Work Text:
Xiao's spear finds itself impaled into the body of yet another hilichurl unfortunate enough to be taken over by karma. Blood splatters over his clothes as the monster's body splits into half. He hears a faint cry spoken in a language he cannot understand as it's soul disintegrates.
There wasn't an end to it. Be it the day before till now, the demonic activity is still festering at its peak. He faintly recalls the Traveller's proposal to attend the lantern rite after they solved the problem with Starsnatcher and sighs.
He couldn't go. Doesn't want to go. The karma that's growing stronger and manifesting into monsters still needs to be taken care of, and his presence among humans would only cause worry. It was better this way, keeping a distance. Also the fact that he himself cannot fathom how he'll handle being able to hear the thousands of voices in Liyue harbor all at once.
He never had a place to belong next to humanity.
...
Childe never had a place in Liyue harbor, he never did, being part of the Fatui earned him either the scornful or fearful look of judgement from others. Wisphers of "trouble" amongst the common folk lingering whenever he passed by.
Still, despite the public's view of him, staying within the foreign land became tolerable enough with the presence of a certain someone he once considered a "friend."
His hands curl into a fist. The assistant next to him babbles on about boarding a ship and departing immediately, he half registers the information before shaking his head. He didn't wanna leave, not yet. It's awful how he was pinned at the center as a decoy to pry the people's eye away from the Gods, the true players of this game, and it sucked even more to know that that very person he had grown so familiar with ended up being the one to play him.
Zhongli.
Childe feels a bitter taste linger at the tip of his tongue. What's worse about the whole ordeal is the fact that all the signs have pointed towards this. Clues were everywhere, and yet he was dense enough to cover them up with his own hands due to being too comfortable with the otherwise bizzare and yet still very warm personality of the Funeral Consultant.
He sighs. Eyes flitting to the two employees of Northland bank holding hands from below the walkway.
"Ah, sir Childe—! Where are you headed?"
"Somewhere less suffocating." For Tartaglia, there was nothing better than a good fight to calm his thoughts.
…
Indarias. Bonanus. Bosacius. Menogias. Pervases.
"Alatus!"
The younger looks up from the branch he was perched on, eyes opening a tad bit only to be greeted by a splash of water to his face. The younger sputters, loosing balance and falling off from where he sat.
A chorus of laughter echo after him.
"Indarias—!" The younger seeths. Brushing himself off of the undergrowth stuck to his body. Said woman laughs at the way the younger's face scrunch up as he dusts himself, biting the inside of his cheek to prevent saying anything more. She can tell he was annoyed, however. How adorable.
"Why, Alatus. You should help us! With your skills with the spear, I bet we can catch more fish, enough that Pervases would stop asking for it for atleast a month."
"His hunger for this dish cannot be satieted. Why does he partake in such mortal practices. We do not need food to survive." Alatus crosses his arms. Indarias snickers.
Oh there it is. The pout.
"Hey it tastes good you know!"She laughs, grinning as she brings her hands together and summons her power, shaping the water around the fish into a small circle and lifting it towards her. The bubble pops as she pokes a hand through it, acquiring the fish.
"Come now, this should be enough. Hey Alatus, catch!"Bonanus throws a string of tied up fish to the younger's way, all electrified to their death.
"Why you—"Alatus starts up a protest but ended up catching the fish anyway, feet tipping off balance a little bit from the momentum towards the water.
Bosacius holds up an arm to straighten him immediately.
"It is Pervases' day of birth. It's special. So we decided to cook for him."He stated, looking towards the rest of his companions.
"Day...of birth."Alatus mumbles, seemingly lost on the concept.
Menogias chuckles, fixing her fiery red hair one one side as she marches towards dry land. "It is a human concept, wherein they celebrate the day they were born in. It's special."
"How so?We are immortal. Such a thing as birth. . ."
Time had always been irrelevant to immortal beings such as them.
"We wouldn't know, yes. But it is the day he decided to serve Morax. It holds as much meaning, so he decided to set it as that!"
