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500 years ago. The fall of Khaenri’ah, a godless nation, build only by human hands.
500 years ago. The gods decided that Khaenri’ah needed to be destroyed.
500 years ago. A war started. Gods against humans. A truly atrocious battle.
500 years ago. The king of Khaenri’ah prayed to a god for the first time. Prayed for his only son, their last hope, to be save.
And 500 years ago. The god of time, the most powerful out of them all, heard the king’s prayers and gave him one last chance. The king had a week to travel through a huge gorge, his young son by his side. If they would make it out alive, the god had promised, a beautiful, peaceful land would wait for them, welcoming the prince but not the king. The royal couple had little time to think, destruction and suffering getting closer to their castle day by day.
So, 500 years ago, the king of Khaenri’ah and his son, only 7 years of age, took on a life-threatening journey. After days of fighting, walking and sleepless nights, on a rainy day, the two finally stepped out of the cave they’ve been traveling. A huge mountain in front of them, lights of a city in the distance and the soft glim of lanterns a couple feet away.
The king knelt down; eyes focused on his son. “Listen, my boy. Promise me, you will never forget what I will tell you now.”
The young child stared at his father and nodded. “Of course, father. I promise.”
A sad yet soft smile appeared on the man’s face. “I love you; your mother loves you and even your twilight sword loves you. We all love you a lot and we are so incredibly proud of you, okay? You are already an amazing little boy, and I could not be happier to be your father. But now it is your turn to show our nation what you are capable of. Please, never forget your home.”
The king tightened the string of his old eye patch, now hiding his sons right eye. He planted a soft kiss on the boy’s forehead, feeling his child’s skin one last time before he stood up again.
He whispered a soft “Stay right here and you will be save, my boy. And always remember. This is your chance. You are our last hope, Kaeya, prince of Khaenri’ah.”
And with that he left his son on the side of the road. The king turned and stepped back into the cave, already on his way back to his country, now willing to risk it all, knowing his only child will be save.
What he did not know though, was that they had just traveled through time, thanks to the god of time and he had left his boy alone, in another city, another country, another world, 500 years from then.
°°°
“Big brother Kaeya! Can we pretty please go on a picknick tomorrow!”, Klee, the small girl in red begged, tugging at captain Kaeya’s cape.
“Of course, Klee. I’d love to! But only if you finish all your homework today. Miss Lisa surely gave you something to do, right?”, the blue haired man smiled softly, one hand finding it’s place in the girls blonde hair.
The girl sighed, nodding. “Right… Klee still has a lot to do… But I’ll finish it now! See you later, big brother Kaeya!” With that Klee turned, ready to run probably towards the Favonius Headquarters, but instead she bumped into someone.
“Be careful, Klee! Don’t hurt yourself or else Paimon will be sad!”, the flying traveling guide exclaimed while Aether, who seemed to be the person Klee ran into, only nodded.
“Sorry! Don’t be sad! Klee’s perfectly fine!”, the girl giggled before waving and running off, “See you tomorrow, big brother Kaeya!”
Kaeya laughed softly and waved back, he then turned and eyed Aether. “You’re okay?”
The blonde smiled and nodded, “Yeah, everything’s fine. But now my question is already answered.”
“What do you mean?”
“We wanted to ask you, if you want to go and investigate an old ruin with us and a friend tomorrow! But you’re spending time with Klee.”, Paimon explained, floating next to the traveler.
“Ah, yes. I am sorry, maybe the next time? If you want, you can join me on my commissions today. I have a few Hilichurl camps. Maybe some treasure hoarders but nothing more.”
“Sure, let’s go.”, Aether smiled.
“Yeah! Let’s go!”, Paimon grinned brightly.
°°°
“Aether, behind you!”, Kaeya warned the blonde just in time. The smaller ducked away, avoiding the glowing axe of a Mitachurl by a second.
“Thanks!”, Aether smiled slightly while fighting said Mitachurl, using his anemo power to give the enemy one last hit before it fell on its knees, slowly turning into dust.
“Be careful! There are more!”, Paimon screamed, hiding behind a tree.
“I’ll take the ones on the right! Cover my left side!”, Kaeya turned, Aether behind his back. Feeling the presence of someone behind him while fighting gave the blunette some kind of nostalgic feeling. He used to fight together with someone all of the time.
Between two waves of Hilichurls, Kaeya looked over his shoulder. Aether’s long, blonde and braided hair suddenly turning into short, straight hair. His yellow cape turning dark blue, almost galaxy like.
“Kaeya!”, Paimon’s voice snapped him out of his thoughts.
The captain turned back, ready to fight the few Hilichurls in front of him. There were no Mitachurls, so they should be fine. He felt Aether move right behind him, backs against each other, their moves in union.
They fought like that for a while, both concentrated on the Hilichurls in front of them. Kaeya swung his sword, hitting two enemies at once. The third got hit with a blast of cryo, freezing in place, thanks to the rain…
When did it even start raining? Kaeya hadn’t realized…
“Freeze!”, he let out, freezing yet another opponent. He should really pay attention to his surroundings more. The man took a deep breath, shaking his head for a second before looking around to search for more enemies, already ready to use his cryo-vision some more.
