Chapter Text
“Heart be pure, evil be erased. Mind be purged, world be..."
Fuck
Why can he never remember the ending? Chongyun’s exorcist training may be…limited (read: nonexistent), but this mantra should be easy enough to get right. He pushes back ice blue hair to dig the heels of his palms into his tired eyes, and flops back onto the bed with a sigh. Turning his head to the glowing hands of his clock, Chongyun squints to decipher it. Around 3:15AM. Again, fuck . He would love to sleep- in fact, he’d probably sacrifice Xiangling for just a few hours rest at this point- but Chongyun’s body currently feels like it is burning with the heat of a thousand suns, and buzzing with an equal amount of energy.
The first time this feeling happened, maybe a month ago, he felt like he was about to combust- and that his touch might incinerate anything it came into contact with. But strangely enough, the intense heat inside manifested externally as ice (This discovery came at the cost of a goldfish murder when Chongyun shoved his hands into a fish tank to cool them off, and the entire thing froze solid). Frantic google searches unhelpfully informed Chongyun that he was about to die of some obscure disease or had a weird mix of fire and ice powers, but eventually an internet rabbit hole led him to a niche podcast about ancient Liyuen legends- and the phenomenon of Yang energy.
“One of my favourite myths”, the podcaster narrated. Chongyun had scoffed. Myth, my ass. It’s happening to me right now. “Is about the gift of Yang energy. They say only one person every thousand years is born with it, and they have the power to drive away evil wherever they go. This ability was said to be passed down a specific bloodline, but no one knows what became of the exorcist clan…”.
Chongyun knows. And he’s reminded of it every time he wakes up in this godforsaken group home, because that clan, his family, were torn apart by a tragedy. Still, the podcast did provide a starting point for his research, and since that first incident Chongyun’s gathered a panoply of books and articles on exorcist traditions- but none of them with a concrete answer to all his questions about whatever…abilities he’s gained.
Chongyun makes another attempt at reciting his mantra, hoping to block out the noises of the city and lull himself to sleep before the summer sunrise arrives. “Heart be pure, evil be erased, mind…mind..mmnnh”
He succeeds this time.
***
Morning comes, with no small amount of grumbling from Chongyun as he throws on clothes and grabs breakfast. Walking out of the door takes two tries (he walked straight into it on attempt No.1) and he huffs when one of the younger kids giggles at him. The walk to school is sluggish and uneventful, and his best friend Xiangling greets him at the school entrance with an exaggerated grimace when she spots the shadows under Chongyun’s eyes.
“Your face is going to get stuck like that” he says, glaring weakly.
“And it’s a delight to see you too, my darling Chongyun” she teases back. Xiangling tugs him inside as the morning bell rings, and Chongyun stumbles under the force of her freakishly strong grip. Xiangling may look like a small teenager, but Chongyun is convinced that she could annihilate any of the seniors with little trouble. I still haven’t managed to beat her in an arm wrestle . Another thing that Xiangling likes to destroy (other than Chongyun’s pride and arm muscles) is his taste buds, and with growing fear he spots the lunchbox she’s tugging out of her bag.
“No, I am not-no” Chongyun backs away and shoves his face into his locker to escape the suspiciously spicy scent coming from the box.
“Chongyuuun”, Xiangling taunts, giggling as she waves a Jueyen chilli at him. “I’ve had breakfast”, he feebly protests. Xiangling narrows her eyes. “Yeah, and it was probably plain toast, you psycho”.
There’s nothing wrong with plain toast , Chongyun reassures himself.
She continues talking, leaning back.“Honestly, sometimes I think you’re a Mondstadter born into the body of a Liyuen with that weak-ass spice tolerance. Are you sure you don’t want the chilli? It would at least wake you up from the walking coma you’re in”
Her voice takes on a slightly more concerned tone, and it’s nice to be reminded that Xiangling doesn’t just live to torment him. “I’m fine, seriously” Chongyun lowers his voice to a whisper “It was just- well- you know”. A look of realisation crosses her face, followed by conspiratorial excitement. Chongyun grumbles and sighs. “Hot flashes again”.
