Kairos
Kaeya ended up sleeping like shit, he was tired and had definitely slept less than any doctor would recommend.
Waking up late wasn't something he knew how to do so he had gotten up at the perfect time he woke up to go to his shift, half past seven.
So in total he had slept exactly four and a half hours, Kaeya wanted to go back to bed but he had already smelled breakfast prepared by Adeline and he wasn't going to say no to a good breakfast, especially if Adeline had cooked it.
Now the problem was what to wear, although he had his own mini house inside a teapot, Kaeya didn't understand why Madam Ping insisted that it had to be a teapot, inside he only had clothes and sewing materials.
It also had a few other things but nothing interesting, it didn't even have a bed until Hu Tao decided she was fed up with his teapot being empty and decided to bring her employee, Mister Zhongli, to help them decorate.
The thing is, he didn't bring anything useful, just overpriced decorations.
The problem now was breakfast and looking for Venti, that son of a bitch had some explaining to do and soon.
Kaeya followed the smell to the dining table where Crepus and Diluc were already having breakfast.
-Good morning Kaeya, have you rested?
Master Crepus as always so kind while Diluc seemed to be looking at him as if he had just realized that Kaeya was indeed not an illusion caused by the delusions of a bad intoxication.
"Master Crepus I love you but I haven't slept this badly since we were at war with Celestia."
-Yes, the bed was comfortable, thank you so much for letting me stay.
The two redheads smiled as they offered him a place to sit and an empty plate to help himself.
-Sit down come on, Diluc has to leave soon but you and I still have time to enjoy our breakfast properly.
And Kaeya wasn't going to say no to a good breakfast.
-Kaeya, do you want me to show you around Mondstadt after your work time is over?
Diluc seemed embarrassed to suggest it but Kaeya was debating whether to say yes or to explain that he had already made an appointment with Barbatos himself.
The decision was obvious.
-I would love to Diluc, thank you very much
Crepus smiled reassuringly and pretended not to realize how obvious his son was being, although it was quite possible that his son wasn't even realizing his feelings.
Crepus knew that Kaeya had gone to his son's room at night, actually Crepus was going to go but Kaeya had gone in earlier and Crepus was really good at not being noticed, also the fact that Kaeya had panicked had helped.
Kaeya was a nice guy, but he also had the name of who Diluc always called in his dreams, Crepus hadn't offered Kaeya that room for no reason, Crepus wasn't angry with Kaeya but he wanted to know the truth, and Kaeya knew it.
Crepus was actually much stronger than most people believed, yes, it was possible that he was in contact with the dubious Fatui organization, it was also possible that it was not really the organization but a member of it.
Crepus really shouldn't use the delusion but if necessary, in case his son was in danger he wouldn't hesitate to use it, even if the price was his life.
Of course, there was no need to be pessimistic such a situation was not going to happen, Crepus laughed in his head, Mondstadt was safe after all.
Kaeya for some reason felt a chill down his back.
-Master Crepus, when should I start working?
The youngsters were really full of energy.
-Just Crepus Kaeya, call me Crepus... And Adeline will explain you where you are going to work, if there is any problem you can come to me, for now let's enjoy the food.
Kaeya ate more than usual, not that his eating habits were good, Xinyan always told him that he should eat more, even so Kaeya had improved a lot, while he had lived in Liyue he had not only trained like crazy to be extremely strong, he had also managed to understand himself and accept himself, it was complicated but little by little Kaeya had managed to stop blaming himself for everything.
According to Hu Tao he was still a fucking sado-masochist, but that was another story.
-Kaeya, before you go, why did you really come to Mondstadt?
Kaeya, already at the door stopped, he had forgotten that Crepus was much smarter than he made everyone believe, still Kaeya wasn't the best liar for nothing.
-Didn't I explain already? I like the Mora!
Crepus just sighed, it wasn't as if he expected a sincere answer.
-All right, then, good luck
-Thank you very much Master Crepus
Kaeya went out the door without stopping smiling, it was obvious that it was not the first time Diluc had had nightmares, it was not impossible that Diluc had said his name more than once while Crepus was in front of him.
So Crepus knew that Kaeya had something to do with Diluc's dreams but still he didn't blame him, Crepus had always been a good man so what he wanted was to know the truth so he could help his son.
Kaeya couldn't help but feel that he was taking advantage of the kindness of the two redheads.
The trip to Dawn Winery was fast and Adeline was always nice.
So Kaeya had no problem talking to her even if he was a bit nervous.
Picking grapes from the vineyards, separating the grapes from their bunches and putting them away to be crushed for juice, Kaeya worked mechanically.
More than one person stared at him before continuing with their work, the young man who had been brought in finished more than a third of the work by himself, which was the work of four people combined.
With all the grapes separated from their bunches in the buckets he began to transport them to the warehouse to be crushed, the grape juice that Diluc liked so much was going to be ready soon.
