Chapter 5: If I Lose Control

"You need to talk to us."

Kaeya shifted, his mind working while he had the freedom to use it. Albedo stood before them in their makeshift circle, not letting the alchemist escape. The blond man held his fingers to his nose, looking ill and not as healed as he and Diluc seemed to be. Jean could use her powers but only so much and only so strongly. She was more a fighter than not.

"You know, we truly do need an explanation." Jean was getting nowhere but he didn't know what to say himself. "If something like this happens again, I doubt it will be as simple to contain. We were on the way to your camp so there were no eyes except our own. If we had been in Mondstadt, you wouldn't even have this curtsy. We're not looking to turn you in, we simply need to know better what we're up against to protect ourselves and others."

Diluc was silent, partially beside him with his arms crossed and blood still on his face. The scar and remnants of the wound did nothing to take away from the anger and power he somehow exuded when he wasn't in his bar and trying to appease customers. Diluc only really had two sides and this one left him wondering if he'd have to step in to stop any violence.

"I feel as if my head were pressed in a meat grinder and my stomach is unwell. I'd appreciate some time at least to recover."

"You'll find a way to change your story or run off." Kaeya made sure he spoke up this time. Jean was the one with the nice words and the strict laws. This was more up his ally with the obvious fact that they truly didn't want this getting out. At least, he didn't want this getting out and Albedo seemed to feel the same. Jean would hate it but Diluc, at least, he had to think was on his side- or would go along with his decisions. Maybe.

"Can we, at the very least, get out of the sun?" Albedo turned more to the side, hiding his face as best he could from the light.

Kaeya eased up. "Sure. First hangover?"

"Yes. It's unpleasant."

There were a great many outcroppings to shift to, both to move out of the sun and to possibly have the conversation feel more secluded. It was easier to have Albedo rest against the side of the cliff as they stared at him then their previous positions. It was far more imposing to an outsider, what with Albedo being a good foot or more shorter than the shortest of them and everyone armed.

After a while of Albedo taking deep breaths and keeping his eyes closed even out of the sun, he spoke. "I suppose getting out of this is impossible. Speaking on what I know is dangerous, and I do not wish to place anyone in more danger. I am already across that line myself and cannot go back. Know that you may be crossing it as well with only the knowledge of what little I can speak."

"It's not as if we aren't in danger ourselves." Jean walked forward and placed her hand lightly on Albedo's shoulder. "And we are grateful for your help. I know it wasn't your fault from what the other two have said. Please… we could have died. You're one of us, and while you're possibly a danger, I don't think you're one on purpose. I'd hate to make any decisions without the full story."

"I am very much a danger, though not to you and not any time within the span I can safely predict." Albedo opened his eyes, lowering his hand and wincing. "I believe to explain what I can, and only what I can, I need an explanation myself." His eyes turned to him. "You are not from Mondstadt."

A smile came to his face but Kaeya's muscles tensed. "Why do you say that?"

"Because of what happened." Albedo tried to analyze him better but had to look down again and fight off either a headache or further sickness. "That is part of the reason I'm not sure what's best to speak of and what I cannot speak of."

It had been many years since Kaeya himself had been there. He knew a lot of the information had been given to the world, but nothing in recent years. Keeping quiet about it himself, there was some understanding there. "That's where you're from."

"In a way, yes. At the very least, it's the most accurate statement without writing literature on the subject. Being such, we share a few traits. One of them, obviously, being our blood."

Kaeya kept up his smile, but only just. "I didn't know I had that."

"It's likely weak. I'm assuming it's why you wore certain articles of clothing. My own cannot be held in check as such. If I know I may have my blood split, I take a certain potion that I was taught how to brew some years previous. Going to a meeting of the knights… I did not anticipate such."

"So…" Kaeya had to think about this. "It's a birthright, as you said. There's nothing we can do to stop it, is there?"

"Not any more than you can yours."

"Kaeya."

Diluc speaking his name had Kaeya's back straightened and took him out of his thoughts. He stared at him. "Yes?"

