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Chapter Text

Albedo had never felt more alive than at this moment, burning Mondstadt at his feet, his partners flanking him with their weapons ready for the upcoming fight. The thrill of battle and the intoxication of destruction flowed through Albedo's veins like blood, waking the intense urge to laugh in him. All of his senses felt under attack up here on the ruins of the Barbatos statue under his feet.

"This is the end. This is as far as you will go."

Albedo had never been more afraid before either, face to face with the rest of the Knights of Favonius down below.

I - Chalk follows Gold

The Abyss called like a siren. Albedo found himself falling for it far too easily.

The first time Albedo noticed the other's presence in Dragonspine was purely by coincidence. Not that someone else being up here in the mountains in the middle of nowhere was anything strange per se - some Teyvat species had adopted to the freezing climate and lived undisturbed among snow and ice, untouched by Albedo and his drive to learn more about the influence of corruption on live beings. Of course, adventurers from the camp at the mountain's foot sometimes ventured higher and beyond Albedo's research lab as well, sometimes to be searched for later as they were bound to get lost one way or the other.

This here, this was different.

Albedo had just subdued a Whopperflower and knelt over it, pinning it to the ground with his knee so that he could claim his share of its nectar when he thought he heard something and looked up, an arrow missing his shoulder by inches thanks to his movement. Albedo's head snapped around to locate his attacker and he spotted an attacking Cryo Hilichurl to his right side at the same moment when an Abyss Herald appeared out of nowhere next to the Hilichurl and pierced it with one smooth motion before disappearing back into the Abyss as quickly as it had appeared.

A creature of the Abyss, here?, Albedo thought alarmed.

Immediately on guard, Albedo called on the familiar flow of Geo throughout his body, channeling it at his fingertips, ready to both attack and defend depending on the situation, knees slightly bent as he waited for anything else to happen. His eyes darted around the wilderness around him, listened to the usual set of silence and noises of nature muffled by falling snow, and only because he was being more attentive did Albedo notice another movement from the corners of his eyes, on a protrusion higher up, high enough that people would never think to look up there normally.

Both the Whopperflower and Cryo Hilichurl were momentarily forgotten, and Albedo ran in direction of the protrusion where someone had disappeared from sight, commanding rocks and stones beneath his feet to stabilize him as he jumped over bumps of snow and slippery ice. Albedo climbed the little steep rest with the help of his elevating support construction, fully knowing that he was too late and whoever had been up here had disappeared like the Abyss Herald down at the Hilichurl corpse. Yet, as he arrived and observed this place before the falling snow would freshly cover everything in a light blanket, Albedo could see by the marks that there was more to the story than just somebody standing on this spot.

Snow caught in Albedo's hair and on his shoulders, wind making snowflakes cling to his eyelashes; the thickening snowfall would make deductions impossible in a couple of more moments, so Albedo lost no time, knelt down, and examined the marks.

Judging by how flat the snow was pressed at the edge of the protrusion and by how hand marks were spread in the snow around that spot, the person had been sitting in the snow for a while. Were they connected to the attacking Hilichurl or the Abyss Herald in any way? But if so, what explanation was there to the handprints all over the ground, so very unlike a person prepared to attack?

Albedo got to his feet and used his wings to glide the short distance to the Cryo Hilichurl, wildly thinking and discarding new theories.

No sane person would be sitting out in the cold without an ulterior motive, this much was clear. Was it hasty to assume that the attackers had been acting independently? After all, and this was strange, Albedo hadn't been able to feel remnants of Abyssal energy up on the protrusion. Here at the Hilichurl corpse however, with clear confirmation that the being was indeed pierced by a creature of the Abyss, the air was permeated with the lingering electricity and harsher cold than Sheer Cold. Could this mean that the other party was associated with the Fatui?

It all seemed too suspicious to be considered a coincidence. However, after checking the Hilichurl and taking the required nectar from the Cryo Whopperflower, there wasn't much more left to investigate, and Albedo dropped the case. More than having to pay closer attention to his surroundings in the future wasn't possible to conclude.

Albedo's thoughts returned to the usual experiments and soon, he had forgotten about the incident - until the day he spotted two silhouettes in the distance, hardly shadows but their figures stark against the snow's whiteness like trees but not the right shape to be ones. Their size difference was the most noticeable, betraying that one figure was a creature from the Abyss. And the other?

Albedo pretended that he hadn't noticed anything suspicious and walked on, ducking under trees, and making his way through the snowy landscape, stealthily looking around. Was he being followed? Luckily, Starglow Cavern was close by and the perfect spot for an ambush. Once inside, Albedo made sure to hide himself from being spotted, lowered his head, and listened intensely.

Two sets of footsteps announced their arrival. Albedo tensed up, ready to jump out and attack, when the footsteps stopped just out of reach. In the next moment, the unmistakable stench of Abyss reached Albedo and made him spring into action anyways - Geo snapped out of the ground and missed the Abyss Herald, who ducked into a portal, but caused the other, smaller person to evade into the other direction, away from the portal. Albedo caught glimpse of golden hair and a face that seemed familiar to him, and his eyes widened.

Lumine had departed to Inazuma not too long ago and Albedo had been at the piers down in Liyue to say his goodbyes, concealing his true intentions with the pretext of buying rare materials, which had been Albedo's secondary worries. This meant that the hooded person bolting could not be Lumine, but had to be ...

Albedo picked up pursuit, sliding down the slope Lumine's twin brother had jumped down without using wings, and it took all of his concentration not to break anything or lose him out of sight.

"Hold it!", Albedo shouted, clenched his teeth, and send forth a set of spikes right beneath him out of the ground through all layers of snow so that he could stop his uncontrolled run downwards. He landed on the created ground with a grunt with his knees almost giving out on him, ran on and jumped off the edge, this time undoing his wings and using the cold breeze howling down to the ocean for something similar to a nosedive. The hooded figure came to an abrupt stop when he heard Albedo, head jerking up and spotting Albedo right above. Almost, almost Albedo got a grab on Lumine's brother but only got to graze the hood, taking it off.

Albedo practically crashed into the snow mass a few steps ahead, whirled around and drew Festering Desire, ready for a fight.

"You've been following me!" Albedo charged. Lumine's brother ducked and hurled snow at Albedo, evading backwards. Annoyed, Albedo shouted: "Why! Explain yourself! What are your goals!"

"I'm sorry!" Violet cursed light formed behind him in the silhouette of an Abyss Lector and Lumine's brother jumped through backwards. By the time Albedo reached the portal, he simply fell through the light onto the other side, too late to reach the same destination. He landed face-first into the snow, spluttering.

With a frustrated shout, Albedo grabbed a handful of snow, turned on his back and threw it at the slowly fading light violet source.

Aether.

So ... was Albedo being followed and watched by Lumine's twin brother?

Albedo dropped the back of his head into the snow, folding his hands over his chest and staring into the sky, mentally comparing the two times their paths had crossed. Seeing how Aether had been with an Abyssal creature both times, there was no question that the other time it had been him too.

But why? What for?

No matter how hard Albedo looked around, Aether was nowhere to be seen again. The more time passed, the more unlikely the theory became that Aether had been after Albedo specifically, despite the evidence of two times Albedo had. But another question burned in Albedo's mind, connected to their first encounter: How had he not felt any Abyssal energy at the protrusion where Lumine's brother had been sitting on? Did he not have Abyssal energy?

Albedo put up a wooden board in the cave just for his theories connecting to that. What connection was there between Durin's corruption, the perceived corruption of Stormterror, and Albedo's own creeping corruption? What was the connecting point and how did everything relate to Teyvat, the Abyss and the truth of the world?

"What if ... he collects energy in a similar way to me or Lumine?" Albedo rummaged through his notes, looking for the book he'd started writing about Lumine and their shared experiments. Her brother didn't have a Vision either, but did that mean that he couldn't wield elemental energy or was he similar to Lumine? "How does the energy of the Abyss work?" He picked up the stack of papers and leaned over them.

"I do have Abyssal energy, actually. But Festering Desire cancels out your ability to feel it."

The voice made Albedo flinch and drop his notes, the papers scattering all over the table. He hadn't heard footsteps, hadn't heard someone entering the cave. In a heartbeat, Albedo whipped around, drawing his sword, his right hand lifted in defense with Geo ready at his fingertips. "You can't feel the Abyss when you carry corruption so much closer to heart, Albedo."

It was him: the ghost of Dragonspine, the person who'd been keeping close watch over Albedo, Lumine's twin brother, standing at one of the fireplaces nonchalantly almost as if he had been invited. Seeing him without a cape obstructing view on his face and in such peaceful surroundings took out all air from Albedo's lungs (the sun, hair molten gold, the resemblance uncanny), but the moment of standstill only lasted a second before Albedo reacted.

Through a shift of weight, Albedo released the energy collected in his body into a powerful attack. The ground beneath the intruder's feet broke open, stone searching to nail him in place, but he must've seen it coming or anticipated it somehow because he evaded without problems, his movement graceful despite the force behind it. Aether did not carry a weapon but the unnatural violet sparks of Abyssal energy pouring from his hands was enough for Albedo to decide that he didn't need one.

(There was no Abyssal stench, but Albedo didn't have the time to think about that.)

"What do you want here!" Albedo readied his stance in fight, Festering Desire raised, another set of spikes off in Aether's direction to create a barrier between him and Aether to buy himself more time. The cave they were in was confined space, the tables and boards and experiments obstacles now, but Albedo moved to the side to avoid having something in his back that would hinder him from dodging. Just that - it never came to a prolonged fight in the first place. Aether raised a foot and shattered the stone that was supposed to be a barrier with a kick as if it were glass.

Before Albedo could even blink, process, react, the distance between them melted and Albedo found himself slammed against the alchemy crafting bench, a pained sound escaping his lips when his lower back took the crafting bench's edge. Festering Desire fell to the ground in this impact, Albedo's hands raising against his attacker aimlessly. The second when Festering Desire left his fingers, Albedo could immediately smell it, could feel it, was overwhelmed by how the Abyss was everywhere.

"Hold still!", Aether cursed lowly.

Easily, far too easily and in mere seconds of struggle, Aether managed to press Albedo backwards against the alchemy table, using his weight to nail their lower bodies together. With his forearm against Albedo's throat and other arm slung around his body, they came to a halt in an awkward position; Albedo found himself bent backwards almost horizontally, their upper bodies tilted into a position that would've made it possible that Albedo rested the back of his head on the stone behind him. The pressure of Aether's forearm against his throat made Albedo pant breathlessly in rising panic. He swallowed, all too aware of their proximity, of how his Adam's apple jumped against the arm pressed against his throat, and how helplessly immobilized he'd been made by Aether. His heart was beating into his ears and he was certain that Aether must feel it too, even through the gloves.

Struggle was futile.

Those golden eyes came into focus and met teal ones and both of them froze.

Then the pressure against Albedo's throat disappeared and instead, with almost angry motion, Aether hit his arm to Albedo's side against the crafting bench, keeping him caged. Albedo gasped for air, one raised arm snapping to his throat as he coughed.

"This was supposed to go differently in my imagination. I came to help."

Albedo's eyes snapped to Aether's face. Aether seemed to communicate more through his eyes, but Albedo was too out of himself to read it properly.

"Oh. Really?" He pushed against broad shoulders and immediately hated how surprised he felt that Aether allowed himself to be pushed back, to allow distance between their bodies. It shouldn't have surprised Albedo like this.

Albedo lifted his tingling body onto the alchemy crafting bench, clinging to the edges with hard grip, staring angrily at Aether as he scrambled away. "Following me without wanting to be seen for who knows how long. Running from confrontation when you could've just given answers. Intruding without warning. Does this sound like helping to you?"

Albedo contemplated kicking out against Aether (he was close enough for a kick to connect) and making a run for it. With flushing cheeks, he thought about how easily Aether had wrestled him down and decided against it. "What do you really want?"

"To help you." Aether extended his arms sideways in the hint of a shrug. "You're right about everything you said, and I might've miscalculated here or there. But you probably don't realize what effect you have on people. I may be with the Abyss; doesn't mean I can't be flustered. You're stunningly beautiful, Albedo, did you know that? It's kind of intimidating, really." With crescent eyes, Aether lifted his hand and rubbed the side of his neck, laughing lightly from embarrassment.

"I don't believe you." Albedo jumped off on the other side of the crafting bench, still clinging to its edges, and weighed his options in his mind. Should he try and make a run for it without attacking Aether? Considering how fast Aether had been moving previously, not even running might work in this situation. But what if Albedo made the entire cave collapse on their heads? Albedo could protect himself with a Geo construct around himself. Would that take down Aether?

"Your hotness? Oh - oh, you mean my motives, huh. Okay." Aether took a couple of steps back and walked further into the cave, turning his back on Albedo slowly as he continued speaking, seemingly unaware of how Albedo constructed a battle plan. "That's fine by me, you don't need to trust me from the beginning. I have all the time of the world, Albedo. I'm not so sure about you, as you're living on borrowed time. So I'll try to keep myself short here. Why don't you allow me to prove myself to you, Albedo? Conduct one of your experiments on me, would you?" He came to a halt in front of the scattered papers, ducked and picked some of them up from the floor, looking over the sketches ("Pretty") before putting them back onto the table into a neat stack. His eyes hung longer on a sketch of Lumine where Albedo had noted down possible bodily reasons for her interaction with elemental magic.

"Borrowed time?" Albedo thought that if he wanted to collapse the cave, then now was the only time for it. Aether's back was turned on him and it might be the only opportunity to act. But Aether's answer caught Albedo's attention and made him forget his plans.

"The corruption in your body. The loss of control." Aether drew a circle into the air with a lifted pointing finger and turned around, leaning casually against the table behind him. Albedo dropped all mental plans of attack, breath bated. A stranger like Lumine's twin brother shouldn't know of this. Albedo kept this information secret. "I just can't help but wonder, why would you fight it? You can't escape fate, Albedo. But you can work with it. What's worse - losing control after decades of delaying it and killing everyone? Or deliberately giving up control after allowing everyone to leave the city first?"

When Albedo didn't answer but only stared with clear hostility in his eyes, Aether dropped his head and chuckled, pushing off the table again.

"I'm not helping to prove my point, am I? See, I don't know what impression you have of me, but I'm not your enemy, Albedo. I have the genuine wish to help you, for all the selfish reasons that you can imagine. And if that means destroying Mondstadt? I'm on board. I saw it burn once. I can cause and watch it happen a second time." He stopped in front of the crafting bench, extending his hand in an offer that Albedo took it, palm up. Albedo ignored it.

"If needed, I'll stop you", he warned lowly. "You can't defeat all of us. We're going to put you down."

"Hot." Aether clicked his tongue and dropped forward, leaning over the alchemy table and into Albedo's space again. This time, Albedo stayed put, only pressing his lips into a thin line. "But think about it: what interest could I have in Mondstadt? I'm the prince of the Abyss, why would I bother with small fry?"

"To help me, apparently." Albedo crossed his arms in front of his chest and stared Aether down. "I've seen better liars."

Aether closed his eyes, inhaling sharply. When he dropped his head, he looked as if he needed to work on his composure for a moment.

"Come on", Aether whispered, and Albedo's eyes widened by the change in his voice. "Let me prove it to you." He looked up and their gazes interlocked. Albedo felt his heart skip a beat again because of the striking similarity between the twin siblings, the same depth and hidden pain in those beautiful golden gems. The blush came creeping up the sides of Albedo's face unasked and made Albedo break eye contact by looking to the side with a huff.

"I know that you have more than just a dashingly beautiful face, Albedo. They don't call you a prince and genius in one breath for nothing." Aether straightened up, placing both hands on his hips. "You don't have to trust me. Conduct your experiments on me, needle me with questions, torture me if that doesn't go against your morals. It will always be the same answer. I'm not lying."

"What if I refuse."

"Of course, you could." Aether kept staring at Albedo with an irritatingly open face. Were the chief alchemist not acquainted with Kaeya and his easy way of talking, he might've found it harder to keep his composure, to keep up the distrust that Aether was so hard trying to break. "But can you allow that? Not just because of your duties as ... chief alchemist and captain of the Investigation team of the Knights of Favonius. What about your natural curiosity? Do I really leave you that cold? I know that you fancied Lumine." Aether pursed his lips, ignoring how Albedo jumped and narrowed his eyes at that.

"It's your loss", Aether concluded. "But be certain - you call, I'll be here."

Chapter Text

Aether left the cave after that conversation, leaving Albedo with more questions than answers. Albedo kept standing at the alchemy crafting bench, holding onto its edges as if it had a grounding effect, staring into the empty air as he carefully analyzed each new piece of information individually. But no matter how much he twisted and turned, he was unable to find a glaring contradiction by just standing here and thinking.

Restless, Albedo walked over to the board he'd dedicated to corruption, grabbed a random sheet of paper from the table and quickly scribbled his theories down in bullet points before he forgot them. How irritating that each one was connected to the Abyss in some way. Then, Albedo pinned the paper to the wood, proceeded to draw lines of thin threads to other papers and drawings he'd spread all over the wooden surface and only when he was finished with that took a step back to examine the picture.

