Chapter Text
Looking back, Diluc was almost grateful that Kaeya stole his drink.
Almost.
The Cavalry Captain had strode up to him and the ambassador he was speaking to and snatched Diluc’s drink right out of his hands. The ambassador, a tall man from Fontaine, had glanced at Kaeya sourly. His eyes flicked down to the drink Kaeya had taken. “Ah, Ambassador Louis. Let me introduce you to my brother Kaeya, the Cavalry Captain for the Knights of Favonius.” Diluc explained. Smiling, Kaeya swirled the drink around. It was Fontaine champagne, sparkling and pale golden. Whatever it was, Kaeya seemed impressed. He hummed softly. Then, carefully, he took a slow sip. Barely any passed his lips.
“Lovely to make your acquaintance, Sir Ragnvindr.” The ambassador said.
“Lovely to meet you as well.” Kaeya replied, taking another sip. As Diluc watched, Louis’ face soured even more. Interesting, he thought coldly. Beside him, Kaeya shifted and then held onto the glass. He didn’t put it down, didn’t do anything with it. “How have you been finding Mondstadt? It’s quite different from Fontaine, is it not?”
And this is why Kaeya should have been the one to take over the Winery, and I should have remained Cavalry Captain, Diluc joked internally, nudging shoulders with Kaeya when Louis was busy thinking things over. They both exchanged a glance. Kaeya’s lips curled up into a smile. They’d talked about this exact thing.
Even if Diluc didn’t have Kaeya’s interpersonal skills, he didn’t regret the way things had turned out. The path they had taken to get there? He regretted plenty of that, he and Kaeya both had regrets there. Mostly about the fighting and everything that had happened involving the aftermath of said fight. Diluc had physically assaulted Kaeya, Kaeya had picked the worst time to reveal a major secret—they both had made mistakes. Apologies were traded, and—
—and Diluc had stopped paying attention to the conversation at the wrong time because now Kaeya and Louis were looking at him oddly.
“My apologies. I was going over inventory in my head again.” Diluc commented dryly. Looking at him, Louis nodded and hummed. Apparently, the ambassador believed him. “What was the question again?”
“I was just asking what your opinion on the champagne was. Though, I see that Sir Kaeya has taken your drink.” There was something about the way that he phrased it, the way he spoke. Humming, Kaeya took another sip of the drink like he hadn’t taken it.
“Oh, Diluc prefers to drink in private.” Kaeya explained. “Though, I completely understand why. Not all of us have fantastic tolerance, yes, Louis? I’m sure you understand that.”
Louis hummed under his breath, blue eyes narrowing. Kaeya kept holding his gaze. “Of course.” Off elsewhere in the party, someone called for Louis. Glancing over his shoulder, the man nodded. Some sort of message was passed through a look. Then, “Excuse me. I have to go and discuss something, it seems.”
“Have fun.” Kaeya replied. As soon as Louis was gone, Kaeya hummed oddly. Then, he coughed into the back of his hand, hummed again, and said, “Diluc?”
“Yes?”
“I believe Louis is trying to poison you.”
What? Diluc whipped his head around to look at him. Slowly, a grimace on his lips, Kaeya pulled his hand away from his face, shifted the champagne to his other hand, and showed Diluc his knuckles. Blood spattered the back of it. Taking his hand, Diluc frowned, tilted it from one side to the other. “What the—are you sure?”
“Yep—mostly because they just poisoned me with your drink.” The way he said it was so dismissive. Actually, Kaeya just huffed softly. “We’re lucky. Can you take me to Albedo, please? I might be luckier than normal, because of stars and shadows, but—we don’t have much time.”
“Alright, come on. I know where Albedo is.” Hooking his arm with Kaeya’s, Diluc pulled him along and made his way towards Albedo and Jean closer to the back of the party, where they had been hanging out earlier. As they walked, he glanced back at Kaeya, “Keep that hand hidden.”
“Right.” I don’t even want to think about what would have happened if it had been me. Kaeya was coughing up blood. That could have been internal bleeding, that could have meant he was bleeding in his mouth, he didn’t know. From the coughing, he had to guess that it was probably his first worry. Behind him, Kaeya coughed again, grimaced audibly. “Sorry. This is ruining the party—”
“I really couldn’t care.” Diluc glanced back at him again. Kaeya’s face was growing pale, slightly bloodless. Okay, we need to hurry. There was a blurriness in his eye. “Kaeya. Stay focused.”
Kaeya nodded once.
They finally reached Jean and Albedo. Neither of them were drinking—the party did include some of the younger Adventurers, so Jean and Albedo had volunteered to watch over the kids. Bennett, Razor, Fischl, and Barbara were currently playing some sort of card game with Klee. It looked like they were making the rules up on the spot. Regardless, Klee was having the time of her life, eyes bright and smiling broadly.
“Albedo.” Diluc began. Looking up, Jean and Albedo met his gaze. Carefully, Diluc pulled Kaeya forwards. He still had the champagne in his hand. There was blood in the drink. “Someone’s tried to poison me. Kaeya stole my drink.”
