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Chapter Text

Fanart by Fain!

Day 0: Late at Night

The bell of Angel’s Share chimed happily, a familiarly welcome sound after Kaeya’s exhausting day, which sung promises of alcohol and light conversation. He had run around like a madman all day, chasing leads across the length of Mondstadt; he was exhausted. 

There had been whispers of some sort of plot stirring but, despite all of his efforts to investigate, he couldn’t seem to find any kind of concrete lead; which served to put a tight ball of stress in the square of his back. He desperately needed to unwind it, which was what led him to Diluc’s door. 

Kaeya’s head buzzed with frustration and puzzlement, and he looked forward to a drink and a light conversation before he headed home.

The absolute absence of noise caught his attention immediately as he stepped inside, which put him on alert. He only relaxed after he looked around and determined that he was alone.

Though ‘alone’ wasn’t entirely accurate. Standing behind the bar, cleaning glasses, was his ‘brother’, Diluc Ragnvindr. He knew the man’s expressions, and could immediately tell he wasn’t a welcome sight; it was hard to say if it was due to Diluc’s subtle but evident fatigue or just his distaste for Kaeya personally.

Whelp, might as well embrace the role and see what he could get out of it.

“Awfully empty for the hour. I do hope you didn’t just chase them all away so you could go home early.~” Kaeya said as he approached the bar, a teasing lilt in his voice as he took on the precise tone he needed to get on the redhead’s nerves.

Diluc turned and gave him a deadpan look, which Kaeya only chuckled softly at.

“No, as it so happens.” Diluc replied, brusquely. “But since, by fortunate coincidence, all my customers left of their own accord, we are closing up early.”

Kaeya knew full well that was ‘Diluc’ for ‘get out’, but he was on a mission and refused to  be chased off so easily. With a mischievous look on his face, Kaeya sat down pointedly on one of the bar stools.

“You would really turn away your best customer, after I spent all day working hard for citizens like you?” Kaeya leaned on the bar almost pathetically, continuing his conscious effort to annoy the living hell out of the bartender. It seemed to be working, if Diluc’s sudden and blatant ignoring of him was any indication.

The man had turned and was focusing on cleaning glasses, not even giving him so much as a response. Not one to ever willingly lose a fight, be it of blades or wit, Kaeya decided to take matters into his own hands.

He leaned over the bar, making no effort to be discreet, and reached blindly for one of the closest wine bottles on the shelf below. Unsurprisingly, Diluc sensed his intentions instantly, due to having to contend with the same childish misbehavior regularly, and snatched the bottle out of his reach. Kaeya smirked at him and leaned back up, crossing one leg over the other.

Diluc put the bottle on the back shelf, frowning. “I said we’re closing.” He repeated.

“How cruel of you to leave a stalwart Knight of Favonius, of the City of Mondstadt, high and dry.” Kaeya shamelessly hammed it up, making it a point to seem genuinely distraught even though he was anything but.

“Stalwart nuisance more like it.”

Kaeya resisted the urge to laugh at the quip, and instead sat up to face the tycoon properly. “I feel I’ve hardly done anything wrong, coming here as a paying customer, just looking for a drink, and you won’t even give me the dregs of a bottle.” He said, sounding playfully put out. “If anyone is being difficult, it’s you.” In that last sentence he allowed his facade to slip by the barest of margins, permitting his irritation to have but the briefest of glimpses at the light before being quickly hidden away once more.

“If I give you the bottle, will you stop being a pest and just go ?” Diluc asked with audible exasperation.

“I think we can make a deal.” Kaeya smirked again, knowing he won.

Diluc picked up the same bottle from before and walked around the side of the bar to approach his unwelcome guest.

Kaeya stood to meet him, but suddenly had to shift his stance as the bottle was shoved into his chest, lest he be forced backwards. He grabbed the bottle on reflex as he stood his ground, resisting any change in the power dynamic in that instant. The two of them locked eyes-

And a moment later Kaeya allowed himself to be herded towards the door.

“Then good night, Sir Kaeya.” Diluc said as he nudged him along.

“You know, dear Brother,” Kaeya began as he paused at the door, his hand on the knob. “You should perhaps treat those around you more kindly. Your temperament may be what leaves you alone one day, and you’ll have none to blame but yourself.”

Kaeya turned to look at Diluc properly as he turned the knob and pulled the door open slightly. “Good night, Master Diluc.” He said as he finally stepped through the door and out into the warm Mondstadt air, pulling it closed behind him with a soft click.

Kaeya lingered outside the bar door for a moment, giving a half glance back to the building.

The faint pang of ever-present grief lanced through his heart as melancholic nostalgia of a time less bitter flashed through his mind. He exhaled and forced the thoughts from his mind. He channeled cryo through the wine in his hand and chilled it before yanking the cork out and just taking a heavy swig directly from the bottle.

The trip back to his home wasn’t long, and he took more leisurely sips as he made his way there. It was the comforting waft of cool air from the mist flowers by his door that told him he was home, his mind elsewhere as muscle memory guided him.

He took the time to remove his outermost layers, leaving only his boots, shirt, pants, and Vision on. He fetched a wine glass and settled at his desk to work by candlelight.

Fatigue caught up to him quickly, and it was only an hour later that he finally snuffed out the lantern and trudged his way to bed.

He pulled his boots and pants off, crawling under the blankets and falling asleep almost as soon as his head hit the pillow.

Chapter Text

Day 1: Dawn

Kaeya woke with a jolt to the booming bells of the Cathedral, which cut through his walls with reverberating clangs. Sheer reflex made him shoot up in an attempt to get to his feet, only to realize at the last second that he had wrapped himself in his blanket like a caterpillar, and found his movements restricted because of it.

With a thud he hit the ground, and struggled to untangle himself from the fabric so he could get to his feet.

Free of his self-imposed bonds, he rocketed to the window and looked outside, now able to witness the absolute chaos that was unfolding below.

He threw on just the bare minimum, his pants, boots, and Vision, with undignified haste. He grabbed his sword as he charged out the door, not having bothered to fix his hair which flowed loose and flew behind him like a cape.

The sun had only just begun to inch over the horizon, with the first glimpses of light peering over the city walls. He had precious little time to reflect on that fact before he caught movement nearby, and brought his sword up just in time to parry the oncoming blade.

The first thing Kaeya noticed about his attacker was the new-looking patch on the man’s clothes, marked with the telltale symbol of the Lawrence clan.

“So this is what they were planning.” Kaeya muttered as he shoved the goon back, coming in with an upwards sweep that made blood splatter onto the ground as the man fell.

He had no time to waste with self loathing, and took off at a run down the city streets. The bell of the Cathedral continued to boom, alerting the city to danger and announcing itself as a sanctuary to rally to.

Kaeya knew the gates had already been breached, and turned his focus on the protection of the citizenry. Cicin mages succumbed to his Frostgnaw, and Fatui agents’ daggers were no match for Kaeya’s superior agility. They all fell before his warpath, mercy absent as he defended the people of Mondstadt.

His progress to the Cathedral was slow, forced to stop frequently to dispatch invaders and rescue families, overwhelmed Knights, and adventurers alike.

As their numbers grew, they wound up creating a small mob of their own. They grouped the vulnerable to the center, with those able to fight taking the outside. They pushed the line against their attackers, and made steady progress despite the massive ordeal scaling the steps turned out to be.

Bottlenecked and without the height advantage, they relied quite heavily on Kaeya’s clever use of his Vision. At one point the Captain summoned a giant icicle behind a group of Anemo Boxers, which staggered and knocked them off the edge of the stairs to crash onto the ground below.

With hard-won victory and lungs that gasped for air, the group made their way to the topmost part of the city. They passed the statue of Barbatos and climbed the cathedral stairs as they tore through even more Fatui ranks.

Kaeya grabbed the Cathedral door and found it locked; which was in line with the emergency policy he remembered. He then reached up and grabbed the massive knocker, slamming out a code he never thought he’d ever have to use.

Seconds later the door opened and Kaeya and the Knights shuttled everyone inside. Only once he was the last one did Kaeya slip inside and re-bolt the door.

He was immediately met with the welcome sight of the Acting Grand Master, who sported her own minor injuries and signs of combat. Her hair was tousled, she was missing an earring, and there was a telltale rip along the hip of her pants that had likely once had a nasty, but now-healed, gash.

“I do hope you have some measure of idea on what’s happening.” Kaeya asked as he caught his breath, too wired to feign formality with his childhood friend. “I admit this was not the morning wake-up call I had expected.”

“Intelligence is still coming in, but from what we know the Lawrence clan and the Fatui have teamed up to attack the city; this much you have likely already deduced.” Jean began, lifting her hand to touch Kaeya’s face. A gust of Anemo and he felt his soreness and wounds fade, and with it found himself filled with newfound energy.

He gave her a grateful smile as her hand dropped, and to him she gave one of her own.

A beat later they returned to the subject at hand.

“They never besieged the gate, so somehow they managed to get into the city without detection.” Jean continued her report. “We were caught off guard, and they took the front gate almost immediately. We’ve managed to hold the side gate so far, but it’s hard to say how much longer we’ll be able to keep it that way.”

“Do we know where the leadership is?” Kaeya asked, simmering fury in his tone. Jean’s wordless look of curiosity at the question was met with a general snarl. “So I can put my sword through them for doing this to my city.”

Jean opened her mouth to reply, likely to tell him to calm down, but closed it again as Barbara ran up. The young Deaconess looked as haggard as they did, but didn’t let that stop her as she gave a status update to her sister.

“We have a lot of injuries, mostly among Knights and Adventurers.” She informed them. “It seems that they aren’t outright attacking regular citizens; not with harmful force, anyway.”

“Likely because their goal isn’t to kill everyone, but to take over. Things went to hell very rapidly.” Kaeya sighed, crossing his arms to scowl at the floor. “I saw hints of this coming. I’ve been investigating rumors for ages now, but I was unable to dig up anything on those involved. Even all of yesterday yielded nothing...”

Jean looked to her friend and put a hand on his shoulder. “Please don’t blame yourself for this, Kaeya. You did your best; I know you did.”

“Well evidently it wasn’t enough.” Kaeya shook his head. “All we can do is fight back, now.”

A brief flash of blue slipped into Kaeya’s field of view, and he turned his head to look at Eula as she gave orders to her own unit. He could see the suspicious looks she was being given, and the pair briefly made eye contact. He lowered his voice to a whisper and leaned to Jean. “Do you suspect Eula’s involvement?”

Jean shook her head softly. “No. She is the one who gave us forewarning of the attack. She only just learned of it before it was launched, and could only give us ten minutes of heads up before it began, but it was enough time for us to evacuate the Headquarters and avoid absolute disaster.”

Kaeya nodded firmly as he accepted the answer. He looked back to Eula and could see the faint uncertainty in his friend’s eyes. He offered her a nod as well, and saw the relief in her shoulders. He then turned his attention back to Jean. “We’ve lost HQ?”

“Unfortunately, but we can take it back once we can regroup.” Jean made herself sound more confident than she felt.

“The lines were pretty broken on my way up here. The city is crawling with Fatui and Lawrence mercs alike.” Kaeya frowned. He summoned his blade as he turned to face the doors. “I’m going back out there to try to cull their numbers and rescue civilians.”

He took two quick steps to escape Jean’s outstretched hand, but stopped short as the cathedral doors shuddered violently.

It looked like the fight found them.

“Get civilians and the injured downstairs! Now!” Jean’s order was barked and carried across the pews, and everything turned into a blurred flurry of motion.

Knights and adventurers took up arms and fell into formation and created a defensive line. Kaeya stepped into formation alongside them as he quickly assessed those present. He saw Klee, Albedo, Lisa, and Rosaria among the numbers who stood abreast of him. He was comforted by their presence, pleased to know they were okay.

A few moments later he saw Venti, bow drawn and expression moreso, move to stand alongside them. It seemed like Kaeya would need to reassess his opinion of the little drunkard.

Jean fell into position beside Kaeya, putting herself on his blind side to help cover him. With a faint bubble of gratitude, he lifted his sword and summoned his Vision’s power. Every other Allogene followed suit and began to do the same.

The large double doors shuddered again and again as the wood finally began to succumb. Then, with an explosive force that could only have been an Overload reaction, the doors suddenly bulged and splintered violently.

The front lines, made up of shield and spear-bearing knights in a Phalanx formation, held up their metal barriers to deflect the worst of the debris and held the line as the enemy force made it into the cathedral.

Fatui Agents, Cicin mages of both Electro and Cryo, Mirror Maidens, Gunners, Electro hammer Vanguards, and Amemo boxers made their way inside, with mercenaries squeezed between and filling out their ranks.

“Hold the line! We cannot let them take the Cathedral!” Jean shouted, Anemo swirling at her fingertips that she launched forward into the oncoming swarm.

Allogenes took the lead and slipped past the front line into the fray. Jean and Kaeya stayed close, his bitter frost Swirling with her Anemo, which staggered Anemo boxers and forced Agents and Mirror Maidens to fall back.

Venti’s own Anemo burst shot forth and easily scooped up the majority of the smaller attackers; mercenaries, agents, cicin mages too slow to teleport away, and more were all thrown into a torrent of slicing gales, made even more lethal by Klee as she hurled bombs into the midst of it all.

Calling it a meat grinder was an understatement, to say the least.

Sparks of Electro crystallized with Geo, shields that protected those on the front lines as they cut through what seemed like an almost never-ending onslaught of hostile forces.

Kaeya felt more than saw the literal dozen Electro Vanguards as they began their approach, his hair standing on end as he looked to them. Their shields were engaged and crackling in the air as they marched in formation, directly behind them were Hydro Skirmishers, their specialized equipment healing any damage that may have been inflicted.

The Knights were forced back, Kaeya, Rosaria, and Eula’s combined Cryo not enough to destroy all of the shields and, by extension, hold them back.

“Fall back!” Jean’s voice echoed above the noise, just in time for everyone to see the Vanguards move in unison. Three leaping strides forward, their hammers went up and all slammed down at once, just feet from the defensive line.

Knight, adventurer, and Allogene alike were launched back, metal shields bent and warped, crackling with electricity as they clanged loudly to the stone floor.

Some tried to pull themselves up while others laid eerily still on the cathedral floor. With the Knight’s defensive line broken, those left standing were forced to fall back in a desperate attempt to regroup, dragging allies behind them to safety.

Quickly it dissolved into a free-for-all. Mondstadt warriors took up their arms and battled against any opponent they could find.

Just as quickly Knights and Adventurers began to fall, with only the most hardy and those blessed with Visions able to hold their ground.

Alas, even the Allogenes had issues; Kaeya had long since lost track of Lisa, but he felt Eula at his back with Jean at their side. He caught a glimpse of Albedo in a fight with an Anemo Boxer and a Vanguard, and witnessed the alchemist snatch Klee by the backpack and slide her along the cathedral floor in a desperate bid to move her from harm. The hammer came down, and Albedo was batted out of sight with a painful noise.

Those of Mondstadt were pushed further and further back as their numbers slowly went down against the seemingly unlimited amount of reinforcements that continued to file into the cathedral.

From the entrance, an irritatingly familiar voice rose above the cacophony.

“Pathetic Knights and unwashed Adventurers!” The man shouted as he sauntered into the cathedral with the air of a man who felt like he owned it. “Surrender now and kneel before your king!”

“Oh, here we go.” Kaeya muttered bitterly as he ran through another person, not even paying attention to see if they were Lawrence of Fatui.

“You have lost! The City is once more in the hands of its rightful rulers! Surrender and I shall perhaps consider being merciful.” Schubert continued to yammer. “Capture Jean Gunnhildr and the Deaconess! The future brides of the Lawrence family, to maintain the noble blood of Mondstadt’s rightful rulers!”

That got Kaeya’s attention. He risked a glance at Jean and saw she had gone pale, stunned at the proclamation. An instant later her expression hardened into resolve.

Kaeya could hear those still standing shout against the announcement, their love for their Deaconess and Grand Master enough to spur them to ignore their wounds and continue to fight.

Again the battle continued in force, yet despite the sudden boost of motivation fatigue and dwindling numbers continued to allow the Fatui to push them back. Kaeya, Jean, and Eula maintained their small formation, and Rosaria and Barbara had joined them at some point during the fight.

“Kaeya. Eula.” Jean’s voice was sharp and got their attention as they fought.

“Yes?”

“Do you trust me?”

Kaeya knew where this was going. “Without question.” He answered.

“Take Barbara and go.” Jean asked.

“Absolutely not-”

“Are you insane-?”

“Hell no.”

“Sister!”

“That’s an order !” Jean snapped with a tone that brooked no argument. “We can’t allow him to get us both. The morale of the city depends on it. We can’t let them get what they want. I can’t let them use her against me as leverage. Now go! ”

“You have no authority over me, Acting Grand Master.” Rosaria argued, and ran her pike through an agent who got too close. “I will be staying here.”

Jean knew a losing battle and looked to her Captains. “We can’t have the entire Knighthood fall here. Take Barbara and escape, regroup our forces and take the city back .”

Kaeya looked at his friend, and knew by the look in her eyes that he could not refuse her. Eula must have come to the same conclusion as she knelt, scooped Barbara up over her shoulder, and took off for the side door.

With one last lingering look to his friend, Kaeya took off after them, leaving Jean and everyone else to fend for themselves.

He hated it. He hated himself.

He could have stopped this if he was just a little bit better.

Eula kicked open the side door of the cathedral, which slammed into an unsuspecting mercenary. Kaeya followed them with his sword and dispatched anyone dumb enough to try to stop them.

Dropping Barbara to her feet, Eula forced her along and around the corner where they stopped short. The sheer number of enemies was alarming, and they were all stationed to prevent their escape.

“Fall back, over the wall!” Kaeya ordered. “We’ll try our odds bridging over the lake.”

Risky as hell, but it was their only chance. They would never break through those lines with just the three of them, no matter how powerful they were.

Kaeya caught a glimpse of it then, the rising smoke from the south; from the Dawn Winery. Anxiety clenched in his chest, but he convinced himself that Diluc would be fine.

Eula held firm to Barbara’s arm and dragged her along. Kaeya led the way and guided them up and over the edge of the wall. The three of them glided down to the land outside, and quickly and quietly made their way as close to the water as they could.

“Quickly now.” Kaeya said softly. The tip of his sword touched the water and it froze, creating a temporary path for them to use.

Unable to return to her sister’s side, Barbara was allowed to have her arm back and silently followed the two. She fought away tears as the guilt of abandoning everyone gnawed at her heart. Kaeya wished he could cry, too, but now was not the time for it.

They made their way towards Wolvendom as quickly as they could, but Kaeya needed a few seconds between each burst of cryo lest he become faint and risk not making the next part of the bridge before their foothold melted.

They didn’t make it far before they were spotted.

Kaeya heard the shouts from the wall and looked back in time to see Fatui gunners take up formation, a gun wielding Agent standing beside them. Muzzles were aimed directly at the trio, and at that moment Kaeya knew they were screwed.

He couldn’t shove the girls into the water; they would be sitting ducks. He didn’t have enough time to make enough ice to allow them room to dodge-

Out of time.

He acted.

Kaeya grabbed Barbara and forced her down, covering her small frame with his body as faint explosions echoed across the water.

His ears rang as pain ripped through him, his breath coming wet and labored as blood foamed in his mouth. Barbara screamed his name, and he heard Eula swear in a very ignoble manner. He could see red that seeped from his form, mixing with water on the ice below to soak into the white of Barbara’s skirt.

Kaeya was fading quickly and he knew he only had seconds. He called on his Vision and, with every ounce of will, life, and determination he could muster, summoned one Final Burst.

Ice exploded outwards in a round platform before branching forwards, flash-freezing Cider Lake to create the longest and thickest bridge he had ever made. It reached from their position all the way to the shores of Wolvendom.

He struggled to speak as his voice bubbled and throat filled with fluid. He fought for enough breath to talk and looked at Eula. “Go- Protect Barbara. Take our home back.”

Eula didn’t waste time. She scooped up Barbara once more and charged down the bridge without a second look, his eyes meeting Barbara’s tear streaked ones.

Another shot went off but missed, ripping through a chunk of ice.

Kaeya refused to die doing anything but swinging. He twisted himself to face the city and summoned Cryo he still could. Forming spikes of ice, he launched them at a lethal velocity, each one finding its mark in the skull of a gunner. The agent, their mask thicker than the rest, had the ice deflect off with a splatter of blood. They stumbled back violently as they clutched their head-

The ice under Kaeya’s feet broke and he plunged into the warm waters of the lake. The long loose strands of his hair surrounded his vision in inky black tendrils.

As his consciousness faded away, the last thing that flashed through his mind was regret and a fiery mane of red hair.

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Chapter Text

Day 1: Evening

It was dim as Kaeya’s eyes opened, the only light flickering against stone walls. The first thing he knew with certainty was the pain, and couldn’t resist the groan of discomfort that came from him. Any doubt he had of his survival was washed away by how shitty he felt. Surely the afterlife wouldn’t hurt this bad.

He tried to focus through the pain, and could hear faint voices talking, which cut off as they saw he had begun to stir.

“Kaeya’s awake!” A boyish voice said loudly, and was immediately shushed by at least four others.

Kaeya forced his eyes open and turned his head to look in the direction of the sound. He was met with the grinning face of a white haired teenager that he recognized.

“Captain Kaeya!” Bennett greeted with relief and joy in his tone. “I’m so glad you’re okay. We were super worried.”

Without thinking Kaeya reached back to sit himself up, only to immediately fall back with a groan as a lancing jolt of pain rocked through him. “What happened?” He rasped, noticing the unpleasant sensation and taste of dried blood that stuck in his mouth.

Someone helped prop him up and offered him a cup of water, which he sipped gratefully from.

“You were gunned down on Cider lake.” A man in the adventurer’s guild uniform said. “We saw it happen and used a fishing boat to get you out while someone else made a distraction. Bennett healed the worst of the injury; you were clinging by a thread when we got to you.”

“I’m ashamed to admit it, but most of us gave you up for dead… But Bennett refused to believe it and charged off ahead to save you. We couldn’t let him go alone, so we helped.” Another adventurer said. “We may have assisted, but Bennett here is the one who really saved you.” The adventurer grinned and reached out to ruffle Bennett’s hair, making the boy smile sheepishly.

Kaeya smiled faintly, gratitude and a feeling of something else welling in his chest. “Thank you, Bennett.” The sincerity in his weak tone gave everyone in the room pause, Bennett breaking into the biggest and cheesiest grin.

Kaeya slowly turned his head to look around, acutely aware of the pain in his shoulder. “Where are we?”

“Wine cellar of someone’s house.” Terrance-that was his name!- explained. “We managed to sneak you into the city and hide you down here. As far as everyone knows or thinks, you’re dead at the bottom of Cider Lake.”

“Don’t worry about being found, this basement is really well hidden!” Bennett assured, his volume lifting a little, which caused him to have to be hushed again.

Honestly, given what Kaeya remembered happening, it made a lot of sense. He took a steeling breath in and began to inspect himself, hoping to find out what he could about his injuries.

He was bandaged heavily, most of it stained red. His shoulder, chest, and lower back hurt the most.

“What exactly happened to me?” He asked, memory hazy.

“You, Eula, and the Deaconess were crossing Cider Lake on an ice bridge.” Terrance went on to explain. “You were spotted, and gunners took aim. You used your body to shield Barbara and took the shots. I must say, the bridge you made was a marvel to witness. That sight will be a thing of legends one day, to be sure.”

Kaeya huffed softly, and waited for him to continue.

“As we said, you fell into the lake and we fished you out. You had one foot in death’s door by the time we got to you, and Bennett’s healing was the only thing that let you survive. Your wounds were very severe, though, so you’re still pretty badly hurt.” Terrance then looked to the side, and Kaeya followed his gaze to see the blood covered tools and cloth. “We dug the shells out and Bennett healed you a little more, but there’s not much else we can do right now. You were hit with three; one shattered your shoulder, one went through your lung, and another into your lower back. The bone of your shoulder is back in one piece now, and your vitals are free of holes, but it may take a couple more passes of healing before it doesn’t hurt like hell. Likely more before you’re in any condition to fight.”

“I see. Thank you again. I’m lucky to be alive.” Kaeya said; he meant it, too. He couldn’t die yet, not until his city was free once more.

A deep inhale and Kaeya once more tried to sit up, groaning painfully but forcing himself to sit on the edge of the bed. At least three people lurched forward with mixed intentions of assisting and stopping him, but they all went still as he settled onto the edge of the bed.

Looking up, Kaeya regarded the group.

“What’s going on outside?”

Another member of the guild spoke, Kaeya didn’t know this one’s name. “It’s been a few hours since we rescued you. The bulk of the fighting has died down; the city fell. Most of the Knights have either been killed or imprisoned. Same with the adventurer’s guild.”

Shit.

“What else?”

“Citizens have been put under a strict curfew, the market has been shut down and weapons and food supplies are being confiscated.” The man continued to explain. “The streets are under heavy patrols by both Fatui and Lawrence Guardsmen. The guardsmen seem to be a mish-mash of various nationalities; I suspect they’re mercenaries.”

“And I presume the Lawrence clan has placed themselves back in power?” Kaeya asked.

“Schubert, specifically. Calling himself ‘King’ now. Though it seems like the Fatui are the ones really in charge.”

Kaeya spat as irritation built. Concern for the children of his city grew rapidly. He forced himself to think more strategically.

“The confiscation of weapons is obvious; they want to take away our ability to fight back. As for the food, it’s likely they plan on starving the city into compliance since they shut down the market.” Kaeya mused out loud. Based on the nods from those present, it seemed he was right. “What about people like us?”

“From what we know, there are pockets hidden across the city who managed to escape capture.”

“We can’t lay in hiding forever. As soon as we can, we need to congregate somewhere and make a plan to fight back.” Kaeya declared. “Get word to the others if you can, we need to start organizing.”

-

Day 1: Morning

Jean watched Kaeya and Eula leave out the side door of the cathedral, her sister in tow. She could only spare a couple seconds to watch them go before she had to turn her attention back to the attackers.

She fought with everything she had, Anemo swirling and cutting at her foes while healing her allies. Her power combined with her fellows allowed them to barely hold their ground. Under any other circumstance she would have called a retreat, but…

There were civilians below; she couldn’t. She wouldn’t .

