The sleeping adeptus // Xiao x reader

Reborn | 26

"Y/n?..... seriously... have you fallen asleep again?"

Peering your eyes open, you force yourself to focus on the figure in front of you, your eyes blur as you try to adjust to your surroundings.

"C'mon get up!" A woman exclaimed, putting her hands on her knees as she bent over, looking at your sleeping figure on the ground as you slowly woke up. You noticed her dark red hair and purple eyes. Her features noticeable, your eyes slightly widened. "Indarias?" You spoke, quiet from shock. The pyro yaksha was standing right in front you, the one that went mad thousands of years ago and died. "Hey you remember my name! That's an improvement." That's right, Xiao made you remember all of the yaksha's names sometime after their death. He said it was disrespectful not to. "Why are you- no, how are you here?" You questioned, taking her hands as she helped you get up. You stared at her confused look. "Y/n you confuse me. How do you stand there asking such a question?" Scratching your head at her response, you look around. Liyue...it's different. You finally got the idea, you must be in another nightmare. But this isn't a nightmare, it's more like a dream. You can feel the livelihood in the air, and the pretty scenery of old liyue.

Looking at Indarias, you shook your head. "Never mind, I suppose I was too sleepy to process anything." You reassure, her smiling back in return. "Did you have one of those weird dreams again?" She tilted her head, as your brows furrowed. You couldn't remember some small details of your life, which was making it difficult in the long run. "Dreams? Like what dreams?" She laughed. You were thankful that this yaksha was so joyful and ignorant. "Does thou have brain damage? Y/n you're a walking clown show! I'm talking about those weirdly accurate dreams you always have." Your eyes lightly opened wider in realization. That's right, the dreams are part of your adeptal powers. Why did you forget something like that? You looked around at your surroundings. This dream seemed so much more realistic than the other ones, maybe it was cause of deep sleep.

Remembering what happened outside of this dream, in the real world, your mouth curved into a pressed frown. You were tricked to a fight to the death, and it almost cost you your life. There was a lot to process about it, like why did the Fatui target you like that? Why are you dreaming about this? Why did Xiao and the traveler know you were there? "Y/n? Hello?" You snap out of your thoughts to see Indarias's hand being waved in your face. You looked at her, signaling that you were finally out of it. "Did you hear anything I said?" She questioned, you shaking your head in response. She groaned in annoyance, "Morax wishes to see you, please don't be any more late than you already are." You could tell you tested the redhead's patience, as she then disappeared into the flames of her power, leaving you alone.

Remembering that in this dream you were at your full potential, you smiled, jumping around in glee. Closing your eyes, you could feel the energy running in your veins. Using your electro vision, you disappeared from your spot, going to the location where Morax normally resided when he would call to his adepti. Already dropping to one knee by instinct, you close your eyes. You wait for Morax's request, already knowing that he knows you're there. Looking up you see his white hood, with his hair sticking out of it in a ponytail. You almost forgot how scary he was on first glance. "Y/n, how are you adjusting well?" He asked, his voice causing you to jump slightly. "Yes, I've been getting use to the dreams, but they are still burdensome." You felt like your words weren't your own. You noticed that it might've been you from the past, speaking through the version that appeared in this dream. You couldn't understand why it was happening now and not when you were talking to Indarias. Finally, Morax turned around, you studying how his golden orbs burned into your memories, just like how it was thousands of years ago. "And the name? Do you like it?"

You bit your lip, remembering how your name wasn't yours. Morax gave it to you so you could forget the pain of your past, something you can barely remember now. It pained you more forgetting it than it did remembering it. "It.... I cherish anything you give me." You cleared your throat, stopping the sentence you had started. Morax just stared at you, making it hard to read what was on his mind. Finally he spoke up again, "I'm glad. You seem to be getting along with the yaksha's well, it's relieving." Taking your chance, you stood up, opening your mouth to speak again. "What is, exactly? Is there something I'm suppose to.... Not be taking well?" You asked, your words finally your own. Morax looked at you, with shocked confusion. "You do not remember what happened, that day? What happened to your sister and you?" You pressed your lips into a thin line in silence, practically replying to his question as he studied the way your face changed.

