Episode 7: Diverging Paths
Opening Theme: SECONDWALL - 君の世界を
That night, when husband and wife finally made it back home from their harrowing experience, Diluc's sleep was fitful at best. He kept jerking awake, plagued by disturbing dreams that he could never seem to remember once he awoke. Finally, as dawn started to break, he dragged himself out of bed, leaving his purple-haired princess behind.
On the first floor below, Adelinde was already awake, busily cleaning a window sill. She turned around inquiringly when she sensed her Master's presence.
"Good morning, Master. I trust all is well."
"It is now," Diluc sighed tiredly.
Adelinde wordlessly aimed her gaze at him, still openly displaying her curiosity. She carefully chose her reply.
"I truly hope so."
Diluc had known her long enough to realize that she probably knew more than she was letting on. However, he had no desire to clear that up right then. As the birds chirped away outside, he started brewing a pot of coffee.
"Ah, that's right. You have a visitor. I turned him away until you got some rest."
"Huh? Who was it?" Diluc said, looking rather disinterested.
"Master Kaeya. He is still waiting outside," Adelinde said, glancing out the front window.
"You could have at least let him inside," Diluc replied, raising an eyebrow and sighing.
"No, you two needed your rest."
"…Good point. Well, let him in already," Diluc gestured with one hand while crushing the coffee beans with the other.
In mere seconds, Kaeya had burst through the front door. He seemed haggard, and his hair looked a bit disheveled.
"Diluc! What the hell happened? This shitty maid wouldn't tell me anything, other than that you two were safe…" he trailed off, glaring at the blond maid.
"Keqing got kidnapped by one of the Harbingers," Diluc said matter-of-factly, not looking up from his current job.
"Shit, I was afraid of something like that! But how did you manage to get away from them?"
"Some things happened, and luck was on my side, I guess."
Diluc still didn't look at his brother as he glossed over the events of the previous night in a way that was convenient for him. He finished up his coffee, and poured two cups, bringing one over to Kaeya.
"Have a seat."
Kaeya sat on one of the plush sofas near the fireplace, and Diluc took a seat as well.
"So what exactly happened? Did they get anything out of you? Who was it that kidnapped Keqing?"
"One question at a time, please," Diluc said flatly.
Kaeya was full of questions, of course - many of which Diluc didn't want to answer. He slowly informed the blue-haired man about the details of the previous night's events, leaving out the most important one for now.
"So it wasn't the same woman that attacked me, huh?"
"From your description, I'd say no. This one had very long hair and some sort of wings on her head."
"Hmm, why does that sound familiar to me?" Kaeya mused.
"Don't know, but I'd rather not see her ever again."
"You never did appreciate a scary woman," Kaeya quipped, managing a small grin.
"I have a right to my own tastes," Diluc mumbled as he sipped his coffee.
"Well, anyway, they just let you two go without anything in return? Seems pretty weird to me."
Diluc didn't respond. Kaeya sighed, took a swig from his cup, and kept prodding.
"I've known you for a long time. I can tell when there's something you don't want to talk about. But this seems pretty important. Be honest with me."
"You might not want to hear it."
"Doesn't matter. Just tell me," Kaeya said, gazing at his reflection in the bottom of his cup.
Diluc watched through the window as the maids went about their business outside. He was left with no choice but to come clean, it seemed.
"Fine. I made a deal with them."
"…What kind of deal?" Kaeya responded hesitantly.
"I took the only option I had. I joined them."
Kaeya was quiet for a long time, and Diluc didn't elaborate any further. At last, the blue-haired man looked up from his cup, glowering at his brother.
"I have to ask why that was the only option you had," he growled, obviously trying to stifle his anger.
"Damselette was going to kill her… Keqing was knocked out somehow. The guy who killed her before… "Childe"… he showed up and negotiated with Damselette. Asked her to let me join them in exchange for Keqing's safety. I don't fucking get it either, but that's how things turned out," Diluc finished, hanging his head.
Again, Kaeya took his time replying.
"I don't get it. Why would they want you to join them? This doesn't make sense. Something is wrong."
"You're probably right about that."
"Diluc, you can't go through with this. The Harbingers are an enemy of our nation. The Knights forgave you for laying hands on Jean, but this time, it won't be that easy."
"Let's not talk about things that never happened," Diluc calmly replied.
"I don't like your attitude, Diluc," Kaeya lowered his voice.
"Then what do you want? What the fuck should I do, huh? I had no fucking choice! I couldn't let them kill her! Not again! I won't let that happen again, you understand? I'm not afraid to do whatever it takes to keep her safe."
Kaeya wore a shocked expression as he listened to Diluc's outburst. His face fell, and he didn't speak for over a minute. When he finally did, he was strangely calm.
