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Zhongli’s vision submerged and re-merged like ocean foam crashing against cliffside shores, the simplest of shapes and colors within the narrowing dim cave lurching in and out of existence in violent waves. His senses were nothing more than a muddled dissonance of white noise, the feeling of his heartbeat throbbing directly inside his temples overtaking any attempt at grasping a conscious train of thought. The polearm that he used as a supporting crutch and fiercely gripped with slowly sapping strength was practically the only thing preventing him from keeling over on the spot as he stiffly shuffled his way across the jagged terrain.
That, and a familiar boisterous voice drifting into the fog of his mind served as the last golden thread that grounded his consciousness to the here and now.
“…li? Zhongli? How are you holdin’ up? We’re almost there, hang on for just a bit longer!”
Itto’s ever-loud shouts cut through an otherwise cacophonous symphony of high-pitched ringing and dull thudding of a heavy weapon slamming into body after body. Zhongli vaguely felt the pulsing of Abyss Mage shields swarming his front and back, only to be thoroughly beaten back by a thick spiked weapon blazing with Geo power, wielded by the red-horned oni who was fiercely determined to not let a single one of the abyssal creatures within 10 feet of him. At this point, it was nigh impossible to tell which sensations were nearby, which were faraway, and which were simply the false products of his own frazzled mind.
An unrelenting bout of coughs overtook him without warning, hacking the air out of his lungs in quick droves as he desperately moved to cover his mouth with a hand. The sudden burn in his diaphragm caused him to double-over to accommodate the pain, but the abrupt movement of his frame immediately sent overwhelming vertigo throughout every organ in his body. Murky flurries of indistinct darkness rapidly swam into his already clouded vision and he wobbled, losing his footing on the bumpy ground and failing to prevent himself from staggering straight into the damp tunnel wall. A particularly sharp protrusion of stone from the rugged surface caught against his shoulder, effortlessly ripping through the silk of his coat and the layer of pale flesh underneath. He felt his strength flee him as he sunk onto his knees, blood and pain alike blossoming along the deep, fresh gash and drawing the sting of tears alongside a labored stuttering hiss from his breath.
When he removed his gloved palm from his quivering lips, the fabric was dyed in ichor of liquid gold.
It seemed that the last wave of Abyss Mages had either retreated or been beaten into submission as the distant noises of combat finally drew to a halt. The sound of bulky footsteps sped to his side, directly followed by a big-boned form dropping to his eye level and the frenzied caresses of broad hands along his shivering limbs.
“Zhongli! You- Your arm! You’re bleeding! Fuck, w-we need to-”
Giving up on stammering through futile words and curses, Itto began to claw roughly at the hem of his coat, ripping off a long strip of the dark cloth and carefully circling it around Zhongli’s bicep. He pulled it into a snug knot atop his injury, earning a brisk whimper from the adeptus as Zhongli felt the coarse material abruptly press into the open wound and create a make-shift tourniquet. The dampness that immediately penetrated the fabric resulting from the golden blood that freely flowed out of the cut only added to the unpleasantness of the ragged cloth.
“I took care of the Abyss Mages that tried to ambush us and beat their asses right back to where they came from. Hmph, those bastards… Bold of them to underestimate the might of the great Arataki Itto! Oh right- how’s your fever doin’?”
Itto’s hand felt piercingly cool against his forehead as if an ice cube thrust against sun-beaten asphalt. Zhongli let out a weak groan, his eyebrows knitting together tightly in discomfort as a large calloused palm wiped away a thin blanket of sweat that had collected on his sickly pale skin.
