Chapter Text
“Longing. Rusted. Furnace. Daybreak. Seventeen. Benign. Nine. Homecoming. One. Freight car.”
“Ready to comply.”
—
Kaeya gently picked up the Pyro Vision from its place on his work desk. It faintly illuminated the papers underneath his hands despite the room being lit by natural light from the surrounding windows. Warmth encased Kaeya’s palms through his gloves, an effect of the Vision’s element. It starkly contrasted the Vision hanging from his hip, the one that actually belonged to him.
He brushed a thumb over the glass surface, running it right over the elemental symbol of Pyro. The light had been constant in the past few months, never dimming yet never glowing brighter. That came as a relief to Kaeya; the feeling of watching a Vision flicker dangerously dark wasn’t easy to forget. Helplessness, fear, regret; those were just a few of the emotions he had felt whenever it dimmed.
The first time it had nearly gone out under his watch was a moment Kaeya would never forget. He remembered his hands shaking as he begged the Vision to light up again, to stop fading away the Pyro symbol emblazoned on the glass. It had taken several hours for it to gain a respectable glow again, and then it took weeks for it to return to its usual redhot pulse. During those weeks, the Vision hadn’t left Kaeya’s side, practically becoming another accessory to his knight uniform.
The second time it had nearly gone out, well, it hadn’t nearly gone out. It did go out. Kaeya had watched his entire world crumble before him as he stared at his own face in the gray glass. A white imprint of the Pyro symbol had been slowly fading from the Vision as well, like it was fog being wiped from a window. He remembered seeing his horrified expression as though he was a terrifying demon that only existed in nightmares. Several minutes that felt like hours had passed by, the edges of the Vision’s silver-winged border digging harshly into his fingers, before the Vision flickered to life again.
Death was permanent once enough time had passed. Kaeya was not a fool enough to let himself believe that his brother was going to be resurrected in time, but the immense amount of relief mixed with pure anxiety that flooded his body upon seeing the faintest outline of red was irrefutable. There was always hope, always a wish despite no actual belief, that everything would turn out okay in the end. Unfortunately, there was only so far reality could take a wish before it would eventually crumble in the wind. Something had happened to Diluc when he died temporarily– more than the obvious. Even when several months passed after the Vision went out, its light never returned back to its normal glow. It was dimmer. It still glowed, yes, but not as brightly.
Months turned into a year, and a year turned two, and two into three. Sometimes, the Vision would dim and get dangerously gray-tinted, but it would always bounce back to that dimmer state. Kaeya had dedicated a large portion of his free time to Visions to understand the strange anomaly, but his efforts had yielded no solid results. It was entirely inexplicable until they found the owner of the Vision himself. Unfortunately, that search had been abandoned a long time ago.
Kaeya’s eyes drifted from the Vision to the papers on his desk again. Three hunters from Springvale reported finding a dead boar, which wouldn’t have been unusual if not for the wounds it possessed. Its hide had been completely singed black with deep and distinct imprints of chains made of metal encasing its entire body. There was evidence of a similar attack somewhere else in the forest, but there hadn’t been an animal’s body to find; only burnt, black grass.
The boar was entirely intact regardless of the burns it had suffered. No meat was extracted from the inside, none of its limbs torn off, and all of its hide remained aside from what was burnt off. The last, possibly the most important part of the mystery were the strands of bright red hair found around both the boar and the blackened grass patch.
Kaeya squeezed the Vision a little tighter. There was some murderer going around all of Teyvat with that same red hair. It was left behind at almost every crime scene, as if on purpose to show just how evasive they were. So far, the person hadn’t been in Mondstadt for all the time their red hair had been recorded. It would seem now that the nation’s luck had run dry, and Kaeya would be damned if he were to let this person get away with another callous murder spree.
Logically, he knew Diluc wasn’t the only person in all of Teyvat that had long, red hair. Hell, Diluc had already been missing for a year before the criminal was first reported. The chance that it was actually the former wine tycoon’s son behind the mysterious murders were incredibly low, to the point where it was hardly viable. Kaeya’s heart decided it wanted to believe otherwise. It pounded against his ribcage as he tucked the vision into his pants pocket and forced himself to stand up from his chair.
