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1.
“... I know what you want to do,” said the young man against the young woman with a cold aura. With her power, the young man’s hood fell down. He didn’t get offended when he got that treatment.
“Don’t call me the name that was given by that Celestia. It’s better for me to be called merely Tsarista instead of using that cursed name, “ she threw an angry glare at the young man that was older than her. She wanted to crush that young man’s mask and yelled at him. “So… what will you do, Morax ? Will... you shut me up as Celestia did to the Dendro Archon before ? Or will you finish me like what you did to your adjutant before ?”
Morax didn’t respond to her anger; rather, he decided to tell her the bitter truth. “Your power isn’t enough to go against Celestia. Don’t do useless things. “ Tsarista gave a bitter laugh.
“So what ? Do you want me to watch the next Khaenri’ah happens in my country ? You want me to watch how Celestia threw the Dendro Archon because he opposed them ?” Morax gave a long sigh. He didn’t know if he could calm down the young cryo archon.
“I won’t stop you.”
2.
No one knew what exactly to Ajax when he ‘vanished’. The only things they knew are the young boy changed. He couldn’t hide his blood lust that can compare with soldiers. Because he often got into trouble his family threw the young boy into military service.
“You want him to try to be my Harbringer ?” asked the lady behind her work desk. The man in front of her gave a salute without any fear.
“This servant dared to guarantee this young man could satisfy Your Royal Highness’s qualification. “ The man tried to low down his voice, “there is a piece of information that the young man’s fallen into the Abyss when he got lost.” Tsarista raised her eyebrows letting the man finish his report. “Dottore said, in the Academia he found the book that said once upon a time Khaenri’ah had found the way to…”
“Continue, I won’t be angry,” said Tsarista when the man paused and gazed at her.
“... there is a chance that Khaenri’ah had found the way to kill God. But we can’t be pretty sure with that crazy doctor’s words. Not when he couldn’t give us the book about this.” A small smile was raised from her face.
“Fascinating. Then I will let him take the test. But…” Tsarista looked into the blizzard that won’t be over in a short time from her window. “... it will depend on his ability if he could last or not.”
3.
“ I won’t stop your plan. But don’t do it now. You are still weak.” At the end of the sentence, Tsarista laughed hysterically. The temperature dropped so fast yet Morax didn’t find it a big problem.
“Yes… Of course, I’m still weaker than you, Oh the First Geo Archon. Of course, I’m weaker than you who won the Archon War ! “ Tsarista then hisses, “of course, I’m weaker than you who could kill your friends without care ! “
Morax squinted his eyes, his hair gradually glowed like beautiful cor lapis before he gave a long sigh. “I would prefer for you not to step that far. But for this once I will forgive you because of your mild temper. '' Morax chose to overlook the snort from Tsarista, “you should remember that war without preparation is a waste of war. Do you care with your citizens ?”
Tsarista only gave a silent response. Once again, Morax let out a long sigh. “If you want to do your plan, you need to gather your troops and pieces of information. Don’t use your blind emotions. Even though I’m not the one who gets called as God of War, I still know how to win the war.”
4.
From her throne, Tsarista stared at the young man that reeked with blood. The young man gave her a childish smile that could fool normal people, but what she was. “So… Ajax,” she stared at his hydro vision before finished her question, “... are you ready to join Harbringer ?”
“Your Royal Highness, this one’s ready to use all of my power to support your decision.” How bold. Tsarista watched again at the young man who bowed beneath her throne.
“Even when I want to burn the world ?” asked her again. She could see that the young man was holding his laugh. Then he stared straight at her with craziness in his eyes.
“Then let me help you crush the throne of Gods, Your Royal Highness,” said him with pride. Before he could explain himself again, she stopped him.
“No need to worry. I’m not angry with your statement. But… What do you want, boy ?” Ajax stared emptily. But she had enough time to listen to his wish.
“Is it possible for you to give me a new name, Your Royal Highness ?” Tsarista gave a low chuckle hearing such a simple wish.
“That’s pretty easy. But are you sure you want to join Harbinger ? You will lose your life later.” For the last chance, she gave him the chance to reject her offer. Probably she couldn’t be called God of Love again, but she understood there was still love in the young man’s heart.
