Chapter 3

Barbara tapped her fingers idlily on the podium, waiting for the next report to come in. To say she was bored would be an understatement. When she first took up the role of host, she was more than excited to accept it. After all, not everyone gets the chance to be the organizer and starter of a tournament so scared. But now that she was here, she was left wondering, 'When will it end?'

She stifled a yawn. The only thing that was entertaining was when Bennett and Razor were staring at their paper, making goofy faces that weren't humanly possible, and that was an hour and a half ago. The Deaconess was doing her best to not fall asleep and instead listened to the idle chit-chat of the people. And she wasn't the only one who felt like her head was going to drop at any given moment.

'When is it going to get interesting?' she thought and sighed.

They were close.

So close.

Amber could feel it in her bones as she and Collei made their way towards the library. Somehow, it was Collei who managed to crack the riddle ("I mean, the clue was plain obvious, and I've been there before too," she said to the dumbfounded Outrider), and once they did, they made a beeline for Mondstadt. Thankfully, they weren't attacked by hilichurls again.

"Do you think the other teams would've been attacked as well?" asked Collei, doing her best to keep up with the brunette. Amber shrugged-if there was one thing she didn't want to think about, it was that. She silently prayed the other teams were safe.

"We'll have to search the entire library, don't we?" Collei groaned, and Amber couldn't help but laugh.

"Yep, but don't worry. We'll find it."

"Amber, have you seen the place? And that's a rhetorical question, I know you've seen it. Searching for the clue is gonna be like finding a needle in a haystack."

"Don't give up hope, Collei," said Amber, patting her shoulder. "Don't forget, this is our final clue. After that, we've just got to figure out the location of the Platinum Medallion, and it's over."

"If we find it," pointed out Collei. Amber nodded. They had the tournament in their palms. They could do this, they had to.

Albedo was annoyed.

Very, very annoyed.

If you asked him how he got himself in the situation he was in, he'd give you a big, bright smile, hand you a jelly doughnut, and say he had no clue.

'Seriously? Hilichurls, Mages and Samachurls? Just what did the Knights mean by when they said they cleared everything?'

He and Klee were surrounded on all sides by the foul creatures, looming closer to them. Klee whimpered in fright, bombs clutched tightly in her hands. The pair were on their way to their next location when out of nowhere, they were ambushed. A tiny streak of blood ran from Albedo's arm nicked by an arrow (and thankfully, a non-poisoned one), but other than that he was fine. Now he had to find a way t get out of their predicament.

"Big brother Albedo, can I throw your bombs now?" asked Klee, hand above her head. Albedo placed his hand on her head.

"Not now, Klee. Wait for my signal. We don't want to waste them."

"But Klee is scared!" Klee pouted, eyeing the Electro Abyss Mage wearily. She was trembling, and Albedo had to do something. And fast.

The Mage raised her staff, grinning. "Come now, little one, I promise I won't bite."

Klee furiously shook her head, shielding herself by hiding herself behind Albedo's leg "No! Klee will never listen to you. You are all evil."

"Such a gem." The Mage turned to face Albedo. "You have been taking care of her well."

"Stay away from her," he snarled in a low breath and added in a louder voice, "Klee, launch your bombs now."

Klee nodded and threw five of them, aiming at everyone except the Mage. The exploded immediately on contact with the ground, killing everyone.

The Mage cackled. "My, my, aren't you a strong one," she said to Klee. "Well, then, I'll just have to see how powerful you are." She waved her staff and pointed it at Albedo. A burst of purple lightning shot out from its tip, and he pushed Klee out, dodging it easily. The Mage growled and let out spell after spell, which the alchemist dodged easily and blocked with his sword. He grinned ever so slightly.

The Mage gave him a curious smile. "I have to say, you're a peculiar one. Just how are you able to move so quickly like that? And those movements! Truly fascinating. If I may ask, what's your secret?"

Albedo chuckled. "My secret? I have no secret, Mage," he said, raising his hand, which glowed gold and brown.

"My secret? My Geo Vision."

He let loose Rite of Progeniture, annihilating her instantly. His right arm felt wet and looked down to see a fresh cut right below the previous one, much larger and a bit deeper in size. Guess he didn't dodge everything after all. Thankfully it didn't look fatal, but Klee started to panic.

"Big brother Albedo, what happened!?" Klee shrieked, tears forming in her eyes. "You're injured. We must call Ms. Deaconess right away."

"Klee, it's ok. I'm fine," Albedo said, but Klee whined and, without warning, burst into tears. "It's my fault. I should have killed that evil Mage. If I had, you wouldn't be hurt. I'm sorry." She choked out. And oh, did the poor alchemist's heart break at the sight.

Albedo carefully wrapped her in hug, trying hard not to wince in pain. Klee sobbed into his shirt, her hands balled into tiny fists. Albedo gently stroked her hair and back, soothing the young girl.

"Klee. There is no reason to cry. I'm fine, truly I am." Well, there was a little bit of pain, but he found he could easily ignore it. Telling her that would only make her cry harder.

Klee sniffed and rubbed her eyes. "Promise?" she asked in a tiny, watery voice, sticking out her pinky. Albedo smiled and wrapped his own around hers. "Promise," he said.

"Ok then," said Klee, wiping her eyes and giving him a big smile. "If big brother Albedo says he's fine, then I trust him," she declared and giggled.

Albedo laughed too. "So, now that that's settled, shall we continue our quest to find the next clue?"

Klee giggled harder. "Ok then! Lead the way."

"Alright then, little sister."

Kaeya so wanted to wipe the smirk off of Adelinde's face. How dare she simply stand by and smile innocently like she's oblivious to their pain while he and Diluc search the mansion like madmen. But he did see her as a mother figure of sorts, so he restrained himself.

That didn't stop him from cursing from time-to-time however, and all Adelinde replied with was, "The rules say no outsider can help."

"But no one would know," the Cavalry Captain replied, but all she did was close her eyes and flashed him that Stupid.Infuriating.Smile!

Currently, he was standing in the middle of his father's-Crepus's-bedroom, while Diluc was searching in the kitchen. Truth to be told, he had no idea why he was in there in the first place. Well, he did because his big brother told him to check in there (much to his surprise) But even then….Diluc left Crepus's room untouched after his death, and made sure no one entered it, except for Adelinde whenever she had to clean it. Nowadays however, the two young men would find themselves sleeping there, nestled underneath their father's blanket if one of them felt sad or grief in any way, which happened a lot these days after they got back together. Apart from that, they steered clear of the room at all costs. Plus, they had their own rooms. Barbara could've hidden in there. So why was he here?

Kaeya felt sick. 'There is no way the clue would be in here, right?' There was no way the Deaconess would even come here, knowing its significance. He took a deep breath and steeled himself, doing his best not to remember his childhood memories of him playing in the room with Diluc. 'Ugh, not now Alberich,' he thought, 'stay focused. You have to keep your head in the game?'

He took another deep breath and got his legs to move. He brushed his fingers against the curtains and peered behind photo frames and looked through drawers, but he couldn't find it anywhere. Still, he didn't give up. He furrowed his brows and closed his eyes, sighing in frustration. 'Why do I have the sneaking suspicion that the note is in here?' Kaeya couldn't explain it, but it was like the very core of his being was telling him-screaming at him-to search properly. It felt weird, unnatural almost even, but it also felt right. It was like someone was trying to guide him somewhere. 'But where?' With his eyes still closed, he let his instincts take over, letting his legs steer him to wherever they wanted to take him. Once he stopped, he opened his eyes.

