The newly acquainted pair of God and Weakling turned away from the Roswaal Mansion and began to make their journey toward the city for the purpose of Subaru introducing Zhongli to the new world they had both found themselves in. Subaru's knowledge was spotty at best, but it would be better than nothing. Moreover, Subaru was not particularly thrilled at the thought of returning to the Roswaal Mansion so soon and would shudder just thinking about the feeling of a mace turning him into minced meat. He also intended to explain his Return By Death problem if possible and its relationship to the Witch Satella. They had agreed it would be best to find a private place before discussing the issues that Subaru was so eager to discuss, particularly about the possibility of returning to their native worlds. He loved Emilia, he really did. But his love as of yet did not run so deep that he would willingly stay in hell just to have her company.
As for Zhongli though, it was not a topic he particularly cared about. If he wanted, he could teleport himself back to Liyue immediately, through any number of focal points. Although he was technically no longer the Geo Archon, since there was no successor most of the rights of the Geo Archon still belonged to him. Among them was the ability to control Geo Visions which allowed him to coalesce a person's dearest ambitions and desires into a source of Geo Energy. In the olden days of Teyvat this was a method devised by the warring gods to ensure the safety of their most valuable followers. The Geo Vision not only granted the recipient the blessing of Geo, which considerably improved their physical strength and durability and permitted their bodies to produce Geo Energy and their minds to manipulate it, but it also acted as a spiritual connection with the active Geo Archon. Because of that, Zhongli did not feel any sense of urgency at the current situation.
For him, the solution was as simple as spiritually tugging on any of the many thousands of Geo Vision he had distributed in Teyvat and he could go back to spending his days wandering around Liyue, listening to fantastically diluted tales of his bygone days in the morning, whilst amusing himself with the cute antics of his boss at the Wangsheng Funeral Parlour in the evening. But for all that he was content with his new mortal life, it was also true that Zhongli spent a considerable portion of his life raining down a stony hell upon the enemies of Liyue. Being a wise ruler though, it was not as if he lacked the mental agility to change his lifestyle like some of his closest companions such as Xiao. But he still missed the sense of danger and urgency he derived from the thrill of war, though he should probably keep that thought to himself he thought with an inward grimace.
Moreover, if he was being honest with himself his soul had begun to feel tired of existing after so many millennia too. It is something he tried to ignore for the past thousand relatively peaceful years and he likely would have continued to do so. But now, he found himself in another world completely disconnected from Teyvat. In here would lay lands, peoples, powers, nations, treasures and wonders completely foreign to him. Zhongli wondered if this sense of childish wonder and spiritual rejuvenation was what the traveller felt whenever he traveled to a new world. If that were the case, He could see the appeal in the traveler's former lifestyle. It was settled then, Zhongli decided he would stay in this world until he became bored. Besides, this Subaru child's circumstances did interest him somewhat. He may as well lend him a helping hand while he's here.
Before that however, he felt it was his responsibility to ensure that his companions in Teyvat would not worry about him suddenly dying, for real this time. He could only imagine the pain it would cause Xiao to think Rex Lapis is now well and truly dead. He understood how important he was to the Adeptus, among many others who cared deeply for him. Zhongli suddenly stopped walking, interrupting the companionable silence he had with Subaru as he led him to one of the dragon carriage rentals. Subaru turned around to see what was wrong
"Hey old man, back hurt?"
Zhongli barely kept himself from chuckling at the boy's insolence. and honestly, the body he resided in was that of a mid-twenties man in the prime of life. Why did so many different people call him an old man? But he needed to tie up one last loose end in Teyvat before he could focus wholly on this new world. Rex Lapis began to flood his surroundings with pure Geo Energy, intending to rip open the fabric of spacetime. A golden fissure appeared, cackling with sparks of Geo Energy. That was certainly odd, Geo energy didn't cackle like that. Paying it no mind, Zhongli's spirit searched the multiverse for Teyvat. Finding it, he zeroed in on Liyue and searched for Xiao, and found nothing.
"Hey?! What's going on?! Is the black fog coming again?"
Although he did not understand exactly what he was looking at, he understood that whatever the man was doing was exerting a tonne of that golden power he showed earlier outside the mansion. His very soul stood on edge as he panicked, searching for any sign of an enemy that may have provoked the old man into powering up. Failing that, he turned his eyes toward Zhongli again and questioned loudly:
"HEY, what's going on?"
