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Chapter 7: Will Come Back To Haunt You

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Kaeya's Cryo power surges from his Vision to his sword as he points it at an ascending hilichurl. "Don't get frostbite!"

Unfortunately, his clever wit is wasted on the hilichurl who lets itself get dumbly hit. The Cryo reacts with the Hydro element embedded in it, reaching its origin at an arrow buried in its back and freezing it solid.

Kaeya slashes it with his sword, cracking the ice, then kicks it down the cliff for good measure. He watches it fall and shatter with a sigh, then looks closer to the base of the cliff where the Harbinger is mowing down on a local hilichurl encampment.

Honestly... Their plan was to work together to clear out any monsters in the nearby area, but with the rate Childe is going, Kaeya might as well sit back and enjoy the view.

He hears Diluc's distant yell from the other side of the cliffs surrounding Mingyun village, followed by a glimpse of a bird-shaped firestorm. If those two are going through monsters at the rate they are, they'll be done before breakfast.

After scanning the area to make sure no other hilichurl's have made it past the Childe's rampage, Kaeya sits by the cliff and watches the man wail on a particularly unfortunate mitachurl. Kaeya would be lying if he says he is not unnerved by having a Fatui Harbinger with them, but that's not a reason to get as paranoid and hostile as Diluc. At least not as outwardly. The Traveller seems to tolerate his presence, so perhaps there is more to him than being another Fatui lapdog.

... Or more of a bloodhound, Kaeya thinks as Childe's Hydro blades combine into a long-bladed spear and he literally cuts the assaulting mitachurl in half. Thankfully, the water washes away most of the blood and gore, so he doesn't have to worry about the state little Klee will see him in once they return — and it is the strangest thing that he is so good at interacting with kids that Klee has taken a liking to him. But if this is how he fights... Goodness, it's a miracle they found Albedo in only three pieces.

Assured his hunting partner will not get himself killed anytime soon, Kaeya looks back down at their own camp in the abandoned village. Their cart is parked on the side of the first few houses making up the settlement, where Noelle is unloading several heavy crates of chalk. She heaves one of the crates on her shoulder, then walks closer to the square, to a porch where Zhongli is grinding down some small chunks into a finer dust. Klee is by his side, probably trying to help, and Kaeya hopes the Liyue consultant knows to watch out for her explosive attitude at problem solving. Venti is there too, but he seems to only be trying to distract Klee instead of helping. Oh well, if anything he's good moral support.

A small distance away, Sucrose is running back and forth about the area, a pile of notes in her hands that she frequently references as she runs from the square to Zhongli, to Noelle.

The maid deposits the last crate next to the porch, before she exchanges a few quick words with Sucrose and heads back into the cart. Seconds later she brings Albedo out, the canvas-like cloth wrapped around him like a shawl so that she can support him without making direct contact. As always, Kaeya is surprised by Noelle's strength; his attempt at lifting Albedo up in Dragonspine felt like trying to move solid rock, and he was pretty sure he almost pulled a back muscle.

Despite no longer missing his legs, the poor alchemist is in no better shape for it. His head is hung low, braid undone. But, he seems lucid enough to briefly communicate with Noelle, then Sucrose, the latter running even faster about the place as she picks a few of the smaller containers near Zhongli and sets them around an area in the square where the alchemical circle will be.

Which will be an interesting sight. Kaeya only knows alchemy through its layperson applications, and from Sucrose's brief explanation, what they're trying to do will involve a complicated large chain reaction, which is why they need all that chalk and space.

Yes, Sucrose gave them a very thorough and very long explanation of what their little ritual will entail, which definitely wasn't because seconds earlier the Traveller asked her what was wrong with Albedo.

... Kaeya wants to think things will turn out alright, that this will be a misadventure of little note that they'd look back to and laugh. Others in their group seem to have that optimistic outlook, Paimon being the exemplar, and Kaeya isn't in the business of souring the mood.

But Diluc begrudgingly shared Jean's letter with him as they entered the village while the others were distracted — Childe in particular seemed to keep trying to egg Zhongli into a fight, but other man seemingly ignored him and tried to make small talk with the Traveller or distract Klee with old folk tales that had the little girl bored out of her mind. Jean of course made it clear that Albedo's death was at the bottom of the list of her desired outcomes, but the fact that it was still on the table...

