Chapter Text
Of all Teyvat’s enigmas, Kaeya felt that time was the strangest. It slipped through his fingers like water, running upstream to the horizon, a race in which it would always claim victory. Yet it would taunt him when he least expected it, flashing events before his eyes just when he thought he had gotten over the loss. It would crystallize memories that had aged beyond their years and make them feel as though they happened yesterday. Time must have been a form of Abyssal power because Kaeya could not understand how he could still hear the screams of his brother, a year after he’d disappeared from Mondstadt.
How was it that Kaeya could sit here, on the cliff overlooking Dawn Winery, and watch the events of last year transpire before his very eyes?
The sun had been shining on the morning of Diluc’s 18th birthday. Everything had gone perfectly. Adelinde had prepared breakfast, Kaeya had wished his brother, Crepus had taken him to the city to bartend with him and have his first proper drink with his son.
“Kae, you should come with us!”
“Hah, and do what? Drink grape juice, while you try out all the drinks Father makes you?”
“It’s okay, you know I’d slip you some. It’s not like Father hasn’t done the same at home!”
“Shh- Quiet down, Luc… You might get us in trouble. Anyway, I gotta keep up with patrols if I want to get promoted like you!”
“Oh, c’mon! One day off isn’t going to ruin your chances! In a few years time, I’m sure you’ll be ranked even higher than Cavalry Captain. Maybe you’ll even be second-in-command, after the Grandmaster himself!”
Diluc couldn’t have known, of course. Only a year had passed and Kaeya had replaced Diluc as Cavalry Captain. The Grandmaster was off on an expedition and many of Mond’s citizens were calling for Jean to permanently replace him one day. What Diluc had expected to happen in a few years, had happened in months.
Oh, what a strange thing time was.
Kaeya had prepared a gift for his brother that he was sure he would have given to him by the time he returned to the Dawn Winery. Now, he couldn’t remember what he planned to give him, the memory of it lost to time and hidden in some dusty box in the attic of his empty house in the city.
The feeling that something was terribly wrong set in quickly. Not long after Diluc left with Crepus, Kaeya began to fidget with the gift box in his hands, certain that something wasn’t right. His fellow Knights had called him away, ruffling his hair, asking what was up. Kaeya had smiled and said nothing.
Hours later, he found his voice as he rushed out into the relentless rain with the rest of the Knights, heart pounding in his chest as he tried to recall everything he knew about Ursa the Drake. Later, he would wonder how and why the sun had receded so quickly. Fate was apparently a fan of theatrical backdrops.
It was upon that desolate stage that Kaeya was disowned from his family mere hours later. It happened too fast . Within seconds, Kaeya had gone from wondering about his brother’s reaction to his gift, to wondering where the rest of his life would take him. Maybe if he’d had time to think, maybe if he came to help sooner, maybe if Crepus hadn’t died.
But the words had spilled from his lips before he could fully register them, baring the ugly truth to the only family he had left. He lost everything that night, and how ironic that he could roam the City of Freedom, free from everything that had tied him to the place.
And yet, he stayed.
Not many people knew but Crepus had planned to hold a grand celebration in Diluc’s honor that April 30th, one year ago. The plan was to return to Dawn Winery, wait out the storm and distract Diluc, then bring him back out when the skies had cleared. Kaeya himself had been a part of this effort and he remembered when Adelinde taught him a few new dance steps in the Ragnvindr manor’s ballroom.
While Diluc was in the Angel’s Share, Kaeya, along with a few others, were in the manor, decorating and preparing for his special day. It was nostalgic at the time, and Kaeya had been looking forward to it. It wasn’t the first time Crepus had held a gala in honor of his sons, but it was certainly the first one they’d remember far into the future.
Being heirs of the Ragnvindr clan, Crepus had held celebrations in honor of their knighthood, though Kaeya wondered if it wasn’t also just a show of goodwill towards the Knights of Favonius, in hopes that he might be of some use to them.