Cryo was always most effective in the rain after all.
When Kaeya looked over his shoulder the next time, his vision slightly blurry, he suddenly saw red. A huge claymore defeated enemy after enemy, leaving nothing other than some material on the ground.
Diluc.
Kaeya froze, staring at the bright red hair, tied in a high ponytail. Why was Diluc here? What was he doing here? When did he come here? Why? Why was he fighting at Kaeya’s side now?
“You idiot! Watch your back!”, he suddenly heard his once called brother’s voice.
His eyes widened, not having enough time to react properly, he summoned a huge wave of cryo instead, freezing not only the Hilichurl behind his back, but also the red head in front of him. Huh? He didn’t mean to freeze that much. Why couldn’t he control his power right now?
“Kaeya! What are you doing!”, someone hit his head, not hard enough to actually hurt him, but still enough to snap him out of whatever trance he was in.
His eyes closed for a second, his heart beating fast.
“Kaeya…?”
He opened his eyes, slowly. His vision was much clearer now and he could see the mess he made.
Aether was standing right in front of him, his feet frozen to the ground. Paimon was floating next to the blonde, a worried expression on her face.
Kaeya looked around, searching for the red he saw seconds ago. But it was nowhere to be found.
“W-What?...”, the knight let out, confusion taking over.
“Are you okay? You suddenly stopped and stared at Aether! And then you froze everything around you?! Paimon was lucky to not be frozen as well!”, Paimon eyed him concerned.
“Aether…?”, Kaeya looked down, looking at the sword in his hand, then traveling to the frozen grass beneath Aether’s golden soles.
Diluc wasn’t here?... Did he just imagine him?...
“Kaeya?”, Aether’s soft voice snapped Kaeya out of his thoughts again. He lifted his head, realization hitting.
“Fuck! I’m so sorry! I wasn’t focused enough! I didn’t mean to.”, he started apologizing immediately.
“Don’t worry about him! He’s okay! That bit of frost can’t hurt him, right, Traveler? Not like the Hilichurls over there!”, Paimon started giggling, the worry already forgotten.
Kaeya turned a bit, only seeing the small particles and old material left by Hilichurls falling onto the ground, the huge area he had frozen.
An embarrassed laugh escaped from his lips. “I’m really sorry again. I somehow couldn’t control the ice.”
“It’s okay. But are you sure you’re okay?...”, Aether watched every of his moves closely, an eyebrow raised.
“Yeah. I’m okay. Just a bit confused I guess… And I have this weird feeling in my chest..?”, Kaeya told the truth, not wanting to lie to the honorary knight.
“Hm…”, Aether shook his feet, freeing himself from the ice and took a step closer to Kaeya. “Like pain?”
“No… It’s not like pain… More like… You know that feeling when you think something bad is going to happen? Something like that-…”, Kaeya explained, still utterly confused.
Aether was about to say something, when suddenly something appeared right next to them.
“Ah! Aether! Help!”, Paimon started screaming, instantly hiding behind the blonde.
Aether’s eyes widened and he summoned his sword again, ready to fight.
Kaeya’s eyes widened as well, staring at the dark red abyss mage now in front of him, staring right back at him.
They both didn’t move, Kaeya out of shock, Aether out of confusion. The mage made no moves, not trying to hurt either of them. Instead it continued to stare at Kaeya.
“Aether…?”, Paimon whispered, unsure of what to do.
The traveler gulped, eyes jumping from Kaeya to the mage and back.
Then, finally, the mage moved. But it didn’t attack, instead it started bowing.
“P..rince…”, it murmured, slurred.
“Ow!”, Kaeya suddenly fell on his knees, his arm shot up, pressing against his eye patch.
Fuck.
He had always tried his best to avoid abyss mages, so why now? Why now when he was with Aether and Paimon?
“Kaeya!”, Aether exclaimed, taking a step towards the captain. But Kaeya slowly lifted a shaking hand, showing Aether to keep distance.
Kaeya hissed, squeezing his eyes shut. His right eye throbbed in pain.
The mage was about to float closer to him, when he unintentionally let out a wave of cryo again, together with the still falling rain, the mages shield broke in seconds.
The moment the shield fell, Aether moved. His sword pierced through the mage, instantly killing it.
Aether immediately rushed to Kaeya’s side, a hand on the blunette’s back. “Kaeya? What happened?”
The cavalry captain couldn’t move, couldn’t stop pressing his hands against his hidden eye. It hurt.
Then, as the last particles of the mage vanished, the pain slowly vanished as well, leaving Kaeya on his knees, eyes shut, panting.
“Kaeya…?”, Aether tried again, this time finally getting a reaction.
“I… I’m okay…”, Kaeya slowly sat up, his heart racing. His head hurt as well. And the weird feeling in his chest got worse.
“You don’t look like you’re okay, Kaeya! You should go and see Barbara! Or Jean!”, Paimon tried to order him, but Kaeya let out a shaky laugh.
“No, no. No need to burden those two with something as simple as this… I am already feeling better. It was just… a sudden headache…?”, Kaeya said, though it sounded more like a question.
“A sudden headache?”, Aether repeated, doubting.
