It has been thousands of years but Loki still remembered about the game. He had been an avid fan of Genshin Impact and read through each and every lore of this world as well as the lore of various characters.
He was particularly moved by a few of those lores, namely the lore of Furina, Ganyu, Wanderer, Nahida, and Qiqi.
Every Genshin players hated Qiqi and considered her to be the curse of Gacha. 'He' was also one of them, but this world was no longer just a game.
To Loki, Qiqi was just an unfortunate child who could not belong to the world of the living.
From the information he remembered from the game, and the information he gathered in the past 2 weeks, he had come to roughly understand her life story.
Hundreds of years ago, Qiqi was caught in the middle of a war between demons and adepti. She was gravely injured and the only thing that waited for her was a lonely death.
When she was at her last breath, she received hope in the form of a vision. The adepti then noticed her and helped her. But her hope was crushed when she lost her rationality due to the excessive adepti energy and fell into madness. In the end, she was sealed by the same adepti who sought to help her.
When Qiqi was finally freed from her seal, hundreds of years had already passed and everyone she knew and held dear had long since left this world.
She ultimately came under the care of Baizhu and began to work at Bubu Pharmacy. Baizhu indeed cared for her but it was difficult to say that he truly cared for her.
The truth was undeniable. Baizhu took her in, not out of the kindness in his heart but to study her and find the secrets to eternal life.
Knowing all of this, Loki wanted to help Qiqi. He wanted to give her a home, a place where she truly belonged.
_____
"Will you be my daughter?"
Qiqi tilted her head, confused. Her emotions were dulled, so even if she understood the question, she wasn't able to respond properly.
Loki saw her confused look and didn't push further. He gently let her down on the ground and patted her head with a soft smile.
"You don't have to decide now. It is just that Qiqi is so loveable. I want to make you my daughter and spoil you rotten."
Qiqi seemed to enjoy his pat for a while until a hint of disappointment suddenly appeared in her eyes.
Rather than a pat, she wanted to be hugged and carried like before. She didn't hesitate and quickly took the initative to hug Loki. He was briefly surprised and carried her in his arms again.
A while passed in a comfortable silence before Qiqi remembered something. She slipped her arms free and took out her notebook and pen from her pouch. Her memories was faulty so she wanted to remember Loki by writing about him.
(Loki feels warm. Not the kind of warm that makes me feel rotten. The other kind of warm. The one that happens inside my heart. I feel safe when he hug me. He wants me to be his daughter. I am happy. I don't want to forget him. No. I will order myself to remember him.)
Loki was peeking at her notebook as she wrote. Seeing what she was writing, he was filled with a warm feeling in his heart.
When she finished writing and put her notebook and pen in the pouch, he immediately raised her into the air and declared.
"Alright, from today on, you are my daughter."
His words rang absolute that Qiqi unknowingly nodded her head. Seeing her agreeing, Loki smiled widely and hugged her into his chest.
"Welcome to the family, Qiqi."
Qiqi nodded in response and leaned further into his chest. A small smile had miraculously found its way on her stoic expression.
A small distance away, Cinder looked at this scene with a warm smile. He wanted to include himself in this joy but he also didn't want to destroy the precious moment between the new father and child.
In the end, he could only wait for his turn to interact with his new sister/daughter. His mind suddenly wandered to the reactions that others will give when Qiqi arrives at their home. He was looking forward to that.
_____
(An hour later)
Loki held hand with Qiqi as he walked towards Bubu Pharmacy. Cinder followed beside him, the two of them ocassionally chatting while Qiqi listened quitely.
Although Loki was not particularly fond of Baizhu, he still had to admit that Baizhu took good care of Qiqi for the past few years, even with his limited knowledge of undead.
Baizhu at least deserved some respect. That's why Loki was on his way to inform Baizhu about him adopting Qiqi.
It was currently about 8 pm. The sun had already set a long time ago.
When they arrived near Bubu Pharmacy, Loki immediately saw Baizhu running towards them, with Changseng coiling round his neck. He stopped before them, panting.
"Qiqi, you are here."
Baizhu spoke with a relieved voice, his tense expression relaxing as he looked at Qiqi. He took a few seconds to manage his breath and turned to Loki with a curious look in his eyes.
"You are?"
