Chapter Text
After his encounter with Zhongli, the restlessness and unease within himself had only spiked.
So much for coming out for a simple walk.
His conversation with Zhongli had left him off-kilter, of memories of times bygone, as familiar places he had once spent so much time with the consultant had now returned with a burning vengeance to haunt him.
This was why he did not want to return to Liyue.
He could not stand the memories associated with this place, with how his first official mission away from Snezhnaya had ended in humiliation, at his own failure to recognise that he had been beside the Geo Archon the entire time.
He makes for Mount Tianheng, hoping for some isolation and fulfilling his terms of the agreement with Ningguang, that was to stay out of sight and out of mind. That, and the fact that he wanted to burn off his restlessness by killing a few hilichurls or two, doing this nation a favour with how many pests they had crawling around.
It does not take him long to reach one of the small intermediary peaks of Mount Tianheng, the cold night breeze working wonders to cool off the humidity which clung to his skin.
Surprisingly, there was not a single hilichurl in sight, and those whom he had eyed on several miles in the distance had fled, as though they sensed his presence and bolted. Off into their caves, their hideyholes made it a time consuming task to lure them out.
It was not worth hunting them anymore, though the flare of annoyance of leaving empty handed still came up once more. It was as if nothing was going his way. Well, apart from meeting Blade.
Still, up here he'd manage to lure in a prey of his own.
The moon was bright and full, as he gazed outwards at the scattered forests and thickets far beneath.
"It's such a pleasant night, why don't you join me?"
He calls out into the wind.
Not that he was calling for the Anemo Archon Barbatos, whom he'd heard could received messages no matter how far, as long as they were passed and spoken aloud into the wind.
Rather, his very intrepid stalker who had been on his tail since he'd entered the Northland Bank that afternoon.
He was wondering how long his stalker would take to show himself, and even when he had allowed himself to sleep in his quarters, the stalker had not made his move.
From the cover of the trees, he sees the shorter male step forward.
With dark medium length hair ending in teal shading, golden irises, similar to the shade of Cor Lapis yet not quite, gaze back at him.
"To what do I owe this pleasure, Adeptus Xiao?"
Childe had done his research all those years ago. Had learnt of the yakshas, the Adeptus, and all of their histories. Though his memory may be faint due to how long it had been since he had to open up a journal about the Archon war, he knows enough about the surviving Adeptus in the current day.
Xiao steps out from the shadows, light glinting from the blade of his polearm as he leaves the cover of the foliage behind him.
The harbinger recognises the lethal grace of a hunter, of a relaxed gait of someone confident in their abilities, down to the minute flex of muscle, sleek and raw power condensed into a form as unassuming as the Adeptus before him.
"You are a threat to this nation."
Xiao warns him, and Childe resists the urge to roll his eyes. He does not miss the tone of genuine hostility laced into his words. After all, he would have spoken the same way were he executing his duties as a Harbinger, but under a different context.
"...First, Morax. Now you. All of you are telling me the same thing, but it's not like I want to be here in Liyue either. I'll leave in two day's time, or whenever Beidou's ship gets fixed." Childe crosses his arm, though he never once lifts his gaze from the warrior before him.
Said warrior, who had already drawn his polearm.
Perhaps he would get his fight after all.
If his diplomatic approach failed, which was rare, but it had the tendency to fail when it came to particularly stubborn and resolute individuals.
"You reek of Beisht's power. The Abyss, and something most foul."
Xiao glared at him, something sharp and almost akin to a vivid hyper fixation on him, looking at him, no, looking through him. It was uncanny to see a warrior who he knew had centuries worth of experience hunting down creatures, monsters and even minor gods looking at him as if he were something to kill.
Could this Adeptus sense the All Devouring Narwhal within him? His words implied that Beisht's power was something tangible and distinct enough to be read from his being. Despite consuming the sea monster, maybe he had yet to fully internalise and digest its power? Last he could recall, Neuvillette could only tell the Narwhal's power from his being. Maybe Foul Legacy, but the stench of the Abyss that followed his person was a given.
He cannot help but chuckle.
"Hey now, whatever's happening to me is my business. For Aeon's sake, this is the third time I'm saying this today, but I have no desire to harm anyone. I'm not even supposed to stop by Liyue."
He waves a gloved hand placidly, though a part of him craves a fight against this opponent. The Adeptus reported to Morax after all. Had Zhongli sent Xiao after him when he refused to listen to him back at the harbour?
It was in line with his modus operandi, was it not? To use others as tools, as weapons to fulfil his own ends. Just as he himself had been used as per the contract he had not been aware of.
Xiao points the tip of his spear at the ground.
"It matters not why you are here. What matters more is what to do with you, now that you are here. As the vigilant Yaksha, it is my duty to dispatch threats like you before harm befalls the innocent."
