Chapter Text
If Jean had to pinpoint the pivotal moment in his life when everything changed, he wouldn’t be able to find just one. It was more like three moments, compounded on top of each other through his life until they all came together to chisel him into who he is now. Being him now, for one. Having… weird webbing that shoots from his wrists and enhanced strength and durability and agility and- superhero things, you know? The other big one.
But they both went hand in hand for Jean. He couldn’t be Spidey without being Jean, and Jean wouldn’t be Jean without that archon-damned spider.
Three moments, compounded over time. Yes, Jean thought, those shaped him. And maybe, now, he had one more moment.
But that would be getting ahead of ourselves.
Those first moments, they went like this.
Jean didn’t hate dresses or anything like that. He could be asked about the neckline, the shoulders, the length, and objectively answer the question. It looked nice, the length was good, sure. Jean didn’t like wearing dresses. Never knew why, other than seeing himself in one was the bane of his existence. It looked good over there, but not right here. He knew why when he, being an ardent believer that he was a future Knights of Favonius Officer, found one of his mother’s old uniforms before the Ordo modernized with their crisp coats and sleek boots, and tried it on. To pretend to be an Officer, a Knight of the Ordo, an upholder of justice and- and then he saw himself in the mirror wearing a black button up and knew he did not like wearing dresses because he wanted to wear suits. Classic.
Slightly less classic… Jean was bit by a spider. A spider that was supposed to be in some type of containment field that failed. A spider that was supposed to be in a containment that made absolutely no sense considering where it came from.
“Kreide Inc. is committed to producing stable and reliable technology that will further the nation and eventually, all of Teyvat. Here you can see the research we have been doing in mining technology. A safer mine with supports equipped with emergency oxygen and an auto-deploying safety dome in the event of a tunnel collapse, for instance, would lead to countless lives saved. Stronger ventilation masks to reduce the amount of toxic chemicals inhaled by miners. Here…”
“Is mining even a major export of ours anymore?” Kaeya whispered in a breathful of the minty gum he was chewing.
“Not as major as Liyue but Dragonspine has some unique irons and minerals that are worth harvesting.” Jean answered. He was doing his best to pay attention, it was exciting technology, but it felt… flat. When their teacher announced their field trip was going to be at Kreide Inc. Jean had done some of his own research, ready to ask questions based on their products. They didn’t have any released products, though.
So all of this? Untested.
“We have over two hundred employees in Mondstadt throughout several different offices that are catered to different specialties from engineers to innovators. We pride ourselves on an efficient and productive workspace.”
They were being led around by some man in a lab coat that looked like he pulled it on to seem smarter in front of them all.
A field trip for science class and they didn’t get to go to Barbatos Industries or WindWorks or even Dawn Winery! Why Kreide Inc? They’d never heard of it before, no one was interested. Jean wanted to tour the windmills and the wind-powered generators that the city’s power grid ran on, or to see how the organs of the Church were manufactured, or just to see the barrels of wine that Diluc always boasted about.
Anything but…
“And here is a reinforced fishing net that we’ve proposed to the Fisheries Guild. Far less likely to tear and all manufactured to the correct specifications-”
“Jean!” Kaeya hissed behind him, lagging further and further behind the rest of their class. Jean paused and glanced back, sliding his glasses back up the bridge of his nose.
“What? Hurry, Kaeya.”
“No, this is boring. Come through here, there’s some bright light I want to go see.”
And sure, Jean could have pointed out that that was the same logic that moths used and how tragic for Kaeya, but he too was bored. Kreide Inc. was boring.
So Jean inched back, and then spun and followed after Kaeya.
“What do you think they really do here?” Kaeya asked, looking back with a grin.
Jean hadn’t considered that angle. Kreide Inc. wasn’t boring, but was showing a school field trip group the boring stuff? Well, that was intriguing.
“Why do you think some bright light is going to be anything interesting?” Jean asked instead of answering him.
Kaeya, in turn, did not answer.
They were making their way through a narrow hall unlike the open halls and display areas their tour had been winding through. The building was three stories, a basic office on the first floor, and their tour guide had taken them up to the second floor where the ‘science bays’ were, as explained. No one was around though, also odd.
This narrower hallway had a few doors on either side and seemed to open up at the end where the light was emanating from. With their luck, it was an exit sign.
But, no. Kaeya stepped forward into a wide room, smiling back at Jean. Windowless, it seemed like another science bay with a messy workbench and an array of tools affixed to a pegboard on the wall. In the center, and the source of the bright green light, was a large glass-type cylinder with something glowing inside of it. The cylinder was attached to some mechanics on the ground and ceiling, suspended there, wires and metal tubing sprouting from both ends.
Kaeya and Jean paused at the sight of it.
“Maybe… some new type of mined material?” Jean ventured while Kaeya scoffed immediately.
“I don’t think Kreide Inc. cares about mining as much as they like to pretend.” Kaeya, having grown up in the Ragnvindr’s family care, seemed to take after Crepus quite a bit. Suspect everyone.