"You didn't give me details."

Kaeya let that moment sit for a while before answering. "You didn't exactly give me the chance to give them to you, now did you?" He knew what he was speaking about. Diluc may not know much, but he had heard his hometown's name. The implications he would have had to pick up on his own. Considering he was still with the Knights of Favonius, either Diluc hadn't cared to look into it… or he had not considered him a threat.

"Not really, no." Diluc let out a breath. "It hasn't really come up."

No, it hadn't. And if Kaeya had anything to say about it, it would remain a silent secret. Not answering any of the unasked questions Diluc was offering, he watched Albedo instead. "I'm safe though, you're not."

"I'm not, no. It's a very different yet similar condition."

Kaeya folded his arms. "You could destroy us all, couldn't you?"

"If I wanted to, perhaps. It would offer me… no protection." Albedo held his stomach, his face flashing a look of pain. "Jean, forgive me but, if you would, would you mind lending me some of your healing ability's power?"

Jean crossed her arms with that look that Kaeya hated, usually due to the fact that he had done something that had displeased her. "I think you should suffer the effects of that hangover."

"Ah, that is not the issue. I may not have been entirely truthful with you when we spoke in the midst of battle." Albedo swallowed, removing one of his hands to show some blood at his midsection that was red and wet enough to show it was fresh. "It may have been that distraction was more myself than I admitted to."

Kaeya frowned but that explanation was enough to have Jean draw her sword, the wind throwing his hair in his face all of a sudden as she kicked it up and the scent of flowers met his nose.

They waited like that a while, no one able to talk well in the whirlwind and he and Diluc having the mirror problem of trying to keep their hair out of their face enough to not be eating it. Once it died down they all were looking at Albedo as he took in and let out a breath some time later, opening his own eyes. "That is a great deal better, thank you."

"You should have told me you were that injured."

"You were healing the others and my… I was having issues of my own that had little to do with the wounds. While Kaeya seems appeased at what I've said, I do not think the two of you are. I do not wish to pursue the topic any further, as you knowing more will not have the situation shifting in or out of my favor, only giving you information that may cause others trouble."

Kaeya winced against the noise of Diluc slamming his sword into the ground. It wasn't very loud or anything, it was simply the motion added to the noise, somehow sending out the anger with it. "That's no explanation. I will not accept it."

Albedo briefly met his eyes before looking back to Diluc. "Very well then. I'm from a land where having blood that has been changed or powered by the darker parts of this world is not all that uncommon. It is no secret anymore that Kaeya shares blood from the same source. The only difference between us with this fact is mine is far more potent. I can and have kept any side effects from it under control for these years and I have no thoughts or wants of doing anything harmful to this or any land. If I someday lose control of my powers, I offer you my life in exchange. I may not be in any mind at the time to acknowledge it, but freely kill me with a clean conscience if the time for it ever comes. What more you wish to know is specifics even I do not have."

They were all silent for a time before Diluc ran his hand into the front part of his hair. "And if that happens, you'll be as strong as he was? That wasn't natural."

"Oh, no. Far more powerful." Albedo bowed his head forward. "That is the truth. If you wish to kill me because of it now, I would understand. There is already a precautionary measure in effect, but even I am not sure if it is enough."

Diluc lifted his sword with no hesitancy. Kaeya kept his feet in place, not giving his own opinion. He was a danger himself, in his own way, and this decision was not his to make. Jean briefly shifted to defend against Diluc as a natural reaction to any danger before backing down and looking confused.

"Forgive me then for making sure no one suffers because of you."

Albedo nodded, faintly, before Diluc's sword flared to life with heat and fire. Kaeya had to do his best to keep his one eye open and not take a step back. Jean was far too close and retreated as the large sword came at the two of them, the fire roaring as if it were a creature itself as Diluc swung it with a matching cry of his own.

The blade dug into the earth behind Albedo, the tip there and the fire eating away at parts of his hair that had strayed.

