Chapter Text
Blood dripped from the poor boy’s shoulder. He missed a step, shy from the perfection his father wanted. Yet, what parent could convince themselves the blood of their children is necessary? The father of the Last Hope would. It was necessary for them to tell themselves. It was necessary for a child not even the height of their arms to shoulder the world’s burden by themselves. If they couldn't take out their anger at this child, then they would be forced to blame themselves.
Though the boy never understood. He merely thought this was what love meant. If the crimson blood that flowed through his arms meant he was loved, he would gladly accept the waterfall of red.
But he never understood why he was left alone one night.
In the stormy night, in a place where the wind blew and skies existed. His father said, "This is your chance. You are our last hope. Forgive me, Kaeya”. Was it cruel that his father had abandoned him and asked for forgiveness the same night? The boy swore he heard something shatter that stormy knight. Maybe it was his heart or maybe it was the awakening to a cruel reality.
He waited and waited. He hoped that his father would return. He hoped with all his feeble body that his father would return. He could punish the boy however he wanted. “Just come back”, the boy wished.
Instead of his father, a red-haired man with a worried look asked him “Boy, what are you doing here? Where are your parents?”. The boy just looked away. He had no understanding of what this man was saying. It sounded nothing like Khaeriahan. He had semi-expected the man to be angered by his reluctance. But instead, the red-haired man, understanding his fear, gave him his coat and pointed to the big house surrounded by vines. The boy could make out that the man was inviting him into the house. He didn't want to follow the stranger, he wanted to stay and wait for his father. But oh it was so cold, so cold and wet. The boy felt tired and cold. Maybe he was like that, to go to anyone showing him a bit of warmth.
As he went in, he could hear the man talk with another lady. She smiled at him, it almost reminded him of his mother's smile. He would smile back but he knew how much his father hated when he smiled. He couldn't show any weakness. The entire house was huge, it was colorful. It was nothing like the boy’s house. It was a makeshift home in the abyss, with rubbles surrounding it. Some days, it felt like nothingness was the only color you could see. But here, comforting red and warm yellow was engulfing the room. Were homes supposed to be like this?
“Dad, you’re back!”, said a little voice. The man hugged the red-haired boy and ruffled his hair. The boy could see the man explaining to the child about the current predicament. Though he had to be whisked away by the nice looking lady. This left the two children alone.
“What’s your name?”, the red-haired child asked.
The boy stayed silent, unsure of what to say.
“Do you not talk?”
Silence
The red-haired child tilted his head before smiling brightly. He points to himself and says “Diluc” and then points to the boy and looks expectantly at him. He repeats this another time before the boy utters “Kaeya”.
Kaeya then points to the little boy repeating “Diluc”, then to him as “Kaeya”. He then points to the man and looks expectantly at Diluc, to which Diluc says “Dad”. Then Kaeya points to the lady, Diluc replies “Adeline”. The words sound funny, but he repeats them. The red-haired child laughs and smiles brightly. Kaeya feels less scary when he is around this child. The adults look a bit scary though, but he thinks he shouldn't tell that to them since they treated him so well. They gave him food and new clothes, and let him sleep for the night. But he knows he has to leave after tonight.
Or that’s what he assumed. Turns out he will be staying for another day. Maybe he is here to do something like be a stable boy or help the maids. Why else would they help the boy? Love was conditional to the boy. His father patted his head only after he successfully killed an abyss creature. Even if he bled or hurt, his father would only care if he succeeded. So he got up, made his bed, made sure everything was how it was before he came and went down the stairs. He waited for whatever order the older man would give him.That’s how fathers are, you were there to help them and give them your all.
“So, Diluc told me your name was Kaeya. My name is Crepus. Do you know where your parents are? “ The man said with a smile.
Kaeya stared at him since the only words he could understand were Diluc and Kaeya. Frustrated doesn't begin to describe what Kaeya felt. Why did his father leave him alone in this land, he had no clue how to speak with them? But he had to be tough, he can't cry just because he’s all alone now.
Crepus sensed the unease in Kaeya. He walked over and gave a book to Kaeya. For some reason the adult had a gut feeling there was a bookworm under that reserved boy.
The “book” as the adult called it had pictures and funny symbols to Kaeya. But the pictures were so beautiful. Crepus sat with him and started saying words about each picture.Some pictures were about nature and the others had everyday objects like 𐌂𐌋Ꝋ𐌕𐋅𐌄𐌔 or 𐌔𐋅Ꝋ𐌄𐌔. The boy thought it was funny that the adult was teaching him about this. Of course he knew what shoes or clothes were. It made him giggle for some reason. Crepus seeing this smiled and continued pointing to each picture. Adeline and Diluc entered the room as well. Diluc sat next to Kaeya also hearing what their father was saying. Meanwhile Adeline supplied more books and snacks for the boys.
With picture books in his hand, Kaeya was able to let Crepus know that his father would come back. That he had left to get grape juice. He pointed to father and grape juice. Both Crepus and Diluc shared a look when Kaeya had pointed out to them. Adeline decided she would pamper Kaeya with some fruit skewers so he would forget the subject. It seemed like adults understood that Kaeya might have been abandoned. And Diluc thought “What kind of father would leave their child alone in the storm?”.