“Shit, you’re burning up… I’ve got no medicine, no Cryo Vision, no Hydro Vision… Oh, fuck me running, I need to do something- Is there anything I could use in this darn cave around here…“
As Itto began to get back up, a crushing chill of desperation gripped Zhongli’s heart and he seized the other’s wrist, wordlessly telling the taller man to stay as molten orange eyes bore into confused ruby ones — it was only a matter of time before the Abyss Order regrouped and launched another horde of their forces into the underground passage. Every second spent not escaping out of this deathtrap was a second closer to doom. With his current state, there was no chance they would make it out alive before their attackers inevitably flanked them and whittled down their stamina, making them ripe for the picking. They were running out of options, and the only one that would give them the best chance of success (and Itto’s survival) was—
Seeing that the oni made no more moves to leave, he reached a trembling hand into the middle of his chest, past his dress shirt, past his ribcage, past the membrane of Geo energy that sheltered his heart and into the small cavity deep inside of him that housed the Abyss Order’s very object of desire. With a sharp inhale, Zhongli braced himself for the pain as he took hold of his Gnosis between his fingers and pulled, distinctly feeling the way his ribs, flesh, and flow of Geo jostled angrily within him as he shakily produced it outside of his vessel, the object now floating mystically atop his open palm. The luster of the Gnosis’s innate golden glow within its intricate metal casing was only exacerbated by the gilded ichor that now coated both it as well as the entire front of Zhongli’s chest from the operation. Rushes of amber blood trickled down his chin before a vicious pressure suddenly rammed into his gut, causing his quivering figure to fold violently and a dense stream of vomit to heave out of his throat and land on the stony floor beside him. Itto’s wildly oscillating outline as well as flashing splotches amidst the dusky stone around him swam in drunken loops in his faltering vision, the recently familiar heat of tears welling uncontrollably with heavy thickness along the edges of his eyes. He could not help the spell of biting retches and coughs that followed an act the equivalent of ripping his own heart out of his ribs — his throat, eyes, chest, everything and everywhere seemed to burn and burn and burn with the heat of a thousand suns. The aching void now in the place of where his Gnosis used to be sent pangs of scorching weakness throughout each and every organ and limb across his pliant body. Zhongli helplessly waited for the exhaustion to subside after what felt like the longest minute he had ever endured in his 6000 years of life, while Itto only stood there frozen, staring outright and clearly at a loss of what to do about whatever had just unfolded before him. Eventually, the stinging burn of bile and pain finally eased enough in Zhongli’s throat for him to speak, albeit his wheezing breaths were laced with croaky static from the copious amounts of blood, coughs, and vomit that had roughened up his vocal chords.
“T-take this… This is what they're after — run as far as you can — I-I’ll manage, and hold them back here-”
“You- that’s your- dude, fuck that, are you stupid?! The state you’re in now, you’re not holding back jack. You’re literally asking for a death sentence and, too bad, I’m not gonna give it to you. We’re gonna stick together ‘cuz we always got each others’ backs—just like we promised, remember?” Itto fired back, his booming voice echoing between the claustrophobic cave walls. Zhongli winced at the loudness reverberating inside his ringing ears, and Itto must have seen, because he lowered his volume considerably afterwards.
Despite how airheaded Itto might seem at times, Zhongli found that he could still be terrifyingly perceptive.
“I won’t leave you alone, not after they did…”—he gestured vaguely—”...this shit to your body.” Fiery diamonds narrowed. “Listen. We… you’re my family now. I swear on the oni race’s name — so long as my Vision shines, I’ll protect you with my life. That’s what family does.”
Zhongli looked to his side, breaking his mutual stare with those orbs of resolute scarlet. He swore that at times, that gaze was simply too honest, too bright for this world.
A sad smile tugged at the corners of his lips.
“I… I left Liyue because I knew they were after me. I wanted to protect my people, and put my nation out of harm’s way as much as possible should any crises arise… Thus, I fled as far away as I could, forgetting that wherever I went, I shall still be bringing danger to the innocent—”
As if on cue, the distant sound of stone walls breaking followed by the gurgled screeches of countless Abyss Mages echoed down into their small hideout. Itto’s gaze snapped to the direction of the tunnel opening, hands curling into tense fists as the blare of adrenaline in his head gave way to familiar hypervigilance borne of hardship and combat. How many? How close? How much time? How to defend and escort Zhongli? As the hum of the Abyss Mages’ shields drew slowly but surely closer, Itto wasted no time in preparing for the activation of his Vision, precisely feeling the way the cords of elemental energy within him reached and intertwined with those of Teyvat’s ancient leylines, his divine focus granting him access to the crude powers harbored beyond this realm. However, before the internal connection fully congealed, Zhongli’s too-calm voice heedlessly continuing from earlier cut through his attention like a blade through paper.
“—I have brought nothing but trouble to your door, and yet, all that you have ever shown and given me since I came to Inazuma was kindness, accepting me into your gang and home without so much as a question…”
Zhongli steeled the uninjured arm that held the Gnosis and began to call upon every last drop of his Geo power—the very core of his life and existence—that flowed within his being to be channeled into the small hovering object. Brilliant strands of translucent amber threaded between his gloved fingertips and the divine nexus, and as the glitter of the golden streams pulsed and swelled, so too did the suffocating oppressiveness in the air around them from the sheer amount of elemental resonance surging forth from the ancient Archon. The Gnosis’s ethereal gleam steadily increased, its light illuminating the dark gray walls of the cave in glistening warm highlights as the gold of its glow grew ever more intense with each passing second. Yet, at the same time, the radiant sunset hues that used to adorn the tips of Zhongli’s hair and pupils were now-
Itto’s eyes widened. By the time he felt more than heard a scream ripping from his throat and his hands reaching forward too slowly for his liking, the realization of what the other was about to do struck him a heartbeat too late.