He chuckled for a moment. "You are not the y/n from my time are you?" You looked at him shocked, how did he know? Were you impolite? "If you're wondering how I figured out, the you from this time would normally start to grow in rage from me bringing up the incident." You processed that through your mind, sighing at the fact that you really don't remember any of this. You remembered these days, but never what you did in them. "But why? I don't understand what happened, why was I so angry?" He smiled at your panicked confusion. "I'm glad you've moved on."

"What do you mean moved on?! Tell me!" You felt anger rise inside of you, before realizing your surroundings were falling apart. No... no no, not like this. You finally had a chance to figure out everything. Was this because you spoke out? Or that you got caught? Please...

Don't let me leave..

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Snapping your eyes open, you slowly rose up in pain, groaning as you can feel your body ache. Lifting the clothes on you, that were not yours, you saw the amount of bandages on you. Your torso being in the most amount of pain, you saw the red stained bandages that felt so tight you felt out of breath. Forcing yourself to stand up, you stumbled a bit, replacing your feet as you struggled to keep your balance. You were in a domain, specifically the one you remember waking up from when you fell asleep for hundreds of years. Did Cloud Retainer place you in here because she believed you wouldn't wake up again? You started to feel the internal panic. What if it's been another three hundred years again? There was no way to tell inside the domain. Quickly you rushed to exit the domain, going through the normal exit since you knew you didn't have the energy to teleport out.

You looked around at your surroundings, seeing the scenery of Mt. Aozang. You didn't see anyone around, it was just like all those months ago. Taking a sharp inhale, you balance yourself by holding your hand to a tree. Taking a step, you heard your name called out. "Y/n!!" Your ears pitched at the high pitched tone, turning around to see a Paimon rushing towards you. She hugged you tightly, it barely affecting you due to the differences in body sizes. "Paimon? How long has it been since I've been awake?" You asked, relieved to see her, as it was a sign that it wasn't longer a mortal's lifespan. "You've been asleep for about three months," Aether stated as he made his way over to you too. "We were just coming back from inazuma, such a coincidence to see you!" Paimon finally let go of you. Looking around you saw no sign of Cloud retainer.

"A few months?Archons.... Where is Cloud Retainer?" You asked, hugging the sides of your torso. Paimon moved her hands as she talked, "Cloud Retainer is at Wangshu Inn! She's with Xiao, they were wondering what to do if you haven't woken up soon" your brows furrowed, as Paimon panicked, "but now you're awake! This is good news, we should go see them!" You shook your head. "No, only I will go. Take some time to relax, you just got back from another nation." You suggested, Aether looking touched at the consideration. Before Paimon could complain, you were waving bye to the both of them. You tried to keep your pace, walking on the trail to Wangshu Inn. Feeling it to be difficult, you figured it wouldn't hurt too bad to teleport there, seeing the short distance. Closing your eyes, you struggled to get an electro current going. Finally getting the hang of it, you feel your body become dizzy as you appeared in the lobby of Wangshu Inn. Collapsing to the floor, your heard Verr Goldet call out to you, "y/n!" She exclaimed, coming out from behind the counter to help you. You felt her gently hands on your shoulders, yet the touch still hurt.

Xiao stopped his conversation with Cloud Retainer as he turned his head in the direction of the yell. "Was that Y/n's name spoken?" Cloud retainer asked in shock as Xiao disappeared without hesitation, Cloud retainer flying into the lobby of the Wangshu Inn. There laid you, struggling to sit yourself up as you felt your bandages coming undone. Looking up, you saw the shocked eyes of Xiao, his face gently as his golden orbs widened at the sight of you. You already knew what he was thinking, the shock he was feeling, as he thought you wouldn't come back to him. Forcing a smile on your face.

"I did it. I woke up."