#Zhongli RETIRED after serving Liyue for more than 6 THOUSANDS years | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

mistyshadow0 · 2 years ago

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A Return, or a New Beginning? Pt. 5

Hello everyone! Sorry for the couple of months-long wait, I was working on college stuff and it kind of got me distracted and un-motivated. Anyway, here's a new chapter. I hope you all like it! I plan to start writing more this summer, so there will likely be more chapters heading your way soon! Chapter 4 (Previous) Chapter 6 (Next)

Zhongli was very busy.

Though he had only recently retired from his position as the Geo Archon, he had not expected to become busy so quickly, even if he knew little about living as a mortal.

But he had never been happier.

The joy and sense of completeness that he had felt in the last few hours made up for the work he had to do a thousand-fold. He felt better than he had in a thousand years. He felt alive.

He would take this workload a thousand- no, a million!- times over if it meant he would get to finally meet and serve the Divine Creator in person.

The moment he had first sensed that the creator had come to Teyvat, had come home, he thought he had finally lost himself to erosion, only to be proved wrong when, for a moment, he felt Teyvat itself sing in celebration of their arrival. The earth and stone he himself had reigned over for so long cried out in such joy and happiness that he immediately fell to his knees and became overwhelmed with emotion.

Since then, he had become busier than he had ever been, even at the height of his time as an archon, and he was thriving. His plans, which had spanned and developed over thousands of years, were finally being put into place.

The very first thing he had done was call for a meeting of Adepti, where he informed them of the creator’s return and each of the parts they would need to play in his plan to welcome the creator.

He, of course, had already stepped down from his position as archon, and needed to inject himself into the preparations in some other way. He needed to be trusted enough to be the one to ensure that everything would be done perfectly.

Thankfully, he had accounted for this scenario as soon as he decided to retire, and had made himself known in the eye of the public as a scholar of the Divine. It was because of this that he became a consultant working with Wangsheng Funeral Parlor in the first place, to establish himself as knowledgeable in tradition and in the study of the Divine One.

So, he used this status to ensure that he would be the one working directly with the Tianquan, making preparations to welcome the Divine Creator to Liyue.

It had only been a handful of hours after he sensed the Creator’s arrival that he notified the Qixing and, with the fervent approval of the Adepti, immediately became the Tianquan and Acolyte Ningguang’s right hand man.

Since then, he had been working relentlessly on celebration preparations and architectural designs for a palace to be built for the Divine Creator. Designs which he himself had considered and re-considered many times over the years. Afterall Liyue, and especially himself, would be honored to have the Divine One reside in their nation, or even visit their nation. Therefore, a residence worthy of the Divine Creator themself was necessary.

Currently, Zhongli was sat down in an office in the newly-rebuilt jade chamber, flitting through various holy scriptures and diagrams. He had seen them all before, and had long memorized them all, but he wouldn’t- couldn’t- take the chance that he had overlooked something, some inkling of the Divine One’s preference, be it food, clothing, aesthetic, anything. He would not allow himself to make any such oversight.

There was still so much he needed to do.

The celebration itself still needs to be planned, additional shrines and temples built, the best of offerings need to be gathered, A banquet still needs to be planned and arraigned, and the highest quality clothing and furniture need to be procured for the Divine One and their residence, once I finish the designs for their palace and construction can start.

For once in his life, it seemed as though he simply didn’t have enough time to complete everything he needed to, which was a new feeling for him.

Zhongli hummed, lost in thought as he considered how he also needed to consult with the Tianquan about sending a welcoming party to Mondstadt, who had been the first nation to receive the Divine Creator.

Barbados… I hope you recognize how blessed you and your nation are for being the first to receive the Divine Creator… I can only hope Liyue and myself will soon be blessed in such a manner.

He flipped through the several pages of architectural design he had been working on and added another room, intended to house the best trained guards Liyue could provide.

The welcoming party will consist of the few lucky people who will be able to welcome their beloved Creator home to Teyvat, and will be the ones to represent Liyue in its entirety. They must be carefully selected. Acolytes, preferably those of high status, perhaps one of the Adepti as well.

And even though no archon had been made an acolyte, himself included, he planned to be among those greeting the Divine One. He must be among them.

He had waited for this day for nearly all of his 6,000 years. He would not get this wrong.

He had worshiped the creator for nearly all of his existence, through peace and war and death. He had tried to find ways to bring the creator back himself, by any means necessary, and had failed time and time again. He had killed and loved and lost and still the Divine Creator was there for him, watching from just beyond his reach. He had built Liyue, a testament to the Divine One’s love of their people, a place of commerce and collaboration and protection, and still…

He didn’t care how. They were here.

And that was all that mattered.

Together, Liyue harbor would prepare for a celebration the likes of which had never been seen before. They would offer their all to their beloved creator, and serve them with everything they had. The sins of the past would not be repeated. Not on his watch. The Divine Creator would get what they deserve.

Everything.

So yes, Zhongli was very, very busy.

The Divine Creator remained fast asleep. For quite some time the office was silent, sans the sound of the Creator’s light breathing. None present dared to break that silence, out of fear of waking the Creator, who appeared to be exhausted from traveling to Teyvat.

While Kaeya and Razor remained guarding the door, the others in the room moved off to the side to discuss what they had learned.

Very, very quietly.

Jean, hesitant, started what they all knew would be a vitally important conversation.

“Well, first things first,” she turned to Kaeya, “please call for Barbara, and be discreet about it. We also need to inform the others that the celebration needs to be delayed. We need more information about the Creator’s condition before we do anything more. Their safety is of utmost importance and we cannot risk it. I trust you’ll be quick and quiet about this.”

Kaeya, face more serious than most of them had ever seen, simply nodded and slipped out of the room, giving a quick look to Diluc as he left, who simply nodded back at him. As soon as he was out, Diluc took his place guarding the door.

