Jean sighed as she came to carefully sit on the bed next to her. Diona watched her warily but didn’t move. 

“Well, first of all, we want you to tell us exactly what happened, and then we’ll go from there.”

Diona nodded and began to tell her story. Kaeya and Jean listened attentively, taking note of every detail. Jean seemed concerned and sympathetic and while Kaeya was also concerned, he was a bit disappointed when it looked like Diona couldn’t provide any new information.

The two of them already knew about the treasure hoarders and the ‘test subjects’. There was no new information for them to go on at this point. 

But Kaeya did have one question he had to ask, just in case.

“Did the treasure hoarders say anything about Delusions?”

Diona frowned and shook her head.

“No, I already told you everything they said. I would’ve remembered if they said something strange like that… What’s a Delusion anyway?”

“Nothing too important.” Kaeya said, shaking his head. “Thanks for telling us. We’ll be out of your hair now, ok? Take care and stay safe! We’ll catch those guys for you.”

At this, Jean gave the girl a gentle pat on the shoulder and stood up but before she could take a step forward, the girl reached forward and grabbed her hand.

Kaeya stopped with Jean as the two glanced at Diona once more. She was looking up at them hesitantly but after a while she smiled.

“Um… I just wanted to thank you. For… you know… investigating and all that. Promise you’ll catch the bad guys?”

“We promise.” Jean said sincerely, returning the smile and patting her head.

Diona smiled a bit more widely and sighed.

“That’s good.” Diona said, nodding. “Don’t go breaking your promise now. Anyways… see ya.”

Jean and Kaeya gave the girl one last wave before leaving her room, both relieved that Diona was still able to smile.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Kaeya had already decided that once they left Diona’s house, he’d tell Jean everything that happened last night. She already knew everything about the case besides that one cryptic clue about Delusions.

But Kaeya figured he should tell her about Diluc’s injuries as well and everything that went down after that.

However, it seemed like Kaeya would have to push that back once more.

Because the two had barely stepped out of Diona’s house when they ran right into a certain redhead.

“Ah, sorry!” Diluc apologized before looking up and staring in shock. “Oh… Hi, you two. Looks like you made it here before me.”

“You heard about Diona too?” Jean asked, curiously.

“Ah, right! You were supposed to meet her today, weren’t you?” Kaeya asked. “Sorry to say, but it seems as if she totally forgot about your little meeting.”

Jean gave him a light shove, a disapproving look in her eyes but Kaeya only grinned. But it seemed Diluc paid the remark no mind as he sighed in relief.

“So… She’s ok, then? I was worried she’d been kidnapped.” He admitted. “Ugh, Adelinde could have been a little less vague.”

“Adelinde told you?” Jean asked.

“Yeah… she heard it from the other maids who were in town this morning. All she said was that Diona wouldn’t be able to come to the winery for a while and that I should probably visit the Cat’s Tail. But when I got there, there was no one around. I asked around about Margaret’s house and well, here we are.” He said in a rush.

Kaeya watched him curiously. Diluc seemed the tiniest bit unnerved but Kaeya found it strange that he was showing any emotion at all. The determination in his gaze was nothing new but… once again, Diluc was showing a side of himself that Kaeya had only seen in the past.

Well, he wasn’t going to dwell on that right now.

“Is that right?” He asked, continuing the conversation. “Well, we already questioned her. We’ll fill you in, but there wasn’t any new information.”

“Really?” Diluc asked, as he glanced at the house still behind them.

“She’s fine, Diluc.” Jean said, trying to herd the boys away. “I don’t know if she wants to see anyone right now, but I think it’s best that we continue investigating. In fact, I’m relieved you decided to show up.”

Jean’s expression turned sorrowful as the three began making their way into town, Diluc being the only one still hesitantly glancing back.

“Actually, I was hoping you two could continue doing the actual investigating. I’d love to join you guys, but I still haven’t been able to deliver the news about Bennett to his dads. Bennett is often out on commissions for longer than a few hours as you already know, so they may not be aware of what’s happened yet. I should tell them as soon as I can.”

“Of course.” Kaeya sighed. “You go ahead and do that, Jean. We can take care of the investigation from here.”

Diluc nodded along to his statement.

“I should probably ask them if they’ve received any sort of letter demanding ransom while I’m at it.” Jean voiced. “Though I doubt they have because of all this ‘test subject’ business. It appears these treasure hoarders have no intention of returning the kids…”

Kaeya hummed in response to the sad statement but told her that she should probably still ask, just in case. Jean agreed and with one final wave, she left the two boys alone.

The awkwardness that settled on Kaeya’s shoulders the second she left was so heavy that for a split second Kaeya thought, I can’t do this, and briefly entertained the idea of running as far away from the red head as possible.

But only for a second. And then he pulled his mask back up and turned to Diluc with a smile. Diluc, as usual, only stared back, but somehow his usually unshakeable stare looked strangely hesitant today. Of course it would. This must be super awkward for him as well. 

Well, that didn’t matter. If Diluc couldn’t ignore their obvious history while they investigated together, that wasn’t Kaeya’s problem.

Just as he was about to suggest what they should do next, Diluc spoke.

“Did you… get home alright yesterday? Did you sleep well? You… don’t look so good.” 

Once again, Diluc nearly shocked him into silence. How did he even manage to tap into his past self like that? Kaeya was almost convinced he was dreaming because how could the Diluc of the present speak in such hesitant and concerned tones?

Was he trying to make things less awkward? Was he trying to act normal?

Whatever it was he was trying to do, it wasn’t working. This was only making things more awkward. At least for Kaeya.

But Kaeya had made up his mind, hadn’t he?

He thought of it as Diluc challenging him, trying to put cracks in the walls he so carefully built up. Well, he wasn’t going down that easily.

And so he simply smiled and nodded.

“I’m completely fine. No need to worry about me. It’s just a small cold, nothing I can’t handle.” Kaeya told him. “Now then, if you’re ready, I think we should continue investigating.”

Diluc hummed his agreement, seemingly satisfied with the answer. Kaeya spared him one last glance before continuing to walk. And then one more to make sure he was following. 

A slight frown crept onto his face when he saw that Diluc was practically glaring at the ground as he followed, an expression much darker than anger on his face.

Kaeya couldn’t discern it and decided he didn’t care enough to. Whatever was troubling Diluc wasn’t his problem, right?

He turned away quickly and continued walking. Not his problem.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

First things first, Kaeya immediately went back to headquarters and asked around for Noelle. When he found her in the library with Lisa, he asked if he could borrow her for the rest of the day, to which Lisa agreed, saying they were just finishing up with the dusting.

After that, Kaeya asked Noelle if she could keep a discreet eye on Diona and keep guard around her house. He didn’t give away any important details, only that Diona was in danger and that any suspicious activity should be noted immediately and taken care of.

“Of course, Captain Kaeya.” Noelle agreed. “Consider it done.”

Kaeya thanked her and waved as she immediately went to complete her new task. That was one thing of Kaeya’s own tasklist and he immediately left headquarters, Diluc in tow, to complete the next task.

“I chose Noelle because I knew she wouldn’t ask any questions.” Kaeya explained to Diluc as they walked through town. “We need to keep the Knights' involvement to a minimum, but we can’t keep Diona unguarded either. If worse comes to worst, we can always trust Noelle to help out when things get rough.”

Diluc nodded, listening attentively to his explanation.

“I’ve often thought that Noelle is the only person in all of Mond who’s actually qualified to be a Knight.” Diluc commented.

Kaeya laughed out loud at that, before instantly regretting it. His breath caught in his throat, making him choke and cough slightly. The pain in his throat flared up along with his headache. 

It seemed the cold was finally starting to catch up to him. He’d forgotten about it in all the excitement that morning, but now… he was all too aware of it.

Still, he wasn’t going to let it freeze him in his tracks.

“You’re right about that.” Kaeya said, clearing his throat. “Although I do think there are other Knights worthy of their title, Noelle really deserves it as well.”

Diluc didn’t respond to that and simply frowned, suddenly putting a hand on his shoulder and making him stop. So much for not freezing in his tracks…

“You’re sick.” He said simply.

Kaeya just shrugged and nodded.

“I told you I was. What do you want me to do about it?”

Diluc’s frown deepened as he sighed and let go of him.

“Not much we can do about it right now.” He said, irritated. “But make sure you get enough sleep tonight.”

“Ok, then.” Kaeya said, shrugging as he continued to walk.

He didn’t have time to think about whether or not the concern was for him specifically or if it was because Diluc didn’t want anything messing up their investigation. It was probably the latter. Why would he be concerned about his traitor brother being sick? 

Kaeya shook his head, harshly reminding himself to stop thinking about these things.

Just for the investigation….

Act like it doesn’t bother me… 

Act like there’s no history between us…

He sighed softly before clearing his throat once more and leading the way in silence. 

He brought his mind back to what was important, mentally bringing up the next task in his checklist. Ah right… They were due for a visit to Angel’s Share next and Kaeya wove through the streets with practiced ease, an easy smile slowly settling on his face when Diluc’s footsteps stopped behind him as he knew they would.

Kaeya stopped along with him and turned back, his smile growing at the confusion and irritation on the redhead’s face.

“Coming or not?” Kaeya asked, gesturing towards the small tavern not too far away.

“Angel’s Share?” Diluc asked incredulously, an eyebrow raised.

“Mhm.” Kaeya said, nodding. “But it’s not what you're thinking. I may be a drunkard but I don’t really drink on the job.”

“Right…” Diluc said, rolling his eyes and shaking his head as if he didn’t believe him.

Kaeya simply grinned, knowing he had probably stretched the truth a little because everyone knew about his methods of gathering information. But this time, he really wasn’t heading to the tavern for a drink.

The two began walking again and Kaeya scanned the tables outside as they neared the tavern. Sure enough, there was Nimrod, the very man Kaeya was looking for. Lucky for him, it seemed like Nimrod was just arriving as well. Hopefully meaning he wasn’t drunk yet and Kaeya could get the information he wanted.

Nimrod noticed them right away, smiling and waving merrily as they caught up to him.

“Sir Kaeya! You here for a drink as well?”

“Not today.” Kaeya told him, smiling and shaking his head. “Actually, I wanted to ask you if there’s been any… suspicious activity going on in your… other crowd.”

Had Kaeya not been so serious about this investigation, he would have laughed out loud at the shocked look on Diluc’s face when he realized Nimrod was a spy placed in the ranks of the treasure hoarders. Not everyone knew this fact of course. Everyone probably had their suspicions but because Nimrod was pretty harmless, no one really thought much of it.

Kaeya himself had only revealed it to one other person. Or rather two other people, since Lumine and Paimon were basically a package deal. 

The two didn’t seem all too surprised, as he knew they wouldn’t. Because again, everyone basically thought he was at least somewhat suspicious. He assumed Diluc suspected him as well to a degree but considering his wide eyes and shocked expression, it seemed he was pretty oblivious.

But since the situation was pretty serious, Kaeya simply grinned and turned back to Nimrod as he began to speak.

“To tell you the truth, Sir Kaeya…” Nimrod sighed, a dejected expression on his face. “There is definitely something suspicious going on lately. The treasure hoarders are being very… strange lately. But because I’m one of the lesser members, they won’t tell me a thing!”

“Oh? Is that so?” Kaeya asked, frowning.

That changed things. Kaeya had been sure he’d get a lead out of Nimrod, but it seemed he was in the dark as well.

But perhaps not, because after a slight pause, Nimrod began speaking again.

“Ah! There was something that I’d been meaning to tell you!” Nimrod said suddenly. “A few weeks ago, a few Fatui agents paid us a visit. It was a super private meeting, with only the leader and a few other members allowed to attend. It was after that meeting that the higher ups abruptly stopped telling the lower rankers anything.”

Kaeya hummed thoughtfully and asked if Nimrod had anything else to share. When the man shook his head, Kaeya smiled and bid the man farewell.

As the two began heading back to Favonius HQ, Diluc matched Kaeya’s pace and glanced at him.

“What do we do now?” He asked, annoyed. “We basically have nothing to go on.”

“Not true.” Kaeya said, grinning at Diluc’s annoyance. “What Nimrod told us is very vague but it could give us a lead. It means that this case may very well have nothing to do with the treasure hoarders. The Fatui could be behind this whole thing.”

“That’s considering that meeting had anything to do with the kidnappings.” Diluc grumbled. “Who’s to say the Fatui didn’t come for something else?”

“And that’s what we’re going to find out.” Kaeya stated. “If I’m not mistaken, there’s a certain Fatui Harbinger that’s on good terms with Lumine, so he might be willing to tell us something. I think it’s about time we paid Liyue a visit.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“Right, so far, we only know of two possible targets. Bennett and Diona, but we don’t know why they’re being targeted.”

