Chilled Grip (a chaeya fanfiction)

Chapter 5: Tainted Blood

Kaeya rolled over in bed, the morning sun shining into his eye.
Sitting up, he pulled his eyepatch on, having switched to a white one recently. He grabbed a cup of coffee, cooling it slightly before taking a sip.
The bitter flavor coated his tongue, softened with a hint of honey.
Just how Kaeya liked it.
As he stepped outside, he noticed the downside of wearing a white eyepatch.
Sunlight shone directly into his sensitive eye, having nothing to hide the brightness.
Squinting his eyes, he headed towards a covered booth, noticing Sucrose waving at him shyly.
Timeus and Albedo stood near an alchemist bench, combining what appeared to be whopper flower extract and slime condensate.
The shimmering liquid glistened as the blinds alchemist poured it into a bottle.
Approaching them , Kaeya waved.
"Morning Timeus, Albedo."
Caught up in their work, it took a while for them to respond.
Albedo smiled kindly.
"Hello Sir Kaeya. I'll be with you in a minute, let me just finish making this paint."
Nodding, the knight leaned against a shelf, chatting idly with Sucrose, who struggled to maintain conversation for long, getting distracted by organizing and reorganizing the shelves piled high with ingredients.
As soon as he was finished, Albedo stood up, pocketing the golden liquid.
They exited Mondstadt together, heading back to dragonspine.
Usually, Kaeya avoided watching Albedo work, it was boring and it smelled bad, but he didn't mind as he really didn't have much to do.
They chatted idly as they climbed the mountain, Albedo occasionally extending his hand to help his friend up, as he was much more of a climbing expert.
As they neared the lab entrance, Kaeya noticed a figure standing by the table, devouring a plate of food.
As they approached, the figure spun around, gold eyes narrowing. A small piece of parsley stuck to the side of his mouth, but he wiped it off with the back of his hand.
With green hair styled in messy spikes, the stranger wore clothes seemingly in Liyue fashion.
Albedo greeted him like a regular visitor, touching his shoulder reassuringly as he started painting.
The canvas sprang to life, a pair of piercing golden eyes forming on the paper.
Still inspecting Kaeya warily, the boy glanced at Albedo, who simply smiled.
"Sir Kaeya, this is Xiao. He's one of my models."
The knight held out his hand.
"Nice to meet you Xiao."
When the dark haired boy didn't take his hand, Kaeya dropped it awkwardly.
"Well uh... Where are you from?"
Xiao frowned, obviously not expecting conversation.
"I'm from Liyue Harbor."
"Ah, I see."
Tugging on his shirt awkwardly, Kaeya attempted a smile.
"Liyue is quite a while away, what brings you to Dragonspine?"
Seeming to warm up to the conversation, Xiao's lips twitched in a small smile.
"I came for snow."
Albedo set down his paintbrush.
"Speaking of which, I made you some shaved ice earlier. It's in the pantry."
Kaeya smiled wryly, realizing that fridges weren't needed due to the icy temperatures.
Noticing how Xiao was only in a white tank top, the bluenette wondered how he wasn't cold.
That was when he noticed the odd aura around Xiao.
It had a faint green tint, mostly condensed around his wrist and ankle areas.
Kaeya the lump in his throat.
They were chains.

The green chains lingered on Kaeya's mind all day.
They weren't abyss magic, that much was certain.
So were they some type of Liyue based magic?
The abyss order ran through all of Teyvat, so Kaeya wondered why he didn't recognize it. His mentor had been one of the best, Dainsleif himself had been hired to teach him.
He had begun meeting with the cryo archon, attempting to get in touch with his roots.
Several times, he had run into the 11th Harbinger, and his mouth gained a bitter taste.
As expected, Tartaglia hasn't been suspicious, as though he was an adamant fighter, he was lacking in the intelligence department.
Having mistaken Kaeya for a woman the first two times, he had decided to play into that role, braiding his hair instead, and wearing feminine clothing.
Dainsleif had helped him braid his hair, though he had to be heavily convinced.
He'd even been given a fake name, if anyone asked, he was Lydia, a fatui understudy of the Tsaritsa.
He flinched everytime he was approached, sure that he had been discovered.
The Tsaritsa knew his identity of course, but she knew most of the things about Kaeya.
He had learned that he had been born into a family of nobles, and he had royal blood.
Abyss mage blood coursed through his veins, as he had inherited the family curse.
His brain was foggy, as it had an unpleasant habit of blocking out traumatic memories.
Kaeya summoned an ice crystal, twirling it between his fingers idly.
Once again, Tartaglia was summoned into her Majesty's throne room, his grey clothes swapped for more civilized attire.
He was dressed in a dark red shirt, paired with a pale jacket and his mask, worn over his face.
A mask wouldn't have helped disguise his flaming hair, which glittered in the sliver of moonlight that shone from the skylight.
He's quite handsome when he actually brushes his hair...
Mused Kaeya inwardly, remembering the bed head that Childe used to get each morning.
He seemed like an entirely different person at work, entirely cold and humorless.
Tartaglia's bow lay across his back, purely decoration for the time being.
But knowing Childe, he would pull it out at least once out of nervous habit.
Smiling wistfully, Kaeya tugged at his dress.
Crossing his legs, he fiddled with the ice shard from before, pressing the point against his thumb to test the sharpness.
When it didn't break the skin, he practiced what the Tsaritsa had taught him, sharpening the shard into a fierce point, deadly sharp and glittering.
The large doors swung open, and Tartaglia had an irked expression.
Standing up, Kaeya brushed off his skirt, pocketing his small icicle.
Walking briskly past the 11th harbinger, he hoped his disguise would pass.
He was given a charming wave, and a confused smile from Childe when he ignored him.
Shutting the doors behind him, he exhaled loudly.
"Good evening, Lydia."
Greeted the Tsaritsa.
Kaeya tsked.
"You can call me Kaeya here, it's not like anyone is listening."
The door slammed behind them, and a shorter harbinger with dark hair stood behind them.
Kaeya recognized him as the short boy from mondstadt, and curled his lip impulsively.
"Your highness, and- this girl."
"Lydia is my assistant, Scaramouche. Show some respect."
"Good evening... Lydia."
Kaeya simply nodded back, not wanting to speak.
"Not much of a talker eh? That would be a first. Dottore, La signora and Tartaglia talk my damn ears off."
This recorded a slight chuckle from the Tsaritsa.
Scaramouche crossed his arms.
"Anyway, I'm here to request changing rooms. Tartaglia won't stop talking in his sleep."
The Tsaritsa raised an eyebrow.
"And what might he be talking about?"
Scaramouche scoffed.
"Some random woman. Kyra.. Kyla? Either way, I want out."
Kaeya froze.
Had Childe been talking about him in his sleep?
He was filled with brief hope, which was squashed by the fact that Childe probably hated him now.
The Tsaritsa shot Kaeya a we'll talk about this later look.
"Very well Scaramouche, I'll move you in with Dottore, as Pulcinella and Pedrelino are already occupying the other available room."
Seeming to weigh the pros and cons, it was obvious that Dottore was the winner.
"Alright. Thank you my lady."
As Kaeya completed his training, he left the throne room, surprised to see a note addressed to him.
Lydia,
I'm not as slow as you think I am. Meet me outside of the golden house in an hour. We can talk, and discuss... things."