LANTERN SKIES ( xiao ) ✓

𐐒𐐚 30.2 : sweet dreams ˎˊ˗

He brings his ear close to your chest. He'd gladly accept you being unconscious than being lifeless at any day. The noises halt as the adeptus focuses on feeling the vibration of your heart beat or your pulse as well. He closes his eyes and focuses.

Unfortunately, there was nothing. Again.

His flaxen fatigued irises widen, as he strike the ground beside you with his gloved, clenched fists. "Goddamn it!" He curses and wails,

It wasn't supposed to end this way. It struck a sharp pang of pain into his heart when he realized that he was no longer embracing a soul important for him, but instead a lifeless shell of nothing else left.

There were no last words you uttered to him to abide by as he continues on living.

Is this the consequence of betraying his old mindset, to not meddle with mere mortal's affairs?

Now that he has nothing left but grief and mourning knocking at the door of his ever-sheltered, curious life, for the very first time, he feels lost.

He loses tracks of his journey, what is it that he was aiming for at the very least? Despite of providing assistance and reassuring safety to those people in dire need of help to fulfill his duty- what more is there left to it?

Xiao is a male with a strong will and blessed with tough resilience. Living through aeons of bloodshed despite of the guilt gnawing at his fragile heart for devouring so many of countless, sweet dreams, he still finds a way to stand tall as ever with authority and sternliness brimming in him.

But he never knew losing someone who made him feel different things could hurt so much that he can feel the emotional pain nibbling with such pressure on his tired muscles. A little by little, the pain only grows more and later plagues his entire figure. He shivers and trembles, still could not have a firm grasp about the true, ill-favored reality.

༺ ˖࣪ ∗ ਏਓ ∗ ˖࣪ ༻

A year passed by, and the release of the enormous Mingxiao Lantern was about to begin. Xiao finds himself sitting atop of the familiar, old spot you two spent the nightfall with.

Backtracking to the olden days, that particular sunrise where you were no longer of his reach, everyone was to be honest- crestfallen and sullen as ever.

Even to the point of re-announcing the celebration of the reformation of the Inn after 2 months to give plenty time to those sunken upon hearing your loss.

The retired Geo Archon, Rex Lapis even approaches the anemo adeptus, with usual painkillers he never forgets to bring whenever he pays a visit to the male. "I know of that excruciating feeling very well. And fret not, there's no need of recovering from the wound rapidly. Perhaps give it some time, and to be frank, the wound will never magically disappear. You will instead learn to live with it, how to healthily cope with it and that very scar will remind you of why you're still continuing to thrive in life." His hoarse voice chimes into his ears.

But as anticipated, Xiao thought of not giving a response. With everything going on, he still felt responsible and guilty for the loss of his very loved one, even losing her right in his arms.

Xiangling, the reputable chef who hails in Liyue, was grief-stricken and sullen as ever. She always wore such contagious, toothy grins but it quite took her a long time to get back in track upon catching wind of the epiphanies. And for Hu Tao, the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor Director was heartsick from hearing the news. As someone who's always deemed of such a cheerful, mischievous girl, there were still times in which she would grieve from the deaths their parlor should handle. As for Zhongli, he was no stranger to grief. In fact, him and loss are very best of friends, oftenly seeing each other by the very deep ends. He simply closes his eyes, praying for your soul to rest in paradise.