the ice flowing down the river between the rocks

Chapter 2

Childe's footstep echoed through the long halls of the ice palace. He was in a good mood, while playing with the pendant the Cryo Archon had given him. Not only had he been able to meet the Cryo Archon Lumine personally – something even rare among the Harbinger – she had also bestowed him with an important mission.
It was common knowledge that every country in Teyvat was ruled by an Archon – there were seven Archon, hence seven countries. It was said that only two of the original seven were still alive – the Geo Archon Morax and the Anemo Archon Barbatos. However, while still being alive, the Geo Archon had been sealed away many years ago. According to the legends, years ago during a great battle Morax had been poisoned. To stop the poison taking his power and using it for evil, Morax gave his Gnosis to a close friends for safekeeping and then let himself be sealed away, so he could fight the poison off, while still serving his people with his power. Over the years it seemed that this story turned into a legend and some people even in Liyue were of the opinion that it was just that.
However, since Lumine now ordered him to take care of the sealed Archon, there was no doubt that the legends where true. In conclusion he would be able to fight the strongest Archon in Teyvat and bring glory to his queen.

Of course, he was long past the years of being so naïve and believe that he was the strongest and could beat all enemies. Especially when it came to the Archons and their direct subordinates he should be careful. However, for now he should make plans on how to get the information he needs to break the seal.
Lumine has only given him one week to prepare, which was also his own fault for not saying that he needed more time.

The hardest part of his preparations was not the gathering of the needed materials, but the decision what to do. Which Archon should he visit first and how should he approach them? Should he be upfront with his appearance of not? Most Harbinger were on the sneaky side of things, while he preferred to be upfront and direct – he disliked scheming behind other people's back, but he also understood that sometimes things had to be done in a certain way.
Although Lumine has not given him a time frame in which he had to complete his mission, it was clear that he could not take forever and that his mission failed the moment Morax broke out of the seal himself! Therefore, the sooner he gathered all needed information and released the seal the better. If he used a scheme to get the information he wanted – at this point he also needed to clarify what kind of information he actually needed, which was also kind of hard, because he knew nothing about the seal itself – it would probably take years for him to finish the mission. Maybe that was enough time, but maybe he only had a few months.

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In the end he decided to go and visit the Pyro Archon first. The reasons were simple: First of all, it did not make any sense to visit a country that is far away from Snezhnaya, so choosing either Mondstadt or Natlan, since both countries had borders with Snezhnaya. Secondly, it also was unwise to visit an Archon, who no one knew the whereabouts of, hence Mondstadt was not an option anymore – also the Anemo Archon and the Geo Archon were friends, so it was probably impossible to get any information from the Anemo Archon how to get rid of the Geo Archon. And last but not least, from what he had heard of the Pyro Archon was titled the "God of War"! As someone, who sought fights and longed to be stronger, this knowledge was another factor that influenced his decision greatly.

While Snezhnaya was the land of eternal ice, Natlan was the land of eternal fire. Snezhnaya was cold all year around and every inch of it was covered in a thick layer of white soft snow. If one didn't watch out it was easy to lose a limb or two when standing around outside for too long – especially during the winter nights. Due to its extreme weather only a few animals lived in the wildness and for humans it was a struggle to get enough food. However, every living being in Snezhnaya lived with a strong will and strength! Those who withstood the extreme would never bend down in face to struggles!
Natlan was the complete opposite of Snezhnaya.
Instead of snow it was hot sand and bare rocks. According to the information Childe had gathered, similar to Snezhnaya only a few animal lived in the wildness, but those that did were fearless and often very poisonous. The citizens of Natlan had to fight against the never ending heat, aggressive and poisonous animal and rare resources like water and food. To Childe it sounded like he would get along very well with the people there. Also, if the Pyro Archon was titled the "God of War" then didn't this also mean that she was not interested in scheming behind other people's back? Childe valued people like that!