Note: It's a bit violent~
Kazuha POV:
"The leaves flutter down... a samurai looks for love... follow the evening sun..." a gentle breeze caresses my face as I recite my haiku, "Kazuhaaaa~~!!" a voice seductively whispers into my ear, a shock travels down my spine, "H-Heizou?" I turn around to see a pair of emerald green eyes gazing at me dreamily, I guess I've gotten so used to his presence I couldn't detect it anymore. Heizou plops down on the grass beside me and stretches his arms out, "Ahhh... finally" he leans against the nearby tree and closes his eyes. "Did you need something, love?" I ask softly, Heizou opens an eye, "Actually yes" he sits up, "there is this new case of a mysterious cave in Liyue with strange sightings and effects near Guyun Stone Forest, since you've been to Liyue a couple times, want to come with me to solve the case?" A cave in Guyun Stone Forest with strange effects and sightings... hm, nature tells me something is brewing. "Sure, Beidou's next ship is coming in about 10 minutes, lets go" I offer Heizou an arm, he happily hooks his arm through mine as we stroll down towards the ports in Ritou. The breeze gets stronger as we reach the seaside, the wind picks up Heizou's shirt blowing it up like a balloon revealing his bare chest, he had a very refined and fit build, I stare at the curves his muscles make on his body getting completely lost in my thoughts. Heizou coughs abruptly, "I know I'm pretty... no need to stare that hard~" he chuckles and leans in closer, he squeezes my hand as I feel my cheeks burn. I can't believe I got caught... so embarrassing. "Ahoy there kiddo!" Beidou calls out from the main deck, "returning to Liyue with your love now are we?" she says while lowering the bridge, a slight blush washes across my face, "indeed..." Heizou and I make our way onto the ship, the clouds covered the sun making the early morning seem like late afternoon. Soon the bridge was stowed away, the anchors were lifted as the ship whirred to life making it's way to the Land of Contracts. Heizou galloped up and down the deck, looking at everything in awe, he reminds me of a younger version of myself, young, innocent, and full of energy. "Wow look how massive this cannon is, imagine if I fired myself into your heart~" he says smugly, I hide my face behind my hands, "Heizou..." I say quietly. Heizou laughs heartily before stomping out a beat on the wooden planks, he claps his hands along with the beat, "1 and a 2 and a 1,2,3,4!" Heizou begins singing sea shanties, uplifting the mood on the Alcor, soon everyone was joining in, clapping and singing along with him. I smile as I hook my arm through his arm and skip in circles singing at the top of my lungs.
My heart flutters watching Heizou full of life, his smile speaks a thousand words as his hair gently dances in the wind. The ship soon halts in the ports of Liyue Harbor, "we're here! we're here!" Heizou grabs my arm excitedly, I kiss his cheek affectionately, "yes my love~ now lets crack that case of yours!" I say as we get off the ship. I lead him to the nearest teleporting point, within seconds our feet touches the crunchy sand of Guyun Stone Forest. Heizou takes in the view around him, "so this is where Rex Lapis sealed Osial with his spears" I look at him in surprise, "so somebody actually studied a bit of history before coming out, huh..." Heizou chuckles and nods. Heizou pulls out a old looking map, his happy-go-lucky personality suddenly changes into a razor sharp focus as he examines the map carefully, "according to the map, we need to head east across the sea to that small island there" Heizou points to a neighboring island, "now problem, how do we get across the- wait, I got it" Heizou removes his shoes and starts walking into the ocean deeper and deeper, "come on zuha!" he calls, I remove my shoes and go after him. We both swim fully clothed to the neighboring island, I heave myself up to the shore. Wearing normal clothes and swimming is something I wouldn't recommend, the clothes are quite heavy to carry while swimming. Heizou and I put our shoes back on and squelch our way to a warm rock and we sit down, water drips down from both our faces as we pant heavily to catch our breath, Heizou flips his hair back in style as he pulls the map out again, the map was drenched, the ink smeared messily all over the paper. "What a good idea Mr Shikanoin~" I say nudging his arm playfully, he pouts before declaring "it's not all lost!" Heizou begins knocking on the rocks, so I did the same, I gently knock on a rock...mm, solid. I keep going until I reach a quite secluded spot and I give the rock a tiny knock, the sound waves travel throughout the whole section of rocks, the ground gives in as Heizou and I fall down into the abyss of darkness, "Ahhh?!" Heizou screams as the ground unexpectedly opens up.
