Chapter Text
Stupid mission. Stupid Sumeru. Stupid desert.
Stupid Childe, for forgetting he’s Snezhnayan and lasting approximately two hours in the heat before collapsing. How in the world does a hydro user get heat exhaustion?!
As it turned out - pure elemental water is not the safest substance to drink. Childe had learned that a long, long time ago. When his water supply dried up much sooner than he expected it to, he honestly thought he might die of dehydration sooner than he could return to Caravan Ribat. He was aware of how he fell as he hit the hot sand, but everything went dark after that.
He woke in a comparatively cool building, resting on a slightly dusty bed. He was sweating profusely and his head pounded.
“Ah,” said a soft, female voice from across the room - a tall woman bustling around the kitchen, clinking pots and pans. “You’re awake.”
Childe pushed himself to sit up, groaning with the action. “Yes,” he confirmed, running a hand over his face. He groaned loudly.
The woman turned around after a while with a plate in her hand. The food looked delicious, a dish of various noodles, beans, and rice, but the scent of it made him feel nauseous.
Seeing the look on his face she said, “You must eat. The nausea will fade.” She set the meal on a wooden table in the center of the house, and Childe got to his feet to sit at that table.
“Eugh… Thanks,” he said, picking up his fork and poking at the dish. His hunger and the urge to vomit were warring with each other. Eventually he managed to take a bite, and through the initial wave of queasiness he was eventually glad he did. After that, it took mere minutes for him to scarf down the rest.
He had several glasses of water between bites too, until his caretaker cut him off. Apparently, drinking too much water, even while dehydrated, could be dangerous. He felt a little dumb for his lacking survival skills in this area.
“I am Candace, Guardian of Aaru Village,” the woman said after a while. She had been keeping tabs on him while he ate and drank, otherwise vaguely tidying up the house. “I found you collapsed on the edge of the dunes and returned you here.”
Childe nodded, running a hand over his face. “I figured. I’m Tartaglia, but you can call me...”
“I know your name, harbinger. Even us desert-folk have experience with your people. While we are on the subject…” She gave him a carefully neutral expression. “You are welcome to stay in Aaru Village for as long as you need to recover, provided you cause no trouble, but then you must be on your way. Fatui are not welcome here, and your presence will inevitably attract trouble to the village.”
Childe huffed a laugh; he had certainly heard that line often enough. “Fair enough; I have some stuff I have to do anyway, so I wasn’t going to stick around.”
Candace nodded at him once, before taking his now-empty plate to wash. “You should rest more. One more day should be enough to get back on the road.”
One more day…?
“Hold on,” Childe said, frowning. “How long have I been here already?”
“I found you the night before last.”
So it had already been a full day, and she expected him to wait another? Absolutely not. He had things to do, even if it was just being a bodyguard for some fragile Akademiya researchers.
He stood up, his head still aching but far better than before. If he tried hard enough, he could pretend the migraine wasn’t there at all. “Thanks for your hospitality, Candace, but I don’t have the time to wait around for that. Ah - here, take this.” He produced a pouch of mora and tossed it on the table, even as Candace protested the repayment. “I’d best be out of your hair now; thanks!”
He was gone before she could attempt to return the mora to him, though she did not call out for him to wait. He grabbed his traveling pack, refilled very generously by the guardian, and slung it over his shoulder.
It was… strange, he thought, as he returned along his original route, to be treated so kindly even with the knowledge that he was a harbinger. More and more lately he found himself being turned away by shops, inns, and taverns.
Liyue Harbor was a major trading port - it was no surprise word of his actions there had traveled, though the fuss had died down in the two years since. Liyue moved on, the Tsaritsa’s plans moved on, the world moved on…
Not to mention, he - Zhongli - had been the first to move on from the start…
But Childe couldn’t, it seemed. He didn’t care much what others thought of him, save for his siblings and the esteem of the Tsaritsa. Still, it was impossible not to be a little frustrated when he couldn’t even buy a stuffed aranara for his little brother.
Another thing he obviously couldn’t get over was him. Because even now as he trudged through the unbearable sand dunes, he was thinking about him. He had been thinking about him in Aaru Village, too, when he saw Candace’s amber eye and could only ponder on how different it was from Zhongli’s eyes.
Zhongli’s are prettier, was the clear conclusion. Not that it mattered.
He was getting a headache again, though thankfully Candace had stocked him up well enough to avoid passing out again. She had silently judged his supplies, he could tell, but it wasn’t his fault the only person willing to do business with him was some sleazy little pink-haired kid! It’s like she could smell the Fatui funds on him.
