Chapter Text
Mondstadt was many things. The city of freedom and song, a source of wine, good food, and good company. But also, to its severely understaffed defenders - a whole lot of tedious work.
Kaeya absently twirled the quill between his fingers, the ink on it long since dried. He had been staring at the same paper for some time now - a request for basic supplies from the reconnaissance division. He was achingly, mind-numbingly bored.
It wasn't even like this was anything time-sensitive. The requested supplies were not essential and easy to procure besides. Actually, none of the papers in the half-finished stack were about pressing issues. The important forms had already been filled out and filed, and the supply orders were sent out to their respective contractors around Mond and Liyue.
What he had in front of him were just the requests that he'd have to consider for the next month's budget.
Sadly, as quartermaster, this all fell squarely on his shoulders. He couldn't even pawn off the work on some poor knight or squire, since it involved confidential administrative work as well. Informants still had to be paid, after all, even the shadier ones. And the research division had projects that were highly classified, but that they still needed materials for.
Point was: Paperwork was boring, and Kaeya Alberich didn't deal well with boredom. Something something too much time for his mind to wander down dark paths.
He sighed and leaned into his chair. Outside his window, the late-morning sun illuminated the red-shingled rooftops of the city. Peaceful. Too peaceful.
Perhaps... it was time again for the new recruits to be thrown into some actual combat? They had been far too full of themselves lately.
Kaeya was of the opinion that a good scare could knock sense into most newbies, particularly those glory seekers that viewed the Favonius Knights as an opportunity for thrill and adventure. They tended to become much more manageable after a bit of life-threatening danger, amusingly enough.
Perhaps he could lead this newest batch to a ruin guard.
There was that one he knew of near storm terror's lair... No, he'd done that already, that would be tacky. An eye of the storm, perhaps..?
His fingers grazed smooth leather, and his thoughts spun to a halt. Stiffly, he lowered his hand, which had subconsciously started fiddling with his eye patch.
Kaeya had found himself doing that way too often the past few days - ever since that weird incident.
It still bothered him. There hadn't been rhyme or reason to it, just an ordinary day before his covered eye had started aching fiercely, almost beginning to sting, before abruptly getting better and even leaving him feeling lighter than he had in years. The odd sensation had yet to abate.
It frustrated Kaeya endlessly that he had no explanation for this occurrence. No one else seemed to have noticed anything, and he couldn't exactly ask given that he suspected it to have something to do with his version of the Khaenri'ahn curse.
The only hint he'd gotten was from Ella Musk, whose account he'd acquired secondhand from Lisa. Apparently, the hilichurls the girl liked to visit had been more agitated than normal, refusing to even speak to her, and the girl had attributed it to making some misstep. Thus, she had holed herself up in the library, furiously studying her notes to find the mistake. Lisa had complained to him about her library being overtaken by unholy mutterings.
But other than that, nothing. He wasn't even sure the two incidents were related, the hilichurls could have just gotten sick of Ella's stumbling attempts at their language.
And he couldn't go out to investigate himself since there was no good reason to. Not when he had had the paperwork on a deadline to handle. Contrary to what Diluc liked to say, and what most of Mond readily believed, Kaeya did, in fact, take his job seriously. Recruits and indeed even senior knights were too easy to mess with, was all...
That said, now that he had handled the time-sensitive papers, he could reasonably go investigate. He only needed an excuse.
"Are you sure you can't get someone to look into it?" Came the muffled voice of a woman through the door.
...Speaking of. How convenient, the winds must be turning in my favor today.
The heavy cedar door opened, to reveal one of the knights stationed at the headquarters entrance, Athos. Just behind hum was a woman Kaeya recognized as Dr. Livingstone. This was a surprise: The researcher seldom returned to Mondstadt, she apparently preferred to camp out in the wild to be closer to her study subjects. Only every odd week she would show up in Mond to restock, before wandering off again.
Sir Athos was hovering, clearly trying to dissuade the woman who was softly scowling. Kaeya raised a brow (the visible one).
Normally, requests were given at the door to the guards, who would report them to him or whoever else was on desk duty. For the dear doctor to come in directly to see him, she must have had a pressing issue she wanted to make sure was being handled.
"Sir Kaeya!" Dr. Livingstone wasted no time approaching him, Athos on her heels.
"I'm so sorry sir, I couldn't stop her-"
"The hilichurls in Dadaupa Gorge are not letting me near, and I think the knights should go investigate!"
Oh?
How interesting. Unusual hilichurl behavior sounded like just the information he needed.
Leaning back, he gave his best nonchalant smile, the one that charmed so many of the gossiping old grannies of Mond.
"Dr. Livingstone, how nice to see you. Why don't you explain the issue in full? I can't just send out knights because of a few hostile hilichurls so far out, and if you recall, Dadaupa Gorge has been a no-travel zone for a while now."