It was the bed, the one piece of furniture he did not want to touch. But the feeling grew stronger. It was painfully soothing, and he had no idea how to react.

So, Kaeya eyed the bed curiously before gingerly lifting up the pillow, knowing fully well what he'd find. But his eyes widened in shock and wonder as he saw not only one, but two pieces of folded paper. One was larger in size, so he figured the small note must be the letter. But then, what was that other paper doing there?

The weird feeling in him grew impossibly stronger at the sight, and every instinct told him to read the larger paper first. It was like someone, at that very moment seized control off his entire being. He felt no longer in control of his body.

With trembling hands, he picked up the note and opened it carefully, reading what was on the front, and gasped softly. It was a letter. For him. And it was dated…

Four years ago?

Kaeya looked at the letter in bewilderment, but quickly brushed the feeling aside and started to read its contents.

𝔇𝔢𝔞𝔯 𝔎𝔞𝔢𝔶𝔞

ℑ'𝔪 𝔫𝔬𝔱 𝔤𝔬𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔱𝔬 𝔤𝔦𝔳𝔢 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔱𝔥𝔦𝔰 𝔩𝔢𝔱𝔱𝔢𝔯 𝔫𝔬𝔴, 𝔬𝔫 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔡𝔞𝔶 ℑ 𝔴𝔯𝔦𝔱𝔢 𝔱𝔥𝔦𝔰, 𝔟𝔲𝔱 𝔴𝔥𝔢𝔫 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔱𝔦𝔪𝔢 𝔠𝔬𝔪𝔢𝔰, 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔴𝔦𝔩𝔩 𝔯𝔢𝔠𝔢𝔦𝔳𝔢 𝔦𝔱, 𝔢𝔦𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔯 𝔣𝔯𝔬𝔪 𝔬𝔯 𝔄𝔡𝔢𝔩𝔦𝔫𝔡𝔢. ℑ'𝔪…𝔭𝔯𝔬𝔲𝔡 𝔬𝔣 𝔶𝔬𝔲, 𝔎𝔞𝔢𝔶𝔞. 𝔜𝔬𝔲 𝔴𝔬𝔫'𝔱 𝔟𝔢𝔩𝔦𝔢𝔳𝔢 𝔪𝔢 𝔴𝔥𝔢𝔫 ℑ 𝔰𝔞𝔶 𝔦𝔱, 𝔰𝔬 ℑ'𝔪 𝔴𝔯𝔦𝔱𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔦𝔱 𝔥𝔢𝔯𝔢. ℑ 𝔠𝔞𝔫'𝔱 𝔦𝔪𝔞𝔤𝔦𝔫𝔢 𝔴𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔪𝔲𝔰𝔱 𝔥𝔞𝔳𝔢 𝔤𝔬𝔫𝔢 𝔱𝔥𝔯𝔬𝔲𝔤𝔥, 𝔞𝔫𝔡 ℑ'𝔪 𝔰𝔬𝔯𝔯𝔶 𝔣𝔬𝔯 𝔴𝔯𝔦𝔱𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔦𝔱 𝔥𝔢𝔯𝔢 𝔯𝔞𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔯 𝔱𝔥𝔞𝔫 𝔱𝔢𝔩𝔩𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔡𝔦𝔯𝔢𝔠𝔱𝔩𝔶.

𝔚𝔥𝔢𝔫 ℑ 𝔣𝔦𝔯𝔰𝔱 𝔰𝔞𝔴 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔰𝔦𝔱𝔱𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔬𝔲𝔱𝔰𝔦𝔡𝔢 𝔞𝔱 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔱𝔞𝔳𝔢𝔯𝔫 𝔦𝔫 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔯𝔞𝔦𝔫 𝔞𝔩𝔩 𝔱𝔥𝔬𝔰𝔢 𝔶𝔢𝔞𝔯𝔰 𝔞𝔤𝔬, 𝔩𝔬𝔬𝔨𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔰𝔞𝔡, 𝔠𝔬𝔫𝔣𝔲𝔰𝔢𝔡, 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔩𝔬𝔰𝔱, ℑ 𝔱𝔥𝔬𝔲𝔤𝔥𝔱, '𝔚𝔥𝔬 𝔠𝔬𝔲𝔩𝔡 𝔞𝔟𝔞𝔫𝔡𝔬𝔫 𝔰𝔲𝔠𝔥 𝔞 𝔭𝔬𝔬𝔯 𝔱𝔥𝔦𝔫𝔤?' 𝔜𝔬𝔲 𝔴𝔢𝔯𝔢 𝔠𝔬𝔩𝔡 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔰𝔥𝔦𝔳𝔢𝔯𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔞𝔩𝔩 𝔞𝔩𝔬𝔫𝔢, ℑ 𝔠𝔬𝔲𝔩𝔡𝔫'𝔱 𝔧𝔲𝔰𝔱 𝔩𝔢𝔞𝔳𝔢 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔯𝔢, 𝔰𝔬 ℑ 𝔱𝔬𝔬𝔨 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔦𝔫. 𝔜𝔬𝔲 𝔪𝔦𝔤𝔥𝔱 𝔱𝔥𝔦𝔫𝔨 ℑ 𝔡𝔦𝔡 𝔱𝔥𝔦𝔰 𝔬𝔲𝔱 𝔬𝔣 𝔭𝔦𝔱𝔶, 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔶𝔬𝔲'𝔯𝔢 𝔫𝔬𝔱 𝔴𝔯𝔬𝔫𝔤 𝔱𝔬 𝔞𝔰𝔰𝔲𝔪𝔢 𝔱𝔥𝔞𝔱. 𝔄𝔣𝔱𝔢𝔯 𝔞𝔩𝔩, 𝔴𝔥𝔶 𝔢𝔩𝔰𝔢 𝔴𝔬𝔲𝔩𝔡 𝔬𝔫𝔢 𝔬𝔣 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔯𝔦𝔠𝔥𝔢𝔰𝔱 𝔣𝔞𝔪𝔦𝔩𝔦𝔢𝔰 𝔦𝔫 𝔐𝔬𝔫𝔡𝔰𝔱𝔞𝔡𝔱 𝔴𝔞𝔫𝔱 𝔱𝔬 𝔡𝔬 𝔴𝔦𝔱𝔥 𝔞 𝔰𝔱𝔯𝔞𝔶 𝔠𝔥𝔦𝔩𝔡? 𝔅𝔲𝔱 ℑ 𝔞𝔰𝔰𝔲𝔯𝔢 𝔶𝔬𝔲, ℑ 𝔡𝔦𝔡 𝔦𝔱 𝔟𝔢𝔠𝔞𝔲𝔰𝔢 ℑ 𝔤𝔢𝔫𝔲𝔦𝔫𝔢𝔩𝔶 𝔠𝔞𝔯𝔢𝔡. ℑ 𝔴𝔞𝔫𝔱𝔢𝔡 𝔱𝔬 𝔤𝔦𝔳𝔢 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔞 𝔭𝔯𝔬𝔭𝔢𝔯 𝔠𝔥𝔞𝔫𝔠𝔢 𝔞𝔱 𝔩𝔦𝔣𝔢, 𝔟𝔢𝔠𝔞𝔲𝔰𝔢 𝔦𝔱 𝔩𝔬𝔬𝔨𝔢𝔡 𝔩𝔦𝔨𝔢, 𝔣𝔯𝔬𝔪 𝔪𝔶 𝔢𝔶𝔢𝔰, 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔫𝔢𝔳𝔢𝔯 𝔡𝔦𝔡. ℌ𝔬𝔴𝔢𝔳𝔢𝔯, 𝔞𝔣𝔱𝔢𝔯 ℑ 𝔭𝔯𝔬𝔭𝔢𝔯𝔩𝔶 𝔰𝔞𝔴 𝔶𝔬𝔲, ℑ 𝔫𝔬𝔱𝔦𝔠𝔢𝔡 𝔶𝔬𝔲𝔯 𝔢𝔶𝔢, 𝔶𝔬𝔲𝔯 𝔣𝔬𝔲𝔯-𝔭𝔬𝔦𝔫𝔱𝔢𝔡 𝔰𝔱𝔞𝔯 𝔭𝔲𝔭𝔦𝔩, 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔱𝔥𝔞𝔱'𝔰 𝔴𝔥𝔢𝔫 ℑ 𝔠𝔬𝔫𝔫𝔢𝔠𝔱𝔢𝔡 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔡𝔬𝔱𝔰. 𝔅𝔲𝔱 ℑ 𝔞𝔩𝔰𝔬 𝔨𝔫𝔢𝔴 𝔱𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔴𝔢𝔯𝔢 𝔧𝔲𝔰𝔱 𝔞 𝔨𝔦𝔡. 𝔄 𝔪𝔢𝔯𝔢 𝔠𝔥𝔦𝔩𝔡 𝔴𝔥𝔬 𝔡𝔦𝔡𝔫'𝔱 𝔤𝔢𝔱 𝔞 𝔠𝔥𝔦𝔩𝔡𝔥𝔬𝔬𝔡 𝔢𝔳𝔢𝔯𝔶𝔬𝔫𝔢 𝔡𝔢𝔰𝔢𝔯𝔳𝔢𝔰. 𝔒𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔯𝔰 𝔴𝔬𝔲𝔩𝔡 𝔥𝔞𝔳𝔢 𝔞𝔟𝔞𝔫𝔡𝔬𝔫𝔢𝔡 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔪𝔬𝔪𝔢𝔫𝔱 𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔶 𝔰𝔞𝔴 𝔦𝔱, 𝔣𝔢𝔢𝔩𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔰𝔬𝔪𝔢𝔱𝔥𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔟𝔞𝔡 𝔴𝔬𝔲𝔩𝔡 𝔥𝔞𝔭𝔭𝔢𝔫 𝔱𝔬 𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔪, 𝔟𝔲𝔱 𝔞𝔩𝔩 ℑ 𝔰𝔞𝔴 𝔴𝔞𝔰 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔤𝔬𝔬𝔡𝔫𝔢𝔰𝔰 𝔦𝔫 𝔶𝔬𝔲𝔯 𝔥𝔢𝔞𝔯𝔱, 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔦𝔫𝔫𝔬𝔠𝔢𝔫𝔠𝔢 𝔱𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝔩𝔞𝔦𝔡 𝔴𝔦𝔱𝔥𝔦𝔫 𝔶𝔬𝔲. 𝔜𝔬𝔲 𝔞𝔯𝔢 𝔞 𝔴𝔬𝔫𝔡𝔢𝔯𝔣𝔲𝔩 𝔠𝔥𝔦𝔩𝔡, 𝔎𝔞𝔢. 𝔇𝔬𝔫'𝔱 𝔢𝔳𝔢𝔯 𝔣𝔬𝔯𝔤𝔢𝔱 𝔱𝔥𝔞𝔱.

