Lilith Myra Genshin

Chapter 11: Ajax

"Child, where are you?" Calls Lilith from the hall, finding no trace of the little girl anywhere in the mansion, "child?"

"You call?" Replies an amused voice from behind her, causing her to jump.

Lilith spins around to face the intruder, putting a dagger constructed of ice to his neck, only making him grin more.

Lilith's blade falls to her side as she recognizes the intruder- made hard to miss by his bright orange hair, "Ajax."

"Yup! No need to stare, I know I'm-" Lilith cuts him off, leveling him with an unamused glare, not having time for the child- CHILDE's antics.

"Where is she, Ajax?" Snarls Lilith, her patience dwindling.

"Woah- simmer down, girlie!" He laughs playfully, putting his hands up in mock surrender, his tone darkening, "the real question is what are you doing here, Hyacinth? I thought you were supposed to be in Inazuma with the rest of the troops."

Lilith can only shake her head in frustration, grimacing at her foolish subordinate. She needs to find Anzhela- there's no saying what the harbinger could have done to the poor little girl. So, in a last ditch attempt- Lilith asks the one question she knew Ajax couldn't refuse.

"What say you to a duel, Ajax? If I win, then you must tell me what you've done to the child," Lilith replies calmly, her once prickly demeanor glazing over into an unreadable facade.

"Really?" He exclaims, face lighting up with elation, eyes glinting with excitement, "Let us fight then!"

He must not be right in the head.

No sooner than Lilith assumes proper fighting stance, curtsying with respect she most certainly doesn't feel, Ajax is already sending blows in her direction.

The two exchange a flurry of blows and attacks- Lilith entertaining their duel for a while as to not crush the prideful harbinger's fragile ego. Despite Lilith's attempts to be a courteous opponent, she has never been someone known to wait.

Swiftly, Lilith disarms Ajax, her ice forged dagger once again pressed up against his neck.

Rather than fighting back or denying his loss, Ajax breaks into a mad grin, eyes feverish and alive. He reaches his hand up shakily, grasping onto the blade with desperation, etching it into his own skin, drawing a thin trail of blood, like a crimson river over his pale skin.

"What do you think you're doing?" Lilith chides, glowering up at the man, her expression equally irate and exhausted, "are all the Tsaritsa's followers now incompetent fools?"

Ajax shakes himself out of whatever haze he was in, returning to his usual demeanor.

"Apologies, Hyacinth- I was merely caught of guard by your prowess. Had I known you to be so capable I would've rather liked to have a longer conversation with you when we met before your departure to Inazuma," he replies, choosing to ignore her barbed comments.

Lilith can only sigh, crushing the blade in her palm into a thousand crystalline shards of ice at her feet.

"Enough of these pleasantries, Ajax- take me to the child," she demands, jabbing an accusatory finger at his chest to which he only laughs, a giddy sort of expression briefly gracing his boyish features.

"Alright, alright, geez," he replies teasingly, beckoning for her to follow him as he walks down the corridors of the quiet mansion. They come upon the kitchen door, and he opens it quietly, smiling.

There, to Lilith's utmost surprise, is young Anzhela Sokolov sitting at the counter, a warm homemade bowl of stew sitting before her, her cheeks flushed from the warmth. Lilith had barely managed to get Anzhela out of her room in the days following her arrival at the mansion- and the girl scarcely bore such a comforted expression. Lilith turned her eyes to look up at Ajax, looking upon him in a new light. Perhaps the Tsaritsa's army was full not of violent fools but children still mourning the loss of the life they were denied- children with nowhere to turn but the snowy manor for salvation.

AN: Someone had replied to make the story Childe x Lilith- but I'll try to include a variety of pairings :)