Carved ones heart (ZhonglixReader)

Mold

"I think I fell asleep.." The mutter of your own voice shocked you. What's this voice? It sounds deeper than it should. With an attempt to move you felt something wrapping around your arms and legs and felt something across your face. Finding vines, small flowers and even some moss, quickly brushing it off my arms and legs you then bring your hand up to my face to brush the vines out of your face. 

After you brush off most of the moss and vines up you stand clumsily back up. It felt weird standing up and you looked down. A startled gasp left your mouth while you desperately grasp the tree. Why were you so tall? You looked down, your feet were most definitely grounded. you let go of the tree since you were balanced enough to stand.  

Looking around the gears started turning. questions like "why had I been in the middle of nowhere, covered in greenery and double my actual height!?" Flooded your mind. You held the bridge of my nose tapping your heel, hoping you'd remember what in Teyvat happened. 

It slowly came back in waves. Most of it was yelling incoherent words and running. Suddenly it came back. It was slow but The first thing you remembered was where you were and how you got there. You were still piecing back together thoughts and memories as you ran back home. you think you were crying once you got back. Your lungs icy and your head hurt. As much pain as you felt there was an equal amount of confusion, where was your home!? The landscape looked ridiculously different and your house, let alone your small village was nowhere to be seen! Only the fire-coloured trees and wandering creatures filled the empty plains. Your home was a mountain village, your house was on the side of a cliff!!

Your eyes rushed around the landscape hoping to recognize something, maybe I had taken a wrong turn? My breaths were so deep my lungs were probably stretching themselves out. I was panicking, My surroundings are different, the people I knew were nowhere to be seen, and I feel like I'm walking in a different body. 

You came to the conclusion.., that you wouldn't be able to come to a conclusion. What's a person supposed to do in this position. You started walking, you didn't realize where you were walking until you were able to grasp your thoughts again. By instinct you were already walking back to Liyue, perhaps the Adepti knew what had happened.

You

You arrived at Liyue, wait... Liyue!? You looked at the city like an atheist witnessing the descent of a god. you walked in, hesitantly asking where you were to confirm your location. indeed, it was Liyue, Liyue harbour. You saw no Adpeti, and you couldn't understand a thing of the conversations around town. 

You saw a person catch your eyes, they seemed to stand out and you decided to follow. The individual stopped at a desk, with a lady behind it. He spoke to the lady and then ran off. You looked over to the lady. You had no idea what was going on, so decided to ask her a phew question. 

"Excuse me..? miss?" You were standing in front of the counter, still wondering if you should ask. she had looked at you so it was too late to back down. "Uhm, by any chance is there a map of the town anywhere..? And I'm looking for the Adepti, do they stay anywhere specifically?" The lady actually had a small map, which definitely surprised you. She then said in a slightly monotone voice. "The Adepti aren't known to reside within liyue as they had before. They have no need to as the liyue now has the Qixing." 

What's the Qixing..? You don't remember them existing, and why would the adepti not be needed!? This is all alien to you at this point... "Are you perhaps a traveller? Or perhaps you're here to post a commission?" The woman spoke with no change in expression. "What do you mean to post a commission?"

The woman explained in great detail commissions their purpose and more. You think caught most of it, but mainly the fact that you couldn't afford anything. It finally hit you, and at the worst moment too. You went from worrying about finding someone you knew, to how to survive! "How much do you get paid exactly for doing these commissions?" You asked, hoping that you could get away with being slightly lazy and not have to do extra work to get paid. "Many make a living off of what they receive, however, they hav-" You leaned forward quickly interrupting "Sign me up!" The woman did as you asked.

"May I offer you a commission immediately?" You nod vigorously. "I have a commission that perhaps would interest you, I'm uncertain as to how much experience you have, but it includes finding the adepti" The woman was looking was something behind the counter. "I'll do it! I have some knowledge! on both uh "topics" She seemed to do something behind the counter. She had begun to speak, however, you heard speaking behind you.

It was the individual that you had followed, they were already back! "Paimon thinks were better suited for that commission" A small floating humanoid.. thing, huffed. Their partner shook their head, but it seemed like they as well were interested in the said commission. The small being started to stomp the air "Paimon thinks they just wanna be cool! They'll just need our help anyways so.. let's join." The young man seemed to agree, but he turned to you first.

He seemed like he was about to start speaking when his companion interrupted. "Soo~ can we come!" She had a small grin as she spoke. You glanced between the two, the pair seems like they knew what they were doing, their clothing was convenient for travelling and you could see the sword hanging on their hip. I hesitantly nod my head. To be honest you agreed due to the fact that You currently lacked cash and anything for self-defence. If someone were working with you It'd go faster, and it wouldn't be as hazardous. 

The man smiled, and his companion looked very pleased. You said goodbye to the lady at the counter and ran after the pair who keeps dashing around corners every which way. You started to run quickly but, felt a lot faster than you used to be. Perhaps the change in height? The pair came to a stop near some tables, this time they waited for you so you assumed they weren't running around finishing up any more tasks. They waved to you to sit down and you decided to listen. As you sat down the small one floated over to me, while their travelling partner walked over to a kitchen.

"Aether is going to make you and Paimon some yummy food! He's really good~!" She seemed to be daydreaming about the soon-to-come meal. "Oh! heh, so his name is Aether then? I was hoping to each introduce myself but uh.. simply put, you're super fast." You laughed as Aether walked over to the table.

He placed some plates of food down for the three of you. You chuckled as he struggled to keep his long hair out of the food he ate, his braid seemed to be in more of a ponytail, as it's extremely messy. "So, your name is Aether, right? It's nice to meet ya! You can call me (Y/n)" The blond blinked at you as he ate, and Paimon was arms-deep in her food, for her. "Do you have any leads as for the yaksha? Also which one are we looking for?!" Your smile felt kind of childish but honestly, you didn't care.

"We're going to see the conqueror of demons!" Paimon had finished her food and decided that meant she had to be the one to speak. "Oh! I wonder how Xiao's doing... I can't imagine he changed too much, the others too." You started eating again but the others were staring at you, both in confusion and.. what seemed like pitty? "Uhm, is something the matter?" The two looked at each other and back to you. "You know the yaksha?" Paimon seemed very surprised as she drifted closer to me. You simply nod my head, still confused as to why they seemed so down.

"Sorry but.. paimon isn't going to be the one to break the news." Paimon sat down on the table looking over to Aether, who put down his utensils. You look to him waiting for him to speak. "You see-" He tried to speak but paimon interrupted "Xiao is the only one left..." Aether flicked the back of paimons neck as you tried to process the information. "What do you mean.. he...- "

Paimon explained every small detail, all the while you sat there in disbelief. You nearly picked up the information you were being told, but it started to make sense as I pieced together this, and my previous situation. 

"What's the date...?"

The first page of my fics usually are more of a prologue backstory or just (Y/n) piecing things together, so the next one will have some interaction between (Y/n) & Zhongli *cough* *cough* help *cough* (Also for those who don't read descriptions, this was originally a joke between me and a friend, I was just bored and decided to screw myself over and take it very seriously, bc me)

-Alister