ℑ 𝔞𝔩𝔰𝔬 𝔴𝔞𝔫𝔱 𝔱𝔬 𝔰𝔞𝔶 𝔰𝔬𝔯𝔯𝔶. 𝔉𝔬𝔯 𝔢𝔳𝔢𝔯𝔶𝔱𝔥𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔱𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝔴𝔬𝔲𝔩𝔡'𝔳𝔢 𝔥𝔞𝔭𝔭𝔢𝔫𝔢𝔡 𝔞𝔣𝔱𝔢𝔯 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔯𝔢𝔞𝔡 𝔱𝔥𝔦𝔰. ℑ 𝔨𝔫𝔬𝔴 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔴𝔬𝔲𝔩𝔡 𝔥𝔞𝔳𝔢 𝔞 𝔩𝔬𝔱 𝔬𝔣 𝔮𝔲𝔢𝔰𝔱𝔦𝔬𝔫𝔰 𝔯𝔲𝔫𝔫𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔱𝔥𝔯𝔬𝔲𝔤𝔥 𝔶𝔬𝔲𝔯 𝔟𝔯𝔞𝔦𝔫 𝔯𝔦𝔤𝔥𝔱 𝔫𝔬𝔴, 𝔟𝔲𝔱 𝔯𝔢𝔰𝔱 𝔞𝔰𝔰𝔲𝔯𝔢𝔡, 𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔶 𝔴𝔦𝔩𝔩 𝔞𝔩𝔩 𝔟𝔢 𝔞𝔫𝔰𝔴𝔢𝔯𝔢𝔡 𝔦𝔫 𝔡𝔲𝔢 𝔱𝔦𝔪𝔢. ℑ'𝔪 𝔭𝔯𝔢𝔱𝔱𝔶 𝔰𝔲𝔯𝔢 ℑ 𝔴𝔬𝔫'𝔱 𝔟𝔢 𝔞𝔯𝔬𝔲𝔫𝔡 𝔴𝔥𝔢𝔫 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔣𝔦𝔫𝔞𝔩𝔩𝔶 𝔤𝔢𝔱 𝔶𝔬𝔲𝔯 𝔥𝔞𝔫𝔡𝔰 𝔬𝔫 𝔱𝔥𝔦𝔰, 𝔟𝔲𝔱 ℑ 𝔴𝔞𝔫𝔱 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔱𝔬 𝔨𝔫𝔬𝔴 ℑ 𝔩𝔬𝔳𝔢𝔡 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔞𝔰 𝔦𝔣 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔴𝔢𝔯𝔢 𝔪𝔶 𝔬𝔴𝔫 𝔰𝔬𝔫. ℑ 𝔫𝔢𝔳𝔢𝔯 𝔰𝔞𝔴 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔡𝔦𝔣𝔣𝔢𝔯𝔢𝔫𝔱𝔩𝔶, 𝔫𝔬𝔯 𝔡𝔦𝔡 𝔞𝔫𝔶𝔬𝔫𝔢 𝔢𝔩𝔰𝔢 𝔦𝔫 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔪𝔞𝔫𝔰𝔦𝔬𝔫. 𝔜𝔬𝔲𝔯 𝔱𝔥𝔬𝔲𝔤𝔥𝔱𝔰 𝔴𝔦𝔩𝔩 𝔴𝔞𝔳𝔢𝔯 𝔣𝔯𝔬𝔪 𝔱𝔦𝔪𝔢 𝔱𝔬 𝔱𝔦𝔪𝔢, 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔴𝔦𝔩𝔩 𝔟𝔢 𝔠𝔬𝔫𝔣𝔲𝔰𝔢𝔡 𝔞𝔰 𝔱𝔬 𝔴𝔥𝔢𝔯𝔢 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔰𝔱𝔞𝔫𝔡, 𝔟𝔲𝔱 𝔨𝔫𝔬𝔴 𝔱𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝔦𝔣 ℑ 𝔴𝔢𝔯𝔢 𝔞𝔯𝔬𝔲𝔫𝔡, ℑ 𝔴𝔬𝔲𝔩𝔡 𝔰𝔲𝔭𝔭𝔬𝔯𝔱 𝔶𝔬𝔲, 𝔯𝔢𝔤𝔞𝔯𝔡𝔩𝔢𝔰𝔰 𝔬𝔣 𝔴𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝔡𝔢𝔠𝔦𝔰𝔦𝔬𝔫 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔪𝔞𝔨𝔢. ℑ 𝔥𝔞𝔳𝔢 𝔫𝔬 𝔯𝔢𝔤𝔯𝔢𝔱𝔰, 𝔞𝔫𝔡 ℑ'𝔪 𝔭𝔯𝔬𝔲𝔡 𝔱𝔬 𝔠𝔞𝔩𝔩 𝔶𝔬𝔲..

