" なんでこんな感じ？"
━━━━━━━━━━

Ever since he stepped foot into Liyue, Morax refused to stay away from him. People found it odd that the funeral consultant was following a white haired boy that looked as if he wished to disappear. They couldn't be more unorthodox to one another in appearances, while one was a familiar face in Liyue and wore dignified clothes, the other was unorthodox to them, while wearing clothes that seemed a bit worn.

Of course Astaroth chose to wear these type of clothes for his own convenience, and because he liked his style better.

[ He has two sets of clothing's in the chapters. Like skins for games, if Mihoyo ever let's G.I. Have them. Refer to the top and chapter 3. ]

Astaroth groaned, snapping his glare to the ever so monotone Zhongli that paysed the moment he stopped. "Why are you following me?" His eye twitched in annoyance, but the only slightly younger archon gave him a strained smile.

"Not to be rude, my lord-" Noir glared at him, "Noir. But I doubt your words. You are a notorious liar." Noir flinched, now understanding that his smile was not for pleasentries rather because he may have been tired.

Yes, Astaroth was a liar. It came natural to him, and as Zhongli is part of the original seven, he knew of this perfectly. "It goes to show, you did lie to- ehem, Venti." Zhongli surmised, the silver eyed lad sputtering denials. This had been orthodox as Zhongli was the one to know him well.

"However..." He trailed of, his expression darkening, to the chagrin of the elder god. "Nyx had said something interesting while you were asleep." He stared irritatedly at him, making the older god gulp.

"is your reason for waking up just to say goodbye? So you could ascend?"

Zhongli demanded for an explanation, but only had the man with white hair evade his angered gaze. He silently cursed his familiar, who escaped to Jueyun karst to speak with cloud retainer. "I planned on doing so.." he admitted, making the geo archon clench his fist.

Turning on his heel, Astaroth tiredly sighed. "- but you've convinced me to stay for a bit longer. At least for another century so I can grasp order and balance this unstable lands." He scoffed, walking in a fast pace.

Zhongli stood wide eyed, before laughing heartily. He quickly hurried to the elders side, smiling brightly to himself. The achievement of convincing the most stubborn archons among the seven, in the original and the present, he would surely brag to Barbatos if he had the chance.

To his amusement, he noticed the Astaroth, Noir rather was shorter then him, but taller then Barbatos. "did you shrink." Noir promptly choked on his saliva, glaring at Zhongli. The amber-eyed man was smirking in exultant. Zhongli soon raised a hand to his head, attempting to ruffle it like how Astaroth had done it to himself centuries ago, Noir of course swatted his hand away.

"Another side-effect from sleeping to long." Noir snarled, tugging at his navy scarf. He could feel the unusual smugness Zhongli emitted, and it clearly displeased him for his own mistake.

Had he known that sleeping for a millenia while also releasing a spiritual form would affect his mortal visage, he would have rather to stay awake. Though if thinking harder, he was quite short in his spirit form when accompanying his blonde friends. It internally cringed, being the technical shorted among the trio.

"Don't mention my height. Please." He requested, deadpanning at Zhongli. Zhongli chuckled, shaking his head in amusement before smiling sweetly at him. To his thanks, Zhongli nodded.

Stopping in his tracks, his senses were once again clouded by the very scent of his abode. He covered his nose, squinting his eyes at the faint dark particles flowing in the air. Mortals could not see it, The Archons could barely see it, but Astaroth could see them clearly. Elemental particles that had been affected by the Abyss. From the liquid matter, he speculated that the element was Hydro.

"Zhongli sensei!"

The man in questioned scowled, before resuming his stoic exterior. A man with choppy orange hair and blue eyes was merrily waving at the Archon with a deceiving smile, before his eyes landed on the unnoticeably shaken boy beside the archon. Suddenly, Noir jumped back once the ginger neared them at arm's length, he stood cautious while clutching his scarf.

The man raised a brow in question to his mannerism, turning to Zhongli who was equally confused. The archon only assumed that it was because he was a harbinger that Noir jumped back, as he did assume that Astaroth had heard about what the Tsaritsa was currently doing. Hunting down Gnosis.