Someone unfamiliar with the system would never understand the connections without Albedo's explanations. The one thing one could tell with certainty though was that all lines connected to the Abyss' prince one way or the other: his constant appearances in Dragonspine, his claim that he wanted to help Albedo, his knowledge about corruption not only in terms of Durin and the Abyss, but also Albedo himself.

Albedo dropped his forehead against the board with a sigh. Was there anything worse than an unsolvable mystery right in front of him - one that he was sure he could solve somehow but lacked the means to at this very moment? He tilted his head and looked down at his hand, slowly flexing his fingers open and close. His hand wandered up to his throat almost subconsciously, rubbing over the part where Aether's arm had pressed him down. The motion was a familiar one, considering that Albedo used to reach for the crystal imbedded into his skin.

Aether had said that Festering Desire cancelled Albedo's ability to feel Abyssal energy. And yet, when the Abyss Lectors had been involved, Albedo clearly recalled the tension in the air, the coldness, the light.

"One way to find out. Trial and error." Albedo walked back to the crafting bench and using the stone as support bent over and picked up Festering Desire, which still laid on the floor where he had dropped it during his struggle against Aether. The moment his fingers touched the sword hilt, the world around him seemed to shift. A flash and gone was the suppressive atmosphere, gone the distant smell that had lingered despite the Abyssal source long gone. Albedo looked around, walked up and down the cave, didn't find a change from this reality.

Almost reluctantly, Albedo lowered Festering Desire onto a table and retracted his hand with a conscious breath. Weight wrapped its arms around him from behind almost like an invisible hug, the touch sending shivers through his body.

"The domain had been terrible", Lumine had said. "I've never been to the Abyss, but that place had showed me that it is no place to be. I can't even begin to imagine how Aether must feel there. I know he's ... he's trying to be tough, but I've seen it, Albedo, the pain in his eyes. I must find him. I must save him."

Albedo picked up Festering Desire with shaking hands and fastened it at his belt, breathing more lightly. He wished Lumine was here. He wished he could talk about everything with her, ask her for her opinion, her advice. She knew Aether a lot better than Albedo did after all.

The only ways Albedo could go by without her were the only ways he'd been taught: through science and through interrogation as per the Knights of Favonius' code of conduct. One of those would lead him to a destination. Albedo just didn't know what that destination was.

Aether had said it, had urged Albedo to confirm that his words were true. Albedo had the means for it, always carrying one vial of truth serum with himself. Not that it was his preferred method, he gladly left interrogation duties to the more talkative or intimidating side of the Knights of Favonius, speak Eula, Kaeya. Whenever he could avoid it, Albedo would. But that didn't mean that he would shy away from the best course of action, ever.

If Albedo let pass more time than absolutely necessary before the planned interrogation, that was his business and his business only. There was no fault in finishing other experiments and theories first, science strictly followed time schedules after all. Throughout the entire process however, Albedo felt as if the wooden board was attracting his gaze magically, and every time that happened, Albedo reached for the extra sheet of paper he had laid to the side and noted down whatever thought was on his mind.

Is Durin's corruption stronger than Aether's?

Albedo barely spared a glance at the sentence he was writing with his left hand, his right hand completely occupied with pincers as he plucked hair from the Hilichurl mask at his table and dropped it into an acidic solution, watching carefully how the liquid changed colors from bright yellow into dark muddy shades. Albedo noted his findings in another notebook before placing everything down, extending his arms above his head and stretching.

At tra  cti on?

The word on the separate sheet had too much space between letters and threw itself into Albedo's line of sight, making him frown. When had he noted that down? He couldn't remember. How much time had even passed since Aether's arrival here to the cave and today? Albedo looked outside into the bright afternoon sky, tried recalling any detail to pinpoint the time difference to then, failed to do so. Judging by the growling of his stomach, the period that had passed was greater than Albedo had planned it to be.

Cursing under his breath, Albedo looked around the cave for something edible, surprisingly found remnants of lunch Sucrose had brought to him together with her research notes and decided after careful examination that it was still completely fine to eat. Grateful, Albedo created a fireplace, went outside, and grabbed collected firewood, starting a fire at its designated place.

When Albedo put the lighter back in its place at his belt, his fingers brushed a vial he’d put there, and made him slow in his movement. Albedo pulled out the thin vial with clear liquid not unlike water and held it against the building fire, weighing his options.

He’d put the vial on his belt because his past self had known he’d forget or postpone the interrogation unnecessarily instead of getting it over with. His present self was hungry and wanted to eat the slowly warming lunch that Albedo was currently placing over the fire. His future self might forget time during research once again.

Defeated, Albedo stepped out of the cave, looking around for a familiar silhouette somewhere among the snow masses. He didn't see anyone.

You call, I’ll be there.

"Aether?", Albedo called out, listened to how his voice jumped off the mountain down the abyss. He looked to the side, lifted his gaze to the sky. How likely was it that Aether was able to hear him, like he had promised? From a scientific standpoint, the probability was extremely low, especially since the Abyss prince hadn't specified the requirements of forming a connection to the Abyss. How much time has really passed since then?

"Aether?", Albedo tried again and listened to the snow's silence. Only the wind playing with snowflakes and Albedo's hair answered, the cold murmurs almost mocking. Albedo narrowed his eyes and thought about his lunch. "This is impossibly idiotic."

"It's not. I simply enjoy the way you pronounce my name. I could listen to you all day long."

Albedo turned around, zeroing in on the sound of familiar voice. Aether was sitting on a chair in the cave the wrong way, chin resting on crossed arms over the back of the chair. His grin was mildly infuriating.

"How long have you been here?", Albedo asked.

"I said I'd come at once. The temptation to listen to you was too big to ignore though." Aether followed Albedo with his eyes expectantly and when Albedo passed him, Aether turned on his chair dramatically, gaze not leaving the chief alchemist for even a heartbeat. "You called, my prince?"

“I’ll keep it short.” Under the pretense of checking the food, Albedo turned his back on Aether, schooling his facial expression into something neutral. Ignoring Aether’s playful tone wasn’t hard, Albedo was used to similar from a different captain, but what was incredibly hard was looking at Lumine’s brother.

Aether looked like her in terms of hair colour and eye colour and they were even similarly built (Albedo recalled how easily Lumine carried around heavy stuff thanks to the amount of muscle she'd built up through adventuring); but Aether also had a dangerous aura to himself, the play in his facial expressions, the nuances of tone and implications of words, crowned by molten gold. Aether also didn’t hide his well-built body, his strength, or superiority - but he possibly hid his intentions behind his words.

And Albedo would prove that.

"This potion, a truth serum we sometimes need to use back in headquarters, will make lying impossible to you. If you have so much as the intention to lie, I will know." Albedo took hold of the truth serum, turned, and crossed the distance between Aether and himself until he stood directly in front of him.

Aether leaned back in the chair expectantly, moving his knees apart even wider so that Albedo could come closer if he wanted to. His tone was as serious as Albedo's though.

"I haven't been lying, Albedo. Not a single lie will ever leave these lips."

“Prove it then.”

Aether put his head back and opened his mouth. Albedo took the invitation, grabbed Aether's chin with one hand to hold him steady and poured the potion into his mouth, trying to ignore the impact on his nerves. Lumine at least had had the decency to drink the potions he mixed herself.

"Captain, you're holding onto my chin a bit too hard", Aether complained. Albedo lowered his hand but resisted his urge to take a step back. The truth serum took immediate effect.

Albedo's gaze hardened, which prompted a low chuckle from Aether. "Bring it on."

"How do the different types of corruption rank in comparison to each other?" Albedo's hand wandered to his sword's hilt. Aether, who hadn’t missed that, lifted an eyebrow.

"You're starting with your theses? Fine. The concentration of corruption depends on location. Here in Dragonspine, Durin's corruption is the most influential one, followed by the Abyss and then yours. The influence differs for other places, like Mondstadt, Liyue." Aether made a vague gesture. Albedo nodded courtly.

"What are you here for?", Albedo asked, not missing out on the serum's effect. Time was precious.

"I'm here to help you." Albedo tensed up and waited, but nothing changed, Aether kept sitting relaxed on the chair, half-grin still playing around his lips like snowflakes in the wind. That at the very least was no lie. And if it was a lie, then it was one that Aether whole-heartedly believed in, negating the serum’s effect.

"Why? And why me?"

"At first, I was following the corruption that hangs over Teyvat in general. I watched Lumine deal with Stormterror and then saw you two experiment with Festering Desire, which stands in connection with Durin and with you too." Aether lifted a hand to his chin absentmindedly, rubbing over it. "The way the Ley Lines work and are connected with the truth of this world ... and the Statue of the Seven that all represent a different element ... It's not easy turning Anemo into Abyssal energy and has taken me one whole domain and so much time and secrecy, can you believe that? Ah yes, but that doesn't matter yet, does it? As for why you."

Aether wrapped his calves around Albedo's, pulling Albedo closer by locking him loosely between his legs. Albedo almost lost balance but caught himself in the last moment, grabbing hold of the chair's back, breath catching in surprise.

"It pains me to admit but after Lumine and you were done with refining Festering Desire, I just couldn't stop thinking about you. How you look when you're concentrated, your attention to detail, your style. You were always on my mind." Aether could've just as well be a Cryo user, that effective the affectionate look on his face made Albedo freeze.

"I like when you look at me, my prince, I like when you give me your attention. But I like when you don't give me shit even more", Aether cooed and Albedo couldn't avert his gaze from the look on his face, utterly captivated. He should interrupt, knew that this was the potion and not Aether talking. "But I also want you on my lap, your hands around my throat. I want that you stop undressing me with your eyes and finally undress me with your hands, Albedo. I want that you tie my hands to make me submit and I want you to edge me until I beg for your -"

Albedo firmly pressed a hand against Aether's mouth, cutting him off. Aether's eyes snapped from Albedo's lips up and widened in shock when he registered his words, his head growing redder with every moment.

"The effect of the serum will stop soon." Albedo hoped he sounded more reassuring than he felt. He almost couldn't hear himself over the sound of his heartbeat in his ears, blood flushing his face too. "We'll continue talking after that if you don't mind. You'll notice the loss of effect bodily. Lies won't make you feel like vomiting then." Albedo lowered his hand from Aether's mouth and promptly, the other started worrying his lower lip.

"I believe you", Albedo concluded, straightening up. He joined his hands behind his back to hide how they were trembling. "However, I don't know if your motivation is enough to make me consider accepting your help. ... Are you hungry?"

“No.” Aether hissed, chewing harder on his lower lip, avoiding Albedo’s eyes. Albedo nodded hesitantly, turned away and walked to the fireplace. Unfortunately, when he picked it off the flames, the lower food layers were charcoal black.

Silent, Albedo accepted his fate, and began eating anyway.

"Are you not fine with it?", Aether asked once he was sure that the serum had worn off. He’d picked up pacing the cave while Albedo had been eating the pitiful rests of his lunch, remaining seated even after he’d finished.

"Fine with what?" Albedo looked over at Aether, who sat down to Albedo’s side in some distance next to the fireplace. He took another vial from a bag of his belt this time and reached over an ointment to Aether, holding it with extended arm, waiting that the other took it.

Aether quickly reached one hand to his mouth, bit down onto the glove’s fingers, and pulled it off his hand before grabbing the ointment from Albedo.

"My open attraction to you. My advances. Do they make you uncomfortable?" Aether dipped his surprisingly delicate fingers into the salve and applied them to his lower lip, hissing lightly at the touch. "Just tell me truthfully. I won't take offense."

"Are you familiar with Captain Kaeya Alberich? He's flirting with me all the time too. He does with everyone, I believe." Albedo watched the fire, the jump of sparks, the licking flames. No matter how much time had passed, exhaustion was catching up to Albedo.

“Do they make you uncomfortable, Albedo?”, Aether repeated emphatically. His insistence made Albedo lift his head and look back at him, meeting his eyes. Gone were the teasing lines in Aether’s face, replaced by complete seriousness.

Albedo blinked, thought about it.

"I don't know", he finally answered, unable to find a better one. "You and Lumine are quite similar in appearance", he added after another beat. He didn't miss the flash of surprise on Aether's face, scurrying over his features as quickly as a squirrel would flee after being seen. Aether settled with a neutral facial expression quickly though, and only the way he rubbed the side of his neck showed how he really felt.

“You could’ve … told me. I would’ve understood.”

“You said the things you said under a truth serum. You probably wouldn’t have said them if you had a conscious choice”, Albedo rebuked him. Aether shook his head.

“I wouldn’t have. But that doesn’t make my words any less true.” The absolutely defeated look on Aether’s face made Albedo want to reach out and touch him, let him know that it was fine. The only problem was that as troubled and tired as Albedo felt, he wasn’t sure that it was fine.

“Forget it for now, Albedo”, Aether pleaded. “Remember it when I tell you properly, with proper words, sometime in the future. Promise?” He waited for the confirming nod, then stood up.

Albedo didn’t turn around when Aether left this time either. Unmoving, he listened how the footsteps moved away until they were no longer heard. When he finally looked over his shoulder, Aether was no longer to be seen.

Aether would come and go regularly then, never imposing for long but also never staying to have a proper conversation either. Sometimes, when Albedo was out in the cold to hunt down more live examples, he could conduct his experiments on, he thought he felt the Abyss by his side. The more often Albedo left Festering Desire behind, the more regularly he felt himself looking out for Aether, this turning into habit in concerning speed.

Internally, Albedo cursed himself every time that happened.

Albedo tried telling himself that it was for scientific reasons. He tried telling himself that he wanted to keep watch over Lumine's brother so that they could reunite once Lumine was back from Inazuma. He tried telling himself that it was because of how much Aether knew about corruption. Deep down, Albedo knew that something about Aether had struck something inside him that he wasn't able to name - something that had nothing to do with the other reasons to hang out with the Abyss prince.

That one time, when Albedo flew down Wyrmrest Valley and landed in front of the cave that harbored Durin's heart, Albedo took a deep breath before entering. It was more a vague feeling than true knowledge.

"Why don't you accompany me, Aether?", Albedo asked, unimpressed when Aether indeed appeared just out of sight, slowly hovering into Albedo's field of vision, hands behind his back.

"I was just in the proximity. I swear I wasn't trailing you or something." Aether lifted both hands in defense and for a second, Albedo almost believed him.

Almost.

"Dragonspine is a very homely place, isn't it?", Albedo asked, not hiding his sarcasm. "Lovely to linger about."

Aether waved his hands in front of himself. "No, really. The veil to the Abyss is particularly thin here. We’re basically at the center of corruption." He lowered his hands, joined his fingertips. There was a hopeful glimmer to his eyes, about as burning as embers from a dying fire. "Did you mean it? Your invitation."

"I prefer seeing you over guessing if you're watching me or not. I dislike being followed. It has happened more often lately, quite curiously so. Even carrying Festering Desire with me doesn’t block out the Abyss."

"Ah yes. About that." Aether followed Albedo deeper into the Wyrmrest cave. Albedo broke Scarlet Quartz nearby and waited for heat to settle in his bones, going by his own business while Aether explained. "My servants aren't actively tracing your every step. Sometimes, they just ... break through the veil and happen to run into you?"

"Is that a question, Aether?" Albedo dropped his bag in front of the strangely red-glowing crystalized heart at the cave's end. He searched through the bag in order to find his notebook, which contained all the recent findings and theories he'd come up with in the safety of the cage. Fatui didn't linger around this place a lot anymore, but often Albedo was rather safe than sorry. Meaning that he avoided wasting time on something inane like fighting Fatui agents.

"I think I told you before. I'm conducting research into corruption. It's not my fault that there's corruption in you too. You're kind of always sticking out to my servants. Sorry about that."

Albedo stopped rummaging through his bag and turned his head to look at Aether, who had dropped onto a rock and leaned his weight against his arms that were propped behind him.

"I can tell them to stop?", Aether proposed, mistaking Albedo's reasons for staring for the wrong ones. His apologetic smile though made Albedo watch on for a while longer than necessary. It was ... cute. "They'll obey."

"What do you need your research about corruption for exactly?"

"Oh, you know." Aether shrugged. "This and that."

"Uh-huh. This and that." Albedo pulled out his notebook and flipped it open, searching through the pages until he had the ones he needed. One particular page caught his gaze and made it snap over to Aether, who fortunately didn’t notice it.

At tra  cti on?

Albedo put it back into the notebook and forced himself to concentrate on his research instead.

While he was testing out some theories in the following hours, his eyes kept wandering almost automatically to the Abyss prince to his side as if to check if Aether was still there. Aether in the meantime was staring down at a surface of Abyssal energy that must contain some sort of information, if Aether’s furrowed eyebrows were anything to go by.

Minutes turned into hours of sitting and quietly working side by side. The only real disturbance was Albedo whenever he needed to go back and pick up a couple of more Scarlet Quartz to keep the cold away from himself.

“Say, can I invite you to lunch this time? The other day I declined quite rudely.” With a wipe of his hand, Aether dissipated the energy in front of him.

