Journey | Albedo's Descent Book 3

Chapter 35: Things Get Out of Hand and Out of Mind

"The meaning," it seemed to contemplate, "that is vague."
"Well, uh, I guess you could call it the truth, too. I just need to know what it's... purpose is..." Albedo's voice trailed off, "I think..."
Going down the mountain was much faster than going up. They were already halfway down. Albedo could see the smaller half of the thing waiting at the bottom.
"Is that it?" The smaller half's voice whispered in his ear, sounding excited and worried.
Albedo nodded, smiling, "yes, we're almost there."
Albedo felt his stomach turn suddenly. He held on tighter to the being, his other hand clutching his stomach. He felt like he was going to throw up his insides.
The being didn't react at all. It only turned its head to look down towards the bottom of the mountain.
There were three extra figures down there.
"They're moving fast!" Lisa exclaimed, "don't let them get close!"
Albedo couldn't hear anything. The wind was too loud and his head was pounding. Why did he hurt so much?! He didn't understand what was happening.
The monster suddenly tightened its grip on his hands, pulling him up to stand, "you're here."
"What?" Albedo asked, feeling out of breath and barely conscious.
Lisa was casting various spells while Kaeya and Klee were trying to keep the smaller half away from the mountain.
"You are here," it said again, this time with more force. It took Albedo's other hand and held on with a deadly grip.
Albedo opened his mouth to speak but couldn't. He saw particles forming over his arms and moving into the larger half. No, they weren't forming... They were coming off of him.
Albedo was being torn apart, piece by piece. He cried out, trying to take his hands back.
The being itself was also turning into dust, pieces of it funneling down the mountain in a swirling mess of colors. It pulled Albedo in and he was encased in a cocoon of grey-black dust. No matter how much he struggled and fought, nothing changed.
He was stuck, the particles of that thing clinging to him. He realized they were boring into his skin and pulling off pieces of himself in order to get in.
Klee and Kaeya froze as the weird thing before them started violently shaking and spasming.
Then, they noticed the dust cloud making its way over and how the half in front of them was turning into dust as well.
"No," it spoke, "I'm not ready-"
It reached out to them as it was torn to pieces and consumed into the cloud. The cloud started taking a new form.
"UH- LISA!"
She exclaimed in frustration, "Albedo's mind is here, I know it! But I can't get this thing to leave! What is-" she opened her eyes to see something horrifying.
Standing in front of Klee and Kaeya was the complete version of that being. It had to be at least ten feet tall, if not taller. It had long, gangly arms that hung down past its knees. Or, where they assumed it's knees were. It was still a mess of swirling particles, parts of itself changing between shapes rapidly.
Lisa rushed over and grabbed onto Klee and Kaeya, "don't move!"
Everyone held their breath.
The being gazed down at its swirling and shifting hands, "yes, this will do." It locked onto its visitors and it held a hand out to them. "This isn't your body."
Lisa groaned with the effort to keep them all in place. That thing was trying to force them out!
"This isn't your body, either!" She yelled, "Albedo! Where are you?! Take your body back!"
She couldn't see him anywhere. That mountain was gone and Albedo was nowhere to be found in the endless expanse of white.
The being stared down at them, "he can't hear you."
"What have you done to him?!" Kaeya exclaimed in anger and frustration.
"Nothing," it said calmly. It took a step forward, it's shape shimmering and shifting all over.
Lisa grit her teeth, speaking under her breath, "come on, come on, work already!"
"Give my big brother back!" Klee screamed.
Kaeya and Lisa instinctively tightened their hold on her.
It looked down at the child, "he doesn't belong to you."
"He doesn't belong to you, either, you big meanie!!!" She stuck her tongue out.
The monster's arms started shaking as it began to reach out towards them.
They all took a few steps back. Thankfully, this thing was rather slow because of its size.
Lisa held onto Kaeya and Klee with a violent hold, "why isn't it working?!"
The second she finished her sentence, the being stopped moving. It started shaking uncontrollably, particles being pulled off of it and dissolving. It started to grow smaller, the sound of a child screaming filling the area.
Kaeya covered Klee's ears tightly and she closed her eyes as well.
The screaming abruptly stopped, accompanied by a collective gasp from the group of humans.
