Work Text:
Cider Lake wasn't nearly as lively as the familiar waters of Fontaine. Even Natlan had their Koholasaurs, but Mondstadt had nothing like those saurians or the reefs he saw at the Easybreeze Resort. Nor did it have anything like the friendly Tidalga or Romaritime Flowers of his home's waters. With only a few fish floating around, the stillness of its surface and coolness brought from Mondstadt's breeze brought an eerily barren sort of feeling to these foreign waters. Much like death, Freminet thought. Though he's not sure what brought such a macabre idea to mind.
Freminet couldn't help but also remember the first time he almost did face death. Usually, a thought like this would have been brushed off for later. But the water is where he goes to think about all his troubles, and apparently, this still seemed to be troubling him. Closing his eyes, the darkness he saw felt the same as it did that time. He really did almost die that day, didn’t he? He took a deep breath, appreciating how his gear even let him breathe this time. If it did break, he was forced to remember his vision couldn’t save him the same way it did before, since he wasn’t in Fontaine’s like he usually was.
It was the same day he received his vision. Not just the same day, but the same moment. Freminet and, more importantly, some of his family members experienced a malfunction in their diving gear that nearly killed everyone on the mission. He’d nearly accepted his death right then and there, but... For his family members’ sake, he couldn’t. That thought seemed to have been how he got his vision. Something that almost entirely changed how he interacts with the world and its waters forever.
He didn’t want to think any further than that. He’d rather not let his thoughts get too dark while he was still on a bit of a vacation. If he thought any more about death, he’s sure he’d have started to think about his... So, he focused on how his vision only came to him at the face of death. He’d already vowed to protect his family by then, but did it take near-death to reinforce that promise? Or maybe death was what it took for change to come, like the granting of a vision. Maybe it didn’t have to be death in a literal sense. If everything has to end or “die”, maybe that’s how the world makes room for the next thing. Like when a fairytale villain dies for the princess’ happy ending.
As Freminet allowed his thoughts to sort themselves, he continued to sink down towards the bottom of Cider Lake. That is, until he was jerked towards the lake's surface and pulled onto a bridge of ice. Or at least on level with it. When looking to see what had happened, Freminet was met with the unfamiliar face of Mondstadt’s charming cavalry captain, Kaeya. Anyone from Mondstadt would have known him, but, as a foreigner to the nation, Freminet had no idea who this was.
Earlier, from above water, Kaeya only saw Freminet’s silhouette as it slowly sank down into the water facing up. To the average Mondstadter, this instantly read as a bad sign. As he examined the person he’d “saved”, Kaeya had realized that the figure he'd fished up was in full diving gear. Not exactly something he was used to seeing people wear here in Mondstadt, even with its well-known beaches and lake. This must be a tourist, he figured.
"Oho, going for a swim, are we?"
Avoiding Kaeya's eyes- or eye, rather -Freminet could only mutter a soft, "Um.. Yes."
"Well then, by all means, continue. Not many people dive around these parts. Enjoy your time in Mondstadt." As though releasing a fish, Kaeya lowered Freminet back below the water's surface, leaving him, and his thoughts, to continue drifting.