Chapter Text
The moon, high in the sky, beamed down onto the bridge, illuminating Lawrence’s path to the entrance of the city. He had been called to help Swan with supervising Klee after an unusually destructive fish bombing, but after many hours of searching, he couldn’t find either of the pair. Discouraged, he had decided to return to the city.
Once the city of freedom, now it’s sure to return to the aristocracy, Lawrence thought wistfully. Looking towards the city gates, he saw a knight that had probably been stationed to protect the city gates while he and Swan were gone.
“Who's there?” he asked with slight curiosity.
“I should ask you that question,” said the figure standing next to the gate as he seemed to examine him. Lawrence looked around. There was no light in sight, and the moonlight that blanketed the bridge had vanished. The pitch darkness made him feel like something could emerge from night at any moment.
“Are you just gonna stand there, or what?” the guard asked him with a perplexed tone. Lawrence snapped back into the conversation.
“Long live the king!” he blurted loudly at the voice he recognized as Huffman.
“ Oh, Lawrence?” Huffman asked.
“Yes, that’s me,” Lawrence responded.
“You came here late,” observed Huffman concernedly.
“And you’re out late. You can go to bed, you know,” Lawrence said. Huffman’s posture relaxed.
“Oh, good, no one told me when to go home. It’s cold, and I don’t feel well,” Huffman said, turning to leave. Before he could disappear behind the gates, Lawrence heard the sound of footsteps on the bridge, and he felt himself tense up. He started walking up to the other knight and began speaking.
“Um…have you seen or h-heard anything these past few hours?” he asked shakily.
“I haven’t even heard the ducks quacking,” Huffman responded as he continued to walk away.
“Good night then. Oh, and have you seen Klee and Swan?” Lawrence asked, remembering the pair he was sent to find. Hopefully, they had returned to the city while he was searching for them.
"I think I hear them."
Lawrence heard footsteps from behind getting louder.
"Halt! Who's there?" shouted Huffman, turning to the gates and approaching slowly
Lawrence turned his head. Standing at the end of the bridge were the figures of Swan and Klee.
“Klee, Spark Knight of the Knights of Favonius!” the little elf exclaimed. In her hands were a few fish. Even in the dark of night, Lawrence could tell she was bouncing up and down, oblivious to Swan shaking his head and covering his forehead with one hand.
I wish I could be like her, oblivious to everything going on in Mondstadt right now , Lawrence yearned.
“And Swan, liegeman to-” Swan was cut off by Huffman yawning.
“Good night, you three. I shall take a well deserved rest,” Huffman mumbled as his figure disappeared into the night. Lawrence walked to his usual position next to the main gate before turning back to the two knights.
“Welcome, Klee; welcome, Swan,” he greeted, standing up straight against the cold, hard walls.
“Lawrence, has the ghost appeared again?” Swan asked. Lawrence paused for a moment before speaking.
“No, I haven’t seen it so far,” he answered slowly. Swan made a “hmm” sound and crossed his arms.
“Hopefully, I can manage to convince Klee that the ghost is real, but the Knights of Favonius Handbook doesn’t say anything about persuading children,” Swan said with a sigh. Immediately after, Lawrence heard the sound of grumbling, causing him to flinch as Klee started yelling.
“Shut up! It’s not real! We won’t get possessed by that ghost!” Klee shouted. As she started whimpering, Lawrence took a step towards the bridge and put his arms out.
“Klee, sit down, and let me tell you about the ghost we’ve been seeing for the last two nights. It is real, and it won’t possess us,” he offered. Klee plopped down on the rocky ground.
“Alright, fine…” she uttered. Lawrence cleared his throat as Swan headed for his post.
“Last night, we saw a ghost walking around just beyond the bridge-” Swan gasped, interrupting his anecdote.
“Lawrence, Klee! It’s the ghost!” Swan shouted at them, pointing towards the other end of the bridge. Lawrence immediately turned his head to where he was pointing. Standing there was a translucent figure as ethereal as Celestia itself. It was hard to make out details from that far away, but he could tell it was the same figure — the shiver up his spine was the same as his other sightings of the ghost. The moon shone its light on the ground, lighting up the ghost. It was as blue as Cider Lake’s water at night, with a brownish head that, from what he could tell from this far away, looked about the same color as Kaeya’s skin.
Wait, but Kaeya is… Lawrence thought for a moment. It can’t be… unless…
“Swan, do you think it looks like the late Cavalry Captain?” he asked the other knight. Swan nodded briefly before turning towards Klee.
