It Must be Love

Learning

For the rest of sunlight they had Kaeya with the help of the Handy Handbook of Hulichurlian learned the language of Celi Boya.

It was quite easy, plus Kaeya had some advantages.

First, Kaeya was a child thus his memory was better than most and if he put his mind on something he surely would retain it better than if he was his adult self. Kaeya really wanted to learn hilichulrian.

Though his first experience of talking with the creatures with Ella was not the best, it started the ball rolling.

Celi Boya was different and Kaeya wanted to know why.

Seacondly, the handbook was small. Not a lot of hilichurlian words were known by the humans. As far as anyone knew Jacob Musk (and probably Ella Musk when she eveually grew up) was the only person who studied the weird language.

By the end of the day Kaeya could tell you ## hilichurlian words/phrases and tell you what it meant in English.

Kaeya was very lucky to have the Handy Handbook of Hilichurlian in his pessimism. If Ella had taken it with her he wouldn't know what he would do.

"What are you two doing?" Noelle asks walking to the two.

"I'm talking to Celi Boya," Kaeya calms answers as if that was a normal thing into say.

"Really?" Noelle asks, leaning in.

"Yeah," Kaeya chuckles. "Though we cant have a detailed conversation. We mostly use our hands to point about what we are talking about. Hilichurlian is quite interesting."

"That's nice," Noelle says with a curt smile. "But I think it's time for bed. I'm going to take Barbara back to Monstadt and I don't want you to be outside alone."

Kaeya didn't want to go inside. He wasn't tired and even if he was he didn't want to go back to sleep. He didn't want to see Diluc covered in his own blood...

"But I won't be alone," Kaeya says. "The maids will be with me."

"Hillie and Moco will But Adelinde will not. She's coming with us to ship more wine and to collect the empty barrels," Noelle says. "If your in bed, you will be safe. I don't want to be rude but Hillie and Moco will not be able to protect you and I don't want you getting hurt again. Barbara won't be here."

'Safe from the Abyss...but not safe from my nightmares,' Kaeya thinks to himself.

"What about Albedo?" Kaeya asks.

"He'a still here?" Noelle asks raising an eyebrow.

Kaeya actually didn't know if the alchemist was still at Dawn Winery. Albedo has walked into the Forrest and didn't come back for the hours Laeya and Celi Boya we're taking to one another.  Though he didn't know were the man was right at that seacond he had a feeling that he was still close by. The half-truth was worth a shot.

He didn't- no, couldn't retire for the night. Not if he had to have another nightmare.

"Noelle, are you ready to go?" Barbara asks by the cart that Adlelinde was packing with barrels of delicious, aged wine.

Noelle looks at Kaeya then at her deconess friend. "I'm almost ready."

Noelle turns back to Kaeya. "Go to Albedo now and stay with him until you want to go to sleep. I'll inform the maids for you. Don't get hurt."

Kaeya nods to his mother figure and she scampers to the young maids. They exchange information and Moco waves at Kaeya. Kaeya waves back signaling that he knows that she's watching him.

After the interaction, the bluenette looks to Celi Boya. He points to the trees where he saw Albedo last. "Albedo," Kaeya says.

He taught Celi Boya everyone's name or at least every one who was at Dawn Winery and outside at the time. The maids were in and out of the building preparing food and what not so the hilichurl didn't know their names but Kaeya didn't think it really mattered.

"Albedo," Celi Boya repeats.

"Dada," Kaeya says, congaluting the hilichurl. He gets up from the rocking chair slowly and walks away. Celi Boya simply stands by the wooden chair that gently swings forward and backward in the grass.

"Nunu," Kaeya commands. The hilichurl lays down on the grass, curling up into a ball like a kitten.

Kaeya smiles before walking toward the trees.

Walking across the well one path and to the trees he hears faint sounds. The sounds of what seems to be like chalk and Albedo's voice.

Taking a few more steps forward to see Albedo holding a price of chalk and with a mitachurl tower next to him.

Instintly Kaeya reaches for his sword and charges at the mitachurl.

"Wait!" cries of Albedo, his hand out and in the air. "You'll scare it."

Albedo disarms Kaeya and places the sword on the ground out of reach of the child.

"What are you doing?" Kaeya asks, trying to get past the alchemist. "It's going to hurt you."

"First of all he is not an it and secondly has he attacked me?" Albedo says, motioning to the mitachurl.

The mitachurl hasn't attacked Albedo or Kaeya. He didn't really move that much at all even. Usually if a hilichurl of an kind or any enemy for that matter would lay their eyes on you then their weapon would be running toward you.

"What did you do?" It was a strange question for Kaeya to ask but he had a hunch that the mitachurl's actions or lack thereof had something to do with Albedo.

"I didn't do anything to him," Albedo says in his nonchalant voice. "I just created him, that's all."

"Created him?!" Kaeya yells. "Why?! How?! Wh-"

A hand covers the young boy's mouth. "Shh..." Albedo whispers. "You'll scare him."

Kaeya pushes the hand off his face. "Well, he is going to scare a lot of people if he leaves."

"I know." Albedo's head faces downward. "These beasts always scare people. It's why many of them harm humans. Humans hurt them so they do the same..."

"What do you mean?"

Albedo looks at Kaeya. "As you know I am a Khaenri'ahan. More specifically a Knaenri'ahan alchemist. I have the ability to create life."

"Life?" Kaeya qesutiksnthe word while looking at the mitachurl. "Do you mean the monsters?"

"They are not monsters," Albedo says. "They are my creations. I was tasked with the mission of finding the meaning of life.i cannot return to my master until I can answer her question. I've been creating many churls and observing their life. What they desire, what makes them happy but I fear that I may never be able to see my master again..."

The three of them fall into silence.

Kaeya opens his mouth. "Can I...can I try it?"

Albedo looks over to the young boy and raises an eyebrow. "Do you sensuously want to try?"

Kaeya nods his head.

"I can teach you the basics. I don't expect you to make anything big like a mitachurl, but maybe you could make a much smaller animal like a cat or dog," Albedo says. "But first we have to bring this mitachurl into the wild."