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Snezhnaya was in an uproar, as the citizens heard of a ball being held by their Archon, the Tsaritsa, in Zapolyarny’s palace itself. Beside the Harbingers and Archons from the other Nations, none were invited, if the elite of the cold nation were discarded. None knew why the Cryo Archon had decided upon this, and none were about to refute her or even ask her the whereabout of her actions. Word had been said that all Archons had accepted the invitation, and the Harbingers were being more and more restless, some tensing more than others. Il Dottore groaned loudly, his feet on Pantalone’s desk, expressing his disagreement loud and clear.
“Not for me to judge our Archon, but I don’t understand why she’d invite the others in here, not after she asked us to get all their Gnoses.”
“Do not question the ways of Her Majesty, Dottore. And put your feet down or I shall do it for you.” Merely answered Pantalone, classifying some of his files. Sandrone sighed and Columbina looked at Pulcinella, her forever tired look never leaving her face.
“Where is Tartaglia? This is a meeting including all the Harbingers, he should be here.”
“The Tsaritsa asked to personally see him. I do not know more, but-…” the old-looking man stopped himself upon hearing the doors open themselves to let the two subjects of their conversation enter. The Tsaritsa stopped walking and waited for them all to stand up, Tartaglia behind her, never leaving his gaze from the ground. Bundled up in his thick furs, none of the others could see his stance precisely, but his face was dark, and his brows knitted into a tight frown.
“The meeting will be held in the throne’s room.” At that, the Cryo Archon quickly went back, her youngest Harbinger on her heels, leaving the others to follow in silence. Dottore had his eyes boring a hole into Arlecchino’s back, who tsked at him, asking him to stop. They went to the throne room and knelt in rank order, Tartaglia already in position.
“My dears, the guests shall come in starting today, Murata has informed me he will be here by nightfall with his wife, and so shall be Barbatos and his friend. Now, this is a friendly meeting between old acquaintances, therefore I shall not see any of you try anything. Your missions will go on as they should be after the festivities, but not during them. Any mistake shall be severely punished by me personally.” Her cold tone bore into the Harbingers’ skins, making them shiver. “Now, go prepare yourself for tomorrow’s ball, I want you all in your most beautiful attires.”
They all bowed once before leaving and Tartaglia stayed behind, brows still knitted tight.
“Now my youngest, do not fret. Despite what happened in Liyue, I will not invite everybody beside Morax, and you will still partake in the festivities. It may seem unfair to you, but it is like this. Plus, despite all the power I have, nothing can stop the others from prying question out of you if you do not attend. You will have to take it upon yourself. Now, go.” She said, obviously feeling the questions the ginger was silently asking. She watched him leave, defeated and head low, before sighing. If only he knew she was doing this for him.
~
“I don’t fucking get it Ekaterina! After all that happened, and she wants me to stay and meet him?! What, does she want me to burst out in front of everyone ??” yelled a drunk Childe, eyes wet but no tears shedding, cheeks as red as a ripe apple.
“Sir, please, give me the bottle. You drank too much vodka, even though you can handle it well. Thanks, now, it is quite… unfortunate of what happened between you and… Morax, but please, do not scream it like that. Nobody knows of your friendship with the Lord of Geo.”
“Pah! Friendship! He might as well have stabbed me in the back!”
Ekaterina sighed and helped Childe to his bed, the latter having invited her in only to get drunk with her.
“Now, don’t behave like that. It will pass. Every heartache hurt, trust me, but it will be okay.”
“What heartache. Nonsense! I want to kill him!!”
“Right. Good night, Sir, call me if you need anything. Do not call me if you want more alcohol, I will inform the kitchen and the guards to not give you any.”
Childe groaned and, as soon as his head hit the pillow, he was out like a light. The woman sighed and put a bit of order in the room before leaving a potion to help the hungover he would have on the next morning.
“Mighty Tsaritsa, I hope it was a good idea…”
~
As Murata and Adiah, his wife, were being led to the banquet room to have a breakfast with the Tsaritsa, Tartaglia was charged of bringing Barbatos and his guest, Jean, to the room as well. He knocked on the door of the Archon’s room, sighing about his fate, and it quickly opened to a young boy with a bouncy step and mischievous grin.
