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melziekit · 9 months ago

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As Bright As The Night

Do the stars align for those who are borne not under its sky? Aka Snippets of Kaeya's life after he's abandoned in Mondstat

Also on AO3

(Chapter Notes Here)

Characters: Kaeya, Diluc, Crepus, Adelinde, Mentioned Varka, Mentioned Jean Content: Fluff and Angst, References to Canon, Kaeya Angst, Diluc and Kaeya are Siblings, Parent Crepus, Parental Adelinde

Chapter 1

Word Count: 1.7k

Kaeya is born under the glow of starlight.

His hair grows out in the shade of the hottest flame, free-flowing as the waves between the night sky. His skin, gently kissed by the sweetest mocha tone. Perhaps it was left over from those soft, tender kisses his father would leave on his mother's stomach. Those spare moments where the reagents of Khaenri’ah would get a moment to themselves, after tireless, late nights and groggy, overworked mornings. There was never time to rest, not even for the most powerful of leaders.

Nonetheless, Kaeya is a tapestry, weaving aspects from the lines of his blood into a beautiful mural. A blessing to the nation of the non-dreamers, his small family calls him the best gift they could ever dream of having.

Everyone he remembers seeing shares the same eyes, carrying the stars in their gazes. Their stars reflect his own, and the ones above. He is taught that there are worlds among the glowing dots in the sky where people and things live, but none have ever made it up there. At least, so far.

They consider it a blessing not to be governed by gods, unlike those who have suffered eons of blood battles across their lands, in a place far away. Here, they are free to do what they want, roam wherever they please, and create all they wish. Here, they can choose to be whoever they want to be. For only they will know the truth.

His family gathers every night in their shared bed, watching the stars twinkle through the open circle in the ceiling. Kaeya falls asleep as a toddler, safe in the arms of the ones he loves. He hopes that someday, he can explore the expanse of the abyss beyond the small world he calls home.

The stars watch as Kaeya uses their glow to study ancient passages and swing his blade into the emptiness of his room. Gold-plated embellishments around the area gleam under the soft light, peeking out from the cover of the night. He can start to feel the parts of his palm beginning to sore from the tight grip on his wooden blade. Blinking out the sleep wanting to overtake his small form, he forces himself to run through the exercise again.

"We of the Alberich Clan should lead lives as those who blaze like fire, rather than those who wallow in the embers."

He must become that flame, to light up his nation and cast everything else into shadows. He must not show weakness. He should not show mercy.

Clouds of smog and magic blanket the world. Kaeya's breathing is rough as he's carried away. He was snatched from his bed, cradled into his father's arms and they fled. Kaeya doesn't know what's happened, or why his mother never followed. People, monsters, and unidentifiable humanoid creatures alike swarm the city.

He keeps quiet though, because as the next heir of the Alberich clan, he should become a flawless leader that embodies perfection itself. He should set the example, to be serene, yet firm in every decision he makes. He wants nothing more than to scream at the chaos.

Kaeya wishes he could at least see the star present in his own eyes, to gain some comfort through this purgatory. They had gone through some sort of rift, a mass of energy that felt dangerous as his father conjured the split. But he didn't, couldn't, open his mouth to say so when they jumped through.

Now, the two are frozen in place, left to watch darkness for eternity. His father still holds him, but neither has moved for quite some time. He can't shift his head, or wiggle the tips of his fingers. He can't open his mouth, which reminds him that they should probably eat soon. But strangely enough, it has surely been hours and he isn't feeling hungry yet.

His eyes don't water either, even though they're snapped open. And so he waits. He waits again, and then a little more. But there is no color, not a quiver in the air or a sensation past the long dulled touch on his back. Dully, he wonders if this is what death was like. All he does is continue to look, eyes open but never able to see.

Kaeya nearly cries from relief when he numbly falls onto the ground, the world illuminated with color once more. He's crumpled in a heap on the dirt, still slightly warm from the sun that clawed its last marks on the sky as it was dragged away from the night. It burns on his skin. He blinks for the first time. Another, and again. His chest hurts with the way he greedily sucks in the air, scented with trees, soil, and something slightly sweet.

Someone had opened another rift in the darkness. He was blinded by the first traces of light, but he could focus just enough to see a human-like figure before falling out. Kaeya shakily moves his limbs, his hands are barely able to support the weight of his body.