“Mhm…” Kaeya hummed absentmindedly as Diluc recounted all of the evidence they’d gathered so far.

Which admittedly, wasn’t a lot. As Diluc spoke, Kaeya went over his own notes, writing down what he thought was important.

The two had taken over Jean’s office and were waiting for her so they could tell her what they’d found thus far. Diluc hadn’t stopped pacing and talking since they arrived.

“And we know treasure hoarders are doing the kidnapping but Fatui might be behind it. Honestly, we should have guessed earlier. They mentioned Delusions. That should have been a dead giveaway that it’s all the Fatui’s dirty work!”

If Kaeya was being honest, the thought did cross his mind briefly but he didn’t want to jump to any conclusions in case that wasn’t the case. It didn’t have to be the Fatui just because Delusions were involved. It was quite easy for other groups like the treasure hoarders to get a hold of the objects after all. It hadn’t been a problem for their father to get one…

Diluc fell silent but continued pacing furiously. Kaeya briefly glanced up from his notes to watch the man fume silently.

It was obvious he was in deep thought but it also seemed like he wanted to continue speaking. The irritation on his face was probably what was keeping him from talking. He probably didn’t want to get so worked up that he stopped thinking straight.

Kaeya went back to his notes, settling a hand against his head and sighing when it twinged in pain. Not only was his headache flaring up again, his eye also seemingly decided it didn’t want to focus on the words in front of him. Several times, he caught it closing of its own accord. 

He blinked rapidly to keep himself awake before sighing once more and then wincing when the sigh became a cough.

Diluc turned his head sharply at the sound, his angry gaze settling on Kaeya. He opened his mouth to say something but before he could, the door opened and Jean came in.

“Oh? You two are already back?”

“Yup…” Kaeya sighed, standing from his place at the desk and walking over to Jean.

Diluc took a step back as Kaeya came to stand by Jean and simply nodded in greeting.

“How did it go with Bennett’s family?” Kaeya asked.

“As one would expect.” Jean sighed. “The adventurers were heartbroken. They said they haven’t received a letter or anything but if they did, they’d let me know. I sure hope I won’t have to do that again.”

“I hope so too.” Kaeya said as the two went to sit on the couch.

Kaeya waved Diluc over as well but the man shook his head, preferring to stand.

“Anyways.” Jean continued. “What did you guys discover?”

Kaeya led the conversation, mostly telling Jean all the details. He briefly told her about how Diluc got injured and completely omitted the parts where they fought after Diluc scared the shit out of him with his fire. He wasn’t hiding it deliberately, of course. He just felt it would be less awkward if he told her when Diluc wasn’t around. Besides, that wasn’t important right now.

Kaeya continued telling her about their investigation that day, wrapping up with his idea about going to Liyue and meeting with Childe, the man Lumine had mentioned before she left for Inazuma.

“If Lumine trusts him, I think we have a good shot at getting information from him.” Kaeya stated.

Jean hummed and nodded her agreement.

“I agree. The Fatui may well be a part of this whole thing. You guys can leave whenever you’re ready of course, but do let me know when you do. Ah, and I trust you know how to get to Liyue fast.” Jean said. “I’ll hold down the fort here.”

Kaeya nodded, briefly taking note of Diluc’s confused expression when Jean mentioned getting to Liyue fast. He’d have to explain to the man what she meant later on.

In fact, he could probably do that right now once they left Jean’s office.

Kaeya stood from the couch, eye widening slightly when his head spun suddenly, nearly sending him to the floor. Thank Barbatos for his fast reflexes, because he definitely wouldn’t have been able to catch himself on the arm of the couch without them.

He sighed softly, glancing up to see that Jean had already been on her way to her desk, her back to him. She hadn’t seen him, thankfully, so he wouldn’t have to deal with her pestering him to take a break. He really didn’t need one, honestly! He was just a bit… tired. Not too tired though.

But as Kaeya stood up straight, his gaze drifted to Diluc and… he had definitely seen that stumble and he was not happy about it.

Well, whatever. He didn’t have time to think about that right now.

“Anyways, Jean.” Kaeya began, waving as she glanced up at him. “I’m going to get going now. There’s one more person I wanna pay a visit to.”

Jean smiled and nodded, a knowing glint in her eyes.

“Well, good luck then!” She said. And then, with a worried expression in her eyes: “By the way Kaeya, you must be exhausted. Make sure to go to bed early today.”

“Exhausted?” Kaeya asked, grinning. “What makes you say that?”

“You forgot to mention how you put Noelle in charge of guarding Diona.” She stated. “You’re lucky I bumped into her on my way here. But regardless… it’s not like you to forget to mention something.”

Kaeya blinked in surprise. She was right. He had forgotten to tell her about that. It was high time he admitted to himself that he might be… the slightest bit exhausted.

He regained his composure almost immediately, grinning and nodding.

“Rest easy, Jean. I’ll go to bed once I visit my friend. You get some sleep too, ok?” He told her.

“I will, Kaeya.” She said, smiling. “You two get going now. You have a long day ahead of you.”

As Kaeya and Diluc left her office, Kaeya suddenly felt the exhaustion that had settled on his shoulders since a day ago when he first had that dream. A long day ahead, huh? Somehow Kaeya felt that any day spent with Diluc and memories of the past were bound to be long and exhausting.

Chapter Text

Diluc was mad.

No, not mad… He was infuriated.

Was Kaeya always like this? Did he normally work himself so hard to the point he could barely stand?

Diluc definitely hadn’t missed the way he had stumbled after simply attempting to stand up from the couch. 

Well, he supposed he couldn’t exactly blame the man. He had been there too when they’d spent most of last night running around Wolvendom in search of Bennett. 

And then Kaeya had walked back to Mond after leaving him at the winery. In the rain. No wonder he was sick and tired.

Still, Diluc was angry and he wasn’t about to let this go. And so he sighed, picking up the pace a little so he was keeping step with Kaeya as they went to meet his friend.

“Do you always work yourself to the point of exhaustion like this?” He grumbled, not turning to look at him.

From his peripheral vision, he could see the man turn to face him, an unreadable expression on his face.

And then he laughed.

“Why?” He asked, grinning. “Does it surprise you so much? Didn’t expect such hard work from such an inefficient Knight?”

Diluc grit his teeth and frowned because of course Kaeya would believe that’s why he was asking. It was just like the time he’d asked Kaeya why he hadn’t come to the tavern just last night. He didn’t believe Diluc could ever be concerned about him. Of course he had every right to think that way but how was Diluc supposed to make him understand that he was trying to be genuine?

Diluc didn’t think Kaeya would believe him even if tried. He’d probably think it was a trick to gain his trust once more, only to shatter it even more painfully than he had done before.

Well, whatever. If that’s what Kaeya thought, then so be it. It was better this way anyway. It was one thing for Kaeya not to trust him, but at this point Diluc didn’t even trust himself not to make a mistake like that again.

And so, he simply glared as he always did.

“On the contrary, working yourself to exhaustion only makes you more inefficient than you already are.”

And… he hadn’t meant to say that. He wasn’t even planning on responding because he had no idea how to. But the deed was done and well… it wasn’t as if he was lying. The last part was a stretch because all of Mond knew that Kaeya was probably the most efficient Knight out there. 

But he hadn’t been lying when he said exhaustion made things worse. He had first hand experience with that.

In fact, even right now, the headache he had managed to ignore for some time came surging back, forcing him to close his eyes for a second so he missed Kaeya’s reaction to his words.

When he opened them again, Kaeya was simply smiling into the distance.

“True…” He said, with a slight laugh.

And he left it at that, continuing to walk the streets of Mond. Diluc glanced at him warily, slightly anxious that he had no idea what the man was thinking but decided to ignore it for the moment and change the topic.

“Who is this friend anyway? And where are we even going?” He asked, his tone the slightest bit softer than usual.

If he was going to ignore their obvious history like he’d planned to, he couldn’t exactly grumble at the man all the time.

For some reason, this question made the smile on Kaeya’s face grow wider as he turned to look at him.

“Oh, you’ll see.” He said. “I think you’ll be quite delighted to see who it is.”

With that, Kaeya turned back and picked up the pace a bit. Diluc spared the man another wary glance before following closely behind him.

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Diluc was not delighted to see him. Not at all.

Especially not since both boys were grinning at him strangely.

He had no idea what Kaeya’s grin meant but he had a feeling he knew all about why Venti was grinning.

As the three stood before the statue of Barbatos right in front of the cathedral, Diluc’s memory reminded him of the conversation he’d had with the bard just yesterday.

Today… I feel like you’ll have a lot more troubling your mind than usual.

Of course. That statement made complete sense now. His mind was very troubled by way too many things at the moment.

But he couldn’t dwell on that right now, because Kaeya wanted to talk business.

“Sir Kaeya! I didn’t expect to see you so soon! To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?” Venti chirped, an excited smile on his face.

“Well…” Kaeya began. “We’ve encountered a bit of trouble lately. I trust you’ve probably already heard about it so I won’t go into details. But I was wondering if you’d be willing to take us to Liyue soon.”

“That depends on how much you’re willing to pay me.” Venti said, grinning, his eyes flickering to Diluc for a brief second.

“Don’t you worry, I’ve got you covered.” Kaeya agreed. “Once this is all over, we can all celebrate at the tavern.”

Diluc’s frown grew at the suggestion but he didn’t say a word. They needed Venti and Dvalin’s help and even if it meant having to deal with Venti for weeks afterward, he’d push through.

“Alrighty then!” Venti said, nodding. “No problem. I’ll talk to Dvalin today! You’ll be at Liyue in no time! Just let me know when you two are ready to go!”

“Great.” Kaeya said, sharing a smile with the bard. “Now then, I have other matters to attend to. See ya later, Venti!”

Venti waved merrily as Kaeya began walking ahead. Diluc sighed and was about to follow him when he was stopped in his tracks by the green clad bard.

“Bye, Diluc! I hope to see you a lot in the coming months!” He said, grinning and winking at him.

Diluc sighed, ready to push past the boy. He didn’t have the patience to deal with this right now. But suddenly, Venti’s expression changed, a knowing glint in his eyes as his smile softened.

“I trust you’ve been thinking carefully about your choices this time around?” He asked, keeping his voice down.

Diluc glanced behind to see that Kaeya had noticed he wasn’t following and was slowly coming back to get him. Venti grabbed his arm, pulling his attention back to him.

“Well?” He asked.

“I don’t even know what you meant by that the first time, Venti.” Diluc grumbled.

Venti sighed and shook his head.

“You really are as oblivious as they say.” He muttered. “Well, no matter. I believe in you! You’ll figure it out in no time. Now, I’m only going to give you one hint. Make sure you never leave his side for a second. Keep an eye on him. And well, you’ll figure out the rest. Actually… I think you’re doing a fairly good job already.”

And with that, Venti gave him one last smile before letting go of his arm. And just in time too, because Kaeya finally caught up to them.

“Oh? What’s this? I didn’t think the two of you were so close to be telling secrets without me.” Kaeya asked, grinning at the two.

Diluc simply sighed as Venti laughed.

“What are you talking about, Sir Kaeya? We’re the best of friends! Angel’s Share is practically my home at this point!”

“That much is true…” Diluc sighed, resting his head in his hand.

“But I won’t take up anymore of your time.” Venti said, waving once more. “Off you go, you two! And good luck!”

As Kaeya led the way down the stairs, Diluc couldn’t help but ponder Venti’s words to him. He was still pretty lost as to what he meant but there was one thing he understood perfectly well. Funnily enough, it was the one and only thing he’d ever agreed with Venti on. And that was that he was never letting Kaeya out of his sight and he’d always stay by his side. 

That much was clear to him now. Maybe Kaeya didn’t want him around, but Diluc would do anything and everything to keep him safe. He owed Venti so much wine for helping him realize that.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

As easy as it was to realize that he wanted to protect Kaeya more than he wanted to push him away, it was much harder putting it into practice. 

He knew the awkwardness of being around him after so long was going to take a bit longer to wear off but maybe… maybe this was the start to making things better.

Maybe that’s what Venti had meant by making better choices this time around. Maybe working on this case with Kaeya was a second chance for him. Maybe he did have the chance to finally make things right.

It had seemed impossible to him before and still seemed the tiniest bit insurmountable at the moment. But there was a chance. And that’s what mattered.

Diluc decided it was high time he put his first ‘better choice’ into action and quickly caught up to the man walking ahead of him. Once he was walking in pace with him, he put a hand on his shoulder, making him stop.

“Alright, that’s enough for today.” He said, with a finality to his tone.

He deliberately ignored the puzzled look on Kaeya’s face, worried that he’d lose his resolve if he made eye contact with him.

“You’re sick and exhausted and we’re going to take a break right now.”

