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"Welcome back to Mondstadt!!" Jean greeted the knights that saluted in front of her in front of the Knights of Favonius Headquarters.
Jean recently received word that Varka will be sending a few Knights back to Mondstadt, this is good news as the knights are rather understaffed and the increase in manpower is certainly a positive.
"Master Varka also sent a letter, he specifically told us it is to be read in front of everyone." One of the knights handed a letter over to Jean.
"I see, this must be some important news." Jean opened the letter and cleared her throat.
"In these past couple of years, I have seen massive improvement within our Knight's abilities and I must say I am quite proud of each and every one of you." Jean started reading the letter.
"I am aware that I have taken a significant amount of knights with me and have placed quite a heavy burden on Acting Grand Master Jean and on our captains, truth be told, I wasn't supposed to bring all of them with me but Kaeya insisted on it, claiming he can handle all the work of the Cavalry. I trust him, but I know how he operates so that's why I want to send a couple of them back to Mondstadt to at least ease up their burdens and I believe you all will be a great help in keeping the peace in our beloved city."
"We won't disappoint you Master Jean!" The knights saluted, smiles beaming on their faces.
"Well, they are certainly happy to be back." Paimon chuckled. "I bet their first instinct is to immediately go to Angel’s Share and drink till they drop."
"Don't underestimate them, Paimon." Mika retorted. "They've grown stronger during our investigations, I can personally attest to that.
"These knights are on a much higher level than what we have here in the city, " Amber added.
"Besides that, remember that these are Captain Kaeya's Cavalry." Mika finished, pride beaming in his voice.
"Hey, Mika! Sup Amber! Long time no see." One of the knights approached them. "Oh, and this must be the legendary Honorary Knight. The others talked a lot about you when we came back."
Aether smiled and waved at them. "Nice to meet you."
"Glad to have you guys back!" Amber smiled.
"Either way, do you know where the Captain is? I haven't seen him around."
"Oh, Captain Kaeya? I remember he took some of the trainees outside for training." Mika answered.
"Is that so? Do you think we can still make it in time?"
"I suppose, they just started after all," Mika replied.
"What are we waiting for? Let's surprise the Captain!!"
Most of the knights rushed outside of the building, not even asking where Kaeya could be training the knights as if they already knew where to look.
"Well, that was unexpected," Paimon said. "You're right Amber, they are different, they just came back and they already want to train."
"Well, we do miss him a lot." One of the knights who are left behind chuckled. "We want to get stronger so we can make him proud, I suppose that’s why the others volunteered to be sent back, to show off their skills."
"It may not look like it but Kaeya is one of the most hardworking knights I know."
"Somehow I doubt that." Amber huffed.
The knight laughed. "Honestly he is. When Diluc was still our Captain, he would finish all of his paperwork in one sitting; he could barely lift a finger during training. Though he's too shy to admit to anything.”
“Don't tell him I said that."
"Kaeya? Shy? Well, that's new." Paimon commented.
"Speaking of Diluc, do you think he would mind us visiting? I heard he's back in the city."
"That's a good idea. Who knows, maybe we could get a free bottle."
With that, they're off to Angel’s Share.
"Do they not know that Master Diluc hates the knights?"
"I don't know, this might be different." Aether smiled.
"What do you mean?"
"Just watch," Aether replied and they're off to Angel’s Share.
Angel’s Share
"CAPTAIN!!" The knights opened the door to the bar and greeted the red-haired man at the counter.
"Oh, so you really are back. Also, no need to call me that." His usual sharp tone softened for a second.
"Oh come on! We just got back, indulge us a bit. We missed you."
"Yeah, going abroad out of nowhere like that. You made Kaeya really sad."
Diluc didn't reply, looking down at his feet as he prepared a few glasses.
"Here." Ignoring their previous statement he placed the glasses on the counter together with a bottle of Dandelion Wine. "On the house."
"Sweet!"
"That's our Diluc!"
