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Xiao remembered how he found 240.
Surrounding him, people were all rushing around to find a team, he was taking his time in analysing everyone, glancing at their faces, looking into their eyes.
They were all the same.
The hunger and sick determination that thrummed behind every different gaze were all the same.
It was desperation for their lives.
It was desperation for the money.
Xiao was aware that that omnipresent hunger enabled each and every person in this room to turn on each other, despite being friends with each other for years on end.
He glanced back at 456 and 218 involuntarily at the thought. Xiao saw what went down in the last game, where 218 didn't tell 456 anything despite knowing the game.
Xiao wasn't surprised.
Because Xiao wouldn't do any different either.
Just when he was about to just give up on choosing and pick someone random to bring back to 456's team-
He saw them.
A girl - or a boy, he couldn't tell by the angle he was looking at them from - was sitting on the top of the stairs, not interacting nor rushing to find a group to join, unlike everyone else. They seemed to be bobbing their head to something, even though there wasn't any music playing. Their stance was relaxed and laid back, as if they were not in a death game at all. If anything, Xiao could mistake them for being someone who was lazing on a beach without a care.
Intrigued, Xiao weaved his way out of the crowd and up the stairs, approaching them out of curiosity. Now that he was closer, and further away from the chattering down below, he could hear a soft hum coming off them - no, him, now that he has seen his face.
Despite the blue-tipped braids that swung from his head, and the feminine, soft look that rested on his features, he was pretty sure that he was a boy, with the way he held himself in place and the classic 'boyishness' vibes wafting off from him. His eyes were closed, his lips pressed tight together in a hum of a tune that Xiao has heard before...but does not remember.
He's quite...beautiful, not going to lie. A corner of his mind whispered, which Xiao promptly ignored.
He was here to drag a partner back to the team, not admire someone's looks.
He stepped in front of the boy - number 240, he noticed - and before he could say anything, the boy opened an eye and glanced up at him, the humming ceasing immediately. He must have heard him walk up the stairs.
"What?" He asked, the unsaid words of "what do you want" hanging in the air.
"Join me," Xiao said simply. He didn't care if he turned him down, he didn't want to interact with anyone in the first place. But since the game required it...
240's eyes widened a little at that, obviously confused as to why Xiao came all the way up the stairs just to get him to join Xiao.
His eyes are green. Xiao noted. And surprisingly - or not so surprisingly - there wasn't any hunger in his eyes at all. Just pure, sweet freedom, free from want.
But then why is he here then? A small voice popped into his head, which Xiao had to turn away from it yet again, because it wasn't his place to question.
"Really?" 240 asked, but it wasn't one of excitement or surprise. More like...a careless remark, a word said without care. He got up from the ground with a stretch, a sigh exiting his mouth as he did. "Alright then, lead the way, 067."
***
240 was funny.
(Not funny as in would-make-Xiao-laugh kind of funny, but 240 was sarcastically so.)
***
"Ah! So do we all get to go to heaven if we say a few prayers?" 240 lifted his eyebrows with disdain at 244, who was still kneeling and praying as the lift shook and descended back down. "Ah shit, then I have to pray too!"
Xiao could only look at 240 unimpressively as he clasped his hands together.
"Heavenly Father," he declared loudly. "We worked together as a team today to send many people to your side-"
Xiao scoffed quietly.
"-please help send more people to your side from now on-"
Xiao, who couldn't take anymore of this nonsense anymore, interrupted 240's speech. "Shut up."
240 stopped, and Xiao soon felt his gaze right on his neck, the intensity of it almost burning a hole into his skin. "Are you talking about me, or that guy?"
"Both of you," Xiao didn't even bother to look at him, and kept his eyes trained on the bright, yellow ceiling of the lift.
240 shrugged and leaned back against the wall, quiet now, but 244...
Xiao internally prayed that the lift ride would speed up so that he could get the fuck out of here.
***
240 was annoying too.
***
"Hey, what's your name?" 240 suddenly questioned, and Xiao, who was walking right in front of him, didn't care enough to turn around.
"Why do you want to know?"
"To call you by your name, obviously!" He chuckled, which Xiao doesn't understand how he could after almost dying in the last game which happened just minutes ago. "Why do you think names exist for?"
"What do you think our numbers exist for?" Xiao countered.
"Oh come on, I just want to call you by name!" 240 whined.
"Don't call me then."
