Chapter Text
“You ready?” Kaeya asked, looking at the shorter man beside him.
Albedo didn't share Kaeya’s gaze. Instead, he was fixated on the looming mountain in front of them, cold and foreboding. Albedo took in a deep breath. “Ready.”
It was the first time since “that incident” that Albedo was allowed back onto Dragonspine – Jean insisted that he wait until the mountain was declared free of Durin’s influence. Or, at least, as free from Durin’s influence as Dragonspine could get. It had taken a few weeks, but Kaeya and the Traveler had cleared out the last of the affected monsters the day before.
Part of Albedo had been dreading the day he went back – he didn't want to be near the heart ever again – but part of him was excited as well. His precious campsite was there along with all the research he'd been doing on the mountain; it was too important to leave behind forever. Albedo would always love this mountain, even after it had hurt him the way it did.
The pair walked forwards, hands occasionally brushing against each other. The pathway up the mountain was intimately familiar to Albedo – it almost felt like he was returning home.
But the sight that greeted him upon their arrival to the campsite was not so welcoming. Papers were strewn about, samples broken and scattered on the ground. There was barely anything that remained untouched and the fire was still burning as if someone had been there recently. Albedo unconsciously grabbed Kaeya’s hand as his eyes widened in shock.
“My lab…” Albedo said softly.
Kaeya squeezed Albedo’s hand. “We'll find who did this.”
Albedo pushed back the incoming rage over his lab, stifling it deep down within him until he could barely feel it. With a clear mind, Albedo activated his elemental sight and scoured the workshop, trying to find something left behind by the perpetrator. A wave of nausea passed through him as the stench of the abyss became evident. The lab was full of it – was the abyss order responsible for this? But why? Albedo tried to focus more on the elemental traces, which worked better for tracking, but it was too much of a mess because of the leaked contents of his ruined collection of samples – he couldn't make out anything.
Among the ruined contents of Albedo’s campsite, he noticed one important bottle gone from its usual spot, but, unlike the rest of Albedo’s research, it wasn’t on the ground nearby. Albedo froze for a second before searching through the lab with renewed vigor, hoping he’d find it somewhere, anywhere, but it was gone. It and the notes concerning its fraught existence.
“What’s missing?” Kaeya asked.
Albedo fiddled with the buttons on his coat as he answered, “About a year ago, a sword made using Durin’s remains came into my possession. The Traveler helped me unlock the full potential of the sword, and then I extracted the life force from it to study. That life force is incredibly dangerous, and the thief stole both it and my notes concerning its effects. There’s no telling what they might do with it, but we need to be prepared.”
Kaeya cursed, scanning the entryway for a trail. “There,” he said, pointing at what seemed like an odd clump of snow at first, but then became recognizable as part of a footprint.
The two followed the heavily obscured trail down the mountainside for as long as they could, before it faded out of existence. As Albedo looked around at the scene it had left them at, dread began to curl in his stomach. They were surrounded by the usual snow and rock but, worryingly, not too far in the distance was the giant shape of a rib, jutting out from its icy surroundings. His fear seemed to be all but confirmed – the culprit was the same one from the previous incident.
“We have to get to the heart,” Albedo said.
They rushed the rest of the way down the mountain to the cave containing Durin’s heart. There were a few knights stationed outside, all looking bored out of their minds. They perked up as they noticed Kaeya and Albedo’s approach, saluting respectfully.
“Captain Kaeya, Captain Albedo!” one knight spoke up. “What are you two doing here?”
“We have reason to believe the perpetrator from the last incident may still be targeting the heart,” Kaeya explained. “Judging by your expressions, though, you haven’t seen anything?”
“No, sir. It’s been very uneventful here.”
“Has anything odd happened, anything at all, since you started guarding the heart?” Albedo asked.
The knight looked unsure for a moment, trying to think of anything happening. “Well… When we first started guarding the heart, there were avalanches and rockslides almost constantly, I was surprised none of us got wiped out. I thought it was weird, but Freda always told me not to worry too much – it’s Dragonspine, after all. They’ve died down since then though, we haven’t experienced one in a while.”
