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Xiao had packed up his belongings, got up and left Zhongli’s house with a silent goodbye wave. As he walked down the pavement, thoughts clouded his mind.
Xianyun must have been in her bird form today and happened to fly past Xiao’s little predicament outside the library. Either it happened coincidentally, or she was sent to make sure Xiao was okay. He had been feeling strange stares whenever he went about his day. Instincts told him it was the stare of an adeptus, so he never bothered to identify who was watching.
As he slowly pieced things together, he heard the wind blowing, with someone calling out his name from afar. He turned around, just to see Aether running towards him. Xiao didn’t know how to react as Aether gave him the tightest hug.
Aether was wearing a similar outfit he had worn when he was saving Liyue. There were alterations made in his outfit which made him blend well into this modern world. His hair was now in a ponytail, though Xiao could tell that Aether had cut his hair not long ago to trim the messy sides. As usual, Aether carried the biggest and brightest smile to Xiao. The adeptus wondered whether Aether’s cheeks hurt when presenting his signature smile.
“Hey, Xiao!” Aether greeted as he let Xiao go. Behind him emerged his sister, Lumine, who dressed in a white t-shirt that said “Girl Power” in black font, and jeans shorts. She seemed quiet, but waved to Xiao nonetheless.
“Aether…” Xiao was at a loss for words. The face he remembered was still the same, but seeing it again refreshed his memory.
Saving Aether from a fall at the Jade Chamber, rescuing him when he “drowned”, and training with Ganyu where he was a mere spectator. Then, there were the memories where Aether successfully saved Xiao from awkward situations during Lantern Rite, Aether begging Xiao to see the Mingxiao lanterns light up the sky, and soon Aether accompanying Xiao to light up a Mingxiao lantern.
“How have you been?” Aether asked. “We should catch up sometime!”
“Let’s head back to my apartment,” Xiao suggested. “We can catch up there.”
Aether could’ve sworn he witnessed Xiao’s slight smile. It was obvious to him that Xiao must’ve been lonely, and his presence just brightened up Xiao’s day… and that Xiao missed him a lot. Aether motioned to Lumine to follow them.
On one hand, Lumine was holding a cold boba drink. She clutched onto her blue bow tie as she tailed behind Xiao and Aether. Her two locks of front hair flew in the wind. Aether had once suggested that she cut her front hair and grow out her back hair, but of course, as a stubborn sister, she refused. She adored her hair, even if it reminded of how she was in the past towards Teyvat. Despite this, it was a good reminder for her that Aether had continued to pursue his search for her even when every question in his head wasn’t answered. It was strange for someone to hold such significance on their hair, though Lumine thought it was one of the best ways to remind herself, looking in the mirror, how good of a brother she was so blessed to have.
Lumine had realized she was already a far distance from the duo. “Wait up!” Lumine ran, her short legs working as efficient as they could.
Xiao’s apartment was not far from Zhongli’s house. A few blocks and crossing roads on two occasions, and they reached his apartment.
Upon entering, Aether let out a gasp on how clean and tidied the apartment was. There was a shelf of antiques that Xiao had preserved since the time of old Liyue, until now when Xianyun or Zhongli would give him antiques as a birthday present to keep him company. There was a Chinese tea set on the dining table, ready for the next use. The kettle was made out of carved stone, with unique patterns set on different angles of the kettle. The cups were made of porcelain glass. Aether only found out later that Xiao had accidentally broken the original cups, which explained the mismatched aesthetic of the kettle and teacups.
Meanwhile, Lumine sat on the couch to stare at the large television fixed on the wall. She could see her reflection clearly on the television. Xiao must have taken a lot of care in cleaning his apartment properly. She turned her attention to the plain, white and small coffee table in the middle. A photo frame was placed there, facing away from Lumine. When she turned it around, she realised it was a picture taken of Xiao and Aether before he had to leave Teyvat.
It was a painful moment for Aether to leave behind so many friends. Lumine would know - finding her brother weeping in his room occasionally. He had held the same picture in his hands as he wept. Xiao meant a lot to Aether, who was a great, protective friend for Aether.
“Xiao, what happened?” Aether asked, placing a hand on his chest. “Tell me.”
Xiao had Aether sit down beside Lumine before boiling some tea and serving it to the two. As he explained, Aether grew more and more concerned for his friend. When Aether heard the phrase “But I will handle it on my own.” from Xiao’s lips, he instantly stopped him.
“I can help you,” Aether suggested. “I had some sort of… experience in Fontaine defending Lyney.”
“I do not wish to inconvenience you any further,” Xiao almost snapped. Aether had done so much in the past. He remembered the distant traveler fighting nation to nation for their people, helping others through daily commissions assigned by the Adventurer’s Guild, and accompanying him throughout Lantern Rite. Aether did all of this and received less information in return about his sister.
Nothing of what Aether was given in return was worth it.
“I only wished to catch up with you,” Xiao continued, this time in a calmer tone. “It has been a long time since we last met.”
Lumine sipped on her boba tea, then spoke: “How about Yanfei?”