“As long as you protect my family, I’m ready to use all of my power and my life to bring your success, Your Royal Highness.” Hearing the young man’s last wish, she came down from her throne. Then she offered her hand, letting the young man do his formal contract with her.
“As you wish. Welcome my Eleventh Harbringer, Tartaglia.” With a kiss in her backhand and a sheathed sword that touched his shoulder, they sealed the contract between them and destiny.
5.
“There will be a perfect chance for you to do your plan, but not now,” said Morax.
“Then how long until that perfect chance comes ? When that chance comes, maybe everything has already been destroyed. Then everything will be pointless !” In her body, her blood burned with her ambitions.
“Maybe one year, ten years, hundred years, or more.” Morax stopped a bit, “.. but as an Archon, time for us is limitless. But if you ask when is the right time, maybe there is none.”
Tsarista took her sword then tried to attack the older man. “Stop playing with me !”
Morax only gave a low chuckle then raised his unbreakable shield. “It’s not my intention to play with you. But if there is no chance, you could make it after you gather all of your information. The nearest information is…” then he touched his chest, “..gnosis.”
Tsarista lowered her sword. Her eyes widened when hearing the answer from the oldest archon. She then touched the cryo gnosis that powered in her chest then she whispered, “what do you know about this ?”
“I don’t know if it’s different or not. But when I got my gnosis, I made a contract with Celestia.” His eyes got dimmed. “The contract to keep the peace in Teyvat. But who knows the definition of peace from Celestia itself ?” Morax gave a bitter smile to her. Isn’t it pitiful for the God of Contract to get trapped by the contract ?
“We give vision to someone with great ambition with a certain cost in their life…” Tsarista then stared at Morax, who only gave her a small smile. For great power, there will be something they need to pay.
“So… what do you want for telling me this ?” asked her.
“I want to offer you a contract.”
6.
The young Ajax then grew up to be Tartaglia. With a wide smile, his hands had already been stained by the blood of Tsarista’s enemies. Because of his specialty, he got special attention from Tsarista.
“Is it true that you learned to fight from Abyss ? “ asked Tsarista while watching Dottore take blood from Tartaglia.
“If you want to believe it, I learned a lot from my teacher in Abyss before, Your Royal Highness. Maybe I’m still weaker than my teacher now, but I’m sure later I can force her to use both of her hands to fight against me,`` Tartaglia while ignoring Dottore laughed at him.
“Is it true that the Abyss had already discovered the way to kill God ?” asked Tsarista again.
“Based on my knowledge and theory, without feeling to offend you, Your Royal Highness, it’s still impossible to kill God without another God. Because we can only kill their body, not their soul. Meanwhile, God’s most important part is their souls,” answered Dottore.
Tsarista gave a lazy look to the crazy scientist. Sometimes, she felt that she spoiled the scientist too much so he dared to answer her question.
“I think my teacher said that it was possible with delusion,” said Tartaglia softly. Hearing that, Dottore nearly dropped his blood tube.
“Since there is a chance, let's test it with gnosis.” Because for marionettes to go against fate, they need to sacrifice everything.
7.
“What contract ?” asked Tsarista suspiciously.
“When you think you can begin the plan, tell me before that happens, “ before Tsarista could interrupt, Morax continued his sentence, “ I will hand over my gnosis.”
“What ?” Morax didn’t reject her confusion, letting her ask again. “.. why would you do that ?”
“I’m… tired.” Never in her mind that Morax would answer like that. “ But of course in exchange for gnosis, I want you to protect Liyue... “
“So… will you accept it ? “ Tsarista decided not to answer that tempting offer yet.
8.
From the ship, Tartaglia waved to his family. Now, he works at Liyue. He didn’t know if he felt annoyed because he got this mission because everyone didn’t want him to ‘make trouble’ or feel excited.
The young man rested his body but let his mind fly around. Tsarista said his mission was to steal the gnosis and kill the Geo Archon, Morax. Instead of finding it dangerous, somehow he felt excited with the Geo Archon itself. From Fatui’s information, he found several bits of interesting facts. Like he was called God of Martial Arts too, although the most popular one of course God of Contracts.