“...It is only fair that I repay your kindness with my gratitude in the only way that I am still able to — and need to.”
For a terrifying, confusing second, every last fiber of Geo energy and amber light extinguished in a single blink, plunging the previously lit space into a cold silent blackness. Dazzling afterimages waltzed in Itto’s retina, slathering the canvas of his vision with molten tints and dancing hues.
“Zhongli- No! Stop!” Blinking the colors out of his eyes, Itto cried out to Zhongli blindly, desperation twisting his usually cheerful voice into something broken and raw. “Don’t do this! Please, let me protect you, because I-”
Before he could utter a word further, Itto felt a white hot object being pressed to the center of his chest and the next moment he knew, lukewarm golden light exploded behind his eyes against a muted backdrop of bitter dark. A liberating warmth flooded through every inch of his veins, setting his body alight like a mystical flame that didn’t burn to the touch, instantly thawing the crisp chill that had settled in the cave around him earlier. With every passing heartbeat, he could feel his blood turning more and more fevered until he was sure that his body was to melt from the sheer heat and yet it didn’t, the object that had been shoved inside of him raising a protective veil that shielded his soul within himself against the intangible, painless inferno that raged across bone and flesh. For a solid few seconds, he heard and felt nothing, all sensations dissolving away until his whole being was but a single blurred entity, a raw, blazing star aimlessly adrift amidst an eternal astral sea. Everything he had ever known ceased to be in the warm embrace of the grand emptiness — he could not feel his voice, hands, feet, even the presence of his own physical body. He did not struggle, could not struggle, as his awareness sunk into the fathomless depths of his mind.
Between boundless fuschia clouds haloed by a perpetually setting sun, a familiar soothing voice echoed from beyond the horizon.
“The contract is fulfilled. That which thou seeketh is now bestowed unto thee… for my promise is solid as stone.”
Itto was vaguely aware of what it meant — what it implied for him, Zhongli, the world. As crystal ichor rushed through his veins in place of oni blood, frantic protests for all of this to stop died before they could even make it onto his leaden tongue. Glimpses of unfamiliar names, faces, Celestia, and the Abyss flashed across his reformed consciousness. Misty images of people and places that he had never seen but now looked at with an inexplicable pang of nostalgia flickered past like forgotten scenes from a bygone dream. His heart squeezed at each sight as if he had already known and lost them for countless millennia.
How he wished he could take the Gnosis into his hands and shove it back inside the other who undoubtedly needed its divine protection more than him — if only control of his limbs did not feel akin to pulling an impossible web of severed strings fixed to a stubborn metal puppet. Every part of his body gradually acclimated to the heavenly nexus and transformed into that of a timeless god, while the one now left without it bled mortal scarlet instead of its original sacred saffron.
The individual known as Arataki Itto would cease to exist, and in its place rose a new order, a new ideal, a new Archon with mastery over Geo.
Zhongli rasped a soft sigh of relief as he watched vivid honey-gold paint over every last inch of crimson. The Gnosis had been given, the contract was sealed, and most importantly, he knew that the person he had come to trust and love will be safe.
He did not get to enjoy the respite for long, however, as his eyes squeezed tightly against a fresh wave of dry heaves and vicious shivers that racked his exhausted frame. Yet another tide of acidic bile and blood ascended his throat and stained the ground before him as he clutched at his blood-soaked front, his shaky form hunched over from the sheer feebleness and pain that dominated every corner of his dimming senses.
Zhongli did not need to open his eyes to know that the blood on his palms and the floor were no longer the color of celestial gold.
He leaned back against the bare wall, destroyed lungs and larynx grasping for air, body too utterly drained to move. An all-encompassing numbness that filled the hollow chasm where the Gnosis once perched haunted the middle of his chest but it now seemed to doggedly spread, creeping through flesh and veins alike across his vulnerable vessel before settling into the heavy haze of his mind.
He barely sensed the shockwave of divine energy that pulverized the army of Abyss Mages to dust, barely felt warm calloused hands caressing desperately at his cooling skin, barely heard the muffled cries of a name that sounded vaguely like his own before letting the cold tendrils of darkness overtake him.
He knew that this moment, too, will continue to shine like gold in his memories.