Chapter Text
The last thing Crepus Ragnvindr could recall before now was the pained expression in his son’s face as he raised the knife that Crepus handed over, and then plunged it down into his father’s chest. He knew that that must have hurt Diluc more than it did Crepus, who was already becoming numb to the heavy amount of pain that the Delusion had inflicted on him after it backfired.
He remembered seeing Kaeya running up to, keeping his distance from Diluc and Crepus, standing there in bewilderment as Crepus’s life spilled out of his body. Crepus wanted more than anything to comfort both of his sons, tell them that they’d do well without him, and to always be there for each other… but he was too weak. He probably could have told them if he hadn’t practically begged Diluc to end his life faster, that way he wouldn’t suffer even longer from the Delusion.
But he hoped his boys would understand, know him well enough to understand what he would tell them if he had the energy.
So he raised his right hand towards Diluc’s face, which had been spared from most of his blood, and didn’t bear the Delusion, cupping his eldest son’s face for just a few moments while everything finally went dark.
And now he was left to question why things were getting brighter. Why things felt stiff, and slightly sore, but still like he was young again. Why was he getting to open his eyes to look around a dimly lit camp that smelled like chemicals and snow. Why he felt warm, despite the snow not too far away, which he spotted as he finally started to move his head around. Why there was someone he didn’t exactly recognize staring at him, a clipboard in one hand while a pen was in the other, his legs criss crossed as he sat on the ground.
Why did he feel alive when he knew he had been killed? Did he just pass out, and whoever it was beside him figure out how to heal something he was told couldn’t be fixed once he was handed the Delusion from the Fatui in a meeting years ago? Would he only be alive with just enough time to see his sons once more?
There were far too many questions running through his mind, but not enough energy to voice them at the moment.
“Ah! Mister Albedo! It really worked,” an unfamiliar voice exclaims. “You’ve really brought Master Crepus back from the dead…”
“It seems so,” the blonde man says, scribbling something down onto the paper held in place by the clip on his clipboard. “Master Crepus, how do you feel?”
Crepus slowly started to work on sitting up, feeling less and less stiff with each passing moment, things coming into clearer focus the longer he kept his eyes open. His vision sometimes needed to readjust whenever he blinked, but it was quick to catch up with his progress.
“Oh, Master Crepus, sir, don’t feel like you need to get up! Please do relax,” the girl calls as she rushes from her spot at a desk, sitting next to the cot Crepus lied on. “Ohh, but do tell us how you feel! How alive do you personally feel right now?”
“Sucrose, let’s give him some time to adjust,” the person Crepus is assuming is called Albedo says, the girl, Sucrose, giving him a quick, excited nod. “He has been dead for a while now.”
“I didn’t know that being brought back from the dead was something that people could do,” Crepus says with a small chuckle. It had hurt his throat, which already felt pretty dry, making his voice hoarse. It wasn’t too much of a concern to him though. “How long was I gone?”
“I’ll go get you some water,” Sucrose tells him, leaping up from her spot on the ground as she grabs a nearby pitcher and cup. She quickly returns with it, placing the cup in his hand.
The water was gone in almost an instant.
Only once the cup was empty did Albedo decide to answer the man, sparing a quick glance to what seemed to be his assistant as she went to pour another cup of water.
“Master Crepus, you’ve been dead for just a little over four years now.”
“ Four? I mean… I know that isn’t too many years… you mean to tell me reincarnation was figured out within the four years I was gone,” Crepus starts to question, many more on the tip of his tongue.
“I did get a little bored, and wanted to try things out. And the Winery is in need of someone to run it soon. Making big decisions have been quite difficult lately… though I still need to talk to the Acting Grand Master about all of this. I never exactly got any approval for an experiment as big as this,” Albedo explains.
“But there isn’t any specific rule that holds us back from things like this. Mondstadt is the nation of freedom, after all,” Sucrose adds, sitting down on the ground once more as she hands Crepus another cup of water.
“Diluc and Kaeya didn’t take over in my absence?” Now that had Crepus stumped more than anything. Sure, Diluc was always busy with his work as a knight, especially being cavalry captain and all… but Kaeya? He had always been interested in Crepus’s work, always asking questions, and trying to learn.
Of course, Diluc got to learn a lot too, especially before Kaeya came into their lives, and Diluc was the only heir to take on the industry at that time.
But for neither of them to take on the winery in his place left Crepus confused, and with the sudden need to check on both of his children. Maybe they weren’t doing as well off as he thought they could when he had died.
