Draconis Terra

~#~ Chapter 1 ~#~

Despite the vast number of years since Guizhong's death, Zhongli still mourned her passing. Teyvat had changed so much in the time that she'd been gone that parts of it were almost unrecognisable as those that she had once known and loved but other areas were so similar that it made Zhongli's heart ache to see them.

One place that had remained the same for countless years was Apep's Oasis. Zhongli had visited the dendro dragon there on many occasions, usually during anniversaries of some of his more poignant past friend's deaths and particularly that of Guizhong's demise. Memories of Zhongli's betrothed had always left him feeling particularly isolated among the short-lived people of Teyvat. His devoted adepti would have much longer lifespans than the humans but even they would ultimately leave him when they eventually passed from the mortal realm into whatever came next. Zhongli had specifically searched out the dendro dragon's hiding place in order to have one solitary entity on the planet who truly understood what it meant to be all but immortal.

He had been undeniably distressed by the state of Apep when he'd finally tracked her down. Millenia of corruption had all but crippled the proud dragon who had remained in a permanent state of heightened frustration and aggravation until Nahida finally cleansed the corruption from her body. Even once she was cured, Apep remained in a self-imposed, near-solitary confinement in her oasis and, generally, only the traveller, Paimon, Nahida and Zhongli himself were permitted to visit.

This year's anniversary visit turned out far differently than Zhongli had planned though. Initially Apep had greeted him like an old friend. She had launched herself from the pool as he approached and blissfully rolled around in the clearing as he regaled her with tales of the goings on in Teyvat since he'd visited her last. The ancient dragon's moods had been much better since her cleansing and by the time he ran out of stories to tell her, she was lying on her back, in front of where he was crouched, with him scratching her chin as if she was a huge, green, overgrown puppy.

"You, my friend, are much improved," he chuckled. "And it is very good to see."

Apep wriggled contentedly and then paused. It soon became obvious to Zhongli that something had caught her eye on the far side of the clearing when, mindful of where he was, she carefully flipped back upright and crouched, ready to spring, staring behind him but off to his right side.

Zhongli placed his hand on her snout as he climbed to his feet. She snuffled quietly against his hand but remained in place as he slowly turned around to face whatever had made its way into the clearing.

Much to Zhongli's surprise the 'whatever' turned out to be a 'whoever'. A tall, distinguished-looking man with long, flowing white hair stood motionless, just in front of the nearest tree. Carrying a cane and dressed in an elegant, flawlessly pressed blue suit, he looked very out of place in the naturally overgrown edge of the clearing.

Zhongli's lip curled slightly as he picked up a vaguely recognisable scent coming from the man who, he realised, was mirroring his actions as he had raised his face to sniff the air. Zhongli frowned slightly, slowly removed his hand from Apep's nose and held it flat in front of her instead. "Go," he murmured. "And stay hidden."

As nervous as she was of the newcomer, Apep didn't need telling twice. She gave a large snort of air into Zhongli's hand and then turned and dived beneath the surface of the pool in the centre of the clearing. Zhongli could still feel her presence even though she was no longer visible and he nodded agreeably.

The white-haired man cleared his throat quietly. "That was…unnecessary," he began. "I am not here to cause harm, merely to…acquaint myself with her, and you…Deus Auri."

At this, Zhongli's lip curled into a snarl. "I have not used that name for many years, and you seem to have me at a disadvantage, Hydro Dragon."

The man inclined his head at this. "Morax, then? I…" he slowly raised his right hand and tapped his fingers to his chest. "…am Neuvillette. Iudex of Fontaine and, as you correctly surmised, hydro dragon."

"Morax is acceptable." Zhongli worked to force the snarl off his face as he nodded. "I am…unable to confirm my…status, other than confirming that I resonate with geo, as you have no doubt been able to ascertain already."

Neuvillette frowned slightly at the odd phrasing used by the other man, but he truly hadn't come to the clearing for a fight so simply nodded, aware that Zhongli was undoubtably feeling protective of Apep and that he, Neuvillette, had turned up uninvited. "So, the rumours of the survival of the dendro dragon are not without truth."

Neuvillette had been unsure, when setting out from Fontaine, whether his search for Apep would turn out to be a fruitless one. He knew that, once he got within a reasonable proximity of her, that he'd be able to find her by scent alone but, until he approached the clearing, he had still been unsure if he was even searching for her in the correct area at all.

Zhongli glanced over at the pool, grateful to find that Apep had heeded his words and remained hidden. "She has been…" he paused for a moment as he struggled to find the appropriate word. Eventually he shrugged before continuing, "…unwell, for countless years. Recently she has been…better but only due to the timely intervention of the traveller and the dendro…archon."

It was obvious from the breaks in Zhongli's speech that he was tempering his words, being unsure of Neuvillette's intentions.

