Genshin Isekai With Homies [Ao3 Crosspost]

Chapter 1: Prologue - Sun Shines Bright

The first thing Felix notices is the gentle cradle of grass under him. He can barely remember where he was, but at least he remembers that he wasn't in the middle of a field. The air around him hums, warm and sunny, contrasting to the thunderstorm he thinks he last heard.

Felix forces his eyes to open, and a thousand suns bore into his brain. He blinks multiple times for the jarring light to tone down and his vision to clear up. The sky above is cheerily bright blue as little birds chirp in the distance. Vast yellow hills stand firm as if to embrace the valley below. The smell of flowers wafted by the wind brings a calming yet exotic scent.

He snaps out of his trance as a grunt sounds next to him. A young man with light blue hair dressed in all white clutches his head, shaking it as if awoken from a deep sleep. Where had he seen that face before? The stranger opens his sky-blue eyes; his cat-slight pupils locked with Felix's. Could that be...

"Chongyun?"

"Bennett?"

Felix watches the young boy across from him. Chongyun, a character from Genshin Impact talking to him? Did he just call him Bennett? Felix looks around and doesn't see anyone.

He turns back to Chongyun, who looks just as dumbfounded, picking at sleeves and the gauntlet. Why was he with Chongyun? Should he say something?

Felix scratches the back of his head, and it feels duller than usual. His head also feels slightly heavier. He reaches it. When did he ever wear goggles? And gloves? His eyes inspect his slightly tanned arms plagued with scars and scratches. Could he really swap places with Bennett ?

"Umm..." Felix looks back at Chongyun, whose face is quite bright red right now. Wow, he looks so... cool!

Chongyun clears his throat and makes the first move.

"Who- Would you mind telling me where we are?"

Right. The grasses beneath him are fresh and green, unlike the plastic soccer fields at his school, and if he squints hard enough, the blocky mountains paint the landscape on and on. He could also hear some breeze in the distance, ocean waves? The sight that beholds him is familiar, but at the same time, he can't seem to recognize it.

Felix hears yet another muffled groan behind a ruined pillar nearby. Chongyun gestures to them to stay silent as they tiptoe to the sound. Bit by bit, a silhouette emerges from the corner, of a teen lying in a pool of red. An unmistakable green mask hangs on his belt.

"Xiao!?" Both Felix and Chongyun shout at the same time. How could the great Conqueror of Demons be bleeding this much?

"What do we do??" Felix turns to his companion. If Xiao dies, who will protect fricking Liyue?

"Don't you have some bandages? Or-or some healing food?"

Oh right! Felix quickly rummages through his pockets. If this is a video game, and he is Bennett, the boy who lives on the verge of death every day, surely there must be something good. In his mind's eye, a window pops up of his "inventory" and he could sense just the right thing...

"Quickly! We're running out of time!" Chongyun presses Xiao's red sleeve-thing into the gash, but blood still gushes out.

"I've got it!" Felix raised his hands in the air, clutching their hope of-

"An egg??"

In-game, there are many types of food, including 'recovery' dishes. If a character has fallen, the player can simply slap a recovery dish, like the fried egg in Felix's hand, to instantly revive them. He hopes that the mechanic still works right now. Felix squeezes the egg and slaps it on the adeptus' head.

Chongyun screams and Felix prays to the Archons that it works. A minute or two passes of total silence when Xiao coughs up even more blood.

"It's not working!" Chongyun cries to him.

"And what do you want me to do!?"

Chongyun bites his lips and, with his hands still dripping red, as quickly as a blizzard, whips that egg in the sky and slams it into the adeptus' mouth.

"Ew! That's even worse!" Felix face-palms and looks away.

He slips into his worries while Chongyun chants something in the background. Then, Xiao starts to cough up some more blood. He gasps and shots up, stroking his throat.

"Oh my," Felix said, "Thank the Archons! Thanks, Zhongli!"

"Where-" Xiao coughs some more. "-am I?" He shakes his head. "And who are you?"

"We..." Felix looks at Chongyun, who is still breathing a sigh of relief. Shouldn't Xiao recognize Chongyun? "Don't know. About where we are, but I'm Fe- Bennett, and this is Chongyun. We found you bleeding lots. What happened?'

Xiao eyes widen and he glances down at the wound that has stopped bleeding. The egg did work!

"No, no, no, this can't be happening." Felix can almost hear Xiao muttering something under his breath as he... pinches his own arm? Felix watches as Xiao knocks at his own head.

"Wake up, Gui, wake up!" Gui? A bell rings in Felix's head.

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"Quick, quick, quick. Heal. Heal!" Felix screamed at his phone as he and his homies tried to beat Azhdaha in a rocking bus, going up a slippery hill. Cruck, cruck, his seat shook and his phone slipped from his grasp and fell to the floor. Shit!

As he bent down to pick it, he caught a glimpse of the dark grey skies outside, decorated with flashing white bolts of lightning like an early Christmas, if the Grinch took Santa's rein. What a day for a field trip, Felix thought. He brushed off some dirt off his phone and called everyone to stand in Bennett's circle.

"Get out of my way!" Shouted Gui from behind as his in-game character, Xiao, repeatedly plunged. His hp falling dangerously close to zero yet avoiding Bennett's heals.

"Come in! You're gonna die!" James yelled out next to Felix, spamming Chongyun's skill, and the word 'melt' filled the screen.

"Xiao's Anemo! Why did you bring a C6 Bennett??"

"It suits Chongyun! And swirl works with anything!" Felix spammed his normal attack and noticed a Lumine standing still out of the field. "And Addy, come help us!"

"Wait, let me eat some food buff."

"Why didn't you do that before the fight??"

<<Foolish mortals!>> The frog toad roared and hurled its bloated body into the air.

"Run out, run out!"

The brown bag of pure agony slammed into the ground sending shockwaves out, inhaling his Bennet's hp.

Suddenly, a bright light shone just above Felix's head with loud honks. He looked up just in time to see a big truck-kun heading towards his bus. His vision went dark as more honks could be heard. Vroom. HOOONK, SWISH, and KABOOM.
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"Xiao- I mean Gui?"

The teal-headed man looks at Felix, narrowing his eyebrows.

"Do I know you?"

"And," Felix turns to the cat-eyed boy, "James?" His listener grows wide-eyed.

"Yeah...?"

Felix inhales deeply.

"It-It's me, Felix! You-I-We, are probably Isekaii-ed!"

Xiao-Gui narrows his eyes and inspects his gloves. "No shit Sherlock."

"Does that mean..." They all look at each other and laugh. If the whole crew's here, there's one more left.