Xiao did not know what to do now that Rex Lapis was gone. He had no idea how to handle the death of his ex-master, and Venti refused to agree to take Xiao as his servant, leaving Xiao horribly confused because, why had Rex Lapis left him so quickly? Xiao, horribly confused, did what he had always done, what he had been trained to do since oh so long ago...fight. He continued with his contract because...did it even apply anymore? Xiao had no idea if his Contract was considered voided with Rex Lapis' death, but with nothing more he simply abided by every word. Except, now Xiao doesn't have the presence of an Archon to help him with the Karmic Debt, and whilst Venti checks in on him at least once every month or so and helps him as best he could, to Xiao's unwavering thanks, Xiao also knows Barbatos feels uncomfortable around him.<br /> Tartagila however, is slowly building what could only be considered a dream life with Zhongli. That is, until one pissed off anemo archon decides to interfere with things. All of a sudden, Zhongli takes in some kid...and Tartagila is beginning to question a lot of things he thought he knew.