𝔐𝔶 𝔰𝔬𝔫

Kaeya read the letter again. And again. Then he blinked his eyes rapidly and put a hand to his mouth to stifle a sudden sob that arose from somewhere deep within him. He knew. He knew, and yet he didn't do anything about it because of his love for him. Looking at the letter properly, he noticed there were ink splotches in some areas, which only made his heart hurt even more.

He sniffed, chuckled wetly, and clutched the letter tightly to his chest, rubbing his eye. Crepus chose to adopt him despite everything, and all he wanted to do after his death-well, even if he were alive-was return the favor. And he did. He chose Mondstadt over Khaenri'ah, and he'd be damned if he didn't do everything in his power to protect it.

Kaeya picked up the clue and tucked the letter into a drawer. He figured he'd show Diluc later, after the tournament was over. Right now, they had to unscramble the last riddle.

He was so lost in his thoughts he didn't notice Adelinde peeking through the door with a sad smile on her face.

'Did she get it already?'

Lisa flipped through her purple, leather-bound book, tapping her foot impatiently. It had been 15 minutes since Jean climbed up the statue to get the clue, and she still hasn't returned.

The librarian groaned. She could've climbed up with her, but she opted to wait on the ground in case if any trouble showed up. Not that there would be any, since the Knights of Favonius did clear out whatever Abyss creatures and other foul beings that would disrupt the tournament. Now however, she wished she followed the Dandelion Knight. Unfortunately, she didn't wear her watch on her, so she couldn't tell the time.

Lisa's fingers were itching, crackling with Electro. If Jean stayed up there a minute longer, the Electro allogene would bring her down herself. She put her hands on the statue, getting ready to scale it and counting down the seconds…..

She heard a soft thud and ran towards the other side of the statue, where she saw Jean on the ground, with one hand on her knee. She stood up, her other hand holding a piece of paper. She had a smile on her face.

Lisa spoke up. "So, it looks like we were right all along. Though I must say, you took quite the time."

"Stop the dramatics, Lisa, I was only up there for 15 minutes," Jean retorted, rolling her eyes. Do you know hard it was to climb up to the orb? And to carefully remove the tapes that held the clue in place without accidentally ripping it? It's not as easy as you think. It makes me wonder how Venti always manages to do it."

"I think you're forgetting the fact that he's the Anemo Archon? You know, Barbatos is disguise?"

"Right," replied Jean. "Anyways, I read the clue while I was up there, and…there's something I need to tell you."

"Well, what is it?" asked Lisa.

"I don't-well, I do know whats wrong with this clue. Its hard to explain, but something feels off. I think I know where the next location is however, and… here, have a look at it yourself." Jean handed over the clue, and Lisa started to read it.

'A place of snow and ice

Follow the trail up the path

The deeper you go in me is where you'll find me'

Strange, it only had three lines, but even then, it wasn't hard to guess.

"Isn't that Dragonspine Mountain?" Lisa asked, quizzical. Jean hummed in agreement. "So, what seems to be the problem?"

"The problem here, well, isn't with the clue itself, but rather the handwriting. Lisa, that's not Barbara's handwriting," said Jean, pointing at the clue. "It's a good imitation of it, though, but it isn't hers."

"How can you be so sure?" Lisa asked.

Jean narrowed her eyes. "You really think I wouldn't be able to recognize my little sister's handwriting?"

"I didn't mean it like that, no," said Lisa, waving her arms. "I'm saying is maybe she must have written the clue in a hurry is all. Its not like someone can write the same word and letter the exact same way. You know what I mean?"

"But-"

"No buts," Lisa said sharply, and sighed, softening her tone and expression. "Jean, calm yourself." She grabbed her hand. "Seriously, you can't be on edge every single time. You have to let your body and mind rest. Enjoy the day for once without being in constant fear that something bad might happen. It's ok to be cautious, but don't let that instinct overrule you every single time. I don't think I've ever seen you sleep peacefully, and that's saying something. I know you have a lot of responsibilities, but everyone needs a break once in a while, right?"

Jean hesitated, eyeing her wearily and hung her head in defeat. "I guess."

"That's more like it," Lisa chirped. She was so down with seeing Jean going to her 'Grand Master Mode' at any given moment when she's supposed to be on a holiday. She was actually planning on giving her a little…shock if she hadn't complied. Looks like that tactic was unnecessary after all.

But…

Oh wait.

Did she because she knew Lisa would electrocute her?

Well, it's not like she can think about it now. "So, Dragonspine Mountain?"

"Guess this is it," replied Jean.

"It is." She smiled. "Are you ready to finish this?"

Jean squeezed her hand. "I think I am."

"So, let me get this straight. You're telling me that the third and final clue just had to be located below Cider Lake!?"

Razor shrugged. "That's what clue said. You said yourself."

"Yeah, but still! Ugh! It feels like Barbara wants to kill me or something." Bennett sighed. "As if she doesn't know about my bad luck. It feels like she wants to see how deep I can swim without dying from asphyxia or something."

They looked down at the massive lake, and Bennett was wondering earlier if the whole thing with the clue had been a huge misunderstanding or a stupid excuse of a joke, but after rereading it ten times (and Razor twenty times and understood none of the words), there was no doubt about it-all the lines pointed to Cider Lake.

Bennett groaned. He was actually a fairly good swimmer, if not the best, despite everything. But Cider Lake goes down for miles and miles. He wondered how they even managed to hide the clue there in the first place.

Sensing his worry, Razor gripped his hand and squeezed it gently. "Do not worry. You can do this. We'll win hunt."

"Yeah," said Bennett. "We will, but…"

"You scared?"

"More like petrified. Alarmed." Bennett sighed heavily. I just-I don't know, Razor. I mean, I'm confident in my skills, but Cider Lake? I don't think anyone has ever attempted to dive in this thing!"

"Maybe not, but you can."

"I can't believe you trust me so much," Bennett murmured, and forced himself to meet Razor's blood red eyes. "How do you believe I won't mess this up? You and I both know I'm cursed."

"You not cursed," said Razor, chuckling. "And you won't mess up. I believe…in that. You…know why?"

"Why?"

"Simple. You believed in me to find first clue. I did. Now I trust you."

"Razor…," the Pyro allogene trailed off, and after sniffing a few times, he wrapped his arms around him. He heard Razor gasp softly and he hugged back. It was a short, but sweet moment in Bennett's mind as they finally pulled apart for what seemed like eternity. He took a deep breath and shuddered lightly. "Ok, I think I got this."

