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otakuworks · 1 year

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❛ 𝐒𝐄𝐄 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐋𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐑. reborn au

feat. Zhongli x Reincarnated!GN!Reader | PART I | wc. 4.6K

Based on 'See You In My 19th Life' | overview. this webtoon follows the story of a woman who can somehow remember all her past lives.

sum. after a sweet hello, your lips never found its way to say the bittersweet goodbye. because you knew you would always find your way back to him even if he won't recognize you in your renewable lives.

note. some scenes are purposely inaccurate to the canon lore

main.mlist genshin.mlist | xiao ver.

You first met him as Morax, a little child dragon you grew up discreetly meeting at a very convenient time of your day, never knowing what's stored for the two of you.

He first met you as Y/N who resides at the countryside near Mt. Tianheng in hopes to find new things to discover across the vast lands of Teyvat. And he did. He found you.

Young Morax found you crouched under an oak tree, the wind flowing with your otherworldly voice, enrapturing him in blissful comfort.

Perched in the tree branch, he listens intently and let himself melt in your grace. It wasn't the first time he finds you warbling a melodic tune, and each time he comes back to hear more from you, it's always a different song and it wouldn't cease to amaze him how much ditty you know.

He lost count on how often he'd fall asleep with your voice lulling him and wakes up feeling empty as the epilogue of his day is always spent without your presence.

Sometimes he wonders if you know he has been watching you, and if you do, why aren't you approaching him? No matter, young Morax doesn't intend to befriend with you.

But then one day...

"Hello! You must be the boy who likes to hear me sing by the tree."

He was caught red handed, perhaps he became distracted that he didn't realize he's been shamelessly stalking you. He couldn't stop his curiosity to follow you in your way home.

Not only he's been spying on you, now he sounds like a stalker. But you didn't suspect, there wasn't anything to be suspicious of anyway.

"H-Huh? H-How did you know?" He gotta commend you for your keen senses. He's the Dragon between the two of you, which means he's supposed to be the one who has sharper senses.

"You must be good at anything but hiding. I have known you've been following me, but I never get to see you up close, you're really majestic looking, by the way." You chuckled as his poor attempt of masking his flushed face at your compliment.

"I don't mind your company, in fact, I want to be friends with you."

Friends. What a foreign concept for young Morax.

He has heard of that term, it's common among mortals, but he's not a mortal. Does this 'friend' term stretches to immortals like him as well? If so, then he has no reason to refuse.

Says the person who one minute ago thought of every alternative ways to stay out of your way.

He was skeptical at your optimism, most mortals would be astounded at his appearance and try to persuade him to spill whatever secrets he has, but as he got to know you better, he was a bit guilty to categorize you as one of them.

His horns and inhumane features? Young Morax found out you're only fascinated by his unique physical looks. And never doubted it.

"Cool! You have horns just like our boars, where did you get those? Can I touch them?"

"Did you just compare my horns to a pig? Pigs don't even have horns! How disgraceful!"

The sparkle in your eyes quickly died down as it came, and the young Morax feels tight in his chest just seeing your smile turns into a frown. You insulted his pride though!

You mumbled a meek apology but still kept your sheepish smile, a glimmer of hope that one day he'd let you do it.

The next days were spent by you sneaking out your house every midnight to meet up with the dragon, Morax. He's slightly skittish, oddly resembling him that of a cat, which is cute.

You probably shouldn't be calling a literal Dragon cute, legends depicted them as tyrannical creatures who seek treasures.

Ah! Classic children's story to scare the kids away at night, it did affect you in some way.

But you can't help it when he would eagerly look at you whenever he asks you to sing him a song.

You'd sit side by side under the tree, you have to admit he'd either falls asleep amidst your song or asks you for the lyrics so he can sing it to himself too.

You even dedicated a song that lets a certain flower bloom.

"Glaze Lily? What's that?" Young Morax asked with tilted head.

A smile outstretched your lips, "Beautiful, right? It transforms the memories of the land into its fragrance during florescence."

"Really?! Is that why you're always out in the dark?" You chuckled sheepishly, feigning ignorance, "Don't know what you're talking."

You got to know each other, held hands like innocent children, share what little knowledge your pea sized brain can, hug whenever one seeks comfort, eat under the glistening sun.

Morax is... a sensitive individual, albeit rough around the edges, but he's young and still learning, and you're unbelievably patient with his attitude— a quirk from you that he greatly appreciates.

From that, young Morax grew fond of you and it isn't one sided.

He flies by the same tree and gives you random things he finds magnificent, whether it could be a rock he found by the lake or a rare item that no one has ever discovered before.

Well, the legend wasn't lying about Dragons and treasure, for sure

You'd laugh at the strangest things he discovers but accepted them nonetheless. Every object he gives you is worth something.

This has been part of your routine for days, weeks, months, even years maybe. You don't know how much time has gone by whenever you're with him and you never bothered to count.

Before you know it, the two of you are almost in young adulthood, he grew up to be a fine man, much unlike you were expecting. Nothing changed from your friendship, until now.

You were taken by surprise when he suddenly blurted out one day

"I want to show you what I see from up there one day, Y/N."

He gazes at you much differently when he looks at you when you were younger. There's a glint of promise in his eyes that you can't pinpoint, it sent shivers all over your nerves.

"You can just fly me up there, Morax. I'm sure I'm not heavy." You muster a smile in an attempt to ease your quickening heartbeats.

He never gave a reply, he only stared at you so intensely that it feels like he's poking your deepest and innermost thoughts.

The way he stares at you never fails to summon the tickling butterflies in your stomach and the blood on your cheeks. You merely regarded that as your hormones, anyone would be flustered if someone they're close to stare at them like that.

You should've known better that nothing in your world stays permanent. The only thing you remember after that day was his twisted look of desperation to keep you alive and tear stained amber dyes trying to get the last image of you in his memories.

"N-No... Y/N please stay with me. D-Don't leave m-me just yet." It hurts you more than the numbing pain in your abdomen to see him broke down like a cornered prey. So helpless and vulnerable.

"I-I'll always be w-with you, Morax..."

So cruel, just when you've begun to realize the burgeoning feelings you have for the Dragon, fate took you away before you have the chance to confess.

Should you be selfish to confess your feelings to him? If you do, it seems like you'll be punishing him an endless torture ahead, and you would never wish Morax to suffer for eternity.

You only smiled and caressed his horns, even in your deathbed you're glad you died in the arms of the man you ever loved.

At the last moment, you heard the anguished wail erupts from his throat as he clutches your form closer, begging and crying for you to come back, to not leave him like this, that he needed you, that he loves you. His pleas fell on deaf ears, for you weren’t there to hear him anymore.

But it became clear to you that he reciprocated your love.

It came a shocking twist when you opened your eyes you can hear multiple cooing sounds from around you. Didn't I die in his arms? Where am I? Turns out, you were reborn. But not as Y/N anymore and you were given a surname.

Unfortunately, the Celestia isn't so forgiving. You were suffering from an unknown illness that took away your second life at such a young age.

You trained hard and learned martial arts in your third life as you were born from a family whose tradition is to produce well-trained warriors in the future.

Fourth to eight life came by like a blur, there were times when you get to lived as an innocent child only for it to be ripped away a few years later with your past memories resurfacing.

You stopped counting after it hits a dozen, born in different class, society and unnamed nation. There's no point of it.

All you want is to look for Morax, but will he remember you? Will he even recognize you as Y/N? You're no longer the kid he grew fond of. No, you're much different than before.

What about him? Decades have past, does he still know of your name? You could've been a fragment of his childhood that he dare not talk about with his new friends.

Will I make your life more difficult by trying to reconnect with you, Morax?

Those thoughts haunted you for nights, often occuring in your dreams.

But what can you do, you're so far away from Mt. Tianheng, you don't even know if the village you lived in still exists nor do you know if Morax still visits the tree you first met.

Even if you did meet him in your new life, you ought to stay as acquaintances.

Aiding him in the shadows and lessening his burdens within your power.

In your hundredth life, all of your training in your third life is proven useful at the moment. You're known as the infamous warrior with no name that took down the monsters around Teyvat, you were revered to the people in the Guili Assembly.

War is threatening to wage amongst Gods and mortals alike.

When it came, no one is safe in and out of the battlefield. To survive they must fight tooth and nail, paint the lands in sea of red and play the game of thrones.

It was gratuitously morbid, gruesome and unjust. A macabre of series of deaths surrounded your every wake, your hundredth life is the epitome of a living nightmare. Horrifyingly memorable.

You were at the sidelines, watching as the war unfold, keeping tabs on Morax's allies and eradicating whatever threat they face.

That's when you came across the stunning Goddess Guizhong, the Ruler of Clouds, Goddess of Dust. A very close companion of Morax whom he met at the Guili Assembly along with the others.

She's capable and quick-witted, a type of peculiar person Morax wouldn't hesitate to be friends with.

As of the moment, a claymore is alarmingly closing its gap towards her, ready to slice her open.

Then you heard him scream, a cry of a man who's about to lose everything he has gained of.

That cry sent flashbacks of his tear-stained cheeks. No, you don't want to see him like that again! You'd do anything to chase away that vulnerable image of Morax, he deserves happiness and love.

Your feet went autopilot and swept away the Goddess out of the way, severing your lower limbs in the process and instantly killing you. Your eyes opened and you have started your new life.

Was Morax relieve that Guizhong lived? Did he wonder why a stranger would save her? Did he ever ask who you were? Did he... recognize you at the very least?

Your new parents panicked as they tried to appease the crying infant in their arms. Unbeknownst to your pained heart.

You saw for a brief moment before your demise how Guizhong's plausible absence will affect him. He will mourn her death as much as he lamented yours. For decades or centuries, you know he has been scarred by your passing.

You don't want him to go through that again. It's a different pain you feel when you see him tearing up, you rather get minced by a claymore than to watch him break down.

He garnered the reputation of a tyrant— but you knew better that Morax grew up with compassionate heart, he appreciates anyone no matter how insignificant they think they are.

Which is why you hold yourself from meeting him. He may not remember you, but he will certainly get attached to you once you had your way to his heart.

And a dragon who can outlive you in any lives will only suffer more from your death.

You dedicated your lives in living peacefully, learning history and new things as humanity evolves.

You vow to never fall in love if it isn't Morax you'll spend your mortal life with.

Even if he has someone he can fall in love with.

"Have you heard about the land Lord Morax and Lady Guizhong are building in Mt. Tianheng?" Gossips are everywhere about the infamous partners who survived the Archon War, there's no mouth that has not utter their names, and you're no exception.

A grin spreads over your lips as you sip your tea with elegance, "I've heard, I haven't seen them in person but the rumors about them guaranteed they're ambitious people with good hearts."

This has been a hobby you never knew; praising Morax to elate people's opinion about him. It's your small contribution to his flourishing nation.

You want people to love and respect Morax dearly just as you loved him in your childhood.

You prayed to the new Archons for Morax to find someone he can love and lean on. Someone that can be his source of strength to keep living. Someone much better than leaving him with death.

Now that he found someone he can be with, your goal in your next lives is to protect Liyue's history.

From the names of ancient relics and objects, war waged by the Gods, Nations that were built underneath the once blood soaked lands, fallen heroes who are forgotten— you know all of them. You're openly willing to offer tutelage to the inquisitive.

You sighed at the thought, it certainly will be lonely in your part. Immortal gods can still die— a death in which they'd leave their memories behind and start anew. Morax will eventually cease to existence with lovable Nation and Guizhong to remember him.

And you? Countless past lives yet you never found true happiness, and none of them was worth to remember for anyone.

Part of you feels happy for Morax finally moving on from your death eons ago, but you're still human so you're susceptible to those horrible impulses of bitterness at a basic level.

But you don't want to be a person who looks at Guizhong with jaundiced eyes just because you couldn't have Morax, so you suck it up and move on the fact Morax is in love with another.

At least my sacrifice isn't a total waste.

"Aren't they? I've met Lady Guizhong, she's such a beautiful and soft spoken woman. She and the Lord of Geo are a perfect match. I wish the two of them eternal blessings."

A tug at your heart left an unpleasant feeling, your brain tried to reason that at least he's with someone that'll love him more than you did. That can appease your bitter aching heart a bit.

How ironic. You built a nation where you first met me.

And showed her what you can see up there like you promised me.

Is that how you honor my death, Morax?

"Wow! You sure do know many things, Y/N!" The floating emergency food expressed her awe in your display of knowledge and the traveller couldn't agree more with her, "She's right, you never cease to surprise us."

Their exclaims were followed by your enchanting laugh, "I'm glad I can be at your service, Honory Knight."

You were simply ethereal to look at, you maybe a mortal like the traveller but the Blondie thinks otherwise.

Paimon and her travelling buddy met you by the Starnach Cliff when they were attempting to subdue Dvalin. Jean and Diluc already know you're part of the Adventurer's Guild as you often visit Mondstadt from time to time.

They didn't expect you to join them in their excursion in Stormterror's Lair, it turns out you're a great addition to the team.

You befriended with the traveller after the whole Stormterror fiasco and catch up with Kaeya.

You don't stand out the most in the crowd, you can blend in with everyone and no one would acknowledge your existence. But the traveller can sense the weight of the wisdom you withhold.

It almost feels like you're one of the Seven...

"Is there something else I can help you with, Traveller?"

"Huh?! Oh... I— Uhh... You've been telling us stories and fun facts about Mondstadt. If you don't mind, can you tell us about Liyue?"

For an ephemeral moment, the traveller saw your facade crumbles and slowly morphed into a nostalgic expression.

"Hmm. I'll tell you a quick introduction. Liyue is built in Mt. Tianheng after the Lord of Geo attained one of seven seats, unlike the Anemo Archon who's known to not show himself, he descends down once a year to give blessings to the people of Liyue."

"Exactly how Venti told us, but more detailed."

"He sounds a lot more of a decent God than Tone-Deaf Bard."

Her statement elicited a quiet snicker from you, "I'll be off then, I'll see you around soon." Paimon's expression deflated, "You're not coming with us?"

You shake your head, "I'll visit you when I can, until then I hope for your safe travels."

You forced a smile and took a different path from the traveller, as their figures disappear in the horizon, you felt your smile slip up as the sun whisks past the mountains turning to dusk.

Solitude in the dark has been part of your daily routine, you come and go whenever you feel like it, not knowing when to return.

The excuse you told to Paimon isn't entirely a lie, you couldn't bring yourself to go in Liyue when there's active Fatui agents scattered around the vicinity.

Let's just say you're not in good terms with the Fatui. Who isn't?

Nevertheless, whatever curse you have continued to persist in your thousandth life. You roamed around Teyvat and tell stories that even historians don't know.

Repeated lives were lived by just you traversing in each corners of Teyvat that even Archons never knew it existed.

Along the way, you've come terms with your feelings and settled it down like a dormant volcano. Morax is your first love, you enjoyed reminiscing the memories you made with him, you keep those memories locked up in the depths of your mind and often recount them in particular leisure time of the day.

You still love him, and you'll always be by his side whenever he needs a helping hand, but enough is enough, you've suffered enough to your own idiocy and fears. It's time to move on.

Morax continued to strive forward because he has changed, for the better of course. If you want to continue living the next lives of yours then you need to change too.

You met new friends and companions that you begin to trust and have fun with, the traveller and the emergency food included. It wasn't lonely as you thought it would be.

Sometimes you wonder why do you have such curse bestowed upon you. Did the Celestia punish you for a crime? Did you touch a forbidden relic in your first life? Is there a way to get rid of it?

You stopped in your tracks and you gaze up in the sky.

Am I the only one with such curse?

Damn, you really need to get your priorities straight when you have so many unanswered questions.

Basking the remnants of the ever glowing star, you turn around to walk the path that leads you to the Land of Eternity.

A new journey awaits you as you skid through the mycelium path.

Rex Lapis has died.

What a year starting with the news of a tragic death of an Archon.

Fret not Liyue citizens, Rex Lapis assumed the form of Zhongli as a consultant in the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor. In all honesty, he thinks you would facepalm on how poorly delivered that news was.

Zhongli now blends in with the mortals, often strolling to acknowledge the accomplishments he has done as an Archon.

There were too many sacrifices he made just to achieve such title and godly powers. It's uncountable.

Whenever he strolls down the streets of Liyue, there's never a day that he is not reminded of the fact Mt. Tianheng is the very foundation of Liyue. It serves as a reminder that you are his pillar when intrusive thoughts start to linger in his mind.

Oftentimes, your face is only a blur in his memory, no matter what he does he can't seem to remember your face, but your name has been engraved on his mind for eons.

He misses hearing the sound of your name leaving his lips. He misses how ignorant you both were to the world's suffering. He misses your mesmerizing voice that lulls him to sleep.

Whoever fellow Archon listening to his complex thoughts must have heard him and granted his not-so-impossible wish.

"Hey look. Doesn't that sound like a story Y/N has told us before?" A child(e)— no, a floating fae pointed at the storyteller.

But Zhongli couldn't care less about whoever she was pointing. Did he hear her right? Was it just his ears deceiving him?

Y/N... that's your name.

That's the name he longed to hear again.

Why in the seven nations of Teyvat would they mention your name? Is it just a coincidence that someone has the same name as you? No, that couldn't be it.

Something flared inside him, it's been awhile since he felt this excitement, it's not far fetched when he became your friend.

With no recollection, he became friends with the traveller and the emergency food floating companion.

When he asks them about you, an array of hope filled his entire being and he swore his Dragon feature almost burst into existence

Y/N L/N, a member of the Adventurer's Guild, he's certain you've been in Liyue if you know about its rich culture.

But where are you? He wants to go find you. Hug you like when you were kids. Sing him songs. Bring you random things he can find. Speak the words that were left unspoken when you died.

So many questions brooding his mind; are you really Y/N? If so, were you reincarnated? Does that mean you don't remember him?

The elation he felt dropped. Right... he shouldn't be disappointed if it turns out his hunch is wrong. Even if you're not the Y/N he was expecting, he wants to know you as who you are and not compare the similarities and differences you have with the Y/N he knows.

"Oh yeah, Y/N mentioned they'll be visiting Liyue soon, Mr. Zhongli." The Traveler quipped, assessing the abrupt change of emotions on the consultant's face at the mention of your name.

Paimon and her travelling buddy can't help to wonder if you two are acquaintances, or perhaps something more than that. Zhongli seems to be expecting your arrival from now on.

"Is that so? Thank you for informing me, Traveler. I shall see to it that their stay will be comfortable." He smiled.

Stay in what? In the Funeral Parlor? The Traveler sweat drop while Paimon is tempted to point out that's Verr Goldet's job. Good thing their companion put a hand on her mouth and excuse themselves

There's no time to stall! He thought.

He's determined to check it himself, it can go two ways and Zhongli won't be petulant of the result.

Archons forbid if he ever finds you, because he will not let you go.

>> PART 2

©OTAKUWORKS | 2022

#zhongli #genshin impact #genshin zhongli #genshin angst #zhongli x reader #zhongli angst #morax #see you in my 19th life #webtoon #crossover #genshin crossover #zhongli fic #genshin impact angst #reborn au

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scaredpigeons · 4 months

Text

Deus Auri

Zhongli x reader (gn)

Word count: 1.04k (smol)

CW: sfw:) mild spoilers for Neuvillettes voice lines about Morax, he calls him Deus Auri, which is god of gold in Latin— might just be a title but any little tidbit of Morax we get I just gobble gobble up. Flirting, zhongli calls you my dear, darling, vixen. No pronouns or other gender specific language used. Some kisses and allusions of wanting more.

Enjoy!

“Deus Auri.”

You can nearly hear the crack of Zhongli’s neck as his gaze whips towards you, but you keep your gaze trained on your book as if you hadn’t seen its comical swivel in your peripherals.

“I’m sorry my dear, could you repeat that?” He said, though there was an edge to his tone.

“Deus Auri—God of Gold. What can you tell me about that name?” You said, index finger gliding down the edge of the book. You were no longer reading, but still kept your eyes trained on the pages to pretend like you weren’t vibrating with excitement at his reaction.

Zhongli was naturally very stoic, a well maintained facade to those who weren’t interested in looking deeper.

You had been plenty interested, taking one look at him and instantly knowing he was no ordinary man.

Now the better part of half a year into your blossoming relationship, he still hadn’t outright told you, but he’d grown comfortable.

You’d catch glimpses of his wrists, normally covered— deep onyx with veins of pure gold. Though this only happened in the safety of his home— there was a time he had to remove his gloves to help you in the kitchen, and his perfectly pale, human hands had distracted you the entire time.

The glamor he kept up in public slipped a bit when he was more at ease.

To the eye that was actually looking, zhongli really wasn’t subtle about who he was.

“Well, why don’t we start with where you heard such a name?” He asked.

“I was with the traveler last week, helping she and paimon with a commission in Fontaine.”

You can see the minuscule wince he gives out of the corner of your eye. Just a twitch of the brows as he blinks, so graceful, but you catch it because you’re looking for it.

“I overheard a conversation she had with a lovely gentleman over there, though I didn’t get to introduce myself. He mentioned the name when the traveler was asking him about Rex Lapis.”

You closed your book, finally turning to look at him, though you kept your gaze coyly through heavy lids, peaking demurely at him through your lashes.

“And you know, I thought that was very strange, her asking him about Rex lapis, when she could learn anything and everything about him from our resident expert.”

“The traveler has not visited liyue to see me in some time, darling. And I'm sure there are others who’ve studied the gods. I am not the only knowledgeable one in Teyvat.”

“I know, I know.” You chewed on your lip a bit for effect, looking puzzled. “So who is this Deus Auri? Is it perhaps another one of Morax’s many names?”

You looked at him expectantly, grinning as he grew more stiff in his seat beside you. A mere foot of space between you on the couch and he looked like he was ready for you to pounce on him.

You wanted to, you have wanted to, but he so chivalrously insists upon taking it slow.

Hand holding in the harbour. Chaste kisses good night. You wanted so badly to break through his barriers but you knew he was holding back.

“You are…” he let a puff of air through his nose. “Correct in the knowledge that Morax was known to have many different names. Unfortunately that is all I can say on the matter.”

“So cryptic.” You squinted at him. He often shut you out when you pried like this, poking and prodding in places you know you shouldn’t be, but he was always kind and straightforward about it—so you usually dropped it as soon as he denied you.

“Do you think he had a favourite name that he went by?” You pushed a bit more, hoping to get him to give you just one more crumb before you played your cards. It was time, you were getting tired of hiding it.

He smiled thoughtfully, relaxing into the couch once more. “I’d like to think that he enjoyed the name Rex Lapis, the name given to him by his people. I’m sure it brought him a great sense of pride.”

You grinned, soaking in his expression and words. Knowing what you know— gods. He really was so cute sometimes.

You open up your book, stilling your grin to prepare for what was next.

“Really? I’d like to think Zhongli is his favourite. Retirement is a good look for him.”

You expected denial, perhaps his neck snapping back to you like it did when you first mentioned the ancient name.

What you didn’t expect was to be tackled to the floor, a gloved hand supporting your neck instinctively as you and your book tumbled along the floor with the blur of rich oranges and browns that took you down.

When you finally settled, you were on your back with him looming over you, pining you to the ground.

“You little vixen. How long have you known?” His eyes were wild, hair a mess, cheeks flushed and breathless. Disheveled.

He looked more beautiful now than you’d ever seen him before.

“From the moment you opened your mouth.”

He kissed his teeth in a quick tsk, ducking his head in embarrassment. “Nothing escapes you, does it? I knew I would be in trouble with you.”

You cupped his face in your hands, pulling him back towards you.

“And yet you kept me around regardless.” You smiled, giving him a quick, teasing peck on the lips.

“How could I not? You have an inescapable magnetism that I am completely captured by. I’m afraid to say that you’re unraveling me even as we now speak.”

You grinned at him, face feeling just as flush as his.

“How much more unraveling do I need to do to get you to let down those walls you keep around you?”

“They were gone the moment I saw that you knew the truth, my dear, you should have said something much sooner.” He tilted his head with a soft grin.

You wrapped your arms around his neck, pulling him ever closer.

“Kiss me then, you old blockhead.”

He gave a rumble in his chest that sounded very much like a growl, and it set your nerves on fire.

“Behave.” He said sternly.

“No promises,” you said as you kissed him.

#zhongli #zhongli fluff #rex lapis #genshin morax #genshin impact #genshin zhongli #genshin impact zhongli #zhongli fic #zhongli x reader #zhongli x reader fluff #fluff #genshin fluff

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naomeii · 5 months

Note

Help I had a funny idea 💀

Imagine Childe wanting to spar with adeptus!reader and they accept, they win and Childe invites them to a treat for winning. Zhongli sees this and gets kinda jealous. When reader arrives to their shared teapot they see Zhongli in his dragon form huffing and puffing in his nest.

Just a jealous giant noodle 💀

Jealous Noodle!

—Pairings: Zhongli x Adeptus! Reader

Content : Slight jealousy, FLUFF (drabble)

After the treat, Y/n returned to their home, only to find Zhongli in his dragon form, huffing and puffing in what seemed like a self-made nest. Concern etched across their face, Y/n approached Zhongli.

"Rex Lapis, what happened? Why are you in this state?" Y/n asked, genuinely worried.

Zhongli sighed, a cloud of warm air escaping his dragon nostrils. "Oh, nothing of consequence. Just... observing."

Y/n raised an eyebrow, sensing there was more to the story. "Observing what, exactly?"

Zhongli's eyes flickered, and he replied, "Perhaps you should ask Childe. He seems to have a way of attracting attention."

Y/n couldn't help but notice the undertone in Zhongli's voice. They leaned in closer, their eyes narrowing playfully. "Jealous, aren't you?" they teased.

Zhongli grunted in response, a huff escaping him. Y/n chuckled mischievously, gently stroking the scales on Zhongli's snout. "It's okay, you know. You're still my one and only dragon."

Zhongli remained stoic, but a hint of amusement glimmered in his eyes. Y/n continued to tease, "Is the great Geo Archon jealous of a little spar with Childe?"

With another huff, Zhongli admitted, "I am not jealous. I am merely... contemplative."

Y/n grinned, cuddling against Zhongli's warm dragon form. "Contemplative, huh? Well, I think someone might be a bit jealous, but that's alright. I'm only yours and no one can change that"

Zhongli let out a resigned grunt, realizing that, even as an archon, he couldn't escape the complexities of mortal emotions. As Y/n nestled against him, Zhongli couldn't help but find solace in the warmth of their affection, even if the night held a hint of playful jealousy.

#reader insert #genshin impact #genshin imagines #genshin x reader #genshin #genshin zhongli #zhongli x reader #zhongli #zhongli fluff #zhongli fic #genshin fluff #genshin drabble #childe genshin impact #childe #tartaglia #childe tartagalia #one shot #drabble #fluff

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thebomb-thebird-andtheburntbitch · 3 months

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Dragonfly: Lantern Rite

zhongli/fem!reader

genre: mindless domestic fluff

w.count: 2.2k

a/n: this lil treat is based around the reader/zhongli pair from my fic Dragonfly! (feel free to click through and give it a read hehe) you don't need to read the original material per se, but if you have, then enjoy the immortal couple going to lantern rite together for the first-time! c:

Happy Lantern Rite!

it had been a while since you had migrated from your sealed-off home in the middle of nowhere liyue into the busy liyue harbor at the insistence of zhongli (and shockingly enough xiao). according to both of them, you had spent the last few hundred years stuck in immorality and all alone; you had spent enough time in solitude. now, with your life being revealed to those who mattered to you, it was time to move forward again.

in truth, even with your experience dealing with all sorts of folks from your lifetimes, the move to the harbor was awkward. people would see you practically sticking to zhongli simply because you knew no one else and they would start conversations based soley on the fact that you must be someone he knew. he was much more popular and well-known than you suspected since he was just a mortal man now. it seems his knowledge and need to make things known when they could possibly be told in injustice worked in building his reputation.

the addition of hu tao in your small, new social circle was a burst of energy you had forgotten people had as well. her go-go-go attitude about work and seeming lack of fatigue was almost awe-inspiring. the fact that she was the boss of your archon-turned-mortal lover was just as entertaining; witnessing him try to reign her in as respectfully as possible and sigh heavily when she would flit out of his sight was a pleasantry. it made him feel more well-rounded as a person and not just the age-old archon you had known.

now, it had been about a month.

zhongli had invited you to stay with him since he was absolutely unwilling to let you get too far from him after believing you were dead for so long. he was a collectively calm man with control of his emotions, but any sane person would feel the smallest bit of clinginess- for lack of better terms- in this scenario. perhaps it was his innate instincts kicking in that he usually suppressed; the ones that made him bare his fangs or hiss at intruders on his territory... who could say?

as you sat at the open window of his home up on the second floor, you enjoyed the bustle of noises floating from the harbor and the breeze that greeted you at this height. your night clothes were wrinkled from your night of rest and your hair had only been haphazardly combed back with your fingers. the warm cup of tea in your hand had been brewed just before you took your seat at the window.

even after a month of this, you still couldn't understand how you forgot how peaceful mornings could be when they weren't steeped in lonesome melancholy.

small pads of footsteps invaded your senses and overtook the sound of the harbor before the door to the small tea room opened with a slight creak. one thing you always had zhongli beat at is being able to wake up before him.

his bare feet carry him further into the room before coming to your side and leaning down to kiss the top of your bedhead. the robe he wears slides down his exposed shoulder when he leans and his loose hair brushes against your cheek. his hand cups behind your back and slightly rubs against your shoulders in a warm, welcoming motion before his amber eyes glow in the morning sun mirthfully.

"good morning, my dear." his hand keeps rubbing your back and moves to press into your spine that is still sore from the stillness of sleep. "may i be so bold as to ask to join you?" he always asks the same question as if you'll ever tell him no. you have no doubt he does in simple jest now.

