~#~ Chapter 2 ~#~

After a very long while Neuvillette noticed Zhongli begin to show slight signs of tiring. There was nothing drastic but after the other man's third misstep upon landing, Neuvillette called a halt to the game. "I believe that is enough for today," he said softly offering a small bow in Zhongli's direction. "There will be ample opportunity to continue at a later date, if you would be agreeable."

Zhongli returned the bow and let out a full body shudder as his wings folded themselves away and disappeared. "I would. I…" he broke off suddenly as a loud crack reverberated across the clearing. A swirl of black smoke formed in the space between the two men and quickly coalesced into the form of Xiao, armed with his usual jade winged-spear which he immediately pointed at Neuvillette.

Neuvillette could feel the power rolling off the little yaksha and took a step back, only to follow this a moment later with a backflip that took him halfway across the clearing when the very ground itself appeared to erupt from behind Xiao.

With a guttural yell, Zhongli had reached out for Xiao, anxiety having grabbed him the moment the yaksha had appeared. In his sudden panic to ensure that both Xiao and Neuvillette remained in one piece, he unthinkingly transformed again but rather than the mostly-human forms he had taken earlier in the day, this time he transformed into his true dragon form. Almost the height of a three-storey building, the dragon's upper body was covered in large, dark chocolate-coloured scales and his spine was protected by a line of short, sharp spikes that glowed with golden-highlights. His underside had the appearance of old, supple leather, in a paler brown than his top side and smaller, brown scales covered his legs which darkened to black as they approached his massive paws and their burnished, ebony claws. A huge pair of black, leathery wings lay furled against his back and his massive, angular head, which had the appearance of brown, scaled granite was forced to hang low to the ground to avoid contact with the trees above him.

Zhongli wrapped a clawed paw around Xiao before lifting him clean off the ground but unfortunately this was the last cohesive movement that he managed. The massive dragon immediately lurched to one side, flapped his left wing to stop himself falling, over-compensated onto his right side and ended up precariously balanced with the clawed, elbow joint of his right wing dug deep into the ground supporting most of his weight.

Not expecting any sort of attack from Zhongli, Xiao had let out a shriek when he was grabbed from behind. He was then shaken around violently for a good few moments until the paw surrounding him came to a halt, leaving him suspended almost fifteen foot above the ground. Miraculously he had managed to retain his grip on his spear and, as Neuvillette regained his composure and took a step forwards, Xiao levelled it at him. "Don't," he growled. "Please. I have no wish to hurt you but if you threaten him then I will not hesitate to stop you."

"I have no wish to harm either of you," Neuvillette replied quietly, holding both hands in front of himself to placate the smaller man. "In fact, we had enjoyed a very pleasant and civilised afternoon here until this…happened."

Xiao kept his spear pointed towards Neuvillette for a moment longer then gave up as he wriggled around in Zhongli's grip in an attempt to turn to look at the stricken dragon. The eye facing Xiao was half covered by a thick, brown, leathery eyelid and didn't appear to be focussing on anything in particular. As both men watched, it slid closed and Zhongli let out a long, breathy moan.

When the eye didn't immediately reopen, Xiao dragged in a deep breath and teleported himself out of the dragon's paw to appear a split-second later immediately in front of the still-closed eye. "Master," he whispered. "Master, please. Don't leave me."

The eyelid twitched and slowly slid open again. Zhongli focussed on Xiao for a moment and then, without moving his head at all, managed to locate Neuvillette who had stepped closer while Xiao was pleading with the dragon to open his eye. He let out a quiet groan as he flexed his muscles and then made an obvious attempt to shake himself into another form. All he actually did was to fade in colour slightly and then ended up desperately flinging his left wing out and over both Xiao and Neuvillette to support his bodyweight before he could overbalance and crush the pair of them.

"Stop." Neuvillette ducked out from beneath the wing and hurried around to Zhongli's head. He pressed his left hand flat against Zhongli's snout, as far up as he could reach and stood there for a moment with a frown on his face. "I do not understand," he announced eventually. "It seems you have mostly evaded erosion but there is…something else. Something that I cannot place. Are you being punished?"

Zhongli exhaled heavily and blasted Neuvillette with a gust of air, blowing his long, white hair in all directions. He let out something that sounded suspiciously like a choked sob and then fell quiet and remained still.

Xiao, who had been watching Neuvillette intently, abruptly disappeared from view and reappeared a moment later, between the long, sharp horns that stuck out from the back of Zhongli's head. He settled himself cross-legged where the dragon's head and neck met and remained there with one hand flat against a joint where two armoured scales overlapped.

Neuvillette rested his hand against Zhongli's snout again and closed his eyes as he concentrated on his breathing. After a long moment his hand began to glow. This became brighter with every minute that passed and eventually Xiao became aware of something happening to the body beneath him when Zhongli began to tremble. Xiao slid to the floor as the tremble became a shudder and then a full-on quake as dragon-Zhongli slowly began to morph into one of his more frequent, much smaller guises.

Previous times when Xiao had seen Zhongli transform it had happened in the blink of an eye and even his beloved Rex Lapis variant had formed in a mere second. This time though, it was almost painful to watch but Xiao found himself unable to look away. Zhongli slowly morphed from full on dragon through some grotesque, broken-looking, part-dragon and finally ended up as his favoured cream-robed, horned version of himself where he promptly collapsed into Xiao's waiting arms.