Alatus still didn't understand it's purpose. He wouldn't, not for a few thousand years following this moment. Maybe he never did at all. Maybe it was better he didn't. Mortality was a fragile thing.
. . .
They come back and see Pervases around the camp. Alatus remembers the way his eyes lit up in absolute joy upon seeing the loads of Ticker Fish they had on their person. A feeling bubbles up in his chest, and the very distant thought of how nice it would've been if he had joined up to catch these too. Pervases seemed to really appreciate it.
"You lot really are amazing!"
They had set up a fire, fish coiled up on a stick stuck on the ground slowly being cooked by the heat from the flames. Pervases happily snacks on the first one cooked, the smile in his cheeks never once falling.
"By wave and storm I hunt for fish~By wind and snow I slay evil~"
Alatus sighs. Pervases really did love singing that tune. The others seem to do so, too.
There's a chorus of claps and the resounding voice of the yaksha Indarias, singing the first line. The rest of them follow, clapping to a beat and harmonizing. Alatus takes in the smiles upon their faces.
He sighs and gets up. Walking away from the merry bunch.
He ends up a few walks away from the camp, with the breeze as his only company as he gazes through the land below the pretty high area they were in.
There's a shuffle of feet behind him.
"Xiao. Why do you stray from them."
Morax. . . He sighs.
"It is pointless, such celebrations. . .I do not understand it." Alatus, no. Xiao. He couldn't understand it. How can they smile so easily, knowing the next day would be another battle. With more deaths. More pain. More suffering.
Morax sighs. For some reason, it's as if the god had read exactly what was on his mind. "Xiao. It is exactly because of that that we must cherish what moments of peace we can attain. Life is fleeting. Someday, we too, shall return to the earth. Immortality, mortality, none of these prevents us from experiencing the pains and joys of what life offers. . ."
It is unlike anything, the words Morax spoke that day, unlike him, if one were being honest. He. . .sounded like he was in pain, as if in the process of recalling something unpleasant. Xiao did not ask. And he still didn't understand. Or maybe he didn't want to, yet.
But such a thing was unavoidable. Xiao would later come to know what all of this means as he feels the blood of the ever smiling Pervases coat his fingers, body slowly growing colder as the wind carries the last of the very tune he hums everyone was now so familiar with.
"Forgive me, Morax. Oh, how I wish to have seen Liyue in a better light. . ."
…
Tartaglia receives a letter to depart for Mondstadt to settle diplomatic "relationships'' now that the Ludi Harpastum festival is close. He sighs.
Guess he'll be missing the lantern right then.
His teeth clench as his mind flashes back to a memory of dinner with a certain brown haired man, eyes the color of amber, telling him to stay even just a little while longer in Liyue to experience the Lantern rite.
He sighs. This was for the best. He doesn't think the locals would appreciate his face in a festival supposedly dedicated to their late adeptus right after he stirred trouble with the spirits of the dead anyway.
Ekaterina shakes him out of his reverie by presenting to him their travel route. A continuous walk till they reach wangshu inn to stop by the night and continue to Mondstadt using the route on stone gate. Tartaglia nods absently to the discussion as his mind wanders elsewhere.
. . .
It's night when they reach Wangshu inn. There's a large hustle and bustle at the bottom of the inn, everyone probably busy making preparations for the lantern rite. Customers come and go, foreigners and travelling locals alike. There's an abundance of Xiao Lanterns hung up around the inn and the buzzing chatter of people.
Childe's mind flees to a distant memory, of three children huddled across the fireplace, outside, a raging snow storm, yet these kids hadn't a single care in the world as they huddled around a small lamp, a tube with a hole positioned above it. There's laughter and awe as the eldest son holds up his hands and makes different shapes. Heads of animals flash in deep shadows on the wall, and Childe remembers just how fascinated he was of them before. His sister would follow up with a story and they would try their best to reenact it in the form of shadowed characters.
Childe smiles slightly. There's so many people around him, yet he feels all the more lonely in their presence. No. . .he didn't belong here.
He craved home. . .
