The sleeping adeptus // Xiao x reader

Bleeding out | 25 (pt.1 finale)

"Good you're awake! Sure I had to wait a little, but I'm still aching for this fight of ours." Childe stated, you nodding "allow me to come to, I want to see how you've improved." Xiao crossed his arms looking at you. You knew he didn't care about your improvement, but rather your safety. You couldn't let him baby you when you're fighting, this is the same reason why Cloud Retainer can't come either. "No, I'll do this with him and I only, please." You see Xiao narrow his eyes. You could tell he wanted to get onto you about something, something he couldn't discuss in front of a harbinger. He lifts his hand up, "fine. I trust you know what you're doing."

You and Childe leave after you saying goodbye to everyone, you two walk out to find the empty parts of Liyue. "You do know you slept through the fireworks right? We'll have to be quiet and keep the damage low." He said, breaking the silence. "Huh? I thought I've told you before, we can just fight in a domain. I can cover the entrance with some illusions and we'll be good." You keep walking. You hear nothing for a little, and look back worried to see childe staring at you. "...is everything okay?" you question. He forces a smile and nods, this being the first time you've seen him so quiet. "Well okay.. anyways, we're here now." You stop, in an empty field. You motive for childe to get closer, as you swirl your hands around as if they're circling a round cylinder. Fog surrounds the area, making it hard to see anything.

Childe blinks repeatedly, trying to see what's around him, and one blink later he is in what looks like an endless abyss, with a yellow transparent floor holding him up. He can see trees in the distance, trees with blue glowing roots. He was in an adepti's domain. "The scenery here truly is amazing, a perfect backdrop for a fight." You let out a small huff of a laugh, closing your eyes with a smile as you summon your polearm. You watch him as he summons his bow, getting in a ready position as he stares into your soul, watching every move. "A bow? You look so wrong" you state, which makes him quirk a brow. "Wrong? How?"

You walk up to him, with him being surprisingly trusting enough to where he didn't react. "First of all you look stiff, and you aren't in the right stance." You move his limbs in hopes he gets it. "Oh wow..have you used a bow before?" He questions, looking at you as you step back. "I... let's just say I knew a friend that was passionate about it." You say, not wanting to remember the adepti that have been lost due to time. The other people you had become close to, never survived long enough to see liyue as it is now, they would've loved it. You move back, getting back in your position. "Now, where were we-"

You see Childe quickly draw back his bow, sending three quick arrows your way. You move your body in the direction of the arrows, using momentum to throw your arm up and block the moving arrows. "You had the chance to attack me when you were fixing my stance, yet you still helped me." He stated, as if he wasn't just teasing like he normally does. "Well of course... both you and I are fighters, trying to learn how to become the greatest versions of ourselves." He smirks "I like your mindset! Well then, battle me till we fall from exhaustion."  He charges forward at you, his bow suddenly becoming useless as he draws out blades made out of hydro, getting ready to slash. When your reflexes get improved, it almost feels like time slows down. You watch as his left arm makes the move to attack, as he already has his right arm ready in case his first attack doesn't work. He's really taking this seriously. He went ahead and stopped trying to fight in a method he wasn't use to, and went to something more familiar to give him more strength.

You quickly move out of the way, putting a fake you in your place. He slashes it, the illusion cutting in half like a cloud. It's going to be difficult for him to know when you're real or not. If he hasn't perfected his senses, this is gonna be a very easy fight. A purple fog surrounds him, with fake versions of you heading at him from every direction. He uses very little force as he slashes away the fake ones. He tries to feel the air movements as he dodges the fakes, as illusions do not have enough matter to push air out of the way as they force their bodies forward. When one of you came charging towards him like normal, he felt the wind pass as he moved out of the way, extending his hydro blade and making it into what looked like electro. He directed his slash at your back, as you jumped up. You spun towards his direction, you using your electro charged polearm to deflect his attacks. You land on your feet, looking at him in confusion.