For Mondstadt, always.

And so she fought, running through foes and cutting their lives short for daring to touch her city. But even a soul as steadfast as Jean’s could only last for so long, and eventually her mortal body could not keep up.

She stood alone, her allies dead, dying, or captured. Only Barbatos himself still stood beside her, brow drawn and bow ready.

“Lord Barbatos.” Jean said softly as she gasped for breath. The childlike god glanced at her. “Please, run. The city needs you.”

Venti’s brows furrowed more, clearly torn.

“I beg of you. You need to support your people, help us help ourselves. You cannot do that if you fall here.” Jean knew full well that Venti lost his Gnosis, and that his powers were limited. She did not know if he was as easily killed as a mortal, but… “Please, Lord Barbatos...”

Venti’s expression turned more, a frown crossed his features as he looked out at the group of approaching Fatui.

“Alright. Please hang in there, Jean.” Venti acquiesced, lowering his bow.

The Fatui and Lawrence mercenaries mistook the action as surrender and allowed themselves to lower their guard. It was a perfect opportunity for the little god as he charged forward. He summoned Anemo to surround him and kicked up a violent gale.

What looked like a spell circle surrounded his feet and the winds forced upwards, knocking the bigger foes off their feet and sending the smaller high into the air. Venti allowed himself to be pulled upwards as well and deployed his glider to fly over the heads of those blocking the doors.

Alone but unrelenting, Jean refused to let herself be taken easily. She slew at least three more before she was finally pinned to the ground and disarmed, her Vision pulled from her person and thrown far enough away that she could no longer resonate with it.

“Even the pathetic little bard abandoned you, didn’t he?” A taunting voice spoke as they approached. Jean lifted her head to glare at Schubert, stubbornly silent. “Well, it’s only a matter of time before he’s in custody too. The city is sealed, no one is coming or going for a while.”

Schubert stood and began giving orders to his surviving subordinates. She watched with hidden despair as the unconscious forms of Albedo and Lisa were dragged across the floor and bound. Klee was nowhere to be found, and part of her feared the worst.

“Take them to the jails, make sure you take their Visions. We can’t have them staging a breakout.” Schubert instructed. “Take them all there. Lady Gunnhildr will be taken to the reclaimed Lawrence Mansion.” He turned to another group to the side. “You, begin dealing with those below.”

Jean felt fury begin to bubble in her chest, but she wasn’t in a position to try anything. Despite her frustration, she could not act, and that hurt more than any wound.

All she could do was have faith in her people. In Kaeya and Eula, the Knights, Barbatos. Perhaps even Diluc. They could take the city back if they banded together, she knew that in her soul.

Her thoughts halted suddenly as she was grabbed, roughly forced to her feet and marched out of the cathedral. It was clear she was being made an example of; they made it a point to draw attention to the fact she was in custody as they walked.

She could see the hope fading from her people’s eyes, and  all she could do to give them a reassuring smile. As much as she wished to speak words of comfort, she suspected her captors would retaliate. She was not inclined to be gagged.

Eventually they reached the Favonius Headquarters, now reclaimed by the Lawrence clan, and was led down familiar stone steps to the jails below.

She was put in one of the nicer cells, at least, but they made it a point to shamelessly divest her of everything on her person. They took anything that could be used as a weapon or tool and in the end all she had was her shirt and pants.

Done taking her outer garments, along with part of her dignity, they unbound her and locked the cell behind them. She heard their footsteps recede, until she was left alone with her thoughts.

Hours passed, and Jean was only able to track the passage of time by the shadows of the buildings outside the tiny window of her cell. The sounds of fighting in the streets had eventually died down, replaced by an eerie silence broken only by the whistle of the wind.

Eventually the sound of boots on stone echoed down the hallway, and she glanced back to the bars of her cell.

She didn’t hide her frown as Schubert came into view, and made it a point to make sure he knew her opinion. After a moment she registered that he was now wearing something on his head; a crown of gold, visibly too large for him and padded to fit. It only served to make him look more ridiculous than regal, and she made no effort to hide her smirk.

“Such an ignoble expression you make towards your King.” He scolded. “You of all people should understand the high standard at which we must carry ourselves.”

“With all due respect, Schubert - which is absolutely none, by the way - I don’t care what you think.” Jean replied as she crossed her arms and turned to face him properly.

“Bold words for a woman behind bars.”

“For now. The people of Mondstadt will not fall to you so easily. The Knights will take you down, as will the people of Mond. You will not hold your power for long.” Jean was confident in her words, and in her people.

Schubert smirked and his eyes narrowed in a pretentious way. Despite how little she took him seriously, Jean still felt the hair on her neck stand up. The man chuckled, then began to laugh properly.

“Let us see if your will holds out when you know just how far your precious city has fallen. We have multiple of your captains in custody, many of your knights as well; the ones that are still alive, anyway.” Schubert took a leisurely step towards the cell. “The City’s leaders are behind bars.”

“You underestimate my Captains.”

“Ah, you mean like that outlander dog?” Schubert’s smirk turned into a full grin, and Jean’s blood ran cold. “You won’t have to worry about him any longer.”

“What?”

It was remarkable, but Schubert’s grin grew bigger. “Oh, you haven’t heard yet; I suppose that stands to reason.” He said, his tone filled with such eager glee that Jean knew deep down that whatever he had to say was likely the truth. “He tried to run away like the coward he is, with my traitorous niece and the Deaconess. He was shot down like the dog he is, and is currently rotting at the bottom of Cider Lake.”

Jean felt dizzy. She wanted nothing more than to sink to her knees as grief and regret welled up in her chest.

Kaeya was dead…?

She exhaled and kept her composure; he was most likely lying, attempting to get to her. He had to be. His glee was just his eagerness to rattle her. She wouldn’t fall for it.

“You don’t believe me? Well, I suppose evidence would be necessary. Well, no matter. It doesn’t matter what you do or do not believe. You and your sister will marry into the Lawrence family. After all, we are the only noble houses that still stand.”

The implications of that sentence were not lost on her, and her heart sank even further.

“Ahaha, I would apologize for bringing you so many poor tidings, even if I hardly consider them such. All the obstacles between the Lawrence Clan and greatness have been snuffed out. Master Diluc is dead, burned up inside his winery early in the morning.” Schubert continued to gloat, his cheer so genuine that Jean struggled to disbelieve his claims, consciously forcing herself to refuse them.

If Diluc and Kaeya truly were dead, and the captains and administration of the Knights in custody, that left precious few to rally the people of Mond…

“Regardless, Mondstadt is the city of freedom. You will not be able to hold the will of the people down for long.” She stood ever defiant. Barbatos was still free, and there was also a chance the Honorary Knight would come appear and offer their aid… “You will not win. You will not get what you want; and I most assuredly will not marry you. It would never be recognized in the eyes of the church.”

Schubert scoffed. “The only thing that matters is if it is recognized by the Lawrence clan; which it will be.” He turned then, beginning to go up the stairs. “You will see reason eventually. Until then, I hope you can make yourself comfortable.”

His steps faded as he climbed the stairs. Jean sat once more in silence.

Only once she was absolutely sure she was alone did she allow herself to collapse to the ground and fought her tears of grief.

If he told the truth, she just lost her two childhood friends.

Not only that, but if Kaeya truly was dead, then she was the one who sent him to his death.

Her order put him in that position; he died because he followed her orders.

‘ Do you trust me?’

‘Without Question.’

She sent him to die.

She killed him.

“I’m so sorry, Kaeya.” She whispered to the wind, burying her face in her knees.

She only allowed herself a few minutes to wallow, lifting her head with newly tempered resolve. She then began to puzzle out a way to escape, because the city needed her, and she would be damned if she just sat around doing nothing.

Chapter Text

Day 1: Just before Midnight

Kaeya refused to sit still, the pleas of Bennett and those around him ignored in favor of beginning the birth of a resistance.

Over the following hours Kaeya sent messengers, gave orders, and looked over the gathering documents to get as much information as he could.

It was a slow process, given that he would periodically pass out from the pain of his injuries. He would later wake up a random amount of time later, get up, and pick up right where he left off.

The third time he lost consciousness was enough for someone to threaten to tie him to the bed, to which Kaeya threatened to freeze their nuts off if they dared. No one tried again.

Bennett assisted how he could, channeling healing in small bursts but unable to repair such a severe wound with any measure of speed. At the rate they were going, it would be several days before Kaeya would be completely fighting fit; possibly more.

Not that it stopped the Cavalry Captain. He continued his work and accumulated a small pile of valuable information; patrol routes, the locations of other pockets of people like them, as well as where confiscated food and weaponry was being stored across the city.

Still, all of that information wasn’t helpful if they couldn’t coordinate quickly. In their current state, it was only a matter of time before they would all be flushed out.

A flurry of alarmed movement rushed through the cellar and cut off Kaeya’s pondering. He reached for his sword despite his body’s protests as everyone in attendance braced themselves-

-Only to let out a collective sigh of relief as a familiar green clad bard skipped down the steps.

“Venti.” Kaeya exhaled, sinking back into his seat. “Glad to see you managed to escape capture.”

Venti’s normally cheery smile seemed forced, and Kaeya could see in the bard’s eyes that he wasn’t nearly as gleeful as he made himself look.

“How did you find us?” Kaeya asked.

“I have my ways.”

“How did you escape capture?”

“Very carefully.~”

“Are you going to answer a single question straightforwardly?” Kaeya was too miserable to employ his normal tricks.

“Would you?” Touche. “But that doesn’t mean I don’t have something to offer you.~” Venti smirked, as his energy drew in everyone in attendance.

“And what is that?” Kaeya asked.

A glint of something that bordered on mischief flashed in the boy’s eye. “How about the secret of how to win back the city?”

A murmur swept through the room like a sea wave, and everyone looked at one another before returning their attention to the bard.

“Care to elaborate?” Kaeya lifted an eyebrow, intrigued.

“It’s probably better if I just show you. Think you can make it about half a block?” Venti held a hand out to Kaeya.

“I think I can manage.” Kaeya accepted the hand offered to him, and immediately a gust of wind snapped through the cellar. Kaeya could feel some of his pain and fatigue wash away, which made getting to his feet a far easier task. With a grateful look to the bard, he followed.

“Come on, all of you. We need to move fast but it should be fine.” Venti gestured. There were only seven of them in total, if they didn’t count Venti.

Hesitantly they followed, taking up the rear as Kaeya walked closely with their guide.

Venti led them cautiously down a street and skillfully avoided detection until they came upon a dead-end alleyway.

Kaeya resisted the urge to question him, and instead opted to wait and watch.

With a smirk and a finger held to his lips, Venti reached up and pressed three buttons disguised as stones. With only the faintest of grinding noises the stone sunk into itself and the wall swung open to reveal a doorway.

Venti gestured for them to go in, and quickly they filed inside. Venti closed the ‘door’ behind them, plunging them into pitch black. The only light they had was the glow of Visions, and Bennett summoned a flame on his hand to chase away the darkness. Venti plucked a torch from one of the holders and stuck the tip of it into the flame, watching the light grow further.

The tunnel was narrow and Bennett had to duck to keep from taking the torch to the face as Venti turned, holding the light up to a square indention in the wall. Everyone crowded around to look, seeing that it appeared to be a map carved and painted onto the wall, old and faded.

“Venti, do you mind telling me how in the world you know about this?” Kaeya felt almost offended; he took pride in knowing the secrets of the city.

“I know a lot of things.~” Venti deflected with a smile. “Now take a look at this. This is a route map of all of the tunnels and where they let go. There is a massive antechamber in the center of it all, which should be perfect for a base of operations. It’s sunk deep into the city, so even if we all shouted at once, we would never be heard; especially if the sub-doors are shut.”

“What about ventilation?” Kaeya asked.

“This place is blessed by the Anemo Archon so clean wind always blows through. These tunnels were used the last time the Lawrence Clan was in power, by people just like us.” Venti explained. “It seems fitting that we employ their use once more for the same purpose. Now, this map is old and hard to read, so I’ll make some new ones for you all.”

“Please. Can you lead us to this antechamber?” Kaeya nodded.

“Of course, follow me!”

Torch held high, Venti led the group of them down the winding tunnels. Eventually they came up to a massive chamber with a high ceiling. The architecture was simple but elegant, and faded upon the walls were paintings that were unmistakably done by their forefathers while they too fought for their liberty. Along the outer edges of the massive chamber fresh water flowed, clean and clear; likely fed from the lake and filtered by some unknown means.

“These tunnels have entrances and exits all across the city. There’s precious few places you can’t reach from here.” Venti explained once the initial awe had passed. “Unfortunately, one of those places is ‘outside the city’, but we can make do, I’m sure.”

“We’ll make it work. Thank you, Venti. This is exactly what we needed.” Kaeya spoke with sincerity. “You have my utmost gratitude. I speak on behalf of all of Mondstadt when I say that you may very well have, in fact, given us the secret to taking our home back.”

Venti smiled, affection and almost pride reaching his eyes. “I have faith in you guys. So, Captain Kaeya; I do believe we’re under your leadership. What do we do?”

Slowly Kaeya looked around, taking in the chamber, then looked to those gathered. “Learn the layouts, get copies of the map if you must, but no one is allowed to take them out of this chamber; we can’t risk them falling into the wrong hands.” He said this with firmness, and everyone nodded in grim understanding. Kaeya then continued. “Find people and bring them here, as well as supplies of any kind you can get your hands on. Get word out; this will be our base of operations. We will resist until our dying breath, and we will do so on a unified front.”

Cheers of agreement came from the small group of adventurers, and they all split off to study the map and begin to follow their orders.

Given his first moment of semi-solitude since the attack, Kaeya shuffled slowly over to what looked like an old bed, worn from time though intact and solid. If there had been any kind of mattress or cushion, though, it was long since gone.

Still, it was better than the cold stone floor, and Kaeya’s fatigue had caught up to him. He laid down carefully, only intending to rest for a couple minutes before resuming his duty. He allowed his mind to wander, and finally took time to reflect on what had happened.

Albedo was hit hard, the noise he heard blood curdling, and he feared the injuries his friend sustained. He had no idea where Lisa was, and Klee was also unaccounted for. Jean was most likely captured, though he wasn’t sure. He prayed not.

He hoped Eula got Barbara to safety. They would have touched down at Wolvendom, so the smartest place to rally would be the Winery. Diluc was a perfect fit as a leader in this situation.

He remembered the plumes of smoke, and worried silently if the winery had been attacked as well. He had faith in Diluc; he wouldn’t go down easily…

Right?

… But if it was a sneak attack, and he was asleep… he’d looked so tired that night, and he still had so much work to do...

Kaeya closed his eyes for a second, to rest them from the burn of fatigue-

-

Day 2: Morning

Kaeya woke up, having passed out hard for who-knows-how-long, and found himself more comfortable than he had expected. Under his head was a rolled up coat that acted like a pillow, and over his body was a warm blanket; how they got there without him waking was a mystery he didn’t care to solve. He opened his eyes slowly, not wanting to leave the warmth of the blanket just yet, and saw that there was more light inside than before. The low murmur of a crowd speaking quietly had also created a sub-audible buzz that he hadn’t noticed immediately.

Slowly he sat up, body throbbing, and looked around properly.

The underground chamber was lit brightly, with lanterns, torches, and lamps scattered all across the massive room, illuminating it beautifully. Kaeya could now see the sheer scale of the location, and took a moment to look over it with newfound awe.

He then looked at who occupied it. Their population was at least two dozen on initial count, most of them faces that hadn’t been in the original group from the cellar. Occasionally someone new would come into the chamber from one of the tunnels, and he saw their numbers were slowly beginning to grow.

He scouted the ground next, and saw crates of supplies; food, weapons, medicine, toiletries, and more. There were even stacks of blankets, clothes, and armor, among other odds-and-ends that could be useful but had no specific category to be placed in.

It seemed like everyone just grabbed what they could carry before coming down; which worked just fine for Kaeya.

He then looked around his immediate vicinity and saw that people had followed his lead, and turned the corner into a makeshift sleeping area. Around him were people, lying down on bedrolls and wooden frames, resting themselves.

Kaeya made himself stand and ignored the protests of his body, stubbornly getting to his feet and walking towards the small gathering in the center. People noticed him quickly, and all of them lit up and greeted him excitedly.

“Captain!”

“Captain Kaeya!”

“Good morning, Captain!”

“I’m glad to see you well, Captain!”

Greetings and well wishes were heaped on him, and he wasn’t sure what else to do but smile and accept it as he explored the growing encampment.

Now closer to the center, Kaeya spotted it. Erected in the center of the room was a massive banner, a royal blue with six white dots in a constellation.

His constellation. Superimposed over the stars was what was unmistakably a peacock feather.

Looking around Kaeya saw that the banner was not alone. Scarves, cloaks, hoods, flags, and more were all emblazoned with the mark.

Kaeya had questions. A lot of questions. Yet he found himself unable to ask.

Slowly he returned to his ‘bed’, and found a young woman carefully arranging some soft blankets in it when he did. She turned to him when she heard his approach and smiled warmly. At that moment Kaeya recognized who she was; Donna, of all people.

“Captain Kaeya! Good morning. I thought you’d appreciate something between you and the hard frame, so we agreed to let you use these.” She said cheerfully.

“...Thank you. Are you sure?” Kaeya asked, uncertain how to approach such kindness, doubly unsure given the faint look of sadness in her expression.

“Absolutely! There was no question. Please rest for now, you’ve done so much.” Donna smiled more, though her attention was suddenly drawn as someone called for her. “Ah, forgive me, Captain Kaeya. I hope it’s comfortable!” And with that she was off, jogging across the chamber to help someone move a crate.

Kaeya shuffled in uncertainty for a moment, but eventually gave in and sank onto the bed. She hadn’t been kidding, it was far more comfortable and he had to resist the desire to lay back down.

His sense of time was absolutely screwed, and he didn’t have his timepiece on him. Eventually he hailed down a passing knight to ask, and learned that it was early morning on the second day of the occupation- just a little over 24 hours from when the first attack had been launched.

A wonderful smell hit his nose and he glanced over to see that a small cooking fire had been lit, and some citizens who had made their way below were cooking what food they had. One of the first bowls was brought to Kaeya, which he accepted with thanks. It had been almost a full day and night since he last ate, and he was starving.

It was a simple fair of oatmeal and vegetables, but it may well have been one of Adelinde’s birthday spreads for how delicious it was to his malnourished body. He ate slowly and savored it, letting his guard down briefly.

“You keep giving that oatmeal goo-goo eyes, I’m going to have to tell you to get a room.” A familiar female voice spoke up, the click of heels a steady beat as it approached. Kaeya looked up, and felt relieved to see his friend.

“Rosa.” He breathed. “You escaped.”

“Narrowly, but yes. I must say, you’re quite the sight for sore eyes. I saw it happen, you know.” She said, “I admit I was skeptical when I was told you were alive.”

Kaeya chuckled weakly. “It’ll take more than three bullets to take me out.”

“Keep it up and I’ll make it four.” Rosaria threatened, though there was no bite to her words; it was evident that she was relieved to see him alive. A couple steps forward and she dropped onto the bed beside him, crossing one leg over the other. “I came by earlier but you were still asleep.”

“I hadn’t meant to sleep for so long. I guess I was more tired than I thought.” Kaeya shrugged before he resumed eating.

“Surprising, given how much you kept passing out yesterday, from what I heard.”

Kaeya winced at Rosaria’s call-out, and opted not to reply to it directly.

“Anyway, what happened on your side?” Kaeya changed the subject.

Rosaria let the topic shift and let out a frustrated sigh. “I was nearly crushed by a vanguard’s hammer. The concussive force launched me back and I lost consciousness for a couple minutes. By the time I got back into the fight, most of the Knights were down or in custody. It was just Jean and the bard. They spoke and Venti fled. I made the decision to retreat; there was no way we were going to win, so falling back and regrouping was our only option… I’d been in hiding with a small group of nuns since. We came here after we learned of the place. I must admit, I never expected to find a tunnel network under the city.”

Kaeya nodded. “Thank you for staying with Jean. I hated leaving her behind...”

“Don’t thank me, it’s not like I managed to protect her. Save it for when this mess is over.”

“Very well then.” Kaeya said before finishing his bowl and setting it aside. “What can you tell me about the status on the outside?”

“It’s not good. The Lawrence clan has confiscated the food from most houses, and have corralled most of the citizenry to certain parts of the city. The area around the Goth Grand Hotel has been cleared and the houses are being occupied by Fatui and mercs. The Lawrences have occupied the old Favonius HQ.”

Kaeya sighed. “I suspected as much.” He hated being proven right in that moment. “So what’s up with, uh, that?” He pointed to the banner with his spoon, finally working up the nerve to ask.

“Your death was witnessed by a lot of people. We all saw you sacrifice yourself for the Deaconess. We saw the bridge of ice, and we saw you go down.” Rosaria explained. “It was seen as tragic, but also as a symbol of perseverance. Your memory became a unifying force where hope was once lost. Your constellation became our rallying banner, and has become the unofficial mark of this little resistance.”

Kaeya chuckled softly. “Almost feels like bait-and-switch with me alive.”

“I assure you, your survival is nothing but a benefit. We all know how narrowly you avoided death-Bennett has been getting a lot more positive attention because of it- and it doesn’t change what you did on that lake.”

With a faint nod Kaeya gazed out at the people; another three dozen had surfaced since he last looked. “I wonder what Diluc is doing in all of this, and those outside the city.”

Immediately Kaeya detected the shift in demeanor from the nun beside him. Slowly he turned his head to look at her.

“Well, the thing is...” She halted, seemingly unsure.

“… Please tell it to me straight, Rosa.” Kaeya asked, suddenly feeling like he aged a hundred years.

“From what we can tell, Master Diluc… perished during the attack on the Dawn Winery.” She explained. “Of course I’ve been unable to confirm this fact with my own eyes, but everything I can find points to it. You saw the plumes of smoke, I’m sure.”

Kaeya went silent and stared at the floor. He felt cold and his stomach lurched, but he schooled his expression and revealed little.

Still, Rosaria was perceptive. Not needing to be asked, she stood, rested a clawed hand on his shoulder, and then walked away to give him space to grieve.

Kaeya’s thoughts raced, ricocheting off the walls of his mind and unable to settle.

Diluc couldn’t be dead. It was impossible.

He was the Sun, the Uncrowned King.

Diluc was powerful and capable. He was stubborn and competent.

There was no way he would die.

Diluc couldn’t be dead, because that would mean the last thing he said to his brother was a cheap shot born of irritation.

Kaeya buried his face in his hands as he felt his composure slip. Slowly he laid down and pulled the blanket over his head, hiding himself from view.

He let himself have a few precious minutes to silently cry, those outside none the wiser as hot tears rolled down his cheeks.

Diluc couldn’t be dead. He refused to believe it. There wasn’t enough evidence…

But…

Kaeya breathed hard and dried his face. He then sat up and stood.

He had come to a decision. If Diluc was dead, then it was up to him.

He was going to get revenge and free his city, come hell or high water.

Chapter Text

Day 2: Morning

Jean was in problem solving mode.

She took time to survey her surroundings, to locate every resource available to her that she could use to devise a plan.

Admittedly there wasn’t much… A chamber pot, bare minimum toiletries, and a somewhat uncomfortable wall-mounted cot barren of linen or pillows.

Her meal was brought on wooden plateware, which was quickly reclaimed as soon as she finished. They were clearly not taking chances with her, which was equal parts vindicating and frustrating.

The next thing she did was try to call out to her Vision, trying to feel its cries for its owner…

It was faint, but she could feel it in the building; in her office, if she has to guess.

With a faint exhale she took solace in the fact that it would be within reasonable reach.

She just had to escape first… She paced the cell one more time, taking a moment to inspect the bars carefully. She cursed herself for being so careful in maintaining the jail below, as it took her significant time to find anything promising. Gripping one of the worse looking bars, she pulled and watched it give slightly. The rust on the top and bottom had weakened it somewhat, allowing it to bow under stress.

At that moment she got an idea. If she could get some fabric, perhaps she could tie it and bend the bars enough to squeeze through…

It was going to be her best bet if she wanted to avoid detection and minimize the risk of being restrained upon failure, she just needed the cloth.

Quickly she devised a plan, and leaned out as much as she could through the bars. Loudly and obnoxiously, she called out.

“Hey! HEY! ” Manners were out the window and her persistent shouts eventually drew one of the guards, the Lawrence symbol emblazoned on a patch at his breast.

“What are you squawking about?” He demanded.

“It’s cold down here, and I have no manner of blanket.” Jean said.

“And I should give a shit, why?”

“Well, I do wonder how your boss, Schubert, would feel if his supposed bride-to-be suddenly became ill because she was left in a dark and chilly cell with nothing to bundle with once the sun went down.” She argued, putting on her best ‘Lawrence Clan Haughtiness’ impression she could. “Surely you can offer me that dignity.”

The mercenary grimaced and visibly seemed to weigh his options. Finally, with a gruff ‘wait’, he left.

Fifteen minutes later he came back with two thin-but-serviceable blankets.

“Here, now will you shut up?” He grumbled.

“For now.” Jean smiled sweetly, watching the man leave.

Perfect. Now she just had to bide her time. If she tried to act now, surely they would hear and intervene.

So she waited. She wrapped the blankets around her form and allowed herself the small comfort they provided as she waited. Two hours and a quick nap later, she resumed her efforts to escape.

She took the sturdier of the two blankets and began to wrap it around the weakened bar and the stronger one beside it. She glanced around as she realized that she would need some sort of a rod to act like a crank…

She didn’t have one. Still she refused to give up and simply used her own strength. Logistically it wouldn’t work, but on the off chance she could bend it, hold it, and squeeze through…

She had to take it.

The bar made little noise as she twisted the cloth with her hands, her ears tuned for the telltale sound of someone coming down the steps.

Time was lost as she struggled, the shadows in the cell moving along the floor and her hands beginning to chafe from the effort. On more than one occasion her hands slipped and the entire thing snapped back violently, unwinding and whipping at her before falling to the ground.

Her arms and shoulders burned, her hands were raw, and her body was tired. Jean picked up the wrinkled blanket and shook it out, wrapping it and the other one around her and sitting once more on the bed. She would try again, but for now she needed to rest.

