Chapter Text
Chapter 1
The public execution was today. The whole city was buzzing with anticipation. Some were scared, some were nervous and some were excited. The crowds had already began to gather down by the pier. The King himself would be making an appearance and his loyal fans wouldn’t dare disappoint him by being absent.
Childe could already see the gallows being set up. Men hard at work, placing the wood and hanging up the ropes. The sight made him feel sick and he couldn’t bare to look. Unfortunately, those around him didn’t share his sentiment.
Attendance of any public execution headed by his Majesty was mandatory for all members of the public. Although it was tempting to skip this public affair, Childe knew he had no choice. Anyone the Millelith suspected of not attending would have their home broken into and if someone was found, they would join the poor souls destined for the gallows.
It would begin as soon as the sun set, which Childe reckoned would be in less than ten minutes time. He walked away from the crowds, and climbed up the stone stairs. When he reached the top, he elegantly jumped off, landing lightly on the roof of a house. He sat down, leaning back and putting his hands behind his head. He laid his head down on the tiles and closed his eyes.
He wasn’t supposed to be here but the majority of the guards here were lazy. They wouldn’t see him and even if they did, they would probably get the impression that he was an eager citizens trying to get the best view possible. They would most likely applaud him.
Childe was trying to get the best view possible, but not for his own pleasure. He wanted to remember each one of their faces. He wanted to carry on their fight, resistance against their “King”. The Archon Zhongli had taken everything from Childe and he was going to get his revenge.
With his eyes closed, memories began to swim up from the dark; the war in Snezhnaya. He could see his family home burning, his family screaming. He saw Zhongli followed by his army, rampage through his city. The queen, the Tsaritsa, falling to Zhongli’s spear. He had to run away that day, desert his home and his family. He didn’t even know if they were still alive. The entirety of Snezhnaya was now enslaved so perhaps it would be better for them to be dead.
He had fled from Snezhnaya when he was only 7 years old. He had trekked for as long as his legs could carry him. He didn’t know where he was going but he knew he had to get as far away from his home as was physically possible. His family had given up everything so that he could escape. He wasn’t going to just throw away his opportunity at life. He fed on berries he found in the wild and the occasional bird or boar if he was lucky enough to catch one. He even managed to forge his own little spear and bow to hunt with, made with sticks and stones. He slept in trees as to not be discovered by monsters during the night. His feet were bloody and his clothes were torn but it didn’t matter. He would live on, for his family.
He was finally found by a Liyue adventurer a couple of months later. But that point he was practically skin and bones, almost feral from lack of social interactions with other humans. But he had managed to travel quite the distance and had almost made it to Mt. Tianheng. It was never his intention to travel to Liyue, the hometown of the tyrannical King, but fate had a way of kicking him when he was down.
The adventurer was a kind man named Yichen who took him in and fed him. Yichen brought Childe up, as he had no wife or children of his own and so made him help around the house and do chores for his small farm. He taught Childe basic hunting and fighting skills with the intention to take Childe out adventuring with him when he was older. Except one day, Yichen left the house and never returned.
Of course Childe went looking for him but to no avail. Adventuring was a dangerous job. You could fall off cliffs, eat poisonous food or die from hilichurl attacks. A whole number of horrible ways to go.
Yichen never asked any questions about where Childe came from or who he was. Childe could guess that he had a rough idea but had the good sense to not ask. Ignorance was bliss after all. It was, of course, a very wise decision to not ask any questions for Childe had something special on him.
His hand subconsciously went to his side where he secretly kept his vision. His finger absentmindedly stroked it. Anyone with a vision had two options: either serve Zhongli with ever lasting loyalty or die.
He had to abandon everything that day in Snezhnaya because if the King had discovered him and his vision he would have been executed. There was no chance he would ever serve him.
Almost all of the Kingdoms had fallen now, with only Zhongli’s reigning supreme. There was currently a war raging in the last remaining one; Mondstadt, once named the City of Freedom. Now it was the city of burning buildings and a dying resistance.
Until last week, there had been two Kingdoms still standing. The islands of Inazuma had lead a long and honourable fight but the execution today was proof of their loss. Today an Archon was going to die. Zhongli had almost decimated all of his fellow Archons with only the Archon of Mondstadt still standing. He had almost succeeded in his quest to be the most powerful being on this planet.
