Temptress

Chapter 7

Indigo never really had the time to explore Mond. She only went where the bard did. He occasionally sat in stormterrors' lair, and while she did enjoy the dark atmosphere, it was dangerous; she didn't really have the energy to fight. Her favourite place to stay was the big windrise tree. The wood was soft and she felt like she sunk into it when she sat up at the top. She also liked hiding in the leaves, they where soft and gently brushed against her skin.  But today she was tasked with travelling through dragonspine. Another fatui messanger had come up to her a few days ago telling her she needed to go and investigate the alchemist that hid away in the mountains. Dottere had been wanting to do some experiments with whopperflowers and some how the alchemist was involved with that.

The cold didn't harm her. She was able to feel the cold prick her skin but it wouldn't harm her at all, the same went for heat. She stood in front of the frost bearing tree, one hand on it, listening to its cries of despair. 'Fancy seeing you here Master Diluc' her hand still on the tree. She knew he had been following her for some while, she was just sick of pretending he wasn't. He stumbled out from where he was hiding, ears flushed red in embarrassment that he had been caught. She sighed and took her hand off the tree, turning around to face Diluc. Before she gave him a chance to explain himself she spoke once more 'I'm off to see the alchemist, if you would like to join, or you can continue following me, and I'll pretend I never saw a thing.' Diluc muttered an apology and began to walk by her side. They walked in silence for a while. It was neither comfortable or uncomfortable, but the silence was soon broken by Diluc. 'Who do you write to?' he asked looking away from her. 'An old friend in liyue, Zhongli' She made sure to keep looking forwards. 'Are you getting cold? We can stop off at a fire?' He asked trying desperately to change the subject. 'So inquisitive, master Diluc. No, I'll be fine, its not far now anyway.' 

They arrived at the alchemists cave, the floor was littered with books and pages. Diluc walked over to the fire and placed his hand over it, 'It's cold, he hasn't been here for a while.' He spoke. She guessed Diluc didn't know about the alchemists inability to feel cold, just as she couldn't. The alchemist walked in from the cold mountains, holding a tube of what looked like whopperflower nectar. He had a noticeable star on his throat, a scar of sorts. 'Ah, what a surprise master Diluc and..?' He cut himself off staring at the girl who had picked up a notebook and was flipping through it. 'Violet, me and you need to have a chat Albedo.' She said not looking up from the notebook filled with sketches of vision holders from liyue and mond. 'Master Diluc why don't you take a walk, go find some boar for your tea.' She spoke trying to get Diluc to leave. He tutted in reply and walked off. He hid around the corner trying to eavesdrop, but Indigo knew he was still there. She cast a spell with her hand and made it so Diluc couldn't hear their conversation.

'You draw beautifully albedo, blessed with raw talent.' She spoke as she put the notebook back down to the alchemy table where she found it. 'What would you like to speak to me about?' He said sharply as if he could see straight through her. She walked over to the bookcase and studied the books he had, running her finger against the spines of the books as she spoke. 'You're like me, aren't you Albedo. Synthetic, artificial, searching for a meaning other the one you were given.' He simply looked at her, his head dropping a little in disappointment. She began to speak once again. 'I was made to mimic you, a Sumeru treasure inspired by the Khaenri'ah project. You made of chalk, whilst I the thorns of the Dendro archon.' She turned around to face him and walked towards him, placing her finger under his chin and lifting his head up. Her other hand ran over the star shaped mark imbedded into his neck. She removed her hand letting his head fall. His view sat on his shoes. She could've sworn she saw a tear fall. 'What do you want, surely there's a purpose for all of this?' She walked over to another pile of paper and searched through it for nothing in particular. 'Anything and everything you have on whopperflowers, here send it to this address.' She pulled a paper out of thin air with an address on it. 'Come visit me at the tavern after you've done it.' She left the paper in his hands and waved her hand undoing the previous spell, to stop Diluc from eavesdropping. 

She met Diluc outside of the Alchemists cave, he was fiddling with his vision. 'Are you going to continue following me, or shall we spend the day together?' She asked. She had no issue with him surveilling her, she just hated the feeling of being watched and not know when he had stopped.  'Fine, let's do something together, I need to ask you a few questions anyway.' 

They spent the rest of the day walking around mond, gathering food and clothes. They were now sat outside good hunter sharing a teyvatt fried egg.  'How did you know my father?' Diluc asked out of nowhere. Indigo almost choked on her food. Out of all the things she thought he would ask her, she did not think that would be the question he came up. 'I didn't.' She said. 'I had read about him a few years back, and when I came to Mond, I thought I might've been able to meet him, but as you know he...' she stopped mid sentence to look at Diluc. He was angry. Had he noticed she was lying. His fist clenched against his vision. 'Lie. Is that the only thing you're capable of?!' He was freightingly angry. His entire body was shaking. 'Maybe you get off on shit like this, but don't you dare lie about my father.' He stood up knocking the chair he was sitting on the ground. He left her alone at the table. She didn't even bother to see where he went. She was trembling with fear, she hated lying to him. But she knew that if she ever told him the truth he wouldn't think twice about killing her.      

A/N 

I really hate this chapter, I just want to get the good stuff i hate writing filler. I have no idea what to do next