An Alien who loves

His main lead as to where you were lies in the hands of his very own brother. He knew that the last day he had seen you - a begotten day that refuses to cease haunting him - you had visited Kaeya. He knew that you had gotten help escaping notice from the search for you through him. How funny it was, that even though you were missing, the assigned knights under Kaeya just so happened to not be able to find you. How awfully convenient it was that they had decided to only search within city walls. It was all too telling.

Diluc wasn’t buying it. Kaeya had to know where you went off to.

“Master Diluc.” A voice called to him quietly, rounding the corner of the winery interior with Adelinde trailing behind. He peered up from his desk, quickly collecting the papers in front of him into a single pile.

“Jean.” He greeted back. “Unusual for you to visit.”

“Yes, I suppose so.” She stepped closer to the desk, her actions seemingly careful as she peered at the pages. “I was… well, it was suggested that I check on you. There seems to be some concern over your current state.”

“So Kaeya sent you.” Diluc leaned back in his chair with a low huff. “I’m sorry to have wasted your time, Jean. I’m perfectly alright.”

She was silent. He could tell by the way that she refused to look away that she didn’t believe a word of that. “If I ask you something, will you be honest with me?”

“Perhaps.”

She took a deep breath. “Do you know why Y/N left Mondstadt?”

Diluc’s eyes set into focus, then became hazy with the memories fazing by him. His expression darkened and it took him less than a moment to recognise the monster within himself.

Jean watched the shifts carefully, meticulously.

“My apologies for wasting your time, Jean.” He looked down; Her eyes followed once more to the paper, the perfectly cursive handwriting - his handwriting - was written in blunt, short details, traces of information, and extraneous details.

Every single line about you.

Jean spotted your name, stepping closer to the table once again.

“As the acting grandmaster, I’m sorry to have to do this to you Master Diluc.”

The sheath of metal snapped his attention to her, and his eyes were met with the close point of a blade. “Diluc Ragvindr, you are under arrest for connections to the missing persons case of Y/N.”

Diluc heard the sound of voices outside: More knights. Of course she hadn’t come alone, not when Kaeya hadn’t bothered to show up himself. His mind wandered momentarily; He could take them all out with ease should he select the murderous path. For you, he would.

But for you, for finding you, it would be far more advantageous to comply, and fast.

“If I tell you everything, here, will you let me go?”

Her eyes narrowed, her expression closing in as she considered the words. Then, she sheathed her sword in a swift motion and pulled on the opposing chair, taking a seat. “To be clear, this won't clear you of arrest if there’s still reason to. Start talking.”

And he did. For once, he actually told the full truth.

Diluc told her everything, the entirety of the fight; The escalation when you and him had both doubled down on your opinions of your friendships, the yelling that occurred and his refusal to let you leave. Breakfast, the drinks, and Kaeya. He told her of his suspicions that Kaeya knew where you were, almost certainly. He told her that the morning you fought, and he had hurt you, that he knew he had seriously fucked up.

Jean watched him carefully, her silence a looming presence between them. She reached down and lifted a piece of paper, the one of many on his desk that had details scribbled all over the page in a kind of organisational madness.

“Diluc.” He voice was quiet. “Do you realise the gravity of what you have done?”

He pressed his lips into a thin line. “I don’t know.” If he was able to give anything to stop himself from shaking right now, his honestly was where he could start. He knew he was petulant when it came to his emotions, maybe because he his self-understanding is that of a child.

Emotional repression has its downsides.

“May Barbatos bring Y/N to a safe place.” Jean stood. “Wherever that may be.”

“What are you implying?” He felt like he was going to cry.

“I mean to say, Diluc, that they’ve probably already left Mondstadt.” Jean stepped away from the chair with a sigh. “I will inquire with Captain Kaeya as to any leads regarding Y/N’s whereabouts. Whether that information will be relayed back to you is still to be decided.”

“Jean.” Diluc stood, hand resting atop the papers. Their eyes were caught. “Please.”

She held his gaze for a moment, searching for exactly what she found. “I cannot guarantee anything to you, Master Diluc.” She held the paper she had taken out to him, and he took it back with a somber expression.

Regret, devastation, and an unwavering dedication that told her that Diluc was going to become a problem.

——

Jean stepped into the headquarters with an unusually blank expression on her face.

In the foyer, two voices pierced her attention. Kaeya held a piece of paper covered in crayon markings, excitedly talking to an excited Klee who was smiling and laughing at the words which seemed to miss the acting grandmaster’s ears.

