Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Diluc flicks out shards of ice still stuck to his coat. If he was lucky, it’d just be a sign of Rosaria lurking around the city, same as him. But Diluc isn’t anywhere near the main city; instead he’s set his sights on the Abyss mages who camp around Wolvendom. Rosaria doesn’t wander too far from the church ground, but neither should the knights.

A small, insufficient mask appears in his field of vision. Diluc looks up to see Kaeya offering it back to him. Apparently it had slipped off in the scuffle. Kaeya’s voice finally breaks the relative quiet of the night to say, “Y’know, I’m really quite surprised. I’d have thought you’d try a little harder.”

Diluc sighs and snatches the mask back. He elects to put it in his pocket, rather than back to his face. Kaeya had had the same idea as him tonight, and the forest seems to be clear of the abyssal torches that otherwise light up the area like a beacon. 

In the aftermath of the attempted invasion, Diluc's been feeling particularly vindictive towards the Abyss creatures still present in the country. He can guess why Kaeya’s here well enough. This has become more frequent — Diluc and Kaeya fighting side-by-side again, neither forgetting to cover for the other's blind spots and limitations. 

Kaeya stalks away and settles next to the extinguished bonfire, ley line branches and fractured masks the only remnants of the mages left behind. Diluc makes a split-second decision and crouches down next to him. Kaeya’s expression turns pensive as he stares down at what’s left behind, and he picks up a short ley line branch. 

Maybe a few months ago, right after Diluc had returned to Mondstadt, he would’ve left immediately after the assist. Stalked off into the shadows of the forest, leaving Kaeya behind to take care of himself. And, he muses, Kaeya can take care of himself, both with his Vision and his other skills around Abyss creatures, but now he can’t bring himself to leave without making sure his brother makes it home safe. Their fight together on that bridge has made him soft, and he really isn’t looking forward to Kaeya voicing this as soon as he can. But Diluc puts all that aside to ask, “Penny for your thoughts?” 

Kaeya startles, as if he’s forgotten for a second where he is and who he’s with. His grip tightens on the ley line sprout in his hand. When he speaks, it sounds more melancholic than normal, and it lacks the lilt his voice usually holds. “Are you sure you want to take that deal? I’m actually in the mood to be rather candid as of late.” 

Diluc’s eyebrows raise. “Are we really living in unprecedented times?” 

Kaeya starts to play with the sprout with his hands, keeping himself busy. “Well, I’m just feeling a little charitable. Won’t you take it?” 

It takes all of Diluc’s concentration to keep himself from launching at Kaeya in a fervour he hasn’t felt since he was a stupid little kid. “If you keep insisting, then sure. I’ll take your bet.” 

Kaeya falls quiet for a long time after that. Falls quiet for so long that Diluc thinks this will become just another missed step in their relationship, another moment he’ll think back to whenever he feels particularly self-destructive. Neither of them have become very forthright, always speaking in falsities, and relying on intelligence networks to do the legwork they should’ve had the courage to just say aloud. But either way, even if he wants to blame the other, Diluc will always be the one at fault. 

But then Kaeya speaks, and Diluc’s mental spiral stops in its tracks. “My vacation in Sumeru. It was…quite enlightening. Do you remember the blond outlander who was in your bar a few years back, the one looking for our other blonde traveller?”

It's hard to forget someone so ostentatious, someone who'd just waited in his tavern for hours on the chance Lumine would walk back into Mondstadt when she did. He voices as much.

Kaeya huffs out a short breath and continues, “Then surely you noticed some pressing similarity between us two.” It's a statement, not a question. The very first thing Diluc had noticed was the star-shaped pupil. He doesn't even reply.

The silence seems to only encourage Kaeya more, because after lightly tapping the sprout into the soil, he finally continues. All his trademark restlessness dissipates. “I met him in Sumeru. He let me in on something surrounding my birth family name. Alberich. 500 years ago, an Alberich founded the Abyss Order.” He chuckles awkwardly at this admission. “Not only have I been fighting the monsters my own people turned into, but I've been a traitor on two fronts so far.” 

He looks up at Diluc, face twisted in a mirror of Diluc's own confusion. “Though I guess to you, it's three counts.” He suddenly stands up, and Diluc hears him clap his hands together as if he's clear of all this mess now that it's out there. 

The worst part is just that…that isn't the part that Diluc is focused on. Kaeya had said “birth family name.” Not “my last name” or “my family name.” And Diluc notes that he'd called them “his own people,” but that's the same way Kaeya has referred to Mondstadt in the past, and there's no reason for that to have changed. He wants Kaeya to state his side now, abandon a country that used him as a child, and look to the country that took him in immediately, though exclusive of his brother.

This is awfully selfish of him. Instead, he says, “Don't be stupid about this. It’s still just two.”

It's a huge bone to toss to Kaeya, but Diluc thinks he deserves it a little after what he's said. And Kaeya pounces on it like he should. “My, Diluc, that’s a relief to hear. So you blinded me for no reason at all?”

Diluc grumbles out, “For the last time, I know you weren't blinded. Why do you even wear that silly eyepatch?”

Kaeya opens his mouth to retort but too many things begin to happen in rapid succession. The ley line sprout Kaeya had half-heartedly stuck in the ground starts to grow, expanding up into something more reminiscent to a ley line blossom. Neither of them react in time; too busy staring at a damn flower blooming. 

The bud opens and— 

Diluc can’t see for a moment, too busy blinking the flash out of his eyes. He immediately grasps for his claymore, some familiar presence in his hand, no matter how useless a blade is against bright light. Spots still in his vision, he can make out Kaeya doing the same; stepping back to prepare for an attack. 

But no such thing comes. 

Kaeya disarms himself first, and waves a hand in front of his face. “A little anticlimactic, don’t you think?” he muses out loud. 

Maybe on another night, Diluc would immediately fault the ley line branches Kaeya was fiddling around with, especially on the cusp of what he’d said only a few moments before. But, perhaps because of it too, he disperses his claymore too and folds his arms. 

It’s late, but not by much, still a little before midnight. He was expecting to finish things much later, at least before dawn the next morning but Kaeya had exponentially sped up the process. He can still walk through his front door, instead of scaling up the walls of the winery to his own bedroom. 

Before he can stop himself, he says, “Awfully long way back to the city, Sir Kaeya.”

“What are you trying to propose here, Master Diluc?” 

Diluc sighs, lets the facade fall for a moment and says, “Adelinde still keeps your bedroom for you. Use it for once.” 

Diluc immediately turns and starts walking back in the direction of the winery, only hearing Kaeya splutter out behind him. Before too long, though, their footsteps fall into step with each other. They travel in mostly silence, with Kaeya sporadically breaking it to ask inane questions like if Adelinde would make him hot chocolate in the dead of night, and Diluc responds in grunts and telegraphed punches. 

As they reach Dawn Winery, though, something immediately feels off. Diluc's not quite sure why. The only obvious thing is that the hall lights are off—Adelinde never puts them out until she knows Diluc gets back home. He’s asked her to stop before, but she’s always resisted on this point. It's weird to now see the lights off, but he already has Kaeya in tow and the master key. 

He turns back on the hall lights through his Vision and starts to shuck off his coat. He’s sure Kaeya already knows what to do, where to go, and he’s ready to pass out for the night. Suddenly, Elzer bursts out in a ragged hurry from the servant's quarters. He stares at the two in shock, no doubt still half asleep and slowly registering Kaeya's presence.

