𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭 | Xiao x Reader

15

You stared out at the giant serpent that seemed to be made of water, poking its head out from the ocean in the distance.

"What is that thing?" You whispered as Xiao only growled in frustration. The only time you'd seen something like that before was as a very young child, when the Archon War was just coming to an end. And even then, it had been so far away at the time, and was so easily taken care of by the Adepti, that you hadn't felt the need to be scared.

Now, you couldn't deny being slightly terrified. As much as you hated the man, where was Rex Lapis when you needed him? Even if he was going to keep up his act of pretending to have been killed, there was no way he could ignore a threat of this magnitude, could he?

You tried to ignore your shaking hands as you now remembered that you were pretty much defenseless, too. If you did use your delusion, it would render you immobile for a time as you dealt with the headache that came from it, leaving a wide opening for you to be attacked and killed. You couldn't just use raw power alone either; it wouldn't be enough.

"That thing," Xiao replied finally, "Is Osial, a long-deceased god from the Archon War." Your eyes widened at that knowledge, and you put a hand to your head in an attempt to keep it from spinning.

"Did you know Childe was going to do something like this?" He asked, his tone not accusing, but still urgent. You shook your head.

"No one told me anything of what our plans in Liyue were, and now I can understand why." You scowled at the floor, making a note to give Childe and everyone else involved a piece of your mind for this later. That was, if you managed to survive.

"What do we do?" You asked, turning to Xiao, "I can go back and try to find him, but if he's already brought back a previously deceased god, I'm not sure if even he can take it back."

Xiao didn't say anything, just continuing to stare at the creature in the distance for a minute. Finally, he drew in a breath.

"No, I'm getting you out of here." With that, he grabbed your hand, teleporting the two of you away before you could even process anything. A second later, you were both on a peak far from Liyue Harbor, and you could just barely see the city in the distance.

You took a moment to regain your composure, letting the dizzy feeling fade again as Xiao turned to leave.

"Wait!" You called, grabbing his wrist in an effort to stop him from teleporting away again. "Xiao, what are you doing?" He didn't look back, just shaking his head.

"The other Adepti need my assistance," he replied simply, "And you can't fight with your delusion, Y/n."

"You can't be serious," you replied sharply, even though you knew he was right. You'd already come to that conclusion yourself, but you also weren't ready to be taken out of the fight completely just yet.

"I am," he snapped, finally turning to meet your eyes, "Even if you're not going to be Archon, my duty is to protect you, and that's what I'm doing." You glared at him but he just sent you an equally serious expression.

"I'm not letting anything happen to you, Y/n." He whispered so quietly that you barely heard it, but it was there, "So stay here." He took a step forward but you just matched the movement, gripping his wrist even harder, if that were possible.

"What happened to not leaving my side?" You sneered, but he remained stoic.

"You know that's irrelevant in this situation." And with that, he'd disappeared from where he stood, leaving your hand to grip nothing but the empty air.

In that moment, you wanted nothing more than for him to come back so you could just punch him. It didn't matter if he was the one technically being logical, you were done being the person kept out of everything, especially when this all involved you directly. You wanted to actually do something, and like it or not, even Xiao wasn't about to stop you.