章 12: Breaking A Friend Free
I charged forward, making the first move this time, kicking Kaeya in the shin. Immediately after, I followed up with two punches to his face. Undeterred by my attacks, Kaeya raised his hand, a blast of ice coming out of it.
Barely dodging, my clothes were partially covered in ice, the cold slowly seeping in. As Kaeya lunged in for a slash, I put my hand on his torso. Expanding my cursed energy outward, I formed a wind blast, pushing Kaeya back a few meters.
As Kaeya landed on the snow, I took the chance to throw a wind blade toward Ananke. He seemed a bit surprised, but nonetheless parried the attack without much effort.
"Hey now, no attacking the spectator..." Ananke seemingly had no intention to strike back, as he just stood still.
I clicked my tongue, frustrated that my attack didn't really do anything. Refocusing my attention on Kaeya, I prepared myself for another charge of his.
He stood up slowly, snow falling from his body, and lunged at me once again. Midway through his charge, he grabbed his sword handle like a spear, and threw it at me.
The sword stopped in place thanks to my Infinity, but Kaeya didn't stop his charge. He grabbed the sword once again, and I used that split second to throw a hook at his face. With my fist buried in his cheek, I felt the snow behind me making a crackling sound. A spike made out of ice suddenly emerged from below the snow.
Managing to slightly step away from it, the icicle only managed to shallowly pierce my side. As I was distracted by his surprise attack, Kaeya took the chance to slash at my neck.
Barely crouching under his attack, I threw an uppercut to his chin, following it up with a wind blast to his torso, once again sending him packing.
He quickly stood up, not relenting, and with a hand gesture, icicles formed next to Kaeya, as they started to spin around him.
He jumped at me and slashed. I easily dodged his attack, but his icicles followed suit. I activated Infinity in time, and as one icicle stopped, the others crashed into it as they kept spinning, shattering them all.
I threw a quick punch to his face, which I followed up with a kick to his stomach, sending him back a few meters.
"Impressive... Impressive, Dani!" Ananke seemed to be enjoying our fight very much, his eyes wrinkling with his massive smile.
I wanted nothing more than to wipe that filthy grin off his face with my fist, but there wasn't much I could do. I moved my gaze from Ananke back to Kaeya, focusing on him once again.
In the heat of my battle with Kaeya, and also in my past battle with the Treasure Hoarders, I noticed it was quite hard to multi-task between using Infinity and attacking. At the level I'm at right now, I should either focus on being defensive or attacking...
I wiped the sweat off my brow and took a deep breath. 'Time to go on the offensive...'
Kaeya jumped at me once again, slashing his sword downward. Catching his wrist, I strengthened my grip on it, making his fingers falter on the handle of the sword. As he dropped the blade, I headbutted his face, blood dripping from his nose.
Still, Kaeya didn't relent, as he threw a punch, aiming for my face. Sidestepping his attack, I kneed him in the torso before following up with a devastating hook to his face.
Not letting him breathe a single moment, I consecutively punched his face from different angles, without giving him a chance to counterattack.
With one final jab to his face, it seemed he had reached his physical limit, as after my attack landed, he dropped unconscious on the snow.
"Ah, what a shame..." Ananke said, his expression turning sour. "Still, I learned much about you, Dani."
"You done?" I asked, my voice laced with frustration. I was frustrated that I couldn't do anything against this filth.
"For now, yes. You're not the only one I have my eye on... Many humans are waiting for my guidance, waiting for their potential to blossom!"
I clenched my teeth and picked up Kaeya, throwing his arm around my shoulder. I stared at Ananke, as he looked at me with that creepy smile of his.
"You will undoubtedly grow from this, Dani. Not only did you gain experience in combat, but your willpower will grow as well..." Ananke grinned and gestured to Kaeya. "You could've refused to fight your friend there, but you didn't. That shows your capacity to make hard decisions, and as I said... Only those who can do that will be able to grow."
