#WHEN ALBEDO DESTROYS MONDSTADT ITS NOT HIS FAULT

[swimminginwatercolors]

Okay.

Why tf does the Knights of Favonius in Genshin Let lil ol Albedo hang out in Dragonspine?

Like, He's found corrupted blood and stuff, and they need SOMEONE to research that stuff, but like-

THATS HIS BROTHER!?

WHO WAS CORRUPTED!?!?

WHY LET ALBEDO HANG AROUND THE STUFF THAT MESSED UP HIS BIG BRO!?!?!?!?!?

[kazewhara]

Well, here comes my first angsty ask resend;

So, you know the song ‘Goodbye to a World?’

Scenario is this: Albedo lost control, and potentially destroyed (or tried to destroy) Mondstadt. He was eventually stopped by the knights, and either that song plays or he hums/ sings it to you as he bleeds out on the snow, held in your arms, a trembling hand reaching up to brush away your tears, and his eyes not the bloodshot purple of the monster he lost control of, but the ice blue eyes of the man you fell in love with. 

And this is what he means when he sings each lyric (voice slowly fading into silence as he does so);

Thank you— thank you for giving me the pleasure of meeting you.

I’ll say goodbye soon— I don’t have much time left.

Though it’s the end of the world, don’t blame yourself, now— though I caused this destruction, please don’t feel guilty for my actions, or that you couldn’t stop me. It’s not your fault for being unable to bring me back in time. I did what I did, but please do not take the burden of that on yourself.

And if it’s true, I will surround you— though this is where I must leave you, I will still be with you in other forms.

And give life to a world that’s our own— maybe, next time, I can create a world where we can have a happier ending.

-🎻 anon

(It’s a little rushed, but I can’t be bothered to care right now because it’s pretty late where I am and I should probably get some sleep)

its sick how this song was just playing a second ago too... man 🧍🏽

[bluemoonfantasiesiii]

Blooming Blizzard (Albedo & Nigredo)

Nigredo was on his last nerve. He knew Albedo was trying to talk about Rhinedottir less around him, but the amount of slip-ups he would make in a single day was infuriating. Nigredo remembered being just like his younger brother, blindly following their creator’s whims and hanging on her every word. Albedo hadn’t experienced the searing pain of betrayal that the Erdeprinz did when he watched her spiral into madness back during the days leading up to the Cataclysm.

“This is one of the flora books Master gifted to m—“

Albedo jumped at the sound of his brother slamming a flower pot down on the table in front of him.

”Will you shut the fuck up about her?!” the elder roared. “How many times do I have to tell you I don’t want to hear it?! Are you doing it to antagonize me, or are you just that dense?!”

“I-I’m sorry, I—“

“Save it! You’re like a pathetic little puppy sitting by the door waiting for its owner to come home! So blinded by your loyalty you can’t even see that she locked herself out!”

But just because she didn’t hurt Albedo in the same way, doesn’t mean she didn’t hurt him. When Nigredo finally looked at his brother, Albedo’s eyes were shot wide, and the gardener could even see him trembling a bit.

“I don’t understand,” Albedo said, his voice meek. “What do you mean by that?”

Nigredo took a moment to catch his breath before answering. “Don’t you get it, Albedo? She’s not coming back for you.”

Albedo clutched the book to his chest, trying to shield himself from his brother’s words. “Of course she isn’t,” he said, forcing some conviction back into his voice. “I need to complete my final assignment before—“

“Oh, wake up!” Nigredo interrupted. “Even if it was possible to discover the ‘truth of this world,’ with wording that vague, how the hell would you even know if you found it?”

“I’m sure it will be evident once I find it.”

“Do you hear yourself?! Don’t you even realize that that’s the same mad pursuit of knowledge that got Khaenri’ah destroyed?!”

Albedo clutched the book tighter. “N-no. She wouldn’t… She wouldn’t ask me to do that…”

Nigredo let out a humorless laugh. “Why not? She’s already done it once! What’s stopping her from doing it again? From getting her kin to do it for her? She knows it’s impossible!”

