A few weeks later, when Nat’s arm was completely healed, she was sparring with Albedo at the Knights headquarters after an extended trip to Liyue, when an urgent message came for her. Swan from the front gate said she was needed at the bridge, where Huffman would meet her. She hadn’t been around for the latter half of the week, and a million thoughts went through her head of what important quests or intel she didn’t know about. Huffman told her it was of the utmost importance when she reached the city’s gate, and that she needed to head out to the scene of a carriage incident, immediately, where she would meet with Kaeya. Albedo bid her farewell, telling her to be safe as she ran off into the fog covered bridge toward Windrise.

Upon arrival, she found Kaeya and Diluc surrounded by an uncomfortable ambiance that flooded the air. Kaeya knelt behind Diluc, head bowed down, a hand on his older brother’s shoulder. Nat quietly walked forward, the other knights stepping aside to let her through, eyes bouncing between her and the boys, causing Nat to feel flush as worry started to spread throughout her body. When she got closer, Nat saw that in Diluc’s hands was the limp body of his father.

Crepus Ragnvindr was dead, and she didn’t know how or why, but she knew her friends, or more so her brothers, needed her support more than ever. Despite her own sadness, she pushed aside her emotions, and hugged them both from behind, listening to the muffled sobs of Diluc as he held his father once last time. After she finished her embrace, she stood back up, feeling a shaking in her knees. Nonetheless she helped Kaeya up, and wiped away a single tear from his cheek.

“I was too late.” Kaeya whispered to Nat.

“No you weren’t,” Diluc responded without looking back, “this was his delusion. We couldn’t do anything.” As Diluc finished, another sob escaped his lips. Nat knelt down next to him, putting a hand on his shoulder.

“Let’s go home Diluc,” She said so only he could hear. Nat continued, “I’m here for you, and I am so sorry, but we need to go. The knights will take care of this and bring your father to Wangsheng Funeral Parlor.” Hertha started to walk over, followed by a few other knights with a stretcher, when Crepus’ body suddenly started to disintegrate into thin air. Diluc said nothing, as his father’s body turned to ash before his very eyes, they all just watched in astonishment. After they all had a minute to process what had happened, Diluc collapsed into Nat’s arms. Kaeya joined the trio on the ground, as a slight drizzle started to fall from the sky: a sign from the archons of things to come.

They walked home, and Nat spent the next few hours making plans while taking care of Diluc and Kaeya. She brought them back to Dawn Winery, and sent a knight to Liyue to find Xingqiu, with a letter from Nat explaining all that had happened tonight. She knew Xingqiu would guarantee that Crepus’ service was properly taken care of, as they would have a funeral without the body. She was willing to pay whatever she needed.

In the meantime, she brought tea to Kaeya and Diluc, hands still shaky from the shock, and she stayed with them in the study until they both seemed to doze off. Nat was exhausted, and knew she needed to talk to Grand Master Varka as soon as she returned to headquarters. So many thoughts ran through her head: How many people know? Does Jean know? Amber? Albedo? How will I explain this to Klee? Feeling overwhelmed and like she had to get back to work, Nat got up off the couch, covering the brothers both with a blanket before giving them a kiss on the forehead goodnight. As she opened the door, a light showed in, slightly waking Kaeya up. He quickly fell back asleep, mumbling to himself, this is all my fault. The sorrow in his voice, even though it was so quiet, broke Nat more than she had expected.

On her way back to Mondstadt, she stopped by Windrise, begging Venessa, Isaroth and Barbatos for help. She wanted to make sure her friends were okay after this, as she knew all too well how hard the pain of losing someone so dear could be.

“Barbatos, Isaroth, Venessa please look after my brothers. I need them.” She prayed, and sat for a moment in thought before finishing her journey to Mondstadt. Upon her return, Jean and Lisa were waiting for her in the lobby, where she confirmed the news they had heard. Jean led her to Varka’s office, and bowed out quickly, leaving them alone. Nat told Varka everything she knew, and expressed concern about the Ragnvindr boys.

