Chapter Text
I’ve left Mondstadt for its own protection. I’m sorry everyone. Please, don’t look for me.
DIluc ran through the moonlit streets of Mondstadt, fear and panic gripping his heart in a deathly hold. The words on Kaeya’s note made him feel cold as they ran through his mind over and over, the last words echoing in his mind like an orchestra. Don’t look for me.
No, Diluc thought, he was going to look for his brother. It didn’t matter if he didn’t want him to, he was going to. Even if Kaeya was going to betray Mondstadt, he would drag him back and demand an answer. No, he wasn’t going to let him go.
Diluc made it to the front gates, his appearance frazzled and panicked. He saw Lawrence and Swan guarding the entrance to Mond quite dutifully, but it didn’t matter right now. He would ask the Knights for help at this point, his pride and bias’s be damned, it didn’t matter right now. All that mattered was finding Kaeya.
“Lawrence, Swan!” Diluc cried, causing the two guards to turn to him.
“Master Diluc, what’s—“
“Have either of you seen Kaeya?” Diluc cut off the knight.
“Captain Kaeya? We saw him leave the city about an hour ago. Why? Has something happened?” Swan answered.
Shit. This wasn’t good. This was far from good. Where did he go?!
“Kaeya’s run away. He left a letter in his apartment with his handwriting. I’m going out to find him. Tell Acting Grand Master Jean now and gather whoever you can for a search party.” Diluc commanded.
The knights looked at each other, weary looks on their faces.
“Sir Kaeya doesn’t seem like someone to run away like that. Knowingh him; it’s probably one of his little plans to take down a camp of Treasure Hoarders.” Swan said.
“Yeah, Sir Kaeya is really secretive. He often acts like this.” Lawrence agreed with his coworker.
Did they doubt him right now? Seriously?! He’s not joking about this! Kaeya literally left a note in his apartment addressed to everyone asking them not to look for him! This is why he hates the knights.
Before Diluc could scream at the two knights, a loud, ear-piecing sound rolled across the land. It sounded old, older than Morax, much older than Morax. Ancient. It was a guttural sound, foreign, alien, and yet all too painfully familiar at the same time. Screams, the sound was screams, multiple screams, all with the same voice.
Diluc and the knights covered their ears, trying their best to cancel out the sound, but to no avail. Their ears began to bleed, Diluc felt the crimson liquid bleed through his gloves, and he felt his sanity began to slip. This sound wasn’t something he could comprehend, nor understand.
And just like that, the sound stopped, it only lasted for a few seconds, but it already caused such a large and painful reaction.
Diluc turned to the knights, an intense look in his eye and his mouth in a scowl. This wasn’t anything remotely good. A dangerous monster roaming around on top of Kaeya missing is nothing short of a catastrophe.
“One of you go to the HQ and report to Grand Master Jean! Now!” Diluc screamed.
Swan nodded and, with a look of shock and panic on his face, ran to the Knights HQ, leaving Lawrence to guard the gate alone. Diluc turned to him next.
“Did you see where Kaeya was heading?” Diluc asked the man.
“Last I saw he was heading towards the Whispering Woods, but I don’t know why.” The knight answered.
Diluc nodded and took off, running as fast as he could to his brothers last known destination. The situation just got a lot more serious. This wasn’t just finding his Kaeya anymore; it was a matter of finding Kaeya before that monster did. Time was ticking, and he was far behind.
Just as Diluc came to the edge of the woods, a sudden burst of powerful wind made him stumble back. He managed to catch himself before he fell to the ground, but the wind made him falter. He looked up to find a pair of familiar green eyes.
“I’m sorry, Master Diluc,” came a familiar voice, “but you have to stop here.”
“Venti.” DIluc muttered, distaste in his tone. “What are you doing here.”
“Protecting you from more pain. You don’t know what’s beyond the forest, Diluc! Please, go back to the city! You don’t want to keep searching!” Venti begged. Diluc has never seen the Archon look so desperate. But it didn’t matter. He had to find his brother.
“I don’t care! Kaeya is still missing! I have to find him and bring him home!” Diluc cried back, anger and panic clear in his voice.
Venti looked like he was about to cry. The winds from the forest blew harder, almost knocking Diluc onto his back. But he pushed forward, fighting against the harsh winds that his Archon sent to deter him.
“Please Diluc! I’m begging you, turn back! You can’t handle what’s beyond this forest!” Venti was actually crying now, tears streaming down his face uncontrollably, his voice shaking in obvious desperation and fear.
But Diluc still didn’t listen, and the wind was getting annoying. No one was going to stop him from finding his brother, not even his own Archon. Diluc dug his feet into the earth below him and summoned his claymore. Diluc knew he would regret this later, but he didn’t care right now, he had to find Kaeya. Flames engulfed his blade as he raised it over his shoulder, preparing for an enormous attack.
“BURN!” Diluc shouted, releasing a giant phoenix at the Anemo Archon.
Venti tumble back at the wave of heat washing over him, causing the winds to subside enough for Diluc to run past the bard. And Diluc did just that, taking the opening he created, caring little for how much collateral damage he might have caused to the surrounding flora.
“DILUC!” He heard the bard yell, but he didn’t look back.
Diluc quickly rushed through the forest, eyes scanning everywhere he could for a familiar patch of navy blue hair and dark skin. He soon reached the other side of the Whispering Woods, still no Kaeya to be found. He kept running, refusing to let the Archon to catch up with him, climbing over steep hills and rocks.
And that’s when he saw it, a familiar figure lying just a few feet away from Starfall Lake. Diluc felt a sob of relief almost escape his throat as he rushed over to the still body. He wasn’t too late, he could still save Kaeya, he could—
His thoughts came to a screeching halt once he got closer, the familiar smell of blood and viscera wafting into his nostrils. No. No, he couldn’t be dead, he couldn’t. And yet the closer he came, the more he could make out. A pool of blood, frost on the surrounding grass and—
Diluc stopped, he was right next to the body now, the one that was most certainly his brother. But it couldn’t be, right? His brother couldn’t be dead, he certainly couldn’t have died like this. Diluc put a hand over his mouth, a futile attempt to stop the rising bile in his throat.
The body in front of him had his chest burst open from the inside; torn organs, shattered bones, and spilled blood lay close to it. And the empty chest cavity lay bare, just a gaping maw showing the back of the man’s ribcage and spine. Diluc threw up.
No. No, no, no, nononononononononono. This wasn’t Kaeya! His brother was still alive! He was! He had to be! Otherwise Diluc won’t be able to live with himself. But how can he make sure that this isn’t his brother?
His eyepatch! Diluc quickly bent over the man’s face, ignoring the expression of pure agony it wore, and tore off the eye patch. It had to be hollow, or scarred, or just white. No one other than Diluc knew what was under it, so it had to be—
A golden eye with a familiar star-shaped pupil and burn scars all along the side of it. This corpse in front of him, his face forever contorted in an expression of pain and terror, chest open to the world, was his brother. His real brother.
Diluc felt numb. He couldn’t feel anything. He couldn’t hear anything. Couldn’t see anything, other than the lifeless corpse of his dear little brother. He lost someone else, someone he cared for, someone he loved, because he was too late. How many people were going to die because of him? How many people would suffer alone because of his mistakes?
Diluc could hear someone calling for him, multiple people, but he didn’t care. He picked up the lifeless corpse of his dead brother, holding it close it his chest, not caring for how it bloodied his clothes, and did the only thing he could.
He screamed.