Chapter Text
Verr Goldet
Verr Goldet was standing behind her desk as usual, making sure that everything went smoothly at Wangshu Inn. She took her responsibility as the boss very seriously.
On the balcony on her right, she could hear her husband talking with the Traveler and Paimon. The Traveler had just helped repair the stairs after another unfortunate incident. It was remarkable that they were still taking requests like this, in spite of their new celebrity.
She liked the Traveler’s humility and their will to help. It reminded her of the guest on the roof, the one that was rarely seen and that most people didn’t even know about, and who had been diligently protecting Liyue for thousands of years. It was a well-guarded secret that Wangshu Inn had been built and was operated in order to help the last Guardian Yaksha of Liyue in his daily duties.
Speaking of Xiao, Verr Goldet hadn’t seen him at all in the past few days. This in itself wasn’t an unusual occurrence. What was more unusual was that nobody else had seen him, not even Yanxiao who cooked his favorite meal. The food they had left on the upper balcony had been untouched.
Verr Goldet wasn’t worried, per se. Xiao was a being of immense power, he was perfectly able to take care of himself.
Still, maybe she could ask the Traveler about it. Xiao seemed to like them. He might accept food if they were the one bringing it, and then Yanxiao would stop worrying that he had lost his edge in cooking.
The Traveler had finished talking to Huai’an and was now coming her way. She was about to ask them when a sudden thump on the upper balcony drew her attention. The sound was followed by a childish whine, and Verr Goldet frowned. She was certain that nobody had climbed up the stairs to that balcony, let alone a child.
As the Traveler, Paimon and Huai’an hurried to climb the stairs, Verr Goldet hesitated to follow them. She didn’t want to leave the reception desk unattended unless it was a true emergency. Surely if there was anything requiring her attention, one of the three would let her know.
She changed her mind when she heard the gasps and swiftly climbed the steps leading to the upper balcony, curious to see what had her husband and their guests so stunned.
She couldn’t help gasping herself when she took in the scene in front of her.
Sitting in the center of the balcony, his legs spread as if he had just fallen from the tree above, a small child was looking at them with a lost and pained expression.
“It hurts,” the child whispered, his high-pitched voice filled with sorrow.
Verr Goldet took a deep, steadying breath. She was a trained agent of the Qixing. She knew how to read a situation in seconds, and there was no doubt in her mind about the identity of the child in front of her.
He had golden wings and huge, scared eyes, and all around him Anemo power mixed with the dark residue of vengeful fallen gods. Clearly he was an Adeptus, and not any Adeptus–a yaksha.
A yaksha whose face looked like a smaller, gentler version of Xiao’s. She had never seen Xiao’s wings before, but she had read the legends.
The Traveler must have reached the same conclusion, because they were already kneeling next to the child with a concerned expression. “Xiao,” they said, their tone soft and gentle.
The child–Xiao–looked at them in confusion.
“I’m your friend,” the Traveler started. “Do you remember me?”
“Not really,” Xiao said. “Is Xiao my name?”
The Traveler nodded. Next to them, Paimon was wringing her hands.
“You don’t remember us?” she asked, clearly upset.
The kid hunched his shoulders. “I apologize.”
“Paimon,” the Traveler said, their tone gently scolding. “Don’t upset him.”
“I’m sorry!” Paimon whispered, although everyone on the balcony could hear her. “I’m just worried! But… Shouldn’t his karma be worse than that?”
Verr Goldet had noticed it, too. The dark traces mixing with pure Anemo were less prominent than usual. While it was still clearly affecting the child, Verr Goldet was hoping that he was spared most of the pain Xiao usually felt.
“Karma?” Xiao asked in a small voice.
“What do you remember?” the Traveler said, their voice still calm and gentle.
Verr Goldet knew that one of the Traveler’s most extraordinary features was their ability to befriend people at first sight, and she was grateful that they were here today. Despite being obviously frightened, the child had made no move to run away.
Surely the Traveler would let themselves be convinced to stay at the inn a bit longer than planned and help keep an eye on Xiao while they got to the bottom of this unexpected situation. While Adepti had the ability to shape their bodies at will, she highly doubted that Xiao would choose the form of a child, let alone one as confused as this one was.
She nudged her husband, who despite his own training was still gaping.
“Send word to the Qixing,” she whispered. “I’ll make sure nobody comes here.”
Huai’an nodded and quickly walked away. Verr Goldet exchanged a look with the Traveler before doing the same, silently entrusting them with the safety of the Adeptus child.
As she went down the stairs, she started listing everything she would have to do. Closing the inn would be too suspicious, but would Xiao agree to stay hidden from the other guests? She knew how to deal with human children, but she had no idea whether Adepti ones were the same. Before today, she hadn’t even known that Adepti had childhoods.
And there was the matter of the source of Xiao’s predicament. What kind of power could affect an Adeptus as powerful as Xiao in such a way? Were they a threat to Liyue?
The sooner Ningguang and the other Qixing knew about it, the better. Verr Goldet could only hope that the situation would remain under control until then.