“It should be interesting to fight you, Morax…” Since he survived from Abyss, the bloodlust that he’d never noticed was inside him was wild. But he knew not to feed it without restraint. Of course, it will be fun to fight against the Oldest Archon, but he needs to find a way to steal the gnosis.
Like what Tsarista said to them, he knew the first thing he should do. “Ekaterina, have you hired someone as a guide ?” asked him when he arrived at the Northland Bank. The woman who was the chief of the bank before, but became vice-chief, gave him several reports before answering him.
“I have already hired someone, Mr. Childe. He was a consultant of Wansheng Funeral Parlour. He was called Mr. Zhongli, I’ve already told him to meet you tomorrow. You can rest a bit, Sir. “ What a pity. Tartaglia honestly wanted to go around but he wasn’t stupid enough to wander around knowing nothing.
“Are you pretty sure that the guide knows a lot about Liyue ?” After all, he didn’t come to Liyue only to be head of the Northland Bank. He needs the best guide in Liyue that not only knows about Liyue but also knows a lot of things about Gods.
“I can say that Mr. Zhongli is one of the people that knows the most about Liyue that is willing to be paid by Fatui. But, everyone said he’s a bit odd ?” Tartaglia raised his eyebrows.
“Odds ?” asked him. Ekaterina shrugged.
“Some of Liyue’s citizens thought that he’s a bit disrespectful to Rex Lapis. He often debated with several historians because of different insights about Rex Lapis. But I think he’s pretty neutral so he’s the best in my option.” Ekaterina stopped, then apologized with a tremble in her body because of her sassiness.
Tartaglia laughed then asked her to raise again. “Ho… Interesting,” whispered him.
9.
“Do you still keep your offering ?” asked Tsarista in front of Morax. Morax gave her a little smile then offered her a cup of tea. “ I found that if all of the elements vision gathered together, they will have power at least half of the gnosis. So it’s possible that if we gather all of the gnosis, we can match with them.” Morax kept listening to her.
Tsarista gritted her teeth. The cup in her hands nearly cracked. “The gnosis could also watch our movements, but as long as you don’t do something ‘rebellious’ nothing will happen.”
“Is that hurt ?” asked Morax because he understood that the lady had felt it so she could have this information.
“So do you still keep your offering ?” asked her, refusing to answer the Oldest Archon.
“Yes, in exchange for Gnosis, I want you and your citizens to test Liyue and protect them later. “ Tsarista squinted her eyes when hearing the sentence.
“What test ?”
10.
Tartaglia didn’t know what he should says about Mr. Zhongli. He was so proper, like a perfect gentleman. It’s a wonder how the man could know the most hidden things that most people don’t know about. The story is from mouth-to-mouth.
Mr. Zhongli was a contradiction, he was so proper yet he forgot his mora a lot. He smiled a lot, but the smile contained unreadable feelings. Respecting Rex Lapis, but also respecting another archon, unlike most people in Liyue.
He looks like a proper historian…
“Mr. Childe, there is a bit of blood in your cheek,” said Zhongli while offering him the handkerchief. There were drops of blood in his hands too. But the man didn’t show any fear. He didn’t mind how much blood lust he emitted.
“Ah yes thank you, Mr. Zhongli. Do you have any recommendations on where we will eat ?”
‘Ah, interesting… I want to fight against Mr. Zhongli…’ said him inside his heart.
11.
“The test to show If Liyue’s ready or not to be led by mere humans. “ The sky was so blue, but who knows what it hides behind that clearness.
“As long as Liyue passes the test, I will give my gnosis to you. Then you and Fatui must protect Liyue later. It’s worth it right ?” asked Morax. But Tsarista thought that’s not all.
“Why ? Protecting Liyue and the citizens aren’t that worth as gnosis. Not when the gnosis itself could destroy a lot of things with its power.” Morax fell silent. He didn’t know should tell her or not. But he’d already decided.
“Because it will cost you a lot of resources and troops too.” Morax didn’t let Tsarista interrupt him, “ Liyue contains a lot of Gods since ancient times. Most of them had already succumbed beneath Guyun Stone Forest. Some of them also only got sealed because of my incapability to end them.”
“So you are afraid that my troops will be killed a lot huh ?” Morax gave a nod.
“There is also a secret that I need to tell you.”
12.