"you may, since i'm feeling generous." with a small chuckle, zhongli shifts his body to sit across from you at the tea table before pouring himself some of your brewed tea.

sitting in the orange morning sun, the veins of gold that run across his body look like rivers flowing on calm land.

"shouldn't you cover up? someone down there could see you," you tease as you take a sip of your cooling tea.

"there's no need," he sips his own steaming cup fresh from the pot. "we're far too high for anyone to take notice of my appearance properly." even if someone did notice his less-than-human traits running over his exposed skin, he'd just blame it on the sun- just a trick of the light.

the mornings were often like this. soft and quiet and slow before he knows he's needed at the funeral parlor and you would soon be needed at your own job. that was one other thing you were insistent on when moving to the harbor with him.

you didn't want to mooch off his paycheck and his home and his space forever, so you were quick to find a job anywhere you could. zhongli wishes you wouldn't have since he strongly thought that you deserved to live lazily and carefree- if not forever then at least for a while longer. still, when you didn't budge on your decision, he was quick to relent as he always was.

you had decided to go with a smaller-scale job and work alongside ying'er and her perfumes at the scent of spring. she was quite the character and when you told zhongli about your prospects of working with her- his slight flash of concern didn't go unnoted. 'she is simply a very... open person,' he had told you. the flirtatious way she often spoke to others was clearly what he was referring to when you got to know her more.

still, you had your pick and decided to stay. odd though she can act, she was a good person and offered you decent pay at easy hours. compared to running around preforming errands along with rites of partings like zhongli and hu tao- this was a pretty safe gig.

you stood outside the perfume shop with zhongli as he was about to start on his way to the funeral parlor. he always insisted on walking you to and from work- the one evening you made it home before he could pick you up was the first time you had ever seen his eyebrows droop in what you would dare to call a pout!

that miniscule pout now dared to tug on his expression this morning too. lantern rite was tonight and when the sun would begin to drop, he would be preoccupied with other tasks and mingling with friends from past and present- he was afraid the social traffic would prevent him from offering you his arm. you had no problem with the circumstances since the shop would be closing early today for lantern rite in the first place. you just told him you'd meet him at the docks before it starts.

it was mostly true; you hadn't found him in time when the lanterns were to be lifted and you instead stood among the crowd of strangers while gaming had performed his wushou dance among the calm waves of the harbor. still, you felt full watching all the festivities firsthand like this- the fulfillment filled you with such warmth. your vantage point atop the long stairs that leads down to the crowded docks gives you a sense of being on top of the world. it felt silly, but so very comforting.

"oh, y/n!" you turn your head to see the traveler and paimon coming your way, paimon waving her arm enthusiastically in the air. she then proceeds to float around you in awe of your attire. "wow! you look so pretty!" her cheeks tint as you feel yourself become the smallest bit bashful.

"well, it's my first lantern rite. i thought i should dress up a little for the occasion." wearing a styled hanfu of soft colors that easily complemented zhongli's color scheme, you picked up the skirt before letting it flutter back around your legs.

this was another reason you were okay with zhongli not being able to escort you. while it would've been wonderful to be with him the whole event, the idea of this small surprise of you all gussied up made your cheeks warm.

"you smell good too," paimon's comment made you burst out a small laugh since it was so unprompted. you clear your throat as she cups he chin with her finger. "why does your perfume smell so familiar?"

"it was a gift from ying'er. she told me it would 'suit my tastes', i suppose."

"ying'er," paimon's brows crunch in intense thought before the traveler placed their arms on their hips.

"remember the rite of parting for rex lapis, paimon?" paimon snaps her fingers and points at the blond.

"that's it!" she turned back to you to explain. "during the rite of parting, we offered perfumes up to rex lapis! this is the one that seemed to really resonate with the statue of seven. what was it- uh, something, something dusk... mist..? agh! paimon can't remember clearly." you chuckle at her.

"it's called golden house maiden. according to ying'er it's favored by the more mature crowd. the gentle scent makes it easier on me to wear since anything too strong really isn't my thing." looking at your wrist where you sprayed a small portion of it on your skin before applying it to your throat and neck, you feel yourself get hot all over again knowing it was favored by rex lapis. "anyway, are you two going to enjoy the event?"

"mmhnn!" paimon hums. "we just got back from visiting xiao, so now paimon's going to eat all sorts of delicious food!"

you shoot the traveler a sly grin before they were clearing their throat and looking away from you. oh, young love- how precious.

"so, where's zhongli anyway? normally he's hovering around you like a fly when you're not working!"

"he isn't that bad," you chuckle. "i'm meeting him in a bit. i was actually on my way down. if you'd like we can walk together?"

"sure!" paimon agrees while the traveler nods and soon you're all walking down the stairs to the warmly lit lanterns and the decorative float of one of the past yakshas. with you walking in front of the two travel companions, they both opened their mouths in silently 'ooo's at the sight of your hair all done up with a single hair stick- one they're familiar with. "they're so cute," paimon whispers to the traveler who easily agrees.

before too long, you're greeted by the bustling partygoers of lantern rite and was even offered a small lantern charm that you happily except from a passing sales pitcher.

"oh!" paimon pipes up before pointing through the crowd. "there he is!" she spots zhongli with hu tao nearby a table of small tea cups. he mentioned that he often watched the fireworks with her during events such as these. "zhongli!" paimon called, parting the crowd while you and the blond followed behind.

zhongli was glad he wasn't holding a teacup or standing up when you finally graced him with your presence. if he had, he knows he would've dropped the cup or lost his footing.

he stared at you in a daze when you offered a kind greeting to hu tao who was fussing over how pretty you looked just as much as paimon did. as if your looks weren't enough, the scent of your perfume wafted into his sense and if he were any less of a man he would've grabbed your wrist and dragged you off by now. the god of old was thankful the night was dark and light dim so no one could notice his blown wide pupils that took you in. when you finally look at him, he swallows hard.

"sorry for keeping you waiting so long. i know i said i'd be here before the event started, but i got a bit time blind... ironically enough." zhongli stood from his spot at the round table and found his voice.

"it was no trouble at all." his eyes catch sight of your hair and gently brings his hand up to cup around the dangling jewels hanging off the wings of your dragonfly hair stick. "it was clearly very much worth the wait."

"aiya, you two love birds sure are something else," hu tao sighs dreamily at you. she was no hopeless romantic or anything, but seeing zhongli so smitten was something was quite the sight to behold. "go! enjoy the festivities and relax!" her soft voice was encouraging as she pushes zhongli's back to get him moving.

zhongli offers you his arm, which you take before showing him your small little lantern charm you received while you both walked off together. the party of three you were leaving behind of hu tao, paimon and the traveler all smiled at your backs.

"they make a good couple," traveler says. the other two agree with no argument.

and although it's a little late, zhongli takes you out to the statue of seven just outside of the harbor and releases a lantern with you in solitude. while you watched it float into the air far behind its other lantern brethren, zhongli was latched onto your back, hands on your hips and his face in your neck.

this perfume really was favored by rex lapis after all.

#zhongli #zhongli x reader #zhongli x y/n #zhongli x you #zhongli fluff #zhongli fic #zhongli fanfic #genshin impact #genshin impact zhongli #genshin impact x reader #zhongli headcanons #zhongli scenarios #genshin imagines #zhongli imagines

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izzuku · 1 year

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A messy outcome ──

summary- being under the Ex-Geo Archon's orders while having him underneath you can only be justified by a contract, right? “You get to taste a piece of the Heavens...and I get to see you crumble under the pleasure, darling” - Morax

characters- powerbottom! Zhongli x top/submissive male! reader

c/w- anal penetration (character receives), unprotected sex, marking (from Zhongli), reader cums inside without a warning (he's too sensitive) , restraints on reader , orgasm control on reader, blowjob (giving), mutual aftercare and petnames

a/n- thanks for the anon who asked me to re-do it again. As I said I'm sorry to the other anon who asked me about powerbottom Zhongli. I think I've got it right this time. If I mess up again please tell me! And sorry this is a bit shorter

“How does it feel, darling? Are they too tight?” The Geo Archon speaks, filling your mind with something else other than incoherent thoughts.

“Tight...oh so fucking tight” you whisper almost exhausted, moving your hips forward so they meet with the one before you. Your hands shake under the restraints your lover decided to put on you, as it 'makes you even prettier' , he said not a while ago.

The God under you smiled mischievously, enjoying the way your body stuttered with each thrust inside of him. The fact that you couldn't touch him made you even more needy. How could you have someone so powerful under you but you couldn't even feel his body? It made you nestle your head on his neck for some closure.

“Please...please, Morax-” the name slipped, making you sit straight, eyes open and pleading for his forgiveness. "Sorry my lord...I beg of you Zhongli...I really need to cum”.

“You want to come inside me, sweetheart?” He moved his ass, pushing your cock deeper and earning a loud and desperate moan from you. “You're gonna need to last at least a bit more if you want to fill me up” the other male laughed softly.

“You just feel...s-o good. Can I kiss you while I move?” before getting an answer you were already leaning in for it. His lips captured yours, your excitement being used as a fuel to make the kiss more intense. His hands found entertainment in your chest, thumbs flicking your nipples skillfully to cause your body to shiver. “Come on love, kiss my chest” his voice echoed your mind and just like an order, your lips were already latching onto his puffy nipples.

Zhongli gave you the best grunts and moans he could. While your lips were occupied, his possessive side rose from the depths of his mind. Dark pupils turned sharp like a reptile's and his fangs dived into your flesh leaving your neck adorned with a pretty red. The pain mixed with his hole clenching around your dick pushed you to the limit.

“M'sorry...cumming! Cumming, oh archons...I can't..sorry,sorry...” you blurred out, not being able to process anything else as spurts of cum painted the insides of Zhongli without a stop. You continued moving your hips, catching your high along with his. Part of his own cum got on your flushed cheeks, eyes looking down at him with barley any energy left. “My my...look at the mess you made sweetheart...I think you're gonna need to clean this, don't you think?”

Eagerly nodding you wasted no time in putting your lips to work, licking the rest of his mess as a way of apologizing for disobeying his orders. You couldn't help but take him in your mouth and pushing it all the way in, it was still semi hard, why not just give him a hand?

“If you keep sucking my cock like that...hah..I'm not gonna be able to resist you darling” his voice became hoarse, his glowing hand grabbing a full fist of hair and pushing your head down to his pubic hair. With closed eyes and a tight squeeze on his thighs, he cummed down your throat, leaving a cute trail on the side of your mouth.

“You always know how to satisfy a God...don't you, [name]?”

...

“Is your skin alright?” your fingers caress the damaged skin of his, marks of your nails were left on his thighs and some other purple hickeys. The same was for you; two big bites on each side of your neck along with a trail of more hickeys over your chest. Hell, even both of yours and his nipples were marked.

“Everything that you do on my body I'll engrave it as a wonderful memory my love” his hand pulls your face closer to his, kissing your cheeks and forehead before leaving you on his side to rest for the rest of the night.

“What we have cannot be simply explained to the gods up there. It's more than simple, darling.”

#izzuku #genshin imagines #genshin impact x reader #genshin smut #genshin impact x male reader #zhongli smut #zhongli fic #zhongli x male reader #genshin impact smut zhongli #powerbottom zhongli

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tartigglez · 1 year

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"allow me to comfort you?"

zhongli x gn!reader

genre: fluff/reverse comfort

word count: 1.1k

tags: zhongli is SO SAD. IM SORRY. uhhhhh cuddles, lots of em, kith kith, nightmares, zhongli is dragon boi

tw/cw: ig zhongli has some sort of what i guess could be called anxiety but that's kinda it

a/n: decided to double post this week because i have exams and this is my way to destress, enjoy :)

ps... this is not very well proofread

opening your eyes in the morning is normally quite a peaceful feeling, especially when your boyfriend is with you, as he would normally have his arms wrapped around you, lovingly awakening you from your slumber. however, today seemed different, or rather, tonight.

you were awakened to the feeling of movement, and a rather dragonic looking man stirring next to you in bed.

was he having a dream? a bad one? you could’ve sworn this was the first time this had happened, and you weren’t sure what to do.

after a moment, you sat up, and decided to awaken him, as you could see the golden patterns on his arms glowing every few seconds, which after knowing him for a while, you came to figure meant he was in some sort of distress.

you grabbed his arm and started to move your hand up and down gently, as to not startle the man too much. some people might think its a risk not worth taking, to awaken a literal sleeping dragon, and even you knew the man had the potential to hurt you, but he never would. you trusted him, more than anything.

after turning on the lamp at the bedside, you began making more effort to awaken the man.

“zhong. my love, wake up”

after about thirty seconds of attempting to awaken him, the man suddenly sprung upwards, breathing heavily, and catching hold of his surroundings. he scanned around him, before grabbing onto your hand and looking down, closing his eyes.

shortly after you began to hear gentle sobs from the man. surely this can't be right. rex lapis, crying…?

“hey, what happened? you okay?”

you quickly realised however, that these questions were pointless, and that he was not going to respond. instead, you opted for pulling him closer to you, wrapping one of your arms around his broad shoulders, and holding his hand with the other, gently stroking his thumb.

his gentle sobs continued for a few minutes, before you moved your hand from his and used it to pull his head to your chest, where you presumed he could perhaps find some solace as you ran your fingers through his hair.

when his sobs finally slowed down, it took him a moment to pipe up.

“surely this position is uncomfortable for you, aren’t my horns hurting you, or digging into you somewhere? i can make them g-”

“shh, i’m okay. promise.”

“v-very well”

after another moment of silence, he spoke again…

“i am... sorry for awakening you. i cannot remember the last time this happened, but it was truly long ago”

“my love, you have nothing to apologise for. do you want to talk about it?”

“i suppose it would be improper of me not to offer up an explanation after so crudely awakening you like this… i dreamt that… they left me”

“they left you…? who?”

“the liyuean people. i dreamt that they abandoned everything here, that their archon was no longer worthy and-”

was he crying? again?

“hey, you’re okay. it was only a dream”

“i’m sorry, i do not have these experiences often, which means that they only feel more real to me”

you wipe the tears from beneath his eyes, and lean up to place a gentle kiss to the top of his forehead.

it was still an odd sight to see zhongli crying.

"i know, darling, i know”

“may i talk to you about something? If you wouldn’t mind lending an ear?”

“that's exactly what i'm here for, ‘li”

“very well. truthfully i sometimes feel as though a lot of my person is a façade. of course i am required to believe that i am powerful, otherwise i would not hold my position amongst the seven, but honestly i sometimes feel that i am not enough for the people here in liyue. i have given them everything i have, but what if that is not enough? what if one day, liyue, rex lapis, morax and zhongli are all left in the dust. what if it is all forgotten? if my efforts are put to waste?”

“zhong. when was the last time you interacted with a liyuean? they all know that you care for them more than anything, do not let your own self doubt get in the way of that, or you will become blinded by your insecurities. you are doing a good job, take it slowly. after all, fate awaits us all, and there is very little that can be done about it. i promise you, the people of liyue love you. i love you”

“i love you as well, dear. sometimes i just worry.”

“i know. i cannot even begin to imagine the amount of pressure you are under.”

you used your hand to tilt his face towards yours, before easing his worries with a kiss.

“shall we lay down dear? i still feel apologetic for waking you up”

“sure, but just this once, allow me to comfort you?”

“very well”

you moved to lie flat on your back, as zhongli moved himself closer to you, resting his head upon your chest.

“is this okay?”

he asked, wondering if the position was comfortable for you. after all the man did have literal horns poking out of his head.

“mhm! can i play with your hair?”

“please, do. that sounds ever so pleasant at this moment in time.”

and so you moved your fingers to entangle in his hair, gently massaging his scalp as he let out a large yawn, wrapping himself tighter around you.

“i love you, y/n”

“love you too, ‘li”

after a few moments of pleasant silence, you piped up again, with intentions to ask the man if he had calmed down any.

“zhong?”

“zhong~?”

ah. he was sleeping.

“sleep well, prince”

and all of a sudden, began a low, rumbling, purring noise, from somewhere in the mans chest. an ability you were completely unaware he had, but for some reason the sound soothed you, and let you know he was calm, and happy in your presence.

you placed a gentle kiss to his head once again, before drifting off into your own slumber.

you awakened to the feeling of gentle kisses being placed upon your shoulder, by none other than zhongli himself, who was obviously very impatiently waiting for you to wake up.

“ah, you're awake. good morning, dear”

“mmm, morning zhong”

“did you rest well?”

“i did. you?”

“me too”

“why of course, i'm not sure why i asked”

“what is that supposed to mean…?”

“you started purring in your sleep last night”

“i did WHAT?!"

#ZHONGLI CHARACTER BREAKKKKK #genshin impact #zhongli #zhongli x you #zhongli x reader #zhongli fluff #zhongli fic

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mistachesme · 2 years

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Moments he finds you beautiful:

Sparring makes childe lose control. His focus usually zeroing on his opponents weakness. But they are moments that throws him off... Like right now. The way you look so irresistible as you frantically think of a way to defeat him. It suddenly hits him that you are beautiful when you take him seriously during a battle. The feral look on your face makes his heart race quicker. And he wonders if it would make you mad when he pins you to the ground and claim your tempting lips with his.

There's so many things that zhongli treasures so dearly. The memories, liyue and then there's you. He's convinced that you are a finest art, the most precious gem of all who radiates so much beauty. However, he loves you the best in the comfort of his home - a warm cup of tea in your hand, your giddy smile and the loving eyes that bore into his. And, he selfishly drinks in the sight of you as he murmurs how beautiful you look.

Be it your wish or a mere whim, xiao sees it done in a heartbeat. You got him wrapped around your finger there's no denying that. However, you are reckless and that's partly why he is constantly worried about you. There's something about you resting your head on his lap as you sleep. He gently massages your head, watching your peaceful expression. You look so vulnerable and so at ease when you fall asleep in his presence. He finds you pretty like this and he would never let anything happen to you.... Not even a nightmare.

You are so easy to read and it amuses ayato so much. He could almost hear the thumping of your heart when he teases you about something, watching you stutter in embarassment. The sight is so pleasing to him. And he never wishes someone other than him witnessing such a pretty sight. He takes pride over the fact that only he gets to do that and no one can.

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haravath0t · 5 months

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||𝔗𝔥𝔢 ℭ𝔥𝔯𝔦𝔰𝔱𝔪𝔞𝔰 ℭ𝔥𝔯𝔬𝔫𝔦𝔠𝔩𝔢𝔰:

ℜ𝔢𝔵 ℑ𝔫𝔠𝔬𝔤𝔫𝔦𝔱𝔬 ||

𝚣𝚑𝚘𝚗𝚐𝚕𝚒 𝚡 𝚛𝚎𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍!𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚛

𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑹𝒊𝒌𝒂𝒏𝒆 𝑾𝒐𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑨𝒅𝒗𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝑪𝒂𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒂𝒓 - 𝚍𝚊𝚢 𝟽

𝚜𝚢𝚗𝚘𝚙𝚜𝚒𝚜 : ̗̀➛ a spin off of the tale of the lone glaze lily; zhongli is taking another walk around liyue, recalling the voice of his goddess. it is only when you come with him to dinner that he cannot shake off the sight of his late songbird.

☕🤍🌿 𝚕𝚒𝚋𝚛𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚊𝚗'𝚜 𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗: 𝚙𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚋𝚕𝚘𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚎𝚗𝚓𝚘𝚢𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚢 ! 𝚒𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚙𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚒𝚋𝚛𝚊𝚛𝚢 𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚍𝚜 ! ☕🤍🌿

He couldn’t believe it, his heartstrings were being pulled as you sang away at the Pearl Galley. Everyone’s eyes, including the former archon, were on you. It is only when your director had introduced you to this famed consultant that you two had seemed to hit it off right away. Zhongli and you had a connection that had grown with ease, grown like a blooming flower. He was as knowledgeable as all have said, and he was a fantastic listener. You always thought it was so embarrassing, feeling sometimes like you were talking for way too long before he reassures you with a “No, please. I’m listening.” He always had a soft smile on his face as he listened to you. It was clear he’s grown fond of you as you have grown fond of him, caring for you like you care for him.

But you didn’t know what has always run through his mind after being with him for a year, knowing him for three. He noted how your voice was similar to her, that your eyes, your smile, you laugh…it was all pointing back to her. As you walked alongside Zhongli through the harbor, watching the Xiao lanterns rise in the sky and blend with the stars above, he couldn’t keep his eyes off of you. Tears formed in his eyes as you smiled with glee, the childlike look of content that had burst from your own mortal being only reminded him of the very same glee she had expressed to the Liyue of the past. It was then that he had realized:

She is you. You are her. His songbird.

The very epiphany hits him like a rock, undeniably worse than the stones he has hurled during the war, seeing you now eagerly sit at Third Round Knockout beside him rather than across, wanting to hug his arm as you two await the food that is to come.

“You’re quite eager,” Zhongli notes with a smile, chuckling a bit as your head is seen nuzzling against his coat for warmth.

“I think I have every reason to, right?” You tease with a grin, your eyes meeting his own. You cannot help but note the tears on his eyes, those beautiful amber orbs that always seemed to show how much you shined to him, as though you were as golden as Mora.

“You do,” he finally concedes, finding himself unusually bashful at how intimate this felt. An intimacy he has not felt for centuries, has now returned, and in what better way than you? He couldn’t find anything else to say, his heart feels like it’s being squished, but before he exerts even more effort, you stop him, gently playing with the tresses of his brown hair. “I have been blessed,” Zhongli whispers, as though in an exhale of relief. There it was, your touch. Though memories of what you looked like began to erode in his mind as hard as he tries to cling to it, the very touch, the very love you have given him as Morax, has now cracked through the erosion of time, as though it had been brought back to its prime.

“Oh, my dear.” He whispers quietly into your head, a volume that only indicated that it was meant for your ears. You cannot help but smile even more, grinning ear to ear as he held your waist now, as though in a desperate grasp.

“You little sap, you’re going to make me cry too!” You whisper, laughing a bit as you indulge in his embrace, loving the warm that he has brought to you, body and mind.

You have taken his breath away. Your touch, your confidence, your care, your smile. Oh, how it all relieves him. It has become his first impactful experience as a mortal, feeling as though he was the one being blessed rather than the one giving the blessings himself. It had felt as though fate has allowed him a second chance, a chance at love and a chance at achieving the peace he has long craved.

With you, his Songbird.

#the rikane wonderland advent calendar #zhongli x reader #zhongli x you #Zhongli drabble #Zhongli x reader fluff #zhongli fluff #Zhongli fic #genshin impact fluff #genshin x reader #zhongli x y/n

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lolitafushiguro · 11 months

Text

Force Feeding Zhongli Seafood (Zhongli x Reader ft. Venti)

Lolita's note: yes i know, the title is quite misleading but bare with me because i'm having a manic episode and the form of art i chose to abuse tonight is writing.

"Today's lunch is... creamy garlic shrimp pasta!" You beamed at the two guests you have sitting in your dining room. Suddenly the loud voices that you heard from the kitchen halted. You saw Venti look at you with a mix of surprise and disbelief as he holds back a laughter while he glances at Zhongli - who is quite flabbergasted at your choice of dish as well.

Quite isn't the right word honestly. He is about to break into cold sweat and grimace at the food right in front of him. But he does his best to keep his cool and smile at you.

"Ohoho~ Somebody is about to get hit in the jugular." Venti snickers, as he looks at you expectantly.

The thing is you already know Zhongli despises seafood. But you wanted to try something out today. You want to find out what he's like in the face of something he doesn't love. You prepared yourself for an argument, him lecturing you - anything. You're so used to him being so doting on you that you can practically order him to bend the laws of nature and he would do so without a second thought.

"My love... what is this?" He asked, a blank expression in his eyes. You can't tell if he's making sure he sees it right or he's questioning you.

"Garlic shrimp pasta, your favorite!" You repeat again, and Venti almost choked on the cocktail he's drinking.

"Hahaha! There it goes. What do you say, old friend? Are you ready to take the challenge?" Venti elbows Zhongli's arm and winks at him, and his brow twitches as he shoots a glare back at the Anemo Archon.

"Shut it, Barbatos." He snaps at him, clearly growing unamused by the minute. He looks back at you and smiles flatly,

"Dear, you know I have made you aware that I do not eat seafood?"

You feign innocence and you shrug, and Venti covers his mouth, holding back his laughter (to which he obviously fails, and that irritates Zhongli even more).

You don't know if you should laugh or keep it together, because Venti's presence makes this even more trivial than you intended it to be.

You set down the dish and watch them help themselves to a portion of the food. Venti immediately digs in and takes a huge sip of his cocktail.

"Fwah! That hits the spot. You know, this is going to be my new favorite. I bet this would go well with apple pie." Venti almost mockingly voices his appreciation, as if to get a reaction from the former Geo Archon.

You smile at them both, and you waited for Zhongli to take his first bite. You notice how Zhongli keeps the shrimps at the side of his plate and only eats the pasta. He thinks he's getting away with it until you ask him,

"Are you not gonna eat the shrimps?" Part of you just wants to stop this whole thing already, but you were determined to get to the end of this. You wanted to see him eat the shrimps, at least this once in your feeble mortal life.

"Yeah, they are so juicy and delicious, right?" Venti agrees, again, holding back a smile. And you both shared a look.

"I... this is delicious, yes, but, I do not eat seafood." Zhongli finally replies, smiling apologetically - as if he's begging you to let this go.

You smile and you walk over to sit beside him. You take a spoon and begin crushing the shrimps so that it would be at least bearable for him.

"Here, say 'Ahh'." You motion at him, and Venti finally goes from having a fit of giggles to having a full blown laughter.

"'Say Ahh'." He mimics you, and looks at Zhongli, who's slightly avoiding the spoon that your holding.

"I can't believe you're doing this. I mean, look at him, he practically has his mouth shut tight at this point and he looks like a spoiled kid who doesn't want his shrimpies." Venti laughs and finishes his drink, grabbing another portion of the shrimp pasta.

"It is not shrimpies...!" Zhongli almost whines, a scowl now evident on his face, and you and Venti both pause.

Zhongli has a visible pout in his face.

Indeed, it is a sight you should put in a picture frame.

But in a matter of seconds, the former archon redeems himself, clearing his throat.

"What are you trying to get out of me, you two?" He sighs as he gives in, opening his mouth to eat the spoonful of crushed shrimp.

Venti shrugs and tilts his head towards you.

"Dunno, ask them. I'm just following their lead." And at that, you raised a brow, and he laughs.

"I believe I expect a reason for this." Zhongli wipes his lips with a napkin and drinks from the glass of wine. He groaned at the aftertaste. Well, it certainly didn't cleanse his palate as he expected.

"Zhongli, I'm sorry I just-" He was about to give you an earful when Venti chimed in.

"You two are a straaange couple, indeed." Venti smiled. Zhongli closed his eyes, his breath hitching as he did his best not to lash out at Venti.

He heaves an exasperated sigh as he pinches the bridge of his nose.

"See, that's what you get for being too doting. They probably did this to piss you off." Venti comments.

Before the silence gets too awkward, Venti takes his leave.

"Welp, I'm outta here. Thanks for the lunch! I enjoyed it very much~" Venti waves at the both of you. You mouthed a 'sorry' and smiled at him as he left. When Zhongli wasn't looking, he waved his index finger, silently telling you how much you pissed him off.

"Sorry, this won't happen again, I promise." You placed your hand on top of his and Zhongli begins to lecture you again about how he used to battle enemies at the sea and how seafood reminds him of all the bloodshed it caused.

He said your name firmly, "I love and respect you. You know that. We've talked a lot about our likes and dislikes, and we confide to each other. So, please, don't do this again." Zhongli looks at you.

"I'm sorry."

He kisses your cheek and smiles at you.

"Apology accepted."

Later in the evening, as if the mischievousness of Venti possessed you,

"Hey." You began to tiptoe behind Zhongli while he was getting ready for bed.

"How was the shrimp?" You snickered. He sighs.

"What was it again? Shrimpies?" You tease again.

"Oh, my love, whatever shall I do with you... it seems that the fickleness of a certain visitor has stayed with you today." He turns to you, and he suddenly holds you close.

Before you could protest, you're trapped in his grip and he peppers kisses on your face.

"You made a strange choice today, my love. What do you think we should do about it?" He lays you down on the bed and starts acting more suggestively, his kisses growing more... irresistible.

"W-wait-"

— Lolita

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rottendollface · 2 years

Text

Remember me.

Character: Zhongli | Morax.

Warnings: NSFW, female immortal reader, reader is a scientist, reader has a surname (Virchow), death themes, war flashbacks, obsessive behaviour, Zhongli in all 3 forms (human, adeptus (includes 2 cocks), dragon), virginity loss, monsterfucking, oral sex (reader giving and receiving), anal sex, double penetration, cum inflation, tummy bulge, soulmates, memory loss, symbolism, 18+.

A/N: Some canonical things were changed for the sake of the plot. The plot includes times before the Archon war, during it and somewhere 150-200 years after the fall of Khaenri'ah, from the last one goes: 1) Tsaritsa is a young recently ascended Archon; 2) Fatui Organisation and Snezhnaya aren't so developed as they should be.

Word count: 14 330.

Requested by: @stygianoir

Rex Lapis sent the maids out of his chambers. Their figures in colorful dresses made his eyes hurt, and the aroma of their perfume irritated him. He opened a window to get rid of those smells of bergamot and sandalwood oil, the popular novelty from Fontaine which was inspired by Sumeru's mystical nights, by habit showed his forked tongue to check the air and didn't feel the desired jasmine scent mixed with natural body odor. He felt only the bitterness of smoke emitted by numerous factories recently opened in Snezhnaya.