With the help of my anemo powers, I summon a gust of wind that picks the two of us up and gently sets us down on the moist rocks at the bottom, it was pitch black, I couldn't see a thing. Only the sound of water dripping down and Heizou's fast breathing was heard, "o-okay so... lets feel around for any passages!" Heizou stands up and immediately hisses in pain, "agh... I bumped my head on the roof of the cave..." I fumble a bit until I found the top of his head, I rub it for a while until he stops whimpering in pain. "Maybe we should go on our hands and knees like animals" I say as I crouch down on my hands and knees and begin crawling forward, "Kazuha wait!" Heizou takes out rope from his small rucksack and ties one end on his waist and ties the other end on mine, "so we don't get lost" I nod, "smart thinking!" I say as I crawl forward slowly, feeling the walls for any passages. My fingers glide over the moist and cold walls until suddenly my hands feel something peculiar, I apply more force and the rock falls landing into the deep waters below. "Looks like we'll have to jump" I say looking down at the deep murky waters, "but first we need to remove this rope, otherwise we'd collapse on each other and cause an injury" I untie the rope and place it back into Heizou's small rucksack. I raise both my hands above my head as I dolphin dive, my body makes contact with the murky waters, sploosh! I hear another splash as Heizou lands into the waters as well, I move my arms in a circular formation syncing my legs with the rhythm, "Heizou I see a light there, we should swim towards there" Heizou gets out the rope again and ties us back together, "right... lets go" I start to swim towards the light pulling Heizou along with me.
I heave myself up on the muddy banks as I pull Heizou up as well, "this is it! This is the mysterious spot!" Heizou exclaims, he pushes the leaves away revealing a small camp site lit up by many fiery torches. "For some reason this place gives me the creeps..." I say as my eyes dart around the campsite. Straw mats lay on the muddy grounds as red, black, and blue ink were smeared messily on the walls, leafy hammocks were hung loosely between the branches, "apparently to uncover the truth, I'll have to speak Hilichurlian to summon the scroll" Heizou says scratching his head, "since when can you speak Hilichurlian?" I ask curiously. "I know a few phrases, and I think I remember the phrase that is needed to summon the scroll, before the map got destroyed..." Heizou walks towards the centre of the campsite before bellowing at the top of his lungs. "CELI DADA, MOSI ABAAAA!!" suddenly, strange symbols light up the walls as dark purple mist floods into the campsite, I start to feel a little queasy as the mist suddenly summons a whole gang of nobushis. I grab Heizou's hand and lift of with the help of anemo, we reach a higher platform and begin running, our feet slamming down hard on the ground. A group of nobushis ambush us from the front, I quickly turn around only to have also been ambushed from the back, "prepare for battle, my love..." I unsheathe my sword, jumping up and attacking with the help of anemo, letting out all the techniques and skills I have mastered with my blade from the past few years. Heizou joins me in combat delivering many powerful anemo punches and cyclones knocking the nobushi off their feet, one of the nobushi takes a run at me, I skillfully dodge the attack and stab it in the back it screams in pain. Another blood curdling scream was heard and it shook me to my bones, I turn to see a nobushi making a deep gash on Heizou's waist. Fury gurgles inside me like an angry and active volcano about to burst, "ONE WITH WIND AND CLOUD!!!" I scream aggressively, the strong gust of anemo pushes the nobushi off a nearby cliff, making it fall to it's death.