“You’re wrong! This is just…a final assessment—”

“It’s a fool’s errand!”

“—to test my training.”

“To get you off her back!”

“Just because she turned her back on you doesn’t mean—“

“Oh, it wasn’t just me, brother,” the Erdeprinz growled. “She poisoned Durin and sent him to die to Dvalin! The hounds have completely lost themselves, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Garmr is the same way by now! Tell me, when was the last time she so much as wrote to you?”

Albedo said nothing. His chest and eyes stung. He couldn’t muster any more words. Not when Nigredo’s made too much sense.

“She destroyed all of us! You’re just the latest in a long series of abandonment! She never cared about you! She’s not coming back! Just forget about her! If not for you, then for Mondstadt! If you keep trying to dig into this world’s darkest secrets, Celestia will take everything from you! The Knights, Alice, Kaeya, Klee. They’ll all be gone, and it’ll be all your fault!”

It all came crashing back to Nigredo. Gentle, patient Durin slowly becoming a raging beast and forgetting about him as Corruption took over his being. Old friends rendered unrecognizable as they were forcibly fused with the elements until they could no longer be called human. Garmr and the hounds bragging about their massacre in Inazuma as they went along with their creator’s madness. The cold steel grip of her hand around his wrist as she dragged him to his death.

“Stop!” Albedo wailed, falling to his knees. He was fighting a losing battle against his tears. “Just stop… Please…” He lifted the book up to hide his face as his tears finally spilled over.

Nigredo moved to tear the book from his brother’s hands when a sudden chill permeated the greenhouse. It swirled around Nigredo in a show of pale blue light, concentrating into his closed left hand. As soon as the light and cold disappeared, Nigredo felt something solid in his hand. He slowly opened his fist, and his eyes shot wide at what lay in his palm. There was a light blue glass-like ornament encased in a gold bail decorated with wings. Beneath the glass was a symbol resembling a snowflake. Both homunculi completely forgot about their quarrel as they stared at the pendant with awe.

“Nigredo,” Albedo breathed, “is that…”

“A Cryo Vision,” Nigredo finished, equally stunned. He searched his memory for what kind of people typically held Cryo Visions, and his expression dropped into mixture of sadness and exhaustion. “I guess me raising my voice about being left behind was enough to gain the Tsaritsa’s recognition…”

“Oh…” was all the Kreideprinz could manage.

Nigredo sighed and clipped his new Vision to his shirt collar, exactly where Albedo wore his, and where he’d worn his own false Vision when he was impersonating the younger alchemist, before calmly approaching his brother and squatting before him. “I’m sorry, Albedo,” he said. “I just…” He sighed. “I remember being just like you. I remember trailing after her like a duckling. I remember seeing her as a mother, just like you do. And I know I can’t make the reality that she left you behind not hurt, but I can at least try to ease you into it so it’s not as excruciating as when I had to face it.”

“Screaming at me isn’t exactly the most efficient way to do that,” Albedo said with a sniffle.

“I know,” Nigredo said, gently plucking the book from Albedo’s hands and setting it aside so he could pull the other into a hug. “I know, and I’m sorry. I’m just still so angry, and you’re unfortunately the only other person out here, so I took it out on you.” He relaxed when he felt his brother’s arms slink around him.

“I’m sorry as well,” Albedo mumbled into Nigredo’s shoulder. “I should have been more mindful of your trauma. From your perspective, it hasn’t been that long since she killed you. You still need time to process everything. And… I think, deep down, part of me always knew that I’d been abandoned as well.”

“We don’t need her anymore,” Nigredo said, rubbing Albedo’s back. “We have each other now. We still have a lot of work to do, but we’ll get there. We have to. No one else can possibly understand what we’ve been through.”

The two were silent for a long while before Albedo spoke up.

“So, you’re accepting the Vision?” he asked.

