Chapter Text
“Childe’s gone,” Lumine said flatly. She was sitting around the ashes of their campfire, a blanket tugged around her shoulders to combat the early morning chill. If it was morning. The light of the Dainichi Mikoshi had only been shining for about a half hour, so Zhongli supposed that made it as much morning as anything could, down here.
“Gone?”
She frowned. “He does this sometimes. Goes off on his own to try and find a fight.”
“I see.” Zhongli could not shake a feeling of unease. “And he returns on his own?”
“What, you think something out here could really be a danger to him?” Lumine sighed. “Let’s get the kiddos up and going. I want to set out for the last tower today.”
“Agreed.” Zhongli got to his feet. “I’ll fetch some water.”
It was much more convenient when Childe was present, as he could conjure all the water they needed for drinking and washing. Even so, it was little trouble to venture down to the clear, glasslike pool of water at the entrance to the Dainichi Mikoshi and summon two large stone buckets to fill.
Although the area around the pool was deserted, entirely devoid of life, strange elemental traces lingered on the surface, dispelling in small swirls when Zhongli ran his fingers through the cool water.
Childe usually left stronger elemental traces than those of an ordinary mortal, likely because of his impressive affinity with Hydro. The dark tracks on the water could almost be his, but they were too potent. Only an elemental creature could leave such a distinctive mark behind. And Zhongli could make a guess as to what type of elemental creature it was.
“I believe there may be a riptide spirit in this area,” he told Lumine upon his return, pitching his voice low as Bennett and Xiangling chattered on the opposite side of their encampment, bustling around as they cooked breakfast together. Paimon fluttered between them, causing chaos.
“A riptide spirit?” Lumine frowned. “I’m not familiar with that term.”
“I’m not surprised. Few know of their existence, as they reside only in the Abyss. Creatures of pure Hydro, they lie in wait on the water’s surface, and then when prey approaches they fill its lungs, drowning and then devouring it.”
“Lovely.” Lumine sighed, pushing back golden strands from her forehead. Her eyes were just a touch too large, too wide set, to be fully normal, and her hair possessed an unusual luminescence. But she could not be blamed, as Zhongli’s vessel had similar unnatural qualities. A form created for an elemental spirit or god could not truly replicate the creation of an actual organic being.
“Take care when treading near bodies of water,” Zhongli said. “I’m going to go after Childe. He should be warned as well.”
Lumine sighed, looking unsurprised. “Guess it’s just me and the kids again.”
“And Paimon!” The small creature popped into existence behind them, scowling indignantly.
“Paimon is one of the kids,” Lumine said.
“Am not.”
“Yes you are.”
Zhongli quickly took his leave before he could be involved in the debate.
He climbed a crumbling tower on the west side of the central island, looking out over the pallid landscape, washed out purples of the vegetation and bone white soil. Darkness crawled over the island before him like a living being, shrouding it from his view.
Childe would be on the most dangerous island, in the subterranean waterway that was the most dangerous part. Zhongli was sure of it.
He stepped off the tower towards the island. As always, the earth obeyed his every command, forming a staircase that led to the island below. Moving with haste and intention, he made his way to the dark ruins that awaited him.
At the center of the island, he slipped through a shadowed archway of rock into a large cavern lit with an eerie luminesce emanating from the deep pool of water in the center. He approached with care, but it was unnecessary. Someone had already slaughtered the beasts that guarded the glowing oasis.
The area seemed to be empty, but for a darkness that clung to the water’s surface, an oil-like iridescence shimmering in the eerie light that filled the cavern. Like so many creatures of Khaenri’ah, riptide spirits were deceptively beautiful, but unpredictable and deadly.
As Zhongli approached, the spirit rose from the water, an ever changing spiral of dark Hydro that shifted and twisted with every second that passed. Riptide spirits were restless beings, always fighting, always eager for blood.
On the ground beside the pool was a pile of gray cloth, topped with the unmistakable red of Childe’s mask. Zhongli drew in a breath, his heart aching sharply. If this spirit had killed Childe, he would show it no mercy.
At a flick of Zhongli’s hand, four stone steles grew from the ground, a glowing jade shield connecting them to form a golden barrier that surrounded Zhongli and the spirit. It was not unlike the ability that kept Azhdada imprisoned, and Zhongli was confident it would restrain the riptide spirit as well.
“There was a mortal here,” Zhongli said. “Where has he gone?”
The spirit swirled threateningly around him, the air thick with Hydro. Blue crystals began to form as it battered itself against the jade shield, attempting escape.
“Where is he? I will not ask again.”
From somewhere nearby, Zhongli heard Childe laugh. There was no joy in it, only bitterness and frustration.
“Childe,” Zhongli called, his chest constricting with worry. “Childe, where are you?”
