Melodead - Melo

he looks starstruck.

the stars seem to hold their breath in anticipation and freeze mid-twinkle.  it’s silent for several moments and despite the darkness, it’s the clearest you’ve ever been able to see. his eyes are wide, and a little nervous, but they’re asking quietly. it’s adorable.

there’s a delicate balance that both of you are aware could be broken by the tiniest of things. the ringing of a bell, the sound of a bike. it’s a balance you’re not sure you want to break just yet.

you have always trusted yourself to have common sense. for most of your life, you have known what to do, sometimes what to say. it’s how you had survived life thus far.

except you aren’t sure you know anything right now.

kageyama is so, so close. if you were to lean forward just a little then—

well, the balance will certainly be broken. but this is kageyama. kageyama who had been there when you needed it most, kageyama who loved and loved volleyball and more but so quietly that no one would notice if they didn’t pay attention.

and this is the kageyama you love.

you settle for resting your forehead on his. his eyes flutter shut and yours do too. you both stay like that for a while. it’s warm. this is familiar, this is safe.

this is what home feels like.

“i wish you would forgive yourself.”

you sit on the wooden railing of the balcony with your back turned to the world, legs kicking back and forth slightly. wangshu inn is a lantern lit heaven in the night, and you happen to be one of the many fireflies it has attracted.

xiao stares at you like you’re insane. “someone like me doesn’t deserve forgiveness. not after what i’ve done.” his mouth twists into a frown and you can already see him start to brood. “i’ve told you this.”

you sigh for the millionth time. “and i’ve told you that you shouldn’t suffer for something out of your control. and you’ve done more than enough to atone. besides—“ you take his hand in yours. “you’re so much more than your karma. i think you should recognize that.”

his scoffs at the idea, but you notice he doesn’t move to untwine your interlaced fingers. you grin a little.

“so, are you gonna come to the lantern rite?”

you’ve known ajax for as long as you can remember. from the barren winter of your youth to the maze-like woods by morepesok, all of it is inextricably linked back to a hesitant, earnest grin and shining blue eyes.

somewhere in the woods is a crack in the ground. it’s stark against the snow—but rather unremarkable otherwise. he joked about falling in sometimes—“maybe someone took a wrong turn while ice fishing. what do you think?”—but you’d always drag him away before he got any other ideas. after all, ajax had always wanted an adventure for himself, however nervous he may be. (personally, it gave you chills, and not just because it was snezhnaya.)

that all changes when he goes missing at 14.

you find him three days later standing over the crack, as if he’d just crawled out. once upon a time, it’d just been a strange landmark, perhaps a start of some story. whenever you think about it now, you’re brought back to fresh, scabbed scars, deadened blue eyes, and a confident, terrible smile.

you suspect ajax died sometime within those three days.

his new thirst for violence frightens his parents. his siblings are too young to know any better, so the night he’s sent away, you make a promise to wait for him.

“you make a pinkie promise, you keep it all your life. you break a pinkie promise, i throw you on the ice.” his eyes have never been brighter. “the cold will kill the pinkie that once betrayed your friend…”

you curl your pinkie around his. “the frost will freeze your tongue off so you never lie again.”

he smiles then, something unfamiliar and unsettling. “oh, when i return, i’ll take you on the greatest adventure there is.” and as you watch him leave, you think the wind howls fiercer than ever.

a few years pass. you hear about him sometimes, about his promotion to harbinger, a few rumors about his battles. (they call him something else now.) you keep your promise for the most part, but decide to visit liyue one summer for something new. it’s nothing like snezhnaya, jade city and sun-drenched land, and above all—it’s golden. it’s a dream.

you’re speaking to a tall consultant when you hear him.

“hey! it’s been a while, comrade!”

when you turn around, you’re met with blue eyes and a smile—all teeth and no hint of that young boy you once knew.

you think childe, tartaglia, is a stranger to you.

you had always known you weren’t quite human.

it wasn’t something you were told. (it wasn’t like there was anyone around to tell you anyways.) the feeling was just there, haunting and lingering. it followed you the night you left liyue, when you escaped with nothing but a bag and a burning vision, and it was present when you fell into the sea in a flurry of sparks and ashes and emerged alive.

and it was here now, as you sat in your cage of crystal and frost, as you curled up and suffocated in the cold (and oh, it was so, so cold.)

even from the throne room, the thundering was unmistakable. it was the sound of an army on the horizon, of a nation on the brink of destruction. each step resonated within your core, but the roaring calls and shrill laughter could not hide the wails echoing throughout the city.

you peered through the spaces of your prison to the window. the horde was fast approaching and, under the light of the moon, they seemed like a wave of shadow, come to drown the very heart of snezhnaya. it would not take long to reach the edges of the city.

a spark flitted between your fingers, despite the absence of a vision. you turned your head to stare at it, pondering. (the harbingers didn’t seem to notice, too busy and too frantic.) should you? this was not your nation nor your home—you had been kept here as a trophy—but innocents should not die for the actions of others.

so you let it snap.

bolts of lightning fractured the sky, bridging and linking in the blink of an eye. those at the forefront crashed into the line and evaporated in a swirl of smoke and sparks. gasps sounded from around the cage, but you hardly noticed. shrieks erupted and the march came to a stuttering halt.

and for one brilliant moment, the world went silent.

until it wasn’t, and the night was filled with roars again, but of anger this time. the barrier flashed and flickered, bolts of electricity crackling in the air. violet and violent in the frigid weather, it was a wall keeping the horde at bay. you breathed. some time had been bought.

through fluttering eyes and diminishing sight, you vaguely noticed the inky clouds swirling in the sky, ominous through the window. beautiful, you thought, and terrible. before the world went dark though, you caught a pair of familiar golden eyes from beyond the storm. the message was clear.

this is war.

"Huh, my intuition tells me that something very interesting is about to happen…" Happy Birthday to the number one detective, Shikanoin Heizou! (ﾉ´ヮ`)ﾉ*: ･ﾟ

Art by Skradio with some help from Arwaiel! 🌀 🍃