The Vigilant Yaksha

Chapter 14

"Heyyyyy~ Wakey wakeyyyyy~" a familiar voice lulled Vena from her deep sleep the following morning.

"Aether?" Her voice came out raspy, causing her to quickly put a hand over her mouth to clear her throat.

"Morning sunshine." The blonde haired boy laughed cheerily, extending his arm out to her as he held a steaming cup of tea between his fingers.

Vena's eyes lit up as the deliciously enticing smell of herbs filled her nose, even making her mouth water ever so slightly.

He knew her far too well.

"Thank you," She cooed as she quickly took the cup once she'd sat up in her bed, being careful not to disturb the still sleeping cat next to her as she greedily slurped up half of the cup of tea in one sip.

"I didn't expect you guys to be back already!" Vena spoke between sips, raising her eyebrows at him as she awaited his response.

"Well, turns out we found him on the second place we looked. Call it a hunch," Aether explained, laughing at the girl as she practically downed the entire cup in less than sixty seconds.

"Get dressed and brush your hair," Aether continued, resting a hand on the top of her bed-head, rubbing back and forth to mess it up even further.

"I hate you!" Vena squeaked as she playfully swatted his hand away, sending him a stern pout.

"It's not nice to lieeee~" Aether sang mockingly with his hands in the air in defense, a huge grin on his face as he stood to his feet to leave her to get ready.

"What am I getting ready for?" Vena puffed out her cheeks as she crossed her arms over her chest, choosing to be stubborn now just to get him back.

"Xiao's back. Day one of training for you! Have funnnnn~" The blonde haired boy stuck his tongue out at her before turning around to leave as he continued to laugh.

Vena felt that familiar tinge of anxiety brewing in her stomach as her eyes widened.

Well fuck.

—————————————————————-

Well, Aether said to meet Xiao downstairs right past the bridge.

Vena was taking her sweet time, simply meandering about the inn as leisurely as she could, admiring the many paintings and decorations hung about the walls as she slowly made her way down the many flights of stairs, choosing to not take the elevator just to waste even more time.

She was dreading this.

Who can say they'd been trained personally by an Adeptus? And by Xiao, of all of them?

But she was also no different from most of the inhabitants of this world, nothing super special to her besides possessing a Vision.

Sure, she'd come from another world, and she was definitely a tad bit older than most humans usually lived for, and her age was frozen in time to around the beginning of adulthood, similar to Xiao and Venti.

But as for having any special powers besides simply being ageless with a Vision, she had no dice.

In the world she'd come from, nobody fought or had abilities like this world, or the others that Aether had traveled too. Aether and Lumine had simply taken Vena along with them, honestly not even really meaning to considering not everyone can simply traverse different worlds. Recognizing this, Aether assumed there might be something special about Vena too, but that was just another topic that he currently had no answers too.

The first world they'd gone too as all three of them had been Teyvat, and it was a learning experience for everyone involved. Aether had tried to start teaching Vena how to wield a weapon to defend herself because she kept insisting on helping him find Lumine and adventure this world. She didn't want to just stay in Mondstadt even though she'd be safe. That didn't matter to her- what mattered now were her friends. Keeping them safe, they were practically family now.