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Adelinde dipped the white washcloth into the bowl of cold water sitting on the nightstand in Diluc’s room, wringing it out before placing it back on the young man’s forehead. Diluc continued to sleep unaware of the buzz that was going on in his room.
Kaeya and Elzer were helping Albedo set up a temporary lab in the winemaster’s spacious room, while Barbara tried her best to alleviate the mysterious sickness that had befell Diluc. Jean stood behind her younger sister with her arms crossed and her eyebrows furrowed. The room was very quiet aside from Barbara’s hydro and the rustling of items and furniture being moved around by the two favonius captains.
“Well?” Jean asked softly. Barbara stopped what she was doing and shook her head.
“This isn’t a normal illness. Usually my hydro can bring down a person’s fever rather quickly, but nothing I try seems to have any effect.” Barbara clasped her hands in front of her and stood up. “I’m not sure what to make of it. I’m so sorry…” Adelinde came around from the otherside of the bed and put a reassuring hand on the young deaconess’s shoulder.
“There’s no need to apologize. Thank you for trying anyway.”
“But I–”
“Why don’t you come downstairs with me and have some tea and snacks. You came all the way out here so late at night, it’s the least I can do.” Though Adelinde was disappointed that Barbara wasn’t able to help the young winemaster, she was thankful the young girl came so quickly in the dead of night.
“Are you sure? Maybe there’s something else I could try…” Barbara trailed off and looked at her older sister. Jean finally spoke to her.
“You’ve done enough, Barbara. Thank you.” The deaconess didn’t feel any better, but she excused herself and followed Adelinde out the door.
Jean took a deep breath and turned to her chief alchemist and cavalry captain.
“I’m sorry to have to ask you to do this,” Jean said. Albedo stopped adjusting the last of his equipment and looked at her.
“It’s no problem. I’m quite intrigued by this matter myself. It’ll be important for me to take note of everything in case something like this happens again. Now,” Albedo said as he pulled out a notebook and directed his attention to Kaeya. “Please tell me everything you can about what happened.”
Kaeya took a deep breath before regaling the story.
*****
Kaeya met up with Diluc outside of the new domain doors near Cape Oath just as was agreed upon. While their relationship seemed to be on the mend, it was still unusual for them to try and cooperate in a domain raid together. However, this case was special. The domain was inaccessible to people without a vision. That intriguing fact alone motivated the estranged brothers to venture inside, albeit they probably had different reasons for doing so.
Kaeya wanted to know what was behind those doors and why this domain of all the others was chosen to be special. Diluc, on the other hand, probably just wanted it to be taken care of and disappear as quickly as it appeared. Diluc was boring like that.
However, the cavalry captain quickly changed his attitude after they stumbled upon some sort of large gathering of abyss mages. It was like a small army, yet rather than try to listen in on their meeting or do any type of intel gathering, Diluc decided it was the perfect time for him to display the inelegant strategy of “fight first, ask questions later.”
So they fought.
Things were going fine at first. Diluc’s initial burst had gotten rid of the cryo and electro mages’ shields, but it did little to deter the hydro and pyro mages. Kaeya focused his attention on them. So many of the mages were chanting and laughing and screaming that it became hard to hear anything else. That’s probably why Kaeya hadn’t noticed a circle of mages performing some sort of large spell that he’d never seen before.
But Diluc noticed it.
Kaeya had no idea what was going on until he was roughly pushed out of the way. He looked back and saw Diluc take a hit from the mysterious spell that was apparently being conjured behind him.
Then Diluc let out a blood curdling scream.
It was a sound that Kaeya had never heard before and he’d likely never forget.
The remaining mages dispersed quickly as Diluc clutched his body, screaming in agony. Kaeya remained frozen in shock on the ground until he heard an ear-shattering crack. At that moment, Diluc ceased his cries and fell to the ground. Kaeya got up and ran over to him, checking all of his vitals. After affirming that Diluc was somehow alive after that and didn’t appear to have any physical wounds, he lifted the redhead up and brought him out of the domain and made a bee-line for the winery.
He didn’t call for Jean or Albedo until he finally noticed the crack in Diluc’s vision.