“I don’t need a break though.” Kaeya said, smiling. “Seriously, I’m-”

“Bullshit, Kaeya.” Diluc growled, shocking the other into silence.

Diluc paused for a second, vaguely wondering if he was being too harsh. But if Kaeya was anything like how he remembered, he was incredibly stubborn and wouldn’t back down unless someone forced him to.

“You could barely stand straight in Jean’s office. You’re lucky I didn’t tell her or she’d never let you leave the room.”

Diluc finally looked Kaeya in the eye, silently imploring the man to just take a break , because he didn’t know how long his resolve would last before he shied away from it once more.

“I just lost my balance for a second there. I swear I’m fine, Diluc. You… don’t have to worry.” 

At this point, it was Kaeya who looked worried, as if he couldn’t figure out Diluc’s intentions and was hesitating for that reason.

“You are not fine.” Diluc said, choosing not to deny nor accept the fact that he was worried. “Listen, Jean told you to get some rest today. Are you really going to break your promise to her?”

His last question seemed to shake the man out of his stubbornness as he dropped his gaze suddenly. His gaze visibly softened as he sighed.

“No…” He stated. “I’m not going to break my promise to her.”

Suddenly, he shifted away from Diluc, forcing him to release the grip he had on his shoulder. Then he looked up and smiled, but once again Diluc couldn’t discern his expression. It seemed as though he might be trying to put some distance between them once again and despite Diluc’s resolve to try and close it, he stood his ground and made no more attempts to convince him.

“Alright then, Diluc.” Kaeya said. “Let’s take a break.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Diona sighed as she lay awake on her bed, staring at the ceiling. She had no idea how long it had been since Captain Kaeya and Acting Grand Master Jean had left her house but she had no doubt that it must be a long time. 

Diona was not used to sitting around and doing nothing all day. But at the same time, she didn’t know if she had the courage to go outside and do anything at the moment. Margaret had told her it was best to stay inside and rest today since she’d just been through a traumatic experience and must be exhausted. 

Diona was exhausted, there was no denying that. But at the same time, no matter how hard she tried she just couldn’t fall asleep. Her mind was blank but running through a million things at the same time and she didn’t know what to do about it.

Sighing once more, she finally sat up, glancing out the open window. The sun had only just begun to set and a calm breeze was streaming into her room. A small smile settled on her face and she finally decided that it wouldn’t hurt to stand outside for a bit and enjoy the breeze a little more.

Her mind made up, Diona jumped off her bed and ran downstairs where Margaret was just getting started on dinner.

“Oh? Diona? Did you have a nice rest?”

“Well…” Diona sighed. “I couldn’t really sleep… Just… too much to think about.”

Margaret’s expression softened in sympathy as she nodded.

“Everything’s going to be fine soon, Diona.”

Diona smiled hesitantly and nodded.

“Anyway… I was just going to go stand outside for a bit. Getting a little tired of my room…”

“Understandable.” Margaret agreed. “I don’t think that should be a problem. Just don’t go too far and don’t stay out too long.”

Diona nodded and let herself out. She closed the door behind her and stood right outside for a bit, closing her eyes and smiling as the breeze brushed past her face. She opened her eyes and walked a bit further into the city, stopping in surprise when she caught sight of Noelle standing quite close to her house.

Ah, she must be there to guard the house. Diona smiled at that, glad she had such a reliable person watching over her.

“Oh? Diona, hi there!”

Diona smiled more widely as Noelle noticed her and came over.

“Enjoying the breeze?” She asked.

“Mhm!” Diona said, nodding. “You’re here to guard me, aren’t you?”

“That’s right!” Noelle said. “No suspicious activity so far, so don’t you worry!”

“That’s good.” Diona sighed.

“Oh! I almost forgot.” Noelle said, suddenly reaching into her pocket and pulling out an envelope. “This is for you. A woman came up to me and handed me this, asking me to give it to you. I didn’t want to open it in case it was something private. But if you find anything suspicious in the letter, come let me know right away!”

Diona frowned as she took the envelope, nodding absentmindedly to Noelle’s words. Then she hastily bid her farewell and went back up to her room. She might have stayed outside for a bit longer but the letter had intrigued her. She was desperate to find anything that would provide a distraction from the thoughts running rampant in her mind and this letter was the perfect opportunity.

Or so she thought…

Once she opened the letter, it was obvious it was from the people who had almost kidnapped her. 

We’ll be brief because neither we nor you have much time. Draff the Hunter is currently in our possession. If you ever wish to see him again, head out to Whispering Woods as soon as you read this. We cannot guarantee he will be unharmed. The longer it takes you to arrive, the less we can guarantee his complete safety. The choice is yours.

And that was it. No name to indicate who had sent it. Nor any direct mention of her name. It was obvious that it was addressed to her though. They had her dad and they knew she was in Mondstadt right now. Noelle’s words briefly flashed through her mind but she shook her head.

Time was slipping away. Had already slipped away because she didn’t know how long ago they delivered the letter and who’s to say they hadn’t hurt her dad yet and she had to go now.

Her mind made up, she threw the letter aside and pushed her window open the rest of the way. Glancing out to make sure Noelle wasn’t there, she crept out with the stealth of a cat and made her way to Whispering Woods. She was going to save her dad.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Kaeya tried not to let his awkwardness show as the two sat in his living room, both eating a few sandwiches that Diluc had grabbed from the Good Hunter on their way to Kaeya’s home.

He kept his gaze carefully on the floor, not daring to look up and meet Diluc’s gaze. But it was much easier said than done. Especially when Diluc wouldn’t stop staring at him as if studying a new specimen.

It was his usual glare but… somehow softer? Kaeya didn’t know what to make of it and he was definitely surprised when Diluc had kept pushing to get him to rest earlier. He didn’t want to rest. He had to figure out who was behind these kidnappings. 

But then Diluc had mentioned Jean and he really didn’t want to let her down. Diluc was right that exhaustion would only make him a hindrance. If he was going to solve this, he needed his strength.

And so he let the man drag him back home, but Kaeya couldn’t ward off the confusion. What were Diluc’s intentions?

It seemed he would never figure them out, so he chose to ignore it.

Finally, after what seemed like ages, Diluc looked away from him, a heavy sigh leaving him as he did so.

“Don’t you feel better now?” Diluc asked suddenly.

Kaeya glanced up at him, but now it was Diluc’s turn to avoid his gaze. He smiled slightly and nodded.

“Yup. You were right… I should have taken a break ages ago.”

Kaeya wasn’t lying to him. He did feel a bit better. His head was clearer and wasn’t aching nearly as much as it was before. His throat wasn’t so dry anymore either. And he didn’t feel like he’d fall over if he tried to stand.

Kaeya frowned suddenly when Diluc winced and closed his eyes briefly before opening them again. Then came the sudden realization that Diluc was still suffering the aftereffects of a concussion. Kaeya was impressed, in a twisted way. He hadn’t realized Diluc was so good at hiding his pain. 

But then again, that could also be attributed to the fact that Kaeya was sick and wasn’t as good at noticing things as he usually was.

Regardless, Kaeya was ready to put the investigation on hold for a bit longer if it meant Diluc got to rest his head.

“You’re as hypocritical as ever, I see.” Kaeya sighed as he picked up their plates and walked over to the kitchen to put them away.

Diluc frowned, twisting around to look at Kaeya as he came back.

“What do you mean?” He asked, a pensive gaze settling on him when he sat back down.

“You were pestering me all day about overworking myself.” Kaeya stated. “And you were pretty much doing the same thing as me. Your head still hurts from yesterday, doesn’t it?”

“Well…” Diluc grumbled. “I was just following you around. I wouldn’t have done all that if you weren’t running around all over the place. I know how to take a break, unlike you.”

“Not true.” Kaeya said, grinning. “You knew you were not at your best this morning, yet you still came running when you heard about Diona. And then you were pacing and grumbling in Jean’s office, ready to give the Fatui a piece of your mind. I bet if you hadn’t noticed how tired I was, you wouldn’t give yourself a break either.”

As Kaeya said the words, he realized suddenly that maybe it wasn’t that Diluc wanted to get the investigation done right, because he could probably do that himself as well. Maybe… Diluc actually cared about him and that’s why he was grumbling about inefficiency and exhaustion and overworking. 

Maybe Jean was right and Diluc wanted to make things right but simply didn’t know how to.

The thought made Kaeya smile a bit but… he reminded himself that it was probably just that. A thought that wasn’t reality. 

Diluc was most likely just putting up with him because he had to.

When it was clear Diluc wasn’t going to respond to him, Kaeya simply sighed and shook his head.

“Anyway…” He said. “I’m going to take a look at my notes again. You should rest a bit. Let your concussion heal.”

Diluc looked up and frowned, opening his mouth to say something. He was probably going to reprimand him for overworking once more and demand that he get some more rest as well. But Kaeya never found out what he meant to say because suddenly Diluc’s expression melted away into shock.

“Wait.” He said, eyes wide. “What did you just say?”

“I’m… going to take a look at my notes again?” Kaeya asked, frowning.

“No, no! The other thing!” Diluc brought a hand to his head, expression panicked as if he’d just had a thought that was rapidly slipping away and he needed to grab it once more before it was gone.

“Let your concussion heal?” Kaeya asked, sitting back down and fixing a concerned gaze on Diluc’s face.

“Heal…” 

And then Diluc suddenly shot to his feet, nearly falling to the floor as he did so. Kaeya immediately stood and grabbed him before he could and looked at him with concern and worry.

“What? What is it? What did you figure out?” Kaeya asked in a rush.

“Healing!” Diluc said, frantically. “That’s the one thing a Delusion can’t do that a Vision can! It’s healing!”

Kaeya’s eyes widened as he realized what that meant. Maybe Noelle hadn’t been the best choice as Diona’s guard. 

“Noelle…” He muttered.

With one last fearful glance shared between brothers, the two ran out into the city.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

As the two ran, Diluc couldn't help but mentally curse at himself for not realizing this sooner. He should have known! There were so many times when he’d come so close to death when he was away and he couldn’t heal himself. But then again, he couldn’t do so with his Vision either.

Still, he really should have guessed.

Shaking his head, he decided now was not the time. With any luck, they’d be able to prevent another kidnapping.

But he was quickly proven wrong when the two finally got to Diona’s house. Noelle was nowhere in sight and Margaret stood just outside, sorrow and fear in her gaze as she clutched a piece of paper tightly in her hand.

She caught sight of them almost immediately and frantically pointed out the city gates.

“Whispering Woods!” She yelled.

Kaeya gave her a quick nod of thanks as the two continued running as fast as they could. They ran across the bridge and to the entrance of the forest, not stopping for a second as they continued deeper into the trees.  

It wasn’t long before Diluc caught sight of Noelle running ahead. She was swinging her claymore and Diluc almost froze, shock transforming his features when he counted almost ten treasure hoarders surrounding her and a few more hidden amongst the trees. Glancing ahead, he gasped to see that a couple of them were already getting away with an unconscious Diona while the rest held Noelle back.

Diluc growled and summoned his claymore, almost rushing forward before the sound of a painful cough hit his ears. He glanced to his right, concern in his gaze when he saw that Kaeya clearly couldn’t run anymore, his hands on his knees as he panted harshly.

Kaeya made eye contact with him and gestured for him to go ahead.

“Go!” He gasped. “Get to Diona! I’ll help Noelle!”

Diluc didn’t think that was a good idea at all but there was no time to argue. He could only hope that a few of the kidnappers would try and fight him instead, lightening the load for Noelle and Kaeya.

His theory proved to be correct as he lunged forward, tearing through their ranks and shocking a few of them into fighting him.

The fight didn’t last long surprisingly but it seemed as though the kidnappers were prepared. He’d barely gotten enough hits in when suddenly he was overpowered and lost sight of the people carrying Diona. His claymore was knocked out of his hands and before he had a chance to grab it again, smoke filled his vision and when it cleared, there was no one on the path except him and Kaeya.

Breathing hard, Diluc closed his eyes and dropped his head in his hands, before letting out an enraged yell. The yell only made his headache worse and he sighed, wishing he could just yell all his worries away. It had been a long time since he’d gotten this angry but every time he did, he was rewarded with a stinging reminder that anger wouldn’t solve a thing. Still, it always made him angry when he lost because there can be no excuse for defeat.

He kept his eyes closed even when he felt a comforting hand on his shoulder. Kaeya was practically wheezing now, coughing every few breaths.

Diluc should be the one comforting him but he couldn’t do a thing, weighed down by defeat.

Sadly though, there was no time to wallow in sadness at the moment because suddenly Kaeya tightened his grip on his shoulder, gasping in shock.

“Jean and Barbara!”

