Chapter Text
It's absurdly late. The only reason Diluc is still awake is because his “Dark Knight” patrol went longer than usual. He'd been spotted by a couple of drunks stumbling home and had to hunker down in an alleyway and wait for them to decide that they'd just been imagining things and continue staggering down the street. The weather's miserable too, close to freezing with a cold rain that's desperately trying to be snow coming down in thick sheets.
Diluc's only managed to get three steps through the door. Adelinde is already there to relieve him of his coat.
“Tea's still hot,” she nods towards the table, “You'll want it after a night like this.”
He can't deny the appeal and he reaches for a cup. He's only half raised it when there's a knock at the door.
He and Adelinde both pause, Diluc with the teacup hovering mid air and Adelinde in the process of hanging up his coat near the fire.
“Now who could that possibly be at this hour?” Adelinde shakes her head, “Honestly, as if it wasn't bad enough to have you running around Master Diluc.”
“Probably Bennett's just lost his way again,” Diluc sets the cup down and goes to answer the door, fully expecting to find, if not Bennett, then some wayward adventurer. But the warm light that slants over his shoulder illuminates what he thinks is a familiar head of blue hair.
“What-?” Diluc is so startled he takes a half step backwards, “What are you doing-?”
The only answer from the figure at the door is to pitch forwards and he would've fallen straight to the floor if Diluc hadn't caught him.
“Master Kaeya!?” Adelinde makes the same assumption as Diluc. But when they get him settled onto a chair near the fire and he manages to lift his head up, they can both see it's not Kaeya.
There are striking similarities to be certain, but there are differences as well. His age for one.
The lack of an eyepatch for another.
“Who are you?” Diluc's tone morphs from concerned to cold. “What business brings you to Mondstadt?”
“P…please,” the man croaks, struggling to keep his head up, “He was here…I left him here. He has- he has to be here.” And he fell into a fit of coughing before he could say anything else.
“Who are you?” Diluc repeats a little more intensely but the man only continues to cough.
“Master Diluc, give him a moment,” Adelinde chides softly, “Here, sir. Have some tea.” And she presses a cup into his hands. The man manages to suppress his coughing long enough to take a few sips.
“I'm going to fetch a couple of towels,” Adelinde eyes the man's soaked clothes, “There's more tea in the pot if he needs it.”
And she hurries off.
“ Why are you here ?” Diluc demands, because he has to know. Has to know this isn't who he thinks it is. Has to know this isn't happening.
The man takes another sip of his tea before managing to answer, “My son. I had to. I had to leave him. He has to be here, my son. My- my Kaeya.”
A chill that had nothing to do with the rain strikes at Diluc's chest.
“He's not here,” Diluc manages to say, a numbness creeping through him.
The man shoots him a terrified look, straightening up and threatening to spill his tea with the abrupt movement, “No, no . Where is he?”
For a second Diluc considers lying. Saying that Kaeya wasn't there and had never been and no one had ever heard of him. Considers turning him back out into the storm and hoping the rain washes him away.
But then Adelinde returns with the towels and he knows there's no use.
“He's in the city,” Diluc says, “You can't make it there in this weather.”
The man goes limp but whether it be in relief, defeat or just plain exhaustion Diluc cannot tell.
“Tell me,” he croaks, “When it stops raining. I have to go to him as soon as I can.”
Diluc grunts, noncommittal, but the man seems to take it as an affirmative and promptly passes out.
“Diluc,” Adelinde says in a hushed voice, the situation apparently driving out any need for titles and honorifics, “This man, I think- I think he's Kaeya's-”
“Yes,” Diluc cuts her off before she can say it, “He admitted as much.”
“What are we going to do?”
What indeed? Diluc isn’t willing to leave the Winery with such a large potential threat but neither does he care to just let the man go waltzing into Mond without warning Kaeya.
“Wait for the storm to pass,” Diluc sighs, “Right now that's all we can do.”
He has a feeling that the storm that's just blown in is not going to pass with the night, but he can't do anything about it now.
# # #
Dawn comes and the storm doesn't so much as stop but settle in for the long run, its furious downpour abating into a steady drizzle.
At the first hint of light Diluc sends his bird flying off through the misty damp curtains in the direction of the city, a message capsule attached to her leg. Diluc's note is brief.
