Chapter Text
Diluc might go insane, if this continues. Jean informed him two days ago that Kaeya had been officially reported missing, and it’s been a dead end. They have no leads, no clues, not even an inkling of what could have happened. And that sickens him.
He sees the despair and stress in his childhood best friend’s eyes, knowing that she too is desperate to get him back. And Diluc knows that his brother would never disappear without a word to anyone, even one person. He doesn’t care what the stupid Chief Alchemist tries to tell him, because there’s no way that the Cavalry Captain wouldn’t leave a fucking note.
Who cares what Diluc used to think? Years ago, Kaeya would have left without so much as a goodbye. But that was nearing a decade ago. He had been so blind-sided, thinking that the Cavalry Captain was just playing games somewhere, lollygagging without a single thought. No, it was clear now to him that this wasn’t a vacation. Kaeya had been taken against his will. Where? Why? How? When? Who? Diluc doesn’t know.
He’s been patrolling Mondstadt ever since Jean came to him with the news. It’s frustrated him to no end at how he also cannot seem to find anything leading towards what happened to his own brother.
What if he’s dead? What if he wasn’t through enough in his investigations, and Kaeya’s dead because of him?
No, Diluc tells himself. He needs to hold onto his hope. He’ll burn himself to ash if it means keeping his family safe.
He grabs his gloves and starts moving out of the Winery, to start up his shift at Angels Share. He’ll patrol again tonight. There has to be something out there. He will find Kaeya.
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Just as Diluc finds himself turning on the light inside of Angels Share, someone comes up to him.
“Master Diluc! You need to help me. Look at what I found near Falcon Coast!”
The outrider, Amber, has come to him. She’s frantic, on the outside looking almost as insane as he’s going on the inside. She shuts the tavern door behind her, and brings her hands up to his face. It’s…a piece of Kaeya’s fur coat. And his earring. The earring his brother never takes off no matter what.
“Amber. You found this in Falcon Coast?”
“Yes! It was in some bushes. I don’t care that you don’t care about Kaeya being gone, but my best friend is in danger, and I need you to help me find him!”
Oh, fuck. The girl is crying and stomping her feet at him now. He doesn’t know what to do about this.
“First off, I do care. I just..didn’t believe it. I’ll have Charles take over for today, and I can help. And please, don’t cry…”
Diluc tries his best to calm Amber down. He isn’t good at this by any means, but he is trying. At the least, it works (?) and she starts wiping her tears.
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The walk to Falcon Coast isn’t long, and takes Amber even less time than Diluc by how fast ahead of him she’s running. She stands by a bush neighboring the sand and points to it, a severely worried expression on her face. Whoever decided to make the mistake of hurting Kaeya must be somewhat competent, seeing how they’ve meticulously gone off course of the knights patrol routes.
“Right here! I-I don’t know what to do…”
“I have an Idea. It may get us no farther in theory, but it will in practice.”
Diluc knew he only made sense to himself. But that didn’t matter, because Amber followed him anyway. Everyone else needed to be informed of her findings, especially Jean.
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“What if..Kaeya left because of me..?”
Diluc stops walking, and looks down at the depressed outrider. He also stops himself before he can shut her down, because it’s probably more important to let her get it all out.
“I just realized that when we hung out, he didn’t actually contribute anything to the plans we were making. Did I leave him out? I feel like such a horrible friend…”
“Amber, I wouldn’t be so sure. Kaeya doesn’t leave without his earring, and he doesn’t like when his clothes get chipped. He wouldn’t leave like this.”
The girl looks at a loss for words, staring up at him apprehensively. Her face twists into confusion, before she opens her mouth.
“But, you said—“
“I know what I said. I thought he left too, just for a..selfish vacation. But it’s clear now that his absence is against his will. Nothing’s your fault, Amber.”
“…thank you.”
Unexpectedly, she pulls him into a hug, and parts of her welling tears spill onto Diluc’s coat. He immediately tenses up, standing straight and patting her awkwardly on the back. How Kaeya deals with people’s emotions like this all the time, he does not know.
