#and i feel like everyone in mondstadt would make him slowly realize internally that

[crcta]

In the topic of love, i´m thinking- Albedo seeing people in love and experiencing these type of emotions and deep down it only makes him feel more like an outcast, a piece of a puzzle that will never fit, because he has never felt something akin to that, which only reinforces the idea that he is not a human-

[just-a-new-gi-writer]

Creator Reforged: Building God Chapter 3b

A/N: And here’s the other half of the twin chapters! Thank you for your patience, everyone!

Word count: 3077

Warnings: Diluc goes sicko mode (minor character death, brief gore mentions), mentions of a dismembered body

Masterpost

First Prev To 3a Next

Another fruitless search in Dadaupa Gorge. Diluc frowned at the road ahead of him as he rode back to the winery. He had been more… anxious as of late, but he couldn’t pin down exactly why.

These past few days, he had slowly grown more and more uneasy in his searches of southern Mondstadt. He had found himself painstakingly searching anything he came across for the finest of details. More than once, he had to catch himself from straying from the area he was searching. Why did he always seem to be meandering west?

It took Diluc longer than he liked to notice someone trying to catch his attention on the side of the path. When he registered it as his brother, he almost wished to remain oblivious. That damn smirk on Kaeya’s face only deepened his dread as he approached.

“What is it.” Diluc’s tone was barely that of a question as he brought the horse to a halt.

“Goodness, Diluc,” That grin was insufferable, “is that really how you greet your brother? I realize the times haven’t been easy on us as of late–”

“If all you’re interested in is idle chatter–”

“Oh, enough.” Kaeya tilted his head. “You’ve known me how long, and can’t tolerate a simple conversation?”

“What is it, Kaeya?”

“Hmph. You’re almost as bad as those agents down the way.” Kaeya leaned back against a nearby tree. “Awfully unfriendly. Almost serves them right for the trouble they got themselves into.”

“‘Agents’?” Diluc paused. “Wouldn’t be from the adventurer’s guild, then.”

“You should know,” Kaeya shrugged, “you’d be far more familiar with them.”

Diluc’s eyes darkened. “Fatui. I thought they were busy with their own internal issues.”

“If they aren’t, they will be soon. I saw a couple fall in battle, and their injuries weren’t… shallow.”

Diluc mulled the situation over. “Who were they fighting?”

“Our recent arrivals.”

“The Rifthounds.” Diluc paused. “At least the monsters are fighting each other. But what are the hounds doing so far south?”

“For their part, the Fatui have taken down a few of the wolves.”

“…Wait, this isn’t making sense. Why are the Fatui fighting Rifthounds so far away from… anything? What would they have to gain? They should disengage and retreat before losses mount… Unless–”

“Unless the Fatui have a vested interest in ‘finding’ something quickly. Those wolves just make things even more interesting. It could be chalked up to a coincidence, but I’ve given up on those ever since the Traveler passed through.”

“What could the Fatui be searching for, though, especially in these times?”

“No clue. What have you been searching for?”

Diluc remained quiet for a second, pursuing his thoughts. “Where did you last see the battle?”

“Let me ride along and I’ll show you.”

DIluc hesitated, but quickly relented. “Fine.” He held out a hand to help Kaeya up.

“And would you consider letting me spend the night at the Winery?”

“…Perhaps–”

“And a bottle from your stache?”

“Don’t push your luck.”

“Turning into me, now?”

“You’re welcome to walk, Kaeya.”

The ride was short with Kaeya’s directions, but neither rider felt the time pass quickly. Kaeya pointed out where to turn off the main road onto a smaller one, as the blackened midday sky stared down at them. He warned Diluc about the different turns and pitfalls, his voice sounding unnaturally from the deafening silence about them. Even when finding a place to hitch his horse, he couldn’t help but feel like the trees themselves were all but bending down to him, begging him to stay nearby, if only to assuage their fears.

Kaeya began to lead the way, picking through the undergrowth into the forest beyond. For a while, the only sound was them picking their way through the foliage. The quiet was getting to Diluc. How long ago had Kaeya picked up on the sounds of battle? How long could the fight have gone on?

“Kaeya.” He knew he should stay quiet, but he couldn’t bear the building apprehension. But why was he feeling it in the first place?