He looked at the tall houses with peeling paint that were unusually dark and inappropriate between the endless white landscape. The milky fog made air thicker than it should be and troubled vision. It was hard to breathe in layers of warm clothes; corners of eyes hurt because the wind made them water, and frost turned the wetness into ice immediately.

Poor suffering lands with poor suffering people. It was impossible to live in Snezhnaya due to lack of sunny days and the Archons who didn't care about their people. The Tsar was a simple tyrant who at least managed to raise his country from its knees and made the life here stable (Rex Lapis didn't want to think about numerous victims of his regime: hunger, epidemics, deportations to the least developed parts of Snezhnaya and many other crimes against humanity were a usual things for the Tsar to perform), and now Tsaritsa, who killed him in a terror attack during his speech on the main square, was busy with other problems and could never find the time for her mortals.

Every Tsaritsa's move on the world stage surprised Rex Lapis: her actions were chaotic and looked like an agony of some wild animal, not a strict policy – she was too young and too naive for this role. He could easily tell: people who served her were greedy to the power she had offered them. Stubborn and stupidly confident in their rightness – bastards, not diplomats.

'What an honor,' Tsaritsa smirked. Pierro, her faithful vassal, was silent but heeded carefully.

'Your sudden expansion of military power couldn't leave me uninterested. I believe you remember the things that happened not so long ago.' Rex Lapis looked at Pierro to illustrate his words with a perfect example. 'Other Archons are confused as well. They want to know the reason you started building factories and enticing the best scientists and engineers to Snezhnaya.'

Rex Lapis didn't care about Snezhnaya and its military, he also didn't see any troubles with Tsaritsa recruiting people of science in her country – the real reason for his visit was much more delicate.

When Rex Lapis had heard about miracle healings in Snezhnaya and the talented healer who was taking care of all the sufferers without fear of getting infected, he knew who they were talking about.

'Snezhnaya deserves to be developed and glorified like Liyue and Fontaine. I'm tired of surviving and being afraid that every day can be the last day of my empire. Your fears aren't my problem. And you,' Her cold eyes pierced Rex Lapis as if she surmised he wanted to steal something from her. 'You are welcomed, but not for a long time. You know, how they say in Natlan: fish and guests smell after three days.'

'As well as they say: fools rush in where angels fear to tread. You should think more about making friends with other Archons and improving trade links, not play a mighty and wise ruler, which you are not. Talking about the main problem of my visit, you gave shelter to my dearest friend that disappeared long ago.' Quickly Rex Lapis changed his tone from affable to menacing. Tsaritsa's boldness wasn't conducive for a long pleasant conversation.

'We don't understand who you are talking about,' Pierro said roughly.

'Then I will give you a hint: she is the owner of the Moon Home.' Rex Lapis felt anger and relief at the same time: he found you finally, the year of his futile searching for your traces had ended, but the situation didn't promise a heart touching reunion.

'When I asked lady Virchow about her homeland she told me she doesn't remember a thing about her past,' Pierro declared, looking at Rex Lapis with a stern look. 'She will stay with us. We treat her with love and appreciation, she did a lot for Snezhnaya and will do even more in the near future. Snezhnaya needs talented people like her.'

Rex Lapis narrowed his eyes: he didn't expect Snezhnayans to rebel, and your surname, which he didn't hear for such a long time, sounded alien to him.

Tsaritsa didn't like the liberty in Pierro's actions. The atmosphere became heavier with every word. Tsaritsa couldn't remember if she had seen Rex Lapis like this before – the aura around him was sinister, and the golden light from pulsating Geo inside his veins was glowing under the black dragon robe.

'You are playing with fire.' Rex Lapis was close to losing composure.

'Maybe she ran away from your dictatorship,' Tsaritsa didn't care about you but couldn't miss the opportunity to tease Rex Lapis while Pierro became nervous: he didn't want to give away such a precious mind. Your scholarly articles were outstanding, just for a couple of months you had invented antibiotics, described deadly parasites and bacterias that were threatening Snezhnaya for centuries, and found the way to cure it. You knew how to heal every disease and built the Moon House – a shelter for everyone who didn't have a place to go and needed help. Orphans, victims of domestic violence, ill and wounded, everyone was welcomed in your house of compassion.

'You will change your mind when I turn your beloved Snezhnaya into the land of the dead.' Rex Lapis looked indefferently at Tsaritsa's bewilderment face; no emotion or compassion hit his cruel heart.

'Are you threatening me because of some girl?' Tsaritsa exclaimed as she didn't expect such vulgar intimidation. 'You better be joking!'

'Xiao,' darkness deepened behind Rex Lapis' back, and the youthful yet strongly built figure appeared in the meeting room of Zapolyarny Palace.

The demon mask covered the face of the man, but the tight convoy guard's grip on the bright jade spear and back haughty straight showed clearly that he was trained to kill at the command, without questions.

The emotionless face but panic in the dull blue eyes; lips pursed. The empress sat on the frozen throne, the crown on her head hurt her skin with sharp crystals, but thick droplets of blood froze in a painful crust in between her neat curly hair. Hoarfrost on the tips of her eyelashes, inside her glass shoes – snow-white lifeless feet. Her body wanted to shake from all the fear she felt, but Tsaritsa sat still, watching small whirls of wind swirling around the head of Xiao's spear.

What happened to the old prudent Geo Archon? You were just a regular human – small and unnecessary for the Archons and Gods, a tool that needed to perform its function and disappear in a scrap. In his time he had met enough men of science; some of them were smarter and more inventive than you, but he didn't care about them. Tsaritsa couldn't believe it was love: Rex Lapis' heart was made of stone, egoism, and ruthlessness. The origin of the warrior craved for violence – someone like him could show only the ugly cynical parody on such a wonderful feeling.

The short knock at the doors sounded thunderous in the stressful silence of the meeting room. Rex Lapis recognized this sound immediately – your elegant fingers were tapping at the wood.

'Your highness,' you made a step into the room, noticed that Tsaritsa wasn't alone. 'Oh, I'm sorry. I will come back later.'

'Fine. And you are?' She looked at you carefully: Geo was stored in your body, but you didn't have a Vision. Belatedly, Tsaritsa understood the reason Rex Lapis needed you so much.

'Virchow, your highness. You called me to examine the kids of the House of the Hearth.' You nodded and glanced at Rex Lapis and his yaksha without interest before leaving the room.

As beautiful as on the day he had met you, you were the same woman Rex Lapis had known for more than two thousand years, but for you he was a stranger, just an Archon of a distant island – your memories were erased, and you forgot everything that happened between you and him.

In the old times, when human civilization was miserable, and innumerable demonic gods were ruling the world, you were traveling around the old Teyvat to spread the knowledge of astronomy and medicine around it. As one of the first scientists you were respected, regular people who didn't have enough patience for meticulous studying were waiting for you to come and teach them a part of your wisdom. Legends and rumors about you crossed the world faster than you expected; you were like a goddess, your skillful hands and care saved a lot of lives, your eloquence attracted everyone to listen to what you were saying. For your dress with long black sleeves that followed you like a forked tail and the fleetingness of your blissful presence, people called you the Swallow lady: lone and earnest, you were bringing happiness and prosperity just like swallows.

Lands of the Lord of Rock were your final destination. Once Rex Lapis turned into a human to ensure your skill and magnanimity: in the form of infirm old man suffering from a terrible disease that disfigured him and made everyone around glance at him with disgust, he came to you, seeking for a cure. You did your best, trying to heal the one who didn't need to be healed: Rex Lapis made it more difficult every day for you to find the right mixture and cause of disease, but you didn't think to give up – you used herbs and mixtures worth of twenty head of cattle, which could keep you comfortable for the rest of your life, but you didn't care about wealth and sacrificed yourself for the patient that needed you. As a God of abundance, Rex Lapis was amazed by your devotion and readiness to abandon the rich life for a person you had seen for the first and probably last time: you could save these herbs for rich patients or sell them for a good price. For that, he showed to you in all his glory: black emperor's robe embroidered with dragon from golden thread, glowing eyes, and Geo, shining inside the veins of his talented hands. He offered you to be his counselor, promised you unrestricted access to the knowledge of Gods, and granted you immortality – he would pledge you everything, only to get a person like you by his side. Rex Lapis wanted you to be a patron saint of his nation, so you accepted his offer: it opened you the opportunities you couldn't even dream about, so both Rex Lapis and you were glad.

As a stargazer, you enjoyed spending your free time watching stars and thinking about the nature of outer space. By your ingenuity, you calculated the shape of the planet, explained the cause of eclipse, and was able to predict the date of the next eclipse — when the battle for the Archon's throne had started, you helped Rex Lapis to win the battle with Osial: the One, who now were laying in the deep, was confused when the sunlight suddenly had gone, so Rex Lapis, who was warned by you, made the decisive blow and pinned Osial to the ocean.

Time was flowing fast when you had a peaceful life with your God and nation, but when the war came into your land, the time stopped, and the whole day seemed to you a year: the old world was melting in hellfire, as it became fragile, miserable, and was deprived of mercy from the Celestial Gods. The sky was red, and the earth was hot and feeble: the whole cities were slowly falling into the devouring deep of flame, fear, and sorrow when their Demonic Gods were dying. You had nothing to fear: everyone was protected under the mighty hand of Rex Lapis, who made allies with adepti and yakshas to protect his people. Not a demon could seek into the sacred land of his; still, he was afraid: the hatred of defeated Gods accumulated in the earth and plagued people with epidemics and natural disasters, so you stayed with injured one to help them, for days you searched for people who went missing. You weren't afraid to step into the fire and worked equally with men to clear away ruins after rockfalls and earthquakes. To help you, Rex Lapis taught you how to manipulate Geo without having a Vision: he held your hand to share with you an elemental energy, just a little part of it – your delicate body couldn't take more without being hurt.

Smoke from battles and fire settled on your clothes and hair, making your eyes hurt. It was hard to breathe, and you were close to faint from lack of clear air – days after days you had spent in this state, praying for Celestia to end the useless war. You tried not to make friends with yakshas and adepti to prevent yourself from crying in case of their death, but tears formed in your eyes every time you had known about all the fallen. Nothing could soothe you: you felt scared and vulnerable when you had seen another land dying in fire. You tried to convince yourself of your safety, didn't want to annoy Rex Lapis with your problems and panic, but his emotionless face and cold eyes of a ruthless warrior just worsened your sorrow. The man you had known for so long was gone, and the refined hands of a creator became rough and calloused. Every time you patched him up after a fight, you were terrified of all the wounds he had got. He tried to make you feel better, but he was in fear, too: the fear of loss crippled into his mind and showed an ugly dream of losing you every night when he tried to find the rest for his exhausted conscience. Rex Lapis didn't want to scare you away, but he was close to going insane and locking you inside his palace without warning you. You meant much more for him than he meant for you, and it was killing him slowly: he had noticed long ago that your and his constellations were sharing the same stars, and when you appeared on his territories, those stars started to shine brighter. He was waiting patiently for you to understand that he was your soulmate – you were promised to each other by Celestial order, and none of you could escape it, still you weren't ready for him. You had seen only a master in Rex Lapis while he had seen you as his partner and was dying from his love. Every time he wanted to touch you, to feel your warmth against his, he had to stop himself, afraid that he couldn't restrain the desire – the destructive desire man felt for a woman. The only thought of your sweet body made the blood boil in his veins and teased the voluptuous thoughts, not worthy of a God. He respected you, but he wanted you to fear him, love him, and obey him – and he would be your slave. Rex Lapis would throw the whole world at your feet just to get more of your attention. All of his friends were dead from his own hands; you were the only treasure left in his life.

One time, you came into his chambers, where he stayed as a dragon, late at night. The war didn't seem to have an ending, but he got the time to rest, wounded worse than usual: demons gnawed his thick skin, tore pieces of him just to knock the powerful dragon at the earth, where them, just like a pack of jackals, would surround him and devour every unprotected part of his body. He was sighing heavily, ready to whimper from pain, when he felt your scent near the room, then the shy bar of light from the opened door showed on the floor, and disappeared fast, and the careful sound of your steps reached his ears. You stopped near him and lighted a small lantern that was tied to your belt.

Rex Lapis avoided showing you his true form. He thought it was frightening you and making you uncomfortable to talk to someone inhuman and bigger than you. Usually, he appeared to you as a middle-aged, handsome man, but every time he was at loss of power or tired to keep the human form, he had to show as a beast: you were so much smaller than him, such a tiny but brave, breakable lady. It didn't matter to him how many years had gone from the day you became immortal, he still treated you like a human. You were just like a flower for him, and he believed you needed his special care.

'I'm sorry to disturb you,' you noticed that he wasn't sleeping, his tail moved away from you. 'I got a new medicine from Cloud Retainer; it will ease the pain. May I?'

Rex Lapis blinked slowly, allowing you to do everything you wanted.

'Zhongli,' you moistened a cloth in the medicine and laid it on his wound. 'You shouldn't fight alone. Next time, let us help.'

It was rare to hear his human name from you – you were embarrassed that he chose it to free you from calling him in an official way. He wanted to be closer to the human culture to show you that you and him were at the same status.

Zhongli didn't want to see you on the battlefield. He wanted to know that you were safe and sound in his palace, protected by the spells he had cast. Zhongli wanted to have a place to return to, to have someone who would wait for him to come back. You spent an hour taking care of him, and when Zhongli had heard you packing up your mixtures, he was afraid you would leave.

'Will you let me stay for the night? In case you need me.' You came to his snout to see the answer in his eyes and smiled when he brightened for a moment before dull pain found him again.

Zhongli could never refuse you. Even in moments when he wanted to be left alone, he needed your presence: he delighted in your company, your heart of joy made him feel better. The one smile on your soft lips was enough to clear his gloomy thoughts. Zhongli could swear your aura had healing properties.

You settled down between his neck and shoulder; his cool skin made your body cover with shivers, soft fur on his neck tickled your face – it was unusual for you to sleep half sitting, with your lower part kept on the floor, but you had to control Zhongli's breathing to understand if he felt better or not. He bumped his snout in your cheek gently, rubbed against it to thank you – in such a state your scent comforted him, but a frail sense of comfort could easily turn into arousion, because his male strength and instincts that he remained as a beast were stronger than pain. Soon, you fell asleep, curled up on his paw like a kitten, yet he felt your sleep was light, and you were ready to wake up in case something went wrong. Zhongli placed his head next to you, warming you with his breathing to lull you and convince your alertness that everything was alright.

After this night you became closer with him. You started treating Zhongli as your respected friend; now you could let yourself chastise him for not being careful enough, and Zhongli tried to make up for it, smiling guiltily.

The war was close to the end, and the sky finally became clear, all the smoke disappeared with the northern wind. The sense of safety and prosperity came back to everyone, and the first flowers bloomed in the gardens of Rex Lapis. Zhongli noticed changes in your character. Every time you told him about your scientific progress or a new discovery, you didn't make a strict report out of it like you usually did, but was talking in awe and acted happily. You were joking more around him and tried to spend as much time as you could. He confessed to you first, and you accepted his feelings without thinking. Zhongli was finally granted for all the pain he had to endure: you loved him patiently, always stayed on his side even if you had an opposite opinion. You left your duties and canceled your plans for him; you had always been here to share his sadness and fun. You were a great support for him – and he was the same for you as well. You only had to think about something, and Zhongli had already done it for you. Your every wish was his command.

It was years full of happiness and harmony. You rarely left abode (at the request of Zhongli), got used to a life of Gods and adepti: your ascending was finished, now you could live without mundane habits. At first, it was strange for you to eat only fruits and herbs from sacred lands, and absorption of elemental energy seemed too complicated to you, but adepti and yakshas were happy to help you master the skill. Your friendship with yakshas gladdened Zhongli, but at the same time it made him jealous: he was happy that you made friends so easily and wasn't treated like a stranger, but he noticed the way Menogias and Bosacius looked at you. For them you were a woman – and they treated you as well. For strong yakshas it was a pleasure to help the lady with hard work, in their free time they were seeking for you to ask for a task. You had always found a job for them: sometimes you needed herbs from the highest peaks, on the other day you were moving astronomical equipment from one spot to another for a better view, and then made a revision in your library – all your job needed a pair or two of powerful hands, and Bosacius and Menogias helped you gladly. Zhongli didn't announce to his inferiors about a relationship with you; he didn't think it was necessary, but he felt the desire to make everyone understand to whom you belonged.

In Rex Lapis' abode time was flowing slower than in the mundane world – and people forgot about the Swallow lady.

It was years full of joy, but Zhongli stayed away from felicity and merriment. He couldn't sleep without you sharing the same bed, he couldn't eat without you sitting in front of him and retelling him a fable you heard from Menogias or Bosacius, he couldn't work without you knocking at his door and asking for attention. Something was torturing him, and Zhongli didn't understand the reason for such paranoid behavior. He was alarmed and ready to protect, but there was no enemy left near his domain. It couldn't go on like this, and soon enough, Zhongli was emotionally exhausted. He couldn't stay in human form and share the bed with you to make your nights comfortable. You followed him everywhere, didn't ask awkward questions – when Zhongli encircled you, curling up to sleep, you laid on his cold body and told him tales from different cultures to help him fall asleep. Your own voice was like a lullaby to you; pleasurable slumber took only you, but not him. His exhausted mind was suffering from lack of rest: Zhongli was lying in one position, afraid to disturb you, tried to keep his eyes closed, and followed an attempt to unleash all the thoughts and worries. Your soft body and quiet breathing warmed him, put him into a deceitful illusion of somnolency, but something deprived him from falling asleep. He opened his eyes, then shut them because of sudden itching and pain. Zhongli scanned the room with elemental sight, trying to find the reason for his anxiety but found nothing. You were sleeping calmly, and Zhongli was jealous of your tranquility.

Zhongli loved you a little too much – his love turned into blind adoration and was close to rebirth in obsession. He noticed every detail in your appearance, regarded you shamelessly: the peony gold hairpin, the circular silk fan with a painting and a lacquered handle, the embroidery silk platform shoes with pattern of a dragon and phoenix – and these he bought gladly. Hairpins had a special meaning for Zhongli: when you just arrived at his land, you didn't wear any accessories, let your hair down, so Zhongli was waiting patiently – you were a delicate bud, not ready to bloom into a flower. Now, when you lived with him for so long and had known all the peculiarities of his culture, such a small thing like a hairpin had an important meaning – the flower had bloomed and was ready to be plucked.

Could the young lady still be untouched? Did someone dare to make you half-virgin not to damage your reputation? Did someone show you the pleasures of flesh by just touching you? It was surprising for Zhongli that you didn't have any experience. You devoted your life to science and teaching, but your face was lovely, your eyes were shining with ardor yet meekness, he couldn't find a lady prettier than you. Your beauty was beyond the compliments, and the best masters of word couldn't describe even the hundredth part of your loveliness. You were more beautiful than lilies, fragrant with femininity and youth, – what great power gave you the strength to fight the lust?

The perfect bud, which mother nature saved for the sacrament of your first night with man, now belonged to Zhongli, and you honored him to be your first and only lover. When his kisses became hotter and his words were luscious, temptation brought with it a tingling sensation of arousal. Zhongli kissed your seductive pink lips with carefulness not to hurt their delicate softness; his tongue licked them slowly before entering your mouth. Clumsily, you tried to kiss him back, and your fervor mixed with hot wetness of your mouth teased him, tempted Zhongli to go further to satisfy his carnal curiosity. He wanted to see you naked, needed to admire the charm of your firm breasts and curves of your body.

Zhongli trailed his lips on your neck, licking the sensitive skin veily and sucking on it every time your body was covered with shivers. Your sighs got rapid; instinctively, you held your breath to heighten your senses. His hands were pressing on your breasts and messaging them through the clothes slowly, Zhongli had already felt your nipples were hard and swollen. Finally Zhongli undressed you, his thorough gaze noticed your rounded breasts immediately, your nipples were begging to be touched. He placed his hands on your sides, enjoying the sensation of supple velvet skin taking the form of his palms.

You moaned quietly, when Zhongli touched your heated nipple with his tongue, moistened it with saliva before he took it inside his mouth, while his hand slowly stroked your inner thigh, close to your womanhood. You were curious to see him naked, wanted him to press his strong body to yours and hold you as tight as he could for you to never escape his embrace. Suddenly you felt his hot kisses moving down your belly, then Zhongli left a gentle bite on the fat of both your thighs; his hands kept them apart.

The beauty of your private parts pleased him to the point of noticeable delight: everything here was rarely petite and promised the best sensation. Your clit was shyly covered with a clitoral hood, your hole – already quivering as if offering him an invitation. Zhongli kissed your pussy, his tongue slipped between your clit down to your hole to prepare you for future actions; he kissed and sucked on you shamelessly, enjoying the way your quiet moans changed on loud and impatient. He adored shuddering in your legs, when his tongue plunged into your hole, penetrating you a little – for your first time he kept the human form, so his tongue couldn't reach the deepest part of your body that pleaded to be played with. Zhongli replaced his tongue with middle finger and felt the thin ring of flesh, tight and clenching from pleasure. Zhongli pressed on the opening gently, pushing his finger deeper without effort, while his thumb was rubbing against your clit, and his lips – kissing your face to ease your pain. It was uncomfortable yet necessary: the ritual of deflowering and releasing all the feminine energy was important for the future prosperity and grace.

It was unusual for Zhongli to perform act of intimacy while being a human: as adeptus he could slide his forked tongue down your throat then abuse your poor pussy by tickling every sensual spot deep inside, he could hug your waist with his tail adding pleasurable pressure and keeping you still while he would be stretching both of your pretty holes with his two dicks – thick and veiny, full of strength, and always erected, ready to spill his sperm as much as he wanted. Both of his members needed attention from a maiden, but sadly, it didn't matter how hard she tried to satisfy his passions, it was impossible for the poor soul to make God reach his limits – and it was only his adeptus forms. As a glorious dragon of colossal size Zhongli was gifted with large dick, not similar to the human one, heavy and ribbed, with elongated curved tip that huddled right to cervix tightly for better breeding, and nice knot; he also had a thick tongue about 6 inches long. Variety of Zhongli's forms had a special preparation for all of them, and he was excited to show you the whole abilities of your body. By living with adepti you unconsciously absorb special elemental and divine energy that would let you accommodate everything Zhongli would do with you: some magic would be necessary while taking him in dragon appearance.

Overwhelmed by stretching, you came right after Zhongli added his second finger. Your lower belly tightened, your thighs heaved as you moved towards his fingers and your pussy sucked them deeper, trembling around them and soaking them in your juices. It was unusual to you, you had never felt a climax like this: your fingers were shorter than Zhongli's and you had never stuffed yourself with more than one finger. Zhongli pulled out his fingers covered in white cream and sucked on them. It was so hard to suppress the inner beast and not turn into adeptus – your pheromones were driving him crazy, and his mind was filled with animalistic mating and breeding. He undressed himself quickly, didn't give you a chance to look at his body: Zhongli kissed you again, bit your lips before letting his tongue back to the warmth of your mouth, while pressing at your hole with the tip of his dick and pushing it inside.

'Tell me when it hurts,' Zhongli whispered to your lips, saliva streamed down your chin when he broke the kiss.

You couldn't call it a pain, but the irritating stinging feeling of being stretched made you shut your eyes to calm yourself. You just needed to accommodate, but it seemed impossible to adapt to such a huge size. Zhongli didn't move until you became comfortable and gave him permission to continue. He started at a steady pace; soft moans escaped from his throat at the sensation of your virgin walls constricting him and taking the shape of his dick and spasming obediently. It was easy to make you cum again – the aroma of sex in the bedroom, heated moans, Zhongli's body pressing you into the mattress, his balls slapping your ass slowly, all of it was enough to bring you to release. You squeezed bedsheets in a fist and tilted your head, giving Zhongli signs of your climax. He pressed your thighs to his waist, his mouth found your neck and sucked on the most sensitive part, trailing it with tongue and leaving wet traces before biting your skin gently. Zhongli knew you were tired already, so he was ready to finish with you. You moved your hips with his, shaking and clenching your legs on his back, forcing him to thrust in your spasming pussy harder and made Zhongli cum inside. Zhongli continued fucking his seed deeper, until his awoken instincts were satisfied. Thick shots of pearl white liquid spilled out your hole right after Zhongli pulled out his still erected cock. He kissed you softly, his hand caressed your cheek – Zhongli was proud of you for taking him so well at your first time.

The difference between maiden and woman could be seen easily: all your movements became more elegant, your figure got a special softness, and the contour of your rounded hips could be guessed under your clothes – Zhongli treated you specially, it was a sign for other men in his domain, and it didn't escape Cloud Retainer as well. She insisted on Bosacius and Menogias that you were in love with Rex Lapis, but they didn't want to believe it until they would hear it from you or feel his mark on your body with elemental sight. You were clear for now – it was just a small trace of Geo in your hands, as you were practicing the power Morax had given to you.

Zhongli didn't hurry to mark you: this process needed his adeptus or dragon form, but you weren't prepared enough. You were comfortable with getting intimate, your body wasn't sore after a session of love-making, and it was harder and harder for Zhongli to keep the human form when you kissed him passionately – still he needed to stretch you better. Zhongli didn't have problems with your consent, as you were open to try new sexual things and trusted him a lot: one time you found erotic engravings in human world, and asked Zhongli to try something that was depicted on them, as you could entrust him your every desire. You knew he wouldn't bring anything that could hurt you, and curiosity made you aroused every time you imagined how Zhongli would make your cravings real.

Zhongli was ready to serve you, but the impossible tightness of your once virgin holes demanded from him hours of preparation; you found the way to make it more enjoyable for both of you: with you laying on top of him and your head towards his feet. At first it was embarrassing to use such a position, but soon no shame left as you were able to suck Zhongli off while he was playing with your ass and eating you out at the same time. Tortuously slow movements of his fingers in and out of your anus made your legs tremble, but with pleasure as you became familiar with such a strange feeling. Zhongli pressed all the right spots that were close to the ones inside your pussy, he knew your body oh so well he could make you lose your head by just touching you.

Zhongli started to spend more time with you as an adeptus. He was taller and bigger than his human appearance. Zhongli let his black tail rest behind his back; he had horns, long and curled on the ends, his skin was cold, as now he was a half dragon. For you it was interesting to look at him moving his tail, or showing his forked tongue to check the smells in the air.

'Can you self-amputate your tail?' You asked him out of the blue once, while you were playing with it. Zhongli and you had a rest under the trees with a perfect view on the ruins of Cuijue Slope – it was your favorite place to visit, so Zhongli recreated the whole territory in his abode. You laughed when you felt how his tail tensed because of your sudden question. 'I'm just curious, sorry.'

'I can,' he smiled to your surprised face. 'The new one will be grown in three month.'

'Fast enough! Dragons and lizards are really sharing the same traits. Impressive. Call me if you drop it, okay? I'll take it for my research.' You pressed his tail to your chest, cuddling it like a toy. You enjoyed playing with it due to the unusualness of such a part of the body, and you had no idea that it was deadly as fangs and claws. 'Talking about your tongue, do you really identify smells better by tasting them?'

'I get the full image of the environment,' Zhongli should have predicted your interest in his changed appearance, still your questions were a little boring – you had never asked vulgar things because you were afraid to offend him.

'And do I have a special smell?' Your cheeks turned pink from embarrassment.

'Yes,' smile showed on Zhongli's lips again. 'I like it a lot. My clothes and bedsheets have your smell on them, your's have mine as well. You can't feel It properly, but I can. I also can know who you have talked with during the day just by sniffing you.'

'Ew! You are probably going insane from all of this!' You grimaced because of how much information Zhongli could get by this ability.

'I'm used to it, and it helps me to check on your health, my love. I'm taking care of you too.' Zhongli let out almost a mocking laughter at your rounded eyes.

'Do you mean?..' You began and stopped.

'For example, your ovulation doesn't pass unnoticed by me.' It was something lovely in teasing you and seeing you blushing and confused, but the joy disappeared fast enough and Zhongli became serious. 'I have to tell you about one thing you might not know about. If you let me make love with you in such a state, I will leave elemental marks on your body. They are invisible to the human eye, but could be seen by everyone who can use an elemental sight. Those marks are important to creatures like me, as they show that a person already has a mate, and they don't disappear with time. Please tell me about your decision when you think my words over.'

'It's not a problem at all.' You touched Zhongli's hand, started rubbing his knuckles with your soft fingers. 'I wanted to tell you... you don't have to stay as a human or adeptus with me. I'm afraid you might think I don't love your real form or feel uncomfortable with it. I know you waste a lot of power to control your appearance, you don't rest properly because of it, and I want to spend more time with real you.'

'I appreciate it, my love,' He took your hand in his and put it to his lips, kissed it carefully. Zhongli was glad to hear what he had heard: the only issue of ascending (of which he had never talked about) was a loss of human feelings. Love, adoration, compassion, grief and other feelings were alien to adepti and most of the Gods, who were runneth with wisdom. The mighty one whose heart could tremble from fear, and lips could smile from joy was blessed and cursed at the same time by Celestia. Feelings and emotions were a great gift and a terrible curse: Zhongli knew how to rule people because he could place himself on their position; he knew what was love and importance of the family to humanity; he knew the dread of being forgotten; Zhongli experienced death of the one he once loved, he went through the ruthlessness of war and decay of ambitions and ideals, but he could never understand the complexity of human worriers and fears, just because he was different breed. Zhongli was afraid you would lose the thin link between humanity and divinity, and your heart would roughen up; but you didn't change – you still had sympathy to the monster like him, granted Zhongli with mercy of your love.

