𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐧 [Genshin Impact ✘ Reader]

18!| The Overworld

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証人

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"M-----!" Dian shrieked, shaking the body in her arms, "M----o please wake up! --k---!"

Dian's throat constricted, her hands miserably covering the wound on her body as blood endlessly poured, "M-k--o please not like this!"

"I... I'm sorr-y Dian," she spoke weakly, raising her now pale hand towards Dian's cheek, caressing it as she weakly smiled, "As long as you'll be okay,"

"Nononono! Don't be sorry! I should be apologizing," Dian cried, holding the body closer to her, cherishing the last moments with her beloved, "We can always postpone that dango date for later okay? So please, stay with me,"

"You don't need me to try dango Dian," she chuckled, coughing soon after, blood leaking from the corner of her mouth, "You can always go with Ei-"

"No! I need you here with me! Please," Dain held the hand on her cheek, squeezing it lightly as her the sinking feeling in her heart deepened, "please," she spoke- no, begged. Holding on to the hand as if she was holding on to her lifeline.

"Promise me you'll be okay without me?"

"No! Don't say that M-"

"Please?" Dian closed her eyes shut, the tears that were welling up spilling down once again on the chest of the woman in her lap, "Don't cry Dian, I'll still be here," she whispered, pointing at Dantalion's chest, "Cheesy I must say, but what else could I have said besides the truth?"

Dantalion couldn't handle it, opening her eyes to see her lover bathed in blood, her eyes slowly losing its color, "I promise I'll be okay," she forced out, a giant stab passing through her heart watching as the woman softly smiled at her

"Thank you, Dian," her last breath spoke, her hand dropping from her cheek as her eyes fluttered shut

"Nononono!" Dantalion screamed, hugging the body close to her, watching the glow in her hair strands fade as seconds passed, "M-k--o!" she shook the body vigorously, aggressively tapping her cheek, "M-k-to please!" she cried hugging the body once again, holding the arm to her cheek, "Makoto please wake up!"

"Dian!"

Suddenly, a large swirl of pyro surrounded Dian's body, slowly disappearing, creating a ring of fire that slowly sizzled out, revealing Chi cradling the Theo archon's body, "Don't touch her!" the Adeptus screamed, her fangs and dragon pupils still visible as she looked at the two archons in disgust. 

Zhongli halted midway while Venti stopped floating midair, landing beside Zhongli, Aether looked at the sidelines, watching the whole scene unravel before approaching Chi, "What's happening to her?"

Chi summoned a beacon of healing close to Dian, her brow further furrowing in worry when she noticed more strands of her hair turn white indicating that none of her pyro energy is being absorbed, "N-no... not now... this can't be happening-" she stuttered, rolling up one of [Y/n]'s sleeve, revealing her now semi-transparent hand, "She's dying!"

Zhongli's eyes widened while Venti gasped, his hand covering his mouth as he took a step back. For once, the bard with a million words and thousands of stories to tell is rendered speechless, his breath staggering watching his lover dying in front of him once again.

"How do we save her?" Paimon questioned, worry heavily lacing her voice as she swung around in the air, her eyebrows frowning all the way.

The Jueyun Chilli paused, thinking before she looked down at her master, "She needs her gnosis," Chi frowned, positioning [Y/n]'s body in a more comfortable manner to not ache her neck, brushing her hair off her face, noticing her skin getting paler than before.

"Where is it?" Aether asked, quickly equipping his sword as he sat next to Chi, helping her, "We can retrieve it and-"

"You can't," Chi choked, "You can't go there," she repeated, tears now welling up, "It's in La Tierra de Los Muertos," Chi cut him off, a serious look in her eyes despite it being watery, "The land of the dead," she translated

"The overworld she calls it, the world she mends," Venti whispered to himself, his hand now on his chest, memories flashing into his mind like a busy crowd forcing its way into a shop. He remembered how he would listen to her hum as she strummed his lyre by Starsnatch cliff, watching the sunrise. The cliff suddenly turned dark as he looked beside him, her dead body laying on the ground surrounded by a bed of Cecilia flowers.

 "There are only three ways to enter the overworld," Venti spoke up, shaking his head to get rid of the images flashing in his mind, looking at Chi who refused to face him. It was understandable, he thought, for he had done Dian so wrong not even he himself would look in the mirror. 

"My connection to the teleport waypoints there has been severed," Ju Huang spoke, holding the semi-transparent hand, "What are the other two ways?" Paimon questioned, flying near Chi and patting her forearm, trying to comfort her.

"One other way is to exceed your lifespan, to die in this world and pass on," Zhongli closed his eyes, the scene in front of him too painful to watch, "The other method is plausible, however-"

"I don't care what excuse you have this time!" Chi screamed, cutting the Geo Archon off, holding her hand tighter as tears started to build up, her eyes covered by her messy hair from the battle today, "You've watched her die once! I can't believe you would even consider to witness it again!"

Silence stilled the room as a secret with endless possibilities made its way onto the table. Ju Huang's tear slid across her cheek down to her chin, the liquid dripping onto [Y/n]'s cheeks, "I should have never trusted you with her," she whispered. Despite it being a lowly murmur, it was loud enough for everyone in the room to hear. 

Venti clenched his fists, slowly walking forward towards the door of Northland bank, lifting one of his hands out, palms outward as he faced the door, his expression unrecognizable as a teal portal steadily conjured, similar to the one by the spiral abyss that Aether came across before their trip to Liyue. Gusts of wind blew out the portal, making Venti's cape and braids fly in the wind, the paperwork scattered across the bank swirling around as Venti took a step inside.

"I suggest you glide in here, it's faster," he spoke in a flat tone before disappearing into the void he made.

Ju wiped the stray tear on her face as she carried [Y/n]'s body on her back. Zhongli stepped forward, "I can take her," he offered, seeing as Chi struggled with carrying Dian seeing as she was significantly taller than her.

The Adeptus scoffed, still refusing to make eye contact with eh Archon that indirectly killed her god, "I made no contract with you Morax, therefore, I am not obliged to fulfill your requests, I made that mistake once, and I refuse to do it again," she responded bitterly. Aether noticed the tension between the two and stepped in between them, offering to help Ju carry [Y/n] instead.

Zhongli frowned as he watched the two enter the portal. He looked at his hands that once caressed her now covered in her blood. Even if a contract was made to pardon the issue, Zhongli refused to forgive himself for the sins he committed and promise to pay for what he has done. A contract unspoken and sealed.