Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

     Dehya stood in the doorway to the odd round house. Herbs and colourful plants grew in neat little pots by the window, and all sorts of liquids in jars were stacked on shelves. A small bed was tucked against a wall with a curtain pulled half around it. A desk was shoved on the other side with paper and binders scattered everywhere.

"Knock knock!" Dehya called.

     Tighnari's voice called out from behind the curtain. "Hi Dehya. I'll, uh, be two minutes, alright? I've just got someone here..."

"Hey, no rush. Take your time."

     Dehya walked to where Tighnari was deep in concentration. His gloved fingers worked quickly and carefully, extracting something from a little aranara's leg. His long black ears were tucked back in concentration.

"This won't hurt, but the antiseptic salve might a bit, alright?" he said gently. The small aranara nodded.

     Tighnari reached into the wound with tweezers and pulled out two tiny thorns, one after the other. Both were dripping with a slimy pink liquid. It made Dehya feel slightly sick.

     "Harra fruit... An aranara in the desert of all places..." Tighnari grumbled. He reached over and picked up a wooden bowl with mushed medicinal plants, then slathered it on the wound. The aranara flinched and let out a loud squeak.

     "I'm all done." He wrapped its leg in gauze and bandages. "Please don't go back into the desert. If you need any harra fruit you can just ask me, ok? And take it easy, please.”

     The aranara nodded and bounced past Dehya and out the door.

     Tighnari sighed again and took off his gloves, pulling on his regular cuffed black ones. He smiled wearily at Dehya. "Thank you for turning up at such late notice. I completely forgot with everything that's been going on, and Cyno hasn't turned up yet." He glanced at the clock hanging from the wall.

     Dehya grinned. "No problem at all. Whatcha need help with?"

     "I haven't seen Cyno since last week, and he hasn't been replying to any of my letters. I'm worried that something has happened to him, and that he might not turn up."

     Dehya cocked her head. "Is there something special that the Mahamatra has to attend to tonight?"

     Tighnari's face flushed and he broke eye contact. "Well... I'm starting a research project."

"...And?"

"With Cyno."

     Dehya stood, shocked. "What!? Really!?"

     Tighnari looked away, mortified. "Not so loud!" He hissed. He picked up the bowl of plant salve, his tail flicking. "I, uh,  just thought it would be good to… think things through first."

     Dehya grinned. "You betcha it's about time! People were starting to wonder whether you had already started one together before.

     Tighnari froze. "...What?"

"Come on," Dehya teased. "You're practically already a married couple."

     His ears flattened. "Archons.... That's embarrassing." He turned around and covered his flushed face. "I'd like you to look for Cyno."

"You got it, Nari."

     The jungle, Dehya decided, was not for her. The bright flowers and the winding rivers were good and all, but she could only see so far in front of her. It made her a little unsettled just thinking about all the things that could jump out from behind the trees. Besides, the people were far more different here; more serious and sophisticated and all that. Again, not for her.

     Before she left, Tighnari had handed her a letter, some supplies just in case, and a bag of mora. He had insisted that he pay her though it was a small job for a friend, against Dehya’s refusal. Dehya decided to check the Citadel of Regzar first, as they might have information about a certain missing person. As a mercenary, her job was overseen by the Corps of Thirty, but she knew some of them weren’t fans of her.

     She approached the gates, and a couple of Corps guards intercepted her.

“Sabah al-khayr, madam. I’m sorry, but you cannot go any farther than here.” A female guard eyed Dehya warily. “The Sages’ orders.”

“I’m looking for the General Mahamatra, and was wondering if the Corps had anything?”

     The other guard shook his head. “Actually, we have heard that he’s gone away, but that’s suppressed information. Please be on your way.”

     Dehya was used to the people being careless with Eremites like her. “Where is he? I’m on urgent, official business from the Head Forest Watcher.”

     The guards looked at each other with surprise, trying to hide their smirks. “Oh? And what have they got planned?”

     “You never know with them,” the male matra snorted and turned to Dehya. “We don’t know where he is exactly… But we, uh, might have something else that could help you…” He eyed the mora bag hanging on her belt.

     Dehya’s jaw tightened. “Look, I’m not stupid enough to start a scene on your land. But if you’re trying to get yourself into trouble with the General Mahamatra, I won’t stop you.”

     He shrugged. “The matra aren’t under our management, so we can’t help you. Sorry.” He walked away through the gates, leaving the female matra standing guard.

     “I’m Sekkura. I apologise, Yunus is insufferable sometimes.” She sighed and handed over a worn-down poster. It showed the words “WANTED” with a picture of an unfamiliar man beneath it. The reward for finding him was two million mora.

     Dehya lifted an eyebrow. “What’s this?”

     “Four months ago, there was an attack on Mondstadt, leaving most of their military dead or wounded. This man was kidnapped and tortured almost until death, before being rescued by the Acting Grandmaster herself. No more than a month later, he went missing again, leaving no traces behind. Orders have been sent out for Teyvat to be searched, and nothing has been found.”

“Do they think he was kidnapped again?”

     Sekkura shook her head. “I’m not sure. I think he’s too reckless for his own good; he’s probably dead out in the middle of Celestia knows where.” She paused. “Though… the General let something slip that he’s found a lead. They found elemental traces around some burned ajilenakh trees in Sobek Oasis. It was probably from a traveller or an Eremite’s campfire, but the General thinks something’s up, so he's gone alone.”

     Dehya thought for a moment. “Tighnari is not going to be happy. So, you reckon Cyno is in the desert right now?”

     “No. There have been more reports of small fires leading towards Aaru Village, I believe. You’d be best to check there.”

