A/N: Hello! This is brainrot that I got since I finished Caribert. It's 30 chapters long so enjoy! :D

Ch. 1 – The End

Kaeya lays on the ground flat on his back and stares up at the cloudless sky, struggling to catch his breath. On any other day, he would be happily enjoying this fine spring afternoon. The sun is out and shining brilliantly across the land after the storm they had yesterday, birds are singing in the trees, and he even saw some slimes frolicking near the river next to the Symbol of Mondstadt's Hero on his way here.

Perhaps he should have instead taken Klee and Albedo out on a picnic like he promised, or at least had brought some other knights with him like Jean told him. Maybe then he wouldn't be in this situation.

His thoughts fade as his eye drifts lazily and his gaze follows a single whisp of cloud rolling across the bright blue sky. It is a nice day, despite the circumstances.

He hears movement near him and he feels a flash of alarm. His fingers twitch as he tries to move them to grab his sword, but his arm feels permanently glued in the mud beside him and his other hand is—

Ah, that's right, he remembers now…

-x-

A few hours ago…

Kaeya walks into his office early that morning and props the door open, as he always does every day, and he glares at the pile of paperwork that sits on the corner of his desk. He immediately regrets not staying the extra hours last night to complete it, and he knows Jean won't be happy to have any completed reports either.

He shivers involuntarily. Honestly, the Acting Grand Master frightens him, especially when work doesn't get done on time.

He sits in the chair behind his desk and gets to work going over the reports, signing off the ones he's been through. Most of them are the general reports he gets every morning, from findings from the outriders, mostly by Amber, patrols around the city, to commissions the Adventurer's Guild needed help with. Occasionally, Eula's reconnaissance team would give him a few, but the one that strikes his attention this time is from no knight—not even an honorary one.

No, this report is from Dr. Edith. His brows scrunch together in thought. Why would a researcher give a report to the knights instead of making a commission? Curiously, he leans back in his chair to read what she has to say.

He skims through the first page that gives her basic information and then flips the page. He pays more attention when he sees the words tall, Abyss-like monster, written on the next page.

He stops skimming to read every detail she had reported. According to her claim, she was walking home last night from Windrise as she always does. Before she came to the bridge, she noticed some monsters just off the road between some trees nearby. This unknown monster was with two Abyss mages and while she didn't stay to see what this new creature looked like exactly, the report notes it was mostly blue in color.

Kaeya frowns anxiously and subconsciously begins to twirl a coin between his fingers. It's not enough information for him to determine what kind of monster she had seen, but whatever it was, its appearance alone convinced her to report it to the knights instead of making a commission.

This monster could be any number of things they hadn't yet come across and the Abyss is full of all kinds of monsters, many of which he doesn't ever want to see, much less meet. Maybe he should ask the Traveler about it, maybe they would know more.

Kaeya looks up from the report when someone knocks on the doorframe to catch his attention. A smile finds its way onto his face when he sees Jean and the coin he had been playing with disappears. "Acting Grand Master Jean, a pleasure to see you this fine morning," he greets.

Jean smiles. "Good morning, Kaeya." She notices the pile he has been working on. "How are those coming along? Anything of note?"

While she doesn't scold him for using her full title, Kaeya is thankful she doesn't seem angry or annoyed that the reports are still sitting on his desk and not turned in. He takes in her exhausted appearance: the bags under her eyes that have been there for too long have bags under them, little bits of her hair are falling out of her ponytail, and there's a thin red line on her chin. She likely fell asleep at her desk the previous night—again.

He should mention something to Lisa; the librarian usually knows how to get Jean to take a break.

He looks back at the report in his hands and the smile drops from his face as he hands it to her. "Just this one. Looks like the Abyss Order is getting close to the city again."

She frowns and takes it. After a moment, her grip tightens on the paper. "Have we determined what kind of monster it is?" she asks. Her eyes are still moving, reading the report just as carefully as he had.

He shakes his head. "Not yet. I was going to investigate it once I got done with all of this." He motions to the other stack of papers he has yet to go through.

She lifts her eyes and lowers the papers to glance at the unsigned paperwork and then looks at him. "Worry about those later, this is more important. Take some knights with you," she tells him. "I'll get someone to finish going through these."

