This is the point where I start pulling a lot of things out of my ass and pull brilliant manoeuvres such as writing a 7.5k dream-but-also-flashback sequence :)
Warnings: Non-sexual nudity
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Chapter 6: What You're Running From Inside
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Albedo arrives in Mondstadt during a downpour. His journey was a straightforward one, walking through domains, past open fields and ending up in a city encircled by a lake. A guard yelled something as Albedo passed by the gates, but he didn't catch it and they let him through regardless.
He stops and stands in front of a red-bricked house. Its windows are shuttered, except for a small fogged up one by the side. This address is specified in his master's note, so he knocks on the door as his other hand reaches into his soaked underlayers to clutch the letter, but he pauses. He wants to think that the moment he delivers it she will show up and they will continue their expeditions, but a part of him knows that's a pipe dream.
"Albedo dear," his master had said to him unprompted, "close your eyes and sleep, won't you? It's been a long day."
Albedo didn't need to sleep, and they both knew it, but he did as asked, like he always did. Simple, straightforward, direct. That was their relationship. She would tell him what to do and he would do it, and as long as he was successful, she would keep him around.
So then why did Albedo only find a letter from her when he woke?
The door clicks then opens, a wave of heat and a mop of unruly blond hair peeking through. "Who is it in this hour—?"
The woman on the doorframe pauses and Albedo looks her over, as if she hides the truth about his master's disappearance. She is tall and well-built, dressed in reds and oranges, and by his master's description, her name must be Alice. Her face is round and has the beginning of smile lines, but her eyes are currently narrowed in a frown. "Hello? Who are you?"
Albedo tries to speak but finds himself unable, so he shoves his master's letter forward and lowers his head.
Alice looks down between him and the letter, then flinches as the wind changes and the rain is pushed against the entrance. "Oh, it's raining cats and dogs, come in, come in..." she ushers him in, and Albedo steps on a wooden floor, the howling wind muted by four walls and the coldness of the rain driven away by a crackling fireplace. "Klee, can you finish on your own, sweetie?" she yells as she closes the door behind him.
"Yeah, ma!" comes a high-pitched voice from deeper in the house. "Is it the postman?"
Alice lets out a hearty laugh and pauses, staring back at Albedo.
He stands still, right by the door, unsure at what else to do. A sizable puddle of rainwater has formed under him.
She sighs. "I can't imagine what's so urgent you'd be out there with this weather, you look like a wet dog! Come here, I've got a towel you can use to dry up..."
She retreats further into the house and Albedo is momentarily left alone in the room. He hasn't been in many houses before, what with travelling constantly with his master and rarely setting down in a place, but he guesses this is some sort of hall. A wide wooden table takes up the centre of the room, its top containing a messy assortment of objects and fabrics, the chairs in an equal state of disarray. There is a landscape painting of Windrise, a dresser with more stuff strewn on it, and a fireplace tucked away to the side, full of fuel.
Albedo places his letter on the table, and momentarily worries if its brief exposure to the rain has ruined its writing. He's been so careful keeping it dry on his way here, keeping it under his own cloak and clothing, most of which are wet as if he's jumped in a river.
"There you go, help yourself!" Alice's voice surprises him as a towel lands on his head. She watches him tense with a small laugh then busies herself with the letter, as Albedo mechanically brushes his hair, then removes his cloak and hands it on the back of an unoccupied chair.
"Rhinedottir?" Alice whispers with a frown as she reads the letter back, then looks up to Albedo with a frown.
Merely hearing her name makes Albedo tense, so he keeps his eyes glued to the floor as he nods.
Alice doesn't speak, and though Albedo is curious, he doesn't look up. Does he have the wrong person? Is he supposed to know a passcode of sorts to verify his master sent him?
"Ah, should have guessed..." Alice eventually says as she sits back with a sigh. "Always stirring up trouble. But why would she..." She scratches her cheek as she looks between the letter and Albedo. "Are you family, dear?"
"... She's my master."
Alice leans forward with raised eyebrows and a grin. "Oh, she got an apprentice? About time, I was worried she'd get all kooky, what with travelling all the time and having no one to talk to..." she trails off with a laugh, and Albedo is filled with a strange acute dread at realising she does not know.
"Read the letter, please. I'm here to deliver it — It's what she told me I should do." Maybe he has got it all wrong. Maybe there is some other puzzle in her note, some code to the address, and he's failed without realising-
Is that why she left? Maybe it's not too late, maybe if Albedo thinks hard enough he can solve her riddle and find her, and continue life as usual...
Alice gives him a curious look but does as instructed. She opens the letter and Albedo watches as her expression goes from passive, to confused, then concerned, and finally surprised while stealing increasingly longer glances at Albedo.
Finally, she finishes reading and stares at Albedo while he's solely focused on the letter in her hands. Maybe the clue is in there... If he can just look...