"You know, Jean asked me to take over as Grand Master. I've been thinking about it, and I planned to accept. I… thought it would be the best way to ensure the safety of this world you wished for… all of us doing what we can, together."
"Kaeya…" Diluc mumbled, looking conflicted.
"But as always, you went and did something on your own. Damn it, Diluc, are we worthless to you? Will you turn your back on us again?"
Kaeya's single blue eye met his brother's, unflinching, searching for any hint of his intentions.
"I don't plan to," Diluc responded. "But I'm not sure what will happen from now on. Two of them know about the past world… Damselette overheard me talking to Childe at the hotel… and he already knew the moment he saw me. The cat's out of the bag, Kaeya."
The blue-haired man winced.
"Let's hope Celestia doesn't intervene again. If too many people find out, then…"
"We don't know for sure what caused that. If that Paimon was around, I'd ask her, but no one seems to know anything about her whereabouts."
"Yeah," Kaeya replied. "Something just isn't right about this world."
Diluc didn't respond, but he felt the same way. It almost seemed as if the world itself was conspiring against him to rob him of his happy ending. His frustration was mounting, but still, he had sworn to himself to see this through to the end, and that conviction remained strong.
"Kaeya the Grand Master, huh?" Diluc muttered, changing the subject. "Hate to admit it, but it fits you."
"I disagree, but Jean would seem to share your sentiments."
"Of course she does. She's…"
Too much like me, Diluc finished in his mind.
This country, and the friends and family he had here… he loved them dearly. Even after fate itself had been defied, Mondstadt remained the same place it had always been, and that fact never failed to prick Diluc's heart. No matter what, it seemed that he could never escape from his roots.
Now, though, he questioned if that really could continue forever, especially after what he had just done. After sleeping on it for a night, he had come to the conclusion that he had probably made an awful mistake, but had also averted an even more tragic ending. It was a no-win situation, no matter how he looked at it.
"Why does it always end up like this?" Diluc whispered to himself.
Even in that moment, he could feel the wheels of fate at work, forcing him and those he loves down different forks of the river called "life". Whether those forks would arrive at the same place eventually - that was yet to be seen.
"That's the place."
On the evening of the second day after Keqing was kidnapped, Dawn Winery was quiet and picturesque, giving no hint of the chaos that had unfolded there shortly before.
"Quite the little kingdom he has. As expected of the son of Crepus Ragnvindr," an elderly man said.
Five figures stood atop the cliff overlooking the river valley. These select few would be the welcoming party for their newest member - underwhelming as that seemed.
"Stay here. I'll go get him. Something tells me it would make for quite the stir if we all showed up like this unannounced," Damselette said.
As the others watched, beautiful white wings spread wide. Her feet drooped down, suddenly becoming useless as they lost contact with the ground below. Without a sound, she hovered effortlessly towards the Mansion below, as if gravity had no power over her at all.
"I'll never get used to that," Childe commented with an air of distaste.
But no one offered a response. The leader of the group just looked on sternly, watching the third-ranked Harbinger fly away into the orange-dyed sky.
Diluc had felt terribly restless ever since he had brought Keqing back home. Damselette's proclamation was firmly lodged in his mind, and he caught himself looking over his shoulder frequently, half expecting a group of Harbingers to show up at any minute. Because of that, he couldn't relax at all, even inside his own home.
However, the way it finally happened was far from what he had expected.
After dinner, he was resting by the fireplace, sipping on some tea that Adelinde had brought him. Keqing had gone upstairs to bathe, leaving him to his own thoughts for a while. In his right hand was a book that he was utterly failing to immerse himself in, despite his most valiant efforts.
In between those glances at his book and listlessly staring at the crackling fire, his mind slowly processed the fact that he was not alone.
In an instant, his guard was up, and his head swiveled towards the figure on the sofa next to him, though even at that speed, he would have been much too late to save himself from any attack that might have come from this intruder.
"Hello, Diluc. We've arrived," a soft, feminine voice greeted him.
"You… how did you get in here?" Diluc whispered, flabbergasted.
"There's no time to explain. Your maid will almost certainly figure out I'm here shortly. Meet me outside."
The next instant, that woman was no longer next to him.
"That's… uncanny," Diluc said, breathing out deeply.
After allowing his heart rate to drop back into a less life-threatening zone, he stood from his couch. Surprisingly, the maid that the winged woman spoke of had failed to show up. That disturbed Diluc in an entirely different way, but he would have to deal with that problem later. For now, he headed back to the basement to collect his weapon and coat, not knowing what to expect outside.
Stepping through the door, he was greeted by the cool evening air and a cold voice inside his head.
We're over here, by the path to Springvale, Diluc.
Couldn't you just tell me normally? This is creepy, Diluc mused to himself.
I could, but this way, your "maid" won't catch us.
"Fuckin' hell…" Diluc muttered under his breath at the unexpected answer, then headed towards the rendezvous point.
