“Outlander.” You reluctantly gazed into the god’s dim eyes as he addressed you, the point of your sword kissing his throat. “Many millennia have passed since one has been bested in combat. Such a feat demonstrates your worthiness to carry out this task.” Your fingers wrapped tighter around the hilt of your sword, the pain of whitening knuckles distracting from the anguish building after each word that came from his lips. “One hereby abdicates the title of Rex Lapis and the duty of Liyue’s stewardship; the future of this nation now lies in your hands.” You took a deep breath. “Strange,” the god suddenly added, his voice much softer, “it is almost as if this has happened before.” The familiar mildness of that remark caught you off-guard. There was a momentary flash across the god’s face, a haunting look of partial recognition. You admonished yourself to perish the thought, perish the hope that maybe he would remember fully, but you couldn’t. His eyebrows raised ever so slightly. “Do I know you?” You couldn’t bear to answer, instead replying with a brisk shake of your head. A rueful smile tugged the corners of his lips. “It matters not at this moment. You know what must be done." It was all you could do to keep your hand steady. Words and emotions exploded inside your head; questions, thank-you’s, sentiments all clamoring to come loose, but there was no time for that. A moment longer and his whim may change, sending you into another gruesome duel in which any memories he had left would be drowned in ichor. You swallowed, feeling the muscles in your arm tensing for their next motion. “Goodbye, Rex Lapis.”
I have a penchant for writing intense and emotionally distressing POVs at intermittent intervals, and then making sketches to go with them for some reason the fandom would be in utter shambles if this actually happened lol, myself included ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ art + writing by @The_Great_Owl_3-14 music: Memory from Cowboy Bebop
