Falling for You

Chapter 48 - Calm him down

Xiao's POV

 "Hiss!" It burns.

 My hand shot up to the back of my neck.

 "Is something wrong?" Dvalin asked at my sudden movement. 

 "The mark..."

 "What about it."

 "It feels like it's on fire." It's making me dizzy.

 "What?!" Both Dvalin and Yae Miko turned to me in shock.

 That doesn't look good.

 "Does it mean something serious?"

 "Xiao, can you check Venti's emotions?" Instead of answering, he asked a question.

 "I can try..."

 I have done it before, but then it came naturally rather than me trying.

 I tried sensing his emotions through the mark, only to be met witH resistance.

 What the hell is this? A barrier?

 I pushed a little harder and without much opposition, the barrier gave out.

 Why put up a barrier if it gives out that easily?

 I would have thought more about it, had it not been for the surprising sight before my eyes...

 "A calm meadow."

 "What?"

 "That's what I saw, a calm meadow."

 It was a beautiful place.

 "What about the wind?" Dvalin, however, looked anxious.

 "There was no wind." 

 "None at all? Not even a small breeze." This time he sounded more panicked than anxious. 

 "Nothing at all. Why, does it mean something bad?" Why do you look panicked?

 Dvalin and Yae Miko exchanged glances before the latter turned to the commissioner.

 "Ayato, you need to take Thoma and leave."

 "Excuse me?"

 "I'm not sure what exactly is going on in there since we can't see, but something extremely bad is about to happen, and if you don't leave, you'll die for sure."

 "What about him?" He glanced in my direction.

 "His strength is about the same as ours, he'll be fine. You two, on the other hand, need to leave here immediately." She explained. 

 After a short moment of silence, the commissioner eventually grabbed Thoma and left, though I could sense that they weren't that far away.

 "Can you two finally tell me what the hell is going on?"

 Just what's making them so anxious.

 "Listen, Xiao, have you heard of the two great massacres during the archon war?" Dvalins question left me speechless.

 "Are you talking about the stories where a god annihilated whole armies by themselves? Isn't that just a legend?" Nothing more than a story to scare children with.

 "Let's just say those stories are not made up to scare children."

 "Something like that actually happened?" No way!

 "It did. The two great massacres were the two times...Venti was truly angered." He spoke with some hesitation.

 What...? Impossible! Venti would never...

 "You're probably thinking that he couldn't have possibly done something like that with his personality of his, and you're right about that. If he was in his right mind, that is. When Barbatos is angered to this extent, he loses all reason. He transforms into a completely different person."

 "Angered? Why would you think he's angry?" Instead of that, what I saw was pure calmness.

 "Rather than angered, emotionless would be more precise. Every one of his emotions gets erased and not long after is replaced by anger. What you saw in there would be the calm before that storm."

 "But then..."

 "If we don't calm him down, this could end really badly. Even if Ei can handle him one way or another, Narukami Island won't be able to." Yea Miko injected.

 "Even if we had a way to calm him down, which we don't, we would first need to actually get in there."

 I think I  might be able to teleport in...

 "I-"

 "Just a moment, Xiao. Miko, do you have any ideas?"

 "I can-"

 "Do I look like I can just snap my fingers and break a barrier cast by two archons?"

 "I think-"

 "Well, I don't have any ideas, so I tough you might have some."

 Agh, this is frustrating! When was the last time I was ignored like this? Was I ever ignored to this extent in the first place?

 But even if I can get in there, what can I do? How in Celestia am I gonna calm him down?

  ...

 No! No way! I'm not doing that!

 I just remembered how a certain harbinger usually calms down Morax.

 That might work, but... I can't do it. I-

 "Xiao... You're not hurt... That's good..."

 A bloodied-up figure flashed before my eyes.

 "Ah, god damn it!"

 Raiden Ei's POV

 "Barbatos-"

 "You and your sister are very similar aren't you? You both meddle too much."

 He really lost it this time! How should I have known that the yaksha was a landmine just ready to explode?

 "Barbatos, let's just talk this out-"

 "You want to talk some more?"

 Damn it! Who the hell said that he's gotten weaker? Come out so I can strangle you! This guy is just as oppressive as during the Archon War.

 I would take out my weapon to fight back, but...

 No, that would only bring about a bigger disaster than the one we're already facing.

 I didn't even have time to think when I felt a change in the wind.

 Is he actually going to attack? Well, it's already good that he didn't do that till now. He has a lot more self-control than before.

 To my surprise, however, the one that caused the wind to change wasn't Barbatos.

 "You- How on Celestia did you-"

 The yaksha, Xiao I think, appeared in front of Barbatos.

 He grabbed him by the collar and pulled him closer. The next moment...

 He- He- He kissed him?!

 Was this the time for showing off your relationship?

 What I noticed next, shocked me.

 Barbatos' eyes, which had been filled with anger, went wide in shock, before slowly returning to their usual calm state.

 With one hand he hugged Xiao, while the other formed a few seals, stopping the rampaging winds.

 After the winds calmed, all traces of anger disappeared from his eyes, which were now filled with nothing but love and indulgence.

 No way. He calmed down just like that? Without a single attack being fired?

 Just how much does he love that yaksha?