Short FanFics

The dragon’s loud roar pierced through the city of Liyue, shaking everyone to their core. Nobody had heard such a terrifying thing before. Even the children were too scared to cry. Multiple stood guard outside the city walls, defending the place they called home. Millileth held their spears high, trying to hide the fact that each and every one of them were shaking in their boots.

Few stood at the front, silently but surely staring down the enemy. The adepti stood at the sides, the Conqueror of Demons in the center of them. His mask was secured onto his face, his dark aura surrounding him like a mist. To his sides were the other powerful adepti, the ones who kept their animalistic forms. Behind were Yanfei and Ganyu, the adepti that were part human, and only slightly less powerful. On the opposite side stood the richest person in all of Teyvat, Ningguang. She was joined by Madame Ping and Keqing at each of her sides. At the center of the two groups stood two familiar figures, Zhongli and Childe. The Harbinger held his bow tight in one hand, ready to aim and shoot when needed. The amber-eyed male standing next to him kept his polearm on his back, staring back at the dragon with a piercing gaze.

Suddenly, he stepped forward, the Fatui Harbinger reaching out with his free hand to grab his shoulder. Zhongli looked back at him, giving him a softer look. “Let me.” He spoke simply. His calm tone allowed Childe’s hand to drop from his shoulder, and he proceeded forward by another five steps. He stood only a few meters from the dragon, the beast meeting his gaze. He drew in a deep breath, speaking loudly.

“Azhdaha.” Zhongli’s deep voice reached the dragon’s ears, and a low growl emitted from behind his razor-like teeth. “You’re here for me, I know. So leave this place, and I will come with you. I will not allow you to harm my city, or my friends.”

The dragon, once a friend of the Geo Archon so long ago, took a single lumbering step forward. It spoke, it’s voice much deeper than Zhongli’s. “Morax. You have no power over me anymore.” It growled a bit louder than before, the ground slightly rumbling with it. “You locked me away all those years ago. Now, I shall give you that same fate.”

Within moments, the dragon leapt up onto its hind legs, raising one of its front claws and slashing at the male before it. Zhongli took hold of his spear and tossed himself to the side, narrowly avoiding being crushed. He heard footsteps approaching fast behind him, and with a flash of blue, Tartaglia was by his side, his bow replaced by a polearm made entirely of water. He grabbed Zhongli’s hand, pulling him up to stand. Azhdaha raised another claw, slashing at the two. They both leapt backwards, Xiao lunging forwards as they did so. With his own spear, he slashed and cut at the dragon’s front claws in an attempt to catch it off guard. The other adepti got the same idea, sprinting forwards in a frontal attack.

While they fought with the dragon, Childe and Zhongli brushed themselves off. The ginger-haired male grabbed the other’s shoulder, turning him so they were face-to-face. “Are you alright? Are you hurt?” He asked frantically, his eyes flicking back and forth between the battle and his beloved.

“I’m alright, my love. Don’t worry about me so much.” Zhongli quietly brushed Childe’s hand off of him, then turned 180 degrees when he heard a voice behind him.

“Why did he call you Morax?” The feminine voice asked. Ningguang stood with her arms crossed, seemingly almost unaware of the battle happening before them. “And what did he mean by ‘locking him away’?” She asked with her head tilted slightly upwards.

“I’ll explain everything later. As of now, we need to-”

Their voices were cut off by a sudden scream, a scream much louder than the battle itself. Their heads turned, watching in horror as two of the adepti were scrambling to help Ganyu, who was now trapped under one of the dragon’s claws, it’s nails digging into her side. Zhongli’s eyes widened at the sight, but before he could move, Keqing sprinted forward. Her sword impaled the dragon’s leg, making it lift it’s claw so Ganyu could escape. Soon enough, the Yuheng was flung to the side, making a loud thud as she hit the ground. “Keqing!” Lady Ningguang shouted as she ran towards her fallen friend, leaving Zhongli and Childe to watch the battle alone.

“This isn’t going anywhere, we have to help them!” Tartaglia shouted over the sounds of the dragon’s roars. Zhongli growled under his own breath, his eyes almost glowing in the evening light.