Diluc had muttered something unsavoury about the Knights, but Kaeya understood. Every sane person on Teyvat would fear another Cataclysm, even if they only saw the fallout of its true horror.

He doesn't think he'd have made a different decision. His suspicions of Albedo's connections with Khaenri'ah — which are now blindingly obvious — are now accompanied by a newfound dread at whoever survivor from his homeland thought it wise to create another homunculus. His initial suspicions arose from Albedo's mysterious origins combined with his skill in alchemy, and Kaeya had plans to look closer into the young alchemist, particularly when he set up his lab in Dragonspine. He expected to find some dirt, but not... this. And now all he can do is make sure that Teyvat doesn't turn into the same thing his people are trying to recover from.

... Honestly, never a dull moment.

"Enjoying the view?"

Kaeya looks back down the cliff to see Childe climb up to his position. He is completely soaked — not the blood-soaked mess he ought to be after slaughtering so many monsters, but there's a persistent red stain near the bottom of his torso, where his bandages are. Has his injury from his previous fight reopened? If so, it doesn't hinder his movements.

A pity; his injury was somewhat of a reassurance in case he caused trouble.

"You seemed to have everything handled, no?" Kaeya responds with a mock sheepish tone. "I just made sure to catch any strugglers and keep out of your way."

In a gesture of goodwill, Kaeya reaches down and helps the man climb up the last bit.

"The others are almost done, so all we have to do now is keep watch and make sure no one else tries to interrupt," Kaeya nonchalantly says as he gestures back at the village.

Sure enough, Sucrose is pouring ground chalk in geometric patterns as well as directing Noelle who arranges the bigger crates around it. Albedo is sitting down by the edge of the biggest circle as Klee walks up to him, then sits by his side, knees drawn. Zhongli and Venti have moved by the cart and seem to be engaged in conversation — on what, Kaeya has no idea, but knowing the two it's probably something about oral traditions and the like.

Higher up on the opposite cliff, Kaeya spots Diluc and Traveller, both slightly singed. Kaeya gives them a little wave, and as expected only the Traveller waves back, then gives him an ok sign.

Behind him, Childe yawns and Kaeya suppresses the urge to copy him. They've been awake for a bit more than a day, with only the occasional stray nap when travelling, but it won't be too long now. Just an hour or so until they set things up and conduct the ritual.

"I can keep watch if you want to get some shut-eye," Kaeya offers Childe, expecting to be turned down but doing so out of politeness' sake — and if that also lets him know how paranoid this Harbinger is about keeping his guard up, then that's just an added benefit.

Childe perks up with a smile. "Sure! But let me know if anything exciting happens!"

And before Kaeya can say anything, Childe has fully reclined against the Geo Archon statue, dead to the world.

... Kaeya's not sure if this is part of some complicated strategy of misdirection from the Harbinger or if the man is just worryingly straightforward. He knows Childe briefly contacted the Fatui with a quick letter which he barely hid behind a half-lie of getting patched up, but Kaeya saw no reason in stopping that as there was very little to actually report. What could he say, that the Chief alchemist of the Knights of Favonius is strange, probably not human, and attacked some of their comrades when they tried to kidnap him? That is maybe interesting gossip, but has little substance or diplomatic intrigue behind it. Mondstadt has plenty of people with non-human blood, as do the Knights, who could argue that the Fatui technically started this whole mess by trying to take Albedo prisoner.

No, Kaeya finds it more advantageous to sit back and let Childe think Diluc is the one most suspicious of him. Even now the most Childe can know is that maybe Durin is implicated, but he doubts the Harbinger can reverse-engineer that connection into realising their dear alchemist is a homunculus, one of alchemy's miracles.

But the very idea of the Fatui realising homunculi are very much within the realm of possibility, let alone that they could currently easily snap one up is worrying. At least Childe is... Childe and they're not saddled with that unpleasant masked Harbinger that seemingly solved their trouble with Ursa the Drake.

So, even if there's something very off about Childe, something Kaeya can't quite place, his nonchalance is a pleasant surprise and for now, Kaeya is content to stand back and observe.

