Chapter Text
A look over at the dining area and Kaeya already understood why Diluc's dark eye circles never faded away. He continuously glanced at the clock, the crowd, back at the clock and back at the crowd once more. At times, he would lose focus and spill a drink or two, but much like his adoptive brother, the Ragnvindrs at the very least trained him to work mixing well enough.
Still, to handle such a dense sea of customers at his current experience slowly took a toll, especially at 2am in the morning. Alone at the bar, he was hopping from one end to the other, picking up glasses, and then some drinks, swirling left and right and adding other unnecessary toppings as so requested. Floundered as he was, he did not even notice when a very unexpected customer had entered.
"Kaeya? You're still here?" A dreary Rosaria took a seat at only empty stool at the bar, shooting an icy glare at the others sitting down, who all caught the memo and gulped down their orders before promptly leaving. She transferred said stare to Captain. "I've been waiting since 10pm at your place. You said you'll be done by then,"
"Apologies, but that damned Diluc still hasn't returned," Kaeya grumbled, his eyes unfocused as he wrote and prepared orders at the same time, all on his own. "He's shouldn't have been out past midnight; he always returns to close his own winery as well. Great Barbados where is he?"
Rosaria gave a concerned glare, before she noticed how frantic he was. Unlike most businesses, Angel Share's peak period was past midnight, meaning even if Diluc came as late as possibly could, Kaeya would still have to fill in for him. Additionally, it was a Friday. Every soul in Mondstadt was ready to wind down and enjoy their weekend.
Though hesitant at first, Rosaria raised her leg up the bar table and hopped over, immediately stationing herself at the assortment of ingredients stacked haphazardly across the shelves behind them. She turned to Kaeya, pointing straight at the tickets stamped at the counter. "What's next on order?"
"Apple Cider, with foam and Dandelion Seed toppings," Kaeya replied immediately, not going to even why Rosaria volunteered to assist him; he could use all the help he could get. "If we finish this row we can relax and just drink afterwards."
"You got it," Rosaria nodded, quickly getting work alongside the Calvary Captain.
Cold. Yelan knew she never wore much, and even with the jacket draped over her bare shoulders the chill of the entire cave was still banging against her skin, seeping through the pores and turning her more frigid than she already was. She had already unloaded hers and Diluc's belongings, counting and estimating how many resources they had to live through as long as they could.
"Open up, damnit!" Even with little rations at the helm, Diluc was wasting energy swinging his claymore over and over again at the collapsed entrance, striking the solid stone that evaded their way to freedom. However, each strike was weaker than the next, and the only progress he made was blunting his own trusty weapon.
After the countless clattering of steel, Yelan had enough, standing up and snapping at Diluc, gripping his wrist to prevent him from swinging any further. "Diluc that's enough!"
Diluc turned, sneering at Yelan once before dropping the claymore, clashing onto the equally unflinching ground with a loud 'clang'. He hobbled over to the small camp Yelan prepared, sitting down next to his bag, palming his forehead in a disgruntled sigh. "Fuck..."
Yelan did not even bother entertaining his disdain, sitting opposite him, rubbing her palms together. "So, have anything to say?" Yelan repirmanded, words coming out frazzled from the cold. "If you weren't so careless, we would not be caught in this predicament in the first place,"
"Miss Lan, not now," Diluc rebutted in a fuming tone. He glanced over at Yelan, who was more focused on aimlessly tracing her finger on the damp stone they sat on. "It was your idea to come into this godforsaken cavern with no plan, no idea, no plan B,"
"Diluc, I did not recruit you for you to make a mess out of things and touch everything that is not yours!"
"Well, don't expect me to have infinite patience and sit around and wait for you to mark every single minute detail in here. I wanted to grab some loot, split it evenly and go."
"We could've discovered more here, damnit!" Yelan slammed her hands on the stone ground, creating a defeaning slap that echoed from one edge of the cave to the other, shocking even Diluc when he flinched back in surprise. She let out an exasperated sigh, her tone dampening. "Look, what's done is done. Now, we just have to find a way out,"
Diluc groaned. Was she not watching him for the past couple of hours? "You saw me try to whack away at that entrance, no?" He fished his claymore, zooming in on the edges and hull of the blade, now dulled with rough streaks and crevices. making it seem more like an ancient tool than a might sword. He slid the greatsword away again. "This area is too damp for me to even use my Vision to blow a hole in the entrance. Unless we have a pickaxe, explosives, anything that we can use to break down the stone, we're toast."