"Nice to meet you, Baizhu. I am Loki, the owner of the Pokemon Studio."
Loki introduced. Baizhu immediately recognized him. After all, he had been fascinated with the otherwordly creatures called pokemon for a while.
"It is my pleasure to meet you, Mr. Loki." He slightly bowed his head. "And thank you for helping Qiqi."
"Hmm." Loki hummed curiously. "How did you know I helped Qiqi?"
Baizhu had a helpless expression as he answered.
"Qiqi didn't return even after the sun had set. She had a tendency to forget so I was worried she was stranded in the hills. Worst case scenario, Hutao had managed to catch her again."
Loki nodded his head in understanding. "Looks like you had it rough."
"That is a part of my job. Qiqi may be my assistant but she is also my patient."
Baizhu focused on Qiqi at this moment and saw a small smile on her face. It was barely noticeable but once he saw it, he immediately became surprised. It was his fist time seeing Qiqi smile.
Loki saw his surpised look and knew what he was thinking. He smiled as he began to pat Qiqi, who closed her eyes and enjoyed his touch.
"Thank you for taking care of Qiqi for the past 2 years. I am happy to inform you that you don't have to do that anymore."
Hearing his words, Baizhu looked at him with a puzzled expression.
"What do you mean by that?"
Loki smiled. "I adopted Qiqi as my daughter. She will be staying with me from now on."
Baizhu immediately widened his eyes. His companion Changseng shared his surprise. Both of them couldn't believe their ears for a while.
"I am sorry. I couldn't hear you properly. What did you say again?"
Loki then began to explain the circumstances under which he met Qiqi today.
Their interaction were not much, but Loki had to change his impression of Baizhu. He had initially thought Baizhu just kept Qiqi around to study her. But from his worried expression, he understood that Baizhu still cared for Qiqi in his own way.
Knowing this, Loki chose to convince Baizhu, even though he didn't really need his permission to adopt Qiqi.
"You have no need to worry about her health worsening. There is no one who understand the dead better than me. With my help, her memory problem and Rigor Mortis will quickly be a thing of the past."
This was perhaps the decisive blow. Knowing that Pokemon Studio was a house of the dead, Baizhu had no doubt about the authenticity of his words.
"Hearing that is really reassuring."
Baizhu spoke. He had been with Qiqi for nearly 2 years but he had never managed to figure out how to help her. He could only admit defeat in front of Loki.
"But you don't need to convince me. The final decision ultimately lies with Qiqi."
The two then looked at Qiqi. The small smile on her face said it all. Baizhu already knew her answer but he still asked.
"Do you want to be his daughter, Qiqi?"
Qiqi nodded her head without any hesitation. "Yes."
"Then it is decided." Baizhu turned to Loki. "Mr. Loki, please take care of Qiqi."
"I will." Loki promised.
After this conversation was over, Baizhu invited Loki and Cinder to Bubu Pharmacy. Then they had a brief chat about the secrets to eternal life while drinking medicinal tea.
Loki also took this time to invite Baizhu to the Pokemon Studio. Since he had taken away his assistant, he wanted to give him another assistant (pokemon) to help him out in the Pharmacy.
_____
Nearly half an hour passed. Loki decided it was about time to leave and expressed his farewell to Baizhu. Qiqi then bowed to the former caretaker.
"Thank you for taking care of me, Dr. Baizhu."
Baizhu smiled. "There is no need to thank me. You have also helped me a lot."
Changseng then said her own farewell. "Even if you leave today, don't forget to visit the Pharmacy in the future."
The farewell were done. Loki and Qiqi held hands as they left the Pharmacy with Cinder walking besides them. Baizhu and Changseng looked at their leaving figure until they disappeared from their view.
"I will miss her."
Baizhu spoke. For the first time in forever, his words were genuine. Changseng patted his cheek with her tail, sharing his sentiments.
"So will I."
_____
PS: Hi, everyone. It has been 4 days since I wrote the previous notice. Ever since I expressed my honest feelings, I have been feeling a bit better so I took some time to write this chapter.
I think I will write whenever I feel like it. Of course, the updates will be slow and inconsistent, hopefully at least one each week. So don't expect much.
I understand that this chapter still needs a bit of editing but I am not going to bother with it until my exams are over. It will be the same for each chapter I write for a while.