Alice eventually looks away and blinks with an uneasy smile. "Sorry, I'm just—"
"Are you finished?" Albedo asks in an even tone.
"Ah, yes," she glances between him and the letter, "I have, but..."
He swallows a lump in his throat. "Can I read it too?"
She gives him another long look, as if seeing him for the first time. Albedo keeps staring ahead, unbothered, and she eventually looks down at her letter, unfolds it and takes out a smaller piece of paper. "This is for you—"
Albedo practically snatches the paper out of her hand, but she doesn't speak of it, sitting back as he goes over the few words on it:
'Dear Albedo,
I hope you delivered the letter as instructed. I have a new assignment for you:
Find the true meaning of this world. This is an order.
Best,
Your master, Rhinedottir'
At the very bottom is her signature, her name written in harsh angular characters, her seal of authenticity like the golden stars on Albedo's body.
Albedo reads and rereads it as a strange feeling settles on his stomach. This can't be it. This can't be all there is—
"Ma!" the high-pitched voice calls out, and Albedo is distracted by a tiny figure who emerges from a door. At first, he thinks it's a sentient towel, but the tiny head that pokes through the heavy cloth reveals that it's a child with a striking resemblance to Alice, sharing the same mop of unruly hair. "I can't dry my hair..." She pauses when she sees Albedo, gasps, then raises a hand, dragging the entire towel up with the motion. "Hi~!"
"Ah, yes, sorry I forgot," Alice babbles as Albedo ignores her and reads his master's letter again. "By the way, did you drain the water—?"
The tiny child gasps. "Oh! I forgot!" she says as she turns on her heel and runs back from once she came, the towel fluttering behind her like an oversized cape.
"Ah, actually don't do that, just grab me another towel please!" Alice calls after her with another laugh at Albedo. "Ah, sorry, you caught us during bath time!"
But Albedo doesn't move as she reads her letter for the umpteenth time.
Find the meaning of this world?
What... What the hell is this supposed to mean? Was that the name of a domain? A legendary artifact? An experiment?
Her letter is too vague, and her orders have never been vague. Difficult, yes, frequently, but they are always detailed enough for Albedo to know what his goal is and evaluate his performance.
... Is this a punishment? Is this her way of letting Albedo know he failed by giving him such a maddening assignment? Is that why she left him—?
There's a hand on his shoulder. "Albedo." He looks up and sees Alice's kind face. "You've come a long way, and you must be tired. How about a bath to warm you up and some food first?" she whispers.
Albedo looks back on the letter. His assignment must come first, he must sit here and think until he understands exactly what his master is asking of him. He must leave no room for distractions, which is why he doesn't move as Alice peers over his shoulder.
"Meaning of the world..." the woman mutters and Albedo momentarily thinks of hiding his letter but discards that foolish thought. She is the one who handed this to him, she must already know its contents. "That's quite a tall order..." She pats his back with a smirk. "She must have a lot of faith in you, huh?"
Albedo doesn't hide his frown. "... I don't understand what she means." And this feels wrong, even if his master never specified he can't talk to others about his assignments. He's never done so before. "I don't know where to start."
"Well..." she trails off with a hum. "I'm no theoretical alchemist — I prefer its more... practical applications, you see — but isn't there something in that field that sounds similar to what she wrote?"
"The meaning..." Albedo repeats deep in thought, digging into memories of expeditions, of lessons by candlelight, of reading through exhaustive logs of experiments and theories...
He takes a minute, but he straightens up in realisation. "The Universal Theory."
"Ah yes, how did that go again...?" Alice trails off with a knowing grin.
"Currently, the field of alchemy is fragmented, made up of many seemingly disparate topics. Yet, the shared similarities in the practice of alchemy across such fields imply that there are underlying universal rules that would explain not just all of alchemy, but the world itself," Albedo recalls, like reading from a textbook. "However, such rules have not been defined, let alone been examined for their possible origins and underlying logic. But if they are... They would contain the truth of the universe, of this world and maybe more."
"Aha, that sounds about right!" Alice says with a wink, and Albedo thinks she may have been faking her lack of knowledge. But if she did, he doesn't much care for her reason, not when he has finally made his first of many breakthroughs.
Albedo gets up and gives Alice a quick stiff bow. "Thank you for your hospitality. I must go—"
"Ah, wait just a sec!" Alice calls out and grabs his robes' sleeve before he can turn away. "You can't go back out again in this weather!"
"I'll be fine," Albedo says, and finds it strange that she worries when she already knows what he is.
In any case, he needs to scout the area for a suitable location to set up his lab; it must be close enough to domains so he can examine the ley line flow, but also relatively close to Mondstadt so he can get supplies he can not acquire by himself.
"For what you're trying to do? It'd take you forever to set up a civilian lab for something like that..." She gives him a grin. "But I know a lab you can use."
