SEPERATION ANXIETY ☆
written by mercury ٩(ˊᗜˋ)و✰
childe x gender neutral reader, they/them pronouns used like, once, otherwise no pronouns used
cw : anxiety, (obvi) blood, genshin spoilers, violence, drowning
authors note : wrote this based off a brainrot i posted a long time ago. this gives major undertale vibes btw have fun reading
You heard it.
A large splash, it echoed throughout the great walls and cliffs of the Abyss. It ringed in you ears, and caught your attention immediately. Who wouldn't wanna check out something as mysterious as that, right? So like the little child you were, you left.
Footsteps crunched under the hard ground, as you observed your dark surroundings. You never exactly went to this part of the Abyss, as your mother told you it would not be worth it. But, curiosity killed the cat.
When you approached the lake that was inside the vastly cavern that you live in, you saw the water glimmering and rippling, as if freshly touched. All you had to do was look a teensy bit closer. Was that,
A human?
You were surprised, to say the least. Humans haven't dared to come down here for a while, at least quite rarely. You could see the boy falling deeper into the water, his bright ginger hair flowing in the water.
So you jumped in, grabbed his hand, and dragged him out with your abyssal claws that were the tiniest bigger then his.
He was a little bit lighter then you expected, and you could see all his features while pulling him up. You could see the star-like freckles that adorned his face, similar to the ones in the sky. When you got him back onto the land, he didn't seem to be breathing. Oh no. Did you have to do that one technique where you put your mouth on-
cough cough
Oh, nevermind, good!
You stared at him with big eyes as the boy hacked up water from his lungs. He looked up at you, eyes with a deep blue likened to that of Enkanomiya. They were intriguing, beautiful even.
"Wh-who are you? Where am I!" The young boy shrieked with terror. He didn't seem the happiest to be here. I mean, you wouldn't either. Maybe.
"Oh, I'm [Name.]"
"Also, you're in the Abyss." You muttered, with a hushed voice. He got up from the ground to where you were crouching. "The abyss?" He said quietly. You nodded.
"I don't really know how you ended up here, but good luck, you're not getting out."
"Wait, what?"
He looked at you again, you could see the fear in his eyes, his pupils just slightly shrinking.
"Yeah, this place don't let people out freely. You have to make it out. Prove yourself, basically."
You could see his body to slightly shake, tearing his eyes off of you to observe where he was at. You looked with him, taking another glance at the dark cliffs you've grown to be so familiar with. It was home to you, but a soon to be nightmare for the boy.
"How would I, y'know, prove myself?"
"Eh, you gotta fight for it. Ever fought a hilichurl before?" You looked at him again.
He shook his head with slight hesitance.
"Okay, let me show you how to do it."
☆
It's been about a week since you found the boy. You decided to introduce him to your mother, Skirk, as he couldn't exactly be left alone with no shelter in a place like this.
You figured out his name was Ajax a little after you met him. He told you with a smile on his face, and how he was named after a great hero.
Skirk was a lot harder on him then you were. To you, he was just a boy. You treated him like a friend, someone equal to you. After a bit, you genuinely started to care for him.
Skirk however, was stricter. She treated him a only a little meaner then you, however it was mostly when he was getting trained to fight by her. He did kind of have little to no experience in this field.
You taught him the basics to fight, how to wield a sword correctly, proper stances, basically enough to be able to fend yourself from a couple slimes or a hilichurl. Skirk taught the more advanced stuff.
When he was down here, he felt like a best friend to you. He told you stories about him and his father ice fishing, and his siblings too. He had a new one on the way at the time he came down here.
He talked about his family and Snezhnaya with stars in his eyes, it made you admire him.
"Oh, I've been meaning to ask. What exactly are you? You don't look human, or really sound like it either" He said curiously.
"Im an Abyss Herald. In training, at least. I'm not fully grown yet."
"That sounds cool! Do you guys have magical powers or anything!"
"Ah, does abyssal magic count?"
