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Once upon a time, there lived a hero who wished to save the world from whatever evil there was and a villain, who’s only wish is to conquer the world. The hero was known as the Guardian of Teyvat for his efforts in protecting civilisations were recognised, whereas the villain, the Annihilator of Teyvat for he means no good and only brings destruction upon their land. The two were great enemies, they fought every day, trying to make each other see their perspective.
Their day would look something like this: Tartaglia sends his clones with different appearances of him to different areas to destroy whatever there is so that he could claim that land and Morax intercepts it. As Morax tries to find the real identity of Tartaglia, he finds that it is hopeless.
He does, however, realise there is a pattern to the clones. According to their power, their appearance tends to change as well, but Tartaglia is a clever man. As soon as he realises that, he mixes them up, leaving Morax once again, clueless and frustrated. Morax wishes that Tartaglia would just come out already from hiding so that he could crush him beneath his feet, what a coward the great Tartaglia was. If he is so powerful, why send clones? As a distraction? Or maybe it’s just a mean to get closer to conquering the world. Then again, it is somehow working. He managed to conquer a region already because Morax had a slip up and had been outsmarted by the damned villain. Seriously, he would have to do something about the conquered region. The only solution would be attacking the base. That seems like something a villain would do. However, the public wouldn’t turn against him for doing so, he would be supported by them. All the more reason to do it. So he orders his team to get on it. Of course, it wouldn’t be easy, Tartaglia’s base has high security and bulletproof, fireproof maybe even hero proof walls almost perfected into perfection. The more Morax and his team attack, the more the walls of Tartaglia’s base gets modified. Tartaglia learns from his mistakes after all. He wouldn’t be a great supervillain if he didn’t, or at least that’s what the world thinks. Couldn’t Morax give him a break? Even a villain needs his rest. Of course no one thinks that. If only Tartaglia could make him forget about his whole entire career and all…
Wait a minute.
That’s the solution! He could make them forget with a simple ‘lose-all-your-memories’ potion. Fortunately for him, it’s pretty easy to make. With that, he got straight to work gleefully.
The next day, Tartaglia did not expect to receive a letter written by Morax from his clone or minion with its contents about negotiating and meeting up. It took him by surprise, Morax wanting to seek him out personally? An unbelievably good joke. What could Morax have up his sleeves now? Trying to poison him? Deceive him? Nevertheless, this seems like the perfect opportunity to make him forget with his newly invented serum. The problem is, when meeting up with Morax, he would definitely have many secret agents hiding or in disguise. So how would he be able to make Morax consume the serum? Too many eyes would be watching his every move, waiting to shoot the moment he does anything funny. Although a bullet wouldn’t be enough to kill him, Tartaglia figured that it would be best to just send a clone that looks just like him except he controls it to Morax’s meet up as the best course of action. Unless he somehow gains his trust or something, so the agents won’t go shooting lasers or whatever weapons they have in hand. That would work, and he’s going to do just that without a plan. So that’s exactly what happens. Morax and his clone dining together with Morax trying to propose solutions and find reasons as to why Tartaglia is trying to dominate the world. Tartaglia could only roll his eyes and smirk amusedly behind the scenes as he watches Morax hopelessly trying to change his life decisions. Literally, who gave him the confidence boost?
“Please do tell me your reasons for wanting to dominate the world. I do not see the appeal.” Morax sighed. The clone of Tartaglia chuckled, “Well neither do I see the appeal in trying to stop me! The answer is simple, really. Imagine this Morax, if you’re the authority of all authorities and everyone is under your control, you can make this world into however you wish it to. Now wouldn’t that sound nice? Anyone that dares oppose me without good reasoning shall be crushed under my heel.” Morax remains pensive with his furrowed brows and his frown. Tartaglia realises that he would probably have to wait quite a bit before he could get Morax to forget everything. For now, Morax is definitely heavily protected by whoever hides in the shadows, away from his sight. Tartaglia confirms this theory by having his clone touch Morax’s arm and before the clone could even touch his arm, multiple weapons and bullets from all directions stabbed his clone’s body. Tartaglia stares through the screen even more amused but declares that he’s leaving and left casually as if the clone has not been stabbed with multiple items. The clone then gets abandoned outside like a corpse and Tartaglia disconnects from it. It was obvious it was going to be hard to gain Morax’s trust, even if it was just a little bit of it. An almost impossible feat, seeing that the man is so stubborn and unmoving as a mountain. Geo freak.
