Il Dottore, the Doctor, wasn't respected by most, even those who respected him would not accept experiment invitations from him. It was always the last person to decline who was chosen and forced to be experimented on. Not many Fatui liked going on long journeys away from their mailboxes for that very reason.

Even when he invites Fatui, it's never the Harbingers, that'd be too much to ask for, right? Except for his most recent one. The Harbingers who got it declined without a second thought. The only ones left to be invited were the Balladeer and Tartaglia, but with the Balladeer missing, Tartaglia was the last option, and he was chosen for the experiment.

___

Childe had been extremely busy with his newly assigned job in Liyue and couldn't check his mail very often. He embarked on a journey to the outskirts of Liyue to receive someone's taxes, and it luckily went smoothly. The customer just had claimed the last bit of money needed to pay the bank back- and could still eat and house themselves. It's been a while since that happened, it put Childe in a good mood and a skip in his step as he went back to Liyue Harbor.

His happiness faded when his acquaintance, Ekaterina, ran to him, she held two letters with concern written on her face. Childe was quick to open the first letter.

Dearest 11th,

I have planned an experiment and am asking you to join. This letter may be declined, unless you're the last to decline or someone else has volunteered. This experiment may give you a power and a fault to your vision. The effects will be permanent and cause much pain, though if you're a real Harbinger, it would be fine.

See you, Il Dottore

Childe would decline, but the way Ekaterina approached him, the thought of not being able to decline crossed through his mind almost instantly. Giving up his vision for other powers could have a 50/50 chance of being beneficial, but knowing Dottore, he would lose that 50/50. Brushing off the thought, he opened the second letter with curiosity, surely Dottore could just send a longer letter.

To Tartaglia,

You have volunteered for my experiment, talk to Pinghai, he will bring you to Holly Zhang's boat. You will travel on his boat, and stay inside, I need your skin unburnt.

Looking forward to our meeting, Il Dottore

The second letter had more sloppy handwriting, he could imagine the huge grin on the 2nd Harbinger's face as he wrote the letter with little care, knowing that he'd probably kill the younger in his test, so there'd be no need to write elegantly.

The thought made Childe shiver slightly, even as the brave fellow he was. 'There's no such thing as being completely fearless,' his mother would frequently tell him after he did something stupid, and Childe knew it to be true as even he had fears; dying with little achievements, leaving his young and innocent siblings behind, and dying to a stupid cause.

His third and most stupid fear could actually happen to him. No matter, he'd try to live to tell any terrible, horrible or fearful tale he'd have to for his family.

With a more positive thought in his mind, he went over to his office to send a letter back to the highly-likely insane man to expect his arrival. After that, he trotted off to Pinghai, a man he had previously almost murdered due to overdue taxes. Oh he loved their fun, healthy relationship, though Pinghai must've been cold, because he was shivering constantly...?

___

Almost two weeks. That's how long it took. It wasn't really that long compared to other trips, but Childe was incredibly impatient, and with the only entertainment being exercise, his boredom grew quickly.

When the boat had slowed and reduced to a stop, Childe instantly stood from his squat, waiting for a Fatui agent to guide him to Dottore's experiment building.

"Tartaglia, the 11th Fatui Harbinger," An orderly voice announced out of view.

Then they came into view. Two standard Fatui agents stood at the entrance to the boat below.

"We will escort you to Dottore's lab," One of them stated.

"Alright comrade, let's get moving then," Childe said, he was completely filled of excitement- he finally had something to do!

As he went on deck, the temperature got cooler. Under the deck was where the people were, and people = body heat, and the walls trap heat, therefore inside was much warmer. But yet, the Harbinger did not shiver, instead embraced the snow falling all over his body.

As he walked with the two guides, he held out his palm for some snow to gather in it. As they neared a building similar to a large house, the snow was thick enough and he ate it. The sensation of the cold, melting snow going down his throat felt so familiar and heart-warming, even though the snow had quite the opposite effect.

When they enter the building, had realized that it was a lot larger than it looked from the outside. Probably Dottore's weird magic thing he does to people.

"Tartaglia," A voice called.

"Hey comrade, it's been a while, hasn't it?" He greeted Dottore like an old friend (even if it's only their second time meeting).

