Klee sat up, her hair a mess. She yawned as she let Dodoco fall from her hands.
Kaeya sighed from where he lay next to her, "go back to bed... it's too early..."
Kaeya's voice had finally recovered. It had been a whole week and every night Klee came to Kaeya's room for a sleepover. She discovered that he hated mornings.
Klee yawned again, "but Klee wants to go find Albedo today."
Kaeya opened one of his eyes, "why today specifically?"
She shrugged, "Klee just has a feeling. And Dodoco agrees." Klee got onto her knees, "oh! And Dodoco doesn't want to go back down there so he wants to stay with Kaeya!" She shoved Dodoco into Kaeya's hands.
"What? Klee, you can't go down there," Kaeya grabbed her arm.
Klee frowned, "why not?" [Autocorrect said "why bro?" XDDDDD]
"Because..." Kaeya's eyes wandered, "then Dodoco and I will worry about you..."
Klee pulled her arm away, "then don't worry about Klee! She will burn all the bad guys into ashes!"
Kaeya pursed his lips, "Klee... if you go down there... and that thing moves-"
"It won't."
He gave her a stern look, "Klee. You come right back in here, okay? No hesitating."
Klee nodded, "Klee can do that."
Kaeya patted her head, "be careful, okay?"
Klee nodded again as she ran out.
Kaeya heaved a heavy sigh. He didn't think he could live through losing anyone else... He wished he could stop getting so attached to people... that would make things so much easier...
Klee carefully walked down the spooky staircase again. She was incredibly nervous, but she knew there had to be clues down there somewhere!
"I just don't know..."
"Miss Lisa?" Klee asked as she turned the corner. She blinked as she saw Lisa sitting in the cell as well.
Lisa smiled, "good morning. What are you doing down here?"
"Klee is here to look for clues... Are you in timeout?"
Lisa chuckled, "no. I'm looking for clues, too."
"Did you find anything?" Klee asked. She stood in front of the cell, but didn't step in. She didn't want to be near the husk... When she looked at it she remembered what happened...
Lisa sighed, "Klee, I think I need your help..."
"What do you need Klee for?! Klee is always ready to help!"
Lisa chuckled, "I though you'd say that." She took a deep breath, "Klee, you are really good at noticing things other people don't. Can you really feel Albedo's presence?..."
Klee nodded, "yup! He's just waiting for us to find him, I'm sure!!!"
Lisa smiled, "then you'll be glad to hear that I have an idea of how to help him."
Klee grew excited, "really?!?!"
Lisa nodded, "but don't get your hopes up too much. I don't know if it will work..."
"Lisa's ideas have always worked before!" Klee was jumping with excitement.
Lisa bit her lip. That wasn't true... there were so many times she had failed...
"What do you need Klee for?!"
"Just to gather ingredients and to help me when the time is right," Lisa walked over to the edge of the cell and handed her a slip of paper, "here's the list. Just don't tell Jean or Keaya, okay? I want it to be a surprise."
Klee nodded vigorously, "Klee promises!"
Lisa giggled, "now run along, you've got harvesting to do."
Klee promptly ran off.
Lisa returned to sitting next to Albedo's body. She hated using Klee like this... especially if it didn't work... But this was her only option at this point. A whole week and a half's research had gotten her almost nowhere...
And, of course, it was a trivial and easy spell that Lisa would have never thought of. She couldn't remember even using it once. It shouldn't be that hard to pull off... but there was a small chance that it would help at all.
Essentially, the spell was supposed to transfer her consciousness into Albedo. That way, she could get rid of whatever was controlling the black smoke and undo her own spell in the process.
It was just... She needed someone on the outside to make sure the ritual was not disturbed at all costs. If it was. . .
A few things could happen. Lisa's mind could get lost, never to find her body again. She could make it into Albedo's mind, but be unable to get back out. She might not be able to enter Albedo's mind at all, he was a homunculus... She wasn't sure how his consciousness functioned...
Lisa kneaded her forehead, Jean would never allow something like this to take place, considering the stakes.
But it was their only chance at getting Albedo back. She couldn't just sit here and watch his life force fizzle out little by little.
