Can't Stop Loving You | Childe x Zhongli | Genshin Impact [COMPLETED]

Arc 3: Chapter 28: First Sphere

The next morning, they continued searching the mountain on foot. Childe's wound stopped bleeding but he still couldn't move it around much. The duo walked in total silence, speaking a few words only when necessary. Tartaglia didn't dare say anything and Zhongli did not know what to say.

"There."

Tartaglia lifted his head to see what Zhongli was pointing at. There was a path that splitted into two routes. One seemed normal enough, the other had odd, light blue ice growing out from the ground. The ice seemed to give out an eerily cold aura, making the temperature drop by a few degrees. The pair made eye contact and they immediately knew that they were going to go down that path.

The two jogged over, watching their surroundings carefully. Without speaking at all, they knew to watch each other's back. Having gone adventuring multiple times, it had become second nature to them. Childe noticed a pile of ice made of a similar material as the light blue ice. He was going to go over until Zhongli yanked him back and glared at him quietly. Tartaglia glowered back and turned to look at where Zhongli was looking at. Camouflaged with the white and blue background. A huge creature sat on the floor, seemingly asleep. It was nowhere as large as the geovishap they encountered in the past but it was still not something to mess with. It couldn't help but remind him of the Stonehide Lawachurl in Liyue.

"Frostarm Lawachurl. We need fire to break its shield." Zhongli whispered softly.

"Or maybe we can just sneak around it." Tartaglia said and ventured forwards, quickly but quietly. Zhongli tried to stop him but he had already slipped away. He didn't have any other choice but to follow along.

Childe tried to smash the ice but the ice wouldn't budge. A loud smack could be heard and they both flinched, turning to look at the Lawachurl. The creature stirred slightly but remained asleep. Both breathed a sigh of relief before looking at each other. They communicated with gestures and body language and it went something like this:

'Are you insane?'

'Shut up.'

'Don't ever do that again!'

'Fine, can we get back to what we are doing?'

'Look around... and stay quiet.'

The duo had a quick look around and found themselves looking at red crystals that glowed just very slightly. Looking at each other, Tartaglia was the first one to touch it. Zhongli frowned and gently smacked his unhurt shoulder in disapproval. Neither of them had changed much. Childe was still the one to face things head on and somewhat recklessly. Zhongli was still much more careful and conservative.

"It's warm." Tartaglia said softly, "I think it has some sort of elemental energy."

"Still awfully reckless to touch it like that." Zhongli hissed. He held up his spear and carefully pried the piece of scarlet quartz. Tartaglia picked it up afterwards but it immediately disappeared. A soft, scarlet hue appeared around himself and he felt an unexpected warmth.

"Shoot it." Zhongli whispered, pointing to the ice. Tartaglia raised an eyebrow but did as he was told. His arrow met its mark and sure enough, the ice cracked a little, small droplets of water dripped down the sides and onto the ground. The warmth had also disappeared from his body.

"Look for more."

Quickly and carefully, they found a few more scarlet quartz around and thawed out the ice to find a sphere. It hovered above the ground, glowing slight as it waited for someone to activate it.

Tartaglia reached out to touch it, but immediately withdrew his hand because of the cold. It was so cold that it hurt.

"Are you okay?" Zhongli asked almost immediately after seeing the reaction.

"I'm fine, I'm fine. Look."

The sphere glowed brighter and then unexpectedly, it shot up into the sky and towards the peak of the mountain. It seemed they had done something right. Their satisfaction was cut short when the creature behind them woke up and roared furiously at them for entering its territory.

"RUN!" Zhongli yelled, grabbing Tartaglia and pulling him along.

"I KNOW!" He yelled back, running along with Zhongli.

The creature might be big, but it could dash and jump to cover distance quickly. Along the way, they caught the attention of the hilichurls and broke apart in an attempt to dodge them. Tartaglia had no idea where Zhongli went but all he knew was that the Lawachurl seemed to have marked himself as the target instead. He tried to nock an arrow but it proved difficult with his bad shoulder. Tartaglia kept going, hoping to lose the creature but he found himself facing a broken bridge that led to nowhere. He tried to back track but the Lawachurl blocked the path, growling furiously at him.

Tartaglia backed up, all the way to the very edge as the Lawachurl advanced on him. Where was Zhongli?

The creature pounced but was quickly knocked aside by a huge boulder.

"UP HERE! QUICK!" Zhongli yelled.

Tartaglia quickly recovered from his shock and dashed over, grabbing onto Zhongli's hand as he heaved him up. The boulder bought them enough time to pulled Childe up, but it quickly got back onto its feet and roared at them, looking angrier than ever.

"WATCH OUT!"

Zhongli started to run when he managed to pull Tartaglia up, but hadn't noticed the ice boulder that he Lawachurl had thrown back. Childe tackled him, sending them both crashing into the ground, but also safely away from the ice that crashed into the stone behind them. Childe on Zhongli... well, certainly a new experience for them. Tartaglia would've probably went red or said something funny but it was no time for that. They both scrambled onto their feet and continued running. Zhongli led them up a steep slope which they both had to put in extra effort and work to sprint up.

When they finally reached where there was solid ground, they were both completely out of breath and sweating despite the cold climate. Tartaglia laid down on the freezing cold ice, laughing softly like a mad man. Adrenaline pumped in his veins, making feel quite high. Zhongli just stared at him weirdly, wondering what might have gone wrong in Childe's head.

"Idiot, watch your back next time." Tartaglia said when he spotted Zhongli staring.

"Maybe watch where you are going next time." Zhongli retorted.

Childe snorted and sat up, his heart rate and breathing more or less stabilising. He brushed off the ice and water that might have stuck onto him. "Well. That's one down. Two more to go. Ice leads in." He said, pointing to a large cave entrance nearby. Naturally, the both of them had to venture in.