Once he got near, he noticed several figures standing amongst the fir trees that lined the path - the very same path that Keqing had walked a few days before.
Without a word, Diluc drew closer, until that now-familiar soft female voice spoke up.
"Welcome, Diluc Ragnvindr."
Now close enough to make out their faces, Diluc scanned each figure inquisitively. There was a tall, imposing blond man with a mask covering half of his face at the center of the group. To the right of him was the short, gorgeous woman known as Damselette. Beside her was Childe, who was more than familiar to Diluc by now.
It was the two on the left that concerned Diluc most; they were the same two people he had seen standing outside the Goth Grand on the night of his honeymoon. At the same time that he noticed this, Arlecchino's eyes grew wide, and anger flooded her face.
"Oi, what the fuck is this? That cloak he's wearing…"
The others looked at her questioningly, but she didn't continue immediately. Instead, she lunged at Diluc, grabbing him roughly by the collar.
"You bastard, you killed some of my men, didn't you? You're the one who attacked us several years ago and then escaped!"
"Eh?" Columbina squeaked, looking a bit surprised at this turn of events.
Diluc, however, refused to look at Arlecchino, avoiding her gaze knowingly.
Pierrot watched with a poker face as chaos ensued.
"Yeah, guess that was me. It's a shame I didn't kill more of you," Diluc mumbled in a low voice.
Arlecchino twisted Diluc's collar and rared back to punch him, but Childe grabbed her arm before she could.
"Stop it. We didn't come to fight."
"Shut up, kid. You don't understand anything. This guy was infamous for hunting Fatui and killing them, and then suddenly, he just disappeared several years ago. Now we know why. He's been living it up in a damn mansion all this time."
Arlecchino's eyes were even more unhinged than normal. She stared at Diluc with pure hatred mingled with an insanity that bubbled just beneath the surface. Suddenly, Pierrot put a firm hand on her shoulder, and she instantly backed off.
"If that's true, then we have stumbled upon a rather fortuitous turn of events. I'm sure there's many things he can tell us as payment for sparing his life… and his wife's as well."
The Jester's booming voice was incredibly imposing, causing Diluc to doubly regret making this deal. This was not a group where Diluc would have any say whatsoever, which was not something he was used to at all. He wasn't sure how much The Jester knew of Damselette's seemingly-secret motivations, or how much she had told them about the Reset, which only complicated things more. Diluc could only conclude that he was now completely ensnared in something much bigger than himself.
"Now now, try not to be too harsh on him. He's been through a lot," Columbina said gently, smiling.
Childe raised an eyebrow, and Pulcinella looked confused. This meeting wasn't going how anyone had expected it to, it seemed.
"In any case, he is now a trial member of the Eleven Harbingers, in spite of my reservations. Diluc Ragnvindr, we hope to have your cooperation from now on," the leader said, extending a huge hand to Diluc.
After a few seconds, Diluc took his hand and shook it firmly.
"As long as she's safe."
"That is entirely up to you," the tall man replied calmly.
Reaching into his coat pocket, Pierrot pulled out a small emblem. He leaned down, and affixed it to Diluc's chest, on the opposite side of his breast from his heart.
"Now that that's settled, it's time for your initiation," Damselette spoke up again.
"Huh? I wasn't told about this," Diluc argued.
"Of course not, then you'd have time to prepare."
Nearby, in an abandoned hilichurl camp, the shadowy group had reconvened, minus one. Arlecchino had already had enough for the evening, angrily parting ways with the group at her earliest opportunity.
At the base of a tall cliff, several abandoned structures stood rotting in decay. This place was close enough to Dawn Winery that Diluc had made a point of routinely murdering any churls that attempted to take up residence here. As a result, they had left this base behind for greener pastures.
"You're going to face Childe in a sparring match."
"What?!" Childe exclaimed, clearly not informed of this important fact beforehand.
Diluc wasn't too pleased by this arrangement either, but when he remembered his past with this brown-haired prick, he found himself strangely motivated to take up his sword.
So, as they strolled up to the abandoned camp, the others stood at a distance, while Diluc and Childe continued to the center of the area.
"Just so you know, I won't go easy on you this time. Teucer isn't here," Childe muttered.
"Likewise."
In the middle of an open area with three old buildings standing against a cliff, the two men stopped walking and turned towards one another.
"Guess this is far enough," Diluc said.
From behind them, Damselette's voice rang out.
"Start when you're ready!"
"On your count," Diluc muttered.
"Right. Three, two, one-"
The final word he spoke was drowned out by the loud screech of tortured metal.
Childe had immediately summoned his water blades, and they had turned out to be just as sturdy as Diluc's broadsword. If they hadn't, Childe's life might have come to an end right then and there.
"Haha, eager as always, I see!" Childe shouted, leaping back to recollect himself.
