The Spark [Xiao x Aether]

Figuring yourself out V

Aether could hear tons of noises around him, some seemed like frightened whispering while others seemed like cries. Everything was still pitch black and he didn't know what was happening. Strange screams and cries started appearing in the middle of all that, unrecognizable cries that the traveler couldn't make any sense of who's they were.

Suddenly he felt some sort of veins start grabbing his arms and legs tightening hard around him. They were gripping him so hard he felt like he wanted to scream, but he couldn't. He was unaware of why this was happening and what on earth that was.

Over the time that pain and those unbearable noises got worse. Aether had no track of time. As if he was stuck in an endless nightmare.

His body was shaking from all the bruises he had gotten from the mysterious veins. He wanted to attempt to fight them off but it was impossible to move and he couldn't find his blade. Every time he tried to kick them the grip just got worse. Not once in all of his travels around the world had he experienced something so unusual.

For a second he thought this was it.

This was the end of it all.

He closed his eyes ready to accept his fate but right before he fully closed them he heard mysterious recognizable voices in the distance. He didn't know to who they belonged but they were better to listen to than the cries and screams that still kept going on in the distance of that darkness.

"This is my fault...I'm the reason this had happened. If only I knew how to control my own needs for just a moment. I'm the reason he's like this." One of the voices said before that same person started to sob uncontrollably.

"Please, whatever you do quit blaming yourself. If not for you, then for him. He's a strong person, he should wake up soon. Hopefully..."

A glass seemed to have shattered right after that sentence, as if somebody threw it against some really hard wall or floor.

"...Enough of this nonsense. You're lucky that vase didn't shatter all over the room, it could've hit him."

"I...apologize. I-"

And then the two voices went silent, and so did those noises from earlier. Everything felt silent now. Even the veins have dissapeared. The blonde boy was relieved. Even though everything had stopped he was still unsure what was happening. His body was unable to move and every time he tried to speak he felt as if something was trying to choke him. Only thing Aether was able to do was think. Even his own thoughts seemed like they were a dream at this point. He didn't know himself anymore.

Maybe this was the afterlife. Maybe this happens when somebody dies in Teyvat. Now it was time to visit the next world together with his sister, like in the good old times. Leaving everyone behind shouldn't be a problem, they all can survive without their little helper.

But he knew deep down there was one person he could never leave behind.

'Xiao...' he though before a strong shock went through his entire body stopping his thoughts.

"XIAO!" he screamed, eyes full of fear as he realized where he was. Aether was sitting on a bed in one of the Wangshuu inn rooms. There was no darkness anymore he could see the sunlight coming from the windows.

He took a look around the room, he saw Zhongli sitting right next to the bed. And of course, he saw the Yaksha running inside the room as fast as he could. He did promise to answer every single one of the blonde boy's calls after all.

The Adeptuses eyes seemed to not be any better than the traveler's. It wasn't hard to figure out who the mysterious voices were now.

"Ah. You're awake." Said the Geo archon as Xiao just stared in complete silence looking at the ground.