In the end Kaeya was left with nothing to do, the pressing was something that Connor took care of.
Although the harvest was not finished yet, the dawn vineyard was splitting the work into seven different days, these before the Windblume festival.
Of course, the wine would not be ready until much later.
So Kaeya no longer had work to do, which was fortunate because he could use this hour before Diluc returned to go to Vanessa's tree.
"I estimate I have an hour and a half to do this."
-Adeline, I'm going to go see Vanessa's tree, I'm interested to see what it looks like.
Talking to Adeline was a bit embarrassing, but Kaeya was doing relatively well.
-All right, remember to come back when young master Diluc returns, you promised to go and let him show you around Mondstadt.
Diluc had said he would pick him up after Kaeya finished working, which coincided with when Diluc finished his own work.
It was from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., with an hour lunch break, during which Kaeya had been chatting with the other workers.
It was now half past two in the afternoon, so if he hurried he would arrive at Vanessa's tree around a quarter to four.
Thinking positively Kaeya said goodbye to Adeline and set off for Vanessa's tree.
The journey was calmer than Kaeya had expected, while any monster that had once been human wouldn't attack him, Kaeya had gone to great lengths to convince friends of his from Liyue not to kill them but to ask them to leave, Kaeya was expecting at least one Field Tiller, they weren't human so Kaeya could have fun fighting them.
When Celestia attacked, the Abyss did not want to defend the other nations and focused on killing Celestia, but the normal hilichurls stopped attacking humans and decided to hide, unless they were controlled.
Ella Musk helped in the communication between the two sides, Kaeya always accompanied her and corrected her if she said something wrong.
Then, the Field Tillers could be controlled as they worked with code words, although at first it was difficult to guess what these words were, in the end they managed to use the Field Tillers to know the situation outside.
Yet Venti never revealed what Celestia really wanted to achieve.
Vanessa's tree was still the same, the crystalflies fluttering around.
And on a branch was Venti, looking at him peacefully.
-We meet again, old friend
At that moment Kaeya knew, Venti remembered everything.
-How did we travel back in time?
-Traveling back in time? Do you really think that's what happened?
Venti had a calm look on his face but it was obvious there was something else.
-Kaeya, the only thing we have done is to enter the seventh cycle, fortunately or unfortunately, traveller did something with the help of Buer's favorite, causing the eighth cycle to not start correctly, resulting in a few important people to remember.
-Are we part of those people?
At this question Kaeya could see how Venti's expression changed to one he had never seen before.
-Oh? Kaeya I don't think you are understanding, only you are part of those people, I remember from the zero cycle.
A shiver ran down his spine, that would mean that Venti knew everything from the beginning, that he asked him even though he already knew the answer, that he gave the go-ahead for excursions that ended in tragedy.
But it would also explain why Mondstadt lasted so long when Barbatos was supposed to be the weakest of the seven.
Of course, Snezhnaya might have also survived, but being so far away they had lost contact with the more distant nations.
Inazuma created an electro barrier so powerful that nothing could cross it.
In Natlan there was no sound at all, not even an erupting volcano, the people of Natlan lived traveling so it was very likely that many had died or ended up in other nations.
Fontaine sank, and the news were cut off, even so it was not known if the sinking had been deliberate or if it had been caused by Celestia.
All the inhabitants of Sumeru ended up living in ancient Kaherian fortresses, underground trying to avoid the constant attacks, while Buer and her favorite tried to look for answers in the Irminsul.
Liyue was in chaos, after Morax had appeared when he was supposed to be dead, and the person who fought the most at his side was surprisingly one of the harbingers.
But when Liyue fell all contact was cut off.
-Why? Why didn't you say anything Venti?
But Barbatos was no longer looking at him, but at Celestia.
-After you died, Celestia went silent for a few months, shortly after that the world was destroyed and the cycle started again, Celestia believes that if they keep restarting and saving the data in the Irmisul everything will be fine.
With a sigh the bard took out a catalyst, the same one he had given to an old friend of his.
-Of course what they really have is fear, fear of losing their place in the sky full of fake stars, each cycle is a star of our constellation, which means that what we have now doesn't count as a cycle.
Kaeya was beginning to understand but it was still hard to take in, it was too much information.
-What difference does it make that it is not a cycle? If in the end the result is the same
At this the bard smiled.
-Isn't it obvious? Not being a cycle means that some of us have not been registered in the Irminsul, making Traveler still a descender and making you become one.
Kaeya had never heard that word before, but it must have something to do with Celestia and the world they were in, since it had to do with not being registered in the Irminsul.
-Haven't I been registered before? How would it be possible to change that?
-Isn't it obvious? You are not the one who was registered and your steps have nothing to do with the registered ones, humans change with the time so it is impossible to register them in a case like yours.
-Why is Celestia doing this?
-They have a strange evolutionary plan to avoid the end of their reign or something, the reason why they attack is because they want to restart the cycle as soon as possible.
