Chapter IX

I don't own Genshin Impact.

It was strange in a way. One moment, Diluc had been struggling not to drown in his grief, but now his relief was so great that he like he could fly.

Kaeya was alive! His brother was alive! He can apologize and make good on his mistakes! He had another chance!

Diluc laughed and before he knew it, he was on the other side of the bed and was swinging both Razor and Diona around high in the air.

"Whoa!" Razor said as he did his best to hang onto Diluc with one hand while keeping one hand on Diona.

"Ack, my drink!" cried Diona right as Diluc felt something splashed onto his shoulder. But he didn't care.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Diluc gratefully cried before he carefully placed both kids on the ground, both looking a bit winded. "Sorry about that, but...you have no idea how much I needed to know that."

"Master Diluc!" Suddenly but not unexpectedly, Adelinde swung the door open, her cheeks flushed (whether from crying over Kaeya or running to his room, Diluc wasn't sure. Possibly both). "What...what's going on? How did they get in? And wait, are you-"

"Smiling, yes," Diluc chuckled breathlessly as he straightened up, while Adelinde gazed at the kids with bewilderment and perhaps alarm that the kids managed to get in without her knowing. "I was wrong, Addy. Kaeya's not dead!"

"W-What? Really?" Adelinde said, covering her mouth while her eyes became wet with tears.

"Yes," Diluc confirmed with a nod. He briefly wondered why Fynn told him otherwise but Diluc pushed that matter aside for now. "Everything is going to be ok-"

Diluc suddenly remembered something. His body went still and his eyes grew wide as he tried to keep his horror at bay. Because everything was not okay.

In his grief, he had forgotten to write a note to Jean.

He had forgotten all about Jurian.

And Kaeya was vulnerable.

"Master Diluc?" Adelinde asked in concern right as Diluc turned around.

"Adelinde, make sure the kids get home safely. I gotta go," Diluc said as he vaulted over his bed and raced to the window before slamming it open. "Now!"

"Master Diluc! Don't!" Adelinde cried in pure alarm but Diluc didn't listen as he jumped onto the ladder, put his hands and feet on the rails, and slid down the rest of the way. With one glance at the darkening sky, Diluc raced towards Mondstadt with everything that he had in the pouring rain.

He couldn't fail Kaeya again.

GI

Any hope that the woman screamed because of a mouse quickly died when a very loud crash followed it.

No, several loud crashes.

"Stay here," Rosaria ordered as she swiftly stood up and rushed around the bed to get to the door. As much as Kaeya wanted to help, he knew that he was in no place to argue. While better than when he first got revived, Kaeya could tell that he still didn't have complete mobility. He would be a hindrance in a fight.

"Kaeya?" Klee asked sleepily as she picked her head up and rubbed her eye.

"It's okay, Klee," Kaeya quickly assured her while Rosaria opened the door and raced out, harshly closing the door behind her. He moved his hand to pat Klee's head, inwardly wincing at how hard it was to do such a simple movement. "It's going to be okay."

Then the sounds of destruction and screaming outside grew worse, causing Kaeya to grit his teeth. Klee, fully awake now, looked behind her and whimpered. Not able to take it anymore, Kaeya sluggishly pushed off his covers and started to climb out of bed.

"Kaeya, you can't! Barbara says you need to rest!" Klee protested as she tried to push him back into bed. "You can't fight!"

"I'm not fighting," Kaeya said as he gently (yet with difficulty) took her hands and guided her to the side. "I just want to see what's going on."

He may not be able to help directly but maybe if he knew what was going on, he could help indirectly. At least, Kaeya would know just how bad the situation was.

Kaeya grunted as he pushed himself off the bed. His legs were so wobbly that it wasn't for sweet Klee holding onto his arm, he very well might have fallen. Kaeya was frustrated at his weakness but he couldn't afford to dwell on it.

Not when he could still hear people screaming.

With Klee's support, Kaeya hobbled to the door and slowly opened it so that he could see what was going on.

It was somehow worse than what Kaeya imagined. Pews were either broken or upheaved from their original position, some columns had gashes running across them, and worst of all, there were people lying on the floor, motionless and bloody.

Both knights and nuns alike.

And the clear cause of it all was the man standing in front of the cathedral doors, blocking anyone from escaping. He wore a dark gray cloak with the hood down, revealing his sandy-blond hair, blue eyes, and a small scar on his chin. Wind blew around him, causing the cloak to float above him, showing everyone the classic treasure hoarder garb he was wearing.

But what caught Kaeya's eye the most was the teal orb with a pair of short, silver wings that was tied to his belt.

While Kaeya couldn't really see the design on the orb from this distance, he knew without a doubt that it was a Delusion. An Anemo Delusion to be exact.