The same thing continues to occur every day. They fight, and then they meet up somewhere secluded, away from prying eyes. Morax gets less guarded each time since Morax can take care of himself. Amateur mistake if you ask Tartaglia. Every time, the number of agents decreases. He confirms the theory each time by having his clone touch Morax’s arm. When the agents are a little less guarded, his clone would shift closer to Morax and for some reason, Morax wouldn’t even maintain a distance. He just lets it happen. Tartaglia ignores that and continues to count the number of weapons and bullets used each time to stab him every time he got a little too close to Morax and continues to observe and analyse.
Finally the day Tartaglia predicts no agent would be hiding in the shadows came. This time, he would meet up with Morax personally. No more clones, it’s really him now. Plus, after a while of his clones always getting to be so close and touch Morax’s arm, he kind of wanted to do it too. I mean, look at all those cool golden markings on his black arm…how could he not feel tempted to trace and feel them? ‘Simp.’ a voice in his head said.
As punctual as ever, Tartaglia arrives at the location Morax and him were destined to meet at and this time, surprisingly, Morax has brought a friend who Tartaglia comes to know as his sister. She goes by the name of Guizhong, she seems intelligent and clever. What a way to foil his plans in making Morax consume the ‘forget-all-your-memories’ serum…he wouldn’t give up just yet, however. He was not a supervillain without reason, so they continue to discuss and negotiate again, and this time with Guizhong being the brains. Tartaglia continued to entertain them and as soon as Morax and Guizhong lowered their guards to discuss what to do next with each other, quickly, Tartaglia poured the serum into Morax food. The serum was transparent, so they couldn’t detect it with sight, and it doesn’t have a smell nor a taste either so in summary, they wouldn’t ever know it was there. Tartaglia resumed eating his meal as Morax also does the same as per usual. Good. Suddenly, Morax felt his head begin to spin and eventually, he blacked out. Guizhong stared at Morax’s unconscious body in horror, and she came to a conclusion that she was vulnerable in this situation. Tartaglia definitely had something to do with this, and Morax couldn’t save her. Upon realising Guizhong couldn’t defend herself, Tartaglia smirked and covered her mouth with a drug that made her pass out immediately. He then teleported the both of them to his base and settled everyone down. He was feeling generous, so he gave Guizhong a room and placed a device on her so that no doors would ever open for her unless Tartaglia stated so. Only special doors like the living room would open for her and that’s about it. It basically confined Guizhong to where she was, making her unable to escape no matter how clever she was.
Morax woke up groggily and found himself in an unfamiliar place. It seemed like someone’s living room. He sat up and observed his surroundings and oh- he was lying down on someone. Did he know this person? He can’t seem to remember. In fact, he cannot remember anything at all. What happened? “It seems you’re awake. Good morning Morax.” The stranger with orange hair smiled. “Who are you?” Morax questioned. The stranger seemed to contemplate for a bit. He smiled again, “Don’t you remember? I am your lover, Ajax.” Morax struggled to remember a thing. However, it felt right to be called Ajax’s lover, so he was very much convinced that he was indeed Ajax’s lover, and he wasn’t being lied to because he lost his memories. Apologetically, Zhongli replied, “Apologies, I don’t remember, Ajax. I seemed to have lost my memories…Oh, may I also ask why you call me Morax? As my lover, you should address me as Zhongli instead. It is my most informal name.” Tartaglia replied, “Sorry Zhongli, it’s a bit of a habit that had yet to die. I’m working on it! Anyway let’s get you some tea, do you have a preference?” Zhongli shook his head and Tartaglia went to brew some tea for him. As Tartaglia brewed him tea, he still couldn’t believe the first thing that went into his mind when Zhongli asked him who he was was to say he was his lover when he wasn’t. Did he have some hidden crush on his enemy? Probably. Zhon- Morax would probably forget forever anyway, so he might as well give some meaning to his pathetic life.
