Finding The Real You - Kaebedo

Chapter XXVII - Saved.

The last time Diluc was this worried for someone was when his father...

But that didn't matter now, Kaeya looked half dead chained to those walls.

He ran over to him, checking whether he was still bleeding or not, eyeing his arm while poking around at his head.

Soon the guards came flooding in, some staying with Diluc, others running into the hallway that was left open.

"Are you okay?"

That was all Diluc could muster at the moment, but those three words still held an unimaginable amount of meaning to Kaeya.

Kaeya weakly uttered a "yes", unable to even think about Diluc actually caring for him.

Sure, it was something he joked about on a daily basis, but he was still aware that Diluc hated him. Rightfully so, as Kaeya thought. He was a traitor to Mondstadt, was there anything worse?

"We'll get you out of here, just hang on."

Diluc continued to speak softly, like he was comforting a hurt child.

Soon, a group of knights rampaged through the hallway, carrying Albedo's body and trying to restrain the "imposter". How would they know which one was the actual Albedo? Did they just snatch the one that was hurt and call it the true Albedo? Did they really not believe that Albedo was strong enough to defeat him?

"Uh alright, but how do we get rid of the chains? I believe they're quite strong-"

Kaeya barely finished his sentence before a flash of purple invaded his sight and his chains were decimated. After he processed what had just happened, he heard a few steps coming towards him.

"I believe that's why I'm here?"

It was Lisa. Of course it was Lisa.

The guards didn't stop for Lisa, they continued marching the others back to Mondstadt.

"Are you cold? Is there anything I can do for you?"

Diluc pulled Kaeya up into his arms, assuming that he wouldn't be able to walk. It was still all too unfamiliar to Kaeya, Diluc being caring? Almost unheard of.

Kaeya wanted to reply with some snarky remark, but he couldn't bring himself to say anything. He just laid there, doing nothing as he was carried back to Mondstadt.

Kaeya let his eyelids close, knowing that he was in safe hands. He somehow drifted to sleep, even when freezing.

- - - - - - - - - -

Kaeya awoke in a separate room in the cathedral. How many times had he ended up in the cathedral? Was this his second time? Third? That felt like too many for less than half a year.

Perhaps Albedo really did mean trouble.. All of this happened because of him, but Kaeya still had no regrets.

Why would he? Albedo completed him. He'd go through a million worlds of pain if he'd come out the other side to be greeted by him.

No one else was there, it was just him. He sat up, and started coughing violently. Was this the third time he'd swapped places with Albedo?

He managed to walk to the door just fine, barely avoiding banging into things by the candlelight that they provided since there were no windows. He took in a deep breath while opening the door.

No one was there. It was almost pitch black.

He stumbled around, letting the light from his room illuminate the dark place.

After almost tripping over something, he decided to try and go back to his bed, deciding that this wasn't worth it. But he heard another set of footsteps when he was navigating his way back.

"Kaeya?! Are you okay? You shouldn't be awake right now. Let me help you."

Barbara was already at his side, supporting him and helping him go back to his room, although he didn't really want to.

"There's really no need, but could you maybe lead me to Albedo's room?"

Kaeya was just praying that Albedo wasn't already dead at this point, so when Barbara flinched, he panicked.

"Ah- Uhm.. He is in dire condition, as they found him almost dead, but if it's what you want, then I'll allow it. It's the room next to yours, room 29."

Kaeya took one moment to look at the room numbers, and then the next moment was filled with sprinting to the correct room, opening the door and just standing there.

Kaeya knew Albedo wasn't well, but he looked like he was on the verge of death here. A blanket was pulled up to his chest so you wouldn't be able to see what was below there, but above was all covered in bandages.

Some scars were visible, as they were healed by Barbara, but what Kaeya could only imagine to be the burn marks were still covered by bandages.

Silence filled the air. Kaeya couldn't bring himself to move, he wanted to run up to him, to be at Albedo's side but he just couldn't.

"He's not bleeding, but we may have to get Lisa to cast some healing-"

"How do you know he's not bleeding? What if he's bleeding internally? Get Lisa here now."

"I- Yes Sir."

Barbara ran off, leaving Kaeya in the doorframe. That broke the spell, and Kaeya ran to Albedo's side. He knelt on the floor next to him, debating what to do next.

Kaeya gently touched Albedo's skin. It was cold and covered in small droplets of sweat. The skin looked paler than usual, almost matching the colour of his hair, or at least that's what it looked like through the candle light.

Kaeya could feel the tears coming, but why is he the one crying when Albedo's the one in pain? He held his sobs back, choosing to trace Crystalflies on the blanket over Albedo's chest.

That action only intensified his emotions, forcing the tears to flow. He allowed himself to cry, and thought 'Just this once..'.

Quiet sobs filled the room, sniffles following not long after. His cries stained Kaeya's cheeks with tears, and his heart beat seemed to hammer in his head.

He continued sobbing until he felt dizzy and his head hurt. Even with these consequences, it was hard to stop the tears. Years of pent up emotion, exploding at one thing. It wasn't that he thought the 'one thing' was insignificant, quite the opposite, but still, years.

:)

Sorry for the late and short chapter?

Word count - 1040