Journey | Albedo's Descent Book 3

Chapter 28: More Questions

Rosaria tapped her fingers against her arm, watching Albedo from where she stood leaning against the wall.
Albedo was going about his usual business: experimenting and note-taking. Nothing out of the ordinary.
But Rosaria kept a close eye on him. Kaeya had told her everything - at least, he said it was everything - so she knew all about Albedo's weird new "abilities".
Albedo would occasionally stand up oddly strait as if he were listening carefully to something. Then he would look over at Rosaria and survey her.
Finally, it started to get annoying.
"What?" She snapped.
Albedo hesitated, "nothing... you just seem... concerned..."
"Concerned?" She raised a brow. "If anything, I feel annoyed."
Albedo looked her up and down, "oh..."
Rosaria narrowed her eyes, "why do you keep looking at me?"
Albedo hesitated, "uh..." his eyes wandered around the room absently, "you just look..."
"I look...?" She bulged her eyes at him to get him to use his words.
"Well... maroon..." Albedo busied his hands with writing something down.
Rosaria blinked a few times, "maroon?..."
"Yes, your, uhm... your energy..." Albedo explained rather poorly.
"Is that the aura thing Kaeya told me about?" Rosaria asked, looking at her hands as if she could find it somehow.
Albedo hesitated before talking quietly, "he told you?..."
"Of course he told me. I'm the only one here with enough brain to know when something is wrong," she folded her arms again.
Albedo clasped his hands to keep them from shaking, "it... your energy is a lot more... loud than Kaeya's..."
Rosaria stood up straighter, "and by that you mean what?"
"Just- just that your emotions are a lot more... obvious," Albedo said slowly, "I can feel it from all the way over here..."
"So, what? You can read my mind or something?"
"No... just... feel what you feel... or, what you feel most strongly..."
Rosaria didn't like that, "I thought you could only see it."
"Well... it's complicated..." Albedo didn't want to admit that his strange "abilities" had been getting stronger. Feeling all of Rosaria's negative emotions right now was quite overwhelming. "I promise I have no idea what you're thinking about..."
Rosaria paused, "why did you say I seemed concerned?"
Albedo set down his pencil, "... that's just what I felt..."
Rosaria didn't like that. At all. Other people shouldn't be allowed to know how she felt when she didn't say anything.
Albedo carefully poured out the living goo from its jar and back into the enclosure. Today he had some different plants and wanted to know how it would respond.
Rosaria ended up pacing around as Albedo experimented. Little by little, her emotions mellowed out into just plain boredom and a bit of worry. Probably about Kaeya being gone for so long.
Every plant Albedo offered to the mass turned pale at its touch. And if it were touching it for too long the plant would dry up and turn to dust.
Albedo thought he might run out of plants before he got any good data on why and how this happened.
"Just what are you made of..." Albedo took a pale leaf and put it under his microscope, "it looks like you areeee..."
"Do you always talk to yourself?"
"..." Albedo nodded, "yes, it helps me remember things better..."
"I thought that's what your books were for?"
"It is..." Albedo wrote some things down.
Rosaria rolled her eyes, "then why do both?"
"Just habit, I guess..." Albedo continued more quietly, "it's stealing the warmth..."
Rosaria walked over, "so... what is it?"
"I don't know," Albedo placed his glasses into their case as he pinched the bridge of his nose, "it isn't like anything else I've ever seen... and it's only a little different that the... not alive kind..."
Rosaria stared at it, "what classifies it as being alive?"
"Well, it responds to its surroundings, has a way to move around, has a way of making energy for itself, and it does reproduce. I think. But I'm not going to let it do that..."
"What do you mean by making energy for itself?" Rosaria asked.
"Well," Albedo held out the now pale and dry leaf, "in the same way we eat, it takes life."
"And you've touched it before?" Rosaria looked at him in shock.
"Uh- sort of. I- I had gloves on..." Albedo looked away and started organizing his books.
Rosaria stared down at it, "it looks gross..."
"It is," Albedo nodded, "and I still have no idea what I'm supposed to do with it... Did... Did Kaeya tell you about that, too?..."
Rosaria sighed, closing her eyes, "yes."
"... you still don't think it's real..." Albedo whispered.
Rosaria shook her head, "Not really. I have no idea what that is, but I doubt that monster you described exists. I've heard of nothing like it in all of Teyvat."
Albedo nodded, "it is... hard to believe. I can understand that..."
Rosaria folded her arms, "so what are you going to do now?"
"Wait for Kaeya to get back," Albedo said slowly, "I've done just about everything I can to try and figure out what to do... He always seems to have ideas that I never think of..."
Rosaria sighed, "he does have a different way of thinking."
Albedo nodded, "it's helpful to have another set of eyes..." He paused to think, "I wonder... what if I..." He took one of the not-pale plants and closed his bare hand around it. He winced as leaves started sprouting from his arm.
"WHAT IN-"
"Calm down, I've done this before," Albedo quickly stated.
"But-"
"Just... calm down," Albedo didn't think he could handle feeling all of Rosaria's emotions right now.
"Don't tell me you're going to touch that thing."
Albedo paused, "then I won't..." He lowered his hand into the enclosure. "Since I've fused the flower to myself, it will take the brunt of the... pain."
Rosaria's brows furrowed, "how do you know it will hurt?"
"Wouldn't it hurt if someone sucked the heat out of you and turned you into a popsicle?"
Rosaria closed her mouth and folded her arms.
Albedo laid his arm down and waited for the goo to get close. The moment his limb was in the enclosure, the mass' attention was caught. It made it's way over, parts of itself moving out like the roots of a tree.
Albedo held his arm still, telling himself this wouldn't be so bad.
The goop wrapped itself around Albedo's wrist. The second they touched Albedo felt his arm start to grow cold. After only a few seconds, he couldn't feel his fingers.
He quickly shook off the mass and separated himself from the plant, which was now completely petrified.
Albedo sighed as he rubbed his wrist. "I was right... but I still don't know how it's doing it..."
Rosaria folded her arms uncomfortably, "I don't like it..."
"I don't think anyone would..." Albedo moved over to the fire and carefully held his arm up to it.
Kaeya stepped through the tapestries, "it seems fine, I don't think Barbara would travel all the way here just to get you to come back."
Rosaria rolled her eyes, "you would be surprised."
Kaeya smiled, "at least you both care."
Rosaria snorted, but didn't deny it.
Kaeya chuckled as he stood next to Albedo, "find out anything new?"
Albedo paused, "it steals life from whatever it touches. I... I'm still not sure how, but it doesn't help me understand what to do with it."
Kaeya nodded, "we'll think of something." He placed his hand on Albedo's back.