Despite her attempts, her head was plagued with thoughts and the understanding that she failed.

She failed her Knights, she failed her friends, the Adventurer’s guild, her people…

She failed Kaeya; sent him to die.

He trusted her and her judgment. He believed in her, and she failed him.

That thought made tears burn in her eyes, her stomach sick and her head spin.

“I’m so sorry, Kaeya.” She whispered to the wind, wrapping the blankets around her form more tightly.

She needed to continue to fight, and she would. She would escape and help take her city back.

She told herself this, to keep her resolve. She made mistakes, and people died for it. She had no right to stop struggling. She owed it to every single person within the city to fight until she had no breath left in her body.

She would fight, and try to escape, even if she stripped all the skin from her hands in the attempt-

Shouts from outside her window pulled her from her reverie and she sat up straight. She then clambered up and hurried to the small window to peer out.

Her eyes widened in surprise; two figures in dark cloaks stood by the building directly across from the window, hastily marking the wall with paints.

She knew the windows were enchanted; she would never be seen or heard by anyone on the outside, so she didn’t bother calling out. Instead she observed.

What struck her first was the back of the cloaks, both emblazoned with what was unmistakably Kaeya’s constellation, with a peacock feather overtop it. The hoods bore two feathers where the eyes would be, and upon the wall the pair drew yet another feather.

Shouts continued and she heard the sound of charging boots. The pair took off, the Fatui only a few seconds behind them.

Once more everything went silent, and she simply stared at the feather painted upon the wall.

Tears welled properly into her eyes as any hope she had held of Kaeya’s survival were dashed. There would only be one reason why the people would do such a thing; to flock around the symbolism of the Cavalry Captain…

She grieved, yet in the darkness was the faint light of hope. Kaeya’s death gave the people of Mondstadt the will to resist, to rally behind his memory and fight for what he died for.

She took a deep breath in and wiped her eyes, standing up straight and once more steeling her resolve.

She would not break; she would fight until the end, just like Kaeya did. Just like the city was.

For Mondstadt, Always.

-

Day 2: Noon

More and more people gathered in the massive cavern deep below the city, and within them small groups began to form. Thankfully there was no in-fighting, and the ‘leaders’ of each little group sat around Kaeya’s bed for what was functionally a strategy meeting.

As they spoke Sister Grace, fortunate enough to escape the cathedral in time, treated his slow-healing wounds with skillfully gentle hands.

“Production of banners and cloaks is moving swiftly. Everyone we can spare with any measure of handicraft is working hard.” An old woman named Marlene reported with pride. “We do not have enough cloaks for everyone yet, but we can provide something to everyone, even if it’s just a bandanna.”

“Thank you very much.” Kaeya nodded. He felt a little egotistical for not only accepting the symbol, but encouraging the production of more articles. There were benefits to it, however. A symbol unified them, identified them; it told those above that they were there and they would fight .

“Many of my adventurers were captured or slain.” Cyrus reported, sadness in his tone. Kaeya hadn’t been surprised when he learned that he had managed to escape, though it was clear the guilt ate at him. Still, it was good Cyrus had evaded capture, and Kaeya had assured him of that. “The slipperiest and luckiest of us have managed to make it down here. We have some injuries, but Bennett’s hard work is making recovery come much faster.”

“We’re all lucky to have him.” Kaeya replied with affection. “What do we know of the status up top?”

“No real change.” Alfry, a ranking member of the Adventurers Guild’s Intelligence department, reported. “Everyone who hasn’t made their way down here is pretty well convinced you’re dead.” She paused, and continued more gently. “Master Diluc’s passing has also been declared, but it’s hard to say if it’s true or not. We have no way of verifying.”

Kaeya tried not to linger on that latter part, and fought down the sick sensation that threatened to well up. Still, he wasn’t able to prevent the wince of pain, and hoped it would be passed off as Grace’s fault. “My ‘death’ can be leveraged.” He forced out. “We should keep my survival a secret. Only those who make it down here should know.”

“How come, Captain? Wouldn’t morale improve if everyone knew you survived?” Herman crossed his arms with a faint frown as he spoke up. Herman was a valuable asset to their cause, and had taken up his blade to protect his wife and daughter during the attack. They had become separated at some point, and he made it a point to assist the best he could to take the city-and his family-back.

“Yes, the idea of Diluc and I both being lost can hurt the spirit of the people, however you’ve seen for yourself-you were part of it- the proactive nature that they have taken. They took it upon themselves to rally around my memory. We can weaponize that, use it to strike fear in the hearts of our enemies.”

“Perhaps one of us could behave as a puppet leader of the resistance?” Cyrus proposed.

Kaeya shook his head gently, lifting an arm with a more genuine wince as Sister Grace applied fresh bandages. “No, it’s best to leave them guessing. Just as our uncertainty on Diluc’s fate saddens our hearts, we can use the uncertainty of mine to put anxiety in theirs.”

The group nodded in silent assent.

Bandaging done, Kaeya pushed himself to his feet. “Gather everyone to the banner at the center of the chamber in an hour. Put a couple crates or something for me to stand on as well, please.”

“Yes sir!” The group dispersed, leaving Kaeya alone once more.

The chamber was comfortably warm, but despite how much window he tended to show with his normal outfit, finding a shirt seemed like a good idea. Giving a speech topless sounded somewhat in bad taste. His original top was long since abandoned due to holes and blood, and he was wrapped in so many bandages he was practically decent even without one.

Thankfully it didn’t take him long to find a shirt that fit both his body and tastes, a long V-Neck collar and billowing sleeves at the wrists. Very pirate-y.

He silently wished he had a mirror as he ran his fingers through his hair, beginning the process of finding a hairbrush and something he could use as a hair tie.

He only made it a few minutes into his search when the sound of rapid footsteps echoed from one of the tunnels, approaching quickly. Kaeya’s hand went for his blade, those nearby doing the same.

A blur of red and gold burst into view and everyone let out a collective sigh of relief as Kaeya beamed.

“Klee!”

“Kaeya!” Immediately the child was in tears and charged to him, latching onto him with enough force he winced. The click of familiar high heels followed as Rosaria emerged from the tunnel, inspecting her taloned gloves.

Kaeya knelt and hugged the child, noting that she wore one of the cloaks with his constellation; it seemed childishly done, and clearly she had made it herself. He felt warm affection and he hugged her back tighter, letting the girl cry on his shoulder.

“I’m so glad to see you’re okay. I lost you at the Cathedral.” He said softly.

Klee pulled away to look at him, tears still in her eyes. “Klee was so scared. Big Brother threw me aside from the giant men and told me to run. I didn’t want to, but I saw him get hit and then he stopped moving, and I was so scared-”

“Breathe, Klee.” Kaeya soothed as he stroked her hair, noting the absence of her red hat. “What happened after you ran?”

“I did what Big Brother said, and ran as far away as I could. I had to break the rules and use bombs inside the city-I’m sorry!”

“I assure you, Klee, you are the exact opposite of in trouble. Please, continue.”

A sniffle and a nod, she continued. “I found some people and hid, and then I heard that you- you-” Tears welled back. “Klee thought you were gone forever, they said you died. They started drawing feathers like your special pen. Said that ‘we’ll rally around your memory’.”

Kaeya wished he wore his coat so he could fish out a handkerchief for the girl. Rosaria seemed to read his mind and was at their side and offering hers.

Klee accepted it gratefully and wiped at her face, mercifully not blowing her nose into it.

“Sister Rosaria found where we were hiding, told us you were still alive and brought us here.” Klee finished.

“Thank you, Rosa. I appreciate it.” Kaeya looked to his friend, who waved it off.

“Just following orders and all that.” She dismissed. “I’ll leave the pair of you to it.”

Rosaria walked away then, leaving the two alone. Immediately Kaeya pulled Klee into another gentle hug.

“If you’re alive, does that mean Albedo might be alive too?” Klee asked, her voice a whisper.

“We don’t know for sure, but he’s stubborn just like me. I’m sure he’s fine.” Kaeya explained, watching the worst of Klee’s anxiety fade. “We’ll find and rescue him and everyone else, and then we’ll take our home back. You’ll help, right?”

“Yes! Klee is going to do everything she can to save everyone !”

“Atta’ girl” Kaeya smiled and pet her head again, which earned a smile from her. “Now, there’s a super important meeting about to happen, and I think I’ll have an equally super important job for you soon.”

Klee lit up even more, gleeful at the prospect of being helpful. “Klee will do the best job!”

“I know you will.~” Kaeya smiled more and pulled himself to his feet with a small grunt of discomfort.

Suddenly a voice broke through the crowd, shouting about something at Springvale; Kaeya couldn’t understand what was being said and began taking large strides over.

It was Bennett at the center of attention, an emblazoned bandanna around his neck. As soon as he saw Kaeya he lit up.

“Captain Kaeya! You need to see this!” He exclaimed. “It’s Springvale!”

It was only Bennett’s energy that assured Kaeya that nothing was amiss; he seemed almost inspired.

“Alright then, Bennett. Let’s see what’s got you so excited.” Kaeya chuckled, and gestured for the boy to lead them down the tunnels.

Rosaria, Venti, and Huffman followed along, the bulk of the curious masses instructed to remain behind lest they draw too much attention.

They all pulled on hoods to hide their identities; Kaeya wore the largest, which covered his form almost entirely and also served to disguise the limp in his gait. The small trip through the tunnels was difficult for him, but he was too stubborn to slow down their progress.

They climbed steps and went higher and higher until Kaeya could begin to hear the faint creak of a windmill. A brief moment of thought and Kaeya knew where they were about to come out from. One of the hidden access points that was hidden inside of the windmill on the upper level in the southern part of the city.

Just as he suspected, the group of them were fed into an empty grain mill. Rosaria carefully closed the hatch behind them and took up the rear.

Venti took point and snuck outside. A moment later he motioned that it was clear. At his signal, they all risked stepping into the sunlight and approached.

Kaeya winced slightly and tugged his hood down, following Bennett around the side of the Windmill to stand near the stairs. Excitedly the teenager pointed, all of their gazes following the line.

Venti laughed softly in a gleeful tone, Huffman let out an awed breath, and Rosaria puffed a faint ‘huh’. Kaeya simply stared out across the horizon; over the wall, across the water, and past the windmill of Springvale to see a massive bonfire, burning brightly.

“It seems the reports of resistance in Springvale were correct.” Rosaria said softly as she crossed her arms.

“Well then.” Kaeya smirked playfully. “Can’t let ourselves be shown up by them, now can we?”

Rosaria just rolled her eyes and Venti chuckled again. Even Huffman managed a small smile. They all knew the truth of Kaeya’s statement; he was just as overjoyed as they were to know they had allies, and planned on working as hard as possible to help take back the city.

“I think everyone below is going to be eager to hear what’s going on. Let’s go before we’re seen.” Turning on his heel, Kaeya headed back to the windmill, the faint glow of genuine hope flickering more strongly in his heart.

Chapter Text

Day 2: Early Afternoon

Everyone had begun to gather in the center of the massive room, and surrounded the large banner that had been erected the second they claimed the chamber as their base. As Kaeya had requested a few crates had been pushed together to make an elevated platform for him to stand on, which most people’s attention now fell to.

Bennett’s healing had done wonders for him but, much to his chagrin, Kaeya still found himself too weak to climb the waist-high stage without some help. Huffman was there to help and assisted him onto the platform, all while keeping Kaeya’s dignity intact.

Thankfully it appeared as though the display only hardened the resolve of those present, and reminded them of what they nearly lost, and what they were fighting for. Still, Kaeya knew they were looking to him for leadership, and with every ounce of strength he could muster he stood up straight and regarded them all.

Rapidly their ranks had swelled, so much to the point that he didn’t have an accurate count; a small army in its own right. He recognized Adventurers by their green uniforms, Knights by their armor and emblems, regular citizenry, and even some petty criminals that he himself had busted multiple times for pick pocketing. Among the number were also a small number of foreigners, mostly from Liyue.

At the front of the crowd stood those who had basically become his liaisons to the larger bulk of the resistance. Cyrus to the Adventurer’s guild, with Alfry and Vile working in tandem with the Intelligence Department as well as some of Kaeya’s own network, gathering information from the city. Herman had rallied some of the common folk, retired adventurers and martially trained civilians. Sister Grace worked with the nuns, and Rosaria found herself working with some of the shadier people in attendance.

It was slapdash, chaotic, and the only hope the city likely had.

Kaeya could work with that.

A master with words on a normal day, grand speeches were not among skills that Kaeya felt himself particularly suited. Still, he lifted his chin and straightened his posture, and immediately a hush fell upon the room. Every voice ceased in an instant as they saw the small movement, and all eyes rested on him.

Kaeya took a steadying breath, and did his best to project despite the discomfort as he began to speak.

“Our city is in peril.” He said, unsure where he was going but winging it anyway. “You have all seen with your own eyes the atrocities that our home has been subjected to. The Lawrence clan have seen it fit to try to wrest power from the people, to subjugate those they deem below, to return Mondstadt to how it was before the age of Venessa.”

A murmur of anger swept through the crowd. Kaeya took it as a good sign and continued.

“The Knights of Favonius were overrun, the Adventurer's guild blindsided, common citizens pulled violently from their homes and forced to flee. The Church gave sanctuary to all who could reach it, but the Lawrence Clan, with their hired mercenaries, their Fatui support, and their bold face disregard to the sanctity of Barbatos’s church, broke down the door and stole our liberty from us. They stole the city from us. They stole our Acting Grand Master from us!”

The crowd began to get worked up, energy buzzing through the room as Kaeya’s words began to have their effect.

“We all stood in unison; Church, Knights, Adventurers, and Citizen alike, and we fought back with everything we could, but against a surprise assault with such overwhelming forces, we were unable to win and those of us who could were forced to fall back. Acting Grand Master Jean bade those of us left to flee, remaining behind to slow down pursuit. She sacrificed herself for us, so we could continue to have a fighting chance. And here we stand, united under one banner against a common enemy.”

A rush of affirmations rippled through the crowd.

“Schubert Lawrence has decided that the Gunnhildr family is to be married into his, and made his declaration. Jean bid Eula and I to escort the Deaconess to safety, for the morale of the people and to give the city a chance with at least two of its captains evading capture.” He continued. “Eula and I successfully escorted the Deaconess to the outside of the city, bridging across Cider lake towards Wolvendom. I presume I need not explain what happened upon the lake, as there were many witnesses.” His wounds ached at the memory.

“Thanks to the selfless and swift actions of Bennett and the Adventurer’s guild, my life was spared. I was shuttled somewhere safe until I could begin to recover. In the time I was gone, however, you all took action. You rallied, you organized, you began to fight back long before I ever re-entered the picture.” Kaeya swept his gaze across the crowd. “The spirit of Mondstadt is strong within every single one of you, the drive for liberty, for freedom. You needed no leader to drive you to fight back; you did it all on your own and I could not be more proud of the place I call home, and the people I call my countrymen. Without so much as a mutual glance, the same sentiment has found its home in our fellows outside as well. Not long ago, upon the highest cliff by the windmill, the people of Springvale lit a massive bonfire; a signal of our unity and of their support. Together we will take our city back. We will drive back our oppressors, we will drive out the Fatui invaders, and we will return to the light victorious! ”

Despite the pain, he allowed himself to become more animated and held his fist in the air to punctuate his last word. The crowd broke into an echoing roar of cheers that reverberated across the high ceilings.

Kaeya glanced to the side and met the eyes of Venti, who looked at him with a warm affection that seemed out of place for the mischievous bard.

Kaeya lifted a hand and the roar settled.

“We must work together to win this; information and organization will be paramount. Listen carefully and I will explain everything we know for sure, as well as my plans for leadership.” Kaeya said, and reached down to accept the notebook held out to him.

“First off, because it would likely be a potential issue later down the line; Eula Lawrence.” Kaeya said, and immediately lifted his hand again to silence the dissent at the name. “I understand. She is of the same clan who has subjugated the city. However, according to our Acting Grand Master , and my own investigations , she is innocent. As a matter of fact, were it not for her swift actions, the entirety of the Knighthood would have been killed or imprisoned at the very beginning of the attack. Eula carried a warning, allowing the Headquarters to be evacuated before they were penned in.”

A confused hush fell across the crowd, the cognitive dissonance rendering them briefly dazed.

“I ask that, if you come across Captain Eula, you treat her with respect. Not only did she bring our Acting Grand Master a vital warning, but she also saw Barbara to safety outside the walls.”

Using Barbara as leverage seemed to work, as many of the Deaconess’ fans immediately shifted their stance with the new knowledge.

“Now. Onto more immediate issues. The status of the surface is as follows: The mercenaries and Fatui- we’re just going to lump them together as ‘the usurpers’ for the sake of simplicity- have confiscated every weapon and farming tool they could get their hands on. Not only that, but they have closed the market and began confiscating the majority of everyone’s food supplies.”

A series of nods, as most were already aware.

“We suspect that the goal is to starve the city into submission, as well as prolong the amount of time they have before being forced to once more open the gates.” Kaeya continued. “According to reports a resistance group has made their base at Springvale, which may be discouraging any attempts to bring in supplies from the outside; though we don’t know that for sure, yet.”

He flipped the page of his notebook and sighed softly.

“As for the state of the city’s original leadership. As best we know the Dawn Winery fell in the original attack; two pronged against it and the city, best we can tell.” He said as he forced himself to remain steadfast. The looks of sympathy and grief on the faces of those who already knew made him clench his jaw tightly. “While unconfirmed, there is a very real chance that Diluc Ragnvindr was slain in that attack.”

Most present knew, but those who did not let out gasps and verbal protests. Donna began to sob, her composure breaking. How Kaeya wished he could, too.

“The current statuses of the Acting Grand Master, Captain Albedo, the Librarian Lisa, and other members of the Knighthood administration are currently unknown, though it’s likely a safe assumption to say that Jean is still alive and simply imprisoned.” Kaeya went down the list. “Now, as for assignments.”

At this, everyone in attendance ceased chatter and fell silent once more.

“Our city is made up of a few groups; The Knights, the Adventurer’s guild, the Church, and common citizenry. Because of that, I will be splitting our teams somewhat accordingly. Cyrus will be in charge of organizing and directing what remains of the Adventurer’s guild. Alfry will take over the remains of the Intelligence Department, and be permitted to recruit from other teams as needed.” He had already told Vile to join her, but didn’t want to announce that to so much of the city.

“Sister Grace is in charge of the Church. Huffman, the Knights. Herman will organize the common citizens. Those unable to fight, or those skilled in weapon maintenance or crafting, please see Marlene. Anyone with any measure of skill in alchemy or potion making, see Timaeus.”

Already people had begun to shuffle around, and Kaeya had to whistle to reclaim attention.

“There is one last thing. This is for those of you with sticky fingers and a shady nature: Any and all charges for theft, vandalism, pick-pocketing, and similar, will be offered a full pardon if you bring your skills to the table. Anyone present who managed to avoid these charges, but have a history will be welcome too. I would like you to come see me directly for further instructions. Anyone else who feels like they will be a benefit to some guerrilla warfare and destruction of property, feel free to come up as well.”

Kaeya could immediately see a handful of people shuffling nervously.

“The leaders in question will take up spots along the circumference of the chamber. Make your way over to them in an orderly manner for further instructions. Remember always what we’re fighting for. For Jean, who gave us everything she had every single day for every single one of us. For our City, the home that has given us freedom and joy. For our Uncrowned King, who may very well have perished fighting tooth and nail against the very foe we now face. For the people of Springvale, who even now fight against tyranny; our allies across the water. Burning brightly upon the cliff side, a flame of defiance, a constant reminder that we are not alone, and that these tyrants are not in control ! We will win. We will take our city back!”

Once more the crowd exploded into applause and cheers, and Kaeya let himself exhale in exhaustion. He fanned himself lightly with the notebook and the people understood that he was now finished. They began to follow instructions once the cacophony died down, dispersing from the center of the room.

With a mix of confidant approach and hesitant shuffling, a notable group of people gathered around him. The demographics varied in age, gender, affiliation, and even nationality. Kaeya resisted the urge to smirk at the sight of the handful of adventurers who bashfully approached as well.

Kaeya saw as Jilliana attempted to join, though hesitant. With a pointed side-look from the captain, she halted; a silent conversation passed between them. Then, with a nod, she returned to the nuns.

Kaeya turned his attention back to the group and spoke in a more hushed tone as Rosaria appeared behind him. “So, I’m not going to ask any of you what your offenses are in front of everyone else. Once this whole mess is settled I’ll give each of you a document you can bring to the Knighthood once the city is retaken.” He began, sparing them all the indignity of listing their crimes. “So what I am hoping to accomplish here is simple: We are going to make ourselves the biggest, most massive pain in the ass that we can, in every possible way.”

Everyone in earshot perked up. Rosaria chuckled behind him.

“What I want is hit-and-run attacks. Wound them, kill them, I don’t care. We’re also going to steal everything we can get away with, and destroy everything else. Try to avoid the food supplies in your warpaths, though. The people are going hungry enough and we can’t afford wastage. Don’t hesitate to steal from it, though; we will need some of it.”

Glints of apprehension and excitement gleamed in the group’s eyes.

“Stealth is acceptable, but open harassment is on the table if you believe you can escape.” Kaeya continued to instruct. “I also want all of you to carry the materials needed to graffiti the absolute daylights out of the city walls. I want our banner to be on every surface you can reach; I want them to have the ever-present reminder that they have not won. The common citizens on the surface have already begun similar tactics, but they aren’t as equipped and are at more risk; they have nowhere to hide like we do. We should help them the best we can.”

More excited nods, and the hesitance and apprehension began to fade.

“You will all be under Sister Rosaria’s direct command. You answer to her, and she answers to me. Speak with her about what you feel you can or can’t do, and get outfitted with cloaks, hoods, and weapons. You will be our front line, so protecting your identities and lives is important. You will all be required to memorize the tunnel maps before you go out on missions; you absolutely cannot take one with you. If even one gets into the wrong hands, that could very well be the end of us.”

Rosaria walked forward then, and Kaeya was a little amused to see the group of them shrink back slightly.

“Go easy on them, huh?”

“No promises.” Rosaria replied, not even looking back as Kaeya walked away.

Slowly he shuffled to the rest area and sank onto his bed with a wince as his body ached. He hated how slow he was recovering and how thin his endurance was, but Bennett’s healing could only do so much, so fast. At least he could fight if it came down to it.

Footsteps and a giggle, and suddenly Venti plopped onto the bed beside him.

“A fantastic display, Captain. You sure you weren’t a bard in a past life?” Venti asked, a playful grin on his face.

“Why, feeling like your position as the ‘best bard in Mondstadt’ is in jeopardy?” Kaeya joked as he looked the little bard in the eyes.

Something in the bright green of his gaze struck Kaeya then. Under the veneer of humor was something substantial, something inexplicable that made him feel more at ease.

“I must confess, I didn’t think I was cut out for speeches.” He mumbled as he suddenly found honesty coming more easily. “Glad it went well, never thought I’d find myself in a situation like this.”

“The people love you, this is proof of that.” Venti assured as he stood. “That is the truth, and you have very clearly proven your love for them. This is going to make a wonderful ballad! I think I’ll start composing it now.~”

Venti hummed to himself as he let Kaeya be with his thoughts.

“Love the city, huh…?” Kaeya mumbled softly, running his hand through his hair. Once upon a time Kaeya had been placed there to spy on the city; to betray them when war started. To lie his whole life until the time came to turn his back on them all.

And yet here he stood, not only fighting tooth and nail for his city, but beloved by the people there. There was no question about it; he loved them all in return. Mondstadt was his home, and he would sacrifice everything to protect it.

He wondered then, if Diluc would be proud of him. The very thing they fought about; his dubious loyalty to friend and family… What greater show of sincerity than this itself…?

He just wished Diluc was by his side, now more than ever before. Even when they fought, he knew that if things came down to it he could count on him… He wanted his brother by his side more than anything else. He wanted Diluc to be okay. He needed Diluc to be okay...

Faint shuffling pulled Kaeya back into the moment, and a sleepy eyed Klee pulled herself silently up onto the bed beside him and laid down onto his lap.

With a faint chuckle Kaeya pulled her into a hug and laid down, allowing her to curl up against him and nap as he found a mild kinship in the girl who also worried for her brother.

Chapter Text

Day 2: Late Evening

Despite everyone’s insistence, Kaeya steadfastly refused to accept more rations than anyone else. He didn’t care if he was recovering from an injury; there were plenty others like him down there.

That being said, he hadn’t banked on being put in a headlock, dragged into a discreet corner, and force-fed by Rosaria. The nun had claimed that she had swiped something on the surface and as such didn’t need her ration.

Kaeya couldn’t know if she was telling the truth or not- she was someone he struggled to read even on a good day-, but she was one woman who he knew better than to argue with.

That and he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t grateful. As it turned out, recovering from three near-lethal bullets and having the healing process slowly accelerated made someone absolutely famished more often than not. The extra calories let him think more clearly, and so he decided to use that to be productive.

Bennett, despite having won a significant amount of favor among the people despite his chronic bad luck, was still gently and politely shooed from anything of importance. Eventually the boy found himself sitting beside Kaeya and staring blankly at the pile of documents on the Captain’s ‘desk’.

“Um, so how are you feeling?” He asked, breaking the silence that had hung since their initial greetings almost ten minutes ago.

Kaeya looked up from a hastily sketched street map to his savior and offered him a soft smile. “Better, thank you.”

“A-ah, that’s good! Do you want me to maybe try to heal you agai-”

“Thank you, Bennett, but it probably wouldn’t do anything right now, and we can’t risk you tiring yourself out on me when there are others who need you. You’re valuable, you know.” Kaeya gave the teenager his full attention, and turned in his seat to face him as he leaned an elbow on the crate/desk.

“But you’re still wounded-”

“Yes, and you’ve been invaluable in how speedy my recovery is, but the versatility of your powers means the individual strengths are not as focused. Barbara’s Vision is dedicated to healing, while yours also augments natural strength and draws in significant amounts of residual elemental energy to fuel nearby Visions.” Kaeya explained, reaching out to pet Bennett’s hair. “That’s to say; don’t feel like you aren’t helping just because you can’t fix the problem outright. Okay?”

