•°•❀•°•𝙎𝙘𝙖𝙧𝙖𝙢𝙤𝙪𝙘𝙝𝙚 x 𝙍𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙚𝙧 •°•❀•°•

𝟙𝟙. 𝔻𝕖𝕡𝕒𝕣𝕥𝕦𝕣𝕖 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕋𝕚𝕕𝕖

"There, Mámá! Look!" A young girl tugged at her mother's shoulder, trying to get her attention.

"What is it, Lu Lu?" Her mother turned and asked.

"Look! It's that girl who asked about [Y/N]!" 

"Ah... Lu Lu, that's a boy—wait, [Y/N] been missing for a two weeks! You never told me someone asked about her," the woman cried.

Before she could chase after the mysterious boy, he vanished into the crowd's shadows.  Tugging his hat snugly upon his head, he panted, out of breath. Why did he even bother so much to find a girl who betrayed him? He had left her—twice—yet here he was, trying to find her in Liyue, days  away from Snezhnaya.

Then, he spotted a familiar ginger haired man walking casually through the gates of Liyue.

"Childe," he whispered in the Harbinger's ear, fluttering to his side like a gust of wind.

"Balladeer?" Childe whirled around. 

"Where is [Y/N]?" Scaramouche demanded.

Childe's shoulders sagged. He looked less lively than ever and his eyes were downcast.

"She's not...," the words danced upon the Balladeers tongue, unwilling to be spoken.

"No, no she's not gone," Tartaglia sighed, looking weary. "Turns out she is immortal. It was hypocritical of me to believe she had shared every secret with me. She suffered a heavy injury but she'll be fine."

"Oh, I forgot," Scaramouche looked down, remembering their little talks of immortality from centuries ago. "Where is she now?"

"She fled," the eleventh Harbinger's face looked so miserable as he spoke, a bitter laugh escaping his lips. "'I hope you understand,' she said, 'my reasons for leaving.' And she left. She left me with the Traveler. Scaramouche! You have to understand! I—she was like a sister to me. I bet she hates me now."

The Balladeer was silent for once, his head turned away. Childe reached out a hand in an effort to get the boy to face him. Scaramouche shook the man away, clenching his fists and gritting his teeth.

How did I forget you?

So you did it again, how pathetic.

The first time you left, did you have any idea how broken I was?

No, no of course not.

"How dare she...," his voice was low and dangerous. "How dare she betray me once more. Don't worry, Tartaglia, I will find her. I'll be sure to find her."

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A certain [e/c] eyed girl could be seen walking in the dead of night. If one were to spot her from afar, they may have assumed her to be an animal hunting from prey. She held her arms tightly, letting wet, salty tears fall from her cheeks. When Tartaglia had told her of their mission in Liyue, she had envisioned a happy reunion with her friends yet she had fought with the Traveler, one of Xiao's and Zhongli's closer acquaintances. She had almost killed the girl and the floating fairy. 

"I'm a traitor," she muttered, looking down into the murky ocean waters. "I'm a traitor."

But Childe—no, Tartaglia was her friend too. He had wanted this. Her thoughts brought her to a land so distant it seemed unreachable from Liyue. The land across the sea, the land of eternity. Not once had she ever considered returning. After all, from everything she heard, Inazuma had become a trap to any who visited. But if no one could reach her, she wouldn't have to deal with the Fatui's shenanigans. It was quite the time to start anew. It was long since she had had to live a new life yet maybe new beginnings were forming. She just had to decide where to start.

Sneaking back into Liyue was the hard part. Everyone was on edge and the girl was clad in Snezhnayan clothing. Her eyes brightened as she saw a small boat docked on the very edge by the wooden planks. 

It looked almost like the exact same boat she had ridden in centuries ago. She smiled softly as she lit the oil lantern and sat herself into the cramped compartment.

Inazuma felt a millennia away, a land where she could escape all fears and captors. But as she steadily sailed with the tide, she spotted a dark silhouette standing upon a cliff overlooking the sea. Guyun Stone Forest looked eerily skeletal in the setting sun. It looked even more macabre as the silhouette swept away, walking until they were out of sight.

The girl's thoughts soon became a rampaging tsunami of worries, flooding all land until all was water. The Fatui must be mad. But did they care? From the way she saw it, the Tsaritsa had glanced at her and deemed her useless. The vision had done her no good. Dottore, that disgusting clown of a man, would have made a better jester than Pierro. [Y/N] would have very much enjoyed pushing him off a cliff. Then there was Ch—no, Tartaglia. Were all of their little brother-sister moments fake? They had felt so genuine, so real. Then there was the Balladeer. [Y/N] wasn't sure what to feel about him. He seemed so familiar, yet unfamiliar. There were moments when he cared and moments when he didn't. She so dearly wished to be mortal. Humans never truly appreciate the promise death. 

"You know," a gentle, familiar voice spoke softly, "Self pity is a dangerous thing right?"

"Yes, I know," her voice quivered as memories of a crimson eyed girl took over her thoughts.

"Then don't fall in, pull yourself out."

"But I never deserved this! Immortality means to lose friends over and over. It means to have an endless stream of responsibilities and worries. No peaceful rest will come."

"You shouldn't have sailed for Inazuma."

"Why?" 

"Visions are the enemy of eternity, you know that very well. And you vision just so happens to be different."

[Y/N] sighed, tugging the shoji dividers open and letting the fresh air waft inside. She looked down and spotted a glowing coral reef, its luminescence leaving her with a sense of nostalgia for the pretty lanterns of the lantern rite.

"I know, but there, no Fatui will bother you and as long as I hide it, no one will notice."

She felt what little warmth leave her as the voice blew out a breath, the words slowly fading into silence.

"Just be careful, you never know who you'll meet."

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

TYSM FOR READING! I never expected this story to get so many views and votes!!! I love y'all, you crazies.

Who will you meet in Inazuma I wonder? 👀 

-Wolfie-Dragon <3