The rest of the day, Kaeya was whisked away to get new clothes,shoes and was given his own room. Kaeya wasn't sure why he was given any of these. He hasn't done anything worthy to earn their kindness. He was just himself.
As he was eating dinner with the family, the boy desperately wanted to ask “What am I supposed to do? How can I help?”. He felt burdened by this unexpected kindness. But he was still getting the hang out of Teyvat’s common language.
Kaeya didn't know that day, but Crepus made up his mind that he would be his son and Diluc that he would be his brother. After all the kid distribution system made its way to the Raghvidr manor.
Overtime, Kaeya’s mastery of Teyvat’s common language increase. He was intelligent and a linguistics genius, according to Crepus who has been telling everyone in the manor how amazing his little boy was. Albeit being able to talk, Kaeya was still too shy to speak his mind. This is in stark contrast to Diluc, who has been doing most of the talking whenever needed for kaeya. Diluc had a strong reason to protect and care for his little brother and liked that he was being depended on. He liked that Kaeya only talked to him and looked up to him. He wanted to be the best big brother in the world.
Overtime, Kaeya had learnt the common tongue better. And Master Crepus had not stopped telling everyone how much of an “intelligent boy” Kaeya was. He felt embarrassed, it was not so hard to study the language especially with an amazing teacher like Adeline. Even though the blunette could talk, he still preferred to stay silent. But that was not the case when he was around Diluc. The red haired boy always called him his little brother proudly and with a fiery of excitement showed him the new world known as Teyvat. Teaching how to climb trees,getting flowers or making midnight snacks while everyone was asleep . He was happy, he liked that he had an older brother and one that he could rely on. When Diluc was around, the world felt less scary and more fun.
One day, Kaeya was excited to go out and collect some windwheel asters before Diluc came from his sword lessons. He ran down and accidently tripped and pushed a Vase down. He injured his leg when he tripped. The boy felt a wave of anxiety wash over him. He felt like he had sent himself a death sentence. He broke something. He looked around warily hoping no adult was around. He collected the vase, the sharp edges hurt his tiny hands but he had to fix it before Master Crepus found out. He didn't want to be kicked out. Not now, when everything was so fun and everyone was nice to him. There were wet tears falling down his cheek as he sneakily went back to his room to fix the vase. His leg hurt but the little boy was numb to the pain as he hurriedly tried to fix his mistake on his own. His vision blurred with tears as all his past memories of his father getting angry at him over his mistakes. If he had broken something, he was made to kneel for the entire day. If he had accidently spilled soup, he was made to leave their tent and sit in the darkness. Kaeya hated it, he hated the abyss more than anything. He knew Master Crepus wouldn't like him after this. And the thought of Diluc hating him and telling him that he no longer will be his brother hurt him even more. He had to fix this, with his frazzled hands he put the vase together. He glued them together but as he saw them, he sobbed. It was no good, it didn't look brand new. It looked broken. So Kaeya sobbed silently on his study table, accepting that the only good thing that may have happened will leave him now.
He hadn't realized but both Crepus and Diluc had called out his name. Crepus walked into his room a bit concerned that Kaeya hadn't heard his name.
“Kaeya? Are you alright? May I come in, son?” Master Crepus called out. The boy sniffled and wiped his tears and the blood stain on his hands on his handkerchief.
“Yes, Master Crepus' ' The boy said. He could face the adult’s eyes, he had them glued to the floor. Crepus for some reason always looked a little sad when Kaeya called him Master Crepus. He had looked around and saw that Kaeya was hiding his hands and stood unequally.
The boy waited and waited. He knew maybe a slap or a loud scolding was to be expected. But instead he was carried up and Master Crepus called out Adeline for first- aid. That was when Kaeya looked up and saw how concerned dad was. The adult kept telling him it was going to be alright. Kaeya knew Crepus saw the broken vase and said nothing about it. All he did was be concerned about Kaeya’s injuries. There were no words that could explain what the little boy was feeling. All he could do was take in all the care and concern that was showered at him.
He sat there as Crepus held his hand and said “If you’re hurt, you can tell me. I will be there. No broken vase or any mistake could ever make me hate you, son”.
That was all it took for the dam of tears to break. He cried and cried. This time more loudly than he ever did. He wasn't scared anymore. In between muffled cries he said “Im sorry dad, i didnt even mean to do it. It was an accident” And all Crepus did was hug him and hush him with how it was alright and that all that matters if he was okay. The boy held his father tightly with his small hands, he didn't want him to go at all. This kindness, it was breaking him down and building him back up.
For some reason, Crepus knew exactly what Kaeya was thinking and he hadn't even spoken any words. He knew what exactly his son needed.
After becoming tired from crying his eyes out, the boy sat near the fireplace with a mug of hot chocolate from adeline. Diluc sat near him hugging him. He didn't like it when his little brother cried. He always cried with his entire body and it made him so tired. So he pulled a blanket over him hoping that he could protect his sibling with his small hands.
The boy felt sleepy and even though it was a cold night just like the countless ones he had been through alone before, today was warm. So warm and nice, he felt like he was laying in the clouds. Is this what a family means? To be there for each other even when the world is scary and mean. The boy felt happy and he looked at his new family, Crepus his new dad,Diluc his older brother and Adeline.
“Dad, can I have more hot choco ?” He asked.
Crepus smiled brightly and he looked like he won the biggest lottery of his life.