Glaze Lily || Genshin Impact

♡

Christmas is a time of getting together with family, friends, and other beloveds. It is not something that Zhongli is in practice of, but it warms his heart that his people share the gift of joy to each other intensely during this particular day. Kids ecstatic to open their parents' gifts, couples sharing their love to each other under a small plant known to be a mistletoe (a hanging plant exported from Snezhnaya), and families visiting their relatives since their last get-together. Zhongli roams the streets of Liyue in endearment for the denizens.

All under the happiness lies a mountain of pain, as he recalls his last memory of Christmas.

-

"Rex, look! It looks so beautiful, no?"

Rex Lapis turns around from his view on Mount Tianheng, the woman behind him squatting as she cups the Glaze Lily that had recently bloomed. She gives him a wide grin as she continues to coo the flower.

"It is surprising that a flower such as a Glaze Lily exists in a terrain like this. They would normally have bloomed in a dampier area, like Dihua Marsh."

The woman rolls her eyes, "Don't be such a downer, Morax. It's no fun! Let the flower live where it wants to live."

She stands up from her crouching position, dusting her hands on her dress. He chuckles and walks off, his gloveless hands clasping each other under his thick sleeves, "We must go, that yaksha has little patience."

"Yes, sir!"

Arriving at Wangshu Inn, Zhongli climbs up the stairs with the woman in tow, her mindless hums filling the silence between them. She carries a picnic basket, and while Morax insists that he carry it. She shuts him down almost immediately, claiming that "she made the food so she gets to carry it." Zhongli could only sigh in defeat as they went on their journey to the balcony, where their adeptus currently resides.

"Xiao, Xiao! We're here!"

The woman skips past Zhongli in search of the emerald-haired male. Scouting the balcony, she senses the yaksha sitting atop of the roof.

"Get down there, young man. We brought some food to feast!"

The said man pouts, hopping off. He nods to Zhongli in acknowledgement who starts draping the blanket on the wooden floor. The innkeeper and her husband had gone home to celebrate Christmas with their family, leaving the inn to the residing adeptus.

"Why do we even celebrate this... mortal tradition?"

The woman smacks Xiao's head, "It's supposed to be a time where people get together with the people they love, and so we do! I'm here with the people I love, isn't it fitting?"

She smiles at both Zhongli and Xiao, the latter rolling his eyes while the former chuckling under his breath, used to their antics.

"Plus, don't you get lonely here? If you want a home to go to, Morax and I-"

"Yeah, yeah, you and Morax have a place in Liyue that I can go to."

The woman claps happily while Xiao grumbles under his breath. Zhongli brings the picnic basket that has been casted aside while the two were talking and places it in between them.

"Best to serve the food warm. Let us dine."

The woman brings the basket closer to her and brings out Xiao's favourite dish, Almond Tofu, with an exception of her own twist to it. She places it delicately in front of him, a smile gracing her face watching his reaction. She brings out another dish, naming it "Slow-Cooked Bamboo Shoot Soup" (much to Zhongli's annoyance over the long name), and places it in front of him, careful not to spill the soup. Then, she brings out her own share of food, naming it "Adeptus' Temptation" after the one time Xiao and Ganyu had been first fed the cuisine, and whilst Morax had been snickering at them in the background, the two young adepti had been drooling over the soup. She decides to name it then.

The trio began eating and conversing, cherishing each other's companies. It was more so of the woman retelling some mundane things she witnessed in the Harbor, but it was enough for the three.

They had been peacefully talking amongst themselves when a distinctively loud roar booms the landscape, startling the group. Zhongli and Xiao had their spears ready for combat, the woman with her spell book. In the distance, they spot a hovering man, huge tentacles surrounding him. He cackles, spotting the three in the inn.

"Score to settle, Morax. Did you forget or were you too content living your normal life out here while I had to suffer under the bottomless void of the ocean, regaining my energy back?"

Zhongli frowns. He hears the woman click her tongue behind him, "What a nuisance."

"I, Osial, Overlord of the Vortex, am here to claim my revenge!"

Only she can make him laugh at a time like this, but something tells him that Osial is in no joking terms. He ushers to Xiao, who immediately understands, and teleports to the foot of the inn, rushing towards the Overlord.

Morax turns to the woman and gives her a lingering kiss on the forehead, "Stay safe."

She smiles warmly at him and prepares a safety spell on him and Xiao, "As well as you, my dear."

Zhongli jumps off the building and runs towards the Overlord, hacking and slashing through his tentacles. Xiao had been able to get a few hits on Osial, but not causing enough damage to stun him.

Her green vision starts to glow brightly as the woman summons poisonous vines to keep Osial grounded, latching onto his tentacles and successfully numbing them, rendering them useless. This puts the trio at an advantage as the yaksha and the archon charge for the core.

Rex Lapis summons a meteor, and before the meteor hits Osial, the remainder of his tentacles soften its landing, and eventually catapults it away from him in order to not get hurt.

Unfortunately for the two, Osial launches it to the inn.

The inn, where the woman is.

Morax's vision turns red, and in the blink of an eye, Osial's human host is beheaded, his body plunges to the ground while his head is whisked away, Xiao muttering a seal on it in hopes of completely stopping the Overlord from attaining its revenge. The body and the tentacles soon disappear into a yellow talisman prepared by the green-haired yaksha, and seals it away. He turns around to give Rex Lapis the talisman only to find him missing. In shock, he finds the inn to be partially destroyed in the area where the woman had been earlier.

He teleports to the vicinity in search of his lord, only to see him cradling the woman, murmuring sweet nothings to her.

"Morax... Please..."

He shakes his head, tears streaming down his face. The woman wearily brings her hand to his face, wiping the tears away, "It's alright, my love. It was bound to happen one way or another, and it was my fault for not being careful even when you said so yourself."

Morax pleads, his heartstrings snapping at his beloved's words, "It was never your fault. If only I had been more-"

The woman softly giggles only for golden blood to spurt out and she coils over in pain, "Don't put the blame on yourself. Just promise me you will take care of Xiao and yourself especially, alright?"

Zhongli could only nod, and seemingly satisfied, the woman smiles, bringing her hand to his face once more before her soul escapes her body. Xiao could feel his own heart shatter into a million pieces seeing his mother die and his lord in shambles. Unsure, hurt, dejected, shaken, defeated. From then on, Xiao's nightmares only consist of Rex Lapis screaming for your name as he holds you in his arms like his life depended on it. And it did.

The Glaze Lily in Mt. Tianheng wilts.

-

Zhongli sits on the top of Mt. Tianheng, looking over Liyue Harbor. With him, he brings a small pot of Adeptus' Temptation and two smaller bowls, removing it from the picnic basket. He hears footsteps nearing him, and he pats down on the grass beside him, motioning Xiao to sit. The yaksha does what he's told, and silently thanks Zhongli for the small bowl of the soup. The two gaze over the city below, melancholy filling the atmosphere as they reminisce on the event that happened this very moment. The gloved man brings his bowl to his lips, whispering.

"Merry Christmas."