𝕴𝖓 𝕳𝖎𝖘 𝕯𝖗𝖊𝖆𝖒𝖘 | Xiao x Reader Sequel

7

You kept running across the bloody ocean, hundreds of souls on your trail. You'd never seen so many of the dark figures at one time before. Usually, there were only three or four surrounding Xiao at once. Were these really all part of his Karmic Debt? How did he live like that?

Even so, as you looked back, you could tell some had been left behind, either because they hadn't noticed you or weren't interested. You had planned to lure them back into your dream, but that couldn't happen if they didn't follow you. Was your presence not enough to attract them anymore?

"Fine." You gritted your teeth, coming to full stop and creating a thick circle of ice under your feet. "If you won't follow on your own, then I guess we'll have to do this the hard way." You could see the Yaksha in the distance, still being pulled towards that ominous looking void. He had managed to get one ankle free, but the remaining souls seemed to be causing him trouble. Eyebrows furrowing, you channeled more cryo power, ignoring the screaming beings around you.

They sure caught up fast. You let out a burst of ice, hitting opponents in every direction. It was enough to knock them off your platform, but you knew it wouldn't last long. You had to think, come up with some way to lure the rest and then hope you could create another door in time.

Finally, you decided on a trick you'd learned from Guizhong ages ago, but had used sparingly, as it took a lot of energy. You took on a ready stance, focusing your power.

A second later, a beam of ice shot up from your body, shining a bright beacon of light into the sky as far as the eye could see. If that wasn't enough to get the attention of the souls, you weren't sure what would be.

Luckily, it seemed to do the trick, and the beings that had been plaguing Xiao now turned towards you, following in the direction of the light. You felt a hand grab your ankle and sent out another wave of cryo, doing your best to keep up the beacon for as long as possible. You could see more souls appearing on the ocean's surface, and soon you were deafened by the sounds of screeching they produced.

Allowing the beacon to dissipate, you took the opportunity to turn and continue running, racing as fast as you could. Now that they were all following, you just had to get them out of here.

You glanced back at Xiao, who was becoming smaller and smaller as you put more distance between the two of you. Nothing was attacking him anymore, given that they were all after you, so this seemed to be working. You smiled, though you knew he couldn't see it. Looking forward again, you brought your focus to the door.

You had never actually created one that led back to your dream, but how hard could it be? You'd traveled to his twice now; you were practically a pro!

Of course, creating a door while also being chased by thousands of souls didn't prove to be an easy task. You really had to work on your running abilities sometime, because this lack of stamina was killing you.

Still, you kept visualizing the door appearing in front of you, wishing now to return to your own dreams. The souls scratched at you but you ignored them, pressing on.

"Come on..." You whispered to yourself, "Appear!" Finally, the door began building itself from the bottom up, giving you a way out. That was when you realized how small it was. There was no way all these souls would fit through it.

Cursing, you came to a stop, once again sending out a burst of cryo energy to deter them from grabbing at you. You would have to make something bigger, maybe a portal? You'd never done that before, but now was as good of a time as any to try.

You focused again, putting all your energy into creating the biggest portal you could. The door disappeared again, but this time something bigger started to take its place. The huge portal built itself from the ground up, much like the doors you made prior had done. After a few seconds, it was finally finished, and you had to admit, you were impressed with yourself. It definitely looked big enough to take in all the souls, and you threw your body through it. The seconds that followed were agonizingly slow. Right, you'd forgotten about the time lag.