“What reason do I have to reject it?” Nigredo countered.

“You’re Khaenri’an,” Albedo pointed out. “I thought Khaenri’ah despised the gods. A Vision is a blessing from the gods.”

“Aren’t you the one who once said that nationality doesn’t define us?” the elder teased. “It’s not like I personally harbor any ill will toward the Archons. Besides,” he disentangled himself from his brother to take the Vision between his fingers and inspect it, “I’m sure I can put this to good use.”

“What will you do now?” Albedo asked.

“First thing I’m thinking of is a slight change of clothes,” Nigredo said. “This thing kind of clashes with the yellows, don’t you think?”

Albedo nodded with a light chuckle. “I think blue would suit you,” he said.

“It would, wouldn’t it?”

Albedo fidgeted, eyes darting to various spots around the greenhouse before landing back on his brother. “So… We’re okay now?” he asked timidly.

“Yeah,” Nigredo said, offering the younger a soft smile. “We’re okay.” He snatched the book from the floor and began to usher Albedo out of the greenhouse. “Now shoo, shoo! I’ve got some dyes to mix!”

[berri-hopefulspouse]

"So come on, one and all to see the apathy!

The rings of graced dead souls that fill the tapestry!"

"I look to all of you and see a different fucking species!

Aspiration for a different destination to me!"

"Across the Pennines, thin blue line and the night for the fall-

Would do something, if it wasn't also half my fault..."

"'Cause I'm so high from the pain, can't even look at the fall-

And when you've reached the top there's nowhere else to go but-!"

BOOM!

"....Heh~"

Footsteps and shrill shrieks wracked the streets of a burning Mondstadt. Most of the city while had evacuated prior to the incident, there were always the devotees that would rather perish than let their precious archon's city fall... Ren found it disgusting. Watching from the windmill high above, they occasionally took out a small bow and quickly lit it on fire with a strike of the flint tip against the wood of the building before shooting the flaming arrow down into the streets below, only causing more havoc. It was hard to see their face, a combination of the cloak they donned covering their features and general apathy etched into their soul... They were quite thankful to Jean and Amber for teaching them other forms of combat outside of polearm, they would need it for the battle to come.

Laughing to themselves, they struck another arrow and pulled back the bow's string, taking out a small barrel from their pocket and lightly chucking it a few blocks down before shooting the barrel on its way down- an explosion following suit.

"Let's see how you react when the same city you fought so hard to reclaim in your past becomes nothing but ash, Barbatos..." They whispered, knowing the wind would let the archon know, "Let's see how YOU like it when something you once cared about is destroyed."

Almost as though a response, a harsh wind sent their balance careening... it was more than unnatural, and they struggled to regain their footing- all until with another harsh gust they were sent tumbling over the railing and starting to plummet down to the ground below. However, before they could make contact, they flopped less than gracefully onto a soft flower- one Ren had recognized all too well at that point.

Lowering down to the ground, Albedo calmly rose an eyebrow at his companion's tumble, "You know, I was coming up to check on how things were going but I didn't expect you to trip over yourself."

Glaring, they rolled their eyes, "Oi, Mister smartass scientist, I didn't trip. He decided to try and knock me off for being smart with him."

All around them, the heat of fire and smoke billowed high into the air...And from here, they could closely see them damage done. Roads with chunks taken out of them, buildings slowly falling to the ground as they turn to ash in the fire...it was brilliant.

Yet so, so dangerous. They coughed from the smoke, and Albedo scoffed.

"Of all the things to take you down, I wouldn't think it'd be a gust of wind and some smoke," He remarked, voice empty yet Ren could tell he was trying to be sarcastic. They lightly punched his arm.

"Shut the fuck up, Albedo."

"We should quickly leave... I think you got your message across, and I have enough data to continue my research," Albedo nodded towards the now ruined gates of Mondstadt. Ren shook their head and grinned.

"Soon, soon. I have one more little surprise, since there's one more place left untouched... C'mon, let's get moving!"