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A series of circles containing triangles and parabolic lines, bordered by an abyssal-like script. Essentially the same design as the one on his back, only magnified. Chalk, split across multiple clay containers and arranged at the key points across the circle so that it will feed into the reaction, like travelling through a ley line. And finally Albedo, the final component of the ritual and maestro of the reaction which will replenish the corrupted chalk by essentially piling more of it by his heart to eat away at the growing corruption until it reaches its previous equilibrium, like balancing a redox reaction.

"It's all ready," Sucrose says as Noelle helps him reach the border of the circle. "I've triple-checked the design, but you should give it a look just in case—"

"It looks fine," Albedo calmly says as he inspects the outer circle. "I should be fine to walk now, Noelle. Thank you for your help so far." He sways a bit when Noelle lets go but manages to stay upright.

The maid gives him a polite smile. "No thanks necessary. Master Diluc and the Captain are keeping watch from on high for any intruders, so I'll head to the bridge with Mr Zhongli and Venti to stop any monsters from coming to the village."

"Can you take Klee with you as well?" Albedo asks. "The ritual may be a bit... violent-looking and I don't want her to panic."

Noelle's expression goes from confused to sympathetic, and she nods before walking away to Klee and Zhongli.

Klee notices Albedo and runs past Noelle to him, stopping just a few paces away. She looks up at Albedo but doesn't speak, her jaw clenched and her hands gripping her backpack's straps.

"... Just a bit more and I'll be back to normal," Albedo says, breaking her silence.

"... Ok." Klee looks like she wants to say a lot more but doesn't have the words. "And then we'll have our picnic."

"And then we'll have our picnic," Albedo repeats with a smile.

Klee's lower lip trembles like she wants to say a lot more, but she just nods and runs back to Noelle, who departs with Zhongli and Venti towards the bridge that connects the village to the Guili Plains.

With a sigh, Albedo sits by the edge of the circle, closes his eyes and takes a deep breath.

"Do you need any help?"

Albedo opens his eyes to see Sucrose hovering over him, concerned.

... His heart is silent for now, but Albedo can still feel the pull of sleep. Durin has kept his distance so far, but if this ritual fails, if Albedo gets distracted or Durin changes his mind, then...

"If the ritual doesn't work—"

"It'll definitely work!" Sucrose cuts him off. "You're a genius, Mr Albedo, a-and you should have more faith in yourself!" She stops herself as her cheeks grow red in embarrassment. "Ah, I didn't mean to yell so loudly..."

Albedo feels a small laugh come up. Faith in himself... Well, he is Mondstadt's most successful alchemist, and ranked on top across all of Teyvat.

Albedo's laugh catches on his throat and focuses back on the circle before taking off his gloves. His thumb, ring and middle finger, as well as part of his palm on his right hand are slightly blackened as if charred, a 'scar' of sorts from when one of Klee's bombs accidentally went off while he was holding it. Albedo had picked it up because it had been left in the middle of the hallway, and the ensuing aftermath was the only time he saw Alice put a genuine effort into scolding Klee while the girl barely managed to hold back her tears. Albedo didn't want either of them to be so upset, especially since the damage only surface-level, but his attempt at calming Miss Alice had the woman scold him in turn that his injury was as serious as anyone's and she would scold Klee just the same if any other person had been hurt.

In the end, part of Albedo's hand ended up slightly charred, and Klee had given him her stash of sweets as an apology. Albedo tried to give them back, but Klee had refused and only grew more stubborn with each of his attempts to sneak them in her pockets.

Looking back, these are good memories. His 'scar', his imperfection, is a part of them too. The ritual will heal it probably, and his hand will go back to being a uniform white, but the memory of it will stay with him...

Yes, he'll get it all back. He just has to hold on.

"Uh," Sucrose trails off as Albedo takes off his boots.

"The circle must be kept sterile to prevent any contamination that could upset the reaction." Ideally, he should not just remove his clothing but also scrub as much of the contaminated chalk off him, but they are running on borrowed time and he doesn't want to subject Sucrose to the sight of his chest hollowed out.

Speaking of, he looks back to see Sucrose covering her eyes.

"Sucrose—"

"Sorry!" the girl yelps, her ears flat on her head. "I swear I'm not peeking!"