“Something inorganic?” Jean shrugged then. “Perhaps something meant to be contained and kept away from prying childish eyes?”
“Or something actually cool and exciting that they’ll unveil in a year or two and we could be in the know now!”
“Or-” Jean was cut off by a sharp pain on his wrist. He hissed and dropped the notebook he had brought to jot down anything interesting. It clattered to the floor as he checked his wrist beneath the cuff of his sweater. A bright red dot was there, but no source.
“What happened?” Kaeya grabbed his notebook and held it out to him.
“I don’t know, it just hurt for a moment.”
“Maybe your mother has taken to lining your clothing with needles, ya know, to keep you sharp.”
“Thanks, Kaeya.” Jean intoned.
“Excuse me? You shouldn’t be down here.” The receptionist that had greeted them in the elevator bay of the second floor found them, summoned by the noise of Jean’s notebook. They both smiled sheepishly.
“I needed a restroom. Safety in pairs and all.” Kaeya was always quick on his feet, the troublemaker of the two.
“This way, you have to be more careful around here.”
And with that, they were led away and quickly joined back up with their classmates, none the wiser. When they were all ushered out rather abruptly much to their teacher’s surprise, Eula gossipped on the bus back to school that it was because something had escaped a containment field. A spider, she said, because she heard so on their tour guide’s radio. Everyone laughed, because how silly.
Jean rubbed at his wrist for the rest of the day, an itch forming beneath his skin that he couldn’t seem to scratch.
When he woke the next morning, he suspected that Kreide Inc. was indeed hiding quite a bit behind their show gadgets, and that Eula may have heard correctly about that spider.
The final moment was the hardest for Jean. The moment that showed him he had made a wrong choice and it was irreversible.
Jean had gone through flourishing changes post spider-bite, lost his glasses, gained a bit of slim bulk, so to speak, broader shoulders and just an inch or two of height. He grew into himself, and looking in the mirror was easier.
He was just about to finish University with a degree in political science because it made sense for him, and he was a sure thing for the Knights of Favonius. He would become an Officer with ease, working for the same Ordo as his mother, as Crepus, as countless others.
Jean had come to the decision to simply hide what he could do. He didn’t even truly know the extent of it all, but he wasn’t going to tell anyone. Ever. It would make him a monster? He wasn’t sure, but maybe some people would be. No need to blow his life up like that.
He had found that he could take more than a few punches if needed, learned while sparring with various classmates, which made him confident about being an Officer. He would do the most good there, be able to help the most people, and be not-quite impervious but so close.
Jean, in his final semester, spent more than a few weekends at the Ordo Headquarters with Kaeya, shadowing and watching as Crepus led investigations and Frederica led the people. Crepus had a habit of talking to them both like they were still children, but he did so to at least teach them more about his job. As Chief of Investigations, he was as on the hook for keeping the city safe as Frederica was.
“We have a duty to the people of Mondstadt, see?” He had pointed toward the Favonius Coat of Arms. “The shield is first, because that is our first responsibility. To protect.” He was an idealist, Jean thought. Opposed to his mother, far more pessimist, far more inclined to call someone a criminal than Crepus. “Sometimes people need help. When they get to that point, it’s because we failed them. So, we do our best.”
Jean liked his way of thinking far more.
Jean had been in his apartment, studying for his upcoming finals, some music playing lightly in the background. Sirens sounded too regularly to be something so normal which had him concerned. He didn’t know what he could do, but he knew he could do something, right? But how? How could he help in any kind of disaster and still be Jean, studying at University, joining the Ordo?
He couldn’t.
So he didn’t help.
When his mother sent him a message telling him that Crepus had been gravely injured, that Kaeya would get a call from the hospital soon, and that he should be there for Kaeya, his heart dropped. His hands shook and his eyes wouldn’t focus. His hearing screamed, ringing white noise drowning everything out.
What if he had helped?
Jean took a week's delay before sitting for his final exams and finishing his studies at University. His mother smiled from the crowd as he accepted his diploma and left the stage.
He told her that night that he wouldn’t be enlisting with the Ordo. She didn’t smile at him much after that.
Kaeya moved back home briefly to be a part of settling Crepus’ affairs. He had done his best to leave both Kaeya and Diluc equally comfortable.
Jean had their apartment to himself, lonely and wallowing, wondering if he could have changed anything? He knew enough to say that even wondering that meant something. That he could do the things he could for a reason. Like Crepus had said, they had a duty to protect. Jean did too, even without the Coat of Arms, Jean could do things they couldn’t.
So he needed to.
His first costume was cobbled together out of workout clothes and his fencing gear. It was awful, cumbersome, and tore too easily. But he covered his face, climbed the fire escape to the sloped roof of his apartment building, and faced the roof across the street. He reached his hand out, flexed his wrist, and felt the tingle in his arm as webbing shot across the divide and latched onto the peak of the roof.
Jean wrapped the webbing around his fist and leapt.
He was The Spider, or perhaps Spidey, or the Ghost Spider- or something of that nature. He was somebody, and Mondstadt would meet him.