Author’s Note: Travelers! We are nearing the end of Reader’s journey! (I’m expecting it to end at 10.4 but we’ll see if that ends up being an accurate estimate lol) Enjoy the newest chapter!
Zhongli was lost in deep thought as you and Xiao faced the Tsaritsa, while Paimon and Aether were arguing on whether they should jump in to help or not. Despite Paimon’s protests, it seemed to Aether that Xiao could very well handle the god on his own. He wasn’t exactly a team player to begin with…
“ZHONGLI!” Paimon’s high-pitched screech finally prodded a hummed response from the former archon. "We need to jump in!“
"It would be wise for the two of you to leave the palace at once,” he advised instead of indulging in the mascot’s wishes. It wouldn’t be long now; he could feel the power from the battle reaching its peak. "Xiao cannot unleash his full power with the three of you here. Your bodies would not be able to withstand it.“
"We’ve already fought with him plenty of times and we’re fine! Don’t go underestimating us now!”
“As much as I agree with you, I’m siding with Zhongli. We’ll only get in the way.”
“W-Wha-!” The frustrated emergency food placed her hands on her hips as she gawked at Aether for a few seconds. Then she turned to Zhongli. "Then what about her? Shouldn’t we get her out of there too?“
"Do not fret, dear friends,” the metallic clank of his polearm rang against the floor, “I will retrieve her. We’ll meet again outside. Go now.” Aether nodded and ran in the direction from which the group had entered–followed by a pouting Paimon. Zhongli returned his eyes to the throne room as the tiles in the hallway began to freeze over.
“Now.” You and Xiao nodded in confirmation before pushing off the ground in opposing directions. The air parted for you like the wind had granted a favor, though you had yet to realize you were the one manipulating it. Metal and gale met ice in a shockwave that sent the Tsaritsa’s opponents flying backwards.
Xiao landed more gracefully than you did and was already at the Tsaritsa’s neck by the time you sat up. He swung his lance down at her, rage filling his eyes. The karmic debt illuminated his body in black fog, but the Tsaritsa remained unfazed.
She caught the blade in the palm of her hand like it was nothing more than a wooden staff. The force of the impact sent icy winds ricocheting into the walls. The support beams and columns groaned unhappily from the jolt, and parts of the ceiling crashed to the floor around the three of you.
“I’ve killed your kind with ease in the past,” she cooed up to him.
“And I’ve slaughtered hundreds of gods stronger than you.”
“Then you’ve underestimated my strength.” Her free hand swung towards his chest, with a dagger of ice forming from her palm.
“And you’ve underestimated mine!” The chunks of the stone ceiling came tumbling at the god from both sides at a tremendous speed that should’ve been impossible given their weight. The hand that was about to pierce Xiao gave up on the idea and went on the defensive to stop the boulders in their wake. Ice pillared up just in time. Xiao flipped back with his lance still in hand. There you stood, on the other side of Tsaritsa with both palms facing her as you controlled the gales.
How is she manipulating anemo? Did Barbatos- Xiao squinted only to find your beltloop devoid of any vision. And since when was she ever this powerful-
A deranged, fed-up cackle chilled the throne room further, and the Tsaritsa now set her sights on you. She was before you in an instant. A breeze was enough to send her back a few inches–a subtle defensive tactic, but it worked enough so that you had a fraction more of a second to react. Xiao went for her nape, then her knees. But the god was prepared for the repeated pattern of attack; she ducked enough to expose you to his blade, and Xiao was forced to shift his momentum with exercised precision to avoid decapitating you instead.
A burst of ice emitted from the Tsaritsa and blasted the two of you several feet away from each other. Xiao, just like last time, landed nonchalantly on his feet while you violently collided with a pillar. Besides the dull jarring pain ringing through your spine, a sharp one stung your hand as you pushed yourself to all-fours.
“What…” It wasn’t the blood that caught you off guard. Carefully but quickly, you removed the glass from your palm. Then your tunnel vision dropped to your empty beltloop. My vision shattered? When did my- Realization finally struck you like a brick wall. How had you been fighting all this time? How did you have access to manipulate the snow? Were those stars above you related? Wide eyes stared at your bleeding hand, your brain pushing out the sounds of the battlefield and of Xiao yelling for you to get out of the way. When sound finally returned, your gaze trailed upward to find a wall of iced spears barreling at you.
“Rise!” Another wall of material shot up in front of you, though it was way more solid than the Tsaritsa’s attack. The pillar blocked the spears’ paths, then the familiar boots of Zhongli entered your vision. A hardened gaze met your lost ones, and flashes of a Zhongli in a white hood interrupted the present. The faint golden glow of his shield shimmered protectively around your crouching figure.