Xiangling groans. “Only you could make a cool superpower sound like a middle-aged woman’s menopause. I still don’t see why you won’t sign up to a hero program, it would be so sick! You could make celebrity guest appearances on my future chef TV show!”.
He shuts the locker door with excessive force. “You know why I can’t Xiangling. I don’t trust Celestia’s heroes, not after they took Aunt Shenhe. They stole her, and that broke my family. I won’t let them break me too” Chongyun replies with the practised stubbornness of someone who’s had this discussion many times. Unfortunately for him, Xiangling is equally as bull-headed.
“Yun, you can’t waste an opportunity like this because of rumours about how they ‘kidnapped’ your aunt-’
The second bell is his saving grace from death by Xiangling’s interrogation, and he scowls (but still waves begrudgingly) as they part ways for class. The remainder of Chongyun’s day plays out as usual, with the addition of the occasional concerned comment about his exhausted appearance (Bennett asks Chongyun if his bad luck is rubbing off on him, and Fischl demands to know if her underling has been sleeping well). Chongyun appreciates that his friends worry, but waving goodbye to them is still a relief as he escapes into a back alley to head home.
Less of a relief, though, is the gun to his head.
***
Chongyun is traipsing through the city, and barely steps off of the main sidewalk when a rough hand covers his mouth and drags him around a corner. He’s shoved behind a dumpster, legs kicking, and an imposing figure looms over him. After the initial blind panic, Chongyun can feel his heart rate rapidly increasing- and in tandem, the familiar creeping feeling of heat makes its way up his fingertips. A man is stood in front of him, gun in hand and oh archons he’s going to kill me .
“Shit man, I don’t have, fucking money or- or anything valuable” Chongyun babbles. He’s praying that his yang energy won’t reveal itself, but also kind of praying that it will because hey, this guy won’t expect me to fucking freeze him right? Call him unethical but Chongyun prefers the idea of some non-consensual cryogenics as opposed to his imminent death. The cold brick wall at his back scrapes his skin through his t-shirt, and despite the stinging pain the cool surface is a respite from the building intensity of his yang energy. Chongyun glances around, but the spot he’s in is out of sight and earshot of the main road. The gun moved considerably closer as he was looking around, and now the badge on his attacker’s jacket is clear. Treasure hoarder . One of the pettier criminal gangs in Liyue harbour, but nonetheless dangerous. Particularly so with a firearm in Chongyun’s face.
Chongyun raises his hands in front of his face as the treasure hoarder yells something that's completely muffled by his thick mask. Bit of a design flaw, that is; Chongyun thinks before realising how stupidly trivial that is right now. Voice or no, the waving of the gun makes it pretty clear that the treasure hoarder is threatening him and Chongyun continues to try and scramble away. Come on, dumb ice powers! Why can you show up to kill a fish but not to save my life? Clearly the verbal abuse works, and Chongyun breaths in sharply as he feels the heat in his fingertips dissipate ( finally!) . Frost crystallises over his palm, and Chongyun moves to lunge for the treasure hoarder-
An earsplitting crack resounds, like the heavens are being ripped apart. Electro . Chongyun trips mid lunge, ears ringing, and gapes. The treasure hoarder is now shooting wildly, and a figure in red surrounded by purple sparks dodges easily, before slamming an electro-charged fist into the treasure hoarder. Even that mask can’t muffle him yelling now , Chongyun thinks smugly (and a little sadistically, but hey- the guy tried to shoot him) as the woman in red beats the absolute shit out of his attacker with a series of resounding hits.
When he looks sufficiently pummelled and electrocuted, she pulls back from the motionless treasure hoarder and casts a glance at Chongyun. Now that the shield of violet electricity around her has faded, she becomes recognisable. Red dress and hat, brown hair, eyepatch? Oh archons it’s the Captai-
“You alright, kid?”.