“Ahh, the 11th! Hello, I’m Barbatos! I’m guessing the Tsaritsa wants us to attend to her meal. Let’s go meet Jean, she must be head in papers, it was hard to make her leave her office.”
He passed by the Harbinger without adding anything more and knocked on the door before… Well, before entering in like a gust of wind. How fitting. The woman, tall with blond hair, was indeed at her desk, a monstrous pile of papers stacked on it, even bigger than Tartaglia’s.
“C’mon Jean, let it go, Lisa can handle a few pages for the week!”
“But Lord Barbatos- “
“Neh, I don’t wanna hear it, let’s go, the Tsaritsa is waiting for us.” He forced her to let go and the three went in the numerous hallways of the castle, the ginger boy smiling a bit. She reminded him of Ekaterina, which he should thank for the anti-headache potion, by the way.
“Don’t worry, I’m sure it will be alright. I have myself been a few times away from my duties and my second-in-command always managed to make it work. I’m sure this Lisa will do just fine. You are here to enjoy yourselves and discover a neighbor nation. So please do.”
The Grand Master of Favonius eyed him suspiciously before frowning, wary. She glanced at her Archon, who seemed ignorant to her thoughts, and prudently spoke her thoughts.
“It is only upon Lord Barbatos’ request that I came here. If it were only for me, I would have nothing to do with the likes of you. I despise the Fatui with all my might and will do anything to prevent you all to come and harm my city again.”
Tartaglia chuckled sheepishly, a bit ashamed, before sneering a bit, thinking about the ex-Harbinger he hated so much.
“Don’t worry. La Signora, which attacked Lord Barbatos, is dead, she was killed by the Electro Archon Beelzebul. Albeit I am a Harbinger of Her Majesty just like Signora was, I never liked her, and she… has crossed my path many times. If I could, I would do things differently, I swear. Her Majesty explicitly told us not to do anything and to enjoy the festivities just as much as you, so feel free to report to me any misbehavior of anyone. We truly want you all to enjoy your stay.” He softly bowed his head and Jean hummed, appeased. Barbatos snorted and huffed.
“Alright now, where’s the dining room? I’m thirsty!”
“My Lord, it is barely eight in the morning…”
“Whatever, Diluc’s not here so there’s nobody to stop me from being drunk all day!”
Tartaglia left the both of them at the entrance of the room, only to end up right in front of the Knave, who had escorted the Archon of Natlan.
“11th.”
“4th.” Answered the youngest, trying to leave. But claw-like nails grabbed his forearms and he internally winced, not wanting to talk to her. “What.”
“You seem… Troubled.”
“I don’t. I’m not. Please leave me.”
“I don’t think I want to.” Said the woman. She still let him go but asked him to follow her in an empty room.
“What now?”
“Pulcinella and I worry about you. Now, I know he’s way laxer on you and has always protected you, and you and I both know I tried my best too, but it’s starting to annoy me too much. For all you might say, since you’re back, something is wrong. I noticed that several of your subordinates sustained heavier injuries than before, and you are always in a foul mood. Either talk about it or stop it.” She crossed her arms and waited. For all the times Tartaglia was thankful to her and Pulcinella for raising him, now wasn’t one of those moments. He sighed and let himself fall on a chair, groaning.
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Then behave and stop acting like an angry child.” Still, she did not move and waited for him to spill the beans.
“Her Majesty… Knows of my problems with the Geo Archon. You all know, to a certain extent, that everything did not go well…” he began, looking more and more pitiful. Arlecchino sat in front of him and smoothed out her frowns, encouraging him to talk. She always had seen him as a lost child and took upon her to raise him with the help of Pulcinella. Since being a child, he always had confided to either one of them, about anything besides two things. The times when he was in the Abyss, and what had happened in Liyue. All they knew was that he was tasked to retrieve the Geo Gnosis, and that La Signora had intervened at the last moment and brought it herself to the Tsaritsa, a furious and almost desperate Tartaglia in tow. But they never had the time to talk about it, as the 6th had left for Inazuma right after and never came back.