Bennett sighed softly and gave a big grin, shaking his melancholy quickly. “Alright, I’ll keep my head up!”

“Good. Now, how well do you know the tunnels?”

“Really well! I worked hard to make sure I know every single one, so my bad luck can’t make me get lost!”

“Wonderful. One of the P.I.T.A. teams is about to strike and I’d like to find a place where I can observe it safely.”

Bennett blinked. “Peeta?” He asked.

Kaeya chuckled. “A silly personal joke.” He’d wave as he slowly stood.

“It stands for ‘Pain In The Ass’.” Rosaria explained in her approach. “So, do you not trust our capabilities, ‘Captain’?”

Kaeya held up his hands defensively and with a smile. “Quite the opposite, in fact. I’m actually hoping to witness with my own eyes the state of the usurpers when your teams do their work.”

“Surely you can have someone else get you that intelligence.” Rosaria argued, crossing her arms.

“No. I need to see it for myself. There are things people won’t look for; intuition that hasn’t been honed like mine.” Kaeya’s voice firmed and, based on Rosaria’s shift in expression, she knew she couldn’t dissuade him. “It has to be me.”

The nun huffed and began to walk away. “Very well, suit yourself. Do try not to get caught.”

“Do your jobs right and they’ll be too busy with you to even notice us.~” Kaeya laughed, earning a raised middle finger from Rosaria; which only made Kaeya laugh harder.

Alone again, Bennett scratched the back of his head. “Well, when did you want to go?”

“Best find a position soon.”

“You sure you aren’t worried about my bad luck?”

“Why ever would I be?”

“Um, well… I could get us caught, or...”

“Even if we get spotted, we’ll be just fine.” Kaeya said soothingly as he picked up a scarf and quickly put it on, letting parts of it rest loosely around his neck and shoulders. He then pulled his hair back and twisted it into a loose bun, letting it rest in a small pocket in the back of the scarf. “I didn’t get my Vision until I was almost an adult, so I spent many years finding ways to keep up with my brother.”

Bennett watched as Kaeya knelt and picked a couple small bombs from a satchel, holding them up. “I had Timaeus begin assembling these. Smoke bombs. We’ll have to be careful not to inhale the smoke when we set them off, so do keep your bandanna on your face, okay? The face coverings are doing more than hiding your identity.”

A few firm nods and Bennett accepted two of the bombs and put them in one of his pouches. “I’ll be careful, don’t you worry!”

Kaeya picked up his cloak and pulled it on, securing it. The bulk of the scarf and the cut of the garment hid his profile; were it not for the quality of the cloak itself, it was doubtful even allies could pick him out. “Good to hear.” He said. “Come on then, let’s go. I want to be in position before the others get started.”

-

Kaeya felt better than he had that morning, the extra food and the rest was enough that he didn’t feel as worn out by the time they reached the exit out into the dark Mondstadt sky. Dusk had passed about twenty minutes prior, and as such curfew was in place.

Bennett and Kaeya hugged the walls, keeping low and avoiding lamplight as they found vantage points to watch what unfolded below.

A half dozen mercenaries stood with a Fatui Agent and an Anemo boxer. Beside them was a wagon of crates, some sealed and some open and displaying their contents. This particular wagon appeared to be filled mostly with confiscated weaponry and potentially-dangerous-housewares.

Already Kaeya could see multiple ways the mission could be accomplished, and began running the various strategies through his head as he and Bennett waited for the show to start.

It began subtly. A block over some dogs barked, audibly agitated. Immediately all of the mercenaries jumped, weapons raised. Kaeya could hear as the Agent berated them, though the exact words were lost under the noise.

Kaeya then saw a shadow move and slip under the wagon. Another, around the corner of a building. One was on a nearby roof.

In that moment he realized what Rosaria’s plan would be for this particular mission, and immediately regretted asking Bennett to come along. He heard the boy hold his breath anxiously; it was too late for Kaeya to do anything and he offered the allogene a silent apology.

Then it happened. The figure-Rosaria, Kaeya would bet Mora on it- plunged down from the roof and ran a spear through the chest of the agent, killing them instantly. Immediately the spear was ripped from their chest and the figure engaged with the Anemo boxer.

Six others appeared from varying points in the shadows and descended on the mercenaries. Any noise that had been made was drowned out by the neighborhood dogs, and as quickly as it started, it was over.

“Oh Barbatos...” Bennett sounded like he was going to be sick, and Kaeya had to reach out to rub his back while cursing himself for his lack of foresight. Of course Rosaria would turn to this method… Sure Bennett had killed people in self defense, but this was an assassination . They didn’t have a chance and it happened with such cruel and cold efficiency that it was no wonder the kind hearted boy was disturbed.

“Just breathe.” He muttered softly, allowing Bennett to get up and shuffle away to fight off his nausea. The figures below continued to move quickly, going through the pockets of every single person before they turned to the contents of the cart and grabbed everything they could carry.

“Uh-oh.”

Kaeya ignored the protests of his body and spun, hand on his knife belt. Bennett had, in his attempts to calm himself, accidentally been stumbled upon by another Fatui agent, the pair so surprised to see the other that neither of them moved yet.

So Kaeya did instead. Three daggers were tossed in quick succession, each finding their mark. The agent hit the ground before he could utter a sound. Bennett remained stock still, and Kaeya silently apologized once more.

“We should get back underground before we’re spotted again.” Kaeya muttered, kneeling and fishing through the dead agent’s pockets. He found Mora, a wrapped sandwich, some blades, and a high quality leather-bound notebook.

He shoved everything wholesale into the satchel at his hip. As much as he hated it, he needed help and there was no undoing the damage, so he jerked his head to Bennett. “Help me.”

Hesitantly the boy did as he was asked and assisted Kaeya in moving the body towards the wall. “What are we doing?” He asked in an anxious whisper.

“Hiding the body so it’s not right next to the tunnel.” Kaeya explained. He guided Bennett into helping him toss their burden over the wall and to the grass below, which tumbled gracelessly and fell right off the edge. “Alright, now, back we go. Hurry.” Kaeya spoke louder in the hopes of muting the crunch as the body hit the bottom.

Bennett didn’t need to be told twice and the pair vanished back into the tunnels unseen.

-

Bennett excused himself as soon as they were back below and went to lie down, and Kaeya returned to his crate/desk to immediately examine the book.

It didn’t take him long to realize he had struck gold , and within ten minutes he called a meeting with every one of the team leaders. All but Rosaria were present, but he was sure she would arrive soon enough and began without her.

“Has something happened?” Cyrus asked immediately as they settled, his tone worried.

“Yes, but not in a bad way. Thanks to a bit of bad-luck-turned-good-luck from Bennett, I managed to get my hands on a very useful little book.” Kaeya began, passing the item to Herman on his left, who opened it and skimmed, his eyebrows jumping. “I think it belonged to someone of some rank.”

“This is- These names-”

“Spit it out, sir!” Cyrus exclaimed.

“A roster of all the prisoners currently being held in the Mondstadt prison.” Kaeya explained. “With only the smallest number of exceptions-Jean being the most notable- all of our unaccounted for Knights and Adventurers are listed inside, as well as some third party Vision holders like Mona.” Kaeya explained, watching the book be passed around. “It also has a list of names of people ‘confirmed dead’.”

“How do you know that for sure, Captain?” Huffman asked.

“Well, among those on it are people we ourselves have confirmed dead; as well as my own name. It seemed like a safe assumption.” Kaeya shrugged. “This book has given us all the possible information we could need or want about our own. Assuming the list is mostly correct, we know who we can’t count on to help, we know where to find our allies, and we have an idea on who likely managed to make it out of the city.”

“I don’t see Outrider Amber in any of these lists.” Huffman said, finally getting a chance to go over them.

“I did not see Fischl on any of the lists either.” Cyrus added.

“From what I can surmise.” Kaeya said. “Diona, Fischl, Amber, Razor, Eula, and Barbara escaped the city, or were outside of it during the initial assault. This is based on the fact that they aren’t on either list. Of course this is all guesswork based on partial information.”

“Um, Sir. If I may…?” Huffman spoke up hesitantly as he passed the book back over to Herman’s eager hands, who almost desperately began skimming the ‘confirmed dead’ list.

“What is it?” Kaeya gave Huffman his attention.

“Master Diluc’s name wasn’t in there either. Do you think it’s possible-”

“There were most assuredly fatalities outside of the city, but as best as I can tell none of their names are in this book. It seems like this record is strictly for inner-city affairs only.” Kaeya informed, his voice firm.

No further argument was made. Herman handed the book over after finishing going over the lists, visibly relieved, and Kaeya placed it on the ‘desk’.

“We need to focus on those we know we can help. I have a plan. I need a couple inner city maps, anything that could possibly be converted into explosive ordnance, and Klee.”

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Chapter Text

Day 3: Morning

“No news on Springvale?” Kaeya asked just before he popped a slice of apple into his mouth. The single red fruit was the entirety of his breakfast, as rations were painfully thin and little else could be spared.

“Since the sun has come up, street activity has increased and we’ve been unable to get good eyes on the village.” Vile explained. “Our informants who have disguised themselves as the oppressed up above have reported being unable to linger long in places where a clear view is afforded.”

“Trying to keep our beacon of hope hidden from the common eye.” Kaeya scoffed. “A useless attempt; we know of it, no amount of trying to hide it behind the walls will negate that knowledge. What about guard placements and patrol routes around the jails?”

“Recorded the best we can, but since we didn’t know they had re-purposed the jails, we didn’t have time to get a good idea on what their nighttime security is like.” Vile offered a small stack of hand-drawn maps.

With a grateful nod, Kaeya accepted the papers and flipped through them. “We’ll make it work. Thank you, Vile. Has Blanche finished our inventory?”

“I’m not sure. I can have her come see you.”

“Please do.”

With a nod Vile left, and in her place came a significantly more timid looking Timaeus.

“You seem a bit shaken.” Kaeya asked, smiling softly.

“Um, well, my interactions with Klee have generally been with Albedo acting as a buffer.” Timaeus said. “Are you sure we need this many explosives?”

Kaeya smirked, then, as he recalled the absolute glee of the Spark Knight once she learned what he wanted her to do. “Honestly, we may wind up needing more. You’re the best qualified to assist her; you are both familiar with her and the basics around what she’s doing.”

Timaeus seemed unconvinced. “I suppose so, but I’m afraid that the reagent to improve the explosive’s effectiveness is something I don’t think I can produce…”

“Do the best you can, and try to remind Klee that we need some of those charges to be controlled. There’s ‘wanton destruction’ and then there is ‘destroy wall without destroying the structure’. We don’t want to take the whole building down on the heads of our fellows.”

“Are you sure Albedo is inside?”

“Between the intelligence I found last night, and the reports from the scouts? Without a doubt.” Kaeya had been overjoyed the prior night, as the hopes on the well-being of many people of import were confirmed. They just needed to make a plan to take back their own.

With a faint nod Timaeus accepted the reassurances and returned to work, quickly being replaced by Blanche.

Kaeya was glad that everyone was working hard, and so far not a single person had been lax in their duties. The flip-side of that benefit was that Kaeya was the very top of the chain of authority and, as a result, everyone reported to him. That meant that time alone was precious, and he couldn’t even eat his apple slices in peace.

A small sacrifice, all in all, but it would still be nice to have a moment to turn his brain on just after waking up.

Blanche offered him a smile and a sheaf of papers. “This is everything we have. We’re being very careful with food rationing, but as we are we may only have a couple more days, even if we stretch what we have.”

Kaeya knew that much; everyone did, to an extent.

“I’ll see about shifting focus to food acquisition with the surface attacks.” Kaeya nodded as he flipped the page to see what else they had. A reasonable amount of weapons; most people who had managed to make it below managed to do so without having their weapons confiscated. They also had spare clothing- most of which had been repurposed as medical supplies and emblazoned banners. One positive thing Kaeya could see was that alchemical reagents had not been immediately confiscated and were thus able to make their way below.

With Timaeus and-hopefully soon- Albedo, they could turn the flow of their battle with a sudden influx of valuable tools. They would have to make or steal a proper alchemy table, though, but it was possible Albedo could work around that.

“Thank you very much, Blanche. Your hard work is appreciated.” Kaeya smiled at her. Returning it, Blanche turned and left.

No one else came to Kaeya’s side, but alas he wasn’t permitted time to rest. He stood with a faint grunt and made his way to the center of the antechamber as he popped the last of his apple into his mouth. He approached his makeshift ‘desk’, which had various seats made from barrels, crates, or actual stools, surrounding the outside of it.

With a respectful nod Kaeya settled down in his seat and looked to the others. Cyrus, Herman, Huffman, and Rosaria -the four leaders relevant for Kaeya’s current needs- waited for him to speak.

“So bomb production is going well, even if Timaeus is losing a couple years off his lifespan because of it.” Kaeya began.

“I must admit, even if it is lady Klee, I do worry about her making quite so many bombs...” Huffman admitted as he glanced anxiously to the manufacturing section of the massive chamber.

“I understand your concern, but for us to be able to reclaim our allies, it’s necessary.” Kaeya assured. He then pulled out a map and placed it on the table for them all to see. “So. The plan, as it stands, will begin around 11PM. Rosaria, your people are going to cause as much of a disturbance as you can; try to make it look like your normal breed of trouble-making. I need you to lure as many hostiles away from the jail as you can.”

Rosaria nodded, and Kaeya turned his attention to Cyrus.

“I need you to stand by with your best men and be ready to offer support in keeping backup away from the jail. When the Knights set and ignite the charge, we’re going to draw a lot of attention and so we’ll need to move quickly. It’s hard to say how many people will be too wounded to evacuate on their own. Herman, I want you to select a team of people who can be ready to drop an absolutely unreasonable amount of smoke-bombs when I give the signal. We will all take groups of the rescued and go here, here, here, here, and here. If we go as a large group, we’re liable to have the tunnels discovered.” Kaeya would mark on the map as he explained his plan, everyone watching closely.

“There is a lot that can go wrong.” Herman mumbled softly.

“There is, which is why I want everyone to bring at least one spare weapon to shove into the nearest pair of able-bodied hands. Those who can fight among those we save will be expected to fight. We won’t be able to get everyone out otherwise.”

“Do you feel like our risk for losses may outweigh the gains?” Cyrus asked.

“If we play it quick and careful? We should be able to get everyone out safely. So far our Sneaks have managed to be the source of grief I had hoped they would be, without a single person being captured or tracked so far.”

“That being said, the Fatui are putting more pressure to figure out how we’re doing our vanishing acts.” Rosaria spoke up. “It’s only a matter of time before the secret of the tunnels leak.”

“It’s a risk. None of this is without it.” Kaeya sighed. “But we have to take them, or else we’ll just be cowering in these tunnels, poking at the toes of a much larger beast. Those in Springvale are our allies, but we can’t put all of our hope in them.”

“Of course.” Cyrus nodded, Herman and Huffman following suit. After a moment, Rosaria did as well.

“Good. So, let's go over the plan one more time. Rosaria’s units will make a distraction in these places, and we’ll put Klee’s bombs here…”

-

The strategy meeting ran on for what felt like ages, but eventually the various group leaders understood and had branched off to begin organizing for the attack that night.

Kaeya sat in his chair for a few seconds, glancing around to see if there was anyone else in line to talk to him. Thankfully it seemed that, for the moment, he was left be. He exhaled softly and popped his aching shoulder before allowing himself to lean back and close his eyes. He basked in the brief moment of solitude before duty would pull him back to reality.

In this case, ‘duty’ would be ‘Sister Grace and Bennett’ coming to check his injuries.

Like the many times prior, Kaeya would be politely herded to the makeshift medical ward and behind a cloth screen. Though never one to balk from taking his shirt off, curious eyes tended to be drawn directly to the three nasty wounds on his back, so he was grateful for the privacy the screen offered when his bandages were removed.

Sister Grace removed the wrappings and cleaned the wounds with a masterful and clinical efficiency, and Kaeya was pleased to note that they only hurt slightly compared to the absolute agony of the last couple days.

“On a scale of one to ten?” Grace asked.

“A two.”

Kaeya could almost feel the glare boring into the back of his skull.

“Six.” He confessed quietly.

“Bennett, please see what you can do?” Grace accepted that answer and turned to their options. With an eager nod, Bennett approached and reached up to rest a gloved hand on Kaeya’s back, just below his neck and clear from touching any of the wounds directly.

Kaeya felt the Pyro Vision begin to summon energy, and despite having experienced this multiple times already, he still had to brace himself to keep from flinching away on reflex.

A wash of warmth flowed over him and the pain in his body faded once more. Bennett removed his hand and stepped back, and Sister Grace took his place to inspect.

“The healing isn’t going anywhere near as fast as it was the first few treatments, but you’ve still managed to make good progress. I would advise you to stay out of a fight, but I know at this point you’ll be taking up a sword no matter what I tell you.”

“You know me so well, Sister.~”

“Please be serious, Captain. Everyone is looking to you to lead us-”

“I’m aware, Sister Grace.” Kaeya spoke gently, stopping the lecture before it started.

With a soft exhale, Sister Grace nodded. “I will treat the wounds and re-bandage it. Start slow, and if you feel like they’re bleeding, come find me immediately.”

“Yes ma’am.~”

-

It wasn’t long after that exchange that Kaeya fled the nun’s grasp and hurried to his bed. He quickly found his sword from the underside and he looked at it like an old friend. His body was stiff and he was eager to do his foot drills for the first time in at least two days.

A scuff of a boot behind him drew Kaeya’s attention, and when he turned to look he saw a sheepish looking Bennett standing with his own sword. He also looked a little expectant.

“Well hello again, Bennett. Were you hoping maybe to spar?” Kaeya asked.

“Ah, well. You’re still hurt, so maybe not a full spar , but...”

“Some simple training exercises then?”

“If you feel up to it?”

“Of course. And right now, every ounce of practice is more vital than ever before. Come on, then.”

Wordlessly the pair made their way across the antechamber to another corner; this one had been turned into a slapdash training area, and hay bale dummies and makeshift archery targets lined the sides. Taking position across from one another, Kaeya smiled in faint pride as Bennett immediately fell into the correct stance.

“You’ve remembered what I’ve taught you. Very good.~” He praised, earning a beaming grin from the allogene.

“Of course! Your tips have been super useful and I can tell I’ve gotten stronger! I’ve even started watching you in the training yard and I’m trying to copy your style!” Bennett said as he immediately began to demonstrate.

Kaeya was, honestly, impressed by how almost identical their styles were.

“You really have been watching me, haven’t you.~” The captain chuckled. “You’ve built off what I taught you and intuited quite a bit beyond that. You should be proud. Alright, come on then. I’ve changed my mind on that spar.”

-

The two allogenes had gotten into it. Neither pushing particularly hard, Bennett out of fear of doing harm and Kaeya out of a desire not to exhaust himself before that night. Neither had time to truly begin to worry about such a thing, however, as that about thirty minutes into their training one of the scouts from the city charged into the antechamber shouting .

“The City! From the sky-!” They yelled as they stumbled and would have wiped out face first into the cobble were it not for several hands catching them.

“Calm yourself and explain.” Kaeya ordered, returning his blade to its scabbard as he approached.

“Food! From Balloons!”

“With more words, please?” Kaeya tried to hide his bafflement as a wave of confused mutters swept through the crowd.

“Two transport balloons were launched from Springvale, and they’re hovering over us. I couldn’t get a good look but they’re dropping nets of food from the sky into the city-”

Kaeya laughed, a surprised bark of glee. “Oh this I need to see. Thank you for your report, take a moment to catch your breath and be ready to give a full one when I get back.”

Bennett was on Kaeya’s heels as the Captain retrieved his embroidered cloak from the small crate by his bed, wrapping the scarf around his neck quickly before pulling it on. Rosaria also cloaked up, along with Huffman, and the four of them made for the surface tunnels to see what was happening for themselves.

Kaeya was pleased to see that even compared to the previous night, he was in far better shape and actually managed to outpace the others as they hurried through the tunnels. Cautiously he peeked through a peep-hole to ensure it was clear, and then pushed the door open to step inside of the windmill. He waited for the others to climb out after him as he discreetly caught his breath.

As soon as the door closed Kaeya had his hood up and went outside, turning his head to the sky to see what was happening.

Most artillery in the city was pointed skyward, uselessly aimed at the two balloons that even Kaeya could tell were well out of range.

He could recognize the bright red and white of Outrider Amber anywhere, and the purple sparks of Electro told him that Fischl manned the other balloon.

“What an ostentatious plan.” Kaeya praised with a grin, lifting his hand to shield the sun as he looked up at the pair throwing food down.

A gust of wind pulled one of the slimes in their direction, the trajectory carrying it even after an arrow popped the slime and allowed the load free of it’s hold. From the netting various root vegetables fell free, and Kaeya heard the telltale ‘ ow! ’ of Bennett having been greeted by one of them.

“Watch your head.” Kaeya could only chuckle, reaching out to catch what seemed to be one of thousands of fluttering pieces of paper. He carefully unfolded it in his fingers, and felt his heart stutter at the words written.

‘We’re coming for you.’

Kaeya could only smile, and tucked the slip of paper into the wrist of his glove between the outer layer and the wrist padding, safe from sweat but not going anywhere.

“Hey!” A voice shouted from behind them, and the four turned to look at a small group of mercenaries.

“Ah, new friends. Let us thin the numbers of our oppressors before we go, hm?” Kaeya smiled more and drew his sword, hearing the slide of metal from sheathes and the telltale ‘whoosh’ of a spear behind him.

What was originally a small group of five mercenaries quickly turned into that and a half dozen Fatui agents who were nearby.

They had it in hand, thankfully, but Kaeya wound up having to help cover Bennett as the boy had managed to have his leg grazed by a thrown dagger. Rosaria and Huffman were valiant, and between the three of them they gave Bennett the time he needed to heal the worst of the injury and return to the fight, only to narrowly avoid having his head removed from his shoulders.

A dagger lashed out at him, deflected at the last second by one of Kaeya’s own, and the blade tore through the side of the bandanna around Bennett’s neck rather than skin.

The cloth fluttered away to be lost in the wind and none of them cared to retrieve it, instead choosing to focus on their retreat.

“Watch your nose!” Kaeya warned, watching Bennett bundle his face into his cloak before he ignited the smoke bomb. Using the bloom of obscuring smog as cover, the four of them finally retreated through one of the tunnels and made their way back to the antechamber.

With this newfound bounty Kaeya knew they had an opening; and by Archons he was going to take it.

Chapter Text

Day 3: Morning

Jean hated to admit that, despite her best efforts, her progress on escaping was going nowhere. She had to accept the fact that she was not going to be able to bend the bars without a tool to wind the blanket with.

At that point she had begun to rest, giving deep thought towards possible ways to acquire what she needed as she waited for the activity at the top of the stairs to cease. She closed her eyes to listen and quickly realized that was doubtful. Schubert’s voice carried down the stairs through the window in the door, and was most assuredly going to come pay her a visit soon.

“Those damn feathers are everywhere. Why do they even care about some outlander dog! He was trying to run away like the peasant coward he is!” He complained, making Jean’s hands clench painfully into fists. “They’re all taunting me, I know it! They’re out to get me! You said I would be protected!”

“And you will be. These resistance peons will realize soon enough how hopeless this whole thing is.” Another voice said. “Have faith in your allies, Schubert.”

“That’s King Schubert to you!”

A long-suffering sigh. “ ’King’ Schubert.”

“Hmph, and make sure you remember.”

Then the metal door creaked as it opened and steps began to descend; at least three. Jean continued to look to the wall, waiting until he came into view out of her peripheral vision. She could see a condescending grin on his face as he looked at her, two Fatui agents at his sides; a security escort, clearly.

“Good morning, my bride. How are you faring this lovely day?~”

Jean slowly turned her head and leveled him a flat look, lifting her eyebrow and trying to channel the combined sass of both of the Ragnvindr brothers into her expression.

Schubert scoffed. “Insisting on being difficult still, I see.” He muttered. “You should just accept it. You can leave the cell, live in the luxury nobles like us deserve. Maybe one day you can even take back some of the power you once wielded.”

“Power means nothing to me.” Jean replied, hard.

“Perhaps, but don’t you care about your people? If you do as I say, they’ll stop fighting; none of them have to get hurt.” Schubert changed tactics, and that only annoyed her more.

“Why don’t you take everything you just said, and shove it clean up your a-”

“ EXCUSE ME? ”

The indignance in Schubert’s voice was enough to make Jean actually laugh, which only served to upset him more.

“The people will never stop fighting, and Sir Kaeya’s death upon Cider lake does not mean you are free of him. He was a Vision Holder; a people who have history of ascending to godhood. He died a hero, and I have no doubt that, in some way, his spirit is coming and will destroy you personally.”

Schubert’s anger turned into palpable fear, quickly hidden by exaggerated anger.

“No ghost will do me in! I have power, blades at my side, the Fatui’s support! You and yours will never win, and I will remain King for the rest of my days!”

“Which are likely far shorter than you think them to be.”

“Perhaps I should have your tongue cut out if you continue to behave in such a manner; a wife doesn’t have to be able to sp-”

“Sir! Uh- King Schubert!” A voice shouted down the stairs.

“ What ? Can you not see that I’m busy here?”

“The Springvale resistance! They’ve launched… uh… food, sir.”

“ What!? ”

“What?”

Jean and Schubert said in unison, Jean turning to look out the window to the sky.

High above she saw the transport balloons and thousands of slips of paper falling in the breeze like confetti, all while nets of food fell to the ground below.

One of the many slips fluttered through her window. Jean reached up a chapped hand and caught one. Smoothing it carefully in her fingers, she inspected the words upon it.

“ We’re coming for you.” She read out loud, and turned to give Schubert a smug look. “Words of comfort and threat. You see now the ingenuity and determination you are up against. The people of Mondstadt will never fall, even divided. You will never win .”

Schubert seemed to lose the ability to articulate, and simply stormed back up the stairs.

Basking in her small victory, Jean couldn’t help but smile warmly through the window. “Good job, everyone. You can do this.” She whispered.

-

Day 3: Late Morning

“You okay, Bennett?” Kaeya asked once everyone was safely back in the tunnels, keeping pace with the others as they hurried back to the antechamber

“Yeah, I lost my bandanna and took a small cut, but it’s not even bleeding anymore.” Bennett assured with a smile.

