I Plead, Your Majesty, For Forgiveness

Chapter 2

The answer will never be handed to you.

—

The Anemo Archon held his ground, doing his best to succeed against the internal battle of his own morals. However, he was never one to restrain others nor himself. Although one of the eldest, he believed himself to be the weakest. He was the first.

The connection severed mere minutes after it began.

◇◆◇◆

It was humiliating having to trek all the way back to Dragonspine. The hours taken for the journey left a bitter taste on their tongue, leaving them with irritation and anguish as their joints ached. The Samachurl's healing was not as profound as it was in the game apparently. They quickened their pace as the wind picked up, beating their heart against their chest as they bit at their lower lip to restrain the whimper that threatened to leave. 

It'd be incredibly hard to forgive Venti for what he's done. He didn't even give them the satisfaction of drawing his string to release an arrow into them; they didn't even get to see the bow they paid for. And, honestly, they weren't sure if they should be offended by that fact or not. 

Their thoughts scrambled as their foot caught against something, sending them tumbling into the snow as they reached the border of Dragonspine. They pushed themselves up from the floor, spitting out the snow, as the Cryo slime they tripped over hopped anxiously around. An amused, almost condescending, laugh echoed around them, startling both the Creator and the slime. [Eye Colour] irises connected with bright teal ones; however, they lowered their gaze towards the neck of the holder to see the regular star that sat on the jugular was nowhere to be seen.
 

The laughter immediately stopped at this. 

"How did you realise already?" The scornful tone caught them off guard, and it helped them connect the dots. The Shadows Amidst Mountains event. "You..." The prototype trailed off, reluctantly bowing his head as a sigh left his lips. "My apologies." He murmured, but they could tell he didn't mean it. "I didn't mean to mock you, Your Grace."

They blinked. And then blinked again. "My what?" The blond lifted his head, narrowing his eyes at the question.

"Your Grace." He repeated, hesitant now as his worries spiked up. Was that not the right thing to refer to them as? "Your Majesty?" He tried again, but received another blink. "Divine Creator?"

"So I am this 'Divine Creator'?" Irritation bubbled in his veins at the ignorance, so he simply nodded to refrain from lashing out. "... So I'm being killed for nothing?" The anger dissipated. 

"I beg your pardon?" He didn't even bother to correct his tone or formality, tilting his head at the news whilst he tried to wrap his mind around the situation. 

"I've... I wonder if I bled out." That didn't answer his question at all, but he shook it off as the Creator ushered him to follow. "So what do I call you?" He heard them question, breaking the silence (aside from the hops of the slime that refused to back off) between the two as they walked. "I doubt your name is actually Subject Two." His eyes narrowed at the disrespect. "And considering you were the first..." They trailed off, sending a glance to him before ending the sentence. "Sorry. I didn't mean to be insensitive." 

He basked in the apology, watching them dip their head to him (similar to how he did to them) as he averted his gaze. "Don't worry about it. I didn't get a title." He lowered his voice, refusing to make eye contact as they hummed.