"You can do this."

"I will do this," said Bennett, smiling bright. He trained his eyes on the water. He took one last deep breath, drawing in as much oxygen as he could, and dived.

The water felt cool on his skin as we swam in contrast to the hot sun. A bunch of fish passed by all in different colors and sizes, but he couldn't see where the clue was. Where in the actual hell could they have hidden it?

Bennett searched frantically, twisting his head to find any sort of indication until he saw it-a white arrow mark. He swam towards the cardboard cut-out and followed it. As he swam, he came across more arrows, all pointing him in the same direction.

'Where are they taking me?' he thought. He noted that there wasn't really much in Cider Lake-there were a few small underwater caves scattered here and there, but he couldn't find any indication to where the clue might be. Bennett grew nervous. He had no idea how much longer he could hold his breath, and time was running short, His lungs were slowly aching, and he reminded himself to stay calm, despite the panic slowly bubbling in his chest. He propelled himself forward, using every ounce of energy he had left. Fortunately, he came across yet another underwater cave, though it was larger compared to the previous ones, and in the opening, sitting there ingenuously amongst the seaweed was…

'The clue!' Bennett thought happily. He grabbed the chest. It was small and well-crafted in wood, painted in a dark, sea green. It was sealed with three water-proof locks. About time he found it too, his muscles were slowly getting sore, and he was losing oxygen.

He swiftly pocketed the chest and began to swim upward, pushing as hard as he could. But, to his absolute horror, in a desperate and involuntary attempt to refill his lungs, he opened his mouth, and water rushed into it. He coughed and spluttered, his vision slowly growing hazy. Suddenly, everything started to pain. His eyes were burning, and his chest felt like someone lit a funeral pyre. He gasped, and promptly choked again. Now Bennett really started to panic.

Ugh! And to think things were going so well! He knew he shouldn't have jinxed it.

'Get to the surface, you idiot!' Bennett shook his head furiously, and started to swim upwards, ignoring the painful protests of his body. Razor was up there, waiting for him. Counting on him. Believed in him. He was not about to break that trust now.

His vision was blackening, and his head felt heavy. He had to get out of there. He had to get to the surface and get to the location of the last clue. For his team. For Razor.

He wasn't a failure.

Just when he felt like his legs were going to cut themselves off from his body, he saw sunlight seeping into the water, and moments later, his head broke through the surface. He gasped loudly and opened his mouth. No water entered in, much to his relief. He sighed and patted his pocket, where the chest was. He let the water drift him towards the surface, and he felt sand underneath his fingers a few minutes later.

"Bennett!" someone shouted, but he didn't have the energy to look up. He didn't have the energy to get up. The growing darkness was rapidly consuming him, and he wanted to surrender to it. His limbs were in pain and his brain was going to explode. H coughed violently. He heard the voice call out his name again, and he realized it was Razor. He smiled and whispered, "I did it," before the darkness whisked him away into oblivion.

Diluc turned the library upside down, looking through every shelf. He had just finished searching the kitchen for the clue, and it wasn't there. He tried to keep his calm but felt his patience slowly starting to waver. Kaeya was right-how were they going to find the clue in this ridiculously large mansion? Even with the two of them searching every nook and corner, they only managed to cover one-fourth of the entire area. And that was excluding the garden!

Diluc groaned, putting a black and gold book back where it belonged. All of a sudden, his baby brother's idea for begging Adelinde for help seemed tempting, but he shook his head and continued to search. 'I hope Kaeya has had better luck than me,' he thought. He looked at the book he just grabbed and instantly felt confused.

"What the- " he mumbled, before groaning again. He picked up the same book he went through a few minutes ago. And he had around 10 dozen shelves to go through.

Looking in the library would take all day!

"Archons above, I seriously hope Kae had better luck," Diluc mumbled, pulling out 4 to 5 books and going through them. Once he found the clue, he could gladly put all these books away and lock up the library for a week thanks to the fact he was traumatized by the books. And the library. Oh, and he should also avoid Lisa's library while he was at it.

…What was the point of all this? The library was massive, though it was a bit smaller than the one Lisa owned. There'd be no way for Barbara to hide the clue in here.

Right?

'Well, guess I've got to get back to searching,' Diluc thought, putting the books away when he heard someone rush into the room, calling out his name. He turned and saw Kaeya bent over, hands on his knees and panting heavily.

"Did you run all the way here, idiot?" asked Diluc, patting his back gently. Kaeya nodded, calming himself down. "What happened?"

"Well, I thought you were in the kitchen," Kaeya started, "so I went there, but then the staff there tell me you were in the library instead. And we both know the library is from the kitchen."

"…It's really not that far."

"Well, it felt like it was." Kaeya straightened up. "Anyways, the reason why I rushed in here at such ungodly speed was because I found something of great interest." He held out a piece of paper with a smile on his face, and Diluc's eyes widened.

"You found it?"

"You won't believe where it was hidden."

"In Father's room!?" asked Diluc, aghast.

"Underneath a pillow, to be precise." Kaeya twirled the paper with his fingers. "Funny place to hide a clue if I have to be honest. But the clue itself is symbolic in a way."

"How is it symbolic?"

"Read it and find out," said Kaeya, handing him the clue. Diluc began to read it carefully. His eyes widened again. He gasped.

"You mean to say, the final clue is- "

"Yeah," Kaeya said. Diluc noticed his tone was slightly off. Looking at him, he noticed the tear tracks that looked like were hastily wiped away. Kaeya sniffed and rubbed his eye.

"Kae, are you alright?" Diluc asked, reaching out for his hand.

He smiled. "Yeah, I'll be alright," he said quickly, causing Diluc to raise a brow.

"Are you sure something didn't happen while you were in the room?"

"Well, no but actually yes. It's…well, it's complicated."

"Complicated?" asked Diluc, feeling confused for the hundredth time. Kaeya nodded his head.

"A bit. It's not important. Well, it is important, but not right now. I'll tell you about it later."

"Kaeya- "

"I promise I will tell you," said Kaeya, letting go of his hand and hugging him. Diluc sighed and hugged him back. "Don't worry, it's something you should know as well. After the tournament's over, I'll show you."

"Show me?"

"You'll see."

"Do you really want me to pinky-swear like a five-year-old?" Kaeya asked, and promptly pressed a finger to his older brother's lips when he opened his mouth. "Don't answer that question."

"Kaeya," Diluc mumbled.

"Shh. I promise, ok? I swear on Barbatos himself, though, now that I think about it, the Anemo Archon is a bit…unreliable."

Diluc wasn't convinced, but he figured he'd worry about it later, if his little brother was being so insistent about it. "Alright," he replied after a long pause. "If you say so. Anyways, ready to head over the freezing netherworld that is Dragonspine mountain?"

Kaeya grinned. "You don't have to ask me twice," he said, and with that, they dashed out of the room.

"Collei, get down from there!"

"Why?"

"Because I uhh… I found the clue."

"What?!" Collei asked incredulously, climbing down from the ladder. Amber was perched on the table, looking at her nervously. Collei suddenly got a sneaky suspicion in her gut.

"Amber, what is it? Why are you looking at me like that?"

Amber rubbed the back of her neck. "Well, like I said before, I found the clue, just…not where you'd expect for it to be. I guess Barbara must have gotten lazy or something."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, let's just say the clue was where we didn't expect for it to be," said Amber, flushing a bright red. She pointed to an open drawer which contained various stacks of papers ('Some of these look legal, thought Collei. 'I wonder what they're doing in there), quills, paper clips and in the center of it all, a chest.