Everything else seemed to pass by in a blur and Tartaglia finds himself rested in a bed, staring up at the ceiling as he drifts to sleep, thoughts still lingering on the memories of childhood.
. . .
Ajax was an adorable little kid.
The child followed his older siblings like a little duckling, eyes bright and wide as he followed through every step, doing his best to assist. When Anthon axed lumber for firewood with his father, Ajax would pick up the finished pieces to carry down their work house in the woods to their home down the lake.
He would always try to arrive first, even toppling on his own feet from the speed on which he descended. Endearing reorimanding remarks from his older brother and father going to deaf ears as he does his best to race them down the mountain, laughing as he went, bundle of wood stuff in between both arms.
Their mother would be waiting by the door with his sister, always the first to meet Ajax and engulf him in a warm hug. She would scold him for not being careful, eyeing the state he was in, covered in snow and sticks and mud, and Tonia would laugh before ushering him in for a bath. Later, on the afternoon he would help her cook and clean the house with his mother. The rest of the night will be spent on bedtime stories, hot chocolate and the songs his mother sang to him to sleep.
Ajax lived a good life. He didn't realize when everything went down hill before it was too late. Maybe it was when the deities had their eyes on him.
After all, Gods were dangerous.
Ajax grew up well and strong. He grew up in a stable family. To the tales of heroes told by his father as they fished ice from drilled holes on the lake. Maybe that was why. . . When the waters condensed to form a compact blue halved sphere with the mark of an archon this child thought he could do anything.
He really should've just stayed at home.
As the ground cracked and gave way under him he looked up to the sky, feeling his body falling, falling, falling down a dark deep pit that seemed to have no end as it continued to swallow him up. His hand reaches out, trying to grasp at anything, but only darkness and air meets his hold and he watches as the last of light slowly fade as he topples deeper, carrying along with it the life in his eyes. . .
"It's a gift from the gods!"
"Oh my boy. You truly are—!"
"You don't have to worry anymore mom,with this, once Teucer comes,I'll definitely protect—"
. . .
Xiao hasn't dreamed in centuries.
Dreams. . .no, they are more so recollections of his past during meditation. He had not expected his mind to wander that far.
Xiao feels thankful that his mind is jolted away from his memories to a presence probing through. He takes back these thoughts immediately as the feeling of something heavy consumes him like a miasma.
He feels a pit in his stomach as the feeling festers even more like some kind of virus, it's tendrils itching ghost touches on his skin. There's a heavy weight on his heart as he gets up from his position and summons his spear.
A nightmare. . .
It had been centuries. He had never had such a nightmare call out to him so badly after the Archon War had ended, after he abandoned the name Alatus and served under Morax.
These kinds of nightmares that were strong and powerful enough to form and manifest...Dangerous.
He tracks it down, following the presence which seems to beckon him in. Xiao stops by one of the rooms of the inn and his hand curls tighter around his weapon.
What kind of nightmare does this mortal possess that it was strong enough to call him? Xiao heaves a breath as he summons the power of anemo to teleport inside the room, freezing right on his tracks as his eyes landed on the figure resting on the bed.
"The Fatui—!"
He remembers him clearly.
Tartaglia. The Snezhnayan diplomat who released the Wrath of Osial upon Liyue harbor.
Something in Xiao's blood boiled as he aims his weapon towards the other's neck. "Why—"
Tartaglia groans in pain, and Xiao feels himself unable to raise a hand against him as the manifestation of the nightmare pulsates, it's presense so overpowering it seeps through his mind. Xiao winces, feeling memories that weren't his, entering his mind in a blinding flash and yet still so clear.
Snow, two young children, a bloodied hand, a military, a boy falling towards spiralling darkness.
The vision stops.
Xiao inhales sharply, feeling his heartbeat thunder against his chest. He heaves, trying to compose himself. The memories that went through him all at once felt like all the wind got knocked out of his lungs. Taking deep breaths, the yaksha dissolves his weapon and inches closer to the man.
The diplomat's face is scrunched up in worry, beads of sweat falling down the side of his face.