“I don’t recall what you’re talking about.” Albedo knew exactly what Aether was talking about. “I fear that I have to decline your offer this time. I plan on returning to Mondstadt for a meeting with Timaeus and Sucrose today.”

“Oh.” Aether’s shoulders sank visibly. Albedo tried to ignore the sting of guilt he felt. “That’s fine. There’s always a next time.”

“I hope so.” And if there wasn’t a next time, Albedo would make sure that there would be one.

Albedo had spent more time at Mondstadt than he had intended, returning to Dragonspine in the late evening despite Sucrose’s insistence that he stayed the night. When Albedo approached the cave, he was surprised to see that the fires were burning, indicating that somebody had been here recently.

There was a gift on the table, neatly packed between two stacks of books. There was no note with it, no message, nothing, and yet there was no question about the sender of the gift.

Albedo let his bag slide to the ground next to his bookshelf and walked over to the bundle of thick dark blue fabric neatly folded on the table. He reached out and brushed a hand over its surface, inhaling sharply when he felt how pleasing it was to his touch even through gloves.

Quickly, he took off one glove and buried his hand in the fabric, marveling at the fabric’s quality. This felt warmer than Hilichurl pelt and as soft as the moment when a snowflake landed on skin before melting. Absolutely delightful.

Albedo lifted the fabric, watched it unfold in its full length like a waterfall and held it up against the fires’ light. It was a cape, the upper hemline connecting both sides with a golden chain.

 Why did he gift that to me?

Albedo swung the cape through the air and wrapped it around his shoulders, feeling how it wrapped and hugged against him like a second, much thicker skin. And whatever this cape was made of (no material Albedo could name), was light on his shoulders and followed his movements without restricting him in them, while also keeping Albedo warm.

Effective against Sheer Cold.

Albedo frowned. Was this because Albedo had been relying on Scarlet Quartz in the Wyrmrest cave earlier today?

“You’re insufferable”, Albedo commented into the silence fondly. “Thank you.”

In case Aether hadn’t heard him, Albedo took a mental note to thank him in person too.

Chapter Text

Missing silent company by his side was an irritating feeling for Albedo, but he soon learned that there was even more to it than he had initially assumed.

The weather of Dragonspine was generally unpredictable aside from the coldness everywhere. Influenced by the generally good weather of Mondstadt, a gift from the Archon of Freedom and Song, the lower regions of the mountain more often than not had only light snowfall at worst. The higher up Dragonspine one ventured, the more frequent and heavier clouds grew, and the more likely snow was to fall in varying degrees of thickness, finding its highest concentration around the ruins surrounding the Peak of Vindagnyr domain.

Pleasantly, the mountain's peak itself was the clearest part in all of Dragonspine, stretching over a sea of clouds down below, occasional hills and other, lower mountains sticking out the white soft blanket like black thorns in the distance. However, the most spectacular thing in the air wasn't any of that, nor the clear sun with its direct sun beams painting everything in shades of pure light; it was a couple of floating stones left over from an ancient civilization, namely a pillar and ruin parts.

Albedo had known of their existence. He'd been at the mountain's top several times throughout his stay in Dragonspine, never long enough to undo the hidden secrets of domain and ancient mechanism, too occupied and infatuated with the all-present corruption of Durin's former body flowing beneath the layers of snow under Albedo's feet. Between that, the discovery of Festering Desire, Lumine's help with experiments and Albedo's struggle against the Fatui that insisted on their diplomatic immunity and knew that, as a member of the Knights of Favonius Albedo's hands were bound, Albedo had never had the time to explore deeper.

His pencil scratched over the paper, the lines of black chalk on it slowly taking the form of the stone construction floating above Albedo. Wrapped tightly in the cape he'd been gifted by Aether, Albedo sat with his back flat against a stone formation next to a burning torch, occasionally looking down at what he was drawing but otherwise completely focused on the floating stones in front.

In some respect, Albedo regretted not having come for investigation to the Peak of Vindagnyr domain earlier when everything was still grounded and reachable. On the other hand, he felt deep respect for Lumine's achievement, she had solved the riddles of Dragonspine's peak with effortless easiness - that had unfortunately lifted all secrets out of Albedo's reach.

He tapped the end of his chalk piece against the paper, comparing the visible differences closer now, thoughts drifting off. Technically, he could ask Aether some questions about Dragonspine's past, about the time before Durin's death. The Abyss, Khaenri'ah and Dragonspine were connected, the existence of the domain up here definite proof of that. Aether knew something about it, most likely.

Albedo paused. Since when had his thoughts stirred into the direction of Khaenri'ah's fate, the past? Albedo's goal had always been finding out about the world's meaning and truth, about corruption and his own role in Teyvat - nothing more and nothing less. The Abyss, Khaenri'ah, fights against Archons, all of that belonged to other people's story and was not part of Albedo's main interests.

The drawing on his paper mocked him for believing that.

Annoyed, Albedo got to his feet, left his drawing on the ground, and stepped closer to the torch, extending his hands to hold them closer to the flames.

Since his eyes had been trained on the floating ruins high above, Albedo had failed to see changes down below. With growing worry, he noticed that the clouds hugging against the mountain's stone had grown dark and heavy, a condensed mass of snowy fury breaking free. Like this, Albedo wouldn't be able to use his wind glider and fly down to his cave, and he doubted that the warm cape around his shoulders would keep him warm enough the entire way down through the snowstorm if he attempted walking. Also, snowstorms tended to go on for extended periods of time ... and Albedo hadn't planned to be trapped up here on the peak for any time longer.

Albedo wasn't prepared in the slightest.

Instead of standing around idly next to the fireplace, Albedo decided to walk around the lower parts of the ruins and examine the snowbound Ruin Guard, the tilted domain entrance, and the runes all over the place, telling stories of a civilization long gone. Some inscriptions had lengthy descriptions about a prince returning home and avenging the loss of his people, backed up by armies of supporters, bathing the world in flames. Albedo's fingers lingered on the rune depicting the word "prince", tracing the indentation as if he was memorizing how it felt.

After he'd returned to the his spot next to the fireplace and checked if the clouds down lower were still dark (they were), Albedo sat down where he'd left his sketch and adjusted his cape so that he could bury the sides of his head deeper into the soft fabric. He sank into a comfortable position by sliding down the wall in his back, closed his eyes, and let his mind wander, his fingers twitching against the inactivity he hadn't chosen willingly.

The silence bothered Albedo in a way he hadn't thought possible. No, not the silence; the absence of another's presence, the complete loneliness up here among stone, sky, sun, and clouds. Not that being with Sucrose, Timaeus or Aether was much louder per se; when they were around, Albedo felt more at ease, felt like they were enjoying a shared, jovial kind of silence.

Is that what it means to have friends?

Albedo sat up straighter, reached for his sketchbook and chalk and flipped over to a clean page. Recreating the images he had before his inner eye was harder when it came to drawing real people he knew, catching the details and aspects of their personality almost impossible without them before him. Without anything better to do, Albedo still tried.

With little strokes, Albedo painted Sucrose's shy smile, added the shine to her eyes behind the glasses she used to frame her world with; for this painting, Albedo didn't add any headwear she liked to wear but depicted a happy Sucrose he got to see whenever one of her experiments had been an exceptional success. Her research was different from Albedo's - preserving instead of creating -, but she was talented, hard-working, and persevering to almost a fault.

Albedo's hand hovered over his drawing of her, and he was surprised to notice that he too was smiling fondly over his creation. Was it foolish?

His eyes flickered to the blank part of paper, then just as quickly he drew another figure next to Sucrose: sincere eyes with a sharp gaze cradled by locks of golden hair, most of it tied into an orderly braid resting on the imposing shape of a broad shoulder. With bated breath, Albedo added lines of sadness and a weight Aether carried by himself to his facial expression, drew an earring and then hovered the chalk over the spot where he needed to add lips, hesitating. Lips that had never spoken a lie to him and lips that were always smiling for him.

Albedo knew the shape of these lips. He had memorized the curve of the upper lip, had wanted to trace its forms with bare fingers sometimes.

Albedo dropped the chalk next to himself and held the portraits at arm-length away from himself, judging the result, ignoring the warmth that had crept up his spine. Unfinished - like most human studies he drew. But not bad; Albedo was almost content with his depiction of these two. Almost, because the real people were more beautiful by far and could not be captured with black chalk alone. Life itself could not be captured with lines.

The sun was setting, and the snowstorm was still raging on unchanged. Hungry and tired, Albedo weighed his options and decided that he didn't want to spend the night up on Dragonspine's peak and preferred risking the travel through the storm rather now than later. He left his sketches behind, having no way of keeping them snow-free and undamaged, and called upon Geo to keep his cape wrapped tightly around his upper body and his feet safe on the ground.

Then Albedo began the dangerous travel downwards.

Rationally speaking, he shouldn't have tried walking through the storm. As soon as Albedo walked below the layer of clouds, in a matter of moments, all he could see, breathe, taste was snow and cold and ice, and he could barely move in the burst of wind and weather tearing at him from every possible angle. The wind was a howling beast sliding in every gap of clothing it could find no matter how small it was, snowflakes and icicles melting against Albedo's skin and making his teeth chatter violently after some time. He lifted and kept a hand against his face to ease his breathing, relying on the feeling of ground beneath his feet over his other senses that were rendered useless, ignoring how Sheer Cold made his limbs unresponsive too fast.

Somehow, Albedo made it to a torch, managed to raise solid walls around it to block out the brute impact of the storm and managed to move his hands to his belt to get hold of his lighter as well. With barely moving fingers and shaking arms, he wiped off the snow from the torch and managed to ignite it, the modified wood coming to life in form of fire thanks to the sparks off his lighter.

Albedo dropped his lighter and moved as close to the source of warmth as he dared to.

Unfortunately, the cape swung too close to the flames and Albedo gave a startled shout when it hissed at contact. Albedo jumped back from the fire immediately against his self-constructed walls, and pat at the flames on the cape - only to notice that the cape was completely undamaged and had not caught on fire after all. Instead, the part where the cape had touched the flames, the dark blue had turned into bright violet similar to the colour of Electro and felt hard to Albedo's touch.

Albedo did a double take. Did he burn the cape this quickly?

He crouched down and put a handful of snow on the violet patch, trying to rub off the soot. Under his hand movement, he watched how the cape slowly turned back to its prior state with no difference to the rest of fabric under the coldness. Amazed, an idea grew in the back of Albedo's mind. Were he not in such a dire situation, he would've shouted out in triumph, grabbed paper and pen and noted down his observations and quick theories, maybe testing the limits of whatever material this cape was made of.

He couldn't. And the only way he'd be able to was to continue the murderous walk down the mountain through the raging snowstorm.

There was only one more problem for Albedo as he continued walking down and he soon realized it as he was standing before the next extinguished fireplace sometime later: his lighter was gone. With horror, Albedo recalled how he had dropped his lighter to the ground last time and then had been too caught up with the cape and planning ahead to realize he hadn't picked his lighter back up again.

Still freezing, Albedo continued walking, putting step after step through the snow, ignoring how Sheer Cold settled through his skin right into his bones, slowing down his walk even more. He only needed to reach Starglow Cavern.

I have ... to move ...

Albedo forced his concentration past the cold and numbness of his mind, made a layout of Dragonspine before his inner eye with the resonance of Geo through the entire region alone, pinpointing his exact location. He could enter Starglow Cavern soon, would find working torches there and get warm again, could see if he could stay there until after the storm was over. He just needed to walk. Just needed to get up from his knees - he hadn't noticed that he'd fallen to the ground.

Kneeling in the snow was bad. Swaying was worse. Albedo needed to move.

Albedo's body didn't react to his orders. He was only shivering, fighting against the slow forward movement that would make him fall flat into the snow.

If I fall, if snow buries me, it'll be over.

It was an almost peaceful thought, a realization like Albedo could make them daily, at any time. He was surely falling forward and couldn't stop it. He was frozen stiff.

Strong hands caught him left and right and instead of into snow, Albedo's face planted against a chest, against warmth and a quickly beating heart. Grateful, Albedo closed his eyes and thought he felt like he was being picked up into arms, carried away by someone. Albedo buried his face into fur, ignoring the warning voice in his mind that suggested it could be a Hilichurl or Fatui agent abducting him.

It was better than dying.

Then, Albedo blacked out.

Missing silent company by his side was an irritating feeling for Albedo, but he soon learned that there was even more to it than he had initially assumed. When Albedo opened his eyes, he felt disoriented at first, not able to place the brown color of rock above his head into his mental image of snow, ice, whiteness. His entire body felt heavy.

Slowly, Albedo blinked, heard the sound of movement, and asked with broken voice: "Aether?"

Talking scratched his dry throat and made him cough, the movement jostling his entire body, sending waves of pain through his body. Pain was good. Pain meant life. Albedo was alive.

A warm hand found his forehead and pressed him down, different from how Aether would've done, Albedo knew immediately. The voice talking wasn't him either.

"Easy now. For someone this smart you've been incredibly naive, Albedo. Taking on a snowstorm like this?", Kaeya chided lowly, keeping his hand on Albedo for a second longer. "You can talk about luck that I've been there to get some unlucky adventurers out of there for a commission. Nobody likes a human icicle, not even me."

"Kaeya." Now, why did Albedo feel so disappointed that it wasn't Aether? Why?

"Come now, if you're worried about how to repay me for saving your life appropriately, invite me for dinner, just the two of us. I'll bring wine." With a wink, Kaeya dropped onto the makeshift bed and moved the pelts all over Albedo out of the way for him to sit, making sure that Albedo was fully covered from all sides. "On a serious note, you're lucky that you got away with hypothermia and low stages of frostbite, Albedo. Nothing I can't handle."

Albedo grunted. Kaeya propped his arm on Albedo's chest and leaned forward so that he could look him in the face. "What was the big idea anyway?"

"The cape's warm enough. If I hadn't lost my lighter ..." Albedo closed his eyes. If only he hadn't lost his lighter. "Thank you", he murmured.

"You're welcome." A cool hand slid back on Albedo's forehead and Albedo could tell by Kaeya's exhale that the captain wasn't as relaxed as he pretended to be. The act was well-meant, making the situation easier for everyone, taking off the edge of a near-death experience. Albedo pressed his lips together.

"What about the adventurers?", he finally asked and opened his eyes again. Kaeya's gaze shifted to the other side of the cave and his brows furrowed.

"Royce and Reckless Pallad will survive", he whispered in response, voice even. "Sick and not able to adventure for a couple of weeks because I set priorities by treating you, but I've done the basic treatment for them too, of course. Except you have a spare heat potion somewhere around?"

"You don't like them", Albedo commented, mildly recalling his own reservations against one of those adventurers. Kaeya shrugged.

"Oh, you know, I don't dislike them. Officially speaking, I used all of your blankets for you and didn't have many for them because you were off far worse than them. Just between you and me, even if those adventurers were not scumbags, I'd still pick you as my priority anytime." Kaeya hit his flat hand softly against Albedo's chest. "Talking about blankets, care to share where you got this fancy cape from? It's unlike anything I've ever seen."

Mentally, Albedo was still with Kaeya's nonchalant observations, dissecting the layers he'd been presented on a flat plate, contrasting to the hidden meaning of words. Kaeya's expectant gaze and the amused rise of the corners of his mouth made Albedo give up on trying to understand with his exhausted, slow mind. It was so tempting to just close his eyes and fall asleep again. Albedo was warm and tired, and apparently had also been fed, judging by how he wasn't feeling hungry anymore.

"A gift by a friend", Albedo mumbled. Kaeya slowly lifted his chin.

"A friend? Or an admirer?" His fingers threaded through the fabric, unsuspecting of how Albedo tensed up. "Do you like them too? I'd love a ... 'friend' ... who gifted me stuff like this. Share one if you got one spare?" Another light-hearted smile, the voice teasing, but Albedo was hung up on the words 'admirer' and the question that had been in the back of his mind all the time, never really thought about, bringing him back from the brink of sleep:

Affection?

Albedo's heart started beating into his throat. Alarmed, he looked at Kaeya and saw understanding run over Kaeya's face like a rivulet before he caught himself and schooled his expression.

"It's probably none of my business", Kaeya remarked lightly, stood up from the bed's edge. "You should be fine. I'll send someone from camp once the storm is over. I think now I should bring Royce and -"

"Kaeya." Albedo forced his arm out under the pile of pelts and propped himself up through sheer force of will. Kaeya looked like a deer caught in headlights but stopped walking away, seemingly torn between running and pressing Albedo back into a lying position. He wasn't used to being interrupted with a tone like this, not by Albedo. "Take the cape with you. Don't go out into the snow like this."

Kaeya exhaled audible, relieved, about what? What had he expected? A chiding?

"Are you sure? Giving away something so precious so willingly? Won't that make someone mad? Disappointed maybe?" Kaeya looked over to where a moaning Reckless Pallad was sprawled over the alchemy table, probably drooling on Albedo's notes, and a sleeping Royce, who sat on the chair and looked pretty fine.

