MC's life was difficult to describe.
Many would look at the renowned researcher and archaeologist as just that, someone with fame for their discoveries.
But MC did not start out like this. They had humble beginnings.
Beginnings they never talked of.
A life full of pain, tears, and a lack of many things...
But to tell this story we must start from the beginning.
MC had been born to a family in poverty who couldn't spare much.
So from the very beginning the child knew many things. But not things most would find useful.
They knew how to calculate exactly how much tax an item would give and calculate how much money you would have left/get back if you paid for it.
They knew how to save food and go days only eating a nibble here and there.
They knew how to filter water with charcoal and river water.
They knew how to mend clothes.
They knew which foods they could eat that were scavenged from the forest.
They knew how to figure out which moldy foods would get them sick for days and which they could eat without too many consequences.
MC knew a great many things. But not things most 'normal' people should or would.
Then when MC was 5 their parents died a tragic death. It had been a mixture of sickness, starvation, and the brutal winter.
MC watched, freezing, as their family died, shivering in the wind and snow, and they knew they could not cry. So they gathered their meager belongings, money, and what clothes they could layer on themselves.
MC was alone on the streets for a year before a 'nice couple' took MC in.
But that's what the news said anyways.
This couple was not nice.
They didn't material neglect MC, but emotional neglect was a staple in the household.
So MC finally went to school, got clothes, food, clean water, and numerous other things but they were deprived of the one thing they had in abundance before.
MC's parents had been amazing people, and they tried their best to give MC things but... it simply was not meant to be.
So MC grew under strict expectations and harsh punishments if they didn't get an A+ on things.
Punishments entailed depriving food and water and material comforts but when the people who took them in realized it wouldn't work, they switched methods.
They whispered poisonous words into their ears, their nails dug into MC's skin, and many other physical and mental abuses entailed.
So MC grew and took an interest in a many great things.
But then their 'foster parents' died and they had no will, so everything went to their only child, MC.
They had published a paper based on how children in poverty tend to differ in not only personalities, but also knowledge and habits and tricks.
And then they had made discoveries in the field of Archaeology.
And then they got more famous in their field of researching.
One that had been festering in their body sense they were a child.
They knew it was preventable.
They knew they could stop it with treatment.
They knew they could get better.
They chose not to. They chose not to reveal this illness. They chose not to even talk to doctors about it.
This is an exhaustion that goes past skin and mind.
It is an exhaustion that settles into your bones, burying itself into your marrow, one that nestled in your soul.
But right before their death, they transferred every last penny to charities, hospitals, places that took homeless people in.
But there were few things that MC felt regret for.
One of these things was not saying 'I love you' more to their parents and not helping more. Many of their regrets laid with their parents.
But only one differed from the rest.
A game they wished they could've seen the ending to.
See during their lonely days that spanned just about 4 decades, they had one thing that caught their attention.
It had brought a spark of life that had been missing from their soul for YEARS.
But even that could not save them.
And so MC died, alone, cold, in their bed, at age 47 and entirely ready to see their parents again.
But that was not the end of MC.
Their story has just begun.
They woke in the claws of a giant dragon.
This dragon's name was Nibelung and they were named Adegoke!Mc.
So the Geo Sovereign accepted this name and they grew.
Their bones became the mountains, their scales the ground.
And their siblings were all very dear to them.
A creature named Phanes arrived. They were curious, small, and gentle... at first.
Adegoke!MC became their friend but...
But even friendship is subject to erosion.
Phanes made the four shades.
The moon sister's (Akin to Adegoke!Mc's nieces) were sealed away.
And then the Sovereigns were cut down one by one.
Adegoke!MC had attempted to help them all but they could not help. So they wept over their sibling's bodies, wept for the future they knew Apep would suffer.
And then Phane's and the Shades hesitated. Only Adegoke!MC was left and yet... and yet they paused.
They seemed to want to spare the Geo Sovereign, want to keep them alive.
But Azhdaha!MC smiled at them and tore their own divinity from their body, gifting it to Phanes.
Because they knew they would die anyways. They always knew.
And so they died, Phanes killing them to spare them the agony of living without their authority but even still...
Phanes and the Shades cryied over the one they considered family, over Adegoke!MC.
But they did not die, they were reborn.
They woke to darkness and yet things were not silent.
It was not an infinite void.