"I am merely doing some...stretches. There is nothing to worry about" trolled Zhongli as it was very clear he had not moved a muscle, and his eyes were still closed in concentration as he scoured Teyvat to find any sign of Xiao.
Subaru was a dumbass but he got the message. Zhongli didn't feel like explaining himself. Furrowing his eyebrows slightly. Subaru hoped nobody would feel this exertion of raw power because that would reduce the element of surprise his new ally carried.
'Ah, there he is.' Zhongli finally found Xiao in a most odd place. He was in the pocket dimension that was sealed away during the war thousands of years ago. Bosacious met his end around here, and Zhongli had no idea why Xiao would visit this place after all this time As far as he knew, Xiao had never visited before. A pang of sadness hit his chest at the thought of Bosacious' death. He felt the signature of the Traveler, Paimon, another Geo Vision, a Pyro Vision, an Electro vision and a hydro vision near Xiao. If he interpreted the sense of vague panic coming from all of them correctly, then it would appear they are all trapped in this dimension. Zhongli sighed in a bit of amused irritation.
'I suppose I may as well help them out... one last time.' Zhongli finally opened his eyes and rolled them in exasperation, befuddling Subaru even further. He injected a sharp pulse of Geo Energy into the portal and directed it toward the pocket dimension that imprisoned three of his treasured companions. Geo Energy flowed gently into the caverns and coalesced into a symbol large enough for everyone to stand in. An injured Xiao's eyes briefly widened before a small smile replaced his perpetual "game face".
"Everyone, stand on the geo symbol. This will be our way out of here."
The Traveler recognized it as Zhongli's energy, while Yanfei , itto, Kuki and Yelan all stared dumbly at it not understanding what was happening. Despite this, they trusted Xiao and hurriedly walked toward the Geo Symbol.
"Aw crap, let me go fetch Ushi real quick" stammered itto before hurrying off to find his precious bull. Shinobu just facepalmed before going after him.
"UGHH" shouted paimon as she did her cute airstomp and ranted about bull chuckers and even uglier nicknames and whatnot.
"it feels different from the usual, doesn't it? This geo power.." said the traveler, after a few minutes had passed waiting for itto and kuki to come back with the bull.
Yelan, Yanfei and even Xiao briefly tensed at the unfamiliar voice. The Traveler noticed their tension, confused. Paimon was looking irritatingly smug right now as if she understood why.
"...What's wrong?" queried the apprehensive traveler
"We did not know you could talk" replied Yelan, blunt as ever.
The traveler looked sheepish for a moment and smiled awkwardly, and awkwardness permeated the cavern before the socially adept Adeptus Xiao spoke up
"Yes, you are correct, traveler. Without a doubt, this Geo Energy feels...fresher than normal. It feels just like I remember when I first felt it, thousands of years ago." said Xiao, unusually talkative and happy. Xiao had correctly deduced that his god was in a particularly good mood. At this point, Yelan and Yanfei were royally confused but they both figured they could ask their questions later.
Kuki and Itto finally made their way back, sprinting as quickly as they could with itto carrying his precious bull.
Meanwhile, on the other side, Zhongli's face was looking stonier than usual. Subaru began to wonder if he offended him somehow. In hindsight, referring to the truthfully young-looking man who saved him from the witch's miasma once and who could possibly be his ticket out of hell as "old man", "geezer" and other insults to do with old age was probably not the best idea. A cold panic set inside Subaru's gut. That portal he ripped.. Is he planning on leaving the world without him? This was bad. Still, if there was one thing Subaru had learned through his many time loops it was that a good rule of thumb was that it's never wise to let things pan out on their own.
"Wait a moment, if you would!" called out a desperate Subaru
"Hn" grunted Zhongli,
"I-I"
"My apologies, just give me some time Subaru" said Zhongli in a serene voice as he briefly opened one of his eyes. Despite being the one to receive the apology, it was Subaru who felt intimidated catching a glimpse of that ancient eye, blazing brightly with its dark golden sheen, exuding the presence of power beyond anything he had witnessed so far in the world. Subaru felt like apologizing to him for interrupting whatever it was he was doing.