Maybe I should've scaled the wall, Kaeya be damned. “Ah, sorry to wake you, Elzer. I assumed you or Adelinde would still be awake. I…brought Sir Kaeya. He'll be in his childhood room.” Kaeya offers a cheerful little wave from behind him.

Normally, something like this makes his staff ecstatic. It's only happened thrice, once only after Diluc was out of the country. They want so desperately for Kaeya to return home; even if he’s already found a home in the city such that the winery will only ever at most be his childhood home. Still, he barely returns to it, not as much as the staff would like. 

However, Elzer manages only a short, “Master Diluc, Master Kaeya, I thought you were—What happened to your eye, Master Kaeya?” interrupting himself mid-sentence. Diluc's face scrunches up. He looks back towards Kaeya, who only mirrors his confusion.

“Are you feeling alright, Elzer? I know I'm not around the winery as much anymore but surely—” Kaeya's defence is cut off by a door swinging open upstairs and a pair of footsteps. Diluc hears a “Everything alright, Elzer?” before he sees the person it belongs to, but…

It's his voice.

He feels Kaeya take a step back behind him, prepared to bolt. He tenses much the same way. Something is wrong . 

He's not wrong in his assessment, because over the parapet on the 2nd floor, he makes eye contact with himself. Diluc's fingers itch for his claymore.

This cannot be another case of doppelgangers. Albedo had ended that business. Though he’s no longer privy to knight business, he knows that much. The way Elzer had reacted; it's as if he and Kaeya are the anomalies, not the other Diluc already in the winery. 

The other Diluc has no qualms about pulling out his claymore, though. Diluc watches his eyes widen in shock and then anger as he shouts out for—“Kaeya!”

The other Diluc talks, addresses both of them, but Diluc cannot hear him through the blood rushing in his ears. In front of them, Elzer wisely rushes back into the servants’ quarters. someone with Kaeya's face joins the other not-doppelganger, only lacking the eyepatch that Diluc’s come to associate with his brother on instinct. He distantly notes that both of them hold Favonius-issued swords. And—

Diluc backs up until his shoulder hits a solid presence. Kaeya stands frozen behind him, but somehow he prevents him from just collapsing in shock

The last time Diluc had seen his father's face, it was twisting in agony, the Delusion seeping his life force away. He'd begged, black veins peppering his face, for it to end. And Diluc had granted that wish.

But now, his father stands in front of him, perfectly healthy, only looking out from the master bedroom in slight confusion. He doesn't even look scared to see two doppelgangers in his house. He looks completely fine and whole.

The only thing Diluc can hear then is Kaeya whispering in his ear, “Trust me?” 

Like with most of Kaeya's inane comments, he doesn't respond. What kind of stupid question is that?

Kaeya doesn't give him any time to answer either. Instead, he says, “Get ready to run,” just as Diluc feels his hand grasp his shoulder.

Just as the two others start moving for them, to fight or capture he wasn't paying attention, the world suddenly goes weightless for a split second.

Diluc blinks on instinct and when he opens his eyes, it's to the windless night outside the winery. He takes too long to register the sudden shift in light, and the sound of Kaeya running headlong back towards Wolvendom. He curses softly and follows.

Diluc hisses, “Since when have you been able to do that?”

“I'm sorry, I thought this was something we weren't talking about.” Kaeya's voice is back to its snippy self, and for the first time in his life, Diluc finds himself extremely grateful for this.

“Yeah, well, I think we've started talking about it,” he grouses out.

They keep booking it in silence, Kaeya's little headstart enough to keep them in the lead long enough that the winery's forces lose them. Eventually, they end up in some corner of Wolvendom. Diluc registers that it'll be okay for a day at most, but they need to relocate if they want to stay hidden any longer. 

Kaeya immediately slumps over on the ground as soon as he finds it safe to. “Shit. I guess that flash wasn’t very anticlimactic after all. You have any idea at all of what happened back there?”

His father. The swords. The look on his other’s face. “You can teleport.”

Kaeya’s face screws up into a mock grimace. “Is that really what you want to focus on right now?” Yes, he really doesn’t have the space of mind for the rest. “Well, only a little, and only if I know the area well. It’s not like what Lumine can do. The most I can do is move to backstab in a fight.”

Diluc files this away in the folder in his brain titled “Kaeya’s weird nonsense.” He grows quiet for a second before saying, “What was that?”

“I…We’re absolutely sure Durin’s clones aren’t a threat anymore. Albedo made sure of that. It has to be some ley line disorder, if that sprout, blossom was any indication. I just—”

It’s a whisper on Diluc’s lips. “Father was…”

“Alive,” Kaeya finishes for him. “He is alive.” A pause. “Ursa must’ve not attacked.”

“We don’t know that. It could’ve still happened,” Diluc immediately fires back. “Maybe your Knights overcame their inefficiency on the day it mattered.”

“Or maybe father didn’t have a damn delusion. Archons know that’s what really killed him.” Kaeya doesn’t even sound angry or bitter despite the words he uses. He sounds inquisitive, like he’s in a captain meeting and Jean needs everything at the table to brainstorm and to do it fast.

It’s only when Diluc notices the steam wafting in front of his face that he realises how much he really cannot have this conversation right now. “This isn’t useful,” he practically seethes out. “If we find more mages to kill, can you magic us back to our world? Our time? This must be because of you.”

Kaeya sits up, grumbling, “I’d argue but I think you’re right on that. But I don’t know how I did that, honest.” He settles his head on his palm, balanced on his knee. “But we’re kind of on a deadline here. The woods won’t hide us for long and I know your paranoia has probably already exposed us to the knights.”

Diluc falls silent. Kaeya takes this as permission to keep going. “We should get to Albedo. At the very least, he can probably exonerate us. Those two looked the exact same as us. Well, excluding one little thing.” Diluc folds his arms and looks away. Kaeya steamrolls on, “I’ll bet anything they went through the same history as us. As long as Albedo can clear that we aren’t actually just clones, we’ll be free to figure this thing out in our own time. And if that includes targeting more Abyss mages, then so be it.”

He’s mostly right. It’s just, “I’m willing to gamble with you, but you better plan out what we do if it doesn’t work.” He falls silent for a second. “You aren't planning anything stupid, are you? Don't even answer that. As long as you don't take me down with you, do whatever you please.”

“Well, that's as much permission as I'll get. You're not planning on joining me then?” Kaeya asks curiously.

Diluc grumbles, “I'm not looking to pretend to be a Knight again.”

Kaeya hums to himself. “Little unfortunate, wouldn't you say? You still look exactly like each other. Not like me and my counterpart. At least I know all those shady passageways you and Rosaria like. I'll be fine.” Despite himself, the short reassurance actually works. Diluc finds himself breathing a little easier, though only if he pretends he doesn't know Kaeya has a secret plan brewing.

Well, he's always been a little bit of a hypocrite when it comes to Kaeya.

Diluc's head suddenly snaps back up. Shit. 

“What is it?” Kaeya leans forward, grin plastered on his face.

“Nothing you need to consider yourself with.”

Kaeya chuckles softly and says, “You should've just said you didn't want to put on an act. You're abysmal at it. Clearly it's something.”

Ugh. “I just thought of Venti.”

“The bard? What about him?” 