*****
“He’s been like this ever since. His fever doesn’t go down and he hasn’t regained consciousness.” Kaeya’s voice was grave and a far cry from his usual teasing tone.
“That was so incredibly stupid, Captain Kaeya.”
“Please, acting grandmaster. You agreed to hold off on reprimanding him until tomorrow,” Albedo reminded her. Jean crossed her arms and frowned, but she refrained from starting a lecture. Kaeya looked absolutely miserable.
“Kaeya, about how many of the abyss mages were in that circle?” Albedo returned to asking questions.
“I think there were at least eight. They looked like regular abyss mages, so they didn’t really stand out.”
“And you couldn’t hear anything they were saying?” Kaeya shook his head. Albedo seemingly wrote down the cavalry captain’s responses, not minding the uncomfortable silence that settled in the room. “It seems this is probably rooted in magic then. Hmm…” Albedo murmured. “Acting grandmaster, would you—”
“I’ll get Lisa to look for anything in the library.” Jean left the room without another word. Albedo got up and walked over to Diluc’s bedside with his clipboard, preparing himself to do a medical examination on the poor pyro allogene.
“Kaeya, why don’t you go downstairs and have some tea?” Albedo offered. Instead of leaving, Kaeya gently moved Diluc’s hair out of the way before sitting next to the feverish man’s head. Summoning his cryo to his hand, Kaeya replaced the washcloth on Diluc’s forehead with his much colder hand. Diluc seemed to unconsciously lean into the touch.
“I think I’ll stay right here for now,” Kaeya said softly.
*****
Initially, Albedo was just going to bring Diluc’s vision to his lab, but after the alchemist had removed the divine item from Diluc’s person, the winemaster had grown antsy. He moved around in his sleep and groaned. When Albedo began walking away from the young man, Diluc seemed to grow even more disturbed. Kaeya, Jean, and Adelinde were clearly uncomfortable, but Albedo wanted to know what would happen if he left the range in which a user needed to be with their vision in order to use it. When Albedo crossed that threshold, Diluc gasped loudly and began thrashing about wildly and yelling in anger. Albedo immediately brought the vision back to Diluc who in turn ceased his ravings and resumed sleeping as he was before.
The alchemist had to promise he wouldn’t do it again.
That’s why Adelinde, after having put the redhead in some more comfortable pajamas, fixed his vision as a necklace that rested on his chest.
If it weren’t for Diluc’s flushed face or sweaty hair, it would have looked like he was just taking a nap.
Kaeya wished that were the case.
Perhaps the scariest thing of all of this was how Diluc’s vision seemed to have lost color. It was as if the red had faded. Sometimes when the vision would randomly glow, the shine was now muted. It wasn’t quite like the time he’d seen the very same pyro vision almost turn completely gray, but it shook Kaeya to his core to somebody something that was supposed to be indestructible in such a fragile wavering state.
So Kaeya stayed by Diluc as much as he could.
*****
Jean had stopped by to check on Diluc after work the next day. Despite it being Spring, the day was quite cold, and Jean hated to admit she wasn’t dressed for the sudden drop in temperature. By the time she arrived at Dawn Winery, she did all she could to hide her shivering, but the goosebumps on her skin betrayed her.
Adelinde brought Jean in and sat her in the chair closest to the fireplace. Adelinde lit the fire before offering Jean a light blanket which the acting grandmaster reluctantly accepted.
“I’ll go get Sir Kaeya and Sir Albedo. They haven’t left Diluc’s side for a minute. They need a break.” Jean thanked her and waited.
The two captains joined Jean in the living room.
“I’m going to make some tea.” Adelinde excused herself to the kitchen. Jean wasted no time inquiring about Diluc’s status.
“He still has a high fever which fluctuates between 101° to 105°. He hasn’t fully regained consciousness. Once or twice he opened his eyes but was unresponsive. He hasn’t been able to drink or eat anything so someone should be coming by with an IV for him shortly.” Jean looked down at the floor and sighed. Before continuing his report any further, Albedo asked about Lisa’s findings in the library.
“No good,” Jean said disappointingly. “The only related book she could find was about visions, but it’s pretty standard info that wouldn’t really be helpful.”
“I see…then let me explain one possible theory I have.”
“Please.” Albedo opened his notebook and began.
