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Tiredness. That was the feeling a young man was experiencing right now. His mind was hazy, and his body was reluctant to move. On the bed within these yellow painted walls, Xiao was in bliss. His amber eyes gaze lazily upon the night sky, admiring the sea of stars that shined above. It was beautiful, he thought. He thinks he can watch them forever.
“Are you feeling comfortable?” A soft, gentle feminine voice called out to him. A warm pair of arms embraced around his shoulders. Blonde locks of hair entered part of his view on the starry sky, along with a brightly smiling face. “I am, Lumine.” He replied, enjoying the soothing warmth of another’s body heat. It contrasted the chilly temperature really well at the moment.
“What do you see?” Lumine asked another question, with a curiosity. Xiao’s eyes wondered around the room, the skies beyond the windows and then back to her.
“I see a lot of yellow.” He nonchalantly said. A hearty giggle from her was his reward. “You always say that.” She said with a smile, a smile as bright as the shining moon. “…And you always ask the same question.” Xiao replied as he leaned his face just a little more into her arms. It was the same question with the same answer. To be honest, he would not have it any other way. As long as she is here, everything is fine.
“Are you going anywhere tomorrow?” Lumine asked yet another question. It was one he was familiar with. It was one asked every night when they were together like this. Xiao hummed as he ponders a suitable answer. He really did not want to think much at the moment, nor does he want to go anywhere else.
“I rather stay in tomorrow...” He spoke. Lumine moved her arms towards his teal tined hair, then her fingers gently stroke across his scalp. “There’s always a place you can go.” Lumine stated as she softly brushing and twining with his fine strains of hair. She was right. Xiao always must go somewhere. It was his duty. It was his job as a sergeant; patrolling the areas around Liyue and ensure that they are safe. “West… West then.” It was random direction towards a random area. He was feeling too sleepy to even bother considering anything else. In the moment, peace was what he wanted.
“West it is then.” Lumine said with the smile he swore to protect. His eyes feel heavy now. The visions becoming blurrier. The world around him seem to slowly fade away as he closed them.
He woke up to a room. The shining rays of the morning sun revealed that from the bed sheets to the walls, to little drawers; everything was engulfed in yellow, except him. There were one else other than him. Has it always been this yellow? Xiao wondered. No matter. This was their home. Their safe heaven. His equipment was by the side of the bed, a yellow backpack full of the important things for his journey. A plate of almond tofu beside it as well, with a small spoon ready to be used.
West. He repeated the declaration he made last night. West.
There was no sign of Lumine anywhere as he looked around the room. She went out early again, he guessed. As she always does. Without any further delay, he picked the bag up and went out the door to the outside world. A compass was pulled out from the bag’s side pockets and his eyes watched the needle readjusted to the label ‘North’. He then walked…
West.
West.
West.
Nothing but West.
Oh, there’s a crystal fly… No. Must go West.
West.
West.
West.
A qingxin flower by the hills. Maybe she would like it as a gift… No! must go… West.
West…
West…
How did it become night?
Xiao looked up and the stars was staring back at him, watching. Huh… Where is he now? He looked around and all he saw was the hills, a lone river and many, many trees. Where is he? Is it still Liyue? It did not seem familiar to him in the slightest. Home? Where is Home? Where’s Lumine?
Xiao looked back up again. The stars were still staring back at him. Judging. Analysing. Where? Where? Where?
Home? Lumine? Where is-
A figure was found when he spun around. Bright, pulsing, glowing yellow. A figure whose shape he just could not recognize. The shape was constantly changing, but there was a form that remained constant for a few seconds. Maybe there was a head, a pair of arms, and a pair of legs. Maybe it was just none of all, just blobs enable standing and holding. The figure shimmered as it Crawled? Walked? Slithered? One could not even understand how it was moving towards him.
“Home.” A voice was heard in his head. It sounded familiar. “Lost…”
Memories played in his mind. Flashing.
