Genshin Impact One shots

Melted - Diluc part 3

You ended up only getting a few hours of sleep before you heard Amber knock on your door.

"Time to get up! Breakfast is almost ready!"

You rolled over, mourning your loss of sleep the night before. Your conversations with Diluc flashed in your memory and made your face grow hot. What would you say to him now? Was he going to go back to being indifferent towards you? Gripping your pillow tightly over your head, you suppressed a groan. Nothing was going the way you'd thought it would.

Another five minutes passed and this time, Lisa and Paimon came to knock on your door. "Sweetie, you need to get up! Everyone is waiting!"

"Paimon will eat all your food!" Paimon called.

With a sigh, you got up and dressed. You looked at your face in the mirror and hoped nobody would notice your tired eyes. They looked a bit like Diluc's last night. They had looked so tired, lost, and lonely. It made your heart ache. Shaking your head, you took a deep breath and set off for the main room of the manor.

"Ah, there you are!" Jean called as you reached the end of the stairs. "We were just discussing a few details about the mission-"

But your hearing seemed to switch off as you laid eyes on Diluc, who looked like he had recovered from last night. When your eyes met, that fire you once had thought of as piercing and unwelcoming seemed to be softer somehow. You thought you saw him nod slightly, but you couldn't be sure. You were even able to hold his gaze this time for some reason - maybe it was because of this strange new openness in his eyes? You didn't want to make the wrong assumption though. You'd learned how hard he was to interpret and you shuddered at the thought of assuming you two were now friends because of one small conversation. However, you had both shown eachother a very vulnerable side to one another, and that was a start.

You took your seat and could hardly focus on the things that Jean was trying to tell you. You picked half heartedly at your omelet as your eyes tried their best to stay open. Again, the pit of uncertainty that lingered in your stomach flared up once more. How were you supposed to fight like this? Everyone was expecting so much from you, there was no way you'd be able to back down now. Could you imagine - the Honorary Knight of Favonius backing down from a very important mission like this? All because they were a little tired?

You remembered what Diluc had said last night. "Just be smart about what you do up there and you'll pull through."

But you weren't sure you could keep your wits about yourself in this state of fatigue.

"Are you alright?" A voice whispered.

Somehow, you hadn't even realized that Diluc had sat right next to you. All at once, you were suddenly aware of the warmth radiating off of him (You'd often felt the same feeling when sitting next to Amber. Must've been a Pyro thing) and the scent of his cologne.

"I apologize for keeping you so late last night. I shouldn't have done that."

You gathered your strength and replied, "It's fine, Diluc, really. I'll be alright."

Out of the corner of your eye you saw his worried look linger on you before he turned to face his own plate of food. He was relatively silent for the rest of breakfast.

After that, your team prepared themselves for the last leg of the journey. The group set off, and the Dawn Winery staff and Diluc watched you leave towards Dragonspine mountain.

The trail was quiet and nobody made conversation as you listened for the sounds of Hilichurl camps. Dragonspine mountain grew bigger and bigger until it took up all of the scenery and all the warmth around you. Frost began to speckle the grass at first, and then it gradually turned into snow. Amber occasionally lit a nearby fire pit left over from other adventurers for the team to warm up momentarily. After that, you came across your first Hilichurl camp.

There were four of them and a Cyro Abyss Mage.

"Amber! Lisa! Target the Mage!" Jean called. "We'll take care of the rest!"

"On it!" Amber replied. She drew back her bow and let an arrow fly directly at the Abyss Mage. Its fire exploded against its shield and Lisa began following Amber's arrows up with her Electro attacks.

You were the last to spring into action. Jean and Kaeya had already jumped into the fray with the surrounding Hilichurls. You joined the fight and felt like you were completely off your game. Your sluggish, mistimed attacks bounced off the Hilichurl's shield.

Kaeya finished his enemy off just in time to watch you get clubbed in the back by the remaining Hilichurl that was unoccupied.

"Ow!" You winced as you stumbled to your knees.

"Be careful! What's gotten into you?" Kaeya defended you while you regained your footing.

"Sorry!"

You used your Anemo powers to send a gust of wind at the two Hilichurls. While they were stunned, Kaeya swooped in and landed some heavy attacks to finish them off. Jean soon defeated the last Hilichurl and the Abyss Mage also fell.

"Everyone alright?" Jean asked.

"I think so," Kaeya replied. "Although it looks like our Honorary Knight had a bit of a rough warm up fight."

You stood off to one side, haunched over and nearly panting. The fatigue was almost unbearable. You wanted to say something so badly, but it seemed impossible to do so. You were here. You couldn't just interrupt the mission now. You were committed and refused to throw in the towel now.

Lisa made you drink some water and then the group was off again, even though you hadn't really caught your breath. There was another group of three Hilichurls up ahead and the team defeated those easily with little effort required from you.

The team pressed on once again. Dragonspine was no joke, you realized with a dark internal chuckle. You'd never seen such bad goosebumps on your skin or felt like the wind was blowing directly through your flesh and bones. Part of you half expected for you to collapse and become shredded to pieces in the snow and wind. How any creature managed to survive here was beyond your fatigued imagination. Somehow, you pressed on through the snow and wind, barely managing to keep up with the group. The team hiked up a hill and revealed another Hilichurl camp gathered near an icy pond.

There were two Hilichurls and one Mitachurl with an ice shieldwall. It turned its head and locked onto your group, and with a roar it called its two smaller friends to battle. They rushed your team and you barely had enough time to dodge out of the way. Amber set to weakening the ice shield while Jean and Kaeya did some crowd control on the other two Hilichurls. You tried your best to help, but you ended up having to focus on dodging. The Mitachurl could sense your weakness and you felt it immediately. It had been trying to mow you down ever since it spotted your group.

During one of your such dodges, you bumped into Lisa as she was trying to cast a spell.

"Ah! Cutie, you've got to be more careful! What's with you today?" Lisa helped you to your feet while Amber distracted the Mitachurl. The three of you ganged up to attack the Mitachurl, who's shield was beginning to look very weak. You closed in on it, but that only made the Mitachurl panic. As a last ditch effort, it made one last charge while it still had its shield intact.

"Y/N, watch out!" Amber screamed.

But there was no time to react. Your legs felt like jelly and your feet were buried in a snowdrift. The Mitachurl came at you like a bull and connected with you, making a large "thwap!" sound. Everyone turned only to see with horror what lay behind you: the pond. You flew straight threw the ice and became enveloped in darkness.

You had blacked out.