“Visions are gifts from the gods and deactivate once a vision bearer dies. Clearly, Master Diluc is not dead, so his vision isn’t deactivated. Captain Kaeya informed me earlier that the spell that hit Master Diluc wasn’t targeting the vision hanging from his belt, but rather it hit him in the chest. Therefore, I think it’s safe to conclude whatever the abyss mages did, their intention was to harm Master Diluc, not his vision. Therefore, his vision is cracked as a result of what the spell did to him.”
Kaeya wordlessly crossed his arms and looked away as if he were angry.
“I don’t usually deal with such abstract concepts, but after examining his body for any injuries as well as watching over him for most of the day, my guess is that the crack in his vision represents that some part of him is broken.”
“Broken?” Jean asked. “What do you mean by that?”
“Something that would make Master Diluc who he is. Maybe his conscience or his soul.” Jean and Kaeya stared bewilderedly at the alchemist. “This is something out of my area of expertise, and I don’t have any hard proof of this theory either. Take it for what it is—a theory.”
“Well do you have a theory for putting him ‘back together?’” Kaeya asked all too eagerly. Before Albedo could respond, the trio heard Adelinde gasp as she entered the living room.
“Master Diluc?!” Everyone in the room froze and looked at the said man who was standing at the bottom of the staircase. Kaeya stood up immediately and rushed over to the redhead.
“Diluc, are you okay?” Kaeya put a hand on Diluc’s forehead and, unsurprisingly, it was still too warm. Diluc completely ignored everyone that was in the room, even the young man in front of him. His crimson eyes were focused on one thing—the fireplace.
Diluc walked unsteadily towards the fireplace, disregarding Kaeya’s protests and ignoring any comments made toward him by the others. The cavalry captain grabbed his estranged brother’s arm but Albedo quickly motioned for him to stop.
“Wait. Let’s see what he does,” said the alchemist.
They watched as Diluc got closer and closer to the fireplace. His eyes were fixated on the lively flames. Then he fell to his knees and tried to reach into the fire before Jean pulled him back.
“Master Diluc, what are you doing? You’ll get hurt!” Jean didn’t mean to raise her voice, but it was hard to hide how terrifying it was to see someone so mindlessly willing to burn themselves. Diluc didn’t say anything and continued to stare intently at the fire until Adelinde appeared before him and grabbed his shoulders, turning him around gently.
“Let’s go back to bed, Master Diluc. You need to rest.” The redhead was reluctantly pushed toward the stairs, but despite all the ruckus he had caused, everyone heard a very quiet murmur from Diluc.
“...cold…” Even Adelinde paused when she heard the soft spoken tone. Albedo was furiously writing down everything that was happening in his notebook. Kaeya was the first to break out of shock and approached Diluc calmly, gently grabbing his brother’s arm.
“C’mon ‘Luc. You’ll be warmer under your blankets.” Without any resistance, Diluc let Kaeya gently pull him back to his room.
“That’s—that’s a good sign, right? He even spoke.” Jean seemed to be reassuring herself more than the others. Albedo didn’t look up from his writing and quietly hummed.
“Hmm. Seems we need more information about what happened to him. Have you had anyone else investigate the domain?”
“Not a chance. We don’t need more people to end up like Master Diluc…or worse.”
“I understand, but it’s the only option we have of figuring out what was done to him and how to fix it.” Jean took the tea that Adelinde had offered them, and she took a sip. After pondering for a minute, she sighed and set down her tea.
“Alright. I’ll take Kaeya and some of the other knights with visions. You stay here and monitor Master Diluc.”
“Understood.”
Jean left with Kaeya a few minutes later. The cavalry captain wanted to help in any way that he could, despite not wanting to leave Diluc’s side. Albedo and Adelinde, after putting Diluc to bed, went outside to see them off. Jean and Albedo exchanged information regarding what to do if something bad were to happen, and then the acting grandmaster and cavalry captain left. Adelinde had supplied both of them jackets for the walk back.
After they came back inside, Albedo started heading back to Diluc’s room when he heard the head maid comment about something being “odd.”
“The fire was lit when we went outside, and now it’s completely gone out. It wasn’t even close to going out…” she mumbled as she checked around the fireplace area. Albedo observed the scene thoughtfully.