Leaving the papers on his desk, Kaeya pulled his signature cape off of the back of his chair. He tugged it around his shoulders, clipping it safely together as he made his way out of the room. The forest in which the boar and the damaged grass patch were found was Wolvendom, and Kaeya happened to know a boy that lived out in those woods. If anyone were to have seen or heard anything unusual, it would be Razor.
He tried not to think about how if he had looked at that Pyro Vision any longer, he would’ve lost hours of his day deep in his own reminiscence of the past. Of what he could have done differently, what could have changed, and what he evidently lost. His mind had always tried to work against him in the worst of ways.
Kaeya waved to his fellow knights who politely greeted him as he left the headquarters. It wasn’t until he reached the large front doors that he spotted the Spark Knight of the Knights of Favonius. She was pushing open the right door with a little bit of effort, because honestly, those doors were heavier than they needed to be. Likely hearing his footsteps, her head swiveled around quickly to spot the approaching knight. A large grin donned her face, one that was always contagious no matter what kind of mood Kaeya was in.
“Kaeya!” Klee called eagerly. A similar smile painted Kaeya’s face as he pushed open the door the rest of the way for her. “What are you doing today?”
“I am so glad you asked, Klee. I’m actually on my way to Wolvendom. You know, where your good friend Razor lives?” Coming across Klee was a stroke of luck; bringing her could encourage Razor to come out of the woods if he decided to deliberately hide from Kaeya. The boy was still somewhat apprehensive towards people, no matter how much kindness he was shown by Klee and the rest of the Knights. Kaeya couldn’t necessarily blame him; it was a trait ingrained in his very being due to his upbringing with wolves.
Besides, Kaeya was always happy to take Klee on an adventure. Her presence always had a way of bringing the man into a good mood.
“Oh, yeah! I haven’t seen him in a while! We need to go fish blasting some time. Why are you going over there?” She asked, her arms flapping as she walked alongside Kaeya.
If he was going to take her with him, then there wasn’t any point in lying. “I was hoping to talk to your friend. Do you want to come with me?” He asked. Then he added, “I’m sure I can make some time to go fish blasting with you.”
“I would love to go with you! But last time I went fish blasting, Master Jean found out…” She pouted. Kaeya laughed with a small wave of his hand.
“Don’t worry about her. If you’re with me, then everything will be fine,” he reassured. Walking down the steps into the city, Kaeya’s gaze already found the various Fatui diplomats milling about. He kept his disgust levels at a minimum. If Klee started asking questions about his suddenly soured mood, he thought it would be hard to keep from telling the truth.
“Okay, Kaeya! Oh, can we stop at Good Hunter? I’m hungry,” the girl asked politely. Kaeya agreed readily; a short stop wouldn’t do any harm. A snack would be nice, too. Going over reports and documents first thing in the morning tended to make him feel hungry faster.
Good Hunter proved to be a good pitstop for a few reasons: Kaeya nipped the growing bud of hunger before it became a nuisance, Klee happily received three fish skewers, and a certain librarian eating at the restaurant took Diluc’s Pyro Vision off of the Cavalry Captain’s hands. He didn’t exactly like traveling anywhere too far outside of the city with it on his person, but there were only three people he could trust to keep it safe; Master Jean, Captain Albedo, and the Librarian of the Knights’ Headquarters, Lisa. Keeping it in his office or somewhere tucked away in his apartment would put it at risk of being stolen.
Not that he thought anyone in the Knights in particular would take the Vision– or dare to rob his home– but he would rather be safe than sorry. Having another Vision-wielder, especially one he knew was both powerful and trustworthy, to look after the Vision was his best choice. If he couldn’t, then he would simply have to keep the item on his person and protect it at all costs. It was the last thing he could do for Diluc.
The pair made their way out of Mondstadt without any more stops. Kaeya held a light but pleasant conversation with the Spark Knight, talking about fish blasting, Albedo’s research and experiments, and the recent improvements of Klee’s bombs. The last of which Kaeya subtly spoke of ways to use them safely in hopes that the little girl wouldn’t do any actual damage with them. As much as he liked to mess with Jean through Klee’s antics, he did care about the city of Mondstadt and her sanity.
On the way past Springvale, they passed by a hunter. While it was mostly men that inherited the cat-like features of their ancestors, a few women did, too. This woman, Lena, if his memory served him correctly, was one of them. Her ears were a beige color, but there was no tail in sight.
“Good morning, Sir Kaeya! What brings you two out here?” She respectfully greeted.