Albedo rolled his eyes, yet when Ren offered out a hand he accepted it immediately. Quickly, the two took to the streets, Ren freezing the path ahead of them and using their shoes to skid across the ice like someone on a scooter would. Albedo quickly followed their movements, his body automatically deducing how they were properly keeping upright. Occasionally, they'd squeak and swerve out of the way of a collapsing building or tower, or they'd grab a stray cat and Albedo would quickly send it back out of town before it could get burned... But soon enough, they were at their destination.

The church was eerily silent... empty, on a dark night. And so perfectly untouched, save for the turned over pews and scattered books of a people fleeing as quickly as they could. Albedo couldn't help but wonder what it was that Ren had wanted here, looking around at the darkened skylight.

"So, what's the big surprise about?" He asked, soviet a mumble... it still echoed off the walls of the church- something that made him increasingly uncomfortable.

"Oh, you'll see~!" Chuckling to themselves, they headed down to the basement of the church, slipping past the opened centerpiece that stood as a hidden passageway. Albedo, meanwhile, waited up top, arms crossed and keeping an eye out for Venti or Xiao to make a sudden appearance... Ren had said Xiao seemed to be on their side now, but he still wasn't entirely sure. Was it really his business anyway?

Soon enough, they returned with an old looking Lyre, a hand strumming against its surface elegantly, even if their hand was covered in gunpowder and some blood.

"Hmm... The Holy Lyre der Himmel. Is that what you wanted with this place?" Albedo questioned with a suspicious raise of the eyebrow. Ren shook their head, sitting down at one of the pews with a soft sigh.

"Sort've. It's another way to hurt him... And some more psychological catharsis, while I'm at it." Ren responded, Albedo sitting down beside them as they took out a small pocket knife.

"Are you going to try and cut the lyre? Isn't it embewed with divine energy?"

"Well... Lumine mentioned that it broke during her time in Mondstadt, so it doesn't have much power anymore," They remarked, lightly tapping the tip of the knife to the one broken string, "But it's not completely broken."

He watched frost prickle up the shaft of the knife as they traced its blade gently over the surface of each string. The frost slowly got to its tip, then quickly turning to ice. A slight bit of smoke came off of the broken Lyre, as if trying actively to resist its current predicament. But, within a few moments-

CHCK!

-It snapped clean in two, a golden glow surging for just a moment before settling. They repeated this gesture once again, clearly having to put a bit of effort into it as the lure resisted, but eventually gave way once again as it snapped in two. He watched them tear up, as though they were having a memory... And put a hand on their shoulder.

"How are you connected to this lyre, Ren?"

"I'm not... at least, physically or emotionally," They mumbled, taking the knife and driving it deep into the base of its wooden structure, "But... This Lyre, aside from the city, is the closest object to Venti. I'm smart, I know I'm not strong enough to fight him. But this lyre... I know I can hate. I can break. I can..." Driving the knife deeper, eventually the wood splintered in half, the broken half of the lyre falling to the ground whilst the other half remained in their lap. One string remained untouched, "I can cut him off like this."

"And yet, you don't touch the last string," Albedo remarked, and they chuckled.

"...Rex Lapis deserves the last string," They responded, "After all he's been through."

Zhongli in question was currently waiting back at Wangshuu Inn with Xiao, waiting for their return. Word had quickly spread to the other nation of the attack in Mondstadt, and it was only a matter of time until Ren returned to the Inn to get some rest and protection from Venti.

Nonetheless, they tucked the half broken lyre back into their bag, swapping it out with something else- something Albedo recognized.

"Stealing my devices again, I see," The blonde chuffed, and they smirk.

"It was absolutely going to blow up anyway, dumbass, you put in way too much gunpowder," They got back to their feet and made their way to the center of the room, setting the device down... it was a white cylinder shaped tube, with deep ridges on each side. A container was situated in the middle, dark purple mixed with specks of dark gray filtered through the machine, churning around in a cycle. It reminded Ren of Albedo's potion device up in dragonspine, although this one- like they had mentioned before- had a lot of gunpowder in it.