“What? I thought you…knew,” he finishes lamely. “Seriously?”

“I know that he can drink Rosaria under the table. Is he supposed to do something else…?” Kaeya looks genuinely confused. Ughhh.

“He's, uh, don't get weird about it. He's Barbatos.” Diluc winces through it. 

“ No way! Yeah, of course I knew. Jeez, I'm just messing with you.” Diluc is going to strangle his brother.

“Anyway, if Venti wants to be found, he will. That's his whole thing, isn't it? Let's not waste time trying to find an archon before he deems it necessary,” Kaeya reasons out. 

“The longer I can keep away from his inane behaviour, the better.” Only half a joke. If Venti shows up, then it truly is serious. As long as he stays away, there is this brief assurance that Diluc and Kaeya can handle things themselves.

“In the meantime,” Kaeya cuts back in, “let’s get some rest, alright? There’s a decent cave somewhere around here, though I hope we don’t accidentally run into Razor,” he adds as an afterthought. He gets up and takes a second to orient himself before walking off, Diluc lagging behind.

It’s only about an hour later, when they’re both about to doze off, the adrenaline seeping away and the exhaustion setting in, that Kaeya asks, “Were you being serious?”

“About what?” Diluc replies, already half asleep. He's turned away from Kaeya now, so all he hears is his soft voice.

“Adelinde, still keeping up my bedroom.”

Diluc sighs. “Yes, of course she does. Why else is it always ready for you whenever you visit?”

“I don't know, I just thought they're fast workers.” 

“Well, that's true. Why don't you visit more often?” 

“I, uh, not sure. I didn't want to impose.”

“So, you'll only impose if I'm not in the country?”

“Ugh. That was a bad day. I would've come over even if you were there.”

“Really?”

“Yes. I would've brought the vase too.”

“Why that vase in particular?”

“Thought it'd compliment the wood finishes.”

“You're so lucky they love you, otherwise Adelinde would've thrown it out as soon as she could.”

“Doesn't the master of the house hold more authority over decisions like that?”

“You've clearly spent too much time away, that's not how it works. Either way, I wouldn't have thrown it either.”

“Really? That travesty?”

“Yes, well, it's your heartfelt travesty.”

“Wow. Never say that again.”

“I'm surprised you admitted how ugly it was. Seriously. You'll be welcome whenever you deign to come over.”

“So that's your blanket permission, I take it?”

“I seem to be handing a lot of that out today, huh? Do whatever you want, I don't care.”

“No, actually I think you do.”

“Genius deduction. How'd you come up with that?”

“It's too obvious. You could do a little better to hide it.”

“You're the one who said I was shit at acting.”

“Well, you never had to learn. I don't hold it against you.”

“Did you use to?”

“For a while. But I figured my stance out rather quickly. You were the last to figure it out.”

“Yeah, because you haven't dropped that bombshell on anyone else.”

A pause.

“You don't have to. Ignore me.”

Longer silence.

“I'm serious, Kaeya. Everyone knows who you are and who you'll fight for. Even if they don't know where you came from. It won't change their minds. It wouldn't have changed mine.”

Nothing.

“You really do suck at faking sleep.”

Either way, when Diluc wakes up, Kaeya is already gone. No doubt to sneak into the Knights’ building and cause mischief. Do whatever it is he's been planning to. At the very least, Albedo should still be in the city dealing with the fallout, so an actual objective of theirs should be crossed out.

Diluc packs up his belongings and heads back towards the Dawn Winery. Time for him to cross something off his mental list as well.

Chapter Text

Kaeya is officially having one of the worst days of his life.

Sure, the day his father left him in the rain in a foreign country with very strict instructions he’s barely followed since he was 7 was pretty bad too. But this is up there as well. 

And the day before was going so well too. The post invasion victory tour was still going strong for the knights, and even Albedo’s allowed himself a few more days in the city before he runs back off to Dragonspine to keep investigating the dragon’s now-dormant curse. He’s claimed that time for Kaeya and Klee, and yet Kaeya still has to spend some time with his brother and father before he gets any well-deserved time-off with his partner.

He can’t fault his father for it anyway. After such a genuine threat on the city, no matter how prepared the Knights were or how quickly they’d got things under control, that isn’t enough to stop a father’s worry. And he and Diluc had acquiesced to staying over for a day as a form of assurance. Dinner had gone really smoothly, and he’d thought he’d get a nice night of sleep in his meticulously made-up childhood bedroom, and then. 

How is he supposed to understand what even happened last night.

Albedo had assured them that Durin’s doppelgangers would be finished, even if he hasn’t fully explained how exactly he’d done that. He will soon, Kaeya knows, but at the very least he trusts Albedo to have got the job done, and he's always made good on that sort of trust.

There was something different about those two that had walked in. The clones Durin had made were supposed to replace, replicate the host as best as possible. But while the two had looked like himself and Diluc, they also didn’t. Diluc never wears a low ponytail, and the way he’d spoke, halting and uncertain, simply didn’t sound like him. And…he really didn’t get a good look at himself—what a strange thing to reckon with—but he doesn’t wear a fur coat. Nor an eyepatch, at least not after he turned 12 years old and stopped playing pretend. If it was really just clones, why did they look so different? They wouldn’t be fooling anyone. It  didn’t make any sense.

Neither did the way they'd walked in like they owned the place, or the way they'd spoken to Elzer. Nor did the sudden disappearance afterwards. Diluc had immediately sent Venessa out to let Jean know, keep the Knights prepared for any imposters that may walk in. That didn't change how they’d literally disappeared into thin air. How?

That’s all Kaeya wants to know. How ? And no matter how much he looks around the library and bothers Lisa, he can’t put anything together.

So, he half-heartedly compiles together all the information he’d gathered from the staff, Father, himself, and the sight they’d seen last night, and walks into Diluc’s office.

That’s always how they’ve worked. Kaeya works the backend, information gathering, morale raising, and Diluc handles the minute-to-minute grunt work, will jump into battle with a team right behind him. Sadly the cavalry has left him behind, but it’s the thought that counts. 

Kaeya walks in with his face buried in his documents, says before looking up, “Hey, Diluc, I’ve done the best I can at this. Take a crack at it please, I can’t stand to see it anymore.”

“Oh, really?”

That isn’t Diluc’s voice.

Kaeya looks up to see himself, a version with an eyepatch and a smirk on his face, sitting where Diluc should be. The smirk is infuriating .

His doppelganger speaks, “Nice to meet you, Kaeya Alberich.”

Kaeya’s hand immediately reaches for his sword. He must look like a real character—staring dazed with one hand full of loose papers and the other gripping to his sword like it’s a lifeline. He bites out, “That’s not my name.”

He points the sword at what’s occupying his brother’s place, but the imposter doesn’t even flinch. He just smiles knowingly, which he probably does. He hums at Kaeya, “Well, it is mine. And put your sword down. Master Diluc is perfectly fine. He just never went to his office. I’d imagine a very different conversation right now if he'd walked inside instead.”

Kaeya’s arm doesn’t waver as his mind keeps racing. He needs to back out of the room, get some back-up. Jean and Albedo are upstairs, Lisa’s down the hall. There’s at least three knights standing guard just outside the room in the hall. 

But all that stands at odds with the mystery in front of him. And Kaeya has never been able to ignore such an intriguing, and terrifying mystery. “Who exactly are you?”