Tartaglia gritted his teeth when remembering the truth. He had already genocide all of the hilicurl camps and treasure hoarders camps he knew. But all of them can’t make him calm down after knowing the truth.
He should know why that man knew a lot about unknown things. Not when that man also knew the secrets about Liyue too. He transformed back his sword, watched the camps burn down.
He should have noticed all of the oddities from Zhongli, it’s so obvious. But what makes him not notice all of it ? Was it because the man is so obvious ? Or was it because the man’s always so sincere ? Was it because…
“Ah, it seems I forgot my mora again, “ said the slender man with soft cor lapis eyes.
“Sir, just use this. “ Tartaglia threw the mora bag to the merchant who looked red. The merchant gave a suspicious glance to him, but just let them go.
“Ah, thank you, Mr. Childe, “ said Zhongli. Inside his paper bag, there were beautiful rocks that were unpolished. “I will give back your money again. Let’s…”
“No need,” cut off Tartaglia. “I want to speak to you in exchange. “ Seems like he understood what Tartaglia means, Zhongli nodded. After all of this, Zhongli understood if the man had a question.
Tartaglia watched the man in front of him deeply. Why didn't the man sound guilty after all of this ? Is it fun to see him dance like a clown ? Zhongli waited for the young man to arrange his emotions.
“Is it fun ?” Tartaglia clenched his hands. “Is it fun, Morax ! “
“I don’t really understand your meaning,” answered Zhongli flat.
“Is it fun to play with a young mortal ? Looks like you really enjoy the ‘show’ huh. “ Tartaglia snorted. How dare this man’s playing with him. He really wants to kill him, to crush him, to break him down from his altar.
“It’s fun,” answered Zhongli. Tartaglia expected this answer, but why his heart was so painful. A mere mortal shouldn’t dare to wish for an immortal.
“I really enjoy being with you, Mr. Childe. It’s…been a long time since I enjoyed Liyue as a mortal. Not when I’m not really a mortal itself. But I’m happy to meet you.” Zhongli gave a long smile. Childe unleashed his water sword, and appointed it to Zhongli.
“No need to pretend anymore ! “ Hearing it, Zhongli gave a confused look.
“Pretend ? Why should I pretend ?” Zhongli raised his shield but decided not to attack Tartaglia.
Tartaglia wanted to smash this rock-headed man. “I already know who you are now. No need to be your so-called Zhongli again. Your act made me want to throw up. “ Zhongli looked at Tartaglia before giving a low laugh.
“I think you misunderstand something. Zhongli is also me. I’ve never faked about it.” Zhongli slowly took down the blade. “Besides my contract with Tsarista, everything we do together is true. It’s really fun to go around Liyue with you Mr. Childe.”
“So you don’t know about my plan ?” asked Tartaglia. Zhongli gave him a slight smile.
“Your plan to open Osial’s seal ? Actually, I didn’t know you would do that. But indeed I know your plan to attack Fatui. I’ve already predicted that you were sent by Tsarista for my gnosis the first time I saw you. But I didn’t know why the one who took it was not you. “ Zhongli cupped his cheek. “To be honest, your plan might fool Traveler. But still, I’ve already lived long enough to notice your tiny bits plan. But I also knew that you enjoy your time with me.”
Tartaglia felt that his cheek was hot. He didn’t know whether he should be ashamed because his plan was so clear or the fact he enjoyed his time with Zhongli. In the first place, both of them dance together behind their facade.
“Did I tease you too much ? Then pardon me. You can ask anything. It’s still my fault to deceive you. “ Zhongli watched Tartaglia who looked like a sulking puppy. The young man then gave him a big grin.
“I want to fight against Morax.” Zhongli stared at him seriously when hearing the wish.
“You will be hurt.”
“So what ? It will be honorable for me to taste the fight with the Oldest Archon. “ Crazy, the young man is indeed very crazy. Zhongli gave a long sigh when he saw the deep blue in his eyes. He could see how dark it was and how crazy it was.
“You couldn’t fight against Morax.” Zhongli noticed the disappointed look in Tartaglia’s eyes, then gave a sly smile, “ after all Morax had already died. So let me represent him in this fight. But I won’t kill you.”
“Won’t you be afraid I will kill you later ?” Zhongli laughed hearing that.
