Chapter Text
A figure through the mist of the port. His steps, hidden through the busy streets of the morning. It was a bleak scene, fog covering the early dawn, making it difficult for the passers-by to make out each other, much less a presence as faint as the boy.
Despite that, the stranger covered his face with his cloak, unwilling to let even the wind catch sight of him. He quickly ran through the dirty streets of Fontaine’s port, catching his breath next to an old bar.
Due to the hours, it was near empty. Most sailors were already preparing to set sail, loading their boats and carrying loot. Only the drunkards remained, still asleep by the empty bottles of rum. The only one awake was but a lonely bard playing to no one.
The sound of his harp strummed through the place. The boy didn’t want to pay attention to it. He was more focused on the road than the sound of an old tune. His eye was open wide, hyperaware of people's gaze. He fidgeted constantly with the hood of his cloak.
The singing from the bard echoed. Only after calming down and making sure no one was trailing behind; did he stop to listen. He was amazed to hear such a sound. Beautiful, ethereal.
‘Such a waste,’ Kaeya wanted to say. A song so lovely, and a voice so soothing. Yet, the only ones who could hear the song were drunk sailors who couldn’t appreciate it.
But seemingly uncaring for the poor conditions of his audience, or that no one would pay for the song, the bard continued to sing. The strumming of the harp gave the port an eery sound.
It brought chills to Kaeya's back.
«Far away, across the sea.
Deep beneath the fade away
memories of the waves.
The Captain’s lover flees
hidden from gods,
hidden from pain.
They yearn for him to come
to steal them again.
They wait,
and wait
watching from the cape
as all the sinners fail
and all the saints ascend. »
The tune made the boy uneasy. He furrowed into his seat, eye darting from side to side, growing nervous with each second. The final notes of the bard’s song only served to bring him goosebumps.
« Beware, for they watch you, just as the dawn breaks. Beware for their eye watches you from the depths. »
There was no one to clap for his performance. Instead of the relieved tension from claps and cheers, all there was, was silence. Deep, deafening, silence.
Unable to bear the strange feeling in his chest, the boy got up. He was ready to leave, when out the blue, the bard moved closer. He caught Kaeya's hood, exposing his face to the unknown. Big green eyes seizing him up, curious and mischievous. In panic, Kaeya pushed him.
Strangely, however, the bard didn't budge and, instead, Kaeya stumbled onto the ground. The pain quickly shot up his spine, and a curse escaped him. He shot a glare upwards. Ferocious; scared and bearing his claws. The instinct to fight burnt through Kaeya's defences. If he had a knife, it'd already be pointed towards the stranger.
But instead of danger, he found the bard offering him a hand to stand. And a smile.
A gentle smile. One he hadn’t seen before. He was unfamiliar with strangers being kind to him for no reason. Obviously, he had his doubts. But sensing no ill from the bard, he hesitantly took the hand.
It only made the bard's amusement grow.
“Sorry to startle you,” he said. “You reminded me of someone.”
“It’s alright,” the boy answered.
He didn't want to stay and chat. With a quick shrug, he turned around and readied himself to leave. However, just as he was about to take a step, the bard grabbed his arm. It wasn't harsh, but it effectively stopped him.
“I’m Venti,” he said, cheery smile on his lips. “Who may you be?”
The boy waited a second. His lips pressed together. He looked at the bard, up and down, and sighed. He finally settled.
“Kaeya,” he replied. “Can you let go of my hand?”
“Sorry!” the bard said. He let up his grip but quickly moved to block his way. “And what is someone like you doing in these parts of the city, Kaeya?”
“Someone like me?” he asked.
“You don’t seem like a sailor,” he explained. His eyes narrowed ever so slightly. “Nor a pirate”.
“And you do?” Kaeya snickered.
“I know my way across the sea,” came Venti’s quick answer. “But I reckon you have never left firm land in all your years, have you?”
“So sure?” Kaeya teased. “What makes you think that way, oh kind bard?”
With a grin, Venti showed off his harp.
“No man of the sea would react so harshly to this song,” he explained. “Isn’t it known all throughout the seas?”
Kaeya frowned. In his life, he’d never heard of such a song. He wondered if the bard was lying. But upon realizing no one had batted an eye at the unearthly song, he mentally conceded.
“It’s just a song,” Kaeya easily bluffed. “Can you really know someone’s experience of the ocean from it?”