The man in front of him—Alberich, because he cannot entertain any other moniker—rests his head on one of his palms, like he’s disappointed. “Is that really the question to ask? I’m clearly you.”

Alberich suddenly snaps his other hand forward, and Kaeya suddenly loses all feeling in his right arm for a second. He watches as it jerks, dropping the sword as it locks in place. He looks back up at Alberich, who casually continues, “But I’d be remiss to not mention the differences.”

“How—” He barely gets out before he’s interrupted again. “Truly a blessing when the gods look down on one of us, no?”

Cryo . He had used Cryo. Kaeya has sparred enough with Diluc to know he's outclassed when elemental energy enters the fray. Though…

“A Vision?”

Kaeya needs to know. What did his other self do to be blessed by Celestia? A Khaenriah'n noble using Celestial power. How backwards.

Alberich snaps Kaeya out of his daze by saying, “You're an open book, you know that? I take it you've abandoned your childhood dreams?”

Kaeya blinks fast as feeling returns to his hand, and he bends down to pick up his sword. He grits his teeth and retorts, “I'm not an open book if you've lived my life. I take it you haven't, Kaeya Alberich?”

Kaeya looks up in time for Alberich to just.

Phase out of existence from Diluc's seat. So it wasn't a fluke last night, or a hallucination. He actually can just…do that.

In a split second, Kaeya's brain fires off all the connections he's made. The Khaenria’hn allegiance, the teleporting, the fur coat, the memory of a hail of Cryo sent at his back. He swings up his sword just in time for Alberich to phase back in right behind him. His mirror self already has his own sword braced up to take the hit, but he looks pleased. Kaeya really doesn't like this one bit.

Alberich exclaims, “Of course I have! What has Khaenri’ah ever done for me? What has it ever done for you ? A broken regency and Abyssal filth. Did you know of that?”

The words take a second too long to register, in which time Alberich scoffs at him, sheaths his sword and takes a few steps back. Kaeya’s eyes narrow—but he puts his sword back in his own sheath. He's on thin ice, and all he can do is play catchup with his doppelganger, he hates it. At the same time, the door opens.

“Good to see you, Captain Albedo. Glad to see you got my letter.” Alberich turns around to face Albedo, completely ignoring Kaeya. Seriously, what a strange image.

Alberich holds himself taller than Kaeya, who’s always content to slink in the shadows behind Diluc and the other captains. He feels more open, less of a stranger to the limelight. The confidence feels unwarranted, but it ironically only gives him more credence. 

Albedo, though, slowly closes the door behind him before looking beyond Alberich to Kaeya and asking, “Am I hallucinating or are there two of you?”

Alberich walks past Kaeya, moving to lean against Diluc’s desk. Kaeya catches Alberich roll his eyes as he saunters past. His imposter drawls out, “Is this enough proof for you, Ragnvindr? He doesn't even look at me, I'm clearly not a threat. There's the judgment of our reliable Chief Alchemist.”

Kaeya takes the cue from Albedo and ignores his counterpart, instead walking forward to stand by Albedo's side as he says, “He definitely isn't one of Durin's clones. What is he?”

By way of answering, Albedo hands Kaeya a letter that bears his handwriting—no doubt the letter Alberich was talking about. As Kaeya scans through it, Albedo says, “If I didn't already know the handwriting, I'd've thought this was one of Klee's stories. Even if it was her idea, she never would come up with something so ridiculous.”

Alberich chuckles and replies, “Truth stranger than fiction?”

“He's right. This story is ridiculous,” Kaeya adds. But it’s probably the truth. The letter tells of how the two doppelgangers had encountered a strange ley line blossom in the woods, and were probably suffering from some unknown disorder effect that had…what, transported them to an alternate world? Alberich wrote that they knew a way back, an unreliable way that may take a while to be set in stone. Kaeya notes that down internally. They need to put this to the test later, if just to chase away the doppelgangers before they give his Diluc a heart attack.

“So?” Kaeya looks up to see Alberich cock his shoulders questioningly, though his amused smile suggests he knows the answer to whatever question he has. “What's the verdict?”

Kaeya looks to Albedo, who shakes his head. He sighs and says, “I…Sure. You're not monsters sent here to replace me and my brother, by a dragon or otherwise. You're just us from parallel worlds where everything went horribly wrong instead. Am I missing anything?” 

Alberich doesn’t respond to the pointed jab in his words, instead he just smirks at Kaeya and Albedo. “No, not really. That’s the gist of it. Any questions from the class?”

Kaeya retreats into his mind for half a second, finally allowing himself to consider the words Alberich had said—Abyssal filth. What has that to do with Khaenri’ah? His birth name? At that moment, the door opens behind him, and Albedo drags him to one side of the room just as he hears footsteps enter.

He can only hear Diluc roar out, “How dare you—” as he walks through the doorframe and immediately gets frozen in place by his counterpart’s Vision, legs literally frozen to the ground in blocks of ice. Diluc's claymore flashes up in his hands despite the look of confusion that grows on his face as it takes him a second too long for him to register what’s happened and who else is in the room with him. His head swivels over to Kaeya and Albedo, cataloguing everything just slightly too later.

Alberich has a palm out towards Diluc, ice mist still streaming out towards his brother. “My, it's a little weird to still see you in this getup, cavalry captain.”

Diluc's Vision finally breathes to life at his side, and the ice encasing his feet starts to steam off, but as soon as his claymore breathes back to life, Alberich raises his hands in mock surrender. He calmly says, “You don't want to fight in here, do you? Ruin the nice office Grandmaster Varka gave us?”

Just like that, Diluc's claymore loses its fire. “ Us ?” He almost spits it out. 

“Sir Diluc,” Kaeya watches Alberich's lips upturn at this—almost like this is an enormous joke to him— “I too understand the pain of not having a cavalry to lead.” He stands up from his lazy slouch against the desk and dips into a gentlemanly bow. “Sir Kaeya Alberich, Cavalry Captain of the Knights of Favonius, among other things. Pleased to make your acquaintance.” He immediately drops back into the lean.

Diluc looks from Alberich to Kaeya to Albedo, then back to Alberich. “I— What ?”

“Ah, I believe this is where I should interject, Sir Diluc,” Albedo raises his hand from Kaeya’s side. “Put simply, this is a different Kaeya altogether, from a different…dimension? Timeline? That I haven’t had much time to investigate yet, but he seems to be no threat to us. Just a little more annoying than the Kaeya we’re used to.” 

Whether this is an insult or compliment to Kaeya, he isn’t certain, but the way Alberich smirks at Albedo makes it obvious how familiar his words must be anyway. Alberich laughs out, “Sir Albedo, how I’ve missed that barbed tongue of yours!”

Diluc shakes his head quickly, like a cat dislodging water, before saying, “So…should we tell Acting Grandmaster Jean about this?”

Alberich looks down at his nails, inspecting them idly as he answers, “I’d rather prefer not to. I’m a little tired of hearing this entire spiel again.”

“But you definitely aren’t here to…invade the city.” Diluc states it rather than posing a question, and Kaeya can’t help the wince he lets out, Alberich pouncing on his weakness.

He smirks right at Kaeya as he answers, “Definitely not.”

“So,” Kaeya interjects, “why are you here then?”

“A guy can't get to know his counterparts?” Alberich has his hands raised in a shrug and drops them when he goes without a response. “Well, more for Albedo there, actually. I'm going to need a little help getting myself and Master Diluc home after all.”

