This is a crosspost from AO3, where the completed story can be found under the same title and username. Because Genshin Impact has a lot of lore and the story is just at the beginning (note the posted/updated dates), I have taken a few creative liberties where canon is more ambiguous, but otherwise have tried to stick to it as much as possible.
Warnings for dissociation, blood and general mind-fuckery.
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Chapter 1: Hide and Seek
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Albedo likes his playtime with Klee. He doesn't enjoy the typically fiery consequences, but he likes seeing her smile and, despite the time it takes away from his research, he occasionally finds himself enjoying it as well. Which is 'normal', or so Albedo assumes. If humans and other creatures didn't enjoy playtime, then it simply wouldn't exist.
So that's why when he wakes up one morning and the first thing on his mind is to play with his little sister instead of conducting research, he thinks little of it and instead knocks on Klee's bedroom door. The last few days have been tough on them, and though in such cases he prefers to find a quiet area and sketch, spending time with his adopted family will do them both good.
"Mm," a sleepy Klee opens the door, still in her fluffy pyjamas. "Albedo?"
"Good morning, Klee. How would you feel about an outing today?"
Klee's mouth forms a perfect 'o' then goes wide. "Yes!" She jumps out the door before she realises she's in her pyjamas, says 'oops', then hurries back and throws her closet doors wide open, jumping up and down in excitement.
Albedo smiles as enters, helps her dress up in her usual red outfit, and half an hour later they're at the Windrise plains. They stop by the massive tree by the river and Albedo lays their basket by a massive root as Klee runs circles around him.
"I wanna play tag first! Oh, and go fishing and draw—"
"One thing at a time," Albedo says with a small laugh. "First, we should have breakfast."
He unfolds the cloth tied around their basket and takes out a serving of eggs, sausages, and bread, a bottle of orange juice and a smaller bottle of milk. Klee takes the glass bottle of milk with a grin and downs it with frightening speed as Albedo takes out two glasses for the orange juice.
In her hurry, Klee puts down the bottle, and it crashes with a glass, spilling orange juice over the blanket and grass.
"Oh," she yelps, "sorry—!"
"It's alright," Albedo says as he quickly lifts the glass and puts the glassware on a second smaller cloth he brought as a backup, because he expects such things to happen. Klee is a young child after all. "We have enough juice left and the cloth got only a bit dirty. I'll go clean it by the river, wait here."
Klee hums affirmatively and Albedo walks over to the river and crouches by the shore. It is a beautiful sunny day, and the water is crystal blue, with ducks lazily floating by as fish quickly swerve through them and coalesce into small packs.
With a hum, Albedo dips the edge of the cloth in and wrings it a few times. He is about to get up when a gleam of sunlight catches his eye and he looks up.
The land of Teyvat stretches before him, the serene plains of Windrise giving way to the gleaming city of Mondstadt, with its windmills rising over the city walls and lazily spinning with the gentle southern wind.
It's a beautiful sight, and a foreign sense of longing fills Albedo. For a moment, he feels disconnected from his body, as if looking through a stranger's eyes. He wants to play.
His heart beats out of tune.
The haze on his mind is lifted and Albedo drops to his knees, coughing. A black tar-like substance emerges from his throat and drops into the river, dissolving like sand. He clutches his heart as a wave of heat washes over him, choking him from the inside out.
The cloth lays discarded by his side as his limbs tremble and move with a mind of their own, making him stand up and walk ankle-deep into the river, facing Mondstadt. Behind him, the mountains of Dragonspine dominate the horizon.
The haze returns, and all Albedo can do is stare ahead blankly as his mind races.
… No, not now, why now?! He thought he had more time. He hasn't touched the sword. He has kept Durin's remains locked away. So why now...?
"Albedo? Are you gonna take long?" comes Klee's voice and his mind blanks in terror. "Oh, do you wanna swim? I thought we were having breakfast first!"
"Klee," Albedo breathes out, "I..." His words die halfway as his tongue and mouth are move with the haze that has taken over his limbs. "I want to play."