That little monster charged him nearly a million mora for the shitty supplies, and he was under no impression that he was paying a fair amount for good quality. Again… It wasn't his fault. He had been sent off to Sumeru with absolutely no point of contact with the forces here until he found his own way to the research camp in the desert.
It was almost like someone was setting him up for a failed, impossible, or humiliatingly simple mission… again.
Because that’s how it had been since Liyue Harbor. Everything went exactly as the Tsaritsa and Morax had planned, but his own mission had still been considered a failure. It was never outright stated to him, but he could tell from the way the other harbingers mocked him relentlessly and the Tsaritsa sent him on some pointless mission to Inazuma to chase after the Sixth Harbinger.
No one had seen them in centuries, and even the Tsaritsa herself had forgotten their face. But somehow she expected him to find the Sixth in the least likely place they would be after stealing the electro gnosis - why in the world would they stay where they betrayed the Fatui? - and also drag them back to the palace, despite Her Majesty herself assigning Tartaglia a rank far below theirs.
That was the only significant mission he had participated in since Liyue. Otherwise, it had been petty little errands arranged by the other harbingers just to keep him away from Snezhnaya as often as possible. He hadn’t even received orders from the Tsaritsa - always the other harbingers.
It had been over a year since Signora’s death. He hadn’t thought much of it when Her Majesty stopped issuing orders to all of them for a time, allowing them to run their own operation while she grieved. But now it was painfully obvious that she was assigning everyone tasks except for him.
He wiped the sweat off his forehead, grimacing at the discomfort as it ran down his temple. This time, he was sent off to do grunt work in Sumeru trying to find useless artifacts in the desert - meanwhile, Dottore was comfy in the city, getting two Gnoses in one.
Childe shook his head. None of this was worth getting caught up in. All he needed to worry about was how to prove himself worthy to the Tsaritsa again.
After what felt like days in the scorching heat, though it had only been the length of an afternoon, he finally spotted a camp ahead that wasn’t waving the flag of the Eremites. Instead, the Fatui insignia fluttered high in the dusty winds.
“Lord Harbinger!” the small regiment saluted, standing at attention the moment they saw Tartaglia. “Welcome to the camp, sir!”
Childe gave them a dismissive wave, feeling utterly exhausted now that he had slowed down. He headed down the slope into the cave where the research camp lay, and the moment the cool shade covered his skin he sighed in relief.
Arriving late, he would have to find whoever was temporarily in charge in his absence to get caught up to speed. It seemed they had done a good job setting up the camp without him; the archaeologists hired from the Akademiya were already at work chipping away dirt from artifacts, and soldiers were equipped and ready for any trouble that may come.
They didn’t even need him. That’s how simple this assignment was. Why send the Vanguard as your manpower when your dig site was probably over-protected already?
Childe huffed and ran a hand through his hair, pushing his sweaty, sandy bangs away from his face. He ducked under the flaps of the largest tent in the camp, assuming correctly that it was the de facto command center here.
A horrifyingly familiar voice stopped mid-sentence when Childe entered, and his greeting died on his tongue as he stared back.
“What the fuck,” he said, out loud. “Zhongli?”
Zhongli blinked at him, the only outward display of surprise it seemed he was capable of making. He found the tiny expression to be massively infuriating. What, was the mighty Geo Archon above acting shocked?
“Hello, Childe,” he said in that stupid polite tone, with a stupidly small smile, as if he were greeting an old friend and not an old pawn. Probably didn’t expect to find his discarded toy being useful again, did he?
Childe ignored his greeting very pointedly, missing the way Zhongli’s smile fell at the brush-off, and instead turned to the lieutenant who Zhongli had been speaking to.
“What is he doing here?” he demanded, crossing his arms.
The lieutenant was a big man, as most Fatui soldiers were, but he looked nervous in Childe’s presence. The harbinger couldn’t find it in him to care.
“L-Lord Tartaglia, welcome. This is Mister Zh–”
“Yes , obviously, I know who he is. Why is he here?”
Zhongli cleared his throat and spoke up. “I was hired by the Tsaritsa. I had been considering traveling anyway, and she sent an offer to do some light work in Sumeru, so I–”
“Great. You’re fired. We have more than enough scholars and researchers, so you can go back home, xiansheng. I’ll make sure you get paid for the rest of it, don’t you worry.”
“Ah, Lord Harbinger, sir…” the lieutenant stuttered, “He was hired by Her Majesty specifically.”
Fuck. He couldn’t go against her orders; she was the one person who ranked above him. What was she thinking? Calling in some kind of Archon favor just to dig up some stupid relics for Pantalone’s mora-grubbing?
Zhongli kept his expression carefully neutral through it all, and it pissed Childe off that he didn’t even blink when he told him to, essentially, fuck off.
