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“Venti, leave that bottle of dandelion wine right now, for the love of Celestia.” Diluc said, seeing how the bard stood up on one of the chairs, about to drink the whole bottle all at once. Kaeya and Rosaria were cheering on him, while Eula, who was sitting on the bar beside Diuc, sighed annoyed. Just another normal day at Angel’s Share.
“Do not mind them, master Diluc. You know how vulgar that irresponsible bard can be.” Zhongli, sitting in front of him, said as he took a sip of his cup of wine. If he had to be honest with himself, Diluc was happy Zhongli was able to come here, in Mondstadt. It had been at least months since the last time they saw each other in Liyue, while Diluc was on a business trip.
But this time there was something… strange about him. Usually the man was slightly more expressive, but now he wasn’t. He was completely stoic, almost as if he was trying to restrain himself, yet even so there was still a hint of melancholy around him. Though maybe it was just Diluc looking into it too much.
“Go, Venti, go!” Kaeya started chanting half-drunk, then Rosaria joined him.
“He’s really going to chug it all at once, huh.” Eula murmured under her breath as she turned around with her drink in hand. She then snorted as an attempt to contain her laughter. “I’m here for it.”
As the bard tried to drink the entire bottle and failed, spilling his clothes with burgundy wine, Zhongli seemed to be lost in his thoughts, watching the whole scene with vacant eyes. Diluc took a better look at him, was it his imagination or did Zhongli have eyebags? Perhaps that was why he was so weird that day. Why did all Archons care so little about their health? Oh well, he wasn’t one to talk either.
“Hey, are you ok…?” Diluc finally asked the brunette, who got a bit startled as he suddenly got dragged back into reality.
“Hm? Yes, of course.” He responded as he forced a smile. “It’s just I… I’m having trouble when trying to sleep. I’m not feeling quite like myself.” Diluc frowned a little at that response.
“Well, please take better care of yourself, will you?” He scolded Zhongli, feigning annoyance. ‘I hate seeing you unwell.’ he wanted to tell that man, but ended up keeping it in his own thoughts. The archon just hummed as a response. Yet Venti suddenly caught their attention again as he was weeping on the floor.
“Nooo! Not my drip!” He dramatically cried out. Rosaria looked at him, then briefly looked at Kaeya as she took out the cigarette in her mouth.
“Well, you sure are dripping now.” She said as she smirked, gaining another snort from the Spindrift Knight. Then she turned around and gazed at Diluc, who was clearly irritated by the bard’s attitude. “Hey, you’d better pick up a towel unless you want this little guy to get a cold.”
“And in which part did you see that was my problem? Cleaning all of this is going to be hard enough.” Rosaria started fidgeting with her knife as she was unfazed by the scenery around her, with Venti crying in a puddle of wine and shame, and the two Knights of Favonius just watching in amusement. “Besides, it's almost closing time.” Eula then suddenly gasped at him.
“Are you trying to kick me out of here? You will pay for this someday, Ragvindr.” She said, feigning being offended. Then she got closer to Rosaria and picked up Kaeya as the nun grabbed Venti as a bag of potatoes. Before exiting the local, though, Eula glared once again at Diluc, jokingly said “Vengeance will be mine.” and closed the door.
The bartender sighed once they were gone. Yet once he saw Zhongli slightly shaking, a fist clenching in his chest, he got very worried. Diluc put a hand on his shoulder, wanting to calm him down, but the archon immediately pulled away.
“I’m… sorry. I think… I’ll take my leave now. Until we meet again.” He said abruptly, getting up, trying to avoid all eye contact, exiting the tavern as fast as he could.
"Wait, Zhongli!"
Diluc tried to follow him as fast yet as quietly as he could to not startle him, confused about what was going on. Was it because of all the trouble that the others were causing? Did he just make things worse…? He saw him hiding in a dark alleyway, so Diluc hid behind a wall, listening, wanting to know what in the devil was going on.
A thud. And just after that, a silent, muffled cry. The sound of crystals falling down, breaking into pieces could be heard from the alleyway. Diluc decided to peek in, trying to repress the urges to jump out from his hideout and aid him with whatever was going on.
Then he saw it.
Crimson stars were falling down from Zhongli's eyes, bright as lamp grasses, blinding even. Diluc was paralyzed, standing there not knowing what to do. Sure, he wanted to help, but he was scared. Scared to see Zhongli like that, a god like him crying vibrant red. Scared that he'd just mess things up even further, just like he did a few moments prior.
He returned to the bar as quietly as he could, careful so that Zhongli wouldn't notice. Once he got back to the establishment, he closed the door shut and stood. His throat felt dry, as if he just went to the deserts in Natlan. He wanted, needed to relax, but it was hard after seeing Zhongli like that. Maybe cleaning up the mess that was now the bar would help him clear out his thoughts.
Those tears he saw… There was no way they were his natural tears, even if Zhongli was a god. Why would Morax, a creature made of gold, cry rubies? But he couldn't jump into conclusions too quickly. He needed to know more about that… condition. Perhaps he could ask someone about it. Someone wise besides Zhongli himself who could tell him if there was something wrong. And the one who fitted that description perfectly was…
"I see…" the librarian of the Knights of Favonius Lisa murmured as Diluc finished describing what he saw that night. He had come to her urgently the next morning, just before the library opened. "I think I know what it is." He looked at her attentively, eager to know what his friend had.
Friend…? No… That wasn't quite the right word…
"Have you heard about the star tear disease?" She asked him, breaking his trail of thoughts. The redhead shook his head, and so she continued. "It's a really old tale. This condition is caused by unrequited love, and the one affected by it slowly loses their sight until they become blind, unless their beloved ends up reciprocating their feelings before." She briefly explained. Then her expression became slightly more confused. "It's weird, though. I thought this was nothing but old folklore… To believe that this is actually a real phenomenon is…"
"That means… Zhongli's in love…?" Diluc asked her curiously. She simply hummed as a response. Diluc hoped that the one Zhongli loved would reciprocate him, that they were kind and gentle just like he deserved. He should help him to get him with his beloved, help him to be happy. As long as Zhongli recovered from that condition, everything would be ok… Right?
Before he realized, he was on the floor, coughing uncontrollably.
"Master Diluc!?" He thought hearing Lisa asking, alarmed.
His chest hurt, as if a million needles were stinging directly onto his lungs.
Red. Red blood was starting to fall from his mouth staining the wooden floor, and torn bloodstained petals eventually started coming out from his mouth. That puddle of red slowly grew bigger and bigger, and the petals were now whole. His body was starting to feel weak, from blood loss, Diluc supposed. He let himself fall to the floor besides that dark blood stain as he was still coughing more stained flower petals.
His mind felt hazy at that moment, yet during all that he thought hearing Lisa whispering something before exiting the library and slamming the door shut.
✤✤✤✤✤
Hanahaki disease, a strange condition that affects the respiratory system of the affected person. A bush starts growing inside the patient's lungs, causing them to malfunction.
Symptoms may vary from coughing blood or, in worst cases, coughing the flowers that had grown inside their body. Its cause is speculated to be unrequited love, and it's cured if the patient's beloved reciprocates their feelings, though there may still be some sequels.
Many different people ended up dying from this condition. And there's still no other cure for it.