Archive of Our Own ^beta

To say Kaeya was anxious would be an understatement. Albedo disappearing for days at a time was a common occurrence, but nearly two weeks had passed since anyone had last seen him. Worse still no one could seem to find the alchemist. He had to be somewhere amongst the snowy terrain of Dragonspine, but where? Sure he often went out to gather materials, but he always returned to his lab, so why hadn’t he?

After a team of knights from the Favonius Reconnaissance Company came back empty handed for the third time, Kaeya had gotten frustrated with their lack of results and decided to go looking for the blond himself.

When he opened the door to Jean’s office, she seemed to know exactly what he was going to say and so she spoke first, “No.”

“I’m not asking,” Kaeya responded, more serious than Jean had seen him in a long time. “I’m just giving you a heads up I’ll be gone for a while.”

“And what if you get lost too up there all by yourself? Let me get a few people to come with you, and then you can go.”

Kaeya appreciated her concern, but he had grown too impatient. “I am not going to waste any more time sitting idly by while you ask around.”

Jean pinched the bridge of her nose for a moment before finally sighing and giving in. “Fine, but promise me you’ll come back safe and sound. I- I don’t want to see you hurt.”

Kaeya’s lips turned upward in a confident smile. “I promise I’ll bring both of us back in one piece.”

Jean nodded, her expression showing she was both worried and relieved. “I’ll hold you to that. Please bring Albedo home, and may Barbatos guide you.”

Kaeya suppressed a roll of the eyes as he waved and exited Jean’s office. His smile dissipated upon hearing the click of the closing door behind him. Barbatos was probably off somewhere getting wasted as usual, he was not someone Kaeya could rely on for this matter.

His ascent up the mountain was slow, with him constantly stopping to scan his surroundings for any signs of the missing captain but to no avail. By the time he reached the frost bearing tree, snowflakes had begun to fall and accumulate. Under different circumstances, he may have even paused to admire the quiet beauty of the gentle snowfall. But as he continued upward, the harsher the wind seemed to blow and the colder he got. It didn’t take long for Kaeya to realize a blizzard was brewing.

He didn’t have time to get all the way to Albedo’s lab, so he’d have to make do with a different cave to wait it out.

After trudging through the snow for a while longer, Kaeya finally came across one. With a sigh of relief, he made his way inside. It went deeper than he had originally thought and at first he couldn’t make out where it ended. His eyes, or eye rather, slowly adjusted to the relative lack of light and he noticed what looked like a person by the back wall of the cave. “Hello? Is someone there?” the knight called, but there was no answer. The only response he got was the person shifting even further backwards. Kaeya took several more steps closer before he could finally make out the details of the cave’s other occupant.

Sitting there was the man everyone had been desperately a for all this time, back pressed up against the wall as if he wanted to be as far away from Kaeya as possible, and hands held up to shield his face from view. The first thing Kaeya noticed, other than the absurdity of the situation of course, was Albedo’s lack of gloves. The pale, embellished skin Kaeya had grown accustomed to now resembled claws and were a dark purple with visible veins that were in even darker shade. The unusual color traveled up his arms, but it grew lighter in color the higher they went. Although his face was mostly obscured, Kaeya could see the top of his head which now sported a pair of deep purple, almost black horns. Most shocking of all were the large, bat like wings that sprouted from his back, his shirt most definitely ripped to accommodate the new appendages.

“..Albedo?” Kaeya asked tentatively as he slowly approached the other.

Albedo’s shoulders tensed. “Don’t- don’t look at me. Please, don’t come any closer.”

Kaeya’s brows furrowed in confusion but he continued onwards. He eventually reached Albedo and crouched down in front of him. He gently took Albedo’s arms and moved them so they were no longer blocking his face. Albedo didn’t put up a fight, seemingly too weak to, but he looked away in shame as Kaeya took in his appearance with wide eyes. His cheeks were also stained purple and had a few vines showing while the pupils of his eyes had become red slits. The whites of his eyes had darkened as well, making the red even more striking. After a few moments of Kaeya’s staring, tears welled in Albedo’s eyes.

“Go away, please. I don’t want anyone to see me like this, especially not you.”

Although his mind was reeling and he was struggling to comprehend what he was seeing, Kaeya’s heart ached upon seeing Albedo’s pained and fearful expression. He gently said, “Albedo, what happened? Who did this to you? Was it an experiment gone wrong? Talk to me, please. I’m here to help.”

Albedo lightly shook his head and said in a weak voice. “No, no you’re not supposed to be here. Please leave, please.”

Kaeya felt guilty for not respecting Albedo’s wishes, but he felt he had to. “No, I’m not leaving you here like this. What can I do to help? Should we go back to your lab? Is there anything I can do to fix you?”

“There’s no fixing me,” Albedo said, exasperated.

Kaeya carefully brought a hand to Albedo’s discolored cheek and gently turned his head to face him. “Albedo, tell me what’s going on. I can keep a secret, just please let me help you.”

Albedo avoided Kaeya’s gaze as he bit his lip, and Kaeya could tell he was silently weighing his options. The howling wind was the only sound filling the cave until Albedo finally spoke.

“..Have you heard of Rhinedottir?”

