I do not own Genshin Impact. Also, trigger warning for mention of attempted suicide!

"It's happened again, Lord Morax," Mountain Carver reported, bowing his antlered head gracefully to his liege.

"Another one?" Rex Lapis said sharply, turning from his contemplation of the map. His adepti warrior nodded regretfully. The Lord of Geo's fingers clenched against the sudden grief. "Who was it this time?"

"River Weaver. It was the same method, just like the last seven."

The Lord of Geo sighed, his shoulders slumping as he rested his gloved hand on his forehead. "Alert Cloud Retainer and Sea Gazer. Make sure Sea Gazer obscures River Weaver's domain properly, and remind him not to take anything this time. Don't tell the others, though. We can't afford more demoralization, not with the looming battle."

Mountain Carver bent his knee once more, then the great deer turned and slipped noiselessly out of Rex's tent. The adeptus prime set his hands on the corners of the table and leaned over the map, but his narrowed eyes didn't see the diagrams and plans for the attack. Instead, he saw a beautiful crimson qilin with billows of mist roiling off her shoulders, her eyes almost obscured by the cheerful smile trying to distort her features. In Rex's mental image, River Weaver was nudging a human to his feet, encouraging him to jump aboard so she could help carry him along their difficult path.

"Go in peace, River Weaver," Rex murmured. A single tear gleamed, then fell to the map. But it was all the emotion he could afford for the friendly adeptus before he had to return to the present. Still, the mystery lingered in his mind even as he gave orders to his soldiers and prepared for the coming battle. Who is good enough to murder eight adepti on their sleeping mats while surrounded by a host of soldiers?! Witnesses had come forward for some of the previous murders, and while none of them ever saw the culprit, they reported strands of Anemo energy wafting from the tents a split second after the dying cry of the adeptus warned that something was dreadfully wrong. And yet the assassin continued to escape unscathed.

Tomorrow is our biggest battle, Rex thought. If this nameless threat comes against us then… He didn't bother to finish. "Wind Beam!"

"Yes, Lord Morax?" The bird flew to his side, his jade eyes wide with unspoken questions.

Rex Lapis ignored the adeptus' morbid curiosity and instructed curtly, "Find Lady Guizhong and let her know that I must speak with her before the battle."

As Wind Beam flew off to complete his mission, Rex Lapis slowly rubbed one of his thumb wealth rings, deep in thought. If the Anemo Assassin -as he'd been dubbed- appeared on the battlefield, Rex would have to focus all his efforts on taking him down. His strategy partner would have to account for that in her plans. Hopefully Guizhong would understand his reasoning.

oOo

Battle was a messy, hot, and deeply disturbing thing. Rex knew this on some level, but being a dragon adeptus, it didn't bother him as much as some of his associates. Still, even he wearied of it quickly. He knew better than to mourn his fallen enemies, but the light of disbelief and fear that dimmed their eyes at the very last was hard to withstand. His jaws clenched as he spotted one of his adepti in trouble, and he launched forward, roaring. Yet another three enemies fell with wide-eyed gazes of shock, but Cloud Retainer shouted over the noise, "One thanks you, my Lord Morax! One is not quite prepared to join the clouds of one's name just yet!" and he had to smile, relieved that he hadn't lost another one.

Just then a streak of pale green caught his eye, and he checked himself, landing beside Cloud Retainer on the top of a hill to examine the Anemo energy closer.

This enemy was different. Lightning had nothing on him; he moved faster than the eye could follow, his spear leading every move as he teleported and fought with a ruthless ease. His dance of death wove a swathe through Rex's army, and yet… The Lord of Geo narrowed his eyes and honed in on the flashing teal enemy. Right before each strike, there was a tiny hesitation. And as many soldiers as could be dropped without death lay unconscious behind him. Hmm. Perhaps not so ruthless after all.

"Rex…" a breathless voice broke his concentration, and he looked down at the tiny form beside him. Dropping into his human form, he waved Cloud Retainer back into battle and turned to his newly-arrived partner.

Guizhong looked concerned, but it was hard to tell between her gasps for air. Her typically smooth silvery hair was frazzled, and the long sleeves draping over her hands were smudged and stained. Her eyes were huge, but she still hadn't caught her breath yet. Rex didn't exactly have the time to let her recover from her sprint across the battlefield, though. "Did you see him, Gui?"

She nodded frantically, then managed to suck in enough air to say, "But— but he's not a killer!"

Rex's lips thinned. "Eight of my adepti's murdered bodies say otherwise."

Guizhong rose to the challenge, her eyes flashing fire at him. "Look at him! We shouldn't just kill him! He's worth taking the time to figure out what's wrong!" She crossed the arms still hidden in the depths of her sleeves, her tiny frame defiant.