“I will not repeat to anyone what is said here, and you know it. Something is eating you from the inside and you need to let it out. Not by beating to death your subordinates, preferably.”
“Uff. I know. It’s just… We were friends.” His voice was small and fragile, like the first time the Knave had seen the child. He seemed just as lost and weak as back then, and seeing his sad face only made the oldest Harbinger want to eviscerate the person doing that to her protégé. “He… I met him the second week I was in Liyue, you know? He was rambling about some history of the nation and since I was interested about it, I asked him a few questions. And then, we were always together, he was telling me about anything really, it was nice… And La Signora came and… And he gave her his Gnosis, in front of me, without even… I never… He never told me he was Morax! I thought we were friends, that he’d at least be brave enough to tell me! Maybe… Maybe if I had known, I wouldn’t have found the might to take his Gnosis from him… But he made a deal with Her Majesty, and he betrayed me. Everything we had was just… A game to him and me… I don’t…” the dam was open, and he was freely crying, spitting his hate and resent at the empty room, letting his emotions take the better of him. He never had confessed like that to anyone and almost felt like kicking himself for being so weak.
“Tartaglia. Childe. Look at me. You are barely 22 years old, my child. You met a friend in which you felt you could confide everything, and in return, you got nothing but pain. I get it. But you’re still young and, sadly, you are a Harbinger of Her Majesty. It was bound to happen, whether you like it or not. I know it is not what you want to hear, but you have to let it go. Let him go. Raise your head, put on your attire, and come in that ball room tonight with the confidence of the Harbinger that you are. Never let your emotions show and this god will learn what he lost. It never was your fault to begin with. You were played, and you will be played in the future. This is how it is in our line of work.” She wiped his wet cheeks carefully, trying not to stab him with her sharp nails. He sniffled, nodding once, before breathing deeply and standing up. Arlecchino was still amazed how tall he had grown, still seeing the little 14 years old boy standing in front of her, both afraid and amazed.
“Thank you Arlecchino. I will… I will prepare myself and my subordinates for tonight.” He softly pressed her hands to show her his gratitude and left her, schooling his face in a neutral one, washing all emotion off of his face, like they were all so used to do.
“… Sometimes, I wish I never met you. I wish you never left your village and never entered this horrid world. You would have been so much better elsewhere…” murmured the 4th, sighing before leaving the room. She felt eyes on her back and turned, to see Capitano at the end of the hallway. “1st. May I help you?”
The tall Harbinger approached, careful, his deep voice reverberating in the silence of the place.
“I saw Tartaglia leave.”
“And?”
“What were you talking about?”
“Why should I tell you? For all we know, it’s a conversation between him and me. Now go search for the Dendro Archon, she arrived this morning with her guest.”
The 1st left him there, furious that he dared ask her about personal matters.
~
The evening was slowly approaching, the Electro Archon had appeared alongside her old friend, the kitsune Yae Miko, by the end of the morning and right after the Hydro Archon as well as the Hydro Dragon, Neuvillette. Only the guests from Liyue were missing, which did not help Tartaglia calm down. As he put his fur cap on himself to finish his looks, he stared at his reflexion and schooled his face into the cold traits he was usually showing around. As he left his chambers, Ekaterina gave him a flask and he drank a bit from it before tugging it in an inside pocket of his coat, thanking her.
“Sir, the Geo Archon arrived with his guest earlier.”
“Who is it?”
“I believe his name was Adeptus Xiao.”
“Oh boy. Thanks, Ekaterina. You can go.” Said Tartaglia, walking alone to the doors. The other Harbingers were already here, and the guests were currently getting called by the herald.
“In order, Her Majesty the Tsaritsa’s Harbingers! The Director, Pierro the Jester. The 1st, Il Capitano the Captain. The 2nd, Il Dottore the Doctor. The 3rd, Columbina, Damselette. The 4th, Arlecchino the Knave. The 5th, Pulcinella the Rooster. The 7th, Sandrone the Marionnette. The 9th, Pantalone the Regrator. And finally, the 11th, Tartaglia, Childe.”