The sudden burst of laughter caught him by surprise. It was quick, dying down before Kaeya had the time to feel offended. The bard offered him a sympathetic look.
“It’s not ‘just a song’, my dear friend,” Venti said. “It’s the story of Calipsos’ Eye. A warning to everyone who sets sail. If you don’t even know that, how do you intend to survive the seas?”
“Don’t worry, I’ll manage,” Kaeya said, fully intending to move and leave the bard alone. But when he tried to do so, the bard easily stopped him.
“No, you won’t! A day out in the sea without knowing about Calipso is like a death sentence!”
Kaeya let out an exasperated sigh.
“Why so?”
“Because Calipso rules the sea,” Venti said. “You know? The goddess of the sea! If you infer her wrath, you’ll be a dead man!”
“Those are only tales of old drunkards,” Kaeya argued. “You’re not gonna tell me you believe them, right?”
“Tales are the only warning sailors have,” Venti said with an easy shrug. “After all, dead men tell no tales”.
Kaeya frowned slightly. Venti sighed and silently shook his head.
“See? This is why you come off as a newbie. You’re gonna be eaten alive if you leave like this!”
“Why do you care?” Kaeya asked.
“I’ve seen far too many young ones die at the sea,” Venti confessed. “This is basic knowledge, dear friend.”
Kaeya hadn’t realized how he eased up and relaxed when he talked to Venti. His hands no longer clasped tight on the hood, letting Venti actually see underneath it.
“The song talks about the ancient sea goddess Calypso. She fell in love with a human- a marine that commanded a fleet. Her love was so deep, she sealed away her powers and offered them to the man. But the beautiful gemstone she held, got lost in the depths of the sea after he died. No one knows where it is now, but they say it hides the power to control the entire ocean! And if the storms grow heavy, it’s because you’re nearing the gem – so you should turn back”.
“Do people really believe that?” Kaeya asked. The entire thing was nothing more than a fairy tale for him. Why anyone would believe it, eluded him.
“Yeah, only the most daring and foolish pirates would risk her wrath by sailing on when the storms are that vicious. Never join a crew like that,” Venti warned.
Although Kaeya listened, he really couldn’t comply with the advice. He had no money and no skills. His only hope was to hitch a ride in one of the sailor’s ships by doing manual work. His eye looked at the hills he ran down from. The fear was still in him, urging him to run.
He had to leave.
“Judging by that look, you still don’t believe me, do you?” Venti said with a small laugh.
“It’s a fascinating story,” Kaeya said, instead of answering the question. Venti just sighed.
“Well, then, go along, little bird,” Venti said. “Can’t hold you captive forever.”
Kaeya offered him a smile. He reached for his pockets, but he truly had nothing on him. No coins, no gems. All he carried was hard bread and thread. A Bard’s job was to sing and tell stories, but he had nothing to repay Venti’s favour with.
“Buy me a drink next time we meet,” Venti said, slowly pushing Kaeya’s hands back into his pockets. “Meeting you again will be its own reward in due time.”
“Thank you, Mr Bard,” Kaeya said.
“Sure thing!” Kaeya smiled and turned to walk away. But just as he took a step, he heard Venti say. “Wait! You should wait until the sun has come out!”
“What, why?” Kaeya asked.
“The Flying Dutchman’s more active at dawn!” Venti said. “Only idiots sail before then!”
Kaeya thanked him but still didn’t back down. If fewer people were willing to depart at dawn, that means the ships who did would be understaffed.
But the words lingered on the back of his mind.
‘Flying Dutchman’?
Kaeya had a certain recollection of the name. Mostly, from the stories his grandfather used to tell him. Back then, he was little. He didn’t understand half the things his grandfather told him. All he recalled, was how he would bravely fight against a storm, or the loot after a tough fight.
However, a phrase he remembered coming up often was, indeed, ‘Flying Dutchman’. Kaeya searched through his memories on what it meant. But much like anything related to Calypso or other folk stories of the pirates, they were all wiped clean.
‘Well,’ Kaeya mused. ‘Can’t be that important if I forgot’.
The Flying Dutchman.
The ship of the dead.
The legendary ghost ship, that will never make port. A doomed crew who may never return to firm land, sailing the seas until the end of time. Accompanied by the fog, almost always sighted when the dawn breaks.
Commanding such a crew, of only the bravest and most stubborn of sailors, was a man. He’d tamed the ocean; mere men were nothing to sneeze at. Only he, who’d come to command a ship through the most treacherous of seas.