“Yeah. I have those sometimes. It’s okay. Though I better head home now. Thank you for your help, oh honorary knight.”, Kaeya forced his well-known smirk and waved slightly.
“If you say so… But please, take care of yourself, okay?”, Aether tried, still not believing what Kaeya had told him.
“Of course… Maybe we can meet again tomorrow night, at the tavern. Then you can tell me about what you experienced throughout the day tomorrow, okay?”, Kaeya tried his best to not break down again, this time the pain in his head getting unbearable. He needed to get home as fast as possible. After an episode like that, he was sure his eye would start hurting again in a few minutes. He was used to it by now.
Aether nodded, Paimon waved at him, “Yeah! We will see you tomorrow!”
Kaeya turned and his smirk slipped off his face on an instant, frowning instead. The mage called him prince. They often do that. But had Aether and Paimon heard? He hoped not. He had hidden his origin for as long as he’s been here in Mondstadt, only actively telling it one person and nearly getting killed in the process.
He could definitely go without something like that again.
So he hid everything. He tried to stay away from mages, since they would recognize him, try to talk to him and maybe, if someone saw his cryo powers close to a cryo abyss mage, they would connect the pots. They could see how similar Kaeya and the mages were. How they would both burst a stroke of cryo right in front of them, how they would both get circled by ice, how they both had a cryo-shield to protect them.
He always tried not to show off his unique fighting style either. People might see how he’s not using the techniques taught by the Knights of Favonius, but old, Khaenri’ahn techniques instead.
He even started to teach Bennett, the young adventurer some of those techniques, hidden between known moves, so that people would get used to his movements and not filter him out.
Kaeya had always tried his best to hide who he really was. He had never taken off his eye patch, aside from his own house. He had never spoken to anyone in Khaenri’ahn, except for mages he met when he was alone, the one other person he knew from Khaenri’ah, being the genius alchemist Albedo and that one time he wrote that poem for Venti’s class. Luckily everyone thought that was just some Hilichurlian Ella taught him. Everyone but Venti.
Kaeya knew Venti was the anemo god though, so he didn’t really care about what the bard knew. Venti was there when Kaeya’s homeland got destroyed. Venti even helped and fought against Kaeya’s nation.
But somehow, Kaeya and the bard became friends. They both knew each other from back then. They remembered each other. And Kaeya wanted to hate the archons. He wanted to hate Venti. He really tried to hate the other.
But after seeing the god break down one quiet night as they were sitting on top of the huge statue on the plaza, Kaeya realized that even if a war ends with a winner and a loser, both sides suffered. He had seen Venti cry, shake and throw up because of all the guilt and regret he felt. He had heard Venti hysterically apologize while not being able to breath. He had felt Venti’s racing heart, his shaking hands and his cold tears.
As much as he wanted to, he just couldn’t get himself to hate the bard. Instead, they became friends.
So, given that Venti knew everything about Kaeya’s origin, the captain being able to speak Khaenri’ahn wasn’t really a surprise for Venti.
“Captain Kaeya, Sir!”, the Knights, Swan and Lawrence who were on duty guarding Mondstadt’s city gate, greeted Kaeya.
The blunette grinned slightly and lifted a hand, hiding the pain. “Hey there, you two. Keep up the good work!”
The two knights stood up straighter and nodded, their fists on their chests. “Yes, Sir!”
Passing his subordinates, Kaeya looked around the city. He would only have to go to the headquarter and tell Jean he will leave work early today, then he could finally go home and take care of his hurting eye and maybe get some herbs to stop the pain in his head.
“Mister Kaeya!”, a familiar voice greeted him.
“Flora. I see you have some fresh Calla Lilies, how much for one?”, Kaeya smiled, walking closer to the young girl.
“Only one? You can have one for free, Sir! As a gift! I know they’re your favorites!”, Flora smiled, already taking one of them.
“Really? That's very generous of you, thank you very much, Flora. I will take good care of it, I promise.”, Kaeya gently took the flower in his hand, eyeing it.
The girl in front of him only giggled and nodded.
Kaeya then remembered something he got earlier today. He reached into his pocket and pulled a small lollipop. He looked up, his eyes meeting those of the young Flora. “Here, take this as my thanks.”, he said, carefully handing her the candy.
“Woah! Thank you, Sir Kaeya!”, she beamed, taking the sweet immediately.
Kaeya just smiled and bowed slightly, before turning and walking away.
His eye started hurting again, his head nearly killed him and the vision on his hip started glowing suspiciously, showing that it’s owner is in pain or danger. He had to hurry or people will notice.
He made his way up the stairs, greeting people and waving to the children running around, but he didn’t stop to talk to anyone.
Right as he was about to enter the headquarters, Ellin, the young woman approached him. “Captain Kaeya, Sir! Could you maybe help me for a second?”
Kaeya sighed and took a deep breath before nodding and turning around, forcing another smile.
“Sure! How can I help you, Ellin?”
The woman smiled brighter and pointed at some old equipment. “Could you maybe show me how to hit those right?”
The captain nodded, ignoring the increasing pain in his eye and head. “Of course.”
He then walked over to the small practice place, summoning his sword. “Okay. First, as you know, the most important part is how you move. I showed you that last time, right?”
