The Rebellion〚Childe x Zhongli〛➷

𝓒𝓱𝓪𝓹𝓽𝓮𝓻 2 | Dragons Reign

When I wake up, the village is a quiet little thing. Too quiet for my own good. Usually the village was something more vibrant in the mornings, full of life and voices, but today, I can't hear anybody. I slowly get out of bed and yawn, I think I've overslept. "Dad! Are you home!?" I yell and not a single voice interrupts mine, I'm bombarded with a thousand thoughts rummaging through my head like lost feathers. This isn't normal. Not that my father was always busy, but he often headed out and worked on the farm. So I suspected that maybe the old man had gone there instead.

Softly I stroll through the house, I'm getting worried. Was Zhongli waiting for me? Anxious for food? I felt bad for waking up late and I wanted to make it up to Zhongli since I was responsible for bringing him food everyday. I went over to the kitchen with guilt and grabbed a few sandwiches my father had left on the counter for me, before scurrying out the door. Walking through a quiet corner, where had everyone gone? Had I missed a special event?

Well, I wish that could've been the case.
Because what I see next, is what I dreaded the most.

"Move on" I hear a voice shout and then finally my eyes catch glance of a hoard of people, around the path I usually take to visit Zhongli. It's strange, weird and I'm getting worried. Nobody walked to the woods unless it was for hunting or chopping down wood.

But everything becomes unbearable, painful as I watch Zhonglis wrists being pulled by a rope, he's forced by a man to walk forward. The people around Zhongli yell swears and kick his feet. My heart goes hollow, my throat goes dry. I start to run like never before, but I'm stopped before I even get to Zhongli, tears start to run down my face. My father's grubby hands hold me still. I love my father, but not in moments like this. Not when he prevents me from saving the one person I have cared for so much.

"Curse you boy, so this is what you were up to!?" No no no, I grit, press my hands on my father's chest and push but he doesn't budge. He's furious at me. Zhongli is the first person up there to look at me, he's in pain. They're going to execute him, they're going to kill him. "N—no he's not evil-he's not an evil boy, father please! Believe me!"

"You've got some nerve boy! All dragons are evil, you should know this. Or did losing your mother mean nothing to you?" He hissed, keeps me still and forces me to watch as Zhonglis pushed against the ground in a violent manner, then pulled back up to continue his path where men place a big log upwards and tie it to the ground. They're going to burn him. They're going to burn him alive.

"Zhongli!" I yell and my father cups my mouth, he's pissed at me. But he doesn't know Zhongli the way I do. He's an innocent kid, he doesn't deserve to be killed. Not after everything. I've promised him, I told him that we'd see the city of the lights together, that we'd venture the world together! "Tartaglia" he screams back and I watch as a man tugs the rope. A chill runs down my spine when Pierros bony hand goes on my shoulder, "how troublesome, boy."

But it strikes me. Was this Pierros doing? Had he watched me walk to Zhongli, followed me then called them to capture him. Was this his doing...? I was thinking Ill of Pierro, someone whose friendship with my father went as far back as before my birth. Could it have been?

I shake my head, my mouth is bitter from the thought. Pierro wouldn't do that to me...would he? Zhonglis suddenly tied up against the log, struggling to move, shouting and crying. But I can't move, my fathers not letting me move. But if I don't move, they'll hurt him. I do everything in my will power to wiggle and free myself from his grasp, I'm running, running and running until I can barely reach him. My fingers are so close! I hear a few mutters, a few curses about me and the casual "what's that young boy doing!?"

But I don't care. I need to get Zhongli out of this. I need to-"stand back" pierro aggressively pulls me away, I'm pushed to the ground and this draws a few peoples attention over to me. Pierro has never been violent to me.