Chapter Text
When Ursa the Drake attacked, none of them were prepared.
One moment, they were peacefully riding through Mondstadt’s green pastures toward the Winery and laughing, Diluc chatting with his father. The latter had his window open on his carriage to enjoy the nice weather.
The next, the damned abyssal dragon was upon them, three knights and their mounts being thrown by a single movement of its tail before they even realized what was happening.
“KEEP YOUR CALM ! STAY IN FORMATION - “ Diluc shouted, drawing his claymore.
He sent a first burst of fire, but it did not penetrate the thick scales.
The other young knights tried to defend the carriage and help their fallen comrades, but they couldn’t do any damage either ; most of them were young, barely older than Diluc himself, and starting to panic.
Ursa the Drake clawed around, snapping a horse within its maw, uprooting more trees with its tail.
“We have to hold on ! Kaeya and his squad shouldn’t be far behind us, if we can keep it contained until their arrival - “ Diluc desperately encouraged.
“Captain, it isn’t working !”
“The civilians are going to - “
“We're all going to die !” one young knight wailed.
“Shut the fuck up !” another replied.
“Kaeya, hurry up plea - FATHER ?!” Diluc shouted, seeing the man exit the carriage and launch himself at the beast.
“I will be taking care of THIS !” Crepus roared, pushing his son away from the last attack of the Drake, and throwing… black chains ? Black fire ? Something Diluc had never seen his father use before, at the dragon.
At least, it seemed to be able to momentarily stop it from moving around, even if it wasn’t defeated yet.
“Father, what is THAT ?!”
“Don’t mind it for now, Diluc ! Focus on the - ugh !”
Diluc let out a high-pitched scream as he saw his father barely avoid a claw that would have impaled him if he had been a second slower.
“Stay back ! You’re a civilian ! You shouldn’t - “
“And you’re my son ! No way in the Abyss I’m staying out when I can help ! Now go for it !”
With a grunt of exertion, Crepus let out more strange chains, flattening the Drake to the ground in an instant. The beast howls in rage, its maw snapping open and close.
His father wouldn’t be able to hold on for long ; Diluc decided to drop the matter and prepared his elemental burst.
“BURN !”
He released Dawn, aiming straight for the eyes, the most obvious weakness - and it seemed to work. The Drake let out a deafening roar, shuddering in pain - but then it was struggling even harder than before, and broke out the black chains.
The dragon blindly lashed out - and Crepus was sent flying, some of his chains still attached to it.
“FATHER !” Diluc screamed. He made an attempt to run toward where his father was thrown but had to step back as the Drake barreled in the way. Its eyes were still closed, and it was attacking anything around him, lost in a blind rage.
Unable to do otherwise, Diluc went back to ordering his men, despair bleeding in his voice to finish this impossible fight as fast as possible in order to go and find his father.
It seemed an eternity passed before they made any progress, their attack much less effective without the strange black chains restraining the beast. When, finally, Diluc could feel the beast was on its last legs, he pushed, adrenaline coursing through his veins, his blood burning along his Vision, ready to unleash an onslaught of fire like never before -
And, from somewhere on his left, hidden by the trees, a pale blue vial was sent flying toward the Drake. The moment it connected with the beast, there was an explosion and a blinding flash of light.
Ears ringing, Diluc blinked until his teary eyes could see through the smoke ; the moment he could, he gasped.
Ursa the Drake was down, destroyed by that single attack.
Clapping came from the treeline ; Diluc startled toward the sound.
“Well, well, well ! Seems like my last little experiment was even more successful than I expected. Truly, I am an unmatched genius,” a mask-wearing man cackled.
Diluc recognized him instantly ; he had been a pain in the ass of Varka regarding diplomatic negotiations lately.
“Il Dottore,” he grit out.
“Ah, the young Ragnvindr. Not bad, not bad, but not good enough, eh ?”
“What do you want ?”
“Me ? Ohoh, nothing, nothing at all ! I was merely passing by, and it seems I coincidentally saved your life from the beast, doesn’t it ?”
“As if this is a coincidence - “
“You have no proof it isn’t,” the Harbinger smirked. “Although… it seems I couldn’t save you all. My condolences, I suppose ~”the madman laughed.
Diluc paled, suddenly remembering his father. He screamed, running toward where he last saw him -
But as he turned around a fallen tree, all he could see was a tall man, Harbinger too by the look of his clothes and mask, and some more Fatui grunts, lifting -
Lifting a limp body, pale skin, and bright red hair like his own, and even more red all over -
And the tall man activated some strange artifact, and they were gone. All of them. Including his father.
Diluc screamed again, turning around, shoving Kaeya away, ready to lunge at the mad Doctor -
But the Fatui Harbinger was gone too.
“D-Diluc ? What… what happened ? Why was - w-was Father..?” Kaeya stammered, looking wide-eyed at his enraged brother, at the fallen beast, and at the place where he thought he saw their father a second ago with Fatui.
He had just arrived, and seeing the Drake dead, he thought everything would be fine. Everyone would be safe. But Father… the blood…
Diluc slumped down, face in his hands, a sob wracking his frame. Too late, he had been too late. Their father was gone, dead already, or he would soon be if the Doctor used him as an experiment subject.
“He’s gone, Kaeya. Father is gone. The Fatui… The Fatui took him. He helped defeat the beast, and he was attacked, and… I couldn’t do anything. Father is gone, and I couldn’t do anything - !” the redhead sobbed.
Kaeya watched him, too shocked to do anything. Father, gone ? It did not make any sense. He couldn’t… Father could not disappear. Not like that, so suddenly, without a warning, without a goodbye -
He felt disbelief. He felt anguish. And… relief. At least, now that he was gone, Father would never have to find out he was a traitor -
Kaeya immediately felt disgusted with himself. Their father was dead, at best , and he was being so fucking selfish . He took a deep breath and tried to compose himself.
