Ever since the day Lilith became friends with Alatus, they quickly became almost inseparable. He would often have to disappear for days at a time, and when he did have time it was only for a couple hours. Those few hours were always spent together doing anything they could think of. They both didn't have much experience having friends, so they figured things out together. Some days they would hunt monsters together, others they would just sit in the grass while Lilith taught Alatus how to make a grass flute. She laughed hysterically the first time he tried to flow into the leaf, a shrill warbling noise escaping it. He was mortified and made it his life's mission to get better. Eventually, he was so good at it that they would often play duets together.
They also had an unspoken agreement to not dwell on the past. They made it a point to not ask questions about each other's past, and when they did it was only harmless questions like their hobbies or funny memories.
Lilith told him about her love for music and dancing, and how she loved the feeling of the wind in her hair as she danced with her blade through the battlefield. Having a dynamic rhythm in her movements and an understanding of her opponent's rhythm was key to her fighting style, which abandons all defense aside from parries and basic blocks in favor of speed and offense.
These two aspects were something that their fighting styles shared. Alatus's figure as he fought was mesmerizing: not a single movement was wasted and all of their enemies' attacks missed him by just a hair. Their similar fighting styles made it easy for them to match their rhythms, and soon they could practically read each other's minds on the battlefield.
When they weren't fighting, Alatus would teach Lilith everything he knew about these lands. It was still severely underdeveloped, but she could see his soft affection for the land and its people. He told me that he wanted to protect its peace for as long as he could, and that was why he killed all those monsters and bandits.
However, she could always sense that he was hiding something. Whenever he spoke of the people, he would always have a pained look on his face. She never asked any deeper questions, and the topic would change quickly. The same applied to her necklace with its crimson Peng pendant. Alatus had commented on it once, then immediately dropped the topic when he saw the heartbroken look on Lilith's face. He felt as if his own heart had frozen over when his eyes met her cold ones.
Alatus, Rex Lapis, and Lucifer only met each other about a hundred years after Lilith and Alatus first met, and it was... awkward, to say the least. Rexy and Luci's overprotective brother modes went on overdrive once they found out that Lilith had been leaving home every so often to hang out with a boy, and it took quite a lot of talking to calm them down.
She wanted to strangle her brother when Lucifer looked Alatus dead in the eye and asked, "What are your intentions with my sister?" Poor Alatus nearly choked on thin air, his face flushing bright red while Lilith karate chopped her brother on the head.
"He's my very first friend who isn't a brother! Stop reading all those archonsforsaken romance novels, you sound so corny!" she shouted, pouting.
"They're classic pieces of literature," he grumbled, rubbing his head.
"Classic pieces of bull dung is what they are," she said, shaking her head. "Sorry for my doofus of a brother- Oi! Rexy! Stop using the intimidation tactics I taught you on Alatus!" she shouted, pointing at Rex who was glowering at Alatus with a slight snarl.
He immediately backed away, imaginary puppy ears drooping at her scolding. It was almost comical: a man who looked to be in his twenties being scolded by a girl who looked to be thirteen.
"Sorry for my doofuses of brothers," she amended her previous statement, shooting an apologetic grin at Alatus. He simply nodded, his face back to normal.
Alatus quickly took a shine to her brothers, especially Rex. He was in awe of his fellow adeptus, even more so towards Rex since he was apparently a great earth dragon, borne from the ley lines only once every ten thousand years. They both wielded polearms, so Rex would often coach Alatus in new maneuvers or just plain spar with him to improve his speed and strength.
The relationship between Alatus and Lucifer was a bit more strained, since Lucifer was fiercely protective of his only family. He would often grill Alatus in various academic fields, insisting that "If you want to protect my sister, you have to have a basic understanding of everyday living." Brother, I love you, but we never go to mortal towns. Knowing the difference between a real and counterfeit jewel is practically useless since we can literally mine them from our surroundings.
Imagine Alatus's surprise when they told him that they were actually 4,000 years older than him (Alatus was 2,500 years old at this time, the same as Rex). He looked at Lilith in particular, a disbelieving look in his eyes.
"What?!" she demanded. "Stop looking at me like 'I can't believe this childish girl is older than me'! I'm much older and more mature than you! It's just my physical growth that can't keep up with my awesomeness!"
Alatus, Lucifer, and Rex all looked at her with identical pitying looks and patted her shoulders and head. She shrieked in indignation and pelted them all with sunsettias taken from her storage. Alatus simply stepsided all of them while her brothers were sufficiently bruised all over.
Sher looked at him with a pout, and he softened. She decided to forgive him after he let her use his lap as a pillow for a nap.
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
"Alatus~" Lilith whined, leaning on his back with her arms slung over his shoulders as he sat cross legged on the ground, sharpening his spear. "I'm bored~"
"I thought Lucifer told you to get some white iron so he could make a new pot to replace the one you broke while seeing if cooking pyro and cryo slimes could make a new kind of dessert," he said pointedly.
"I did that a loooooong time ago~" she complained. "I also remember a certain someone promising to take me hunting for the Great Snowboar King," she said, poking Alatus's cheek.
"And that's precisely why I'm sharpening my weapon, something that you should also be doing right about now," he said.
"Oh, I never told you about my weapon, huh?" Lilith said, muttering Summoning: Gladius Lunae. Her sword appeared in her hand, the familiar weight resting in her right hand. "Where I'm from, my people are all born with a sword in their souls. However, only a few gifted individuals are actually capable of freely summoning them. Since this is a sword that's attached to my soul, its strength is directly related to the strength of my will." She smiled nostalgically at the blade, then let it fade out of existence.
"Seeing how stubborn you are, that blade will surely be the sharpest in the land," Alatus smirked.
"I don't know if you're complimenting or dissing me," Lilith grumbled.
"Take it as a compliment," Alatus said, standing up with a grunt. He reached out and tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear with an affectionate smile, and she leaned into his hand with a smile of her own. "W-we should probably go. The Snowboar King appears around this time," Alatus coughed awkwardly into his hand, retracting his other quickly.
"Gotcha!" Lilith saluted with a smirk, and they teleported away.
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
Meanwhile, with Rex Lapis and Lucifer (spying on the two from behind a bush)...
"I still can't believe they insist that they're just friends," Lucifer sighed, at his wit's end at the denseness of the two.
"This is probably their first friendship and also their first love," Rex said. "It is no surprise that they assume their feelings are typical between friends."
"Just like you and a certain Goddess of Dust?" Lucifer smirked, side eyeing Rex with a wiggle of his eyebrows.
"I have no idea what you are talking about," Rex said stiffly, looking away with a slightly flushed face.
A.N. The fact that Zhongli has "Zhong" from Guizhong CANNOT BE A COINCIDENCE I SHIP IT)
P.S. Ayo... bros.... pls.... READ CHAP 9.5 I PROMISE ITS GOOD AND NOT A BORING FILLER I REGRET PUTTING THE .5 THEREEEEE
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I Always Come Back For What's Mine (Genshin Impact: Xiao x OC)
FanfictionThe twins of destruction. That is a title that has haunted Lilith and Lucifer for thousands of years. A title that robbed them of a childhood, a mother, even almost their very lives. Just when they were about to give up hope on anybody other than th...
