???? ???????? | Xiao x (Traveler) Reader

"Thanks, Xiao." You spoke with a small smile, "Thanks for always being there for me." The Adeptus didn't miss a beat before replying.

"Don't thank me." He spoke as he crossed his arms. After all, he had still failed to protect you twice now. At this point, even he was beginning to doubt his own abilities as a Yaksha. Yet, you didn't seem to feel the same.

As he looked at you now, all he saw in your eyes was joy and thankfulness as you stared back, mixed with the obvious sorrow of the situation you both were currently in.

"But...What do we do now?" You asked suddenly, pulling him from his thoughts, "Where do we go...If everyone's turning on me?" Except him, you wanted to add, but that was a given. After all, you'd always felt a connection with Xiao so it didn't surprise you that he was still on your side right now.

"We need to figure out the cause," he replied, "Do you know of any leads that could help us?" You paused as you thought for a moment.

"I don't think there's anything I haven't told you yet," you admitted, "I didn't think I had many enemies, either. Even the abyss seemed to be affected by whatever that was, so it must be something or someone outside of that that's causing it." He nodded before remembering the unique connection you seemed to possess towards this world. You'd always been able to sense things; sometimes even to a greater extent than even he could.

"Did you sense anything from the people that attacked you?" He questioned, "Their energy, perhaps?" You shook your head.

"I wasn't able to detect anything different about their energy, but then again, I was preoccupied by them attacking me." You admitted with a sigh, thinking back anything else you may have noticed about them. Aside from the diamond pupils, which were similar to Kaeya's, Dainsleif's, and even those of the god who's separated you from your sibling in the first place, there was nothing you could think of.

To your knowledge though, Kaeya and Dain's eyes had always been like that, so why had they never acted the way everyone else seemed to be acting now?

Burying your face in your knees again, you let out a frustrated sigh. "I have nothing." You admitted. If only you'd seen what happened during the span of time after you'd left your sibling but before they'd attacked you. Some sort of change had to have occurred, but you had no way of knowing what it looked like since you hadn't been there.

And as for everyone else, their changes seemed to happen so quickly that they were completely undetectable. Baizhu, for example, had switched demeanors in front of your very eyes and you hadn't even noticed, nor had Xiao.

Your twin had to be different, but again, you hadn't seen the change take place. If you had more details about it, you might be able to figure out what was going on.

"You're not part of Teyvat," That was what your sibling had said just before trying to shove you through a portal to a different world. You still didn't understand what they had meant by that, but you recalled the talk you'd had with Nahida shortly after helping Ai Haitham and the others overthrow the sages.

She'd said that, looking through Irminsul, your twin had not been considered a descender like you were, even though you both had arrived her together from another world. There were records about them there while there were none about you, and you still didn't understand why.

"That's it!" You exclaimed, jumping up and startling Xiao, who grabbed his polearm thinking there was danger nearby. He gave you a questioning look as you turned back to him, urging you to explain. "The only lead I can think of is that my sibling took longer to turn against me. For everyone else, the change was almost instant or at least, so quick I couldn't notice it. But they held it off and I didn't see what happened when I left them."