God of Alchemy | Genshin Impact x M!Reader

8

[ AN: Finally edited. Sorry for the heart thing. ]

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(YN) took his arm out of the hole he made through Zhongli's chest. The others could hear the blood bursting out of the man's wound, they wanted to vomit upon hearing that sound. Zhongli, or whatever that is, cough out the blood that gathered in his throat and mouth. His sclerae turning black in each second that passes. He could only glance at his chest before he fell down to the ground. A pool of blood surrounding his body. "Barbatos..." Venti flinched and stood up from his position almost immediately. Looking down at his hands, he saw the organ that (YN) took out of Zhongli's chest.

It was the imposter's heart. 

It was still beating and blood coming out of both arteries. Venti unconsciously clenched his chest with both of his hands. Venti could only imagine what would happen if that had happened to him. Petrified of the thought that (YN) might do that to him also. But with (YN)'s statement from earlier, then could he be safe? From the potential danger? Venti wishes for that to be true. "Take the humans to the infirmary. Second floor and the first door to the right. There should be a sign so it's easy to find it." Venti nodded and did what (YN) had said. Venti first supported Diluc and then Jean. Both of them leaning onto Venti for support. Aether, on the other hand, stood up by himself and got Childe to stand up.

As soon as Childe stood up, he walked towards (YN). "Oi! What are you doing!? That could happen to you too!" Venti said, indicating that Childe could also get killed. However, Childe ignored him. If he dies, he dies. As upsetting that may be but Childe knew that he couldn't handle (YN) all on his own nor could any of the harbingers could kill this man. When he was close to (YN), Childe noticed how ruffled his hair is and his eyes were sunken. Tiny traces of bags under his eyes, a sign that he hasn't slept that much.

Taking a deep silent breath, "What was he?" he asked. Even though he was choking to death earlier, he was able to listen to the conversation earlier. Though some were cut off he had heard of (YN) saying somewhere the lines of asking Zhongli, WHAT was he rather than asking WHO was he.

"A monster," (YN) started with a confident tone. "A monster that evolved so much that it was able to communicate, trick, and gather all of your trust," he finished.  Looking down at the beating heart in his hands before he raised it so Childe can meet it eye-to-eye. 

"This is an imitation. An imitation of a human heart. Archons have physical bodies but as soon they ascend, their hearts will almost disappear and it is almost impossible for another to rip their true hearts out. Not even I. And look at this --- it's still beating. Why should a heart still beat when it's out of blood? Or why should a heart even exist for a monster like that?" Curling his fingers into a fist, the organ in his hold had crushed up into a mush. Jean's face turned green, almost vomiting. She could feel the acidic bile on her throat and can taste the sour taste on her tongue. 

It was silent after that. Aether grabbed Childe's hand, pulling him back. Knowing the ginger, he would've asked the male in front of them to fight at some point. (YN) turned to the entrance of the cave, "Zhon'er... what are you doing hiding instead of helping them? Even leaving the younger one to fend for himself." The group whipped their heads to look at the entrance of the cave. They thought they would've snapped their necks with how fast they turned their heads. There he was, Zhongli.

Alive and well.

There wasn't any kind of wound on his chest nor was his clothes was soaked in blood. Instead of the man who kept smiling earlier, this man had a more serious and aloof aura around him. A spear in one his hold and he was dragging something behind him. Diluc knows it was a creature with the groans and sounds of struggle. But he couldn't see it properly so he's not sure whether it was a hilichurl or one of those monsters. Zhongli approached (YN), bowing down respectfully. "I apologize for taking too long..." he said, his tone was much different than what Diluc remembers. It didn't hold the happy tone that he was used to hearing from that thing's mouth. Now it just sounds so serious.

Diluc's eyes looked back and forth from the corpse and to the man that still bowed down towards (YN). "How..?" he asked. He can't help but feel his brain has been mushed with how confusing the situation now is currently. 

"I sent out Zhon'er just a little while ago so it would be weird for him to come back so early." (YN) walked towards both Diluc and Jean, pressing two of his fingers on their foreheads. "Somnum." In the next second, Jean's body and Diluc's had slumped over Venti's form. Letting the small male struggle in trying to support them both.

"You too." In a flash, (YN) had appeared in front of Aether and Childe. Doing the same to them.

Edited: July 2, 2021

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AN: Chapter 2-4 takes place before Chapter 1 happened. And Chapters 5 and 6 are events that happened after Zhongli left. Right after Kojutsu told Zhongli to get a sample.