"Yeah, yeah! Show me some!" He looked at you, about to burst with excitement.
You giggled, a toothy smile spreading across your face. "Okay, but i'm not showing you much."
"Awwh, why not?"
"You'll find out why later!" A smug look appeared on your face. He snickered in response.
☆
Its been a month, and you guys fucked up.
You ran around with Ajax a little too far around in the Abyss, and you ended up just entering a teensy bit too far into a beast's cavern. Both of you knew how to fight, but were no match for the beast you just had to have encountered:
This was a foreign feeling to you but, you were afraid. Afraid of what might happen to the both of you.
The two of you have opposing opinions on what you should do about this. You wanted to run, to just not get hurt and to get away, as you were smart enough to know you wouldn't be able to beat this monster.
However, Ajax had a different opinion. You noticed how the longer he's been here with you and Skirk, the more his, personality, has changed.
Just a month ago he was a timid boy, barely knew how to fight and only had a shortsword and a loaf of bread with him. Almost like a defenseless puppy.
But, now that he's gotten a point in training, he's become.. Violent, to say the least. Battle-hungry was a more accurate word for it.
He changed, and you knew it.
Back to the point, when you ran into this beast, Ajax acted recklessly. He pulled out his sword and charged head first into the beast while you tried to stop him. Clearly, his plan didn't work. He did get a couple of hits onto the beast, but in trade he was injured.
"Ajax!" You called out, arm stretched in failed attempt to stop him from killing the wretched beast. You knew this was a bad idea, yet you couldn't prevent it.
You heard that terrible scream, the one you dreaded ever since he became close to you. And you knew what you had to do.
☆
"What the hell were you thinking?"
Skirk scolded Ajax for the incident. For him just running straight in without any proper strategy or skill for the battle. She didn't let you off the hook either, as she was also angry at you for not stopping it.
Both of you were clearly ashamed of what happened back in the fight.
"Did you seriously think that was a good idea? You are only human, and [Name,] you know damn well better." Skirk hissed and seethed as she bandaged Ajax's wounds. Ajax looked at her, tight lipped.
Suprise to you, Ajax showed little to almost no remorse for charging into the fight. You could guess he didn't regret it, despite the gaping wound on his body. All you could tell was his deep, dark blue eyes, which no longer held so much light to them.
They used to sparkle, like that of the moon, shining above the rest. It was what you took note of the most.
But as of now, they lost their shine, slowly and carefully.
You wondered if they would ever shine again.
☆
It has been 3 months ever since you found the boy in the lake by the cliffs.
Ajax made significant progress in becoming a fighter, if you compared him now to the boy you first met, it was almost unbelievable, and impressive. However, you win some and ya lose some. With that fighting ability he gained, he also lost a part of him. A part that gave him humanity, you could say.
You wouldn't quite call it insanity, but that part of him changed and shifted, into something that wasn't really normal anymore. Something that almost scared you.
But, the time was coming. Ajax had to leave.
The long awaited day arrived, and as it seems, the Abyss has seen Ajax worthy of returning to the surface levels. He had a family to go back to, and even though you two made a great bond, you were filled with dread knowing this day would come. It made you upset.
Wait
what?
This has, really, never happened before.
You had never so much as been phased when friends of yours cane and went. Things worked differently in the Abyss, life was different. You couldn't expect people to stick around for too long.
So why were you affected by him?
Why were you affected by Ajax leaving?
He held a place in your heart, the memories you made together, how you and Skirk taught him his ability and even taught him a special tool, you called it Foul Legacy. A trick, which was used by you and your mother, you also gave to him.
But the only true thing you could do was wonder, on why a human teenage boy made you feel so much as even saddened by his leaving.
When the day came, you told him to follow the Northern Star, or Polaris. The star would lead him to the exit of the Abyss, should that it would let him leave.
But, you wont forget that looks in his eyes.
Ones that seemed to have lost their innocence, look at you with almost a sense of longing.
Or words that would ring in your head for the rest of your life.
"Ill see you again, [Name.] I love you."