"I'm a Cryo user, Albedo. Natural resistance against the cold and everything. Or maybe it's just my hotness keeping the snow away, who knows? I don't need your cape."

"Take it anyway. Bring it back later", Albedo insisted. He sat upright now, took the cape and held it out to Kaeya, staring him down. His arm felt like falling off.

"Don't make me stand up to wrap you into the cape", he warned. Kaeya huffed. Then, he stepped closer to the bed again, crouched down before Albedo until he was below eye's height, and allowed that Albedo put the cape around Kaeya's shoulders, fastening the golden chain in place. If Albedo took more than one try because his hands were shaking, neither of them commented on it.

"So you do care." Kaeya stayed in the position for longer than necessary, looking up to Albedo, eye darting over his face, pensive. Before Albedo could ask, Kaeya straightened up again. "I will take good care of a friend's gift, don't worry about it. You, however, Albedo." He lightly flicked two fingers against Albedo's forehead. "You focus on getting well again. I left food on the table over there. And don't tell Master Jean but there's also sweets. The kind you like."

"Thank you." Albedo smiled up to Kaeya.

"You're welcome." A beat of nothing settled between them. Then, Kaeya clapped into his and turned on his heels with more energy than before.

"Okay, let's get you up and out of here, gentlemen!" He walked over, picked up Royce and dumped him unceremoniously like a sack of potatoes over his shoulder. Kaeya helped Reckless Pallad stand up from the chair by dragging him onto his feet and offering his other shoulder for Pallad to lean against, moving out of the cave slowly but steadily without looking back. It didn't go by Albedo unnoticed how Kaeya held Reckless Pallad tilted away from his body so that bodily fluids wouldn't stain Kaeya's clothing or the cape around his shoulders.

The observation made him feel strangely warm.

Chapter Text

Contrary to expectations, Albedo's condition worsened after he fell into a deep but restless sleep, tossing and turning from side to side under the restrictive weight of pelts and furs on him. Albedo felt like the ground had broken open beneath him, swallowing his consciousness and drowning him by pulling him deeper and deeper into the darkness with heavy arms. Sinking, Albedo felt like he was burning up from the inside, Pyro flowing through his veins in place of blood, consuming everything beneath his skin. The deeper he sank, the worse he felt.

Albedo tried to open his mouth and plead that somebody make it stop, tried scratching the itch in his body, fought against the chains weighing him down.

Something cold touched his feverish skin, pressed down on his forehead and on his cheeks and to Albedo, it felt like a blessing. Every time the coolness came into touch with him, Albedo wanted to reach out with a sigh on his lips and dive into the feeling, let this consume him instead of the flames coming back into rage whenever the touch disappeared for even a breath.

"Stay, please." Albedo's fingers found and closed around a wrist with unsuspected strength, pulling someone closer. Golden hair brushed Albedo's exposed chest like a paintbrush, the touch more liberating than cool air caressing his naked body had been, and sent a shiver over his skin. For a moment, Albedo was awake but couldn't blink his eyes open for long enough to see, the arms of darkness already pulling him back into his unconscious suffering.

"Stay", Albedo repeated urgently, unsure if he was actually speaking the words out loud or only in his mind. He willed his lips to move and repeat the word, had to make sure that his salvation wouldn't leave, but exhaustion weighed heavier and dropped onto his shoulders like an unwanted lover, dragging him down low again.

Before he lost himself, Albedo thought he heard a whispered "always"; it could've been a vivid imagination of his feverish mind, a dream, a shy hope. Even as little as that was better than floating in the middle of nowhere with no sense of orientation or existence, better than the panic of being weak to whatever had gotten hold of him.

Somehow, the burning inside stopped, the wild flames melted into flickering candle lights and grew into bearable warmth at the same time as the coolness enveloped Albedo regularly. Though his senses still felt as if he were under water, with time, Albedo grew more conscious about his surroundings, dipping in and out of dark dreams to mostly see moments of a reality he felt like a distant observer of.

"Drink", a voice reached him, called to him from the depths. Bare fingers danced over his chin and parted his lips and sweet liquid poured down his throat. Albedo tried to turn his head away from it and started coughing when the liquid immediately entered his throat the wrong way. Something shattered on the ground and then arms were around Albedo, lifting him and pulling him closer into an embrace that held Albedo's upper body up for easier breathing, easing his coughs into breathless sighs.

Albedo blacked out against the familiar arms holding him, a last realization sinking with him like a saving line: Aether was here.

And instead of sinking, Albedo reached out and grabbed onto it, felt like he was slowly drifting up toward the deep water's surface. Instead of heavy, his limbs now felt light, his heart easier.

He slowly drifted back into consciousness, managed to blink, and take in his surroundings completely.

Albedo had woken up.

The first thing that drifted into his consciousness was Aether's relaxed face, the lines around his eyes and mouth easy in sleep. Their noses were inches away from each other and Albedo could feel Aether's deep and slow breaths run over his face's lower half like touches of shy crystalflies. Albedo kept his eyes open wide, afraid that, if he blinked, dream and darkness would reclaim him and take away this moment from him, proving that Aether was part of his fever dream.

Carefully, Albedo flexed the fingers of his right hand that he rested his head on, curled his fingers in one after the other, testing if he was able to move. When he was sure that he could, he shifted his weight, reached out and brushed away a strand of long hair falling over Aether's cheek like a trickle of tangible sunlight.

Aether's nose twitched in his sleep and he turned his head without waking up, adjusting his position. Albedo lowered his hand back onto the pillow they shared and shifted under the layers of different kinds of blankets and furs, freezing when he noticed something else and could now name the different weights he felt on him. Aether's arm hung loosely over Albedo's side in a former hug, and the contact of naked skin continued lower wherever their bodies were pressed together. Their legs were hopelessly entangled under the covers and Albedo could feel his face growing hot the more he thought about it.

Strangely enough, he didn't mind, didn't feel the need to restore distance between their bodies. Feeling Aether pressed against him like this felt reassuring. This was real. Aether was real. And maybe, dared Albedo hope it?, everything he remembered through the lense of raging fever (the touches, the words, the whispered promises) was real too?

Albedo played with Aether's strand of long hair absentmindedly, amazed how soft it felt. His breath hitched when Aether's eyes fluttered open and Aether immediately straightened up in alarm despite being half-asleep, the blankets sliding down his upper body.

"Albedo, you're awake!", he exclaimed and reached out, ignorant to Albedo's increasing panic as he didn't know where to look, rambling on: "How are you feeling? Does anything hurt? I wasn't sure if I was even helping, you've been sleeping for so long, I was worried!"

Concerned, Aether pressed the back of his hand against Albedo's forehead and frowned at how hot it felt under his touch, not losing a moment to bend over and follow up with his lips against Albedo's forehead instead, checking his temperature. Aether's lips lingered, then Aether leaned back into a seated position, staring at Albedo thoughtfully. He blinked away the sleep from his eyes as he pressed  a hand against his mouth, thinking out loud.

"The fever seems to be gone ...? But you're still too hot to ...- Oh." Aether followed Albedo's concentrated gaze by lowering his head to see what Albedo was looking at and saw that he'd thrown off the blankets' cover by sitting up with a jerk before, leaving his chest prominently to Albedo's viewing pleasure. Instantly, Aether's ears started burning red.

"It's not what it - I mean. W-we didn't - I ...!"

"I'm feeling very well, Aether", Albedo interrupted and slowly forced his eyes away from the shape of Aether's toned arms and up to his face. Unfortunately, the melting of his guts couldn't be stopped there by Aether's eyes either, Albedo understood with an audible exhale. He had forgotten how beautiful they were, like stars plucked from the heavens and implanted into Aether so that they could be in reach for mortals too. It was hard to look away from Aether, especially one brought out of concept, and Albedo shamelessly took the opportunity to memorize every detail, every shape from this angle below Aether.

Aether let them sit in silence while worrying his lower lip, suppressing the shudders creeping up to him because of Albedo's eyes shining up to him in silent amusement, not so much the cold. Aether knew how to handle the cold well. 

"You're here." Albedo's attention remained on the blush and warmth in Aether's face, one that had started at the ears and crept down his jawline like a skilled acrobat down to his throat where it currently rested. Now goosebumps joined and Aether turned his head away.

"You called me." Flustered, Aether reached for a pelt behind him and wrapped it around his shoulders for the semblance of cover, automatically fiddling with the hems he joined in front of his upper body. "I couldn't leave you like this", he added as short explanation. Albedo was hung up with something different though.

"I called?", Albedo echoed, unbelieving. But the longer he thought about it, the more sense it made. Albedo had long known this, the emotions he had tried so hard to ignore growing unwillingly stronger the longer he ignored them. "I called your name?"

"More than once, in your sleep." Aether cleared his throat, now his turn to be mesmerized by Albedo's blush. "Among other things. You also called for ... your master? Didn't know you had one, but it seemed important to you. That's all."

"Ah." Albedo let the information sink in though it felt more like a bolt shot from a crossbow straight through him. He'd called for Aether in his sleep, repeatedly. Could there be a more obvious proof of his change of feelings?

"Only these two?", Albedo asked to be sure, positive that Aether understood the implication of that as well, even if he might not know the meaning behind Albedo calling out for Rhinedottir.

Aether nodded. Albedo closed his eyes, wondering if he had to live with a perpetually heated head for the rest of his life from now on. Was this how love felt like?

"Then ... what about ... this? What happened?" With still closed eyes in an attempt to regain and keep composure without that Aether could distract him by merely existing, Albedo made a vague gesture along his body, trying his hardest not to imagine how they got here, in each other's arms. Somebody must've undressed him, and Albedo doubted that he'd done it himself. He still wanted to hear it from Aether's mouth, wanted the confirmation. (Wanted to hear Aether talk on and better yet, wanted that Aether lay back down.)

Albedo didn't expect the dark turn the conversation took next.

"I told you that you don't have much time left." The pain in Aether's voice made Albedo's eyes snap open after all. What?

Aether averted his head with furrowed brows, shoulders sinking into him, and joined his hands at his lap, fur forgotten for the moment. His next words came slowly, as if he hated wrapping his tongue around them but forced them out anyway. But what he said, could be no lie. Aether never lied.

"I believe it's a mixture of everything: a lack of sleep and food, your mental state and Durin's fury settling into your heart in that snowstorm. Something amplified it, maybe even me, I don't know. This was no regular sickness, Albedo. When I came here, the air was radiating corruption like the heart in Wyrmrest Cave, in less intensity maybe." Aether fell silent. Albedo stared, blinked. He felt like Aether was omitting something, fearing it, but that was the least of Albedo's concerns.

It made sense. In a terrible change of perspective, losing control over his senses while burning up was like Albedo had imagined it to be, the loss of control. But now? Why now? Could this really be related to Aether's presence? Everything had been fine before, why not now?

"To be honest", Aether kept on talking, still avoiding Albedo's eyes, fiddling with his fingers, "I didn't even know if I could do it like Lumine to help you get over it. I don't know how similar our abilities are and I never bothered looking into the same direction as her. Sure, I research corruption and work with it. But why would I  ... w-well, nevermind. What happened, happened, and there's no going back. If it's about extracting corruption out of something, I can do that easily at least. That's why you're naked. Because your corruption runs through your entire body." Aether's gaze shifted up to Albedo, looking for something in his stunned expression. "I've tried not to be too disrespectful."

"You saved me." Taken aback by his own words that felt like another puzzle piece in his mind's maze, Albedo thought about the promise he had wanted to hear from Lumine before she left for Inazuma. He thought about how he'd wanted to be stopped by her so that when he lost control, he wouldn't kill anyone, wouldn't destroy Mondstadt. Had he ever thought about being saved by her instead? Had he ever considered that?

The answer to that was terrifying.

"Maybe. Or maybe it's my fault." Aether shrugged his shoulders courtly. Albedo reached out and closed his hand over Aether's joined ones, tightening his grip when Aether met his gaze.

"Thank you", Albedo said, hoping that his eyes spoke the things he didn't say out loud. His heart was crying out and he knew that he had to sort through his feelings and put them into coherent thoughts; he'd be stumbling over his words if he told Aether all that was on his mind right now, was too exhausted from the prior loss of control to even try. But Aether seemed to understand anyway, at least part of it. And Albedo would make sure that Aether would understand the rest of it too, sooner rather than later.

"Eat, drink, sleep, you decide", Aether offered with a growing smile, changing topic abruptly.

"Neither, I told you that I'm feeling splendidly. There is no time to lose. What did you do to the corruption you extracted from me? I should compare it with my research about Durin and see ..." Albedo moved to sit up but Aether had freed his hands from underneath Albedo's grip and pushed Albedo back down into the bed effortlessly. His mouth had hardened into a disapproving line.

"You shattered the vial when I was careless but don't distract me." Aether tapped Albedo's bare chest. "It's not up to debate, my prince: eat, drink or sleep, and no other option. You're not getting up from here until I allow it. Don't try me."

"I will try you if I have to. I'm neither hungry nor thirsty, Aether. I've been sleeping all the time. You said it yourself: my time is limited. Let me get back to my research. Don't stop me." Albedo's thoughts were all over the place and being able to use his hands productively would help him calm down, not to mention that he could use the time effectively.

Albedo tried to push against Aether's flat hand again and got pushed down harder back onto the bed, the move making his heart beat faster (which was due to exertion and only that). He allowed being kept down, leaning against Aether's hand anways, but his eyes carried the entire weight of silent accusation. Aether froze visibly.

"Those eyes, this hard, judging look." Aether let his head fall back with a strangled sound dying in his throat. His fingers curled against Albedo's skin. "You could make me kneel for you with that gaze, my prince, and I'd thank you for that anytime. But have mercy. Not now. I don't believe you. Stop it."

"No."

"Please, you ruthless ruler." Aether moved his hand from Albedo's chest onto the bed next to him and leaned forward to tower over Albedo, not paying attention to how the pelt around his shoulders slid down again. Albedo suspected he was doing it on purpose this time, especially because of the low pleading tone Aether used to talk down to Albedo, making his head swim. "Please listen to the voice of reason and sleep if you're not hungry or thirsty, merciless prince of chalk. Do it for me?"

Their gazes interlocked as Aether hovered an arm's length above Albedo, his hair hanging down his shoulders loosely and brushing over Albedo's exposed chest with every move Aether made. Albedo's throat did feel a bit dry and made swallowing hard now, but he would be damned if he said that out loud. Maybe not standing up for work and research had their merits and were only a small price to pay.

"I don't think I'll be able to sleep", Albedo answered lowly lest his voice betray him, slid his fingers against Aether's arm and closed a hand around Aether's wrist, watching with satisfaction how it sent a set of goosebumps over Aether's skin when he scratched over the soft parts. "If you keep me away from my studies, be prepared to answer my questions instead", he purred in a new rise of confidence, "Sleep with me."

"Fine." Without moving from above Albedo, Aether reached behind for blankets easily, shifted and lowered himself next to Albedo on one arm. He adjusted his position until he was wrapped up and face to face with Albedo again, sliding one foot between Albedo's legs thoughtlessly. It was a welcome touch. "Bring it on, Master Alchemist."

Albedo needed to collect his thoughts now more than ever. Part of him had believed that Aether would reject the offer and say that sleeping meant sleeping and there would be no talking even if he agreed on staying with Albedo; a smaller part had hoped for something else, but Albedo pushed down *those* thoughts quickly for another time. Yet another part of his brain was occupied with studying Aether's features like a painting, reverence flowing through his body like blood, notifying the very little conscious part of Albedo that Aether was even more beautiful from up close and that the amused expression around his eyes and slight upturn of his lips were kissable. Extremely kissable.

Did Albedo absolutely need to collect his thoughts? Was it not enough to simply give in, close the distance between them and claim these lips as his? Albedo ached for it.

"The cape. It's magnificent." The very small conscious part of Albedo was glad that he'd managed to keep control and say something that wasn't entirely blown out of proportion. The rest, his eloquence for example, cringed in disappointment.

"I know. It's my favorite." Aether lifted an arm below his head and rested his cheek on his forearm, leaning a bit forward into Albedo's space. Did he do that on purpose? Did he believe he made Albedo's quest to attempt sleeping any easier? Did he think it helped with the temptation?

"And you gave it to me? Even though it's your favorite?" Albedo bit down onto his lower lip and sucked on it, torn between worrying about their conversation's contents and his wish to bite onto Aether's lips instead. Maybe it really was due to exhaustion that controlling himself was harder than it should be. Aether chuckled.

"Why wouldn't I? I think it's only fair that I give you the best I have. And the cape is practical too. Warm."

"I lent it to Kaeya." Would Albedo still have done the same if he hadn't known that the cape was important to Aether? Yes. But did he still want to confirm what Aether was thinking about it? Also yes.

Albedo recalled what Kaeya had said about the gift, about the reluctance and the implications. A gift given by an admirer. Had Aether ever given doubt about how he felt about Albedo? He hadn't.

"Are you disappointed that I gave it away?", Albedo asked. Aether frowned lightly.

"Should I? I gifted it to you. What you do with something that belongs to you is your decision. I trust your judgment."

