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While he was vaguely aware of what the other men around him were talking about, Crepus watched his two sons walking towards him. They both looked very handsome, with their tailored suits and their grown-up faces– they were growing to be a pair of fine men, Crepus thought with pride swelling up in his chest.
"Dad," Diluc said, looking directly at him without even introducing himself to Crepus' colleagues– that told Crepus there was something definitely bothering him. "Kaeya isn't feeling okay," his eldest told him with a tight frown, lowering his voice to a polite whisper close to his ear.
Putting a charming smile on, Crepus turned back to other three men – businessmen trying to negociate, like one would in this kind of parties. "Excuse me, gentlemen, parental duty calls," he nodded at them, earning a few friendly remarks about him being a good father in return. After he'd pulled both of his boys by the shoulders to the side, Crepus eyed Kaeya with concern pooling in his eyes. "What is it, my boy?"
Now that he was finally taking a closer look to his son, it was as clear as day there something going on. His eyes looked glassy and his usually tanned skin had taken an ashy tone, while looking oddly clammy. "They... I think they put something in my system..." he mumbled, looking either about to cry or faint.
Damn it.
"I can't think straight, dad..." Kaeya trailed off, thus Crepus was quick to lead him towards the main table and get him to sit down on a chair.
"Stay here with your brother," he told Diluc, earning a court nod. "I'll go get Barbara to heal him," it hurt him to take such a sweet child from what had to be one of her first big parties, but involving an adult would surely complicate matters.
"Crepus!" A hand caught him by the shoulder as soon as he left the main table and he almost shrugged it off as soon as he realized who it was calling for him.
"Eroch."
Eroch Zandik, if that was even his real name. In the best of cases, he was merely a social climber looking for a high pay and a good status. In the worst of cases, however, he was a bastard with really dark ulterior motives.
Unfortunately, Crepus hadn't been able to dig out any information to his name, nothing more than the facts he knew for being a friend of Varka's: Eroch had arrived to Mond only a few weeks ago and was already a consultor of the knights of some sort. Even though Crepus had expressed his concerns about him, Varka had only shrugged them off.
"Is Kaeya feeling okay? I noticed him looking worse for wear back there..." Eroch furrowed his brows – or well, at least his visible brow, considering the mask that hid half of his face.
Son of a bitch.
"He's fine, thank you," Crepus had to bite his tongue to prevent a bad word from escaping his lips. "If you'd be so kind, however, I find myself in a hurry to get him so water."
"Would you like me to go get it for you? I could get you something to drink too–"
Considering it for the best, Crepus simply walked away from the nasty man– if he hadn't, he would've probably smacked him right in that stupid mask of his.
It didn't take him too long to catch sight of Frederica and her two girls. Jean and Barbara's father was never around, so it wasn't surprising not to see him with his family.
"Well, hello there," Crepus leant forward and kissed Frederica's right hand as he bowed down. "I hope the three of you are having an excellent time."
"Always a pleasure to see you, Crepus," Frederica politely smiled at him, and it did not reach her eyes. He returned the smile either way.
"Same for you, love. Can I borrow the girls for a second? Kaeya's head hurts a bit and we wouldn't want to ruin the party, would be now?"
"May I go, mother?" Jean was the first to quip, and it made Frederica's smile vanish at once. "I can heal him," the girl then added, looking away with shame in her eyes.
"Take Barbara with you, Jean," Frederica said with a roll of her eyes, sipping her champagne. "Make sure to bring them back to me, charming man," she then told him, fluttering her eyelashes. It seemed her alcohol had caught up to her.
"I will!" Crepus said with a warm chuckle, before walking away with the girls beside him. "How are you two, kiddos? Having a good time?"
"Yes, Sir!" Both sisters replied in unison, making him laugh.
"Why didn't you come with the boys? I believe they'd love to spend such a boring party with you two," he said, hiding the sadness from his voice.
The girls were a delight to be around and he cared for them like they were his daughters– which wasn't that far from the truth, considering how much time they usually spent beside his sons.