In the end, it didn’t matter.
Kaeya had vague memories of those galas, mere ghosts of the past dancing in his mind. When he was in his early teens and younger, the grand celebrations used to scare him. He’d trail after Diluc like a lost puppy, smiling sheepishly whenever someone roped his brother into conversation.
The dances were his greatest fear and one such gala, Diluc decided to try and force him out of his comfort zone. Usually, Diluc would dance with the daughter of the Gunnhildr clan and Kaeya would stand off to the side, clinging to his father’s sleeve. That day, however, Diluc had grinned at him and explained how Eula of the Lawrence clan had recently received her Vision.
“She’s a bit like you, I think!”
“You think so?”
“Yeah! Always brooding in a corner, just like you! I heard she’s been blessed by the Cryo Archon! You know, it’s all superstition really, but I hear Cryo wielders are usually hard to get along with. Who knows, maybe you’ll get a Cryo Vision of your own one day!”
“Cryo and Pyro, huh… We’d make quite the team.”
“Sure! We’re already a pretty great duo, don’t you think?”
“...Yeah!”
“Hehe, well, anyway! I’m going to go dance with Eula! She looks a bit lonely.”
“She does, doesn’t she? But won’t Jean be all alone then?”
“That’s where you come in!”
Kaeya didn’t have much of a choice in the matter, and he remembered feeling irritated and out of place. He remembered wanting to get back at Diluc somehow for putting him in such an awkward situation.
That dance ended up becoming one of Kaeya’s greatest memories. And every year thereafter, Kaeya had made it his mission to dance with Jean at least once during those yearly galas. Diluc would tease him relentlessly, as brothers did. Before long, the three of them had formed an inseparable bond. Diluc was intent on roping Eula into their little group as well, and Kaeya often wondered if that April 30th they would finally get her to warm up to them.
The gala never happened, of course.
Just one day, and the entirety of what they had spent their lives building up came crashing down. Crepus was killed by Diluc’s own hand, Kaeya nearly met the same fate, and the last remaining heir of the Ragnvindr clan vanished.
Kaeya didn’t dance with Jean that year.
Instead, the two of them had holed up in her living room, huddled together. Jean held him while he threatened to shake apart, his Vision lying in a corner of the room among shattered glass where he’d thrown it into a vase.
She forgave him, of course. Their promised dance, cast aside to make way for a dance with death instead.
But this year, he didn’t have an excuse not to make good on his promise. He knew she wouldn’t hold it against him, might even scold him for being so ridiculous. She might even refuse to dance with him when he asked, if he asked. He was torn between the decision to wallow in his sorrow, stay on the cliff edge and watch the events play out again, or try to keep some sort of tradition alive. He didn’t deserve to, of course, but perhaps in some vain effort to distract himself from the obvious.
Diluc’s Vision pulsed in his sweaty palm, disgustingly warm. He couldn’t bring himself to let go of it.
When the sun finally dipped below the horizon and storm clouds began to roll in, Kaeya forced himself to rise on unsteady feet. He took a few uncertain steps away from the cliff edge, gaze frozen on the place he once called home.
He wondered if Adelinde was inside. He wondered what she must be doing, if she had made a birthday breakfast by muscle memory before realizing it wasn’t needed. He wondered if she’d ever gone searching for Diluc in this past year. Kaeya would have done so himself, perhaps even knock on the door of Dawn Winery and offer his services, if he thought he deserved to. Instead, he sat on the cliff edge whenever he had the time, protecting his home from the shadows.
He’d proven to be a coward on more than one occasion, however, and so Kaeya was always gone by the time a storm came in.
When a faint drizzle began to blur his surroundings with a soft haze, Kaeya closed his eye, scalding tears joining the raindrops on his cheeks. He turned away, fully intending to leave and perhaps seek out Jean.