Albedo admits she has a point, so he sits back down on a chair and waits. At the same time, the little girl comes back, now dragging behind her a second even more oversized towel. Alice lifts her up to her lap, wraps the tower around the girl's hair, almost completely obscuring her face.
"Do you know about the Knights of Favonius? They're the caretakers of Mondstadt in a way, more so than Barbatos, but don't tell that to any of the nuns," she says the last part with a conspiratorial grin before she leans back with a laugh. "In any case, I heard they have a lot of vacant positions, one of them being the Chief Alchemist, which of course comes with its own cushy lab and generous research funds."
Albedo blinks as he takes in all the information. He already has a lot of questions. "Aren't you an alchemist?"
Alice laughs. "Ah, I would never survive for so long indoors! No, I'm an adventurer at heart—"
"Yeah, mama travels all over the world!" the little girl adds and lifts her hands up, making Alice ruffle the towel on her head, earning her a giggle.
Albedo nods. "Where are the Knights? How would one go about applying for the Chief Alchemist position? If they're still open, I will—"
"Aha, one thing at a time! It's late tonight, and the weather is terrible. The HQ is closed for today..." She puts a hand up at Albedo's impatient look. "But we can head there tomorrow at the crack of dawn! They will interview you, probably ask you to perform some basic alchemy, but from what I imagine Rhine has taught you, it'll be like a walk in the park!"
Albedo nods again. So, he has a few hours to prepare. Besides the clothes on his back, he made sure to carry his sketchbook and notes with him, so he has time to go over them until dawn...
"But I must insist on that bath," Alice concludes, and her smile this time is strained.
"... Oh," Albedo says as he looks down on himself, increasingly self-conscious. Even with his cloak off, his robe, shirt and trousers have been soaked through, still dripping onto the wooden floor. His boots are caked in mud from when he stumbled into a ditch in his daze, and he's dragged in some dirt. His hair has bunched up in a clump around the middle of his back and pulls down at the base of his scalp.
"You smell like mud," the little girl says, and Albedo fully looks at her for the first time. She's still mostly obscured by the towels, but judging by her blond hair, sharp ears and chubby face, she must be related to Alice.
The girl grins and gives him another wave. "Hi~!"
Albedo waves back, unsure.
Alice slaps her forehead. "Oh, I totally forgot to introduce you! Albedo, this is my daughter Klee! Klee, this is Albedo, he'll be staying with us for a while." She bends down to the girl with a mischievous smile. "Treat him as you would a brother!"
Klee's mouth forms a perfect 'o' and looks back at Albedo with a newfound fascination. He feels slightly unnerved.
Alice gives Klee's hair a final rub and puts the towel on top of the already sizable pile of objects on the table. "There, all done! Now Klee, can you do me a favour and go get into your pyjamas please? I'll be downstairs preparing Albedo's bath."
Klee fiercely nods, throwing her hair back and forth. "Be right back—!" She yells as she jumps off Alice's lap and zooms up the stairs, jumping over two steps at a time.
Alice watches her depart with a laugh as she gets up. "Ah, that age, full of energy!" She motions at Albedo "Come! Your timing is excellent, any later and I would have drained the water!"
She guides him to the bathroom which is small but homely, just like the rest of the house. The walls are made of stone instead of wood, and the floor is tiled a pale navy blue, with a tiny fogged up window opposite of the door. Underneath the window is a bathtub, made up of the same stone as the walls are. The water in it is still steaming, and a few odd wooden objects — toys? — are floating on top, more placed on the stone top. There's a sink with a cabinet on top of it, a toilet, and a pile of dirty clothes at a corner, and more small bottles and odd gadgets strewn about.
"Just throw your clothes on the pile, I was about to do laundry tomorrow either way," Alice hums as she busies herself in the small room, moving some bottles into the cabinet, then pauses. "You're ok with using soap...?" She pauses as Albedo removes his robe, then awkwardly stands in the centre of the room. "Everything alright, dear?"
Albedo looks at the pile of clothes, then at Alice, and she slaps her forehead again. "Ah sorry, privacy, I forgot! I'm just used to Klee and all..." She quickly goes back to rummaging through the cupboard. "Just give me a second to sort out a few things beforehand and I'll be out your way—"
"It's fine. I don't mean to take advantage of your hospitality. It's just that..." Albedo pauses, and it's strange that he finds it hard to talk about something so objective. "You know what I am."
Alice's smile falls as she looks him over. "Yes... Why, is there something wrong?" She frowns in worry. "Are you injured, do you need—?"
"No," Albedo quickly says, thinking of the best way to phrase this. "I don't mean to worry you, but... I know people are disturbed by things that resemble them but are not quite... the same..." And he doesn't want to disturb their evening any more than he already has.
Alice tilts her head, still frowning, and Albedo worries he's already made the situation more complicated than it should be.
"My body is a simulacrum made of chalk," Albedo adds at Alice's silence. "Thus, there are... differences."
