A long time ago, Diluc remembered a world filled with happier times. He remembered a small world filled with love from his parents and care from the servants. He remembered his home, the Dawn Winery, filled with warmth. He had thought, naively as a child, that all these happier times would last forever but they were not meant to be.
When his mother passed away, there was a gaping hole left behind in the world. Diluc and his father grieved and years later, that hole was never filled. It did not matter however, for the world he knew grew to surround and cover the hole. No longer was it an open gaping maw of sadness, but now sealed with love and acceptance.
Then one day, his small world expanded to accommodate his new adopted brother, Kaeya. Suddenly, it was not a world of just his father's love, his caring servants or his warm home. His world was now to be divided with a second child, whose world was gone when his father left him behind. At first, Diluc was jealous that he had to share his father's affection with Kaeya. However, when Kaeya smiled at him for the first time, such sullen feelings were carried away by the wind, lifting his spirits in their new world.
Diluc's world changed as the years went by. His world expanded when he joined the Knights of Favonius to achieve his father's dreams. His world became filled with the memories from the time he spent with the Knights of Favonius. He became surrounded with friends and comrades he could trust and his world grew brighter. When he obtained a Vision, his world became filled with the same warmth that emanated from the gift of the gods. When Diluc became the Cavalry Captain of the Knights of Favonius, he naively thought to himself (as his father and adopted brother smiled proudly at him) that this world was perfect.
But there was no such thing as a perfect world.
His world crumbled the day his father, Crepus, died in his arms. Together with his knights, Diluc had been escorting a convoy when they encountered a fearsome monster by the name of Ursa the Drake. Diluc's Vision proved powerless against the creature and his knights were easily taken down. It was only by Crepus wielding a Delusion that brought an end to the monster. But in using it, the power turned against him. Diluc watched as his father crumpled to the ground in agony, blood splattering onto the ground everywhere. He held his father in his arms, uncaring of the seeping red stains in his clothes. He cried as his father, who had always been strong and unflinching, screamed in pain. Diluc's heart shattered as he raised his sword to end his father's life, thus sparing him a lifetime of suffering.
"I remember his last words," Diluc said to Aether, the latter silent as he continued. "After I told him how I became a cavalry captain for the Knights of Favonius in a blink of an eye, he told me: 'Sometimes, life can change in an instant.' I never forgot those words."
Darkness began to spread in his world.
His faith for the Knights of Favonius, his hopes and dreams inherited from his father, his trust for his knights, all of them vanished when he was ordered to conceal everything.
His love for his adopted brother disappeared when Kaeya confessed that he was a spy sent by his birth father. His family shattered when he drew his blade against his adopted brother.
The world that Diluc had once called perfect was gone in a few days.
Diluc left his broken world behind. He left his home, his Vision, and his duty. Instead, he embarked on a journey to seek out the truth. What was the power that his father had wielded in his final moments? Why was he told to hide the truth? Why was the Fatui involved? Why had his father hidden this from him? He needed to know.
"Are you sure?" Jean asked as Diluc walked away from her.
"I have to know the truth. I have to know why!"
"...Then I pray that you will find what you are looking for."
The doors to the Knights of Favonius headquarters slammed shut behind him and by the next day, Diluc was gone.
Diluc's new world after leaving Mondstadt was a small and lonely one. He had nothing but the clothes and supplies on his body. His Vision was replaced by the false one his father had used, and the fake was a stranger in comparison. He had no allies to call upon in his time of need and nowhere he wanted to go back to. His memories of those close to him were filled with lies and doubts. His new world had nothing he wanted.
But slowly, that dark world brightened up with fragments of truth that Diluc had dug up in his journey. He found the answer to the power that his father had used and in doing so, gained the ability to use it. His small world expanded to accommodate a different group of allies: an underground network of intelligence run by volunteers instead of those seeking monetary gain.
When Diluc finally returned to Mondstadt four years later, his new world was sealed and buried deep. It was inaccessible to the people he once knew. He had no faith in the knights, he no longer wanted anything to do with his brother. And yet, he found that he could not abandon the country his father loved so much.
"Kaeya apologised to me when I came back but I didn't forgive him. He was still hiding something and until he stops lying to me, I will never forgive him."
"But have you considered that maybe he's lying to protect you?" Aether pointed out as he leaned against the wooden counter.
"It doesn't matter. We promised when we were young that we would never lie to each other. He had been lying to me his entire life!"
"That's not fair to him."
"The world's not fair."
