Chapter Text
How could he not call for me..?
Why?
I would have come to him, would have defended him, if he had just told me…
Aether… don’t you know I would have protected you, no matter where you are?
“...Xiao?”
I turned away. He couldn’t see my face like this.
Didn’t I tell him that he could call for me, and I would come to him?
“Didn’t I say to call my name if you were in danger?”
“Xiao… I-”
“I would have gladly put myself in front of her for you. I would have given my life up for you if only you called me over.”
“I’m sorry…”
My vision started to blur. Beads of salty tears slowly dripped down, but I paid them no attention.
I could have been there for him…
The guilt I felt welling up inside me turned to anger. He didn’t call for me, didn’t ask me to carry his burdens for me, instead he decided to take on everything himself, decided to bear the pain of the fucking electron archon’s strike himself-
“Xiao? Are you okay?”
“No, I’m not okay, Aether! I told you I would come and find you if you only spoke my name. I told you countless times! And yet you still endanger yourself, knowing full well that I could be there for you instead!”
Aether looked taken aback. Guilt flashes across his face, before returning to concern.
“I told you that I would protect you, didn’t I? Then why did you put yourself in danger? I could have been there for you, you would have been safe!”
I ignored the tears streaming down my face, instead focusing my attention on him. But on closer inspection, his eyes were glassy too.
“...Why didn’t you call for me? Why did you have to get hurt?”
“I… I didn’t think you would care that much about me… and I didn’t want to disturb you…”
“But that’s where you’re fucking wrong! Because it’s never a disturbance for me when you ask me for help! I wouldn’t mind if you called me over for every little thing, because I care about you, Aether! I want to help you, but you’re not letting me! Forget my karma, I would still want to be around you and protect you!”
“I’m sorry…”
I took a deep breath and tried to calm down a bit. Maybe there’s a good reason why he didn’t call me, why he decided to take everything on by himself, why he-
Breathe. Give him a chance to explain.
“I… I have a reason…”
“My friend’s vision was going to get taken away by the Raiden Shogun.”
My head whipped up from where it had been staring at the ground. What? A vision… confiscated?
I had heard about this briefly from Rex Lapis, but outright taking them?
“He was bound and taken to in front of Tenshukaku, the Shogun’s abode. She… built a statue in front of it where she would put people’s visions inside. And… the Shogunate was holding a ceremony to celebrate the 100th vision taken… by having the Shogun personally confiscate the 100th vision. And that was his.”
Anger swirled around deep down. Stay calm, I told myself. Breathe.
“Yeah, crazy right?” He laughs. “It was madness there. I jumped up and snatched the vision just as it was flying through the air towards her. She… pulled a sword out of her body somehow and suddenly I was separated from Paimon and that friend in some realm, like adepti abodes, I guess. I couldn’t make any contact with them whatsoever. The Shogun was in there, meditating or something, I couldn’t tell. She fought me… and nearly killed me. Electricity was dancing all over my back…” He shuddered violently as if revisiting the memory. “The realm dispersed, and she held her sword above me, like she preparing to kill me right there and then. If not for the friend throwing a spear at her to distract her, I don’t think I would be here right now. Is that valid enough as a reason?”
He smiled bitterly. I couldn’t believe it. The Shogun almost… killed Aether?
“The Vision Hunt Decree is abolished now, so it’s okay. Everyone got their visions back.”
It sounded like his words were muffled. Like I was underwater. Was this… true?
“...I’m sorry.”
“Huh? Xiao, what for? I should be sorry instead-”
“I judged you without knowing the full story. I am sorry for yelling at you. But… just know that I will always be here for you, okay? I will come if you call. I will protect you. If something happened to you… I don’t know how I could be able to take it. So next time, no matter what, you call for me, do you understand?”
And if I had injected a bit more fierceness into my tone at the last line, good.
“Alright. I’m sorry, Xiao.”
“...I don’t know how I’d live without you. So please, stay safe for me. Call for me. Please. ”
“... I got it.”
“...Fine. What are you going to do now?”
He jerked his head up to look at me. “Huh?”
“What are you going to do now? I’ll accompany you.”
His face twisted into one of contemplation. “I… don’t know. I don’t have anything on right now…”
“Grab onto me.”
He blinked for a moment. “Uh… okay?” Tentatively, he held onto my arm, glancing at me in confusion.
A flash of black and green, and we appeared at Wangshu, at the balcony we had first met.
I sighed. “Do you have anywhere to go?”
“No, not for today… why?”
I nodded in response. “You can stay here tonight.” I pulled his arm and dragged him into my abode.
In hindsight, that wasn’t the best thing to do. I didn’t know what he would think of me bringing him into my room. Not to mention the fact that I was feeling tiny pinpricks of discomfort. Why let him in your abode, when he didn’t even know what to say and would be feeling uncomfortable right now? I turned and stared at him.
As expected, he looked somewhat uncomfortable. “Are you sure I can stay here? Isn’t this your room? I don’t think I should stay here in your private area…”
“It’s fine, I don’t need to sleep anyway,” I told him firmly, waving aside any apprehension I had. “I usually go out and patrol the area. This isn’t a place I use very often.”
“Oh… okay. Will you be okay?”
I paused. “I am fine. This is something I do every day, and something I will continue to do as long as my contract with Rex Lapis still stands.” I turned and walked out towards the balcony. I could hear Aether following me.
“I could help you if you’d like-”
“No, you need rest.” I shot back, internally wincing at the harshness I’d accidentally forced into my voice. “I will be fine by myself. It is something I’ve always done by myself.” I looked back at him.
Perhaps I should stay here instead and look out for him-
No, I have to protect the area surrounding the inn. I could not let my concern for Aether get in the way of the contract I had signed.
I breathed out through my nose. “Alright. If there’s nothing else, I will go now.”
“Good luck out there, Xiao.”
“Mm. Be safe.” My spear materialised as I grabbed it. “Go back and sleep.”
Once the footsteps faded away, I waved my hand in front of me. The mask appeared in front of me. I leapt off the balcony, starting the nightly routine of searching for demons. It should have been normal to me by now.
But somehow, I couldn’t help but feel a pang of guilt curl up inside me for leaving Aether behind.