Chapter Text
Childe blinked his eyes open only to freeze, he had been bleeding out on the ground somewhere in Snezhnaya, so why was he here in the place he hadn't seen in years?
Northland Bank.
Glancing around, Childe spotted Signora, Traveler, and...Zhongli.
Zhongli was here, standing here, alive and not dead alongside the rest of Liyue.
Oh gods.
Childe stumbled forward, unable to even think straight as he approached Zhongli, hands trembling.
It was at that moment Zhongli noticed Childe's reaction. "Childe, are you feeling alright? You're looking rather pale, if I have offended you by not telling you who I am, I apologize it was not my intenti-"
The God was cut off from finishing his sentence when Childe crashed his lips into Zhongli's.
It didn't take long before Zhongli returned the kiss, but after a few moments, he pulled back with a look of concern.* "Childe please, tell me what is wrong?"
"You died...how are you here, how are you alive?" Childe chokes out, tears running down his cheeks.
"Died?" Zhongli questions, mostly to himself, his eyes narrowed in thought and concern. "Childe, I need to listen to me...we're in Liyue right now, Osial has just been defeated, and you just fought the Traveler...does any of this ring a bell?"
Yes. It did.
But the problem was, it shouldn't.
These events had happened over five entire years ago, closer to six years.
"Enough, Morax, hand over the Gnosis," Signora demands. "You have yet to fulfill your end of the contract."
Zhongli's amber eyes seemed to glow, but he turned around calmly, not a single hint of frustration on his expression. Despite that, Childe could tell that Zhongli's patience was running thin.
"There has been a change of terms," Zhongli states simply, eyes narrowed. "I will hand over the Gnosis, in return for...your Eleventh Harbinger."
In return for...what?
Was Zhongli bargaining for him like one would with an object?
Signora seemed more amused than angry, she just laughed. "You want the brat, fine, take him...but I need the Gnosis."
Zhongli nodded, letting the Gnosis appear in his hand and handing it to Signora.
"There is a spell on the Gnosis, if you break the contract and try to control, Childe, the Gnosis will appear back to me," Zhongli states, giving Signora a cold look. "So don't bother attempting to get around these new terms."
Childe just stood there, feeling numb, he'd served the Tsaritsa for so long, but now he had been freed and Zhongli hadn't even asked him if he was ok with that.
Once Signora left Northland Bank, Childe turned to Zhongli with an unreadable expression.
"I'm not an object to be bargained for, Xiansheng," Childe says, his teeth gritted.
Zhongli inclined his head.
"You are correct, however, Signora doesn't see you that way and I only attempted to speak in a language she understood," Zhongli explained and Childe snorted.
"Yeah, well, thanks to you I'll likely never see my family again," Childe says bitterly. "Why did you need me to stay in Liyue?"
He watched as the former Archon gave him a guilty look.
"I...I fear that emotion got in the way," Zhongli admits, his amber eyes meeting Childe's dull blue ones. "I am concerned about you and how you're acting, but I also care about you, Childe. I do not wish to be separated from you."
Childe swallows, how much had he dreamed of this moment in the past, and now he was in the past and it was actually happening.
It wasn't fair.
Why couldn't this have happened in the previous timeline?
"What will I do now, I have nowhere to go and no job left," Childe says quietly, gesturing aimlessly with his right hand.
Zhongli hesitates for a moment.
"Childe, what do you know of the term Adeptus?"
Childe's eyes narrowed. "They're a group of immortal beings that work for you?"
Zhongli nodded, giving him a small smile. "Technically speaking, Adepti is not a species, it's a title...the title I give to those working under me. For example, Ganyu is half-Qilin, but she's an Adeptus because she swore loyalty to Rex Lapis over all else. The same goes for Xiao who actually named after his species, which is essentially a four-winged bird."
Zhongli pauses, taking a deep breath.
"What I'm getting at is that it does not matter the species, Adepti are simply people who work under me much the same as the Fatui work under the Tsaritsa. If you wish, I can give you a spot in their ranks."
"I...I nearly drowned Liyue, and you want to make me an Adeptus?" Childe choked out, confused and apprehensive.
The God sighs, tilting his head slightly. "While you did almost destroy Liyue, it was under my control and if any true harm would have befallen Liyue, I'd have stepped in."
Zhongli takes a step forward. "I do not make this offer lightly, Childe, you will need to make vows you'd never have agreed to before...and there will be strict rules. However, if you agree, your lifespan will be made indefinite...you won't be immortal, as you'd be killed just as easily as before, but you'd be ageless."
Childe was reeling. Why was Zhongli offering him this, why did he have so much faith in Childe when he himself didn't? None of it made sense, but he wanted to believe Zhongli so much, and in the end what else did he left?
With a shaky breath, Childe nodded.
"Okay...I'll do it..."