In the end, his newfound belief in the knight's incompetence was justified when Varka, the Grandmaster of the Knights of Favonius, left Mondstadt on an expedition with most of the knights. Mondstadt was left defenseless with barely enough knights to keep the law and order within her walls. If the Knights of Favonius are unable to protect Mondstadt, then it would simply fall to him to protect his country. Fatui spies were eliminated under the cover of the night. Abyss Mages left dead in the shadows of the alleys. Criminals were found tied up beneath the Statue of Barbatos in the Statue Plaza. It was not long before rumors of the 'Darknight Hero' began to spread throughout Mondstadt.
A few days into his new persona as 'Darknight Hero', Kaeya showed up at the Dawn Winery with the ugliest vase that Diluc had ever laid eyes on. Within it however, contained the Vision that he had discarded.
"Why did you return my Vision to me?" Diluc asked as he placed a glass of Death After Noon in front of Kaeya.
Kaeya grabbed the glass and swirled the liquid inside, taking a drink to prolong the silence. "Wouldn't you like to know?" he asked, smirking at the scowl that Diluc gave in return.
Despite everything that he had done after coming back to Mondstadt, Diluc could not help but feel that there was something missing in his life. He had a resolve, a purpose, a goal and yet, he could never shake off the feeling that there was something missing in his world.
(It was colours that his world had lacked, for there was no life breathed into it.)
When Diluc first heard of the Traveller, he had been at his tavern, Angel's Share. His customers had been gossiping and Diluc could not help but overhear them. After all, how would the 'Darknight Hero' gather information of what goes on under Mondstadt's shadows? However, the information he got that day had nothing to do with the crimes that run unnoticed in the city. Instead, most of them were talking about a young man dressed in strange exotic clothes with a flying fairy for a companion.
"I bet he's from Fontaine."
"Fontaine clothes don't look like that. I bet he's from Sumeru."
"I doubt that, he seems almost...otherworldly. Maybe he's from Celestial?"
Before he could ask however, the windows of the tavern began to rattle loudly with the noise of howling wind outside. A young man barged into the tavern, following a loud crash outside. The strong howling wind threw the person down to the ground as a loud roar reverbatated. The gale was now causing havoc indoors as the door was left open. Bottles of alcohol were flung from the shelves, papers were ripped off, and people were screaming in panic. Diluc reacted quickly and hurled himself over the counter to quickly shut the door. He had barely won the battle of strength against the unnatural raging storm as he finally shut the door. The wooden door rattled loudly behind him but fortunately, held against the strong wind.
The strange storm left as soon as it had arrived and the streets of Mondstadts were filled with terrified whispers of Stormterror's attack. However, it was not Stormterror that drew Diluc's interest but the strange young man, who had appeared today, had fended off Stormterror alone.
Just who was this Traveller? There was barely any information about the Traveller. It was as if he had never existed before he arrived in Mondstadt. The only information that he had managed to dig up was the Traveller's name and that he was searching for his missing sibling with the help of his pet fairy. However, there was one piece of information that had drawn his interest. The Traveller has Anemo powers and does not carry a Vision. Diluc was curious. Was the Traveller using a Delusion? One that would not harm those without a Vision. Perhaps he could seek out the Traveller to get more information from the person himself. However, should the Traveller bring harm to Mondstadt then it would be his duty to bring an end to him.
Diluc's plans for the Traveller ended up getting postponed when he heard rumors of the Abyss Order spotted in one of the Temples of the Four Wind. He narrowed down the location to the Temple of the Wolf and quickly made his way there, assured that Charles would help clean up the tavern and handle the customers on his behalf.
When Diluc reached the end of the domain however, he found Kaeya with the Abyss Mage he was looking for. Kaeya's back was facing the Abyss Mage and, without hesitation, Diluc quickly threw out a fire blast in the shape of a bird. The flaming bird crashed into the Abyss Mage, killing it instantly. What came after however, made Diluc reconsider his plans for the Traveller again.
"Knights of Favonius...Always so inefficient."
"Agree to disagree. But, your involvement in this just made things a whole lot more interesting. But first, do you know the Traveller?"
If Kaeya himself was asking him of all people for information on a person, it would mean that his informants had nothing. It would also mean that Kaeya is cautious of the Traveller's motives. Diluc returned to the Dawn Winery with his mind set on meeting the Traveller.
In the end, there was no need to search for the Traveller when the person in question showed up injured at Angel's Share with Venti the bard. He bit his tongue however, holding himself back from interrogating the Traveller then and there. The Traveller would not give him the information he sought anyway, not with how his eyes looked dazed and unfocused and the way he leaned heavily against the bard while his pet fairy fluttered near him in worry. Instead, Diluc helped Venti bring the Traveller up to the second floor of the tavern. As he made his way back to the bar counter where he kept his first-aid kit, the Knights of Favonius kicked his tavern door open. The knights brandished their swords at him, only because their targets were nowhere to be seen.
