Chapter Text
Still not satisfied, Albedo decided to continue with his questioning.
“How so?”
“Well” Aether began, his lips stretched up into a silly grin. “To start with, I’ve been a part of the crew for a little over ten years now, ever since I was thirteen.”
‘Thirteen?’ Hearing this caused the alchemist to become confused. “Why would someone so young be part of a crew of pirates?”
Aether’s grin began to slip a little as a look of nostalgia took its place. “I was found floating amongst some wreckage during a voyage.” Albedo could’ve sworn that he detected a small hint of sadness in his voice. “They rescued me and made me feel part of the crew, gave me a family.”
Albedo briefly saw a flash of pain appear in the taller’s eyes before he lowered his head and began to look down at the ground, shoulders slumped.
“They’re the only family that I have.” Albedo had to strain his ears to hear the next part, Aether’s voice a pained whisper. “The only one that I can remember.”
Hearing this caused Albedo’s heart to clench, feeling a strong sense of worry for the other.
The shorter walked up to Aether before reaching out his hand and gently gripping his arm, squeezing in what he hoped would be a comforting manner.
“I’m sorry, Aether” Albedo apologised, tone laced with guilt. “I shouldn’t have asked you something that would cause you to feel like this.”
Aether slowly lifted his head, looking at the shorter. “It’s fine.” He reassured. “You had no way of knowing.”
“Besides.” Aether continued, tone getting lighter. “While I may not remember my real family, what I have with the Crux feels so genuine, so real.”
The pained look on the taller’s face was slowly being replaced with a fond one as he talked. “They’re family to me, I honestly don’t know what I would do without them.”
Aether reached his arm up and squeezed Albedo’s hand in thanks, signalling to the other that he could move it. “Yeah, they may get on my nerves at times, but I’m really glad that they’re in my life.”
Aether went quiet, allowing Albedo to think over everything that he had been told. ‘The way he describes how he feels for them sounds so similar to my bonds with the Knights. But, other than Klee, I’ve never thought of them as family before. I wonder if they think that way about me?’
Deciding that it was a question better left unanswered until his return, Albedo ran his hand through his hair before giving Aether his thoughts.
“I think that I understand what you mean.” The Crux member tilted his head in curiosity. “The way you described your feelings, it sounds similar to my own experience back in Mondstadt.”
Hearing this caught Aether’s attention, his frame leaning closer to Albedo. “So you have your own makeshift family too?”
Albedo gave a small nod, crossing his arms over his chest. “I’ve never thought about most of them as my family before, but my bonds with the Knights feel very similar to how you describe your own with the Crux.”
The ashy blonde looked passed the other and into the far off distance, finding himself unable to look him in the eyes as he continued speaking. “I care deeply for them, and they have shown many times that they do for me.”
‘They’ve quite often shown me so much care. I wouldn’t even be here if it wasn’t for their worry.’
This thought made Albedo feel warm inside, lips curving into a small smile. “In fact.” He turned his head to look at the taller once more. “They’re the ones who made me go on this leave, they were concerned about how long it had been since I took some time off.”
Aether walked up to one of the pillars of the tower, stretching his legs before moving to face Albedo. “Would you be fine with telling me a little about it? About them?” Aether asked. Sounding genuinely interested in learning more.
Taking after the other, Albedo stretched his arms out in front of him before walking towards the blonde, stopping not too far away from him. “It’s okay, I would love to.” He reassured, leaning against the opposite support.
Aether leaned his back against the pillar he was next to, resting his head against the stone. Looking at the shorter, he moved his right arm to let Albedo know he can continue before crossing his arms against his chest.
“Well.” Albedo let out a small sigh. “It all began because of a colleague of mine.” He felt a little annoyance in the pit of his stomach as he recalled what happened. “An insufferable flirt who takes great joy in being that way as often as he can.”
“But.” Albedo breathed out, tone annoyed but with a hint of fondness. “I know that he does care about me, he was the one who ended up suggesting the idea of me going on leave in the first place to the acting Grandmaster.”
‘I must try and find a way to thank Kaeya when I return, to let him know how much I do appreciate his actions. Hopefully, he won’t be too smug about it.’ Albedo rolled his eyes fondly as he thought of the blue-haired male.
“Acting Grandmaster?” The Crux member shot him a confused look, his head tilted to the side.
“Apologies.” Albedo responded. “The Grandmaster is currently away on business, his duties are being handled by someone else instead.” The alchemist lifted his right leg and placed the bottom of his foot against the pillar he was resting against.
“The acting Grandmaster is someone who I have immense respect for, she is exceptional in her position, even better than the actual Grandmaster in my opinion.” Albedo’s thoughts shifted towards Jean. ‘Even if she has issues with taking breaks like I do.’
Albedo sighed, mood deflating a little as he remembered how she looked that day in her office. “I worry for her, she is much more likely to overwork herself than I am.”
‘I just hope that Jean isn’t overdoing things right this second.’ He thought, trying to force the worry into the back of his mind. ‘If only Lisa were there.’
With this thought in his head, Albedo continued, his mood improving slightly as he started to remember back on how much she cared about his superior's wellbeing. “She is usually kept in check by the Knight’s librarian, but unfortunately she is currently visiting some old colleagues in Sumeru.”
‘I find myself worrying so much about Jean’s health.’ Albedo paused, frame going still for a few seconds. ‘This must be how they felt about me. I find myself starting to feel guilty about my behaviour.’ The alchemist felt a sense of determination start to well up in his body. ‘When I return, I need to try to do my best to ease their future worries.’
Albedo let out a small huff at his thoughts, the guilt also being joined by an immense warmth, he was incredibly touched that they cared so strongly for him that they worried as much as they do.