"Hmph, I'd like to see you try and invent something, Mx. Math Elite," He sarcastically retorted, arms crossed with discontempt. They rolled their eyes, opening the chamber in its side and taking out another one of the mini barrels, letting it roll into the chamber. Then another... then another. These little barrels were something they invented themselves- mostly akin to the exploding barrels around Mondstadt but much more tiny and compact- yet with twice the power.

"With how many you're putting in there..." Albedo trailed off with slightly widened eyes- the most amount of emotion they've seen him display this whole evening, "That's going to destroy this entire side of the city."

"That's what I'm counting on. Now c'mon, let's-"

Before Ren could turn to walk a decent distance back away from the explosive device, they heard the door behind them burst open.

"...Ah. I half wished you decided not to show up," Ren remarked, eyes falling cold as they glanced back over their shoulder to the figure standing in the doorway.

Sharp aqua eyes glowed in the dark of the church, staring deep into the brunette's soul. A scowl on his face, Venti couldn't help but reach back for his bow.

"You destroy my city... harm MY people, and break my Lyre..." He spoke with a tone of certainty, of confidence, as he stepped into the room, "Go off and fuck other people than me just for the sake of petty revenge, and even get Zhongli on your side? Now how's that fair, Soren? How's that fair?"

"This city was never yours to begin with," Ren responded with coldly, their words bordering on apathetic as they calmly smiled, "You gave up your rights to this city when you ABANDONED them over five hundred years ago. You gave up your rights to my HEART when you took my body without my permission," Pulling out their polearm, they scowl and point it towards the furious archon, "And you gave up your lyre when you gave up your integrity as a ruler, a friend, and a partner."

Venti scoffed, pulling the bow to his front and giving a grin, "Miss Righteous are we? It's not my fault you're so easy to manipulate, Renny~" Shooting a warning shot behind them, it bounced off the statue that hid the basement, a decent chunk of the statue falling apart onto the floor. Neither Ren, nor Albedo even flinched.

"You could always just give up now, you know~" Venti coo'd, taking another few cautious steps towards them, "I could say this whole disaster was this dumb alchemists fault and make it into a story of conquering over despair... You could be mine, again."

"Albedo," Ren whispered, "Get ready to put down a flower. Do it directly below us."

"Why?-" Albedo responded, glancing ever so slightly out of the corners of his eyes to them, however they did not glance back.

"I've got a plan, just trust me."

Staring down the God in question, they leaned forward a bit with a hand on their hips, and smirked.

"Go straight to hell, Barbatos."

"Why you-!" He fumed with a flushed red face, "Fine! But I warned you!"

Charging up his bow and firing, Ren quickly exclaimed, "NOW!"

Everything happened in next to an instant. Albedo's flower releasing right below them sending them up into the air. Venti's anemo infused arrow plunging past them, straight into the explosive device behind them...and then-!

BOOM!

Everything went black.

For a good few moments, as their consciousness tried to stir, Ren couldn't hear anything. Some muffled voices, some yelling, but mostly ringing... ringing in their ears as they tried to force their body to work, to move.

"...Ren?-..... Sor--.... Soren!"

Their hearing started coming through enough to realize the voice was Albedo's, as he pulled them to their uneasy feet. Looking up, they could barely see through a swath of blood that muddled their vision, but they could tell they were by Venti's statue.

"What... happened?" They asked, eyes hazy.

"Your plan worked. When Venti set off the bomb, since we were above it it sent us flying outside rather than just blowing us up completely." Albedo explained. Bits of his hair was on fire.

Ren wiped the blood from their head and groaned, "Well it got us out of the shit situation. What about Venti?"

"He teleported out as soon as it exploded," Albedo scoffed and rolled his eyes, "Like a coward running from the consequences of his actions."