“Then show me your ability If you could do it.”
Beneath the sky, they dance together up and down. No matter how messy it was or how dirty it was, they kept dancing. Dancing like ignorant with the fate who controls us. Let’s dance like wild marrionattes before the stage is over.
13.
“Unlike you and several archons, Barbatos and I were never human. Barbatos himself is a wind spirit. But… “ Morax fell into silence again. Tsarista could sense his reluctance.
“You don’t need to tell me your secret if you don’t wish to.” Tsarista knew that she lost the love in her heart, but still she knew how to give respect to someone who deserves it.
“In the first place, I’m not exactly a geo spirit. My vessel was created from a piece of meteor shard and jade. And then…” Morax showed his stone dumbbell carefully. “The Goddess of Dust then asked Celestia to show her the miracle. They hear her then lend her a soul. With that Morax was born.”
Tsarista dropped her teacup. “You ! You !” She pointed her finger to Morax.
“But Celestia won’t expect that the soul will be different from their hope, right ? The soul gains consciousness and gains heart, even though it was made by a stone. Heart of stone is still the heart, right ?” He who was born from the wish of God for a greater future. An Archon who is supposed to be a beautiful marionette in Celestia’s hand.
“I want you to protect Liyue from anything that could destroy them. Even if it was me.”
14.
“Tartaglia, how long was it ? “ asked Tsarista when she watched seven of gnosis in the special table.
“It has been 3 years, Your Royal Highness. Congratulations on being successful, gather every gnosis. With this, you are one step closer to your dream.” The young man’s grown up to be a calm man. Time really grinds his temper.
“Do you want to answer my questions ?” asked her again.
“It’s my honor to answer your questions, Your Royal Highness. “ Tsarista gave a low chuckle hearing that. Never once did she question her harbinger’s loyalty.
“Why would you only wish for your family’s safety and change your name ? I could grant you a lot of things you want if you asked for more.” This was the only question she wanted to ask this man.
“Since the day I fell into Abyss, Ajax was no more. I don’t think I could use that name again. Not when my hand’s already stained with blood. The only wish I want is the safety of my family.” Tsarista stared at the man again. He was only in his mid-twenty, yet his body had been full of scars.
“In this war, you can die.” There was a great chance they would die. This isn’t the war against humans with humans or gods with gods. But this is the war between Gods with Celestia.
“Dying in the war is the most honorable thing for a warrior, Your Royal Highness.” She gave a sad smile. But there was no time for her to feel regret. Slowly, she gave the seven of gnosis her power. She couldn’t let Celestia notice she had already stolen all of the gnosis.
“I think you will be bored to help me guard the gnosis. Do you mind sharing your story in Liyue before ?” asked her.
If only Tsarista didn’t spend all of her focus on gnosis, she would have noticed the red blush on the man’s face.
15.
“Do you mean you are opposing me ?” asked Tsarista.
“I would prefer to say I was neutral. But we don’t know If Celestia will appreciate this or not. Slowly, I’m getting eroded. If Celestia demands me as a useless tool, who knows what they will do ?” told Morax about his predictions.
“Even me still has a selfish desire. I don’t want to be remembered as an evil god in history.”
16.
Tartaglia inhaled harshly. It has been 3 years ago since he landed in Liyue. Shortly after his fight with Zhongli, he was called back to Snezhnaya for more experiments and training. Liyue has changed a lot in his eyes.
Because of the training, now he could sense the flow of the elements clearer. Unlike Snezhnaya which contains overflowed elements that are ready to explode, Liyue was really lacking it. He could predict this is one of the effects of the loss of gnosis in Liyue. Another new thing he found was that there are many Rex Lapis statues.
Tartaglia would enjoy exploring the new Liyue again. But he remembered his mission in this land again. His new mission was to protect Liyue and kill everything that could destroy this land and the citizens.
“Who knows he made this contract with Her Royal Highness in exchange for that ‘thing’,” whispered Tartaglia. Tsarista said Liyue wished for neutrality but it was pretty impossible between this war because Celestia would think Liyue betrayed them too.
“So protecting Liyue from Celestia.” Tartaglia stared at the small town. This town has a chance to get destroyed by the hands of Celestia. The town was built by Rex Lapis with a lot of care.
