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Chapter Text

Kaeya

Going to their father’s grave shouldn’t have been this difficult. Kaeya had timed it perfectly—or so he thought. Late afternoon, weekday, no special anniversary. Just a quiet visit with a bottle of wine and a few windblume flowers.

And yet… there he was.

Diluc.

Standing like a shadow at the edge of the gravestone, coat stirring in the wind, red hair glowing against the dull sky. Kaeya’s heart sank.

“Of course,” he muttered to himself.

He almost turned around. Almost.

But the bottle of wine in his hand was already uncorked, the flowers slightly wilted from the walk. He came all this way. He wasn’t leaving.

Their eyes met as Kaeya approached. A flicker of tension immediately thickened the air. Diluc’s arms were crossed, but Kaeya’s gaze sharpened at the sight of a glass bottle tucked near his boots. Empty. No, several empty bottles. Kaeya’s nostrils flared— alcohol.

Diluc sneered, voice slurring slightly. “Didn’t expect to see the Captain of Favonius Bullshit here.”

Kaeya’s expression didn’t budge. “Didn’t expect you here either. But here we are. Surprise.”

Diluc stepped forward, unsteady. “Bringing wine to Father’s grave? How poetic. Very you. ” He waved a hand mockingly. “Going to pour one out for your sins?”

Kaeya’s jaw tensed. “Don’t act like you’re better than me. You’re drunk off your ass in front of his grave.”

“I never claimed to be better,” Diluc snapped. “But at least I didn’t lie to his face every day I lived under his roof— ”

“Shut up,” Kaeya snapped, voice dropping an octave. “You don’t get to bring that up. Not now.”

“Why not?” Diluc stepped closer, eyes bloodshot, lips curled. “Because it makes you feel guilty? Because it’s the truth? ”

Kaeya’s patience finally cracked. “You always said you’d never drink,” he hissed, pointing at the bottles. “You made a damn show of it. All that righteous talk. And now look at you—wasted, angry, swearing at me for doing the same thing you’ve always judged me for.”

“Don’t compare your escapism to mine, Kaeya. You drink to forget. I’m drinking because I remember. ”

“And what exactly do you remember? Huh?” Kaeya took a step forward, chest brushing his brother’s. “How you abandoned me for four years? Or how you left me to clean up your mess while you sulked in some vineyard pretending to be a martyr?”

Diluc shoved him, hard. “You don’t know anything—”

Kaeya shoved back. “I know enough. ”

It spiraled fast.

Faster than either of them could stop.

The next moment, fists were flying, years of resentment bubbling to the surface. The flowers fell and were crushed beneath boots. The wine bottle cracked open against a stone. They rolled, swearing, growling, as if the years apart had been nothing but a dam holding back rage.

Then… crack.

Diluc’s fist landed square on Kaeya’s jaw.

Everything stopped.

The echo of it rang louder than any shout. Kaeya staggered back, hand flying to his mouth, blood already dripping between his fingers.

Diluc froze, his entire face going pale. “Kaeya—”

Kaeya stood up slowly, staring at him, betrayal written into every breath. He wiped the blood off on the back of his glove, then spit the rest out onto the grass. It landed right next to the flowers.

He looked up. Fury in his voice, but steadier than expected.

“ Fuck you. ”

Then he turned and walked away.

Diluc didn’t follow.

Chapter Text

Kaeya

He didn’t know where he was walking. He just needed to leave.

Away from that damn ex-brother of his.

Away from this cursed city.

Away from the weight of his own damn lies crushing his ribs with every breath.

Wind brushed through his hair like fingers tugging at memory. His cheek still stung from Diluc’s punch, though that wasn’t what hurt the most. Not even close.

He wasn’t thinking when his boots left the well-tread roads of Mondstadt. Wasn’t thinking when the air grew colder, biting at his neck. He only noticed once his fingers began to go numb. Once his breath fogged the air.

He stopped.

Looked around.

Dragonspine. He had wandered to the edge of it without meaning to. The looming frozen peaks stared down at him like silent judges.

“Ugh… whatever,” he muttered, voice hoarse. He kicked a loose rock, watching it bounce down a slope before collapsing backwards against the trunk of a gnarled tree. His breath caught in his throat and came out in shaky huffs. He rested his head back and let the cold sink into him. Numbness wasn’t such a bad thing.

The atmosphere… it shifted.

The air. The silence.

It didn’t feel like just cold anymore. It felt… wrong.

The shadows lengthened unnaturally, stretching like fingers across the snow. The wind stopped altogether. And then he felt it.

Hands.

Cold, skeletal hands, pressing onto his shoulders.

Kaeya jerked upright , spinning on instinct with a dagger half-drawn—but there was nothing. Only emptiness. Only snow.

His pulse thundered in his ears.

