Disclaimer : I do not own Genshin Impact to any capacity whatsoever .
Authors Note : Okay , I know in my last Genshin fic I promised the next one I would release would be centered around the aftermath of Signora's attack , as well as her ensuing interrogation and such . I won't lie when I say that I really wanted to get into it , but with Inazuma coming out , I realize I am seriously behind on my Genshin fics and I wanted to get this one out soon and some of you asked for a Zhongli background story so here it is .
For clarification , I'm not going to include every aspect of Zhongli's life up to the point of the main story , that is like way too much to contain in a single short story . If you read Lord of Winds , then you already know I cut a lot of corners when it came to that one , so you can expect the same here . I will mainly be focusing on important events in Zhongli's life during the Archon War and after it .
Nonetheless ,I can sure it will be sad and angsty as fuck with Guizhong in it , so just prepare for that . Mentally speaking . Actually a lot of this story is centered around Guizhong .
With that said , let's get this new story started !
Contracts were absolute and meant to be followed to the letter .
Those who break the contract must suffer the consequences .
That was what Morax had learned when he first ascended to godhood and gained the title of ' God of Geo ' .
Morax thought about it as he stood among a field of glaze lilies , which were blooming in the wind .
As a god , he had settled into a large plot of land that had already been claimed by several other gods . But through negotiations , he had managed to join those gods in their combined governance over the land they called 'Ionia ' .'
An interesting name , he had to admit . Though perhaps he would have named it something different .
With negotiations settled , he had named the land his followers had claimed as 'Liyue' .
Each god had their own roles to play and people to govern over , but they all worked together in order to ensure the safety of their land .
Though he had to admit that some gods were more ... particular than others .
" Morax ..." A gentle but kind voice called out to him and he turned to see a woman with long black hair , dressed in a blue and white silk kimono standing there with a soft smile .
Guizhong , the Goddess of Dust .
" Yes , Guizhong ? How may I help you ? " Morax respectfully asked .
He was the youngest of all the gods in Ionia , so he figured he should be respectful to Guizhong , who despite only joining a bit earlier than he did , was technically his senior .
Guizhong just sighed with a smile " Its always business first with you , isn't it Morax ? "
" I suppose it is " Morax nodded " Should you not be with your people right now ? "
" I could say the same thing to you " Guizhing shot back with a smirk , to which he had no reply " I think they'll be alright for a few hours , mortals are not incapable of surviving without us Morax "
" Perhaps ..." Morax mused , deciding to just go along with her for the time being .
Guizhong didn't reply but instead walked to stand closer to him . He watched as she knelled down and gently picked one of the glaze lilies with her hand and sniffed it . She let out a satisfied sigh .
" The glaze lilies are quite beautiful , no ?" Guizhong turned to him with a questioning look .
He crossed his arms as he looked out at the field of glaze lilies " I suppose they are ..."
" Do you really think that or are you just agreeing with everything I'm saying ? " Guizhong gave him a teasing look and Morax feels as though he's been caught right in her trap.
" No I ..." Morax tries to explain himself but is cut off by Guizhong's chuckle .
"Calm down , I was only teasing , its fine if you don't like them . I'm just telling you that I do is all " Guizhong gently put the glaze lily in her hand into her hair " Or rather I'm telling that you need to learn to appreciate the little things "
" But Glaze lilies are everywhere , you can see them all the time " Morax commented .
" Perhaps for now , but that may not be the case for all time " Guizhong countered with a sad expression " Time is merciless to all things even to us gods Morax , and I'm sure there will come a time when even the last Glaze lily will fall "
" Which is why it is important to treasure that which you love while it is still there ..." Guizhong said with a smile .
Morax said nothing but simply nodded .
" But anyway if you have some spare time , drop by my territory when you want . I'd love to see you there and show you some of my inventions " Guizhong said with one last smile before she walked away into the distance .
Morax watched her and considered taking her up on her offer . When he had the time of course .
For now , he had his own people to take care of .
As a god , Morax had his own people and territory to manage and take care of .
He was the de facto leader so to speak , while many gods did indeed employ mortals as their 'kings' and 'queens' in order to help better manage their people . At the end of the day , it was usually the god themselves that made all the important decision .
One of the very first things he learned in his days as a god , was that managing his own people and territory usually entailed a lot of legislative , finance and paperwork to sift through .
At the moment , he was seated in his office that had been prepared just for him . He had been working through documents that specified trade goods between himself and another gods people , Havria .
The gods that governed over Ionia primarily traded with each other in order to maintain each other's economies and coffers . A fair contract to all .
" Excuse me ... my lord ?" One of his assistants respectfully spoke and bowed as they entered .
" Yes , what is it ? " Morax calmly asked .
" I have these documents here that allow the trade of minerals and ores between Guili Assembly " The assistant handed him the piece of paper .
