Chapter Text
To hell and back. To hell and back is where he would go for him, and to hell and back he has been. It would never end, time after time and life after life. Time flew by like a bird being pushed along by the wind. Xingqiu’s peace, a peace of his own, a life with him. That’s all Chongyun ever wanted. So how did he end up in this situation? Is this what it meant to repent for your sins? What were they?
The dreary ambience that engulfed the forest fit the scene he was left to stare upon. The night draped over the forest like a blanket and the tall trees that surrounded him became mere shadows of the night. Hell, you could barely make out what was right in front of your face. That’s why Chongyun had a flashlight with him, a light that stabbed through the dark. But honestly, right now, he wished for anything but the light.
He swore he did everything right this time. He remembered the brightness of Xingqiu’s smile whenever he would rave about the newest book he had read, his mischievous yet handsome grin after he successfully pranked Chongyun. How he grinned into Chongyun’s neck when he cuddled with him. He assured that no one could hurt Xingqiu, he assured that he hadn’t hurt him. So, how could this have happened?
He pointed his flashlight downward and he looked down at Xingqiu’s body. His golden eyes had lost their light and his perfectly placed hair was tangled and sprawled onto the ground, much like the rest of his body. His head was turned to his left side and his right arm was sprawled above his head, the left one on his stomach. Although disheveled, there was an elegance to it. All of that despite the fact that body was simply a shell now. It was almost doll like, he could almost convince himself Xingqiu was alive, almost, if it weren’t for the blood that stained his chest and dripped out of his mouth.
Tears welled in Chongyun’s eyes as he looked at his partner, but they never threatened to spill over. A sight laid on him thousands of thousands of times nearly lost all meaning. But, somehow, it didn’t hurt any less each time it happened. The loop continued, each cycle showing less mercy than the last with himself on the verge is of rupturing. It was his move now, and it was his time to do what he has done time and time again. He took a couple of breaths to hopefully suppress a well of emotion that threatened to spill out.
After fully composing himself, he put his flashlight on the ground and he dug his hand into the pocket of his hoodie. He pulled out a small sack, no bigger than his palm. It was round with a drawstring near the opening, its color black. The color of the exterior matched the contents inside. There the sack rested in his hand. Delicately, he took his other hand and unwound the drawstring. He snuck his hand inside and took out a pinch of shiny black powder. He kneeled down and sprinkled it lightly on the ground while averting his eyes to Xingqiu’s body next to him. Then, he wrapped the bag back up in the drawstring and slipped it back into his pocket. He raised his hand to the air while breathing in and out. As he felt the cold cryo energy pulse throughout his body in flashes, he let out his command:
“SPIRIT BLADE, ATTACK!”, he yelled as he sliced his hand through the air.
The ice swords pierced the ground where the black powder was, and he could see the ground to begin to tear and fade into the all consuming void that finally decided to show itself. As the swords disintegrated into thin air, all that was left was a gaping black hole.
He walked closer and closer to it, quickly indulging in the beauty of the forest, of this world. Feeling the wind brush against his cheeks, the whispers of the living creatures in the night, and taking in the starry sky. Normally he would ask himself, ‘Would I be reported missing?’, ‘Would people even bother to look for me ?’, but no such thoughts overtook him. All he did was take one last glance at Xingqiu. He took one more step. This was another world never to be returned to, something that made him sadder than he would like to admit…but for the different reasons than one may think. As he stepped closer to the hole, he took in one more feeling, one more smell, one more sound, one more-
He let the darkness engulf him. He fell, and he fell:
Down
Down
Down
He let himself fall with the wind encompassing him in its tight embrace. It flew past every inch of his body, he swore he became one with it. Chongyun closed his eyes for but a moment, feeling it rush past his skin. He let his body relax as he continued to fall. His need for air disappeared as he drifted deeper, and his fall began to slow as well. The wind was gentler than before, and he rode a slow float as he came to his descent. As the peace vanished, he felt the tension in his body return.
His descent ended on a pitch-black floor, it was no different from the rest of the abyss that was this rabbit hole. The only difference was a faint light, which illuminated someone at work. The familiar sight of the man caused some of the newly built tension in Chongyun to be released ever so slightly. The man was stood upright and had light blonde hair, the front potion of it where his bangs would be was pulled to the back of his head into a ponytail, with the rest hanging down to just above shoulder length. What accompanied these features were cold blue eyes and a straight face. The man had a neutral expression as he worked, looking down at a variety of papers in his left hand and a correcting pen in his right. What also accompanied his right side was an alchemist’s table.
