kurecchi

Prompt: Inseguendo un'ombra

Words: 5190

Notes:

I dedicate this fic to my 'platonic soulmates' (Sil and Alasse) and my little sister (Mimì). You can't even imagine how much they helped me while writing this story!
Forewarned is forearmed: if you don't like the couple don't read.
I apologize a thousand times for my english. I'm trying to improve myself!

1.Burnt stones

(provvisorio)

Slowly the flames that had devoured that room and the Hilichurls, who had chosen it as a refuge, went out, leaving only an annoying and acrid smell in the air attributable to the burnt stone. Many would have winced, but there was nothing more familiar to Kaeya.

He had grown up side by side with a pyro user, and he had learned to recognize and appreciate those strong smells, which is why every time he took Klee with him for some mission, for him it was a bit like going back in time, to when his life was simpler and happier in a way.

Kaeya smiled at those thoughts - with nostalgia, of course, but it was still a smile - and he gave that same smile to Klee too, who trotted beside him again.

Together they moved to the door that had just unlocked and, once at the top of the staircase, Kaeya stopped to take a first look inside the new room.

Other Hilichurls. Lesser enemies that Klee would have easily defeated even without his help, because with that quick glance Kaeya had also identified his true target.

Then he turned to the child, lowering himself to his knees to be level with Klee, looking at her with a real expression of pride and amusement.

«Are you ready to attack those bad guys?» he asked.

Klee adjusted her backpack better on her shoulders, then nodded with conviction, adding: «I’m very ready!» as if to confirm her awareness of that mission.

She was innocent and full of energy, like any little girl her age, but when it came to helping the Knights of Favonius, the little Spark Knight always managed to bring out that pinch of seriousness that made her appear to everyone as tender as dangerous. Quality that Kaeya couldn’t fail to appreciate.

«Good,» he murmured. «So... let's recap what I told you before we went into the Temple, okay? We’re almost at the end. On my count, you will have to attack with your Jumpy Dumpty, and I will run towards that staircase. It's important that you stay here to make sure no bad guys try to reach me. You have to guard and you won't have to follow me, are we understood?» he asked, casting another quick glance towards a large stone arch that overlooked a staircase.

Even from their position, a sinister green light could be seen and Kaeya knew that there, at the top of those stairs, he would find his target. Because, on the other hand, that was the usual modus operandi of the Abyss Mages. They used to always choose the innermost places of the Domains or Temples to take refuge, exploiting not only the mechanisms erected to defend those ancient places, but also the beings who already used those structures as a semi-temporary home.

Kaeya had used the excuse of 'clearing the Temple of the Wolf of the Hilichurls' to enter that place without arousing too many suspicions. He had heard of the presence of the Abyss Order and he had acted accordingly, hoping to find both information about the elusive Prince - appointed by some Mages that he had already questioned - and some hints regarding the future plans of the Order.

The mission was honestly a long shot, because he knew he couldn't trust the Mages at all, but even when in doubt Kaeya knew he had to act... and he had to do it as quickly as possible.

Not that there was any imminent threat to Mondstadt and its inhabitants, but Kaeya knew only too well that there was one person in particular who was hunting the Order without caring about the dangers. Diluc wasn't weak or clumsy, since he was one of the strongest warriors in all of Mondstadt, but the Abyss Order was no ordinary organization, and Kaeya would do anything to stop the other from coming into close contact with those beings in one of his 'lone crusades'.

Of course, Kaeya wasn't foolish enough to think that this little effort of his might actually keep Diluc from clashing with the Abyss Mages or the Fatui, but he also knew that he would feel almost calmer if he managed to avert some futile battles.

As much as he wanted to minimize it with jokes and a lot of mischief, Kaeya hadn’t been able to free himself from the feelings that had tied him for most of his life to Diluc Ragnvindr .

How could this have been possible? They had grown up together as brothers, had eaten at the same table and slept under the same roof. They had created such an intense and intimate relationship that they could even guess the other's thoughts without even speaking. A bond, at least for Kaeya, that wouldn't be broken that easily.

Either way, he couldn't deny that he felt a kind of selfish feeling of self-preservation when it came to the Abyss Order. As much as he had chosen to place his loyalty to Mondstadt by now, paying the price of his vow with the fracture that had been created between him and Diluc, Kaeya knew he could hardly keep Khaenri'ah from his existence.