“Interesting,” Albedo hummed. “Can we check on the heart anyways?”
“Go right ahead,” the knight nodded and let them pass through the cave’s entrance.
Despite the warmth of the cave, Albedo felt a chill creep up his spine as he stepped inside. He remembered the last time he was here, the way his blood had run hot through his body, pulsing in time with Durin’s heart. He remembered the poisonous words of the corruption as they had echoed through his head.
“You can wait outside, if you’d like,” Kaeya offered.
“I’m fine,” Albedo shook his head. “It’s just a bit warm in here.”
Kaeya moved closer to the heart, Albedo following slowly behind. Kaeya looked over the heart, occasionally feeling at parts of it, checking for any new abrasions or tears, but found nothing. There were dull purplish scars left behind from the previous incident, but there were no new marks and the heart pulsed the same as it ever had.
“It seems normal,” Kaeya said. “I think it’s safe to say the perpetrator hasn’t gotten past our knights yet. Let’s hope it stays that way.”
The two left the cave with a brief warning to the knights stationed there to stay alert and began to make their way back to Albedo’s campsite. By the time they made it there, the sky overhead had begun to darken.
“We should stay here overnight,” Albedo declared. “Based on the state of the camp when we arrived, it seems like the thief had been here recently. They might come back. Plus, traversing down the mountain when it’s dark is hazardous.”
“Sounds like a good plan,” Kaeya responded, finding an empty spot on the floor to sit down.
“Here, let me make you some blankets,” Albedo said, pulling out his sketchbook. He sketched a pillow and a few blankets and then breathed life into the paper using his alchemy, the objects appearing in the air with a flourish of golden sparkles.
Kaeya whistled. “Handy.”
“It’s just simple alchemy,” Albedo responded. “You should get some rest. I can keep watch.”
“Okay,” Kaeya nodded. He reached up to grab Albedo's hand, rubbing circles into it with his thumb. “We’ll figure this out. Don’t stress too much.”
Albedo sighed. “I hope we do. Thank you.”
“Goodnight.”
“Sleep well.”
- - - - -
Kaeya opened his eye to early morning sunlight filtering into the campsite. He closed it again, snuggling closer to the warm presence next to him rather than getting out of bed.
A soft chuckle sounded from above him. “You awake?” asked a gentle voice.
Kaeya jolted upright, realizing much later than he would’ve liked that the thing his arm had been wrapped around was, in fact, a deeply amused Albedo.
“I- uh-” Kaeya stuttered, a deep flush forming on his face as his freshly woken brain desperately struggled to find something to say.
“Good morning to you too,” Albedo replied. Kaeya wasn’t sure if it was just his frazzled brain or not, but he looked smug.
Kaeya’s panicked expression morphed into a slight frown. “You didn’t wake me up to switch watch.”
Albedo shrugged. “I don’t need as much sleep as a normal human does. I figured it would be better to let you rest.”
“That’s, like, basic knight protocol though.”
“That means so much, coming from you,” Albedo scoffed.
Kaeya gasped, mock offended. “I’ll have you know, I take my duties as a knight very seriously.”
Albedo laughed, the sound bright and endearing. Kaeya felt some blush creep back onto his cheeks as he watched the way the morning light illuminated the tips of Albedo’s hair and added sparkles into his beautiful turquoise eyes.
“So, I take it the thief didn’t come back?” Kaeya asked after admiring Albedo for longer than he maybe should’ve.
Albedo’s expression dimmed. “No. They either know we’re here or already got everything they wanted.”
“What’s your plan for today?”
“We don’t have many leads, so I think I’ll stay here and clean up the camp. Make sure I didn’t miss anything the first time I looked it over. Plus, I should be able to tell if anything goes too terribly wrong with the heart from here.”
