Chapter Text
It was another lively night at the tavern when Diluc received a message from the acting grandmaster.
Jean isn't the type to beat around the bush, yet the message he received didn't state a reason why he would be called to the cathedral so urgently and late at night. But he knew that if she called, she had a good reason.
And a good reason did she have.
The last thing he expected when entering the "holy house of Barbatos" was the chaos within it. And the cause of such entropy was an even bigger shock.
His br-
The cavalry captain was standing against a wall, heavily breathing, sword in hand, looking like a cornered rabbit. He was in a defensive stance —flawed as it may be— pointing his sword at people he knows, people close to him, people he loves.
Yet the expression on his face was that of pure terror only.
No sly smirk or toothy grin, Kaeya only looked at him with wide-open confused eyes and gritted teeth.
He tried stepping forward to... reach out? take the sword away? knock some sense into him perhaps? He was unsure, but he still came forward.
Kaeya retaliated by throwing an ice spear aimed between his eyes.
Diluc was able to evade the spear in time, but the offensive gesture only confused him more. He shot a glance toward Jean, keeping a defensive stance in case Kaeya were to attack again, and asked her what on Teyvat was happening.
Jean furrowed her brows, creasing her forehead even further, as she took out her sword from its scabbard. She swung it forward and pointed the edge of the blade towards Kaeya, holding firm on the hilt.
"I'll do the explaining later, first, we need to restrain him."
At the sight of a blade aimed at him, Kaeya retreated further into the cold, ice sealing and coating the walls further. The temperature around him had dropped significantly, the humid air leaving behind soft trails of cold water where it touched an unfrozen surface, yet he dug his back further into the ice as if seeking its warmth. The cold crept onto his frost-bitten fingers, covering his hands and arms, roaming wherever it could, protecting the shivering boy. He let himself be sheltered by the ice and held onto it for comfort.
With a swing of his arm, an icicle materialized and launched towards the blade and its wielder, with practiced ease, the acting grandmaster diverted its trajectory and ran forward; at the sudden proximity, Kaeya flinched and shielded himself with his arms, summoning an ice shield. Diluc then joined in with his flaming claymore, burning hot steel striking into the ice protection.
Kaeya's control over his vision was flimsy, his shield and ice spears were of relatively small size and thickness, but its frozen shards would expand into flesh and marble once it's found a target.
With the smallest pieces of ice lodging into his clothes, sticking onto the fabric, Diluc felt a sense of unease at the weakness of the ice.
The ice was cold, so cold it felt like dragonspine, but it was strangely weak, and the structure was odd, the crystals unevenly frozen.
Kaeya’s ice was cold and organized, forming into defined shapes and launched with precise aim.
This isn't Kaeya.
●
In the dead of the night, Jean was soothing the wrinkles between her brows, sitting in front of another pile of paperwork.
Her quill was paused in mid-air, as her eyes struggled to focus on the papers before her. A
s she tried to blink away the fatigue, another hand slipped the quill away from her hand and into its holder. She raised her gaze to meet a flaming sea of red hair, from behind the grandmaster's chair, Diluc slipped his hand under hers and pulled her away from her desk onto the couch.
"You should’ve told me you were visiting."
Jean sat down on the sofa, letting out a sigh as she stretched out her arms, Diluc sat down next to her and briefly glanced at her.
"...I wasn't planning to, but still, take this impromptu visit as an opportunity to rest."
She hung her head back and closed her eyes, resting her aching muscles and lightly massaging her shoulders. She could feel the exhaustion taking over and laid her head against the armrest. A peaceful silence took over the room, before being broken once more.
"How is he doing?" Jean asked, tone betraying her thinly veiled concern.
To that, Diluc only shook his head, eyes leaving the ever-burning candle to instead gaze at the blond knight resting next to him.
What is there to say that she doesn’t know already?
“He’s healthy.”
Jean pursed her lips, this wasn’t the type of answer she wanted, but the cause for his bluntness was obvious. She raised her hands to shield her face, releasing a sigh into her cupped palms.
The sun was to rise in a few hours only, and with the first rays of sunlight disappeared the fiery-haired man. It had already been two weeks since the cavalry captain’s seat had stayed vacant, and with the pre-existing manpower shortage, Kaeya's absence had become apparent.
●
Angels Share was closed that night.
As well as all businesses in the land of freedom.
The city was bathed in ominous silence.
And one man was strolling through these empty streets.
Alone yet again.