Indeed, there were no patrols around Dadaupa Gorge, and travelers were recommended to stay far away from it. For good reason: The density of monsters was unusually high, and abyss mages had been spotted on many an occasion. The land wasn't particularly critical to Mondstadt, economically or strategically, so it had been determined that the cost of clearing it out wasn't worth the reward, especially with the three hilichurl tribes so entrenched. The Favonius Order left them alone for the most part, only staging the rare stake-out to keep track of their numbers.
Dr. Livingstone frowned. "No, but something is different. Normally they leave me alone and I can study the sword graveyard in peace. But this time they didn't even let me get past the first pillars! They shot at me, from the cliffs."
That caught Kaeya's attention. "They preemptively attacked you?"
Hostile hilichurls were one thing, actively hostile hilichurls were something else.
The doctor hesitated and inclined her head as if mulling something over. "Well... no. This felt... like they were driving me away, for some reason. None of their shots came close to hitting me, but they didn't cease until I was a good bit away. I didn't even see any of them!"
"Hmm." Curious indeed. Defensive maneuvers - either they were covering a weakness, or... they were protecting something. Like another Abyss Order operation, perhaps.
Good enough reason to send someone out. And by someone, he of course meant - "...myself. I will go out there and investigate myself."
Dr. Livingstone looked relieved, but Sir Athos looked like he was close to a heart attack.
"Captain, please reconsider - this is a matter best handled by the scouts or the recon division-"
"Well, neither of those is here right now, are they? And I have just finished my pressing paperwork, so I should be free for the day."
Athos looked like he'd bitten into something sour.
Really, his fellow knightshould have learned by now that there was no stopping Kaeya once he had set his mind on something.
Besides, it was true: Both Amber and Eula and her team of three reconnaissance knights were out of town.
With the opening of Inazuma's borders, naval trade had picked up, and so they'd been assigned to the port settlement up north, to inspect if everything was up to code (and to weed out the treasure hoarders that had no doubt smelled the quick mora).
"Sir, why can't we dispatch one of the other patrolling knights-"
"And leave their posts open? We don't exactly have anyone to spare right now, Sir Athos. And this should just be a quick mission, in any case."
"At least inform the Acting Grandmaster, captain, please."
"Yes, yes, of course."
He would, even! Via tiny text scribbled on a tiny note that he'd drop on her desk, where it would be buried by papers and only resurface in a week. But that counted in his books.
As if he hadn't argued with his subordinate right in front of her, he addressed Dr. Livingstone with a cheerful smile: "Rest assured, the knights will devote this case just the appropriate attention. Be aware that it might take some time to assess the situation, but we will get back to you when it is safe again - or, well, as safe as it ever gets when it comes to Dadaupa Gorge."
"Thank you, that is all I can ask for, Sir Alberich," she replied.
With that situation cleared up, he ushered both out of his office (politely, of course). Alone, at last, he neatly stacked the finished and unfinished papers into distinct piles, making sure to place them so the finished stack covered the other when viewed from the door.
Then he lifted his jacket from where it hung over the back of one of his chairs, pausing only to inspect it briefly for stains and to neaten the fur, before practically leaping out of his office.
The end of his boredom awaited.
-----
The path to Dadaupa Gorge was long and winding, and not for the first time Kaeya dearly wished that Varka hadn't made off with all the horses.
Cavalry captain with no cavalry, his friends and acquaintances teased him about it all the time. Also, he honestly missed the feeling of riding, the wind in his hair, the powerful animal under him responding to his every move, ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶f̶l̶a̶s̶h̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶r̶e̶d̶ ̶h̶a̶i̶r̶ ̶i̶n̶ ̶h̶i̶s̶ ̶p̶e̶r̶i̶p̶h̶e̶r̶a̶l̶ ̶v̶i̶s̶i̶o̶n̶.
He did his best not to dwell on the memory.
Because he had no desire to get held up by Tsarevich and his pet mercenary, nor to brave the windy deathtrap that was the first part of Dadaupa Gorge, he took the less established path at the edge of Windrise valley.
It took him past Vanessa's tree, over the thin stream that would further down shape Falcon Coast, and along the bottom of the cliffs of Galesong Hill. There was a strong natural updraft near the Lion's Gate domain that would allow him to bypass climbing the high cliffs entirely. With this long of a trip, he'd need all the time-saving methods he knew, lest he arrive only after nightfall.
At least the long trip allowed him to observe his surroundings more closely, and something quickly became apparent: More than half the hilichurl camps he came across were empty. Not empty as in cleared by fighters, but as if the residents had packed up their meager keepsakes and just up and left.
He frowned. This should have been noticed and reported already - unless it was a very new development.