Stopping the swing of his sword had clearly been too much for Diluc, as it typically was, and he had used the earth behind them to assist, leaving the blade mere inches from the alchemist as the flames died out.

Albedo slowly opened his eyes with some surprise, looking up to meet Diluc's. "Were you not going to kill me?"

"You haven't done anything wrong. Yet." Diluc withdrew his sword, throwing it over his back. "If the day comes that you do, I won't hesitate. I wanted to be sure of your resolve."

Kaeya's heart suddenly ached, his mind flashing back to their own battle. Diluc had won that, even as he had ice and raining waters on his side. The blade that day had burned, his heart racing, but Kaeya had not tried to block that attack either. It was Diluc that called the fight, neither a victor, but both forever broken from then on.

Albedo wasn't as caught in time, speaking words that would have been hard to catch anyway. "I see. That is what that other man told me as well. I'm a bit relieved to know there are two of you." A small smile played on the normally stoic face. "I have some hope from another source as well, should the need demand it."

Jean let out a breath, calm once more. "We should clean up. I could heal most of the wounds but the three of you are more blood than clothing. Come on, the river isn't that far from here and it'll lead to the ocean, so there's no chance of contaminating anything."

"I imagine white is not going to be the easiest to clean," Albedo muttered, following along once Jean took a few steps towards the river. It wasn't that far, they could reach it in a few minutes.

Kaeya stood where he was, Diluc having taken a few steps before stopping too. He watched his hand return to the handle of his weapon. "My words stand the same for you too, whatever damned secrets you're still keeping and all."

"No secrets, just thoughts." There was little that Diluc wouldn't know given a bit more time if he hadn't already looked into things. Jean was the one he was most afraid of giving the knowledge to. She was far too straightforward and secrets were not something she kept from anyone. Within an hour, if he had said anything, all of the knights at least would know of his past. Diluc, strangely, was very similar. He supposed he just no longer had anyone to tell and that thought alone seemed to cause him pain. Without thinking he reached up to where his eye had been. That had been the most obvious feature he had to show he was from somewhere else and now that, too, was gone.

"Does it still hurt?"

"A bit," Kaeya admitted. Jean had taken care of most of his healing and the pain there was the new nerves being exposed and whatever else that didn't impose on his life that Jean simply had either a hard time healing or lack of power to heal. "I'm not sure how I feel about all this. Having a blade behind your neck, waiting for you to make the wrong move, is not how I wanted to settle things with Albedo."

"Don't want others to have the same feeling?" Diluc didn't smile when he was around him, he never had in years, but his expression seemed to sink even further into true apathy that someone as emotional as Diluc had a hard time repressing. "Mine is still on yours as well."

"I know." Kaeya closed his eye. "Even with you gone, I knew. That didn't change the way I have acted though, and I doubt it will change someone with Albedo's personality, I just don't like it."

"Then what's the problem?"

What was the problem? There was something bothering him, badly enough he wasn't wearing a smile and walking with them to wash off the blood on his clothes. He didn't know how much of it was his own and how much of it was theirs. That was bothering him a bit but also not something that would have held him in place. He was a social creature of habit, always had been, yet something right now was drawing him away.

Diluc let out a heavy breath. "Why the hell am I the thing that bothers you so much?"

Kaeya opened his eye, blinking. "What do you mean?"

"I mean I get why the hell you bother me so much. You've lied to me, you've… anyway, I get why you bother me. It's easier when you're not around me and I don't have to put up with your crap. Besides getting me wound up in the strings you pull, you're insufferable. Now why the hell is it that, when you go crazy, your messed up little mind goes after me?"

He felt a crease form above his eye. "I don't think that's much of a question."

"Albedo stated that, whatever was to happen to you, that you'd turn on who you were. That it would corrupt you or something. We expected you to go after Jean and the rest of the knights. You went after me. Why the hell did you go after me?"

Was that how it worked? Kaeya winced, wishing to keep Diluc as far away from his true feelings as he could. He knew that they weren't shared and it was hard enough handling that fact. There was a reason he hadn't wanted to block the same flaming strike that had been aimed at him, and it had had nothing to do with being unsure where his loyalties lay.

