Chapter Text
"Five hundred years ago, Khaenri'ah was the greatest nation in the land of Teyvat. Through our own ingenuity, we became a leading power in the world, free from the oppressive leadership of the archons that ruled the other nations. But the archons feared our might, believing that we would inspire their people to revolt against them and form their own godless nations as we had, so they conspired to destroy our peaceful island nation.
"Combining their powers, they summoned a great Cataclysm to drown us all, intending to leave no survivors. But just before the water filled the lungs of every last Khaenri'ahn, the Great Abyssal One heard our cries and initiated a great transformation, saving us from drowning by transcending us into creatures of the sea and granting us new lives below the water.
"While most Khaenri'ahns became ordinary merfolk, the Great Abyssal One selected an elite group to form the Abyss Order. The members of the Order received special powers and became sirens to help carry out the Great One's will and assist his people in building a higher form of society than was ever possible on land. As the progeny of these sirens, you all have a solemn responsibility to serve your nation and help lead ordinary Khaenri'ahns into better ways of life. Kaeya, are you listening to me?"
The young siren boy in question snapped to attention as the other children who sat on rocks nearby scrambled to hide the sea urchin they had been poking at his back with, stifling their giggles.
"Yes, Frøken Ingrid," Kaeya said, doing his best not to wince at the stinging pain rippling across his spine.
The woman gave him a stern, disbelieving look. "I sincerely hope that you're not expecting special treatment in this class just because your father is a member of the Council."
Kaeya shook his head.
"Frøken Ingrid?" One of the girls next to him raised her hand, tilting her head up snobbishly. "Can I move spots? I think I'm allergic to Kaeya's ókræsilegr blood." She made a show of dramatically itching at her arms and stuck her forked tongue out at Kaeya when she caught him staring in confusion.
"That's enough, Eyja. Class is almost over, I think you can last until then."
Eyja huffed and scooted over to the edge of her rock, as far away as she could get from Kaeya.
"Since parent meetings will begin today, there will be no assignment tonight." The older siren raised her hand to cut off the small cheer that went up before continuing. "But, that doesn't mean you can slack off on your exercises. Remember"--the siren children groaned and joined their teacher in a deadpan unison--"Power comes to those who carry the burden of glory for the Abyss." The woman gave a small, thin-lipped smile. "Very well then, I believe that's all I have for you today. Class dismissed."
The children bolted from their rocks, tossing the sea urchin to the side in the process. Kaeya lunged forward to grab it just before it thudded against one of the rocks, carefully cradling it in his hands as he returned it to the small cluster of kelp it had been abducted from.
"Kaeya, stop flailing around like that," Ingrid scolded. "Your father will be here any minute."
As if the mention had somehow summoned him, Kaeya spotted the shadow of his father approaching and scrambled to straighten himself.
"Síra Úlfr," the woman greeted, bowing slightly.
Kaeya's father gave a curt nod in return. "Frøken Ingrid. Let's keep this short, shall we?"
"Yes, we'll skip the trivialities then. I have some real concerns about Kaeya's recent behavior. He's become rather disobedient lately, not following instructions during magic practice, and not participating in group activities."
Kaeya looked up, distraught. "That's not fair, I can't do group activities because the other kids won't let me! And the magic practices don't make any sense, if you read the books-"
"That's enough, Kaeya, keep your mouth shut," Úlfr snapped. Kaeya fell silent and his father nodded to the woman to continue.
"Those aren't my biggest concerns, however. While he's not technically in my care once class is dismissed, I do watch the children as they go, and I've been noticing that he seems to talk to this pet shark of his. I don't know if you were aware that he had one, but the other children have started to notice as well, and it's causing them to ask questions about communicating with lower life forms. Frankly, I think he's setting a bad example, and I'm sure the other parents will feel the same way if their children come home wanting to do the same thing."
The boy in question stiffened as Úlfr glared at him before turning back towards the woman with a feigned polite expression. "Yes, we have spoken about the shark before. He was instructed to send it away and never interact with it again, wasn't he?" Kaeya remained still and the older man was clearly struggling to keep his voice neutral when he prompted him again. "Kaeya, what do you have to say for yourself?"
