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Death. It's always a first and a last, you would never experience it for a second time.
Diluc did. He's living yet he knows exactly what death feels like, twice he's had it happen to him. He remembers that night very clearly.
Crepus had just died and Diluc had left the Knights, saying they were inefficient and liars. They would've put the citizens of Mondstadt in danger. In mourning, he chose to be by himself, staring at the grave that shouldn't have been placed upon the ground. The carved name is so clear, he immediately noticed when something dropped onto the stone.
"Rain?"
Holding his hand out, he waits for more as his sight blurs. Diluc shakes his head and silently chuckles at himself. "Tears."
"Diluc." someone called.
Diluc knew this voice very well. He wanted to be alone but the thought of his brother coming to see their father's grave brought relief to him. He let his tense shoulders relax as he turns to Kaeya. "You're here? What took you so long?"
"....Knights. They were submitting reports here and there, and trying to quell the rumors about..well, about father's death."
Diluc notices Kaeya is still in uniform, the heavy silver plating of an armor shining under the bright sun. How bright would this day have been if the gods knew Crepus died? Do they even care?
Kaeya walks up next to Diluc and bows his head to the stone. "Father." he greets. There was a very long silence after he did. Diluc just stands there listening to the sounds of nature while Kaeya plants a candle right next to the stone, lighting it up with a match, and then comes back up to stand next to his brother. For the longest time, they just stood there, sometimes whispering memories to each other like when they were children, climbing to tall trees and snickering happily as Adelinde worries that she'll get scolded by Crepus. It brings a smile to their lips, albeit small.
Finally, the dusk darkens their surroundings and Kaeya offers to walk home.
The whole time they stood by Crepus's grave, Diluc had noticed how tense Kaeya became as the hour passes. The blue haired boy was full on silent now, possibly trying to think of a way to start his speech normally. But there wasn't. It did not matter if he tried to start it positively, in the end, he already knew Diluc would be disappointed and angered.
So he says, "I'm Khaenria'hn."
"What?"
Both of them stop walking, the tall trees in the forest of Springvale prevent the moon from casting their shadows. Diluc silently looks at Kaeya, confused and a little frightened. He did not hear right. Right?
Diluc repeats his question, "What?"
Kaeya just smiles. "Khaenria'h. I barely remember anything fromt that place but...I was born there. I know. I remember the golden walls in a pala-"
"What?" once again, Diluc asks.
Kaeya hums. "Diluc. You heard me. I'm...I am trying to say this after lots and lots of thinking. I doubted if I should even tell you. But I thought you deserve to know."
"I don't."
"What?"
"You can shut up. You're lying. Please Kaeya, not right now. I'm not in the mood."
Kaeya stared straight at Diluc and the redhead swore he could hear his own heart break. Kaeya wasn't lying.
Anger rising, Diluc glared at Kaeya in denial. "Out of all things you could be...Out of all things, Kaeya! A Khaenria'hn? Why couldn't you just keep it to yourself huh? Why now? Oh, you must have planned this!" Diluc huffed. "Your enemy is in his weakest state so you attack?! You...You've been a fucking spy this whole time, weren't you? The reason why the abyss had found out about the Knights' path? It was you?!"
"Diluc-" Kaeya tries to calm his brother. A look of worry in his face, he tries to approach him.
"WHAT ARE YOU EVEN HIDING BEHIND THAT EYEPATCH?! WHAT ELSE ARE YOU GOING TO SAY?" A claymore materialized in Diluc's hand and he was ready to swing it at Kaeya.
"Diluc, wait-!"
Red flashed in Kaeya's eye, he felt the searing heat pass by his side, barely dodging the attack. Eye wide, Kaeya tried to dodge every single blow from Diluc. Edges of his clothes burned but his training in the Knights had paid off.
"You probably had planned to kill father the whole time!" Diluc seethes. The vision that hung on his hip glowed mad red, matching his crazed eyes that wanted to see more red. Blood. Kaeya's blood.
"YOU DESERVE TO DIE, KAEYA!"
Pain shot through Kaeya's entire left arm, the tip of his brother's claymore stabbed right through his shoulder and he cried out in pain. Kaeya had no choice but to unsheathe the sword hanging by his hip and parries the claymore. The sound of flesh breaking is too loud to him. His blood continues to flow but he still manages to parry the redhead's strikes.
"DILUC! LET ME EXPLAIN! PLEASE!"
"What do you want to say? Do you want to confess your whole plan?!"
Kaeya sobs, pleading as he swings his sword in order to dodge another incoming attack. "There- there is no plan! Diluc!"