It was all encompassing. A pressure all around them that they discovered was EARTH and MINERALS and CRYSTALS.
But then they tried to open their eyes, only to discover they didn't HAVE eyes.
There were other things in this endless darkness. They felt the shift of minerals around them, vibrations of things above them (that's how they discovered they were underground), and there was a sound.
It was the earth itself, singing for them. The earth had always sang for them, but even still it was a surprise it still did when they had been reborn.
They knew they were still in Genshin, they could still hear the hum of everything, the hum that whispered of the things from the land above.
They have long since known they weren't human in this life. The things they could hear, the things they could feel, the things that were connected to their body, it all confirmed it to them.
Perhaps it was foolish to think they wouldn't be a dragon again.
So then, one day the creature felt an odd vibration. A new song. A new heartbeat.
So in curiosity they surfaced the ground and there they met a creature of the earth, one younger than them, or perhaps they were the same age because they were both of the earth.
The creature was an arrogant little thing, one that they could lift in their claws easily and yet he had declared himself as a dragon, and that they should be weary.
But they were both creatures of the earth, carved by time and erosion, made of stone and minerals and crystals.
So the two grew close and then they gave the little one a name.
One that his heart had sung and his soul had echoed.
They knew the implications.
And so the dragon froze and then wrapped his noodley body around them as best he could considering his currently small size, and he whispered thanks over and over.
Days later and Morax had come over to him and then they could SEE. the world was beautiful and the dragon was a kind one, eager to show them everything.
So they thanked the dragon of the earth.
And then their friend asked for their name. And the creature responded they didn't have one.
So the dragon declared Azhdaha!MC.
Now see, Azhdaha!MC knew that name, they knew the implications of it, and they knew the implications of Morax. Yet they did not care.
Because Morax was family.
They never did reveal their past as Adegoke!MC, never.
And so centuries go by and the dragons grows and grows until he is now much larger than the dragon who had named him Morax.
Azhdaha!MC was someone Morax had always admired and cared for. They did not have a thing called... gender, not as humans spoke of it. Morax himself... well it had always been there, he was a he, a dragon of the earth. Azhdaha!MC did not have that.
They did not care to be called a female, a male, neither, both, nothing.
So centuries go by and the dragons grows close and then Morax shows the other dragon something.
Azhdaha!MC had been curious and praised Morax for his skill in manipulating his form. Morax had only responded that Azhdaha!MC could do it too if they wanted.
But Azhdaha!MC shook their large head and said they did not care for a human form.
Azhdaha!MC loved the earth, the rivers, the air, the trees, the songs everything sang (songs only they could hear). And more importantly, they cared for Morax, for the Yaksha and Adepti under his and Azhdaha!MC's care, and for the people who followed Morax.
So time goes by and Azhdaha!MC has a family. Morax, the Adepti, the Yaksha, and the people themselves.
Then the Archon war was declared.
Azhdaha!MC helped in the fight, of course they did, and they cut down many with their claws and fangs and the earth swallowed many.
They lost many friends in the war.
They were TIRED, but they kept going for Morax, for the Yaksha, for the Adepti.
The war was how they met Alatus, another Yaksha who came under Morax and Azhdaha!MC's care.
They met Guizhong too but she died and her soul returned to the earth.
And then the war had seven winners, Morax was one of them.
Things were happy for a time.
But Erosion was a cruel thing.
They carved a cavern into the earth and they carved runes.
They dug and dug and dug.
They stayed with their family for as long as possible but then... then they could not stay any longer.
So Azhdaha!MC went to the cavern they dug, and they dug and dug and dug some more.
But then Morax got worried and curious for his friend, for the one who had always stayed beside him, the one he had gifted crystals and gold to, the one he wished to always keep at his side.
So Morax followed Azhdaha!MC's path and found the dragon digging. He was about to question them when suddenly, the runes started to glow and Azhdaha!MC DOVE.
They plunged into the earth, sealing themselves away.
And Morax froze, watching it all happen. Then he snapped out of it and clawed at the earth, trying to will it to open for him so he could reach Azhdaha!MC.
But the earth would not yield.
It would not come to his aid like it did Azhdaha!Mc.
The adepti and Yaksha were horrified when Morax revealed what happened. They wept too. Azhdaha!MC had been their caretaker, the one who loved them and comforted them and soothed them.