The knights tried ordering him to expose the criminals, lest there be consequences. Diluc ignored them, telling them to leave or he would have them stripped of their ranks, for entering a private property without a warrant signed by the Acting Grandmaster of the Knights of Favonius. The disgruntled knights left and Diluc locked the door behind them. Hopefully, there would be no more interruptions for the night.
He returned to the back of the bar counter and grabbed a roll of bandages from the first-aid kit. It would not help with the concussion but at least it would help with the other injuries. When Diluc made his way back up, he found Venti in front of the Traveller with a visible trail of Anemo swirling around the bard. Perhaps there was more to Venti than what he had originally assumed of the bard.
"Explain everything, now," Diluc ordered, his eyes never leaving the three figures.
"Paimon, explain everything. I'll continue healing Aether," Venti said, turning around to face the Traveller.
Diluc raised an eyebrow. The bard had not rhymed as he normally enjoyed doing, perhaps this whole affair had left him shaken. Was the Traveller very close to Venti?
Diluc left them alone after the explanation, even he knew not to interrupt such an intimate moment. He unlocked the front door of his tavern and sat behind the bar counter, waiting for Venti and his entourage to leave. As he waited, Diluc thought about his first meeting with the Traveller.
The Traveller was in one word, young. He was much younger than what Diluc had expected him to be. When he had heard that the Traveller was a young man, he had assumed they were talking about someone in their thirties, not someone who barely reached his shoulders.
(Diluc would find out much later how wrong he was to assume.)
The Traveller was also, in another word, suspicious. The fairy aside, the Traveller was dressed strangely. Diluc had never once seen anyone with that kind of outfit in all his years travelling around Teyvat. Venti, also, had never once mentioned the Traveller prior to his showing up. Admittedly, however, Venti was a very private person. He easily deflected questions of his past and at times, he would go as far as to disappear in front of everyone to dodge those questions. Tonight however, he would ignore them. If that fairy was telling the truth, then there were more pressing matters to attend to. They must retrieve back the Holy Lyre that was stolen by the Fatui.
(He could not help but fault the Knights of Favonius. After all, they were the ones who allowed the Fatui to create a foothold in Mondstadt.)
"Venti, hand over that bottle of wine. Stop trying to steal from me."
"Ehe."
After extracting a promise from Venti to ensure that they would return the following day, Diluc locked up the tavern and left for the Dawn Winery. During the entire trip, his mind never stopped thinking about the Traveller.
(Diluc wondered offhandedly, why the Traveller was holding onto Venti's hand as they left. Were they as close as he had initially thought them to be?)
Jean showed up at Angel's Share the following day, alone, prompting Diluc to close his tavern early. As she told him that she suspected that the Traveller had stolen the Holy Lyre, Diluc interrupted her to explain what had really transpired the night before based on what he was told. When Venti showed up with the Traveller, they had been initially surprised to find Jean waiting for them. Venti further answered Jean's inquiries while the Traveller stood behind him, his body tensed in anticipation. He only relaxed once Jean agreed to help them retrieve the Holy Lyre. Had the Traveller been expecting them to get violent?
In the end, it was easy enough to find the Fatui's base that contained the Holy Lyre. The Fatui had not bothered to hide the base well, as if mocking Knights of Favonius for their gross incompetence. After telling Venti where the Holy Lyre was held however, Diluc had not expected Venti and the Traveller to attack the base on their own. What was surprising though, was that the two of them (and the Traveller's pet fairy) managed to take down the base all by themselves and retrieve the Holy Lyre with no backup.
"When I remembered how they had hurt my friend, I could not help but bring forth their end."
(He had thought that the Traveller or Venti would ask for his help but to think that they would just destroy the place all by themselves. Perhaps he had underestimated the bard's and the Traveller's innate power.)
The informants told him that the Fatui base was completely wiped off from the map and the only evidence of its existence was a gorge and eyewitness accounts of a large hurricane descending upon the place.
"It was as if the Anemo Archon brought down his fury upon them," the informant said as he tightly gripped the glass in his hand. "The destruction was nothing like I had ever seen before. Not even Stormterror's winds could compare to it."
As Venti explained to everyone how the lyre could be fixed, Diluc listened attentively. At the same time, however, he looked at the Traveller and wondered why he felt that there was something amiss with the Traveller. It was as if there was a piece of a puzzle he had missed, something obvious that lingered at the back of his mind. He had not noticed when he first met the Traveller but at the current moment, the feeling had become impossibly hard to ignore.