Well he’s certainly ok now, after witnessing the coolest vigilante ever in action. Chongyun may take issue with Celestia, the global hero company, but vigilantes are separate from them- so Chongyun is free to idolise the Captain as much as he wants. She takes his awestruck silence to mean he’s still frozen with fear, so she crouches down to his level and holds out a bottle.
“Clearly you’re shaken up, so why don’t you have a little- oh fuck wait, I’m not meant to give alcohol to minors, Ninguang will add that to her list of reasons to arrest me, but then again”- She pulls down her mask just enough to take a swig of the drink herself, and chuckles- “I’m not going to complain about being tied up by the Tianquan”.
Chongyun’s expression must have become more judgmental than shell shocked, because she coughs a little guiltily and laughs, before straightening up and holding out a hand.
“Are you injured? I didn’t hear any shots before I got here” she inquires.
Chongyun shakes his head, still struck dumb but takes her hand to haul himself up. The Captain winces and frowns at their hands when they meet before looking back up at Chongyun, confused. Once he’s on his feet, she draws back her hand to see melted droplets and some still-frozen ice fractals. Noticing this, Chongyun nervously laughs and says “Hah, um, sorry about that- I guess it’s just quite…chilly…haha”. The Captain raises an eyebrow and Chongyun squirms under her penetrating gaze.
“It’s June.”
“Right…”
He can feel her callouses as she grabs his hand to look closer, and ok yeah she’s definitely going to notice the frost all over my hands . “Ice powers? Hm. You in the hero program?”
Chongyun shakes his head vehemently. “Archons no, I would never”. She tilts her head at him with an unnerving amount of curiosity. “Interesting reaction. Powers aren’t common, and most kids like you would immediately sign up to be trained as a hero when they discover their abilities. What, you don’t want to be rich and famous?’
“And here I was thinking that people became heroes to help others. Clearly my priorities aren’t straight” Chongyun retorts. The Captain snorts, and as much as he's fanboying over making her laugh, he wants to escape this conversation before the topic turns personal. “Well, I’m- um- honoured to have met you- and be saved by you- but I’m just gonna, y’know, head off” he spins on his heel and attempts to dash away before being yanked back by his shirt collar. Chongyun chokes a little at the feeling of the cheap fabric constricting his neck and cranes his neck around to glare at her, then turns around fully. “What the fuck” he wheezes. “If you want the Tianquan to tie you up so badly, then I’m happy to add assault of a child to your list of charges”
The Captain ignores his comment and frowns, then peers at him closer. “Why not?”, she asks
“Why not what?”
“Why not become a hero? Why not join Celestia? The general public loves them, so why not you?” The Captain is sounding far too similar to Xiangling for Chongyun’s liking, which both detracts from her coolness and makes her even more terrifying
“I don’t trust them.” Chongyun grumbles. “Why don’t you join them if they’re so great”.
“I don’t like laws”. He can see the shape of her smirk behind her mask. “You’re being too vague. And deflecting. Why don’t you trust them?”
Chongyun’s starting to get frustrated, and frustration equals building yang energy. He can smell the singed flesh of the forgotten treasure hoarder, and the residual warmth of crackling lightning isn’t helping him keep cool. Heart be pure, evil be erased, mind be- be- archons damn it! A hand comes waving into his vision, the movement bringing some fresh breeze and with it a little clarity to his feverish thoughts. “Hey, kid, what’re you muttering ‘bout? Maybe you didn’t join the hero program because you’re fucking insane, talking to yourself”.
Chongyun glares and huffs, even just the cool air from his breath making him calm down a little. “What I do with my abilities is none of your business”. He tells the Captain.
“Yes it is”, the Captain replies
“Why.” I’m so done with this shit.
The Captain’s eyes crinkle with a grin, and she drops an absolute bombshell like it’s nothing.
“Because I find that ice and lightning work quite well together. If the hero lifestyle isn’t for you, how about becoming a vigilante?”
Chongyun eyes her, paralysed by utter disbelief. This has got to be a joke. She removes her scarlet tricorn hat and tugs down her mask. “The name’s Beidou. You seem a little young to be my colleague, so how about… mentor and mentee?
Archons. I almost wish I got shot.