Ch. 10 – The Sinner's Promise [II]

A crystal fly floats up above the grapevines, avoiding Diluc's grasp by a hair's breadth, and dances in the air as if it's laughing at the redhead. The boy glares at it and then at Kaeya when the other giggles at his failure to catch it. He crosses his arms across his chest and says, "I don't see you trying to help."

Kaeya watches the crystal fly disappear into the late afternoon sky. "You keep scaring them and I don't feel like running after them," he replies. He squats down, poking one of the unripe grapes. He pouts at it, wishing it was ripe enough to pluck and eat. Fresh grapes taste the best, but if he can't find any that aren't ready, then he'll simply have to make do with other fruit they have inside.

"If you know how to catch a crystal fly so well, why don't you do it?" Diluc challenges.

He looks up at his older brother, a tiny smirk tugging at his lips. "Oh, but I can't do that. Crystal flies don't like me even if I try to sneak up on them. Perhaps someone trained by an adeptus or somebody from the Shuumatsuban would have no problem. Unfortunately, we have neither of them."

Diluc rolls his eyes. He sits down beside him, using the vines as shade from the sun. Kaeya joins him, holding the few ripe berries he found while rifling through the vines in his hands. "I thought you didn't like grapes."

He shakes his head as he pops one of the berries into his mouth. There's a satisfying crunch and then he answers, "I like grapes. I don't like grape juice. Trust me, there is a difference." He offers him one of the grapes.

He takes it and eats it immediately. They both know that if they're caught sneaking grapes from the vines again, they would get into trouble. Luckily for them, the vineyard workers are on the other side of the field tending to the vines while Crepus, Elzer, and Adeline are all inside. No one's paying much attention to what they're up to, and if they eat some of the grapes, it's nobody's business but their own.

"Do you want to try making wine for Weinlesefest?"

"Weinlesefest isn't for another month, though."

"Exactly. We need to start preparing for it!" He shoots up to his feet. "We'll make the best one, but because we won't be able to drink it, we'll give it to Father!"

It's not a bad idea. Kaeya has been searching for something to give to Crepus as gratitude for weeks now, ever since they had gotten the adoption certification. Since then, he hasn't returned to the city as often and he's slowly grown used to the humble life at the winery. It's not bad, and to be honest, it's a relief from having to go out every single day on patrol.

Diluc, on the other hand, is going on his first patrol with a unit from the cavalry fairly soon. Even if he won't say anything much about it, Kaeya can tell he's nervous about it. Maybe he should make a bottle of wine for him instead. "Do you think he would even like the wine we make?" he asks.

"He likes everything we make."

"I think he only says that so he doesn't hurt our feelings." He's seen the way Crepus has winced when he tried Diluc's cooking once. It wasn't good, but for a ten-year-old without proper skills or someone watching over him, it wasn't the worst.

Diluc scoffs. "That isn't true. Anyway, Elzer can teach us how to make wine. I know some things, but after Father, Elzer knows the most."

Kaeya gets up and brushes dirt off of his shorts. "Wine needs time to ferment, and I don't think a month will be long enough." He glances at the grapevine next to them. "Maybe we can make some now and when it's ready in a few years, we can give it to him."

The other boy looks at the grapes as well. "Yeah, it probably wouldn't taste as good. Hm…" He scratches his chin in thought. "Oh! What if we made some now and in a few years when it's ready, then we give it to Father? Then it wouldn't taste bad, right?"

He actually likes this plan. He nods. "Sure, we can do that."

"All right, let's go see Elzer!"

"Wait, right now? Shouldn't we wait for Weinlesefest to start?"

Diluc glances back at him, having taken a few steps to the manor. "Why would we wait until then? It takes a super long time to make good wine!"

Kaeya smiles. "But it'd be better if we waited until festival time to get started. I hear the anemo archon comes every year during that time to bless wine, so the wine would be super special wine, wouldn't it?"

His eyes widen. It's a similar shocked expression he'd seen Klee make when he would make up stories for her. Diluc nods. "You're right! It would taste the best if we make it on Weinlesefest! Kaeya, you're super smart."

Kaeya chuckles. "Why thank you, Diluc. Can't say the same for you, sometimes."

He smile drops and it turns into a playful glare. "Hey!"

He laughs even harder.

They fall into a comfortable silence and Kaeya stares up at the cloudless sky with a small smile. He blinks as something glints in the sunlight and squints. A crystal fly is hovering just above them, and he remains as still as he can when it floats just above his knees. He doesn't want to scare it away and with Diluc distracted with some grapes, now is the perfect chance to snatch one.

