Taking over the Abyss

31- Ruins of the Past

You walked quietly back into Cloud Retainer's abode, still flicking some remaining droplets of water out of your hair. You had woken up early in the morning to get some more training with your polearm in, as per some advice Zhongli had given you while hanging out. Then you stood underneath a waterfall to cool off. It was probably a bad idea, because you were completely soaked, but it was the best you could come up with what you had. Your Herald armor was practically built for getting wet, thanks to the awesome and totally-not-cheesed-by-freeze shielded state.

The same one you hadn't bothered to figure out, too. You'd get around to it, eventually. For now, you were already struggling enough with teleporting, and your control over Abyss Sorcery was still at best mediocre. Maybe it'd be best for you to stop fooling around, just a bit. Especially since it got you married to pigeons. You sighed, trying not to track too much water inside of Cloud Retainer's abode.

Poking your head into your temporary room, you saw that Leiptr was asleep. On the bed, too. Ah, you wanted to do the same. As essential as training was, you still loved to sleep. Shuffling towards your bed, you plopped down face first and immediately drifted off to sleep, lulled by the quiet sounds of Leiptr grumbling in his sleep.

"I HAVE BAD NEWS!" Hearing a shrill voice cry out from right beside you, your eyes snapped open with a short surprised shriek, and you sat straight up. A tumble from beside you caught your attention as you raised a hand to your chest to instinctually try and calm yourself down. Just as shocked as you were was Sindri, who had fallen to the ground from the sheer force of you sitting up.

"MILADY!" Your shriek had caused the peacefully sleeping butler in the other bed to awaken, going from dead asleep to sitting up and throwing away his covers within half a second. Panicked out of concern for your safety, Leiptr swiftly checked around the room for any immediate dangers before coming to your side.

You held out a hand to stop him, looking down to Sindri to scold him gently, "Sindri, please don't do things like that... you nearly gave me a heart attack."

Sindri's ears had flopped down, as he hung his head in shame, "M- my apologies, milady. I was in a hurry and I was panicked, so..."

He trailed off, as you sighed and shook the incident off, "That's... alright. Just, please try not to do it again. I'm not mad at you, okay?"

Sindri's mood had lifted, just in time for Leiptr to try and assert his status as the 'better of the two'. Leiptr raised a hand to his chest and flashed a brilliant smile at you, having composed himself from the alarmed state he woke up in, "On the contrary, know that I will never forgive you for this. I understand that your small size means that anything somewhat larger than you sends your prey instincts into a terrified state, but I don't care. Forcing her Majesty to awaken in such a state is an unforgiveable sin to which no amount of prayer can atone for."

"It's really not that big of a deal," you did your best to console Sindri after Leiptr viciously ripped him apart with his words. Knowing that Leiptr was just worried about you, you turned to him, "I'm sorry for scaring you by screaming."

Leiptr bowed his head slightly, "No need to apologize, milady. It is my duty to serve your every beck and call, and to protect you from everything and anything."

His dedication was intense. You switched your attention back to Sindri, "Now, what's this about bad news?"

Sindri's ears stood straight up, "Yes! Bad news! Uhm, I discovered where they're hiding the Statue of the Seven that they stole."

"Really?" Leiptr clicked his tongue in annoyance, though his impeccable smile didn't fade off his face, "You woke her up for... this? Now what? Are you going to tell her where you can find grass growing?"