But how in Teyvat did a treasure hoarder get a Delusion?

"Just give up!" the mysterious treasure hoarder yelled as he sent a gale of wind with a swipe of his hand. Rosaria, who was his target, quickly blocked it with a splash of Cryo and tried to get closer to the treasure hoarder in a serpentine maneuver. However, the turned-over pews and the constant gale attacks from the treasure hoarder made it hard for Rosaria to gain even a few feet.

Though Kaeya had a feeling that if wasn't for the fact that they were trapped in the Cathedral with civilians and the injured, then Rosaria wouldn't nearly be having so much trouble.

"I can say the same thing to you," Rosaria grunted angrily as she dodged another gale, causing the column behind her to receive another gash. "Do you really think the knights won't eventually hear us fighting? Or see poor Otto lying just outside? You can't run tonight Jurian!"

Jurian...Kaeya knew that name.

Kaeya remembered personally finding the bodies of the merchants, Florian and Kim, lying next to their ransacked and destroyed wagon. He recalled telling their grown daughter, married and expecting a child of her own, the horrible news. Kaeya remembered how she sobbed, the only thing that seemed to slightly console her was the promise that the knights would catch the criminals. He recalled investigating and finding several clues and leads as to who the murderers were. Kaeya remembered sharing those leads with Eula, who was the one who ultimately found and caught most of the criminals. He recalled being there for their execution, though Kaeya knew that it wouldn't be over until all the murderers had been caught.

He hadn't stopped hunting for Jurian but he really wished that he had been successful.

"Kaeya, this is bad," Klee whimpered. Kaeya gasped as he looked down to see that Klee was peeking around the door with wide eyes.

Darn it, he had been so engrossed in the battle that he completely forgot to block the grisly view from the little elf girl.

"I know, Klee, I know," Kaeya said as he turned Klee around and hugged her. Kaeya gritted his teeth as Rosaria and Jurian continued to fight furiously, neither of them gaining any ground. The two knights that were still conscious wisely stayed out of the fight and were helping the injured and the remainder of the nuns down to the basement. Barbara, who had been healing the wounded this whole time, attempted to multitask by healing a knight and throwing Hydro at Jurian but Rosaria yelled at her to stop and concentrate on healing instead. Which was good, Kaeya didn't want Jurian to focus any amount of attention on Barbara.

Especially when Jurian's target wasn't the Deaconess or the nuns tonight. Jurian was after the ones who killed his comrades, the knights.

Specifically a weakened Calvary Captain.

"Kaeya, you gotta go back to bed," Klee softly said as she tried to gently push him away from the door. "Don't worry, I'll guard the door."

...No. There was no way Kaeya was going to let the little Spark Knight get hurt because of him.

"I got a better idea," Kaeya said as he grabbed Klee's hand and pulled her towards the window, forcing and straining his body to move as quickly as possible, though there was a noticeable limp. Luckily, the room wasn't that big and Klee came willingly so it didn't take long for them to reach the window. "You're gonna get help."

"But...but what about you?" Klee cried as she tugged on Kaeya's arm with both hands. Kaeya didn't answer as he opened the small window with one hand. "Big Brother Kaeya! Klee won't leave you behind! I promised I was gonna take great care of you, remember?!"

"And you will," Kaeya said as he turned back to her, trying to keep his voice as calm and reassuring as possible even though he was feeling quite the opposite. Then he ungracefully went down on his knees so that he was at eye level with Klee, who was on the verge of tears again.

He made her cry a lot today. Kaeya hated that but there was nothing he could do about it now.

"Sometimes the best way to help someone is to get help from others," Kaeya told her, and if there was a pleading edge to his words then that was fine. Anything to get Klee out of here safely and get the reinforcements that Rosaria needed to curb-stomp Jurian to the ground.

Thankfully, his persuasion seemed to have worked because Klee rubbed her eyes clear of tears and nodded.

"Okay," she said, her voice wavering slightly but her face was full of determination. Kaeya sighed with relief, proud of his brave girl.

"Alright," Kaeya said before he took her into his arms and took a deep breath. Then he forced himself to stand up while carrying Klee. Both his legs and arms extremely protested but Kaeya didn't listen as he with a great push of strength and will, lifted Klee to the windowsill, feet first. For a moment, Kaeya had been afraid that he had misjudged the size of the window and that Klee wouldn't fit but his fears came to naught when Klee slid backwards through the window just fine. Before he knew it, he was holding onto Klee's hands, which was the only thing stopping her from falling to the ground.

"You can do it, Klee," Kaeya assured her one more time. "Go get Jean."

Klee simply nodded and with that, Kaeya let go. A second later, Klee was safely on the ground and was running as fast as she could.

Kaeya exhaled with exhaustion as he finally crumbled to the ground, one hand still on the windowsill. For a few moments, he just breathed as his body trembled in fatigue and relief.

