immortality • childe

chap. 24

"Childe?", (y/n) turned around at the familiar voice. The Gingerhead laughed and scratched his neck, as he stepped closer, the wind making his orange hair fly around.

"What are you two doing up here? It's dangerous, you know". Zhongli's gaze pierced through the Fatui, while silence filled the cold air.

(y/n) didn't answer and quietly watched Osial's heads peek out of the ocean, still wondering how Childe summoned it. Suddenly she felt a hand on her shoulder, warm breath tingling against her ear as he whispered something to her.

"Aren't you mad at me? You know, I am the reason for all of this", the male scooted closer and pointed his chin towards Liyue Harbor.

Zhongli glanced at the two of them, as (y/n) let out a faint sigh and stepped away from Childe. His blue eyes followed her movements, silently adoring her features as she shrugged her shoulders.

Just as she was about to say something, a deafening noise caught their attention; Zhongli quickly averted his gaze to the Jade Chamber, a somewhat surprised look on his face as he did so.

It all happened fast; strange lightning hit the floating island, the wind howled loudly as a ear-piercing crash filled the air.

Childe's heart skipped a beat at the sight of the Jade Chamber threatening to fall from the sky and destroy everything around it. He flinched for a moment before pulling the startled female into a firm hug, trying to protect her from the incoming explosion.

Dust floated around, covering the sight to Liyue Harbor. Sunlight started to shine through the gaps of the clouds, as the sound of clashing waves weakened.

"Childe..?", a soothing voice caused him to open his eyes, just to meet her gentle smile. She felt his uneven heartbeat against her body, before slowly freeing herself from his embrace.

Zhongli blinked as his sight cleared, before letting the shield, that prevented them from any damage, disappear.

He shortly looked at Childe and (y/n) before letting his eyes wander around. Liyue Harbor seemed unharmed; causing the archon to sigh relieved as he closed his eyes, satisfied with the outcome of this problem.

The clouds slowly started to fade away, the ancient god nowhere to be seen. The Jade Chamber disappeared into the depth of the ocean, as peaceful silence replaced the loud thundering.

The archon hummed, enjoying the calm atmosphere after the loud fight. He smiled to himself, now knowing the answer to his question. Liyue was ready to live without its archon.

—

Childe breathed out, still al little shaken by the explosion. He mumbled something to himself before quickly fixing his position; with a small smile he cleared his throat, after remembering his meeting with La Signora at the Northern Bank.

"I.. have to go now. Please, excuse me", he shortly looked at (y/n) and rubbed his temples. Childe groaned and sneezed because of the dust, before hastily walking away.

Zhongli let out a chuckle and patted the females back. She scoffed and averted her gaze towards Liyue Harbor. A warm smile appeared on her face, as she remembered how the Fatui tried to shield her from the explosion without any hesitation.

The archon hummed and giggled to himself, knowing what was going on in her head as soon as he saw her grin.

"Well, unfortunately it is now time to let go of my Gnosis", he pulled out the valuable object, that he carried around for thousands of years, and silently stared at it.

(y/n) nodded and quickly shook her head to get the Gingerhead off her mind, before waving. "See you soon.. Zhongli"

He hesitated for a moment and smiled in return.

"Yes. See you soon, (y/n)"