“Good.”

That was as far as their conversation went as they spilled out into the chamber, every pair of eyes on him. Kaeya kept his sprint, the crowd parting seamlessly to give him room to run and leap up onto the ‘stage’.

“People of Mondstadt! Our allies in Springvale have sent us a boon! From the sky they have hurled food supplies to the people above! And with it a message of hope!” Kaeya declared. “All surface agents, go up top and gather everything you can from Fatui occupied areas; the common citizen will not be able to retrieve them and I’ll be damned if we let those bastards have it.”

A cacophonous cheer and every available surface unit charged off for the tunnels, yanking on cloaks and taking up arms as they did.

“Everyone else! A change of plans! This incident will most assuredly earn negative attention. It’s almost guaranteed that Schubert will order an assault on Springvale, which means a majority of their forces will be preoccupied.” Kaeya continued. “We are moving our timetable forward! We are to mobilize as quickly as we can and wait; as soon as the attack on Springvale begins, we will launch our breakout plan while opposition is weakened! Prepare yourselves!”

Another wall rattling cheer, and people got to work.

-

Another quick meeting amongst leaders; Kaeya had to make some last minute changes.

“You want to be part of the entry team?” Huffman asked, concern in his voice.

“Yes. I’ve sat on my laurels long enough. Bennett’s efforts have put me close enough to fighting fit that I refuse to hang back while everyone else risks their lives.” Kaeya explained. “Now drop it, I’m going. This is what we’ll be doing, and here is where we’ll plant the charges. Prepare your teams and get into position, be ready to charge through the tunnels as soon as the signal is given.”

-

The surface teams returned with a bounty, successfully having retrieved a vast majority of the resources that had fallen into citizen-inaccessible areas, and assaulting mercenary and Fatui alike for anything they could make off with. It was enough that they wouldn’t have to worry about food for at least a day and a half, three if they kept rations as meager as they had been.

The ‘kitchen’ staff set to work preparing a meal for when they returned.

-

Day 3: Afternoon

Fatui and mercenaries prepared. So did Springvale, and so did the resistance. The fighting started and they moved.

Kaeya led the charge of his own group with Klee at his heels. Venti, Rosaria, and Bennett were each put with a separate team; an allogene was valuable and it was foolish to clump them all into a single unit. He needed Klee because she was the one who would set and ignite the charges, and he would be damned if he left a child alone to do that.

Cloaked and armed, the units burst out of the tunnels all at once and converged on the meager remains of the guard detail, taking them down.

Kaeya remained at Klee’s flank as the girl carefully placed the explosives where she was asked, humming a small fanfare as she finished.

“Klee is done! Boom boom!”

“ Everyone fall back!” Kaeya shouted as he and Klee ran to safety with the others.

Klee waited until it was clear and tossed a flame, igniting every single bomb at once.

The explosion was powerful and made the ground under their feet vibrate. Everyone from the resistance had stuffed cotton in their ears, but he was positive any Fatui or mercenaries in the area  now had ruptured eardrums. He just hoped those in the jails escaped such a fate thanks to the layers of stone.

“Breach!” Kaeya ordered again, leading the charge through the giant hole in the wall.

Kaeya’s key ring had remained attached to his sword-belt, which had come with him during the original attack. Thanks to that, getting into the jails themselves was as simple as unlocking the door.

He rushed down the stairs, Klee again on his heels, with the rest of his unit following closely.

Going down the line, Kaeya quickly unlocked each jail cell he came to before moving on to the next. Those behind him then handled the people inside, briefing and arming them.

“Big brother!” Klee shouted as she charged ahead, stopping at the very last cell and grabbing the bars.

“Klee!” Kaeya could hear Albedo’s voice, and saw the black outline of his gloves as they gripped his sister’s hands. “What are you doing here?”

“Kaeya is leading a breakout!” Klee exclaimed, which was met with a sweeping series of exclamations ranging from surprise to disbelief.

Kaeya finally reached the cell in question and skimmed it over. He could see Mona laying down towards the back, Noelle by her side. Sucrose stood just behind Albedo, and Lisa leaned against the wall. None of them looked like they were in particularly good shape. Albedo sported a gnarly and slow-healing bruise on the side of his face, and Lisa was scraped and disheveled. Everyone else was in some state of undress; all having mobilized in a hurry at the crack of dawn.

“Surprise.~” Kaeya could only grin as he unlocked the cell door, permitting Klee to leap in and hug her brother.

“Come on, let's go!”

“How did-”

“Later. Let's get your Visions and get out of here. Do you know where they are?” Kaeya interrupted any questions.

Albedo, bless his pragmatic soul, was able to temporarily shelve his curiosity and focus on the task at hand. “In the armory, the best we can tell. Mona is very sick; she’s been feverish and vomiting since even before the attack. She was just picked up and carried here from her home, apparently, too sick to even comprehend what’s happening.” He explained.

“And now?”

“She’s still delirious. We’ll have to carry her to safety.” Noelle reported.

“Alright.” Kaeya nodded and looked down the hall, quickly assessing the people present. “Cyrus!” He selected.

The burly adventurer looked over.

“I need you to carry Mona to safety! The rest of us are going to break into the armory and get their Visions back!”

“Yes sir!”

Kaeya looked back to the others. “Trust them, let's go.”

A sweep of nods and the others tailed behind Kaeya.

“Distribute extra weapons to those able to fight and deploy smoke screens! Fall back to the tunnels as quickly as you can!” Kaeya ordered as he led the charge through the jails and up the steps.

The group of allogenes burst back into the main hall of the jails, immediately pulling to a stop as they were faced with a group of mercenaries and Fatui. Kaeya pulled the keys from his hip and held them out to the nearest person.

“Go to the armory, get your Visions. I’ll hold them off.”

“I will remain as well.” Albedo said simply, cracking his knuckles. “I do not need a Vision or a weapon to be a threat.”

“Klee will help too!”

“Klee, I need you to escort everyone else out safely. We’ll be fine.”

“But-”

“Do as I say, I’ll see you soon, promise.”

Albedo’s words were soft and soothing, but only earned a teary look from the girl before she did as she was asked. Turning, she charged back to the jails to assist their escape.

Lisa, Noelle, and Sucrose all skirted the wall for the stairs as the exchange happened. Immediately one of the Anemo boxers moved to intercept, only to be met with Albedo’s fist. The small man struck with such force that the boxer stumbled back, and before he could recover the allogene was a blur.

Kaeya didn’t have time to reflect much on how swift and terrifying Albedo was capable of being, but he was of the personal opinion that Albedo wielding a blade was a handicap.

Kaeya’s focus shifted to the foes in front of him, and moved to stand between them and the door as cryo manifested around his form. Spears and blades of ice sculpted themselves around him and lanced out at his targets, some striking true while others shattered against the far wall. At one point during the fight the Anemo boxer that Albedo had been fighting was hurled bodily into a group of mercenaries, bowling them over and taking them out of the fight.

Soon enough lances of lightning tore through the ranks, followed quickly by violent bursts of Anemo that sucked them all into a group, followed up by Noelle hurling herself into the air with her gigantic mace and bringing judgment down upon them.

Kaeya whistled to the jail door, catching Lisa politely placing Albedo’s Vision in his palm with a smile.

“It’s clear! Move!”

The door was a bottleneck, but everyone moved as quickly as possible. Those injured or carrying others were towards the center, while those armed and able to fight took the outside as they flooded out of the doors.

“With me, I’ll take you to a tunnel access.” Kaeya gestured for them to follow, leading them outside-

-and directly into another massive brawl against a surprisingly large number of hostiles.

“Imagine what this would look like if they weren’t attacking Springvale.” Kaeya muttered, which earned a concerned look from Sucrose. “Come on then, let's thin their ranks a little more!”

Albedo, envisioned once more, took his melee prowess to the next level and encased his fists in solid stone and turned anyone unfortunate enough to get in his way into paste. Lisa’s lighting arced with perfect precision, causing mercenaries to drop their weapons or drop dead themselves.

Noelle’s Geo power resonated and healed the wounded in proximity as she tore through the defensive lines like a wrecking ball, allowing the crowd to proceed.

“Separate and fall back!” Kaeya ordered, watching the crowd begin to splinter off into almost a dozen directions, massive smoke screens being dropped and obscuring all visibility.

Those unsure of where to go fumbled blindly, but within a minute a vast majority of them had found tunnel access and vanished with nary a sound.

I'm absolutely floored by how fast you guys work sometimes.

Gifted by Zara!

Gifted by Babs!

Chapter Text

Day 3: Late Afternoon

Jean was pulled roughly from her cell, had her hands bound behind her back, and was ‘escorted’ up the stairs and into her office, which had clearly been taken over by Schubert if the tacky art and ostentatious chair were any indication.

The most annoying part was they had retrieved her during one of the few naps she had allowed herself, so not only were her hands and wrists throbbing from the too-tight restraints, but she was groggy .

She only half listened to Schubert’s rambling at first, but tuned in when she heard mention of Springvale.

“-As we speak, my men are attacking that pathetic hunting village and it will stop being a problem soon enough.”

Jean had words, but opted to remain quiet and just let him yap. She figured just giving him stupid looks and no feedback would be annoying to him; she seemed to be correct.

“Do you think that standing there silently is going to get to me?” He demanded. “Your pathetic friends across the lake will be dead within the hour, and after them we’ll crush this pathetic resistance inside the walls.”

“You aren’t going to win. Especially with the ease you seem to think.”

“I absolutely will. That dead outlander dog is still a thorn in my side, yes, but not for much longer.” Schubert snarled as he stalked around the desk. He grabbed the bindings on Jeans wrists roughly, and forced her along as they left the room; the two Fatui agents followed behind them.

It only took Jean a moment to figure out where they were going, and soon enough she was shoved into Kaeya’s office, which had mercifully left untouched-for now.

The two guards followed them into the office, but were waved off.

“She’s bound, nothing to worry about. Wait outside the door.”

With shrugs the pair left, leaving Jean alone with her captor. He left her to stand in the middle of the room as he walked to Kaeya’s desk, sitting down and putting his feet up on the desk.

“Look at this office. Bland and tasteless, yet still too great for someone as lowly as him. How such an unwashed bug came to be your beloved right hand, I will never understand.”

Jean clenched her jaw.

“I don’t know how many times I need to remind you that he abandoned you and everyone else. Sure, he was running off with your sister, but that just means she too is a coward; as well as that traitor to the Lawrence name.”

Leaning back Schubert smirked, clearly making an attempt to appear intimidating. “I will not be spooked by phantoms and dead men. Your and your people’s efforts are in vai-”

Schubert’s eye was drawn, then, to a colorful plume of green and blue, and he immediately launched himself from his desk with a ragged inward gasp.

Jean blinked in confusion as she looked to the source of Schubert’s distress; Kaeya’s personalized Peacock feather pen, which sat in the same spot it always did.

“I knew it ! They are after me! How did they infiltrate the manor-”

Schubert’s panic made him drop his guard, and Jean would be damned if she didn’t take her chance. Arms still bound she charged and used her leg to sweep the false king off his feet, sending him to the ground hard. The impact made the oversized crown fall from Schubert’s head, rolling pathetically across the room before it came to a stop.

Immediately Jean’s knee wrapped around his neck, her other leg following to trap his head between her thighs; and she began to squeeze .

Jean had, in one of her very few vacations, been goaded by Kaeya to see if she could crush a watermelon between her thighs.

She’d succeeded.

The door burst open and the two guards rushed in, quickly trying to free their charge. She refused to let go, the vice-grip making Schubert’s face turn blue as he desperately scratched her legs for freedom.

It wasn’t until one of the agents kicked her in the head with enough force to knock her out that she let go. She came back to reality seconds later with a groan, blood in her mouth.

Suddenly she was hauled up, the room spinning violently as she was forced to her knees. Schubert looked down at her with murderous scorn.

“Just give up already.” He rasped. “The harder you fight, the more painful your eventual defeat will be.”

Jean spat blood on his shoe.

With a swear, Schubert demanded she be brought back to her cell. Wordlessly Jean let herself be hauled to her feet, just smirking at him in her best Kaeya way as she was hauled off. She watched, gleefully, the shiver of anxiety run up the man’s spine.

Before they could leave the room, however, the ground under their feet shuddered violently. Alarm and surprise swept across them all before all of their gazes turned to look out the window.

Plumes of smoke rose into the sky, the sounds of shouting faint in the distance.

Jean only smirked more.

“Get her out of here I said!” Schubert shrieked as he stormed out of the room. His yell was audible from down the hallway. “What the devil is going on out there!? I need a report!”

-

Every rescued prisoner made it underground safely, and not a single member of the resistance had been lost in the mission. A resounding success that put everyone in good humor; which only grew upon learning of Springvale successfully routing their attackers.

Due to the extra food supply and skillful cooking to stretch what they had, the chefs managed to make enough stew for everyone to have a hearty bowl-large enough to make up for the thin meals of the last couple days.

Stomachs full, morale high, and family and friends reunited, the air was filled with enough cheer that Kaeya didn’t feel the ache of his agitated wounds.

He sat with his fellow knights, Klee curled up and clinging tightly to her brother’s waist. Lisa nursed a cup of tea and Sucrose did what Kaeya could only describe as calisthenics. Noelle had immediately busied herself with the medical teams, using her skills and powers to heal the sick and injured the best she could. Mona was still out for the count, and they could only begin to guess what had managed to take her out so thoroughly.

Albedo had refused treatment, citing others needing it more, so the bruise was still visible and painful looking. Kaeya had, naturally, fretted over him until he was told firmly to worry about himself.

“I’m not the one that nearly died out on that lake.” He had said.

“Oh he’s just worried about you, sweetie.” Lisa teased.

“He is not the one who spent the entire time thinking the other was dead.”

“Aw, you do care.~” Kaeya chimed in with a smile.

“Of course I care, you’re my friend, even if you’re absolutely insufferable.”

“I will choose to take that as a compliment.”

Playful banter continued until finally they settled onto more important topics: Jean.

“I was told Jean was separated from us at the cathedral. I was unconscious at the time, I’m afraid.” Albedo explained.

“I was flickering in and out. I heard them say they were taking her to the ‘reclaimed Lawrence mansion’.” Lisa added.

“So HQ. That makes sense; they’ve cleared all civilians from around it and the Goth grand hotel. Citizens are being crowded into tight quarters, forced to share living spaces as their homes are occupied by mercenaries and Fatui.” Huffman said, having found his way over as the conversation progressed. Cyrus sat beside him, and even the newly freed Wagner had appeared at some point.

“Our next course of action should be to try to rescue Jean, but the issue is that the place is heavily guarded.” Kaeya frowned. “Even with our current numbers, we would have a hell of a time getting her out...”

“Jean would never tolerate the losses we would suffer in the attempt.” Albedo sighed. “She would rather us do whatever else we could until a safer opportunity presented itself.”

Kaeya frowned, knowing full well Albedo was correct but unwilling to verbally admit it.

“For now, let's begin preparing. Sucrose, Albedo, I would like you two to begin making as many tools as you can. Electro and Pyro grenades, defense and stamina boosting potions, Anemo in a jar, you name it.” Kaeya began to instruct. “Anything you feel like can be useful. I’d also like you to develop a reagent to improve the effectiveness of explosives.”

That last request earned a lifted eyebrow from Albedo, but thankfully no verbal complaint.

“Wagner.” Kaeya continued. “I’d like you to go over our weaponry supply. Repair what you can, distribute what’s serviceable. Most of our own have weapons already, so you will likely only need to concern yourself with those we have rescued, and those making due with sub-par armaments. Once everyone is equipped, I’d like excessive weaponry to be sent topside and secretly handed out. After that, make as many spears as you can.”

“Spears?” Wagner asked.

“Yep. Plain, they can easily be disguised as brooms. They provide a massive reach and are easy to get the hang of. I want to give them to anyone who has no real martial training, but still wish to help in the fights.” Kaeya explained, earning a nod of agreement from the blacksmith. “Not only that but it’ll piss Schubert off royally and I’m not about to give that up.” Kaeya added, which earned a chuckle from Lisa.

He then turned to the lethal looking nun at his side. “Rosa, when your people deliver the weapons, see about having any spare cloaks and regalia delivered as well. I have a feeling that all of this may be coming to a head in the next day or so.”

“Why do you say that?” Rosaria asked.

“It’s a gut feeling, and more often than not I tend to be right.” Kaeya smiled.

-

Day 3: Night  

Aside from the guardsmen, most of the people in the antechamber had settled into sleep. At periodic intervals teams of surface units would come and go from varying tunnels, carrying spoils of their mission or smelling of smoke.

Kaeya had allowed Albedo to claim his bed for a while, to get his first comfortable night of sleep since the entire mess started. Klee was tucked tightly into his chest, and the siblings slept soundly as Kaeya sat on the ground, his back to the frame as he worked.

Quiet moments like these were something Kaeya had mixed feelings on. On one hand it was nice to have a moment to rest but, on the other, his mind had a tendency to wander.

Wander towards regrets, mistakes. Towards what he’d lost and what he’d squandered. Wander towards the painful uncertainty of his brother’s fate; the grief of losing him and the hope of his survival, which battled constantly in his heart.

Kaeya occupied himself by flipping through maps and reports as he attempted to chase away the turmoil that had latched itself in his soul; he couldn’t afford to break down yet.

He could, and would, grieve once it was all over.

The sound of Rosaria’s footsteps were a welcome distraction, and he looked up from the documents that had failed to silence his inner thoughts.

“Hello beautiful. What can I do for you?” He asked playfully as he turned to face her-

Only to stand quickly at the sight of dried blood down the side of her face, the papers scattered and forgotten on the floor in his haste.

“Relax, I’m fine. I had Noelle patch me up; I just haven’t washed yet.” She waved him off immediately, and took a half step back before he could touch her.

“What happened?” Kaeya asked, trying to calm his heart, which pounded so hard he felt dizzy.

“Schubert is putting the squeeze on us; they laid a trap and got the drop on my team. We lost one, and I very nearly ate it myself.”

Kaeya’s brows furrowed. Up until that point the hit-and-runs had been going off flawlessly, but it was only a matter of time before their enemy wizened up.

“Schubert is having them make a conscious effort to find out where we’re coming from.” Rosaria continued. “We managed to avoid being spotted in our retreat, this time .”

Kaeya looked aside, crooking his finger at his chin. “I don’t want to lessen the attacks; if they’re responding like this then clearly it’s working, but...” He paused, then sighed, and then made a decision. “Move priorities. Go for smaller clusters of enforcers-single patrol units, and focus on supply distribution. Erect our banners and draw extra graffiti.”

“Awfully passive; is your resolve waning, Captain?” Rosaria asked firmly.

Kaeya smiled with mock offense. “The people of Mondstadt are more than pawns to be placed in danger just to serve our goals.” He said. “And falling back for a bit will give Schubert the impression that he’s won; it’ll disguise our true actions for the moment, and will let them lower their guard.”

With a huff, Rosaria nodded in acceptance. “So, given all of that, there is something you may be interested in knowing- give me that.”

Kaeya watched as Rosaria snatched some of the maps from the floor at random, flipping through them before finding what she needed. “Here. This house by the Goth grand hotel, just next to the windmill, has been repurposed as a supply depot. It’s stocked to the gills with weapons, food, and other resources. All emblazoned with the Fatui symbol.” She would explain as she pointed at the map. “It’s safe to assume these supplies will not be shared with the citizens.”

“I see… It’d be an awful shame for our oppressors if it… went away.~” Kaeya smiled slyly. There were risks, of course; taking away the oppressor’s food stores would possibly lead to them taking more from the mouths of citizens. On the other hand, it would also hasten the necessity of them having to open the gates- and for them to walk into the angry maw of Springvale and their allies.

“It would be a dangerous mission; it’s right in the heart of occupied territory.” Rosaria said.

“I’ll just have to go myself, then.” Kaeya smiled.

“Not alone you aren’t.” A sleepy Albedo argued, reaching out to blindly smack at Kaeya’s hip. “Now take your scheming elsewhere; some of us are trying to sleep.”

With a laugh, Kaeya obliged and walked away with Rosaria, his mind already spinning with plans for their next attack.

Chapter Text

Day 4: Before Dawn

Kaeya stretched his body carefully after his newest round of healing, this time from Noelle. He felt amazing, though still not quite 100%. He was fairly certain another day or two would be all it took before his bullet wounds were just an unpleasant story.

Every Allogene available sat in a circle as they went over their plans, and Sucrose’s eyebrows furrowed.

“This has a lot of potential to do a significant amount of additional property damage.” She said as she looked up from the plan.

“I think it’s perfect. Buildings can be rebuilt and belongings replaced. Liberty is something harder to reclaim.” Venti defended, an unfamiliar look of seriousness on his face. “I’d only be concerned about harm coming to those in the city.”

“Kaeya instructed my units and I to go to every home and warn the people; they will all be wearing some sort of ear protection and taking cover between the times of dawn and whenever the explosion happens.” Rosaria explained, then glanced at Kaeya. “Awfully risky, announcing our plan like that.”

“We’re liable to be faced with a dangerous amount of resistance no matter what we do; I’d rather avoid harming those we are sworn to protect than keep the element of surprise.” Kaeya argued gently. “Now, Albedo, have you finished that reagent?”

“I have, though I’m concerned about the sheer quantity of it you’ve asked me to produce.”

“I want to turn that building into a vague recollection, to send a message.” Kaeya’s voice dropped slightly, an undertone of resentment as he stared at the wall. “Anyway, let's gather those coming with us and begin. Ensure everyone has adequate ear protection.”

“Are you sure you want to bring every single Vision holder?” Rosaria asked.

“This mission is risky for a lot of reasons; we’ll have the best luck if we only bring our absolute best; which includes every Vision who can fight.” Kaeya cast a glance to the infirmary which held a bedridden Mona; still laid out and miserable.

“I’ve never seen anyone sick quite like that before. Well, aside from you the morning after a binge, but that normally only lasts a few hours.” Rosaria mused, which earned an offended ‘hey’ from the Captain.

-

The plan was, compared to all of their others, deceptively simple. Emerge from the tunnels in the windmill access point, which would feed them directly next to their target. Attempt to stealthily kill any and all guards, then have a team of runners grab as much food and supplies as possible and retreat back.

Klee would then begin setting charges, and Albedo would augment each one. It was likely that, by this point, they would be spotted, so the allogenes would hold the line and allow the pair to finish before falling back and setting off the charges.

Easy!

Kaeya was curious to see how it would go wrong.

They made it through the tunnels with no issue, and filed into the windmill. Once the tunnel access was closed, Kaeya carefully opened the door and peered outside. Once it was clear he slipped out and ducked behind the building, using the shadows as cover to turn into a cloaked blur.

Kaeya drew his daggers and got into position to wait. Once he heard the chirp of a cricket he knew Rosaria was in position.

They both counted to fifteen, and struck at once. The Fatui agents stationed at the door went down like sacks of rocks, Rosaria’s spear running through the mercenary around the corner as Kaeya rapidly bounced from target to target, spilling blood on the stone and quickly dwindling the size of the security detail.

Within five minutes every guard in proximity was dead and, with a faint whistle echoing through the morning air, the next phase started. The runners charged out of the windmill and into the depot, fanning out to grab everything they could. Weighed down and hobbling along quickly, they loaded themselves up with almost more than they could carry with the speed of experienced burglars; which most of them were.

It was precautionary, and Kaeya knew it would draw attention, but they couldn’t risk the tunnel access being discovered. He and Rosaria both triggered oversized smoke bombs, which clouded the area in a thick and choking fog.

Klee and Albedo, along with the others, left the windmill and held the door for the runners to return to the tunnels.

Klee began to cheerily place her bombs, excited at the recent encouragement of her destructive passion. Albedo followed close and took his time to apply a red and shimmering chemical to each one. He stared them down with intensity until the bubbling stopped, and only then did he move on to the next.

“Done.” Albedo announced after the last one ceased its reaction. He grabbed Klee’s hand and ran with her down the path and around the corner while everyone else scattered for cover at reasonable-to-excessive distances.

It was at that moment that backup arrived. Fatui and mercenaries converged on the spot and looked around for their comrade’s assassins, some coughing from the thick smoke that still filled the air.

Kaeya gave the signal, and then everyone felt the air get punched from their lungs. Klee fell over onto her butt with an alarmed squeak, too busy covering her ears to stop her fall. Buildings in the area shuddered as mushrooms, vines, and dirt fell from the walls as wood, stone, and metal shredded violently. The structures nearby suffered notable harm, though the windmill survived surprisingly well despite its proximity, with only the blades suffering damage.

The hostiles who had made the mistake of standing by the building were now nowhere to be seen, and Kaeya could hear the splashing of the falling debris that made it all the way to cider lake, as well as the crashing and clanging of the rest and it fell into the city.

Thankfully the citizens of Mondstadt were safely inside their homes, so Kaeya was confident that no one who didn’t have it coming got hurt. Overall the damage wasn’t anywhere near as bad as what Stormterror did.

When the world stopped ringing Kaeya peeked around the corner and lifted his eyebrows at the massive crater they had made.

“I think we might have used too much ordnance.” He mumbled.

“I quite disagree. I think Klee used the perfect amount.” Albedo defended with amusement, soliciting a proud grin from the pyromaniac child.

“Weren’t you the one concerned about the quantity of reagent?”

“A man is allowed to change his opinion.”

Kaeya let out an amused scoff, and assessed the situation. The mission went well. Really well. He almost hated leaving so soon.

He glanced up as the smoke started to clear, and then had an idea.

“Hey, Klee, how many bombs do you have left?”

“Lots!”

“They’ll be converging on this point soon, we should move.” Kaeya mused. “That said, I think we should pay the hotel a visit and leave them a present or ten.” He then smiled, which earned a confused look from Bennett, and an almost mischievous giggle from Lisa.

“Not satisfied with gross destruction of property, we need to add arson onto the pile?” Rosaria asked.

“Of course. Come on, then.~”

They used the last of the smoke for cover and retreated back into the tunnels, gathering before Kaeya led them down a different route that spat them out at a higher level, near the hotel. By the time they returned to the outdoors, they could see the massive crowd that had gathered around the remains.

