He heard a small yelp behind the massive packages with the mysterious person's back slightly in his view. Xiao sighed before he returned his weapon and grimaced at the unknown person. It's probably another mortal who happens to stumble in the shadows of the abyss.

He've already encountered a situation like this in the past, but it was a rare thing for one to do so. Only humans who are aware of its existence or has the ambition can see and enter the shallow depths of the abyss in this world. His master told him to be cautious and advise to not use initial violence before investigating. 

Of course, Xiao knew that he can't just leave them in the dark. 

But before he could approach the stranger, he heard a quiet, dark chuckle behind him. Unfortunately, the abyss mage sent some reinforcements and slightly caught him unnoticed. But luckily, his quick senses saved him from the incoming hit.

Xiao dodged the fiery attack swiftly and prepared to make his attack, but what he didn't expect was a golden sword, shooting from his behind towards the abyssal mages. It was thrown with a great amount of force with a kind of strange power that he could sense from it and trashed his opponents.

With wide eyes, he watched the monsters of the abyss shrieking as if they were being burned by the hottest star in the universe, quickly disappearing into particles.

What was that? Xiao recalled the mortal and pulled out his weapon as he turned behind him. "Who-"

Was there even a small chance that a human did that? Absolutely not...unless of course they're not ordinary.

The moment he turned, he was only met with darkness. There wasn't anyone there, but he could hear the running footsteps in this dark domain. With a frustrated scoff, he closed his eyes and listened to the whispers of the winds.

A sweet melody he heard and a confused voice mended with it. From his ears, it reached to the close corners of the shadows not too far from him. His golden, sharp eyes snapped open and teleported to his destination.

But when he did, everything happened so fast. He was met with a blow that he barely managed to block. A golden sword against his jaded polearm. Both vibrating with powerful energy and a great amount of strength...How alluring.

The shadows' domain is always a dark place, similar to the deep dimension of the abyss. Even with his bright, amber brown eyes, he can't see the face of his opponent. They parried with their weapons, dancing the night away. Xiao didn't expect them to be strong nor noticed his incoming presence. But despite all of this, he held on. Are they even human?

But when the rays of the moonlight hit just right, Xiao could slightly see the unexpected color of their hair. 

 A bright color that resembles the sun rays of the day.

Of course, it distracted him which made him falter on his blocks. Seeing this, his opponent decided to take this advantage.

The mysterious person jumped back and mumbled something under his breath. Before Xiao could make his next move, the person emitted a flash causing Xiao to temporarily lose his sight.

The next time his eyes opened, he was alone in the middle of the dark.

***

He recognized the room that he teleported to be the waiting room next to Zhongli's. Xiao opened the door and knocked onto the next one, hoping he's not interrupting him. He entered as soon as he was allowed to. The room was nothing special. It looked like a small, ordinary office room where Zhongli does his business for the funeral parlor, well if there's any business. There's a large desk, a few chairs, a fireplace, and bookshelves covering most of the walls. Then there stood Zhongli looking out the window as if he's the main character in some detective movie. Ganyu made Xiao watch his first movie decades back and let's just say he prefers the real-life action rather than staring at a wall of lights for more than an hour. Xiao took his hoodie off and his face mask, revealing his whole, bare face. "What's the emergency, sir?"

A low chuckle echoed across the room before the said man paused in his writing and looked up at the adeptus. "No need to be uptight, Xiao. You were out for so long that Childe thought you left us."

Xiao deadpanned at his words, "I know. When he called, I threw the phone down from the top of a building. His outburst is really unnecessary."

"Oh?" Zhongli definitely sounded amused and pulled out another phone from his desk. "Then, here's a replacement. But please, don't do it again."

The boy glanced at the phone and then at his master's face. Of course, he knew something like this will happen. He sighed and silently took it before he spoke again. "There was a group of abyss mages that needed to be taken care of last minute."

The older one nodded at the words. "The abyss order usually has  been appearing now and then. Hmm perhaps..." His face turned grim at his current thoughts.

"Is something a matter..?"

He tapped at his papers, "For now, no. However, our intelligent agents are reporting unusual high levels of abyssal energy in various lands of Teyvat. And some are confident in coming out of hiding. Fortunately, they were able to extinguish them before any civilian caught a glimpse of them."

'Coming out of hiding...' Xiao knew years back the abyss monsters and hilichurls would just roam any land on Teyvat. But as years passed, they slowly went into hiding due to the lessening abyssal powers as people like Xiao ushered them away from normal citizens, which is why it is rare to see them in daylights. Because of this, he's sure that they're history, including himself.

There was a pause between them as Zhongli thought hard at what he's going to say next. "Hmm...There's something else concerning me but I think this is something that we need to discuss with the LIME team. I'll have Venti and Ei to join us for a meeting tomorrow in the afternoon."

Hearing the name of the team, Xiao frowned at it mentally. "LIME Team" is actually an acronym for "Liyue, Inazuma, Mondstadt Elite Team." Those who were chosen to hold the elemental powers of visions were also chosen to be in the team. People from Inazuma, Liyue, and Mondstadt combined combat forces and became an elite team that's only called to action when there's a major emergency threatening their citizens. The name was dumb but apparently, Mondstadt's leader Venti was the one who came up with the name "LIME." Yes, the name of the fruit. Xiao hadn't seen this elite team for a while since the last time they met up was when Venti's pet attacked his nation. That was years ago. Now he's curious, what's the emergency this time?

"Well, that's all I have for now... I'll inform our team when anything urgent comes up." Zhongli took a sip of his tea and saw the troubled look on the adeptus' face. "Is there anything you want to tell me?" 

Right, the encounter with the mysterious swordsman. "There...was something."

"Oh?"

Xiao then told him the previous events and watched the other's expression morph into a more surprised, curious look as he delved deeper in the story. Xiao watched the other in deep thought. "Oh...perhaps...Is it that time already?"

Xiao shot up quickly, puzzlement clearly still written on his face. "What do you mean?"

Zhongli didn't say a word for a moment, as if he needed to choose his next words very carefully. "It's too early to tell but...if it's true, then perhaps it can be a good thing."

Xiao could sense how this one sentence could mean great importance to his master. Despite his curiosity about the truths behind those words, he chose to stay silent and nodded. "Because there are more sightings than usual, I shall be patrolling more frequently."    

Zhongli sighed at his words. "This is your response even after I asked you to relax? There are many out there in watching the nation as well. Don't overwork yourself."

Xiao would be apologizing on the spot if he did offend Zhongli in any way, but because he heard a tinge of amusement in his voice, he heaved a sigh before turning away. "Please let me know if there are any other tasks I need to take care of."

"Of course," he smiled before returning to a serious look, "but there is one thing I ask from you."

"What is it?"

"If you do see the one who wields the golden sword again, bring them to our location." 

He didn't expect that. "Are you sure that's your final decision?"

"Yes." 

"But..." He wanted to argue, but he knew he have no chance against him. 

With one pat on his head, he gave him a serious and hopeful look. "Yes, but do it. For the sake of this world's future." 

***

A/n 

Hello everybody!

Sorry for the very slow update, but happy reading! :)

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~ari_sheepie