He paused before taking the first step away from his home, suddenly aware that he wasn’t alone. He opened his eye, only to be met with empty grassland that was slowly becoming more and more soaked. Still, he set his jaw and summoned his sword, feeling icy veins of Cyro creep along his fingers. Cryo was always far more effective in the rain, but that didn’t undermine the fact that it was also colder.
Kaeya suppressed a shiver and cast his gaze to the left.
“Impressive,” he remarked, a cold breath accompanying the word. “I’ve heard a lot about the Fatui’s debt collectors. Delighted to meet one in person.”
The terrain to his left shimmered, an opaque figure, traced in red. The mirage fell away in seconds to reveal a Fatui Agent, wearing an abhorrent amount of red and black. Kaeya shook himself before the rain could begin to play tricks on his vision.
The Agent didn’t move, not even to take up an offensive stance. Instead, he chuckled softly, the sound carried upon the wind.
“A fateful coincidence,” he remarked. “I, too, have heard quite a bit about Mondstadt’s Cavalry Captain. Although… our records contain more information about your predecessor.”
If Kaeya thought about it logically, it wasn’t very surprising that the Fatui would have records on Diluc. Ever since the situation with Ursa the Drake, it was all the Knights could do to keep the Fatui diplomats at bay, making sure they didn’t try to overstep the boundaries agreed upon. Despite their ire, it wasn’t like they could stop the Fatui from gathering basic information and sending it back to their hometown. Not when the Knights were keeping strict tabs on every diplomat in turn.
Still, the words shook Kaeya’s heart and he scoffed in amusement to mask it.
“All good things, I hope,” he drawled. “If you’re looking for his autograph, you won’t find him here. As for mine, you might find the price a bit over your budget.”
He tightened his grip on his sword to punctuate the words, yet he still didn’t make a move, waiting to see what the Agent would do. The Agent raised a hand dismissively, as if to say I’ll pass . Kaeya imagined he must be smirking beneath the mask.
“You said I won’t find him here? Is this not his home?”
“A pity the Tsaritsa doesn’t pay well for how thorough your stalking is.” The Agent remained still and silent. Kaeya smirked. “This is where he lived, yes. But he hasn’t been within Mond’s territories for a year now. I would tell you to hone those stalking skills, but I’m quite glad your search led you to me.”
The Agent let his gaze drop, sighing theatrically.
“Shame. I wished to cross blades with him.”
“To what end?”
“His, of course.” The Agent laughed, the first real display of emotion he’d shown and Kaeya shivered as the Agent began to pace. “No matter. He’ll pay for what he’s done before too long.”
When Kaeya remained silent, the Agent stopped his pacing, turning to look at him in mute delight. For a moment, they both remained still, frozen in time.
“It appears to me you are yet unaware of what your predecessor has been doing this past year.”
Kaeya didn’t dare to respond. He had a hunch, of course, that Diluc had gone to avenge his father. He didn’t know why but for some reason he never imagined it would get so bad that the Fatui would come knocking at his door.
…Had it really gotten that bad?
“You seem shocked,” The Agent remarked. “I suppose it makes sense. The City of Freedom isn’t known to keep leashes on its dogs, but this one is a bit… barbaric, if I may.”
Diluc’s Vision pulsed in Kaeya’s pocket, anger fueled heat surging through his body. Yet, he still couldn’t strike with his sword, his curiosity freezing him to the spot. He had to know more. He had to know where Diluc was, what he’d been doing, if he was okay . Still, something within him burned with righteous fury.
“Don’t you dare speak of him that way,” Kaeya seethed before he could stop himself.
The Agent chuckled again and this time, Kaeya caught the glint of fire dancing along the daggers he summoned to his fingers.
“My insults don’t even amount to an inkling of the debt he owes Snezhnaya.”
The words had barely settled before the Agent was dashing forward, blades alight. Kaeya reacted instantly, shifting his stance so that his blind side was guarded. He’d suspected, of course, when the Agent started to become more animated in his speech, before suddenly dropping to a murderous tone.
