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“Wait, are you serious about this?” Timaeus’ voice ranged through the room, making Sucrose jump. Albedo sighed.
“Dial your voice down, please” he said. “And I don’t see why I shouldn’t be serious about this. It’s a simple commission, and all three of us are too busy to gather those flowers. Commissioning was the most convenient way to get them on time, no?”
From his position at the table Albedo couldn’t see Timaeus but he was sure that the alchemist rolled his eyes.
“I’m not talking about you making the commission. I’m talking about who you commissioned to do this.”
Now it was Albedo’s turn to roll his eyes.
“Bennett was the only free person, as Katheryne informed me. Besides, I have overheard Fischl talking about how short on money he recently was, so I would have commissioned him even if there were other adventurers free.”
“But… Sir, don’t you think that he’s rarely commissioned for a reason?”
Albedo huffed, annoyed.
“You are talking about his bad luck, right?” he said, finally turning around to face Timaeus. The man crossed his arms and nodded. Albedo snickered. “Well, forgive me for being a bit snarky today, but as an alchemist you should know that there’s no such thing as luck.” His lips quirked up smugly, when Timaeus physically took a step back. In the corner of his eye he saw how red Sucrose’s cheeks got. Ah, so the thought of the young adventurer’s bad luck crossed her mind as well.
It wasn’t his intention to truly scold any of his apprentices but to be honest, he was getting a little bit sick with people in Mondsadt being so superstitious about Bennett.
Albedo himself didn’t know him that well, and he wasn’t the kind of person who would listen to mindless gossip. But this boy was somewhat Klee’s and Razor’s friend, so he heard a thing or two about him and his apparent “bad luck”.
Like the time when he got struck by lightning on top of the mountain. Or how he somehow ran into four ruin guards at once. Or how a particularly vicious boar pushed him on his own trap. But that was also what other people have heard as well.
What they did not think about, though, was how often the lightning would strike this particular mountain. They also haven't heard that this particular place, with those guards, was the ruins of an ancient palace. They also haven’t noticed that the boars in the Whispering Woods were at the time more jumpy than usual, and even Razor wasn’t so keen on hunting that day.
People missed the logical explanations, and Albedo sometimes wondered if they did so on purpose. Sure, it was easy to call some inconveniences bad luck, but to do so every time when Bennett was involved, seemed simply cruel.
And the reputation of a bad luck charm seemed to stick to Bennett so much that the poor boy rarely had any commissions. Not only that but, according to Klee, he also looked lonely. When one day Albedo asked Klee about this, the little girl just said, with a disarming honesty, that even if he hangs around with people like herself, Fischl or Razor he does get such “weird”, as she put it, looks that he quickly would find excuses to go outside of town. Klee even said that he looked very sad when it happened, but when she’d ask about it, Bennett would quickly smile and reassure her.
And that did pull Albedo’s heartstrings. He knew how it felt to be an outcast, and while he didn’t get exacly bothered by that, it was obvious that it bothered Bennett. So he would sometimes commission the boy to gather some herbs or substances that he was running short on. And while he never made this a secret, today was the first time when both of his apprentices noticed.
“If I were to be honest, Bennett has been our sole provider of resources for a while now. And if I recall correctly, nothing seemed amiss, hm?”
Albedo had to press his lips to hide a smile, when a clearly shocked Timaeus stared at him. “Anyway. We have only so much of the daytime left, and if we chat any longer we won’t get any work done. So, Timaeus, don’t think about that now, and let’s focus” he said, and turned back to his table.
“Well, let us hope that the Deaconess will be back earlier than expected” murmured Timaeus.
Albedo was right. When they finished, the sun was already settling down, so they started to clean up. Timaeus was first, so he said his goodbyes and left, without even waiting for Albedo's usual nod, but the alchemist didn’t seem to notice it at all.
What he did notice though, was that Sucrose had already cleaned as well but still lingered.
“What is it, Sucrose?” he said, packing his last things to the bag. He could practically hear her blushing.
“I- I know what you have said about Bennett is true, but…”
He looked up at her. The girl nervously fixed her glasses. He held the urge to sigh, as he didn’t want her to get even more nervous. Timaeus could handle Albedo’s snarkiness, but Sucrose was more… Delicate.
“But?” he prompted, standing up.
“I just… Can’t shake this um… bad feeling…” she stuttered, and aimlessly looked around, when her eyes landed on the clock. She furrowed her brows. “Wait! Mr. Albedo, shouldn’t Klee be already back?”
Surprised by the change of topic, Albedo looked at the clock as well. Sucrose was right. It was nearing nine o’clock, and Klee should get to his lab around eight.
