The night was young, a gentle breeze seemed to carry you with it, your eyes like starlight glowed dimly in the night. You lazily glanced around, not a person in sight. The small mushrooms growing under a nearby tree caught your attention momentarily.
Too young.
You didn't know where or why you were walking, it just felt right.
Something tugged at the back of your mind, like a scratch. You couldn't quite put your finger on what it was, in fact you couldn't remember anything.
The realization didn't bother you, it felt familiar somehow.
Without any care in the world, you began walking down a path that felt so familiar yet so unfamiliar at the same time, the numerous mint plants and snapdragons were of no interest.
Eventually, you stumbled upon a large purple flower growing on a cliff. You grinned, like a child. Eagerly you walked towards it, the scratching at the back of your mind seemed to ease up as you wrapped your small fingers around it and gently plucked it.
But something felt off.
A strange sense of panic hit you, a feeling you were sure you'd never felt before. The scratch, that screaming-- something screaming at you, where is it? What is it?
Something is wrong.
Your hands began trembling, goosebumps ran down your spine. Before you knew what was happening, you dropped the flower in your hands. The second it hit the ground, something seemed to crack in your mind.
A wave of emotions hit you, sensations-- feelings you'd never felt before.
Happiness, fear, surprise. Everything at the same time, You had no way to know but the glow in your eyes became so bright that it began drawing attention.
But that desire, to finish your job. Didn't pass, the scratching albeit faint. Still drove you onwards, you bent down and carefully wrapped your hand around the violetgrass, as soon as you touched it something flashed.
You blinked, numerous times. The bright flash came from a small glowing thing in your hands. Curiously, you watched the glowing gem in your hand. Somehow it felt familiar but you had no idea why.
With your other hand you grabbed hold of the violetgrass, the scratch reminding you of your work. As soon as you touched the violetgrass, something warm filled your body. The feeling almost caused you to drop the flower.
In your hands, the violetgrass flourished. As if coming to life again, it began growing much to your awe.
"There!" a voice interrupted your thoughts.
Usually you were able to tune out everything around you, but something drove you to turn around. To see and find out what was happening, you had forgotten what curiosity was.
A small child watched you, as soon as your eyes landed on him. His widened with fear, a scream so loud it made you wince followed as the child turned around and ran.
Curiously, you tilted your head. For the first time in what felt like years, something was stronger than the scratch in the back of your mind. And you did something you had never been able to do before.
Follow your own voice.
*
You quickly lost the boy, you lost track of where you were. Or even how you got there, the small green gem you had stuffed in your pocket. The vibrant violetgrass, safe in your hands.
The night was cold.
A strange hollow sense filled your body, immediately the scratch took hold of your mind again. Attacking your every sense to get you back in control.
"Excuse me-- Madam." a soft yet very frightened voice slowly began.
That was all it took for your mind to be freed again, like a desperate child you turned towards the source of a voice to find an elderly man. His eyes widened at your attention.
"Please-- I apologize for my grandson's inconvenience. I assure you it will not happen again." the man pleaded.
Something hurt, hurt in your chest.
You merely tilted your head, unsure of how to face what you were feeling.
Instead, you took a step forward. Perhaps it was curiosity that drove you. Perhaps not, but you walked until you stood mere inches away from the man. He looked like he was about to pass out any second, something you were keenly unaware of.
With furrowed eyebrows, you slowly reached your hand out and placed the violetgrass in his shaking hands. At the action his entire face seemed to light up in both surprise and relief.
At the sight a warm sensation filled your body, you didn't know why. But you smiled, you had never felt anything so strong before.
"Thank you--" the man stumbled on his words.
Without another word, you turned around and left. Even now, you knew. It was only a matter of time before the scratch took over. That was one of the few things you still remembered.
Throughout the night, you let it control you. Let yourself sink back into the hollow bubble you had been in for so many years, but as night turned to day. And you finished your work, you felt the scratch disappear.
It left you empty, confused and afraid.
You stared at the statue in front of you, flowers were piled around it. Each large and beautiful, for some reason when you touched them they seemed to flourish to life.