Albedo had been able to contact her daily. He said that once every twenty-four hours the other being would go dormant to regain its strength. Albedo would use that time to speak with Lisa for just a moment and then get his own rest. Recently, he had been able to say less and less... Normally he could ask a few questions and answers a few of Lisa's. Lately, he had only been able to ask and answer within five words.
Lisa had tried lending him power before, but to no avail. Her dispelling magic blocked anything from getting in. Though, apparently it didn't stop things from coming out because of the smoke that would occasionally leak from Albedo's mouth. But... was that thing even magic to begin with?... It had to be right? Otherwise how would Lisa's spell have stopped it in the first place?
From how Albedo described it, it seemed to be alive... Then again, Lisa was able to create little companions and minions to do work for her. But she had never made a sentient one. Albedo had said that it didn't seemed to be following any orders.
Lisa sighed heavily, this was a very tricky situation.
Klee quickly realized just how specific the instructions were. They were all very detailed and Lisa's handwriting was really pretty... but hard to read.
Many of the ingredients had o be gathered at a specific time of the day or - for the plants - had to be at a certain stage of growth.
Klee scratched her head, "A freshly plucked pigeon feather? A handful of burnt dandelion seeds? Miss Lisa's spell needs some weird stuff... And something both Lisa and Albedo have in common?... Hmm, this is harder than Klee thought..."
She ran around all day collecting items and brought them back to Lisa.
"Wow, you sure did a lot," Lisa chuckled.
"Yup! There are a few things Klee doesn't understand, though..."
"What is it?" Lisa started separating the ingredients into one corner.
"Number one is: Klee doesn't think she can get the flower you need. The list says that it has to be picked at midnight and needs to be budding?"
"Oh, I can get that one. I'm not planning on doing the spell for a while, still... There are a few things I need to look into..."
"And the other thing is that Klee couldn't think of something you and Albedo have in common?"
Lisa nodded, "I haven't been able to either. I figure if anyone can, it would be you," she smiled at the little girl.
"Why's that?"
"Because you're everyone's best friend, Klee," Lisa poked her nose.
Klee giggled, "I'll try my hardest!"
"That's my girl," Lisa patted her head.
"Klee is going to go investigate!" Klee ran off.
Lisa waved as she exited.
Klee went into Kaeya's room, looking around. She hummed to herself thoughtfully as she gazed around. If she could find something Albedo and Kaeya had in common it would be easier to think of something Albedo and Lisa had in common.
Where was Kaeya, anyways?
As if summoned, Kaeya stepped out of the adjoining bathroom. He had a toothbrush sticking out of his mouth and was drying his hair with a towel.
Klee put her hands on her hips, "did Kaeya just get up?! It's almost dinner time!"
He stared at her, "I'm pretty sure I locked that door..."
"Answer Klee's question."
"Uhm, yes..." Kaeya averted his eyes in shame.
Klee huffed, "Klee guesses she'll have to have Dodoco babysit you now. Just because you don't have any official duties doesn't mean you can't help. Jean needs Kaeya, too."
Kaeya sighed quietly, "Jean, Lisa, and I have all decided to take a break from everything for the rest of the month... There's been a lot going on and everyone in the camps are still recovering. We've decided to give them some time to think as well. The church agrees with the plan, too."
Klee rolled her eyes, "sounds like Kaeya just doesn't want to work."
Kaeya shook his head, going back into the bathroom, "whatever you say, Klee."
Klee searched around, but nothing reminded her of her brother... She consulted Dodoco, "where do you think Klee can find what we need?"
Dodoco stared up at her with its black, shiny eyes. Klee looked around for a moment, her eyes landing on a small stack of books on a shelf. Then, she looked back at Dodoco.
Klee gasped, "that's right! Dodoco is so smart!"
Klee ran out to go talk to Lisa again.
Lisa was surprised to see her back so soon, "oh. Did you find something?"
"Klee has a question."
"What is it?"
"Klee wants to know if Albedo ever borrowed a book from the library?" She smiled wide.
Lisa thought it must be contagious because her own lips curved upwards, "Klee, that's genius."
"Hehe!" Klee giggled happily.