240 huffed. "You're so secretive. You're no fun!"
Xiao closed his eyes for a second in frustration, despite walking quite close to edge. "Do me a favour. Just leave me alone."
"Oh? But you're the one who talked to me first, mister." There was an accusing edge to his tone, albeit airy and lighthearted.
Xiao ignored him for the rest of the way back to the main room.
***
240 was...persistent.
***
"Give me that," he heard 240's voice coming from behind his back before he saw him, and he snatched away the tangled yellow sheets away from his hand, sorting it out quickly with nimble fingers.
"I didn't need your help," Xiao crossed his arms, but didn't snatch the thin blanket back.
"Yeah right, you definitely didn't struggle with this for the past ten minutes," 240 deadpanned as he untied the last knot. "And...done!"
He dropped the sheets back into Xiao's hand.
"Let's go back to 456," 240 grabbed his wrist and pulled him towards the fort that their team were making for the night. Xiao flinched at his touch, but he was surprised that he didn't pull away as 240 dragged him across the main room.
"Didn't I tell you to leave me alone?" Xiao asked.
240 shrugged as he glanced back at Xiao. "Does it look like I care?"
Xiao bristled slightly, but didn't say anything.
They didn't talk again for the rest of the night, only worked together in companionable silence while setting up the fort and barricade.
***
240 was...
***
"Team up with me."
Xiao blinked, his train of thought broken by the familiar voice that rang right at his ear. He turned around, and found himself facing 240. When has he creeped up behind him again?
"Why should I?" Xiao asked with no hesitation at all.
240 made a face. "Then will you beg all those boomers to play with you? How embarrassing!"
Xiao huffed through his nose. "I don't care if it's embarrassing. I have to win no matter what."
"Then team up with me. I'll make sure you win."
"And how will you do that?"
240's gentle and soft face instantly turned hard with resolve, seriousness reflecting off his aqua green eyes as his gaze found his way onto Xiao's face, staring deep into his soul. "Anything it takes."
"Why do you want to team with me?" Xiao asked, not breaking eye contact.
"Why did you ask me to team with you?" A grin crept up the edge of his lips.
"You were the only one who looked like who'd come along."
The smile on his face was now full. "Then I feel the same too."
When Xiao finally looked away and down, he stared at 240's outstretched hand. 240's gaze was trained on Xiao, waiting for him to grasp his palm and shake hands.
Xiao hesitantly raised his own hand, and slowly grabbed the other's, their fates sealed as their hands touched.
***
"In this game, using your ten marbles, you will be competing with your partner. The player who takes all ten marbles from your partner wins."
The silence between them was deafening.
Xiao didn't dare to look at 240. He just stared into space, the words from the speaker floating around in his mind but not really connecting.
Competing with your partner? Take all ten marbles to win? What bullshit is that?
Out of the corner of his eye, he could see 240 swivel around to look at him, his braids swinging as his head turned. Soft crunching sounds could be heard as 240 sighed and walked across the sandy floor and to the steps off to Xiao's right, sitting down as he reached the third step.
"This is the biggest tragedy since the Archon War," 240 laughed dryly. "Right?"
Xiao blinked out of his stupor, his mind finally catching up with the situation at hand. As much as he didn't like the situation, as much as he didn't want to be the one to end 240's life, he didn't have a choice.
He cut straight to the chase. "What should we play?" Xiao still refused to look at 240.
The faster this ends, the easier it will be for him. For the both of them.
"You're so cold!" 240 winced. "As cold as ice."
Xiao ignored that slight. "Tell me what game to play."
240 shrugged. "I have no idea either." He raised his bag of marbles to his eye level. "This is what those boomers used to play as kids huh? I don't want to play those games..."
"They said we're free to create our own rules, right?" 240 hummed in thought. "Ah, I'll give it some thought then."
Silence descended upon them again, and Xiao watched as the boy in braids placed his head on one arm that rested on his knee, and his other hand fiddled with the tiny bag of marbles.
"Hmm..." 240 mused. Suddenly he dropped his hand, and looked up at Xiao slowly. "Let's...end the game in one round."
Xiao looked to him, not really believing his ears. And his confusion must be evident on his face, because 240 smiled at him and repeated, "Let's bet everything and just play one round."
"Are you sure?" Xiao found himself asking. "You don't want to have a chance to turn things around if you lose?"
240 nudged his face towards the groups that were busy playing marbles against each other. "Do you want to do that for the remaining time?"
