The Vigilant Yaksha

Chapter 52

"I want to go with you." Sharp eyes glared daggers over at the blonde boy, surprising him with her sudden stubbornness.

Aether assumed something like this would happen, and he was clueless on how to talk her out of it.

He needed to return to Inazuma and finish what they'd started with helping the nation bring an end to the vision hunt degree, and attempt to get the electro archon to ease up a little.

Aether had already fought the Raiden Shogun without her once, and this time, she refused to miss out. The previous time, she'd been held hostage by the Fatui.

"Vena, this is too dangerous-"

"Yeah, I've heard that before. I don't care." The edge in her voice actually caused him to flinch a little, not used to this side of her at all.

He somehow knew this topic would cause confrontation though, and he'd been dreading it ever since.

"Your wounds haven't even healed enough yet to stay uncovered. I can't risk taking you into a place like that again-"

"With all due respect, my best friend," Vena came up to the table he was seated at, sprawling her hands out across it as she leaned over near him, her usual soft and delicate blue eyes as sharp as a blade now.

"I'm in control of my own fate, and I want to go with you. You can't keep treating me like some little puppy everyone needs to protect. I'm going to get hurt, hell- we all will. That's a fact of life, a fact of this world. You get hurt, you heal up, and you keep going. How many times have you been injured again? Probably more than me even at this point, and I always just patch you up and we move on. How can you expect me to get stronger if you want to just keep sheltering me? I understand your fear of losing me- but I feel that with you too. Besides, I owe Kazuha a debt and I intend to repay it." Vena spoke matter of factly, finally finishing her rant while Aether silently bit the inside of his cheek anxiously, knowing all too well how right she was, but Archons, it was such a double-edged sword.

He wanted her to get stronger, to bloom and prosper, but he was also afraid for her safety.

Aether sent a pleading glance over to Xiao who was laid back against the wall as usual, maintaining his silence as the two calmly argued back and forth over the matter.

"Don't look at me," Xiao snorted a laugh through his nose.

"You know how stubborn she is. You might as well quit while you're ahead."

That earned a sideways glare from the violet haired girl, who stuck her tongue out at him in response.

Xiao couldn't deny that deep down, apart of him was afraid too, but he agreed with both sides. He knew he couldn't hide her away from everything and protect her like some damsel in distress. He knew she was far too adventurous and her love for the world ran deeper than most of the roots of the trees in the nearby forests. She was a beautiful bird who deserved to spread her wings and fly in the sky freely, but it was hard to ignore the fear in the back of his mind, prickling subtle reminders.

The Fatui were still sulking around, and it was highly expected of them to appear in Inazuma at some point. Aether had caught onto the fact that they seemed like they were after the Archon's gnosis' for some unknown reason. All he knew for sure was that he wanted to keep them from getting their hands on even more of them, and he knew it was only a matter of time before they surfaced there, especially considering Scaramouche already had at least a small facility there where they had rescued Vena from previously.

Xiao eyed her wounds silently while she was too distracted, still glaring daggers stubbornly at her best friend.

"Kazuha wouldn't want you to endanger yourself for him."