“They were all so worried.” Albedo peered down at the ground, eyes focusing on the seal that was in between him and Aether.
“Even…” The shorter male caught himself, clamming up once he realised what he was about to say. ‘I nearly mentioned Klee, even though I told myself that I was going to leave much more personal stuff like her out of any conversations for now.
Albedo lifted his gaze to look at Aether, he was sending a warm smile in his direction, but the alchemist could see worry building in his eyes.
‘But… maybe it wouldn’t be such a bad idea?’ Albedo pondered, gaze focused solely on the other’s worry. ‘Aether has already opened up a decent amount about some of the more personal parts of his own life, surely it couldn’t hurt for me to do a bit more than I already have as well in return?’
The ashy blonde debated with himself for a moment, trying to weigh the pros and cons of opening up about Klee so soon before giving in. ‘We still barely know each other, but it couldn’t hurt to at least talk about her a little bit.’
Albedo opened and closed his mouth a few times, finding himself still hesitant to say anything before he took a few deep breaths. “But, going back to the topic of family.”
Albedo paused and subtly gripped the sides of his coat for a moment, trying to steady himself. “Even my little sister was worried.” He began slowly, feeling his confidence start to return.
“Oh? If you’re up for it, I would love to hear about her.” Aether blurted out, his expression had shifted into one that reflected his interest before he shook his head, the concern returning once more.
“Sorry!” The taller held up his hands in a placating manner, his eyes wide. “You don’t have to tell me more if you don’t feel comfortable.” He quickly reassured, trying to calm his behaviour.
“I saw how much you were hesitating just now.” The Crux member gave him a comforting look, trying to also let him know through his body language that they could drop the subject if he wanted.
“I noticed.” Albedo replied before shaking his head. “It’s alright, I would love to tell you a little about her.”
‘Now, where to begin?’ The ashy blonde took a moment to figure out what he wanted to say while putting a hand on his chin, stroking it.
‘Maybe I should just explain a bit about her personality first.’
“My sister.” Albedo began, crossing his arms against his chest. “She’s a rambunctious bundle of energy, always wanting to go out and explore.”
The Crux member nodded his head. “So from what you’ve told me about yourself so far, she’s kinda the opposite of you?”
Albedo hummed before a small smile started to grace his lips, thoughts of his sister overtaking his brain. “In a way, yes.” Albedo agreed. “My sister, Klee, she loves to go on adventures around Mondstadt.”
‘She always tries to head out as much as she can.’ The shorter began to recall. ‘She has her vision, but finding out from the Knights that they can’t find her anywhere in town always makes me panic.’
Albedo felt a small pang of concern begin to well up, he hoped that Klee was currently doing alright. “She can look after herself, but I do worry about her.” He continued, tone showing his unease.
“That’s understandable though.” Aether cut in. “It just shows that you care about her.”
‘I do, more than I think I can convey in words, even to her.’ Albedo’s smile started to become larger, a fond gleam appearing in his eyes. “She means a lot to me, we may not be related by blood, but our bond is something that I cherish very deeply.”
Talking about his sister caused Albedo to feel lighter than he had that day, the love that he felt for her coming through in his voice. “She makes me happy, and I want nothing more than to make her feel the same way.”
The shorter began to think back on how happy Klee was when Lantern Rite was brought up during his 'intervention' before his smile started to deflate when an image of how upset she had looked appeared in his mind.
“When this leave was suggested to me, she became so excited because of the festival.” Albedo lowered his gaze towards the ground, focusing his attention on a small tuft of grass that was growing between some of the cracks in the stone flooring.
“She became so sad when she found out that she couldn’t come with me.” Albedo said, dejected.
Albedo tried to compose himself by taking a deep breath before looking up at the other male. “I would have put up more of a fight to get out of taking this leave, but seeing all of that happiness disappear”
The alchemist’s eyes narrowed in determination, he moved his foot away from the pillar, standing rigidly. “It made me come to a decision.”
Aether waited with bated breath, eager to hear what the other had to say. “She told me that her favourite part of the festival was the lanterns, I want to learn how to make them so that I can bring back the materials and we can build one together.”
Once he had finished, Albedo’s smile returned in full force as he began to picture the scenario in his mind, an image of Klee’s excited face beaming at him as he revealed the surprise, making him even more determined. ‘Seeing her happy will be the greatest thing to return to.’
Aether shot the alchemist a look of admiration at his explanation. “That sounds very sweet. He replied, finally speaking up again. “Having your first trip to Liyue happen in part because of your love for your sister.”
‘First trip?’ Albedo was confused by this for a second before he remembered back to when he initially told the other about his leave. ‘I told him that I’ve always been fascinated by this region’s history. It seems that he has misinterpreted what I meant.’
Albedo shook his head in reply to Aether’s words. “I’m afraid that there has been a bit of a misunderstanding.” The alchemist began, catching the other’s attention. “I have been to this region many a time on business trips.”
“However.” He continued, holding up his right hand, pointer finger stretched to the sky. “This leave does mark the first time that I have been able to do something in Liyue not related to work.” Albedo explained before adding.
“That also includes this being the first visit that I have made to Liyue around this time of year where I will be able to participate in Lantern Rite instead of being too busy with other matters.”
“What?!” Aether exclaimed, eyes wide in shock. The Crux member looked taken aback at Albedo’s words, his mouth hanging open.
Before Albedo could ask the other what the problem was, Aether had pushed himself off of the pillar he was leaning against and quickly made his way over, standing a couple of steps away from him once more.
Albedo lifted his head slightly to look Aether in the eyes, the taller male had adopted a rigid stance, he reminded Albedo of when the Knights would stand to attention during their drills.