Oh, thank the stars, he thinks. Anything to get out of his stuffy office and away from literal piles of paperwork. "I will bring some knights only if you get some rest." He smirks as she narrows her eyes. Ah, there is the annoyance he had expected earlier. "You shouldn't overwork yourself."

It's calling the pot calling the kettle black, and she takes in his own tired form with a small smile. "I should say the same to you."

"Well, if Grand Master Varka hadn't taken over half of the knights with him—" and my cavalry, he wants to add bitterly, "—then we both would be getting decent sleep, wouldn't we? At least I go home and get to sleep in my own bed every night."

She chuckles. "When you come back, go home and get some rest. That means no tavern visits."

He hums nonchalantly. "And here I was, just thinking about taking a visit to Angel's Share after duty tonight."

Her gaze turns hard. "Kaeya."

He winces at her stern tone and then chuckles nervously. "All right, all right. No tavern visits."

Satisfied, she leaves his office and he hears her heels clacking against the floor as she makes her way back to her own office. He looks at the report one last time. Windrise isn't far from the city, so if he leaves before lunch, he should be able to come back by dinner time.

He gets up and stretches before he leaves his office. Just after he closes the door behind him, something small suddenly crashes into his legs and he looks down to see who had run into him. Klee looks up and gives him a huge, blinding grin and not too far away near the main entrance, Albedo is walking towards them.

Kaeya smiles as he pats Klee's head. "Well, aren't you here early, Klee?" he says to the little girl.

She nods eagerly. "Albedo says the storm's over and we can go on a picnic!" she exclaims. "He's letting me get all the best food and he said he'd even let me go fish blasting!"

Albedo lets out a quiet sigh and pinches the bridge of his nose. "Klee…" is all he says before he goes quiet.

Kaeya chuckles and says, "Oh, really? My, that sounds like a lot of fun."

She nods eagerly. "Yep! So, you'll come with us too, right?"

"I will, but not today. Unfortunately, I have to get some very important work done today."

That catches Albedo's attention, but he doesn't ask about it when Klee deflates. Kaeya feels instant guilt rise in him. "But you promised yesterday that you'll take me fish blasting!" she whines.

"I know, but how about tomorrow? I will make sure to make my calendar wide open just for you. How does that sound?"

Klee's eyes light up again. "The whole day?"

"The whole day. I'll even take you and Albedo out for dinner tonight when I get back." He doesn't miss the way Albedo's cheeks turn a light pink.

She sticks her hand up at Kaeya. "Deal! But you better not break your promise again!"

He chuckles and takes her hand to shake. "I swear as a Knight of Favonius that I will not break this promise." He lets her hand go. "Promise me you'll be good for Lisa."

"I will do my best to be on my best behavior!" she declares.

Kaeya smirks. "Atta girl!" He ruffles her hair and watches her dash down the hall toward the library. Then he turns around and sees an unamused Albedo staring at him. "What? She said she'd be on her best behavior," he tells the alchemist as he approaches.

"If she gets caught fish blasting again, you'll be put into solitary confinement as well," he replies.

"You wouldn't rat me out, would you?"

Albedo's dead-pan stare gives him his answer.

Kaeya laughs. "I mean what I told her: I promise I'll take you and Klee out for dinner tonight when I get back. It'll be nice to go out together for once."

Albedo nods. "As long as it's not after Klee's bedtime again, then I would not mind having dinner with you." He smiles up at him. "Anyway, you'd best get going before it gets too late. Be careful out there."

"You know I always am. I'll see you tonight." He waves as he walks out of headquarters and makes his way to the main gates of the city.

-x-

Kaeya wishes he could keep that promise.

He's not sure how many hours it has been since he left the city without the knights Jean told him to bring, and he's sure little Klee is going to be very disappointed when she realizes he's not there to take her and Albedo for dinner. Ah… I keep breaking promises, don't I?

He is still laying in the mud, feeling it get into his hair and soak through the back of his clothes while in the front, his own blood is staining them a deep red. He moves his eyes from the clear sky and his sight drifts toward a rock near the cliff wall and lands on the blood that coats the ground below.

