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Right as Amber's entering the HQ, she's met by Jean. The woman's face lights up at the sight of her and she quickly closes the distance. "Amber, may I talk to you for a second?"
"Sure, Jean, what's... up?" Amber trails off when she notices how worried her boss looks, with dark bags under her eyes and a concerned look. "Is something wrong?"
"It's Kaeya..." Jean tells her in a whisper, bringing her towards the stairs, where there's no one around to hear them. "He hasn't come back from his last assigment."
Amber feels her heart drop into her stomach, and she crosses her arms over her chest. "Did he go on his own?"
"Gods, no," Jean says with a small smile, "he took four knights with him, to explore a domain... three days ago."
"Three days?" Amber feels the air being knocked out of her lungs.
"They left with provisions to camp," Jean is quick to add, with her hands up, "but they were supposed to come back after a day or two," she says with a sigh, before her gaze falls to the ground as she frowns. Then, she turns to Amber with a pleading look. "You're the only knight I can send after them, Amber. But take Diluc with you."
"Diluc?" Now it's Amber's turn to frown at her. "As in the Diluc Ragvindr?" She asks, dumbfounded, because what exactly does that rich man have to do with them? With Kaeya?
"I know it sounds strange, but he's very helpful," Jean weakly smiles at her. "I've already notified him about our current situation–"
Before they can discuss the topic any further, however, Diluc freaking Ragvindr shows up. "Jean, Outrider," he greets them with a court nod, crossing his arms over his chest. "Are we good to go?"
"You are," Jean smiles at him, before she looks back at Amber, who's probably showing how indignant she's feeling at the sudden turn of events in her face.
"Go find our captain," she encourages her with a pat on her shoulder and that certainly motivates Amber to snap into action. Because she isn't doing this for Jean, nor Diluc, she's doing this for Kaeya. And the rookies that went with him, obviously.
"Come on, Diluc, out we go," Amber starts walking towards the exit, without looking back to check whether Diluc's following her or not.
"I'll see you soon, Jean," Amber hears Diluc say behind her, and a row of hurried footsteps follow the gentle sound. She isn't really sure what exactly bothers her so much about the man, but she just can't stand him, so she doesn't wait for him to catch up to her and continues marching out of the HQ.
Maybe it's because Kaeya's described him as a "grumpy old man that never smiles", Amber theorizes, that she can't stand Diluc, even as he quietly walks beside her. That description also matches with Klee's, who has proved to be a good spy in previous occassions, which makes Amber trust – partly, since she's still a five-years-old girl – her judgement.
"Did Jean give you any directions?" Diluc speaks up at some point before they reach the Gates, breaking the silence that's been spreading around them.
Shit.
Amber swallows, keeping her eyes ahead of them and her chin high, even as she realizes that no, Jean didn't give her any kind of direction, so she has to rely on Diluc. "Kind of," she lies through her teeth and clears her throat. "But you can lead the way if you want."
"Sure," Diluc says with a short chuckle, and Amber almost asks him what's so funny but keeps her mouth shut, figuring it would only make him laugh in her face harder.
They make their way through the bridge and enter the woods without any issue, except the fact Amber has no idea how far from their destination they are. She can only pray Kaeya and the team are okay.
"Are you and Kaeya close?" Amber tests the waters when she gets bored of the silence, and keeps her eyes on Diluc, who looks genuinely surprised at the question. It's the only reason, she can think of, why Jean would call him for back-up out of all people. Because a rich man that spends his days away signing checks and getting richer won't be able to help Amber if a fight gets tough.
"What do you mean?" Diluc spares her a glance her way, and he doesn't look like a cornered animal – like Amber expected him to; he looks curious.
"Just answer the question," Amber narrows her eyes at him. Is he Kaeya's secret lover or something? It wasn't a hard question to answer.
"We used to be."
Exes, then? Amber considers as she frowns at the ground. "And can you handle yourself in a fight?" Amber resumes the interrogatory instead of dwelling any further into the first question. She can question Kaeya later, once they've brought him back.