Only he.
“Captain Diluc!” the familiar voice. A girl covered in black clothes yet smiling with the undeniable shine of the fire. “We’ve arrived, sir!”
The captain turned. He closed the old pocket watch he held in his hands and stepped down from the helm. The sight was very much what he’d expected.
A shipwreck.
The thick fog that was so common during dawn, covered the rocks of the Liyue mountains to the untrained eye. Any veteran would know how foolish it was to sail in these conditions. But truly, it was often the fools that ended up at the mercy of the sea.
“Ten passengers aboard!” he shouted at the sight.
“Ten?” Amber asked as she followed behind with quick bunny steps. “Half the crew?”
“The whole crew,” Captain Diluc said, looking at those under his command move from ship to ship.
“What?! No wonder it sunk!”
Understaffed crews. An easy way to save money. The risk?
“Four souls!” Hillie shouted from one side. In her hands, four blue flames glowed through the fog.
“Five!” Mocco shouted soon after.
“Seven Souls!”
“Nine!”
“There’s one still missing,” Amber said. She pulled down the goggles from her head to her eyes. “I’ll check it out, Captain!”
Diluc simply nodded, letting the lively one jump from place to place. Soon she reached the sinking ship, and the echo of the waves drowned away the sound.
“Ten!” It was Connor’s voice. The souls that had died in the shipwreck were counted.
Diluc looked around, waiting for Amber to appear. However, the girl was nowhere in sight. He was just about to open his mouth and called for her when he heard a distant shout.
“Captain!” she shouted from the far rocks. “Captain, over here! There’s someone here!”
Diluc immediately frowned. There shouldn’t be anyone left alive in the shipwreck. The entire crew died. Ten souls had been collected. Had there been a castaway? Maybe someone from another ship?
Curious about the situation, Diluc looked over to the sea. He signalled Amber to pull the stranger up.
Despite her sometimes cruel profession, Amber was a cheerful and kind-hearted girl. Even if Diluc had told her to leave it, she’d just sneak them in until they fully healed. Most of the time, he had no issue with her doing as much. Even when the Flying Dutchman’s job was to collect the souls of sailors and pirates, then guide them to the afterlife – he took no pleasure from taking life away from those who still had some time left.
His only job was to guide them. Never to end. The only life he’d taken, had been long ago. A time he’d rather not remember.
This time, however, the was curious. About this soul that had managed to escape death. And what’s more, doing so without alerting the knowledge Diluc had acquired as Captain of the Flying Dutchman for close to a century.
But what he saw wasn’t what he expected. Caught completely by surprise, Diluc stared at the figure – so familiar, so heart-wrenching – and was left speechless.
Not even Amber understood his reaction.
Perhaps only one person in the entire ship, which had sailed for decades on end, would be able to understand.
“Gaia?”
Kaeya woke up to someone calling his name. The sound was eerily familiar, even when he was sure he’d never heard it before. He opened his eyes, just to find himself in a completely different place from that he’d been just a second ago.
The fog had blocked the captain’s vision. The ship that he’d been certain would carry him safely ashore, had crumbled as easy as paper mache at the slightest force of the waves and rocks. Tossed and turned by the desperate crewmates, Kaeya lost his footing and had fallen into the ocean. The cold water easily bit into his skin, pulling him downwards. The air left his lungs, and he was moved with the waves dangerously close to the rocks that had pierced the ship.
Kaeya realized he would die.
The panic that should have settled in his chest never came. Strangely, as he felt himself sink deep into the ocean, his mind grew still. Quiet. With the hazy light from above the waves, Kaeya's heart grew warm – while the rest of his body slowly turned to ice.
He closed his eye. For a second, relishing in the pressure of the ocean, and even enjoying the burning sensation of his lungs being filled with water. He was going to die. But it brought him no fear.
At least, it would be far away from that man’s hands.
The claws of the ocean slowly sank their way into him. And the stillness soon followed.
And then, a voice called his name.
Kaeya’s consciousness resurfaced in a flash, and the ache from his chest had him retching on air. He coughed, loudly and violently, spitting out all the water he could. Barely even conscious, he turned his eyes towards the large figure, looming over him.
Red.
Like the fires that haunted his dreams.
Kaeya focused his vision, seizing up the man staring at him wide-eyed from above. Up and down, he looked at him, until he noticed something.
The man was holding his locket.