I wouldn't trust my judgment. I was weary around you for the longest time for no reason other than myself, Albedo thought. Realizing that he'd been standing in his own way felt like progressing in wide strides without knowing what his destination would be, similar to how experiments sometimes happened; but exactly like with experiments, nothing felt more satisfying to Albedo.

"Kaeya implied you might be."

"Huh. Captain Kaeya from the Knights of Favonius? I'd like to meet him one day. He sounds like a good person."

"He is", Albedo confirmed without hesitation. Kaeya had never once made Albedo doubt that, had proven many times that he was caring and capable even if he outright denied it. It was other things Albedo doubted or was hesitant to analyze deeper concerning Kaeya.

"What's the cape made of?", Albedo asked. "I've never seen anything like it before. It changed color and firmness when it came into touch with flames. From a scientific standpoint, it should not be possible."

"You should see its reaction to Abyssal energy next time. Black ground and stars all over the skin." Aether closed his eyes, reached with his free hand to his ear and got hold of his earring. Pensively, he played with it. "I call them Abyss worms but there's probably no other name for those creatures. Nobody ever lived to tell the tales. Terrific beasts, even for other Abyssal creatures. The things nightmares are made of. Probably not the best topic before sleep."

I woke up from almost losing control, what could be worse?, Albedo wanted to ask, watching Aether's fingers.

"Tell me anyway", he asked simply. Aether huffed.

"Scientific interest?", he mused, not expected a real answer in return. "Whatever you wish, but it's not a nice story. Compared in size to anything else, Abyss worms are at least fifteen times bigger and thrice as thick as Dragonspine in its length. Fortunately, there isn't many of them because Abyss worms are competitive and devour each other completely before most of them can reach their full adult size. You can imagine them like ... worms ... but with several mouths all over their body. When they move, they eat away their surroundings, spitting out dead mass behind them. Nothing that travels through them can survive. Their skin is hard - like you described the cape in reaction to heat, because their bodies are burning furnaces in a sense, and the heat from inside naturally hardens their body. And Abyss worms have no eyes or ears, they feel vibrations around them, even when they sleep."

"And you faced that?" Albedo tried to imagine, hanging on Aether's lips. He knew that Aether was powerful. But if creatures like that existed - and Aether was able to defeat them -, how strong exactly was he? With wide eyes, Albedo recalled his first meeting with Aether here in the cave and how he'd been wrestled down onto the crafting bench easily. He knew that Aether was powerful, even stronger than what he had shown until now. And yet, Albedo still felt deeply impressed.

"Yes. It took a while but yes."

"How did you kill it?" People - mortals - staying and conquering parts of the Abyss wasn't unheard of. People travelling and living there neither. But none of them had ever left unscathed, both with obvious scars ... and more hidden ones. Looking at the bits of Aether's skin Albedo could see, he wondered how many he'd be able to find on Aether.

"The Abyss' cold kills every warmth." Aether's smile faltered and Albedo took notice. 'Does it for the prince of Abyss too?', Albedo would wonder more than then, fully aware that nobody left the Abyss unscathed. Especially not those who carried it with them like Albedo carried corruption close to his heart. And maybe Albedo wasn't the only one who needed saving.

Another puzzle piece fell into place.

"The Abyss worm's core is moving through their body slowly, nurtured through the constant flow of energy their mouths provide. I latched onto the side of the biggest one with my sword, forcing Abyssal energy into the beast relentlessly, filling it up with it. The longer I did, the more the worm's appearance changed. The hard skin softened, and being up there was like clinging to the stars, but colder. And with the cold, the Abyss worm's heat started dying and I could make out the core more easily. From there it wasn't hard to kill it anymore." Aether's fingers twitched. Albedo reached out after all and brushed his fingertips over hard knuckles, imagining how they hold onto a sword's grip.

"How long did it take?", he asked. Even being in a domain grew painful after some time; did Aether have resistances? Albedo itched to find out.

"Time doesn't exist in the Abyss."

"How long did it feel then?" Albedo halted the soft movements along Aether's skin when Aether answered: "Five days?"

"Five days?", Albedo repeated incredulously. He wasn't one to talk about losing track of time, especially when he was occupied with an important experiment that needed his attention.

"Maybe four." Still, Aether talked about it like an everyday occurrence, made it sound normal. Even Albedo picked up on the wrongness of it. "There was no other way, either the Abyss worm or I had to go down. And one of us was going to run out of energy first. I happened to last longer."

"I'm unsure if I should be impressed or horrified."

"Both? Mind you, my prince: I only had a dull blade against this horrific beast." Aether threw his head back and broke into sounding laughter when he saw Albedo's face at that piece of information. Albedo's eyes darted over the parts of exposed skin he could see again, thoughts shifting with the new information, piecing something else together.

"Those scars ... the Abyss worm?" His hand wandered from Aether's hand to a spot above Aether's collarbones, close to the throat, seemingly the remnants of teeth marks. Albedo touched and felt it together with Aether's rhythmic heartbeat underneath the skin and the play of muscles when Aether rightened his position again. Aether moved his arm and closed his hand around Albedo's, bringing it up to his nape where Albedo could feel scarred skin, leaning his forehead against Albedo's shoulder for support.

"It couldn't shake the blade, so it tried biting me instead. Almost took off my entire shoulder." Aether released his grip around Albedo's hand but he kept feeling at the shape of enormous teeth marks.

"But why did you do it? What for?" Albedo's eyes returned to the spot above Aether's collarbones, and he shuddered because of the imagination of this nightmarish beast, Aether fighting against certain death, their size difference like that of an adventurer standing at Dragonspine's foot. Albedo could picture it well, the darkness, the struggle, the blood, and turmoil both parties were going through. He barely noticed how Aether lifted his head, still leaning against Albedo's fingers.

"What if I did it just for fun?", Aether whispered back, mouth suddenly next to Albedo's cheek and making him freeze his stroking. He side-eyed Aether, searching Aether's features for an answer. He failed to find one. Aether narrowed his eyes in amusement, keeping the low conspirational tone. "Maybe I had something to prove, to someone, to myself. Maybe it was a test, an experiment, to recklessly explore the limits of my power. Or maybe I wanted to save someone, get rid of the beast because I can. What do you think, my prince? Where do you place me?"

Albedo felt the words wrap around him lazily like an additional blanket. He retracted and lowered his head back onto the pillow, weighing his options. 

Were the story not definitely real (not only because of the evidence - the cape, the scars - but also because Aether never lied), Albedo might have believed that it was a bedtime story, one that made him sleepily after all. Maybe Albedo could use the source to write one and tell the story to Klee one day. Klee loved adventures, was always immediately eager to know more. She must have inherited this feeling from Alice because Alice's stories of her adventures were always like this too, her way of retelling filled with childish interest and just as captivating.

Thinking about Klee sent a sting through Albedo's chest. He missed her.

"What did you do with the carcass?"

"Will you not share your theories with me ...?" Aether pulled his shoulders up against his ears in the hint of a shrug and dropped back into a lying position. Albedo almost laughed at the obviously displayed disappointment on his face but was too tired to go beyond a knowing smile. "Rude. Then I won't tell you either. Simply know that I'm glad those nightmares are over." He met Albedo's half-closed eyes and his smile changed into a fonder one. "You should rest and try to sleep now. You're still weak and sleep will help you get stronger soon again. We can talk after that."

We will.

"Sing for me, Aether", Albedo mumbled, already drifting off, but longing for the sound of this voice to lull him into sleep, take away the scariness from being alone back where Albedo had woken up from and hold onto him.

"Your wish is my command", Aether laughed.

~ ♪

Dear little traveler, look right behind, your good virtues follow you closely; you're hard-working and kind.

~ ♪

The next day, standing up turned into a shocking situation. Albedo had only had eyes for Aether but now that they were getting up and getting dressed, Albedo got to take in his surroundings and saw that the cave was in a sorry state; the tables and boards were knocked over and away, books were torn and scattered everywhere among papers, and even the crafting bench was cracked cleanly in the middle. Whatever had happened here looked severe, the damage all over the cave, and Albedo could not recall a fight having taken place here - at least not one he could remember.

"When I came here, there wasn't much left to save." Aether got up and fastened his scarf around his throat, a quicker dresser than Albedo not just because of their differently layered clothing.

"I did that?"

With one look at Albedo, Aether dropped next to him onto the bed, wrapped his arms around him and tugged him tightly against his chest, face buried in Albedo's hair. Albedo closed his eyes against the warmth, long loose hair tickling his cheek and bare shoulders.

"We'll fix it", Aether promised against Albedo's hair, and Albedo wasn't sure if this promise was only about the cave anymore. But if Aether said it, then it was true, because Aether never lied and Aether could help. Aether was that one grounding stone in an ocean of uncertainty where waves beat higher than cliffs were deep; he was a light in perpetual darkness without realizing his shine, drowned out by the own darkness he carried.

Albedo knew that he trusted this man.

~ ♪

Brave little warrior, look how far you've come; your sister stayed behind you, companions you have none.

~ ♪

It felt strange to leave the cave, as if Albedo and Aether were bursting out of a bubble that they had created during the time together and now re-entered reality. Albedo factually knew that it was nonsense and though he couldn't tell how much time had passed since Kaeya's visit, he at least knew that time didn't matter in this respect.

The whiteness of snow was hard to blink against, the cold caressing Albedo's parts of bare skin an unfamiliar sensation. He almost wished the bed back.

"What are you thinking about?" Aether walked closely on Albedo's side, arms joined behind his back, shoulders almost brushing as they walked. He'd once explained that he didn't need to look where he was going because of how close the Abyss and Dragonspine were to each other; just like Albedo could rely on Geo to scan his immediate surroundings and guide his feet, Aether could call onto Abyssal energy and could keep his eyes on Albedo's profile without looking away at all. With Festering Desire safely at Albedo's hips, Aether didn't hold back with using his power again, knowing that Albedo wouldn't suffer under its effect now.

Prior to this experience, Albedo might've been irritated. Now he basked in the attention openly.

"Why don't you take a guess, Aether?" Albedo focused on his feet and jumped over a small snowdrift left over from the snowstorm that had indeed raged for several days. Aether's eyes on him felt like sunlight from above and just as warming, and Albedo had the inkling of an idea about how he'd tell him that.

"My best guess is that you're thinking about how to control your corruption, actually." Aether passed him and turned so that he was walking backwards in front of Albedo now, arms still behind his back. "You're afraid, probably. I just ... want you to know that you can talk to me about it, if you like. I can tell from experience that you need people you can trust unconditionally and rely on; you should talk to someone, at least."

Albedo raised an eyebrow with a smirk and Aether wrung his hands. "It's up to you, always. I'm not trying to say that your chosen one should be me and me only, though I'd love if you trust me. I told you once, my path isn't Lumine's. If turning the entire world against me needs to happen, then so be it. But your path isn't Lumine's or mine either. I think you understand that. Do you, Albedo?"

"I do."

Albedo didn't mention that he was able to understand because of Aether that they had to work on the process leading up to the ending to soften the result instead of simply looking for ways of not letting the result happen at all.

Chalks follows Gold.

And Albedo understood.

~ ♪

Scared little child, lift your head with pride; there's no reason for your tears, your heart will be your guide.

~ ♪

Their conversation was cut short by heavy footsteps on the snow approaching respectfully.

An Abyss Herald came toward them, dropped to a knee once he was close enough, bowed his head to Aether. When Aether noticed him from the corners of his eyes, for the first time Albedo saw a visible change on Aether's face that couldn't be described other than hostile, rejecting, haughty. It was a face Aether had never used for Albedo. It proved that the Abyss' cold ate away all warmth.

"My prince." The herald's voice dragged through space distorted, settling like stones in Albedo's stomach. For an irrational moment, Albedo was scared that Aether would have to leave Albedo behind because something had come up even though he was standing right there, not even an arm-length away from Albedo. He could extend his arms and embrace Aether in a hug. He could ask him to stay and if Aether could, Aether would.

There was nothing to be afraid of.

"Speak." Aether's tone had changed too, matching Sheer Cold, and Albedo watched him from the side intently, watching how the sunlight broke on his light skin and painted him in a beautiful way that Albedo could never recreate on canvas. But it was a cold beauty right now. Gone were fondness, warmth from his eyes, his tone. Albedo felt like standing with a completely different person.

'I can tell from experience that you need people you can trust unconditionally and rely on.' Did you have them, Aether?

"The Raiden Shogun has issued order to inlay the Traveler upon the Archon's statue. The Traveler has been declared a wanted criminal for resisting capture and freeing a conspirator. What are your orders, my prince, hallowed sovereign?"

"The Raiden Shogun?" Aether slowly clenched his hand into a fist. He seemed to think about something, letting seconds trickle by as everyone was waiting with bated breath. The herald never moved for a second, but Albedo let this information process. When Lumine had left, she had said that her main priority was to find Aether. She hadn't wanted to mingle with other people's business anymore, said that it was no use. What had changed? "I see. Leave."

The Abyss Herald gave another, deeper bow until his head almost touched the snow and jumped backwards into a portal that opened behind him, pestering the air with the stench of Abyss. Aether shook his head, shoulders still tense. Then he grabbed Albedo's hand and dragged the surprised alchemist with him, away from where the snow still kept the shape of the Abyss' force, down and down the mountain until Aether stopped at an unlit fireplace. Hastily, he reached for something in his pocket, crouched down and started a fire before dropping down onto the ground and extending what he was holding to Albedo blindly.

"My lighter", Albedo recognized and took it, fingers closing around Aether's as he did so. Slowly, Albedo sank to the ground next to Aether, their knees touching, not averting his gaze from Aether's working jaw, but Aether stared at the flames.

"What are you thinking about?", Albedo asked, mirroring the question that had been meant for him earlier. Aether slowly unclenched his fist, his exhale escaping into the air in form of a little cloud. Albedo watched it disappear into the sky.

"She'll kick the Raiden Shogun's ass. I know she will. But the Raiden Shogun will not help Lumine, no matter how much she tries with Inazuma and its archon. None of the archons will. I doubt any of them can. It drives me insane." Aether threw back his head, baring his teeth. "How can I be the most powerful person in all of Teyvat and still have to watch helplessly how my sister is treated by the world?"

"She protects what she cares for. It's the path she believes in and the one that leads to you."

Aether turned his head, pained hope flickering in his eyes like the flames in front of them against the snow in the background. "Does it?"

~ ♪

Oh dear little star, walk the path back home; you'll walk on and on, but then you won't go all alone.

~ ♪

Chalk follows Gold - Albedo finally understood the meaning of it. It didn't mean that he followed another's lead; it meant to trust - and to follow his own convictions. It meant to believe: to save and be saved.

It shouldn't have been this easy to give in to the Abyss' call; and nothing has ever come easier for Albedo.

With soft expression, Albedo reached out and brushed away the hair from Aether's face. The Abyss' cold killed all warmth, but not his. Aether was still caring and shining despite the darkness surrounding him. He would understand that too, one day.

"Let's see for ourselves then", Albedo said, put his hand on Aether's shoulder and got to his knees, moving closer. Aether froze, eyes wide. "I trust you, Aether. We'll change fate. Together."

Not sure what to expect, Aether followed Albedo's movement by slightly turning his head in accordance to Albedo inching closer. Albedo stopped in front of him and Aether had to put his head back to meet Albedo's eyes. Aether opened his mouth to ask, when Albedo bowed his head and pressed a soft kiss on the corner of his mouth that made Aether forget his words on the tip of his tongue. He swallowed them back down again without having said anything, eyes widening. Instead of speaking, Aether mouthed Albedo's name silently.

With a growing smile only interrupted by the rise of feelings inside of him, Albedo closed the distance even more by pushing his knee between Aether's legs, lips brushing over Aether's but not connecting for longer, not deepening into a kiss. When Aether tried to catch Albedo's lips, Albedo retracted just a bit, huffing a rejection, warmth blooming inside him.

Aware of Aether's growing impatience, Albedo moved the hand on Aether's shoulder against the side of Aether's throat, feeling how hard Aether's heart was beating against him, smile against lips growing harder. Their joined breaths escaped their half-open mouths in small clouds and mingled in the air before disappearing, together.

This was intoxicating, better than Albedo had imagined. He wouldn't want to live without it any second longer.

"Do you trust me too, my shining star?", Albedo asked against Aether's lips and Aether's fingers dug into Albedo's sides, pulling him closer.

"With my life", Aether swore hoarsly and finally found the lips he'd been longing to kiss for weeks, melting against them.

Maybe, in the eyes of others, there had never been a choice but this, lips meeting lips to leave no space between bodies. But in a constellation without choice, the Abyss had offered one and the prince had taken it. That was the only truth.

 ~ ♪

My precious little gem, leave behind your sorrows; as long as you walk ahead, there will be new tomorrows.

~ ♪

Chapter Text

II - Declaration of War

"Warning: Members of the Abyss Order are highly dangerous enemies. If you encounter one, exercise extreme caution and report its location and activity to headquarters as soon as possible."