The archon held his hand out to you with a warm expression. Mesmerized by his conflicting appearance, your hand met his. "Rex Lapis…“
Looking down at you, Zhongli couldn’t help but see Xiao in your stead just like all those years ago when he had taken the yaksha under his wing. "Come. Let us leave now.” It was clear you were having the same sense of deja vu as he was.
You stood obediently, but quickly snapped back to the present moment when you heard Xiao’s grunt as he struggled fending off the cryo archon. "Wait,“ you stepped away from Zhongli, attempting to get past him. "We can’t leave him. I have to fight!”
“Xiao is more than capable of handling this matter on his own. You’d only get in the way.” A grip on your arm was somehow enough to stop you in your tracks despite how light and gentle it was. Your head whipped back to him.
“I can’t abandon him.”
“He will join us as soon as he’s done. Do you trust me?”
“I-” Your gaze returned to the violent battle ahead of you. At some point in your daze, the Tsaritsa had injured him; he was bleeding from his arm from what you could make out. "Zhongli, I can’t leave him. He’s injured. We can’t leave him!“
"Do you not sense the power in the air?”
“Huh?” The question made you falter, but he was right. Something about the air was different. Whether it felt thinner or heavier, you couldn’t tell–but there was a clear, crisp feeling to it that wasn’t correlated to the icy chill of the Tsaritsa.
“Xiao cannot unleash his full power with you here. Trust in him; he needs you out of the way.”
“…Fine,” you muttered with an ache in your chest. Zhongli pulled you towards the exit as more pieces of the ceiling came crashing down behind you. You regretted glancing over your shoulder when you heard a cry of distress once you reached the door. "Z-Zhongli, wait-!“ The entrance collapsed before you had the chance to dive back into the throne room and chase after the sight of a severely injured yaksha.
"We must go!” He didn’t let up his grip on your wrist.
“Xiao!” The desperate cry fell from your lips this time as you still attempted to fight against the archon’s grasp. "Xiao!“ Please don’t die! You come back to me alive, you hear me?! Please!
………………
Golden hair was the first color other than white that greeted you outside. "Aether? Paimon? What’re you three doing here?”
“We must keep moving.” Zhongli finally let go of you and took the lead away from the palace. His grim expression made your puffy red eyes fill with more tears. Zhongli said to trust him and Xiao, but what if Zhongli didn’t believe that Xiao could win this fight on his own?
“Come on, it’s okay. We’ll get you out of here.” Aether protectively wrapped an arm around your shoulder and pulled your heavy feet forward. "Xiao will be just fine.“
"Yeah! He’s handled worse than this,” Paimon encouraged. "He’ll meet up with us once he’s done!“
"Just how far are we going?” The group must have walked a mile or two from the palace by now–the sight of the shrinking building filled you with trepidation. That battle would not be easy to win, and it wouldn’t be a short one, either. Still though, you couldn’t help but panic at how long it’s been already. "Isn’t this far enough?“
"We will rest for a few moments, then we must continue until we get out of Snezhnaya. Xiao will-”
“I thought we were going to wait for him.”
“The country is swarming with Fatui. We cannot risk-”
“You didn’t mention we were going to leave him behind completely! We can’t just leave him, Zhongli! Do you not care at all what happens to him?”
“Keep your voice down-!” Paimon shushed. "We can’t attract any unwanted attention…“ The ground shuddered, and Paimon’s eyes widened as she stared past you.
"What?”
“T-The palace!”
The group turned its attention to the epicenter of the earthquake, and was met with a disturbing sight. Pillar by pillar, wall to ceiling, the building collapsed on itself. The palace was reduced to rubble in mere seconds, and the sound echoed faintly until it was replaced by an eerie silence.
“X-Xiao,” a faint murmur, then your knees gave out beneath you. All you could do was stare in shock at the palace, unaware of the tears that streamed down your face. "Xiao…? Can you…“ hear me?
"Seems the Tsaritsa finished her fight,” a foreign voice had everyone but you on edge. The view of the rubble was blocked by a large hat and blue hair. "What luck, that I’ve run into the intruders.“
"Scaramouche.” Aether tightened his grip on the hilt of his sword.
“Hey, get behind us!” Paimon yelled out from behind you. "You’re in no shape to fight!“
"No…shape…?” Your gaze finally focused on the harbinger directly in front of you. He found amusement in your broken expression, his lips even having the audacity to curl into a sadistic, lopsided grin.
