Journey | Albedo's Descent Book 3

Chapter 32: Inside

Kaeya held onto Albedo's hand tightly, "Lisa! Lisa!!"
"Hold on!" She was digging through a drawer, "he's still breathing, isn't he?! Hold your horses!!"
Kaeya shut his mouth and leaned his head down to listen to Albedo's breaths and his slow, quiet heartbeat. "But it's getting slower..."
"As long as it's still there, he'll be fine!" She called as she rushed over, "the others should be back soon, anyways." She flipped through a few books.
Kaeya held onto Albedo tighter, "Lisa!"
"What?!" She looked over.
Albedo's mouth started leaking the same ooze as his eye.
"Don't freak out!" Lisa said, freaking out, "this is fine! I can get whatever he swallowed out of him pretty easily! But, getting the rest of it out will be the issue!"
"What?! What do you mean 'the rest of it'?!"
"From the way you described it, it can create illusions, right?! And since Albedo swallowed a part of it, there's nothing to say it can't be in his mind right now!"
Kaeya looked worriedly down at Albedo. His sleeping form exhaled shakily, his body relaxing suddenly. His expression seemed to grow more peaceful than it had been.
"No!" Lisa exclaimed, grabbing onto Albedo's arm, "fight it! Fight it, Albedo! Don't let it in!"
"What's going on?!"
Lisa closed her eyes tightly, "sorry, this might hurt!" She muttered a spell and her body started to glow a faint purple color.
Kaeya felt like his hand was being ripped off of his wrist. He suddenly let go, "what are you doing?!"
"Trying to communicate! Ugh!- It's pretty strong!" Lisa froze, her eyes were completely white, "oh... you won't like this..."
"What?! What do you see?!"
Lisa let go of Albedo, returning to normal with a hard breath. She turned to Kaeya, "it's holding Albedo... and it looks like you..."

Kaeya was holding onto Albedo's hand tightly. His eyes were red as he spoke to Albedo quietly. He was just trying to keep himself from crying again. It didn't even matter what he was saying.
Lisa was tearing her hair out trying to find some way to get rid of that thing without using anything too risky. They had already lost Albedo once and that was enough! It took everything she had not to start crying, herself.
Kaeya laid his head on the bed next to Albedo, "please... come back..."
Rosaria stepped in along with Barbara and Jean, all their hands full of supplies.
"Good! We can try the first one now!" Lisa had them all set down their things and handed Rosaria a list, "take Jean with you. I don't think Barbara should be involved any more than she is."
Barbara wore a glazed over expression as she stared at Albedo. "Is he really..."
"That won't happen again," Lisa said firmly, "I won't let it."
Jean ushered her sister out and left with Rosaria.
Lisa breathed a heavy sigh, trilling her lips as she started setting up the spell. She worked around Kaeya, figuring he would refuse to move anyways. Plus, this spell worked with multiple people.
Kaeya lifted his head. He looked so tired... "What does this one do?"
Lisa smiled as much as she could, "this should-hopefully-be a sort of wake-up call for him. Let him know we're trying to get to him. This is a little different than the one I normally do, though. I don't want to alert that thing."
"What do you think it is?..."
Lisa hesitated as she sat down in the chair beside Kaeya's, "it's... not like anything I've read about... My best guess is it's something new from the abyss... or it's so old that no one would know what to do...
"Anyways!" She closed her book and threw it to the side, "don't say anything until I say, okay?"
Kaeya nodded, taking Lisa's hand.
Lisa chanted something short and Kaeya felt like he was being blinded. Then he was struck by a sheering cold, blinking until he could see again.
They were on a white plain. It seemed to be snowing lightly. But there was nothing around to indicate where they were. No trees, no shrubs, no rocks, even. Just snow.
Kaeya spotted Albedo laying in the snow limply, not too far away.
Kaeya clenched his jaw. There it was. It really did look just like him.
A mirror image of Kaeya was sitting beside Albedo, it's knees to its chest, just watching.
Lisa moved forward, her feet not touching the ground. She gently pulled Kaeya with her until they were just about five meters away from the unconscious alchemist.
"Albedo?..." Lisa whispered, her eyes flicking towards the other being.
No response from anyone.
Lisa slowly crouched down, pulling Kaeya with her. She held her hand out over Albedo, whispering, "this is a stealthy spell... but I don't know if it works when the mind you're hiding from is in the same place as the one you're communicating with..."
Kaeya nodded, understanding.
Lisa lowered her hand onto Albedo's chest, "Albedo? Can you hear me?"
Still nothing. That thing, in Kaeya's shape, continued to stare lifelessly.
Lisa really didn't like being so close to it... "you can talk now... it should be fine..."
"Albedo?..." Kaeya pressed his hand onto his fiancé's arm.
Albedo's eyes flickered open.
That thing stood up immediately. It's form changed in and out of shape before looking directly at Kaeya.
Lisa smacked Kaeya's hand off of Albedo, holding her breath. She slowly stood up with Kaeya.
The being's eyes didn't follow them. Thankfully.
Lisa squeezed Kaeya's hand, "it's pushing me out! But it can't have gotten control of his mind yet! That wouldn't make sense! I-"
Kaeya felt himself being ripped from the scene. In a last, desperate attempt he yelled, "Albedo! Don't listen to it!"
The thing shifted it's form back to its own as Albedo dazedly sat up.
Kaeya and Lisa both gasped in pain as they awoke back inside their own bodies.
"It was so... empty..." Lisa shivered.
"Haven't... haven't you been in there before?..."
She nodded, clutching her arms, "that was a different kind of emptiness... it was dark and black... This was... It was like he wasn't conscious at all..."
Kaeya looked down at Albedo, "he's colder..."
"Now that he's... hibernating... he isn't here to fight against what he swallowed..."
Kaeya's eyes filled with tears.
Lisa started setting up another spell. She had no words of comfort to offer.

Albedo blinked a few times as he awoke. Had he fallen asleep?...
He found himself surrounded by snow.
Once he got to his feet he noticed he wasn't alone. That thing stood not a few meters away.
Albedo froze. "What now?..."
The being had more defined features now. It's limbs were discernible from the rest of its body.
It lifted an arm and gestured to the side.
Albedo looked over to see a tall slope. "Up there?... What do I do?..."
It lowered its hand, "my other half..."
"Is it up there? You want me to bring it to you?"
It nodded, "I cannot go myself..."
Albedo nodded, "alright..." He was so happy to be done... but now that he was doing it, he felt odd. He'd been working so hard for so long it felt strange to be so close.
He stepped foot on the incline, determined to finish what he started. "I'll be back soon."
"Thank you..."