- Knights of Favonius Handbook, 5th edition, Appendix: Terminology Notes, Six.

Dragonspine felt wildly different from Mondstadt because of its past history. For one, this snowy mountain was the only piece of land the Anemo Archon Barbatos hadn't freed from blizzards when he reshaped Mondstadt's land into the planes, hills and grasslands which it was today. But more importantly, Dragonspine carried a much more personal meaning for Albedo: these were the remnants of Durin, one of Albedo's slain brothers and fellow creation of Rhinedottir.

Albedo wasn't the emotional kind, rather the opposite: if anything, everything could be rationalized one way or the other. And yet, why exactly had Albedo chosen to stay in Dragonspine and conduct his research here? What has driven him to fear the loss of control that would make him destroy Mondstadt one day? And why had he allowed Aether, the Abyss prince, close to himself, had listened to his reasoning, and accepted it in the end?

Albedo knew the answer. When looking at Aether in their cave in Dragonspine, Albedo drew the answer in himself as easily as he took a breath of air - and similar like breath in Dragonspine was so cold it hurt in your lungs, or like breathing around Windrise came naturally easy, the answer had its comparable emotional impacts ...

(The Fatui in their camps up the mountain had always laughed about Mondstadt's chief alchemist having chosen an environment fitting his character, had joked about the master of defense always keeping his guards up. Would they be joking now?)

Descending from Dragonspine on their way to Mondstadt felt like leaving a part of himself behind to Albedo, in a sense. Albedo had grown used to Sheer Cold for a while, had discovered a new sense of cold and in return warmth with Aether by his side, in his lab and in his bed; especially in comparison with the Abyss' cold, which was so much more biting and suffocating. Albedo wondered if one could grow accustomed to this kind of cold, but sometimes, when he looked at Aether during moments when he wasn't around Albedo, Albedo was again reminded of something Lumine had told him once, about a certain Fatui Harbinger: "The Abyss always leaves scars. Some are more visible than others."

It had never occurred to Albedo that he could feel the same about warmth.

He made the experience when Aether and he walked down the path leading through Springvale and to Mondstadt: the usual, warm climate keeping Mondstadt in a loving embrace felt unwelcome and stifling and made Albedo want to return to Dragonspine immediately. Every step deepened the frown between his brows and made him fiddle restlessly with the belt around his waist.

"Are you nervous?" Aether kept his eyes trained on the horizon. Despite his bouncy steps over little stones along the way, his voice betrayed that he wasn't better off than Albedo. Well, considering who they were up against and what they had planned to do in Mondstadt, nobody could fault them.

Albedo pulled his shoulders into a shrug. Their plan was hardly worth being called that: it had too many weak points to be foolproof and its success depended on too many unsafe decisions, some of them doomed to fail due to how stubborn the Knights of Favonius would be. Albedo would know. He knew that their chances of getting everybody out of the city to prevent casualties during later stages of the plan were close to none. Even from a rational standpoint and without knowing the Knights of Favonius, who in their right mind would agree on leaving a city to see it destroyed and to rebuild it later on in exchange for no victims? (But Albedo had made clear: no casualties. Nobody must die.).

"I'm nervous", Aether confessed and reached for his cape's hood to pull it up and cover his head more. "So many things could go wrong. But so many things can also go right. ... Did you know that the true display of courage is standing against the face of the impossible? That you stand against something even though you're scared?"

"I think there's more to courage than that." Albedo, on the other hand, peeled off his coat and slung it over his loosely bent arm, still finding it too hot for comfort. Aether picked up on it with an amused smile.

"On the topic of courage. Did you know", he turned so that Albedo could see his facial expressions beneath the shadow of his hood that hid his face from open view now, "that flying recklessly through the skies like birds of prey is an exhilarating feeling? You can soar high until you almost touch the sky and then just let gravity grab you. And right before you hit the ground, your wings catch you again, and suddenly you weigh nothing again, and you fly so low that if you stretch out your hand, you could brush the grass beneath your feet. That. Is freedom following courage."

Albedo pulled at his top repeatedly, fanning himself air.

"Is that even possible?", he wondered, imagining the scenario as Aether had described it. "From a scientific standpoint, the Wind Gliders are barely suited for this kind of stunt. I can tell with a brief calculation", he ran a quick test through his mind, "that you'd risk that the glider isn't sturdy enough to catch you before impact. A lot of factors play a significant role in risky, not courageous behavior: timing, the equipment, luck. A lot of people would define freedom otherwise either."

"I'm talking about real wings", Aether clarified with a sigh. Albedo detected a sadness in his tone. "Lumine and I used to have some before coming here. Before they were taken from us."

Some puzzle pieces moved into place. The Honorary Knight had always struck everyone as a natural talent with wings ever since she obtained them and had immediately proven herself during the Stormterror attack on Mondstadt. It made sense to explain this with prior experience rather than raw talent, in hindsight. (Albedo wondered if something like raw talent existed in Teyvat, considering that people called him talented too while everything he knew was result of hard work.)

"One day, I'll take you to a place that will make you feel the same kind of freedom I'm talking about, Albedo. You'll see."

Talking to Aether took Albedo's mind off his worries and eased his restlessness, so when Albedo stepped onto Mondstadt's bridge, his mind was clear, and his posture relaxed. Aether walked slightly offset to Albedo, diving deeper into the shadows of his hood by keeping his head lowered. His hand was playing with the edge of a Fatui mask at his belt, bumping it against his leg with every step he took.

If everything went according to plan, Aether wouldn't need it.

"It's Mister Kreideprinz!" - "Albedo has returned!"

The two guards standing at the city gate, Lawrence and Swan, shouted their enthusiastic welcomes as soon as Albedo was within earshot. They straightened their posture, tensed their arms against their chest, and completed the Knight's greeting with the usual choppy hand gesture to the low side. Albedo greeted them with a nod in return.

"I'm not staying long", he answered, talking easily as always. Still, due to his habit of leaving more often than staying (Sucrose came to Dragonspine regularly), the bored guards insisted on small talk. There Albedo's hope of not wasting time at the gate turned into dust.

"Are you still working on your research in Dragonspine, Albedo?", Lawrence asked curiously. "We wonder about what scientific progress you must've completed by now!" His gaze fell on the hooded figure standing closely behind Albedo, head and face covered by shadows, ducking behind Albedo's shoulder to stay unrecognized.

"It must be hard, to be out of Mond all the time", Swan sighed. "The adventurer's guild always tries to hire people for expeditions up there, but honestly, even if Grandmaster Varka tied me to our cavalry, I still wouldn't make it with even a foot inside."

"Heating sources are important." Albedo courtly recalled his own adventure because of a displaced lighter. "Now, excuse me. I'm in hurry."

Albedo started to move, but Lawrence extended an arm - a gesture not meant to touch Albedo or hold him by force, only an indication that there was something else to say. Albedo stopped and narrowed his eyes at the guard, not missing the short exchange of glances between the two.

"Who is the traveler with you, Mister Kreideprinz?", Swan spoke up clearly suspicious, remembered the Knights' guidelines and caught himself, quickly addressing Aether instead. "Oh, ah - welcome to Mondstadt, strange yet respectable guest! Please state -"

"No need, Swan." With a wave of his hand, Albedo interrupted him, and Swan's mouth snapped shut like the blades of a shear. "My companion is captain's business."

"Of course, Mister Kreideprinz." Swan repeated the Knights of Favonius' greeting sharply, straight as a rod all of the sudden. "Captain, please, do not mind the digression! I didn't mean to offend", he mumbled, and for a moment Albedo stared him down, tried to make sense of the tenseness, then decided to not bother.

Albedo closed his eyes and looked over to Lawrence, who immediately repeated the Knights of Favonius' greeting as well, eyes darting to everywhere but the two newcomers.

"It's fine."

Albedo gave two court nods to his sides and walked through Mondstadt's gates, Aether following like a shadow. Only a few couple of steps later that brought them out of earshot, Aether commented loud enough for Albedo to hear: "Smooth, captain. Impressive." Even without seeing his face below the strategically chosen hood, Albedo could pinpoint the sarcasm in Aether's voice.

"Why?", Albedo inquired without turning around as he led the way on with sure steps, up the stairs past Mondstadt's Katheryne. A light smile played around his lips.

"I like authority."

"I recall. Would you've preferred to explain affiliations with the Fatui instead?", Albedo indicated the general direction of the Fatui ambassadors chatting away with a wide view over the fountain place, up one level compared to the Alchemy stall, which was manned by Timaeus alone at the moment.

"Hah. You called me your business first." Aether had unfastened the Fatui mask and now slid it over his features, concealing half of his face under the mask. Together with the hood over his golden hair, nobody would be able to tell who this stranger was. And following the plan, Aether ducked away into the alley that led to Angel's Share when Albedo approached the alchemy stall and Timaeus noticed Albedo, greeting him joyfully.

"How are you doing, Albedo! It's been so long, I feel like I've lost track of time when you've last been here!" Timaeus put down the book he had been holding onto the crafting bench, practically glowing. Hadn't Albedo been so tense, he would've returned the smile. "Is your research going well? We've - that is, Sucrose and I have missed your perspective on experiments! Do you plan on staying longer?"

"Not this time, no." Albedo never stayed for long and they both knew it. Timaeus had never asked for the reasons why though. Barely anyone had. Still, Timaeus' disappointment was clearly visible by the way his shoulders sagged.

Albedo joined his hands behind his back and tilted his head so that he could look at the page Timaeus had open in front of him, the lines upside-down to Albedo. There were little drawings between Timaeus' hastily scribbled handwriting, his notes scattered all over the page. For a moment, Albedo thought he'd read something about Liyue and its crafts, but he might be mistaken.

"Potions?", he asked, mildly interested in this unrelated topic, but instead of breaking into the usual hasty explanations of ground-breaking innovations, Timaeus reached out as if burned, snapped the book in front of him shut and ran red from chin to hairline.

"I-it's nothing!"

Albedo looked up from the book's cover, sensing that there was more to the story than Timaeus wanted to tell. Maybe Timaeus was onto something major this time? "Uh-huh." Well, unrelated matters didn't need to bother Albedo now.

"I've left Dragonspine for some important matters here in Mondstadt." He slowly straightened up again, leaving his tight grip behind his back. There was a plan to pursue. "Do you know where Sucrose is at the moment, Timaeus?"

Timaeus lifted an arm and scratched the back of his head, laughing awkwardly. "Not losing a moment of time, that is so very much like you, Albedo. I wish I could be like you, really. Would make it easier to write the let- ... ahem. Last I've seen Sucrose she's been heading up to the Knights' headquarters. I believe she'll be holed up in her room."

"I see."

Until now, everything went according to plan: Albedo would be able to talk to Sucrose in private. What he wanted to tell her was his own decision, thought of in long hours in the cave as Aether and he put down the details to their actions. Albedo would need to see how Sucrose would react to. He hoped that she'd at least understand.

Unfortunately, the one thing - which neither Albedo nor Aether were aware of right now - was that they'd been watched by two attentive green eyes from a table at Angel's Share. They'd seen the exact moment when the hooded figure that smelled like a cold winter's night sky had put a Fatui mask on their face, revealing a side profile that looked like Lumine's for the splinter of a moment.

But Lumine was in Inazuma.

Venti put down his mug of Dandelion wine.

Chapter Text

Did Aether imagine it or was he being followed?

The Abyss had sharpened his senses and filled the prince with a dose of paranoia that edged between being healthy enough to keep him safe and making his life a living hell when it came to planning ahead.

Maybe Aether should’ve shown more effort in establishing a relation between the Abyss Order and Mondstadt once he’d learned about how powerless he was in the city itself. Maybe if he had, he wouldn’t feel like growing sick with every step he took further along the inner city walls.

Mondstadt was a sore spot for Aether because of its complete lack of relation to the Abyss. Without the Abyss at his immediate command, Aether knew that he was weak, and he’d found two more reasons to avoid Mondstadt from the very beginning: in here, he couldn’t command any Abyss creature to his side at any moment, should he need assistance. Additionally, just like elemental magic granted by Celestia needed Visions to work, Aether relied on the Abyss to be able to use his own elemental magic in both forms, the Abyssal and the light form.

As prince of the Abyss, he probably should’ve shown great interest in conquering Mondstadt and eradicating his only weak spot a long time ago. Doing so just hadn’t aligned with his careful, steady approach and the other matters he’d been occupied with until now.

Initially, Aether had needed all the time he had to establish and strengthen his position at the top of the Abyss Order, but also to test his own strength in different environments, and to conduct his experiments into corruption - valuable time he couldn’t have afforded to lose anywhere else.

When his attention had finally fallen on Mondstadt because of Lumine’s extended stay there and Dainsleif’s recent appearance in it, Mondstadt’s status had come as bad surprise to him; because the Abyss had no influence in Mondstadt, it factually made the city one of a kind in almost all of Teyvat and Aether’s ultimate weak spot.

Aether had told Albedo as much. He’d warned him that his discomfort would grow and make it impossible for him to stay in the city for an indefinite time. He’d told Albedo that his strength was at its peak wherever the Abyss was at its strongest. He didn’t know what would happen if he was separated from the Abyss for too long.

Sharing these findings with Albedo had felt liberating but also strange to Aether because it reminded him that trusting someone could so easily be forgotten in the Abyss’ darkness. Standing at the top of the Abyss Order had always been lonely – as he was used to always having Lumine by his side – and when being the strongest, people easily forgot their weaknesses.

The common tongue’s saying went like this: the brighter the light, the deeper the shadow. The deeper the shadow, the greater the blindness.

Aether’s fingers brushed over the stone on his side as he walked along the inner city walls, focusing on the little sounds he could hear around himself. It already dragged Aether down to be just this far away from where he could hear the Abyss’ call for him, just on the other side of the city walls, barely out of reach of his fingertips. With every step, Aether’s discomfort of being in the wrong place reached to embrace him tighter.

Damned be this city sevenfold, for all its wrongs that lurked unseen.

The creeping feeling of danger kept tingling the back of Aether’s neck and made his hairs on his back stand on end but no matter how many times Aether threw inspecting, cautious glances around, he couldn’t seem to locate any pursuers.

Was he imagining it?

Part of him wanted to believe that he did - but if Aether could not rely on his senses, what else did he have to believe in?

Instead of taking the stairs that led down the small courtyard that stretched toward Mondstadt’s second city gate, Aether swung his legs over the small stone wall, jumped all the way down into the courtyard, and rolled off the landing’s impact. Thankfully, no guards were present in the yard or at the gates at the moment, so Aether could allow himself a quick breather.

He leaned his back against the stone in the gateway to be closer to the Abyss without reconnecting with it and closed his eyes for a moment, willing his senses to relax.

The Abyss Order’s past attempts to take root in the city, coincidentally related to these city gates, had been planned by low-ranked Abyss Mages and local groups of Hilichurls, acted out half-heartedly, and ultimately, had all failed. Ever since Aether had known that one day he’ll need control over Mondstadt, he’d surveyed the situation from afar without playing an active role himself.

That – surveying, staying passive, experimenting unseen – had been before meeting Albedo. That had been before Aether had to set foot into the city personally.

However, these little, continuous skirmishes by his lowest rank of subordinates had served the higher purpose of helping Aether pinpoint his enemies' identities, way of thinking, and powers they had at their expenses. Following his current intel, would Aether need to name a few antagonists he was likely to face, he knew about the significant role the Knights of Favonius and the Darknight Hero played in keeping the Abyss' forces out in the wild.

Aether liked knowing what he was dealing with.

Aether definitely didn’t regret his decision to take his time with Mondstadt’s conquest in retrospect, even if he doubted he could keep up the pretense of being indifferent or weak for an indefinite time. After all, someone like Diluc Ragnvindr must be suspicious of the Abyss' true intentions, as a man of his caliber couldn't be easily fooled by such weak display of strength. By the time he'd realize where the real threat came from, it would be too late though.

When that was, Aether didn’t know. He planned to find out soon.

Knowing himself, he would’ve waited and delayed that moment. Progress on his experiments around corruption were slow and Aether knew that Mondstadt was dangerous to him, so he had wanted to be prepared as best as possible for when he needed it.

But then, Aether had met Albedo, and his priorities had unexpectedly undergone a drastic change, introducing a new factor to his plans.

And now, Aether was walking through Mondstadt, feeling like a toddler attempting his first steps.

With a sigh, Aether pushed off the stone and braced himself, readjusting the Fatui mask on his face as he lamented that this had to be his choice of clothing. Pretending to have affiliations with what Aether considered another enemy was the lesser of two evils but an evil anyway.

Not that he had much of a choice here.

Aether reached for the bricks of the wall stretching up in front of him and climbed it with trained ease, keeping on his planned pathing. He crossed a narrow pathway behind a couple of houses and stepped onto a broader paved walkway with a small plaza to the side, which led in direction of the Knights of Favonius’ headquarters. Further ahead the walkway, benches and bushes decorated the footpath and made it a beautiful view.