Zhongli didn't like you to leave the abode since demons sometimes haunted the human world, but in honor of the annual Rite of Descension he invited you to see the ceremony: he felt guilty for every year you had skipped because of his egoistic desires. He convinced himself that nothing bad would happen under his control, and not a demon would dare to corrupt the day of Rex Lapis visiting his land. You accepted an invitation happily, already impatient for the next day's event. A fuss took over you and you asked Zhongli numerous times if he needed your help with something and brought to him important topics about health care and education in the human world. A lot of things changed with the flow of time, and you were intentional to see everything with your own eyes.

It seemed to be almost impossible to sleep since you were inspired by an upcoming event. The night went fast, you were fully dressed and ready to leave long before the beginning of the ceremony – Zhongli made a promise to show you the whole city and tell you in detail how Qixing were ruling it without guidance from Archon. When you finally made a step on a mortal earth, you were shocked: the world of mortals changed beyond recognition since you visited it for the last time. Awkward houses of wood were replaced with dignified buildings from stone, walking paths were paved with stone as well, everything was decorated simply yet stately. You noticed changes in fashion and behavior of people, even language was different from the one you had heard – pronunciation was complicated, some syllables changed their sound. It took some time for you to read the handwritten signboards and understand the meaning of texts.

Finally the ceremony started: people of Qixing lightened up an incense burner as the Tianquan was reading prayers. Sky parted, and the dragon Archon came to the land.

You were sitting among the nobles with a perfect view on Rex Lapis. You smiled, when he looked at you squinting his eyes. You were watching the ceremony carefully until you felt the irresistible urge to distract on what was happening on the streets: from the lodge for special guests you could see the center of the city as well. You noticed the young girl, who was stomping around the hot earth in an attempt to run away from stinging pain in her little feet, covered with dust. The sun was blazing, and by the way people pushed the girl away with disgust on their face, you understood she might be sick. Zhongli forbad you to leave without him, but you couldn't sit still: you slid out unnoticed and hurried to the poor child.

The girl stepped on a sharp rock, sighed fearfully and looked around, trying to hear the voice or steps of her mother. She couldn't see – her eyes were covered with rag, soaked in pus fully. Her hair was cut roughly, short locks were dirt with sebum. She put her tiny hands on her head, protecting it from the sun and pressing leftovers of her hair to the skin; she was swaying, as she felt dizzy because of the sweet, sickly smell of disease. She made a final step before she lost balance and fell right into your open arms. You sat on your knees, and let the girl rest her head on the silk of your dress.

You knew adepti were watching you, and the moment after you heard the flapping of Cloud Retainer's wings. She put a spell on the crowd of people so they couldn't see all of you.

'It's okay, I'm here,' you patted the girl's cheek, your eyes were tearing up because of the unbearable stench. `We should return to abode immediately.'

'You can't take a mortal to a sacred place.' Cloud Retainer shook her head. 'That's the law of Celestia. Even you can't violate it.'

'It should be the way! She will die without our help!' Your cool hands brought a peaceful relief to the girl, her heavy breath became regular.

'You can't save everyone and change their fate,' Cloud Retainer was uncompromising.

'Maybe I am her fate and I need to help her. Just look at her,' You were in panic, fast thoughts in your head and humming from the crowd of people around you brought you a headache. 'Zhongli... he will let me, I know it.'

Cloud Retainer looked at you with a shred of contempt – you let yourself to call Rex Lapis so vulgar around her, and your connection to the world of mortals still was strong enough. Impunity and permissiveness of yours led to a tragic consequence: Rex Lapis loved you too much and let you do everything you wanted, so now you were unable to understand the simplest rules of life and dared to take the decisions only Gods were allowed to take. The circle of death and birth couldn't be violated because of a whim of yours. You knew this girl was doomed and human medicine wouldn't help her, so you wanted to use the bliss of God's abode to enhance the healing potential of mixtures you had made. Behind your soft heart Cloud Retainer could also see vanity: you wanted to acquire an unusual disease to your collection and be the first one who was managed to cure it, to save a hopeless case – sordid sins were fresh in you, despite the hundreds of years you had spend with adepti.

'Should I start lecturing you again? Celestial order is sacrosanct. Nothing could compete with it.' Cloud Retainer couldn't finish her speech, as you interrupted her.

'Morality and mercy are higher than every order. World wouldn't be damaged because of one saved soul, and I will be the one to be punished for my decision. You have nothing to fear. Please, just let us enter the abode.' It was humiliating for you to beg Cloud Retainer for such a small thing, but you weren't able to enter or leave the abode by your wish – only adepti could do this.

'Celestia will remember this.' Cloud Retainer did what you wanted. Now she understood – mortals (even the one who was blessed) learn from their mistakes only, unlike adepti and other creatures of higher rank. It was easier to give you what you wanted than talk some sense into you. After all, her master's words would have more weight than her own.

It was impossible to save the girl's sight, but you managed to stop infection from spreading before it reached the nervous system. By chance you noticed that the mix of herbs you burned in the censer had a special effect on health: the girl's immune system became stronger, not a sickness could affect her. You knew it wasn't one of the potions, ointments and tinctures you used – you described their every side effect and checked it carefully. When the child was able to walk and eat by herself, you had to return her to where she belonged, but you couldn't just leave her on the streets. You spend weeks searching for someone who would be happy to adopt her. By all this time you stayed with her, you had to imitate the life of a simple woman, and you didn't like what you had seen: it was hard to earn money to buy food and water; kids, adults and oldsters had to work a bigger part of the day to make a pittance. While nobles were prospering, everyone above them was dying slowly. Finally you found a good family for the girl and left the human world, determined to criticize Qixing in front of Zhongli.

Zhongli didn't tell you a word against your deeds – maybe he became soft-hearted, but he just waited for you to come back to him, despite his hurt that you abandoned him so easily for some child. He wasn't honest with himself: Zhongli wanted you to lose any devotion to everyone else but him. He wanted you to be cold and unemotional like adeptus with everyone, but loving and caring like a human with him, as he was jealous so bad it drove him crazy. Zhongli needed you more than people he swore to protect, he wanted to scream and howl when you wasted your attention on someone else. He didn't want to admit that Cloud Retainer was right: blood is thicker than water, you would never forget your origin and would be stuck between humanity and divinity. He had to talk to you, but you didn't want to hear him. You thought you were right: Gods and adepti needed to teach themselves compassion, become independent from Celestia.

'You can hide everything from Celestia, you can lie and wipe out all the evidence of your crimes, but you just don't want to, because it's easier to be a puppet in Celestial hands.' Your words pierced Zhongli like a poisoned arrow. Suggesting something like this to the God of contracts – you probably lost your mind the second you decided to spit those words out of your mouth. 'Why am I explaining such things to you? You are the one to settle rules of contracts, you can manipulate truth and facts in a craziest way and worry about Celestia? Just why?'

He shouldn't have listened to you, he needed to punish you for everything you blurted at him, but deep inside his soul he agreed with you. It was something he had been thinking about for a long time, but wasn't brave enough to admit.

'This is between you and me.' Zhongli wanted to forget this like a bad dream, so he retired to his cabinet, leaving you alone with your indignation.

You went to the Cuijue Slope, fortuitously saw a couple of swallows flying above a long faded grass. You had never seen swallows before in the abode and smiled. It was a good sign, and you believed it.

Zhongli calmed down fast enough, and was waiting for you to return. He didn't care how grievous your sins were and how corrupted were your thoughts, he would forgive you everything – you were his forbidden weakness. Without you Zhongli wouldn't survive the war, without your support he wouldn't make his nation prosperous and happy. He heard chirping from the window, and smiled – swallows came back to their nest. It was a good sign, and he believed it.

You showed up in his room with the first drops of rainfall. The timid knock at the door was like a bliss. Zhongli could easily recognize it: two short, fast knocks with the knuckle of your index finger. Kiss of apology, happy hours of pleasant conversation, your soft laughter and crinkle at the corners of his eyes from merriment, light of your smile – it was the usual atmosphere of a rainy evening Zhongli was waiting to feel again. His tail was caressing your leg, strived to climb under your clothes to tickle your skin, going higher and higher to the sweetest place of his desire. Zhongli missed you badly: lubricious excitement was corrupting his thoughts and blurred his view, making him focus on you only. He tried to stay calm, but his imagination was running wild, and forced abstinence made it even worse. Zhongli was dreaming of the moment his teeth would leave a red mark on your shoulder, while he would stuff your womb with loads of his seed and keep it inside until the knots would let him pull his cocks out. Zhongli was nasty and shameless in his thoughts, fantasizing about your graceful body covered with his cum on the most attractive parts: your lips, chest and tummy. Nothing could decorate your pale pink lips and your supple skin better than a droplets of pearl white liquid, he believed.

As the conversation died slowly and gave place to the physical contact, Zhongli's gaze became more tempted. You glanced back at the door, wondering if you locked it, opened a delicious sight of your neck muscles tightening under your skin and making a relief – it begged for Zhongli to leave a kiss on it, trail his lips down your neck and tickle with his forked tongue and sharp fangs. Instead he let himself touch your skin with fingertips, while squeezing one of your thighs and rubbing another one close enough to your core with tail. You looked at Zhongli, your lips parted to catch a breath from sudden stimulation, and he pressed his finger to them, shoving it inside your mouth, under your tongue, encouraging you to lick it. You put his finger on your tongue and closed your lips, nibbling and sucking on it gently.

Zhongli's tail was pressing against your crotch, while he replaced his finger with tongue: he pressed fingers on your jaw, let his tongue inside your mouth; the recesses on it bumped into the tip of your tongue, tickling it, before sliding down your throat. His lips covered yours in a lewd kiss, sharing saliva with you until it started dripping out of your mouth. Zhongli was impatient and didn't waste precious time: all his instincts demanded from him to mark you right now, he needed to prove his rights to you and his male significance. Zhongli flicked his tongue – you were aroused enough for him to sense your pheromones and feel your body odor becoming clear and intense.

Grinding against his tail, you pressed another kiss on his lips, your hands slowly put your clothes down and left your chest bare. Zhongli wrapped his arms around your waist, made you sit on top of him, so you could feel his strong erection and his two cocks pressing against your lower body with impatience. You were as needy as him, curious to taste the new side of intimacy. You helped Zhongli to undress, squeaked, when tail replaced his hands and clenched on your waist. He took a specially prepared oil from a nightstand, lubricated his fingers to prepare your holes before penetration. His tail took you down on the bed to make you lay on your tummy; Zhongli spreaded your buttocks, applied an oil on your anus, rubbing it in gently before inserting two fingers inside. Your worked up muscles took him easily, without pain or an unpleasant feeling. Your pussy was leaking with natural lube and needed attention, but was neglected by Zhongli as he was busy playing with other hole, pushing his digits in and out, and scissoring them inside your tight ass just to make you moan and squirm.

Zhongli got what he wanted – you begged for him to fuck you, used such a vulgar, boorish word, as you were desperate for his cocks to finish a sweet torture he gave you. He helped you to turn on your back, and you saw his palms glowing golden with stored Geo inside. It was unusual to see him like this: his hands, except palms, were black, but covered with golden symbols and runes; instead of skin on his sides were scale, that shimmered in candle light; you looked at his cocks and held your breath – two fat, curvy cocks of color black were fully erected and sticked to Zhongli's stomach, twitching from arousal; tips had already soaked in precum, and golden veins along the length were pulsating, as well as knots on both of his dicks were swollen, ready to prevent his seed flow out your pussy. The tingling sensation inside your body made you spread your legs even wider. Zhongli lubricated his cocks, rubbed them against your holes, teasing you for his sadistic pleasure. You hugged him, moaning in pleasure from stretching – you were tiny for his size, long preparation eased the process but weren't able to prepare you enough. Your lower tummy was bulging at the size of cock: Zhongli groaned and pressed his hand on the bulge to feel himself moving inside your pussy. A beautiful sight like this brought him a visible satisfaction.

You were overwhelmed at sensation of two cocks fucking you at the same time in a rough pace, tight grip of teeth on your shoulder and another one on your waist by tail. Zhongli used the tip of his tail to rub against your clit, pleasure hit you from all sides, it was impossible to run away from it, as he was stimulating all the right spots, even the deepest one you didn't know existed. You came shamelessly fast, but asked Zhongli to continue, as you needed more of him. Overstimulated and sensitive from the first climax you felt strange at your lower belly – something was building up, ready to spill at any moment. You felt like an animal in heat, heady and devoted to the lubricity of carnal pleasures, ready to perform every disgusting fantasy only to prolong the sweet serving to lust.

Zhongli was close to cum: both of his knots became bigger at their size, with final powerful thrusts he pressed your hips on his torso and came inside, filling you to the brim with numerous shots. You grabbed Zhongli by his hands, releasing your climax and squirting from such an intense outburst of his seed that was stretching your uterus with an unbearable amount and elemental energy he passed into your body.

'You did so good, my love,' Zhongli leaned to kiss you, left a soft peck at your lips then at your sweaty forehead. You smiled and hugged him.

You were resting in a strong embrace of his hands, listening to the sound of rain tapping against windows and cornices. Zhongli loved this atmosphere of pleasant silence, as you and him were just enjoying the presence of each other, and no words needed at the moment – only your hearts beating at the same rhythm, the true connection of souls. He couldn't stay with you for a night as he had some important business, but you, understanding and all-forgiving, were alright with it. You didn't ask him what was the matter, just gave him a goodbye kiss and tried to enjoy the cold bed on his side. You didn't sleep alone for too long – and it felt lonely. Zhongli would give everything he had only to have you in his arms again: he missed you so bad he was delirious – he could swear he felt phantom touches of yours on his skin.

Zhongli remembered clearly how you visited his cabinet and told him something wasn't right with Moon and sky: as usual you were checking analemma – the fixed position of the Sun in the sky during the year – and noticed that a diagram of figure eight was roughly broken and turned out to be a complete nonsense. Moon for some reason became closer as it was before, and new constellations, which you had never seen before in this world, appeared. The problem wasn't in your tools and you didn't make any mistakes – you rechecked it again and again, and everything was fine.

'Like someone put us under a dome,' you muttered in agitation, pressing fingers to your chin and looking away. Zhongli hardly remained calm, yet his hands were trembling nervously and he clenched his fists.

'Forget about it,' his tone was cold, and didn't imply any discussion. 'and go back to your room.'

A fake would never repeat an original – Celestia knew it and just needed more time to recreate the natural position of stars in the sky. It was hard to imitate exact astronomical processes, but Celestia didn't mind to hurry: humanity was still miserable and didn't have opportunity to notice a swap as stargazing and astronomy were considered as black magic, but Celestia didn't count you. Zhongli didn't know what to do – not a word could be hidden from Celestia. He prayed for them not to pay attention, was trying to come up with an idea of how to hush it up.

He could have lied. But he didn't.

He could have hidden your aura from all the Gods and mighty. But he didn't.

The God of contracts couldn't lie as he despised liars and cheats. The God of contracts was too vainglorious to lie to himself, and he scorned the human sins – so he thought Celestia would never dare to punish a woman that belonged to him. He had a great power and could compete with Celestial Gods, so they would have treated him as equal. But they didn't. It was horrifying for Zhongli to find a ruined nest of swallows with their carcasses laying underneath, so he locked you inside his palace and prohibited you from leaving it.

No one was supposed to know, except the Seven who swore to protect humanity. The fake sky was a protective shield between Teyvat and the Dark Sea: Celestia was afraid that those who betrayed the heaven order would unite and take their place in a fight. The whole war was the result of Celestial fear – the fear that borned from exorbitant pride of every god-like creature. Celestial Gods were afraid of rivalry, the desire to be indispensable was above the moral and the concept of sin, so they decided to take control over the seven strongest Gods of the human world, and they succeeded.

Zhongli thought nothing could hurt you inside his palace, but he was wrong. He could sense the looming threat, but didn't know what to expect. He was imagining the dreadful scenarios of demons attacking the abode or a plague ravaging the Teyvat, but you died in the morning right before his everyday visit to you. A scorpion got into your clothes and stung you when you were dressing up. He couldn't do anything to save you, as it was too late when he found your breathless body.

Zhongli couldn't believe it, he didn't want to believe: he still could sense elemental energy passing through your body and the weak aura of life in it. You weren't dead, but didn't recover consciousness either. Didn't matter for how long he was waiting for you to wake up – years had passed before Zhongli decided to give your body a final resting place. He made for you a crystal coffin and left it in a cave on Cuijue Slope, far enough from cities and people, so no one could find you. Protected by spells and guarded by yakshas, you were sleeping peacefully in your best dress and with your favorite hairpin in your hair. Not a day left without Zhongli visiting your tomb: he believed one day you would wake up.

He couldn't live without you. The Earth became empty and life lost its colors when you left him. Zhongli didn't talk to anyone and didn't want others to talk to him – he was sitting at his cabinet in a deep thoughtfulness, waiting for you to knock at the door and distract him from his duties. Cloud Retainer, who seemed to be more depressed than others, tried various ways to cure you, but all her efforts were useless.

Zhongli didn't cry, but he wanted to. He couldn't drop a single tear, but only crushed everything that got under his arm in an attempt to ease the heartache. Zhongli hated himself for his pride, for being weak and tricked like a puppet. He could easily sacrifice his nation to save you, he would die himself for you to live.

The only thing left for him was walking down the cold corridors of the cave only to reach your coffin and fall on his knees, kissing it and, lean his forehead to feel the scalding cold crystal instead of the warmth of your body, he used to worship. Grief-strickened Zhongli became distrustful and petulant. He had seeked for the cure on the whole Teyvat, and no one was able to perform a miracle. Even the Lord of Dust, Guizhong, wasn't able to keep her word and make you alive: she came to Rex Lapis and promised to resurrect you in exchange for him protecting her and her people, and he agreed. Zhongli heard a lot of her wisdom, even renewed his spirit, but she died soon.

Century after century he was watching his old friends and subordinates dying, until he became indifferent to it. Zhongli didn't care anymore and devoted himself to his people – as a good Archon was supposed to do. The evil was haunting Teyvat again, so Xiao and him, both in beasts form, didn't know rest and fought against it day and night. Wounds covered Zhongli's body, and the new day brought new suffering for him. He thought he would die – bleeding wounds were festering and his whole body was affected with toxins. When he was at loss of power, Zhongli made a great effort to reach your tomb, and fell unconscious near your coffin, dreaming of meeting you again in the afterlife. Zhongli woke up two days after, his wounds healed and turned into scars – it was a discouraging surprise for him, but with this it was another evidence that you still were alive. Zhongli's hope was his curse: he couldn't let you go and was clinging to every opportunity to bring you back, knowing perfectly it wouldn't work.

The abode became a dull and uncomfortable place. Adepti moved to their domains, and only Xiao among all the yakshas remained alive, but lived in Wangshu Inn. The sacred land had seen a lot of deaths, and blood soaked in groaning earth, even the sun stopped shining: only fog and heavy clouds adorned the abode's sky.

Zhongli didn't visit your grave for a couple of months – it was too hard for him to find the strength to see you again. He didn't want to know that Xiao felt this way, too. After all fights and missions you were the one whom he had seen right after opening his eyes: when Xiao was young, inexperienced yaksha, he oftenly lost consciousness from using his elemental skills too much, and you were taking care of him. By spending years in your company, Xiao began to consider you as his older sister. He hesitated to interact with you, so he was admiring you secretly. It was rare for him to show at Cuijue Slope, but every time he did, Xiao whistled in a bird manner, hoping that this whistle of aloneness and sorrow could awake you from your dream.

It was a normal day when Xiao entered your tomb to change flowers in your hands – to show his respect he took care of your tomb, naively thought that sense of fresh flowers would scare the death away from your body – but the tomb was empty. Coffin lid was broken into pieces, bouquet of dead flowers laid on the ground and your body was missing. What was this? A miracle? Or a plunder? Xiao didn't believe his eyes and panic took over him. He was rushing around trying to find someone's traces, and he didn't know what he was afraid the most – of your awakening or a treasure hoarders' crime, so he called for his master and they started their anguising search for you.

Meeting with Tsaritsa ended without contracts: words of your departure to Liyue left unspoken but clear to everyone. Rex Lapis expected Pierro to tell him everything about your business in Snezhnaya, and Pierro had to cooperate.

You didn't plan to visit Snezhnaya: you were traveling around the Teyvat to find someone who could help you restore your memory loss and earning your food and shelter by healing people and teaching them. Pierro noticed you when he visited Fontaine: his good friend, an avaricious landlady of an apartment building where you rented a flat, told him how you eased her gout disease (for that she even let you live for free). Pierro had heard enough stories about your kind heart and rather incredible smartness, so he decided to meet you and invite you to Snezhnaya. He didn't have to persuade you, as you agreed easily, but on one condition – he had to help you find the truth about your past. Pierro made a promise, though he didn't plan to keep it. You gave him your hairpin, thinking it could speed up the process, but left Pierro confused: he found your name engraved on the hairpin, its state and material it was made from indicated that you were a noble woman of high rank (maybe a wife of a Tianquan of the Qixing) from Liyue, and approximate age of the hairpin could prove it, but your old-fashioned manner of speech and words you used (some of them he didn't even know exist) made him think that you and this hairpin were of the same age. You didn't give him any useful information – usually you were muttering something about stars and non-existing constellations, then you told him facts about defeated gods in the Archon war. Leftovers of your memories were disparated so much it was impossible to understand a thing from your words – you forgot the simplest facts of your biography, but could describe how the sky looked 1,500 years ago.

It was obvious for Pierro that you had a patron: a young beautiful lady with such a talented mind could easily attract the attention of the rich and great, so Pierro did his best to lie to you about his progress in restoring your past and searching for someone who had known you before your memory loss. In fact he was afraid of it: Snezhnaya needed you more than others, and he could offer you everything you once had had. Love, adoration, financial support – it wasn't a problem for him, he was ready to fulfill your every whim. Your smartness was above his expectations, so he rewarded you generously for your work. You got the best herbs and other raw materials for your ointments, pills and whatever medications you made; he covered your expenses and supported the Moon House financially, he even gave you the best apartment in Snezhnaya, despite the fact that you preferred to live with your patients. The Moon House was situated outside the city, and every time Pierro visited it, he was amazed at your efforts of keeping it: the building with sharp turrets and blue stained glass windows, the place that smells with viscous incense, herbs and mixtures, and where projections of Moon and stars swinging slowly in sapphire light from a rare wind.

Your job took all of your time. You barely had a chance to sleep and rest: people from all the parts of Snezhnaya came to you for a cure, and you didn't have enough moral strength to refuse them. You trained and prepared a lot of doctors to help you, but people traffic didn't seem to have an ending. Your schedule was busy not only with healing and surgeries, but with preventive events and lectures for constant residents of the Moon House as well. The more people you hired the heavier responsibility you took on your shoulders, but thanks to Pierro who nicely gave you managers and other stuff, you could concentrate only on the medical part of your duties.

You constantly ignored your headaches and noisy flashes of memories that were buzzing in your head like a swarm of beetles. Pierro wasn't honest with you – you didn't notice any progress in his research. You got more information about your past from your rare dreams and headaches, than from his words.

Usually you had seen a tall man with long black hair, sometimes he wasn't alone – with him it were various animals or other people, but everyone treated him with respect and called him master. You couldn't remember what they called themselves, as all the dialogues you heard in your dreams were erased from your memory as soon as you woke up.

It was miserable. All your life was miserable and looked like a groundhog day. You wanted to escape from it but didn't know where you would live and how you would earn money if not with medicine. You were tired of everything already, and the always gloomy atmosphere of Snezhnaya irritated you – not a sun ray touched your skin for the years you had spent here. You were slowly preparing yourself for running away and was searching for a good reason to disappear, and soon, you found it.

Your headaches became more intense and all the pain killers stopped working at once. Thrumming in your ears, visual hallucinations of lights and unbearable ache in your nape made you suffer and chained you to bed for the rest of the day, but you couldn't have repose – even your sickness wasn't an excuse from leaving your duties, and you couldn't cancel a meeting with a man from Liyue, who made all this way to see you and tell you about your past.

Zhongli was nervous to meet with you. You probably were the new person by now, not the same woman he fell in love with long ago. What if you wouldn't like him? What if you refuse to come back? You were his soulmate, so it shouldn't be any problem, yet Zhongli had never felt so vulnerable and scared.

When he made a step into your cabinet, he didn't like what he had seen. Hectic flush in your cheeks, your once bright eyes became tired and dull, and were red and teary, even your skin lost its shine, showing clearly that you didn't have enough vitamins. You were stressed out and overworked, so the first Zhongli's intention was to kill Pierro, but he was able to control himself. Seeing you in this state made Zhongli's heart ache: he didn't care about moral questions anymore, as he had seen that you were fading without his love and care.

Pierro told you this man was here to help you learn something about your past, and you felt a strange distance Pierro kept between you and him. He remained cold with you, but you didn't mind it, you were curious about the reason.

First few days weren't as productive as you wanted them to be due to your never ending headache and strange feeling that haunted you around this man, who was the Geo Archon himself. You planned to go to Liyue after Fontaine, but couldn't decline Pierro's invitation to Snezhnaya, so your plans had to be changed. You were grateful that Rex Lapis offered his help, yet something was wrong with it – maybe his strange gazes at you which you noticed sometimes, or your inner voice, that was telling you to look at him closer as if a mystery was hiding behind his glowing golden eyes.

You made an appointment to discuss everything without hurry and in a calm private atmosphere of your cabinet. But at the day of the meeting you didn't even tell a few words to your visitor before the new spasms of pain attacked your head, and made you shut your eyes and lean against the table to prevent yourself from falling, but it didn't help – all the times you neglected your health made it back, and you fainted. Before you closed your eyes you finally found the reason that was bothering you all this time, so in a delirious dream, you saw everyone with their faces and heard their true voices.

Zhongli tried to bring you to senses, but it didn't work. He couldn't risk anymore, not this time: he took you up in his arms, and went outside before he turned into a dragon. The only safe way to carry you back was to take you in his mouth, so he did it, holding you inside gently, afraid to hurt you with his teeth or slap you with tongue. It was his turn to take care of you – while you slept in a fever, Zhongli was in paranoid distress that Celestia found you again. Cloud Retainer tried to tell him that it was a natural reaction to the sudden return of memories, but he didn't want to hear it. Zhongli violated the law of the Heaven and hid you from God's and Archon's sight: now you didn't exist for them, they could never trace you by your energy, and your constellation was broken for them. You were right – words were a great power, and he could manipulate them as he liked. He could turn the lie into truth, as he was the one who defined the truth and the lie for himself.

You woke up after a couple of days and were greeted by Cloud Retainer. She checked on you and asked if you remembered her – you did, but didn't feel the same way anymore. While you were asleep you had seen all your life from early childhood until these days, but it seemed unreal and you couldn't associate yourself with it, like you watched after someone else. Cloud Retainer didn't push you into a friendship with her and was exercising your body patiently to recover all the abilities of it. She explained everything you wanted to know, but never told you about your relationships with her master – and you didn't bring this topic either. It was embarrassing for you to see all the nights of love you had spent together in detail, you still felt his hot kisses on your skin and shuddered every time you felt his attentive look on you, when you were walking down the corridors of his palace. You knew he was watching you, but couldn't see him.

Zhongli gave you time to accommodate and was waiting until you would want to meet him again. One more time you were first to visit his chamber, made a shy step into the room where he was resting in dragon appearance. Did you miss him? Or maybe you wanted to discuss something that was bothering you all this time? He heard you walking on tiptoes, as if you were afraid to disturb him, your bare feet made a barely audible sound when touched the warm floor. Zhongli opened his eyes, looking at you: you were healthy now, your cheeks got a nice light pink blush, your hair was smooth and shiny, and your skin didn't look dangerously pale.

You felt awkward, tried to find the right words to start a conversation, but Zhongli didn't need it. He touched your shoulder with his snout carefully, and waited for your reaction. You were confused but hugged him, wrapped your hands around his neck, and felt how shivers covered your body from the sensation of fur tickling your skin. Zhongli wanted to tell you how badly he missed you, how his life turned into an endless torture of regret and mourning but remained silent. He wrapped his body around you, trapping you so you would stay with him for the night instead of going away.

Every day, you knew him better again and spent time with pleasant conversations and walks. Zhongli did his best to make you fall in love with him again but accompanied you as a dragon or, on rare occasions, as adeptus. The abode was now a silent place with only two residents, so no one could disturb you – Cloud Retainer left you after you recovered and didn't visit you for a long time, giving Zhongli more space and opportunities. He became overprotective and attentive and didn't let you leave the palace alone. Zhongli assisted your experiments and reading time, prepared a bed for you in his chamber, and tried cooking your favorite mundane dishes.

You started to laugh more frequently when you were with him, narrated some things from your journey. You liked to talk with him before going to sleep, when the moonlight was filling the room, and you rested, laying on his cool dragon body. Zhongli kept one of his paws on you, imitating a hug, and you caressed it slowly, while telling him funny situations you were stuck into, then gave him a goodnight kiss and made yourself comfortable, preparing for the night.

Maybe you weren't the old version of yourself anymore, but Zhongli didn't love you less because of it. He was grateful that you were alive and he could hear your melodic voice and sweetest laugh. Zhongli didn't rush with getting intimate, but couldn't resist his desire to feel your warm lips with his tongue and inhale your arousing body scent, so when you were asleep, he sometimes touched your face with the tip of his tongue, imagining how he would place it inside your mouth when you would be ready for it. You didn't know about all his lewd dreams, couldn't even imagine how badly he wanted to sniff your private parts to understand if your body was ready to take him. On another night time talk he took a risk and licked your cheek, when you made a pause and tried to come up with a new topic. You looked at him with a surprised expression, but smiled and kissed him back, laughing joyfully, so Zhongli accepted it as a good sign. He ran his tongue over your lips this time, noticed how you stopped breathing for a moment; you opened your lips to take a breath, but he put his tongue inside your hot mouth, moving it inside slowly, and imitating frictions down your throat; his paw held you by your waist, you felt sharp claws pricking your skin without hurting it. Thoughts left your head as you started to enjoy such a strange vulgar way of kissing, but only one reckless thought of Zhongli doing the same things, but inside different part of your body made you tremble with excitement, and he noticed it.