Jean took the drink from Kaeya while Albedo took Kaeya’s arm. Already, Barbara and Bennett were getting up, looking worried. With a quick glance, Fischl and Razor started distracting Klee before she could even notice. Shaking off his glove, Albedo placed the inside of his wrist against Kaeya’s forehead. “You’re feverish.”
“We need—somewhere quiet.” Kaeya mumbled.
“Take him upstairs. I’m going to let Adelinde know.” Adelinde would handle this—handle Louis. Quickly, Diluc added, “Take him to the door with a blue mark on the handle. This is the key.”
He handed the key to Albedo. Nodding, Albedo ducked under Kaeya’s arm. Jean helped take Kaeya’s other side. The two of them hurried Kaeya out the side door. When Barbara tried to follow, Diluc leaned over to grab her arm. Bennett stopped by the door as well.
“Master Ragnvindr?” Barbara prompted.
Dropping his voice lower, Diluc leaned in and spoke to both of them, “I need you to stay with Klee, Razor, and Fischl for me. You, too, Bennett. I don’t think anything is going to happen, but if it does, find Elzer and let him know. He’ll tell Adelinde. If a fight breaks out, take Klee and go. Do you understand?” There was a quick nod from the both of them. “Good. Stay safe, protect yourselves. If something happens, Jean and I will take the fallout.”
Then, he went to find Adelinde.
Normally, he wouldn’t rely on Adelinde, especially not with something as extreme as a poisoning attempt by an ambassador. And it had to be Louis. The man had brought over the champagne to Diluc, there had been a period of time where he was the only one who was touching the drink. Notably, Louis hadn’t drank from his own flute, he’d only watched. The reaction to when Kaeya had taken Diluc’s drink…all signs were pointing to him.
Besides, if it wasn’t Louis, he was at least an accomplice. Adelinde would be able to get information that not even waterboarding could. She’d done that before. When it came to someone hurting Kaeya and Diluc, she would do it again in a heartbeat.
Adelinde was not a person to mess with.
He found her by the tables. “Adelinde.” As soon as she saw the look on his face, she smiled brightly.
“Oh, Master Diluc. I was just about to come and look for you. I’m sorry, please excuse us, we have something we need to speak of in private.” She touched the chest of the man who’d been flirting with her, another Fontainian man. Nodding, he backed off immediately with a smile. Then, he began chatting with his friends once more. Quickly, Adelinde led Diluc into the kitchen. She turned to him the moment the second door was closed behind them and they could speak privately. “What is it?”
“There’s a Fontainian ambassador named Louis.”
“Louis Camembert?”
“Yes. He poisoned my drink, Kaeya was the one who ended up taking the hit. I think he might have had an idea about the man.” Diluc explained quickly. “I gave Albedo the key to the Blue Room and had him and Jean take Kaeya there. I would head up myself, but first I had to alert you.”
“Of course. I’ll handle it.” She smiled coolly. Then, “I’ll let Lisa know that she needs to keep an eye on the little ones. Do you want me to take them to another room?”
“We’re trying to keep Klee unaware of what’s happened to Kaeya. I don’t want to scare her.” With a nod, Adelinde touched his arm as she started to walk towards the door. “Head upstairs, take care of your brother. If your alchemist can’t find a solution, there’s a bottle in the cabinet that looks like it’s filled with stars. Don’t ask where it comes from, but it should help. Only let Kaeya or Albedo drink it.”
With a smile, she disappeared into the party.
Diluc hurried up the stairs to the Blue Room, keeping what Adelinde had said in mind.
When he got to the room, Kaeya was on the bed and in much worse condition.
“Kaeya.” Locking the door behind him, he hurried over. Jean glanced up and met his gaze, grimacing. “What happened while I was gone?”
“He’s been having myoclonic jerks.” Albedo said, already messing with the table on one side of the room. Though Diluc wasn’t an expert in alchemy, he could see Albedo trying to throw together some form of general antitoxin. Adelinde had had to do the same patching him up. He knew the ingredients.
“He’s having seizures?”
“Not—a seizure.” Kaeya forced out, catching Diluc’s attention. Glancing down, Diluc grabbed his hand. Kaeya’s grasp tightened around his fingers. “Symptomatic—myoclonus. Happens—because of—poisoning.”
“Stop talking, you’re stressing yourself unnecessarily.” Diluc ordered. Nodding, Kaeya grunted and then pressed his head back into the pillow. Sweat coated his face, his lips had gone bloodless and pale, and his grasp on Diluc’s hand wasn’t even very tight. Reaching up, Diluc pressed his knuckles to Kaeya’s cheek, his temple, his forehead—he was burning hot. Kaeya was never meant to be hot, let alone feverish. On the other side of the bed, Jean was working on getting Kaeya’s clothes off of him, or at least off his top half. Kaeya was panting, close to hyperventilating. Dropping his fingers to Kaeya’s neck, Diluc felt his pulse. “Albedo. Were you aware of the tachycardia?”
