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the platform bellow him shattered, and he didn’t fear the fall nor the landing. he’d lived a good life, he reckoned, so there was nothing to regret.
even his karma was silent for once, and he closed his eyes, to let darkness envelop him, so he could finally rest-
XIAOOOOOOOOOO NOOOOOOOOOOO
he didn’t know if he opened his eyes because of the light, or the sudden voice that nearly broke his ears. when he landed on the ground, solid, sun draping his skin after who knew how long, he only paid a little bit of attention to the presence of rex lapis, instead focusing on the sobs that rang in his mind.
oh my god, i thought he was going to die, oh my god-
xiao shook his head. probably… probably some sort of memory from the compass, that had to be it. this didn’t feel like the screams and cries from his karma, voice too soothing to be from it, so he could only attribute it to the chaotic nature of the space they had just escaped.
much to his relief, he didn’t hear anything else after that, the crying having died down. he spoke with the traveler, telling her about his thoughts and conversing about the yakshas. for a moment, he thought he’d heard a whisper here and there, but he paid them no mind. remnants, he would think. remnants of memories of the dead, and nothing more.
that was, until something came clear-
this quest i fucking swear- xiao has no right to deserve all of this
xiao stopped talking, and frowned. he looked around and then his eyes locked on the traveler and her flying companion.
“did you hear that?” he asked, knowing it couldn’t be them. that wasn’t either of their voices. the two girls exchanged looks.
“besides you talking? no…” paimon answered.
oh i bet he’s going to say something about the wind telling him the truth or- wait… that’s more like kazuha or venti… hm… weird
there it was again. venti, that was barbatos’ mortal name, but he didn’t know anyone named “kazuha”. what was going on? was he the only one that could hear this? based on the looks of the two in front of him, it appeared to be the case.
he would dwell on that later. for now, he would finish talking about bosacius and the others.
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the voice only came back after the traveler asked for his help with a few domains, along with a couple of other people he was already familiar with. it was always the same people, and they were all from mondstadt. two alchemists, and a little kid with cat ears and a tail. he was sure her species had a name, but with how rude she was to everyone, he didn’t even dare ask.
as they all waited by the alchemist table, xiao stiffened when he heard the voice again.
i need more fucking crystalflies
a beat of silence.
uuuuuggggghhhh. alright, fine, fine. i only need five
and then the traveler made everyone go after five crystalflies. after a few times, he began to see a pattern. the voice would mumble something after certain artifacts, and right after the traveler would take everyone there. the exact same happened with certain enemies and other domains. xiao swallowed his unwillingness to socialize, and asked both of the alchemists if they were hearing voices. both looked interested in the concept, but shook their heads. with much reluctance, he also asked the little girl – diona, he learned – and she also gave him a negative.
xiao continued to try and ignore it, but it became increasingly difficult. he finally snapped when he felt eyes watching him way too intently, and then the voice,
he’s so pretty…!
“who are you? what do you want?” he asked, looking around once more, a second away from pulling out his spear.
… huh? uh, ben?! did you call me?!
…
no?
“answer me!” he demanded again, now pulling his spear. he was a fair distance away from the rest of the group, so he was free to yell around as much as he wanted.
that’s xiao’s voice… what the hell? i know i like him but not enough to imagine his voice-
“how do you know my name? where are you? show yourself!” the voice had a tendency to compliment him often, but he didn’t allow that to make him lose his focus.
oh fuck, i’m crazy. i’m actually going mad.
“i’m tired of this game of yours,” he said, and he was genuinely beginning to get mad at how this voice seemingly ignored every single command of his.
… xiao? … who am i kidding, there is no way-
“that’s me,” he grumbled, his grip around his spear tight, the frown on his face very visible to anyone that might see him.
no. fucking. way. uh… can you- can you hear me?
“... yes.” he was still suspicious, he couldn’t trust the one behind the voice. for all he knew, they were playing dumb.
NO FUCKING WAY- WHAT THE SHIT IS GOING ON-
“stop screaming,” he winced.
… sorry. uh. uuuh…
and they finally gave him their name. it was odd, didn’t sound like anything he’d ever heard before, but he took it anyway. he didn’t say it outloud, but he wouldn’t forget it, either.
um. how- how come you can hear me? are you in the game?
game?
“when I was falling, in the chasm, i heard you scream my name and then cry,” he answered bluntly. “where are you?”
oh! oh… ew, how embarrassing… um! i’m not… where you are. i’m… kind of… outside? i don’t know how to explain it…
“explain anyway. i am not dumb, i might understand,” he said. there was silence, but only after he walked over to a rock and sat down, did the voice speak again.
… you okay?
“yes.”
you didn’t feel controlled or anything, right?
“no.” what kind of question was that?
huh… alright. erm. it’s like… i’m watching everything happen in teyvat from an outside… perspective? like- imagine i’m some sort of ghost that floats around lumine and i watch her look for her brother and everything
“and why am i involved?” he asked, more relaxed now that he was getting some answers.
i dunno… maybe because i uuuuuh screamed your name really loudly when you almost died? i’m still angry at you for doing that, by the way. you almost gave me a heart attack
“why do you care,” he said, instead of asked. “we’re not close for you to be that attached to me.”
… long story. but i care about you. a lot. thinking about you makes me feel… okay.
“...” even he didn’t know what to respond to that. he didn’t know this person. they meant nothing to him, and yet… he couldn’t help but feel cherished. xiao shook his head the second the thought appeared. foolish.
he stood up and went back to the statue of the seven where supposedly the other teammates were, but he only found lumine.
i can… tell you about it, in wangshu inn?
he’d been about to respond, but the traveler spoke up first.
“xiao, would you accompany me back to wangshu inn? i’ll make you almond tofu!” she was already reaching for her map to choose the waypoint.
“... sure,” he said simply, unsure of who he was replying to.