Chapter Text
He walks along the path, no longer covered in snow. He no longer needs that heavy coat he found in that abandoned house in Snezhnaya. He couldn’t make out what was what, could barely tell what was the path in front of him, and what was just a random patch of grass. He thinks he has a concussion, probably a broken arm and leg, a few broken ribs. He had gotten used to this pain over time, internalizing it through guilt, but he doesn’t know why. His mind is fuzzy, he doesn’t really remember who he is, all he knows is that he has a home somewhere, and it has a fireplace, and it is much warmer than the blizzards of that frost covered land.
His feet lead him to a big house, surrounded by grape vines. He doesn’t know why, but it feels warm, looks familiar even if he has no recollection of ever being here. His vision is getting more blurry, he could barely make out the steps he just walked up. He doesn’t know why, but he knocked, maybe hoping for a floor to lie on, maybe even a small ration to eat. The door is answered by a lady, possibly in her early to mid forties. She looks annoyed when she answers, but then her face is overcome with shock, and he doesn’t know why. “D-Diluc…?” Is that his name? Is that why this place felt cozy and familiar, had he been here before? He guesses it’s possible that he’d been here before. Maybe it was from one of the many concussions he’s suffered from over the years. How long had he been wandering?
”You’re back! Oh my god you’re finally back!” She runs forward to hug him, but he flinches back. She wonders what he’d been through. He used to love her hugs, used to run towards her every morning and hug her leg. He was swaying, was he injured? She didn’t see any visible blood on him. “I-I’m sorry, who are you?” Oh, and that made her cry. Had he lost his memory somewhere along the way? Or had he just forgotten her face? “Adelinde…” His face lights up, if even for a split second. “Sounds familiar.” She almost sighs with relief with at least being semi-recognized, but panic floods through her nerves as soon as she sees Diluc falling. She yells for help as soon as he hits the ground, taking a second to register it.
”He has four broken ribs, a broken arm, a broken leg, and a major concussion, as well as many lacerations along his body.” Adelinde had called the Deaconess, Barbara. Word had spread very quickly after that. There had been a knight patrolling near the Winery, so Adelinde told him to get Barbara, giving a very small rundown of what had happened. Apparently, he was not very good at keeping his mouth shut, because by early morning, half of Mondstadt had already heard of the red-head’s return to the City of Freedom. This half of Mondstadt included the Acting Grandmaster, Jean, the Cavalry Captain, Kaeya, and every other higher-up within the Knights of Favonius.
“How could he have gotten this hurt? Where did he even travel to?” Jean turned towards her sister. “He has many scars along his body, a few of them I could identify as cauterisation scars, and old knife and sword wounds. There were even old puncture wounds from arrows and bullets.” Adelinde had to step out, she could barely handle listening to all of his injuries being listed. Jean just covered her mouth, taking it all in. Kaeya had been silent the whole time, staring at Diluc who was laying so still. He hadn’t moved once since he was hauled upstairs and had his wounds addressed. Kaeya hadn’t seen his brother-not-brother in about four years.
Diluc twitched later in the day, after Kaeya had brought his pyro vision that had been laying in his office drawer. He didn’t bring it before, he thought it was some cruel joke some knight had played on him. Tricking him into believing that his more-than-likely-dead brother had finally returned. He couldn’t believe Diluc was back. It felt like a dream. Adelinde had described how Diluc didn’t recognize her, and how she thought it was probably because of the concussion that Barbara diagnosed. Barbara had told them that it was probably from the extended amount of time he was away from his vision. She had read up on some people in Inazuma losing their memories and sanity after being separated from their visions for only a few weeks, let alone a few years.
Diluc had developed a fever upon his vision being back with him, it reminded Kaeya of when Diluc first got his vision when he was a kid. He was ten years old. He went on an ‘adventure’ in the forest, and had come back with bruises and cuts all over him, and flames flickering from his hair. Their father had been so happy for him, he ran to Diluc and hugged him as soon as he saw the shiny red gem. It would have been a sweet moment if Diluc hadn’t passed out right there, and was in-and-out of consciousness for almost a week.
Barbara told them that it probably wouldn’t be as bad as when Diluc was a child, but it would still take a little bit for him to wake up, and she had no clue when he’d gain his memories back.