"Having a large amount of leverage is like driving a car with a dragher on the steering wheel pointed at your heart. If you do that, you will be a better driver. There will be fewer accidents but when they happen, they will be fatal."
~Warren Buffett

— - 0 - —

"KAEYA!" Diluc screams, reaching out his hand. His voice booms around the Winery making his distress known.

"Master Diluc?" One of the adult visitors says holding on from the second floor railing. It falls on deaf ears.

Diluc runs outside where Kaeya is in the hand of a hydro abyss mage. Diluc pauses.

"Diluc!" Kaeya yells and tries to reach out for his brother but the mage hits him in the shoulder and he winces in pain and his arm falls.

In the night sky, everyone evacuated Dawn Winery to see a whole army of hilichurls and their commanders, all three types of abyss mage. Hydro, Pyro, and Cryo.

The hydro which is the one who holds the bluenette Floats over to the red-haired man. In its rashly voice it speaks. "I'm willing to make a trade with you... this boy's life for your imprisonment."

Dilic pauses to think.

"Now, now, don't take too long. I might just take him home," the hydro mage taunts. It grabs Kaeya upper arm and squeezes. Blisters explode from under its hand. Kaeya cries out in pain, lunging forward only to be held back by his captor.

"What if I don't accept?" Diluc finally says after a while.

Gasps are heard from behind him and from the little boy in front of him.

"Well, well, I guess if you don't accept then I'll KILL your BROTHER," the abyss mage says, his anger rising.

"Is that all?"

The abyss is taken aback. It is left stocked. "Do you not even care about your brother? You would let him DIE!?" In his flurry, the abyss crushes Kaeya I his arms. Coughs come out of him and with it specs of blood; they land on Diluc.

"Is that all?" Diluc repeats in the same nonchalant tone. It was as if he was trying to send food back to the chef but the chef wouldn't take it.

But instead Of soup this was the life of his sworn brother.

The abyss takes a sigh and responds with, "No, if you don't accept then all of these hilichurls will attack you, all at once with no help from your friends."

Diluc scans the army behind him. Even with his skill set he couldn't be a match with them. He doubted that even the abyss mages who were controlling them could handle so many.

"Can I talk it over?" Diluc says after looking behind him.

The hydro abyss looks to the other two, they speak in their own language. No one knows what any of it means.

It turns around and says, "fine" with a glare.

Diluc turns around and walks past everyone.

"What are you doing?"

"We can take those hilichurls."

"What are we doing to do?"

"Don't hurt the hilichurls. They don't mean it."

"Enough," Diluc says, his hand swinging outward, silencing the group. "Let me think."

The group, which contains all of the maids, a deaconess, the maid of Favinious, the author or 'Handy Handbook of Hilicurilain' and the author's daughter, go silent and wait.

Diluc walks to the dining table. He puts his hand on it; over Kaeya's seat.

Minutes go by slowly as the red-haired man thinks. Tenses rose. The group gets antsy. Whispers start making their way into his ears.

"Does Diluc even care about Kaeya?" Noelle asks in a hushed tone.

"No," Adelinde answers honestly. "I asked him to act nicely to him on the first day."

"Oh."

"Why doesn't Master Diluc like Kaeya?" the little girl asks, looking up at the grown ups.

Silence once again reigned the group. No one knew the answer. But it started with Crepus' death.

"Master Diluc?" Barbara dares to say the name looking at the man who is hunched over a chair. "What are you going to do?"

Diluc blows harshly out of his mouth and stands up straight. He turns to face the curious group. "I've made my decision."

"No, you can't!" Noelle yells. "You can't let the abyss order take him away. He'll never make it alive. I- I don't know where in The Knights' Handbook, but I swear there is something in there to counter you with."

"Don't make him seem like he cannot handle himself. If he didn't get distracted by you then he wouldn't have gotten hurt." Diluc glares at the woman.

Turning to the deaconess he says, "And if you didn't heal that then Kaeya would be able to fight back."

Diluc's finger points to the hilichurl in the corner who is like the humans standing silently. He doesn't try to escape and just watches. When the finger is pointed to him he cowards.

"Don't be mean to Celi Boya!" Ella says, running in front of the hilichurl with her arms out. "He did nothing wrong."

With the child's defense the adults get fired up.

"Well it doesn't matter now. The past is the past," Noelle states. "Right now Kaeya is being held hostage by the abyss order. We have to prepare to fight."

"Not the hilichurls," Ella says. She runs to her father, tears bubbling in her eye. Jacob drapes a hand over his daughter, shielding her from the rest of the adults.

"No matter what we decide," Barbara says, trying to defuse the tension.

"Though I would rather go with Noelle's idea than Diluc's," she mumbles.

"We have to make the decision."

"Where did Diluc go?"

Adelinde points to the door. "He left through it a little bit ago. He ordered me not to tell you, before he did it."

The sound of boots and shoes stomp across the floor as they run to the door. Upon opening it the night sky greets them. Kaeya lays on the ground, blood ozone out of his side and mouth.

"Kaeya!" Noelle gasps, getting down to hold the child.

Barbara holds out a hand sharply. Hitting the maid in the stomach. "He needs me first."

Noelle backs away as does everyone in the group. The deaconess saves her arms and heals Kaeya of his wounds.

They watch in anticipation as his skin grows over the blood, his burns slowly disappear leaving his shoulders bruised.

Kaeya coughs back to life. Blood exits his mouth and drips on the floor as he just looks down.

"Kaeya!" Noelle says and hugs him gently so as to not cause him any pain.

"D-Diluc..." he whispers.

The shining moon disappears from behind a cloud making the atmosphere exactly like how the bluenette feels. The adults bring him inside. His internal bleeding is a need of concern. Kaeya tries but fails to fight back. Be that of the physical or emotional pain.

His brother left with the Abyss.

As the adults, minus the maids, help Kaeya mostly Barbara by healing but Noelle and Ella with hugs when Barbara has to recharge her magic.

A knock is heard.

Everyone goes quiet and even the background music surrounding Kaeya seems to descend to a mezzo piano. They hear the maid Adelelinde speak but not her words.

Footsteps walk up the staircase and through the hallway. The creaking of the door reveals a blond man.

"Albedo, What are you doing here?" Kaeya says.

The alchemist walks to the child. He hands him a letter.

Kaeya grabs the letter from Albedo's hands and opens it.

The content makes him drop it.

He looks up at the Khaenri'ahan Alchemist. "You know?"

He nods.

"How?"

Albedo shakes his head.

"I wish to be alone with him," Kaeya says.

— - 0 - —

Oh~ I wonder what the letter says.

What do you think is written in it, Seedlings?

Write your guesses in the comments and have a great day/night!