Yelan grumbled. As much as she hated to admit it, Diluc was right. While she could still use her own Vision no problem, what exactly can she do? Depth-Clarion Dice would only wet the walls, Lingerine Lifeline could not phase through solid material, and could her Hydro-infused arrows even pierce through stone? All their options were exhausted at the moment.
All they needed was to focus on the problem at hand. Yelan was a problem-solver, an optimist. Even in the most dire of situations, she could always figure out a solution. Hell, this was not even her first rodeo being trapped in a cave; this small location was peanuts compared to the vast, unending twists, turns, dangers lurking within The Chasm. Except... there was one leg up being trapped in The Chasm had. As windy and complicated it was, there was still plenty of room to walk around, move, interact with the various surroundings. Being stuck within the confines of the darkness within four walls already began eating away at her, exposing a deep secret no one ever knew about, not even her closest allies or employers.
She was claustrophobic.
But at the very least, the company of Diluc was enough to quell her fears. Sure, he was nothing more than her benefactor, but he was still a person.
"It's going to get cold," Diluc broke the silence, tossinng some more rotting wood from the chest into the fire. He glanced at Yelan, raising an eyebrow. Only now once the temperature began descending he noticed the white coat she had slung over her shoulders, yet never actually wearing it. "That coat, are you wearing it?"
"This? Not in a million years," Yelan grabbed the hook of the coat, tossing it to her haversack beside her, enveloping the pouch with the white, gaudy clothing, much to Diluc's surprise. She remained sleeveless, in her qipao, bodysuit and sparkling heels. A dazzling view, but not quite suitable for their current predicament. "The cold's nothing. I'm more concerned about our food,"
Ah right, rations. Diluc was reminded of the second issue. He did bring an assortment of snacks and rations, along with a few glasses of water as well. Confirming his claims, he rustled his hands in his bag, fishing out the aforementioned rations he brought over. He could hear Yelan do the same, cluttering messes of various items emanating from one side of the fire and the other. Great minds think alike, it seems.
Once the noise ceased and the bags emptied, Diluc counted all the materials he had. Four small bottles of water, two tins of fowl, a single can of mixed vegetables. Just barely enough to last us well over three days if we're being generous. Diluc was no stranger to rationing food. He can go long days without any consumption, but what he was more concerned about was the lack of water.
Yelan, on the other hand, was even more ill-prepared than Diluc. She had just below half of what Diluc had, and if they did combine their materials together everything would perish by the fifth day. Moreover, water was as scarce as it came. Despite Yelan having a Hydro version, the duo knew that the water formed from it was a pipe's dream from being drinkable, and so was the murky pond at the corner of their cave.
"Don't worry about me, I'm not a big eater," Yelan said, counting her own tins of food that she brought along. "I always eat on the go. A bit difficult to sit down for a meal when there's barely any business in this area,"
"I'm not worried about food, Miss Lan," Diluc counted their bottled waters once again, praying that he at least miscounted or forgotten a stray canteen somewhere, but it all resulted in the same five-day supply.
"What about that one over there?"
Diluc's eyes gazed over at where Yelan was pointing. He fished into the bag, pulling out potion from Lisa, still untouched within the confines of the flask. "This isn't drinkable, it's a prototype from Lisa,"
"Prototype? What does it do?"
"It's a reconnaissance potion, whatever that is," Diluc explained, setting the flask in front of himself and Yelan. "Apparently, I have to mix it with my blood, and that way Lisa will know my current location,"
"Blood, huh..." Yelan examined the flask, concluding nothing noteworthy of it. Monstadt alchemy was confusing, and as curious as she was, Yelan had no time no energy to figure out exactly what made Lisa's mixture tick. She would rather just put her trust in Diluc's own understanding first.
"It's for emergencies only, I'm going to try my damndest not to use it," Diluc took the flask back from Yelan, shuffling it into his haversack once again.
Yelan tilted her head, puzzled. "Why not? Won't it alert Lisa of where we are? That way at least we'll know we can get out of here, no matter how long it may take."
Diluc shook his head in response, adamant about his decision. "I don't know how much blood I need to draw, and it may not even work considering how deep we are in Brightcrown Mountain now. It's also just a prototype; I might as well be her little guinea pig,"
Yelan glanced back at the haversack, shaped into the size of the flask with the uncertain mixture. In a way, Diluc's reasoning made sense. Trying anything too risky is out of the question at the moment. The best they could do was sit around and figure things out slowly, one at a time. The cave itself may seem barren at first, but away from their station at the collapsed entrance there was still other potential livesavers if they just went in a little deeper.