“I want to make you a promise” Aether began, mouth set in a straight line. “I was already determined to make you have a good Lantern Rite ever since we talked last night.” The golden-eyed male was giving off a serious aura, making Albedo feel a little uncomfortable with its strength.
“But now I’m feeling even more committed to the idea.” Aether’s demeanour soon started to soften up, a warm smile settling onto his lips.
“I promise you, Albedo…” The alchemist could do nothing but stand there, unwilling to cut in because of his curiosity at what the other was going to say.
“I will make sure that you have a good Lantern Rite.” The Crux member closed the distance between the two of them and placed his hand softly onto Albedo’s right shoulder.
“Not only that, but I also promise you that I will walk you through and show you exactly how the lanterns are made.”
Albedo was initially unsure about what to say, his breath stuttering for a couple of seconds from both the shock of the other’s words and the sheer warm intensity with which he said them before he wriggled his shoulders a little bit, causing Aether to move his hand away.
“T-that.” Albedo paused before letting out a quick cough to cover up his stutter, temporarily averting his gaze as he did so. “That won’t be necessary.”
Aether shook his head in response to his words, his intensity simmering down to something that Albedo found to be much more manageable.
“I want you to be able to make your sister happy.” Aether said earnestly, stepping back a little to give the shorter some space. “Family is something that I consider to be one of the most important things in life.” Aether’s eyes softened, his tone becoming much lighter. “It certainly is in mine.”
Despite the Crux member no longer being as intense as before, Albedo could still see the determination in his eyes. ‘I have a feeling that he isn’t going to drop this.’
The alchemist shook his head in fond exasperation. ‘This man.’ Aether was looking at him, patiently waiting for his response. ‘His crew must be full of great people if they managed to raise someone as sweet as him.’
‘But, still, given his intensity not too long ago, I feel like it would be pointless trying to argue.’ Albedo sighed again before nodding his head, letting Aether know that he accepted his promise.
“Great!” The taller grinned at him for a couple of seconds before he moved back to lean against the pillar he was by previously where he soon began to scratch his head. He opened and closed his mouth a couple of times, seeming unsure about what to say next.
A few moments passed in silence before Albedo came to a decision. ‘Given how long we had been on the topic of those we consider family, I suppose that it would make the most sense to continue down that path,’
The shorter cleared his throat to get Aether’s attention, the taller’s eyes snapping towards him almost immediately.
“Is there anything else that you want to know about the knights?” Aether paused for a moment, his face going blank before a frown settled onto his lips.
“I would love to.” The Crux member began. “But I feel like it should probably wait until we’re done with the seals.” Aether briefly lowered his gaze to look at the seal that was between the two of them before moving away from the pillar and towards the edge of the area, looking up into the sky.
“There is a good chance that the sun will be starting to set by the time we’re done if we don’t hurry things up a little.” He said as he finished observing its current position, turning his gaze to Albedo. “We can still talk while we’re going to the other towers though, we’ll just have to make sure that we don’t have a repeat of what happened here.”
Hearing this caused Albedo to become confused. ‘A repeat, I don’t understand.’ He continued to rack his brains as he began to move away from his own pillar before bringing his hand up and scratching his chin.
‘Wait.’ Albedo’s eyes became slightly wider as realisation dawned on him. ‘We’ve just been standing here talking all this time.' The ashy blonde felt surprised, it wasn’t like him to become so fully focused on having a conversation with someone.
‘The amount that we’ve talked about today alone.’ Albedo glanced at the taller, he had turned to look at the tower they were heading towards next, oblivious to his gaze. ‘It’s so easy to chat with him, easier than anyone that I’ve ever met, even Klee and Sucrose.’
Albedo found this fact to be quite curious, why was conversing with the other so different?
The alchemist paused, realising that he had gone back to wasting more time than necessary, Albedo groaned internally. ‘This is ridiculous.’ He chastised himself. ‘We both need to start moving on already, as he said, we still have to find that treasure before it gets dark.'
‘The best thing to do.’ Albedo thought while he walked closer to the taller, Aether being none the wiser to his approach. ‘Would be to give him an apology before we go on our way, acting in this fashion isn’t usually like me.’
“I want to apologise.” Albedo spoke up, catching Aether’s attention. The Crux member looked towards him, head tilted in confusion.
“For getting so caught up on talking about the Knights and my sister.” Albedo shuffled his feet, moving his gaze to lock it with the other's. “It’s just caused the both of us to lose track of time.”
The confusion on Aether’s face morphed into a small grin, amusement glinting in his eyes. “It’s fine.” He waved his arm in dismissal.
The bodyguard’s grin began to fall, his expression becoming softer. “I actually think that the amount you care for them is pretty cute.”
Albedo’s breath hitched, his cheeks beginning to burn. ‘C-cute?!’ The alchemist was taken aback, the other sounded so sincere in the way that he said it.
The chalk prince lowered his gaze towards the ground, focusing his attention on the stone floor. Trying and failing to process what he had been told. ‘Why would he…?’
Albedo shook his head, trying to quell the blush that was lighting up his face. ‘This man is going to be the death of me.’
The shorter briefly lifted his head, focusing his attention on Aether’s chest, unable to look him in the eye just yet. “W-we, we really should be going to activate the final two seals.” He muttered, cursing internally at his stutter.
“Heh.” Aether chuckled, from the tone of his voice Albedo could tell that he was finding entertainment in the way he was acting. “Sure.”
The journey to get the final two seals was relatively straightforward, just a simple trip from place to place devoid of any danger.