(He ignored the way the Traveller slowly crept into his world, like the many vines growing along the walls of the Dawn Winery that no one knew how they got there.)
Jean organised the few knights she could spare to search for the tears needed to fix the Holy Lyre, while Diluc provided her with information he had gathered from his information network on the location of the tears.
"Just this once, I shall work with the Knights of Favonius."
Venti led the party to Starsnatch Cliff once the Holy Lyre had been restored. The entire journey there, Diluc could not help but notice how close Venti was to the Traveller. He was still having doubts about their relationship. It seemed rather one-sided with the Traveller being oblivious to everything that Venti was doing. Perhaps he should step in, it was not the first time he had seen someone confess their undying love to another who had not noticed the entire time. The end results were usually not pretty.
(He ignored the fact that it was technically none of his business.)
At first, Diluc had been skeptical about Venti's claim of being able to call Stormterror to him. After all, the only person who could do that would have been the Anemo Archon. How could someone like Venti be an Archon? But as Diluc wondered if he could fight off a god while watching Stormterror roar in fury after having answered Venti's summons, he could not help but think back to all the times Venti tried to trick him into giving him free alcohol. Perhaps he should have moved out of Mondstadt instead of coming back.
When Stormterror left, Diluc could not help but empathise with him. After all, lies and betrayal were things he was very familiar with.
The party made their way to Stormterror's Lair (after beating up the Abyss Mage who interrupted Venti) with Venti leading the way. As they walked, Diluc took the opportunity to observe the Traveller again. The nagging feeling he had of the Traveller had yet to go away, instead, the feeling had gotten stronger to the point that he was considering asking Kaeya about the Traveller once he returned to Mondstadt. However, that was to be his last resort. He could go up to ask the Traveller but what would even be the right question to ask?
(He had not noticed the Traveller laying the foundations to build a bridge to his world. After all, why would anyone bother when there were so many burnt bridges all around.)
"A bridge requires two points. When you start building on one side, you can't stop in the middle. But that doesn't mean that the person on the other side isn't helping to build the same bridge either," Aether said before drinking his grape juice.
Diluc said nothing in return, only contemplating what Aether had said.
The road to Stormterror's Lair was mostly devoid of life, with only a few groups of patrolling hilichurls. It was not surprising, there was hardly a reason for anyone to make the journey to Stormterror's Lair, not since the time the Dragon of the East claimed the place for his own.
Not since the Anemo Archon's disappearance.
After defeating the hilichurls who ambushed them, the party approached the impenetrable storm barrier that protects Stormterror's Lair. Diluc watched as Venti opened the way for them but as he walked forward, doubts began to surface. How was he to fight a god? He burned those doubts away, he had not gotten to where he was by believing lies like that.
(His world no longer had any room for lies and doubts.)
As the party climbed the tower to where Stormterror resides, Diluc observed the Traveller in combat. It was a rare opportunity, one that he would not miss. He watched the Traveller fight the hilichurls, his pet fairy shouting out warnings at times. An arrow flew towards the Traveller from the front but it was as if the Traveller had not noticed the incoming projectile. Diluc quickly ran in front of the Traveller and deflected the deadly projectile before cleaving the hilichurl archer into two with this blade. The Traveller gave a quick thanks before dashing off to fight another hilichurl while Diluc was left dumbfounded at what just happened. How had the Traveller not seen the arrow heading straight for his face? It was right in front of him!
It was almost as if the Traveller was blind.
And it was there that Diluc's thoughts grind to a screeching halt. He had almost wanted to punch himself for not realising it sooner. It was obvious that the Traveller was blind with his behaviour and the way he moved. Venti must have known about it as Diluc, in all the years that he had seen the bard, had never known him to stay physically close to anyone.
If that was true however, would that not mean that the Traveller had been lying to everyone this whole time?
(The scars left behind by the lies, deceit, and betrayal still remained in his world even if the old one was long gone.)
Was the Traveller no different from everyone else who lied as easily as they breathed? Diluc could not help but feel disappointed.
"People lie to protect something, even if it might mean hurting the people they are protecting."
"Then why don't these people trust the ones they are protecting instead of lying to their face?"
Aether never gave an answer to that question, only giving Diluc a sad smile instead.
When the party had to split up, Diluc felt reassured when Venti volunteered to go with the Traveller. At the very least, the Traveller would be better protected by the Anemo Archon than either Jean or him, even if he still has issues believing that Venti really is the Anemo Archon.