The Abyss Order and Khaenri'ah were related. Their paths ran side by side, creeping into past, present and unfortunately future intrigues that encompassed all of Teyvat… and which, like it or not, were part of Kaeya's life.

Klee's little voice brought him back to reality, and dismissing the thought of Diluc and Khaenri'ah, he turned back to the little girl who had addressed him with a doubtful: «Kaeya-gege, are you sure you don't want a hand?»

Kaeya smiled and adjusted the hat on her head in a sweet and almost fatherly gesture. It was easy to love Klee, and Kaeya's love for her was sincere and not of convenience.

In expanding his network of information, Kaeya had formed various ties with disreputable individuals only for his own gain or that of the Knights of Favonius, but not with Klee.

Klee who, as much as he would have liked to deny it, reminded him of Diluc. Beyond her scarlet eyes and her Vision, the child's bright and energetic character was not so unlike that Diluc that he harbored in his childhood memories.

At their first meeting, Diluc had appeared to him like a ray of sunshine by which he had immediately felt bewitched, like a moth being attracted to a flame. And Klee gave off that same warmth, reassuring and innocent. A certainty for Kaeya, and also a balm to soothe the wounds of his soul.

«I'm sure. And as soon as we finish here, let's go to the Good Hunter to eat together. I'll buy you everything you want,» he said, adding a: «So, Klee… do you understand that you don't have to follow me?»

He trusted Klee and her abilities. He knew that the Hilichurls present there were nothing to worry about the child's abilities, but with equal certainty he knew that the situation would change drastically once he reached the heart of that Temple, in which the members of the Abyss Order were surely hiding.

Kaeya's methods may have been questionable, and he may have even taken Klee as a companion for that mission precisely because the child's innocence allowed him to come up with any excuse to silence any inappropriate question, but he would never have put her off danger. For that reason he wanted to make sure that Klee understood her role.

«Yep!» stated the little girl.

«Very good,» agreed satisfied Kaeya, then urged her with a: «So... now go and blow all those bad guys!»

Klee gave him a broad and warm smile, immediately showing herself excited by the idea of being able to experiment with her bombs designed with Albedo's complicity. In fact, the little girl seemed to no longer want to wait, and sprinting forward she began to burst bombs and one of her Jumpy Dumpty.

The shockwave of those explosions literally made Hilichurls jump into the air, completely unprepared for an attack of such power.

Kaeya himself could not help but be almost enchanted by those flames and the actual destructive power of Klee. She was a true marvel, and once again Kaeya couldn't help but think of the distant memories of his childhood, in which Diluc was the genius loved and admired by all.

He forced himself to quickly return to reality - it wasn’t the time to let go of those nostalgic thoughts - and with his mind clear again he ran towards his goal, hoping that this wasn’t a dead end.

He quickly passed the stone arch to launch himself up the staircase, killing with quick swipes the Hilichurls who had the misfortune to be in his way, leaving behind him the explosions generated by Klee’s bombs, which shook those ancient walls.

That was certainly one of the bad things about working with Klee: the noise.

The child's admirable skills were useful for attracting attention elsewhere, for creating diversions, or for escaping, but they certainly weren't for moving in the shadows undetected. Obviously, Kaeya had taken into account that 'little detail' - he always had to be one step ahead of everyone - and he had hoped that noise would distract the Abyss Mages and put them at a disadvantage.

He just had to be quick to make a surprise attack, and also bring a possible numerical - and elemental, at worst - disadvantage in his favor.

Kaeya reached the end of the staircase ready to launch the attack, but found himself in front of a large, empty square room.

He stopped in place, his muscles tense ready to react to a possible ambush, which nevertheless didn’t arrive. Klee's noise had certainly alarmed the Abyss Mages, who had preferred to hide rather than face a frontal attack.

Never letting his guard down, Kaeya ran his gaze around the entire perimeter of the room, studying every aspect for clues.

Bright symmetrical lines intertwined on the ancient stone walls, making the atmosphere of that place full of mystery and magic. Like the other rooms Kaeya had visited on that raid, this one too featured four columns. They stood imposing and resistant at the corners of what could resemble a small arena, surrounded by a short staircase that seemed almost the rampart to the center of the audience.