For hours, you sat at the base of the statue. Staring up at the lifeless figure that you knew in your heart you loved, but you had no idea who he was. And as hours turned to days you did the only thing you knew how to do.
And began walking.
However, you didn't get very far. Little did you know, that people had noticed you, noticed how you hadn't vanished like every year. Rumors had spread far and wide of a ghost, silently praying to Rex lapis. Perhaps the people had taken pity on you, perhaps they wanted you gone.
You usually didn't notice the presence of people, animals or anything living alike. But something shuddered in your heart, something made your body shiver.
Like something had just given you a breath of life, you whipped your head around and came face to face with amber eyes-- staring intently at you.
"Isn't it cold out here?"
You blinked, "cold." you repeated, your throat stung at the sudden use.
The man smiled warmly as he approached. You felt captivated by his amber colored eyes, having no sense of shame or fear of the unknown you didn't react when he approached and sat down next to you.
"Were you a follower of Rex lapis?" he curiously asked, you didn't say anything as he wrapped a coat around you.
A pleasant smell hit you instantly, you couldn't describe it other than it being relaxing. It was warm and comfortable.
You wrapped your hands around the coat and rubbed your head against the leather, it was warm. And smelled like home.
"Y/N.."
You froze, the name was so incredibly familiar it made your head hurt. Having forgotten what pain felt like you were instantly wincing in pain, your head throbbed. The name repeated itself over and over again in your head.
The man continued talking but you couldn't listen, didn't want to listen. What more pain would his words bring you?
You didn't realize you were shaking until a strong arm pulled you somewhere, the warmth of the coat wrapped around you was multiplied a thousand times over. Distracted, you let the memory of the name fade away as you leaned into the warmth of the stranger.
"Do you remember me?" the man asked, you merely shook your head.
"I'm sorry..." he faintly whispered, you didn't know why he was apologizing.
He smiled softly, "why don't you come with me?" he offered, reaching out a hand.
"Can't." you hoarsely replied, you opened your mouth to continue. But had no words to offer as to why you couldn't.
"Rex lapis is dead." he suddenly said, the painful feeling you had felt earlier was nothing compared to what you were suddenly feeling. "Your contract is over." the man added.
"Rex lapis?" you questioned completely ignoring the last part. Your voice was strained. More so than usual, you weren't sure why you were feeling so faint. Or why your eyes were suddenly so blurry, something cold trailed down your cheek as you took a couple steps back.
Out of instinct you reached up and touched the tear.
"What-- is this?" you stammered, the pain felt like being stabbed, tears ran down your cheek. Your vision was blurry, something curled in your stomach.
The man stared at you with sorrow filled eyes, he took a step forward but you quickly moved back.
"You're lying." you seethed, not with rage but with disgust. You knew Rex lapis wasn't dead, "who are you?" you added, the grass around your feet began slowly growing and snaking around your feet.
"My name is Zhongli." he calmly introduced, "It's cold out here, why don't you come back to Liyue with me?" he offered once again, his voice was soothing, every word he spoke made you feel more at ease.
You stared into his amber eyes, waiting for a sign. For hesitance, regret or even fear to well up inside you. But all you felt was a calm sensation, if he had noticed your powers he didn't say anything. Hesitantly you took a step forward and the grass around your legs fell back to the ground.
"Rex lapis isn't dead." you said again, Zhongli's expression didn't change. Instead he waited for you to slowly walk towards him.
"He isn't." you repeated more to yourself than to the man in front of you.
You didn't know you were crying, or what it meant for that matter. Annoyance surged through you as you rubbed away the tears that kept spilling. Like a child you sniveled loudly, "stop." you said to no one in particular.
Warm hands suddenly engulfed you, you froze in both surprise and shock. Zhongli smelled nice. His embrace was warm, strong and made you relax. It wasn't unpleasant, but you couldn't stop crying.
As you silently cried into Zhongli's coat you slowly began breathing slower until you let yourself fall asleep, the darkness and warmth lulling you to sleep.