" The Goddess of Dust's territory ? "
" Yes , sir " The assistant answered " From what we've been able to gather , it seems that the Goddess of Dust's people have quite some skill when it comes to agriculture "
" I see ..." Morax looked over the paper " That will be all "
The assistant bowed before exiting the room .
Morax couldn't help but wonder what use could the Goddess of Dust have for precious ores and minerals ? Perhaps he should pay a visit .
The Guili Assembly was quite beautiful in its own right , with lush forests and fields growing ripe with crops and the like . It easily beat his own territory by a long mile . Not that Morax envied the people here , but rather was impressed by their status .
The guards on watch quickly let him in upon him announcing who he was and after stating his intentions , they gave him directions on where to find Guizhong at the moment .
Apparently she was at her 'workshop' .
The looks the guards gave him when they said spoke of awkwardness and uncertainty .
Very strange .
Nonetheless , he proceeded to the location they had given him . After he had insisted repeatedly that he needed no guide and was just there for a quick discussion with Guizhong , they let him go of on his own .
Morax tried his very best to ignore the stares that Guizhong's people gave him as he walked through the streets . Was it really so strange for a god to visit another god's territory ? Or was it simply strange for said visiting god not to bring his whole entourage along with him .
Either way , he tried not to let it bother him too much .
When he finally did reach his destination , he discovered that the 'workshop' was located on the very outskirts of the town . And the building itself wasn't even that big , but was very small and was closer to that of a blacksmiths shop .
Perhaps workshop truly was a fitting name .
As he approached he could hear the sounds of somebody letting out an occasional curse every now and again and he very cautiously opened the door and entered .
" Guizhong ? Are you here ? " Morax asked as he stepped inside .
" Morax ! You came ! " Guizhong called out and Morax turned to see her standing over a workbench holding a pencil .
" Am I intruding ? Because I can come back later if you wish " Morax very slowly moved towards the door but was stopped by Guizhong moving her arms around .
" No no wait ! Come in here ! I've been dying for you to visit " Guizhong gestured for him to come closer and he did as she instructed " I'm actually quite glad you came Morax , I wanted to show you some plans for inventions I drew up for weapons "
" Weapons ? " Morax said as he stepped near the workbench . He could see several papers with pictures of devices that he couldn't name .
" Okay , not all of them are weapons , some of them are more for the benefit of my people " Guizhong quickly clarified " Like this device I'm thinking of calling it a 'clock' can be used to keep track of time like an hourglass or sundial . And I also had the idea of possibly using trained birds for long ranged communication and such .Oh ! And I had this other idea of installing strategic magical devices that I call 'waypoints' all across the land for quick and easy travel for us gods "
' So we can get around much easier . Impressive '
Morax hummed , impressed at the amount of detail and work that had gone into all these inventions " This is very impressive work Guizhong . But where did you get the ideas for such amazing creations ?"
" Oh , I can't take all the credit , I got some ideas from my friend Cloud Retainer . You should meet her sometime " Guizhong said with a smile before it faltered a bit " Some others I got the ideas from ... Celestia "
Morax gulped at the mere mention of those above ' Celestia ...'
" You got these ideas from them ? " Morax softly asked .
" No , of course not directly from them . But I just remembered some of the nifty gadgets that those guys in Celestia have and ... I thought it would be nice to bring them down here to the mortal world " Guizhong gave a big smile " Call it spreading the wealth ! "
" Spreading the wealth , huh ?" Morax repeated " Is this why you want to start trade between your people and mine ? Because I can see that for some of these inventions , they require precious ores and minerals to create "
" Correct . Particularly for the waypoints , the gems and metal required to make them are hard to find in my territory . But not so much in yours " Guizhong gave him a smile " What do you say ? "
" I see no problem with it , as long as it is a fair trade between yours and my people " Morax nodded .
" Sounds good to me " Guizhong smirked .
" Then I will be taking my leave " Morax moved to the exit when he was stopped by Guizhong's voice .
" Hang on Morax , if I may ..." Morax turned back to Guizhong who had a pleasant look on her face " Perhaps I could visit you sometime as well ? "
" I have no objections to that " Morax nodded . He had respected Guizhong as a fellow god and if she wished to visit his land then who is he to stop her ?
" Excellent . See you soon "
Morax could practically feel her smile as he exited the workshop .
One of the first things , Morax realized upon gaining his own territory and followers was that he had an affinity for management and finance . When it came to handling and managing the trading between the various other territories , he was very good at it .
Unfortunately those skills did not exactly translate into strategy or planning out one's own moves for that matter .
At the moment , he was sitting opposite to a smirking Guizhong as he carefully motioned his hand over his dwindling chess pieces .
After some decision making , he decided to move the knight - only for it to be immediately taken by Guizhong's bishop .
" Oh come on , Morax pay attention ! You're not even making this fun for me " Guizhong complained but still kept her smile .
Tried as he might , he was unable to gain any sort of advantage over her and in less than 5 minutes since they started playing , she had managed to capture his king .
