Chapter Text
It’s very cold and it’s very dark. Those are the first two things Albedo observes when he wakes up. The next thing he realizes, with a surge of panic, is that his geo vision is not fastened to his collar at his neck. And his last observation he comes to find out before he rises to his feet is that he has no idea where he is. Well, he might know, if he could see anything.
Not having his vision- the geo one and the one involving eyesight- was not going to stop him. The last thing he remembered was waving goodbye to Aether before he started to ascend up the mountain of Dragonspine to return to his camp. No matter, he must be on Dragonspine then. Maybe in a cave blocked with snow, with his geo vision somewhere lying on the ground nearby. Not a problem.
Of course… with everything that had happened in the last couple of days, it could be something much worse. Everything had ended too neatly, too perfectly, all wrapped in a little bow. Albedo didn’t feel good about sending his friends away, but it was better for them to be safe off of the mountain. After all, surely the imposter would go for him if the imposter still lingered.
Maybe the imposter already had.
Albedo’s sword was also missing. But what would never be missing from his grasp was his alchemy. With a bit of a fine touch, he could create light in his hand from a clump of snow and dirt. It was rudimentary and would last thirty seconds at best, so he moved quickly.
With his briefly conjured light, he could see that it was not snow blocking his way in, but some poorly constructed wooden bars on one end of the cave. If he squinted, he could see light in the distance. He must be deep underground the mountain.
His light flickered out, and he did not bother making more. Instead, he grabbed one of the wooden bars and tugged as hard as he could. It gave way with a few pushes and pulls. But so did the rocky ceiling underneath it, so he dove out of the way just as that part of the cave caved in on itself.
Alright. Now time to get to the surface. If it was the imposter- the original test subject- that put him there, he either lacked in intelligence, or assumed Albedo would be asleep longer or even possibly dead.
If Albedo was being honest, he didn’t totally know what capabilities Subject Two- the failed experiment- possessed. He didn’t know why Master had deemed him a failure. In fact, by the time Albedo had come into being, Subject Two had already been “disposed” of. Clearly, he had either never died, or had been resurrected thanks to the strange magic of Durin on this mountain. Albedo had to assume the latter. Maybe Subject Two was as smart and capable and strong as Albedo himself but too aggressive. Albedo feared the idea, but doubted it. There must have been some flaw. A malfunction in his body or mind. Something must have been lacking. Whatever it was, Albedo had the ability, or else he would not have been disposed of, and if he could figure out what it was, then he would have the high ground over the imposter.
However…at the moment, he was sword-less and vision-less. That made things tip the favor to Subject Two.
Assuming, of course, Subject Two was the reason behind him waking up here defenseless.
Albedo carefully navigated his way through the dark, feeling cold. A benefit of his synthetic human status was that temperature didn’t have too much of an effect on him. He was cold, but it was tolerable. Even the traveler from another world would likely find this area to be freezing and intolerable. Would he? Hm. Albedo should ask Aether to test that later.
One thing that worried Albedo was his disconnection with his vision. To him, having it was not a big deal- it was just another tool, another part of his research. But he always had it, and has had it for a very long time now. He heard the stories from Inazuma, of how people lost memories, became out-of-touch and depressed, when being disconnected from their visions. It seemed to mostly be reversed when they got them back, but it was still…worrying. Until this very moment, Albedo had taken his vision for granted. Now he wished the clasp he had kept it on had been a little more secure.
But he continued to wonder. Would his vision work on Subject Two? Visions lose their glow as soon as it’s no longer on the bearer’s person. He’d studied it himself, having various people hold his vision and recording what happened. Nobody but him could get it to work. But then why would Subject Two take it, especially when he had already copied it when taking his appearance? Did he take it, or was it lost in the snow? The thought made Albedo briefly stop walking and look around. Ugh. If it was lost in the snow, he would need to come back with a lantern and some friends to really search for it. Without it’s glow, it would so easily blend in. Not something he could fret about now, as he could finally see the exit of this cave.
…And a figure standing in the exit. Albedo froze when he saw the familiar figure. Was it Subject Two, or the mimicry?
“You got out,” Albedo’s own voice said to him from his own face, identical to him except for that star on his neck.
“You didn’t think those wooden bars would stop me?” Albedo asked calmly.
“No, I didn’t. I thought you would be asleep longer, or maybe even freeze to death.”
They stared at each other a bit longer. Albedo quickly determined this was Subject Two himself. The mimicry would have attacked him on sight, he was sure.
“So, you have brought me here to imprison me. Do you still intend to disguise yourself as me, and assume my identity completely?”
“Yes. You would do the same.”
Albedo would agree. He absolutely would. The idea of being disposed of…to simply die when he could have had the life he has now…
“But how is it fair to me?” Albedo challenged.
“Spare me,” Subject Two said icily.