Kaeya took a first step, immediately noticing how those regular and orderly lines were in stark contrast to the uneven floor in front of him, surely a sign of the neglect and the battles that had taken place within those walls.

Muscles still ready to spring, he glanced to his left, on which stood the source of the greenish light he had seen since the other room: a Door of Resurrection.

The light seemed to emerge from inside the stone structure, delicately caressing the outline of the nearest column and the uneven floor, while small spheres of light - which at a very first glance didn't seem so dissimilar to fireflies - floated around that ancient mechanism making it almost 'alive'.

The entire Door of Resurrection was trapped by roots that tangled around the structure in an intimate yet powerful embrace. It was able to vibrate the air around Kaeya with an old-time magic, drawing its power from the heart of Teyvat.

It seemed almost an intruder in that large room with such neat lines, and at the same time its presence in the temples was as reassuring as it was sinister. Because if on the one hand the Doors of Resurrection could mark the survival of the Adventurers who received his blessing, on the other it was possible that in the hands of the Abyss Mages they could become poisonous tools for the machinations of the Order.

With those thoughts, Kaeya slowly walked down the steps without stopping to study his surroundings. He was ready to draw his sword at the slightest threat, and dosing every single breath he walked towards the center of that arena, the heart of the room.

Beyond the Door of Resurrection and the bright decorations on the walls, there were no other sources of light, in fact the opposite side of the room looked gloomy and almost shrouded in shadows. The torches, placed on the four sides of the room, which should have mitigated the darkness of the audience, were conveniently extinguished.

Perhaps, Kaeya told himself, it was precisely the members of the Order who had extinguished them to cast those shadows on some areas of the room, but on the other side he could also hope for a better hypothesis: that which saw an Abyss Mage devoted to the Hydro element as the proponent of that darkness.

Kaeya paused as soon as he reached the center of the audience, his ears strained to pick up any noise that hadn't been made by the soles of his boots against the cold stone pavement - or Klee's explosions echoing up there in dull booms amplified by the breadth of those environments.

Kaeya ruled out having made a hole in the water, because although the room appeared deserted he felt someone's gaze upon him. All his movements, from the very first step into the hall, had been carefully followed by a being hidden in the shadows and waiting for nothing but a false move from him. Which, of course, would never come.

He relaxed his shoulders, closing his eye without ever letting his guard down, letting his senses guide him in that instant.

He breathed softly, allowing his Elemental Sight to expand into every corner of that room in search of its target. He could feel the floor shake a little with each explosion, the steady beating of his heart and even the slight sizzle of the Door of Resurrection, loaded with ancient magic. And in the end it was precisely towards that point that Kaeya turned his gaze the next moment, with a smirk just hinted in his lips.

He had found his target.

«Come on out,» he ordered, staring at the column next to the Door of Resurrection.

The Abyss Mage's response was not long in coming. The Mage, in fact, left their hiding place, floating placidly in mid-air. Their body was wrapped in a pale green shield that almost seemed to reflect the light emitted by the Door of Resurrection.

They was different from the other Abyss Mages that Kaeya had had the opportunity to meet, and given the colors of the Mages' clothing, it didn't take a genius to understand that they was linked to the Dendro element, and that also made clear the reason for the absence of fire in the torches.

Kaeya continued to study them carefully, trying to see in their figure some details that could have escaped to an unwary observer, but that could have a completely different weight for him.

The symbol of the Dendro element, confirming the earlier finding, appeared emerald green on a light background on the front of the Mage's robe, as foreign in color as it was familiar in shape. Like their fellows, the Mage wore a long, wide-sleeved tunic, characterized by thick dark green edges that created a pleasant contrast to the lighter shades of the other decorations. Friezes that appeared as intricate, but equally delicate leaf-like embroidery.

Finally there was the off-white mask, which stood out among the thick forest green fur that not only concealed the true appearance of the Abyss Mage but also their expressions.

As much as Kaeya tried to always be one step ahead of everyone, the appearance of that unusual Abyss Mage had honestly displaced him. He was aware of the existence of Mages devoted to the Dendro element, but it was the first time he had seen one here in Mondstadt and that was a more than obvious sign of the moves the Abyss Order was making in the shadows.

