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Fischl trailed her target silently, watching him interact with others, smile, laugh and keeping a constant eye on his surroundings. He was a sly one, to be sure, but she made sure he’d never know she was there. She was on a mission, and she would not fail, for she was Prinzessin der Verurteilung!
Oz flapped along behind her, constantly reminding her that she had actual commissions to complete and kept insisting that “Sir Kaeya is not a pirate!”, until he finally gave up trying to talk her out of it and followed along quietly. This was important. For a long time now, she had found the Cavalry Captain, Sir Kaeya Alberich, suspicious. Was he truly part blind, or was he hiding something behind that eye patch? Why did the man dress in such flamboyant attire? Why did he constantly play with that coin? Lastly, why did he stop and talk to birds?
After looking at the information she had, Fischl had come to the conclusion that he was, in fact, a pirate. Maybe he was in hiding, or retired. Or perhaps he was still secretly doing business on the side. Today, she was determined to find out. There must be something that could give her more clues.
Fischl felt that following the captain on his rounds would be the best place to start. She took in every move, every step and every stop. He had already stopped at Flora’s shop and purchased flowers, a couple dozen calla lilies and one windwheel aster, before he stopped at the Angel’s Share Tavern. It was still a little too early for it to be open for business, but the captain walked in, stopping to set some of the lilies on the table by the door.
He had been inside for nearly twenty-five minutes before he came out carrying a small crate and a pitcher of water. He called “Yeah, yeah. I know.” to someone over his shoulder. He carefully pulled vases out of the crate, sorted each lily into its own vase with water, and set one on each of the outside tables. Fischl took note, but none of this seemed very pirate-like.
She watched as he finished placing the vases and set the crate aside with the pitcher. He picked up the windwheel aster, taking one last look at the tavern, he was on his way again. This time, Fischl followed the captain up the stairs, towards the Knight’s Headquarters. At the top landing, there was a sudden squeal, and he was bowled into by a ball of red.
Fischl watched as he squatted down to Klee’s level and handed her the flower. Her already bright eyes lit up with joy, and she jumped up and down before hugging the captain again. When she let go she started waving a piece of paper in his face excitedly, Fischl assumed it was a drawing. She couldn’t see his face from where she was, but she imagined he was smiling as she watched him talk to the Spark Knight about the paper.
It wasn’t long before the Grand Master showed up, and the captain scooped up the mini pyro monster and handed her to Jean and waved goodbye. Just as he turned to leave, a falcon landed on the wall next to him. He smiled and greeted it, and it responded in turn. She was surprised that it let him run a hand over its head and down its neck as it dropped something into the captain’s other hand.
Fischl realized it was a tamed falcon when the captain pulled open a piece of paper, and she thought for a moment, looking at the bird. It was familiar… but who? Oh yes, the owner of Dawn Winery and the Angel’s Share tavern. Of course! Master Diluc and Captain Kaeya were siblings, it would only make sense that they would send messages to each other. The captain grimaced as he read the note, wrote something on the paper and gave it back to the falcon. He gave it one last pat and it took flight.
While it had already been a somewhat busy morning, and she often found insight into other people’s lives was interesting, none of these things were the evidence she was looking for. From this point, he began to patrol within the city, and she trailed silently behind him. He would stop for a short conversation now and then, but it was never anyone of interest, just passers-by saying hello to him.
After he had made a large lap around the city, the falcon visited him twice more, much to his very apparent annoyance, and he exited through the front gate. Fischl had expected him to be crossing the bridge to patrol the wilderness around Mondstadt, but he quickly dodged to the left, instead. Now that was intriguing.
Fischl only waited a moment before she exited the gate to follow, greeting the guards with the usual wave. She came past the large stone walls just in time to see him round the corner and she followed. When she got to the corner, snuck to behind the big trees, and peeked around the side, she could see him moving closer to the water’s edge, and closer to the docks. Maybe this was it, she would finally know the truth!
Except… she lost sight of him. She waited a minute, trying to see where he went, before she snuck behind the next tree, then the next. When she still couldn’t see him, she stepped from behind the tree, and ran straight into a wall wearing blue.
Chapter 2
Kaeya’s Point of View
The day had started out like any other. Before he even left home, Kaeya made a mental checklist of what he needed to get done as he got ready to leave and headed out the door, skipping breakfast as his stomach rolled uncomfortably. There was something special he needed to do today. It was their father’s birthday, so he stopped at the flower shop and bought enough flowers for each of the tables at the tavern. He was a little worried about what Diluc’s response would be.