"Oh!" Alice says, and her ears perk up in realisation. She gives him a laugh and scratches her head. "Don't worry about that, as long as you don't start growing poison stingers, I can handle anything you throw at me!" Her expression falters. "But poison stingers are fine too if you have them! I just had a nasty run-in the other week at a domain you see..."
And as she rambles on, Albedo finds her smile is infectious, and ends up replicating it. Alice relaxes and finishes up putting away some stray bottles as Albedo fully undresses.
Despite Albedo's limited exposure to people, he knows how they're supposed to look. His master prefers heavy robes and frequently covers her face, but Albedo has seen enough diagrams of human anatomy to know it inside and out, and his own body differs from all those he has seen. There is a reason he arrived in Mondstadt with only his face visible, and he will keep that way during his stay.
He removes his gloves, revealing nail-less fingers, then moves on to his shirt and trousers.
Smooth skin with no body hair besides hair and eyebrows, the chalky white only broken up by the golden rhombus marks on his neck, chest and palms, and the gold lines in intersecting geometrical patterns across his back, bordered by an abyssal-like script he cannot read. They're the closest thing he had to a true skeleton besides the layers of hardened chalk at strategic points throughout his body, but at least that detail is hidden by his outer body which has no imperfection, no muscle definition, no belly button, no genitals.
He pauses before he enters the tub and glances at Alice. The woman has sorted his clothes into smaller colour-coordinated piles and is now moving a few more odd bits and bobs around the bathroom — though in his opinion she just ends up moving the mess in different positions instead of actually tidying up.
The water is warm and unlike that of the harsh rain outside, and Albedo takes a moment to relax and lets the tension wash off him. He can already feel a layer of muck come off him, and he feels embarrassed at all the water and mud he dragged in. He should offer Alice to clean it up, then apologise for his absent-mindedness — his master always made a point at how important it was for one to keep clean, especially if they are alchemists.
"Hi!" Klee announces her presence with a wave as she walks in, dressed in a frilly nightgown that is a few sizes too big for her. This time Albedo waves back with more confidence as she hops by his bathtub, stands on her tiptoes so her head can rest on the top, then grabs a wooden duck and puts it in the water.
"There you go!" Alice says as she puts a brush and a heavy bar of pink soap by his side. "We've got plenty of soap, so feel free to use as much as you need — if you don't mind smelling like strawberries that is!"
Albedo gives her a smile as he brings his hair to the front — and it is very tangled indeed — applies some soap and his back and takes hold of the brush. He... hasn't really used something like this before, so when its bristles touch the gold lines on his back, he straightens up as if electrocuted.
Alice and Klee look up at him with a worried and confused look, as Albedo quickly settles back down with a sigh. "Apologies, I didn't mean to worry you. I'll just use the soap."
Alice places her hands on her hips. "Are you sure you're not hurt?"
Albedo nods. "When we were on the move, our location was always perilous, so the ideal plan was to not get dirty in the first place." Which was easier for Albedo, who doesn't sweat. "My master also experimented with dust baths for me, but that just ended up tracking sand all over the lab."
Alice lets out a hearty laugh. "Oh, that sounds just like something she'd try!"
Albedo can't bring himself to smile at that, so he goes back to cleaning himself. Out of the corner of his eye, he spies Klee playing a bit more with her toys and moving around the edge of the bathtub.
"Oh, pretty!" Albedo hears Klee's voice from behind him. "But why do you have a lot of yellow on your back?"
"It's gold," Albedo explains, "layered with chalk to obscure its metallic gleam and make it blend in with the rest of my skin."
Klee makes an awed sound. "Like a tattoo?"
"Of sorts."
"But mama says you have to be a grown up to get a tattoo."
"I've had this since I was created."
"It's like a birthmark," Alice whispers, and Klee lets out another 'ah' sound.
Which is a strange way to consider the markings on his back. Albedo knows many humans have birthmarks, but they're usually darker spots on their skin. Then again, conceptually, they are the same, no?
"Ah!" Klee lets out and Albedo sees her make her way back to the side of the bathtub, watching his hands as he grabs the soap again. "Albedo, you don't have nails! How do you scratch yourself if you get itchy?"
"... As anyone would, I suppose," Albedo answers, at a loss at what else to say, and scratches his own cheek to demonstrate as Klee gives him a look of intense concentration. After a brief internal debate, Albedo reaches out and scratches Klee's cheek and she pulls back with a giggle.
He goes back to washing himself as Klee stays by the bathtub's side, occasionally splashing water. They spend a few minutes in silence and he feels Klee stare at him, but she's not saying anything—
"Albedo, are you a boy or a girl?"
Alice chokes out a cough. "Klee!"
"It's alright," Albedo quickly reassures her before he turns to Klee. He's not sure why, but he feels more at ease with this little girl asking these questions that he expected. "And to answer your question, it's not something that concerns me. People... My master refers to me as he, so that is what I am used to, but I have no preference," he says, only to realise too late that his master actually only referred to him by name.
