Chapter Text
Crepus Ragnvindr is not a man who is easily swayed from his positions. He would tear the entirety of Teyvat apart if it meant his sons were safe. He may as well have done so, already! He had informants tracking down people all the way in Natlan in an attempt to figure out who would leave a small, eight-year-old boy (at least, that’s the age that The Cardinal estimated him to be,) on the side of the road in a thunderstorm, with nothing but a tattered little note saying “Kaeya,” in slightly butchered Mondstadtian. He knows Kaeya isn’t from Teyvat. At least, not from any point of it under Celestia’s eye.
He’s always known. There’s only so many possibilities surrounding a starry-eyed little boy who can’t even speak the language of freedom, despite having a note written in it with him. He couldn’t speak a language from any other nation, either. They had brought in books and writings from Liyue and Inazuma. They brought in music boxes and bards from Sumeru and Natlan. They never managed to get anything in from Snezhnaya, but Kaeya’s first reaction to snow made it clear that Kaeya would not have been familiar either way.
So what was Crepus even to do, at that point? He couldn’t just send him out to a different family, even if this was only supposed to be a temporary arrangement! Not when the boy couldn’t communicate his needs to someone new. That’s what Crepus told himself, at least. He could pretend that he would have been fine with separating Kaeya from Diluc. He would have been fine with breaking the fragile bond he and Adelinde had curated with him. Ignorance is bliss, after all.
So, Kaeya stayed. Adelinde started integrating Mondstadtian words and phrases into his vocabulary over time, but communication still came through struggle. Kaeya responded to tone and gestures, maybe even specific words if he had managed to memorize it by that point. That’s why he hovered around Diluc. Crepus saw the way that Kaeya’s energy waned significantly during Diluc’s absences, however short and rare they may have been. He saw the way that Kaeya shifted to hide partially behind Diluc when someone cursed under their breath. When Kaeya was still too shaken to seek out the elder red-head… he went to find Diluc.
It wasn’t until Alice returned temporarily from…. wherever she typically finds herself (he thinks she mentioned Sumeru?) that Crepus finally understood. Alice had been kneeled to be at eye level with a face shaded mostly by blue hair, looking him over.
“He doesn’t speak?” Alice raised a brow as she scrutinized the little boy, who shifted uncomfortably under her gaze.
“Not any language we’re familiar with, as far as we can tell,” Crepus sighed, crossing his arms over his chest. His brows were drawn slightly downwards. It was a little difficult to not want to intervene when Kaeya looked so terribly uncomfortable. But Alice was the only chance they had to try and learn something new. Alice hummed in acknowledgment, pushing herself down from an uncomfortable crouch to just sit cross-legged on the floor instead.
”ꍩꂑ, ꒒ꂑꋖꋖ꒒ꈼ ꂦꋊꈼ. ꂑ’ꂵ ꁲ꒒ꂑꀯꈼ. ꂵꌅ. ꀯꌅꈼꉣꐇꌚ ꌚꁲꐞꌚ ꐞꂦꐇꌅ ꋊꁲꂵꈼ ꂑꌚ ꀗꁲꈼꐞꁲ. ꂑꌚ ꋖꍩꁲꋖ ꌅꂑꁅꍩꋖ?” The second Alice began to speak, Crepus immediately felt his head swim. What the hell was she saying? Had he lost his mind? But the way that Kaeya’s eyes immediately lit up in a way he had never seen before had Crepus refraining from adding to her words.
“ꐞꈼꌚ, ꂵꁲ’ꁲꂵ. ꂑ’ꂵ ꀗꁲꈼꐞꁲ. ꐞꂦꐇ ꌚꉣꈼꁲꀗ ꀗꍩꁲꈼꋊꌅꂑ’ꁲꍩꋊ, ꋖꂦꂦ. ꐞꂦꐇ’ꌅꈼ ꒒ꂑꀗꈼ ꂵꈼ?” Kaeya’s voice was confident in a way that Crepus had never heard when the boy was practicing words with Adelinde. Whatever Kaeya seemed to have asked, Alice had already diverted her attention the second Kaeya responded with the first word. She stood up, raising a hand when Crepus opened his mouth. Kaeya’s eyes flicker with confusion before he shrinks back down again, but he seems a little more at ease than before.
“He’s from Khaenri'ah. I had my suspicions when I saw his eyes, but it was too subtle to have a definitive answer.” Alice readjusts at her gloves with a casual shrug. She sits herself down at the end of the sofa nearby and rests her elbow on the arm.
“…What do you- Khaenri'ah? Alice, you must be mistaken. That nation has been gone so long that it’s barely more than a story. How the hell do you even know how to speak that?” Crepus looks over to Kaeya, who had shrunk back down a little bit more once again, clearly able to tell now that they were talking specifically about him. Sure, Kaeya’s eyes were… different, but…
“I’ve mentioned Miss Rhinedottir before, yes? Part of my inner circle, if you will. The same as your wife.” Something in Crepus momentarily stuttered to a halt at the mention of his late wife, even after all the time that had passed.
“…Vaguely or in passing, I believe. You’ve mentioned her particular affinity with alchemy.”
“Khaenri’ahn alchemy, specifically. She speaks multiple languages of her own volition, however she can convey her thoughts most effectively in her native one. So I learned to speak it.” Alice cleared her throat, tilting her head to look back over at Kaeya, “…His eyes are similar to hers. A star shaped pupil, except less pronounced. Perhaps one parent was from another nation. Sumeru, maybe? The two nations were close to one another...” She had begun muttering to herself at that point, clearly thinking everything over on her own, now. A parent from Sumeru would have made sense, considering Kaeya's fascination with the place despite being unable to understand the language and culture. But if they were close together like she said they were, he maybe could have just traveled through there before he was left here.
Crepus stopped the search for Kaeya’s parents after that. He would not find anything. Kaeya would stay in the Ragnvindr Manor and Dawn Winery, and long as Crepus lived, that fearful child would not be left behind again. Kaeya had become Crepus’ child just as much as Diluc always has been. He would have no need to be afraid anymore. He’d be fed, clothed, and loved. Just as any Ragnvindr should be. He'd be safe. He'd be happy.