ʜᴇʟᴘʟᴇꜱꜱʟʏ | ᴢʜᴏɴɢᴄʜɪ

3 - 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙧𝙩 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙧

tw; suicidal thoughts.

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liyue was peaceful.
it always has been.
under the protection of the geo archon meant that you would be brought no harm, and everyone stays happy.

not in childe's case though, oh how he was fooled.
manipulated, he should say.
it really hurt him, being betrayed by signora and zhongli.

during the months they've known each other, childe believes that zhongli was the only person who he's ever considered close to him that wasn't a family member.

but to think, he was just a mere pawn in this whole game.
to be thought of as a clown in the circus. stupid. funny-looking. gets laughed at. unimportant.

zhongli broke it all. broke his heart. broke his pride as eleventh harbinger. broke his trust.

childe couldn't fucking stand it anymore. he wanted a break. he wanted to break. he wanted to cry. let it all out. he wanted to just destroy liyue. he honestly just wanted to die, kill himself right here on liyue's wharf.

but he can't. can't even bring himself to glance at zhongli anymore. he can't even bring himself to fight anyone. and to think some mere ex-archon could shatter childe's will to fight, just like that. as if it were just glass.

he stared out at the blue ocean, crouching down on one of the docks of liyue's wharf. the sea breeze was cold tonight. no one was around and the splash of the tide beneath him helped ease his mind. he doesn't even know what he's still doing in liyue. liyue's not his home. perhaps it's his attachment to zhongli that he just refuses to leave.

where even is zhongli? what's he up to?

he missed being greeted each day, missed being asked how his day went. missed zhongli in general.

he's such a lovefool.
zhongli never actually cared for him.
it hurts.
maybe.. if he summoned a hydro dagger and just—

"Ajax! Don't, please!"

hydro dagger dissipating from his hand, he turned to the direction of the voice, it was zhongli.

"Ajax.. please. Don't do this. I wanted to talk to you, you've avoided me and I wanted to see if you were alright—"

he hugged zhongli.
no matter how much he hated this man.
he loved him.
so much.

"please zhongli. don't ever leave me, please. stay with me, it hurts, so much."

"Ajax.. I promise. I swear. I hope you'll forgive and let's forget."

"zhongli.."

he cried.
but it didn't hurt this time.
zhongli was here.