Shattered hearts

Panic

Diluc finally made it to Dawn Winery, and rushed to his room to look for some clothes fitting for a terrible day like this. How could he let Jean fall like that? What if she had died? He felt so guilty.. he couldn't lose someone he loves again, he just can't bare that pain for a second time. He began to strip off his clothes, before getting on some new ones. This day could possibly get worse, and he was slightly prepared for it, but not quite. He looked at himself in the mirror, and just sighed and sat down on his bed. Was he even fit enough to work with the knights again, and help them fend off the Abyss Order? He had probably grown super rusty since that, and he was sure that probably even Lisa was better in combat than he was.

Eventually, Diluc had gotten himself out of the door, and was heading back to the city. He was doing it for his father, to make him proud, but also for Jean. He didn't see any suspicious activity on the way back, which was quite positive, and hoped that the letter wasn't as bad as it brought itself to be. He soon found himself in the hallway at the KoF hq, and looked around to see if he could find Kaeya and Lisa. Unfortunately he didn't see them, and rushed to the office, where Jean had been left alone to rest. He couldn't just leave her there and never come back, no one knew who would survive this so called war. So, he gently walked over to her, and sat down beside her. "I'm sorry for what happened, Jean. You deserve better, and I should've saved you in time. I love you. I hope we see each other in good health soon." He whispered to her, before planting a kiss on her forehead. He then got up and headed out. When he left the room, he spotted the Traveler and Paimon, who seemed a bit confused about the chaos.

It didn't take the two of them long before they spotted the redhead. "Oh, it's Master Diluc! Paimon hasn't seen you in ages!" Paimon pointed out, as the two seemed happy to see him. "Nice to see you two again. I would love to hear about your adventures, and travels, but we're in a sticky situation." Diluc said, as he then went on to fill them in about the letter, the plan, and what happened to Jean. They were both super understanding, and offered to help. He obviously saw a change in the Traveler's expression when he read out the word "prince". Diluc didn't question it though, and went on to try and find Kaeya and Lisa.

He finally spotted them near the Cathedral, and headed over. "Ah, Master Diluc, you're back. We informed Barbara about Jean's situation, and she said she would look into it, so Jean will be fine soon." Kaeya informed him, as he smiled a bit. "Don't feel guilty, it wasn't your fault." Lisa said, as it was as if she could see right through him. Diluc just nodded in response. "Okay, do we have a plan? A new one?" He asked. "Well, if the Abyss Order wants to somehow wipe out Mondtsadt, any logical person would suppose they would take the places we least expect, but since there are people mostly in the city, we think that they'll strike here to cause panic amongst the people." Kaeya explained. "So we planned to let a few knights scatter around the region, and then the rest will remain here at the front gate." Lisa finished. "Sounds good?" She asked. "It does, I'll head to Windrise for one last time, I know Jean did that quite a lot, and she explained it clears her thoughts. I'll be back." Diluc said, before he waved at the two, and walked off.