Lisa stood up, "let's go look at the log and she which books he has borrowed. I'm sure we'll find one we've both read. Maybe even one we've both read multiple times!"
Lisa sighed, "I hate looking at this thing." She dusted off a very large book.
"Why is it so big?"
"Well, there are a lot of people and a lot of books," she flipped the overly large pages, "honestly how is this so full? There aren't that many people who come to borrow books... Then again, it goes back pretty far."
Klee stared at the pages, barely able to read the names, "uh, Klee doesn't think she can help with this..."
Lisa chuckled, "that's alright, Klee. I can do this part by myself. Why don't you go check on Kaeya while you wait?"
Klee nodded, "Klee will make him eat dinner!"
Lisa smiled as Klee walked out. She was glad that Kaeya had someone as sweet as her around to help him through this... but she couldn't help but wonder if it hurt Kaeya to look at someone who was so similar to Albedo...
Klee barged in again.
Kaeya almost jumped, "Klee! What if I was dressing?!"
"But Kaeya isn't! And Klee knows that it's the rules to only get dressed in a bathroom," she held up her finger like she thought an adult might.
Kaeya blinked, "that's a rule?..."
"Yes!" Klee exclaimed, "no one can walk in if you're in the bathroom! It's only proper to knock before entering a room!"
"... but you just came in without knocking," Kaeya smiled.
Klee huffed as she marched over, "get down here so I can apologize!"
Kaeya knelt down with a humorous expression, "I'm listening."
Klee gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, "there! Now Kaeya can't be mad at Klee anymore!"
Kaeya stood back up, "that was not what I expected."
"Miss Lisa always asks for an apology kiss," Klee folded her arms.
"I think you have spent a little too much time with Lisa," Kaeya chuckled.
"That doesn't matter! We need to have dinner!" Klee clapped her hands, "Klee has been working all day so Klee is verrrryyyy hungry!"
Kaeya laughed, "alright, I'll get something going. Just, wait a minute, okay? There's something I have to go check on. I'll be right back."
Kaeya walked out, sighing quietly once the door was closed. He wanted nothing to do with this... but he just felt the need to be down there again.
He knew Albedo wasn't coming back. He knew that there was nothing for him to gain from being there. He knew that he would probably make himself feel worse.
But, still, oddly, he really wanted to be there again.
He descended the stairs quietly, hating how his steps echoed. At every step he expected to hear shuffling or scuttling from below, imagining terrifying scenarios of Albedo's contorted figure moving around in the most hideous ways.
Kaeya had to physically close his eyes and shake his head to get rid of such images. Lisa had fixed it... it wasn't going to move anymore...
Kaeya took a deep breath before taking the last step and turning the corner.
It really was the same. The only difference was how clean everything seemed. Albedo didn't have any traces of any sort of blemishes or injuries at all...
Kaeya slowly sat down in front of the bars. He wasn't sure why he felt like he wanted to be here... Now that he was here it wasn't as bad as he expected.
He gazed sadly at the Alchemist's body. It looks like it could be sleeping... Had Lisa closed its eyes before helping Kaeya?... He couldn't remember.
Kaeya breathed a sigh, laying his head between two of the bars. What had he expected? It wasn't like he would have some life changing revelation just by sitting here.
He looked back at the body.
It's eyes were open.
Kaeya was frozen in place. He couldn't have moved if he wanted to. He felt his heartbeat in his everywhere. He could hear the pounding in his ears. He couldn't even breathe.
The eyes didn't move but they were open now... There was a quiet and almost nonexistent exhale from inside the cell.
"Lisa?..."
It was Albedo's voice but it sounded broken and slow. It sounded like there was sandpaper in his throat.
"... are you... there?..."
Kaeya finally inhaled. He quickly stood up. Now he was hallucinating, too? He laughed to himself, this was all so incredibly stupid! Why couldn't he just move on and forget about it?! Just because he had been in love with Albedo didn't mean his mind had to make him see things like this!
"... no...?"
Though the voice held no inflection or emotion, it sounded sad somehow.
Kaeya turned to the stairs with a smile. He found this all very funny. He'd lost so many people and only just now he starts having hallucinations?
Kaeya shook his head as he ascended the long staircase. How idiotic could he possibly be?!