"No problem, take your time!" laughed Subaru in a good-natured way, doing his best to mimic his trademark cheeriness.
'Goodness, how difficult is it to stand on one large geo symbol. Should I just force the two fools running around the cave toward my geo platform?' thought the uncharacteristically irate Lord of Geo. Zhongli was no stranger to patience, in fact he was proud of having more than anyone he ever knew. Rather the source of his growing annoyance was that he did not have an indepth knowledge of multiverse theory and had no idea of the consequences of linking two parallel worlds together for as long as he did. He was just about to form a tendril of Geo-Energy to pull the "two fools" toward where he wanted before they started to run toward it themselves.
"Just a bit longer now, young Subaru". said Zhongli, exuding a sense of relief. Subaru was noticeably relieved at this, deriving comfort in the fact that no, he had not in fact offended Zhongli. Still, that is no reason to continue insulting him. He resolved to not be so rude to him after this strange phenomenon ceased.
Shinobu and the bull chucker finally arrived to the Geo platform, panting only to see a rather unnerving smile on Xiao's face.
"Uh sorry" said itto, dumbly.
"Hn" grunted Xiao, in a way that suggested he was not all that annoyed at having to wait.
"So what now?" asked Itto, recovering his usual energy.
"I'm not sure, it appears The Conqueror of Demons has the best idea of what's going on" commented Yelan in a measured tone, with an unreadable look in her deep blue eyes.
Xiao ignored Yelan's thinly veiled request for clarification with practised ease. Feeling Rex Lapis' joy intertwined in his energy had put him in the mood for a good fight. It felt like the karma eating his soul had stopped for a moment. He briefly considered goading Yelan into a fight before deciding against it. It would be beneath him. How he longed for his old companions.
Just then, the Geo Platform flashed into a blindingly bright mix of white and deep gold and whitish spirals of Geo Energy rose from each vertex of the Symbol, coalescing into an identical Geo Symbol a few feet above their heads. Then they felt an insane upwards acceleration as the Geo Symbol solidified into a platform of Geo Mass, causing Paimon to fall onto the Geo Platform and Kuki and Yanfei to collapse onto the platform, unable to move due to the sheer force the Geo Platform was accelerating upwards with. Yelan just barely stayed standing, with noticeable difficulty along with the traveler. Xiao however looked as unbothered as always, just appearing to enjoy the ride with that same eerie smile on his face. After thinking about it a bit, Yelan realized it looked so spooky because the Adeptus probably had not smiled much in a long time so those facial muscles would have been rarely used and thus look strained when he smiled. Yelan resolved to smile more often, to ensure that her smile would not look that creepy in the future. Itto was having the time of his life, oohing and aaahing and shouting "AWESOME"
"What is - Thi- Ugh" grunted a pained Shinobu, just before she blacked out into unconsciousness. Itto looked terrified and began shaking her, hoping to wake her up Xiao noticed the ruckus and decided to communicate the current issue with Rex Lapis. He donned his Mask in a sudden blaze of dark Anemo Energy, surprising the other occupants of the Geo Platform causing Yelan, itto and the Traveler to ready themselves for battle. Yanfei was conscious and Paimon was well - not conscious. The Traveler and co looked around the Platform and glanced outside of it to search for what enemy had convinced Xiao to enter summon his Demon Conqueror form, but found no sign of an enemy. Puzzled, they glanced at Xiao hoping for an answer.
"Calm yourselves" Thundered the powerful rumble of xiao's enhanced voice.
"I am merely trying to slow down the platform" and with that, Xiao crouched down and plunged his arm into the Platform and injected a wave of his Anemo Energy into it, trying to trace the source of the Geo Energy so that he may communicate with Rex Lapis. Unfortunately, he could not, as wherever Rex Lapis was, it seemed he was too far away to contact directly. Xiao sighed in disappointment at his weakness and dissipated his Mask.
But then the Platform slowed down considerably, Much to the relief of most of its occupants. Yanfei immediately stood up and laughed nervously, thanking Xiao due to not having expected to be overpowered so easily. To be honest, she had thought she was among the strongest here, due to her half Adeptal blood. It was slightly sobering to see Yelan and Itto easily stand up to the pressure that had caused her to collapse.