Tartaglia comes back with the tea and Zhongli takes it from him. “Green tea, an exquisite choice.” Zhongli compliments as he takes the tea from Tartaglia. Tartaglia’s cheeks turned a very slight pink. As Zhongli finishes up his tea, he puts it away on the coffee table and hugged Tartaglia’s arm which made him tense for a bit, not expecting the physical contact. “I am still not comforted by the fact my memories are still a goner. Could you tell me about my life?” Zhongli asked. Tartaglia was silent for a bit before he pulled Zhongli’s head to his chest -should he even do that?- and started to comb through Zhongli’s hair with his fingers before he started telling him about what Zhongli was before. His words were half lies and half-truths, making it believable. Zhongli leaned in closer as he was lulled to sleep by Tartaglia’s gentle voice. Little did they know, Guizhong had already woken up and heard the entire thing. She was stunned at first, and she knew that nothing she said would convince her brother that Tartaglia doesn’t seem like who Zhongli thinks he is. Guizhong quietly went back to her room after what she saw. She wasn’t exactly complaining though. If living here means getting a free movie of enemies to lovers, she’s here for it. (Hopefully Tartaglia would provide free food too?) It’s about time her brother got someone to love. He would stop depending on her to remember his wallet too hah. It’s Tartaglia’s problem now. This is a win-win situation, she’s free yet confined in her new room at the same time. Still free though. She wonders how the adepti are doing, they’re probably panicking right now.
“Morax and Guizhong have not been back in a very long time. I bet Tartaglia must have done something to them!” One of the adepti said. “Do not speak of Morax and Lady Guizhong so lowly! You dare doubt Morax’s strength and Lady Guizhong’s intellectual brain?” another argued. “It isn’t like that, I swear! But really, what if that sly fox have them captive or under his control?! It’s a possibility!”
“What is the commotion about?” Xiao asked with crossed arms as he walked into the room with Ganyu following along. “Alatus and Ganyu!” The adepti all bowed their heads in respect. One of them then spoke up, “We were worried that Lady Guizhong and Morax had been kidnapped, seeing that they have yet to return. Think about it! They have been gone for more than half the day!” Alatus and Ganyu went into a thoughtful pose and thought about it. Ganyu then replied, “It is true that it is indeed unusual for Lady Guizhong and Morax to be gone for so long. However, let us place our trust in them. If they do not return by tomorrow, we shall send out some of our people to find them. What do you think, Alatus?” Xiao nodded his head, indicating that Ganyu’s plan is approved. Ganyu continued, “Very well then. Alatus has approved. For now, we prepare in case of an incoming attack from Tartaglia. We must not be useless to Morax and Lady Guizhong, for they have trusted us as we have trusted them.” The adepti all nodded and went off to train. Xiao turned to Ganyu, “I will start searching for them. I suspect Tartaglia has them, that sly fox is clever.” Ganyu nodded and Xiao vanished into thin air.
The next morning, Xiao had Ganyu make an announcement to them, “Dearest companions, I would like to have all of your attention. Today we attack Tartaglia’s lair for he has Morax and Guizhong. If we want our leaders back, we ought to fight for them. Please get into your respective positions now.”
By then, Tartaglia had already accomplished convincing Zhongli that he is under his control. As Tartaglia was preparing breakfast for Zhongli, Guizhong and himself like he didn’t erase Zhongli’s memories in front of Guizhong, there were suddenly gun shots heard. Tartaglia sighed, “Zhongli!” Zhongli’s head popped into the kitchen curiously, “Yes, darling?” Oh, not that pet name again, he absolutely despises it. Heat spread across Tartaglia’s face and he took a deep breath before replying, “Please go check out whatever is happening outside. Chase away all intruders, use force if you have to.” Zhongli nodded his head and kissed his Ajax’s forehead before heading out. Guizhong watched the scene with a smirk quietly as she ate Tartaglia’s surprisingly scrumptious pancakes.