Jean then turned to Albedo.

“Albedo, can you tell us any more about what is happening?”

He softly sighed and shook his head.

“I don’t know much more than I told Our Grace, all I did was a quick check of their health and a short scan using alchemy. I could do a more in-depth test, but that would require the approval of the Creator, and they need to rest at the moment…”

He looked over at where the Creator was soundly asleep, eyes softening, and then turned back to continue.

“Although… I have some hypotheses, which I will briefly explain. I need more information to determine if they are correct, however.” This garnered him a fierce look from the bard Venti, who’s hair and eyes glowed for a moment as he gestured for Albedo to continue.

“First, we know for sure that this is indeed our Creator. Not only is their presence the same as we Acolytes have felt since we were chosen, but we have also seen their golden blood, which is stated to be a characteristic of the Creator in even the oldest of the Sacred Texts. We also know that the Creator is suffering from some form of memory loss. They have no memory of being our creator, or of living in Teyvat, which I have hypothesized is due to them not healing enough prior to their arrival. They only appear to recall living somewhere else. As for how they know about us despite this memory loss, I am not sure. Although, what I stated before about the world they were recovering in having Teyvat exist as a story or as a false reality to protect against emotional or psychological damage is certainly a possibility.”

Silence came across the group once more, until Venti- Barbados- spoke in barely a whisper, musical tone to his voice almost gone.

“So, we don’t know anything. What about the cut? The Creator was the strongest and most powerful of all of us. A small thorn should not have been enough to harm them. I have to wonder if they’ve lost more than just their memories…” He shuddered.

A tension rose among them, and Albedo’s voice wavered uncharacteristically as he responded.

“Yes… about that, I was able to discover part of the answer regarding that in my initial scan. The Creator is lacking nearly all of their power. I would not be surprised if they only had the capabilities and strength of the average human right now. The most likely answer to this is that they returned too early, before they had healed enough,” Albedo’s voice softened for a moment, “our Creator is truly kind and loving, if they returned to us before healing completely.”

He shook his head and continued on topic, a dark look coming over his face. “From what little I could tell, although their power is largely gone it will come back over time, likely many millennia from now. As for their memories, they will either return in time alongside their powers, or not at all. Until then, they are as fragile as a human. However, because they still have a sliver of their original power, they cannot… perish. Rather, they will be sent back to heal for even longer than they had to this time. So, they are mortal in a sense that they are able to be harmed and taken away from us frighteningly easy, but in truth the Creator cannot completely die.”

Venti wasn’t sure whether to cry out in relief that he was wrong about the creator being entirely mortal, or to be frozen in terror at the prospect of loosing the Creator for thousands more years when he had only just met them.

Similarly, Jean, Diluc, and Razor all wore shock on their faces, then determination as they all collectively decided to never let such a fate happen to their dear, beloved Creator.

It was Diluc who then spoke up.

“Then… we need to protect them. Keep them safe. We cannot allow what happened thousands of years ago to happen again.”

Razor fiercely nodded his head.

“Yes, we must protect Creator! Razor will help!”

“Yes,” Jean interjected, “Mondstadt will protect and serve the Creator to the best of our abilities. We’ll have guards stationed around the Creator at all times, and we’ll need to let the Archons and leaders of the other nations know, so that they can also protect the Creator as they are welcomed back to each nation.”

Jean then brought her hands up to her head.

“This is a mess… I’m ecstatic that the Creator has returned and has blessed Mond with their presence, but now there is so much to be done. We’ll need to up security by ten-fold, and in the meantime find a place for Our Grace to reside where they will be safe…” She sighed. “We also need to discretely send messages to the other nations, particularly those blessed with Acolytes, like Liyue and Inazuma, and let them know what has happened.”

Jean hummed, lost in thought for a moment, trying to think of a location safe and worthy enough of the Divine Creator. Mond had been short-handed ever since the Grandmaster and the others had left, and there was no way she could trust the care of the Divine Creator to the majority of those who had large, protected estates in Mond, which was mostly the Lawrences. Just as a thought struck her, Diluc interrupted her before she could speak.

Face turning slightly pinker than was typical, he made his offer. “What about Dawn Winery? Its outside of Mondstadt, enough of a distance away to be protected from unwelcome eyes and ears, and is already guarded by personnel I personally chose, and who I trust not to let anything slip. There, I can also get someone trusted to start working on some clothing worthy of our Creator, seeing as though they arrived in some sort of sleepwear.” He turned his head to the side, turning redder by the second, and took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. “I can only hope that the Creator will approve, and that my residence will be worthy enough.”

Jean nodded.

“I agree, Diluc. For the time being, Dawn Winery will likely be the safest for them, until we can figure out what to do next. We can ask the Creator what they think when they wake. Is anyone opposed to this?”

No one was.

“Well then,” Jean said as she started to feel the tension in the air lessen, “all we have to do now is wait for-“

Someone softly knocked on the door, interrupting Jean. Both Diluc and Razor tensed up, and carefully moved to check who it was. After a nod from Diluc, and an approving grunt from Razor, Barbara was let in.

Everyone felt some of the tension fall off of their shoulders. All of them were relieved. At least now, the Divine Creator can be properly healed, and can rest unimpeded by injury. They would need all the rest they could get, and the Acolytes, plus Diluc and Barbados, would ensure that they get it.

After they woke, their Divine One would be invited to stay at Dawn Winery in Luxury, rather than on Jean’s barely-used office couch, and would begin to be protected, celebrated, cared for, and worshiped as they should be.

Even if they didn’t remember.

Even without their Divine Powers.

Soon, the Creator would be safe. Loved. Welcomed Home.

And the citizens of Teyvat will make sure of it.

Rejoice.

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