... Huh.
"Ooh," Klee says, and though he's not sure she understood all he said, she seems happy with his answer.
And then she goes back to staring, and it strikes Albedo that perhaps Klee wants to talk with him but doesn't know how to keep up a conversation, so she talks about whatever catches her interest, hoping it will lead somewhere.
Much like himself.
Klee goes back to staring at a small wooden duck floating by the water, and Albedo gets an idea. "Klee, you know what alchemy is, don't you?"
Klee looks up and frowns. "It's what mama does that makes things go boom! I wanna do that too when I grow up!"
Alice pauses through her rummaging efforts and looks back at the two.
"That's... certainly an application of it," he says before he straightens up and gives Klee a serious look. "Alchemy is the ancient art and science by which we understand the world and its functions. Through its different stages, we draw from primordial forms, clear away the excess, refine them and finally transmute them, turning them into gold and revealing their true value..." He hesitates. "There are many disciplines by which we can enact these processes, and my master has taught me the Art of Khemia, which focuses on the creation of life. I myself am a product of it..."
Albedo pauses as Klee nods off, bored. He looks around, then grabs the duck and covers it with his palm. Klee perks up at the gesture, and watches with an awed smile as gold light erupts from Albedo's palms, the flow of ley lines channelled from the ground to his body and at the star on his palm.
He opens his palm and a tiny duck peeks its head through his fingers, flapping its wings and settling its cube-like body into the water.
"It will soon return to its wooden form," Albedo adds as Klee looks between him and the duck with increasing glee. "But the heart of alchemy lies within this act; creation and the moment of birth."
Klee pats the head of the duck with her finger until it turns back into wood. "Do it again!"
Albedo's expression falters. Ah... He must have not explained it well...
"Don't worry, she is still a kid," Alice says as she leans in with a conspiratorial laugh as Klee gathers some of her wooden toys in her lap. "But now she won't stop pestering you to do that to all her toys..."
"It'll be good practice then," Albedo says, and Alice laughs again.
"Well, now I just need to get the laundry done," Alice says as she stretches her back. "Say Albedo, you have a second pair of clothes, right? But I can make sure to clean anything you'll need for tomorrow, like your gloves...?"
Albedo feels the water grow cold and his shoulders slump. "... I did not pack this far ahead."
Alice's smile freezes on her face. "Oh dear... Klee, sorry to ask you again dear, but can you go fetch one of my night robes? They're in my dresser, at the lower self."
She sighs as Klee gives her a thumbs up and departs and Albedo opens his mouth to apologise.
"Oh, don't you worry about that, I'll just do the washing tonight instead of putting it off for tomorrow! They should be all dry by the morning, if not I could use my Vision to speed up the process but remind me to get you shopping right after we get you admitted to the Knights alright?" she rambles, and Albedo gets the feeling she's mostly talking to herself.
Still, he nods. "Yes, Miss Alice."
She gives him a grin and ruffles his hair, and Albedo feels warm, and not just because of the bath.
Alice's ruffle turns into a pat, but her hand catches into a tangle as she runs her fingers down his hair. Albedo grimaces at the sudden pull, and she retracts her hand with a frown. "Oh dear, it's knotted quite badly..." She bites her finger and looks back at the cabinet. "Hm, I'm sure I have some hair oil stashed in here somewhere — I use it as my hair looks like a rat's nest after an expedition, honestly it's such a bother to untangle it—"
"I'll cut it," Albedo offers, and he is momentarily surprised by his own decision. "It's been getting in the way a lot, especially when I'm performing an experiment." Which is true, but he's not sure why he chooses now of all times to do this. Probably because it's convenient. "It'll be much more manageable if it's shorter."
Alice gives him an amused grin. "Oh, so you're getting a crew cut? Should I get out the razor?"
Albedo pales. "Ah... Not that short." He feels around his air and locates the start of the knot just under his shoulder blades. "Shoulder length will do."
Alice hums as she hands him a scissor and places a mirror by the bathtub before she goes back to moving the biggest pile of laundry into a large wooden basket.
Albedo gathers his hair in the front, grabs the knife and gives it a decisive cut. He lets his hair fall into the water, the strands coming apart like sugar and colouring the water white. His head feels lighter, and he scratches the back of his neck.
... He'll get used to it.
As Klee yawns and rubs her eyes, Alice gives her a concerned look and steps back out the room, probably looking at a clock near the hall. "Oh, it's got quite late..." She dusts her hands and turns to Albedo. "I've put out some towels, feel free to use them. I'll also warm some milk for Klee, would you like some too?"
Klee tugs Alice's nightgown. "Where's he gonna sleep?"
The colour drains from Alice's cheeks. "I completely forgot! Uh, we have a guest bedroom, but I keep my experiments there... Uh..."
Klee jumps up and down. "Sleepover, sleepover, sleepover!"