“Morax!” The adepti shouted as they came running towards him. “Morax, why are you at Tartaglia’s place? No matter we should head back now. Alatus would be delighted to see you again.” Morax raised an eyebrow, “Who is this…Alatus you speak of? More importantly, what are you intruders planning to do? Who are you?” Cloud Retainer was offended by what she heard and squawked, “My lord! How could you possibly forget Alatus! Or the rest of us for that matter. Just what have that sly fox Tartaglia have done to you? You must not be influenced by that evil fox! Do not let whatever he said get into your brain.” Morax frowned in confusion, “Truly, I do not know who all of you are and especially this Alatus you speak of. Does he lead you? And Tartaglia has done nothing to me. Do not speak ill of him for he is a sweet soul. Now, I ask of you intruders to go back to wherever you came from, or I would have to use force.” The adepti gasped in shock and surprised while Cloud Retainer gasped like she was offended badly, “You wouldn’t dare!” Morax crossed his arms, “I would. Now please, now that I am asking kindly, you should listen. I will only say it once more, get off Tartaglia’s premises or suffer the consequences.” Cloud Retainer huffed, “All adepti under my orders, report back to base. We must inform Alatus and Ganyu of this monstrosity of an outcome!” All adepti including cloud retainer then went their separate ways back to base. Morax went back in and searched for Tartaglia. “Zhongli! You’re back. Come have breakfast first and tell me all about what happened outside.” Tartaglia grinned brightly. Oh, how Zhongli loves his smile. No wonder why he fell in love with Tartaglia even before he lost his memories. Sadly he doesn’t remember a thing. “Right, so there were a bunch of people that were telling me to go back with them and called me their lord for some reason. It was absurd. Also, there was this name of Alatus. He is probably the leader of the group. They also spoke ill of you. They were trying to convince me that you were bad, a sly fox. However, all I see is just my lover. My sweet sweet lover.” Tartaglia went bright red as Zhongli spoke highly of him. Zhongli’s words were going to be the death of him someday. He really shouldn’t have told Zhongli that they were lovers. Zhongli as a lover was not good for his heart. Not that he would allow Zhongli to be someone else’s lover though. He fears his infatuation for his supposedly enemy has grew stronger than ever after getting a taste of being close to Zhongli.
Xiao and Ganyu encouraged everyone to attack Tartaglia’s lair and always demanded him to give back their leader. It was useless though, Tartaglia has Morax under his control and nothing the adepti said could convince Morax that he was supposed to side with the adepti for Morax was unmoving as mountains. This continued on for several months until they lost all hope and accepted that their leaders were truly gone. Guizhong, who finally gained enough of Tartaglia’s trust to roam around freely, sneaked a letter to them telling them that they were fine and just reassuring the adepti that everything was fine. There was no need to continue to try to get them. The adepti had thought they were done for to the point even their still very much aware leader had also given up, It allowed Tartaglia to finally conquer the world, and he settled peacefully with his newfound authority. The world under Tartaglia’s rule wasn’t even that bad anyway. In fact, Tartaglia thinks the world under his rule was way better than the world before. It was like a kid growing up and finally fulfilling their dream of making the world a better place. He may be a villain, but he rather the innocents of the world stay out and mind their own business. Was he really a villain anymore though? He only used the means to become top authority so that he would live peacefully and is practically untouchable. Guizhong thinks the outcome isn’t so bad, especially for younger children. She swears to archons, where was Tartaglia when she was born? She wants to be able to have free access to all amusement park activities too! A place for children to care for animals and pets? Yes please! Only qualified teachers (ones that loves children a lot) to teach students? A definite yes. Parents now have to go through trials to be official parents so that they don’t actually abuse their child emotionally or physically now? Sign her up. Seriously, where were are all these when she was young!?
Despite being only a one man, Tartaglia does his job at managing the world pretty well. Guizhong will not elaborate, but the good news is, he is no longer known as Teyvat’s annihilator! Guizhong considers throwing a party for his new title, “Teyvat’s Subjugator”
Slowly, people start to accept Tartaglia as their new world leader. His name would definitely go down in history. Overtime, he knows that he would undoubtedly be found resting in the comforts of his home that he built and that one day, he would only be a reassurance to his people that he is there to support them when they need it. After all, his clones can’t last forever and soon enough, he will start to need people who are suitable enough to rule. If you want a nice world, you have to make sure no one evil lay their hands on a position with authority over millions of people. To solve this, he would personally interview the one who wants to take over a specific nation and the top 3 candidates he decides are very suitable for the job will be chosen depending on the people. The top 3 candidates would have to make a speech on why they qualify as their leader to the people and after, the people would start casting their votes. Whoever gets most votes will not only become a leader, but also get personal training from Tartaglia himself. In spite of being extremely busy, Tartaglia always makes time to spend time with his dearest beloved he grew to know and love. Tartaglia grew to love absolutely everything about Zhongli. From growing to love Zhongli’s voice and ramblings to when he forgot mora when he wanted to buy something. He didn’t know when or where this love came from, all he knew was that Zhongli was very addicting. Maybe it started when he told Zhongli that Zhongli was his. It just felt right to do so. He didn’t know why either, but he went along with whatever he went along with. Perhaps it started when he gave Zhongli kisses that at first were empty kisses but then soon developed into sincere and loving kisses.