"Too long," The man concealed by a mask smiled a rather creepy smile.

"Let's get started then," Childe gave back a more friendly, yet also I-don't-want-to-be-here-so-let's-get-this-over-with, smile back to Dottore.

"Escorts, you are dismissed, as for Tartaglia, follow me," Dottore said, then walked down a hall.

Childe followed the 2nd Harbinger to a sketchy basement, which are rather uncommon; basements normally caused some weird thing to the land with plates of somesort, and were super hard to dig- especially in Snezhnaya with extremely thick ice.

The room they entered was metal all around, the floor, the door, the walls, the human-sized box in the middle of the room and the ceiling- save for an ice or glass pane running along the entire wall and a door connecting it, making another room.

"Go inside the box," Dottore ordered.

As he got closer to what looked like a torture machine, he noticed little holes in the floor surrounding it, and Childe was getting a little nervous. Pushing through fears was an important step though, and he hopped in, acting nonchalant.

"Ah, I love darkness, reminds me of my younger years," Childe said with a smile, leaning against the back of the box with his arms crossed.

After entering the box, Dottore shoved the door closed, finding no need for patience or kindness. Childe was blind in the box, no light coming from his right, where the brightly-lit hallway they had previously passed through was located, and he certainly wasn't getting any light soon according to Dottore's reputation.

"I'm going to start a fire around the box," Dottore informed, "try to put it out with your vision."

The sentence was odd, but it solved the holes around the box mystery. When Childe felt the air around him heat up, he summoned some water, but the water did not leak out... It just stayed there, hovering over a quarter of his leg as it started getting warmer.

"Good," He heard Dottore say.

Childe slowly got more and more nervous, he had tried to block out thoughts of the three months he spent in that horrible dark torturous place referred to as the Abyss, but his worried mind and the increasing temperature of the room lead his concentration to avoid such memories, especially with the darkness of the box.

And suddenly, he got shorter, and it was brighter, and there was a woman beside him. He looked at his hands, covered in thick gloves, which were covered in blood. He gasped and looked around, ten mitachurls stand ahead of them, all welded shields of wood or cryo, but then his vision adjusted to the darkness and he saw 10 more mitachurls that wielded axes of different elements.

This fight had ended with Childe being severely injured, and Skirk, the one who helped him survive in the Abyss, did not care for his injured leg and dislocated hand. It sent shivers through his body and he opened his eyes. When he had closed them, he had no idea, but all he could see was darkness, not even the tall flames surrounding the box let in light. Looking ahead, he didn't know where the door to the box was, and he reached out, urgent to feel that he was still in Teyvat and not in a recurring nightmare.

The instant he reached up, he felt his hand shoot away from the door. It had been extremely hot, and now that he thought about it, so was the water he was standing in. To try and cool his burning ankles and feet, he poured more water in, aware that it would never disappear. Much to Childe's happiness, the water cooled down, and was now just above his knees.

When he was in Inazuma in a previous mission, he saw a girl practicing a dance in a river. Though when he looked at her feet, as any normal human would, he saw that she was wearing socks- wet socks. She better be happy for him with his knees, boots, socks and feet submerged in warm water.

"Ah, it sure is getting warm," Childe said out loud with hope to grab Dottore's attention so he could end his experiment sooner.

"I see," Dottore said shortly after.

A nice human would have lowered the temperature- and maybe never put him in a box in the first place- but Dottore isn't nice or a human, so he turned the temperature up high.

About three minutes passed in the dark box until Childe felt a hot burst of air come up to his sweaty face. The water was boiling. The water was BOILING. Childe couldn't feel his toes- were they burned off? He lost control of his legs as well.

Childe broke free from one thought, then came to another as his mind resurfaced from a nightmare daydream. Childe looked down- he saw only darkness but he reached down and felt solid, freezing ice.

The new thought that shook his whole body was the sudden cold. But scratch that, he couldn't move anything from his knees and lower- it was covered in ice. Though Childe loved the cold, snow and ice (expecially those cute teeny tiny ice cubes), he was shivering. After a few seconds.

"S-shit.." Even his breath was shaky.

Shivering was never good when stuck outside anywhere in any cold area, for it meant that you're body would have tried to heat itself up, and used up energy to do so. The energy it used to shiver may end up killing a person- someone with no heat and energy is a rather bad thing to be.