He's back , it reads, he didn't bring you any juice .
Kaeya will understand.
The man wakes soon after and is anxious to be on his way, Diluc stalls as subtly as he can. Meaning he lets Adelinde fuss and insist the man wait for a hot meal, which he does with only faint protest. It’s clear he’s had a difficult time on the road. He’s thin, near ragged, and he’s carrying nothing with him but the clothes on his back. Which themselves look to be of Sumeru make, light and thin, giving protection from heat and sun, not the chill and biting Mondstadt winds.
“I will thank you for your hospitality,” The man says after bolting down several bowls of oatmeal and a cup of coffee, “But I must go. I must.”
“Adelinde, fetch him a coat,” Diluc says, “And have two horses readied.”
“If you set me on the road I can find my way. I don’t wish to trouble you further.”
“No trouble,” Diluc grits out. Like he’d let this man go wandering into Mond without supervision.
All too quickly they’re on their way. Fortunately the road is muddy, forcing the horses to go slow, or risk losing their footing.
They’re almost halfway to the city when another rider approaches. At first Diluc expects they’ll pass on by. But then he realizes they’re riding far more quickly than one should considering the state of the road. But what’s a little mud to an experienced rider, especially one as skilled as Mondstadt’s Cavalry Captain?
Diluc pulls his horse to a stop, preparing to call out to Kaeya. But Kaeya catches sight of them first and reigns his own horse in. He slows until he's only a few yards away from them. From Diluc.
From his father.
For a moment it's silent aside from the horses’ breathing and the sound of falling rain.
And Diluc can't help but remember another day when he'd been facing down Kaeya, the rain soaking through his clothes, a cold pit in his stomach.
Kaeya's father is the first to speak, to move. He urges his horse forwards to close the gap, hand outstretched, reaching for Kaeya. But before he can make contact Kaeya abruptly yanks on his horse’s reins, forcing it to back up several steps.
Kaeya's father freezes, hand still held out, but he doesn't try to close the gap again.
“Kaeya,” he says instead, his voice hardly louder than the falling rain, “ Kaeya .”
Kaeya doesn't answer. His face is implacable. There'd be more emotion to be found in a tablet of stone.
“Kaeya,” his father tries again, “It's me.”
“I know who you are,” Kaeya's voice is frightfully calm, “You weren't supposed to come back.”
“I know. Things- things have changed ” Kaeya's father glanced at Diluc, “They've changed, Kaeya. We need to go.”
“Oh, things have changed have they?” Kaeya's voice is still too calm, “After all these years of silence they've just changed ?”
“I know. I know. This isn’t fair to you, I’m so sorry,” Kaeya’s father shakes his head, “It wasn’t supposed to be this way. I promise, I’ll tell you everything. Just- please, we have to go.”
“Go? Go where?”
“Kaeya-”
“The homeland calls and we must answer?”
“
Kaeya
!”
Something flickers across Kaeya's face; it's that look he gets when he's pushing, knowing he's going just a little too far, trying to see what he can get away with. It's become a familiar look. Diluc suppresses a sigh.
“Khaenri'ah beckons and all who are left have no choice but to return?”
“Have you lost your mind!?” his father shouts, so horrified he almost slips from the saddle as his horse shifts nervously underneath him.
“Oh, so sorry. I must have forgotten to mention, but Diluc knows.” There is not a shred of remorse in Kaeya's gaze.
Kaeya's father is aghast, clutching at the reins, causing his already nervous horse to shake its head and yank at the bit. The man turns frightened eyes towards Diluc, like he expects Diluc to strike him down there and then. “You told him?”
Kaeya chuckles, “Well, not everything-” and Diluc has long suspected there was more Kaeya was withholding, but it's hardly a relief to have that confirmed, “But it'd be a fine day to finish.” Kaeya tilts his head upwards, letting the rain run down his face, “Gray days are good for confessing gloomy secrets, aren't they, Master Ragnvindr?”
This time Diluc doesn't bother trying to hold back and just sighs. “We'll discuss this at the Winery,” he says, pulling his horse around, “I'll have Tunner open a bottle,” he adds, knowing that'll be enough to fend off any potential complaints from Kaeya.