" Looks like its my win again , Morax " Guizhong smirked .
" I suppose it is " Morax shrugged , accepting defeat gracefully .
Ever since he had visited her all those months ago , Guizhong had routinely started visiting him . Even when he was working and would invite/demand to play a game with him or show him her new plans for inventions or anything that would take up his time .
They would usually play by the stream where Guizhong had set up a comfortable table and places for them to seat . And there was of course a pot of tea on the side that had been brewed earlier for them . She said that it made things more lively , whatever that could mean .
And ever since they had started playing , he had never managed to beat her even once in a game .
" You should really learn to play your moves for carefully Morax " Guizhong pouted " This isn't even fun for me anymore "
" I am not ... well suited for strategy " That much Morax could admit at this point . All the losses he had endured had more than proven that .
" That doesn't mean you shouldn't learn " Guizhong lectured .
Was that what she was trying to do ? Teach him strategy ?
Morax took a sip of tea , deciding not to think too hard on it .
He watched as Guizhong picked up one of the chess pieces , the king and eyed it curiously .
" You know ... I find it very ironic how this game of chess mirrors us gods so perfectly in a way " Guizhong said out of the blue .
Morax eyed her confused , setting down his cup " How do you mean Guizhong ? "
" I mean ... each piece has its own role to play , but at the end of the day the whole game is nothing more than a battle of wits and strategy " Guizhong mused " Brute force won't take you very far "
" Is that why you choose to rely on strategy rather power during your spars with some of the other gods ? " Morax asked .
The gods of Ionia would occasionally meet to spar and test each other's strengths and weaknesses . Morax had remembered seeing Guizhong almost effortlessly beat a fellow god , by the name of Falco during a spar not too long ago . She had almost completely relied on her ability with the sword rather than her own divine strength .
" Perhaps you are more attentive than I give you credit for Morax " Guizhong smiled " Yes , that is the reason why I choose to rely more on strategy and wit rather than pure brute force "
" I'm sure you're aware by now that a god's energy is derived from the prayers and beliefs of their followers , of course they can also easily replenish through the use of a gnosis if those in Celestia bother to give them one . But a gods strength relies on what exactly they are the god of to begin with " Guizhong explained " My dust power is very weak and not very versatile , at best it can be used to blind opponents and enemies which isn't always a good thing . Even you Morax who is younger than me holds more power than I do , because your ability to command geo is extremely powerful and versatile all the same "
Morax understood what she meant by that and he could not lie when he said that he mainly relied on his gnosis that was granted by Celestia to use his more powerful geo abilities .
" Which is why I need to be smart with how I fight and why I am not afraid to use inventions that I make in order to win " Guizhong smiled at him " As a matter of fact , I am inventing a new type of ranged weapon . Its small and meant to be light and portable "
" Oh ? "
" Yes , its quite remarkable " Guizhong smiled " The firing mechanism for releasing the arrow is meant to be easy to use and ..."
Morax simply listened in contentment as Guizhong went off on another one of her talks about her inventions .
Morax stood atop a mountain top that overlooked his territory , his people he could say ...
He watched the lights that lit up the streets and homes of his people , they were beautiful in their own right .
Morax had learned much since he had become a god , since he had negotiated a place for himself among the other gods of Ionia .
And he believes that he has grown since that time or at least he thinks he has .
His people were fed , led peaceful lives and the whole itself was at relative ease .
And yet ... now he is hearing rumors about a war that is coming .
Even a 'blockhead' ( Something Guizhong would routinely call him ) like Morax kept up with what was happening around Teyvat .
And he was not blind to the rising conflict between the gods of the world .
Some were petty such as over encroaching on another gods land or trade routes ...
But now the main reason seemed to revolve around control over the lands of Teyvat itself , why some gods had received more land than others and such.
And this conflict ... has already made its way to lands of Ionia .
The Gods were beginning to argue over who should control what , some were even accusing others of being too weak to rule or be called a god .
Conflict was escalating and things were getting worse ...
Morax felt the cool breeze that came from ...
He could already tell it ; war was coming to Teyvat .
And nobody would be spared by it .
You know , I notice I tend to have this weird thing for having gods stand on top mountains or hills while looking down at their own territory and people . Is that weird ?
XD
Jokes aside , I hope you all enjoyed this new story . One of the biggest problems I think I had when I was writing 'Lord of Winds' is that I didn't get to show enough of the Archon War itself and instead kind of cop out of it by using what happened in the manga as a base for the rest of the story . But I didn't get to really get into the war itself which was actually a big part of Venti's character .
Rest assured , I do not plan to make the same mistake in this story , since almost all of it will be centered around Zhongli and Guizhong during the Archon War . Though I will warn that this story will probably be somewhat equal in length to that of 'Lord of Winds' since I want this to be as short as possible , so I apologize in advance to you all .
I will see you all in the next chapter .
Angel Out .