Immediately, and still dizzy, Kaeya lunged forward, stealing back the chain and locket from the man’s hands. His fingers trembled as he hugged it tight against his chest, and pure fear blinded his eye.
“Don’t touch it,” he hissed at the stranger.
“Your eyes,” the man spoke. “They’re different.”
“Different?” Kaeya asked, unease easily overtaking him. “Have we…met before?”
The words startled the man. He stepped, and what Kaeya could only describe as heartbreak rippled through his eyes. Still, Kaeya didn’t feel safe. Never had. So, he pulled away, ignoring the small part of him that felt pity for the man.
“Gaia, you-”
“My name,” he interrupted. “Is Kaeya.”
He made sure to emphasise the K, the rougher sounds calling attention to the different pronunciations. The man looked at him, struggling to put his thought in order. Kaeya huffed in annoyance.
“You’re clearly mistaking me for someone else, Sir,” Kaeya said. His words dancing around the word ‘sir’. Teasing.
“Hey! More respect to the Captain!” a voice came from behind him.
Just then, Kaeya realized he was still being carried by a girl. She looked only slightly older than him, but her strength was impressive. Being able to carry a teen was a great feat, no matter how malnourished he was.
“Captain?” Kaeya asked. The girl finally let him down from her arms, allowing him to step foot on the ship.
Kaeya looked around. Amazement quickly danced in his eye. A single world ran through his mind, as he looked at the black flags and the dishevelled men working on deck.
'Pirates,' he mouthed to the air. A rush of excitement filled his heart.
“Captain Diluc Ragnvindr, kid,” the girl said with a proud look on her face. “You should be considered lucky to even be aboard here!”
“I should?” Kaeya asked, turning his head back to the captain. “Are you famous, sir?”
Once again, the man looked taken aback. Kaeya heard, rather than saw, the girl in red furiously calling him ignorant and dull - he was far more interested in watching the older man gaping like a lost fish.
He suppressed a giggle at the way Diluc was struggling to form words.
“Are you mocking us!?” the girl finally shouted so loud that Kaeya had to pay attention. She was red in the face. “Who in this side of the ocean doesn’t know about the captain of the Flying Dutchman!?!?”
Kaeya blinked.
“The Flying Dutchman?” Kaeya asked. He recalled Venti’s conversation. The name was familiar, but he didn’t know anything about the said ship. “You…you are pirates, right?”
The girl finally stopped yelling. Everyone around him stopped what they were doing to stare, in fact. No more murmurs, nor sailors moving around the deck.
Kaeya felt his cheeks heat up but refused to look away. There was a slight tone of excitement in his voice. But he couldn’t help it. The images of his late grandfather’s stories continued to run in his mind.
“Only fools sail the ocean without knowing its tales,” Diluc said, suddenly all too serious.
“The fact that you’re not dead is a miracle,” the girl said. It wasn’t sarcastic nor mean. She had a look of genuine concern on her face. “Why were you even at sea?! And with such an…” she paused. Unable to say the words, because of how rude it would be, she continued “…inexperienced crew…”
“Incompetent,” Diluc spat out by her side.
“They were the only ones willing to take me,” Kaeya replied. “I needed to get to the nearest Island in Mondstadt to-”
“Mondstadt?” Diluc asked with a frown. “This is not the way to Mondstadt."
"They said they would take me there, after a stop in Liyue," Kaeya said.
"If you take this route, you’d be in Inazuma in a few days.”
“A detour,” Kaeya said, hiding his embarrassment to look the other way.
“Do you even know where Inazuma is, kid?” Amber asked, looking at him with confusion. “Ever seen a map?”
“Once,” he confessed. Back in that house. He’d managed to decipher enough to escape and get to the port. But apart from that, he was clueless.
“Calypso must be on your side,” Amber said with a sigh.
“We’ll take you to the nearest port,” Diluc said. “Get a map, and don’t sail with fools”.
Kaeya's skin prickled. Who knows if another crew would take him? How would he get to Mondstadt? What if they left him on Sumeru? There was no way to get to Mondstadt without a ship then! Desperate, he clung to the Captain's cloak and begged.
“Wait! Take me to islands!”
“The islands?” Diluc asked with a frown. “We’re not charity work. I’ve got a duty.”
Kaeya knew. But with each second that passed and he wasn't on his way to Mondtsadt, desperation wreaked havoc in his heart. He needed to get there fast. As fast as he could. Pure fear filled him, and he tried to convey said emotions to the Captain as he explained.