"You..." I groaned and clicked my tongue, then I said, "I might not be able to do anything to you right now, but the day will come when I'll exorcise you and wipe that grin off your face."
"That's a bold statement! Very well, Dani. I will eagerly wait for that day to come." As he said that, he turned around. Waving his hand, he said, "Because whatever human manages to kill me, will reach unprecedented heights... And for me, there will be no greater satisfaction than that."
After that, he walked away, disappearing into the snowfall, leaving me alone with my thoughts, and with an unconscious and battered Kaeya.
"Now how do I explain this..." I muttered under my breath as I dragged Kaeya back to the camp.
Once I arrived, I saw that Mattias and Lina were still sitting by the bonfire, chatting. I approached them, still dragging Kaeya along, and said, "Any tent that's free?"
"There's one near the— Huh?!" Mattias had turned around to look at me. Seeing me with Kaeya all bruised and battered certainly surprised him.
"What happened?!" Lina asked, her face full of concern.
"Well... we got into a bit of a scuffle..." I said, an awkward smile on my face.
"So that's what took you so long..." Mattias mused.
I left Kaeya at a nearby empty tent and turned my attention back to Lina and Mattias. "I guess I can explain it to you guys, but I might seem like a crazy bastard."
I don't think I should lie... Especially when Kaeya can easily debunk whatever lie I throw at them. Besides, there should be no harm done if I explain things in... Teyvat terms, let's say.
"That's better than not knowing what happened," Mattias said, a clear look of confusion on his face. He seemed to be racking his brain, trying to find out what happened between me and Kaeya.
Meanwhile, Lina's gaze fell on my torso, where I had been stabbed. "Hey, you should treat that injury..."
"Nah, I'm fine. Might be the adrenaline, but it doesn't really hurt," I said as I sat down by the bonfire, grabbing the spot where I was stabbed.
"So... you know how there are exorcists in Liyue?" I said, starting with my explanation.
Mattias hummed, and then said, "I've read about them. They hunt down ghosts, spirits, and demons, right? Liyue is full of them from what I've heard..." he said.
"Yeah. Well, let's just say that I'm something similar to an exorcist." Mattias and Lina looked at me with a surprised expression on their faces as they blinked a few times. "I hunt those malicious creatures. Some of them are invisible... only seen by those who practice the art of exorcism."
'Wow, what a way to spout bullshit...'
"Oh! So that's why you can control Anemo, right? It's thanks to whatever exorcist art you're using!" Lina seemed excited, as once again she gushed about my wind affinity.
"What does that have to do with this?" Mattias had a slight frown, as though he suspected me of something.
"We're getting there, Mattias. The thing is... well, we ran into a spirit," I said.
'More like a demon...'
Mattias and Lina just stared at me, slowly blinking, their eyebrows raised. "Um, what?" Lina said, clearly flummoxed by my explanation.
"Yup. The spirit took control of Kaeya, so I had to knock him out to break him free. That's what happened."
They both continued to stare at me, until Mattias said, "Are you sure? I mean, if you two got into an argument and fought over it or something like that, you don't need to make up this elaborate lie..."
"Uh, no. We're buddies. Very chummy. We wouldn't fight over an argument."
"Then you have to forgive me because I find it very hard to believe that Kaeya got 'possesed' by some spirit. Spirits and the like are mostly documented in Liyue. I've never heard of something like that appearing in Monds—"
"I believe him!" Lina said, interrupting Mattias.
He looked equally annoyed at the interruption and Lina's eagerness to believe me. "Of course you would..." Mattias said, exhaling in exasperation.
"You can ask Kaeya when he wakes up. He won't remember a thing, because he was possessed," I said.
It was a mix of truth and lies. I just couldn't come out and say that entities such as Cursed Spirits started appearing on Teyvat out of nowhere and that someone as dangerous as Ananke was roaming around. Especially when I'm the only one who can see him...
'But now that I think about it...'