He lets it land on his leg and as slow as a prowling cat on the hunt, he sits up. He moves to scoop the crystal fly in his hands when suddenly, a shadow appears over them and scares the little crystal fly. He yelps as it flies into the air and he jumps for it. It nimbly evades his grasp and he huffs when a light laugh reaches his ears. "You scared it away!" he complains.

Crepus chuckles. "I'm sorry. You can try catching crystal flies another time." He helps them both up to their feet. "Come inside, both of you. It's getting late and dinner will be ready shortly," he says.

Diluc laughs from beside Kaeya. "That's what you get for not helping earlier!" he says loudly.

Kaeya sends a halfhearted glare at him. He's tempted to tell Crepus that Diluc has been eating the grapes to get him into trouble, but he just knows that would open a can of worms and get him into trouble as well. He doesn't feel like being punished for eating grapes, of all things.

"At least we know who can catch a crystal fly and who can't."

"I can catch one!"

"I'd ask you to prove it, but they're all gone now with all your yelling."

They follow Crepus back inside and their loud bickering is immediately silenced when Crepus threatens no dessert. If there's one thing Kaeya doesn't want to be taken away, it's Adeline's dessert.

-x-

Kaeya wakes up with a gasp and his hand shoots up to his covered eye with a pained groan. He can't remember the dream he had, only that the pain in his eye forced him awake. His eye is throbbing, and he grips the edge of his blanket with his other hand in a tight grip. He can't remember a time when it hurt as bad as it does now. This pain is nothing like any migraine he's ever had; it's never been centered around his eye like this before.

No. Wait. That's not true.

He pulls his hand away from his face and looks at his palm. His brows furrow together in thought. It has never hurt like this before, right? If so, then why does it feel like it has? He closes his eye again, feeling as though something is tugging at his mind and takes a deep breath. Why is he so lightheaded?

"There is an imbalance to our fate," a vaguely familiar voice says.

He tries not to jump, but it's too unexpected and the headache isn't helping his alertness. He frowns as he opens his eye and looks around, trying to find the source of the voice. "Our fate?" he asks.

Silence is his answer. No one else is moving in the manor, likely fast asleep this late at night.

His feet lightly hit the floor as he slides out of bed. He can't see anyone in the room with him and he slowly reaches for the knife he stole from the kitchen that sits inside the bedside drawer. His eye carefully scans his room as he opens the drawer and looks at the door. It remains closed, and it doesn't seem like anyone has stepped inside since he went to bed hours ago.

Knife in hand, he goes to the window and cracks the curtain open to look outside. There's nothing out there, only the stars and moon shine and the crystal flies that he and Diluc tried to catch earlier are back on the vines.

He spins around when he hears the voice again, the knife's edge facing outward to block an attacker just in case. "Do not fear, young Kaeya. I will not harm you."

There's no one there. This voice is in his head. It unsettles him and his defensive stance doesn't relax in the slightest. For a moment, and as wary as he is of the archons, he wishes he had his vision. A part of him longs for it, but another is happy he doesn't have the constant reminder of that night hanging off his hip.

"However, this obstruction must not be ignored."

Kaeya winces as the pain in his eye flares. He goes to open the door, but his legs stop themselves. He tries to take a step but his feet feel glued to the floorboards and don't budge. His other eye widens a fraction in alarm. "What's happen—?" His voice abruptly cuts itself off.

He remains standing, but he can't move his arms or legs. He feels himself blink and his hand moves up to his head to remove his eyepatch. He watches it fall to the floor and fear tears at him when he can't stop himself from taking a step, and then another. His body is moving by itself, he can only watch as his hand grasps the doorknob and then open the door.

This isn't him moving. He's not in control, and as he walks out of his bedroom and heads down the stairs, his panic increases tenfold. What is happening to him? Why can't he stop himself? He wants to yell, scream, something to attract someone's attention, but no noise escapes his throat.

"There is no need to be frightened. This is a necessity in order to fulfill our fates."

He fights back against whatever control this voice has over his body as hard as he can. He can feel every little pebble on the ground as his bare feet step outside towards the river and feels the gentle breeze brush against his exposed skin in the cool night. Let go!

"Hush, child. All will be well. For now, you must rest."

His mind reels as a feeling of exhaustion suddenly settles deep in his bones. As much as he wants to succumb and pass out, he doesn't know what this voice could do to him or anyone in the manor if he doesn't resist.