Childe opened his eyes and sat up as he hear the sound of spears clanging on the ground. The execution was about to begin. The small chattering of the citizens beneath died down as everyone’s attention turned to the platform. Men, woman and children were all lead to the stage. Their hands restrained behind their backs and their eyes blindfolded. The only thing that kept their sense of direction was the spear stabbing them in the small of their backs. The nooses were put around their necks and they were left standing there, with only the slight breeze and small mutterings to keep them company.
A final prisoner was presented but she was different to the others. She was carried onto the stage in a sedan chair. The chair was made of an expensive wood with silk cushions and detailed with gold. It was supported by two wooden beams which the soldiers held to their shoudlers. The woman seated on the sedan had her hands and feet tied to chair and she was also blindfolded. She had a chain around her neck which secured her firmly to the chair. She was set down at the front of the stage. She did not struggle but sat there calmly, not showing the slightest reaction.
This was Baal, the Archon of Inazuma. She was once a great electro god, who could smite down anyone from the heavens. Childe would often hear stories of her from his mother and would wish he could see her fight one day, maybe even learn some fighting tips from her. He smirked at the thought of it now. Because now she had lost. She was dirty, her hair unkempt and her clothes ripped. She was truly a god who had fallen from grace. Unfortunately she had taken all her people with her.
There were about a two dozen Inazuma people in total. Childe was sure that there were many more in the Inazuma resistance than this but they would have already have been slaughtered in battle. These were the few unfortunate enough to live. And now they would be set as an example to the rest: resistance leads to death.
Suddenly an orange light filled the sky. The King had arrived.
He landed on the platform in front of the prisoners to a tumultuous round of applause from the crowd below them. He paid them no attention but rather turned to smile at the woman tied to the chair.
“Not so mighty now, are we?” He barely raised his voice but a hush descended upon the crowd and Childe could hear every word. His voice was deep and demanded all of your attention. This was the first time Childe had ever seen the King in person and his sheer presence was almost hypnotic. He radiated power, as though he had it running through his veins. He was dressed in a white robe with black and gold sleeves. It had a hood, which Zhongli lowered, letting his long ponytail fall free and dance in the wind.
He turned to the crowd. “This woman here is a heathen and a blasphemer. She and her people dared to defy me and now they stand here today. Ready to welcome death.” He slammed down his spear and a shockwave erupted. Childe could see all the prisoners shake with fear and it made his blood boil. He kept a calm exterior, staring at the King and imagine flying an arrow into his head.
“Let today be a warning to all. Those who have fallen, those who are falling and those who will soon fall.” He shot out his right hand and with it, a ball sized meteorite. It flew at such a speed one could barely follow it with the naked eye. It hit the lever for the gallows and the people of Inazuma fell. Some had their necks snapped instantly, others had to suffer the slow demise of strangulation. The sounds of their dying were the only things to be heard in the otherwise silent square.
Childe wanted to be sick but he refused to look away. He looked at all of them as hard as he could, the kid who could be no older than 10, the woman who seemed to be bearing a child, the elderly man with battle scars. He wouldn’t forget their bravery, their stories, their resistance against this brutal dictator. He would one day avenge them all.
As the last of their sputtering died out, Zhongli turned his attention to Baal. He lifted his spear, pointing it directly at her neck.
“For you insolence and insubordination, you have sought death. May the afterlife deem you justly.” He pulled his spear back and brought it down. Childe was about to witness the death of a God and his whole body tensed, unsure what to do.
Suddenly an arrow flew out from the crowd, aiming directly for Zhongli’s head. Within a blink of an eye, there was a golden shield protecting him. The crowd all began yelling and running around, leading to chaos. The soldiers were also in panic, unsure of what to do and who to attack. The attacker was lost in the mass of people, well hidden and unable to be found.
Zhongli brought down his spear into the ground causing a gigantic crack. People rushed away as it flew forward, narrowing in on one specific person wearing a black cloak. The person jumped up into the air. No, that wasn’t right. It was rather he floated into the air, with a wind current pushing him upwards. The newly made breeze whipped his cloak off, revealing the would-be assassins face.
He looked incredibly young and yet old simultaneously. He had the body and face of a 15 year old boy, with big blue eyes and two black ponytails framing his face. But he had the aura and stance of hardened warrior. Just like Zhongli, he also radiated authority and a raw power that no mere mortal could ever hope to obtain.
Childe knew who this was instantly: Barbatos, Archon of Mondstadt.