ᴛʜᴇ ᴅɪᴠɪɴᴇ

ᴀᴄᴛ 1 - ʟɪʏᴜᴇ ᴀʀᴄ 3

 Chapter Five

Standing near the teleport waypoint that, regardless of their many tries, did not respond to them, they look down at Liyue Harbor. The stars dance across the night sky, suspended by their tiny cables invisible to the eye. They twinkle and sparkle, synchronized like a swarm of tiny ballet dancers. Y/N thinks wistfully about their home.

Night in Teyvat is so much brighter than in the real world...

They peer into the never-ending abyss of the night sky once more before setting off toward Liyue Harbor with a heavy heart. Their short- yet long— trek ends when they are stopped by two Millelith who look them up and down before letting them pass, without a second thought.

Once Y/N gets into the city, they marvel at the largeness of it all. The way that all the buildings are much, much, bigger than the game made them seem, and how the candlelit lanterns flicker softly to the rhythm of the wind awes them. Teyvat truly has its own laws.

Looking around, they try to find anyone they recognize. Whether it be an important NPC or a character. Eventually they spot Xingqiu and Chongyun walking down the street together, talking to each other quietly. Y/N smiles softly as they notice an ice popsicle in Chongyun's hand. They try to recall his story, but their mind comes up blank. They never really paid attention to the lore as much as they should have, but kind of remember that the popsicles helped with something.

Shrugging off the thought for later, they approach the two boys and tap one of them on the shoulder.

"Hi, I'm very sorry for bothering you, but I was wondering if you could point me in the direction of the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor?"

The two boys exchange glances before Xingqiu starts talking, eying them suspiciously due to their somewhat odd attire.

"Why do you want to go there?"

Y/N gives them an awkward smile, trying to ignore the pounding in their chest, knowing the two could obliterate them really fast if they wanted to. Quickly, they come up with the excuse that they are there from Mondstadt and are here to gather information about Liyue's culture.

Luckily, the two buy the excuse enough that they don't ask anymore questions and lead them to Wangsheng funeral parlor. Thanking them, they step in and are quickly greeted by Hu Tao's eccentric personality.

"Hello!! Are you here to buy a casket? We have a 50% discount for fresh corpses!"

Y/N smiles awkwardly, forgetting how much... energy Hu Tao has. They shake their head no and instead ask if they can talk to Zhongli. Hu Tao's smile fades a bit and she stares at them strangely, but still turns and calls for "Mr. Zhongli."

Slowly, a tall figure walks out into the room. A calm smile is evident on his face as he greets their guest and asks Hu Tao to leave so that the two can talk in private. He turns to them and asks if they would like to take a seat. Y/N nods and sits down at one of the many tables in the funeral parlor.

Smiling, they speak, trying to lower the octave of their voice a little so there's almost no chance for Zhongli to recognize them. They breathe in deeply, trying to gather the courage to speak to such a powerful figure.

"Hello, I was told by some... friends that you know a lot of history. There's one thing I'd like to ask you about, if that's possible?"

Zhongli nods in approval wondering what they are going to ask; so they continue, the cordial smile they had plastered on their face to seem friendly giving way to somewhat of a true smile.

Let's hope he doesn't freak out.

"When I lived in Mondstadt, I was never informed about..." They pause for a second, catching what they were about to say. "Our creator. I was wondering if you could give me some information about them?"