"You Called?" || Xiao x Reader

P r o l o g u e

"LET GO!" a girl shouts, her eyes close to tears, her arms red from the tight clench of 4 men who are unsympathetically pushing her forward without a single look of pity. The girl's hair is in a mess as she makes an effort to resist their grasp, her eyes full of fear and betrayal. She attempts to kick them, pull her arms out of their grasp, trying to do something, anything, that would let her live, just this once. 

There wasn't much of a reason to stay alive. But she had always been hopeful to escape, not to run to the hands of death, but to live without the burden of being a cursed child. To see the rest of Liyue. To go beyond the hell of a mountain. 

As a child, she loved the stories of Liyue harbor from the elderly, how bright and beautiful it seemed. And there wasn't much of them, as the stories of Liyue were mostly about the Archon war. However, it has been years since they've been down there. 

The stories may be old, as the residents have not left their village for more years than one could count, but it was full of mysteries, the very thing the girl was fond about. She was always a curious child, and being stuck in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by mountains and peaks, there wasn't much to it. She was curious. She wanted to see the breathtaking views that had been described to her, she wanted to be there. 

But that wasn't possible anymore. 

It wasn't even possible from the start. The vision was just a dream. It would never be true. How could she, the one who caused chaos to the village, be able to freely explore to her desire? And how could she even get down this mountain, where almost no mortal could even get up? 

Those stories were just stories. 

Maybe they were never real.

Reality hit her more than ever before and every time she pleaded for help, her voice faltered. Her screams started to fade and as the men held on to her even tighter, and soon after she didn't even resist. Her cries and screams stopped and it was almost complete silence. 

But something made her want to fight back. Was there a chance she could live? The men didn't show any pity towards her. It wouldn't be possible that they would let her off free. They just kept pulling her closer and closer to the edge. Closer and closer. She knew she had lost. 

"Someone...help?"

she whispered, as if it was a question. 

And for some reason, even if she knew it, she then started to shout again, as if there was a person who would listen to her cries, as if there was someone who would pity a girl that was cursed. A girl that not even her parents wanted. That no one wanted. 

She just wanted to live. She's done nothing wrong. 

Hope started to disappear within arms reach once again. Like grasping the rocks of a mountain...but your hand slips. 

"Please... I won't inflict bad luck to the village... please... let me live." she quietly spoke, her voice hoarse. 

She felt her feet slipping, pieces of dirt falling down to the ground below her. 

is it over?  

She completely let go of all hope. Everything ached in her body. She closed her eyes and felt someone push her over the edge. 

It was over.

"If you awake to a knife at your throat, if monsters dig their claws into you, if death comes knocking at your door, call out my name. Adeptus Xiao. I will be here when you call."