“It’s… not exactly a story I can tell much of. I don’t exactly have all the information to explain it well. But I can take you to someone who can,” Albedo replies, finally setting down his clipboard and pen. Sucrose slowly started to look away from Crepus, her at first excitedly intrigued expression falling.
“Please. I need to see my boys. I need to make sure they’re okay,” Crepus insists, immediately pushing himself off the ground, cup left next to the cot, still full of water.
“We’ll need to see the Acting Grand Master first,” Sucrose says, her voice now soft as she talks to Albedo. She seemed nervous.
“What happened to Grand Master Varka? Can we not see him? He and I were rather close friends before I passed,” Crepus questions, already eyeing the snow outside, wondering just where he was. He knew it had to be Dragonspine… he just couldn’t tell where on the mountain he was, or how close he was to the end of the mountain.
“He and a lot of other knights are on a long trip right now. Acting Grand Master Jean is now in charge of the knights remaining in the city. We… aren’t exactly sure when they’ll return,” Sucrose explains.
“Jean Gunnhilder? She made it to be Acting Grand Master?”
Albedo gives the man a small nod, getting up from his spot on the ground as he says “I suppose you’re ready to go to the city? It’ll be a bit of a trip, and I’m not sure how many monsters are outside. But I would recommend to at least keep quite close to me and Sucrose while we’re on the mountain. We’re used to the trip from here to the city.”
It was Crepus’s turn to nod this time.
He felt impatient as he watched the two quickly pack a few things together, including the notes that Albedo had been writing. The two were muttering things about what they might need and why, then also questioning just how necessary some of those things may be.
Crepus knew he could trust Jean to tell him a lot of things that had happened… especially about Diluc and Kaeya. She had been their closest friend growing up, and both boys in the Knights would make it rather easy for her to keep tabs on them.
Jean was always a very determined, hard working girl. She had joined the Knights of Favonius around the same time as Diluc and Kaeya… so Crepus honestly should have expected to hear about her taking position as Acting Grand Master.
But it did leave him curious as to what else had changed in the time he was gone. Because one, reincarnation was now possible… but that seemed to be very recent. And two, Jean was now Acting Grand Master.
“What about her sister, Barbara,” Crepus asks.
“Deaconess.” Albedo’s response was quick, not much emotion to it as he put the backpack over his shoulders, starting to make his way out of the camp.
“They’re sisters,” Sucrose quietly asks Albedo. The blonde man just gives her a small nod before sparing a quick glance to Crepus as he says “Come on. It’s rather early, so we have plenty of time in the day to make it to the city. I think we might be able to make it by about dinner time.”
“Oh, and I’ve got lunch packed, so don’t worry about that,” Sucrose exclaims, the excitement back in her voice.
“What about breakfast,” Crepus asks. Sucrose immediately stills before shouting about how she can’t believe she forgot Crepus would want something to eat once he woke up as well, rushing through the camp to pull out something to eat. She had managed to find a couple sunsettias rather quickly, rushing to hand them to Crepus as they started their descent on the mountain.
Albedo kept rather quiet on their walk, while Sucrose on the other hand tried to hold up a long conversation with Crepus. She was mainly the one talking though, discussing the kind of experiments she had fun with, and even the one she had been doing with her own Vision when she first received it.
It was the talk about that one that finally led Crepus to realize that both of them held a Vision of their own, Sucrose wielding an anemo one, and Albedo geo.
“So it really just… never broke?”
“Nope! And I tried a lot .”
As Sucrose continues on about some of her experiments, Crepus leans towards Albedo, saying “Is she generally this talkative?”
“No. Sucrose is just rather passionate about alchemy and such. If she gets an opening to discuss it, she will. But any other time, she isn’t exactly keen to talk much. Small talk isn’t exactly her forte… or mine,” Albedo responds, keeping his gaze on the path ahead of them.
Their path was clear for the most part, other than a few hillichurls that they would stumble across. Albedo and Sucrose were quick to deal with them, and Crepus just continued to watch in silent awe at the marvels that a Vision wielder could accomplish. He already felt impressed watching Diluc with his pyro Vision, but to see other Visions at work was truly amazing to him, considering he didn’t get to see too much of it.
After all, he was frequently cooped up in his office, or somewhere else in the mansion, so he wasn’t too frequently exposed to other Vision wielders.