He hears his father grunt, and stand. He talks to the person, who Kaeya doesn't recognize. They wear similar clothes to the knights in Khaenri'ah but this most certainly doesn't look like home. He gets to his feet at a snail's pace, and his eyes widen after his father puts a hand on his shoulder.

The stars bring him no comfort. He doesn't have the mind to look at them, can't process anything at the moment, really.

"If Master Crepus hadn't taken me in, I doubt I'd have made it through the storm that night," he would later tell curious patrons at Angel's Share in his future.

Yes. A storm. The flurry of emotions in his chest had no better description than that. His father told him that it was his chance, that he was the last hope. For what? For his family? For Khaenri'ah? He doesn't know, as his father goes through another rift again, this time with the mysterious person leading the way. Kaeya runs to the cloud of twilight... and goes through it. He trips and falls into the dirt once more. The portal disappears in silence.

A man with a bushy red mane for hair finds him not long after, sobbing and covered in filth. He kneels between the rows of violet grapes and extends a hand to Kaeya. Kaeya backpedals into a bush and stammers out violent warnings to stay away. The man only keeps his steady gaze. Hesitantly, Kaeya reaches out and takes the hand. He gets picked up and cradled in one arm. He's unbothered by the way the dirt rubs into the pristine, high-quality cotton of his dress shirt. Kaeya tucks his head against the stranger's chest and closes his eyes, falling into a deep sleep. It's warm.

A fire burns on the opposite side of the room. This place is strange. It's baffling how similar, yet so different to home. The walls are too thin, and the room is too small. It makes him feel like he's in a hole in the ground, trapped with no way to escape. The floor is made out of wood and not stone, which makes Kaeya think that it's probably going to be a fire hazard.

But the sheets are soft and smell like sunlight. It eases the fear he has when he jerks awake from a nightmare, the image of Khaenri'ah burning, seared brightly behind his eyelids. He pants and rubs his eye furiously. His vision swims, and he forces his breathing to level out. It picks up again when a knock at the door catches him off guard. He immediately bristles up, star-shaped pupil narrowed like a cat.

The man with the red hair steps in, and sends him a friendly smile. It eases his tensed form slightly, but he narrows his eye at the second form behind the large figure. In comes a carbon copy of the man, in a much, much smaller form. The man points at himself and says something. Kaeya tilts his head. The man repeats it.

"Crepus."

Kaeya realizes that he's probably said his name. The boy shyly says his own.

"Diluc."

They watch Kaeya for his response. He swallows dryly and opens and closes his mouth a few times.

"Kaeya," he finally manages out.

Crepus says nothing, but the look in his eyes shows relief. He makes a few gestures, and Kaeya picks out the meaning. It's been about three days since he... arrived. Diluc shyly clings to his father's legs and stares at Kaeya with wide red eyes. He waves with small, stubby fingers. Kaeya only tilts his head in confusion, and Diluc runs away.

Over the next few months, their relationship will change, and no one would ever guess that Diluc was once scared of the other. They'll be bonded like they were born from the same womb. Still, his father's words won't be able to escape Kaeya's mind.

Days pass by slowly. Kaeya learns how to sneak out at night to catch glimpses of the stars from the roof. The window creaks if he pushes it out too far, but he quickly realizes the exact angles he needs for his small body to slip through. Cold red tiles chill his feet, but he ignores it in favor of being able to gain safety in this once comforting experience.

He has learned that the people here believe that everyone's fate has been interwoven with the glowing dots in the sky. Wryly, Kaeya wonders if he can find a constellation for him in this sky, if it would even exist.

The stars here are wrong. They hang as stationary pointed spheres; too close, and none of them pulse and shine like they're supposed to. He can't find the constellations that his mother would point out and trace with her finger each night. He doesn't see his favorite star, red and pulsing. It was the only one in the patch of soft white dots. A single beacon amidst monotony.

And now, there is only one glowing ball hovering in the sky. The moons that used to span over the sky, laid in their bed of twinkling diamonds, no longer exist in a trio. The last moon is small. It struggles to rise and fall every night. The details on its surface are hard to make out, unlike how it glowed with full radiance in Khaenri'ah. Still, it can chase off the sun by itself, mighty in quiet strength. "Perhaps," young Kaeya thinks to himself. "Perhaps there is another who might be like me."

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