“No. Give me a breakdown.” Albedo ordered.
“Tachycardia—feels like…” He paused for a minute. “A hundred and thirty beats per minute. Sounds like he’s close to hyperventilating. I don’t think he has had any more of those myoclonic jerks yet.”
“They were worse when he was upright.” Jean said, pulling Kaeya’s corset off and folding it up to set aside. Nodding, Diluc checked Kaeya’s pulse again.
“One hundred and forty.”
“Working on it.” Albedo bit out. “Can you check him for internal bleeding?”
“I’ll do that.” Jean offered. “Diluc, catch his attention. This might hurt.” Nodding, Diluc sat down on the bed. Looking at him, Kaeya let out an odd, gasping breath. His fingers clutched Diluc’s. His grip was still too weak for what it normally was.
“Albedo. Weakness.” Diluc said, glancing over his shoulder. Without a word of response, Albedo nodded. Then, Kaeya jolted and choked on something. Diluc whipped around, watched Kaeya grab for him. “Kaeya?”
Kaeya’s eyes were rolling back in his head, he was panting, and there was blood coming from his mouth and nose.
“Kaeya!” He barked out, shaking his brother’s shoulder. On the bed, Kaeya sucked in a ragged gasp. Another cough left blood spattering over his lips. Diluc cupped his cheek, called for him again.
Kaeya didn’t respond.
Everything hurt.
Someone had stabbed him in the chest, like his ribs were cracking in his chest under the weight of a vice. There were thorns in his lungs—he almost didn’t want to breathe. Something made him, some thought in the back of his mind. He didn’t stop breathing.
Someone was talking over his head. He could barely hear it. The whole world was—somewhere else. The sheets beneath him, the weight of someone else sitting off to his side, the hands on his face and the rough fabric wiping away at his lips, all of it felt far away. It was like he was floating somewhere in the Abyss, and everyone else was moving around him but he didn’t exist. He wasn’t there. He was just—two inches to the left of the world.
Fingers pressed against his neck, against his pulse point. Some sort of sound left him. He didn’t know if there were words, or if there was just something else. Gasping raggedly, Kaeya reached out—his fingers brushed warm skin, the familiar fabric of a dress shirt and a silky waistcoat and the silver embroidery of a phoenix. Fingers curled around his, his hand was held to someone’s neck.
His head hurt. Someone was crushing him in a vice. Had he been grabbed by the Fatui? Where was his Vision? Where was—what happened?
“Kaeya.” Not the Fatui. That was Khaenri’ahn. But not a voice he recognized. Not his father. Not the people who’d been— “Kaeya, focus on me. Listen to me.”
Someone else was touching him. His stomach flipped, there was copper in his mouth and on his lips and red-hot heat in his nose. Gasping again, Kaeya groaned. His eyes wouldn’t open. The world was spinning.
“I need you to drink this.” The voice said. Dimly, he knew—Albedo. This was Albedo, this was safe. Cold glass pressed to his mouth. “Come on, Kaeya. Drink this. It’s safe. I promise.”
The ashy citrus taste of an antitoxin flooded his mouth.
On instinct, he tried to kick away. Someone grabbed his jaw, held him still. There were more murmurs in his ear, someone was holding him to their chest. Someone held his nose shut, he was forced to swallow just so he could breathe.
He should be angry. He couldn’t find it in him to be angry, though.
Some of the pain in his chest faded. Diluc was talking to him, a gentle rumble against his back as his head fell back against Diluc’s shoulders. There was an arm loosely thrown over his middle. One of his legs had fallen off the side of the bed. Apparently, Diluc was holding him on the bed.
Groaning, Kaeya gasped in another breath. More of the antitoxin was poured into his mouth. Weakly, he grabbed onto Diluc’s arm, squeezed once.
The world faded again, and he slumped back against Diluc.
Kaeya woke two hours after Albedo forced the antitoxin into him.
They hadn’t used Adelinde’s apparent panacea. Thankfully, they hadn’t needed it. Albedo had asked for permission to study the solution. Adelinde had agreed, as long as he only took a few drops and not the entire thing. She even explained what it was—only to Albedo, Kaeya, and Diluc, however. No one else. The solution was Khaenri’ahn in origin. If anyone outside of Khaenri’ah had it, it’d trigger a violent illness. For those who were Khaenri’ahn, however, it could heal…well, Adelinde didn’t say that. It was significant enough for them to have it.
Crepus had known that Kaeya was Khaenri’ahn. So had Adelinde, and Elzer, and Varka. Jean’s father knew as well. Honestly…Diluc would have to parse through his feelings about that later, when Kaeya was better. For now, he was sitting across the table from his brother, watching Kaeya as he picked at his food and slowly ate. Diluc had finished his food thirty or forty minutes before. He was just waiting for Kaeya to finish eating as well.
That, or Kaeya was going to fall asleep in his food.
Diluc would make sure he got to bed safely.