Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

This is where dreams die.

How many times had Freyr been told not to enter the old graveyard? There was nothing but death and decay left of the ancient city, and Freyr thinks maybe it's true that dreams die here, but she never saw one survive Khaenri'ah anyway.

She looks at the boy in her arms, seven years old, nothing but skin and bones, and thinks this one will.

The curse of Khaenri'ah came for all eventually. As a child, she hadn't worried, but then her father was taken. And some say despair makes the transformation faster, but she watched her mother cling with everything she had for another two years. It didn’t matter.

But that won't be her boy. The curse comes for all eventually but she would kill any god she needed to to give him a chance to dream.

Kaeya sleeps, sick and exhausted, within her arms. He's been asleep for days, only waking when the pain gets too much or Freyr has to force him to eat and drink. She hates to see her boy so still, but hates even more to see what's happened to his eye.

Even closed, she can see the damage. The skin decaying as if it wants him to die already. And beneath that, the once brilliant blue has faded to grey, black tendrils reaching for what little colour is left.

Through the storming rain slipping through the cracks in the stone sky, Freyr can see a crypt ahead, the structure looming over the graveyard. It’s much more ominous than the bones beneath her feet, yet it fills her with hope. More than she's had in her entire life.

She pushes open the large doors with little difficulty, and immediately spots the coffin. A large stone slab in the middle of the floor, hiding the remains of a supposed god.

Freyr sets Kaeya on the ground and he whines as she leaves him without warmth.

"Don't fret, little one," she bundles the blanket around him. "We'll be out of here in a moment."

The stone atop the coffin proves a lot harder to shift than the crypt doors. Her arms are already weak from carrying her boy for so long, but she feels it give ever so slightly and keeps pushing. The screeching stone makes Kaeya cover his ears but she continues and eventually uncovers half of the coffin.

There's light inside. She feels giddy. She feels like maybe, finally, she's achieved something.

The stone is pushed the rest of the way off by the light and smashed against the ground, causing Kaeya to fuss more and Freyr rushes to soothe him. He's still feverish and delirious, but clings to his mother with what strength he has.

Soon, the light dulls, and a half rotted woman leaves her casket.

"It's true," Freyr breathes. "The dream graveyard…"

Freyr doesn't give the god a chance to react before plunging her hand through her chest and ripping out her gnosis. The decayed woman sputters as the last of her skin rapidly rots and falls away.

Kaeya is fully awake now, blinking slowly as he takes in the scene. Freyr doesn't waste a moment, giving the gnosis to him and letting its power take him.

"Mama-" Kaeya can't say another word before the all consuming light returns, but it leaves as quickly as it came.

Purple is the first thing Freyr sees in Kaeya's once decaying eye. Then gold, red, pink, blue. Every colour she’s ever seen swirling within.

Kaeya tears up. Freyr does too, because Kaeya gets to live another day, but he’s crying because the light hurts his eyes and Freyr thinks she'd fight the light as well if it did that again.

"Do you wanna go home, Kaeya?" He buries his face in her scarf and nods slightly. "Then we can have some nice hot soup, and get to bed."

"With grape juice?" Kaeya asks.

"Whatever you want," Freyr smiles.

He's going to live such a beautiful life. She can only hope to dream of it.

-

Kaeya is seven years old when he survives the curse that has terrorised his people for centuries. First, they celebrate. Then, they plan.

He hears his mama mostly, furious, shouting louder than anyone else in the room. She doesn’t want Kaeya to go. Kaeya doesn’t want to go either, but if it can help Khaenri’ah…

Kaeya is smart enough to understand what his recovery means for his people. It means there’s hope, and they haven’t seen that in a long, long time.

"He's a baby!" Mama shouts and Kaeya frowns because seven is a big number! "He can't survive out there on his own, and how would he get this information you want anyway?!"

“We have a plan for that,” Papa responds. "The Ragnvindr family. They're very well off, and the head of the house has ties to organizations all over Teyvat. It's the perfect position."

"And you can't wait a few years until he's at least an adult?" Freyr fumes.

"We want him to infiltrate the family as an abandoned child," Papa says. "He won't seem suspicious, he'll be given sympathy and leeway to anyway strange behaviour."

“He’s not an abandoned child! He’s mine, and-”

There's silence on the other side of the door Kaeya is pressed against. The air is oppressive, weighing him down and making it hard to breathe. Kaeya isn’t sure which one he wants to win this argument. Wouldn’t it be selfish not to use his blessing to help his people? But he didn’t want to make Mama sad…

"If you want my boy, you'll have to kill me first."

Kaeya gasps as air rushes back to him and he feels lightheaded. He pushes open the door and immediately runs to his Mama, whose shocked expression quickly turns to a smile.

“What are you doing here, little one?” She lifts him up, far too easily considering his age but he’s been putting weight back on since getting sick.

“You can’t kill Mama!” Kaeya turns to Papa, trying to glare, but the tears welling in his eyes make him look more like a kicked puppy.

“I-I would never,” he looks guilty as he tries to reassure Kaeya. “I love you both, you know that, right?”

“Of course,” Mama’s voice is cold as she pulls Kaeya closer, almost daring the man to touch him.

Then the ice melts as she turns back to Kaeya and boops his nose. “You must be hungry, hm? Let’s see what we have for dinner.”

Kaeya nods, settling his head on her chest as she carries him away from Papa. “You don’t love him anymore, do you?”

“All the love I have is reserved for you, Kaeya,” she said. “It would be wasted on him.”

“... Are you going to kill him?”

“No one’s going to hurt anyone,” Mama assures him. “I’m sorry I worried you, I got a little carried away.”

Kaeya hums and stops talking. She’s definitely going to kill him eventually.

Mama sets him down in the kitchen and shakes her arms out. “You’re getting too big for this, I can’t carry you everywhere.”

“Just get stronger,” Kaeya frowns. Walking? Everywhere? Like Dainsleif has to? Sounds terrible.

Mama laughs and the world brightens just a bit. He hadn’t noticed how fast his heart was beating until it finally started calming down.

“Hmm… we have some apples...” Mama pulls two out of the cupboard and places one in front of Kaeya before taking a bite out of our own.

“What about Papa?” Kaeya asks.

“I’m sure he’ll figure something out,” she leans against the counter. “Other than eavesdropping on your parents… how has your day been?”

Kaeya flushes and hides his face with his hair. “It was fine.”

Mama smiles again, but it’s because she’s being mean. Kaeya huffs and takes a bite of his own apple. He’s halfway through it when Mama lays a hand on his arm and looks into his eyes.

“You’re not a soldier, Kaeya. You’re a child, and you deserve to grow up with your family,” she tells him. “The fate of Khaenri’ah is not yours to secure. We can do it ourselves.”

“But I can help! I can-”

“Kaeya,” she stops him. “You don’t have to.”

Kaeya frowns again and Mama pokes the dimple of his cheek. “Don’t be that way, you can help when you’re bigger, I promise.”

“But what if…”

What if you get sick before then? What if you change, or Papa, or, or-

“If?” Mama is still smiling and Kaeya feels sick.

“I’m tired.”

“Finish your apple and then I’ll tuck you into bed,” she says.

“Um… can you stay with me?” Ugh. This is why Mama thinks he’s a baby.

“Of course,” Mama beams and Kaeya feels a little better about acting like a big stupid baby. A little.

-

“It looks cool,” Dainsleif tells him.

“That’s it?”

“It’s… colourful?”

Kaeya pouts. “I want to know what it looks like. I can’t see it.”

“Well…” Dainsleif looks into his eye again. “It reminds me of the stars.”

“I don’t know what stars look like!” This is just frustrating. He had tried to ask Mama what his eye looks like now, but her response was “more beautiful than the brightest flower in the god touched lands” and that made even less sense.

“I could draw one for you.”

“You suck at drawing.”

“Alright. Now you're just being rude.”

Kaeya stuck his tongue out at him before looking up to the roof of the world. Well, their world. There were more above, apparently, and the stars were meant to be above that. There’s too much stuff in the universe, how is Kaeya meant to know all of it?

"You friends say you'll be leaving soon," Dainsleif interrupts Kaeya’s thoughts about Stuff.

“Maybe,” Kaeya says. “I don’t think they can win against Mama. I think she might kill someone soon.”

Dainsleif nods. “She threatened almost everyone in the meeting yesterday. They told her to keep her voice down and she told them she’d turn them inside out.”

“How do you even do that?”

“Knives.”

Dainsleif would know. He’s an adult and he carries a sword with him everywhere, even when he's playing with the other kids. Usually, Kaeya doesn't like people with swords, but Dainsleif is fun and even lets them climb on his back when they don't want to walk. Which is all the time, in Kaeya's case.

He'd once tried to ask Dainsleif to teach him how to use a sword, but his mother glared at him until he said no. She still remembers the time Kaeya dropped the handle of a sword on his toe and cried for three hours. That was three years ago.

“Speaking of your mother and knives,” Dainsleif says. “You should get home before she threatens me for keeping you out past your bedtime.”

“Yeah,” Kaeya agrees. “She might turn you inside out.”

Dainsleif cringes at the thought and hurries Kaeya to sit up and start heading back home. Kaeya rolls his eyes.

“Mama isn’t that scary, you’re all just babies.”

“Maybe so, but I’m not stupid enough to test that.”

Dainsleif walks Kaeya all the way back and greets Mama with a stiff and polite hello before almost running away. She definitely has a reputation, but it’s only because she’s protective! Its not fair that everyone is so scared of her.

She makes sure he takes off his shoes and coat before sitting down to eat some food.

“What do stars look like?” Kaeya asks halfway through dinner. “The ones in the sky, not the pointy ones everyone has on their clothes.”

Mama thinks for a moment. “They look like glitter spilled all over a black canvas.”

“That’s not that cool,” Kaeya frowns. Maybe his cool eye isn’t that cool after all.

“Maybe not, but it is beautiful,” she says. “Would you like to see the stars, Kaeya?”

“Can we?!” Despite his earlier comment on the coolness of stars, he very much wants to see the space glitter.

Mama nods and Kaeya is already out of his seat. “Now? Can we go now?”

“Finish your dinner first,” she pushes him back into his seat. “And then we can go.”

Kaeya nearly chokes on his skewers as he tries to shove the whole thing into his mouth before rushing to get his coat and shoes back on. He ends up tying his shoelace around his finger in the rush but he doesn’t ask Mama for help because he’s nearly eight and he doesn’t need help.

Even if he doesn’t know how to tie shoelaces so he just gives up and stuffs them into his shoes.

“Ready!” He announces and Mama takes his hand to lead him out of the house.

“We’re going to a place called the dream graveyard,” Mama says. “It’s the only place in Khaenri’ah where one can see the stars. There’s a story that comes with it, if you want to hear it.”

“Mhm.”

“Well, back before Khaenri’ah was cursed…”

Mama’s story is long, but it doesn’t feel like it. She tells Kaeya about Lilax, the dream goddess, and Alberich, the Godslayer. She tells him about Alberich’s thirst for power and his relentless pursuit of Lilax. And she tells him about the inevitable fight, where Alberich was killed but Lilax was left so weak that her followers thought her to be dead and buried her in the crypt.

“Is she though?” Kaeya asks. “Dead?”

“Yes,” Mama says. “She lived a long time, but… others deserved that time too.”

Mama is very good at not making sense.

Kaeya would ask more, but he takes another step and something wet drips on his forehead. He looks up and expects to see the stone sky, but finds a bright light bearing down on him. He can't look at it for too long because the sky water gets in his eyes.

“That's rain," Mama says. “And the bright thing is the moon. The little lights surrounding it are your stars.”

Once his vision adjusts, he can see it better. So far away, yet still visible through the many cracks in the sky. And definitely cool.

“That’s what my eye looks like?”

“Not exactly. Your eye has a lot more colour in it. It’s much more beautiful than the sky.”

“Oh,” Kaeya flushes. The sky is pretty. It’s hard to imagine some part of him could even match it let alone surpass it.

“They say that Lilax controlled the cosmos,” Mama pulls Kaeya into her side. “I wonder what that means for you.”

Kaeya tilts his head up at Mama but she only smiles. “Let’s head back now. It’s getting cold and you need to head to bed.”

-

Kaeya is woken in the middle of the night by Papa shaking him. Mama’s arms are still around him and he retreats further into the warmth when the blankets are pulled off.

“Kaeya, I don’t have time for this,” Papa tugs harshly on his arm and he opens an eye. “Get your coat, we’re going out.”

Sleep still clings to his whole body as he moves Mama’s arms off of him and sits up. She doesn’t wake up. He shakes her and she still doesn’t move.

“What’s wrong with Mama?” His voice gets louder and Papa cringes, quickly trying to shush him.

“Nothing, she’s just asleep.”

Kaeya still puts his head near her heart to try and hear from herself that she’s alive. Her heartbeat is there, soothing and warm, and Kaeya sighs as he relaxes against her.

He tries to recall the plants he’d learnt about that make people drowsy. That was pretty mean, but better than his parents killing each other over him at least. If he shook Mama hard enough… would she wake up? Would she be able to stop this? Could she-

“Hey, what did I say?”

Kaeya mumbles something unintelligible as he gets out of bed. The cold surrounds him as he leaves and his coat doesn’t do much to help. Papa leads him outside without any more words and Kaeya already wants to run back to Mama.

“Where are we going?”

It’s so cold.

“Mondstadt.”

He gets used to it.

-

It starts raining once they reach Mondstadt, and Kaeya would be excited in any other circumstances. He wished it rained in more places in Khaenri'ah, it would make finding drinking water very easy. Maybe Kaeya could come back with the sky water some day, mama would love to try it.

Would… would he even be coming back? One day, right? Papa had told him on the long walk all about what he needed to do. Stay with the Ragnvindr family, use their connections to gather information, and then wait for Khaenri’ah. Maybe Mama would come to collect him herself.

The thought puts a little more energy back into him. Hopefully she’ll still be herself when she comes.

Papa gave him an eyepatch to cover up the weird one. There’s a galaxy swirling in there that allows no one to think of Kaeya as ‘normal.’ But he needs to be normal. Just a normal kid abandoned by parents that don’t want him.

“When will you come back?” It’s the first time Kaeya has spoken since they left.

“When we’re ready.”

“And when will that be?”

“I don’t know,” he sighs. “Eventually.”

Kaeya frowns and kicks at the dirt. This might take longer than expected. It’s fine as long as Kaeya can help, but he still wants to go back home eventually.

He still remembers Mama’s words. You don’t have to. But he does, of course he does. Who else could do it? They’d spent centuries cursed in an ever dark land and Kaeya can help them escape! Then he can look at the stars all he wants and he won’t have to wear this stupid itchy eyepatch.

Papa stops suddenly and turns around. “Here is good.”

Kaeya swallows back his nervousness as he jogs to catch up to the spot Papa has stopped at. This is it, this is his chance to help.

“Remember, Kaeya,” Papa’s eyes are unnerving when they’re this serious. “You are Khaenri’ah’s last hope.”

Kaeya nods and Papa says nothing more before walking away. But it’s okay. Kaeya wants this. He wants to help.

He does his best to dry off a nearby rock to sit on but it doesn’t help much when he’s also soaked to the bone. And then he waits for the Ragnvindr carriage that’s meant to pass through.

His chest feels tight and his throat is raw, probably because of the cold. He wraps his arms around himself, but it’s not as warm as Mama is. It’s okay, he tells himself again. And again. And again.

…

Why is it so hard to believe he’s okay?

-

“Where is he?”

“Mondstadt.”

Freyr doesn’t bother grabbing a weapon. She goes straight for the throat.

Chapter Text

Kaeya kicks his feet up and leans back in his chair, basking in the sunlight streaming through after having finished all his paperwork for the day. He still has to pick Klee up from Albedo’s office and check in with some of the soldiers after their patrols are finished, but other than that, he’s free for the rest of the day.

So many possibilities.

A marshmallow hits him in the back of the head.

“Sorry,” Venti is hard to understand with all the marshmallows he’s attempting to eat at once. “I was trying to catch it with my mouth.”

Kaeya isn’t sure how Venti managed to hit him when he’s a good three feet away, but Venti will always find a way to inconvenience him one way or another.

There’s a light knocking on the door to his office and Kaeya sits back up, not bothering to acknowledge Venti or the marshmallow on the ground. “Come in.”

Thankfully, it’s not more work. Mona enters the room and ignores Venti waving at her as she heads straight for the drinks cabinet.

“Good to see you too, Mona,” Kaeya says

“Did you hear about what happened in Liyue?” She grabs a bottle of peach tea and pours a generous amount into the biggest glass she can find.

“Plenty of things happen in Liyue,” Kaeya responds. “What, specifically, are you referring to?”

"Another archon's gnosis has been taken," Mona takes a sip of her tea.

Kaeya hums. Venti had mentioned something about that, but he'd only been half listening. "Yes, I heard."

"You're not at all concerned? What if they come for you next?"

"If I die, I die," Kaeya shrugs.

Mona frowns. "If you die, how will I get free peach tea?"

“Never fear, my dear,” Venti says. “I’m here to protect Kaeya if ever danger is near!”

Kaeya rolls his eyes. There are exactly three people who know about Kaeya’s gnosis. Kaeya himself, and the two idiots in the room with him. As long as he isn’t obvious about it, he’ll be fine.

“You could get a job and buy your own peach tea,” Kaeya offers.

Mona stares at him for a long moment before pouring more tea in her glass. “Anyway, I need your help with a side project. I offered to try and locate Aether’s sister, but it’s proving a bit more difficult than I expected.”

This isn’t the first time Mona has tried to get Kaeya to learn astrology and she acts almost offended every time he declines. Stars are a big part of Kaeya’s whole deal as a ‘god,’ if he can even be considered such, and it would benefit him to learn more about them, but he’s always busy.

“Mona, while I very much enjoy spending time with you, I do have a lot of work to do,” Kaeya says. “Perhaps another time.”

Mona huffs indignantly and slumps into the chair in front of Kaeya’s desk. “You’re the god of dreams and the cosmos and yet you refuse to learn anything about astrology. What’s the point, Kaeya? You may as well just be some guy.”

“I am just some guy. That’s the only reason the Fatui haven’t found me.”

“What a bore,” Mona sighs. “Do you ever have any fun? Do you just sit in this office every day doing paperwork.”

“Yes,” Kaeya answers because it’s easier than explaining the things he actually does. There’s a reason he gets less paperwork than the other captains. His skills lie in other areas and Jean knows that.

“Ugh,” Mona finishes her glass and opts to just drink from the bottle. “We need a girls day. That’ll sort you out.”

“I suppose I could spare the time for that,” that might actually be fun. Mona always knew the best places with the best discounts for anything.

“Count me in,” Venti says. “I haven’t had time for a relaxation day ever since coming back to Mondstadt. I’ve started biting my nails to keep them short… I’ve sunk so low.”

Mona nods gravely. “Sooner rather than later then.”

Any further talk of their potential ‘girls day out’ is axed by the distant sound of an explosion. Venti and Mona actually seem concerned, Kaeya simply sighs and stands up. “That’s my cue to leave.”

“I’ll come with you,” Venti and Mona say in unison.

“I appreciate the concern, however I doubt this is the work of the Fatui,” Kaeya says. “It’s Klee. It’s always Klee.”

“Well, I promised Klee I’d help her with her homework anyway.”

“And I would like to meet this force of destruction for myself.”

Kaeya stares at Mona and Venti for a moment before deciding he doesn’t have the energy for this and simply leaves the room. They follow after him of course, and he considers using his power just to escape them for a few moments.

The walk into the market area is fine, but the closer they get to the source of the smoke, the more dread Kaeya feels. Of course. Of course it’s the fucking Angel’s Share.

He sees a host of knights already outside talking to Diluc while Klee sits on a bench, downcast. No other captain’s had arrived but maybe if Kaeya hid, Albedo would eventually get here and deal with this. But then Diluc makes eye contact and Kaeya, again, considers exposing himself right there by teleporting anywhere else in the world.

“I’ll talk with Klee,” Mona says. “You have fun with him.”

“I’ll also talk to Klee,” Venti is already walking away. So much for his valiant protectors.

Well, he may as well get this over with.

“Good evening, Master Diluc,” the knights seem glad that someone else is finally here so they don’t have to deal with this mess. “I trust your day has been pleasant.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?”

“No time for niceties, hm?” Diluc continues to glare at Kaeya. “Well then, I apologise for our little Spark Knight’s misadventure. Rest assured that Ordo Favonius will cover the costs of the damage.”

“Are you people really so incompetent that you can’t handle a ten year old girl?” Diluc asks.

“To be fair, you were also very difficult to handle as a ten year old with a pyro vision,” Kaeya responds. “This one just also happens to be a fan of explosives.”

Diluc’s brow furrows as it always does when Kaeya brings up their childhood. It’s almost adorable how angry he gets every time. The day starts to feel a little better, now that he’s sufficiently annoyed Diluc.

“Well, I must excuse myself to get Klee back home,” Kaeya says. “Drop by my office with the expenses quote and I’ll get you sorted out.”

Diluc is still fuming when Kaeya gives him a mock salute and turns to Klee. Venti is playing a song for her that’s made her revert back to her usual energy. Kaeya smiles as he approaches.

“Well, Klee, it seems like you’ve had quite the day while you were meant to be with Albedo,” he says. “Wanna tell me what’s going on with that?”

“Albedo and Sucrose were talking about how they needed lampgrass for something but they couldn’t go and get some so I wanted to help and I know Master Diluc has some but I tripped and…” Klee trails off and hugs Dodoco closer.

“Klee, what have I said about carrying explosives to different locations?” The girl is going to blow herself up one day. It’s a miracle it hasn’t already happened.

“I forgot they were in there,” Klee mumbles. “I’m sorry…”

“It’s okay, Klee,” Kaeya pats her on the head. “Just start being more careful.”

She beams up at him and Kaeya’s gets the feeling he’s going to be letting Klee off easy again. This is why Jean doesn’t get him to supervise Klee anymore, he’s too indulgent of the tiny terrorist. It does help that it’s Diluc’s tavern that she blew up. His brother’s mild suffering can be very amusing and it’s not like he won’t survive a day or two closed.

“Say, Klee,” Mona begins. “Why don’t we see what we can do about making a bag that can hold your bombs safely? I’m sure Albedo and Sucrose would also be able to help."

“Oh, that’s a great idea, Ms Mona!” Klee nods eagerly.

“I guess that leaves me to keep an eye on Kaeya,” Venti says. “You two have fun!”

Oh, great. They’re still doing that.

“Well, where to next, Captain?”

“Work,” Kaeya responds. “Klee just gave me a lot more paperwork to do.”

Venti visibly deflates at the idea of having to sit in Kaeya’s office for another hour with nothing to do. “I wish I’d been caught in the explosion.”

-

Venti and Mona don’t leave him alone for the rest of the week. At least one of them is by his side at all times and while he’s starting to get used to it, he would very much like to be able to go for a walk in peace.

Jean once stopped him to ask why he suddenly has two people shadowing him wherever he goes and Kaeya could only shrug and say they’re weirdo’s. It wasn’t hard for Jean to believe. She’s met Venti before after all.

It does make whatever work business he has to deal with a lot more troublesome though.

“This is the total cost of repairs,” Diluc practically throws the piece of paper at Kaeya. “The repairwoman expects payment within three days.”

“Very well,” Kaeya expected that to be the end of it. He’ll say something to piss Diluc off, the man in question will storm out, and they will return to their lives.

Venti starts giggling from his place on the windowsill. He leans over to whisper something in Mona's ear and she starts laughing too.

Kaeya knew he shouldn't have let them have free reign over his wine.

"Is there any purpose to those two being here?" Diluc's already annoyed. Damn it, Kaeya wanted to be the one to make him angry.

There's always later, he supposes.

"Nope," Kaeya responds. "Won't leave no matter what I do. I guess they’re just so charmed that they can’t help but be near me at all times.”

Venti throws another marshmallow at Kaeya without even looking away from Mona.

“We’re his bodyguards,” Mona says.

“I wouldn’t say bodyguards. I’m really not that strong, and I don’t want to be stabbed," Venti thinks for a moment. "Babysitters is more accurate.”

“That’s the one,” Mona nods. “We can’t take a hit for him, but we can tell him not to be stupid and then deal with the consequences of him being stupid anyway.”

“Thank you so very much, Mona. I don’t know where I’d be without you,” Kaeya sighs as he pulls out the paperwork he needs to request the money for Diluc’s repairs.

“What trouble have you gotten yourself into now that requires a bodyguard?” Kaeya is very familiar with the expression Diluc is sporting now. It’s his I hate you but tell me what’s wrong and I’ll introduce it to my sword face.

So many years and Diluc really hasn’t changed.

“Babysitters,” Venti corrects.

“I haven’t done anything,” Diluc does not believe Kaeya in the slightest. Which is fair. They grew up together. Diluc knows exactly how much trouble Kaeya can get into. “Really.”

“No need to worry, Master Diluc,” Venti interrupts the brothers staredown. “Kaeya is in no danger as long as he listens to us.”

“I’m not worried for the Knights of Favonius Cavalry Captain,” ooh, Diluc is pulling out his full title now. Venti must have really struck a nerve. “Three days. Speak to Charles if you need any other information.”

Diluc leaves as quickly as humanly possible and Kaeya continues filling out the withdrawal form. It’s nice to be reminded now and then that Diluc doesn’t completely hate him, although Kaeya sometimes wishes he did.

"The man is always so high strung," Mona says. "Maybe I should do a reading for him. Offer some spiritual advice."

"Good luck," Kaeya scoffs. "Diluc doesn't take any advice, let alone spiritual advice. He once downed an entire bottle of wine just because I told him not to. He doesn't even like wine."

"Speaking of wine," Venti interrupts. “Your drinks cupboard is nearly empty.”

“Wonder how that happened.”

The freeloading fiends stare at him for a moment more and he caves. “Take my coin purse. Get whatever you want within reason.”

“Oh, you don’t have to,” Mona says, but she’s already crossed the room and got her hands on all of his money. “You’re ever so kind.”

“We’ll bring you back something you can drink while you work!” Venti tells him and then they're both gone.

Huh. So all he has to do to get them to leave him alone is pay them. If only he’d learnt this trick earlier.

Kaeya leans back in his seat, closing his eyes as he experiences peace and quiet for the first time in nearly two weeks.

And then Klee barges in.

“Kaeya! I drew a picture for you-” Klee manages to take one step into the room before tripping and Kaeya only just manages to travel fast enough to catch her.

How is he supposed to know whether Klee actually listened to him about bomb safety? Also she’ll cry if she smacks her face into the desk and then Kaeya will spend the next hour comforting her and then have to stay late to finish the paperwork caused by her.

Kaeya wonders sometimes if Klee is just clumsy, or if she’s secretly a criminal mastermind out to get him. Hopefully the former, because stars trail behind Kaeya from using astro and Klee watches them with an awestruck expression.

Well. Maybe he does need babysitters.

“That was so cool, Kaeya!” Kaeya cringes at the volume of Klee’s voice. “I didn’t know you had a vision!”

“Yes, it’s… hydro,” maybe Klee will believe the stars are similar enough to Mona’s. “But it’s a secret, okay? You can’t tell anyone.”

Klee gasps, excited to be let in on a secret. She places a hand over her heart, “I promise!”

“Good girl,” he pats her head. “You made me a drawing?”

That distracts Klee and she steps away from Kaeya to hold it out to him. She's getting better at drawing every day and the little blue person could almost be recognizable as Kaeya.

"Its beautiful, you've captured my likeness perfectly," Kaeya says.

Klee beams up at him, "so when did you get your vision?"

Okay. So. Not distracted.

"When I was a kid," Kaeya answers as truthfully as he can.

"Why do you never use it?"

"I just did," Kaeya smirks and Klee huffs and folds her arms.

"You know what I mean!" She stomps her foot.

"I don't need to," Kaeya answers. "And it benefits my air of mystery. Makes me all the more charming."

"You're already charming, Kaeya!" Klee says, "you should do your cool star stuff more!"

Damn kids and how they just say things. If an adult called Kaeya charming, he wouldn't care. But Klee hasn't learnt about lying for her own benefit and ugh, Kaeya would kill for this child.

Klee spends a little longer in his office, asking him about his 'vision,' but eventually she gets bored of that and runs off back to Albedo's lab. Kaeya knows Klee is terrible with secrets, she'll just blurt them out in a random conversation without even realizing. But telling people he has a hydro vision probably won't hurt him.

Probably.

Chapter Text

It takes about two days for everyone to know Kaeya has a vision. Klee has never in her life worked so fast at spreading secrets. He's almost impressed. Even Jean knows.

"Do you actually have a vision?" Jean comes to his office during her break, never willing to waste time.

"Who's to say," Kaeya can't agree or disagree because both would make him more suspicious. He's decided to be a little shit instead.

“Kaeya, vision or not, I know you’re competent at your job. I trust you completely,” Jean says. “What I would like to know more, is whether you trust me enough to tell me the truth.”

Well. Jean knows how to go straight for the heart. He needs to get that thing removed someday.

"It's not really a matter of trust…"

But it is, isn't it? Kaeya trusts her not to tell anyone the truth, but he can't tell her everything. She will undoubtedly kick him out of the knights and then he'll have to rely on Venti and Mona to survive. He’ll die. Obviously.

"I have a vision," Kaeya decides to go with the same lie he told Klee. "Hydro. I don't use it unless I have to. Is that all?"

Jean's shoulders relax a bit and she nods. "Thank you, Kaeya."

She thanked him. He was just lying to her.

"It's no problem, Jean."

Kaeya feels like screaming.

"Other than that," Jean continues. "The Fatui are sending another diplomat, although they haven't disclosed why. Could you…"

"Talk to Diluc so he doesn't immediately try to kill them?" Kaeya finishes. "Sure."

Jean sighs in relief and Kaeya makes a mental note to ask Albedo for a heatshield potion.

-

Because Kaeya has been given arguably the most difficult task in his whole career as a knight, Jean decides to give him the rest of the day off. He spends it doing more work. He hates his life.

“Hold this,” Albedo gives him a flask full of some foul smelling liquid. “Try not to jostle it too much. It’s highly volatile.”

Klee is almost vibrating in excitement next to him.

“What exactly is the purpose of this experiment?” Kaeya doesn’t want to die if Albedo is just looking for something to eat again.

“I’m trying to find a way to neutralize the explosive effect of pyro slimes,” Albedo responds. “I may be able to replicate the effect for Klee’s bag, as well as find a much better way of fighting slimes than running away as fast as you can.”

It will certainly make fighting slimes much more dignified.

“Can we not just use hydro slime concentrate?” Venti is also there, because of course he is. Even on a day off, he can’t escape the brat.

“That would only cause an elemental reaction to occur,” Albedo says. “While it might be able to dim the brunt of the explosion, the steam could still hurt Klee, so we need something else.”

“And that something is?”

Albedo presents a weird looking ball. Kaeya has no idea what it’s meant to be.

“What the fuck is that?” Venti asks and Kaeya and Albedo immediately shoot him a look.

“Oh,” Venti says. “Sorry.”

He doesn’t look apologetic in the slightest.

“It’s okay, Albedo,” Klee says. “I already know about the fuck word!”

Albedo stares into the distance, realising Klee has learnt another way to torment everyone in the room. Kaeya decides he’ll let that be Albedo’s problem.

“Tell us about the weird ball,” Kaeya redirects the conversation.

“Ah, yes,” Albedo clears his throat. “I managed to get it off of an abyss mage. It’s how they keep their shields up without expending their own energy. My hope is that we can put it in Klee’s bag and that if her bombs go off, the shield will keep any reactions contained.”

“That’s so smart, Albedo!” Klee nearly knocks the pyro slime concentrate out of Kaeya’s hands when she starts jumping up and down, but he just manages to catch it.

“Careful, Klee,” Kaeya warns. “I’m not immune to having my face exploded.”

“Just use your vision to teleport away,” Klee says. “Like you did the other day.”

Venti swivels his head to Kaeya. “What the fuck.”

“Venti,” Albedo hisses.

Ugh. Now he has to explain himself to Venti and Mona. Children are the worst. Klee doesn’t even seem to care if Kaeya gets blown up. Who raised this kid?

“Sorry, sorry,” Venti raises his hands. “Carry on.”

Albedo and Kaeya share a look, and Kaeya is somewhat comforted that he is able to share his pain with someone else for once.

“Well,” Albedo says. “Let’s do this quickly before Klee actually manages to maim you.”

“That would be preferable, thank you.”

Kaeya places the flask by the weird ball thing and Albedo activates it. It’s a hydro shield, because cryo would break too quickly, and pyro would burn.

At first nothing happens.

“Do you want me to kick it?” Venti offers. “I can kick it-”

And then it explodes.

The shield does contain the explosion, but it’s blown directly into the wall and bounces back towards them. Kaeya immediately grabs Klee and drops to the ground as it swings over his head. Venti shrieks and manages to dive out of the way just in time to avoid collision, and Albedo tries to rush after it to stop it.

Kaeya only has a moment to reconsider every one of his life choices before Klee is up and running after it along with Albedo.

“Klee, don’t-” she’s already gone. Fucking kids.

Kaeya rushes after her while also trying to avoid the ping pong ball of death as Klee giggles, running directly toward said ping pong ball of death. Albedo changes course for Klee as well and Venti cowers in the corner, offering no help.

The ball is coming directly for Klee. Klee is coming directly for the ball.

Kaeya travels between them and gets smacked directly in the face.

The world goes dark and everyone’s voices are incredibly fuzzy and far away. Anytime he opens his eyes, his surroundings spin so violently, he has to immediately close them again.

Fucking. Kids.

“Kaeya?” A small hand shakes his shoulder. “Are you dead?”

He groans in response.

“Don’t shake him, Klee,” Albedo says. “He likely has a concussion. Venti, could you get a healer for us?”

Kaeya finally manages to open his eyes for longer than a few seconds and sees all three of them staring down at him. There’s a shattered window behind them that he assumes is where the offending hydro ball escaped.

The screams in the street confirm his suspicions.

“Ugh,” Kaeya begins to sit up and Albedo helps him. “Do not give Klee one of those.”

“Yes, I will endeavour to design something less… chaotic,” Albedo says. “My apologies.”

“Mm,” Kaeya rubs his head.

“I’m sorry, Kaeya!” Klee’s voice is so loud directly in his ear. “I just wanted to help Albedo catch it!”

“Klee, could you go with Venti?” Albedo is the only person in this place that Kaeya respects.

“Will Kaeya be okay?”

“I’m fine, Klee,” he responds. “Just a little sore.”

She nods but the grim expression doesn’t leave her face as Venti takes her hand and leads her outside. He’d have to visit her later and reassure her that he’s fine.

“This may not be the best time to ask this considering you are lightly concussed,” Albedo says once the other two have left. “But you are not quite human, are you?”

Oh yeah. He ripped open a hole in space and time to stop Klee from being flung across the room by an angry hydro shield. He almost forgot.

“Mm,” Kaeya doesn’t have the energy to say much more.

“What element was that?”

“Mm.”

Albedo sighs and doesn’t ask anything else. “Come on, let’s head to the sick bay. A nurse should be there by the time we arrive.”

Kaeya has to close his eyes again as Albedo helps him up, but they manage to make it to the room without further incident. Venti and Klee are already there with a nurse and Albedo leaves to go chase down his hydro shield.

Kaeya is never helping him with another experiment ever.

-

“Oh yeah, that looks bad,” Mona is holding Kaeya’s face in her hands as she looks at his new black eye. “Definitely gonna take a while to heal.”

“Mona, have I ever mentioned how much I hate my job?” Kaeya asks.

“I know what’ll help,” Mona smirks as she pulls Kaeya’s coin purse out of her pocket. How the hell did she get that again? “Girls day!”

“Please don’t shout,” Kaeya cringes. “The healer helped a lot but everything still hurts.”

“Don’t be a baby,” Mona rolls her eyes. “We’ll get a massage, get our nails done, go out for drinks.”

Kaeya can definitely use a drink.

“I assume I’ll be paying for everything.”

“Don’t be stupid, of course you are.”

Kaeya sighes. He hates poor people.

And so, he finds himself in a massage parlour with a snoozing Venti and Mona talking endlessly about astrology again.

“I wonder if anyone will ever have Kæra Skepna as their constellation,” Mona wonders idly. “Wouldn’t that be cool?”

Kaeya has to think for a moment but he remembers which constellation that is. It’s the one he made after all, even if he never remembers what Mona named it. That was how she found him. A new constellation appeared and she searched endlessly for it’s creator.

He’s never done anything so grand with his power since then.

“I guess,” Kaeya’s not sure how he feels about that. The constellation was made for someone else.

“Most of our constellations aren’t visible from Teyvat,” Mona continues. “I wonder if the constellations we can see are the ones used by people of distant worlds.”

That search of Mona’s ended in disappointment. Kaeya doesn’t even know the names of the stars above Mondstadt. He wishes he could actually provide her with the answers she seeks, but at this point, he’d rather die than learn anything about astrology. Simple because Mona really wants him to.

Mona huffs in annoyance when Kaeya doesn’t respond to any of her musing. “Your aura has been so dark lately, you really need this.”

“I need to spend all my money on yours and Venti’s day of relaxation?”

“Hey, you get to relax too,” Mona says. “You can’t tell me you aren’t enjoying this.”

A pretty guy giving him a massage? Yeah, fine, but it’s still needlessly expensive. He’s trying to get better with his spending habits after growing up rich and then losing all of that because he decided to be truthful for once in his fucking life.

But it’s fine, he’s completely over it. He doesn’t hold grudges.

If only some people could be as calm and collected as Kaeya.

Really, he’s over it.

“Ugh, I have to talk to Diluc today too,” Kaeya sighs. “Make sure he doesn’t get in another fight with a Fatui diplomat.”

“Does the man have no ability to be civil?”

“Oh no, he can absolutely be civil. He’s great at it,” Kaeya answers. “He simply chooses to be a bastard. All the time. To everyone.”

Kaeya’s a little envious, actually. They were both raised to be polite and kind even if they were really just angry little gremlins pretending to be functional human beings. Diluc stopped caring about what other people thought of him when Crepus died and decided to go full gremlin. He’s authentic, even if he is a bastard.

Unfortunately, Kaeya still cares, and he’s seen the results of being authentic himself. It’s not an experience he’s eager to repeat.

“Mona, how dare you get me to do something that gives me time to think about my life,” Kaeya scowls. “This is terrible.”

“Stop being a little bitch,” Mona responds. “Enjoy your massage. We’ll start drinking later and then we can cry about our lives.”

Venti stirs at that. “Fuck yeah!”

Kaeya sighs again. He’ll be paying for those drinks too. Goodbye savings.

Admittedly, the massage is nice. And so is the nail place Mona drags them to next. And so is the hole in the wall restaurant she finds in a back alley. She’s only been living in Mondstadt for about a month and she’s already found all of it’s secrets.

It is also nice to just spend time with his friends in a way that isn’t them bothering him while he works for the sake of ‘protecting him.’ Not that he’ll ever tell them he enjoys their company. They’d be even more insufferable than usual.

But finally, finally, they head to the Cat’s Tail to get wasted.

Well, Kaeya’s only allowed a few drinks because he’s still a little concussed and talking to Diluc drunk is bound to end with his body found in a dumpster outside the Angel’s Share, but the intent is there.

“I can’t believe everyone thinks you have a hydro vision,” Venti says. “That looks nothing like hydro!”

“No, but it does look similar enough to Mona’s for a child to believe it,” Kaeya responds. “Albedo, however…”

Hopefully, he’ll speak to Kaeya before spreading any of that info around. Albedo has never been the gossiping type, he can probably keep a secret. Unlike that little nightmare Kaeya is annoyingly fond of.

“Well, it’s not like Albedo is human either,” Mona shrugs and Kaeya and Venti both turn to stare at her. “... You didn’t know that.”

“No?” Kaeya blanches. “What the fuck?”

“You two are gods!” Mona exclaims. “How did you not notice?!”

“Hey, my gnosis is long gone,” Venti shrugs. “Kaeya has no excuse.”

“Other than not having three thousand years of experience like you?” Kaeya shoots him a glare. “I’ve not even had this gnosis for two decades.”

“Kaeya,” Mona says. “You know he has the star of Khaenri’ah on his throat, right?”

Well, yeah, but everyone back home had that. It was normal.

“And that his alchemical talent is in the art of Khemia.”

Khemia was the only reason his people have survived so long. Being able to create life lets them grow crops so they can feed themselves. Most people in Khaenri’ah know at least a little.

“And he’s literally made of chalk.”

Alright. He probably should have noticed that.

“Shut up,” Kaeya says. “I’m paying for your drinks.”

Venti and Mona both decide to drop the topic. Good, they have at least a few brain cells.

“What’s your plan of attack for Diluc?” Venti decides to steer the conversation in an equally annoying direction.

“I’ll probably just wing it,” Kaeya responds. “If I die, I die.”

“Kaeya, we’ve talked about this,” Mona says. “My peach tea.”

Kaeya rolls his eyes. “Your concern for my well being warms my heart.”

“Well, I also genuinely care about you and would be devastated if anything happened to you but I figured saying so would make you recoil in horror.”

Kaeya recoils in horror.

“Anyway,” Mona quickly moves on. “Just don’t annoy him as much as you usually do and you’ll be fine.”

“Mona, I can’t not annoy him,” Kaeya decides to ignore her earlier words. “I’m his brother. My main role in this world is to cause him as much pain as possible.”

“Is it really that hard to just go in, tell him to be good, and leave?” Venti asks.

"Yes,” Kaeya has to poke him at least once. Otherwise what’s the point?

Mona nods to herself. “You’re gonna die.”

“If Klee hasn’t killed me yet, I doubt Diluc will be able to,” Kaeya glances at the clock above the bar and sighes. It’s nearly midnight already,  Diluc will be leaving soon. “But I guess we’re about to find out.”

“Aha… actually…” Mona looks away guiltily. “I have plans tonight…”

“Diluc banned me from the Angel’s Share,” Venti says. “He’s still mad about me stealing his grapes.”

Truly the best babysitters a man could ask for.

“I assume you two will keep drinking for another hour?” Kaeya stands to leave and Mona clutches Kaeya’s coin purse tighter.

“Oh, it’ll be longer than that,” Venti smiles.

“Just don’t spend all my money.”

Kaeya really needs to get his emergency fund set up for if Jean finds out about him and kicks him out of the Knights. Or maybe she’ll save him the trouble and just kill him. Might be easier.

Ugh. Why does drinking make him such a downer?

“Well, I’ll see you later if I’m not dead,” Venti salutes him and Mona waves as he heads out.

Angel’s Share is not a long walk from the Cat’s Tail, but every step fills him with dread. Honestly, he doesn’t blame Mona and Venti for not wanting to come along as moral support. Kaeya is sure Diluc hates the two purely for being friends with Kaeya.

Also because of Venti stealing from the Dawn Winery.

Eventually, Kaeya finds himself in front of the bar, lively as it always is at this time, and heads in.

"Hello, dear brother," Kaeya takes a seat at the bar and greets Diluc with a lot more enthusiasm than he actually has. "Such a fine evening, don't you think?"

Diluc takes one look at him and scowls. “What the hell happened to you?”

“Klee.”

That seems to be enough of an answer for Diluc because he immediately starts ignoring Kaeya as he polishes some random glass. It’s already clean, he’s just doing it to show Kaeya exactly how much he’s ignoring him. What an ass.

"Anyways," Kaeya continues. "There's a Fatui diplomat coming and Jean would very much appreciate it if you don't go and pick a fight the moment they get here."

"That depends on the diplomat," Diluc doesn’t look up from his glass.

"Diluc," Kaeya says. "Someone saying your hair is messy is not a reason to start a fight with them."

Diluc finally looks up at him. "There were other reasons."

"Name one."

It’s impressive how long Diluc can glare at someone without blinking or even breathing. Maybe impressive is the wrong word. Concerning?

Definitely.

"How about you answer a question for me," Diluc finally puts the glass down. "What's your vision?"

Ah. Well. Fuck.

"Why the sudden interest?" Kaeya asks.

"Your little knights have been talking about your hydro vision," Diluc responds. "That wasn't hydro, Kaeya."

“Think what you want,” Kaeya shrugs. “Doesn’t matter to me.”

“Is it a delusion?” Ah, there’s the face again. The one that reminds Kaeya his brother still cares about him.

He hates it. So fucking much.

“Can you make up your mind?” Kaeya asks. “Either hate me or don’t. I’d like to stop pretending I have a family.”

Diluc freezes and Kaeya doesn't give him time to recover.

"You know, I would have told you everything if you hadn't punched me in the face two sentences into my explanation that night," he continues. "So, it's funny that you'd like to know about my vision now."

Fuck. He really shouldn’t have had anything to drink before doing this. He doesn’t want to have this conversation. Now or ever.

“You’re angry at me,” Diluc’s glare returns. “You’re the one who lied your entire life.”

“Yes,” Kaeya grits his teeth. “Good thing I did too, or I’d have been kicked out as a kid and left to starve. Again.”

Stop it.

“Do you really think my father would have let that happen to a child? Did you honestly have so little faith in him?” Diluc’s voice raises enough to get the attention of a few other patrons.

Kaeya ignores them.

“Well, I didn’t think you’d try to kill me so I guess I was just an idiot.”

Why are you doing this?

Kaeya grips the counter and breathes. It’s fine. He can just leave. He can just go home and sleep off this terrible headache and never come back to the Angel’s Share. He doesn’t have to do this.

“Did you know I would have betrayed my homeland to protect you, Diluc?”

Kaeya wonders how his father would react to that. Him caring about this stupid family he was meant to destroy more than his own. He doesn’t know why he’s using past tense, he would still betray Khaenri’ah if it meant his home could be safe.

He would destroy any other nation, but he would never let his people touch Mondstadt.

The fate of Khaenri’ah is not yours to secure.

He truly hopes that’s the case, because he’s doing a terrible job.

Kaeya swallows and stands up. “My apologies. It seems I’ve had too much to drink tonight. Good night, Master Diluc.”

He leaves before Diluc can say anything. This has already gone terribly and he doesn’t want to continue digging this hole.

Once outside, he leans against the wall of the bar and looks up at the sky. Kæra Skepna is visible in the cloudless night and Kaeya wonders how aware of the world she is.

“Mama,” Kaeya says. “You raised an idiot.”

She doesn’t respond, of course. If she could, she’d probably say that part was Crepus’ doing.

Kaeya takes a moment to catch his breath. The cold air is somewhat grounding after being stuck in that stuffy bar. Diluc probably hates him even more now. Maybe that was the goal. If Diluc can’t decide whether he hates Kaeya or not, Kaeya can just make the decision for him.

He starts on the long walk home so he can go to sleep and continue pretending everything is fine.

Chapter Text

Kaeya wakes up with a pounding headache, the result of various bad decisions made the day prior, and decides to go back to sleep. Forever. Or at least until this minor concussion is dealt with and Diluc forgets he exists.

Why did Kaeya do that? The only thing that makes being around Diluc tolerable is that he has no idea what’s going on with Kaeya. Diluc still thinking Kaeya is here to ruin his life was the only revenge he could get, and it was funny to antagonize him with it.

Now he knows Kaeya actually cares. Maybe he will ruin Diluc’s life. That’ll get their relationship back on track.

“Kaeya?” Venti interrupts Kaeya’s attempts to will himself into dying. “You alright in there?”

Venti has really made himself at home since he befriended Kaeya. The bastard will sometimes sleep in Kaeya’s bed and leave him to the couch. Thankfully, Kaeya managed to make it home before him last night. He may have committed a murder if he’d had to sleep on the couch.

“I’m not in the mood,” Kaeya responds. “Tell Jean I’m dead and thus can’t come to work today.”

He hears Mona sigh and feels that shit deep in his bones. But if Mona is here, she’ll bother him until she finds out what’s wrong and then probably go slap Diluc. He wonders if that will actually make him feel better.

“What happened with Diluc?” Mona sits on his bed without even moving the blankets while Venti dives in there for his unused pillows.

Kaeya groans. “Got in an argument and now he knows I have emotions.”

“Oh, yikes,” Venti moves closer to cuddle into Kaeya’s side. “How did that happen?”

“Well,” Kaeya says. “I made the mistake of getting angry. And then Diluc got angry. And then I got more angry. And now I’m tired.”

Mona hums and runs a hand through Kaeya’s hair which he absolutely will not admit that he likes the feeling of. “Albedo already told Jean about your injury yesterday and she wants you to take a few more days off.”

Oh, thank fuck. Albedo is the only person in this city that he respects.

“He does want to talk to you, though, probably about your ‘vision,’” Mona continues. “But for now, just get some rest, and we’ll get you breakfast.”

Kaeya’s eyes widen in panic but Venti quickly interrupts him. “Oh no, we’re buying breakfast. Did you honestly think I’d attempt to make food?”

“No, not really,” Kaeya says. “But I do know you’re a colossal idiot.”

“That’s fair!” Venti squeezes Kaeya in something resembling a hug and then jumps off the bed. “We are using your money though, obviously.”

He was too awake now. If he tried to go back to sleep at this point, he’d just think about Diluc again. And any thoughts about Diluc, good or bad, inevitably lead to a worse mood.

Maybe this is his fault. He never should have gotten attached to a family he was meant to use for his own ends. He’s a terrible spy.

Kaeya takes a breath and tries to clear his mind of any and all thoughts about his life and the tragic comedy it reveals itself to be every fucking day.

“I’ll come with you,” he says. “So you don’t spend all my money again.”

Mona smiles sympathetically but does not call him out on anything. “Okay.”

It takes Kaeya a painful amount of time to get ready. His migraine is showing no signs of chilling the fuck out and he can’t remember where he threw all his clothes once he got back to his room. He finds one shoe under the bed and doesn’t find the second until he looks out the window.

Eventually, he’s presentable and they’re able to make their way to Good Hunter.

“What do you want?” Mona looks up at the menu. “Pile ‘Em Up is always a classic…”

“You like skewers, don't you?” Venti asks. “You’ve got so many of those weird little sticks in your kitchen. Frankly, it’s concerning.”

“There’s so many ways you can flavour them,” Kaeya says. “I don’t need to explain myself to you.”

Mona ignores them and orders some skewers and a salad. Kaeya is already exhausted from having been outside for more than ten minutes so he’s glad for the chance to sit at one of the tables while Sara prepares their food.

Venti hums as he plays his lyre. “Do you think Albedo will be any trouble?”

“No,” Albedo is probably more interested in how Kaeya’s abilities work than using them for his own gain. “He’s a nerd, not evil.”

“How about Klee?”

“Oh, absolutely,” Mona says. “Her constellation represents luck, but that’s hers. Gods help anyone surrounding her.”

Venti had told Mona about the hydro shield incident. She didn’t seem surprised. Kaeya has no doubt that Klee would do something like that again. There’s no force in this world that can stop Klee from causing the destruction she seeks.

“Ooh, I want some sticky honey roast!”

The three of them swivel their heads at the sound of Paimon’s voice. As always, Aether is stood right next to her, looking up at the menu. It’s been a while since Kaeya’s seen them. He didn’t even know they’d left Liyue.

“Hello there, traveler,” Venti greets and the pair turn to wave back.

That’s when Kaeya notices Diluc next to them, frowning up at the menu. Of course, Aether wouldn’t buy food unless someone else was buying it for them. They’re always spending their money on weapons and artifacts. They don’t have anything to spare.

Kaeya slowly sinks under the table.

Mona, meanwhile, pushes her chair out and walks over.

“Oh, shit,” Venti decides to avert his eyes so he can have plausible deniability. “She’s gonna fuck him up.”

“Venti, am I visible from under the table?” It would be unbelievably embarrassing if Diluc saw Kaeya hiding from him. “Do you think he’ll notice me?”

“I think Mona’s got you covered,” Venti giggles.

Mona marches up to Diluc with all the intimidation she can muster as a woman who barely reaches 5”2 in heels. He looks down at her, not at all fearing the tiny astrologist.

That just seems to make her angrier.

“Do you need something-”

Mona slaps him and then grabs the coat of his jacket to pull him closer. Kaeya can’t hear what she says, but he assumes it’s various threats to important organs. Mona doesn’t even know what Diluc said, but she’s still furious. Maybe he’ll respect one other person in this city.

Maybe. Depends if she’ll stop stealing his money and get a job. Doubtful, to be honest.

Mona slaps Diluc again, just for the hell of it he guesses.

“... Order for Mona,” Sara calls.

Mona takes a breath and lets Diluc go. “Good talk.”

Venti collects the food and rushes over to Mona meanwhile Kaeya teleports the hell out of there because he’d rather die than face Diluc. Mona and Venti don’t call him out on it when they find him a block away from Good Hunter.

“Mona, have I ever told you how much I love you?”

She smirks and hands him his food. “I take cash and incessant compliments.”

-

“Tell me everything,” Albedo’s eyes are bright as he directs Kaeya to a plush chair and pulls out a notebook. “Spare no details.”

“Uh,” Kaeya offers smartly. Albedo continues to stare, completely enraptured. “Well. I’m technically a god?”

Albedo scribbles something in his notebook. “What are you the god of?”

“Dreams and the Cosmos,” Kaeya answers. “I’m still not really… sure how it all works.”

“That is fine. I can help with that,” Albedo nods. “Dreams and the Cosmos. I believe Lilax was the goddess of dreams with dominion over astro. How did you acquire her power?”

“I don’t remember,” the fever that came with his body transforming into something inhumane had made everything fuzzy at the time. All he remembers is his mother constantly watching over him. “I was a child.”

It was the truth, but Kaeya can make a pretty accurate guess as to how his mother found the gnosis. He wouldn’t put it past her to kill a god.

“Hmm,” Albedo hums. “The sudden appearance of Kæra Skepna, I assume that was you? It seems you have great power yet don’t often use it.”

“I don’t need to,” Kaeya shrugs. “I’ve only ever used it in emergencies.”

“What emergency required a constellation?” Albedo is nothing but sincere in his line of questioning yet Kaeya still feels like he’s being attacked.

“A… personal one.”

Albedo frowns, but quickly moves on. “What other things can you do with this power?”

“You’ve already seen it. I can teleport, that’s about it.” Kaeya says. That was essentially the extent of his abilities. Except for that one time he created a field of stars where the space in between was so cold he felt like he’d freeze despite Diluc actively attacking him with fire.

It was a weird sensation, to be the coldest he’s ever been while sporting at least seven new burn scars. It had gotten Diluc to stop at least.

… Fuck. He’s thinking about Diluc again.

Albedo writes some more musing in his notebook. “I will research the topic of Lilax and astro more and get back to you with some new hypotheses. For now, I request that you get some rest so you’re fully recovered for our experiments.”

Ah, to be valued as a comrade.

“Can do,” Kaeya absolutely cannot do that. He’ll think about things again. Too risky. “Keep me updated on what you find.”

Albedo has already gathered up his notebook and pen to head to the library. Nothing can stop that man once he’s latched onto a new research subject. Kaeya’s not even sure he has to sleep, now that he knows Albedo isn’t human. God, he wishes that were him.

With nothing else required of him, Kaeya decides to go on a walk. A nice, peaceful stroll through Mondstadt is just what he needs.

“Kaeya!” Klee is very excited to find him the moment he leaves headquarters. So much for a peaceful stroll. “I thought you were staying home this week.”

“Albedo just wanted my help with something,” Kaeya says. “And now I’m going home.”

Klee frowns and Kaeya already knows he’s about to agree to whatever she asks of him.

“I wanted to go fishing today, but I’m not allowed to go by myself anymore and everyone else is busy…” Klee plays with her fingers. “Can you come?”

“Sure thing,” Kaeya pats her head. At least it’ll give him something to do.

“Yay!” She bursts into nothing but smiles and Kaeya suddenly feels no displeasure at having to take Klee fishing. He also understands why his mother used to call him a baby even when he was seven years old. Klee is ten and she is still a Whole Baby.

Adorable. Exquisite. Kaeya would absolutely kill a god for her.

Klee grabs Kaeya’s hand and drags him after her as he spends a full minute getting over Klee smiling at him. Eventually he regains his composure enough to make sure they have actual fishing gear. If they don’t bring fishing rods, Klee’s definitely got bombs to spare.

She talks his ear off about her friend out in Wolvendom as they walk down to the lake surrounding Mondstadt and Kaeya is glad to let her do her thing. He’s not feeling very talkative and he’d rather listen to Klee than his own thoughts.

“When we’re done, we can cook our own fish and it’ll taste extra better!” Klee says. “I do lots of cooking so don’t worry about the kitchen catching fire.”

Kaeya is suddenly worrying about the kitchen catching fire.

Klee just hums as she waits for another fish to catch. Usually she complains about the wait time and begs Kaeya to let her throw a bomb in. Just one. Just to see the sploosh. But she’s suspiciously well behaved today. It’s almost unnerving.

“Hey Kaeya… do you think Jean would be mad if I blew up all the pigeons on the bridge again?”

There it is.

“Yes,” Kaeya says. “She’d be extremely mad. And Timmie would be very sad. You don’t want to upset people, right?”

Klee wrinkles her nose. Holy shit, she’s cute. “No… I guess I’ll stick to the ones in the mountains.”

Kaeya sighs. Baby steps.

It takes another hour for Klee to start growing restless so Kaeya suggests calling it a day before she really does throw a bomb in the lake. She beams up at him and rushes to pick up their small haul and carry it back to Kaeya’s house.

“I can carry that if you want,” Kaeya offers.

“No, I got it,” Klee is struggling to hold the bucket of fish high enough not to scrape the ground. “It’s easy.”

Kaeya just smiles and keeps an eye on her as they walk to make sure she doesn’t drop the bucket in the middle of the street. She’s incredibly determined to get this fish home and in her belly.

And she succeeds. Really, it’s a miracle how little chaos Klee has caused today.

She pulls all the scales off the fish so he can filet them and tries to help him cook even though Kaeya has to lift her up to reach the counter. When Kaeya was her age, he was much smaller and thinner so Crepus had no problem lifting him up and taking him away from the various troublesome situations he got into.

Klee’s getting harder and harder to lift everyday, but those chubby cheeks were evidence of her eating well and there’s nothing else Kaeya could want for her. If Klee still wants to be picked up, well, he’s just gonna have to work out more.

“Don’t forget seasoning,” Kaeya tells her. “It’s the most important part of any dish.”

“But you don’t have salt and pepper,” Klee frowns.

“No,” Kaeya puts Klee down. “But I have something better.”

“What?”

“Taste,” he answers. “Wait here, I’ll get my spices.”

His collection of seasonings is the only thing Venti doesn’t steal from his cupboards because he doesn’t know how to make anything except plain ratatouille. And even then, it’s usually burnt. Kaeya doesn’t mind that Venti is a terrible cook though because it means the Sacred Spice Cupboard is safe from his antics.

Until he gets brave enough to try something new. Or drunk enough.

Klee listens intently as he shows her his collection and picks out some of the nicest sounding ones to flavour their grilled fish. She’s got no idea what half of this stuff is and Kaeya decides that whoever was teaching her to cook is fired and he’ll step in now.

“Is it done yet?” Klee bounces beside him as he fries their hard earned food. “It smells done.”

“Not quite. The skin needs to be a little crispier.”

Klee pouts but it doesn’t discourage her from asking if it’s done another ten seconds later. And then another ten seconds after that. And another ten seconds after that.

Kaeya reminds himself that Klee is just a child and does not intend to cause him the physical and mental harm she causes him.

Finally, Klee asks her question for the umpteenth time and Kaeya can say that it’s done. She dives for her plate the moment Kaeya’s put the food on it. She doesn’t bother grabbing utensils and nearly drops her food on the ground because it burns her hands.

Seriously. Who taught this kid about food? Kaeya hands her a fork so she can eat like a civilized human being.

“It’s really good!” Klee exclaims between mouthfuls of food. “We should cook together more!”

Kaeya hums, pretending that he doesn’t feel warm and fuzzy at the approval of a ten year old pyromaniac. “If you want.”

Klee nods eagerly, but doesn’t say anything else because she’s so focused on her food. She finishes long before Kaeya and stares at his plate longingly until he relents and gives her some more. He doesn’t like seafood anyway, he’s only eating it for Klee’s sake.

“It’s getting late,” Kaeya glances outside as the sun starts to dip. “We should get you back to Albedo, hm?”

“Or I could stay here,” Klee suggests. “Albedo wouldn’t mind, I promise!”

“As much as I love your company, you don’t have any of your stuff here,” Kaeya says. And Venti is bound to stumble in at midnight, drunk as a skunk.

“We could go get them!” Klee is not deterred. “We’d have to tell Albedo I’m staying here anyway.”

Kaeya finds it a little weird that nothing makes him happier than the fact that a little girl likes him, but he doesn’t get much love nowadays so he’ll take it. “What makes you want to stay here so bad?”

“Oh, well, I…” Klee glances at the ground. “You looked sad this morning so I wanted to cheer you up. And I read about concussives and they can be dangerous if you sleep so I should watch over you.”

“Concussions,” Kaeya corrects because he can’t think of anything else to say.

“Can I stay?” Klee asks. “Pretty please?”

“... Just ask Albedo first.”

“Okay!” Klee nods eagerly. “I’ll be back real quick!”

She shoots out the door and Kaeya continues to stare after her.

How did Klee even notice something was off? She’s usually blissfully unaware of the troubles of those around her. That explains her good behaviour at least…

She wants to watch over him to make sure he’s all right… What did Kaeya ever do to deserve such a thing?

Well, he supposes he has another babysitter now.

-

An hour later, Klee is settled in Kaeya’s bed in her brightly coloured pajamas already completely asleep. The bed is way too big for her, but she still starfishes in some kind of attempt to take up more space. Kaeya could still sleep in there without even being near her.

“Kaeya!” Venti shouts and Kaeya immediately teleports into the living room to tell him to shut the fuck up.

“Klee is sleeping,” Kaeya says. “So for once in your life, be quiet.”

“Kaeya,” Venti repeats and his tone leads Kaeya to believe this isn’t going to be another outraged story of him getting kicked out of a bar. “I talked to Aether earlier.”

“And?”

“They came here with a friend,” he answers. “Our supposed Fatui diplomat.”

Oh, fuck. Aether’s friends are never normal. “What’s the problem?”

“Kaeya, he’s a Fatui Harbinger.”

Well. That’s not good.

Chapter Text

Kaeya is standing in Jean’s office while the woman in question sighs with her head in her hands. He can relate, he’d done a lot of bemoaning of his life just last night.

“He summoned an ancient god to try and destroy Liyue?”

“Yeah.”

“After trying to steal Rex Lapis’ gnosis?”

“Yeah.”

Jean sighs again. “And now he’s our problem.”

Damn that diplomatic immunity that comes with entering the City of Freedom. Kaeya can hear Venti’s annoying voice saying ‘everyone deserves a chance.’ Fucker. Now there’s a Fatui Harbinger that tried to destroy an entire city in their home and they can’t even kick him out.

“Aether claims Childe promised to behave,” Kaeya says. “But based on everything else they said, I have very little faith he actually will.”

“He’s a harbinger,” Jean nods. “It would be foolish to think he’s been sent here for no reason.”

Kaeya can think of at least one reason a harbinger could be here.

"We can trust that Aether will keep an eye on him at least,” Kaeya says. “But even they have their limits. With your permission, I’ll employ my other sources to find out what I can about why he’s here.”

Jean frowns. “Have you recovered from your injury?”

“It wasn’t that serious.”

“But have you recovered?”

“I wasn’t even really hurt.”

“Yes, but have you recovered?”

“... I have a small headache still,” Kaeya relents. “It’s fine.”

“Start searching tomorrow,” Jean decides. “He won’t get up to much in just one day.”

“A small headache,” Kaeya emphasizes. “Barely noticeable.”

“Oh, Kaeya,” Jean smiles. “I’ve known you long enough to know that even admitting you’re in pain likely means you’re actively dying. Take the day off. I’ll visit later to check on you.”

Why do so many people have to care about Kaeya’s wellbeing? It’s getting annoying. Just let him die already.

“Fine,” Kaeya huffs. “But I am coming back to work tomorrow.”

