#I think utter destruction doesn't necessarily have to be flames.

[regali-s]

I’LL FOLLOW YOU ➽ ZHONG LI

genre: entirely self indulgent, that’s the genre. this is just me being selfish and writing something for the first in a long time

wc: 1.5k

warnings: self indulgent. not at all a reader insert (or at least not yet i’m deciding on it still)

a/n: literally this is just for my own satisfaction. that’s it. i just want to write something for him. it’s also to get myself back into writing a little bit? i’m not gonna out this up in the tags i’ll just, let it sit here on my blog because i don’t have a large following and i feel comfortable having it here as something i wrote! as such, i won’t be doing a taglist for this um.. unless requested otherwise and if anyone’s actually interested in keeping up with it? then let me know in that case but this is really just a selfish project of mine until i decide whether or not i’ll turn it into an official work

there's the whisper of legends that are shrouded in fog, the mutterings of names that even the divine would learn to fear.

the requiem told by monsoon rains is a familiar one in celestia, a despairing melody whose tongue dances with the lick of thunder and lightning that should illuminate the heavens and all her dominions beneath. of the ruthlessness and utter destruction that would dare lift its hand against a god and arise victorious, there are to be offerings of terror and fear so potent, so violent, that it would devour what false illusion of solace is left to be found. it is the hymn of crashing waves that cry with a deafening silence, soundless and domineering as it consumes and takes and devours, until all that should remain of gods and realms will lay forgotten beneath the ocean floor.

morax is no stranger to the story of astaroth, a demon so greatly revered in terror that even celestia would pause at the mention of her name. a fallen god who was stricken down from her throne for a sin left untold, she'd be forever lost to redemption, her place with the divine left to rot with the passage of time. and yet, celestia would warn kingdoms and empires of her name — beseeched its gods to never earn her displeasure. what power is there so great, that even the heavens should hesitate against it? morax had never understood this in his youth, yet all the same, he drew no questions and dared not to ever utter a word of that monsoon demon. even in the throes of brash recklessness, he knew better than to keep dark legends in his heart, and he'd for long been content with letting that story be woven by mothers putting their children to bed.

so then why now, as golden eyes meet those of the deepest red, does he recall that particular tale?

he finds her at luhua pool beneath a lonely moon, her company welcomed by its silver glow as it encompasses her image and brings her to the light of a distant dream, paints its visage along her brown skin with a gentleness a lover would bear. he doesn't feel a wind, and yet her long, black braids and the few strands that are left to curl freely around her head, they sway ever so slightly as she faces him, appearing to him like an illusion — a mirage conjured by burning desserts and merciless suns. here beneath the moonlight, this woman of blood reds and blackened night skies pulls him into a trance and shows to him visions forbidden when she smiles, and with a voice like the softest silk and a windborne melody, she beckons him closer.

"keep me company for a while, won't you?"

it's an innocent request, her voice hiding nothing beneath it save for the promise of another body to stay by his side for the night, and morax sees no reason to refuse. thus, he finds himself next to this woman beneath a watchful moon, her companion for however long she would decide him to be.

for a while, there are no words spoken between them, a silence lulling across the surface of the water and falling over their bodies like a blanket, their world caught within these seconds that flow like molasses. she seems content to let that quietness persist, allows their words to rest on abandon and instead gazes at the stars above.  it's almost as if she's looking for something, her eyes flickering with the reflection of millions of silver lights, the taste of wistfulness that clouds pools of red would pull him in until he finds himself drowning. and in those eyes and among her stars, morax sees a certain something that he can't put a name to. it grabs a hold of his mind and leaves him wondering, until his heart begins to ache with the loss of it and his soul dances on yearning and a curious desire.

then, she speaks, and on that whisper lost to the wind, morax finds his breath disappears for a moment.

"what value is there to life?"

the question is vague yet weighted, the words behind it would overflow with what felt like a lifetime of searching. and perhaps, morax considers as he lets his eyes linger on this woman, searching has been all she had ever known. when she lets her eyes fall from the night sky and turns to him, he sees an eternity spent on want and desire, a longing for purpose — for value, yet even as she turns to him for an answer, her whispered words and the faint smile that plays across her lips seem almost hopeless. what kind of life must she have lead to have left her feeling so lost and abandoned, he ponders, and when he turns his eyes to the skies above, he wonders if he'll find an answer among those shining secrets.

for some time, he remains quiet, lets the question tumble around inside his chest and he thinks to himself. he's lived for an eternity and eons more, witnessed the rise and fall of gods and men, watched civilizations build from sand and create legends to be worshipped and idols to be forgotten, yet he finds himself wanting of an answer to her question. what value is there to life? to be born and to die? such has been the order of everything beneath the heavens — where life is created, death must inevitably follow. even the divine, as he'd long known, are no exception, and when he thinks on the severity of it all, he lets himself think if for a moment that the very purpose of life is damnation.

and yet, he knows that there's much more to it all than that.

"the value of life is growth," he gives his answer to the wind and to her, lets his voice permeate the silence and to find solace with what they may. "we exist to live and to learn, to grow day by day with an ever-changing world. even gods are no masters of existence as they too must obey the passage of time... every living thing must adapt, and to adapt, you must learn."

when he lets his eyes wander over to her, he finds that she's already looking at him with something like wander, her attention hangs on each and every word as if he spoke to her the most sacred scripture. it invokes within him something foreign, a feeling that is lost on him and simmers beneath his chest like the beginnings of a gentle flame. and from that flame, he gives to her a promise that holds to it such great weight and severity that it stuns even himself. so bold is he with his words that he would find himself feeling bashful and embarrassed many years later, but in this moment here, he gives them to her with the strongest sincerity and utterance that his growing, learning heart can offer.

"and, if you still find yourself searching for value or reason, then take me as your own, and i'll give to you what i can."

and this woman — gods, he still has yet to learn her name and to give her his own — she looks up at him with something new in her eyes. the stars in them glisten like thousands of fireflies as she asks him quietly, "and what must i give to you in return?"

ah. morax pauses; he hadn't necessarily thought of that. he allows himself a moment to think on it as his fingers weave together, eyes drifting to where the moon and stars dance atop the waters. "all that i ask in return is that you provide me company, just as i provided you tonight. be by my side for as long as you would like to and, in return, i will be whatever it is you need of me. let's call it a contract, shall we?"

"a contract?" she parrots, tilting her head. morax notices the way her braids fall ever so slightly to the side, and he thinks that the way she peers so curiously and, perhaps a bit confused, is nearly endearing.

"but of course," he says smoothly. "this is a gain and give agreement, wouldn't you say?"

the woman turns her eyes away in thought, lips pouted in her contemplation and her brows slightly creased as she hums. "well..." she mutters, "it feels a bit... uneven, doesn't it? it feels as if i'm gaining far more than you are."

"is that how it feels?" morax raises one eyebrow, watching as his companion nods her head, still wearing that concerned expression as she awaits his response. he chuckles, the sound rumbling within his chest like a gentle timbre. "having another's company after being alone for a long time is invaluable," he tells her with confidence and a certain knowledge that takes with it the reminder of an old pain. "i can assure you that simply having you by my side will be more than enough."

his answer soothes her worries, it seems, as she allows a smile to grow where her lips once pouted. half-lidded eyes show to him the beginnings of gratitude and devotion, and hidden behind them is a promise that he'd yet to learn of.

"well then," she laughs ever so slightly, her head tilted and eyes twinkling when she looks at him. "i'll do my best not to let you down then."

#ill.follow.you.🌼 #ashanli.🌼 #those are the tags for this little wip so! if anyone would like to block them now then! go ahead! #like i said this is just me taking