But now, Yelan could not do much but let out a long yawn. Contagious it was, spreading over to Diluc who also expressed his exhaustion. He pressed his palms against the cold stone. To a fool's surprise, it was frigid and hard. Sacrificing a little warmth, Diluc unbuttoned his blazer, laying it flat on the damp ground, lying down and doing his best to shuffle into a position the least bit comforting. However, no matter how much he tossed around the floor was like a flurry of anvils pounding relentlessly against his shoulder blades, sitffening and snapping them into blunt pieces.
He glanced over at Yelan to see how she was faring. Evidently, not much better, considering she emptied her entire bag of tools, materials, rations and other miscellaneous objects and condense the leather into a fabric cube. She placed it on the ground, patting it twice before gently planting her head on it. Letting out a disgruntled sigh, the informant also tossed around, attempting fruitlessly to get into a comfortable position. She settled on lying sideways, back turned towards Diluc and the flickering campfire, still refusing to utilize her gaudy white coat. In a way, Diluc did have to commend her tenacity for insisting on sitting around the frigid cold in such a revealing outfit.
Diluc turned to his side as well, looking away from the campfire, the warm orange glow against the cavern vanishing away into nothingness as their first ever fire had finally faded. He counted the seconds into minutes, the silence that clouded the freezing, dark cave confirming his assistant's slumber.
And after a few more minutes of counting sheep, somehow, Diluc too managed to get his own shuteye.
Time seemed to have stood still throughout the cold night, and waking up was even more of a hassle than initially falling asleep. Diluc let out raspy groans, heaving himself off his makeshift bed and sitting up, a crick in his neck and a lump within his back. He rubbed his sides, barely able to ease his stiffness from the many times he woke up throughout the past seven hours.
He struggled to turn to the campfire, which was already lit up once more, complementing the tiny fireflies that danced around the flames. Yelan was already seated, seemingly unfazed by the uncomfortable sleeping conditions as she prepared a small breakfast for herself.
"You seem to have had a rough sleep," Yelan said. Her tone made it seem she had the opposite experience, but it was far from the truth; she had it worse than the redhead. Like her partner, she woke up numerous times, stretching and rolling about in agony while the hard stone beneath her back banged against the hull of her skin, threatening to tear apart her back muscles like irritable tremours.
"Yeah, no fucking shit," Diluc scooted to the fire, reaching to his rations aligned near his bag and emptying them into a mess tin. His tired hand lifted the tin over the flames, quaking as he waited for his meal to cook. Initially, the smell of raw salmon from his tin was repulsive, but slowly the fragrance shifted, metallic scent of his can moulding into a vaguely fresh aroma of a crowded pond.
"Someone's treating themselves well this morning," Yelan smirked, comparing Diluc's gourmet fish to her bowl of mushy grains, so minuscule in portion and bitter in taste the world's least pickiest kitten would reject in a heartbeat. She scooped up a small serving with her fingers, choking down her meal in disgust masked behind a stoic front.
Diluc initially paid no mind to Yelan, chowing down on his canned salmon before his eyes popped in horror when he glanced once at the other lady. He watched, trepidation creeping up across his face into a fearsome scowl when he laid eyes on a bottle of water, the informant using their drinkable resource to wash her hands, clear water collapsing onto the cold stone below and contaminated as quickly as it left the bottle. He could not bear to witness it any longer. "Miss Lan!"
"Something the matter?" Yelan turned to Diluc, a curious look on her face, puzzled at his sudden temperamant, the water still flowing out of the bottle onto her palms.
"You're wasting water," Diluc pointed at the bottle in her hand. "We need it for drinking!"
"It's my bottle, Diluc, worry about yourself,"
Diluc sneered back at her, following her instructions and focusing on his own set of water. "Then don't come running to me once you're out of things to drink then,"
The other lady either ignored or did nto hear him, simply continuing to consume her sludge with her fingers, washing them after each interval to reset its bland taste. Diluc watched, a look of sympathy across his face at the supposedly sophiscated Yelan partake in a barbaric act. He sighed, getting up from his seated position and then walking up towards her. Much to her surprise, Diluc plopped himself next to her, cutting small bit of his protein and tossing it into Yelan's bowl.
Yelan glanced once at her food, then at Diluc, then back at her food again. "What was that for?"
"Shut up and eat," Diluc produced a spare wooden fork, tossing that into Yelan's bowl as well.