“I need to find him! Please!” Kaeya felt himself starting to tear up. The memories of the sunlight and laughter filled his mind. He wanted nothing more than to go back. Find him. Find the only person who ever made him feel complete. Alive.
Happy.
The words, however, made Diluc stop in his tracks.
“Him?”
Kaeya bit his lips. He looked around, anxious as he held to the locket that hung from his neck. Fidgeting in his place, he looked up to Diluc with his eye begging.
“My lover,” he confessed. “We...we promised to meet in one of the islands by Mondstadt when we escaped”.
The words ‘escaped’ jumped out to Diluc. ‘From where?’ he wanted to ask. One of the thousands of questions that formed in his mind as soon as the boy boarded his ship. ‘What are you?’, ‘why do you look so much like him?’, ‘where did you come from?’, ‘do you remember me?’.
But most importantly,
“You have a lover?” he asked, eyes narrowing.
Even if the person before him wasn’t Gaia, he looked eerily similar to the person he once cherished more than the sea. The thought of Gaia with a lover made his blood boil. To rip apart this poor substitute, a knockoff who couldn’t compare to the white moonlight he met in his youth.
His fists closed tightly, as the young one blushed.
“Yes,” he said. His eye softened as he looked at the locket. He caressed it with gentleness as if recalling a memory from long ago. But unlike Diluc, it seemed those memories were nothing but happy ones. Full of hope. Jealousy burned bright inside Diluc. “I need to get to Mondstadt. He’s waiting for me there.”
A flash of memories came to Diluc’s mind. Bright skies, clear oceans, tall trees. A smile that broke through the fields of the Dawn Winery – bathed in the sun and the crystalflies that danced through the vines.
“No,” Diluc quickly said. “We don’t go there.”
“Then take me to the nearest port!” Kaeya insisted. His hands refused to let go of the locket. “I’ll move around on my own, I just need-”
“You’ll die,” Diluc replied. The first time the boy had stepped into a ship, it sunk. It was a pure miracle he was alive. If left alone again, Diluc had the sensation he’d never see him again.
“That’s none of your business,” Kaeya huffed.
“Yeah, I think it is The Flying Dutchman’s business,” Amber muttered a few steps away. “You know, with us collecting the souls of the dead and all?”
“If you don’t help me,” Kaeya said, shooting a glare towards Diluc. “Then I’ll get there myself.”
Diluc knew that, logically, he should leave the brat alone. Hundreds died at the hands of the sea every day. What was one more? Another kid swallowed by the unrelenting tides that had swallowed his father? The same tides that had once destroyed Mondstadt’s shores. The same times that had taken Gaia.
But despite knowing that, Diluc couldn’t tear his eyes away from Kaeya.
His eye shone bright with determination. Unrelenting, like the waves beneath their ship. Rippling its way through Diluc, a hurricane he couldn’t stop. Even as his body trembled, no doubt in fear and cold from the inhospitable conditions they were in, he refused to look away. Diluc felt like he was being trapped by one of the sirens of the long-lost legends.
Something pulled him towards this kid. Maybe Calypso herself. Who knew.
Feeling his resolve waver, Diluc simply closed his eyes. It was useless.
“Weigh anchors!” he shouted, turning away from Kaeya. “Prepare to set sail!”
“Captain!” Amber was quick to shout. “What do we do with…”
“Give him something to change into,” he replied, shooting one last look at Kaeya. “The wind’s strong in Mondstadt”.
And with that, he left.
Kaeya stared at the back of the man. Confusion swam in Kaeya’s mind as he watched him disappear into the crew. He finally relaxed, letting go of the chain and locket hanging from his neck. Gently, he tucked it back into his shirt – still damp with saltwater.
“I guess that means, welcome to the crew?” Amber said even more confused than Kaeya at this point. She’d never seen her Captain act so weird. Going from a strong refusal to gentle acknowledgement in a few seconds. “The captain seems to like you”.
Kaeya didn’t answer. The man’s aura was unapproachable. Cold and rough, as if his heart had been beaten into shape by the seas. As if a flame that had burnt bright a long time ago, had been smothered, and all that was left was the ashes. The cold remains of something that once was strong. Bright.
Kaeya had learnt not to ask unnecessary questions. But he still surprised himself when the question almost slipped past his lips. Instinct in his body, trying to reach the man. Help him.
But he didn’t. Couldn’t.
So, he was left, only with the question in his mind.
‘What happened?’