"You're a fool."

"Also something I'm well aware of." Kaeya stuck his hands in his pocket. "Shall we go now before Jean wonders just what it was we've been up to?" His mouth opened to continue that statement, to add something to bother Diluc enough to drop the conversation. It was so easy to get him mad and distract him. Only, this time, the words died out. He left his statement as it was, for Diluc to take in either direction.

Diluc shared a moment of hesitancy as well before walking off. "I hate you."

"I know," Kaeya whispered under his breath, feeling a pain in his heart that had a smile come to his face. That was how he hid the pain and how he'd continue to hide it. It was a reflex at this point.

Diluc spun fast, his hand out and punching him in the face. Kaeya had no time to dodge it, stumbling back a bit at the force and not finding his footing before he wound up on the ground. "Ow, what was that for?"

"For you and your damned secrets. I hate them. I hate the way you act. I hate the way you blow everything off like it's nothing. You were always like that, even when you were young. I hate everything there is about you so stop expecting me to turn to you the way you do me. If you expected me not to notice you slip me hints on things I need to know or lead me down paths I need to go without having asked you for a damn thing, you're far more of a fool than I thought. Stop expecting me to do the same. Stop expecting me to be on your side. Just because I've said nothing does not mean I'm protecting you. Mondstadt needs you and I do have a way of looking at the bigger picture. I. Hate. You."

The words hurt far more than the strike had. While Diluc had his own way of going about things, he had never lied. Kaeya had always suspected in some ways Diluc had truly hated him. He didn't know before today how deep that hatred ran.

Mondstadt had been his home, even if he wasn't born here. There had been no one as strong or skilled as Diluc when he had left and the guard had no one but the very busy leader of the knights to learn from. He had stepped up to keep the city safe even as much as Kaeya detested taking their orders and doing their dirty work. He had done it for the city, because Diluc would have if he could. He had, if he thought about that statement, done it for Diluc. Done it for their father who wanted to protect the city and its people.

He had lost his father.

He never truly thought he had lost Diluc.

There had been times he had to think on where his loyalties lay, as he was alone at night on missions that took days of solo travel. There were nights when he'd wonder where his brother had gone off to this time, if he was still alive. There were many roads that led him to those thoughts. Mondstadt was his home, his second father was a father to him and someone he would not betray. His birth father had left him with little answers and a hope that he didn't understand and begged to get a grasp on. Diluc... Diluc was his brother, someone he grew up looking up to far more than either father, even if they were similar ages. Diluc was who he trained with, who he found his morals and personality with. Diluc was the one who got him to smile for the first time in what had felt like far too long.

There were words spoken around them, but they were not the fire user's. It sounded a bit like Albedo but what they were was lost.

The words that did reach him were from a voice he had never heard before, one that sounded far too human and not at the same time. The tones couldn't have been his own, in whatever twisted way his voice could mimic, so he doubted they were his thoughts. That was as far as he quested them.

"Kaeya, you poor thing. I want to help you."

"As if you can." There was nothing anyone could do to help. He had committed to his own actions, as those around him had committed to theirs, and that was how the world worked. He could use pretty words to try and make them change their mind but the final results were never his to pick and choose from.

"You hurt so much. Why? You know you don't have to. Your father is long dead by now. What wishes he wanted for you are gone. The man who took you in is nothing but ash on the wind. His actions remain silent to this day… as yours do. No one will remember what you have done for this place when you are gone. Don't you find that sad?"

The words hurt and, though he had no sense of his body, Kaeya tried to move to grab at his chest. His walls were all gone, nothing to stop the words from getting to the truth of his feelings. It was a terrible emotion. "That's the way it works sometimes. Everyone is safe."

"But are they? You took over when Diluc left you the burden. Who will be ready to take over it when you leave? You have done so much more, from both the shadows and the light. You are the reflective ice and hold the same in your heart. Being so close to Diluc, you are melting. Water is not ice. It will not hold to your will. You will drown."