Suddenly, he was struck with fear. Would the 11th Fatui Harbinger die, body found frozen in a stupid metal box? What achievement would that bring anyone? If only he had declined in time, if only he knew about the letter earlier. Oh, if only Childe possessed someone's mind- he would've prevent the whole situation and was sent away at Dottore's faked order.

The thought of additional powers had actually come across his mind many times, along with the power to fly (something he could kind of achieve when it was raining), move objects, time travel, and read minds.

A small laugh came from the human, thoughts of his only fears all coming true in one cut, one arrow, one slash. Hit two birds with one stone, he guesses, though in this case it'd be three, along with Dottore's experiment so it'd be four.

Another laugh, and then he found a warm spot in the box. Childe knew that as a bad sign, but he sat on the ice- even if he was more pushed against the back of the box- and slowly slipped out of consciousness.

___

"I will have order!" He heard before a huge, loud boom echoed around.

That's when he woke up.

It had still been dark, and Childe felt around. He was still contained in the box, but temperatures felt... normal, possibly a little warm to Childe's taste, but better than freezing to death- wait, he's not dead! Childe stood, feeling victorious, but both standing and feeling victorious was brought to an end when his legs couldn't hold his weight and gave way.

"Oh right... my legs were trapped in ice, and now they're too weak to hold me up," Childe remembered.

At this realization, he felt around and found that the ice had melted, and the water had found a way out of the box. He summoned water from his vision, and he kept his hands to the floor as he crouched, he tried to find where the water found an escape route.

He repeated that process at least four times until he found a hole. Did the box rust? How long was he out? No matter those questions, he stood, using his arms to support him, and kicked it aggressively.

Childe laughed, feeling pain in his foot: it was a familiar feeling that his body hadn't felt much of before the experiment. It held a sense of familiarity to normal times. Shaking his head, he kept kicking it until light came in.

He continuously attacked it until he found both his feet in pain, so he had tried to push it open with his hands. It took a while, but when there was a hole big enough to crawl out of, he instantly took the chance, even when it was a struggle and his scarf ripped a bit.

The light was most definitely blinding, and Childe covered his eyes for at least a minute before he found his eyes wouldn't be murdered. He looked around, and he wasn't in Snezhnaya... but Liyue?

He stretched out his legs while he looked around in a full circle and examined his surroundings. He was on the tallest mountain that surrounded Liyue Harbor... but he wasn't in Liyue Harbor. There were small houses down below, and there were loud roars constantly, echoing in the background.

"The village has been evacuated, why are you here?" An urgent voice asked.

"I'm fine, girlie," Childe said, he looked up to see a woman with hair that looked like it was on fire.

"No you're not, evacuation was sent to the mountains over there," The woman pointed to Mt. Aozang, Qingyun Peak and Mt. Hulao. "You need to start going."

Then she paused, looking startled at the open metal box.

"Where did that... structure come from?" She asked.

"Me," He said.

She looked confused for a little bit then said "No matter your weird answer, evacuate now."

"I told you, I'm fine, I'm quite handy with weapons. I don't know what you're fighting but I'm an expert in all fields," Childe bragged, which did not please the woman.

"I will be back, I hear something coming," She disappeared before he could respond.

A loud bang echoed above him, and he instantly looked to where it came from.

"Indarias, I've got this one!" A purple man with four arms shouted to the woman he was talking to earlier.

"Bosacius, no! It's electro, my pyro can be effective, but not your element!" She shouted back.

"Indarias seems to be correct," A man in a white hood noted- damn hot voice.

"Electro? It looks like it doesn't have an element... It's white," Childe muttered to himself.

Then he realized it looked like a being shown in legends about the Archon War; a white dragon-like creature with electro immunity, but it could also use pyro with its breath. To kill it, the person who wrote it said to shoot an element other than pyro or electro into its mouth.

So, if this legendary creature of Liyue was suddenly alive- was this the past? He looked to the islands rumored to be made by Rex Lapis's spears, and realized another thing- the legends were correct. A large corpse lay there, at least five extremely large spears cut through its body.