“Think about it. It’s not fair Master abandoned you. But it’s also not fair for you to take my place.” He pressed his mouth in a thin line. “Surely, you could take on your own appearance, and assimilate yourself into society without upending my life. I’d even show you how.”
“Not interested.” Subject Two unsheathed a sword- Albedo’s sword. “You got to have a life. It’s my turn.” He sighed, smiling at Albedo. It was his face, but that was not his smile. That smile made Albedo feel far colder than the Dragonspine snow ever did.
“What happened to you is cruel and unfair, and I want you to be able to experience life. But,” Albedo inhaled sharply, “I will not let you deceive my friends- or hurt the traveler.”
“How do you know the traveler isn’t already dead? He knew, so, couldn’t keep him around.”
“You’re lying.”
“Am I?”
Albedo and Subject Two stared at each other.
“Ah, here. I’ll give you a fighting chance.” Subject Two took something out of his pocket and flung it at Albedo. His vision. Albedo caught it, and it glowed gold as soon as it touched his hands. He would have to note later that it was useless to even a perfect clone of himself. Quickly, he attached to his collar where it belonged.
“Do you plan to kill me?” Albedo asked.
“Now that would be foolish of me,” Subject Two remarked, stepping down into the cavern, slowly approaching Albedo. Every step Subject Two took forward, Albedo took one back. “How am I supposed to be Albedo, the Kreideprinz, if you can’t tell me who that is?”
“As if I would just tell you how to deceive my friends,” Albedo scoffed.
“Not willingly, no,” Subject Two agreed, outstretching his sword, “but you will.”
Albedo and Subject Two stared at each other for a moment longer, and then Albedo turned and ran. He had alchemy and his vision. Subject Two had alchemy and his sword. Depending on how well-trained the other was with a sword, they might be evenly matched. Maybe. Truly, Albedo didn’t know what this imposter had under his sleeves. If it was Durin that brought him to life, perhaps he could even harness Durin’s magic. Now that was a terrifying thought.
Albedo had no intentions of running from the fight, but he knew he needed distance. This cave was huge, and he could see some glowing scarlet quartz lighting up his way. Perfect, this was enough room. He stopped, listened carefully, and the moment he heard Subject Two’s footsteps, he slammed his hand onto the ground. A solar isotoma- or as a lot of people called it, a flower made of stone (though there was no stone nor plant that made up it’s composition)- appeared on the ground, right underneath Subject Two’s feet. Albedo watched as it flung Subject Two into the air, and the short time he had, Albedo ran underneath it and right past him.
Subject Two instantly jumped off the solar isotoma and plunged his sword into the ground. It missed Albedo, but it pierced his coat and dragged him down. Albedo grabbed a handful of snow and turned and threw it at Subject Two’s face and then ripped himself free. Great, he’d have to pay for a new uniform from the Knights…again.
“There isn’t a point in running away and you know it,” Subject Two shouted. “There’s several fellflowers waiting outside, all tainted with Durin. You didn’t think I’d just leave in a flimsy cage and call it good?”
How did he get more fellflowers like the one they fought before? Did they all look like him? The idea was chilling.
It didn’t take long to find out. When he reached the entrance, though, he was relieved to see they just looked like the weird blue and red ugly flowers and not like him. But they were big, and they were mean. He didn’t even get a chance to get away when icicles were being stabbed at him. He jumped and rolled to the side but the strap across his chest that held his coat together was ripped by an icicle and now it just got in the way, so he took it off and threw it in the way of a flower’s attack. It didn’t do much as the force of the ice attack still managed to hit him right into the icy stone wall. He hit his head and bit down hard on his tongue as an involuntary result. Ouch.
If he didn’t get away quickly, he was screwed. He’d consider himself a decent fighter, excellent even, but it wasn’t his forte. He usually fought with others with big enemies, or could take on a few hilichurls by himself (as he often had to do in Dragonspine), but this was insane. Four seven-foot-tall mean fellflowers, and his imposter with a sword right on his tail. He had to get out.
Albedo slammed down another solar isotoma and jumped on it himself, giving himself a moment’s relief from the attacks as it rose into the air. He noted his wind glider was damaged, and he was on a cliffside. Quickly, two options went through his head.
One, deploy his damaged wind glider and jump off the side of the cliff. Chances of falling out of the sky resulting in injury or worse were high.
Two, attempt to fight the enemies below him. They wouldn’t kill him, but he’d surely lose the fight, be imprisoned, and his identity stolen.
He would rather jump off the cliff- the chances of injury were high but if he survived and could get himself to Mondstadt, he could get help. His identity wouldn’t be stolen and maybe even more importantly, the Traveler’s life would not be at risk. After all, this imposter already made it clear he intended on killing Aether and al those who knew his secret.
So, with his solar isotoma starting to dissolve, Albedo jumped and deployed his wind glider. Subject Two screamed at him but did not follow. A gust of wind managed to grab him and down the cliff he went, but it was not a glide- it was a terrifying, windy fall. For a few moments, he’d managed to glide, but then he heard a ripping noise from the glider and he was suddenly plummeting through the sky.
