𝐀𝐦𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐚 || Zhongli x M!Reader

☆ 4.

"How did Morax pass away?" Asked (M/N), a frown plastered on his face as he stared at the open scroll before him. The picture depicted a large brown dragon, surrounded by minor deities and gods.

    "What?" Said Zhongli, caught off guard, but he regained his composure quickly, coughing before speaking again, "Why would you want to know that?"

    "I'm merely curious," stated (M/N), knowing he was lying to himself. Zhongli seemed to pick up on the fact too, but decided to remain silent rather than say anything. Instead, he only obliged (M/N), deciding to tell him the truth, or, rather, an altered version.

    "During the Rite of Ascension," Zhongli started, as serious as ever, "Morax was supposedly assassinated, leading many people to believe that the Traveller, who saved you, was the culprit."

    "That's insane!" Exclaimed (M/N), brows furrowing, "He would never do anything of the sort! Don't tell me he got in trouble for it..."

    "Thankfully, many, if not all, suspicions were vanquished after the traveller saved Liyue from an attack by Osial," (M/N) nodded as Zhongli spoke, visions of the sea monster forming in his head, though they were still foggy, "Now, Liyue remains as a godless land. Does that answer your question?"

The part-adeptus nodded, though his frown was ever present. Zhongli noticed this and his gaze softened, as if he knew what it was like to be in (M/N)'s shoes, but how could he?

"It's frustrating," (M/N) burst out, "first, I wake up to find that most of those I once knew are dead, and now this... Do you think I might've been able to see Morax one more time if I'd been found just a bit sooner?" Zhongli's eyes widened slightly, a glimmer of pain almost visible.

"You seem to care for him a lot," Zhongli noted offhandedly, trying to resist letting his eyes dart back to (M/N) more than once, "Did you know him?" He sounded as if he was testing the waters, not wanting to say something that he didn't want the other man to hear.

"I'm... not too clear on the details myself," (M/N) admitted, rubbing his temples, "I remember being close to him, and caring for him greatly... perhaps more than was healthy for me." He chuckled, but still seemed not entirely satisfied.

Seeing as neither wanted to pursue the conversation much further, they dropped the subject, instead focusing on relearning Liyue's history.

Over the course of a couple hours, (M/N) felt his skull get cramped with information, as if he was a child attempting to learn the complex laws of calculus or some other foreign matter. From what he gathered, the Archon war had ended 2000 years ago, forming 7 Archons.

Though he wasn't certain of a couple, a striking image of a bard with a bottle of alcohol popped up in his head at the mere mention of the Anemo Archon. He thanked Zhongli again for his help once their time had come to a close, gathering a couple of the scrolls for personal study later in the night, but something was still bugging him.

(M/N) walked towards his room, sitting down and burying his face back into the feather mattress, trying to sort out his own emotions. He felt lost, angry, maybe, but most of all, he felt alone.

    As the logical person that he was, he hated being left on an open end like this. He didn't know who he was, didn't know why he was here, and didn't know why his heart was aching like this. He thought back to Morax and the scroll, then to Zhongli's words.

(M/N) shook his head, trying to get the vision of the golden-horned god out of his mind. He was unsure if he was just grieving or if he was just confused. It'd been a shock to find out many people whose names he recognized were dead, not to mention his god.