Demons in Teyvat?!

🌸 ℂ𝕙𝕒𝕡𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝟙𝟟 🌊

The water was scorching hot. Childe winced as a passing current swirled past his face. He struggled, managing to create a flimsy bubble of air around his head using his vision. It kind of sucked, and it definitely wasn't his best work, but it would have to do. He struggled to see through the murky water, opting to use elemental sight to make out the objects in the waves. Childe spun in a circle, before looking down. It was surprising, how big the seemingly small puddle was. He swam to the bottom of the pond, glancing through the rocks that littered the floor. He found a starconch, and hid it away for safekeeping. 

Huh. He thought. Childe reached down, yanking up a large stone to reveal an oddly shaped rock. Haha, he laughed to himself, bubbles erupting from his mouth around his head. Was it just him, or did it look oddly like a skull? He held it closer to his face, squinting. Oh. It was a skull, apparently. He grinned, laughing out loud, instead of dropping it like a normal person would. He carefully swam down and dug a hole into the gritty sand, before burying the skull of the unidentified victim. Rest in peace comrade, he thought, before swimming off, following a track of what he now knew were bones. And that would be where the demon was, right? He was so smart. (A/N Please clap for a rare display of Childe's intelligence)

Finally, he reached a completely vast, empty space of water. Seriously, was there a whole ocean under this cave? He swam a bit further, until he was suspended in a void of deep blue. Rags of fabric fluttered around him, slowly rising to the surface of the water. Childe summoned his hydro daggers once more, grabbing a hairpin from the debris for backup. He couldn't rely on his delusion, especially because he was underwater. He knew, because he had tried it before. 

But as Childe continued to float around aimlessly around the water, he still couldn't find anything. It was just- endless sea. No demon, or anything that looked like a demon, in sight. Alright then. He closed his eyes and focused. He had noticed it, more recently especially when he was with Y/N. Fighting Spirit. 

It was like an aura, a kind of cloak that smothered over every living being. It was especially prominent around vision wielders. It was their will to fight, their desire to kill, or protect. And the stronger it was, the stronger the opponent. It loomed over him on all sides. Something was there.

He quickly switched to his bow, retrieving an arrow and launching it into the abyss of water, a light "swoosh" sounding as it sailed through. It disappeared into the dark, before a dull clunk informed him that he had hit his target. The water trembled, and a terrible screech sounded. He grinned.

~🌸🌊~

Well at least, it wasn't ugly. Childe spun around, launching himself off the monster's tail and towards its' face, slashing across it's reptilian eyes before speedily swimming away from it's jaws. Holy Tsaritsa. He almost got mauled. It was like some large, snake monster, with long, spiky teeth (that looked around 6 feet tall each) and glimmering black and silver scales. 3 heads. Just 3. Because he had cut it off 3 times, and it regrew each time. He stopped doing that, eventually. It had a very long, snaky (snaky?) body that could wind around many, many times, and Childe found himself dodging more of its attacks than he could strike it. Too many heads to keep count of, and being underwater didn't make moving around any easier. He needed to end this, soon.

He threw another arrow, darting to the side just as a pair of jaws snapped shut where he had been moments before. Each head had a single, jewel like diamond in the center of its forehead, which shined like gold even in the dimly lit ocean. He would have to strike all 3, at once. Around him, the snake's body wound tighter and tighter. It was trying to trap him, he realized. The snake demon did not speak, but the heads seemed to converse with each other, hissing and chattering away, screeching like nails on a chalkboard. "Human," One hissed. "Disgusting. Vile." "Smelly." Another pitched in. Childe couldn't help but be offended at that. "Like lightning..."

Childe launched himself off the body of the snack, circling above them. Immediately the heads surged up towards him. One strike.  He would have to make it count. "Die, Human!" He spun, twisting through the water and using the momentum to build up speed. Around him, the water rippled, forcing itself into a whirling pool of current. The demon shrieked in protest, its heads caught up in the tangle. It's body withstood the current, but it couldn't stop its heads from tangling and bumping into each other. Childe notched free arrows in his bow, and pulled back the string. He spun, releasing and let the arrows sail through the water, each hitting their target with a dull thud. The demon shrieked, and Childe immediately sprung forth. He circled around the snake, using his vision to channel currents under his feet and propel himself around it. He pushed against one of the heads with all his strength, gritting his teeth as he focused his energy on creating a vortex of water that pulled the snake heads together. 

With a final roar, he unsheathed the sunring metal longsword from his back and slashed it across the demon's neck in one strike. Instantly, the horrific shrieks stopped, and the monster's carcass floated through the water before slowly dissipating into strange, ash like remains. A single hairpin floated among the remains, a remnant of a poor soul who was consumed by the demon. He reached forward, grabbed it, and pocketed the ornament.

Childe gave himself a moment to relax, before stopping. Shoot. His air bubble had popped. At that revelation, the lack of air caught up to him, and the burning in his lungs intensified. His arms began to feel like lead from the lack of oxygen. Quickly, he made his way back towards the surface.

~🌸🌊~

He was still heaving when he finally resurfaced. He slugged out of the cave like a hydro slime and almost passed out at the entrance. He stopped, sighing, before using the last of his strength and stamina to just sprint-climb straight up the side of the cliff. Afterwards, he collapsed at the top, fully drained. "You survived." Childe turned his head, ever so slightly to see the black gold boots of the adeptus. He turned his head back, preferring to stare at the dirt instead. "You did it wrong, though." At that, he rolled onto his back and sat up. 

"What do you mean?" He retorted. "It's dead, isn't it? There's no right or wrong way to do it-" "Yes there is," Xiao hissed. "Look at you, you can barely stand and you only fought one demon. A low level one at that. What if there were multiple? You would be done for. Foolish mortal." Y/N trudged towards him with a cotton towel, one he recognized from the liyue hotel and began slowly drying off his hair. He would have to thank her later. "You used the wrong approaches, the wrong methods. Your were indecisive and slow to take action. Demons will outlast you in terms of stamina, so you must make the fight as quick as possible. If you had used the correct methods from the start, you would not have been nearly as fatigued as you are now." Childe gave a weak laugh.

"Well, for my first try, it's not bad... and there's hundreds of demons out there." He grinned. "Can't wait to fight all of them." Xiao huffed in annoyance. "...And you won't get anywhere if you're breathing wrong." He finished his earlier statement. "...Breathing?" "Yes. It's the most important skill to learn as a slayer. Learning to control and master your breathing is the secret to gaining strength." Gaining strength? That... didn't sound bad. "Alright." Childe shot to his feet, ignoring the dizziness in his head from the lack of oxygen. "Teach me then!" He cocked his head, looking (down) at the adeptus with a crooked smile. Xiao stared back at him unamused. "No. You won't be able to take it. Not now." "How do you know?" "If I strangle you right now, I doubt you'll be able to stop me." "Ha- please... can you even reach my neck?" 

Y/N stared at him, huffing sadly. And it was at that moment that Childe realised he made a mistake. "Wait no-"