Ellin nodded and positioned herself in front of the dummies.
“Right, perfect! Now, stay form, hold the sword up. Keep your balance, shift your weight. Right, just like that. You’re doing amazing.” Kaeya smiled, slowly walking behind her to be out of her view. His hand quietly shot up to press against his eye. “Hold your focus on the blade.”
Ellin did just as Kaeya said, following his instructions. “Now swing!” Kaeya grinned, his hand inflicting a bit of frost against his eye to cool it down.
And with that the wood broke, Ellin’s sword right through it.
“Perfect! Just like that!”, Kaeya smiled as he walked up next to her.
Ellin started smiling brightly, “Thank you so much, Sir Kaeya!”
She was about to grab the broken dummy when Kaeya stopped her.
“Wait! Be careful! There could be splinter. Wait, let me do it.” He said instead, carefully lifting the wood.
“If you want, Ellin, I can get some better practice equipment for you in the next few days.”
The woman’s eyes widened. “Really?! That would be amazing!”
“Of course, everything for our future knight.”, Kaeya grinned, gently putting the old wood on the floor next to the stone wall.
He then turned around again, smiling at Ellin. “I will do everything in my power to get you better equipment. I will see you in a few days, okay?”
Ellin blushed slightly, nodded. “Thank you so much, Sir Kaeya… I appreciate it a lot!”
Kaeya just smiled and lowered his head. “I must say, watching you practice day and night, helps me to work on my own fighting skills a lot as well. Unfortunately, I do have to leave now. Acting Grandmaster Jean already awaits my arrival. Have a good day, Ellin.”
“Thank you! Have a good day as well, Sir Kaeya!”
Kaeya smiled, turned and continued towards the huge door of the headquarters, finally. Only a few more minutes and he will be at home. Only a few more minutes and he will allow his eye to breathe again. A few minutes and he will finally be able to stop the pain that spread through his head, his eye and now also his chest.
°°°
“Jean.”, he greeted his old friend as he stepped into her office.
“Kaeya. It’s nice to see you!”, Jean smiled, immediately putting her work down to focus on the captain.
“You’re here quite early, have you already finished all of your commissions for today?”
Kaeya laughed slightly, “Somehow. I cleared the camps, as you wished. But I haven’t written the reports yet. I would like to go home early today if that would be okay. I assure you; I will fill out the paperwork first thing tomorrow.”
Jean’s expression softened and she nodded. “Sure. Go home and rest well. You’ve been working hard the past weeks. What caused this though? You’re usually not someone to put off work for a rest. You’re actually the opposite. Did something happen today?”
Kaeya sighed. Jean knew him too well, didn’t she? She had always been the one to make him take breaks. She was the one to remind him to eat and drink enough and to not drown himself in work.
“Everything is fine. I’m just tired, so I want to go to sleep early”, Kaeya excused.
The woman in front of him raised an eyebrow but didn’t question him any further.
“Okay, then sleep well, Kaeya. Klee told me you two want to go on a picknick tomorrow, right? If you want, you can leave right after finishing your reports to spend more time with her. She always learns a lot from you.”
The blunette thought about that for a moment before nodding slowly. “Okay. I’ll do that. Maybe I can take her up Dragonspine to go and see Albedo? I’ll take care of her, I promise.”
“I know you will. And sure. You can take Sucrose with you, I heard she wanted to go and meet Albedo as well. You can picknick there then.”
Kaeya nodded again, “That’s a good idea. I will see you tomorrow. Have a good night, Jean.”
She smiled softly and waved with the paper in her hand. “You too, Kaeya.”
The captain smiled at her once more before turning around and walking out of the room, gently closing the door behind himself.
Finally. Now all he had to do was to get home as fast as possible and everything will be fine.
°°°
As soon as he closed the door of his small flat, Kaeya fell down on his knees. His arms shot up again, cupping his right eye and ripping off the eye patch.
“Fuck…”, he cursed, inflicting more elemental power to the eye, cooling it down.
“Why does this shit hurt so much…”, he asked himself, eyes pressed shut. His usually hidden eye hurt a bit from time to time, he was used to it by now. But every time after he encountered either mages or other abyss fighter, it hurt a lot more. It felt like his eye was burning and slowly getting ripped out at the same time.
It hurt. A lot.
“Come on… Get your shit together…”, the knight spoke to himself, taking a deep breath before slowly standing up. His hands were still pressed over his one eye, slowly starting to hurt as well. Not because of the mage, but because of the constant cryo power he used to make the pain bearable.
He, as a cryo user, had a pretty low body temperature, so he had to use a lot of cold to actually make a difference. Bursting out a wave of ice in combat wasn’t a problem at all but controlling just how much cold at once and for a long time did have its affects.
With shaking legs he made his way into the bedroom, sitting down onto his bed.
“Just… the crème…”, he whispered, lowering one hand to open his drawer, taking out a small box.
“Finally…”, he started to smile slightly as he opened the nearly empty box and took some of the light red crème onto his finger, starting to gently rub it against his hurting eye after taking off the eye patch.