Oh, that's where it is. He recognizes his sword laying next to it and beside that is his own detached arm.

The monster he had fought had been alone but its power was something he'd never gone against. It seemed otherworldly, carrying not only cryo, but an Abyssal power he hadn't seen before. It had been strong and while he knew he landed a few good hits, his own vision was useless against the shield it had summoned. After that, the fight didn't last for very long—a few minutes at most.

Now missing an arm, his thigh sliced wide open, and a deep stab wound in his chest, he is too weak to even move his remaining hand to protect himself against the monster that is still there. He lets out a wet cough and feels blood leaking from his nose and the corner of his mouth. Everything sounds as though he were underwater and dark spots begin to dot his already limited vision.

He struggles to take another breath, his chest rattling. So this is it, eh? I would have liked another glass of wine before I died, he thinks with grim amusement. A large glass of Mondstadt's finest wine would make the pain more bearable.

He sees movement from the corner of his eye and soon something stands over him, its heavy footsteps stopping just beside his fallen form. "A pity," the herald says in an ancient tongue.

Kaeya barely reacts when it uses the tip of the blade attached to its arm to tear his eyepatch off with ease. He's proud enough to see one of its own arms gone. He guesses that is why it had taken his as well.

It seems to sneer at the golden eye that glares up at it, although the helm makes it difficult to see. "You simply were not ready."

He wants to ask what it is talking about, but all he can get out is a bloody cough that sends waves of pain through his chest.

"Be grateful, Alberich, for death is merciful."

It moves the blade so it is just above his neck. Before it could press down and end his life right there, pyro bursts somewhere from behind him and strikes the herald. He hears a loud screech of pain as the herald stumbles back and away from him.

Someone dressed in black fills his vision as they step between them, their weapon coated in pyro. It takes a moment for Kaeya to recognize Diluc's distinguishable messy mop of red hair and the large claymore he wields. He can't say he's surprised to see him and he wants to ask him what took him so long—Diluc always seems to know what he is up to, whether it be work-related or not. Kaeya hears him yell at the herald, although he can't make out the words.

A fight breaks out, but his concentration shifts toward managing the pain as best he could. The loud clashes of metal against hard ice reverberate through the air, sending a pang of pain through his skull each time. It spreads throughout his body, and he lets out a groan when it gets worse despite the black spots that grow slightly larger and threaten to steal him away. No matter how much he tries to will the pain away, it refuses to lessen even a little.

After some time, he hears the distinct sound of a portal opening. The herald says something that causes Diluc to sprint at it and when Kaeya blinks, he's falling to his knees beside him. He feels Diluc lift his head into his arms and his head lolls to the side so he could see him.

If Diluc is here, then where did the herald go? Did he defeat it? Instead of asking, he tries to swallow some of the blood that had come up back down. "'Luc…" he manages to croak out.

Diluc is yelling something at him, but he can't understand what he's trying to tell him—there's another voice he can hear, a little more clearly than Diluc's. It isn't the herald's voice, yet he can't see this other person. "For a sinner…" it echoes quietly.

He feels something warm land on his face, and he attempts to focus his gaze again to find the source. Tears are leaking from Diluc's eyes and Kaeya can feel them hit his head. His brother looks like he is trying to hold them back and he wonders if it's because they both know he is an ugly crier and has been since they were children.

Diluc's saying something, and he knows he should say something back. All that comes out is a weak moan and he feels the breath be stolen from him before he can make any other noise. Kaeya is able to make out bits of what Diluc is saying. "…Please…" his muddled voice says desperately. "…atos, please! Ven—!"

"Born into abject sorrow," the other voice says, louder than anything else he can hear, "he shall now become…"

The pain suddenly turns into white-hot agony and he feels something strange and foreign rise from him. He screams and doesn't realize that Diluc has let him go, doesn't feel his back arching or see the Abyssal power rising from his body—he doesn't hear Diluc's pained cry when he's blasted away and into the cliff wall near them.

All he can hear is the voice.

"The Loom of Fate."

All of his pain suddenly vanishes and his body finally slumps back onto the ground.

A new voice enters his mind, "Oh little one, do not despair; our fates do not end here. Ours is only the beginning."

He welcomes the darkness with open arms.