𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘳: 𝘟𝘪𝘢𝘰 !!
(𝘛𝘞): 𝘕𝘰𝘯𝘦!!
𝘈/𝘯: 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘢 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘰𝘳𝘺, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘳 (𝘢𝘬𝘢 𝘺𝘰𝘶) 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘺𝘴𝘴.. 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘟𝘪𝘢𝘰𝘴 𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘯.. 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘨𝘰𝘥 𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘺𝘰𝘶.. 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘧𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘛𝘺𝘷𝘢𝘵, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘈𝘓𝘓 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺?
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Red.
Blood.
That's what the Yaksha saw, the pain he feels, the burden he carries, is something he deals with every day.. When will I find peace?.. The Yaksha thinks, is he even allowed to have peace?
"PLEASE! DON'T HURT ME!-" Was the last thing the Adepti heard, before his spear pierced through their body. Any threat that came towards Liyue, whether they were mortal, or not, he deals with them, personally..
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The Yaksha landed gracefully onto the railings of Wangshu Inn, the anemo particles that surrounded him drifted in the wind, like small stars glimmering in the abyss like sky. Xiao sighed, feeling his body tremble from the fight, he gripped his polearm tightly, and closed his eyes tightly shut. His head soon ringed, and he teleported on top of the Inn's roof. Xiao squinted his eyes open, the stars gazed down on him, as if it was pity, he knew he will never get the peace he wants.. he is stuck here.. in this cruel worl-
"Xiao?"
His head snapped back, that voice, It sounded soft, how come they were calling his name? The name of a demon..
"Xiao? Are you there?"
There it is again. He couldn't take it anymore, and with a blink of an eye, he teleported right next to the figure.
"Ah, Xiao! There you are!" He averted his gaze towards the mortal, "Woah-.. you don't look too good.."
"I'm.. fine.. no need to worry about me, Y/n.." His voice was rough, it killed his throat, was he sick?
"Yeah, you don't look okay, come here.." Y/n opened their hands to pull him into an embrace, but Xiao refused, not because he didn't want to hug them, but because he was afraid, what if he hurts them?
Y/n rolled their eyes playfully before closing the gap between them and hugging him tightly, Xiao's eyes widened, their hand found its place on his back while the other was on the back of his head.
"You look tired, you should get some rest-"
"Adepti's don't-"
"Don't need sleep? Yeah, say that to your body.. it's so stiff.. you've been doing a lot today.. you should at least take some breaks."
Xiao stayed quiet, he knew they were right, but he just didn't admit it, he sighed before hesitantly hugging them back, he laid his head on their shoulder, Xiao recently noticed, that every time the Traveller visits.. his body.. his mind.. his soul... rests in peace, as if it was some kind of cure to his curse. Right as he was thinking of the thought, Xiao could've sworn he saw a small silhouette of wings on their back. He was selfish, he wanted this peace forever, he never wanted this to disappear, but that would mean breaking the contract, so he let go.
"Huh?.. Xiao? What's wrong?.." Y/n looked at him with concern as Xiao pulled away harshly. He can't, he can't touch them, they were... like an angel. He can't risk them getting hurt by his karmic debt. Y/n frowned, their eyes looked at his shaking figure..
"Ever since.. we left the chasm.. you felt.. off.." Y/n grazed their hands onto his cheek, though it was a small touch, they could've sworn Xiao leaned into it slightly. "Is it your karmic debt?"
Xiao looked away from them, Y/n was so stubborn. Before Xiao could argue with them, he suddenly felt a pair of gentle lips on his cheek. His eye's widened, his body froze in reply, and his vision glowed brightly.
"I'll be leaving for Sumeru next month, that was my reason for coming here.."
Xiao continued to stay still, his body hasn't reacted at all after that, incident. As soon as he snapped back into reality, Y/n was gone, he noticed this once he felt their presence leave, the feeling of their burden came back, and their light which shined brightly on them... gone
"W-wait.. no.. "
"Come back..."
"Please..!"
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𝘈/𝘯: 𝘈𝘏𝘏 𝘏𝘌 𝘋𝘌𝘚𝘌𝘙𝘝𝘌𝘚 𝘛𝘏𝘌 𝘞𝘏𝘖𝘓𝘌 𝘜𝘕𝘐𝘝𝘌𝘙𝘚𝘌..