Chapter Text
TEASER: What Have We Become
Was the ground pounding just as loudly as his heart? It certainly felt like that to the boy, with how fast he ran through the dark hallways. With every step, he had to be careful of the debris that littered the cavern floors everywhere. Half of that debris had been people, but now, with the disaster behind them – by mere hours, that is –, the boy was still desperate to look for survivors.
When entering the main city of what once had been a kingdom, he saw an inexplicable sight. Remains of what had once stood as houses could be seen littered around, the scent of magic lingered in the air. The marks of destruction indicated the involvement of the seven elements.
As he stepped by one of the deeper Hydro ‘puddles’, one that could be called a lake if one wasn’t aware of the circumstances, a hand floated towards him, bumping into his boots. Golden eyes followed the appendage to find a man roughly in their thirties staring at the cavern’s ceiling with glassy, unseeing eyes.
Clenching his fists, the golden-haired youth scoffed and turned away, gazing instead at the fallen palace, tears gathering in his eyes. “Maybe it’s better that you don’t see this, Ti’a. I promised you and… This is not how it should have gone.”
The city was mostly silent compared to the pounding in his ears, so the boy didn’t expect to hear a strangely distorted voice speak up behind him with familiar words.
“ Nahdo’ungr? Is that really you? ”
He expected to see a citizen of Khaenri’ah behind him, covered in dust and blood, most likely. He wasn’t prepared to see the creature it was instead.
It was tall, certainly twice his size, black armor covered it from head to toe and there was no visible sign of it having a face. Yet, the language it spoke was very clearly the Khaenri’ahn tongue that he himself spoke in his youth.
Dread settled deep in his chest. Is this what they had become? Him, void of his powers after the fight with that god, them turned into these… these monsters?
“I apologize.” The language tasted foul on his tongue. Foreign after having spent centuries without the use of it, and now guilt accompanied the words as well. In truth, he didn’t deserve to speak it, not after broken vows and broken wings. Still, this needs to be said. “I should have arrived sooner.”
The creature still seemed wary. “ The legends tolds us there were two. Where is she?”
The boy’s expression turned sorrowful. “She was taken a few hours ago. Even if she wasn’t, she needs time to realize the situation. What happened to you? Are there more survivors?”
“ Some, but not all of them are aware. Many died, the rest became various monsters. It was a curse from the wretched gods. The Royals fell.”
The boy’s eyes widened. “Clan Alberich? They’re… they’re all gone?”
“The king put up a fight, I fought close to him. Slew the Electro and Pyro Archons, injured the Hydro one. In the end, the gods took care of him too.”
“Can you… can you take me to Queen Frija’s… her body?”
The creature stumbled backwards. If it had an expression, the boy was sure it would have been a surprised one. “Frija? You don’t understand, my prince. It has been over a dozen generations of royals since Queen Frija reigned. Even you are nothing more than a legend today to most.”
“A dozen…” No, that can’t be… They were only supposed to be gone until Frija was all grown up.
Aether hung his head in shame and sorrow. In his mind, golden eyes filled with tears as they looked back at him.
Ti’a, I’m so sorry.
Birth of a God, Unwilling
One moment, she was sure she was going to die, that Mama and her brothers were gone, the next, Kar’ah wakes to the most beautiful room she has ever seen. It’s made of stone, like her home was, but this feels much more welcoming, even with the white, silver and blue, which were really cold colors to decorate with.
The bed she is lying in is soft, but in a different way than her own bed, the fabric not quite as silky as the one they used, but something else.
There was also a lot of bright light and she felt very uncomfortable with all of it, used to the dark caves and corridors being only lit by the lamps the alchemists made or with some glowing crystals embedded in the walls. Here, it seemed as though light came from everywhere, but especially this hole in the wall that was patched up with some glass.
She shook her head at the stupidity. Every kid knows that while glass is pretty, if it isn’t worked on by alchemists, which would leave a mark she can’t see here, the glass will break in a quake.
At least the person who lived here clearly had some taste, even if they were an idiot. Looking around, she saw some more fancy but impractical items and sighed. If everything is so nonsensical here, she will be happy if the door to the house won't be in the ceiling.
She has to get back home, she reminds herself, thinking of her brothers and mother. They must be worried, not knowing where she is, if she made it out of the calamity. They must have gotten back to the Palace, gone to the underground chambers. Mama always told them nothing could hurt them there.