At the thought of fighting, he turned back to the battle and pulled a grin while he summoned one of his long-ranged weapons: a spear. He aimed at the huge being where two familiar figures (he figured they were Adepti) were fighting, and used his vision to propel it further. But when he used his vision, his body was struck with pain.

He felt extremely hot, as if he was set on fire. He tried to use his vision to be cooled by the hydro, but his body fell forward to meet the ground, and he felt frozen to the core. Childe shouted, screamed in pain, it really had been like the box, but instead of just temperatures, he just felt pain, raw pain.

"Are you okay, mortal?" A voice grunted, seemingly familiar to the voice of the four-armed Adepti he had just seen.

He couldn't answer the question, he felt as if his insides were growing ice shards and running into his flesh. Childe laid there, hoping to lose consciousness so he wouldn't have to feel the pain.

___

When Childe blinked his eyes open. He was in a... bed? In someone's one-room house made of wood. It looked comfortable, and Childe realized that he wasn't in pain again, which earned a smile for himself.

"I didn't die!" He cheered to himself.

"But you almost did," A voice said, and Childe whipped his head in the direction of its origin: a worried-looking man next to an equally worried woman.

"I'm guessing you're why I'm here?" Childe asked the man.

"Yes..." The woman started.

Childe then had been told of how the husband had been on a trip to a neighboring village, he had seen a man fallen on the path ahead. To touch, Childe was extremely hot, but remained cold as well. The man was worried and confused, but he brought Childe to his house, where both him and his wife had taken care of him.

He was told that he'd been unconscious for a week, and shook as if in pain, but there were no physical injuries. When the man had asked him how he got in such an accident, Childe's thoughts had flickered to Dottore's letter.

This experiment may give you a power and a fault to your vision.

Which brought him to another thought: he used his vision in the box, and he hadn't collapsed or felt any sort of pain. What was different? And what was his power?

"I... used my vision," Childe said mostly to himself.

"Huh, maybe Celestia regretted something?" The woman tried to joke.

"Aha, I don't think so. But anyways, I'll give you some mora and be on my way," Childe got up and reached into his pocket, he grabbed a handful, but then he realized that mora was probably less common in those days.

Nonetheless, he left the couple gasping at his donation as he bid goodbye and thank you. When he looked around, he realized his altitude was lower, but he could still see a couple of islands forming from Rex Lapis's spears. The two people said that Childe had been unconscious for almost a week, but how long before he was found? He had to know, and by his guess, it'd been a while.

Childe's thought wandered as he mindlessly meandered around old Liyue, a few decades or so after the Archon war- at least, he thought it was decades, because Liyue looked that way, but he himself felt the same. That brought him to thinking about a power he could have gained from the experiment. He had no idea, but it sure was torture and boring so he hoped that he gained at least something from the experience.

Childe paused his stride, mind coming upon a peculiar thought.

Did he... travel through time?

When he first arrived in the archon war, it had almost just begun, now it's been over long enough for plants to grow on the giant Geo spears, but the land was still burnt and smelled like death from all the fights of the almighty gods and Khaenri'ahn creatures. The Spears are a mighty nice amount of evidence and convinced Childe about time travel, he would definitely fight him to show his gratitude if he ever had the chance- which he might have..!

Maybe Dottore sent him to Liyue and back in time to get the Geo Archon's Gnosis! That would be a nice goal to set, the dragon probably wouldn't even know how important it is and if Childe could control his powers, he could have two of himself fight the archon at the same time- if that was how time travel worked.

With a new goal set in mind, he asked whoever he saw where the Geo Archon was, and he came with a final result. He was in a cave, and slept soundly in a weakened state. Childe adventured to that cave, and when his eyes feasted on a long, golden creature, his grin grew.

At first, he didn't know how to get the Gnosis- was it in the brain, chest or heart? He had forgotten. Nonetheless, he entered the cave with quieted footsteps, even if he was weakened, he'd be extremely powerful.

Childe settled on the thought that the Gnosis was not in the brain, but hadn't decided if it had been the heart or chest.

"Alright," He said to himself quietly, "heads is chest, tails is heart,"

With the flip of a coin, his decision had been made.

Fight.

The dragon heard the sound of a flipped coin, and, in his moraless form, awoke almost instantly.

"Ah, hello almighty Geo Archon," Childe greeted.