Speaking of the mansion…
“Are you sure we can’t just take the path to my mansion, see the people there first, like Adelinde and my boys,” Crepus asks.
Archons, he sure had been doing a lot of asking today.
Sucrose and Albedo exchange a quick glance before Albedo says “Jean first.”
Crepus’s shoulders slump as they continue on their path to Mondstadt, taking a small lunch break about ten minutes later. As their trip continued, it remained silent for the most part.
Then, as Albedo guessed, they reached the city around the time for dinner, the sun just about ready to set.
“Let’s hope we can get through without too many eyes on us,” Sucrose mutters, her cheeks already flushing slightly pinker than they had been as she looks around the city’s entrance.
“Sucrose… the Ragnvindrs are so easily noticeable. I’ll be surprised if at least five people don’t stop to stare,” Albedo replies, glancing behind himself to look at Crepus. “We’ll just have to ignore it for now, that way we can get to Jean during a time she’s taking a… somewhat break for dinner.”
“Why does the headquarters have to be so far in the city,” Sucrose groans.
“We can always go around the wall to the entrance at the docks, shorten our route, and pass by the larger and busier part of the city. And the headquarters is somewhat in the middle of the activity, so it isn’t too busy. Most people will either be at the church or where most of the markets are. And since dinner is getting close, more people will be towards the main entrance anyway, getting their food. Or in their homes for dinner,” Crepus explains.
The two Vision wielders just give a small nod before they turn to walk towards the docks. There were just a couple people wandering around outside the gate at this time, but they didn’t seem to be paying too much attention, which worked fine for the trio.
Soon enough, they finally reached the Knights of Favonius Headquarters, the guards at the doors standing there in bewilderment upon spotting Crepus.
Only one of them had said something.
“M-master Crepus? Aren’t you… dead? Your tombstone is just behind the church and everything,” the knight questions.
“Well, I’m back,” Crepus replies, giving the man a soft smile and a pat on the shoulder as he continues to follow Sucrose and Albedo.
The trip definitely felt… awkward. So he was more than ready to see a familiar face.
It was Albedo who knocked on Jean’s door, which was almost immediately responded with a familiar “Who is it,” on the other side of the wood.
“Albedo.”
“Come in, come in.”
So they did. Jean didn’t look up at first, busying herself with paperwork on her right, and then her bowl of salad on the left, fork loosely held in her left hand while her write scribbled away with the pen she held.
The salad didn’t seem to last long though as she moved to put the salad out of sight, only to look up to see the trio while the bowl was still in hand, and then clatter to the floor as her mouth gaped, eyes widening as she spotted Crepus.
“Crepus… Is that… is that really you?” Jean looked like she was about to cry as she looked at him. It definitely made the man feel bad, but he gave her a soft smile, and nodded. She looked unsure about what to say or do after that, still not reaching to try and pick up her mess, which was already unusual behavior from her.
He didn’t expect him being here to surprise her this much.
Crepus held his arms out, still holding his fond smile as he watched her practically leap from her desk chair, wrapping her arms around him as she said “You don’t even know how much of a mess you dying left behind. Everything became a disaster, I swear. I still get paperwork concerning your death now. Oh archons, I’m going to have even more just because you’re here, and I know it. How are you even here?” She quickly backs off from the hug, looking at Albedo and Sucrose to answer her question.
“It was definitely a… challenging process that had me involved in monster activity and tracking down other things… but we managed to bring him back,” Albedo replied, still holding that monotone voice as he vaguely explained.
“You didn’t dig him up, did you,” Jean questioned, giving the two alchemists a concerned expression.
Albedo and Sucrose’s silence said plenty.
“Okay… so we’re here, and have talked to Jean. Can I please go see Diluc and Kaeya now? They’d be here around now, wouldn’t they,” Crepus asks, already feeling like he had waited too long. The sun was already setting, and he had been wanting to see them since the morning.
Jean looked at the alchemists once more, giving them a questioning and concerned look. “You haven’t told him?”
“We assumed it wasn’t our place.” Sucrose’s reply was small as she shuffled her feet to stand behind Albedo.
“They’re alive, aren’t they,” Crepus quickly asks, his expression becoming panicked. It would make sense why nobody had taken over the winery if they were, and could definitely add up to the chaos that Jean was talking about.
Crepus hated the thought of his boys buried somewhere near where he was formerly buried, their own tombstones near his.