Yes, she just needs to get there.
Kar'ah was going to make her big brother Kaeya proud and use all the stories he told her and all the sparring they'd done and get there, all on her own like a big girl.
After all, she's six now, and Kaeya is only four years older and he's always been awesome. If he can do it, so can she!
First, she reached to lift the pillow on her bed. Under it, she found nothing.
Well, that's just atrocious.
Who doesn't keep a knife under their pillow?
It’s really frightening how some people live. She still remembers when Hoder gifted her one of his daggers. It was two years ago, about the same time as Kaeya decided to start teaching her the art of the spear.
Hoder had told her she should keep it under her pillow at all times and if anyone, including their father, ever tried to hurt her, she should use it on them. He also made her promise to keep it a secret. She hadn’t understood why, but he explained that it was important that no one knows she has it, so that if bad people come, she can use the element of surprise.
Kaeya has spoken about that too, when they were training. He has told her that because she’s small and young still, she has to rely on some tricks to defend herself. She thinks he showed her more tricks sometimes than actual fighting, but she trusted her brother. If Kaeya said she needs the tricks more, she probably does. Once she grows taller, she will ask him to teach her more fighting too.
Right, she should hurry! Every moment spent here is one more they spend worrying!
Kar’ah opens the door carefully, peeking outside. She didn’t see anyone in the corridor and frowned. This seemed easier than sneaking around at home. Too easy.
Not rejecting a perfect opportunity that seemed to be wrapped up neatly in a bow as it was presented to her, she slipped from the room and walked forward on the long corridor, searching for a way out. She figured she will either find the stairs and look for some secret tunnels, or if she’s feeling bold, try for the big entrance.
Well, she didn’t know whether this place had secret tunnels, or if the entrance was big, but the decoration and the huge corridor reminded her of the palace, so it must have been pretty similar.
In the Khaenri’ahn Royal Palace, the secret tunnels were all on the lower levels, or in the Buried Wing, which was the part of the palace that was carved from the stone wall of the greatest cave of their homeland. Those underground tunnels lead into the city or to the other caves, or even their lakes. Some of them, the Guards knew of and patrolled, but some were only theirs, the start of her great adventures with her big brother Kaeya.
Just as she was rounding a corner, she could hear a voice behind her. “Where are you going?”
It was a woman, taller than her Mama and looked stronger too. She was like the warrior women she heard legends about, big sword strapped to her back, hair the color of rose quartz, eyes sharp like they were crystals themselves. She wore armor, half of the dress seemed to be made of metal. Her face was all edges, not round and gentle like Mama’s, but like she was carved from marble, like some of the Palace walls.
But what was the strangest, was that she had no star in her eyes. Green eyes, the shade of nothing she had seen before – though that wasn’t saying much, the only green that ever was in Khaenri’ah were the emeralds –, were staring at her, but the center part was round, not four-pointed like it should be.
She was an outsider and she must have been the one to take her, bring her here, far away from home.
Kar’ah turned around and ran. She didn’t stop until she reached a big double door.
She knew it! She knew there was a big entrance to this place. Looking behind her, the woman ran after her, but was slower.
The Princess took her chance and pushed the door, which was a lot lighter than it looked and opened easily, even with her lack of strength. She didn’t question it, just ran out.
Not three steps outside, she stopped immediately in shock.
This place wasn’t Khaenri’ah at all. From the inside decoration before, she had thought they had taken her to safety to the Azure Palace, the home of Clan Ceolmund, on the other side of the country.
Now she found herself in a strange place, where there was something weird and green on the ground beside the road and colorful things swaying on it. Grass and flowers, she recalled from Kaeya’s stories. Things that grew on Teyvat, things they pretended they could see for the first time together when they traveled the world.
She looked up and saw a sea of blue above her, smooth and endless, only interrupted by a very, very bright light. It was shining on her too and was warm, much warmer than she’s used to, unlike the alchemist lamps that gave dimmer light and no heat.
That’s the sun.
She’s in Teyvat, she realized. How will she get home now?
When the woman caught up to her, she was sitting on the ground, tears falling down her cheeks.
Lost Stars, Found Again
It was certainly the most awkward Kaeya has ever felt after Diluc and him separated from their hug and calmed down a little. Neither of them really knew what to say, where to start and they couldn't fall into their usual patterns of barely concealed jabs, not tonight.