Without another word, Kaeya leapt to his feet and ran back the way they came. Diluc didn’t hesitate in following him, despite the lingering feeling of loss weighing him down.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Diluc was pretty much numb at this point, his thoughts slowing to a stop with the enormity of the situation. With the sudden epiphany he’d experienced and now the sudden loss, he worried he wouldn’t be much help if Jean and Barbara also needed rescuing. 

Thankfully though, these things seemed to have an opposite effect on Kaeya as he went full Captain mode, immediately telling Diluc to head to the cathedral while he went to Favonius HQ.

Just as they entered the city and were about to part ways, Diluc heard a familiar voice calling out to them.

“Hey! Over here!”

Diluc and Kaeya both turned to see Venti waving to them frantically, all signs of his usual cheerful personality gone.

“They’re both in the cathedral! They’re safe!”

He waved them over, running to the cathedral and the brothers shared a glance before following him.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Diluc once again had to marvel at Kaeya’s ability of hiding his true emotions from everyone, including his own best friend. He didn’t doubt that he’d probably spill his feelings to her before long but at that moment, he gave away nothing as he explained what had just happened.

Just minutes ago, the man had barely been able to breath because of how much he kept coughing but now he looked completely fine. Even his defeated expression was gone.

Jean looked concerned however, as if she knew exactly what Kaeya was hiding. Diluc didn’t doubt that she did. From what little he’d seen of their interactions, he could tell there was no room for secrets there.

Once Kaeya finished explaining what happened, Jean’s expression turned grim and determined.

“While I hate to overwork you two like this…” She sighed. “I think it’s best if you guys head to Liyue first thing in the morning. I trust you’ve already discussed this with Venti?”

Venti, who was still present, nodded wordlessly. Diluc couldn’t help but be a little shocked when he realized how serious the bard could be.

He and Barbara were both standing off to the side and Diluc had seen the way Venti was trying to curb her worry, saying comforting words but never actually smiling or making light of the situation. 

If Venti was being serious, this situation was definitely not ideal.

“It’s not too late into the night right now.” Barbara spoke up. “The sun has only just set. If you two go to bed soon, hopefully you’ll be rested enough for your journey tomorrow. You too, Venti. All three of you, off to bed now.”

Barbara’s open worry and concern was enough to bring a small smile to everyone’s face. Wrapping up their conversation, the small group parted ways, each going back to wandering in their own thoughts.

As Diluc and Kaeya left the cathedral, Diluc let his gaze travel to the sky, wondering just how many more times he was going to have to lose before finally getting used to the feeling of inevitable defeat.

Chapter Text

Diluc didn’t think about his past often.

Why would he?

Why would he intentionally reminisce about a time that wasn’t important to him? About a time where he was utterly alone?

But of course… His nightmares tended to give him more than enough reminders about what happened during the three years he was away. And what’s more is that they often reminded him that he was a liar.

The time he spent away from Mond had been important to him. And he was definitely not alone in his journey.

Of all the people he met and fought with during his journey, one particular friend stood out. He hadn’t dreamt about him in a long time but…

He’d only ever admitted it once, but the boy had reminded him of someone else. Someone he had always held dear to his heart. Someone he had been around a lot recently, despite his best efforts to push him away.

Perhaps that’s why the boy had decided to reappear in his dreams that night and remind him of what he had lost.

It had been a dark and eerily silent night when Diluc had met the boy. He couldn’t have been older than 19, yet the boy shared the same rage and passion as Diluc.

Diluc never really settled in one place when he was on his three year journey. He often made camp wherever and whenever he saw fit. Without a tent and barely enough food and water at a time, things were rough.

That night however, Diluc had gotten lucky. 

He’d found a mostly abandoned Fatui camp near a small river, tiny fish swimming around in it. He’d barely needed the time to think, simply walking forward almost nonchalantly and cutting down the lone Fatui skirmisher that was lounging around. 

It wasn’t the first time he’d killed and it definitely wouldn’t be the last. Not until the Fatui took him to their leader so he could shove his father’s Delusion down their throat and then… and then…

Diluc hadn’t worked out the details yet and he often wondered if he’d maybe acted on impulse. Taking his anger out on the Fatui wasn’t going to bring his dad back from the dead now, would it?

He shook his head, letting the ever present anger cloud his thoughts once more and drown out any logic. Logic would remind him of what he left behind and he couldn’t have that. He had a goal he needed to reach after all.

Diluc took a few minutes to scan the surrounding area, making sure the camp really was safe before he settled down near the fire with a sigh.

It had been a long time since he’d last taken a nap and Diluc decided a few minutes of rest couldn’t hurt. 

It wasn’t long before his eyes slipped closed and he fell into a deep slumber.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

When he awoke, he automatically grabbed his claymore, a strange feeling of being watched washing over him.

He crept out of the tent cautiously, peering out into the darkness.

He suddenly felt a presence right behind him and narrowed his eyes, immediately pivoting on one foot and raising his claymore before bringing it down on the intruder.

A clang resounded throughout the night as metal hit metal and for a second, Diluc faltered.

How could he not when the boy in front of him looked so familiar?

For that brief second, Diluc was convinced it was Kaeya.

But when he looked closer he saw the differences. There were not many but enough to tell that this boy was someone else.

His blue hair was much shorter than Kaeya’s, ending at the nape of his neck. Besides that, the boy had silver streaks running through the midnight blue hair almost as if they were shooting stars streaking across the night sky. 

The boy’s eyes were similar to the streaks in his hair, light grey and glinting in the moonlight. And both were visible, unlike Kaeya’s.

He was much shorter than Kaeya as well. His head only reached Diluc’s shoulders. But even though he was small, Diluc could immediately tell this boy was strong. He could tell in the way he held his sword against Diluc’s claymore. It looked like he was barely making an effort to hold it back.

And then, Diluc’s brief moment of confusion ended. But the boy took advantage of that before it did.

Before he knew it, Diluc was on his knees, one arm twisted behind his back, his claymore on the floor while the boy held the sword against his neck.

“Who are you?” The boy spoke.

His voice was clearly that of a boy’s but the anger and authority in his voice made it seem like he was a force to be reckoned with.

Diluc didn’t answer for a few seconds, wincing when the boy pressed down on the sword a little.

“I should be asking you that.” Diluc grumbled, still not answering the question. “You’re the one that raided my camp.”

“A Fatui camp. Although…” The boy’s tone softened. “Something tells me you’re not a part of them.”

“What gave it away?” Diluc sighed as the boy slowly moved the sword away.

Diluc swiped at the small trickle of blood on his neck as he watched the boy curiously. He crouched down to be at eye level with Diluc and frowned thoughtfully.

“Your hesitation?” The boy wondered. “Or perhaps the fact that you still haven’t killed me? Fatui don’t ask questions, you know.”

Diluc nodded slowly as the boy continued to ponder. Finally he looked up at him and gave him a small smile.

“I believe it was your eyes. Those are not the eyes of a heartless Fatui member.”

Diluc waited for the boy to elaborate but he didn’t. Instead he stood and reached down a hand for him to take. Diluc accepted his help cautiously and eyed him warily.

“Anyways, do you mind if I stay here for the night? I have nowhere else to go…”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

One night became two. Two nights became three.

And before Diluc knew it, the boy had become a sort of ally of his. It was quite strange to him that it took them almost two weeks to finally exchange names.

But there were more important things to discuss when they had a mutual mission.

“By the way, I never did learn what the Fatui did to you.” Diluc said one night after he’d told his own tale.

The boy smiled wryly, staring into the fire in front of them.

“I would like to say the Fatui took my only family from me but I’m afraid that wouldn’t be very accurate.”

“And why is that?” Diluc asked.

“Well…” The boy sighed. “My father was actually a Fatui agent. When he got married and had me… things changed. My mother never lived to see me turn 3 and so… I was all my father had left. And vice versa. Around the time I turned 10, father began to feel that being a Fatui member was not something he wanted to be remembered by. And it was definitely not something he wanted me to inherit. But he continued to push through because that was the only way he could provide for me. But one day he decided enough was enough. He had a great many skills so he decided he could make do without the Fatui. We lived happily for a few years after that. My dad worked as a blacksmith and taught me how to make my own sword. He taught me to fight to protect myself and those I loved. He was going to take me to the harbor on my 16th birthday. We were going to light a lantern and watch it fly across the sea. It never happened. The day before my birthday, our house was invaded by the Fatui and… I tried to fight them. But when I saw my father dying before me, screaming at me to run… I… I....”

Diluc put a hand on the boy’s shoulder, his heart breaking when he saw the way he shook himself and tried to smile.

“It doesn’t matter anymore though. Because I’m going to do what I couldn’t finish back then. And… I’m not going to lose anyone again.”

He looked up at Diluc, a little light returning to his face as his smile grew less strained.

“Your eyes… They remind me of my father. He had the same earnest glint in his eyes. The same honesty… the same promise.”

“I don’t know about anything else but…” Diluc said, his voice soft. “I will protect you with my life. We’re partners now. And we will take down the Fatui together.”

“That we will, my friend. And I make the same promise to you.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“I never did get your name.” The boy asked suddenly as the two walked along a small beach one day.

Diluc was once again struck by how much he reminded him of his brother when he ran around the beach in excitement, collecting all kinds of seashells.

His question shook him out of his thoughts and he smiled and nodded.

“You’re right. We still haven’t done proper introductions.” Diluc mused, although he was sure the boy would agree that what they shared of their past experiences was more than enough introduction. 

Still, he sat down with the boy near the water and told him his name, waiting for him to do the same.

“I’m Kyzer.” The boy told him. “But you can call me Ky. It’s what my dad called me.”

Diluc winced and looked away.

“My brother’s name is Kaeya. I used to call him Kae.”

Kyzer was not one for outright sympathy. He mostly only got sad when recalling his own past and resorted to anger when faced with other people’s sadness. 

At that moment, however, Kyzer didn’t speak.

Diluc knew it meant he’d shocked him into a sad silence.

“You said I remind you of your father.” Diluc said, turning to look at him once again. “You’ve reminded me of Kaeya since the day I met you. I hope you won’t take offense if I simply call you Kyzer.”

“Of course not.” Kyzer replied, smiling hesitantly. “For what it’s worth though… I don’t believe your brother doesn’t miss you.”

“Thanks for saying that, Kyzer but…” Diluc sighed. “I messed up. Whatever hatred he wants to give me is completely deserved.”

“I know it’s not the same but…” Kyzer said. “I will never hate you. No matter what you do.”

“Even if I try to kill you someday?” Diluc asked, wryly.

“Even then.” Kyzer replied, smiling. “Even if you kill me, Diluc. Because I know you. And I know that whatever you do, you’ll be doing it to protect me. And if you hurt me, I’ll know it wasn’t on purpose. I’ll protect you to the end, even if it means dying for you.”

“Getting a bit dramatic there, aren’t we?” Diluc said, smiling. “I appreciate the sentiment though. Don’t you dare put yourself in danger because of me though, Kyzer. I won’t forgive you.”

Kyzer laughed as he stood and offered him a hand.

“I will put myself in danger for you. And you will forgive me, Diluc. I know you, remember? And besides, I have a promise to keep to you. You won’t prevent me from doing that, will you?”

Diluc sighed as he stood with the boy.

“I also have the same promise to keep to you, Kyzer. We’ll just have to see who lives up to it first.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

And of course, the universe was not ready to give up on its own agenda to cause Diluc Ragnvindr as much pain as possible.

No, it wasn’t enough that he had to lose literally everything. His father, his brother, his home, his Vision, his purpose, his life.

The universe wanted to take the one spark of hope he’d encountered from him too.

Diluc supposed it was his fault, just like everything else.

If only he had listened to Kyzer the night before and hadn’t engaged with those Fatui agents. It was raining heavily and the agents had just made off with their only supply of food and Diluc wasn’t going to let Kyzer starve until they found more. He had left the shelter of their tent and fought for the food in vain. The entire bag was already soaking wet and Diluc had once again let his anger take hold. And it was for such a petty matter as well.

Kyzer hadn’t scolded him. He’d simply sighed and done his best to help him dry off before telling him to go to bed right away. The boy was two years younger than him but he acted like an older brother most of the time. It should have been the other way around. Maybe then Diluc would have been able to protect him.

Much of the next day passed by in a feverish daze, Kyzer only once saying he’d known Diluc would get sick because of his recklessness at some point.

Besides exhaustion, Diluc could feel the tendrils of anxiety clawing their way into his mind. He had the vague feeling that something was off that day. 

His answer came in the form of an intrusion. An intrusion he could have prevented, he realized as he suddenly remembered he’d let one Fatui member go the night before.

He’d been sleeping when it happened and Kyzer had been keeping watch. 

The sounds of battle immediately woke him and he didn’t hesitate at all, joining the fray almost immediately.