He can't put anyone in danger, he wants to keep them out of it. So, with all the willpower he can muster, he surges against the control. I said: let go!

Like the twig he steps on, the control over him snaps. His body jerks like a puppet with its strings cut and he stumbles forward several steps until he catches himself on a tree. He greedily gasps for air as his body trembles violently as if he had been walking through Dragonspine without anything to keep him warm.

The voice's presence fades away and he's left alone in his own mind, a blessed silence.

The air around him feels heavy and he shakes as he slowly slides to the ground on his knees. He raises his hand and presses his palm against his eye. The pain receded some time ago, but a dim aching is still there and he knows it won't simply go away. Something else remains steady in his mind and he stares at the ground with wide eyes. What just happened to him? Who was that?

He looks at his hand, sluggishly flexing it to ensure his own actions and then looks around. He feels exhausted and all he wants to do is curl up and sleep, but he needs to get back inside. He lifts his head and is relieved he hadn't gone far. The manor is right there, it won't take long to get back.

With another look around the area, he notices that the cryo slimes are missing and he frowns. Something is off. The hair on the back of his neck stands up. There is someone watching him.

As much as he wants to curse, he doesn't make a sound as he fails to see his knife anywhere. He likely dropped it somewhere in the manor. The bush's little branches crack across the footpath and his head snaps to the noise. He wishes now more than ever to have his vision and sword, or to at least be inside where he knows it is safe.

Kaeya is about to run for the manor until he finally spots the dark silhouette and a pair of deep blue eyes staring at him. He can recognize those star-shaped pupils anywhere. A man steps forward, a cursed right arm poised to strike. It seems as though he would rather attack first and ask questions later, but just before the hit lands, Kaeya mutters, "Dainsleif?"

The man stops in surprise. Sharp fingers made of a dark power are inches from Kaeya's face. He doesn't lower his arm and the dim blue power dances across his arm dangerously. A heartbeat passes before he answers, "You know me?"

He nods, eyeing the arm warily.

If Kaeya thought he was good at masking his feelings, Dainsleif is a tier above him. He studies him with only a hint of curiosity in his eyes. He hasn't changed at all. His hair and half mask are still the same and he looks as young as he did at Port Ormos. The glare he is giving Kaeya is the same as well.

A few seconds pass before he finally lowers his arm. His fingers are still covered in the dark power and Kaeya knows if he says the wrong thing, Dainsleif will not hesitate to kill him. He has a feeling the man hates anything related to the Abyss Order more than he does. "It is common courtesy for you to tell me who you are."

He doesn't know if he wants to, but if he tries to run away now, he'll likely be killed before he can return to the vineyard. But if the traveler trusts him... "My name is Kaeya Ragnvindr. Before, it was Kaeya Alberich."

The man's gaze suddenly turns hard and his eyes narrow. The intense gaze makes Kaeya want to shrink away and hide, but he stands his ground. "Alberich?"

"Yes."

He scans him with his eyes and his threatening aura doesn't abate in the slightest. The longer he's quiet, the more nervous Kaeya gets. "Tell me, are you aware of the implications of that name, Alberich? I would not be so forward with your surname in the future if I were you."

"I know. You told me."

At this, Dainsleif blinks. "I do not recall meeting you before."

"Ah, it's not before, rather, we will meet each other. At Port Ormos, to be exact."

The Khaenri'ahn looks confused but as soon as it appears, it vanishes as his expression returns to a neutral, blank slate. His eyes trail to Kaeya's exposed eye. He hums when he spots it, and says, "I see."

Kaeya frowns. "What is it?"

His arms drop to his sides. The power that has coated his arm this whole time finally fades away and his fingers return to normal. "I have wandered Teyvat for hundreds of years, ridding abyssal corruption in ley lines and hunting the Abyss Order. To see corruption so concentrated in a living being who isn't affected by the curse is disturbing."

That… doesn't sound good.

"Have you encountered anything related to the Abyss Order?"

He lets out a short laugh. "You won't believe me if I tell you."

"I have seen a great many things in my time. Tell me what you know."

"If you say so." He takes a deep breath. "I encountered an abyss herald while on patrol and we fought."

Dainsleif raises a brow. It's clear he doesn't believe him as he takes in Kaeya's current form. To be honest, if a child told Kaeya that he fought anything related to the Abyss Order, he wouldn't believe them, either. "You fought a herald and survived?"

"No."

His face scrunches slightly in confusion. "Yet here you are."