“I have orders to kill, but I won’t give you the chance for reciting your last words.” He raised his hand to strike you down–
–And was met with a blast of anemo that countered his electricity. He stumbled back into the snow, his hat even dislodging from his head. "‘No shape to fight?’“ Paimon was met with desolate eyes that lacked their usual copy of an amber tint. Puffy eyes were dried and replaced with a rendition of anger that was neither boiling rage nor cold revenge. Zhongli could’ve described it as similar to the Tsaritsa’s change of heart over the centuries. "I feel perfectly fine, Paimon.”
“Are you…?” Aether took a step forward and lowered his sword when you held your palm out to him as a threat.
“I’m fine. I’ll hold him off. You guys should leave before things get messy.”
“Messy?”
“Traveler,” Zhongli caught the attention of Aether and Paimon. "I think it would be wise to follow her lead.“
"But she’s not in the right state of mind–”
“I’m afraid that’s exactly why we should listen to her. Come now,” he ushered them over and they all began to head in the direction of the border. Aether was still protesting, but you couldn’t hear what he was saying.
“You–” An angry voice prompted you to turn your head. "–are DEAD!“
"On the contrary,” you didn’t budge when he came running at you, “it’s you who’ll die today.”
Sparring sessions in the snow with Childe made it much easier to navigate the fresh layers. It appeared that Scaramouche’s time in Mondstat had made him rusty when faced with using the snowy terrain to his advantage, but that didn’t stop him from promoting a superconductive reaction whenever he managed to get close to you. If your vision didn’t break, it would be much easier to use that strategy against him. Instead you relied on an old tree branch as your weapon and the wind to guide your stiffing movements as the temperatures finally bit into your skin.
Speaking of Childe, where is he today? He couldn’t be waiting at the border to ambush the group…right? A quick glance over your shoulder gave Scaramouche an opening.
“Haah!” Electricity pulsed through the branch that blocked his attack from striking your head.
“Ngh!” Bear through it. I’ve felt worse pain. I can handle this! “Get back!” Your hurricane-force winds didn’t catch him off guard now that he knew it was your only strategy against him; you had no idea how to use this unfamiliar power, and while your movements were quick, your inexperience showed.
Scaramouche leapt in time to dodge the gust that tried to sweep him off his feet, and the hat that was in his hand struck your jaw hard enough to bring stars into you vision. Who knew such a small person could strike like one of those electro skirmishers-
You stumbled and attempted to regain your footing, but not before those all-too familiar jolts rang through your body. "Ah!“ The snow beneath you didn’t help, and neither did the fact that you were now on your knees. Violent winds whipped blindly in every direction; you couldn’t bring yourself to open your eyes. It seems you were missing your target since you were still being electrocuted.
A sharp kick to your stomach, and you were now staring at the overcast sky. Then that damned hat obscured your view. "After this, I’m killing that hero of Mondstat and your retired god.”
“Tch.” The taste of iron overwhelmed your tongue. "You won’t kill us that easily.“
"What do you care? You have nothing to live for now that that adeptus is dead. Die while you still have some smidge of dignity left.”
Your confidence faltered if only slightly. "Take that back. Take that back!“ You swung the branch at his catalyst and leapt to your feet. "He’s not dead!” Your aimless, sloppy swings were enough to draw a laugh from the harbinger. At least, until he kicked you backwards, using his vision to push you further and harder into a tree behind you.
CRISTCH.
W-What…Involuntary tears of pain made it difficult to see where the wound was until the pain pinpointed somewhere around your right kidney. What just…?
“Good, right where I want you.” Scaramouche began to stalk over with his catalyst floating closely behind him, eyes glinting with satisfaction at the growing spot of blood at your abdomen.
“The tree..ngh…” What do I do? What do I do? I’m pinned. I can’t–I can’t think straight–
“Hey girlie, hold still.” TWISH. The firing of an arrow rudely interrupted the battlefield and the force of his elemental burst knocked your opponent off his feet. The voice of a dangerous man shouldn’t have been this comforting.
“C-Childe? What the hell are you–”
“What the HELL are you doing?!” Scaramouche readied his catalyst and sat up prepared for 'friendly’ fire. Anger practically radiated off of him.
“Making amends. What does it look like?” The harbinger emerged from somewhere behind you and moved so that he was between you and your opponent.
“What…?” Your whisper reached his ears, and Childe glanced at you briefly.
“What a gorgeous sight you make, ojou-chan! Your blood on the snow is simply breathtaking.” The friendliness in his eyes emptied. "Unfortunately, I’ll have to cut my admiration short. Can you move?“
"Ngh, I think so. Give me a minute.”
“Perfect,” he returned his attention to his fellow harbinger. "Sorry to interrupt, but you won’t be killing her today. And I have to say, Scaramouche, I’ve been looking forward to this for a long time.“