“Of course,” Jean says. “I need to keep an eye on you so you don’t overwork yourself.”

“That’s rich coming from you,” Kaeya points out.

“Just returning the favour.”

Those self care books Lisa keeps giving Jean are certainly good for her but Kaeya would appreciate it if he could be self destructive in peace. It’s fine though, he can probably survive one more day stuck at home. Even if there’s a Fatui harbinger possibly here to kill him and steal his gnosis.

It’s fine.

Kaeya gives his goodbyes and leaves Jean’s office, only to immediately be met with Mona, Venti, and Albedo.

“Oh, no.”

“Between the three of us, we can make sure you’ve always got someone watching over you,” Mona says. “Albedo claimed the first shift.”

“Yes,” Albedo nods eagerly. “Kaeya, are you capable of teleporting multiple people or objects?”

It’s gonna be a long day.

-

Albedo makes himself comfortable on Kaeya’s couch with a stack of books on ancient gods as Kaeya fills out the survey he’d spent all night making. He discovers that Albedo is very creative, a lot of these questions have never even crossed Kaeya’s mind.

He also does not seem to have a proper grasp on boundaries. Some of these questions are certainly personal ones. He just crosses those ones out.

“Did you find anything else out in your research?” Kaeya asks as he goes through the list.

“Not much yet,” Albedo frowns. “... Have you ever heard of the Dream Graveyard?”

The Dream Graveyard was well known in Khaenri’ah. It was the only place in the entire kingdom where you could see the sky above the rock. It was also where the monsters of Khaenri’ah ran to when they weren’t killed before completing their transformation. Something about the place drew them there.

He wonders if, even in their monstrous states, they could still appreciate the beauty of the stars.

“I don’t know much about the place.”

“It was Lilax’s domain,” Albedo says. “But it fell during the archon wars. Not to a god, but a human… Alberich.”

Ah, there’s a question not very well hidden in that statement.

“I don’t have many stories from home,” Kaeya says. “And I needed a new surname.”

Kaeya doesn’t remember if he had a surname before coming to live with the Ragnvindr family, but Alberich seemed fitting. His mother is the one who killed Lilax and he’s the one who stole her gnosis. Alberich would be proud.

“Well, Alberich died in the battle so it’s safe to assume he didn’t take her gnosis,” Albedo accepts Kaeya’s explanation with no further questions. It seems he’s finally starting to realise Kaeya probably won’t answer them. “Her people likely buried her with her gnosis, but the graveyard is incredibly dangerous. I doubt you would have been able to get it on your own.”

Or maybe Albedo isn’t realising. He’s just trying to be more subtle. And failing.

“I’m not the one who took the gnosis,” Kaeya decides to throw him a bone. “It was given to me. I don’t remember how she got it.”

Which, again, is technically true. Even though he knows how his mother acquired the gnosis, he doesn’t remember it.

“I haven’t found anything else with solid evidence,” Albedo sighs. “I have many theories, but no way of confirming them without further research.”

And that was Albedo’s way of asking Kaeya to be quiet so he could read his books. Suddenly he wishes Venti was the one annoying him today.

Kaeya returns to the questionnaire and crosses out a question asking how starlight affects his sex drive. Albedo has absolutely no tact. He’s decided he hates nerds as well as poor people.

The next hour is spent filling out Albedo’s very long and comprehensive survey, even though most of the time he can only answer with ‘I don't know.’ He doesn’t know why Albedo needs to know even half of this stuff but who is he to question the scientific process?

“What’s up, bitches?” Mona bursts into the house without so much as knocking but Kaeya can’t bring himself to be mad because at least she’ll save him from this boredom. “How’s the research going?”

“Slowly,” Kaeya responds. “But I’m nearly finished.”

“I’ve so far read eighteen out of the forty three books I’ve found that might have information,” Albedo says and Kaeya starts rushing to finish the rest of the questionnaire. “I’ve been writing down anything of interest. It is a disappointingly small list.”

“Wow,” Mona glances at Kaeya’s nine out of ten pages completed. “He’s kicking your ass.”

“We don’t all have superhuman focus, Mona,” Kaeya grumbles.

“You’re literally a god.”

“I only skimmed them to find the passages that matter,” Albedo says. “It really isn’t that impressive.”

Kaeya elects not to mention that he reads maybe three books a month at most. And one of them is the children’s storybook he reads to Klee constantly.

“I did think of another question, if you’ll indulge me,” Albedo says and Kaeya can only sigh. “Many of the gods have a physical trait that relates to their power. I believe Venti’s braids glow?”

“Yeah, it’s real useful when we’re walking home drunk at midnight,” Mona nods.

“Do you have any such traits, Kaeya?”

“Oh… yeah,” Kaeya’s never actually shown anyone his eye but he doesn’t see why he couldn’t. The only reason the eyepatch is there is to keep the secret of his godhood, but they already know so… he may as well.

It feels weird to take off something that he’s never taken off in front of company. He does not like how vulnerable it feels. Or the light that he’s forced to adjust to.

“Oh, that’s gorgeous,” Mona is suddenly right in front of his face. “That would fit my aesthetic so well. Could I just like… borrow your gnosis when I’m doing readings? I’d look cool as fuck.”

It’s already weird having his eye fussed over without Mona and Albedo crowding around him to get a better look.

“ Personal space,” he reminds them. “It’s not that cool.”

“It moves,” Albedo grabs his face. “There’s different constellations. You have an innate connection to them… very interesting.”

Kaeya removes Albedo’s hands from his suddenly flushed cheeks. “Calm down, buddy.”

Albedo immediately picks up his notebook and begins scribbling down more ideas as Kaeya puts the eyepatch back on. He’s never fucking taking it off again.

“You are connected to every constellation in this world. Could you potentially rework other’s constellations? Destroy them? I know you can create them,” Albedo muses. “Even gods have constellations. If you could destroy those...”

Mona and Kaeya both freeze.

“You could potentially be the strongest god in existence,” Mona finishes.

“But you don’t have that power, at least not yet,” Albedo says. “Lilax must have, yet she didn’t use it in the Archon wars… why is that?”

“Maybe it’s not possible,” Kaeya offers. “I can’t imagine Lilax would have just let a normal old human kill her if she could destroy his constellation.”

“An excellent point,” Albedo’s eyes brighten. “Alberich was from Khaenri’ah, a place with no sky. It’s very likely that he never had the blessing of a constellation. Alberich was also solely focused on Lilax. Perhaps there was a reason other than the glory of slaying a god.”

Dreams and the Cosmos. Two things Khaenri’ah doesn’t have.

“I apologise, but I must leave to conduct more research,” Albedo hurriedly gathers up his books. “Stay safe in the meantime. If I’m correct and the Fatui know you exist, they’ll want your gnosis more than anything.”

Albedo takes his leave and Mona and Kaeya are left standing in the living room.

“You’re fucked,” Mona says. “Like, there’s no way they haven’t figured out how Kæra Skepna was created. They know you exist. They just don’t know who you are.”

“And the fact that a harbinger is here means they’re probably close to figuring it out,” Kaeya slumps back on the couch. “I’m fucked.”

“It’s not impossible to protect you still,” Mons bites her nails as she sits next to him on the couch.. “Mondstadt loves you. Jean would make sure the Knights have your back.”

“The only problem there is that I would have to tell them the truth,” Kaeya sighs. “And that will make them hate me.”

“Don’t be stupid, not even Diluc really hates you,” Mona says. “And if you don’t start sharing your secrets, you might actually die.”

Kaeya’s gnosis is weak. It’s grown stronger with him, but it still doesn’t have even a fraction of the power other gods do. If the Fatui want it, he can’t really do anything to stop them. And if it’s taken… the curse would resume. He’d turn into a monster.

So his options are, one, tell his friends the truth and have them hate him. They’ll probably kill him and there won’t be a problem anymore. Even imagining it, he already knows he can’t tell the truth. He’s already felt that animosity and he doesn’t want his friends to hate him even once he’s dead.

Option two, don’t tell anyone. Continue living on the edge until the Fatui find out who he is and take his gnosis, leaving him to turn into a horrible creature and again, be hated, but this time not aware of it. A little better, but he doesn’t want to hurt anyone in Mondstadt.

Or, the third option, he could find a way to die without getting anyone else involved. What if he just starts a fight with Childe? It would make it obvious who he is, but he probably wouldn’t live long enough to face the repercussions.

“What are you thinking?” Mona asks. “Is it something stupid? I bet it’s stupid.”

“Oh, for sure,” it could genuinely work but there’s definitely some holes in the plan. “I might just punch that harbinger in the face. He’ll kill me and take my gnosis. Problem solved.”

Mona slaps him. “If anyone is killing you, it’s me. Stop being a pussy and talk to Jean.”

Kaeya rubs his cheek. Mona has a mean backhand and she is not afraid to use it.

“Absolutely not.”

She slaps him again.

“Kaeya, I know everything about you,” Mona says. “I saw your constellation, I saw everything, and I don’t hate you or want you dead. Your reasons for coming to Mondstadt don’t matter because they aren’t the reason you’re still here. No one will care.”

“Diluc did,” Kaeya responds. “If you know everything, you know that.”

“Yeah, and I know everything about Diluc too. It’s called astrology, you should try it some time, God of the Cosmos,” Mona deadpans. “Do you want to know what he thinks, Kaeya? Or are you scared of that too?”

“Just because you see everything, doesn’t mean you understand it. And I don’t think you’re understanding the fact that my brother tried to kill me,” Kaeya emphasizes. “If he hates me, I don’t see why anyone else wouldn’t.”

“Oh, I understand completely,” Mona says. “But I also don’t doubt that if someone else threatened you, Diluc would kill them with his bare hands. He’s angry, he doesn’t hate you.”

Kaeya doesn’t doubt that either. Diluc’s always been protective, but maybe Kaeya is sick of it. Diluc could show that he still cares about his little brother however he wants, but he will never admit it. What’s the point of people caring about you if they want you to think they don't? That just hurts more.

Hmm. If Kaeya dies, maybe he’ll finally get a reaction out of Diluc.

“I’m not going to fight Childe,” Kaeya decides. “And I’m not telling anyone the truth. If I die, I die.”

Mona glares at him. “Bold of you to assume I’d let that happen.”

-

“Hi Kaeya!” Klee greets him at the door. Jean is standing behind her with at least ten different packages stacked in her arms.

“I’ve brought you some food,” Jean says. “I wasn’t sure what you wanted, so I just got some of everything.”

“Jean.”

“I know,” she sighs. “But I figured your babysitters would be here too.”

Oh, great. Now they’ve got her calling them that. “Venti’s sleeping, and Mona left hours ago for…  something.”

“Nothing too… chaotic, I hope?” Jean begins setting the food on the table.

“No idea,” Kaeya doesn’t really want to know what that woman is planning either. “But she was really on a mission.”

“Aw,” Klee mutters. “I wanted her to do my hair… can you do it?”

“Sure,” Kaeya agrees because last time Jean tried to brush Klee’s hair, she’d been too rough and made her cry. Jean has since started brushing Lisa’s hair to practice being more gentle and Kaeya has found Lisa holding her scalp in pain multiple times.

Klee jumps on the couch and hands Kaeya her hairbrush. Her hair is in a state to say the least. What kind of shenanigans has this kid gotten up to while he was gone?

“Albedo was busy today,” Jean says. “So Klee spent a few hours unsupervised…”

“I made some real big splashes!” Klee often finds it impossible to stay still, which makes Kaeya’s job a lot harder. But he’s had to deal with Diluc’s hair before, and this is much easier.

“Yes,” Jean says. “And some real big craters in the lake.”

“Ah,” Kaeya nods. “Klee, do you want another fishing trip? I’d be happy to take you.”

“Oh, yes please!”

“No fish blasting though.”

Klee’s excitement dims a little, but she’s still overall happy at the idea. Jean mouths a ‘thank you’ at him as she sets the table.

It doesn’t take long to do Klee’s hair despite her constantly wriggling, and then she immediately dives into the food Jean brought. No matter how much they feed her, Klee is always ravenous. She finishes hers in minutes and then just looks at Kaeya and Jean.

Unfortunately if Kaeya gives Klee his food in front of Jean, she’ll lecture them both. And no one wants to deal with that.

“Hey, Klee, do you wanna go hang out with Venti while we finish our food and clean up?” Kaeya’s use of the phrase ‘clean up’ gets Klee up and out of her chair in seconds. Which is good because he doesn’t know much longer he can resist the puppy dog eyes.

Klee basically runs into Kaeya’s room to go bother Venti and he only feels a little bad for siccing an overly energetic child on him. Venti himself is basically an overly energetic child most of the time so he’ll be fine.

“How’s your head?” Jean asks.

“It’s completely fine,” Kaeya still has a headache but he’s pretty sure that’s just because of the state his life is in right now. “You all worry too much.”

“Even Klee has been worrying about you,” Jean says. “She thinks you’re sad, and even I can see that you’ve been more stressed lately. Kaeya, you know I’ll help you however I can, right?”

Jean makes it incredibly difficult to lie to her. She’s too genuine and kind and Kaeya is everything she’s not.

He doesn’t see any way that things right now could end well for him. If he dies, they’ll be sad, but that’s better than knowing the truth isn’t it? Jean always does her best to protect Mondstadt, how would she feel knowing she’d let a traitor stay in the Knights?

Then again, how would she feel if her friend died when she didn’t even know anything was going on?

Why is it so hard to lie to Jean? He’s been lying to everyone else completely fine for years.

“Jean, do you remember when Diluc kicked me out and I stayed with you for a while?” Kaeya asks and Jean nods. “I deserved it. Everyone thinks Diluc was the one who was out of line, but I deserved it. If you knew, you’d think so too.”

“You can’t assume that,” Jean says. “You’re a dear friend and I trust you completely.”

“You shouldn’t.”

“And yet I do.”

Jean is too good for this. She doesn’t deserve to deal with his problems. He should just send her home and go to sleep and never mention this again.

“I was sent to Mondstadt to discover it’s secrets so my people could destroy it and start a new life,” Kaeya says. “I joined the Knights because I intended to fulfill my purpose. I lied to you about my vision. I’m not a good person.”

Jean is still as she processes the information. Kaeya can’t read her like this. She’s usually so open and free with him but her face is now set in stone.

“Do you still intend to hurt Mondstadt?”

“No.”

Jean relaxes. “Then it doesn’t matter to me. Eat your food, it will get cold.”

Kaeya blinks as Jean digs into her soup. That… went a lot better than the first time he’d done that.

“You don’t… have any grievances about that?” Kaeya asks. “I lied to you. Multiple times.”

“I helped your burns heal, Kaeya,” Jean says. “I’m not pleased, but I understand why you wouldn’t want to trust anyone else.”

“Oh.”

Jean smiles at him, kind and genuine as always. Kaeya smiles back, weak but just as genuine. He doesn’t feel like saying anything else, this whole conversation has just made him tired.

“Jean! Kaeya!” Klee drags Venti into the room behind him. “Venti says he’ll make us fly inside.”

“Wait, no-”

A gust of wind flips the table and sends them all into the roof.

-

It’s two in the morning and Mona would rather be anywhere but here. It’s too damn cold. She should start bothering Kaeya for one of his jackets. He’ll give in eventually, it’s not like he doesn’t have a whole closet full of them.

And he most certainly owes her with all the bullshit he makes her go through.

Finally, the back door to the Angel’s Share opens and Diluc comes out with a bag of trash. Time to ruin his day too.

“Hello!” She calls from her spot on the roof.

Diluc jumps out of his skin and Mona holds back her laughter. He’ll probably be less inclined to help her if she makes fun of him. No matter how tempting it is. She can understand why Kaeya seeks to antagonise him at every waking moment.

“What do you want?” He throws his trash in the bin with much more force than necessary. She’s not sure if it’s because she’s already managed to piss him off or he just lives like that. It very well could be the latter.

“Your help.”

Diluc immediately scoffs and goes to head back inside.

“Fatui are hunting your little brother,” Mona says before he can open the door. “They haven’t found him yet, but they’re definitely close. He refuses to do anything about it so I am.”

Diluc’s hand lingers on the door handle for a moment before he turns to Mona. “Explain.”

Huh. That was easier than expected. She teleports off the roof and next to him with a smile.

“Follow me.”

Chapter Text

Diluc isn't entirely convinced this isn't just Mona’s elaborate plan to kill him, but she is like five feet tall and has no muscle mass so if she succeeds, Diluc deserves to die.

… Aether might be right about him being too suspicious.

“Where are we going?” He asks.

“My place,” Mona answers. “I’ve got a bunch of wards set up so no one will be able to listen in.”

Diluc narrows his eyes. Sounds like the perfect location to muder someone.

“How far is it?”

“Not far.”

“Where is it?”

Mona swivels to face him. “Diluc, I sometimes babysit a ten year old arsonist and she asks less annoying questions than you do.”

“You’re the one who just asked me to follow you with no further explanation,” Diluc grumbles. “What did Kaeya even do?”

“Not entirely his fault, but, well… it’s a long story,” Mona sighs. “Just walk faster.”

It’s an agonisingly long walk to Mona’s house. Well, it’s only about ten minutes, but Diluc isn’t known for his patience. Once they make it there, Mona immediately dives for the couch and Diluc takes in his surroundings. The place is… a mess.

“You live like this?”

“We don’t all have personal cleaners you prick,” Mona mumbles. “I’ve been busy dealing with Kaeya’s dumb bitch disease because, in this case, it happens to be fatal.”

“Well, we’re alone,” Diluc gestures around the empty room. “So explain.”

“Right, well, even telling you what I already have is a serious violation of the bro code so you’re gonna have to bear with me if I’m a little vague at times,” Mona explains. “But, essentially, Kaeya has a gnosis. It was given to him as a kid, and now the Fatui are after it.”

That… does explain the stars. His vision definitely isn’t normal, but… a gnosis? Who the hell thought giving Kaeya a gnosis was a good idea?

“Why can’t he just give it to them and get on with his life?” Diluc asks.

“Yeah, that’s the thing..." Mona trails off. “He’ll kinda die without it. The gnosis was given to him because he was sick. It’s the only thing that’s stopping him from changing.”

Changing. Diluc doesn’t know much about Khaenri’ah but he did seek out a little information when he left Mondstadt. He’s seen one of the monsters. The wandering beast was in Liyue when he traveled there and it was… not a pretty sight.

It’s skin was rotting and the patches of fur covering its body were nowhere near enough to hide that. It looked diseased, but it was big enough to crush a carriage in one movement. And despite its appearance, it was definitely strong enough too.

Kaeya could become… that.

“The curse. I’m familiar with it.”

“Oh, good. Then you’ll know that nothing can stop it. Except a gnosis, apparently.”

So Kaeya is cursed and the only thing keeping him from changing into a monster is his gnosis, which is actively being hunted down by the Fatui.

“Fucking hell.”

“I’ll drink to that,” Mona mumbles. “Anyway, Kaeya won’t tell anyone what’s going on because he’s pretty sure they’ll hate him. That parts your fault and I’d slap you again right now if I didn’t need your help.”

Diluc clenches his jaw but decides not to get into it. Mona will probably slap him again and his cheek still stings. “How do the Fatui even know he’s here?”

“A couple years back, he created a constellation,” Mona explains. “And that let anyone with knowledge of the old Archon’s know that seven is actually eight. I imagine they would have looked for Lilax first, found her grave, and moved onto who could be the new god. I’m not sure how they realised he's in Mondstadt though…”

“Let me get this right,” Diluc pauses. “Kaeya created a constellation, something extremely obvious, despite the Fatui being after him?”

Sounds exactly like his dumbass extravagant brother.

“To be fair, he didn’t know back then,” Mona explains. “And the circumstances around that were… trying, to say the least. Once you decide to stop being a dick to him, I’m sure he’ll be happy to tell you.”

“I know Kaeya is your friend,” Diluc seethes. “But I am not the only one to blame in what happened.”

“You burned him!” Mona explodes. She looks even more furious than she did yesterday. “He deserved to be punched in the face, maybe, but not that!”

“I… what?”

Mona’s eyes narrow. “Burned. Cooked. Ignited. Incin-”

“I know what burning is, it’s my vision,” Diluc glares, but his face softens a moment later. “I just… I don’t remember what happened.”

“How can you not remember?” Mona asks incredulously.

“I was angry. Between the truth and when the stars appeared, I don’t… remember what happened,” Diluc says. “I know I hurt him, I just didn’t… how badly?”

Mona sighs. She’s still angry but some of the wind seems to have left her sails. “I don’t know, I wasn’t there. Most of what I know about Kaeya is from scrying, but I’ve seen some of the scars.”

Scars. Because burns scar. The burns he inflicted.

Diluc doesn’t want to look at Mona right now. He messes with the hem of his gloves instead. He burned Kaeya… no wonder he hates him now. Diluc deserves it.

“Oh, don’t get all sulky,” Mona says. “If you really cared, you’d apologise. But I’m not here to deal with your family issues, I just want to help my friend.”

Right. Diluc can just… deal with that later. He takes a breath. “What do you want me to do?”

“Well, I intend to scry on Childe and see what I can find out,” Mona explains. “Jean asked Kaeya to find out what he can about him as well, and I’ll be able to get that information out of him. I know you have sources even Kaeya doesn’t have, so I want you to check out those.”

“And if that harbinger makes a move before we find anything out?” Diluc asks.

“Venti, Albedo, and I are aware of the circumstances so one of us will be with him at all times,” Mona says. “But we’re not really… physically strong. So if you could also keep an eye out without being seen, that would be great.”

So Diluc has to babysit Kaeya now. This is just a recipe for disaster.

“Fine.”

Mona smiles. “Great! Now get out of my house.”

-

“It’s so nice to meet you,” Childe shakes Kaeya’s hand. “I heard you’ve been sick recently, I’m glad to see you’re better.”

“So am I,” Kaeya is ever so polite in return. “You still haven’t been shown around Mondstadt, right? Allow me the pleasure.”

“Yeah, Aether and Paimon only really showed me where to buy food,” Childe laughs. “I think they were hinting at something.”

“Maybe you can buy us lunch while we’re out,” Venti is standing on a chair specifically so he can drape his arms over Kaeya’s shoulders. “I’ve got some great recommendations.”

“Venti, please, he’s a guest,” Kaeya says. “I’ll buy us lunch. And you can have some money to go buy more drinks.”

“Nice try, I’m not falling for that twice,” Venti says. “I’m with you until I die.”

That’s quite sweet actually but Kaeya still wants him to die already.

“Kids, right?” Kaeya turns back to Childe as Venti lightly kicks him in the spine.

Kaeya is able to exchange more small talk with his potential murderer before the tour. Childe is free with information about himself, which he files away in his mind to fact check later, while Kaeya remains intentionally vague.

And then Klee comes to visit.

“Kaeya, I finished building you a new table,” Klee drags in a little table that is perfectly sized for her and no one else. It’s incredibly wonky and the leg it’s being dragged on is starting to turn inward.

“That’s very impressive, Klee,” Kaeya rushes to help her. “But I already ordered a new one.”

“But…” Klee’s bottom lip sticks out as she pouts. “But I worked really hard.”

“Two tables means even more people can join us for dinner!” Kaeya quickly amends. “This one looks much better anyway.”

Kaeya pushes one of the nails back in to stop it from falling apart. He’ll modify it a bit later.

Childe covers his mouth as he gasps. “Who are you?”

“I’m Klee,” she introduces herself. “I’m the Spark Knight! I make things explode!”

Oh no, Klee can’t be talking to Childe. He’s literally evil. Kaeya might have to kill him right here.

“It’s nice to meet you then, Sir Klee,” Childe bows as deep as he possibly can and Klee giggles at the title. “You’re just the most adorable thing.”

Kaeya is going to fuck him up.

“I know!” Klee says. “Are you that harbinger? Everyone here’s been calling you a bastard, but you don’t seem that bad.”

“Yep, that’s me,” Childe crouches down so he can be eye level with her. “You’ll have to tell me about all this gossip I haven’t been hearing.”

“Klee, you can’t just repeat everything Amber says about people,” Kaeya tells her. Amber is not the most… polite… when it comes to people she doesn’t trust.

“Miss Mona did too. Like, a lot,” Klee says. “And Miss Lisa, and Venti.”

Venti shrugs. “Your coworker stole my stuff.”

“Was it La Signora?” Childe asks. “Don’t worry, none of us like her either.”

“She called me a rodent.”

“Not inaccurate,” Kaeya mumbles. Venti kicks him again.

“Amber calls you a bastard too, Kaeya,” Klee says.

“I know. She says it to my face,” Kaeya responds. “And I’m pretty sure Albedo doesn’t want you saying that word.”

“He said I can as long as I stop saying fuck,” Klee pauses after finishing her sentence and then gasps as she covers her mouth. “Don't tell him. He’ll take away my bastard privileges.”

“It’s our little secret,” Kaeya agrees. Klee makes him pinkie promise of course, but Kaeya just finds it adorable.

“Ooh, is that a hydro vision?” Klee turns back to Childe and that sudden violent rage returns to Kaeya. “Can I touch it?”

“Sure,” Childe eagerly hands it to Klee. Well, he obviously has a soft spot for kids. Kaeya could probably use that to his advantage but there’s no way in hell he’s dragging Klee into this.

“Kaeya has a hydro vision too,” Klee says. “But he won’t let me touch it. Neither will Miss Mona. She thinks I’ll break hers.”

“I don’t think it’s possible to break a vision,” Childe says.

“That’s what I said!” Klee looks absolutely aghast. “But she just says I’m capable of untold destruction!”

Childe let’s a little ‘aww’ slip past at Klee’s angry face. It is adorable, but still… that motherfucker. Kaeya is going to kill him.

“I believe you have training with Amber today, right Klee?” Kaeya steps in.

“No?” Klee thinks for a moment. “Amber’s busy today.”

“No, I’m pretty sure you do,” Kaeya says. “She was talking about it just this morning.”

Klee gasps in horror. “Did I forget? Oh no, I’ll be in timeout again!”

Klee runs out the door and Kaeya feels a little bad lying to her but he doesn’t want Childe anywhere near her. Klee will forgive him for lying, if she even remembers.

“Well, Venti, do you wanna run this back to my house?” Kaeya is able to pick up the tiny table with one hand.

“Don’t know,” Venti says. “Might be a bit much for one person.”

“Take the table home or lose all your drinks cabinet privileges.”

Venti gasps in horror. “You fiend.”

He gives in anyway and sulks out the door with the little table, leaving Kaeya and Childe alone. Finally. Kaeya will squeeze every drop of information out of him that he can.

“Well, shall we head out?”

“Lead the way.”

It’s not completely unpleasant taking Childe through Mondstadt. It’s also not that illuminating. Childe is apparently just exploring the city, but Kaeya doesn’t believe that one bit.

They have lunch at Good Hunter and Childe orders seafood which is another strike against his character. He already had a strike for being Fatui, how would he disappoint the universe next?

“Is that kid actually a kight?” Fucker is talking about Klee again.

“No, she can’t join for another four years, but she likes being a Knight,” Kaeya shrugs. “And she’s already stronger than half of my own company.”

Kaeya was literally left with the bottom of the barrel when Varka took off. He was promoted to captain of about six people and only two of them even had potential as Knights. More people have joined since then, but it’s still… sad, to say the least.

What if Klee joins his company? Kaeya is one of the few people Jean trusts with her so she probably will. He’s not sure if that’s a good or a bad thing.

“I have a younger brother about her age who’s just as adorable,” Child just straight up lies. No one is as adorable as Klee. “He would love Mondstadt, I should bring him here sometime. Maybe they could be friends.”

“Maybe,” Kaeya smiles back at him. There’s no way he’ll ever let the Fatui kid near Klee. He’s not afraid to punt a child.

Maybe Kaeya is overreacting. Then again, maybe he isn’t and this is Childe’s elaborate plan to make Klee evil. Klee is already kind of evil, but it’s only accidental.

“Hello dear Kaeya,” Mona slides into the seat next to him. “I see you managed to ditch Venti.”

“Mona!” Kaeya’s greeting is much more enthusiastic than he has the energy for. He thought he’d gotten rid of these two. “Wherever have you been since yesterday?”

“Oh, you know,” Mona shrugs. “Is this Childe?”

“So you’re Mona,” Childe says. “I heard you didn’t like me.”

“I don’t like anyone with more money than me,” Mona responds. “Except Kaeya, because he gives me money. Maybe Grand Master Jean too, she’s the only sane person in this city.”

“I don’t suppose there’s anything I can do to change your mind?” Childe asks.

“Give me a million mora.”

Childe laughs good naturedly but Mona doesn’t even crack a smile. She’s completely serious. Kaeya wonders if Mona would betray him just to get rich. She’d probably throw Venti under the bus, but that’s because she’s still mad about him ruining her favourite heels.

Kaeya might be on thin ice, but he’s pretty sure he’s fine.

“Ah, well…” Child falters as he realises Mona isn’t joking. “I don’t currently have that much on me.”

“Figures,” Mona leans back in her seat. “I’ll just have your lunch then.”

Mona swipes the seafood and Kaeya watches in horror. She likes seafood too… what kind of people has he become friends with?

“My apologies,” Kaeya quickly shakes off the betrayal. “I’ll get you something else if you like, Childe. Mona, could you please be more civil with our esteemed guest?”

Mona smiles at him as she takes another spoonful of food. “No.”

“It’s fine,” Childe waves it off. “I’ve gotten used to this kinda thing traveling with Aether and Paimon.”

“Yes, that… does sound like those two,” Mona mutters. “Anway, you two have fun with your little tour. I’m going to enjoy this delicious lunch. Thanks Kaeya!”

Mona is… letting him go off with Childe alone. What the hell has she got up her sleeve? There’s no way she would just give up on her Protect Kaeya Agenda.

Kaeya can’t let his focus slip from Childe right now though, so he decides to question Mona later. He’s sure she’ll come over to steal whatever he makes for dinner anyway. All he can do for now is finish off this damn tour and then check his other sources.

“This way then,” Kaeya tries to lead Childe back up the steps to the higher parts of the city, but Childe apparently has other plans.

“I actually want to try some of the famed dandelion wine,” Childe says. “What time does that tavern open?”

Kaeya looks at the sky. He’s asked at the perfect time, the sun is just about to start it’s descent and even if Kaeya lied and said it’s closed for another hour, they can still see people heading in the direction of the Angel’s Share.

“I think this is a great time to go,” Kaeya would literally rather die. “We could head there now, if you like?”

Childe looks so damn pleased. “Drinks are on me!”

Yeah, they fucking better be.

“I feel I must warn you before we get there,” Kaeya hopes maybe he can convince Childe to go another night, perhaps one where Kaeya isn’t there. “Master Diluc could potentially be tending the bar tonight, and he is… less than friendly with the Fatui.”

“Oh, Aether warned me about him,” Childe laughs it off easily. “I was also hoping he might indulge me in a fight. I’ve heard a lot about his strength.”

Hmm, Diluc likes fighting but he also hates the Fatui. Diluc would love to fight Childe, but not if Childe enjoys it. Maybe this visit to the Angel’s Share won’t be as bad as he thinks. Childe’s bound to piss off Diluc one way or another.

“Just tell him his hair is messy, he’ll pull out his sword immediately.”

Childe nods at the advice, and Kaeya decides that no, this visit won’t be so bad. Drinks and a show. What could be better?

It’s enough that he can walk into the Angel’s Share with a smile, a Fatui harbinger at his side, ready to ruin his estranged brother’s day. And by the grace of the gods, Diluc is in today.

“Hello, master Diluc,” Kaeya slides into his usual seat at the bar. “This is Childe, our dear Fatui diplomat, and a Harbinger, if you’ll believe it.”

It’s nice having someone Diluc hates even more than Kaeya around because his glare is now solely focused on the Harbinger. “What do you want?”

“Some dandelion wine, please and thank you,” Childe says. “And… what else do you recommend?”

“Death after noon, for sure,” Kaeya can’t wait for Childe to be drunk. He wonders what secrets he’ll spill.

Diluc doesn’t say anything as he gets the alcohol. He also doesn’t even look at Kaeya. He’s probably still mad about the other day. Well, whatever, Childe will be his new archnemesis soon.

The drinks start flowing and while Kaeya keeps within his limits, he keeps suggesting other drinks for Childe, who is all too happy to throw them back. He never expected a Harbinger to be this easy to trick but it’s working in his favour so he’s not gonna complain.

“Hey, Diluc,” Child leans over the bar to make sure Diluc can hear him. “We should fight. Like, right now.”

Diluc looks at Childe with pure disdain. “You’re not worth my time.”

“Your ponytail looks stupid.”

Kaeya leans back in his seat and sips his drink. Jean may have told him to keep the peace, but sometimes that’s boring. And he really wants to see Diluc kick a drunk Harbigner’s ass. Or hey, maybe Childe will actually be able to hold his own.

Seeing Diluc be beaten by a Fatui Harbinger… oh, that would be hilarious.

“Get out,” is all Diluc says.

“It looks like a rat’s tail but with more volume,” Childe continues. “Like a fluffy rat.”

“Sir Kaeya, I suggest that you take your diplomat away before he does something he regrets,” Diluc seethes. He still won’t look at Kaeya though, which is starting to get weird.

“Oh, but what’s the fun in that?” Kaeya takes another sip of his wine. “Maybe you should humour him.”

Finally Diluc looks at him, but he just looks more exasperated than angry. Maybe he’s had a bad day. Then again, Kaeya had a bad day when Diluc kicked him out of his only home. He’ll live.

“Fine,” Diluc slams a fist on the counter in front of a now very excited Childe. “Tomorrow. After you’ve sobered up. Outside city walls.”

“Aha! Finally!” Childe puts his hand up for a high five and it, predictably, goes ignored. He high fives himself. “Now more wine!”

Diluc turns back to Kaeya. “Get. Him. Out.”

“Yes, sir,” Kaeya gives Diluc a mock salute as he finishes up his drink. He takes Childe’s arm and helps him off of his stool. He’s so drunk. This is gonna be great.

"See you later, rat man!” Childe waves to Diluc and Kaeya tries very hard not to snort, but he’s had a few drinks too and the look on Diluc’s face is priceless.

“Let’s get you to your room so you can be all rested for tomorrow,” Kaeya says. “I wouldn’t be surprised if your fight gathers a crowd.”

Childe looks unbelievably happy at the idea. “This is going to be great.”

But there’s still a long enough walk back to Childe’s motel for Childe to drunkenly spill some secrets. Everything’s working out in the end.

“Did you come to Mondstadt just to enjoy the city?” Kaeya asks. “We don’t have much more to offer than wine and wind.”

“Nah, a coworker needed my help,” Childe reveals. “But I only volunteered because I wanted to see Mondstadt. I think the wine and wind is more than enough to keep things lively.”

“Well, I’m glad to see you’re enjoying yourself,” Kaeya continues. “Is your coworker one of your fellow Harbingers?”

“Nope, he’s just a normie. He’s been in Mondstadt for a while, but he wanted some help with something,” Childe yawns and stretches. “I haven’t had much opportunity to talk to him yet.”

“Well, I hope you find what you’re looking for.”

“I’m sure we will! It’s just a matter of time.”

So they are looking for something. Kaeya will have to check when the Fatui diplomats currently in the city arrived. He’s sure at least one of them will coincide with the creation of Kæra Skepna.

Kaeya sighs. Even if he figures out that the reason they’re here is him, that won’t really stop them from taking his gnosis. Maybe he’ll find some kind of blackmail. He could look into Childe’s supposed ‘cute as Klee’ brother.

It was a start, at least. Mona will be pleased as long as he has a plan other than ‘be killed by Fatui Harbinger.’

Kaeya doesn’t get much else out of Childe as he escorts him home, but he’s happy with the information he already has. He’ll start checking out his leads tomorrow, but for now, he just wants to eat some food.

He comes home to both Mona and Venti waiting patiently on his couch. The two of them immediately turn to him, hunger in their eyes.

“You know you could have cooked something or just used my money to buy something, right?” Kaeya asks.

“It wouldn’t taste as good,” Venti says. “Anyway, what are you making for dinner?”

He really needs to teach them how to cook. This is getting ridiculous. “Chicken, probably.”

“Cool, we can talk about what I’ve found out in the meantime,” Mona shoos Kaeya into the kitchen and then returns to her place on the couch. Useless. His friends are useless. “I did some scrying on Childe, found out his real name is Ajax and, more importantly, he’s been to the Abyss.”

Huh. Maybe not so useless.

“The Abyss?”

“Yep, so he’s certainly not someone you’d want to fight alone,” Mona says. “Maybe you should start letting us actually protect you.”

So Childe might actually have a chance at beating Diluc. Kaeya has to see this fight go down. It’s all he wants, to see Diluc knocked down a peg… Kaeya might be a bit more resentful than he first thought.

“Maybe,” he shrugs. “Did Albedo drop off that new questionnaire?”

“Yes, I went ahead and crossed out all the weird questions for you,” Venti places a stack of at least thirty pages on the kitchen counter. “There’s still a lot more questions.”

Kaeya takes a look at how tiny the handwriting is. Thirty pages with at least fifty questions on each of them. He might just change his mind and let Childe kill him.

"I hate science."

Chapter Text

“Rise and shine, beautiful,” Mona pulls away the curtains and lets the sun’s laser beams bore into Kaeya’s eyes, permanently blinding him. “We have a lot of work to do.”

Kaeya growns in response. She throws his eyepatch at him.

“We’re gonna go over what we know, figure out our plan, and I’m going to convince Albedo to pause his study,” Mona says. “You’re welcome.”

“What time is it?” He asks.

“Six in the morning,” Mona acts as if she isn’t actively killing Kaeya. “Enough time to look into our leads, and still watch Diluc get his ass kicked by Childe.”

“You think Childe will win?” Kaeya asks.

“I’ve already bet money on it,” Mona pauses. “Well, your money. But I didn’t think you’d mind.”

So there’s already betting pools? Exciting.

Kaeya sits up and pulls the eyepatch around his eye, protecting at least one of them from the scorching light. The other is left to burn.

“I sent Venti to get food so we can talk over breakfast,” Mona says. “So get up or I’ll eat your share.”

Mona leaves the room, and Kaeya spends a solid minute lying in bed still half asleep before rolling out of the blankets. Who put Mona in charge of this whole thing? She’s definitely better at it than Kaeya but he’s still displeased.

Once he’s in a presentable state, he leaves the bedroom to find Mona and Venti are already sitting at Klee’s tiny table, going through their food. He’s too tall to sit on a chair and still fit his knees underneath so he just sits on the floor.

“So who wants to go first?” Venti asks.

“I will,” Kaeya just wants this over with. “Hung out with Childe yesterday, got him drunk, got some good leads. He came here to help a coworker that’s been in Mondstadt for a while, and I’m pretty sure they’re looking for something. I’m gonna look into the current Fatui diplomats and find out what that could be.”

Mona nods. “And if it is your gnosis?”

“Well… I’ll figure something out.”

“Like tell Jean?” Venti asks. Damn, now Mona’s got him on it.

“I already told her about where I’m from-” Kaeya isn’t able to say anything else before Mona and Venti both launch to their feet to hug him.

“I’m so proud of you!” Mona squeezes his shoulders and Venti goes for his midriff.

“You’re doing so well,” Venti says as Kaeya begins the long process of prying his friends off of him.

“It’s not that big a deal,” he rolls his eyes.

“I beg to differ,” Mona says. “You were certain she was going to kill you because of it, but you still trusted her. I’d say that’s growth.”

Mona looks so fucking smug. He hates it when she’s right.

“Well, I haven’t told her about my gnosis or the Fatui,” Kaeya continues. “I do plan on telling her about my gnosis, but I want to know about the Fatui first. If they’re not after me, good, if they are, I’ll have to tell Jean, but I don’t want to stress her out for no reason.”

“I can understand that,” Mona sighs. “Just promise me you’ll tell her the moment you find out.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Kaeya grabs the sandwich left on the table. “Everything else I know is just personal stuff. He has a brother. Thinks the kid’s as cute as Klee.”

Venti and Mona both scoff.

“Well, my turn then,” Mona announces. “I told you his real name is Ajax, and I’ve got someone looking into that. I can’t scry on what happened while Childe was in the Abyss, but I do know the results, which are just… he’s incredibly dangerous.”

Who could Mona have looking into Ajax? She hasn’t been living in Mondstadt very long and she’s terrible at making friends. Kaeya knows, he’s seen her interacting with strangers, she has no problem insulting them right to their face. She’s not much better at socialising than Diluc, to be honest.

“Is it my turn?” Venti asks.

“Did you find something out?”

“No, I just wanted a turn.”

“Sure,” Kaeya says. “Go ahead.”

Venti launches into a story about the shenanigans he gets up to with Aether and Paimon that keeps them entertained through breakfast.

-

“Hello Albedo,” Kaeya arrives at Albedo’s lab early in the morning. “Care to help me with some research?”

Albedo’s eyes sparkle as he looks up. “Always.”

“I’ll tell you what we’re looking for once we’re in a private space.”

Albedo nods and follows Kaeya to the library with no further questions. Nerds are quite useful sometimes.

“What are the two of you here for?” Lisa asks once they reach the library. “Are you returning that book you borrowed last month, Kaeya?”

There’s an edge to Lisa’s voice that sends shivers down Kaeya’s spine. He still has a week before Lisa comes to kill him, he’ll definitely remember. “I’m not quite finished with it yet. Anyways, I was wondering what records you’ve got of the current Fatui diplomats in the city.”

“More detective work for Jean, hm?” Lisa leaves her desk to go through her filing cabinets. “I keep a very close eye on our diplomats, you’ll find everything you need here.”

“Much appreciated,” Kaeya takes the stack of papers she dumps in his hands. “We’ll take a private room to go through these.”

Lisa nods and hands him one of the keys, leaving Kaeya and Albedo to get on with their day. Once they reach one of the private rooms, Kaeya turns to Albedo.

“We’re looking at the reasons behind the Fatui diplomats arrivals, and more importantly, if they have anything to do with Kæra Skepna,” Kaeya explains. “We want to confirm if Childe is here for me or not, and if not, find out the actual reason.”

Albedo nods. “Real quick though, did you finish my new survey?”

“Anyways, let’s get to work.”

Kaeya despises paperwork, but it’s a necessary evil, so he starts going through the files. Albedo frowns, but begins working as well. And he works a lot faster than Kaeya does. Kaeya tries not to think about how little he’s contributing to the research effort.

He goes through arrival and departure times, looks at the reasons cited, and keeps an eye out for any inaccuracies. It’s a terrible time, but his life is kinda on the line so he just has to suck it up.

Hours go by without a break. Kaeya’s backside goes numb and his eye starts to blur. He wishes he was dead.

“I’ve found something,” Albedo interrupts. “Zion. He came here specifically to study Kæra Skepna.”

“Interesting,” Kaeya hums as he looks over the files quickly. It’s the most promising of their leads. “I’ll look into it later today… along with the rest of them.”

“Perhaps it is time for a lunch break,” Albedo manages to notice Kaeya’s intense suffering. Kaeya is immediately out of his chair. “I’ll continue working. The sooner this is over, the sooner we can get back to our experiments.”

Suddenly Kaeya is less excited to get out of work.

“Thanks Albedo,” Kaeya smiles nonetheless. “I promise I’ll be back soon. I’ll bring you a muffin or something.”

When he leaves the headquarters, he sees that the sun is much higher in the sky than he expected. He’d spent more time on research than he thought. But he has things to do other than lament the loss of time, so he goes to Good Hunter.

Kaeya orders some skewers, a muffin, and then sits down to wait. He immediately gets sidetracked at the sight of Mona’s ridiculously large hat heading in the direction Angel’s Share.

She better not kill Diluc before the fight with Childe later, that’s Kaeya’s only entertainment for the day. He still has to tell Jean about that, but she’ll probably just tell him to monitor them so they don’t kill each other.

This is bound to be interesting nonetheless, so Kaeya slinks after her and decides to wait outside. Mona doesn’t take long anyway, she pops out only a minute later and jumps at the sight of Kaeya.

“Hello dearest,” Kaeya says. “What are you up to?”

Mona glares. “Don’t scare me like that.”

She doesn’t answer him. There might be more to it than he thought. “Angel’s Share doesn’t open until five on weekdays. What trouble are you getting up to, hm?”

“I was doing a reading for Charles,” Mona says. “He respects the craft, unlike some people.”

“Charles doesn’t work during the day, Diluc is strict about working healthy hours,” Kaeya can say what he wants about the man, but he is generous with his employees. “You’re a terrible liar.”

“I am not, you just know things no one has any business knowing,” Mona mutters. “Fine, I’m fucking your brother.”

“No you absolutely are not,” Kaeya stares in horror. “No, I was the first person to know Diluc is asexual, don’t you dare even insinuate such a thing. What the fuck.”

Mona laughs at his horror. She doesn’t know she’s permanently scarred him with just the idea.

“Well, I guess you’ll just have to believe my first excuse then,” Mona pats him on the shoulder and walks away.

Kaeya decides to forget all about that and continue what he was doing before. What was he doing before? Lunch. Right. He’ll question Mona later. Maybe. Probably not.

Anyway.

He’s not very hungry anymore, so he just grabs the food and heads back to the library. He doesn’t answer Albedo when he asks what’s wrong. Kaeya does so little work that eventually Albedo tells him to just go give his report to Jean.

“What’s up with you today?” Is the first thing she asks when Kaeya dumps the papers on her desk.

“Mona’s ruined my life. Anyway,” Kaeya will not elaborate. “Diluc and Childe are having a fight tonight. You don’t need to worry, I’ll be there to step in if I have to.”

“Are you kidding me?” Jean mutters. “It’s been two days, and Diluc is already trying to kill him?”

“To be fair, Childe challenged him,” Kaeya responds. “He took a little convincing, but I believe it’s going down tonight.”

Jean narrows her eyes. “You want this to happen.”

“Is it so wrong to want to see my brother get just a little beaten up? Just a little bit?” Kaeya asks.

“There are more productive ways of dealing with your anger than facilitating a fight with a Fatui Harbinger,” Jean says. “What’s Diluc done now?”

“Nothing.”

Jean raises a brow.

“Nothing recently.”

She manages to raise it higher.

“He’s a dick and he deserves it,” Kaeya says. “You didn’t try to kill me when I told you the truth so what’s his excuse other than he’s dick and he’s going to get beat by Childe and it’s going to be hilarious.”

Jean stays silent for a long moment. “Just make sure they don’t kill each other.”

“Yeah, yeah,” wouldn’t that be convenient if Diluc could just kill Childe? Wouldn’t that make his life so much easier? “There’ll probably be a crowd. You should come too.”

“I can’t be seen condoning such a thing,” Jean says. “... Do tell me the results though.”

“Immediately,” Kaeya promises. “Anyway, my report has everything I’ve found out so far. Albedo is currently looking over the other diplomats and I’m going to start checking out the leads we have today.”

“Great work,” Jean starts looking over the pages. “I don’t know if this helps your investigation or not but Childe asked about the wandering beast this morning.”

“What.”

“He wanted to know where it went after it reached Mondstadt,” Jean responds. “I just told him no one knows. I think he’s pursuing other leads.”

Oh.

They’re here for Kaeya.

-

Mona’s notes are incredibly messy, but they’re straight to the point. Diluc prefers that to the long reports of ‘suspicious activity’ that is really just some guy walking his dog late at night. How did he ever survive as a captain for nearly a year?

The notes give him a lot more information on Childe and it’s not great. Considering the Abyss hates humans and will do everything in its power to kill them… Childe must be stronger than he looks to have survived that. His people looking into Childe’s background haven’t gotten back to him yet, but he’s sure it will be much of the same info.

Speaking of the devil, Childe enters the Angel’s Share again.

“We’re closed,” Diluc says. Childe doesn’t even acknowledge his words as he walks over to the table Diluc is seated at.

“Come on, I wanted to apologise,” Childe flashes a smile that’s meant to be friendly but makes Diluc want to knock his teeth out. “I’m sorry about last night, honest. I had a bit too much to drink.”

“What, are you trying to get out of our fight?” Diluc asks.

“Oh, never, I’ve been looking forward to it all day,” Child says. “But I also wanted to ask a favour.”

“No.”

“You haven’t even heard what it is!”

“No.”

Childe pouts. “They say the Angel’s Share is the centre of information in Mondstadt, right? I just have a little question I need answered.”

“No.”

“I promise I’ll leave you alone if you tell me,” Childe offers. “The sooner this is all done, the sooner I can leave Mondstadt.”

Diluc sighs deeply and looks back at Childe. “Fine. Ask your question.”

“Well… have you heard of the wandering beast?” Childe asks.

“Yes. Now leave.”

“That wasn’t the question!” Childe huffs. “Jeez, you really live up to your reputation.”

“Hurry up and ask your question then,” Diluc patience is already wearing thin.

“Who killed the wandering beast?”

“I don’t know,” Diluc answers. “It just disappeared.”

“Really?” Childe laughs. “I’ve been told that I’m not the brightest but even I can make the connection between the wandering beast and the mysterious constellation that appeared the very day it disappeared.”

Diluc narrows his eyes and reaches for the knife in his coat. It may be underhanded, but he’ll kill Childe now if he has to.

“I’m afraid I don’t understand,” is all Diluc says.

“Oh, you don’t understand that a beast from Khaenri’ah came all the way to Mondstadt, when no one has even left the country in centuries. That a human turned monster managed to retain just enough humanity to carry out their goal of reaching this city despite the curse.” Childe says. “And then, the day it disappears, Kæra Skepna appears in the sky.”

Childe doesn’t know it’s Kaeya. He doesn’t. That’s why he’s asking. He also doesn’t know Diluc’s connection to Kaeya, or he wouldn’t ask Diluc. Or maybe Childe does, and he’s just fucking with them.

Well, none of that will matter if Diluc just kills him.

“Master Diluc,” Charles walks in through the door. Diluc doesn’t let go of his knife. “It seems like the best place for the duel will be at the Thousand Winds Temple. People are already starting to head there.”

A better place would be right here, right now.

“Ooh, I’ve heard of that place,” Childe says. “We’re fighting in an old amphitheatre? That is so cool.”

“Place doesn’t matter to me,” Diluc doesn’t take his eyes off of Childe. “It’s all a waste of time anyway.”

Childe rolls his eyes. “You’re so grumpy. Anyway, I… don’t know how to get there, so I best go find Aether and Paimon. See you later, Master Diluc!”

Diluc doesn’t wave back as Childe exits the tavern. Childe at least seems genuinely excited about this fight, so he probably won’t make a move towards Kaeya before tonight. Diluc can talk to Mona, then he can fuck up Childe.

Why does there have to be a crowd? Can’t this just be a fight to the death in some back alley? Then he could just kill Childe and move on. There’d probably be an investigation, but it’s not like anyone likes the Fatui anyway.

“I’m going to head out now,” Diluc says. “It should be a quiet night until the fight is over. I’ll help out when I get back.”

Charles nods dutifully and Diluc takes his leave. Mona will definitely be at the temple. They may be in allegiance, but she wants to see Diluc dead. He has no doubt about that.

Diluc decides to walk, to give him time to think. It’s mainly about Kaeya, which never ends well, but the scenery is peaceful enough. Other people walking to the temple occasionally greet him, but he doesn’t respond unless it’s someone he actually likes.

The wandering beast… Diluc already knew it was Khaenri’ahn, but he never thought about the connection to Kaeya. He doesn’t want to think about it. The beast and Kaeya were obviously important to each other and… that’s not gone well.

Nothing in Kaeya’s life has gone well, really. Diluc is to blame for a lot of that.

He takes a breath and continues walking. He can change that. There’s still time.

“Fancy seeing you here,” Kaeya siddles up beside Diluc. Mona and Venti are beside him as always.

“Kaeya,” Diluc greets. “And Venti, Mona.”

“Best greetings as always, Master Diluc,” Venti waves.

“Lovely to see you again Diluc,” Mona winks at him. Diluc just thinks she’s being weird, but Kaeya visibly stiffens.

Kaeya whispers something in Mona’s ear and she just hums and smiles. Diluc doesn’t care enough about any of this so he starts to walk faster, then remembers… everything, and continues walking in sync with Kaeya.

“Hm, you’re not in such a bad mood today,” Kaeya says.

“Just because I’m walking with you?” Diluc asks.

“Name the last time you put up with my presence for longer than ten seconds when you weren’t confined in a room with me,” Kaeya responds. “I’ll wait.”

“Shut up,” Diluc starts walking faster now, but not fast enough that Kaeya can’t keep up if he wants to.

“You see that?” Kaeya turns back to Mona and Venti. “That means I’ve won.”

It reminds Diluc, just a little, of when they were young, and Kaeya was just as annoying as he is now. Ugh, he’s been having to deal with Kaeya too much recently, it’s making him sentimental.

Diluc still has to talk to Mona and make sure she warns Kaeya, but it’s kinda nice walking with them. Kinda. It’s not like walking is an activity that can be good or bad. So nice isn’t the word, it’s neutral. He’s having a neutral time with his ex brother and his friends.

Diluc can just hear Paimon saying “you’re so high strung” while Aether sips their grape juice and nods along in his head.

They arrive at the Thousand Winds Temple to a bunch of people dragging a destroyed ruin guard away, Childe and Aether helping them.

“Looks like you had a little pre-battle warm up,” Kaeya greets Childe pleasantly.

“I’ve been meaning to deal with the ruin guard, but… I forgot it was here,” Aether says. “We managed to take it out before it could hurt anyone though!”

There are… a lot more people sitting around the old amphitheatre than Diluc expected. He wonders who they’re rooting for. Probably not Diluc. He’s self aware enough to know he isn’t very well liked.

Kaeya probably wants to see Diluc on the ground too.

“And everyone is still really excited for the fight!” Paimon turns to Childe. “You’re gonna get your ass kicked.”

Paimon seems… very excited at the idea. Aether says nothing, but smiles at her words. At least some people will be cheering for Diluc.

“I’ll make sure everyone is far enough back to not be… affected by the fight,” Kaeya looks to all the people claiming front row seats. They obviously haven’t witnessed Diluc’s destruction from back when he was a Knight.

As Kaeya walks away, Diluc makes a beeline for Mona and Venti. “I need to talk to Mona.”

“Well, I’m not stupid enough to fight you over that,” Venti shrugs. “I’ll go shadow Kaeya.”

Venti says shadow, but he essentially just attaches himself to Kaeya’s side like an overbearing partner.

“Childe is definitely here for Kaeya.”

“What? How do you know?” Mona asks. “Did he do something?”

“He asked me a question about the wandering beast… and Kæra Skepna,” Diluc says. “I don’t know if he knows it’s Kaeya, but…”

“Kill him.”

“Uh.”

“Kaeya will let you,” Mona continues. “I’ll help if you want. If you don’t want to do it now, we can corner him in a back alley.”

Maybe Diluc will get his fight to the death in the streets.

“Just warn Kaeya for now,” Diluc says. “He’s… better at discretion than I am.”

“Oh, that hurt to admit, didn’t it?” Mona crosses her arms and smirks in amusement. “I can see your ego just crumbling.”

“Go tell him,” Diluc points in Kaeya’s direction for emphasis. “I have a Harbinger to fight.”

Mona glances in Kaeya’s direction and Diluc follows suit. He’s looking at them both, and Mona returns her attention to Diluc with a smile.

“Bare with me for a second, it’s a good excuse and it will be really funny later on,” Mona stands on her tiptoes to kiss Diluc on the cheek and he has to fight every instinct within him not to immediately wash his entire face with bleach.

“What the fuck.”

“Good luck,” Mona raises her voice just to make sure the people around can hear them. “There’s more where that came from~”

“Mona,” Diluc says. “No offense, but I’d honestly rather die.”

“Yeah, same,” she shrugs. “I’m just doing this to fuck with Kaeya. Anyways, have fun.”

Diluc is not able to stop himself from rubbing furiously at his cheek the moment Mona walks away. He looks around and sees everyone has been moved at least half way up the seats in the stadium and it’s just him and Childe left in the centre.

“I didn’t know you and Mona were a thing,” Childe says. “That’s adorable.”

Diluc summons his claymore.

Chapter Text

Childe hadn’t been given so much as a ‘ready set go’ before Diluc swung a flaming claymore at him, but that’s just how he likes it.

Diluc holds back nothing, he puts all of his power behind every swing of his sword and shows no signs of slowing down as Childe dashes out of the way. He’s just testing the waters for now, and if Diluc wastes a little energy trying to smash him flat, that’ll be an advantage.

While Childe manages to dodge Diluc’s attacks, the spray of flames catches his clothes and burns hot enough that he doesn’t want to know how the fire itself feels. And it’s great.

Eventually Diluc slows down, just a little, as he tries to reserve his pyro energy, and Childe immediately launches his counterattack. He’s certainly not going to be fighting Diluc with a bow, so he just throws it at him and summons his hydro blades.

“So, where did you learn to fight?” Childe dashes forward to slice at Diluc’s midsection, but he blocks the attack and forces Childe back.

“Shut up,” Diluc punctuates his words by taking another swing at Childe.

“I’m not even allowed to talk while we fight?” He narrowly dodges a giant claymore on fire to the face, but does not dodge the steel of Diluc’s boot, smashing him in the kneecap.

“You can if you want to lose.”

Diluc swings again, but Childe pulls up a hydro shield and his sword rebounds on the surface. The annoyance on his face makes Childe’s shattered kneecap feel a little better.

“Fine, we’ll do it the normal way.”

Childe sends slices of hydro energy sharp enough to kill a man as Diluc recenters himself. One catches his arm, but he doesn’t falter as he readies his claymore and sends… possibly the largest burst of pyro energy Childe has ever seen directly at him.

That is so cool. Childe should have asked for a pyro delusion.

He forgets that he’s meant to dodge it and his shield is vaporised. The steam billows up and burns his skin while making it harder to see.

Less cool.

Diluc is back on him in seconds and Childe narrowly avoids having his head removed. This guy really doesn’t hold back. Childe wishes Aether had brought him to Liyue, they could have fought earlier.

Still, it would be embarrassing to lose so early, so Childe returns the assault in earnest. Diluc is nowhere near as fast as Childe is so he dodges and weaves through Diluc’s attacks and slices anywhere he can reach without being set on fire.

He might already be on fire. Hard to tell with all the flames everywhere.

“Why don’t we make a deal?” Childe hops out of the way off that ridiculously huge sword that Diluc should not be able to wield with one hand. “What do you want if you win?”

Childe notices the insane amount of pyro energy gathering around Diluc’s claymore again and puts up the shield just in time to take the brunt of that blast. It takes out his shield instantly but at least he isn’t being burnt alive.

“You gone,” Childe can tell Diluc means it from the way he aims the flaming sword right for his head.

“Alright, deal,” Childe extinguishes the fire of the claymore and slices at Diluc’s forearm. “If I win, you tell me what you know about the wandering beast Kæra Skepna, and the deceased god.”

Diluc’s glare is always deadly, but it somehow manages to be even more vicious as he swings even more fire at Childe. He’s obviously close to the topic. There’s absolutely no way he’s not involved, but Childe can’t make a move without approval from his temporary supervisor.

He avoids the most recent attack but when Diluc gets that momentum going, it’s near impossible to interrupt him. The claymore sends Childe flying into one of the pillars in the centre of the stadium and he’s not sure if the crack he hears is from his spine or the tilting pillar.

Childe rolls out of the way and sees that, yeah, it’s definitely the pillar. Diluc is already advancing towards him, oblivious of the crumbling structure so Childe gives it just a little push and it all comes crashing down. Diluc is sure aware of it now.

He puts his claymore up to shield himself, but the force still knocks him to the ground. Childe takes the opportunity to get up close and put a hydro blade to his throat. He’s pretty sure that makes him a winner.

“Yield?” He asks.

The blade is vaporised.

“Huh.”

Wow does he wish he’d chosen pyro. Electro goes so well with hydro, trust me. He’s never fucking listening to La Signora again. He probably should have bought a real knife, but, well, this has never happened before.

Next time he fights Diluc, he’ll bring something other than the bow he abandoned the moment things kicked off.

Childe is given no more time to deliberate on it before Diluc headbuts him. He stumbles back as Diluc removes himself from the rubble. Diluc doesn’t bother looking for his weapon and instead just lunges for Childe.

He puts the hydro shield back up to give himself just enough time to recover from the hit, but that doesn’t deter Diluc. There’s a moment of hesitation that doesn’t last long before he sets his own hand on fire and destroys the shield in one punch.

Left with no protection, Diluc slams Childe’s head into the remains of the broken pillar and the whole world goes dark for a second.

Childe has multiple thoughts as he goes down. One, Diluc is insane and they have to fight again. Two, holy fuck he wants a pyro vision. And three… ouch.

The world around him swims as he crumbles in a heap. He can still taste the smoke in the air and feel the flames around them as Diluc leaves him to retrieve his claymore just to come back and point it at his throat.

“Yield?”

Diluc is very blurry, but just from his tone of voice, Childe can tell how pleased he is. Their audience is cheering loud enough that he’s sure they can be heard back in Mondstadt.

“That was awesome!” The volume of his own shout hurts his ears as he struggles to get to his feet. He’s really starting to feel the pain of those burns now. “We have to do that again sometime.”

“I thought you were leaving me alone,” Diluc has something akin to a smile on his face. Childe supposes a battle like that could make anyone smile. He’s certainly grinning despite the multiple fractures he’s gained.

“You never actually agreed,” Childe laughs. “But hey, maybe our next fight.”

Diluc scoffs and turns away. His hand is shaking but Childe chooses not to mention it. Diluc might set himself on fire again just to prove a point.

Kaeya is soon out of his seat and directing everyone to walk back to Mondstadt in groups since it’s getting dark. People walk over to congratulate Diluc who walks away as fast as he can. He doesn’t even let the healer offering to help with his injuries near him. Weird guy, but definitely worth fighting again.

“Told you you were gonna get your butt kicked,” Paimon floats over. “It was fun to see someone else beat you up for once.”

“What, are you getting bored of our weekly sparring sessions?” Childe asks.

“We’ve been over it since the first time!”

“It’s good practice,” Aether shrugs as Paimon gasps at the betrayal. “You okay? Should we get Barbara to heal you?”

“Some nice hydro healing would be great,” Childe shakes out his arms. He’s covered in burns and besides that, definitely has some intense bruising. Possibly a head injury too. It’s hard to think at the moment so he can’t be sure.

Aether notices Childe swinging in place. “Yeah, you just… sit down for a while. I’ll be back.”

The two run off to grab their healer friend and Childe turns his attention back to the four most suspicious people in Mondstadt. Diluc, Kaeya, Mona, and Venti.

Well, he already knows Venti’s whole deal. He also knows Mona is an astrologist who came to Mondstadt after Kæra Skepna appeared. And he’s gotten to know Kaeya and Diluc pretty well, whether it’s through spending time together as most people do, or beating each other to death in a ruined amphitheatre.

There’s simply too many things connecting them to the dead god. At this point, it’s pretty obvious who it is, and Childe can’t wait to get the go ahead to capture him.

-

Diluc walks with Kaeya again, which is weird and doesn’t do anything to alleviate his paranoia that Mona actually is doing something with his brother. He knows she’s fucking with him, there’s no way in hell Mona would put up with Diluc’s whole personality just for… that.

It’s impossible. There’s no way. And yet, he can’t ever be a hundred percent sure.

No. He’s not thinking about this right now. There’s enough going on right now and he has other problems. Like the Fatui here to kill him. And Diluc’s poor attempt to hide how much his hand hurts.

“Fucking hell,” Kaeya gives up trying to ignore it. “Just give me your hand.”

“No.”

“That was a demand, not a request,” Kaeya goes to grab his wrist and Diluc side steps him. This motherfucker.

“I can restrain him if you want,” Mona pools hydro energy in the palm of her hand. Then with a wink, she adds, “I’m good at that.”

“No, you fucking aren’t,” Kaeya glares at her. “Stop it. I swear to the Seven, if you continue this little bit you have, I will eviscerate you.”

Mona’s threat at least gets Diluc to stop, but he makes sure everybody knows he isn’t pleased by, of course, glaring at them all.

“You need a new move to intimidate people,” Venti laughs. “We’re all getting immune.”