They all entered in order, Childe last as usual. He glanced at the room and saw the Archons all sat at their respective tables, watching them enter. He deliberately ignored the Liyue guests before starring at his Archon, knelling alongside his colleagues.
“Long live Her Majesty the Tsaritsa!”
The Snezhnayan officers clapped along with the guests and the festivities began, the Harbingers sitting in diverse seats around the table with no regards to ranks. Tartaglia found himself at the left of Yae Miko the kitsune and at the right of the guest from Sumeru, calling himself the Wanderer. Silent, he helped himself with some specialty from his country before being stopped by a young voice calling him.
“Tartaglia, was it? Hello, my name is Nahida, the Archon of Sumeru. Could you tell me what are in those plates? I believe I am not familiar with those recipes.” The young Archon smiled at him, and the ginger man nodded, explaining to her what they were made of. After a few seconds he turned toward the Wanderer, eyebrows frowning.
“Do I know you? Your face is… you look like someone I think I knew, but I’m not sure…”
The face of the Wanderer scrunched up in a grimace and he shook his head, dodging his stare.
“I believe we didn’t. I never met you prior to today.”
“Oh… Well, excuse my impoliteness then.”
“Ara ara~, but I do believe I know you too my dear…” smiled Yae Miko, softly tugging at Ei’s sleeve. “Dear, look. Doesn’t he look familiar?”
The Electro Archon stared at the Wanderer, lips slightly parted and an obvious turmoil behind her eyes. The Wanderer was also staring at her and rubbed a spot behind his neck, awkward. Nahida smiled before addressing to Ei.
“Beelzebul, I think I remember Wanderer telling me he lived in Inazuma a long time ago. Maybe you both crossed path once?”
“Yeah… Maybe…” she went back to talking to Pulcinella, who was beside her, still giving some glances toward the Anemo wielder. As he dug into his plate, Tartaglia invertedly glanced upward, only to be met by the cold and harsh gaze of the Adeptus, sitting right in front of him. Morax was in conversation with Arlecchino and Tartaglia gulped, her intention was clearly murderous, and even if the Archon had felt them, he let it slide like it was nothing. Upon really glancing at the Liyue guests, Tartaglia realized with shock that Morax was… In his primal form. He never had seen it, but now, it was obvious. Two majestic amber and brown horns were sprouting out of his head, his face having some golden scales on his cheeks and down on his neck hid by the collar of his clothes. A long tail was softly thumping behind him, the tip curled around the leg of his chair. Not realizing he was gaping, it was only the snort coming from the kitsune that made him school his face.
“Something that caught your eyes my dear?”
“Hm. I just realized I never saw the true form of the Lord of Geo, despite living there for two years and meeting him frequently. Eh, I guess I never knew him that well. It suits you, my Lord.” Said a little louder the Harbinger, ignoring the sound of chopsticks breaking in the hand of the Adeptus. Morax’s hand softly landed of top of his subordinate’s and left just as quickly. He stared straight into Tartaglia’s eyes, trying to search for something, only to be hit back by cold and dead blue eyes. He bowed slightly his head in his direction, professional.
“I thank you for your compliment, Lord Harbinger.”
“My, my. I smell some drama here.” Laughed softly Miko. Tartaglia smiled tightly before catching the eyes of Her Majesty by inadvertence. She discreetly made a sign to him, and he excused himself before standing up. Feeling the eyes of several of the guests on his back, he ignored them and strode forward slowly, kneeling in front of the Tsaritsa.
“My Queen.”
“My Harbinger. Stand up dear. Come here, sit beside me.”
Tartaglia obeyed and sat, waiting for her to talk again. She waited a bit for the glances to stop before starting to eat a Liyuean dish.
“Tartaglia, what is the name of this refined food? I believe you know after spending some time in Liyue.”
“It is called Jade Parcels Your Majesty.”