"Brilliant idea Klee!" Alice exclaims with all the desperation of a woman out of options. "I just need to get some more blankets and pillows and you'll be right as rain!"
The mother and daughter high-five, and Alice ruffles the girl's hair before she heads to the kitchen.
"You too big brother!" Klee says as she keeps her hand up and rushes to Albedo's side.
He hesitantly raises his hands and Klee high fives immediately, nearly falling into the tub.
And that is how an hour later Albedo ends up in a small attic room, its floor barely visible from the clutter of discarded toys as Klee runs circles around him, saying they're about to have the best sleepover ever.
Minutes later, she is dead the moment she hits the bed, sprawled on her back, while Albedo is nestled at its edge, one leg spilling out of the mattress.
At least the blankets are cosy and warm. Rain patters the shuttered window, and the low rhythmic sound only made him drowsier.
A drooly Klee turns to her side, and her hand smacks him right on the nose.
"... Ouch," Albedo whispers.
Klee snores in response, and he tries to follow her example and sleep. He closes his eyes with a sigh and tries to empty his mind.
He's not sure what to think of Alice or her daughter. They're kind, too kind, but he's not sure how far this kindness will extend or if Albedo will ever be able to reciprocate it. They're not his master, Miss Alice can never be his master, but...
Albedo remembers how kind Miss Alice is even after his successful interview, showing him around the headquarters, introducing him to all the right people, showing him the various domains around Mondstadt. He remembers how apologetic he was when she first made him lunch, a gigantic portion he could never finish, and how she apologised too and from then on only made him small portions that suited his appetite.
And he remembers how when Miss Alice was about to leave for a long time, she gave them a proper goodbye, and hugged Klee, then Albedo, and explained she was about to go to a long expedition and that they shouldn't worry because she loved them both very much and that she would be back—
And that it's been three years since then and Albedo caught Klee crying the other day—
The rainfall turns into a cold, howling wind and Albedo finds himself in an empty bed.
Albedo opens his eyes and shivers at the cold that permeates the room. He shivers then panics at Klee's absence before he remembers her new room at the headquarters of the Knights of Favonius, and that he is the only one who goes to their old house to tidy it up.
He gets up and stares at the window. The shutter has been blown open and rattles as a hazy white snowy landscape stretches before it.
With slow steps, Albedo makes it downstairs, and the old house is as he remembers it from recent memory. Instead of being overfilled with Miss Alice's usual clutter, it is now silent, clean and tidy, as Albedo moved things into where they belonged — or he made educated guesses where they were supposed to go, hopefully Miss Alice won't be too mad.
The surrounding walls grow hazy, and momentarily fade out of existence, giving way to an endless stretch of white.
Albedo reaches the door and lets it creak open.
The sheer cold of Dragonspine stops him dead in his tracks.
No, Albedo thinks. No, no, no, no, and that's all he can think because he's in Dragonspine, or at least an imitation his subconscious has constructed.
Is he dreaming? The memory of first arriving in Miss Alice's house is something that did happen, so why dwell on it now...?
A vast dark shape moves through the thick snowstorm, almost as big as the mountain itself.
Albedo looks back but Miss Alice's house and he's stranded in the middle of a vast craggy white landscape as the colossal dark shape moves closer.
Albedo takes a few steps back, then stumbles and falls. The shape is approaching too fast for him to run away, and Albedo can make out a massive draconic head descending to him.
"We were too late then," Albedo tells himself, and the words feel hollow in his mouth. What's going on in the real world? Has he gone berserk? Are they still trying to go through his now useless plan, or has he already been put down? Has he hurt anyone?
"Brother," Durin's voice echoes, and it is deeper and more rumbling than its echoes during his waking moments. The shape moves around Albedo, surrounding him, and Albedo makes out two massive glowing red eyes at the head towering above him.
Terror grips him, but there is no point in him panicking. He can't run, and he can certainly not win a fight against Durin, so he closes his eyes, raises his hands in a useless protective gesture, and waits.
He hears Durin slither closer, feels Dragonspine's cold somewhat assuaged by the sheer heat emitted from his body, and he tenses. If Durin doesn't outright crush him, Albedo fears he'll melt.
A rough scaly texture pushes against him and Albedo is thrown to his side with a yelp, more out of surprise than pain. He keeps his eyes closed and wraps his hands around his head as he curls into a ball, not wanting to open them and see a gigantic claw descend on him.
The touch returns, but much gentler, brushing against his back before retreating. Albedo stays still, and the touch returns, this time a bit more forceful but still not hurting him. Confused, Albedo opens his eyes to see Durin's muzzle right by him. His eye, as big as Albedo himself, has a black sclera and its red slitted iris is staring down at him.
"Brother," Durin repeats.
Albedo drags himself into a sitting position, staring at Durin who stays still. "... Durin..." he begins, uncertain, pausing when the giant pupil slightly dilates at his voice. "Where am I?"
