"Are we like…sure we want to do this?" A few minutes ago she kicked a pebble into the Chasm, and she still hadn't heard it land. She probably wasn't going to.

"I'm not forcing you to come with me."

"Yes I know that Xiao." Lumine rolled her eyes.

"She means it's a long way down." Noelle fiddled with the creases of her glider as she hauled it over her shoulder.

"We've prepped everything?"

"Yes. I have the rations, potions, and-"

"Xiao!" The adeptus leapt without warning, and his head quickly disappeared beneath the Chasm's shadowy veil. Beside her, Chongyun shrugged and leapt after him. She sighed,

"After you, I guess."

"Should your glider break, I'll cushion your fall." Noelle smiled and ran without jumping. Right off the side of the cliff. Lumine decided she wasn't going to drag it out any longer and followed. It didn't matter how many cliffs she'd leapt off, it didn't matter if she was best friends with the "god of not falling to your death," she still experienced that adrenaline rush every time.

Although, given the length of the drop even free falling seemed to take forever. It didn't help that she couldn't make out much scenery either. Ten mere seconds stole the majority of the surface's light, and it reminded her of the coral reefs on Watatsumi. The way the plants near the surface flourished, while the depths crawled, pitch black, with unforeseen horrors.

The air flowing against her face left her breathless by the time she opened her glider, and she suddenly became glad that she jumped last. Now she could make out the glow of Noelle's vision, which probably charged on the way down. After all, what better place for a geo vision than the depths of the earth's crust? She shivered as she landed, and she winced as Xiao brought out a strange light source.

"A flashlight?"

"In a sense. It-"

"An adjuvant! Oh, sorry." Chongyun's nerves were obvious even in the dim light, though for once he wasn't eating a popsicle. He must be sparing them.

"Yes. It's an adjuvant made from lumenstone. Rex Lapis made this shortly after the Archon War to assist the adepti in clearing excess karma. It compiles elemental energy and releases it as light."

"Not as any sort of element? Just…light?"

"Yes."

"Weird."

"How is it- ugh never mind. Let's just investigate the area. The last thing we need right now is more demons." Xiao began walking, and he strapped the adjuvant to his hip opposite of the yaksha mask. Lumine walked beside him while Chongyun and Noelle trailed after.

"Didn't you say you were on your way here already? What for?"

"I have my reasons." She knew what that meant. In the language of Xiao, he had just politely told her to shut up. Right now she didn't feel like pressing, and it wasn't as if they were short on time.

"Ah, so you thought coming to Liyue would help."

"Well, it was Lumine's idea actually. She thought I should get out of my own head, and it seemed like a good training opportunity." Chongyun sighed as he stretched,

"I'm sure you weren't expecting this kind of welcome. Sorry about that."

"No need to apologize! I quite enjoy being able to help out where I can. Besides, Liyue is a beautiful nation. Different in a good way."

"Indeed. Welcome to Liyue." Lumine suddenly plowed into Xiao's extended arm.

"Wh-"

"Be careful. There's corruption." A pool of dark, oozing liquid puddled within the stone in front of them. The scent of it stung her nostrils, and it reminded her of the chemicals in Albedo's lab. She gagged as a second layer, which smelled like rotting flesh, emanated from a strange growth in the middle.

Before she could ask, Xiao's vision suddenly pulsed with light as he channeled it into the adjuvant. A stream of air rushed from behind her and deeper into the mines, and like a camera flash the adjuvant flickered, incinerating the majority of the goo. The corpse of a hilichurl rested partially decomposed beneath the strange growth, and as it cleared its ribs trickled with the viscous liquid.

"Uck, Archons. That is foul."

"You…sense that too right?" Chongyun fixated on a point in the distance. Just beyond the light's reach, Lumine could barely make out the shape of a person. They were very tall, but they looked more like a trick of her mind. Like if she walked closer she would only find an oversized pile of laundry.

"Yes." Xiao had never let go of his polearm, but now he gripped it tighter as he strode ever so slowly further. The shadow didn't fade as the light tipped closer, it simply retreated to the side while flattening itself against the wall to their left. An unmistakable grin impossibly stretched from its dark, angular visage, only a face and a smile made from borrowed light. "Ah-"

Xiao suddenly dropped his weapon, and he fell to his knees as he clawed the sides of his head. When did he put on the yaksha mask?

"Xiao!" Lumine blinked, and the creature disappeared. Chongyun and Noelle raced the small distance to them, not quite sure what to do. He screamed, the sound echoing off the rock walls several times over before it faded into the depths. He frantically began muttering something, hardly intelligible but it held the rhythm and cadence of language, and he groaned, struggling against an internal strife.