After what felt like ages, the pain gradually faded, leaving the captain exhausted and tired. Episodes like that always took a lot of energy, so Kaeya decided that going to sleep might be the best thing to do right now.
He waited another two minutes before he slowly stood up, steadying himself to not collapse onto the bed again. “I need to wash my face…”, he said quietly, after noticing his wet cheeks.
When did he start crying? Was it because of the pain? Fuck…
Finally standing in front of his sink, Kaeya slowly lifted his head, eyes locking with the person in front of him. His own eyes stared back at him. One eye dark blue, the other glowing golden.
Staring at himself in the mirror for a moment, he took a deep breath and sighed.
“Golden really is a beautiful color… If it wasn’t so cursed.”, he muttered, one hand gently brushing against the right side of his face. His fingers tracing the dark blue lines that had started to scar across his face, all starting by the eye.
“What if they end up showing because the patch it too small?...”, Kaeya thought, shaking his head. “I really hope they don’t…”
He lowered his head, now staring at the eye patch in his hand. His eye patch. Once it belonged to his father, the king of Khaenri’ah. Now it belonged to him, the prince of Khaenri’ah.
°°°
“Kaeya, my boy. Please do not play with it.”, his father had once said as Kaeya was about to accidentally tore the strings of the eye patch apart.
“I’m sorry, father!”, the young child had said, immediately giving the patch back to the king.
“Not everything is a toy, okay?”, the man smiled softly, gently brushing through his sons hair.
“Right… I sometimes forget…”, the little boy looked down, a sad expression on his face.
“Now, now. Don’t be sad, son. If you want, you can go out with your twilight sword. You can play with him and your toys, okay?”, the king offered, pointing towards a young, blonde man standing at the side of the room.
“Yes! I will!”, the young prince exclaimed, a huge smile on his face, the sadness already forgotten. The boy jumped off his father’s lap and ran across the room, jumping right into the blonde man’s arms.
“Dain! Let’s go out and play!”, the child grinned, showing his tooth gap.
The man in question started smiling softly, holding the prince close to his chest and not letting go. The blonde hair falling over his light blue eyes.
“As you wish, my prince.”
°°°
Kaeya woke up the next day, too early to actually stay awake. He sighed, looking around. The captain found himself in his bed, wearing his pajamas. So he did make it to his bed last night. Good to know.
His eyes focused on the eye patch, laying proudly on the side of his drawer. A sudden reminder of the dream he just had.
“Dainsleif…”, he softly whispered the name of the person he used to love the most. The man who took care of him and spent more time with him than anyone else. The man who taught him how to fight, how to read and write. The man who protected him from the outside world. If it was with distracting the once young prince whenever something bad happened, or if it was allowing the child to hide in his arms.
Kaeya sighed again. That wasn’t a dream. It was a memory.
He actually remembered a lot from his childhood. Nearly everything even. He could clearly see his big bedroom in the back of the castle in front of him. He could practically smell the countless spices Dainsleif had always used to cook Kaeya’s favorite dish.
Another thing the man had taught him. Cooking.
He snapped out of his thoughts again, shaking his head. He was thinking about his homeland way too much lately. Why though? It wasn’t like something had happened to cause this.
He ignored the weird feeling in his stomach and stood up, getting ready for the day despite being awake way too early. Maybe he could finish his reports even before Klee finished her studies with Lisa? Then he could go up to the library and pick the little girl up directly. Klee would probably love that.
°°°
“Are we going to see big brother Albedo?”, Klee asked as Kaeya held her in his arms. The two were currently leaving Mondstadt together with Sucrose, on their way to Dragonspine. Klee looked around; eyes wide.
Sucrose, walking next to Kaeya smiled. “Yes. Mister Albedo will be up in the mountain, waiting for us.”
“Woah! Klee is already so excited!”, the girl laughed, leaning against Kaeya’s shoulder. The captain had offered to carry her, since the walk would take too long with the child running around and exploring the whole time.
“Do you already know what you want to eat later, Klee? I’m sure your brother Albedo has a lot of food prepared for you.", Kaeya asked, a soft expression on his face.
The girl in his arms immediately started grinning and nodded, “Yes! We will have….” And with that Klee was off talking about food for the next few minutes, making the long walk more pleasant. Kaeya looked up the huge mountain in front of them.
Maybe coming here was a good idea after everything that had happened yesterday.
°°°
“Big brother Albedo!”, Klee beamed, running towards the alchemist.
“Hello there, Klee.”, the blonde smiled, greeting the girl.
“Are we gonna have a picknick?”, Klee pointed at the basket Kaeya was carrying.
Albedo smiled softly. “We will indeed. But I first need to talk with Sir Kaeya for a second. Why don’t you already set everything up together with Sucrose?”
“Okay!” And with that the young child ran towards Kaeya, taking the huge basket with two hands and carrying it towards Sucrose, who immediately helped her.
The captain turned, eying the alchemist. “You want to talk to me?”
Albedo nodded. “Yes, but let’s find a place where we will not be heard.”
Kaeya agreed, following the other into a small cave near the camp.
After making sure no one had follower them, Albedo stopped and looked at Kaeya, a concerned expression on his face.
“Are you okay?”, he asked in their mother language.