When Childe did not answer, Zhongli turned his attention to the spirit again. Vortex Vanquisher appeared in his hand with merely a thought, and he brought the tip of sharpened jade to the most vulnerable part of the shifting Hydro creature before him.
“Please don’t do this.” Chile’s voice, low and trembling. “Please, Zhongli, just leave me alone.”
Zhongli looked around wildly, but there was no sign of Childe. The voice seemed to be coming from…
“Childe?” he murmured, reaching up to brush his fingers along the spirit’s shifting contours.
The dark Hydro coalesced, becoming more solid, taking a familiar shape. Childe was naked, his wet hair dripping onto his shoulders, but he had at least returned to a human form. That was a start.
“An elemental spirit,” Zhongli murmured, brushing Childe’s hair back from his forehead. Childe flinched at the touch, watching him with fear and sorrow etched into the lines of his face. “How remarkable.”
“Now you know,” Childe mumbled, looking away. “I’m not human. Not even close.”
“No,” Zhongli said, smiling at him. He had always known Childe was remarkable, unlike any other. “No, you’re not.”
“Why are you smiling?” Childe asked. He sounded pitiful, more defeated than Zhongli had ever seen him. “Aren’t you angry?”
“Why would I be angry?”
“A riptide spirit from the Abyss has walked the surface for ten years, pretending to be—” He drew in a sharp breath, crossing his arms tight over his chest and looked helplessly up at Zhongli. “No one else has ever found out.”
“I should have known,” Zhongli said. “Your command of Hydro, the vibrant elemental traces you leave…”
Childe took a deep breath and squared his shoulders, uncrossing his arms. “I won’t fight you,” he said, and it sounded like the declaration of a condemned man. “Just go ahead and do it.”
Zhongli could not resist the urge to touch him again, to press his hand to the side of Childe’s face and brush away the wetness beneath his eye.
“Darling,” he murmured. “Why are you crying?”
Childe leaned into his palm, his breath coming in soft hiccoughs. “I wanted you to love me. And now… I guess you get to be my executioner.”
“I’m not going to kill you, Childe.” Zhongli met Childe’s eyes, frowning intently. Why would Childe assume such a thing? “I’m honored that you told me the truth, but it doesn’t change how I feel about you.”
Childe blinked at him, stunned.
“Now, you should probably get dressed,” Zhongli said. “I imagine Lumine is on her way over here with the others, and if you’re still naked they may get the wrong idea about what we’ve been up to.”
“Oh,” Childe said, scrubbing his hand over his face. He looked slightly dazed. “You’re right.”
Zhongli did his best not to watch as Childe scrambled back into his clothes. He’d certainly crafted a very attractive form for himself—though Zhongli had no room to criticize as he’d done the same.
A riptide spirit. How remarkable.
He was happy to find that there was still something that could surprise him, even after all these years. But it was tempered by concern for the anguish Childe seemed to be feeling.
The darkness lifted all at once as they made their way back to the camp. It was truly impressive work on Lumine’s part, as she’d likely done it mostly alone. The Traveler never ceased to impress.
Childe was uncharacteristically quiet as they returned to their rendezvous point, his shoulders hunched and his mask askew in his messy hair. Zhongli let the Traveler approach the Sangonomiyan forces with the good news, and drew Childe off to the side as Bennett and Xiangling made short work of dismantling their camp.
“I might stay here a few extra days,” Childe murmured, leaning on a crumbling lattice of stone overlooking one of the distant islands. The Dainichi Mikoshi shone bright above them, catching the vibrant hue of Childe’s hair and making his skin seem pallid and washed out.
“Then I will stay with you,” Zhongli promised.
Childe sighed heavily, and did not look at him. “Okay.”
Zhongli wanted to touch him, to demonstrate the affection that was welling in his heart. But Childe still looked as lost as he had when Zhongli had come upon him in the subterranean pool. He feared his touch would not be welcome, not now. Perhaps not ever.
I wanted you to love me.
Childe’s words had not left the forefront of his mind since Childe had spoken them. And yet he sensed Childe was not ready to receive such affection. It was almost painful to hold it back, when all he wanted to do was take Childe into his arms and promise him that his days of loneliness and suffering were at an end, that he would be cared for and cherished in all the years to come.
But Childe would not look him in the eye, so ashamed of his origins was he. Zhongli, who had started out as an elemental being of pure Geo, saw little shame in Childe’s existence. However, that was a conclusion Childe had to come to himself.
Zhongli’s patience was interminable. He would wait as long as it took.
They spent three days wandering Enkanomiya, hunting hilichurls and Abyss mages, gathering treasures that neither of them truly needed, before Childe was ready to speak of it. He’d been uncharacteristically withdrawn, though their rapport on the battlefield remained as strong as ever.
