Chapter Text
Metal screeched faintly on stone as a massive claymore dragged along the ground, pulled lazily behind its owner before being swung to their shoulder. The smell of ozone permeated the air as Diluc continued his descent into the Domain, leaving the fading remains of Hilichurls and Slimes in his wake.
Two days prior he had received information from one of his informants; there was unusual activity in this Domain, and that the magic and energy that radiated from it was dark and concerning. If the Knights knew about it, they had done nothing; as such, Diluc decided to clear out the Domain on his own.
The Domain was winding; narrow hallways with traps of moving lasers, spikes, and deep bottomless pits made his journey treacherous. It took effort and awareness to navigate safely, his progress frequently stopped by attacking groups of Hilichurls and Slimes. They were no threat to him, igniting in the face of his flames and succumbing swiftly to his blade in short order.
No, they weren’t the issue; it was the slow growing fatigue he was beginning to feel weigh on his limbs that loomed as the larger concern. No room had been safe; either possessing some manner of death trap, or simply filled with hostile forces seeking to defeat him.
For a faint moment he began to wonder if, perhaps, he should have recruited help; like the Traveler, or someone from the adventurer’s guild.
It was too late to turn back, though, so he settled for stopping to lean on his sword for a few silent minutes and rest his eyes and body. He would need to finish up quickly, so he could return to Mondstadt and recuperate in safety.
He made his break brief and quickly resumed navigating the traps and rooms, fortunate in that none bore enemies who wished him harm. Still, his fatigue wore on him. With a sloppy shift of his weight, he accidentally moved into the range of a laser trap, which seared right through his coat and into his arm. He hit the ground with a pained grunt, gripping the burnt fabric of the arm of his coat with a soft swear. It wasn’t bleeding by virtue of being functionally cauterized, but it stung horribly.
It wasn’t his sword arm, thankfully, so it was fine. He could treat it later.
He got to his feet slowly and cautiously slipped into the next room, which was by far the largest he had seen so far. No visible exits were immediately visible, and he could only surmise that he had finally reached the end of the Domain.
He resisted the desire to exhale in relief, not allowing himself to lower his guard just yet; there were always exit portals at the end of Domains, yet one was nowhere to be seen. That meant that either there was still more Domain to explore, or something was keeping it sealed.
He was a quarter of the way into the room when the doorway behind him sealed shut, and half a dozen Hilichurls and a Hydro Abyss Mage suddenly populated the room around him. With a soft tut, Diluc braced himself and charged.
The Hilichurls were nothing more than an annoyance, their swings wild and easy to deflect, their smaller bodies sent flying with powerful sword strikes. No, the problem was the Abyss Mage. It was being smart, keeping itself at a distance from Diluc, which made his attempts at hitting it difficult.
Unlike the one he had shoved skull first into the ground back in the Domain with Kaeya, this one had its shield up and was ready for him; Hydro shields laughed in the face of Pyro, no matter how hot it burned. He would get through it eventually, but he was already tired and the Hilichurls were a constant distraction; which made his job so much harder.
The biggest obstacle he had to face was juggling dodging the attacks and bubbles of the Abyss Mage while simultaneously contending with the Hilichurls. He would cleave into one of his attackers, only to have to tuck and roll immediately lest he be struck himself. At least once he leapt directly into the wild swing of a Hilichurl as he avoided a burst of magic, feeling the club strike his body hard and send pain shooting through him.
Diluc desperately wished for backup now, but it was too late to wallow in ‘should haves’ and simply steeled himself. He fought, taking them down one by one until it was just him, two battered Hilichurls, and the Abyss Mage. His legs were sluggish and his shoulders hurt, but he wasn’t out of the fight by any means. Pushing the discomfort from his mind he kicked from the ground in a massive swing, striking one of the two remaining Hilichurls and sending it flying. From the corner of his eye he watched it fall to the ground and not get back up, all as he rounded on the lone Hilichurl.
It charged and swung madly, and Diluc took a hop back with his sword up to block the strike and prepared to counter attack-
Only to feel the freezing wetness of fluid envelop him, immediately inhaling a mouthful of water and choking. He felt panic well up inside of him as he realized he had lost track of the Mage, and had been hit by one of the bubbles.
His lungs burned; he had to move quickly before he drowned. Grasping desperately for his sword, his gloved hand found purchase on the handle and he swung hard, Pyro flaring and flash boiling water. The blade tore through the exterior film holding it together and the bubble popped.
He hit the ground hard, soaked and vomiting up what he’d inhaled as he gasped for air. He grasped his sword again and snarled, hauling himself to his feet as he dripped with water, lifting his blade while his Vision flared.
He was going to turn that Abyss Mage into a smear on the floor.
With a hoarse yell he engulfed his sword in flame and slammed it down hard on his target, hitting the Mage’s shield with enough force that it shattered and sent the small being flying to bounce off the floor, dazed.
Finally. Diluc needed to put an end to this before he succumbed to his fatigue. He began to approach, grabbing the face of the Hilichurl that tried to sneak up on him and slamming it bodily into the stone brickwork.