Kaeya thought for a moment, brow furrowed as he tried to think back on what possible clues they had. “We do have one potential lead.”
“Hm?”
“Whatever happened to Schuster probably has something to do with the perpetrator – maybe he even knows what they look like. The corruption did some pretty bad damage to him, so last I heard he was still asleep, but if he’s woken up maybe he can tell us something.”
Albedo nodded. “Okay. You check on Schuster while I stay here to clean up. I’ll meet you back in Mondstadt when I’m done, but if I’m not there by this evening something probably came up on the mountain.”
“Be safe.”
Albedo smiled. “You too.”
Kaeya waved goodbye as he headed out of the campsite, trying to keep a decently quick pace so as to make it to Mondstadt quickly, but not too fast that he was in danger of tripping and falling off the mountainside. He felt a bit giddy – he always did after hanging out with Albedo as of late – but he had to focus on the task at hand. He was going to find whoever was responsible for this and make them pay , not only for putting Mondstadt in danger, but also for hurting Albedo.
The Kaeya from two months ago would’ve been shocked at how much he cared about the alchemist but, well, living with him for a short time and then going on semi-frequent dates (?) ever since had done funny things to Kaeya’s heart. Not to mention how he didn’t have to pretend about anything around Albedo. He knew Kaeya’s darkest secrets already, and Kaeya knew his. It made it easy to truly relax around him.
As Kaeya made his way down the mountain, he was stopped by an angry group of hilichurls. He sighed and summoned his sword, taking them out one by one – the group was quite large, but it was more annoying than anything else. Kaeya had wanted to get down the mountain as quickly as possible.
It was a bit odd, actually, that such a big group remained on Dragonspine. The numbers of hilichurls and other monsters had dwindled since the Knights and the Traveler had swept the mountain of those heavily infected by Durin’s blood, but that didn’t mean all the monsters would be gone, Kaeya supposed.
Just as he finished off the last hilichurl with a piercing strike to the chest, he heard the sound of footsteps rapidly approaching from behind him. He whirled around, ready to defend himself from any incoming attack, but relaxed when he realized it was just Albedo, who was slightly out of breath from seemingly running down the mountain to greet him. Something about his appearance seemed off, but Kaeya couldn't quite place it.
“Albedo?” Kaeya asked. “That was quick. Anything wrong?”
“No, cleaning just didn’t take as long as I had expected, so I wanted to catch up with you before you got off the mountain.”
“I’m glad you caught me, then. Did the thief take anything else?”
“No. I think they got what they wanted.”
Kaeya nodded as the pair continued to walk down the mountain. “How much of your stuff is broken?”
“Almost all of it.”
“That damn thief,” Kaeya bit out. “They’ll get what’s coming to them. Let me know if you need any help taking all the broken stuff down the mountain to be disposed of later.”
“Disposed of… yes, humans are such practical creatures. They only want those things that are good. When something is deemed useless, it must be thrown away, lest it ruin what you have left.” He sounded bitter.
“...Right. Are you sure you’re feeling okay? We can take a break to talk, if you’d like.” Kaeya had heard similar words from Albedo before, but only when he was feeling particularly horrible.
Albedo shook his head. “No, I want to get to the bottom of this as quickly as we can. Let’s continue.”
Kaeya brushed his hand against Albedo’s, wanting to see if he was okay with holding hands – not the most common, but not unusual for them either, especially when Albedo was upset – but Albedo visibly flinched and jerked his hand back. A bit odd, but maybe Albedo just wanted space right now. Kaeya would respect that.
The pair continued down the mountain, walking further apart than was usual for them, until a loud cracking noise sounded from further up the mountain. Kaeya whirled around and saw snow rapidly tumbling downwards in the distance. His eye widened.
“That’s where the heart is,” he said. “Come on, it might be the thief!” He took off running in the direction of the heart, hoping they wouldn’t get there too late.
By the time Kaeya reached the heart, the avalanche was already over. The guards stationed there were helping each other up, looking unsettled but not majorly hurt. Kaeya spotted the guard they had spoken to before buried in some snow, and moved to dig them out.