Kaeya frowned, already not liking where this conversation was going. Despite the Khaenri’ahn symbol both he and Albedo both bore, they had never so much as mentioned their homeland with each other before. As much as Kaeya was curious as to why Albedo’s star was on his neck instead of his pupils like every other Khaenri’ahn, himself included, he wasn’t keen on acknowledging anything to do with his origins. But it seemed now it was unavoidable.

“Yes, she was one of the five Sinners of Khaenri’ah.”

“Are you aware she’s a master of alchemy, and that she has the ability to create life?”

“I knew she was an alchemist but.. can alchemy really be used to create life?” Kaeya asked in disbelief. Had Albedo ever attempted to do such a thing? Now sure was not the time to ask, but he tucked the thought away for now to retrieve when the moment was right.

Albedo solemnly nodded. “Yes, she has made many creatures, including the dragon Durin, whose remains litter this mountain and give it the name Dragonspine.”

“Okay.. but what does that have to do with you? Were you researching Durin’s remains or something?”

Ignoring the second question completely, Albedo continued, “You see, Durin wasn’t always evil. He once was pure of heart and wanted nothing more than to befriend Dvalin, Barbados, and the people of Mondstadt. But he eventually became corrupted by something and was violently attacking the city. He wasn’t aware of his actions until he had been defeated and was close to death. You see he wasn’t evil in nature, but he eventually fell victim to corruption, and it seems that fate is inevitable for all of Rhinedottir’s creations.. including those who were created as a result of her Primordial Human Project.”

Kaeya’s brows furrowed, still not understanding how any of that related to Albedo, until it slowly dawned on him. “You mean you’re..”

“One of Rhinedottir’s creations, not human, and becoming corrupted and slowly losing control of himself?” Albedo closed his eyes and let out a long sigh as if he had been dreading having this conversation for a long, long time. “Yes, yes I am all of those things.”

The alchemist’s eyes suddenly opened and for the first time since he entered the cave he finally looked Kaeya in the eye. He leaned forward and grabbed one of Kaeya’s sleeves with surprising strength. “But- but you can’t tell anyone. The process won’t be completed this time, it’ll fade soon. I still have time to find a solution. I’m not a threat, I promise. Please believe me.”

Although he wasn’t there to see it, Kaeya knew full well the level of destruction Durin’s rampage caused. Albedo was not a huge deadly dragon, although it did seem he had taken on some dragon like traits in his corrupted state, but the alchemist certainly could do a lot of damage and kill a great many people if he truly were to lose control. Perhaps that’s why he spent so much time in dragonspine away from the city.

Kaeya should be frightened, or maybe even draw his blade and cut Albedo down before the corruption had time to progress but he couldn’t bring himself to. The tears still brimming in his in combination with the pure desperation on his face was more than enough for Kaeya to trust his sincerity.

“Okay, I believe you.”

The relief on Albedo’s face was immense, and a single silent tear fell down his cheek as he murmured, “thank you,” and released Kaeya’s sleeve.

Kaeya smiled a bit but it morphed into a look of astonishment as all the signs of corruption slowly receded. Once they were all completely gone, Albedo slumped over in exhaustion. After taking a few moments to process what he just saw, Kaeya stood up and pulled Albedo up with him, slinging the alchemist’s arm around his shoulder. It was a bit awkward considering how much taller Kaeya was than the shorter man, but he made it work.

“We can talk more later. Come on, let’s get you home.”

Albedo weakly nodded and mumbled, “Thank you for trusting me.”

Kaeya smiled softly at his fellow captain. “Yeah well, thank you for trusting me with your secret. We’re going to have to come up with a convincing story for Jean and the others though... You know, everyone has been worried sick and searching all over for you. You owe them all quite the big apology,” he teased if only to lighten the mood.

Albedo could only hum in response, the whole ordeal seemingly left him absolutely spent. It was odd for Kaeya to see the usually put together alchemist in such a vulnerable state, he couldn’t help but be glad it was him who came across Albedo like that instead of one of the other knights. Who knows what they would have done to him. The thought made Kaeya grimace and hold Albedo a little tighter, feeling strangely protective of him.

“Maybe we should go to your lab first and have you rest there for a bit before making the trek back to Mondstadt,” Kaeya suggested and Albedo nodded weakly in agreement. Upon approaching the entrance to the cave, they found the blizzard had mostly calmed down, but who knows if that would last. They had to move now while they still could. “Bear with me, okay?” Albedo nodded again and they set off.

Despite his fellow knight being surprisingly light, carrying up the snowy mountain was a bit of a struggle. Still, they made it to the lab without incident. Kaeya gently placed Albedo down on the cot and sighed, turning to look around.

“Are you hungry? I think I remember you mentioning you keep some ingredients up here.. if you tell me where they are I can whip something up for us. How does that sound? ..Albedo?”

Upon getting no answer, Kaeya turned back to the alchemist only to see he had curled up and promptly fell asleep on the cot. Kaeya shook his head and smiled fondly at the sight. He grabbed what appeared to be the only blanket nearby and draped it atop the dozing knight before pulling a chair out from behind a desk and sitting on it.

There was definitely still a lot that they had to talk about, but for now, Kaeya would let Albedo get some well needed rest. That discussion could wait until morning.