"I don't eat fish,"
"And does it look like we have a choice?" Diluc continued his own meal, watching ahead at the fire that waged on in front of them, deep in contemplation. "If you eat like that for as long as we're stuck here, we might as well just starve. We're both trapped her together, we have to look out for each other,"
Yelan took a glance back at her bowl of sad meal, before picking up the fork and having a bite of salmon, along with mushy grains sprinkled among it. It tasted fowl, but at the very least the fish acted as a diamond in the rough. She turned to Diluc, a subtle smile creeping onto her face. "Thanks,"
"Don't mention it," Diluc stared at the fire, estimating how long it would take until it dissipated. Despite the darkness of the cave only illuminated by the flames of their campfire; their sense of time thwarted many different directions, the former Knight and the Qixing's informant both knew there was one thing certain.
It was the first of many long days.
Jean had never seen Lisa so worried.
The librarian barged in one morning, looking uncharacteristically stressed as she pranced from one end of the Grandmaster's office to the other, voicing out her worries in a tone frantic mixed with layers of calm.
"I mean, he said he'd be back by nightfall! It's almost noon..." Lisa stared out at the window, her assumption correct. The sun was already peaking, shining a light upon the city of Mondstadt. Midday, yet she was unsure if Diluc even knew. "And he hasn't used the reconnaisance positon yet! What if... what if he-"
"Lisa, pull yourself together!" Jean stood up, slamming her hands on the desk at the same time, successfully snatching Lisa's attention. She exhaled a deep breath, opening her eyes once again as she spoke firmly. "You know Diluc better than anyone; better than me, I admit. I know you care about him a lot, but don't you think he is capable of handling himself?"
Lisa paused, lips shrunken and eyes apart as her best friend's words sunk in. Jean was right, Lisa knew Diluc better than anyone. Hell, she knew him better than she knew herself. Why exactly was she even worried for his safety? A part of her knew the answer, but likely one that she refused to admit. He's gone through worse... and yet... his safety is the least of my concern. What the hell is bugging me even?
"If it gives you a little peace of mind, I can send a search party," Jean suggested, standing up from the desk and meandering over to Lisa's side. "We're a little shorthanded on manpower at the moment, with the expedition in Fontaine and all, but I'd be happy to do it just for you."
Lisa's irises lit up for a split second, but immediately she shook her head, feigning a casual chuckle. "Oh no, really dear, it's quite alright. Like you said, Diluc is very capable of handling himself,"
She sighed and glanced out the window past the curtains, spotting the tiniest mirage of Dragonspine, Windwail, and Brightcrown Mountains. While he was cryptic when they last spoke, Lisa could imagine Diluc out there, either sulking in his ever-gloomy state of having the time of his life, forgetting everything and anything related to work. "However, if he does not return in a few days, I believe we should indeed send a search party," Lisa suggested herself, returning her attention back to the Dandelion Knight.
"I concur," Jean nodded back in agreement. "We have to watch out for each other, after all,"
In spite of their little pep talk lightening the mood, Jean could not help but notice Lisa was still a little agitated; subtle, though the discomfort was there. She placed her hands on the librarian's shoulders. "Now, care for a drink tonight? Angel's Share is still open, and I think we both need a little unwinding. My treat."
Lisa hummed a little at her friend's generosity, always surprising her no matter the time. "Of course, dear. I'll take up your little offer."
Diluc was restless.
It was not the looming threat of starvation, thirst, hypothermia that scared him the most.
The walls were constricting. All he saw aside from their tiny campfire was an engulfing mirage of darkness, like a rippling sea surrounding the vast islands of Inazuma, except this time there was no island, only a rotting raft drifting towards nowhere. It was as if he was caught in a white room. No contact, no socializing, no green grass or leaves or plants to rest his weary eyes.
And even so, the one companionship he had with the Liyue lady was less than ideal. While he was busy worrying about whatever method they had in their hand to break out of this domain, Yelan seemed a little more carefree, snideness enveloping each and every action she took along with an irritating snark in that tone of hers. Does she even care if we're trapped here for the rest of our days? Diluc thought, though it would be a miracle if they managed to survive for even a single week.
"There, that should do," Yelan sat down beside Diluc, a mess tin in her hand, water sloshing about within it.
Diluc took a peek, internally gagging at the sight of the murk. Algae ascended to the top, coating it like a layer of green oil. On top of that, he could spot tiny specks, supposedly the seedlings of waterbugs or, even worse, planktons that might have not been scientifically discovered just yet. He gagged again when the scent wafted straight towards him. "Oh fuck... what... what the hell are you planning on doing with that?" He muffled whilst pinching his nose, trying to pry his eyes away from the contaminated pond water.