“Kaeya.” Jean called out as she approached the two with a steady pace.

“Good morning master Jean!” Klee smiled at her, the brightness bringing a small smile to her own face.

“Good morning Klee.” Jean knelt down and placed a hand on Klee’s head. “I need to speak to Kaeya. Would you mind hanging out with miss Lisa for a little while?”

“Is Kaeya in trouble?” The young girl asks with a frown. It was almost adorable.

Jean chuckles, drawing her hand away. “He might be, but probably not. I have to ask him some questions to find out.” The girl’s expression twisted, and the door of the library opened - Lisa might have been listening in, Jean had determined.

“But mister Kaeya would never do anything bad.”

“I don’t think he did either, but I have some very important questions to ask him. I promise that you’ll be able to see him in a little while.”

“It’s alright, Klee. I’ll be back out in a moment.” Kaeya ruffles her hair with his spare hand.

Klee tugs on his sleeve. “You promise?”

“I promise. Now, go find miss Lisa and I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

“Mm, okay!” Klee smiled and turned around. “Bye master Jean, bye Kaeya!” She waved as she wandered toward the open door of the library. Jean stood back up and peered toward the door, giving Lisa a small nod of acknowledgement before the door closed behind the librarian.

The acting grandmaster turned her attention to the cavalry captain. She caught his eye, and he nodded.

“You went to Dawn Winery, didn’t you?”

She turned swiftly on her heel. “My office.”

The two walked into the office and she closed the door, stepping around the desk as he stood in front of it. Here, they wouldn’t be overheard.

“Diluc tells me of his suspicions that you may be hiding Y/N’s location.”

“He would think that, wouldn’t he?” It wasn’t much of a question.

“Kaeya.” She crossed her arms. “Is it true?”

He hesitated, eyes dancing around the desk as he placed the drawing Klee had done down on it. “Let me explain why I did it before you do anything.” His voice was drawn, soft.

Jean was silent, leaving the floor open for him to talk. He sat down with a sigh.

“Diluc’s behaviour toward Y/N seemed to escalate to a point where it was no longer the best thing for them to be around him. They asked me what they needed to do and I told them to take some time away from Mondstadt?”

“You were trying to protect them?”

“Yes.”

Jeans sighs, sitting in her chair. “I see. This does align with everything I was told.”

“What were you told?”

She eyed him carefully. “He informed me of all the events leading up to Y/N’s disappearance. He suspected that you may have been involved in arranging such a thing. It seems to me that that is the truth.”

“It is.” Kaeya admitted.

“And you lied to the knights about this.”

He folded his hands into his lap. “Perhaps I shouldn’t have, but I couldn’t assure their safety if I had done that from the start. The knights don’t have the full story. If someone had told Diluc, then… who knows.”

“That wasn’t your decision to make, Kaeya.”

He pressed his lips into a thin line. “Master Jean, with all due respect, you don’t know Diluc and Y/N as well as I do. He is going to snap when he finds out where they are.”

“When?” She questioned.

“It’s only a matter of time, isn’t it?”

Jean shuffled the folders on her desk and found the one for your disappearance. “Are you going to tell me where they are?”

“I don’t have a choice, do I?”

“You have the choice to lie.” She crossed her arms on the table. “But I wouldn’t recommend it."

——

“Master Diluc.” Adelinde placed a letter onto the table, right by the food that he wasn’t too keen on eating right now. “An anonymous note. Some information about Y/N.”

That got him to look up. “A note?” His eyebrows creased. “Bring it here.”

She hesitated, but followed his command. He took the piece of paper and read over it quickly. His eyes seemed to shine ever so much as his eyes scanned the words, almost frantically, over and over and over.

“Maybe the guild isn’t as useless as the knights after all.” He placed the letter aside and picked up his utensils. “Thank you, Adelinde. I’ll be leaving the winery in an hour. Make sure everything is set.”

“Of course.” She dismissed herself with a curtsey, wandering away.

Diluc let out a deep laugh, one that didn't give him even the slightest silver of a smile upon his face. Maybe Jean was right in that look that he had given her, the one that told him he wasn't in a good mental state. Maybe even Kaeya had been in the right to have her check in on him. He wasn't going to stop.

When he was finally stopped, he ate the entire meal in front of him for the first time in two weeks. He was going to need the energy if he was going to make it all the way through Dragonspine.

But that was neither here nor there.