Kaeya raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”, the Khaenri’ahn slipping off his tongue with ease.
“The Traveler told me about you two encountering an abyss mage yesterday. He said you didn’t seem okay afterwards. And I know what abyss power can do to you, especially to your eye. Right, Prince?”
Kaeya sighed. Right, Albedo knew most of his past as well. The genius had figured Kaeya out only a few weeks after they met for the first time. Given that Albedo was also a Khaenri’ahn being, he had learned about the royal family of Khaenri’ah a lot from his master. The golden eye and what it meant to be part of the dynasty.
He had asked Kaeya about his eye patch once when they were alone. He had started to speak Khaenri’ahn suddenly that evening, not even hiding the fact that he was from there as well. Kaeya, who hadn’t realized the language switch, had answered the question, accidentally revealing his secret. They had a long talk after that, about their past, the country Kaeya grew up in and the master who had created Albedo.
And if they were friends before, they grew even closer after that day. After all, they were the two only survivors from a fallen kingdom. The prince and the alchemist.
“Kaeya?”, Albedo asked again.
Kaeya’s head snapped up. “Ah right… Yeah, I’m okay again. It hurt a bit yesterday, but it’s okay again. Thank you for asking.”
Albedo nodded, a small smile on his face. “Of course. If you need someone to take care of your eye someday, don’t be scared of coming here or have someone come and get me, okay?”
The blunette smiled, “Thank you again, but I don’t want to burden you with something that I can easily take care of myself.”
“Whatever you say, Prince.”, Albedo said, a small hint of amusement in his voice as he used the nickname.
Kaeya started grinning as well. “I told you not to call me that. Brings back memories.”
“Of course, I sincerely apologize, your highness.”, the alchemist grinned.
The cavalry captain stared at him for a second before breaking out in a loud laugh. “Oh my…”
Albedo couldn’t hide his smile as well, already walking past the other. “Let’s head back. Klee is probably already waiting for us.”
°°°
“See you soon, Kaeya.”, Albedo said softly, holding Klee in his arms, Sucrose right beside him. The four of them had spend the whole day eating, playing and talking. Then, when the sun started hiding behind the horizon, they started walking back to the city. Klee had fallen asleep in Kaeya’s arms and only woke up again after they crossed the fountain next to the crafting table.
Kaeya had decided to go and visit Diluc at the tavern, while Sucrose and Albedo were going to bring their small sparkling knight home.
“See you tomorrow, big brother Kaeya!”, Klee waved, smiling but still looking very tired.
“See you tomorrow, Klee. Have a good night.”, Kaeya smiled before going back the way they came from. In front of the city walls though, he turned left. A smile formed on his lips as soon as he saw Angel’s Share in front of him. A Death After Noon was everything he needed now.
And if he remembered right, it was Diluc’s shift, so the drink would be even better. Diluc knew his taste best after all, always finding the perfect mixture.
“Captain Kaeya, Sir!”, some of the visitors in the tavern greeted him as soon as he opened the door. Kaeya smiled and gave them a small wave before continuing towards the bar.
The red head behind the counter looked up, his red eyes meeting Kaeya’s blue one.
“Hello there, Master Diluc!”, Kaeya started grinning, sliding down on one of the counter chairs.
“Shouldn’t you be working, Sir Kaeya?”, Diluc hissed, rolling his eyes.
“Oh, come on, Master Diluc! I have already finished all of my work for the day. Can’t a man enjoy a drink or two without you nagging?”, Kaeya provoked, leaning on the wood in front of him.
Diluc sighed, turning to make Kaeya’s drink. He already knew what the blunette wanted, so he didn’t bother to ask.
After a few minutes of silence between them, only the other guests in the background, Diluc turned back, sliding a glass Death After Noon in front of Kaeya.
“Thank you, Master Diluc. Your drinks are always the best.”, the knight grabbed the glass and leaned back, ignoring the weird look Diluc gave him. He eyed the tavern, spotting the traveler alone at a table in the corner of the room. Ah, he was already there.
Kaeya was about to stand up again, when Diluc’s hand stopped him. With one eyebrow raised, he turned to look at the bartender. “What?”
Diluc looked around for a second before whispering. “Is… your eye okay?... The Traveler asked me of you have any chronical injuries concerning your eye.”
Kaeya gulped. Diluc had seen his eye the night their ways had parted. The pyro-user had cut the string oh Kaeya’s eyepatch with his claymore, leaving the golden, glowing eye exposed. Thankfully, the blue scars hadn’t started back then.
After Diluc returned to Mondstadt, they have had a long talk about everything. They had apologized. Well, mostly Diluc had apologized for reacting so harshly. They had decided to try and forgive the other. Diluc had realized that Kaeya might be from a different country, but that didn’t mean he was a spy or traitor. And Kaeya had realized that talking to Diluc right after their father had died, maybe wasn’t the best idea.
They weren’t as far back to normal as to call each other brother again, but they were trying. Especially Diluc tried to show Kaeya that he did not mean what he said that night.
So, when they had spent a night at falcon coast together, Diluc had asked him about the eye he had seen that night. Kaeya hadn’t said much about it though, only saying it was some Khaenri’ahn curse and that it hurt sometimes when the abyss was close.
