hello <3
im back after a much-needed break
updates will still be incredibly slow since i have busy schedules
here's a long chapter for you guys as some content
love you guys and thank you so much for 70k reads!!
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(The next part is at the Northland Bank, skipping the part in front of the wangsheng funeral parlor)
As the three of you entered the bank, angry shouting trailed to your ears.
A dry chuckle followed shortly after. "Don't take it to heart, Childe. Besides, aren't you happy that you got to skip the formalities and bring chaos to the land? I'm sure you must've enjoyed that."
The woman speaking then shifted her ice blue gaze to the door. "Oh, it seems that some of your friends have arrived."
"Hey, it's Zhongli and Childe! And... you! You're also one of the Harbingers..." Paimon gasped.
"Signora." Aether seethed, narrowing his eyes.
"Hehe, it's you two. I believe we've met once before... In the city of Bards, was it? I'm gald you still remember my name. And you." Signora looked at you, a small smirk on her face. You stared back at her, gritting your teeth. "I knew that incompetent boy couldn't contain you,"
You forced a smile. "That makes two of us."
She narrowed her eyes again, then decided to play more with Aether. "Ah, right. I imagine that must have been rather hard to forget watching helplessly as something precious was snatched away from you and your friend."
Your grey eyes flicked to Aether, who was barely holding it in. You reached over slightly, brushing a gloved hand on his arm to reassure him. It seemed to help, as he released a small breath.
"Don't let her get to you, Aether," You muttered.
"Yeah, you've yet to gather the powers of all eight elements, and our last battle at the Golden House was almost more than you could handle..." Paimon agreed. "So it might be best to keep things peaceful this time, seeing that two of the Harbingers are here."
"Well if it isn't Aether and Y/n." An annoying voice cut in. "This is our first time seeing each other since Liyue was nearly wiped off the map. This is certainly a bit... awkward, wouldn't you say?"
Paimon huffed. "Paimon knew that we should never have trusted a Fatui Harbinger!"
"Aw, now don't say that. Sure, I may have misled you, but I never had anything against you personally..." Childe shrugged. "Besides, I thought we were getting along quite well together, didn't you? Except for those little tussles we had... hehe. Nothing personal, we just have... different views, that's all. Of course, you may very well hold this against me, but that's up to you. The real deceivers here are Signora and Zhongli... curse them for leading me on."
"Signora and Zhongli?" Aether asked, confused.
"So actually, I think-"
"Stop wasting time, Childe." Signora snapped, rolling her eyes. "There'll be plenty of time to chat once I'm through here."
She then turned to Zhongli. "You remember the agreement, Morax. Now, if you would be so kind... The Gnosis, please."
"Agreement?" You asked. At the same time, Aether said "Gnosis?"
"What in the world are you talking about!?" Paimon exclaimed.
Zhongli sighed. "The contract is fulfilled. That which thou seeketh is now bestowed unto thee, for my promise is solid as stone."
You felt a shiver of power ripple through the room, a contract set in stone now fulfilled. You watched Morax's Gnosis materialize in his palm, pulsing lightly with golden energy.
Signora scoffed lightly. "How sanctimonious."
"I mean, I did have my suspicions..." Aether mumbled.
Paimon gaped at Zhongli. "What! So you're the Lord of Geo!? No, wait! That's any exciting twist and all - but why give the Gnosis to the Fatui??"
You barely heard the scoff in Zhongli's voice that he hid. "I do not give it for free. I give it as agreed upon in the contract, for it is a matter solely between the Tsaritsa and I."
"But why fake your own death?" Aether pressed.
"Yeah, you don't think you went a little bit too far with that whole fake death thing!? Everyone was preparing the ceremony for you when splat, this big dragon falls out of the sky and all of Liyue goes into an uproar. Talk about a disaster!" Paimon agreed.
Signora laughed. "Gathering all the forces that had been bubbling behind the scenes, and then stirring them together in a pot that was bound to boil over... that's what he wanted to see, am I right?"
"W-what?"
"Maybe it's best if Zhongli explains." You suggested, tilting your head in his direction.
Zhongli sighed. "As you know, I've dwelt upon this world for more than six thousand years. I witnessed the founding of Liyue together with the adepti three thousand and seven hundred years ago. Even boulders that can withstand whirlpools will erode with the passting of time. I kept convincing myself that cracks and not begun to form and that the end of my time had not yet come.
Until one drizzly day, as I was strolling along the harbor, I heard a merchant tell one of his workers, 'You've finished your duties, go ahead and call it a day.'"
You tilted your head. You could tell where he was going with this.
"I stood motionless among the crowds, asking myself, 'Have I already finished my duties?'"
"Oh, Zhongli..." Paimon said quietly.
"But as I began to consider relinquishing my divine role, I soon discovered that many reasons still remained to not hastily depart. Was Liyue, the city I had dwelt in for so long, already prepared to enter its new age? I decided that a test was needed in order to reveal the answer. So I feigned my own death, and gathered the cast of Childe, the adepti, and the Liyue Qixing to play their roles together on the stage that was Liyue.
"Let me guess - you had another plan in case it all burned down." You said, crossing your arms.
"That's right, which is why I continued to safeguard the Gnosis until now."
Paimon frowned. "So you mean that if the chaos ever reached the point of no return, you would simply appear and use your divine powers to bring Liyue back under control?"
You lifted an eyebrow. "She's not wrong."
"Of course. And it would have been all too easy for him, too." Signora answered. "Just as a child quickly matures after losing their parents, so has Liyue matured when faced with the death of its deity..."
A trace of a smile appeared on Zhongli's face. "I was pleasantly surprised with the finale of the show that you all put on. Why, you even deserved an encore. The adepti deserve the greatest applause considering their years of seclusion... they hardly recognized the city. Yet, faced with such a crisis, they exerted the greatest amount of restraint. Not only did they manage to cooperate with the Qixing, but in the end, they even tried to understand the heart of the people.