Maybe in this world's eyes, Cursed Spirits are just regular spirits or demons? That wouldn't explain the cursed energy and how I seem to be the only one who can see them, though... 'Hmm, maybe I'll find out eventually.'
"But... Ah, never mind. I won't pry anymore," Mattias said.
"You should stop being so cynical! What reason would Dani have to lie?" Lina reprimanded.
Mattias clicked his tongue and looked at me. "Sorry," he said.
"For what? You don't have to believe me just because I'm the Honorary Knight or something. Still, I'm telling the truth," I said, standing up. "I'll go check up on Kaeya. Maybe I'll wait for him to wake up..."
I made my way to the tent where I had left Kaeya. Peeking once inside the tent, I saw that Kaeya was still unconscious. Sitting outside, I started waiting for him to wake up.
My mind immediately went to my encounters with Ananke. His philosophy and view of humans are certainly twisted... There's nothing good that can come from leaving him unchecked.
And if there's already a special grade curse like him, maybe there are more of them roaming around Teyvat.
'That'd be disastrous...'
Until proven otherwise, I have to assume that I'm the only one who can see him, and therefore, I'm the only one who can stop him.
I'd always struggled to help people out. Most of the time, I only did so because I felt obligated, or because there was something that I could get out of it... But knowing what that bastard could cause... how could I just ignore him? I have to exorcise that bastard, no matter what.
And to that end, I'll have to step up my training with Gojo. I should ask him for more pointers regarding hand-to-hand combat and, of course, regarding the Limitless. If I could use 'Blue' at least once per battle, it could give me a big boost in power...
I killed time by thinking about my training, Ananke, and other stuff, until eventually, I heard a groan from inside the tent.
"What... what happened...?" Kaeya had woken up, and his voice was strained, clearly in pain.
I peeked inside and flashed him a smile, "You're one tough motherfucker, you know that?"
_______________________________________________________________
Kaeya grabbed his head, slightly distressed. "So you're telling me you're an exorcist? And that I got controlled by some spirit?"
"Yeah."
After Kaeya woke up, we both sat down outside the tent after he assured Mattias and Lina that he was okay. I explained to him what had happened... As well as I could, anyway.
"Usually, I'd tell you you're full of crap, but..." Kaeya removed his hand from his head, a frown appearing on his expression. "I could... feel it. The last thing I remember is seeing you talk with someone, and then suddenly everything went black... But I know that there's a void in my memories, and I know something happened after that. It's... It's a weird feeling."
'Interesting...' I thought. It seems like his control over people is not without flaws.
From what I gathered with the Treasure Hoarders, they didn't seem to remember a single thing, but they also didn't seem to even have an inkling of a feeling that they were being controlled. On the other hand, Kaeya seems to know... Maybe it depends on the strength of the person being controlled. But that can't be all there is to it...
There's also the fact that I don't know if he directly controls the person or if he gives certain instructions that the controlled person has to follow...
"Anything else you felt?" I asked.
"Not really..." he said, looking at the ground.
After a brief moment of silence, Kaeya spoke once again. "You know, you really are an enigma... You appeared on Mondstadt out of nowhere, and now you tell me you're an exorcist?"
I sat in silence, not really knowing how to respond.
Kaeya's signature smirk returned, and he said, "Well, everyone has secrets, right?"
"Heh, you're damn right. But now that you're kinda... roughed up, will we continue with this expedition?" I asked.
"I think we'll go back to headquarters tomorrow morning. I'm in bad shape..." Kaeya said, rubbing his face. "I think my jaw is broken..."
"Tough it up, you also left me some wounds," I said, a smirk on my face as I pointed at the stab wound on my stomach.
"Then let's go get them treated, shall we?" he said, standing up slowly, his body slightly shaking.
He extended his hand to me and I took it, standing up. With a smirk, I said, "You can barely stand up, man. Let's just hope the medic hasn't gone to sleep yet."
Kaeya groaned, rubbing his stomach in pain. "This is going to be a long night..."
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