Oh, Brother Of Mine

Chapter 8

Fear was a foreign emotion to Diluc, who grew up cocky, with a doting father and a fleet of maids to follow his every movement. It had turned into an even more rare occurrence when he'd first started to train, and had all but disappeared from his life when he'd received his vision. After all, what could he, the youngest Cavalry Captain that Mondstat had ever known, have to fear?

Fear appeared before him once when he was twelve, when he and Kaeya had stumbled into the camp of hilichurls while Kaeya had been injured. Then, he'd feared that he may not have been strong enough to defeat the camp, and that Kaeya may get injured. His fear had been not for his own sake, but for that of his brother.

Again, it reappeared just weeks ago, when Ursa the Drake had torn down all the guards in its path, its claws now bared at Diluc's father. And again, he feared for the sake of his father's safety rather than his own. Never before could Diluc actually remember a situation where he had been frozen in fear because of a threat against him.

Now, though, he was certain that it was fear that left him useless before the Fatui. Then again, how could he not be afraid when the ginger boy stood before him, with his dead blue eyes and an aura more terrifying than that of all the monsters Diluc has ever fought, combined? How could he not be absolutely terrified that this thin and fragile boy was one of the Tsaritsa's Harbingers? He'd been chasing after this chance, to get some information about what happened and why, but now that the chance had come, he found himself frozen, unable to speak, unable to think. 

He had to do something. 

What could he do? 

Was there any way for him to escape this situation? Surely not, not when he'd caught the eye of the Harbinger himself. Okay, so running wasn't an option, and no matter how strong he was, he didn't want to put himself up against a Harbinger of all people. So now what? Would he just... fess it all up and tell the truth? Admit to spying on the Fatui to gain information?

No. Of course not. That would get him killed in the fraction of a second. But there had to be some other option, some way for him to get out of this alive but to still get the information that he'd fought so hard to get...

"Well, little spy?" The ginger boy spoke again, his voice cold, harsh. If it weren't for the deadly look in his eyes, Diluc could've thought he was teasing him. "Got something to say, or did you freeze your tongue off?"

Arrogant little shit.

"My apologies, Lord Harbinger," Diluc replied, a polite smile plastered onto his face as he bent at the hips in a deep bow. He wondered if his voice was trembling. He hoped it wasn't. "You see, I'm a new recruit, and I appear to have lost the regiment I'd been assigned to. I didn't want to intrude on your meeting, but I- I'd hoped that someone would be able to help me find my way back to my group."

The boy raised an eyebrow, unamused, before scanning him up and down. His lips curled down. "A new recruit? Where's your insignia, then? And who were you stationed with?"

Shit shit shit. Okay. This was fine. Surely the jacket he'd stolen from those fallen Fatui agents had the insignia in one of the pockets. His hands roamed over the fabric until they finally felt the harsh edges of the insignia, and- aha! He pulled out a piece of blue metal adorned with the logo of the Fatui, a relieved smile on his face. As for who he was stationed with...

"Three other men," he quickly said, straightening his back out and tilting his chin up, the way he'd done time and time again back at the Knights when he delivered reports. His mind whirled as he tried to recall the latest group of Fatui he'd passed by. "I... hadn't had the chance to learn their names, but we had two vanguards and a legionnaire with us. We were just over by the lake."