The Sixth Yaksha | Xiao x Reader

Four | Journey Home

Zhongli, who was left stumped and in disbelief from Guizhong's passing, plainly just sat there, not knowing what to do. What did he used to do to cheer himself up again? The only things he was able to list were talking to Guizhong, braiding Guizhong's hair, drinking tea (the ones Guizhong used to make for him), and listening to Guizhong's singing.

With his ears ringing, Zhongli didn't hear the screaming of [Y/N], who had just re-awoken, or the klunk of Xiao's spear hitting the grassy plain. 

Denying the truth of Guizhong's death, Zhongli buried his face into his hands. It wasn't easy, when Menogias and Bosacius had shaken off the terror that had them stuck rigidly in place, to convince Morax to get back up.

It seemed like he had lost everything. Contradictory to his normal steady self, Morax repeatedly looked back at the yellow-green grass, where his tears had been shed, frantically, almost as if he could bring her back by doing so. 

The four Yakshas who had been deployed on the mission were all worried to death. Guizhong was easily recognizable as an easy target and never participated on the front lines of battle. Everyone knew that they could make do without her, at least in battle. Even so, she was the glue who kept everyone together. Whenever any type of fighting broke out, Guizhong would be there to resolve the conflict. 

The journey home was never longer. Not a sound came from the five except for the occasional rustle of shoes on grass. Menogias, who would normally talk her mouth off, was staring at the ground, utterly speechless. The silence was suffocating, draping them in an everlasting feeling of grief. 

Each step the Yakshas took seemed to weigh them down. Needless to say, Zhongli had it even worse. 

Most days, they prepared for minor casualties. On more dangerous missions, some would mentally prepare themselves for death. On a generally risk free battle, no one really prepared for anything too bad. None of them ever really considered that anything bad would happen to Guizhong. She built her ballista in a relatively safe location away from the camps of monsters, and she had built an escape route for herself just in case.

Guizhong had located the ballista on top of a built structure. It was around two or three stories tall, so falling from it wouldn't kill you, but it'd be enough to deal pretty significant damage. Not having the intelligence humans possess, she predicted that the monsters wouldn't be smart enough to safely land on the ground from the building.

As Zhongli and the four Yakshas re-entered the cave they had left earlier, Morax half expected Guizhong to reappear again. Perhaps he would wake up and she'd be right next to him, rubbing his back and calming him down. He felt lightheaded as he recalled the events at the ballista.

To everyone's dismay, it never happened. Guizhong never appeared, and in her place was the other two Yakshas, Bonanus and Indarius. Both of them being mentally mature and experienced, they quickly noted the absence of the god of dust. Indarius kept the same neutral look in his eyes while Bonanus, who had originally looked happy to see them return, covered her mouth as she began to weep.

Following a quick and depressing meal, Zhongli was the first to leave the room. He quietly excused himself, heading to who knows where. The rest of the six sat there, reminiscing the times when Guizhong was still with them. A few days ago, she most likely would've been collecting the dirty dishes, or maybe even laughing about some joke Menogias had told. 

Not long after Morax's leave, four more of them followed. Xiao and [Y/N] sat still, staring off into space.

Xiao most definitely wasn't the one who normally broke the silence, but the tension built since Guizhong's death was so unbearable, even for him, that he decided to speak up for a change.

"Are you planning to go soon?" He mentally cursed himself. That didn't come out exactly how he hoped it would.

[Y/N], being new there, thought Xiao probably wanted her to leave. "Uh... um, sorry. I didn't mean to bother you. I'll go-"

"I didn't mean it that way. Sorry if I sounded like I didn't want your company." Alatus's heart rate evened out.

"No, no. It's okay. Do you normally always stay here after dinner?"

Xiao didn't expect that she would speak to him again. "Not always. I normally head to what we call the balcony. It's just an exposed part of rock that was coincidentally above ground."

"If you wouldn't mind... could you show me where that is?"

"Hmm," Xiao nodded.

[Y/N] scrambled behind Alatus, following him through a long hallway and up a flight of stairs.

Upon arriving at the balcony, Xiao stepped to the side and allowed [Y/N] a view of Guili Plains. 

The vast world below them was magnificent. Green and golden trees dotted the land. A few small animals, like foxes and birds, could be seen in the distance. The sun had a few minutes remaining above the horizon, and would soon be replaced by the moon. 

"Do you see that smudge in the sky?" Xiao interrupted [Y/N]'s daze. 

She nodded, squinting her eyes and making out the shape of the gray thing. The shape resembled some sort of palace. There were a few columns barely visible. 

"That's what everyone's fighting for. Seats, up there." He paused, then continued. "The thing up there," he gestured with his hands, "that's Celestia. Seven seats for the gods have opened up. One for each element."

Regardless that she had already known, [Y/N] pretended that she didn't and went along with it. Her sister, Baal, was already in competition for the position of electro. Unconsciously, she yawned.

"Sorry, I'm probably keeping you from sleeping. It's been a long day. Be prepared, we might have to clear out some other camps tomorrow."

Feeling a bit disappointed about not being able to talk to Alatus for longer, [Y/N] made her way back to the room where she was assigned to sleep in.

Turning her back and walking back down, she was pleasantly surprised with Xiao saying, "And [Y/N]?" He paused. "Thanks for saving me back there. Sweet dreams."

[Y/N], in return, smiled and waved goodbye before continuing her descent down the stairway.

A/N: AHHHHH-

I'm so sorry that I haven't updated in so so long-

This definitely isn't an excuse but school has gotten pretty busy for me and I got lazy on writing. BUT I'M FINALLY BACKKK!!! You can probably expect to see me on here a lot more than the few months I've abandoned Wattpad, but I most likely won't be as active as I wish to be. Sorry for a relatively short chapter compared to the others. I'll try to keep my word limit around 1000 to 1500. If I ever start getting lazy again, Imma depend on yalls to remind me to get my butt back on here, hehe. Also, if anyone catches any inconsistencies (like I forget something that happened or I change where I left off on accident) please comment and I'll fix it. My brain doesn't work 99% of the time and I'm pretty sure there are like thousands of mistakes in here.

Welp anyways, see you guys in the next chapter! (prolly will publish within a few days to a week)