As a dragon Zhongli kept a mental connection with you, so it wasn't a problem for him to know your desires. He smiled a little to himself, put his tongue out of your mouth, admiring the thick string of your and his saliva mixed together running down your chin. By your clouded gaze he could tell you wanted more, so he let himself strip you, by digging clothes out of body with claws. You felt his tongue going down from your neck to your hardened nipples, moving slowly down your belly, but avoiding your womanhood and teasing the inner part of your thighs. Despite the shyness and shame you felt, you spread your legs more, begging Zhongli with your actions and impatient folds that were glistening on your labia already. Such a view was driving Zhongli crazy, he curled his tongue on your clit, stimulating it with both rough and smooth sides of his tongue. You moaned long, clenching your fists from pleasure. You made yourself open your eyes to see his tongue satisfying you, moving from your clit to your wet hole and stuffing you full. Your walls were clenching around his thick tongue, sucking it deeper for better sensations. Zhongli kept your legs open by pressing his paws on your thighs, heeded to your breaths and moans to adjust the intensity of thrusts. When you were close to release, Zhongli suddenly put his tongue out, leaving you desperate and confused, only to replace it with his dick, already hard and fully erected. Passing Geo through your body, Zhongli put a protective spell on you, so you wouldn't get hurt – you didn't need more, as he used the same spells during stretching lessons and your body remembered it.

Zhongli wrapped around you to make you lay on him and still be able to see your face, his dick was pressed to the entrance of your core, and he inserted it slowly, while licking your cheek to calm you. Once he was inside you fully, he didn't wait anymore and started moving at a fast and desperate pace, pulling you on his cock hard. Zhongli heard sounds of bodies bumping in each other and with every thrust in your tight pussy he was closer and closer to his own orgasm. Scales rubbed against your body, you could sense Zhongli's pheromones and special smell which appeared on his body as a liquid and marked you as his mate. Zhongli came inside with a loud groan, his body shuddered, almost constricting you in his embrace, and made you cum as well, releasing not only inner coils, but squirting over his pubic zone. Zhongli stuffed you with cum unbearably full, the bulge on your tummy was painful even from the amount of seed he had placed inside you. The second after Zhongli put his cock out, his cum spilled out your exhausted womb, leaking down your thighs.

'I won't let anyone hurt you, my love,' Zhongli hugged you tighter, rubbing his snout against your face. 'You are mine... forever.'

You heard his heart beating in the same rhythm as yours. Now, when Zhongli became closer to the human's nature, he was ready to fight against the whole world alone to protect you, he would sell his soul and steal all the stars only to make you smile.

In the quiet and deserted abode Zhongli and you finally could enjoy the presence of each other, fearing nothing. You were the only one, who stayed with Zhongli in good times and bad, and he was endlessly grateful to you.

With first drops of dew on flowers, belated birds with black feathers and long forked tails flew up into the sky to mark the beginning of something wonderful.

#genshin x reader #genshin smut #genshin impact smut #genshin fic #zhongli smut #zhongli fic #zhongli x reader #zhongli x female reader #genshin impact x you

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otakuworks · 1 year

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❛ 𝐒𝐄𝐄 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐋𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐑. reborn au

feat. Zhongli x Reincarnated!GN!Reader | PART II | wc. 5.4K

Based on 'See You In My 19th Life' webtoon | overview. This Webtoon follows the story of a woman who somehow can remember all her past lives.

sum. You were running too fast in life, so fast that no one could catch up, not even Morax who left you to fend off with your curse. Just when you thought you'll slip and fall, a certain consultant came behind and caught you.

cw. mentions of extreme emotion breakdown. cttro 双niarss on Twitter for the art below.

main m.list genshin m.mlist

PART I < PART II

THEME SONG; Slump by Stray Kids (English Version)

There are five stages of grief; Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression and Acceptance. All in order.

In your case, it was the other way around. You have long accepted Morax will lay on his deathbed one day, every living thing will eventually cease to exist, mortal and immortal alike

You, out of all people know the in-depth concept of death.

And yet, no amount of tutelage or experience can prepare you for the real thing.

Now you understood what Morax felt when you died.

Your chest feels raw like there's a sudden gash wound that has manifested in your heart. It was painful, too painful that you wouldn't wish it upon anyone, even on your worst enemy.

Scratch that. It's not just pain. It feels something more destructive, demanding and insatiable, crueler than sorrow. Not even death can appease this feeling.

It was agony.

Impale your abdomen with a spear hundred times. Sever your limbs every lifetime. Suffer for all eternity hiding behind Morax and watch him love with someone else over and over again— you'd take them all and say thank you.

You'd be grateful and endure each of them just to trade whatever horrible feeling that's tearing you apart.

Confusion, terror and fright blanketed your mind as you slumped on the floorboards, desperately gasping for breath.

The acrid smell of snarling lightning crackles in the stale midnight air, sharp enough to singe every nerve of your body, rendering you cowering in overwhelming emotions— agony, pain and grief.

Inazuma was bustling with the news of the Geo Archon passing away recently. You could only imagine how Liyue is digesting the cruel twists of events.

The news spreads fast enough for foreign people to sympathize to Liyue citizens, some even offered prayers to the Raiden Shogun, some pay their respects by wishing the late Archon to rest in peace, some never bothered to care.

But none of them mourned in the confinements of their four walls as you did, the Celestia above knows the quiet sobs that wrecked the very core of your existence. The horrors of every shitty lives you went through cannot be compared to this day.

Rex Lapis, who is— was widely known for many names, mostly as the Geo Archon, God of War, God of Contracts, Former Prime Adepti, the Stonebreaker, God of History is now reduced by dust with his people carrying the legacy he has passed on.

To you, all this time, he's still... Morax the petulant child who leans on you for comfort, who politely demands you to sing a lullaby as kids. You're already sold to the idea no one would ever believe you if you told them what embodiment of mischief he was in the ancient times, the exact opposite of the Archon they knew about.

Nostalgia hits you in particular days you can't find traces of the young Morax, but Pride would caress your heart every achievement he succeeds as you watch the people love him.

Similar to a lone planet, you desperately search for a star to orbit around, to give you a source of energy and strength. Once you find one, it'll be difficult to rearrange your position after you have settled down, you're attached until the star loses its amber glow.

And now the star is gone. Gone with the cosmos after a supernova.

Destroying the neighboring planets, including you.

You were the closest in its orbit, you're the one who had to endure the scorching flames morphing you into ashes until you're reduced into cosmos particles for no one to remember.

Morax left you to fend off with your curse and face adversities alone.

Mortals would succumb to these adversities and would choose to sever their connection to the living to escape from everything. You've seen a handful of them and can't ever get enough of it.

If there's anything you long to have other than having Morax beside you is a swift escape.

Every mortal is capable of such thing, you are too, but it's pointless if the pain will cling to you in your next life. It's fruitless to cry when you know every affliction won't be forgotten even if you tried.

Just why?! Why do I have this perpetual curse of reincarnation? I abhor you, Celestia! Not only you cursed me, you even took away Morax from this land!

You shake your head as the anger surge took over your sanity. You thought you can just go live your merry life, unbeknownst how dependent you were to Morax.

Your will to live is solely operated by the fact you have someone you want to protect. But now he's gone? What's the back up plan? Clearly you can't just follow him in his death knowing you can die, but your memories will remain with you.

Was it out of selfishness to protect him to have someone accompany your lonely soul? Because he's the only one who actually remembers the real you?

Rain began to pour from the desolute atmosphere as you heard disembodied voices theorizing Morax's death. The muffled thundering of the storm only growing louder, reminding you of today's unsavory news. How convenient, the sky is sympathizing.

No, make it stop! I don't want fo hear any of it! Morax is dead, that's how nature works. I'm griefing because it hurts, not because I have nothing to live for.

You lived in that illusion for minutes until. . .

*drip* *drip*

. . . the dam broke.

Hot tears streamed down your face, and you squeezed your eyelids shut in the hope the pain would stop, just numbing it would be fine too. Your choppy breathing and watery eyes remained for quite some time, and sat there unmoving.

There's no see you later's anymore, for Morax has left you. Today has marked your first Goodbye to him.

For an indiscernible amount of time, there was only a black void and it could have been as if you didn’t exist and you had never existed.

And then you felt each of your cells that had been ripped apart within seconds be sewed back together just as quickly, and your eyes met nothing but a blinding white light.

Have I reborn again? You're not aware which is which anymore. You lift your numb hand and reality crashed over your head, you haven't died out of grief, yet.

Your mind is in havoc, you don't know what you want, not that you have any choice.

Dying won't help you escape, forgetting is not an option, loving. . . can't heal an open wound.

No words can equate the absolute devastation you feel.

❖ ── ✦ ── 『 6000 YRS AGO 』 ── ✦ ── ❖

This is stupid. Utterly ridiculous!

What kind of mortal would go in the mines in the middle of the night where monsters lurk in the shadows to hunt for preys? Yeah, that's a question he would like for you to answer!

He flies twice the speed he usually exerts, his mind running rampant of all worst possible scenarios.

He doesn't know what compelled you to do such ridiculous act, but all he knows is he has get to you before any monsters do.

Landing unceremoniously, he gulps at the sight before him. He was never a fan of darkness, it never fails to instill fear in him, the fear of the unknown.

The only time he feels comfortable in the night is whenever you're around him. You don't fear the night, and it somehow influenced him in a way that there's nothing that should be afraid of as long as you're with him— as his human shield.

Young Morax finds himself slowly withdrawing, the fear overpowering his will to come and save you.

"Morax? What are you doing out here?" Saved by the gracious voice of yours, young Morax nearly broke his neck with how fast he looked at your direction.

Your face is contorted out of concern for him, he's sweating profusely and his breathing is ragged.

Just seeing you all in one piece with no signs of injuries made hin slumped on the ground, sighing in relief.

You were at his side seconds later, subconsciously caressing his cheeks. Celestia above! He's shaking like a leaf!

"It's alright, let's get you out of here." Your soothing voice appeased his troubled mind as you helped him get back on his feet. He clutches the fabric of your shirt and wordlessly launches himself on you, arms and tiny tail entrapping you in an embrace.

You waste no second reciprocating the gesture, you've known him for months to be comfortable with physical sentiments. Though you can't say the same to him as he would always flinch away when you initiate it, but has no problem when he does it.

And it seems like he needs your comfort to even give a damn.

"Whatever it is, it can't hurt you now okay?"

From that angle, he peered from below you as if confirming the validity of your words, amber eyes looking like someone has kicked an innocent puppy, it's no wonder you have a soft spot for him.

Both of you strayed away from the caves leading to mines, "I-I thought you l-left me." He meekly mumbled, almost incoherent.

That baffles you as he continues, "I overheard f-from your village that m-monsters are increasing in the area and you're probably..."

"Shh... I'm here now, aren't I? I'm sorry you have to hear that, I can assure you I haven't encountered any marauding monsters during my little excursion." You sighed, guilt pooling your conscience.

He sniffled, "So, you're not going to leave me?"

"Can I even go anywhere when you have a sharp sense of smell?"

"I'm a dragon, not a wolf." He whined, though you could still see the glint of dubious in his eyes, "Can I trust your word?"

Words never served him better than actions, you ought to show him you honor your word by affirming it through gestures.

Smiling, you offered your hand to him.

"How about you hold my hand on our way home? Will that help?" He stares at you and literally contemplated before he relented.

It's warm, much similar to your hug, but like a form of hug that has been reduced to a smaller fraction. It's still a paragon of comfort.

Surely enough, it did help his mind to be at ease. If you ever feel like he's cutting off your circulation, he is cutting your circulation by intertwining your fingers as if trying to tangle it so it won't loose.

"I'm sorry, you must think I'm stupid for cowering away just because of some stupid dark cave." He lowered his head in shame.

He's a Dragon who has greater strength than most beings, and yet he lets his fear consume him as if they can hurt him like how—

"Nonsense! Don't ever think like that or I will personally be the reason why you should fear humans." As stern as you sound, your eyes tell a different story.

Young Morax deduced this as concern, which resulted a flustered and heartwarming reaction from the boy. You were worried for him.

It shouldn't be something he's supposed to feel happy about, but your fretful intentions warranted warmth and security in his mind.

"I didn't know how oddly. . . pleasant it is to hold hands." He mused, and you responded with an amused giggle, "Here I thought only couples do this stuff, but it's really reassuring."

"It does, doesn't it? Sometimes the solution to your conflicts is in a form of validation."

Too wise for a kid, he inwardly complained, ". . .Meaning?"

You hold his other hand and stood to face him with a sequined smile, "No matter how minuscule or massive your fears are, you'll still find comfort when someone validates your feelings; to let you know that they care. It may not be the solution in some cases, but it's better than being alone in times of your vulnerability."

You leaned slightly closer, "Can I ask you a favor?" Your gaze pierced right through his soul and he can only nod absently which resulted for you to grin.

"If you see someone, friend and stranger even enemies, looking so vulnerable that they actually might cry. . ." You lifted your intertwined hands with his, ". . .Make them feel significant."

A cold midnight wind whisked past the both of you, your eyes shone brighter than jewels and stars alike as you spoke those words that made a huge impact in his life.

". . .Even if my enemies are about to cry because I'm about to end their miserable lives?"

What a way to ruin the moment.

"You know what I mean, Mora." You deadpan, preparing to let go of his hand, but his grip is much stronger and it only tightens once he feels you're trying to detach.

"I'm afraid you have to elaborate further, Y/N. And please, I only have two syllables in my name. What's so hard in including the X?" In contrast to his words, he quite enjoys hearing his nickname.

"The X is not even a syllable, Mora."

That time, young Morax found peace.

He's always on the hunt for something new, something glimmering, something incredible, something undiscovered and something bedazzling. That's how his childlike brain thinks and he seizes anything outwardly beautiful.

But he never knew how amazing it was to see something— or rather, to see someone's beauty on the inside.

Perhaps that's what draws him to you, because of your voice, patience and understanding. He would never admit it though

To him, you're beautiful inside and out, almost perfect, even your flaws are easy to love.

He can't deny he wasted a few immortal years just mourning your death, you'd probably scold him.

Within those years, he's only reliving the memories and wise words you have with him. He wanted to come out as a better person after your death, take it as an honour of your passing.

You made him for what he is.

If he hadn't met you he'd still be the intolerable, impatient and disrespectful person as he grows up.

He'd still fear the unknown, never having the courage to take risks and accept whatever outcomes.

Everything he does always brings him back to you, his actions always correlates to something that's relevant about you. It had always been you.

He prays the Celestia to let you know you will always be apart of his person. Yes, you died, but every lingering piece of you still remains intact in the deep recesses of his mind.

He has moved on, but you remain the person he loved the most. Not even the sands of time has the capability to change that.

"How disastrous. People can be really simple-minded." Morax rubbed both of his temples once he heard the speculation of him and Guizhong plausible relationship.

"I apologize on their behalf, it never crossed my mind they'll be quick to make assumptions." The fair Goddess bowed in shame.

"You have done nothing wrong to spark such rumors, Guizhong. If anything, it is I who should seek forgiveness for I have tied you down with such unpleasant gossips."

She meekly chuckles, "If we're going to paint ourselves as the culprit then we might as well work together to quell the rumors."

His perfectly lined eyebrows knitted, which didn't go unnoticed by Guizhong, "What seems to be troubling your mind?"

A few seconds ticked by before he let out a whisper that only Barbatos can only hear thanks to his wind. For Guizhong who has keen sense of hearing, "If Y/N was here I'll gear up for another war just to extinguish this spreading rumors." She stifled a laugh.

Oh, she knows alright. She knows you. She knows the person who captivated Morax's heart, it's all about he talks to her in their leisure time and you're not a secret between their comrades.

Most people would find it dull to listen about someone's life unless it held any merit to pass onto the other mouth, she would too. But Morax describes you like a protagonist of a fairy tale, like some mythical being, caught between two worlds, a miracle of existence that racked his existence— which makes you an interesting person

She was so eager to meet you, it was rather unfortunate that you've already passed on uncountable years ago.

"Where are you going?" She inquired as the Geo Archon whisk passed her, "Out to visit an old friend. I won't be returning until tomorrow dawn."

She sighed, a corresponding smile soon follows as she took over his job for the meantime.

Morax walked through the barren areas in Mt. Tianheng, it became part of his leisure activities during the day when his mind needs to detach itself from reality and let himself be swayed by the memories he tucked in the deep recesses of his mind.

Memories of his late comrades who perished in the horrors of war and the most painful but nostalgic one; Y/N.

He ruefully sighed at the thought of you. Even in death, you have full grasp of his heart and shroud his head with your image.

Filtered beams of light accented the spaces between the ancient trees that twisted like spires from the undergrowth. Golden leaves littered the forest floor as Morax appraised the trail of mycelium path, one leading to a particular tree.

His expression remains unchanging, at least that's what he thought, any stranger sees him they'll stop to ponder what made this godly man smile so fondly.

A single maple leaf flow with the breeze, swaying in inconsistent direction until it falls in his gloved hand. The rich color of autumn and texture brings him back in his youthful days.

[ cttro papercider on Twitter ]

"Ah! All I do is reminisce to pass time." He muttered to himself as he let the leaf get carried away by the zither winds once again.

"It certainly has been awhile, Y/N. I was but a petulant child since I've visited you. I now stand here as the Geo Archon." It has been a habit to come back to this specific tree and treats it as his home.

It's a sacred place he's closely attached to, he can perfectly picture his young self failing to spy on you. He grimaced at the memory when he was caught in the act.

"I still have no idea why you let me trail your shadows, you weren't least afraid that I'm a dragon. You told me you're fascinated, but. . . was that the only reason?"

Only the breeze answered for him with nothing, "If you hadn't allowed me to do so I do not know what kind of person I would be as of today." He steps closer and pulled off his hood.

He let the silence hang for minutes, maybe even hours. Just standing there as he appreciates what nature has to offer in the place where his story began with you.

"Are you proud of me? My comrades claimed they were more than proud to stand alongside with me, but I doubt the veracity of their words when I led them to their demise. Is it that prideful to have me as a friend when I bring nothing but misfortune?"

He finally sat down between the roots of the tree, relishing the blissful comfort as the sunlight accentuates his godly features.

"I met a boy who was being manipulated by an evil god who only desires power and selfish gains." He began.

"He was a fierce warrior, strong and capable, the manipulation only fuels him to be at his strongest form. I was thinking of eradicating him, but his eyes already looked so dead. It reminded me of. . ."

He holds his tongue and shuts his eyes as he's in pain, "It would be one of my greatest regrets if I had impaled my spear into him."

"I thought of you that time. Hadn't it been to my promise to you, I wouldn't have gained a new ally. Xiao is his name."

The wind blew stronger, ". . . I forgot you can summon him just by calling out his name." He chuckles to himself.

Green statics cracked into the air and quickly revealed a masked man with his polearm readied for any danger.

"Settle down now. I apologize, your name slipped in my mouth." The young Yaksha visibly looked confused even under the layers of his mask.

"I was narrating a story to my old friend Y/N."

Guizhong couldn't have been more right.

By the end of the day, Xiao now knows every detail there is to know about the person called Y/N. It's what Morax ever talk to him.

"Mr. Zhongli is in a very elated mood ever since you told him Archon knows what, Traveler." Hu Tao, the Director of the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor finds the situation quite absurd to look at, but never impossible. His mood just feels out of place.

Who looks at mournful families with an eccentric smile on their face as they consult them about their loved one's death?

"Why does Paimon feel like you're pointing finger at the traveler?" She puts her tiny hands on tiny her hips like a mother hen.

The Traveler let out a nervous laugh, "I wonder what exactly brought him in such high spirit with my words."

"Ooh... Paimon thinks it's about Y/N. Isn't it obvious by now?" Hu Tao furrowed her eyebrows, "Y/N? You mean the Adventurer?" Both heads snapped at her direction, "You know them?"

She reluctantly shrugged, "Only at acquaintance level. They showed interest in business and I taught them a few things." She smiled at the epilogue of her statement.

"If they ever come back, my hunch tells me you'd find them in Wangshu Inn, they frequented there before." She added before turning her attention to a new customer.

Zhongli, who's been eavesdropping, perked up at the claims. Perhaps he should visit Xiao tonight and totally won't inquire if he ever met you before.

Midnight falls and Zhongli bid his farewell to the traveler before heading towards the Wangshu Inn.

For some unknown reason, Zhongli could sense the foreboding feeling that's nagging his instincts as he gets closer to his desired destination, yet he doesn't stop. What's worse is that he doesn't know if it's for the good or bad.

All of a sudden, a harsh breeze blew past his face as if the winds attempting to convey a message that's only for his intuition to decipher, for him to meander.

Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw his statue glowing bright blue, but that wasn't what caught his attention. A hand reached out to touch the stone statue.

A mop of [H/C] facing him backward bowed down in respect of the late Rex Lapis, but Zhongli could feel a much more intense feeling.

Something stirs inside him, he remembers this situation— when he watched Y/N with such fascination from above the tree, not knowing what they look like, yet they never fail to express their feelings through threaded words he finds so wondrous to hear.

In contrary to that, the person appears to be. . . forlorn. He stepped closer until he's only less than five meters away from them.

All of a sudden, he feels skittish around the person. It's as if he doesn't want to leave a bad first impression, he's suddenly self-conscious of his looks, and Zhongli never cared about his outer appearance.

Then they spoke, in a solemn voice.

"See you later, Mora. I hope you found your eternal peace."

There are times when you wish you'd forget Morax, some that you don't. But still, in the birth of new beings, you will find Morax in his next life. The prospect of being alone is a phobia you can't ever overcome unless you have Morax.

What a joke. It should've been a farewell. Your final goodbye to your old friend. Not a hopeless see you later.

It took you months to come with that mindset, only to end up saying what's the exact opposite.

It was difficult to come back in Liyue, every step adds a new pile of memory that drags you further into the depths of agony. Every where you look reminds you of the late Geo Archon. Each encouraging word in your mind gets trampled on by his image.

You consider it as an achievement to stand tall in front of his statue after his death, and a failure that you didn't get to bid your final words to him before you depart from Liyue.

You're still clinging to a nonexistent hope that you'll actually get to see him even after your death. Old habits die hard they say. It couldn't have been more relatable than now.

Sighing in disappointment, you retracted your hand from the statue and briskly turn around when you felt the disturbance behind you.

A gloved hand suspended in the air seems to be trying to reach out to you. As you raise your eyes to meet the oh-so-familiar glowing amber eyes that you grew to love. . .

You offered the stranger a faux smile, seemingly naive to the person standing in front of you with an aghast expression.

You failed to realize Morax as Zhongli just as Morax failed to realize you in your different lives.

"Hello. How may I help you?"

Oh, how the tables have turned.

Time has stopped, both hands of the clock moved counterclockwise, bringing him back to the time he first laid his eyes on you— so unsuspecting from what's about to unravel after a sweet hello.

His broadened eyes are solely fixated on you, it ingnited a feeling he couldn’t immediately identify, a sense of a certain and long-forgotten familiarity fogged his memory.

From the color of your eyes, skin and hair. The subtle furrow of your eyebrows and the upturn of your lips. The gentle facade that compelled him to indulge his curiosity towards you.

Y/N. . . Are you the Y/N the traveler was talking about?

But you bare no resemblance to the Y/N he knew, yet he can tell how it is your soul residing in the mortal's body. It is you. Your eyes aren't the ones that welcomed him as new friend. It feels different.

You're smiling while your eyes are grieving.

Your eyes failed to conceal your weeping soul and could only hope the last bits of its strength will keep it standing until someone reach a hand to put back the shattered pieces.

Behind that gleeful stare was a mountain of pain and extracting it would bring instability to the person who would dare to climb. Yet come what may, you're always worth any risk.

He lowered his hand to shake yours, his lips upturned into an enigmatic smile.

Your heart went erratic and the usually dormant butterflies imploded in your stomach. You haven't felt like a teenager since. . .

You felt your breath hitch in your throat when suddenly, with a mere handful of strides, the beautiful man was standing right in front of you, his amber eyes searching your face intently, trying to find whatever it was he was seeking.

"My name is Zhongli, I'm a consultant in Wangsheng Funeral Parlor." Your [E/C] eyes blinked surreptitiously before accepting it. What a beautiful name, you thought almost immediately.

Under normal circumstances you would've strictly reprimanded the man with his incongruous advances, but you felt something else, something so powerful it overshadowed your senses.

It was a need, an unyielding need to be close to him.

Rather than pushing him away, something inside you stirs awake and begin to implore to coalesce with his existence.

"I'm Y/N L/N, an adventurer."

So it is really you.

He briefly looks down to their intwined hands.

For countless nights, the image of your bloodied hand reaching out to him as you take your last breath plagued his every dream. The tender, soft hands that will no longer bring him comfort. The hand of the person whom he loved so dearly, whom he failed to protect against the wicked ways of the world.

The intense urge to hide you away from the prying eyes that shared similarities to his kept his mind in shambles.

Which what led him to mumble to you what his thoughts are repeating like a mantra.

When he spoke the promise he'll show you what's up at the highest altitude his wings could go, he was mostly speaking out of his selfish desire to hold onto your hand and fly you away to the farthest place no living creatures have ever stumbled upon.

He had to learn it the hard way; that the greater you wish for something, the crueler fate can be. Maybe if he hadn't been so greedy you could've live your mortal life.

Now that you are standing in front of him, shaking your hand, he can amend his mistake by straying far away from you before he repeats history itself, before he could inflict pain on you again.

And yet, looking at you attempting to shoulder the boulders of life is what all it takes for all the wisdom he garnered for centuries to be thrown out the window.

He can't imagine himself distancing from you when you're suffering and have no one comfortable enough to share your burdens with, no one to validate your feelings, no one to embrace you in your vulnerable times.

You taught him to be compassionate, to not disregard emotions, and he's about to set that in motion. You were there when he needed you the most, offered your shoulder to vent out his feelings, it's about time to let him do what you always did for him.

It became abundantly clear he's not willing to let you go through anything alone just like he had gone through without you.

"You claim you're a consultant. Did you perhaps think I'm a potential customer?"

He let go of your hand as much as he loathes being away from your warmth for even just a second, he's still convinced you can be taken away from him at any given moment.

"Indeed, I couldn't stand idle and watch you grieve alone." He watches how you averted your eyes as if hiding the pain would appease your mind.

"I appreciate the thought. . . though, I highly doubt it'll be effective."

He mentally chuckled at the irony. He, too, was once amazed of what simple gestures can bring to a downhearted person.

"Hmm. An old friend once showed me how to console a person. Allow me to share their insights."

Your eye brows perched in curiosity, this man speaks like he's in his 50s or something, ". . .If you insist. I could use a company for now."

Morax experienced eons of desires to attain what he wishes to, though he refrains from being blinded by those greedy thoughts as he had witnessed how cruel fate can be when he once desired to have you. Will history repeat itself?

Zhongli chortles in response, but his expression soon turned nostalgic, "I may not know what adversities you're facing nor do I know who you are, but know that you're never alone."

His smile never left his face as he takes off his glove and held the palm face forward to you, he watches how your eyes glisten with unshed tears, "W-What is that supposed to convey?"

You didn't even notice how much gap he closed just to increase the proximity between the both of you. Archons! You can smell the lingering scent of Osmanthus Wine mingling with his breath!

Is he a drunkard like Venti?

Perhaps this man is drunk to comprehend his actions, perhaps he won't remember this the never next day, perhaps he has mistaken you for someone else, perhaps—

"Wherever you wish to go, I'll keep you company. I dare ask if I may hold your hand along the way, Y/N?"

Perhaps there's hope you can cling onto until your aching heart is at ease.

Your hand found its way to his, almost too desperate to not let this moment of comfort vanish. Just this once, you thought to yourself as the man smiled with absolute glee that it puts the sun in shame.

Out of reflex, your fingers laced with his, wanting nothing more than to relieve in the warmth of his hand. His expression soon turned into a priceless one as if he's in disbelief that you actually just did that, and that alone made the realization struck you harder than Raiden's lightning and fried your nerves with embarrassment.

"I-I'm so-sorry! I didn't mean to get too comfortable!"

You're a stranger to him, and you acted as if you've been a longtime friends. He must have been feeling uncomfortable, you nervously thought as you quickly tried reel back your hand in an attempt to salvage whatever budding acquaintanceship you have.

Keyword; tried.

Your action prompts him to retaliate by locking his fingers in place, keeping your hand sealed with his and shot you a reassuring smile.

"Do not fret. I'm delighted to know I somehow earned a little fraction of your trust. It's only fair to mirror the trust you gave me."

As if to spell out his point, he held up your intertwined hands just below your chin. His eyes blazed with a newfound emotion you couldn't decipher. He almost looks eager. He was gripping your hand, not too tight, but firm enough give emphasize of something.

His action wasn't fruitless as it gained a reaction from you. Your eyebrows twitched, there's something too familiar about it, but your memory refuses to give you that answer.

Instead, you could only mutter weak responses, "I-I understand, but if you feel uncomfortable in any way then don't hesitate to point out what I'm doing wrong."

Whether it was a satisfying answer he wants to hear, his emotions betrayed to even give you a brief answer and his face only lit up as he turns away from you, "You could never do anything wrong in my eyes."

Did he just say something? "What was that?"

"Nothing. Are you new in Liyue? I could give you a tour if you'd like to make you familiarize with the environment."

Your lips turned into a genuine smile, it didn't reach your ears but something tells you this man will lengthen it until you're the happiest person alive, "I'd love to, Zhongli."