“Wait, wait, wait,” Diluc mutters as he slowly backs up and closes the door behind him. Hm, hopefully no knights on duty were eavesdropping. “Your name, Alberich? And you called me, him, Master Diluc. Why?”

Alberich settles his cheek against his palm. “That's just my birth name. I don't think your Kaeya here ever told you. And sorry, it's a force of habit— he's still my dear older brother, don't worry too much about it.”

“But why do you use it?”

Kaeya needs to know. He has forsaken all that Khaenri’ah has left for him, its ideals, its powers however miniscule. He does not want to ever feel that settle into his bones again, now that he's a Ragnvindr. A citizen of Mondstadt. He has made his decision long ago, and that decision has come with doing his best to forget his past, ignore his birthright and focus on his present. Alberich has made his decision too. Kaeya would be stupid to ignore what's been spelt out to his face, he knows what he looks like when he lies even if the other him exaggerates worse than he does. His counterpart is being honest on this; he’s on the same side as Kaeya, and yet he holds no shame in his birth name, no regrets over losing the name of his adopted family and no misgivings over the forbidden powers he’s privy to but never touched.

Alberich smiles. “Ah, but that’s a story for another time, really. My priorities are all in order, same as you. You don't have to worry too hard about it.”

His priorities. Mondstadt and his brother. Albedo tilts his head toward Kaeya, a You need anything else?

Kaeya clears his throat and resolutely does not look at Diluc. “What did you mean by Abyssal filth?”

He tunes out Diluc’s startled noise and instead keeps his eyes on Alberich. For his part, Alberich doesn’t flinch, only stares back at Kaeya. After a second, he stands up straight, and conspicuously looks over to Diluc and Albedo before swivelling his head back to Kaeya. “Are you sure this isn’t meant to be a more… private conversation?”

When Kaeya remains silent, Alberich sighs and says, “Your ancestor was Ragnvindr the Dawn Knight. You must enjoy all the legacy placed on your shoulders. At least it isn’t as much as what’s on Diluc’s. Mine, though,” Alberich pauses. “My ancestor was Clothar Alberich, the founder of the Abyss Order…Trust me, I was just as rattled to hear it.”

Kaeya hears Diluc hiss something in his periphery, but he can't look at him, not now. He can’t look at Albedo either, still standing by his side, just absorbing everything being said. 

How cursed exactly is he? To have escaped the Khaenria’hn curse, and still be forced to carry some other horrible, unspeakable legacy? 

But Alberich—another Kaeya—sees nothing wrong with talking about it. He has to play with what’s been given to him. Alberich doesn’t sound too dissimilar from Mondstadtian names, even if it does sound vaguely other. It won’t sell him out, and the other him doesn’t want to sell him out either.

Kaeya says, because he has nothing to lose anymore, “He's my ancestor too, and that didn't answer my question.”

“He's not your ancestor.”

Surprisingly, the comment doesn’t come from Alberich, but from Diluc. Kaeya finally looks over at him, the awkward standoff Diluc’s still stuck in. He’s put away the claymore, but Albedo and Kaeya’s presence seems to have calmed him down slightly. Diluc has always been rather overprotective, but something like this must’ve really set him off. He tries to keep the shock of his brother’s outburst off his face, though it must still be obvious to everyone else in the room.

Of course it’s nice to hear Diluc so readily and loudly accepting, but he has the right to wonder. What would happen if he didn’t have that? If the Ragnvindrs never adopted him and so easily allowed him in their home, if Mondstadt hadn’t so kindly let a blatant outsider become one of their own number. Maybe that was one of his birth father's considerations, that the City of Freedom would accept him much faster than any other country. He would have thought that that was what had happened to Alberich, but it doesn’t sound like it—sounds like there was just some moment that caused Alberich to change his mind. He too still has Mondstadt, his family, so why would he give it up so easily?

Alberich only nods at Diluc. “Remarkably quick on the uptake, aren't you, Captain? He's right. You've disowned the Alberich clan, so what right do you have to call them your ancestors?”

It’s frustrating to run in circles like this. Kaeya likes to ruminate and overthink, Alberich sounds the same. But maybe he’s beginning to understand Diluc’s perspective. Maybe sometimes straightforwardness is better. He can’t stop the frustration from creeping into his voice when he answers with his own question. “So why do you ? Why haven’t you disowned them? Stop dodging the question.”

Alberich pauses for a second, weighing his answers. Finally, he says, “Well, to put it a little blunt. I was a coward for 15 years of my life, and I paid the price for it. Or at least my eye did.” He points up at it as if no one else has clocked this obvious difference. There’s still a ridiculous smile on his face, even as he talks about losing an eye. “It became rather clear to me then. I can’t ignore where I came from, or what I could do. It's its own part of me, just as much as my childhood with my family.”

Kaeya does not appreciate being called a coward, nor can he ever understand Alberich’s point of view. Does it matter that he came from a cursed nation? Does he need to accept it back? He can barely remember his father’s face, his clan’s teachings. They can’t ever take precedence, or even be equal to what he has experienced first-hand since his childhood in Mondstadt. Just because there is something other thrumming in his veins doesn’t mean that he’ll reach for it with open arms. Whatever caused Alberich to lose his eye must have been very life changing then. Kaeya prays he’ll never have to go through the same thing.

It takes him a second to think of something appropriate to ask. He can’t keep asking about Khaenri’ah because of the latent paranoia that something accidentally slips out, especially with Diluc the odd man out in a room full of Khaenri’ahns. But—he is curious about one thing. “Then why would you throw the Ragnvindr name away like that?”

Here, Alberich doesn’t hesitate. Immediately, he says, “Many reasons, chiefly that calling myself Alberich-Ragnvindr sounds a tad stupid. Either way, these questions are getting a little too personal, don't you think? I'm sure our chief alchemist there is getting a little antsy for answers.” He gestures towards Albedo, still quietly following the conversation. Or rather, interrogation.

Somehow, the answer actually makes a shade of sense. There’s no point in keeping the half that everyone already knows about. Rather utilitarian. Kaeya looks down at Albedo, and gestures for him to go ahead.

“Ok. Can you describe exactly what happened to you and Captain Diluc last night?” Albedo steps forward, immediately pulling out his notepad.

Alberich chuckles, “Right down to it? He isn't a Captain anymore, either.” A pause for everyone to digest. Diluc slinks over to Kaeya's side, probably a little annoyed that he hasn’t been able to actually swing his claymore at anything, a little taken aback at this information. He probably hasn’t had a different career path in mind since he was 7 and wanted to become an adventurer for a fleeting week. Alberich continues, “We were in the woods minding our business, fought a few mages together. I picked up a ley line branch, it blossomed and there was a bright light, and assumedly we just…appeared here instead.”

Albedo writes all this down, connecting it back to the letter. Kaeya remembers he still has it clutched in his hand, and passes it over to Diluc to look through. It wasn't that they'd stumbled on a blossom, his doppelganger had willed it into existence, though probably accidental. “Hm, I've done experiments manipulating ley line growth. It sounds a little like Khemia. But…” Albedo trails off.

Alberich answers, “I never learnt Khemia. And it didn't feel like it either.”

“What's Khemia?” Kaeya hears Diluc whisper to him. Bless his stupid brother.