"Teucer. . ."
Xiao sighs. Really, after thousands of years. To a Fatui, the very one who caused such a disturbance to the people who he was tasked to protect. . . He couldn't believe himself.
But he also couldn't stand seeing the other in pain. After all, some nightmares, they were easy enough to ignore. They'll go away in time and people forget them once they wake up. This though, didn't seem just like any nightmare. It was his own memories. Much like Xiao's. And if there wasn't an intervention, such a thing powerful enough to manifest would swallow him whole.
Xiao gulps down the lump forming on his throat as his hand hovers over the other, only then did he realize he was trembling. Really, he had done this for eons, thousands of years ago. Why does he still hesitate. . .
Fear. Xiao knows. He always feared. Before his servitude to the Goddess that chained him, he was but a spirit that wandered through the starry ether, visiting the dreams of children and looking over Liyue in his own, little way. Long as he was around, the mortals dared to dream without fear. Far from the nightmares that tainted their innocence. Children lived, the adults fell in love. There was life.
Because he was a guardian of dreams. A guardian of hope.
And he was the one to take it away from them, too...
Xiao feels the voices in his head getting louder. He was getting agitated. He shakes his head, trying to calm the echoes of his mind. Not now.
Xiao bites his lip, two fingers hovering over the Harbingers forehead. What if he messes up? What then? All of these man's dreams. Hopes. Every happy memory. Moments with those he holds dear. It'll be wiped away.
The voices were getting louder.
Would he even be able to stop himself in front of such a warm and light dream? What if he devours it...
Xiao feels himself panic before another flash enters his vision. There's a lake, frozen solid, and a young man with striking ginger hair standing in front of a woman holding a baby in her arms. They're smiling.
Ah...
His mind is clear now.
He takes a deep breath,and mutters a prayer before his hands come in contact with the other's skin.
. . .
"I'll protect Teucer—!"
Ajax. . .
Ajax!
Ajax opens his eyes. It's as if he had been stuck under water and just came out for air. There's a buzz in his ear as he glances around in worry, unsure of what was happening.
In the land covered in never ending snow, all around him, was decorated in pools of red. There's a detached hand just a few inches away from his feet. Ajax feels his grip return, realizing he was holding his weapon. It wasn't any ordinary one. This was from his vision.
Ajax looks at the carnage and destruction he had caused. For once he didn't care about the people around him. For once he didn't look at his brother in worry to ask if the hero would survive the villains attacks in the stories they told.
No. Everything else vanished into tunnel vision showing only the chaos he himself caused.
It looked. . .beautiful.
Ajax, Xiao , feels their lips curl up into a smile.
....
When Xiao breaks from the vision there's a floating wisp between his fingers. He brings it to his mouth and swallows. It's bitter and ignites a lot of painful memories stored deep within his mind. He doesn't realize he's been crying. It wasn't his own.
There's a heavy feeling and a conflict happening in his chest, but he swallows that all down and let's the corners of his mouth lift up into a small smile. The mortal, who was previously suffering from his nightmare is now smiling, brows softened, seemingly in peace.
That was enough.
Xiao leans down and presses a kiss on the spot he once touched.
"For long as you stay within these lands, I, Adeptus Xiao, shall chase away that which haunts you. May you dream peacefully once more. . ."
....
When Tartaglia wakes up the next day he doesn't remember any nightmare. But he does remember the feeling of winds blowing through him, calming him. He feels as if there's something bad that happened he can't recall, yet he has an inkling on what it may be.
Tartaglia vaguely recalls the smell of hot chocolate and burning wood, the sensation of cold against his whole body and the laughter of children.
Ah. . .it was that.
When Ekaterina calls him to say they're ready to depart later into the day he is oddly silent. Tartaglia doesn't go looking for that person, knowing they weren't likely to show up anyway. But he makes sure to leave something behind as a thank you gift.
...
When Xiao returns after dealing with another batch of corrupted hilichurls he finds almond tofu waiting for him in a small table by the balcony.