Twisted Fate Of The Broken Ones | Scaramouche/Xiao

20 - Under the Archon's Gaze

Talking to the shrine maidens and Yae Miko had made Kunikuzushi feel better, and he was grateful for it.

He had decided to stay up at the Grand Narukami Shrine for the rest of his time in Inazuma before he would go back to Liyue with Kazuha.

After all, if home didn't desire him as who he was, he wouldn't be there.

Liyue was almost like a calling to him, and it was part of the wanderer's nature to follow it. Why wouldn't he?

Kunikuzushi was chatting with Yae Miko, his train of thought breaking as soon as he heard the familiar bird's call.

He held out his hand, his eyes widening in excitement as he saw the letter attached to its foot.

"I told you, Kuni." Yae Miko giggled as Kunikuzushi hastily untied the letter, soon holding a Silk Flower in his hand.

Hello.
I am not writing this letter because as an Adeptus, I do not need that kind of skill, so instead I have the boss of the Wangshu Inn, Verr Goldet, writing this for me.
Things are okay. I visited my master and tried to give him one of the shards from that Noctilucous Jade that you cut with that Electro sword, but he didn't like the energy from it.
Not much has happened since the day we departed. There is something that has been bothering me though.
After you left, there has been a disturbing feeling inside of me. It feels like something was missing from me and I didn't know what. I think that you might be the source of this. It's overwhelming and I can't get rid of it. Maybe once we meet again, the feeling will be gone.
I don't know what else to say, we're running out of space on this paper.
The bird is quite nice. And the flowers are beautiful.

Stay vigilant.
- Xiao

Kunikuzushi read the letter over, his smile turning warm. He hadn't expected to get a letter back from the Adeptus...

He stuck the Silk Flower behind his ear, wondering about the last part of the letter Xiao told about.

'A disturbing feeling...' Kunikuzushi thought it over in his head, trying to figure out what he meant.

The wanderer held the letter close to himself, as he sat and leaned against the sacred sakura.

Next to him was Yae Miko, who started asking him more questions about Xiao- to which the wanderer answered to the best of his abilities.

She was fully supportive of the youth, since he was... not well-liked amongst many. The only friend he really had was his sister Shogun and a few others from Tatarasuna so it was natural for the kitsune lady to be happy for him.

"There's this... stone forest, called Huaguang Stone Forest. It has large pillars of rock, and he took me up one of those. It was so pretty up there, and I would've loved to stay there with him for longer!" Kunikuzushi smiled as he spoke, sometimes falling into thought as he tried to relive the moments he had with the Adeptus.

Miko had followed along as Kunikuzushi talked, asking questions and providing him with small bits of advice along the way.

She herself was interested in this Adeptus, hoping that maybe one day she'll get to see him with her own eyes.

Kunikuzushi had described him as distant and rather stoic on the outside, but he swore that Xiao did soften up slightly during their small journey through Liyue.

-

A pair of footsteps made their way all the way up to the Grand Narukami Shrine.

When the shrine maidens saw the figure, they started whispering about something.