"I'd rather not stand around in this dump all night," Diluc shot back.
Next, Childe took a swing at Diluc. The red-haired man somersaulted backwards, avoiding the water blade, and then dashed forward. He prepared to swipe at Childe, but when the brown-haired man showed signs of defending with his blades again, Diluc changed his attack to a vicious kick. It struck the side of the water blades, propelling Childe backwards at a decent rate of speed. His boots dug into the dusty ground, throwing rocks up as he slid to a stop.
"They really didn't waste any time, did they?" Damselette commented as the other three watched from a rocky outcrop nearby.
As Childe finally stopped his momentum mere feet from one of the hilichurl structures, Diluc was already headed towards him at a high rate of speed.
"Oi oi, you don't have to be this serious about it…" Childe grumbled.
He whipped out his bow and fired off a shot at the quickly-approaching Diluc. The red-haired man dodged it by inches, and continued his advance, forcing Childe to once again switch to close-combat mode.
Diluc's sword was instantly engulfed in flames, and he swung it in a wide arc at Childe. The Eleventh Harbinger dodged, leaping into the air, and Diluc's flame blast decimated the building where Childe had stood just a second before. Broken, flaming pieces of wood exploded across the small field, falling like burning meteorites and setting several small grass fires as they landed.
Diluc's tremendous swing had left him wide open, and Childe landed behind him while the red-haired man was still facing away. Childe jabbed at him with a water blade, but to his surprise, Diluc ducked and rolled, squirming safely out of reach. Childe wasn't done, though. He followed up with a swift low kick of his own, which connected.
Diluc grunted as Childe's foot hit his hip, sending him rolling across the soft grass near the bottom of the cliff. He quickly regained his footing, but Childe hadn't pursued him. Instead, that man was grinning.
"That all you got?" he poked at Diluc with a grin, seeming to enjoy this little skirmish a bit too much.
Diluc didn't respond to his goading immediately, though. Instead, he stepped behind a nearby fir tree and took a mighty swing, then kicked the falling tree at Childe.
"Whoa, what the-?!" Childe leaped to the side as the tree crashed to the ground, throwing up dust and digging a shallow trench as it roared past him.
But when the brown-haired man landed, Diluc was already inches away, somehow. He grabbed Childe's coat, and rolling backwards, he performed a Judo throw on him. Unable to stop it, Childe flew several feet through the air, and crashed into one of the remaining hilichurl buildings.
Tartaglia groaned and coughed as he sat up, surrounded by broken boards and dust. But the man wasn't ready to give up. In fact, he had a dangerous glint in his eye. Diluc could now sense a tremendous power emanating from that brown-haired man - a power that Diluc was all too familiar with.
"Stop! Enough!" the old man yelled from right behind Diluc.
The two had been so caught up in the fray that they hadn't noticed the other three Harbingers rushing up behind them. Columbina quickly put herself between Childe and Diluc.
"Tartaglia, what are you thinking? This isn't the place for that," she admonished him.
"Fuck that. This guy is starting to piss me off," he growled, wiping the blood from a corner of his mouth.
"Stop being juvenile. This was a sparring match, nothing more. We've already seen more than enough," she responded.
"Damselette is right. Diluc Ragnvindr has proven that he at least has the strength and wits to stand among us. That is enough for now. Diluc, be prepared. A mission will be coming your way soon. I hope that you won't disappoint us."
With those parting words, The Jester turned and left, melding with the night. Sensing the end of their meeting, Pulcinella ambled off as well. Diluc and Childe remained, with Damselette still dividing them.
"Isn't that great, Diluc? The Jester acknowledged you," she crooned.
"Sounds more like he found a fresh workhorse," Diluc responded.
Childe was still fuming as he finally stood to his feet. He clearly wasn't very pleased with the outcome of their confrontation, superficial though it may have been.
"I'm leaving," he spat, glaring at Damselette.
Diluc was silent, but he couldn't stop thinking about that power he had felt. It was most certainly that of a Delusion.
"Tartaglia, you shouldn't use a Delusion so carelessly. If anyone knows that, it's me." Diluc mumbled towards the brown-haired man as he turned to leave.
Columbina smiled at him as he left the scene, and Childe headed the opposite way, his brow still furrowed in frustration. He stopped after a few steps, and addressed her one more time without turning around.
"You'd better not be lying to me."
"Don't worry, Tartaglia. What I told you is true, and I haven't told the others anything yet."
He shook his head, then strolled away. The hilichurl camp was left in a state of utter devastation, with broken wood and charred grass everywhere.
"Really, those two are more alike than they think," Columbina chuckled, taking to the skies.
Diluc Ragnvindr, I know you know her. You'd better tell me soon, before your usefulness to them runs out.
Ending Theme: satella feat. Sennzai - Reincarnation
Next:
Episode 8: The Paradigm