A gun in his arms, running through a battlefield. Desperately running away from the fight. Blood on the floor. Bullets flying past him. Bullets flying into his flesh. Laying on the ground, bleeding… He could not take anything anymore. His sorrowful eyes faced the sky. Stars in the night sky shined and shined. He remembered praying. Home. Oh, where was home. One of the stars seemed to be falling.
Falling…
Falling…
Falling…
“Xiao.”
…
…
Tiredness. That was the feeling the young man was experiencing right now. His mind was hazy, and his body was reluctant to move. On the bed within these yellow painted walls, Xiao was in bliss. His amber eyes gaze lazily upon the night sky, admiring the sea of stars that shined above. It was beautiful, he thought. He thinks he can watch them forever.
“Are you feeling comfortable?” A soft, gentle feminine voice called out to him. A warm pair of arms embraced around his shoulders. Blonde locks of hair entered part of his view on the starry sky, along with a brightly smiling face. “I am, Lumine.” He replied, enjoying the soothing warmth of another’s body heat. It contrasted the chilly temperature really well at the moment.
“What do you see?” Lumine asked another question, with a curiosity. Xiao’s eyes wondered around the room, until it wondered to the skies beyond the windows.
“I see a lot of yellow.” He nonchalantly said. A hearty giggle from her was his reward. A pile of crystals reflected the moonlight from above and onto her face. Her golden eyes glowed as she smiled. “You always say that.”
“…And you always ask the same question.” Xiao replied as he leaned his face just a little more into her arms. It was the same question with the same answer.
It was then a shooting star flew across sky. It was growing brighter and brighter. From pureness to golden yellow. It flew and flew and flew. Lumine followed Xiao’s gaze and looked up. They followed the shooting star until it flew out of view.
“Home.” A voice was heard in his head. It sounded familiar.
“Ah… Aether. You arrived.”
“Lumine?” He asked her, with great concern. She looked down at him, her smile growing smaller. Lumine moved her arms towards his teal tined hair, then her fingers gently stroke across his scalp. “There’s always a place you can go.” Lumine stated as she softly brushing and twining with his fine strains of hair. Golden orbs met amber eyes. Her gaze felt it was piercing through him... peering deep into his soul.
“À̴̠̻̱͓̤̼̝͋͐̌̕̕͠ŗ̷̛̘͍̆̈́̂ë̷̖̖̹̞̱͓̲́̔̓͒̌̅ ̸̜̩̹̀͌y̴̡̦̼̐̐͜͝ơ̸͎̩̗̲̽̂̃̓ͅư̴̢͚̝͊̔ ̸̨̝̖̫̳͕̈́̏̋͛̚͜͜͝g̷̭̯̙̯̬̬̱͑̊͘ͅọ̵̮̜̻̇̂͆i̴̧͕̖̝͍̬͚̼͌n̸͍͚̟̲̒̀̎̏̏ḡ̷̢̮̫͖̳̠̐́̒̓̇͜ ̴̡̹̰̦̌́̽͗͊̐͂̿a̶̢̱̻̗̖̲̞͒̅̒́͌̚ͅņ̶̩̫̘̀̓̓y̴͎͔̠̯̗͖̻͋̓͑̌̀̄̾̂w̷̛̮͍̓̔̕h̴̨͚̙̿̐̓e̸̯̘̳̳̋́̑̏̐͋̅͜r̴̟̮̗͖̭͓͕̆̎̊͒̈́͝ę̸͂̈́̎̊̋̕ͅ ̷̧̙͔̞̬̖̈̇t̵͇̻̓̐̿ŏ̴͉̥̗̜̰̜̰͔̕m̶̡̞͋̆̒o̶͉̥̺͎̾̀̃r̶̛͍̘̠͛r̷͚̩̓̌̇̎̃͘̕̚o̶͓̤̭̩͎͖͖̐͝w̵̡̛̰̠̗͚͑̿̇̀̓̽͝?”
… As long as she is here, everything is fine.