While he was at the small shop, he heard the unmistakable sound of Fischl’s bird talking. Loudly. He had to swallow hard to hold back the laughter. The purple familiar was scolding Fischl about following the captain and insisting that he was not a pirate. He didn’t have time to give it another thought for now. He paid for the flowers and headed to the tavern, Fischl not far behind.
Kaeya set some of the lilies on the table closest to the door, and took a breath before he walked in. Diluc was already behind the bar, getting things ready for the day just as Kaeya had expected. There was no one in the bar except his brother and himself, so he was greeted with a small smile and a good morning. He watched Diluc’s gaze fall from his face, down to the flowers in his hand. To his amazement, the smile didn’t fall from Diluc’s face, but it changed slightly.
“For father’s birthday?” He asked sadly.
Kaeya nodded, “I wanted to do something for him, just a small gesture.”
Diluc disappeared into the back and brought out a crate of vases and grabbed a pitcher of water. Together they sorted out the flowers and put one on each table. Kaeya was about to take the rest outside to finish when Diluc stopped him with a hug. While it was becoming normal again, it could still catch Kaeya off-guard. He wasn’t going to complain, though.
When Diluc pulled back, he cleared his throat, but didn’t let go of Kaeya’s arm. “Have you eaten breakfast?” He asked, narrowing his eyes slightly.
Kaeya knew that if he said yes, he’d be caught in a lie. Diluc likely already knew the truth.
“Not yet.” He said, choosing the honest answer. “I’ll try to soon.” That part was probably a lie. If his stomach would stop doing somersaults, he might actually try, but it didn’t seem to be inclined to calm anytime soon. Diluc was probably forced to eat by Adelinde, if he ate at all, but he wasn’t going to pick a fight about it right now.
Diluc sighed and rolled his eyes as he went back to his prep work. “I’ll be checking.”
Kaeya didn’t respond. He picked up the crate and pitcher and headed for the door and had almost made it out before his brother called to him.
“I’m serious. Eat, or-”
“Yeah, yeah. I know.” He called over his shoulder as he left.
It didn’t take long to finish setting up the flowers, and he set the pitcher and crate aside to take in later. He picked up the single windwheel aster he had chosen for Klee and looked back at the tavern. Kaeya liked to think that their father would be proud of who they were now, and who they were becoming. He doubted he would ever find out, the sinners from Khaenri’ah don’t end up in Celestia, after all. Kaeya tried not to dwell on it.
As he climbed the steps to the Knight’s Headquarters, Kaeya could feel Fischl still following behind him. He thought she might get bored, or confront him, but she seemed intent to complete whatever her goal was. He’d work on figuring that out soon, but first-
A loud squeal interrupted his thoughts and a smile spread across his face as a red ball of excitement launched herself at him. Kaeya loved Klee. She was always a spark of joy, even on his worst days. She had helped to bring him out of the dark more times than she would ever know. He knelt on the ground, held out the flower for her and watched as her eyes lit up. Klee bounced up and down with joy, saying thank you over and over, before hugging him again. When she pulled back, she showed him a picture she had just finished.
She explained that it was herself, Kaeya and “Weird grownup”, from when they had gone fish blasting recently. After his recent run-in with Dottore, Diluc was being somewhat hesitant about leaving the house and Kaeya used fishing as a way to get him out. What he hadn’t told the redhead was that fishing involved bombs. It was risky, with Diluc being fairly dedicated to Jean, but in the end even his stubborn brother couldn’t resist Klee’s charm and agreed not to tell. The smile on Diluc’s face was worth it, too.
Over Klee’s shoulder, Kaeya could see Jean coming, and he leaned in close to Klee. “If you’re good all day, maybe I can talk Master Diluc into fish blasting again, hmm?” He whispered as he scooped her into his arms.
She squeaked happily and nodded in agreement just as Kaeya handed her off to Jean and gave them a wave goodbye. Just as he turned around, Dawn landed on the railing next to him.
“Hello, Dawn.” He smiled, and she chirped back at him, dropping a piece of paper into his hand while he petted her.
Kaeya read the note and couldn’t stop himself from making a face. “ Have you eaten yet? ”, of course Diluc would check up on him, he should have seen this coming. He debated for a moment. He could lie to his brother and say he did, or he could lie to his brother and tell him he would later, or he could tell the truth and simply say no. Kaeya didn’t feel like any of these were great options, but he simply went with “ No .”. He handed the paper back to Dawn, gave her another pat on the head and she took off. What was Diluc going to do about it? Kaeya was always better at hide and seek.
It was time to address the fact that Fischl was still following him. Kaeya knew he could just confront her, but that was no fun, especially since she seemed to think he was a pirate. He started on his patrol within the city, making a simple loop around the lower streets. Dawn had made two more visits with notes from Diluc.