     Dehya smiled. “Thank you, this will help a lot. Sabah al-khayr.” She handed over some mora as thanks, and the matra took it, looking pleased.

“Sabah al-khayr.”

     The water sparkled in the hot Sumeru sun, just like it had when Dehya was a small girl. Being an Eremite, her clan always used to come down to Sobek Oasis. It wasn’t the largest one in the area, yet it was never unoccupied. This time, however, she was the only one in the area. And for a good reason, too.

     Every single tree surrounding the pool of water had been burned to a hollow skeleton. The grass was singed, but there was an obvious patch of ground that had been doused in some sort of shiny liquid chemical. Not wonder Cyno thought something was up; this was definitely not from a passing traveller. Something about it looked vaguely familiar to Dehya, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on it.

     Making her way around the pool, she spotted multiple footprints in the sand - large ones and three different, slightly smaller ones. The larger ones stopped after a short while, disappearing in the sand. The smaller ones headed north-east, towards the Land of Lower Setekh and Aaru Village. It wasn’t too far away from the oasis, and Dehya hoped that Cyno had managed to contain whatever - or whoever - had caused the fires and chemicals.

     Before she could follow the trail of footprints, something caught her attention in the corner of her eye. There, laying in the sand, was a very weak and bloodied aranara. Dehya’s heart jumped as she recognised it as the same one Tighnari was treating earlier that morning. Large purple-red patches and swollen blisters covered the aranara’s face and back, and pink blood pooled beneath it.

     “No, no, please don’t be…” Dehya reached over to examine it, relief flooding her as a faint heartbeat pulsed against her hand.

     She carefully put her other hand underneath the aranara to pick it up, but then a sharp voice cut through the silence.

“Put it down. Now.”

     A tall, red-haired man stalked towards Dehya, eyes flashing in the sunlight. Dark pink liquid dripped from his hands and stained white shirt.

     It was the man from the poster.

Chapter Text

“Just kill me…”

     Her breathing hitched. She knows that voice… she knows that voice…

“I- I’m going ..goin’ t’.. I'm goin’ to die..any- anyway..”

     A ragged scream tore through the air, followed by maniacal laughter. Tears streamed down her face. She wanted to call out, to cry out his name, to tell him to hold on. Her voice wouldn’t work, her body felt limp, and the noise only got louder.

“Leave them be, ple- please let the people be…”

     Steel on rock. White lights flashing. Her eyes wouldn't close. A loud snap, and another roar of pain. Glasses clinked and smashed, shrieks of laughter pierced the air.

     His whisper hit her like a wall.

“Barbatos, protect father and Kaeya… pr- protect Jean… my family… I'm sorry…”

     They brought an iron ladle out. Heat seared her face, she was drowning in sweat and tears. Blood. Screams echoed as they doused him in the white molten liquid.

“I'm so s-sorry…”

     The air turned cold and his figure stood before her. The room and the soldiers were gone. His face was sunken and his lifeless eyes fixed on her. His long, matted red hair fell limp over his shoulders.

“Why didn't you come sooner? You could have saved me but you didn't. You don't even care.”

     Her vision turned blurry and the ground swayed. Breathing became impossible and she fell to the ground, writhing and shuddering. Screams and laughing rang out again. The void opened and she fell through, his voice repeated over and over in her ear.

“You. Don't. Even. Care.”

     Jean jolted awake. Tears streamed down her face, soaking her already-wet uniform. The vivid remnants of the nightmare clung to her mind like claws, ripping and tearing at her lungs. Her erratic breathing filled the eerie silence of the office, in sync with the pounding in her chest.

     She clutched her head as memories forced their way to the front of her mind. She wished she could forget them; it happened months ago, why is she still terrified?

     You. Don't. Even. Care.

     Dazed, she looked around her dimly lit office. Books lined the bookshelves, untouched since the morning. A window hung open and thick dark fog crept through into the room. Tear-stained documents scattered the messy desk, and an ink bottle lay on its side, the quill poking out. Dark liquid pooled and dribbled onto the floor, staining multiple important papers. The candlelight snuffed out at some point during the night, the office now cast in shadows from the faint moonlight.

     Jean wiped her eyes with the back of her hand, trying to regain her composure, but the lingering fear left her trembling. She curled her fists and set her arms on her desk, the unfinished paperwork shook with her as if it was mocking her.

     Taking deep breaths, Jean tried to ground herself, but the unsettling images refused to fade, leaving her feeling vulnerable and alone in the silent office. Lisa should still be up - no matter the hour, she is always awake when Jean needs her. With her jaw set, she made her way out of the cold room, making a mental note to clean up the desk behind her in the morning.

     You. Don't. Even. Care.

Chapter Text

Hey folks, this is an update about what's going to happen with this story!

Swagetti and I have been in a writers block since last year... yeah, pretty sad. There has been some progress in the plot and chapters, however it's not going as well as we hoped.

We have decided to rewrite the fic. We love this story so far and we are excited to one day reach our end goal, and to share it with you all! And we think rewriting it is the way to go for it to actually progress.

As of now, this fic will be marked completed and we will publish a new story once we have a few new chapters ready for the rewrite! Though, be warned, it may take a while lol.

We hope you guys will be here when that happens! We are excited and we enjoy this so much - but life gets in the way, as I'm sure you all know (👍≖‿‿≖)👍 

The rewrite will most likely roughly follow the same plot as The Earth Never Forgets but it will be more thought out XD. We appreciate everyone who has left kudos, bookmarked, commented, and just read TENF, see you soon!!

-Ghosty and Swagetti