Shinobu was beginning to return to consciousness much to the relief of a crying itto, who hugged her and wailed about how he thought she had died. 'If I had the energy, I'd..' and with that half a thought, Shinobu laid back down with an irritated grunt, resigned to the idea of an eight foot Oni celebrating her resurrection in tears of joy.
After over an hour of travel, at a more relaxed pace the Geo Platform finally escaped the pocket dimension. Apparently, all it took to escape the pocket dimension was simply to travel far enough in it, as whatever force that kept it in existence would naturally weaken the further onward you went. it was all very logical, though it was only Xiao who had this thought occur to him. They appeared about a hundred meters midair, somewhere above a grassy cliff, with an excellent view of the entire chasm. Xiao landed on his feet, unperturbed at the fall, barely registering it. The Traveler, Yelan and itto too managed to land gracefully enough, taking one knee as each as they fell. Paimon was in the traveler's pocket, eyes still cutely swirling with unconsciousness. Finally, Yanfei and Shinobu appeared in the sky with a flash of golden Geo Energy and began falling to the cliff. Itto, alarmed launched himself up, and scooped both yanfei and Shinobu into his arms, falling back down thus saving them from a fall that probably would have left both of them with fairly severe injuries. All except Xiao breathed a collective sigh of relief as they sat on the grassy cliff, overlooking the whole of the Chasm, happy to be free from that accursed pocket dimension.
"What just happened?" finally queried an eager Yelan with barely restrained curiousity.
"Hn" grunted xiao, in a manner that communicated he was content with the results and did not care to elaborate further. After all, if Rex Lapis wanted the credit he would have revealed himself. Xiao had no intention of doing something that would displease Rex Lapis. He promptly turned away from his companions, walked toward the edge of the cliff, folded his arms as he briefly stared into the distant horizon and disappeared in a blaze of dark, swirling Anemo Energy before anybody could tell him to be careful of falling off the cliff.
"T-That's so COOOOL" squealed an impressed Itto with stars in his eyes. Shinobu rolled her eyes. Yelan folded her arms and her left eyebrow twitched in irritation. Yanfei smiled nervously at Yelan, hoping the situation wouldn't devolve into another argument. Yanfei wondered if she should complain about not finding what she was looking for but decided not to.
"Hey, Hey Shinobu. As the leader of the Arataki Gang, I have just GOT to learn how to do that. Think about it, if the gang is ever attacked I could just appear out of nowhere and save the day!."
Itto continued to drool about various heroic applications of the ability to Teleport like Xiao and also not-so-heroic applications, such as teleporting out of prison. Yelan had reached her limit and just sighed.
"Well, we've escaped. I suppose that's good enough for me. Take care, all of you" Yelan said curtly, before briskly walking away down the cliff, leaving everyone behind. Yelan nearly tripped on a Geo Rock that she could've sworn had formed out of nowhere and stumbled a few steps before regaining her composure and continued walking, but more cautiously this time. Blushing furiously, she just wanted this day to be over. and hid the reddening back of her pale neck with her fur coat hoping nobody noticed what happened.
"Now that was just totally UNCOOL" commented a guileless Itto. Itto had a naturally powerful voice, which was suited to carrying over long distances and was especially effective over cliffs, so the echo doubtlessly reached Yelan's ear who gnashed her teeth in anger, before choosing to ignore it and continue walking.
Somewhere, someplace the back of the Lord of Geo was vibrating with a very uncharacteristic and undignified guttural giggle.
'To think I would use my powers in such a mischievous manner. How unbecoming of me. I wonder what some of the Adepti would say. I have no doubt some of my more...uptight kin such as Cloud Retainer would have some amusing reactions if they were to learn of my growing penchant for mischief'
Subaru had begun to think this Zhongli character was more trouble than he was worth.
"FOUR HOURS... OLD MAN! It has been more than FOUR HOURS. WHY ARE YOU JUST SITTING THERE, GIGGLING AT NOTHING?!"
Subaru wailed his anguish to the heavens, throwing his arms up in the air while on his knees. The sun was setting by now. Subaru's patience was wearing thin. He would almost rather return to the cycle of dying gruesome deaths over and over again. Almost. Subaru shuddered when he thought of that. In fact, now that he thought of it, wasn't he quite an impressive man for being able to suffer through all that and now this?
"...Oh has it been that long already?"