“ Would you like to try and speak to it, Klee?” Swan offered politely. Klee stared at the ghost with wide eyes, unmoving. Her usually lively stance was replaced with a stiff one. Lawrence put a hand on her shoulder.
“Go speak to it!” he encouraged loudly, pointing at the ghost. Surprisingly, Klee turned to him for a moment, her eyes glinting with confusion, before rushing to the end of the bridge.
“Uh, Kaeya, what’re you doing around here? Do you like to walk around here? Why are you so see-through? And why aren’t you talking? Talk to me, Kaeya! Right now! If not, I’ll kick you!” Klee demanded loudly.
Klee stopped shouting, letting silence take over the area. After a few moments, the figure of the ghost became even smaller than it already was, until Lawrence had to squint to even see if it was still there. Swan lowered and shook his head.
“Klee, I think you offended it…” he grumbled, loud enough for Klee to hear it from the other side of the bridge. The barely visible red dot that was the little elf got even smaller and seemed to bounce, although it was hard to tell from that far away.
“Kaeya, please stay! Talk to us! I’ll even give you some food!” Klee bellowed.
The ghost disappeared from Lawrence’s sight as Klee came sprinting back. He saw her eyes were just as big when she first saw the ghost, but she held herself in her usual springy way. Swan crossed his arms and sighed, his face crawling with disappointment.
“Do you think it’ll come back now?” he uttered to the other knight. Shrugging, Lawrence knelt down to Klee’s level.
“Klee, do you know now that the ghost is real?” he asked her gently.
“Are you sure that wasn’t just Kaeya?” Klee replied, her face now a mix of skeptical and curious. Lawrence opened his mouth to speak before being cut off by Swan.
“It did look like Kaeya, but it wasn’t his living self. The ghost was translucent and, well, ghostly, right?” he explained. Klee didn’t stop to think before replying.
“Huh, you’re right! So WEIRD! What if this is the start of bad to come? What if we’ll become ghosts too?” she speculated. Lawrence looked at Swan, who looked more puzzled than he would if someone had just asked him a question unrelated to the knights.
“Uh, Klee, we won’t become ghosts. Anyway, do you have any better ideas about the ghost, Lawrence?” Swan asked, looking at him with an expectant look.
“No,” Lawrence replied. The other knight’s face twisted into an annoyed expression. Swan looked back at Klee, his face turning more gentle.
“Klee, are you tired? I can bring you back to your house if you want,” he suggested. In reply, the small elf shook her head.
“No thanks, I can — wait, there it is again!” Klee screeched, facing the other end of the bridge. He followed her gaze, stopping when he saw the celestial-looking ghost. It was standing a lot closer to them than it did last time — probably only a dozen feet away — but it was gazing at the water below the bridge, paying no mind to the three people near it.
Everyone stopped moving and stared at the ghost. The lack of sound made Lawrence feel as though it would attack them at any moment. The ghost turned its head to the left slightly, causing Lawrence to flinch. However, Klee perked up at its action and leapt towards it like a cat to fish.
“I’ll try to get it to stay this time! Hey, Kaeya! Can you speak to me please? Pretty please?” she asked. The ghost opened his mouth for a moment, and as he thought he heard the first semblance of a sound from the ghost…
CAW!
The ghost remained silent.
“Hey! Kaeya! Can you not talk anymore?” Klee asked inquisitively. The ghost simply stared at her, causing her to step back.
“It’s not talking! Um, welcome to Mondstadt, strange yet respectable traveler! Please state your identity and intended destination!” Swan shouted at the ghost. It replied by staring at Swan and shaking its head slightly.
“Kaeya didn’t respond…does he even know those words?” Klee said, looking at Swan. Lawrence took his gaze off of the ghost and onto her.
“I’m pretty sure it knows those words,” Lawrence answered. Klee nodded her head in reply.
“Oh, makes sense. He’s smart,” she said, twirling around to face the ghost. “Sorry I-”
“Lawrence, Klee, it’s gone!” Swan yelled. Looking up, Lawrence saw the ghost had disappeared without a trace. Getting up swiftly, he returned to his perfect guard pose in front of his station — or at least as perfect as he could get it after seeing the ghost.
“I think it was about to speak, when a rooster crowed and interrupted it,” he speculated. Klee made a thinking pose for a few moments before replying.
“Let’s tell Diona about this. I think she was friends with Kaeya!” she concluded. Lawrence heard a “huh” from the knight next to him.
“Wait, they were friends? How did I not…whatever. Klee, if you want to tell Diona about this, I know where she can be found tomorrow morning.”