Just the thought of that had him choking, though whatever strange part of his mind he was in did not recreate the sensation of water nor of him having a throat to reach for. He was nothing but raw emotion and had no idea how the voice could mentally recreate it. He supposed he was possibly dreaming, though when he fell asleep, he didn't know.

"Let me help you," the voice spoke kindly. "I can take away that burden you feel. You will be free of pain and any grand decisions will no longer be yours to make."

"I'll be as good as dead." Kaeya had had that thought too, at one point. "I won't let that happen either."

"Not before, no." Something sparked in his mind and was gone as soon as it was there as the words continued on. "But you realize the truth now. Your loyalties lay with your brother and with your friends. Any deeds you did under the banner of the knights are yours alone to take glory in and you were never one for such pleasantries. I will make sure they will not come to harm. Let me help."

"No one can make such a promise. I'm not a fool. Harm can come to them at any point. Jean and Diluc don't exactly take it easy. Lisa, maybe, if she doesn't end up ticking off some guy at one point. The others-"

"Are not close to you. They were never your reason for living."

Something hurt and it was hard for Kaeya to keep his focus on the conversation after, as if he were getting drunk himself.

"Do you want Diluc to tell you he hates you again?"

That pain was emotional and Kaeya fought back against it but, his weapons taken from him, all he could do was hurt. "If he wants to, let him. I can't control him and I don't want to."

"Ah." The voice changed slightly, grew more gentle somehow. He hadn't noticed it growing angrier until that all vanished. "You look up to him, I knew that. It's a bit different than how I thought though. Your idolization of him stems from how you see him, how you've never seen fault in him, and how you know yourself that you are incapable of mimicking such values. You are a darkness he does not possess… and you hate it."

"Stop it," Kaeya heard himself almost beg. "Just stop it."

"Yes, seeing inside of your own heart is painful. Hearing everything you've kept quiet, even from yourself, all the more so." It was as if invisible hands reached out, hanging on his shoulders in a way that was only comfort. "I can make you the light."

Kaeya swallowed, though he had no throat or body to do such a thing. Everything was hazy and this felt lovely…

…

"Get down!"

Diluc was forced to the ground after he froze, watching the sight before him. He had expected Kaeya to throw biting words at him or something along the nature he was so used to receiving. Instead, the ice user looked dizzy for a moment before he fell over. Soon he started screaming as if something were hurting him, a noise that ran through his very bones with how honest and primal it was. In moments the other two had returned and he was now blinking up at them in confusion.

"What did you do?" Albedo put a hand to his head, wincing, and went to draw a sword that wasn't there from his side. He looked to Jean, his hand out. "Sword."

"But-"

"Now, please." Albedo was far too formal as he asked but there was a fear there that Diluc had only heard once, and that had been up on the mountain.

Jean handed over her sword before Albedo experimentally swung it around a few times, telling them nothing as he rushed towards Kaeya, who was still a screaming ball of mess on the ground.

"Don't hurt him!"

The words weren't even all out of her mouth before Albedo went to strike, an eerie whirring noise added to the scream a moment before some force shoved the alchemist back before the metal could make contact. Diluc got to his feet and moved at the same time Jean did, Albedo falling to a knee and holding his hand back to his head. The sword, when Diluc got close enough to see it, was covered in some sort of black film that hurt his eyes to face.

"This isn't good." Albedo turned to them, the man was likely used to looking up. Diluc felt himself going for his own sword when he saw him.

His eyes had always been the color of the sea on your average, cloudy day. The one he could spot now was a vivid red, almost to the point of glowing.

"I thought we had everything settled." Jean went to pick up her sword, hesitating only a moment before it was in her hands. "Why isn't he better?"

"I- ah." Albedo held himself closer, his words laced with pain. "I- I made it so my blood would not control him." Wincing and finding it difficult to keep his head up, Albedo stared at Kaeya. "This… this is his blood."

Jean spun on him. "Diluc, what did you do?!"