“I know.” There was some undertone to his voice that Diluc wasn’t used to hearing from him. Trepidation? “Hopefully the victors haven’t made off with their spoils too long ago.”

“They don’t travel in small numbers when they want to ensure victory. Hard to avoid leaving some kind of trail.”

“So you say.”

“Mostly because–”

Kayea held up a hand and Diluc quickly fell silent. He strained his ears, searching for what his brother had caught. On the edge of his hearing, Diluc could hear bits and pieces of scattered conversation.

“…wh… gn… d?” Most of the sounds were lost to the surroundings.

“…hl…ls…sps…td?” Pointed anger rang in the stranger’s voice. “Clst…bv…Tsrst…hp…s”

“…can’t just stay hr… …mr of those things find us?”

Kaeya glanced back at Diluc. Two standing, he mouthed, many dead? Rifthounds defeated. Cryo gunner, electro hammer.

Diluc materialized his claymore behind himself. Surprise attack possible?

Kaeya shook his head. Too far away.

Distract electro, Diluc stepped up as he readied his weapon, I’ll deal with cryo, return to help you. Ready?

Kaeya rolled his eye as he summoned his weapon. And you call me the aggressive one. He paused, taking one last second to prepare himself, and then pushed the last bit of foliage aside, leaving some room. Diluc sprung into action, identifying and closing in on the obese gunner while steering clear of the hammerer.

“–Company!” the gunner sputtered behind his mask. With practiced hands, he snapped one, then two cartridges off his belt and into his weapon.

“Crimson Hawk!” the hammerer shouted, grabbing his weapon and hefting it, “Don’t let the bastard get close!” One quick motion, and the hammer squealed with electro power, a few small arcs glancing off his armor. “Why now, of all times–”

“Cool it, lapdog,” Kaeya snapped. Diluc felt a few stray flecks of ice spray past him. “We’re here to crash the party, not to be insulted.”

The silver edge of the Favonius Greatsword began to tinge with flames as he neared the gunner. The inexperience betrayed the Fatui agent as he fumbled with his gun, eventually snapping it shut and engulfing himself in a freezing cloud barely before Diluc’s blade could slip past it. The air rang with the shield’s shrieks against the flames but it still remained standing.

Diluc had personal experience with how much punishment these shields could take before breaking- something this new recruit seemed quite unfamiliar with. With measured and precise strikes, Diluc hammered on the weakening shimmering surface- once, twice, and empowered with Pyro, the third strike shattered and dispersed that last vestige of security the gunner held onto.

Shaken by every blow, the agent scrambled to get a grip on his gun as Diluc changed his grip and sized up how quickest to finish him off. The armor around the vitals would make for a sloppy kill with his claymore, and the bulk would draw out assaults around there. An insight crossed Diluc’s mind.

Diluc swiped quickly, knocking an arm away from the gun. Carrying the momentum, he spun around and buried the claymore as deep as it could go, carving into the gunner’s arm, breaking the bone, and lodging the blade partially into his bulk. Now loosened from its grip, he snapped the barrel of the gun up, catching the muzzle on the underside of his opponent’s mask.

Diluc pulled the trigger, and within a second, the gunner slumped to the ground.

He reached down and wrenched his bloodstained claymore out of the gash it sat in, then turned around to clean up Kaeya’s enemy. To his disappointment, the hammerer still stood, trading cautious blows with the captain.

“Heinrich?” the Fatui agent called back, “Hang in there, I’m almost–”

“Don’t talk during battle.” A sudden shock of ice from Kaeya, and the hammerer’s shield dissipated.  “You’re wasting breath when you should be paying–”

Diluc moved forward, the gap between him and the last Fatui agent evaporating. His claymore wreathed in flame, he lunged at the last moment and swung it down with all his might.

In a moment of tearing flesh and pulverized bones, the hammerer crashed lifelessly to the ground.

The battlefield fell quiet, its only noises being the adopted brothers’ heavy breaths and the death rattles of the Fatui Agents. Diluc let go of his sword, letting it reappear behind him.

“They still haven’t learned, it seems. Still using ‘Crimson Hawk’?”

“I’m sorry,” Kaeya blinked in disbelief, “that’s the first thing you say after murdering two people?”

