👉🏻👈🏻

It's time, time for me to get even with Xiao.

I decide to take a seat on the grass outside of my tent, sitting in silence, waiting for Xiao to make the first move. He can decide on how this conversation will go, but one way or another, I will get back at him for what he did.

After a while Xiao walks up to me, avoiding eye contact as much as possible.

"Are you... are you mad at me ?"

What a dumb question. Instead of answering I just stay quiet and let him dig his own grave.

"Stupid question, of course you're mad at me, I did push you off of a cliff after all... but..."

He bites his lip and sharply inhales.

"... we all do things we regret. I guess that's one thing that connects us, mortals and adepti. We all are imperfect creatures and to say that... I expect you to forgive me after committing such a heinous act... is quite laughable, and in hindsight, I should've taken your feelings in to account."

With a soft sigh I look at him and speak.

"You know, I should be mad at you. I am mad at you. You almost took my life and now you come running back to me expecting that I forgive you for your crimes because now you realize your mistake ? Your actions are unforgivable Xiao."

I see his face darken a bit.

"I'm honestly so infuriated at you right now. I trusted you, and yet, you betrayed that trust to satisfy your own selfish needs. I guess that's another line that divides human and adepti. We will never see eye to eye. With how differently we think and comprehend, it's a mystery how I even fell for you in the first place. Figuratively, not literally."

I saw Xiao's eyes light up for a second there, but then wince at my last comment.

"But it is true that I still have feelings for you. I wanted to refute them since I fell in love with the same person who tried to kill me. But that wasn't your real intention was it ?"

Xiao looked away again, hiding his face of embarrassment and guilt.

"Even though you pushed me off the edge I bet you still saved me from falling right before I hit the ground, otherwise there's no other way I could've survived that fall. You were the one who threw my vision into the water beside me when I needed to fight that Geo Vishap in the cave, and you were the one that killed it when my plan failed."

Xiao looks at me again and a small smile crawls it's way onto Xiao's face.

"I've noticed you stalking me trying to survive for the past few days and I thank you for constantly saving me."

Xiao's eyes light up and he tries to walk to me for a hug.

"But."

He stops in his tracks.

"I can't ignore the fact that due to your lack of faith in my ability, you decided that killing me was the only suitable course of action. I know how afraid you are of losing me, I'm flattered by the thought, and I know that incident with the abyss mages triggered you but you've been training me right ? You've been preparing me for situations like that to never happen again and you've been actively helping me grow. So why did you lose faith in my strength ?"

Xiao's face darkens once more and I feel as though he's about to erupt with emotion.

"So, to ease your mind. I, Y/N, challenge you to a death match."

Xiao looks up from the ground frantic and confused.

"A death match ? Are you crazy ? Do you want me to—"

"There you are again with underestimating me. You yourself have been monitoring my growth so why are you doubting my abilities ?"

"Because I care about you, and I don't want you to be hurt in any way."

"If you really care about me, let me prove to you that I can handle myself. Let me show to you, that I am strong enough to handle anything. So you don't have to relive your nightmare anymore. Let me do this for you, Xiao."

He's speechless. I assume he's surprised by the stern tone of my voice, quite a change from my usual light hearted and goofy demeanor.

"Fine, but I won't hold back."

"You better. Or else our fight will be all for naught."

Great !

We part ways, Xiao going inside Cloud Retainers domain and me, staying in my tent. We agreed to fight 3 days from now at the break of dawn. Until then we have all the time to prepare. But we agreed to not use any underhanded tactics like poison or anything like that.

It will be a fair duel. And in those circumstances, if I am able to overwhelm Xiao and beat him, then I will prove to him that I am strong enough to stand on my own. And that his presence isn't always needed.

This is my revenge on you Xiao.

To make you realize that I don't need you to survive, and that more than anything, you, need me.

I'll see you in 3 days.