“It’s a shame to let this beautiful town become a ruin. It’s really fortunate for them to have an archon who is willing to do everything for them.” While thinking about it, Tartaglia felt he needed to search for the ex-archon. He searched for him in every place he could remember at Liyue harbor, but found nothing.
Then he decided to find him at the last place they met, Guyun Stone Forest. Tartaglia wanted to call him, but he noticed the man did something like a ritual. “Zhongli ?” called Tartaglia. He could see the fingers had a little tremble.
“..Mr. Childe ?” answered Zhongli back, not sure. But the man knew he didn’t have enough time to make sure. “Please help me to place this rock on every Geo statue. Do you mind it ?” Tartaglia wanted to ask about it but noticed Zhongli was in a hurry so he did what the man asked.
The rocks in his hand are pretty small, but he could feel how much power was inside them. Tartaglia tried to teleport as fast as he could because he could feel something wrong going to happen.
The moon shone brightly when he finished his tasks. Tartaglia couldn’t tell how beautiful Zhongli was beneath the shine. He stood with widening eyes when the visible fortress made by Geo energy protected Liyue. Zhongli then fell down, making Tartaglia run to him.
But what are they in the hand of fate ? Merely marionettes who get controlled by their owner’s wishes.
With the red left eye, Zhongli tried to oppose fate. “... kill me.. Before it’s too late.”
Let's dance for the last stage. A dance between the name of life and death.
17.
“You will lose your troops in this contract. The loss is the same weight as the gnosis. Because there is a chance you will fail because of that loss,” explained Morax. Before hearing all of this, Tsarista still doubted it. But now she has already made her decision.
“I accept it. It’s still pretty unfair in my opinion. So in exchange for gnosis, I will protect your land and your citizens in the war with my most loyal troops. They will be ready to die to protect your land later and won’t be questioning my decision.” With that, the last contract for Liyue was sealed.
Tsarista felt pity for Morax. The man was the most dedicated between every archon since the first time he became archon. Yet, he couldn’t get away from the control of Celestia. Not when the control existed deep inside his soul, not in his gnosis. She opened his mouth to whisper, “Wish you to find your love in your life.”
18.
His giant body rested near the spear rock in the Guyun Stone Forest. His foul legacy’s armor had already been broken apart on several sides. Yet in his embrace, he kept the ex-archon tightly. They got connected with the spear from chest to chest.
Tartaglia coughed some blood before whispering, “Is it painful ?” He didn’t expect anything from Zhongli to answer him. Not when those beautiful eyes have been clouded with tears that slowly fell down. He looked into the ‘sky’ , it was pretty dark even though it’s still noon.
“To be honest, I’ve never expected to meet you again in this scenario. Not with you being my enemy. But fate must really enjoy this right ?” Tartaglia laughed softly. He couldn’t feel half of his body again, but he didn’t want to let go of the man in his embrace. He stared at Zhongli’s face. It’s a shame he couldn’t wipe the blood from the man’s face.
“Liyue must be saved for now. Your shield is so powerful. You didn’t touch Liyue at all during the fight.” The tears slowly stopped, but the eyes still looked so empty. But what Tartaglia is ? He couldn’t help the man to release Celestia’s control from him. He could only bind the man tighter in his embrace.
“It must be painful right, to get controlled ?” asked him. There was no answer again. “Just wait a bit, everyone is still trying to fight against Celestia. My instinct said they were going to win.”
But it’s so silent. There were no wind or ocean’s waves. So he hummed, to keep himself sane. To keep his life still in line for now. Nobody knows how long he hummed. But he stopped when there was a glimmer of light. He laughed for the last time. Tartaglia watched how Zhongli’s eyes slowly lost a glimmer of life.
“Go sleep now Mr. Zhongli. Teyvat now isn’t in Celestia’s hands again. Now you are free from your contract.” Slowly Tartaglia found it’s harder to keep his mind again. But he didn’t want to close his eyes, not before he could see the man in his embrace get into a sleeping state.
So with the last of his strength, he hummed a lullaby for Zhongli. With the lullaby both of them closed their eyes for the last time. Slowly Guyun Stone Forest crumbled apart, burying them beneath the sea like every God who Morax ended their life.
May fate let us meet again.