With no response from the long figure that had lied on the floor, he continued.

"Would it be possible for you to trade over your Gnosis? I've heard it makes good tea," He said, with a try to make the Gnosis sound cheap.

"A Gnosis is much more important than tea," The dragon said.

"I see, is it more important than mora?" Childe bargained as he flipped the coin in his hand.

"What is my name?" Rex Lapis growled.

"Rex Lapis..?" Childe asked, he had little clue to where it was going.

"My other one," He grumbled.

"Uhh... Morax!" Childe said.

"Merely take the last letter of," Rex Lapis instructed.

"Morax... Morah- Mora!" Childe realized.

"I'm sure you can assume that is not any sort of coincidence," Rex Lapis said.

"Oh- uh..." Childe paused, "can we fight then? That was my original plan,"

"I would decide against it," Was the response.

"It's okay Girlie, I'm quite handy with weapons. I don't know what your fighting style is but I'm an expert in all fields," Childe winked.

"I've heard one say this phrase before," Rex Lapis said.

"Ah, well, coincidence," Childe said nonchalantly, leaning against the cave wall.

In reality, Childe was thinking about Rex Lapis having heard him when he was there in the time of the Archon War... but he didn't see any ginormous dragon yeeting spears... maybe he was in a different form?

"Form a contract of agreement and we shall proceed." The dragon said.

A contract was formed right in front of Childe's eyes, and he had instantly signed with the coal provided. Rex Lapis was quick to slash his tail at Childe's feet, something he had already thought of. A claymore formed in Childe's hands, but that had been quickly changed when it was thrown in the direction of the dragon's left eye. The dragon merely had moved its talon when a Geo shield enveloped his entire body.

"Oh," Childe noted.

"Oh indeed, even with a weakened god, there is still power," Rex Lapis had said.

"I see then," Childe grinned and prepared his spear.

With a throw, it pierced through the air and hit the shield located right above his heart.

"A mere spear may not such as scratch my shield," The dragon said.

"Mmm, we'll see about that," Childe said with a grin.

Rex Lapis' tail shot at Childe. With a quick reaction, Childe summoned his claymore and fused it with hydro to increase its power in the block so he could deflect. The claymore was quick to drop from Childe's hands as a scream came from his mouth.

The pain erupted through his body and he passed out.

___

The great Rex Lapis gained an interest in the boy who had come to fight him. He was in sudden pain when using his vision, but was extremely skilled. On top of that, he came back too many times for any mortal's own good, for Morax knows his fighting style well enough to dodge and hit him with his eyes closed.

"Mortal," Rex Lapis said.

"Yes, almightiest Archon?" Childe said in a teasing voice.

"We have fought 51 times, are you still aware of your goal?" He asked.

"Of course, the Tsaritsa is waiting," Childe informed him.

"Tsaritsa? Were you sent by her, and if I may ask, why?" The dragon was confused, the Tsaritsa? It was random.

"The Tsaritsa ordered all her Harbingers to attain gnosis'," Childe explained, "but don't worry, I don't cheat, girlie. I'm getting yours fair and square."

"If I recall correctly-" Rex Lapis started.

"You always 'recall' correctly," Childe snorted.

"-you attempted to trade mora for my gnosis, and trick me into thinking the gnosis was worthless," Rex Lapis said.

"Uhh... oops?" Childe said.

"It was not merely an accident." Morax said.

"Aww, damn it, guess I have to fight you- the almighty Geo Archon, strongest of the seven, second to none, almighty beast of Liyue, winner of the Archon War," Childe sighed, but remained with a grin.

"Are you quite done with your titles?" Rex Lapis asked.

"I'll stop if you give me your Gnosis," Childe offered.

"I must remind you of how you stated that you would win my Gnosis 'fair and square'?" The dragon mused.

"Fight now talk later!" Childe said, excited for another fight.

It was short, Rex Lapis overwhelmed Childe- not enough to force him to use his vision- and caused him to surrender.

"I guess I'll be leaving, see you~" And he left with a limp.

___

Childe was really used to going back in time and gained a pain tolerance. By the next time he recovered by laying on the floor for an hour, he was ready for a fight, but the dragon had disappeared. With a confused expression, he called out his name, with no response, he went to the Harbor to ask around.

