Twisted

"A-Adeptus Xiao!" A small voice's desperate cry carried on the wind in the dark of night. He was relaxing atop the Inn, enjoying the warm night air and the stars above. Xiao swore softly as he teleported to the familiar cliff near Qingce Village. "Help!"

He knew that voice! Little Luo? He grunted, wondering how or where she had "lost" her favorite doll this time-

He appeared near her but instinctively sensed movement behind him. Xiao growled as he dodged a mid air attack by an ax mitachurl. The huge, powerful pyro blast landed right where he had appeared!

His attacker didn't move again. But now Xiao was surrounded and separated from the child who had called for him. At least a dozen hilichurls armed with cryo, pyro and electro crossbows and two rock shield mitachurls stood in front of him and the flame ax who had attacked him a moment ago lined up in front of him.

"Impressive," Someone said. The deep voice hissed as Xiao turned to face the speaker. "You're as fast as we've heard."

"You haven't seen anything yet," Xiao growled, flourishing the spear that appeared in his hand.

"Uh uh," The tall figure in ugly purple armor tisked at him. A sharp gasp from the child who had summoned him proved too big a distraction. The man tousled her hair in a way that made Xiao's skin crawl.

"Hiding behind a child? Let her go." Xiao growled. He didn't like the situation at all. And he could sense the malevolent power within this bastard but Xiao knew there was no way he could out maneuver all of them in time to teleport the child away from that bastard.

Honestly, he hadn't seen one of these tall, armored monsters since the cataclysm. It never occurred to him that he might run into one here, in such an idyllic corner of Liyue.

He had no idea what was going on… But, they already had him on a leash and everyone knew it.

But why would the abyss want to lure him into a trap like this in the first place? What did they want with him? Strong as he was, Xiao knew that his power was nothing compared to that of the god he served for so long. Why not go for Rex Lapis himself?

"What are you doing here?" Xiao growled. "Let her go. Have you no honor?"

"Please! Help me!" The girl shouted, then choked as the tall man grabbed the collar of her dress.

"Silence!" The bastard leading this strange ambush snapped. "And you, don't move! Put your weapon away."

Xiao growled, releasing the weapon. But he instinctively started to leap toward them, furious. Unfortunately before he could, a length of chain struck him, coiling around his neck tightly from behind with terrifying speed and then it tightened further. But more chains attacked. They looped, snaking around his legs and still another encircled his waist…

Xiao gasped, for the first time in eons, a sliver of fear struck him hard. The god who had enslaved him was dead, long ago by the hand of his lord. But he couldn't deny that the heavy neck chain stirred memories far better left forgotten.

He pushed down the anxiety pretty easily. All that mattered was freeing the child. He had to find a way to rescue the girl. The chains were thick and heavy, inscribed with runes and they were alive with abyssal energy. And he soon realized he was being irradiated by the poisonous energy and that power sapped his strength disturbingly quickly.

A quartet of assorted abyss mages danced around him, all giggling maliciously.

Within seconds Xiao could not call forth his spear and worse, his ability to banish evil was cut off too. Next it began to sap his connection to the Anemo element.

"Well done," The man in the purple armor floated over to his minions as he approached Xiao.

"Don't be stupid," Xiao growled. "Let the child go!"

"Well, we did get what we came for, but I think I'm going to have to refuse for now. For you see, her royal Highness was in no danger to begin with. Take him to the quarters we have prepared. The defiled statue is ready."

The overgrown bastard set the little girl on the ground and bowed his head to her as he floated a few steps back. As he did, the child smiled at Xiao and her appearance changed. Little Luo was replaced by a beautiful young woman in a white dress with rather short, pale golden hair and surprisingly warm amber eyes. She was still smiling.

"You?" Xiao recognized her as Aether's sister even though he didn't know why. He had never seen her before. But there was no doubt in his mind that he was looking at the traveler's lost twin. "Why are you doing this when your brother is doing everything he can to find you?"

"You should be more worried about yourself," She said softly. "Somewhere inside, you know that you can't keep fighting your destiny forever. You know you're a monster. Give into the darkness. It'll be much less painful."

Sadly, before Xiao could spit in her face, something struck him in the back of the head and everything went dark.

As he started to fall unconscious, he reached out in his mind to his master… "My Lord, I'm sorry…"

Zhongli shivered in spite of the warm night air. For a few minutes now, he had felt as though something was wrong- very wrong…

But what was it?

He was sitting quietly at the opera. Everyone else was still completely absorbed by Yunjin's performance as usual when there was a whisper of… well, something lurked in the back of his mind.