Diluc had probably sensed that Kaeya didn’t want to talk about it, so he hadn’t questioned any longer. But since that night at the coast, Diluc asked about the pain he had to bear every time he heard about encounters with the abyss. Just like tonight.
“Ah… It’s okay again. Thank you.”, Kaeya answered, a small smile on his face. He had missed Diluc. A lot. Loosing a brother after growing up with him was horrible. For Kaeya, it was even worse than loosing his family in Khaenri’ah. He knew they were dead. He knew that there was no chance of him seeing them again. Any of them. But Diluc had been right across the counter for months before they had the talk. He had been in Mondstadt, right in front of him. Everyone was able to talk to the red head. Everyone but Kaeya.
And that had hurt way more than loosing his family at a young age.
Kaeya slightly shook his head, trying to shake those thought off. They had talked, they were good now. Not great, but on their way. There was no reason for him to mourn his brother. He still had him.
Kaeya stared at the glass in his hand, his mind wandering to his birth family. He didn’t have those anymore. What had happened to them exactly though?
Kaeya knew they were dead, of course. Everyone was dead. His homeland got destroyed and his people died or turned into monsters. But why was he still here? Kaeya remembered his father walking him to dawn winery and leaving him there. Kaeya remembered their journey through a huge cave. He remembered how the smoking black and red sky turned into dark blue, filled with stars, clouds and the moon as soon as he stepped out of the cave. Kaeya even remembered where exactly the cave was. But as soon as he went there, searching for his father, he realized that the cave was gone, not a single trace of it or his father left.
And what confused Kaeya the most was the time. People here don’t talk about Khaenri’ah. It’s like a forbidden topic. But then, the books he had found in the forbidden part of the library, hidden by shelves, said that the fall of Khaenri’ah had been 500 years ago. But that didn’t make any sense. He had been there, right? He had seen the houses burned down. He had seen the dead bodies on the floor.
But he definitely was nowhere near 500 years old. So how did he get here and what exactly happened at that time? 500 years ago for everyone around him. But only 20 years ago for him.
“Captain Kaeya, Sir?”, a knight snapped him out of his thoughts and the blunette looked up.
“Yes?”
“The Traveler wants to talk to you… His flying thing asked me to go and get you, Sir…”
Kaeya forced a smile and nodded. “Ah, sure! Thank you for getting me.” He then stood up and grabbed his glass again. “Thank you, Diluc. I’ll be sitting with the Traveler for a while.”, he gave the bartender a small nod and walked towards the corner he had seen the blonde boy and his companion earlier.
“There you are! You’ve been sitting there for an eternity! We’ve been waiting for you!”, Paimon complained as soon as he sat down across from Aether.
“Sorry, Sorry. I am here now. So, tell me, Traveler, Paimon. What did you experience today? Did you discover anything new? Anything interesting?”, the knight asked, taking a sip from his drink.
Aether nodded slightly while Paimon already started talking. “Yes, we did. We went to this cave with a friend. There was this weird statue of the seven turned upside down. It was so weird! And there was some purple and black magic? It was so confusing… Paimon can’t even remember everything…”
Aether eyed his best friend for a second before looking at Kaeya. “The friend Paimon just mentioned will be joining us in a few minutes. He knows more about this whole story than we do.”
Kaeya nodded, leaning back. “Okay, then let’s wait for this friend of yours.”
Aether nodded as well, lowering his head as they fell into a comfortable silence. Well, as silent as it can be at a full tavern.
Every time the door opened and the small bell made a noise, both of their heads snapped up, examining the person that entered.
After what felt like hours, Kaeya broke the silence.
“So, what is your friends name?”, he asked the Traveler.
“Oh, his name is-“, Aether started but got interrupted by the door opening again. Kaeya looked up to see who arrived.
His eye met light blue ones, partly hidden by blonde, short hair. In seconds Kaeya was on his feet, staring at the man on the other side of the tavern.
Time seemed to stop as both of them stared, completely frozen.
Those blue eyes. The blonde hair. The mask over half of his face. There was no mistaken. It was the Twilight Sword. It was Dainsleif.
Kaeya’s breath quickened. There was no way this was real. His mind must play a trick on him. Dainsleif was dead. Just like everyone else of his family. There was no way-.
Then, Dainsleif moved. He took two steps in Kaeya’s direction but stopped again, still staring at the blunette.
Those steps snapped Kaeya out of his trance. Without another thought he ran towards the other, crushing the blonde with a tight hug.
“D-Dain…”, he whispered, pressing his body against the others. Dainsleif slowly lifted his arms, returning the intimate hug. Kaeya bit his lip, his eyes closed. Why was he here? Why was he still alive? Why didn’t he grow older? Why did Dainsleif, once his personal guard, his twilight sword, his best friend not change a single bit since the day they parted?
All those question vanished when he heard Dainsleif’s quiet voice. “Prince Kaeya… You’re… here…”
Thankfully, Diluc had emptied the tavern in seconds, sensing that this was something important and personal, so no one aside from the Traveler, Paimon and Diluc himself could hear the soft sobs that escaped Kaeya’s lips. “Dain…”, he whispered again, still not believing that this was real.