“I will check in with them first thing in the morning, Natalya. Crepus is a great loss to Mondstadt.” Nat agreed, quickly explaining the preparations her and Adeline had begun, Varka told her to keep it hushed, and to act as if there was a body as best she could, which made her suspicious. “Very well. Get some rest, you’ve had a long week.” Varka concluded, iIt had been a long day alone, and a long week indeed, but as she left Varka’s office she had an urge to go back to the Dawn Winery and spend the evening with Kaeya and Diluc, so she walked back despite the time. The rain continued to come down, and she created a parasol of rock to keep her dry, while it didn’t work as well as she had hoped, she used it anyway to amuse herself. As she approached the winery she started to hear quite a commotion, and saw flames fall down through the sky near the Ragnvindr home. She couldn’t imagine what type of chaos had started this late at night, as she dropped her parasol, sprinting to the winery, ready to draw her sword. The boys had been through enough today, whatever was happening was the last thing they needed.

What Nat walked in on was nothing she had ever expected to see. Diluc and Kaeya were in the middle of a heated duel, Diluc using every bit of his vision power to create flaming hits with his claymore. Kaeya did his best to dodge, but soon fell to the ground, blood coming from his one eye. Nat could hear Kaeya apologizing to Diluc, hysterics in his voice, but Diluc didn’t care. Instead, full of anger, he wielded his sword for a kill shot, and as Nat went to grab her sword to defend Kaeya’s life, a strange light emitted from the sky onto Kaeya, a cryo vision appearing in his hands. Quickly, Kaeya lifted his sword, and the elemental burst of their weapons clashing shocked both brothers, and Nat, even from afar. Diluc put his claymore down, staring at his younger brother, his anger slipping away into something else as he started to walk away from Kaeya.

“Diluc!” Nat yelled after him, and both brothers turned, shocked to see her drenched in front of them, as they had been too engulfed in emotion to notice her, “What the hell is going on?” Nat demanded when neither of them began to explain themselves.

“Why don’t you ask Kaeya,” Diluc scoffed, “Or maybe don’t, I wouldn’t trust half the things he says.” He finished. Nat tried to walk closer to Diluc, Kaeya still kneeling and staring at the ground, but Diluc wouldn’t let her get close.

“Diluc, wait, I’m sure there’s some misunderstanding here.” Nat begged, as Diluc continued to walk further away.

“I need to be alone tonight Nat, please escort Kaeya back to the knights headquarters.” Diluc said aggressively; he felt a tinge of pain for talking to Nat in such a tone, and he could feel the pain she felt from it, but he needed to be alone. Diluc walked into the winery, locking the door behind him and shutting off all the lights. After a moment, Nat turned her attention back to Kaeya.

“Are you okay? You have burns,” Nat said as she took Kaeya’s face in her hand and examined the burns on his face, it wasn’t too long till she noticed his eye, “Oh archons your eye Kaeya, can you see?” She held Kaeya’s face in her hands, turning it to see the slash going through his right eye.

“I’ll be fine Natalya.” He answered, pained, just barely able to contain the emotion he was holding back. He had finally told his brother, his confidant, his secret. Everything he had hidden since he first came to Mondstadt as a little boy. While he had expected some anger, he never expected he would have a near death experience.

“Let’s get you back to your room at headquarters then, we can get Sister Barbara to help you,” Nat said, and she helped Kaeya up. They walked together in the rain, silent at first, but eventually Nat let curiosity get the best of her and asked, “Kaeya, please tell me what happened.” Kaeya kept walking, but looked away from Nat, not wanting her to leave him too if she knew his truth.

“Nat, can I trust you?” He questioned, fear lingering on his lips.

“Of course Kaeya, no matter what I am here for you just like you’ve been here for me.” Nat answered as Kaeya twiddled with the vision in his hand.

