Dream One 🔥 Unhappy Memories

[disdelusioned]

Sender: Diluc Ragnvindr
To: Everyone
Subject: Passive dream recording
Warnings: spoilers for Genshin Impact character stories and webtoon; cw: blood, violence, and death

[The beginning events of the dream happen quickly. A large purple drake descends on a cart and wagon, leaving naught but carnage in its wake. A man with more than a passing resemblence to Diluc emerges from from the wagon, standing against the drake and attacking it with a great and terrible power. Within moments, the beast is ensnared with dark chains. A few moments later, it breaks free and retreats, and the man collapses.

It's at this point that Diluc himself becomes visible in the dream, huddled over the man's body and covered with blood that's not his own. He's younger, a late adolescent, and calls the man "father" as he cries out in grief. The rain starts pouring down, though it does little to wash the stains of red away.

Nearby, a flamboyantly dressed man regards him cooly.]

"You know, Master Diluc, I can't help but wonder if your anger about all this might be a bit misplaced."

[Slowly, Diluc's gaze rises from his father's corpse to look up at him. His expression almost immediately shifts into a sharp glare. The man continues to speak, totally unfazed.]

"You blame the Fatui and the Knights - and me by association - but have you stopped to consider that perhaps it's our dearest father that betrayed you first? You honestly don't believe he accepted this Delusion at the point of a sword or under the duress of a threat, do you?"

[Diluc is on his feet in an instant, grabbing a sword that by all rights shouldn't be there and charging him.]

Take that back!

[He's stopped after only a handful of steps by the same great and terrible power that stopped the drake's advance, this time piercing him through from behind.

At that point, the dream ends as its dreamer wakes up with a start.]

Comments

[disdelusioned]

[Conversely, Diluc believes that what happened between him and Kaeya is the lesser tragedy when compared to Ori and her sister. The betrayal stings, yes, but they've settled into something of a pattern of dancing around each other and occasionally butting heads. Kaeya is a liar and a pest, but he's never openly opposed him or Mondstadt as a whole like Valphi seems to have.

At least, not yet. But Diluc would prefer not to think about what it would mean if those circumstances ever change.]

You cannot control who people are and what they do, even those closest and dearest to you. It's a lesson I've had to learn the hard way.

[It's not a conclusion he's come to happily. But it is what it is.]

Whoever she turned into after you left isn't your fault, Ori.

[hearthwarming]

I understand that...

[ Not a convincing response by any means, but it's all she can offer at the moment. He isn't the first to tell her that Valphi's actions are not Ori's doing - that her sister has made those choices of her own will. That it's not as though it had been Ori herself who had summoned a dragon to wreak havoc on Duskvale. She's heard all of this, and she knows all of this, on a logical level.

But still, she can't help but feel like things might have been different if she could have just been more. More present for her sister. Stronger. Wiser. Just more.

Her hand falls away from her chest as she folds her arms instead, hunching her shoulders into herself a bit. Her expression is at once apologetic and sympathetic when she finally looks at him again. ]

I'm sorry. I came here to check on you, and here I am talking about myself instead.

I just wanted you to know... that you're not alone, okay?

[disdelusioned]

[Diluc hears the uncertainty in her response and doesn't interrogate it. How many times has he been told that his father's death isn't his fault? And how many times has he responded with the same tone? His inability to act in a way that could have prevented everything is still not something he's forgiven himself for. He's a hypocrite at times, and he knows that, but he's not so much of one that he expects Ori to make an emotional leap that he himself can't manage.

He has no such qualms, however, about shutting down her tendency to apologize for her own feelings.]

We're both reeling from our respective nightmares. Yours was only a few days ago; of course it's still on your mind.

[A long pause follows as he considers his next words--or, more accurately, he considers the action to take as he speaks them. Eventually, he decides that he's overthinking it and pulls her in for a hug.]

I know. And neither are you.

[After a few moments, he releases her.]

That said... I would like some time by myself to process things, if that's all right.

[hearthwarming]

[ The very moment that his arms wrap around her, she finds herself clutching at him, returning his embrace almost desperately. Spirits, she needs this - more than she would have ever admitted, and she is silently thankful for the way that Diluc somehow seems to know just what it is that she needs in this moment. Under her breath, she mutters his name, ]

Diluc...

[ and tightens her arms around him just once more before they pull away. In spite of the way that he normally carries himself, Diluc has time and time again shown her nothing but a steadfast, gentle kindness, and she cannot help but feel that same sense of safety and comfort in his presence that she's recently been reminded of now that she and Thoma have... reconciled? Reunited?

She isn't sure what to make of the fact that when she hears his request, she realizes that she wants to stay and continue to find that safety and comfort in him, instead. Ori looks very much like she isn't sure what to do with herself as she steps away nods. ]

Right— of course, that's fine. Take all of the time that you need. You.. well, you know how to reach me or find me if you need me.

[ And she gives him a small smile before she turns around and actually uses the door this time, rather than conjuring a portal. It might do her some good to get some fresh air, even if the weather continues to be less than conducive to a leisurely walk in the middle of the night. Before she leaves entirely, though, she turns towards his closed door one last time and cups her hands together, where dreamotion coalesces and finds form in a bundle of flowers, which she leaves hanging on his doorknob. Later, he'll receive a note in his journal. ]

Poppies symbolize remembrance, and as do forget-me-nots. Like a promise that you will always keep those who have been lost in your thoughts. Chamomiles are for patience and rest.

I hope that you will be kind to yourself as the day goes on.

Oriphi