However, he couldn't really enjoy his brief respite when he could still hear Rosaria and Jurian fighting outside.

With a deep breath, Kaeya started to pull himself up before he realized that it would be easier to just crawl. He promptly did so, and while it wasn't a dignified way to get across the room, Kaeya honestly couldn't care less right now. No one was there to see him crawl anyway.

In less than a minute, Kaeya was back at the door and nothing much had changed. Jurian was still blocking the door and while Rosaria had gained ground, it wasn't much. However, it seemed that Barbara was healing the last injured person, one of the conscious knights from earlier, with the other knight by her side with his sword drawn and eyes darting between Barbara, the basement, and Jurian.

Luckily, Jurian seemed to be completely focused on Rosaria, and not Barbara or the innocent and injured people in the basement. In fact, Jurian didn't have much of a choice since Rosaria just gained some more ground.

And Kaeya could see the reason why. Jurian's right hand, which before had been completely normal, was now black and crusty like it was about to fall apart and crumble like ash at any moment.

The effects of the Delusion. Maybe Rosaria didn't need Jean and other reinforcements to beat Jurian. She could-

Jurian suddenly changed tactics and sent three sharp slices of air, one right after the other.

At Barbara, who was still healing the injured knight.

"No!" Kaeya cried and the conscious knight both cried at the same time. The knight rushed to put himself in front of Barbara and his fallen comrade. With a frightened yet resolved expression, he raised his sword but in the end, the gale attacks never reached him.

With a loud and rage-filled yell, Rosaria rushed forward and with a swipe of her polearm, summoned a giant icy lance to land right in front of the knights and Barbara, effectively blocking the gale attacks.

However, it left her open to take an Anemo-powered knife right in the side of her gut.

"Rosaria!" Barbara screeched in terror as Rosaria almost instantly collapsed to the ground, her hand around the knife in her body and her eyes half-closed. Time seemed to slow down as Kaeya felt his scream get stuck in his throat. The sounds entering his ears blurred together as he was forced to take in what was happening in front of him.

The conscious knight ran towards Jurian with a war cry only to get effortlessly thrown across the room by a burst of Anemo and crash into a wall. He twitched but didn't get up.

At the same time, Barbara started to run to Rosaria only for the injured knight to suddenly reach up and grab her wrist tightly, not letting her progress any farther.

Meanwhile, Jurian had finally left the door and was headed straight for Rosaria.

Rosaria, who had let go of her polearm when she fell, tried to reach for it only for Jurian to use his Anemo to blow her weapon out of reach.

Then Jurian took out his pickaxe and raised it right above Rosaria's head.

A strangled scream finally broke out of Kaeya's mouth and the next thing he knew, he was running towards Rosaria and sending several small, but sharp icicles at Jurian. By the time Jurian picked his head up, the icicles were mere inches away from his face. Kaeya saw his eyes widen right before a loud burst of Anemo surrounded him, breaking all the icicles into small, insignificant pieces.

But when the wind died down, revealing Jurian to be uninjured by the Cryo, Kaeya leaped over Rosaria and aimed his sword right at his neck.

This time Jurian just jumped backwards and while he completely saved himself from getting his head chopped off, Kaeya was alright with this. Kaeya was in front of Rosaria now. And even though he was panting hard and his body was trembling and screaming at him, Kaeya wasn't going to let Jurian get to her.

Never.

"That is enough," Kaeya snarled as he raised his sword, prepared to fight with everything that he had, and more.

"Kaeya…" Rosaria said, her voice weak, too weak.

"Kaeya! You can't!" Barbara pleaded. "You-"

"Won't be able to leave the infirmary tomorrow, I know," Kaeya said, as he forced a careless smirk on his face, his eye completely focused on Jurian. "Just concentrate on healing Rosaria, okay?"

Jurian kept his eyes on Kaeya as Barbara quietly went straight to Rosaria, though the sneer he was wearing was definitely genuine. Kaeya couldn't care less about the sneer, however, as he realized that Jurian's decaying hand was now completely back to being normal and healthy.

How...wait. Did Jurian leech off Rosaria's life force to heal his hand?

This...this just became even more difficult.

"About time you showed up, Captain Kaeya," Jurian said, his sneer becoming even more sinister. "Tired of letting others do your dirty work?"

Kaeya chuckled as he prepared his exhausted body to fight and dodge so Jurian couldn't heal himself with Kaeya's life force, and to buy enough time for Jean.

"Oh please, you're making it sound like you and your friends were innocent," Kaeya said, which made Jurian lose his sneer.

"I'm not. But that still didn't give you the right to execute my family."

"So you had the right to execute those merchants? And all the people we discovered you killed before them? You do realize that your victims had families too, don't you?"