Then a voice whispered, soft and sharp, brushing past his ear like a blade through silk:

“He doesn’t need you…”

Kaeya froze. His eyes darted wildly.

“Why protect a city that would kill you if they found out where you’re from?”

His chest rose and fell in ragged gasps. “Who’s there?” he growled. “Show yourself.”

Nothing. No reply. Just the wind, returning with a hiss.

But the world around him began to flicker.

His vision swam, distorted. His body felt weightless. The ground beneath his boots shifted , turned liquid-dark, like ink being spilled over reality.

He blinked.

And when his eyes opened again, the world was not Mondstadt.

It was darkness. Infinite. Choking. A place beneath places.

The Abyss.

Kaeya’s spine went rigid. He hadn’t been here…not really…but he knew. He had always known it existed.

Shapes swam in the black. Twisting, writhing, whispering things in a language he had forgotten but somehow still understood.

And then… he appeared.

A man, tall and imposing, stepped from the void. Cloaked in flowing dark robes, hair the same shade of blue as Kaeya’s, but longer, harsher. His eyes glowed like twin moons eclipsed.

Not Crepus.

Not the gentle, flawed man who once called him son.

This was the man who sent him to Mondstadt with a mission. A man he hated, who spoke only in orders. In dreams. In nightmares.

His father.

The one who bore no love—only legacy. The one who expected obedience.

He smiled now, cruel and calm.

“Finally,” he said, his voice deep and terrible. “You’re starting to remember where you belong.”

Kaeya’s fists clenched.

“No,” he whispered. “I don’t belong to you.”

The man’s smile widened, full of knowing.

“Oh, Kae. You’ve always belonged to me.”

Chapter Text

Diluc

He didn’t follow after Kaeya this time.

Didn’t call out. Didn’t try to stop him.

Didn’t say the words always left unsaid.

He just stood there at the grave. At their... At his father’s grave.

The wind was quieter now, almost apologetic. But it couldn’t undo what had already been done.

Kaeya was right.

He always got mad at him for drinking. Always made it a point to scoff at wine, to speak of it like it was poison—at least when Kaeya held the glass. Always preaching restraint. Discipline. Control.

Yet here he was.

Angry. Drunk. And worse— ashamed.

At Kaeya? No.

At the world? Also no.

At himself? More than likely.

He had done it again.

Taken everything he didn’t like about himself and thrown it onto Kaeya like a broken mirror. Without even thinking. Without hesitating.

The flowers Kaeya brought lay crushed under their boots.

The wine was spilled like blood.

And Kaeya…gone. Again.

Diluc sat in the silence for a while, eyes hollow.

Then finally, he stood.

The walk to Dawn Winery felt shorter than it should have. Every step clattered with memory. Part of him… a small part, the child still left behind in the manor halls… hoped Kaeya would be there. Sitting in the lounge chair like he used to, feet up on the table, smirking with a smart comment about how his attitude, “so very dramatic, Master Diluc.”

He wanted to say something this time. Anything that mattered. Anything that would stay.

But when he opened the front door—

Nothing had changed.

Adelinde was dusting off the books in the main hall, humming softly like she always did. Elzer was hunched over ledgers, flipping through pages and muttering about export schedules. A few of the Knights’ recent orders sat boxed and ready by the door.

Everything was normal. Perfectly ordinary.

Why? he thought bitterly. Why does the world get to keep turning after that?

He didn’t say a word to either of them. Just nodded and went upstairs.

The door to his room clicked shut behind him. The silence wrapped around him immediately. He sat down on the edge of his bed and leaned forward, elbows on his knees, burying his face in his hands.

He felt way too sober now.

Sober enough for the guilt to crawl in like vines around his ribs.

Sober enough to remember the look in Kaeya’s eyes. Rage and pain tangled together.

Sober enough to realize the worst part:

It felt like that night…

Chapter Text

Diluc

Two days had passed.

Kaeya hadn’t come back.

Not to the Winery.

Not to Angel’s Share.

Not to him.

Diluc didn’t blame him.

He wouldn’t have come back either.

Now he stood behind the bar at Angel’s Share, polishing the same glass for the third time, staring at the door like it owed him an answer. The night was quiet. A few regulars nursed their drinks in silence, the kind of silence that left too much room for thoughts.

He hadn’t had a real conversation with anyone since the fight. He didn’t want one. Not unless it was with Kaeya.

When the door finally opened, he looked up on instinct, half-hoping.

It wasn’t Kaeya.

It was Jean.

She looked… wrecked.

Her hair was messier than usual, her gloves hastily removed and stuffed into her belt. Her shoulders slumped in a way they normally never did. The Grand Master of Mondstadt was tired and not the kind that a nap could fix.

Jean never came here to drink.

And even if she did, she certainly didn’t drink with him.

She sat at the counter with a soft, exhausted sigh.

“Dandelion wine,” she said without meeting his eyes.