They had little time to bask, as a shout of alarm told Kaeya they had been spotted. Fine by him; he was itching for a real fight, and would have been disappointed if he had dragged all of these allogenes out for nothing.

“Klee, throw bombs through all the windows! Let's give them all a toasty wake-up call.” Kaeya instructed, earning a ‘yay’ from the girl who eagerly did as she was asked.

Spotted and targeted, the remaining Vision holders formed a defensive line with Kaeya, Bennett, and Albedo taking the front and engaging. Albedo’s fists took down smaller foes in one hit, and larger foes in three. Kaeya’s ice froze Fatui in place and Noelle’s massive mace shattered them to pieces.

Lisa’s lightning arced and zapped, connecting with Bennett’s fire to create violent overload reactions that blasted mercenaries and Fatui alike over the edge and across the courtyard.

Sucrose’s gusts of Anemo helped funnel their attackers into groups, allowing sweeping blows and attacks to land more easily. Venti’s own Anemo followed hers, scooping up those unable to flee into a ball of swirling razor blades, quickly picking up Lisa’s Electro and turning into an orb of electrifying death.

The crackle of fire and the shouts of alarm as people leapt from windows and fled out the front door of the hotel caught Kaeya’s attention, and he smirked.

“I think we’re done here. Fall back!” He gave the order, and with one last massive assault they stunned their foes long enough to ignite two massive smokescreens. They scattered in different directions and in seconds they each found a tunnel access to retreat inside of.

-

Day 4: Early Afternoon

The city was in absolute chaos. Mercenaries were getting sick of their frequent losses, and the Fatui were pissed that they kept being made fools of. The Goth Grand Hotel was now a burnt out husk, which sent most of the Fatui’s personal belongings up in flames. On top of that, their main supply source was now shrapnel scattered across the plains of Mondstadt.

Any sense of discipline among Lawrence's hired hands was dissolving rapidly, and the Fatui numbers were rapidly beginning to thin with equal speed. Kaeya had no idea what Schubert was doing in response to this, but he truly wished he could be a fly on that wall.

Kaeya was so smug he couldn’t keep the stupid grin off his face for hours. The boost to their own supplies eased the strain of food and medicine, and the sheer spectacle that the mission provided did wonders for their own morale.

Laughter, cheers, and jokes echoed off the walls of the antechamber, and Kaeya had given the order to cease all surface activity for the time being, both so they could wait for the heat to die down as well as take time to celebrate. Only plain clothed scouts were permitted on the surface, posing as citizenry.

A small amount of alcohol had been recovered and was stockpiled aside, and Kaeya decided that now was as good enough time as any to finally allow the people to break into it.

It was a sad supply by Mondstadt standards, and when rationed out fairly it wasn’t enough for anyone to get drunk. Still, a treat that reminded them of the comforting past was welcome, and it took the mood from ‘cheery’ to ‘overjoyed’.

Kaeya nursed a distressingly small half-glass of wine, savoring it for as long as he could while he lounged in his bed. Someone had deposited a fluffy pillow on it at some point, which he now used as a backrest.

As had become the running theme of the last few days, Kaeya’s break was interrupted by a scout approaching him. The woman leaned in and spoke quietly.

“Captain. It’s Springvale. They’ve launched the transport balloons again.” She said, which piqued Kaeya’s attention.

He gently sat the glass on the small crate beside his bed, then stood and gave the woman a nod of thanks.

Scooping up his cloak, Kaeya casually made his way for one of the tunnels, and pulled it on once he was out of sight.

He wanted to see this for himself, so he scaled the sloping path alone. He only had the sound of his footsteps for company as the cheers and laughter fell silent as the inner door fell shut behind him.

He reached the surface and peered through the peephole, confirming it was clear before he slipped out and into one of the windmills. Instead of going outside, however, he scaled the ladder that was bolted to the wall and exited on one of the upper platforms. He crouched to be harder to spot, and craned his neck up to look at the sky. As he was told, he could see the familiar balloons high in the air. The mercenaries and Fatui attempted to shoot them out of the sky and, like before, failed as food and supplies rained down with thousands of papers that fluttered down like confetti.

Holding a hand out, Kaeya allowed one to come to rest on his palm. He gripped it carefully and brought it close so he could read.

‘ Tonight.’

Chills went down Kaeya’s spine as anticipation and anxiety mixed into some chimera of an emotion that he could not put a name to.

He saw enough and threw himself back inside. He slid down the ladder almost recklessly and hurled himself back into the tunnels and back to the antechamber.

His departure hadn’t been noted, but his return was worth attention as he whistled loudly as he marched his way towards the center stage. Every conversation in the room ground to a sudden halt at the display, and every pair of eyes were on him.

Kaeya stepped up onto the stage and regarded the people, his cloak still resting around his shoulders, the hood having fallen down in his sprint down the tunnels.

“Our allies in Springvale have sent us another gift: food and supplies from the skies and, with it, another message.” Kaeya said with little hesitation as he lifted the paper. “’Tonight’.”

A murmur of worry, excitement, and confusion bubbled along the surface of the crowd before dying down.

“Rest and make merry, but be prepared because tonight, we stake everything.” Kaeya continued. “Tonight our friends will make their attack, and so tonight we too shall make ours. Every single able bodied combatant will be expected to take up arms and make for the surface. Everyone brave enough to step foot outside is encouraged. If you have no weapon, ask for one. If you are unsure how you can help, ask what you can do. We are in this together. We will win this, together!”

The roar of cheers rivaled that of the explosion from that morning, ricocheting off the vast ceiling and making the crates under his feet vibrate.

“For Jean! For Diluc! For our fallen friends! For Mondstadt!” Kaeya led them in one more cheer, and despite all expectations to the contrary, they became even louder .

He willingly accepted the discomfort of the roar, as seeing the people of his city raring to go was uplifting; hopeful.

“I hope you’re proud, wherever you are, ‘Luc.” Kaeya said softly to no one, the noise of the chamber so great that he could barely even hear himself. “Mondstadt really is something… isn’t it?”

Chapter Text

Day 4: Night

In preparation for that night, everyone finished their alcohol and then most took a nap. It was an eerie few hours as the vast majority of the people in the massive chamber were in varying stages of sleep. Those who remained awake tried to keep it down, honing muscles or playing cards. Some simply sat with their families. The overall hush that fell upon the grand chamber created a hush that Kaeya hadn’t heard since he first walked into it.

Rosaria pulled back all of her men and gave them a chance to rest before that night. For the first time nearly every single member of the inner resistance were gathered in one spot, and Kaeya could gaze out at them all and really take it in.

Kaeya tried to rest himself, but found sleep an eluding phantom and was eventually forced to give it up. He watched in silent vigil as, slowly, the people began to rouse. Chatter gradually grew and nerves began to settle, but with it came an eager anticipation.

Weapons were sharpened, armor was donned, shields were strapped. Anything people could use was utilized; literally. Kaeya had thought it something he would only see from young children and low budget stage plays, but found himself equal parts surprised and amused by the fact that some people had, in fact, decided to pad the inside of cooking pots and use them as helmets. Not only that, Wagner had, begrudgingly, agreed to hammer out frying pans into extremely rough chest plates to go with the pot helmets.

Schulz eventually appeared and pulled Kaeya aside, along with most of the leadership, and presented them with what he had set aside.

“It’s not much; bits and pieces of mostly mismatched Favonius kit, but we thought it would be best to give you guys first pick of the good armor.”

Kaeya was about to voice an argument, but was cut off by Schulz.

“Captain, Kaeya, I understand how you may not wish to take this armor off the backs of others, but look at it from our perspective. We need you. All of you. Please, if you could all just try to take some of it and use it, it would be a weight off of many of our chests.”

Kaeya couldn’t argue with such sincerity and caved. After a few minutes of searching, he found a chest plate and some thigh guards that fit and didn’t impede his mobility at all. With some hammering, Wagner was able to form some other pieces to fit and it wasn’t long before Kaeya looked every bit the Knight he was. Seeing himself in the reflection of the water was a strange sight, to say the least.

Lisa politely declined armor, citing ‘metal and Electro not being particularly fond of me as a couple’. Venti couldn’t spare the extra weight, relying heavily on his own mobility, though Rosaria accepted very light armor on her shins and biceps, refusing anything else for the time being.

Klee was too small for anything present to fit, but hilariously Albedo was able to piece together a full set with little trouble; most of the spare armor was spare due to not fitting anyone else and mostly used for younger recruits.

Kaeya made the wise choice to keep his mouth shut .

Actualizing his potential life span, Kaeya took some time and looked over the remaining available pieces and found himself surprised to find, towards the bottom, a set of armor that seemed fit for a much smaller body. Lanky, long limbs, and…

It took only a quick check on the inside of the surprisingly complete set for Kaeya to find his answer.

“Someone bring me Bennett?” He asked.

Not long after the boy in question was presented to him, and immediately Kaeya began eyeballing him to check to see if the armor fit.

“C-Captain Kaeya?” Bennett stuttered in confusion.

“Just as I thought; a near perfect fit. Some small adjustments should make it perfect-perfect; we’ll have to steal Schulz or Wagner...” Kaeya mumbled to himself with a smile.

“Captain?! I- I can’t-”

“You saved my life, Bennett. I owe you everything. This city owes you far more than a set of armor. And anyway…” Kaeya’s smile faltered briefly, a tinge of sadness in it. “That armor was abandoned by its owner years ago… and likely doesn’t have one anymore.”

Bennett’s confusion only grew, and looked down to examine the chest plate in his hands. His eyes darted to an engraving on the inside.

D.R.

“D. R.?” Bennett asked, glancing up. Then back to the armor as one could almost see the wheels turning.

“That is Master Diluc’s old armor set, isn’t it?” Huffman asked, having appeared from the crowd.

“Of course you’d recognize it.” Kaeya chuckled as Bennett began to have a crisis to the side. “I don’t think Diluc will mind, do you?”

Huffman hesitated, before he shook his head. “I think he’d want his brother’s savior to have it; maybe in a way he can protect Bennett himself this way.”

“I was thinking something similar...” Kaeya nodded.

-

Bits and pieces of the remainder were split over various members of leadership, before finally being funneled down to others. Kaeya had to take time to get used to the armor once more, as he hadn’t worn plate in at least two years.

Old habits died hard and it wasn’t long before he had adapted to the weight and was throwing daggers and ice spears with the same agility and precision as he normally did. He wasn’t sure how well the armor would protect him from bullets, but it was always worth a shot.

The hour drew near and scouts were sent to the windmills to watch as everyone else sat down to have a decent meal. There was the concern about rations, but everyone knew deep down that it was ‘do or die’. They would succeed that night in taking the city back, or their food supplies would very quickly stop being an immediate problem.

Stomachs full, naps had, and armor donned, it was time for people to begin to mobilize. Upon the fall of darkness reports returned stating that the people of Springvale were gathering at the front gates with spears and torches.

After a quick investigation himself, Kaeya very quickly deduced the truth.

“Most within Springvale are archers. Knights tend to use longswords or broadswords. Adventurers as well. That is a massive collection of spear wielders.” He would explain. “Which means they did the same thing we did; equipped the inexperienced with spears. They’re a distraction, to confuse the enemy into thinking they’re intending to storm the gate.”

“Which implies they will come from elsewhere?” Albedo asked, his eyes glinting with possibilities.

“There are a lot of possible ways to attack the city. It’s primary defense is the lake, but if you can cross it and get up the side of the cliff face, some of our walls are insultingly easy to surpass.” Kaeya sighed. “If I were leading Springvale, I would use the distraction at the gates and have a team of actual combatants come in from the blind side. Already the usurpers are erecting barricades to keep the lower city and the upper city separated, defending the occupied parts and slowing down approach.”

“A useless attempt.” Rosaria scoffed. “The tunnels allow us to reach any part of the city we please.”

“And if Springvale gains entry where I think they will, entirely moot since the upper city is almost entirely unguarded.” Kaeya explained as he plucked a map from the pile of documents. “There are a few possibilities, but if it were me making this plan? The torches would serve a double purpose as both a distraction as well as a way to hinder their night vision, permitting a rear entry without detection. If they’re bold, they might try to come from the cliff the bonfire is on. They could also ferry across the lake and climb the side of the city. Points of access are multiple, so it’s hard to say exactly where they’ll come from, but I can promise they’ll breach upper Mondstadt first. I need eyes on the rear of the city. As soon as we see them moving, we will attack.”

-

Day 5: Just After Midnight

As usual, Kaeya was right. It wasn’t terribly long after the moon had reached its apex that scouts reported movement across the lake. Everyone below, armed and eager, were given the order to begin making their way down the tunnels.

Perhaps launching his attack only fifteen minutes after confirming Springvale’s movement was a tactical mistake, but it was hard to say for sure one way or the other. Currently most eyes were on the main gate, which meant that the odds of them being spotted were low, but…

Well, a distraction never hurt, now did it?

The people of Mondstadt were eager for blood, and now that their precious freedom was so close they frothed at the mouth for a chance to wrench it back. Kaeya knew he would not be able to hold their reins for much longer, and would soon have to let them free to rip their oppressors to shreds.

Who was he, Kaeya thought, to deny them?

And so he had given his instructions: ‘Reach the end of the tunnel and wait. Then charge out as quickly as possible and raise hell .’

And so they did.

The city had been still, yet buzzing with energy that eagerly awaited ignition. The second the shouts of the people reached the streets, and steel on steel rang through the air, everything turned into a beautiful concoction of chaos.

Allogenes were distributed in pairs across the city to assist groups, Noelle sent solo with the largest group of non-allogene fighters to offer them her healing support.

Kaeya was paired with Albedo, and they led their unit through the streets towards Headquarters with the goal of freeing Jean. They moved quickly and lethally, their enemies entirely unprepared for a rear assault and fell with almost insulting ease. Kaeya would have been lying if he said that running his sword through the spine of an unsuspecting Cicin mage didn’t fill him with a measure of sadistic glee.

Up until that night, Kaeya had taken efforts to disguise the actual size of the resistance. All of that effort paid off as he could see the fear in his enemy’s eyes as they came to the realization of just how grand an enemy they had made.

Pockets of fighters sprung up all across the city and the bedlam only grew worse, the fighting becoming so unruly that attempts of rank and file were difficult. Knights and Adventurers were sprinkled into every team, so managed to maintain some measure of order as they took on the scattered remains of Lawrence’s army-for-hire, but it was a constant struggle.

Kaeya stood by and watched as one of Albedo’s stone-covered fists punched an Electro Vanguard in the chest so hard they dropped like a rock, and smirked in silent approval. It was then that an unusual sound reached his ears. He turned his head to try to listen, and Albedo soon after did the same.

“A curious noise. Almost like music, but not of a kind I am familiar with.” The alchemist said, softly.

Indeed it was the sound of music, which began to echo more loudly from across the water and over the walls. Kaeya resisted a laugh as he deflected a sudden oncoming blade and swept the feet of his attacker, dispatching them with a skilled flourish.

“If I didn’t know any better, I would say this sounds remarkably like something I heard in Liyue.” He said, flicking blood from his sword.

“There is no way that Liyue has sent assistance.” Albedo mumbled. “There is too much red tape...”

Albedo found himself quickly proven wrong as they pushed forward. The fighting grew more and more intense, and soon they began to catch glimpses of elemental power that they were unable to readily identify. The forms the energy took and the way the attacks manifested did not match anyone from their own ranks, and it didn’t seem to match any fatui weapon they knew of.

Soon the truth came to light, and like a gift from Barbatos himself, reinforcements had breached Mondstadt from the cemetery and descended into the city in waves, and with them came heaven-blessed judgment in the form of many allogenes.

If it was bedlam before, Kaeya had no words on how to describe the state of the city now. Mercenary and Fatui were fighting with everything they had, and were met by the furious determination of the people of Mondstadt who now fought hand in hand with their friends from Springvale and others of unmistakably Liyue origins.

“Kaeya.” Albedo’s voice, firm, cut through the noise of battle, which made the Cavalry Captain look to the brawler at his side.

“What is it?” He asked, and then followed the blonde’s pointing finger to the sky just in time to watch a blur of red-Amber-leap from her Balloon perch and glide out of sight. “Huh...” He mumbled.

“I understand our current goal, however-”

“We should see what was so important that our lovely Outrider left her post, I agree.~” Kaeya smiled as he twisted gracefully and froze two mercenaries solid, just in time for Albedo’s fist to turn them into a shattered memory.

Giving his unit an order to continue fighting and appointing someone else to be in charge, the pair broke formation to facilitate speed. They moved quickly through their home, laying waste to those foolish enough to stand in their way as they pushed towards where they saw Amber drop.

The smell of burnt wood and gunpowder reached their noses, and Kaeya consciously realized where they were headed; the remains of the hotel and the crater. Kaeya couldn’t resist a smug smirk as they scaled the steps, Albedo turning a wooden barricade into toothpicks with a single well-placed burst of Geo.

The sounds of combat faded slightly as they moved from the populated areas of the city, the faint hush making Kaeya’s ears feel almost cottony, so used to the loud cacophony of battle. In the quiet he was able to hear Amber’s shout, and the pair ran faster.

Chapter Text

Day 5: Just After Midnight

The sound of fighting reached Jean’s ears first, a cacophony of shouting mixed with the clanging of metal upon metal.

Then came the sound of music that filtered through the window as the shouts of people grew in both volume and number.

The battle had started, and Jean would be damned if she just stood by.

Quickly a plan entered her mind, and she hoped that it would work. It had occurred to her before but, due to the high risk of failure and subsequent consequences involved, she had abstained. Now? All bets were off, and she was going to try.

She put her fingers into her mouth and whistled loudly, the shrill noise piercing the silence of the jails and echoing up the stairs. She persisted, whistling again and again even after she heard the door open and boots descend.

She listened as best she could through her own whistles and was thankful to hear only one pair of boots. She continued.

“Knock that racket off!” The guard, the same who had given her the blankets, demanded as he grabbed the bars and leaned forward threateningly.

“And why should I?” Jean asked petulantly, her hands still poised for another ear splitting whistle.

The guard leaned closer to the bars. “Because I know how to whip your ass without leaving bru-”

He couldn’t finish his sentence as Jean moved like lightning. She grabbed the collar of the man’s shirt and pushed him back, then yanked him forward to slam his forehead into the bars with a painful sounding clang . Two more of the same and the man collapsed in a heap.

She crouched and reached through the bars to grab onto whatever part of him she could reach. She then hauled him closer, allowing her to access his hip and the keys attached to it.

She gripped the keyring tightly so as to minimize noise, and unlocked the cell door. She opened it slowly and, once it was just open enough, slipped through.

She paused, catching the shadow of movement at the top of the stairs beyond the door; a second guard. Quickly she moved back into her cell, grabbing one of her blankets and folding it so it was about the width of a wide scarf.

Barefoot, her ascent of the stairs was silent. She knelt and picked up a stray piece of broken stone, and then pressed herself to the wall in the door’s blind spot. Gripping the stone tightly, she struck it against the metal of the door three times and waited.

The confusion of the other guard was audible, and another series of knocks was enough to convince him to investigate.

The door opened and the man stepped into the stairwell; Jean struck. The rock dropped, the blanket whipped forward and wrapped it around the man’s head. Jean yanked down forcefully and sent him tumbling violently down the steps.

She was sure she had heard several cracks as the man fell, and now laid motionless on the stone below.

She waited only a few beats before running off.

The halls were, surprisingly, empty. Though in hindsight it made sense; most everyone was either fighting, guarding the outside, or gathered wherever Schubert was.

She didn’t look a gift horse in the mouth and continued onward and found that the main foyer was, too, mercifully unguarded.

The door to her office was unlocked and the room itself was unoccupied. Quickly she ripped open drawers with a haphazardness she would normally never engage, and didn’t stop until she found what she was looking for. She had ripped open the bottom-most drawer and was met with the merry mint green glow of her Vision.

She clipped it once more to her hip, and finally felt whole for the first time in days. With a soft exhale, she began to scout for a way out.

Climbing out the window proved to be her best bet and she slid it open smoothly. Despite the well kept slide of the window, pain lanced through her hands. She flinched and gazed at the raw red tissue, which glared angrily back up at her.

A quick burst of Anemo and the wounds on her palms healed, a soothing relief that did wonders for her mood.

A quick check for guards and she climbed out, closing the window behind her to disguise her passage. She moved further along the side of the building, keeping low, and looked over the ledge at the small park below. The windmill turned contentedly and the fountain continued to bubble away, both ignorant to the chaos within the city.

A quick assessment of her options, Jean grabbed the vines that grew on the wall and carefully climbed down. Immediately upon feeling her feet touch the ground, she sprinted for the path and ducked once more below the bushes. From above she could hear Schubert’s shouts as she ran past the fountain and across the patch of grass.

“Find her! Bring her back! Drag her by her hair if you must!”

With a scoff of disgust, she reached the other side of the wall by the stairs and peered over, stopping short as she properly saw the city.

From her vantage point she could see the grocery store and plaza fountain, the inner-city bridge and part of the lower city, along with the waypoint and the street along it. Fighting took up nearly every spare inch of ground, the people of Mond and those of Liyue dress fought alongside one another against Fatui and Mercenaries alike.

The sight was awe inspiring and distressing all at once, and Jean knew she needed to regroup with someone . Another Knight, preferably.

She didn’t waste any more time watching and got a move on. The stairs down were blockaded, so she ran between the wall and a house to reach an overgrown part at the corner. Once more she grabbed the vines that grew there and used it to safely assist her to the lower city.

She ducked down, shrinking her profile as the fighting on the stairs was too chaotic for her to get involved in; not while she was barefoot and weaponless.

She ran to the left, away from the street, and was forced to stop short as she came face-to-face with a spear wielding mercenary. Under normal circumstances the man would have been no threat to her, but unarmed, exhausted, and suffering a major reach disadvantage, she knew she was in trouble.

“How the hell did you escape? Come back here; Schubert is sure to give me a nice bonus if I haul you back.” The man smiled wickedly, leveling his spear at her. “I’m sure a couple holes in your leg won’t be too much of a price to pay; it’ll make running away again much harder.”

He struck then, and Jean danced around him as she tried to think of a way to approach the issue presented to her. Twisting and dodging, she felt her legs burn from disuse and her feet chafe on the unkempt streets of her city.

“Jean!” A voice from above echoed, and both Jean and the spearman looked up in time to see a blur of red descend from the sky.

White boot met face, which knocked the mercenary to the ground and sent his spear clattering against the cobble. He didn’t get up.

Immediately Amber was on her, hugging Jean tightly and burying her face in her shoulder. “I’m so glad you’re okay- Ah! I’m sorry!” She bounced back as she remembered rank, and Jean simply smiled and waved it off.

“Thank you, I needed that. Amber, can you tell me what’s going on here?” She offered another warm smile, but quickly got down to business.

“Those of us in Springvale mobilized and planned our attack tonight. The people here in the city must have hashed out what our plan was, because they attacked shortly before we began to breach the walls.” Amber explained, watching as Jean claimed the spear and made a few rusty test thrusts. “Our plan is to defeat Schubert and the bulk of the occupying forces, as well as rescue you.”

Jean hesitated, and then began claiming the unconscious man’s boots for herself; lacing them tightly to minimize wriggling. “Good. Thank you, Amber. Let's keep going, we should try to regroup with someone from this side of things. Maybe Captain Albedo, or Lisa.”

With a firm nod Amber fell in step behind her Grand Master, and the pair squeezed between the tall wall and a house as the smell of sulfur and burnt wood reached their noses as they passed under the blackened husk of the Goth Grand hotel.

Once they reached the ornate fence above the street that overlooked the plaza, the girls jumped it and landed in the bushes. They hugged the wall tightly as they used it for cover, following it until they sprinted up the stairs, successfully avoiding getting pulled into combat.

The stairs led them to a small area with a windmill to their right and a still-smoking crater to their left; the sad remains of the fatui supply depot.

“Oh… I presume this was what I heard yesterday morning.” Jean said softly in surprise.

“Hah, yeah. Klee’s handiwork, if I had to guess.” Amber chuckled.

Their brief moment of mirth was cut short as a distressingly familiar voice rang through the air, audible over the dulled sound of combat on the other side of the houses.

Jean raised her spear and Amber raised her bow, pointed at Sergei and several Fatui. She could see the bandages over the man’s face, which covered an eye. His mask was broken overtop it, which allowed the bandages to be visible even as it obscured the rest of his face.

“Schubert was quite perturbed when you went missing. I can’t believe I have to tolerate his whining. Well, gladly I can shut him up by dragging you back.” Sergei grumbled, crossing his arms and seemingly unbothered by the weapons poised at him. “Just surrender and I’ll consider not having your friend here killed in front of you as a lesson.”

Jean hesitated briefly, glancing at Amber with worry in her heart. The bold and defiant expression on Amber’s face told her what she needed to know, however. Jean resolved herself to fight and lifted her spear more.

“Ah, well, I suppose this is more fun. Take them down.” Sergei snapped and the Fatui began to approach.

“Ah, that’s not fair at all, now is it?” A voice sent a jolt through Jean’s heart, Amber’s head snapping to the side so violently there was an audible pop. Sergei and the Fatui stopped as all eyes looked to the source.

Two hooded figures stood, both wearing the peacock emblem over the ‘eyes’ and on their backs. One taller than the other, and both stood straight with weapons drawn. From the throat of the shorter one, a golden glow emanated.

“Wh-” Sergei let out a confused breath, his visible eye squinting.

“What, never seen a ghost before? Want to try your luck fighting one?” The taller figure continued to taunt. “I see you’ve lost an eye; maybe you’d like an opponent who stands on equal footing?~”

“Tsk- Leave that one to me, the rest of you capture the Acting Grand Master. ” Sergei gave his order and drew his daggers, moving into a combat stance. “Fine, let's see what you can do, poltergeist.”

-

Seeing Jean alive and relatively hale was wonderful for Kaeya’s heart, and he exhaled a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. After losing Diluc, he didn’t think he could bear losing Jean too.

Sergei took the bait and charged at him. Albedo skirted around the side to assist the girls in fighting the Fatui, leaving Kaeya to face the man on his own for the moment; a sign of trust in his abilities.

Deflecting twin daggers, Kaeya twirled and twisted around Sergei like a mischievous nymph, laughing and taunting at every missed strike and whiffed thrust.

