𝐆𝐨𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐬 | 𝐳𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐢

11

Slowly and steadily, the two travelers walked inside the darkness, letting the pitch black embrace their figure coldly. although the only thing providing them warmth was the fire torch, it wasn't enough to stop their soul feeling the chills.

"Paimon doesn't like this..."

Paimon came closer to Aether who kept quiet while walking further in the unknown place. his eyes cautiously gazed around, making sure no one else was around.

As he walked around, he moved the torch towards the right only to see some markings on the wall. going closer and steadily, he study the markings and he notice it was some kind of memory...

In the first one, there was a drawing of two people under the tree, having tea together. it looked pleasant, like two lovebirds enjoying their moments together.

Then the next one showed two people laying and gazing at the sky. the woman was embracing her lover as she pointed at the sky.

Continuing on, each drawings showed a bit of bittersweet memories. whether it was the couple doing some things together or the woman was by herself. from all the drawings, Aether only focused on one.

Standing in front of it, he stared at the picture where the woman was sitting alone in the dark. her head was down, where Aether or Paimon can't see her face. both hands were sitting on her lap while her hair was down.

"How come she's lonely in this one?" Paimon asked as she too gazed at the same picture.

"Not sure, but it could mean something."

Tracing the picture, Aether gasped as he suddenly looked at his surrounding. 'another vision?' he internally thought as he sharply turned around once more.

"W-Who are you?"

Looking behind him, Aether sees a woman with the most beautiful (e/c) eyes he has ever seen, but as he stared deeply into them, they held fear and confusion.

"My name is Aether and i uh-"

How does he explain that he's just having a random vision and that he actually doesn't know where he is right now?

"My name is Morax, the geo archon and the god of contracts."

Snapping out of his own thought, the said traveler looked at the woman and followed her gaze.

There stood Zhongli, but years ago in his former archon form. his arms were black to faded gold while his head was covered by a white hood. although he may look like a suspicious man, you can feel your soul crumbling into pieces just by looking into his amber eyes.

Switching his gaze back to the woman then to the geo archon, Aether realizes he has traveled back in time where the moon goddess had first met the geo archon.

Stepping closer, he also realizes that he's just a vision figure that can't be seen or known by the memories.

Taking a good look on the moon goddess, Aether could feel his own soul feeling chilly, but in a good way. the way her (e/c) eyes held so little emotion tells Aether something.

The only emotion he could see was hesitation and loneliness. those starry (e/c) eyes looked so dimmed, as if a star is no longer shining in the night sky anymore.

Blinking his eyes, Aether now sees himself in another memory. sharply turning his head, Aether sees the moon goddess resting her head on Zhongli's shoulder. both of their hands were intertwined together as they gaze out into the sunset.

"Promise me, you will be okay after the war?"

The geo archon looked down at his beloved and caress her hand comfortably, "i'll promise to find you after the war..." he said while resting his head on top of her own.

Then in the next blink, Aether sees only black and red. a huge fire was burning down buildings and trees. while the once blue sky was now dark gray due to the smoke that was spreading in the atmosphere.

As the fire continued to spread, Aether sees a woman laying in the middle of the chaos. running to save her, Aether feels himself run into nothing. that's right, this is just a memory, so he can't do anything in here, but just watch.

Coming closer cautiously, Aether sees that the woman was the moon goddess. his eyes widen in horror as he watch her unfortunate figure struggle.

Watching how her leg is stuck under a collapse building and her own energy was slowly dying off. Aether can feel his own heart break into pieces and soul fade as he listen to her high pitch scream. the way her pain can't be seen or heard by anyone else was something that Aether can't continue on looking further.

As Aether was going to turn away from the heartbreaking scene, his ears picked up her voice.

"P-Please..."

Slowly turning back to her, Aether watch the moon goddess grip the dirty harshly in pain, "please... help me-"

He can't.

Aether suddenly can't feel his own feet move, like it's forcing him to watch this memory. this glass of memory that somehow turned into something so horrific.

His gloved fingers twitched as he continued on looking at her figure. her once lively figure slowly dying off as she breathed in the poison smoke and feeling the burning fire.

"Morax..."

Those were the last words she said before the moon goddess fell unconscious. her once hands gripping the dirty lied limply while her eyes fluttered shut, not letting the world see her gorgeous (e/c) eyes.

"N-No-"

Before Aether could do anything, he now sees himself back where he once was with Paimon.

"Are you okay!?"

Hearing his companion shout, Aether touched his cheek only to feel wet tears. the salty tears running down his cheek and letting his lips feel the saltiness flavor.

"Did you had another vision?" Paimon asked which earned a nod from Aether. "i went through a memory of the moon goddess, i think..."

"How was it? was it good or bad memories? will it help with this investigation?"

Aether breathed in and out before answering, "i'm not entirely sure, but first we need to go back to Liyue Harbor. Zhongli could be our key to this investigation."

This left the fairy confuse, but she nonetheless nodded. following the blonde traveler, the two companions went back to the Harbor, hoping to find some answers from Zhongli.

Unfortunately, they don't know that Zhongli won't be much of a help as he is slowly losing memories of her.

(not edited)
6/16/22