A blood vessel popped in Subaru's left eye, his eye coloring into a deep red. Noticing this, the Lord of Geo decided to wrap things up. Indeed, contacting Xiao and the traveler had turned into quite the mission. Still, he accomplished what he intended, which was to notify them that he is not dead. Now he just needed to notify Ei, his boss at Wangsheng Funeral Parlour and the drunk bard of Mondstadt. Then he would be ready for some real Adventure into an unknown world. The thought excited his old soul.
"..I had run into an unforeseen problem, but I have overcome it"
Subaru breathed a sigh of relief and was about to stand up
"I will need merely another... hour? Yes, I merely need another hour to finish this task"
Subaru's right eye became bloodshot and he slowly stood up and walked toward Zhongli, who had been sitting in the middle of the forest, on a Large rock just outside Irlam village. Subaru stared into Zhongli's eyes with maximum intensity not caring how bold he was being, using his rotten eyes he inherited from his mother to maximum effect. After a cold few seconds, Zhongli relented.
"...I suppose I could continue this later" and with that, Zhongli sucked all of the Geo Energy he had been releasing back into his body. Leaving not a spec of it in the world, closing the spacetime fissure unceremoniously and coolly hopped off of the Rock he was sitting on.
"Perhaps we should find a place to stay the night, before we set off for the city." proposed Zhongli. Subaru nodded tiredly, and began to lead the way to the nearest inn. Zhongli followed closely behind, finding the boy's exaggerated reactions rather amusing.
'Honestly, what was four hours but a truly tiny spec of time?' Zhongli would often take six hours to brew his tea, so he did not understand the problem. It was probably another mortal issue. Their grasp of time is truly so small.
After a few hours of walking, Zhongli and Subaru finally reached an inn. The Inn clerk looked at the pair and was puzzled at the presence of the tall dignified traveler. He could not recall being informed of the visit of a high profile guest but he was not going to complain.
"Welcome sir. What can I do for you?" Subaru glanced at Zhongli, indicating he should talk.
"Two beds for one night, boss" requested Zhongli in a businesslike tone.
"Right this way, sir" The inn clerk personally led the pair to the best room in the inn, eager to please the clearly very wealthy guest.
"We understand you may be tired at this hour so you can just pay in the morning" and with that, the inn clerk exited the room and went back downstairs to his till. Subaru wordlessly jumped into a bed and fell asleep. Zhongli hummed thoughtfully. He did not expect this world's standards of hospitality to be so low, but he could make do. For now though, he figured it was a good time to finish saying his farewells to Teyvat. He needed a secluded spot as it simply wouldn't do to mess around with spacetime in the middle of this inn.
Zhongli walked towards toward the end of their room and opened the bedroom window and glanced at the beautiful sight of a starless night sky and huge vibrant moon, much bigger than it was in Teyvat. Unexpectedly, the sight had taken his breath away. Zhongli silently leaped out, falling two stories and hitting the ground with a barely audible thud that he suppressed with his natural control over all things Earth and Geo before immediately taking off in a run. An ancient excitement bubbled out of his soul and he pushed some Geo Energy into his legs, immediately going from a very respectable sprint for a human, to veering into natural disaster territory.
Zhongli accelerated into a nearby forest like, leaving cracks and fissures wherever his powerful legs struck the ground,snapping fallen tree branches like twigs from the force of his strides and leaving deep footprints in the forest. Zhongli simply relished the feeling of the dark forest's heavy air strike into his hair, eyes and face.
'Is it so enjoyable to just run through a mere forest?
Zhongli remembered enjoying many such frivolous exercises of his powers before he became known as Prime Adeptus. After that, he was always surrounded by companions, warriors and followers who reverently postured themselves in obedience and service to him and it didn't quite feel right to cut loose and relax. That was one small part of the reason he felt comfortable with contracting his gnosis to The Tsaritsa and faking his death, as godhood had become too stale anyway. But even after becoming the mortal known as "Zhongli" he still had far too many expectant eyes on him. But here was a world who knew nothing about him. He could quite literally do whatever he wanted.