Kaeya waved a hand down to the girl at his right side, strategically covering his blindspot. “Good morning to you, too. Klee and I are just passing through on our way to Wolvendom. I received your reports this morning and wanted to act as quickly as possible,” he said with a polite smile. The people of Springvale weren’t on particularly good terms with the wolves located in Wolvendom, so he decided it was best to leave Razor’s name out of it.
“The Knights do work fast! We’d only sent in the reports a few hours ago. Please, don’t let me stop you,” she said while stepping out of the way of the path she had been blocking. Kaeya wasn’t in any particular rush, luckily. He’d been told by Grand Master Varka to spend the next few days completely involved in the case, and even take any knights if he needed to. He had been welcome to take the horses as well, but he happened to know that wolves and horses don’t get along too well. Thus, they were walking to Wolvendom. Which was fine; it gave Kaya time to think of different approaches and leads he could take if Razor couldn’t provide any information.
He’d yet to see the patches of land up-close, anyway. Being in the area himself may give him more insight, so there was a good chance Kaeya would go there regardless of what happened in Wolvendom. He wasn’t so sure about bringing Klee along, though. She could accidentally set fire to the scene or contaminate any evidence on accident… or on purpose. Either way, it was risky.
“Thank you, Lena,” he said, pausing for only a moment to gauge her reaction. Nothing negative, which meant the name he used was the right one. “May the wind be with you.”
“May the wind be with you,” the hunter returned. Klee echoed the phrase, although a bit slower than the adults. Kaeya barely restrained a chuckle. He really did have a soft spot for cute things, or maybe it was just Klee.
Tugging the young knight back onto the trail, they continued on the journey again. Wolvendom wasn’t terribly far away from Springvale, and they’d already been outside the town when they were stopped. It was only a matter of time before they reached their destination. From there, it would turn into a searching-and-waiting game. Kaeya had an advantage with Klee, who likely knew some of Razor’s hiding spots if the boy didn’t come out in an undetermined amount of time.
They reached the outer edge of the forest and went a little ways in before finally stopping for the last time. In all honesty, Kaeya didn’t have a foolproof plan for finding Razor. He planned on just calling out the kid’s name and offering whatever a wolf-boy may want until something did or didn’t happen. Klee helped a lot in this department, of course, so he used her as leverage instead of meals.
He cupped his hands over his mouth to pronounce his voice a little as his eyes swept the terrain. It was always a little darker in Wolvendom than anywhere else in Mondstadt, making it easier for people and animals to hide in the shadows to remain unseen.
“Razor!” He called. “I am Kaeya Alberich of the Knights of Favonius. I’m here with Klee to come and play with you.”
“Mhm. Big Brother Kaeya is the best! He brought me all the way out here so I can see you!” Klee added on helpfully.
After a few seconds with no response, Kaeya turned back to the Spark Knight. “Should we go further in? You would know where to find him better than I.”
Klee shrugged. “I just run around until he finds me. If I get really bored waiting for him I’ll set something on fire, and then he always comes! Master Jean said I’m not supposed to set things in the woods on fire though…”
Kaeya mentally debated on the advantages and disadvantages of causing a forest fire before saying anything. “Let’s do that, then. If he takes a while then we can draw his attention.” Then, as a quick add on for the sake of his own humor: “And of course you can make fire in the woods! It just has to be controlled.”
“Oh, okay! That makes a lot of sense. You’re the best!” She cheered as they slowly walked through the woods. Ah, little kids; they’re only fun to mess with when they aren’t your own. Causing minor migraines for Jean and Albedo really was his favorite pastime, though a little guilt did shine through when he remembered the increasing workload handed down to the second master of the Ordo Favonius. Only a little.
Really, he wasn’t even sure if this case should’ve been his to handle in regards to his unit. Grand Master Varka had always done things a little differently, and try as Kaeya might, he could never get into the mindset of that man. Powerful, knowledgeable, and most of all, kind. Most people who possessed the first two traits didn’t have the third, and those that did were an entirely different beast of their own. Although it was somewhat irritating to never be able to guess his next move, Kaeya held immense respect and admiration for Varka.
“Razor! We just want to play!” That was the other thing about Varka: he was affiliated with Razor. Kaeya didn’t know all of the details, as the Grand Master wasn’t privy to share them, but he did know that Varka was teaching the boy something. He’d been the one to give Razor his name, but any details past that were muddled. Kaeya’s own investigations on the matter had come up empty-handed, as if the Grand Master knew he was trying to uncover the truth.
