It all happened one evening.
Loki was wandering the streets of Liyue alongside Cinder, looking at the progress of his work. After nodding his head for a job well done, he spoke.
"Looks like the people of Liyue have become accustomed to pokemon. We will have to move to another region soon."
"Where are we going?" Cinder asked, his voice akin to a soft growl.
"Mondstadt. The City of Freedom." Loki answered.
"The Stormterror incident ended a few days ago, and Mondstadt currently needs to repair all the damages caused by Stormterror. This is the perfrct oppurtunity. We can arrange a few pokemon worker to help with this task and viola, the job of introducing pokemon in a good light is complete."
Glasses suddenly appeared on his nose and he pushed them with his middle finger. Then his glasses glowed, hiding his eyes.
"Everything will go according to my plan."
Cinder looked at him with a bored look, refusing to give him any satisfaction.
"You look stupid everytime you do that."
Hearing his harsh words, Loki could only cough to hide his embarassment. His glasses vanished as he changed the subject.
"I still have one thing I have to do in Liyue before going to Mondstadt."
Cinder didn't embarass him further as he followed the new topic with a question.
"And what is that?"
Loki smirked.
"I have to kidnap a child."
Hearing his misleading words, Cinder was exasperated. He knew that Loki liked to joke around, so he didn't intend to take his words seriously.
However, when he saw the serious demeanor of his long-time friend, he soon realized that Loki really intended to 'kidnap' a child. He immediately became curious.
"Who is this child?"
He asked, showing a deep interest, despite knowing that Loki will never give a straight answer.
"Let's go and find her."
Loki smiled. He then increased his pace and Cinder followed behind with a look of anticipation.
_____
A light purple-haired child peeked from behind a tree. She peeked at her nemesis with a deadpan look.
Her memory was poor but she would never forget that hateful person. Warm. Fake smile. Death. Everything she hated, Hutao had it all.
"Come out, Qiqi~ I know you are hiding around here~"
Hutao spoke in a melodious tone.
She had seen Qiqi gathering some herbs around this place from a distance so she rushed here. Unfortunately, the few seconds it took her to arrive was enough for Qiqi to find a hiding place in this forest.
Hutao was now checking behind each tree and rock to find the zombie girl. Her pokemon, Yamask floated beside her with a tired look in his eye.
The Ghost pokemon would never understand why his trainer was so obsessed with Qiqi. As a Ghost himself, he didn't appreciate it whenever Hutao chased after Qiqi with the intention to bury her forcefully.
During the previous times they came across Qiqi, Yamask had misled Hutao to save the undead girl. This continued for 8 times before Hutao realized his misleading. From that point on, even if he tried to point her to the right direction, she will not follow and search every place thoroughly.
Yamask discretely glanced at the small head peeking out from behind a tree. With a slight gesture of his hand, he motioned for Qiqi to leave.
Yamask and Qiqi had formed a secret bond during their many games of Hide and Seek, so Qiqi had come to trust Yamask.
She obediently turned to leave the forest. Seeing her leave, Yamask secretly used Haze to increase the darkness of the forest.
Ever since his lies were exposed, Yamask had always used this move to help Qiqi and Hutao had yet to realize his 'betrayal'.
Unfortunately, something went wrong today.
Qiqi made a mistake when she stepped on a twig. The sound of the twig snapping rang loudly in the quite forest.
Hutao immediately turned her head and noticed Qiqi, the darkness unable to hinder her sight completely. She quickly gave chase with a wide smile.
"Found you~"
Qiqi quickly began to run as fast as she could. Yamask followed after them with the intention to stop Hutao from doing anything drastic.
This chase lasted for a nearly a minute until an unexpected person appeared and caught Qiqi into his embrace.
"It is alright. You are safe now." He spoke in a soft voice.
Qiqi was initially anxious when she was suddenly caught. But after hearing the soft and gentle voice, she immediately relaxed and leaned into his embrace.
For some reason, she felt safe and comfortable in the embrace of this unknown person.
On the other hand, Hutao and Yamask came to a stop as soon as they noticed the two familiar figures.
"Oh. Surprise metting you here. Loki, Cinder." Hutao greeted.
"But I can't say I am surprised." Loki responded with a grim expression.