As Diluc bludgeoned against Kaeya's strength and speed, the sword finally flew away from Kaeya's exhausted hand. Diluc did not hesitate to raise his flaming claymore and swing one last time, the tip grazing Kaeya's covered eye but ultimately slashing through his torso and down his abdomen. Kaeya vomits a mouthful of blood, the shock renders him immobile and he falls on his knees. He met eye to eye with his brother; his brother who stood in front of him, anger still flaming in his red eyes and his shaking body. The world spins and a dull thud resounds in his mind. He could barely keep his eyes open when he saw the same brown boots approach him but he falls unconscious just as Diluc kneels by his head.
Getting over the shock wasn't easy for Diluc. He was kneeled by Kaeya, the unconscious man's body looking way too lifeless that Diluc felt panic crawl up his spine. Did he actually kill Kaeya?
A sob racks through his throat as he slowly reaches for his brother, his hand shook when he cradles the bluenette's head, scared that he would hurt him when he was just mindlessly attacking him a few minutes ago. Of course he cared, he grew up with Kaeya, he treated him like a brother, they were raised by the same man, they played, and they actually love each other. Had Diluc really broken such a strong and solid relationship because of his anger? For what? For Khaenria'h? Or is he just mad at the Abyss Order, they who hail from Khaenria'h?
Kaeya is from Khaenria'h, but what proof did Diluc have that his brother had done wrong? Diluc knew how Kaeya had come to Mondstadt; left alone, abandoned by his own father but Diluc was blinded by anger and sorrow. He had just lost someone very important to him, the person who raised him, raised Kaeya, and taught them everything they know. But now the fact starts to sink in; the fact that he had just removed the only family he had on the earth he lived in, the only one who he really cared about. He had just killed Kaeya.
A loud wailing scream tore through the forest, the startled birds flew in every direction, trying to get away from what they'd presume was a predator. But it was only Diluc, screaming his sorrow into nothing, into the empty wind that would never have listened to his prayers. He begged and begged for anyone to save his brother, even when he knew it was his fault, he still had hope for the god that he placed his faith in. But Barbatos did not strum his lyre into the wind and that became the day that Diluc told himself;
Gods don't exist.
-
Months passed after Kaeya's death, Diluc had given ownership of Angel's Share to Charles, the only person he'd trust to continue the tavern's legacy. His head maid in the winery, Adelinde, did not know where the Darknight Hero went. Every person that came by to ask where Diluc had gone, she could only shake her head solemnly as she makes another excuse, a lie. No one knew where Diluc had gone.
The Knights of Favonius held a funeral for Kaeya, the training area located at the back of the headquarters was filled with knights and citizens as they remembered Kaeya and what he had done for Mondstadt. He did everything by himself, he rejected help when he knew he could do it himself, he didn't want to burden anyone, he handled matters cleanly, and most importantly, Kaeya protected the city albeit in his own eccentric way, he still did. A loud sob startles the crowd, they look to see the little blonde girl crying her eyes out, her arms wrapped around her mother's neck as Alice tries and tries again to calm her down. She could only smile apologetically to the people staring at her. But everyone felt the same. If everyone were children, they'd have cried so loudly that their throats were scratched dry.
Kaeya's sword and eyepatch were carefully placed on top of his casket. All the items that Kaeya had always possessed will be buried with him, buried next to his father, the man who raised him.
As the people watched his casket disappear into the ground, under the dirt, they didn't notice a man with red hair, covered in a black cloak, standing just a few distances away from the cemetery. His dull red eyes follow the casket as it descends into the ground. That would be the last trace Kaeya would leave in this world.
-
Years later, Diluc reappears in Modstadt, as the owner of Angel's Share and Dawn Winery, hacking Mora from the brews from the winery. People liked visiting Angel's Share, though there was still strong competition, Diluc never wanted to win against the young bartender called Diona.
At the same time, no one asked where Diluc had been, they were just too happy about the services in Angel's Share and they would all drink to their heart's content.
But every night, Diluc would find himself right in front of the gravestones of the family he lost, two bouquets in his arm; one from pure cecilias and the other is a group of fragrant calla lilies.
"I hope you know I'm doing such a good job managing the winery," he whispers. "Kaeya, the kid called Noelle became the new Cavalry Captain. She's so young but she's amazing at the job. Our job." Diluc puts a small smile on his face. He tells his brother everything about the Knights of Favonius, the winery, the tavern, the new people he’s met, and his love for Kaeya and his father. And when morning came, Diluc gets up from leaning on Kaeya’s headstone all night long, ready to start a new day for more stories he could tell his brother.