He knew he had things to explain and maybe even questions of his own that he never dared ask before but maybe could now.
Where to start, though?
Diluc seemed to have the same dilemma, until he huffed, clearly exasperated and spoke up. "I didn't know who you were."
Kaeya raised an eyebrow, because without a little more to go on, that statement was only confusing him more and more.
"When I got back to Mondstadt," the redhead clarified. He stared at the floorboard with a haunted look, like remembering times that are better left in the past. "I didn't remember until days after you gave me that vase."
Oh.
"So, that comment about evil…" Kaeya started, still hesitant.
Diluc shook his head though. "I didn't mean it that way. I was actually talking about my experiences there."
It was clear from his tone that this had a long story behind it, but it wasn't one Kaeya was ready to ask about at the moment. They had enough bad experiences to process tonight as is.
"So… you had a sister and a brother," the Ragnvindr spoke. He sounded curious, reminding Kaeya of earlier years, when Diluc's eyes still sparked with a thirst for adventure.
He fought back a grimace after the mention of his birth siblings. He lost them such a long time ago, but sometimes he still likes to imagine them, what they looked like back then, what they would look like now…
It leaves a bitter taste in his mouth, the thought of what could have been.
Hoder would be twenty-five years old now, having two and a half years on Kaeya. He would be the same height as him, but relying on physical strength rather than tricks. If they had escaped together, he would be training with Jean, probably finding work as a knight or an adventurer and good at it too. Though of course, he could also just have found a new passion, getting free from their father's shackles.
Kar'ah would be nineteen, a young woman he never got to see. He doesn't know what she would look like or be like, the girl always was content just listening to his stories, wanting to join his adventures. Still, he can see her dance on the grass at Windrise, flower crown in her hair, laughing in the gentle breeze. She would be so delighted at this world full of colors, of sounds she never knew.
"I apologize I shouldn't have brought it up…" he heard Diluc say. He must have looked confused, because the redhead clarified in the next moment. "You're tearing up again."
Kaeya wiped the tears off quickly. "No, it's just… I wonder sometimes how things would have ended up if we all escaped." A thought occurred to him and he felt a smile creep up on his face. "They would have liked you."
His brother relaxed at the Khaenri'ahn's expression. "I wish I could have met them. I… I would like to hear more about them if and when you feel ready."
"I would like that too," the knight nodded.
There was a lull in the conversation and Kaeya considered the things that are still waiting to be done. Diluc spoke before he could though. “There’s something I should tell you. We didn’t properly get rid of the demon. It fled.”
“Fled?” That didn’t make sense… Except, the demon only kept saying that it’s here to have fun. If that was at all true, it could have simply gotten bored. Though this idea sounded ridiculous.
“It said it had an agreement with your birth father,” Diluc said the last words with such contempt he rarely displayed. “And that upon being summoned, it followed the agreement again.”
Then, Diluc relayed the rest of the story to him and the knight hummed in thought. “It does make sense somewhat, but I didn’t know any of this… The demon did mention Celestial heritage to me too, while he held me captive. It's just… I can’t see it. Celestial blood in the Abyss-tainted nation? With my father’s hatred of the gods?”
"Well, we should get downstairs," he suggested after he managed to file away this information for a later date. "I need to talk to them."
Diluc nodded reluctantly and Kaeya couldn't say he disagreed with what the other was likely thinking about. He could use some rest and time to himself after all of that, and he was still sore from the physical pain, but he would manage for a few conversations before resting.
"Alright. You should have something to eat anyway." Kaeya would have protested usually, but the Abyss mages didn’t give him anything to eat while they held him in that domain, so he hadn’t had a bite in four days, which was more than he was comfortable with when it came to starving.
When they arrived downstairs – with the eyepatch comfortably back on –, everyone was still in the dining area. The Yaksha was sitting in one of the couches that was closer to the dining table, looking out the window, Morax was eating what seemed to be cream stew, occasionally huffing at something Venti or the Harbinger said. Jean was much the same, except for the huffing, she was quietly talking with Lisa and Amber. The Harbinger was suggesting to fight Barbatos for some reason, all the while eagerly destroying a Fisherman’s Toast. Venti laughed and said something about Fire Water that Kaeya didn’t catch, but could guess from context clues.