“If I didn’t take care of them now, I would have taken care of them later.” Diluc readjusted his gloves. “Shall we see what these creatures risked everything for?”

“…All this time I’ve known you, and you still surprise me. It seems even you aren’t immune to the wildering impulses lately.” Kaeya clicked his tongue. “Wonder how long it will be before you’re making human sacrifices in the name of the Creator like the rest of them.”

“I’d at least let you do the honors of putting me out of my misery before then.”

“Flattering as always.”

Diluc surveyed the battlefield. Various Fatui corpses were strewn about, each covered by a white sheet, each stained with blood to varying degrees, marking how its charge died. Between them lay the remnants of the Rifthounds, irregular, unnatural stone dyed cyan and shattered to near unrecognition.

But sitting, almost untouched in the middle of it all, was something else entirely. Something not large enough to be a whole body, carefully and meticulously swaddled in white cloth. As he neared, Diluc slowly concluded what it had to be.

Kaeya approached alongside Diluc and knelt down next to the bundle, briefly unwrapping it to confirm Diluc’s suspicions. The hips and legs of some unfortunate soul, separated from the rest of their body. “You know what I’ve said about coincidences.”

“Still warm?”

“Unfortunately so, yes.”

“‘Unfortunately’?”

Kaeya looked up at Diluc. “It means we’ll get tangled up in something worse. Bad things come in threes, after all.”

“Then at least we’ll see some conclusion to this mess.”

“Hopefully one that won’t involve us reuniting with Crepus.”

Diluc glared down at his adopted brother.

“Am I not getting that bottle of wine?”

Diluc at least found the kindness to drop Kayea off at the main road before turning to ride to the trailhead of Dragonspine. The night would be long and the ride hard, but this was not a task to be deferred for tomorrow. He could brave the climb and hopefully rest the night with Albedo. He hadn’t had much interaction with the alchemist, but with any luck, a surprise visitor wouldn’t be turned away.

Travel in these times never ceased to unnerve Diluc. Of all the threats to plague travel in better times, between the Treasure Hoarder ambushes, Fatui attacks, and Hilichurl raids, few managed to seriously unnerve him to the degree that these handful of trips have. Especially now, as the thin sliver of sky turned blue to yellow to red, a mockery of a sunset as the pale disc of a sun dipped low and the stars refused to appear, Diluc found himself slowly growing more and more guarded. It almost would have been a relief if something were to try and strike out at him, but the fact that the roads were so unused…

The tension kept building within him, even as the ride ended and with the horse hitched, even as he followed the meandering path up the mountain’s side. The furious passes lying silent, the biting winds stilled.

Just the sound of crunching snow, the nipping of the cold, the slow heat of the bundle in his arms. Diluc had never felt so utterly alone.

It was a small relief to see the lights of Albedo’s station, brilliant against the snow. Few others would be so mad as to call this mountain home, but in the Knights’ eyes, it was worth it to grant the alchemist’s request. He crossed the last few meters just like the countless before: slow, measured, unceasing.

As he reached the door, he shifted the bundle in his hands to pound on the door three times. He heard the sound of someone inside scrambling to their feet and rushing to open the door.

The door flung open and Diluc looked over the haggard man standing in the doorway. While he had seen Albedo before and was generally sure of his appearance, several things seemed off about him. His clothes were disheveled and messy, marred with old stains. His hair was a mess- what Diluc remembered to be a tight braid of hair wrapping around his head now hung loose and with several locks pulled out of order.

“Di– uh,” Albedo had to pause, searching for a name, “Diluc. To what– Are you–”

“Albedo. Kaeya and I have found another oddity for you.”

“Another– I-Is it really…?” Albedo blinked. “Oh, please! Come inside.” He stepped back and motioned Diluc to follow.

He wasn’t entirely sure what to expect out of the alchemist, but this entire place was in a miserable state. Books and paper littered in every corner. Dried spills long past any hope of being cleaned without serious work. Several scraps of fabric each sewn to a pair in the same pattern- with obvious drive but no obvious purpose. What Diluc assumed to be experiments, neglected and left to gather dust. But it was only in one of the side rooms Albedo led him to, was there something that deeply unsettled Diluc. He recognized it as the torso he found in Rominten, though that in and of itself was nowhere near surprising.