"He's not a lower life form. His name is Rökkvi, and he's my friend," Kaeya grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest.
Úlfr clenched his jaw and took a deep breath before he spoke to Kaeya's teacher again. "It seems we have some issues to work out ourselves, then. If there wasn't anything else you wanted to discuss, we'll be leaving now."
Ingrid gave a polite nod. "That was all. I appreciate you taking your time to come meet today."
Úlfr said nothing, instead roughly grabbing Kaeya and swimming away with him in tow, clawed hands digging into the boy's thin arm.
"I don't know what's gotten into you, child," he growled as soon as they were far enough away from the sunken building that constituted the school, "but if you don't start doing exactly as I tell you, I swear by the Abyss-"
"Úlfr Alberich, the Council is requesting your immediate presence."
Úlfr's head snapped up to find a large, imposing siren watching him stoically, hands held neatly behind his back. "The next meeting wasn't supposed to be for another week."
"Correct. This is an emergency meeting. Held at Spámaðr's request."
Úlfr faltered for a moment before dropping Kaeya's arm and composing himself. "Very well then, I'll be on my way." He spared nothing but a glare of warning back at Kaeya, who opened his mouth to call something after his father, but decided against it and slunk away in the other direction.
"Fenrisúlfr. Please bring yourself before the Council."
The use of his kenningarnöfn sent chills down Úlfr's spine as he cautiously swam into the center of the cavern, the large stone that covered the entrance rolling into place behind him. Spámaðr, as he was known to the public, sat in his usual place at the head of the room, glowering down at him.
"Vedrfolnir," he acknowledged, returning the use of the secret name, giving a slight bow and doing his best to keep his voice from wavering. "I wasn't expecting you to call a meeting so soon."
Six of the eight other Council members were already seated, looking down on him from atop the raised circular structure surrounding him, leaving only his and Skirk's seats empty. He briefly envied the hersir's absence, but wasn't given much time to dwell on the thought before Vedrfolnir spoke again.
"Report on the experiment."
"The... the boy?" Úlfr stammered. "I'm afraid there's nothing to report. He hasn't done anything particularly noteworthy. I believe the last report I gave still applies."
A series of scoffs and disbelieving mutters came from the Council, some of them clicking their tongues or shaking their heads in disappointment.
"So Ingrid's reports aren't 'particularly noteworthy' to you?" Hroptatyr laughed dryly at the other man's surprised face. "What, you thought I spend all that time hand-selecting instructors to entrust with our children's education and then never speak to them again? I know everything. Blatant disobedience of authority, practicing his magic without proper instruction, communication with a shark. None of that is noteworthy to you?"
"And what of the rumors about the wound on his ear?" Rerir added. "Some of the Order members believe he's been intentionally harming himself in defiance of you."
Úlfr fought the urge to roll his eyes. "That's ridiculous, he's not nearly that intelligent. He found some old pair of human earrings somewhere and thought he could pierce his own ears. He only managed to get through one before he must have passed out from the pain. He was thoroughly punished when I found him of course, but I don't see what that has to do with anything."
"A soldier that believes he has free will is dangerous," Surtalogi spoke up before one of the other men could. "It sounds to me like you lack control over the experiment."
"Lack control? He's a child, they do foolish things all the time, you can't prevent everything they try." Úlfr looked around at the Council members, searching for some semblance of an understanding look, before landing on the man seated near the head of the structure next to Vedrfolnir and swimming closer. "Remus-"
"Address the Council with respect," Vedrfolnir snapped. "Those names have no place here."
Úlfr took a moment to compose himself before trying again. "Billingr, my friend, you were both a ruler and a god once. Surely you understand my point. No matter what you do, you cannot prevent disobedience, only punish it."
Remus studied him for a moment before answering. "Perhaps if you were a ruler or a god with authority over thousands I might be inclined to agree. But you are neither a ruler nor a god and the only authority you have been given is that of a progenitor in this experiment. Your inherent biological connection is the only reason for your continued involvement with the operation, but now it seems even that is proving to no longer be useful."