Diluc blinked. But said nothing. He just nodded, reaching for the bottle and glass. He poured it slowly, carefully, watching the wine swirl.

When he set the glass down in front of her, he didn’t pull away immediately.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, his voice low. Calm.

It was unlike her.

Jean looked up then, lips pressed in a thin line. She hesitated but not for long. She trusted him.

“Someone’s been stealing documents from headquarters,” she said, voice quieter than usual. “Important ones. Security details. Strategic plans. Patrol routes.”

Diluc’s brow furrowed.

Jean continued. “At first, I thought it was a mistake…some clerical error. But it’s intentional. And precise. Whoever’s doing it knows exactly what to take.”

He leaned in slightly. “And Kaeya?”

“That’s the problem.” Her fingers curled around the stem of the glass. “Normally he’d be all over this. He’s… brilliant when it comes to subterfuge. Strategy. But now?”

She shook her head.

“He’s dismissive. Snappy. Avoids briefings. Won’t let anyone near his office. I caught him throwing a file against the wall yesterday. Screaming at the walls like—like someone else was in the room. It’s not like him, Diluc.”

Diluc felt his breath catch.

The glass in his hand trembled slightly. He set it down fast.

What the fuck?

Had he done this?

Was this Kaeya’s way of spiraling? Breaking down after their fight?

Or worse—was this something else?

Was Kaeya finally turning his back on them? On Mondstadt?

The thought twisted something deep in Diluc’s gut. Not anger. Not even fear. Grief.

Jean didn’t need to know that, though.

He took a slow breath and straightened his shoulders, voice steady.

“I’ll talk to him tomorrow.”

Jean nodded, relieved. “Thank you. I didn’t know who else to turn to.”

“Where is he now?” Diluc asked.

“At headquarters. He hasn’t left all day.” She paused. “He didn’t even go home last night. Or the night before.”

Diluc gave a single nod. “I’ll handle it.”

Jean offered a faint smile, then turned to her drink.

Diluc turned away too, staring down at the bar. His knuckles were white against the wood.

If Kaeya was truly unraveling—

He wasn’t going to lose him again.

Not this time.

Chapter Text

Diluc

Angel’s Share had long since closed its doors for the night.

The stools were stacked, the lights snuffed out, and Mondstadt itself had slipped into its usual late-night hush. Only the occasional murmur of wind drifted between buildings. The guards posted at the gates were technically awake… but their posture said otherwise.

Diluc didn’t use the roads.

He moved from rooftop to rooftop, silent as a shadow, cloak snapping softly behind him. He knew how this would look. Spying on Kaeya. Following him without a word. It was underhanded. Dishonorable. Beneath him.

But still, he had to know.

Kaeya wasn’t himself. That was clear now. Jean saw it too. And if what she said about the stolen documents was true…

He landed on the sloped roof of a building near Favonius Headquarters and crouched low, watching.

The office window on the top floor was still glowing faintly with candlelight. Kaeya’s office. The shadows inside moved every so often. He was pacing again. Diluc recognized the pattern. Like a storm bottled in one man’s spine.

Thirty minutes passed. Quiet. Still. No movement.

Diluc was just about to leave—when the light clicked off.

A shadowed figure emerged from the side entrance, swathed in a heavy, dark cloak. They moved quickly, but not suspiciously. Not at first. But tucked under their arm was a thick pile of papers.

Diluc’s eyes narrowed.

That’s it. That had to be the thief. The stolen files.

The figure moved toward the north exit of the city, staying in the dimmest parts of the path, avoiding the lamplight. Too smooth. Too careful.

He leapt to another rooftop, trailing them from above, heart pounding in his chest—not from exertion.

When the figure passed directly beneath him, the wind caught the edge of their hood and flipped it slightly.

Blue hair.

Not just any blue. His blue. That unmistakable color of frost and secrets.

Diluc froze, mid-step.

Kaeya.

He stood there for a long second, cloaked in shadow, breath catching in his throat.

It didn’t make sense.

It couldn’t make sense.

Kaeya wouldn’t—he couldn’t—he—

Diluc’s fingers curled into fists, knuckles aching.

What are you doing?

This wasn’t Kaeya being reckless or dramatic. This was deliberate. And the way he walked, purposeful and silent—it was almost like…

Like he’d done this before.

Diluc didn’t move. Didn’t chase. Not yet.

He needed to know where Kaeya was going. What he was doing. Why he was doing this alone.

Because if the worst was true—if Kaeya really was turning his back on Mondstadt—

Diluc didn’t know what he’d do.

But whatever happened next, he’d face it.

He’d make Kaeya answer.

Chapter Text

Diluc

Diluc followed him.

Through the north exit, past the sleeping guards and frost-tipped hills. His movements were measured—footsteps light, cloak kept close. But with every step, the anger grew heavier in his chest. Anger at Kaeya. At himself. At the entire situation.