As the wind blows to the East, a new chapter has began with a new retelling of their unfinished story. Until the last maple leaf falls and the oldest standing tree drought, two souls will always find their way to rekindle what has been lost.

>> PART III

─ 𝐓𝐀𝐆𝐒. @itsyourgirlria @shizunxie @elsoleil @cherlynono @slzarr @katsuissus @tartarsaucechi1de @spyanya @tikitsune @shoujishu @useless-potatho @chimsblogg @xiamuyi @lemonlimesocks @belletifeshyl @alexon-mars @multifandomvoyage @malt-rants-and-stuff @jameineliebe @angelkazusstuff @orginiallyann @eissaaaa @beezgobuzzbuzz @towos @kamukayakmonyet @atsukawolfcat @sunflowers1970 @yamtwt @avery-needs-more-fics @angstylittleb1tch @bigcandlesmolbrain @lxmine @imk1ra @fauxizs @islxisl @chihawari @bishishbored @yuuki4646 @sunsethw4 @princeabomination @alexiris @chocolateneapolitan @ayra2452008 @akaritenchi @sophiee-bush @ittosoneandoniwife @alatus2716 @almighty-raiden-shogunate

(it's my first time doing tags so pls inform me if it's not working, idk why the others are white, did I do something wrong??)

PS. if you want to get tagged for the next part or be removed then simply comment it TAGLIST is for the readers who want to be updated for my future genshin works.

─ 𝐀/𝐍. Can you all smell that? *sniff sniff* I smell a Xiao ver. of this 👀👀 Fr, I didn't expect the fic will be loved that much as I initially thought, I received many appreciative comments and messages which is what motivated me to write part 2, and possibly part 3 (just for the fluff) since this was supposed to be a series but I crossed that idea out until everyone broke my expectation. Thank you💜💙 and merry christmas everyone ❤💚

#zhongli #zhongli x reader #zhongli fic #zhongli angst #genshin crossover #genshin impact #genshin impact angst #genshin x reader #zhongli fluff #crossover #see you in my 19th life #webtoon #genshin impact crossover #reborn au #genshin zhongli #Spotify

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osmanthus-wine-addiction · 6 months

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Gilded Wings Can't Fly (An Angel/Demon AU)

🞜 Pairing: Zhongli x Lumine 🞜 Summary: There's suddenly someone following Zhongli around all day. She says she's his guardian angel, so she must be harmless to him, right? 🞜 Contains: NSFW, religious themes, supernatural, angels/demons

(Snippet from Chapter 1 Let the Blind See)

Amber eyes bore into yours, piercing straight into your soul. If they didn't spell your inevitable demise, you might even say they were beautiful, like polished cor lapis.

Your wings trembled behind you, betraying you as you faced the man towering over you with as much defiance as you could muster.

"Lumine. I've been waiting to meet you."

His voice was familiar, since it belonged to his host. That deep, soothing timbre seemed to stroke something deep inside you every time you hear it. Yet you knew that the person talking, the person addressing you by name was not the person you've been watching for the last two years.

This was Morax, not Zhongli.

"How did you know my name?"

"I know a great many things about you, little dove."

"I'm not your little dove." You reminded him.

Your mind flitted through all the information you've gathered about this particular demon and how to deal with him. Unlike some demons who constantly attempted to bridge the two realms, very little was recorded on Morax. What was he capable of? A blank. His weaknesses? Also a blank. The only somewhat useful information you were able to get a hold of was that this demon commanded legions of demons in the other realm. The rest was irrelevant information like his affection for precious stones. You didn't have much to go off of.

Morax chuckled, finding your retaliation even more amusing. "I apologize. I mean no disrespect, my dear."

"Please don't address me so intimately. I am not your dear either."

"A dove is not a derogatory term. It's a symbol of hope, courage and faith. In my eyes, you embody these qualities. Also your feathers happen to be as white as a dove's."

The compliment disoriented you. Should you thank him for the nice words? Why was a demon treating you so respectfully? Your distrust kept your guard high, but your curiosity was simultaneously climbing to an inappropriate level.

"I don't have long, Lumine. The power I've accumulated in this body will only allow me to maintain a link for a very short period of time. Hear what I have to say and decide for yourself if you still wish to proceed with what you've been sent here to do. The choice is purely yours."

#zhonglumi #zhongli x lumine #genshin fanfic #genshin impact #genshin smut #genshin #zhongli smut #fanfiction #zhongli fanfic #alternate universe #zhongli fic #lumine #Zhongli x Traveler #zhongli #Zhongli #Genshin Impact Zhongli #Zhonglumi

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senpiecakes · 2 years

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A Love Not Meant to Be: Zhongli Part 3 (end)

Notes: Final part! I hope you guys enjoyed this one, I loved writing it :) Might disappear again for a few weeks unannounced but who knows.

Summary: Right person wrong time basically + reincarnation.

Warning/s: Angst no comfort, a lot of lore spoilers

Theme/s: Angst, no comfort, angst tropes.

Trope: Right Person, Wrong Time/Immortal x Mortal

(PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE listen to Glimpse of Us by Joji while reading)

Parts: Part 1, Part 2

Continuing your life with Zhongli after your contract was blissful. Despite the doubts you both had, it was a happy, calm life you shared. Zhongli never thought that anyone like him- a wild, young adeptus always looking for a fight- could be able to live such a tranquil life with a human that grounded him to the simplicity that was a mortal existence. He loves you now more than ever. Zhongli is more tranquil now knowing that each day he gets to wake up next to you, that happy little smile on your face being the first thing he sees in the morning. ‘Good morning, Morax’ being the first thing he hears, and the soothing caress of your hands on his face being the first thing he feels. He remembers this feeling for the ages, the memory subduing him when he feels he needs it most. But that’s in the future. Right now, he’s living with you and learning to live in the moment.

Time seemed to move slower now. The routine you two had was the only thing that Zhongli had in mind. He seemed to forget that he was an adeptus at some points, forgetting his past of battles and his warrior-like prowess, now replaced by the tender love he had as your lover. The past seemed so distant, but the future felt so haunting. Zhongli thought he would be able to carry the weight of your passing- that the transience of your life with his wouldn’t be as detrimental as you told him. How wrong could he have been? Zhongli, at some point, began to notice time unraveling on your features; you’re growing old, the wrinkles of your smile becoming defined and the look in your eyes growing wiser. To him, you looked as remarkable as the day you had met, but it was clear that the inevitable was bound to happen. Zhongli became fearful as he never really thought that it would be so soon, but you were more than prepared. To you, you’re living a long life of prosperity, blessed by a peaceful existence shared with a man you loved. You knew Zhongli was afraid and unprepared, and you tried your best to keep his spirits up, telling him to live in this moment with you. However, Zhongli’s limited grasp on your mortality was clear. He wasn’t ready to lose you. He couldn’t. He didn’t ever want you to go.

He couldn’t stomach the instance of your passing. Zhongli truly wasn’t prepared for the day until it came. He didn’t think it would be the time yet. You looked healthy, you were mobile, but you told him ages ago about the unpredictability of death. You went peacefully in your sleep, in the resting hours of the afternoon where you would have been up in the mountain with Zhongli. He would wake you from your nap, and tell you that it’s time to go up to your favorite spot. You would smile at him and wrap your arms around his neck. Zhongli would carry you, he always had, up to that mountain top where you would watch the sunset together. He didn’t even notice how frail you’d gotten through the years, how weak you became, and always thought you had come to love being carried around by him. And at night, he would lift you back home as he would tell you about his stories on the way home. Zhongli would sleep with a peace of mind that your shared routine would never end- and it would stay like this till the end of days. On that fateful evening however, the breeze fell silent, as you were. That day was missing your smile, your arms embracing Zhongli’s figure, and a simple response to go. Something washed over Zhongli before the downpour he expected- a calm, a silence. He calls for you one more time, and you only lay there, a languid look on your face in the guile of sleep. You weren’t present for the crash that came after as you lay limply in the arms of your beloved. You couldn’t hear Zhongli cry and shout in the middle of the village. The desperate tone and agony in his voice as he yelled for help, screamed your name in hopeless abandon, chanting about how you haven’t even seen the sunset yet today.

It was quite the heartbreaking and terrifying sight to see; an Adeptus so distraught and inconsolable that the event would be enough to render Zhongli to his dragon-like appearance. His roars of pain were almost earth-shattering as they echoed through the emptiness of the valley and shook rocks off of mountain tops. But you never moved, and neither did the villagers. They weren’t afraid. They understood the love Zhongli had for you, and they tried their best to convince him to let you go, in that moment, and the empty years that would come after. Zhongli seeked for the refuge that was your touch, the hearth you provided with your embrace- but all he could muster against the numbness was the cold of death, and the sheer loneliness that surged through his body. He never wanted to let you go.

Zhongli never anticipated it to be this bad. The bitterness of the nights he spent isolated in the darkest corners of Liyue, far from those close to him, and farther from the place that he called ‘home’ with you. To him, nothing else could be home if you were gone. Death was as permanent and as permeating as you had told him. He now understood what you meant; the true gravity of loss. The feeling of suffocating for days on end, the ache that pinpointed each part of your chest, the clouded memories that used to bring joy now only cause misery. He had lived through this one too many times, but your passing had felt tremendous. At least with those before you, they lived for centuries. You only lived your short human years. You were only a blip in the eons of lives he’s lived, a mere speck in the time frame of his past, his present and future; a potential in what you could have been had you been immortal.

But it was better this way. Zhongli didn’t want to see you succumb to the darkness and erosion, to fight a war you didn’t want, to live a long but miserable life. He’d rather have you lay dormant in his mind, perpetually living in the happier years of your shared life, than stay with him during the fall of Teyvat.

You didn’t live long enough to see the Archon war and the Cataclysm that followed. Soon, your little village turned to ruin and sank beneath the earth after the gods of old expanded their domains across Liyue. You were lucky to be spared the tragedy that followed. You didn’t see Zhongli become the ruthless Lord of Geo, nor did you see him side with Celestia against a long forgotten nation. He was glad you had departed before that. He wouldn’t want you to see him that way. Zhongli always thought that in those moments- during the slaughter, the bloodshed and catastrophe- would his memory finally give him peace by removing you from his mind once and for all. But each time Zhongli would spill the blood of another would he remember you; clear as day and brighter than the gold of the earth. He knew why; he needed your comfort more than ever. When gods decimated each other as spoils of war would he seek for the peacefulness of your passing, the mercy of the life you offered to him.

Until then, when Zhongli rose victorious in the long-drawn battle would he forget you for a time. During the golden age of Liyue, the establishment of the harbor and his duty as an overseer- Zhongli pushes you far back in his mind. He thought that now, he would have more time to remember you, but he was just fulfilling the wish you wanted for him. You wanted him to be happy when he would have the chance to.

Unknown to you of course, your memory still nestles warmly in the back of Zhongli’s mind- always waiting to wake when given time. In moments when he is deep in the shackles of his past does he find peace in his old companions; in you best of all. He calls out your name in the darkest hours hoping for the repose that was your voice, he recounts his time with you in the silence of the sunset you had loved, he tries to remember… more so than he attempts to forget. He had long since forgotten your face, a factor he finds so cruel. How unforgiving could fate be to give Zhongli’s mind this circumstance? He remembers everything else; his time with you still resonates clearly within him. The sweetest taste of your kiss, your hands holding his, your beautiful voice and laughter. It pains Zhongli to know he had you by his side for a time, a mortal so influential that your impact outlived the many that came before and after you. Yet he doesn’t even remember what you looked like. In years of searching for a photo, a painting, a rendition even, of the person he called Y/N, nothing came about. It was truly the bitter end you’ve expected and cursed. You warned him countless times about the repercussions of loving a mortal. You always hoped that Zhongli- your Morax- would forget you in due time, but this somehow hurts far worse. He just needed to see you once more, but even that the world cannot provide. To know that Zhongli is unable to uphold your final wish, that he can never let go of the fleeting life you had built with him many, many years ago, was truly the warning he should have followed. Even now he still searches for the forgotten dream of the bygone past- a dream you once shared with him, a dream he feels he can never have the chance of having again.

He feels as though he should have done more during those years when he was still young and in love. Sometimes, Zhongli wants to convince himself he regrets ever meeting you. Then he wonders where he would have been had he not met you on that fateful day. Maybe he’d turn out to be this loveless tyrant, maybe things would remain the same. He curses himself for thinking he would ever regret meeting you. You gave him his happy years; albeit short, they were sweet, fulfilling, and he had never felt more loved in his life. Zhongli sometimes lies awake at night wondering all the things that could have been- the past and how so many things could lead to a different future. He wishes he should have kissed you more, spent more time with you, let you win an argument just to see you smile. Would he have more memories of you then? Would he remember your face more clearly? Would your touch, your kiss, your voice, be his final resting place? Would you still be his lasting solitude?

Please, Zhongli begs to the fate that had come between you. Let me try again, once more, a few more times.

In the downtime hours of his day would Zhongli think about these things the most. Amidst the gentle bustle of the Harbor’s streets would your presence pierce through his minds unexpectedly. Everytime, Zhongli wishes he can will you by his side to share this form of banal domesticity as you two had in the past. Today, fate decided to fulfill Zhongli’s little wish.

“Hello there.” A voice says. Zhongli freezes in place, as if something so dreadful and harrowing sliced through him like a blade. He recognizes that voice; the voice of a distant past, echoing the lost dreams and broken promises of a person no longer remembered. A voice that, against the busy city streets, could be known by him for miles away, years away. The voice from someone lost to time, forever remaining in the Geo Archon’s heart. Zhongli was afraid to look, but slowly, he turned and what met him nearly made his stone-like stance crumble.

“Y/N,” Zhongli mumbles, breathless and desperate but certain. In front of him was you, a reincarnation of you at least. It felt unreal to him to meet you in this way; an encounter that seemed so familiar in which his now ordinary life was met with something not so ordinary. The same way you had met, your simplicity clashing with his divine presence. In this moment, it felt as though the worlds would collide as soon as Zhongli had said your name.

“Have we met before?” You ask. What a coincidence. You even have the same name.

“No, I…” Zhongli sputters, forcing his tears away. It pained him to see you, even more so when you don’t even know who he is. It truly felt that your love was lost to time, that only he was left to cherish the moments you held so dearly.

“You looked like someone I know.”

You nod and smile kindly at him. The action nearly made Zhongli buckle. Your face remains unchanged, features only he knows by heart are still there. After all these years of searching, he has finally seen your face. To him, however, it feels more dreadful than anything.

In the millions of lives you’ve possibly lived without him, and in the singular life he’s endured without you, why now? Why is it only on this day, in this moment, did fate decide to have you meet in this fashion. In the time when Zhongli was at the peak of his grief, in the years of enduring it for your sake and the proclamation of his undying love to you; how could fate toy with him in such a cruel way?

“What’s your name?” You ask. Zhongli swallows dryly and he almost, almost, introduces himself as Morax in hopes that maybe a sliver of the past would appear in your mind. But he stops himself.

“Zhongli.” He says. “I go by Zhongli.”

A glimmer appears in your eye- a look that one might have when they meet an old friend. You smile warmly and Zhongli was struck in the gut once more.

“Zhongli…” you mumble. Zhongli couldn’t help but flinch. It was odd, this feeling. To see his Y/N’s face, manner, their soul, in the body of another. To hear his name be said by ‘you’ after a millennia of your fleeting voice still resonating in his mind. To be able to see you again, not you, but someone else- alive and unaware of the love you had shared with him those many lives you had years prior. But Zhongli only smiled cordially. It had been the same feeling those thousands of years ago; of heartache and giddiness and of joy and pain. No matter the feeling, no matter the ache, Zhongli recognized his Y/N- and you always felt like home.

“Well, Mr. Zhongli,” you beam. “You look pretty knowledgeable. Why not show me around Liyue harbor for a bit? I’m traveling the world, you see.” Zhongli feels his heart flutter. He wanted to, so badly, to be close to you once more- to continue where you had left off and love you time and time again, for a million more years if fate was forgiving enough to allow him. But Zhongli was also fearful. He doesn’t know if he can handle another millenia of loneliness. He doesn’t know whether or not he can live through another instance of your passing. He doesn’t know if he can handle ever forgetting your face, and live through years of grief and searching to find you again. Zhongli wants to try again, but he doesn’t know if he can let go of his heart still tethered to the Y/N now lost to time.

“I… I can’t.” Zhongli says finally. Usually, he would be more than elated to share the tales of old with others, especially if it were you, but he could do nothing but stare at your face, tears stinging in his eyes. As much as he wants to share this moment with you, he cannot bear the thought of being so close to you now, and you don’t even recall the history you had with him. It wasn’t the same. He saw the familiarity in your eyes; the past, this present, and what could have been your future together. Zhongli only saw you in their eyes, and it hurt him to think that he could try again and love your current self to replicate the life he had with you from before.

It’s his Y/N he needs.

My Y/N, he thinks. My Y/n.

But he cannot do that to you- he’ll never hurt you in that way. His Y/N or not, you are the same, and he will love you in any form you take.

“I’m quite busy today, maybe some other time.” Zhongli follows up. He may love you still, but he still cannot let go of the tormenting past that was your life with him. As much as Zhongli wants to let go, to finally allow your memory to rest with the others, he thinks he is only doing a disservice to you if he does. He doesn’t want to betray you, as much as you wished he would at this moment.

“Ah, well, that’s okay.” You say with a smile. “Hope to see you around. I’ll only be here for a week.” Zhongli smiles back.

“Likewise.” His voice was barely a whisper as Zhongli watched you turn and wave goodbye, slipping from his fingers once more.

It will never be the same, won’t it? He thinks. Your confused expression when he came up to you, the strained friendliness you had towards him as a stranger, everything about you belonging to the ‘you’ he loved from before- but you’re just a stranger. You weren’t the Y/N from the past. It wasn’t your fault, but the pain made Zhongli feel betrayed. However, he cannot outrun the reality that was your existence.

As much as he tried, as much as you begged of him too, he loved you too much to let you go. You exist now with him, your soul reincarnated in this odd twist of fate, to urge him to release the tormenting weight that was your memory. But he cannot, not yet at least. Maybe it was meant to be this way- he needed to leave you alone this time and to allow himself to heal of the past that you blessed him with. He’ll love you from afar; from the distant memory of your shared past, to the ever moving flow of the present. Zhongli will love you, and in time, he hopes he will once again have the courage to love you in the form of another.

Until then, his heart still yearns for the day he will be reunited with the mortal he had loved in days of old. Even when history has already erased you from this earth, no story is there to retell your ordinary life, and your soul is always waiting to be reborn in another, Zhongli will still remember. Clear as day, bright as the gold of the earth.

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thebomb-thebird-andtheburntbitch · 10 months

Text

Dragonfly

zhongli/f.reader

genre: morax/zhongi, immortal!cursed!reader, miko/shrinemaiden!reader, angst, hurt/comfort(?), slow burn, reunion, traveler is NOT y/n, implied xiao/traveler,

warning(s)!!: mentions of: death/repetitive deaths, war, past suicides, the suffering of immortality in a mortal body, for the sake of this fic dragonflies are semi-common in teyvat/liyue lol, xiao considers zhongli/reader parental figures, things will definitely not follow canon timelines, Xiao is a frequent/important character, characters may be ooc (im sorry)

w.count: 15.6k (i am so sorry)

SYNOPSIS: fate and time are cruel kings ruling over even gods. morax is no exception. the only human he ever fell in love with was twisted by fate to battle him in a brewing war. the image of the burning temple that she resided in rested behind his eyelids and not a day goes by that he does not still mourn and yearn. time had cruelly taken you away from him. or... had it?

“Hello Traveler!” The soft yet chipper voice of the ever-pranking funeral director calls out from behind the blond Outworlder. The day in Liyue was still young and bright as the umber-clad young lady walks up to both them and Paimon who had floated herself bouncily from the Traveler’s right shoulder to the left.

“Oh,” Paimon begrudgingly acknowledges, form bobbing in the air comfortably. “It's Hu Tao.”

“Paimon,” Traveler scolds, crossing their arms over their chest. Paimon just sighs as the blond looks to the funeral director who had come close enough for conversion and unfolds their arms, bringing them down to their sides relaxingly. “Good to see you, Hu Tao,” they greet with a small nod.

“Indeed,” Hu Tao nods back, closing her eyes briefly in glee before reopening them. “It is lovely to see you. Are you here to visit Liyue? Or, perhaps another pressing matter brought you back to this nation once again.”

“It’s nothing drastic,” Traveler dismisses. “We just.... had some time on our hands. So, we’re just visiting.” Partially, that was the truth. However, the full truth was that there was most definitely something the pair could be doing instead of wandering around Liyue. But it was important to take time for yourself sometimes, right?

“Well, feel free to stop by the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor if you’re interested! I’d be happy to host the both of you for a meal.”

“You mean, Zhongli would host us?” Paimon quips up knowing that, as Hu Tao’s consultant, Zhongli’s job descriptions can vary in terms of tasks. However, when Paimon spoke Hu Tao lifted her arms up towards herself. One wrapped around her chest and rested the elbow of her other, resting her curled fingers against her chin in thought.

“Perhaps, not this time. Zhongli has had something on his mind these days.” The woman brought her curled hand and arms back down, now gesturing them softly in front of her as she spoke more. “It would feel distasteful to ask him to host guests at the moment.”

The mention of Zhongli being mentally occupied made the Traveler and Paimon look at each other. They were privy to a lot of information the consultant kept tucked away from public knowledge- for good reason. The staged death of Morax for one. Although Hu Tao had once speculated that Zhongli could possibly be an Adeptus, she surely didn’t know that she wasn’t exactly far off from a bullseye.

Still, the fact that Zhongli, the former Lord of Geo, was distracted so much that Hu Tao had essentially dismissed him of some of his duties was a concerning thought. He never seemed the type to dwell so much on something that it obstructed his work.

“I’ve tried asking him about it before,” Hu Tao continues, “since he gets like this around the same time every year. All he’s ever spoken to me about it is that someone he knew from his past had died around this time. It felt… wrong to pry into his past more for some reason.” It wasn’t an odd statement coming from her. She often took her work very seriously, even if she herself was a spitfire of a young lady.

“Someone from his past died?” Paimon asked, already knowing about his past with the Adepti and The Seven. Perhaps, it had something to do with them? Either way, the concern was planted in the Traveler’s chest, so it felt only natural to find the ex-Archon and try and get some answers out of him. Maybe, since the pair had already known about his identity it would be easier to talk about. Or, that was the hope at least.

Hu Tao and the Traveler spoke briefly for a moment longer with the usual snarky comment from Paimon before going their separate ways. Hu Tao had apparently been on her way out to fulfil a clients few specific requests and her stop for a chat was pushing to make her behind on her work. Paimon didn’t mind if she went on her way sooner rather than later, the dealing with the dead had always been creepy to the floating companion.

Regardless, Hu Tao was a nice lady. Traveler would make sure to stop by and see her more, maybe indulge her hobby of poetry a bit.

The two had walked around the busy streets of Liyue for a while trying to find Zhongli. He wasn’t at the funeral parlor, much to their dismay at making it an easy search, so they just starting wandering hoping to catch him somewhere along the way. Soon enough, they had wandered just far enough to catch a glimpse of his long brown tailcoat at Liyue Harbor.

In retrospect, they should have started their search here if the funeral parlor was a bust.

Zhonglig stood with his hands tucked neatly into each other behind his back, shoulders slack as he looked out over the landscape. He was basking in the solitude at the top arch of the harbor’s bridge when he hear the approaching sounds of footsteps. Turning his chin, he unclasped his hands and let his arms fall from his back before turning to greet the approaching Traveler.

“Ah,” his deep voice reverberates and only the closest to him can detect the faux sound of a choked strain in it. “Greetings, Traveler.”

“Hello, Zhongli!” Paimon greets floating just a fraction ahead of Traveler. “What were you doing?” She already begins to pry with a suspiciously high-strained voice. It just makes Traveler silently sigh and shake their head. She really needed to work on being more conspicuous.

It’s quiet for a moment before Zhongli already catches on. Perhaps he can be a bit dense about certain aspects of the mortal realm, but he was by no means a fool. A smile finds its way on his lips in a moment of mild amusement at Paimon’s grace, or rather lack thereof.

“I was merely lost in thought. Reminiscing about the past, you could say.”

“The past?” She pressed again.

“Paimon,” the Traveler hisses for the second time that day. The floating girl just opened her jaw in mock offense before floating closer to them.

“What? What did Paimon say now!”

Zhongli’s low chuckle was a soft tune that at least showed he wasn’t offended by the blatant attempt at coaxing his thoughts out of his lips.

“Did the Director send you to find me perhaps?” The fact that he was trying to slowly steer the conversation away wasn’t lost to the Traveler. Paimon and them both looked back to Zhongli shaking their heads.

“Not exactly,” Traveler starts.

“We did run into her though,” Paimon tacks on. “She told us you had been down in the dumps, so we came to check on you!” Paimon’s small hands came to her hips and her chest puffed out as if proud of her actions of checking in with a friend.

Zhongli chuckles once again at the way Traveler places their hands on their hips as well,. Though, they were instead sending a playful scowl at the back of Paimon’s head.

“It is quite refreshing to see the two of you bicker,” he chides. “It certainly helps in easing the mind.” Once more, the two’s attention was drawn back to the former god.

“So,” Traveler starts before Paimon could interject with something else, “there is something on your mind?” There was a growing fit of silence between the group of three, no one speaking in fear of shattering something they couldn’t exactly describe. Zhongli seemingly caved with a minuscule sigh kept more to himself than the harbor’s breeze.

“The assumption that I’ve been a bit… preoccupied is correct. Lately, it seems I cannot focus on certain tasks for too long. My mind has a bit of a tendency to wander around this time of year.” Zhongli can already see the look of curiously mixed with concern written into the eyes of both Paimon and Traveler. His own eyes flick around the bridge and beyond the harbor’s main port before returning back to his visitors. “If you’re very interested to know, then I would not mind trying to explain it all over some tea. Though, it would be best if we took the topic of conversation elsewhere.”

The sudden shift in his demeanor was almost palpable. It was like a cloak of grey mist started to waft around his very being at the mention of speaking his mind. Now that the two outsiders got the confirmation that whatever it was that was plaguing him was of the past he doesn’t let others know of, they were ready for a lengthy story.

Zhongli had graciously invited the Traveler and Paimon to his personal abode, a place they had never even set eyes on. Of course, they knew he had to have had a place to stay and sleep, but for some reason it felt like all he ever did was walk around Liyue, do his work at the funeral parlor, or listen to stories at the Third-Round Knockout. It shouldn’t have been a shock to know he had his own home, but all the same, it was.

It was simplistic inside, with the shelves being the only things of high value because of all the collected items he had bought and stored on them. Gesturing them both to a set of chairs between a table, he began brewing tea to serve as promised.

Traveler sat awkwardly at first. Shuffling around in their chair while Paimon floated around the open space of the house being nosier than she should’ve been truthfully. Still, Zhongli didn’t say anything about her snooping so she continued to do so until the homeowner returned with a tray in his hands.

A decorative teapot sat in the middle of the dark, wooden tray atop a plain towel; the steam of the hot, freshly brewed tea wisped out gracefully from its spout. Beside it were three small teacups placed upside down that clattered with the smallest sounds of finely made clay as he set the tray in the center of the table. Along with them was a small dish of cubes of sugar and a small creamer that held milk inside it.

Zhongli skillfully took the teacups and flipped them over, setting them all upright and easily pouring the exact same amount of tea into each. The brew was dark and the steam wafted around the tabletop before dissipating into the air only to be replaced immediately with more. He slid two cups toward Traveler and the other to Paimon once she stopped her floating around and settled once again as the third member of the current party. He offered the milk and sugar to the two of them as well.

“I prefer my tea black, but please help yourselves.” Zhongli settled into his own seat easily. One arm resting on the arm of his perch and the other on the table top to curl his fingers around the cup he had prepared for himself. His legs crossed out of habit and it was then that the Traveler realized he had taken off his tailcoat. It was purely out of habit to take it off when he had arrived to the privacy of his own home, and he didn’t even realize it himself- not that it mattered. It was simply a different look than they were used to.

Paimon began dropping sugar cubes into her cup a bit too clumsily as small droplets splashed on her hand from the objects breaching the liquid causing her to yelp. In turn, the two seated companions offered her chuckles of amusement as she blew on her hand. Of course, it was hardly an injury- it was more a fright than a burn.

“It’s hot,” Zhongli chided.

“Gee, you think!” She then started dropping in cube after cube much more delicately. Or, rather she would drop them from the same height as before but immediately fly away when she let go so the upcoming splash wouldn’t touch her again. The Traveler made their own additions to their tea as well, but much less messily.

The three settle into a comfortable silence filled with small sips of tea and clicks of returning cup to wooden table top. That is, until Zhongli broke it by placing a small wooden box on the table in front of him to join in with the teatray and it’s accessories.

It was an elegant box the size of his fist. Golden edges wrapped in angular designs and a locked latch in the front of it. On the top of the lid was the symbol of a Geo Vision. At first, the two travelers thought that maybe this box is what he stored his fake Vision in when it wasn’t on his person. Pulling a small key from under his long-collared shirt, he unlocked the box and opened the lid. From where the Traveler sat with the lid facing them, they still couldn’t get a peek inside.

The last thing they expected Zhongli to pull out of the cushioned, plush lined box was a hair ornament.

Modeled in the shape of a dragonfly, the piece was carefully handled by the ex-archon and placed so very delicately on the table. The wings of the dragon fly were filled with a crystal that shone green and teal, the colors shifting with the light and angle as which it was gazed upon. The piece itself was designed as a hairstick, acting as an elegant means to pen up locks of hair- the metal rod of the stick seemed well suited for such a job. Matching teal-green crystal beads hung from the bottom tips of each wing as decorative tails.