Neuvillette inclined his head towards him. "This agrees with what I had discovered. Information that was not easy to come by as it seems that I have gained somewhat of an…unfounded reputation, where all I have ever strived to be is fair and just."

Zhongli's stoic facade cracked slightly at this. "Humans are nothing if not fickle. Even after being among them for millennia, I still find them surprising me occasionally."

"Indeed." Neuvillette was grateful for the small chink that had inadvertently been opened in Zhongli's defences. He also realised, after another moment, that the other man had not raised a shield against him at all. He knew Zhongli had shielding capabilities in his guise of Rex Lapis and this brought another realisation to the hydro dragon. "You have no gnosis," he said suddenly and then gasped as he realised it was probably an inappropriate observation to someone he was trying not to alienate before he'd had the chance to get to know him.

Rather than being annoyed or upset, Zhongli simply chuckled. "Neither do you. And you appear to have had the full power of sovereignty even though you're confined to a human-form body. Interesting."

Neuvillette raised an eyebrow at this. "And you…are not?"

Rather than answering, Zhongli merely smirked and shook his head. As he turned back to look at Neuvillette his visage rippled and within the blink of an eye Zhongli had been replaced by something akin to a human-dragon hybrid version of himself. This Zhongli still had his usual dark hair and sparkling amber eyes but with the addition of a pair of curled, golden-brown antlers on his head. He was barefoot and wearing a soft, hooded, cream-coloured robe rather than his usual brown suit and tailcoat. He nodded at Neuvillette, shook his head again and this time the part-human was replaced by a tall, slender woman with dark brown, waist-length hair, that faded to gold at the ends. In contrast to the robe that the last Zhongli had worn, this version wore a low-cut, full-length dress in Zhongli's usual many shades of brown. The bottom of the dress had scaled detailing, which matched Zhongli's usual tailcoat and had a long slit up the left side, exposing a long, graceful leg tapering down to a pair of short, heeled boots. One last shake of his head returned Zhongli to his usual appearance and he finished the action with a small bow in Neuvillette's direction.

"Remarkable." Neuvillette nodded approvingly and let out a breathy chuckle. "And quite…unexpected. So, this…" he waved a hand in Zhongli's direction.

Zhongli understood the unanswered question. "Is my current appearance and that by which I am known in present-day Liyue. My favoured variant is that which I showed you first but changing from this…" he ran a hand down his coat as if brushing off a piece of invisible debris. "Would only cause confusion after so many years."

Neuvillette nodded his understanding and risked taking a couple of steps further into the clearing now that it appeared Zhongli wasn't proving to be immediately hostile. "So…"

"So, what?" Zhongli responded softly. "You are fully powered but are, I would imagine, limited by your form?"

Neuvillette paused for a moment with a look of indecision his face. It was obvious that Zhongli was asking for a show of power while not expecting anything particularly spectacular and at that point Neuvillette made the only decision open to him. He jammed his cane into the soft ground by his feet and shot straight up in the air and hovered roughly thirty foot above the spot he'd previously been standing. The long, blue tendrils in his hair and the tails on his coat flowed fluidly below him, glowing brightly. He looked down at Zhongli, made a vague hand motion in his direction and then pressed his lips together to stop the smile that tried to escape when, a moment later, a torrential but very localised, rainstorm appeared above the other man.

Zhongli took the drenching in the light-hearted manner that it was meant and let out a short barking laugh. "I guess I asked for that," he called up to Neuvillette. "And I believe the expression is 'game on'." He shook his head to free his sodden hair from where it was clinging to his neck and a moment later a large pair of black, leathery wings unfurled themselves from between his shoulder blades. He pushed off from the floor and with actual wings, and many years more practice than Neuvillette, he was far more manoeuvrable than the hydro dragon. He shot up into the rainstorm and dissipated it with a burst of geo energy as he passed through it. Once he'd dealt with the storm, he abruptly changed direction and, with a burst of speed, managed to get behind Neuvillette. He tapped the younger man on the shoulder before shooting away from him and hung in the air with his wings flapping languidly behind him.

It took Neuvillette a moment to process exactly what had happened and a moment longer than that to spot Zhongli and set off in pursuit. The chase continued for some time and, at some point, evolved from flying into something akin to parkour with the pair bouncing off trees, the floor and, occasionally, each other. For Zhongli, it was like a breath of fresh air. It was the sign of the potential companionship he'd been searching for, for many years. Companionship that he'd sought in Apep but, with her reluctance to leave the oasis, he had failed to truly find. He realised that he didn't know Neuvillette's long-term intentions but the fact that the much younger hydro dragon appeared willing to interact, converse and 'play' gave him a hope for the future that he hadn't had in a long time.