#memory of dust

[selephi]

Memory of Dust

[weilaverdui]

Angstober - Day 30

Just one day left! Pretty tired, but also pretty content with my work this month.

Morax failed to protect so many friends... no one will blame him - war and errosion are brutal, but the pain stays forever.

[riinkanei]

i wish i remembered your face

[flickerfreaker]

Barbatos: Why is everyone treating me like a child?

Rex Lapis: Perhaps you can try changing your current form into the older version?

Barbatos: I can't...

Rex Lapis: What do you mean? As one of the Archon gods, you're perfectly capable of-

Barbatos: I meant, I can't do that. It's like...I'm robbing the future that my friend can't have.

Rex Lapis:

Rex Lapis: (pats Barbatos' head) Well, maybe if you stop making pranks...

Barbatos: no

[twilightstarr-zinnia]

What if the Memory of Dust is really just like, a stone fidget toy with no special hidden secrets or power and Guizhong gave it to Morax as a prank.

[fauskaslan]

Time of Departure

They all go on about ‘right person, wrong time,’ but it’s never ‘right person, not enough time.’

He, who had roamed and watched the world for over six thousand years.

He, who could turn the very earth of Teyvat into his weapon and mercilessly slaughter hundreds of gods without batting an eye.

Gods who could tear asunder the sea and sweep raging floods from where Liyue Harbor now stands, he had firmly stood against with towering, immovable walls of rock.

Gods who could ravage the plains with fire, he had snuffed their lives with pillars of rock that stretched out to the sky like hands in prayer.

He had outlived his greatest enemies, their corpses scattering to dust under the force of his onwards march. Overcame his greatest trials with time and the wisdom accrued from the passing of years.

But even then, he had also outlived his fondest memories.

He had outlived the Guili Assembly and the prosperous people who had once lived in what was now known as the Guili Plains. Though the descendants of those people now reside in Liyue, he too had outlived the need for divine oversight over the phenomenal hub of trade. They were presided over by the Liyue Qixing, people capable of bringing Liyue to greater heights.

As a result, he had outlived the need for his Gnosis, the unique authority of an Archon that was a sign of his status among gods as well as a source of additional power to enforce said authority. It was tied to his duty to guard Liyue.

Among all this, what had struck a bitter chord within him the most was that he, Zhongli, the Archon of Geo, had outlived his greatest friend for another three thousand years after her death in the Archon War. The man with piercing amber eyes cast a gaze across the stone-ridden plains.

“Perhaps...if time had permitted…” he mused to himself. His black waistcoat fluttered softly as if to urge him to finish that thought. A sigh escaped his lips as he gently closed his eyes, hiding away the somber bittersweetness within them, a sign of his weariness and the weight of the memories he carried. He idly thumbed the Memory of Dust in his gloved hand, watching a glaze lily wilt beside another, its petals scattering and its stem creaking until it finally gave in.

“This is the mark of our pledge, and it is my challenge to you. All of my wisdom is hidden within this stone dumbbell. If you can unlock it—.

A lonely smile so similar to Guizhong’s last one graced his lips.

“Really, a most painful challenge you have left me with Guizhong.”

“All the rest of eternity to spend on unlocking this contraption yet you are not here to watch me suffer through it.”

[fjordstan]

WAIT

so is the object that circles Zhongli one of his meteors or Memory of Dust???? i thought i read somewhere that it was Dust but it doesn't really look like it :/

[flickerfreaker]

Barbatos and Rex Lapis friendship headcanon

Rex Lapis would inevitably treat Barbatos like a child. The first reason was that Barbatos won’t change his youthful appearance. Second, because Rex Lapis was still 3400 years his senior. (In fact, due to his old age, Rex Lapis would treat everyone like a child.)

Rex Lapis was possibly the only archon god who didn’t get easily fooled by Barbatos’ prank. That didn’t stop Barbatos from trying his hardest.

Before Dvalin, the Adepti asked Rex Lapis why he let Barbatos visited Liyue often and caused a commotion, in which Rex Lapis calmly said, “I have Adepti fellow as my company, Barbatos has none.”

Barbatos was the only one that has the audacity to get close to Rex Lapis and hid under his cloak (or his mane as a dragon) despite his massive wings. Rex Lapis did nothing to reprimand this behavior. 

Rex Lapis became a dragon only on two occasions: One, for formality events, such as Rite of Descension. The other was to catch Barbatos flying away from his pranks.

Despite being close friends, Barbatos and Rex Lapis had a very different view on godhood, especially on how they treat their mortal subjects. Barbatos adored humans and believed in their independence. Rex Lapis, as an old jaded god, saw humans as weakling being, fragile as dust. 

In the English version, Venti referred to Rex Lapis as a “brutish blundering buffoon”. While in the Chinese version, Venti actually meant “A dead brain who cannot understand human feelings”. Barbatos understood human values but Rex Lapis was still struggling to understand human emotions to this day. 

Barbatos had the gall to insult Rex Lapis and everyone just went, “THAT’S REX LAPIS. He can obliterate you with mountain spear!” But Rex Lapis just let him.

Rex Lapis was mellowed after Guizhong’s passing, but he’s even far more patient when dealing with Barbatos.

Rex Lapis will give in to Barbatos on a lot of things… except his pride of Liyue. If Barbatos try to convince that Mondstadt is the best, he will mercilessly give 1000 pages essay reason on why his land is better. 

There were times when Rex Lapis hid away from Liyue to Dihua Marsh overwhelmed by grief. The Adepti could only call Barbatos to coax him out of his shell.

What Barbatos did to help was pretty simple. He only sang to the Dihua marsh and the Glaze Lillies would bloom around Rex Lapis. It didn’t immediately cheer Rex Lapis but he always smiled a little and grateful after this. 

Rex Lapis was secretly terrible at singing but too shy (or prideful) to ask Barbatos for help in tending the Glaze Lillies. 

The reason why Barbatos survived for 2600 years despite being the weakest of the original archon gods is that Rex Lapis always protect him. 

Something terrible had happened, caused by the archon gods 500 years ago. It changed the Cryo goddess into a cold dictator. It caused a rift between Rex Lapis and Barbatos. 

500 years ago, Barbatos regretted that event, Rex Lapis possibly didn’t. It took a few hundred years until Rex Lapis slowly saw their error doing and starting to understand Barbatos’ view.

Many people were afraid of Rex Lapis’ power, Barbatos was not an exception. Even after turning into a mortal, Venti will ask the traveler to accompany him, bringing wine to Zhongli. He asks if he’s strong enough to blow him away.

Venti and Zhongli will learn how to be human together ;_;