Meraki

Part 2 Chapter 4: Valley of Stardust

Zhongli turned his head in Sying's direction. Venti had a shocked expression on his face and kept glancing at the two Archons. Zhongli noticed the hurt expression on Sying's face and sighed.

"How long have you known?" He asked quietly.

"Since we met at Liuli Pavilion. I'm not stupid, Morax." Sying responded, crossing his arms.

"Astral, maybe you should calm down. I'm sure he has a good reason!" Barbatos pleaded. The Nova Archon ignored the bard and walked up to his older brother. His tail swung back and forth as he grabbed Zhongli by the collar of his shirt.

"What were you thinking? Is this some kind of joke? Is this funny to you, Morax?" Sying growled.

"Astral, I—" Zhongli tried to speak, but Sying cut him off by slamming him into the Statue of the Eight.

"Shut up. I wasn't done talking." The adeptus commanded. His eyes glowed a menacing dark blue as he continued. "I was worried sick about you. I thought you had actually died, and I was fully prepared to destroy your killer." Sying let go of Zhongli and backed away with a laugh. "Only to find out, it was all a lie! I must be some kind of fool, huh? Is that what you think of me, Morax!?"

"Astral, please, give him time to explain!" Venti interjected, standing in between the two gods. Sying shook his head and pushed the bard aside.

"Morax, you know how I feel about death. So, start talking. This is the only opportunity you'll get." The Nova Archon threatened. Zhongli cleared his throat before meeting Sying's angry gaze.

"The time of the adepti is ending, and so is the time of Rex Lapis. Liyue is able to survive on its own, now. I was simply thinking of my nation, Astral." The Geo Archon answered.

"Liar! Don't play games with me!" Sying snarled, showing his fangs. "You made a contract, didn't you?"

"How did you figure that out?" Rex Lapis wondered.

"I told you I'm not stupid! I can always tell when you lie." Astral replied.

"Yes, Astral. I made a contract to end all contracts with the Tsaritsa. My part is to hand her my Gnosis." Morax sighed.

"You, you're an idiot." Sying hissed. "You really think she'll keep her end of the deal?"

"You can't blame me for putting my nation first. That's what you did, isn't it?" Zhongli spoke.

"And look how that turned out! My whole nation was destroyed and everyone living there was killed! How dare you think this is the same as Khaenri'ah! It's nowhere close to that situation!" Astral infused his fist with Nova energy as Barbatos tried to hold his arm back. "I'll kill you."

"Hey guys, I'm back with the perfume!" Aether's voice called out. The Outlander noticed Sying's face and ran over. "Is there something wrong?" Aether's voice seemed to get through to Sying, and the god punched the Statue of the Eight Zhongli was in front of. Geo particles flew out from it and a large dent could be seen.

"Nothing's wrong. So, you got the perfumes?" Sying answered, facing Aether with a somewhat calm expression on his face.

"Yeah. It was really weird, but that's besides the point. Did you guys get into a fight or something?" Aether said.

"No we did not. We simply have differences in opinion, is all." Zhongli commented.

"Oh, alright then." Aether stated and placed all three perfumes at the base of the Statue. He explained that the first one appealed to younger girls, the second one was for women of high society, and the third was more for older women. After a moment of silence, a yellow-orange glow shone around the last perfume bottle.