✧𝔻𝔼𝕍𝕆𝕋𝕀𝕆ℕ~ 𝒶𝓃𝒾𝓂𝑒 𝑜𝓃𝑒𝓈𝒽𝑜𝓉 𝒸𝑜𝓁𝓁𝑒𝒸𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃~✧

✧Xiao- Stay with Me✧

YOU HAD DEFEATED many demons before, but this one was different. This one was stronger. And as hard as you fought, again and again stabbing, retaliating, lashing out, you couldn't defeat it.

You ended up losing your first battle that day, and you were wounded seriously. By the time the other yakshas had come to help, and had defeated the demon, you were in a coma, and nobody knew if you would come out alive. The other yakshas, your comrades, weren't concerned at all. They had never really liked you. You were the most skilled, so Rex Lapis always had his eyes on you, loving you, respecting you, and giving you more and more missions, until it was obvious he favored you.

But there was one yaksha who loved you. Your face was always in his mind when he fought, and when he was resting, he dreamed of you. This yaksha was different than the others. In the end, when they all succumbed to their bad karma, he survived. Yet, in the process, his heart was hardened beyond belief, and he no longer was the kind soul that you knew his as previously.

Years went by. Decades. Rex Lapis died, and took the form of Zhongli, living in Liyue not as a god, but as a simple human. And yet still, you slept.

And the yaksha who loved you never left your side.

His name was Xiao, and he was suffering greatly. Seeing your beautiful body lying still, unused, dormant, when it could be moving, fighting, and dominating its enemies like it used to, hurt him inside. And his karma festered, and his suffering and the voices in his head continued.

Then, one day, you opened your eyes again.

And his world changed.

"Hello? Where is everyone?" you asked. Your voice was dry from not being used, and it cracked when you spoke. You were thirsty, and hungry, and you wished for companionship. But nobody was there to stay by your side.

A small shadow was flickering on the wall next to you. The shadow came forward, and a short young man with cold amber eyes and brown hair with green tips stood before your bed. He was crying, and you didn't know why. He took your hands in his, and gently massaged your arms, back, and legs. You sat up on the bed you had been resting in, and then ended up standing up.

As soon as you stood up, the young man threw his arms around you and his tears turned into a flood of sobs. His body was shaking, and he looked to be in serious pain. Even though you didn't know him, you were filled with a desire to comfort him. so you threw your arms around him and held him as the world as he knew it was slowly being fixed.

"Y/N... you're awake... I thought you would never open your eyes," he said.

His voice was rough and harsh, and it sounded like the way sandpaper felt. Yet you knew, somehow, that he was in love with you. There was no passion, no comfort, no warmth in his words. But you knew.

"Who are you?" you asked the young man.

"I'm Xiao. I was the last yaksha, but now that you're awake again, I'm the second yaksha that is alive in this world," he responded, in the same emotionless tone.

"You're a yaksha? The last yaksha? What happened to all the other ones?" you asked. Sure, the other yakshas hadn't been your friends, but you were worried about them. What had happened to them when you were asleep? Had they all been slain by demons?

"The darkness of their karma festered," Xiao said, his tone corrosive like acid, "and they succumbed to it. They fought valiantly, and lost, and were consumed. However, my unworthy soul survived. And, because you were in a coma, your karma didn't fester. Rather, it boiled at your soul, not enough to kill you, just enough to burn you."

"I was in a coma? For how many years?"

"I would say 2,000. I'm not sure exactly how many, but that's my rough approximation."

"Where is Rex Lapis?" you asked Xiao. "I need to report to him, tell him that I'm still alive."

The yaksha's face fell, and he broke his eye contact with you to look down at the ground sadly.

"Rex Lapis... has fallen," he responded in a voice that was unexpectedly soft, and unexpectedly fraught with emotion.

"Fallen? How-" you broke off when Xiao started to cry again, and once again wrapped your arms around him.

"Why do the cowards survive? Why did I, the weakest, the most unworthy, have to live, and our great leader, and the brave, fighting yakshas die? Why do I have to be alone on this earth, where nobody I love is here? Why can't I just be dead?" he sobbed.

"Xiao, I, too, share the pain you are experiencing. Maybe not as much of it, as I didn't have to witness these terrible things, but my heart aches like yours. You are strong, Xiao, and you will survive this harsh world. I know that you feel like you want to die now, but I will stay by your side, and try to comfort you. I know that these words may not mean much, but you're the only yaksha left besides me. I love you like a brother, Xiao, because you were born to be my friend and dearest comrade. I will not let you leave me. Please, for me, stay with me."

Your words seemed to affect him more than you thought. He stopped crying, and he left your arms, staring directly up into your eyes. They were beautiful eyes. Everything about you was beautiful. He loved you. And he had been waiting to look into your eyes for 2,000 years.

"Because you are alive," he said, "I will stay on this earth. I will stay with you."