Discovery | Albedo's Descent Book 1

Chapter 15: Drama Escalates

Lisa sighed, "at least the last piles are small..." It had been a few hours of dead silence. Everyone had been so focus and Lisa had only just now remembered to make tea.
As she set the tray down she realized that Albedo was flipping through a book and Kaeya was reading over his shoulder.
"What's it about?" Lisa couldn't see the title from where she sat.
Albedo smiled, "it's called 'Useless Combat'."
Lisa chuckled as she poured them drinks.
Kaeya sat back, "it really is just about things not to do when fighting."
Lisa laughed, "I had no idea we had a book like that!"
"It seems very new," Albedo turned another page.
This was a fatal mistake. As the page was turned, Albedo had moved his index finger to help it along without letting it fall into place. The parchment felt personally offended and made its attack. The edge of the fresh, still-stiff paper slid finely across Albedo's fingertip, slicing it open.
Albedo seethed, dropping the book. It stung and burned like a new kind of pain altogether. He had never had such a terrible paper cut. He clutched at his hand.
Kaeya rushed to ask what had happened, swiftly taking his beloved's hand.
Albedo had to respond in embarrassment, saying it was only a paper cut.
Lisa blinked, wondering why this all seemed so dramatic. Then she saw the crimson dripping from Albedo's hand. Her eyes widened, she didn't know paper could be so deadly.
She hastily conjured some tissues and a bandaid, passing them over to Kaeya. Lisa felt sick, she never liked seeing that color. She had to look away to keep her stomach from twisting the wrong direction.
Kaeya quickly cleaned Albedo's hand. Whenever Kaeya would touch the cut itself Albedo would wince. The Captain spoke softly and in a soothing tone, rubbing his wrist as he worked, "how could it have cut you so deeply?"
"I don't know..." Albedo felt like he was the dumbest person in all of Teyvat. To be in such pain from a paper cut! How had it cut him so badly? As he gazed at his injury, he saw something alarming. In the same shade of red as his blood were tiny clumps of solid material. Chalk.
Albedo quickly pulled his hand away from Kaeya, "I can do it..."
Kaeya seemed a little offended, actually. His expression grew hard, "but I want to help you."
"It's fine," Albedo held his unhurt hand out for the bandaid. "I can do it..."
Kaeya felt a little sad. Did Albedo not trust him?... Did he think Kaeya would hurt him more?... He reluctantly handed over the adhesive bandage.
Albedo wrapped it around his finger snugly, hoping what he saw was not a problem.
Lisa was busying herself with the tea, but spoke up after hearing their conversation. "Are you two really having a lover's quarrel over putting a bandage on?"
Kaeya's face exploded in red, his voice going up a few octaves, "no! That is not-"
"No." Albedo spoke firmly, "I was only pointing out that I am capable of taking care of myself."
Lisa faked pouting, "but Kaeya only wants to dote on his husband..."
"That's-"
Albedo sighed, "Lisa..." but he didn't say anything else.
Lisa smirked over at Kaeya while Albedo was shaking his head with his eyes closed. She mouthed, "he isn't denying the lovers part!"
"Shut up!" He mouthed back, folding his arms.
She stuck her tongue out at him as she passed out the teacups.
Albedo still held his injured hand carefully, as if it hurt.
Kaeya spoke quietly, "does it still hurt? I can get you-"
"Thank you, Kaeya," Albedo said quickly, "but I'll be fine... it's only a scratch..."
"But it was so deep," concern framed his words, as if they were a portrait, "I can tell that it's bothering you..."
"I'm fine, really," Albedo looked up at him seriously... but he really couldn't hide how much it hurt.
Kaeya could immediately tell. He reached out and took Albedo's arm, gently ushering it away from his injured hand. Albedo grew tense and stiff as Kaeya touched his hurting hand. "If it hurts so badly, then there must be something wrong."
As much as Lisa loved how sweet and romantic this scene was, they only had four piles left... which means only thirty or so books... They could be done so quickly...
"It's fine-"
"Please don't lie..." Kaeya spoke quietly, not meeting his eyes. "Let me help you." Kaeya extended his free hand, "I promise I won't make it worse," He thought this was a great way to show his sincerity, but due to everything that had been going on with Albedo, this was an awful idea.
Kaeya pressed his hand against Albedo's chest and Albedo immediately recoiled as if Kaeya's hands were poison. He violently moved away on impulse. Now not only did his finger feel like it was pulsing, his chest felt tight and breathing became difficult.
