Chapter Text
“Hm? So, who are you?” Gojo asks curiously as he crosses his arms and leans against the tree, watching the humanoid fall from the sky while dressed in western styled clothing.
Albedo rests his forehead against his palm, feeling sick due to having jumped out of the vortex of space and time. He has to assuage his nausea before he can gain enough composure to figure out what the tall man is saying.
Once he feels considerably better, he returns the curious gaze and smiles. “Hi, I’m Albedo.”
How did this happen? Well, let’s rewind time a little…
After the Heavenly Principles are overthrown, peace and ambition have been returned to humanity. Aether and Lumine are reunited and as they were about to depart to their next world, the retired Geo Archon Morax, the freedom-loving Anemo Archon Barbatos, and everyone who they’ve met during their travels all expressed their desire to know about the life they had as travelers from another world. Even Albedo is interested, considering his thirst for knowledge, so they end up all coming along on their trip to the next world.
“Ehe~ I didn’t think an old man like you would want to come with us. Are you dying for a break after centuries of working non-stop?” Venti floats in the air with his wings spread out while holding onto a lock of Zhongli’s hair as if to save him from being sucked into space and time and getting lost. His tone is youthful and light, like a dandelion seed sticking onto you then scurrying away in a gust of wind.
The ‘old man’ sighs, feeling a headache coming. Even though he’s called an ‘old man’, he has the looks of a youngster in his twenties. Zhongli decides against shrugging off Venti’s fingers and murmurs, “Even rocks can erode and wear out after three-thousand and seven-hundred years, let alone me. I’m thankful to the Traveler for providing me with this opportunity for a vacation.”
Aether turns to him upon hearing his title being called. “You don’t need to thank me. Vacations are always more fun with more people.”
Zhongli doesn’t object. Being treated with respect by someone like Aether who’s done a lot more for Teyvat has made even the Geo Archon feeling a little sheepish.
Lumine, who was given control of their travel across space and time by her brother, glances back at him and all the people couped up at the back with a disgruntled look. “Be careful everyone! It won’t be easy finding you if you accidentally get sucked into space and time!”
She only said that to remind them that this is a serious matter and shouldn’t be taken as a joke. Since Albedo is supposedly the most dependable and serious out of all of them, she wasn’t expecting him of all people to look at something in the distance and then leap towards it, leaving the group as soon as she finishes talking!
He jumped!! Into the vortex of space and time!!!
Lumine’s disgruntled expression freezes. And it’s not just her, everyone else freezes as well. All the laughter and chatter vanishes in an instant.
Aether immediately tries to grab after Albedo but he’s not quick enough. Everyone’s too at ease to respond accordingly, and it’s not until Albedo’s body dissipates that they finally snap out of it. Zhongli, the only dependable adult left, raises his hand slowly, not saying a thing.
Albedo’s beyond saving.
Lumine lets out a cry of agony, breaking the suffocating silence. “Is no one going to say something!??”
Aether, Kaeya, Diluc, and Jean: “For some reason, I feel a sense of déjà vu*.”
Speechless and with an urge to tear all her hair out, Lumine explodes onto them. “If he has done this sort of thing before, why didn’t you guys keep a close eye on him!?”
Who would have thought he would just jump off!? Into space of time!?
That’s space and time we’re talking about!!
Lumine sighs, feeling a sense of hopelessness. “This will take a while.”
Afraid of being yelled at and having his ear pulled by his sister, Aether can only nod hurriedly in agreement. It won’t be easy finding someone lost in space and time.
It would take luck.
Remembering the excruciating pain he suffered when he threw Fate after Fate into the pond** only to lose the 50/50, Aether covers his face and groans.
Noticing the lack of visible concern from these traveling partners regarding the disappearance of their friend, Lumine can’t help but ask, “I thought you guys are friends?” Why didn’t they show a little worry for him?
Jean smiles and muses. “Albedo probably saw something interesting before jumping off. As for his…hm…survival capabilities, he’s a quick learner so I don’t think we need to worry about him.”
So he’s smart. Got it.
Feeling slightly less restless, Lumine crouches next to Aether and stares vacantly into the path of space of time like she’s merely looking at the ocean.
This is going to take forever.
Albedo smiles at the man before him and asks, “Can you use that power again?”
Gojo’s grin widens. “Power? Oh, you mean the technique that turned the cursed spirit into ash?”
The unsaid threat is clear: You will become ash as well.
But Gojo only saw two possibilities: the boy survives the hit, or he dies in a hit.
He hasn’t thought about this possibility.
The teenage boy before him with platinum blond hair, refined features, and slightly on the skinny side, blinks owlishly. “I’m sorry, I’m not well-versed in your language. If my pronunciation is correct, you should be able to understand me. Please provide me with a book on your language.”
Gojo’s smile freezes. He rubs his chin as he tries to figure out the teen standing before him.
No, rather than calling him a teen…
He’s more like a combination of cursed spirit and cursed tool, though his composition feels more similar to that of a cursed object.
Gojo’s eyes allow him to see the curse-like dark energy circulating both outside and within this humanoid cursed spirit. If he’s not mistaken, this dark energy is on the same level as that of a first grade cursed spirit.