Klee added a skip to her step. “We can go fish blasting, or we can– Razor!” She cut herself off to say the boy’s name excitedly, reaching up to tug Kaeya’s sleeve. Kaeya looked in the direction she was, pleasantly surprised to see Razor decided to come out of hiding before they could set the forest on fire. What a shame.
The Cavalry Captain had seen Razor before, but they had never properly met. They had interacted in passing, but again, nothing for too long to make a lasting impression. Lisa had mentioned that Varka asked her to help train the boy in using the Electro Vision he possessed, but she had yet to follow through on the request.
“Klee?” His voice was strained and hesitant. Likely not from disuse, but from a lack of understanding of the Mondstadt language. “... Blue knight?”
“This is Big Brother Kaeya,” the girl introduced. Kaeya showed a friendly smile and nodded. “He is the Cavalry Captain of the Knights of Favonius. He wants to play with us!”
Red eyes flitted back and forth between them nervously. An amount of apprehension crossed his features, probably from instinctual fear of unfamiliar humans. “I… am Razor,” he finally introduced.
“It’s nice to properly meet you, Razor. Before we start any games, I do have a few questions for you. Is that alright?” Hesitantly, the wolf-boy nodded. “Great. You and your wolf pack know everything that goes on in these woods, correct?”
“Know a lot. Not… everything,” he replied. That was good enough for Kaeya.
“This morning there were abnormal attacks on two boars in Wolvendom. Did you see the boars?” Kaeya asked. It was important to start off slow; overwhelming the boy with a complicated and loaded question would do nothing but create hesitance and cause him to reveal misinformation. Memory tended to be more fickle under pressure.
Razor shook his head. “Smelt burning and saw black smoke. Hunters around, didn’t get close.”
Smoke was normally gray, not black. The wounds had been described as fresh when they were found by the hunters, so it was likely that they had stumbled upon the scene immediately after the perpetrator had left. Razor had come at the same time as well, then.
“Have you seen anyone else around besides the hunters? Maybe someone with red hair?” Klee was staring at him with scrunched eyebrows. Kaeya mentally prayed she wouldn’t interrupt his mini interrogation– Razor’s body language was slowly becoming more relaxed the longer they talked.
“Yes.” Just one word, and Kaeya’s heart started to race again at the thrill of information. Getting a lead in a case meant an interesting hunt to come later. “Smelt like the fire from boars. Got away before I could follow him.”
The person’s gender was likely male and they were able to get away from one of the protectors of Wolvendom. A skilled individual indeed. “Can you tell me what he looked like?”
“Long hair, like fire.” Kaeya dutifully reminded his heart that Diluc was not the only one with a head of flames. “Looked strong, and a… metal arm,” he finished.
Diluc had been strong, but he hadn’t ever quite looked the part. He had a leaner figure, so his choice of clothing had always masked his true muscle mass. It didn’t help that his waistline was smaller than most, something that Kaeya had taken great joy in teasing him about. More importantly, his adoptive brother didn’t have a metal arm. Kaeya squashed the treacherous part of his brain that began to supply various what-ifs.
“Do you remember his skin color or how tall he was?” There likely wasn’t anything else more to get out of the boy outside of appearance; anything important, like a fight or abnormal activity likely would’ve been revealed already.
“Like my skin, but brighter.” Fair, white skin tone. “Tall as you.” Diluc and he had always been the same height, and his brother had never been able to get a tan. Stop thinking about him.
“Right. Is there anything else you’ve seen that was different or unusual?” Razor shook his head. “Thank you, Razor. Your help is of great value to me and the rest of the Knights,” he thanked, leaving out the addition of ‘the rest of Mondstadt.’ If this person got into the city, then innocent lives would be in danger. Klee and Razor didn’t need to know that, though.
“What are you invest- investigating?” Klee asked, stumbling on a word that was definitely above her vocabulary level.
Kaeya leaned a hand down to ruffle her blonde hair. “Nothing you need to worry too much about,” he said with a purposefully smug grin. It would not be anything for her to worry about, not if he had any say in the matter. It was his duty to protect the nation of Mondstadt and the people that lived there, and he would be damned if he failed. “Now, what are we playing today? I heard you two have some of the best games in all of Mondstadt.”