"Have you not been paying attention the past week?" he replies. "It's the kind of alchemy Albedo specialises in.”

It’s one of the only surviving pieces of my birthplace, the one I want to forget and the one this other me actually seems to care for. And I don't know how I feel about Albedo using it so casually. Of course, I love that he has this goal, this drive to perfect Khemia. But even if it's something we share, and even if you already know what he is, I don't know how to feel. I’ll probably never say all this to you.

He tunes back in to hear Albedo say, “I have a few spare ley line branches in my office upstairs. We can experiment and see what happens.”

At this, Alberich raises one hand. “Can we hold off on the experimentation for a while? No one's quite sure how we ended here, and I would hate to leave poor Diluc behind to fend for himself.”

Albedo jots something down.“That's alright. We should recreate the variables anyway first. Where and when did you say you transported from again?”

“Wolvendom, slightly before midnight. One of the mage campfires, surely you have them around as well.” Alberich rattles off.

“And you reappeared at the same place?” Albedo holds the pencil to his chin, taps it as he speaks. It’s adorable. Diluc kicks him in the shin.

Alberich nods assent. “It was like we never even left.”

He scribbles down a little more, then looks up again to Alberich as he puts away his notebook. “We can meet back up there tonight then. No matter how fascinating your presence is, I was hoping this wouldn't take too long, I have to look after Klee today. It was nice meeting you, Kaeya Alberich.” 

A small, indulgent smile appears on Alberich’s face. He replies, “You too, Albedo Rhinedottir. But I actually have one last question for you, if you'll humor me.”

“Ah, if it isn’t anything too difficult.” 

“May I know who’s the current Inspector of the Knights of Favonius?”

Kaeya and Diluc both snap their heads up for this exchange. Why does Alberich need to know this?

“Oh, is that it?” Albedo taps his chin. “We currently don’t have one here in Mondstadt. She’s serving on Grandmaster Varka’s expedition.”

“ She ? That’s great to hear,” Alberich puts a hand on his chest. “How long has she been a part of the Knights?”

Albedo tilts his head and asks, “You…don’t have Inspector Hildegaard in your world, do you? She’s been serving for the past decade or so.”

Alberich pauses for a second. “I…I see. That's all from me. Thank you for humoring me.” He adds a little wave to Albedo, ignoring the two Ragnvindrs entirely. 

Albedo replies, “Anytime, Sir Kaeya,” and nods his head again towards Alberich. As he walks out, he leaves Kaeya with a small smile and some special gleam in his eyes.

As soon as the door closes behind Albedo, Alberich suddenly exclaims, “Hah! So that's it!” He turns towards Diluc, pointing an almost threatening finger at him, “And you—you aren't particularly bloodthirsty around the Fatui, are you?”

Diluc stumbles for a second before replying, “I—No, they're just diplomats.”

Alberich starts laughing to himself. Diluc and Kaeya both make concerned eye contact with each other before he finally says, “What a fresh perspective! This explains quite a lot.”

“Why, what—”

Both their interjections are cut short when Alberich says, “Ah, well, ask your questions later. Right now, we should head over to the winery. Hopefully we can clear things up before Diluc murders Father.”

Chapter Text

Diluc has long since memorised the shifts that his staff work.

The winery had already adapted to functioning without its Master, Adelinde and Elzer holding the fort for the years he was gone. He had no formal training in business other than a few days of on-the-job training, and barely concerned himself with the winery back when he thought he’d become a Grandmaster instead. While he’s tried to integrate into the business once he returned and took over his family’s assets, he still relies heavily on them to make anything work around the winery. Put simply, his work as the Angel’s Share part-time bartender was more useful than what he tried to do at the winery.

But he was once a captain, even if he wants to pretend he was never a part of an organisation so useless. To Diluc, cataloguing his workers and their workload is just second nature. Even if he never shows it and even if it's barely applicable to the work he does, he keeps track of it all. 

And it’s not just because of the winery. His identity as the…Mondstadt vigilante is only known to a select few. He needs to know his staff’s rotations so he can sneak in and out unnoticed without notifying the ones who don’t know. 

Even if he’s in an alternate world, the manor still runs as a well-oiled machine. He knows his staff built off the same routine they'd established with his father, so there’s no reason to adjust to a new rotation. Even so, he takes an hour or two to stake out his home, just to doublecheck that everything is as he’s already familiar with. And when it is, he makes his move.

He’d only realised in the morning what it was that had set him off the night before. It wasn’t just the shock of the moment, the unreality of what he was faced with. 

He remembers the feeling—and remembers how foreign it feels in the house. It does not belong. 

He never noticed it growing up, never realised there was something wholly unnatural in their midst. But after spending 3 years with it, understanding its quirks and desires inside and out, he would know it anywhere. After it was destroyed when he returned, he’d thought he’d be rid of it forever. It and all his father’s mysteries he’d have preferred to keep hidden the rest of his life. 

As soon as a window presents itself, Diluc scales his way to the master bedroom—avoiding the careful gazes of Elzer and Tunner as he makes his way into the building.

Diluc still remembers the aftermath of that night, after he’d struck Kaeya and his brother’s Vision had manifested. He remembers holding his father’s Delusion and his own Vision in his hands, and remembers tearing through his father’s study to understand what it was, who it came from, why Father had it. He’d learnt only one thing that day, that it was a gift from the Fatui to replace a Vision never granted, and the rest was history.

It was history . It happened 7 years ago, and the Delusion finally broke 3 years after that. He didn’t think he’d feel that sensation ever again. But it’s there, it’s in the house somewhere, and he needs to destroy it before it destroys them again. Diluc hasn’t thought of himself as particularly chivalrous ever since he’d left the Knights in a fit of rage, but if he can save these people from going through what he and Kaeya did…Well, it won’t fix anything, but it will help him sleep just a little better at night.

Diluc tears through the room like a force of nature—these people already know they’re here and Kaeya’s obviously doing something stupid in the city, so he shouldn’t have to hide. He can feel its presence, like he’s still tied to its frequency no matter the world he's in. It’s in the house somewhere, and the sensation only keeps peaking, so he must be getting closer.

It’s only when the door opens, the frequency pings, that he realises what he’s forgetting. 

Of course his father keeps it on himself at all times. Of course he’s forgotten his father’s movements. 

Diluc immediately manifests his claymore and points it at his father. He tells himself, you’ve done this before, and it was much worse . Just an intimidation tactic that won’t even work. He growls out, “Hand it over.”

Father stands there, looking the same way he did last night. No shock, no anger, just confusion. Something finally clicks in the back of his head. Now that he’s had 3 years of connection with that accursed thing, he can sense it on his father as well. It's like a connection tying them together. He can sense that black fire and those warped chains brewing right under the surface, constantly whispering for him to let loose, to let everything burn.

And he did, for 3 years. But he hasn’t let go of his vendetta; now he just lets it simmer under the surface. All this to say, he never wants to see that archons-forsaken device ever again, and it’s worse that it’s in his own damn home.

It’s not his home, he doesn’t belong here. But that thing is even more foreign than he is. And it needs to break .

He tried very hard at times while he was roaming the continent. Moments of brief, all-encompassing anger where he just needed it to die. But he could never do it. He still doesn't know if it had to do with the Delusion itself, or if it was just some kind of mental block. It was the last vestige of his father's desires, the evident powerlessness he must have felt to never get a Vision, to lose his position in the Knights. It took him a long time to even understand why his father pushed him and Kaeya so hard, and the whip of the chains on that night was the tipping point. Now he's felt his father's bitterness, his desperation, his longing. It disgusted him, but he needed it, just until he was ready to speak to his actual family again.