He did not panic. He looked down and saw a clump of trees. If he could fall through them, he might not break any bones or, y’know, die. He needed to land on his feet and cover his head. Slowing his fall would be nice but he had no way to do that, really. He might usually try with his coat, but, well, that was long gone. So with the moments he had, he prepared for impact.
The impact was bad. He hit the trees as planned, but as soon as he hit them he must’ve hit a branch or something because he heard a snap! from his leg, and then felt the pain moments later. When he finally reached the ground, it was by hitting his head on a rock. So much for landing on his feet.
He laid there for a few moments catching his breath and assessing the damage. His right leg- a bone in his calf- was broken. No matter, with a few supplies he could makeshift a cast to get down the mountain, with a touch of alchemy. However, he was positive that he’d blacked out for a few seconds upon his head getting hit, and worried he might have a concussion. He just hoped he was far enough from Subject Two that he’d have enough time to get away.
He dragged himself to sit up and his vision swam. Instantly he felt sick to his stomach. He felt his head and looked at the rock- no blood. Good. Albedo would prefer not to add “cracked skull” to the list of things going wrong right now.
He had to get going. If Subject Two managed to copy all his clothes, he might have a wind glider, or know a route through the caves to get down here faster. He couldn’t stay.
Attempting to stand was foolish, as once he did, agonizing pain shot through his leg and he quickly fell into a kneel. He sucked in a sharp breath and looked around. A stick he could turn into twine with a touch of alchemy, so all he needed were more sticks. He grabbed the longest stick around the trees he could see and like it was nothing turned it into twine. Then he took the two most sturdy looking sticks and set them up against his leg, using the twine to wrap it together. A very poor brace, but it’d have to do for now. At least his sturdy boots were still intact. He was sure if he was barefoot right now, it’d be even worse.
He stood up a second time and the brace really didn’t do much for the pain, but he forced himself to move. It was painful, terribly so, but except for a light grimace on his face, he didn’t make it known.
After a few minutes he was able to see where he was, temporarily pausing at a warm seelie shrine to warm up. The cold wasn’t a big deal for him but in his weakened state, it really wasn’t helping. He could tell that he was about 40 meters from the base camp. If he could just get over…a very large structure of rocks, and then wave someone down from camp, he’d make it. He was so close.
When he reached the rocks, he did not wait longer than a brief pause to assess the best way to get over it. Then he started, using his uninjured left leg and his arms to do most of the work. When he did have to put his weight on his right leg, he had to be grabbing onto something or else he knew he would fall.
The rocks had very few spots to grab onto, and sweat was dripping heavily down his forehead despite the cold. His breaths came out in quick, small puffs of white air. He’d done a lot of hard things, been in pain before, but climbing over rocks in tattered clothing, a broken leg, and a possible concussion was a new low for him.
He did it, though, of course. There were few things he didn’t think he could do, especially in a life-or-death situation like this. When he reached the top, he simply carefully slid down to the ground on the other side. He had to pause once he reached the ground, the camp in sight. He was panting and the pain grew with each step- but after only seconds he got back up.
It was dark, the people at camp were asleep or had left for Mondstadt…but there was still a fire going. If he shouted and waved…
Icicles suddenly surrounded Albedo, so sharp he froze. They came up to his neck, only inches away from piercing his flesh. If he moved, he would surely die. He felt his heart sink, the hope he had immediately draining.
“You’re quick,” Subject Two said, stepping into Albedo’s line of sight. “But not quick enough.” The imposter smiled, a fellflower bouncing it’s stupid head beside him. “And you look terrible. Bit of a nasty fall, huh?” Subject Two reached forward and plucked a leaf out of Albedo’s hair.
“Are you going to kill the traveler?” Albedo asked, ignoring the other’s words.
He was confident he would not be escaping tonight, but he was also confident he wouldn’t die tonight. However, the traveler might. And that scared him.
“Oh, no. Lucky for you, Aether- that’s his name, right?- has set back to Inazuma. Good and far away, no? He told Timeaus he wasn’t going to be back for a while,” Subject Two explained in a taunting voice. “But don’t look so happy about it. If I hear he’s back in town, he has to die. You know that.”
Albedo said nothing. If anything, this was good news. This was excellent news, actually, considering his situation. His identity was surely going to be stolen for at least a while, but Aether being in a different nation meant that Albedo could have some time to heal and then escape. Aether nor Paimon would have to be involved. Of course, that meant he had no help, but he’d rather that than his friends to die.
“Let’s get going,” Subject Two said, and he held his sword directly in front of Albedo’s face as the icicles lowered. Subject Two expected to fight some more, but instead, Albedo promptly fell.
For now, he was surrendering, which meant no point in trying to stay on his feet when doing so was incredibly painful.