Chapter Text
"Where the fuck am I?" you wondered as you got up from the ground you had laid on. You had no memory whatsoever of how you had gotten to this place. What you were looking at was a very dark place. Trees surround you with no house in near sight. There were no signs of a living thing except, of course, the plants. Although they also looked quite weird and nothing like how it looked in Teyvat. The whole place had a creepy vibe, and honestly, you were scared. A realization slowly crept in...
This was not Teyvat; you had to leave here as soon as possible.
.
.
'UGH, LIKE THERE IS NO CLUE. I don't see a single living person here. There is nothing here that could help me get back. I don't remember how I came here too.' with a small sigh, you laid down. You had tried to search for ways to get out, but you needed to figure out where you were going. Neither did you know what you could do to get out of here. You had aimlessly searched for someone, something, for who knows how long. There was no way to know what time it was or what day it was. You were too tired, so it must have been some time since your eyes felt heavy. Hunger was also growing as your stomach growled. There was nothing you could eat, so you decided to sleep it off for now. Either way, you had no energy to even get food. With heavy eyelids, your eyes closed, and everything went black.
.
.
Huh? Something was making noise. Your ears picked up on some noise made outside, and you had woken up. Although your eyes were still closed and sleepy, you had no idea what was causing the sound. Was it the wind? Rain? No, it sounded like a voice. A voice? Realizing that there might be someone, a living person, in this weird place made you instantly open your eyes and get in a sitting position.
"Hey, slow down now. Gave me a scare there."
Familiar ocean blue stared back into you. The same you would always gaze into in the evenings while you sat across each other. The same eyes that made your heartbeat fasten. That's when you realized you were face-to-face with Childe. WAIT CHILDE? WHAT IS HE DOING HERE? You were utterly confused. You rubbed your eyes to check whether you were dreaming, although you believed that it could instantly be considered a nightmare if Childe did come in your dreams.
"What the fuck are you doing here, Childe?" "Don't you think I should be asking that of you?" You decided to be honest and straight to the point "I don't remember how I got here, and I have no idea what this place is." "Oh. Haha. You are so dumb; how do you not remember. Anyways well, this place is the Void Realm." "Can you stop thinking I know what that would mean?" Childe rolled his eyes. "Right, you are dumb. Well, to put it in simpler words, we are currently in:
The Abyss"
"Ah, I see. The Abyss. EH? THE ABYSS?" realization set in a bit too slow for you. " Can you stop shouting?"
What was this sudden don't shout rule? Who was he to order you around."MAKE ME" You screamed at the top of your lungs, and Childe honestly was not amused and drew his bow out."Shut up unless you want your mouth blasted with this" "Childe, you are funny. Do you think I will be scared by that? Did you forget I have already defeated you? Dodging your arrows was a piece of cake at that time. I don't think this time would be any different" With a smug face, you looked at him, who was drawing his bow.
Childe was the person you had met in Liyue and had been great acquaintances. He had helped you when you first met. But he turned out to be a Fatui harbinger. Both of you had fought against each other, which resulted in your victory. Although hard to win against, you were a madman when betrayed or lied to. You couldn't take Childe lying about his identity and how he had betrayed you. You both were inseparable after your first meeting. You would have dinner and lunch together most of the time. It was as if you were lovers, but not entirely. One thing was sure, you two were very close, and for you, you trusted Childe deeply. Although after breaking it and fighting him, you had almost killed him, you had let him go after a memory with him had surfaced in your mind-
The memory was of Childe asking you if you would kill him if he would ever betray you. Although you had felt it was weird to ask then, you answered with a "You are important to me. I can't possibly live without you...you know, 'cause we are such good friends." It had almost been a confession, but you didn't want to destroy your bond because what if he didn't feel the same way? He had never dropped any hints of him liking you back.
Childe didn't fear death; you could see that in his eyes that day when you almost killed him. You had let him go that time, and that was the last time you had contact or seen each other. Now here you both were. The worst part was that you probably would have to rely on Childe to get you out of here.
"Well, but I am not here to fight. I just want to get out of here. Tell me how to get out of here."
"Do you really think I would tell you so easily? I need something in return" "What do you want?" " You learn quick, huh? That's good. I will help you get out of here. But you must first fight me." " Why? Can't get over your defeat from last time?" That must have hurt Childe's pride. He loved to fight, but defeat was something that he had never experienced. His eyes darkened. But he let out a chuckle. It was definitely not an amused one. It was a tasteless one. There was no emotion behind it. "You really know how to rile me up. I suppose. I have to crush you beneath me to get over it."
He really was angry with you, huh. "You know, it's not like I wanted to fight you in the past. I just had to do it because it was something only I could do, and it was needed. I don't understand why you have a grudge over something you had started." "Grudge? Me? Haha, you are funny. If you think what I feel for you right now can be explained with something as simple as a grudge, then you are highly mistaken." " Did what I say not come across you? I never wanted to fight you. You betrayed me; not only that, but I am sure you remember what went down in Liyue. Why are you angry at me despite me not doing anything wrong?"
Childe didn't understand what some parts of him felt. He didn't know why he was angry with you. Sure, you did defeat him, but he wouldn't be mad over someone winning a fair and square battle against him. Yes, his pride was hurt, but the anger came from somewhere else mainly. He understood what you were trying to say and had no answers to your questions. "Do you want to go back to Teyvat or not? If yes, be ready to fight in a week."
With a sigh of defeat after not getting your questions answered, you gave a slight nod. "Sure, let's fight. What about food? I can't just be without the energy to fight, right? And a place to sleep at?"
Childe quickly answered, "Although I despise you, I won't leave you to die. At least not by lack of food." "So if I am dying because of you injuring me, you would leave me to die?" "Yes." Because he wanted you to die only by his own hands. Only his. No one else could take that from him. But he didn't say it loud.
You had no response. A part of you hurt. But you just continued to smile sadly and followed him quietly. There was no point in dropping your tears.