"I can," Diluc nods at her, then swings his arm up and points ahead. "We're not far from the domain they were sent to, so keep your guard up."
Amber can't help but roll her eyes. Ha, the civillian telling a knight to keep her guard up. Who does he think he is? I get why Kaeya left you.
However, when they finally reach the domain, whatever piece of mind she was planning to give Diluc vanishes from her tongue; three knights are limp on the ground next to the door – or rather portal – that leads to the domain itself and Kaeya's nowhere to be seen.
"Holy shit," Amber gasps, before both her and Diluc start running towards the scene. She kneels beside the closer knight, Lawrence, and brings her hand up to his neck to check his pulse.
"Amber, stay here with them and try to help them, I'm going in," Diluc practically orders her and it takes Amber a second too late to react.
"Wait, what?" Amber's head snaps up to catch sight of him right before he disappears into the portal. "Don't go on your own! That's an order!" Amber shouts at him, but it's already too late for her words to reach him.
"Shit," Amber clicks her tongue, before looking down at the knight in front of her. "Lawrence?" She softly taps his cheek until he blinks awake, now with the reassurance that there's a strong pulse in his neck. "Hey, what happened in there? Where's Kaeya?" She questions him as soon as he seems aware enough to answer.
"The captain..." Lawrence's eyes light up for a second, before he squeezes them shut with a mournful look. "He made sure we got out alive..."
That last part makes an adrenaline rush hit Amber like lightning, making her get on her feet immediately. "Can you stand on your own?" She asks, but doesn't let him answer before she's already moving towards the portal. "Stay here with them, got it? I'll go get Kaeya."
And, without a second thought, Amber enters the domain. Once inside, smoke fills her lungs, forcing Amber to lower her headband to her nose and mouth so she can breathe. After a couple of coughs, she manages to steady her breath and get a good look around herself.
Looks like the pyro user that beat her to entering first has burnt half the place down. There, in the middle of the chaos, Amber finds Diluc, facing a Lawachurl on his own.
"Amber?"
All of a sudden, Kaeya calls her name from behind her, and Amber feels tears instantly welling up in her eyes. "You're alive!" She says in an exhale, turning around and throwing herself to her knees, next to where Kaeya's sitting against the wall.
"Of course I am," Kaeya says, when Amber's got her arms wrapped around him, hugging him close. "I was about to get through the portal when Diluc showed up."
Actually, that doesn't seem too far-fetched, Amber finds out with a frown, having unwrapped her arms from Kaeya momentarily. They're only a few feet from the portal, and there's a trail of blood that leads right to Kaeya. Right, blood.
"How hurt are you?" Amber says, with her heart dropping into the pit of her stomach.
"A little," Kaeya sighs, finally taking his hand off his side to show a big red spot in his white dress shirt.
"Shit," Amber swallows. "Okay... okay, I'll–"
"No."
Amber's head snaps up from the bloodied shirt to look at Kaeya in the eye. "What?"
"Go help Diluc, I can drag myself out of here."
"I am not leaving you here, Kaeya!"
"Finish off the Lawachurl and come back to me, I promise not to close my eye," he tells her, right before winking his good eye at her, and Amber isn't sure whether she should beat him up senseless or break down.
"You better not break that promise, Alberich," Amber tries to sound threatening, even pointing at him with her index finger, but her words fall flat when her voice is shaking like a leaf.
"Go," Kaeya says, and dares to smile at her while doing so. She's going to kill him.
Once she goes back to the battlefield, the Lawachurl looks worse for wear, but so does Diluc. It isn't good that it's a pyro Lawachurl, but she's confident they can handle it. Besides, Kaeya's badass ex or not, Diluc is still a civillian and she won't let him kill a Lawachurl without her!
Amber readies her bow and grabs one arrow, keeping position far enough so she won't be spotted but close enough to get a clean shot; because no matter what element this beast masters, an arrow is an arrow.