Leaving the now unmoving foe where it lay, he lifted his sword and prepared to finish off the Mage.
If the water from before was cold, this was freezing. It took him only an instant to understand what suddenly froze him to the bone and halted his movements. He felt ice engulf his form, stinging and painful and locking him in place as it encased his whole body, leaving him free only from the neck up.
Two Cryo Abyss Mages popped into view, laughing with smug glee. He resolved to wipe that amusement off their faces just as soon as he could break himself loose. He struggled and forced himself against his bonds, feeling them faintly crack as his muscles strained.
“Break free and you’ll just be encased in more ice; struggling is useless,” one of the Mages taunted as they floated over, the Hydro Mage having gotten its senses back enough to sit up on the ground, watching. He’d need to take it out before it brought its shield back up. “You should be honored, Master Diluc,” it continued to say, and the use of his name was enough to make him pay some semblance of attention to their jabbering.
“You’ve fallen right into our hands, the fake intel we leaked did just the trick, just as we thought it would,” the other Mage patted itself on the back. “And you even came here all on your own; what a fool you are!”
“Are you going to taunt me to death or what?” Diluc grumbled as he started a new bout of struggling, the ice cracking more.
“Oh, we have no intention of killing you; if we did, we’d have run ice through your heart,” the Mage ‘assured’ in an annoyingly soothing tone. “No, no, we have grander plans for the Uncrowned King. What better agent is there to work for us?”
Diluc stopped his struggling for a second as bafflement settled in. “What makes you think I have any intention of cooperating with you?”
“Well, we know you would never do so willingly, of course,” one of the Mages said. Diluc had lost track of which was talking at this point; they all sounded similar to his apathetic ears.
“We’ve prepared something special just for you, Master Diluc.” With a swirl of its hand, the Mage that had been talking summoned sickly purple-pink energy into its palm and floated over.
Diluc’s struggle intensified and he didn’t care if the Mage could hear the cracking ice, his Vision flaring on his hip to match his darkening mood.
“For all the trouble you have caused us, I assure you that I will take much pleasure in this process,” the Mage declared as it held the energy close to his face. “I will quite enjoy breaking your mind and re-molding you into our pawn.”
Diluc didn’t have a chance to say anything and felt his body seize. The dark energy in the Mage’s hand was pushed delicately into his head, and immediately the room spun as his mind revolted. Diluc’s muscles tightened involuntarily as he tried to run from something incorporeal that gripped his heart and deepest seated fears, ripping them to the surface violently.
It wasn’t coherent, but at the same time he was acutely aware of every single memory and thought that filled his head without his consent. The Mage held the magic in place as he felt his brain disobey him and supply the building blocks of his trauma.
Father
Kaeya
Blood
Ursa
The Harbingers
Betrayal
Murder
Patricide
Horrid memories and sickening emotions flooded him in an overwhelming deluge that he could only barely stand, the dark magic doing its work as it began to take those memories and craft equally painful falsehoods.
Father wasn’t the only one dead, now it was Kaeya too. Jean, by his hand- no, he would never- It was a fake, right?
No, no, no, No. No. No. NO.
Diluc could only scream as the pain of his heart and head grew into agony, grasping the last, faintest, thread of lucidity to act.
None of the Mages expected him to suddenly break free, his Vision erupting in a blinding glow of red as the ice exploded into shards. His sword manifested in his hand and he charged for the Hydro Mage, running it through with a single blow.
The two Cryo Mages screeched in alarm- or was that the scream of a dying Elzer in his memories?
He turned, the flaming sword directed at the two Mages as the burning form of a phoenix manifested; with a swing it took flight, absolutely demolishing the shields and sending both Mages reeling to the ground.
His vision started to darken, a red pulse around the edges of his sight, but already he felt some semblance of control over his mind return now that the Mage’s magic wasn’t directly influencing him. His sword descended on their stunned forms with an ear ringing crack, erasing them from existence and allowing him to focus on his immediate condition.
The seal on the portal broke and the exit revealed itself. It took all of Diluc’s willpower to put one foot in front of the other and touch it, feeling his body fade away.
He squinted painfully at the mid-day sun as he found himself standing outside the Domain, now sealed behind him. The tall grass was up to his knees and the trees blotted the horizon.
It wasn’t safe - he was too close to the Domain; if they went after him he would struggle to defend himself. He felt his consciousness flicker as he forced himself to walk.
His foot fell upon a rock, loose and waiting for the right push to begin its tumble down the nearby hill, which slipped from its place under his weight. His balance was already affected, and the rock sliding free from under his boot was all it took to send him sprawling, hitting the ground and rolling haphazardly down the hill in a tangle of limbs.
By the time he came to a stop at the bottom he was only barely aware of the muddied thoughts in his mind, the pain in his body, and the sensation of being tangled in something. Moving was difficult and he was so tired.
He needed to get up, he needed to move. He…
Finally his conscious mind couldn’t hold up against the residual magic, and something deep inside snapped.
Everything went dark.