It didn’t make up for the fact that despite Cryo being far more effective in the rain, Kaeya himself was hopeless in it.
His foot slipped, barely managing to stay on the cliff edge as he parried an attack. The Agent laughed, the sound echoing along with the thunder rumbling overhead. He pushed against Kaeya’s blade, flames licking too close to his face.
Kaeya grit his teeth, ducked, struck twice more, before dissolving into a blur. His feet found grass once more, this time behind the Fatui Agent and safely away from the cliff edge. His lungs felt tight, and he gasped, managing to suck in one full breath before the Agent whirled around to face him once again.
He didn’t attack right away, apparently enjoying the chase. The Agent stalked towards him, letting go of his blades to allow them to swing around him in a ring of fire. Kaeya held his sword steady, unable to hold back a sound of frustration when the Agent vanished before his eyes. His chest heaved and he forced himself not to panic.
Why did it have to be a Pyro Agent?
When next the Agent revealed himself - far too close - Kaeya swung out with his sword, allowing the cold to rush through his veins and scatter across his blade. The blade itself slashed through the Agent’s arm, and one shard of ice managed to lodge itself in the man’s shoulder before melting immediately.
Kaeya dashed forward before the Agent could regain his footing, the only thought in his mind being that he had to protect Diluc’s home while he was away. The Agent’s words from before rang in his head and he wondered what Diluc could possibly have done to Snezhnaya to justify this. Thus far, Kaeya had only encountered the single Agent but who was to say how far Diluc would go, and how much attention he would attract.
Kaeya landed another slash to the Agent’s leg, finally eliciting a sound of pain. Kaeya ignored it and leapt back, gathering Cryo in his palm before letting it unleash in a ring of ice to counter the Agent’s flaming circle.
But the Agent didn’t move to attack again, instead stumbling backwards on his good leg with a growl of frustration. The shards of ice circling around Kaeya seemed to grab the Agent’s attention for whatever reason, and Kaeya guessed why he might be wary.
“Your Archon’s element,” Kaeya remarked, the gloat falling flat for how breathless he still was. “Seems Mondstadt’s dogs are worthy enough in her eyes.”
“Hm. The Tsaritsa’s element. And an affinity with the heavenly principle of love, I’m sure,” The Agent remarked. Kaeya bristled at the comment. He could hear the smirk in the man’s voice. “However, you’ve just told a lie.”
“A lie?” Kaeya scoffed, ignoring the panic in his heart. “Perhaps another icicle to the shoulder will convince you?”
“We both know I wasn’t referring to your element.” Kaeya remained silent, heart stuck in his throat. The Agent chuckled. “Mondstadt is not your homeland.”
“No,” Kaeya agreed at length. He swallowed, suppressing a shiver. Just like the first time he’d admitted to his ancestry, it was pouring now and Kaeya was soaked through. His hands shook on his sword but he grit his teeth and nodded in the direction of Dawn Winery. “But that . That is my home. And I swore to protect it.”
“I didn’t take you to be so forthcoming with your secrets,” The Agent chuckled darkly.
“Maybe I don’t plan to let you leave Mondstadt alive?”
“Is that so? Then answer me this. What relation do you have with the former Cavalry Captain?” Kaeya might have replied honestly, throwing caution to the winds, if not for the Agent’s next words. “Recent intel tells us his only family was his father, who passed away last year.”
Everything stilled around him. His breath hitched, the cold air stuck in his lungs with no escape. His grip loosened on the sword. That was… right. That was right . Diluc had no family aside from Crepus. He had no brother.
He had no brother .
Kaeya didn’t know why that shocked him so much. Diluc had said it himself, a year ago, on this very ground. He didn’t know why he expected some rudimentary Fatui records to have mentioned him. It was better that they didn’t, in fact.
Diluc had already stirred up enough trouble for himself as it was. Better that Kaeya didn’t add to it, by the mere sin of being born in a godless nation.