"Mother says not to leave her side because there are dangerous men lurking around tonight," Jean said with a tight frown, looking away as they walked across the large ballroom.
"Your mother is right," Crepus said with a sigh, "but you're a knight, Jean," he reached her shoulder with his hand, giving it a light, and hopefully comforting, squeeze. "Besides, you've got Diluc and Kaeya too, and you've got me, girls," he turned to Barbara for a moment, "you never have to worry, you're a part of the family, okay?"
"Thanks, Sir," Jean nodded at him, looking calmer now.
"There he is, our dear patient," Crepus announced when they got to his boys. As the girls approached Kaeya, Crepus got to Diluc's side– the kid was just as he'd left him: standing behind Kaeya's chair like a guard dog. Only when he stood in front of him did Diluc seem to become aware of his presence. "How is he? Eroch hasn't come here, has he?"
"No, but I noticed him staring at us, dad," there was fear in Diluc's eyes. Crepus never wanted to see that again. His heart burnt with anger. "What is his problem?"
"Don't you worry about him, boy," Crepus cupped his cheek, before gently patting it. "I'll take care of it soon enough," he smiled at his son.
"Is your head feeling better?" Barbara asked Kaeya, soon after she stopped muttering prayers to heal him.
"Uh... yeah, I think so," Kaeya's eyes slowly cleared up as he held his head with one hand. However, as soon as he stood up, he had to be caught by both Crepus and Diluc, each of them grabbing one of his arms to keep him upright.
"Wow, wow," Crepus eased him down. "Thank you, girls, I think he's just tired, okay? We better head back home," he smiled to the girls and hoped they wouldn't ask.
Of course, they didn't. "Okay, Sir!"
"Do you need a ride home, kiddos?"
"No, thank you, Sir," Jean was the only one to reply, with a frown in her face. "I think mother is still enjoying herself tonight," she gazed at Frederica, who was having a different drink now.
"Alright, kid, you take care of each other, eh?" He nodded at the girls, right before they left. "Are you sure it was something in your drink or food, son?" Crepus finally turned to Kaeya, who had turned pale again.
Kaeya shyly nodded, "yes, father, most definitely. I've never felt this weak, and it doesn't feel like I'm sick... without reason."
"It's okay," Crepus laid his hand on his shoulder with a warm smile, "I trust your word, Kae." His child's face lit up at his comment, ever so slightly. Then, he turned to Diluc.
"I'll take you both to Charles and you stay with him, alright? I'll be with you in a second," Crepus smiled at both of his sons, before looking around. Eroch was out of sight.
Crepus helped Kaeya up by the arm, while Diluc did the same with his other arm, and, slowly but surely, they started making their way to the exit. It didn't take them too long to find Charles, their ride home.
"Crepus!" The man jogged towards them as soon as he spotted them. "Did something happen?" He eyed the three of them carefully.
"Kaeya wasn't feeling very well," Crepus helped his son enter the carriage, watching Diluc follow him right after. "Stay with them? I have some matters to attend to before we go."
"Dad," Diluc got his head through the carriage's door, holding it wide open. "Good luck," he smirked at him, and Crepus let himself freely smile.
"I'll be back before you know it. Make sure Kaeya's okay."
As soon as Crepus made his way back inside the huge ballroom, he easily spotted Eroch. "Friend!" He forced himself to sound as friendly and gentle as he could, while resisting the urge to stab the bastard in the gut with all his might.
"I thought you three were gone by now–"
"Not at all, care to join me for a smoke?" Crepus interrupted him, politely smiling at him. Eroch blinked at him for a second, before grinning.
"Of course!" Eroch seemed genuinely relieved. Then again, Crepus wasn't as naïve as to blindly trust that his plan was working so well so quickly. "I'll have you know I'm not much of a smoker, but one can always start, you know?"
"Lead the way, then," Crepus nodded to the door, well aware that it was the exit opposite to the one he'd used when he'd left with Kaeya and Diluc.