He didn’t want to be here.

Didn’t want to believe what he was seeing.

Kaeya, slinking through the shadows like a traitor, documents tucked beneath his arm like loot. If it were anyone else, Diluc would’ve drawn his blade by now. But with Kaeya…

Everything felt heavier. Slower. Worse.

A sudden crunch of leaves beneath his boot.

Kaeya stopped.

Diluc dropped low, ducking behind the trunk of a large tree just in time. Heart thundering. He held his breath and peered through the branches.

Kaeya’s head turned, scanning the woods with sharp caution. For a moment, moonlight caught his face—and Diluc saw something that turned his blood cold.

His eyepatch… was gone.

And underneath it, not the bruised skin or old wound Diluc had once imagined, but something far worse.

His right eye glowed with a golden hue—not amber, not human. But the sclera … the whites of his eye… were pitch black, like ink spreading through the veins of his soul.

Diluc barely stifled a gasp.

It wasn’t just strange.

It was wrong.

Unnatural.

What happened to you…?

Kaeya turned again, seemingly satisfied he wasn’t being followed, and continued walking.

Diluc stayed frozen for a few more seconds, heart racing, before rising to continue trailing him at a wider distance.

They kept moving—further from civilization, deeper into the wild.

Until finally, the trees gave way to cracked stone and twisted pillars.

Stormterror’s Lair.

Diluc crouched behind a shattered wall, hidden by the ruins.

Kaeya walked with no hesitation, no fear. The massive ribcage arches of the ancient ruin loomed above him as he approached a tall, robed figure crackling faintly with Abyssal energy.

An Abyss Lector.

Diluc’s jaw clenched.

Kaeya walked right up to it—like they knew each other. Like they’d met here before.

Diluc couldn’t hear what they were saying. The wind howled through the broken stones, carrying their voices too far to catch. But he didn’t need to hear it.

The intention was clear.

Kaeya handed over the documents.

Diluc’s breath caught.

No hesitation. No resistance. The Lector took them with a nod, curling long claws around the pages like they were sacred scripture.

And Kaeya just stood there.

Like it meant nothing.

Like he hadn’t just betrayed everything.

Diluc’s fists trembled.

He betrayed Mondstadt.

He felt it echo in his ribs, sink into the pit of his stomach.

Kaeya. His brother. The man who used to fight by his side.

A traitor. Like he’d called him all those years ago.

And yet…

He didn’t move.

Didn’t charge.

Didn’t draw his blade.

Because despite everything… despite what he saw with his own eyes—

Part of him still didn’t believe it.

Chapter Text

Diluc

“You can come out now, Diluc Ragnvindr, ” Kaeya hissed.

The voice cut through the ruins like a blade, sharp and echoing with something… inhuman.

Diluc’s heart froze mid-beat.

He stepped out from the shadows, slow but steady, unsheathing his claymore in one smooth motion. The crimson blade caught the fractured moonlight, but it felt useless in his grip.

Kaeya stood a few paces away, half-turned, cloak still flowing behind him like some abyssal wraith. The Abyss Lector had already disappeared, gone in a flash of black flame.

Diluc stared at him.

That golden, blackened eye glowed in the dark, an unnatural beacon of what had been done to him. Or what he had become.

“What happened to you?” Diluc asked, voice lower than he intended. Raw. Like it hurt to say.

Kaeya turned fully now, head tilted and then he laughed.

Not a dry chuckle. Not the sarcastic snort he usually gave when someone annoyed him.

A maniacal , full-bodied laugh that echoed across the shattered ruin. Unhinged. Grinning with teeth too sharp in the dark.

And that grin… Diluc had never seen anything like it on Kaeya’s face before.

“You’re looking at it,” Kaeya said, arms spread like a mockery of welcome. “This is me, Diluc. The real me.”

Diluc’s eyes narrowed, throat tightening.

“Don’t pull that ‘I’m a different person now’ bullshit.”

But Kaeya only grinned wider, pointing one gloved hand toward him.

“No, no. I’m exactly who I’ve always been. Kaeya Alberich. Adopted son of Crepus Ragnvindr. Abyssal spy. Loyal heir to a kingdom that doesn’t exist anymore.” He stepped forward, energy flickering around his form like black fire, leaking out in tendrils that sizzled against the ground. “And I remembered all of it. My purpose. My place.”

Then his smile faded into something cold.

“ Thanks to you. ”

The words hit like a hammer.

Diluc didn’t reply. He couldn’t. His grip on the hilt of his claymore tightened until his knuckles turned white.

It felt like that night all over again. The one they never spoke of. The one that tore everything apart.

And just like then…Diluc charged.

He moved without thinking. Not as the Darknight Hero. Not as a noble. As a brother. An angry and broken and desperate brother.

But Kaeya was ready.

He blocked the swing with a twist of his blade and a burst of abyssal energy that sent sparks flying across the cracked stone. The force of it pushed Diluc back.