It was how it was displayed. It was laid out on Albedo’s bed with the seeming utmost care. It was almost darkly humorous, seeing it almost propped up against the pillow and the sheets pulled up and smoothed out. Diluc half expected to see a glass of water on the stand nearby.

“Albedo,” Diluc didn’t bother hiding his worried tone, “what is going on.”

The alchemist snapped his head back to look at Diluc, almost like he had been caught in some untrustworthy act. “What?” he innocently asked, “Isn’t it only proper to give Them Their respect?” He didn’t like how some of those words were intoned.

Diluc swallowed. Angel’s Share was always ablaze with rumors, and lately people had little more to talk about when drowning their sorrows than how people they had known to be entirely within their right mind slowly and perceptively over the days lose their sanity, speaking of lamentations on the winds, of messages hidden in the wisps of sky on the horizon, of feeling the very earth gently shudder as it sobbed.

These stories inevitably ended poorly, the people becoming lost in their delusions, sometimes trying to drag their family or friends along into their fantasies, sometimes striking out to find others who followed similar enough mirages.

DIluc didn’t completely discredit those stories- they did explain why Mondstadt City felt more empty as of late- but he never thought that he would stand face-to-face with one of those very people.

What was he to do? Jean had praised Albedo for his clearheadedness and insight, of steadfastly clinging to reason and truth. What could have tipped him over into bordering madness? Was it Albedo’s isolation? The torso that Kaeya had dropped off? Something else entirely? …Would it be right of him to leave Albedo alone with this new addition? Would he be making this entire situation worse?

“Diluc.” Albedo’s stern tone snapped Diluc out of his thoughts.

“Ah–” Returning to the moment, it dawned on DIluc that he wouldn’t have the time to deliberate. Albedo had the covers pulled back, exposing where he was expected to set the legs down.

“Leaving it to me, then?” Albedo stepped forward and reached for the bundle in his hands. “Perhaps it’s only right. You’ve been blessed by Their touch long enough.”

DIluc felt his uncertainty stretch on as Albedo’s hands slipped under his own. “By… what? Albedo, what are you talking about?”

“The Creator’s, obviously.” Albedo pulled the legs off of Diluc’s arms with the utmost care. “You and Kaeya each had plenty of time during the climb. Then again, I suppose I’ve had all the time I wish for here.”

“The Crea–?!” DIluc blinked in disbelief. “Albedo, you cannot seriously believe–”

“Diluc.” Albedo’s tone turned harsh. “I will not permit this blasphemy against Them. Perhaps you cannot yet see Their likeness, but ignorance does not excuse disbelief.”

“Albedo, are you listening to yourself?”

“–Yes, why?”

“Claiming that the Creator, of all things, has descended to Teyvat? From what? A couple pieces of a dismembered body?”

Albedo jerked back, just as he was about to set the legs down. “I’ll have you know that I have plenty of evidence to back my position. The only hurdle is explaining it all to you. But what would some backwater bartender want to know about this? But no,” he gently laid the legs down, nearly touching the body, “you’ll find your evidence in due time, I have no doubts about that. Maybe by you, maybe by your brother.”

“Albedo–”

“Just wait, and you will have your questions answered.” Albedo reached over and grabbed a needle and a spool of medical thread. “Perhaps it would be for the best for you to go back to your search. The sooner you find the final parts…”

“At this time of night? Maybe you have lost your mind.”

“It’s nighttime?” Albedo’s tone snapped back to normal as he glanced at the window. “Already?”

Diluc paused. “…Albedo, how long have you been awake?”

“Not that long, not that long. I’ve just been practicing my stitches for the past five days, ever since Kaeya stopped by to drop off the torso.”

“…Albedo, that was a week and a half ago.”

There was a pause as the wheels turned in Albedo’s head.

“Perhaps your craft could wait until the morning?”

Albedo looked down at the tools in his hands, then turned back to the body. “Those parts aren’t going to miraculously show up at my doorstep.” With shaking hands, he began to thread the needle. “You are familiar with seeing yourself out, I presume?”

Diluc turned and left. Things were worse than he thought. The ride to Mondstadt City would not be easy, but he needed to inform Jean about his concerns.

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