The dragon doesn't respond but drags his head closer, trying to nuzzle him — is that the touch Albedo felt? — but stops as Albedo cringes away from the touch. "You're tiny."
"... What?"
"You're so small," Durin repeats, and Albedo wonders if the reason his voice is so low is because this massive dragon is trying to whisper. "Is that why you're scared?"
In a very uncharacteristic moment for Albedo, all he does is stare dumbly at the creature before him.
"I am sorry for pushing you down before. I can't control my strength very well." Durin's eye flickers as he looks him over. "Are you injured?"
"... No," Albedo responds, absolutely lost, then decides to get to the point. "Why are you doing this?"
"Doing what?" Durin's muzzle shifts in an expression Albedo can't see, but at least it doesn't look like the dragon wants to eat him.
"Taking over my body. Accelerating the spread of the corruption," Albedo lists off, trying to keep his wits as he stares at Durin's massive pupil. "Attacking my... family."
Durin blinks. "I am your family."
His hands clench. "I have more family. Friends too."
Durin blinks again and his eye widens. "Really?! Who are they?!" he asks, his voice deafeningly louder and losing its rumbling undertone, and maybe Albedo's mind is too far gone, but he swears the dragon sounds excited. "I want to meet them!"
Albedo pushes his thoughts on Durin's feelings away. "Answer my question. Why do this?" His voice is dangerously close to breaking. "Why now?"
"Do what?" Durin asks again, more impatient as he switches back to his lower tone, and Albedo's dread returns. Maybe this is an act of sorts. Like a cat playing with its food.
"... Call to me," Albedo tries again, placing a hand on his chest.
Durin follows his hand and blinks again. "... Oh! That!"
And before Albedo can move, Durin inches his muzzle closer, brushing against him. His scales are scratchy and glint ruby red through the falling snow.
"You're hurting." Durin rumbles and Albedo's thoughts come to a screeching halt.
"What?"
"You are!" Durin loudly says before catching himself and dropping to a lower tone. "We're connected, so I can feel it too," Durin says. "It is not very strong, so I cannot sense much and spend most of my time dreaming." He nuzzles Albedo again as he exercises all his self-control not to wretch himself away. "But you're here now and I'm not alone..." he croons and nuzzles him again.
Albedo goes still, processing what Durin has just told him. He knows he and Durin are connected, but he never expected they could sense each other's emotions. Albedo has never felt any such thing, but Durin is dead, so perhaps that's why this connection is so one-sided in Albedo's waking moments...
That still didn't change his situation, though. "So, you're lonely and seek to rerun to Teyvat through me?" Albedo hazards a guess. "Is it because you seek revenge on those who sealed you?" he asks as he remembers Durin's surge of rage at Venti. "Or is it a desire to live again, and jealousy that I—"
"I'm not jealous!" Durin cuts him off with a huff that creates a small current.
Albedo frowns. "... But you want to live again."
"Of course I do! Why wouldn't I? I miss flying and I don't like that little wind spirit and his dragon friend that didn't want me to have fun." He huffs again, annoyed, but makes no move to eat Albedo or anything like that. "And when I ended up here, I was really frustrated because it's so boring and I have nothing to do. But one day I could sense you brother and that made me happy!" he says and nuzzles Albedo again, who at this point has become frightfully used to the gesture. "And less bored too, but..." he trails off. "I realised a lot of what I could sense was you hurting, like I was when that little wind spirit didn't want me to play. I don't want you to end up bored too, and I wanted to stop that. So, whenever you feel hurt, I reach out and try to fix it!" He pauses and his lip curls downwards. "But it looks like I haven't made it better. Sorry. I'll get it right eventually though!"
Albedo... is at a loss at what to think and feel. "... That makes little sense. I could... hear your thoughts, when you tried to possess me," he says, ignoring how Durin's eyelid slants downward at his accusation. "You said they hurt you."
"No, I didn't! I said hurt him. Him as in you." His muzzle shifts closer but stops when Albedo gives him a wary look. "You, brother."
And there is that word, that accusation again, which feels ludicrous to Albedo.
"... I'm not — I wasn't hurt," Albedo insists. "If anything, the reason I am hurt now is because of you."
Durin shifts, uneasy. "But you were! I felt it for a long time, but I only realised it recently." His eye moves to stare ahead of him, where Miss Alice's house once was. "You were hurting a lot back then, but I didn't realise what that was and thought it was me." His eye moves back to stare at Albedo. "When I realised it was you, you were hurting less, so I didn't bother you... but recently you started hurting a lot again."
Albedo makes a false start, then shakes his head. That's silly. Sure he... was in a bad mood when he first arrived in Alice's house, but that was because he suddenly had no direction, not because he was hurt or anything like that.
