Double Trouble Disco Dance

28

"Welcome to our first Round Table discussion," Childe placed his hands on the table and then sat. He'd cleared out the throne room to set this up. None of his advisors were within earshot so they could plan accordingly. 

"Yae Miko, Kamisato Ayato, shall represent Inazuma. King Diluc, his personal assistant Venti, shall represent Mondstadt. My royal spouse Zhongli will be speaking for the Empire of Liyue. Are there any complaints?" 

"Just one," Scaramouche raised his hand. "Why didn't you introduce me?" 

"You never told me you were from Inazuma. Conflict of interest," Childe glanced away. 

"Are you seriously choosing now to be angry about that?!" 

"Ehe?" Childe grinned. 

"Respectfully, Your Majesty," Scaramouche curled his hand into a fist, "I would like to strangle you." 

"Disrespectfully, Scaramouche, if you did I would have you beheaded." 

"Before you begin," a blonde with a small child following entered the room. He pulled up a chair and sat down. The kid sat on his lap. "I shall participate in this discussion as a representative for the Abyss Order. My name is Albedo and this is Klee." 

"The what?" Diluc's jaw dropped. 

"Well then, let's carry on," Yae Miko ignored them and started her purple presentation in the center of the table. "We don't have much time until the meteor strikes. It's headed for Liyue at this time but will impact all of us greatly and possibly make the planet uninhabitable. That is, if anyone survives." 

"How are we to destroy a giant space rock?" Venti raised his hand. 

"There is no need for concern," Zhongli folded his hands on the table. "I will be able to stop this myself." 

"Rejected," Childe slapped his hand on the table. "Next suggestion." 

"Shouldn't we hear him out first?" Ayato asked. "Wasn't that the whole point of this?" 

"I have no interest in hearing my spouse's attempt at self-sacrifice." 

"We don't have a lot of time nor do we have a lot of options," Yae Miko shook her head. "If we're going to get anywhere in these discussions we need to actually discuss." 

"If the plan was to use your dragon-cursed body to counteract the force of the great meteor there are other ways to go about it," Albedo sketched on a notebook. "For example, using the power residing in a dead dragon to create a ray powerful enough to smash the giant rock into smaller rocks," Albedo held up his sketch. "We could send teams after the smaller rocks and that should be more manageable." 

"You plan to use Durin's body?" Zhongli asked. 

"Absolutely not," Diluc shook his head. "There are many mysteries residing on the top of Dragonspine but that is why it's dangerous." 

"What is more dangerous, King Diluc: dying from a meteor or from the mysteries of Dragonspine?" 

"Both together will be equally catastrophic or perhaps moreso," Diluc frowned. 

"What about Dvalin?" Venti suggested. 

"What about Dvalin?" Albedo repeated. 

"Why don't we ask him for help?" 

"Oh, are you friends with the mystical dragon of old that he would come to assist you from impending doom?" Albedo adjusted Klee on his lap. 

"Ah, mm..." Venti adjusted his sleeve, pulling it down. Childe had already caught a glimpse of the scales. Similar to Zhongli's but not the same in color. 

"All we've established so far is that we have no idea what to do," Childe folded his hands on the table. 

"It's the end of the world, they don't exactly write manuals for how to handle such things," Ayato chuckled. 

Childe closed his eyes for a moment and felt the dragon's breath on himself. He clutched the table's leg underneath and covered his eyes with his hand. You must know what is going to happen. Why fight it so much?

"Emperor?" Zhongli turned his head. 

"Excuse me for a moment," Childe stood up. "I need some fresh air." He exited the room and closed the door behind him. He breathed in the air deeply and leaned up against one of the wooden beams. 

Foul Legacy.

Childe's head turned. It wasn't the dragon speaking but the image of a giant man in armor. He blinked a few times and wiped his eyes but the image stayed. Foul Legacy. The armor held out his hand. Childe reached out to grab it but pulled his hand away last minute. 

"I've really lost my marbles, hm?"