“Is she still even- uhh, alive?” Aether asked, scratching his head lightly in embarrassment.
“She is, but under a disguised name,” Xiao reached out for his phone. “She was the contact I had referred to with 帝君.”
“How did you even know about Yanfei?” Aether looked at his sister, puzzled. “You’ve never told me you knew Yanfei.”
“I had eyes everywhere,” Lumine casually mentioned, sipping on the last drop of boba tea in her plastic cup. “People mentioned her to me when you had some interaction with her.”
“Stalker,” Aether shivered in fear. “I have a stalker as a sister, can’t imagine how you acted with your friends.”
Aether’s head was knocked open with a whack of the bow tie Lumine had been wearing.
Meanwhile, Xiao had been constructing an email to Yanfei’s law firm. He needed all the representation he could get to escape this predicament. Attracting the attention of the police was something no adeptus had done before. He had officially made a fool out of himself - something that would become a hot topic of conversation among the people who know of the adepti and archons.
He would be labelled as the first adeptus that fucked up, the first adeptus to be an idiot, the first adeptus to make a rookie mistake. Still, he doesn’t know what caused the police’s roused attention. Thinking back to the police, he wondered why the officers did not detain him unfairly. Do they know…?
Xiao’s eyebrows narrowed as he wrote the email. He couldn’t believe he had made a mistake - such a mistake that he doesn’t even know that he made, and is risking the lives of archons and adepti. This was unlike him.
Aether and Lumine continued to hang out with Xiao until after dinner. Occasionally, Xiao would hear cries for help and rush to help out before coming back, barely breaking a sweat. Lumine was impressed with Xiao’s speed, though Aether seemed to have gotten used to it.
“We’re gonna go rest at a nearby hotel,” Aether told Xiao. “Don’t worry about us. And please, contact me when you need help.”
“We are past the point in this relationship that we both know I do not require help,” Xiao scoffed. “Though, I appreciate the gesture.”
Aether let out a cheeky chuckle. After dinner, Aether and Lumine left Xiao, both waving goodbye to the Yaksha synchronized. Xiao only nodded in return, then began walking back to his apartment.
During the dinner, Xiao had taken a few peeks at his phone notifications, noticing that Yanfei had replied. Some contents he read of the email was briefly about how excited she was to work with him, and some assurance that he is in safe hands. There were points when Xiao was tempted to produce a reply, though he did promise Aether and Lumine to catch up. He ended up not writing the reply email, until he reached home.
The temptation to reply to Yanfei so quickly was merely something Xiao hoped would solve the issue quicker. The embarrassing mistake, that Xiao still had no idea about, is pulling out his insides and shoving his flesh inside as a replacement. The matter at hand is an issue, after all, so he knew to approach the matter with a calm heart. Still…
Suddenly, a group of shadowy figures jumped on Xiao, pushing and punching him anywhere they could put their hands on. Xiao was caught by surprise - thoughts of the “mistake” had clouded his mind so much that his natural instinct of being vigilant vanished. What is happening to him?
Xiao threw the crooks a further distance one by one swiftly. Out of all the people, he was the one who was running into trouble. Wasn’t he supposed to be the protector, not the victim? Regardless, he still had the ability to summon his spear and fight.
If you blinked, you would’ve missed it. Xiao knocked everyone unconscious within seconds, dashing from blindspot to blindspot and whipping the crooks on their heads with his spear. Only a quick moment was needed, and he fled the scene. Something tells him those crooks may be connected to the police…
After this encounter, Xiao knew it was not safe to return to his apartment. He should’ve second-guessed the officers when they released him so easily.
A few hours of hiding in multiple different alleyways, the coast was soon clear for Xiao to finally return to his apartment. He stumbled to his door, twisted his key for the door to open, closed the door, locked it and laid on his bed. Today felt tiring, but he felt… happy? Xiao took out his phone and began typing a reply to Yanfei whilst deep in thought.
To start off the day, the officers nearly detained Xiao. They, for some reason, let him off that easily. Connecting this with his recent encounter with mysterious people, they must have wanted to gather evidence for something. On the way to Zhongli’s house, he met someone who strongly resembled Indarias. Was it possible that Indarias had reincarnated, and today was the fateful day that she wanted to see him? Would he see Bosacius, Bonanus and Menogias too? Are their souls and connections to Xiao so strong that the encounter with Indarias overpowered any logical explanation?
Aether and Lumine crossed paths with Xiao. Xiao had only realised now - he never asked the twins the purpose of their visit. Perhaps another day. His day was already horrible, but with Aether, everything seemed to calm down. The stress that approached Xiao carried triggers for his karmic debt, but seeing Aether was all that it took to silence any screams of souls he had slaughtered.
Then, the crooks. Who were they? Who do they work for? The only possible connection is with the police. Though, they had shown no evidence that they work for the police. Xiao could not think anymore. He hit the send button, then put his phone away. He quickly changed into some old clothes and teleported away to the top of a mountain…
The night was blessed with some peaceful whistling of a bird, which seemed to be calling out for its comrades to join it, humming throughout the night.