Purrsonal Catastrophe

16

Dainsleif woke up with Kaeya's giant paw on his chest. He stared at it for a moment before escaping Kaeya's grasp. 

"Dain?" Kaeya stared up at Dainsleif. 

"You should escape to the teapot and place a shield around it." 

"What?" 

"Kaeya..." Dainsleif looked over his shoulder and down at the panther still resting comfortably on the floor. "Please." 

"Dain, what's wrong?" 

"Have my instincts been incorrect so far?" 

"No...but-" 

"Kaeya." 

"Why are you looking at me as if you're saying goodbye?" 

"Kaeya, please." 

"Come with me then, we can be safe in the teapot together." 

Dainsleif shook his head. 

"Dain..." 

The sky outside turned purple. A menacing orb appeared above the town within Kaeya's room window. 

"That's..." Kaeya stood up and stared at the orb terrified. "...the same as Khaenri'ah." 

"You must go," Dainsleif insisted, trying to guide Kaeya toward the teapot in the other room. 

"What are you possibly going to do against that Dain?!" Kaeya stood his ground and growled, claws bared. 

"I don't know. I'm being drawn to it. But I can't have anything happen to me and leave the twins without anyone. Please, Kaeya..." 

"What about me?!" Kaeya snapped. "Who is going to take care of me if you don't come back?!" 

"It's not the same," Dainsleif pointed to the orb. "Someone made this as an incomplete replica. What happened was a pure authentic accident. This is not an accident. I can fix...I can..." Dainsleif gritted his teeth and held his face in his hands. His head felt as if it were splitting apart with the images flashing over and over. 

The orb spread out a thin piece of itself and reached in the direction of Dainsleif. It wrapped around him and pulled him back, searching for him specifically, Dainsleif reached out his arms to grab something but couldn't reach anything in time. "Dain!" Kaeya shifted back to his human-like appearance to try and grab Dainsleif's hand but their fingers barely touched as Dainsleif was pulled away further. 

Kaeya morphed back into a panther and ran out of the window, forming an ice path in the air as he moved. He chased as fast as he could but the orb was always slightly faster. It sucked Dainsleif into its center and created a shockwave that sent Kaeya flying back where he came. He slammed into the wall of his home and slid down to the ground, losing consciousness.

...

Dainsleif opened his eyes to see nothing but darkness in every direction. It wasn't that he couldn't see because it was dark...but there was nothing to see. He looked down at his hands to see his tattered outfit fixed. 

"If I asked you to choose," a voice spoke from behind him. Dainsleif turned around to see Dottore and the twins tied up hovering over two separate bins of lava. "Who would you pick?" 

"Don't you dare-" Dainsleif pointed, walking forward but an invisible wall separated him and Dottore. He slammed his fist down on it, trying to break it, but all it did was cause his hands to bleed. 

"Which one do you want to save?" Dottore grinned behind his mask. "Which twin do you love more?" 

"Big Bro..." Aether sobbed. "I don't want to die!"

"Pick Aether! I'm not scared!" Lumine insisted, despite the fact that she was crying.  

"It's going to be fine," Dainsleif said, more for his benefit than theirs. "I'm not going to let anything happen to you." 

"How sweet," Dottore cackled. "If only that were true." He clapped his hands and both of them fell into the pits, burning away to a crisp. Dainsleif heard a high-pitched noise ringing in his ears. It took him a moment before he realized that noise was coming from himself. He was screaming so violently that his ears had forgotten it was his own voice and not some hideous creature's. 

Dainsleif's eyes emitted a soft blue light all on their own. The final gate that kept his amnesia intact was broken and a wave of memories that had only been glimpses before returned. He held out his hands on either side of him as navy thorns wrapped around his arms branching off in every which direction surrounded in faint dots connected by thin lines reminiscent of constellations. 

"I am going to destroy you," he promised, touching the barrier with a single finger. The barrier shattered like glass, falling to the ground that didn't seem to exist. The very same barrier that moments before he couldn't so much as dent. 

"Oh my," Dottore grinned. "I hope you do." 

...

"Mr. Kitty," Aether placed his hand on Kaeya's face. He opened his eyes to see the twins and Fischl with Oz resting on her shoulder. "Do you have the sniffles?" 

"No, Aether, he isn't sick. He got thrown into a wall," Lumine crossed her arms and shook her head. "We're about to blow up because our brother got sucked into that thing," she pointed up at the ominous orb.

"How do you know its use?" Fischl stared down at Lumine. 

"What else would an ominous orb do?" Lumine huffed. "We need to get-" Lumine gritted her teeth and clutched her chest, leaning over and breathing heavily. Her own memories cascading back. Her entire body glowed as she aged to look about fifteen.

"What sorcery?" Fischl took a step back, covering her mouth and gasping. 

"Lumine..."  Kaeya stood up. Aether stared up at his sister and hid behind Kaeya. 

"Why did sis become a big sis?" he squeaked. 

"Aether come here please..." Lumine held out her hand and rested it on his forehead, triggering the memories to return so he would age as well. Aether, who previously had all of his emotions show on his face now remained stoic, staring up at the orb in the sky. To Kaeya, he looked like a teenage version of Dainsleif (with a long braid). 

"We have to go-" 

"Before you do anything..." Kaeya interrupted. "Would you allow me to get you two new clothes?" he asked, since the two had drastically outgrown their children's clothes. Only tatters remained attached to their bodies. He could imagine Dainsleif's disdain if he were to just leave them like this.