That worry was relieved as Jean said “Kaeya should be in the tavern at this time. He’ll probably talk to you about the things that you missed over the past four years… I can escort you there myself if you would like. Wait… no, I have paperwork to get back to.”
“Alright, come on, Miss Acting Grand Master. About time you got a break, especially to fet you some food. I don’t think floor salad is the best dinner,” Crepus insists as he gently grabs her arm, guiding her out of her office, and towards the main doors of the headquarters. She gives a mild protest against it, but some part of her brain definitely wanted a break from staring at words on sheets of paper all day.
As they left the building, she muttered something about having to pick up her salad later.
Crepus walked the familiar path to the tavern that he would generally go to at least once a week when he was alive, helping Charles with all of the people that visited nearly every day. He always considered getting to serve people wine his break, especially since he wasn’t behind a desk filling out paperwork for the business. It was quite relaxing to pour the liquid into the glasses or tankards, and to mix different ones together on someone’s request.
He won’t deny it, he enjoys the taste of alcohol himself. Crepus would quite frequently indulge himself with a glass or two each night, not nearly enough to interfere with his work or taking care of Diluc and Kaeya in case if something went wrong. After all, he had quite the tolerance to alcohol.
While Jean and Crepus made their way to the tavern, passing Fatui that were standing around the city, leaving the man curious as to what they were doing here, the red haired man spotted Charles outside, picking up the tankards left outside.
“Charles,” Crepus calls, holding his free hand up in the air to wave towards the bartender, smiling wide as Charles looks up.
Just like Jean had, Charles’s face falls into one of bewilderment, almost dropping the empty tankards. The handles were the only thing that kept them from falling to the ground as the bartender’s fingers loosely held onto them.
“Is Kaeya in there right now,” Crepus asks. Mouth still hanging open, Charles gives a quick nod, looking between the tankards, the tavern door, and then Crepus. Crepus chuckles as he says “No need to be so surprised. You should thank those alchemists that Mond has. I wouldn’t be here without them. Now you go ahead and stay out here if you want. I’ll just be catching up with my boys.”
Charles seems to want to say something after that, but swallows it down, and instead says “Kaeya is waiting on a Death After Noon. If you want to try your hand at mixing drinks again, feel free to go in through the back.”
“That’ll be wonderful, thank you,” Crepus exclaims as he rushes around the tavern, Jean deciding to go in through the main entry.
Quietly walking in through the back door, he immediately spots Kaeya sitting at the bar, his face buried in his arms as he loosely holds onto an empty glass. Jean was quietly walking over to sit next to him, giving Crepus a worried expression as she does so. She watches as Crepus grabs the needed things behind the bar to make the Death After Noon, and only when he’s halfway done with making it does he say “Y’know, Death After Noon is a pretty strong drink.”
Kaeya seems to completely still for a few moments before slowly looking up, first watching his drink being made. His blue eye slowly works its way up before finally resting on Crepus’s face.
Crepus didn’t think his son’s eye could widen any more than it previously had, but that it did.
“Fa- Master Crepus?” Oh, Kaeya sounded so sad. And hearing Kaeya say his name instead of letting himself say father like he had for so many years had hurt Crepus as well. He’d tried to hold up his happy mood for so long today, but it was those two words that really made Crepus realize the impact of his death.
Crepus stirred the spoon around in the drink one final time before sliding it over to Kaeya, gently grabbing his son’s gloved hand as he said “I’m still your father, you know?”
“But… but you died. I saw it myself.” Tears were welling up in Kaeya’s eye at this point. Crepus couldn’t help himself as he reached over to try and wipe them away, only for Kaeya to quickly lean back, avoiding the man’s touch. “You shouldn’t be here! I watched you die in Diluc’s arms! I watched you get lowered into the ground! If Diluc were here, he’d probably believe you were alive since he never was there for your funeral, but I was. You are dead.”
“Kaeya…”
“ No. Jean, who is he? Is Diluc finally back and playing pranks to try and get some sort of revenge? Finally grew out of the baby face and grew some facial hair to look like father and screw with me? I’m the one who tries to make jokes out of these things, not him.”
“Kaeya, how much have you had to drink today,” Jean asks, placing her hand on Kaeya’s shoulder, only for him to quickly shrug it off as he grabs the glass of Death After Noon, quickly finishing the what was in it before saying “Clearly not enough.”
“Kaeya, it’s really him. Albedo and Sucrose managed to bring him back,” Jean explains. Kaeya gives her a skeptical look as he glances between her and Crepus.