"I need you to keep my clothes contained, then burn them," Albedo continues, ignoring her outburst. "Treat them as you would any hazardous material."

Sucrose peeks through her fingers in concern as Albedo removes his shirt. What once used to be Albedo's skin now clung to the fabric, pulling away from his body like tar. Underneath is it more corrupted chalk, with barely a hint of gold around his ribs.

Sucrose sucks in a sharp breath. "... That'll heal, right?"

"It's supposed to," Albedo says as he gets rid of the last of his clothes and steps in the circle, careful not to set on the lines of chalk. He walks to the centre where the parabolic lines converge on a star-shaped mark bordered by the Abyss-like script and kneels right in its centre.

"Ready to go," Sucrose calls out and Albedo concentrates, feeling the life force gathered at the outer reaches of their circle.

Like redirecting the flow of a small stream, Albedo pulls the force towards him, through the artificial chalk ley lines. Some particles dislocate and float as Albedo gathers more and more of it, like a lake rising before a dam.

Enough pressure builds up and Albedo slams his hands at the centre of the circle, completing the circuit. He sways as chalk rushes at him from all cardinal directions, creating an equal force around him as to force the corruption out of his body and not from any of the lines.

The chalk gathers around him and clings like wet dust. Particles that contact the corruption fizzle, but the accumulated life force keeps the corruption at bay and pushes it away. There's a grating feeling over his body, like scrubbing away dead skin.

A large dark chunk dislodges out of his upper shoulder with a sickening smack, and Albedo momentarily goes light-headed, feeling like insects are crawling out of his skull. He blinks and looks up to see a torrent of chalk rushing at him. It pushes the corrupted parts of him like a high-pressure hose, and oh thank the Archons it's working—

There's a familiar yell over the horizon. Albedo pays it little attention and concentrates on removing more of his corrupted self until he sees Sucrose move away from the outer ring.

Albedo risks a momentary distraction to look up, and his mind stills. Kaeya, Childe, Diluc and the Traveller frantically scale down the cliff and head towards the other side of the village where something peaks over the rooftops despite it being some distance away.

There is a flash of light from that area, as if the sun rose early for that spot of earth. Albedo has seen it before, that brown frame spitting fire...

Ruin Guards. But why, why here, why now—?

HIs distraction briefly unbalances the circle, and Albedo sways to the side. With a mute curse, he closes his eyes and tries to regain his lost focus. He cannot let himself get distracted here now when he's so close. Besides, for all the dangers they pose, their group can handle one Ruin Guard—

"Another one!" comes a voice, and Albedo sees Sucrose run the way she came. He glances back.

More Ruin Guards. And not just them. A Ruin Hunter floats above them, like a sentry.

No, that's all wrong. For all their technological marvels, Ruin Guards are solitary, found in small groups and not cooperating in any true sense of the word—

And Sucrose is running straight at them.

Albedo is about to call out for her despite the risk, until an arrow hits the centre of a Ruin Guard's eye, followed by another one thrown from a different direction, disabling it. Albedo traces their origins back to Venti and Childe, who glance at each other before taking aim again.

Diluc and Kaeya shout at each other before Kaeya runs off to where Zhongli, Noelle, Klee and the Traveller are — and by the Archons Klee is out there fighting those monsters, even if accompanied—

The circle is disrupted again, and Albedo falls to his side. More chunks of corrupted chalk slide off him, but he can't concentrate well enough to replace them. At this rate he'll end up as a skeleton, but he can't focus—

And then he sees a series of Ruin Hunters rise over the cliff, from a tiny gap left behind from when the others travelled down the cliff to help Sucrose. Taking advantage of their distraction.

That doesn't make sense, those ancient machines are as mindless as your average hilichurl. They barely cooperate, and it is unheard of them to strategise!

The others haven't noticed yet, too busy fighting with the rest of the Ruin Guards. one sits in a pile of rubble, the other is pushed back by flames from Diluc's sword, enhanced by Sucrose's brief-lived hypostases. Another Ruin Guard crumbles to its knees, its core temporarily disabled as Childe rushes forward, the surrounding Hydro swirling into two blades and no one's paying attention that they're being surrounded—

"Behind you!" Albedo yells, his voice distorted and raw from his throat being scrubbed of the corruption.