“She might have forgotten,” he said, trying to calm Sucrose down but she shook her head.
“No, she was getting better at grasping the concept of time. It would be the first time in weeks since she’s gotten this late.”
Albedo scratched his head. He didn’t want to admit it, but he did start to worry.
“I’ll go where she said she would be” he decided. “Worst case scenario, she simply got lost. It won’t be difficult to find her though.”
“But… Shouldn't Bennett be back as well? Windrise isn’t that far away and the windwheel asters aren’t difficult to find…” Sucrose noted. As soon as she said that her eyes winded in a sudden realization. “Oh no, do you think something bad happened to the both of them?!”
“Sucrose, calm down, please. It is rather unlikely. Klee went to the Whispering Woods. She couldn’t get so lost that she got to Windrise. She would have seen the city at least five times before she could do so anyway” he interrupted gently. “But you are right, Bennett should be back as well, and from what I know he rarely ever gets lost…” he shook his head. “I’ll look for both of them.”
“I can help!” Sucrose perked up. “As you had said, it is unlikely they’ve crossed paths so it’ll take you longer to look for the both of them. Together we’ll cover more ground!”
Albedo nodded.
“Truly Sucrose, what would I do without you.” A faint smile appeared on his lips, as Sucrose blushed. “Okay, where do you want to go?”
“I’ll look for Klee in the Whispering Woods” she stated. Albedo raised his brow, which made her blush even more. “It’s not like I don’t want to look for Bennet! It's just that I know the Woods better, and I know Klee’s habits so…”
“I didn’t say anything,” he said pointedly. “Anyway, let’s get going. We'll meet up at my place when we’re finished”
Sucrose nodded, and with that settled, they left the lab.
Albedo sighed.
He got to the Statue of the Seven quicker than he thought, which was surprising as he chose the longer way on purpose, hoping that he’ll meet Bennett in Springvale in case he got badly hurt, and decided to stay. But people in the village said that they hadn't seen the boy since morning. And when Albedo got to the Windrise, judging by the lack of windwheel asters, Bennet had been here already. So he must have gotten stuck on his way back. But where was he now?
Albedo ran a hand through his hair. He only hoped that Sucrose had already found Klee.
He touched the ground near the place where the petals of windwheel asters laid and closed his eyes, trying to focus. His vision glowed as he tried to find any traces that would tell him where the boy went, when suddenly he also felt two other presences. One familiar, the other more sinister. He furrowed his brows, focusing harder on those feelings and when he finally recognized them, he felt his blood run cold.
It was Klee. And the other presence were definitely Abyss Mages, two if Albedo felt right. And judging by the traces that they left, they were royally pissed.
Albedo quickly got up and just as he was about to run he heard an explosion coming from the other side of the river. Oh good Archons, please no, he thought sprinting in that direction.
Nearby the old column he finally saw them. Two Cryo Abyss Mages, one of them with an already broken shield, no doubt by one of Klee’s bombs. The little girl quickly stepped back, while Bennett charged his sword with flames, presumably to strike the mage down. But then the second mage pointed his staff at Klee.
“Klee, watch out!” shouted both Albedo and Bennett.
The girl had time to only turn around when she saw an ice shot coming at her. Albedo forced himself to run faster, but he knew he wouldn't be able to reach her in time.
“Get out of the way!” he heard Bennett yell and when he looked at him, the boy was already in front of Klee, shielding her. Right after that he fell to his knees, and then face first to the ground. The Mage laughed.
“Now it’s only you, child” Albedo heard him snicker. At this moment he saw the ground light up in red and the Mage’s shield broke down. That’s his chance.
Albedo called his sword, and focusing the power in his hand he quickly summoned the Solar Isotoma, sending both of the Mages away from Klee and Bennett.
“Feel this ancient power” he said with a vile smile on his lips and let the Geo crystals finish his job.
Once he made sure that neither of the Mages would be getting up, he hurried over to the children.
“Albedo!” Klee yelled, throwing her hands around him. He gave her a quick hug, and kneeled in front of her.
“Are you okay?” he asked, frantically looking her over. The little girl nodded. She brushed away her tears and said:
“I am, but Benny…”
At that, Albedo gently turned the boy around, noticing how cold he was to touch. There was blood on his head, but it looked like it was from a scratch rather than a serious injury. His arm, however, looked worse.
It wasn’t something that Albedo had seen before. Judging by the hoarfrost surrounding it, it was where the Mage’s shot landed. The alchemist touched it lightly, and Bennett groaned but didn't open his eyes. The man could feel a bruise forming under all of that hoarfrost, but that was all that he could gather. Barbara would be able to tell him more when they get to the… Oh no.