“Depth perception seems pretty shot there.” Kaeya smirked. “Might need more practice until you get used to only having one eye. I must say, I need to work on my own aim.”

A thrust and Kaeya parried with his sword, hopping backwards and out of range.

“I managed to lodge ice in the skulls of each gunner, but I only managed to take your eye.”

“Shut up !” Sergei began to attack more rapidly, bursts of flames igniting from him as daggers began to circle his form like a twisted version of Kaeya’s own glacial waltz.

From the corner of his vision Kaeya could see a large burst of flame, but couldn’t put much more mind to it as he decided he’d had enough.

“I’m getting tired of this game.” Kaeya said darkly, lifting his hand as he summoned daggers of ice between his fingers. A powerful flick of his arm and they all flew true, striking the Fatui Agent in the chest and head.

He was dead before he hit the ground.

Kaeya stood still for a moment, watching to confirm the man was dead before he stood straight once more. While mostly healed, he was out of shape from lack of training and panted, his wounds aching on his back.

He glanced over to the others, taking solace in the fact that they had managed to defeat their own opponents. Their number had increased during the fight, he could see; where it had once been Jean and Amber, three more figures had joined them.

Purple and blonde stood with her back to him, talking to the others; Fischl. Beside her was gray and brown, his hair wild and with a couple twigs in it. Clearly Razor.

And beside them all, towering over every single person in the group, with hair of flame and garb of night, stood-

“Diluc…?”

At the sound of his name, Kaeya watched Diluc turn to look in his direction, the pair staring at one another for several seconds. The world narrowed then, Kaeya’s senses becoming blind to anything that wasn’t his brother; alive .

He took a few hesitant steps forward as he reached up with his free hand to tug his hood down. He watched Diluc’s eyes widen in stunned disbelief; an expression Kaeya was sure he had too.

Still looking shell shocked, Diluc began to approach in an even stride, picking up speed as he moved. Kaeya took a half-step back on reflex but stopped himself just as Diluc reached him, feeling warm arms wrap around his form and…

Kaeya was so tired, it took him a few seconds to process what happened and where he was. He could smell ozone and leather, and felt warm arms wrapped tightly around him; it felt nice, comforting, like home.

He dismissed his sword, reaching up slowly before he returned the hug, squeezing his brother in a tight embrace. He was alive. Alive. Alive.

Days of uncertainty and lost hope came to a head and a hot burning swelled in his chest. He fought it back, feeling Diluc bury his face in his shoulder. A warmth bloomed there, and the faint rough breathing of the allogene that held him betrayed the truth of Diluc’s tears, hidden from the eyes of onlookers.

Diluc was… crying? For him?

The hot burning grew into an eruption of overwhelming emotion, a torrent of feelings that he couldn’t make heads or tails of, and all he could do…

...was cry, too. He squeezed more tightly and allowed the tears to fall, dampening his eyepatch and dripping down onto Diluc’s shoulder as his body began to shake. Composure fell away as the last five days of hell finally got to him, and the stress and anxiety forced itself out. Exhaustion overwhelmed him, and he could only choke out a single sentence.

“Fuck, I thought you were dead...”

Diluc pulled back slightly, just enough to look him in the eye, gripping his shoulders as Kaeya held onto his arms in return. His mouth opened, then closed, as he visibly tried to find words and failed. Again Kaeya was yanked into a hug, which he returned far more quickly. Hoarsely Diluc finally found what he wanted to say.

“Idiot… That’s my line.” He said.

Kaeya let out a weak laugh.

“Don’t do that...” Diluc halted. “Ever again. Just… Don’t. I don’t want...” He trailed off as he failed to articulate his thoughts; likely as chaotic as Kaeya’s own.

With another weak laugh, Kaeya leaned more into the hug and, with a tone of playful levity, spoke. “If I didn’t know any better,” He’d say. “I’d start to think you actually cared about me.” On the surface it sounded like any antagonizing comment, but something below it was a question; one that Diluc understood.

“I...do, you know.” Diluc said, and those four words make Kaeya almost lose the strength in his legs. He leaned more heavily on his brother for support at the revelation, listening intensely as the man spoke. “I’m not… good at words… and there’s a revolution on right now so we don’t have time...” A pause. “Just stay close to me so I can keep you from getting your fool self killed for real this time.”

Kaeya softly laughed again, and slowly released the hug. He looked his brother in the eye again. “I assure you,” Kaeya said, with the most sincere slanted smile he’d made in years, “I don’t make it a habit to put myself in mortal peril. For the sake of your blood pressure, however, I’ll oblige.” Diluc’s worry was palpable and welcome, filling a void in his heart with a comfortable warmth he hadn’t felt since Crepus was alive.

Finally Diluc pulled from the hug, but kept a grip on Kaeya’s shoulder as he turned to look at those gathered. “Let’s put an end to this.”

Chapter Text

The Fifth Day

Diluc and Kaeya were inseparable for the rest of the fighting, with Jean protected between them despite her attempts to argue otherwise. With the aid of Albedo, Razor, and Fischl, it had been a simple task to clear out any combatants in the area.

The people of Mond, Springvale, and Liyue rallied behind leaders and allogenes and fought valiantly, quickly thinning the numbers of those who stole their city from them. However, as the bulk of the fighting wound down, the ferocity of those still at arms grew to the point that mob justice was suddenly on the table.

It took Jean longer than she would have wished to rally enough Knights to storm the Lawrence residencies and take them into custody; at least a couple members of the family already fell victim to the people’s thirst for vengeance, and it took all of the combined authority of Diluc, Jean, and Kaeya to call them off.

Once the entirety of the Lawrence clan had been shuttled off to the jails-for their own protection as much as the city’s- Jean oversaw the last of the cleanup. A very small handful of mercenaries and Fatui managed to escape the city, wounded, possessionless, and likely hungry; they were the lucky ones.

Blood seeped into the cobble of the streets with bodies and detached limbs scattered about like buoys on a red sea; Jean quickly dispatched a team of knights to clean up the most visceral of the mess, lest the children come out of hiding and witness it for themselves. Kaeya ordered some of his own to assist, who were eager to comply as the heart of the resistance still beat under his leadership; for the time being.

The fighting had begun to die down, but the hackles of the city were still raised. Jean was forced to requisition Xinyan’s sound equipment to broadcast her voice across the city, calling for a ceasefire and announcing their victory.

It once again took the combined assurances of all three leaders to finally quell the violence, and the urserpers who were lucky enough to survive up until that point were quickly arrested and placed in jail alongside the Lawrences.

Finally the battle was truly over. The war had been won, and their home was theirs once again.

There would be much to do; they had to redistribute food and property as well as compensate those whose homes were damaged thanks to the combined destruction of the occupation and a very unrepentant Kaeya.

The city lulled for a moment in the dead of night, exhaustion taking over as most took time to reflect and catch their breath. It wasn’t long, however, before the soul of the city caught its second wind and a party started.

Diluc had broken off to inspect his bar, and had begun to supply every drop of available wine he had to offer towards the festivities, even going as far as to hold his tongue about the behavior of some Knights.

Jean had been forcefully hauled off to bed, thanks to the combined efforts of Barbara, Albedo, and Lisa as Kaeya himself slinked off unnoticed to continue his own work. Despite the bone deep weariness he felt, he found himself unable to relax and join the merriment. There was a sense of deep responsibility in his chest, a need to see to the city until the end.

He assisted Knights and militia alike, cleaning bodies from the streets and transporting the wounded to the medical outposts that had sprung up all throughout the city.

Kaeya gently deposited a wounded knight in one of the cots, and was about to walk away to find another when heard a voice call out to him. He stopped and turned to look behind him, seeing a familiar bounce of blonde pigtails as the deaconess ran up to him.

“Sir Kaeya...” Barbara almost whispered, her voice soft and hesitant. Her hand lifted halfway, pausing as though unsure if he was actually there.

“Why hello there Barbara, I’m quite pleased to see you alive and unharmed.” Kaeya offered her an award-winning smile. They had a brief exchange during the heat of the prior battle, but there was little time for any extended conversation. It seemed she had something more to say, and so he gave her his attention. “What can I do for you?”

Another beat of hesitation passed before Barbara bowed deeply. “Thank you, so much.” She said, “If it weren’t for you, I would probably be dead.”

The depth of her sincerity, audible in her tone and visible in her eyes, gave Kaeya pause. Any immediate reply he might have had fell mute, and he shuffled shyly as his normal wit vanished into smoke.

“You’re welcome, Barbara. I don’t regret what I did, so please don’t regret running.” He said softly, finally finding words. “It’s what I wanted you to do. It all worked out in the end.”

Barbara stood up sharply and appeared to have something more to say, but after a moment of consideration she appeared to decide against it and simply nodded firmly.

“Good.~” Kaeya smiled, pleased that she accepted his request.

“Oh, I do believe I will be ill again. Far be it for me to refuse a free meal, but the thought of mushrooms is far too much for me.” A voice broke through their conversation and frew both allogenes to look over to Mona.

Thanks to Barbara’s healing, the astrologist was mostly recovered and was being offered a plate of sauteed mushrooms, sourced from the cooking frenzy that had sprung up across the city. “Mushrooms were the last thing I ate before I became so horribly ill; I fear I may never have the nerve to eat them again...”

Kaeya, always perceptive, could see Diona lurking nearby. He watched her ears pin behind her head tightly as she slinked off. With a faint chuckle, Kaeya let it lay, for now, with a mental note to inquire later. He then said his farewells to Barbara and returned to work.

-

Kaeya did his best to continue to help, but every few minutes someone would approach him to either express their overwhelming joy at his well-being, to thank him for his leadership and aid, or both.

“ Sir Alberich. ” Eula, in particular, had choice words. Like Barbara, they could only exchange a few sentences during the bulk of the fighting, and it seemed Eula’s sworn vengeance had come to rear its head.

“Lady Eula.~” Kaeya greeted cheerfully, crossing his arms with a smile.

“Do not ‘Lady Eula’ me! Do you not understand the turmoil your actions have put upon me? The idea that you had perished before me, helpless to aid, had torn at my heart from the moment the first bullet ran you through!”

“Aw, you were worried about me.~” Kaeya knew Eula’s harsh words underlied the truth, and he had long ago mastered translating her way of speaking. “It’s nice to feel cared about.~”

“Do not patronize me!” Eula snapped, and for a brief instant her composure broke. In that same instant Kaeya found himself staggering back as her fist had found his jaw; not hard enough to wound, but certainly hard enough to daze.

His head hadn’t had a chance to stop spinning before he was bundled into a crushing hug.

“You will never do such a thing again, lest the full force of my vengeance will be unleashed upon you.” She said firmly.

A beat later she let go and looked away. “I will allow you to return to your duties.” And, with that, she stalked off and left Kaeya to nurse a bruised cheek as he smirked. Never had getting slugged felt so loving.

-

No time had been wasted in gathering people and property, quickly hauling them out of the tunnels and into the light. Word of the underground network of passages had gotten around quickly, and the curious stuck their noses in to explore. Those fortunate enough to possess a Kamera even took pictures, documenting not only the old murals from the original resistance, but the new ones that had been drawn alongside them.

What no one expected, however, was that all of the accesses would seal themselves shortly after everyone and everything had been removed. Kaeya was disappointed that he never had a chance to show it to Diluc.

Shortly after, he was informed of an old, mostly forgotten, myth about the tunnels. Apparently they had been briefly mentioned in the stories of the original rebellion, Venessa’s people using them against the original Lawrence occupation; just as Venti had told them. The theory was that Barbatos himself would open them for his children, to aid them in fighting for their own freedom.

People then began to whisper; ‘Perhaps Barbatos was not as absent as they thought?’ ‘Perhaps he walked among them, helping them fight for their city?’ ‘Praise be unto Barbatos, coming to help his people help themselves in their time of need!’

Kaeya couldn’t help but notice the smug grin on Venti’s face, and the brief squint that Jean passed the bard. Curious.

-

The political repercussions of the entire ordeal went much further than just the Lawrence clan. The Fatui had been, unmistakably and unquestionably, part of the occupation. There was the possibility that Snezhnaya would deny any direct involvement, and simply blame those who participated as an independent group of overzealous nationalists. It would be their best bet, but Kaeya was doubtful that it would fly.

He was too tired to give more than a fraction of a shit, though, and was keen on letting that mess lie until much, much, later.

The Fatui related issue that earned his attention first and foremost was the masked man found hiding in the shadows of the city, with a scared but unmoving Jilliana standing between them.

“Viktor wasn’t with them!” She insisted as she glared down the Cavalry Captain with the ferocity of any allogene, unwavering despite Kaeya bearing a drawn sword and a sharp look of his own.

“And how do we know that for sure, Jilliana?” He asked, his voice soft but equally unyielding.

“Because he protected my family! I couldn’t bring myself to flee the Cathedral, but he saw Rudolf and Lily safely out of the city, and came back and helped me escape custody as well.” Jilliana explained, glancing back to the sweating blonde who stood against a wall.

“And for his service, I’m sure I can convince Jean to offer leniency.” Kaeya said tiredly. “But that alone simply proves favoritism, not innocence.”

“He...” A pause, and Jilliana stepped forward. “He knew about the Tunnels.”

That got Kaeya’s attention, and his eyebrow lifted in a silent bid for her to continue.

“He knew about the tunnels, and he never said a word.”

Kaeya looked at Viktor. “Is this true?”

The Fatui man hesitated, but spoke. “Yes. When I helped Jilliana escape and she met up with one of the resistance, I hid around the corner and heard them tell her of them, and I saw them go inside.”

Kaeya looked the man in the eye, then: “Take off your mask.”

“What?”

“Take off your mask, and tell me that again.”

Kaeya’s tone was dangerous, and Viktor did as he was told. Their eyes met.

“I knew of the tunnels. I told no one.” He repeated.

Seconds passed, and Kaeya sighed. “Give him a change of clothes from the supplies for the poor, and take off that mask. If you’re careful, you should be able to leave the city without much trouble; wait until everyone is drunk and sleeping off the alcohol.”

“Captain?” Jilliana’s voice was filled with hope.

“Don’t let me see him again.”

-

The sun began to rise and with the brightening light, the party began to ease. The drunk and exhausted stumbled home while some opted to just curl up in the sun like cats to nap. Things finally slowed down, the bulk of the work was done and most of the alcohol in the city drank. It had been long enough that Jean had woken from her nap, and very promptly gave Kaeya the instruction to go to Angel’s share and escort Diluc home.

Which was clearly Jean trying to manipulate him into taking it easy, shooing him towards his brother.

Kaeya didn’t have the energy to argue anymore, and obliged.

He slowly made his way down the many flights of stairs, giving tired smiles to those he passed. Everyone else was as tired as he was, so he was allowed to travel unimpeded. He watched the Angel’s Share come into view, and walked up to it with full strides. He reached for the knob, and suddenly found his hand hesitating. Was Diluc even here?

Yes.

Probably.

He was stalling.

Gritting his teeth, Kaeya chastised himself for his childishness and walked in, immediately spotting that the tavern was empty except for one red haired man, who appeared to have been in contemplation until Kaeya walked in.

Kaeya gave a friendly smile as he walked up to the bar. “Glad to see you haven’t dropped from exhaustion. It’s been a hectic 24 hours.”

Diluc looked at him appraisingly, and rather than respond to Kaeya’s remark, he instead said: “Have you eaten?”

‘No’, the answer to that was ‘no’. At that moment Kaeya realized that he was actually very hungry, and followed Diluc’s gaze to the supply of leftover food. “I haven’t.” He confessed sheepishly.

“Why don’t you grab a plate?”

“I think I’ll take you up on that offer...” Kaeya sighed and shuffled over to pick out a plate, grabbing whatever looked most appetizing cold.

“Honestly, I thought you would have been here before now.” Diluc said as he watched Kaeya find a seat at the bar. “I guess that’s the Knights of Favonius for you. Can’t find a balance between being inefficient and too efficient.” Diluc continued to talk as he found a bottle of dandelion wine and poured a glass.

Kaeya laughed at what was the closest thing to a compliment towards the Knights he’d heard out of Diluc’s mouth in years. “Couldn’t bring myself to sit down just yet.” He said, offering a word of thanks as the glass was given to him. He took a moment to smell and savor the scent of it before taking a sip, then looked back to his plate. “This is the biggest portion I’ve had since this mess started...” He mused. “Thank you, by the way, for the supplies. It was really make or break here until then.”

“You’re welcome for the food drop, of course.” Diluc leaned on the side of the bar with his signature smug looking smirk. “Did you see it?” He asked with a tinge of pride in his tone. “I imagine it was quite a sight.”

Kaeya smirked as well and reached into the wrist of his glove to retrieve the two slips of paper he tucked there, and presented them to the tycoon. “That I did.” He said. “It was spectacular and absolutely the sort of stunt you would pull.” His tone then turned more gentle. “A lot of us kept a slip, you know, as a sort of good luck charm, or reminder we weren’t alone. I think you’d be hard pressed to find someone from the inside who doesn’t have one on their person.”

Diluc read the papers as Kaeya spoke, looking at them as though he didn’t draft their message himself. “Well...” He began, hesitant.

Kaeya had begun to realize that Diluc struggled to speak when it came to sincerity in recent years, and patiently waited for him to find his words.

“You know our family. We don’t do things halfway.” He finished, finally.
When we want to send a message...” He’d trail off with another smirk.

Kaeya chuckled weakly. “And we wondered why Father was starting to go gray.”

They both shared another small laugh, and a moment of quiet fell between them. Kaeya felt his thoughts begin to drift. How would things have been if he’d done things differently? Would Crepus be alive? Would he and Diluc not have lost almost four years?

Thoughts became a whirlwind and, unsure what to say, Kaeya resumed picking at his plate.

“I wish he could have seen this… Seen us .” Diluc sighed with a soft smile, filling the silence. “I think… no, I know ...he would have been so proud. Of us… and our city.”

Kaeya felt his chest burn. “He loved Mondstadt. Of course he would be.” He agreed. “And he… he did love us. I know he would be proud of us as well.” He tried to offer a smile to Diluc, though it was weaker than he’d hoped.

“Honestly… he was always proud of us. We wouldn’t have had to save the whole city to win his pride.” Diluc said with conviction.

Kaeya knew that in his heart, even if he felt entirely undeserving of it.

“Of course it wouldn’t have hurt...” Diluc continued. “Kind of like… you didn’t have to nearly die, then come back from the dead to lead the Inner Resistance to prove...” Another hesitation. “That you’re Mondstadt’s. I already knew that.”

Kaeya’s hand stopped and slowly fell to rest his form on the plate as a painful jolt of shame and guilt shot through him. He knew he did what he had to do for Mond, but the knowledge of the pain he caused Diluc… not only that week, but for the last few years…

“I don’t regret what I did; Barbara would have been filled with holes if I hadn’t; that said, I do apologize. I hadn’t intended to nearly die, I just acted.” Kaeya finally found words, and sighed lightly before he looked up to meet his brother’s gaze. “I’m...” It was Kaeya’s turn to hesitate. “glad to hear that… All these years, and I was sure you hated me.” It was finally time to properly breach the topic, and Kaeya found himself anything but ready. “I did always wonder why you never said a thing about it...”

“I realized… shortly after...” Diluc began his own halting explanation, and Kaeya listened intently. “Just why you told me the truth. At the time I thought...” He paused, then resumed. “I don’t know what I thought. It wasn’t until after I had a chance to actually think it over that I realized… you were a traitor to Khaenri’ah, not Mondstadt.”

Kaeya kept from wincing. Diluc wasn’t wrong , but the word stung all the same.

“But...” Diluc continued to talk, ignorant to the inadvertent - but immediately forgiven - wound he inflicted. “Even if you weren’t… even if I knew that… I don’t think I could have actually outed you as a spy.”

That confession was not something Kaeya expected to hear. A cognitive dissonance of affection and despair struck him then; Diluc would have willingly allowed him to risk all of Mond…

“...Not when I knew they might have killed you for it...” Diluc said, snapping Kaeya from his thoughts. “You’re my brother, after all.”

Kaeya’s posture had been slowly shifting, sitting up as they spoke and his attention grew. He felt himself smiling in reflex at those last words, awestruck and filled with so much warmth he felt he would almost burst. Being called ‘brother’ once more… Kaeya didn’t think he wanted for much, but hearing those words was like a dream come true. It was a dream come true…

He wasn’t sure what to say at first, and eventually latched on to the first thing he was physically capable of giving voice. “I admit my timing could have been better.” He’d smile more wanly with half a laugh. “… Thank you, Diluc, for having faith in me, even if I didn’t see it.” He forced the honesty out; if Diluc could do it, then so could he, dammit! “Honestly, even I was unsure where my loyalties had laid until this incident… You’re right; I’ve always been Mondstadt’s. I just didn’t consciously realize it, even then.”

He picked his fork back up and tapped it on his plate. “It was instinct, as soon as the attack started, all I could think of was how to protect my home…” He’d then look pointedly at Diluc. “Protect my family .”

Diluc could only cough awkwardly and began collecting empty plates, combining the remaining fare into fewer platters. “How are things on the Knight’s end of this mess?” He changed the subject, and Kaeya could only smile softly. “Is Jean okay?”

Taking one last hearty bite of food, Kaeya stood to help his brother clean up. He’d never had a large appetite to begin with, and five days of slim rations only made his stomach shrink more. “The Knights are hurting.” Kaeya explained. “We lost a lot of brave warriors in this. Jean will likely be offering an Honorary Knighthood to those who desire one, who helped in this mess. As for Jean herself, physically she’s just exhausted. Mentally, I’m not sure yet. She’s in ‘Grand Master’ mode and so I can’t get a read on her.” Kaeya was a master of reading people, but Jean was one of the few who he struggled to parse sometimes; especially when she was on a mission. “I’m pretty sure she’s being eaten alive by guilt. She’ll need all of our support through this, I have no doubt.”

Diluc nodded. “She’ll have it.” He assured. Suddenly his exhaustion became evident, and Kaeya passed his sibling a concerned look. “I...” He began. “regretfully, need to be getting ready to head back to Dawn Winery. Angel’s Share’s inventory has been all but wiped out after last night’s celebrations.”

Kaeya hadn’t participated much, but he’d seen them all over; the fact Diluc had dandelion wine left to serve to him was an absolute astonishment.

“We’ll need to run transport balloons all day to bring it back up to what we’ll need tonight. You are welcome to stay here, however, for as long as you like.” Diluc attempted to coax Kaeya to rest. “Please, sit back down. I can handle this. I’ll leave this food here for you… and there’s a cot in the loft if you need a nap.”

Kaeya shook his head with fond affection. “I don’t mind. I don’t feel right sitting around just yet.” He continued to help Diluc, unswayed by the man’s attempts. “And actually, I’ve been given direct orders by our Acting Grand Master to ‘Escort Master Diluc Home’.” He’d pause and offer a wry smirk. “Which is code for ‘go home and sleep’, I suppose. Or something along those lines. So I will be accompanying you back to the winery.” He’d pause again. “That is, if you have no objections?”

Diluc smiled, and the sight was one so foreign that Kaeya had to take a moment to bask in how rare and precious it was.

“Of course not… though you might regret it.” Diluc said, mirth in his tone. “Adelinde took the news of your death hard. Be prepared for her to wrap you in cotton and guilt you into staying all week.”

Right. Adelinde. Kaeya felt like a right ass for forgetting about her up until that moment; specifically her perspective. He chuckled at the warning. “You frame this as though it’s a threat. I must say, after what I’ve endured this last week, that sounds positively lovely.” He was being honest. After his entire ordeal, being doted on and pampered sounded like paradise.

Diluc set the gathered and emptied dishes to the side for later worry, turning to Kaeya. “Alright then… Let's go home.”

“Home… A nice ring to it, if I may say so myself.~” Kaeya smiled, his friendly tone so full of affection that even he could hear it. “Lead the way, then.~”

Diluc grabbed the ‘closed’ sign and made his way to the door with Kaeya at his heels. Suddenly Kaeya felt himself struck with an idea and spoke up. “Ah, Diluc. A moment?” He asked with a beckoning motion, urging the man back into the tavern.

With a curious look, Diluc hung the sign and walked back into arm’s reach. As soon as he was close enough, Kaeya’s eye bore a flash of mischief as his hand shot out and grabbed his brother, yanking Diluc by the arm into a hug.

Clinging tightly as though he would vanish into smoke, Kaeya buried his face in the padding of his brother’s shoulder. “I missed you, ‘Luc.” He said softly, too shy to say it outright just yet.

He felt the other’s arms wrap around him, hugging so tightly he felt the air squeezed from him; he had no desire to escape, and felt the last of his anxieties fade as Diluc spoke.

“I missed you, too.”

Chapter Text

Sit with me, friends, and let me tell you a tale

A story of two brothers, whom to fate did avail

Split not just by pride, but by stone and by steel

Both facing a foe whom demanded they kneel

A song of resistance, sung loud and true

The people of Mondstadt knew just what to do

Flames of defiance burned brightly and strong

As frostborn loyalty did encourage the throng

Against the oppressors the city did fight

With sword, spear, and pot, with all of their might

Within days they had won, the city was free

And never again would they ever bend knee

---

On the eve of disaster, two brothers; estranged

Bickered and fought in a familiar game

Unwelcome, came one, through the closed tavern door

and traded bitter words, like all the times before

Words poised to harm, though no heat did they hold

For the wounds, now years old, had long since gone cold

Final words were exchanged and more daggers were thrown

In a dance of hostility, with no sincerity shown.

Alarm bells and screams at the first light of day

Forced all from their beds and into the fray

All within the vineyards and all within the walls

Usurpers attacked to further their cause

Allies beside, the uncrowned king fought

A legacy of combat, all staff had been taught

The attack was a rout, the winery proud in its resistance

But concern then did rise, like the smoke in the distance

---

The Knights stood fast in their fight to defend

But the forces of conquest put that to an end

In came the false King, the offenders he led

And declared his intention, the sisters to wed

Morale was precious, and her sister more,

To her wolf she turned, 'Please run' she implored.