He tried putting a smile or a smirk on for his grand entrance, but found himself much too tired for his usual techniques and the mask didn’t slide properly into place. “Hello, everyone. Officially, this time, I suppose.” He spoke again before they could get a word in, wanting to get it over with. “I’d like to thank all of you for getting me out of the influence of that curse.”
They all said their different ways of you’re welcome and no problem and even though he wanted to protest again, he just decided to take the seat on Lisa’s other side with a sigh and a smile so small, Albedo might have been proud of his imitation skills.
“Kaeya, how did you get in that position in the first place?” Jean asked tiredly, like she was already weary from the answer.
He was suddenly feeling very much like the idiot he was in the last couple of days. The Cavalry Captain scratched the back of his neck with an awkward smile and forced himself to answer. “Well, you might have seen in the memories, but I had a little negotiation with some Abyss Order mages at the time of the Stormterror incident and they put a spell on my eye to seal the deal. I have, unfortunately, forgotten about that little detail at one point and slipped up in my report to them. I suppose the lack of more than a few hours of sleep helped in that too. They used the spell to track me and prepared an ambush, then the rest is history.”
He could almost physically feel the exasperation of all of his friends and his brother.
The Harbinger thankfully changed the topic by interrupting. “Speaking of reports, I will have to write a letter about this to Her Majesty. I’m willing to be brief, but if she asks something, I will have to answer truthfully.”
Kaeya internally groaned, because of course that woman will interfere again. But, already owing her his life twice, he figures he can balance some of that out by being truthful. “It’s alright. But only she can know, no one else, or the Fatui can reconsider their alliance with Mond.”
The Harbinger only smirked dangerously before agreeing to the deal.
The Geo Archon spoke next, his voice a deep rumble of calm. “Childe, do you plan to report to the Cryo Archon in person after this?”
The ginger frowned. “Yes, though I have to wait for her reply to allow me to go back to Snezhnaya, why?”
Thus, Zhongli explained his plan for retirement and that he doesn’t wish to retire after all. He told them he will have to renegotiate the terms of their contract with the Tsaritsa, as he cannot and will not break it.
Childe’s eyes became darker, if that was at all possible with how they had no light to begin with and there was no cheer in his voice either when he answered. “Fine. I will take you to the Tsaritsa. You will be treated as a guest of a Harbinger on the way there. But after that, I don't want to see you again, Morax.”
It was the first time during the conversation that Zhongli flinched, a pained expression taking place for a moment before he quickly schooled his face back to its stony indifference. There was clearly something he was missing here.
After a quick subject change and a few minutes of chatter, the people started to head to the guest rooms for the night, while Kaeya contemplated some opportunities that showed themselves for the near future.
Xiao came up to him, an equally neutral expression on his face as his Lord’s. “Can I have a word with you?”
He ignored Diluc’s confused look and nodded, guiding the Adeptus over to the balcony. Xiao looked at the landscape, grapevines and in the distance, the Liyue border and for a few seconds, it was just them and the moon, in peaceful silence.
"I have seen nothing like this demon before. I wasn't certain we could defeat it after a while." Kaeya felt himself suck in a breath at this, even though he suspected it. The knowledge that he might not have made it… "It had a strong hold on you. I was glad when it was broken."
Kaeya smiled. "I'm grateful for your help. And to have met you."
The Conqueror of Demons looked surprised, then scowled. "You barely know me."
"Yet," chuckled the knight. Just a bit, Xiao reminded him of Diluc.
The Yaksha chose to ignore it and changed topics. "So as much as I would like for nothing like this to happen again, it might, or it might to someone else you know. And if that happens, or you need my help again… Call my name. Adeptus Xiao. I will be there when you call."
That was… that was way more than Kaeya expected, to be honest, especially after all the memories Xiao must have seen in his mind. He wasn’t… he wasn’t a good person, not someone who would deserve this. “I… I’m honored, Xiao. Thank you.”
“Don’t mention it,” he muttered, then summoned teal-colored magic to his hands. “Goodbye.”
In seconds, he was gone and Kaeya took a few moments himself to look at the night sky. The stars were bright tonight and he hoped that was a good sign. He took his Vision off his belt and looked at it, wiping it gently with his thumb. “You keep saving me in your own way, huh? I guess it’s time to choose balance at last.”
He walked back to the table, where only his brother was sitting now, everyone else likely already in their respective rooms. He sighed, bracing himself for whatever reaction his next statement will get.
“I’m going to visit Snezhnaya.”