His arms shook as he swung his claymore, his legs wobbled, his balance swayed, but he kept fighting. 

The two fought side by side until finally, only one man remained. 

Diluc’s head was spinning by now but Kyzer fell back, utterly exhausted by carrying the fight and Diluc decided he could take one man by himself no matter how terrible he was feeling.

He took a chance and lunged forward but before he could land a hit, the man dodged with the speed of a cat, throwing Diluc’s already precarious balance into disarray. 

He barely managed to keep himself from falling to the floor and the man seemed displeased by that. Diluc didn’t even have a chance to look up before he was sent to the floor by a harsh kick to the ribs.

He gasped, regretting the action immediately when a spark of pain shot through him. He wrapped an arm around himself, sluggishly wondering if Kyzer would scold him for getting his ribs broken when all he had to do was face one man.

He never got the chance to find out.

That man pulled out a sword and swung downward, his intention clear in his eyes. 

Time slowed as Diluc suddenly realized what was about to happen.

Oh… he was going to die here, wasn’t he? 

Well, that was fine. Diluc didn’t really mind.

He deserved to die after everything he’d done, hadn’t he?

At least this way he might be able to join his father…

Or maybe not. His father would probably hate him for what he did to Kaeya. 

Maybe dying wasn’t a good idea. Kyzer still needed him, didn’t he? 

They had to protect each other to the end. He couldn’t go yet.

And so, with the last of his strength, Diluc managed to sit up and grab his claymore and look up…

Just in time to see Kyzer running towards him, fear in his silver eyes as he fell to his knees in front of him, wrapping his arms around him in a comforting embrace and burying his face in his shoulder.

Diluc barely registered it when the blade finished its arc, cutting deep through Kyzer’s shoulder and down his back.

Kyzer barely made a sound nor did he let go of Diluc. He just tightened his grip around him almost painfully, his breath only hitching slightly.

As if in a daze, Diluc gently pushed Kyzer away from him, his vision tunneling, completely focused on the man who had hurt his friend. 

“Diluc… Don’t… Just run…” Kyzer begged.

But Diluc wouldn’t run. Not when he’d made a promise to the boy now lying by his feet. He didn’t even know if Kyzer could be saved at this point but he would kill this man first and then worry about it.

He let the rage take hold, ignoring the pain shooting through his own body as he swung his claymore towards the man with a mighty yell.

The man had the audacity to try and run but that only made Diluc even angrier. He grabbed the man by the throat and threw him down before brutally slicing through him just as he’d done to Kyzer.

He took a second to kick the body away from him before rushing back to Kyzer’s side. 

It was hopeless. That much was clear when Diluc caught sight of the large pool of blood that was surrounding his friend. Some of the silver strands in his hair were streaked red as well and Diluc suddenly realized… he had no idea what to do. Kyzer had already lost so much blood...

He could probably make a few makeshift bandages but by the time they found someone to actually help Kyzer, it would be too late.

And perhaps it already was because the boy suddenly coughed painfully, desperate tears running down his face as he choked on his own blood.

Diluc shook himself out of his daze and immediately lifted the boy gently so he was sitting up. The action caused him to cry out in pain but at least he wouldn’t choke to death.

He’d definitely die one way or another however. That much was clear when Diluc finally met his dazed eyes.

“Kyzer…” He gasped. “Kyzer, you can’t-”

Diluc cut himself off when Kyzer suddenly gave him a painful smile. It shocked him into silence. Kyzer was trying to comfort him when he was the one dying.

And all Diluc could do was sit there and watch. Just like… 

Just like he’d done when his father died.

That’s when it finally sunk in. He was going to lose everything once again. 

“Don’t… cry, Diluc.” Kyzer choked out, the smile still on his face. “Not when I… finally kept my promise to you.”

“It’s not fair!” Diluc cried, Kyzer’s words only making the pain in his heart worse as he desperately clung to him in a panicked hug. “You can’t just- You can’t die! You don’t get to! Not after everything! You have to give me a chance to keep my promise too!”

“You already have…” Kyzer whispered. “You kept your promise… In every Fatui you ever fought… In every story you told me… Every smile you gave me… Every hug… including this one. Thank you, Diluc… For everything.”

His breaths were getting shallower by the second and Diluc tightened his embrace, tears running faster until his vision was so blurred that he could have sworn he was looking at Kaeya and not Kyzer.

“No! You can’t leave!” Diluc cried, desperately. “Please, Kaeya! Don’t leave me!”

Kyzer coughed out a laugh at that, weakly pushing Diluc away so he could look at his face.

“He hasn’t left you… not yet.” Kyzer said, his voice cracking as his own sorrow caught up to him. “Go, Diluc… Stop fighting… Go back to your brother. And remember your promise to me… Make sure you protect him… with your life, Diluc. Do that for me… that way you can keep your promise… Tell Kaeya… about me… someday.”

And with that, Kyzer’s beautiful silver eyes slipped closed and never saw the light of day again.

Chapter Text

As much as Kaeya felt that it was still awkward to be around Diluc, somehow he didn’t feel the slightest bit uncomfortable when he hesitantly asked if he could stay the night.

Kaeya knew it wasn’t because Diluc wanted to be around him or anything. It was because it was his only option.

With Diona and Noelle getting kidnapped just last night, it was clear that they needed to get moving as soon as possible. 

It would only put them more behind schedule if Diluc were to go back to the Dawn Winery only to come back in the morning to meet Venti.

As much as Kaeya was ok with having Diluc over for the night, it was obvious it was awkward for the man. Kaeya had offered him the guest room in his house but Diluc had refused, stating that he’d be fine on the couch in the living room.

And that was the first thing Kaeya saw that morning. His brother lying asleep on the couch, an ever present frown on his face as he slept.

Kaeya didn’t think much of it as he went about his day, gathering everything he thought they’d need on their trip to Liyue.

If circumstances had been different, Kaeya would be excited for a chance to go on a trip with Diluc. It was something he’d always wanted to do even in the past but they’d only ever gone as far as the Stone Gate when they were younger. 

Still, Kaeya was in no position to be ungrateful. He supposed he should take advantage of every moment he was spending with Diluc. Sure, the man probably didn’t wanna be around him but at least he was being civil, even cooperative, in the face of this mystery.

Maybe one day, when they caught the kidnappers, he’d be able to reminisce on these days. And then maybe the thought of Diluc wouldn’t hurt quite so much.

Once Kaeya had gathered everything he thought was useful, he walked back into the living room to wake Diluc.

He definitely didn’t expect the man to already be lying awake, staring at the ceiling with a blank and tired gaze.

Kaeya smiled and was about to greet the man but stopped when he caught sight of something that shocked him into silence.

He didn’t know if he was seeing things or not because just as he’d seen it, Diluc turned his head away and shut his eyes.

But Kaeya could have sworn there were tears in the man’s eyes. They hadn’t escaped his eyes yet but they were clearly there, making his eyes shine in the early morning light.

Had he… had a nightmare? 

Kaeya knew basically nothing about the Diluc of the present but he had long since suspected that some terrible things must have happened to him when he was away from Mondstadt.

After all, his personality had done a complete 180 when he returned. But then again, Kaeya could never be sure if that wasn’t just because of the events that happened on the night their father died.

Thoughts running a mile a minute, Kaeya simply stared at the man for a few seconds.

Then he finally shook it off.

It was none of his business right?

Even if Diluc did have a nightmare, it wasn’t like he would tell him.

Still, Kaeya couldn’t help the small twinge of sorrow at the thought.

Before he could stop himself, Kaeya was walking forward and peering at the red head worriedly.

“Um good morning, Diluc.” He said hesitantly. “Are you… ok?”

Diluc didn’t answer at first. He simply glanced at him, before sighing and sitting up.

“Morning.” He said, dryly. “I’m fine, don’t worry about it.”

Was he… acknowledging his tears then?

Kaeya couldn’t be sure but decided he should definitely take a step back. Diluc was barely amiable to the people he was on good terms with. No need for him to interrogate him when he was very openly on Diluc’s bad side.

Still, Kaeya sighed at the lack of response even though it was expected.

“Well…” He said, changing the subject. “I packed almost everything we’ll need for the trip. All we need now are some potions from Lisa that I think will be helpful. And then we’ll meet Venti at Windrise.”

Diluc simply sat in silence for a few seconds, before looking up and glaring.

“Why didn’t you wake me? I could’ve helped.”

Kaeya couldn’t help but grin because he saw that coming. Diluc hated being the only one not doing any work. But Kaeya couldn’t wake the man after knowing he had a concussion.

And he told him so.

“You had a concussion, my friend.” He said, smirking. “You need the rest more than I did.”

“But you were sick too.” Diluc pointed out.

“Not anymore.” Kaeya grinned.

He wasn’t lying to Diluc when he said that. He owed it to Barbara for shooing them off to bed early last night. If she hadn’t, he would’ve probably still been sick in the morning.

Most times, all Kaeya really needed to ward off sickness was a good night’s rest.

“I have a strong immune system, as you may remember.” Kaeya said.

He wasn’t sure how wise it was throwing random hints of their past around like that at this point. He’d done it plenty of times in the past to get a rise out of him or to see what he’d say but now…

Things weren’t better but they were definitely different. For once, they were working together on something and to do that, they needed to be at least cooperative with each other for things to work out. 

Since Diluc hurt himself, Kaeya had been doing his best to tread lightly but hadn’t been able to find a good medium. He was either overly nice, forgetting their present, or he was too distant, trying to forget their past.

When Diluc had asked to stay however, Kaeya felt that he had to make more of an effort to be neutral with the man.

So far, so good, he thought. 

Now to see how Diluc would react to the brief mention of their past.

To his surprise, the look in Diluc’s eyes softened the slightest bit even as he looked away once more.

“Yeah…” He muttered, nodding hesitantly. “I remember you got sick very easily, but recovered just as fast.”

Kaeya grinned widely at that and nodded.

“Yup! That’s right.” He said. “And your concussion should be gone by tomorrow morning as well! And then we can finally do this thing without any more mishaps.”

“Mhm…” Diluc agreed, eyes still on the floor.

Kaeya didn’t know if this was progress but for some reason he couldn’t stop smiling. Not that he was hoping for progress at all but at least for now… he didn’t feel too sad whenever he was around Diluc. That was a start.

“Anyways.” He said, gesturing to the kitchen table. “I’ve already had breakfast. You should eat something too and then we’ll get going.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

When Diluc had awoken in Kaeya’s home, he was confused at first. 

It took him a moment to clear his mind of all thoughts of his nightmare and focus on the present. Usually it didn’t take him so long but this time…

The image of Kyzer’s parting smile was still imprinted in his mind and Diluc surprised himself when he realized he was tearing up.

He had quickly shut his eyes and turned away, willing the tears away. He’d cried enough for him in the past. He really shouldn’t dwell on that now.

Especially when he knew Kyzer wouldn’t want him to still be so broken over that.

Truth be told, he didn’t think much about his past. And most of the things in his nightmares were never so bad.

Last night though… that nightmare played out one of the worst moments in his life. Second only to the day he lost his father and brother.

Speaking of which, it appeared he was in his brother’s house. That much was clear when he heard Kaeya hesitantly greet him.

It took him a moment to remember what was happening.

Ah right, he’d asked to stay at his place after what happened to Noelle and Diona. And now they had to get ready and meet with Venti.

After a rather awkward interaction with Kaeya (awkward for him because for some reason, Kaeya seemed entirely comfortable), the two had left the house, both weighed down by a few bags of luggage.

Now they were standing in front of Lisa’s desk in the Favonius Library, patiently listening to her explanation about each and every potion and what it was used for.

“I think you should be all set now, you two.” Lisa finally said as Kaeya put the last of the potions away. “If there’s anything else you think you need, let me know.”

“Thanks so much, Lisa.” Kaeya said, smiling. “I think we’re good to go now-”

“Sir Kaeya! I knew I’d find you here.”

All three of them turned to see Mona and Klee stride up to them, smiles on their faces. 

“Big Bro Kaeya!” Klee squealed, latching onto Kaeya’s legs. “Jean told Klee you were going to Liyue with Master Diluc. Did you know Diona is missing? You’re going to find her, aren’t you? Please find her! And Benny! He’s missing too! And Noelle! Please find my friends!”

Klee’s smile had dropped from her face now and Diluc watched as Kaeya sighed, crouching down to be at eye level with her.

They’d wanted to keep the whole thing under wraps but at some point Diluc knew that just wouldn’t be possible.

Everyone knew everyone in Mond so the news was bound to get out.

Besides, two of the victims had been Klee’s friends. So it was impossible to keep it from her.

Kaeya wrapped his arms around Klee.

“Of course, Klee. Don’t worry, we’ll find your friends and bring them back to you as soon as possible.”

