[ when morax first heard of forneus, he was standing at the mouth of a cave. seawater lapped at the soles of his feet, fizzing as it reached weakly into the craggy depths. sunlight laid hot on his back, stretching his shadow underneath him.
his eyes were on the floor, where larger stalactites were once crushed into sand. on its surface, unfamiliar footprints led in and out of the cave. pieces of blue and white shell dappled parts of the ground, likely caught in the tide and rushed down against the rocks.
high tide happened in the morning, he knew. these footprints can't be more than a few hours old.
when the newly-christened anemo archon floated down beside him, morax didn't turn to look.
i see we have a visitor, said barbatos, lacing his fingers and propping them under his chin, intrigued.
liyue has a visitor, morax corrected. two now, in fact. neither of you arrived by invitation.
you can be such dull company sometimes. barbatos pouted. i only wanted to surprise a friend. you're lucky that i came when i did, in fact. what if i have some valuable information about your new squatter, hm?
morax agreed to procuring a jug of guili assembly's finest wine to give to barbatos. in exchange, barbatos divulged what he knew of the stranger. as he flew over yaoguang shoal that morning, he saw another god rise out of the ocean. this one also had a humanoid vessel, with the physique of a warrior, auburn hair, and ocean eyes that glowed as he tamed the waters around him. barbatos camped on a nearby cliff and watched the stranger slip out of the ocean and onto the beach. boringly (barbatos said) he did nothing but explore—but he did pick up an unbroken starconch. he examined it, listened to it, and held it carefully in his hand as he walked along the shore. he even dipped into the lands surrounding it.
eventually they find it: a long, smooth rock with small treasures from liyue. barbatos remarks on how kind of adorable it is. morax says nothing and turns to leave. it'll all be taken by the waters from an oncoming storm anyway.
liyue isn't new to sea gods or monsters. by morax's order, if these beasts caused substantial damage to liyue, they would quickly be disposed of.
when they finally meet, it isn't long before forneus's platitudes dissolved into the challenge he was looking for. morax, stone-faced as ever, calmly accepted.
don't hold back, forneus said, his smile teetering on the edge of lunacy. it's a look morax would never forget. i won't either.
at the end of the fight, forneus lay on his side, bleeding out a shallow puddle of pure and glittering blue. his fingers gently curled and released in his palms, and his chest heaved as he gulped for air like a fish out of water. one wide, blue eye stared back at morax, watching for any minuscule move against him as if he could respond in the first place.
morax stood over him, solid and imposing. the end of his glowing spear pointed at forneus's cheek.
he remembered his defeat of the chi near mt. qingce: flesh torn from bones, soul split from the open ribcage, spirit strangled into silence, the rain of blood over bishui plains as the parts were scattered to their graves.
this is how you kill a sea god for good. and he has killed before, plenty of times. he killed beings much more dear to him than this stranger.
he remembered the cave—the carefully laid starconches, perfectly in tact.
morax turned and departed without a word. he left a wordless demand: forneus was alive by his mercy. he should return to snezhnaya, or fontaine, anywhere far from liyue. next time, he won't be so lucky.
except.
the very next day, forneus found him again. he shot through the skies like a diving sparrow, headed straight for him. his blades were crossed over his chest, his orange hair blowed behind him, and his deep blue eyes were almost bright as stars. forneus shouted his name and laughed with mad delight before those blades met the shaft of morax's polearm, sending sparks where they collided.
morax hardly ever makes mistakes. this was one of the first.
they spar a few times before forneus—ajax, he learned—was permitted to keep yaoguang shoal and minyun village so long as he honored the terms of morax's contract. if you are the cause of any harm to liyue, he said, eyes burning yellow, i will kill you without hesitation.
ajax seemed almost dangerously excited by the threat. morax corrected himself and said that they would no longer do battle at all. that quickly ended the conversation. ]
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1/3? maybe
his eyes were on the floor, where larger stalactites were once crushed into sand. on its surface, unfamiliar footprints led in and out of the cave. pieces of blue and white shell dappled parts of the ground, likely caught in the tide and rushed down against the rocks.
high tide happened in the morning, he knew. these footprints can't be more than a few hours old.
when the newly-christened anemo archon floated down beside him, morax didn't turn to look.
i see we have a visitor, said barbatos, lacing his fingers and propping them under his chin, intrigued.
liyue has a visitor, morax corrected. two now, in fact. neither of you arrived by invitation.
you can be such dull company sometimes. barbatos pouted. i only wanted to surprise a friend. you're lucky that i came when i did, in fact. what if i have some valuable information about your new squatter, hm?
morax agreed to procuring a jug of guili assembly's finest wine to give to barbatos. in exchange, barbatos divulged what he knew of the stranger. as he flew over yaoguang shoal that morning, he saw another god rise out of the ocean. this one also had a humanoid vessel, with the physique of a warrior, auburn hair, and ocean eyes that glowed as he tamed the waters around him. barbatos camped on a nearby cliff and watched the stranger slip out of the ocean and onto the beach. boringly (barbatos said) he did nothing but explore—but he did pick up an unbroken starconch. he examined it, listened to it, and held it carefully in his hand as he walked along the shore. he even dipped into the lands surrounding it.
eventually they find it: a long, smooth rock with small treasures from liyue. barbatos remarks on how kind of adorable it is. morax says nothing and turns to leave. it'll all be taken by the waters from an oncoming storm anyway.
liyue isn't new to sea gods or monsters. by morax's order, if these beasts caused substantial damage to liyue, they would quickly be disposed of.
when they finally meet, it isn't long before forneus's platitudes dissolved into the challenge he was looking for. morax, stone-faced as ever, calmly accepted.
don't hold back, forneus said, his smile teetering on the edge of lunacy. it's a look morax would never forget. i won't either.
at the end of the fight, forneus lay on his side, bleeding out a shallow puddle of pure and glittering blue. his fingers gently curled and released in his palms, and his chest heaved as he gulped for air like a fish out of water. one wide, blue eye stared back at morax, watching for any minuscule move against him as if he could respond in the first place.
morax stood over him, solid and imposing. the end of his glowing spear pointed at forneus's cheek.
he remembered his defeat of the chi near mt. qingce: flesh torn from bones, soul split from the open ribcage, spirit strangled into silence, the rain of blood over bishui plains as the parts were scattered to their graves.
this is how you kill a sea god for good. and he has killed before, plenty of times. he killed beings much more dear to him than this stranger.
he remembered the cave—the carefully laid starconches, perfectly in tact.
morax turned and departed without a word. he left a wordless demand: forneus was alive by his mercy. he should return to snezhnaya, or fontaine, anywhere far from liyue. next time, he won't be so lucky.
except.
the very next day, forneus found him again. he shot through the skies like a diving sparrow, headed straight for him. his blades were crossed over his chest, his orange hair blowed behind him, and his deep blue eyes were almost bright as stars. forneus shouted his name and laughed with mad delight before those blades met the shaft of morax's polearm, sending sparks where they collided.
morax hardly ever makes mistakes. this was one of the first.
they spar a few times before forneus—ajax, he learned—was permitted to keep yaoguang shoal and minyun village so long as he honored the terms of morax's contract. if you are the cause of any harm to liyue, he said, eyes burning yellow, i will kill you without hesitation.
ajax seemed almost dangerously excited by the threat. morax corrected himself and said that they would no longer do battle at all. that quickly ended the conversation. ]