"..." Xiao glanced to where 240 was looking at. "Fine. What are we playing then?"
240 rolled his eyes and gave him a half-smile. "Why are you in such a hurry? Are you dying to kill me?" He broke into giggles at his own pun, while Xiao just watched, obviously unimpressed.
When he finally regained his composure, he continued. "We're only playing one round anyway. We have some time left. Let's do it last minute."
"Then what are we going to do until then?"
"Let's talk!" A shit-eating grin formed on his face.
"Talk about what?"
The grin on his face faded a little, morphing into a small, sad smile within the span of a few seconds. "Things we couldn't tell other people."
Xiao looked over to 240, questioning: What makes you think I'll tell you anything?
240 seemed to read his mind, because he then said, "One of us is going to die anyway. No matter what we tell each other, there's no reason to feel embarrassed, since we're taking secrets to the grave. Don't you think?"
Xiao contemplated his offer, and nodded mutely.
A bright, stupid beam spread across the boy's face, making as if he was radiating in stark contrast to this grim situation. Caught off guard, Xiao froze in place and just stared back, stuck in his luminous smile.
It was only when 240 beckoned him over did the moment break, and he headed over to 240's side and sat down on the second step.
"So, let's start easy," 240 said, his voice heard by Xiao but his face not seen by him - it was funny how 240 constantly seemed to end up standing or sitting behind him. "Where are you from?"
"Liyue." Xiao's answer was short and sweet.
"Ah...Liyue. I guessed it, ehe. You do look Liyuen, and you have that accent. I'm from Mondstadt by the way!"
Xiao didn't respond to that.
"So...what made you come to...whatever this is?"
"Probably about the same reason anyone would have. Money and all," Xiao shrugged.
"Yea, but you must have been in debt or something right? To make you so desperate for the money that you came back. What happened?"
Xiao was silent for a moment. He didn't want to say anything about his past, he barely knew this guy. His past was something that he would never want to share, but...something about 240 made him comfortable. Comfortable enough to open up the deepest, darkest, most vulnerable self to the green-eyed boy sitting behind him.
"I...didn't have a great family. We lived in a bad neighbourhood, and-"
"-wait, we?" 240 questioned, which made Xiao momentarily look back to glare at him for breaking him off. The boy quickly put his hands up in surrender as he chuckled nervously. "Never mind, go on."
"I have a brother," Xiao explained. "His name is Alatus."
"Ah...I see, I see."
"The place we lived in, it wasn't the best place you would raise a child in. Our parents were drug addicts, reduced into a state where I had to be the one to take care of them. Sometimes, on bad days, they would lash out, hitting us and screaming at us." And the screams were here now, loud in his mind, whispers of their beatings made Xiao flinch mentally, as if he could feel the pain being inflicted on his skin.
"They owed a lot to banks, loan sharks, and they were constantly knocking at our door. My brother was terrified," Xiao's voice was now a hushed whisper. "When I was old enough, I ran away, and brought my brother along."
"Oh," 240's voice was quiet, unlike his usual loud demeanor. "But why do you need the money so badly? At most you could just work your ass off to live, don't need to subject yourself to a death game, right?"
"Because..." Xiao hesitated, his voice breaking halfway into the word. "The loan sharks, they know us. My parents couldn't pay up, so they chased after us instead.
"One night...we were out on the streets. They took my brother. They said if I don't return the money that my parents owe by the end of the month, they would kill him."
That's odd. Normally Xiao would be breaking down right now, at the thought of his brother under the mercy of someone else. But a sort of numbness seemed to overtake him instead, a constant buzz ringing in his ears to keep the rest of his thoughts out.
240 was silent. He didn't say anything for quite a long while, and Xiao simply waited. At least silence was a better companion than pity.
"Well then," 240 spoke up again. "What would you do with the money if you get out of here? After saving your brother, of course."
Xiao blinked. He hasn't thought of that yet.
"Maybe...I'll buy a house for me and my brother."
When his sentence ended, silence followed again, but it was more of a silence where 240 was waiting for him to say more.
"Hey, you can do that and much more with 40 billion mora! You got to have some other dream! Is there anywhere you want to go?"
"...Guyun Stone Forest."
"Guyun Stone Forest?" He echoed.
"I saw it on TV before. It looked exotic and nothing like Liyue."
