"ɪꜰ ʏᴏᴜ ᴄᴀɴ'ᴛ ꜰʟʏ, ᴛʜᴇɴ ʀᴜɴ. ɪꜰ ʏᴏᴜ ᴄᴀɴ'ᴛ ʀᴜɴ, ᴛʜᴇɴ ᴡᴀʟᴋ. ɪꜰ ʏᴏᴜ ᴄᴀɴ'ᴛ ᴡᴀʟᴋ, ᴛʜᴇɴ ᴄʀᴀᴡʟ. ʙᴜᴛ ᴡʜᴀᴛᴇᴠᴇʀ ʏᴏᴜ ᴅᴏ, ʏᴏᴜ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ᴛᴏ ᴋᴇᴇᴘ ᴍᴏᴠɪɴɢ ꜰᴏʀᴡᴀʀᴅ"

 -ᴍᴀʀᴛɪɴ ʟᴜᴛʜᴇʀ ᴋɪɴɢ ᴊʀ.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"So this nation...this is Liyue, and there are six others. All of them have a god, and there are elements. And Geo is rocks?"

"Well, that's a summarized version of what we explained to you, yes. And we have these creatures called adepti. We have a reason to believe that you are one that we haven't found yet. Do you mind confirming?" Malleus raised an eyebrow and looked down at his feet. He was still slightly skeptical about those two, so he just nodded. It was dangerous to reveal ANYTHING about himself to a potential enemy. Especially after him and so many other humans saw him so vulnerable. Malleus had to make himself look bigger, stronger. Else they'll think lowly of him.

"You wouldn't mind if we took you to see the others, just to see if any of them know you." 

"Yes, this will give me a chance to try and see if I can regain my memories of them..."

"Then it's decided, we'll take you to them. They shouldn't be busy right now, this is our only tine of war when we have peace.."

Malleus was slightly confused, but he nodded silently. He knew that none of the adepti know would know him. This would lead to him being found out. But, then again, he could always keep up with the amnesia act. He saw no way out of this place, and Morax would definitely be watching him a little more closely now.

"Morax. You have called for us? How may we be of assistance to you?" A man while a similar look to Morax spoke properly. It was about two hours later. The three had finally reached the abodes of the adepti, and now was the moment of truth. Malleus looked down to the grassy terrain and fiddled with his new clothes. His old ones had been torn badly. They were not salvageable about his...accident by Guili Plains. Luckily, Guizhong and Morax had extra clothes for him, so it worked out decently. But aside from his appearance, all eyes were now on him, examining him closely.

"Nope. I don't know him." The purple adepti with four arms just shrugged after taking a close enough look at the boy. The rest agreed and soon all their eyes turned suspicious. Well, this was the end. Malleus had no idea how he was going to get out of this one. He should've just minded his own business. This was all going to go downhill in three...two...one-

"Oh, so we have another adepti friend! Nice to meet you dude! I'm Bosacius!" The four-armed one smiled brightly and pat his back. Malleus coughed and looked away from the adepti. A girl pushed Bosacius away and smiled brightly towards the fae. "Hello! I am Bonanus! Do you like to swim? I absolutely adore the water!"

The boy just blinked and shook his head slightly. He never really was one for water anyways. Another one came up to him. She had glasses, a high ponytail, and an almost judgmental look on her face. "I am Cloud Retainer. It is nice to meet you. May I know your name?"

"M-My name?"

"Yes your name! Morax, this one might be deaf!" Well..they obviously weren't going to get along. Malleus frowned deeply and matched her look. Cloud Retainer's face contorted into one of shock. "One thinks that we might not get along. You need to teach this one some manners!"

"Well, I figured if you all knew him, then you would welcome him into your homes?"

"Morax! You were planning on dumping him on us?!" "Morax! That wasn't how you were supposed to tell them!" Guizhong too?! This hurt...a lot. Malleus had just started to trust the two gods. And now they were just going to abandon him in the hands of these strangers?? How thoughtful. All that trust was now gone. The boy started to back away from all of them. Normally he wouldn't run from this. Or from anything. But these people...they couldn't be trusted. Not now or ever. If this was their true intentions, then what was the point staying with them any longer. But at least now, he finally knew his place in that world. It was the same as Twisted Wonderland. He was insignificant. He did not matter.

While the adepti had been arguing, Malleus found his perfect opportunity to escape all of them. But it seemed he had a follower. And they were doing a pretty good job at hiding their presence. Finally, he had found himself on the edge of a cliff. He sat down and started to play with the grass around him. He found a flower. A Qixin. Malleus observed the petals and the odd leaves of the flower closely. His thoughts were finally at ease. That was until a person walked up behind him. He sighed, but decided to not give them the time of day, but it seems that person had other plans.

"Why'd you run away from Lord Morax?" "Why not? They were just going to abandon me anyways." After a few seconds he felt the presence move to his side and sit down next to him. "Abandon? Is that what you really think? He would never do such a thing."

Malleus' pupils flicked towards the boy. From what he could tell, he was rather short, with greenish hair and amber eyes. A mask hung from his side and a small purple diamond was present on his forehead. Next to him was a pole-arm. It looked to be made of some kind of jade. And his demeanor was slightly heavy and threatening. His eyes wandered back to the flower and he paid no mind to his appearance any longer. "Why are you here? What is your name?"

"I'll answer both on the condition that you tell me what your name is."

"Fine, My name is Malleus Draconia. Pleasure to meet your acquaintance Mr...?"

"You can just call me Xiao. Though, you'll hear the others call me Atlas."

"Strange. A man of many names perhaps? What are you doing here, Xiao?"

"I figured I follow you. It has been quite a while since we've all been called as a whole."

"Morax told you to follow me. Didn't he?"

"....Besides the point. Anyways, were you overwhelmed? What made you want to come here?" 

"No reason...I just didn't get why they would want to give me away...Don't they understand that it hurts...? I trusted them. But it seemed like they didn't trust me enough to stay with them." 

"That is not what they aimed to achieve Malleus. They didn't mean to hurt you. You see, Morax is the archon of Liyue, as you might've known. He rules all of this land. I was once in your position. I was all alone for the longest time until he found me. Him and Ms. Guizhong showed me compassion, but they did the same thing that they're doing now. I was mad at them for days, but I found out it was better that I was here. I made friends, and I finally learned that what Morax did was for the greater good. He's a busy man. I don't blame him now, because I know he still cares."

"Tell me Xiao, do you know what it's like to be outcast? To be treated like a freak? No one likes you. They start rumors. You have no friends and you're alone. You parents abandoned you because of your power. And you lost the only people who have ever loved you. DO YOU KNOW WHAT THAT'S LIKE?!" The air around them started to turn dense again and thunder sounded in the distance. Xiao was now on his guard and was ready to fight. That was until a gust of cool wind suddenly blew through them.

"Ehe~ Seems like I just stopped a fight~ Now gentlemen, do you mind telling me what all the fuss is about?"