But on the third day, Zhongli insisted that they return to the subterranean pool. “This vessel needs to be washed, and so does yours,” he told Childe, and would not take no for an answer.
Stripped down and mostly submerged in the glowing water, the cavern cleared of monsters by Childe’s eager blades, Zhongli saw a vulnerability in Childe’s expression that was not present anywhere else.
“I met Ajax in a place just like this,” Childe said, breaking the silence that had fallen over them. He was standing near the edge of the pool, where the water came almost to his shoulders.
“Did you?” Zhongli finished rinsing the conditioner from his hair—a frivolous thing to bring on an adventure, some might say, though he disagreed—and turned to Childe.
“He was bathing,” Childe said. “I thought he was easy prey. But he looked so innocent, so sweet, even in all the darkness. And I couldn’t do it.”
Zhongli said nothing, but swam across the deeper center of the pool to come stand close to Childe, water lapping at his chest.
“We became friends. He made me feel things I didn’t understand, emotions I didn’t have any words for. He told me all about the surface, how beautiful it was and how happy he would be when he finally got back there.”
Childe made a soft noise that might have been a stifled sob. Zhongli dared to take his hand beneath the water’s surface, lacing their fingers together. Childe did not pull away.
“But then he got hurt. He dragged himself to the pool where I lived and that’s where he—” Childe’s voice trembled, and he hunched his shoulders, his head bowed in sorrow. “He died, and there was nothing I could do.”
“You were his friend, while he was in a dark and terrible place,” Zhongli murmured. “I’m sure that made all the difference.”
“Right before he died, he asked me to look out for his family.” Childe looked up at Zhongli, his eyes bright with tears. “And I… I promised I would.”
“And you have.”
“I didn’t know how to find them. So I copied his form, and when I got to the surface someone recognized me and took me to them. They were so happy to have Ajax back. I couldn’t… I couldn’t tell them the truth. So I stole his family, his life, and his future.”
“It wasn’t stolen,” Zhongli said. “It was a gift.”
“I never— I never buried him. I never ever cried for him.” Childe’s voice broke, his shoulders shaking with silent sobs, and he buried his face in his hands.
“Shh, darling.” Zhongli pulled Childe into his arms, cradling him gently to his chest. “You did only as he asked. He would be glad to see what you’ve made of yourself.”
Childe wept against Zhongli’s shoulder for a few long moments, then pulled away. His dull eyes were red rimmed, but the tears had stopped.
“May I tell you what I think, now that I know your secret?” Zhongli asked.
Childe nodded, eyes wide with trepidation and anxiety.
“Very little has changed for me. I hold the same regard for you as ever.” Zhongli brushed Childe’s hair back from his forehead. “But I confess I am beyond glad to know that you are not bound by the confines of a mortal lifetime. Because I want you for much longer than that.”
“You mean that?”
“I do.”
Childe’s breath caught, his eyes intent on Zhongli’s face. Then he leaned up, catching Zhongli’s lips with his own for a kiss that was salty with tears.
“If you could love a riptide spirit,” Childe said, “then I’m yours, always.”
“Hmm.” Zhongli leaned in and pressed kisses to the side of Childe’s head, the wet curve of his neck. “I could live another thousand years and not tire of hearing you say that you’re mine.”
“Then I’ll have to say it over and over again,” Childe said, pulling Zhongli close to him for another, longer and more passionate kiss.
They spent a long time in that pool of water, trading breathless kisses and heartfelt promises.
A day later, they left Enkanomiya. In a little rented beach house on the edge of Sangonomiya Island, they spent the next week wrapped up in each other, making love and talking late into the night. There was still so much to learn about each other, and both would have to learn what it was to love in the guise of a mortal, but they had time. They had so much more time than Zhongli had thought he would ever get with Childe. He resolved to make sure Childe knew he was loved in every moment of it.
coda:
Five hundred years ago, Zhongli had sworn to never again set foot in the abyssal ruins of Khaenri’ah. Now he stood over a dark ravine populated by dangerous elemental beings, riptide spirits and worse. Hungry beasts groaned and howled in the distance, and all around him was destruction and corruption and sin.
But Zhongli put his own feelings for the accursed place aside as he watched Childe gently, carefully, gather up the heartbreakingly small pile of bones that had been picked clean by predators but left otherwise undisturbed over the past ten years. Shreds of a knitted red scarf still clung to the remains.
Zhongli created a coffin of stone, etched with the symbol of Snezhnaya and Ajax’s full name. Beloved Son, Brother, and Friend were engraved beneath.
Tears ran down Childe’s face as he gently set the remains in the coffin, then lifted it over his shoulder with strength no mortal could possibly possess. Together they made their way to the surface to bury Ajax in the sunlight.