Before Úlfr could say anything more in his defense, Rhinedottir, who had previously contented herself with silently watching the meeting unfold, cleared her throat and rose from her seat. "If I may, I have something to say on that subject." Vedrfolnir nodded at her, and she moved to the center of the room above Úlfr to address the rest of the council. "I have had concerns for quite some time now about the nature of Fenrisúlfr's relationship with the boy, although, until recently, I never had any specific theories on what could be wrong. But when I heard reports of the incident regarding the earring, I decided to take a research team back to the location of his birth.
"As we had previously discovered, the boy's mother kept a detailed journal throughout her relationship with Fenrisúlfr, which we had initially dismissed as being inconsequential. However, upon a more detailed review of its contents, we have reason to believe that this man never formed the marriage bond with Kaeya's mother."
Úlfr went white and the chamber burst into a clamor of voices from the other men of the Council. "That's not true, she's a liar!" His voice was drowned out until Rhinedottir gestured to the rest of the Council for silence. "What kind of accusation is this? You should know better than anyone that I went through with marrying that awful woman. You performed the human ceremony for us yourself, and you visited her every week of the pregnancy. If you really thought something wasn't right, you would have brought it up then. This is some sort of twisted power play."
"The ceremony I performed was meant as a comfort for the woman; it wasn't even valid by human laws. I'm referring to the only ceremony that would have mattered, the joining of the kenningarnöfn. And you're right, I did find it odd that she spoke of many things and showed so much interest in siren practices but never mentioned anything about your marriage. However, at the time, I assumed that you had made her aware of the intimacy of our marriage traditions and that she had simply decided to maintain her privacy by avoiding the subject. But our arguing about it doesn't matter, does it? If you say you married her, then you married her. All you have to do to prove it is show us the eiðr-gim."
"That's an invasion of privacy. I hardly see how-"
"Fenrisúlfr." Úlfr froze. A second voice now alongside Vedrfolnir's, and his eyes glowed a bright white, indicating the Abyssal One had now joined the Council through his chosen vessel. "Did you marry the woman?"
The man in question hesitated. "I was expected to bond with a human. No siren has ever done that. We don't know what it could have done to my magic." The Council burst into a small uproar and Úlfr tried to continue over them. "She would have weakened me, I needed my power to serve this Council! You all would have done the same thing!"
Rhinedottir raised her hand for silence once more. "Your Greatness, in light of this discovery I recommend that we adopt a different approach to handling the boy." The Abyssal One waved his hand in invitation for her to continue. "Without the family bonds to support it, it's clear that no one is going to be able to mold the boy into the obedient... tool originally required, but perhaps we don't have to. I believe our best course of action now is to send the child to live with humans. There's a beach near Mondstadt the noble families in particular often frequent: if I fashion a device to allow us to use him as a plant he could still act as the spy we need and we can find other methods to coerce him into cooperating with the rest of the plan down the line."
"No! This was my sacrifice, you can't take this away from me. I was the one who sunk to the level of seducing a human woman. I associated myself with a half-breed offspring. I should be the one molding him for this mission-"
"Silence," the Abyssal One snapped, causing Úlfr's rant to stop short. "You speak of sacrifice and yet you know nothing of the sort. An incomplete sacrifice is no sacrifice at all. You failed to complete your duties. The only reason you are still here before the council is the family name you bear. Hold your tongue and be grateful it is not cut out for your treacheries." The other man shrunk back, and the Abyssal One turned back to Rhinedottir. "How soon can you have the device ready?"
"As soon as it's needed; it's a simple enchantment."
"Prepare it immediately and give it to Fenrisúlfr to take back to the subject." The Abyssal One's sharp, glowing gaze snapped back to Úlfr. "I want the child to believe this is an accident for the time being. Do what you will to achieve that but know that you are being watched. One wrong move and I will not hesitate to have you killed. Is that clear?"
Úlfr gulped and nodded, and with one final glare the Abyssal One fell silent. Vedrfolnir's eyes went dark and returned to normal, and when he spoke once more the echo of the other being's voice was no longer present. "Council dismissed.”
"Rökkvi, stop making that face. It's going to be fine, I promise. We just need to be more careful about-" Kaeya stopped short as the small shark in question suddenly dove behind a cluster of coral and turned around just in time to see his father swim through the archway of the sunken ruins that constituted their home. "Faðir, you're back."