Throughout their trip to and activation of the fourth seal, Aether started to open up a little more about his crew, regaling Albedo with tales about his Captain, his words full of admiration as praise fell seemingly endlessly from his lips. His respect for her was clear as day.
Despite Aether saying that the two of them conversing on their journey was still fine, the trek to the final tower was spent in silence, the two males content with how comfortable they were with it.
For the trip to the final seal, Albedo ended up taking the lead, the tower located exactly where he thought it would be, not too far from the archway that they had initially landed by.
Albedo found himself becoming nervous as he realised something, the ruin guard that they had found earlier wasn’t that far away from the final seal, the open nature of the tower meaning that they could be easily attacked if the machine were to activate.
By the time that they had gotten up to the tower and uncovered the seal, the sun had gotten lower in the sky, from its appearance, it looked like they still had at least a couple of hours left before it got dark.
The familiar glow of the seal being activated briefly engulfed the tower, Albedo moving to stand once it had died down. ‘And, that’s that.’ He thought, stretching his arms by moving them out in front of him.
‘But what now?’
The Kreideprinz turned to the side to look at Aether, the blonde giving him a look of confusion. This lasted for only a moment before a small sound was heard followed by a puff of smoke being visible out of the corner of Albedo’s vision.
Both males turned to look at the commotion, becoming surprised at what they saw. On top of the seal was now a small chest.
The chest itself was mostly made of wood, the only exception to this being the locking mechanism which was metal. Seeing this caused Albedo to feel a small pang of disappointment.
‘This is the treasure?’ Albedo let out a small huff and shook his head, the disappointment being replaced by amusement. ‘It’s no different than the many other chests that I have seen commonly scattered around Mondstadt.’
Despite the chest's unremarkable appearance, Albedo noted that Aether was eyeing it up with a joyful glint. His body shook in excitement.
The Crux member quickly started to make his way over to the chest before he stopped dead in his tracks, his body becoming tense. Albedo was about to ask him what was wrong when he started to pick up on a noise that he hadn’t heard previously.
Albedo strained his ears to try and get a better grasp of the noise. Focusing on it he began to recognise it as something that sounded like it was zipping through the air at a decently fast speed, becoming louder and louder as he tried to understand it.
“Oh no” Aether respond shakily, catching the shorter’s attention. The Crux member turned to look at him, fear in his eyes as he began running towards him.
Before Albedo could open his mouth, Aether arrived beside him and, without saying anything, grabbed hold of the alchemist and wrangled him into the same position that he went in when they were gliding.
“Hold on as tightly as you can, whatever happens, don’t let go.” Aether said into his ear, Albedo nodded, too shocked by the other’s sudden actions to think much.
The bodyguard power walked his way up to the edge of the tower and got his glider ready, Albedo adjusting his hold on him to make it more secure.
Albedo heard Aether let loose a shaky breath before he felt him jolt, telling him that the other had jumped off of the tower.
As they began to glide away, Albedo took the time to look up at the tower, wanting to understand exactly why Aether acted the way that he did.
Turning his attention to their previous location, Albedo noticed multiple objects moving toward it. ‘Are those?’ Squinting slightly, he was able to recognise them.
Heading towards the tower were a volley of missiles, each one zooming through the air. ‘Those missiles, wait….’ The ashy blonde felt dread start to rise in his body, there was only one thing that Albedo knew would use something like that.
‘The ruin guard, it’s awake.’
The missiles soon reached their target, Albedo moved his gaze away once the tower started to become engulfed by multiple explosions.
At that moment, there was only one thing going through his mind. ‘All that work to find the treasure, only for it to be blown up.’
Albedo soon felt another jolt go through the other followed by a tap to his back signalling to him that they had landed.
The alchemist quickly untangled himself before looking around, noting that the other had landed over near the archway where they had begun their exploration.
The sound of falling rubble began to enter both of their ears, prompting them to turn towards the tower, the two males were unable to do much more than watch as the structure began to collapse, clouds of dust rising and filling the area around it.
“Look!” Aether lifted his arm and pointed at the rubble. Albedo turned his gaze to where he was pointing and, after squinting a little, became aware of some kind of shape that was moving through the dust clouds.
The shape moved in a way that seemed to indicate that it was walking forwards before it stopped for a moment. Albedo tensed up, wondering about what it was going to do before it began moving again, only this time it was going up into the air.
Albedo followed it as best that he could until the shape was high enough that it soon began to leave the cloud, allowing him to properly see what it was.
The alchemist clenched his fists as soon as he saw the familiar parts of a ruin guard start to become visible once it left the cloud. The ashy blonde began to steel himself for when it eventually landed, but this didn’t last long.
“Albedo!” Aether shouted before said male felt himself be tackled out of the way, the both of them landing on the ground, the alchemist on the bottom, with the taller hovering over him.
“You okay?” Aether asked him, a concerned look on his face, breath fanning against Albedo’s own. The shorter felt a sharp pang of pain run through his bruising, causing him to grit his teeth, nodding through the pain, to not worry the other.
The taller nodded his head before he quickly got off of him and held out his hand, helping him to stand up.
Once he was standing, Albedo nearly lost his footing again as the ruin guard had finally landed not too far away, causing the ground to shake.
Albedo fanned his hand in front of him to try and clear away the dust that had risen around the area from its landing, a couple of small coughs leaving his mouth when he accidentally inhaled some of it. Aether doing the same from beside him.
Aether ushered the alchemist back a couple of steps before both blondes turned their attention towards the guard and Albedo began to notice it was in the same spot where he had been standing previously, its form towering ominously over them.
‘That’s why he tackled me.’ Albedo briefly glanced towards Aether, the other had a frown on his face, shoulders tensed. ‘It seems that I miscalculated where exactly it was going to land.’
