Second Lead Syndrome || Diluc R. x Reader

Caged Bird

Ida wanted to rip her ears from her head as if it would prevent her from hearing the screams of hysteria downstairs. Curled up against the door to her room, she gasps and hiccups for air as she sobs- but even that isn't loud enough to drown out her mother's shouts. But the voices of guilt and regret chanting in her head comes close. 

It was her twenty-third birthday- the first one without Y/N- and all Ida wanted was to move out into another house on the estate. She didn't anticipate her mother to smash a plate and flare up with fury. Only a few weeks had passed since Y/N had left, and her mother had become overbearing. Where Ida would usually be shown lenience for being the obedient one, she was now chastised for simply frowning too deeply or staring too long. Her mother said she was becoming "too much like Y/N." 

"She's twenty-three. Let her go off on her own." Ida could hear her father half-heartedly respond.

"I married you to support me, not criticize me, Eriks!" Noemie immediately shuts him down. "Why does everyone keep trying to oppose me? Why can't you all listen?!"

The sharp sound of glass shattering makes Ida flinch. 

"You're just going to walk away?" Her mother shrieks. "Fine, then! Leave me like the others, Eriks! You, Y/N, Ida, you're all the same!"

Why can't everything go back to the way it was? Ida thinks as she lowers her head to her knees. I should've paid more attention to you. Ida says, thinking of her younger sister. Maybe I could have stopped you from leaving. Why do you always have to be so defiant? Why couldn't we all just stay happy? Y/N, how could you do this? You destroyed us.

The sounds of her sobs and noise from downstairs begin to muddle together as if her ears are waterlogged. Darkness envelops her and she feels herself being dragged downwards. Drowning. It's too dark for Ida to tell if her eyes are closed or open. Her lungs feel as though they're shrinking as Ida fails to take in oxygen. Her limbs feel heavy, like she's swimming in a pool of liquid much thicker than water and blacker than ink. She sputters as she tries to catch her breath, extending her arm outward to grasp at something to pull her up. 

Ida can feel Y/N's presence above the water. She reaches out to grasp her sister, clawing at the water to latch onto Y/N and pull herself up. But Y/N is just out of reach, swimming away. And so, she's left to drown.

Ida's eyes flutter open. A nightmare. Relief floods her veins. Thankfully, Y/N won't be leaving in real life.

-----

"No!" Y/N jolts upright in her hotel bed, panting as her chest heaves.

Her miserable hotel room comes into view, darkening as the sun begins to set. Y/N sighs as she recalls her dream. The sensation of her relatives' hands grabbing her limbs and dragging her down into doom ghosts across her skin, leaving a trail of goosebumps along her neck and arms.

Despite being in bed since yesterday's court session, Y/N hasn't been able to get more than a few hours of sleep uninterrupted. The dread of having to quit the Knights and join the Fatui weighs on her shoulder, even invading her dreams. She glances at the paper and pen sitting on the coffee table across the room. It's blank except for the "Dear Diluc" scrawled in the top left corner. She couldn't bring herself to tell him how the court procession went, as if writing it down with permanent ink would set her future in stone. She supposes she'll let him know in person when he arrives in Fontaine for his business trip.

Y/N gets up from her bed, deciding that sleep is futile and that she should at least check the mail for more letters from Diluc. Fresh air might do her some good as well.

-----

The lights of Fontaine begin to flicker to life as Diluc arrives at the docks, one of the servants carrying his luggage and business materials behind them.