Sweet Dreams || Xiaolumi

Chapter 4 - Swimming Against The Current

CW // self-harm, violence, death, mentions of suicide, profanity

!!DISCLAIMER!!
Some of the dialogue in this chapter came from Genshin Impact's travel logs, specifically from the Jade Chamber scene. I copied them down in an attempt to be lore-accurate, however, I did not write most of those lines. Thank you for your understanding. :)

- x x -

"Pick up your polearm and slaughter her, you lowly creature!", Yinguo yelled.

"I-I can't.. Master, you have to understand, she's an innocent mortal! I can't kill her!", Xiao said, his body trembling slightly.

"You dare to talk back to me?! Hah, it's almost like you want me to send you to Lathar again. Oh, I know. What about I suspend you over my Geo constructs again? Ah, or what if I use my burning rope again? Hm? Do you really want that for yourself, Zhiyuan?!"

Yinguo grabbed Xiao's chin and forced him to look at the woman below him, who was already bound by chains. She was a woman with long, wavy wine-colored hair, who appeared to be no older than twenty-six years old. Judging by the size of her stomach, she was probably pregnant as well.

"They are nothing but ants, Zhiyuan. Ants that are in my fucking way, more worthless than dirt. I want them out. Now go crush this insignificant insect for me, slave."

Xiao looked at Yinguo with pleading eyes, but there was nothing but a mix of hatred and satisfaction in her blood-red eyes.

"Ahaha~, as much as I love that pathetic little face of yours, I'm getting bored. Kill her so I can finally move on to something more entertaining." she held the side of Xiao's face, and whispered in his ear. "You cannot refuse, my dear adeptus. I know all of your weaknesses, and I will use them to my advantage. Remember our deal. You remain loyal to me, and I will keep you.. and your family.. alive." As she spoke, she slowly pierced Xiao's cheek with her razor-sharp nails. "If you don't end her life right now.. you and her will be in a whole world of suffering."

She removed her hand from Xiao's face. "You know what to do now, don't you, my young soldier?"

"Yes.. Master. I understand.", he said. Tears welled up in his eyes, but he quickly blinked them away. Then, he looked at the young woman. She was humming a lullaby to the baby in her womb that would never be born, never get a chance at life, and never get to experience anything it otherwise would have. She looked peaceful, as if accepting that she and her unborn child were about to die.

Xiao slowly stepped towards her, lamenting the fact that things should have been different. This woman should have had her child and lived a happy life with her family. She shouldn't have died like this. She should have died an old lady, warm and comfortable in her bed, surrounded by her loved ones. She shouldn't have had her life cut short. She certainly shouldn't have had this fate assigned to her. This was unfair. Why was life so unfair?!

"I'm sorry I have to do this..", he said, his voice cracking a bit.

"It's okay.. This is my fate. Besides.. it wasn't your choice, was it?", she said, rubbing her stomach slowly, as if calming down the child that's inside her. "It's okay..", she said softly, looking at Xiao with a kind of loving gaze he hadn't seen since he had been kidnapped. "It's okay.."

Breathe in, breathe out.

Breathe in, breathe out.

Xiao closed his eyes, held his polearm, and quickly beheaded her. 

"Mm. Not bad for one of your first kills. In fact, it was quite entertaining, but.." Yinguo paused. "It was too sappy. Stop with all the drama and add more thrill.", she twirled a lock of her ink-black hair. "Honestly, drama is seriously overrated. Ugh.. that scene.. so sappy."

"You just forced me to kill somebody, and all you can think about is how entertaining it could have been for you?!", is what Xiao wanted to say at the moment. However, fearing her harsh punishments, he bit his tongue and stayed quiet.

"Oh, well. You know that woman has a family, right? Well.. might as well end their misery right now." She snapped her fingers, and all of a sudden, two people showed up. A little girl, no older than four, and a man who seemed to be her father.

"B-Baba.. where are we..?", the young girl asked, her voice shaky as she looked at her father.

"Dandan, stay close to me, okay?", the man said, holding his little girl's hand tightly in his. His eyes darted around, looking for any potential escape routes, but he found none.

"C'mon, Zhiyuan. Entertain me.", Yinguo said nonchalantly. 

Fighting the urge to try to fight Yinguo, and fighting the urge to just end it all right then and there, he charged towards them and ended their lives in one swift blow, before they could move more than a centimeter away. Everything seemed to slow down in that moment. He watched the little girl's head fall to the ground, her final expression being that of absolute fear. Her father was split almost perfectly in half. His expression was a mix of shock and sorrow. 

"Boooring.", Yinguo sighed. "That was too quick. At least your attack was graceful, but that's all you had going for you. That's fine. I'll just use more humans until I'm entertained. Hopefully you get it right this time. I don't have an infinite supply of humans, after all~"

In the snap of the goddess's finger, another group of humans came. 

"Come on, adeptus boy. I can't have one of my soldiers be so dull and bland on the battlefield. You can do it. Go on."

What did she even want from him? What was the point of all this? Why did it have to be him, of all people? Why did he have to kill so many people just to entertain a god who thought that their lives were as easily disposable as pieces of trash? Although it pained Xiao to do this, he had no choice. Even if Yinguo killed him, she would have gotten those humans killed by some other adeptus in her collection.

So, he did as she asked, over, and over, and over again, until she was finally satisfied.

And when she was satisfied, she asked him to do it again, millions of millions of times.

- x x -

Before long, disaster had befallen Liyue.

Before he even knew it, Mountain Shaper called out his name. Honoring his promise, he went to them.

"What is going on, Mountain Shaper?", Xiao asked, with a hint of worry in his tone. "Why are we on the Jade Chamber?!"

"Guards! Prepare for battle!", shouted Ningguang. Yet, the Millileth guards stayed in their places, shaking and trembling.

Xiao looked around, and, within five seconds, noticed a familiar five-headed hydra.