“You promise?” Klee asked, looking up at him.

“I promise.” Kaeya told her with a smile.

Klee’s smile returned to her face, more bright than before.

“I can always count on you, Big Bro!”

Diluc frowned at the interaction. Big Bro? Diluc didn’t know Klee thought of Kaeya as a big brother. Even stranger was the very notion of Kaeya being an older brother. He was so used to the idea of him being the little brother.

“Of course you can, Klee.” Kaeya responded, before turning his attention to Mona. “Mona, I didn’t expect to see you here. Though I suppose you’ve already heard what we’re up to.”

“Kaeya, you wound me.” Mona said, smiling. “Why wouldn’t I come to see you when your constellation told me you were leaving today? And yes, I did come to know of all the terrible things that have happened recently. Actually, I came to tell you and Master Diluc that you should probably keep a few frostshield potions with you as well.”

“Frostshield?” Diluc spoke up. “But we’re going to Liyue… It’s rarely cold over there. Why would we need those?”

“You’re right.” Mona said. “But something tells me that your journey will lead you to a very cold place at some point.”

“Dragonspine?” Klee asked, scratching her head.

“Possibly.” Mona said, nodding. “Regardless, do keep some with you. I’m sure Lisa can provide you with them.”

“Of course.” Lisa said, conjuring a few of them from thin air and handing them to Kaeya.

“Now you’re all set.” Mona said, grinning. “I hope you two have a safe trip. I don’t doubt our Cavalry Captain will hunt down the kidnappers and bring them to justice.”

“Yeah, he will!” Klee chirped as Lisa laughed and agreed with the statement.

Diluc didn’t say anything, he simply stood and watched the interactions. The others seemed to have a lot of faith in Kaeya and while that was expected, Diluc was somehow surprised. Maybe it was his concussion? Or maybe he was surprised to learn what Kaeya meant to others?

Regardless, he continued his silent observing, following Kaeya out when he’d said his farewells. Before he could reach the door, Mona caught his eye and smiled before giving him a thumbs up. Next to her Lisa caught his eye as well and simply smiled. Klee waved merrily.

Diluc blinked in surprise before hesitantly waving at everyone and rushing out of the library. He didn’t exactly expect them to acknowledge his presence. After all, they were Kaeya’s friends, not his.

Still, as he left Favonius HQ with his brother, something about their smiles made him mirror the action.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“Oh? Sir Kaeya! Master Diluc! It’s nice to see you!” Barbara said, smiling brightly as she welcomed the two into the cathedral. “Are you here to say goodbye?”

“That we are.” Kaeya said, nodding and returning her smile. “Did you really think we’d leave without saying goodbye?”

“On the contrary, I was wondering when you’d arrive!” Barbara said, as she led the way to the infirmary. “I told Razor you guys were leaving today and now he won’t go to sleep…”

“How is he now?” Kaeya asked, laughing slightly.

“He’s definitely getting better! He’s a strong kid. Just a couple more days and he should be good to go!”

“That’s impressive…” Diluc said in spite of himself.

He himself hadn’t seen the wound but he could only imagine how bad it must be by how Jean and Kaeya had described it. But he supposed it was to be expected. The boy was raised in the wild, after all. He must have faced worse injuries before.

As the two neared Razor’s room, Diluc frowned when he heard a girl’s voice from inside. And not just any girl’s voice… This girl was speaking rather strangely.

Diluc had no more time to think about it before Barbara knocked on the slightly ajar door. The door opened to reveal a girl that was probably around Barbara’s age. She had blond hair just like hers, but everything else about her was starkly different.

Namely her dark purple dress that looked fit for royalty and the eyepatch she wore. And the raven that sat on her shoulder.

“Greetings! It gladdens one’s heart to be able to see you one more time before you depart on your most chivalrous journey! I have full faith in your abilities to track down the heinous criminals and strike upon them the punishment they deserve!”

“Mein Fraulein means to say it’s a pleasure to see you before you bring the kidnappers to justice.”

When the raven spoke, Diluc blinked and realized he knew who this girl was. She was the rising star of the Adventurer’s Guild, Fischl. No one beat her when it came to investigating. 

He’d heard of her a few times and her… interesting antics, but nothing came close to seeing it in person.

If Diluc had to have an opinion on her… He’d say she was one of the most interesting people he’d met.

His train of thought broke when Kaeya laughed good naturedly and responded to the girl.

“I return the sentiment, Prinzessin.” He said, smiling. “Although I didn’t expect to see you here, it is indeed a delight.”

Fischl smiled, hands on her hips as she nodded.

“Enough of this. You are here to bid farewell to Razor, are you not? Come along then, my good Errant Knight.”

Barbara smiled at the two and waved them in as Fischl strode inside. 

Razor was sitting up on the bed, his leg still imobile. Other than that though, Diluc could tell he was on the mend. The boy smiled brightly when everyone came in, waving at them.

“Razor, these two brave souls will find our dear Bennett and bring him back to us. The fiends who so brutally injured you will be brought to justice! Do not fear any longer.”

Razor naturally looked at the raven, who Diluc remembered to be called Oz, and waited for a translation.

“She means that the bad men will be caught and punished.”

Razor smiled and nodded.

“Yes! Kaeya will find Bennett!” He agreed. “Wanted to help but… my leg is still a little… broken.”

“But you’ll be better in no time, kiddo!” Kaeya reassured him.

“The Knight speaks the truth.” Fischl said, solemnly. “You will not be bested by a few cowardly criminals! While I am certain that your help would be most appreciated, one believes that you should let your body heal to the fullest. Do not worry, friend. Sir Kaeya is a man of his word. He is the most capable Knight I have had the pleasure of meeting.”

“I didn’t know you and Kaeya were friends.” Diluc said, before Oz could translate.

He couldn’t help it really. Somehow this was giving him deja vu from Thursday when he realized just how many friends Kaeya actually had.

It had been surprising then and it was even more surprising now. Kaeya had so many people who wanted to say goodbye to him before he left for Liyue. And now that Diluc was seeing him interact with everyone, he was surprised by how much people believed in him.

“Master Diluc, this is because Kaeya and myself are indeed not as close as one might think. I consider Kaeya to be a close acquaintance of mine. A faithful Knight that I put my full trust in. However, our relationship goes no further and has not yet been extended to friendship. Although, I have no objections to such an idea. I am sure Sir Kaeya shares the sentiment?” 

“Of course, dear Prinzessin.” Kaeya said, smiling. “I would not mind the opportunity to fully understand you one day.”

“Indeed, I would be delighted to be more than acquaintances with you one day as well.” Fischl said, returning the smile. Then, turning to Diluc she continued: “However, I do share a bond of close friendship with both Razor and Bennett. I was extremely saddened to learn about what happened to them. I was informed by Razor that Sir Kaeya was on a quest to search for the transgressors. I did not know that you were also accompanying him on his most noble quest, Master Diluc. I extend my utmost thanks to you as well. I have no doubt that you will deal out swift punishment to the criminals who abducted Bennett!” She finished with a triumphant yell as if it were her avenging Bennett against the cruel transgressors that…

Diluc blinked and shook his head, trying to sort out her words and give her a response.

But in the end, all he could come up with was: “Uh… Right, I’ll do my best.”

The vague response didn’t seem to phase Fischl in the least. She simply smiled and nodded, before turning to Razor and going off on another rant about how he should not worry because Bennett was in good hands. Oz kept up a running translation and as the three talked, Barbara turned to Kaeya and Diluc, her smile the slightest bit worried.

“Well…” She sighed. “Safe travels, you two. I… wish I could come with you but… I am a potential target at this point…”

“Please, don’t worry so much Barbara.” Kaeya said, a gentle smile on his face. “We’ll be careful, I promise. You just stay here with Jean where it’s safe. Leave the fighting to us, yeah?”

“Alright…” Barbara sighed, her smile relaxing a little. “But if I ever catch wind of any of you getting injured, I am teleporting to Liyue right away!”

“I don’t doubt it for a second.” Kaeya said, laughing. 

Diluc suddenly had the strange feeling that he was intruding on something. Despite being also renowned in Mond, Diluc realized he didn’t have many people he’d call friends. That was mostly due to his own aloofness and he never really cared before but now… Now he was tagging along with Kaeya, witnessing how he interacted with his friends in his daily life and suddenly… He felt the tiniest pinch of jealousy and regret.

But then Barbara was looking at him and smiling, waving goodbye to him as well. Then Fischl and Razor joined in with their own farewells.

“You got this, Master Diluc! Make sure Kaeya doesn’t make a fool out of himself, ok?”

“Master Diluc, I implore you to hunt down those criminals and unleash your flames of retribution upon them on my behalf!”

“Master Diluc! Razor trusts you!”

Once again, as Diluc was met with smiles and waves that he surely didn’t deserve from Kaeya’s friends… He couldn’t help but hesitantly smile and wave back.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

It was strange that while Diluc was convinced that he had no one he wanted to say goodbye to, Kaeya still insisted on dragging him to the tavern, saying he ought to at least say goodbye to Charles. 

Which, in and of itself, was not a bad idea. Diluc wasn’t very close to the man but they had developed a friendly relationship over the past few years. Even if he wasn’t into sappy goodbyes, he could at least tell the man what needed to be done while he was away.

But to Diluc, this part of their little trip around Mond was useless. Diluc was an impulsive man and he often just left Mond whenever he felt like it. Charles knew this and really didn’t need any instructions or goodbyes. He knew his boss would mostly be ok and be back before he knew it. And not just Charles, but all the Dawn Winery staff as well. This was just how Diluc’s strange little ‘family’ operated.

But strangely enough, it was the one who he once called ‘brother’ that was completely different when it came to family and Diluc didn’t really have it in him to say no.

Needless to say, it was obvious that Charles was somewhat surprised by the visit but he still smiled brightly when Diluc awkwardly bid him farewell.

As Diluc gave the man a vague explanation about what had happened and where he’d be going, it seemed Kaeya had found a few more of his friends and was chatting away with them. Diluc’s attention was obviously divided and he flinched a little when Charles tapped him on the shoulder.

“You’re working with Sir Kaeya, right? I heard from Adelinde that he brought you home a day or two ago? What was that all about?”

Diluc tried not to sigh at the obvious hope in the man’s voice. It was no secret that all of the staff were delighted to see the two boys interacting in a somewhat peaceful manner. In fact, they would always pester him to try and make up with him, despite not knowing exactly why their relationship had been torn apart.

They had tried to figure it out but only Adelinde had managed to correctly piece together the story, having overheard their conversation that night. The others eventually gave up in favor of pestering Diluc to talk to Kaeya. 

Obviously, it hadn’t worked and Diluc hated to let them down, but at the end of the day, they didn’t know the terrible mistake he’d made that would make it impossible for him to repair things.

They had all but given up since then but now, as Diluc glanced at Charles who was smiling brightly at him, he couldn’t help but return the smile. No matter how terrible their relationship must still be and always would be… he couldn’t deny that it was nice being with his brother again.

“Yeah… I am working with him.” Diluc told him. “It’s… a temporary thing but it’s nice.”

Diluc realized that was the first time he was saying it out loud and somehow it made the smile on his face grow.

Charles put a hand on his shoulder and laughed.

“It’s a start!” He said.

His words made Diluc’s smile falter slightly since he knew nothing could change the fact that he’d messed up. Even if Kaeya ended up forgiving him one day (which was highly unlikely), Diluc would never be able to forgive himself.

When Diluc didn’t say anything, Charles moved his hand and sighed.

“Regardless of what happens in the future…” He said. “It’s nice to see you smile again. Goodbye, Diluc. Stay safe out there. I don’t doubt that you two will watch each other’s backs.”

At that, Diluc’s small smile returned and he glanced at Kaeya who was laughing at a joke that one of his friends just said.

“Yeah…” He responded. “We will.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Once again, Diluc was taken by surprise when Kaeya’s friends took notice of him. But this time, the small smile came easier. 

It had briefly occurred to him that perhaps it was because he was with Kaeya that his friends couldn’t exactly ignore him. 

But then he thought maybe it was because of his own previous aloofness that they paid him no attention before. He did, after all, like to make it very clear that he wasn’t one for small talk.

However, now… Maybe they wondered at the fact that he was roaming around with someone who was the exact opposite of him. Maybe they figured he could deal with a little more attention, even find it pleasant.

Strangely enough, Diluc found that he quite liked the feeling of being treated like a friend.

He didn’t know how to be one back but maybe… Maybe he could learn.

Maybe this temporary investigation with Kaeya wasn’t so bad.

In that moment, Diluc felt a strange warmth in his heart that he hadn’t felt for years.

It made him… content.

Not happy but… for now it was enough.

And so he smiled readily when Amber, Eula and Rosaria bid him farewell too.