Kaeya didn’t even flinch.

He looked… stronger. Faster. Like something inside him had finally been unchained.

And his voice—so calm it was terrifying—cut through the clash.

“You really thought I wouldn’t betray Mondstadt?” Kaeya asked, deflecting another strike. “After everything?”

He swiped, nearly grazing Diluc’s side. “I tried , you know. I tried to care. To be one of you. To play nice. But why would I care—when the one person I cared about made it perfectly clear that he hated me?”

Diluc’s heart cracked behind his ribs. “Kaeya—”

He lunged again, fury blazing in his eyes.

Their blades met with a deafening clang , sparks lighting the space between them.

“I don’t hate you, Kaeya!” Diluc shouted, voice ragged. “I never did! ”

Kaeya faltered. Slightly.

But it was enough.

“ Snap out of this, dumbass! ”

The name, the tone, something real —hit harder than any weapon.

Kaeya’s grin twitched. His blade held steady, but his eye… it flickered. A flash of hesitation, buried deep behind the gold and black.

Like somewhere inside, a part of him was still listening.

Still there.

Chapter Text

Diluc

Diluc saw it.

The hesitation.

The crack behind Kaeya’s mask.

A glimpse of something familiar in that gold-black eye.

And he didn’t let it go.

“I don’t care what you think you are,” Diluc shouted, voice hoarse from the weight in his chest. “You’re my brother. That never changed. Not the Abyss. Not the lies. Not even you forgetting who the hell you are.”

Kaeya’s blade trembled slightly.

Diluc stepped forward again.

“You hear me?! You’re my brother! And I’m not giving up on you.”

He pointed his claymore forward. The firelight from its edge glinted in the cold ruin air.

“I’ll drag you back kicking and screaming if I have to.”

He charged.

This time with everything. His heart. His grief. His love .

Kaeya screamed.

Not in fear, not in pain, but in a voice torn in half—between rage and something that sounded almost like agony.

He drove his sword into the ground with both hands, abyssal power crackling through the steel and spreading out in a wave.

The earth froze.

A jagged ring of frost exploded outward, ice racing across the stones like a living beast. Diluc couldn’t stop in time.

The ice hit him square in the chest, sending him sliding backward. He slammed into a broken stone pillar with a sickening thud , the breath ripped from his lungs. His shoulder snapping back unnaturally.

He hit the ground hard, coughing, gasping for air.

But through the ringing in his ears, he heard it.

Kaeya… groaning.

He blinked the blur from his vision, looking up.

Kaeya was on one knee.

One hand gripping his blade still embedded in the frozen ground. The other—clawing at his face. His right eye. As if trying to pull something out.

His whole body shook.

“Luc…” he rasped, voice raw and small. Not the hiss of the traitor. Not the Abyssal mockery.

But Kaeya.

The real one.

“You have to…” he gasped, chest heaving, “you have to stop me. ”

Then he screamed.

A sound so loud and broken it echoed off every wall of Stormterror’s Lair. His body arched back, abyssal energy pouring off him in black tendrils.

And when he stood again—head rising slowly, eye glowing brighter than ever—

He wasn’t Kaeya yet.

Not completely.

The grin was back. The posture wrong. Like he was wearing his own body like a borrowed coat.

Diluc, still winded, gritted his teeth and pushed himself up.

“Then I will.”

Chapter Text

Kaeya

It felt like drowning in his own skin.

Kaeya was aware —mind still thrashing, conscious like a ghost screaming behind glass—but his body wasn’t his.

Every movement. Every lunge. Every laugh that tore from his throat like something feral and twisted… none of it was him.

It was like being chained in the back of his own skull.

And over it all…

That voice.

That damn voice.

“You’re an Alberich. Our blood was not made for loyalty. We were made to consume.”

His father’s voice echoed, deeper than it should have been, more monster than man.

The one who had abandoned him. The one who left him in a foreign land as a child with nothing but a name and a lie.

And now that voice wouldn’t shut up.

Every word he spoke, every time he whispered of destiny , the more the Abyss burrowed deeper into Kaeya’s bones. It twisted his limbs. Strangled his thoughts. Controlled his blade.

He could hear Diluc shouting, words raw with emotion, but they barely pierced the storm in his head. Kaeya wanted to answer. He tried .

Every second, he fought for control.

And every second, he failed.

Until—

Steel met steel.

They were fighting again. Sword to sword, sparks raining around them in the ruins like lightning in a bottle. Kaeya’s blade moved on instinct, but not his. Not anymore.

Then—

A break in the defense.

Diluc was open. Right in front of him. Heart exposed.

Kaeya’s arm moved. Blade angled. The tip lined up perfectly with his brother’s chest.

And in that instant—

Kaeya screamed.

Not out loud…inside. Internally, he pulled and clawed and ripped at the chains holding him in his own body.

