Chapter Text
Aether intended for his funeral to be small and mostly unknown. He had hoped to die quietly alone, and for someone to discover his body the next morning, perhaps a kind soul who would gently place him in the coffin he bought and give him a peaceful little send off.
None of that happened like he planned. He had died surrounded by his friends, people who loved him.
Though, not all were lucky enough to be there for his last moments. Some can only send him off, with a white flower in their hands.
His funeral was the opposite of small, but at least, it was as peaceful as Aether hoped it would be. His coffin was exactly as plain as the one he had chosen for himself, but everything else was an ‘over exaggeration for a mere traveler like me’ ; is what Aether probably would say with a slight blush on his face if he was here.
Klee is young, but she isn't oblivious to the concept of death. She had been told that Mr Honorary Knight “fell into deep sleep” last night, she hadn't been there because it was way past her bedtime.
But she knew what it meant, and she knew that Mr Honorary Knight would never wake up again.
A part of her doesn't believe it. It just doesn't feel real when it's told by someone else. It's only when she sees the young knight lying still inside the wooden box that she starts to feel her fingers grow cold. The box looks so cramped, Mr Honorary Knight must feel uncomfortable inside.
Klee watches, a part of her unsettled as her big brother places his Cecelia into the box, right on top of Aether's chest. His gaze lingers on Aether’s face for a moment. An unreadable expression marred Albedo’s usually smooth face.
Pain, regret, grief? Or something much deeper.
Klee looks around, everyone is wearing the same expression.
“Big brother…”
Klee tugs at Albedo’s coat. Her brother turns his attention to her, and his eyes widen with worry.
But why?
Klee understands when his brother picks out a napkin from his pocket and wipes Klee’s face gently, the cream coloured cloth pulled away, stained with tears.
“What's wrong Klee?”
“Where is Mr Honorary Knight going to be taken after this?”
Klee asked, and the question caused Albedo to flinch for a moment.
“He will be going to a nice place. Don't worry about it.”
Albedo answers with honeyed voice, although his voice breaks in a few places.
“Is it far away?”
“Yes unfortunately, he won't be able to come visit you for a long time I'm afraid.”
Albedo pat's Klee’s hair gently. Klee understands. She takes off her backpack and removes her dodoco keychain from the keyring.
It's the only dodoco she has. The original one that her mother gave her. Dodoco, her best friend and companion that has been with her through all of her adventures.
She raises it above her head and goes on tip toes to place the little Dodoco at the edge of Aether's coffin, mimicking how everyone else is giving him flowers.
“Mr Honorary Knight can have Dodoco. He needs Dodoco more than I do. It's a long way right? He won't be alone. Dodoco will protect him!”
Klee looks back to Albedo, only to see the alchemist wipe his eyes with the back of his sleeve.
Big brother is such a bad actor.
“That's right, he won't be alone.”
—
At the very beginning, when they first met, Xiao had always thought that Aether was a mortal. And as such, he has called the traveler a mortal on many occasions.
What he failed to notice, was that while Aether is a mortal, he had to contain energy that surpasses the adepti. Perhaps, even beyond the capacity of an archon.
All this while, ever since he woke up on that shore years ago, Aether had been containing it, slowly chipping off bits of his mortal body to ensure that when the time comes, he doesn't release that energy onto teyvat.
So that he could die quietly.
How could someone know that their time is running out, yet still put on a smile and face the world?
Xiao has been called a liar once by the traveler. A little scolding for hiding his karmic debt. Yet how ironic it is, when the biggest liar is…..
Xiao has not planned to visit the funeral. The traveler was a good friend at most. Nothing more than that. He refused to accept the feelings that are bubbling their way into his cold heart.
Yet he still finds himself watching from the distance, hidden in the shadow of a tall tree. Feeling jealous that his master could don a human form and attend the funeral so openly. Xiao clenches the bark of the tree until it explodes and splinters into a million different directions.
Why does he feel… so uncomfortable?
Why does it hurt, right here in his chest?
Aether would occasionally answer those questions for him, back when he would ask Aether about human emotions.
But now, there was nobody to answer him.
—-
“He was looking for his sister.”
“Did he find her?”
“I don't think so, I still see the missing posters sometimes.”
“How unfortunate… “
A hooded figure passes by the two women whispering away at the furthest part of the funeral.
Little locks of blonde, similar to that of a traveling star, peaks out from under the hood. Little glints of the white and pale blue of a rare flower accompanying it.
Lumine had believed that her brother would understand the truth of this world in time. All he needed was to travel the world just like she did. All he needed was time.
But how preoccupied she must have been to not even notice…. Time was what her brother was lacking.
Ah, if only she hadn't turned her back on him that day.
Time was what they had always had plenty of. They would visit new worlds together, young and bare of any life. They would watch as the world grows, as species evolved and went extinct. They would be there to witness the birth of intelligent life, of clever tools and weapons, and of wars and calamities. Down to the very end of it, watching and recording everything until the planet is naught but celestial dust and space rock.
Then they would move on to another world. Billions and billions of years, but only a few seconds to the twins.
Yet now, a few human seconds of walking up to her brother's coffin, felt like an eternity for Lumine.
How stupid of her to get so involved. All it took was a selfish god and a calamity, and she got involved. Too invested in this world to let go.
How could she blame herself, when her brother was the same, always getting involved.
But now he's gone, and does it matter anymore? Does Khanri’ah matter anymore without Aether?
Does the universe matter anymore? To travel it alone? To watch new planets form and disappear all alone?
How foolish.
The hooded figure stops right in front of the coffin. Aether looks just like she remembers. How could she forget. Even when he's surrounded by flowers from different nations, Aether still looks like the stupid brother she loves.
Lumine removes her hood and pulls the Inteyvat from her hair. She places it on her brother's chest.
The flower is hard, like glass, only willing to soften when it is returned to its homeland, a home that no longer exists.
And now, Lumine’s home no longer exists, and she can never soften again.
Lumine takes a deep breath, despite being aware of the gazes her back is receiving, she sings in the language of the stars.
A final lullaby to send Aether off, somewhere far beyond the reach of even world travelers like themselves, higher than the stars and further than any realms.
“Goodbye Aether.”
She will leave, and he will stay, in the world where he is loved.
They came as two shooting stars, but only one leaves Teyvat in the lonely night sky. Bringing a soft melody of regret as it fades into the darkness.