Earlier
Y/n pov:
I looked at Kazuha and he looked at me back. After a few moments of staring I could tell in his eyes that he knew I was aware of what really happened.
"I'm sorry" he said simply. His face showed guilt and I felt disappointed in him.
He didn't plan on telling me the truth.
"You planned to hide it all along?" I asked.
He didn't answer.
I turned my back to him and hid my disappointment and the feeling of betrayal.
"You were going to let me feel guilty about it this whole time?" I asked.
He still didn't answer.
I clenched my jaw. "How could you lie like that?! I thought I did something horrible! You made me feel incredibly guilty over something I didn't do!" I yelled.
He still didn't answer and it made me mad.
"Say something damn it!!" I yelled.
I turned around in anger and didn't bother hiding my expression anymore.
My heart sunk and my eyes widened as I saw him.
He laid unconscious on the ground with a huge gash in his head.
"Kazuha?..." I said in a low voice.
Out of reflex I looked around.
I drew my katana and readied my mask.
"WHO DARES?!" I yelled. Any person could tell I was angry by my voice or expression.
I looked around some more, trying to find the person who managed to knock Kazuha's lights out without me noticing.
My ears perked up and the hairs on my tail rose when I heard the sound of bells.
My body did a battle stance and I was ready to attack.
My ears searched around for the source of the bells.
But the sound of bells were everywhere. They were behind me in one moment, but when I turned, they were somewhere else.
I kept going in circles around my self, if someone saw me now, they would think I was crazy.
"Show yourself coward, only people who are scared will hide!" I said, challenging the person.
"Hahahaha..." I heard.
I did a quick turn and swung my leg as I turned, and I managed to hit the person right in the head.
He grunted upon the impact, and his hat flew off his head.
He stumbled a little bit before finally standing straight again.
"You bitch..." he muttered.
It was the short man again, the one with the weird haircut.
"You." I said simply. I can't believe I didn't guess it was him.
"Damn... that kick felt personal you know..." he said.
He twisted his neck a little.
*crack*
I felt uncomfortable as I could hear the sound of his bones cracking.
I cringed at the sound.
"If you want something from me, you can attack me, not my friends." I said, clearly talking about Kazuha.
"Friend? After what I heard, you were just yelling at him and talking shit." The harbinger said.
"Still a friend. Mortals make mistakes. Just like you just did." I said, I clenched the handle on my katana tighter.
He chuckled. The chuckle was truly evil.
The harbinger crouched down and picked up his hat.
After dusting it off, he placed it on his head again and sent me an evil smirk.
"You could have cooperated from the start you know. But since you declined my offer, I guess I'll have to tend to other methods." He said.
"What do you want with my core, don't you have anything better to do with life?" I asked him, I could feel that the question tensed him up.
I smirked. "You don't have anything better to do with life?" I gave him a sly look.
I could tell he got angrier by the second.
But as I slowly realized my eyes widened.
This guy I'm not a human.
He doesen't have a pulse nor heartbeat.
It's almost as if he's completely empty, like a walking... doll?
I clicked together everything my sister told me about the shogun, the balladeer, the shoguns puppets.
"You're the prototype for the puppet that the electro archon uses as the raider shogun..." I said, as I had realized the situation.
My own heart went faster.
This guy...
He's the one who knocked Aether out... the one my sister saved Aether from...
His angry expression disappeared and his own smirk started growing.
"It seems like you finally understand the situation you're in." The balladeer said.
"I indeed wish to become a perfect example of a real person." He said.
"And I trust you know what I need to do that." The balladeer said and he slowly started walking towards me.
I slowly backed up and held the weapon infront of me.
Sweat started running down my face. I think I could feel my arms shiver. He radiated of creepy puppet vibes.
Without any more doubt I slashed my katana trough the air, sending a pyro attack towards him.
He quickly dodged it and jumped backwards, making the space between us bigger.
With the few seconds of time I had bought I put my mask on.
I quickly turned my heels and was about to transform into a fox and get the fuck out of there.
But before I could I felt cold metal wrap around me.
Cold, small, metal strings.