Childe learned that Rex Lapis had ascended to Celestia once more, but there was a legend where he'd come down every year and receive blessings, prayers and gifts. Childe was angered at the fact that the archon had left without a goodbye.

___

Around the first year the dragon was supposed to return to Liyue's land for a day, he didn't come. Childe was not very happy, and to cool his nerves, he decided to venture through the city, see what's going on and stuff. He hadn't explored the city in a while-

OH MY ARCHONS!

As he walked down the street, he spotted a very, very, very, extremely attractive man. He looked calm and composed with so many layers that anyone would overheat. His stride was graceful and a thin line of hair swayed behind him.

Childe caught himself just staring like a creep, and decided to talk to him.

"Excuse me sir," A voice had said, it was extremely deep, calming and handsome.

"Um, yes..?" Childe asked.

As he turned, he realized it was the sexy man.

"You seemed to have stood in the street for a few minutes, I am merely asking if you are okay," He said.

Even the way he talked was sexy-

"Yeah, I'm fine, I just uhh... I just saw yo- I mean random passersbys- and uh, remembered how lonely I've been?" He said it like a question, but thought it wasn't the worst lie in his life.

"Can I offer an acquaintanceship between us two?" The man asked.

It took Childe by surprise, but he instantly nodded.

"And if I'm ever annoying, just say the word," Childe said.

"I do not think of you as annoying, I've-" The man interrupted himself, "I've had a friend who acts similar to you, but he had left for Natlan."

"Ah, I've never really had a friend, well maybe except for... no she was an acquaintance..." Childe mumbled.

"Would you prefer us to be friends over acquaintances? I would certainly not mind," The man offered.

"Well," Childe started, then glanced at the man and instantly remembered why he came up to him "Um, we could hang out tomorrow, and we can see then."

"I agree, would you like to meet me here in the morning," He offered.

"Yeah! And uh, I'm Childe," Childe said.

"Zhongli," He said with a small smile (not Childe's heart flipping rn), then gracefully turned and walked away.

Childe stared at Zhongli until he caught himself. As his brain processed everything, he realized he made a new acquaintance- maybe even his first friend who may or may not be suspiciously exactly his type. But he was in the past, and Childe had to complete his quest before returning to his present time family, to his parents and siblings. He couldn't make strong relations in the past, unless they were immortal or something.

___

Childe and Zhongli walk along Liyue Harbor, along the coast while Zhongli told interesting stories. Childe never wanted to stop listening, his voice a deep rumble as he unraveled complicated analogies and riddles along his normal speech. After their hangout, Zhongli asked if they could meet up at the same spot again, and Childe accepted.

When Childe returned to his bed to sleep, he couldn't stop grinning and smiling. He had made a friend. It'd been a while.

___

"You know Zhongli, I can't imagine you as a child. Did you talk like you do now, or did you talk like a normal kid? Did you act oh so gracefully as you do today? Did you just spawn into the universe as a full grown man?" Childe teased, though he was more trying to flirt.

"I must say that I do not remember myself as a child, though it would be natural that elegance and speech would succumb to a worse state if my parents had explained my actions and words." Zhongli said.

"Wait- when were you born?" Childe questioned, looking intently at his handsome features.

"Have you not heard of the phrase where it would be rude to ask anyone's age?" Zhongli glanced at him, hiding some amusement, then flicked his eyes back to the wooden docks he had previously been looking at.

___

Childe really wanted to get to see baby Zhongli, but he couldn't really control his powers- and they were extremely painful. Though, there was a main reason he wanted to go; to find Zhongli's favorite food or any meaningful item to buy him. It'd be a sweet thing he could do just for Zhongli.

"Okay, let's just go... 25 years into the past," Childe said to himself.

He readied himself and summoned a large amount of water from his vision (he figured the more water, the further back). The pain was less than last time, and he was grateful for that, even if it was still extremely excruciating.

When he woke up, he knew to lay down and let his body recover. He laid on the floor for almost an hour, and then he was up on his two feet, looking to the harbor. By the construction of the buildings or how many boats were docked at the harbor he could tell that he went around 30 years to the past, around the time after he encountered the Geo Archon his 45th time, when they were on friendly terms.