“No relation,” he heard himself say, his voice hollow. “I’m simply fulfilling a promise, like I said.”
Diluc’s Vision sat heavily in his pocket, overbearingly warm. His own reacted violently to his inner turmoil, and now he was shivering nonstop. Rain and sorrow obstructed his only eye.
The conversation had been a distraction. Kaeya realized that now, noticing how the Agent stood tall once again. He didn’t know what healing capabilities Delusions had but clearly, they needed time to come into effect. Time that Kaeya had readily given up, only to hear that Diluc Ragnvindr never had a brother.
Exhaustion and rainwater weighed heavy on Kaeya’s shoulders, and this time when the Agent vanished before him, he couldn’t sense his presence at all. He sucked in a cold breath through clenched teeth, held his sword steady in shaking hands.
Thoughts swirled in his mind, fighting for a place to settle but finding none. In the end, that was his undoing. By the time he sensed the Agent’s presence to his right - his blind side, the one Diluc always protected - it was too late.
A flaming blade tore into Kaeya’s side, so intense in its heat that the wound cauterized almost immediately. The piercing cold vanished, and Kaeya’s body was gripped with a suffocating heat, an unbearable pain. He didn’t know if he screamed or not - blood rushed in his ears, the storm was picking up - but his throat ached like he did. His head swam, panic gripping his heart and he had to get away because he was going to be killed, Diluc was going to kill him-
Abruptly, the heat vanished, making way for the stinging cold once again. It was more intense now, nipping at his fingers with impending frostbite and Kaeya gasped, finally blinking back into the present. He was on the ground, heart thrumming in his chest. One hand was pressed over his wound, which had apparently been torn when he fell and was now bleeding profusely. The other hand propped him up from where he sat on the ground, his arm trembling as he gazed up at the tongues of flame reaching towards him. The Agent was still standing over him menacingly, his ring of fire still spinning in a taunting dance. It took Kaeya several seconds to realize why he didn’t advance any further.
Fire licked greedily at the opaque shield of ice surrounding him, the spinning blades chipping away at it uselessly. Kaeya’s Vision was glowing from where it rested - no, was frozen - against his thigh. It burned like fire, though far less daunting, and Kaeya could hardly give it any attention for how much he shook, threatening to break apart.
Archons above, why did it have to be Pyro? Why today?!
“I’m disappointed,” the Agent said, and his distorted voice sounded like someone else’s from a distant past. “No relation, you said? The City of Freedom may tolerate your lies, but I tire of them.”
The Agent raised a hand and Kaeya barely held back a flinch. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he was ashamed at his pathetic display. But his vision was still wavering, his consciousness flickering between the past and present. The Agent’s silhouette was still shimmering, reminding him of too many others. Diluc, Crepus, his father .
Time was still his greatest enemy, and the fact that he couldn’t shake free from its binds. Forever frozen in a single moment, Kaeya was unable to move.
But the attack he was waiting for never came. With his hand raised, the Agent simply closed his fist and the tongues of flame receded, his blades returning to his other hand. For a moment, Kaeya’s brain stalled. He should get up, grab his sword again - where had he dropped it? - and finish him off.
Instead, he stayed huddled in his shield, tremors shaking him violently, his single eye tracking the Agent’s every movement. The cold was fully setting in now, making a home within his heart and lungs that he hoped wasn’t permanent. Every breath scraped past his throat. He couldn’t feel the pain in his side anymore.
He couldn’t feel the warmth of Diluc’s Vision either.
The Agent stalked towards the edge of the cliff, barely sparing Kaeya a glance as he walked past his frozen shield. His movements were slow and deliberate, and almost relaxed in a way, as if he thought he had rendered Kaeya completely useless, that he wouldn’t stand to protect his home now.
Kaeya heard him chuckle softly just before he reached the edge. The Agent swept out an arm towards the Dawn Winery as Kaeya watched in numb silence.