In any case, Kaeya told himself without letting his guard down, it wouldn't be a real problem to put it out of action. He didn’t start with a clear elemental disadvantage, and the only obstacle to elaborating an effective attack plan was the lack of information regarding the abilities of his opponent, who at that moment appeared strangely unarmed. In fact, the Dendro’s Mage seemed without a scepter or wand, the tools they used to channel its powers. And that was a detail decidedly anomalous and not negligible.

It could be a trap, Kaeya realized without taking his eyes off the floating figure. From experience he knew that the Abyss Mages also used to have a lot of tricks up their sleeves and he shouldn't be caught off guard.

«I didn't expect to be discovered so soon.»

The voice of the Abyss Mage broke the silence of the hall, echoing like a sinister echo in those ancient walls. They had spoken in the current language of Teyvat, and their vibrant, croaking tone had reached Kaeya's ears unpleasant and annoying. They reminded him of the screeching of fingernails against a blackboard, so much so that he had to restrain himself from shivering and showing his upset too openly.

He tried to focus on something else, such as the fact that the Abyss Mage hadn’t given any particular inflection to their statement, no amazement or anger, or any other feeling that might have been felt in a similar situation. They seemed calm and Kaeya forced himself to wear a relaxed, almost mocking expression.

He would have been in the game, and shrugging his shoulders he gave the Dendro wizard a small smile.

«I have my sources,» he answered simply, taking a first step towards the Mage.

Breaking the barrier that protected the Mage wouldn't be easy, he told himself, but it wasn't impossible either. Once that shield was broken, it would have been much easier to capture and interrogate them.

Klee would have been very useful with his bombs right now, but Kaeya was always determined to keep her away from the Abyss Order. Elemental advantage or not, they weren’t adversaries he would have lightly entrusted to the child.

He reasoned about how to use the land and the hall itself in his favor, never losing sight of the Mage that continued to float near the Door of Resurrection. They seemed strangely attracted to that structure, almost protective, and Kaeya couldn't help but wonder why they were so interested. That didn't promise anything good, he was sure of it.

The Mage made a laughter-like sound, as annoying as his voice.

«You’re wrong if you think you can get information from me,» declared the Abyss Mage. Their pompous tone made their position even clearer, perhaps they didn’t appear frightened or surprised by that attack because of their ideals, in fact the Mage seemed quite ready to do battle.

Pride, and often fanaticism towards the precepts of the Order, were the hallmarks of the Mages. They were ready to die to protect their goals, and precisely because Kaeya understood and knew their way of thinking, he knew how to use it to his advantage.

He also kept his cool, answering the wizard's brave statement with a sharp: «In the end, everyone talks.»

His sentence seemed to have the desired effect, in fact the magic of the Abyss Mage seemed to tremble at what Kaeya had insinuated covertly. He had struck the Mage precisely in the pride and belonging to that order so important to them. Kaeya had questioned many Abyss Mages and he had no qualms about getting the information he needed.

The wizard hissed nervously but seemed to be in control of their actions. They floated even closer to the Door of Resurrection, placing their hand on it. A slight disturbance, caused by that contact, shook the luminous dust and the magical aura of that structure.

«I was looking for a lab rat,» declared the Mage with hostility in their voice, forcing Kaeya to draw his sword.

The Abyss Mage’s little fingers tightened around one of the branches of the Door of Resurrection, a gesture that seemed to tear a lament from that magical structure, which vibrated with a life of its own. It wasn't a real moan of pain, but rather it seemed like a kind of disturbance that radiated into every corner of that room, also investing Kaeya's senses.

It wasn't a good thing, Kaeya told himself, and while launching an icy attack on the sorcerer, he couldn't do anything to stop the Mages from plucking that branch. The energy that was released was such as to vibrate the light that radiated from the structure, almost disturbed and 'painful' for that useless and gratuitous violence.

The blades of ice he had thrown at the Abyss Mage exploded against their shield which, fortunately, appeared almost weakened by the magical wave that had flowed from the Door of Resurrection. However, that didn’t seem to worry too much the Mage who immediately responded to Kaeya's attack using that branch as a catalyst of their power.

Kaeya moved quickly to the side to dodge the green beam that emerged from the scepter of the Mage, and with the hilt of the sword now gripped in their hand, he let go of all hesitation to launch into that fight.