Some of them twirled around my arm, where I held my katana and kept my arm still.
Some held my legs still causing me to be unable to move.
The metal wrapped around more parts of my body, such as my torso, thighs, neck and arms.
The metal was completely unbreakable. I tried as hard as I could to dash out of them or break them down but I couldn't, they didn't move an inch.
So I did the only other thing I could do.
"XIAO!"
I shouted his name.
But just as his name had went out of my mouth I felt the worst pain I had ever felt in a few millennia.
I screamed in pain as I looked at the balladeer in front of me.
His hand had pierced my chest and it was moving inside my torso, looking for a certain thing.
Tears fells down my face.
As he pulled his hand back, he had his hand wrapped around the core of my pure energy.
I then felt my muscles weakening and my eyes closed.
-
Now
Xiao pov;
The smell of her blood almost made my vision go fully red.
"Y/n, what happened to you?" I asked her, as if I was expecting an answer.
The irises in my eyes were shaking and my vision blurred. I couldn't focus on a single thing.
My breathing was uneven and the only breaths I took were heavy and hard.
My arms were shaking as I held her body in my arms.
Why isn't she answering?
"You've had a lot of rest Y/n, you can't tell me you're tired now?!" I yelled.
IS SHE TIRED OR SOMETHING?!
WAKE UP YOU DUMBASS!
I let her body down on the ground and looked over to the other boy.
He was shaking and tears were running like waterfalls down his face.
His eyes were covered with a shadow.
Kazuha pov;
I could tell what was going on.
But why couldn't he see it?
Doesen't he understand what's going on right now?!
I looked over at the body of the fox.
The huge hole in her chest was big enough for someone to poke their arm through.
Can't he see it?
He was shaking.
His eyes were widened and his irises were shaking.
Obviously he wasn't okay.
I brought my hand to my head and swiped over my bruise.
I brought my hand down again and saw it dripping with blood.
This isn't a dream...
No...
Not again-
Not another person...
I looked up and my heart sank.
The adeptus was glaring at me.
His eyes held an evil look, of rage, hatred and pure terror.
His jaw was clenched enough for you to see a few of his sharper teeth in the corners of his jaw.
A shadow was cast upon his face, making him even more terrifying.
"This is your fault..." he muttered.
I felt my heart squeeze and tried to stand up when I saw him taking slow steps towards me.
"No..." I said in slow voice.
"No... I'm sorry... I should've protected her... I..." my voice was mixed with sadness and shivers.
"SHUT UP YOU FILTHY MORTAL!!!" He yelled.
I flinched as I saw him.
The tattoos he had on his arms were now glowing, and his irises had a faint glimt of murderous intent.
His fists clenched. And within a second he had summoned his spear.
I tried to back away quickly, but to no result.
He dashed towards me and raised his spear.
My eyes clenched closed and I waited for the painful end to reunite me with my friends.
3rd pov;
Something held the adeptus back.
He immediately tried to get loose from whatever held him back.
His vision was still blurred and he couldn't see the geo shield that held himback from Kazuha.
The former geo archon stepped next to Xiao, as he had locked him inside a small shield of geo.
Kazuha opened his eyes as the painful feeling never came.
His eyes were met with an angry adeptus, trapped inside walls of geo.
He looked to the side in relief when he saw a tall man. He had a suit and brown hair with a fade.
"Xiao. That's enough." Zhongli said.
Zhongli knew Xiao wouldn't calm down anytime soon.
He knew Xiao was seriously angry over something.
As he turned around to see why the adeptus had raged...
Zhongli fell to his knees.
His eyes widened and tears fell from the corners of his eyes.
He pulled her body into his and held her close.
"No..." he whispered.
"Not you too..." he whispered again as he held his little sister closely.
He heard something fall to the ground and he turned his head a little and saw the adeptus had collapsed.
He wasn't unconscious.
Rather, he had collapsed because of all the emotional pain he could feel.
Zhongli had never seen Xiao in such a state.
He could see tears fall down his face, yet he made no sound.
Xiao was quietly screaming in sadness on the inside.