He took all his words back after he climbed back up the tower after meeting Jean midway, exhausted and hungry, to the Traveller, his pet fairy, and Venti eating lunch.
As the party prepared to face off Stormterror, Diluc could not help but notice Jean fidgeting in worry. He approached her, at the same time, thinking that of everyone he knew, she was the only one who had not changed.
"Don't think of what-ifs, think of what you can do," Diluc said as Jean glanced up at him. Venti, the Traveller and Paimon were far too engrossed in their own conversation to hear him.
"But what if-"
"Don't think of what-ifs. Only think of what you can do."
"You have a strange way of cheering people up."
The answering 'hmph' only made Jean laugh in response.
(Or maybe it was him who had changed too much. It was not like he could recognise his world anymore.)
The battle against Stormterror was one that Diluc was sure he would never forget. The party struggled to fight the dragon and had Venti not been there, the entire party would have been killed every time Stormterror threw them off the platforms with his vicious storm. Diluc had not been paying attention to the Traveller the entire battle and when the platform collapsed beneath him, there were more important things to worry about.
(Diluc wondered, as he plummeted to his demise with everyone, if his adopted brother would grieve for him or would he remain stoic like he had during his foster father's funeral.)
In the end, Stormterror saved them. The party were barely clinging onto Stormterror as he took them out of the domain. There was a heartstopping moment where the Traveller lost his grip and tumbled off the dragon but thankfully, he managed to grab hold of the dragon's tail.
(What would he have done if the Traveller had failed? Diluc hated to admit it, but the Traveller was growing on him.)
After Stormterror deposited them at Windrise, Diluc had intended to leave now that there was no longer a common purpose tying the party together. However, the Traveller had convinced him to stay (at least until they reached Mondstadt). He departed as soon as he crossed Mondstadt's city gates, ignoring the calls of his name.
(Even when the bridge was built between him and the Traveller, the gulf between the two remained.)
A few days later, Diluc received news that the Fatui had attacked the Traveller and Venti. As he worries for them, he could help but feel how it was partially the fault of the Knights of Favonius. They had let the Fatui walk over them and now, others are paying the price. The knights were always so incompetent.
The Traveller showed up at Angel's Share in the evening a day later after he had received the news of the attack. He displayed no signs of bodily harm, not any that Diluc could see from a glance. And yet, he could not help but worry for the young man.
"Traveller," Diluc greeted as the Traveller sat down on the barstool, having been led to by his pet fairy.
"You know you can call me Aether right?"
Diluc 'humphed' but did as Aether requested. "Aether, I heard you got attacked."
Aether explained what had happened during the attack from his point of view while Diluc busied himself with making a non-alcoholic cocktail for him.
"Sorry, I'm probably not good at describing what happened."
"It's fine. You're blind right? I don't think you'll be able to describe what you can see anyway."
"I can see with Elemental Sight! But, you're right…"
Aether then informed Diluc that he was departing for Liyue the next day, explaining that he had to attend the Rite of Descension. He had questions that could only be answered by the Archons of Teyvat and if the Anemo Archon could not give him the answers then he had no choice but to seek out the other Archons. Diluc understood so he would not stop Aether but it would not prevent him from worrying about the young man.
"I just...wish that I could see the world," Aether said, his sightless eyes staring at the half-empty glass. Paimon snored loudly on the empty seat beside him, ignorant of his sadness.
"Then why not let us see the world for you?" Diluc suggested as he returned the cup he had been cleaning while listening to Aether.
"What do you mean?"
"Let us see your world in our eyes, stop thinking that you have to do everything by yourself."
Aether was silent, his fingers ran over the rim of his cup as the minutes continued to tick by in silence. Eventually, he answered, "I'll try."
And that was enough for Diluc.
After Aether had left for Liyue, Diluc set up a notice outside his tavern. He wanted stories from the people who had met and worked with Aether. Any story, no matter how small or insignificant they may be, Diluc wanted all of it. Many stopped by and gave their view of Aether's world. Venti had even come over and told Diluc that he wanted in on it, even going so far as to whine and bawl like a child on the floors of the tavern. In the end, Diluc relented and allowed Venti to turn the stories he had collected into songs.
(Diluc had not noticed how his world had expanded to accommodate these people and when he did notice, he found that he did not mind.)
"Can you tell me about the time we first met?"
"Hmph, sit down Aether. It would be a long one."
Diluc's world was bright with colours, no longer tarnished by the anger and fury he had felt from the lies and betrayal. Though there were days where the shadows of his past lingered, those days became far fewer the more time he spent with Aether. Perhaps one day, his world would return to the days of happiness. But until then, he was content to spend the days showing the world to Aether.