At the evening of April 29th, Diluc Ragnvindr declared was missing.
Not dead.
His brother couldn't be dead.
Kaeya stared at the newbie.
All of the words— no, the lies that spilt forth sent a cold chill down his bones.
He wanted to reach over and demand the truth, because it was nothing but lies, lies, and more lies.
It was so obvious.
The shuffle in his footing.
The stray eyes to the window.
The words hid the truth, and Kaeya struggled to find it.
"The Captain fell," he said, "right after he was… knocked by the drake. There's no way he survived that fall."
Eroch remained at his desk, elbows propped and hands clasped together, "And the recovery team found nothing?"
The damn newbie had the gall to glance at Kaeya as he shifted on the spot, "Nothing."
Kaeya was able to keep his calm composure long enough to exit the room.
No one said anything about the cold denial that burned in his eye.
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Jean tried to come with him.
Tried to persuade him to take her along.
They both knew something was up.
Something undeniably wrong.
But Kaeya took one look at the sky.
And made her stay.
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The rain poured.
It grew heavier and heavier.
And Kaeya snapped the reins to fight it.
The evidence—
The evidence had to be there.
The twisting feeling in his chest only grew worse and worse.
His mind endlessly screaming at him, maybe in denial.
There was no way Diluc, the literal sun in his life—
Of the brightest laughs, and soothing presence—
The shining beacon all of Mondstadt treasures—
The perfect son their father loved very dearly—
There was no way Diluc was gone.
All of it must've been planned.
No— it was planned.
Everything.
And Kaeya never saw it coming.
No one did.
._._._._._.
Nothing.
There was nothing.
Kaeya frantically looked around.
Stumbling in the rain to find something.
Anything.
The rain had softened the ground and washed the stones.
Kaeya refused to give up.
Refused to accept that Diluc was gone—
Then he saw it.
It was almost hard to see.
The odd glint of broken metal protruded from the mud.
The skin of his hand nearly split when he dug it up.
It was broken device of something with thin, flexible wings.
The symbol imprinted on the back was as clear as day.
The curse on Kaeya's tongue was terribly colorful.
His eye narrowed as he searched for more hints.
Barely a minute passed when he saw another.
An odd puddle flooded with a strange color.
Pooling between the wedge of two stones.
The puddle blended red and torn grass.
Kaeya engraved the image in his head.
The shape, the size, the odd depth.
.
Someone clearly forgotten to cover it up.
.
Suddenly, there were more trails.
Deep scratches in the marred mud.
Odd indents that were flooding over.
It was clear that something was purposely dragged.
Purposely wounded.
Purposely killed.
Kaeya looked over the edge.
And found nothing.
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But felt everything.
._._._._._._.
At the stormy noon of April 30th, Diluc Ragnvindr was declared dead.
Eroch announced it, enforced it, stamped a seal onto the official papers.
There was no body, "washed away by the sea" and "far too dangerous to retrieve."
All they left in the evidence room was nothing but the broken scabbard from Diluc's claymore.
And Kaeya denied the lie with everything he had.
The rest of the evidence stayed hidden in his coat.
._._._._._._.
The day had yet to be over.
Kaeya was promptly placed on leave.
With or without his permission.
When he came to the manor, Master Crepus stood at the door.
With one look, they both knew.
Diluc was still alive.
Somewhere—
Somehow—
They left Mondstadt in the pretense to grieve.
They left Mondstadt to find him.
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They returned with nothing.
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._._._._._._.
Diluc dreamed.
He knew he did.
Angel's Share was always recognizable.
The atmosphere was always warm and rich.
He sat at a table, surrounded by many.
Their faces were undistinguishable.
Whatever cheer these people displayed did not reach him.
He looked down, away from the muted noise.
The glass cup in front of him looked like wine.
He remembered the first time he tried it.
Well, somewhat.
He had no idea what really happened to him.
Kaeya definitely did, but, being the brat of a little brother he could be—
Never told him.
Diluc dared not to touch the glass.
Instead, he looked up and saw no one.
The emptiness was oddly still.
Far too calm to be considered safe.
Diluc wanted to run.
To get up and walk through a door.
But there was nothing but him, a table, a chair, and this one glass of wine.
His face reflected back at him.
And for a second he didn't recognize himself.
It was strange to see how tired and dull his eyes had become.
How the edge of his lips were far too tense.
How his shoulders were awfully wary.
He had forgotten how to smile.
And that scared him.
He half expected his brother to show up.
To tease him about preferring grape over dandelions.
But the other side of the table was empty.
So was the rich warmth he knew so well.
Diluc didn't reach to take it.
Instead, he traced the edge.
And spilled the bitter wine.
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