Important in Another World- A Genshin Impact Xiao x Lumine fanfic

Chapter 23- Archons in Inazuma

He turned to look at Lumine. She was pale, her fists were clenched. But she still had that warrior's look on her, the kind that intimidated. He carefully touched her forehead, and jumped back with a yelp. She was burning hot. A fever?

He paced the room with a tiger's prowl, his senses on alert for any danger.

A distinctive pop sound was heard from behind him, and he turned to see Paimon with a proud look on her face, a young man who looked like a Mondstadtian bard tagging along. He scrutinised the bard. He had azure green eyes, a flower in his two toned hair; starting with a deep navy-blackish shade, and ending in a dark shade of cobalt blue. He had a pure white cape, and green was prominent in his outfit. 

"Heyaa!! I'm Venti the bard!" But his childish tone soon dies away, seeing the serious atmosphere in the room. Xiao got straight to the point. "Paimon said that you can heal people. Is it possible for you to heal Lumine?" Venti blinked at his straightforwardness. Then he turned towards Lumine. His brow creased. "How did this happen to her?" Venti asked, worry in his voice. "Lumine was forced to face the Raiden Shogun head-on. Quite possibly that encounter took a toll on her." Venti frowned at the mention of the Shogun, for reasons that would later be revealed to him. "And how in the heavens did you not recognise what happened to her, Xiao?" He didn't notice the fact that Venti already knew his name. "I don't know. It seems a bit familiar, but I can't place my finger on it."

"It's karma, Xiao. Karmic debts, so heavy, even I am not sure if my healing powers will work on her. These... are much more than you could endure."

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Several heartbeats passed in silence, as Xiao was shocked. When at last he was able to speak again, his first words were, "But, how??" "I don't know." Venti said grimly. "She is an outlander, perhaps she acquired it in another world. But the problem is, that I had sensed no such karma in her before, and we have met often. Have you seen anything out of the ordinary about her recently? Absolutely anything?"

He bit his lip, as he thought back. "Well, yeah. We had gone to this, uh, Abyss Order stronghold. When we were gonna get out of there, she suddenly collapsed. She didn't wake for days, and it didn't seem like much was wrong with her. She insisted on the same. When I asked her again, she asked to just drop the subject." "Which means that she knew about this. Had she met anyone unusual in the stronghold?" He hesitated for a moment, then slowly said, "An Abyss Herald." "And?" Venti prompted, knowing he was holding something back. "Her brother."

"Hold on, what??" Venti sat up straight. "Her missing brother? She met him? Then what happened?" "They talked for a bit, then he said, that he couldn't go with her to another world yet, he still had unfinished things to do here. Before he disappeared, he sent some sort of energy towards Lumine, and her body absorbed that energy. A few minutes after that, she collapsed." 

"I see." Venti murmured. "Xiao, this is far more serious than either of us had thought. Can you please go and fetch Zhongli?" His eyes widened in panic. "W- Why me? Wait, why do you want me to fetch Zhongli in the first place?" He thought about who Zhongli's real identity was. Venti couldn't possibly know about that, could he? A piece of information floated into his head, something Zhongli had told him some time ago. 

"Who is Venti anyway?" "He is Barbatos in disguise." Barbatos. The god of Mondstadt. He blinked. How had he not connected the dots earlier? "Hang on! You're Barbatos, aren't you?" "Shhh, not so loud! But yes, I am. Took you long enough to figure it out." He said cheekily. "Now please go fetch Zhongli, Lumine's life is in danger." Xiao nodded and disappeared, leaving Venti to watch over Lumine.

Lumine POV

She couldn't think, she couldn't see, she couldn't hear anything. Nothing except the hisses and curses of her karma. She had been so used to living without it, that when it was reawakened, she simply couldn't cope. Now, if she could somehow get out of this hellhole of a place, she could find some solution.

But it didn't seem possible at the moment. She felt as though she was in constantly sinking quicksand. The more she tried to get out, the more she was drowned in that sea of voices.

Xiao POV

He bit back his nervousness, and knocked on the door of Wangsheng Funeral Parlor. It was opened by the Ferrylady, who politely asked him what he wanted. He replied that he wanted to see senior consultant Zhongli. She went away, and came back a few moments later. He followed her into Zhongli's study, where she closed the door behind him and left. 

"Um, sir, I uh, wanted to talk to you." Xiao said awkwardly to his master. Zhongli observed him with a small, amused smile, and motioned for him to sit. "Before you apologise, I want you to know, that there is nothing wrong with you leaving Liyue for a while." Zhongli said in his usual, deep voice, that smile still on his face. Xiao exhaled in relief. "Thank you, my lord." He shook his head. "Zhongli." He corrected Xiao. Xiao nodded. "I assume you wanted to talk to me about something else too?" "Yes. Or more specifically, Venti did. Something's wrong with Lumine, and Venti tried to heal her. But it did not work. So Venti has requested your presence." Zhongli frowned. "If even Venti cannot heal her, then it must be really serious. Take me to where they are." 

Xiao teleported off with Zhongli, to where Lumine and Venti were waiting for them.

( 1734 words.

Sorry for the delays in chapter posting, I frequently get distracted, since these are my holidays, and I want to enjoy them to the fullest :D )