With the bow tight and pointing at the Lawachurl's head, Amber calls for her pyro– even if the thing's resistent to her element, it won't be able to resist an explosion next to its face.
Diluc's been thrown to the opposite wall, ouch, but it's given her the perfect shot by putting some distance between himself and the monster.
"Take this, asshole," Amber whispers, as she lets go of the arrow and watches it fly through the air, before it hits the Lawachurl in the eye and it explodes.
"Now Diluc!" Amber shouts, receiving a surprised look from Diluc before he gets into action, lighting his claymore on fire once more before he makes a huge slash across the beast's chest, and then another, and another, and another, until the Lawachurl turns into ash.
Amber doesn't even enjoy their victory because she's too busy running back to Kaeya.
Unsurprisingly, and unfortunately, he's broken his promise.
"No, no, no," Amber whispers, falling to her knees before she picks him up by the arms and hooks one of his long arms around her shoulders. "I'm going to kill you for this," she says through her gritted teeth– turns out carrying someone unconscious is not as easy as it looks, plus Kaeya's stupidly long limbs aren't helping her at all.
Before they get through the portal, however, Amber feels a huge weight being lifted from her shoulders. Literally. And figuratively, kind of.
"I've got him," Diluc assures her, as he picks Kaeya up and carries him on his back.
"Thanks," Amber whispers, and feels drained. It's probably the adrenaline washing away, but she feels like passing out right here and now.
She doesn't, obviously, and goes through the portal right behind Diluc. Once they're on the other side, they're met with the three knights way better than before. Lawrence's helping one of the other two stand up, and the third, who's name Amber doesn't know nor cares about, is looking more or less okay, standing on his own and all.
"Are we good to go?" Amber, exhausted by now, asks everyone, and receives affirmative hums and nods. "Let's go, then."
It takes way more to get back than it did to get to the domain in the first place, but they all make it in one piece, and that's enough.
As soon as they make it back, Jean sends all the knights and Diluc to the infirmary. Diluc almost dares to argue, but she shuts him up with a clear command: "Diluc Ragvindr, if you leave this place without having a healer check on you, I'm taking you into custody for disobeying an authority."
The healers find one or two broken ribs – and a blooming black eye, but that wasn't new for anyone – but he's out of the infirmary in no time. The same can't be said for Kaeya, who's been told to be on bedrest for two more days.
And by the time Diluc reaches his bed, still at the infirmary, Amber's there, sitting at the feet of the bed. "Am I interrupting?" He says, announcing himself.
He doesn't receive the answer he'd expected (nor the expected alternative): Amber shushes him, before she moves away so he can see a sleeping Kaeya on the bed. Diluc nods at her before he points at the door and leaves.
Fortunately, Amber gets the message and accepts the invitation outside the infirmary, soon appearing in the hallway where Diluc is.
"Thanks for saving my brother back there," he says all the words quickly, to avoid making it awkward. Things between him and Kaeya are not what they used to, nor what they're supposed to be, but Diluc's confident they'll get there, eventually.
Amber's reaction, again, is not what he expected. She literally gasps at her words and her eyes go wide. What? Is it so off-putting for him to sound thankful? Diluc blinks at her, and almost comments on her reaction but she beats him to it.
Amber quickly clears her throat and looks away from him, staring at the ground. "Right, uhm... I was just doing my job, you know?" She has yet to look at him in the eye, Diluc notices with amusement. "By the way, I didn't know you two were brothers... you don't exactly look like it."
Oh.
"Oh."
"Yep," Amber nods. "Good to know."
"And good to know you, Amber, you're a good fighter, and from what I've seen, an even better friend," Diluc offers her his hand, which Amber gladly shakes, and seems way less uncomfortable.
"You're a good man, too, Diluc," Amber smiles at her. "Kaeya's lucky to have you as a brother."
Diluc's smile grows weaker at that, but he tries not to show it. One step at a time. One day, Kaeya will be lucky to have him as a brother.