“Very nice. Please, help yourself with some.”
“I don’t… I thank you, but I am no longer hungry.”
“Nonsense, you barely ate. Ignore the Adeptus, he always has been fiercely protective of his Archon, which is a good thing in itself, but he could be laxer. As for Morax, give him time.”
Tartaglia tensed and stopped his movement of grabbing the plate to serve himself some food. Putting both of his hands flat on the table, he squared is shoulders and coldly gazed at the end of the room, above the head of a slightly drunk Barbatos.
“My Queen. With all my respect. I am done waiting. I shouldn’t be the one waiting to begin with. I never hid my identity. He did. I was the one deceived. And not only by one Archon, but by two.” As he said that, he watched her straight in the eyes, not noticing the quiet that was slowly falling on the table. The Tsaritsa merely smiled and Dottore stood up beside Murata, snarling.
“Tartaglia! How dare you- “
“Sit down.” The cold voice of the Archon of the Cryo nation rang and the 2nd Harbinger immediately sat, still angry. “Please dear guests, keep enjoying the feast.”
“Excuse me.” Tartaglia stood up and bowed once before leaving toward the large balcony. He let his sight wander at the snowy mountains of the landscape before taking out his flask of alcohol and downing it in one go. Sighing deeply, he waited a few minutes before coming back and sitting at his seat beside Miko and the Wanderer, bowing once to Morax.
“Excuse me for my impoliteness. Enjoy your meal.”
Without waiting for an answer, he forced himself to talk with Yae Miko who carefully dodged the sensitive topics, only to talk about her Publishing House, promising the Harbinger to send him some of the bests dramas they were selling. The dinner soon ended, and the ball began, musicians playing songs from all the nations. Barbatos was quick to annoy everyone into dancing with him, dragging a laughing Adiah on the stage, singing alongside, entrancing the others into dancing. Tartaglia merely watched, not interested into it and more depressed than at the beginning of the day.
“Lord Harbinger, would you accept this dance with me?”
The deep voice belonged to no other than the Hydro Dragon, who had ditched his annoying Archon to come closer to the ginger. The music was typical from Fontaine and Tartaglia accepted his hand quickly before he could see the face of the other dragon in the room. They bowed to each other before starting to dance, the movements never allowing any partner to touch the other, only coming close.
“Lord Tartaglia, it is my belief that you have a close relationship with Rex Lapis?”
“I do not see why this is any of your concern or why we should talk about this.” Said Tartaglia and he slid beside Murata, spinning once and coming back to Neuvillette. The dragon chuckled and hummed.
“I am of the same species as Morax. I have known him for some times now. You may not know it or realize it yourself, but your relationship is quite unique. Only a dragon can see it, perhaps an old enough god too. My point is, you are too young and have too little years to live to pass by the opportunity. Go to him while you can, your human life will pass by shortly.” He merely bowed, thanking him for the dance, before leaving him for Columbina.
“Tartaglia. Follow me.” The voice of the Adeptus sounded at the right of the ginger and he grimaced, not wanting to follow the other. Xiao did not wait for him to follow and went out to the balcony. Sighing, the Harbinger followed him, nervous.
“What do you want?”
“What are your intentions with Rex Lapis?” asked bluntly the Adeptus, his arms crossed on his chest. His yellow eyes were burning like a flame and reading straight at his soul.
“What? Nothing. I don’t want to do anything with him.”
“Right. Well, you better start talking in another way to him.”
Tartaglia squinted his eyes and snarled, ready to start a fight.
“I was the one deceived. I was the one betrayed! How dare you tell me to behave when I was the one wronged!”
As Xiao was about to snarl back, a movement could be seen from the side of the balcony.
“Alatus, please. He’s right. I deceived him. Go back inside.”
“But- “
“I believe Barbatos is asking for you.”
“I don’t want to talk to him while he’s drunk.”
“Well, I want to talk to Tartaglia alone.” This was an order and Xiao sighed before giving a murderous look at Tartaglia, leaving. Morax sighed once they were alone, his long tail sweeping the balcony nervously. He walked toward the railing and sighed again, his breath creating little clouds in the cold night.”