"Yet here I am." He hesitates. "I fought it and it killed me." He holds his arm and moves it, subconsciously making sure it's still there. "When I woke up, I was a child again and in the past."

At this, he finally looks surprised. "So you are saying you were an adult and fought this herald. How is it you came to the past?"

He's surprised at the question. To be honest, he'd expected him to brush him off and call him insane. "You believe me?"

"I have seen many things that are considered to be impossible."

It's neither a yes or a no. Kaeya lets out a short chuckle and then shakes his head. "I don't know how I'm here." He wishes he knew. "But lately, strange things have been happening to me. In my previous life, the curse never affected me. My father told me it was sealed in my eye but tonight I heard a strange voice and suddenly, I had no control over my own body."

"You were possessed?" He rubs his chin again.

"Yes. Do you know what it could have been?"

Dainsleif doesn't say anything for a bit and then crosses his arms across his chest. "I do not think you are cursed."

He doesn't believe him. His father had repeatedly told him his eye is a curse itself, that it is the only thing that keeps him from changing into a monster like all the others around them. Kaeya motions to his eye. "This is a curse, isn't it?"

"You may be from Khaenri'ah, but you are not a pure-blooded Khaenri'ahn. If you were cursed, you should have become a hilichurl a long time ago."

He knows this. Maybe he and his family were simply immune to the curse.

"Your eye is a curious thing."

"My eye?" He wants to cover his eye back up and hide it from the world again. "What do you mean?"

"Whatever power your eye holds is likely the cause of your unique situation. It does, however, cause some kind of corruption from the Abyss. That's why I came here." He looks at his eye once more. "I sensed its power and came straight here."

Kaeya looks at Dainsleif's cursed arm and takes in the rest of him. He seems to know how to control a form of abyssal magic, and he looks back at his eyes. "Can you teach me how to use it? If this is my curse or whatever you want to call it, I don't want it to possess me again."

Dainsleif is quiet for a few moments, his face scrunched in thought.

When he doesn't say anything for a few more seconds, Kaeya adds, "I don't want to hurt anyone."

He shakes his head. "This is not a power you can control."

Kaeya's shoulders slump. What is he going to do, then? He doesn't know if he'll be able to fight back every single time this voice tries to possess him again. He was barely able to fight back and get the voice out of his head tonight.

There's a moment of silence as the two simply stare at each other, one alarmed and the other quietly thinking. It passes by in a couple of seconds, but to Kaeya, it feels like an eternity. He just wants to know what is happening to him, and if Dainsleif knows something, maybe he'll tell him and he can figure out how to deal with this problem. "I believe he is the one behind all of this," Dainsleif says quietly.

He doesn't ask who 'he' is straightaway. Instead, he goes through every bit of information he has on the Abyss Order. The Abyss is full of many different monsters, but he's never heard of any of them being able to possess someone. "Who are you talking about? Do I know them?"

"That is highly unlikely." His eyes snap to something behind him and Kaeya follows his gaze. A dim light comes through a window near the back of the manor. Kaeya believes it's Adeline just waking up to start her morning. By now, the sky has begun to change colors and as the sun starts to rise, he notices the cryo slimes remain missing. He wants to think Dainsleif had something to do with that.

Dainsleif returns his attention to Kaeya again as he asks, "Then, can you help me find a way to get him out of my head?"

He hesitates and conflict flashes in his expression. Kaeya knows helping him is likely against Dainsleif's moral code. After all, the man has been wandering the world for five hundred years hunting the Abyss Order and Kaeya happens to be a descendant of their founder. There's a very high chance that Dainsleif is debating on killing him to get rid of this problem. For some reason, he doesn't think that would help anyone.

It seems like Dainsleif has come to the same conclusion and his arms return to his sides. "It would be wise to keep an eye on you." He turns around. "Know this, Kaeya: should you ever lose control and he successfully possesses your body, I will not think twice about killing you."

He winces. "It's nothing that I wouldn't expect from you, Dainsleif." He also turns around to face the manor. "Thank you. If you ever come by Angel's Share, I'll make sure you get a drink on me."

He then starts to walk back to the manor. He reaches the stone wall in no time and he glances behind him. Dainsleif is long gone, leaving not a single trace behind.

Kaeya takes a shaky breath. He steps inside the manor and sneaks back to his room. He picks his knife up from the bedroom floor and places it back inside the drawer. With an exhausted sigh, he climbs back into bed.

He closes his eyes, even though he knows he won't be able to get back to sleep tonight.