Chapter Text
the war in teyvat has been going on for awhile now, each nation a battlefield. liyue, of course, hasn’t been spared. the millelith and liyue’s adventurers try to help, but there’s only so much a mortal without a vision can do. the rest is up to those favored by the gods.
hu tao knows there is a big chance she won’t make it out of this war alive yet she can’t bring herself to be scared. no hu has been afraid of facing death before. she had even told zhongli (the geo archon himself, she still couldn’t believe it when she found out) what she wants for her funeral, though she doesn’t know if he took her words seriously.
her grip on homa tightened as she faced off against a bunch of hilichurls and abyss mages, smile on her face and fire on her hand. her unorthodox fighting style makes it hard for the creatures with lesser intellect to defend themselves against her and laughter bursts out of her lips as she takes one, two, three of them down at once.
“hu tao,” a voice beside her sounded. the last remaining yaksha had materialized beside her, decimating an abyss mage. “stop fooling around.”
her grin widens.
“you know i never fool around.”
“remain vigilant. you know lives are at stake here,” he chastised.
the funeral parlor director doesn’t respond, choosing instead to use her fiery butterflies to stop enemy monsters from overpowering a helpless millelith. the yaksha only sighs. of course the girl isn’t going to listen. she never listens to him. he puts on his mask and disappears to stop a group of geovishaps from invading the harbor.
several hours pass before they see each other again, near guili plains. everywhere he looks there’s fire, no doubt the doing of his fiery companion.
hu tao had been dealing with some ruin guards, her face full of dirt and blood. she’s exhausted. she’s been fighting nonstop for hours and the excessive use of her vision only adds to her fatigue. but she cannot stop. somewhere in liyue she knows her friends are going through the same thing. somewhere in teyvat, she knows the traveler is going through worse.
the last ruin guard had finally been dealt the final blow, its metallic body creaking before falling down the ruins with a loud thud. her muscles relax a little as she catches her breath.
“you know, i could’ve used some help earlier. those ruin guards were really tough, you know.”
crimson hues watch as the yaksha closes the distance between them.
“i was on my way to help. you were just too fast. you didn’t even leave some for me.”
she snorts. he takes his mask off. a closer look at her makes him realize just how badly injured she already is. only her hat has been safe, the rest of her is covered in blood and dirt, her legs sporting several injures, the ends of her long hair singed. a gloved hand reaches out to wipe some blood off her cheek.
“you should rest. you’ve been up since morning. it won’t do you good to continue to fight.”
she waves him off.
“i’m fine.”
whatever argument he has never left his lips as they both felt the earth shake violently. hu tao clutched his arms to keep her balance as she tried to search for the cause. her eyes widen as she finally figures out what’s been making the earth shake: more than a dozen primo geovishaps marching, on their way to destroy liyue harbor.
there’s no time to think. her hands leave the yaksha’s biceps and before he could process what was going on, and, after shoving her precious hat to his gloved digits, she ran off, leaving a trail of golden butterflies at her wake.
her heart thunders inside her chest as her legs run as fast as they can, hoping to stop the army from destroying the city she loves (even though nobody in the said city returns the sentiment.) xiao shouts something behind her but she couldn’t hear it, too focused on the approaching army to listen to anything else.
ah, she thinks. this is it. her wounded legs finally stop three feet away from the monsters. she looks back at xiao, at the one man in the entire nation who accepted her, who didn’t think she was a creepy lady or an annoying troublemaker. she takes one last look at the one man she has ever loved.
and she smiles.
“i’ve always loved you, xiao.”
she turns her attention back on the approaching enemy and calls forth whatever is left of her power to burn down the entire area, taking the entire army of the primo geovishaps down with her.
her thoughts stray to the people she called her friends. zhongli would finally be able to have tea at wangsheng in peace. chongyun would have one less prankster to worry about. there would be nobody to bring plum blossoms to xiangling anymore. and there would be no more battles with xingqiu. the people of liyue harbor wouldn’t care if she perishes. but she will always, always love the city and its people from the bottom of her heart.
i wonder if they’ll miss me. i wonder if they’ll care.
her eyes close as her own flames engulf her entire being, the cries of the geovishaps ringing in her ears, unaware of the yaksha desperately trying to reach out to her as he called her name.
and then...
and then her crimson hues open to the sight of wuwang hill.