𝒔𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒊𝒔𝒍𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒔𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒐𝒘 [hiatus]

𝐚 𝐠𝐨𝐝, 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠.

Zhongli had thought about it long and hard. Did he really want to retire from his status as the Geo Archon, Liyue's Archon?

He was bordering on saving it for another year, until he saw you. Seeing you was enough to sway his decision into a full fledged yes, his heart desiring nothing more than to be in your companionship again. It was unlike him to make such hasty decisions, but if it guaranteed a chance of you coming back into his life, he'd do it without a second thought.

For every moment after your death, he wished for nothing more than to have you come back. To tell him and your sister that what you did was nothing more than a prank, a temporary lapse in judgement.

But he knew better.

For a being that has lived as long as he, he knows better than to hope. He has seen it one too many times be crushed mercilessly, thrown back at him with not a feeling of remorse. The only emotion that the offenders would have was joy, their laughing faces his nightmares.

Too many a night he has waken up covered in sweat, hands desperately reaching for his polearm that always seemed just too far away, eyes frantically darting around the room that he stayed in for enemies that hid in the darkness.

Too many a night he has dreamt about your death, about how many other ways you could have chosen to die, about how many times he has tried to save you but he was always, always, too far away. He would never be close enough to grasp you in his arms for even a second, whether it be in real life or in his imagination.

Fate has willed it so, but he has not.

For a being that has lived for other six thousand years, he was awfully obedient. He followed fate's every wish to the letter, never questioning it for he was not, and never will be worthy to change his own fate.

However, that was when he still retained his status as the Lord of Geo, Archon of Liyue and God of Contracts. Now that he has freed himself of his bindings, he has decided that he will no longer play into fate's hands - no, he will take it into his own even if it means making himself an enemy.

Changing fate will never be easy - but he was going to, if it meant that you would be back in his arms once again.

【o' this yearning so grand.】