"Nothing." Diluc was stunned, his words not as forceful as he wanted. When he was unsure or afraid, they came out betraying him. "I was just talking to him."

"What did you say?"

Diluc scrunched up his nose a bit. "The truth, more or less. It kinda ticked me off he went after me and I've been getting kind of annoyed that he's been going behind my back to help me. I figured if I told him it ticked me off, he might stop. Why can't he ever just talk to me?"

Jean gave him a hard, pained look. "You don't make that easy for him."

Maybe he didn't but that served Kaeya right. He hadn't learned his lesson the first time and Diluc was tired of trying to get him to see it. Drawing his sword, he faced Kaeya once more. "Do we need to knock him out or something?"

"No," Albedo spoke, his words struggling to get out. "You need to kill him."

An ache raced through his body but he held the sword steady. "Can I ask why?"

"It's his blood, not mine. If he loses control of himself- he has lost control of himself. The moment he's able to move after he's going to try and kill us all. That is how our blood works. The only difference is he won't know you anymore. He'll lose himself completely to it. He's-" Albedo tried, slowly, to back away. "Messing with my own I'm afraid. It is still inside of him. I will not be able to help with this fight… and I will need to stay away from him."

Diluc didn't hesitate after that, grabbing the man by the back of his coat and throwing him behind them. He may not have been strong enough to get him far but it was better than where he was.

Kaeya's screaming stopped. The lack of noise was startling, the moments dragging on before the ice user moved. He stood slowly before he was facing him, everything about him the same as it had been. His hair stayed it's same, strange, blue shade. His skin didn't darken or lighten. When he opened his eye though, it was a piercing red color and Kaeya smirked, so much like his own and not the crazed ones that had him showing his teeth.

With a sweeping motion of his hands, black, shadowy wings blossomed out of his back and a light flickered, getting all of their attentions. Kaeya reached down to where his vision hung, breaking the buckle that held it in place as he stared at it. "Not this time." Hands closing over the stone, he watched it shatter before them.

An article, an archon given article, he had just destroyed.

As if he were breaking an egg in his hands.

"Damn it, Kaeya!" Diluc found himself yelling out. He was getting so tired of fighting him and he didn't want to admit it, but he was afraid.

Kaeya's eyes met his own before he reached up, pulling off the bandages that were protecting his missing eye. Underneath he opened it, blinking some more, as a red glow emanated from where his eye had been.

"Better." There was a harshness to his voice that he hadn't had before, any previously painfully beautiful melody that had been there now gone. "Now, to be rid of those that stand in my way." Kaeya reached out and Diluc called fire to him as it raced up his sword. This didn't seem to bother Kaeya as the shadows that stretched out along the ground from him flowed against his skin, encircling him and squeezing.

Diluc dropped his sword, screaming. It hurt something horrible, his bones and muscles straining as some failed and he heard the cracking as they gave in.

The world was a dizzying blackness as more pain arrived and gravity was thrown in every direction. When he was able to open his eyes he was laying in the grass, the sun on him and every part of his body calling out in a horrible, sharp ache.

No one came to him and he had no sight of the others. Trying to shift to get up, something stabbed into his lung and Diluc found himself back on the ground, gasping for air and tasting blood.

"Jean?" He couldn't call out very loudly and, had her name been longer, he didn't think he would have gotten anything out.

No answer.

"Damn it." the words hurt coming out but Diluc had to utter them. Had Albedo said something earlier he would have had this conversation with Kaeya later. He didn't think he'd turn crazy on them again so fast.

Kaeya, knowing he was thinking of him or simply because he was still breathing, strode into his view. It looked as if the black, shadowy bird wings were a part of his body now, as he saw him from the side first. There were bones there, though how corporeal he wasn't sure.

Diluc choked back a scream as he was lifted by his hair to face Kaeya, trying badly to get his legs to support his weight and only causing himself more pain he tried not to vocalize. His eyes were closed for a while before he was able to open them and stare into Kaeya's. He was utterly emotionless as the sight.