A year later after Tartaglia’s rule, Zhongli suddenly went unconscious again and Guizhong and Tartaglia were worried as heck. “Did you do something to him again?!” Guizhong cried. “No of course not! I’m way past that.” Tartaglia said as he got Zhongli to bed and used his technology to figure out what was wrong. “So, what happened to Zhongli?” Guizhong asked worriedly. Tartaglia heaved a sigh of relief, “Nothing major, fortunately. He just fainted for some unknown reason. We only need to wake for him to wake up.” Guizhong gave a sigh of relief and put one hand on her chest, “Thank archons.” Zhongli woke up soon after and had a massive headache. He remembered everything. How Ajax gave him that godforsaken serum and made him forget everything, how Ajax lied to him and said that they were lovers, how he also imprisoned Guizhong but let her go soon after, how he and Ajax were supposedly enemies, he remembered it all. However, he loves Ajax all too much now to let him go. It’s not like he did anything bad after he ruled the world. He really should not love Tartaglia, but unfortunately for him, he quite likes Ajax’s company. Zhongli was furious for a bit, but eventually calmed down. If he wanted to keep the peace and continue having whatever he was having with Ajax, he would have to pretend he still has no recollection of what happened before he got fed the serum. For Ajax, he would pretend.
Ajax noticed Zhongli was now awake and in a soft and gentle yet worried tone, he spoke, “Zhongli! How are you doing? Do you need anything? Are you hungry? Do you want me to brew you some tea? Are you feeling well?” Zhongli chuckles softly, “Oh Ajax you worry too much. I am feeling fine, just a bit of a headache. No need to brew tea. However, it would be nice if you could lay by my side right now.” Ajax chuckles sheepishly, “Right. My family always tells me I worry too much haha…” Zhongli thinks about telling Ajax that he has regained his memories, but Ajax also hasn’t told him about him losing his memories. Then again, he understands why Ajax also hasn’t told him. He too, probably wouldn’t tell if he was in Ajax’s shoes. Let him be the hero to save them from miscommunication then. Zhongli moves impossibly closer and wraps his arms around Ajax. Ajax is a bit startled as Zhongli has never been the one to initiate physical touch, but he isn’t complaining, “Hey, Li? What brought this on?” Zhongli responded, “So that you wouldn’t run away.” Ajax tilted his head in confusion, “Why would I run away?” Zhongli’s grip around Ajax tightened, but not to the point it hurts. “I want to confront you about you making me forget my memories. I just want to say that I forgive you for making me forget everything, and that I forgive you for all your lies. When I blacked out, I regained all my memories, I don’t know how, but I just did. I found that I enjoyed your company more than I would have originally liked. I can now wholeheartedly say that I love you. I love you, Ajax. Please don’t leave me.” Ajax was shell shocked and silent. Ajax could feel himself tearing up, “You can’t possibly forgive me so fast…especially after just regaining your memories. Who would have thought the great Morax would forgive this one for lying to you? I lied to you, and you forgive me just like that. You’re impossible, Zhongli. Oh Morax, Zhongli, whatever you want to be called by, how could I ever leave you? You’re my beloved, lyubimyy. Your words are going to be the cause of my death one day, you know? I love you so fucking much. The crazy thing is I don’t even know how or why, I just fucking love you so much.” Ajax confessed as he buried his head in Zhongli’s chest. Zhongli laughed in delight after hearing his words, “You big emotional baby…I love you too.” Zhongli replied and kissed Ajax’s tears away. Guizhong, being the eavesdropper she is, giggled gleefully and walked away after hearing their very short reconciliation. The both of them huddled up together in the bed and cuddled for an hour.