With hesitation they did just what was asked

Sister in tow out the doors they did dash

Over the wall, down the cliff, upon a bridge of frost

Across the lake they moved, but stealth was soon lost

Echos of gunshots and blood on the ice

The wolf's body to protect, he paid the price

A last burst of power, an escape route bestowed

And then the wolf fell into the water below

---

Both brothers survived, but the other thought dead

Resolve then did harden, a revolt they both led

To take back the home that was so quickly lost

The invaders did not know with whom they had crossed

In underground maze and in the bright sunny light

The two sides plotted and prepared for their fight

With a war on two fronts, their enemy then did buckle

And soon came the end of their valiant struggle

From the sea and the wind, help then did come

To bolster the forces, their march like a drum

In the night they did strike, vengeance was dealt

And on the false King's head, his crown then did melt.

Brothers back together, their bond reaffirmed

As years of hidden care were tearfully confirmed

Sung were the Songs of Resistance with which they were reared

As they proved to invaders that they should be feared

Chapter Text

    Albedo had, as he tended to do, spent the entire night in his lab. He had been working on experiments with no regard for the time, and with each one completed he would move on to the next. ‘One more’ he told himself, again and again, until the first glimpse of morning light began to add a pale blue hue to the lamp-lit laboratory.

    Fatigue burned at his eyes and hunger chewed at his stomach, and it took their combined assault to finally convince him to set down his work. Still, he was careful and meticulous in his cleaning; he put things away and washed beakers with practiced ease.

    His mind was elsewhere as he mused over what he could get from the kitchens, and so startled as he was shoved back to reality as the door slammed open with such ferocity that it bounced against the back wall. His tired hands faltered and the wet beaker slipped from his fingers, shattering in the sink with a loud crash as broken glass fell down the drain. He turned sharply with a chastisement on his lips, only to fall silent at the sight of his intruders.

    “Albedo! We have to evacuate!” It was Sucrose who stood at the entryway, a frantic look in her eyes as she held the hand of a sleepy and half-dressed Klee.

    All ire dropped and he took full strides to the door. “What’s going on?” He asked, following her as she led them down the hallway. He could see everyone in the building was hastily throwing themselves together; all preparing to flee headquarters.

    “I don’t know, Captain Eula began raising the alarm and Acting Grand Master Jean called for a full evacuation. I think there is an invasion and they’re making their way here,” Sucrose explained, tugging Klee with her as she picked up her pace. “we’re to withdraw to the cathedral and take as many civilians as we can with us.”

    Albedo was rife with questions, but Sucrose likely told him everything she knew. He slipped in front to take the lead and led the way down the stairs. Klee had woken fully by the time they reached the ground floor, and kept up with them as they stepped outside.

    Immediately Albedo caught a glimpse of Jean as she hurried up the stairs, shouting orders of evacuation and emergency protocols that sent Knights scattering to various parts of the city.

    “Sucrose, take Klee and go to the cathedral,” Albedo instructed, ignoring the child’s protest. “I’m going to try to help evacuate and make my way there shortly.”

    He could see the hesitation in Sucrose’s eyes, but after a moment her resolve hardened and she nodded. “Yes sir. Please, be safe.”

    With little fanfare she latched onto Klee’s hand and dragged her along, not looking back as she made her way up the stairs towards sanctuary.

    Albedo waited until they were gone before he summoned his sword. He then jogged to the edge of the wall and vaulted it, dropping to the ground below without issue before running to the nearest door...

-

    The city had rapidly descended into chaos. Albedo had only managed to wake and shoo off two families before the attack began. He found himself faced with a handful of mercenaries, who all held the glint of homicide in their eyes. While Albedo was not one to willfully take a life if he didn’t need to, he was not above protecting himself and others with lethal force.

    They dropped easily, and hadn’t even reached the ground by the time Albedo had turned to hammer on the door of the next home. He coaxed out those hiding within, and quickly did a headcount before leading them towards the upper city.

He hadn’t seen the gates be breached, so it was fairly clear that their attackers had already been inside before it all began. Albedo wasn’t sure how long they had been mobilizing, but Kaeya’s recent complaints of the crowding in the local taverns suddenly took on a new context.

    His confidence in that theory only grew as he and his group were stopped by more mercenaries. They had been laying in wait on the stairs going up, and barred their path with sharp metal and hostile intent.

Immediately the alchemist moved, his weapon a flash of steel that cut two of the swordsmen down as arrows flew past his thin frame. He was a blur, the arrows missing and deflecting off the cobble ground as his blade found the others.

The path clear, Albedo called for them to continue.

    The path was treacherous, but made easier by the small group of adventurers that had joined their small unit on the way. Visibility was still low due to the low sun and high walls, the shadows creating places for people to hide. It was only at the last moment that Albedo spotted the archer on a nearby roof, tucked tight against a chimney with an arrow aimed towards an adventurer’s chest.

Albedo acted in reflex and pushed the man out of the way, watching the arrow loose from the bow and rocket towards him in almost slow-motion.

    He had been ready to take the hit, maybe even lose an eye, so he was very surprised by the fact that the arrow did not pierce skin.

    No; in his haste to leave his lab, he had never removed his protective goggles and had all but forgotten he was wearing them. Instead of feeling the sharp pierce of an arrowhead, he instead felt a dull impact as the sharp point simply cracked the visor, sending spiderwebs across his vision.

    Well then. Certainly not what he had in mind, but there was another win for Lab Safety.

    The force of the impact still put Albedo on the ground, which sent multiple pairs of hands to try to help him up. By the time he was back on his feet, Albedo couldn’t see the archer on the roof any longer; most likely haven eaten an arrow of their own in retaliation.

He assured them he was fine and quickly called for them to continue; they had no time to waste. Despite running into various roadblocks, one of which resulted in Albedo’s coat tails catching fire, necessitating him having to rip off the garment and abandon it on the road, they made good time.

-

    The alarm bells had only been tolling for a few minutes by the time they reached the massive wooden doors. Albedo knocked the emergency pattern into the wood, hearing it echo inside the cathedral as it begged for their entry.

It wasn’t long before the door opened and Albedo was able to herd everyone inside, going in last to secure the lock himself.

    Relatively safe, Albedo discarded his damaged goggles and quickly found Sucrose and Klee. A hug for his sister and a smile for his assistant, they exchanged what information they had: The Lawrence clan had apparently hired mercenaries to help take over the city, with the Fatui assisting them and laying near waste to their numbers. The Headquarters had been stormed not long after they all escaped, and several knights were already dead.

    It didn’t look good. Albedo had wanted to go back out and try to bring in more refugees, but Jean had solidly rejected the request.

    “We need as many hands as we can get, here,” She had told him. “It’s only a matter of time before they converge on our location, and we need to be ready to defend those we can.”

    It was viable reasoning and, with reluctance, he obliged.

    Time passed at a painful crawl as he watched people begin to fill the cathedral. Knights, members of the church, adventurers. Eventually he saw Kaeya stumble in after a large group of refugees, looking exhausted, half dressed, and ready to maim. The man had only taken a moment to assess the room before he walked right up to Jean and began asking questions, their lifetime bond visible in how they addressed one another.

    Albedo wasn’t sure how long it was before the great doors shuddered, threatening to cave under a monumental force.

    “Get civilians and the injured downstairs! Now!” Jean’s order echoed across the vast hall, and everyone scrambled to obey. Those who could fight took up position, and Albedo and Klee fell in with them.

    He wished desperately to send Klee downstairs with the others, but he knew she would refuse. There was no time to argue with her; he would just have to see to her safety himself.

    The doors exploded, splinters of wood flying into the air that created a cloud of debris that obstructed his line of sight. Once it cleared he could see what they were up against; Fatui, and a lot of them. Gripping his sword, he prepared to fight.

-

    It was a rout. Despite everyone fighting with everything they had, there was no way they were going to win. At that point it was damage control.

    Albedo was already exhausted; he hadn’t eaten in Archons knew how long, and he certainly hadn’t slept in almost as much time. He was sloppy; slow. He knew he wasn’t going to be able to hold off his attackers for much longer as his body began to betray him, weariness affecting his sword strikes.

    Klee stood close to his side, helping the best she could, but she was still just a child. He focused on protecting her, but Fatui and mercenaries had begun to descend on them in greater numbers.

    Albedo saw the massive hammer go up-

    “Klee, run and hide !” He practically snapped, snatching his sister by the backpack and hurling her along the smooth tile floors, using his strength to send her sliding far away.

    He didn’t have time to turn to face his attacker, the massive hammer hitting him before he could.

-

    “Albedo?” A soft and familiar voice laced with worry pierced into his consciousness and, as reality slowly began to seep in, Albedo realized he felt like he had been run over by a charging Mitachurl. His body felt like one giant bruise, and couldn’t help but groan as his eyes fluttered open. He squinted around the dim room as he tried to make out his surroundings.

    “Ah, he wakes.” Another soft voice.

    “Oh thank goodness. Albedo, how do you feel?” The first voice spoke, which Albedo finally placed as Sucrose’s.

    With another faint groan of discomfort, Albedo sat himself up and regarded those present. “Not great, if I am to be completely honest,” He said, too weary to put on a performance. “What happened? Is Klee okay?”

    “I’m not sure about Klee, but she wasn’t captured with the rest of us,” The other voice - Lisa - said. “As for what happened… Well...” She lifted a hand and gestured at their environment, which Albedo only then took in.

    They were crammed in a cell, likely below the Mondstadt jails. He could see Mona laid out on the only bunk with Noelle by her side, whispering to the clearly miserable woman.

    “We were captured.” He observed.

    “Yes. Shortly after you were knocked unconscious, reinforcements arrived and...” Sucrose said. “We couldn’t hold the cathedral. Grand Master Jean was captured along with us.”

    “I see… How long have I been out?” Albedo then asked, gripping his abdomen in both pain and gnawing discomfort as he felt almost sick from hunger.

    “A handful of hours,” Lisa reported as she reached into her sleeve. As though reading his mind, she passed him some bread. “Here, I hid this for you when they brought by food. They decided it would be funny to not leave you any, since you weren’t awake.” Her tone bore a hostile lilt; the kind only heard when a book was overdue. He felt honored.

    He made himself eat slowly, despite his hunger, and listened as the girls got him up to speed. The city had fallen to the Fatui and Lawrence clan, and most of the Knights were either dead, captured, or entirely MIA. Schubert had declared himself king, and those who weren’t killed or thrown in prison were forced to remain in their homes. Anyone who possessed a Vision were considered fugitives and were to be captured; their Visions confiscated. Thankfully, however, their relics were not far; just upstairs in the armory, as best as they could tell.

    “We know nothing else?” Albedo asked.

    “I’m afraid not.” Sucrose shook her head.

    “I’m honestly surprised we know as much as we do,” Lisa added.

    Albedo nodded wearily and shifted to lay back down on the ground. His nausea had eased thanks to the bread, but he still felt unwell; had he been human he was certain that hammer strike would have killed him. 

    “We’ll wake you if we hear anyone come down, so they don’t skip you again,” Sucrose promised.

    “Thank you.” Albedo was exhausted, and hoped that real sleep would help ease the worst of it.

-

    Information was painfully sparse. Albedo had been woken that morning by the others as breakfast was delivered, but the mercenaries who brought it were not inclined to offer any measure of conversation and simply left.

    Sipping at his water between bites of bread, he watched Noelle desperately try to coax the very ill Mona to try to swallow something. She had been unable to keep anything down, so the fact that she managed to drink her water and eat half of her bread was a bit of a miracle.

    He didn’t know why she was so ill, and she was in no state to explain how it happened. Her condition did explain one thing, however; why Mona had not seen this attack coming and warned them. Be it sheer bad luck or an active poisoning, they had no way of knowing.

    Hours passed, filled only with faint conversation from nearby cells to those close enough to be heard without shouting. It was painfully boring, and Albedo didn’t have so much as a pencil and napkin to sketch on to fill the time. He was so desperate for stimulation that, when the door opened and steps began to descend, he found himself quite eager to see what it was about.

    Though he found himself second guessing that eagerness when he saw who stood before them, bearing a haughty grin on their face and a ridiculously oversized crown on their head.

    “My, you all look like you have seen better days,” Schubert taunted, ignoring the looks of scorn on all of their faces. “Well, I suppose that makes sense, given how soundly you were defeated yesterday.”

    No one replied, and Albedo massaged his knuckles to resist the urge to try to rip the bars apart and beat him.

    “I suppose you should be somewhat commended; you refused to run and faced your defeat. There is some measure of honor in that,” Schubert continued to prattle. “For that I will allow your executions to be dignified.”

    Albedo could feel the shift in the cell, an undercurrent of worry that they all did their best to hide.

    “I’d offer you all a chance to work under my new regime, but I have it on good authority that none of you would do so willingly. I have no other choice, you see. You have only yourselves to blame,” Schubert continued more, and Albedo became aware that, clearly, the man only came there to gloat. “But, as I said, I will be sure to give you all the execution you’re worthy of; just like that outlander dog’s was.”

    “What?” Albedo spoke before he realized he did, being the first in the cell to break their silence. Schubert smirked; clearly Albedo had slipped into a trap.

    “Ah, yes. What was his name? Kaeya? Your beloved little Cavalry Captain,” Schubert said, his tone laced with insincere sympathy. “Tried to run for his life with that damned niece of mine, and was filled with holes in the middle of cider lake.”

    Schubert’s glee at this declaration was audible as all those in earshot exploded into fury. The roar of anger and vows for vengeance turned into a painful rush of noise, and it took everything Albedo had to keep his composure.

    He didn’t parse anything else that was said; he hadn’t wanted to. By the time he allowed his awareness to return to him, Schubert had left. Slowly he sank to the ground, staring at his boot.

    “Do you think it’s true?” He asked, softly.

    “Captain Albedo...” Noelle spoke, finally, having not been much part of the conversations over the last day. “I… didn’t wish to tell you...”

    Sucrose and Lisa turned to look at the maid in surprise and grief, listening to her soft words.

    “Schubert...speaks true,” She finally said after a long pause. “I witnessed it myself. I’m sorry.”

    That was the last thing she said for the rest of the day.

-

    The knowledge of Kaeya’s death was a bitter pill to swallow, and a silence had descended the jails that none dared break. Albedo leaned his back against the cold stone wall and allowed his mind to wander in an attempt to distract himself. No matter what he tried to think of, however, it always found its way back to his friend.

    Kaeya was a pest, but he liked the man; a lot . He considered him a close friend, and found the man's playful fawning endearing in a childish sort of way. He could remember the first time Kaeya asked to be drawn, and how he had obliged in a three stroke sketch. He remembered the stunned look of disbelief on the man’s face before he had broken into near hysterics, declared it a masterpiece, and hung it on his office wall for months before it suffered an unfortunate ‘accident’ by Klee’s hands.

    Albedo had intended on doing a proper sketch for him, and slip it into his desk; maybe as a birthday present…

He wouldn’t get that chance now. He wouldn’t get any chance for anything now; not with Kaeya.

    Albedo didn’t cry; it was a behavior that his master had beaten out of him a long time ago. It had been deemed a waste of time; something that didn’t befit scientists like them. That lesson remained stuck deep in his heart, despite knowing now that it was wrong.

    He desperately wished it didn’t. The burn in his chest was painful; he couldn’t breathe and it felt like he was going to simply crumble to cinders from the inside out. The urge to cry was strong, but no matter how much he wished to allow it to happen, his face remained dry and the fire continued to rage.

    He then felt warmth beside him, and turned his head in surprise. He saw the dark blue and mint green of his assistant, who had quietly seen his distress and shyly sat down beside him. She said nothing, and instead looked at him with what could only be empathy. She then gently leaned over, slowly, as though giving him a chance to object, before resting her weight against him in a silent show of support.

    A few seconds later, emotionally battered and desperate for anything he could get, he leaned back.

-

    The windows in the cells were small, maybe six inches tall and twelve wide at their largest, and all faced an inner courtyard. They offered nothing but some sunlight, and the occasional sound of birdsong, and truly acted as nothing but a reminder of what they no longer had.

But even with that limited window of the outside world, the sight of food of all things raining from the sky was unmistakably visible.

    Where it was coming from they could not tell, and they could not see or hear anyone on the outside to glean information from. Some ingenuity and jerry-rigging from those in the cells managed to reel in a few of the bundles, and the contents were distributed across the hungriest of them all. Not everyone could get some, but a small and roughly cut bit of ham was forced into Albedo’s hands despite his protests.

    He ate, grateful, even if it tasted like ash in his mouth. It was a small pick-me-up, and he did feel a little better after, but he couldn’t shake that ever-present haze that refused to go. Still, he hid his grief and remained strong for those who could see him; he would take time to grieve properly once everything was over…

-

    … And several hours later he came to realize he wouldn’t have to.

The vibration that shook the entire structure birthed dozens of shouts of alarm and fear. Everyone who slept awoke, and even the delirious Mona let out a confused grunt.

    They could hear shouting and the pounding of footsteps that rushed down the stairs. More shouts, a mix of delight, surprise, and disbelief.

    “Big brother!” A high pitched cry of a preciously familiar voice pushed Albedo’s dark clouds away in an instant. He rushed forward to grab the bars just in time to see his sister, dressed in a dark cloak with peacock feathers on the hood, run into view.

    “Klee!” He shouted loudly, relief flooding his voice as at least someone he loved was alive and okay. He reached out to grip her hands, feeling the warmth of them through his gloves. “What are you doing here?”

    “Kaeya is leading a breakout!” She declared, a statement that had the astounding effect of entirely blanking Albedo’s head. Everyone around him let out sounds of disbelief and joy, and Albedo’s head looked up slowly to the figure that had just stepped into view.

    Standing there, alive and with the most insufferable smirk on his face, was none other than Cavalry Captain Kaeya Alberich. The mix of emotions Albedo had was powerful, a torrential tug-of-war between crying in relief and slugging the bastard for making him worry.

    “Surprise.~” Kaeya smiled as he unlocked the door, stepping back to let Klee launch into the cell to hug her brother.

    “How did-” Albedo tried to ask, but was cut off.

    “Later. Let’s get your Visions and get out of here. Do you know where they are?” Kaeya asked, sticking to the issue at hand.

    With the knowledge of Kaeya’s survival, the haze that had settled itself vanished entirely, which allowed Albedo to focus. “In the armory, the best we can tell. Mona is very sick; she’s been feverish and vomiting since even before the attack. She was simply picked up and transported here from her home, apparently, too sick to even comprehend what’s happening.” He explained.

    “And now?”

    “She’s still delirious. We’ll have to carry her to safety.” Noelle reported.

    Kaeya nodded and looked down the hall. “Cyrus! I need you to carry Mona to safety! The rest of us are going to break into the armory and get their Visions back!”

    A shout of affirmation and Kaeya looked back. “Trust them, let’s go.”

    Kaeya took off, shouting orders to dozens of others in cloaks identical to his and Klee’s, and Albedo and the others tailed closely behind him.

    They didn’t make it far from the exit of the cells before they stopped, a mix of mercenaries and Fatui waiting for them.

    “Go to the armory, get your Visions. I’ll hold them off.” Kaeya instructed as he drew his blade.

    Like hell Albedo was letting this man out of his sight. If Noelle had witnessed correctly, even if Kaeya had survived, he was likely wounded terribly.

    “I will remain as well,” Albedo cracked his knuckles. “I do not need a Vision or a weapon to be a threat.”

    “Klee will help too!”

    Albedo turned to his sister and spoke gently but firmly. “Klee, I need you to escort everyone else out safely. We’ll be fine.”

    “But-”

    “Do as I say, I’ll see you soon, promise.”

    Reluctantly Klee did as she was asked, leaving them to deal with the blockade. Albedo had two days worth of grief and fury to work off, and he was in no mood to disguise his true strength. The second he saw an Anemo boxer attempt to intercept the others on their way to the armory, he put himself in the way and punched the colossal figure with force, staggering it back and allowing the others to get by.

    He didn’t hold back, venting out every ounce of stress and frustration as he moved with blinding speed, laying physical blow after physical blow until he was able to grab onto the boxer. With a massive heave he hurled it into a group of mercenaries, taking them out like bowling pins.

    That was satisfying.

    Soon enough the others returned and, with a smile, Lisa politely placed his Vision in his palm. Not long afterwards they moved to flee the jails as Albedo quickly fastened his Vision back to his collar.

    They were stopped by more enemy forces, though Albedo was anything but concerned. Summoning the power of Geo, he wrapped his fists in the elemental energy and charged, sending any unfortunate enough to be in his path towards a painful conclusion.

    Kaeya shouted an order and, as soon as he could break free, he followed the man towards a tunnel entrance, slipping inside with Klee at his heels.

-

    Everyone from the jails made it into the massive underground chamber, a remarkable sight that he wished he could sketch, but found no time to. He first had to fend off those trying to offer him medical care, and firmly directed them away and towards those in more need. He was then led to what appeared to be Kaeya’s makeshift office space, and had only just sat down when the man himself appeared to begin fretting over him.

    “I’m not the one that nearly died out on that lake.” Albedo eventually said, exasperated.

    Kaeya was reluctant to let it go, but had little argument and eventually sat down. Klee appeared shortly after the argument ended and attached herself firmly to her brother’s waist, quickly falling asleep and thoroughly pinning him.

    They sat in silence for a while, until Albedo was the first to break the bubble around them. “I’m glad you’re alive,” He said. “Schubert came by the cell and practically gloated that you were dead… Noelle said she saw it happen.”

    Kaeya rubbed his shoulder with a faint grimace of pain. “She saw right; Bennett did too, and was close enough to act. Dragged me from death’s door and brought me back before it was too late.”

    Albedo made a mental note to do something nice for the unlucky boy as soon as circumstances allowed.

    “Anyway, I’m okay now. You were hit fairly hard with that hammer, are you really-”

    “ Kaeya, I’m fine. ”

    “Oh, he’s just worried about you, sweetie.” Lisa teased as she walked up, having heard that their little argument was still going strong.

    “He is not the one who spent the entire time thinking the other was dead.” Albedo grumbled.

    “Aw, you do care.~” It was Kaeya’s turn to tease, and earned a frown from the Alchemist.

    “Of course I care, you’re my friend, even if you’re absolutely insufferable.”

    “I will choose to take that as a compliment.”

    “As I said. ‘ Insufferable ’.

-

    They exchanged information, they planned, they ate.

    And then they rested. Klee had fallen asleep ages ago and had yet to wake, still latched firmly onto her brother’s body. Albedo, carrying the sleeping child, fell in step beside Kaeya as they walked towards the rest area; a quiet spot where they could take a moment to simply reflect.

    “Here, this is the one I’ve been using,” Kaeya said as he walked up to one of the frames, which had been stuffed with blankets and pillows of an eclectic sort. Albedo couldn’t help but pass Kaeya a lifted eyebrow, which was responded to with a faint shrug. “People kept putting stuff in the bed, and I didn’t want to rebuff their kindness.”

    “I see. Everyone thought you were dead before you came down here?” Albedo asked, stopping by Kaeya’s side as he shifted Klee in his arms.

    “Yes. I suspect perhaps it was the closest thing to ‘get well soon’ flowers they could muster.” Kaeya laughed.

    “Perhaps they wished to offer you a more comfortable place to rest, given the severity of your wounds.” Albedo offered, glancing at the man beside him.

    Kaeya looked away, silent for a moment.

    “I suppose… I can’t say it wasn’t appreciated.” He finally mumbled, softly.

    “How bad was it? Really?” Albedo had to know. “They said you were filled with bullets.”

    “Three, yes, but clearly they needed to try harder to keep me down.” Kaeya confirmed with such candidness that it took the Alchemist a notable amount of self control to keep from snapping at him.

    Instead, he gently laid his sister on the blankets and turned to Kaeya, staring him down. With a carefully measured tone, he spoke; “I grieved you, you know.”

    Kaeya went stock still, then, and the false mirth in his eyes faded to something else; deeper and more sincere.

    “I thought you were dead. I thought you were gone. Noelle confirmed it, Kaeya, and I had no reason to believe otherwise. No reason to hold onto hope,” Albedo continued. “All I could think about was how, despite considering you a good friend, I could have done better. About how, when you asked me to draw you, all I gave you was that silly doodle. How I would have never gotten the chance to capture you properly down on paper, and how that, because you were gone, you would eventually fade from my memories with nothing to remember you by.”

    The confession was sudden and powerful, and clearly it had knocked any words out of Kaeya; an impressive feat.

    “Once this is over, and the city is ours again… Let’s take an evening, I’ll paint you. Maybe do a few; I’m sure plenty will want a portrait of the city’s hero.”

    Kaeya was quiet for a time, until he eventually realized that Albedo was done talking.

    “I… would like that,” He whispered.

    A faint smile graced Albedo’s lips at that. “Good.”

    “You must be tired. You can use my bed for a while; it looked like you were sleeping on the ground this whole time.” Kaeya changed the subject then.

    “You’d be right. Are you sure?”

    “I insist. Get some rest. I’m too wired to sleep right now, anyway,” Kaeya then sat down at the side of the bed, resting his back on the frame. “I’ll just be here, looking over some documents. Making plans, scheming; you know how it is.”

    Albedo exhaled with a playful roll of his eyes, and then carefully crawled into the bed, almost immediately feeling the ache in his body ease. Klee shuffled in her sleep and latched onto him in fairly short order, clinging tightly like she feared he would vanish.

    It was a fear he shared in a similar form and, despite having put his back to the man, Albedo couldn’t help but listen carefully for the sound of his breathing.

    “Kaeya?”

    “Yes?”

    “Nevermind… Good night.”

    He heard Kaeya turn, and felt eyes bore into him.

    “What is it, Albedo?” Kaeya asked. Albedo should have known he wouldn’t let it go.

    With a soft exhale, he spoke. “You’ll be here in the morning, right?”

    “Why wouldn’t I be?”

    “...I suppose you’re right.” Albedo felt childish, seeking comfort like he wasn’t a grown adult of many years.

    Kaeya seemed to have understood, regardless, and Albedo felt a hand on his back.

    “I’m here. I’m alive. I have no intention of going anywhere, okay?” He said softly, almost reassuringly. “Get some sleep, you’ll feel better in the morning. I’ll be here when you wake up.”

    He felt silly for how much that actually helped, and felt his body actually relax enough that he felt he could probably sleep. “Thank you, Kaeya. Good night.”

    “Good night, Albedo.”