Again, the Lord of Geo studied the Anemo wielder. He understood what she was trying to say. Something stood out to him about the movements of the Anemo Assassin. As light and deft as he moved, there was a way of slowness to each limb that spoke of heaviness. It didn't make sense. And the way he left so many alive in his wake despite his evident skill… But then Rex sighed and turned to his lovely partner. "I don't understand how he can assassinate someone in cold blood, but hesitate to kill on the battlefield. Generally it's the other way around. Regardless, I have to stop him. He's already wreaking havoc on our soldiers, not to mention the morale of the others." He gestured to the panicked flight of Earth Mover, which was cut short in an instant. Rex winced as his adepti fell to the ground he was named for, and his face hardened. "No more persuasion, Guizhong. I can't let him go." With that, he transformed into his dragon, despite Guizhong's furious little yells from somewhere down by his tail. He calculated swiftly, then shot forward. His claw snatched the Anemo wielder as the warrior exited a teleport, and Rex instantly flew straight up. Even if the warrior tried to teleport out of his grip, he'd fall to his death immediately.

Surprisingly, his prisoner was silent after the first cry of shock, and Rex felt the slim body go limp in his grasp. Quickly the dragon tilted his head to check. He hadn't meant to kill him on impact.

Dark green hair streaked with teal whipped wildly in the wind, and exhausted, terrified golden eyes met his, flanking a violet diamond in the center of a fair forehead marred with blood. Rex was shocked by how young his captive appeared, seemingly a boy of late teen years. He swung around to face forward and picked a mountaintop. He flew in low, dropped the boy roughly to the quixin-bedecked grass, and looped around to land and loom menacingly over him.

Once out of Rex's massive claw and lying gracelessly tumbled on the hillside, the youth still looked small. He lay where Rex had tossed him, only rolling over with an effort when Rex landed, in order to look up at his incoming doom. Rex inhaled, trying to force his emotions behind a wall for long enough to obliterate this enemy, but… he hesitated.

The youth was beyond worn out, but tears were trickling silently down his dirt-and-blood smeared cheeks. His spear lay in one hand, yet he made no attempt to use it. And then Rex saw it. Thin iron chains looped around each wrist, and around both ankles, tight enough to cause pain. The great dragon recoiled a little, startled. Why would a warrior have—and then he knew.

Dropping into his archon form, Rex strode closer to the youth. Soft grass caressed his bare feet, but he hardly noticed the sensation. He knelt with confidence, sensing the boy's utter inability to move. "What is your name? Who imprisoned you and forced you to kill?" His hood shielded his face from the sunlight filtering through the grey clouds, and the dark hair tinged with amber blew across his high cheekbones in the wind.

The young man flinched away from him, his eyes turning desperate. "I-I can't tell y-you. I ca-can't tell anyone." The exhaustion-induced stutter held boundless fear behind it, but the youth swallowed hard and said softly, "I've already done enough damage. Let me die so others are spared."

Rex saw yet another shackle around the boy's throat, bobbing up and down with his swallow. The enhanced metal tightened with warning when the boy failed to attack him, clearly demanding Rex's blood. The Anemo Assassin caught his breath desperately, and one hand flew to his throat, but then his eyes dulled and he let his hand fall. "Maybe now… I can p-pay for s-some of what I've… done."

Rex wasn't hit by the same acceptance of the youth's fate. He touched the iron collar around the warrior's neck and hissed with the lethal combination of energies swirling through the metal. It should have been warmed by the young man's body heat, but instead it was icy cold, chilling the white skin around it. A hand snatched Rex's wrist and dragged his fingers from the metal. Dark golden eyes met his in a haze of pain. "N-no. It will kill you. I'm not—not worth it," the young warrior choked out. His grip loosened as another wave of pain shot through his body, clearly emitting from the chain around his throat.

A grim smile touched Rex's lips, and his low, smooth voice was steely as he responded, "Let me be the judge of that." He freed himself from the youth's grip and yanked his glove off before wrapping his fingers around the choker. With a yell, he funneled pure Geo energy into the warped shackle, and it began to glow with a bright yellow. The light in the youth's eyes was already beginning to dim when the metal cracked, then blew apart in a storm of splinters.

As the Anemo Assassin gasped in a full breath and his eyes flickered open in shock, Rex set to work on the other bindings locked around the boy's helpless wrists and ankles. He noted the myriad of wounds littering the slender, fearfully still body, but he didn't have time to focus on them now. When the final shackle broke apart, a tenseness left the boy and he sighed, his eyes closing. Rex took a moment to steady himself after the enormous use of his Geo power, then rested his hand on the boy's shoulder. His deep voice echoed gentle across the hillside. "In the fables of another land, the name 'Xiao' is that of a spirit who encountered great suffering and hardship. It is a noble name borne by one who had experienced much suffering, as you have. Use this name from now on. I believe it will serve you well."