The moment Zhongli disappeared from beneath Neuvillette's hand, the hydro dragon swayed and then stumbled backwards. Xiao watched him warily, ready to catch him if he was to fall but after only a moment he centred himself and sat down heavily on a nearby rock.

"Thank you," Xiao murmured quietly as he sat on the floor with Zhongli's head cradled in his lap. "I won't pretend to understand what just happened but…thank you anyway."

Neuvillette opened his eyes and stared at him tiredly. "I shared some of my power with him. I admit I was uncertain if it was even possible." He glanced down at Zhongli. "…but I had to try."

Xiao nodded vaguely as he realised that the surface of the pool in the centre of the clearing had begun to swirl. "We need to move," he said quietly and pointed towards the pool.

Neuvillette followed his gaze. "While I agree, in principle, I do not believe that she is a threat. At least he does not believe her to be so." He nodded towards Zhongli without taking his eyes off Apep who was slowly emerging from the pool. The dragon locked eyes with him and began to slither forwards on her belly until she stopped just a few feet from where he sat. She lay there, peering at him and sniffing the air for a long moment before snorting loudly and sliding the last couple of feet toward him until the end of her snout rested against his leg.

Remembering how Zhongli had been petting her when he'd wandered into the clearing earlier in the day, Neuvillette reached out a hand and laid it on her nose. She wriggled under his touch, and he smiled gently as he reached up to scratch the soft but slightly clammy skin further up her face. Apep closed her eyes and purred in appreciation and a peaceful quiet fell over the clearing for a few minutes before Apep reluctantly pulled away from the others and looked balefully down at Zhongli. A soft, gentle breeze whirled around the clearing as a quiet, sad voice reverberated around the three men, "You need to take care of my friend." Apep looked wretchedly between them as she slunk backwards towards her pool. "Please fix him and…bring him back to me."

Apep continued backwards until she slipped back beneath the centre of the pool. Neuvillette looked from Zhongli to Xiao. "How far can you travel at a time?"

Xiao turned baleful amber eyes towards the hydro dragon. "Alone, very far. With…others, not so far. I could take us all into the city, or possibly one of the outlying settlements, in maybe…three jumps but I would need to rest between each stage. Sumeru can be very wild, we would be vulnerable."

"I understand," Neuvillette nodded. "Although can I suggest that we head north instead of east?"

Xiao thought for a moment. "You want to go take him to Fontaine? Like…this?"

"Not into Fontaine proper, no," Neuvillette explained quietly. "There is somewhere we can go, somewhere that will ask no questions. There are healers there, should we require them, but I believe that time and rest is all we actually need."

Xiao rested his hand on Zhongli's shoulder for a moment before replying. "I must keep him safe. I…do not know Fontaine and it can be…problematic if I cannot, ah, see where I am going."

"Do you know the cliffs that overlook Romaritime Harbour?" Neuvillette asked. "It is said to be relatively unoccupied. Could you get us there?"

Xiao nodded. "I have been there. It is bleak and windswept with very little vegetation. Yes, that I can do."

Neuvillette held Zhongli in a sitting position while Xiao tucked himself beneath the unconscious man's arm. Once he had a safe grasp on Zhongli's tailcoat he held his free arm out and took hold of Neuvillette's arm and a split second later the three men disappeared in a cloud of black smoke.

~#~

They reappeared in a large, flat area of deep, red sand, just off one side of a large, heavily-occupied hilichurl camp. "Nope," Xiao growled and disappeared again, taking the other two with him and the hilichurls were left looking around in confusion.

Xiao's hurried teleport took them across the water onto the tall, dished roof of the main harbour building. He released his grip on Neuvillette and gently lowered Zhongli's head into his lap before slumping backwards onto the roof, breathing heavily. "A ridiculous place to stop," he groaned, looking up at the sky. "But at least it's not raining."

"It is indeed fortuitous." Neuvillette looked upwards and smiled to himself. He walked to the edge of the roof and sighed heavily as he stared across the familiar buildings of his beloved city. "Do you have somewhere you call home?" he asked suddenly. "I mean…" He shook his head, "No, I don't know what I mean. Gods, I need to sleep."

Xiao allowed his right arm to fall across his face. "Soon." He let out a quiet chuckle, "I need a moment."

Neuvillette completed a lap of the roof before settling down behind Zhongli. He sunk into a quiet, meditative state and sat quietly while Xiao recovered enough to continue their journey.

~#~

Their next stop was Neuvillette's office, or at least that was his plan when he pointed the Palais Mermonia out to Xiao. The grand building was clearly visible, way across Fontaine, reaching up towards the sky on the neighbouring landmass and he explained that his office was on the top floor. What actually happened was another rooftop landing, directly above the office but most definitely still outside the building. "No furniture," Xiao explained quietly. "Safer with…passengers."

~#~

Xiao needed a much shorter rest before he was ready to set off for the last leg of their journey. He baulked when Neuvillette told him that he not only needed to take them underground but underwater and inside a heavily occupied, fortified building. Neuvillette was forced to explain, in great detail, how the Fortress of Meropide was formed, it's dimensions and exact position, both horizontally and vertically. He explained that they were aiming for the unfurnished entranceway below Wriothesley's office which was located at the top of the centre spire of the main building. He had to go through all this several times before Xiao was willing to attempt what he called an 'unreasonable and hazardous' plan and, even then, he refused to take the other two before he'd tried it alone.