It was a beautiful piece to gaze at.

Zhongli kept his hand on the table right next to it, his fingertips just a breath away from touching it again. When Paimon got a bit too close while gazing at it, Traveler could see the slightest twitch run through his fingers. As if the ex-Archon was anxious about Paimon getting too close to it. Still, to not be rude he said nothing as she continued to narrowing gawk.

“Paimon, back up a little,” Traveler said, sitting forward a bit to try and act like they were trying to get a better look while simultaneously trying to get Paimon to back off a bit. When Paimon floated back to her place by her teacup, Zhongli’s shoulders loosened like he was relieved at the distance between the reckless floating fairy and this clearly important item.

“You were curious on what has been on my mind, yes? This is a one reason I’ve been rather… absent as of late.”

“You’ve been spacing out over a hairstick?” Paimon asked astonishingly. Zhongli shook his head.

“Not quite.” His fingers uncurled and genly brushed over one of the beaded tails, letting the crystals bump over his fingertips. His eyes softened, yet that cloak of grey melancholy came back to him. “It’s more about who this was going to belong to.”

Traveler and Paimon both had questions, but remained silent. They both settled into their respective places ready to listen to the story he was surely about to unweave. They knew that the tea would grow cold and kettle drank empty by the time it was all finished. Though, the look in his eyes and the way his voice grew softer in a way that pulled at the heart made the eternity of sitting in one place much easier to bare.

“This ornament was going to be a gift to someone I knew a very long time ago. I never had the chance to give it too her, however; so, I keep it here with me where it is safe. I cannot bare to throw it out, even after all this time.”

It seemed crazy, how the two swore his eyes had grown misty just saying those few sentences. How this story is going to start all because of a crystal dragonfly from millenia past.

There were many places that had been tainted and driven to ruin due to the war raging by the Archons. Gods were battling each other for power, others trying to flee from another’s unjustly wrath. Some even tried defending their people instead of taking place in battles or retreating. It was chaos and there were few corners of the old world of Teyvat that wasn’t splattered in a thick muck of bloodshed.

Still, that didn’t mean everywhere had been tainted. No. This fact rang true as Morax had discovered one fateful day a small territory cleansed of blood and impurity.

Hidden behind a barrier he had stumbled upon in the middle of a half dead forest, the invisible viel hid everything beyond it from sight. In fact, if he hadn’t happened to be near it, the Archon probably wouldn't have noticed it in the first place. The barrier itself easily gave and allowed him passage inside which led him to believe it was more of a mask than a shield.

Walking through it led him to a forest of lush floral and trees that thrived surrounding a small section of land that housed no more than 500 people perhaps. A small village with huts scattered around plots of farmland and a rather luxurious palace atop it all. It was a farcry from the near-deathly state of the outside world and the whiplash of it made him momentarily wonder if he was somehow succumbing to some sort of hallucination.

Morax walked through the dirt paths all the way until the thick wall that cut off the eastern styled palace from the rest of the people. Walls tall and made of a stone the God of Geo had to have created at somepoint. The craftsmanshift of it was marvelous he had to admit as there was not the slightest crack between the stacked stone. Easily vaulting himself onto the tall wall, he gazes beyond it’s perimeter.

Inside of the sturdy walls, he could see six different buildings. Along the two side walls of stone stood two houses each. Two west and two east, separate yet built so similar he could easily mistake the four as clones of each other if not for his experienced eyes that had seen such fine details over his life. Connecting these four abodes from west to east were grey, stone paths. The same cobblestone led beyond the front gate he had forwent as he perched atop the wall and led straight forward to a single building that was larger than the rest. Morax assumed that was the main estate just from the grandeur of it compared to the lacking other four.

Though, the final building is harder for the curious immortal to see. It was built directly behind the main estate, no doubt also connected with the same clean stone paths that weaved through the courtyards. All Morax could see of this building was it’s roof, the same tiled and burned color as the high status homes around it.

Morax straightened his body from it’s crouched position and began to gracefully walk along the stone wall. Getting new angles of the buildings inside, he soon grew close enough to the main estate that he easily lept to it’s roof. Landing as if the air lessened his weight, he could now view that one single building he hadn’t yet more clearly.

Immediately, the Archon recognized it as a temple that without a doubt housed priests and priestess alike. Some may be masters at their craft and others may be but small, inexperienced fledgings beyond those sacred walls.

The idea of a temple like that in an uncharted and untainted territory flared his curiosity. So much so, he was hardly in control of his instincts as he once more lept gracefully from the estate’s rooftop onto the stone paths. His barefeet made a sound of collision when his heels touched the man-made path, and continued to make the same shuffling sounds as he walked straight into the temple.

Morax did not run into a single person in the temple, though he could hear matras and practices from around different open training fields. Even the soft plunks of arrows being driven into targets for archery precision and the chiming of bells for cleansing. The open halls of the temple and the roof over his head that kept the sun’s heated glare from his figure felt comforting.

Being in a place so filled with peace and sounds of anything but war was outlandish to the otherwise warrior-type god. Morax had contracts to fulfill and his own principals to protect while fending off other gods trying to level his unnamed throne. Taking out a few of his own violation never did any harm to strengthen his gag between himself and others.

The god had walked so freely that he soon found himself under the sun again. Instead of in the open halls of marble floors and burgundy columns, Morax was standing amidst a field of wild grass, flowers, trees, and bushes. It was like the lush forest outside the stone perimeter allowed a single bit of it’s ecosystem inside the temple just for the mortals to bask in.

A small humming of wings quickly caught Morax’s attention amidst the sounds of the wind’s breeze and dancing leaves. His chin led his head in the direction before coming to see a small dragonfly hovering around him before landing on his shoulder. The view of the insect was neary cut off by the hood he always wore over his head, but the bug itself was peaceful just resting it’s wings on the god’s shoulder for respite.

For a moment, the warrior of countless battles felt relief. For just that moment, the weight of such responsibility with his temperament lifted all because a small insect decided to rest on him.

The dragonfly’s respite did not last. The little critter’s wings began to hum again and soon began to hover off and before Morax could stop his feet, he found himself following it. Bare feet stepping over well worn paths of flattened grass and dirt patches. Not long from where had previously stood, he stopped at seeing where the small insect had flown to in lieu of himself.

The eyes of the archon landed on the first person Morax had seen since entering this temple- although uninvited, presence unknown and undetected. Reaching out a delicate hand with her index finger extended, the dragonfly landed easily on the appendage.

A priestess knelt elegantly in the tall grass, previously inspecting herbs when she heard the familiar buzz of wings. The hakama pants that folded at her legs were neatly pleaded without a crease out of place and her kosode tucked perfectly into the trousers- not a wrinkle to critque. Her hair had been loosing tied back with a red hair ribbon that fluttered in the breeze that kept the tall grass swaying like waves of spring.

The wind picked up when the dragonfly lifted off her fingers and off back towards Morax. It was like the little creature had led him straight to her and was now directing her vision back so they could meet each other’s gaze.

It was all thanks to that one, small bug that Morax and first made eye contact with you.

“Oh,” your small voice of surprise- at seeing such an odd looking man in the overgrown, private gardens of the temple- carried on the same wind that the dragonfly danced in. You stood and dusted off your knees, knocking any sticking dirt off your bottoms before standing up properly. You inspected the man in front of you.

Arms dark as earth with cracks of glowing gold. Clad in a white cloak that split five ways down and encompassed with a golden belt at his waist with a hood pulled over his head. The hair you could see whipping lightly in the wind behind his back was dark in color matching his arms. His trousers were wide open and baggy around his legs, only encasing snuggly around his ankles. His impressive stature gained your attention easily and you could tell he wasn’t exactly something mortal. It would be ridiculous to think just at the sight of his arms alone, not to mention the air around him seemed so… powerful.

“My apologies, I wasn’t aware we were expecting a guest today,” the courteous smile you sent him made him wonder if you weren’t at least a little apprehensive of his unexpected presence.

“You weren’t made aware because no one aside from yourself is aware of my being here.”

“I see,” you muse. “I hope you are aware that qualifies you as a trespasser.”

“Trespasser?” Morax gapped, losing his composure for a moment. His brows dipped in offense under his hood, his pride kicking into his throat through his words. “I am no such being.”

“Ah, but aren’t you just? You said yourself, no one knows you’re here. Yet, you end up in the presence of this temple’s Miko. If that does not mean you’re trespassing, what does?” Morax’s eyes hidden under his hair and flick from your head to your feet and back up again. You were the head shrine maiden? You seemed so young and yet you held such an important position? It planted a pebble of doubt in him.

Then again, if he focused on you properly, he could barely see a small circular arua around your frame. It was like a barrier was placed around you, one protected you from the outside and anything that could taint you. Exactly like the barrier surrounding the territory he had more or less invaded. Honing your spiritual power like that so young, he would’ve perhaps tutted in impressiveness if you hadn’t challenged his very being moments ago.

Still, Miko or not, he still outranked you. Crossing his arms over his chest, their golden geo pulsed with a soft light.

“With such a rank you possess, are you still so unaware when a God stands before you? A pity.”

“On the contrary,” you smile to him and his brow again twitches at your nonchalance. “I’m being quite respectful if you think on it. If you were simply a noble who lives among the palace homes, I would’ve quickly dealt with you since only a select few from outside are allowed entry into the temple. Much less this garden which is private and limited to my attendance only.”

“Are you implying you could force me away at any moment should you please?” His voice grew tight in challenge. His sense of traquilty from before discovering you was dimming and the frigid air of his battle sense were returning even as the wind continued to caress you both.

“I assure you I would do no such thing. I’m simply proving that even in the presence of a God, I will not yield since I do not even know which is in front of me. Not to mention, this land has no God to speak of or for. So, if you think about it that way, I am where one would hypothetically stand.”

Oh.

Morax felt something stir in his chest at the teasing tilt in your voice that spilled over your lips that curled into a smile. Your eyes were so clean and clear, it was like staring into crystals and he had the urge to create a new form of geo just to replicate them. The feeling was foreign to him, but it shocked him greatly when he realized it wasn’t an unwelcome stir.

He finally dropped his crossed arms and began to decrease the distance between you both. Morax came to stand in front of you so he could get an even better look at your features. As such, you could now look easily under his hood as he stood above you. His eyes seemed to glow a lovely shade of amber that complemented his glowing, golden skin and dark hair.

“Address me as, Morax,” he instructed. Your taunting smile turned soft and wide as your eyes closed in the most pleased expression he had seen in years. His amber eyes widened at the innocence and the small bells of laughter that left your throat towards him shook his unshakeable core.

“That’s much better,” you said, now obviously pleased. “I’m, y/n. It’s an honor to meet you, Morax.”

It was his name rolling off your tongue- spreading into the wind that had blown harshly for but a moment- that sent an earthquake that started at his chest and spread through his whole body. It was the sound of his own death sentence and he was once again shocked at how he easily accepted that he would definitely be back to this temple. Be back to this garden of overgrown grass and floral.

Morax would definitely be back to you.

As promised, Morax had been back to that temple several times since the first time he met you. When the weight of the archon war was- ironically- too heavy, or if he needed a place to escape just for a moment he would seek you out. It was quiet ridiculous how you had somehow wormed your way into his very soul and wrapped him around your finger.

The Lord of Geo had come to learn much about you in the time he spent by your side. Your favorite flowers and scents, when you had started your priestess training, when you had progressed to the skill level you possess now and how long you had been the acting miko of the temple. Your favorite type of weather, or time of day, or season. In turn, he had confessed things about himself as well.

How he had been around for as long as the world- or so it sometimes felt that way. How he’s in the middle of a grand and merciless war with other gods presumably because of issues to do with celestia. How he had taken many lives of both mortals and gods alike all for the sake of his own land and people. The very feeling of battle is engraved in his bones like names on a tombstone, yet it didn’t seem to push you away.

It was laughable. The very Being of war and battle was utterly infautated with you, a mortal being of purity and values. Of course, you were alway assure him that what he did was just his own values, especially his strictness with any contract he made. You neved judged him for his sins and the weight they carried, but you never outwardly agreed with him either. You told him what he needed to hear, not what he wanted and he cherished those words so dearly. If he had any less self-restraint, Morax could easily let himself take your very words as law itself.

Yet again, it was another day he had left his duties behind him as he found you kneeling in the fields of grass once again. Leaping from the outerwalls, to the rooftops of the estate, to the roof of the temple, he easily lands like a pebble hitting sand next to you. It was the rush of air beside you that alerted you of his attendance rather than any sound he made- or didn’t make.

“Hello again, Morax,” you greet as you thumb through the herbs and check the petals of nearby wildflowers. Morax kneels at your side before sitting fully in the grass, one of his knees bent up to prop his arm on with the other stretched out in front of him. A rather relaxed position you had insisted he use instead of kneeling for however long he visits would last.

“Good afternoon,” he replies. It’s silent for a while after that. The atmosphere of simply being with you was good enough for Morax. That was until the urge to speak and hear you speak in return hit his throat. “Your people seem more rowdy than usual.” He didn’t need super-enhanced senses to tell that the noise had increased since his last visit.

“You can tell that even though you’ve never properly been inside?”

“I have been inside.”

“No one knew that thought,” you tease with a finger that flicked back and forth a few times. “So, it isn’t a proper stroll in my temple.” Morax playfully chuckles at your antics. “You are correct though.”

“Is there a reason?” He had noticed it since he arrived, but the air around you seemed heavy. “Something seems to be weighing on you.”

“You’re perceptive. I suppose I shouldn’t be shocked about that considering-”

“Y/n.”

You sigh before the hand that had been thumbing at flower petals falls back into the tresses of wild grass and to the ground at your side.

“The monks are gathering in a rush under Master Jiang’s orders.” Morax’s brow furrows at the information. You had mentioned this Master Jiang before. He was apparently a traveling monk that had previously been nomadic. Though, since the archon war had only gotten worse over the course of time, he had settled in the safety of your barrier and subsequently in your temple.

On the rare occasions you let your irritations get the best of you, you spilled your guts to Morax about how he was constantly chanllenging your power and position in the temple. Thinking he was better because he was older with more experience beyond the protective walls of your home. Along with the misguided misogyny of being a man. It was one thing after another, spouting off about anything that irked you until you got all your curses off your lips in the privacy of the archon.

Morax had not met this Jiang- not to mention anyone else outside of you inside the temple sense his visits weren’t exactly documented- but he already strongly disliked him. Now, he was trying to taking charge of your temple?

“For what purpose.” You do no respond to him right away and it sends a jolt through his nervous system. “Y/n. For what purpose,” he repeats with a heavier tone. You let out a sigh that feels as heavy as your aura as you sit in the field of wildgrass and flowers with the closest being to your heart.

“He’s afraid that we’re going to soon be effected by the war as well.” You didn’t need to specify which war, he was more than well aware which you were referring to.

Among the other things he had learned about you, he had come to understand why your people were save from the archon’s destruction so far. It was because of you and your power.

Inside the temple was a specific place for you to practice your skills and keep the barrier around your precious home. That didn’t showcase all you could do, however and Morax knew it. Keeping the living things inside safe and keeping all the taint out. If something did happen to get inside your barrier, you were quickly dispatched to purify it. You could tell the moment something breached your safe haven, all the proof he needed as his first appearance to you.

You had admitted ot him once that the reason you didn’t immediately cast him out was simply because you didn’t feel any hostility from his presence. He had no intention on hurting your people or home, so you allowed him access in. That barrier was an extension of your power; constant proof you were so much stronger than that stupid old monk was trying to plat down.

Morax had only heard the sound of your birch tree bowstring plucked once before, and the air instantly felt cleaner. He’d heard bells in the distant halls while he waited for you in the treetops of your private garden to avoid the chance of being seen. While with you, he had picked up on a masking you placed over him so he couldn’t be detected by others and kept safe from prying eyes. Your power still astonished him even after all this time.

“That’s asinine,” he growled. The whole ordeal of it all just set the message that they didn’t trust you and your abilities. After all you had done since you were a child to protect these people, after everything you’ve sacrificed, and they’re doubting you now? When your powers were in their prime? It was insulting.

“Morax-”

“Do not try and save their value but udnermining your own.”

“I’m not!” You cry in exasperation. You let out another sigh before letting your body lean into his shoulder and against his propped up leg. Morax froze up as your body softly collided with his own. While you had him attached to your very being, hook line and sinker, he had never once touched you. Not a single brush of his fingertips to your body or even allowing your legs to touch as you sat side by side.

The side of his body you rested on felt like a volcano on his geo-ingraved skin.

“Sorry,” you whisper. “Could I stay like this just for a moment longer?”

His arm that you leaned against came to wrap around your shoulder and push your head further against him. The archon lowered his leg to join the other on the ground just so he could have you closer to him. His chin rested by your forehead and he closed his eyes letting you invade every one of his senses. Squeezing your form as he felt the trembles you tried to conceal and force to stay inside, not letting yourself break as much as he wanted you to. Morax wanted you to feel safe and open with him, but he understood all too well how difficult a task that was as someone of your strict upbringing.

“Stay here as long as you need. I will not move.” Morax was geo, the land itself. He created mountains and stone and they all know his name. He was a god of contracts and his words were just as serious as those that he holds so strictly to them. The Lord of Geo would stay your unyielding pillar for as long as you needed him. That he promised to himself as he felt your small drops of tears silently fall onto his chest that he dare not mention. The urge to wipe them away and treasure you like a fragile bell ached within him, but he dare not act on those either.

For but a brief moment, Morax- the Geo Archon- wished for a single second he was mortal. That he was like you.

Morax had no idea how this happened. What had gone wrong? Was it him? Did his sudden intrusion into your life of purity ruin everything? As a god, did his divine hands finally touch something he was never meant to?

Weeks ago you had urgently awaited his normal time of arrival but as soon as he showed, you urgently told him to leave. To leave the temple, the palace, the barrier- all of it- and never come back. You had demanded he return to the world he knew, the one filled with smoke and war and ongoing conquests. His chest filled with thick, black tar as you screamed at him and he did what any sane being would do. Morax screamed back, unable to understand and he was losing his patience bit by bit.

The Archon wanted answers, none of which he demanded for were satisfing. The monks had finally discovered that you had been meeting with an outsider from beyond the barrier; to make matters worse, they knew it was Morax who had been active in the outside war since it begun. They were focring you to make a decision and the best course of action was to push him away before things got too out of hand and would be to a point where you could do nothing.

It made no sense to Morax. He could help, he was certain of it. He’d let you direct him, use him how you like and pull his actions like a puppet on willing strings. He’d follow your every order to the letter if you just wouldn’t force him out and shun him like you were desperately trying to do.

You wouldn’t yield.

Morax hated your stubbornness now more than ever. You finally forced him away with a bracellet you had made yourself that was nothing but clear-ringing, golden bells threaded with red string. The sound they made amplified your power and he knew at just the meresight of them you were trying to make him leave.

With one flick of your wrist, he could feel invisible threads of nothing wrap around his limbs and begin to tug. Once more he tried to reason something- anything- out of you, but was met with nothing but a second ring of bells that yanked his whole being out of your barrier. Forced out and finding himself outside, he was furiously frustated. Summoning his polearm, he let out a cry before thrusting it into and then subsequently through the neearst tree effectively slicing it down.

Your final words to him stay in his ears like a parasite- pounding against his eardrums so violently he was afraid they'd burst if they continued to torment him.

“If you ever return, I will have no choice but to take further actions, Morax.”

Morax had to stay away from you. It’s what you wanted; or maybe it wasn’t your wish- but it’s what you said. What you demanded he do. Still, he didn’t know when this happened. Morax didn’t know when he decided that the last thing he would ever do is stay away.

Therefore, Morax still returned into your barrier and through your territory. Just as you had said, you were true to your words.

The moment you felt his presence trespass inside your barrier, you evacuated the palace and with the same bells you sent him away with, you summoned him back. It was like he was teleported with magic, the same invisble strings that had yanked him out now drew him in. The ringing of your bells reverated in his ears before he was standing in that same overgrown field.

Morax stood in the one spot he first saw you and you took presence in the spot he had found you kneeling. This time, there were no dragonflies humming in the air and something in him knew there never would be again.

“I told you,” you choked.

“I refuse to listen to a moral’s orders,” he bit back. It was a lie. He said he’d listen to your every word, and he meant it. Even when his desperate pleas to stay by you landed him nowhere by alone.

Morax knew there was only one option left as he eyed the staff in your hand. Your grip was so tight around it your hand trembled with the sheer force of it. Your head shook with micro-swivels on your neck as you kept your eyes on the ground.

“You should have.” Morax’s polearm materialized at his side in a moment before he took it’s familiar grip into his palm. He had only ever told you of his weapon, never wanting to show you in case it tainted you somehow. All that silly precaution seemed so pointless now.

The gentle breeze he was accustomed to had become bone chilling as you lifted your chin to finally look at him. Morax almost caved seeing your angry tears, but as you moved to engage in battle, he let his body move on it’s own. The god who was so accustomed to battle just wanted to shut his brain off for this one.

Morax didn’t want to do this.

The battle between you both was a long one. You screamed at each other. Sometimes words, sometimes just sounds of angusih and pain. You knew Morax was holding back on you, you didn’t have the power to fully stop a god and you knew it. Morax knew it. Whether he was holding back because of his affections for you or because he was toying with you, you couldn’t figure it out. The power of your barrier did limit his abilities some, but it was hardly enough to be considered a handicap.

Still, somehow, you had knocked his polearms from his hand before you forced him onto his back into the grass.

His cloack was torn and his arms of geo-glowing beauty seemed dim and dark like the shadow cast over his eyes. His hood had been knocked back while his hair was tosseled and battleworn. Your body and his were covered in cuts and burns and scrapes. Everything hurt from inside your body to the outside.

You had him on his back as you climbed over him. Your legs pinned his arms down and your weight sat on his chest, the bottom of your staff pushing into his throat as your labored breaths shook throughout your whole body. All you had to do with lift your staff just a fraction and slam it back down and you could do some major purifying damage to his body. It probably wouldn’t kill him… but what if it did? Did you have it in your to purify a god? Maybe if you tried, it would take all your strength and you could die together. You almost scoff at yourself-

-wouldn’t that be just poetic.

You could feel his own chest heaving under your weight and you knew he could easily throw you off him if he wanted to. Just like before though, he did nothing. He just lay in the grass beaten and battered as he glared beyond the staff’s pole into your face. You hated the look in his eyes.

“Will you not follow through?” He chastised with so much venom you wanted to vomit. The staff shook once with both of trembling hands holding it above his neck. You had to- it was your duty. You would be betraying your people if you let him live. For your people, for the cowardice monks who forced you here, for your ignorance for thinking you could keep Morax by your side without consequence. For everything you had trained for until now, you had to get rid of him. You had to!

Morax sucked in a breath as he readied his neck to be pulverized. Your staff came away from his throat… and soon your weight was being pushed off his body entirely. Raising to your shaking, exposed legs from your torn trousers, you took staggering steps backward from him. Morax’s glare morphed into shock as he raised to his elbows to watch you retreat.

“What-”

He watched your chest heave with frustrated tears. Choked, uneven sobs tore at your throat as you screamed before throwing your staff far from your grip. You heard it clank against Morax’s discarded polearm and thought for a moment how ironic it was. Your weapon reuinited with his in your moment of weakness- your lowest point of failure. The moment you threw duty away and chose yourself for once.

“I can’t,” you cry, falling to your knees into the singed and destroyed field that once flourished so wonderuflly. “Please, go,” you beg. Morax climbs to his feet, wincing at the wounds on his body before calling for his polearm again. Once it was again in his grip, he looked at the dried blood of yours that litered the blade. The Lord of Geo immedately dismissed it, watching it disapate into the air from whence he summoned it. He simply stood there, looking down at your crumbling frame.

What were you doing? You were going against your practices and willingly letting a supposed threat escape. He took one step in your diection, still so woefully attached to you. Watching you tear at the seams and keep unraveling in front of his very eyes. He was at a loss; what could he do to even begin to ease your suffering when he himself was part of it?

“No.” You could feel his eyes on you and his want to approach you burnt the top of your head at which he gazed. “Be gone.” You demand once again like the first day you chased him off. You didn’t hear him move and in a fit of nothing left, you tore off your bell bracellet and threw it in his direction. “Go back to where you belong!” And in a mere moment, his presence vanished and you broke completely. The eyes of the monks watched as you sobbed in the gardens, the battle they made you wage concluding with no victor.

“Zhongli…” the story behind the hairpiece and his grief was heavier than either Paimon or Traveler was expecting.

“I had planned to gift this to y/n during one of our meetings. I knew she wouldn’t be allowed to wear it of course,” he chuckled bitterly to himself. “For a great many of reasons. Still,” it would’ve proven to myself she was mine. Zhongli cleared his throat. “Regardless, I think I’ve spoken enough for once. The tea has run out and you both surely have other arrangements as the day is waning.”

“Paimon doesn’t think-”

“Then, we’ll be off,” Traveler interjects. Zhongli was just being polite but what he was really saying was that he wanted to be alone. “Thank you for telling us. Y/n sounded like a wonderful person.”

“Tis but a story.” The way he replied made it sound like he was trying to convince himself more than them. The two left his home, leaving him still sitting at the table with an empty teacup and still holding that crystal winged dragonfly like it was Teyvat’s most precious treasure.

It was quiet between Paimon and the Traveler as they walked aimlessly around Liyue. The Traveler’s mind boggled at the information they had been told and grew curious to any they hadn’t. They were almost certain that there was more to your story, but Zhongli couldn’t bare to say anymore.

“Wait,” Traveler stopped in the middle of the path, bringing their hand to cup around their mouth in thought. “That all happened during the Archon War, right?”

“Paimon thinks she remembers him mentioning that. Why?”

“Do you think Xiao would know anything about it?” Traveler thought about it, but if memory served Morax was the one who granted Xiao his name. As Paimon looked at the blond with wonder, a voice spoke behind them.

“You called?”

Paimon’s screech echoed into the air as the Traveler spun around, not expecting the very apedtus to show up. Xiao sure took the calling of his name seriously.

“Paimon never-” the floating companion looked to the blonde. “Oh, yeah. I guess we kinda did.” Xiao crosses his arms as he stands expectantly. The daytime hours were few in remaints and the streets began to slowly thin in populous, so he was less reserved about being around people, Though, he still didn’t want to linger either. Regardless of his wants, he noticed the air of tensity around you both.

“Did something happen.” It wasn’t a question, it hardly was when Xiao was involved.

“Do you know anything about a woman named y/n?” Xiao’s body when frigid as he dropped his arms and quickly stepped up to the both of you. Coming nearly toe to toe as the Traveler squeaked and took a half step back.

“How do you know that name.” Once again, Xiao wasn’t asking. Traveler looked around and decided that standing in the middle of the road wasn’t the best place for this conversation.

“Let’s go somewhere else.”

The newly formed trio had migrated outside the city and out into the wilderness by a river. Xiao and Traveler took to sitting among stones, Xiao crossing his legs and Traveler letting their’s dangle. Paimon’s ever floating presence never going too far from the two. They sat and listened to the sound of the bable of running water, trying to find a way to reopen the previously halted conversation.

“Did Rex Lapis tell you about y/n?” Xiao ripped the bandage off first, something Traveler was almost thankful for. “That’s the only possible conclusion I can think of if you know her name since she wasn’t memorialized during her lifetime.”

“Yeah, he did. I’m pretty sure he chased us out before he could tell us everything though.” Xiao nodded. Earnest understanding shone in his eyes but there was something else behind those irises of his, but the Traveler couldn’t figure out what it was. “Did you knew her too, Xiao?” He nodded again.

“Not long after Morax found me and gave me my name, I found out that he was frequently paying visitation to a mortal woman. I thought he was being reckless, so he took me to meet her one day.”

“He took you himself?” Paimon questioned.

“Yes. He wanted to prove a point.”

Xiao could still remember his first impression of you. You had scolded Morax as soon as he landed in the familiar garden, arms crossed and mouth opening in reprimands. Calling him foolish for bringing a highly detectable entity beyond your barrier- one he didn’t even realize he had breached with his archon- and that if you hadn’t masked his spiritual signal just like how you did with his own, he’d be in a world of trouble.

Seeing Morax take your scolding as he stood there bemused, Xiao’s first thought was that he did not like you. He distrusted you. What kind of mortal argues with a god on what they can and cannot do like you did? It was ludicrous. Still, the moment Morax introduced him as his newest comrade named Xiao, you smiled at him. You sent along with that smile a warm welcome and he suddenly felt awkward.

“Xiao,” you called to his back before he was to leave with Morax at the need to return back outside your walls. He did not turn around to face you, but he did not move until you spoke again. “Feel free to come back and visit anytime. I’ll keep you covered.”

“Rex Lapis- Morax- was the one who saved me and gave me the name Xiao. I respect him and owe him a great deal- a debt I may not truly be able to ever repay in full. In mortal terms, some may say he’s like a father to me.” Xiao’s chin lifted up to the darkening sky. The day had felt so long, the Traveler hadn’t realized just how late it was beginning to get. “If Morax was a father, then y/n was my mother."

The yaksha can still remember the first time he had sought you out for himself without Morax with him he was recoiling from karmic debt. It didn’t take a genius to know that he felt lighter in your presence- your purifying light helping ease his burdensn whether you did so purposely or not.

It was late into the night when you had awoken abruptly from your sleep to the sensation of Xiao passing through the barrier. You sprung up from your futon, quickly focusing on his approach and cloaking him the best you could. His energy was rough, dark and pulsing and it worried you. You quickly made your way out to the garden where you knew he’d be and unshockingly enough was when you arrived.