No, no, that's not what he wants, why can't he speak properly?!
"I wanna play too!" Klee excitedly says and Albedo catches her coming close out of the corner of his eye and he has to get away from her—
"Hide and seek," Albedo manages to let out. "I'll go first."
"Ah, no fair, I wanted to go first!"
Albedo can't answer.
"... Ok, I'll do it because I spilled the juice. But I will only count to twenty!"
Albedo thanks the Archons for small miracles as Klee dashes to the trunk of the tree and turns his back against him. He takes a deep breath to compose himself, wrestles control of his legs and runs away, away from Mondstadt, away from Klee.
He's going the wrong way, his heart protests, but Albedo squashes its cries with what little willpower he has left. He doesn't want to be near Klee, near Mondstadt, when the last embers of his self fade away. He does not exactly know what the corruption will make him do, only that it will seek out the destruction of all of Teyvat.
Albedo runs as fast as he can, ignoring any monsters alerted by his presence. He uses his Solar Isotoma to make short work of the sharp cliffs on his way, and eventually snow greets his soles and a biting cold wind freezes his cheeks.
Dragonspine. Where Lord Barbatos and Dvalin slayed and sealed his kin. Maybe the seal will work on him too and buy him enough time until he reaches his lab and contacts the Traveller—
His knees give way again and Albedo collapses into the snow. One of his arms moves on his own and raises his hand towards the sky, as if it can catch the sun.
He wants to play. He wants to go to the gleaming city of wind and play with its walls, with its funny people with pointy metal sticks.
Albedo grunts and keeps himself down in the snow. If he gets up now, he'll run back to Mondstadt. Hopefully Klee has noticed his absence and has gone back to the Headquarters. She's wiser than people give her credit for, despite her pyromaniac tendencies, and she knows when she should call for help. Albedo only wishes he didn't have to abandon her in his last moments...
Albedo loses track of time as the snow piles around him, half-burying him. He's lost all his body heat, but he doesn't need it in the first place, like he doesn't need to breathe. He still does though, and he keeps his body warm so that Klee won't flinch out of his grasp or complain that he is too cold and ask if he's sick.
"Who's there?" comes a gruff voice and Albedo grimaces as two figures appear through the snow, one tall and wide, the other shorter and slender.
Fatui.
"Wha- Here comes trouble!" the soldier encased in the Cryogunner battle armour yells and jumps back, his gesture copied by his comrade. He readies his hose-like weapon at Albedo and chuckles. "Frozen crisp!"
Albedo never understood the purpose of their formulaic battle quips, but he supposes this matters little now. He stays laying down, more snow piling on top of him.
"... Uh," the Cryogunner trails off after a few seconds of inactivity and lowers his weapon.
"Is he dead?" his comrade asks as he approaches Albedo, towering over him. A Geochanter.
"He's following you with his eyes."
Albedo can barely move but he at least wants to tell them to keep their distance from him from their sakes. Nothing escapes the dragon's corruption, his initial experiments with the Traveller notwithstanding.
"Please," Albedo breathes out, fogless. "Leave me be. Get away."
"Eh," the Cryogunner stumbles over his words, as if unsure what to say. "You'll die. You've probably already got frostbite and will be lucky enough if you make it out with all your limbs intact."
"Please," Albedo repeats as his tongue goes numb. He wants to play. "It's for the best."
"We don't have time for this," the Geochanter says after the Cryogunner hesitates. "If he wants to be buried here, let him. We need to get back to our posts."
The Cryogunner ignores him as he bends down and turns Albedo on his back. He flinches at the contact, but their armour must be thick enough to block the spread of his corruption to them. Once again, thank the Archons for small miracles.
"Hold on, I recognise that symbol," the Geochanter says as he gestures at the sash around Albedo's shoulder. "That's the sigil of the Chief Alchemist of the Knights!"
"For real?" The Cryogunner crouches by Albedo and snaps his fingers in front of his face. "Hey, are you the Chief Alchemist of Ordo Favonius?"
