In The Midst of Snow

Do You Wanna Build an Iceman?

In the distance, thunder roared. The sky, as if already weeping the life of the god to be slain, started crying. At first, it was just a gentle drizzle. But gradually, as if its voice wasn't heard, the sky heaved harder and harder till the rain came in sheets of pelting bullets.

In that midst, two gods faced each other, circling each other like tigers waiting to pounce.

Aether watched, mouth agape, as the two clashed together. A whirlwind of sparks was all that could be seen of their weapons; both were moving as equally fast, neither of them leaving a scratch on the other. Morax's face was as stiff as stone, yet his moves were anything but stiff. Shimu, on the other hand, had a crazed expression on his face. His bloodlusted eyes were blown way too wide, a smile that was pulled to the corners of his mouth and hair flying in every direction. Compared to the calm, haughty composure he had, it was almost as if he was a totally different person.

"Good, GOOD!" Shimu cackled, bouncing backwards while deflecting all attacks from Morax's spear. "That is what I like to see! Fight me, Morax! Show me the true power of the God of War!"

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a giant rock, the size of a building, crashed right into where Shimu had been standing. Relieved, Aether exhaled. Well, that ended earlier than expected.

But he was totally wrong.

Morax leaped up, flying up meters into the sky. By a hair's breadth, the Lord of Geo had barely dodged a horizontal swing of death. In return, while still in mid-air, Morax swung his right arm down. A meteor shower rained down on the battlefield. Wait, actually, if Aether squinted, those weren't meteors - they were dozens of massive spears, glowing with tremendous intense power.

Aether made a mental note to never cross the Geo Archon.

The resounding and continuous explosions from the falling spears not only made Aether lose his footing but made his organs - especially his brain - jiggle like jelly. Next to him, Alatus was still standing firmly on his feet, slitted amber eyes alight with something like wonder as he watched the battle unfolding before him.

His lips moved silently, but Aether could lip read that he was saying, "All this...for me?"

The battle went on and on. There was never a blow that didn't rock the earth or shake the heavens. All in all, Aether was glad that the villagers had run away beforehand - even though it had been a false alarm. He just prayed that whatever was occurring now had happened at some point in the future and he wasn't messing up history badly. Because even if Morax was the Geo Archon and came out of many battles as the victor, Zhongli had told him a few enemies he had faced that were on par with him - and he won only by a millimeter.

He hoped that the battle Morax is facing now is one that he can overcome. If not...Aether wasn't sure he could forgive himself for destroying the timeline. What he knew is he absolutely cannot let a lunical god such as Shimu oversee the future of Liyue.

And for the sake of Alatus, too. He could not bear to see the future Yaksha suffer anymore than he will in the future.

After what felt like an eternity, the battle had finally settled down. Aether gulped, nervous, trying to squint through the haze of dust.

When it was cleared, it was with relief that Aether saw that Morax had his spear pointing down against a fallen Shimu's bare neck. Nevertheless, Shimu still kept his signature scowl, glaring at the golden-tipped spear as if it had done him wrong.

"The victor is clear," Morax stated steadily, totally unfazed from what would have been a tiring battle. "Surrender, and I shall let you have a swift, painless death."

Huffing, Shimu smiled. Naturally, this time almost human-like. Aether can't help but get double the creeps from this pure smile. "Hah, a painless death. Surely you jest. You had always been out to kill me this entire time, hadn't you, Morax?"

"I admit, your ways of treating your citizens and subordinates have never seemed right to me." Morax frowned, yet his grip over his spear was still as stiff as ever; ready to lob off a head when the time came.

Shimu chuckled. "You really had been watching me carefully, one might think it was stalking. But, did you really think I'm going to go down this easily?"

Morax's eyes widened. Turning to Aether's direction, he yelled, "Cover Alatus' ears!" right as Shimu shouted, "Kill him, Alatus!"

Next to him, Alatus stiffened. Aether hurriedly lunged forward, trying to keep him under his weight, but Alatus had already disappeared in a flash, smacking away Morax's spear from Shimu's neck.

"Alatus!" Aether cried desperately. "Don't do this!"

"He cannot, child," Guizhong said woefully. "He has been inlaid with a curse. Whatever his master commands, he will have to obey, even if it is against his will. Or else, he will-"

The rest of her words were drowned out by a giant explosion. Two giant beasts, a glittering vermilion bird with golden wings and a four-legged rocky brown dragon with glowing scales soared into the air. Aether watched as the vermilion bird relentlessly attacked the dragon while the dragon dodged easily with elegance.

Shimu, free from any threat, got up and dusted himself off the dirt on his robes. Aether stepped forwards, ready to summon his sword, but was stopped when Guizhong held back his arm, shaking her head at him.

"Don't push yourself too far, young one," she whispered gently. "Ganyu can handle this."

And she did.

The ground around them glowed white, temperature dropping at a rapid pace. In between Ganyu's palms, cryo energy gathered into a sphere of concentrated ice.

"For the sake of Rex Lapis!" she proclaimed as she threw it into the sky. The ball of cryo energy enlarged as it flew higher and higher and burst in a shower of snow.

Shimu laughed, eyes bloodshot with mirth. "Is that really the best you can do?"

But he spoke too soon. Gigantic shards of ice fell from the sky, each shattering like stars on impact to the ground. Shimu's face blanched as he saw those coming for him.

"Ah."

Already weakened, Shimu could barely have any energy to spare or time to run before the icicles all shattered in unison around him, coating him in a thick layer of ice that froze him from head to toe.

Further above, the battle between the vermilion bird and dragon froze. Morax flew straight down, a hurling spear of bronze. Close by his tail, followed Alatus at a speed on par with his.

Aether let out an unwilling squeak. Was this what the dinosaurs felt like when they were eradicated from his world?

Then the world turned upside down.

He wasn't sure how many times he had been sent spinning by the impact. Maybe four to five times at least until he was caught by someone. Ears ringing and vision blurry, he coughed up a lungful of dust. Argh, his chest hurt too. Maybe a broken rib or two. Even so, he managed to look up to find Guizhong arching an eyebrow at him. Feeling that there was something behind that curious gaze, he quickly looked away. Yet the sight that befell him made his stomach flip with fear.

The two beasts were gone. Instead, Alatus, in an attempt to protect his defenseless master, had a golden-tipped spear protruding through his shoulder. Shocked, Morax retracted his spear. Behind Aether, Guizhong stood up and ran hurriedly towards Alatus who had fallen onto his knees.

Besides Alatus and Guizhong, everyone's stares were drawn towards Shimu.

There was a gaping spear-shaped hole in Shimu's chest, where his heart would have been.

A/N: 
Morax: Tendou BONKshou