Dedicated Chapter Poem:
"I don't know
where I'm going
from here
but I promise
it won't be
boring."
~David Bowie~
No one was quite sure when the two sisters arrived, but everyone in Mondstadt remembered their first encounters with Rubianne and Roseline Lariviere.
For Outrider Amber of the Knights of Favonius, she'd met the two sisters while practicing for her gliding championship, having almost crashed into the younger sister Ruby. She had apologized over a thousand times to the very angry older sister, Roseline, who preferred to go by Rose.
Roseline was tall and slim, with a pale face that showed little emotion other than contempt. Her hair was a pastel pink that was always tied in a near and delicate braid the reached down to her waist. She often wore a white military-like uniform with knee-high black boots, tight black shorts, and a sword on her at all times. On her shoulder she wore a guard with a , shining a symbol that many people in Mondstadt seemed to think was strange, yet Rose found it quite normal.
Rose wielded the element of Dendro, allowing her to spawn roots and plants around her and ensnare enemies. Yet it appeared at the time that she was the only one in Mondstadt who could wield this element, despite there being elemental slime-like creatures made up from the same element all over the land.
Ruby, her younger sister was "visionless", meaning that she didn't control any of the elements, and often Rose denied her sister any access to a weapon of any sort; even a wooden bat.
"As long as you're within the city walls, you have no need for a weapon." Rose would always say.
"Why won't you let me leave the walls alone?" Ruby often asked.
"The world is dangerous, Ruby. If anything were to happen to you...I wouldn't be able to bear it."
There were countless excuses for Ruby rarely ever leaving the walls of Mondstadt's inner city, and even more excuses for being able to leave Mondstadt and traveling to other regions of Liyue, Snezhnaya, Fontaine, Sumeru, Natlan, or Inazuma.
"Good morning, Donna!" Ruby greeted almost everyone in town on her daily errands, bearing the kindness and brightest smiles anyone had ever seen. "One bunch of Cecelias please!"
Despite being friendly, there were many people Ruby had yet to meet in Mondstadt. She kept to a scheduled routine since they arrived almost a month ago, and was rarely allowed to leave the house as Rose was still uncertain about life in Mondstadt.
"There you go," says Donna, handing over the bunch of white flowers.
Ruby took the bunch in her hands after paying and giddily strolled down the street. She stopped a few buildings down to take a good look at the local tavern. "Angel's Share. Huh. Wonder if they have anything non-alcoholic."
She didn't linger for too long, as the drunkards singing off-tune before her swayed her enough to leave. She walked back up the stone steps to the Knights of Favonius headquarters and calmly opened the door.
"Jean?" She called for the "acting grand master" of the Knights. Their true grandmaster, Varka, had apparently been gone for a while, long before Rose and Ruby had settled in Mondstadt. Ruby wondered if she'd ever get the chance to meet him.
"Lisa?" She called now for the beautifully terrifying librarian who happened to be Ruby's favorite Knight so far, as she, too, loved books. Yet, no response from either women.
"Ah, Ruby," a calm, collected, male voice spoke behind her, followed my sound of boot steps. "Just the person I was hoping to meet."
"Kaeya!" Ruby spun on her heel, facing the Cavalry Captain of the Knights of Favonius. The man before her was slim and tall, yet well built with gorgeous brown skin. He only had one visible eye that was periwinkle-colored with long eyelashes and a diamond-shaped pupil, while the other was covered by a black satin eyepatch. His hair was navy-blue hair with streaks of a lighter icy blue in it, which he keeps pulled back in a long ponytail that reached down to his waist.
Ruby liked Kaeya's style of dress, as he wore awhite, collared, cleavage-revealing shirt with forearm-length sleeves that had dark blue folded cuffs. Above that, he wears what appears to be a light blue vest or jacket— Ruby never got close enough to him to find out the difference— and a cape adorned with a fur collar. He wore tight-fitted horse riding pants and knee-length boots, fitting his position as the Cavalry Captain.
Ruby has most often times had her eyes fixated on his belt.
Not for the reasons most other girls would, however. Ruby was much rather fascinated with Kaeya's Cryo vision, as she had to yet to see him in action with it. It glowed a pale blue as it dangled from a brown belt around his waist, taunting everyone who was visionless.
Ruby, herself, was small. Much smaller than Kaeya. Her hair was fluffy and long, in a dark red that dripped down to a pool of black near the tips. Her eyes were as green as emeralds, but wide and so full of life. Her complexion was pale— so pale that at first, many Mondstadtians believed her to be a ghost upon arrival.
Her dress was in a Lolita-style, soft in green, with a darker green apron over it, bearing the crest of her family, the Larivieres. Her undershirt was tight against her chest, but had loose-fitting sleeves that flopped around when she moved her arms. Above her breasts was a lace cravat, adorned by a circular red-colored gem.
Lastly, she wore platform shoes. This was simply to make herself appear taller.
"You were looking for me?" She tilted her head ever so slightly. "Why? Is everything okay?"
"Why, everything is perfect, as it should be," Kaeya laughed carelessly. "I was just checking up on you."