"I do. But they weren't my family."

Kaeya's fake smirk dropped at the callous selfishness of the man before him. He adjusted his grip on his sword and exhaled slowly. He then opened his mouth, like he was about to say something when in actuality, he was going to try and catch Jurian off guard. The element of surprise was probably the only card that he honestly had right now.

However, before he could attack, the cathedral doors blew wide open.

"JURIAN!" Jean roared as she stormed into the cathedral, her sword drawn and hair blowing wildly in the Anemo swirling all about her. Then she pointed her sword at Jurian. "Surrender. Now."

It took everything that Kaeya had to not collapse with relief right then and there. Kaeya knew his best friend well enough that if Jurian didn't raise his hands in surrender in the very next second, Jean was going to strike. And Kaeya had absolute faith that his furious friend would not miss. And even if she somehow did, the other knights were probably not far behind her.

As it was, Kaeya sighed with a genuine smile. Good job Klee. He definitely had to treat her to some-

In a blink of an eye, Jurian rammed into Kaeya, his arms wrapped tightly around him so that his arms were pinned to his sides. Before Kaeya could struggle and try to stab him with his sword despite the awkward position, they were flying across the Cathedral.

"Kaeya!" Kaeya heard Jean (and...Rosaria?) scream with terror as they crashed through the window and into the rain. Kaeya gritted his teeth at the pain of having shards of glass tear up his back, and the impact made him lose his grip on his sword. And to make things even worse, they were still flying rapidly through the air, not as high as the clouds but higher than the buildings in Mondstadt.

And apparently, that included the left wall too since a mere few seconds later, they were soaring over it. It was only then that they finally started to make their descent, though any hope that Kaeya had that it would be a somewhat gentle one died when Jurian suddenly pulled him out of their horrible embrace and kicked him towards the ground.

Kaeya landed harshly on his back, making his new cuts scream in agony. The impact also caused all the air to escape his lungs, causing him to instinctively gasp for air as Jurian used his Anemo to land gently beside him.

Though Kaeya was sadistically pleased to see that Jurian's hand was decaying again.

To the point that the pinky and ring fingers were gone.

"Crap," Jurian darkly and painfully muttered as he stared at his dying hand, specifically the missing fingers while keeping a firm grasp on his wrist. Then an expression of peace and acceptance appeared on Jurian's face as he let go of his wrist.

"Oh well, I knew that this Delusion would kill me sooner rather than later," Jurian said calmly as he looked down coldly at Kaeya before waving his hand. Kaeya could only lay there, gasping for breath, as Jurian easily broke his Vision away from his belt with Anemo and threw it far to the side. The action caused the tip of his middle finger to break away into black ash and dust but Jurian didn't seem to care anymore. "I will simply just have to move Eula's death up the timetable."

Then Jurian took out his pickaxe and raised it above Kaeya's neck, his lips curling into a cruel smile.

"But for now, my dear Captain Kaeya, heal what remains of my hand."

Kaeya wanted to fight back, he really did. He wanted to kick and punch. Kaeya wanted to grab a handful of the mud and grass surrounding him and throw it at Jurian. He wanted to stop Jurian from getting anywhere near Eula. He wanted to avenge the nuns and knights that Jurian wounded. Kaeya wanted to avenge Rosaria. He knew that Jurian's knife didn't hit a particularly fatal spot and that Barbara got to her fairly quickly, but he still wanted to know if she would be okay. He wanted to treat Klee to some fisherman's toast or whatever she wanted for doing such a good job getting Jean. Kaeya...wanted to do so many more things.

He wanted to live.

But Kaeya couldn't move. While he was finally starting to breathe again, all the strength left his already weak limbs when Kaeya made contact with the ground. Trust him, he tried.

As Jurian lifted his pickaxe a little higher, the weapon now covered in swirling Anemo energy, Kaeya suddenly thought about the people in his life. Like Jean...he was going to make her cry again. Klee too, especially since he made her leave him behind. Rosaria (if she wasn't already) was going to be mad that he hadn't been careful enough. Diona was going to be really angry for breaking his promise to her. Razor was going to be upset that he only managed to give his Lupical a few more hours of life. And...

Diluc. How would Diluc feel about Kaeya dying? Relief that he wouldn't have to deal with a liar like Kaeya anymore? Or just nothing at all? As he thought about it, Kaeya actually wished that it was the latter. Because as much as Kaeya desperately ached to have his brother back, wished that he had told Diluc the truth before Dad died, or didn't naturally build his defenses around the man after Diluc returned from Snezhnaya, at least this way…

Diluc wouldn't be grieving his death.

Then Jurian brought his pickaxe down.

...

Please review on your way out and I will post the next chapter shortly. Until then, have a good day/night.