Childe began to frown slightly at the thought of the dragon, why had he left without saying goodbye? Did he find Childe annoying and decided to leave? He seemed really happy to talk, and he asked questions that really meant that he was interested in Childe's life.

The harbinger shook his head and set for the Harbor, which wasn't very far. At his arrival, he began his search for anyone resembling Zhongli, trying to find whoever his father must be. He hadn't had much luck, until he decided to scale up the very tall mountain and visit his old, rusty metal box. It really was to scout Liyue Harbor, and around the area too.

As he reached the top, he gasped. There, a very similar form to Zhongli stood, examining his hands. Though one thing changed him from being Zhongli- he had DRAGON HORNS an a FREAKING LIZARD TAIL. He also was in the clothes the Geo Archon wore- wait a minute.

"Zhongli," He said, "are you the Geo Archon?"

Zhongli looked away from his hand, surprised to see a human -a human he knew- standing in front of him. His widened eyes cast downward as he sighed, forming an answer in his mind.

"Yes, and I wanted to get to know-" Zhongli started.

"Why?" Childe interrupted.

"Pardon?" He asked.

"Why did you leave? Were you annoyed at me and decided to leave?" Childe asked.

"No. Why would you think such a negative thing?" Zhongli seemed confused.

"Maybe it's because you left me without saying goodbye!" Childe stared into his eyes, his typical childish anger welling up for no reason.

When Zhongli didn't respond, Childe took it as a bad thing, and raged. The thing was, his rage was more of just a 'storming off' thing, though, they were on a mountain, so Childe simply grabbed his spear and slid down the mountain, the spear grinding against the mountain to slow his fall.

"Childe!" Zhongli shouted after him, but Childe ignored it.

___

Childe felt the need to go to current times, so he saw a fellow Harbinger as he asked for... advice.

Yeah, Childe regretted it, but here he was, in front of the bank, waiting for Signora's presence.

"Childe!" Ekaterina shouted.

"Hey comrade, been a while," He greeted.

"I thought you'd be gone for at least a year- but you've returned quite early," She said.

"Ah, well how long have I been away?" Childe asked.

"Two days, and on the first day you left, a blonde kid with a floating white kid came in and asked to see a highly honorable woman our bank reserved for the day," Ekaterina explained.

"Honorable woman?" Childe asked.

"Yes, her name is Lapis, surprised you haven't seen her- oh wait you did," Ekaterina realized.

"When exactly?" Childe was confused.

"Just now, turn your head 65 degrees to the right," She instructed.

When he turned his head, he was the woman version of his past crush, Zhongli- the Geo Archon.

"Damn I know you're a simp for serious people but not at work," Ekaterina slapped the back of his head. "Now go talk to her, you need to receive something from her, then we'll be able to extract the Gnosis from Morax's dead body."

"Wait- he's DEAD!?" Childe screamed.

"Yeah, you missed a lot in only two days. When he descended, we found he was dead," Ekaterina shrugged, then glanced toward the Lapis girl, who was looking somewhat amused at him- did she think his pain was funny?

Ekaterina elbowed him, getting her acquaintance's message, he strutted over to her and began the needed conversation.

___

Lapis was most definitely interested in him. Through her seemingly familiar stories, she slightly flirted with him, and he was NOT having it. He wanted to believe that Lapis was really just Morax, but that's not possible, because his crush is apparently dead.

Childe may have cried and accidentally activated his vision to remove them from his cheeks out of habit- but THAT'S IT. Morax abandoned him, he shouldn't cry!

"-while the natives weren't friendly. Though they weren't, the others seemed to oppose their lack of kindness," Lapis explained.

"Lapis," Childe interrupted.

"Yes, Childe?" She asked.

"Do you know a man named Zhongli? Or do you have an old relative that looks exactly like you?" He asked.

Lapis showed shock on her usually-stoic face.

"Was this 'Zhongli' a friend?" She asked, a little hesitant.

"Not friend, he was more than that." Childe informed.

"More?" Lapis was curious.

"He was my first crush since becoming a part of the Fatui," He said, a little sad at remembering his betrayal.

Lapis sighs, setting her teacup down.

"Chide, are you.. Into men?" She asked.

"Yeah, sorry," He said, not really caring to look at her.