“Can we just get home so I can see an actual doctor rather than you, what, dumping water on it?” Diluc asks. “It’s fine.”

“I have first aid training, dumbass. Do you think they just let anyone into the Knights?” Diluc opens his mouth to respond, but Kaeya quickly interrupts him. “Don’t answer that actually.”

Kaeya looks back at Mona and Venti, “you two go on ahead. Diluc’s probably going to be as difficult as he can be.”

“Meet you at the Angel’s Share?” Mona asks. “Diluc probably won’t be tending the bar.”

“Oh, fuck you,” Diluc crosses his arms. “I will if I want.”

“Sure,” Kaeya ignores his brother. “Don’t spend all my money. You lost enough betting on Childe.”

Mona sighs. “I really wanted him to win.”

“Come on, Mona,” Venti tugs on her hand. “You can drown your sorrows in wine.”

The two head off and Kaeya immediately goes to grab Diluc’s injured hand. He moves away again. Kaeya isn’t sure how he managed to forget how annoying Diluc can be when he wants to.

“Don’t touch me.”

“That’ll start to get itchy soon, ya know?” Kaeya puts a hand on his hip. “Then it’ll be real hell.”

Diluc clenches his uninjured fist and continues walking ahead. “It doesn’t matter to you.”

“Do you hate me so much that you won’t even let me help you?” Kaeya asks in frustration. “Are you seriously that angry still? Fine, die then. I have other family, I don’t need you.”

Why can’t he have just one interaction with Diluc where it at least seems like they’re brothers? Can the universe just be good to him for once? He’s lost everything so many times, he’s probably going to die soon, and he can’t even talk to his brother without being reminded of the things he’s lost.

“I don’t hate you,” Diluc mutters. “I just… don’t help me.”

That’s probably the nicest thing Diluc has said to him in years, which is a depressing fact in itself. But also, what the fuck.

“Is this a pride thing?” Kaeya sighs. “You wanna know what happens to prideful idiots, Diluc? They die. Like idiots. Because that’s what they are.”

Diluc doesn’t glare at him, amazingly. Kaeya’s starting to think Mona’s just been threatening Diluc to be nicer. It would explain why he hasn’t shoved Kaeya away and started speed walking into Mondstadt yet. It’s also a much better theory than what Mona claims is really happening.

“Why do you even want to help?” Diluc doesn’t make eye contact with Kaeya, instead choosing to stare at the blades of grass on the ground.

Kaeya definitely recognises that look. From all of the times Crepus would scold them for the trouble they got into. Or when Diluc did something stupid and Kaeya had to save him from his own idiocy.

He’s guilty.

“What the fuck did Mona tell you?” Kaeya asks. “Seriously, what did she tell you that’s so horrifying you can’t even look at me.”

“I am not making you deal with my problems when I don’t even deserve to be considered your family,” Diluc pulls out his business man voice, completely monotone and polite. All things not Diluc. “You don’t need to know. Stop being concerned.”

Maybe Kaeya should start giving those stupid self help books to Diluc. He won’t read them, but Kaeya can hit him over the head with them until he gets the point.

“Don’t tell me then, just let me deal with your hand,” if Diluc doesn’t accept this, it’s a lost cause. To be honest, he should have given up trying to be friends with Diluc years ago.

“Fine.”

Halle-fucking-lujah. The man has some semblance of common sense.

Diluc sits on a rock and stares into the distance as Kaeya peels the burnt glove off. It’s… bad. Kaeya had been burnt plenty by Diluc when they were kids and he had just received his vision. Kaeya had been purposely burnt by Diluc when he ruined everything. And Kaeya has received many more burns from little Klee, but none of that is as bad as this.

“You’re an idiot,” who sets themself on fire just to win a fight? Dumbass.

Kaeya receives no response, so he starts going through the first aid stuff he brought with him. There’s no way he wasn’t bringing any medical products to a fight like this. He needs Childe to die, sure, but unfortunately, he still cares about his brother.

Just looking at Diluc’s hand, Kaeya’s not really sure where to begin. He just wants to make sure it doesn’t get infected before they reach Mondstadt, but oh boy, is any kind of disinfectant going to make that things burn.

It’s dark enough that they can see the stars in the sky. The stars that Albedo claims should empower him. Why not experiment just a little? These powers are his only chance of defending himself, he may as well find out their full capabilities.

Summoning little stars in his hands isn’t that hard, even if he doesn’t do it often. They’re always so cold, but they feel nice, so he passes them onto Diluc’s hand. The sudden drop in temperature gets him to look down at his hand and he freezes at the sight of them.

“See?” Kaeya chuckles. “Not a delusion.”

“Not hydro either,” Diluc retorts.

The stars in the sky dim for just a second as Kaeya steals their energy and uses it on Diluc’s hand. His skin starts to reform, still red and raw, but nowhere near as painful as it looked before. Once that looks normal, Kaeya figures why stop there, and lets the stars trail along the cuts and bruises left behind.

Diluc watches them as they go, completely rapt. Once Kaeya has healed everything he can see, he stands back up. The stars continue to cling to Diluc even as he tries to shake them off.

“Thank you,” Diluc glances at Kaeya. “Did you… do that with the burns I gave you?”

“Is that why you were being so broody?” Kaeya laughs, but it’s not really funny. “Well, no, that’s the first time I’ve done that. Pretty convenient though, huh?”

“I guess,” Diluc wastes no time pulling his tattered glove back on, making stars fall off of him and dissipate halfway to the ground. Kaeya doesn’t see much point in the glove considering it barely exists anymore, but whatever.

They continue walking. Diluc keeps touching his hand in amazement, which makes Kaeya feel kinda smug.

But he manages to be quiet for the rest of the walk back to Mondstadt. He should probably ask Mona what she’s done to Diluc, but she’ll say something disgusting again so he’d honestly rather try his luck with Diluc.

That’s also definitely a dead end. Doesn’t mean he won’t try.

“I have a request,” Kaeya says once they reach the bridge. “And you have to at least listen to it before you say no.”

“It better not be something stupid.”

Well, hopefully Diluc doesn’t think it’s stupid.

“Just… talk to me,” Kaeya says. “You’re not mad anymore, right? You’ve moved on to guilty brooding, and I know from experience that the next stage is us both forgetting about it and moving on. So just talk to me occasionally, maybe we can speedrun the guilt thing this time.”

Diluc wrings his hands. “If you want, I guess. I don’t know why you would want to-”

“Diluc, Diluc, Diluc…” Kaeya shakes his head. “We’re speedrunning that. It doesn’t matter.”

“I-”

“No.”

“But-”

“No.”

“You-”

“No.”

The infamous glare finally directs itself at Kaeya! He almost missed it while it was on vacation.

“Fine,” Diluc huffs. “Just… let me do something first. Tomorrow. I’m tired, I don’t know how to word it.”

“You know where to find me,” Kaeya agrees. “Now you should get some rest, and I should make sure my friends haven’t managed to drink my entire pay in the last half hour or so.”

Diluc separates from Kaeya to enter Angel’s Share through the back while Kaeya goes in through the front. He finds Venti pretty quickly. Rather than drinking tonight, he’s performing, and Mona is cheering him on from the sidelines.

“Kaeya!” Venti stops in the middle of his song and ignores the annoyed patrons. “Come join us, we’ve been waiting for you before we get drunk.”

Coming from Venti, that’s incredibly touching. Tonight’s been a good night despite the day’s events. He wants it to continue. He’ll start dealing with that whole Fatui thing tomorrow.

“Let’s get the drinks flowing then.”

-

“Are you sure?” Zion asks.

“Yes,” Childe leans back in his chair. He’s exhausted enough without having to go over this another time. “All of our links lead to him. The astrologist, the wandering beast, Kæra Skepna. Not to mention the Knights of Favonius or the fact that he spends time with Barbatos. There’s literally no one else it could be.”

“Alright,” Zion finally gives in. “Be quick and quiet. Do not cause another huge scene.”

“But that’s what I do best!” Chidle objects.

“Quick and quiet.”

Ugh. He wants to go back to Liyue. At least there, he can just go fight Xiao when he’s bored. Xiao always loves stabbing Childe. Diluc is fun to fight too, but harder to provoke.

Childe suddenly has the fantastic idea of fighting both of them. Just the thought cheers him up a little.

“Fine,” he relents. “I’ll meet you at the temple.”

Chapter Text

Kaeya is already drinking with Mona and Venti when Diluc arrives at the Angel’s Share. He supposes Kaeya may as well have some fun before Mona tells him about the Fatui. Diluc can keep an eye out for the night.

“I was prepared to ban you from working tonight, but there’s not a scratch on you,” Charles says incredulously.

“Talented healers,” Diluc glances at his hand, barely covered by the tattered glove. There’s still one persistent star hanging on. He’s never seen that as a side effect of vision healing.

But Kaeya’s power doesn’t come from a vision, does it?

“You are still covered in dust and soot,” Charles says. “That’s no state to work in.”

“I’ll just get a different coat.”

“You also need rest after a fight like that,” he continues. “Everyone’s been talking about it, especially you being crushed by a stone pillar. Your healer may have been talented, but that won’t prevent lasting muscle pain and a potential concussion.”

The worst part about having staff that’s known him since he was a baby is how comfortable they are babying him. He’s a fully grown man. These people work for him. And yet, the instinct not to talk back is still there, and still so strong.

“Fine,” Diluc sighs. And then, because he doesn’t want Charles to think he’s won, “I have other work to do anyway.”

“Of course, Master Diluc.”

He starts heading up to the attic for some clean clothes, but a familiar drunkard calls out to him.

“Hey, Diluc!” Venti waves his arms frantically to make sure he sees him. “Since it’s a special night what with your win and all…”

“You’re not getting free drinks,” Diluc responds automatically.

“Not even for your dear brother?” Kaeya asks. “I’m hurt.”

Diluc freezes. What does he do? If he lets Kaeya have free drinks, Kaeya will tease him endlessly and tell him to loosen up, stop being so weird around him. But if he doesn’t, will Kaeya be offended? The business was meant to be both of theirs so Kaeya should get drinks for free, but-

“Dude,” Mona says. “You look like you’re having an aneurysm.”

“Everyone gets free drinks,” Diluc panics. “Enjoy.”

The whole tavern cheers and Diluc kind of wants to die a little bit.

Kaeya just laughs while Venti and Mona scramble to be the first people at the counter. Diluc glances apologetically at Charles, who has his head in his hands. He really needs to get better at dealing with his brother.

“Why the sour face?” Kaeya asks. “It’s a celebration, isn’t it?”

“I guess,” Diluc mutters. “I need to put on clean clothes… enjoy your night.”

If he has to spend another minute with Kaeya, who knows what idiocy he’ll commit next. Maybe he’ll just give away the bar. The fact that that doesn’t sound so crazy definitely means he needs sleep.

“You too,” Kaeya waves as Diluc books it up the stairs as fast as he can without it seeming like he’s running away. He’s not. He just walks fast. He’s being normal.

Diluc makes it to the attic and immediately collapses into his bed. The room isn’t very warm, but functions well enough as a place to stay when he’s in the city, and wow is he tired. He hadn’t noticed until he fell face first into the pillows.

Unfortunately, he does actually have work to do. Well, not work, but something equally important. Which is… figure out how the fuck he’s going to apologise to his brother.

He has a tactic, which is just to write an apology letter. That way, they won’t both die of awkwardness when Diluc tries (and fails) to apologise in person. The only problem there is that he doesn’t know what to say in the first place.

‘Sorry I tried to kill you because you told me the truth?’ ‘Sorry I kicked you out and sold the house that was also technically yours?’ ‘Sorry I permanently scarred you?’

Needs some work.

Diluc drags himself out of bed but keeps the blanket wrapped around his shoulders as he sits at his desk. This is going to take a while. It just needs to be something short and precise and then he can honour Kaeya’s wish of never talking about it again.

He picks up the pen… and spends an hour staring at an empty page.

-

Diluc was nine years old when he met Kaeya and his first thought was that’s my jacket.

“You have lots of jackets,” Crepus scolded him when he complained. “You can share one with Kaeya.”

“Yeah, share one with Kaeya,” the kid stealing his jacket said.

Diluc glared and Kaeya smiled at him. Evil. This kid was evil. He even had an eyepatch, something Diluc’s only seen in books about pirates. It was obviously there for evil reasons.

He was little too. Diluc had meet other little people, mostly his friends' younger siblings, but he mostly ignored them because they were annoying. Not only was this person evil, he was also little, which made him Diluc’s worst nightmare.

Kaeya sneezed and drew the jacket closer around him, completely dwarfed by it. Great, he was also adorable. It would undoubtedly aid him in his evilness. Diluc already hated him.

“Kaeya will be staying with us for a while,” oh no. “We’ll go clothes shopping tomorrow and you can have your jacket back.”

“We’re keeping him?” Diluc asked. “But he’s clearly evil.”

Kaeya frowned. “Well, you’re a dick.”

“I am not!”

“Boys,” Crepus sighed. “Please be civil. At least until Kaeya isn’t sick.”

Bad idea in Diluc’s opinion. Once he got better, his full evil potential would be released. Little people are scary, especially when they have your stuff… he could burn the jacket. Little people like fire too.

The smirk on Kaeya’s face was also evil. He’s definitely going to burn it.

“Diluc could you ask Adelinde when breakfast will be ready?” Crepus asked. “And maybe ask her to prepare some medicine too.”

“Okay,” Diluc nodded a little too eagerly and Kaeya’s evil smirk turned apprehensive. As it should, because he had to drink Adelinde’s disgusting medicine.

Breakfast was ready not long later and Kaeya continued to wear Diluc’s jacket at the table. It was too big for him anyway, why couldn’t they find someone else’s jacket? Maybe Kaeya picked his specifically to piss him off. Kaeya hadn’t met Diluc until ten minutes ago, but he wouldn’t put it past him.

Kaeya looked up and easily noticed Diluc glaring at him. Then he took another spoonful of porridge and it dripped on Diluc’s coat. Kaeya smiled at him. “Oops.”

Diluc had to grip the table to stop himself from vaulting over and taking his jacket off of Kaeya by force.

“Diluc, eat your food,” Crepus noticed Diluc’s simmering rage. “It’ll go cold.”

“I don’t like porridge,” he said.

“You liked porridge yesterday.”

“That was yesterday.”

Crepus sighed again, something he did often when it came to Diluc’s eating habits. “Ask Adelinde kindly if she’ll make you something else.”

“I’ll have his!” Kaeya leant all the way across the table to steal Diluc’s food and Diluc could only watch in horror as his jacket went right into Kaeya’s own bowl of porridge.

Diluc was still for a moment, debating whether tackling Kaeya right then and there was worth getting scolded by his dad.

“Oh, sorry,” Kaeya said. “Can I borrow another jacket?”

Diluc decided it was.

-

Diluc was correct about what to expect from a Kaeya that isn’t sick. The chaos this seven year old brought is not something to scoff at. Any sign of weakness was taken advantage of. He truly was evil.

Diluc slammed his wardrobe shut, only one jacket inside and it was the ugly one he doesn’t want anymore. Kaeya was ruining his life. It was true. It might be just a few jackets but Diluc’s sanity was also on the line.

“Kaeya!” He stormed out of his room. “Give me back my coats!”

He hears giggling and heavy steps as Kaeya runs for his life and Diluc immediately chased after him. Diluc didn’t swear, because that’s bad, but Kaeya was a bitch.

“No running inside, Master Diluc,” Adelinde stopped in front of Diluc and blocked his path.

“He’s getting away!” Diluc tried to peer over Adelinde’s shoulder to catch a glimpse of Kaeya but he was long gone.

“That’s no excuse, you could hurt yourself,” Adelinde said. “Also, no play fighting inside.”

“We aren’t play fighting!” Diluc stomped his foot. “He stole my stuff and I’m going to get it back.”

Adelinde only smiled and pinched his cheek. “Take it out outside.”

Diluc huffed and started speedwalking once Adelinde stepped aside. It wasn’t fair because Kaeya was definitely running, but he could get away with it. And Kaeya was the one who could be hurt more! Diluc always knew he was small but he was also small concerning kids his own age.

The moment Diluc makes it outside the mansion, he starts sprinting. “I have longer legs than you, I’ll catch up!”

“Don’t count on it!” Kaeya responded and Diluc took off in the direction of his voice.

He spotted Kaeya easily, but as he started to catch up, Kaeya jumped and grabbed the branch of a tree. He pulled himself up and took a seat, waiting for Diluc to arrive. Kaeya was cocky too, it made his evilness even worse.

“Do you know how to climb trees, Master Diluc?” Kaeya teased as he started to climb higher.

“Get down, you’re going to fall like an idiot,” Diluc told him.

Kaeya climbed higher and Diluc got that same feeling he gets when he knows he’s about to get in trouble. What if Kaeya fell? He was so small. He could die.

“Make me,” Kaeya responded. “If you’re not just a giant baby too scared to climb a tree.”

Diluc decided he has no concern for this demon and if Kaeya falls, that’s his own problem. Well, Diluc would still have to carry him back home, but Kaeya could deal with everything after that. Although Diluc would also have to help him around the house. And make sure he doesn’t get in more trouble.

Damn it, it is Diluc’s problem.

So Diluc started climbing. Or at least, attempting to climb. He easily got ahold of the first branch but splinters dug into his hands and he quickly let go. Kaeya had to jump and grab it, how come he was fine?

Kaeya watched on amused as Diluc tried again, ignoring how much his hands hurt. He really wishes he’d at least put some gloves on before leaving his room, but he was more focused on his coat. He pulled himself up, but the branch swayed and Diluc suddenly felt much higher from the ground than he actually was.

The next branch was a little harder to reach, he had to lean around the tree to get ahold of it. How did Kaeya manage to climb the tree? He still couldn’t reach the table without a chair.

“Careful, the branches might break,” Kaeya swung his legs, carefree as ever. “Then you’ll plummet to your death.”

“We’re not that high up,” Diluc didn’t look down to confirm this as he pulled himself up another branch.

That’s when he heard the cracking and froze. That time he did look down and actually the ground was miles away. The branch lurched as it cracked further and Diluc panicked too much to do anything before it fully broke off.

He shrieked as he flailed backwards towards the ground. The world was spinning and he didn’t know when to expect the impact, but it all suddenly stopped. He didn’t think he hit the ground because then he would be in a lot more pain but maybe he just died. If he died because of Kaeya, he’s gonna be so mad.

He slowly opened his eyes to find that he was definitely on the ground, but there was no impact so that didn’t make any sense. “Am I dead?”

“Nope,” Kaeya crouched next to him. “Just dramatic.”

Diluc glared at him, but he still felt kinda light headed so he didn’t immediately attack Kaeya. “What happened?”

“You fell like an idiot,” Kaeya said. “And screamed like a big baby.”

It wasn’t Diluc’s fault the branch broke! Kaeya probably did something to make it do that! He was surprised Kaeya hadn’t tried to kill him already. Or maybe he had, but Diluc hasn’t noticed.

“You’re really mean for a seven year old,” Diluc mumbled. “My friends sister isn’t that mean.”

“I’m eight now!” Kaeya responded. “And I’m growing meaner by the day!”

That was true, but when did Kaeya become eight? He didn’t look any bigger, but Kaeya might just be permanently tiny.

“When was your birthday?” Diluc asked.

“Couple of months ago,” Kaeya said. “Why?”

“You didn’t get a party,” Diluc frowned. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

“Oh. I didn’t think it was a big deal,” Kaeya said. “Does everyone get parties for their birthday? I haven’t had one.”

Diluc gasped in horror. No party! How did he get presents if he didn’t have a party?

“You look so shocked,” Kaeya poked Diluc’s cheek. “I didn’t do nothing. Mama made chicken skewers and we had grape juice.”

“That’s… that’s it?” Chicken skewers. Grape juice. He knew Kaeya hadn’t been as well off as Diluc’s family was but did he have nothing? He couldn’t at least go to a restaurant? “What about presents?”

“That was the present,” Kaeya says. “My favourite food.”

“That’s not a present! That’s just food!”

“Anything can be a present, you’re just stupid and rich,” Kaeya usually made fun of him with a playful lilt to his voice, but then he actually sounded a little angry. “Not everyone gets a fancy dinner from their private cook and twenty new presents to go ignore your family with, but at least I was with them!”

Diluc blinked and Kaeya turned away from him. He forgot sometimes that Kaeya never chose to leave his family, but he figured Kaeya wouldn’t miss them. They abandoned him, why would he ever want to see them again? If given the chance… would Kaeya return to them?

They probably wouldn’t come back anyway so it doesn’t matter. They left him because they were terrible and he was part of Diluc’s family now. Annoying and evil, but still his.

“Kaeya,” Diluc tugged on his sleeve. “Let’s go back inside. We can tell dad about your birthday and make skewers.”

“Mm,” Kaeya nodded and let Diluc pull him to his feet. He was quiet, which was something Diluc had wanted for a long time, but it’s too weird coming from Kaeya. How could he get him to be annoying again…

“Give me back my jacket now,” Diluc reached to pull it off of him but Kaeya dug an elbow into Diluc’s side and made a break for it.

Once Diluc had recovered from the sharp pain of Kaeya’s tiny bony elbow, he took chase. Maybe he was still in pain, but this was a lot better than quiet, sulky Kaeya. Diluc will forgive him this one time.

But if Kaeya elbowed him again, Diluc was putting him in a headlock.

-

“What is your plan for the foreign boy?”

Diluc had been told time and time again not to eavesdrop on conversations but it wan’t his fault it was so easy. His dad should learn to close doors. Or at least learn to listen for little children opening doors just a smidge so they can listen in.

He wasn’t eavesdropping. He was exploring. That was a good thing.

“What do you mean?” Crepus asked his companion.

“He’s been here for half a year now,” they said. “His family obviously isn’t coming back for him. What do you intend to do with him?”

“I intend to honour my promise,” Crepus responded. “I said I would care for him until his family arrives. If that never happens, so be it.”

“We should start training him as a servant if he’s going to be staying then.”

Kaeya was younger than Diluc, he couldn’t have a baby serving him. Not to mention Kaeya looks even younger than he actually is. Diluc had heard Adelinde throw around words like malnutrition while he definitely wasn’t eavesdropping. That was worrying enough.

“I don’t employ children,” Crepus sounds just as aghast as Diluc at the idea. “And I don’t intend to drop him off at the orphanage. Kaeya has been through enough already without being abandoned again.”

That’s right, Kaeya is theirs now. Diluc was fully prepared to fight someone if they ever even suggested giving him up. Kaeya was even nice sometimes. It was rare, but it did happen.

Although Diluc was pretty sure Kaeya only acted nice when he was trying to act innocent after doing something evil again.

“I didn’t mean to imply-”

“You didn’t imply anything, you said I should make a child work for me,” Crepus interrupted. “Don’t ever suggest anything like that again.”

Diluc quickly pressed himself against the wall as the door opened and the person who suggested employing Kaeya left. For a moment, Diluc thought he’d gotten away with his not eavesdropping but then…

“Diluc, I know you’re there,” Crepus called.

Diluc continued being still, maybe he’d forget.

“Diluc.”

Yeah, there was no escaping. He hung his head and entered his father’s office. “I wasn’t eavesdropping.”

“I’m not mad,” Crepus said. “It brings up a conversation I need to have with you.”

Knowing that he wasn’t in trouble, Diluc suddenly felt no remorse for his actions. Kaeya always got away with causing trouble, Diluc should be allowed to sometimes as well.

“What is it?” Diluc sits in the chair in front of Crepus’ desk. “Is it about Kaeya?”

“Yes. I wanted to know how you would feel if Kaeya became your brother,” Crepus answered. “I haven’t brought it up to him yet. I wanted to know what you think.”

“I get a little brother?” Diluc leaned forward in his seat and started kicking his feet in excitement. “We get to keep him? I can keep him?”

Crepus laughed at the wording, but seemed happy with Diluc’s response. “If Kaeya wants, yes.”

Diluc gets a baby brother! He didn’t think he’d ever get a sibling like all his friends have, but he gets Kaeya! Little, evil Kaeya!

“Yes! I’ll go ask him now!” Diluc jumped out of his seat but Crepus quickly grabbed his arm.

“Patience, Diluc,” he said. “You have to remember that he already has a family. He might not take too kindly to us suggesting he leaves them for us.”

“His family didn’t want him anyway,” Diluc huffed. “He’s my brother now.”

“We don’t know the full story, we can’t just assume it was intentional,” Crepus scolded. “Let’s wait until a year is up, and then see if he wants to stay with us.”

Kaeya would, obviously. Why wouldn’t he?

Diluc was already planning on telling anyone who would listen that he has a little brother now.

-

Kaeya was in the worst mood Diluc had ever seen him in. Everyone else at the Ludi Harpastum was laughing and enjoying themselves, but Kaeya stuck to Diluc’s side and glared at anyone who even dared to smile at him.

“How about some lunch?” Crepus asked them. “Kaeya? Do you want anything?”

“I wanna go home,” he muttered.

Crepus smiled and patted him on the head. “We’ll go home soon, I promise. Why don’t you two enjoy some of the games?”

Kaeya shrugged, completely unenthused at the idea. Diluc had no idea what was wrong with him. “We could watch one of the puppet shows?”

“Okay.”

Diluc frowned, but Kaeya was already tugging him in the direction of the main plaza. Maybe he would trip himself up on purpose. Kaeya always loved to see him suffer.

“I’ll come find you with lunch soon,” Crepus said. “Look after each other.”

As if Diluc didn’t keep a vigilant eye over his baby brother all the time. Not that Kaeya knew he was Diluc’s baby brother because his father was so annoyingly insistent on not being ‘pushy.’ It had already been over a year! He wanted a brother already!

“Promise,” Diluc called back to his dad as he was dragged away by Kaeya. For someone so tiny and skinny, he was pretty strong. Diluc was stronger, but he wasn’t going to push Kaeya around. He’d probably break all of his bones.

They ended up sitting amongst a bunch of other kids, watching a puppet show about the story of Vanessa. Diluc thought it was entertaining, but Kaeya continued to have no fun whatsoever. It was like he was determined to hate Ludi Harpastum.

Well, Diluc wouldn’t let Kaeya’s bad mood ruin his own day, so he focused on the show while Kaeya sulked. He would cheer up once they had food. Kaeya loved food. He’d eat anything, unlike Diluc, who was pretty sure he would die if he ate broccoli.

“Ah, there you are,” Crepus soon finds them. “Are you capable of eating a hot dog?”

Diluc narrowed his eyes. “Are there onions hiding in it?”

“I will pick them off.”

“No, it’s ruined.”

Crepus sighed. “I also got chicken skewers.”

“With-”

“Yes, without mushrooms,” Crepus interrupted. “And a normal one for Kaeya- where’s Kaeya?”

Diluc glanced to his side, where Kaeya had been the entire time, to find that he was not there. He felt a pit forming in his stomach. Did Kaeya leave without telling Diluc? Where did he go? He was way too small to be by himself.

Crepus could see in the mounting panic on Diluc’s face that he had no idea where his little brother was. “Do you have any idea where he went?”

“No,” Diluc’s voice is suddenly much higher pitched than it normally is. “He was right here before.”

Crepus frowned. “Okay. Wait for me at the Angel’s Share, I’ll go find Kaeya.”

“No, I can help!” Diluc objected. “I’ll find him, I promise!”

“It’s too crowded, I don’t want to lose you as well,” Crepus said. “Stay with Charles, and I’ll be back soon.”

“No!” Diluc stomped his foot. “I wanna help.”

“Diluc-”

“I’m helping,” Diluc tries to sound forceful but his voice cracks. Why wasn’t he keeping a better eye on Kaeya? He was the worst brother ever.

“It’s okay, Kaeya’s smart for his age,” Crepus crouches down to pull Diluc into a hug. He feels a little less panicked but he would still like to find his brother already. “Come on, let’s go to the Angel’s Share.”

Diluc absolutely did not want to do that, but his throat hurt and that was a sure sign that he was going to cry so he didn’t open his mouth. Kaeya would tease him so much if he learned that Diluc cried about him. He solemnly refused to let that happen.

Crepus took him to the tavern and left Diluc in the backroom to sip on grape juice and worry about Kaeya. What if something bad happened to him? What if he got trampled by the crowds because they couldn’t see him?

The grape juice failed to distract him from his crippling failure as an older brother.

Every time the door opened, Diluc’s hope that Kaeya and his dad were finally back was destroyed by Charles grabbing more product. Diluc was starting to hate their stupid customers and their insatiable need for alcohol. It tasted bad anyway.

Not that Diluc would know that. Because he never ever stole a sip of his dad’s wine just to taste it. No one could prove anything.

Diluc had almost given up hope when his father finally opened the door and walked in with Kaeya behind him. All of Diluc’s concern was immediately replaced with rage.

“Why did you do that?!” Diluc yelled. “You could have at least told me you were going somewhere!”

“I just didn’t want to watch the show,” Kaeya shrugged. His nonchalant attitude made it even worse.

“We could have done something else!”

Crepus gave Diluc a look that made him shut up immediately. Then he gave Kaeya that same look and Kaeya’s shoulders slumped.

“I’m sorry I ran off,” he muttered. “I was just looking for something.”

Diluc would like to have continued being angry at Kaeya, but he was more tired than anything. “I could have helped…”

Kaeya shook his head. “You’re not meant to help, it’s supposed to be a surprise.”

Diluc blinked. “What?”

Kaeya looked back up at Crepus who urged him to go on.

“The festival reminded me of a thing back home. People stop being there a lot so every year that you’re still there, you spend time with your family and give gifts,” Kaeya frowned. “I’m not there anymore, but I’m still alive. I didn’t do it this year.”

How often did people ‘stop being there’ where Kaeya was from? Where even was Kaeya from?

“So…” Crepus prompted.

“So I got things,” Kaeya finally said. “I won this bird thing, I thought you’d like it.”

Kaeya threw the gift at him and immediately stepped back to hide behind Crepus. Once Diluc was able to get a good look at it, he saw that it was a little wooden toy. The bird was probably a hawk or something based on the talons, but Diluc wouldn’t admit that he didn’t know as much about birds as he told people he did.

“The gifts are very nice, Kaeya,” Crepus said. “But don’t run off without telling anyone again.”

A realisation hit Diluc and he jumped up from his seat. “You said you give gifts to your family?”

Kaeya nodded.

“You gave us gifts,” Diluc clarified. “Dad, he gave us gifts! We’re family, can we keep him now?”

Kaeya blinked as Crepus sighed. He probably regretted talking to Diluc about that.

“Well, I suppose I’ll ask now,” Crepus said. “If it’s alright with you, Kaeya, would you like to legally be considered part of our family?”

Kaeya did nothing but blink again, but his fist tightened around the back of Crepus’ coat. “Like… your son?”

“Like my brother,” Diluc interrupted, because that was the more important part.

“Why?” Kaeya frowned.

“Well, you’re basically already one of us,” Diluc said. “But we can get papers, and then you’ll be a Ragnvindr, which would make you my brother.”

Which, again, was the most important part.

“Oh,” Kaeya leans further into Crepus’ coat. “That’s…”

“You don’t have to decide right away,” Crepus said. “Or ever. I’m happy looking after you either way.”

Kaeya buried himself completely into Crepus’ side. Diluc had never seen Kaeya be shy before. It was terrible, because his dad looked absolutely charmed and Kaeya could definitely use this tactic to get out of trouble.

“Okay,” Kaeya mumbled. “That sounds good.”

“Yes!” Diluc bounded over to hug Kaeya, effectively squishing him between himself and Crepus. “That means you’re Kaeya Ragnvindr now! We have the same name!”

Kaeya did not dislodge himself from his new dad, who was just as ecstatic as Diluc, but better at controlling himself. They talked a little bit about getting the papers sorted out after the Ludi Harpastum was over and the city was less busy, but Kaeya didn’t really say anything.

Diluc was too excited about having a brother to notice the way Kaeya clung to Crepus. It almost seemed protective, but Diluc doubted Kaeya would have been able to protect anyone as a tiny eight year old.

That didn’t matter, because Diluc would protect both of them. They were his family, after all.

-

Diluc was filled with dread when he came out for breakfast and found Kaeya and their dad in the kitchen. Ever since he’d asked Adelinde how to make his favourite dessert, he’d been spending an obscene amount of time in there.

The fact that he’d roped Crepus into it meant breakfast was going to be a disaster.

“That’s… a lot of spices,” Crepus said. “Are you sure?”

“It’ll make it more flavourful!” One day Crepus would learn to say no to Kaeya, but as long as he had those puppy dog eyes, that day would not come. “Chicken needs flavour.”

Chicken. Okay. It was hard to mess that up. Kaeya could probably find a way, but Diluc still had hope.

“Hey, Diluc,” Kaeya waved as he entered the kitchen. “We’re making chicken and salad. You can just have mashed potato instead of salad.”

Mashed potato was also hard to mess up, but Kaeya had done so before. Who puts pumpkin in mashed potato? Kaeya enjoyed it, but Diluc had one spoonful and nearly threw up.

“Is it… normal mashed potato?”

“I put garlic salt in it,” Kaeya said. “But other than that, it’s normal.”

Diluc didn’t really trust him, but he was also not immune to the puppy dog eyes and was inevitably going to have at least one spoonful. Diluc loved having a brother. He loved less that said brother was constantly trying to poison him.

“Unfortunately, I need to get to work,” Crepus said. “But I’ll definitely try some food when you’re done cooking it.”

“Mhm,” Kaeya nodded. “I’ll bring it up to you soon!”

Crepus had left the room for all of about a minute before Diluc felt heat on the back of his jacket. That was not the first time it had happened.

“Kaeya!” Diluc pulled the jacket off and threw it on the ground to stomp out the fire. “Stop doing that!”

“You did that,” Kaeya smiled innocently. “Again.”

“No, I didn’t, I know when I use my vision,” Diluc glared. “And I know when you set me on fire.”

“Obviously you don't,” Kaeya responded.

“Stop gaslighting me! I know it’s you!”

“I don’t know what to tell you,” Kaeya shrugged. “You really just don’t have good control over your vision.”

Diluc groaned. He would never win this argument. Kaeya was persistent to a fault. “Whatever. When will breakfast be ready?”

“If you’re happy with salmonella, it’s ready now,” Kaeya answered. “Otherwise, wait until I tell you.”

Kaeya should never have been allowed to hold a spatula.

Diluc sulked his way to the dinner table, mentally preparing himself for the travesty Kaeya would hand him. Crepus always said Kaeya was only just learning to cook and he would improve as he went, but Diluc lived in fear of his next creation.

“It’s finished!” Kaeya kicked open the kitchen door, holding two plates. “Here you go~”

One plate was placed in front of Diluc and then Kaeya disappeared up the stairs. He was always so excited for people to try his food. It made it impossible to say no to him, so Diluc took a bite of the chicken.

It… was actually good. It was really good. Adelinde had learnt not to use spices in anything because Diluc wouldn’t eat it, but somehow Kaeya had managed to make chicken that doesn’t taste like trash.

And the mashed potato was… normal. It was a miracle.

Kaeya came bounding down the stairs and slid into the seat next to Diluc. “How do you like it?”

Diluc couldn’t answer because his mouth was full of potato. He gave a thumbs up.

“Bet you couldn’t tell I put kumura in the mashed potato,” Kaeya smirked. “Told you the purple ones taste better.”

Diluc tried to yell in outrage, but it was very hard to swallow down all of the potatoes. He settled instead for pulling his little brother into a headlock.

-

“Widen your stance, keep your hands steady,” Diluc directed Kaeya. “And swing directly at the dummy.”

Kaeya did so, and took the whole top of it clean off.

“Nice,” he said. “I’ll be the scourge of scarecrows all around.”

Diluc crossed his arms, unimpressed. “Do you want to be a Knight or not?”

“Fine, fine,” Kaeya swung the sword again, removing it’s arm, and made another quick strike where the heart would be.

He was a fast learner. Diluc was surprised Kaeya had even wanted to be a knight, considering how long he had spent telling everyone he’d be the best chef in the world, but everyone deserved a hobby.

Kaeya was nearly fourteen, he’d be able to take the entrance exam soon, so Diluc was helping him get ready. He’d also finally stopped being tiny, which was unfortunate for Diluc’s status as big brother, but meant Kaeya could stop being mistaken for a five year old at age twelve.

Adelinde came out with a tray of fruit. “Time for a break, boys.”

The moment Kaeya saw food, he abandoned his sword to grab all of the pineapple before Diluc could. Adelinde let him because he was obviously her favourite. Hours spent helping her cook probably contributed to that.

Meanwhile Diluc still refused to eat half of the food she made.

Diluc had some apple slices instead and Kaeya took their little break as an opportunity to start poking him. Diluc was fifteen now, practically an adult, and he was not going to lash out at his baby brother for doing what baby brothers do.

Kaeya poked him in the neck and Diluc punched him in the arm.

“Adelinde!” Kaeya immediately shouted. “Diluc hit me!”

“You started it!”

“Boys, please,” Adelinde said. “Keep a three feet distance until you calm down.”

Kaeya poked Diluc one last time before ducking out of the way of his brother’s righteous fury. It was fine. Diluc had other ways of making Kaeya’s life hell.

“How about, since you’re so good with a sword already, you spar with me?” Diluc suggested. “The practical test is the most important part of the entry exam.”

“Ah,” Kaeya looked down at his hands. “I’m uh… covered in pineapple juice. Slippery.”

“That’s fine,” Diluc said. “Just wash your hands.”

Kaeya blinked. “I’m not getting out of this, am I?”

“Absolutely not.”

So many years of Kaeya actively trying to poison him. Setting him on fire and blaming his vision. Stealing his coats not because he didn’t have any but because he was dedicated to causing Diluc pain.

This would be fun.

Kaeya took his time washing his hands before returning to their training. He took the right stance, just like Diluc had taught him, and prepared for the fight. Diluc wasted no time swinging a massive wooden sword directly at Kaeya.

It went about as well as anyone could expect. Diluc won the first match, and the match after that, and every match after that. Kaeya definitely put up a fight, but Diluc had a couple more years of experience as well as being stronger than Kaeya.

Diluc was wrestling with his instinct to be proud of his little brother and how far he’s come. And his instinct to beat him into the dirt. Really, it was amazing how quickly Kaeya had progressed.

But also, Diluc was going to pummel him.

Sparring with Kaeya was also much more fun than sparring with Jean. Jean took practice incredibly seriously and was also capable of beating him. Kaeya was not, which was an easy ego boost.

It was once Diluc had knocked Kaeya’s sword out of his hand for the sixth time that Kaeya destroyed that ego.

“Diluc,” Kaeya’s eye widened. “Diluc, I’m taller than you.”

Diluc blinked. “What.”

“I am, I’m taller than you,” Kaeya placed a hand on top of his own head and moved it across to Diluc’s. Diluc slapped it away.

“No you aren’t,” he said. It simply wasn’t possible.

“I am.”

Diluc stared at him for a moment. It can’t be.

“Adelinde!” Diluc dragged Kaeya after him as he went to find the maid. She was sweeping the courtyard outside the winery. “Adelinde, measure us.”

“I’m taller than Diluc,” Kaeya was absolutely giddy.

“No, he isn’t,” Diluc insisted. “Measure us.”

Adelinde sighed as Diluc stood back to back with Kaeya. She did as asked though. And completely betrayed him. “Kaeya is taller.”

“Dad!” Diluc immediately went to find someone who couldn’t have favourites. Kaeya followed behind him, failing to hide his self satisfied smirk. Diluc wanted to hit him with a sword again.

Crepus was in his office as always. Doing work that Diluc was going to interrupt because this was much more important.

He didn’t even bother knocking on the door. “Dad, you have to measure us.”

“Diluc’s in denial that I’m taller than him now,” Kaeya said. “It’s hilarious.”

Crepus’ eyes narrowed. “Stand back to back.”

They happily did so and Crepus stood from his desk to examine them. The results devastated everyone except for Kaeya.

“He’s… taller than you,” Crepus said. “By a few centimetres.”

“No.”

Kaeya laughed as Diluc tried to stop himself from going into hysterics while their father stared into the distance.

“When did you grow so much?” Crepus muttered to himself.

“My little brother is taller than me,” Diluc couldn’t believe it.

“You were so tiny.”

“I may as well just die now.”

“You two are both so dramatic,” Kaeya rolled his eye. “I’m still growing, you know.”

Diluc felt like crying. How much more would Kaeya grow? Would Diluc have to look up to see him? If it came down to that, Diluc really might die. He wouldn’t be able to live with his younger brother being taller than him.

“You’re both so big now,” Crepus looked paler than usual. “What happened to my babies?”

Diluc could kind of relate to that. Well, he was allowed to get bigger. Not Kaeya though. Kaeya was meant to stay tiny forever.

What kind of betrayal …

“Well, while you two process that,” Kaeya said. “I’ll get back to my training.”

Kaeya left, no mercy in his heart for Diluc and Crepus’ crumbling worlds. Diluc supposed he should be training too, or at least helping Kaeya train, but he didn’t really want to look at his brother at the moment.

Crepus started packing away his stuff. “I’m going to bed.”

That sounded like a good idea. “Same.”

-

You were always honest. You lied about your past, but you can’t lie about who you are. I grew up with you. I know you. I’m sorry I ever doubted you.

Kaeya bites his lip and tucks the note into his pocket. It’s fine, he just has some murder to commit. The arrow indent in the wall makes it pretty obvious who kidnapped his brother.

"Kaeya,” Jean says. “It’ll be okay. The Fatui don’t have many places they can go in Mondstadt.”

What was the point? Why Diluc? Did they figure out he was once Kaeya’s brother? That he might be again?

Did they figure out they were after Kaeya in the first place?

“I hope you don’t mind, Jean, if I kill our newest diplomat.”

Chapter Text

This is so fucking embarrasing.

“He fit the profile!” Childe says. “And he was really suspicious!”

“And yet, you have the wrong person.”

“You’ve been here for four years and found nothing,” Childe defends himself. “I’ve at least found the right social circle! He has to know who it is!”

“If only you did too,” the Fatui diplomat says. “That would certainly make my life easier.”

“He was really suspicious!”

Diluc can already hear Kaeya in his head. ‘You got kidnapped by Childe? Cringe.’

And it was so easy too. Diluc was falling asleep at his desk when Childe rolled on in. All he had to do was hit Diluc with some electro energy to prevent him from reacting quick enough and then smack him over the head with his bow.

Diluc will forever be tortured by how easily Childe managed to best him.

The diplomat sighs and holds his head in his hands. “We can still use him as leverage to get the actual archon’s gnosis. You stay here and keep an eye on him. I have to go clean up this mess.”

They leave and Childe slides down the wall into a sitting position. He spends about two minutes quiet before groaning in frustration.

“After the Liyue incident, I thought ‘oh, if someone is obviously the archon, it’s obviously the archon,’ and yet,” Childe gestures wildly at Diluc. “You are not the archon!”

If Diluc weren’t gagged, he would tell Childe to die.

“I mean, you’re close enough to Venti that he’s always at the winery-”

Damn it. Diluc thought he’d finally managed to Venti-proof his home. He’ll have to adopt more cats when he gets back. That’ll stop the bastard from trying to steal his grapes.

“And you’ve got some kind of relationship with Mona-”

Again, Mona is the bane of his existence. Diluc simply can’t wait to have to deal with all the rumours she’s been actively feeding. She won’t stop anytime soon. She seems to be under the impression that she’s hilarious.

“And you’re a former Knight of Favonius! You have the connections!”

As if Diluc would ever go to the Knights for help. A rock slime would be more useful than them.

“And you got all angry and defensive whenever I brought up the wandering beast or Kæra Skepna!”

Was he that obvious? He doesn’t doubt that actually, it’s hard to hide the utter disgust on his face whenever he’s forced to look at Childe.

“Stop looking at me like that,” Childe says. “I didn’t mean to kidnap you, promise.”

Diluc’s rage is not assuaged.

“Look, you make some stupid mistakes, but then then you get the perfect opportunity to prove yourself so you take it! But then your new supervisor turns out to be an impatient jerk so you try to rush things and, well, end up kidnapping a rich business owner,” Childe continues. “You understand, right?”

If Diluc’s hands weren’t tied, they would be around Childe’s throat.

“If it makes you feel better, we can have another fight after this,” Childe offers. “A private one so I can use my delusion and you can kill me without fear of punishment!”

The consequences of his actions will be the last thing on Diluc’s mind when he finally kills Childe. He doesn’t care who’s watching. He will burn that man alive.

“Who else are you even friends with?” Childe muses aloud. “I know it’s not Aether or Paimon. It can’t be Mona because she would not be able to keep that a secret. It’s obviously not Venti…”

The worst part of it all is that Childe is a fucking idiot. He’s the dumbest person Diluc has ever met and he still managed to kidnap him. Diluc will never live this down.

“It could be Jean…? She didn’t have any kind of reaction when I asked her, but it can’t be Albedo…” Childe pauses. “Do you even know Albedo?”

Diluc doesn’t know Albedo personally, but Kaeya does. Kaeya is friends with him. Kaeya is friends with everyone Childe has listed. Childe has not listed Kaeya himself.

This is the worst day of Diluc’s life. And Diluc has had some fucking days.

“Oh, right, you can’t answer me, duh,” Childe mutters. “Maybe Klee? According to Mona, she’s unnaturally powerful for a kid, but I can’t steal from a baby. I’d be the worst person ever. If it’s Klee, I’ll just have to leave.”

Diluc’s head hurts too much for this. Being smacked in the head with a bow is painful and he’s still got blood dried to his hair that is going to take forever to deal with. Adelinde will undoubtedly take the opportunity to try and convince him to finally cut his hair again.

“Oh, what if it’s Kaeya!” Childe gains critical thinking skills for just a moment. And loses them just as quickly. “No, can’t be, he’s been the most normal so far.”

Diluc closes his eyes and resigns himself to the fact that he’s going to be stuck here all day, unable to even say anything, listening to Childe.

-

Mona and Venti are already waiting in his office when he gets back from the Angel’s Share. Probably everyone in Mondstadt knows what’s happened by now. Diluc isn’t the most inconspicuous person.

“Kaeya, are you alright?” Venti lets a light breeze waft over Kaeya’s face. It feels nice after practically running back to headquarters, but he doesn’t have time to relax at the moment.

“You probably already know Diluc was kidnapped. By Childe.” Kaeya says. “Aether and Paimon are already checking out known Fatui hideouts. I’m going to find Zion, maybe torture him, we’ll see how ready he is to talk.”

Kaeya can’t really bring himself to care whether that diplomat is actually the one Childe is working with. He’ll kill all of them if he has to.

“Diluc told me yesterday that the Fatui know about you,” Mona groans. “I forgot to say anything because of the fight and then we had free drinks… I’m sorry, Kaeya.”

“He… what?”

“Childe asked him about the wandering beast and Kæra Skepna,” Mona explains.

“No, I already knew the Fatui were after me, he asked Jean too,” Kaeya says. “What I mean is, Diluc knew?”

“You knew the Fatui were after you already?” Mona ignores his question. “And you didn’t say anything?”

“If I told Jean, she would have made me postpone the fight,” Kaeya says. “And I couldn’t let that happen.”

“The fight wasn’t even worth it! Diluc won!” Mona throws her hands up. “Why didn’t you say anything after?”

“Why didn’t you say anything about getting Diluc involved?” Kaeya counters.

“Because you wouldn’t!” Mona shouts. “Because you wouldn’t tell anyone and I didn’t want something bad to happen to you!”

And now it’s happening to Diluc. He doesn’t blame Mona, it probably would have happened either way and at least this way, Diluc knows why he was targeted. But fuck, Kaeya needs to find him before something bad really does happen.

“Now might be the time to talk to Jean,” Venti puts a hand on Kaeya’s shoulder. “You can’t keep putting it off.”

That’s true, but he’s pretty sure he’ll receive some kind of ransom note soon and Jean absolutely won’t let him trade his life for Diluc’s. Neither will Mona or Venti, so maybe it’s time to start dealing with his problems alone. It’s not like he’s gotten very far even with help.

“Yeah, sure,” Kaeya says. “When I get the chance.”

Neither of them are satisfied with that answer but they don’t push it. Kaeya doesn’t think he’d be able to refute them if they did. He’s tired and the headache he woke up with is slowly turning into a migraine.

Kaeya isn’t going to tell Jean, he’s not sure he ever even intended to, and at this point, it would just be a waste of his limited time. What’s more important is finding his brother.

Nothing bad will happen to Diluc because of him, he’s going to make sure of that.

“Kaeya?” The door to his office opens and little Klee pokes her head in. “Jean’s called for you.”

Oh, good. Some kind of development. Kaeya might go insane if nothing continues happening. “Thank you, Klee. I’ll head there now. You stay with Mona and Venti.”

He gives her a pat on the head as he leaves and heads to the meeting room. Almost everyone is there. Jean, their fellow captains, Lisa, Amber… It is a high profile case.

“Thank you all for coming,” Jean says once everyone is seated. “We’ve received a note regarding Diluc Ragnvindr.”

Why was the note sent to the Knights of Favonius and not Kaeya himself? That puts a lot more risk on their plan. Or, maybe, they don’t know who Kaeya is. Maybe they just know he’s a knight with a connection to Diluc.

The arrival of a Fatui Harbinger was, in hindsight, a bad time to start fixing his relationship with his brother.

Jean clears her throat and begins to read, “Diluc Ragnvindr is being kept in in a hideout outside of stormterrors lair. If the intended recipient doesn’t arrive within the hour, he will be executed.”

“But that’s at least a three hour journey even for me,” Amber says. “How are we supposed to get there in time?”

“Teleportation could work,” Lisa offers. “But it takes a lot of time and energy to be able to teleport a large group of people to a location at once. It would take more than an hour to send even one person that distance.”

“What about this ‘intended recipient?’” Jean asks. “If we find out who they mean, we might be able to learn more.”

Kaeya already knows. He knows exactly what’s happening, yet no one else does. Not even the Fatui know. They know what Lilax was capable of, they know what the new archon is capable of, and they know that said archon will come for Diluc, but they still don’t know who he is.

He sort of understands that whole ‘knowledge is a curse’ thing now. This is all ridiculously stupid and Kaeya is the only one who can see the full picture so he doesn’t have anyone to laugh with about it.

“Kaeya,” Albedo at least understands some of the situation. Kaeya never told him much, but he’s smart. “There are other solutions. You don’t have to.”

Kaeya plays with the edge of the paper note still tucked into his pocket. Yeah, he definitely has to.

His mother killed a god for him, would have done much worse things if forced, and tore through anyone who blocked her way to Mondstadt. But she achieved her goals each and every time. Kaeya is still alive, she managed to see him again.

Freyr is the one who taught Kaeya that he has to be ruthless to protect those he loves. Anyone who blocks his path, on purpose or accidentally, is an enemy. There is no grey area where family is involved.

“Do you have an idea, Kaeya?” Jeans looks worried, but she does that pretty often, so no big change there.

“I do,” Kaeya stands and stretches. “Send a healer to the Dawn Winery. It’ll be easier to get there than all the way back to Mondstadt.”

“Kaeya,” Jean brings out the voice she usually saves for Klee’s acts of arson, “tell me what you’re planning.”

“Well, that would ruin the fun, wouldn’t it?” Kaeya says. “Don’t worry, I’ll tell you all about it afterwards.”

If he survives, that is. He can get himself there, but Childe will probably be waiting for him. At least he’d been able to observe Childe’s fighting style last night, it could give him an advantage.

Jean looks at him grimly. “Does your plan put you in danger?”

“Yes,” Kaeya always finds it too hard to lie to Jean. “But I’ll probably live. Don’t let Mona into my hospital room though, she’ll kill me. Venti is allowed, but only if you don’t let him bring marshmallows.”

“Kaeya-”

“Albedo is also allowed, but not for more than five minutes,” Kaeya interrupts. “Klee can do whatever she wants, none of you could stop her anyway. And Jean, you’re always welcome, just don’t yell at me too much about this.”

The request is stupid. Jean will be furious, nothing can change that. He’ll deal with the consequences later. Maybe.

“At least let us try to find another option,” Albedo says. “We don’t know what they’ll have waiting for you.”

“A terrible time is my guess,” Kaeya shrugs. “See you in a bit.”

Well, it’s time to see just how far Kaeya can travel.

-

“-and when we fought ruin guards together, he summoned a meteor,” Childe emphasizes. “I’ve seen some powerful geo users, Ningguang herself threw a lot of rocks at me after the Osial incident, but none that could summon a whole meteor!”

Kidnapping someone to listen to Childe rant about his life is weirdly therapeutic. He feels like him and Diluc are bonding. Maybe they’ll be friends one day.

“I’ve still got bruises from those rocks by the way, she was furious,” he feels for one of the dark spots on his arms. “I suppose I did destroy her life’s work but trying to bury me in stone was a little excessive.”

Yeah, he’s lucky Zhongli got him out of there. That would have been an embarrassing way to die.

“I still have this fear that she’ll shoot in like a rocket and pummel me with rocks,” Childe continues. “If you take anything away from today, Diluc, do not anger the Tianquan of the Liyue Qixing. She does not forget.”

With Diluc’s mouth covered, Childe can’t really see the expressions he makes. Childe chooses to believe Diluc is giving him a look of understanding. They’re definitely bonding.

The whole room suddenly starts to shake violently as dust falls from above. Childe hopes for a moment that maybe it’s just a really angry ruin guard stomping around above them, but then the roof starts to cave in.

“Oh fuck, it’s happening again!” How did Ningguang find him in Mondstadt? He’s sure he told Zhongli to tell her he went back to Schenznaya!

The rumbling stops rather quickly, but the dust cloud stays in the air. It almost looks like a meteor hit, but neither him nor Diluc have been petrified so he thinks he’s safe.

And then he sees Captain Kaeya.

“I thought you had a hydro vision,” Childe looks up at the roof. “Did I mishear? Was it geo?”

Diluc takes a very deep breath from his spot on the floor. The dust must be stopping him from breathing through his nose. Childe can’t think of any other reason.

“Hey ‘Luc,” Kaeya turns to Diluc. “Good to see you. Don't kill me for this later on.”

Kaeya does… something that makes Diluc disappear into the sky like a shooting star. It looks similar to what he just did to the roof. Childe is starting to think Kaeya might be the deceased god.

“And you,” Kaeya summons his sword as he faces Childe, “are going to regret that.”

Childe eyes light up at the threat. Two fights in two days? “Sounds festive.”

When hundreds of little stars appear around them, Childe is confident he’s found the astro archon. See? Everything worked out. Zion should be applauding him.

The sudden coldness of the room is kind of worrying though. As well as the way the air thins and his movements feel sluggish. It’s like Kaeya’s completely changed the space around them. Childe tries to create a hydro blade but the water sticks to his hands uselessly. His delusion doesn’t fare much better.

This is going to be more fun than he thought.

Kaeya does not seem to be facing the same problems Childe is, because he charges at him, sword aimed directly at his throat. When Childe dodges it, he almost floats and the weird gravity distracts him from Kaeya’s next attack. Kaeya slashes at his stomach and the blood reacts like his hydro vision did.

It takes a few more near misses with his internal organs before Childe figures out how to move in this space. His vision and delusion are both pretty much useless but he manages to shock Kaeya when he gets a hand on him. He’s just going to have to get physical for this fight.

Kaeya swings his sword and nearly takes Childe’s hand off, but he manages to grab his wrist and elbow him in the stomach. He puts electro energy into every hit that makes contact with Kaeya, but it doesn’t happen often. Kaeya is quick, and the starfield doesn’t affect him the same way it affects Childe.

This is so much better than the fight with Diluc. Kaeya is fully trying to kill him, and Childe finally gets his battle with an archon! A vicious and angry one at that. He thought Kaeya and Diluc didn’t like each other, but this is great!

“I see how you became a captain so young,” Childe very narrowly dodges Kaeya’s deadly sword swinging. “Even without all the star magic.”

“And I can see how Diluc beat you so easily.”

Ouch. Childe thought he did pretty well in that fight.

“Hey, I managed to kidnap him!” Childe manages to make contact with Kaeya again and he hisses at the electric shock. “That counts as a win so we’re currently one-one.”

Childe misses a step and Kaeya is on him immediately, his sword finding purchase right in Childe’s abdomen. That… could be a problem.

Kaeya grabs the back of Childe’s neck and looks him in the eye. “Now you tell me who else knows about me and I let you bleed out in peace.”

Childe hasn’t had a fight like this in a long time. Despite the fact that there’s a sword in his stomach, he feels more alive than he ever has. He shocks Kaeya again, forcing him to take a step back, but he leaves the sword embedded in Childe’s stomach. He’s starting to think this might be a Foul Legacy situation.

This is going to be so much fun.

Light fills the room and Kaeya cries out in pain as something hits him in the back. The starfield disappears and Childe stumbles as gravity returns to normal. Once Kaeya hits the ground, Childe can see Zion behind him.

“What the hell?!” Childe glances between the gnosis in Zion’s hand and Kaeya on the ground. “You ruined my fight!”

“You were losing.”

“I was just about to go all Foul Legacy on him!”

“There is a sword inside of you.”

“Yeah?” Childe rips the sword out and throws it on the ground. Zion looks unimpressed. “I was cheated out of my last fight with an archon, you can’t do this to me. Give him back his gnosis.”

“I am not ruining all my progress for your idiotic bloodthirst,” Zion wraps the tiny ornament up and puts it in his bag. “Also your wounds are starting to bleed now.”

The weird starfield that was holding his multiple gashes together is gone now and they’re bleeding freely. He also… probably shouldn’t have taken out the sword. He heard something about that in the first aid training he didn’t really pay attention to.

It’s not like people can injure you if you kill them first. That was his line of thinking anyway.

“Come on, please? It was just starting to get good,” Childe pleads.

“You’re getting pale,” Zion folds his arms. “I can either take you to a healer, or leave you both to finish your fight.”

Childe pokes Kaeya with his foot. He’s completely unconscious. The whole thing is ruined.

“Fine, whatever,” Childe huffs. “Maybe Scaramouche will let me fight the electro archon.”

No, he won’t. No one is going to let him fight an archon. This sucks.

“Get a move on, I’m not carrying you if you faint,” Zion turns on his heel and leaves.

Childe repeats his words back to him mockingly, but follows. He spares one last glance at Kaeya, who doesn’t move an inch, and sighs. Maybe he’ll come back one day and fight Kaeya without his gnosis. It could still be fun.

Maybe he could fight Kaeya and Diluc. Hmm, might not work since him and Diluc are best friends now.

Oh well, there’s plenty of other people who want him dead.

Chapter Text

Mistakes have been made. Honestly, things went better than Kaeya had expected, but… it certainly didn’t go great. He didn’t even get to kill Childe. He was so close. At least Diluc will probably handle that part. Kaeya knows from personal experience that the man can hold a grudge.

Kaeya picks himself up off the floor, ignoring his pounding headache and the way his vision swims as he stands. Venti had dealt with similar things when he first lost his gnosis, so maybe Kaeya is still safe for now. It could take years. He still has time.

Well, as long as Mona doesn’t kill him the moment she sees him. That’s still a possibility.

He begins the long walk to the Dawn Winery. If he’s lucky, he’ll come across whatever knights Jean has decided to send and then he can just lay on the ground until they’re forced to carry him back. Kaeya is good at falling asleep on horses without falling off and being trampled.

There are small swathes of hilichurls on the way that are all too happy to take advantage of Kaeya’s current lack of balance but he makes sure they regret that. He may not be able to see straight and all his limbs feel like jelly, but he will not die to a hilichurl of all things.

It’s a very straightforward path at least, or he probably would have wandered off into a bush by now. Everything blurs together so he just keeps his eye on the path below him.

Oh. His eye. Fuck.

Kaeya reaches the lake near the Dawn Winery and goes for it immediately. That stupid fucking mist flower freezes his hands, but he ignores it. He takes off the eyepatch and looks into the clear water. It’s… still colourful.

Less so, maybe, but he can still see out of it and he can still see the constellations. There’s still something.

“Kaeya!” An arrow hits a cryo slime he hadn’t noticed just before it can smack into him and Kaeya rushes to put the eyepatch back on. Venti creates a gust of wind to be able to reach him faster while the crowd of people behind him run to catch up.

“Are you okay? What happened?” Venti kneels in the water next to Kaeya and spends a long moment staring at him. Then his eyes widen and he grips Kaeya's shoulders.

“Where is it?” Venti asks. “Kaeya, where is your gnosis?”

“Mistakes were made,” Kaeya decides to go with. “It’s not… completely gone. I’m okay.”

Venti looks like he wants to push it more, but the large group of blurry figures comes close enough for Kaeya to see them. Jean takes a step towards him and immediately casts dandelion breeze before even saying anything.

Kaeya didn’t notice how much his body hurt until Jean healed him. Those bruises Childe left weren’t light ones.

“The Fatui hideout is further up the road, there's a giant hole in the roof, can’t miss it,” Kaeya starts. “I didn’t fully investigate before leaving, I’ll come back to tomorrow-”

“Kaeya,” Jean interrupts. “Shut up.”

He does so without question, and Jean turns back to her knights. She tells them to continue up the road to secure the area and they leave. No one is going to argue with Jean. Not even Kaeya.

“So,” Kaeya tries to stand but his knees feel weak and Venti has to help him up. He still tries to act casual even as he leans on someone half his size. “How’s things?”

“Barbara and Mona are at the winery, currently dealing with Diluc,” Jean crosses her arms. “We’re going to head there, Barbara is going to check you over, and then you’re going to explain yourself.”

Kaeya sighs, but again, no one is going to argue with Jean.

She throws one of his arms over her shoulder so that Venti doesn’t have to keep being crushed under him and they start heading to the winery. A pit forms in his stomach as they approach. It’s been a while since he’s been inside and he’s not sure if Diluc will even let him in.

He probably will since they’re… reconciling or whatever, but what if he doesn’t?

Venti knocks and Adelinde answers.

“Oh, good,” Kaeya sighs in relief. Adelinde would never kick him out. “Is Diluc alright?”

“Master Kaeya,” Adelinde quickly takes him off of Jean and ushers him towards the nearest couch. “Where are you injured?”

“I’m fine, I just-” Kaeya is silenced by Adelinde’s glare as she quickly checks him over for injuries.

“I healed him myself, but I would still like Barbara to look him over,” Jean says. “Do you know where she is?”

“Probably struggling to keep Master Diluc seated while she heals him,” Adelinde sighs. “I will retrieve them.”

Kaeya makes the slightest of movements to stand up and Adelinde instantly pushes him back against the couch. “Stay put.”

He does as told and Venti laughs at him. “That’s all it takes? That’s all it takes to make you behave?”

“I’m not going to argue with Adelinde,” Kaeya mutters. He was completely fine disobeying Crepus as a kid, but not Adelinde.

Kaeya is allowed only a moment to relax before his nightmares come bounding down the stairs. Mona reaches him much too quickly for comfort and looks him dead in the eyes.

“You motherfucker,” she glares. “Do you even understand how hard I worked to keep the Fatui off of you? I even teamed up with Diluc, Kaeya. And then you just walked in and tried to fight one.”

“I didn’t try, I succeeded. I was kicking his ass,” Kaeya defends. “I just… forgot about his friend.”

“And your gnosis?”

“I’m sorry, your what?” Jean interrupts before Kaeya can answer. “Your gnosis?”

“Mona, can you please stop telling people that?” Kaeya sighs and leans back on the couch. “It’s meant to be a secret.”

“‘Yeah, I’ll tell Jean if the Fatui are here for me,’” Mona mocks. “‘Yeah, I won’t just go start a fight with the harbinger.’ Do you remember that, Kaeya? Do you remember that? ”

“I remember,” Kaeya feels like a young child being admonished by his teachers again.

“Well, mayhaps, it's time to tell Jean!”

“I…” would like to crawl into the dirt now. “Can we at least wait until I can tell everyone? I don’t want to do this more than once.”

Kaeya can’t believe he has to fucking talk about his life. This is unacceptable.

“Who is everyone, Kaeya?” Mona refuses to let things go.

“Jean, Albedo,” Kaeya lists. “Diluc because of you.”