“Snezhnaya may be the City of Love, but above all, we value authenticity, and we value promises ,” he said, the last word a low hiss. “I would be loathe to speak against my Archon, but you do not deserve the Vision you hold. I will take it from you. But first, I will take the home you could not protect. And after, I will take your life. I do believe in mercy, after all.”
Kaeya trembled, barely registering the words. The Vision was a curse , yet ice continued to creep up his leg, and he didn’t know if that meant it was clinging to him or the other way around.
“Or perhaps not. The former Cavalry Captain of Mondstadt,” The Agent sighed. “I’ll tell him you were unable to fulfill your promise. So that he might redirect his ire elsewhere . A word of advice. Next time, don’t make promises you can’t keep.”
The words shook Kaeya more than he could have anticipated, the Agent’s voice once again distorting into another.
“Don’t make promises you can’t keep, Kaeya. It’ll only end up hurting us both.”
“…But I meant it, Jean. Truly. I might not be as ambitious as Diluc, or as talented, but if you’re ever in any trouble at all, I want to be there.”
“I know you meant it. That’s good enough for me. No need to make it a promise.”
“...How will you hold me to it then?”
“I don’t wish to hold you to it. You see, promises can become burdens. Promises are lifelong binds. Knowing that you’ll be by my side even without a promise is far more reassuring.”
“...I see.”
“...I made the same promise to Barbara, you know.”
“Oh, I… I understand now.”
“Yeah.”
“Do I have to take back my promise to dance with you every year?”
“...Well.”
“It’s okay to be selfish once in a while, Jeanie.”
“Hey! …Alright then. I’m holding you to that promise, Kae. Only that one.”
Later, Kaeya might have looked back on that moment with shame. As the Agent pointed out, he’d already broken his promise to protect his home. Yet it was the fact that he would undoubtedly break his promise to Jean that day as well - Jean who was still here despite everything - that finally made him crack.
Kaeya had stopped shivering, the cold settled into a dull throb, and he was certain his leg was beyond saving now. But the sight of the Agent standing over the cliff edge, ready to leap down and wreak havoc on his home stirred something inside of him.
“Don’t make promises you can’t keep . ”
No, of course not. Kaeya Alberich’s promises were sacred. And he would keep them by any means necessary.
The Agent raised a hand, and Kaeya forced himself to his knees in the same moment. He struggled to rise, his leg threatening to collapse beneath him as he found his footing, one hand against the ice surrounding him and the other grabbing his sword and holding fast.
Elemental energy gathered in his palm, surging through his body in a sickening rush. Flames burned through his veins, cold gripped his lungs, and Kaeya shuddered as fire and ice warred in his heart. The Agent was still standing there, gaze firmly averted as if to dismiss Kaeya entirely. Kaeya felt that he should have said something, one last snarky remark if only to salvage the remains of his dignity.
In the end, Kaeya simply screamed, the sound torn from his throat as he released the energy he’d gathered with one mighty swing of his sword. His shield fell away, and from his sword emerged a pair of crystalline wings, a spiked tail, a dragon’s head carved of ice. It looked familiar, not unlike the flaming phoenix that had flown towards Kaeya himself a year ago, born from Diluc’s rageful sword.
Kaeya fell to his knees, gasping breathlessly as he watched the icy creature. A hallucination, it had to be . Because this being didn’t consist of one element alone. No, it’s body was ice, but it breathed fire, striking down the Agent in mere seconds.
One minute, he stood there menacingly, an apparition of a past life, and the next, he fell from the cliff, a flaming mess of a man.
The creature - was it a bird? A dragon? Kaeya couldn’t tell - snapped its tail, a number of icicles flying down to where he assumed the Agent fell. And then, in a flaming burst, the creature melted into water, falling like so many raindrops around it.
Just like that, it was over. And just as it had been a year ago, Kaeya found himself on his knees, soaked, terrified, exhausted, with nothing but two opposing Visions in his possession.
Oh, what a strange thing time was.