There's another chuckle from Kaeya and a rattle of spurs as he urges his horse forwards to come alongside Diluc's, “And how is old Tunner? Not retired yet? Whatever will you do when he's gone?”
“I'll manage,” Diluc says stiffly. Perhaps Kaeya can brush off the return of his own long estranged father carrying ill news and converse like it was a normal day, but Diluc can't. He listens, waiting to hear a third set of hooves to join in. For a second there's nothing, but then Kaeya's father must come to his senses as there's the sound of mud being trampled behind them.
It's like that the whole way back to the Winery; Kaeya's casual chatter, Diluc's stilted replies, and a terrible loud silence following just behind them.
# # #
Adelinde is there hovering by the door when they enter inside the Winery, from the look on her face she's clearly been worrying since the moment Diluc and Kaeya's father left. But the second they're in there's only one person in the group she has eyes for.
“Master Kaeya!” She exclaims, reaching out for him, despite the fact that he's drenched, “How good it is to see you.”
What a relief , Diluc thinks she means, but she won't say that, not in front of everyone else at least.
“Adelinde!” Kaeya's smile gains a bit of warmth for a brief second, “I hope you're quite well despite the weather?”
“Yes, yes we're all getting on fine,” she wraps both her hands around his wrist and clutches just a little too tightly, like she's afraid he'll melt away in front of her, “Are you alright?” And, probably unintentionally, her eyes dart over his shoulder to the man standing behind him.
“It's only a bit of rain, Adelinde,” Kaeya says, the warmth leeching away, “It'll pass.
She fusses for another moment, then Diluc clears his throat pointedly and she bustles off to the kitchen.
“The wine?” Kaeya asks, expectant.
“Yes, yes,” Diluc sighs.
“And the good stuff, you wouldn't want to give your guests any cause for complaint, would you?”
It's all terrible , Diluc thinks, but he calls Tunner to fetch a bottle anyway and leads his guests into a side room where there will be more privacy to speak.
On the way Kaeya pauses to remark on a particular furnishing, “I'm surprised that vase is still there.”
Yes, the “gift” was still set out on a fairly prominent stand, but whether it was on display or purposely put in an area of high traffic where it was likely to accidentally be knocked over and shattered…well, let Kaeya draw his own conclusions. Diluc does not reply and simply ushers them into the room.
There's no more conversation until the bottle has been brought and cups set out. Kaeya wastes no time in opening the bottle and pours for everyone, giving himself an especially generous portion. Neither Diluc nor Kaeya's father move to take their cups.
“Poor social form to leave me to drink alone,” Kaeya remarks, “I know you were brought up better than that, Master Ragnvindr.”
“Kaeya,” his father says despairingly, “Please. Speak with me alone. Just for a moment.”
“We're alone enough.”
The way Kaeya says it feels like a dig, but who it's intended for, Diluc isn't sure.
“Kaeya-”
“Avi-”
His father- Avi apparently, flinches back like he's been stung and Diluc suppresses a tiny distant flicker of empathy. He knows what it's like when Kaeya wields names like knives.
“Kaeya,” Avi starts again, “This is important , it's not just you and me.”
There's a weight to the words that implies…something. Diluc isn't sure what but he knows it's an attempt to communicate without directly spelling it out.
“Oh?” Kaeya takes a sip from his cup, “Yes, you're right. Diluc is here as well.”
Diluc lifts his cup and stares down at the liquid inside, willing it to transmute into something less offensive, willing this situation to transmute itself as well.
Avi makes a defeated sound. “Fine. We don't have the time to waste on any more of this. I only hope he's as trustworthy as you seem to think he is.
Kaeya laughs, soft and mirthless but says nothing. Diluc frowns.
“I don't….I don't know how much you remember about what I told you when you were young, but I was looking for…something.”
Kaeya inclines his head, but it was unclear if it was to acknowledge he remembers or to indicate Avi should continue. Avi took it as an invitation to keep speaking.
“I found it.”
Judging by the pause, he clearly expected some kind of reaction. But Diluc doesn't know what he's reacting to and Kaeya either also doesn't know or he's already braced himself against allowing anything to disturb his carefully crafted exterior.
“And,” Avi continues after several seconds, “I…cannot…give it to…them.”