Úlfr swam past the boy absentmindedly, giving only a small hum of acknowledgement as he searched through the alcoves lining the room, tying pouches around his neck and strapping others to his waist. There was something off about him that put Kaeya on edge, though he couldn't quite figure out what it was. His face remained perfectly calm, and he made no sudden angry movements, but he remained completely quiet and before he could stop himself Kaeya blurted out the first thing that came to mind just to break the silence. "Does this mean we can go seashell collecting like you promised?"
Úlfr finally stopped to look at his son, a strange expression on his face that Kaeya still couldn't quite read. "Yes, yes it does," he said after a long moment. "Hurry up and grab your things, we're leaving now."
Kaeya's face broke into a toothy grin, the sheer joy and surprise overwhelming any hesitations he had about his father's behavior. He darted into his room to collect his pouch, peeking inside to ensure the pair of earrings he kept in it still remained and frantically tugging it around his neck and returning to his father's side. "I'm ready!"
"Good," the older man said with a small smile, a rare thing to see on his usually cold, hardened face. He paused to glance at the coral. "Why don't you bring that shark of yours with us? He might be useful."
Kaeya panicked for a moment, realizing his companion had been spotted, but his eyes widened as his father's words sunk in. "Oh! Okay, yeah, I think he'd like that. Thanks Pappa- I mean, Faðir, sorry."
Úlfr said nothing, but simply turned to leave, and his son followed afterwards, gesturing to Rökkvi to join them.
It took all of Kaeya's self restraint to fight the urge to swim ahead and patiently follow in his father's careful pace through the city instead. Too excited to pay attention to the sharp whispers from the nearby merfolk or notice the way they quickly dodged to the side as they made their way through the streets, the boy veered around the older man every few seconds to see how close they were to their destination. It seemed to be an eternity later that they reached the outskirts and the algae covered buildings fell away, leaving the vast expanse of the ocean in front of them. Gratefully giving in to his impulses, Kaeya dived down ahead to begin running his fingers through the sand, only pausing when his father didn't join him, but swam past instead, stopping only to glance over his shoulder at him.
"We're too deep," Úlfr said simply, as if it was all was the most natural, normal thing in the world. "All the good shells are in the shallows."
Kaeya's eyes widened. "But I thought I wasn't allowed to get near shore?"
Another one of those uncharacteristic smiles flickered across the man's face. "I won't tell if you don't." Kaeya remained frozen in shock for a moment before eagerly racing to catch up with him, watching their surroundings in awe as they ventured into unfamiliar territory.
It was much brighter near the shore, brighter than Kaeya could have ever imagined, the sunlight making beautiful patterns on the ocean floor and bringing a brilliant warmth that never reached the depths of their home.
Úlfr paused in his course and dipped down to the sand, sifting it around for a moment before producing a perfectly shaped conch shell that he extended to the awestruck child watching him. "See?"
"Woah." Kaeya carefully took the shell from his father and inspected it in wonder before reverently tucking it away in his pouch.
"We'll find more if we split up. Why don't you start looking here, and I'll be right over there if you need me?" Úlfr gestured to a rocky area nearby and Kaeya nodded and quickly turned to the vast searching area before him.
Seconds melted into minutes as the curious siren boy grew engrossed in his search, diligently inspecting each shell and only selecting the best ones to store away in his pouch. In fact, he hardly looked up at all until the small shark by his side did, suddenly jerking around and swimming in a circle as if looking for something.
"Rökkvi? What's the matter?"
The shark in question slowly turned to face the siren child, nearly motionless as it stared almost directly through him. Before Kaeya could ask again, his eye caught a set of dark shadows looming behind his friend, and two larger sharks appeared.
"Oh, it's you guys! Rökkvi and I were just- wait, what are you doing?"
The sharks split apart and began swimming around in circles around Kaeya, as if completely unable to hear him at all.
The boy shifted nervously. "Faðir?" He glanced over at the rocky region where his father had disappeared, but there was no sign of the other siren. The sharks drew closer and closer, and the waves around him suddenly picked up, the sunlight above darkening.
"Pappa!"
Rökkvi lunged first, and the last thing Kaeya heard was his own scream before everything went black.