And hats off to the emissary dispatched by the Cryo Archon to fulfill our contract, Signora. She managed to keep everything she knew in strict confidence, far from the eavesdropping ears of her colleague, Childe, just as I had requested. All the while, I carried on as Zhongli, and fulfilled the traditions of Liyue in this mortal form. Thank you for walking that path with me, Traveler."
Zhongli made eye contact with you, and a silent conversation passed between the former and new Archon. You nodded slightly.
"These things were all a part of my script," Zhongli continued. "The only unforeseen plot twist was the conduct of the Liyue Qixing. I had expected them to do no more than the adepti... to come to the defense of Liyue. But when all was said and done..
'They seized the opportunity to supplant Liyue's divine protectors and used the subsequent power vacuum left by my death to quickly gain complete control of Liyue."
"That doesn't sound good at all..." Paimon said.
Zhongli let out a sharp laugh. "On the contrary, I think it is excellent. I had always feared that it was too soon for them to take over from me, and it was also that which I longed for the most. As such, this is the best parting gift anyone could have given this god of old."
Childe suddenly decided to cut in. "Hey, what about me? Doesn't anyone feel the least bit of remorse for deceiving me? You've practically kept me in the dark!"
You rolled your eyes at his child(e)ish whine. (see what i did there :))))) )
Signora apparently decided to compliment him, however. "I think that thanks would be more appropriate. You certainly played no small part in all of this... wreaking havoc and turning the city upside down. The Lord of Geo ought to thank you for your performance, if anything. If you hadn't created the pressure of a battle between mortals, adepti and a god, the lump of coal resting in the hands of the Geo Archon - Liyue - would never have been able to become a dazzling diamond of a city."
Childe growled. "Just whose side are you on, mocking me like that? Are you itching for a fight?"
"We were both easily fooled," Aether cut in, at the same time you scoffed and said, "I think she'd win."
Childe glared at you, and you stared right back, silvery eyes hardening at him. Signora stifled a laugh.
Childe turned to Aether. "Be that as it may, you've come out as the hero of Liyue. I, on the other hand, will be forever proscribed as a disturber of the peace, no?"
Signora sighed. "Well then, with the Gnosis in my possession, I have no use for such idle chatter. We should return to Zapolyarny Palace and seek an audience with Her Majesty, the Tsaritsa. Come, Childe."
"Ugh, fine... I'll meet you there later. I'm not sharing a boat with the likes of you."
"Hmph, do as you wish."
As Signora walked past you, your hand snapped out and gripped her wrist. She paused, whirling around and giving you an icy stare.
"Tell this to the Tsaritsa, word by word." You ordered, keeping your voice steady and maintaining eye contact."
"⊬⍜⎍ ⋔⏃⊬ ⏁⊑⟟⋏☍ ⏁⊑⏃⏁ ⟟'⋔ ⌇⏁⟟⌰⌰ ⏃ ⍙⟒⏃☍, ⊑⟒⌰⌿⌰⟒⌇⌇ ⏃⍀☊⊑⍜⋏. ⏚⎍⏁ ⊬⍜⎍'⌰⌰ ⍙⟟⌇⊑ ⏁⊑⏃⏁ ⊬⍜⎍ ☊⍜⎍⌰⎅ ⏁⏃☍⟒ ⏁⊑⍜⌇⟒ ⍙⍜⍀⎅⌇ ⏚⏃☊☍ ⟟⎎ ⊬⍜⎍ ⟒⎐⟒⍀ ☊⍜⋔⟒ ⎎⍜⍀ ⋔⟒ ⏃☌⏃⟟⋏."
~~~
The three of you walked out of the Bank, silently turning and walking down the stairs. Paimon, for once, was not talking her head off. She seemed to sense the mood and slipped into wherever she goes to when she's not here.
"I have to do-"
"What was that-"
You both paused, and chuckled quietly.
"You first," Aether offered.
"No, no, you." You insisted.
"Alright.." Aether paused. "What was that language?"
You stayed quiet for a second as we walked through a small crowd of people who were trying to get home. Finally, you replied, "It's an ancient language, that only Archons knew."
"How did you figure it out?" (i seriously cant even remember if aether knows the details- i think he does though)
You shrugged. "It was kinda just an in-the-moment sort of thing, yknow? But I've never read or spoken it before, so it was weird."
That ended that conversation, and you remembered that you were going to say something. Aether remembered too, since he glanced at you. "What were you going to say?"
You lowered your gaze to the stone pathway. "You remember the month thing, right?"
He seemed to realize where you were going, as he paled a bit as he nodded. You continued. "That, uh 'Choice' is tomorrow night."
By this time you guys were walking outside of the Harbor, walking up the hill. You turned to look out at the ocean, the high moon glistening on the waters. Your gaze shifted to the city, studying its bright lights. You noticed some people heading to the place where 'Rex Lapis' died.
"I think you should head back to the city." You called, making Aether blink and look over.
"But, this is something we need to talk about," Aether protested, turning to face you. You sighed, looking over at him.
"We can talk tomorrow morning," You offered. "But I really think that the people of Liyue would enjoy seeing the hero that saved them all."
You didn't mean to, but your voice had a commanding tone to it, yet still stayed gentle. Aether picked up on it, and nodded reluctantly.
You side-hugged him once before he jogged down the hill, Paimon appearing next to him again. You watched them as they entered the Harbor, before turning and teleporting away.
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AHHHH
i cant tell if thats long enough or not long i seriously cannot do this
ok anyway
love you guys
hope you're doing better than i am
byeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee <3
-vae
(p.s. call me that btw ^)