No. No. NO!

And for one blessed, burning second —

He won.

His body jerked , changing the trajectory of the blade and his own body.

SHLUNK.

Diluc’s claymore went straight through his stomach.

Kaeya gasped. Everything went silent.

The pain hit all at once, white-hot and blooming outwards from the center of his body like fire. His knees buckled as the breath left his lungs in one ragged exhale.

In his head, his father sighed…disgusted.

“What a disappointment.”

Then something tore free from him.

The abyssal energy around his body cracked and evaporated, dissolving into the air like smoke. His aura dimmed. His fingers trembled.

And his eye —

The black in his sclera drained away, leaving only the gold behind.

He looked up.

Diluc was yelling something, mouth moving rapidly, eyes wide in horror—but Kaeya couldn’t hear it.

All he could hear was the blood pounding in his ears, thick and drowning and final.

He tried to say something—anything—but instead blood spilled from his mouth, warm and coppery and wrong.

His legs gave out.

And the last thing he saw was Diluc dropping his claymore, catching him before he hit the ground.

Then everything went black.

Chapter Text

Diluc

The sound that left Kaeya’s mouth wasn’t human. It was a scream , raw and strangled, as if something inside him was being ripped apart.

And then—

Kaeya moved .

Too fast. Too sudden.

Diluc’s blade, mid-swing, meant for Kaeya’s shoulder—

—plunged straight into his stomach.

Time fractured.

The hilt of the claymore vibrated in his hands, then stilled.

Kaeya choked. Blood immediately spilled from his lips.

“No…” Diluc breathed, his voice barely audible.

Kaeya’s body swayed forward, collapsing into him like a puppet with its strings cut.

With shaking hands, Diluc grabbed the hilt of his own weapon…his own damn weapon…buried deep inside the man he swore he’d never hurt again.

And slowly, carefully—

He pulled it out.

The sound was wet. Unforgiving.

Kaeya collapsed into his arms, his legs giving out entirely. Diluc lowered them both to the ground, hands slick with blood. He barely noticed, he could barely breathe .

Then, something happened.

A wave of darkness lifted—like smoke pulled from the room.

Diluc looked down in time to see it: a cloud of abyssal energy evaporating from Kaeya’s body like ink in water. It dissipated into the night air, curling away into nothing.

And Kaeya’s eye—

His right one, the one always hidden behind that damned eyepatch—

It had been wrong. Alien. The sclera pitch black, the iris glowing gold like an ember in the dark.

But now…

The black retreated. Like it had never belonged there.

His sclera turned back to white.

Only the gold remained.

And beneath the blood, the pain, the ruin—

Kaeya looked like himself again.

“Kaeya,” Diluc said, voice cracking.

Kaeya blinked sluggishly, his gaze hazy, lips trembling as blood ran down his chin. His body spasmed once, twice. His hands clutched weakly at Diluc’s coat.

And then his head slumped forward, eyes fluttering shut.

“NO—no no no, stay with me… ” Diluc’s voice broke into something hoarse and panicked. “Don’t you dare..don’t you dare!”

He pressed his hand to the wound again, but it wouldn’t stop. Kaeya was bleeding out .

Diluc’s heart thundered in his chest.

He couldn’t think. Couldn’t breathe.

He had to move.

In one desperate motion, he scooped Kaeya into his arms. The man was frighteningly limp, too heavy, too light all at once.

And then he ran .

Out of the ruins. Across the hills. The wind cutting at his face, the smell of iron thick in his nose.

The Cathedral—he had to get there.

He didn’t care how far it was.

He didn’t care if he collapsed on the steps.

He just had to get there .

Because Kaeya, his brother— his family —wasn’t allowed to die.

Not like this.

Chapter Text

Kaeya

Agony.

A fire spreading through every nerve, drowning every thought in searing heat. He couldn’t breathe—not properly. His lungs caught on something sharp, wet, wrong.

But the voice… that damned voice…

Was gone.

His father’s phantom whispers, the cruel orders, the demands to “remember who you are”…

Silent.

Kaeya tried to focus on that. The silence. The peace.

But the moment slipped as hands pressed against him, voices buzzing like insects in his skull.

He’s waking up—

Hold the pressure—keep healing!

Archons, he’s burning up—

He was in a bed now. He could tell by the stiff linens and the faint smell of incense.

He blinked against the light overhead, the world swimming into view.

Blood.

So much blood.

On hands. Robes. His chest.

Barbara hovered above him, her face pale and smeared with red. Her lips moved rapidly, muttering prayer s. Healing magic. Jean was next to her, eyes wide and hollow with worry, sleeves soaked.

Two other sisters flanked the sides of the bed, moving with trained urgency, whispering medical notes to one another.

And Kaeya…he didn’t care about any of them.

Not one.