Equally silly is the accusation that he suddenly started hurting again. The most recent incident he can think of is Klee crying the other day because she missed Miss Alice, which brought up old memories, but also he wasn't hurt. And before that, the most danger he found himself in was his recent expedition to Dragonspine, where he met the Traveller, and that meeting and subsequent experiments stirred hope in him, because he knew he was susceptible to the corruption and he had finally found another cure that wouldn't kill him.
But he also realised how close his connection to Durin was, and that he was running out of time to find a solution and then the Traveller went away to Liyue and maybe they wouldn't be in Teyvat still when Albedo needed them...
There's a gentle pressure on his side as Durin's muzzle rests close to him. It's not so suffocatingly hot anymore, and Albedo is reminded of his first warm bath in Miss Alice's house.
"I want to help," his brother rumbles.
Albedo chokes on a bitter laugh. "... You didn't. You're not." And though his words aren't a lie, he feels uncomfortable saying them. "You made things worse."
Albedo senses Durin moves to speak, but he gets up and steps away before he can get a word in. He sees his reflection in Durin's eye, and his expression temporarily reminds him of his master's, of a night long ago where she was teaching Albedo the basics of alchemy. Albedo kept trying and failing to perform a very simple transmutation, and he grew so frustrated that he was shaking his seat. His master had given him a long look after the umpteenth failed attempt before her expression hardened and she ordered him to try again.
In the end Albedo succeeded, and this transmutation now comes as easy to him as breathing, and that was all there was to this memory. He's not sure why he's remembering that now—
Durin moves closer to him, but Albedo takes more steps back, and the two repeat this like a slow game of tag.
"Get back," Albedo eventually says, and Durin pauses. "I don't want to see you. Just leave me alone."
Durin lets out a low sound, but Albedo pays him little heed as his mind with the implications of his situation. He has learned recently that his master created Durin first, then Albedo, but that only raises more questions than it answers.
Did she know Durin and Albedo would be connected by this when she created him? Did she know Albedo would still be susceptible to the corruption? If so, is Albedo's different form and upbringing a result of her trying to prevent such a thing from happening?
But Durin got a hold of him because of Albedo's emotional state, and that paradoxically, the more 'human' Albedo becomes, the more easily he gets 'hurt' and the more corruption will spread through him via Durin reaching out to him. Did she know?
Was she planning on that?
"Brother," Durin croons. "You're doing it again."
The dragon is inching closer again and Albedo keeps walking away until his back collides against a massive wall of scales and Albedo is trapped, and why did he ever think he had an upper hand in this situation?
"Stay away!" Albedo cries out and raises his hands protectively. "I don't care if I 'hurt'. You will hurt me more. So, leave me alone. Please."
Durin pauses. After a few long moments, the wall of scales behind Albedo's back retracts, and the temperature around him drops to Dragonspine's bone chilling ambience.
When Albedo opens his eyes, Durin is wordlessly retreating into the snowstorm. His brother's form becomes a massive dark shape until it disappears entirely, and Albedo is left alone in a vast snowy landscape.
\*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*/
Albedo's whole body shivers as he comes to, and he subsequently panics. He has just woken up, which means he slept, he slept and now Durin will—
Except his mind feels no more occupied than it usually does. He's sluggish, sure, but there's no second presence besides him.
"Mr Albedo?" And he looks up to see Sucrose give him a worried look. "You've been looking away for some time. I wasn't sure if you were absorbed in thought, and I didn't want to disturb you..."
Albedo blinks and looks around. He's still in the cart, but Klee and Noelle are missing, as are most crates of chalk. "Did we arrive at the village?"
Sucrose perks up at his question. "Oh yes, just a few minutes ago!" Her ears nervously twitch, but her expression is hopeful. "We're just unloading things now and clearing out the area of monsters, but we can start prepping the ritual in no time."
Albedo nods and drags a hand through his face. "Good. We're almost there."
His movements are as sluggish as his mind, but he manages to peek through his shirt again. His torso is still a mess of corrupted coagulated chalk, but he still has more than enough time.
Good. Great even. It's almost over.
"Um, Mr Albedo," Sucrose speaks up. "Are you sure you're ok? I mean, not just physically, but we have some time until I can start preparing the chalk circle, so we can talk until then..."
Albedo makes a motion to respond, to try to convey all he's found out, but his words die in his mouth. The mere recollection makes his heart clench, and he doesn't want to give Durin any excuse to arise again.
So, he swallows the lump in his throat and gives Sucrose a fake smile. "It's fine. We're almost done, just a little more and this whole mess will be over, and things will go back to normal."
Sucrose replies with a timid smile, and Albedo is glad. This is much better than the whole 'he is hurt' nonsense.
\*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*/
Alice: *sees Albedo* Child Acquired
For Klee and Alice's house, basically imagine a messy faux-European countryside Ghibli house.
Next chapter will have the ritual, which will definitely not backfire or go wrong in any way :DDD
Find me SleepDeprivedFemale on tumblr, Sleepy#3903 on discord where I'm always up for a chat