FOR FOREVER
IV ; DEATH CARRIES SECRETS
— FOR THE DEAD MANS BUSINESS IS NOW YOURS TO TELL IN HIS STEAD.
IT WAS A WARM APRIL EVENING, the tavern was bustling with knights and friends with the ragnvindr family. people were shouting, drinking, everything you'd find in a typical mondstadt tavern.
april 30th, this day was special since it marked the day that the heir to the dawn winery could legally drink — diluc ragnvindr's 18th birthday.
angel's share was busy as ever, especially since the knights had put in some budget for the party itself despite crepus insisting it was okay and that they didn't have to sponsor dawn winery since they were already rich as hell in teyvat.
you were still out near wolvendom picking a few fresh lamp grass for the small gift you wanted to give your friends birthday, along with a small ring you had picked up in liyue from past visits — you had a similar one in the purple tint while the one you got him was a red tint.
"will he think it's weird that i'm giving him a ring?" you thought aloud, frowning at the thought that it might imply something else. "ah, maybe i should just go with the lamp grass..."
"do you always talk to yourself while you're out?" you turned around to see the figure of a particular bard dressed green and white clothing and his signature lyre. "hehe, you're a strange one, y/n."
you sighed, picking the few lamp grass pieces that fell out of your hand. "venti... you gotta be more careful when you're sneaking up on a knight. most people would pull their weapon out."
venti was a strange person in your book. you met him during your stay in liyue harbor, yet he was dressed like he was from mondstadt (which he was). he was a friend of the funeral consultant, which also seemed strange since he rarely brought up any bard, but you didn't question it.
"but you're not like most people." venti said with a sight smile crossing his face. "are those for your friend?" you nodded to the bards question.
"what are you doing out here anyways?"
"hmm? just out for a walk, that's all." he chuckled. you raised an eyebrow at the odd tone he used, but didn't push to question him any further. he walked a few steps ahead of you, and you assumed he was on his way but he turned his back and said something else.
"ah, a little someone told me you got offered a new position in the liyue qixing."
you froze in place. nobody knew about that except lady ningguang, her emissary, and-
"zhongli told you, didn't he?"
the bard laughed, staying mysterious as ever. "tell your friend happy birthday!" venti smiled and like that it's like he disappeared into the wind.
'odd...' you thought to yourself. you shook off the encounter with the bard and headed back towards mondstadt city.
stepping into the tavern with your usual uniform that consisted of a white button up, a light gray vest and a small chain that connect both sides of your jacket. you greeted the newly "employed" bartender with a sweet smile. in your hand was the small bouquet of flowers - mainly cecilia's and the fresh lamp grass you picked out - and the small bag that had the boxed ring inside of.
"happy birthday, diluc!" you exclaimed. the red head quickly noticed your presence in the tavern and got out from behind the counter. he smiled and paused for a second, observing your full hands. "ah, these are for you."
extending your arms out, he gladly took the bouquet first and set it down on the bar counter. he gently opened the package, not wanting to damage the goods inside of the paper bag.
his gloved hands had wrapped around the black box and picked it out of the bag. he quizzically looked at you were curious eyes, yet your silence was enough to tell him that you weren't going to tell him what was inside until he opened it himself.
so he opened the box and one red-tinted silver ring greeted his ruby coloured eyes. it was made of the finest silver in liyue and burned under lava to give the permanent red hue to it. yours was the same, however the purple tint simply came from a lighting strike. his glove ran across the engraved inside, d. ragnvindr.
'will he think it's weird? it seems like i'm proposing or something like that...' you fumbled with your own ring that was on your left hand, placed on your middle finger.
"you're doing it again," diluc's voice had seemed sweeter than usual. possibly from the gift itself or the habit you always resort to when you're nervous.
"well, i didn't know if you would like it or not!" you hastily replied. "and it seems weird because i'm giving you a ring and-"
"i like it."
"huh?"
diluc took off his left glove and slid his ring onto his index finger where it sat nicely. "it fits well, did you know my ring size or did you take a chance?"
"oh, they fit to the wearer of the ring actually." you mentioned. "these rings were handled by my friend back in liyue, they only have the effect on vision users though."
"were they expensive?" the red head grabbed your jacket and put it onto the small coat rack that was beside the door. somehow his voice seemed to joke with you.
"not really. it was about five thousand mora or so." nonchalontly saying, you took a bar stool on the opposing side of the bartender. diluc chuckled, "what?"
"it looks like you get paid more in liyue with simple jobs." diluc said, yet if he knew of the real job you were hired to do, he'd surely take the 'simple jobs' part out.
"ah well, they weren't all simple." you gave him a half-assed smile. he gave you a small glass of the angel's share (and mondstadt's) speciality drink, dandelion wine. muttering a small thank you, you rose the glass to your lips to drink. "where's kaeya?"
"right here," kaeya tapped your back then sat down on the stool next to yours. "what, you didn't think i would miss my brothers birthday would you?"
you rolled your eyes, "no, i just didn't see you when i first walked in here." you answered, finishing the glass of wine that was just given to you.
