Disclaimer: self-indulgent, also all of this is Greek myths. I hope I didn't get any of them wrong. Last one is not even an idiom its just musing. I wrote sagau again 🥳
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You tried to sound normal, to blend in—you really did try, but you didn't realize just how much it seamlessly weaved into conversations. You quit using modern slang, only because explaining the meaning each time frustrated you, but it looks like you'll always need to pause the conversation to make yourself more comprehensible.
It turns out, that half of your language was rooted in mythology, everyday terms going back to legends and people that were not part of Teyvat, and thus, you also had to explain those words to them each, and every single time.
--
Childe's breath came out in ragged, wet rattles—each inhale felt like grueling labor for his cracked ribs. He laid down on the floor, roughed up after the fight you gave him. Of course he made you fight him, why wouldn't he? Even after learning of your identity, even knowing that you were the overseer all along-- all of that was just more reason for you to fight him. He got cocky, perhaps because he didn't think someone who worked behind the scenes controlling people as vessels would actually match him physically.
"Don't you think," you began, circling his exhausted body. How foolish, after all, he was your vessel, once, you knew of his weaknesses better than most. "That maybe you flew too close to the sun? Challenging me?"
...
..
.
"...what?" He wheezed out.
"What?" You echoed back, raising a brow.
"...'flew too close'...," he coughed.
You blinked, once, twice until - Oh. That idiom... originated from Greek mythology, Greece, that did not exist in Teyvat.
"Oh." You shifted awkwardly, your battle-readiness disappearing in a matter of seconds. "It's, based off an ancient legend. Its about this man called Icarus. He had been imprisoned, so, he managed to build himself wings from wax, and,"
Childe slowly shifted his head up to look at you, blood still going from his head down to his chin.
"he was able to successfully escape. He was ecstatic, but he became too cocky due to this one victory, and his father warned not to fly too close and high to the sun otherwise his wings will melt, Icarus overestimated himself, flew too close to the sun, and then the wings melted, causing him to plunge down and die."
"...huh...!" and he'd been geniunely fascinated. "So I'm...?"
"Yes. You're Icarus, Ajax." You sighed.
----
"That poor Yaksha," you laid your cheek on your hand, idly glancing at Xiao as he quietly conversed with the traveler. "It only adds to his Karmic Debt, and yet he doesn't seek a cure or to end his duty, he simply continues to 'push the boulder' because its his purpose to protect Liyue, even if he will never gain peace..."
"Push the boulder?" Zhongli subtly tilted his head, a low hum leaving him.
"Oh, right." You looked back at him. "It's actually quite the interesting story from my world. Do you want to hear it, Zhongli?"
He nodded.
"It originated from a king called Sisyphus, and the punishment for his crimes. There's many different stories for why he earned the punishment he had gotten. One of the stories had been that Zeus, the god of lightning, carried off Aegina, a mortal lady who had been the daughter of the river God Asopus. Sisphyus had born witnessed to this kidnapping, and took advantage of it, in fact, he used this opportunity to strike a deal with Asopus himself - he would tell him who kidnapped his daughter, in exchange he shall give the citadel fresh-water springs. Of course, witnessing the God's deeds and exposing him led to grave consequences."
He did not interrupt. He'd been too entrenched in the story to comment. Yes, it was as if he was in Third-Round Knockout once more.
"...another tale was that he tricked the God of Death, enchaining him, and thus during that time no human was able to die. Eventually, Sisyphus was condemned -- he was to roll a boulder up to the top of a mountain, only to have the boulder roll back down to the bottom every time he reaches the top. That was the punishment given to him by the Gods."
"...Ah, an eternity of futile labor." He mused.
He was very, very interested. How could he not? It's been the first time he found a story he didn't fully know, let alone never hear of. He was accustomed to Third-Round Knockout and the tales of Iron Tongue Tian, he had been personally involved in half the ancient legends mentioned, and he knew all the stories there were to offer, so Zhongli could only say this had been quite the pleasant gift.
--
A cosmic joke, was your first thought when you saw Diona. The pity in your expression must've been obvious, as she gave you a confused look, wondering what the hell was up with you.
Diona, Diona, Diona — Dionysus: God of revelry, God of wine. A man who turned many a scheming sailors into hapless dolphins for daring to capture him. A man so wild he invented the state of ecstasy. The man who gave Midas his own golden touch. He had been the God of chaos and the man behind the first grapevine.
So why exactly was this child, who utterly despised drunkards, named after him?
It's a cheeky joke by the developers, Diona, wine-hating child! Named after the God of wine! Hah! Well, It certainly felt way more different now that you were actually in Teyvat itself. You muse what the name Diona even means in Teyvat. It's probably some pleasant meaning unrelated to him, or perhaps Dionysus did truly exist in Teyvat once upon a time, it would be very fitting for the God of madness. Should you tell her? Probably not, you won't gain anything from it. It would be kinda funny. You might geniunely just give her a crisis, though.