“If my presence poses an inconvenience–”
Childe, feeling petty, interrupted. “I don’t have the authority to fire you,” he said, waving his hand in frustration. “She must have hired you for a reason, so… whatever. I need to speak to the lieutenant here, so you best be on your way to do… whatever it is you’re even here to do.”
Zhongli frowned slightly, narrowing his eyes, and it was not as satisfying as Childe expected it to be. He looked like he wanted to say something but instead nodded, leaving the tent.
“Alright,” Childe sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Get me up to speed on what we’re doing here.”
The camp sat at the entrance of a cave that led to a massive network of ruins dating back to the time of King Deshret’s reign.
The ruins were vast, maze-like, and full of undisturbed treasures. So far they had barely scratched the surface, and everyone already had their hands full with artifacts to recover and appraise.
Sounded great–
Actually, none of this interested Childe. The camp was in full working order, had more than enough manpower to keep itself running, an established supply line - he praised the lieutenant for these things, though he truthfully couldn’t care less. All he cared about was, why the fuck am I even here?
And why the fuck was Zhongli here?
As he walked out of the tent, he made a beeline straight toward where he saw an achingly familiar gold-and-brown coat and grabbed Zhongli’s wrist. He pulled him away from whatever artifact he was looking at, to a deserted part of the cave.
“Childe–”
Childe whirled around. “Why are you here?” he hissed, too close to the consultant’s face. Annoyingly, Zhongli’s expression was entirely impassive - maybe a hint frustrated.
“As I said, the Cryo Archon sent me an invitation to consult here–” The corners of his mouth ticked down when Childe interrupted.
“Yeah, yeah, I get that part, but why? This has nothing to do with the adepti, or you, Morax, or any of Liyue’s history at all. What are you even contributing? And why accept at all?”
Childe hated the man’s calm indifference in the face of his anger. “I accepted her invitation because I wished for a vacation - it has been many centuries since I last left Liyue,” he explained. “As for my contribution - though we were not what I would call ‘friends’, I was familiar with the Scarlet King, the Goddess of Flowers, and Lesser Lord Kusanali at one time.”
He said it so casually, as if he weren’t talking about the leaders of a civilization several millennia past.
“I believe that I may have useful insight regarding King Deshret’s artifacts, though I must admit I am likely to learn more here than I am able to provide,” he finished.
“...So essentially, you are here on vacation.”
“Yes, that is an apt description.”
Childe sighed, running a hand over his face. “Good. Great. Well, have fun on your vacation, Morax. Just stay out of the way of people who have actual work to do.” Childe began to stalk off, halting when Zhongli grabbed his wrist.
“Childe,” he said, low, “I understand that you are angry with me.”
…Childe turned toward him, thinking with some kind of vague hope that he might actually want to apologize–
“I do not go by Morax anymore. Please use my name.”
Childe huffed and tugged his hand away. “Fine. I don’t plan on speaking to you, anyway.”
He missed the hurt in Zhongli’s expression when he turned away again, leaving the consultant to watch him go.
“Childe,” Zhongli began, approaching him while he was trying to eat lunch.
“Aren’t you technically working for me right now? Shouldn’t you be calling me ‘Lord Tartaglia’?” Childe took a bite of the curry the camp’s chef had (poorly) made, giving Zhongli a smug look.
Zhongli, in return, wore an odd expression. Childe couldn’t quite parse it, but he chalked it up to another of those things he would never understand about the consultant.
“...Lord Tartaglia,” Zhongli amended reluctantly. “I think we should talk.”
Childe leaned back in his chair, looking up at Zhongli. It should have been an ego boost to hear Rex Lapis refer to him so deferentially, but it just sounded terribly wrong from him.
He couldn’t believe that at one time, he had considered letting Zhongli call him ‘Ajax’.
“Talk about what? I’m not involved with the research; you’ll want to go have a chat with the lieutenant instead.”
“I meant personally.”
Childe frowned. “I don’t have anything to say to you.”
Zhongli sighed lightly, looking away from Childe and at something on the cave wall behind him. It was a long pause, but the harbinger was under no impression that he was going to leave it at that, unfortunately.
“It has been a long time since I last saw you,” he said. A long time was an understatement. Two full years. “...How have you been?”
It was obviously not what he had come over to ask. Childe turned his gaze away as well, crossing his arms and glaring at the empty seat opposite him. “You’re on the job, Zhongli. Shouldn’t you be doing actual work, instead of trying to chit-chat with your boss?”
Another long, painfully awkward silence, before Zhongli said softly, “Of course. Enjoy your lunch, then.”