"Well, have you seen Rosie?" She questioned, fiddling with the bouquet of flowers in her hand. "I bought some Cecilias for her, 'cause I know she likes them."
"She's out with Amber and Jean doing a patrol. They're supposedly found a wandering abyss mage earlier and have been scouting for its domain."
That was another thing Ruby longed to understand— The Abyss. She'd heard of it, of course. It was hard not to hear of it. In Teyvat there were many monsters and creatures that roamed freely, the most common being of the hilichurl species. Others being slimes of elemental variants. However, potentially the most dangerous enemies, Ruby had heard, was the Abyss Order.
From what she knew, the Abyss Mages were monsters that are a part of the Abyss Order, and act as their foot soldiers. They are able to harness elemental energy from the Ley Lines of Teyvat and use that power towards their group's goal of overthrowing the world ruled by the Archons. The Archons were the elemental "gods" of Teyvat.
Ruby had never seen an abyss mage before, but was always curious about how the interaction would go. She'd have many questions for them, but then again, she suspected that everyone would.
"Do you know when she'll be back?" She pondered aloud, then her questioned was immediately answered as the front door opened and the acting grandmaster Jean, outrider Amber, and her sister walked through the door.
"Ah— Ruby..." Rose blinked, surprised to see her sister speaking to Kaeya.
Rose's eyes were a bright blue like the ocean, and her cheeks were often tinted with just a hint of blush. Many of the men in Mondstadt referred to her as a "foreign beauty", as she often spoke in a language unfamiliar to most when muttering to herself aloud.
"Well," she motioned a hand out to Kaeya. "We found it's domain. Problem is, it's a Pyro Abyss Mage."
"You can't handle a little heat?" Kaeya chuckled, to which Rose rolled her eyes at him and shook her head.
"No, it's not that. It's the mechanisms within the domain. We need a Cryo vision holder to deactivate the flaming mechanisms so we can pass through. Otherwise it's just going to hurt a lot for us."
"And you came to ask me for my help. How touching." Kaeya placed a hand over his exposed chest.
"I actually came to ask Eula." Rose responded, coldly. "But, unfortunately, I ran into you first."
Rose was a private investigator, and being that the Knights lacked one, she was almost instantly accepted into their ranks once they witnessed her bladework. In fact, it was Kaeya that had challenged her to a quick fight to test her strength. She bested him, and he had to this day been demanding a rematch.
"So, come on," she huffed. "We haven't much time. If the abyss order knows we're coming, they'll simply flee. Then we'll have lost our shot."
"Can I come?" Ruby asked, to which Rose immediately denied.
"You think I'm going to just let you waltz into an abyss domain without a vision?" Rose scoffed. "What do you take me for? An irresponsible sister?"
"I just...want to see an abyss mage. From afar. For some research."
"You're not a researcher like Albedo or Sucrose. You have no need of seeing one up close."
"Oh, come on! You never let me go out on adventures with you! Bennet is much younger than me and he gets to go out on adventures all the time!" Ruby whined.
"And look what happens to him!" Rose countered. "He's always at the cathedral needing to be helped because he almost chops off a limb. I can't let that happen to you. This isn't just some fight with hilichurls, Ruby. This is the Abyss Order. If anything happens—"
"I'll be fine." Ruby replied. "If Kaeya is going, and Jean and Amber and you are going, then there's no chance anything could harm me. Right?" She looked up at Kaeya, who seemed to be subtly smiling at her.
"I'd say so. Come on, Rose. Just this once, let Ruby go with us."
"You too?!" Rose threw her head back.
"Don't worry," Jean reassuringly placed a hand on Rose's shoulder. "We'll make sure she doesn't get hurt."
"Fine." Rose finally caved. "But just this once."
Ruby supposed she should be happy to come along, considering that Noelle, the Knights' maid, had been working most of her life just to go out on a mission with the rest of the Knights. Ruby would not take this opportunity for granted.
The air was most refreshing outside the city walls. It was the first time since moving in that Ruby had crossed the bridge over Cider Lake and ventured into Windrise. Rose kept her sister close at her hip, and even though they ran into a group of Hilichurls, Ruby wasn't afraid. She was, in fact, rather excited. But that excitement was short-lived as Kaeya, Amber and Jean made quick work of the enemies.
"This is it." Rose mused, approaching a large crack in the side of a mountain. "Everyone ready?"
"Ready as we'll ever be," Kaeya responded with that carefree tone. "This'll certainly be more interesting than any of the...usual Favonius stuff we have to deal with."
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Rose glanced at her sister. "It isn't too late to turn ba—"
"I'm not scared." She said, waving around a large broken tree branch she'd picked up along their way. "I've got a weapon."
"Um...that's a stick." Amber pointed out.
Rose was not amused at this. "No turning back now..." she muttered, turning and slipping inside the Abyss domain, the rest of the Knights close behind.
The team of Knights were all fairly strong on their own, but together they dominated the Hilichurl camps hiding within, whilst Ruby safely kept her distance and watched in awe.
"Go, go, Barron Bunny!" Amber cried out, tossing the explodable plushie into a circle of hilichurls.