Albedo had Ren tucked under arm, slowly hauling them through the bow crumbling streets of the city. Looking behind them, Ren found there was little left of the church- and most of that plaza for that matter. They were surprised they survived at all.

The fires still hadn't calmed, hot and angry as they both limped through the streets and trying to desperately not inhale the smoke in the air. The sound of crackling wood was almost overwhelming in every direction, and every few seconds they heard something else fall over or smash as more and more of the city collapsed... And Ren couldn't help but lament on that. They did it. Their stupid, almost impossible plan... worked.

Albedo finally set Ren down outside the walls of the city, a sigh passing through his lips as he collapsed beside them. By then, the adrenaline of the evening had run its course, leaving the two exhausted... and for pain to flare up on their arm. Looking down, they saw a good portion of their arm had been burned, decaying skin and curdled blood stuck to the melted surface.

"...Oh. That's... probably bad," Ren remarked, shattering the still silence that had fallen the two of them. Albedo glanced to their arm and chuckled a bit.

"Maybe so. If you'd like, I can fix that arm up for you at a price," He joked.

There was more silence for a moment, the two glancing to eachother before bursting into a fit of manic laughter.

"Fucking hell- that actually worked!" Ren exclaimed through a soft shriek of laughter, tears in their eyes, "It actually worked!"

"That it did," Albedo was quick to calm down, on the other hand, an arm slung around their shoulder, "We've started a war... Whether a war with the gods themselves, or specifically against Barbatos, we'll find out soon enough."

"And I've finally staked my claim..." Ren settled down, wiping the tears and eyeliner and blood from their eyes, it all turning into a smudge of black, "That I am no longer a toy to the god of freedom... That I am my own person, and that I will never, ever be silenced again."

Albedo glanced to Ren in that moment, with tears in their eyes and smudged eyeliner and blood, with blood splatters from Devotees dried on their cheek, and with their torn up cloak and burnt arm. The soft light blue glow in their eyes and sparkles Albedo recalls never seeing before...

And despite himself, he found his face flush with a soft blush. When had they become so...attractive? Was that the right word for it? He wasn't sure- he was certain he'd never felt anything like this before. Slowly, he reached up, grabbing a small strand of hair that was still on fire and gently putting it out with his fingertips.

"You're a little bit on fire," He remarked.

"And you're covered in blood," Ren responded, a soft smile on their face. Albedo chuckled, looking to his bloodstained garb and letting out an exhale through his nose.

"This was one of my nicer coats, too..." He joked. Ren's eyes widened for a second, before bursting into giggles, nestling closer to Albedo for a few moments. His heart jumped, slightly, and he couldn't help but reflectively touch his chest. What the hell- he's a synthetic human! He shouldn't be affected by the concept of love, or affection, or anything!

...What made them so different? Part of him wanted to find out.

Before he could really say anything, or make any moves, Ren slowly got up to their feet with a sigh.

"Well, I believe my end of the bargain is fulfilled, Albedo," They smiled a somber smile, "And with that being said, I suppose your experiment into the concept of dating is finished?"

"Huh?" Albedo raised an eyebrow, and nodded, "I mean, yes, I suppose so but why-"

"Then, our deal is done." Ren stated simply, kneeling back down and offering a hand to Albedo, "So, it's time for us to part ways for now."

Albedo couldn't help but feel a slight inkling of distress at that, which caused Ren to chuckle.

"Don't worry. This goodbye isn't forever," They took his hand, giving it a gentle shake, "We'll probably work together again on some business related affairs someday."

Albedo couldn't form a response. His tongue had turned to a feeling of led, and his stomach had dropped.

"It was nice working with you, partner," Ren remarked as they let go of his hand and got back to their feet, "See you later."

"Ren, wait-!"

Before he could respond, they tapped something on their wrist and vanished into thin air- teleported off over to Liyue to ride out the storm of Venti's immediate fury while they came up with a plan.

And leaving Albedo alone...and feeling completely, hopelessly lonely.