240 snorted. "Hey, you've got to dream big, don't you think? You should travel all over Teyvat! Go to Fontaine, or go to Sumeru, or hey, you could even come to Mondstadt! Go visit Windrise, they have anemo crystalflies all over! It's pretty!"
"Anemo crystalflies...?" Xiao glanced back at 240.
"Haven't you seen them before?"
Xiao shook his head.
"Hey, that's no good!" 240's expression was scrunched into one of mock disapproval. "I'll tell you what, once we get out of here, I'll take you to all the iconic places in Mondstadt!" He giggled in excitement at the thought.
Xiao just gave him an incomprehensible look of confusion, and turned back to face the front. What was he talking about - we, getting out of here?
"Ah," Realisation must have dawned on 240. "We...can't get out of here together." A small dry laugh escaped the boy behind him.
Bang.
Xiao looked up in time to see a player falling to the ground, red splattering onto his green sweater and onto the ground, the staff in pink jumpsuit standing stoically over the body.
"Player 002, eliminated."
"Have you seen a dead person before you came here?" 240 fired another question in response to the sight before them.
"Yes."
"When?"
Xiao casted his gaze to the ground. "Back when I was still stuck in that neighbourhood, I was in a gang. We were called the Yakshas, named after the adepti beasts of the past.
"Our leader would get us to beat up other gangs from time to time - for daily necessities like food, of course. We were tight on everything. But once time it went too far, and-" Xiao sighed. "-we killed someone."
He heard 240 suck a breath in, but the boy didn't say anything.
"Then the gang came after us. I wasn't with the Yakshas that day, I was with Alatus at home. But when I visited our base the next day..." Xiao's heart immediately constricted at the bloody memory, seeing the red that stained the floors and painted the walls of their beloved base behind lidded eyes. "They...they were all dead."
"I got to say, your stories are way too dark," 240 was frowning when Xiao stole a glance behind him.
"You?" Xiao asked. "What about you?"
Another gunshot rang through the large room.
"Player 130, eliminated."
"The first one I saw...was my mom. One day I was coming home from school, I found her dead on the floor. And right beside her, was my so-called dad with a knife in his hand.
"The next dead person I saw was my dad," 240 gave Xiao a wry smile. "And the one standing next to him with a knife...was me."
"He was a famous pastor, you know? You might have heard of him...Decarabian?"
Xiao shook his head.
"As expected. He was a follower of Barbatos, and he always prayed after he did unthinkable things to me and my mother. I bet Barbatos can't forgive him even if he tried.
"After all that, I really hated praying, or religion as a whole. The only thing I stuck with was Barbatos - he was the god of freedom after all.
"Ever since my dad started doing all of that...I kind of valued the concept," 240 shrugged. "But as fate would have it, I was thrown into a place that took away freedom from me."
"What will you do if you leave here with the money?"
"I haven't thought about it. Someone was waiting for me when I was released from prison. He gave me a business card. That card, you know? Then I just came because I had nowhere to go."
That explains it, Xiao thought. The absence of hunger in his eyes. He didn't come here because of want, but because he was lost.
"So I haven't thought about what to do if I get out..." He trailed off, then Xiao heard him shifted to face him. "Hey, do you think we should go to Guyun Stone Forest together?"
Before Xiao has fully processed his words, 240 shifted back to his original position. "Right, sorry. My mistake, again."
Ah.
The both of them sat in silence for a while, and Xiao couldn't help but think of an alternate universe in his head, a universe where the both of them lived, and won this sick game. Would they really stick with each other to the end? Would 240 bring him on trips, showing him places that he has never seen before-?
Xiao shook his head to snap himself out of it. There was no good in wishful thinking at this point.
"Player 158, eliminated."
Xiao stood up. There wasn't much time left on the clock - they should just get on with it.
He looked back at 240, who was staring at him mutely.
"Let's do it."
240 gave him a tiny, sad smile, and nodded once.
***
240 led him away from the stairs, and all the way to one of the corners in the makeshift alleyway.
"Whoever who throws a marble closer to that wall, wins," 240 said as he pointed to the brick wall before them. "What do you think?" He turned back to Xiao for approval.
Xiao nodded, agreeing to the terms of the game.
Then Xiao did something he never thought he would do.
"It's Xiao, by the way."
He doesn't like sharing his name to strangers. But 240...he somehow has turned into something more than an acquaintance to him.
"What is?" 240 seemed oblivious.