Speaking of Diluc, he comes down the stairs next, Barbara not far behind, trying to convince him to sit down. “I haven’t stitched it yet!”

“You’re not putting a needle in my head,” Diluc ignores her.

“I need to close the wound or it could get infected,” Barbara tries to explain. “Please sit down.”

“I’d rather die,” Diluc stops as he comes face to face with Jean at the bottom of the stairs.

“Do you want to die because you were scared of needles, Diluc?” Jean knows exactly how to get him to cooperate. “Needles?”

Diluc is about to protest more, but Mona smells weakness and immediately latches on like a shark. “Aw, big wine tycoon Diluc is scared of a little needle. Poor baby.”

“I have been dealing with Childe’s bullshit all day long, don’t you start,” Diluc glares. Then he redirects his attention to Kaeya. “Hey, what the fuck was that?”

“No one talk to me anymore! I have a headache!” Kaeya rolls to face the back of the couch. His headache isn’t that bad since Jean healed him, but he’s sure all his friends' chaos will make it return tenfold.

“You are not getting out of this conversation, Kaeya,” Jean says. “And Diluc, you are going to sit down and let Barbara help you.”

Diluc tries to stand his ground, but even he can’t argue with Jean. He eventually sighs and lets Barbara pull him back upstairs, leaving Kaeya to dread how the next couple of days are going to go.

Jean has at least some sympathy for him. “You rest. I need to catch up with my company, but I will be back tomorrow with Albedo and Lisa.”

Of course Lisa would be involved. Jean is not at all subtle, but Kaeya doesn’t feel like bringing the topic up right now. He’s in enough trouble already.

“You two keep an eye on him,” Jean orders. “Make sure he doesn’t do anything else stupid.”

“Yes ma’am,” Venti doesn’t hesitate to agree.

Kaeya sighs and closes his eyes. Why can no one just argue with Jean for once?

-

Kaeya has trouble sleeping that night. The couch is uncomfortable and his life is in shambles. Not to mention he has to explain things tomorrow.

How’s that going to go? ‘Hi, I’m Kaeya, former astro archon and spy for Khaenri’ah.’ No. Jean was chill, but that doesn’t mean anyone else will be. It was hard enough telling her the small part of the truth that he did.

Will he have to explain Kæra Skepna too? Because he won’t. No one should know anything about him except for the fact that he’s smart and sexy.

He’ll definitely have to talk about the curse. That’s going to be a terrible time. Maybe he can leave out the window right now, hunt Childe down, and get his gnosis back. But that’ll probably go just as badly as last time.

Kaeya gives up trying to sleep. He tries to just sit on the couch and wait for the morning but he keeps looking at things. The winery is too familiar and Diluc did keep that vase, which he doesn’t know what to think about and doesn’t want to think about.

Eventually he gives up on that too and decides to go for a walk. Maybe that will be more peaceful.

It’s always cold at the winery and when it’s the early hours of the morning, it’s even worse, but it’s not too bad at the moment. He always preferred the mansion in Mondstadt as a kid, but Diluc went and sold that. Kaeya was not consulted, despite the fact that they both owned the house, but Diluc did disown him in their father’s stead.

Kaeya still could have claimed his inheritance, Diluc wouldn’t have had the power to stop him, but the idea had made him sick. He still hasn’t, so Diluc probably did. Now that he thinks about it, Kaeya has partial ownership over the winery and the Angel’s Share.

Diluc is lucky Kaeya doesn’t hold grudges like he does. He could have made a very strong case against him in court. Then again, Diluc could have just told everyone the truth. Anyone would believe Diluc over him, he’s a native Mondstadtian with more money than he knows what to do with.

“Kaeya,” oh good, here comes Diluc again. Just as Kaeya is thinking about how easily he could ruin his life. “It’s three in the morning. Why are you glaring at the mist flowers?”

Kaeya hadn’t been paying attention to where he was going or what he was doing, but he’s sure the flower deserves it. “It’s cold.”

“Go inside,” Diluc says. “I’ll start a fire or something.”

“No, the flower is cold,” Kaeya kicks it and regrets that when he remembers he didn’t put shoes on before he left. “It’s freezing.”

Diluc looks between the flower and Kaeya rubbing his bare foot on the grass to get the icicles off of it. “Go to bed, Kaeya.”

“I can’t, I only have a gaudy couch,” he says. “You’re terrible at decorating. There’s barely any furniture in the main room and all of it is ugly.”

Diluc folds his arms, seemingly resigned to the fact that Kaeya won’t be cooperating anytime soon. “It’s been like that since we were kids.”

“You could have changed it up,” Kaeya responds. “The vase is nice, maybe you should get more stuff like that.”

“Right,” Diluc quickly moves on from that subject. “You can sleep in a spare room if you want. Mona and Venti certainly made themselves at home.”

“Of course I can, I own half of this place,” Kaeya mutters. “You’re lucky it’s ugly and I don’t want it.”

Diluc stares at him for a long moment before putting his hand on Kaeya’s forehead. Kaeya feels fine, but Diluc’s hand is really cold, which keys him into the fact that maybe he isn’t. “Yeah, you’re getting sick.”

“I am not, you just can’t handle the truth.”

“Do you honestly want me to try and redecorate?” Diluc asks. “Do you really believe that would make anything look better than it does?”

No. Diluc is terrible at that kind of thing. He doesn’t have any sense of colour coordination. As kids, Diluc would just see something he liked and then put in his room without thought. It always clashed with something else he had.

The only reason Diluc seems well dressed now is because everything he owns is either black or white and it’s hard to mess that up.

“The Dawnery-”

“Winery, Kaeya.”

“The Winery Dawn wasn’t meant to be a home,” Kaeya yawns. “You have enough money to buy an actual one. Or build one, if you don’t like any available ones. You can even hire a decorator.”

“Kaeya, just go inside,” Diluc tries to push him towards the big doors but Kaeya steps around him to continue glaring at the flowers.

“I hate these things.”

“I know.”

Kaeya kicks it again. It’s still cold. Stupid flower.

“At least put on shoes if you’re so insistent on beating up the flowers,” Diluc says.

“They deserve it,” Kaeya remembers tripping over these things when he was a kid. This is just payback.

“Okay,” Diluc sighs and sets the flower on fire. “Are you pleased now?”

Kaeya remembers that too. He kept getting frozen ankles and pestered Diluc to burn all of the evil flowers so he could run around outside freely. Diluc took any chance to both use his vision and prove that he was the best brother that existed, so it was easy to get him to help.

Not so much anymore. How did Mona get him to agree?

“Mona told you I’m an archon, right?” Kaeya asks. “What else did she say?”

“Not much,” Diluc shrugs. “She said you’d… change without your gnosis. I knew about the curse already.”

“Oh, good,” Kaeya says. “Sucks you don’t hate me anymore. I could have gotten you to kill me.”

Diluc doesn’t say anything for a moment as Kaeya continues to look at the now dead flower. He probably shouldn’t have said that, but the late night mania stops him from caring.

“Kaeya, are you actually-”

“Going to die? Probably,” he should check his eye again. See how much more glow it’s lost. “I might live though, I’ve still got something left. Don’t know if it’s enough, but…”

“Why did you do that?” Diluc asks. “You knew they wanted your gnosis, you should have just left me-”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” Kaeya rolls his eye. “I’ll be getting enough of this from Mona.”

“Because she’s right!” Diluc freezes immediately after speaking. “Don’t tell Mona I said that.”

“Sure. Don’t berate me for saving your life.”

Diluc glares at him. “I’m berating you for putting yourself in danger because you don’t seem to recognise when you do so.”

“Oh, I’m fully aware of what I’m doing,” Kaeya says. “Risk and reward, you know. I’m not risking my last remaining family.”

“We’re not even family!”

“Alright,” Kaeya mutters. “Harsh.”

“No, I mean-” Diluc groans. “I didn’t mean it like that. I mean… how am I your family when I’ve been nothing but cruel to you for half a decade and-”

“Diluc, I already forgave you. I got your note too, it was very sweet.”

“How can you forgive me so easily when I never forgave you?” Diluc snaps. “I was meant to protect you and I hurt you because you trusted me!”

“I don’t care, Diluc,” Kaeya says. “Bad things happen to me all the time. You’ve reached the top ten but not the top five, so I really don’t have the energy to care about it anymore. If you still feel bad, just kill all these stupid flowers.”

Kaeya kicks another mist flower as he heads back inside. At least he feels tired now so he can probably sleep on that awful couch. And if he keeps his eye closed, he doesn’t have to look at things. Easy. He’s so good at problem solving.

It’s way too hot inside so Kaeya ends up kicking his blanket onto the floor. It ends up getting cold after that so he picks it back up. It immediately gets too hot again.

This is going to be his entire night.

-

Mona and Venti are, as always, living nightmares. The breakfast Adelinde cooked was devoured in seconds and now they’re talking about swinging from Diluc’s chandelier. He doesn’t know how much it would cost to replace that and he doesn’t want to know.

“If you want to play, there’s plenty of space outside,” Diluc says, still eating his breakfast because he doesn’t just wolf it down in three seconds.

“Jean told us to keep an eye on Kaeya,” Mona glances at the man in question, still sleeping on the couch. “And I can’t fuck with you if I’m outside. Now, Venti, if you created a gust of wind-”

Diluc sighs. Mona probably hates him enough for Kaeya. He at least finally has an idea of how to deal with his younger brother though. All he has to do is the best brother in existence, and then Kaeya will be forced to raise his standards and not forgive people for hurting him so easily.

And if that doesn’t work, Diluc will take a page from Mona’s book and hate people for him.

Starting with Childe, who he will hunt to the ends of the world and get Kaeya’s gnosis back from. He has his own personal stake in that hunt, having been forced to listen to Childe complain about his coworkers for three hours, but it’s mostly for Kaeya.

Seriously, Diluc could have gone his entire life without knowing that Scaramouche or whatever the fuck his name was would shock Childe just to ruin his hair. Maybe Diluc will set his hair on fire. Seems like appropriate revenge.

Kaeya suddenly sits up, coughing, and frantically making stars in his hands. They don’t look like the ones he used to heal Diluc, they barely glow and die almost as quickly as he makes them. He keeps trying.

Mona makes it to his side in seconds and grabs his hands. “Hey, what’s wrong?”

“It’s not enough, I don’t-” Kaeya starts coughing again. “I can’t make-”

“Adelinde!” Diluc calls and she pretty much manifests in the main room. “We need water and medicine.”

She spares one glance at Kaeya and immediately takes off, much faster than she would have if Diluc was sick. He had almost managed to forget about her obvious favouritism in the years since Kaeya had lived with them.

Mona frowns as Kaeya practically falls into her arms, breathing heavily. Venti creates a light breeze to try and cool Kaeya down while Diluc hovers next to them awkwardly.

“Did you have a nightmare?” Mona asks after a while.

“I don’t have nightmares, I’m the god of dreams.” Kaeya pauses. “Was the god of dreams… is this what you normies have to deal with?”

Diluc feels weirdly offended by that.

“So they did get your gnosis,” Mona sighs. “Is the fever…?”

“Fever is a symptom,” Kaeya says. “Check my eye, that’s where it started.”

Mona removes the eyepatch and Diluc isn’t sure whether he should look or not. This feels like a personal thing and Diluc doesn’t think Kaeya would trust him like that. But his brother offers him a small smile, and Diluc decides to stay.

Diluc doesn’t know what he thought Kaeya’s eye would look like. Maybe milky white like most blind men had, or no eye at all, but he definitely hadn’t been expecting what it is. Swirling dark blues and purples and so many little stars within.

“It’s less bright,” Mona trails a finger over Kaeya’s eyelid. “There are stars on your skin. There wasn't last time.”

“You still have some power,” Venti says. “But it isn’t enough. You’re just changing in a different way.”

“Maybe a monster made of stars will be prettier to look at,” Kaeya muses. “I’d hate to die ugly.”

“You’re not dying at all,” Diluc interrupts. “I will find Childe and get your gnosis back. Then I’ll find anyone else who knows you exist, and make sure they’re incapable of hurting you again.”

Kaeya is only dying because Diluc was kidnapped by Childe of all people, and his stupid, selfless little brother didn’t want to let him die. Diluc is going to return the favour no matter what it takes.

“For once, I agree with your terrible brother,” Mona looks surprised at the words coming out of her mouth. It seems they only ever agree on things when it comes to Kaeya.

Adelinde returns with a large glass of water that Kaeya chugs back in seconds, but he tries his hardest to get out of drinking his medicine. With three people standing over him glaring however, he doesn’t have much of a choice.

“Thanks Adelinde,” Kaeya looks miserable. Diluc would be too if he had to drink that stuff.

“You’ll feel better for it later, Master Kaeya,” Adelinde smiles sweetly. “Is there anything else you need?”

“I don’t suppose you’ll give me wine to wash out the taste?” Kaeya asks.

“I will make you a hot chocolate.”

Kaeya sighs as Adelinde leaves and slumps back into the couch. Venti pats him on the shoulder in sympathy. “I won’t get drunk until you’re able to get drunk with me, promise.”

“Thanks, Venti,” Kaeya says. “You’re a real one.”

Adelinde gives Kaeya both a hot chocolate and some soup that he barely touches. Diluc has dealt with a sick Kaeya enough times to know that he won’t eat anything when he first wakes up, so he lets it slide. But Kaeya will eat lunch and that is a threat.

Diluc ends up sending out more letters to any contacts he has, asking for information on Childe and Zion. Kaeya, Mona, and Venti just sit at the table and chat. It’s nice having background noise while he works, it’s always so quiet inside the winery.

A few hours later, Jean finally shows up with her fellow knights. Adelinde welcomes them in and clears all of the staff out of the building so they can talk. Then, they all sit at the table in the main hall.

“Are you feeling much better, Kaeya?” Jean asks.

“Not at all,” Kaeya responds. “Let’s get this over with.”

Chapter Text

Kaeya probably should have thought more about what he was going to say to everyone. Kaeya probably should have thought more about attacking Childe without a plan. Kaeya probably should have thought more about everything.

None of that will stop him from acting just as irrationally in the future, probably.

“Well?” Someone asks. Kaeya isn’t really paying attention. He’s sick and recently discovered what nightmares are like so he can be forgiven if he’s a bit out of it.

“Well, I’m from Khaenri’ah, if Lisa hasn’t figured that part out yet,” Kaeya starts. “Funny story, I was actually sent here as a spy.”

Albedo has no outward reaction to that news. Lisa, meanwhile, narrows her eyes. “Weren’t you a child when you came here?”

“We were short-staffed,” Kaeya answers. “... No one has any problems with that?”

“I already figured you came to Mondstadt for a reason,” Albedo says.

“I trust you implicitly, dear,” Lisa smiles, but he can still see the lightning in her eyes. “I have more of a problem with whoever sent a child to a foreign land as a spy.”

Diluc shifts in his seat, and Kaeya resists the urge to laugh at him. He definitely chose the wrong person to tell first, but it’s not like he told Diluc just to get the truth out there. It was a confession. He couldn’t continue to lie to him anymore.

But now, pretty much everyone important to him knows of his past. And no one’s tried to kill him for it. He’s not going to think more about that because it makes him feel weirdly light and floaty.

“Well, my mother for sure killed him for it, so you don’t have to worry about that,” Kaeya says. “Which brings me to point two! Khaenri’ah has this little curse thing where people will eventually just start turning into monsters. How fun! Except it’s not fun. Also I’m cursed.”

“The curse of Khaenri’ah, I’ve heard of that,” Lisa thinks for a moment. “There were many books on curses in the libraries of Sumeru. Perhaps I could find a cure there.”

“There is no cure,” Albedo says. “And leaving the country usually makes it advance faster... how are you still alive?”

“My mother may have committed a little deicide when I got sick and gave me the gnosis,” Kaeya explains. “It stopped the spread of the curse and lessened what had already been done, but… the Fatui have it now.”

Jean frowns at the table as she thinks. “How long do we have to recover your… gnosis?”

The timing is different for everybody. Kaeya knew people who survived for years while others succumbed within days. But Mona herself confirmed that it’s already spreading. “Probably not long.”

“So you decided to fight a Fatui Harbinger, knowing he wanted your gnosis, the only thing keeping you alive?” Jean clarifies.

“Yeah, pretty much.”

Jean’s only reaction is a deep, deep sigh. “Do we have any leads on where they might have gone?”

“I might, actually,” Diluc responds. “I don’t have any information on Zion, but Childe was… very talkative. I know at least eight people who want him dead. He’s also friends with the geo archon.”

“Seriously?” Venti asks. “Why is Morax incapable of making peaceful and civil friends?”

“You’re friends with Mona,” Diluc mutters quietly enough that Mona might not hear, but Kaeya can see her fingers twitch as she holds back the urge to commit violence.

“Is that our only lead? Just people who know Childe?” Jean asks. “It’s better than nothing, I suppose.”

“I doubt Childe is smart enough to have done anything to stop me from scrying on him,” Mona offers. “It takes time to see the future, but the past is quite easy in comparison. I can at least see where he’s been recently.”

“I also have people looking for any information on the Fatui,” Diluc says. “They should start getting back to me soon.”

“I can talk to Morax, I guess,” Venti adds. “If anyone’s up for a trip to Liyue.”

Mona’s eyes light up at the idea of a holiday. Free, of course, because Kaeya will be paying for everything. As always.

“I suppose I’m going to Liyue then,” Kaeya says. “Sounds fun.”

“Shouldn't you be resting?” Jean and Diluc both cross their arms and fix him with those stares. Unfair. It’s impossible to argue with Jean even without Diluc’s backup.

“Do you really think Mona and Venti will survive without me?” Kaeya asks.

“Ah,” is all Mona says.

“That’s fair,” Venti agrees.

“They’re two grown adults, one of which is an archon,” Diluc says.

“I’m a grown adult archon,” not that he is anymore, really. “And I’m about… half a functional person. The three of us can make one functional person.”

No one can really argue with that. They’ve met Mona and Venti.

“I’m coming along then,” Diluc decides.

“You joining will take us back down to one,” Mona says. “It’s better if you stay here and… play with your cats or whatever.”

“Who was it again that fought and beat Childe?” Diluc asks. “I can’t quite remember.”

"Your penchant for violence does not make you functional.”

“Neither does your one talent of looking at stars.”

Venti nonchalantly wraps an arm around Mona’s shoulder as Jean moves her hand a bit closer to Diluc’s arm. Kaeya doubts they’d be able to stop the two from killing each other anyway, but it’s not his problem. He just sips his hot chocolate.

“Well, more research never hurts,” Lisa interrupts the tension permeating the air. “I’ll assist Jean and the other knights with their investigation.”

Jean nods. “Albedo?”

“I know ways of lessening the effects of the curse,” he says. “Not delaying it, but… making things less painful. So it might be best if I stay with Kaeya.”

“How do you know so much about this curse?” Diluc asks, ever suspicious.

“My alchemical expertise is in Khemia, an art that originates from Khaenri’ah,” Albedo explains. “My master was also Khaenri’ahn.”

Why is everyone so willing to help him? This is all a problem he caused that only affects him. Mona and Venti need his money, Diluc is still trying to earn the forgiveness he already has, and Jean is just too kind for her own good.

But Lisa and Kaeya are friendly acquaintances at best. And Kaeya literally just revealed that he was a spy. How can she trust him implicitly when Kaeya is just generally who he is? Anyone with half a brain knows to watch out for the cavalry captain and Kaeya knows Lisa has more than half a brain.

Kaeya also revealed how he got his gnosis. Which he told Albedo he didn’t know. Albedo hadn’t even reacted to the news. He probably already knew Kaeya was withholding information, but why is he now offering to help Kaeya despite the constant lying?

Kaeya has more tact than Diluc anyway so he’s not going to ask. And bad things are so common that he can’t not appreciate the good things. It feels weird and he doesn’t fully trust it, but this is a good thing.

“I… thank you,” Kaeya says. “All of you.”

-

Kaeya arrives back in Mondstadt to a sobbing child flinging herself bodily into Kaeya’s arms. The force would have knocked him over if Jean hadn’t quickly reached for his shoulders to help steady him, but he doesn’t have time to say thanks before Klee starts going off.

“Everyone was talking about you getting in a really dangerous fight and you didn’t come back yesterday and I couldn’t come see you and-” Klee balls up her tiny little fist and punches Kaeya in the arm. “Mean! That was mean! You’re really mean!”

“Ah,” Kaeya’s not sure what to say. He hadn’t even thought about her when he left. “I’m really sorry, Klee.”

“Mean!” She hits him again. She’s surprisingly strong for a ten year old, but Kaeya’s been smacked around by mitachurl’s regularly for the past half a decade or so.

“Klee,” Albedo swoops in. “Even when you’re really upset, you can’t hit people.”

Klee pouts but does not apologise. Kaeya’s not going to make her. He made her cry, so really he deserves much worse. He should be executed for his crimes.

Instead, he just hugs her, and whispers a peace offering. “I’ll make it up to you with a fishing trip at a very remote lake.”

“And I can bring my treasures?” Klee immediately stops crying.

“Of course,” he agrees. “Just don’t tell Jean.”

“Okay!” Klee backs away. “Sorry for hitting you!”

Jean narrows her eyes at him but soon enough, more knights are showing up to talk with her and she and Lisa leave with them. Hopefully Jean will forget whatever suspicions she has and Kaeya can get away with letting Klee blow up some random pond. She deserves to be treated once in a while and Kaeya still thinks he should be suplexed more making her cry.

Klee doesn’t let go so he just picks her up as they continue walking along the bridge. It’s a struggle because Kaeya hasn’t had any time to work out recently and he’s still sick, but what’s he gonna do? Put her down?

Absolutely not.

“You!” Klee points at Diluc from over Kaeya’s shoulder. “You deserved to have your wall blown up!”

Diluc blinks. Mona laughs.

“Klee,” Albedo scolds. “What’s gotten into you?”

“Stop being mean to Kaeya! He’s always nice to you and you’re so rude!” She wriggles in indignation and Kaeya struggles not to drop her. He can’t make her cry and also drop her. Then he’d truly have to lay his head on the chopping block. “Amber should call you a bastard.”

“Mona, what have you been telling Klee?” Kaeya asks.

“Only the truth,” she responds. “Anyways, we should start packing. See you at home!”

Mona grabs Venti’s hand and runs off before Albedo can tell her off for encouraging Klee’s violence. Diluc is still silent and Klee is still glaring at him. It’s funny seeing Diluc be told off by a child arsonist so Kaeya just lets her call him names.

Not that he’d probably stop her anyway. Everyone knows Kaeya is incapable of disciplining Klee.

“I said you could use the word as long as you don’t use it to insult people,” Albedo is a much stronger man than Kaeya. “Do you want me to take away your bastard privileges?”

“No…” Klee pouts. “But I’m not apologising.”

“Klee.”

“I’m sorry you’re a bastard.”

“That’s not an apology.”

“I’m sorry for being mean to Kaeya,” Diluc eventually says. “I promise I’ll be nicer.”

Klee scrutinizes him for a moment more before holding out her pinkie. “Promise.”

Diluc sighs and locks his pinkie with hers. It is much funnier seeing him be bullied by Klee than Childe. Maybe he should have set her on him years ago.

“You make a pinkie promise, you keep it all your life. You break a pinkie promise, I throw you on the ice. The cold will kill the pinkie that once betrayed your friend, the frost will freeze your tongue off so you never lie again,” Klee declares happily.

The three adults pause, saying nothing.

“Who… taught you that?” Albedo manages to find his words.

“Childe did!”

Albedo’s eyes darken. Kaeya has never seen him angry, but he might be approaching it.

“When we find Childe,” Albedo says. “Don’t kill him before I can talk to him.”

Diluc and Kaeya glance at each other and both nod. They each have no doubt Albedo is capable of murder when it comes to people teaching Klee bad habits. He has enough trouble with her as is.

They continue walking into the city, Klee babbling to Kaeya about her day all the way.

-

“What the fuck is this?” Kaeya stares at the strange dark liquid Albedo just handed him. It smells like death. “Are you trying to kill me?”

“You should start drinking it now,” Albedo says. “Before the pain starts. It’ll be hard to do anything once it does.”

“ This looks like the pain,” Kaeya swishes it around. It is worryingly thick. “What’s in it?”

“You don’t want to know.”

Kaeya decides he’d rather just suffer and puts the cup down. “I’ll worry about it when I’m actually in pain. I’m fine for now.”

“No, you’re drinking it,” Albedo declares. “My master searched for a solution to the curse for years. I have seen what the pain does to people. Drink it.”

Kaeya sometimes forgets that Albedo is in charge of raising a chaos gremlin and thus, very good at dealing with uncooperative adults. Albedo also forgets that Kaeya is just as much of a nightmare to deal with when he wants to be.

“You can’t make me.”

“I once saw a woman set herself on fire in an attempt to make the pain stop,” Albedo says. “Someone else clenched their teeth so hard, they broke three of them. Which reminds me, keep some leather on you.”

Ah. That seems… unpleasant.

Kaeya looks down at the disgusting concoction. He reckons he’ll be fine, but in the back of his mind, he remembers another kid who was cursed. He showed up one day with bandages covering his arm and couldn’t play with anyone.

Kaeya’s mother later told him it was because he tore the skin off of his arm. When Kaeya asked him why, he said it was because it hurt. He called him stupid.

That kid didn’t show up the next day. Kaeya figures the pain got worse and his family decided to kill him. It was the nicest thing anyone could do for the cursed. Most people asked to be killed long before they fully transformed.

Kaeya picks up the cup and chugs the whole thing. It’s thickness makes it agonisingly slow to drink and he struggles not to throw up.

“Fuck,” he mutters once it’s over. “That’s somehow worse than Adelinde’s medicine.”

“Trust me, it is better than the alternative,” Albedo says. “You’ll want to drink it when you wake up and before you go to bed.”

“Oh, come on,” Kaeya groans. “It hasn’t even started hurting yet.”

“Fine. Once a day then,” Albedo compromises. “You’ll start listening to me once the pain comes anyway.”

Why is Albedo capable of sounding so ominous? This tiny manlet should not be as threatening as he is.

“Anything else I should know?” Kaeya asks. “Since you seem to know everything about the curse.”

“Hmm,” Albedo thinks for a moment. “You’ll get lightheaded often. Nightmares are also common.”

Oh, cool. More of those.

“Any magic cures for those?”

“Take care of yourself and it won’t be as bad as it can be,” Albedo responds. “There are also tea’s you can have for dreamless sleep. I’ll see what I can find for you.”

Albedo might be a nerd, and Kaeya hates nerds, but he’s actually pretty nice. He also might be the only fully functional person coming with them to Liyue. He’s glad to have Albedo along.

“Thanks a million,” Kaeya says. “I should start packing my stuff. And… also explain to Klee that I’ll be gone for a while.”

Albedo cringes. “Yes, I… should brief Amber on how to deal with her. Jean and Lisa will be too busy.”

Amber has a lot of energy… she’ll probably be fine. Maybe.

“Good luck,” Kaeya says. “Hopefully we won’t come back to all of Mondstadt burned down.”

Albedo nods his agreement and Kaeya takes off. He’s let the knights know he’s going on leave for a while and grabbed what he needs from his office, all that’s left is to pack a bag. They’re not leaving until tomorrow morning so they can make it to an inn by night, but he likes to be prepared.

Besides, he’ll probably have to help Venti pack last minute and won’t have time to sort out his own stuff.

Sure enough, Venti is chilling on the couch when he gets home. Mona is painting Aether’s nails, a bag ready next to her. At least one of his friends has some semblance of responsibility.

“Hi Kaeya!” Paimon waves enthusiastically. “It’s good you’re not dead, Paimon hasn’t eaten since this morning and Diluc is busy.”

“It’s still morning, Paimon,” Kaeya says. She doesn’t respond.

“I’m so sorry about Childe,” Aether apologises. “I really didn’t think he’d try to kidnap Diluc.”

“Oh, it’s fine, I stabbed him with a sword,” Kaeya shrugs. “And we’re going to Liyue to try and track him down tomorrow so I can do it again.”

“I can come, if you’d like,” Aether offers. “I have a lot of friends in Liyue. I’m sure Ningguang will help us find Childe. Zhongli is also pretty good at finding him when he wanders off.”

Venti pauses. “You know Morax too?”

“He tried to adopt Aether when he found out they don’t have any parents,” Paimon answers. “He’s not very smart but neither is Childe, so…”

“Paimon, don’t be mean,” Aether scolds.

“Childe tried to kill us!”

“I meant to Zhongli,” Aether says. “Childe is fair game.”

“I appreciate the offer, but we’ve already got a five person team,” Kaeya declines.

Really, he just doesn’t want to tell Aether about his life as well. Aether probably won’t have any problems, they’re weirdly chill about everything. They’re even friends with Childe, who tried to kill them and then summoned an ancient god to destroy Liyue.

Kaeya kind of understands Mona’s annoyance about him forgiving Diluc so easily now. He doesn’t like that Aether continued to spend time alone with Childe despite the man trying to kill them. But it’s fine, Aether has plenty of friends willing to stab a bitch for them, Kaeya included.

“Oh, who else is going?” Aether asks.

“Mona, Venti, Albedo, and Diluc,” Kaeya answers. “Don’t worry, Diluc and I are getting along now. Klee made him pinkie promise and then… threatened to freeze him to death I think?”

Aether still looks worried. That’s fair.

“That’s a lot of people for a small holiday, and Albedo usually prefers research to relaxing,” they say. “Did something else happen?”

This kid is smarter than they seem. Mona looks up at Kaeya, but doesn’t, for once, tell on him. It seems she’s satisfied with Jean and Diluc being on his side.

“Childe just took something important to me,” Kaeya explains. “You don’t need to worry.”

Aether frowns, but let’s it go. Paimon, on the other hand…

“That stupid, mean jerk!” She shouts indignantly. “I can’t wait for Diluc to beat him up again!”

Kaeya laughs. “Well, we’ll have to see if me or Diluc reaches him first.”

“Please let us come!” Paimon is incredibly excited at the idea of watching Childe have his ass handed to him. “Aether usually fights him at least once a month, we can help!”

“Come on, Kaeya,” Venti speaks up. “You know the traveler is reliable. And they know a lot of the people we might need to speak to.”

He has a point there. “Fine. I’ll commission an extra horse for you.”

“Oh, uh…” Aether falters. “We’re not going on foot?”

“Of course not, that would take forever,” Mona says. “And we can’t just have Venti fly us all the way to Liyue.”

“We could get Dvalin to,” Paimon suggests.

“While I’m sure he would agree,” Venti says. “He’s still resting after everything that happened. Horseback works well enough.”

Aether frowns, but relents and Paimon pats them on the shoulder. “They’re afraid of horses.”

“I am not!” Aether hardly ever raises their voice, and Kaeya can tell from the pink on their cheeks that it’s true.

“Master Diluc’s horse nearly kicked them in the head and they’ve never been the same,” Paimon continues as Aether tries to cover her mouth. “It was really funny.”

“Shush!”

Mona sighs as Aether ruins all her hard work on their nails. Venti just laughs as they flail wildly in an attempt to catch Paimon who easily floats out of reach. Those two will at least provide some entertainment on the journey.

Paimon is endlessly nosey, but Aether is usually able to keep her in control, so maybe if stars start spilling out onto the rest of his face, she’ll be quiet. Maybe, but probably not. Whatever, he’ll just get Mona to explain. She loves telling secrets.

“Give me back your hand,” Mona pulls Aether back onto the couch, but they continue glowering at Paimon. “I have to start all over again.”

Paimon blows a raspberry at Aether, and they throw a cushion that knocks her out of the air.

-

Jean and Lisa come by for dinner that night, mostly to tell Kaeya everything they know so far, which is nothing he doesn’t already know. Jean looks apologetic, at least.

“It’s always nice to have company for dinner though, no?” Lisa smiles. “Klee has been talking endlessly about your grilled fish.”

“Unfortunately, I don’t have any seafood on hand,” Kaeya lies. He has fish for Klee but won’t put himself through making it unless it’s for Klee’s sake. “But I did make some pasta a while ago.”

“Sounds lovely,” Lisa says. “And that library book?”

“Uh.”

“I’ll give you a pass on it being overdue given the circumstances,” she laughs. “But don’t do it again.”

“Yes ma’am,” Kaeya mutters before heading up to his room to grab the book in question. He really needs to get better at returning his books on time, Lisa might actually kill him one day.

She gives him a polite thank you when he hands it to her, and then he dishes up some cold pasta for the two of them.

“How are you feeling?” Jean asks.

“I’m fine,” Kaeya resists rolling his eyes. “It’s only been a day, Jean. Albedo’s already making me drink some sort of poison he says is helping.”

“I just want you to take care of yourself for once,” she says. “I at least know Mona will do so.”

“Don’t worry, I’m going to take it easy,” Kaeya promises. “I don’t want to make this any worse than it has to be either.”

Jean nods as she digs into her pasta. Jean knows Kaeya’s a good cook, but Lisa hasn’t tried his cooking before. Kaeya is mildly offended that she seems so surprised it’s actually good.

“Are you sure about Diluc?” Jean asks. “I know he’s been helpful so far, but…”

“I’m sure that if he steps out of line, Mona will eviscerate him,” Kaeya says. “She’s just been looking for an excuse to kill him.”

“I wouldn’t complain,” Jean mutters and Kaeya laughs in surprise.

“You still call him sir.”

“He was my captain,” Jean says. “Doesn’t mean I won't hesitate to tell him off again.”

Kaeya cringes a little at the memory of Jean busting down Diluc’s door when he came back to Mondstadt after his four year absence. She was weirdly polite as she yelled at him for being cruel to Kaeya and then strolled out with a ‘thank you for your time, sir.’

Jean truly is something else.

“I’m sure they’ll be fine,” Lisa rests a hand on her shoulder. “They can all handle themselves.”

“I know,” Jean smiles at her, then looks back at Kaeya. “Do you have any more of this pasta?”

“I always have enough for leftovers,” Kaeya responds. “I’ll leave it with you if you like. We’ve already got rations sorted out for the trip tomorrow.”

“That would be lovely,” Lisa beams. “And do come back soon so we can try some of the infamous grilled fish. We’ll have dinner with everyone.”

Kaeya just loves that Lisa has decided he’s going to cook that much seafood for all of his friends. He’s still probably going too, but he won’t be happy about it. While Kaeya will eat fish if he has to, Diluc will vehemently refuse, so he’ll have to cook something else as well.

Kaeya sighs. “Looking forward to it.”

“Lisa,” Jean scolds. “We’ll at least let him rest when he gets back.”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” she laughs. “I’m just excited to see Kaeya back and in good health sometime soon.”

“Me too,” Kaeya says. “Although I’m dreading being Albedo’s test subject once again.”

“I’ll… try to get him to go on easy on you,” Jean says.

Try being the keyword there. When Albedo finds a topic of interest, it is incredibly hard to get him to let go.

“Well, it’s getting late and you have a long trip tomorrow,” Lisa stands from the couch. “I’ll leave you with some potions tomorrow morning.”

“And I will, uh…” Jean pauses. “I have a bag of sweets I can give you?”

“Much appreciated, both of you,” Kaeya truly doesn’t deserve such kind friends.

He hands them the bowl of leftover pasta and pretends not to notice when Jean grabs just a little with her bare hands. Anyone else would receive his most severe judgement, but never Jean. Then he waves them off as they head to their respective homes.

Venti’s stolen his bed again, so Kaeya settles into the couch, but it’s still a comfortable enough sleep.

-

“Mama, my eye hurts,” a seven year old Kaeya says early in the morning, long before the rest of the village has awoken.

She’s awake in seconds, throwing off the covers and finding a light. “Which one, baby?”

“This one,” he points to his right eye. “And I’m not a baby.”

Kaeya is ignored as Freyr grabs his face and looks into his eye. Her face quickly falls as she peers closer. “What is it?”

“You’re going to die.”

Kaeya frowns. That sounded unnecessarily mean.

“It’s okay, so am I,” now that he looks at her properly, her eye doesn’t look like it usually does. “I’ll make it quick for us both.”

“Huh?” He tilts his head. “It’s just a little sore.”

“It will get worse,” her hold on his face tightens uncomfortably. “And worse, and worse, until you beg me for release. Do you want that, Kaeya? Isn’t it easier just to die now?”

“No!” He tries to pry her hands off his face, but she’s much stronger than him. “My friends are trying to help me!”

"What friend can deny the will of the gods?” She asks. “Even a mothers love can do nothing for her sweet boy. This is the only way I can save you.”

“Mama-” her hand moves to his throat and it’s hard to speak. “I don’t-”

Her grip tightens and suddenly he can’t breathe. Her nails feel like claws and as her skin starts to rot and fall to the ground, he thinks they might be.

“I will join you soon, baby,” she smiles, but it’s all teeth and nothing to hide how black they are. “It’s a miracle we lived this long anyway.”

No. He can still help them both. She saved his life, he can do the same for her and they can both live in a sun filled land with the friends who never gave up on them. If he could just speak, he could explain that!

“Give up, Kaeya,” his throat hurts and his head is cloudy. “Nothing will save you.”

He wants to argue but Freyr sounds so sure, and Kaeya has never known his mother to be wrong.

Something slaps him and the whole world tilts as Kaeya sits up and hits head on something hard. “Fuck!”

“Ow!” Venti rubs his forehead. “Why?! Are you trying to give me brain damage?”

Kaeya blinks as his heart races. Venti is here. Why is Venti here?

Because the little shit stole his bed again. Because Kaeya is an adult now and he lives in Mondstadt and his mother is long dead. Because he’s still alive despite everything.

It was just another one of those fucking nightmares.

Kaeya falls back against the couch and takes a breath. “How common are these meant to be?”

“Depends on the person, I think,” Venti’s face morphs into one of sympathy. “And you’ve… been through a lot.”

“Awesome,” Kaeya’s throat feels dry, but at least he didn’t wake up coughing his lungs out this time. “What time is it?”

“The sun’s just started to come out,” Venti replies. “It’s pretty early, but not too early. We’ll have some time to get ready.”

“I’m already ready,” Kaeya says. “I bet you aren’t.”

“Ehe.”

Venti may be annoying, but Kaeya prefers this normalcy to the already fading nightmare. He tries not to think about it. Dreams are easy to forget if you distract yourself.

So he helps Venti pack and then they have some breakfast. By the time they have to go meet everyone else, he’s mostly forgotten about it. It was stupid anyway, his mother would never hurt him.

It helps, just a bit, to point out the unrealism in the dream. When Freyr found out he was cursed, she tucked him into bed next to her and sung to him until he fell asleep. And even as a monster, she hadn’t been able to hurt Kaeya.

Nice try, nightmares. He knows his mother.

They soon arrive just outside Mondstadt, where Mona is waiting next to five horses. She looks miserable as one chews on her hair.

“My dear friends,” Mona tries to move away but the horse still has a hold on her hair. She turns and glares at it and it actually lets go. Mona’s glares seem to be universally effective. “Are we ready to set off?”

“Completely,” Kaeya nods. “But… don’t we need a sixth horse?”

“Aether managed to convince Diluc to let them ride with him,” Mona says. “So they’re putting the extra horse back in the stables.”

Kaeya snorts. Kaeya has his child he’s weirdly attached to, and Diluc has his. Aether is a fair bit older than Klee, but still a baby.

Speaking of Klee, she walks into sight, bottom lip jutted out like she’s about to cry again. If she does, Kaeya might actually just decide to stay in Mondstadt. He’s not bringing her along, that’s for sure, but he still feels horrible leaving her.

“We’ll be back soon, promise,” Kaeya holds out a pinkie despite having heard what she said to Diluc just yesterday.

“Okay…” She leans in close to whisper in Kaeya’s ear, “if Diluc is mean, tell me. I found some everflame seeds… they’re really strong.”

Diluc should be less worried about freezing to death and more worried about Klee’s love of explosions. Kaeya should not be encouraging this, but he laughs nonetheless.

“You’ll have to show me when I get back,” he says.

She beams up at him in the most adorable way. Enduring the chaos she will cause is worth it for that smile.

“We’re back~” Paimon announces. “And we found an Albedo!”

Klee rushes over to say hi to Aether and Paimon as Albedo approaches him. “I made more medicine for you. Have a cup’s worth everyday.”

Albedo hands him a full bottle and Kaeya cringes just thinking about it.

“I also told Mona and Diluc about it and they will force you,” Albedo says.

“Wha- you’re evil!” Kaeya looks over to the two to see they’re already glaring at him. “You are trying to kill me!”

“You’ll thank me later,” Albedo says without a hint of remorse before turning to check on his horse.

Kaeya makes one move to put the bottle in his bag and gets slapped in the face by a hydro energy. “I don’t have a cup, Mona!”

“Find one,” Mona and Diluc both say at the same time. They then look at each other and quickly walk in opposite directions.

Venti ends up finding a cup for him, unfortunately, but also sneaks him a little wine to help wash it down. “I stole it while we were at the winery yesterday. Don’t tell Diluc.”

Screw Albedo, Venti is his favourite now.

“Oh, I hope you aren’t leaving without saying goodbye,” Lisa and Jean come out next. She spots Aether and immediately squishes them in a hug. “I’ll miss my best assistant!”

Aether resigns themself to their fate as Lisa crushes their lungs. She overly dotes on all of the babies, so it’s not like Aether hasn’t had time to grow accustomed to it.

“I found the sweets,” Jean presents them to Kaeya triumphantly. “It took a long time, but I did it.”

Kaeya laughs. “I’ll keep them well hidden from my fiendish companions.”

He quickly takes them and shoves them in his bag before Venti or Mona can notice. They steal enough from him, they can let him have one bag of lollies.

“You look tired,” Jean frowns. “What time did you go to bed?”

“A normal time,” Kaeya, again, resists the urge to roll his eyes. “Stop mothering me.”

“I’m looking out for you,” she objects. “Don’t make me get Mona involved.”

“Not you too,” Kaeya groans. “Look, I promise I will get enough sleep. Do not make Mona send me to bed at six in the afternoon like a toddler.”

“Fine,” Jean says. “I’m sure she’ll take it into her own hands anyway.”

Ugh. She will. Jean and Mona could be really great friends, but Kaeya doesn’t ever want to see the day that happens.

“Could I talk to Kaeya for a moment?” Lisa interrupts. “I’d like to say my own farewells.”

“Of course,” Jean backs away. “I need to talk to Albedo anyway.”

Jean walks away and Kaeya breathes a sigh of relief. Lisa simply laughs at his suffering. “She truly does care for you.”

“I know,” Kaeya sighs. “What’s up?”

“Well, I gave Albedo the potions I made,” she says. “He also requested something else. For you.”

She hands him a small box of tea leaves. He doesn’t really know anything about tea, he only ever buys premade stuff. “What is it?”

“It’s a tea from Sumeru, it’s got a few things in it that will help you sleep,” oh, thank fuck. That’s been the worst part of all of this so far. “If you run out, there are probably a few people in Liyue you can buy it from. If not, send a message back here and I’ll get some out to you as soon as possible.”

“Thanks, Lisa.”

“You do look tired, dear,” she says. “Have an early night tonight.”

“I’m planning on it,” he responds. “The moment we reach the inn.”

“Well, I wish you a safe journey,” Lisa gives him a hug as well and he suddenly feels a lot more sympathy for Aether. “I’ll see you when you return.”

“Mhm,” is the only thing Kaeya can manage to squeeze out of his crushed lungs. It reminds him, ever so slightly, of that stupid dream, and he quickly escapes. “I’ll see you then.”

Kaeya’s horse is already set to go, but he double checks everything anyway just to have something to do. He doesn’t like this weird nervous energy and adjusting his horse’s saddle six times helps him steady his hands. Everything is fine and normal.

“We should leave now if we want to reach the inn by nightfall,” Albedo says. “We’ll need multiple rest stops along the way.”

“Got it,” Kaeya eagerly climbs onto the horse but Klee protests and he gets back down to hug her first.

“Aether told me there are some really good Liyuen spices,” she tells him. “You should add them to your collection!”

“Yeah?” Kaeya asks. “I’ll cook some spicy fish for you when I come home.”

“Ooh,” Klee bounces on her feet. “That sounds great!”

Klee hugs him one last time before rushing to Albedo and wrapping her arms around him as well. Kaeya is finally able to pull himself up onto the horse and simply waits for everyone else to be ready.

After Klee gets her hug with Aether, they struggle to get onto their horse and eventually Diluc gives in and helps them up. Paimon takes a seat on their shoulder and Diluc climbs on behind them. It’s kind of adorable, but Kaeya will leave Mona to tease him about it.

Once Klee has hugged everyone except for Diluc, they’re ready to set off. Finally. The sooner they reach Liyue, the better.

“Bye-bye!” Klee waves eagerly from Jean’s arm. Kaeya tries not to think too much about the fact that Jean can hold her up with arm while Kaeya struggles with two.

But they wave back until they’re out of sight and truly setting off on their journey. With the fresh air and his friends pleasant chatter surrounding him, he’s able to forget the remnants of any unrealistic nightmares.

Chapter Text

The trip starts off well. Kaeya is still pretty tired, but if he goes to sleep and falls off his horse, he will never live it down. Not only will it be embarrassing, but his friends will swarm with threatening concern.

He hasn’t had much of that from Diluc recently, but when Kaeya first decided he wanted to be a knight, Diluc had gone full big brother mode. Kaeya thought he was protective before that. Then Diluc burned an entire hilichurl camp down because one threw a rock at Kaeya and he bled a little bit.

In Diluc’s absence, Jean took over. She was a little more subtle about it, but once threw a mitachurl into the skyline after it smacked Kaeya into a rock and dislocated his shoulder. They never found that mitachurl, but Kaeya’s pretty sure it was worse off than him.

And then came Mona, whose presence made Jean chill out a little bit because she finally had someone else to share the burden of Kaeya’s carelessness with. Mona isn’t afraid to slap Kaeya for being reckless either, not that it stops him.

Even when he does arguably stupid things, he usually ends up fine. Generally, Kaeya has a terrible time, but always survives somehow. Why should this whole curse business be any different?

Out of the corner of his eye, Kaeya sees Aether move to jump off the horse, but Diluc quickly clamps a hand down on their shoulder. Kaeya’s not sure how many times Aether has launched themself off their horse at the sight of a berry bush in just the first few hours of their journey, but it seems Diluc’s finally figuring out how to handle them.

“But it’s so hard finding them when I actually need them!” Aether stares wistfully at a crystal fly.

“You’re going to break your legs,” Diluc says. “And we will leave you on the side of the road with only Paimon to defend you.”

“Hey, Paimon has a knife now,” she brandishes the weapon and Kaeya only barely manages to hold in his laughter as Diluc’s eyes widen in panic.

“Where did you get that?” Aether seems equally distressed by this revelation.

“From Childe!” That motherfucker truly is the bane of everyone in this little travelling party’s existence. “Don’t worry, I’m going to give it back to him. Pointy end first!”

Mona nods to herself, “I say let her keep it.”

“What’s the worst she could do?” Venti adds.

Sounds like a recipe for chaos. “I have no objections,” Kaeya says.

“No,” Albedo shuts them down. “Do you remember when Klee first discovered scissors?”

“Noelle spent a week in the hospital…” Kaeya answers. “On second thought… maybe no knives.”

If Paimon doesn’t want to hand over her deadly weapon, there’s probably not much they can do about that without being stabbed, but thankfully, she relents. With a sigh, she floats over to Albedo and hands it to him.

The party is able to breathe a collective sigh of relief.

And then Aether takes advantage of Paimon’s distraction to fling themself at a sweetflower.

“Aether!” Diluc halts the horse. “Stop that!”

“I need it for my chicken!”

Albedo pinches the bridge of his nose as he looks up at the sky. “We should take a break anyway. It’s nearing midday.”

“Lunch time?” Paimon perks up immediately, already forgetting about her confiscated knife.

“Yes, Paimon,” Albedo says. “Lunch time.”

Kaeya feels a little bad for dragging Albedo into this, but he’ll be fine. He deserves to suffer at least a little for that medicine thing anyway. Kaeya will make it up to him once he gets his gnosis back and is subjected to his fifty page questionnaires again.

Well, if he gets his gnosis back. He’s still operating on the thought process that everything will be fine because it usually is. Why even worry? It’s not like that will change anything. If he dies, he dies.

Nothing at all to be anxious about. Except everything. But other than everything, nothing.

Everyone sits down for lunch except for Aether and Paimon, who chase down a butterfly with frankly incredible determination.

“Are they usually like this?” Kaeya asks.

“Aether once made me recite poetry to hilichurl’s,” Diluc responds. “And scale a mountain just to get some flowers for Venti.”

“They were very nice flowers,” Venti says.

Kaeya used to be kind of offended that Aether was always inviting Diluc on their adventures and never him. Not so much anymore. Actually, Kaeya’s pretty sure Aether hasn’t invited him anywhere since they first came to Mondstadt. What’s up with that?

“They have you wrapped around their finger,” Mona laughs.

“I’m just making sure they don’t die,” Diluc shoots her a glare. “I had to stop them from taking photos of a cryo regisvine the other day. They wouldn’t survive a day on their own.”

Kaeya glances at Albedo, who remains tactfully quiet. Kaeya decides not to bring up the time he tried to sketch the Wolf of the North. Or him sprinting past a hilichurl camp to grab some cecilia flowers as they all shot flaming arrows at him.

“Diluc, I can’t reach this violetgrass!”

Diluc goes to stand up, but Mona gives him this smug look and he stays put.

“Aether, you can’t climb a diagonal surface!”

Diluc manages to stay seated for a moment more before he hears Paimon and Aether screaming and finally rushes to help them.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought,” Mona calls after him. He responds by throwing the remains of his sandwich at her.

Kaeya is not at all jealous that Aether took up his mantle as annoying baby sibling while Diluc hated him. Nope. He has no thoughts whatsoever about any of that and he never will.

“Are these fucking marshmellows?” Mona looks horrified. “His sandwich has marshmallows?”

“Don’t knock it till you try it,” Venti responds. “Marshmallows go well with everything.”

“What the fuck is wrong with you?”

“Says someone who eats squid,” Kaeya mutters.

“Am I the only who has a problem with this?” Mona asks. “Albedo?”

Albedo takes the sandwich from Mona and has a bite. He deliberates on it for a moment before putting it down. “It’s okay.”

She stares at them for a long time before quietly standing up and heading for her horse. “I’m going back to Mondstadt.”

-

They put Paimon in a bag when they reach Wangshu Inn so they aren’t charged for a seventh head. She’s extremely offended but Kaeya promises to get her knife back and she forgives him immediately. It’s probably unwise, but he wants to see Paimon stab Childe, and he throws aside all concern in pursuit of that one goal.

“That’s a hundred and twenty thousand mora,” the owner casually tells Kaeya, as if she isn’t performing a spinectomy on his bank account.

Kaeya turns to Mona. “All because you didn’t want to stay at ‘some backwater inn.’”

“I’ll pay,” Diluc says. “It’s not that much.”

“It’s not that much,” Mona repeats mockingly. “Just leave the tab with my butler. How much do I tip the cleaners? Fifteen thousand?”

“That’s only a hundred thousand, sir,” the owner says.

“Mona’s sleeping outside.”

Diluc grabs the keys and walks away as Mona glares at his back. Everyone else happily follows along, already knowing Kaeya will foot the bill for Mona. As funny as it would be to leave her outside, Kaeya isn’t that cruel. Usually.

“I’ve got it,” Kaeya sighs as he hands over the last twenty thousand. “Mona, stop antagonising Diluc.”

“He can buy my respect.”

Kaeya already knows that no amount of money in the world could stop Mona from calling Diluc a bitch to his face.

“Whatever, I’m too tired for this,” Kaeya says. He can’t wait to jump into that twenty thousand mora bed. It better be fucking comfortable.

“I know what’ll help,” Mona claps her hands together in delight. “I brought my nail kit with me so I could do everyone else’s nails too.”

That does sound pretty good. “Yeah, I could use some downtime before bed anyway.”

“What colour?” She asks. “I was thinking of doing some starry art but given the circumstances, that might be kinda fucked up.”

Kaeya looks down at his nails. Would stars appear on those too? That might look kinda cool. Might also result in him pulling his nails off if Albedo was right about how painful it can be.

“I think I’ll just stick to dark blue,” Kaeya answers. “Maybe one black one. For style.”

They meet up with the rest of their group outside of the three rooms they’ve paid for and thus arises the next problem… sleeping arrangements.

“We claim Master Diluc!” Paimon announces.

“Keep him,” Mona responds. “Kaeya and I are rooming, obviously.”

“What about me?” Venti asks. “What if I wanna room with Kaeya?”

“Ladies, ladies, there’s enough Kaeya to go around,” he says. “We can all share.”

It’s not like the two don’t encroach on his home all the time, anyway. Venti will probably steal his bed too, the fucker.

“That leaves me with my own room,” Albedo nods. “That was easy enough.”

“You won’t be uncomfortable with three people in one room?” Aether asks. “That seems crowded.”

“I’m used to it,” Kaeya sighs. “I haven’t really had my own room since I met Mona. And then not long after Mona went back to Liyue, Venti showed up.”

“You are truly a kind soul,” Venti schmoozes.

“I’m not buying you dinner, we brought food with us,” Venti’s shoulders droop as Kaeya takes a key from Diluc. 

He heads into his room to drop his bag on the floor and briefly considers talking with his friends a while longer but instead opts to jump on the nearest bed and rest a bit. The trip was just so long, and he wants a nap. He’s literally dying, he should be allowed to be a little lazy.

“Come on, old man,” Mona kicks his shoulder. “You’re not gonna pass out before the sun is even down, right?”

“We woke up at the same time, when did you go to bed?” Venti asks.

“A normal time,” Kaeya sighs. “You know I’m sick, right?”

“You once showed up to work with a hangover that lasted two days long,” Mona says. “And this is what puts you out of commission?”

“Alright, whatever,” Kaeya removes himself from the sweet embrace of potential sleep. “You win.”

Mona folds her arms. “No. Go to bed if you’re tired. I’m talking to Albedo.”

“I’m not that tired,” Kaeya really doesn’t want Albedo to get Mona to enforce even more of his cruel rules. “I’m just being dramatic. It’s what I do, Mona.”

“Is it because of your nightmare?” Venti asks. “Did you have more than one?”

“Ugh,” Kaeya groans. “It wasn’t even that bad. I’ve already forgotten it.”

No, he hasn’t, but he’s not going to admit something that isn’t even real scares him. Plus, he’s pretty sure he’s only tired because he’s sick. Because that’s what happens. Venti bringing it up at least reminds him of that tea Lisa gave him.

“Well, whatever the case is, you should still go to sleep,” Mona says. “Albedo said you should be taking care of yourself.”

“Look, I know I said I probably don’t have long, but I meant, like, a couple of months at least,” Kaeya says. “I’m not dead on my feet yet.”

Mona frowns, but relents. “It’s your life. I’m only stepping in if you act like a dumbass again.”

“I’m sure you’ll need to,” Venti mutters and Kaeya shoots him a look of betrayal. “Oh, try and argue with me, Kaeya.”

Kaeya doesn’t, because he would prefer not to be conversationally curb stomped.

The rest of the evening goes by pleasantly. Mona does a fine job and his and Venti’s nails and ends up dragging Albedo over to do his as well. The offer is not extended to Diluc, who would probably rather solo a pyro regisvine than sit next to Mona for more than ten minutes anyway.

Of course, having Albedo over means more lecturing about that… medicine.

“You really should drink it before bed too.”

Kaeya sips his tea. “I’m sure I’ll listen to you one day, Albedo.”

Kaeya is still dead tired so he starts to drift off before Mona has even finished doing Albedo’s nails, but they don’t bother him. He’s vaguely aware of the lights going out at some point and Venti crawling into his bed, but it isn’t enough movement to wake him up.

In the end, he finally gets a good night's sleep.

-

Kaeya wakes up early by his own volition this time. He decides to order breakfast because he deserves to treat himself, and he eats it out on the deck. With no friends awake to demand he give them food as well, it’s much easier to relax.

His mind is still a bit foggy and his throat itches, but it’s nice out. The sky is only just starting to lighten and there’s practically no one around to interrupt the sounds of the birds. It’s peaceful.

Until it’s not, of course.

Thunder cracks in the sky and it starts spitting. Logically, Kaeya knows he should go back inside before it starts pouring down. But that sounds annoying and the rain can’t be that bad, so he elects to sit and watch the rolling clouds.

Kaeya figured out long ago that he’s not very smart when he first wakes up, but the rain is nice too. So many bad memories associated with it, yet the clearest one is the first. When his mother took him to the dream graveyard and he saw the stars for the first time.

It brings a light smile to his face even as the rain gets heavier.

He gets used to the downpour and almost falls asleep again until it suddenly disappears. He can still hear the rain still falling, but not on him, and he looks up to see an umbrella and an exasperated Diluc.

“Why do you do this?” He asks with a sigh.

Kaeya laughs. “I’m already sick, what’s a little drizzle gonna do?”

It is more than drizzling, but Kaeya’s point still stands.

“Don’t you hate the cold?” Diluc asks. “It’s freezing out here.”

“Well, yeah,” Kaeya shrugs. “But you get used to it eventually.”

Diluc frowns and Kaeya turns his eyes back to the skyline. He’ll just enjoy a long, hot bath and then they can go the rest of the way to Liyue. This place is unbelievably expensive, they’ve probably got some fancy bath bombs or something to make it up for it.

Diluc shifts and drops his coat on Kaeya. He stares at it for a moment, not sure if he’s actually meant to put it on considering Diluc’s aversion to sharing things with him even when they were kids, but why else would he give it to him? Just to hold?

“You sure I won’t set it on fire?” Kaeya asks.

“Yes. You’ll wait till I’m the one wearing it,” Diluc responds. “Besides, I have plenty of other coats.”

“You did back then too,” Kaeya says. “You still tried to strangle me for getting food on one.”

Diluc scoffs. “You’re exaggerating. Just put it on.”

Kaeya does as told because while he is used to the cold, he still prefers the warmth and Diluc’s coat’s are always unbelievably warm. He’s got like, triple insulation or something. Maybe it’s the pyro vision, but Kaeya was stealing his jackets even before he gained his vision. They were just better somehow.

“Do I look more broody and grumpy?” Kaeya stands and twirls to show it off. “I feel like I should be insulting someone right now.”

Diluc rolls his eyes but smiles ever so slightly and Kaeya feels more triumphant than he has in his entire life. “Did you drink Albedo’s medicine?”

Kaeya freezes. “Yes,” he lies.

“Kaeya.”

“You can’t prove anything.”

He makes a quick escape back to his room, but he knows Diluc won’t let it go until Kaeya does as he’s told. He’s going to have to bite the bullet at some point today. Maybe Venti will sneak him some more wine out of sympathy.

Mona and Venti are both still asleep when he gets in and he heads for the connected bathroom before either of them can claim it. There are plenty of perks to waking up early, but his friends would rather die, so he gets to keep them all to himself.

After a long bath that he drags out specifically to annoy Mona, he makes sure he’s ready to set off. He could wear one of his own jackets, but he has Diluc’s. And he didn’t even have to steal it! Why waste this opportunity?

“Bathrooms yours,” Kaeya finally leaves and gets to witness Mona and Venti race each other to the door. Venti cheats by propelling himself forward with a wind current that ruins the hair Kaeya just brushed, but it’s worth it to see Mona’s devastation.

“That motherfucker,” she continues to stare at the door in disbelief. “I had dibs!”

“Venti doesn’t even obey actual enforced laws,” Kaeya says. “Do you really expect him to respect the rule of dibs?”

Mona sighs. “No. I’m still putting cat hair in all of his clothing.”

“Sounds devious, have fun.”

Kaeya begins brushing his hair again because he’s not going out with it in the same state Diluc’s is always in. He’s not even sure Diluc owns a hairbrush at this point. He’s pretty sure he just ties it up every morning and goes on with his day.

“Isn’t that Diluc’s?” Mona asks. “I’d recognise the lack of fashion sense anywhere.”

Kaeya laughs. “I can make anything look good, dear.”

“I usually wouldn’t doubt that, but this thing is a lost cause,” Mona tugs on the hem of it. “What’s with the fluff?”

“It’s warm,” Kaeya says. “You only hate it because it’s Diluc’s.”

“Why’s it red on the inside?”

“We all have our colour schemes.”

Mona gives in at that, mainly because Venti’s already finished in the bathroom and she rushes for it before anyone else can stop her.

Somehow, someone manages to stop her.

“Barbatos,” Kaeya nearly jumps out of his skin when a stranger randomly appears in the room. Said stranger points directly at him. “Is that your friend?”

“Xiao!” Venti launches across the room to hug him. “How’ve you been? Are you eating real food rather than just raw potatoes from some guy’s backyard?”

The intruder sighs. “That was years ago. Stop bringing it up.”

“I say it with respect, my friend,” Venti releases Xiao but keeps an arm around his shoulder. “Kaeya, Mona, meet Xiao. We’re best friends.”

“Excuse me?” Kaeya blanches.

“What the fuck.” Mona is equally offended. “What about us?”

“I already have two best friends, why not a third?” Venti asks.

“Mona and I are basically one person,” Kaeya responds. “This guy just is just some rando who broke into our room.”

“I haven’t even done my hair yet!” Mona adds.

“Your friend is cursed,” Xiao ignores them. “He will become a demon soon.”

“Rude,” Kaeya mutters.

“He’s got a while to go yet,” Venti says. “We’ve got a way to save him, we just need to find this guy called Childe.”

Xiao’s eyes darken at the name. Childe really leaves a mark everywhere he goes, huh.

“Oh, do you know him?” Venti asks. “Have you seen him recently?”

“He was on his way to Liyue Harbour yesterday,” Xiao answers. “I didn’t speak to him because I value my brain cells.”

“Was there anyone with him?” Kaeya asks. “Fatui guy, wears the usual black and red.”

“He was alone.”

Damn. It makes sense to split up when people are looking for you, but Kaeya was hoping they wouldn’t act so quickly. That’s fine, Childe should have at least some information on Zion, and Jean and Lisa are still conducting their own investigation.

Xiao fixes Kaeya with a stare. “You’re not like the other one that came through Liyue.”

“Uh,” Kaeya blinks. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“Fallen gods have caused your land more trouble than any other,” Xiao says. “But your curse does not leave Khaenri’ah. Why have there been two of you in the span of only four years?”

“Now… might not be the time for an interrogation,” Venti interrupts. “Kaeya’s good, trust me. If we can find Childe, he’ll be safe from the curse.”

Xiao isn’t quite glaring at Kaeya, but his whole demeanor is still hostile. That might just be what he’s like all the time because nothing changes when he turns back to Venti.

“I’ll see what I can do,” Xiao says and then disappears without so much as a goodbye.

So far, Kaeya doesn't like the guy.

“Your ‘best friend’ is a jerk,” Mona announces.

“And I’m pretty sure he wants to kill me,” Kaeya doesn’t really appreciate that demon comment.

“He’s like that with everyone,” Venti shrugs. “Although he is a yaksha, so he probably does want you dead specifically. He doesn’t kill mortals though, so you’re safe for now!”

“Somehow, that doesn’t reassure me.”

“Anyways, the bathroom is free,” Venti fixes his hat on his head. “I’m going to go bother Diluc to buy me breakfast. I’m sure I can annoy him into it.”

Venti walks out the door, leaving only Mona and Kaeya. “I let him sleep in my bed and this is what I get. His real best friend wants to kill me.”

“I put extra glitter on his nails just for him,” Mona says. “And I am met with betrayal.”

They have a few more moments of silence for their fallen friendship.

“Well, I still need a bath,” Mona eventually returns to normal. “Have fun getting murdered by the yaksha.”

“Will do,” Kaeya waves as he heads out to meet up with everyone else.

Only eight in the morning and he’s already got another person who wants to kill him. It’s going to be a great day.

-

It’s still raining when they start heading to Liyue Harbour, so they manage to get Diluc to hire a cart. Venti tried for a carriage but Diluc said he’d make Venti ride his horse in the rain if he kept being annoying so eventually they came to a different agreement.