"What a bunch of motherfuckers."
-I know what you're thinking Kaeya, Who else remembers, right? The eleventh of the Fatui will remember soon and Master Diluc is likely to remember in a few years, Buer's favorite who is already in charge of Buer at the moment also remembers, the rest is Morax who has always been a mystery to me, lastly there is someone else who remembers but this person is not a descender, she is the princess of the abyss.
-There are quite a few
-They are the only ones I've managed to find, I have the feeling that there are more, for example, isn't Lisa even more suspicious than before? or that architect of Sumeru who isn't acting exactly as he should?
Kaeya at least knew that he was not alone, there were more people and Diluc, even if it took him a while, would probably remember.
-Thank you Venti
Even though the bard kept chattering as if he hadn't heard anything Kaeya realized that he had actually heard, he didn't know what it would be like to know that no one would ever remember but Venti had experienced it several times.
"I guess I can rest for a while under the shade."
Slowly Kaeya drifted off to sleep.
-Rest Kaeya, you've been through so much already.
Jean had finished her shift early today, not knowing what to do she had decided to visit Vanessa's tree, she did not expect to find someone resting in it while surrounded by crystalflies.
It was an ethereal image, Jean almost thought that the person in front of her was one of the four winds.
Little by little she decided to get a little closer, she did not expect that the sleeping person noticing the shadow in front of him would wake up immediately and create two spiked fans[1], made of cryo.
But upon seeing her, the person stopped immediately and stared at her.
-I'm sorry for snapping like that, I thought you were some kind of treasure hunter, sorry for scaring you.
Jean, now more relaxed, smiled.
-Don't worry, it's normal, my name is Jean and yours?
Kaeya smiled, Jean never changed.
-Kaeya, I am here to work before the festival, you are one of the knights, aren't you?
Jean looked at her uniform, which was dirty and sighed, if she had known she was going to meet someone she would have changed her clothes.
-Yes, I finished early and came to rest here, you?
-I just found it interesting to visit, in the end I ended up falling asleep, I don't know what time it is but I should go, I can't leave my -Kaeya hesitated for a moment before continuing- my friend alone, he promised to show me Mondstadt.
-Is that so? I hope you enjoy your stay here Kaeya, if you feel like it one day you could come to the quarters to visit us too, we would be delighted.
Kaeya looked at the version of Jean in front of him, kind and surprisingly acting like when she had a little crush on someone.
He had to stop that crush in the best way, which was before it even came up.
-I'll think about it, after all I don't think I'll be able to stay in Mondstadt for long.
"First downside, there's no time."
-Is this your first visit to Mondstadt?
"Second downside, I like someone else in a very subtle way."
- I've been but just passing through, I wasn't really planning to stay long but I guess you meet people who convince you to stay a little longer.
Jean's eyes expanded and caught the message "You're staying because you like someone? How romantic!"
Jean, contrary to what many thought, loved to gossip, and Kaeya knew it.
-Oh? Is there someone so interesting around here?
Kaeya didn't really know how to proceed now, he hadn't thought that far ahead, although he liked Diluc, Diluc didn't remember him and he didn't want to put pressure on Diluc.
-Well, he's certainly interesting enough, although he also....
"The fact that I mentioned the person in the male form would keep Jean from even having a crush on me, yet Jean had never liked me? But that could be because I was always glued to Diluc, I guess that's why it never crossed her mind to see me as someone of interest... or maybe I just dressed ugly..."
-Good luck, I hope that the not coming back thing is a lie in case you make it!
Laughing Kaeya said goodbye, Jean was much more carefree when she was younger.
The ride back to the mansion took longer than he thought, but seeing that Adeline didn't seem angry meant he wasn't late.
-Adeline, what time is it?
-It's a quarter past four, Master Diluc will be here soon.
As soon as she said that, Diluc, really tired as if he had come running, appeared.
-I'm sorry Kaeya, the knights tried to make me stay but I managed to escape.
Kaeya and Adeline looked at him and couldn't help laughing.
-What are you two laughing about?
Adeline, who was already back to her stoic face replied.
-Master Diluc, you have arrived five minutes earlier than usual, have you even eaten? As far as I know you eat at half past two but seeing that you have arrived so early even running away from the knights...
Diluc started to turn red.
-Adeline, it's not that! I've eaten I swear, maybe faster than usual but I've eaten!
Kaeya calmed down and simply smiled fondly at the scene.
-So, are we going to see Mondstadt Diluc? I still don't know why you wanted to be the one to come here when you work in the city but I'm not complaining.
Diluc smiled more calmly, and oh how beautiful that smile was, Kaeya couldn't help but be amazed to see how Diluc smiled so openly, so happy, how he wished that when he remembered everything he would keep smiling like that, because that smile was one of pure happiness.
-Yes, let's go and see Mondstadt Kae.
And at this Kaeya could only turn the same color as Diluc's hair.
Oh how deep had Kaeya fallen.