Chapter Text
“Hurry up, little firebird. We don’t have all day.”
Footsteps echo down the dark hall. One set is brisk and hurried, while the other is unsteady and punctuated with the grating clinks of metal.
Diluc huffs, trying to match the pace and stumbling yet again, having to be yanked upright by the shackles around his wrists. He’s…pretty sure he’s suffered a head injury, because his skull is pounding and the halls keep twisting strangely. Or maybe that’s just how the Abyss does things?
He bares his teeth at the Herald, tugging on his restraints briefly in a show of defiance. Maybe partially to stay upright, or to slow the being and its insanely long legs . He’d struggle to keep up with it on a good day.
He glares down at the floor, making sure his feet are going in a straight line. The shackles are in view, glowing faintly with deep, indigo light. He’d never seen anything like them. As soon as they’d been clapped on his wrists, his energy reserves were….lessened. They sapped his strength somehow.
And he couldn’t use his Vision. Something in them….blocked his connection to the little red gem clipped to his hip. He knew it was there, but the flames seemed to not hear his call.
He should be tracking his path, preparing for an escape. But too many walls and doors slid around, shifting the very halls and rooms themselves. Even if his addled mind could keep track of their journey, he doubted he could escape without the assistance of the Abyss. Which was. Very bad.
Not that he’d given up. Far from it. He just had to bide his time, catch the right chance….
Another heavy door scrapes to the side, and the chains yank forward abruptly, sending him stumbling again. He catches himself, glancing up.
Oh. The decor here is….different. It was a little brighter, candles flickering along with the steadily glowing runes on the walls. Diluc blinks, his eyes adjusting. He’s pulled forward as the door closes behind them with a deep rumble.
“Kneel.” is all the warning Diluc gets before sharp, metal fingers dig into the back of his head, yanking his hair and pulling him down. His knees buckle automatically, slamming down into the stone below, his forehead forcibly pressed down soon after.
“Is this really necessary?” Diluc hisses. The hand in his hair clenches, pulling harder. He bites back a pained cry.
“You are before Abyss royalty, little bird. You kneel before royalty.” answers the Herald’s grating voice. Diluc rolls his eyes, ignoring how it makes his headache flare.
Another unfamiliar voice rings out, much softer and younger sounding than the Herald. “Enough. He may rise.”
A beat passes and the hand withdraws. Diluc gets his shackled hands under himself, pushing up into a sitting position. He levels a glare at his would be kidnappers, ready to tear them a new one-
He blinks.
A young woman stands on a raised platform, standing before a twisted abyssal throne. Her hair is the color of soft starlight, her clothing so white it’s nearly blinding in this dark place. She tilts her head, and Diluc is suddenly reminded of Aether, asking everyone and anyone if they’ve seen his sister….
"Please, she has blonde hair like mine and-"
Oh gods. No wonder he can’t find her. His heart aches for the young traveler.
Honey gold eyes watch, gazing down at him from her place above. She smiles, no warmth reaching her eyes with it.
“Welcome to our home, Diluc Ragnvindr, Uncrowned King of Mondstadt. I apologize for the…rough hospitality.” she says calmly, gesturing to the Herald standing menacingly to the side. “We have to be careful you see. It’s been awhile since we’ve had guests, and our numbers are….dwindling.” She sighs. “We must protect our own.”
Diluc just barely holds back a snarl. “Understandable. After all, rats need to huddle together to stay warm during the winter.”
She raises an eyebrow, her smile falling slightly. “Indeed,” she says, and her head turns, glancing at something behind the chair; a curtain of sorts. “One of us “rats” would like to meet with you, it seems.” Something flickers across her face, but it’s difficult to interpret from this angle. She steps to the side, and Diluc eyes the moving curtain warily.
Out steps a figure cloaked in white and blue. Diluc’s eyes widen.
“Hello, brother.” it speaks, voice every bit as smooth and calm as he remembers it, even as his heart feels anything but. His mouth drops open.
“K….Kaey-”
“Surprised to see me?” the man asks, a smile stretching across his face. It’s half covered by a mask, gnarled scars twisting beneath the material.
Burn scars.
Diluc wants to vomit.
“Y-You….they’d told me you d-”
“That I’d died? Hmmm I suppose it did look that way, didn’t it?” Kaeya sighs, tapping his chin as if in thought. He starts stepping down the stairs as if in slow motion. “Unfortunately for you, it didn’t seem to quite stick.” He adds, spreading his arms. His cloak flares behind him like a set of white wings. His smile gains a dangerous glint. “Not that you’d bothered to check.”
“I-I-” Diluc sputters. He’s- Kaeya was right there, alive alive alive this whole time- “ Kaeya I-”
“A-a-ah, I know you’re stunned speechless, brother dearest.” There’s the sound of steel being drawn, and Diluc instinctively flinches back.
A cold blade taps beneath his chin, lifting his face and forcing him to look up, to meet the eye of the ghost of his little brother.
“Good thing we’ll have plenty of time to catch up, hm?”