"Pathetic."

A sword flashed before Kaeya could do anything further, the pain of falling back to the ground almost causing him to black out again. There was a flash of blue as someone of very similar coloring seemed to join the fight. There was nothing but blue and black and movement in his vision, Diluc trying his best to witness the events.

"Diluc… Diluc, are you alive?" The words were whispered somewhere behind him in Jean's wavering voice. He couldn't nod.

"Un-for-tion-at-ly."

"Give me a few moments, okay?" The wind picked up and he had to wonder how much power Jean still possessed. She hadn't been able to fight but she had been using it a lot and she likely had just gotten hurt along with him.

The world opened back up to him when he was able to take in a breath again, pain still racing through his body but, even as he noticed it, it was easing up. Beside her he could see Albedo as well, though the man still had a pained expression and red eyes of his own. His hand was on his side and he didn't know what he was doing but the vision around the man's neck was glowing slightly.

"Better?" Jean asked him.

Slowly, as to not gain attention, Diluc nodded and knelt beside them. "What's happening?"

Albedo tipped his head, wincing. "That's Dainsleif. I'm sure you've... met him before. He likes to come to Mondstadt. He'll be able to kill Kaeya."

Diluc didn't like that thought at all as he turned back. Yes, now that he heard the name and had a better look, he knew the man. The way he dressed was more than enough to get his attention the first time.

He seemed more than a match for Kaeya already when it came to the sword. Both had their weapons out but Kaeya was being forced to take steps back to avoid swings instead of reacting in time to block them. They both seemed to rely on speed and, with the wings hazing over his vision from time to time, he had to wonder if they were slowing him down instead of helping him.

"It's my fault," Diluc admitted under his breath. "I was just trying to get the idiot to back off and not keep trying to protect me. I probably said something the wrong way. I'm not good at playing with words like he is."

Jean nodded. "I know." She looked towards the ground, away from the fight that was starting to take distance on them. "I wish he noticed. I…" She looked as if she wanted to say more too but fell silent. Her eyes closed as if she were praying.

"Damn that idiot." Diluc stood. His eyes were fierce as he met Albedo's. The man looked very unwell and was more holding himself than interested in the fight or what they were talking about. He did get his attention when he stared at him though. "There has to be a way to get through to him. We did it when your blood was in him, and you said yours was stronger."

"Yes, it is. If it were my blood, he'd likely be a dragon or some larger beast. He looks more like a bird." Albedo looked up briefly before looking down again with a wince. "The difference is he didn't give in when mine took control of his body. There has to be a willingness to let in darkness, it cannot truly take you over if it breaks in the door. That is the difference you are seeing. When it was.. my power, it broke the door. With his own… he opened it."

"Then we close it again." Diluc took up a stance, ready to run. "How?"

"You can't."

"If you're using it as a door metaphor, there's always a way of closing it, even if it's throwing a completely different door up where the first one was. Now, how do we do it?"

Albedo looked like he was thinking a moment before his head fell as if he passed out a moment before snapping it back up. "I don't know. If I had time to study such a thing-"

"Instinct then. You're both from that fallen kingdom. You both have reasons for living and for being here and for surviving. Pretend he's you for a moment. What would I have to do to get close to you if the door was open, just not open all the way and we had a chance of closing it?"

"You'd have to be emotionally close to me, I suppose. Like Klee is to me. I do not think I would listen to anyone but her or Alice if I was in such a state." Albedo wavered where he knelt. "You'd… you'd have to go into my mind somehow though. The darkness is deep and it would be hard. We are not truly of this world, at least not in our entirety."

"Like the Abyss? You both sounded a bit like that."

"Yes," Albedo conceded. "Like the Abyss, only without a way out. You would have to break in and hope that the owner of the land released you afterwards. You'd be facing Kaeya along with his darkest thoughts, and right now the latter is the one in control."

"It's not as if I haven't gone to the Abyss before." Diluc smirked, his hands tightening on his sword. "Bring it on."