An open chest.

Collei smacked her head on the table. "So, you're telling me it was in there the entire time?!"

"Hehe, yep. I've read through it already, and I think I know where the Platinum Medallion is."

Collei's head shot up. "You do?"

Amber smiled wryly. "Yeah, and you're not going to like it." She unfolded the paper. "But there's something off. This doesn't look like Barbara's handwriting at all. And I'm pretty sure she wouldn't send us over there. I don't think…." She trailed off.

"Don't think what? Amber, what is it?" asked Collei, fear in her voice. Amber shook head.

"Nothing. I wonder if Jean knows about this. She would've gotten suspicious for sure if I did. You see, the thing is Collei, the final clue is leading us to, well, dangerous doesn't even begin to describe it, a place where most of us tend to avoid. A place where Albedo spends most of his time, being an alchemist. The last time I was there, I ran into so many disasters, I was worried if I'd actually make it out alive."

"Where are we going then?" Collei asked, and she could see the weariness in her friend's eyes as she said the location.

"Dragonspine Mountain."

"Dragonspine Mountain?" Klee exclaimed. Even Albedo read the note twice to make sure he wasn't seeing things.

Dragonspine Mountain? Was Barbara out of her mind?

"There's no denying it. The medallion must be somewhere in the mountain. Hopefully we don't have to climb to high," said Albedo, shuddering. He wasn't planning on taking his little sister to a place where its either life or death, especially with the recent skirmish he, Amber, Bennett, Eula, Aether and Paimon ran into. So what if he spent the majority of his time there? It was no place to take a six-year old!

Klee patted his hand. "Will we be safe, Albedo? You always tell Klee not to go to Dragonspine."

"And I still stand by that rule," replied Albedo. "The mountain isn't safe. However, you'll be with me, so you'll be safe."

Klee nodded, flicking her ears. She looked worried, but she did her best to act tough. She was a Knight of Favonius. She has to be brave. She had to if they were going to win the tournament.

Albedo gave her a wondering look. "Klee, you ok?"

Klee looked up at Albedo's warm turquoise eyes. She slowly nodded and put her tiny hand into his. "I'm ok. I'm ready to go to Dragonspine Mountain," she said with as much confidence as she could muster.

Albedo blinked. "Where did you suddenly get your confidence from?" he asked, smiling. Klee smiled back and pointed to his heart.

"From there."

"-Nett?"

"Bennett?"

"Wake up!"

"BENNETT!"

Bennett gasped and opened his eyes, coughing violently. His chest was sweltering and stomach boiling from agony. Every breath he drew in hurt. He slowly sat up straight, ignoring the jolts of pain from his bones. He shivered at the sudden chillness, though the sun was hot on his back. Everything ached-his head, arms, legs, but he was alive.

Alive.

A warm palm held his, and saw Razor looking at him, eyebrows furrowed in concern. "Be-Bennett?" he started hesitantly. "Are you alright?"

Bennett tried to speak, but his throat felt like someone rubbed sandpaper a gazillion times in his voice box, so he nodded his head.

Razor's expression quickly morphed into one of pure relief, and without warning, he hugged him tight. The adventurer felt tears on his shoulder, and he carefully pulled them apart.

"Hey, Razor," he said, doing his best to form cohesive words. "It's ok. I'm ok. I didn't die."

"I thought…you were…dead," Razor cried out, wiping his eyes. "You almost drowned!" I manage to pull you out of water and call you name. You did not respond."

"But I'm talking to you now, right?" Bennett said and coughed again. Razor squeezed his hand. He gasped and warmed up his body with his Vision. The Electro allogene yelped and retracted his hand at the sudden heat. Bennett winced apologetically and said, "Sorry."

"It's fine," said Razor and stepped back. Bennett closed his eyes and focused on the core of his Vision, drawing out elemental energy. He could feel the heat plastering onto his skin, warming him up like a bonfire. He felt the soreness of his muscles slowly fade away, and his mind cleared. Gradually, everything around him made sense, as if his brain was finally processing what was happening. He opened his eyes and saw his best friend more clearly.

"Bennett…?" Razor held out a hand. Bennett smiled and took it. The grey-haired smiled. "You're ok."

"Of course, I'm ok. It'll take more than my bad luck to stop me. Looks like it will have to try harder."

Razor giggled. "Yes. Your voice also better."

"That's the power of Pyro healing," replied Bennett, winking. Razor chuckled and got up, holding out a hand, which the other gratefully took.

"Now, to see what's written on this thing," Bennett said, opening the paper, and was immediately flabbergasted. "What?"

"What what?"

"This isn't-wait a minute, this isn't…this isn't Barbara's handwriting," he exclaimed. "This isn't her handwriting at all! She doesn't write like this."

Razor narrowed his eyes, leaned forward, sniffed the note, and wrinkled his nose in disgust and horror. "Your right," he said. "This not her scent. Her scent sweet and warm. This scent cold and dark."

'What's happening here?' Bennett's heart was pounding in his chest. Did someone actually sabotage the event? Who would've done it? Why would they have done it? Nothing made sense.

Bennett gasped. "The other teams!" The others might not have noticed that the last clue was a fake. But the handwriting however would've made them realize something was amiss. But even then…

'Maybe the others would've gotten clues where the handwriting was exactly the same. It looked like ours was scrawled in a hurry.' Either way, they had to warn the others before anything bad could happen. "Razor."

Razor nodded, sniffed the note, and pointed towards the east. With a start, the pair ran towards the direction the grey-haired nose led them towards.

"Kaeya, wait!"

"What is it? We're almost there, Luc. Please don't tell me your legs are paining."

"I need the note." Up till now, something was nagging the wine tycoon after he read the clue, but he couldn't put his finger on it. Now however…

The Cavalry Captain huffed in annoyance, mumbling about older brothers in a childish voice (causing Diluc to roll his eyes fondly) and handed him the clue. Diluc read through it again, narrowing his eyes, while Kaeya tapped his foot impatiently on the ground. After he found out what the problem was, he gasped.

Kaeya frowned, taking in his older brother's expression. "Diluc, what's wrong? Did something happen?" Alarm bells were ringing in his head, telling him something was off. That something was very much wrong. "Did we guess the clue wrong?"

"No," Diluc started slowly, looking at him anxiously. "We got it right, and that's the problem."

Kaeya raised a brow. "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that Dragonspine Mountain was never the original location of the Platinum Medallion to begin with. I think someone switched out the clues."

"Switch out the-what!?" Kaeya shook his head furiously. "There's no-that's her handwriting."

"A rather perfect attempt at it, yes," pointed out Diluc. "To some eyes, it'd look the same, flawless even. It'd look normal, and no one would suspect it's a counterfeit. However, I learned how to look for forged documents after I left Mondstadt. It was a skill that came in handy if I must say."

Kaeya peered at the note, squinting his eye. "It still looks the same to me. I don't see any difference."

"Then perhaps this might help." Diluc fished out the second clue from his pocket and unfolded it. He held both of them out. "Compare the two handwritings now. It is subtle, and it might take a while for you to see it, but it is there."