Something evil and very powerful was stirring. But there was a sneakiness to it that was almost as alarming as the dark power itself.

Could it be one of the dead gods manifesting he wondered?

But where- and why? He had not felt a presence like this in centuries.

Had Xiao or the other adepti noticed? Wait- where was Xiao?

Ordinarily, Xiao would have approached to warn him of an aura like this by now. Usually a presence like this would've been noticed by Xiao first. After all, the last yaksha had the strongest bond with the winds that carried such ominous whispers.

A moment later, he froze as he heard a whisper from the man he sought. "My Lord, I'm sorry."

"Xiao?" When there was no response, Zhongli stood up and walked out of the venue. He knew it was rude to interrupt a performance, but he would apologize to Yunjin later.

Xiao- he was in danger- he was sure of it. Actually, Zhongli shivered again, he had never been more certain of anything.

"You're sorry? What for?" Zhongli reached out for him again and again. It didn't make any sense. But there was still no answer from Xiao. A wave of panic threatened to overwhelm him. Xiao was in danger and his last thought was of him?

After the events of the Chasm, their relationship had been altered completely. But in a good way. Xiao's adorable confession to the statue at Minlin had changed both of their lives a few months ago.

He had never been so happy. They were lovers now and he knew that he had never been happier, and better yet, Xiao told him everyday that he felt the same way.

Xiao was even getting more comfortable about calling him Zhongli! Something he once feared would be impossible. Well, okay he usually said it when they made love and early in the mornings when they woke up tangled in the sheets and each other's arms.

This apology was something else. Xiao had not been so formal for months when it was just the two of them! No. This- this wasn't a plea for help. This was a goodbye and that scared him more than he wanted to admit.

What had happened and where had the evil that he sensed gone? There was still a lingering chill of dark energy and his stone sense led him to the cliffs far above Qingce Village. So he followed it there and looked around.

He sensed that Xiao had first teleported to this spot here but the earth had been charred by intense magical fire. Luckily, there were no other signs of an altercation. Who had Xiao met here? And why? Clearly there was no struggle after the initial ambush…

He sensed the lingering auras of many Abyssal monsters- all of whom had elemental abilities. But that alone wouldn't have been able to subdue Xiao without a fight-

Unless the monsters had a hostage…

Xiao would never let an innocent person come to harm. If he thought someone else was in danger that would be enough to stop him from fighting to protect himself. But still, how could he have been dragged away so quickly?

Zhongli calmed his mind, melding it to the earth itself and studied the tracks in the area again. This was a beautifully choreographed ambush. The ancient military strategist in him almost admired the precision with which it had been accomplished.

There- he missed it before but a tiny set of footprints had scuffed the ground feebly in a place where there were no other prints… It was just behind the line of monsters separating Xiao from the person he came to rescue. A small child trying desperately to pull away from… someone but what? That was curious. What kind of a monster didn't leave any tracks but was smart enough to bring a hostage?

A moment later, amid the other tracks, Zhongli saw something else that made his blood boil. The trail was difficult to read under the chaotic prints of an entire camp or two of hilichurls moving into and out of the area. But the child had been let go- and its tracks were now the shoe prints of a young or very petite woman- probably no taller than Xiao.

The footprints vanished where Zhongli sensed the residual energy of a portal to the abyss. Fuck. His mate had definitely been lured into a trap and kidnapped by the abyss.

Zhongli returned to the last place where he sensed Xiao's energy. More abyssal energy lingered here. Poisonously evil and especially corrosive, the energy was fading quickly but it still stained the ground where it had emerged from the shadowy abyss, far below the earth.

A new wave of panic threatened to overwhelm him. Xiao had been restrained by some kind of energy shackles. Having been a slave to a dark god for centuries, these chains were no doubt causing his mate terrible emotional pain and distress.

Zhongli reached out again and again with his magic and searched for Xiao's unique aura and power. But something- some kind of dark magic was definitely blocking it and he couldn't tell from where…

This was a completely different situation from the energy of the ancient domain in the Chasm. Once Xiao got rid of the dark spirits that had died trapped within the underground space and teleported the others to the surface, all Zhongli had to do was summon him.

This time he could sense that Xiao was still alive but he couldn't tell where he was, if he was injured or even conscious. All he knew right now was that his mate was in terrible danger and right now there was nothing he could do about it…

So much for retirement, Zhongli growled. If the Abyss wanted a fight they were going to regret it. "Fear not, my little songbird. I will find you and I will bring you home alive."