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"If you had to choose between me or him, who would it be?"
You blinked. "...What do you mean?"
"Exactly what I said." Diluc's demeanor grew back to that stern and complicated individual you first thought him out to be.
"I... can't answer that." You said, looking away. "I don't even know the context of your question."
"...Forget it." Diluc turned around and began walking off.
You silently followed behind him, not knowing what else to say. You had known Kaeya for a long time and was far closer to him than Diluc. But you also knew you couldn't deny that you had small feelings for Diluc as well.
No words were said as the two of you made your way to Stormterror's Lair. Just as you figured, it was windy and eerie, with agitated hilichurls and slimes covering the area.
"...This is too big of a place to cover within a short timespan." You spoke while ducking behind a broken pillar. "We'll have to split up."
Diluc wanted to protest, but he knew your statement was true. "...Alright. You take east, I'll take west."
You nodded, turning to walk off from him.
"...Y/N." He called, making you stop in your tracks.
"Yes?"
"...Be careful." He replied.
"You too." You said.
Jumping over broken pillars and rocks, you sprinted towards the east side of the Lair. You realized you didn't have a shard with you to navigate through the ruins, so you would have to rely on pure intuition.
"Hm..." You tried to gaze out over to the west side of the Lair, wondering if Diluc was carrying a shard.
Just as you were lost in thought, an Abyss Mage popped out in front of you.
You were startled, hearing its dark laugh as it summoned fire around your person.
You jumped up and grabbed your claymore, using your cryo vision to slice through its shield and body.
It cried out and evaporated into the air, while you tried to look around for any other enemies.
You noticed how the top of the Lair ruins seemed to hold violent winds. If the shard had to be located in any place, it had to be there.
You looked back over the east side of the Lair. It was scattered with threats and enemies, but you couldn't find yourself to defeat all of them, since you thought that eradicating the main threat should be the focus.
You remembered how Diluc scolded you about erasing smaller threats and then putting your attention to the main one. You groaned, grabbing the handle of your weapon tighter as you swung down onto a Metachurl.
Damnit, Diluc.
...
"...That's the last one..."
You panted, completely exhausted from all the monsters you had finished off. The fact that you knew you still had two other locations to go to after the Lair made you even more tired than you currently were.
You placed your claymore on your back and took off to the west side of the Lair. You had no idea where or what Diluc was doing, so you just hoped he wasn't cut up into pieces by some hilichurl.
A strong gust of wind blew your body back as you tried to scout the area for Diluc's figure.
"...Diluc?" You shouted out, the blinding wind rendering your vision useless.
You grit your teeth, trying to push back at the force.
Suddenly, something grabbed your shoulder.
You swung around and prepared to fight, only to find Diluc looking down at you.
"Damnit, you scared me..." You released the grip on your weapon and looked at his exposed face. "...What happened to you?"
"I burned my mask." He huffed. "It's not a problem. But this side was full of agitated monsters."
You sighed. "So was mine."
"...You didn't leave them there, right?" He asked.
You scoffed. "Of course not!"
He chuckled. "The shard isn't here. I'm sure you noticed the ruins up top, right?"
You nodded. "But the wind up there makes it look impossible to even approach..."
"...Do you have your wind glider?"
"Yeah." You replied.
"Then we're going to ride these currents up to the top."
You sighed. "This just reminds me of my gliding exam all over again..."
"It's not that bad." He retorted.
"For you, maybe. I failed it 13 times before I got my license. Hence why I don't glide." You said, crossing your arms.
"Well, get ready." He pulled his cloak over his head. "We're in for a long night."
— Later —
"Finally! My legs hurt so bad..."
After retrieving the final shard, you and Diluc sat together on a hill by the Anemo Hypostase's domain. The both of you were tired as the sun slowly began to rise from the horizon.
"This means the Fatui managed to get to Dragonspine before us." Diluc shoved the three shards into his pocket.
"I thought you said your 'contact' went there?" You asked, removing your mask and hood.
"They did. But the Fatui have camps established all over Dragonspine. It was only a matter of time before they recovered that shard." Diluc took a deep breath, hoisting one leg up while resting his arm on it.
"Six out of the seven shards... meaning we're going to have to steal the last one from the Fatui." You spat, the name just irking your soul.
Diluc nodded, staring at the edge of the sun. "We can wait for that moment, though. If we act now after recovering these shards, hell will break loose."
You sighed, gripping onto your stomach. "Ah..."
Diluc looked back at you. "Are you hurt?"
"It's just a gash..." You covered your hand over your wound.
"Let me see." He took your hand off your wound, widening his eyes. "You still fought despite an injury like this?"
You laughed, seething into the pain. "I'm not a baby. I'll still fight if my two hands were cut off."
"Lay down." He ordered, pushing your body down onto the soft grass.
You inhaled sharply as he removed your cloak, examining the wound. "...You're going to need stitches."
You laughed again. "That sentence sounds familiar."
Diluc remembered what you had did to him when you fixed up his own wound. He channeled his energy, burning the exposed gash to stop the bleeding.
You closed your eyes, biting your tongue. "Damnit..."
After he was finished, he supported you back up, while leaving his hand on your back. "Can you walk?"
"Yeah..." You said, pulling your cloak back onto your shoulders. "It's not too bad..."
"...Adelinde can patch you up." He stated.
You shook your head. "The city is closer."
Diluc knew that, but he didn't want to part from you. If anything, he had only said that just so you could be around him a bit longer.
He thought of a quick explanation. "...If you go back to the city like this, you'll only rouse suspicions."
You sighed. "Guess you're right..."
Diluc helped you up, his hand traveling to the lower part of your waist.
"Then let's go before we're caught in plain sight."