Curled into himself on his knees, his arms wrapped around his torso as black smoke engulfed him like vines. Gasping and sweating, he weakly stay collapsed in the grass as you ran to his side.

“Xiao!” You whispered in anxiety as you knelt next to him, your eyes teary in fright. “What’s happening to you?” He didn’t answer, just shook his head with heavy, labored breaths. The moment, your hand came to rest on his back, his eyes rolled back with a fraction of his burden easing off his shoulders. Xiao slumped into you, his shoulder and neck pushing into your legs as his head rested partially on your stomach. His sudden collison knocked you back into the grass, your previously kneeling form now firmly planted on the ground.

“Please,” he gasped as your other hand had come to his shoulder that wasn’t pushing into your lap. “Please, could you… sing.” In truth, he wasn’t sure why he asked that of you. He didn’t know what possessed him to request something so odd, but regardless of the oddity, you did. Your mouth had opened and you slowly and softly began to sing him a lullaby he had never heard before that night.

It was like a blanket of early morning mist started to coat his burning, heavy body. His aching came to a slow stop as his mind became clearer. You sang the lullaby over and over again until the effects of his karmic debt had disappeared into the evening air. Even when he went completely lax on your lap and your hands had moved to run through his hair and across his back, you kept singing until early that next morning Morax had come to retrieve his missing Adeptus.

As Xiao in the present looked at the stars, tracing constellations, he once again was reminded of your lullaby. You sang that to him many times after that and he remembered every single instance. It wasn’t far-fetched to say that the reason Barbarto’s song’s calmed him so is because he’s reminded of you in those moments and tunes.

Yes, Xiao came to revere you just as much as his Archon- even though you were just a mere mortal.

“So,” Traveler spoke up softly, trying to gently pull him from his obvious reminiscing. “What happened to y/n? Zhongli mentioned that he had fought her, but what happened then? Did they ever see each other again?”

“No,” Xiao’s face contorted into a grimmance as his fist’s balled in his lap. “Y/n was executed before Morax could ever see her again.” His fists were so tightly balled they shook, clearly he still resented the fate you had been subjected to.

“Executed?!” Paimon exclaimed. “But- but why?!”

“Because she let Morax live.” The yaksha’s eyes narrowed as he gnashed his teeth. “Those filthy monks that poisoned her temple confined her to a dungeon cell where they starved and deprived her of anything. Letting her suffer for days before placinig a curse and executing her all because she refused kill an Archon.”

“Did those people really not like Archons that much?” Paimon asked.

“They were monsters!” He exclaimed. “Y/n had been raised to choose the people over her own desires, but the moment she wanted something for herself they-”

“Xiao,” Traveler interrupted, reaching out their hand to place it on his folded knee.

“She didn’t deserve the fate they gave her.” Traveler only nodded at his solemn tone. “When her execution was carried out, Morax… he reacted to an extreme.”

“An extreme?” Paimon inquires. Xiao nodded, lifting his head back up from where it had been tucked towards his chest in anger.

“The moment y/n’s barrier disappeared Morax stormed inside. He destroyed everything he could get his hands on. I… I was with him.” Xiao was enraged at the news of your demise, but he knew as he watched the back of his Archon as took the lives of the lowly monks who dared try to outrank you that the grief and emotions Morax felt course through him far outweighed his own.

By day's end, the entire palace, surrounding village, and temple were all up in flames or crushed into rubble. Standing among the burning wreckage that stunk of ash, blood and death Morax plunged his polearm into the earth and screamed with no one left to witness him aside from Xiao. Instead of trying to approach his archon, he instead kept his eyes on the remains of buildings going up in flames like a personal pyre in remembrance of you.

“After that, Morax stopped talking about her to anyone. It was like he pushed her into the recesses of his mind and tried to erase her altogether. With the meeting of other Archons and the assembly of Liyue, it seemed like he was trying to move forward.”

“Poor Zhongli,” Paimon whined. “Star crossed lovers sure are sad to think about.”

“To this day, there’s no one y/n has cared for as deeply as Morax.” At Xiao’s confession, Traveler’s ears perked. Did they hear that right?

“Hold on,” they started, “what do you mean ‘to this day’?” Xiao’s body stiffened. He cleared his throat before he looked away, hoping that silence would push past his slip up. “Xiao!”

“It meant nothing.”

“Liar.”

“I am not.”

“Paimon thinks so too!”

“Your input does not encourage much.”

“Hey!”

“Xiao,” Traveler tries again, arms crossing over their chest as they straighten their sitting posture on the stone they still sat on. Xiao cursed himself at deflating so easily in the face of the blond’s pressure.

The Adeptus took after his Archon in that sense it would seem.

“If you can keep it a secret,” he hesitated, “then I have somewhere to take you.” Xiao’s face turned back and looked the Traveler into the eyes. They could see just house uneasy his gaze was, yet still under it was a stern ‘this is important’ before everything else. They nodded deeply towards him and force another sigh from his lips. The two of them jump from their stone seats as Xiao points in a direction. “Then follow me.”

“Paimon can keep a secret too!”

“Somehow, I doubt that.” Still, Xiao let her follow him too. The more the merrier you’d say- or at least he hopes.

“I had no idea there was a place like this in Liyue!” Paimon exclaims after Xiao had taken both her and the Traveler along a path through the forests and into a clearing. After approaching what appeared to be nothing, his figured seemed to pass through something. The two who accompanied him both gawked at his sudden disappearance into thin air before he was reappearing from nowhere. ‘Hurry up,’ he had told them as they cautiously followed his once again disappearing back.

Beyond the boundary of nothingness was a fairly large home that was longer than the clearing thy where previously in. The path forward was lined with trees and during the daytime they provided comfortable shade for any who walked under them. Now though, they just casted nighttime shadows of moonlight. The air felt different from the forest’s air as well. As if it had been filtered through something and made even cleaner than normal.

Xiao walked with confidence through the path of trees and up the steps of the elongated home like he had done it a million times before. He didn’t even stop to check and make sure that both Traveler and Paimon were still behind him and hadn’t instead wandered off. The lanterns that lit the halls cast moving shadows along the walls and they danced off Xiao’s back as they continued to trail after his heels.

Soon, he came to a stop outside a set of doors before looking at Traveler briefly then back again. He knocked twice around the hardened sides of the doorframe and didn’t wait for any signs of noise before taking further action. Sliding them open, he stepped inside and the Traveler and Paimon naturally followed.

It was a large room, a small floor desk tucked away on one side littered with papers, books and ink. Another set of doors opposite from the ones he had just walked through led out to an open terrace that further pushed out into a stone garden. On the opposite side of the room was an unfurled, messy futon that lacked a body to rest inside it.

Xiao sighed at seeing the empty futon and made his way out the doors to the wooden terrace. Apparently he had found who he was looking for since he began to speak and it wasn’t to the Traveler.

“Why are you not resting?”

“How could I when I have visitors?” A voice answered him and it made the skin on the Traveler’s face flush. It sounded clear like bells and was as soft as a gentle stream. Holding such composure- it reminded them of Zhongli’s voice and how aged it was. Xiao backed up into the room again as someone had came inside.

The dark hour left the woman mostly unseen, but Xiao was quick to start lighting a lantern for light.

“Thank you, Xiao,” she commented as the wick began to burn with a flickering flame. Traveler’s face remained flush at the woman in front of them. She didn’t just sound wise, she looked it. Like she had seen many years and experienced many things- but still looked so young. Xiao moved to her side and Traveler didn’t need to ask if the woman in front of them was who they thought she was. “Are you friends of Xiao’s?”

“Yes,” Traveler whispered before they cleared their throat and answered again. “Yes, we are.”

“I see.” Xiao cleared his own throat, turning his head away at the gaze the woman sent him. Luckily the lantern didn’t light the room the greatest so his tinted cheeks stayed between the duo and didn’t reach the Traveler’s eyes. Looking back, she smiled warmly and it seemed exactly like how Zhongli explained. “It’s lovely to meet you both. My name is y/n.”

“WHAT?!” Paimon exclaimed before slapping her hands over her mouth. Both at the discourtesy and the late hour she had yelled into.

“I assume you have a great deal of questions,” you tell them, “but, for now I think we should table all that for tomorrow. You’re both more than welcome to stay here for the night. Xiao can lead the way for you.”

With that, somehow the two travel companions ended up in a guest room with two futons and Xiao telling them to get some rest before leaving and presumably going back to your side.

You had once again left your room to sit on the terrace and Xiao joined you. Sitting beside you, his head coming up to your shoulder in height as you both looked and focused on nothing.

“Are you upset with me?” He asked.

“Not particularly, no. Shocked, maybe. I wasn’t expecting someone else to follow in behind you from the forest.”

“I apologize.”

“There’s no need.” You slowly bring your hand up to rest on the back of Xiao’s head, a comfort to both him and you. Just like how Xiao described you as a mother, you didn’t ever think of him as anything less than what you assumed a son would be like. “It’s actually helped me with something that’s been on my mind lately.”

Xiao just grabbed onto the sleeve of the robe you wore, not saying anything but conveying enough for you to understand.

“I’ll explain it tomorrow. For now, how about a lullaby?” Even from the guest room and with Paimon already asleep, the Traveler could hear a faint song in the air before drifting to sleep.

“Sooo, how old are you?”

“Paimon!” Traveler yelled. “That’s rude!”

“I was just asking a question!”

“Ask a different one!”

The small squabble that earned a sigh from Xiao the next morning led you into a small laughing fit. The group of you were gathered in a drawing room used for when Xiao would visit you during your days. You’d spend time listening to things Xiao would encounter outside, and while it was a good way to pass the time you would otherwise spend alone, it felt better with more lively guests like this.

“Xiao’s older than I am, so please rest assured I’m younger than you think.”

“Xiao’s older?!”

“Ahem,” the Yaksha interrupts by clearing his throat, “age matters aside, don’t you think now would be a good time for an explanation. If we’re gone from Liyue too long, Zhon- er- Rex Lapis could get suspicious.”

“Why’d you correct yourself like that Xiao?” Paimon asks before you answer for him.

“He feels like Morax’s mortal name makes me uncomfortable. I’ve told him time and time again that it doesn’t bother me, but he insists on using his other titles. Feel free to keep referring to him as you’re used to, I won’t get confused.”

“How considerate of him,” Paimon dryly says, pulling another chuckle from you.

“In any case, Xiao is right. I assume he told you about me, seeing as he brought you here himself.”

“Sort of,” Traveler starts. “Zhongli is actually the one who told us about you. Xiao just told us more.” A shocked look passes over your features when you hear that the former Archon had opened up about you at all. “He said that someone from his past died around this time and we were worried about him. We kind of… pressured him into telling us.”

“I don’t think that’s true,” Xiao said as he crossed his arms. “If Rex Lapis truly didn’t wish to speak about it, he wouldn't have. Believe me. He’s too stubborn.”

“Be nice,” you lightly chide him. “Still, it’s a shock. I thought he would’ve buried his memories of me long ago.”

“I’ve told you,” Xiao spoke up again, “Rex Lapis- he still-”

“Xiao.” Your voice was stern for a moment before he clammed up.

“Sorry,” he spoke defeatedly. Instead of staying quiet and letting the awkward air cloud up the room, he started up the discussion of why he had brought outsiders here in the first place. “Traveler, do you remember when I told you that Lady y/n had been executed?” Traveler nodded and was shocked at his use of a title. He didn’t use one at all when he was talking about you yesterday? Did he always address you personally like that? “Do you also recall how I mentioned how before she was killed, she was cursed.”

“Oh yeah,” Paimon acknowledges. “Paimon remembers you saying something like that.”

“It’s because of that curse that she’s still alive.”

“They cursed her not to die? Doesn’t that seem kinda dumb since they apparently executed her for not defeating Zhongli?” Paimon’s face scrunched before her entire being deflated. “Paimon doesn’t get it.”

“That isn’t quite correct. I can die,” you inform them. Xiao’s fist twitched as his gently grasped the fabric of his pants in his palms. “In fact, I have died several times. The curse i bare is that I cannot stay dead.”

“Isn’t that still contradictory to what the monk’s were trying to accomplish?” Traveler asks.

“Not necessarily. Back in my original life, I had broken a vow I had been raised on: placing my people above myself and never being selfish. That one sacred vow being broken was enough for Jiang to label me a treasonous traitor. This eternal life of mine is punishment for that crime.”

“That’s so dumb!” Paimon exclaims. You continue to explain after she’s finished huffing. Her puffy face was quite amusing to look at as she crossed her small arms like she was offended on your behalf.

“My curse resets my life to the point in time I was killed. Therefore, any injuries or illnesses I received in previous lives have all but vanished. I can still starve and freeze to death. I can become ill and contract diseases just like a normal mortal. I’ll die if I'm stabbed and I’ll scar if I’m burned. Still, even after all that, I’ll simply wake up again like none of it happened. This prolonged suffering is what Jiang and his acolytes were after.”

“That’s terrible,” Traveler whispers. “Have you died many times?”

“I’ve lost count.” You raise your hand to look at your palm that has been the same as the first time you woke up from death. In the ruins of your destroyed temple you were foggy minded and confused before your entire being filled with dread. “I’ve lived so many lives I cannot remember them all, but I know I’ve touched on every type. I’ve gone mad, harming people around me and myself. I’ve given in to every sin in hopes that they would allow me to die and not come back. I’ve even tried ending the cycle myself, but all to no avail.”

You took a deep breath before dropping your hand back to your lap.

“As stained as I am now, I’m hardly the priestess I used to be. I can never be that pure original version of me, but I’ve long accepted that. I’m quite… content with my life right now.”

“Content my foot,” Xiao huffed. “You were planning to stay alone for a lot longer if I hadn’t found you.”

“Wait,” Paimon piques, “found you?”

“It was purely by chance,” you explain. “Sometimes, I’ll venture into Liyue but under a cloaked disguise so I’m not recognized or detected. Some years ago, I accidentally ran into Xiao near Wangshuu Inn and spoke his name purely out of reflex. He heard me and well, it was safe to say he wasn’t exactly pleased as he tracked me down.”

“I was frustrated,” he corrected. “I came to find out you were alive and hiding for eons after thinking you were long dead.”

“I know.”

“Imagine how Morax would feel if he knew!”

“I know, Xiao,” you repeat. “That’s something I actually want to talk to you about.” Xiao stills in his rampage before his arms slowly uncurl and his posture takes on something uncomfortable. “You’ve kept my life a secret for some time now, omnienting the truth from the Archon you respect so much. I’m sorry for asking such a selfish request.” You turn to look at the slack faced boy before bringing your hand to cup his chin affectionately. Traveler felt like they were impeding on a parental moment as they tried to look anywhere but you both. “If you want to, you can tell him the truth now.”

Xiao’s hand comes to quickly clasp around your wirst that started to fall away from his face. His mouth opens before it closes again. He was torn between what he’s been wanting to do for so long and the open permission to actually do it.

“Are you… for certain?”

“Yes,” you swallow a lump in your throat. “I’m certain.” Xiao quickly takes your wrist out of his grip before he’s rushing to stand up. He stands with such a force he teeters on his feet before going to the door. He didn’t want to wait a single moment longer. “Xiao!” He stops momentarily and he’s reminded just for a brief moment how you spoke his name like that to his back the first day he ever met you milinia ago. This time though, he spun to look you in the eyes. “Take this with you,” you had gotten up from your place and placed your hand out of a nearby window. Bringing it back in not longer after, an insect of glimmering colors hummed through the space and landed on his shoulder.

“A dragonfly!” Paimon exclaims as Traveler also rose to their feet ready to follow Xiao out. Xiao just nods before dashing out of the door. Being inside your barrier always made it hard for him to teleport between locations, so he had to get outside first. “Traveler, lets catch up with Xiao!” Paimon says, pointing after him.

“Yeah,” they agree before looking back to you as you stay by at the window.

“Get going now,” you urge before Traveler was awkwardly bowing to you and running out, calling Xiao’s name to try and get him to ‘slow down and wait up!’

Once alone again, you felt a coil settle in your chest. It was the same tightness you felt when Xiao had found you. Found out you were alive as you confessed everything to his insistent pleading after following you into your barrier. You braced your hands on the window pane before swallowing a lump in your throat.

You never got the proper chance to tell Morax how you felt about him in your original life. It was wrong for a mortal like you to fall in love with a god- much less in the middle of a world altering war. You would’ve been far more foolish to confess your feelings than you were when you let him go.

The tight coil only grows barbed spikes as you remember the last time you ever saw him. Laying beneath you as you pinned him down. Standing before you as you demanded him away. Feeling the empty air as he vanished right before you eyes.

Xiao had told you that he was the one responsible for destroying your home. Burning it all down and destroying everything in his sight all because you had died. He was so filled with anguish and you didn’t know if you fully believed it. Xiao insisted that Morax hasn’t cared for a single soul as much as he cared for you. Even know as he lived as Zhongli you still hadn’t been replaced. You didn’t know if you believed that either.

“I won’t regret this… will I?” You ask no one as you feel yourself start to pathetically cry. “Weak,” you call yourself as you stand alone in the empty home you constructed for yourself long ago.

“Did you find him yet?” Traveler asks Xiao as they met back up in the middle of Liyue. Zhongli wasn’t at the funeral parlor and Hu Tao didn’t know where he had meandered off to before they came looking for him. He wasn’t at his home nor was he listening to that storyteller at Three-Round Knockout like usual. “Last place is the harbor. He was at the bridge when we found him, so let’s go look.”

They made haste to the bridge, but with crestfallen faces it was devoid of any kind of descended Archon. They were about to recollect their thoughts and try and figure out if there was any other place he frequented they could try when someone spoke up behind them.

“You all seem troubled,” the familiar voice of Zhongli startled all three of them as they all whipped around to look at him. He looked as composed as usual, maybe even a bit better than yesterday. Maybe airing some of his grievances helped him out a bit after all. Still, who knows how the news Xiao had for him would effect his mental well being.

“Rex- ahem- Zhongli, I need to speak with you.” In the heat of the moment, Xiao almost addressed him as Rex Lapis. Calling him that in the middle of the busy day would be a mistake, so it was good he caught himself. Zhongli looked at Xiao’s steadfast gaze and let it travel over to the blond and their companion who’s always had an issue keeping quiet.

“You all look stiff, like something has happened.”

“That’s Zhongli for you,” Paimon remarks. “Always perceptive.”

“So, it’s as I surmised.”

“I’ll explain everything, but it can’t be here.” Xiao stepped in.

“I understand,” Zhongli sighs. “Come with me. We can talk outside the city away from any possible prying ears. I would prefer to not be cooped up indoors.”

Just like the day before, Zhongli took the group out to the same river Xiao did; it was far from the people and now he stood cross-armed and ready for any sort of explanation. Traveler stayed quiet, knowing it was Xiao’s wish to say something first and made sure Paimon stayed quiet too. If anything, they were there to make sure nothing got out of hand- this was truly between them.

“On behalf of someone else’s word, I’ve been keeping something from you. It’s about… It’s about, y/n.”

“Xiao,” Zhongli bit and Xiao felt the words get stuck in his throat the moment your name left his mouth. Zhongli’s tone was already on edge. Just the mention of your name was enough to make the Archon nearly growl. The former divine being had been feeling the blanket of grief hold him down more this year than previous ones, the fact that he opened up about you just the day prior to the Traveler made old wounds throb. The last thing he wanted was to talk about you and make everything hurt all over again for another time.

“I understand you don’t want to talk about her, but please hear me out.”

“I will not entertain whatever thoughts you think you need to say. Y/n died a long time ago, you should leave her in the past.” His words were ironic since he himself couldn’t even do that.

“You don’t understand.”

“Xiao.”

“Please, she-”

“Enough!”

“She’s still alive!” Xiao, fed up with his god not letting him get a word in, blurted it out. He inwardly recoiled, not wanting to just say it like that. He wanted to ease into it, try and slowly explain it so Zhongli would accept it easier. “Y/n, she’s… she’s alive.”

There was silence so heavy it kept Xiao’s head down with an invisible force. His eyes stayed locked onto the boots of the one person who he respected the most. If he had never felt fear before this very moment, now would be the perfect introduction to it as he felt the burning gaze of Zhongli on his skull.

“Is that an attempt at a ill-advised jest,” Zhongli’s voice put on a dangerous tone. It was understandable and justified however. Who would just believe that the one mortal an Archon fell in love with thousands of years ago was alive? It sounded ludacris and Zhongli did not enjoy feeling like a fool.

“He’s telling the truth!” Paimon defended. Her mental restraint on not talking snapped at seeing Xiao look so meak under Zhongli’s overwhelming stature. Zhongli’s gaze shifted from Xiao to Paimon who squealed at the intensity before flying to hide behind the Traveler’s shoulder. His gaze was hard, stern, and angry.

“What could you possibly know? You only just learned about who she was through me- without my telling you so, y/n would be only a memory shared between Xiao and myself alone.”

“We know because we met her,” Traveler tell him. His fists clench and his jaw locks.

Zhongli couldn't stand lies or liars, and yet he wanted everything the group in front of him said to be bold face lies. Zhongli trusted the Traveler and Xiao the most out of almost anyone he knew presently. He trusted them with his secret and they always tried their best in their own duties and goal to find their sibling. He respected them and trusted them with his life as both Zhongli and Rex Lapis.

But did he trust them with your life?

With the promise of you being alive coming from Xiao and backed up by the Traveler, the former Archon was notably torn. He didn’t want to get his hopes up and have this all be some sort of illusion. A trick of the mind that will leave him crumbling just like the day he first lost you. He didn’t thinking he could take that kind of anguish again.

The Traveler stepped up and took Xiao’s hand in one of theirs and the other took hold of Zhongli’s. Paimon floated out from behind them as the blond made both of the immortal being bring their gazes up to them.

“Xiao can take you to her just like he did with us. Y/n is waiting.” The curled fist of Zhongli’s lessened enough to wrap around the Traveler’s comforting touch. He looked back at Xiao who had been looking at the blond with such gratefulness for salvaging the situation before calling his attention back. His amber gaze had loosened up, but they weren’t the normal eyes of Zhongli. Morax was peeking around the irises of the tallest among the group.

“This is no lie?”

“I would never lie to you.”

“Yes,” he breathed out, “I know.” He took a breath, feeling so embarrassingly out of character. It was then that he noticed the small insect that had been on Xiao this whole time. The trio had seemed to forget you sent them back with the dragonfly, but Zhongli knew. He sucked in a breath as he looked at it. “Take me to see her at once,” he commanded. Xiao wasted no time in teleporting all three of his companions to the edge of your barrier he had memorized the location of.

Zhongli’s hand was dropped by the Outworlder as he walked to the edge of it. He could sense the familiar power from years past and reached his hand up to place his palm on it. It bent with his palm like a bubble before it pushed through, rippling the distorted view of cloaked foliage behind it. He hesitated, but a slight push at his back had him walking in- well, stumbling in.

His face mirrored the Traveler’s when they had first seen the area behind the barrier. He could feel you everywhere and his body started moving before he could stop. Xiao and Traveler called after him as he took off into a sprint towards the house under the tree’s shadows. It felt like a ribbon had tied itself around his wrist and was yanking him forward. The dragonfly that had sat perched and patient on Xiao had taken off with Zhongli, acting as a guide as it flew in front of him.

“Take me to her,” he pleaded with the buzzing bug. “Like last time,” he remembered how a similar bug had led him to you that first time. He felt so vulnerable as he ran into the house, barging through the doors and dashing through halls with abandon. Zhongli felt mortal with his emotions controlling his actions and his desperation oozing out of his very core. He should be in better control of himself, but he can’t control his body no matter how much he tries. “Take me to her!”

The dragonfly had flown to a corridor that led into a vast open space. Stairs of three steps led out into an open garden with bushes, flowers, and carefully created paths to walk. It was a far cry from the overgrown, wild garden of the past. A stone canopy held up with four strong pillars covered the peaceful place from the sun and a small stone table sat among the paths intersection.

His breath was labored, chest heaving as the dragonfly continued out into the garden and his pace slowed down until the insect had taken a turn just outside the cover of the canopy. The dragonfly stopped, perching itself on an outstretched finger and Zhongli almost collapsed.

“Thank you,” you said to the dragonfly before it lifted off your finger and took off in a random direction, its job fulfilled. The sun bathed you in a golden light Zhongli could remember from eon’s ago and as he stared at you, a tear fell heavily and unstrained from his eye.

You weren’t sure what to say as you looked at him, but when you saw that tear fall you were ready to immediately apologzie. You never got the chance. Instead you were frozen in surprise when he had somehow appeared directly in front of you and encased you to himself.

Sealing his body to yours, his arm wrapped around your lower back and one of his hands pushed your head against his neck. His back curled inwards, bending you backward enough so that your back arched and he could form you to him even further. You were so warm and he felt himself choke as his nose took in your scent from atop your head. It was different from before, but he could still smell you in it- altered or not. It proved that you weren’t some fake, you were real.

Zhongli nuzzled into the top of your head, greedily taking in everything of you he could. You had placed your hands on his sides before sliding them up to his back. One of your hands snagged into the fabric of his coat and the other stayed wound around his back. He could feel you start to shake and he felt a bit better than he wasn’t the only one overly-emotional.

“You’re alive,” he whispers into your hair, voice cracking enough the wind could easily pick it up and take it somewhere far away. You just nodded into his chest as he somehow gripped you to him tighter, closer. “You’re alive,” he repeats like he’s trying to convince himself this isn’t a dream.

“Yes,” you sob. “Yes.”

As the two of you stood under the sun in a garden different from the one in his memories, he took no notice of the three other figures who had finally caught up to him after taking off on his own. Xiao felt a weight lift off his chest at seeing you two finally reunited and Traveler gently took his head in comfort. He had no chance to get embarrassed at the action, instead he just squeezed it back as he watched his long-seperated family cling to each other.

Xiao felt whole again for this one moment and he knew that you both did too.

“I’ve missed you so,” Zhongli confesses into your locks and you almost laugh if it wasn’t choked up on your dying sobs turned to sad sniffles. “Oh, how I’ve missed you.”

“I’m sorry,” you sniff as you let your arms slowly start to retract from him. He knew that things needed to be discussed and explanations needed to start somewhere, but he was reluctant to let go. His arms released you, but his palms were quick to gently cup your cheeks instead to tilt your face up to him. Your eyes were swollen and the whites of them irritated due to your tears. He looked no better.

Zhongli ran his gloved thumbs over your cheeks and across your eyes when you closed them when he got too close with his touch. He planted his feet between yours before pushing his forehead on yours and choosing to bask in your sun bathed body before anything close to closure ensues.

“Um,” you break the silence, but like last time, nothing else gets out before your interrupted.

“Call me by my name.”

“What?”

“My name,” he repeats. “Please.” He didn’t want to hear his mortal name or any of his other countless name and titles he’s collected over the years. No. His ears yearned for the name you knew him by. After all this time, he just wanted you to call him-

“Morax.”

Zhongli collapsed at last. His hands that cupped your cheeks dropped as did he. He came to his knees in front of you, his empty hands easily latching onto yours in lieu of your cheeks. His head hung as he sat- kneeled- at your feet. You shuffled in astonishment and shock as he took your hands and pushed them against his forehead pleadingly.

“Again.”

“Morax,” you whispered and he could hear the embarrassment in your tone. He chuckled as a shiver ran through his entire being.

“Once more.”

“You’re being spoiled.”

“I think I’m more than qualified.” He hears you chuckle and he could perish right here in this very instant without regret at the sound. It was just as he remembered.

“Morax.”

“This time,” he starts speaking as he feels you slowly start to join him on the ground. Your hands had twisted in his grasp to hold them back. “This time,” he starts again, “you’ll stay with me, won’t you?”

You pull both of your encased hands to your lips, kissing his gloves and he wishes he took them off. His wish must’ve been yours as well since you slowly started to remove his gloves and revealed the dark, golden imbedded skin he kept hidden to the public eye. Your eyes remained closed as you worked, like you had dreamed of doing this so many times you didn’t need your sight. Once again, you placed your lips on his knuckles and it was like his skin was alight with lava.

Reopening your eyes, you adjusted your hands so that your fingers were now interlaced, fingertips resting on top of each other’s hands as your palms were on the warm ground to lean closer to him. You push your forehead back against his, breathing in his air that became tangled with your own. Smiling so softly at him that he released one of your intertwined hands to push his fingers into your hair behind your ear and pull you even closer to him. He wondered if he could meld your very existence into his own and become the earth itself among the garden.

“I’ll stay until you don’t want me,” you declare.

“I’ll never not want you, my dear. We have too much time to make up for and many stories to share, should time continue to allow it.”

“Time is nothing but a concept to me now,” you chuckle bitterly. You would tell him about it all later, but now wasn’t the time. It would dampen the mood too bitterly for your tastes.

A contract was made under the sun behind a barrier that had kept you concealed and hidden from his faze. Your intertwined hands were the signatures finalizing that contract. Zhongli wasn’t ever going to let you slip through his fingers again- he promised himself that as he held tighter onto your warmth and you to his.

Zhongli couldn’t wait to finally give you the hairstick he had held onto for a millenia in your memory. Even more, he couldn’t wait to see it glimmer under your locks of hair since there was nothing and no one holding you back anymore.

a/n: pls god like/reblog/tell me your thoughts. this is babies first genshin fic and it's got so many words im so anxious i could throw up. i only edited this like one and a half times bc words became mushy and my eyeballs started melting. pls excuse the shift between past and present tense, my eyeballs - as aforementioned- are melting

if @scara7102 sees this it wouldn't let me tag you uh oh

#genshin impact #genshin x reader #zhongli x reader #zhongli x y/n #zhongli x you #zhongli hurt/comfort #zhongli angst #zhongli fluff #zhongli #rex lapis #morax x reader #morax #zhongli fic #genshin impact x reader

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