"concerned, are we?" kaeya teased in whch you replied with a swift kick to the captains lower leg. "ow!"
diluc chuckled, "well the night doesn't last forever. let's be nice to each other for the evening."
and with that the three of you had a wondeful rest of the evening, laughing, recalling old memories like the pet tortoise diluc and kaeya had, or even the memories where you could never apprehend diluc in knight combat training. it was like the whole world had stopped and let you three be happy.
you felt the paper in your pockets shift around as you did. the paper that had allowed you to work under the qixing's rightful eye as it's covert-ops division leader. a position that you had become familiar to, yet in the knights you were never given a raise nor position above "knight" whilst your two companions were captains.
amongst them, the inner feeling of confidentiallity had slowly rotted at your heart. how long before everything comes into fruition? how much longer would you stall until the truth finally revealed itself?
everything in due time. everything in due time.
"let's get going diluc, we should head back home before the rain starts." crepus had laid his hand on the table you all sat at.
"ah, yes father." diluc replied quickly. you looked over at kaeya, wondering why he wasn't coming along.
"me? i have some duties to attend to, nothing big." kaeya answered your inaudible question, you nodded your head, making sense of it.
"have a nice evening, y/n. i'll see you tomorrow." crepus smiled at you whilst you had returned it with an empty one.
how many years was it now? three years snce you found out he had been concealing a delusion all this time? his dealings with your father in the fatui... everyone was oblivious. you wondered if his secrets would end up in his own grave when the time came.
"yes, you too, master crepus." you responded. "safe trip home you two."
"thank you," diluc bid both of you goodbye, but before he opened the door to leave he turned to you. "and thank you again for the gift, y/n." with that, he and his father had left the premises of angel's share to go home.
"i better go, duty calls." kaeya had sipped the last of his wine, placing it on the table. 'hm, no wonder he didn't drink a lot tonight.' you voiced. "get home safe, y/n."
"thanks kaeya, i will."
and so it was just you, your thoughts, and the empty glass in front of you. you were still completely sober after 3 glasses of wine, which is expected since theres not much of an alcohol taste in the dandelion wine but perhaps that was for the best.
you sighed, picking out enough mora for both yours and kaeya's drink- 'ah, he didn't pay his own drinks.. i guess he just owes me next time.' heading to the bar counter, you placed the bagged amount of mora on the counter.
"ah, y/n. is this for your drinks tonight?" charles asked.
"yep! kaeya's as well." you added, "oh! and the extra tip of course." charles chuckled, saying a soft 'thank you'. grabbing your coat from the coat hanger, you had slipped it on and headed for home.
it was cloudy, much unlike earlier in the day when it was warmer and the breeze wasn't so cold. it was definetly going to rain, so you just hoped you made it home in time before the rain came down.
yet its not everyday you see fatui skulking around mondsadt like they're dealing out weapons. so why was it that two men clothed in black and red were hanging around the tavern, muttering something to each other as they swiflty made ther moves someplace else.
they had no offical buisness here so you naturally were suspicious of them and silently followed their trail.
they didn't seem to notice you while you quietly followed them through the areas of forest. you knew this place like the back of your hand, its the path you had always taken to diluc's residence - yet that made you feel even more unsettled than before. you could hear the carriage not very far from where you were.
you looked on the opposite side of the trees, you noticed one of the fatui agents had a small device in their hand, it looked to be a metal bug at first glance before it started moving on its own and latched itself onto the carriage backing.
'bug secured. whenever you're ready sir.'
'bug secured?' you whipped your head over to the sudden loud crashing noise behind you. it was a tall, amethyst-coloured dragon that had roared out from the signal from the fatui. you quickly noticed them fleeing the scene, naturally you had quickly ran after them to apprehend them.
you unsheathed two small knives and threw them towards the moving figures in the trees, aiming lower than you normally would. you assumed you had hit them from the gushing noise you had heard coming from the knife coming in contact with their skin, as well as the noise of their bodies suddenly collapsing.
"what the-?!" one of them cried out, "how'd we get spotted? i was sure that-"
you picked one of them up by the collar, pressing the knife further into their leg. "what did you just do?" screaming had picked up from the path, it wasn't long until more knights had come to see and fix the issue. "tell me dammit!"
"you're... the late 10th's kid..." he trembled in your grasp. though you bear little to no significance to him, you had his glare that would kill thousands if his hands were not already stained of those who had gotten in his way. with time ticking and your patience wearing thin, you took out the knife out of the one guy and had stabbed it back into his thigh where a muscle had been - immobilizing him. you did the same with the other agent and scoffed.
getting no where, you decided to leave them in the trees and go help out where it was needed most. but when you got there, it seemed that time was against you.
you saw the glove with the cursed gem dome worn by the one and only crepus ragnvindr. the dragon was dealt with, but at what cost?