"What's going on? Lumine?" Chongyun answered in her stead,

"Karma. That being is full of it, where did it-"

"BOSACIUS!" The trio was suddenly abandoned as Xiao sprinted into the dark, his mind engaged in a battle only he could see.


Xingqiu,

As I write this from the safety of Lumine's teapot, I only pray that you have found safety yourself. Earlier today I received news of your apparent crime, and I know it must be false. You? Scheming with the Fatui? Absurd. Whomever is really responsible will meet my blade. Or yours. Whichever comes first. (I may not be by your side physically, but we still fight the same battle).

Oh, you should also know that Liyue Harbor was attacked by a Golden Wolflord. I fought it (rather messily) alongside adeptus Xiao. For some reason it followed me, and it was possessed with karmic energy. So it was an evil spirit. That followed me. Suffice it to say I nearly shat my pants. I don't think we would have been able to defeat it without the help of Lumine, Venti, and her friend Noelle.

It's very difficult to swirl just ice and rocks. I wish you had been there to freeze it for me. Also, I almost killed myself many times, but I remembered what you said about body and mind! That helped a bit.

Okay, I'm rambling now. I just thought I'd give you an update. Stay safe! May our paths cross again soon.

- C

PS: Xiangling says hi. She made you Jueyun Chili and wrote you a little note which gave me this idea. I accidentally left the chili at Hu Tao's. Long story. Sorry, she probably ate it.

Right now Xingqiu was grateful for the relative privacy, because now he was crying like an idiot. Zhongli and Venti stepped away to give him space, and now they traded notes beneath a nearby sandbearer tree. They weren't paying him any attention. Good.

Chongyun had thought to send him a letter even in the middle of a crisis, and Xiangling had thought of him. Cooked for him even. There were still people who loved him after all.

"Young Master Xingqiu." He flinched and began frantically wiping his face, though it accomplished nothing. "I apologize, I didn't mean to frighten you."

"It's fine. Did you need something?"

"I just came to inform you that Venti and I will be taking shifts this evening. You should get some rest."

"I can take a shift," he sniffed and wiped his nose on his non-torn sleeve, "I promise I'm okay." Zhongli only shook his head,

"Absolutely not. Before your brief respite you were awake for 82 hours, and you have a growing brain. You require more rest than Venti and I."

"If you insist." Xingqiu re-folded Chongyun's note and tucked it in his suit coat. He kneeled again in order to lay down.

"That won't be necessary."

"What? Why?"

Beneath the cover of their little cave, Zhongli sat against the wall with his legs flat on the ground. He folded his arms and shut his eyes,

"Because I can sleep anywhere. You can at least use my legs to cushion your head." He had to admit, it was a good offer. His arm had fallen asleep before, and he smudged dirt along his face he was sure of it. "I don't mind. Just don't tell Venti. I don't need him leaning on me every time he drinks himself into a stupor."

Xingqiu smiled, Venti could obviously see them. "Okay." He crawled over and rested his head on Zhongli's lap. His cheek thawed from the cold, as he tucked his legs closer to his body. It wasn't a bed, but it was comfortable enough.

"You have dirt in your hair. Do you mind if I brush it out?"

"No, I don't mind." Xingqiu hadn't meant to, but he leaned into the touch as Zhongli threaded his fingers through the tangled (probably disgusting) parts of his hair. At least he wore gloves so he couldn't feel all the grease.

"Your father…did he hurt you often? Um," Zhongli coughed, "you don't have to answer of course."

"No, it's fine. I thought you might ask that. It's kind of hard to bring up," his head was growing heavier under the rhythmic warmth, "I don't know. I mean, I do know. He used to do it more before I got my vision, and before I started learning Guhua. I wasn't doing so well in school, and I guess that reflected poorly on the guild. Believe it or not, I used to read a lot more then. It was an escape from all the pressure."

"I see."

"But since I started proving myself he didn't bother me as much. Every once in a while my brother would screw up though. He'd get a bad grade or get in a fight. I wanted to intercede, I should have-and I did once. It was…bad."

"Well, you are safe now." When Xingqiu didn't answer, Zhongli glanced down. He had fallen asleep. In his head he heard Barbatos,

You adopted another one? You're worse than I am with wine.

You'll understand when you're older.

Whatever gramps. I'm waking you up when it's your turn.

Wake Xingqiu, and I'll hit you with a meteor. Barbatos only laughed.