What a turn of events. Did Zhongli want him dead now?
All because he refused to accept his apology? Or because they could sense that he no longer belonged to this world in full? Was the Narwhal's presence within his being something that commanded nothing but conflict? So many questions, yet as the Yaksha before him raise his weapon once more Childe finds that he may be embroiled in another unwanted conflict.
At the very least, he should make one last time to de-escalate the situation.
"Is killing me like your only option? I'll literally be out of your territory soon enough. Neither do I want any trouble or to get into a fight."
"Is the Eleventh Harbinger hearing himself? Did you forget that you were the one who freed Osial from his prison, and nearly drowned Liyue?" Xiao growls, taking a step closer. There was something that whispered to him, no, it demanded him to kill and slaughter the man before him.
No, Tartaglia was no man.
He was the Harbinger of ruin, one who had shown the willingness, the cunningness to plot the downfall of his home, a Harbinger who reeked of the Abyss, its dripping miasma pooling in the air around his weak.
Alongside that, was the mixed, intertwined scent of power left behind by Beisht, something cold, callous and resentful of the land and its inhabitants, of Morax and all of his allies.
Lastly, the very instinct that drove him to act this way, a manner which many would consider to be rash and impulsive, was the fact that where Childe stood, the visage of a massive, ravenous being basked in his shadow. It was something that dripped with the insanity of a foul creature not of this world, a tarnished god that did not belong here, a fallen deity that was the enemy of this very world.
One that would inevitably consume the people he protected, the people he cared for, one that would consume Liyue.
It incites a vicious anger within himself, a resolute stand to face off against this thing that had slaughtered a mighty foe such as Beisht and drank its power, who had dominated over a being as old as he.
Thousands of years of slaughter, of purging beasts and monsters, had taught him to recognise when one was hiding beneath human skin. Except, Childe was not even attempting to hide. He flaunted the principles of negotiation, using sly words to convince him to back off, but Xiao would not have any of that.
Even if he promised now that he meant no harm, it could easily be a lie.
Just as he had fooled Morax into thinking he was worth forgiving.
He did not understand why Morax had allowed him to walk away.
This thing before him would bring about the ruination of a world.
And Xiao, the Conqueror of Demons could not let a demon walk free.
-
Alas, there was much that Childe was unaware of regarding his new title in the eyes of the world.
Skirk had only briefly mentioned that for her student to reach the peak of his potential, he would need to shed himself of Celestia's curse. A shackle which came in the form of a so-called 'blessing' from the gods.
In devouring his vision, a symbol of authority from the usurper gods of this world, he had unknowingly made himself an enemy to all beings who hailed from Teyvat.
Just as the traveller was an outlander to this realm, Childe took on a title of the same weight, and no longer could he be considered something that was once born within the lands of this new world.
Adeptus Xiao would under most circumstances, not incite conflict as easily as he did then. However, his intuition that stemmed from his existence as an illuminated beast of this world, called to him to put the enemy down before it would bring further chaos into the world.
Beisht, Avenger of the Vortex, had answered the very same call instilled within is being.
Likewise, Morax would not have felt an instinctive desire to smite Childe where he stood. Had he possessed his gnosis still, the command to annihilate the existence of the thing which was once the Eleventh Harbinger would have unleashed a calamity upon Liyue Harbour itself.
Naturally, their past experiences and interactions still hold sway over their decisions, with Morax and his shared past with the Harbinger holding him back from what needed to be done. As for Alatus, his knowledge of the Harbinger only further cemented his decision to eliminate the threat before him.
Such was the fate of the unfortunate being known as AjaxChildeTartaglia.
-
Unfortunately, Childe barely has time to summon his hydro blades when Xiao lunges at him with his polearm.
Blood spills across the grass, a crimson which shimmered violet under the light of the full moon.
Childe pressed a gloved hand against the gash on his arm, having barely stepped out of the way of the blow that had meant to pierce his chest and sever his spine. It dawned on him in a split second that he was now in a fight, one he did not want, yet it came to him nonetheless.
He sidesteps the next few lunges, as anemo begins cutting at his skin, and his own gaze only grew colder.
If Xiao wanted to be his enemy, then very well.
The hunger was no longer gnawing at his being.
That gluttonous void had long since been filled with another being, the concept and existence of a god that dwelled a thousand years ago, and Childe was absolutely ecstatic. Primordial Seawater comes to his command, his blood solidifying into weapons, as he meets Xiao's polearm in the next blow.
A part of him had weighed the odds of this actually turning into a confrontation, and boy had he underestimated that probability.
Regardless, he moves, swift as flowing water, carrying the power of a tidal wave in each and every blow he exchanged with the Adeptus, as Xiao too began to pour in more power, and began to push himself harder, against this opponent.
-
From the harbour, Zhongli could sense a sharp spike of power in the air.