“Go get 'em, you two! Master Diluc, please make sure Kaeya doesn’t get into any trouble, will you?”

“Don’t worry about Jean and Barbara. If those kidnappers so much as look in their direction, vengeance will be mine!”

“Make sure those kidnappers never see the light of day again.”

Diluc was still slightly overwhelmed at all the attention, so he simply smiled and nodded in response to everyone.

And he couldn’t deny that it was a nice feeling when they all smiled back.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“Alright Jean, how many people did you tell?”

Jean turned to face Kaeya and Diluc as they entered her office.

Although Kaeya had expected for people to find out, he had been shocked when most of his friends told him they’d heard from Jean directly.

It was going to be impossible to keep the kidnappings from Mond for long but Kaeya didn’t think Jean was one to speed up the process.

It looked like Jean had expected his surprise because she smiled sheepishly as the two entered, sighing and letting her gaze drop.

“I only told a few of the Knights.” Jean admitted. “I swear I didn’t tell anyone else!”

Kaeya sighed and decided that made sense. The only Knights that knew anything were Amber, Eula and Lisa, it seemed. As for Mona, she tended to figure things out herself. Klee and Fischl had their friends taken from them so that explained that. Rosaria had likely found out from Barbara, perhaps wondering what happened to Razor.

“Since you two are leaving…” Jean continued. “I would be the only Knight left in Mondstadt who’d know about this. I decided to tell a few trustworthy Knights about what had happened so that they can protect Mond without causing too much of a disturbance.”

At that Kaeya nodded in agreement. He wasn’t against Jean’s line of thinking, he had just been shocked to find out that all his friends knew exactly what he was up to.

It did make him a little anxious because now the Knights would be more involved than they already were and that was something they had been warned against doing.

Still, he couldn’t deny the fact that it was imperative that they get as much help as they could with this case.

“That makes sense…” Kaeya told her. “Just so you know, I wasn’t mad or anything. Just shocked. Sorry about that.”

“I figured as much.” Jean said, smiling. “Don’t worry about it. Even if you were mad, I can deal with you.”

“Oh yeah?” Kaeya asked, smirking. “You haven’t seen what I can do when I’m actually mad.”

“Oh shut up, I can handle you!” Jean laughed. “You can never get mad at me, anyway.”

“True…” Kaeya sighed exaggeratedly, still smiling.

“Anyway…” Jean said, shifting the topic slightly with one last playful glance at Kaeya. “Did you two get everything you need?”

“Yup!” Kaeya said, gesturing to the bags he and Diluc were carrying. “Got everything right here! Hopefully, we won’t need all of this.”

“You two will be back in no time.” Jean said, firmly. “I’m sure of it.”

From the corner of his eye, Kaeya could see Diluc frown in obvious disagreement. He wasn’t going to tell Jean, but he shared Diluc’s thoughts. He didn’t think they’d be back soon. 

For some strange reason, he felt that this case was much bigger than what they’d encountered so far.

Still, he wasn’t one to bring down the mood.

If anything, he knew he’d probably solve the case faster than most, but he was just worried about what he’d find at the end.

“I sure hope so.” Kaeya said, giving her an easy smile which she returned.

Then he sighed and glanced at Diluc, gesturing that they should leave.

“Well then…” He said to Jean. “We should get going now.”

“Oh no you don’t!” Jean protested as she stepped forward. “I’m coming to the bridge to see you two off.”

Kaeya was surprised by the statement but when he glanced at Diluc, he decided he wasn’t that surprised.

Suddenly, it struck Kaeya how new this all must be to Diluc. As far as he knew, the man didn’t really have friends. It was why he’d dragged him to Angel’s Share. He’d felt bad that Diluc had no one to say goodbye to him.

He was glad that his friends had seemed to pick up on that as well and said a few words of farewell to him.

He could tell the man was surprised every time. Kaeya hoped that maybe this experience would help him open up just a bit more.

If he did that, then maybe… maybe Kaeya could try talking to him again?

But even as he had the thought, he shooed it away. If Diluc ever did start opening up more, he didn’t want to ruin his personal progress by bringing up the past once more and potentially causing him to shut down again.

No… For now, all Kaeya could hope for was that his brother could go back to normal. For now, that would be enough.

“We’d love that, Jean.” Kaeya said, after a slight pause. “Right, Diluc?”

Diluc flinched and glanced at Kaeya, before averting his eyes quickly and simply nodding.

Kaeya shared a smile with Jean and with that, the three friends left HQ.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

When they finally reached the end of the bridge, it appeared that Jean wasn’t the only one who had decided to see them off.

Standing there were all of Kaeya’s friends who he had just said goodbye to.

There was Rosaria, an uncharacteristic smile on her face as she stood there with her arms crossed.

There was Amber, practically flying for how high she was jumping in excitement.

There was Eula, Mona, Klee.

Lisa, Ficshl, Barbara.

Even Razor had hobbled out of the infirmary, leaning against Fischl as he smiled and waved.

Glancing at Jean, he couldn’t help but laugh. She didn’t look the least bit surprised. She had probably planned all this at some point when she told them about the actual case.

“My, what a surprise!” Kaeya exclaimed as he came forward to meet them, a big smile on his face. “You all didn’t have to come see us off!”

“Nonsense, dear Knight!” Fischl said. “This is but a minute thing that your sovereign is capable of doing for you. Had I the experience, I would have joined you in your journey, as would Razor!”

“Yes! Razor wanted to… say goodbye one more time!”

As everyone crowded the two, saying their goodbyes, making sure they had everything they needed, jokingly threatening them if they failed or hurt themselves, Kaeya took a small step back as he noticed something.

Beneath the kind and encouraging smiles, he could see something deeper and it made him frown.

“You guys are worried, aren’t you?”

Just as he was about to tell them there was nothing to worry about and that they would be just fine, Jean stepped forward, taking the initiative to speak for everyone.

“Of course, we’re worried about you. Both of you.” She said, glancing at Diluc. “But above all else, we trust that you two will be ok. You won’t let us down. And we won’t let you down. You’re trusting us to hold down the fort, aren’t you? We trust you to catch our kidnappers and yes , we’re worried but only because we’re going to miss you.”

“Monstadt is gonna miss its favorite Cavalry Captain, after all.” Barbara said, smiling. “And tavern owner.”

“Don’t be gone for too long.” Eula chimed in. “Or I will get my revenge.”

“Razor will miss… both of you.”

The others all chimed in with their own claims of missing them and Kaeya suddenly realized that this would be the first time he’d left Mond in a long time. He’d gone on small trips to other places before but those trips had never exceeded more than a few days.

Never had he gone on such an indefinite trip. He really didn’t know when he’d be back. He was going to miss Mond as much as it would miss him.

“I’ll miss you guys too.” Kaeya said, softly smiling at everyone.

It just so happened that as soon as Kaeya realized he really didn’t want to leave, Jean felt the seconds ticking away. Time was running out and they needed to get going.

And so with one last farewell and a few hugs from some of his friends, Jean began herding everyone back to the city.

A few of them tried to hang back, not wanting to end their conversations but eventually Kaeya and Diluc were at one end of the bridge, while their friends were at the other.

They stopped once before entering the city, big smiles and waves being thrown their way.

Kaeya even heard Amber’s faint call of ‘you got this!’ 

The encouragement made him laugh slightly and he smiled when they began to stream into the city one by one, still smiling and waving.

At the last second, Kaeya turned his head to look at Diluc instead and was surprised to see the open and genuine smile that was on his face.

Kaeya realized this was probably the first genuine smile he’d seen on the man’s face since the night they left each other.

Then Diluc turned to face him and the smile faltered only slightly, before returning once more, brighter than before.

Kaeya couldn’t help but smile back, as the action swept all feelings of uncertainty and sadness away for that moment.

Seeing his big brother smile at him was a welcome sight.

And for now, that was enough.

Chapter Text

The first thing he noticed was the darkness. 

Like a solid wall, it was impenetrable. 

Not that Bennett could actually try to push past it.

Because the second thing he noticed was that he could not move no matter how hard he tried. He wasn’t numb though. 

No, he definitely hadn’t lost feeling in his limbs just yet because the third and final thing he noticed was the biting cold and aching pain that settled into his skin like a disease. 

Had he been more aware, maybe he’d be able to piece those things together and realize that wherever he currently was, was definitely not safe.

As it was, the brief awareness that had come to him slipped away all too fast. 

The pain and cold melted away. His immobility became a passing thought. And the darkness slowly lulled him back to sleep.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The next time he regained consciousness, the cold hit him first and he could barely suppress a shiver and a cough as the frigid breeze made his breath catch in his throat.

He wasn’t given much time to think of anything else because suddenly, a strong hand gripped his shoulder, shaking him none too gently. The sudden movement made him gasp and tear his eyes open.

“Bennett! Come on, wake up, wake up!”

“Shh, not too loud, or we might be heard, Diona…”

“Oh, right, sorry… Will… Bennett be ok?”

“I’m sure he will, don’t you worry.”

“Oh! He’s awake!”

As Bennett slowly blinked his eyes, his vision cleared and he was shocked to see both Noelle and Diona staring down at him with wide and worried eyes. 

For a minute, he frowned in confusion. But then everything came rushing back to him in an instant.

Wolvendom…

The kidnappers…

Razor!!

At the thought of his friend, he immediately sat up, regretting it instantly as both his arm and head twinged in pain. Noelle made a sound of alarm and tried to get him to lie down again but he absentmindedly shrugged her off.

He glanced around at his surroundings, taking in the small dusty tent the three of them were in. It was extremely cramped inside and they definitely wouldn’t be able to stand if they wanted to. Besides that, there were several small tears in the fabric, letting in the cold breeze.

Finally, he turned his gaze to Noelle and Diona. Both looked a bit scratched up, but didn’t seem to have any major injuries minus the obvious head wounds. Seeing their blood streaked hair made his own head ache and he finally turned away and sighed.

“Do… you guys know what happened?” He asked hesitantly.

Diona and Noelle glanced at each other and then began to tell their stories of how they got kidnapped. Their stories were all vastly different but it did seem that they had a few things in common.

They all made sure to get them mostly alone before attempting to kidnap them. Meaning almost no one had any idea what had happened to them.

Besides that, they mentioned test subjects of some sort but nothing else. Bennett told them about how the men had mentioned Delusions but none of them really had any idea why. Diona had never even heard of such a thing and Bennett and Noelle had only ever heard of them in passing.

“There’s one more thing we all have in common.” Noelle stated, suddenly. “All our Visions heal.”

At the mention of Visions, Bennett gasped and immediately reached for the pouch around his waist. His heart dropped when he realized he couldn’t feel the comforting pulse of his Vision.

“They… took our Visions?” He said dejectedly. 

“Yes…” Noelle sighed. “I’m assuming they must want to figure out how to imitate that healing power? For their Delusions? I’ve heard Delusions are very similar to Visions. Perhaps the only thing they can’t do is heal?”

“You must be right…” Bennett sighed, remembering the question the strange man had asked him before.

Silence weighed down on them for a brief minute before Bennett looked up once more, a slightly hopeful expression on his face.

“Then… Razor must be ok right? They must have left him alone? You two didn’t see him here, did you?”

When both shook their heads, Bennett sighed in relief, allowing a small smile to settle on his face.

“I’m glad he wasn’t tied up with my bad luck. Just me this time.” He sighed. “Oh, and you two, I guess? But maybe not because you guys were nowhere near me and I don’t think my luck is that bad , it’s just-”

“Bennett…” Noelle said, softly cutting him off. “I don’t know you very well, but once we get out of here, I do want to have a long talk with you about your misconception about your luck.”

Bennett was shocked into silence at the words. 

His luck… was a misconception? But that couldn’t be right. His life was very unlucky since the moment he was born, quite literally.

Most people he told his story to would either sympathize with him and help him out, like Barbara and Fischl, or would just steer clear of him entirely, like most of the Adventurers’ Guild.

The only exceptions were Razor, who simply didn’t understand the concept of luck and chose to protect Bennett whatever the circumstances, and Kaeya, who somehow decided that his bad luck was good luck because evasive enemies always seemed to be lured to him.

Bennett didn’t really care what people thought of his bad luck most of the time, because at the end of the day, it was him who had to deal with the brunt of it. Sure, he got a bit lonely sometimes, but it was for the best! That way no one else had to get hurt. 

And he wasn’t completely lonely of course, because of the idiots that were his best friends and decided to stick with him no matter what.

However, no one had blatantly denied the existence of his luck before and that.... That was a first for Bennett.

Once the shock died down the slightest bit, Bennett lowered his gaze and laughed awkwardly.

“Um… I don’t know why you think it’s a misconception but…”

But I’d really love to hear you explain it.

Because…

I don’t wanna be unlucky anymore.