His father still stands there, ignorant to his mental spiral. He stands with one hand on the door, like he's preparing to run and call backup. Diluc's eyes narrow.

His winery staff know what to do in situations like this. They will cheerfully turn a blind eye to his work and ask him to bring Kaeya over for dinner again. This winery staff don't know the wolf in sheep's clothing standing among them. Elzer, his father's closest confidant, didn't even know of the Delusion until his father was dead. The Ragnvindr family secret, an heirloom, it makes him sick .

“You run, you call for help, they burn,” he seethes out. 

That shocks his father out of his confused stupor. He steps forward instead, the door swinging shut behind him, and mutters, “Diluc—”

“Hand over the Delusion first, and then we can have a civil conversation,” Diluc interrupts. 

His father hesitates for a moment, before reaching into his coat pocket. All the while, he mutters, “How do you…”

Diluc's lips upturn, not unlike Kaeya's when given the opportunity to pounce. “Wasn't it supposed to be my birthright, Master Crepus? Why would I not know of it?”

Father holds it up finally. It sits inactive in his palm, quiet and unassuming. Diluc stows away his claymore and steps forward to his father, all but snatching the Delusion from his hand.

He clutches it, and it pulses to life in accordance with his thoughts. Heavy black chains manifest out of nothing around his father’s arms. Makeshift handcuffs. He fights against the insistent urge to ignite its black flames. His father doesn't fight either, just sags into the weight of the chains.

“Son, I—”

Diluc interrupts him again. “I am not your son.” Quieter, “You are not my father.” If he says it enough, maybe it will change something.

Crepus falls silent for a moment. When he replies, he repeats, “You are not my son.” Then, more insistently, “Who are you if not my son?”

Diluc turns around, and stares at the wall instead. “You don’t believe I’m one of Durin’s monsters? That is what the Knights think, what your sons think.”

“No. I can tell.” The totality of the statement is surprising, but not…unexpected. Crepus may have died a long time ago, but he’s still the person that Diluc and Kaeya learnt their bluntness from. Diluc constantly sees him in Kaeya, in himself. He just never expected to see him in the flesh ever again.

He turns back around to face his father. Archons, he still looks the exact same. That’s not true, he looks older. Wrinkles Diluc doesn’t remember from his childhood. Greying hair he's stopped covering up. He forces himself to keep looking, no matter how much he wants to turn and run now that he's gotten what he came for. 

But it isn't all he's come for.

How often has he imagined asking his father all the questions that've been festering in his mind since his death? Why did the noble Ragnvindr patriarch hold a Fatui Delusion? Why was he ready to give up his life, his dignity, for just a small piece of power? He'd used it for his family, in service of Mondstadt. But why else had he taken it up, if not to make up for the knighthood he’d been barred from, the Vision he'd lost out on? Was he that really petty, that bitter? He was already the richest man in Mondstadt. But it was all for protection of his own. He had to take it into his hands.

Diluc has tried to put words into his father’s mouth ever since he died. The two halves of his father have never clicked. Diluc has to try to understand, even if he may never.

“Why?” He holds up the Delusion, still pulsing with life in his hand. “Why do you even have this? Why keep this a secret from them?”

“Did I never tell you?” Crepus replies. He just keeps dodging the question, Diluc notes. As a child, Diluc would always be swept away by the misdirection. But now, he has years of experience working for intelligence networks, and has figured out how to best wrangle Kaeya. He will not fall for his father’s verbal tricks again, but maybe giving a straight answer will force things to light.

“No. He died before he could explain anything,” Diluc answers, matter-of-fact. Maybe he should twist the knife a little more? He's already trying to keep his cool, see the father in front of him as another's instead of his own. He just needs to keep distancing himself from what happened. “The Delusion backfired on him.”

Crepus stands there speechless. Of course his father wouldn’t have expected that. Diluc's face screws up into a sneer. “I had to put him out of his misery. How could you condemn your son to a fate like that?”

His father’s face crumples. “You must know that was never my intention. The Delusion was to protect you, both of you. I thought to pass it to you as an heirloom, but…”

His father trails off, but Diluc doesn't need an answer for this. “I didn't need it. So why keep it? Why not give it to Kaeya, or give it up?”

It's hard to remember a Kaeya that never held a Vision, with the memory of the Cryo that buffeted his thoughtless, rage-fuelled strike always fresh on his mind. But Kaeya was always an accomplished knight, with both a strong aptitude for the Knights’ ceremonial bladework and an innate talent for a swordform he claimed to invent himself, one that Diluc now knows was inherited memory from his birth country. But no matter what Kaeya brought to the table, he was always shut out by his own brother's status. Diluc's the noble-born Ragnvindr, the one trained from infancy for a position his father didn't get to enjoy. There was be no chance for Kaeya to even be his equal. Now that Diluc's quit and Kaeya’s received a Vision of his own, he could climb the hierarchy. The name change even helped him lean out of his brother's shadow, for all the good it would do.

But that never would have happened to this world’s Kaeya. From where his father stands in this world, it should’ve been easy to give the Delusion to Kaeya on his own 18th birthday. Diluc doesn’t want to see his brother wield the device, but it exposes his father for the hypocrite he really is. 

“I would never give it to Kaeya. I don’t think I would’ve given it to you either, even if you…There’s no use dwelling on the past. I’m not even sure why I kept it so long myself. I just…can’t bring myself to let it go,” Crepus says, staring down at the floor. 

It’s a shitty excuse.

The Delusion feeds on its host, a parasite crafted out of the Abyss. He couldn’t even destroy it by himself, realistically he doesn’t expect it of his father either. It shouldn’t be enough of a reason, but it is. He isn’t sure whether he wants to run and be done with this mess, or just throw his head back and laugh. Instead, he demands, “Why even take it on?”

Crepus hesitates a moment, the handcuffs clinking as the only noise Diluc can hear. Finally, Crepus says, “Diluc, I have always seen so much of myself in you. But I...it felt like a cosmic joke, for my son to have surpassed me by so much.”

His father falls silent and Diluc breathes out. He closes his eyes and looks down at the ground, still clutching the Delusion. 

Ridiculous. Ridiculous.

As he thinks about what more he can say, any other burning questions he needs answered, he hears the subtle tell of footsteps outside the door. It shouldn't be any of the service crew, so—

The door flings open and Kaeya walks through. Diluc catalogues the two counterparts tagging behind him—both in the Knights’ uniform, both wielding ceremonial swords. Kaeya spares a quick glance to Crepus before turning back to Diluc and saying, “Well, looks like I was right. You're not very subtle.”

Distantly, Diluc wonders how Kaeya had known what he’d wanted to do when he himself hadn’t realised until daybreak. Instead he says, “Neither are you,” and gestures towards the mess Kaeya's brought in. He adds, “Did you even bother talking to Albedo?”

“Ye of little faith.” Kaeya walks over to stand by Diluc's side as the other two finally notice the binds their father's been put in. Kaeya continues, “He'll get in touch with us after midnight at the place we got transported. He's probably consulting Alice right now for advice.”

