𝐆𝐨𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐬 | 𝐳𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐢

20

Moments ago

Fluttering his eyes open, Xiao sees himself standing in a middle of no where. his bare skin feels little goosebumps rising, like the cold night was around here. gazing his surrounding, Xiao sees a glimpse of light which made him furrow his brows and narrow his eyes.

'What is that?' he wondered as he continued on staring back at the light. the beam of light kept on staring at him which made the adeptus want to catch it. grasp it into his gloved hands and squeeze the small beam.

Taking careful steps towards it, Xiao was about to touch it only to make the light flinch when the light moved away from him. trying to touch it again, the light moved away, now circulating his figure.

The beam of light was the only thing that is preventing the darkness overtake Xiao's vision because beside the light, everything else was pitch black. he can barely see anything, only just a fuzz of nothing. it was like no other living being was around except him.

As Xiao watch the light move around, he then watch it fly away, making him follow it. 'it must be taking me somewhere-'

Halting his steps, Xiao watch the light continue on moving forward until it was leading his eyes to a tree that now appeared out of no where. a big white tree just standing tall in the darkness. the leaves and flower petals were pure white with a hint of blue. the appearance of the tree didn't look like any other regular tree you see in Teyvat because it gave off a cold aura. where once you take a look at it, you feel your own soul be attached to it already.

The pure glow it showed from the white leaves and flowers made Xiao think, 'this is no ordinary tree...'

Taking cautious steps towards the tree, Xiao's eyes widened as he sees a figure lying down. their back was leaning against the tree while their head was turned, not letting Xiao see who it was.

Fastening his pace, Xiao tried to run forward, but it seems as though the distance gets farther and farther. as he kept on running, Xiao watches the tree stay small from his vision, like it's moving back whenever Xiao comes forward.

Having enough of this chase, Xiao used his anemo vision to make his speed twice as fast.

Sensing that the distance is now getting smaller, Xiao gritted his teeth and forced his leg to keep going. running towards the tree and the mysterious person, Xiao slowed down once he was only a few feet away.

Still not recognizing the person, Xiao pondered if this person was a normal citizen who just stumbled upon this domain.

Walking closer to the person who still had their head turned towards them, Xiao suddenly feels his soul being reck into pieces.

Each and every step he took towards the mysterious person, the things around him feels slow. everything seconds feels like hours. the leaves flowing from the trees seems to be mocking him as he knelt down. dropping his jaded weapon, he hesitatingly grasp his head. a painful migraine was forming in his head and a stingy feeling was forming in his chest.

Groaning in pain, Xiao was about to reach to the person only to feel himself slipping away.

Shutting his eyes close, Xiao was about to feel himself consume to the darkness only to feel two side hands cupping his cheeks. caressing his pale cheek so lightly, like a mother to a newborn.

Gazing down at him, the mysterious person's hands lit up, making Xiao's pain go away momentarily. his furrow brows were now straight, indicating that the pain was no longer around.

Feeling the hands slipping away, Xiao was about to grasp it only to feel nothing. blinking his eyes open, Xiao saw a blurry figure walking away from him.

"W-Who's there..?"

The adeptus watch the figure halt their movements and stood still. as Xiao was about to clear his vision and stand up, the figure vanished, leaving the adeptus alone. cursing to himself, Xiao leaned against the tree for support and looked left and right, noticing that the person was long gone.

"Who was that?" he asked no one in particular. groaning once more, Xiao feels a sharp pain in his chest and looked down only to see no bleeding. must be an internal pain.

As he was about to close his eyes to rest for a bit, Xiao feels a presence near him. quickly looking up, his whole figure froze as he stared into red beady eyes.

There, floating up in the air while staring at him was a black dragon. the low growling immediately told Xiao to stay down and don't move. the dark scales nearly match with the darkness around them, showing it's intimidating form.

Continuing on staring at each other, the black dragon flew around the tree until it's resting near Xiao. this made him feel suspicious because why was there a dragon and why isn't it attacking him?

Watching the head of the dragon rest near Xiao's feet, the dragon closed its crimson eyes, indicating that it's going to slumber.

Still wary about the dragon, Xiao just leaned back against the trunk of the tree and sighed. he's stuck. the whole search for the moon goddess is going no where, just like what the former geo archon predicted.

Did Zhongli knew about this?

That this whole mission on searching for her would be useless? no...it's can't be. Xiao shook his head to stop thinking about the negative outcomes. there's no way that she's really gone. she's still here, just not around.

Her soul is still lingering around Liyue. there has to be a way to find her. she can't be.

She can't be dead.

Biting his lip until a drop of blood showed, Xiao curled his fist as he thought about the possibilities. if she were to be dead, what will happen?

Xiao losing another person he holds dearly? the person he looks up to is going to lose the love of his life? all of Liyue will soon forget her lullaby and her name?

As the adeptus was in deep trance, the black dragon peeked an eye open, sensing the distress Xiao was feeling. nudging it's head towards his leg, Xiao snapped out of his thoughts and looked down to see the black dragon blowing smoke from its nostrils.

"Huh? what do you want?"

Not getting an answer, the dragon just closed its eye again, making the adeptus sighed. now staring at the dragon, Xiao studied the shiny black scale it had. the long sharp claws and wide folded wings was something Xiao can't underestimate if he ever has to fight this mysterious dragon.

'Who are you?' Xiao thought mindlessly. it's somehow strange and rare for a random dragon to show up in a domain. despite the terrifying appearance, it seems gentle and lazy.

Few minutes had pass by and Xiao feels like he's going to be in this domain for awhile. his head still feels the painful ache so the only thing he can do was rest for now.

Crossing his arms, Xiao took one last glance at the dragon before going into slumber like the black dragon.

a/n: the next chapter will be about the black dragon's background 😉

(not edited)
7/21/22