The god's last wish (Zhongli/Diluc x OC)

13

Once again, Anthea woke up crying over a very long dream she did not remember. However this time, a name burned in her mind. Alatus. She knew not of how the boy looked like, nor the forgotten memories she held of him. Yet, for some reason, she could feel exactly who he was to her. 

As she sat up, she noticed she was not in their temporary chambers in the pavilion but in a simple bamboo hut. Examining the wind's current, and how the plants communicated, she could assume that she was atop a very tall mountain away from the liyue harbor. As she arose to take a glance at the environment outside, she was certain she haven't been in that particular place before, for she has never really left the borders of Monstadt since she was young. Yet for some reason, her body responded naturally to the mountain's laws as if she had already once took abode in such wonders. 

As she peered farther, her quickening heartbeat took her into a halt. She had once again stumbled upon the emerald haired boy, and her tears quickly fell from her eyes. 

The boy immediately felt her presence, diverting his gaze away from the view before his eyes as he quickly went down from the tree where he sat to go to her. 

"Alatus?" The boy's eyes widened.

"That's your name right?"

With the sound of her voice calling him the name she gave thousands of years ago, the tears he so thought he was finally able to lock away fell from the corner of his golden eyes. Through the years, until that very day, his mother calling him the name she herself made just for him have been nothing but a distant memory. Yet there she was, calling to him again, as if she remembered.

"Mother?" He muttered. He did not expect her to remember yet, but he was hopeful.

"I hold no clear memories of you, but in my heart, I know you. Alatus, my son."

As he heard the word clearly coming out of her lips, he could not suppress it anymore. The Yaksha leaned closer, pulling his mother into a tight embrace.

"I've waited so long for you just so I could hear you call me your son once again. And you did." He cried on her shoulder.

Anthea was startled from his actions, but her heart overruled any unfamiliarity she felt of the boy. With a smile on her face, she caressed his hair. "It must have been so painful to you." She whispered.

The Yaksha shook his head as he pulled away, giving his mother his widest smile. He hasn't smiled for years, but for her he will.  "This is nothing for I always believed that you'll return. I'm sorry for crying like this, those years without you have all been nothing but dark and cold."

Anthea's heart broke for the boy, while it was true that he was genuinely happy at that moment, his eyes told her everything he has gone through. 

"You musy have gone through a lot. Would you sit with me and vent?"

The Yaksha smiled once again as he nodded. He has always been longing for someone he could genuinely share his troubles with.

——

"I'm so sorry to hear that. I didn't know you went through so much." Anthea breathed as she held her son's hand.

Alatus told her everything he has gone through during the years she was not around. He was forced to carry a burden he did not deserve to bear. His trusted comrades died, some of them slaughtered one another. And because the grief got in the way of his tasks, his feelings had all been locked away.

He told her how one mortal changed eveything, how one woman made her believe someone like him deserves to love and be loved. But then she was taken away from him just as quickly as he met her.

The Yaksha was in tears as he told her his story.

"Wherever that mortal is right now, I know with all certainty how badly she wants to give you comfort." She muttered. She knew that feeling full well.  She may not remember exactly how she knew it, but she remembered feeling that way when her final breath escaped her lips during her previous life.

"Sometimes, when wind fly by, I feel her touch. And at the sound of the Dihua flute, I get to recall my happiest memories with her. With those, I'm satisfied."

"You have such a commendable heart,  Alatus. I'm proud of you."

The Yaksha smiled, however the smile  on his face has quickly faded as blood dripped down his mouth. Anthea's eyes widened. It had been too late when she realized that a strong arrow had just pierced his son's back. "Alatus!" She yelled.

The boy's body fell to the ground as his mother watched in horror. His blood was dripping all over the ground.

"Alatus!"

The boy coughed, gritting his teeth from the pain. "Worry not mother, an adeptus wouldn't die from a mere arrow shot. Although I didn't think it would hurt this much."

"Fret not, just as the Adeptus said, the arrow wouldn't kill him, but it would be enough to hold him for a while. My target is you, Anthea." A young ginger haired man walked in, a fatui masked adorning the side of his head.

Anthea stepped back. Her hands, trembling. The man looked dangerous, as she could only assume that he was a harbinger. But perhaps had she not forgotten he sword, maybe she could win against him.

"What's the matter? Forgotten your sword? If that's the case, there's no reason for you not to yield."

"Mother! Take this!" Alatus yelled as he threw a crystal sword towards her which she perfectly caught. 

The sword felt right as she grasped on it, as if it has always been hers.

"That used to be your sword. You crafted it yourself with your Nymph essence, only you can wield it. I kept it with me all this time."

"Thank you, Alatus." She said as she slid her hands on the crystal blade, getting in her fighting stance. "Hang in there, this shall not take long."