Barbara was away, and the sisters left weren’t that skilled with elemental induced injuries to help Bennett out, and from what Albedo remembered, Jean also was outside of the city, so he couldn’t ask her for help. And that left only him and Sucrose.
He got pulled from his thoughts by Klee’s worried voice:
“Albedo? Is Benny okay?”
“No, Klee” he said, forcing himself to stay calm. He already knew where it was going. “But we will get him to be okay, all right?”
Just as he suspected, tears appeared in the girl’s eyes. She desperately hugged Dodoco.
“It’s all my fault” she muttered sadly.
“You couldn’t have predicted it, Klee” Albedo softly interjected. “Besides, worrying won’t help us. We need to get Bennett to Mondstadt.” he added and furrowed his brows. He noticed how Klee swayed slightly on her feet. The girl must have been exhausted. Albedo smiled sympathetically. “I know that you must be tired, but I can’t carry you, I have to focus on your friend, okay?” Klee nodded, and her face hardened, like she was forcing herself to get her energy back. “Just stay close to me, we only need to find the right teleport”.
Seeing as Klee obediently stepped closer to him, he gently got Bennet on his back and they started walking.
Fortunately for them, the teleport got them right into the center of the city. Albedo quickly walked to his home, Klee hot on his heels. By the door they saw Sucrose, who at first looked relieved when she saw them, but her demeanor quickly changed when she noticed who Albedo was carrying.
“Archons! What happened?” she said, opening the door for Albedo. The alchemist was about to explain, but Klee beat him to it.
“I was playing in the Woods, when the two Ma… Mages saw me and started to flow to me so I ran to the teleport and fell on Benny! And I thought I was safe, but they ran after me and Benny tried to protect me and…” she stopped, hugging the Dodoco closer to herself. Albedo knew she was forcing herself to not cry.
“It really wasn’t your fault, Klee” he repeated, and then raised his eyes on Sucrose. “He got hit by one of the Mages, but not with something I had seen before.”
The young woman quickly got into her alchemist mode.
“Mr. Albedo lay him on a couch. We’ll see what’s wrong”
Albedo did as she said, and let her try her methods first. He trusted her abilities with healing more than he did with his. He knew that at this moment the roles were reversed, and this was the time where all he could do was to assist her. But right now, judging by her looks, that wasn’t necessary.
He turned to a still very distressed looking Klee and lightly patted her on the shoulder.
“Come on now, missy. It’s late, you should go to bed.”
“B-but…”
“Sucrose got it, all right? If we stand here and hover, we won’t be helping her, and you need to rest” he said but Klee only furrowed her brows harder. Seeing that she still was not convinced, Albedo kneeled in front of her and lightly patted her on the cheek. “Hey, don’t worry. I know this looked scary, and if I were you, I would be scared as well.”
“Really?!” Klee whisper-shouted. He smiled reassuringly.
“Really. But at the same time I know that worrying will do me no good. I know that Sucrose can help Bennett, you do as well. So maybe focus on how can you thank them both later, okay?”
He felt relief washing over him, as he saw Klee finally smile.
“Okay! But… Um… Do you think I can leave Dodoco with Benny? He’ll watch over him.”
Albedo couldn't help but smile.
“I’m sure it won’t hurt, but ask Sucrose first. And then straight to bed with you, okay?”
Klee happily nodded and entered the living room. Albedo leaned on the doorframe watching as the little girl tugged at Sucrose carefully, and then whispered something to her ear. The young woman smiled softly and nodded her head, while lightly petting Klee’s hair. He sighed. Now they could only wait.
Sucrose has left the room past midnight, looking exhausted, but with a proud smile on her face. Albedo looked at her.
“How is he?”
“Stable. I’ve managed to extract the essence of the shot from the wound so we could study it later but from what it looked like, its aim was to efficiently knock out the victim by making him freeze on the inside” she sighed, sitting across Albedo. “And you were right, sir. It is something new.”
“Then the Knights, or at least Kaeya, should be informed about that” Albedo thought out loud. Seeing as Sucrose stood up he quickly added: “Not tonight though. I think it is fair to say that we are all tired. Will Bennett need something else?”
Hearing his question, Sucrose lost her confidence in a blink of an eye.
“A-Actually he is awake. I- I was about to tell you that he asked for you but um...”
Albedo nodded absentmindedly.
“Okay. You should go to sleep, Sucrose. I have already prepared the guest room for you.”
The girl blushed
“Y- you didn’t have to…” she whispered, looking at the ground.
