Xiao wakes up. A strange sensation touches his cheek and he grabs his spear, prepared to fight. When he opens his eyes, he's greeted with Aether, who looks more surprised than scared at the adeptus's sudden show of hostility. Xiao pauses before groaning a little and settling back into his chair. "My apologies Aether. I didn't mean to startle you." he says.

Aether makes a conciliatory gesture with his hands but he's clearly shaken up. Xiao doesn't seem to notice and looks into the distance, lost in thought.

"Xiao? Xiao!" the shout from Aether causes the conqueror of demons to snap to attention. He sees the boy waving in front of his face. "What is it?" he asks.

"I was asking you if you could tell me more about Zhongli. Is that ok?"

Xiao smiles warmly. "Of course Aether. My first memories with Rex Lapis are some of my most beloved. I'd have no problem sharing them with a friend."

Back when I first met Rex Lapis, he inquired as to what my relation to my master was. "Do you know this man?" he asked, gesturing towards the body of my master. I told him. I told him about our history together, him taking over this town and me being his loyal guard dog. I explained how I turned on him and attacked him, but failed to kill him. Rex Lapis wasn't very talkative two thousand years ago. He let me go on and on. I fully expected him to kill me as well given how he'd just killed my master and knocked Barbatos unconscious. Instead, what he said surprised me.

"It seems as if you've had a rough past."

"Pardon me?" I asked.

"Being enslaved and tortured by him, forced to perform those actions. I can't fault you for attempting to preserve your own life."

I wasn't entirely sure what to say in response to that. It felt as if he was going too easy on me, even when compared to Barbatos.

I ended up stuttering something out in return and asking if there was anything I could do to repay him for killing my master. He just smiled. "Of course not. It would be rude of me to demand anything of you, especially after that experience. Why don't you come with me and I'll help treat your injuries?"

This stranger was being so kind to me, and just because the man he killed had abused me. I didn't want to impose on him, told him he had already done more than enough for me, yet he insisted.

Eventually I ended up following him to his dwelling, a large house a few miles away.

Once there, Rex Lapis offered me almond tofu which I later learned contained qingxin flowers to stop the pain of the battle before. He also tied me to his guest bed to prevent me from moving so he could heal my knee.

While I was bedridden, Rex Lapis would talk to me, sometimes for hours on end, whenever he came into my room to feed me. He would usually question me and I'd talk for intervals of about ten minutes, answering his questions. He was so warm…

I remember answering him questions about what my master did to me, always empathizing with me, always comforting me that it would never happen again. One time, after telling him about a particularly brutal encounter where my master would waterboard me for three hours with no breaks, Rex Lapis patted my cheek and assured me that would never happen again. It sent a thrill down my body that someone would care about me as much as Rex Lapis did.

I asked him a few questions, but he never talked about himself much. In fact, I only learned he was a god much later, after repeated questioning of how he was able to defeat my master.

After a few weeks of recuperation, Rex Lapis asked me a question. "Would you wish to work for me?"

"O-of course!" I said immediately. I wasn't exactly sure what he wanted me to help with, but I knew that after all he'd done for me, it was the least I could do to repay him. He smiled in that mysterious way of his.

The next day, Rex Lapis untied me from his bed. "Get up. We're going training." He said.

The god took me out to a meadow in the shadow of Mount Tianheng. He tossed a spear at me. I picked it up, unsure of what I was supposed to be doing.

Rex Lapis appeared right next to me all of a sudden. He drove the butt of his spear into my stomach. I keeled over, unsure of what had just happened. He then slammed the palm of his hand into my face, knocking me over onto my back. Once I fell over, he didn't let up and punched me in the gut, hard enough to make me woozy. He frowned. "Disappointing…" he said. He picked me up and slammed me into the ground, and then I passed out.

When I woke up, I was tied to his bed again. I saw Rex Lapis standing next to me, still frowning. He offered me some liquified qingxin to drink, which I took. I looked at him awkwardly for a few minutes while Rex Lapis's frown deepened. "Well?" I eventually asked. "Why didn't you fight back?" he asked me. "What?" I said, incredulously. "If that was a life and death situation, which you should have assumed it was, you would have fought back with lethal force. That is of course assuming you were telling the truth about how much combat you've experienced in the past…"

I flushed. "What? No! I've fought a lot before!"

"Then why didn't you come at me with killing intent?" Rex Lapis slit his eyes and looked at me with sudden anger. I shrunk back a little. "If I was your enemy, you would be dead."

"I-I didn't want to hurt you though," I said. Rex Lapis closed his eyes and groaned. He didn't say anything or look at me for a few anxious minutes. Eventually he met my eyes with a softer gaze.

"It's cute that you didn't want to hurt me Xiao, but I am much more powerful than you could ever be. Don't worry about it. The meaning of that exercise was to train you, not to cause you pain."

I blinked a little. "What do you mean?"

"I don't want you to be hurt Xiao. I'm constantly in dangerous situations, and I need to make sure you can defend yourself. Alright?"

I didn't say anything.

