Dragon Daddies (Genshin Men x Reader)

Guilt and Grief

While you slept, Crepus walked outside to the low light of your red protection sigil at the border of the vineyard. A small tribe of Hilichurls stood at the edge of the property.

Crepus stood facing them, but kept his distance down the dirt path.

"Dad?" Kaeya asked cautiously from behind him.

"It's alright. Keep your sword sheathed." Crepus replied, calm.

Kaeya approached his father's side as a Hilichurl walked towards the protective boundary sigil.

The Hilichurl took one more step, and in an instant, he drifted away in dust. No scream, no cry... no pain.

Kaeya's eyes widened in disbelief "What-"

"It's alright." Crepus soothed as he placed a hand on his son's shoulder.

"What is this..."

Crepus exhaled slowly. "Priest's mercy."

Kaeya shook his head. "I don't understand."

"There are two places in Teyvat that the Hilichurls migrate towards at the end of their long lives. One is the Chasm in Liyue, where the Sovereign Dragon Azhdaha once dwelled. The other is the Dawn Winery. They can find a quick and painless death here."

"Sovereign Dragon?" Kaeya turned towards Crepus. "I overheard Alhaitham talking to Lisa about the Sovereigns. He asked if she thought a Sovereign cursed the people of Khaenri'ah."

Crepus looked down. "Hm. It's understandable that people search for an alternate answer to the source of the curse. The idea that Celestia, a force above our archons, would be so cruel to innocent people can cast doubt on the morality and divinity of the archons we worship..."

"But- They said the sovereign was tortured. That it was her revenge?"

"I see." Crepus's eyes returned to the border, where another Hilichurl stepped into the red light and vanished. "If you were captured and tortured by a few, would you seek vengeance against an entire population?"

"I- I would hope I would not. But I can't begin to imagine what-"

"What if it was someone you loved? Who was captured, tortured..."

Kaeya turned towards his father.

Crepus's focus remained on the Hilichurls. "I'm fortunate that my experience with guilt and grief is limited. But even with that limited experience, I know that what I would do in defense of myself is nothing compared to the lengths I'd go to if something happened to you. To Diluc... To Priest."

"... Did the Sovereign have a-"

"That is a conversation for another night. Don't stay out here too long, son." Crepus turned to head inside.

Kaeya, once he was alone, lifted his eye patch to watch the last two Hilichurls enter the red light when they were ready. He stood guard as his father did, to make sure they were not disturbed in their final moments.

---

That same night, Moon Carver stepped out from his mountaintop domain and galloped down towards the valley. He found the archon seated against a long-sealed stone wall. "...Rex Lapis." The adeptus bowed his heavy antlers.

"Did you hear it, too?" The human form Zhongli asked with a low, heavy voice. He removed his hand from over the gold stone brooch on his chest, where it had rested while he sat there alone.

"Yes. Rare, but not unprecedented. Last time was a few hundred years ago." When the archon did not reply, Moon Carver shifted to a form to match his, and moved slowly to sit by his side... Something he'd learned long ago from watching you. He sat there quietly, and patiently, until Rex Lapis finally spoke.