They did not even think of Azhdaha!MC sealing themslef away due to knowing Erosion was approaching.
Azhdaha!MC was an unmovable mountain, one that would always stay tall and proud.
But even mountains erode, but this, no one has come to realize was true about Azhdaha!MC...
So they searched for an answer.
The dragon had abandoned them.
They had forsook them and left.
They had never cared for them, only viewing them as interesting playthings.
So they whispered and scowled and raged.
But deep under the earth, Azhdaha!MC heard it all.
They had always been able to hear the songs of the earth, the air, the storms, the rivers, souls, everything.
And so they heard the accusations and tears and anger.
But the dragon didn't mind.
Because it was better for them all to hate them rather than weep for them.
So they curled up, making the seal even stronger, and listened.
They listened to everything.
They could feel their mind and soul fraying, could feel their bones growing heavy, could feel stone creeping along their scales.
They had lost their family as MC, had watched them freeze to death.
They had lost their family as Adegoke!MC, watching as they were killed one by one and watched as Apep fell insane. And they felt their own authority being torn from their body by their own claws and then being killed by Phanes to spare them the pain of living without their authority.
And then in this life they left them all willingly to spare them the pain of realizing Azhdaha!MC was falling to erosion.
But they protected them all from the shadows still.
Let them all hate Azhdaha!MC.
Let them all despise them and blame them and throw insults to them.
Because if it means they do not weep.
If it means they do not mourn.
Then Azhdaha!MC is content and happy, because they would rather be hated than wept over by those they loved.
When 3 of the 5 yakshas died Azhdaha!Mc felt it, heard it, and they mourned. They felt the 3 souls return to the earth, the ley lines, and they wept.
They felt the 4th yaksha seal themself in the chasm.
Azhdaha!MC dug their claws into the ground and helped them. The chasm was a thing they were familiar with, so they helped. The chasm loved the dragon, and the shadows of it nestled in the dragon's scales and soul and mind, whispering and cooing.
Erosion is different for Azhdaha!MC.
Instead their scales slowly turn to stone.
Their mind frays, not in madness but in darkness of death, eternal sleep.
And the pain is never ending. Pain from the erosion and many other things.
Karmic Debt was another thing that plagued them.
During the war it had ravaged them, striking pain into them.
Because they had been taking the pain from everyone else, they had been taking the Karmic Debt (but no one had known that) into their own body. They had taken it into their own soul to protect the others of it.
And even now, in the earth and sealed away, they still do it. They still take Karmic Debt and relieve the burden from others.
No one knew they had done it, no one knows they still do it.
When can they finally rest?
Their scales are turning to stone.
They are in constant pain.
Pain that would make the very earth shake and crack.
Pain that even if only a sliver, would make Morax scream in pain.
They wonder sometimes, how Apep and Leviathan/Neuvillette would react if they knew where Azhdaha!MC resided and what happened to them. But they think it would result in hate/indifference at best so they do not linger on it.
They wonder sometimes how the Shades and Phanes would react to Azhdaha!Mc’s fate and choices. But they think it would end in anger and hate so they do not linger on the what ifs.
And so they listen to the earth, to the water, to the air, to the plants, to the storms, to the fire, to the animals, to the people, to the souls, to everyone and everything.
And even if it hurts that their loved ones cursed them out and hated them and thought they never cared for them... Azhdaha!MC endured.
Let Azhdaha!MC suffer so that they do not.
It hurts so very much but that's ok.
Because Azhdaha!MC is used to pain, used to suffering, used to hate, used to enduring.
They are used to loneliness and they are so very lonely but that's ok.
Because if them suffering means others don't...
I sent this in an hour later, oops…
I hope you enjoyed it and it makes sense!!
I’m gonna exist in the corner now and question all my life choices while crying, please ignore me
Please... no... guys... don't hate Azhdaha!MC, please- 😢
Oh god... what if it goes like canon and some dark part of Azhdaha!MC breaks out? This could be how Zhongli finds him after so, so very long... but I'm terrifed to imagine what his reaction would be to the state of the one who 'abandoned' him and so many others...
Cause you can't tell me Azhdaha!MC would be in good shape by the time canon comes around...
I need some closure for poor Azhdaha!MC, please...
Tagging: @platinumrosetail, @arn9tails, @bloodytea, @lovelyjane-stuff, @fireriyu