Aether soon put his right arm out, his cutlass beginning to materialise into his hand, after which he got into a defensive position with it.
Taking after him, Albedo held his arm out and his own sword appeared in his hand before he focused his attention back onto the guard, the machine was readying itself to attack, what seemed to be a twisted battle cry emitting from deep inside it.
Both males noted that the ruin guard’s movements this whole time were a little sluggish, it seemed that its joints were still adjusting to moving about once more.
“Why is it awake!?” Shouted Aether.
“It seems that I was right.” Albedo swallowed, not taking his focus off of the guard, staring it down as it continued to prepare itself. “Its activation must have been tied to the treasure.”
Out of the corner of his vision, Albedo saw Aether nod before the guard let out another cry. “Be careful.” He said, tightening his grip on his sword.
“You too.” The bodyguard called out.
“I’ll be fine.” Albedo brought his left hand up to near his neck and cupped his vision. “I have my vision, you only have your sword.”
“I may not have a vision.” Aether cut in, catching Albedo’s attention, causing him to direct his gaze towards him. “But I have something kinda similar.”
By the time Albedo’s gaze was fully on the other, he noted that Aether had opened his satchel. The taller was looking into the open section, his free hand inside of it and rummaging around.
Before Albedo could try and sate the confusion that he was feeling, the bodyguard started to bring his hand back out of his satchel, revealing to the alchemist a small glass vial with some kind of purple substance inside of it.
‘A potion to increase elemental defence?’
The loud sound of the guard’s footsteps began to appear, the noise starting to get a little faster. Albedo turned towards the guard again, getting ready to defend himself before something unexpected happened.
The Kreideprinz was briefly able to make out the same glass vial that he had seen in Aether’s hand as it soared through the air, the vial soon connecting with the guard.
In an instant, electricity began to spread out from where the vial had broken, covering the guard completely and causing it to stop in place, unable to move.
Albedo was stunned upon seeing this. He glanced toward Aether, dumbfounded by what just happened.
“What…?”
Aether shook his head, eyes hardened in concentration as he focused his full attention on the guard. “Later! We need to take care of this guy first!”
Albedo opened and closed his mouth a couple of times before coming to his senses. “R-right.” He nodded before moving his gaze back to the guard. ‘We have more pressing matters to attend to.’
“How do you want to do this?” The shorter asked, tightening his grip.
Aether’s eyes started to look all around the guard, trying to come up with some kind of strategy before his face briefly lit up.
“I’m gonna throw a vial then we both run towards it.” He began, his free hand once more rummaging around in his satchel. “I’ll keep around its front, you try and get to its back. That way it’ll only be focusing on one of us.”
Albedo thought over the idea before letting out a small hum in affirmation. ‘Hopefully, the guard isn’t that great at splitting its attention between multiple opponents.'
The Crux member soon stopped rummaging around, quickly bringing out another vial, the contents of this one a bright red colour.
By this point the electricity surrounding the guard’s frame was starting to dissipate, it wouldn’t be long until it could move again. Seeing this, Aether swallowed before bringing his arm up, and, with as much force as he could muster, threw the vial towards it.
The vial connected with the guard, fire immediately engulfing the machine, singeing its frame, but also causing the electricity to fully dissipate.
Both males, having realised what happened, briefly exchanged a knowing look before they began to rush towards their opponent, swords at the ready.
Aether started to run at a faster pace, allowing him to get to the guard first. The machine’s damaged core briefly flashed brighter as it focused on him before it brought its arm back and began to make a forceful swing.
Seeing the attack, Aether quickly dodged out of the way, rolling to the side, but still keeping himself in the guard's view. The taller now in between both the guard and the entrance archway
While this was happening, Albedo took the opportunity to get behind the guard before making his way to the back of its knee joints and making a single slash at each of them.
But doing this revealed that both of them may have underestimated their opponent.
The guard let out a screech before it quickly went to turn itself around, both arms flailing around, trying to hit anything in its path.
The alchemist ducked as soon as this began to happen, starting to feel a little worried as he realised that he now had its full attention.
‘Great….’
The guard soon began to stop its arm movements, calming itself before it started to walk towards Albedo, the ashy blonde starting to move backwards as a result, putting as much distance as he could between him and the machine.
Seeing this, Aether began to hurriedly rummage around in his satchel, worry written on his face before he eventually found what he was after.
The Crux member brought out a small vial of blue liquid before he threw it towards the machine, the glass cracking and completely coating its back.
Relieved that the vial had hit, Aether once again rummaged through his satchel before bringing out a vial with a white substance inside of it, the glass cold to the touch.
Back with the alchemist, the guard started to bring both of its arms up, readying an attack, Albedo braced himself, preparing to try and move in once it had brought its arms down. ‘I should be able to attack its knees again once it has opened itself up with the attack.’
As the guard began to bring its arms forward, the now-familiar sound of breaking glass could be heard. For a second nothing happened, but then, the guard's movements began to get slower and slower.
A pure white sheen began to cover the machine’s frame, its arm stopped mid-air as the mixing of the two vials caused it to become frozen in place, ice continuing to form around it.
Albedo looked on in awe at the frozen opponent then he moved his gaze over to the Crux member behind it. The two locked gazes for a moment before they both nodded, each understanding what the other was thinking.
Aether and Albedo both got their swords at the ready before they began to rush towards the guard, ready to strike.
Just as the two of them were within striking distance the ice began to crack, soon resulting in the coating of it surrounding the machine being broken completely, ice flying everywhere, causing both blondes to be knocked back and off of their feet.