Sucrose briefly pauses, but that gives a Ruin Guard an opportunity to target her and let out a barrage of missiles. Sucrose's eyes widen, and Albedo stomach drops, fearing he just got her killed, but a strong gust of wind pulls them off course and they collide off a cliff-side.

Closest to the alchemical circle and further away from the battle, Venti gives them a slightly tired but bright smile, before he takes aim at one of the approaching Ruin Hunters. Yet despite his frighteningly accurate aim and fast draw, too many of them are approaching too fast, and now both Diluc and Sucrose are targeted—

This cannot continue, Albedo realises. They need to get out of here or they'll die. He needs to stop wasting time and being distracted and focus on the ritual—

From where the bridge is, he hears explosions, both familiar and not. Klee...

No, he must focus. He nearly has it. The chalk is pushing away the corruption. Most of it is out of his system, so now he just needs to recreate the lost parts of his body and finish this and gather everyone and run. His initial estimations about this ritual was that it would take an hour, but he can rush it, he can go beyond his own expectations for he is a being of chalk, a perfect creation.

Albedo sits in an empty lab in the mouth of a cave. The only thing left is a single letter and a paper of instructions. She always told him she would leave if he failed, but he never had, so why did she still leave.

A few of the Ruin Hunters rise in preparation for a missile barrage, and Albedo knows what he has to do. Out of the very little he can control, he can at least keep his promise.

Albedo breaks the flow of chalk around him. The effect is like dousing an oil fire with water. The energy is no longer directed but left to travel wildly, so it expands and bursts, starting from the circle around Albedo, travelling back into the very channels that redirected it moments later and into the massive pots of gathered chalk.

Albedo is not sure if what he just created classifies as a bomb, but it has a similar effect. The resulting cloud of chalk covers the entire area, obscuring them from the Ruin Hunters' and Ruin Guards' targeting systems. He himself is unhurt, but he falls to his side, too weak to otherwise move. He feels something stir inside him, Durin, but he pushes that way. Yes, he is actually hurt now, but it's not the end of the world. He'll live, they just need to drive those monsters away, then get some more chalk, then he can finally rebuild his body and put this disaster behind him—

A large metal arm hovers above him, the Ruin Guard it belongs to casting a large shadow over him.

Albedo's eyes widen, but he can't move, he can't yell for help. Even if he did, it would be lost within the various chirps of the confused Ruin Guards and the other's yells at determining their positions.

The arm lowers towards him. Albedo momentarily fears the Ruin Guard is going to crush him, but the palm stops about a meter off him. The claws then retract, digging under the dirt beneath him, then pulling upward. The dirt breaks and falls through its grip, but Albedo doesn't, so he's picked up, as responsive as a rag-doll.

The arm twists him so that Albedo rests on its palm. It's surprisingly gentle and only adds to his confusion, but he's so, so tired.

The sounds of battle fade away as Albedo is carried away, hidden by the very cloud he created.

What a great help he's been.

He flickers in and out of consciousness, but he recognises the Ruin Guard cross the Guili plains, then continue travelling northwest. Does it have a destination in mind? The Traveller told him that they went to investigate an increased series of Ruin Guard attacks in Liyue, though they never properly finished their story, so Albedo thinks they stumbled upon something they don't want to tell him. He can't imagine why they wouldn't.

Is it under the control of the Abyss Order? Albedo can make some educated guesses in how they would use a corrupted homunculus for their plans.

... Damn them all, that's why his initial plan was straightforward, even if he didn't—

But instead of an Abyss Mage, the being who awaits him at the entrance of ruins dug into a mountain is a slender masked man.

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*aggressively wiggles eyebrows* This is exactly who you think it is and I am so looking forward to adding him to the tags when he makes a proper appearance next chapter :D

Also with all the added lore re:the Archons and Khaeneriah, I hope Kaeya's section was handled alright. I'm basically trying to make it vague yet specific enough to reflect what little we know of his intentions)

Finally, I may be exaggerating the effects of the Cataclysm and how other people view it, but! Seeing as it seemingly devastated a lot of Teyvat and led to the death of an Archon, while its epicentre was far away from the continent itself, a Cataclysm with Teyvat as ground zero would be far more devastating and (some) of the characters realise that.