“Oh I had to. You really saved the day, and you need to rest as well. Don’t worry, it’s not bothering me in the slightest.”
She flustered.
“Okay then… Um… Goodnight, Mr. Albedo.”
“Goodnight, Sucrose” he said, biting back the comment about calling him mister in his own home. It was a talk for another day.
He got up and knocked on the doorframe, and when he heard a meek “go in” he entered.
Bennett laid awake on the couch under at least three blankets, that Albedo had no idea from where they were. He wasn’t all that surprised though. It wouldn’t be the first time when Sucrose proved to know his house better than him.
He sat on the chair that was beside the couch. Despite his tiredness he mustered up a smile.
“You wanted to see me, Bennett?”
The boy nodded vigorously.
“Yes, Mr. Albedo! I…” he hesitated, clearly trying to gather his thoughts. “I…”
“Take your time. You’ve taken quite a hit there.”
“Wouldn’t be the first time,” Bennett said with a cheerful voice. “It comes with being the unlucky adventurer, you know!”
Albedo sighed. It was way too late to have a talk with the boy about placebo, but he promised himself that they will talk about it some other time.
“I guess I just wanted to… To thank you, I guess?” Bennett said, scratching the back of his head nervously. Albedo raised his brows.
“Oh?”
“Like… Not only you saved my… My life today, I guess, but you are also almost the only person in the town, aside from maybe Ms. Mona, to often commission me! And this really helps me, you know! And… And you let me watch over Klee, despite me being a possible danger to her, and… And um… I know you sometimes pay me extra and just I… I wanted you to… To know that… It means a lot. To me, I mean. And um… Thank you?”
With every word, Bennett’s talking got quicker and quicker. Albedo smiled. He lightly patted him on the shoulder, stopping the boy’s frantic speech.
“There is nothing to thank me for, Bennett. Today got dangerous, I admit, but it was my duty as the Knight of Favonius to help you. And you showed that instead of being hm… a danger, as you put it, for Klee, you rather focus on protecting her, which shows to me, how responsible you are. And that is also the reason why I commission you so often. I trust your ability to complete it.”
Bennett’s lips hung open. The poor boy looked absolutely stunned, and it quickly downed on Albedo, that the young adventurer probably didn’t hear much praise coming from anyone, aside from his dads probably. He felt both anger and sadness washing over him.
Anger at the people of Mondstadt for treating him so badly, that the poor boy got genianly stunned by hearing praise and sadness that it got to this point. Feeling his big brother instincts taking over him, he ruffled Bennett’s hair, just like he would to Klee when she was upset and added:
“I also believe that one day you will be the greatest adventurer to walk on Tevyat, luck or no luck. You, Bennett, are one of the most determined, responsible, goal-oriented, coragues and optimistic people that I ever had the pleasure to meet.”
Bennett’s lips started to quiver.
“Mr. Albedo…” he whispered in disbelief. Albedo just smiled, and that seemed to give Bennett the corague to meekly ask: “Can I… Can I hug you? Please?”
“Of course” he answered, already opening his arms. Bennett practically fell into him, trying to get as close to the alchemist as possible. If his arms shook a bit, Albedo decided not to mention it. He simply settled on rubbing the boy’s back, similarly like he did to Klee when she woke up from a nightmare.
They sat like that for a while, until Bennett decided to pull away. He rubbed a fist under his eyes and smiled hopefully.
“Mr. Albedo?”
“Hm?”
“Would you be willing to join Benny’s Adventure Team?”
“Oh…” he sighed. He had heard about the misfortunate team and knew how important it was to Bennett, but still… “Unfortunately, I have to decline your generous offer. I rarely leave Mondsadt, so I wouldn’t be much of a valuable member to your team, I’m afraid.”
“Oh… Y- yeah, you’re right I guess…” Bennett’s smile slightly faltered but just when Albedo opened his mouth to reassure him, he looked at him again with slightly pleading eyes. “What about an Honorary Member? We could go out together when you would need to go into the wild! I know the best ways to some secret spots, you know!”
At that Albedo couldn’t help but smile earnestly.
“Well then” he said calmly “In that case, it would be my absolute honor.”
A few days later a very frantic looking Timaeus all but burst into the lab.
“Sir, tell me it’s not true,” he said. Albedo, completely unphased by his sudden coming in, started a fire under the vial.
“What isn’t true?” he asked.
“That you are an… An Honorary Member of Benny’s Adventure Team!” Timaeus exclaimed frantically. Hearing Albedo’s soft chuckle, he felt his blood run cold. They are doomed.