He took a few steps forward, the adepti weak and now regaining their energy while also tending to Keqing and Ganyu. Xiao was nowhere to be found, but he could hear his voice somewhere behind the dragon, his voice crying out in pain. Zhongli raised his polearm, and the dragon raised it’s claw. For a moment, everything was in slow motion. The male lunged forward, aiming to stab the dragon’s claw, sort of how Keqing did, and the dragon brought it’s sharp nails down, aiming to do the same thing to Morax. But, out of the corner of his eye, Zhongli saw that same flash of blue, and he knew exactly what was happening.

A second. That was all it took for Childe to grab him, fling him backwards, and stab the dragon himself. In his hands were two small daggers made of water, like his hydro polearm. One of these daggers was now lodged in the dragon’s foot, the giant creature roaring in pain. “Damnit, Childe!” Zhongli shouted, making the Harbinger look back at him with a smirk.

“Did you think I was going to let you get hurt?” He called back, pulling his weapon out of the dragon’s skin and slashing at it with both of his daggers. Tartaglia clenched his teeth together as he jumped to the left, dodging the dragon’s other foot. “Missed me, big guy! You gotta try harder than that!” He taunted, the beast growling in annoyance.

“You puny humans never let up.” The dragon roared, turning itself sideways and slashing at Childe with its tail. With barely any time to react, Childe was hit, and he flew backwards onto the ground, a bit of blood spouting from behind his teeth. He groaned in pain, his head turning, eyes landing on Zhongli.

But he didn’t look like the Zhongli he knew.

The male’s eyes were wide and angry, staring daggers at the dragon. His gloves were gone, revealing the dark color of his arms, along with the slight orange lines on them. His lips were upturned in a scowl, and from that distance, he could hear the male growling. This wasn’t Zhongli; this was Rex Lapis.

He held his spear tightly, the veins in his forearms exposing themselves. He took short, heavy steps forward, his anger only growing as he moved. Childe tried to get up, but Zhongli gave him a glare, freezing the other. “Stay. Right. There.”

Tartaglia obediently stayed, but stood up anyway. Zhongli continued forward until he was close enough to the dragon to feel it’s hot breath.

“Azhdaha.” He started, a small rumbling noise erupting from the ground. All heads turned his way, and Geo pillars sprang up from the ground in a misshapen circle around him and the dragon. Vaguely orange walls materialized between each pillar. As if to test it, Childe stepped up, banging on one of the walls. It was solid. “I gave you a chance. You did not take that chance, and you hurt my friends.” The orange lines on his arms began to glow, and the dragon took a small step back. “You hurt the one person I cherish most in this world. Now…” He glared up at the beast, his amber eyes glowing. “Pay with your blood.”

As retaliation, the dragon leapt onto its hind legs once more, the male before it suddenly at its side. Zhongli leapt into the air, throwing himself at a height no mere human should be able to get to, and landed hard on the dragon’s back, impaling it with his spear. The dragon growled in protest, thrashing around to throw the male off of him. Zhongli held his spear tightly, half of the weapon stuck in the dragon’s back. The orange on his arms glowed bright, and the male kneeled, placing his dark hand on the dragon’s back. “Do you feel it?” He asked the dragon as it turned its head, gazing at the male with its piercing eyes. “This is the power of Geo. This is the power of the Archons.”

Cracks formed in the dragon’s back, those cracks glowing that same orange that was on Zhongli’s arms. The dragon roared in pain, and Zhongli thrusted his hand down harder against its back, the cracks growing and becoming longer. For a moment, the dragon seemed to become weak, its back legs giving out every so slightly, making it jolt back a little. In that moment, Zhongli let his guard down.

But in that moment, the dragon’s guard went up.

Zhongli heard Childe’s voice, but it wasn’t something he quite wanted to hear. A “good job!” would have been sufficient, or maybe an “I love you”, but the word that he heard him shout, no, scream, was…

“NOOO-”

Before he could even lift his head, he felt an overpowering weight on him. Without seeing or realizing, the dragon has lifted one of its claws, raising it to its back and slamming it down on Zhongli. Blood spilled from his lips, and he soon felt the hard, cold ground hit his back like a rock. His body bounced on the soil, and before he could even open his eyes, the dragon’s foot was on top of him yet again. Only this time, one of its claws was lodged in his stomach. He could hear Tartaglia’s screaming, though it was muffled. It almost sounded like he was crying.

