ᴄʜᴇᴍɪᴄᴀʟ ʀᴏᴍᴀɴᴄᴇ - ᴀʟʙᴇᴅᴏ x ᴏᴄ

Chapter 30 - Tears

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Burning Pile - Mother Mother
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"Albedo!"

Her scream echoed harmlessly around her. A ringing in her ears left Melanie wondering if she really had shouted or if it was only part of her horrible nightmare. Regardless of the matter, she still felt the grief tugging her back into her mind, filled with the horrible imagery of Albedo's slain body.

Tears glistened on her abnormally paled face. The continuous flow only continued from there, dripping down at its own pace. She couldn't bring herself to wipe away the tears with her trembling fingers. All she wanted to do was hide in her blankets until the memory faded, but that didn't feel likely.

If her shout was in this world, nobody seemed to make a response to it. In fact, Albedo wasn't even in the area. His voice faintly carried itself in the air, but he wasn't anywhere nearby. Through her ragged, scared breathing, she was able to strain her ears just enough to catch another woman's voice, one she recognized from her rescue from the cavern.

Sister Rosaria was her name, and she was likely the one doing the alternating check-up. Hmph, Kaeya didn't even have the guts to show up again after he left her to be revived by Albedo. He made Sucrose deliver his letters, and now Rosaria doing his work for him. If she weren't so petrified at the moment, she'd add something to the back of the letter for Kaeya.

Melanie wrapped her blanket tightly around her, even including over her head in the form of a hood. As she pulled it around her, a constant shaking left her fingers weaker than normal. She was in a state of shock, something she recognized quite often from whenever one of the other Treasure Hoarders did something stupid, like almost falling off of a cliff-

The Treasure Hoarders... Her breath caught in her throat. They had all turned on her at that moment, just to take revenge upon Albedo. Perhaps they were aware of her fondness for him, but she almost wished they had gone after her instead. These thoughts only made the tears fall harder.

She went to look for the letter through her blurry gaze, knowing Sister Rosaria needed to take it back to Mondstadt City, but it wasn't where she left it yesterday. Melanie stood up on shaking legs, stabilizing herself on the far wall by the futon. Every step forward felt uncertain under her weight, but she pushed forward enough to grow close enough to hear the conversation happening outside.

"It's not looking good, you know. They can only be gone for so long before we have to end the case there. You organized patrols, ordered all citizens to be on high alert, and even persuaded Jean to search herself. Those damn Treasure Hoarders aren't anywhere in Mondstadt's land," Sister Rosaria was saying in her usual sassy tone. Melanie could almost catch the faint thrumming of her metal claws clicking against each other.

Her breath caught itself in her throat, causing her to splutter. Melanie backed away to cover her mouth and muffle her coughs. What did Rosaria mean the others weren't in Mondstadt?! How could they have possibly escaped without anybody realizing it?

She remembered the guards posted outside of the cells, waiting for just the right moment to prompt the prisoners. They had been there before she left, right? Nobody could have imagined their pointy spears and swords better than she could.

Panic crept into her mind. Once again, her breathing picked up, and the tears returned to torment her. A headache was already starting to set in, but with the extensive about of crying, there was no stopping the pain in both her head and her heart. Everything hurt; the raw grief, her aching head, and the throb of her shoulder as usual.

Her hand stayed firmly planted over her mouth. Any sob that cut through would catch the attention of the two people talking outside, and that wasn't what she wanted. Although... seeing Albedo, living, and breathing, might quench the grief in her heart. Deep down she knew he was perfectly fine, but she couldn't shake the images.