Lisa snapped her head over at them, her eyes wide. Kaeya's mouth was slightly agape in surprise. He went to reach out again but stopped himself, "I-I'm sorry, I-"
Albedo opened his mouth to speak, but it felt like his heart was trying to beat right out of his chest.
Lisa moved the tea aside, crawling over to the two others, "Albedo, what's wrong?"
Kaeya spoke first, his voice quiet and melancholy, "I only..."
Lisa put a hand on his arm to make him stop. "Albedo?"
There seemed to be no way out... If he tried to get up and run, which he probably couldn't, they would still question him eventually. It... it was better if Albedo told them by his own choice. No matter what, he couldn't be around them forever. He had to go back to Dragonspine...
Albedo took a few deep breaths, "I... Lisa, I need your help..."
"Me?" She asked, "Wouldn't Kaeya-"
"No, it has to be you," he leaned against whatever he could find, trying to lessen the pain of breathing. "I- I need you to promise not to ask me any questions..."
Lisa nodded, seeing how desperate Albedo was. She nudged Kaeya. He shook his head, "I can't... promise that..."
"Then just don't tell anyone," Albedo said, "but I won't be answering your questions."
Kaeya's eyes remained fixed on the floor. He hated seeing Albedo in pain, but there was nothing he could do... Was Lisa really the only person who could help...?
Albedo didn't speak for a long moment, "that crystal... you said it wouldn't have become harmful... I think you're wrong..."
Lisa's eyes widened, no words escaping her parted lips.
Albedo messily unbuttoned his shirt. Moving too much hurt his chest, and he couldn't use one of his index fingers. It took a while before it fell open, revealing a deep, black crack over his heart.
In the deepest parts of the crack was red light peeking through. She could see something pulsing- no, beating inside Albedo. Her eyes watered at the sight. How could he have let something get this bad and not tell anyone. She moved forward, "you think the crystal did this?"
He nodded, "it only showed up after I found it... at first it was very small and I didn't even notice..."
"It's only been two days! How could it have-" she stopped yelling, seeing Albedo wince. Out of the fissure, little blood colored particles of dust would float out.
Albedo was wheezing more that breathing now, "my body normally repairs itself so I... I assumed it wouldn't get any worse... I was going to... find a way to fix it on my own if it wasn't better by tonight... But I don't think my Alchemy can help anymore."
Lisa felt queasy looking at it. As Albedo breathed and the fissure moved with his skin, she could see one of his ribs blocking the red light. She was so dizzy, she didn't even think to wonder why his heart was glowing.
She covered her mouth, closing her eyes in an attempt to clear her mind. She couldn't help if she was going to vomit. She assumed that the little particles must be chalk, considering he was made of it. No wonder he didn't ask for help... he was afraid they would find out he wasn't human.
She opened her eyes, "you don't have to worry Albedo. About us, I mean. We already know." She reluctantly moved forward, recalling all the healing spells she knew.
"What?" He managed to squeeze out the word.
"We know you aren't human," she smiled, "and we still love you. Just because you aren't the same species, doesn't mean you aren't our friend."
"What?" He asked again, his eyes welling with tears.
So he could cry, too. Lisa smiled to herself, Albedo really wasn't much different than anyone else.
Then, Lisa grew serious, taking a deep breath, "Kaeya, give him your hand."
"What?" He looked up finally.
"Take off your glove and give him your hand. I don't know how much this is going to hurt."
Albedo's eyes widened. Even though he knew this needed to be done, he still shied away from pain. He moved backwards, but that just made his chest hurt more.
Kaeya solemnly pulled off his gloves and moved to sit behind Albedo, gently placing him into his lap. He took Albedo's unhurt hand, holding it tightly. He could feel Albedo shaking as he struggled to breathe. Kaeya felt Ike crying, but held it in. This was important. He gently rested his free hand over Albedo's eyes.
Albedo made a pathetic little noise as he lifted his hand to push Kaeya's arm off his face.
Kaeya felt his throat close, he hated this.
Lisa whispered a quiet thank you as she hovered her hands over Albedo's chest and started reciting foreign words.
Albedo immediately squeezed Kaeya's hand tightly for dear life. His hand over Kaeya's other tightened as well. Kaeya closed his eyes, he didn't want to watch... He could feel Albedo start to writhe in his grasp. He held onto Albedo tighter, hoping this would be over soon.
It wasn't. Lisa had to back up a few feet so that Albedo couldn't hit her. He was madly trying to escape, like an abused animal. Her eyes overflowed, how could it have gotten so bad and no one notice?! She continued her spell, praying to Barbatos that she would be successful. She had only used this spell a few other times and only once had it saved someone's life... She hated to take this risk, but there was nothing strong enough to solve this problem.