Receiving his intense glare, Hutao was immediately unnerved. She had come across all sorts of ghosts and demons, and received their hostility, but she had never felt scared.
However, the aura emanating from Loki gave her a feeling that death itself was standing before her. She had never felt so scared in her entire life.
"What is going on here?" Loki asked in a cold tone.
Hutao didn't waste any time to explain.
"I noticed Qiqi in the forest so I chased her with the intention to give her a proper burial and restore the natural order."
She kept it short but succint to not annoy Loki any further.
Qiqi slightly turned her head and looked at her nemesis. When she saw Hutao flustered and scared, she felt a sense of satisfaction. She then looked at her saviour.
White hair. Purple tips. Fair complexion. Red eyes. She quitely memorized all of his features. She wanted to write them in her note to not forget him but she could not bring out her note from her pouch because she was in his embrace.
Noticing her gaze, Loki looked down and began to pat her head. Qiqi closed her eyes, seemingly enjoying his touch.
Seeing this cute gesture, Loki could not help but smile. His anger dissipated and the ominous aura around him disappeared. He turned to Hutao and addressed her with a much calmer tone.
"Well, your intention for Qiqi may have been good. But you should know that Qiqi has never caused any harm to the living. She has instead helped them by gathering herbs to create various medicines. She is such a kind child. The least you could do is respect her desire to live."
Hutao didn't dare to retort back and admitted her mistake honestly.
"I am sorry."
When she thought about it, she was able to see the truth in his words. But according to the teachings of her predecessor, she had a responsibility to maintain the natural order of this world. And Qiqi went against the natural order.
Of course, she didn't dare to share her thought openly.
Loki looked at Hutao for a while longer as she felt increasingly uncomfortable with each second. After a while, Loki finally averted his gaze and looked at Yamask.
"Yamask." He called out. Yamask obediently approached him and shared all of the happenings with him.
Loki nodded his head in approval when he learned that Yamask had helped Qiqi on multiple ocassions. "Good job." He said and Yamask immediately beamed with pride.
After learning the full gist of the situation, Loki didn't waste any time as he shooed Hutao away.
"You can leave now."
Hutao heaved a sigh of relief when she realized she could leave now. But before she could move, Loki spoke of a request.
"I hope you don't chase Qiqi anymore."
She quickly nodded her head in response. Even though his words sounded like a request, she was well aware that it was a threat.
Qiqi was the least of her concern anymore. The one that was against the natural order, the one that has to be sealed away, was Loki.
Hutao had once thought of him as a human like her. An easygoing and mischievous person who liked to prank others. But after facing the ominous aura of death, she came to a harsh realization. Loki was not a human. He was a dangerous monster, disguising as a human.
Hutao was wise enough to not provoke such a monster. She quitely began to leave the forest with a lot of thought in her head. Yamask followed beside her, trying to cheer her up to no avail.
_____
As Loki watched Hutao and Yamask leave, he wondered if he was a bit too harsh with Hutao.
The young Director of Wansheng Funeral Parlor was only thinking of maintaining the natural order of the world. Loki respected her sincere attitude towards her responsibility.
But it just so happened that Qiqi was one of his reverse scale. Even though he had never met Qiqi before, just like how she felt intimately close with him, he also felt the same with her.
That was enough for him.
As Loki looked at the quite child in his arms, he could not help but smile. He was suddenly reminded of the past, when he carried Mimi the exact same way.
Cinder also looked at the scene with a distant look in his eyes. Thousands of years had passed and so many things have happened. But the memory of Mimi joining their family was something he would never forget.
Qiqi looked at Loki and Cinder curiously. Now that the hateful Hutao was gone, she didn't hesitate anymore.
"Who?"
She asked. Hearing her question, Loki quickly realized his mistake.
"My name is Loki. He is Cinder. We are undead, just like you."
Qiqi tilted her head, confused.
"Undead?"
"Undead refers to the living dead. That which is lost between the border of life and death."
Qiqi seemed to be even more confused. This was a difficult topic for a child like her to understand. Loki understood that.
He suddenly carried her and raised her to his eye level. He looked into her pink eyes and asked a question.
"Qiqi, will you be my daughter?"