Aether soon came to a stop, hitting his back against the archway, the force of which caused him to lose his breath and drop his sword not too far away from his right side, sharp bursts of pain running through his back.
Aether began to gasp for breath, trying to get as much air into his lungs as he could, his body currently leaning against a pillar while he was in a sitting position. As he did this he heard another screech, prompting him to look up.
Dread began to fill his body as the guard was looking right at him, anger emanating from its frame, the machine moving towards him at a faster pace than before. It seemed that its joints were starting to work properly again.
Aether desperately tried to get his breathing under control, body scrambling about to try and get his sword, grabbing onto the hilt once he stretched his right arm out enough to his side.
His movements began to become even more panicked as the guard's footsteps picked up in frequency. Aether quickly turned back towards the guard, realising that his best option would be to roll out of the way instead of trying to stand at this point.
Aether readied himself to make his move before he became surprised. As the guard was running toward him, a small glow soon started to appear under its right foot once it placed it on the ground.
Just as the guard began to lift its other foot a burst of energy appeared from around the glowing point and an isotoma began to rise, knocking the machine off balance and causing it to fall backwards.
The guard continued to fall, eventually landing on its back, its arms flailing around as it tried to right itself once more. The only thing Aether could do at that moment was look on in shock.
“Get on!”
Hearing the shout made Aether come to his senses, his gaze moving around the area before focusing on the other blonde. Albedo was currently on one knee with his eyes looking at the guard, panting as his left hand was gripping onto his shoulder, his right on his stomach.
Sensing the other looking at him, the alchemist moved his eyes towards him before shouting. “The core! The isotoma should allow you to be able to destroy the core!”
Aether nodded before he scrambled to get to his feet as fast as he could, tightly gripping his sword as he did so. Sweat dripping off of his brow.
Aether began to run towards the isotoma, the pain in his back becoming duller by the second. Once he reached it, he planted his feet on it and steadied himself as the construct began to rise into the air.
The isotoma soon came to a stop, the guard now directly below him, Aether took a few deep breaths, waiting for an opening as the machine was still flailing its arms.
Soon, he found one, with one last deep breath Aether brought his cutlass above his head, gripping its hilt with both hands before he walked up to the edge of the isotoma and jumped.
Air whipped by Aether’s face as he plunged downwards, the guard getting closer and closer with each passing second.
Once the distance between him and the guard was closed a decent amount, Aether quickly and with as much force as he could muster, brought his sword down from his head, the tip of the blade beginning to pierce through the deep crack near the middle of the guard’s core.
The blade continued to go further and further into the core, Aether having to hold on tightly to the hilt as the guard started to more violently thrash around.
Just when Aether felt like he couldn’t hold on anymore the thrashing began to become less intense, the guard beginning to let out small sputters as its joints started to lock up.
The machine’s arms soon came to a stop before they fell to the ground with a thud.
The guard let out another whirring sound, the noise getting quieter and quieter before, finally, it went silent, the core having become a dull colour, devoid of the energy that had lit it up.
Comprehending that it was over, Aether let out a breath that he hadn’t realised that he had been holding before he began to shakily dislodge his sword from the core, slowly moving to stand up once it was freed.
Aether carefully moved away from the core, starting to climb off of the guard once he reached the edge of its frame. As soon as his feet made contact with the ground he slumped his shoulders, looking down at the floor before letting out a couple more shaky breaths, taking a moment to calm his nerves and compose himself.
As he was recovering, Albedo began to run towards him, concern present on his face. “Are you alright?” He asked, feet coming to a stop once there was only a small distance between the two of them, his chest rising and falling rapidly as he tried to settle his own breathing.
“More or less.” Aether groaned, the pain in his back now a small, dull throbbing. “Just a little bruised.” The bodyguard righted his slumped shoulders before wiping some sweat off of his brow.
Aether’s breathing was much more even by this point, his nerves having mostly calmed by now. He lifted his gaze from the ground to look at the other, his eyes full of worry before he loosened his grip on his cutlass, the weapon soon disappearing into thin air.
“What about you?”
Albedo’s eyes travelled over Aether’s form to see if there were any signs that he was lying, only to come up short wherever he looked. The ashy blonde also loosened his own grip, his sword dissipating as well.
‘He looks fine, he says he is too, but he still ended up taking the brunt of the injuries out of the two of us.’ The alchemist felt guilt start to pool in the pit of his stomach as he started to answer.
“I’m fine as well, the ice shattering aggravated my bruising, but it has settled again.” Albedo turned his head to look at the ruin guard, unable to keep eye contact with how he was feeling.
“I’m sorry.” He continued, before he glanced back, chancing a look at the other. Unable to think of anything else to say at that moment.
Aether paused, head tilted in confusion before taking a moment to think over what he had said, his eyes soon lighting up in understanding.
“Oh, about the treasure.” Aether let out a small huff before crossing his arms over his chest, turning his gaze towards one of the nearby rocky spires.
“I won’t say that I’m not disappointed that the treasure was blown up because I am, but there are still plenty of other opportunities for us to find something.”
“Besides.” Aether looked back at the alchemist, giving him a little wink. “This travelling that we’re doing is also about showing you around all of the different ruins you're interested in, remember.”
The bodyguard gave him a small smirk before smugly saying. “I think I’ve done a decent job of that today, wouldn’t you say?”
Albedo rolled his eyes before sighing. “I suppose that is true, but my apology actually had to do with the fight.” His frame deflated as he shook his head. “You ended up doing most of the work, I just made a couple of sword swings and created a single construct.
The Crux member frowned, staring at Albedo like he was having a hard time believing what he was hearing for a moment before he began to move closer to the other, stopping directly in front of him.
