Finding The Real You - Kaebedo

Chapter XI - Mission Save Albedo

"So, are we going to search this whole mountain?"

Kaeya stared up at Dragonspine. When he was thinking about it, it didn't seem so big. But now that he was actually there he was second-guessing their decision. Even with his love for Albedo this seemed a little extreme.

Lisa didn't answer with words, she just started walking. Muttering something about the cold even though she was wearing more layers than him.

Kaeya sighed and started following. He couldn't help himself from complaining about the cold too, even if it was an annoying comment directed to himself.

Before they left they'd decided that their first stop would be Albedo's lab, it would be stupid of them to not check there. But getting there would be annoying. Because only Albedo is bothered to go there more than once a month, all the bridges remain broken. It's not like Albedo had any reason to fix them, it would be a waste of time for him, he's able to construct a literal elevator for archon's sake.

And just as the thought of it passed, the bridge appeared. Gliding over it was always a hassle, it wasn't too difficult, but if the anemo archon wasn't happy with you and there just happened to be a snowstorm... Maybe it would be better to try another day.

But thankfully, they had consulted the anemo archon, and he seemed happy about it. Well to Lisa, he might've just been an anemo vision holder.

So then, time to glide. It happened smoothly and Kaeya almost switched his brain off again, but unfortunately, he couldn't because Albedo's lab was right there.

"Kaeya, we should be careful. What if Albedo's mimic is there instead? Do we have any way to tell?" Lisa whispered, careful to not alert "Albedo" of their presence.

But her efforts were to no avail, Albedo appeared from the entrance and welcomed them in. He seemed happier than usual, but so far this was their only clue that this wasn't their Albedo.

"Ah- Hello, Albedo." Kaeya started, trying to get Lisa to follow. But for some reason the sentence left a sour taste on his tongue.

"So, what're you two doing up here in Dragonspine? You wouldn't be here unless you had some important business up here, would you?"

Lisa tried to get a word in, or two, but Kaeya cut her off, not knowing if she'll ruin their chances of "Albedo" thinking that they were in the dark about the situation. That is, if there even is a situation going on at all.

"We were sent to clear out some hilichurl camps, we've been told that they've been advancing towards the city so why not get rid of the ones in here too?"

Within the first nine words Kaeya realised his mistake, hoping that his next twenty-one would cover it up. But those words were nearly spat out, and uttered quickly, by now "Albedo" should be suspicious of them.

Lisa just crossed her arms and looked at the entrance, well, what was beyond the entrance.

"Ah, I see. Would you like me to give you the locations of some hilichurl camps I've noticed?"

Albedo's normal personality returned. Maybe this was the real Albedo after all, and he'd just been happy about getting the answers to some experiment or something.

"That would be appreciated, thank you."

Kaeya returned the professional tone, handing Albedo his map and letting him mark the areas and point out each one separately.

They all exchanged a brief farewell and Kaeya dragged Lisa and almost dashed out of there. Now they had expectations to uphold, this wasn't going as planned.

Once Albedo was out of earshot, Lisa started to berate Kaeya for his actions, but still followed him. Kaeya kept his eyes glued to the map and headed towards the first camp.

He abruptly came to a stop, causing Lisa to almost walk into him. He told her that they had to clear all the camps now because that was their excuse, and that this was their first one.

The fight ended up in their favour, even though their attacks were sloppy and their dodges were half-assed. But no one got hit, their only problem was that they were now freezing since their attacks put out the fire.

This time Lisa dragged him, trying to get him to run with her to a place where they could look for a fire. But Kaeya's legs almost gave in, he was already out of breath from the cold. Dragonspine was a wonderful place, but the freezing temperatures definitely stopped most travellers from even starting to explore the area. The last person who was actually willing to go on an expedition there was the Traveller, and they were probably one of the only ones to make it out alive and actually get things done.

But they weren't the Traveller. So it's not like any of them had any pyro abilities to light a fire either. Maybe they should've brought Amber, or a warming bottle, or even that food that supposedly keeps you warmer.

They found a fire, but it was next to another enemy. A frost-something-lawachurl, was it?

They were desperate, so of course they went to warm up near it. But soon the monster noticed them, and all they could do was either dodge until they were warm enough to run away, or to fight and hope the fire doesn't go out. But they were too tired to dodge, and the thing had already prepared for battle. So fight it was.

But both of the options soon became unattractive as while their enemy was creating the shield, the enemy also put out the fire. So they'd have to run. Again.

Kaeya grabbed Lisa's arm and jumped off the cliff. A stupid decision considering there were other options of escape but apparently Kaeya decided to be blind today. Blind with fear or determination? No one knows.

He deployed his wind glider, but Lisa was still hanging on for dear life, causing them to tilt, and start falling.

Kaeya yelled something to Lisa, and Lisa yelled something to Kaeya. But Kaeya couldn't even hear his own thoughts over the roaring sound of the wind.

Lisa let go of him after what seemed like an eternity, and deployed her own wind glider. But Kaeya was still doing flips trying to level himself. He was close to the ground, maybe around six seconds from meeting death as a pancake. He realised that and tried to do the equivalent of turning it off and on again. Surprisingly, it worked. Just quick enough for him to almost, but not hit the ground. Though the way it jerked him back did hurt more than just a bit.

Down here a fire was nearby. It was close to the river but it wouldn't take more than ten steps to get close enough to it for him to warm up again.

Lisa soon undeployed her wind glider and plunged to the ground. Surviving because of some magic or something, or maybe gravity just worked differently for her.

They both quickly huddled up to the fire. Positive that the cold already had an effect on their health. But Kaeya catches a glimpse of something floating in the river from the corner of his eye.

What was it? Some cracked ice? Wait, no. That was Albedo.

:)

I need friends and the ability to draw my own cover art

Word count - 1229