When he came upon his destination, a hill framed by ruins and equally, suspiciously, deserted by hilichurls, he didn't hesitate. A practiced roll of his shoulders unfolded his wing glider, and he was caught in the current, rising upwards. He grinned at the feeling of air streaming around him, at the magnificent view dyed golden by the late-afternoon sun. If he could not ride, he at least had this.
With practiced skill, if perhaps not as graceful as their outrider, he steered towards the top of the cliffs. He landed easily and moved onwards without pause, his wind glider folding up seamlessly. He dispatched a few slimes on the way but didn't pause long, with his goal so close.
By the time the cliff-framed entrance came into view, the sky had bled orange, darkening to herald the arrival of night. He slowed his fast pace to observe the scene.
If what Dr. Livingstone reported was accurate, then this would be the point he could expect the archers. He didn't see any on the cliff to the left, but that didn't have to mean anything. The right cliff was probably out, too high to shoot from at any comfortable angle.
The plan was thus as followed: Approach with caution, test for himself if the hilichurls were defensive or not. Withdraw, wait until later in the night, then climb a cliff and sneak around the camp outskirts, get a read on the situation. He'd have to check three separate camps, but if he circled around he could probably be finished and gone by morning light.
Keeping his senses tuned, he started forwards. He came relatively close, but before he could enter the cover of the trees bowing over the path, an arrow thudded into the earth by his feet.
Alright then. He waited, but when there was no follow-up shot, he began moving again. Another arrow bolt, this time whizzing past his left side - but still nowhere near hitting him. Hilichurls were not talented fighters, but their archers were at least accurate - these shots were made with clear intent to drive him away. He looked up, to find movement on the cliff - dark silhouettes framed by the dying light.
He grew alarmed, however, when he realized the shape of said silhouettes didn't match the distinctive furry mop and long ears of hilichurls.
These were cloaked and well-concealed humanoids, which ducked out of view as soon as he'd glimpsed them.
His mind raced. Had treasure hoarders taken over Dadaupa Gorge? Fatui? How had any of them hidden such a huge operation from the Knights? The manpower alone must have been massive-
No.
No, he would have heard something from any of his contracts, this must be something different. He needed to not immediately jump to the worst-case scenario.
Still, this had become a completely different beast of a mission. Hilichurls were something, human forces another. He'd best retreat, inform Jean as soon as possible, organize a raid party-
"Go away, sky child!"
Kaeya froze. Distantly, he felt the blood drain from his face.
The phrase, so simple, had poured frigid water down his spine, filling up his heart until it felt leaden in his chest.
He registered the next shot only belayed, and had it not purposefully missed, he would not have managed to dodge.
"Excuse me?" The reply slipped out of him, uncontrolled.
Khaenri'ahn. That had been Khaenri'ahn.
"...What?" someone asked. Then more movement. Muffled arguing. One of the figures slid down the cliff face, cloak billowing. Out of reflex, Kaeya summoned his sword but didn't raise it yet.
The figure approached him cautiously, as wary of him as he was of them. The closer they got, the more Kaeya could analyze - the curiously rough-made cloak, the bare feet, the glimpse of a human mouth, and the way they held themselves as if ready to run at any moment.
He felt them examine him in turn - gaze sweeping over his flashy attire, his sword, and finally - lingering on his face.
"..." He wanted to say something. Anything. Was this really it? Was this the point where fate caught up to him, called on him to fulfill a long-abandoned duty?
"Say, star child, have you seen beyond the night?"
Kaeya swallowed. His throat felt too dry. "Star child, there is a world under the light," he spoke the next line of a poem he, like any Khaenri'ahn child under six, had learned from kid's books and games.
It was one of the few glimpses of a normal childhood he'd had in that place and time.
The cloaked figure visibly relaxed. And without hesitation, they took down their hood and stepped closer.
A white-haired woman looked at him with wonder, and with... pale red eyes inlaid with star-shaped pupils. Her arms rose as if she wanted to touch but was holding herself back.
"I can't believe it." Her voice was soft, trembling. " What- no how have you- Ah. Ah! Where are my manners? It's an honor to meet you... Lord Alberich?"
"Kaeya," he rasped. "Kaeya... Alberich, yes." He had so many questions. But they all disappeared in the face of this woman, who was so different from anything he'd imagined would come for him over the years. This was not the face of his father, nor of any abyssal creature. There was an earnest light in her eyes he was utterly unprepared for.
"I'm Iona, Iona Grímsdóttir. I can only imagine you must be as shocked to find us as the others were. Come with me. You'll be alright now." Others?
He didn't resist as the woman, Iona, took him by the wrist and led him past the pillars that marked the (former?) hilichurl territory of Dadaupa Gorge. Absently, he realized he had dismissed his sword, but he didn't feel strong enough to summon it again. Not yet.
He would... observe the situation. From inside.
And hopefully, he would find the strength to tear down this newest plot from within.