Zhongli’s eyes finally opened. He could see the dark, cloudy sky above him, and in the bottom of his vision, he saw the even darker outline of the dragon’s foot on him. Suddenly, the sky flashed purple. It flashed multiple times. It wasn’t until he heard the sound of a glass-like material breaking that he knew what was going on.

The dragon’s foot was soon off of him, and Zhongli struggled to sit himself upright. The sight before him made his breath catch in his throat.

There was Childe, in his foul legacy form, standing in front of him. Even in this form, Zhongli knew he was sobbing under that mask. In his right hand was a polearm that looked similar to the one he had earlier, but this one was made of pure, purple electricity. Azhdaha was slowly moving backwards, seemingly frightened at Childe’s special form. The male soon let out a cry, raising his polearm and sending it down to the ground in a single slash, a wave of electro flying and impaling the dragon. It roared, jumping back in shock. It was already hurt from Zhongli’s attacks, but Childe’s attack weakened it more. Zhongli tried to move, but winced and groaned from the pain. The Geo pillars surrounding them dissipated, and everyone but Xiao, Keqing, and Ganyu flooded forward to finish off the dragon.

The flying adepti attacked from above. Ningguang aimed her Geo attacks at the dragon’s eyes. Yanfei, Madame Ping, and Moon Carver aimed their attacks for the dragon’s feet so it would no longer use its claws for its own attacks. Tartaglia waited for an opening, and as soon as that opening came…

He lunged forward, his electro polearm in his hand. He plunged the weapon into the dragon’s exposed chest, sending an electric shockwave through its entire body. The dragon let out a loud, earsplitting roar. It’s voice slowly died down, and the beast collapsed, the light from its eyes fading to gray.

All but one heaved a sigh of victory. Childe’s foul legacy form faded away, and he was left in his gray outfit once more, the mask on his face dropping to the ground and cracking in two. He automatically spun around, running and kneeling beside Zhongli, fresh tears streaming down his face.

“Childe.” Zhongli started, but was cut off by a harsh cough. He turned his head away, spitting blood out onto the ground. He huffed and looked back at the other.

“Don’t speak, save your breath.” Tartaglia whimpered. Zhongli raised a hand, gently wiping the male’s tears away. Childe placed his hand on top of his, letting out a choked sob. “You’re gonna be okay, I promise..”

The wounded male shook his head, making his lover’s breath hitch. “You know that’s not true.” “I’m not letting you go, Zhongli. I refuse to let you go!”

“Tartaglia.” Zhongli huffed out. Childe stiffened; Zhongli never used his real name unless he was being serious. “You have to. I’m..” He coughed once. “I’m sorry, my love.”

Childe began to cry harder. “Please, please, don’t leave me. I can’t go on without you…” He pleaded with the other, watching as his eyes began to go dim. “Zhongli, don’t you dare leave me!”

As he screamed, the others slowly began to crowd around, quietly holding each other and crying along with Childe as they watched the scene unfold. Soon enough, Childe went silent, and each of them could swear they heard his heart shatter.

As soon as the silence came, their ears were filled with the pained screams of a broken heart. Their own hearts ached at the sound of Childe’s crying, but they knew it was best to let him cry over it. Childe couldn’t help but stare into the now dull eyes of his lover, one of his hands in his dark hair, the other wrapped around his back. He pulled Zhongli’s body into a tight embrace, screaming in agony as his head rested on his shoulder.

A low rumbling sound soon quieted the male, and everyone’s eyes landed on the city. Were the buildings...shaking? Screams of the people of Liyue filled their senses, and they understood what was going on.

“The dragon called Zhongli Morax...because he is Morax.” Ningguang pointed out as she took a step back. “Rex Lapis built this city himself. Now that he’s gone…”

“The city is crumbling.” Tartaglia finished for her. “Evacuate the city! Now!” He shouted at the Millileth, who hesitantly ran back towards the falling city. Childe scooped Zhongli’s body into his arms, turning with the others. “Go!”

As they fled, he could hear the sounds of buildings toppling over, the screams of the innocent filling his ears. Once they were far enough away, Childe finally set down his lover’s lifeless body, and turned to gaze back at the city. Or what was left of it.

He watched as Millileth and civilians ran from the rubble, he took one last look at the city he was once staying in.

Liyue was gone.

His lover was gone.

His will to live?

Gone.