@inyvat | ᴄᴏɴᴛɪɴᴜᴇᴅ ғʀᴏᴍ ʜᴇʀᴇ.
𝐇𝐄 𝐇𝐀𝐒 𝐒𝐄𝐑𝐕𝐄𝐃 𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐘 𝐘𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐒. abandoned the fatui to be at her side. all things considered, the fatui was not the lesser evil next to the abyss. what started off as a curiosity turned into infatuation bordering on obsession. for all intents and purposes, childe left the fatui to have her, even though he knew that their dynamic started off as professional. yet her words made his posture stiffen, muscles taut like a coiled spring ready to unravel and strike.
obsession did not constitute blind obedience. there were things where he would draw a line in the sand. massacres were acceptable. wiping out however many she ordered him to? no problem. however, her words, ❛ 𝐸𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑖𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛𝑠 𝑘𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑜𝑓 𝑇𝑒𝑦𝑣𝑎𝑡'𝑠 ℎ𝑢𝑚𝑎𝑛 𝑝𝑜𝑝𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑖𝑛 𝑜𝑟𝑑𝑒𝑟 𝑡𝑜 𝑑𝑜 𝑖𝑡, ❜ made ajax pause. the first person he thought of was teucer, how his big blue eyes gleamed the last time ajax presented him with a toy—one that childe spent almost a year to find. next was tonia, who wrapped a red scarf around his neck as he knelt down to be eye level with his little sister. and anthon, who was always a good sport whenever teucer's curiosity poked and prodded at the truth behind ajax's ‘toy salesman’ ploy. he thought of his mother, who cried when his father sent him off to the fatui. and then of his father, who had begun to acknowledge ajax's accomplishments after ajax became a harbinger. the friends he made along the way, like thoma, kazuha, zhongli, even aether, despite being utlimately used as a pawn for lumine. yes, he was well aware of this very fact from the beginning.
ajax put up a smile. “ sorry, girlie, ” he tilted his head slightly, “ there are things that i won't let slide. killing all of teyvat, included. ” was he willing to drown liyue for his own benefit? yes. he couldn't care less about the nation since his family wasn't living there, and he was certain zhongli would be able to survive, anyway, or he wouldn't have allowed liyue to meet its destruction—at least that was his hope. but his family means the world to him. and if he had to stand up to his boss? 𝐬𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐢𝐭.
“ guess you could say you'd have to kill me first. ”