“What do you want from me?”
“Childe- “
“Tartaglia. The 11th Harbinger. You aren’t allowed to call me so simply.” Cut abruptly the Harbinger, coldly looking at him. The dragon drowned a whine coming from deep his throat and Zhongli did his best to shut down his inner dragon panicking. The one he considered his mate was angry, and he didn’t know how to calm him. His tail snuck closer to the ginger’s leg, but he dodged it and snarled. “Don’t touch me!”
“I’m not… I don’t… Please, listen to me.”
“I have nothing to hear from you!” Tartaglia turned to leave, but a pillar of Geo appeared in front of him. He turned quickly, ready to fight, but the pitiful eyes of the Archon stopped him from doing so. He looked lost and sad, truly regretful. He said nothing and waited silently.
“Please. Listen to me first, and then you can choose to be mad at me, you can decide to… to never talk to me again. But first, listen.” He cleared his throat and stood tall, looking suddenly older. His face was lost in nostalgia, and he gave the ginger a sad smile. “For a millennia, I was alone. The Adepti were with me, sure, and I was surrounded by loving subjects, but I was still alone. You heard me once talk about the God of Dust, Guizhong, right?”
Tartaglia shifted on his feet, uncomfortable and still angry, not understanding were this was going.
“Yeah. She died in a war I believe.”
“She did. I killed her.” Answered Rex Lapis, making Tartaglia gasp in shock.
“But… You told me she was Mora- your lover!”
“She was. It was fairly new. Only a few years, which is so little compared to our age. But it was good, and she loved everyone just as much as I did. But one day, during the war, she went alone to fight against the front lines of our enemies, and I was busy fending off Osial from the sea. She went to where is now standing Qingce Village and got stabbed to death here. In her lone death, her last wishes never to be heard. She died alone, and the only memory of her is the fields of Glaze Lilies. By not being at her side, I ultimately killed her.”
“This is sad, I admit it, but where is this going? If you just want to ramble about your lost love, I have elsewhere to go.”
“Yes, of course. What I want to say is… I’m sorry, Childe. Please. I… I genuinely valued our friendship, truly, you were one of the few that never got bored of listening to me, you were always eager to know more, and it was refreshing for me to have such a young and happy man looking up at me with star in his eyes. You were a gem amongst the stones, and you always shone brightly. My deal with the Tsaritsa was to never tell any of her Harbinger but La Signora of who I was, and the first day I saw you, I knew who you were. Even before you told me. But I still wanted us to be friends, and I never, ever wanted to deceive you like I did and to use you. It never was my goal. I had planned for a long time before to fake Morax’s death, it only happened while you were here because I knew Signora was coming for the Gnosis. What happened between us was… good. It was nice and I never wanted it to end. The day you left, I wanted to join you and to explain everything to you, but the Traveler told me to stop and to leave you some time to think and… I believed him. That you would feel betrayed.” The god stopped to breath a bit, and gulped, not knowing if what he was saying had any sense at all.
“All I want to say is, I’m truly sorry. I would understand you if you were to leave now and never come back but… What I truly want, something that I never allowed myself to feel for the past millennia, is you, Childe. The whole of you. You as a friend, you as a Harbinger, you as the young boy from that little fishing village you told me about, you from the Abyss. The entirety of you. With your sweet smile and your devil grin. Since Guizhong, I never allowed me to fall in love with anyone, too scared to lose them again, but you just came in and showed me what I never expected from anyone. You are not scared to die; you dive with joy in battle and always come back alive. You live your live at its fullest, and you’re all that I ever wanted.”
“I know this is selfish of me, a god, to want you, but the dragon in me is roaring in pain, seeing you so lost and sad. It knows we are the cause of your sadness, but we both want you to come back and stay. So… Here it is. I’ve laid myself bare in front of you. You can now decide on what you want to do. If you wish me to leave, I will do so and never seek you again. This is a contract from me to you.”
As the words left his mouth, a soft line of gold curved in the air, slowly turning around his horns before enveloping them both. The contract was sealed.