“C’mon, Luc. We have to… we have to go back to Mond. And explain what happened…” he said, nudging his brother.
Diluc was so grief-stricken it took him three calls and shaking his shoulder for him to finally move. Tears kept streaming down his face ; Kaeya felt awful for him. He, himself, couldn’t feel grief at the moment. Shock, probably, he reasoned.
But the perverse little part of his brain he usually managed to keep quiet piped up : he wasn’t sad because it was not his father that died. Merely a pawn for his mission. Of course, a spy wouldn’t grieve what undoubtedly counted as a success for the Abyss -
He shook his head, guilt clawing at him. He wasn’t… He loved Crepus. Father . But he had to stay calm and help his older brother. He would grieve later…
They rejoined the rest of the Knights, noting the injured and the fallen horses, and rode back toward Mondstadt slowly. The atmosphere was bleak, the weather still dreadful, matching their feelings.
As they entered Mondstadt, Kaeya made a decision. He wouldn’t lie to his family anymore. He might have lost his father, but he would tell the truth to his brother, no matter what.
•·················•·················•
The man with fire-like hair was laying down on a cot. Albeit calling it a cot was a bit of an understatement ; the bed was richly decorated, with a soft feathery mattress, fluffed pillows, and silk sheets. Only the slow rocking and its narrower frame betrayed the fact that the bed was inside a boat cabin.
The pale man slowly breathed in and out. The injuries he sustained earlier had left him in a critical state, but the immediate medical treatment had already greatly improved his condition. He would still need to be on bed rest and watch out for his food and fluid intake to recuperate from the blood loss, the Delusion-induced burns, and his awkwardly bent ankle, but he would recover in a few weeks at most.
The other man in the cabin sighed deeply, frowning at the Delusion now innocently sitting in its ornate wooden box. Foolish. If he had been late… If he had let that damn mad doctor do as he pleased… No, he did not want to think about it.
He sat down near the bed, softly caressing the red locks. He would be safe now. He would make sure of it. They were due to leave tonight, to return to the relative safety of Her Majesty’s land.
He longed for the snowy palace and the clean, freezing air of his residence. He longed to share it with the man who usually looked so much like fire, like the fire that the Archons blessed his son with…
Speaking of which. Before he left, he wanted to go and take a look… A look at the blue-haired teenager he briefly saw earlier. Just a look… A look at his own son . And then, he would leave.
Just a look, from afar.
•·················•·················•
At first, when he heard that the First Harbinger had left in a hurry, following Dottore (one of the Dottores? It still wasn't really clear to him what the multiple doctors were ), Childe hadn't thought much of it.
After all, while he had not been a Harbinger for a long time, he had already figured out there were… rivalries and infighting among the Tsaritsa's most trusted servants.
In fact, he wasn't sure if there had been an Eleventh before him. But if it was the case, he was, like, ninety percent sure they were murdered by Arlecchino. That crazy bitch.
But then, he stumbled on an interesting conversation happening within Zapolyarny palace.
Pantalone, Pulcinella, and Signora were sharing a pot of tea. Columbina was also there, but napping on a lounge chair further from the table, and they all knew not to wake her up if they wanted to keep all their fingers intact.
" - So the old fool truly left, eh? I must say I was not expecting it," Pantalone admitted, the clack-clack of his abacus not stopping for a moment.
"He is called a fool, and a fool he truly is. I certainly hope this will not impede his missions," Pulcinella scoffed. He munched on the end of his pen and scribbled something down. He must have been doing crosswords again ; Childe did not understand his taste for such boring games.
"Watch your words," Signora growled, her spoon swirling in the delicate porcelain cup. "Her Majesty gave her express authorization for him to leave. Do you doubt our Sovereign?"
"My, my, calm down! I never said that. But don't you find it surprising, too, that our Pierro would act so rashly for something like a passing love?" Pantalone continued.
Childe perked up. The first Harbinger was involved in a love scandal? Now that was unexpected. The old man always looked like he had about as much capacity for feelings as an oyster.
An intimidating oyster.
"Well, if he wants to have any chance at this so-called love story, he better hurry," The Rooster added, munching on his pen. "Dottore does not exactly do things… subtly . It would not surprise me to find out there was severe collateral damage in Mondstadt."
"I suppose that is why he hurried like that."
"You truly have no idea how he feels, so you?" Signora said, with what looked like disgust in her gaze. Well, she always looked disgusted when talking to anyone besides the Tsaritsa.
The Fair Lady took a sip of tea, and her gaze was lost in the distance for a moment. It was… weird, to see her like that. She looked so young and vulnerable. Not like the harpy that would always sneer at Childe in meetings.
"I find it admirable that The Jester, despite losing his first love in such circumstances, had the strength to allow himself to love again. I almost envy him … Losing someone like that… It breaks you. I am not surprised in the slightest that he would do anything to save him and not repeat his past mistakes. And the Tsaritsa, bless her, would understand the struggles of love better than cockroaches like you, hence why she permitted his leave."
The two men said nothing, and they avoided staring at Signora herself. She sneered and downed the rest of the tea.
The conversation died down, each Harbinger getting back to their own devices.
Childe shuffled away, thinking of what he heard. A lover, Mondstadt, the Tsaritsa… He wondered what would happen.
Briefly, he felt some pity for the First Harbinger. If he lost a member of his family… Here's to hoping the old man would not be too late.
Tartaglia then went back to the training grounds. No rest for the wicked. He really hoped to knock down Arlecchino the next time they spared.