"... I want to play," Albedo whispers and bites down his tongue. So his speech is gone for good now.
"What?" the Geochanter grunts, but Albedo stays silent. He turns to his comrade. "Nevermind. If he's from the Knights, we can't leave him here. We'll take him to our base and contact the nearest commander. He'll tell us what to do next."
The Geochanter turns his back to him as the Cryogunner bends down and picks him up like a wounded animal. Albedo wants to protest, wants to wriggle out of the Fatui's grasp and run deeper into Dragonspine, but his limbs are frozen stiff and all he can bring himself to say is 'I want to play'.
"Who's the closest?" the Cryogunner casually asks. "Signora left Mondstadt a while ago, so the nearest one is the one at Liyue, right?"
"Quiet, or do you want to give our prisoner a full report of our activities?"
They reach a small tent bracketed by braziers and with a small bonfire inside. The Cryogunner deposits Albedo on a thin stiff cot by the fire and inches closer to the flame as well, warming his hands.
"Keep an eye on him," the Geochanter says as he stays by the entrance of the tent. "I'll ask other units in the area for reinforcement and alert the commander."
The Cryogunner lets out an affirmative grunt and turns to Albedo the moment his comrade leaves the tent. "You're lucky we got to you. This mountain is littered with the frozen corpses of reckless adventurers who bit off more than they could chew."
Albedo stays quiet as he feels the heat seep into him with mute horror.
The Cryogunner ignores him and keeps rambling. "Yes, just the other day, I heard a Pyroslinger say he was freezing off a few glaciers looking for buried treasure only to see a half-melted corpse fall out! He had a pack full of supplies and everything, but I guess he forgot his torch."
The heat melts the icicles off his cheeks and Albedo's fingers twitch. He can move again. He's still chilly, but that doesn't bother him. It reminds him of his long sleep, of his twin trapped in this icy cage.
Albedo doesn't want to be trapped. He wants to roam free, to explore, to play.
He mechanically sits up from the coat and rotates his shoulders. They're still stiff, but he can move them well enough.
"Oh! That was fast!" the Cryogunner exclaims as he gets up and looks between Albedo and a nearby chest. "Now, stay as you are, I just need to bind your arms and as long as you don't resist we'll be right as rain—"
Albedo draws his arm back and summons his sword, smiling at its lightness and admiring how the firelight reflects off its sharp blade. His twin has dozens of small blades like that, once lodged in its jaw and now scattered all over the mountain.
Something shields his vision from the flame and Albedo looks up into the maw of the Cryogunner's cannon.
"Drop that." The Fatui's voice has lost all its previous lightness.
Albedo's expression breaks into a serene smile. "I want to play." And though he doesn't have his twin's sharp teeth, claws, or their graceful large body, he can still play.
"That's enough," the Fatui says as he fires his cannon, but Albedo ducks and dodges.
This game will be easy. His playmate's armour is thick like his twin's scales, but just like them, it has a weak point just below the neck. Albedo plunges his sword in that joint, at that weak point. It breaks through what little armour is there, tearing through skin and tendons and muscle and out the other side.
His playmate gurgles, drops his weapon and blindly clutches at Albedo's hand. Albedo keeps him upright until his body protests from all the extra weight he has to support and he withdraws his sword. His playmate's body hits the floor, its blood rushing down the flame pit and slowly extinguishing it.
Albedo's smile widens. He won!
He sways back and forth on his heels with a giggle and looks down at his sword. The red that trails down his blade is the same, the same as his now-beating heart—
A chilly wind rushes through the tent and oh, there's people by the entrance, the Geochanter and a few other Fatui. His friends? Albedo hopes they want to play with him too.
"Hey, are you—" He pauses and jumps back, aiming his weapon at Albedo. "Man down! Everyone, here comes trouble!"
All Albedo can do is laugh. "Do you want to play?"
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This fic will be 12 chapters long (~ 70k words total), and new chapters will be posted every weekend.
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