"Childe, to what do I owe the pleasure?" He asked, tilting his head to the side. Childe chuckled, patting his shoulder before smiling Mischievously. He was still bitter about Osial's liberation, but alas, he was also to blame on the archaic lord of the vortex's release, for it was he who has tricked the foolish mortal.

"Aren't we friends? And who's the kid? He seems to be frightened." Childe pointed at Noir who avoided their gaze, looking around everywhere aside from themselves. Childe found it suspicious, but only brushed it off as a person who feared his status as harbinger.

'Zhongli? Please tell me you can hear me.' Zhongli blinked in surprise from the voice that echoed around his mind. Remembering that Astaroth had the ability to telepathically communicate at times. It was alike to how he could project visions and dreams to others looked how he did with Ningguang.

'Is anything wrong? Childe won't be able to sense your divine presence so your safe.' Zhongli assured, staring at the man who continued to blabber, occasionally answering and nodding to him. Unknown to the harbinger, He was speaking to the god of chaos.

'Me? Afraid of a mortal taking my Gnosis? Don't be ridiculous! That boy reeks of a scent that I despise, like hell I'm going to get near him!!' he scoffed, hissing quietly.

The very sight of Abyssal particles made his skin crawl, but that wasn't what worried him. To think that a human had the faint scent of the abyss, and that their very own vision seemed to have been affected. Astaroth could see the delusion embedded inside the celestial orb, but something had affected it. The abyss clearly as the invisible mist of darkness swarmed around the deep sea blue vision by his hip.

His memories we're fizzy, but he could recall something that had disturbed the abyss that was only inhabited by monsters. A mortal presence that had stumbled upon his domain, one that had been significantly affected by the realm of darkness. From what he could remember, the presence had appeared over a decade ago, and his eyes trailed to the ginger who was idly chatting with Zhongli.

He held his head, thinking deeply on who the person was to him. Before it clicked.

Ah...That's the crazy Kid Lumine mentioned! He snapped his head back to the two men conversing, until Childe tilted his way towards him. To the god of Chaos's misfortune, Childe approached him.

"Hi there I'm-" before the harbinger could finish, Noir ran on instict. Childe blinked in surprise, a blank smile stuck on his face. He snapped his head to Zhongli for answers, only to see the Archon laughing at his misfortune. "Uh.. well you seem to be right about him not being fond of strangers."

"Indeed. If ever you encounter him, please do be gentle when approaching him when I'm not around." Zhongli said, and excused himself to chase after the god of Chaos.

Childe was left alone, his eyes narrowing at the direction which the two had fled. Something about the albino had been familiar.

.

"That mortal..." Noir was pacing inside Zhongli's house, incoherently murmuring about his meeting with Childe. He promptly snapped his fingers, and a snake emerged from his shadow.

"Nyx, where's Corvus?" He asked the familiar who had slithered up his arm.

"The stupid bird wandered to Monstadt. Madame Amelia's Descendant had attracted him." Nyx started to slanderthe shadow crow, still upset that her master did not asign him a crucial task. She had the bad habit of bullying the other familiars if ever a mission or task was not given to her.

"That is expected. For her constellation is named after him... Well since he's busy observing miss Fischl, I will pass on his mission." Nyx's opal eyes shined brightly at the chance of snatching a familiars job.

"Remember the harbinger? Follow him. He's been into the abyss about ten years ago. Observe him further if there is some sort of disturbance to him, or better yet an ability or transformation." He whispered, and the serpent nodded. Sinking down into the shadows, Nyx would began her stalking on Childe.

"Is there something wrong about Childe?"

"Oh dear Celestia!" Noir gasped, snapping his head to Zhongli who stood by the door. The god of chaos was relieved to know that he hadn't heard the order that Nyx received.

"As I said. His scent is faintly covered by something I do not approve of being on a mortal." He coughed, although it was not a lie, it wasn't the full truth. Noir glanced at him, hesitant to ask a question.

"C-Can I.... Can I stay here while I'm in Liyue?" He asked, scratching the back of his head while avoiding eye contact. Zhongli was mildly surprised but smiled softly.

"Of course My Liege."

"I told you to stop calling me that! Damnit Morax, you're not my subordinate! Your my friend!"

Zhongli was touched, smiling brightly. He was simply glad to have the god of chaos back.