Days in Mondstadt

Chapter 25- Breaking Point (Part Two) (TW)

TW: meantions of suicide, attempted suicide, gore
(Chapter can be skipped)

"Y/n!" Called Razor. "The trail- it stopped!"

Y/n's head shot up and she ran to catch up with Razor and Paimon. The group had been trotting steadily north for an hour or so and they were now looking up at Starsnatch Cliff.

"What? Where does it go? It can't just disappear."

Razor sniffed but just gave a small shrug.

"It goes up. The stream... it is in my way. Water, not good for tracking."

Y/n set her jaw and nodded, squinting up at the cliff. Something clenched in the pit of her stomach and she grimaced.

There's something very wrong here, I just can't tell what...

She turned to her companions and said,
"I'll be okay from here. You two head back to the camp as fast as possible. It's almost nightfall. And Paimon, tell Jean to go on without us if I can't get us back in time."

Paimon saluted from where she was floating above Razor and the two turned and started trotting southward again. Y/n gulped as she turned back to the cliff.

Whatever's going on here, I have a feeling I need to do this alone.
...
The climb wasn't hard, but it had taken longer than y/n would have preferred. She finally crested the last rise, calling for Diluc all the way.
There were rocks in her line of sight and she had to circle around each one to be sure Diluc wasn't behind them.

Where is he?!

She groaned as she rounded the last boulder, feeling as though her the whole journey had been for nothing. She looked up to the cliff edge and couldn't help but gasp.

There, standing in the highest peak, was Diluc.

She tried calling to him but the wind was too loud for him to have heard her. She climbed higher and waved.

"Diluc! There you are. We've been looking everywhere for you."

He finally turned to her, his crimson hair burning in last of the daylight. Her heart leapt a bit in her throat as she realized how close he was standing to the edge of the cliff.

"Diluc, what are you..."

The look in his eyes told her everything she needed to know. Her stomach sank and she cast around in her mind for what to say. Something, anything.

Is there really anything I can say?

"Please back away from the edge." She said.

His voice sounded hoarse and barely higher than a whisper even as she edged closer.
"Y/n...what are you doing here?"

"Master Jean sent me-us, me and some others- to find you. We need you."

"No, you don't."

"What?"  Y/n was close enough to touch him now but she stayed her hand. She spoke to him like she was trying to tame a frightened deer. It felt so wrong. She did the next thing she could think of and whipped her vines up out of the ground to grab him.
With a lazy flick of his wrist he incinerated the vines and took another step back.

"Diluc, please just back away from the ledge. I don't know who made you think you weren't needed but you are. Jean needs you. Everyone needs you." She paused to catch her breath and try to call more vines. "I need you."

"I know all of you think you need me, but I've left all the information I have that can help you. It's all in the scrolls in my tent. And the separated groups will help you find the traitor."

"And then? After we defeat the abyss order? What then?"

Diluc rubbed a hand over his face.

"Who knows, y/n, but that's just life. You never know. Everything is a huge mess and your life is spent trying to sort it out." He looked down at her with weary eyes. "I'm just so tired, y/n."

Y/n's eyes filled with hot tears.

"It will get better Diluc, I promise. Stay, please.
I-"

"Need me, I know. But you don't want me."

"That's not what I meant, please."

"Tell Kaeya I'm sorry. For everything. Tell him I'm sorry I was such a horrible big brother. I'm sorry I pushed him away when father died. And I'm sorry I never let him win a sword fight."

He took off his elaborate coat and set it gently on her shoulders as he said,
"And I'm sorry to you. I came to do this alone, but if you won't leave, you still can't stop me. I just want to rest. And y/n?" He waited till she looked him in the eyes. "You really are perfect."

With his final verbal blow, he took one final step backwards. Y/n screamed and threw out her vibes to grab him, but he was already too far gone.

She fell to the ground and looked away as she heard the delayed splash. She knew that if she looked down, the water would be tinged with blood.