Please…

Please tell me it’s all in my head. 

“I guess we can do that? After we escape… If we escape.”

“We most definitely will, Bennett.” Noelle said, nodding happily. “Although… I am a bit lost as to how we can do that. So if any of you have any ideas, please do share.”

“Um…” 

Bennett and Noelle glanced at Diona, who had only just spoken since explaining her story. She was grinning mischievously, despite the obvious exhaustion and anxiety in her eyes.

“I didn’t bring this up earlier because everyone was being all sad and hopeless, but…” And with that, she lifted up her hand, shocking the other two when they saw the shiny blue orb clasped in her hand.

“Your Vision!” Bennett exclaimed, leaning forward. “You still have it? How?”

“No one messes with the Katzlein bloodline.” Diona said smugly. “I nabbed it off one of the men when they thought I was sleeping! He swiped it from me, but I swiped it right back. He didn’t even notice a thing!”

“That’s excellent, Diona!” Noelle exclaimed. “Now we have a fighting chance! Think you can heal us up a little bit? Not too much though, we don’t want you to waste too much of your energy.”

“Of course I can!” Diona said, nodding as she channeled the power of Cryo into her hands. “When we jump them, they won’t know what hit em!”

Bennett laughed out loud at that, allowing Diona to place a gentle hand on his head. He sighed in relief when he felt the cool, soothing magic slowly ease his head wound.

“You got that right.” He told her. “Let’s make sure they regret kidnapping us!”

“That they will.” Noelle agreed, an excited glint in her eyes as the three shared a smile.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Bennett frowned thoughtfully as he peeked out through the entrance of the tent. He knew he should probably pay attention to Noelle’s pointers about how to remain calm in tense situations but truth be told, he already had a ton of experience in that area.

It was why he hadn’t panicked much when he first woke up. Things really weren’t that bad, considering his luck. At least he was alive and not bleeding too much! And Diona even took care of the head wound as well as the broken leg that made its presence known once he tried to move, so now all he had to deal with was a broken arm.

Perhaps he could consider that a bit of good luck. 

His train of thought crashed when he felt a spark of pain ride up his arm when Diona squeezed in next to him. He winced slightly but then continued peeking out the entrance when Noelle joined them.

It was clear that the men had set up camp somewhere outside, but Bennett couldn’t exactly make out the location. It didn’t help that the sun had set and the whole place was cloaked in darkness. 

The only source of light were two fire braziers set on either side of the entrance but even those didn’t help in making out too many details of their surroundings. The only things that Bennett could make out were that they were in a place covered in ruins and harsh winds and that there were three men standing a little distance away from them with their backs turned.

They were speaking in quiet whispers that Bennett couldn’t make out. When he squinted though, he realized with a start that he recognized one of them. A surge of rage and fear warred inside him when he saw the man that had asked him the cryptic question about Delusions before kicking him in the stomach.

That man… 

His intentions were the same as all the other treasure hoarders, but somehow only his presence truly unsettled Bennett. And that was saying something, because Bennett was rarely unsettled by things.

Something about that strange man’s gaze put Bennett on edge and suddenly he began to lose all hope that they’d ever escape.

He wasn’t going to put those thoughts into words though, because the two girls next to him were somehow brimming with confidence as they continued discussing their plan.

Bennett tuned back in just in time to hear Diona make an important discovery.

“Hey! Look over there!” She whisper-yelled suddenly, pointing out the entrance to Bennett’s right. 

Both Bennett and Noelle glanced in the direction she pointed, eyes widening in surprise when they recognized their weapons.

There was Bennett’s sword and Noelle’s claymore, resting on the grass next to the brazier. Diona’s bow was nowhere in sight but Bennett recalled that she never had time to grab it. Bennett brought his sword everywhere because he never knew what could happen with his luck, and Noelle had been on guard duty for Diona.

Still, Diona could probably still use her vision to an extent without her weapon and if she couldn’t keep going, that’s where Noelle and Bennett would come in.

“Ok, I realize we don’t have much of a plan but we are definitely going to try!” Diona declared. “I’m going to put out these fires and while those men are distracted trying to figure out what happened, we run out of here and grab our weapons. After that I think we should just run and try not to engage unless we absolutely have to. Sound good?”

Not the best plan, as Diona herself admitted, but they didn’t have many options without the use of their Visions.

Bennett and Noelle shared a glance before looking back to Diona and nodding.

“Alrighty then…” Diona said, grinning. “Let’s break out.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

As unlucky as Bennett was, he was at least ten times more hopeful.

So while their plan was definitely not the best, Bennett had faith that it might work out. And even if it didn’t, they could improvise along the way!

That being said, he definitely didn’t expect things to go south right after the first part of their plan.

Diona had just used her Cryo powers to douse the flames and the world was plunged into darkness for all of two seconds before another fire appeared out of nowhere.

It took Bennett a few more seconds to realize that the strange man from before was holding a ball of flame in his palm. Something that Bennett often did with his own flames. 

Bennett’s heart dropped when the man began looking around, eyes narrowed in suspicion.

“Blaze…” One of the men called out to him. “That wasn’t the wind, was it?”

“No…” The strange man, Blaze, replied. “Leo, check to see if you have all their Visions.”

A brief moment of silence while the treasure hoarder, Leo, did as he was told.

Bennett shared a glance with the girls, all three of them holding their breaths. Something hardened in Diona’s gaze just then and Bennett had a sinking feeling she was going to do something stupid. He was just about to warn her against it but before he could, the men began to speak again.

“The Cryo Vision is missing.” Leo stated. “Enzo, do you have it?”

Another brief pause while Enzo supposedly shook his head.

“That pink haired girl…” Blaze sighed, as he slowly began to stride forward towards the tent. “Better teach her a lesson.”

Noelle gripped both Bennett and Diona, silently urging them to stay behind her while she took care of this, but both stubbornly stayed put as the man came nearer and nearer. Bennett wasn’t going to leave the girl alone to fend for herself and besides that he had to keep Diona from getting herself into trouble.

“Diona, whatever it is you’re thinking of doing, don’t do it please.” Bennett said in a rush, his ears focused on the man’s approaching steps.

“And do what? Sit here and accept defeat? Never.” Diona said, firmly.

She had a point there, but still. Who’s to say things wouldn’t get worse if she did whatever she was planning on doing? Maybe their chances would be better if they stayed back and tried again later.

But even as he thought about it, he realized he probably would have done the same had he been alone in the situation.

Now that he was with others though… he tended to try and be more careful with his actions, for fear that they’d somehow be affected by his luck.

Before he could continue trying to persuade her, Noelle’s voice brought him back to the situation at hand.

“Whatever it is we end up doing tonight, accepting defeat will not be one of them.” Noelle stated. “Whatever you’re planning on doing, Diona… Do it now.”

Do it now because the footsteps had stopped and the man was right outside their tent, only seconds away from ducking in and quite possibly beating them up.

Without a second of hesitation, Diona suddenly manifested a sharp crystal of ice in her right hand before throwing it with all her force. The icicle whizzed through the air like a knife and Bennett couldn’t see it once it left their tent but he grinned when he heard an alarmed cry of pain. The icicle had hit its mark.

“Alright, everyone out, now!” Noelle yelled, pushing the others towards the entrance.

The three of them burst out into the night, pushing against the heavy winds and ignoring the shouts of alarm from the other two men. 

Bennett immediately made a beeline to his sword, only glancing back to grin at the sight of the strange man gripping his bleeding shoulder. That’s what he got for stealing their Visions.

As he grabbed his sword, a hand suddenly gripped his shoulder, making him jump before he realized it was just Noelle.

“Bennett, I think we should just run for now. We’ll alert the Knights and come back for our Visions later, ok?’’ She said in a rush. 

Bennett understood her reasoning. The men could probably call for backup faster than they’d be able to get their Visions back. Besides that, they were still all slightly injured and disoriented. It was probably for the best that they leave right away for the time being.

It seemed Diona was of the same mindset as she had already whizzed past the other two treasure hoarders, waving her friends over.

Bennett and Noelle began running towards her, fighting off the treasure hoarders when they tried to intercept them.

That’s when Bennett began to feel like something was off. 

Because he and Noelle were very clearly not at their full fighting strength.

So why was it so easy to hold these men off?

It was as if they made no effort at all, only parrying their strikes a few times before ultimately letting them go.

As Bennett and Noelle ran off, leaving the camp behind, he couldn’t help but glance back to see if they were being chased.

Nope, the treasure hoarders simply stood there calmly, as if they hadn’t just lost the kids they kidnapped. Blaze was slowly walking back towards his friends, a keen eye on his retreating prey as he did so.

Noelle grabbed his hand and kept running, forcing him to turn back.

She seemed to be in an excited conversation with Diona about their escape but Bennett couldn’t join in.

Something wasn’t right.

That’s when he heard the unmistakable sound of an arrow flying through the air.

He barely had time to turn around before he felt a searing pain in his leg.

He shut his eyes as he let out a cry of pain, falling to his knees and letting go of Noelle’s hand.

The pain blurred everything. His hearing, his sight, his thoughts. 

He could barely make out his friends’ own cries of pain as they were probably hit with the same burning arrows.

Someone grabbed his shoulder and turned him around harshly. He opened his eyes, breathing heavily through the pain as he squinted up at Blaze. The man wore a smug smirk on his face as he purposely pressed down on Bennett’s broken arm.

Bennett grit his teeth and did his best to maintain eye contact, now wanting to give the man the pleasure of hearing him scream in pain.

“An honorable attempt, I must say.” Blaze mused. “Although you didn’t do much. I still remember you, first test subject. Still, that Cryo wielder surprised me. I didn’t know she could be so… useful. Truthfully, we never noticed she took her Vision back.”

Bennett stayed silent, just like the first time this man had spoken to him. He was still lying on the ground so he couldn’t exactly headbutt him this time, but he tried to kick him weakly, only to move his now injured leg and groan in pain.

The man grinned slightly and shook his head.

“You Vision wielders…” He hummed. “Honestly, you’re so very useless. You must think yourselves so entitled. You think the Visions make you stronger but all they really do is make you dependent. Look at you now. Reduced to nothing without your Visions. You can glare all you want, but you know deep down that it’s true.”

Bennett growled in frustration, having half a mind to beat this man up if he could. How dare he accuse Vision wielders like that? Every Vision holder he knew had earned their right to use one. And they were all very capable without their Visions.

Bennett himself had been to death’s gate and back before he got his own.

Blaze was simply taking advantage of the fact that all three of them were currently weak and injured and using that as evidence to support his claim. Bennett could bet that he knew deep down that that was the case.

Regardless of Bennett wanting to give the man a piece of his mind, it seemed like Blaze had other plans. He suddenly glanced somewhere off to the right and sighed.

“Seems Enzo and Leo have already taken the girls back.” He turned back to Bennett and grinned. “Now then, off to bed, kiddo. And this time, don’t wake up until I tell you to.”

And with that, the man pressed down on his shoulder with all his weight, igniting pain like Bennett had never felt before. This time he couldn’t hold back his scream and he tried desperately to shove the man off of him.

But eventually his body gave up on him first, going limp from exhaustion, and then his mind closed off, shielding him from the excruciating pain.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

For a moment, it was as if Kaeya was all alone in the world.

Strangely enough, it wasn’t a bad feeling. For the first time in his life, he felt truly at peace. There was nothing in the world except him and the endless beauty of Teyvat from above. 

He’d never flown on the back of a dragon before and he marvelled at the way it made him feel as if all his worries had simply melted away into oblivion.

He felt like closing his eyes, smiling, and humming along to the soft tune Venti was currently playing on his lyre. But as soon as he let his eyes slip closed, he opened them again, not wanting to miss out on the beautiful scenery.

There was no denying the beauty of Mondstadt from below. As someone who had traveled to every corner of the city, Kaeya knew that very well.

Still, the view from above was something else entirely. There was something infinitely calming about being able to see the soft rustle of the treetops, the brilliant shine of the sunlight upon the lakes, the hustle and bustle of the tiny people below. Kaeya only ever lifted his gaze from below when a bird joined them in their airborne journey.

He grinned when the bird flew over to Venti, regarding him intently before flying off towards the clouds once more. And the clouds were another thing. They were so close that Kaeya could probably reach out and touch them.

He’d even tried at some point, eyes widening in delight when it felt like he had simply reached into a cold breeze. 

All in all, it was an incredible experience, and one that Kaeya wouldn’t forget in a long time.

Soon, Kaeya’s mind became more aware of his surroundings, leaving the strange bubble it had entered into. He wasn’t alone anymore as his ears picked up on the cheery rhymes Venti was spinning along with his lyre, but that didn’t make the experience any less amazing.

“Two fierce warriors, with a mission at hand

To end the evil that scours the land.