"Cursed Thorns," Rose thrust out her right arm and ensnared the enemies in her throned vines, which were set on fire by Barron Bunny's explosion, causing a burning elemental reaction.
Ruby was actually rather disappointed she couldn't use her mighty stick to smack anything with, as the Knights simply defeated all the enemies far too quickly.
"Dammit," Rose panted, looking at all angles of the domain. "Just where are those mages hiding?"
"Are you sure it was a Pyro mage?" Kaeya questioned, turning on his heel.
"I'm positive." Rose scoffed at Kaeya trying to accuse her of something. "Jean and Amber saw it too. So we keep going further."
"If you say so." Kaeya chuckled.
Rose merely sucked her teeth and pushed onward, determined to find answers. Anything regarding the abyss order would be satisfactory for her.
Finally they came to a chamber at what seemed to be the end of the domain. "There's...nothing?" Amber questioned.
"No," Rose squinted her eyes and looked up at the ceiling. "There's always something."
And as she said that, the entrance behind them was suddenly sealed with a thin, shimmering force field.
"Eek!" Ruby bounced on her toes away from it as she could feel the energy radiating from it. "We're trapped!"
Then, pouring out from behind pillars and corners of the room, several hilichurls advanced onto the group of Knights.
"An ambush!" Jean cried out, readying her sword and knocking several enemies back with a gust of wind.
"Watch out!" Kaeya grabbed Ruby by the waist and pulled her out of the way of a Mitachurl, a larger variant of a hilichurl, often carrying a sturdy shield or heavy axe. "Cool it!" Kaeya thrust out his free hand and unleashed a blast of Cryo onto the enemy, stunning it for a small second; long enough for Ruby to run to the other side of the room.
She panted heavily, pressing her back up against the wall, watching as the Knights took care of the waves of the ambush, barely even coming out with a scratch.
"Phew!" Amber wiped her forehead once no more hilichurls were coming for them. "That's all of them!"
"Everyone ok?" Jean asked, concerned.
Rose dusted her uniform off with a sigh. "Yeah. Just disappointed."
"Good job everyone." Kaeya clapped. "Amber, Jean," he addressed them directly. "You both did great. Let's wrap it up for today. Meet you both at Angel's Share later?"
"Sounds good to me!" Amber waved at him as her and Jean proceeded to leave.
Rose turned to her sister and made sure she was okay. "You sent them away..." she murmured to Kaeya.
To which, Kaeya only smiled at her. "What a performance you put on. You are, to my surprise, a well-trained knight."
"That's nothing compared to the battles I've faced elsewhere." Rose simply replied.
"How modest," he chuckled. "Stories of your heroic deeds to save Mondstadt from destruction shall be known throughout the City of Freedom."
"I'm less interested in saving Mondstadt and it's people as I am investigating why it's at risk in the first place," Rose reminded him. "The consequences aren't really my concern. It's the larger play I'm after. The puppet master. Who controls the Abyss Order...and why?"
Kaeya took a look around the room they stood in. "There's no way hilichurls organized an ambush like this themselves," he mused aloud. "Not with their limited mental capacity." Over his shoulder he noticed a sliver of movement.
As Ruby went to speak, she found herself suddenly floating upwards, struggling to break out of some kind of bubble. No matter how much she struggled, she was unable to break free from its grasp on her.
"Thus you were behind this!" Kaeya turns on his heel to face the Hydro abyss mage snooping out from a pillar.
Rose went to lunge forward and attack the Abyss Mage, but something got to it first. All she saw was a flash of red and felt the heat warm herself as it glided past her.
Kaeya didn't even flinch as the figure moved past him, grabbing the Abyss Mage by the face and slamming it against the wall behind. Because of this, Ruby was immediately released and dropped to the floor, still stunned and taking a moment to process what had happened. They slammed their heavy sword into the Abyss Mage once more before calmly talking a stand.
"Knights of Favonius," the figure, a tall and lean man with red hair, sneered over his shoulder. "Always so inefficient."
"Agree to disagree," Kaeya clapped. "But, your involvement in this just made things a whole lot more interesting."
Rose glanced the man up and down once, then scoffed. "You must be Diluc. I've heard about you. Why are you interfering with my investigation?"
Diluc reached his hand out to help pull Ruby off the ground. "Thanks..." she sweetly smiled at him, as it was in her nature to be kind to everyone, no matter who they were.
"Don't mention it." He replied to her, then turned to her sister. "As for you," he rolled his shoulders back. "I have no interest in discussing anything with a Knight of Favonius."
"Is that right?" Rose flashed her eyebrows upwards. "What if I make you discuss it with me?"
"Rosieee..." Ruby whined, hopping to her sister. "Don't make enemies. It's not polite."
Rose took a deep breath, then turned around. "Let's go."
But Ruby wanted to stay. She wanted to know more of this man standing in front of her. She'd yet to meet him and was already being pulled away. "Uh...well...bye!" She waved enthusiastically and skipped after her sister.
(A/N: Hi, guys! This is first Genshin story! Wow! I'm super excited. I hope you all enjoy reading it.)