When Kaeya finishes his explanation, Diluc tunes back into everything else going on in front of him and immediately gets a headache. He sees the other Diluc try in vain to pull the handcuffs off of Crepus and sighs, just as Kaeya folds his arms and smirks.

The other Kaeya focuses on them instead as Diluc's other self tries to do something useless and stupid, and frowns heavily before asking, “You did this to him?”

Diluc simply responds, “Yes.”

The other Kaeya opens his mouth to keep asking questions before he instead hears his brother's voice instead at his side. “Well, technically he brought that on himself. Serves him right for using such a device.” Diluc sighs internally. It takes him a moment to realise how hypocritical it is to be annoyed with his brother for roughly handling their father.

The other Kaeya perks up at this. “What device? How are you doing that?” He too barely spares a glance at Crepus and the other him, one silently looking towards the conversation, the other still busying himself with chains he has no power to get rid of.

Instead of answering, Kaeya only looks towards Diluc and off-handedly says, “I do wish you wouldn't use that blasted thing. It was already enough of a headache the last time.” 

Diluc tilts his head towards his brother, and sees the obvious concern on his face. He answers, “Don't worry. I don't have any intention of using it again.” Before he can hesitate, he tosses the Delusion lightly into the air.

The chains around his father’s wrists dissipate as he loses contact with the Delusion, and immediately an icicle hurtles past his head. Diluc watches it embed through the Delusion's heart into the wall beside them, its pieces crumbling to the ground. 

Diluc watches his brother's eyes flick over momentarily to Crepus again before fixing his gaze back on him with a confident smirk. “Happy to oblige.”

He hears their father mutter, “Cryo…” to himself as Diluc’s mirror flits around him. The other Kaeya wanders over to the remains of the Delusion, picking up the pieces and fiddling with them. He decides to detach from his own brother to join him, too exhausted to look at Crepus and too irritated just glancing at his own copy. Kaeya can entertain himself and he probably doesn’t need supervision. And he wants to keep an eye on the Delusion.  It’s broken, and its spell along with it, but he won’t feel satisfied until it sinks to the bottom of the ocean.

The other Kaeya looks up at him, and all Diluc can see are two blue star-shaped pupils staring at him rather than the one he’s used to. It’s almost disorienting. But he can’t waste his time on the guilt coursing through his head. 

Kaeya asks him, “What exactly was this?” 

Diluc tilts his head as he considers how to answer. It is remarkably easier than he thinks to sell out his father. “It’s a Delusion. It’s entirely artificial, but it holds power that rivals a Vision. But I've relieved your father from its heavy cost for now.”

“By destroying it?” Kaeya enquires.

Diluc nods his head back towards where his brother should be. “Technically, he did it.” He doesn’t turn around—he can hear his Kaeya’s inane chattering behind him and he wants no part of it. If he knows his brother, he’s probably antagonising the other Diluc, and for once, he actually feels bad for…the other him. He lets out a sigh despite himself. 

Kaeya’s eyes narrow at him. “How long has Father had that…thing?”

“I’m not too sure myself. It’s been at least 8 years, I know that much,” Diluc shares.

Kaeya’s hand finds its resting place on his chin as he replies, “Really? That long?” 

“Even longer than that. Probably since I was 14. Everyone in this family loves to keep their stupid secrets,” Diluc muses. “Well, except the ‘me’ here. He seems like a simpleton, doesn't he?”

It's not meant to be bait, but Kaeya doesn't fall for it all the same. Instead, he blinks quickly and finally replies, “And what secret am I supposed to be keeping?”

Diluc's mind blanks and he hears himself go, “Uh…” in real-time. Before he can make out a dignified response, he feels a flick at the back of his head, and the ends of his hair almost singe off in response.

The annoyance settles a full hand on his head and leans over him, sing-songing, “You'll have to forgive my dear brother. It's a little hard for him to pick up on certain context clues.”

Diluc grumbles, “And that wasn't heavy-handed at all. I can understand just fine.”

This Kaeya never revealed himself on a grief-wrought rainy night and didn't get a large scar that's caused him to unlearn depth perception. That part's crystal clear. What's surprising is that he's never revealed it at all.

Hm. On further thought, it's not surprising in the slightest.

His Kaeya still uncomfortably settles his whole weight on Diluc's head and continues, deaf to Diluc's response, “And don't think that silly persona counts as a real secret in this household. I think all of Mondstadt knows who the flaming hair under the cape belongs to.”

Finally Diluc jerks his head out from under Kaeya's palm and nearly sends his brother careening back before he catches himself. “You and that nun just spend too much time out at night. No other half-respectable citizen would be awake to see me at work.”

“And what is this ‘silly persona’?” Kaeya's voice asks. It throws Diluc for a loop before he remembers where he is. One normal conversation with Kaeya is always enough to affect him, no matter the situation. It's something they should probably work on. But not right now. 

Again his own Kaeya interrupts him, and replies, “No way. I don't want either of you getting any sudden bright ideas.”

Diluc snorts before he can stop himself and says, “What, both of them? You're honestly saying you could be responsible for such a stupid idea, as you keep delicately putting it?”

“Oh, get off your high horse, Master Diluc. I know myself best,” Kaeya says and Diluc carefully watches how the other version of his brother reacts. There is carefully set defiance in how he locks his chin, refusing to look up. He blinks quickly, like he’s physically stopping himself from reacting any further. 

How was Diluc so blinded to think his brother was actually a trained child spy? How could he ever think that Kaeya would betray them like that? Kaeya’s been an open book their whole childhood—just because he had his secrets didn’t mean Diluc couldn’t understand him. Only after he returned to Mondstadt did his brother become more distant, more mean, more guarded. But the same happened to Diluc too, so they’ve always been on the same playing field no matter what. The moment he left the city, or even the moment Kaeya got his Vision, was when Diluc realised his fundamental mistake.

In the end, though, that was 7 years ago. He’s still running a slight high over the admission Kaeya had made before this mess had even started. He had started believing he’d broken the trust between them irrevocably, that Kaeya would never tell him any other important secrets. He can admit that he’s quite selfish about it—he really doesn’t care about the secret itself, just that Kaeya had told him. It’s a little disconcerting, sure, but well, he already gives his brother enough backhanded compliments. As long as Kaeya himself understands that Diluc wouldn’t do anything with the information, he’s happy.

His thoughts are interrupted by a voice he knows all too well. “So, what now?”

Diluc turns around to see himself supporting Master Crepus. His father looks a little feverish; probably a side-effect of the Delusion breaking, especially with how long his father must’ve used it in this world. Diluc had felt a little sluggish and sore back then too, but his Vision probably saved him from the brunt of it. Another point for Celestia’s blatant surveillance device. He scowls, though he’s not sure whether it’s because of his thoughts or if it’s just from seeing this annoying version of himself. 

Thankfully, Kaeya answers on his behalf. “Now, nothing. We can’t make any moves to leave until midnight.”

Crepus coughs a little and responds, “Then, feel free to stay over until you have to leave. There's no point in going back into the city and stirring up any more uproar.” He doesn’t know what exactly Kaeya was doing in the morning, but at least now he knows his other self is a snitch as well.

The other Kaeya gets up to be by his father’s side, and Diluc stands up to be at his brother’s. Kaeya looks toward Diluc and smirks. “Well, when I'm so cordially invited, how could I say no?” Diluc feels a blood vessel pop in his forehead.