dreamcrystals | Dream One 🔥 Unhappy Memories

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.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[And just like that, Diluc's own petulant anger fades as he finally understands what it is he's being told.

The immediate aftermath of his father's death and the death of Barok's brother are not at all the same in details, but they share the same beats of anger, action, and realizing later that the action taken was incorrected and damaging. The emotional need to do something to make the pain lesser is what drove Barok to ignore the obvious, and it likewise drove Diluc to draw steel and nearly kill the man he had called "brother" up until that point. It wasn't until much, much later that he even thought to question why Kaeya had confessed his sins that night in the rain. And even now, it's difficult to imagine an answer that's not 'in order to hurt me.'

More devastating, however, are the times in which the answer he imagines is 'so I would put him out of his own misery.'

He knows, deep in his heart, that Kaeya is his blind spot. The "doubt in his circumstances," as van Zieks had put it, unsure in any given moment if he's being too hard on him or too soft. It's easier, mentally and emotionally, to focus his attention on the Fatui and on the Knights' incompetence. But one way or another, he knows he can't keep running from the issue forever.

Given that his once-adoptive brother is not here, there's not much he can do either way. So he'll have to remain with the status quo for now.]

I know kind words often pale in the face of that sort of experience, but... I'm sorry. Truly.

[He sets his tea cup down with a soft sigh.]

I'll keep your counsel in mind. I... I'm doing the best that I can.

[His explanation done, van Zieks keeps his attention on his younger companion, watching as that ire begins to make way for what he hopes is understanding. There are clearly internal connections being made, considerations over what he's just heard—which can only be expected. They both have... a number of things to process. Realization and acceptance are not simple switches to be flipped.]

I appreciate your sympathy nevertheless. And you have my deepest condolences for your loss.

[Although the gravity of his typical demeanor hasn't changed, there is certainly a level of something softer in his tone that's uncommon with the man.]

Though I know well how suck betrayal makes it difficult to trust any, much less with such personal feelings... I pray you do not forget that there are still those around you who remain genuine in their desire to ease those burdens and help you find the answers you seek.

[He takes his own cup of now-chilled tea in hand, partly to distract himself. It's easier to speak of these things if he doesn't think too hard about the circumstances, and simply allows himself to express his thoughts.]

I made those mistakes for far too long. ... It is a dark existence I would not wish on another.

Thank you.

[The words mean a lot more to him than he expects they would have, especially after four years. Perhaps it's because he still feels a bit raw from the dream last night. Or perhaps it's because he knows that Barok understands better than most.

The rest of what his friend (which is what this man is to him, even if neither are likely to ever use the word) has to say settles in his chest alongside similar words spoken to him by Thoma and Ori both in the immediate hours after the nightmare was broadcast for all to see. The truth of the matter is that he's not used to sharing these burdens with anyone. Carrying this grief, and the mission he's given himself in response to it, is something that he has shouldered alone. He's already damaged, he figures; better that he continue with his own dark existence so that no one else has to suffer it.

And yet, after only a few months here he find himself second-guessing all of it. There are times when that doubt infuriates him, scolding himself for his lack of resolve in these uncertain and largely divorced circumstances that he's found himself in.

Times like now, however, he finds himself almost ready to believe that he deserves to be happy like anyone else. It's a strange feeling, and he's not sure what to make of it.]

I'll do my best to remember that.

[It's all he can promise, and surely Barok realizes that it's a much larger promise than one might assume.]

I appreciate you coming here to tell me all of this.

[And that promise is the most Barok would ask of him. He's sure the both of them will struggle with these sorts of things along the path to a better life. He hopes it will be easier for Diluc, however, given he hasn't had as much time to become stubborn in his ways simply through habit.]

I felt it my responsibility to offer counsel where I am able. [Well—okay, fine. It's more than just a general feeling.] Particularly given our similarities.

[They've "same hat!"ed over too many things now for him to just ignore.]

I merely hope that some good may come from this sort of... unfortunate display of our inner thoughts and memories.

[While they're here, at least, they can struggle together. Having that will make things easier on them both, especially since they're so similar in ways beyond just their histories. Barok van Zieks is someone Diluc trusts and respects, and he gives neither lightly.

Despite himself, Diluc finds himself able to smile a little. The expression is reserved, and tinged with no small amount of exhaustion, but it's an improvement all the same. One way or another, he believes they'll both be all right. Or at least as all right as they can be, all things considered.]

We can only hope. If nothing else, the lack of sleep allowed me to work on solutions to some of the logistical challenges we've had in setting up the winery.

[Like 'how the hell do we do business without a currency system?' He's still working on that one.]

[Barok nods in understanding before taking a sip of his cold tea.]

A topic that I'm certain the both of us would much rather discuss.

[And van Zieks is certainly a man well-versed in the ways of things like paperwork and organization... even if red tape isn't something they have to navigate around here.

They're sure to have a productive discussion, regardless of the emotional baggage that's been brought up.]

Dream One 🔥 Unhappy Memories

hey look they match

"hey look they match" is their whole cr

it really is. rip both of them for it

no subject

no subject

no subject