He struck the wizard's shield again, with both powerful sword slashes and as many ice attacks, while attempting to dodge his opponent's offensive.

Kaeya knew their way of fighting, they attacked swiftly and moved from one point of the battlefield to another. Often the Abyss Mages almost seemed to dance and hum to mock their opponents, but while similar to the other wizards this wasn’t one of the classic Mages Kaeya had to deal with.

Although the sequence of attacks was similar, Kaeya certainly didn’t expect to have to defend himself also from the vines, which began to emerge from the broken tiles of that floor. He sliced through them with his sword, then leaping backward as he thought he saw the energy of the Abyss Mage concentrate in a single spot beneath his feet.

The sound of the stone shattered by the roots, which had emerged violently among the tiles, proved Kaeya's intuition right: he had just dodged one of the Mage's strongest attacks.

Kaeya didn’t allow himself to be distracted by that small victory because the battle wasn’t over yet. He was able to sense the presence of the sorcerer behind him, but even before he could protect himself with the powers of his Vision or with the sword, words reached his ears in a language terribly familiar to him. His heart, already agitated by that fight, seemed to almost stop.

«Senz'abba is frores morit in s'agonia...»

It was the oldest language of Khaenri'ah.

In those years he had become accustomed to seeing only a few hints, legacies of a distant and almost lost past, but the one pronounced by the Mage was the oldest language. The most mysterious and lost in time Khaenri’ahn.

Kaeya understood those words only by assonance with the more 'spoken' one, and he would never have expected to hear it pronounced with that strident and unpleasant sound.

It was that moment of astonishment that made him hesitate and allow the Abyss Mages to hit him in the chest with a ray of magic. He was thrown back a few meters, ending up on the ground in a groan of pain from the blow he had just received.

Kaeya cursed mentally for allowing himself to be distracted like that, and ignoring the pain and magic that was radiating throughout his body, he got to his feet, ready to launch into another attack, with the ice of his Vision swirling around himself.

«Jumpty Dumpty! GO!»

A new voice, childish and awfully familiar, came from Kaeya's shoulders accompanied by an explosion that boomed loudly throughout the room. Kaeya was stuck in place in amazement and the Mage, hit in full by the Jumpty Dumpty, fell to the ground, writhing in pain and the flames that had begun to devour them.

Kaeya blinked his eyes several times, genuinely surprised, and turning towards the entrance to the chamber he could immediately see the small figure of Klee. On her face she had a worried expression, mixed with guilt, and when their eyes met, the little girl tried in vain to hide behind the stone wall.

She had disobeyed Kaeya's orders, and while he felt angry at her lack of discipline, the soft spot he had for that little girl almost immediately led him to forgive her. After all, Klee was a child, and he couldn't really expect total obedience.

He sighed, deciding to let go of the lecture he should have given Klee for a few moments, to approach instead the Abyss Mage who had stopped rolling on the ground. They smelled of burnt grass, and beside them lay the torn branch from the Door of Resurrection that glowed as if it were still loaded with magic. The Mage was dying now, and with their last gasps they were continuing that sort of poem so familiar to Kaeya's ears.

«Ti calent... lampos e tronos… M-malarittu... tui non b-bias mai... s'amori frorias...»

The last words died away in a low lament that decreed the wizard's death. In the end Kaeya hadn't been able to question them but somehow he knew he wasn't going to walk away empty handed from that fight. Because not only were the Abyss Mages Dendro approaching Mondstadt, a sign of the increasingly complex machinations of the Abyss Order, but they also seemed to be interested in the Doors of Resurrection and their mystical power.

He touched his chest, where he had been hit by the Mage's attack, almost without thinking. He felt no pain but only a slight numbness, accompanied by a vague feeling of apprehension related to the Abyss Mage’s words.

He seemed to know that poem, but it was also likely that it was only because of the familiarity he had felt in hearing the language of Khaenri'ah after so long. He mentally repeated those lines, finding them strange but equally intriguing, and what he didn't understand was why the Mage had decided to utter those lines at that moment.

It could be a coincidence, a way to make fun of him or not to point out some other detail about the Order... it could be anything and everything, and Kaeya hated that uncertainty.

He sighed and shook his head, trying to think more clearly. The information he had gathered, unfortunately, hadn't added anything to the figure of the Prince, and the only thing he could take away from that mission was the branch plucked from Abyss Mage.