There was a long, uncomfortable pause, with quite a few people in the tavern looking their way. Crepus just goes to make his own drink, grabbing a glass to pour his own Death After Noon.
“Trust me, Kae, I thought resurrection was a wild thing too. But here I am… four years later apparently.” Crepus takes his time with his drink unlike Kaeya. He wanted to ask what he meant about Diluc… but with how Kaeya was right now, all he needed was rest. Not a lot of questions.
Crepus pours one glass of dandelion wine, sliding that over to Kaeya. Something much tamer than the Death After Noon, but still something that he hoped would keep Kaeya happy for now. By how people were talking about Kaeya in the tavern… it seemed as though Kaeya had become a regular.
Kaeya takes his time with this one this time, somberly reaching into his pocket to pull out something all to familiar to Crepus. Jean looked at it sadly too, but not with all the surprise that Crepus held.
“Is that… Diluc’s Vision,” Crepus asked, only to internally slap himself. He hadn’t meant to start questioning Kaeya, wanting to wait until a time that his son was completely sober.
Kaeya’s face scrunched up as tears continued to well up in his eye, this time being wiped away before they could fall, soaking into Kaeya’s glove. “Yeah… it’s the only thing he left behind that lets me know he’s still out there and alive, especially after he sold almost everything in the mansion, and banned me from the winery.”
Crepus stilled, gently placing his glass down on the bar. Kaeya didn’t hesitate to grab the glass for himself instead.
Jean started adding onto the story so Kaeya didn’t have to, and before Crepus could ask any more. “Kaeya never really says much about it, but the day you died, the two got into a huge fight. Not too much after, Diluc quit the Knights, and left behind his Vision. Nobody knows where he went… he never even went back to the winery after going to the headquarters. Adelinde and Elzer have been trying to hold it together as best as they can, especially since they’re trying to not go against Diluc’s orders, especially if he’s to make his return suddenly. Kaeya’s been carrying the Vision around since he got it from Eroch before he was forced to retire after we found out he tried to cover up your death.”
So much had happened in the time he was gone… so many things he wanted to try to fix. But he had to get Kaeya home. His son needed rest… and probably some food.
“Alright, let’s go to the winery. Since I’m back, there really can’t be anything said if I bring Kaeya with. We can get something to eat there,” Crepus tells them. Kaeya goes still once more from Crepus’s words.
“I couldn’t possibly travel all the way there. I still have so much paperwork to do, an-”
Crepus was quick to interrupt Jean, saying “You both need a break. And besides, if I’m back, I wouldn’t want to see the two people here that I really care about getting themselves hurt like this. We can go to the winery after I grab a carriage or something. Jean, you need to take the night off. And Kaeya… you just need rest. Where have you even been staying?”
“Headquarters,” Jean and Kaeya say in sync.
“To the winery. Both of you,” Crepus says, Charles walking back in in just enough time. The bartender gives Crepus an understanding nod before returning to his spot behind the bar, watching as Crepus gently lifts Kaeya off of his stool, Jean helping get him out of the tavern.
Kaeya mumbled something about how he hadn’t even had that much to drink yet and could walk himself, but didn’t take any action towards those words as he continued to lean against Crepus.
“Jean, please watch over him while I go get a carriage,” Crepus says as he sat Kaeya down on one of the many benches around the city.
“Crepus, the carriages are a little expensive right now, and I don’t think you have any mora on you right now. We’re on a little bit of a horse shortage since a lot of the cavalry is out on the trip with Varka. I think it’s best you let me get one,” Jean explains, which Crepus replies to with a nod as he takes his seat next to Kaeya.
Kaeya had been quiet for a long while… it almost felt like how it did when he first found Kaeya in the rain all those years ago. He would hardly speak a work to anyone in the mansion. Though he did warm up to Diluc rather quickly, it still had taken a lot of time.
But from what he’s been told, there was no Diluc nearby to help Kaeya become talkative again.
All Crepus managed to think of in that moment was to try and provide his younger son as much comfort as he could without an overwhelming amount. So he just let his head rest on top of Kaeya’s, which was facing towards the ground as he was hunched over.
“I promise I’ll be here this time, Kae. I won’t leave you behind this time. I made a horrible mistake because I thought I was doing what was best for you and Luc… but I see just how badly that affected you. I’m going to be here as long as I possibly can,” Crepus tried to reassure.
“You promise,” Kaeya asked just barely loud enough for Crepus to hear.
“I promise.”