This isn't real

Gone forever?

TW: yelling, glass breaking, insults, grief, blood, gore. If you uncomfortable with any, feel free to skip parts or just not read the chapter.

Furious, guilty, scared and determined to find Zhongli and explain everything, Childe bolted out of the library in a desperate attempt to locate the brunette.

"Zhongli, please, I can explai-" Childe found that Zhongli was in his bedroom but he  was slapped again. But this time, Zhongli had his claws out, and he hit harder than the day he found out Childe was hurt. Childe started stuttering as he touched the wound on his cheek. He felt blood drip down, staining his clothes.

"SHUT IT!" Zhongli slammed his claws on the table, creating deep dents and holes into the wood. This was the first time he had yelled. When he turned to look at Childe, his eyes were neither his amber ones or liquid gold ones but entirely black with a thin gold dot as a pupil. His blood vessels were showing through his skin and the sound of ripping cloth was heard when his tail and horns appeared. Scales encircled his face and body as he glared at him. This is what Morax, god of contracts, god of war and prime adeptus truly looked like. He was no soft mortal that would allow himself to get played around like a doll that gets thrown away at anyone's will. Not now, not ever, never again.

"I trusted you...but you're all the same! People like you only want me for my status and body! I'm not a fucking trophy!" Angry tears poured down his face as he stormed out the room, Childe protesting behind him. But Childe's own temper had begun to rise. He loved Zhongli yet sometimes he could be so stubborn. This was one of those times.

"I DIDN'T KNOW! HOW WAS I SUPPOSED TO KNOW THAT SHE WAS GOING TO DO THAT?!" Childe had lost it. He raised his own voice and before he knew it, Childe had hurled some vase at Zhongli. The vase hit the back of the brunette's head, who turned around in shock. Gold was dripping from the wound to the floor instead of crimson red blood. Zhongli then retaliated by yelling some more at Childe. This argument slowly grew even more heated until Zhongli had screamed and Childe felt the rocks move beneath him.

"THAT'S IT! GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY SIGHT!" Zhongli stormed off, clearly serious. But Childe was still too frustrated at both Lumine and Zhongli to think straight.

"WELL FINE! I GUESS YOU ARE A SPOILT BRAT! I WISH YOU NEVER EVEN CAME HERE IN THE FIRST PLACE!" Childe yelled after Zhongli. All of this commotion actually attracted Tsaritsa and the other harbingers, who had all returned (just Scara, Signora and Dottore), and they were watching the two of them fight. As Zhongli stormed off, the ground shaking at his each step, Childe folded his arms and glared after him.

"What the fuck Ed Sheeran?" Scaramouche was shaking with anger. As cold as he was, even Scara had taken a small liking to Zhongli. I mean, who wouldn't?

"Childe...explain what happened. Now." Tsaritsa had the concerned mother look in her eyes. But a still angry Childe wasn't giving a clear answer. "Calm down first and then tell us."

Tsaritsa pulled Childe into a hug and slowly led all four of them into the dining room. It took about twenty minutes for Childe to calm down from his rage spurt and when he did, he realized how much he fucked up.

"Lumine...she kissed me...in front of Zhongli...and then I got angry...and I chased him away...It's all my fault..." Tears of shame were pouring down his face and his voice trembling as he recollected the vase, Lumine's grin and most of all, Zhongli's tears and screams. All of it was his fault. Signora sighed as she hit Childe lightly on his back.

"I forgot how much of a pain in the ass you can be when mad." Dottore was looking at a vial of suspicious white glowy liquid.

"Well, I have to tell Ningguang. Hopefully both of you will fix things. Me and Ningguang already signed a contract. And they take contracts very seriously in Liyue." Tsaritsa got up and headed towards the door. "I'm going to send Lumine back to Celestia. Aether's going to stay."

"Do whatever you need to get rid of that bitch." Childe buried his face into his hands and actually began sobbing. Hard.

"Big brother? Why is there a ship docked with the Liyue symbol on it? Didn't everyone leave last week?" Tonia had pried the door open and peeked at the four of them seated at the table.

"No..." Childe stood up in an instant, knocking the chair as he did so. He bolted for the entrance of the castle and ran all the way to the docks. But he was too late. Childe only managed to get a glimpse of the long wavy amber tipped hair he loved running his fingers through so much before the ship disappeared into nothingness. Curling up into a ball on the freezing wood, Childe laid there and cried the hardest he had in years at the loss of the most important thing in the world for him.

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