"If you haven't noticed, that little pond over there is our only source of water once we're out," Yelan picked up her Vision, hanging it by her side as she raised her right hand. Diluc heard a soft jingle, followed by the sight of numerous, small threads of Hydro levitating from the ring wrapped around her wrist, glowing a striking turquoise. The threads then dipped into the murky pondwater in uneven ripples.
Diluc could take a wild guess what Yelan's plan was, but she already spelt it out for him as her hand hovered right above the tin. "I'm going to try to purify this water,"
Immediately, he had to do a double take. It would be nice to have a reliable and renewable source of clean water, but he could only wish it was that easy. "I'm sorry, you're going to use... Hydro... to purify literal pondwater?" He was a little dumbfounded. Yelan had already addressed her forms of Hydro were more offense than utility, and even so, neither Barbara nor Mona could pull off what she wanted to do.
"I've had my trifles before, and I did some desperate things, though not something like this," Yelan concentrated, her threads mingling within the water. "I'm going to see if I can pry out all the impuritites with Hydro and..."
"It's not going to work, and if it did I'll give my brother Dawn Winery and retire to Liyue,"
"A bold claim," Yelan snickered, continuing to hover her hand above the mess tin. As time passed, it seemed Yelan was doing a lot, but absolutely nothing about the water changed. Diluc noticed a change in Yelan, her initial confidence replaced by an exhausted expression, exerting herself and her Vision for who knows how long.
"Miss Lan, I don't think this will work," Diluc continued to comment, taking note of how strained Yelan looked at this point.
Words fell on deaf ears as Yelan continued her futile efforts. However, after little progress was made, Yelan finally sucked in a breath, letting go of the tin can and withdrawing her threads. She glanced at her fingers, only specks of algae successfully filtered from the container of murkish delights, barely anything changed from before. "Well, it seems you're right. It indeed did not work,"
Diluc picked up the mess tin, sighing as he tossed the water behind him, grabbing some rags to clean up the silverware.
"Diluc," Yelan watched him, a little sheepish from her embarrassing attempt. "It was a little foolish of me... but I was desperate. As a matter of fact, I believe I'm a lot more concerned than I initially seem,"
"I can tell, thanks for trying," Diluc replied, giving Yelan a reassuring smile as he continued to clean up.
Yelan could not help but smile back, giving a wry chuckle at her own desperation. "If only I could use my Hydro for something other than intel-gathering or whatnot. I could be a lot more help,"
"Miss Lan, really, it's alright," Diluc set the clean tin aside, moving back to sit opposite the other lady. "I appreciate the thought. We'll just have to find another way to get a consistent source of water,"
Yelan nodded in agreement, already scanning around the orange-lit cave searching for something that would help them just hang on for a little longer. Diluc did the same, weighing his options and playing plenty of scenarios in his head. There's pondwater... but drinking that would be a death sentence. Miss Lan is incapable of purifying the water... which means there's only one way we can get clean water... we'll have to the it the adventurer's way.
"Any ideas?" Yelan broke Diluc's myriad of thought bubbles, but at that point he already had his answer.
"We'll do it the traditional way?"
"Explanation?"
Diluc ushered to the crackling campfire, flame still beating strong like a healthy heart. "We'll just boil it,"
Yelan glanced at Diluc, then the campfire, then the pondwater he tossed to the ground. She could not help but hold a laugh, her gloved hand pressing against the lips to stifle her humorous eruption.
"What's so funny?" Diluc tilted his head at her, genuinely perplexed at her reaction.
"Oh nothing..." She cleared he throat and her laughter, speaking in a more level-headed tone. "It's just, I'm sure you and I can come up with a hundred different reasons why that is a generally a bad idea,"
"Right... I wasn't thinking," At that point, Diluc would have rather die of thirst than of contamination. "Seems like we're both stupid,"
"Oh, don't worry, it's the thought that counts,"
The two sat there, chuckling at each other's shortcomings, somewhat pleased that they could at least find common ground aside from their unfortunate predicament. Yelan watched as Diluc returned to racking his head to find a solution to their water problem, admiring his thoughtfulness towards the both of them.
You know, this situation is a little shitty... but... Yelan thought, a sense of calm washing over her for the first time since they stepped foot in the ruins. At least I've got some good company with me.