But Aether didn’t have eyes for it because as soon as he took a step from behind the houses, his senses warning him of danger went haywire and made him stop again. Heaving, Aether leaned against the house wall, battling with the rising panic. Yet, when he watched his surroundings, there still was no one suspicious in sight …

With a deep inhale to calm himself, Aether wrapped his arms around his middle and walked on, concentrated on walking steadily to give his mind occupied with something else: a hard task, since the ground swayed lightly under his feet.

Aether breathed easier once he’d left the plaza to his left and could count on being covered from sight by a wall now.

See? It’s fine, he told himself.

Aether kept going faster –

- and almost lost his balance when somebody dropped an arm loosely around his shoulders and leaned onto him. It took Aether’s entire self-control to not automatically manifest a sword and defend himself - instead, he snapped his head around, but the Fatui mask and the hood drawn into his face made it hard to see who was at his side.

“Hello, friend! Are you lost?”, somebody asked joyfully.

Aether met eyes with a light blue one, which sparkled with amusement. Who was this person and more importantly, where did he come from? How had he managed to sneak up on Aether unseen? Aether froze.

“The Goth Grand Hotel is over there”, the other followed up despite Aether’s silence and turned slightly to the side, pointing with the hand over Aether’s shoulder into the direction he was looking. “Where were you headed, my friend? The Cathedral? That’s not the quickest route to take.”

“I’m not lost.” Aether safely shook off the arm around him and turned to fully face who had stopped him, weighing his options wearily. Unbelievable that he’d missed this guy’s approach. Could it be that this man was the reason why Aether’s danger sense had acted out?

Aether had no way to confirm this suspicion.

“Is it a crime to walk around Mondstadt now?”, Aether asked sharper than intended, looking the blue-haired man up and down.

The Cryo Vision holder was taller than Aether but less muscular than him. Right now, they were most likely evenly matched should he attack. Judging by his behavior, Aether concluded, the other must be affiliated with the Knights of Favonius, even if his prominent choice of clothing was too revealing compared to their usual outfits. Stylish though.

“Ah, no. You seemed to be lost.” The knight slowly walked on in the direction Aether had been headed, gesturing hands lifted high enough that Aether could follow their movements through his Fatui mask. Aether believed that this was strategic play. “You’ve stirred up quite the commotion. Your friendly captain is just here to help you.”

“I’m fine on my own. Thank you”, Aether replied stiffly, still wary. He couldn’t be sure if he had to expect any danger from his person because right now, the knight seemed to be more intent on playing mind games. However, Aether had no time to waste. How could he get rid of him effectively?

The blue-haired knight turned around his axis, put his hands on his hips, and cocked his head. A smile was playing around the corners of his mouth and by how his hair was falling in his face, Aether’s choice was either to focus his gaze on his lips or his eye - or worse, let himself be distracted by the fur collar around his shoulders or the chain reaching over his cleavage. Tactical plays, altogether.

Aether didn’t want to leave the knight out of his sight either because he assumed this might be exactly what the man was playing at. But on the other hand, the city wall was right at Aether’s side. He could make a run for it at any moment. The question was: should he?

“You seem awfully defensive, my friend. Do you have something to hide behind that mask? Hm?” The knight chuckled but Aether stayed as reactive as the Geo element to other elements, pondering whether it was worth abandoning the plan at once or taking a risk.

“No worries, we all wear things to cover something up. There’s nothing unusual about it. I would know”, the knight went on, unsuspecting of Aether’s thoughts. Was he stalling for time? Was he waiting for someone else to appear?

Whatever the case, Aether didn’t have more time to waste. He didn’t intend to give up on Albedo’s plan before he’d tried everything possible either.

Aether disentangled his arms around himself and picked up walking in moderate speed. If this knight was stalling time, he’d hold Aether back somehow; if he attacked, Aether would have enough time to jump into safety. Also, the discomfort Aether had felt creeping up on him was downright nauseating by now.

“What’s the hurry?”, the blue-haired knight asked when Aether brushed past him and glued himself to Aether’s side, following along with his hands behind his back and the eternal smile around his lips.

Aether picked up the pace and reached the staircase leading up to the level just below the one with the Statue of Barbatos on it. Initially, Aether had planned to climb the short wall to his right and reach the plaza by that way; like this, he would have to leave the city walls for only the short period of crossing over to the Statue of Seven and back. Aether would be able to handle it.

Not if this Knight of Favonius continued shadowing him.

“I think you might have got the wrong idea”, the knight persistently kept talking, leading a conversation for two effortlessly. “It wasn’t my intention to offend any of you. I like the Fatui ambassadors. I’m always up to grab drinks and dinner, if not for you lots’ reluctance.”

“What’s your intention, then?”, Aether asked, growing annoyed by being lumped together with some Fatui, but distracted by a new problem.

They were almost on top of the staircase. From there, Aether would have to decide whether he should turn right and follow his initial pathing or … ah. Turning left would only lead him into a dead end.

Are you lost?, Aether recalled the first question the knight had directed at him. It made sense to ask this, since Aether was headed this way to nowhere – when any Fatui member would’ve naturally chosen to turn and walk past the Grand Goth Hotel in direction of the Knights of Favonius’ headquarters, or would have taken the stairs to the upper level.

Naturally, Aether’s actions drew suspicion.

Aether cursed mentally.

“My intentions?”, the knight echoed and shrugged. “Nothing much. I don’t think I recall seeing you here before. So, I wanted to welcome you. We should get to know each other better in the process. Break the ice, you know?”

The knight’s pun fell on deaf ears because the two reached the top of the staircase and Aether still had no idea what to do. “Why don’t we start with names, my friend? My name is Kaeya Alberich, and you are?”

Aether stopped abruptly.

“Wait. You are Kaeya Alberich?”, he repeated, incredulous, and gave the man in front of him a second scrutiny.

Of course Aether knew who Kaeya Alberich was, of course he had heard of him. His intel on the Cavalry Captain went even further than just a name - but he’d never seen him face to face before. Aether hadn’t known how Kaeya looked like prior to now.

This changed everything.

“Ah. It sounds like you did hear about me.” Kaeya had taken another step into the courtyard and had his back turned to Aether, so he missed the moment when Aether reached up and took off his Fatui mask. “And here I was at a loss because of your cold attitude towards me.”

“Albedo has never described your appearance to me. I didn’t connect any face to the name.”

Kaeya’s playful smile died away at the mention of Albedo’s name and he turned his head to look over his shoulder and down at Aether. His eye widened momentarily when he got a direct look at Aether’s face for the first time, despite that it was painted in his hood’s shadows. Gold met blue and left Kaeya breathless in a sudden vortex of emotions.

“You … What?” Kaeya shook his head lightly as if in a daze. He’d known that the Fatui agent sneaking around Mondstadt was suspicious, but he wouldn’t have guessed this turn of events even in his wildest dreams.

Was this who Kaeya thought it was? The resemblance was uncanny.

“Albedo is going to look for you. You should go meet him. He went to the Knights of Favonius’ headquarters.” Aether returned the Fatui mask to his face, leaving enough time for Kaeya to adjust his facial expressions into something more neutral. “He’ll answer your questions. Depending on your answers, I might too, later. But my time’s limited. Excuse me, Kaeya Alberich.”

Aether wanted to rush past Kaeya, who was staring blankly at him, but Kaeya held him back by extending an arm sideways.

“Wait”, Kaeya said, tone changed into something more subdued. When Kaeya turned to look down at Aether, it seemed like he struggled to concentrate between several thoughts. “I was serious about the commotion part. You’re being followed by several people. They won’t let you go easily.”

Without leaving Aether the time to reply, Kaeya made a decision: he reached up to his ear and unfastened the earring that dangled from his earlobe. He extended the blue stone to Aether and waited that he took it.

“Give this to Sister Rosaria if you need help. She owes me.”

Aether opened his hand and let Kaeya drop the cold earring into his palm. With another “thank you”, this time an earnest one, Aether closed his fingers around the token and finally continued on.

The senses of danger the Abyss had sharpened in Aether hadn’t lied to him after all - a reassuring feeling that helped Aether quiet down the worst of his discomfort.

Now he knew: he was being followed.

Chapter Text

Albedo walked on ahead on his own after his talk with Timaeus. He was headed to the Knights of Favonius headquarters to fulfill his part of the plan, namely to talk to the handful of people he wanted to get into contact with before it was too late.

Albedo believed they deserved a personal conversation and warning, at least.

As a scientist, Albedo hadn't felt nervous a lot. Anticipation about an experiment's outcome, yes. Curiousity edging at tenseness for everything still waiting to be discovered, or irritation at distractions or unexpected turns in his search for the truth - those he was overly familiar with, even if those were all feelings people might equal to nervousity.

Albedo liked categorizing everything because pinpointing a matter's exact nature not only helped name their individual truths, but also made life easier for him. And so, he knew that there were distinctions between his usual emotions and the one he unfortunately suffered under at the moment, though they had one thing in common: a state of being in high alert.

Not a problem per se. Albedo had an innate advantage against nervosity thanks to his logical nature and could often move freely where others might be held back by something. But like right now, without anything to do or anyone as company to distract his mind with, having slipped into a constant observer mode was more nuisance than help to Albedo.

The prerequisite to making use of this heightened attention and to concentrating on the matters at hand effectively was that Albedo had to busy his hands in order to move into a productive direction - because to achieve objectivity and the perfect conditions for any task or experiment, they had to happen under the exclusion of emotions, or if not possible, by the conscious control of those. Which meant that if Albedo couldn't get his hands on something to work on, Albedo would have been fine with someone's company to distract his ever-working mind.

But Aether had left to fulfill his part of their shared plan and Albedo could only focus on the impending task, wondering how to best bring forth his request. Not that he had to doubt Aether's success; if anything, Albedo had complete faith in the Abyss prince and his abilities and knew that the feeling was mutual. Doubts were unnecessary and hesitation was a feeling easily discarded.

But due to his general alerted state, Albedo noticed that something about his surroundings was off. When he walked around Mondstadt's windmill in moderate speed and approached the stairs leading up to the Knights of Favonius headquarters, he concluded: Mondstadt was unnaturally empty.

Following his observations, the usual people were out in the street and going by their own businesses in regular volumes, like Glory or Ellin. However, the lack of knights patrolling the city caught Albedo's attention. Where could everyone be? Surely, Swan and Lawrence would've mentioned if Acting Grandmaster Jean had called for an assembly?

The headquarters seemed oddly deserted from afar too. Most of the windows were dark and in front of the staircase leading up to the main entrance, only Athos was standing guard, by himself.

Albedo freed his arm from the coat slung over it and lifted a hand in greeting.

"Good afternoon, Athos", he said, prompting the guard to complete the knights' greeting with the usual choppy hand gesture. Albedo believed some interrogation about what was going on was needed and seeing that Athos was the only one around and in sight by far, the knight had just unknowingly volunteered. "Did something happen during my absence?"

Albedo lifted his gaze to the headquarters, furrowing his brows demonstratively. There was no denying that the question to that answer was "yes" and would require elaboration.

However, Athos missed the question's deeper meaning and answered joyfully: "Good afternoon, captain! No, I have nothing unusual to report! The winds are blowing in our favor!"

Athos adjusted his glasses, hiding his eyes from view, but Albedo didn't plan to let him off the hook that easily even though this turn of conversation took him by mild surprise. Obviously, something was going on. As a captain of one of the knights' branches, shouldn't he be informed about anything voluntarily? ... Strange.

"Where's Porthos? He seems to be missing from his post. Is your brother unwell?", Albedo asked, divising a strategy for the subtle interrogation. He wasn't captain of the investigation team for no reason. Questioning people wasn't always rewarding work and often exhausting social interaction, but in the state Albedo was in, he didn't mind for once.

"Thank you for your concern, Mister Albedo. Porthos is busy with an expedition led by the Spindrift Knight today. He will return to his post shortly."

"An expedition?", Albedo echoed, finding it suspicious that Athos hadn't considered an expedition led by Eula to be something worth mentioning to Albedo. What could this be about?

"Is there anything noteworthy to investigate that would need her attention?", Albedo asked for elaboration, aiming to stir the conversation into the right direction. He once was again deflected.

"No, captain." Athos adjusted his glasses, hiding his eyes once again. Albedo noticed and narrowed his eyes, wondering why Athos would be so tight-lipped about an expedition when he was talking to the captain of the investigation team. Especially when this many knights were involved, what could be the reasons for the unusual secrecy?

"So, they're not going to take long? I was hoping to speak with some other knights while I'm already here." Albedo dropped all hints of suspicion from his face in favor of a neutral facial expression. He hoped that with this question, Athos would give him information about when the knights had left the city. It had to have been some time before Albedo's and Aether's arrival to Mondstadt and might give him some hints about the expedition's parameters. Asking about the expedition directly seemed to be a complicated topic, for some reason.

However, Athos had tensed up like a Cryo slime building armor, clearly uncomfortable with the piercing questions despite Albedo's light tone. The knight knew that he was being interrogated, obviously.

Continuing on like this, Albedo would only waste time.

"Did Sucrose stop by recently?", Albedo changed the topic abruptly, adjusting the coat slung over his lower arms casually. He pretended that his previous question had been rhetorical and that he'd been satisfied by the little information given to him, but Albedo was far from finished. "I'm currently looking for her and unfortunately, Timaeus couldn't tell me her whereabouts. Since you've been standing guard all this time, Athos, you should've seen Sucrose if she entered the headquarters. Right?"

"Yes. Yes, I did see your assistant." Athos had a hard time keeping the relief off his face even when he did his best to shadow his eyes behind the glasses' reflection. "Sucrose headed inside the headquarters earlier today. She hasn't left yet. She seemed excited about something and by the sound of explosions that came from inside a while ago, she's probably ... busy. You should find her upstairs, I believe, captain."

"I see."

The lie about Timaeus had been a simple ruse to have Athos confirm something Albedo already knew the right answer to, also proving that Athos hadn't left his post for a while by the way. More importantly, Albedo had wanted to make Athos loosen up with simpler questions for a change as if Albedo had dropped asking about Mondstadt's affairs, making him consider himself safe.

Relaxed people were more likely to make mistakes.

(Usually, Albedo might've lamented the time lost on tediously working Athos towards the answers he was looking for. However, having an opportunity to focus his mind on this conversation and treat it like Albedo would treat an experiment was surprisingly refreshing. And even then, Albedo was slowly approaching his limits of patience.)

"Thank you, Athos", Albedo pretended to be satisfied by smiling and moved as if to pass by Athos, not missing the brief exhale of relief the knight gave.

After three steps up the stairs, Albedo turned back slowly as if he remembered something else by coincidence and asked: "Athos, you mentioned explosions earlier. This reminds me. Since you've been standing guard all day, wouldn't you know where I can find Klee?"

"The Spark Knight? Of course, captain. Wood is looking after her. She is currently in solitary confinement."

"And Kaeya?"

"Him too." Athos' smile froze into place when he realized he had said something he hadn't been supposed to say. If not one thing, then the other - especially when they were so closely related, they could be one and the same thing. It was too late to go back now.

"What is going on here?", Albedo asked hard, staring down at Athos who clearly tried to come up with a convincing lie on spot. Whatever he would want to say, no reason justified why he had downright denied that something had happened in Albedo's absence. And if Captain Kaeya being in solitary confinement wasn't something worth mentioning to Albedo of all people, then Athos had run out of options already.

He'd talked himself into a dead-end.

"Captain, sir", Athos pressed out between pressed-together lips, losing color in his face with every second. "I'm under Acting Grandmaster Jean's strict orders to not run my mouth until the expedition has brought forth results that will allow to plan our next steps."

"Am I not captain of the investigation team, Athos?" Albedo came down the few steps he'd taken and came to stand in front of the knight again. "I insist that you elaborate on the reasons of Kaeya's temporary imprisonment."

Of course Albedo itched to know the backgrounds of the expedition that was held secret from even him though knights like Porthos were part of it. It was overly suspicious to have information concerning the Knights of Favonius withheld from someone belonging to their higher ranks - but this was Athos, who was only standing guard in front of the headquarters. Kaeya, especially since he was directly involved, would know more about it.

If Albedo really insisted and went on, he'd most likely get Athos to open up about everything he knew, but Albedo didn't have the time for it. He'd already spent too much on someone unimportant to Albedo's initial plan. The least he could do was pinpoint Kaeya's exact location now.

"Sir Kaeya agreed to this temporary solution voluntarily to not upset the spirits during such a crucial moment. So, he stayed behind. .... don't ask me about anything else, captain. I'll already have to report my transgressions to Acting Grandmaster as is." Athos let his head and shoulders drop, defeated from having been caught between the orders of two different authorities.

At least, the knight comforted himself, he hadn't let anything about the suspicions towards Albedo slip.

Without another word, Albedo continued on into the headquarters, going over everything he'd learned to see if he needed the pieces for what came next. If Sucrose and Kaeya were both in the headquarters, he could make up for the time lost with Athos and have his private talk with them without any more complications. A lucky strike of fate, truly. Except if ...