Xiao opened his pain-filled eyes and latched onto Rex. Hope and despair were at war in his face. "Y-you shouldn't… you don't know… what I've done. I've… killed so many. So very many… and I devoured their dreams… and…" He tilted his face away in shame. Another tear slipped through the bright blood on his face.

Rex studied the broken boy in front of him, then reached out and touched the gashed cheek. Tenderly he turned Xiao's head to face him. "And… did you enjoy it?" he asked slowly. He knew the battle was still raging behind them, but right now, this boy was the most important thing in his universe, and persuading him to live was more vital than using his power to kill fifty men in the bloodlust of battle.

Xiao shook his head hard, losing his breath and nearly his consciousness at the agony that the movement brought him. "N-no! It was… it was… so awful. I will never stop… relieving their final dreams… an-and their pain… it's all my fault…" With a sob, he broke off. His hand flew up towards his chest, but Rex was faster. He caught the dagger the boy was using in his attempt at suicide and knocked the weapon away.

"No, boy. Not that way. Never that way."

Xiao looked at him wildly. "But if I had been… free to… end myself before… they might… still be alive. D-don't you wish… your friends… weren't dead?" He flinched at the thought.

Still holding the teal-gloved hand in his own, Rex considered this for a moment before replying. His amber eyes grew distant as he thought of the friends he had lost in this war. "Of course. No one wants to lose those closest to them." Bringing his gaze back to Xiao, he spoke again. "Let me tell you about your last victim."

The Anemo Assassin already knew her name. "River Weaver." His voice was thin. He seemed to grow smaller, as if to protect himself from the bitter recriminations that he no doubt expected Rex to hurl at him.

Nodding, Rex shifted to sit back on his haunches and said gently, "River Weaver loved to help. She was always anticipating my least need or desire and meeting it before I even knew I wanted anything. She was the same way with humans. There was no way in Teyvat that she could pass someone by who needed help of any sort." The deep lilt of his voice seemed to calm Xiao, whose fearful eyes were steadier now. "She was the kindest person I know, aside from that salt woman, Havria. But her warm heart and caring spirit are still alive in my memories, and if I permitted you to kill yourself right now… it would dishonor her memory. Taint the joy with which she lived her life. She chose to find delight in helping others and watching them grow and thrive. Despite all that you've done, I do not believe she would want a repentant man to die for her."

"But… I should atone for my sins."

"In a way, you already have. No true assassin would let his heart be so shattered, even after so many victims." Rex's amber eyes sharpened, and he infused his words with a stern importance. "I gave you a new name. It is so your past can remain in the past. You will not be able to pay off the debt you have accumulated under another's command, but you can strive to take the memories of those who have died and honor them. Your life is your own now, Xiao."

There was a long silence, and then Xiao's voice whispered, "You are right. B-but also wrong. My life… is yours now. Command me… as you will."

Rex Lapis stilled. "You would make a contract with me? You do know who I am, do you not?"

Xiao's head swayed slightly as he lifted it to look at Rex directly, not smiling so much as letting his face ease. "There is… only one dragon… among the adepti, Lord of Geo. I will… make a contract… with you."

Rex nodded slowly. "Very well. I agree to this contract. But we shall work out the details later. Remain here for now. It is a safe distance from battle, and you must rest and recover. I promise that I will return to you once I have finished what I need to do. What was your captor's name?" He fully intended to seek out Xiao's master in battle and annihilate him.

Xiao managed to mumble out the evil overlord's name despite his drooping eyelids, and Rex touched the youth's arm in concern. The Anemo energy still flowed strong, though, and he relaxed in the certainty that Xiao would be able to make a full return to health. As he shifted his weight to stand, Xiao caught his hand and he looked down.

"My name… is Alatus."

"Adeptus Xiao Alatus, welcome to Liyue's Land of Contracts, and the service of Rex Lapis. You are now under my protection." Rex responded immediately, and added gently, "You need not disclose your real name to anyone. Rest and heal. I will bring someone to treat your wounds… my Conqueror of Demons."

oOo

Millenia later, Zhongli watched silently and sipped his tea sedately as Xiao said hesitantly to a young Outlander girl with solemn gold eyes, "If you need me… call out my name, and I will come."

Outwardly the incognito Lord of Geo was unfazed, his usual calm and thoughtful self. But inwardly? Oh, he felt like shouting his delight off the top of Mount Hulao. He raised his cup, then paused for a moment to whisper aloud into the wind, "You were right as usual, Guizhong. He has always been worth saving."