"My name," Xiao clarified. "Xiao."
"Ah, Xiao." 240 said softly, his name rolling off his tongue effortlessly. Xiao was a little surprised, since foreigners tend to not get his name right. "It's a nice name!"
"You?" Xiao inquired.
"Venti," 240 - no, Venti - grinned at him.
"Family name?"
Venti turned his gaze back to the wall before them. "Don't have one."
"You should go first. Your number is before mine anyway."
Xiao drew a marble from his pouch, and stepped forward, prepared to throw it forward.
He kept his eyes on the wall, and breathed out as he swung his hand back, and forward, letting the marble go. He watched as the small orb of green, red and blue, spun around and around, rolling until it was just a small distance away from the wall.
He looked back at Venti, and all he saw was the same small smile that he had gave him a few minutes ago.
No other words were exchanged between them as they shifted places, and Xiao watched as the petite boy got ready, bending down and the marble rolling around in his hand as he fidgeted with it.
He watched as Venti paused in his actions.
He watched as Venti looked down at his marble instead of focusing on the wall.
And he watched as the marble dropped onto the floor.
What?
Shock rippled through Xiao as he watched Venti straighten back up slowly, and anger followed, seeping into him and riling him up.
Did Venti do that because he pitied him? Why the fuck did he just carelessly throw his life away?!
"What are you doing?" Xiao grabbed Venti by the collar and backed him up into a wall.
"I lost," Venti was still grinning at him, which only fueled the inexplainable anger inside of him.
"What do you think you are doing?!"
"The marble just slipped," Venti pouted, whining under Xiao's grip.
"Anything it takes." Venti's words echoed in his head.
"Is this what you meant by making sure I'll win?" Xiao glared at Venti, glaring at those green eyes which were still looking up kindly at him. "Do you think I'll be thankful? You better throw it again."
"Even if I did, I wouldn't be able to win anyway," Venti grumbled, but that, stupid, stupid smile of his never left his face. "Come on, just let me lose in style!"
"Stop acting cool and throw it again!" Xiao yelled, gripping onto Venti so hard that his knuckles turned white.
Venti didn't flinch. All he did was look at him sadly.
"I don't have anything." His voice was quiet.
Thrown off guard, Xiao faltered. "What?"
"You have a reason to leave this place," Venti stared into his eyes, as if he was searching for Xiao's soul through his gaze, connecting with it. "But I don't."
Anger faded away, replaced by something else that was quickly overwhelming Xiao.
What is this?
Sadness? Pity? Or-
A feeling of loss.
But how could he feel loss with Venti still under his grip? Why, when Xiao was holding him so tightly, did he feel like Venti was slipping away in between his fingers?
"I've been thinking about what I should do once I get out since you asked me. But no matter how much I think...I can't think of one," Venti's eyes were shining, but it was not one of excitement, or happiness. It was one of unshed tears, glittering in the artificial light that shone from above.
"Someone who has a good reason should leave," Venti gave him a painful smile. "That's the right thing, isn't it?"
Venti was blurry now - Xiao could barely see him as he felt something wet slide down his face. Archons, was he crying?
When was the last time he cried? The only time he ever had was over the Yakshas and Alatus.
But now, he was crying for a boy he barely knew for two days, a boy that was leaving him, just like everyone else.
"Make sure you leave this place alive," Venti's voice was broken.
"And...bring your brother back, maybe go to Guyun Stone Forest too," he laughed, but it was obvious that he was trying to fight past the lump in his throat.
Venti gave him a big grin, one of pain, one of sadness, and through his blurry vision he could see the colours in Venti's eyes fractionating, encompassing his line of sight.
It was not only green, Xiao realised, but a sea green, complete with the dark depths of a beautiful ocean blue.
A colour that he will never see again.
Before Xiao knew it, Venti had already gently removed himself from Xiao, and nudged him to follow the staff out.
Dazed, he followed the man in pink jumpsuit who was beckoning him away, his mind replaying the look on Venti's face over and over again.
No.
No.
No.
He's going to lose someone close to him all over again.
But why was he still walking away?
"Xiao!" He heard Venti call out from behind him, and he stopped in his tracks, but didn't dare to turn around to face Venti.
If Xiao closed his eyes, he could imagine that Venti was just coming up behind him to talk to him, like always, but he didn't.
"Thank you," Venti's voice shook slightly. "for playing with me."
Bang.
"Player 240, eliminated."