Rex Lapis sighed again. He looked towards me. "You know, you don't have to serve me. You haven't made a formal contract with me yet."

"What would happen if I left?"

"Nothing in particular. I'd leave you to fend for yourself. I would also probably never see you again since I'm planning on leaving this area shortly."

I don't say anything again.

Rex Lapis sighs for the third time in a row. "How about you give me your final decision tomorrow Xiao? That's plenty of time to think a contract with me over."

I cautiously nod. Rex Lapis gave a slight smile for the first time since I became conscious, patted my head, and left the room.

It was a lot to digest all at once. I loved Rex Lapis and wanted to make him happy, but I also felt as if I would be a substandard servant to him, with my weakness, my cowardice, and my bloodlust. That was the only thing that prevented me from wanting to join him.

Aether suddenly interrupts. "What the fuck?"

Xiao quirks an eyebrow and eats a bite of almond tofu. "Your expressions are always so quaint. What do you mean by 'what the fuck'?"

"He just beat you up and you took it?"

Xiao's face turns stern. "He wasn't 'beating me up' on me as you call it. He was teaching me to not be a weakling. And it worked. I'm one of the strongest people in Teyvat right now, all thanks to Rex Lapis."

"That didn't change his methods," Aether argues. "Grooming you into liking him by providing you with food and care, and then using that to take advantage of you?"

"I wasn't 'groomed'," Xiao shoots back. "Just because he provided me with help when I needed it and tough love when I needed it doesn't mean that he was taking advantage of me. You should be quiet now." Xiao reaches near his waist, despite no weapon being there. Aether looks as if he wants to say something, but represses it and smooths his expression. "Continue," he says.

Xiao still looks angry, but he manages to calm down as well. He settles back into his seat.

When the next day arrived, Rex Lapis came into my room. "Have you made your decision?" he asked. "Yes." I replied. He nodded knowingly. "Get down before me." He commanded. I genuflected facing the god. "Are you willing to serve me for as long as you or I live, heeding my every command?"

I didn't hesitate. "Yes."

"Are you willing to fight for and protect the people of this land down to your final breath?"

"Yes."

"Do you agree to kill in my name?"

"Yes."

"By the power Celestia has granted me, I now bind you to me as my contracted servant. This contract will not expire until one or more parties die. If either breaks the terms of this contract, they will suffer the wrath of the Herrscher of the Void. Do you agree to all of these terms?"

"Yes."

"Xiao, I name you Alatus. You will serve me faithfully for the rest of your life. You may rise."

I stood up and Rex Lapis smiled at me. "You made the right choice Xiao. I'm proud of you." He ruffled my hair and I couldn't do anything but smile.

Xiao took a pause in his story to look towards Aether. He still has the same stony look he had from when he interrupted. Xiao shakes his head and takes a bite of his almond tofu. He waits to see if Aether would interject with another objection about Xiao's master.

He eventually stutters something out. "I still can't believe Zhongli would do that…"

"It was only once." Xiao replies curtly. "And it was done to teach me. I wouldn't have been able to join the five yakshas if I could have been destroyed by Rex Lapis at a hundredth of his strength. You're being a child."

Aether doesn't say anything for a couple more minutes. Xiao waits to see if he would offer up any more comments, before talking.

"Can you please leave? My pain is getting bad and I don't want you to see me like this."

Aether nods and heads for the door. Xiao watches him leave, and then sighs.

Honestly this didn't have to be this much of a mess. He didn't mean to have that argument with the traveler. He sits in his chair, just thinking about the traveler. He didn't want to get close to him because it seems like he inevitably disappoints anyone he becomes close with. Either that, or they turn out to be a snake like Barbatos. But Aether seems nice. Xiao doesn't know why Aether was willing to forgive him for all of his murders and cruel actions but not for saying that Rex Lapis was willing to use force to help people. He helped Xiao so much, bringing a sense of control back to his life. He didn't understand why the traveler would want to get in the way of that.

Xiao eventually decides that since the traveler had always thought of Zhongli as a kind but slightly eccentric god, he didn't realize Rex Lapis was so much more than that. He was powerful and strict and most importantly able to help people. He helped Xiao by teaching him that he couldn't expect all his enemies to be kind. He helped the people of Liyue, guiding them like sheep so they could prosper. He helped the world through the creation of money. Without him all the humans would still be simple agriculturalists.

This all conflicted with Aether's interpretation of the watered down version of Rex Lapis he knew, the funeral director Zhongli. This contradiction made it seem as if Xiao was lying to him.

Xiao nods to himself. This interpretation seems the most logical to him. He decides once Aether came back tomorrow, he would apologize and point out that the Rex Lapis he knew was most likely condescending to Aether so he wouldn't be overwhelmed by the god's majesty.

Author's note: Aah I'm sorry for taking a long time to update this fic. I wrote the final three chapters, ended up excising one because I decided it wasn't necessary, and then ignored it for a few days because of school. Anyway don't worry, I'm planning on finishing it, I know the first few chapters are unpolished so I'm planning on going back to those as well. By the time the fic reads "completed" it should be good.