“Captain Kaeya!” the guard said. “Thank you.”
“Of course,” Kaeya replied. “Did you see anyone in the area when the avalanche started? Anyone slip past while it was happening?”
“I didn't see anyone,” the guard replied. “I was a bit preoccupied by the mass of snow barreling towards me though. But who would be insane enough to go through an avalanche to get into the cave?”
“I'm not sure. Let's find out.”
Kaeya and the guard stepped into the cave, weapons drawn. But a simple look told them there wasn't anyone inside. The heart looked the same as it had the last time Kaeya had seen it and there were no new footprints outside to indicate anyone had recently exited the cave.
“Kaeya!” a familiar voice sounded from outside the cave.
Kaeya turned around to see Albedo, who looked concerned. “Are you alright?”
“Yeah.” Kaeya wasn't quite sure why he was asking, but there were other matters at hand here. “It doesn't seem like anyone was here.”
“Strange. What could they have possibly gained from doing this?”
“Maybe it's just Dragonspine being Dragonspine?” the guard offered. “Avalanches aren't exactly unknown to happen around here.”
Albedo frowned. “I suppose.” He shook his head. “Let's move on. I can go with you to see Schuster now that we're both here, Kaeya. We should all stay alert though.”
The guard saluted as Albedo and Kaeya left the site. The two were mostly quiet as they walked back to Mondstadt, but the air felt less tense than it had previously – the few times they did speak, Albedo seemed as though he was completely back to normal. It puzzled Kaeya, but he decided not to ask.
Night was beginning to fall by the time they reached the Church where Schuster was being kept. It reminded Kaeya of his and Albedo’s last investigation together, going to see Jack to get his account of the incident. Kaeya only hoped this one would end better.
Kaeya breathed a sigh as the two of them entered the Church. He’d never particularly liked being inside – it had always felt like a place he wasn’t supposed to step foot into, being as godless as he was. A nun, close to the entrance of the Church, spotted the two of them and walked closer.
“Sirs Kaeya and Albedo,” she greeted. “Are you here about Schuster?”
Kaeya nodded. “How is he doing?”
“Much better, as of the last few days. His condition has been improving rapidly, but he’s not yet awake. We think he will be soon, though. Would you like us to report to the Knights when he awakens?”
“That would be much appreciated, thank you.”
“May the wind guide you.”
Kaeya and Albedo stepped outside of the Church, still without any proper direction to go in.
“Do you want to spend the night at my place?” Kaeya asked.
Albedo shook his head. “Klee will be expecting me, especially since I wasn’t home last night. If there’s no updates with Schuster by the morning, I’ll be heading back to Dragonspine. You needn’t come with – there’s not much to investigate anyways and I’m sure the Knights will be needing you. Thank you, for your help thus far.”
Albedo walked off before Kaeya could argue. He ran a frustrated hand through his hair, cursing. This investigation was going nowhere and it was only a matter of time before the culprit struck again. To do what, Kaeya wasn't sure, but based on what they had stolen, it couldn't be good.
Kaeya was also concerned about how all of this was affecting Albedo. Although he'd been nervous, he had also been excited to get back to his campsite on Dragonspine, to continue the work he did there, but instead of that he was being forced to deal with this. And Kaeya couldn’t help but be concerned about Albedo’s behavior. He hadn’t known Albedo that well for very long but after everything that had happened, Kaeya knew what he was like and he knew that sometimes, yes, Albedo liked his space, but he had been acting really strangely before. Right now, he was probably going off to lay down and stare into space with that vacant stare of his, trying not to think about anything at all but still letting the worst thoughts slip through the cracks. Kaeya couldn’t help but worry.
But, at the same time, Albedo certainly wouldn’t appreciate his presence after so clearly turning him away. So, Kaeya walked to the Angel’s Share for a drink instead, hoping it would wash away the bitter taste left in his mouth.