A Change of Fates

Chapter 3: Wilting Glaze Lillies

A couple of more weeks had gone by since then.

After she was officially accepted into the assembly as one of it's people, Ying have been making the best out of the situation. The people are still being wary of her, which she did not mind and choose to give as little distance she could with them to give them some space. In order to not bother the still anxious people, Morax had instructed Ying to stay in Cloud Retainer's abode for the time being, living there until she eventually gained the peole's trust. But Ying knows it better that it was merely a pretext for the avian Adeptus to keep an eye on her in case if she did something stupid again like sneaking out of town without notice.

Cloud Retainer is still as loud as ever, being very talkative when it comes to talking about her young half-Adeptus disciple, or being boastful of her creations and intellect in mechanical engineering, which TOTALLY not inferior to Guizhong's, at least according to herself. Though the Adeptus now preferred to take on her human form more often than she never was back in the present time, it's still nice for Ying to see some familiarity around her, which makes her stay a little bit nicer than the roughness of the outside world filled with chaos.

Her mission still continues on throughout the days. Ying would regularly check up on Guizhong to see if she were safe and didn't stroll out of the city without any protection. Though the goddess would mostly stayed inside the assembly to do her work of maintaining the stability of the civilization that she and her partner/future husband create, or doing research in her personal workshop and having some tea time with her two close Adeptus associates, Cloud Retainer and Streetward Rambler. Guizhong would still occasionally went out of the assembly to do things outside, like collecting materials such as herbs or mechanical parts to bring back for research. And just like a personal bodyguard of her, Ying would always insisted on accompanying just like before, only this time, she is actually there taking a stroll by her side instead of acting like a stalker without a crush.

When Ying asked Guizhong of it for the first time, the goddess had told her to not bother herself in doing so, that she could take care of herself just fine. But Ying had reasoned with her that she would like to explore the Liyue outside of the safe haven that the gods had created, that as a traveler, it is in her nature to know the outside world better, and seeing the outside world together is better than alone.

And with enough convincing, Guizhong found no reason to deny her request, or any other after that. And they will always went outside together since then. Finding each others company to be a pleasant one.

But protecting Guizhong is not something that she did every day. So during the days when she has nothing to do, Ying would spend her time doing things like patrolling in the surrounding area outside of the assembly to check for any threatening monsters that gets too close to the border. And if not that, then she'll do other mundane things like introducing herself to the rest of the Adepti she haven't met and have met before in the present time.

Like the other four Yakhas, the closest thing that Xiao has to a family, they are dear to him, as he was very dear to them. And it was their deaths in the near future that caused Xiao a great deal of suffering that consume him for every breath he takes.

It wasn't easy for her though, none the easier than when she tries to get close to Xiao. Perhaps it's even harder, since now she has to deal with five people with similar cases. But with persistence and patience, she managed to pull through, and become close enough to the Yakhas that she was allowed to come with them to do their job in exterminate the demonic manifestation of deceased gods. Though they still wouldn't allow her in taking part in the cleansing of the curse and plagues, she can still prove her worth by helping them kill all the monsters.

She was having such a good time with them, for having to know Xiao's found family, after hearing so much about them from the green haired boy himself. But at the same time, she also feels immensely sad, as she knows full well of the fates that awaits them in the future. One that she... Unfortunately unable to change, even if she travels back in time to change every outcome. So that's why she has to make sure to cherish every moment she has with them, even if it means that she has to deal with Xiao's tsundereness (still the same as ever,) Bosacius who asks her to a spar in every occasion, Menogias who treats her like a child due to her physical appearance (and not to mention asking her to be a model for some of his clothes designs,) and then both Indarias and Bonanus constant teasing for her "cute" appearance and apparent closeness to Xiao.