Albedo opened the doors and entered into the vast hallway, greeted by a gust of colder air that caressed the bare skin of his arms, and otherwise emptiness. No knights were in sight on the lower floors as well. If Kaeya and Klee were in solitary confinement, shouldn't Wood be standing guard in front of their room, like Athos had reported? But Wood was nowhere to be seen.

Silently, Albedo walked towards the door of the solitary confinement room, stopped with lowered head, and strained his ears, trying to hear sounds on the other side of the door. When he found it unusually quiet, he reached out and turned the doorknob slowly, opening the door a crack wide, and peeked inside.

The room was a mess because of the amount of scorch and gunpowder marks all over the walls, some fresher than others. Various books, drawing utensils, papers, bomb parts and little mounds of gunpowder were scattered over the floor, having conquered most of free space. The small window on the opposite wall of the room was wide open and made the curtains fly inside because of the continuous wind gusts. But what Albedo saw first was Klee hunched over the table, her back turned to the door as she was facing the window, still holding onto a crayon even though she was soundly asleep.

Kaeya was nowhere to be seen.

Albedo entered the room and pushed the door close behind him gently before he sneaked to Klee and leaned over her, brushing back the hair that had fallen into her face. She looked exhausted but unharmed and Albedo felt a short sting where his heart was because he hadn't come to spend much time with her recently. Judging by the drawings halfly covered by her arms and scattered over the table, Kaeya had taken good care of her in his place.

Albedo picked up a page that depicted three people dancing around Dodoco, clearly Klee, Albedo, and Kaeya (drawn by Kaeya himself because the artstyle was different), with a short text written in Klee's childish handwriting next to it: "Dodoco didn't feel alone anymore. His friends came to visit! They danced and ..." The rest of the sentence was unfinished. Albedo put the page down again.

Klee kept breathing evenly when Albedo gently removed the crayon from her unexpectedly tight grip around it and used his coat as a blanket over her shoulders so that she wouldn't grow cold from the open window. She was almost drowned out by the size of Albedo's coat but as if she knew that her brother was by her side at this moment, she sighed, and her lips tugged into a smile.

Albedo watched her for a moment longer to memorize this peaceful image, growing sad when he thought about how Klee might react to his plan. He wasn't sure whether he should tell her. He couldn't predict how she'd react in either case. What would be the worse outcome: Klee's despair at her brother's situation or her insistence to help, having her possibly turn against Jean?

(What would Alice have said? What Rhinedottir?)

Oh if everything could just go smoothly ...

Albedo bowed down and pressed a kiss on Klee's temple, then turned to the window to inspect it as well. It wouldn't take a captain of the investigation team to piece together that if Kaeya had been in solitary confinement with Klee, escaping through the window would've been an easy deed for him. Going by the fresh explosion marks at the window's lock, the explosion Athos had heard earlier hadn't been caused by Sucrose as the knight had believed, but actually by Kaeya - with the help of Klee's bombs.

The question Albedo couldn't answer was why it had been necessary to watch over Kaeya in the first place, and why the Cavalry Captain had to escape his guards.

Sucrose was in her room like Timaeus had predicted. Albedo heard her when he walked down the hallway on the headquarters' upper floor before her room even came into sight.

In front of a wide-open door an impressive number of boxes was stacked neatly and judging by the sounds coming further from inside the room, Sucrose was busy with rummaging through more boxes.

Albedo stopped by the threshold and knocked at the door to indicate Sucrose that she had a visitor, looking around her personal laboratory with freshly awakened interest. Since the last time he'd been here, Sucrose had restructured the interior and not only inverted her room's layout but also managed to bring order and structure into the rows of trinkets, books, bio-alchemic components, and skeletons, a structure that was easy on the spectator's eye and spoke of Sucrose's organizational talent.

The only disruptive element to the room's right side which was otherwise structured were the boxes that piled up on each other like the ones in front of the door, some of them open so that Albedo could look inside. Sucrose seemed to be going through the contents and include them into her room's layout, adding to the usual style she'd kept ever since Grandmaster Varka had assigned her a personal lab she didn't have to share with Timaeus or Albedo.

"Sucrose?", Albedo called out, letting his gaze wander over the neat rows of shelves along the wall, which connected from window to window and gave these interiors a majestic air to them. His eyes caught sight of a replica of a crystalfly that she used to frame the books on the shelf with, probably for aesthetics.

"Mister Albedo?!" Sucrose's head popped out from behind a stack of boxes placed around her bed, face red with exertion and flocks of dust sticking to her hair and hat. She crawled out from half under the bed, took off her hat to dust it off, and startled visibly when she saw that she was still holding onto a Hilichurl bone in one hand. Quickly, she tossed it onto the bed's outer sheet and reached up to adjust her hat again.

"One moment, Mister Albedo! I'll be with you in just one moment!", she shouted, turning around her own axis while scanning the floor, seemed to find what she was looking for, and dove down and out of sight for a second before reappearing with a brush in hands. In order to clean it off the dust, Sucrose held the brush an arm's length away from herself, squinted, and directed her palm against the item in hands, sending a gust of concentrated Anemo against the part she then used to brush through her hair.

"Okay!" Sucrose took another look around with half-raised arms and hands in loose fists, tossed her brush to lie as company to the Hilichurl bone, and then turned to Albedo.

Experienced, Sucrose rounded the boxes standing in her way without looking much at where she placed her feet and stopped in front of Albedo with a smile. She adjusted her glasses in a manner that was so very different from how Athos tried to hide his eyes, on the contrary drawing attention to the pretty sparkle of hers, then joined hands in front of her lap.

Fascinated, Albedo took a moment to memorize this sight as well - the lightly flushed cheeks, the expectant and joyful sparkle in Sucrose's eyes, the shape of her glasses framing her face and making her scrunch up her nose a bit.

"You seem ... busy." Albedo reached out and removed a single flock of dust that had stuck to Sucrose's brow. The movement made her emit a suppressed sound and she took off her glasses that she folded to stick the side pieces into a fold of her clothing, bowed away to the side and wiped her hands repeatedly over her face until she was positive to have brushed off the last bit of dirt.

"I needed to reassess the order in my room. Don't look too closely, Mister Albedo! The potions are still not lined up according to the logical system and oh ... don't pay attention to all this dust! I can't explain where it comes from! I promise I dust off everything regularly!"

Sucrose gave her room a harsh look-over, worrying her lower lip, and Albedo found comfort in the familiarity that Sucrose brought with herself. Nothing was comparable to the bond they shared as lab partners, friends, but also as people who respected the other for their talent and genius. Such a trust wasn't formed over the course of a handful of moons.

"Sucrose, I have something I need to discuss with you."

"Hm? Sure thing, Mister Albedo!" She turned away and hurried over to a stack of boxes, leaning over the edge so that her upper body disappeared into the depths of the highest one, leg lifted to keep herself from falling in completely. Albedo could hear her strained question: "Can I offer you some tea?"

"No, thank you." Albedo pulled on the ends of his gloves, suddenly finding it hard to bring forth what he had come here to talk about. Distressing Sucrose was the last thing he'd want, but either he'd offer her the respect of telling her face-to-face about his plans or have her learn about Albedo's intentions through his declaration of war with everyone else.

And even as the captain of the investigation team, Albedo found himself at a loss how to navigate further. He hadn't come here as a captain. He wasn't standing here as a knight of Favonius. How could he break the news to Sucrose gently?

"I think I still have some left-over candy that you like so much somewhere around here ... do you want some sugar in your system, Mister Albedo?" Sucrose had re-appeared from the box and hurried into the other direction, away from Albedo, so he followed her with his hands joined behind his back, mulling over what to do next and how.

"By all means, the matter at hands has priority, Sucrose. The thought about how I should best address this has been on my mind for quite some time and it hasn't been easy for me. I don't mean to inconvenience you, but I fear it cannot be helped."

"I believe you wouldn't be able to inconvenience me in the slightest, Mister Albedo!", Sucrose chirped back, having found the box with candies she'd been looking for. She lifted the heavy encyclopedia about Teyvat species that carried her handwriting and had colored notes sticking out from every possible page and angle, dropped it onto the working table's surface next to the inconspicuous candy box, and picked up and opened the box, turning to Albedo in the same movement.

He hadn't expected it and thus came to stop closer to Sucrose than intended. Only the space of a flat hand remained between their heads. If Albedo leaned forward a bit, their foreheads would be touching.

Ah.

Sucrose pulled her shoulders up to her ears, making herself smaller as her head grew hot and dusted her cheeks with red again, but she made no move to exit this breach of personal space. Instead, she focused her gaze onto the box of candies in hands that she had lifted to chest height and did her best to not let her eyes snap up to the curve of Albedo's upper arms in those silver arm circlets that were in her prominent view since he didn't wear his coat today.

"Take one?", she asked in barely a whisper. Which only amplified the intimacy of the situation and made Sucrose overly conscious of how close Albedo and her were standing, just a box of candies between their upper bodies. If she wanted, if she could, she could lift her head and find herself looking directly into Albedo's captivatingly clear eyes.

A wave of something violent run down Sucrose's spine, settling somewhere in her abdominal area. Was this it? Would she just pass away now?

Because she didn't look up, she didn't become witness of it but Albedo couldn't tear away his eyes from her as well, taken in completely by the little wiggle of Sucrose's ear, a nervous habit she usually had in control because she disliked drawing attention to her inhuman parts while Albedo found it endearing.

Slowly, he reached down and took a candy which was in form of a small-sized Sango Pearl that grew on far away Watatsumi Island and had a similar color but tasted like Sweet Flowers, Sucrose's flower. Sucrose knew how to make a colorful variety of confectionery from Sweet Flowers' nectar and her sweets were works of art. Albedo liked art.

Albedo lifted the piece of candy to his mouth, parting his lips against it without taking it fully into his mouth, darting the tip of his tongue over the candy so that his sweet receptors were activated and would fill his senses. Sucrose made the mistake of looking up at this moment and establishing eye contact with Albedo. She froze for a split second and almost dropped the candy box with a suppressed squeak, but Albedo reacted fast.

"Ah, careful!" One hand snapped forward, and Albedo closed it around Sucrose's hand that held onto the candy box at the same time that she fought to not drop it by reaching both arms out - but the movement made her step forward and forfeit the rest of personal space between Albedo and her, thus making Sucrose find herself pressed against the crook of Albedo's arm.

Her eyes automatically dropped to the arm circlet she had done her best to not stare at - or rather, at the muscle underneath pressing against the accessorizing confinement, and Sucrose forgot how to breathe.

Like a frightened animal, Sucrose stopped moving altogether, eyes wide open in surprise, hoping that if she didn't move, this would turn out to be a dream. (If this was a dream, did she ever have to wake up?) Her senses felt as if lit on fire, and she could feel the warmth of Albedo's body where she was pressed against him, could feel the tickle of his breath on her ear, and couldn't help the quickened heartbeat about Albedo basically holding her hand that held the candy box.

Normally, she might've jumped back with an awkward laugh and apologized profusely for the clumsiness, she usually wasn't like this! Only that she kind of was when Albedo was around, and her body had decided to betray her at this crucial moment! It had never happened when Sucrose thought about how talented Albedo was, how well-mannered and kind and how he understood everything Sucrose shared with him, no, he even gave his own point of view and shared his ideas with her! So ... why now?

To be honest, Albedo reminded Sucrose of a prince from a fairy tale. Surely, Mondstadt's citizens called him "Kreideprinz" and "genius", but Sucrose had the proof to back these titles up. No matter how complex the task at hand, he was always sure to get to the bottom of it and explain it thoroughly. His methodologies were so amazing, his alchemy could only be compared to art! And thus ...

Sucrose jumped visibly when Albedo put his free hand on the small of her back and leaned to the side to meet her eyes, a worried tenseness playing around his lips. Sucrose was so glad that her bangs and glasses hid enough of her face to save the rest of her dignity.

"Are you okay, Sucrose?", Albedo asked, shifting the candy in his mouth to the other side audibly.

She willed her body to move through sheer willpower alone and slowly untangled herself from the position she was in, silently thanking the Anemo Archon that they hadn't fallen over together because ohBarbatoshavemercyplease she could've landed on top of Albedo and would surely have died on spot in that case, no exception. Even now, with restored distance, Sucrose could still feel the lingering sensation of Albedo's touch and was well aware of his focused attention on her as he held her candy box in hand and enjoyed the candy she loved making - and it was almost too much to take.

"I'm. Fine." To not have to press past Albedo, Sucrose ducked underneath the table in her back and crawled to the other side across the floor, paying close attention to having her back turned to Albedo while she looked for her thermos flask frantically after she got up again. She found it among her collection of heat potions and poured herself a steaming cup of tea, closing her hands around the tangible warmth.

Right. Albedo was here about serious business. To calm down, Sucrose just had to focus her thoughts on some research. That's what Albedo had come here for, right?

"Did you want to ask something?" With the warm tea mug in hands and enough composure regained, Sucrose turned around and leaned against the table's edge behind her, pressing hard against it to not think about how Albedo's hand had rested a spot higher mere moments ago.

(She did think about it.)

"Yes." Albedo put down the candy box on top of the encyclopedia and swallowed the piece of candy he'd been sucking on since he'd put it in his mouth during the commotion involuntarily. Not the best feeling in the world but tolerable.

He still had to clear his throat behind a lifted fist.

"After long hours of consideration, I've come to the conclusion that I want to tell you this in person", Albedo explained, eyes trained on Sucrose's tea mug rather than her face. She was tapping her fingers against the even surface lightly and Albedo followed the rhythm attentively. He selected his words with care. "You have a right to know personally instead of learning of my future action together with everyone else."

"What is it?"

"Allow me to make this clear beforehand: you might not like and support my plan and I want that you don't feel compelled by any means to go along with it. Whatever your reasons, this will be a harsh decision I'll be asking you to make. Whatever side you'll choose, I'll respect your decision. No exceptions."

"Mister Albedo, I don't think I understand-"

"I am going to destroy Mondstadt", Albedo said matter-of-factly and watched Sucrose's eyes widen, first in shock, then in realization that he wasn't joking. Well, not that this was a joking matter in the first place. "Everybody will have the opportunity to leave first. This ... will be an operation done under controlled conditions, carefully planned out beforehand to empty the city before I have to ... before my consciousness gives in and I won't be able to control myself anymore. That would be the worst case that could happen."

Albedo knew he was rambling but once he'd started talking, he couldn't stop himself anymore. Saying it out loud hardened the truth. "With every day, my control over my own body and free will weakens and soon, I won't be able to make a conscious decision like this anymore. I was hoping ... I am hoping for your understanding, Sucrose."

Albedo snapped his mouth shut and resisted the urge to sling his arms around his body to embrace himself. Instead, he forced himself to lift his eyes at Sucrose's face and see her reaction because as he had been talking, his gaze had wandered away from her face and to the floor, where he had been staring at nothing in particular.

"But ... but the Knights of Favonius will fight you!" Sucrose pushed the tea mug in her hands onto the table behind her, unseeing of how the spilled tea ran in little courses among the heat potions, ruining the working surface. She rounded the table she had brought between Albedo and herself, hands pressed against her chest, and shouted with trembling voice: "Mister Albedo, even you can't stand against all the knights at once!"

"I know that, Sucrose." Albedo reached out and grabbed the sides of her arm, face twisting into a weak mirror of hers. "I know that well. But I have to do it. I have to do it now. I ... I was given a choice."

"You ... Mister Albedo ..." Sucrose half reached out to him, and Albedo was quicker, pulling Sucrose into a tight hug. She fit perfectly into his arms as if they had been meant to hug like this since Albedo's creation. Albedo could feel Sucrose's heart beat against his chest as quickly as snow finches taking flight and held her closer.

"Who?", Sucrose asked, voice heavy with tears that she cried against his shoulder silently.

"Someone I trust with my life and with the life of every citizen of Mondstadt", Albedo answered earnestly.

It was true - agreeing with the plan of Mondstadt's destruction as they'd planned had put the shared burden of everyone's life onto their shoulders. And even though Aether had pretended like the additional weight hadn't bothered him since he already carried the lives of Khaenri'ah since becoming their prince, Albedo was learning with every new frightening thought how hard it really was.

"Mister Albedo ... I ..." Sucrose pressed off his chest to look up into his face. Her glasses sat crooked on her nose, but she didn't reach up to fix them. "I don't ... I -"

"Sssh .... It's okay. It's okay, Sucrose." Albedo didn't know what she wanted to say, whether she tried telling him that she could not go along with the plan or not, but he didn't want to force her. The least he wanted was to force anyone on the path he'd chosen to walk.

"No, I ..." Her voice broke and Sucrose pressed a hand against her mouth, obviously fighting with herself. "How ... how long do I have?", she asked in a whisper, staring at the spot of Albedo's throat where Lumine had said Albedo carried a star-shaped mark only she could see.

"I will declare my intentions to the city today and leave for Dragonspine. Most likely, I won't be able to stay in my research lab there because the Knights of Favonius know where it's located, but ... should you be there, call for me. Call and I'll be there", Albedo promised.

Albedo may not have Aether's connection to the Abyss, but he would make sure to never neglect one of his companions. That he swore.