Diluc and Kaeya are the only ones who are actually trained for this kind of thing so they have to take turns steering the horses. Usually it’s Kaeya, because Diluc keeps having to drag Aether back to the cart and eventually just decides to stay with them.

Kaeya isn’t provided much shelter from the rain, but he’s got the world's warmest coat so he’s fine.

“Hey, Kaeya, who do you think would win in a fight between Jean and Diluc?” Venti pokes his head out of the cloth separating the cart from Kaeya’s seat. “I think Diluc.”

“That’s because you weren’t there for the mitachurl incident,” Kaeya responds. “Jean could fling Diluc into the ocean and no one would ever see him again.”

“Another reason Jean is the only person in Mondstadt that I respect,” Mona says. “I say Jean too.”

“But Master Diluc has a really big sword,” Paimon seems confused at the idea that a big sword isn’t all you need to win a fight.

“This is a stupid question, Jean and I aren’t going to be getting in a fight anytime soon,” Diluc says. “At least make it realistic.”

“Diluc and Mona,” Venti suggests.

“Mona,” Kaeya says immediately.

“Mona,” Paimon nods.

“Mona,” Aether agrees.

“Taking into consideration elemental reactions and pure hatred,” Albedo says. “Mona.”

“Thank you for recognising my power,” Mona bows. “Meet me in the pit, Diluc.”

Kaeya shakes his head as they laugh. At least they’re having fun while he’s stuck out in the cold. It isn’t too much further to Liyue Harbour, but at the same time, it’s absolutely ages away. He hates travelling.

He notices hilichurl’s ahead long before they notice him. Just another reason he hates travelling. These things are everywhere.

“Got any more poetry, Diluc?” Kaeya asks.

“Shut up.”

“Such a shame,” Kaeya stops the cart and hops down from his seat. “Regular old assault then.”

It’s at least a good chance to stretch his limbs. He feels like his muscles are going to seize up and die if he has to stay on that uncomfortable wooden seat for even longer. If only they could have convinced Diluc to hire someone else to chauffeur them.

Everyone jumps out the back of the cart and comes up to get a better look at the situation. It’s not too bad, but there are some mitachurls and those are Kaeya’s worst fucking nightmare. He can almost feel all of the bruises he’s received from them in the past.

“I’ll handle the big one with the shield,” Diluc says.

“Venti and I can deal with all the little ones easily,” Mona nods.

“I can get rid of the slimes,” Aether offers.

“I suppose Kaeya and I get the one with the axe,” Albedo says. “If you’re up for it.”

“Always ready to fuck up a mitachurl,” Kaeya responds.

Things go off without a hitch. Diluc easily burns through his mitachurls shield, Mona and Venti trap all of the little ones in a deadly swirl, Aether sends some pyro slimes who knows where with their tornado, and Kaeya and Albedo whale on their mitachurl with swords and geo energy.

Albedo puts down a solar isotoma and a nearby slime barrel explodes, knocking them both off balance. Before a massive axe can dismember either of them though, Albedo throws out a burst of geo energy that knocks the mitachurl over as well.

“Sorry,” Albedo says as he helps Kaeya up. “I didn’t notice it.”

He’s a little embarrassed, which Kaeya would tease him about, but he also didn’t notice. If there’s one barrel though, there’s probably a lot more. In hindsight, he should have realised that those pyro slimes Aether sent flying were being kept there for a reason.

Before the mitachurl has fully recovered, Kaeya launches himself directly at it and, with the help of Albedo's geo flower, takes it out with a few quick slashes. That dealt with, he’s able to look around for any other barrels. He can spot a few, but it’s hard to see with all the swirls and… fire.

Diluc has accidentally set off many pyro slime barrels in his life and has probably learnt to look out for them, but Kaeya is not taking that risk. Kaeya knows personally that getting in a fight makes it harder to think straight and keep an eye out for your surroundings.

“Albedo, can I have a flower?” Kaeya asks.

Albedo reacts quickly and Kaeya almost loses his balance when another solar isotoma raises him into the sky. With the higher vantage point, it’s a lot easier to see. Aether’s run off after their slimes so they’re safe, and Mona and Venti have got their hilichurls in a controlled space. But Diluc, of course, is backing his mitachurl right towards one of the barrels.

Kaeya jumps off, using his wind glider to reach them sooner. He’s quick, faster than most of the other knights, and is easily able to intercept Diluc. Diluc is not as quick and he only just manages to redirect his attack so it doesn’t hit Kaeya and, subsequently, the barrel they are way too close too. The flames still catch his fingertips, but it could have been a lot worse.

“What the fuck, Kaeya?”

“How many times do you have to blow yourself up before you get the idea?” Kaeya shakes his hand to get any residual embers off. “Shove it back, get some distance, and then kill it with fire.”

Diluc finally notices the barrel and does as told without further argument. The two of them back up before Diluc sends a burst of pyro energy that knocks the mitachurl back even further, and sets off the explosives, killing it instantly.

Kaeya sighs in relief. Disaster averted, and everyone seems safe and whole.

“And they said I wasn’t leader material,” Kaeya holds his hand up for a high five. “Come on. I did save your life.”

Diluc does not high five him, he instead grabs Kaeya’s wrist and pulls his hand closer. Kaeya nearly trips because of the roughness of the gesture. “What? Is it bleeding or something?”

Diluc exhales and relaxes his shoulders. “No,” he let’s go, “it’s fine.”

Kaeya narrows his eyes, but doesn’t get the chance to question him before Venti yells out.

“We all good?” Venti looks around. “No one’s dead?”

Albedo dusts off his coat. “Everyone’s fine, but we could take this chance to have a break before the final push.”

Mona yawns and stretches her arms. “Sounds good to me. But if any of you fuckers pulls out a marshmallow sandwich, I’m committing homicide.”

Diluc scowls at the ground as everyone else starts heading back to the cart.

“Diluc,” Kaeya flicks his forehead. “What’s up?”

“Nothing,” he says and Kaeya flicks him again. “Nothing.”

Kaeya flicks him in the eye and he flails his arm out to smack Kaeya in the shoulder. “Stop it.”

“Nope, you’ve injured me now,” Kaeya tuts and shakes his head. “Even after I saved your life. Now you have to tell me, it’s only fair.”

“Are you dedicated to causing me pain?” Diluc rubs his eye.

“What did you think would happen when you asked me to be your brother?” Kaeya responds. “Peace and quiet? I can’t even let myself have peace and quiet. Now tell me or I’ll flick you again.”

Diluc sighs as he grabs Kaeya’s hands to stop the assault. “I just thought I burned your hand. It was fine. It doesn’t matter.”

“You used to accidentally burn me all the time,” Kaeya says. “You once set my hair on fire. You felt no remorse.”

“That was before.”

“Oh,” Kaeya mutters. “You still feel bad.”

“Yeah, what a surprise,” Diluc scoffs. “I feel bad for nearly killing my brother. Who could have seen that coming? Not me, apparently.”

Kaeya already forgave him, so he figured it wouldn’t be much different for Diluc, but it seems he was wrong. Fights as kids usually ended with them both forgetting about it and moving on because they were completely incapable of apologising, but still wanted to play together.

Well, whatever. Kaeya punches Diluc directly in the face.

“What the fuck! ”

“Look, we’re even now,” Kaeya says. “But I can punch you again if you want.”

“I’m good!” Diluc quickly vetoes that idea as he covers his nose. “You hit harder than I expected…”

“You’re the one who taught me how to fight,” Kaeya responds. “It’s saved my life more than once. You also saved my life more than once when we were both knights.”

“I get what you’re trying to say, but it doesn’t change the fact that I burnt you,” Diluc says. “One punch in the face doesn’t make up for that.”

“How many times did I set you on fire, Diluc?” Kaeya asks. “Because I honestly can’t remember. It was hilarious. I’ll do it again right now if it’ll make you feel better.”

“You joke, but I would let you,” Diluc says. “Because I know you wouldn’t try to kill me.”

“And I know you won’t try to kill me either,” Kaeya says. “Otherwise, I definitely wouldn’t have jumped in front of you while you were holding a really big sword that was also on fire.”

“I suppose,” Diluc backs down. “But it’s not something I’m going to forget, Kaeya.”

Kaeya really wishes he could, but he supposes he can understand. Kaeya had also lost control of himself that night and that starfield could have been a lot more dangerous if he hadn't been able to reign it in. If Kaeya had hurt Diluc, he wouldn't be able to forget either. Obviously pushing Diluc to move on isn't going to work, and punching him in the face can only do so much.

“Alright,” Kaeya gives in. “Just know that I’ve already forgiven you. You should at least try to do the same.”

Diluc doesn't look at him, but some tension leaves his shoulders. "Alright."

Good, that's... something. It's hard getting Diluc to listen, so he's not sure anything will change, but... maybe.

"Well, sorry for punching you," Kaeya says.

"It's fine. I feel more proud than anything," Diluc responds. "But... do we have any tissues? My nose is bleeding.”

-

“Finally,” Venti practically falls out of the cart once they reach Liyue Harbour. “Freedom!”

Kaeya hasn’t been to Liyue since he was a kid. Crepus didn’t often take his sons on business trips, but they’d gone with him a few times. Kaeya spent most of the trips dragging Diluc into his chaos and then letting him take the blame because he’d start crying and Diluc’s big brother instincts would take over.

Kaeya feels a little bad for tricking Diluc, but it’s not like he ever got in much trouble. Crepus always went easy on them.

“I should go find Zhongli,” Aether says. “Childe probably went to him when he got here.”

“Xiao was looking for Childe too,” Venti adds. “He’s probably already found him.”

“Xiao is here as well?” Aether looks excited. “I should go say hi. I finally learnt how to make almond tofu just for him.”

“... Do you know everyone?” Venti asks. “Is there no one you don’t know?”

“I don’t know that guy,” Aether points at a random millelith soldier. “Oh, wait, that’s Jiayi. We're friends with his daughter.”

Yeah, that seems about right.

“Well, we also need to check into our villa,” Kaeya says. “You can go find the geo archon while we do that.”

“And I’ll go find Xiao,” Venti offers. “It’s usually not that hard, just gotta leave some food out for him.”

Why does Venti talk about Xiao like he’s a stray cat?

“I would like to meet Rex Lapis,” Albedo says. “I’ve heard he is quite knowledgeable.”

“He is, but not about anything that matters,” Paimon responds. “He spent three hours telling me about rocks once… could have gotten out of it if I had a knife.”

Albedo is exactly the kind of nerd who would love to hear about rocks for three hours. “All knowledge is valuable.”

“I, uh, should keep my head low,” Mona says. “My teacher lives a fair while out of Liyue Harbour, but…”

Aether, Paimon, and Albedo look for Zhongli, Venti goes off to find his best friend, and the rest of them head to their new home for the next few weeks or so.

They take the other’s bags with them, which gives Kaeya a chance to nab Paimon’s knife. She probably won't last long before she gets caught, and she will immediately tell on Kaeya but it’ll be worth it. Besides, a promise is a promise.

The house they're renting has almost enough rooms for everybody, but it’s probably Kaeya who’s going to have to share. He’s sure that even if he did get his own room, Mona and Venti would still come bother him. Probably Albedo too. And Aether and Paimon.

Maybe he can hide himself in Diluc’s room. It might be the only safe place.

But just for now, Kaeya is able to kick off his shoes, lay down on his new bed, and relax. He’s going to need to be well rested for the inevitable chaos coming tomorrow.

Chapter Text

Kaeya wakes up feeling a lot worse than yesterday. While Lisa’s tea is indeed magical and life saving, he still dreams. He wakes what feels like every five minutes, his face flushed and heart beating, but with no memory of whatever he dreamed about. Eventually, he gives on sleep and just lays awake for hours, headache building while Venti snores peacefully next to him.

They all have their own beds and still, Venti chooses to steal Kaeya’s. He steals all the blankets too, leaving Kaeya to freeze to death until he remembers his brand new coat that Diluc will never get back and just ends up using that.

Venti still somehow manages to turn that into his own blanket as well.

The dark sky lightens gradually and it feels much too early when Albedo starts waking everyone up at eight in the morning. They’ve got a geo archon to meet after all, and Kaeya’s not sure how he feels about punctuality or lack thereof.

Kaeya’s also not sure how he feels about a cursed Khaenri’ahn being in his land, but apparently he’s retired, so… maybe fine? He’ll learn in an hour or so if he gets smited.

He’s too tired for all of this but he has his own life to save, so he gets up and dunks his whole head in a bucket of water. He’s become immune to caffeine, this is the only way he can wake himself up.

“The fuck are you doing?” Mona stands in the doorway.

“I’m doing normal things,” Kaeya says as he sits on the floor, hair dripping onto his clothes because he didn’t think to grab a towel. Mona throws one at him. “Much appreciated.”

“Just don’t want you looking like a drowned rat when we go to meet the geo archon,” she says. “Aether’s making breakfast, by the way.”

Oh, hell yeah.

The moment he enters the living room, he can smell Aether’s cooking, and it smells amazing. They’ve made hash browns, which Kaeya hasn’t had in a long time, so he quickly finds himself leaning against the kitchen counter next to Paimon, waiting for the food to be finished.

“Kaeya,” Diluc is on the couch, wearing a white coat for once in his life. “You are meant to give that back eventually.”

Kaeya licks the sleeve of his new jacket.

“You motherfucker.”

Diluc doesn’t attack him like he would have when they were kids, but he does quietly seethe. Kaeya honestly would have preferred the assault, because that would mean they’ve fully moved past what happened, but he can still consider this a win.

“You’re dripping on the counter,” Albedo informs him.

Kaeya forgot about drying his hair when he heard there was food. He uses his sleeve to dry any water that drips on the counter, but more drips, and eventually Albedo just puts a tea towel down in front of him.

This coat is actually magic, he can’t feel any water through it. Who’s Diluc’s tailor? They need to talk.

“You should take your medicine now too,” Albedo says as he nods to Diluc. “Before I get anyone else involved.”

Aether begins dishing up breakfast, but Kaeya feels hollow now. “Why do you hate me, Albedo?”

Paimon doesn’t notice anything as she digs into her food, but Aether looks up at him. “You’re sick? Are you okay? Is it serious?”

“It’ll be fine,” Kaeya shrugs.

“As long as he doesn’t do anything stupid again,” Diluc adds. “So I really don’t have much faith.”

“You wound me,” Kaeya bites into his hash brown and speaks with his mouth full specifically to piss off Diluc. “You wound your baby brother.”

“Close your fucking mouth.”

“Does it have to do with your gnosis?” Paimon’s already finished her share despite the hash brown being the size of her head.

Kaeya and Diluc both freeze while Albedo almost looks impressed. “How did you know about that?”

“Well, you’re a bit more subtle than any of the other archon’s I know,” Aether says. “But between Childe saying something about looking for a hidden god, and then when we saw you teleport…”

“You saw me teleport?” Kaeya asks. “When?”

“At Good Hunter,” Aether answers. “When Mona slapped Diluc.”

Diluc cringes at the memory. “You were there for that?”

“No,” Kaeya lies. “I was at home, concussed.”

“We saw you hiding under the table,” Paimon says. “And then you teleported away after Mona slapped Diluc.”

“No, I didn’t.”

“You teleported,” Diluc’s puts his head in his hands. “... How did I not realise earlier?”

“I don’t know what teleportation is.”

“When you made me climb that stupid tree and I nearly fell and broke my neck, you teleported,” Diluc continues. “And at the Ludi Harpastum, when you disappeared, you teleported.”

“Never heard that word in my life,” Kaeya says. “... and I didn’t make you climb the tree, that was your own dumb decision.”

Diluc glares at him. “How long have you been able to teleport?”

“Don’t know what you’re referring to,” Kaeya responds. “Goodbye now.”

Kaeya moves to leave and go hide in his bedroom when Albedo takes a sip of tea and opens his big mouth. “Kaeya still hasn’t taken his medicine.”

“Fucking do one, Albedo.”

Everyone, even Paimon, stares him down and he eventually gives in. He doesn’t have the energy to talk them in circles until they forget and then live his life in peace. He’s been up for all of half an hour and already wants to go back to bed.

Mona finds him ten minutes later, again, dunking his head in a bucket of water.

She just throws another towel at him. “You’re lucky I love you.”

-

Seated at a table in the Wansheng Funeral Parlour is; three ex archons, a homunculus, a traveler from another world, a weird fairy thing, an astrologist, an angry pyromancer, and a yaksha.

Kaeya’s not sure this is what his mother meant when she said she wanted him to lead a ‘full’ life.

“This tea is made with valerian root,” Zhongli says. “It is-”

“Not important, Morax. We’re on a time limit,” Venti pauses. “Can I still call you Morax or will that give it away? How secretive are we being here?”

“Pretty much everyone already knows,” Aether says. “But we are… trying to keep it secret.”

“It’s the meteors that give it away,” a flash of anger crosses Diluc’s face. “Or so I’ve heard.”

“Aether told me you’re looking for Childe,” Zhongli says. “However, I don’t wish harm to come to my friend. I’d like to know more about the situation.”

“Kaeya’s dying because that ginger bastard stole his gnosis,” Venti explains. “If you tell us where he is, I promise not to full him with too many arrows.”

“That’s a subjective amount of arrows,” Zhongli thinks for a moment. “How many exactly?”

“Like, three. Maybe four.”

“That is acceptable.”

“I said I’d only stab him once and you still didn’t tell me,” Xiao mutters.

“Wait, you’re dying?” Paimon interrupts. “You said you were fine!”

“... Fine is subjective,” Kaeya sips his tea.

“He’s not dying, he’s cursed,” Xiao says. “And I would prefer not to have to fight another Khaenri’ahn demon. Where is Childe?”

“Wait, another one?” Venti asks. “You fought the wandering beast?”

“Yes,” Xiao answers. “But she wasn’t quite gone yet, so I didn’t kill her.”

Diluc blinks. “She? ”

“I have no idea what any of them are talking about,” Aether whispers to Paimon.

Kaeya groans and lays his head on the table. His head hurts enough without everyone shouting over each other. He takes another sip of tea. It doesn’t help.

“Everyone shut the fuck up!” Mona bangs a fist on the table and everyone goes quiet. “Kaeya is sick, and while it isn’t bad yet, it will be if we don’t get his gnosis back. Childe is the one who took it so we need to know where he is.”

Kaeya feels a brief, fleeting feeling of respect for Mona as he continues to lay his head on the table. It’s pretty comfortable actually, he kind of just wants to sleep here.

Zhongli nods briefly. “I’m not sure exactly where he is, but I got in trouble for ‘tax evasion’ and he went to go sort that out.”

“Yuehai Pavillion or Northland Bank are good places to start then,” Aether says. “We can split up.”

Kaeya stops paying attention. He made the mistake of closing his eyes for more than ten seconds and now it hurts to open them. Maybe he will just go to sleep.

“Kaeya,” Venti kicks his foot. “Wake up.”

“I am awake,” Kaeya scowls as he removes his head from the table. “Some pavilion or a northern bank or whatever.”

He needs another bucket of water.

“If you’re afflicted by the curse of Khaenri’ah, you should be resting,” Zhongli frowns. “I can get you a room at the parlour and make soup.”

“Zhongli, please stop trying to adopt my friends,” Aether says. “Most of them already have parents.”

“Do you have parents?” Zhongli asks.

“... No,” Kaeya responds. “But I’m also twenty three.”

Zhongli shrugs. “Still a baby.”

“Ugh,” Kaeya groans. “I thought I escaped this when mama died.”

Most of the table gives him a concerned look that he decidedly ignores. Kaeya should really learn to keep his mouth shut when he’s tired, drunk, or both. Zhongli, meanwhile, pulls some papers out of a bag.

“No, put those back,” Xiao says. “Do not adopt him. I’ll have to kill him soon anyway.”

“He will be loved while he is here.”

“You wanna fucking say that again, Xiao?” Mona’s catalyst appears at the same time Diluc summons his claymore.

“Alright! I’m going to the bank,” Kaeya stands. “The rest of you can decide wherever you’re going.”

Kaeya doesn’t know where the bank is, but he’s sure wandering around aimlessly until he finds it will be more productive than whatever was going on back there. Venti, Mona, and Diluc quickly catch up to him and he assumes the rest have gone to that other place.

“Aether, Paimon, Albedo, and Xiao went to Yuehai Pavillion,” Mona confirms. “And we are taking you home before we go to the bank.”

“I’m fully awake,” Kaeya promises. “And I have a Childe to stab.”

“Kaeya, you nearly just walked into the stream,” Venti informs him.

Kaeya looks down to see the little stream that runs by the blacksmith. That seems like a hazard of some kind, how many people have fallen in there?

“Well, I didn’t,” Kaeya continues walking, this time not into the water. “So like I said, perfectly awake.”

“Say ‘Dawn Winery,” Diluc tells him. “Go on.”

“Wawnery… Dine… Shut up.”

He keeps walking, sure that he will eventually find this bank, even as he gets closer to the ocean than the city. It’s at least nice out here. The noise isn’t too loud and the breeze is soothing.

Hmm… the ocean could wake him up.

Before Kaeya’s remaining brain cells can wake up and tell him not to, he jumps in the ocean. That certainly wakes them up, but they’re not happy with him.

“Kaeya!”

Oh, he is so awake now. And so, so full of regret.

“I got salt water in my eyes,” Kaeya tries to wipe them but only succeeds at rubbing more in. “Fuck, I hate the ocean.”

“I got it,” Venti sighs and creates a wind gust that lifts Kaeya out of the sea. He at least realises he should be using his wind glider to get back to the harbour.

“Why the fuck did you do that?” Mona asks once he’s on land. “No, seriously, what the fuck compelled you to do that?”

It’s too blurry to really see anything, so the moment he has his footing, Kaeya grabs Diluc’s sleeve and uses it to wipe his eyes. Once he steps back, his vision is good enough to see exactly how unamused Diluc is by the gesture.

“It was an informed decision,” Kaeya takes off his jacket that, while once was incredibly warm, is now way too heavy for his tired muscles. “I’m now completely and utterly awake. Let’s do this.”

Kaeya takes a step, and Diluc hooks a finger around the collar of his shirt. “No. You’re more likely to get stabbed than Childe is at this point. Probably accidentally. By yourself.”

“Good way to spice up the fight,” Kaeya responds. “He’ll never see it coming.”

Diluc stares at him before breathing a deep sigh. He gets that reaction a lot from Jean too.

“Also I’m cold,” Kaeya says. “Give me your coat.”

“I’m nice to you one fucking time…” Diluc mutters, but still hands over the jacket. “Venti, take him home. Mona and I will go to the bank.”

“No,” Kaeya pulls on his newest jacket. His collection is growing. “There’s only two of you. At least take Venti, I can get home by myself.”

“He means ‘follow us from a safe distance,’” Mona corrects.

Kaeya rolls his eyes. She’s right, but did she have to point it out? He could get away with it so easily… as long as he doesn’t walk into that stupid stream.

Serious walking hazard, that. Someone should report it.

“Come on,” Venti tugs on his sleeve. “You need dry clothes anyway.”

“Not worth it,” Kaeya kicks off his boots to pour out any remaining water. “Look, I’m awake now, so let’s go. Arguing with me is just making this all take longer.”

Venti throws Kaeya over his shoulder.

“What the fuck,” Kaeya flails wildly. “Put me down, you tiny, abnormally strong gremlin!”

“How did you do that?” Diluc actually looks impressed. “You’re half his size.”

“I may not be an archon anymore, but I still made this body for myself,” Venti shrugs and Kaeya lets his arms hang miserably. “I can be as strong as I want.”

Mona is making a valiant effort to hold her laughter back which Kaeya semi appreciates. This is embarrassing enough without Mona falling into hysterics in the middle of the street.

“You two won’t kill each other on the way to the bank, right?” Venti asks.

“We simply won’t speak to each other,” Mona answers. “No words, no fights.”

Diluc nods, and turns to walk away with Mona silently following. Venti relaxes just enough for Kaeya to try and escape, but he gets an arm around Kaeya’s waist and hauls him away.

“No,” Kaeya is going to start working out right this fucking day because being manhandled by someone who looks thirteen is much worse than struggling to carry Klee a little. “Venti, they can’t go on their own!”

“They are more than capable of defending themselves,” Venti tells him.

“Childe already succeeded in kidnapping Diluc!” Kaeya objects. “All he has to do is get the drop on them and cut their throats and then-”

“Kaeya,” Venti boops his nose. “You’re being paranoid. You know that happens when you don’t get enough sleep, right?”

Kaeya scowls at him. Venti pointing it out makes him realise that maybe he is being a little paranoid, but it’s still completely plausible. If Kaeya wanted, he could stab Venti in the eye right now. Then run up behind Mona and Diluc and get them too.

“Why are you all so easy to kill?!”

“They will be in a public place, there are two of them, and Childe is injured,” Venti says. “Trust me when I say that there is nothing to worry about, and you will feel better if you get some sleep.”

Kaeya gives up fighting. Venti makes sense and he’s already starting to get tired again. His brain cells wake up fast enough to stop him from jumping in the ocean this time at least. “I won’t get much sleep anyway. It’s just a waste of time.”

“I can knock you out if you want,” Venti offers. “But I would still advise giving the normal way a try first!”

Venti drags Kaeya all the way back to their house. He still feels like running after the others, but he doubts he’ll be able to find them and Venti’s probably right anyway. He doesn’t think that often, but strange things happen when you’re running on three hours sleep.

He throws on the first clothes he finds that are dry and practically falls onto the couch. Venti simply throws a blanket over him and leaves him be.

Kaeya starts to come up with some kind of plan to get out and find Childe, but he starts to fall asleep as he does so. He can’t really tell whether he’s coming up with a master plan, or dreaming about it, and eventually it’s just dreams.

-

“Exciting time in Mondstadt, huh?” Ekaterina asks. “I thought you were just doing recon.”

“Yeah, well,” Childe laughs. “Things got out of hand and I got mildly burnt. Then concussed. Then stabbed. Then stabbed again. I also fell in the stream on the way here.”

Serious walking hazard, that. Someone should report it.

“Ah,” she is not at all surprised by his string of bad luck. “Well, what do you need today?”

Childe hands over a slip of paper. “Zhongli doesn’t know what taxes are, apparently. I’ve got to go pay off all his fines and then see if I can convince him to hire an assistant to do his taxes for him.”

“It’ll take a while to process the paperwork for… this much.”

“No problem,” Childe shrugs. “I’ve got all day.”

Ekaterina heads into the back room and Childe leans against the counter as he waits. He can already tell today’s going to be a boring one. He’s going to be stuck doing Zhongli’s taxes, then he has to write a letter to send home about Zion…

Where’s an angry pyromancer when you need one? That would certainly liven things up.

Ekaterina re-emerges behind the counter. “Alright, I have a form for you to sign here-”

Childe is distracted by heavy footsteps thundering towards him and when he turns around, he gets all of his wishes granted. “Diluc! It’s so good to see you again!”

Diluc swings a flaming claymore at him and Childe moves out of the way, letting him cleave the counter in half. Ah, he missed this.

“Don’t burn the bank down,” Ekaterina sighs and heads back into the room she came from.

Diluc doesn’t take the warning to heart, and the next swing that misses Childe sets the wooden floor aflame.

“While I would love to have a rematch, I don’t want to burn this place to the ground,” Childe side steps another swing. “How about we take this outside?”

“I’ve got it covered,” Mona splashes some water on the ground, effectively dousing the flames. “Don’t kill him, Diluc, we do need him alive.”

“That’s my favourite way to be needed!” Childe only manages to block Diluc’s next swing by putting up his hydro shield. He immediately gets rid of it because he doesn’t think even his and Mona’s combined efforts could save the building if Diluc uses that pyro burst again. “Perhaps you could explain what I’m needed for…”

Diluc kicks Childe in the stomach, knocking him down and probably tearing his stitches in the process, then pushes his boot against Childe’s throat. “There. Alive.”

“Perfect,” Mona quickly puts out another fire before kneeling down next to Childe. “Where is Kaeya’s gnosis?”

“Oh, that old thing?” It’s a little hard to speak with Diluc actively choking him. “Zion took it somewhere. Something about needing a recharge.”

“Where?” Mona repeats.

“I don’t know,” Childe tries for a shrug but Diluc digs his boot in more. “Really, I don’t. He said that the gnosis is too weak on it’s own, it’ll die without a strong host. He left me with a healer and went to go find a way to fix it.”

“Great. Double time limit,” Mona mutters. “How long until the gnosis dies?”

“I’m mainly here to fight things, I don’t know stuff,” Childe responds. “Can we have this conversation when I’m experiencing a little less oxygen deprivation?”

Diluc, again, digs his boot in more.

“Let him up,” Mona says. “Heels are better for standing on people’s throats.”

“Oh, come on,” Childe quickly moves after Diluc steps back so Mona can’t replace him. “If you’re gonna kill me, at least do it in epic combat.”

“I don’t want to kill you, Childe,” Mona grips his ear. “You’re going to help us find Zion and get Kaeya’s gnosis back. And if you don’t cooperate, I’m going to drown you. Your choice.”

“It’s just a gnosis!” Childe throws his hands up. “Venti and Zhongli didn’t do this.”

“Venti and Zhongli won’t die without their gnoses,” Mona glares. “So you better fucking make the right choice.”

“Wait… he’s dying?” Oh, Childe actually quite likes Kaeya. And he can’t fight him if he’s dead. “How? Why?”

“Because someone stole the only thing keeping him alive!” Mona crosses her arms. “You know about the curse of Khaenri’ah? That. Now get up, we’re going to meet the others at the Yuehai Pavillion.”

He doesn’t remember much of what Zion told him when he first came to Mondstadt. He hadn’t really been listening. But he does remember the curse, that’s what the wandering beast was. The one that Kaeya turned into a constellation…

He feels kinda bad now.

Childe doesn’t really have much choice in the matter anyway so he pulls himself up and follows them out the door with a quick apology shouted to the poor patrons and Ekaterina. He’ll pay for the damages. As always.

“I didn’t know that he’d die without it,” Childe says. “I wouldn’t have taken it if I did. It’s not even useful!”

“I couldn’t care less,” Diluc stays behind Childe while Mona sticks next to him. Even if he wanted to run, they’d probably body him. “Just shut up. Once everyone’s together, you’re going to tell us everything you know.”

Childe decides to listen. Just this once.

Chapter Text

Kaeya is sleeping on the couch when everyone else gets back so Mona quickly kicks them all out of the living room. She mostly doesn’t want Childe anywhere near Kaeya. Ever. And Venti still has four arrows to loose if he disrespects that.

So Childe ends up stuck in one of the bedrooms with Aether and Paimon keeping an eye on him. Xiao used to be with them, but he stormed out after about five minutes and no one has any idea where he is now. That’s fine by Mona, she doesn’t want Xiao near Kaeya either.

Diluc, on the other hand, is on thin ice. She recognises that he’s trying to be a better brother, and mostly succeeding, but she’s also in this room and she doesn’t want to have to be reminded that he exists. He’s lucky Kaeya would be sad if he died, because there is nothing else stopping Mona from drowning him.

“You’re glaring again,” Venti pokes Mona in the cheek. “This is why everyone else has left the room.”

“Not everyone,” Mona glances at Diluc, who pays her no mind. She quickly returns her attention to Kaeya though.

“Stop worrying, he’ll be fine,” Venti is happily settled on an arm of the couch, feet covered by Kaeya’s blanket. “You two are both over-worried mothers.”

Mona scoffs. “Kaeya’s real mother would have been much worse than this.”

Mona wishes she could have met the woman, but is also glad she never got the chance. Freyr was… intense. Based on everything she learnt on her own and everything Kaeya told her, she probably wouldn’t have survived the encounter if Freyr decided she didn’t like her.

“She was the wandering beast, wasn’t she?” Diluc speaks up. “Kaeya doesn’t mention her often, but everything I do know…”

“Yeah,” Mona says. “He sure could have used his brother back then.”

Diluc’s eyes briefly flit towards her before settling back on Kaeya. “I know.”

“Before that, too,” Mona continues. “You know, when his dad died. After as well, when he realised he was being hunted and he could only talk to two people about it.”

“I know,” Diluc repeats.

“Do you?” Mona sits up straighter. “I don’t think you can know unless you were there. His mother died and he couldn’t tell anyone because he thought they would kill him if they knew the truth.”

“I know,” Diluc’s getting angry again, but not at her.

“And after you spent years mad at him, he forgave you so easily. The moment you were just mildly nice to him. He didn’t even wait for an apology,” Mona glares. “Do you know why, Diluc?”

Mona told Diluc one of Kaeya’s deepest secrets and he was never even angry. She told Jean too, and all he did was sigh. Kaeya might not be capable of hate, but mostly…

“He doesn’t want to be alone again,” Mona says. “He doesn’t want to be angry or hurt, he doesn’t want to suffer. He chooses to forgive because that’s easier than all the horrible alternatives.”

Kaeya was alone for over a year. It’s hard to imagine throwing a friendship away after that, so Mona is going to treasure theirs just as much as he does. How can she be mad at him for not listening and being a reckless idiot when if she did the same thing, he’d just make fun of her and then help her deal with the consequences?

“You better love him as much as he loves you, because Kaeya will also forgive me if I decide to break your legs.”

“Trust me,” Diluc says. “I’m not letting anyone, including myself, hurt Kaeya ever again.”

Mona nods. She doesn’t fully trust him, but Kaeya does, and that’s worth more than whatever Diluc has to say. Besides, there are plenty of other people here looking out for Kaeya if it comes down to it.

“Well,” Venti claps his hands together. “Threats issued and promises made, I believe we should pester someone with cooking skills to make dinner.”

With Kaeya still asleep, they don’t have many options. Mona doubts Childe can cook, but Aether and Albedo are still available…

Venti manages to convince the two of them to cook dinner and they quickly leave to go buy spices for some traditional Liyue dish no one else has heard of. That leaves Childe in their care, near Kaeya, and Mona resumes her role of glaring at men she doesn’t like.

Childe seems to get the message and mostly keeps his mouth shut. She can forgive him for annoying Diluc. It’s just too tempting, she understands.

“We are not friends,” Diluc interrupts one of his rants about Liyue political figures. “You kidnapped me.”

“I’ve made three good friends through kidnapping and being kidnapped,” Childe says. “Zhongli and I became best buds after I tried to destroy Liyue. Aether and I try to kill each other every week.”

Diluc narrows his eyes. “You’re also the reason my brother is dying.”

“Wait,” Childe blinks. “You’re brothers? Oh, that explains so much. I thought you were, like, jilted lovers or something.”

Diluc’s mouth falls open in horror as Mona and Venti immediately burst into hysterics. She can’t wait to tell Kaeya about this one, he’ll hate it even more than the idea of her sleeping with Diluc.

“Kaeya has better taste than that,” Mona manages through mirthful tears.

Venti, meanwhile, doesn’t have as much faith. “Remember shrimp guy?”

“Shrimp guy was hot, you don’t know what you’re talking about,” Mona also thinks shrimp guy was kind of insane, but she’s sworn to defend her best friend at all costs. And he was hot.

Diluc continues to stare into the distance, face contorted in disgust. Mona might be fine with Childe hanging around more if he can get this kind of reaction out of Diluc. As long as he stays the fuck away from Kaeya.

“What will it take?” Diluc mutters in quiet rage. “Do I need to send out missives to the entire fucking world? Do I need to put ‘ace’ on all of my business cards? What will it take for people to finally get the idea?”

“I mean, I’m an astrologist and people still think I’m straight, so I’m really not sure how to help you,” Mona shrugs. “Venti?”

“I just pull out the booty shorts whenever people get the wrong idea,” he says. “That might do the opposite of what you want though.”

Diluc slumps in his chair, but looks at Childe in a last ditch effort for at least some kind of idea.

“Don’t look at me,” Childe puts his hands up. “I still flirt with people by fighting them.”

Mona blinks and glances at Diluc, who hasn’t caught up yet. It takes him a moment, but realisation soon dawns on his face.

“You fucking what -”

-

Kaeya didn’t dream before he got his gnosis, but no one else in Khaenri’ah did either. When he first dreamt, it was hard to tell whether it was real or not, but he was always aware, he was always capable of controlling the dreams. Eventually, dreams became a chance to revisit what he had lost and bask in the memories for a while.

Not so much anymore. While he’s getting better at telling what’s real and what’s a dream since losing his gnosis, without the ability to control them, they take whatever shape they want. So far, it’s mostly been the memories he’s done his best to forget.

Today, Kaeya finds himself alone, surrounded by hilichurl’s. It’s not a specific memory, but he’s fought them plenty of times before, and cutting them down one by one is almost muscle memory at this point.

He doesn’t really trust how simple and easy this dream is. There are mitachurl’s of course, and he still hates those fucking things with a burning passion, but he knows how to deal with them. Just cut, cut, cut and eventually they’re all gone.

None of them land a hit. Their movements are too predictable and Kaeya is like water, never motionless, always aware. Until they’re all gone, and it’s just Kaeya and his sword.

“Well, that was easy,” Klee is next to him. She might have always been, he can’t quite remember. “Is that it?”

“I believe so,” Kaeya looks around, but the meadow is peaceful and the bodies have disappeared. “There’s nothing left to fight.”

“So it’s break time now?” Klee bounces in place. “We can have fish for lunch!”

Kaeya can’t control his dreams, but they’re still him. He still makes them. They listen to him, just not directly. He thinks about lunch, and cooking fish with Klee, and the meadow has a cooking pot in it. He’s pretty sure that’s always been there too.

“Isn’t this better?” Klee is sprinkling all her favourite spices onto the fish. “Chaos is fun, but peace is nice too!”

“I prefer a healthy balance,” Kaeya responds. “Don’t want life to get too boring or exciting.”

“But you almost never get peace,” Klee looks up at him. “It’s just been chaos.”

Kaeya shrugs. “I so rarely get to choose.”

“I can give you peace,” Klee offers. “But you won’t let me, will you?”

“No,” Kaeya already knows what this dream really wants. “I will find my own peace eventually, alive.”

Klee pouts at the rejection. He still finds it adorable, even if she wants to kill him. “You have a lot of hope for someone destined to die.”

“I had peace once, Klee,” Kaeya pats her on the head. “I can get there again.”

“I can be happy again when Mama comes for me,” Klee says. “I can be happy again when I’ve been forgiven. I can be happy again when I get my gnosis back. You have to give up eventually.”

“Well, that would just be boring,” Kaeya smiles down at her. “Besides, Mama did come for me and I did gain forgiveness. Who’s to say I can’t get my gnosis back?”

“I guess it’s not that unrealistic,” Klee agrees. “But chaos always happens. A child suddenly falls to the curse, a dragon appears on a random birthday, you fall in a stream.”

“I didn’t fall in the stream,” Kaeya points out.

“You could,” Klee says. “And someone else could fall sick. Another dragon could appear. Your success is just as likely as your failure. Would you risk those you love for a possibility?”

Kaeya falters. He doubts any dragon will come storming through Liyue anytime soon and none of his companions are susceptible to the curse of Khaenri’ah. Those are exactly two things they are safe from. There are so many other things that could hurt them.

Klee hums as she watches the fish cook. Kaeya wants to wake up now.

Dream listen, they hear all of his anxieties. He knows thinking about them will make them happen, but he can't stop himself.

He thinks about fighting and burning and things appear in Kaeya’s peripheral vision. The bodies of the hilichurl’s, he thinks. They look different now though, more familiar. Even when he’s not looking directly, he could recognise that oversized hat anywhere.

“Ow,” Klee mutters, holding her hands to her stomach. She keeps one there and holds the other out for Kaeya to see the blood on it. “See? How do you stop sudden, unpredictable chaos?”

When did Klee get hurt? Kaeya kneels down and pulls her hand away to see the damage. She lets him, and he doesn’t know what to do when he sees the blood flowing freely. He knows what he should be doing, but he suddenly doesn’t know how.

“Klee-”

“Is your chance at peace worth others suffering your chaos?” Klee pouts again. “That really hurt.”

Kaeya looks around for help, but everyone else is already dead. He killed them just before, when they looked different, but their bodies are unmistakable now. He’s killed them and now no one can help Klee.

He needs cloth, he needs to apply pressure, then he needs to get her to a healer. But the healers are all dead. It’s just him, his blood covered sword, and little Klee.

“Ow,” she yelps when he tries to apply pressure. It doesn’t help, it’s almost like more blood is falling.

That’s not how it’s meant to work, why is everything he does making it worse?

“We didn’t finish cooking,” Kaeya tells her. “Don’t you want lunch?”

“Fish!” She nods eagerly but her voice is tired and her eyelids are drooping. “I want fish…”

“We can have fish.” It’s getting worse. So much worse. “We can have fish, just stop bleeding.”

“I don’t think… that’s how it works.”

“Well, nothing else is working!”

“It’s you, Kaeya,” she mutters. “You’re cursed. You’re chaos. You destroy peace.”

Her eyes are closed. It’s not right. Klee is always awake when no one wants her to be. She’s always energetic and she loves chaos.

“Not your chaos,” Klee is falling asleep in his arms. “I like fun chaos. I didn’t want to die.”

“You’re not dead,” Kaeya’s pretty sure she is. “You’re still talking. Breathing. Just keep breathing.”

There are so many bodies around him that he doesn’t want to think about. There can’t be another one and it can’t be Klee. Klee is meant to grow up big and smiley and full of love for this world.

She was, at least. Before Kaeya.

Diluc grew up smiley and full of love for this world. He was meant to be cavalry captain, then grandmaster if Jean didn’t beat him to it. But then Kaeya happened.

Now he’s somewhere amongst the bodies. Kaeya doesn’t want to check where.

Klee is still now. She’s tiny and bright and nothing anymore. Kaeya tries to find even the slightest hint of life, but there’s nothing.

“Klee?”

It wasn’t curses or dragons, it was just him and chaos.

“You have to breathe.”

Him. His chaos.

Kaeya can’t breathe. He continues looking at Klee and chokes on every strangled gasp that tries to escape. When he looks away, he finds someone else who died because of him. The meadow is littered with corpses and, somehow, Kaeya is the one left alive.

His head pounds as his throat tightens. The smoke from the cooking pot hurts his eyes and strangles him further. The meadow is peaceful, but Kaeya is anything but, coughing and choking on things that never happened but still might.

He doesn’t notice when the bright sun is gone and replaced with candlelight or when the smokey air is replaced with the cold breeze or when the grass beneath him becomes a plush couch.

“Kaeya,” someone grips his shoulders. “Breathe.”

“I am!” He shoves them away. “I’m always breathing!”

He might not have been, actually. His chest burns like he’s been running for too long, and his throat hurts as he gulps down air. But he is always alive, even when others aren’t.

Like Freyr or Crepus or Klee.

Kaeya tries to cough to cover a sob but it doesn’t work very well and he quickly gives up as more tears come. He’d be embarrassed, but he’s just glad someone is still there.

“Kaeya…” he’s pulled into a hug this time. It’s way too hot, but he prefers that to the freezing air. Kaeya shifts to get closer to the unbearable warmth. “Oh, sweetheart.”

Kaeya recognises Mona’s voice, which means she’s not dead, unless he’s being comforted by a zombie. But going on the basis that she is probably not a zombie… he’s just having more nightmares. He hasn’t cried in years and the thing that sets him off is a fucking nightmare.

As the fog clears from his mind, it becomes easier to control himself. Realising that Mona being back probably means certain other people are back also helps. Mona is allowed to see him cry. Maybe Jean. Literally no one else.

“We’ll uh… go to another room.”

Certainly not Diluc.

“Yeah, this feels like a personal moment.”

…

Certainly not Childe.

Kaeya immediately leaps from the couch to attack the man in question. He doesn’t have a weapon, but there’s a vase on the coffee table which he easily smashes and holds the shard up to Childe’s eye.

“Oh, not this again,” Childe mutters. “Look, I’m sorry, I didn’t know you would die without your gnosis-”

“I don’t give a fuck about that,” Kaeya scowls. “You kidnapped my brother. I assume you’re here for a reason, which is why I haven’t gutted you yet, but if you make one wrong move, I will remove both of your eyes and shove you into the chasm.”

Childe doesn’t move for a moment, eyes trained on the weapon at his eye. “That’s hot.”

Kaeya punches Childe in the throat and lets him fall to the ground wheezing. No more words. He’s not allowed to talk anymore. If he does, Kaeya will slit his throat.

He rubs his eye, still stinging from… previous events, and drops the makeshift knife. It has blood on it… why does it have blood on it? Did he actually gut Childe? He might have been important, but Kaeya is sure no one would mind if he killed him.

Unfortunately, Childe is still struggling to breathe, which means he’s alive.

His questions are answered when Mona grabs his hand and the shallow cut on his palm becomes more obvious. Kaeya only sighs. “That’s an inconvenient location.”

“Don’t know what you expected to come from that,” Mona reaches up to brush his hair out of his face. “You still look tired.”

“Give me a minute to fully wake up,” Kaeya waves his hand. “Then I’ll deal with this.”

“I’ll do it,” Diluc says. “You two keep an eye on Childe.”

Kaeya can now see Venti sitting on the back of the couch. Both him and Mona glare at Diluc for the suggestion and he rolls his eyes. “I have first aid training. Do either of you know how to bandage a cut?”

Mona frowns as she looks back up at Kaeya, but she eventually takes a step back. “Take care of him.”

Now it’s Kaeya’s turn to roll his eyes. “You worry too much.”

“And I will continue to do so until I know you’re okay,” Mona responds. “So get used to it.”

Kaeya doesn’t have enough energy to continue this conversation, so he just follows Diluc into the washroom. Thankfully, Diluc doesn’t call him an idiot, but Kaeya’s got that part covered. Why didn’t he at least wrap his sleeve around his hand before gripping a piece of broken porcelain?

“I’m smart, right?”

“I once saw you drink hot wax to impress a girl,” Diluc responds. “And… jump in the ocean because you were tired.”

“Hey, both strategies worked,” Kaeya says. “... To an extent.”

Normally, he would take being close to Diluc as an opportunity to annoy him endlessly, but he’s just tired. Kaeya leans back against the wall as Diluc cleans the cut and closes his eyes. It’s quiet apart from Mona’s various threats to Childe in the other room. He almost starts to drift off again…

Until Diluc flicks him in the forehead and he flinches awake. “What the hell?”

“Don’t go back to sleep yet,” Diluc says. “You’ll just have more nightmares.”

“It’s not like they’re real,” Kaeya shrugs. “I’ll deal with it.”

“You’re not dealing with it well,” Diluc wraps a bandage almost painfully tight around his hand. “And if there is an easier path, you should always take it.”

“Oh, what’s the easier path then? Never sleep? Shall I simply survive on an endless supply of caffeine like you do?”

Diluc is unimpressed. “What I meant is sleeping aids.”

“Yeah, Lisa gave me some tea, I just forgot about it,” Kaeya fidgets impatiently with his sleeve. “Can we move on now?”

“You’re embarrassed,” Diluc stops. “Why?”

Kaeya wants to never talk about how badly something stupid and fake is ruining his sleep schedule again, but what he gets is more concern. Curse those brotherly extinct that have been reignited.

Kaeya briefly revisits the idea to ruin Diluc’s life and set their relationship back on track. Unfortunately, he might have already done that on the day their dad died. He’s not really sure what could beat that.

“I’m not,” Kaeya says, unconvincingly. “Shut up.”

“Oh, that so?” Diluc flicks Kaeya again. “If you’re going to be the broody brother, I’m going to be the annoying one.”

“I’d argue that you always were,” it’s hard to stop Diluc from assaulting him when he only has one viable hand and Diluc has two. “And I’m not broody. I’m sexy and mysterious.”

“Not to me,” Kaeya tries to flick Diluc, but he easily deflects with his extra hand. This is an unfair fight. “You’re still my baby brother.”

Kaeya huffs as Diluc finishes on Kaeya’s hand by securing the bandages in place with a safety pin. It’ll be unusable for a while, but he’s ambidextrous so he doesn’t care that much. Might make a few things harder, but he can still fight.

“I’m not going to make you talk, Kaeya,” Diluc starts cleaning up the medical supplies. “Just know that if you ever need help with anything, you can come to me.”

The idea seems stupid at first, but bullying Diluc does make him feel better. Besides… his brother is actually comforting sometimes. And his jackets are warm. Kaeya wouldn’t mind being bundled in one of those things while Diluc rants about some injustice in the world. It reminds him of his childhood. When he had peace.

Kaeya frowns as he recalls the dream. Between being surprised by Childe and then Diluc’s sudden assault, he’s mostly forgotten about it. Not the message though. He thinks about that when he’s awake too.

Kaeya quickly shakes away the memory. “Even if I’m trying to drink hot wax to impress a cute girl?”

“I will help you find another way,” Diluc says. “…I still can’t believe that worked though.”

Kaeya shrugs. “The people love a chaotic bisexual.”

“No, I think she was just insane,” Diluc pauses. “Do you remember the piranha?”

“Don’t bring Sir Snappers into this, he was a friend.” Kaeya jumps up from the floor. “Also… I will keep the offer in mind.”

“Good,” Diluc returns to his usual generally displeased demeanor. “Go talk to Mona before she kills Childe.”

“Yeah…” Kaeya glances at the door. The space out there is bigger, colder. “Probably.”

He instead leans into Diluc’s shoulder, stealing some of that warmth he always has. Diluc immediately stiffens, but relaxes after a few seconds. Those reignited brotherly instincts might not be so bad.

Kaeya tugs on his sleeve. “The other jackets are wet now, I need another one.”

“Are you fucking kidding me.”

Chapter Text

Kaeya feels like he’s had this headache all week and it’s only gotten worse. He doesn’t know why. He even slept well last night. Mona made him tea and then her and Venti both said ‘fuck personal space’ and squeezed into his bed like the little gremlins they are. And Kaeya loved it even though he complained endlessly as Mona’s elbow dug into his side.

Maybe one of them kicked him in the head while they were sleeping. The bed was not made for three people and Venti is a wriggler.

But, as always, Kaeya has more important things to do than lament the state of his life. So he walks into the living room, still brushing his hair. It’s taking longer than usual with only one viable hand, but he needs something else to do…

Albedo and Diluc are reading like nerds. Aether and Paimon are making breakfast while Venti steals a pancake every time they look away. Mona is doing some kind of astrology. And Childe is sitting on the floor because Diluc has put his claymore on the open spot on the couch…

Who to annoy first?

“Here,” Kaeya finishes brushing his hair and throws the brush directly at Diluc. “Since you don’t seem to have one.”

Diluc doesn’t even look up from his book as the brush bounces off of him and onto the floor. “Die.”

“The whole reason we’re even in Liyue is so that I don’t,” Kaeya kicks the massive sword away and flops onto the couch. “And you’d be sad if I died. Admit it.”

“My life would be a lot less chaotic,” Diluc responds.

Kaeya leans against Diluc until he’s squishing him against the armrest. “Admit it~”

“It doesn’t matter because you’re not dying,” Diluc tries to push Kaeya away but he only leans more. “Now get off of me, freak.”

“Admit it.”

“Obviously, I would be sad if you died,” Diluc finally caves after being folded in half by his persistent brother. “Can you leave me alone now?”

“Aww, that’s so sweet,” Kaeya does not leave him alone. “Does that mean, if I tell you the state of your hair is killing me, you’ll finally brush it?”

A particularly forceful shove finally sends Kaeya clattering to the ground. Diluc glances at Kaeya’s hand, just to make sure it wasn’t hurt, before deeming it fine and putting his claymore back on the empty spot on the couch. “You can sit with Childe.”

Kaeya scowls and rubs his temple. So incredibly rude.

“Aha!” Childe jumps up. “With two, we can unionize and take back the couch-”

“Breakfast is ready!”

“-in five minutes. Breakfast!”

Childe dashes to the kitchen, but doesn’t see Venti swinging his legs from his place on the counter. Venti’s foot makes contact with his knee and he immediately faceplants.

Venti looks down at the crippled harbinger, then at Diluc. “Really? This guy got the best of you?”

“I was tired,” Diluc finally closes his book. “And I didn’t think anyone would break into a third story window with reinforced glass.”

“A common mistake from rich people,” Childe groans as he sits up. “Their ego and false sense of security makes them very easy targets. The window was a problem though. I just smacked right into it and fell on my first attempt. Surprised you didn’t notice.”

“I was tired,” Diluc flushes, but Kaeya can’t tell if it’s from embarrassment or rage. Maybe both. “And I thought you were targeting Kaeya, not me.”

“A common mistake from people who have only just met me,” Childe continues. “They assume I know what I’m doing.”

Kaeya steps over Childe to reach the food first. All he wants is some delicious, soft and fluffy pancakes to make his head feel better. Instead, Paimon makes things ten times worse by shrieking directly in his ear. “Kaeya! Your eye!”

After recovering from the sharp pain of a little person screaming, Kaeya reaches up to touch his eye. The eyepatch is there, he didn’t forget it, so he isn’t sure what the problem is. “What’s wrong?”

Aether takes a step closer and their eyes widen. “Oh. That’s weird.”

“Care to explain?” Kaeya raises a brow. “Or can I have my breakfast?”

“Uh…” Aether frowns. “I don’t know how your curse thing works, but… there are stars in your eye. And around it.”

Well. That might explain the headache. It’s spreading.

Venti crawls across the counter to get closer to Kaeya while Mona jumps out of her chair. His biggest concern however, is that this will definitely remind everyone to force him into taking his medicine. If it helps get rid of this headache though… he might consider it.

“How did it spread so much in one night?” Mona grabs his face to better survey the stars. “Is that normal?”

“Sudden spreads are normal,” Albedo says. “But they are also when the pain peaks due to the rapid changes. Kaeya… how are you feeling right now?”

“Fine,” Kaeya pulls away from Mona. “It’s not like I’ve reached the transformation stage. No problem for now.”

“I meant if you’re in pain,” Albedo frowns. “Not how close you are to changing.”

“Also fine,” Kaeya pushes past Paimon to reach the pancakes, his one true desire. “Isn’t that the whole point of your disgusting medicine?”

“No medicine can stop all the symptoms of any sickness,” Albedo responds. “Especially not this one. It alleviates pain, it doesn’t stop it.”

Kaeya bites into his pancake. “Sounds like a problem for future me.”

Or present him too. He’s had worse hangovers, but this headache is quickly approaching migraine status. He doesn’t want to make Mona even more protective though. She’s already in overdrive from last night.

Still, Mona scowls at the counter as she bites her thumb and Venti kicks his legs harsher, banging them against the drawers. How is it that saying he’s fine makes everyone more concerned? Do they want him to say he’s in unimaginable pain or something?

Kaeya groans. “Look, I can handle a little pain, it doesn’t really matter for now. I’m fine, promise.”

Venti doesn’t look convinced. “You say you’re fine and then you one-v-one a harbinger with no regard for your own life. You say you’re fine and then you jump in the ocean because you can’t sleep. You say you’re fine and then you wake up unable to breathe.”

Oh, this is going to be one of those conversations. Kaeya heaves a sigh as he struggles not to roll his eye. “I’m-”

“Fine?” Venti finishes for him. “That almost sounds convincing today. It didn’t last night.”

“What exactly do you want from me?” Kaeya gives up on his breakfast. “Am I banned from the word ‘fine’ or something?”

“I want you to be honest,” Venti responds. “I never even know you have a problem until something bad has already happened.”

“Alright, fine,” Kaeya crosses his arms as he glares at him. “I have a headache, my hand hurts, and I’m being annoyed to death by a bard that seems to think because I feed him, he can tell me what to do.”

“I would never demand anything of anyone,” Venti says. “I’m asking as your friend.”

“Friend,” Kaeya scoffs. “The only reason I came to Mondstadt in the first place was to destroy it. You know I wasn’t forced, right? In fact, my mother did everything she could to stop me from going. I chose this. If you had any common sense, you’d have killed me the moment I arrived.”

“Oh, but you were so little,” Venti coos. “In any case, I’d rather offer a hand to a villain playing innocent than doom someone innocent because they might be a villain.”

“Are you stupid?” Kaeya asks. “I still have the power to destroy your city and kill you all.”

He always thought about how easy it was for Diluc to ruin his life, but Kaeya was just as capable, if not more. As a child, he hadn’t thought about how much power he held. So many secrets he could spill to Khaenri’ah, so many connections he could take advantage of.

The idea is unthinkable.

“It’s not my city,” Venti shrugs. “Besides, you may be from Khaenri’ah, but home is not a birthplace and you’ve made your home with us. You’re a Mondstadtian.”

Idiot.

“And admit it,” Venti flashes a grin. “You’d be sad if we died.”

Kaeya takes his breakfast to his room.

-

The repeated sound of flipping a coin up and down has become the only thing in Kaeya’s mind for the past hour. He just thinks about that, and not his friends, or his gnosis, or Mondstadt. He just lies in bed and listens to the dull, consistent sound while staring at the roof.

Beige, no stains, completely uninteresting.

Maybe he should do something. Buy some chalk and draw a little heart up there. Something to spice it up, just a little. And then the next person lying in bed facing regret can look up at something other than the most boring ceiling in the world.

Kaeya is distracted by a sharp pain behind his eye and clenches his fist, causing the coin to bounce off of his hand onto the floor. He can’t be bothered picking it up so he just relaxes his muscles and continues to look at the roof.

Maybe he’ll draw a dog. Everyone loves dogs.

Someone knocks on the door and Kaeya refocuses on the real world. They have to meet Zhongli and Xiao for lunch to come up with a plan, but he’s pretty sure it’s not noon yet.

“Yeah?” Kaeya calls out and Albedo opens the door.

“You still haven’t had your medicine,” Albedo holds out a cup. “And you won’t want to miss it today.”

Kaeya gives a deep sigh as he accepts the cup. He doesn’t feel like arguing today, he’s done enough of that already. Besides, it might actually help with his head.

Albedo doesn’t leave after Kaeya has forced the drink down. Instead, he sits on the bed and pulls out a first aid kit. “Hand.”

Kaeya holds out the injured hand and Albedo begins unwrapping the bandage. He’s a lot more gentle about it than Diluc was, but Diluc is just generally incapable of being gentle. Albedo, meanwhile, is the go to babysitter for the Knights of Favonius.

They’re both quiet as Albedo deals with the cut, but he eventually breaks the silence. “I have a question.”

“Shoot.”

“What will you do when Khaenri’ah comes back for you?”

“Ah,” Kaeya pauses. “I was expecting something about my gnosis.”

“Apologies,” Albedo says. “It’s a heavy question. I simply wanted to know your view of the situation.”

Right. Because Albedo is Khaenri’ahn too. He’ll have to make the same decision.

Kaeya can’t hurt Mondstadt, that much is certain. Venti, annoying as he is, is right about where he’s made his home. Mondstadt is where his fellow knights are, his friends, his family. But he doesn’t know if he could hurt Khaenri’ah either.

He has nothing left there. His mother died years ago and he doubts any of the friends he had are still alive today. Even if Kaeya no longer has any ties to the nation, he’s witnessed the suffering of Khaenri’ah first hand. They don’t deserve to be stuck there forever, he wants them to live in the sun too.

“I suppose… I will help them,” Kaeya responds. “Not to destroy Mondstadt, but I don’t want them to suffer underground. I’d help build, and grow.”

Albedo nods. “It could work, if they’re willing.”

Isn’t that always the case. Whether someone is willing to take the peaceful path or to conquer. No one has ever considered the peaceful path in Khaenri’ah. It’s a land of chaos, and trying to be diplomatic usually results in a knife in your back.

“What about you?”

Albedo stops, frowning at the ground. “I… don’t know.”

“Hopefully it won’t come to picking sides,” Kaeya tries to give a reassuring smile, but he’s not sure how effective it is. “We’ve seen both sides, maybe we can keep the peace.”

“Maybe...” Albedo finishes wrapping the bandage around Kaeya’s hand. “We have to meet Zhongli and Xiao soon. Are you ready?”

“Uh…” Kaeya flicks his hair. “I can’t tie it up.”

“How do you want it done?”

Kaeya normally just ties it up and gets on with his day, but Albedo only takes five minutes to braid it. It’s much tidier than he probably could have managed even with both of his hands. Albedo has had a lot of practice with Klee, who needs to have her hair done at least three times a day.

“Thanks,” Kaeya says once he moves away. “... When are we leaving?”

“Once Aether manages to get Childe out of the chair he got stuck in,” Albedo responds. “I’ll go see how they’re doing.”

When Albedo opens the door, Kaeya can see Aether struggling to pull a chair off of Childe’s arm. So nothing new has happened in the past hour.

Albedo only sighs. “You probably have a while longer to relax.”

As Albedo leaves, Mona slips into the room, and Kaeya immediately turns and buries his face in a pillow. It’s time for another lecture…

“Oh, come now,” the bed dips as Mona takes a seat. “Does the sight of me pain you so?”

“Yes.”

“Mm,” Mona hums as she lies down next to him. “I wanted to ask if you’re feeling better now, but you might bite my head off.”

“Yet you ask anyway,” Kaeya turns to face her. “So I don’t think you’re that worried.”

“How long have we known each other now?” She asks. “I’ve grown accustomed to the ‘stop caring right now or I’ll make you’ outbursts.”

Kaeya rolls his eye. “That’s not a thing.”

“If you say so,” she closes her eyes as she settles into the pillows.

Mona seems content to lie down next to him and let him do whatever he was doing before, but he still can’t be bothered to pick the coin up and staring at the ceiling can only do so much.

“Is…” Kaeya trails off. “Is anyone mad?”

“Of course not,” Mona says. “They’re just concerned about you. I had to stop them all from coming to check on you.”

“Why? I literally just threatened their entire fucking city.”

“They love you, dumbass,” Mona says as if it should be obvious. “I stopped them because I figured it was best to wait until you were less likely to cuss them out. I know you’d regret it later.”

“Oh,” Kaeya probably would have. Sometimes he doesn’t like how well Mona knows him, but other times… “Mona, you’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”

“I know,” she beams at him nonetheless, but her smile falters as she refocuses on his uncovered eye. “Have you seen a mirror yet?”

“No,” he hesitates. “... How bad is it?”

“They’re faint, I can only see them up close,” Mona moves her hand over both of his eyes. “I can’t cover them all.”

That’s… permanent, he thinks. What happened to his eye was permanent. The rest will be too. Even if he gets his gnosis back, he can’t reverse it. One eye is easy to cover up, but if it gets worse, he’ll have to walk around with a full face mask. If not, Mondstadt will realise-

“Hey,” Mona pokes his cheek. “You’ll be okay. If anything, you’ll just start a new makeup trend.”

Kaeya snorts. “I guess. I just… don’t like it. I don’t want to look different.”

Mona doesn’t say anything as she shifts closer to wrap an arm around him. It would usually be a good opportunity to make fun of her for mothering him or something, but he likes the quiet in the room. It would be a shame to interrupt it.

There’s a loud crack from the other room followed by an even louder Childe screaming, “freedom!”

“I suppose that means we have to go,” Mona sighs. “Or I could tell everyone you’re not feeling well and they wouldn’t question it. We can stay in bed all day.”

“Tempting,” Kaeya mutters. “But I can’t expect everyone else to do the work to save me.”

“Ugh, responsibilities.”

Kaeya gets up and picks his coin off the floor as he heads for the door. He also makes sure to tug one of Mona’s ponytails before he leaves so any thoughts of Kaeya being vulnerable can be replaced by pure rage.

He makes it one step out of the room before she tackles him.

-

Zhongli has set out snacks for their meeting because he didn’t want anyone to be hungry. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but Venti immediately stole the chip bowl and now only allows Kaeya and Mona to have any.

From the other side of the table, Childe stares wistfully at the chips. Kaeya eats another one.

“The gnosis dying too seems like a bad thing,” Kaeya says. “But it’s also a lead. He needs to fix it and there can’t be many ways of doing so.”

“I have some theories,” Albedo flips open his notebook. “Another Archon would potentially have the power to fix the gnosis, but I doubt he will give it to anyone that isn’t the Tsaritsa, and we already know it won’t survive the journey to Snezhnaya.”

“We’ll get a commercial ferry one day,” Childe sighs.

“We should also consider the Abyss Order,” Albedo says. “They succeeded in corrupting and controlling Dvalin, they must have knowledge of other kinds of divinity.”

