𝐅𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐗𝐢𝐚𝐨 ―𝐠. 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐭

9 || Unfamiliar Person

a/n: Cloud Retainer talks so funny I was having a stroke trying to write her dialogue. Don't judge guys...I tried my best..... (-｡-;

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By the time Xiao gave up looking for you, it was well past the evening. Of course, he didn't spend the entirety of the day scouring the Jueyun Karst just for you; being an Adeptus, he purged evils wherever he came across, and that took up a majority of his day. It was strange, however, that he couldn't feel your presence. With Adepti arts, he has the ability to sense a person's presence, especially in such an unfrequented area as the Adepti land. But, he had yet to locate you, almost as if you didn't exist at all. He frowned as he made his way to his last destination: Mt. Aocang.

"Oh, one is most surprised to face the Conquerer of Demons," came the voice of Cloud Retainer from the center of the pond. Her teal feathers were glistening in the lowering sunlight, and she looked as cultivated as ever. "What does one owe you the pleasure of?"

Skimming the area and seeing that you weren't there, Xiao looked away while shaking his head.

"I was looking for the doctor Rex Lapis referred to me," he answered, readying himself to teleport back to Wangshu Inn. He thought that you perhaps already made your way back.

"Do you speak of Buer?" Cloud Retainer asked, walking closer to the Yaksha. "Oh, they have told one that they go by (y/n) in the present. If you seek of them, one must say thine timing is unfortunate...after some tea have they left."

"Buer?" echoed Xiao, dropping his hands to his sides. "Indeed I was looking for Doctor (y/n), but who is Buer?"

Cloud Retainer tilted her head, saying, "Buer is the true name of the doctor thou speaks of. Does Rex Lapis have yet to introduce the two of you?"

"....No," the Yaksha said, eyebrows quirked. "I have been under Doctor (y/n)'s treatment for over two weeks now, but I have only known them as "(y/n)" and not the "Buer" you say."

A moment of silence passed between the two, Xiao questioning your odd name and Cloud Retainer watching curiously. She flapped her wings and stretched her neck as she made her way closer to the dark-haired Adeptus.

"One is most interested in Buer's treatment," the teal crane voiced. "What is their manner? So childish they were in the past that they were most often found criticized by Rex Lapis. They tried hard to please the seniors by impersonating Morax, but their act would quickly dissipate like a child." Cloud Retainer laughed airily at the memory.

"You...you knew Dr. (y/n) before?" Xiao exhaled as he settled, deciding not to leave for now. It took him two weeks to finally recognize that you're a person standing high enough to be friends with Morax, but to be friends with another Adeptus as well....why did he not know?

"Why, of course," the illuminated beast responded. "One drank tea with Buer and Rex Lapis in this very pond every week until Buer disappeared from Liyue. Most grateful is one to see Buer once again after years...One was regretful for not being there in the time of their rage. It left oneself pondering if their maturing occurred thence."

"Their rage?" Xiao repeated, only becoming more muddled. A childish person who copied Morax's behavior to please people? A tea-drinker with Cloud Retainer? A person who disappeared from Liyue after a rage? Were they even talking about the same person?

Cloud Retainer looked towards the setting sun, sentiment clouding her eyes. She glanced back at Xiao and said, "Yes, their rage. Buer was consumed in a raging madness and exterminated much of the evil gods' malice, destroying a part of Liyue in the process after the Archon War. Although, one resigns that without their frenzy, the divinities Rex Lapis subdued would not be as governable. Perhaps a sounder narrative would be given by Rex Lapis himself. One knows little of the subject."

The Archon War. You were raging after the Archon War. You were raging after the Archon war that ended two thousand years ago. You were alive two thousand years ago.

Without thought, Xiao vanished from Mt. Aocang, leaving Cloud Retainer by herself. The Yaksha felt an unusual desperation to sort his thoughts, and he knew Morax would be able to help. He had believed you were open with him, personalizing medicine for him, smiling at him, showing the cave to him, caring for him. Was that all a facade? Was the familiarity he felt all a lie?

Who did he reveal his soul to?

When he appeared before Zhongli who stood on the deck of Wangshu Inn as if he knew already what Xiao was here for, the Adeptus kneeled on one leg and lowered his head in respect. The retired Geo Archon continued staring over the horizon.

"You are here," he greeted, "after talking with Cloud Retainer, it seems."

"Rex Lapis, please...please explain the being Dr. (y/n)- no, Buer," Xiao hesitated, his usually calm voice feathered with confusion. Zhongli turned around and nodded his head slowly. It was his oversight that led to the Adeptus' confusion, but it wasn't his right to tell your story.

"Buer, why don't you tell Adeptus Xiao now?" he said instead.

From beside the God of Contracts, a glow of golden whisps appeared out of thin air and began spreading outward, revealing your figure. Your (e/c) eyes were shining gold as well, and you gazed at Xiao in sympathy. The Yaksha's eyebrows were knit with confusion, his own amber eyes darting around your body.

"Little Xiao, it seems this explanation was drawn out," you murmured once your mortal vessel was in full view. "Forgive me."

"You aren't a mortal," the Adeptus exhaled, his arms hanging like dead branches beside him.

You shook your head and gave a strained smile. Sure you were keeping your true identity a secret for fun, but you were going to tell him in due time. Seeing the look of unfamiliarity in Xiao's amber eyes let you know that the trust you built until now was severed, that he would guard himself against you once again, and you knew it was your fault.

"Cloud Retainer tends to share stories of the old without verifying its secrecy," Rex Lapis sighed, sitting down at the table in front of you.

"She does. I bet she told you something embarrassing, huh?" You tried to laugh, but you could see that the Yaksha was having none of it.

"Cloud Retainer spoke of your rage two thousand years ago," Xiao said, coldness laced in his words. "Please explain."

Zhongli flashed you a worried glance, knowing that this was a touchy subject, not only for you but for him as well. Xiao noticed but remained in his spot, unwavering.

"Buer, it is alright if you wish not to ta-"

"No, Morax, I will tell him," you interrupted your friend. If anything, you needed to share the story with him as well; although he was there at the moment, you ran away without explanation. And yet, when you returned, Morax made no mention of your destruction of Liyue and accepted you with open arms. The least you could do was tell him the true story.

"Where to begin?" you chuckled as you closed your eyes, feeling the stillness in the air. It was the first time you were so anxious about mending relations with someone, and you weren't sure how to go about it. Trust, to Xiao, was a precious thing. He rarely opened up to anyone, yet just yesterday he told you his true feelings, only to find out that he bared his soul to a stranger. You supposed the only thing you could do was to tell secrets of equal standing. You looked straight into Xiao's narrowed, beautiful eyes.

"I," you decided to say, "am known as (y/n) in this mortal vessel. But as Cloud Retainer exposed, my true name is Buer...And I am the God of Healing."