Chongyun trudged a bit as he approached the man. He raised his hand and began to make his presence known when the soft voice of the man arose,
“Ah, you’re back. Again. That truly is unfortunate.”, the man said with his eyes unmoving from the scripts in front of his face.
“Yeah, it really is Albedo.”, Chongyun said, moving to sit on the darkness that was the ground. The man turned towards him and placed his scripts and pen on the round alchemist’s table. He glanced up at him with a neutral face.
“I’m sure you’re fully aware that the contract that both we and they agreed to is going to come to a close soon, correct?”, Albedo asked, the same unreadable face plastered on him.
Chongyun sighed, of course he knew. How could he forget? “Yes, how much time do we have left?”, he asked.
Albedo spun on his foot towards the alchemist’s table. He began to rummage through the pile of scripts and papers, his expression changing ever so slightly as he furrowed his eyebrows in his search. After about thirty seconds of paper flipping and title checking, Albedo pulled a single sheet of paper out of the pile. He nodded his head slightly, assumingely in approval, as he looked at it.
“I ran the analytics of which his core, or “soul” I suppose, is deteriorating again and my answer is...,”, he replied. He looked back down at the paper, his finger tracing over the lines of text. “He has one lifetime, however long that one lifetime may be.”, Albedo replied, his voice smooth and serious.
Chongyun felt his stomach twist and his heart sink. The image of a dead Xingqiu flashed in his mind, so cold and so lonely. How….how could he be so calm? A flame lit inside of him, threatening to turn into a raging inferno. As the heat made its way up his body, he channeled some of the cryo energy to ice out his resentment and spread it throughout every part of his body. God knows what would happen if he wasn’t able to.
“O-one lifetime?”, Chongyun asked, his voice shaking, “I thought we would have at least five left.”, he said.
“I did too, but somewhere around lifetime forty-five, it seemed that his core began to deteriorate at a more rapid pace than we originally calculated.”, replied Albedo as he placed the paper back a top the mass on his alchemist’s table.
Chongyun could only stare down at the floor as he processed this information. It didn’t feel true…it didn’t feel real.
“I just…I thought we would have more time.”, Chongyun said. He put his head down and held it in his hands.
“As did I, but Chongyun, someone going through all the pain in all those lifetimes cannot stay strong forever. It’s a miracle he’s lasted fifty.”, Albedo said, “We’ve had our time, we’ve even been able to catch up to the present day.”, he continued. With his head down, the tears began to well up in Chongyun’s eyes for the second time today. But, this time, they tried their best to squeeze their way out. It felt like the worst type of self pity, one that was not for him. Chongyun blinked them away, he had no right to cry. Albedo was right, they were given time. He just hadn’t been good enough. He knew that, and yet he said,
“I... I can’t do this mission in one lifetime Albedo. I’ve already failed fifty.”
“I know, and it is highly improbable that this will end with a favorable outcome.”, Albedo said, “All you can do is give it one last shot. And if you don’t then-”
“Then the Gods do whatever they want with me.”, Chongyun interrupted.
Albedo sighed, “Well that’s certainly one way to put it.”
A moment of silence managed to sneak its way between them. So the Gods could do whatever they wanted, huh? ‘I guess I never really thought about what would happen if I lost, did I?’, Chongyun thought. With one final breath, Chongyun chased away the silence.
“So, where’s this last life going to be?”, Chongyun asked, still staring down at the floor.
Albedo rummaged through the stack of papers on the table once again. This time he pulled out a pack of papers that were connected together. He flipped through the papers, until Chongyun could make out that he was at about the back of the pack.
A moment of silence took over as Albedo read the paper he stopped on. Chongyun felt his palms sweat and his breath had picked up ever so slightly. It was a strange feeling, having no need for air… and yet using it intensively all the same. What could the world do to screw him over this time? Did he need to complete his mission in a land devoured by war? One with corrupted leaders? A world of no rule? What would he be thrown this final time?
“Huh, I see,” said Albedo. Another silent moment passed between them before Albedo looked directly back to Chongyun, “You’re going to be going back to where it all began.”, he continued.
What? But that was-
Chongyun looked at him and his eyes widened. He knew exactly what was going to come out of his mouth, “No, you can’t be- “, Chongyun said.
“I am Chongyun.”, Albedo said. With a final sigh, Albedo read out his fate. “You’re going back to Teyvat.”