“That is so far from the truth.” Aether reassured, putting both of his hands on the alchemist’s shoulders and giving them a gentle squeeze.
The taller’s eyes were soft as they focused on Albedo, he appeared incredibly grateful towards the shorter. “If it wasn’t for you we wouldn’t have been able to defeat the guard so easily.”
Aether’s lips curved upwards as the two males locked gazes, Albedo squirming a little under the amount of admiration that he could see in his eyes. “Despite me being the bodyguard, you’ve ended up saving me twice today, first with the bridge and then with your vision.”
At hearing this, Albedo began to feel conflicted as he crossed his arms over his chest, losing himself in his thoughts. ‘What he is saying is true, but I still can’t shake this feeling.’
The alchemist went to protest only to freeze up as Aether used his grip on his shoulders to bring him forward, enveloping him in a hug. The Crux member brought his mouth towards his ear and whispered. “Thank you, Albedo.”
At that moment, the Kreideprinz could do nothing but stand there, unable to move his arms because of how tightly he was pressed against the other.
Albedo began to feel his face heating up, the familiarity that he was starting to associate with the sensation causing him to worry a little.
“Y-you’re welcome.” He finally stuttered in reply.
Albedo felt the other loosen his hold on him before Aether leaned back a little and gave him an encouraging grin. The Crux member continued to step back, the two of them soon having the regular amount of distance between them once more.
Now that he had room to breathe again, the alchemist quickly tried to compose himself, willing the redness of his face to lessen.
As he was doing this he glanced over towards Aether and found that he was currently looking through his satchel. ‘He’s probably making sure that none of his vials were damaged.’
This thought caused Albedo to pause, the alchemist starting to remember his earlier curiosity. ‘He did tell me to leave it until after the battle, now seems like as good a time as any.’
“Those vials of yours.” Albedo began, the Crux member looking in his direction, his hand frozen in his satchel. “I’ve seen a defensive variation of them before, but never one meant for offence.”
“How did you learn about them?” Aether took his hand out of his satchel and lowered the flap before adjusting the strap that was around his chest.
“Well.” Aether hummed. “If I’m honest, the story isn’t all that interesting in comparison to all of the others that I’ve told you.”
“It’s fine.” Albedo reassured, waving his hand in dismissal. “You can just give me the short version if you want.” Hearing this caused the bodyguard to nod.
“About five years back, around the time of Lantern Rite, I came across a scholar from Sumeru here in Liyue.” Aether started to explain. “I saved him from some Hilichurls and then spent a few days helping out while he did some research.
“He was dead set on repaying me at the end of it, insisting on giving me the small amount of Mora that he had on him.” Aether let out a small chuckle at the memory. “I refused, he needed it a lot more than I did.”
“Eventually he stopped trying to get me to take the Mora and instead offered to teach me about what he had been working on.” Aether reached back into his satchel and rummaged around for a couple of seconds before pulling out another purple vial and holding it up.
“The way that he put it at the time was that the recipes for the defence potions had a lot of untapped potential that he felt was being squandered.” Aether lowered his arm and carefully put the vial back into his satchel, closing it up once more.
“That all you needed to do was make a couple of little tweaks and adjustments and then they could be used as a weapon.” The Crux member finished up, looking at the shorter, interested to know his opinion.
Albedo rotated away from the other for a moment, hand on his chin as he thought over what he had been told. ‘How interesting, I can’t believe that I have never thought of this possibility myself.’
“I find this all to be very fascinating.” The alchemist replied as he turned back towards Aether, taking the time to adjust his own satchel.
Aether nodded in his direction. “If you want, I could also teach you about how they’re made.” Aether offered. “I know how to make a potion for every one of the elements.”
“I would like that.” Albedo responded before a thought began to enter his mind, giving him pause. ‘Wait a minute, all of the elements?’ The alchemist started to feel annoyed as realisation began to flow through him.
Albedo narrowed his eyes slightly towards the other, his irritation continuing to rise. “So all of this time you could have gone over to each of the towers by yourself?
‘Not that I minded how close we kept becoming but still.’
Aether’s eyes widened for a couple of seconds before he began rubbing his left arm, letting out a nervous chuckle. “Yeah.”
“Why didn’t you just tell me about them earlier then to save us some time?” Albedo tried to think of a reason but kept finding himself coming up short.
“I felt that keeping you close to me would ensure that you’d be safe.” Aether turned his gaze away from Albedo, the hand that had been rubbing was now gripping onto his arm.
Albedo noticed that the other’s cheeks were starting to take on a pink hue. Aether soon continued to speak, only this time he was just about able to make him out, voice so low that he had to strain his ears.
“I also really enjoyed how close we were on our glides.”
Albedo felt his cheeks begin to heat up again, the ashy blonde immediately lowering his gaze towards the ground, his previous annoyance becoming all but forgotten. ‘Must he keep saying such embarrassing things?’
The next few moments passed in silence before Aether soon began to speak up after clearing his throat, causing Albedo to look up.
The taller had his hand pointed towards the sky, gaze also in the same direction. “It looks like we only have an hour or two of daylight left, we should probably start heading on our way and set up camp”
Aether moved his head down to stare at Albedo. “I know of a little clearing not too far from here, it should be a comfortable enough place to rest.”
Albedo thought over the other’s suggestion, briefly glancing towards the ruin guard before he nodded. “That would be a good idea.” He moved his head in the direction leading away from Qingxu. “Lead the way.”
‘It’ll be nice to take a break.’ Albedo thought as they started to move. ‘I’ve had my fill of ruins for today.’
After travelling for around twenty minutes the two males soon came to the little clearing that Aether had mentioned, a small flat, grassy piece of land with a couple of trees dotted around the area, a little pond not too far away.