The being had become an average human height and it's particles were melting away, revealing what looked like another person inside of it. As if it were an extra layer of skin.
Blonde hair, turquoise eyes, pale skin, and a pained expression. He reached out, his eyes wide and overflowing with fear and tears. Albedo held his hand out as far as he possibly could. Most of himself was still encased in the dust-like material.
Kaeya broke off from his group, sprinting forward.
Lisa grabbed for him but missed, "Kaeya! Don't touch it!"
Kaeya didn't listen. In fact, he didn't even hear her. He grabbed hold of Albedo's hand as hard as he could.
His hand passed right through him and he staggered forward. He saw the particles close back over Albedo's body, sucking him back in and growing taller once more.
The being seemed even more human, now. It seemed to have a frowning expression, "you're ruining everything. He wanted to help!" It pressed its hand against Kaeya's forehead and Kaeya was forcibly expelled from that plane of existence.
Lisa held onto Klee tighter, "I can't do much more to it here." She spoke a few incantations before pulling Klee out and back into their own bodies.
Kaeya was shaking as he stared down at his hands, "what... was that..."
Lisa kicked a book across the alcove, "I don't know and it's driving me crazy!!!"
Klee stood up, quickly taking off her backpack. She held Dodoco in her hands firmly, staring down at it in determination. She pulled it off it's string and pressed it into Albedo's hand, "Albedo needs Dodoco more than I do right now."
Rosaria stepped into the alcove, panting, "what's going on?!"
Kaeya looked up at her with a mortified expression, "how did you know where to find us?..."
"UHM THE WHOLE DANG MOUNTAIN SHOOK! EVERYONE IN MOND IS KINDA FREAKING OUT!" Her eyes landed on Albedo, "... is he supposed to look like that?"
Everyone focused their gaze on Albedo.
Albedo's eyes were open. One of them was black with small flecks of color, like glitter. The other was normal, yet seemed to be looking far beyond the ceiling.
"Albedo?!" Kaeya exclaimed leaning on his knees.
Albedo's hand closed around Dodoco, feeling the soft texture. He slowly sat up. He wore a curious expression as he gazed down at the stuffed animal.
Klee's smile was so wide, it seemed it would extend to the farthest reaches of Teyvat, "Albedo! You did it! I knew Dodoco would help you!!"
"Klee," Lisa said slowly, "get away from him..."
"What? But Albedo's back!" She scooted closer, "I kept telling you that Dodoco was magic!!!"
Albedo's eyes slowly drifted up to look at Klee.
"Klee. Get away from him. Right now." Lisa said sternly. She was frozen still from where she stood a few meters away. There was no way she could reach Klee fast enough.
"But why?!" She turned and placed her hands on her hips, "Dodoco-"
The room went cold as Albedo smiled.
Rosaria held her polearm tight in her grip.
Klee slowly turned back to face Albedo, inching as she moved. She shook with fright as her eyes went wide.
That wasn't Albedo.
It's smile stretched beyond the width of his lips. It stared with a demented look at Klee.
Kaeya, as slowly as possible, put his hand on Klee as he started to stand. His mouth was dry and he felt that if he moved too quickly something bad would happen.
He hadn't even begun to move Klee an inch when that thing moved.
It struck it's left hand out, closing its cold fingers around Klee's throat and squeezing, "annoying, aren't you?"
Kaeya pulled Klee out of his grasp and into his arms. Rosaria rushed forward, standing in front of them.
Lisa breathed deeply as she spoke, "it can't leave the circle... just don't get close..." She cautiously approached the edge of the circle, her hands beginning to glow, "what do you want?"
It laughed. A horrible sound that it shouldn't be able to make. It stood up with a sigh. It gazed down at the Dodoco in its right hand before placing it in its coat pocket and patting it on the head. "What do I want? What do you think, Miss Witch?"
Lisa frowned, "I am not a witch."
It chuckled, "really? You certainly meet all the qualifications." It took a step towards her.
Lisa grew upset, "you've been stuck in this plane for a long time... I would think you want release."
"Hah! Release?!" Its mocked, gesturing towards the ceiling, "that's cheap! You believe we can just move on?! LIES! Celestia is not so just!! You think they would let someone like me just leave?! No!"
