Finding The Real You - Kaebedo

Chapter X - A Librarian's Advice

He let sensation sit for a while. It almost felt like he was being watched, but he wasn't. There was no way anyone could be watching him, and if anyone with ill intent was in his house then they would've acted already. Was there anything he could do here? Searching the entire house would be a pain, and maybe it was something else, perhaps Albedo was experimenting with some weird objects again?

Well, it was no use trying to ask Albedo anything. It would be stupid of him, but why not leave the house? He could ask Lisa about this, she seems to know everything. It should be fine, it's not like he's forgotten any books, right? The thought of the first, and only, time he forgot a book still gives him chills to this day.

He got up, mentally punching himself for doing what Albedo told him not to do. But what would going out do if Albedo didn't know about it? At least Lisa wouldn't care. Is that really a good thing though? Well, there was only one way to find out. If he was lucky, maybe Lisa would even help him a little.

And with that he slowly trudged to the door. Was he really that tired? He hadn't noticed when he was with Albedo. How long would Albedo stay up there anyways? Sometimes he disappears up there for days on end..

While he was worrying himself about Albedo, he found his feet carrying him to the favonius library. Well, there was no going back now. But he still felt nervous opening the door, there wasn't any reason to be nervous, of course, unless he had forgotten that he forgot to return a book. But he hadn't, hopefully, so everything should be fine. Right?

The door opened with a click and Lisa looked up from her desk, yawning. She looked up and greeted Kaeya, as expected from anyone from Mondstadt.

"So, Kaeya, what brings you here?" She welcomed him with her signature wink, though it felt weird for her to not be giving him some silly nickname. Is the Traveller her favourite now?

Well, nothing unusual seemed to be going on with her, so this would be a perfect time to ask her a few things.

"So, I was hoping if you could answer a few questions for me? And maybe perhaps make something that could cure my headache.." He spoke while approaching her, and made sure to mumble the last part loud enough so she could only just hear him.

"Sure, how about we head downstairs? I sense this will be a long conversation."

Kaeya accepted the invitation, silently following her to a much more comfortable seating arrangement.

"So, what's been on your mind?"

And with that, Kaeya laid it all out to her. It didn't seem to be much, but it did concern him. All the details came in broken sentences, maybe he should've planned this.. But she got the idea. She listened quite well for someone who was actively making a painkiller, or whatever it was.

He finished just as he was handed the medicine, or well was it a potion? As long as it helps that doesn't matter.

Lisa leaned over the table and whispered to him, covering her actions by sliding her concoction over to him too. Her voice had no special tone, she was dead serious. "Kaeya, do you realise what you're saying? Everything you've said leads to there being a second Albedo. And considering that the feeling hasn't left you, the second Albedo could be watching this conversation right now." Lisa leaned back with a sigh and continued. "Perhaps we should take this conversation elsewhere? We don't know who could be here or who might be watching us right now.

Kaeya began to question it, making valid points about how the feeling didn't leave when he was sure "Albedo" left, but Lisa just dragged him into one of the side rooms.

This one was particularly small, similar to the Favonius offices, except this one was a tad bit smaller.

There were two chairs, facing opposite each other on both sides of the room, the desk separating them. The chairs faced each other, one to the door and the other to the window. The table was bare, and so were the shelves covering the walls. Because there were no extravagant furnishings, they could be sure that they weren't hosting any surprise guests.

Kaeya let Lisa take the seat far from the door, and he made himself comfortable on the opposite one.

"When was the last time you spoke to real Albedo?"

Kaeya thought for a moment, it would be a little hard to tell but he managed.

"That would've been earlier today, he was going out for a walk in Dragonspine to collect more materials."

Lisa concentrated and thought for a little, it was weird seeing her so serious..

"Kaeya, Albedo is smart. If the other Albedo was able to impersonate him for this long then he might be suspecting you of knowing about him. As weird as this sounds, you said that this time there was a long break between the switch, and that usually it'd only be a few minutes or so, right?" Lisa sighed, lowering her face. "Are you sure Albedo's safe? After the abnormally long break, you were almost rushed out of Dragonspine, it's like he didn't want you to accidentally come across something."

Kaeya felt the blood drop from his face. Surely Albedo is okay, right? Albedo is smart, and quite strong as a knight, so he'd have no trouble dealing with an enemy. But what if it was a surprise attack? No, Albedo would never let such a thing happen to him. But Lisa made so much sense, everything lined up perfectly and-

"Kaeya. Listen. These are all possibilities, we have no proof that anything happened. Albedo will be okay."

By the time Kaeya looked up Lisa's hands were already on his shoulders. The small touch grounded him well enough to listen to her next few words.

"Now, would you like to go check up on Albedo with me?"

The seriousness left her voice, and it was like she was inviting Kaeya to go get drinks. The way she spoke was slightly comforting. It made him feel like nothing was wrong, that there was nothing to worry about and they'd just ended some light-hearted conversation, complaining about work and laughing together. Maybe that was a good idea.. Just to be blissfully unaware of their surroundings at the tavern. He seemed to hesitate a little, but his answer was confident and they both knew what the answer would be anyway.

"I'd love to."

:)

Sorry if this chapter was short again, Christmas is making things a little busier but everything's fine. And sorry about the amount of cringe in this chapter, well any chapter. This is my first book so I can't really be perfect, if I was perfect then maybe I wouldn't be proofreading this at 1:57 AM

P.S And, if you couldn't already tell, all the chapter names from chapter 7 weren't really thought through, and I've been googling the roman numerals from the number 9

Word count - 1117