The Vigilant Yaksha

Chapter 40

They'd arrived at Guyun Stone Forest and were on their way to head to Beidou's ship when Vena had stopped, saying she had a fear of heights and wanted to wait at the top of the nearby cliff for them while they went onto the ship to meet with her.

"But you were so excited to meet her!" Aether protested, wondering if this was from her odd change of demeanor earlier.

"I am- I just... you know I hate using the gliders. Heights make me sick, I can't. It's safe up here, I can stay and wait." She shot her best friend a reassuring smile, trying to encourage him that she was feeling okay, she just really had a phobia of heights.

He knew that much was true from talking about it in the past, and with a roll of his eyes, he turned away.

"Well Xiao, looks like it's just you and me."

Xiao simply gave a nod of his head as he gazed out at the ship, his mind clearly preoccupied.

Vena also assumed he probably wasn't comfortable here, and she now felt guilty that she had asked him to come with them.

Oh Archons, how poorly today was turning out already.

Watching as the two dived off the cliff, extending their gliders as they flew over to Beidou's ship, Vena simply exhaled deeply, taking a seat on a nearby flat rock to attempt to digest her thoughts while she had some time alone.

She was honestly surprised the two had even agreed to leave her alone here.

Ah, he can keep an eye on me up here. That's why.

Once she'd seen the two land on the boat a bit away, she was barely able to see him turn back ever so slightly just to check on her before turning away again.

Rolling her eyes, she rested her elbows on her knees as she sat, putting her chin into her hands.

I'm only getting upset because I'm tired of feeling like everyone is forced to look out for me or always worrying about me. I want to prove that I can take care of myself.

She exhaled deeply, trying to steady her heart and mind, knowing her emotions had gotten the better of her as always and had now caused her to hurt Xiao.

This is why I don't like getting close to anyone. All I do is hurt the people around me because I can't control my emotions.

And what the hell did Scaramouche want with her anyway? Was he so mad she stood up to him and fought back that now he was obsessed with getting revenge or something?

How lame today had turned out to be. First all that, and now she couldn't even meet captain Beidou because she was too afraid of heights to glide across the water to her ship.

Get ahold of yourself. You're stronger than this.

"Vennnaaaaaaa~" Aether's voice called from a little farther down the cliff, signaling for her to come over to rejoin him and Xiao, wondering why they were back already.

Jogging down to them, she raised an eyebrow, simply awaiting the explanation as she remained quiet.

"Soooooo~ Beidou kind of convinced me to join in this fight club? And if I win, she'll give us passage to Inazuma. So, we're going to head over there and I'm going to give it my all." Aether sheepishly explained, clearly feeling a little out of his element with the arrangements as he turned to head to where the content would be held, not wanting to waste any time.

"Wait, can Xiao and I participate too?" Maybe blowing off a little steam would make her feel better.

"Rules are no vision bearers." He glanced back just enough to lay his eyes on the vision on her bracelet before turning back with a smug smile.