*****
Jean, Kaeya, Eula, and Amber left the domain unharmed but sorely discouraged. There was no trace of what happened. There weren’t even any enemies for them to take care of it. It appeared to be a rather dull and empty domain. Jean ordered Kaeya to take a break and returned to the city with the other two knights.
Kaeya walked off toward the winery feeling defeated. He didn’t mind taking the longer route in the cold weather. He just wanted some time to think. He had been spending so much time worrying about Diluc that he hadn't been able to properly come up with an idea of figuring out what the abyss mages were up to.
As he neared the winery, Kaeya found himself slowing down. He didn’t want to return to that Diluc. He wanted the Diluc who would silently serve him at the bar and listen to Kaeya’s ramblings, despite whether the redhead cared or not. He wanted to go back to believing that his Diluc didn’t care what happened to him and would never take a hit for Kaeya.
It wouldn’t have hurt so much if that were the case.
BOOM
A loud explosion shook Kaeya out of his thoughts. He looked up and saw in the distance a large storage shed that had been holding barrels of alcohol about to be shipped out was now on fire. Kaeya cursed and ran as fast as he could.
It took about three minutes before Kaeya arrived. He was just in time to see Diluc slowly walk into the burning building.
“DILUC!” Kaeya didn’t understand why the people who were buzzing around the scene carrying buckets of water hadn’t stopped his stupid brother from entering. Kaeya immediately ran after the redhead until Albedo, who was standing still nearby, grabbed his arm and yanked him back.
“What are you doing!?” Kaeya shouted.
“Just wait, Kaeya! Let him be,” Albedo didn’t let go of the cavalry captain.
“Wait for him to burn to death!?
“He’s going to absorb the fire.”
“He—what!?” Just then a piercing shrill rang out from the building causing everyone to freeze in their tracks. It was enough time for Kaeya to break Albedo’s hold and run into the building. Diluc wasn’t very far in the shed, but the smoke made it hard to see. Holding his cape in front of his mouth, Kaeya braved the burning building, cautiously but quickly making his way toward his brother.
But Diluc stood there holding his arms out.
That’s when Kaeya noticed that Diluc really was absorbing the flames. It was as if the pyro allogene had become a black hole, sucking in all the flames that appeared to harmlessly enter his body. His younger brother stood by helplessly, watching the scene before him. The more flames that Diluc absorbed, the more Kaeya could make out a soft glow radiating from the redhead. This continued for about twenty more seconds until all the fire was gone.
The shrill rang out once more, even louder than before. Kaeya covered his ears and squeezed his eyes shut until the sound stopped. When he opened his eyes, Diluc was lying on the ground. Kaeya ran up to him and quickly picked him up and pulled him out of the building. The fire may have stopped, but the shed’s structurability had been compromised.
Kaeya laid him on the ground a safe distance away and checked him for any injuries.
“It worked,” Albedo said from behind him.
“Was all of that your doing?” Kaeya asked furiously. “What’s going on here?” Albedo nodded toward Diluc’s vision.
“Look.”
The crack in Diluc’s vision was gone. The object looked just as new as the day Diluc received it.
*****
Diluc didn’t regain consciousness for about 10 minutes. By that time he had already been put back to bed and given a fresh set of clothes. When he woke up, the first thing he saw was Kaeya sitting by his bedside reading a book. The redhead tried to speak but all that came out was a croak. Kaeya practically threw his book behind him and grabbed a glass of water that was waiting on the nightstand and gave it to Diluc.
“What are you doing here?” Kaeya gaped at the stupidity of the question.
“I’m here because my idiotic brother took a hit for me that almost killed him!”
“Oh.” Diluc didn’t react to being called “brother,” nor did Kaeya seem to realize he had even said it.
“You do remember what happened, don’t you?” Kaeya asked with much less sass.
“I remember pushing you out of the way…and then I was cold. I don’t really remember anything else.” Kaeya sighed and crossed his arms looking playfully angry.
“Don’t ever do something like that again.” Kaeya dropped his arms and lowered his voice. “...but…thank you.” Diluc closed his eyes, letting a ghost of a smile grace his lips.
“That’s what families are for.”