𝐅𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐗𝐢𝐚𝐨 ―𝐠. 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐭

19 || Duty

It was the evening, a day after the lantern festival. The sun was just starting to set over the horizon, the hues of orange and blue illuminating the waters of the land below. You sat on the balcony of Wangshu Inn and admired the view before turning your attention to the god beside you.

"The weather is nice, don't you think?" you hummed, taking a deep breath of the fresh air.

"I agree," the Lord of Geo remarked as he looked beyond the horizon. After a moment of comfortable silence, he asked casually, "How have you and Xiao been?"

"What do you mean?"

"You are never promised to find love. But when found, it is quite beautiful, no?"

You widened your eyes for a second before relaxing them with a smile.

"What can I say?" you chuckled, your hands gently clasped on your lap. You looked down and rubbed your thumb against your hand. "He found me."

"How strange, to hear those words come from you. You, who looked at me with such heartless eyes the first day we met," Zhongli murmured. Despite his harsh words, there was warmth in his voice as he recalled old memories. He had watched you turn to violence to appease your evergrowing grief time and time again as someone dear to you passed on. He watched your childish soul turn cold every time you mourned for someone who had no one left to mourn for them. And now, he watched as you opened your heart up again, slowly but surely.

The god closed his eyes as the hues of orange died over the marsh, taking a sip of the still-warm tea.

"They do say that love changes a person," you muttered tenderly as you swirled the cup in your hands. "Do you wanna hear about it?"

"Spare me your utterings," he scoffed jokingly, glancing at you before the two of you laughed together. There was a feeling of pride that swelled in your chest, knowing that you and Morax were once again companions who could laugh over subjects like these. Gone were the worries that he harbored resentment towards you for your failure to protect Guizhong; you knew that she had long forgiven you, and you trusted what Rex Lapis once told you: he never blamed you.

"What will you do now?" asked the stoic god, returning to the conversation at hand. At his question, you looked out into the distance with a frown. What were you to do now? As much as you would love to deepen the relationship...

You refilled your cup as you answered, "Ultimately, it's up to him. Although I'm equally as inexperienced, he has more to think about than I do. And it seems like he finally set his mind on doing something as well...Speak of the devil." You paused, feeling the wind around you change directions.

The two of you sat in silence as you waited for Xiao to appear before you, whisps of anemo particles dissipating around him. He kneeled in greeting before rising to his feet, his eyes brimming with determination. There was some hesitancy wavering around him, his mouth slightly opened as he tried to speak his words, but it disappeared the moment he saw you. With a deep breath, he said, "My Lord, I have guarded this place for hundreds of years. Only to seek the nameless Yaksha do I request your approval." His eyes met with yours. You smiled.

"This trip may be dangerous, and yet you insist on going..." Morax sighed as he looked at you, nodding. He already knew now that there was no turning back, that Xian's determination was set in stone and his mind made when you appeased his worries at the lantern festival. There was no doubt that you were a cornerstone of the Yaksha's self-esteem and his will. Crossing his legs, he rested his arm on his knee while he watched you greet Xiao.

"Here," you stated as you took out a vial from your robe, "this medication differs from the elixir for your karmic debt. It's targetted to give immediate pain relief, but you should drink it only as a last resort. And for wounds--" you took out another vial, this one more solid than the other-- "this is a salve you should apply as soon as possible." Before he could take the medications from you, you withdrew your hand.