His hand jerked upward, clawing for someone who wasn’t there. He opened his mouth, a rasp tearing through his throat.

“…Diluc…?”

He couldn’t tell if they heard him or if it was only in his head, because Jean’s hand immediately came down, firm on his shoulder, pressing him back.

“Kaeya, don’t move. You’re safe. He’s safe.”

He struggled again, harder this time, eyes flicking around the room. His heart thundered. He remembered it all. The sword, the betrayal, the voice in his head.

Did he kill him?

Oh Archons. Oh no—

Jean leaned in closer, her voice gentler, more urgent. “He’s okay. I promise. He’s right there.”

She pointed, and Kaeya’s head snapped in the direction with what little strength he had left.

Across the room, in the far corner, another bed.

A figure slumped in it. Red hair messy, bandages trailing across his shoulder. One arm hanging off the side. Unmoving… but breathing.

Diluc.

Kaeya let out a choked sob. Relief threatened to tear him in half.

His muscles gave out.

He wanted to call to him. Reach him. See him. He needed to say something, anything.

But the light in the cathedral dimmed.

And Jean’s voice, barely above a whisper now, echoed through the dark closing in around him:

“Stay with us, Kaeya. Please…”

But he was already gone again.

Chapter Text

Kaeya

The darkness was thick, too thick.

Thicker than death.

The air… choked.

Kaeya stood at the center of a throne room made of obsidian and ice.

The ceiling soared above him, but he could barely see it through the unnatural fog clinging to the rafters. Black banners draped the walls, embossed with the crest of Khaenri’ah… his birthright. His curse.

A long carpet stretched beneath his feet, leading up to a throne of jagged stone and abyssal flame.

And seated there, his father.

Unaging. Unsmiling. Unforgiving.

He stared down at him with void-dark eyes and a crown forged of bone and glass in his hands.

“You are ready,” the man said, voice heavy with centuries. “At last, the Abyss recognizes you for who you are.”

Kaeya tried to step back. His boots felt fused to the floor. “No—no, I don’t want this.”

“You are this,” his father corrected. “A prince has no wants. He has duty. ”

Kaeya’s voice shook. “I… I don’t—”

“Then cut away the weakness,” his father snapped. “Starting with this.”

He raised a hand and gestured toward the far end of the hall.

Kaeya’s breath caught in his throat.

Hanging from rusted chains, limp and lifeless, was a body.

Diluc.

His cloak torn.

His claymore shattered beneath him.

Kaeya’s own sword— his sword —rammed through his brother’s chest.

A twisted coronation.

Kaeya screamed—

The sound split the dream.

Split the world.

⸻

He bolted upright with a strangled cry, panic crawling up his throat like thorns.

Too fast.

His vision spun. The pressure in his gut surged—

A bucket landed in his lap just in time as he threw up what little was left in his stomach, dry heaving through burning lungs.

A hand was on his shoulder.

Not forcing. Not restraining. Just there.

Guiding him gently back against the bed as his body trembled violently.

A cool cup touched his lips. He drank without thinking, the water cutting through the bile in his throat like glass. Then a rag pressed to his forehead—wet, cold, grounding. Fingers brushed his hair back in slow, steady strokes.

Kaeya cracked open his eye. Just the one.

Thank the Archons. The other… the other was covered now. A fresh cloth patch covered it.

He blinked again.

And saw him.

Diluc.

Sitting on the edge of the bed beside him, his left arm tucked against his chest in a sling. His expression unreadable. Tired. Pale. But alive.

Kaeya’s lip trembled. “You… you’re not…”

“No,” Diluc answered before he could finish. “Not dead.”

Kaeya couldn’t speak. Couldn’t breathe.

Not yet.

But he didn’t let go of the hand still resting on his shoulder.

And Diluc didn’t move it away.

Chapter Text

Kaeya

Kaeya could tell he had a fever—his skin was hot, his eye dry, and even the light from the candle by his bedside felt too bright. It was probably the root cause of the nightmare. That, or the gaping wound in his gut stitched together by too many hands in a rush against time. Or the fact that his body had tasted abyssal power and was now rejecting it like poison.

He shifted slightly, wincing, and turned his head toward the only warm presence in the room not trying to suffocate him.

Diluc.

Still there.

Still watching.

Still real.

“Want to talk about it?” Diluc asked, quiet, rough from exhaustion. Like he didn’t want to spook him.

Kaeya blinked, slowly.

Then nodded.

And for some reason… he did.

The words came with halts and starts, but he told him—about the throne, the crown, their father, the order to sever his heart, the nightmare image of Diluc’s corpse. He didn’t sugarcoat it. Didn’t dress it in charm or sarcasm like he once would have.

And Diluc just… listened.

No flinching. No judgment.

Kaeya only realized why halfway through. Of course. Of course. Diluc had done this before. Sat beside him through a thousand nightmare-addled nights as a child—held his hand, braided his hair, or stayed quiet when Kaeya just needed silence.