As the sun continued to get lower and lower in the sky they both quickly decided on what tasks they needed to do. Albedo ended up setting up their campsite and starting a fire while Aether headed over to the lake to try and catch them both some fish for dinner.
Soon enough, they had both accomplished their tasks, Aether now situated by their campfire, cooking the fish while Albedo was sitting cross-legged on one of the bedrolls that the Crux member had packed away into his satchel earlier that morning.
Albedo let out a small exhale, relief flowing through him now that he could finally relax his tired body. The day’s events were starting to take their toll.
Looking around, Albedo began to properly take in his surroundings, the area itself gave off a serene vibe, the place having a picturesque quality to it.
‘It would do me good to make a drawing of this.’ He thought, finding himself mesmerised by what he was seeing.
Albedo leaned to his right side, reaching his hand out towards his satchel which he had left close by. Bringing it close to him, the alchemist put it on his lap before lifting the flap and beginning to rummage around inside.
Once he had found what he was after, Albedo grabbed hold of a piece of charcoal with his left hand and brought it out of the satchel before closing the flap and moving it back over to the side.
Holding out his right hand, Albedo soon had his sketchpad materialise into his palm, his grip tightening as soon as he felt the familiar weight.
‘I think I’ll give this drawing to Klee when I return, it should be a good bit of inspiration for her during our next art session.’ The alchemist smiled at the thought.
Before beginning his sketch Albedo lifted his gaze towards the sky, briefly taking in the beautiful orange from the setting sun before putting his charcoal down and quickly trying to work out how long it would be until it was dark.
‘A little over an hour it seems.’ He thought as he brought his hand down from its position between the sun and the horizon. ‘More than enough time for me.’
Bringing his head back down to look at his sketch pad, Albedo began to flick through the pages, eventually coming across an empty one.
Picking his charcoal back up the alchemist began to bring it towards the empty page, ready to start.
“We can teleport wherever you want to go next in the morning.” Aether’s voice rang out causing Albedo to stop what he was doing and look upwards.
The Crux member had his gaze directed towards the campfire, brows furrowed in concentration as he focused on cooking the fish.
‘Teleporting?’ Albedo began to think back on his previous experience and grimaced a little as he remembered how he felt.
His thoughts soon drifted to how the other male had fared after the teleport and concern started to build. ‘He looked like he was in so much pain because of it.’
‘There has to be something that I can do to help him out.’ Albedo’s eyes lit up as a solution soon came to him. “I feel that it would be a good idea to refrain from using teleportation during this trip, I don’t want you having to suffer through the after effects of it again.
The ashy blonde’s tone showed both his worry very clearly and a sternness that tried to convey that there would be no room for any argument.
Aether’s head shot up, the taller looking ready to argue before any words died on his tongue, clamming up at the equally stern expression that was on his face.
The golden-eyed male let out a sigh before giving a reluctant nod. “Okay, fine.” He relented. “But if we’re travelling by foot then the nearest place of interest that I know of is an area called Lingju pass. It should only be about a days journey from here.”
Albedo nodded his head, features softening as he lowered his head, returning his attention to his pad. Humming softly to himself, he started to sketch.
“You draw?”
Stopping what he was doing, Albedo glanced up again and saw Aether had taken a break from his cooking to stare at him in curiosity.
The Kreideprinz nodded his head. “For many years now.”
“That’s amazing.” Aether gushed, briefly looking back down at the fish before returning his full attention to Albedo. “What made you start?”
Albedo paused, carefully thinking over how he should word his answer. ‘I will have to give him a broad picture of events, there are some things about my past that I don’t think I should even bring up at this point.’
“When I started to learn alchemy.” Albedo began slowly, putting the charcoal and pad by his side. “I found that making small doodles helped me when it came to creating research notes.”
“At first the drawings weren’t that great.” A feeling of nostalgia washed over Albedo as he remembered back to his early attempts. “But I kept trying and over time I improved.”
“I enjoy doing it outside of alchemy as well, it’s relaxing.” He continued. “Also” Albedo briefly observed his surroundings again, basking in its splendour. “There are so many places in this world that have a beauty to them that I have always loved to try and capture.”
Aether nodded along to Albedo as he spoke, spending a few moments waiting for the other to continue before realising that he was done.
“This world is full of so much beauty, I’ll agree there.” The Crux member soon began to clam up, mouth opening and closing multiple times as he turned his gaze away from the alchemist.
Said male began to feel a little confused at this before Aether spoke up again. “Hey, um, I was wondering.” The Crux member only sent fleeting glances his way, tone bashful. “I-is it only scenery or do you draw people as well?”
Albedo felt concerned over the other’s behaviour before he started to become amused, understanding dawning on him. “Would you like me to draw you?”
In an instant, Aether’s features lit up, the bodyguard nodding his head vigorously as he began bouncing up and down in his seated position, beaming brightly at him.
“Please, I would love that.” Aether responded after he calmed down a tad, still shifting around a little on the spot as he looked at the alchemist with bright eyes.
Seeing how Aether was acting only caused the ashy blonde’s amusement to grow. ‘It’s almost like he’s a puppy wagging their tail in excitement after getting a treat.’
Albedo let out a small huff as he tried to stifle the laugh that he could feel bubbling up in his throat from the image that his mind had created from that comparison.
Getting himself under control, he lifted his pad and charcoal back up and flipped to a new page before he decided to first spend a little more time observing Aether, his continual excitement causing Albedo to come to a little conclusion.
If he had to choose just one word to describe how the other was currently acting, there would only be one that felt appropriate.
‘Endearing.’