As soon as Eroch gave him his back, he dropped his smile and took a look around them. Given the time, there weren't as many guests around as there had been earlier.
For a second, he met Frederica's eyes– all of a sudden, with the scene before her, she didn't seem as drunk as before.
She flashed him a look of concern, and he replied to it with a delicate raise of his eyebrows and a sly smile.
When they got outside, Crepus reached into the inside pocket of his black jacket, as he would while reaching for his pipe. Except he wasn't looking for that, exactly.
Right after making sure there was no one around them, Crepus put on his delusion, feeling the archons-forsaken thing tightening around his hand as if it had its own will, while it also heightened his senses and made him grow stronger.
Willing a chain into existence, like a vision-bearer would call for their element, Crepus launched himself against Eroch, throwing the chain around his neck and pushing them against a nearby wall, surrounded by shadows.
"What do you want with my children, you son of a bitch?" Crepus said through gritted teeth, pushing Eroch's face against the brick wall, earning a pain groan.
"You got it all wrong, Crep–" Before the bastard could finish the sentence, Crepus pushed him into a dark alley, just next to the manor where the party was taking place, not without his fist connecting with Eroch's jaw. Just for good measure, Crepus kicked him on the cheek.
Finally, a wicked voice on his mind whispered at the back of his mind, feeding his need for violence.
"If you lie to me, I swear to Celestia that you'll never see the sun again," Crepus then threw the chain around Eroch's throat again and sent a shock of electro, or the delusion's best copy of the element, through the metal. With the chain tightly held against his neck, no sound was able to escape Eroch's throat.
Eroch's mask was long since gone – and Crepus merely became aware of it when he saw the blood dripping down from his nose and the blooming black eye –, showing the awful burn scars on his face that it had been hiding.
His neck wasn't that far from matching them, Crepus thought with something akin to pleasure sitting in the pit of his gut. "He's not who you think it is," he managed to say through desperate wheezes of air, with his eyes squeezed shut.
"What?" Only then, Crepus let the man breathe, but he didn't let him escape completely: he was blocking the exit with his own body and the chain was a thought away from choking the man in front of him again. He was no fool, after all.
"He isn't a child of the archons," Eroch said after a long inhale, with his hands still gripping the chain that was now resting around his shoulders. "He comes from Khaen–"
Those would be the last words of the man Crepus Ragvindr had known as "Eroch Zandik". Two months later, a man with Eroch's face would come around, but Crepus wouldn't be there to meet him anymore.
"Dad!"
Crepus' face lit up at the sound of Diluc's voice. His delusion was back where it belonged, in the safety of his pocket, and the blood had been washed away from his hands.
However, his stomach dropped at the sight of Kaeya's unconscious form inside the carriage.
"What happened to him?" Crepus hurried inside, with his hand flying to his son's neck. Luckily, he found a steady pulse in no time. Still, the picture of Kaeya's motionless body in Diluc's arms, with the latter with so much worry in his eyes, wasn't one he fancied ever seeing again.
"He just passed out, Crepus," Charles appeared beside him, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. "I checked his vitals, and he's just sleeping. I checked twice," the lad added when Crepus didn't reply.
With a long sigh, Crepus slowly nodded. "Alright," he cleared his throat, looking at Charles with a weak smile. "Okay... let's go home."
Soon enough, Crepus had one of his children sitting in front of him and the other one peacefully sleeping on his arms. As far as he was concerned, he'd dealt with all the threats lurking around his beloved city. He could surely call it a day.
By the time Kaeya woke up, they'd apparently gone back home. His head was still hurting a little, the young man noticed with a grimace.
His whole body relaxed, however, when he noticed the two red heads making him company: his dad was sitting on a chair, seemingly long since fallen asleep reading a book, which was now over his lap, and his brother had camped right next to his bed, on a mattress that look way too similar to the one from his own bed.
Kaeya couldn't know for sure whether someone had actually poisoned his drink or if it'd been Varka's training sessions finally catching up to him. One thing he was certain of, however, is that as long as he was part of the Ragvindr family, he'd be safe.