“Zhongli you-… You can make contracts like this!” huffed angrily Childe. The old dragon smiled sadly, expecting this reaction.
“But it is true. I’ve only said the truth to you. I’d never lie to you. Please Childe, think about my offer. Whatever you choose, I will never despise you for it. Believe at least that.” On those final words, Zhongli left, his soft tail trailing behind him, the glimmer in his horns and scales and eyes dimmer, duller. When he arrived back in the ballroom, he crossed eyes with Xiao who frowned, but tried a smile, which failed pathetically. He sat close to the wall, in the shadows, and watched the couples dance to a lively song coming from Sumeru. A tiny person sat beside him, her white hair moving softly with her bounces.
“Hello Morax.”
“Hello Buer. It has been quite some time. Sorry for not coming to visit you earlier.”
“It’s okay. You had your own fair share of problems. Is everything alright? You look sad.”
“Because I am, dear. I am…” he told her softly. His tail twitched once, covering his legs in a protecting embrace. Nahida played a bit with her dress and watched the Wanderer tentatively approach Ei. She smiled and encouraged him before putting her tiny hand on top of Zhongli’s, studying his sharp nails.
“You know, I’m the God of Wisdom.”
“Yes.”
“And I see some things than even older gods like you don’t. Do you know that?”
Zhongli laughed a bit and nodded.
“My dear, you may still be a child to me, but you are wise beyond your years. I may have lived the longest in this room, but even my experience in life didn’t allow me to know as much as you do. We all have our facilities in subjects.”
“True. I see things others don’t, and I can tell you, with time, it will be fine. Please do not question me, but I am not the only one who wants the same thing as you do. To see you happy with the ginger man. He grew too fast. But despise his work, he has one of the purest and most blinding heart I’ve ever seen. Trust me when I tell you this, this party has more behind it than it seems.” She smiled at him and jumped from her seat, walking toward Murata and Focalors who were in a heavy debate. The old god watched her go, thinking about her words, before a tall woman stood before him, hands on her hips.
“Lord Morax? Would you dance with me?”
“Jean Gunnhildr. It would be my pleasure.” He stood up and took her hand in the crook of his arm, leading her to the dancing zone. They started to dance, a vivid dance from Natlan, and Jean started talking while watching Adiah, Murata’s wife, teach the steps to Yae Miko and Sandrone.
“I’ve never liked Fatui, not since a tragedy that happened to a close friend of mine and even less since La Signora appeared and threatened Lord Barbatos. But Lord Tartaglia came to us this morning, and despite my wariness, he made sure to reassure me. He was sincere. I may be the Grandmaster of Favonius, but I don’t get everything, and that’s alright. Still. He seems like a sweet boy. Not much younger than me too. So. Take care of him. He deserves it and take this coming from a total stranger. He is fragile beneath his tough act. I know how to recognize the signs all too well.” She spined once more and bowed to him, thanking him for his dance.
The Tsaritsa soon called for the dancers to stop and gave a little speech, thanking her guests for coming at her party on such short notice, asking them to not hesitate to call forth the waiters to help themselves with delicacies. As she finished, a mop of orange hair arrived and stood at the opposite of the goddess. Only her could see him, but he stared at her straight in the eyes and nodded once, a soft smile on his lips. The Tsaritsa smiled a bit, glad that her plan had worked, and ended the speech.
“Lord Morax, God of the Contracts and wielder of Geo, patron God of Liyue.” Childe’s voice boomed in the silence as everyone turned toward him, surprised. A few Harbingers were wary of what he might do, but Pulcinella and Arlecchino smiled, glad everything was back to normal.
The 11th Harbinger, in his beautiful costume made of whites and grey, his thick animal fur draped elegantly on his shoulders, walked straight toward the half-dragon who was standing still, never leaving his sight. Standing two feet apart from each other, none said anything for a few seconds, before Childe held his hand, palm facing upward.
“My Lord. Would you accept this dance? I believe it is a traditional dance from Liyue, which you introduced to me two years ago.”