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Diluc finally makes it to the Knights Headquarters, disregarding the sure gossip that would surround him after this. Amber was attached to him, holding the evidence in a bruising grip, and his coat in another. He did not mind being her anchor.
He knows the exact way to Jean’s office, and finds her disheveled. A frown appears on his face, more genuine than the stoicism he takes on daily. His best friend is asleep on her desk, with eye bags and tear marks on her face. He hopes that what Amber found will give her hope.
He taps on her shoulder, speaking softly to get her conscious. Usually, he would have yelled to get her attention. But he can tell the pain she’s in is taking a toll on her, and tries to act as best as he can.
“Hm..? Oh, Diluc…”
“Wait—Diluc?! What’s going on?!”
Jean jumps in her seat after recognizing him, and he steps back a little bit. He nods his head for Amber to come forward, and leans against the desk.
“W-We found this in Falcon Coast, right off the patrol routes..”
The acting Grandmaster’s face goes pale, and Diluc simply shuts his eyes. They both know the implications of what happened to Kaeya now.
“Oh my Archon…Lisa! Come look at this!”
The librarian saunters into the acting Grandmaster’s office, her sweet smile dropping as soon as she recognizes the evidence. Diluc thinks that’s the most serious he’s ever seen her. Apparently so does Amber, since she’s tensed up.
“Falcon Coast…right off the patrol routes. Do you think someone lured him away while he was on patrol?”
“It’s probable.”
Lisa looks to be preparing to take a hit, before opening her mouth to speak again with a sigh.
“I’m sorry, Jean. They could have already left to any other Nation with him. He could be out of our hands by now. We don’t know the full story, don’t know if he’s safe, we don’t know anything except for the fact that this was against his own volition. We may never find him.”
Diluc wants to absolutely yell in this witch’s face. Tell her there’s always a way to find Kaeya, there must be. That even if there’s nothing too tangible, they have to search. But he sees the pain in her eyes—knowing she must think that there really is no hope—despite her desperation.
Jean chokes on a sob, which to the untrained eye could be evidence of her letting go of all hope. But Diluc knows Jean Gunnhildr, he knows that the possibility of giving up simply fuels her to keep going.
“We can find him…using the winds. I’m sure of it.”
The Acting Grandmaster lifts her hands in prayer, and Venti appears in front of her desk. He’s floating while eating an apple, and gives everyone a bit of a confused look.
“Sooo…what’cha need from little old me?”
Venti POV
“Barbatos, please answer my prayer. Appear before me, I beg of you…”
A prayer from Jean summoning him? Must be some serious stuff. Venti grabs one last apple from the tree he was laying in, before answering the prayer. He looks around the office noticing Amber, Lisa, and…Master Diluc? Must really be serious.
He notices how rough all of his children look, and does his best to not scrunch up his face.
“Sooo…what’cha need from little old me?”
Venti asks cheerfully, planting a pretty smile on his face. His children need him while he’s here, even with one gone. Jean is the first to open her mouth.
“Barbatos…are you able to search for Kaeya’s presence in the winds?”
Ah. That’s what the acting Grandmaster called him for.
“…I’ll give it a try.”
Barbatos takes a deep breath to concentrate his thinking, before starting his search for Kaeya’s presence. The little boy he swore to protect is missing, and Barbatos couldn’t be more stressed. He has to repeatedly push away the looming thought, in order to focus. And...
Nothing.
It takes a bit for Barbatos to compose himself, before relaying the news.
“He’s not anywhere I can reach.”
He sees Diluc lift an eyebrow, turning on his place near the desk to interject.
“You say that as if there are places you cannot reach.”
Barbatos sighs, readying himself to give a long explanation.
“There have been places tailored to not reach me before, by malicious parties. Either…Kaeya is not..with us, anymore…or he’s in one of those places.”
Barbatos did not like the idea of his child being dead. Taken away from him so soon, the boy he swore to protect. How cruel Teyvat must be, to take away his best drinking buddy.
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Hi guys another chapter! Yay. This might be ass because I felt like I was making the chapter too long.