He picked it up carefully, turning it suspiciously in his hands. It still glowed but dimly, as if it were losing its magic now. Kaeya felt no 'evil intention' coming from that object, but he couldn't be sure. But he knew someone who would be very interested in experimenting with it and analyzing it.

«Kaeya-gege?» Klee's shy little voice roused him, prompting him to momentarily put that branch away in his Dimensional Storage and put his reasoning aside.

He turned to the little girl, half hidden near the wall, and Kaeya found himself forced to take on an even more serious expression. The danger was over and he really needed to reprimand Klee for her behavior.

«What did you have to do?» he asked without too many words.

He wouldn't scold her or send her in detention as Jean used to do, but Kaeya would try to make her understand that what she had done was wrong. He would have made her think, because Klee was a clever child and he was sure she would understand if he explained the situation to her. On the other hand, you can catch more flies with a spoonful of honey than with a cupful of vinegar.

Klee hid behind the stone arch again, chirping a: «Blow up the bad guys...»

«And then?» insisted Kaeya, reaching for her and stopping in front of her with his arms crossed over his chest.

«... wait for Kaeya-gege without coming here,» the little girl murmured in a guilty tone and her head down. It was good that she had taken the orders, a little less that she had voluntarily broken them.

«What did you do instead?»

«I didn't wait...» admitted Klee. «But... but you never came back and I was afraid that something had happened to you! And you got hit! And I had to blow up Mr Broccoli!» added quickly the little girl, raising her head in a gesture of courage to try to defend her choice, which from her point of view must have seemed the right thing to do.

Her ears were low and her eyes almost wide, with a small hint of tears in the corners, and Kaeya could no longer keep that serious frown. He knew how sensitive Klee was and how much she hated angering or worrying people she loved, and he must have really scared her for having pushed her to act like that… besides, that Temple was certainly not a place for a child. As a result, he knelt to be her level and look her in the face with a small smile.

«I'm sorry I made you worry Klee. But if I told you not to come here, there was a very specific reason, and I wanted to protect you,» he explained calmly. «What would have happened if Mr Broccoli had attacked you? You could have hurt yourself a lot and I would have been terrified.»

Klee pouted and lowered his head again whispering: «Sorry, Kaeya-gege...» loaded with awareness. Kaeya spoke again, taking Klee in his arms to reassure her and hold her in a hug.

«Next time try to obey orders, okay?» he kissed her forehead gently. The little girl returned the hug, nodding and sinking her face into the fur covering Kaeya's right shoulder.

«And anyway... it was a good move, congratulations,» added Kaeya at that point to try to cheer her up, which actually worked right away.

In fact, Klee seemed to find some of her natural light again, and raising her head she smiled at him, showing herself particularly proud of that compliment.

Kaeya pinched her nose affectionately, heartened by her smile.

Klee was like a real ray of sunshine, and the affection and happiness in the little girl's eyes helped Kaeya to forget that slight numbness he kept feeling in his chest.

An annoyance that, fortunately, was completely forgotten during their way back to Mondstadt.

Note Finali:

The poem pronounced by Abyss Mage is in Sardinian, and it was invented by me with the help of a friend..

Initially I wanted the language of Khaenri'ah to be Latin, but I remembered the motto of the Adventurers’ Guild and I said to myself: “It's impossible that Kaeya hasn't heard it for a long time”. Consequently joking with Alasse and Sil I said: "The language of Khaenri'ah is Sardinian"... and in the end it remained that way.

This stems from our headcanon which sees Khaenri'ah as Atlantis, and Sardinia is said to be the real Atlantis.

Here is the translation of the sentences of the Abyss Mage:

Senz'abba is frores morit in s'agonia (Without water the flowers die in agony)

Ti calent lampos e tronos (thunder and lightning descend upon you)

Malarittu, tui non biasa mai s'amori froria (Damn you, you'll never see love blossom)

About Dimensional Storage. It’s an ever present tropes in various games, but I’m a strange person and I wonder: "How does it work?"

My answer was: "It's about the Visions". This is because only the Vision users seem to be able to summon weapons, while the Knights of Favonius and the Millelith have them visible.

So if they can put away and recall weapons, they can do it with other items as well.