"One moment," She stood, then left the table.

Great, now she's going to cry, Childe thought to himself.

She comes back after a minute, looking like she had only a second ago.

"Please do not be mad at me," She said.

"What do you-" Childe interrupted himself.

Right there, right before him, Lapis transformed into a male- Zhongli.

"Zhongli?" Childe asked ridiculously.

"Are you mad?" He asked.

"I- uh... yeah! It's been like- 50 years!" Childe sputtered.

"But I was here as Lapis," Zhongli reminded.

"Why were you her anyways?" Childe asked, frustration remained in his voice but he was honestly curious.

"So you would be attracted to her," Zhongli said simply.

Zhongli's gaze left the teacup in his hands and met Childe's confused expression.

"What is confusing?" Zhongli asked.

"That you want me to be attracted to you- and as a woman for Archon's sake," Childe said.

"I want you to be attracted to me because I find myself attracted you you. Being a woman would-" Zhongli started to explain.

"Wait a moment." Childe interrupted, "you like me?"

Zhongli looked a little startled and nervous, but he let out a yes.

"Well, um, I like Zhongli more than Lapis," Childe said.

"Pardon?" Zhongli asked, confusion slipping through his expression.

"I like guys," Childe finally said.

"I see... well I do to," Zhongli said.

"Well, since I know you like me, and I know that I like you, can we give ourselves a second chance?" Chidle asked.

"That would be lovely, Childe," Zhongli said, giving him a smile.

I made him smile.

___

The two were in a park in their present time, sitting on a wooden bench when Zhongli confessed to Childe some big news.

"Alright, so you got a... job? And you're not joking?" Childe asked again, just so he could be sure he heard it right.

"Yes," Zhongli said, slightly amused by his boyfriend's disbelief- he hasn't changed since their first battle.

"Then what am I going to do!" Childe dramatically laid the back of his hand on his forehead as he closed his eyes, "I have no use anymore!"

Zhongli let out a small chuckle, making Childe smile, then gently turns Childe's face to make him look at him.

"Childe, my love," Zhongli said.

"U-um, yeah?" Childe blushed at the name.

"You will always be useful, money does not make you more valuable to me," Zhongli said.

"Mmm, that's sweet, but you're still going to use my mora on useless items, won't you?" Childe said with a smirk.

"I- there is a... probability that may happen," Zhongli said.

"I can always go back in time to get you something," Childe offered.

"But that is painful to do, please do not do such a thing to please me so," Zhongli said in a caring manner.

"Then how can I please you without unwelcomed pain?" Childe asked flirtatiously.

"Let us see, I am currently hungry, and Childe-made food is always a pleasure to eat," Zhongli said innocently.

"Ooo! I'll make my special dish just for you!" Childe stood instantly, ready for the fun cooking.

"What is the dish, if I may ask?" Zhongli asked as he stood, grasping Childe's hand in his.

"Calla Lily Seafood Soup! I'll buy an octopus from a store- it's a detour but it's so worth it!" Childe exclaimed as he led Zhongli through Liyue.

"Ah- Childe, I must confess something," Zhongli said.

"What, that you're in love with me? I love you too," Childe grinned.

"I love you too, Childe, but I must confess that I do not like seafood," Zhongli explained.

"Oh, well then..." Childe slowed down his walk, "why don't you like seafood?"

"I had to slay many creatures of the sea, and eating fish or octopus tastes foul in my mouth, as if I may be eating a corpse of one I killed," Zhongli explained.

"Y'know, if you didn't have memories of these creatures, would you have some Calla Lily Seafood Soup?" Childe asked.

"I suppose with no memory, I wouldn't have a need to dislike- Childe, do not go back in time so I can consume your dish." Zhongli ordered.

"You're really hot when you order met to do something but... ehh..." Childe trailed off, averting from Zhongli's gaze.

___

From that day forward, Zhongli couldn't dream of a better dish besides Calla Lily Seafood Soup, made by his lovely boyfriend. Even if going back in time and slaying the water creatures let Zhongli like Childe's dish, a small butterfly effect was set. But it wasn't that big, it's a butterfly effect, and butterflies are small! All that happened was that Tighnari laughed at one of Cyno's jokes, not a big deal, right?