I immediately rush to Heizou's side cradling him close to my chest like a baby, the cut was deep and he was starting to bleed at a quick pace, I remove my shirt and tear it into long strips before wrapping it around Heizou's waist. I piggy back him as I jump down from the platform back down to the campsite, I swim across the body of water back to the murky waterways, my body strains as I try to carry Heizou's weight and the weight of my clothes, I look up at the high rock face that Heizou and I had jumped down at the beginning, "Oh boy..." I mutter to myself, I boost myself up a couple of times before gripping onto the wet rocks and heaving myself and Heizou up slowly, my muscles are straining... it feels as if my arm is about to burst, I continue heaving myself upwards, until suddenly Heizou's grip on me loosens, I panick and quickly use one arm to grab onto his ass to secure him on my back, it works for a while, although I move up in a slower pace. Suddenly, Heizou's head droops on my shoulder as his arms flop to his side causing him to fall off my back, my heart feels like it's been jabbed as I feel Heizou's body leave my backside. "HEIZOU!" I scream as I watch his body fall down into the murky waters, my body was frozen in time, a few seconds later I hear a crack which sends tears of horror and sadness to my eyes. I dig my nails into the wall while sobbing loudly, my voice echoes throughout the cave, I climb up the last few rocks slowly, letting out ugly sobs as I feel my whole world crash down. I sit on the edge of the cliff staring out at the eerie realm, I bury my head into my knees and cry my heart out, hot salty tears fall from my eyes landing into the unforgiving waters below. "I'm sorry my love... I'm sorry that I wasn't able to protect you, I'm sorry for not making it on time... I-I lost another loved one... not again..." I shiver in the cold as the cruel wind whips against my bare body. After a few moments I grudgingly got on my hands and knees and crawled back through the small entrance and used my anemo powers to get back to the top of the island.
The rain pelted down from the skies of Liyue, it is as if Rex Lapis was feeling sympathy towards me. I walk to the waters edge and stare out at the unruly waves, I caught a glimpse of myself in the water, my eyes were puffy and red from crying, my hair looks like a birds nest, small cuts and bruises decorated my body. I let my arms drop to the sides, my left arm bumps into something, I look at my hip and notice that Heizou's small rucksack was tied onto me with the rope. My heart suddenly leaps, I teleport onto the Alcor and sneak past the sailors and Captain Beidou and close the door to my cabin. I collapse on the floor, still feeling the sadness wash over me. I open the little rucksack and emptied the contents on the floor, there was a pair of socks, Heizou's diary, pens, and his wallet. I hug Heizou's possessions close to my chest, and place them safely in a drawer. I clean myself up and laid down on the bed, staring at the roof, thinking of nothing but today's events. I lost him... I LOST HIM... I slam my fists angrily on the bed, why why why! I grip my hair tightly as I feel some pain surge to my scalp, I take a few deep breaths. I remember an Inazuman summoning ritual where people would summon ghosts of their loved ones, I sprung up from my bed and opened my trunk, I took out naku weed, onikabuto skins, and a few twigs with incense smothered on it. I take out a box of matches and burn it while praying and thinking of Heizou. The smoke fills up the room then gradually clears out as I see Heizou standing there, he looked the same as I remember, but with a faint white glow surrounding him. "Heizou...!" I say as my voice breaks a little, "Kazuha!" Heizou rushes towards me and hugs me tight, he shakes violently while sobbing, "shh... it's okay, I'm here now..." I say as I glide my hands up and down his back to soothe him.
A few moments later, his sobs die out, "I'm sorry Hei-" I began, he brings a finger to my lips, "it's not your fault... if the universe wanted me dead, then so be it..." my heart sinks a little, he takes my hands and squeezes it tightly, "promise me to keep smiling and fighting hard, okay?" I nod as tears sting my eyes blurring my vision a little. "My time is running out in the human realm, before I go... recite that haiku for me again..." I take a deep breath and say quietly and shakily, "the l-leaves flutter down... a s-samurai looks for love... f-follow the e-evening s-s-sun..." Heizou gives me a light kiss on the lips before evaporating into thin air. I grab at the air but it was too late, he was gone again. I look in the window and force myself to smile, soon my cheeks relax and it seems more natural. Heizou will forever remain in my heart, and I will never forget all he has done...for me, and for us.