It's fists clenched tightly and it's face was contorted into the ugliness of hatred, "it's because of people like you! Stupid humans who believe they can do whatever they want without any consequence! It's you who should stay here instead of me! You think you can tamper with every little thing you find until it BREAKS!!!"
Lisa frowned deeply, "I don't know what you are or used to be, but I can assure you that whoever hurt you is long gone." She was speaking calmly, trying to reason with it.
It laughed, it's eyes leaking water and black ooze, "you think you can convince me to leave?! You think I'll just get out of this body?! No! He's connected to us!" It pointed at Kaeya, "so is that one. I'm not letting them go anywhere."
Kaeya held onto Klee tighter, slowly starting to understand what this thing was.
"No," Lisa folded her arms, "everything connected to you is dead."
"No! You wouldn't know!" It clutched at its head and pointed at her in anger, "you wouldn't know!"
It exclaimed in pain and agony, "you would be helping me if you knew!"
"I do want to help," Lisa said, stepping to the edge of the circle.
"No! You're lying! You only want me to leave this body so I can go back to mindless wandering! You want me to be apart from even myself!"
Lisa shook her head, "no, I want you to stop hurting Albedo. Hurting him isn't going to make you feel any better about being hurt."
"You're wrong! He wanted this!" It gestured to its body, "if he didn't, he wouldn't have given us everything!"
Lisa was starting to get the idea that this being wasn't sure how to even refer to itself. It lacked understanding of itself and everything else.
Lisa shook her head, speaking patiently, "No one who is still alive has hurt you. If you-"
"NO!" With staggering steps, it moved to stand in front of her, "if you only knew you wouldn't be saying that! Knew what they did to me! What- what YOU did to me!!"
Lisa took a step back, lifting her head, lookin down her nose at it, "I suggest you think about what you know. You can't keep anything straight right now, can you?"
It exclaimed in anger, "you don't know! You don't KNOW!" It clutched at its head, "be quiet! Stop it!"
"No," Lisa folded her arms, "you need to leave Albedo's body before I force you."
It's froze, looking up from its hands at her with a mad expression, "force me! Force ME?!" It laughed again, "you can't do anything to me!"
Lisa ignored the chill running down her spine. She just had to make this thing believe she could. Her best bet right now was to stall for time as she sent Kaeya a message directly into his mind.
Find out how to kill it.
Kaeya set Klee down and whispered something to Rosaria before quickly sprinting out.
"No! You can't leave!" It yelled at him, it's voice hoarse already, "don't leave me!"
Rosaria was glaring daggers at it, "shut your mouth. That isn't your voice to use."
It smirked, showing just how emotionally unstable it was. "Hm? I think it is. He needs to pay for what he did to me."
Klee was crying, her large tears streaming down her rosy cheeks as she uselessly wiped at her eyes, "big brother would never do anything to anyone! You're lying!"
It frowned at her, "haven't learned your lesson, have you?"
Rosaria covered Klee with her legs, "don't you dare speak to her like that ever again."
It held its hand out towards Rosaria, "you have no authority over me." It began walking to her.
Rosaria tightened her grip, her eyes trained on its every movement.
Lisa stared at the edge of the circle, "you can't get out." She hated the part of herself that doubted this fact.
It halted in front of the salt barrier, "you really think so?" It lifted its foot.
Lisa's expression grew hard, repeating herself, "you can't leave the circle."
"Oh, really?"
It set its foot down. On the other side of the salt.
. . .
The second it landed, it's smirk widened and it looked swiftly up at Lisa with erratic pleasure. "You have no authority." It pointed at her, "NO AUTHORITY!"
In the next second it darted at Rosaria, Albedo's sword materializing in its hands.
Rosaria barely managed to parry, her weapon groaning with the effort.
It laughed madly as it was pushed back from her, "No authority!"
Lisa sprinted forward, scooping up Klee and rushing past Rosaria, "keep it in the cavern! I'm going to set up an array!!!"
Rosaria nodded silently, "it's just you and me, now, monster."
It rolled its wrist, "you're stronger than you look, human."
Rosaria sank down into her knees, "I'm sending you back to hell."