“My father was from Khaneriah. He left me here, in Mondstadt, informing me that I was the only hope for our nation before abandoning me in the woods.” Nat let Kaeya’s words sink in, she had heard about Khaneriah in Snezhnayan lore, but that was it for the most part. It was an ancient, godless world that was attacked by archons years ago, causing the cataclysm and archon war. Kaeya continued, “My father wanted me to infiltrate Mondstadt, but I was so young. If Crepus hadn’t decided to take me in, I don’t think I would’ve made it, especially since I didn’t have this vision at the time.” He laughed, causing Nat to look at him, holding back tears as she saw the pain in his eyes. She stayed quiet for a moment, a moment too long for Kaeya. “Do you hate me now Natalya?” Kaeya whispered, defeat in his words.

“Of course not. In fact, we’re more similar than I thought. Coming from Snezhnaya, home of the Tsaritsa and Fatui feels similar. Just don’t kill me anytime soon,” Nat joked, “It’s going to be okay Kaeya, I promise.” Her words caused a slight smile to come across his face and they continued to walk home, rain pouring down.

When they got to the knights headquarters, all was quiet as it had to be three or four in the morning. She brought Kaeya to his room, and put ointment on his burns. Kaeya wouldn’t let her call for help, so Nat did her best to stitch up his face. Luckily, the knights made them all take basic training for first aid, so while her stitches may not be pretty, they would keep Kaeya’s eye safe from infection. Nat chose to stay with him for a few moments after, until he had passed out from pure exhaustion. As Nat closed his door, she took a deep breath, catching a glimpse of herself in the mirror across from his room: She was drenched, still dripping wet from her shawl, which she quickly removed. She was also covered in a mix of dirt and dried blood from Crepus and the brother’s battle. Nat felt overtired but had too much pent up emotion, she felt like she could go for a run or fall asleep all at the same time.

She found herself wandering the halls of the headquarters, head uncertain, when she knocked on Albedo’s door. After she knocked, she instantly regretted her decision, remembering the time and her state of affairs. She started to walk away when the door creaked open.

“Nat?” Albedo questioned, peeking out from his room. Nat turned at his voice, tears forming at the corners of her eyes. Albedo opened the door more, inviting her in. The second he closed the door she felt like she could fall apart, but she stayed quiet, awkwardly standing in his room. “Are you okay? I heard about Master Crepus, I am deeply sorry for your loss Nat.” Albedo spoke, causing a tear to fall down her cheek. Albedo continued, “Has no one said that to you today?” He questioned, concern in his voice. She shook her head no, realizing that all day no one had asked her how she was. She felt like no one should be asking her, but the question felt important.

“I’m sorry for waking you Albedo,” she whispered, trying to hold back her emotions, “I just didn’t want to be alone. I can go…” She went to turn away, but Albedo grabbed her wrist.

“Please stay, let me be your friend.” Albedo spoke calmly, and he led Nat to sit down on a small sofa next to his fireplace. He left his room, and came back with a cup of tea and a damp towel, and he wiped the dried blood off of her face. “You’ve had an unusual day, you must be tired. Why were you out this late” He spoke, as he finished tending to her mess.

“Kaeya and Diluc had a fight.” She said, sparking Albedo’s interest.

“They fought? On the day their father died?”

“It was horrible Albedo, I thought Diluc was going to kill Kaeya… and..and” she stuttered, not sure what to say. Albedo knelt down in front of her and gently grabbed her shoulders.

“Deep breaths Nat. It’s okay now. What happened next?” Nat explained the fight, the vision, and her walk home to Albedo. She didn’t know if she should tell him Kaeya’s secret, as it wasn’t her secret to tell, but she knew the burden would weigh on her if she didn’t. For now, she decided to hold the weight on her own.

Eventually, Nat fell asleep on Albedo’s couch. Careful as to not wake her, he carried her back to her room, using the hidden key she kept above the door to let himself in. He laid her down, put a blanket on her, and left her a note that he would be in Mondstadt tomorrow if she needed him, reminding her that he was there for her.