+ zhongli x reader long fic!
[ prologue + notes here! ] [ 1 ] [ 2 ] [ 3 ] [ 4 ] [ 5 ] [ 6 ] [ 7 ] [ 8 ] [ 9 ]
[ 10 ] [ 11 ] [ 12 ] [ 13 ] [ 14 ] [ 15 ]
+ general notes: yes, this one is exceptionally short. it’s just the way it came out when i wrote it, and there will be more at the end in regard to this.
+ warnings: ANGST, blood, descriptions of wounds
16 consequences
Xiao was growing more and more unnerved by returning to the ex-archon with empty hands and no news. They’d just swept Dihua Marsh, and the Stone Gate seemed the only path forward for you if you kept running. Nothing had clued them in to anything except the occasional track of footprints, but there were many bigger ones, too, following along: vision hunters were tracking you all the same.
Zhongli was awaiting the adeptus at the rising stairs, expression blank and unreadable. Xiao approached with hesitance, worried a whole mountain might come down on top of him should the man finally snap.
“Anything?”
“Not a trace.”
“If she has been running this long and this far…” Zhongli let out a sigh filled with pain, anger pulling back just for the briefest of moments to reveal his inner anguish, “she will not be well. Let us go straight to the winery. Master Diluc may have valuable information for us.”
“Good thinking,” Xiao agreed, following the ex-archon as he rushed off. They wound around the valley cut through the mountain by the river that stretched on, guiding them to the manor grounds.
It was an entirely different feeling when Zhongli laid his eyes upon the manor and the vineyards once more. It made his throat tight, eyes pricking with awful tears, but he furrowed his eyebrows and rushed off even faster. The winery was unassuming that morning, the usual gathering of staff milling about on the patio. There were crates being moved, wine bottles rattling, and Zhongli carelessly stalked on through the crowd, bumping shoulders and glaring at those in his way. When the redheaded master was nowhere to be found, Zhongli sought out the head maid.
“Where is Master Diluc? Is he here? Has he or anyone else seen vision hunters in these parts?” Zhongli blurted all in one demanding go, bearing down on the maid who looked positively terrified. A hand pulled on Zhongli’s elbow, and Xiao cleared his throat.
“Is Master Diluc on the property, miss?” the adeptus more kindly inquired of the woman. “We need to speak to him urgently.”
“Oh… you really didn’t hear? There was an incident this morning. Master Diluc is at the Favonius Church cathedral.”
“An incident?” Xiao felt his worry surge.
“We must go,” Zhongli decided, already headed for the door. “Now!”
The two set off again, Xiao rushing to follow the trailing ponytail whipped by the wind and the man’s sharp movements, nothing but agitation pouring out of Zhongli. They followed the path through the bumbling village of Springvale, and Zhongli broke into a hurried sprint when Mondstadt’s wall came into sight. He could feel his heart racing uncontrollably. What could have happened? Where were you? Was he too late? It was all a blur until he pushed open the heavy doors of the cathedral, quiet murmuring echoing in whispers off the high ceilings while the stained glass filtered the light into different colors as it spilled over empty pews.
The murmuring stopped when the group clustered further inside caught sight of him, Xiao gently closing the cathedral doors behind them both. Yet, as Zhongli took long, aggravated strides down the center aisle, he didn’t see your face among the mix. It was the Acting Grand Master, Jean, with Diluc and Venti.
“Have you seen Kita? Has there been any vision hunter activity in the area? Please‒it is imperative that you tell me anything that may have to do with her.”
There was stillness in the light from the high windows, and Diluc was staring pointedly as the floor. Venti drifted his eyes over the two of him and the Acting Grand Master nervously, and Jean was the one who cleared her throat.
Jean stepped forward, “Zhongli… we found her.”
Zhongli felt a flare within him he could not describe with words. “Where is she?” he seethed, voice so laced with aggression Jean flinched.
Jean sighed, but she held out a hand towards one of the hallways stretching further into the church. With that, Zhongli set off in the indicated direction, but the Acting Grand Master followed. Zhongli took strides as lengthy as his legs would let him, eyes flickering everywhere, only to continuously come up empty until he heard it.
A soft voice from behind an ajar door. It wasn’t yours, but he knew you were there, too. He froze, suddenly feeling paralyzed by the context. What were you doing here in the cathedral? It could only mean one thing. He stared wide-eyed at the door in front of him, tears gathering on his eyelids. Cautious steps came up beside him.
“A hunter from Springvale found her in the fields between the village and the winery this morning. She… she’d been attacked by the vision hunters. They spared her life… but only by a small margin. Barbara nearly fainted herself trying to heal all her wounds, so she’s still recovering and not very well. She couldn’t even sit up to eat earlier,” Jean’s voice was as gentle as cotton, bouncing off the arched windows and the high ceilings. Gently, she pressed open the door. “Barbara? Why don’t you let Mr. Zhongli be alone with her for a little while?”
Zhongli felt devastation slam down on his shoulders, stomach rolling and head suddenly as heavy as brick. Through blurry eyes, he saw the room empty, and through the ringing in his ears, he heard the others back away to offer him space. Then, he dared take painful steps that felt like walking across hot coals as he approached your bedside.
You were asleep on your back, slow breaths interjected with the soft whimpers of what could only be pain. Bandages wrapped around your wrists, obscene purple and yellow colors peeking out from beneath them. Stitches held angry, red wounds closed, and Zhongli faintly could smell the irony scent of blood. Your face had nicks and cuts, bruises, a split in your lip. Each wound he witnessed was like stabbing himself one more sickening time.
He’d been too late. He’d been too late, after all. You were broken, shattered, hurt, both in body and soul. He saw his fingers quiver as he reached to touch you, felt the hot, salty tears dripping over his lips and melting onto his tongue, but he pulled back. He feared hurting you all over again, and he just fought back sobs with whispery breaths.
“My love… what have I done?”
He was still red in the face, tears streaking the slopes of his cheekbones, when he stalked back out of the room. He moved without hesitation, feeling the melancholy slowly turn into pure rage.
“Zhongli? Where are you going?” Jean called as he passed the group again.
He stopped, but he didn’t look back. He felt the power rushing inside, the energy something he had not harnessed in a while, but at the stoking of his growing fury, he could not hold it back.
“I’m going to get her vision back.”
+ end notes: UGH I’m so sorry this one is so short. i wanted to write a dramatic scene for zhongli fighting the vision hunters, but writing action is ? for me so lowkey… i didn’t. and, i didn’t tack this onto the next chapter, because the next chapter is my absolute favorite part of this story and actually caused me so much stress writing it because i agonized over getting everything just right in feel for it. so just consider this a preface to this, and think about zhongli kicking ass.
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