“I can find an Abyss mage,” Diluc leans forward in his seat. Any chance to smack an Abyss mage with his sword, he’ll take it.

“But the Abyss wouldn’t help a human, they’d likely just steal the gnosis from him,” Albedo continues. “Even if they had some sort of deal, it would be too risky.”

“Archon’s also draw power from their domain,” Zhongli says. “Liliax’s domain was destroyed a long time ago though. It is now a part of Khaenri’ah.”

“Which is also ages away,” Kaeya doesn’t want to go back to Khaenri’ah anyway if he can help it. “It’s not an option.”

“If we can’t figure out where Zion is going, maybe we can figure out where he’s been?” Childe suggests. “I can ask Ekaterina to check if he’s been in any Fatui safehouses recently.”

Kaeya raises a brow. “Well, obviously we’re not going to let you do that.”

“What? Why?”

“Oh, I don’t know,” Kaeya casually eats another chip. “You’re a Fatui Harbinger with the authority to call in a hit squad to kill all of us and you want me to let you send out a call asking if safehouses are available. Forgive me if I’m a bit skeptical.”

“Hey, I want you to live too!” Childe objects. “We have to have a rematch once you get your gnosis back, it was really fun!”

“Don’t you dare,” Diluc interrupts. “Not my brother.”

“I’d be happy to kill you once I get my gnosis back,” Kaeya agrees. Childe is mostly to blame for everything going wrong in his life.

Diluc grimaces. “No, Kaeya, he’s into that.”

Well, yeah, that much is obvious, but it doesn’t stop Kaeya from wanting to run him through with a sword again. Kaeya isn’t one to miss an opportunity to mess with Diluc though…

“What, violence?” Kaeya asks. “Aren’t we all? You commit violence every night.”

“I meant in a-” Diluc pauses, trying to think of the words. “Weird… way.”

“What’s a ‘weird’ way?” Kaeya successfully hides his smirk.

Diluc stares, trying to figure out if Kaeya is fucking with him or not. “Like… in a…” his voice goes quiet. “Sexual way.”

“What’s sex?”

Diluc closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. “I fucking hate you so fucking much.”

“Love you too,” Kaeya throws a chip at him and it smacks against his forehead before falling on the ground. “Anyway, I’ll be talking to this Ekaterina. I don’t know what secret codes you have to signal for help, so I can’t let you near her.”

“I don’t know either, I forgot them all,” Childe shrugs. “Well, except for one, it’s ‘I saw a rainbow the other day.’ Don’t remember what it means though, I just like rainbows.”

Kaeya looks at Diluc. “Really? This guy got the best of you?”

Diluc doesn’t respond, he’s completely still, staring at a wall. Kaeya throws another chip at him and he shoots him a glare. That’s better.

“Well, it sounds like we have a plan,” Venti places the chip bowl back on the table as he stands. Childe lunges for it, but Mona snatches it before he can get there. “Mona and I are going with Kaeya, of course.”

“Team babysitters,” Mona agrees as she shoves a fist full of chips into her mouth.

“Ooh, can we come too?” Paimon asks. “I never get to babysit. It’s always other people babysitting Paimon!”

“I know Ekaterina, she’ll talk to me,” Aether adds.

“I’m coming as well-”

“Alright, calm down,” Kaeya interrupts. “Some of you need to watch Childe.”

The entire room falls silent.

“Don’t all jump up at once,” Childe mutters.

“We can leave him with Ningguang,” Aether offers and Childe goes pale. “Her, Keqing, and Ganyu will be able to keep him in line.”

“Ganyu doesn’t deserve to deal with that,” Xiao objects. “Can’t we just lock him in a dungeon?”

“I can keep an eye on him,” Zhongli decides. “Xiao, could you help me? I’ll allow you one stab.”

Childe is crumpled on the floor in seconds and Kaeya spares him a pitiful glance before taking the chip bowl and placing it on the floor next to him.

“Thank you,” he wheezes as he reaches a hand in.

Chapter Text

“How’s your hand?” Mona asks as their very large, very conspicuous group makes their way to the Northland Bank.

“Covered in crumbs,” Kaeya regrets scarfing down those chips by the handful. “I can’t get them out.”

“I’ll redo your bandages when we return,” Albedo offers. “We should pick up some healing salves while we’re out as well.”

“Wow,” Kaeya mutters. “Never even crossed my mind. I’m so glad you volunteered to come along, we’d all probably die without you.”

“I know,” Albedo says. “I was hoping Diluc would be more responsible, but I think he’s even worse than you.”

“I can hear you,” Diluc speaks up. “I’m right here.”

“He’s not wrong though,” Aether says and Diluc shoots them a look of betrayal. “You go to bed at five in the morning.”

“And sleep until ten,” Diluc crosses his arms. “That’s a whole five hours of sleep. That’s plenty of rest.”

“It’s not,” Aether responds. “And all you eat is random food stuffed between bread.”

“Do you have a problem with the most convenient lunch food in Mondstadt?”

“You don’t know how to wash your hair.”

“It gets washed!” Diluc snaps. “I wash it! Every day! I brush it too! It’s just thick!”

Everyone looks at each other, unbelieving. Even now, Diluc’s hair has already consumed his hair tie and is moving on to the rest of his coat as it grows stronger in it’s quest for world dominance.

“You actually use shampoo, right?” Mona asks. “Like, you’re not just using a bar of soap, right?”

The glare Diluc sends her is withering. “I know how to wash hair.”

“He’s dodging the question,” Venti whispers.

Diluc scowls as he starts walking faster. “I wish I’d stayed with Childe.”

There are many great things that come with being on speaking terms with his brother again, but the best is definitely being able to make fun of him. Second is the coats. If he knew all it took to get Diluc to be nice him was dying, maybe he would have…

Actually, just thinking about that might make Mona slap him. She’d know, somehow.

They make it to the bank, Diluc still fuming, and the moment the woman behind the counter sees them, she sighs. “Please don’t try to burn the bank down this time.”

Kaeya looks at his brother. “Diluc.”

“It’s the Fatui, who cares,” he rolls his eyes. “Let’s get this over with.”

“Hey, Ekaterina,” Aether walks ahead of the group. “Sorry about Diluc. He doesn’t know how to interact with normal human beings.”

“Hey-”

“Childe isn’t dead though!” Paimon cheerfully adds. “Yet.”

“I suppose you’re holding him hostage?” Ekaterina asks.

“Kinda,” Aether shrugs. “He wants to help, but none of the others trust him for some reason.”

“Right, because kidnapping and attempted murder isn’t a big deal,” Mona mutters. “Well, I don’t really care about the kidnapping but he tried to kill my only source of income.”

“Again, if you would just get a job-” Kaeya is interrupted by Ekaterina slamming a hand down on the counter.

“In case you didn’t realise, I am working,” she says. “So tell me what you need, and I’ll do my best to assist.”

“Apologies,” Albedo steps up. “We’re looking for information on Zion, the one who handled Childe’s mission.”

Ekaterina calls for someone to cover for her as she leaves the booth. “Aether, Paimon, and the least annoying ones can follow me. The rest of you stay here.”

Mona and Venti smartly decide to stay put as everyone else goes forward. The moment Diluc takes a step though, Ekaterina puts a hand up. “Not you.”

“Ha,” Kaeya grins at Diluc. “Told you you’re the annoying brother.”

“Oh, says the guy who once screamed for ten minutes straight just because I told you to shut up.”

“Do you want me to do it again?”

“You can stay here too,” Ekaterina decides and Diluc smugly sticks his tongue out at Kaeya. Anyone who calls Diluc mature has not seen him around his little brother.

“What, no!” Kaeya despairs. “I’ll behave, promise! Diluc just brings out the worst in me.”

“Fine,” Ekaterina already seems done with this whole interaction. “Just be quiet.”

Kaeya mimes zipping his mouth shut but Ekaterina is already walking away before he can finish. He doesn’t even get to turn the invisible key in the invisible lock. He sighs and follows after her with Albedo, Aether, and Paimon.

They enter another room where Ekaterina orders them to stay put as she goes through a filing cabinet. Kaeya doesn’t want to get kicked out, so he decides to listen. If Adelinde could see him behaving right now, she’d be so proud.

“Isn’t this a breach of security?” Albedo looks at all the files marked with a bright red ‘CONFIDENTIAL.’

“Childe extended his authority as a harbinger to Aether,” Ekaterina says. “So, despite starting a fight with every member of the Fatui they see, Aether is higher up than me.”

“Wait, really?” Aether asks. “How did I not know this?”

“He didn’t even tell you…” Ekaterina mutters. “Whatever. I’ve found Zion’s file.”

She gestures them to a nearby table and they all take a seat as she starts picking through the pages, looking for anything of interest. The more she reads, the more she frowns.

“What’s wrong?” Paimon asks.

“Zion’s officially classed as a diplomat, not an agent,” she says. “He shouldn’t have been overseeing a mission. And these files are wrong. They claim he’s still in Khaenri’ah.”

“What?” Kaeya breaks his vow of silence. “He was stationed in Khaenri’ah?”

“Yes, he was just performing the usual diplomatic duties,” Ekaterina continues. “There should also be a formal request for assistance on his mission in Mondstadt, but there isn’t.”

Kaeya narrows his eyes. “He wasn’t doing it for the Fatui.”

“It appears not,” Ekaterina agrees. “Makes sense then that Childe is the only one who answered the call for help. Anyone else would have been smart enough to read a debrief on the mission, and figure out he was lying.”

“So Zion wanted the gno-”

“The artifact,” Albedo quickly interrupts Paimon.

“Aha… Yes, the artifact,” Paimon mutters. “He wanted it for himself?”

“What was Zion doing in Khaenri’ah specifically?” Kaeya’s not sure it’s so simple. “Where was he living?”

“Hard to say, the country is too divided. There aren’t really any official towns or cities over there.” Ekaterina goes through a few more pages. “He was in contact with people that, at least, considered themselves the authority. A committee of people who wanted Khaenri’ah on the surface.

“Ah,” that can’t be a coincidence. “Fuck.”

“You know of them?” Aether asks.

“Kinda,” Kaeya leaves his seat. “Thank you for your help, Ekaterina.”

Kaeya leaves as quickly as possible, mind racing. He barely remembers those people, but he does remember eavesdropping on the meetings. They were about him, after all. And everytime Mama came home after a meeting, she was furious. He’d wanted to know why.

It’s because they were planning on sending Kaeya to Mondstadt. They didn’t know he was an archon, but they knew he was immune to the curse. Kaeya was meant to gather information and establish connections until they could also come to Mondstadt without dying and use him.

Zion must have known about Kaeya… but how did he learn about his gnosis? The creation of Kæra Skepna might have let him know there was a secret archon, but that just raises more concerns. One, there was no way of knowing Kaeya and the secret archon were the same person, but it’s too big a coincidence. Two, there’s no sky in Khaenri’ah, so Zion had to have already left when the constellation was made or he wouldn’t have known.

He betrayed the Fatui before he even knew there was another archon.

Kaeya’s headache is returning tenfold. Ekaterina was meant to help them find Zion, but she’s just made everything more confusing.

“Kaeya,” Albedo catches up to him. “What did you realise?”

Kaeya looks back at his short companions and groans. “I need a fucking drink.”

-

Kaeya does not, in fact, get his fucking drink. They make it back to the Wangsheng Funeral Parlour, which Kaeya still thinks is a funny place to be having their meetings on how to save his life, and the moment he reaches for the drink cabinets, Diluc slaps his hand away.

Kaeya turns around and glares at him. “Listen, you whore-”

“We already agreed no alcohol until-” Diluc stops. “... Did you just fucking call me a whore?”

“We need to go over the information we learned from Ekaterina,” Albedo interrupts. “Kaeya knows a lot more about it than we do.”

“Right,” Kaeya sighs. “The committee…”

“Circling back,” Diluc, it turns out, is very easy to offend. “You just-”

“Called you a whore, yes, shut up, the adults are talking,” Kaeya puts his hand against Diluc’s mouth and he immediately bites him. Kaeya is used to this however, so he masks the pain and doesn’t back away. “Zion worked with the people who sent me to Mondstadt.”

Diluc removes his teeth and Kaeya pulls his aching hand back. The pain radiates down his entire arm, but the skin isn’t broken, just very bruised. “That’s… a big coincidence.”

“Do you need ice for that?” Zhongli looks concerned. He probably doesn’t have siblings.

“It gets weirder,” Kaeya continues. “Zion betrayed the Fatui and left his post before I made Kæra Skepna. So either he was looking for me the entire time, or he left for some other random reason and then got distracted by a brand new constellation. Personally, I think that’s too big a coincidence.”

“That looks quite bad,” Zhongli is still focused on Kaeya’s newest injury. “There are numbing salves somewhere around here.”

“Wait, what about Zion?” Childe asks. “He what?”

“Betrayed the Fatui,” Kaeya repeats. “Don’t know why, and there’s not much to support any theories I do have. On the plus side, it means Zion didn’t go telling any other Fatui about the gnosis. Probably only him and Childe knew.”

“I can ask Qiqi to help,” Zhongli offers.

“If he’s operating outside of the Fatui, how the hell are we meant to find him?” Mona frowns. “He’s completely incognito.”

“Well, he got Childe to help him, so he’s still using his authority within the Fatui, he’s just being quiet about it,” Kaeya says. “There won’t be any official documents, but I bet he’s still borrowing their resources.”

Kaeya flinches as Zhongli presses a hard boiled egg against his hand. After the brief pain subsides, the heat starts to feel weirdly nice against the bite. “… What are you doing?”

“I do not have ice packs,” Zhongli responds. “Eggs are good for makeshift warm compresses. They are especially good for dealing with black eyes due to-”

“Anyway,” Venti interrupts. “Zion won’t be welcome to any Fatui resources once Ekaterina marks him a traitor, but that might just make it harder to find him…”

They might have to rely on other sources, but if Kaeya has to guess where Zion is headed, it’s probably Khaenri’ah. He’s not sure on the quickest path there, but perhaps they can check out potential safe locations in that direction. It’s a better idea than nothing…

“I can’t believe I didn’t realise Zion was a traitor…” Childe shakes his head. “I’ve been stabbed three times now because of that guy.”

“Three?” Aether asks.

“Kaeya, Xiao, and I got mugged on the way into Liyue,” Childe explains. “It’s fine though, Zhongli helped patch me up.”

“Did he give you an egg?” Kaeya jests but Zhongli might actually be onto something with this egg thing. He wishes he discovered this trick when he was a kid and Diluc’s go-to attack was biting.

“No, but I did get more chips,” Childe, despite the damage done to his abdomen this week, looks pretty pleased. “So it was all worth it.”

“Maybe the fourth time will do it…” Paimon muses aloud.

“Paimon, if you want to kill someone, you have to be quiet about it,” Xiao scolds her. “You’re small. You need to be stealthy and silent. Knife in the throat before he even knows you’re there.”

Paimon nods as she takes in the information. “Thanks Xiao, you’re so good at killing things.”

Xiao looks somewhat proud at the praise. Childe, meanwhile, doesn’t seem concerned despite how many people in this room have stated that they want him dead. That might just be what his life is usually like.

“It appears there isn’t much we can do until we find more information,” Albedo says. “Do you think your other contacts will pick anything up?”

“Maybe,” Kaeya shrugs. “We still have Jean and Lisa working on the case too. Maybe they’re having better luck.”

-

Jean and Lisa stand side by side, staring at a strange circular device. It looks familiar, though neither seem to know exactly what it is. Where have they seen it before…?

“This is the only thing of interest?” Jean asks. “Nothing else in the apartment?”

“I checked everywhere,” Lisa responds. “I also checked elemental traces. There’s a lot around this thing.”

Zion didn’t leave anything useful behind when he fled Mondstadt. It’s hard to believe this specific thing was an accident, so Jean is willing to write it off as some kind of trap. Possibly a bomb, or-

Lisa picks it up. “Actually, I think-”

Jean is quick to smack the thing out of Lisa’s hand and pull her what she deems is a safe distance away. It smacks against the ground with a harsh thud and rolls into a wall. She waits with bated breath, but… nothing happens.

Jean sighs in relief. “You can’t just pick up something potentially dangerous.”

“Ah, yes, my mistake,” Lisa smiles apologetically. “Thank you for your concern. However, I think I know what it is.”

“You do?”

As if it was just waiting for the right moment, the device suddenly expands and Jean recognises it as an Abyss Mage shield. Those things are usually the bane of her existence, but it’s relatively harmless on it’s own. She thinks.

It is very close to the wall though, and when the shield is created, it pushes away and shoots across the floor. Jean narrowly avoids losing her ankles as she and Lisa sidestep the attack. It hits the wall on the other side of the room, and shoots back towards them.

Lisa turns to Jean with wide eyes. “Run.”

-

Kaeya flips the pen in his hand as he deliberates on what exactly to write. Jean and Lisa need a progress update, and so does he. He’s already written down everything they’ve learnt, but it feels cold to just leave it at that. And… he wants to know how Klee is doing.

Nothing and no one can touch Klee without risking the wrath of everyone in the knights, but… well, chaos doesn’t care. Kaeya sighs and adds an extra sentence asking how everyone is doing. He just wants to make sure.

“How long does it take to write one letter?” Venti kicks open the bedroom door. “Dinner’s almost ready.”

“Well, if Diluc hadn’t crippled my other hand, it would have gone a lot quicker,” Kaeya responds. “But I’m done now.”

“Great!” Venti blows everything off of the desk and takes a seat. “Now while you still feel bad for yelling at me, I have a request.”

Kaeya groans but doesn’t tell Venti to leave him alone. They haven’t known each other as long, but Venti is coming to understand him just as well as Mona. “What?”

“A hug!” Venti leans across the desk to wrap his arms around Kaeya. “The closest I’ve gotten to a hug is throwing you over my shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Mona gets them all the time, what about me?”

“Uh,” Kaeya freezes. “I…”

“I feel like you hug Diluc more than me,” Venti continues. “Diluc!”

“Um. Sorry,” Kaeya tentatively returns the hug. He’s not really sure what else to do.

“Hmm, you’re forgiven,” Venti pulls back with a grin. “As long as I get more hugs. Xiao’s certainly not giving them, and Mona is embarrassed to be seen with me, you’re my only option.”

“What about Aether?” Kaeya suggests. “Aether loves hugs.”

“Aether’s always travelling!” Venti throws his hands up in frustration. “I need affection or I’ll die. Do you want me to die cold and unloved, Kaeya?”

“Fine, fine,” Kaeya rolls his eye, but can’t help the slight smile. “I’ll be the hug dispenser.”

“Great! Now let’s go get dinner before Paimon eats it all,” Venti grabs Kaeya’s hand and drags him out of the chair. “That thing has a stomach like a black hole…”

“I’m telling Paimon you called her a ‘thing,’” Kaeya lets himself be pulled away. “She might add you to her hit list.”

“Eh. She adds and removes people all the time,” Venti isn’t concerned. “The only constants are Childe and some guy called Pallad.”

Kaeya manages to convince Venti to save him some food while he seals the letter to Jean to be sent in the morning. He also finds Paimon’s knife hidden within his bag and tucks it into his sleeve. It’s about time he gives that back.

The headache from this morning has subsided, admittedly with the help of Albedo’s medicine, but his eye still aches. Every migraine Kaeya has had has been caused by a hangover, which he cures with more alcohol, but no one is letting him drink and he doesn’t want to get bitten again… maybe Venti will help out.

He heads out to grab the dinner that Venti is valiantly defending from Paimon and she sags in disappointment when Kaeya grabs it. “Thanks, Venti.”

“I’m definitely back on the hit list for this,” Venti tells him. “You’re welcome.”

With everyone turned away from them, Kaeya flicks the knife out of his sleeve and hands it to Paimon. “Be discreet, and wait for the perfect moment.”

Paimon’s eyes glint dangerously as she nods. Kaeya quickly leaves before anyone can suspect anything to go lie on the couch and eat his rice. He takes his seat, and stares incredulously at Diluc’s plate, where he has separated the rice, carrot, berries, and lotus heads into different areas.

Kaeya already knows Diluc will only eat the rice. He thinks boiled carrots are mushy and disgusting, cooked berries are too sweet, and he probably hasn’t tried lotus heads before so he won’t even touch them… How did anyone that had to cook for the Ragnvindr family not quit their job within a week?

“Diluc,” Kaeya says. “This is why I’m taller than you.”

“Huh?” Aether looks up from their plate. “You look the same height though.”

“He bought insoles the day we realised I was taller,” Kaeya reveals as Diluc calmly leaves his seat at the table. “When he came back to Mondstadt, I was even taller, and he bought new boots the next-”

Kaeya is interrupted by a cushion being pressed against his face, muffling his words. It’s not pressed tightly enough that he can’t breathe, but it certainly isn’t comfortable.

“I thought we agreed not to talk about it,” Kaeya can’t see Diluc’s glare but he can hear it in his voice. “Do you want me to bring up what happened on your fifteenth birthday?”

“Don’t you fucking dare,” Kaeya rips the cushion away. “You swore a vow of secrecy.”

“Then I suggest we never talk about this again,” Diluc responds. “Unless you want me to explain, in minute detail, every second of that day.”

“I’d prefer you just tell all of Mondstadt I’m a Khaenri’ahn spy,” Kaeya mutters as he sticks his fork into his rice. He can feel Mona’s eyes boring into the back of his head. It’s not often there’s something she doesn’t know about him, and she will get to the bottom of it. “But seriously, eat your damn veggies.”

“Paimon will have his leftovers!” Paimon shoots across the living room to grab at Diluc’s food with her bare hands. She’ll eat anything, which is a stark contrast to Diluc ‘if an onion touches my steak, it’s inedible’ Ragnvindr.

Other than Diluc threatening to reveal the events of a day Kaeya has spent many years drinking to forget, dinner goes by amicably. It’s a quiet night and no one is getting into fights. Even Childe has taken a hint and kept his mouth shut from his permanent seat on the floor. Kaeya almost falls asleep on the couch again, but doesn’t let himself because he doesn’t want a repeat of yesterday.

It’s still relatively early, but Kaeya can be forgiven for being tired at eight in the evening considering he’s dying. So he stands up to take his plate into the kitchen and go to bed, but freezes when the pain behind his eye flares up for a second. It goes away just as quickly and no one seems to have noticed, so Kaeya ignores it.

“Any other things we need to do tomorrow?” Kaeya asks as he rinses off his plate. His hand feels kinda numb, but he blames that on Diluc.

Albedo sighs. “Not really. We need more information before we can go anywhere, so we just have to… wait.”

They’re used to that from working in the Knights, but it doesn’t make it any less painful. Something will come up soon, it has to. In the meantime, Kaeya decides to make his tea so he can sleep without any of… the usual bullshit.

“Ooh, can I have a hot chocolate?” Venti pulls himself up onto the counter next to Kaeya. “Milk and three sugars!”

“Me too! Me too!” Paimon shouts at the same time Aether tries to ask politely but is drowned out by their loud companion.

“If you’re already making drinks…” Albedo trails off and Kaeya accepts his fate with little annoyance.

“What does everyone want?”

Everyone recites their orders one at a time to Venti who repeats them back to Kaeya. The numbness has spread up both of Kaeya’s arms and he feels off centre, but it’s easy enough to follow Venti’s instructions. All he has to do is focus on how much sugar and milk. Easy. So easy.

“Kaeya,” Venti grips his shoulders and Kaeya jolts as if he’s just been woken up. “You’re swaying.”

“Huh?” Kaeya blinks. “No, I’m not.”

“That’s because I’m holding you still,” Venti removes his hands and although Kaeya’s pretty sure he was standing perfectly fine without assistance before, he immediately tilts forward. “Woah, hey-”

Kaeya’s head smacks right into Venti’s shoulder. He’s suddenly less confident in his earlier assumptions. “Maybe I was…”

He means to say something about going to bed now, but he’s not sure whether he actually says it or just mumbles incoherently. Venti’s shoulder is comfortable enough and Kaeya doesn’t much care beyond that so he closes his eyes as the numbness spreads.

“Kaeya?”

There’s a constant static noise in the back of Kaeya’s mind growing louder and louder. He wants it to stop, and he wants the numbness to stop because he doesn’t like not being able to feel his fingers.

“I’m… sleep now,” he’s pretty sure that’s how sentence structure works. “Night…”

Kaeya might take a step in a direction. Or maybe his half asleep brain just thinks he does. Either way, he meets soft and welcoming blankets soon enough. They haven’t been used so they’re cold, but Kaeya doesn’t have the energy to do anything about it. Something warm wraps around him soon anyway and he focuses on that.

Beyond the static and the numbness, he can still feel the warmth, and he lets himself fall asleep to that.

Chapter Text

This is… weird. Yep. Weird is the word. Because Diluc generally doesn’t have human contact unless Kaeya is poking him in the eye or Aether has jumped on his back screaming about a spider. Weird is probably the word, but… it’s not unwelcome.

Diluc was just the first person to get up and help Kaeya to his bed. It was a simple task but then Kaeya started mumbling about the cold and Diluc thought ‘I can fix that.’ And now, well, he’s fixing that, he supposes.

“Like I said,” Venti mutters angrily. “He hugs Diluc more than me.”

“He does have a pyro vision…” Mona responds. “He’s like a human heater.”

“I’m still offended.”

“Shut up,” Diluc says. “You’re going to wake him up.”

Which is the only reason Diluc hasn’t pulled Kaeya’s hands off of his coat and left the room. Because it could wake him up and he obviously needs rest. Not at all because Diluc likes being close to his brother again. That’s absurd.

“He said at least a month,” Mona ignores him. “It’s been days, and he’s already getting worse.”

“It’s hard to predict,” Venti says. “We should talk to Albedo.”

Right. He knows… a lot about this. And Diluc has definitely noticed that the pointed star on his throat matches the one in Kaeya’s eye. Albedo is helping them though so he’ll reserve any suspicions. Unless he’s lying. The medicine could be poison and none of them would know.

Diluc’s definitely going to ask how it’s made. He’s not paranoid, he’s just cautious.

“If you’re going to keep talking, get out,” Diluc says.

“Yeah, yeah, wouldn’t wanna wake the baby,” Mona grumbles as she heads for the door. “Tell me when he’s up.”

“Mhm,” Diluc will probably forget. Mona can yell at him for it later. What’s more important, is that they’ve left the room to go be loud elsewhere, and Kaeya is getting the rest he needs.

His grip on Diluc isn’t as tight now, so he can probably go, but… Kaeya might get cold again. Which is, of course, the only reason Diluc is staying. Obviously.

Diluc looks at Kaeya as he sighs softly in his sleep… Familiar. That’s the word. He remembers a small Kaeya deciding his bed is too cold and claiming Diluc’s, and Diluc just going along with it. They woke up to the bright flash of a kamera the next morning as Crepus took approximately a hundred photos of his sons curled up next to each other.

It was a pretty common occurrence when they were small. When Kaeya first started living with them, he’d been very independent. He never asked for help, would usually play by himself even if Diluc tried to join him, and was generally distant.

Then Crepus adopted him, and Kaeya refused to ever be left alone at any point in time ever again. He followed their dad around like a lost puppy and would attach himself to the man’s leg whenever Crepus made an attempt to leave the house without him. Diluc thought he was annoying, but Crepus thought he was adorable and, on more than one occasion, Kaeya actually succeeded in getting him to stay home.

When he didn’t succeed though, it was Diluc’s turn. Diluc didn’t have the strength to forcibly pick Kaeya up and move him away back then, so if Kaeya decided to cling to his leg, that’s just how the rest of Diluc’s day would be. And if Kaeya decided Diluc was his own personal heater… that’s just how the rest of Diluc’s life will be.

… Crepus truly loved Kaeya. Just as much as he loved Diluc. If he was still alive, if Kaeya had told him the truth, he would have accepted him without any hesitation. Maybe Diluc’s reaction had been the results of a day full of grief and strife followed by betrayal, but if it were Crepus… it wouldn’t have mattered.

There so, so many things that Diluc did wrong that day. So many people he failed. His father, the knights that died, his little brother. He has to wonder what Crepus would have to say to him now. After breaking Kaeya’s trust and abandoning him in Mondstadt with the constant fear of being discovered, then failing to fix things when he returned.

Kaeya had said, once, as some kind of jab, that he has other family. The knights, his friends, that little girl that Diluc is pretty sure threatened to kill him. Family is what Kaeya said, but he didn’t tell them what he tried to tell Diluc. Mona found out herself, Venti could easily spot his gnosis, and Jean had been given half of the truth and forced the other half out when Kaeya nearly got himself killed.

Diluc had been the only one he fully trusted, and he didn’t even get to finish explaining.

Yeah. Diluc thinks he can handle being the human heater. It’s the least he can do.

He huffs a sigh as he tries to get more comfortable without disturbing Kaeya. Doing nothing is awful. It makes him think about all the reasons he hates himself. But he can’t get to sleep either because… there may have been some truth in Aether’s judgements…

A sudden sharp intake of breath draws Diluc’s attention back to Kaeya, who blinks slowly as he rubs his eye. It can’t have been more than hour since he fell asleep…

“Which one are you?” Kaeya mumbles as he smacks his hand into Diluc’s face. “Hair. Diluc.”

“Oh my god, it’s not that-” Diluc’s words die in his mouth as Kaeya quickly shoots up and pulls his eyepatch off.

“Nope. Nope, nope, nope,” Kaeya presses the palm of his hand to his now uncovered eye. “Nope.”

“What’s wrong?” Diluc grabs Kaeya’s shoulder but he barely notices.

“I said I’d start listening someday,” Kaeya gives a broken laugh. “Maybe it’s today. Probably today.”

“Kaeya,” Diluc manages to draw Kaeya’s attention when he moves in front of him. “Make sense.”

He looks shocked to see Diluc, like he’d already forgotten he was there. There’s a brief expression of relief on his face before it immediately contorts in pain and he falls into Diluc’s chest. “Hurts. It won’t stop.”

Oh, right, now Diluc has to do that thing he promised to do where he helps Kaeya when he’s struggling. He was hoping he’d have more time to figure out how to be ‘nice’ and ‘supportive.’

What did he do when he was a kid? Kaeya was never really… hurt back then. Well, he got hurt all the time, he just didn’t care. Apparently a broken arm is ‘not a big deal’ and ‘won’t stop me from doing it again.’ The only thing that ever phased him was the slime incident…

If this is worse than the slime incident, then it’s bad.

“Tell me where,” Diluc tentatively puts an arm around Kaeya. Kaeya loves hugs, he’s sure that will help somehow…

“My eye,” Kaeya mutters. “It-it’s-they’re meant to kill you. They’re meant to kill you when it starts or-”

“Stop,” Diluc might be a little too forceful when he holds Kaeya at arm length. “Focus on your breathing, I’ll get Albedo.”

“Okay,” Kaeya nods as he closes his eyes and digs his hands into the sheets. “Okay. Okay.”

It doesn’t feel right to leave him, but he doesn’t know what to do and if Albedo can actually help, then it’ll be fine in the end. It still feels wrong. It feels like he’s abandoning Kaeya again even though he’s not even leaving the doorway.

Thankfully, Mona and Albedo are still up. Everyone else seems to have gone to their respective rooms but Mona is perpetually worried and Albedo just doesn’t sleep. Seriously. Weird guy. Diluc does not trust him.

“Something’s wrong with Kaeya,” Mona has shot up before Diluc can even finish his sentence and she barges past him as Albedo is still putting down his book.

Mona is much more natural about pulling Kaeya into her arms and stroking his hair. Kaeya’s still breathing quickly and his nails dig into Mona’s arm, but he looks a little less stressed. Maybe Diluc should ask Mona for pointers… Would that be weird?

“Kaeya,” Even Albedo is much gentler than Diluc is capable of being. “How badly does it hurt?”

“Ugh, like, eighty three out of ten,” Kaeya opens his eyes briefly. The stars within them are brighter than they were last time Diluc saw them.

“Still coherent,” Albedo nods to himself. “Where is that medicine?”

Diluc reaches for Kaeya’s bag immediately. It’s easy to find, although there’s also candy there that Kaeya failed to mention or share with anyone. Diluc passes the bottle to Albedo, but Kaeya quickly snatches it and starts chugging.

“Don’t drink it too-”

Kaeya chokes and starts coughing.

“-fast.”

“Can’t tell me what to do,” Kaeya continues coughing up his lungs as Mona lightly pats him on the back. He goes to drink more of the medicine he hates so much but Albedo takes it.

“Drinking more won’t make it take effect faster,” Albedo says. “You just have to…”

“Deal with it,” Kaeya finishes. “Awesome. Love that. Someone kill me.”

It’s a joke. Kaeya’s not being serious, but Diluc still tenses. He has to remind himself that it’s not the same.

“Drama queen,” Mona teases, but she gives Diluc a worried glance. “I guarantee you’ve had hangovers worse than this.”

“Hangovers can be cured with more alcohol,” Kaeya responds. “This is… I want to rip out my own eye.”

First of all, Diluc is lecturing Kaeya on being more careful with alcohol once he feels better. Crepus had explained to them so many times, but Kaeya has never been known for listening. Diluc can and will repeat the speech if he has to.

Second… what the fuck is he meant to do?

This has happened before and Diluc was just as useless back then too. Someone kill me. Yeah, Diluc could probably do that, but it’s a joke and he’d rather die than go through that again.

Mona is effortlessly gentle in the way she takes Kaeya’s hands into her own. It’s almost like she’s doing it on a whim and not to make sure Kaeya doesn’t follow through on his earlier words. He continues to lean into her as his breaths even out.

It’s not that much longer before Kaeya’s fist unclench but he continues to lean against Mona, half asleep. She looks disdainfully at her arm, which is now bruised and bleeding, before turning her attention to Diluc. “Stay with him, I need to deal with this.”

“I’m not…” Diluc frowns at the ground. “You’re better at it. I’ll just get you a bandaid.”

Diluc leaves before she can argue, only returning to deliver the promised bandaid and lets Albedo help her as he goes back to his own room. Sleep sounds much more appealing now, but he still doubts he’ll be getting any.

Someone kill me. The phrase is stupidly infuriating. Most of what Kaeya says is stupidly infuriating, but they don’t replay in his head like that.

Killing, violence. That’s what Diluc is good at. The only thing. He’s done nothing to help so far, but once they reach Zion… then he can do something he’s good at.

-

“Hey,” Diluc is brought into reality by what feels like a bucket of water being poured directly onto his face and immediately shoots up out of bed. “Oh, you’re way quicker than Kaeya when I do that.”

Sleep wears off quickly, being drenched by freezing cold water, but rage seeps in immediately afterwards when he looks over at Mona. “What the fuck is-”

“We’re going shopping,” she interrupts. “You have money, I have ulterior motives. Let’s go.”

“What-”

“You have five minutes to get ready.”

She leaves and Diluc blinks as he stares at the empty space in front of him. Aether, having been woken up by the noise, groggily sits up. “What was that?”

“I think Mona is finally going to kill me,” Diluc wipes the water out of his eyes. “See you later.”

Aether waves halfheartedly before falling back into their pillow. They went to bed at a normal time and still have the ability to sleep in, meanwhile Diluc is physically incapable of sleeping for more than six hours if he’s lucky. And even that’s generally not consecutively.

Last night was not one of the fabled lucky nights. Diluc’s not even sure whether he was actually asleep or just zoned out for a few hours. He certainly doesn’t feel like he got any sleep, but life is an abyssal hell and he’s got things to do.

Diluc grabs his clothes and spends a little longer brushing his hair so he can avoid any more judgement on the subject. It doesn’t make much of a difference, but it still looks fine. He doesn’t know what everyone’s problem is.

Well, he knows what Mona’s problem is. Diluc’s general existence.

When he enters the living room, he realises most of their group is still asleep. Albedo is up, of course, and Mona is shooing Venti away from her shopping list.

“We can’t not get cookies.”

“Yes, we can.”

“But-”

“Die.”

Is this what Kaeya puts up with every day?

Wait. “Is anyone with Kaeya?”

“Hm?” Mona looks up, pushing Venti’s face away. “No, but we woke him up just before to give him more medicine. He didn’t complain this time, which I suppose is an up side.”

He still doesn't like the idea of leaving Kaeya alone, but they definitely know more than him about all this. He trusts Mona to look after Kaeya more than himself.

“We’re out now though,” Albedo says. “Which is the reason for the shopping trip. Not cookies.”

“It’s Diluc’s money!” Venti objects. “Come on.”

“I don’t know how much more clear I have to be on the fact that I don’t like you,” Diluc says. “Go steal some if you want them that badly.”

“Oh,” Venti pauses. “I hadn’t considered that. Well, see you guys later.”

Venti walks out the door like a man on a mission. Maybe Diluc shouldn’t have suggested that, but he doesn’t particularly care if Venti ends up in prison.

“We should be off too,” Mona says. “It looks like it’ll start raining soon and we wanna be back before everyone eats whatever Aether makes for breakfast.”

“You could always cook your own food,” Diluc suggests.

Mona scoffs as she grabs what Diluc’s pretty sure is Kaeya’s jacket. Does Mona even own any jackets? Even when it starts snowing, she continues to wear a thin bodysuit with virtually no warmth. It’s almost admirable how dedicated she is to her aesthetic, but how is she not dead?

She cringes as she pulls the sleeve over her bruised arm. Well, that explains it. She just doesn't want Kaeya to feel bad for accidentally hurting her. Annoying as she is, she's a good friend... she's better to Kaeya than Diluc could ever be.

Being that he has nothing else to do and getting ingredients for Kaeya’s medicine is at least helpful, Diluc follows Mona out the door in much more weather appropriate attire. It’s early morning, and with the added rain clouds, it still looks pretty dark out, but Mona doesn’t seem to care.

“So why have you dragged me out for this?” Diluc asks. “I could have just given you the money.”

“You’d trust me with your wallet?” Mona responds. “Even Venti doesn’t do that and he only has three mora to his name.”

“No, but I would give you as much as you need to buy what’s on the list,” Diluc answers. “What kind of fool do you think I am?”

“You don’t want me to answer that,” Mona says. “Anyway, there is a reason but I am loath to explain it and you won't want to hear it more than once so listen up.”

“Listening,” Diluc confirms with a deep sigh.

“I am a world class snoop,” Mona starts. “I knew almost everything about Kaeya before I even met him, and learnt the rest afterwards through scrying because he didn’t trust me in the slightest. You’re his brother, so… I also spied on you. Like, a lot.”

“Seems about right,” he really, really hopes she never saw anything… weird. He was not a functioning human for a while there. He still isn’t, according to Aether, but what do they know? They still have to go to Diluc for mora because they spend all theirs on new weapons. Diluc likes swords, but he knows when to tone it down.

“Right, well, I realised I know something Kaeya doesn’t,” Mona continues. “I thought he knew, but he wouldn’t have said that if he did.”

“What is it?” If she brings up the time Diluc ate uncooked bread dough, he’s turning around and walking back home.

“What happened to your father,” Mona sighs. “Kaeya was joking, when he asked for someone to kill him. Bad humour is how he copes.”

Diluc freezes. He was… mostly trying to ignore that. He’s gotten pretty good at ignoring things. Perks of having an annoying younger brother and deep seated trauma.

“I know,” Diluc starts walking again. “I’ve known him most of my life, he’s actually my brother in case you haven't realised.”

“Shut up, I’m trying to be nice and make sure you’re okay,” Mona glares. “You and Kaeya are very alike in the ‘none of you will know anything about me’ regard. But Kaeya does talk to people, and you don’t, so… you’re getting the Kaeya treatment.”

“The what treatment?”

“Kaeya wanted nothing to do with me when we met because I was a stranger who knew all his deepest secrets,” Mona explains. “So I learnt the rest of his secrets and constantly bothered him until he realised that I was the perfect person to vent to because I already knew everything and wasn’t telling anyone. I’m doing the same thing to you now.”

Diluc stares for a moment as his brain catches up to everything she just said. “No, you’re not.”

“Let’s talk about the raw bread, Diluc.”

“I’m going home.”

He turns to walk away but Mona quickly grabs his arm and starts tugging him towards the markets. Being that she’s tiny and wields a catalyst, Diluc could easily shove her off but now that she’s actually being nice, he would feel mean. Ugh… why does she have to be friendly all of a sudden?

“I’m joking, I’m joking,” Mona laughs. “But I am serious about the other stuff. I already know everything, you may as well talk to me about it.”

It makes sense, Diluc just doesn't like it. “Sure. Whatever.”

“Good,” Mona looks him up and down. “So are you okay?”

“I’m… mostly fine,” he answers. “I’m always ‘mostly fine.’ I was just less fine last night because of… extenuating circumstances.”

Mostly fine is a good goal in Diluc’s opinion. It’s the best he can hope for, really. Better to be three steps away from a full blown breakdown than only one.

“See?” Mona smiles up at him. “Was that so bad? Now you’ve got someone in your corner who knows how you’re doing and can look out for you. And believe me, I am very good at looking out for emotionally incompetent men. I should charge a fee.”

“I’m not paying you for my vulnerability,” Diluc snatches the shopping list from Mona as he continues walking to the market.

“I won’t even charge that much,” Mona easily catches up. “How about you pay me with a story? Maybe… one about a certain someone’s fifteenth birthday?”

“I thought you knew everything,” Diluc mocks. “I’m sure you can figure it out.”

“Not if the target never thinks about it,” she sighs in disappointment. “But I’m sure my new best friend will help me out…”

“Absolutely not.”

“Kaeya’s the one who told me about the raw bread.”

…

“It started when we made the mistake of letting him have alcohol.”

-

“And then his friends dared him to eat a random mushroom they found in the woods.”

“Please tell me he didn’t.”

“He did. By some miracle, he didn’t die, but he did get very high and invited all of his friends to go skinny dipping in the river outside the Dawn Winery, which you might know is crawling with slimes.”

“Oh no.”

“He then got a certain, ahem, appendage frozen by a cryo slime and spent the night in the hospital.”

“Holy shit.”

Mona stares at Diluc in wide eyed amazement. That’s about the same reaction him and his father had when the doctor explained everything to them.

“Well, that explains why he never wanted to do drugs with us,” Mona mutters. “Gods… I’ve never respected a person less. I love him.”

“Good,” Diluc says. “Most people are smart enough not to.”

“Are you calling us idiots?”

“I said what I said.”

Mona snorts as she sips the tea she scammed off of Diluc. “You know, Venti and Kaeya are nowhere near as judgemental as you. I think we could be great friends.”

“Depends,” Diluc responds. “What do you think about Albedo’s shorts over leggings?”

“Right?!” Mona exclaims. “It’s fucking weird! Who does that?”

“Oh, good,” Diluc sighs in relief. “No one else was mentioning it. I was worried you all thought it was normal.”

“At least he knows how to brush his hair though.”

“Fuck off.”

-

One successful shopping trip later, they make it back home in time for breakfast. Diluc’s appetite isn’t too great after having to buy some of the things he did, but… Aether makes really good pancakes.

“Where have you two been all morning?” Kaeya is awake and chipper as always, almost like he wasn’t writhing in agony just last night.

“Shopping for stuff to make more of your favourite medicine,” Mona replies.

Kaeya goes to look into the bag but Diluc quickly moves it away from him. “You don’t want to know.”

“Ah…” he glances back to Albedo, who gives him a shrug. “Well, do you know where Venti is?”

“Either enjoying cookies or enjoying prison,” Mona responds. “Who’s to say.”

“He’ll get himself out sooner or later anyway. Or Aether’s connections will.” Kaeya has notably not grabbed any pancakes despite the fact that Aether’s cooking is divine and he’s probably still exhausted from everything last night.

“Are you eating anything?” There’s an edge to Diluc’s voice that he’s certain Kaeya notices.

“I’m not hungry when I first wake up,” Kaeya responds. “I’ll eat in an hour or so.”

“I will force feed you seafood chowder Kaeya, don’t fucking try me,” Mona pushes the plate she was filling for herself in front of Kaeya. “Enjoy your breakfast, lovely~”

From vaguely threatening to sickeningly sweet. Mona has the range.

“I should get started on making more medicine,” Albedo says. “I assume you’ll be more cooperative in having some morning and night?”

“Mhm,” Kaeya cringes at the thought. “Although I truly would rather you just off me now.”

Diluc doesn’t even have time to think about the connotations of what Kaeya just said before Mona steps in.

“Shut up,” she shoves a pancake into his mouth and he nearly chokes. Despite the brief threat of old memories resurfacing, the shock on Kaeya’s face manages to make Diluc laugh and Mona gives him a thumbs up.

Okay. Maybe it isn’t so bad having her to back him up.

“I’ll help with Kaeya’s medicine,” Diluc offers, mainly wanting to make sure it isn’t poison and also understand what it needs ley line leaves for.

“Do you know anything about alchemy?” Albedo asks.

“No, but I’m helping anyway,” if Diluc can learn how to make it himself, maybe that’s another way he can be helpful. Violence and medicine… it’s certainly a start. And he can ask Mona for tips on being comforting later.

Better to learn than stress about not knowing, right? He was capable of being a good brother once upon a time, he can figure it out again.

“Alright,” Albedo still sounds hesitant. “There’s an alchemy table in town, let’s go.”

“It’s raining,” Kaeya points out. “You should wait until later.”

“There’s this wonderful little invention called an umbrella,” Mona says. “Not sure if you’ve heard of it, but-”

“Diluc,” he ignores her. “Just go tonight.”

… Does everyone have to worry about him today? It’s meant to be Kaeya they dogpile their concerns on. “It’s just some rain, we’ll be back soon.”

Kaeya frowns but is quickly distracted by Mona bothering him to eat his food again. He’s certain she’s made a mental note of the rain thing though. But, as always, Diluc is an expert in ignoring his problems until they walk up and punch him in the face.

Might be soon, actually, considering all the reminders life has been giving him recently. Still… three steps, not one. The rain is fine for now.

Albedo actually has weather appropriate clothing even though Diluc continues to question his decisions on the shorts plus leggings. He guesses boots that high would be uncomfortable without something between them and the skin, but still…

The rain is only light and the sky has brightened up so it’s not too bad being outside. They don’t even really need the umbrella, it’s more of a precaution in case the weather gets worse. There’s shade over the public alchemy station though, so they’re safe there.

“Okay, you can… hold my stuff,” Albedo decides and Diluc dutifully accepts his role as stuff holder.

Albedo works almost too quickly for Diluc to really see anything, but he manages to keep up. While a lot of the ingredients are… questionable, he doesn’t think they’d be harmful and Albedo explains what he’s doing every step of the way. He actually seems to enjoy that part.

“Ley lines don’t flow in Khaenri’ah,” Albedo adds the translucent leaves to his mix. “Abyss magic relies on it though, so there isn’t much of an Abyss presence there. It makes creating the medicine much harder, since none of them can leave Khaenri’ah to collect, or… they’ll suffer the consequences.”

“It spreads faster outside of the country,” Diluc nods. “Why is that?”

“There are many things not yet known about the curse,” Albedo responds. “They don’t have the proper resources to study it, and no one will help them.”

“No one knows where they are.”

“True,” Albedo says. “It was on purpose. People hurt what they don’t understand. Khaenri’ah protected itself by sealing any commonly known entrances from those who would kill the cursed ones. That was back when they had hope for a cure, now mercy kills are much more common.”

Diluc shakes off his discomfort. “How much longer?”

“It needs heat,” Albedo steps back. “It would be much faster if you do it.”

Diluc easily channels pyro energy into the concoction and it bubbles ominously. Now knowing what goes into the drink, Diluc is glad he’ll never have to try it, but at least none of it seems poisonous. He knows people who eat ley line leaves for weird superstitious reasons, and none of them have died… yet.

“Not too fast-” Albedo’s cut off by a hissing sound coming from the drink.

Albedo rushes to push Diluc back and places a hand over the drink. It continues to hiss until there’s a light pop and all seems well... that was anticlimactic.

Albedo turns to Diluc and holds out the bottle they’re meant to pour the drink in. “If you could please take care of that, while I fix my hand.”

The hand that Albedo held over the concoction is no longer attached to his arm. Diluc glances at the alchemy table and finds it laying on the floor, not bleeding, just broken off like a piece of chalk. He blinks rapidly but the sight remains the same.

What the fuck.

“Diluc?”

Diluc continues to look between Albedo’s severed hand, and the wrist it was previously attached to. Albedo isn’t even concerned. Which is fair, because there’s no blood. Again, what the fuck.

“You look pale.”

“I think I’m going to faint.”

“In that direction, please.”

Chapter Text

Kaeya wasn’t falling asleep. He wasn’t. His eyes were completely focused on the front door, and they still are. They are not actively falling back to the ground as his eyelids close. That’s a lie.

A cough makes him shoot up, and only when he looks around and finds the room empty, does he realise that he made the sound. He sighs as he rubs his eyes and adjusts his position on the chair. Maybe if he’s not so comfortable, he won’t fall asleep as easily.

Why is he so tired anyway? It feels like every time he gets a good nights sleep, he wakes up dead inside. Maybe he should just never go to bed again.

Albedo and Diluc should be back soon, and if they see him struggling not to let his eyes close, they’ll immediately force him to go to sleep. That is generally the cure for being tired, but his heart beats uncomfortably loud at the thought. Sleep sounded so good last night, but now it feels like a death sentence.

The curse doesn’t kill, he reminds himself, it just hurts.

Kaeya doesn’t notice himself drifting off again until the door bangs open to reveal Albedo and Diluc. He stares incredulously at Albedo’s severed hand and the ice pack Diluc is holding to his own head.

“You were only gone twenty minutes.”

“It would have been nice if someone could have warned me that Albedo is detachable,” Diluc slumps onto the couch. “You make some weird friends, Kaeya.”

“That has always been my type, hasn’t it?” Kaeya muses. “You’ll get used to it.”

“We made more medicine,” Albedo only has one hand to hold his other hand and the bottle. Kaeya makes a valiant attempt to grab the bottle without knocking his hand, but fails and it hits the floor with a thud.

“Diluc, look away,” Albedo says too late, because Diluc has already passed out on the couch. “… I tried.”

Kaeya only laughs. “Neat trick. Mind if I explode your hand next time Diluc gets on my nerves?”

“Why my hand?” Albedo asks. “Wouldn’t my head be much more disturbing?”

“Oh,” Kaeya blinks. “Can I? ”

“No.”

“Damn. Got my hopes up for a second.”

Any further conversation is cut short when the front door opens again, and Venti and Xiao walk in with someone Kaeya doesn’t know. He doesn’t really have the chance to focus on the new girl or her horns though, because Venti and Xiao are dripping water all over the floor.

“I got cookies,” Venti informs them. “But we ran into some complications.”

Kaeya looks back at Albedo, who is rubbing some kind of paste on his wrist, and at Diluc, who has yet to regain consciousness. “Yeah, that’s been going around.”

Xiao takes the empty spot on the couch next to Diluc and pulls off one of his boots to empty the water and tiny stray fish that have gotten inside. The sound wakes up Diluc, who glances around in confusion. “What the fuck?”

“I’m sorry to intrude,” the new girl speaks up. “I just wanted to make sure Xiao and Venti got home safe.”

“Who are you exactly?” Kaeya asks. She’s so far been much more normal than any of the other people he’s been introduced to on this journey.

“My name is Ganyu,” that sounds familiar. “I’m a secretary for the Liyue Qixing, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Kaeya looks over at Xiao, who Venti is helping remove stray leaves from his hair. “And you are friends with those two?”

Ganyu only offers a helpless shrug.

“Ganyu!” Aether enters the living room. “I knew I heard your voice! What are you doing here?”

“Xiao and I were getting chased down by the millelith and Ganyu bailed us out,” Venti explains. “Not before we fell in the pond at Yujing Terrace though.”

“Oh,” is all Aether says. “Uh, Albedo, why is your hand on the table?”

“There was an unfortunate accident,” he answers. “We’re not talking about it, Diluc might faint again.”

“Hand’s aren't meant to do that,” Diluc whispers to himself and Venti pats him on the head.

“Would you like a cookie?” Venti holds out… something. “It’s a bit soggy.”

Diluc visibly cringes at the sight, but is soon distracted by Aether picking up the fish Xiao just tipped out of his boot. “Aether, you are not eating those.”

“I’ll cook them first,” they respond. “Heat gets rid of bacteria, right?”

“Do not eat the foot fish!”

“Food is food,” Xiao tips his other boot out directly onto Aether’s hand as Diluc stares on in horror. “What’s it matter?”

“Why are you guys so fucking loud?” Mona slams open the bedroom door as she storms out. “I’m trying to do my nails and I can’t focus.”

“Sorry,” Ganyu apologises, despite being the only sane person in the room. Pretty girls have always been Mona’s greatest weakness though, so the fury in her eyes soon dissipates.

“Who dares me to eat this cookie?” Venti asks. “Mona?”

“Sure.”

Before Venti has the chance to lick the remains of what can no longer actually be considered a cookie from his hands, Paimon floats into the room with a disturbing red stain on her clothing.

And behind her stumbles Childe, bleeding from his shoulder. “Guys, Paimon stabbed me.”

Albedo shoots Kaeya a look, and Kaeya whistles innocently.

“You were meant to go for the jugular, Paimon,” Xiao sighs. “Now he has a chance of survival.”

“Not if I stab him again.”

As the room descends further into chaos, Kaeya’s pretty sure he’s the only person who hears a knock on the door. It would probably be cruel to invite someone into the house at the moment, but he really just wants anything to do other than witness this bullshit. At least it’s too rowdy to have a chance at falling asleep again.

He opens the door, and on the other side is Zhongli and Ekaterina. “Hi.”

They aren’t even able to return the greeting before a hand sails past Kaeya and hits Zhongli directly in the face. He blinks and watches it fall to the ground, flakes of chalk falling off of it. Then he looks back at Kaeya. “We can talk out there.”

Kaeya nods briefly and picks up Albedo’s hand. He throws it back into the house then closes the door as he steps out onto the porch. “So what’s up?”

“I sorted through the fake information on Zion and also found some real information,” Ekaterina hands him a slim folder. “It’s all in there. Childe has been officially tasked with tracking Zion down as a traitor, and I have made special note that the Knights of Favonius are assisting, which extends some of our resources to your people as well.”

“Thanks,” Kaeya flips open the folder. “Anything else I should know?”

“The rest of the Fatui hasn’t been informed Zion is a traitor to avoid giving it away,” she says. “But he’ll know when you come for him, so don’t mess this up.”

A loud bang on the door makes all of them jump, and Ekaterina turns on her heel. “Any questions you have should be answered in the folder. I’d like to be at a minimum safe distance from this building so I’ll be off now.”

“See you,” Kaeya waves.

“I sincerely hope not,” she responds.

Ekaterina speedwalks away, but Zhongli doesn’t leave. “I heard Xiao and Venti were wanted by the millelith. Are they alright?”

“Yeah, some girl called Ganyu helped them escape,” Kaeya says. “Childe’s bleeding out though.”

“Again?”

“Paimon got her knife back.”

“Ah,” Zhongli nods briefly. “I suppose I should help him with that.”

“Fair warning, it’s a war zone in there,” Kaeya opens the door to head in. “You should probably-”

Kaeya freezes as a tiny fish gets in his mouth and he drops the folder in shock. Disgusting, disgusting, disgusting-

“Uh…” Ganyu looks down. “Sorry. I was trying to confiscate them from Venti.”

Venti immediately puts his hands up, causing many fish to fall to the ground, “Mona started throwing them first.”

“Yeah, because you threw a fucking hand at me!”

“Can I have that back, please?” Albedo asks. “That’s my dominant hand and Diluc’s passed out four times now.”

“Four, huh?” Childe speaks up. “That’s almost as many times as I’ve been stabbed this week.”

“I think I need something more resilient for this,” Aether is holding a bunch of bloodied paper towels to Childe’s shoulder. “They just keep falling apart.”

“How did I miss twice?” Paimon sobs on Xiao’s shoulder.

“Think of it as experience,” Xiao wipes her tears away. “You’ll know better for next time.”

Kaeya spits the fish out as he picks the folder back up off the floor. It’s completely soaked, having landed in one of Venti and Xiao’s puddles, but… probably still readable? He really doesn’t want to have to ask Ekaterina for another copy. Her judgemental glare might just kill him on the spot.

“With such a trusty team, I know my life is in good hands,” Kaeya kicks Diluc’s leg. “Wake up, Paimons trying to put fish in your shirt.”

“Shh!” Paimon throws one at Kaeya and he deftly dodges.

“I’m awake,” Diluc responds. “I’ve just learnt to keep my eyes closed. Paimon, if you do that to me, I will cook you.”

“Can’t do that if you can’t see me,” Paimon floats closer but Diluc’s fist shoots up directly in front of her. “Eek!”

“Don’t fucking try it.”

“Kaeya, if you’d like a more peaceful place to stay, I have a spare room,” Zhongli offers. “Hu Tao might try to bury you, but she does it mostly as a joke.”

“… I’m good,” Kaeya decides. “Can someone make sure Childe doesn’t die? After that, we’re having a team meeting.”

-

Everyone is in mostly good condition. Albedo has two hands, Childe is chipper as always despite the obvious pain he’s in, Diluc’s starting to look less pale, and Xiao and Venti are dry now. Mona is especially pleased, lounging on the couch as she watches Ganyu fold a piece of paper into the shape of a swan.

“Is it dry enough to read yet?” Kaeya asks as Aether uses their anemo power to blow dry the folder.

“Nearly,” Aether responds. “I don’t want to risk tearing the paper when I try to detach them so… a little while longer.”

“This is so boring,” Childe groans. “We’re just sitting in a circle literally watching paper dry. Can’t we play a game or something?”

“Paimon needs target practice,” Xiao offers.

“It’s no use,” Paimon kicks her feet in disappointment. “I’m never gonna be able to kill anyone.”

“Let’s stick to… less violent pass times,” Zhongli says and Xiao sighs.

“Fine, whatever.”

Xiao reminds Kaeya of himself when he was still going through his emo phase. He eventually grew out of it, but Xiao might just permanently be stuck as a brooding teenager. Either way, he doesn’t like the reminder of how annoying he was.

“Alright!” Childe claps to get everyone’s attention. “Favourite animal! Go.”

“Ooh! Axolotls!” Ganyu says excitedly. “They’re friend shaped!”

“Good answer,” Childe nods. “Mine is whales.”

“Whales?” Venti asks. “Why?”

“Because they’re sick as fuck,” Childe answers. “They could break all your bones just by lightly bumping into you. They’re killing machines and they don’t even care. They just float around in the ocean like big rocks.”

“Oh no,” Mona’s eyes widen. “A weirdo who likes marine life.”

“Oh no,” Venti and Diluc repeat.

“Fuck off,” Kaeya kicks her leg and she kicks him back. “It isn’t that common.”

Venti starts counting on his fingers. “Barracudas, shrimp, octopusses-”

“It’s octopi,” Kaeya corrects.

“Which you only know because of octopus girl,” Mona says. “And don’t forget the one with the tiny shark.”

“Or piranha girl,” Diluc adds. “… I’ll never forget that one.”

“Kaeya, you have a type,” Venti tells him somberly. “And frankly, it’s concerning.”

“So I stand a chance,” Childe mutters.

Diluc and Mona are quick to shut him down. “No.”

“Okay, well, even if I do have a type, which I don’t,” Kaeya emphasizes. “It does not include people who have tried to kill me.”

“I’m pretty sure piranha girl tried to kill us both,” Diluc says. “Sir Snappers was not a friend.”

“He showed affection through biting,” Kaeya remains firmly against any Sir Snappers slander. “It’s not like you’re much better. My hand still hurts.”

“That wasn’t affection. That was me telling you to shut the fuck up. I thought it was quite clear.”

Kaeya glares at Diluc, who shows no remorse. He’ll feel bad about burning him forever apparently but biting his hand is okay. “Whore.”

Before Diluc has the chance to get offended, Aether interrupts. “It’s dry now. And the paper isn’t damaged.”

Kaeya sighs in relief. No need to visit Ekaterina. “I live to see another day.”

“Hurry up and read it, I wanna stab Zion already,” Childe interrupts. “Then you can get your gnosis back and we can stab each other.”

“It’s cute that you think you stand a chance,” Kaeya hums as he takes the file from Aether and opens it up. “How close did you come to dying last time?”

“Oh, the doctor said if you were a millimetre closer to my stomach, I for sure would have died,” Childe responds. “But he also said stuff like ‘stay in bed for a few weeks and ‘don’t go getting in anymore fights’ so who cares.”

“You should maybe start listening to healthcare professionals,” Zhongli says.

“If I haven’t died yet, I doubt I will soon,” Childe shrugs. “Believe me, five stab wounds is nothing. My record is seven. In one day.”

Diluc sighs. “And I never even got to stab you once.”

“You can stab me anytime,” Childe winks. “Quick question, are you aromantic as well?”

“Anyway,” Kaeya presses on before Diluc can register the reason Childe is asking and become a sputtering mess of anger. “Looks like Zion has an electro vision and uses a catalyst, so he’ll be pretty easy to deal with.”

Mona’s head swivels to glare at Kaeya. “Got something against catalysts?”

“No, electro.”

Childe slumps against the floor in quiet dejection.

“Carry on then,” Mona nods.

“And… there’s a last known location,” Kaeya stares. “Near Luhua Pool. Sighted yesterday.”

“That’s not far from here,” Zhongli says. “We can be there within the day.”

That seems way too easy. Nothing in life is ever easy. Where’s the catch?

He skims through the rest of the information, and doesn’t find anything else useful. It’s a small folder, but there has to be something. “Childe, do you know anything else about Zion?”

“Grumpy, mean, doesn’t know how to use a kamera-”

“I meant helpful things.”

“Uh…” Childe blanks. “I don’t know anything ever. Ask Ekaterina.”

Well, he’s not doing that.

“We should leave now if we don’t want to risk him escaping,” Albedo speaks up. “My hand’s finished setting now, so I’m fine to go.”

“If you want my help, I’m happy to come also,” Ganyu smiles sweetly and the world feels at peace for a moment.

“You are not dragging Ganyu into your fish fight idiocy,” Xiao shakes his head. “There are so many of you. If you cannot kill one man, you had no hope from the beginning.”

“I don’t mind,” Ganyu insists.

Xiao sighs and looks up at the ceiling. “I’m taking you out for ice cream.”

“Really?” Ganyu gasps. “And you’ll actually pay for it this time? You won’t just grab a fistfull and run?”

“All food should be free,” Xiao mutters. “But... yes, I’ll pay for it.”

“Aww,” Venti pouts. “I wanna come. But I have to make sure Kaeya doesn’t get fucked up by an old man with an electro vision again.”

“I was stressed, okay?” Kaeya defends himself. “What if someone threatened to kill your brother?”

“You’re the closest thing I have to a brother,” Venti thinks for a moment. “So I’d go save you, but with help.”

“I couldn’t teleport everyone!”

“We still could have come up with a better idea!”

“Can I just point out that I never intended to kill Diluc?” Childe asks. “He was tied up, it would have been the most boring fight ever. If I’m going to kill Diluc, it has to be in a glorious battle that leaves no survivors.”

Diluc nods. “Sounds good to me.”

“You guys can plan your mutual murder later,” Kaeya interjects. “Anyone who’s coming to Luhua Pool needs to get ready.”

With a few grumbles about Kaeya being bossy, everyone leaves to do just that. But before Kaeya can move, Zhongli speaks up. “I don’t think I’ll be able to join you. Xiao and Ganyu will require supervision.”

“Yeah, I know, I was there for the fish debacle earlier,” Kaeya says. “What is up with those two?”

“Despite my best attempts, Xiao remains… borderline feral in human standards,” Zhongli explains. “Ganyu is at least a respectable member of society. When she’s not near Xiao.”

“… What does that mean?”

“Ganyu is capable of just as much chaos as Xiao is,” Zhongli sighs. “I should know. I adopted them both.”

“Do you just adopt every weirdo you meet?” Kaeya asks.

Zhongli opens his mouth to form some kind of defense then slowly closes it. “If no one else will love them, I will.”

Kaeya almost wishes his dad had dropped him off in Liyue. Then again, it probably would have been a lot more chaotic. Growing up in Mondstadt was peaceful. Well, until it wasn’t.