With such playful thoughts in mind, he broke his sprint at a small clearing and sat down, immediately opening a fissure, connecting to Teyvat and finding his old friend Barbatos. He sent a friendly burst of Geo Energy at him which awoke him from his drunken nap in the middle of some dark alley leaving behind a gift of osmanthus wine he would no doubt be pleased at, before moving on to Ei who was apparently sitting in her Plane of Euthymia again. He rolled his eyes. That woman should really learn to enjoy herself more, he thought. He infringed on her mindscape with a playful burst of Geo Energy, causing a baby Geo Dragon to take form in Ei's mind, interrupting her meditation. Ei opened one eye as she stared the baby geo dragon in the face, both of them utterly confused. Were it not for the fact she had felt the unmistakable Geo Energy of Morax, she would have thought this is another one of Miko's pranks.
'What is Morax up to?' wondered a dubious Ei as she got up and made her way to the geo dragon before drawing her sword. It would not do to have her eternity interrupted in this crude manner. She flooded herself with Electro energy and her eyes flashed purple before yelling
"SHINE DOWN" then she noticed the Dragon had apparently realized the gap in their respective powers and began to flee. It was unusually fast for a newly born Geo Dragon. Ei was not impressed though. Nobody was faster than the Electro Archon. She blitzed her way toward the Geo Dragon and pointed her sword at its neck, pinning it to the ground. The baby Geo Dragon stiffened in surrender and turned its fearful but hopeful eyeballs at the Archon. Contrary to popular belief, Raiden Ei was not a heartless fiend. She was in fact fundamentally a compassionate girl, hardened by centuries of battle. So when she stared at the baby Geo dragon fearing for its life, which had thus far only lasted a scant few seconds, she acquiesced with a sigh and decided to withdraw herself away from the baby dragon and sit back down in the middle of the Euthymic plane, in the same cross-legged position she was meditating in before Morax for some godforsaken reason decided to shove his unwelcome Geo babies into her mind. She decided to meditate on what meaning this unusual action of Morax could mean.
'It was probably not a call for help. I sensed a great deal of positive feelings from that flash of Geo Energy'. considered Ei. After a few moments of deep thought, she could conclude it was nothing except a childish whim completely contrary to the austere personality of her fellow archon which troubled her.
'If it was that Bard I could understand, but Morax...' Ei continued mulling it over and eventually resolved that whatever the reason for Morax's actions, she would certainly get back at him somehow. Maybe she would cut off his head. Oh no, surely that would spark the next archon war. Ei spent the next few days pondering ceaselessly on the matter of Pranks and what could be an appropriate retort before giving up on and looking for the expert on mischief, Barbatos to seek his opinion. Ei would have preferred to ask Miko for assistance, but she figured Barbatos would understand Morax's personality more.
The two Archons who would normally never interact due to their opposing lifestyles schemed together, one giddy with glee and one with a stern look on her face as if she was plotting an invasion. They did not know where Morax had gone, as they could no longer sense him but whence he returned from wherever he was, he would find himself in the middle of a web of godly pranks the like of which has never been seen before. All this unbeknownst to Zhongli.
Zhongli also wanted to leave behind something special for Hu Tao. To be honest, he wanted to give her a Geo Vision. The problem was she already had a Pyro Vision for so long. He briefly debated the pros and cons of it before deciding to just do it. Having two visions would no doubt confuse the girl and whoever found out about them but he did not think she would complain about it. Even if she never bothered to master the Geo element as well as she did her Pyro powers, it would still give her a significant boost in her physical abilities and lengthen her lifespan considerably and he was hoping to at least meet her once more before she died. And a Geo Vision connection would inform him of any significant weakening in her life force. Moreover, if a tyrant became the Lord of Geo in his absence and decided to follow in the footsteps of Ei's old vision hunt decree then Hu Tao could simply give one of her visions away while keeping the other. Deep down he hoped she would hand over the Pyro vision and keep the Geo Vision if it came to that, but he knew better than to be naively optimistic about that. Objectively, Hu Tao would have no reason to value her Geo Vision as anything more than an anomalous object of interest. She would of course prefer to keep her Pyro vision with which she was much more accustomed. Besides, if such a thing happened he would return to Liyue with the vengeance of an angry God. He may have decided to leave teyvat for the unforeseeable future, but that doesn't mean he will allow thousands of years of hard work to crumble at the whim of an opportunistic tyrant, should they appear.