"Because apparently you can see it," Kaeya mumbled, and shook his head. He still couldn't believe his brother and kept thinking he was paranoid-after all, he was the Dark Knight Hero, who roams around the night to no one's knowledge thwarting plots of the Abyss Order and working himself over it every night. But he guessed he'd look anyway if he was being so insisting.

He took the two notes and studied them, looking carefully and turning his head in different angles. It looked the same at first glance, like the third clue was written by Barbara herself-that it wasn't a forgery-but now comparing it with the second note, he noticed there were a few things off. There were a few things where at first look would be dismissed as a change in writing style, cause no one could write the same letter twice, but Kaeya knew Diluc knew better, and the slight jagged lines stook out like a sore thumb.

Diluc smiled as he saw Kaeya look at the two notes with fresh understanding. "You see it now?"

"Now I'm questioning whether all the documents I've signed up till now are real or not," he murmured, and handed the papers back. "I have to admit, you have good eyes. At first, I noticed some mistakes that could have been passed off as a change in writing style. After all no one can write the same word the same time, there would be some variation. But after comparing it to the previous clue, I saw the writing itself looked a but off. The lines were shaky. It's subtle, but the irregularity is there, as if- "

"Someone else had written the clue."

"But I must ask, how and why did you learn such a skill?" Kaeya asked, folding his arms. "Seriously, you have got to tell me all about it."

"That's a story for another day," replied Diluc. "Bottom line, people in Liyue are known to forge fake contracts."

Kaeya hummed in response. "So, what do we do now? We can't go back to the city, we're too far away. And something tells me we're the last ones to find out something is off about this whole thing." He covered his face with his hands and moaned. "Archons above, it'll be embarrassing if that's the case and others find out. Especially for me."

"Quit whining like a three-year-old," Diluc snapped, and sighed. "The least we can do is head over to Dragonspine and hope everyone is safe, regardless of if they figured it out or not. And something tells me not everyone would've seen something was off."

"Or they would've, and be wondering where we are," Kaeya muttered. Diluc said nothing and summoned his claymore. Kaeya looked at it, then at him, blinked a few times, and eyed him in alarm.

"What are you doing?" he silently shrieked, but the red haired paid him no attention and summoned his crimson flames. He raised the claymore into the air, and summoned a fiery phoenix into the sky, which soared majestically in the air-Dawn.

Kaeya looked at him incredulously while his older brother fished out a blank piece of paper and a plume ('Since when did he have that?' the blunette thought) and started to write.

"Diluc!" Kaeya hissed, but once again the older deliberately ignored him as he scribbled hurriedly onto the paper. All the Cavalry Captain could do was watch while Diluc did whatever-in-the-name-of-Barbatos-he was trying to do.

At last, Diluc folded the paper and pocketed the quill. "You'll see what happens," he said without looking at him.

"'See what happens?' That's it? That's all you have to say?" spat out Kaeya.

"Would you rather I say, 'be patient?' That would have agitated you even more," Diluc shot back. Kaeya balked, his pupil shrunk to the size of a pea, when he closed his eye, rubbing it.

"You're probably right. Actually, no, you are right. Sorry, Luc, I'm just…out of my mind right now. I can't believe this is all happening."

"You and me both," replied Diluc, resting a palm on his shoulder. "Something happened, and we don't know what. We don't even know if the other teams are safe or not. Hopefully by the time we get the Dragonspine, we can warn the others. If they are there."

"I can't believe this beautiful day is sabotaged," Kaeya pouted, looking at the sky. "One of the Knights should've checked if- "

"I don't think the Knights would've ever bothered to check the clues," Diluc scoffed, venom in his voice. Kaeya sighed again. "Maybe not. I sincerely hope everyone is ok, though."

Diluc nodded. He knew they could take care of themselves, but it was hard not to worry.

A few seconds later, they heard a loud screech coming from the distance. Kaeya yelped in fright, and Diluc smiled. 'Looks like she's here,' Kaeya saw a figure in the sky that was approaching them fast-alarmingly fast, and he swiftly made an ice sword, gripping it so tight he thought he would shatter.

"What is that? And why is it heading towards us?"

Diluc looked at him startingly and reached for his hand. "Kae, calm down. It's not what you think it is."

"So, you want me to believe your little Pyro stunt didn't garner the attraction of all the unholy creatures that would be in the area?" Kaeya said harshly.

"Kaeya, for Archons sake! Use your brain! Seriously, who made you Cavalry Captain?" Diluc breathed. "Kae, I unleased Dawn into the sky, well above from the hilichurls line of sight and nearby that forest. You've seen me do this a bunch of times too. What do I do it for?"

Kaeya stared at him, brows furrowed. Then he looked at the grass, humming softly. After a few minutes, a spark of realization gleamed in his eye. He snapped his head back up. "So, the thing…the thing in the sky is- "

"Yes," Diluc replied just as the object let out one final screech and rested itself on the wine tycoon's outstretched arm.

"How did I forget you call your falcon with your elemental burst? Kaeya asked, sticking a finger at her. She nipped his nail affectionally and cooed. "And also, how in the name of Celestia did I not recognize its cry? Falcon cries are easily recognizable, especially yours."

"Maybe because you bury yourself into stacks and stacks of legal and illegal papers everyday and throw yourself into every situation you find, you tend to forget even the most basic of things," Diluc muttered. Kaeya sighed theatrically.

"Unfortunately, my dear brother, someone has to, and I don't see anyone volunteering themselves. So, are you going to send a message to Barbara then?"

"That's the plan, yes," replied Diluc, tying the note to the bird's leg. "Hopefully they send reinforcements by the time we reach the mountain. I don't want her to worry, either."

"And what if they don't? Send reinforcements, I mean."

Diluc grit his teeth. "Then we're on our own."

***

"We're here."

"Yes, but I don't see anyone else."

"Maybe they haven't gotten their clues yet?" Lisa said. Jean shook her head. The Dandelion Knight knew that wasn't possible.

Once the pair had arrived on the mountain, they immediately noticed a trail of rocks-no doubted placed there by their mystery culprit-that was leading them somewhere. They followed the trail, and it took them to a cave on the far side of the mountain, isolated from the rest of the more 'populated' areas.

"Or maybe they figured out something was wrong with the clue, and they went back to the city."

"In that case, can we go too? I don't know about you, but something about this place feels…off," said Lisa, shuddering. The librarian had been to Dragonspine twice, and it never failed to send a chill down her spine.

"We can't Lisa. We must figure out what's going on," said Jean, drawing out her sword. "Besides, you know it is my duty as the Acting Grandmaster to investigate any suspicious activity."

"Shouldn't we have called for reinforcements?" asked Lisa.

Jean sighed. "Hopefully one of the other teams have by now."

"That is, if they know about the clue. Honestly, maybe you're over thinking about this, Jean. What if there's really nothing to get all worked up about?"

"She's not," a voice replied before Jean could retort and saw a familiar redhead and blunette standing near the entrance.

"Kaeya? Diluc?"

"Yep, that's us," Kaeya replied, chuckling at Jean's confused face. "I'll have to admit, I thought we were the last ones to figure out something's wrong with this little treasure hunt."

"What happened to feeling embarrassed?" Diluc ridiculed, smiling satirically.

Kaeya shrugged, flashing him a smirk. "There's no shame in telling our dear Grandmaster and faithful librarian now, is there?"

Diluc scoffed again and walked over to Jean, Kaeya right behind him. Jean sighed in relief. "So, it looks like you also suspected something was wrong too."