Dainsleif suddenly stepped back, eying Kaeya for a second before dropping down on one knee, holding one of Kaeya’s hands in his and pressing a soft kiss onto the prince’s knuckles.
“I am so happy to see you alive, my Prince. Please, excuse me for not being there to protect you.”, the royal guard spoke, head lowered to stare at the floor, not daring to even look at his prince.
Even more tears rolled down Kaeya’s cheek, the other side being blocked by the eye patch. “Dainsleif… You’re… Really here?”, Kaeya asked with a shaking voice. He didn’t care about anything else right now. He didn’t care about the confused look Paimon gave them. He didn’t care about the shocked and stunned expressions on Diluc and Aether’s faces. He didn’t care. All that mattered in that moment was the man in front of him, still on his knees.
“Prince Kaeya… I have failed my duties as your guard-…”, Dainsleif started, but Kaeya interrupted him.
“Dain… I’m so glad to see you alive… I don’t care about any stupid duties!”, he said, sounding a bit childish.
And that finally made the blonde look up again, light blue eyes meeting Kaeya’s again.
“Stand up, Dain.”, the prince ordered and the other instantly followed, raising again.
Kaeya examined his guard, slowly lifting a hand to trace the dark blue lines on Dainsleif’s mask.
“Kaeya? What is going on here?”, Diluc carefully asked, confusion and shock in his voice.
“Diluc, I-… This-…”, Kaeya tried, but gave up again. Instead he continued to stare at the man in front of him, still not really believing this.
“Your eye…”, Dainsleif muttered, lifting a hand. He was about to touch the eye patch but stopped again. He looked at Kaeya for approval.
“Take it off… I don’t care anymore.”
Dainsleif nodded. “As you wish, my prince.” He then slowly reached into Kaeya’s hair, gently untying the small knot. Kaeya closed his eyes. He felt the eye patch fall, making a small sound as it hit the ground a second later.
“Prince Kaeya…”, Dainsleif’s hand cupped his face, his thump gently brushing over Kaeya’s cheekbone.
Slowly, as if he was scared, Kaeya opened his eyes again, now openly showing the golden one.
He could hear Aether’s gasp and Paimon squeaked in shock. Diluc bit his lip, staring at the man he grew up with. Kaeya didn’t see the bartender, but he knew exactly what face Diluc was making.
The blue lining scars that started from his eye began to glow in a dark blue. The gold in his eye started to shine as well. Dainsleif’s own eyes widened.
“The curse… It got to you, my prince…”
Realization hit the guard and he fell back down on one knee.
“Please, forgive me, my Prince! I wasn’t able to stop the curse in time.”, he lowered his head again, one hand pressed against his chest. “I am not worth of being called your twilight sword anymore. I failed you, my Prince.” The kneeing man looked up slightly, most of his eyes still hidden by blonde hair.
“Please forgive me, Prince of Khaenri’ah.”
Now it was Diluc who gasped. “What?!”, he exclaimed. “Kaeya, What the fuck is going on here?”
At that, Dainsleif’s head snapped towards the red head, his eyes narrowing. “Do not speak to the prince like that.”
Kaeya started laughing slightly, pulling Dainsleif back onto his legs.
“I still can’t believe you’re really here, Dain… I’m so happy to see you. And Diluc, please do not start a fight with my twilight sword. You would not survive that.”
Diluc was about to say something, but a small move from Aether stopped him. The Traveler was still focused on the Prince and his guard, watching them with sharp eyes.
“Kaeya. You’re the prince of Khaenri’ah?”, Aether asked, his voice steady.
A wet chuckle escaped Kaeya’s lips and he nodded. “I am… Somehow.”
Diluc broke his silence and stepped forward, “Kaeya, what does all of this mean?!”
At the same time, Dainsleif stepped between them, shielding Kaeya from the other two.
“Step back. You do not have the right to get close to the Prince.”, the guard let out, his voice clean and direct, even after centuries of not serving his prince.
“Diluc, calm down please. I promise I will tell you everything soon, okay?”, Kaeya looked at his brother and gave him a reassuring nod.
Diluc sighed but nodded. “Okay.”
With that, the blunette grabbed Dainsleif’s shoulders, turning the guard back to face him.
“Dain?...”, he fell quiet for a moment, simply staring at the man in front of him. The man he had thought about so many times. The man he had dreamed about day after day. The man he had saved in his memories. In memories he had sworn to himself to never forget. His first friend. His personal guard. His partner in crime when he was just a young child. His twilight sword, that had promised to never leave his side and to always protect him.
The man he had thought he lost so many years ago.
The man he had thought he would never see again.
Tears filled Kaeya’s eyes once again as he pulled Dainsleif into another tight hug. “You’re really here… Dainsleif…”
At the use of his full name, the guard also couldn’t hide his emotions anymore. He finally had his prince back. He had finally found him. After years of traveling and searching, he finally found the person he was looking for.
He had finally found his prince.
And there they stood, in the now empty tavern, teary eyes. “I’ve missed you so much…”, Kaeya said. A small smile appeared on the others face.
“I have missed you too, my prince.”