Some habits, it seemed, never left either of them.

When the story ended, Kaeya dragged his arm across his face, covering his eyes. Hiding the sting of tears.

“I didn’t mean to hurt anyone… I didn’t want to betray Mondstadt. Or—or you.”

His voice broke, and he hated it.

“If you want me gone after this… I get it. I’ll leave.”

A heavy sigh answered him.

“You’re such a damn idiot,” Diluc muttered.

Kaeya’s arm lowered just enough to peek at him. “Rude.”

“Jean has a lot of questions,” Diluc continued, ignoring him. “And you’re going to have an unholy amount of paperwork once you recover. But no one wants you to leave.”

Diluc looked him square in the eye.

“…Even me. No. Especially me.”

Kaeya blinked. “Wh—”

“I meant what I said,” Diluc cut in firmly, not letting him twist it. “You’re my brother. I’m here to help you. Not turn my back on you. Now get some rest.”

Kaeya stared at him, chest tight, the tears threatening again—but this time, they didn’t come from pain.

He swallowed hard, voice barely audible.

“…You’ll be here when I wake up, right?”

Diluc let out a tired breath, his hand settling lightly on Kaeya’s wrist. “Try and get rid of me.”

Kaeya’s eye finally slipped shut.

Chapter Text

Kaeya - Final

The fever had finally broken.

It left Kaeya clammy, weak, and smelling like sweat and antiseptic—but conscious. Lucid. And unfortunately, well enough to be lectured.

Jean sat in the chair to his right, posture perfect as always. Her armor was gone but the sternness remained. Diluc, bandaged and still in a sling, sat to his left, his expression unreadable but his presence steady.

Kaeya braced himself.

Telling Jean the truth— the truth—about Khaenri’ah had been… terrifying. Not the confession itself, but the look on her face as he explained it. The tightening of her jaw, the narrowing of her eyes. He expected her to yell. To call him a traitor. To order the knights to drag him from the Cathedral, exile him from Mondstadt, or worse.

He half-expected her to mirror Diluc’s reaction from all those years ago.

But instead… she just called him an idiot.

And then she smiled sweetly. Too sweetly.

“Since you’re so good at secrets,” she said calmly, “you’re going to be even better at paperwork.”

Kaeya blinked.

“…Pardon?”

“Anything related to the Abyss or Khaenri’ah is now your responsibility,” Jean continued, with the firm, mother-knows-best tone that made even Diluc flinch. “You are to investigate it, pursue it, and make independent decisions regarding it. Also—” she stood, pulling out a thick folder from her bag and dropping it onto his lap “—you will be heading the complete reorganization of all Favonius operational structures.”

Kaeya stared at the folder like it might explode.

“You gave the Abyss our plans. Which means we need new ones. All new ones. Patrol rotations, outpost placements, communication protocols. Everything. From scratch.”

He slowly pulled his pillow over his face and let out a loud groan.

“Just execute me,” he mumbled, voice muffled beneath the fluff. “This is so much crueler.”

From under the pillow, he heard Diluc’s amused hum.

“I’ll help.”

Kaeya yanked the pillow down and looked at him like he’d grown a second head. “ What? ”

Jean was quicker.

“You can’t. You’re technically a civilian. This is Knights’ work.”

Diluc, unbothered, tilted his head. “Fine then. Knight me.”

The room went dead silent.

Kaeya’s jaw dropped open. “I—Are you serious?!”

Jean’s brows raised high. “Really?”

Diluc nodded once, unfazed. “Kaeya is my responsibility. And… Dad would be pissed if I didn’t help him.”

Jean hesitated. Just long enough to show how truly surprised she was.

“…I’ll talk to the Grand Master,” she said finally. “But if you’re reinstated, expect no special treatment.”

“I wouldn’t dare,” Diluc replied smoothly. Then he turned to Kaeya, and a wicked grin curled across his face—one Kaeya hadn’t seen since they were teens.

“Of course, this comes with conditions.”

Kaeya narrowed his eye. “Like what?”

“You’re coming home.”

Kaeya blinked.

“To the manor. You’re going to live there again. And help with the winery. My work, since I’ll be helping with yours. ”

Kaeya tilted his head in suspicion. “And?”

“You have to do it sober.”

Kaeya reeled back like he’d been shot.

“ You monster! ”

That broke Jean’s composure first. She snorted.

Diluc chuckled under his breath.

Kaeya flopped dramatically back against the pillows, arm flung over his face again. “I take it back. I’ll take exile. The Abyss. The paperwork. Anything but sobriety and possible grape-stomping!”

The room filled with laughter—Jean’s quiet and composed, Diluc’s low and fond, and Kaeya’s breathless and warm.

And for the first time in a long time, Kaeya felt something he didn’t realize he missed so much.

Home.