Against The Cold ~ Alberose

Chapter 10

"What th-"

A hand clamped down hard over Albedo's mouth. "Shut the hell up," Timaeus uttered almost inaudibly, holding a dagger in his left hand and holding Albedo to the ground with his right.

Timaeus' brown eyes darted around nervously, tracking every sound, every tiny motion, every rustle of the wind.

Under his breath Albedo muttered, "Where are we?"

Timaeus, after several moments, whispered back, "An abandoned Fatui camp. We're on the edge of Wymrest Valley." Timaeus cleared his throat quietly. "I managed to get you and our stuff all the way here, but then . . . I-I saw some Fatui skirmishers and I . . . well . . . ."

Albedo sat up, feeling his midsection ache with bruises. He noticed the dark circles under Timaeus' eyes and realized it'd been hours since he'd gotten sleep.

"So where are we going now?" Albedo said, much louder than he intended to.

"Lower your voice," Timaeus seethed. "We're going back to Mondstadt. It was too dangerous to continue experimenting."

"But . . . you don't get to make that call!" Albedo cried. "We have to collect data for the Knights of Favonius!"

"Mate," Timaeus began, unsure of how to continue. "Do you even know what happened? Do you remember anything?"

Albedo nodded instantly, but after a moment he realized his memories of the past day were fuzzy, and he couldn't remember anything. He shook his head.

Timaeus' eyes widened. "Albedo, you . . . when you approached that weird red glowy thing, you were, like, brainwashed by it or something."

"What are you talking about?"

"You started to walk towards it blindly," Timaeus said quietly. "It was like you were under a spell or in a trance or something."

"What?" Albedo rubbed his eyes. "That sounds ridiculous!"

Timaeus shrugged. "Well, it happened. Oh, and you called out Sucrose's name a few times, too," he added, tryung to smother the growing smirk on his face.

Albedo blushed to the roots of his chalky hair. "Just . . . Archons, this is . . . what the hell happened?" he breathed anxiously, wringing his hands. "That wasn't supposed to happen, I don't understand-"

"Gods above, just shut up," Timaeus groaned. "It's Sucrose's job to freak out. If you want to know my take, you obviously haven't been the same since we first saw the Fatui a few weeks ago, and you know it. So calm down and try to focus."

Albedo, eyes wide, shook his head to clear it. Timaeus was right. He hadn't been the same. He'd gotten terrible nightmares, he'd been on edge, jumped at every noise. He'd been more panicky and nervous.

What is wrong with me? Albedo thought, rubbing his temples.

"Anyway," Timaeus snorted. "We need to get back to Mondstadt. There's no way we can continue to experiment when you're half-dead and have been wooed by a glowing red ball."

Albedo scoffed. "I hate to think what Jean will say when we come back with nothing to tell her.

Timaeus side-eyed Albedo. "Oh, no. I'm sure we have plenty of information for her."

☆: *᯽* :☆

Adding a few drops of flaming flower stamen Sucrose stepped back from her experiments. She tore off her goggles and plopped down on a stool nearby.

"And you're quite sure this will be effective?" Mona asked from the corner, scratching her head.

Sucrose shrugged and nodded. "Obviously, it m-must be tested first, b-but according to my observations of the cells-"