“There is something I wanted to talk to you about though,” Zhongli says. “However weak your power is, you are still a God, yet you know almost nothing about divinity. It’s not so much a problem now, but your power has already grown since obtaining your gnosis, and one day, it could be dangerous to both yourself and others.”

Kaeya frowns down at his hands. He’s never really thought that much about his gnosis. It’s just… a lot. That he doesn’t want to deal with. There’s a reason he only ever learnt how to teleport. And even that was on accident, because his dumbass brother nearly broke both his legs.

The constellation was… also not intentional. The few times he had wanted to use his gnosis, he’d been surprised by what he could do. From completely healing second degree burns to altering the space around him… Zhongli is probably right to be concerned.

Kaeya sighs. “It’s not like I can ask Lilax how it all works.”

“No, but you could ask me,” Zhongli says. “You are a very unique individual, there is nothing else in this world like you, but I have thousands of years of experience dealing with the unknown. Once you have your gnosis back, I would like to help you understand it better.”

Unique. That’s one way to describe whatever Kaeya is. Still, Zhongli is about six thousand years old… he certainly knows more about the topic than anyone else does.

“I’ll think about it,” Kaeya decides. “Albedo is willing to help as well, and I still have to actually get my gnosis back.”

Zhongli nods. “Of course. I need to go now before Xiao and Ganyu get in trouble again.”

“Good luck.”

“Thank you,” Zhongli watches Xiao eat one of the fish he got from his boot. “I’ll need it.”

-

Kaeya hates time limits. Time limits force them to work fast, sometimes in nonideal circumstances. Like, for example, unrelenting rain and wet, sticky mud. His boots are ruined, and even Diluc’s jacket isn’t able to keep him from shivering.

Their group ended up being pretty small. Childe wanted to join them, but he took one step and started coughing up blood, so Aether and Paimon are back at the house looking after him. There’s a fifty-fifty chance he’ll be dead by the time they return.

So it’s just Kaeya, Mona, Venti, Diluc, and Albedo. Five people. Against one guy. They’ll be fine.

“I could be spending time with a pretty girl right now,” Mona reminds Kaeya for the umpteenth time. “Instead, I’m here. Being rained on.”

“Xiao would kill you if you tried with Ganyu anyway,” Venti says cheerily. “His big brother instincts are more intense than Diluc’s.”

“Mine aren’t that bad,” Diluc claims.

“Remember when some kid called my shirt ugly and you punched him in the face?” Kaeya asks. “He was four years younger than me, you were like twice his size.”

“If he didn’t want to have his nose broken, he should have learnt to keep his mouth shut,” Diluc has no remorse. “It’s not like I ever killed anyone.”

“You nearly killed Childe,” Mona points out.

“That was for me,” Diluc grimaces. “Besides, he probably enjoyed it.”

“Oh, he definitely did,” Mona pats him on the shoulder. “If he gets too overzealous though, I’ll kill him for you.”

Kaeya glances back at Mona, who… he doesn’t think is joking. Mona has offered to kill Childe lots of times, but she’s also offered to kill Diluc. Murder is one of her ways of showing she cares, so why is she extending that concern to Diluc?

“Mona, are you actually fucking my brother?”

“Yes,” she answers without hesitation.

Kaeya looks to Diluc, who he expects to respond with disgust, but Diluc looks back at Kaeya with barely hidden amusement. “Yes.”

“I hate you both,” Kaeya starts walking faster. “I know you’re lying, I know you are, I know.”

Why are they getting along now? Who the fuck allowed this?

“The safehouse isn’t far from here,” Albedo forces Kaeya stress over a whole other thing. “Are we all prepared?”

“I guess,” Kaeya answers. It’s one guy. Even if he has Kaeya’s gnosis, it’s weak and he doesn’t know how to use it. Nothing to worry about. Nothing.

Albedo nods. “Then be quiet. We don’t want to alert him.”

Albedo leads them to the area he’s marked on his map, and they find an old building obscured by vast foliage. It’s too small to house more than a few people, so their group of five should be able to deal with whatever is inside.

Kaeya’s done things like this before, so the way his heart rate speeds up as they approach the front door is familiar. The tingling sensation flowing through the rest of his body is just nerves. Also not that unusual, but they somehow feel more insistent today.

“What if we just burn the house down?” Diluc watches Albedo and Kaeya take care to check their surroundings with obvious boredom.

Mona tries the door, but it doesn’t budge. “Well, we need to get this thing open somehow.”

“Don’t-” Albedo is interrupted by Diluc swinging his claymore directly into the door and heading inside. “… How did he become a captain?”

Kaeya already knows the answer to that question. Eroch wanted someone young to easily manipulate and Varka was irresponsible. But he doesn’t feel like getting into that rant today, Diluc’s already alerted everyone inside to their presence.

“Diluc, we are having a talk later,” Kaeya glares as he rushes in behind his brother.

Once everyone is inside, they come face to face with a cicin mage who doesn’t even get to stand up before Mona has her restrained with her vision. Which just makes it easier for Diluc to burn her to nothingness.

Beyond the flames obstructing his vision, Kaeya manages to spot Zion at the end of a hallway, standing next to a Fatui agent who’s already running towards them as he obscures himself. He can’t see the agent, but maybe if he’s fast enough, he can still-

No. That’s stupid. He needs to remember that the people he’s with currently are actually competent. “Venti, get the agent!”

Venti nods briefly and charges up an arrow that creates a vortex in the middle of the room. Once Kaeya sees the agents cloak fall as he’s sucked inside, he makes a run for Zion. Lightning shoots down the hall, but Kaeya dodges it.

Easy. Just one guy. Kaeya’s taken on hordes of hilichurls just by himself. This is nothing.

As he gets closer, Zion turns to the blank end of the hall and smashes something on the floor. Kaeya falters when black and purple flames stoke up the sides and swirl together in something disturbingly familiar. He’s seen that before. Where has he seen that?

He doesn’t get the chance to think about it, because a hammer hits the ground next to him and the electric shockwaves send him into the wall. The force knocks the breath out of him, but Albedo intercepts the skirmisher’s next attack before they can crush Kaeya’s skull and Diluc follows up with a giant sword to the face.

“You alright?” Venti pulls Kaeya up as he ignores the ache in his shoulder from hitting the wall.

“Fine, just-” Kaeya’s eyes widen as the dark flames settle into something else and Kaeya realises what it is. “It’s a portal!”

A portal to-

Sprinkles of water shoot past their feet, bearing down on Zion as he waits for the portal to finish burning. Kaeya’s heart jumps into his throat when Mona bursts out of the ground and gets a hand around the strap of his satchel.

The room is hot and sparkling with electricity, but Kaeya suddenly feels impossibly cold. The tingling sensation turns to ice as he steps out of Venti’s grasp to follow Mona. Zion tries to pull away but her grip remains firm. Kaeya wants her to let go, just let him go.

She doesn’t, and Zion slashes a knife behind him as the bag slips off his shoulder, letting him escape through the portal. Mona stumbles backwards and finally releases the strap as her other hand moves to her neck. Kaeya is frozen as Mona turns back towards them, her hand failing to conceal the wound.

Kaeya watches blood drip down the front of her clothes as her knees give out.

Chapter Text

Kaeya hasn’t used what little remains of his power since he lost his gnosis, but he doesn’t even think about potential consequences before travelling directly to Mona’s side. She falls forward and he wraps his arms around her to stop her from slamming into the ground.

It makes his arms wet and when Mona tries to grip his arm, it slides away because of all of the blood. Too much. He got her throat. If the cut is too deep-

Mona tries to speak but only spits up more blood and Kaeya quickly summons stars within his hands. They flicker and fade but he pushes onward, ignoring the familiar pain behind his eyes. She needs to stop bleeding, but these stupid fucking stars won’t cooperate.

“Kaeya,” Venti falls to his knees next to them, but Kaeya doesn’t look away from Mona. “Kaeya, what do I do?”

“I can’t-” Kaeya shakes his hands frantically as if that will help somehow. “I can’t heal her, I can’t-”

Wind picks up around them, stopping the ongoing fight Kaeya had forgotten about from reaching them and making the few stars Kaeya has produced spin. He looks up at Venti and sees equal parts panic and determination in his eyes and Kaeya brings more stars into the swirl.

Focus. He needs to focus. He has first aid training, he just needs… to focus.

“Okay,” Kaeya keeps his voice even despite the overpowering need to just scream. “Breathing. Check breathing.”

Kaeya knows that one of the easiest ways to kill someone is to go for the throat. Not only will the victim probably bleed to death, but if you get the right spot, or cut deep enough… If the knife pierced her larynx or windpipe…

She’ll drown in her own blood. Even if he can figure out how to heal her, he can’t solve that.

Mona chest rises and falls too quickly so he closes his eyes and listens. There’s no gasping, no choking, and Kaeya allows the panic to subside just a little. Zion hadn’t been precise, he’d swung the knife behind him in an attempt to get free. Just a shallow cut.

Kaeya thinks he’ll leave a shallow cut too so he can watch Zion bleed out slowly.

With the assurance that Mona isn’t going to drown, Kaeya is able to focus on creating more stars. Looking at the amount of blood already soaking her clothes makes his heart rate spike, so he closes his eyes and breathes, just trying to push all of his energy into healing her.

He can do it, he can do it quickly enough that she doesn’t bleed out, and they can get her to a doctor where she can have a blood transfusion. His head pounds the more he pushes until the pain is the only thing centering him. If it hurts, it means he’s doing it. He doesn't care about anything else.

Mona’s eyes are half-lidded and her hand is weak when it grips Kaeya’s wrist. She’s losing so much blood and Kaeya can only heal her so quickly. What if it’s already too late? What if he’s already failed?

Again, Zion’s fault. If Mona doesn’t survive, there is nothing in this world that will stop Kaeya from ripping his own portal in the sky and slaughtering him. She was the only one who cared about him for so long. Without Mona, he would have-

It feels like something that isn’t meant to bend has just been snapped in half. Kaeya opens his eyes and sees nothing but darkness as his ears ring and the pain spreads throughout the rest of his body. He recognises this place. He’s been here before, done this before. He tried his best, but he failed, and the only thing he could do was stop her from being gone forever.

Mona is not going to be another ill fated constellation.

He forces it all back, leaves that dark sky empty, and gives the stars to Mona. They can’t have her, they’ve taken enough already. He gave them his mother, now it’s their turn to give. He’ll kill off as many stars as he needs to.

You never forget what people have done for you.

Or to you.

-

When Kaeya comes to, it’s completely dark. He’s aware that it’s nighttime and he’s outside for some reason, but it’s hard to focus beyond that. There’s a dull light around him and despite the cold air blowing against his neck, he’s mostly warm.

He lifts his head up to try and take in his surroundings. The lantern doesn’t do much to help him see. Why is it so dark?

“Kaeya?” Diluc’s voice is way too close to his ear. The sudden noise hurts, even though he’s just whispering. “You awake?”

Kaeya groans in response. He tries to move more but doesn’t realise he’s being carried until he kicks Diluc in the side and nearly gets dropped as a result. “Sorry.”

“It’s fine,” Diluc responds quickly. “Just try not to move much, it’s hard enough not to trip already.”

Kaeya adjusts his grip around Diluc’s shoulders so he can lay his head against his back. He used to get piggyback rides all the time as a kid, but eventually he got too tall. Crepus used to carry him to bed like this too… he didn’t know he missed it.

It takes a while for Kaeya’s vision to adjust, and even longer for him to realise that the problem is less himself and more the completely empty sky above them. The moon isn’t out tonight, and there’s not a single star above them. There’s no natural light.

“What…” Kaeya mumbles. “What happened?”

“I’m… not really sure,” Diluc answers. “But Mona’s okay. Venti and Albedo took her to the nearest healer and sent the millelith back to secure the area.”

Fuck, fuck, fuck. He forgot. How did he-

“Hey,” Diluc’s voice is strained and that’s the only thing that makes Kaeya realise he’s unconsciously tightened his arms around his neck. “She’s fine, I promise.”

“Why did she do that?” There’s an overbearing pressure behind Kaeya’s eyes. “She should have just let him go, she could have died, if I hadn’t-”

“I know,” Diluc interrupts. “But she’s fine. You saved her.”

“I’m the reason she had to be saved!”

“Don’t do that, Kaeya,” Diluc sighs. “You can’t blame yourself for every bad thing that happens. Blame the person who actually hurt her.”

“You know, eventually you have to realise there’s a common denominator,” Kaeya laughs bitterly. “People just love me so much that they run directly into bleeding knives for me and it’s fucking insane. I bet you she doesn’t even regret it, I bet you she’d do it again, I bet you some of those other idiots would agree.”

I bet you would too.

“I wasn’t lying when I said it was my father who left me in Mondstadt,” Kaeya forges on. “He wanted to make sure I got there safely, curses be damned. Not that he would have lived long enough for the curse to take him after that anyway because Mama’s killed for less. Still, that’s my first casualty.”

Why is it always love that people crave? That’s easy, people love so easily. It’s human nature. Even Kaeya, despite everything that he is, has people that love him and want to protect him. He’d really rather they don’t at this point.

Some goddamn peace should be what people look for.

But peace, again, eludes Kaeya when Diluc abruptly stops and releases his hold on him, leaving him to unceremoniously fall to the dirty ground below. Pain shoots up his backside as he glares at Diluc who ignores him as he unclips the lantern from his belt.

“I didn’t even kick you that time,” Kaeya absently pulls apart the leaves next to him. “Do you hate the sound of my voice so much?”

“No,” Diluc sits down in front of him, placing a lantern between them so Kaeya can see exactly how pissed off he is. “On the contrary, I actually like it when you talk, because it means you’re not dead yet. I don’t feel like getting into how much anxiety your general existence causes me as an older brother though, so shut up and listen.”

“What.”

“You’re an idiot,” Diluc says simply. “By your logic, you should blame me for putting you in a situation where you were vulnerable. You should blame me for your gnosis being stolen, and any of us being here in the first place. It would be my fault.”

Kaeya scoffs. “You wouldn’t have been kidnapped if Childe hadn’t thought you were me.”

“I also wouldn’t have been kidnapped if Childe was never born,” Diluc continues. “So far, it’s yours, mine, and Childe’s parent’s fault. Who else can we include here? Paimon? Sir Snappers? Not Zion apparently, despite being the one who attacked her.”

“I get your point, but it doesn’t change anything,” Kaeya sighs softly. He really just wants to go back to sleeping on Diluc’s back now. Maybe when he wakes up, he’ll be able to see Mona.

“You don’t get it, you just want me to stop talking,” Diluc snaps. “I don’t really know what a common denominator is, I hated maths, but I can tell you about variables. There’s lots, too many to take everything into account no matter how much you plan. Maybe if it wasn’t raining, we’d have arrived earlier. Who knows how that would have changed things, but it could have.”

Kaeya remains silent as he continues to tear apart the leaves. He hates ‘what ifs,’ they’re so unnecessarily complicated for thought exercises.

Diluc sighs. “I know it’s… difficult, but you have to learn who to blame. Guilt and self loathing does nothing to help anyone, it just stops you from seeing who your true enemy is.”

“You say that like I can just discard unwanted feelings,” Kaeya looks back up at the empty sky. “Wouldn’t that be nice?”

“It’s at least better to try than to let yourself drown in them,” Diluc responds. “You just have to try.”

It doesn’t look right, with no stars to shine down on them. It’s like Khaenri’ah. Nothing but darkness. Not even his mother is up there anymore despite how hard he tried to hold on to her. He holds his hand out and lets a star flicker into existence. It remains steady in his grasp despite how quickly the ones from earlier faded.

“I guess I can try.”

He lets the star go, and it floats up above their heads, illuminating the area around them. It shines so brightly in comparison to the lantern. Even Diluc is awed at the sight.

“I stole them, didn’t I?” Kaeya asks. “That’s why it’s so dark. I took it all.”

“I don’t know,” Diluc stands up and brushes the dirt and grass off of his coat. “If that is what happened, I don’t think it’s considered stealing since you’re… the astro archon. You’ll be able to put them back soon anyway.”

Diluc holds his hand out to Kaeya and he accepts it. He pulls Kaeya up too quickly and he nearly falls back down, but Diluc grabs his shoulders to steady him. “You okay?”

“Yeah, just… aches,” Kaeya stretches and yawns but his body doesn’t feel less pained. While all of his bones seem to have decided they hate him, his hands are numb and tingly. When he runs his fingers over the spot where Diluc bit him, there's not even a slight bump.

“I can still carry you if you want,” Diluc looks up at the glowing star. “It’s easier to see now.”

Kaeya starts to shake his head but then he remembers how terrible walking is and accepts. “As long as you don’t drop me again.”

“Sorry. You were reminding me of…” Diluc kneels so Kaeya has easier access to his back. “Nevermind. I won’t drop you.”

He makes himself comfortable as Diluc stands up and starts moving again. The star follows after them as Kaeya closes his eyes and rests his head on Diluc’s shoulder. He trusts him to get them wherever safely.

“You’re a good brother, Diluc,” Kaeya mumbles. “Even though you’re a bitch sometimes.”

Diluc doesn’t respond, just keeps moving forward, but Kaeya hears his breath hitch. He’ll be riding that compliment for the next week. Well… maybe just a day because Kaeya will undoubtedly ruin it tomorrow.

He’ll feel bad when he lies to everyone, but they’re not coming with him to the Abyss.

-

Kaeya had only seen Mona for about a minute before he was sent away to go clean himself up. It was harder to notice in the dark that he was covered in dried blood, but with the light of civilization, it was ever present in his mind. He’d have to apologise later to Diluc for ruining his jacket.

Once he was clean and wearing loose fitting clothes that weren’t his, he found himself back in the room Mona had been placed in. It was some random doctor’s house, but she’d been kind enough to put them all up while Mona is healing. A decision that Kaeya’s sure she won’t regret, based on the way her eyes widened when Diluc started writing out a cheque.

“There’s really not much I had to do,” the woman tells Kaeya once he’s settled into a chair next to Mona. “She just needed some blood. I’ve never seen healing like this before, there’s not even a mark…”

Kaeya only shrugs in response, he’s too tired to come up with a lie right now. The woman doesn’t push though, instead giving him a blanket and leaving the room. It’s quiet enough to hear Mona’s breathing, which is exactly as it should be.

She really is fine. She almost hadn’t been, but she is.

The chair is uncomfortable, and Mona steals his bed all the time, so he decides to climb in next to her. He’s careful not to disrupt the arm that’s attached to some set up giving her fluids as he settles in. It’s fairly easy to fall asleep after that. With the reassurance that Mona really is fine and there won’t be any lasting problems, even a scar, he can finally allow himself to rest.

He still wakes up multiple times to searing pain in his head and a racing heart, but the sight of Mona alive and well helps him calm down. When the sun rises, he’s still tired, but feeling much better since the mess last night.

Kaeya wants to stay there until Mona wakes up and starts pestering him to go have breakfast, but the doctor wakes up bright and early and kicks him out herself.

“Good morning~” Venti greets him brightly from the kitchen. Despite his cheery demeanor, his eyes are red with dark shadows under them. He’s also wearing new clothes, probably because his are just as covered in blood as Kaeya’s.

He doesn’t bother responding, instead taking an empty spot on the floor to close his eyes and try to go back to sleep. Diluc’s claimed the couch and Kaeya doesn’t care enough to annoy him into giving it to him. Venti soon takes a seat next to him on the ground and starts messing with his unbrushed hair.

“Albedo should be back with the others soon,” Venti tells him. “And Diluc’s still asleep. He hasn’t moved the entire time, it’s unnerving.”

Kaeya snorts. “You’re watching him sleep?”

“I got nothing else to do except see if he moves,” Venti responds. “His hand twitched a couple hours ago, but I might have just imagined it. Nothing since then. Honestly, it’s terrifying.”

Kaeya hums as Venti takes to braiding his hair despite the mess it’s in. He obviously hasn’t slept, and Kaeya doesn’t mind providing a distraction from whatever thoughts are in his head.

He has other things to think about anyway. Like his plan for finding Zion. It’s a safe bet that the Fatui have other Abyss portals, Zion can't have been the only one, but he doubts he’ll be able to survive on his own. The list of people he’s willing to bring is annoyingly short however.

Childe is definitely at the top. Kaeya doesn’t really care about him and he’s survived there before. That's one, but there's not many other people. Xiao probably wouldn’t care enough to tell the others about Kaeya’s plan, but he knows Venti cares, and Xiao cares about Venti. So he's out of the question.

Perhaps the new girl can help him out? She did offer.

“Woah!” Kaeya is distracted by a loud and high pitched voice. He opens his eyes to see a young girl with ribbons in her hair staring directly at him. “Your makeup is really pretty.”

“Huh?” Kaeya frowns and blinks blearily up at the kid. He’s very sure he didn’t put on any makeup this morning. He didn’t even have the chance to do his hair.

“The stars,” Venti tells him before he looks back at the kid. “They are pretty, aren’t they?”

“I’ve never seen makeup like that,” she drops to the ground next to him. “Is it hard? How long does it take?”

“Yin Zhi, please let them rest,” the doctor emerges from Mona’s room. “Come help make breakfast.”

The girl huffs in disappointment before she rushes over to her mother. Venti quickly joins them, having found another distraction to engage in. Kaeya touches the space below his eye and feels nothing but smooth skin. He forgets that the stars are all over his face now… what's the point in the eyepatch?

He pulls it off and takes a moment to let his eye grow accustomed to the light. It's a little blurry, but his vision soon adjusts and he looks down at the cloth in his hands. It feels weird not to be wearing it, but he can't think of a reason he should be. If anyone asks what's up with his starry eye, he can probably just say it's his new look and move on. Let people question it, he doesn't have to answer.

Diluc yawns and Kaeya rolls over to see him finally awake and trying to smooth all the wrinkles out of his clothes.

“Oh good, I can steal the couch now,” Kaeya grabs Diluc’s arm and roughly tugs him onto the floor, causing him to yelp as he hits the ground. He quickly takes the spot for himself, leaving Diluc still half asleep and confused sitting on the floor.

Eventually, he figures out what happened and glares up at his brother. “Am I allowed nothing, Kaeya?”

“No, and also I need another jacket,” Kaeya doesn’t elaborate why, but Diluc’s face softens nonetheless.

“Yeah, fine, whatever,” Diluc mutters. “I’ll just give them all to you. I don’t need to be warm or comfortable or-”

“Hello, esteemed companions!” The door bursts open and reveals Childe. Kaeya absolutely will not be able to get back to sleep anytime soon. “You’ll be pleased to know I didn’t die!”

“What a relief,” Diluc somehow looks even more annoyed than he did before.

“I said to be quiet,” Albedo digs the heel of his boot into Childe’s foot. “They’re tired.”

“Sorry, sorry, sorry-” Childe’s squeaks as he drags his foot away from Albedo and quickly escapes into the living room.

Albedo sighs and he looks to Kaeya. His eyes briefly widen when he notices Kaeya's eye, but he quickly brushes past it. “I brought your bag. And your medicine.”

“Oh, joy,” Kaeya mumbles. “Any other gifts?”

“Your hidden candy is gone,” Albedo informs him. “But Ganyu made sugar cookies for everyone.”

It lasted longer than he expected to be honest. And cookies sound good.

“So, um…” Aether speaks up. “Can we see Mona?”

“You can,” the doctor answers them, then directs a glare at Kaeya. “So long as you don’t disturb her.”

“She does it when I’m injured…” Kaeya can’t remember a time he’s been hurt where Mona hasn’t been directly by his side the entire time. Not since they first met.

He goes ignored as Ganyu passes out her cookies and Xiao finds his way to Venti. Aether and Paimon disappear into Mona’s room, and Zhongli approaches Kaeya. He really wants to go back to his blanket cocoon, but it seems the world has other plans.

“Kaeya, I need to speak to you,” Zhongli says. “In private.”

“That would mean I have to leave the couch.”

“It’s important.”

Kaeya groans as he rolls onto the floor, landing directly on Diluc, who barely even reacts. He just pushes Kaeya off and continues to stare tiredly at the floor.

Zhongli heads back outside and Kaeya follows, still wrapped in his blanket. “So what’s this about?”

“What you did to the sky,” Zhongli looks up at the early morning sun. “Something on that scale shouldn’t have been possible in your current state.”

Kaeya shrugs. “I don’t really know enough to explain.”

“Let me elaborate,” Zhongli continues. “Even I, a six thousand year old archon who is still in perfect health, could not do something like that without my gnosis. You’re twenty three, actively dying, and your gnosis wasn’t in a much better condition before it was stolen.”

“Don’t you shoot meteors at people?” Kaeya asks.

“A powerful geo user could achieve the same thing,” Zhongli responds. “But no one could do what you did.”

Kaeya remembers the star he created last night that lit the way to this house. He couldn’t have been able to do that before he plucked them all from the sky. He knows he wouldn’t have been able to heal Mona without them, but he thinks…

“It wasn’t because I’m strong,” Kaeya says. “It was because I’m weak. I had to take them, to use their strength.”

How long will it last? The power the stars gave him can’t be infinite, but it could certainly help him in the coming days.

“That is one theory,” Zhongli nods. “It is another reason we need to recover your gnosis as quickly as possible. The stars need to be replaced, they’re important mostly for travel and navigation, but also numerous other things. Do you have any idea where Zion went when he escaped?”

Yes.

“No.”

Zhongli places a hand on Kaeya’s shoulder. “We’ll find him eventually. I will accompany you next time.”

The smile Zhongli offers is comforting, but Kaeya doesn’t want to see it at the moment. He turns and heads back inside, and lets his eyes drift to Childe. He’s talking at Diluc, who is making a valiant attempt to ignore him.

It’s better to do this now rather than later. He has a time limit after all.

“Childe, you know how to get bloodstains out of clothes, right?” Kaeya asks.

“Yep,” Childe responds. “Stuff gets everywhere. Need help?”

Kaeya nods and Diluc sighs in relief as Childe leaves the couch to follow Kaeya to another one of the rooms. The pile of bloodied clothes makes Kaeya feel sick so he keeps his eyes on Childe.

“These are…” Childe picks up Kaeya’s fur shoulder guard.

“Unsalvageable?” Kaeya finishes. “I know.”

“I’m sure we can do something-”

“Maybe, but I don’t really care about that,” Kaeya says.

Childe raises a brow. “The ever scheming cavalry captain has another scheme, I assume?”

“Well, Ajax,” the way Childe’s eyes widen brings a slight smile to Kaeya’s face. “I need your help with a solo project.”

Chapter Text

Mona doesn’t see much at first, just a beige ceiling above her with a little black stain on it. The longer her eyes stay open, the more dizzy she feels, so she keeps them closed as she tries to remember what happened.

They had a lead, and they followed it. She remembers seeing stars and hearing yelling. There was pyro and electro and… it’s hard to remember. Everything is so blurry.

This time, when she opens her eyes, her vision is clear enough to be able to see that the little black stain is actually a cockroach, and promptly screams.

It is a pitiful attempt at screaming. Her voice cracks at least three times then goes silent but the cockroach gets the point that it isn’t welcome and starts scurrying away. She still wraps the blankets around herself like a shield and wields her pillow threateningly. Mona is ready to fight for her life if need be.

“Mona!” Her attention is taken from her foe and placed on Kaeya, who looks around the room frantically. “What’s wrong? What happened?”

She opens her mouth to explain, but only manages to get out ‘bug’ before devolving into a coughing fit. Her throat feels raw and she can’t stop despite how much it hurts.

Something cold presses against her lips and she forces her eyes open despite the growing migraine. It’s a glass, and she snatches it from whoever gave it to her to chug the whole thing back. She gets halfway before coughing again and spitting the water up in front of her.

“Lovely,” Kaeya comments as he wipes water off of his face. “Really. Thanks for that.”

Mona takes another, unapologetic sip. There’s still a tingle in the back of her throat that threatens to turn into more coughing if she tries to speak again. She points up at the cockroach, who seems pretty fucking comfortable for an unwanted invader.

Bitch.

“God…” Kaeya slumps forward and rests his head against Mona’s shoulder. “You scared the hell out of me because of a cockroach.”

“I got-” Her voice is more like a wheeze at this point, she’s not even sure if Kaeya can hear her. “I got hurt.”

“Not by the cockroach,” Kaeya says. “He’s just vibing. I was vibing too, before you started screaming and spat on me.”

“Not what I meant.” Just hearing her own voice makes her want to scream again. It’s too quiet, and Mona hates nothing more than being quiet. “Throat hurts.”

Kaeya doesn’t say anything else and Mona realises he isn’t wearing his eyepatch. He should go without it more often. The eye full of stars was already beautiful before they spread across his skin.

She doesn’t have any more time to look at him before loud stomping reaches the room and the door slams open. Venti and an unfamiliar woman are standing outside and Mona gives a wave in lieu of saying hello.

“It was a cockroach,” Kaeya tells them. “She saw a cockroach.”

A strong gust of wind blows the cockroach out the window, and Mona sighs in relief.

“You’re awake,” Venti laughs lightly. “That’s cool. I haven’t slept in nearly two days. Xiao said he’s going to knock me out soon, so, I’m just gonna crash here if that’s okay.”

Mona doesn’t give an answer, but Venti dives into the blankets anyway. The woman clicks her tongue in annoyance as she moves closer. “How are you feeling?”

“My, uh-” Mona takes another sip as the tingle grows more insistent. “My throat hurts.”

“Smaller lasting issues are to be expected,” the woman goes about searching the nearby cupboards for something. “Your voice will recover eventually, though you should avoid talking for now, or it’ll take longer. Lemon tea drinks will soothe the pain, and other than that, you should be fine.”

“What exactly-” Mona is shut up by a notebook and pen being pressed into her chest.

“When I say avoid, I mean don’t,” the woman says. “This should be sufficient. I’ll make you some tea in the meantime.”

She leaves, and Mona turns back to Kaeya. “Anyway-”

“No,” Kaeya interrupts immediately. “I’m tired, I might have killed my mother again, and I stubbed my toe when I teleported in here. We are not arguing over this. Use the pen.”

Mona glares and scribbles two words onto the notebook. ‘Bitch,’ then ‘explain.’

Kaeya sighs. “Which part?”

‘What happened? Your mother? How is Venti already snoring?’

“Well, you decided to run at a man we knew was dangerous and, now this is the most shocking part, got stabbed as a result,” Kaeya explains. “Who could have expected that one, huh?”

That part is the most blurry. Kaeya had said something about a portal, and Mona couldn’t let Zion get away. It could have been their only chance to save him and she… failed.

She feels around her neck, which is devoid of any new scars. It must have been there, that’s why it hurts so much. Kaeya healed it, because of course he did. Not only did Mona fail to get his gnosis back, she also made him overexert himself to heal her.

Mona can’t finish writing ‘sorry’ on the notebook because Kaeya continues his explanation.

“I don’t… really know what happened with Mama,” he mutters. “She’s not up there anymore. Nothing is. I think I have them… somewhere, but I don’t know how to put them back. And Venti has been awake since his adventure with the fish.”

“Oh,” Mona speaks, then rolls her eyes when Kaeya glares at her. She finishes writing ‘sorry’ anyway.

“It’s whatever,” Kaeya shrugs. “You got hurt, but there’s no repercussions except your voice is a bit fucked up. I can’t really complain.”

But he would. Kaeya loves to complain, it’s a bonding activity for the two of them. Mona rags on Kaeya constantly for doing stupid things, so why isn’t Kaeya taking this one, golden opportunity to do the same?

When Mona scribbles ‘are you okay?’ on the notebook and holds it up to Kaeya, he just shrugs again. “Like I said, I’m tired.”

Mona pushes it against his face, adding more and more force when he still doesn’t answer, until he falls backwards against the mattress. She crawls forward and lays on his chest so he can’t move, before smacking him on the nose with the notebook.

“Can you not?” Kaeya groans. “You’re crushing my lungs. I need those.”

She uses Kaeya’s face as support for her notebook when she writes. Once she’s done, she turns it back to him.

‘Bitch.’

“I save your life, and this is how you repay me,” Kaeya mutters. “Next time, I’ll just let you bleed out.”

Mona grins. “You love me.”

“No. Talking.”

-

Mona isn’t allowed to leave the room, but other people visit throughout the rest of the day. Not Kaeya though, he’s apparently too busy ‘washing clothes’ with Childe. Sounds like a euphemism to her, and considering how long it’s taking, it might actually be.

In the meantime, Venti continues to sleep. And snore. Loudly. She doesn’t really mind though. Albedo explained to her what happened a bit better than Kaeya and since then, Mona has preferred Venti’s snoring to the moments when he’s quiet and her mind wanders. She hadn’t realised how close she came to dying, she really could have just… stopped.

The door bursts open and Mona’s attention drifts over to Short Immortal Green Boy Number Two.

“The white boys are fighting again,” Xiao makes himself comfortable in one of the chairs. “You can’t talk, so you’re actually sufferable.”

“Can’t talk, but I can claw your eyes out,” Mona threatens, then regrets when her throat feels tight and rushes to gulp down more lemon tea before she starts hacking up a lung. Fuck Green Boy Two.

“No fighting,” Venti murmurs. “Only sleeping.”

“Oh, that’s where he’s been,” Xiao looks past Mona at Venti’s half asleep form. “Good. His sleep deprived ramblings were even more annoying than the red ones’ general existence.”

Ah. A fellow Diluc and Childe disappreciator. Mona also considers herself a Xiao disappreciator though, so she starts writing in her notebook again.

‘I don’t like you. Send Ganyu here.’

Xiao glares. “No.”

Mona sighs and falls back against the bed. She tried.

Xiao is happy to remain quiet and away from the chaos that is undoubtedly going on outside her door, so she occupies herself with drawing butterflies in her notebook. She wishes she could join the others, but the doctor has forbidden her from leaving the bed. Probably smart, since she nearly died of blood loss, but she’s fine now.

Completely alive and well. Thanks to Kaeya, who is still dying. All her desperate attempt to get his gnosis back did was delay them. She can’t even scry now because the stars are gone, making her presence here completely useless.

Mona disregards her drawings and starts a list instead. It’s easier to think when everything is laid out in front of her, not that there’s much to think about. Zion went somewhere with that portal. Not Snezhnaya since he’s keeping the gnosis for himself, but maybe Khaenri’ah. She just doesn’t understand why he’d wait this long to leave.

What’s more curious is that Kaeya recognised what the portal was immediately. Maybe it’s something he’s seen in Khaenri’ah? Except Albedo didn’t know what it was, and he probably knows more about the country than Kaeya does.

Mona snaps her fingers to get Xiao’s attention, then holds up the notebook reading ‘get Diluc.’

“I’ll try, but he might be busy trying to drown Childe.” Xiao heads out and Mona starts preparing the questions she needs to ask Diluc.

Kaeya is hiding something and she knows he won't answer any questions, so Diluc is her next best bet. He knows Kaeya well and he was there when they fought Zion. Mona’s memories are still clouded by the whole almost dying thing, but she’s sure she can still get to the bottom of this.

“Sorry,” Diluc says upon entering the room. “I would have gotten here faster, but I had to write another cheque to the doctor because of the living room.”

Mona raises a brow.

“I might have slammed Childe into the coffee table,” Diluc says. “He wouldn’t stop talking to me about the Fatui and all their marvelous inventions, like custom sigils of permission and abyss artifacts or whatever the fuck. I had to listen to enough of his bullshit when he kidnapped me, not doing it again.”

“Fair,” Mona croaks, and Diluc gives her that same look Kaeya gave her. She flips through the notebook until she finds her ‘bitch’ page.

“What was it, four hours?” Diluc asks. “About four hours after we started getting along, you nearly died. I feel like that should be a record or something.”

“I just hated you so much, I had to die,” Mona nods.

“Yeah, I get that,” Diluc relaxes into the chair. “If I ever became friends with Childe, I’d also run into a knife.”

Mona hands the notebook to him and he reads through her questions. “You think Kaeya is hiding something.”

Mona makes a ‘duh’ gesture.

“Well…” Diluc sighs. “I’m not really one to trust Kaeya, but he did witness his best friend nearly die, so I’d give him a pass on any weird behaviour for now.”

“The portal,” Mona speaks. “He knew what it was immediately, but he hasn’t explained anything. I think he knows where it went, but-”

It’s too many words at once and she doubles over in another coughing fit. Her headache flairs up and when she tries to reach for her tea, she knocks it off the side table. Any attempts to get in a breath of fresh air just launch her into more coughing until another glass of water is given to her.

Mona doesn’t spit it back up this time. She takes a few sips, then closes her eyes and rests her head against the backboard. Her ears are ringing and her throat feels like someone has shoved a particularly angry pyro slime in there.

“You’re just as bad as Kaeya,” Venti seems to be awake now. “Why can’t you two just listen to what doctor’s say?”

“I’m-” Mona coughs again. "I’m too pretty to listen to-”

She gulps down more water as the tingle in the back of her throat rises. Fuck. She can’t even finish her own stupid joke.

“You’re probably right about Kaeya,” Diluc admits. “I’ll keep an eye on him, but you should use your day of rest to actually rest.”

Mona glares at him.

“I know you’re worried about Kaeya,” Venti says. “But you nearly died yesterday. You can take a moment to process that, you know. You’re not the only one looking after Kaeya anymore, you can have a break.”

Maybe not, but Mona’s still the one who knows him best and he’s going to do something stupid again. He hasn’t visited her since she woke up, which is just further proof in her case. Kaeya knows Mona will figure him out, but he can’t hide from her forever.

Let him take off after Zion. She’ll find him and she’ll kick his ass. Wherever he goes, she will catch up.

“At least ask him,” Mona tells Diluc. “Just make sure-”

Mona slams back the rest of the glass in an attempt to make that little pyro slime shut up. She’s going to finish her god damn sentence even if it kills her. At this point, she’d rather be dead than have to endure being unable to speak.

“Just make sure he’s okay.”

“I will,” Diluc says. “So go to sleep.”

She doesn’t want to, but Venti wraps his arms around her and drags her back into the blankets. Diluc closes the curtains before he leaves, and she relaxes into the darkness while Venti snores.

Again. He was literally just talking to her. How does he do that?

There’s nothing else to do, so Mona bunches up the blankets around her and closes her eyes. Maybe if she gets some sleep, she’ll wake up with her voice all better and ready to yell at Kaeya. Probably not, but she can hope.

Mona sighs and allows herself a little rest. A short nap might be beneficial, and she can think with her eyes closed… she’s going to save Kaeya. The next opportunity won’t be wasted.

-

Venti leaves when it’s dinnertime and Mona eats alone since Kaeya still won’t come visit her. That’s fine though, because he’d probably just tell her to rest more and she’s using her few moments of solitude to go through Zion’s bag. Albedo already looked and found nothing noteworthy, but Mona nearly died for this fucking thing so she’s looking as well.

It’s an odd collection of stuff. A little worn notebook full of writing she can’t read. Snezhnayan, probably, so Albedo would have gotten Childe to go over it, and he would have said something in it was useful. It’s nothing she can ponder in any case, so she moves onto the other things.

A pocket knife, some mora she’ll be keeping, and a dirty stuffed bear. That last one is the most out of place, but it’s not that unusual for adults to have soft toys. It could also be a family members or something. Maybe he misses them. Too bad he betrayed the Fatui, he won’t ever be able to set foot in Snezhnaya as long as he lives.

Overall, Mona doesn’t find anything useful. Well, mora is always useful, but not for their current predicament. Mona should have grabbed him by his hair. At least then she could have hurt him before he escaped.

“Um, hello?” There’s a knock on the door that knocks Mona out of her bitter stupor. “I made some more tea for you.”

Ganyu enters, and Mona suddenly feels a lot better about how her life is going at the moment. Things can’t be that bad if there’s a beautiful girl giving her tea. She sets it down on the side table, and spots Mona’s notebook as she does.

“Oh, those are nice,” Ganyu looks at the little butterflies. “You probably don’t have much to do in here, do you?”

Mona can only offer a shrug and, to her delight, Ganyu takes a seat in one of the chairs next to the bed. She tears a piece of paper out of the notebook and starts folding it up. “Here, I’ll teach you how to make swans if you want.”

Hell yeah she wants.

Ganyu walks her through the process and although Mona’s swans are, to put it nicely, trash, in comparison to Ganyu’s, it’s not too hard. She shows Mona a few other animals as well, including butterflies, and she commits them to memory so she can practice once Ganyu leaves as well.

“It’s called origami, I learnt it from a friend of mine who travels a lot,” Ganyu tells her. “She’s a sailor, a lot of her crew is from Inazuma. I want to go on vacation there one day, but I probably wouldn’t be able to.”

The number of paper animals on Mona’s bed is growing by the second. Ganyu works much faster, and keeps her entertained with stories all the while. Maybe Mona has had to meet people like Childe and Xiao on this journey, but it’s been made up for with the fact that Ganyu exists.

… Maybe Ganyu will be willing to help her. She reaches for her notebook and flips to the already prepared page of questions and hands it to Ganyu.

“Hm…” Ganyu reads through. “Sorry, but I still don’t know Kaeya that well, so I don’t think I can help much. He’s been quieter today than yesterday, but that seems normal after what happened.”

Mona sighs but she never expected much in the first place.

“I can get him to come visit though,” Ganyu offers. “I’m stronger than I look. I can pick him up and carry him over here.”

Oh, that would be a sight to behold. Mona nods her agreement and Ganyu sets off to find the man in question. In the meantime, Mona sets all of the origami animals on her side table and sips her tea.

She got a few hours of sleep earlier, but she still feels tired. With the sun going down and things getting quieter outside of her room, it’s easier to drift off, but she wants to talk to Kaeya before she does. He’s been avoiding her all day. Even if he isn’t planning on doing anything stupid, he still deserves to be cussed out for that.

“I found him,” Ganyu returns with a bright smile, even though Kaeya doesn’t look at all happy.

His shirt is bunched around his neck where Ganyu seems to have grabbed the back of it and dragged him all the way here. So he must have resisted, which kills off any possible lie Kaeya could come up with about how he’s totally not avoiding her. Fucker.

“This seems excessive,” Kaeya straightens out his shirt. “I was just trying to get the blood out of my clothes.”

“For six hours?” Ganyu’s question makes Kaeya freeze up. “I should get going, I promised to help with cleanup after dinner.”

Ganyu takes Mona’s dishes and exits the room, leaving Kaeya to hover awkwardly near the door. He eventually, very slowly, makes his way over to the bed and takes a seat, but still doesn’t say anything.

Kaeya’s eyes catch on the pile of Zion’s stuff and he reaches out to grab the teddy bear, but Mona interrupts him. “Where does the portal go?”

“No talking,” he glares. “And how would I know?”

“How would you?”

“A friend,” Kaeya answers. “He used them to visit my hometown. Doesn’t mean I know where it goes.”

Mona folds her arms and levels Kaeya with the most judgemental stare she can manage. He still doesn’t cave.

“Tell me what you’re planning,” Mona demands. “We’re not having another repeat of the Diluc incident.”

“We already have, Mona,” Kaeya responds. “And, actually, I don’t have to tell you anything. You’re not my mother, or anyone else that can demand things from me. Maybe you should stop bothering other people and get your own life.”

Ah, there’s the usual aggressive defensiveness. It hasn’t been targeted at Mona in a while.

“I’m trying to-”

“To look after me,” Kaeya finishes. “Yeah, I kind of pay for all your food and clothes, because you’re incapable of doing so. You shouldn’t adopt strays if you can’t even take care yourself.”

“I just don’t want you to get hurt again!” Mona snaps. “And I know you’re going to, but no one else will listen, so I-”

It starts all over again. She coughs so hard she thinks she might throw up and all the anger in Kaeya’s face disappears as he rushes to stop her from falling off the bed. The pain eases quickly though, because Kaeya’s hand are cupping her face and stars begin to surround them.

“We-we look after each other,” Mona struggles to catch her breath. “That’s how it goes…”

“Not this time,” Kaeya brushes her hair out of her face. “It’s okay. I’ll be back soon, I promise.”

Mona’s eyes fall closed, but she forces them back open. Her whole body feels tired and she just wants to relax against the blankets. Something’s not right.

She looks back at Kaeya as the stars grow brighter despite her already feeling better. “What are you doing?”

“I rarely ever know,” Kaeya’s voice is quiet, almost a whisper. “I just can’t let you tell anyone.”

It’s so hard to keep her eyes open and she slumps forward into Kaeya’s arms. He’s comfortable, more so than the blankets he tucks her into, and she tries to grab him when he starts walking away. She can’t reach though, he’s already too far away.

Mona can’t stop him. The light in the doorway is gone once it’s closed, and Kaeya is too. The screaming in the back of her mind doesn’t stop her from falling asleep.

-

Mona sips her coffee in the living room as everyone else argues. They fight a lot, but it’s usually about stupid things. The poor doctor has given up on trying to get them to be quiet and instead taken her daughter out while they all panic about Kaeya.

She doesn’t have the energy to panic. She already knew what was coming. At least he took people with him this time, though she’s not sure how much Childe’s help will be worth. Ganyu’s gone too though, so maybe she’ll make sure they survive.

Once the coffee is finished, Mona rinses out her cup and leaves it in the kitchen. She takes a seat beside Venti and pulls out her notebook. Everyone’s too entranced in their argument to notice her, so she just writes down her message and leaves it in front of Diluc before heading back to her room.

The note might be cruel, but she doesn’t really care at the moment. She needs to find Kaeya, and she doesn’t have many clues, so she shuts the door behind her and grabs that ugly teddy bear.

One of its eyes is missing and parts of its fur is singed. Kaeya looked at it like it was familiar though, and she knows Zion lived in Kaeya’s hometown for a while. It’s the perfect scrying object, though she’s not sure if she’ll even turn anything up with the stars gone.

Mona’s still going to try though, because one way or another, she will find Kaeya. And when she does, she’s going to beat him over the head with the ugly bear and drag him back to Mondstadt by his hair.

Chapter Text

“Favourite flower.”

“Qingxin. Favourite colour.”

“Red. Favourite cup shape.”

“Champagne glasses,” Ganyu says. “They seem fancy, holding one makes me feel like a rich businesswoman.”

“I like those evil cups that spill everything if you take too much,” Childe says. “I think they’re fun. What about you, Kaeya?”

“I literally could not care less about cups,” Kaeya tells him. “They hold liquid that you then drink. It doesn’t matter what shape the cup is.”

“Of course it matters, would you drink coffee from a wine glass?” Childe asks. “You’d burn your hands.”

“Maybe, but I’d make a powerful social statement,” Kaeya responds.

“What?” Ganyu tilts her head. “That you don’t know how cups work?”

“Alright, imagine this,” Kaeya turns to face the two. “You’re at some fancy party, drinking your fancy alcohol, when someone else comes over holding their fancy glass, but it’s got coffee in it. Not only does the idea of coffee in a glass completely throw you off, but they’re also holding it with their bare hands. Immediately, you know this person is stronger than you will ever be.”

Childes nods appreciatively. “You’ve convinced me.”

“I should try that at the next Qixing meeting…” Ganyu mutters. “I can use my vision so that my hand doesn’t hurt.”

Childe and Ganyu return to their game while Kaeya continues leading them back into Liyue Harbour. He doesn’t feel like talking, but Childe’s got this weird nervous energy that Ganyu has been trying to quell by asking him inane questions.

It’s probably a good thing that she’s decided to come along. After Kaeya left Mona’s room struggling not to burst into tears, Ganyu had met him outside and immediately hugged him. She was right outside the door, probably able to hear everything, and invited herself along on this potential suicide mission. Kaeya isn’t sure why she didn’t immediately tell on him instead, but he’s thankful.

On the other hand, Childe has been jittery and he zones out every time someone isn’t directly talking to him. Yesterday, his nervous ramblings annoyed Diluc so much that he slammed him into a coffee table, which actually seemed to help somehow. Childe spent the rest of the evening admiring how strong Diluc is, until Kaeya told him he’d cut his throat if he continued thirsting for his brother.

And now they’re on the way to Liyue Harbour. Ekaterina will be able to get them a portal to the Abyss, and then they can track down Zion. They left the moment everyone went to bed and haven’t stopped for a break. While Kaeya and Childe are eager for a chance to rest once they reach their destination, Ganyu is completely fine.

This woman is a mystery to him, but she’s also probably the nicest person Kaeya has ever met. The only reason he hasn’t made a move is because Mona’s been betrayed enough.

… Just thinking about Mona makes his throat feel tight again.

“Favourite hairstyle,” Kaeya joins in the game.

“I like pigtails,” Ganyu answers. “They’re cute.”

“Ponytail,” Childe says. “For reasons completely unrelated to your brother, please don’t hit me.”

Kaeya hits him.

“Ow…” Childe pouts and rubs his arm. “Look, it’s not my fault your brother is hot.”

Kaeya hits him again, harder this time.

“Alright, okay! I get it!” Childe exclaims. “I won’t flirt with your brother while you’re around.”

Kaeya kicks him in the back of the knee and he crumbles to the ground. Ganyu helps him up while Kaeya walks away, but he’s ready to come back and kick him again if need be. He’s had enough of this from Mona, and she only does it as a joke. Childe isn’t joking, which makes it ten times worse.

“We’re nearly there now,” Ganyu points out. “Are you sure about this?”

“I don’t have many other options,” Kaeya sighs. “I have to get my gnosis back, but I can’t let anyone else get hurt because of…”

“Okay,” Ganyu doesn’t question him further. “What about you, Childe?”

“Visiting the Abyss?” Childe laughs. “Sounds like a walk in the park. Fun. Very fun. Cool place. Missed it, honestly. Happy to be going back.”

Childe devolves into nervous giggling and Ganyu shoots Kaeya a concerned look. When he asked, Childe had agreed to go with him instantly. Why is he getting so anxious now? Maybe because they’re actually about to do it? There's a stark difference between planning to do something and going through with it.

“You don’t have to come,” Kaeya says. “Ganyu is probably more useful than you’ll ever be anyway.”

“I don’t doubt that,” Childe responds. “But, also, you’ll definitely die without me. And I’ll die without you, because Mona and Diluc will eviscerate me when they catch up and find out I let you go into the Abyss alone.”

And Childe would tell them. He’d also tell them how to get to the Abyss themselves. It would defeat the whole purpose of running off on their own.

“Don’t worry,” Ganyu smiles brightly. “I can protect you both.”

With that, she trots ahead of them down the hill to Liyue Harbour. Kaeya looks back at Childe, who blinks in surprise. They’re both quite interested to see her in a fight now. He knows she’s an adeptus, and that she fought in the archon war, but they haven’t encountered much trouble on the road to Liyue Harbour.

“I kinda wanna fight Ganyu now,” Childe mutters. “Do you think she could kill me?”

Kaeya shrugs. “If it gets you over your crush on my brother.”

“Nah, she works for Ningguang,” Childe shakes his head. “That woman still terrifies me. Also Diluc is the perfect-”

Kaeya grips Childe’s ear and drags him into the city. He’s not going to put up with more Diluc simping, he hears enough of it from Donna when he’s just trying to buy flowers.

The hustle and bustle of the city is familiar at this point, and Kaeya lets the noise comfort him. There won’t be much of that in the Abyss, he should take it in while he can.

There are a few stares now that his eyepatch is gone, but it doesn’t make him as uncomfortable as he was that day when Mona and Albedo asked to see it. He’s always reveled in attention, and since it can’t be hidden anymore, he may as well make it part of his personality. It might become a problem if he needs to be discreet or go undercover, but maybe he likes the positive attention… just a little.

They make it to the bank quickly and Ekaterina sighs upon seeing them. “And you brought Childe this time too.”

“Good to see you again, Ekaterina,” Childe greets brightly. “We need to talk in private.”

She gestures for them to follow and they head into the same room they had their first meeting in. Ekaterina locks the door behind them and then gives them each an individual unimpressed stare. “I assume you didn’t apprehend Zion then.”

“We’re working on it,” Childe assures her. “Your file didn’t mention he had an Abyss portal on him. Seems like a key detail, you know?”

Ekaterina frowns. “That’s still a prototype, how did he get one?”

“Don’t know, don’t care,” Childe shrugs. “You feel like requisitioning one for your favourite Fatui Harbinger?”

“To get one shipped over from Snezhnaya would be a waste of time,” Ekaterina responds. “But Zion must have gotten one through other means, so I’m willing to bet there’s a supplier nearby.”

“Another Fatui traitor?” Kaeya asks. “Maybe you guys should add some perks. You got health insurance?”

“Yeah, and we even have a nice retirement benefit,” Childe answers. “Maybe I should beat up my underlings less.”

“That would be preferable, yes,” Ekaterina agrees. “The main problem is the master of the Dawn Winery though. Defection rates are highest in Mondstadt, and even higher amongst those who have encountered him.”

Childe sighs dreamily. “What a man.”

Kaeya punches him.

“Do we have any idea who this potential supplier could be?” Ganyu asks. “Are we even certain it’s a member of the Fatui?”

“Who else could it be?” Childe rubs his bruised shoulder. “No one else knows how to make them.”

“Oh, god,” Kaeya groans loudly. “Don’t make me have to go to Dainsleif.”

“Who?”

“A guy with a portal, but I haven’t spoken to him in sixteen years and he will be so offended."

Why did he think this part would be easy? The Fatui are meant to have all the resources they could possibly need, but Kaeya’s going to have to do this himself. As always.

“If he can get us to the Abyss, we may have to,” Ganyu says. “How do we find him?”

“We don’t, he’ll come to us,” Kaeya responds. “He’ll just know I need him. Some ancient promise to the Khaenri’ahn people or something, I don’t really know how it works.”

Why couldn’t his father have waited until he was old enough to know more than the basics about his own country before taking him to Mondstadt?

“So your plan is just to wait around until this guy shows up?” Childe asks incredulously. “That sounds like a me plan, Kaeya. You’ve come up with a me plan.”

“It would be a you plan if it didn’t work,” Kaeya responds. “But it will work. Because that’s how Dainsleif works.”

No one in the room seems convinced. Fine, he’ll show them all when the man in question arrives in the next ten minutes. Kaeya hasn’t called for Dainsleif’s help since he was six years old and dropped his stuffed bear down a well, but it’s not like the promise wears off eventually.

“Alright, well, what do we do in the meantime then?” Childe stretches his arms out. “Because I’m up for a nap. You did get me up at midnight to walk all the way back to Liyue Harbour.”

“No time, Dainsleif will be here soon,” Kaeya shakes his head. “We could go get some breakfast.”

The idea of food makes Childe brighten and he happily leads the way out of the bank, sparing a wave to Ekaterina as they go. He’s more familiar with Liyue, so Kaeya lets him pick out where they go. He chooses a restaurant near the blacksmith and orders almost the entire menu before asking Kaeya and Ganyu what they want.

“We already have rations, you know,” Kaeya mutters as they sit down.

“Warm food,” Childe responds. “You’re going to miss it after spending a couple of days in the Abyss. None of us have pyro visions and normal fires die out pretty quickly with the tempests.”

“Tempests?” Ganyu asks.

“You’ll see,” Childe tears into his toast. “Just out of curiosity though… how did you even know I’ve been there?”

“Mona,” Kaeya answers. “She looked at your constellation and now she knows pretty much everything important about you.”

“She can just… do that?” Childe stares down at his plate in disdain. “She just knows everything about me?”

“You get used to it,” Kaeya shrugs. “Eventually.”

“Oh, I hope she doesn’t find out about that time I got swallowed by a monster,” Ganyu mutters to herself. “That was embarrassing.”

Perhaps that’s a story that requires further questioning, but Kaeya has heard much wilder things in his life. Almost everyone he knows is a freak. He wouldn’t be surprised to find out his other friends have been in similar situations.

“So how familiar with the Abyss is this Dainsleif guy?” Childe asks.

“Very,” a familiar voice emerges from behind Kaeya and Childe drops his toast in surprise. “Sixteen years without a call, I figured you must have forgotten I exist.”

“Maybe I just didn’t need your help,” Kaeya doesn’t bother to turn around and face him.

“Stubborn,” Dainsleif clicks his tongue as he takes the seat next to him. “I assume your mother found you?”

“Oh,” Kaeya freezes. Of course he knew about that. She probably caused quite a stir when she left home. “Yes, but… she’s stars now.”

“I’ve seen her,” Dainsleif responds. “It’s a prettier graveyard than the one back home at least.”

Kaeya’s not sure what else to say. It’s been a very long time, and Kaeya’s not an energetic child tugging on Dainsleif’s arm anymore. He never called for him, even just for a friend. He used to do it for the most mundane reasons. How’s he meant to talk to him now?

Well… he can start by introducing his companions.

“This is Ganyu and Childe,” Kaeya gestures to the two. “And this is Dainsleif.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” Ganyu stands up to bow while Childe rushes to finish chewing his food so he can say his own greetings.

“You as well,” Dainsleif bows back. “Kaeya, why are you travelling with an adeptus and a Fatui Harbinger?”

“Extenuating circumstances.” Of course he already knows who they are. “The whole me being immune thing? Yeah, that was because Mama killed a god and gave me the gnosis. It’s been stolen though. Do you know Zion?”

“Okay, uh,” Dainsleif blanks. “Disregarding all the other stuff you just told me, I know Zion but not well. What’s this about a gnosis?”

"Aha, didn't know that, did you?" Kaeya smirks. "Yeah, I’m an archon or whatever, but I’ll die if I don’t get my gnosis back so we have to follow Zion into the Abyss. You don’t have to come with us, just get us there.”

“You don’t call for me for nearly two decades and then ask me to help you regain your godhood ,” Dainsleif mutters. “What the hell, Kaeya?”

“You can say fuck, I’m an adult now.”

“What the fuck, Kaeya?”

“I know, I probably should have called for you earlier,” Kaeya sighs. “I didn’t want to reveal anything about my home, and then later on I got used to relying on myself. I never needed help, I just… probably would have been better off with it.”

Looking back, there are many moments in his life that would have gone much better if Dainsleif had been there to help. The thought had just never crossed his mind. It was easier to do things himself, deal with his own problems on his own. He was even less likely to ask for help when the task was actually a difficult one because he never trusted anyone to do it right.

Kaeya wonders if Diluc’s rants about how useless the knights are have left an impression on him. He should probably rely on his knights more often.

“Obviously I’m coming with you,” Dainsleif shakes his head. “You have to tell me everything about the past sixteen years anyway. Consider it a catch up chat.”

He has to talk about his life even more… great.

“So, uh, when are we heading out?” Childe asks. “Because it’ll take me a while to finish all this food.”

Dainsleif looks over the dishes Childe bought. “Is that jueyun chili chicken?”

“Yeah?”

“I can help you finish it all,” Dainsleif immediately takes the plate and Childe watches in dismay as he begins wolfing it down.

“Right, fine, everyone just dig in, I guess,” Childe mutters and Ganyu grabs the other half of his fisherman’s toast. Kaeya doesn’t waste the opportunity and grabs some of the chicken even though Dainsleif is reluctant to hand it over.

“So you’re from Khaenri’ah too, right?” Ganyu asks. “Shouldn’t you also suffer from the curse?"

“No,” Dainsleif looks annoyed at the interruption to his breakfast. “I’m from a Khaenri’ah of a different time. I am cursed, just not in the same way, and I use it to help my people from the current Khaenri’ah.”

“He’s sorta like a fairy godmother for all Khaenri’ahns,” Kaeya explains. “At least that’s how I understand it. Again, I don’t really know how it all works.”

“Kaeya, I’ve explained this to you before,” Dainsleif sighs.

“I never listened to all your long talks about history and whatever,” he shrugs. “I just wanted to be swung around by my arms and Mama was paranoid she’d drop me so you were the only one who could do it.”

“Until Freyr threatened to remove my kneecaps if I continued,” Dainsleif responds. “Normally I wouldn’t take such a threat seriously, but she did once crush a man's skull with a rock, so.”

“Oh, I remember that!” Kaeya laughs. “Some guys tried to attack me. She killed the other one with a piece of glass.”

“My mother was really peaceful, but I once saw Xiao rip a man’s liver out,” Ganyu joins in. “It looked different than I expected, but I don’t really know what I expected a liver to look like.”

The table next to their group haven’t finished their food, but start leaving nonetheless.

“Ah, gruesome murder,” Childe sighs contentedly. “My favourite kind of breakfast conversation.”

With everyone digging into Childe’s food, they finish it off quickly. Their conversation isn’t exactly normal, but it’s still nice to have some form of camaraderie before they go into the Abyss. Talking to Dainsleif isn’t as awkward as he expected it would be, Childe is too busy eating to talk about Diluc, and Ganyu can do no wrong.

It’s not that bad. Even if they might be about to die, at least the company is fine. He hesitates to describe it as good, but better than nothing. Going into the Abyss alone would be… awful.

“We should leave sooner rather than later,” Kaeya says once they’ve finished everything. “The others would have found the note by now, and they’ll probably come to the harbour first. Mona’s quick, especially when she knows I’m doing something she told me not to.”

“The astrologist,” Dainsleif apparently knows her as well. Him and Aether would get along well, they seemingly know everyone in the world. Kaeya wouldn’t be surprised if they also know each other. “What about Diluc and Venti?”

“Venti is sleep deprived and Diluc will probably be right behind Mona,” Kaeya answers. “And they’ll kill Childe immediately when they get here.”

“Why me?!” Childe exclaims. “It wasn’t my idea!”

“Because it’s my fault, but they can’t kill me so you’re the next best option,” Kaeya shrugs. “Ganyu’s off limits because Mona thinks she’s pretty.”

“Oh,” Ganyu flushes and looks down at the table. “Um, if it’s any consolation Childe, Xiao will try to kill both of you, not just you.”

“It’s something, I guess,” he mutters.

“Alright,” Dainsleif redirects the conversation. “Let’s find a discreet place to open the portal.”

Childe bangs his head directly into the table. “The people Aether introduces me to. The things they make me do.”

“You were offered an out,” Kaeya reminds him.

“If I let you die, I have no chance with Diluc,” Childe says, then quickly moves away before Kaeya can go for the eyes.

Dainsleif is already walking away though, so Kaeya quickly follows. Ganyu and Childe join them, although Childe keeps an arms length away from him.

Maybe Kaeya should be more nervous about this. Childe’s still jittery and even Ganyu looks hesitant, but he doesn’t feel any fear. There’s nothing to be afraid of, it’s the reason he left everyone else behind. If the people he actually cares about were here, he’d probably be losing his mind right about now.

He won’t mention that. Dainsleif will be even more offended. Childe would understand though, he knows his place.

They leave Liyue Harbour, heading further out into the countryside. The sun is hot, but the breeze keeps them pleasantly cool and Kaeya savours the feeling before they stop near a lake. Dainsleif turns back to them as dark energy swirls in his hand. “Ready to go?”

“Ready!” Ganyu actually smiles, probably in an attempt to cheer everyone else up.

“Ready and for some reason willing,” Childe nods.

“Ready to go home and chug a bottle of wine,” Kaeya says. “Let’s get this over with.”

Chapter Text

“Ow!” Razor yelps when Klee drags the brush through his hair. His hand comes up to hold the base of his hair as Klee continues to try and rip the brush out.

“I think it’s stuck,” Klee gives another tug that only succeeds in making Razor cringe in pain. “I think it’s part of your hair now.”

She covers up the mess with the rest of his hair, which easily hides the brush. Huh. That’s a great hiding place. Would Razor let her hide bombs in his hair? Probably not, he doesn’t like the noise. Klee could always let her own hair grow out, but it wouldn’t be as fluffy.

Maybe she’ll ask Diluc.

“Lisa could get it out,” Razor says. “She can do anything.”

“Yeah, like ground Klee for sneaking out to play with Razor!” Klee shakes her head. “We have to be sneaky. It’s a secret mission! Operation… scissors!”

“Scissors?”

“We’ll have to cut it out,” Klee explains. “That’s what Albedo does when I burn my hair.”

Razor pouts at the ground as he toys with the ends of his hair. “How much gone?”

“As much as it takes to get the brush gone!” Klee tells him. “... So a lot. But anyway! We have to plan our heist!”

“Heist?” Razor tilts his head and Klee grabs a stick to draw on the ground.