"Yes," Diluc answered. "And if you're still suspicious about the whole thing, I think I can clear that up." He held out the two clues. "It looks like the last clue was forged. Someone must've tried writing in Barbara's handwriting to have us all here. I didn't notice it immediately, but after looking at this with another clue and comparing them side by side, it was plain obvious. Whoever our mystery person-or persons-must be, it looks like they wanted all of us here for a reason."

"How did you-," Lisa began, but Kaeya cut her off. "He learned this particular dexterity while he was in Liyue. Spoiler alert: they are not as honest as we thought they were."

"Oh," was all the Electro allogene mouthed.

"Regardless, we have to figure out what's going on. We barely managed to contain Dvalin when the Abyss managed to brain-wash him, we can't slack around, waiting for some miracle to happen like last time," said Jean.

Lisa was about to retort by telling her she handled the situation well, even before Aether's arrival when she heard a tiny voice squeak, "Albedo, there are people in here!"

"Klee?!" said Kaeya incredulously, and right on cue, the little elf waddled into the cave, her brother in tow. She smiled brightly when she saw Kaeya.

"Kaeya!" exclaimed Klee and jumped into his arms. The blunette started to mess with her hair, causing her to giggle. "Kaeya, stop!"

"What if I don't want to?" replied the Cavalry Captain.

"Then Klee will get mad," she pouted, and a frown grew on her face "I thought me and big brother Albedo would be first."

"Third is just as good."

"No, it's not!"

"Come on, Klee, you'll be first next time."

"But there is no next time!"

"Leave it to the younger siblings to argue about what place is better in the middle of a crisis," he muttered to Albedo, who shook his head.

"You have no idea how much convincing I did to reassure her we'd come early. I did not even mention we would be first. I guess she hyped herself up."

"Kaeya was equally as stubborn about the whole ordeal." Diluc sighed and said in a much louder voice, "Can we all focus here? I don't think now is the best time to be arguing over scores!"

Kaeya and Klee spun around and faced their older brothers when another high-pitched voice screamed, "Please don't let there be any man-eating dragons!"

"No, there aren't any dragons here, Amber," said Jean exasperatedly. "And dragons don't exactly live here."

The brunette peeked into the cave and exhaled in relief. "Oh, it's you guys. Thank the Archons. Collei, it's safe," she cried out.

"Are you sure?" Collei yelled back, and the girl in question walked in. She looked around and sighed.

"Yeah. We're safe here, for now. I think."

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME? FIFTH!?" a new voice shrieked, causing Amber to jump in fear, and Bennett rushed inside, almost knocking the two girls down, with Razor walking right behind him. "I thought me and Razor would be the first ones to warn you all about the clues."

"Why is everyone hellbent on arriving first when we're in a catastrophe?" Diluc moaned.

"So, looks like everyone is here," Amber said. "It sounds like you guys managed to crack the code earlier than us."

"I think so," said Bennett. "Razor was the one who found it out, actually. I mean, I noticed the handwriting- "

"I knew it we were the last," Kaeya muttered, but no one heard him.

"-But then Razor confirmed it for me by sniffing the paper. He said it did not have Barbara's scent, and that it carried the scent of something dark and foul."

"Really now?" Lisa said thoughtfully.

"Razor, were you able to identify the scent?" asked Jean. The boy shook his head.

"No, unfortunately. Scent is familiar, though I….can't remember."

"Well, this is enough proof that something is amiss, if some people were still skeptical," said Albedo, crossing his arms.

"Yes," Jean agreed, "but the problem is no one else knows. All of us are here. I'm not sure if the others back at the city are aware of what's happening."

"Not to worry," said Diluc. "I've already sent a message to Barbara before coming here, telling her to bring reinforcements. Hopefully they come soon."

"That reminds me," said Amber, eyes flickering from person to another in concern. "Were any one of you attacked by hilichurls?"

"Hilichurls?!" Bennett asked, alarmed.

"So, you were attacked too?" asked Albedo.

"Yeah," Collei answered. "When we were at Springvale. Amber was trying to get the clue from a tree when a group of hilichurls came out of nowhere. My dendro powers were useless for some reason. If she hadn't thrown her bomb in time, I would have been toast."

"Good thing our intuitive rabbit here has good reflexes," Kaeya said, and the Outrider felt her face go red with embarrassment.

"We were attacked too not long ago, but also by a samachurl and an Electro Abyss Mage. We were ambushed from out of nowhere."

"A samachurl and an Abyss Mage?" Jean asked worriedly. "None of you are hurt, right?"

"We're ok," Amber said.

"Here as well," replied Albedo.

"I almost drowned in Cider Lake, if anyone's curious to know," Bennett piped in, raising his hand.

"You WHAT!?" Kaeya screeched, eye wide.

Bennett winced. "It's not my fault that the clue was hidden in the depths of that cursed lake! I'm the only one that can swim."

"It sounds like Barbara sent you there to die," Kaeya mumbled, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Are we sure only the last clue got swapped with?"

"Well, if it were the case, I don't think they would've purposefully made me search the entire library," said Collei drily.

"And this conversation is going south," said Lisa, sighing. Were they grownups or 7-year-olds? "I hate to break up whatever is going on here, but can we focus on the matter at hand? We don't know what is going to happen once we go further into the cave, and I'm pretty sure talking about near-death experiences that don't concern hilichurls or Abyss creatures, while are still concerning indeed, won't help," she said, raising her voice. The bickering immediately stopped, and Lisa smiled.

"Next time, I'm bringing you everywhere for crowd control," whispered Jean into her ear.

"Lisa chuckled. "You would be surprised at what I can do."

"Any ideas on what to do after we go inside?" asked Albedo. "We don't know what to expect, and I don't want to take Klee further in there than I have to."

"I'm scared," Klee agreed, holding her brother's hand. The little Pyro allogene was trembling, and she looked like she was going to pass out.

Jean spoke up. "Honestly, not much. All we can do is mentally prepare ourselves for the worst. We've all been lured in here for a reason. We might as well see why.

"What about those who don't want to go in," Collei said. "What about them?"

"No one is forcing you to come along. If you're scared, and you don't want to come, that is completely ok," Jean reassured her. "Though it would be comforting if all of us went together. The more, the merrier, right?"

"Me and Razor are totally in," said Bennett. Razor nodded. "We want to help," he said.

"Me too," Amber piped in with a spark of determination in her eyes. "I'm not going to just simply sit here and wait and see what happens."

"Amber's right." Collei sighed. "You know what? I'm coming too. I'm actually curious as to see what's going on anyways."

"I'll lend a hand as well," said Albedo. He looked at Klee. "I don't want to bring you into this, but you will be safer with me, and I can't send you back to Mondstadt. Do you promise to behave and never leave my side?"

Klee nodded her hand. "I promise."

"Well, you don't have to ask me twice," Kaeya said. He looked at Diluc with a smirk. "Are you coming too, big brother, or is your hatred for the Knights making you feel like sitting this one out?"

"Oh please, don't try to mock me, little brother," Diluc scoffed, summoning his claymore. "It won't work on me."

Jean turned to face Lisa. "What about you?"

Lisa smiled. "You already know the answer to that."

Jean returned her smile. "Right, yeah."

"You think we can defeat whatever is in there?" asked Collei, looking at everyone nervously. Jean met her eyes and gazed at her grimly.

"I don't know

"But…we might as well try."