Soon, Albedo started screaming and clawing at Kaeya's arms to get him to let go. Kaeya only held him closer, whispering as he begged Albedo to stop. He wanted to let go so badly, to give in to Albedo's desperate cries. But he was certain that if Lisa's spell was disrupted that Albedo would die. He hated that more than the thought that Albedo would hate him forever.
As all this happened, the red glowing became more and more bright, pulsing more and more quickly. Lisa desperately fought to keep a thought out of her mind.
What if it just stops?
After what seemed like several dozen eternities, Lisa stopped talking. She breathed a quiet, tired sigh. At this point Albedo's face was soaked in tears, leaning backwards into Kaeya. He was slowly and weakly pushing and scratching at Kaeya, still. He was whimpering and shaking. No, he wasn't shaking. Kaeya was shaking, holding in his sobs. His arms and hands were covered in scratches from Albedo's nails. None were very deep at all, but there were so many...
Lisa made a note to heal Kaeya later. Right now she felt like she was going to fall over. She wiped her tears, "I'll... I'll pass out in a minute or so... Albedo should, too..." she flicked her wrist and the three unsorted piles alphabetized themselves.
Keaya stared at Lisa with one very red eye. "Why didn't you do that in the first place?" He asked, barely speaking at all.
Lisa tried to catch her breath, "because that one takes almost as much energy as the spell I just did... sounds stupid, huh?..." Her eyes rolled backwards as she collapsed forward onto the floor, "nap time..."
Kaeya sighed quietly. His eyes and arms stung. He lowered his hand off of Albedo's eyes. He hoped he hadn't hurt Albedo by holding him down so harshly. He let his hands fall, heaving a large breath.
Albedo sniffled, leaning his head to the side. He still held Kaeya's hand tightly, his nails digging into his skin.
Kaeya rubbed Albedo's hand, whispering whatever words of encouragement he could.
Albedo took a deep, shaking breath, trying to calm down and come to his senses. His vision was blurry and his eyes hurt from all the crying. He could see all the damage he had done to Kaeya's arms and felt like crying even more. He'd never cried this much in his life... the only time that even remotely compared was when his teacher left... He didn't want to think about how much that hurt.
The only source of comfort he had was Kaeya quietly whispering nonsense to him. None of it made any sense at all. It seemed he had no thoughts left except to speak. Albedo didn't understand... why would Kaeya endure all this just for him? Why would Lisa?... they even knew he wasn't human, but they still...
He sniffed again, now knowing how awful having a runny nose while crying was. He'd have to make sure he hallways had tissues on hand for Klee...
Kaeya slowly lifted his hand and laid it against Albedo's head, ruffling his hair.
Albedo felt like his arms were hundred pound weights. But he felt like he owed it to Kaeya for going through so much. He reached back and pulled the tie out of his hair. It wasn't much, but it was all he could do to make Kaeya at least a little more comfortable. Just as Lisa said, he felt like he was going to pass out. He murmured something unintelligible as he closed his eyes.
Kaeya assumed it was a thank you, but he couldn't be sure. He sighed again as he pulled them both over to lean against one of the bookshelves.
He pulled his eyepatch off and rubbed his eyes. He blinked repeatedly, not used to the light in his right eye. He was mostly blind in it anyways, but it was still very sensitive... He laid there silently for a long time, waiting for one of them to wake up.
After a while, Kaeya noticed little dust-looking particles floating up from Albedo. They were coming out of the fissure in his chest. They were all a deep crimson as they floated across the room and swirled over Lisa. As they floated out of Albedo, the deep cracks started to fade away as if they hadn't been there at all.
The swirling mass of chalk dust started leaking its red color onto Lisa, but it disappeared right before touching her. Then the mass violently came together in a shape. It was a heart. Then the dust dissolved a second later.
Kaeya loosed a breath he didn't know he had been holding. Relief washed over him. He leaned over to gaze at Albedo.
He seemed to be sleeping peacefully in the Captain's embrace. His chest was perfectly healed with no signs of scarring. All that was different was a faint red pulsing light from inside of him. Kaeya decided not to worry too much about it, it didn't seem to be causing problems...
The Cavalry Captain leaned back again, running his fingers through Albedo's hair and undoing his braids. He closed his eyes, trying to get everything that just happened out of his head.
Kaeya himself was incredibly exhausted as well and ended up falling asleep soon after.