'Ah, my thoughts are spiraling into a worrisome direction' thought Zhongli. Surely Xiao is powerful enough to protect Liyue. He was fairly confident Xiao at his best could give Barbatos a challenging battle. Unrestrained and at his best, the Conqueror of Demons was close to Archon Levels of power. He was certainly more powerful than Kusanali for instance. The only problem was the Karma infecting his soul, if only he could remove that somehow. Zhongli felt a pang of guilt as he realized he was off enjoying a new world while his loyal Xiao was left alone to cope with his woes but he quickly clamped down on that. If nothing could be done for the Yakshas in all these thousands of years then what good would fretting about it now do?
"Aiyah!" yelped Hu Tao as she exited the bathroom wrapped in a white towel, suddenly finding Geo Energy flowing through her body, and out of it making all sorts of pretty patterns before stroking her hair and coalescing into a shining Geo Vision onto the floor. Hu Tao dropped her towel as she felt her bones, muscles and tendons contract briefly and then loosen, strengthened considerably due to the blessing of the Geo Archon. She briefly hopped around her room, shadowboxing and throwing kicks at imaginary opponents, pleasantly surprised at the abrupt improvement in her power, speed and flexibility before deciding to stop lest she need to take another shower. Hu Tao bent down and eyed the impossible second vision that had formed and picked it up, her eyes taking in every detail of the new vision. She grabbed her Pyro vision and noticed the Geo Vision was noticeably larger and more lustrous. She then held them side by side and said: "Peo or Gyro"? in a cutesy drawl. Hu Tao was not one to overthink things it seemed.
In another world, Zhongli smiled slightly and shook his head in fond exasperation. He could not help himself but make his Geo Vision gift larger and shinier than her existing Pyro Vision. Such bouts of childish behavior were all too quickly becoming the norm for the ancient, dignified god, and he mentally reprimanded himself lest he surpass the drunk bard in his mischief. Though, Zhongli had a newfound appreciation for Venti's carefree lifestyle. He would never dare let himself reach his level of careless hedonism, but he would certainly make more time to indulge his whims and desires more.
Zhongli opened his eyes and forced his thoughts away from Teyvat and onto the new world he intended to explore. He briefly considered allowing the Geo Energy floating around the clearing to naturally dissipate into this new world, before deciding against it. He didn't want to alert any dangerous characters in the world to his existence, assuming he already hadn't. Indeed, there was no guarantee Zhongli was the strongest around anymore unlike in Teyvat where he understood where all the major forces stood. He would do well to approach the world at hand with caution, reminiscient of his attitude when he first became the Geo Archon.
'This time though, I do not seek dominion.' Zhongli firmly declared to himself.
'Ah, did I not say that last time too?' Zhongli shook his head as he stood up and noticed it was a pitch black night, with the same breathtaking moon hovering over him. He probably spent another few hours interacting with Teyvat again and would be sure to cease that immediately. Besides the unknown problems tampering with Spacetime could cause, he was also sure he did not wish to see Subaru's unseemly eyes glaring at him. It was a most unpleasant feeling.
Zhongli looked up at the night sky. He had the sudden urge to monologue about the taste of Osmanthus wine but decided he would save it for when he actually had a bottle.
Considering it was the dead of night, it was safe to say most of the people of this world would be asleep. He then considered the mortal need for sleep. If he slept at all, would it benefit him or merely waste his time? This body is technically a real human body he thought. The only difference is that he had formed this human body with his limited shapeshifting ability from his Adeptal Form. He had never slept in Liyue, even when he was living as a "mortal". He found he could simply flush away fatigue and other afflictions with a surge of Geo Energy.
As he contemplated the human condition, Zhongli found himself getting drowsier and it became a task of willpower to resist the temptation to succumb to Sleep. It was all too tempting to reach into his soul to pull on a bit of rejuvenating Geo Energy and rid himself of this unpleasant sensation. But decided against it. Zhongli had already done many things which were no doubt "out of character" for him, and this was precisely why he let the human need for sleep linger on his flesh. It was just another whim. He wanted to feel what sleep in his human form felt like, and so the ancient god made his way back to the inn and lazily stumbled up the stairs, silently entered his room so as to not disturb young Subaru and unceremoniously plopped onto the bed and let the pleasant sensation of sleep overtake his body, with a small content smile on his face.