"We didn't have to ask."
“I knew you still love us!”
Aether smiled at the scene as they entered Angel's Share. "See Paimon, I told you, it's gonna be different."
"Bu-but it's so uncharacteristic, especially for Master Diluc," Paimon whined.
Somewhere in Whispering Woods
Sounds of clashing swords echoed through the wounds.
"Fix your stance," Kaeya said as he guided the leg of the trainee to the right position with his foot. "You'll trip."
"Right." The said trainee stood at the position determined to continue on.
"Don't sweat it. Just relax."
Kaeya sat on a random stump he saw as he observed their sparring session until he heard voices. Familiar voices.
"CAPTAIN!!!"
His eyes widened as he saw his knights run up to him.
"We're back, Captain!" They stood in a line and gave him a salute which chuckled out of the cryo allogene.
"Welcome back." Kaeya smiled. "Jean did mention that Varka brought you back to Mondstadt."
"We're a lot stronger now too. We can help a ton now."
"Yeah, that way you can rest easy."
“You know what! We’ll help you train these rookies.”
“That-that really isn’t necessary.” Kaeya chuckled. “I can handle things from here.”
“Don’t give us that, just let us handle this, and then afterward we can all have a drink and celebrate at Angel’s Share. Surely, Diluc can give us some free wine, at least for old time's sake.”
Back at Angel’s Share
“Damn, you really don’t see this every day,” Paimon commented as they watched the knights pile up at the bar counter chatting along and telling various stories to Diluc who took an interest in it.
Charles chuckled. “I’d say, he misses them just as much. Back then, the Cavalry is the most tight-knit group of knights in the Ordo. They get things done exponentially well and they are all very close. I believe you have already heard that Master Diluc, Sir Kaeya, and the Acting GrandMaster are from the Cavalry.”
One of the knights nodded a bittersweet smile on his face. “After that incident, things changed rapidly but we somehow understood but Kaeya has never been the same ever since. I mean don’t get me wrong he’s still Kaeya but he seems a lot more… you know… closed off. Like, something is really bothering him, and he refuses to talk about it. Obviously, we assumed it was because Master Crepus just died, he had a huge fight with Diluc who left Mondstadt shortly after but we know it's more than that. We tried asking Jean but she’s in the same boat as us. Then, the day before his 18th birthday, he changed his last name to Alberich.”
“During the expedition, Master Varka found a few things about the significance of that name. I don’t know what Master Varka found but it seemed important and quite dangerous that it was one of contributing factors to why he wants to send us back.”
“Knowing Kaeya, he wants to have someone to protect him from his own stupidity.” The knight laughed, a joyous one.
“You guys really care about him huh.” Paimon eyes soften as the knight spoke.
“Of course we do.” The knight smiled, pain and grief in his eyes. “Kaeya and Diluc had a huge fight that night and we don’t know what brought it up but they’re brothers, they had each other's backs so I don’t get why they haven’t built that bridge back up yet.”
“All I’m saying is, we want our Captains back, that’s all.”
The door slammed open once more and more of the knights entered the bar.
“Hey! Guess who we brought with us.”
The knights cheered as Kaeya was pushed inside.
“Alright, alright. Settle down now.” Kaeya chuckled softly, hiding whatever emotion he was bottling up inside.
“Come on! We just got back, it’s time for a celebration of sorts.”
“Oh right I almost forgot, we brought souvenirs for you two.”
“Souvenirs? From an expedition?” Kaeya tilted his head in confusion as Diluc remained silent.
“Yeah, yeah, you two would love it, let me go get it.” The knight stood up and took his coat that hung from a chair.
“Here you go.” The knight smiled as he gave them a leather pouch. Upon opening it, Diluc is stunned and Kaeya gasped. It’s a Pyro and Cryo Crystalfly encased in well… crystal.
“We found it in a cave in Natlan when we went there. We just thought that you’d like it.”
“It’s beautiful. Thank you.” The brothers said in unison.