Remember Me at Summer's End [ZhongChi/TartaLi]

Chapter 12 - Understanding

24th Day, 8th Month

"This one suggests we transfer the stone table."

"Ludicrous. One cannot hope to transport an entire table to Liyue without incurring serious damages."

"Then perhaps the exuvia's horn—"

"Blasphemy! We cannot desecrate our Lord's corpse in order to—"

"Is it technically his corpse if he is not dead?"

They've been at it for hours. Their group reassembled in the adeptal realm's courtyard, hundreds of ideas, suggestions and solutions have been thrown around by every adeptus in the adode, although all have ultimately led to nothing. Every adeptus sans Xiao, that is; he is recovering from his ordeal in a secluded sub-abode to the north of the sky-island.

Childe has been thinking too, although he is yet to voice those thoughts.

"Unless you intend to fight Rex Lapis himself, this one believes securing a convincing enough distraction to allow the Conqueror of Demons to extract the artifact may not be possible."

He could fight Morax. He could distract Zhongli so that Xiao is free to retrieve the Memory's Folly. It's a plan, and a plan better than anything the rest of them have come up with so far. However, there are two questions remaining, two stubborn roadblocks obstructing his mastermind solution.

The first is a question of time. Childe held Zhongli's attention for easily an hour, and it hadn't been enough. Even if Xiao can work quicker come the next time, they aren't looking at a small-scale solution.

The second question: he can fight Morax, but can he survive?

It's a question he asked himself before his mission to retrieve the gnosis, but on the day he'd left Snezhnaya, Her Majesty had sent him away with a cool nod; a symbol of her unyielding faith in his strength.

Or so he thought at the time.

Now it's clear she never meant for him to fight Morax at all.

His purpose, his drive to toil every scrap of strength from this world, is to go to glorious battle against the gods of Celestia, sat overfed on power on their false thrones. But the thought of going to fight this god in particular doesn't bring the rush of excitement he's used to.

He also has his obligations to The Tsaritsa. He gave his word to fight for her as long as he is able. It is his duty as her weapon to be ready and available for her; he cannot forget that he is her weapon, but a tiny, intruding thought curls at the edge of his mind: if a weapon is broken, does its obligation to duty still hold?

Cloud Retainer's voice pulls him back to the present, "Let us disperse for midday nourishment. Discussions shall resume in two hours."

The adepti disperse in a flash of feathers, hooves, and feet, and Childe is left alone on the stone chair that has been working his buttocks numb since early that morning. The heroes of this tale don't care to include the villain at their table, and the villain doesn't get to play a part in the heroics; he's accepted that for a long time.

He accepted it the day he received his Delusion from Her Majesty.

But he doesn't want to accept it today.

"Human Childe." Cloud Retainer approaches from the path behind him, a package hung around her neck. "Please could you bring this to the Conqueror of Demons. It shall assist in his recovery."

"Sure." Childe gets up to slip it off over her head and slings it over his shoulder. "Sure beats sitting around."

Giving her a quick nod, Childe sets off across the fields toward Xiao's abode within the abode. Regardless of what he can or cannot do, the current priority is ensuring Xiao's recovery, or there'll be no retrieving any artifact.