And he was gone.
Childe couldn’t enjoy his lunch, not with the frustration boiling in his gut.
Curiosity gnawed at Childe, because he couldn’t stop thinking about when Zhongli had tried to approach him, and whatever he had wanted to say. Clearly, it hadn’t been just to ask how he was doing. He avoided the consultant as often as possible, running off to clear out Eremite camps and use vultures for target practice every chance he got, but the itch to know would not leave him alone.
Right as Childe finally decided enough was enough, that he was going to march up to the ex-archon and figure out what he had wanted to say, there was a horrible rumble that brought sand falling from the ceiling of the cave.
A monstrous roar was followed shortly by panicked yelling, and suddenly researchers and soldiers alike were flooding out of the entrance to the ruins.
“Lord Harbinger, sir!” one of the electrohammer vanguards cried, running up to Childe. “Some sort of beast just swallowed up half our team!”
Childe frowned. “Isn’t it your responsibility to keep the team safe?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.
“I-I don’t think any man c-could take on that thing,” he muttered frantically. “There wasn’t even a moment to react before it swallowed them up whole, and the whole room collapsed!”
This was bad news for his mission, with the entire objective being ‘explore the ruins and return with artifacts intact.’ He sighed. “Alright, I’ll head in and take care of it. Do not send anyone else into the ruins until I’ve returned.”
“I’ll come with you,” said a familiar baritone voice behind him. Childe sighed loudly.
“What could a mere consultant do against a big, scary monster?” he derided, turning and giving Zhongli a flat look.
“I have been into these ruins more times than you. It would be safer to venture in with someone who knows the way.” And I am more capable in a fight than you went unspoken.
Childe turned away, huffing. The logic was reasonable; he hadn’t set foot further than the cave entrance this entire time. “Fine. Come on, then.”
He didn’t look back, but could hear Zhongli’s footsteps following from behind. The sound of clattering armor and stomping boots indicated that the soldiers were also following, only briefly, watching as their boss and his… not-friend disappeared into the dark of the ruins.
It seemed the mad dash to escape and the collapse of the tunnel ahead had knock some lights off the walls; it was pitch black until there was suddenly a golden glow from Childe’s right.
He looked over to see Zhongli walking beside him, holding an orb of geo aloft in the air. It gave off slow pulses of light, in time to an inaudible heartbeat.
Perhaps, Zhongli’s heartbeat. In the darkness Childe noticed something he never had before - while using his elemental abilities, the amber ends of Zhongli’s hair were glowing dimly, to that same languid beat. His eyes glowed as well, though their light remained constant.
Zhongli looked at him, giving him a slight tilt of the head. “Is something wrong?”
Childe shook his head, returning his gaze ahead of him. “Nothing.”
‘Nothing’ was about accurate for the contents of this long hallway. Zhongli started talking lightly about the architectural design, as though he was prepared to be cut off at any moment, but Childe really saw nothing special about it. At the very least, it was vastly different from other ancient ruins he had seen. The remains of the Guili Assembly, the Thousand Winds Temple in Mondstadt, the ruined civilization in Dragonspine, even ruins such as those in Araumi all the way in Inazuma, they all shared similar characteristics. But the ruins of King Deshret’s ancient kingdom were wholly unique.
Childe realized Zhongli had been essentially saying the same thing - and maybe he had been listening more than he thought he was. It was too easy to get lost in that smooth, even voice. Frustratingly easy. He opened his mouth to tell Zhongli to shut it when–
The entire hallway shook, bits of rubble and rock falling from the ceiling. Childe covered his head and looked at Zhongli. He felt the briefest worry, before he saw that the adeptus had formed a small shield without needing to think about it.
Right. He was a god. Something as small as rubble and earthquakes couldn’t faze him.
The ground shook again, more violently. Childe swayed on his feet and found himself grabbing onto Zhongli’s shoulder for support.
“Careful,” the consultant said gently, as if Childe needed reminding. He scoffed and pulled his hand away.
“I guess we’re getting close to this ‘monster’,” Childe said. “Can you… sense it going through the rock, or whatever?”
Zhongli frowned. “Being in another god’s domain, even though he is long dead, is restricting my senses somewhat. But the vibrations are strong still. It is somewhere beneath us.”
Right as he said this, there was another quake. A sound not unlike the trains in Snezhnaya overwhelmed his senses; he would have covered his ears, but one of his hands was gripping to Zhongli for balance again, and even the lord of stone himself was having trouble staying upright.
The sound only got louder, and then was punctuated by loud CRACKS. Childe and Zhongli looked at each other, understanding their situation at the exact same time.
The ground gave way under them, and they plummeted into darkness.