I shall Protect You

Past and Present

It had been a while since she eased his Karmic Debt. It had also been a while since she checked on Inner Xiao. Lily walks closer to him and offers him her hand. Xiao knew what was coming and was about to leave when she quickly grabbed him. "Lily, wait!". 

She places herself into his mind as she opens her eyes. The place was just like she left it the last time she checked on it. After all, this place is where his Karmic debt affects him the most. She walks around to look for Xiao as she uses her power on places that had accumulated Karmic Energy. It doesn't take her long to find him. Inner Xiao was laying on a rock sleeping.

Lily goes to check up on him and finds the beginnings of Karmic Binds on him. She furrows her brow and quickly gets rid of them, waking Xiao in the process. "Mm?". He opens his eyes and sees her. "Lily...what're you doing here?". She smiles at him. Inner Xiao was much nicer to her. "I'm here to check up on you". 

He gives her a faint grin. "You didn't have to come". She sighs "I wanted too. Besides you're a lot nicer than 'Outside Xiao' anyways". He lightly giggles at her. "Lily, we are both the same". She looks at him surprised. "R-Really?!".

He nods "Yes, now it's time to return". He pats her head as she returns. An angry Xiao greets her. "I told you not to, and you did it anyway!". She gulps at his expression. He was super mad at her. For what reason? He didn't want her to also carry the weight of his karmic debt either. 

She was like a beacon of light to him. Wait, what is he even thinking about? He sighs "Lily, you don't have to constantly relieve my Karmic Debt". She crosses her arms in protest. "I wanted to do it anyway". He sighs again in defeat and sits down next to her.

They both look out at the beautiful night stars with Lily smiling. If only Liyue could be this peaceful all the time, but she knows that isn't always the case. Monsters still roam the land and what her mother said about the Coming Traveler, will Liyue stay this peaceful? 

That is something she doesn't want to answer. Will the traveler have a positive or negative affect on Liyue? If she has too, she'll protect this new home if she needs to. Lily doesn't want her new home destroyed just like her last one. Her old home. Her body begins to shiver as sudden memories flood her mind.

What seems to be a slight panic attack happens as she grabs hold of Xiao. Screams echo through the air as her eyes pace back and forth. "Lily?". Xiao tries to shake her as the vision continues. "Liliana!!". A male voice yells through the smoke as a fire rages through her village. "Daddy!". She tried to yell back but it stopped by something. "Daddy!". The male figure leaves as what looks like monsters storming the village. "Daddy! Please don't leave me!". Another figure grabs ahold of her as she looks behind her. Large claws grabbed her shoulder as its grins with blood seeping through its mouth. "Aagh!".

A sudden slap brings her back as she's met with a worried Xiao. "Xiao?". A sniffle confirms that she was crying. "Are you alright?". She remains silent. "What just happened?". She lowers her gaze as tears cloud her vision. "I-I triggered not so fond memories". 

Looking at her expression, Xiao furrows his brow. He has no clue how to comfort someone. Do you embrace them with a hug or help them? He doesn't know what to do. Xiao lightly pats her head. "It's..ok..I'm here". Is this how you do it? Lily looks at him confused. "Are you trying to comfort me?". He nods. That was a first for Xiao. 

A/N: Wow, this chapter was a roller coaster of events! Ooh!!! A glimpse of Lily's past how exciting! To explain this chapter better; Lily is able to go inside Xiao (I know sounds weirder than it is) to help 'elevate' his Karmic Debt. She does this by putting her hand on his forehead. Hope this explanation helped. 

Well see you guys soon! Hope Everyone is having a great week/weekend! 

- Aria :-)