“If we get caught, Klee will get in trouble, so we need to sneak in, get the scissors, and fix your hair before anyone knows,” Klee says. “First step, getting past the guards at the gate!”

Klee is a master at sneaking out so that part will be easy. So will the trip through Mondstadt. Once they reach headquarters is when things get tricky, but if they’re careful, they’ll be okay. She’s been getting better and better at sneaking in and out, she can’t wait to show Kaeya once he comes back.

Once she’s made sure Razor understands her master plan, they leave Wolvendom and being the trek back to Mondstadt. He silently listens to her rave about her plan as they go, only joining him in silence when they reach the bridge. Klee slides down the rocks to get underneath it and Razor helps her swim to the other side.

They climb back up and silently slip past Lawrence before running to the nearest bush when they spot more knights approaching. Klee is small enough to be completely concealed, but Razors just peaks out above the bush and unfortunately, it’s enough for someone who knows him to notice.

“Razor!” Bennett bounds over to them with a smile on his face. “What are you doing here?”

“Uh…”

“And why are you in a bush?” Bennett continues. “Do you need some help? I’m free today!”

Razor looks down at Klee who huffs as she grabs Bennett’s arm and attempts to yank him into the bush. “You have to be quiet! We’re stealthing!”

Bennett blinks in surprise as Klee desperately tries to drag him after her but her strength is failing her. After a few more seconds, he simply crouches down next to them. He looks at Razor questioningly and is given a sympathetic shrug in return.

“Isn’t Amber meant to be keeping an eye on you?” Bennett asks.

“No one in the world has enough eyes to keep at least one on Klee,” she says proudly. “But you’ve found us, so now you’re an accomplice. If we get caught, so do you.”

“But I haven’t even done anything!” Bennett protests.

“No, but we’re friends, which means we fail together,” Klee says. “But we’re not going to fail, because we’re super smart! Right?”

“Uh… right,” Bennett says. “... What is it that we’re not failing at?”

“Heisting,” Razor answers. “For Albedo’s scissors.”

“I have scissors at ho-” Bennett is interrupted by Razor covering his mouth.

“There is only one scissor,” he says decisively. “With the Knights.”

“Okay,” Bennett says slowly. “How do we get it then?”

“I have a plan!” Klee can’t see any decent sticks so she just uses her finger to draw in the dirt. “This is us. And this is headquarters. The Scissors are in Albedo’s lab, which is right in the middle. So we go from here to there.”

Bennett stares at the drawing for a moment as he thinks. “How do we get in without being seen though?”

“We stealth!” Klee answers. “No one can see us if we stealth.”

“Oh, of course,” Bennett says. “I understand. Completely.”

Klee grins up at him. “Good! Let’s get going.”

They set off again, staying out of sight to the best of their ability as they creep towards headquarters. Razor whispers something to Bennett that makes him much more determined to help them and he takes the lead. Bennett knows Mondstadt well enough to find all the most abandoned alleyways, taking them down streets Klee didn’t even know existed to avoid any knights that might be around.

Once they reach headquarters, they stop outside as Klee considers the next part of her plan. They can’t be spotted even once, so they need to take a quiet entrance. Kaeya uses the library entrance when he’s late to work because it’s quiet so no one but Lisa will notice him. Klee decides to just take that one and hope it works out.

She gestures for the boys to follow her and they head in. There are a few people milling about, but Klee immediately notices Lisa as the greatest threat. She ducks under a table but Razor and Bennett have a little more trouble, being too big to fit underneath. Bennett hits his head on the edge as he goes, but Lisa doesn’t notice them from her place by the shelves.

Klee rolls to another table and Razor follows easily, but Bennett somehow manages to hit his head in the exact same way as before. The thud makes Lisa look around and spot Bennett on the ground, rubbing his forehead.

“Oh, you poor dear,” Lisa rushes to help him to his feet. “What happened? Do you need an ice pack?”

“No, no, I’m fine!” Bennett waves her off. “I’m just being clumsy, it’s no big deal.”

“Are you sure?” she asks. “I can go find Barbara if you like.”

Bennett glances back at Klee and she glares at him, projecting ‘don’t ruin this for us’ directly into his head. He looks back at Lisa and nods. “Could you take me? I’m feeling a little dizzy…”

“Of course.” She wraps an arm around his shoulder and starts leading him away, leaving the library clear of threats.

“We’ll remember and honour your sacrifice, Bennett,” Klee whispers to herself. “Now let’s go! Albedo’s lab isn’t far!”

Klee takes Razor’s hand and they sneak out of the library before sprinting down the hallway to reach Albedo’s lab before anyone notices them. Once they make it, they tumble inside and slam the door shut behind them.

“We did it!” Klee throws her arms up in celebration. “We’re the best hesiters ever!”

“Klee?” Klee turns around to see Sucrose standing right in front of them.

“Um.” Klee blanks. “This is a dream.”

“... Does this dream involve explosions?”

“No?” Not yet, at least.

“Carry on then,” Sucrose smiles at her as she heads for the door.

“Bye, Sucrose!” Klee watches her leave, then leads Razor to the desk in the corner.

She quickly finds Albedo’s scissors and gets Razor to sit in front of her so she can cut the hairbrush out. It’s more difficult than she expected, but she eventually manages to free the object and Razor looks down at the clump of hair on the floor with sorrow in his eyes.

“Don’t worry, your hair doesn’t look any different!” Klee tells him. “It’s still fluffy, just with a little less fluff.”

“Okay…” Razor still seems sad so Klee decides to clean up the mess herself.

She makes sure the room is the exact same as when she entered, leaving no evidence of their heist. All is going well until she hears voices outside the door as she’s putting the rest of the hair in the bin. There’s not enough time to escape out the window so Klee frantically looks around for a hiding place.

“In there!” She points to a cupboard in the corner which Razor follows her into, shutting the doors just as the door to the lab opens.

“-don’t think that’s enough evidence to bring her in,” Jean says. “You really can’t find anything else?”

“Nothing,” Amber sighs. “But it can’t be a coincidence, right? She must have wanted to see Zion for a reason.”

“I agree, but we can’t risk an incident with the Fatui by bringing one of their people in based on a hunch,” Jean says. “We need to find out why she wanted to see Zion first.”

Zion was the person that hurt Kaeya! Klee opens the cupboard a smidge so she can watch them as they grab a bag from one of the cabinets and dump it on the table. Jean moves clothes and notebooks out of the way until she picks up something small and cylindrical.

“What is that?” Amber asks.

“No idea,” Jean answers. “Lisa couldn’t find any elemental traces on any of this stuff, but Diluc’s letter mentioned a device Zion smashed on the ground to make a portal. The description matches this.”

“We could use it to find Kaeya!” Amber realises.

“If I’m right,” Jean says. “But we only have one. We need to know more about it before we use it or we might ruin our one chance to save Kaeya. Zion’s friend might know more about it…”

“I’ll see what else I can find out about Novia,” Amber says. “I’ll try asking the other diplomats for information.”

“Thank you, Amber,” Jean puts the device back on the table. “I’ll get Lisa and Sucrose to run some tests on this. Hopefully, we’ll find Kaeya before something bad happens to him.”

Klee swallows as their words sink in. Kaeya’s in trouble? What happened? Where is he?”

Klee doesn’t care so much about staying concealed any more and clambers out of the cupboard. Jeans looks over shocked, but Klee places her hands on her hips and holds her head high.

“Klee?” Jean stares at the two of them. “What are you doing here?”

“What happened to Kaeya?” She asks.

“He’s…” Jean looks down. “He’ll be okay.”

“What happened?” Klee demands. “Where is he?”

“We don’t know,” Jean admits. “But we’re going to find him, I promise. Kaeya knows how to take care of himself, and he has friends protecting him. He’s okay, we just don’t know where he is.”

Klee’s stance falters as she frowns at the ground. Kaeya doesn’t just disappear, he always makes sure someone knows where he is. He says it’s important for Klee to do the same so that no one will worry about her, and they can find her if she’s in trouble. But if no one knows where Kaeya is, no one will be able to help him when he’s in trouble. And Kaeya gets in trouble all the time! Almost as much as Klee does!

“I’ll find him,” Klee decides. “I’m good at hide and seek, it’ll be easy.”

“Klee,” Jean slips into her disapproving mother voice, which is almost as devastating as Albedo’s one. “Kaeya will be fine, we’re just worried because he didn’t tell us where he was going. There are people with him who can protect him, and he can protect himself. You don’t need to worry about this, we have it sorted.”

“But-”

“Kaeya wouldn’t want you to put yourself in danger for him,” Jean interrupts. “Stay with Razor and Bennett, and keep playing.”

Klee tilts her head in confusion. How did Jean know she was with Bennett?

“Okay,” Klee slumps. “Fine.”

“Good girl,” Jean pats her on the head. “I’ll tell you when we find out more about Kaeya, promise.”

No timeout for sneaking out?

“Mhm,” Klee grabs Razor’s hand again and he follows her out of the lab. Jean still doesn’t say anything about punishment and they make it out of headquarters without anyone stopping Klee to tell her off.

They stop outside and Klee takes a seat on one of the benches. That was weird, and Kaeya always says not to ignore her instincts when she thinks something is up. Sneaking into headquarters was way easier than it usually is, and Lisa didn’t notice her under the table when she was right next to them. Bennett tried to tell Klee something and Razor stopped him, then he whispered something that made Bennett play along.

What is she missing…?

“Lunch?” Razor interrupts her thoughts. “Good Hunter makes good food.”

Klee’s eyes narrow as she regards Razor suspiciously. Good Hunter is a restaurant, it costs money to eat there. Razor knows that, and he doesn’t have any mother either. Unless Lisa gives him some for lunch.

“They knew!” Klee realises. “They knew I snuck out! And you were in on it!”

Razor looks at the ground. “Lisa says you’re sad without Albedo… she says keep an eye on Klee.”

“I’m not sad!” Klee objects. “I can have fun without Albedo! If he wants to leave too, then he can. I can take care of myself.”

“I know,” Razor says. “But everyone… worried.”

Klee shows her opinion on that by blowing a raspberry. She’s been doing fine since Albedo left for Liyue, even if it’s a little harder to get to sleep without his bedtime stories. And she likes his cooking better than Ambers. And drawing in the lab while Albedo talks to himself about his experiments. Sucrose doesn’t talk to herself, it gets too quiet in there.

That’s not the point anyway! The point is that everyone’s just been trying to keep her occupied! She could be out there breaking rules and they’ve tricked her into breaking rules that never even existed! What’s the fun in that!

Well, Klee’s onto them now. And she’s going to break some real rules.

-

Klee is red. This is a fact of life. The sky is blue, the grass is green, and Klee is red. So if Klee isn’t red, then she must not be Klee.

That’s her line of thinking when she crafts her master disguise. No red, just white and blue. And a nice big sun hat to hide her face. She even leaves her bag behind, piling all her bombs into one of Albedo’s instead. It’s the perfect crime.

After asking around a little, Klee manages to find the person Jean and Amber were talking about. Novia is her name, and she talks to lots of people. She asks them where Zion is and grows more and more frustrated with every answer. Klee isn’t entirely sure what her plan is yet, so she just watches. It’s the longest amount of time she’s been silent in her life. Albedo would be proud if he were here.

Klee’s attention is mostly focused on Novia’s bag. It’s a generic black one, just like the one Klee is using but hers has ‘Albedo’ embroidered in navy blue on the side. It looks heavy and Novia readjusts it every few minutes. Kaeya always tells her stealing is bad, but Klee thinks it’s okay if you really want it and it might be useful.

Her opportunity comes when Novia stops at Good Hunter for lunch, dropping her bag by her feet as she drinks her lemonade. Klee approaches and jumps into the chair next to her, leaving her own bag at her feet.

“Hello!” Klee says. “You’re a Fatui, right?”

Novia looks at Klee with mild annoyance. “That’s right.”

“Are you friends with Childe? Or Zion?” Klee drops the bait and Novia picks it up without hesitation.

“You know Zion?”

Klee is so smart. She should be a detective. But detective’s do all the hard work that leads up to the bombs, not the bombing itself… She’ll have to put more thought into it.

“Mhm,” Klee nods. “My big brothers are in Liyue looking for him. Are you his friend?”

“Friend?” Novia scoffs. “Not bloody likely. You know anything else about him?”

“Um…” Klee tries to push her bag over to Novia, but her legs aren’t very long and she can’t see how well she’s doing. “Apparently he went through a portal! Isn’t that cool?”

“That little…” Novia glares at her lemonade. “Thanks, kid. You can finish this off, I guess.”

Klee grabs the glass immediately, throwing away the straw to drink the rest of the lemonade as Novia leaves. She can’t help but grin when she sees her walking away with a bag that is all black except for the hint of navy blue.

She grabs the other bag and heaves it into her shoulder. The weight nearly makes her fall backwards, but she’s determined to get her new treasures back home. They might help her find Kaeya!

Before she can even make it out of the market area though, Amber appears in front of her out of nowhere. She folds her arms and looks down at Klee as she struggles to keep upright while still holding the bag. “Hello, Klee.”

Klee looks up at Amber with innocent confusion. “Who’s Klee?”

Amber sighs and shakes her head. “It’s going to be dark soon, we need to get you home.”

“No!” Klee whines. “I’m not done playing.”

She is, but Amber would be suspicious if Klee actually wanted to go home.

“If you get a good night’s sleep, you’ll be able to play even more tomorrow!” Amber encourages her. “I’ll even join you for hide and seek.”

“Really?” Klee gasps. “Okay, let’s go!”

Amber is a little shocked at how easily Klee gives in, but they go anyway. Klee is still struggling with her bag so Amber offers to take it for her, but she declines. It makes Amber even more suspicious, but it’s better than her finding out Klee stole it.

They make it back before the sun goes down and she drops the bag by her bedroom door, panting in exhaustion as she flops onto her bed. It was even more heavy than her bombs are! She had to drag the back up the stairs!

Klee picks herself up and sits on the floor next to the bag. She flips it open and finds clothes, food, a notebook, and a massive box that seems to be what made the bag so heavy. The clothes and food stay in the bag and when Klee finds out the notebook is full of maths, she leaves that in there too.

That just leaves the box. It needs a key, but there isn’t one in the bag, so Klee tries to melt the lock with her vision instead. Nothing works no matter how hard she tries though, and she can’t get the lock to open. Razor might be able to break the lock but he’s in league with the adults now so she can’t trust him.

Who else could help her…?

“Dinner’s ready!” Amber shouts from the kitchen and Klee quickly shoves everything under her bed.

Klee will have to wait until tomorrow to find out what’s in the box, but it will be worth it if it helps her find Kaeya. She skips down the stairs to join Amber for dinner as she mentally plans out her day tomorrow.

Chapter Text

When Paimon suggested that Aether go to the Archons for help finding their sister, they thought it was a great idea, if a bit far-fetched. What were the odds that they’d be able to find and gain an audience with a literal god?

Pretty high, apparently. They found Venti immediately upon starting their search. Unfortunately every archon they’ve met is… pretty useless.

Venti was too busy trying to get Dvalin to calm down to be able to help, and then when Aether sorted the problem out for him, he still couldn’t help. Zhongli was too busy pretending to be a normal person with a weirdly in depth knowledge of rocks to be able to help, and then when Aether figured it out, he also still couldn’t help.

Kaeya, meanwhile, is about as equipped to be an archon as Klee is equipped to have a pyro vision. That is to say, capable of untold chaos and destruction while being unaware of said capability of chaos and destruction.

Aether thought they were seeking the gods out to help them find their sister, but instead they’ve become a sort of errand runner for them. Since setting foot in Teyvat, Aether has not known peace.

And yet, they find themself at the Northland Bank, Paimon floating alongside them, sorting out another archon problem. Aether should charge more for their services.

“Hi Ekaterina,” Aether says tiredly. “Do you know where Childe is?”

“The Abyss, probably.”

“Oh,” Aether says. “That was easy.”

All that complaining and all it took was one question.

She shrugs. “Childe didn’t say to keep it a secret, which means he didn’t want it to be a secret.”

Aether knows Childe is smarter than he appears, but it still surprises them when he shows it. Childe’s stupidity stems more from recklessness and impatience, not a lack of intelligence… mostly.

“We figured out where they all went!” Paimon cheers. “Now we can go get them.”

“We don’t know where in the Abyss he is or how to get there,” Aether sighs. “That makes things a little more difficult.”

“I can help with one of those problems,” Ekaterina says. “Childe said Zion had an Abyss portal, which made me realise we have another traitor supplying them. I did some digging and found out who it is.”

Ekaterina already has a file ready to hand over. It only has one page in it though, so Aether’s not really sure what the point of the folder is. Maybe it looks more official?

“Her name is Novia Belyaev,” Ekaterina says. “She’s somewhere in Mondstadt.”

“Wow,” Aether looks over the small, faded picture of Novia. “I thought this was going to be a whole ordeal, but you sorted everything out before we even arrived.”

“I deal with Childe’s problems on the daily,” Ekaterina says. “I’ve learnt to be efficient.”

Aether smiles in sympathy. “I understand.”

“You really don’t,” Ekaterina stares into a corner of the room with a faraway look in her eye. “You really don’t.”

Aether takes that as their cue to leave and turns to head out the door, Paimon following closely behind. With a solid lead on finding Kaeya, things are looking up. Now Diluc can stop angrily pacing in circles outside, obliterating any slime that comes near him. Aether watched him punt a pyro slime clean across the township that morning followed by an on-fire boot when Diluc panicked.

They begin heading back to the doctors house, excited to reveal their findings. They can’t wait to rub in everyone’s face that they found Kaeya immediately but no one’s found any info on Lumine. Seriously, they’re friends with every important figure within Liyue and Mondstadt and somehow all of them manage to be useless.

Once they arrive, Aether kicks open the door, expecting the living room to still be full of bickering adults. Insteady, they’re greeted by a tired doctor sipping tea while Albedo cleans up around her. “... Where did everyone go?”

“They got kicked out,” Albedo answers. “They’re probably back in Liyue Harbour by now.”

“But I found out where Kaeya is,” Aether pouts.

Albedo drops the cloth he was cleaning the counter with. “Already?”

“Yep,” Paimon grins. “He’s in the Abyss. Apparently we need some kind of portal to get there.”

Albedo blinks at them. “... The Abyss.”

“The Abyss,” Paimon nods.

“The Abyss.” Albedo stares for a moment longer before letting his head fall against the counter in exasperation. “I used to think people were exaggerating about how troublesome Kaeya is.”

Aether gives a half hearted shrug. “Should we go get the others?”

“Fine,” Albedo sighs tiredly. “The sooner we get him back, the sooner we can all go home.”

Albedo apologises to the doctor for what seems like the hundredth time as they leave, promising to send her compensation for services rendered, property destroyed, and emotional duress. Aether decides to wait outside while Paimon muses about what the Abyss has in store for them.

“With a name like the Abyss, it’s gotta be spooky” Paimon wiggles her fingers. “It’s probably full of spiders and… what else is scary?”

“Horses,” Aether says, then gasps, “horse spiders.”

“That’s not a thing,” Paimon scoffs.

“Have I never told you about the most dangerous world Lumine and I visited?” Aether asks. “Fish with poisonous knives on their backs, eight feet tall wrestling animals, horse spiders…”

“No!” Paimon’s squeals. “It sounds terrible! How did you survive?”

“Sometimes I’m not sure we did,” Aether shakes their head. “This could all be a fever dream caused by a venomous jellyfish or something.”

“Even the jellyfish are evil?!” Paimon’s eye are wide with horror. “What is this place?”

“It’s called Australia.”

-

Zhongli’s house is nice. The man has a well paying job, is everyone’s go to advisor on literally any matter, and his knowledge of Liyue history and traditions is reflected in the decorating. If Zhongli had told Diluc he owned the house, he would have believed him.

But it’s not. It apparently belongs to the girl in front of him, who seems all too eager to plan his brother's funeral.

“We have a two for one sale on caskets, in case you want to pick yours out in advance,” Hu Tao says. “You could get matching ones!”

“I already told you, anything powerful enough to kill me won’t leave a body behind,” Diluc responds. “They’d have to disintegrate me or I’d just come back.”

“What if you die of old age?”

Diluc scoffs. “My family always dies young. It’s a talent of ours.”

One that Kaeya seems to take as a challenge. Most Ragnvindr’s at least make it to thirty, Kaeya’s still practically a baby but he’s already adopted the same self sacrificing attitude as their father. Diluc is going to throttle him when he comes home.

“Well…” Hu Tao thinks for a moment. “We also have some beautiful urns available.”

“I’m going to go hang out in the room with the woman that throws paper at me every time I enter now,” Diluc says, “because that’s better than talking to you.”

“I mean, you didn’t have to say it out loud.”

“You didn’t have to offer me a two for one deal on a casket for my brother,” Diluc responds. “Who isn’t even dead yet, I might add.”

“Yet,” Hu Tao winks.

“Goodbye.”

As Diluc leaves, he can hear her planning Childe’s funeral out loud. Now that is an idea he can get behind. Apparently it wasn’t enough to kidnap Diluc and steal his brother's gnosis, now Childe is just going to straight up get Kaeya killed. Diluc would throttle him too if it wouldn’t turn him on.

It’s not even really Childe’s fault. As Mona’s eloquently written note so kindly pointed out to him, this is his fault. Unfortunately, Diluc can’t throttle himself, so he has to find more productive ways of channeling his anger. Elzer always tries to encourage him with arts and crafts, but Diluc finds violence much more therapeutic. He’s in the middle of a crowded city though, so he’ll have to save slaughtering the Fatui for later.

The last two times Diluc entered Mona’s room, he was assaulted by expertly aimed balls of paper. He expects the same treatment this time, but when he enters the room, it’s completely silent. Mona is sitting on the bed, staring intently at a ragged toy bear. She doesn’t notice him, so he decides to take a seat in the corner of a room and stare out a window.

Eventually Mona will kick him out, and he’ll have to go back to listening to Hu Tao’s nonsense, but for now he’s safe. It’s quiet too, which he usually likes, but silence allows thoughts to fill the void and most of his thoughts are focused on grizzly ways for his brother to die.

There’s quite a lot, but somehow the worst idea is the one where Kaeya lives. If he doesn’t find his gnosis, he continues his painful transformation until he’s not Kaeya anymore and he disappears back to Khaenri’ah forever. Diluc would never be able to find him, which would make the last time they ever saw each other…

Something. What happened? They were together a lot yesterday, but Diluc can only remember bits and pieces of their conversations. What were they talking about? It was probably something unimportant but it feels like the most important thing in the world right now. What was it, what was it, what was it-

The toy bear thuds into the wall next to him and Dilucs eyes shoot to Mona. It takes him a second to connect the dots and he sighs as Mona gives him an unamused stare. “You missed.”

Mona scoffs and shakes her head, frustration clear in her expression. She grabs her notebook and writes something down. When she rips it off and starts to ball it up, Diluc is ready to escape, but she gives him a glare that says to stay put. He just has to sit there and take a paper ball to the forehead and grab it once it falls into his lap.

He unfolds it and reads the hastily scribbled words. Give me the bear.

Diluc sighs and picks the bear up by its leg. It’s old and covered in stains, some of which Diluc is pretty sure is blood. It’s missing an eye, but the shoddy patchwork all over shows that someone clearly cares about it despite the state it's in. Then he notices something on the foot and freezes in place.

There are big, blocky letters on the bottom of it’s foot. Diluc’s seen writing like that, mostly from some of the more obscure domains he’s been to, but these letters in particular…

Somewhere in the Dawn Winery’s attic lies everything from the estate that couldn’t be sold with the house. Diluc hasn’t gone through it yet and he doubts he ever will. The eagle wood carving Kaeya got him is in there somewhere, along with a blanket Crepus gave to Kaeya when he first arrived, before he learnt to write in Mondstadts alphabet.

It wasn’t anything special, but Kaeya still wrote his name on it in case he lost it. Diluc hadn’t even realised it was his name until Kaeya told him-

Another ball of paper hits Diluc in the cheek and he turns to glare at Mona. She folds her arms and looks up at him expectantly, so he gives her the bear.

“Do you know how to read Khaenri’ahn?” Diluc asks, barely managing to hold back his self satisfied smirk.

Mona shakes her head.

“Neither,” Diluc taps its foot and she turns it upside down to look at the letters. “But Kaeya taught me how to spell his name.”

Mona’s eyes widen a fraction as she stares at it. Diluc can practically see the cogs turning in her head before she suddenly grabs his hand and drags him down onto the bed.

“What-”

“Help me scry,” Mona whispers, her voice still scratchy. “The stars are gone. I can’t see the present or the future, but I might be able to see memories.”

“How am I meant to help with that?” Diluc asks.

“You’re in most of his memories,” Mona says. “Your connection is slightly stronger than mine, and if we can get anything from the bear, we might be able to-”

Mona coughs lightly and Diluc grabs the herbal tea by her bed before it turns into another coughing fit. Even with her vocal chords at stake, Mona is physically incapable of shutting up, so they’ve just taken to giving her a constant supply of tea. It’s the best they could do.

“Too many words to explain,” Mona whispers. “Just help.”

“I don’t know what to do,” Diluc says.

Mona sighs in annoyance and grabs his hands. She closes her eyes so he follows suit, and then… they sit on the bed for a full minute, holding hands.

“I feel like it would be more productive to just start shouting and hope he hears it,” Diluc mutters, earning a kick to the knee.

“Shut up, it’s a long process.”

“How long?”

“Potentially days.”

“... Kaeya is going to pay for this.”

-

“Good news everybody!” Aether kicks the door open, and while not everyone is in the entrance room, it’s more than just Albedo. They’ll count it as a win. “I’ve found out where everyone is! … Kinda.”

“You have?” Venti sits straight up from his position lying on the floor. “How?”

Aether stands proud in the centre of the room, “I’m just that good-”

“Ekaterina,” Paimon answers. “She seems to know everything.”

“Yeah, but I… thought to ask her,” Aether mutters. “No one else did.”

“You did very well, Aether,” Zhongli gives a polite applause as Hu Tao snickers.

“Yeah, yeah, good job,” Venti waves his hand dismissively. “Now where is my friend?”

“The Abyss,” Aether responds, and the room goes silent. “Yeah, seems bad.”

“I need to stop making friends with mortals,” Venti mutters.

“I don’t think Kaeya is a mortal,” Zhongli says. “He’s just not old enough that he’s stopped aging yet.”

“He’s just as stupid as them though,” Venti responds. “And just as stressful to be friends with.”

“Anyway,” Aether interrupts. “We need some kind of portal to get there, and apparently we can get one in Mondstadt.”

“How will we find them when we get there?” Xiao speaks up. “This portal won’t take us straight to them.”

“True, but I have a plan for that,” Aether says. “We wander around aimlessly until we run into them.”

Xiao stares at them for a moment before looking at Zhongli when he realises that’s all Aether has to say. “Second opinions?”

“You won’t be able to gather any information on their movements within the Abyss until you’re there anyway,” Zhongli says. “The best plan might just be entering and splitting up to search for them.”

“So, Aether’s plan, but in more words,” Xiao mutters. “Fine, I’m in.”

“I’ll go get Diluc!” Aether jumps up, glad to see their plan was mostly well received. “It’s still early, we can probably make it to Mondstadt by tomorrow.”

“Mona’s still not fully recovered,” Venti frowns. “She’ll also… probably kill us if we leave without her.”

“You could always lie,” Hu Tao suggests. “Lying solves all problems!”

“No, it doesn’t,” Zhongli says. “No matter how many times you tell me you’ve never seen my ancient adeptal tea set, I know it was you who broke it.”

“Dunno what to tell you, old man,” Hu Tao shrugs. “Never seen them in my life. No idea what you’re talking about.”

Hu Tao grins mischievously and Aether decides to leave before they’re forced to bear witness to another hour long conversation about honour and accountability. Paimon gets settled in next to Xiao, ready to instigate an argument if she gets bored, and Albedo stares out a window, probably wishing he’d never left Mondstadt. Or wherever he came from before that.

Aether figures Diluc will be in Mona’s room again so they head down the hall to grab him. When they open the door though, they’re surprised to see Mona shoot a ball of water directly at them. They yelp and hide behind the door, slowly peeking their head back out to see Mona glaring at them.

Diluc is sitting next to her on the bed, looking bored out of his mind. He side eyes Mona before looking back at Aether. “Sorry, Mona's mad at a stuffed toy and she’s taking it out on everyone else.”

“This stupid fucking bear won't fucking cooperate,” she mutters and Aether moves their eyes lower, to the raggedy bear she’s holding. “Ignorant little-”

“It’s a stuffed toy, Mona,” Diluc says. “It’s not being difficult on purpose.”

The way she glares at him makes Aether shift further behind the door, even though it’s not focused on them. “Uh… I need to talk to Diluc.”

“I’m using him,” Mona argues. “Come back later.”

“Possibly days later,” Diluc sighs.

“Oh, I’m so sorry,” Mona flails her arms dramatically. “If trying to find your brother before he dies is boring to you, feel free to leave. I guess Kaeya will just have to slowly turn into a horrible flesh monster and return to the dream graveyard to continue his painful existence as a-”

Mona doubles over in another coughing fit as Diluc rolls his eyes. “Are you done?”

“Okay, you two seem busy,” Aether slowly begins to close the door. “I’ll just leave you a note. Bye!”

“Bye, Aether,” Diluc waves tiredly but grabs Mona’s drink with the other hand, gently handing it to her as the coughing dies down.

Aether shuts the door with a quiet click and heads back into the living room. Albedo is ushering Xiao and Venti to pack some supplies for the trip while Zhongli continues to lecture Hu Tao about the importance of responsibility and admitting fault and breaking his damn tea cups.

Paimon floats over to them the moment she spots them. “Where’s Diluc and Mona?”

“They’re… busy, I guess,” Aether answers. “I think they’re interrogating a stuffed bear.”

“Ooh, we’ve seen Diluc interrogate people before,” Paimon wiggles excitedly. “He’ll make it talk for sure!”

“... Sure,” Aether doesn’t have as much faith. It is a stuffed bear.

They’re startled by the sound of Albedo clapping directly next to their ears. “It’s time to pack, we’re leaving in an hour.”

Paimon deflates at the idea of another loung journey and solemnly floats away to grab her snacks. Opposite to Paimon’s attitude, Albedo seems brighter than he was this morning. Aether even spots a small smile on his face, which is a refreshing change from everyone else’s gloomy expressions.

True to his word, Albedo gathers everyone together at the end of the hour. Aether leaves a note with Zhongli to give to Diluc and Mona whenever they feel like leaving the poor bear alone, and Hu Tao cheerily waves them off.

It isn’t as lively as when they left Mondstadt, Albedo and Xiao were never very talkative and Venti is too tired to do much other than hum quietly to himself. Aether can only hope they find Kaeya and Ganyu soon so everyone can feel better.

And Childe too, probably. How else will they pay for lunch when Diluc isn’t around?

Chapter Text

Diona sticks her tongue out as she concentrates on the box in front of her. She’s spent the past fifteen minutes trying to form a key to unlock it but this isn’t some common door lock. Klee’s attention never strays from Diona’s work even though she usually can’t focus on anything that isn’t bomb making for more than a minute.

“Stop staring!” Diona snaps. “I can’t work in these conditions!”

Klee pouts and turns to face the wall. “Are you close?”

“I don’t know,” she sighs in annoyance. “These springs are complicated.”

Kaeya is great at picking locks with his vision, so Klee assumed Diona would be too, but maybe it’s an adult thing. Eula might have been able to do it, but Klee can’t go to an adult. They’d put her in timeout for stealing. Even though it’s for a good cause!

It’s not like Klee couldn’t break out but it would slow her down and she needs to find Kaeya! If she can’t melt the lock, and Diona can’t pick it… that leaves breaking it.

“Okay,” Klee turns around. “Let’s throw it off the roof.”

Diona gives Klee an unamused stare as she turns a key made of ice and the lock clicks open. “It took, like, twenty minutes. You just need to be more patient.”

“There’s no time for patience!” Klee dives towards the box. “I’m on a rescue mission!”

Diona leans over Klee as she opens the box and looks inside. It’s just a bunch of black tubes placed neatly inside. Klee picks one up and turns it over in her hand.

“That’s what I just spent twenty minutes of my life trying to uncover?” Diona scoffs. “What is it?”

Klee grins as she puts it back in the box. “The key to my rescue mission!”

“Sure, kid,” Diona sounds unconvinced.

“You’re not that much older than me,” Klee mutters and is met with one of the fiercest glares she’s ever received from Diona. “Um… thank you for your help.”

“It was nothing,” Diona immediately switches to smug as she stands up. “Now I should go find those cats before work starts.”

“Have fun!” Klee waves enthusiastically as she looks over her prizes.

All it takes to find Kaeya is one of these little tubes. She’ll need to pack first though, you can’t go on an adventure unprepared!

Klee hides the box back under her bed and grabs her usual red bag. She always helps Albedo pack for his trips to Dragonspine and repeats the list in her head as she grabs what she needs from around the house. Clothes, food, potions, and a kiss for good luck. There’s no one to kiss on the forehead though, and that’s the most important part of their list. She can’t leave without one…

Maybe she can save it for later just this once. But what if something bad happens because she didn’t get her good luck kiss?

Klee twists on her foot as she tries to decide between staying and going. She needs to find Kaeya, but she might mess everything up! She needs to find Jean first, and get her good luck kiss. She’s not leaving without it.

Klee adjusts her bag over her shoulders and heads outside. The route to Headquarters is one she knows well, walking there every morning with Albedo. She might be gone for a while so she makes sure to say hello to everyone she passes on the way. Some people strike up a conversation and she doesn’t mind the distraction from her task.

They always let her go eventually though and every stop closer to Headquarters makes her more anxious. They won’t know where Klee’s gone either and they’ll be worried. She should leave a note. Actually, Klee also doesn’t know where she’s going. What if the portal drops her straight into a volcano? Klee can withstand heat, but not that much heat.

“You!” Klee’s head snaps up at the shout and she turns to find the source of the noise. She doesn’t have to try hard to find it, because it’s barreling straight towards her with fury in its eyes.

Klee considers her options carefully as Novia comes closer. She could one, let herself be caught and brought to the Knights. Her treasures will be confiscated and she’ll be put in timeout, leaving no one to rescue Kaeya.

Two, she could run. Klee used to think she was a fast runner until she realised she was only faster than Albedo when they were playing. She was great at tag, but not running from the consequences of her actions.

Three, she could drop a bomb right here, right now. Buildings would be destroyed, people would be hurt, but Klee would be able to disappear in the chaos. It’s the best option.

… But then Klee would have to leave without her good luck kiss.

Before she can make her decision, Novia reaches her and latches onto her arm with a death grip. Klee grimaces at how tight she holds on as the woman glowers at her.

“Where the fuck is my bag, kid?”

“I don’t have your bag,” Klee whines, tears pricking her eyes from how much her arm hurts. “Let me go!”

“I know you stole it!” Novia insists. “What’s in there is worth more than your entire life, so you better-”

A blur slams into Novia and Klee falls backwards as the woman is tackled to the ground. Klee blinks the tears out of her eyes and looks up to find Razor on top of Novia. She hears more footsteps behind her and looks back to see Amber rushing towards them.

“Get off of me!” Novia slams her forehead into Razor’s and Klee feels her heart drop. Despite the attack, Razor still manages to hold her down, but Klee doesn’t want to see him get hurt again.

Amber skids to a stop in front of Klee and grabs her shoulders. “Are you okay?”

“Leave Razor alone!” Klee takes a step forward but Amber holds her in place. “Don't let her hit him!”

“Look, Lisa’s coming,” Amber points her out and Klee relaxes a little. Lisa won’t let Novia hurt Razor again. She’s even running. Lisa never runs.

Klee can’t fully relax until Razor is away from Novia though. The moment Lisa arrives, she gently pulls Razor back and, much more roughly, pushes Novia away from him. He rubs his forehead and Klee runs over to grab his other hand.

“What’s going on here?” Lisa raises her voice and Klee can see her hair start to stick up. She grips Razor’s hand tighter.

“That little thief stole my bag!” Novia glares at her. “Then this fucking kid tackled me!”

Novia takes a step in their direction but Lisa holds her arm out to block her and Razor growls at her, which shocks Novia enough to make her stop. She stares at him for a moment before turning back to Lisa. “Did he just growl? What do you teach your kids in this city?”

Lisa looks at Klee briefly and she moves behind Razor to hide from her. She knows Klee stole the bag now… it’s all over.

“We are going to Headquarters to sort this out,” Lisa declares. “Amber, you take her. I’ll take these two.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Amber jumps to the task, not willing to test Lisa’s patience in this state. She takes a firm hold of Novia’s arm as she walks away and Klee moves further behind Razor when Lisa looks at her again.

“Are you both okay?” Lisa asks. “Did she hurt you?”

“She hit Razor,” Klee butts in before Razor can speak. “He could have a… a conclusion.”

“Concussion,” Lisa corrects. “We’ll go see Barbara before we go to Headquarters.”

"It doesn't hurt," Razor speaks up, but Lisa is already walking away. Also unwilling to test her patience, Klee and Razor quickly follow.

Lisa is walking faster than Klee's ever seen her walk and she struggles to keep up, practically being dragged along by Razor at some points. It makes her arm hurt and she rubs the bruise forming where Novia grabbed her. Razor notices, and switches to her other hand as they walk.

They make it to the cathedral in only five minutes, and now Razor is the one trying to hide behind Klee. Too many people in one place always makes him anxious, but Lisa flags down a nun and gets her to take them somewhere quieter while they wait for Barbara. Klee drops her bag on the ground and waits next to Razor, avoiding eye contact with Lisa. She only looks up when she hears the door open and Barbara enters.

"Good morning," Barbara greets them pleasantly despite the awkwardness in the room. "What's the problem?"

"Some woman on the street attacked Klee," Lisa answers. "Razor was hit in the head."

"I see," Barbara frowns. "Anything else?"

"Arm," Razor says simply. "For Klee."

Barbara nods and heals Klee first, making her arm feel weird and fuzzy. She brushes her fingers over the spot that hurt and barely feels anything. "Thanks, Barbara!"

"No problem, Klee," Barbara gives her a bright smile before she moves onto Razor. "You said he was hit in the head?"

Lisa nods. "Do you think it could be serious?"

"Just a headbutt," Razor mutters. "I was raised by wolves."

"Oh, no," Barbara mutters as she holds up three fingers. "How many fingers am I holding up?"

"Three?" Razor tilts his head in confusion at the question.

"That's good, but saying outlandish things..." Barbara trails off. "We should keep him here for observations."

"But he was raised by-" Klee starts, but Lisa gently covers her mouth with her hand.

"We should get to Headquarters," Lisa says. "We'll be back to pick you up later, Razor."

Razor looks apprehensive at the idea of being left with someone he barely knows. Klee also used to hate seeing the doctor, so she can understand why he look so on edge, even if Barbara is a good healer. Klee decides to employ her secret weapon to make sure nothing will go wrong!

"Here," Klee says before she plants a kiss on his cheek. "A good luck kiss!"

Finally. It only took her a  random streetfight with a woman twice her size to get one.

"I'll come see you again soon!" Klee promises before she takes Lisa's hand. Barbara and Razor wave at them as they leave and Klee almost forgets about her impending doom.

Almost.

Lisa is still walking fast and the fuzzy feeling in her arm persists. When Lisa is unhappy, everything feels fuzzy. Even Klee's hair is starting to stick up now.

Klee nearly trips on the steps at least three times, but Lisa holds her up and they make it to Headquarters in what feels like seconds. She recognises the way to Jean's office and hangs her head when the door comes into sight. Lisa knocks on the door and Amber is the one to answer it, giving Klee a brief hope that maybe Jean isn't there. But she is. Sitting behind her desk. Ready to punish Klee.

Jean already seems to know what’s happened, based on the devastating look of disappointment she gives Klee as they enter the room. She invites Klee to sit down and sends Lisa to talk to Novia. Klee kicks her feet nervously as Jean rounds the desk and takes her own seat.

“Did you steal it?” Jean asks simply.

“No,” Klee answers.

Jean glances at Amber and she hops out of her chair. “I’ll go search her room.”

“That’s a beach of privacy,” Klee objects. “It’s illegal.”

“Breach,” Jean corrects.

“Your face is a breach.”

Despite Klee’s protests, Amber leaves to search her room and Klee sits across from Jean in silence. She occupies her mind by staring at a clock in the corner of the room. Her arm aches lightly but not as bad as when Novia grabbed it. Adults are scary when they’re mad.

It doesn’t take long for Amber to return. After a polite knock on the door, she enters the room and dumps the stolen bag on Jean’s desk. “Under the bed. The box was there too.”

Klee needs to find a better hiding spot. Beds are useless.

“Thank you, Amber,” Jean sighs. “Can you go check in on Lisa and Novia?”

Amber nods and takes off, leaving Klee with Jean and her disappointment.

“Anything to say, Klee?” Jean asks.

“Anyone could have put that there,” she insists.

“Klee, you need to work with me here,” Jean says. “Stealing from a Fatui agent has dire consequences and I know you were just trying to help, but we could all be in trouble if we don’t sort this out.”

Klee looks down as she bites her lip. She should have just started throwing bombs, then none of this would have happened. Or she shouldn’t have stolen the bag in the first place. Or Albedo shouldn’t have left, or Kaeya shouldn’t have gotten hurt, or…

“I’m sorry,” Klee sniffles. “I wanted to find Kaeya.”

“I know,” Jean’s stern expression melts as Klee wipes her eyes. “But this isn’t the way to go about it. You know better than to steal, Klee.”

Albedo would be so disappointed in her. It doesn’t really matter because he’s not even here, but she wants him to be. Even if he would be disappointed in her.

Jean opens her mouth to speak more but is interrupted by a knock on the door. She steps away to answer it and speaks in hushed tones with the person on the other side. After they’re done, she turns back to Klee. “Go up to Albedo’s lab and stay with Sucrose. Don’t leave Headquarters yet, we might need to talk to you again soon.”

Klee simply nods and Jean grabs the bag before leaving the room, taking all the portals with her. It feels like it’s time to give up. If she leaves, she might disappoint everyone again. Albedo is looking for Kaeya though, and Kaeya is looking for Zion, and Zion went through the portal. If she wants to find them faster, it’s the only way.

Klee’s always hated making decisions. She makes Albedo pick what they have for dinner and which socks she should put on in the morning. But Albedo always makes the right decision in the end so she just has to ask herself…

What would Albedo do?

-

“Here’s your bag,” Jean places it in front of Novia and she immediately starts going through it. “But you’re still facing criminal charges for assaulting a minor.”

“I admit that I reacted… badly,” Novia says. “But this stuff is worth a lot of money. I can’t risk some kid stealing it from me.”

“That’s not an excuse,” Lisa glares at her. “What if I react badly to you assaulting two children and shock you into-”

“Lisa,” Jean interrupts. “Perhaps it’s best if you leave the room.”

Lisa doesn’t say anything, only shoots Novia one last glare before leaving.

“There are a few other questions I have,” Jean says. “Not pertaining to today's incident.”

Novia doesn't respond, too busy checking everything in her bag, so Jean goes ahead and asks them anyway. "Why were you searching for Zion?"

"I don't need to tell you shit," Novia answers. "My business isn't any of yours."

"Whatever business you have with him isn't going to happen if you can't find him," Jean says. "And I know where he is."

"Yeah, the Abyss," Novia says. "That kid told me. I'm not chasing him there, I know when to cut my losses."

Jean frowns as she rethinks how to gain Novia's cooperation. She only has until the Fatui inevitably make her assault charge go away. That might be a day at most. Nowhere near enough time to learn what Novia is after Zion for.

Novia's search becomes more frantic and Jean watches her recount the items in the box and turn her bag inside out. “One’s missing.”

“Pardon?”

“One of the port-I mean merchandise,” Novia repeats. “That kid still has one of them.”

Jean mentally recounts how long it’s been since she left Klee to find Sucrose. Only a few minutes, but that’s more than enough time for Klee to activate the portal. She wouldn’t go through it without her bag though… right?

"I'll be back," Jean leaves quickly, making sure the door is locked behind her. Lisa is waiting directly outside of the door and Jean nearly walks into her as she exits. Lisa grabs her shoulders to steady her and waits for her to explain the urgency.

“Klee still has a portal,” Jean explains. “She didn’t have anything on her in my office, do you know where her bag is?”

"She had it when I found her, but..." Lisa frowns as she racks her brain for the memory. "She might have left it on the street or at the cathedral."

"Ask around to see if it's here somewhere, I need to check if she's with Sucrose."

Lisa nods and Jean takes off towards Albedo’s lab, hoping Klee is there. She makes it there in only a minute and hurriedly knocks on the door. Sucrose answers and Jean tries to scan the room behind her, but can't see much.

"Have you seen Klee?" She asks.

"No," Sucrose nervously shakes her head. "Has... has something happened?"

"Maybe. Probably," Jean bites her lip. "Start searching Headquarters, I'll expand the search outside."

Sucrose nods and Jean hurries back down the stairs. The finds Lisa talking with Amber near the entrance. They glance up when she approaches and Jean can’t help but notice Lisa doesn’t have Klee’s bag on her.

“Doesn't seem like the bag's in the building,” Lisa says. “She’s not at the lab?”

Jean shakes her head. “She can’t have gotten far.”

"Should I check the cathedral?" Amber asks.

"Go," Jean nods. "We'll comb the area and see what we can find."

Amber takes off and Jean orders the first Knight she sees to get people searching inside Headquarters. Lisa goes with them while Jean leads a group outside to search the immediate area. Dilucs letter said the portal left scorch marks after it was used, so as long as they don’t find any of those, they’re safe, but Jean still won’t rest until she finds Klee.

Mondstadters milling about outside confirm that Klee left Headquarters and they start following the trail through the city. As they get closer to the cathedral, Jean notices a lot more rushing around. A nun bumps into her, nearly dropping her bucket of water in the process, but she speeds away before Jean can ask what’s going on.

Thankfully, she spots Barbara in the crowd of people around the cathedral and waves to her. Barbara immediately starts pushing her way through until she stands in front of Jean, struggling to catch her breath.

“What happened?” Jean asks.

“I-I’m not sure,” Barbara says. “Klee wanted to see Razor so I left them for a moment and then Amber came running in and then-”

“A fire?” Jean interrupts. “A black fire?”

“Yeah,” Barbara nods. “The fire was already out when I tried to reach them, but I couldn’t find any of them.”

Jean makes a valiant effort not to swear in front of her little sister. “Fuck.”

It does not work.

“Jean!” Eula’s voice mixes with the noise of the crowd but they part to let her through, not wanting to touch her. “Jean, they’re back.”

“Who’s back?”

“Albedo, Aether, Paimon, and that drunk guy,” she answers. “They just arrived at the gates.”

“He couldn’t have been here about twenty minutes earlier?” Jean puts her head in her hands. “Archons…”

The three of them are completely silent despite the chaos around them. Jean starts piecing her list of priorities together. Usually that helps calm her and plan her day, but she can’t think of any priority other than ‘get Klee home.’

“Okay,” Jean mutters. “Eula, you’re in charge while I’m gone.”

“Where are you going?” Barbara asks.

“To talk to Albedo,” she answers. “And then, probably the Abyss.”

Jean never should have trusted Kaeya to behave in the first place. She should have been with them from the beginning. Now she needs to explain to Albedo that her own ineptitude has led to Klee going to a place that, from what Jean has heard about it, can only be described as hell.

“Don’t let anyone else touch any of those damned portals while I’m gone either.”

Chapter Text

“This place isn’t so bad.” Kaeya looks over the barren lands. There’s nothing around. He’s not even sure what he’s standing on, it's this weird kind of dirt that seems more like concrete in some places. And the sky is dark, or there isn’t one, like back home.

There’s literally nothing.

“You’ll come to hate it,” Dainsleif says. “We’re going to be doing a lot of walking.”

“That’s great!” Kaeya says. “I can get in some good cardio. It’s been a while since I’ve had the chance to exercise.”

“Oh, we’ll probably be doing a lot of running,” Childe mutters. “Look out for temperature changes, it usually means there’s an abyss mage around. Also if your hair starts to stick up, move somewhere else immediately.”

“Lightning strikes?” Ganyu asks.

“Dogs,” Childe responds. “They teleport. They travel in packs. They enjoy maiming.”

“But I can’t kill a dog,” Ganyu says.

“Don’t worry, they’ll probably kill you before it becomes an issue,” Childe responds. “Note the thing about maiming. We’re like… little squeaky toys to them.”

“Are they cute dogs?” Kaeya asks. “Or horrifying beastly ones?”

“Kinda cute? Maybe?” Childe shrugs. “They’re not cute when they’re maiming you.”

“Good.” He’s seen the cursed beasts referred to as ‘doglike.’ His mother didn’t look much like a dog to him, but he doesn’t want to risk being caught off guard by such a creature.

“Are they fluffy?” Ganyu continues. “Are they pettable?”

“I feel like you’re ignoring the whole maiming thing,” Childe says. “No.”

“Technically yes,” Dainsleif answers, “but only once.”

Ganyu nods to herself. “That’s enough for me.”

With the matter of teleporting dogs and their ability to be petted sorted out, they get underway. They don’t know where they’re going, but Dainsleif takes the lead and Kaeya is able to relax somewhat. He doesn’t have any work to do, just walking. This is the most at peace he’s felt since Klee stumbled into his office and made him reveal his gnosis.

Which is the complete opposite of Childe, who’s singing Snezhnayan children songs to himself as he spins his bow. Despite his seeming casualness, his eyes are darting every which way, on alert for danger. His presence is the only thing reminding Kaeya that he’s somewhere incredibly dangerous.

It just doesn’t feel dangerous to him. It feels familiar. Peaceful. And… kinda humid all of a sudden…

Kaeya doesn’t get the chance to come to his own conclusion before Dainsleif pulls him back by the scruff of his shirt and a blur of light blue shoots past them. He wipes water off of his face and flicks it onto the ground before looking around, trying to spot what he assumes is a hydro Abyss mage.

There’s no Abyss mage though. The water forms into something much taller and more humanoid. It looks down at them and Dainsleif tugs Kaeya behind him.

“I didn’t know you had friends,” the creature says. “The Princess will be glad you’ve finally moved on from chasing her down like a needy toddler.”

“You know that’s not why I’m chasing her,” Dainsleif sounds almost offended. “And I’m not even here for her. I’ve got other things to do.”

“Finally realised you’re outmatched?” The creature looks down smugly.

“No, I just have more important things to do,” Dainsleif shrugs.

The creature sputters in outrage. “What’s more important than the Princess? ”

“Plenty of things,” Dainsleif continues, now just fucking with this eight foot tall monstrosity for the fun of it. “Jueyun chili chicken, for one.”

“Stretching after a good nap,” Kaeya adds.

“Axlotls,” Ganyu says.

“And violence,” Childe finishes.

“You want violence?” It sneers. “Is it death you crave?”

“Well if I die, I can’t commit violence anymore,” Childe responds.

“Or look at axolotls,” Ganyu adds, to which Childe nods.

“Are you not threatened?” It says, sounding more offended than dangerous. “The Princess will have your bodies displayed in-”

“We are still on a time limit,” Kaeya whispers to Dainsleif. “So if you’re done bullying whatever the fuck that thing is, we should get going.”

Dainsleif nods quickly. “Have you seen any other humans in here recently?”

“Are you ignoring my threats now?!”

“I told you, I have other things to do,” Dainsleif says. “If you want me to go back to hunting Lumine, help me finish this up quickly.”

Kaeya blinks. “Wait, Lumine?”

“Your human went that way,” it points to the south. “Towards the heart of the tempest. And you will address Her Highness appropriately.”

“Did he say Lumine?” Ganyu turns to Kaeya. “He did, right?”

“I’m pretty sure he did,” Childe mutters. “Aether’s Lumine?”

“It’s ‘Her Highness’ to you,” the creature glares at the group. “You will find that human and remove it from our home. Then you will leave, and never return lest you wish to be hung from the castle walls.”

In the next second, it shoots away, drenching them all in cold water. Dainsleif, unphased, starts to walk in the direction the creature pointed. The remaining three of them share a look of disbelief before rushing to catch up with Dainsleif.

“Did you say Lumine?!”

-

The moment Aether enters Mondstast, a group of panicked knights head straight towards them. Whether this is another case of Aether being forced into world saving shenanigans, or an emergency demand for a chef, they don’t know, but they’re already dreading it.

Albedo’s already split off to find Jean, and Venti has dragged Xiao over to the Angel’s Share to steal Diluc’s alcohol while he’s not there. That leaves Aether and Paimon, undefended and ready to be swarmed by knights. They descend upon them like a flock of helpless ducklings.

There’s a lot of questions, mainly about where Captain Kaeya is, a few about Diluc. One knight is kind enough to say hello before diving into their questions.

“Okay!” Paimon screeches loud enough to blow out their eardrums and the knights stop their clamoring. “Line up to ask your questions! No answers for people who push in front!”

Aether sighs in relief as Paimon directs them. She sends at least two knights away when they fail to follow her instructions and they’re left with only a dozen or so. Still too many, but at least manageable.

They start making their way through the list, a few more get sent away for what Paimon decides is ‘asking stupid questions.’ Some are turned away simply because Paimon doesn’t like them and eventually they’re left with only two people, one of whom isn’t even a knight.

The normie, Aether should probably call him Anthony but he doesn’t have cool enough hair or clothes to really care about, opens his mouth and is immediately shut down by Paimon.

“If she climbed up there, she can climb back down!” Paimon shouts. “Next!”

In the end, the only knight left is the one that said hello. There’s a chance he’ll be saying goodbye very soon as well.

“I-I just wanted to ask if you knew where Klee is?”

“Next!” Paimon shouts on instinct, then doubles back. “Wait, what? Where’s Klee?”

“That’s what I asked.”

“Next!” Paimon shouts on purpose. “Don’t backtalk Paimon. She has a knife now.”

The knight’s shoulders slump and he leaves. Paimon turns back to Aether, pleased with her work as crowd control. “I should be a bodyguard!”

“Yes,” Aether encourages, because saying no might make her mad, and then her voice will become so high-pitched only bats can understand her.

“We should find Klee though!” Paimon starts floating towards the knights headquarters and Aether follows. “I wonder why they’re looking for her.”

“With Klee, you can generally assume arson,” Aether says. “But I can’t see any smoke, so maybe everything’s fine?”

Everything, as Aether should learn to expect by now, is not fine, as they discover once they encounter Jean and Albedo half way to headquarters.

“She what?” is the first thing they hear Albedo say to a flustered Jean.

“I know,” she sighs. “I’m so sorry. You entrusted her to my care and I-”

“She’s so smart.”

“-betrayed that trust… what?”

“She tricked all of you,” Albedo gushes. “She managed to figure out what happened on her own, she stole from the Fatui.”

“I…” Jean pauses. “You heard the bit where I said she’s in the abyss, right?”

"Yes." Albedo's mood turns sour. "I will follow her as soon as possible. Though I should also mention that Klee is immortal. She can’t die."

“What?” Aether interrupts and they both turn to face them. Jean offers a small wave, Paimon waves for them while they stare at Albedo.

“Well, she’s an elf, so she’ll stop aging once she reaches adulthood, but also Alice and I…” Albedo stops and looks at Jean for a long moment. “What are the knights' thoughts on ancient blood rituals?”

“Generally… bad.” Jean answers slowly. “Albedo, did you perform an ancient blood ritual on Klee to make her unkillable?”

“Alice did most of the work.”

“Oh, Barbatos,” Jean mutters.

“‘Sup,” Venti waves from the wall above them. “Heard the little arsonist is in the abyss? Ten mora says the place is a ruin by the time we find her and Kaeya.”

“You don’t have ten mora,” Xiao says from behind him.

“Shh,” Venti hisses. “They don’t know that!”

“Yes, we do,” Paimon says. “You complain about not having mora literally all the time.”

“Fine, how about this twenty-something year old bottle of dandelion wine?”

Venti brandishes the bottle, which has a heartfelt note tied around the neck that clearly reads ‘wishing you a happy eighteenth birthday, from your family.’

“This is a new low for you,” Xiao says.

“Says what you know about me,” Venti responds.

“Okay, unkillable or not, we still have to rescue her right?” Jean asks. “We’re all on board with that, right?”

“Yes, obviously,” Albedo says. “I’m not leaving my little sister in the abyss.”

“Okay, good,” Jean says, then her expression twists into one of guilt. “Oh... I almost forgot, Amber and Razor are also there.”

“Are they secretly immortal too?” Venti asks.

“I don’t think so,” Albedo says. “Unless Lisa did something to Razor while we weren’t looking.”

“What? Does no one care enough about Amber to make her immortal?” Venti responds.

“I don’t know any of her family,” Albedo answers. “Eula lacks the necessary knowledge. Sucrose would likely turn her into a giant sweetflower if she attempted. Does Amber have any other friends…?”

“Us!” Paimon announces.

“Do you know how to make people immortal?”

“Not in this world,” Aether says at the same time Paimon says ‘yes.’ No one seems to hear her over their own answer.

“Lisa seemed pretty frazzled so I don’t think so,” Jean directed them back onto track. “Before anyone else starts talking and distracts everyone again, I’m going to tell you to grab anything you might need. We’re heading to the abyss soon.”

“How?” Aether asks.

“Klee stole abyss portals from the Fatui,” Albedo answers. “She’s a little genius.”

“She sent herself to the abyss.”

“At least we know where my sister is.”

-

Diluc can’t tell how much time has passed. There are no clocks in the room and the last time Diluc tried to leave, Mona stabbed him with her pen. His arm is still bleeding and every time he opens his eyes, it looks the walls are melting into each other.

He really needs to go to sleep.

But then he think of Kaeya. In the abyss. Even if Mona let him rest, he probably wouldn’t get any sleep.

It’s his fault. Most things are. Diluc should probably stop doing things. Like, at all. Maybe it’s time to just lie down sink into earth until he meets bedrock and the lava claims him.

“Sorry,” Mona breaks the hours long silence and the walls stop moving for a second. “Even though you’re being really fucking dramatic.”

“What?”

Mona opens her eyes to give him an unamused stare. “I established a connection. We’re sort of in each others thoughts.”

“Oh,” Diluc says. “Please leave.”

“No can do,” Mona responds. “You’re my best link to Kaeya.”

“We haven’t even gotten along for years. A few days of being nice to each other doesn’t make me a perfect conduit.”

“Then why is it working?”

“It is?”

“Are you blind or something?”

Diluc looks at the melting walls, or rather, the open space around him where the walls used to be. He can still feel the bed he’s sitting on, but he can’t see it anymore. All he can see is the dark sky and the tall rocks surrounding them.

“This,” Mona gestures to the mostly featureless space around them. “Is a bear memory.”

“A bear memory,” Diluc repeats. “... I need to burn my childhood toys.”

Mona takes a deep breath and lays back, presumably against the bed, but it looks like she’s just banged her head directly into the rocks below. “It’s so nice being able to speak clearly.”

“I’m confused about these… bear memory physics… or whatever you call them”

“We’re in the bear's memories mentally but physically still in the real world,” Mona says. “If we move, we move in the real world, not here. I’ve been speaking in here, but you’re speaking out there, so you probably sound stupid talking to yourself.”

“Well, sorry I don’t understand the rules of bear memories.”

“Apology accepted, now close your eyes, this might make you feel dizzy.”

Diluc, adverse to any kind of command, especially one from Mona, keeps his eyes open as reality changes before him and they speed through thousands of memories, witnessing entire lives in incomprehensible seconds.

He decides to close his eyes.

“Found him.”

When he opens them again, he finds a very small Kaeya. Smaller than Diluc ever remembers him being, sitting on what looks like the world's saddest playground, watching two kids play together. The bear sits in his lap, unaffected by Kaeya’s obvious boredom.

There are stars in his eye. Only his eye, they haven’t branched out across his face yet.

“This memory is… loud,” Mona says. “Violent.”

“They’re just kids,” Diluc continues to watch Kaeya. The other two don’t seem bothered by him, and no one looks threatened. “What’s going to happen to them?”

Mona frowns as she looks at the bandages on one of the kids. “That one’s cursed. Not far along at this point, but probably long gone by now.”

She’s looking at a little boy, the same size as Kaeya, probably the same age. The child keeps scratching at the bandage and the every time he does, the boy next to him takes his hand and brings his attention elsewhere.

“Guilt,” Mona eventually says. “I feel guilt.”

“Survivors' guilt.” Diluc understands. “He escaped the curse. No one else did.”

“Don’t you start,” Mona dusts herself off, as if she can physically throw the emotion off of herself. “I don’t need your emotions in my head too.”

“It’s…” Diluc watches Kaeya clutch the bear closer. “He had a bad childhood.”

“It’s about to get worse.”

They watch someone step into the light of the memory. Immediately, Kaeya drops the bear and moves closer to the other kids. They all stand together, on guard as the man comes closer. He searches the children’s faces for something until he lands on Kaeya and his mouth twists into a scowl.

“You!”

Immediately, they all scramble, the two boys staying together while Kaeya runs in the opposite direction. The man follows him and he isn’t fast enough to outrun him for more than a few seconds. It takes no time at all for him to grab Kaeya by the back of his hair and shove his face into the ground.

It’s hard to hear what he’s saying over the blood rushing through Diluc’s head. He wants to summon his claymore, wants to cleave the man in half for hurting the small Kaeya, but before he can blink, the man is down on the ground, convulsing violently.

Kaeya hurriedly sits up, bleeding from a graze on his chin and Diluc follows his line of sight to another man, the two kids from earlier hiding behind them. Diluc swears he can recognise him. Maybe he met an older version of him.

Seeing no other danger, the boys rush to help Kaeya up and they see another woman running in from the darkness. She crouches in front of Kaeya and hugs him to her chest. He shakes in her arms and she shushes him as she picks him up, his arms eagerly wrapping around her shoulders.

“I’ve never seen her before,” Mona says. “His time in Khaenri’ah is cloudy to me when I try to scry. They look alike.”

Diluc tries to say something but his voice doesn’t work. He nods instead.

Freyr soon turns her gaze onto the man on the ground, weakly attempting to get up. She gently places Kaeya down and encourages him to walk away with the two boys. They disappear into the darkness, leaving only Freyr and Kaeya’s saviour.

She surveys the ground for a little while before picking up a large rock.

“Woah,” the man interrupts her as she approaches the one on the ground. “You don’t have to kill him.”

Freyr turns to him, still holding the rock. “You’re that… ambassador they were talking about.”

“You can call me Zion.”

“If at all,” she responds. “You saved my son, so I’ll forgive you interrupting me, but you should learn something if you plan to stay here.”

Zion straightens up under her stare.

“You never forget what people have done for you,” she nods to him in thanks before turning back to the man attempting to crawl away, “or to you.”

She finishes him off quickly, using the rock to cave in his skull and then leaving his body there. “Food for the beasts,” she says before picking up the bear Kaeya had abandoned and then heading in the direction he left in.

Diluc watches open space dissolve back into the decorated walls of Hu Tao’s home, where he’s still sitting on a soft bed. Mona pulls her hands away and he becomes very aware of how sweaty his palms are, wiping them on his coat while backing away so Mona can’t grab him again and take him back into more memories.

Mona opens her mouth and all that comes out is a small squeak. She glares at the bear as if it can return the gift of speech to her.

Well. Zion definitely knew Kaeya existed before the constellation was created then. He just mustn’t have pieced it all together until later.

Mona grabs her notebook and starts writing. It takes a while before she turns it around to face him.

I found Kaeya. All the stars from the sky are within him. He’s easy to track. It will be harder to get there.

“We’ll find a way,” Diluc says.

Mona writes one more word in the notebook.

Abyss .

“I’ve been there before,” Diluc says. “It’s actually a pretty peaceful place if you can avoid all the abyss creatures.”

Mona raises her hands in a ‘what the hell’ gesture and Diluc shrugs. “To be fair, I was having the worst time of my life in those years. The bar was really low.”

Diluc feels like he can breathe again now that he knows where Kaeya is, and that Mona has a way of finding him. They just have to get there.

They can save him.