“The Abyss Order?” Kaeya lifts an eyebrow. “Why, that's practically treason.”
“It is treason,” Avi's voice is faint, “And the punishment will not fall on my head alone.”
Something like nausea swells up from the pit of Diluc's stomach and he sets the cup down with a loud clunk, “The Abyss Order is coming to Mondstadt?”
“No, no,” Avi shakes his head, “They don't- they think-”
“They think I'm dead, Master Diluc,” Kaeya says coolly.
“What?” Diluc isn't…he…” What ?”
Kaeya laughs. He laughs. Like it's funny . Diluc feels a flash of anger, but he schools it before it can get out. “You told me you were a spy,” he says, his tone of voice as level as he can make it.
“I was supposed to be, but Khaenri'ah and the Abyss Order are not the same. You knew that, though.”
Diluc….did not. He doesn't say that.
“You told me I was a spy, told the others that's what I would be, and yet you never came back to claim anything from me, never sent word or asked for intel,” Kaeya sounds mildly curious, not at all like he was discussing the complicated twists of his own life, “Sometimes I wonder if you told me that, but didn't mean it. Lying runs deep in our family.”
“Maybe it does,” Avi says softly, “But I'm not lying now. Kaeya, I need your help, I wouldn't come to you unless I was desperate-”
“If the Abyss Order thinks Kaeya is dead,” Diluc interrupts, “Then who else is there?”
Hesitation from both Albrichs, though Kaeya hides it by taking another sip from his drink.
“Mother?” Kaeya asks after he can drag it out no longer.
“No,” now it is Avi's turn to school his expression into something neutral, “She's gone. She's been gone for a long time.”
“Mm,” Kaeya tilts his head.
“It's the girls, Kaeya, it's Maryam and Nasrin.”
A change comes over Kaeya at that. Subtle but Diluc’s been watching. He tenses up and for a moment he might be holding his breath.
“You said you were going to hide them,” Kaeya hisses out, his tone creeping from cordially bored to cold, “You said you were going to make sure they were safe .”
“I tried,” Avi hangs his head, “I could not.”
Diluc glances at Avi then looks to Kaeya, “Who are Maryam and Nasrin?”
Kaeya downs the rest of his drink then looks Diluc directly in the eye, “My little sisters.”
Diluc stares. The words not really…not really…they….Sisters?
….
“Oh.”
“Where are they?” Kaeya asks, ignoring Diluc's confusion and shock.
“In the mountains to the north,” Avi says, “The Order already has them-”
“ Already ?”
Avi lowers his head, “The Order has had them for years at this point.”
The temperature of the room drops noticeably. Diluc isn't much affected due to his Vision and his coat, but Avi shivers, having shed his borrowed coat when he'd sat.
“ Years ?” Kaeya repeats, his voice as frigid as the air. “Years and you only come to me now ?”
“I- I didn't-” Avi's breath is visible in the air, “I hadn't found it- they've been safe until now. But I can't give the Order what they want.”
The room continues to grow colder.
“Kaeya,” Diluc snaps, “Get ahold of yourself.”
Kaeya flinches and slowly the room returns to the previous temperature.
“T-they think I'm going to bring them what they want,” Avi is still shivering, “Please, we have to- to get them out. I cannot do this on my own.”
“Clearly not,” Kaeya says, “ Clearly you cannot be expected to handle anything well on your own.”
He sweeps up his cup and drains it in a single motion. Then he sets it down with an audible clink and looks to Diluc, “Well, how quickly can you be ready to go?”
“What makes you think I want-”
“You're going to end up tailing along after us anyways, might as well join from the beginning and save us the trouble,” Kaeya shrugs. He’s trying to pull that cloak of nonchalance back about him, but he’s not quite got it. He’s still too tense and there’s a look in his eye. Something Diluc can’t quite name, he just knows it shouldn't be there.
Is this a quiet request for backup or a subtle ploy to keep Diluc in his sights?
“Master Jean-” he starts to say, Kaeya waves a dismissive hand.
“Already applied and been granted the week off,” he says with a thin smile, “Surely Master Diluc, lord of his own schedule, can take a bit of time away as well?”
“Now,” Diluc mutters, “We can leave now.”