"mr. crepus!" you cried out watching him fall to the floor with diluc wide-eyed, fear struck within his poor heart. workers had been injured and bleeding from their injuries. but you were only concerned with the man in the crucial confition.
"diluc put him up against the carriage." you requested. he hesitantly replied but still complied. "mr. crepus? c'mon..." your hands had glowed an indigo colour as you put them up to his chest.
"father?" diluc's voice was pained. was this really it?
tears formed around your eyes, "no... no... i can't, mr. crepus. i'm not-" he was in pain, death was the only way out to free him.
but you had his secrets.
a weak hand grabbed your wrist, stopping you from any further healing. "you have to tell them... tell them everything i couldn't."
and now you had to tell his sons in his stead.
diluc had grabbed one of your sheathed knives from your thigh holster. you tried stopping him but before you knew it, he was apologizing to himself and to his father - and the dagger had freed crepus from his suffering.
the last words he said was a simple phrase of affection.
i love you, diluc. keep going.
blood covered both your hands while diluc's eyes could not stray from his bloodied gloves.
the sound of the rain had drowned out the incoming knights, including kaeya's own voice. all you focused on was his silent cries and sobs.
"diluc-"
"you... you knew what he just did right? with that thing?" his voice trembled yet his eyes never met yours. "and- and what was that about telling 'us' something?"
so this was it...
"listen diluc i'll explain everything, we just got to get everyone else to-" shaking, his hands grabbed onto your coats collar.
"tell me damn it! you were keeping something from me!" he pulled you onto the muddied path, dirtying your uniform entirely. your mouth opened yet no words came out at the moment.
"no, seriously, diluc just listen!"
"don't you dare lie to me at a time like this!!" he cried out in anger. "yes or no, y/n. you know where my father got that power from."
you pressed your lips into a thin line, looking down as you felt a tear escape. "yes." your voice cracked, "yes i know."
he let go of your collar and finally stood up. he looked down at your body and had muttered something under his breath.
"this is your fault, if you had told me about this then maybe my father wouldn't be dead."
your fault?
"what? hey 'luc-" you scrambled onto your feet and tried grabbing diluc's shoulder. but your hand was forcefully slapped away by his, and so you stood there stunned.
this was not your fault.
was it?
"you should've told me something, y/n!" he spat out. this wasn't the diluc you had known for years. "or at least kaeya?! all you do is keep your little secrets and hope for the best!" his words had struck something within you.
"what?" disbelief crossed your words, "seriously, diluc it would've been way better if you didn't even get involved in any of this!"
you raised your index finger to his chest, tears running down your face as kaeya tried pulling you away from diluc. "every damn thing i kept from you two was too keep my past from haunting the both of you!"
finally pulling you away from diluc, kaeya had been at a loss. you were suffering from the same rotting feeling he had felt crawling in his skin for the past several years he had been adopted by the ragnvindr family.
"all i did was for the sake of everyone around me." you grit your teeth to bear with the pain. "all i did was so you two didn't get hurt!"
"look where that ended up, y/n." you had finally shut your mouth after diluc's retort. you watched his silhouette disappeared from sight, kaeya still holding onto your shoulders.
you laughed. not out of humour but simply to cope. "so this is how it ends, huh?" your laugh was empty, no meaning behind it but the pure sorrow you had felt.
"y/n, let's get you back home. i'll escort you." kaeya said, whistling to one of the horses to come over.
"can you just... escort me to headquarters?" you asked, wiping away the last of your tears with your rain soaked coat.
"yes, but i can't think of a reason why you would want to head to headquarters." kaeya helped you up upon the white horse, you sat right behind him as he grabbed the reigns and the horse had started galloping away.
"i need to give something to the grandmaster." you answered, wrapping your arms around his waist to hold onto.
"and do pray tell me what it is."
despite everything that happened, kaeya had still kept up his own facade despite losing the only father figure in his life.
"a letter of resignation."
kaeya had moved his head slightly to make eye contact with you - however he couldn't meet your eyes. "resignation? you're quitting the knights?"
"it's not quitting." you told him. "i'm not a quitter, you know."
the rotting feeling of guilt bit at kaeya once more. "how many secrets are you hiding, y/n?"
"too many," you sighed pressing your forehead against the black coat in front of you. "now tell me captain, what secret are you hiding today?"
kaeya smirked, "not now. bad place."
"...hey kaeya?"
"hm?"
"does diluc know?"
a threatening silence fell over you two. so you took that as a no, which made you feel more guilty for him.
too many secrets had been shared among the dead that had now been only stories that the living were told to tell. and you just had to be the unlucky candidate to know the secrets behind the fatui and the late 5th harbinger.
all because your fathers dead had plagued your own life with his own problems and affairs.
and now the curse had now been put on the person you had tried protecting from the dreaded bloodshed truth behind your fathers family name.
say goodbye to 16 years of friendship, buried in the dust along with the white lies you had been accustomed to telling.
because it doesn't get any better from here.
—
CHAPTER FIVE FIN.