One being the same as the first, Kaeya answered honestly again. The second time, Dawn passed along Diluc’s note with her own annoyed chatter. Did she know? The stubborn redhead had probably told her, and Dawn was certainly smart enough to pick up on Diluc’s annoyance. It didn’t matter, Kaeya answered with the truth. Maybe he was asking for trouble, but if he lied about it, Diluc would just as likely find out.
Today was Tuesday and on Tuesdays he would normally finish a short patrol inside of Mondstadt’s walls before crossing the bridge and taking care of the immediate area. Today, he exited the gate and immediately went left, instead.
Sure enough, Fischl followed. Kaeya found it fascinating how determined she was, he’d given her plenty of time to give up, but she kept going. He wasn’t really sure if he could convince her that he wasn’t a pirate, but if she were to keep following him, it could eventually lead to danger, and he wouldn’t have that.
Kaeya rounded some trees, stopped and waited. It was only a moment before she moved from behind the same tree he was on the other side of to find him, and he moved out at the same time. She ran right into him, and he grabbed her arm before she fell backwards.
Kaeya had to work not to laugh at the face she made, she looked like a rabbit who had been caught eating the carrots in the garden. He crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow at her.
“Well then, did you have something you wanted to ask me?”
Fischl stayed silent, but her raven decided to speak up for her. “Mein Fräulein wonders if you are perhaps a pirate.”
Kaeya laughed, “Oh, a pirate? What would make you think such a thing about me?”
“Hark, Sir Kaeya, the Cavalry Captain of the Knights of Favonius. You are a man of many talents and secrets, and your eye patch is one of them. But tell me, Sir Kaeya, if you are not a seafarer of ill repute , then why do you wear an eye patch?” Fischl asked.
“It’s simply an accent to my outfit. Considering you also wear an eye patch, are you perhaps looking for a pirate friend to share stories with?” Kaeya asked, turning her question back at her.
“I- what? I’m no pirate!” She crossed her arms and turned her head towards the water as she regained herself. “If thee be not a swashbuckler, then wherefore dost thou incessantly pause to engage in discourse with the feathered denizens of the skies?”
“Hm, if you are talking about today, that was just my brother pestering me about an unimportant matter, but now that you mention it, I suppose I do talk to the birds I see. Surely as a citizen of the Nation of Freedom, known for its glorious wind and flight, you could appreciate the friendship of your very own feathered ally?” Kaeya said, indicating the very bird she constantly had full conversations with.
Fischl turned to Oz, who in turn looked unimpressed, “Well… Indeed, I do engage in conversation with Oz, but verily, that is an entirely distinct matter!” She turned back to Kaeya once more, “Then why do you dress like a pirate? You wear all of these intricate clothes, and you even have that mora piece you play with?!” She asked, dropping her usual way of speaking and received a small warning from her familiar companion.
Kaeya smiled at her patiently, “Wearing intricate clothing is not unusual in Mondstadt, is it? As for my coin, well, it was something from when I was a boy. I promise I’m not a pirate, Fischl, and you don’t need to follow me, you can just ask your questions.”
Fischl regained her composure and seemed to appraise his answers for a moment, “Very well, I shall accord faith unto thy words, accepting them as truth.” She nodded, “I-”
She was cut off by Dawn landing on Kaeya’s shoulder with a squawk.
“Dawn, I promise I’ll eat soon, I’m just in the middle of something here.”
“Or you can eat now ,” said a grumpy voice from behind him, making him jump.
How had he not heard someone that large coming up behind him? “Ah, Diluc. Isn’t the bar open now? You probably should leave it unattended…” Kaeya said as he tried to step away.
Diluc grabbed him by the arm, not hard enough to hurt, but enough to stop him. He looked over at Fischl, “I believe Bennett was looking for you, he was by the fountain last I saw him.” He turned towards the side door and dragged Kaeya with him.
“I can’t believe you sent your bird to spy on me,” Kaeya said, trying not to sound defeated.
“And I’ll do it again,” Diluc mumbled.
~xxxxxxxxxx~
Fischl watched the siblings go, bickering the entire way. She had heard Klee call Master Diluc “weird grown-up,” and she couldn’t disagree, but at least he seemed to care for his brother.
She still wasn’t entirely sure that the Kaeya wasn’t a pirate, but now that she’d had the chance to question him, it seemed more likely that he was just a regular Knights of Favonius Cavalry Captain. Still, she would keep her eye on him, though.
“I told you so, Mein Fräulein.”