Zhongli’s face glowed with relief and love, his eyes a bright amber, his scales, tail, and horns glowing even more than ever. Xiao discreetly huffed but smiled, glad the idiot Harbinger had finally made the right move. The God gave his hand to the Harbinger and answered with his smooth and deep voice that Childe loved so much.
“Lord Harbinger, 11th of the Tsaritsa, Childe, it would be my immense pleasure to accept this dance.”
The youngest led them to the center of the room as the lights dimmed and the song began with the both of them floating above the ground, so entranced in their dance than everything became a blur around them. Neuvillette smiled, glad he had talked to the ginger boy. He had seen the face that Morax had made when they both had danced together, but he had been quick to reassure him. Furina came close to him and stayed quiet, watching the unique couple dance.
“They look like Coppelia and Coppelius… I’ve always thought that, despite being machines, they were in love with each other. Just like them.”
Neuvillette laughed at her, smiling.
“I agree with you. It is even more beautiful to me, as I get to see one of the last of my species to find his mate. It is a rare sight, and to witness it, it almost brings tears to my eyes.”
“Ah don’t cry, with all that cold, rain would only freeze us all to death!” exclaimed Furina. A few near them laughed and couple started to join the two, Murata and Adiah, Ei and Yae Miko quickly followed by Nahida forcing Wanderer. Neuvillette invited Furina to the dance and Barbatos dragged Jean, Xiao having refused his hand. The Tsaritsa watched her Harbingers slowly pour down on the dancing zone and Pierro held out his hand to her. She took it with a smile, and they all danced along the song, the Queen of Cryo passing by Morax and Tartaglia.
“My child. Thank you for trusting me.”
“Thank you, Tsaritsa. Had it not been for your meddling, I fear we wouldn’t have what we have now.” Answered the older god with a soft smile, putting his hand on the small of the back of the ginger and pressing him against him, his tail coiling around the other in a loving embrace. The Tsaritsa laughed, spun twice, and landed in her first Harbinger’s arms.
“I knew you and Buer were talking about it, but you know, I am not the Goddess of Love for nothing.” She gave the both of them a wink and left them, Tartaglia as red as his hair. Zhongli chuckled and softly grabbed his chin, leaving a butterfly kiss on the top of his nose.
“My love, what are you thinking about?”
“I feel stupid for not knowing this was a trap laid by her. It feels so obvious now.”
“Don’t blame her. I don’t. Without her, we might never have been able to reconciliate.”
“I… Zhongli.” He twirled and snorted, almost tripping, before putting both his hands flat against the god’s chest, a tender look in his eyes, coated with shame. “I’m sorry for leaving you like that. I needed to think, but it wasn’t nice of me to cut all ties.”
“Baobei, I’m the one who never told you who I was. I’m the one who should be sorry.”
“Well, guess we both apologized, so it’s ‘kay, what do you say? Can I kiss you now? Because I really really want to right now.” Said a breathless Childe. Zhongli laughed and nodded once, just before Childe pushed his lips against the dragon’s. Some cheers erupted, mainly coming from Barbatos and Yae Miko, and the two quickly parted ways, giddy and blushing softly. Xiao huffed and menaced Childe but still nodded once at him, giving his approval. The Tsaritsa smiled at her youngest Harbinger and Arlecchino softly pressed Childe’s bicep, smiling.
“Glad it went well. Now Dottore and Pantalone how me each 10 million Moras.”
“Did you seriously bet on when I’d get with Xiangsheng?!”
“What? No, I bet with them if you’d get killed because he was angry at you or if he was in love with you. They are blind, believe me. Easiest Mora I made in a while.”
Zhongli burst out laughing upon hearing her, it was very funny to him, especially since he was the creator of the currency, and couldn’t believe such bets existed for something as simple to him as Mora. Childe huffed, but all in all, he was also glad it ended well. He felt for the first time at peace with himself and realized that he hadn’t let go of Zhongli’s hand for the last minutes, just as he was imagining his future life with him.
Truly, he never had been so grateful for Her Majesty to meddle like that in his life.