Cursed spirits shouldn’t have such a high level of mental capabilities and language skills, but the kid before him has spoken with clarity, showed a clear train of thoughts, and even his appearance is beyond perfection.
What…is this?
Did he just so happen to combine words and phrases into a complete sentence? Or does he have intelligence?
While musing over this…creature, Gojo doesn’t attack and kill it but instead he puts his hands around his mouth like a megaphone and shouts word by word as if he truly thinks the boy is just a foreigner who can’t communicate, “CAN. YOU. NOT. UNDERSTAND. WHAT. I’M. SAYING?”
This time, Albedo manages to understand what the other is saying. This man must have slowed down his speech out of consideration. “Thank you for your consideration. I could only understand what my friend taught me a long time ago.” The friend he’s referring to is, of course, Aether. When they were bored, he would visit Albedo’s lab and foreign words and phrases would pop out of his mouth. Albedo had learned some after developing an interest in Aether’s past.
But he only learned some , because he wasn’t expecting to find himself in this unfamiliar world that just so happens to speak this language.
Talk about unexpected…
Before he jumped, he felt a surge of power with the stench of the abyss clinging to it. It felt equally strong, yet also different.
That had him freeze on the spot, remembering the final assignment given to him by his master: find the truth and meaning of the world. He hasn’t completed it yet, and so he decided to jump towards the source of this familiar yet also unfamiliar power.
Judging from the outfit the man is wearing and the environment which looks like it could be used for worshiping purposes, Albedo concluded that the humans in this world must have a decent level of intelligence and a language system. That's why he asked for a book on their language.
With his hands still cupping his mouth, Gojo puffs out his chest and asks, “AND. WHO. MIGHT. YOU. BE?“
Albedo has a pretty good memory, so he’s aware that this question has been asked twice already. The first time is when they first met. Is this human wary of him?
With this assumption in mind, his aura changes. If it was like soft fluffy snowflakes earlier, now it’s like a strong wind current. Even his youthfulness can’t mask this thick aura.
Gojo Satoru, the strongest sorcerer, the Gojo clan head who possesses the Six Eyes, has never felt a need to treat anything or any one with caution ever since fully mastering his abilities.
But when the kid releases this aura, he feels all the hair on his body rise in alert, his grin fading as he stares at the other with a profound sense of solemnity.
He can’t figure it out.
He can’t understand its existence.
He only knows that that power can harm him.
Realizing this, Gojo’s instantly on guard, his back straightens and two of his fingers are held before his chest.
Noticing the other’s change in posture, Albedo makes sure to keep eye contact as he does a salute required of any member of the Knights of Favonius. He puts a hand behind his back and the other parallel to his chest then does a swiping motion downward. When he speaks, his voice is clear and calm, the kind that can instantly lift your mood when you hear it.
“I’m Albedo, Chief Alchemist of the Knights of Favonius.”
Despite Gojo’s eyes being covered by a black blindfold, Albedo can still tell the man is stunned.
And he is.
Gojo may be smart and knowledgeable due to his Six Eyes allowing him to see more than anyone else so he rarely encounters anything he doesn’t understand, but even he’s stunned by what he has just heard. It sounds like a language out of this world, except the familiar name “Albedo” because the boy had introduced himself with that name at the very beginning.
What’s this?
Is he not knowledgeable and wise enough so his ancestors decided to drop a surprise out of the sky for him?
The kid literally fell out of the sky though!
All of a sudden!
In a split moment!
Before Gojo could react!
The kid just fell and landed before him!
It’s like there was a crack in space!
Gojo holds onto his tongue for a long time and finally manages to make out a “Huh?”
Albedo: “Like I said, please give me a book on your language.”
This time Gojo doesn’t play around. He gives the other an “ok” sign regardless of whether he can understand its meaning or not.
Albedo doesn’t understand, but he loves to learn new things, so he memorized this hand-sign and quickly sketches it into his notebook.
Gojo can tell this boy clearly isn’t behaving the violent and chaotic way the substance he’s made of is. Instead, his presence brings a wave of serenity. With a temperament and personality like that, he probably can’t even contribute to the creation of any cursed spirits in a city like this.
But Gojo can’t decide on what this teen-looking cursed spirit is just yet.
Curious as to what the boy is doing, Gojo saunters over to take a peek at the notebook. He may be cautious of that violent power the boy is holding within, he knows he can at least protect himself if the kid decides to get violent.
He glances over the notebook to see what Albedo’s doing. Not even a minute has passed and yet there’s already a nearly complete sketch.
A sketch of him.
Gojo lifts an eyebrow and puts both hands on this teen-looking thing’s shoulders, whispering into his ears suggestively, “You’ll have to pay first if you want to draw me.”
Albedo doesn’t understand. He blinks then shakes his head, showing his confusion.
Gojo doesn’t elaborate, since it’s not like the boy would understand his explanation.
During their brief conversation, Albedo has completed his sketch. He tears it off of the sketchbook and gives it to the human leaning on his shoulder.
Gojo has stopped watching midway and turned his attention to the sky. He has no interest in art, but seeing the expectant smile on the other’s face, he still accepts the drawing.
It’s a drawing of him making an “ok” sign.